WESTWARD HO!

by Charles Kingsley

TO

THE RAJAH SIR JAMES BROOKE, K. C. B. 

AND

GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, D. D. 

BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

By one who (unknown to them) has no other method of expressing hisadmiration and reverence for their characters. 

That type of English virtue, at once manful and godly, practical andenthusiastic, prudent and self-sacrificing, which he has tried to depictin these pages, they have exhibited in a form even purer and moreheroic than that in which he has drest it, and than that in which it wasexhibited by the worthies whom Elizabeth, without distinction of rank orage, gathered round her in the ever glorious wars of her great reign. 

C. K. 

FEBRUARY, 1855. 

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I. HOW MR. OXENHAM SAW THE WHITE BIRD

II. HOW AMYAS CAME HOME THE FIRST TIME

III. OF TWO GENTLEMEN OF WALES, AND HOW THEY HUNTED WITH THE HOUNDS, AND YET RAN WITH THE DEER

IV. THE TWO WAYS OF BEING CROST IN LOVE

V. CLOVELLY COURT IN THE OLDEN TIME

VI. THE COMBES OF THE FAR WEST

VII. THE TRUE AND TRAGICAL HISTORY OF MR. JOHN OXENHAM OF PLYMOUTH

VIII. HOW THE NOBLE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE WAS FOUNDED

IX. HOW AMYAS KEPT HIS CHRISTMAS DAY

X. HOW THE MAYOR OF BIDEFORD BAITED HIS HOOK WITH HIS OWN FLESH

XI. HOW EUSTACE LEIGH MET THE POPE'S LEGATE

XII. HOW BIDEFORD BRIDGE DINED AT ANNERY HOUSE

XIII. HOW THE GOLDEN HIND CAME HOME AGAIN

XIV. HOW SALVATION YEO SLEW THE KING OF THE GUBBINGS

XV. HOW MR. JOHN BRIMBLECOMBE UNDERSTOOD THE NATURE OF AN OATH

XVI. THE MOST CHIVALROUS ADVENTURE OF THE GOOD SHIP ROSE

XVII. HOW THEY CAME TO BARBADOS, AND FOUND NO MEN THEREIN

XVIII. HOW THEY TOOK THE PEARLS AT MARGARITA

XIX. WHAT BEFELL AT LA GUAYRA

XX. SPANISH BLOODHOUNDS AND ENGLISH MASTIFFS

XXI. HOW THEY TOOK THE COMMUNION UNDER THE TREE AT HIGUEROTE

XXII. THE INQUISITION IN THE INDIES

XXIII. THE BANKS OF THE META

XXIV. HOW AMYAS WAS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL

XXV. HOW THEY TOOK THE GOLD-TRAIN

XXVI. HOW THEY TOOK THE GREAT GALLEON

XXVII. HOW SALVATION YEO FOUND HIS LITTLE MAID AGAIN

XXVIII. HOW AMYAS CAME HOME THE THIRD TIME

XXIX. HOW THE VIRGINIA FLEET WAS STOPPED BY THE QUEEN'S COMMAND

XXX. HOW THE ADMIRAL JOHN HAWKINS TESTIFIED AGAINST CROAKERS

XXXI. THE GREAT ARMADA

XXXII. HOW AMYAS THREW HIS SWORD INTO THE SEA

XXXIII. HOW AMYAS LET THE APPLE FALL

WESTWARD HO!

CHAPTER I

HOW MR. OXENHAM SAW THE WHITE BIRD

 "The hollow oak our palace is, Our heritage the sea. "

All who have travelled through the delicious scenery of North Devon mustneeds know the little white town of Bideford, which slopes upwards fromits broad tide-river paved with yellow sands, and many-arched old bridgewhere salmon wait for autumn floods, toward the pleasant upland on thewest. Above the town the hills close in, cushioned with deep oak woods, through which juts here and there a crag of fern-fringed slate; belowthey lower, and open more and more in softly rounded knolls, and fertilesquares of red and green, till they sink into the wide expanse of hazyflats, rich salt-marshes, and rolling sand-hills, where Torridge joinsher sister Taw, and both together flow quietly toward the broad surgesof the bar, and the everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell. Pleasantly the old town stands there, beneath its soft Italian sky, fanned day and night by the fresh ocean breeze, which forbids alike thekeen winter frosts, and the fierce thunder heats of the midland; andpleasantly it has stood there for now, perhaps, eight hundred yearssince the first Grenville, cousin of the Conqueror, returning from theconquest of South Wales, drew round him trusty Saxon serfs, and freeNorse rovers with their golden curls, and dark Silurian Britons fromthe Swansea shore, and all the mingled blood which still gives to theseaward folk of the next county their strength and intellect, and, evenin these levelling days, their peculiar beauty of face and form. 

But at the time whereof I write, Bideford was not merely a pleasantcountry town, whose quay was haunted by a few coasting craft. It wasone of the chief ports of England; it furnished seven ships to fight theArmada: even more than a century afterwards, say the chroniclers, "itsent more vessels to the northern trade than any port in England, saving(strange juxtaposition!) London and Topsham, " and was the centre of alocal civilization and enterprise, small perhaps compared with thevast efforts of the present day: but who dare despise the day of smallthings, if it has proved to be the dawn of mighty ones? And it is to thesea-life and labor of Bideford, and Dartmouth, and Topsham, and Plymouth(then a petty place), and many another little western town, that Englandowes the foundation of her naval and commercial glory. It was the menof Devon, the Drakes and Hawkins', Gilberts and Raleighs, Grenvilles andOxenhams, and a host more of "forgotten worthies, " whom we shall learnone day to honor as they deserve, to whom she owes her commerce, hercolonies, her very existence. For had they not first crippled, by theirWest Indian raids, the ill-gotten resources of the Spaniard, and thencrushed his last huge effort in Britain's Salamis, the glorious fight of1588, what had we been by now but a popish appanage of a world-tyrannyas cruel as heathen Rome itself, and far more devilish?

It is in memory of these men, their voyages and their battles, theirfaith and their valor, their heroic lives and no less heroic deaths, that I write this book; and if now and then I shall seem to warm intoa style somewhat too stilted and pompous, let me be excused for mysubject's sake, fit rather to have been sung than said, and to haveproclaimed to all true English hearts, not as a novel but as an epic(which some man may yet gird himself to write), the same great messagewhich the songs of Troy, and the Persian wars, and the trophies ofMarathon and Salamis, spoke to the hearts of all true Greeks of old. 

One bright summer's afternoon, in the year of grace 1575, a tall andfair boy came lingering along Bideford quay, in his scholar's gown, with satchel and slate in hand, watching wistfully the shipping and thesailors, till, just after he had passed the bottom of the High Street, he came opposite to one of the many taverns which looked out upon theriver. In the open bay window sat merchants and gentlemen, discoursingover their afternoon's draught of sack; and outside the door wasgathered a group of sailors, listening earnestly to some one who stoodin the midst. The boy, all alive for any sea-news, must needs go upto them, and take his place among the sailor-lads who were peeping andwhispering under the elbows of the men; and so came in for the followingspeech, delivered in a loud bold voice, with a strong Devonshire accent, and a fair sprinkling of oaths. 

"If you don't believe me, go and see, or stay here and grow all overblue mould. I tell you, as I am a gentleman, I saw it with these eyes, and so did Salvation Yeo there, through a window in the lower room; andwe measured the heap, as I am a christened man, seventy foot long, tenfoot broad, and twelve foot high, of silver bars, and each bar betweena thirty and forty pound weight. And says Captain Drake: 'There, my ladsof Devon, I've brought you to the mouth of the world's treasure-house, and it's your own fault now if you don't sweep it out as empty as astock-fish. '"

"Why didn't you bring some of they home, then, Mr. Oxenham?"

"Why weren't you there to help to carry them? We would have brought'em away, safe enough, and young Drake and I had broke the door abroadalready, but Captain Drake goes off in a dead faint; and when we cameto look, he had a wound in his leg you might have laid three fingers in, and his boots were full of blood, and had been for an hour or more; butthe heart of him was that, that he never knew it till he dropped, and then his brother and I got him away to the boats, he kicking andstruggling, and bidding us let him go on with the fight, though everystep he took in the sand was in a pool of blood; and so we got off. Andtell me, ye sons of shotten herrings, wasn't it worth more to save himthan the dirty silver? for silver we can get again, brave boys: there'smore fish in the sea than ever came out of it, and more silver in Nombrede Dios than would pave all the streets in the west country: but of suchcaptains as Franky Drake, Heaven never makes but one at a time; and ifwe lose him, good-bye to England's luck, say I, and who don't agree, lethim choose his weapons, and I'm his man. "

He who delivered this harangue was a tall and sturdy personage, with aflorid black-bearded face, and bold restless dark eyes, who leaned, withcrossed legs and arms akimbo, against the wall of the house; and seemedin the eyes of the schoolboy a very magnifico, some prince or duke atleast. He was dressed (contrary to all sumptuary laws of the time) ina suit of crimson velvet, a little the worse, perhaps, for wear; by hisside were a long Spanish rapier and a brace of daggers, gaudy enoughabout the hilts; his fingers sparkled with rings; he had two or threegold chains about his neck, and large earrings in his ears, behind oneof which a red rose was stuck jauntily enough among the glossy blackcurls; on his head was a broad velvet Spanish hat, in which instead of afeather was fastened with a great gold clasp a whole Quezal bird, whosegorgeous plumage of fretted golden green shone like one entire preciousstone. As he finished his speech, he took off the said hat, and lookingat the bird in it--

"Look ye, my lads, did you ever see such a fowl as that before? That'sthe bird which the old Indian kings of Mexico let no one wear but theirown selves; and therefore I wear it, --I, John Oxenham of South Tawton, for a sign to all brave lads of Devon, that as the Spaniards are themasters of the Indians, we're the masters of the Spaniards:" and hereplaced his hat. 

A murmur of applause followed: but one hinted that he "doubted theSpaniards were too many for them. "

"Too many? How many men did we take Nombre de Dios with? Seventy-threewere we, and no more when we sailed out of Plymouth Sound; and before wesaw the Spanish Main, half were gastados, used up, as the Dons say, withthe scurvy; and in Port Pheasant Captain Rawse of Cowes fell in with us, and that gave us some thirty hands more; and with that handful, my lads, only fifty-three in all, we picked the lock of the new world! And whomdid we lose but our trumpeter, who stood braying like an ass inthe middle of the square, instead of taking care of his neck like aChristian? I tell you, those Spaniards are rank cowards, as all bulliesare. They pray to a woman, the idolatrous rascals! and no wonder theyfight like women. "

"You'm right, captain, " sang out a tall gaunt fellow who stood close tohim; "one westcountry-man can fight two easterlings, and an easterlingcan beat three Dons any day. Eh! my lads of Devon?

 "For O! it's the herrings and the good brown beef, And the cider and the cream so white; O! they are the making of the jolly Devon lads, For to play, and eke to fight. "

"Come, " said Oxenham, "come along! Who lists? who lists? who'll make hisfortune?

 "Oh, who will join, jolly mariners all? And who will join, says he, O! To fill his pockets with the good red goold, By sailing on the sea, O!"

"Who'll list?" cried the gaunt man again; "now's your time! We've gotforty men to Plymouth now, ready to sail the minute we get back, and wewant a dozen out of you Bideford men, and just a boy or two, and thenwe'm off and away, and make our fortunes, or go to heaven. 

 "Our bodies in the sea so deep, Our souls in heaven to rest! Where valiant seamen, one and all, Hereafter shall be blest!"

"Now, " said Oxenham, "you won't let the Plymouth men say that theBideford men daren't follow them? North Devon against South, it is. Who'll join? who'll join? It is but a step of a way, after all, andsailing as smooth as a duck-pond as soon as you're past Cape Finisterre. I'll run a Clovelly herring-boat there and back for a wager of twentypound, and never ship a bucketful all the way. Who'll join? Don't thinkyou're buying a pig in a poke. I know the road, and Salvation Yeo, here, too, who was the gunner's mate, as well as I do the narrow seas, andbetter. You ask him to show you the chart of it, now, and see if hedon't tell you over the ruttier as well as Drake himself. "

On which the gaunt man pulled from under his arm a great white buffalohorn covered with rough etchings of land and sea, and held it up to theadmiring ring. 

"See here, boys all, and behold the pictur of the place, dra'ed outso natural as ever was life. I got mun from a Portingal, down to theAzores; and he'd pricked mun out, and pricked mun out, wheresoever he'dsailed, and whatsoever he'd seen. Take mun in your hands now, SimonEvans, take mun in your hands; look mun over, and I'll warrant you'llknow the way in five minutes so well as ever a shark in the seas. "

And the horn was passed from hand to hand; while Oxenham, who saw thathis hearers were becoming moved, called through the open window fora great tankard of sack, and passed that from hand to hand, after thehorn. 

The school-boy, who had been devouring with eyes and ears all whichpassed, and had contrived by this time to edge himself into the innerring, now stood face to face with the hero of the emerald crest, and gotas many peeps as he could at the wonder. But when he saw the sailors, one after another, having turned it over a while, come forward and offerto join Mr. Oxenham, his soul burned within him for a nearer view ofthat wondrous horn, as magical in its effects as that of Tristrem, orthe enchanter's in Ariosto; and when the group had somewhat broken up, and Oxenham was going into the tavern with his recruits, he asked boldlyfor a nearer sight of the marvel, which was granted at once. 

And now to his astonished gaze displayed themselves cities and harbors, dragons and elephants, whales which fought with sharks, plate shipsof Spain, islands with apes and palm-trees, each with its nameover-written, and here and there, "Here is gold;" and again, "Much goldand silver;" inserted most probably, as the words were in English, bythe hands of Mr. Oxenham himself. Lingeringly and longingly the boyturned it round and round, and thought the owner of it more fortunatethan Khan or Kaiser. Oh, if he could but possess that horn, what neededhe on earth beside to make him blest!

"I say, will you sell this?"

"Yea, marry, or my own soul, if I can get the worth of it. "

"I want the horn, --I don't want your soul; it's somewhat of a stalesole, for aught I know; and there are plenty of fresh ones in the bay. "

And therewith, after much fumbling, he pulled out a tester (the only onehe had), and asked if that would buy it?

"That! no, nor twenty of them. "

The boy thought over what a good knight-errant would do in such case, and then answered, "Tell you what: I'll fight you for it. "

"Thank 'ee, sir!

"Break the jackanapes's head for him, Yeo, " said Oxenham. 

"Call me jackanapes again, and I break yours, sir. " And the boy liftedhis fist fiercely. 

Oxenham looked at him a minute smilingly. "Tut! tut! my man, hit one ofyour own size, if you will, and spare little folk like me!"

"If I have a boy's age, sir, I have a man's fist. I shall be fifteenyears old this month, and know how to answer any one who insults me. "

"Fifteen, my young cockerel? you look liker twenty, " said Oxenham, withan admiring glance at the lad's broad limbs, keen blue eyes, curlinggolden locks, and round honest face. "Fifteen? If I had half-a-dozensuch lads as you, I would make knights of them before I died. Eh, Yeo?"

"He'll do, " said Yeo; "he will make a brave gamecock in a year ortwo, if he dares ruffle up so early at a tough old hen-master like thecaptain. "

At which there was a general laugh, in which Oxenham joined as loudly asany, and then bade the lad tell him why he was so keen after the horn. 

"Because, " said he, looking up boldly, "I want to go to sea. I want tosee the Indies. I want to fight the Spaniards. Though I am a gentleman'sson, I'd a deal liever be a cabin-boy on board your ship. " And the lad, having hurried out his say fiercely enough, dropped his head again. 

"And you shall, " cried Oxenham, with a great oath; "and take a galloon, and dine off carbonadoed Dons. Whose son are you, my gallant fellow?"

"Mr. Leigh's, of Burrough Court. "

"Bless his soul! I know him as well as I do the Eddystone, and hiskitchen too. Who sups with him to-night?"

"Sir Richard Grenville. "

"Dick Grenville? I did not know he was in town. Go home and tell yourfather John Oxenham will come and keep him company. There, off with you!I'll make all straight with the good gentleman, and you shall have yourventure with me; and as for the horn, let him have the horn, Yeo, andI'll give you a noble for it. "

"Not a penny, noble captain. If young master will take a poor mariner'sgift, there it is, for the sake of his love to the calling, andHeaven send him luck therein. " And the good fellow, with the impulsivegenerosity of a true sailor, thrust the horn into the boy's hands, andwalked away to escape thanks. 

"And now, " quoth Oxenham, "my merry men all, make up your minds whatmannered men you be minded to be before you take your bounties. I wantnone of your rascally lurching longshore vermin, who get five poundsout of this captain, and ten out of that, and let him sail without themafter all, while they are stowed away under women's mufflers, andin tavern cellars. If any man is of that humor, he had better to cuthimself up, and salt himself down in a barrel for pork, before he meetsme again; for by this light, let me catch him, be it seven years hence, and if I do not cut his throat upon the streets, it's a pity! But if anyman will be true brother to me, true brother to him I'll be, come wreckor prize, storm or calm, salt water or fresh, victuals or none, shareand fare alike; and here's my hand upon it, for every man and all! andso--

 "Westward ho! with a rumbelow, And hurra for the Spanish Main, O!"

After which oration Mr. Oxenham swaggered into the tavern, followed byhis new men; and the boy took his way homewards, nursing his precioushorn, trembling between hope and fear, and blushing with maidenlyshame, and a half-sense of wrong-doing at having revealed suddenly to astranger the darling wish which he had hidden from his father and motherever since he was ten years old. 

Now this young gentleman, Amyas Leigh, though come of as good blood asany in Devon, and having lived all his life in what we should evennow call the very best society, and being (on account of the valor, courtesy, and truly noble qualities which he showed forth in his mosteventful life) chosen by me as the hero and centre of this story, was not, saving for his good looks, by any means what would be callednow-a-days an "interesting" youth, still less a "highly educated" one;for, with the exception of a little Latin, which had been driven intohim by repeated blows, as if it had been a nail, he knew no bookswhatsoever, save his Bible, his Prayer-book, the old "Mort d'Arthur" ofCaxton's edition, which lay in the great bay window in the hall, and thetranslation of "Las Casas' History of the West Indies, " which lay besideit, lately done into English under the title of "The Cruelties of theSpaniards. " He devoutly believed in fairies, whom he called pixies; andheld that they changed babies, and made the mushroom rings on the downsto dance in. When he had warts or burns, he went to the white witchat Northam to charm them away; he thought that the sun moved round theearth, and that the moon had some kindred with a Cheshire cheese. He held that the swallows slept all the winter at the bottom of thehorse-pond; talked, like Raleigh, Grenville, and other low persons, with a broad Devonshire accent; and was in many other respects so veryignorant a youth, that any pert monitor in a national school might havehad a hearty laugh at him. Nevertheless, this ignorant young savage, vacant of the glorious gains of the nineteenth century, children'sliterature and science made easy, and, worst of all, of those improvedviews of English history now current among our railway essayists, whichconsist in believing all persons, male and female, before the year 1688, and nearly all after it, to have been either hypocrites or fools, hadlearnt certain things which he would hardly have been taught just nowin any school in England; for his training had been that of the oldPersians, "to speak the truth and to draw the bow, " both of which savagevirtues he had acquired to perfection, as well as the equally savageones of enduring pain cheerfully, and of believing it to be the finestthing in the world to be a gentleman; by which word he had been taughtto understand the careful habit of causing needless pain to no humanbeing, poor or rich, and of taking pride in giving up his own pleasurefor the sake of those who were weaker than himself. Moreover, havingbeen entrusted for the last year with the breaking of a colt, and thecare of a cast of young hawks which his father had received from LundyIsle, he had been profiting much, by the means of those coarse andfrivolous amusements, in perseverance, thoughtfulness, and the habitof keeping his temper; and though he had never had a single "objectlesson, " or been taught to "use his intellectual powers, " he knew thenames and ways of every bird, and fish, and fly, and could read, ascunningly as the oldest sailor, the meaning of every drift of cloudwhich crossed the heavens. Lastly, he had been for some time past, onaccount of his extraordinary size and strength, undisputed cock of theschool, and the most terrible fighter among all Bideford boys; in whichbrutal habit he took much delight, and contrived, strange as it mayseem, to extract from it good, not only for himself but for others, doing justice among his school-fellows with a heavy hand, and succoringthe oppressed and afflicted; so that he was the terror of all thesailor-lads, and the pride and stay of all the town's boys and girls, and hardly considered that he had done his duty in his calling if hewent home without beating a big lad for bullying a little one. For therest, he never thought about thinking, or felt about feeling; and hadno ambition whatsoever beyond pleasing his father and mother, getting byhonest means the maximum of "red quarrenders" and mazard cherries, and going to sea when he was big enough. Neither was he what would benow-a-days called by many a pious child; for though he said his Creedand Lord's Prayer night and morning, and went to the service at thechurch every forenoon, and read the day's Psalms with his mother everyevening, and had learnt from her and from his father (as he proved wellin after life) that it was infinitely noble to do right and infinitelybase to do wrong, yet (the age of children's religious books not havingyet dawned on the world) he knew nothing more of theology, or of hisown soul, than is contained in the Church Catechism. It is a question, however, on the whole, whether, though grossly ignorant (according toour modern notions) in science and religion, he was altogether untrainedin manhood, virtue, and godliness; and whether the barbaric narrownessof his information was not somewhat counterbalanced both in him and inthe rest of his generation by the depth, and breadth, and healthiness ofhis education. 

So let us watch him up the hill as he goes hugging his horn, to tell allthat has passed to his mother, from whom he had never hidden anythingin his life, save only that sea-fever; and that only because he foreknewthat it would give her pain; and because, moreover, being a prudent andsensible lad, he knew that he was not yet old enough to go, and that, ashe expressed it to her that afternoon, "there was no use hollaing tillhe was out of the wood. "

So he goes up between the rich lane-banks, heavy with drooping ferns andhoneysuckle; out upon the windy down toward the old Court, nestledamid its ring of wind-clipt oaks; through the gray gateway into thehomeclose; and then he pauses a moment to look around; first at the widebay to the westward, with its southern wall of purple cliffs; then atthe dim Isle of Lundy far away at sea; then at the cliffs and downs ofMorte and Braunton, right in front of him; then at the vast yellow sheetof rolling sand-hill, and green alluvial plain dotted with red cattle, at his feet, through which the silver estuary winds onward toward thesea. Beneath him, on his right, the Torridge, like a land-locked lake, sleeps broad and bright between the old park of Tapeley and the charmedrock of the Hubbastone, where, seven hundred years ago, the Norse roverslanded to lay siege to Kenwith Castle, a mile away on his left hand; andnot three fields away, are the old stones of "The Bloody Corner, "where the retreating Danes, cut off from their ships, made their lastfruitless stand against the Saxon sheriff and the valiant men of Devon. Within that charmed rock, so Torridge boatmen tell, sleeps now the oldNorse Viking in his leaden coffin, with all his fairy treasure and hiscrown of gold; and as the boy looks at the spot, he fancies, and almosthopes, that the day may come when he shall have to do his duty againstthe invader as boldly as the men of Devon did then. And past him, farbelow, upon the soft southeastern breeze, the stately ships go slidingout to sea. When shall he sail in them, and see the wonders of the deep?And as he stands there with beating heart and kindling eye, the coolbreeze whistling through his long fair curls, he is a symbol, though heknows it not, of brave young England longing to wing its way out of itsisland prison, to discover and to traffic, to colonize and to civilize, until no wind can sweep the earth which does not bear the echoes of anEnglish voice. Patience, young Amyas! Thou too shalt forth, and westwardho, beyond thy wildest dreams; and see brave sights, and do brave deeds, which no man has since the foundation of the world. Thou too shalt faceinvaders stronger and more cruel far than Dane or Norman, and bear thypart in that great Titan strife before the renown of which the name ofSalamis shall fade away!

Mr. Oxenham came that evening to supper as he had promised: but aspeople supped in those days in much the same manner as they do now, wemay drop the thread of the story for a few hours, and take it up againafter supper is over. 

"Come now, Dick Grenville, do thou talk the good man round, and I'llwarrant myself to talk round the good wife. "

The personage whom Oxenham addressed thus familiarly answered by asomewhat sarcastic smile, and, "Mr. Oxenham gives Dick Grenville" (withjust enough emphasis on the "Mr. " and the "Dick, " to hint that a libertyhad been taken with him) "overmuch credit with the men. Mr. Oxenham'scredit with fair ladies, none can doubt. Friend Leigh, is Heard's greatship home yet from the Straits?"

The speaker, known well in those days as Sir Richard Grenville, Granville, Greenvil, Greenfield, with two or three other variations, wasone of those truly heroical personages whom Providence, fitting alwaysthe men to their age and their work, had sent upon the earth whereof ittakes right good care, not in England only, but in Spain and Italy, inGermany and the Netherlands, and wherever, in short, great men and greatdeeds were needed to lift the mediaeval world into the modern. 

And, among all the heroic faces which the painters of that age havepreserved, none, perhaps, hardly excepting Shakespeare's or Spenser's, Alva's or Farina's, is more heroic than that of Richard Grenville, as itstands in Prince's "Worthies of Devon;" of a Spanish type, perhaps(or more truly speaking, a Cornish), rather than an English, with justenough of the British element in it to give delicacy to its massiveness. The forehead and whole brain are of extraordinary loftiness, andperfectly upright; the nose long, aquiline, and delicately pointed;the mouth fringed with a short silky beard, small and ripe, yet firmas granite, with just pout enough of the lower lip to give hint of thatcapacity of noble indignation which lay hid under its usual courtly calmand sweetness; if there be a defect in the face, it is that the eyes aresomewhat small, and close together, and the eyebrows, though delicatelyarched, and, without a trace of peevishness, too closely presseddown upon them, the complexion is dark, the figure tall and graceful;altogether the likeness of a wise and gallant gentleman, lovely to allgood men, awful to all bad men; in whose presence none dare say or do amean or a ribald thing; whom brave men left, feeling themselves nervedto do their duty better, while cowards slipped away, as bats andowls before the sun. So he lived and moved, whether in the Court ofElizabeth, giving his counsel among the wisest; or in the streets ofBideford, capped alike by squire and merchant, shopkeeper and sailor; orriding along the moorland roads between his houses of Stow and Bideford, while every woman ran out to her door to look at the great Sir Richard, the pride of North Devon; or, sitting there in the low mullioned windowat Burrough, with his cup of malmsey before him, and the lute to whichhe had just been singing laid across his knees, while the red westernsun streamed in upon his high, bland forehead, and soft curling locks;ever the same steadfast, God-fearing, chivalrous man, conscious (as faras a soul so healthy could be conscious) of the pride of beauty, andstrength, and valor, and wisdom, and a race and name which claimeddirect descent from the grandfather of the Conqueror, and was trackeddown the centuries by valiant deeds and noble benefits to his nativeshire, himself the noblest of his race. Men said that he was proud; buthe could not look round him without having something to be proud of;that he was stern and harsh to his sailors: but it was only when he sawin them any taint of cowardice or falsehood; that he was subject, atmoments, to such fearful fits of rage, that he had been seen to snatchthe glasses from the table, grind them to pieces in his teeth, andswallow them: but that was only when his indignation had been aroused bysome tale of cruelty or oppression, and, above all, by those West Indiandevilries of the Spaniards, whom he regarded (and in those days rightlyenough) as the enemies of God and man. Of this last fact Oxenham waswell aware, and therefore felt somewhat puzzled and nettled, when, afterhaving asked Mr. Leigh's leave to take young Amyas with him and setforth in glowing colors the purpose of his voyage, he found Sir Richardutterly unwilling to help him with his suit. 

"Heyday, Sir Richard! You are not surely gone over to the side of thosecanting fellows (Spanish Jesuits in disguise, every one of them, theyare), who pretended to turn up their noses at Franky Drake, as a pirate, and be hanged to them?"

"My friend Oxenham, " answered he, in the sententious and measured styleof the day, "I have always held, as you should know by this, that Mr. Drake's booty, as well as my good friend Captain Hawkins's, is lawfulprize, as being taken from the Spaniard, who is not only hostis humanigeneris, but has no right to the same, having robbed it violently, bytorture and extreme iniquity, from the poor Indian, whom God avenge, asHe surely will. "

"Amen, " said Mrs. Leigh. 

"I say Amen, too, " quoth Oxenham, "especially if it please Him to avengethem by English hands. "

"And I also, " went on Sir Richard; "for the rightful owners of the saidgoods being either miserably dead, or incapable, by reason of theirservitude, of ever recovering any share thereof, the treasure, falselycalled Spanish, cannot be better bestowed than in building up the stateof England against them, our natural enemies; and thereby, in buildingup the weal of the Reformed Churches throughout the world, and theliberties of all nations, against a tyranny more foul and rapacious thanthat of Nero or Caligula; which, if it be not the cause of God, I, forone, know not what God's cause is!" And, as he warmed in his speech, hiseyes flashed very fire. 

"Hark now!" said Oxenham, "who can speak more boldly than he? and yet hewill not help this lad to so noble an adventure. "

"You have asked his father and mother; what is their answer?"

"Mine is this, " said Mr. Leigh; "if it be God's will that my boy shouldbecome, hereafter, such a mariner as Sir Richard Grenville, let him go, and God be with him; but let him first bide here at home and betrained, if God give me grace, to become such a gentleman as Sir RichardGrenville. "

Sir Richard bowed low, and Mrs. Leigh catching up the last word--

"There, Mr. Oxenham, you cannot gainsay that, unless you will bediscourteous to his worship. And for me--though it be a weak woman'sreason, yet it is a mother's: he is my only child. His elder brother isfar away. God only knows whether I shall see him again; and what are allreports of his virtues and his learning to me, compared to that sweetpresence which I daily miss? Ah! Mr. Oxenham, my beautiful Joseph isgone; and though he be lord of Pharaoh's household, yet he is far awayin Egypt; and you will take Benjamm also! Ah! Mr. Oxenham, you have nochild, or you would not ask for mine!"

"And how do you know that, my sweet madam!" said the adventurer, turningfirst deadly pale, and then glowing red. Her last words had touched himto the quick in some unexpected place; and rising, he courteously laidher hand to his lips, and said--"I say no more. Farewell, sweet madam, and God send all men such wives as you. "

"And all wives, " said she, smiling, "such husbands as mine. "

"Nay, I will not say that, " answered he, with a half sneer--and then, "Farewell, friend Leigh--farewell, gallant Dick Grenville. God send Isee thee Lord High Admiral when I come home. And yet, why should I comehome? Will you pray for poor Jack, gentles?"

"Tut, tut, man! good words, " said Leigh; "let us drink to our merrymeeting before you go. " And rising, and putting the tankard of malmseyto his lips, he passed it to Sir Richard, who rose, and saying, "To thefortune of a bold mariner and a gallant gentleman, " drank, and put thecup into Oxenham's hand. 

The adventurer's face was flushed, and his eye wild. Whether from theliquor he had drunk during the day, or whether from Mrs. Leigh's lastspeech, he had not been himself for a few minutes. He lifted the cup, and was in act to pledge them, when he suddenly dropped it on the table, and pointed, staring and trembling, up and down, and round the room, asif following some fluttering object. 

"There! Do you see it? The bird!--the bird with the white breast!"

Each looked at the other; but Leigh, who was a quick-witted man and anold courtier, forced a laugh instantly, and cried--"Nonsense, brave JackOxenham! Leave white birds for men who will show the white feather. Mrs. Leigh waits to pledge you. "

Oxenham recovered himself in a moment, pledged them all round, drinkingdeep and fiercely; and after hearty farewells, departed, never hintingagain at his strange exclamation. 

After he was gone, and while Leigh was attending him to the door, Mrs. Leigh and Grenville kept a few minutes' dead silence. At last--"God helphim!" said she. 

"Amen!" said Grenville, "for he never needed it more. But, indeed, madam, I put no faith in such omens. "

"But, Sir Richard, that bird has been seen for generations before thedeath of any of his family. I know those who were at South Tawton whenhis mother died, and his brother also; and they both saw it. God helphim! for, after all, he is a proper man. "

"So many a lady has thought before now, Mrs. Leigh, and well for him ifthey had not. But, indeed, I make no account of omens. When God is readyfor each man, then he must go; and when can he go better?"

"But, " said Mr. Leigh, who entered, "I have seen, and especially whenI was in Italy, omens and prophecies before now beget their ownfulfilment, by driving men into recklessness, and making them runheadlong upon that very ruin which, as they fancied, was running uponthem. "

"And which, " said Sir Richard, "they might have avoided, if, instead oftrusting in I know not what dumb and dark destiny, they had trusted inthe living God, by faith in whom men may remove mountains, and quenchthe fire, and put to flight the armies of the alien. I too know, andknow not how I know, that I shall never die in my bed. "

"God forfend!" cried Mrs. Leigh. 

"And why, fair madam, if I die doing my duty to my God and my queen? Thethought never moves me: nay, to tell the truth, I pray often enough thatI may be spared the miseries of imbecile old age, and that end whichthe old Northmen rightly called 'a cow's death' rather than a man's. Butenough of this. Mr. Leigh, you have done wisely to-night. Poor Oxenhamdoes not go on his voyage with a single eye. I have talked about himwith Drake and Hawkins; and I guess why Mrs. Leigh touched him so homewhen she told him that he had no child. "

"Has he one, then, in the West Indies?" cried the good lady. 

"God knows; and God grant we may not hear of shame and sorrow fallenupon an ancient and honorable house of Devon. My brother Stukely is woeenough to North Devon for this generation. "

"Poor braggadocio!" said Mr. Leigh; "and yet not altogether that too, for he can fight at least. "

"So can every mastiff and boar, much more an Englishman. And now comehither to me, my adventurous godson, and don't look in such dolefuldumps. I hear you have broken all the sailor-boys' heads already. "

"Nearly all, " said young Amyas, with due modesty. . "But am I not to goto sea?"

"All things in their time, my boy, and God forbid that either I or yourworthy parents should keep you from that noble calling which is thesafeguard of this England and her queen. But you do not wish to live anddie the master of a trawler?"

"I should like to be a brave adventurer, like Mr. Oxenham. "

"God grant you become a braver man than he! for, as I think, to be boldagainst the enemy is common to the brutes; but the prerogative of a manis to be bold against himself. "

"How, sir?"

"To conquer our own fancies, Amyas, and our own lusts, and our ambition, in the sacred name of duty; this it is to be truly brave, and trulystrong; for he who cannot rule himself, how can he rule his crew or hisfortunes? Come, now, I will make you a promise. If you will bide quietlyat home, and learn from your father and mother all which befits agentleman and a Christian, as well as a seaman, the day shall come whenyou shall sail with Richard Grenville himself, or with better men thanhe, on a nobler errand than gold-hunting on the Spanish Main. "

"O my boy, my boy!" said Mrs. Leigh, "hear what the good Sir Richardpromises you. Many an earl's son would be glad to be in your place. "

"And many an earl's son will be glad to be in his place a score yearshence, if he will but learn what I know you two can teach him. And now, Amyas, my lad, I will tell you for a warning the history of that SirThomas Stukely of whom I spoke just now, and who was, as all men know, a gallant and courtly knight, of an ancient and worshipful family inIlfracombe, well practised in the wars, and well beloved at first by ourincomparable queen, the friend of all true virtue, as I trust she willbe of yours some day; who wanted but one step to greatness, and thatwas this, that in his hurry to rule all the world, he forgot to rulehimself. At first, he wasted his estate in show and luxury, alwaysintending to be famous, and destroying his own fame all the while byhis vainglory and haste. Then, to retrieve his losses, he hit upon thepeopling of Florida, which thou and I will see done some day, by God'sblessing; for I and some good friends of mine have an errand there aswell as he. But he did not go about it as a loyal man, to advance thehonor of his queen, but his own honor only, dreaming that he too shouldbe a king; and was not ashamed to tell her majesty that he had rather besovereign of a molehill than the highest subject of an emperor. "

"They say, " said Mr. Leigh, "that he told her plainly he should be aprince before he died, and that she gave him one of her pretty quips inreturn. "

"I don't know that her majesty had the best of it. A fool is many timestoo strong for a wise man, by virtue of his thick hide. For when shesaid that she hoped she should hear from him in his new principality, 'Yes, sooth, ' says he, graciously enough. 'And in what style?' asks she. 'To our dear sister, ' says Stukely: to which her clemency had nothing toreply, but turned away, as Mr. Burleigh told me, laughing. "

"Alas for him!" said gentle Mrs. Leigh. "Such self-conceit--and Heavenknows we have the root of it in ourselves also--is the very daughter ofself-will, and of that loud crying out about I, and me, and mine, whichis the very bird-call for all devils, and the broad road which leads todeath. "

"It will lead him to his, " said Sir Richard; "God grant it be not uponTower-hill! for since that Florida plot, and after that his hopes ofIrish preferment came to naught, he who could not help himself by fairmeans has taken to foul ones, and gone over to Italy to the Pope, whoseinfallibility has not been proof against Stukely's wit; for he was soonhis Holiness's closet counsellor, and, they say, his bosom friend; andmade him give credit to his boasts that, with three thousand soldiers hewould beat the English out of Ireland, and make the Pope's son king ofit. "

"Ay, but, " said Mr. Leigh, "I suppose the Italians have the same fetchnow as they had when I was there, to explain such ugly cases; namely, that the Pope is infallible only in doctrine, and quoad Pope; whilequoad hominem, he is even as others, or indeed, in general, a dealworse, so that the office, and not the man, may be glorified thereby. But where is Stukely now?"

"At Rome when last I heard of him, ruffling it up and down the Vaticanas Baron Ross, Viscount Murrough, Earl Wexford, Marquis Leinster, anda title or two more, which have cost the Pope little, seeing thatthey never were his to give; and plotting, they say, some hare-brainedexpedition against Ireland by the help of the Spanish king, which mustend in nothing but his shame and ruin. And now, my sweet hosts, I mustcall for serving-boy and lantern, and home to my bed in Bideford. "

And so Amyas Leigh went back to school, and Mr. Oxenham went his way toPlymouth again, and sailed for the Spanish Main. 

CHAPTER II

HOW AMYAS CAME HOME THE FIRST TIME

 "Si taceant homines, facient te sidera notum, Sol nescit comitis immemor esse sui. "

 Old Epigram on Drake. 

Five years are past and gone. It is nine of the clock on a still, brightNovember morning; but the bells of Bideford church are still ringing forthe daily service two hours after the usual time; and instead of goingsoberly according to wont, cannot help breaking forth every five minutesinto a jocund peal, and tumbling head over heels in ecstasies of joy. Bideford streets are a very flower-garden of all the colors, swarmingwith seamen and burghers, and burghers' wives and daughters, allin their holiday attire. Garlands are hung across the streets, andtapestries from every window. The ships in the pool are dressed in alltheir flags, and give tumultuous vent to their feelings by peals ofordnance of every size. Every stable is crammed with horses; andSir Richard Grenville's house is like a very tavern, with eatingand drinking, and unsaddling, and running to and fro of grooms andserving-men. Along the little churchyard, packed full with women, streams all the gentle blood of North Devon, --tall and stately men, andfair ladies, worthy of the days when the gentry of England were by dueright the leaders of the people, by personal prowess and beauty, as wellas by intellect and education. And first, there is my lady Countess ofBath, whom Sir Richard Grenville is escorting, cap in hand (for her goodEarl Bourchier is in London with the queen); and there are Bassetsfrom beautiful Umberleigh, and Carys from more beautiful Clovelly, andFortescues of Wear, and Fortescues of Buckland, and Fortescues from allquarters, and Coles from Slade, and Stukelys from Affton, and St. Legersfrom Annery, and Coffins from Portledge, and even Coplestones fromEggesford, thirty miles away: and last, but not least (for almost allstop to give them place), Sir John Chichester of Ralegh, followedin single file, after the good old patriarchal fashion, by his eightdaughters, and three of his five famous sons (one, to avenge hismurdered brother, is fighting valiantly in Ireland, hereafter to rulethere wisely also, as Lord Deputy and Baron of Belfast); and he meetsat the gate his cousin of Arlington, and behind him a train of fourdaughters and nineteen sons, the last of whom has not yet passed thetown-hall, while the first is at the Lychgate, who, laughing, make wayfor the elder though shorter branch of that most fruitful tree; and soon into the church, where all are placed according to their degrees, orat least as near as may be, not without a few sour looks, and shovings, and whisperings, from one high-born matron and another; till thechurchwardens and sidesmen, who never had before so goodly a company toarrange, have bustled themselves hot, and red, and frantic, and end byimploring abjectly the help of the great Sir Richard himself to tellthem who everybody is, and which is the elder branch, and which is theyounger, and who carries eight quarterings in their arms, and who onlyfour, and so prevent their setting at deadly feud half the fineladies of North Devon; for the old men are all safe packed away in thecorporation pews, and the young ones care only to get a place whencethey may eye the ladies. And at last there is a silence, and a lookingtoward the door, and then distant music, flutes and hautboys, drums andtrumpets, which come braying, and screaming, and thundering merrilyup to the very church doors, and then cease; and the churchwardensand sidesmen bustle down to the entrance, rods in hand, and there is ageneral whisper and rustle, not without glad tears and blessings frommany a woman, and from some men also, as the wonder of the day enters, and the rector begins, not the morning service, but the good oldthanksgiving after a victory at sea. 

And what is it which has thus sent old Bideford wild with that "goodlyjoy and pious mirth, " of which we now only retain traditions inour translation of the Psalms? Why are all eyes fixed, with greedyadmiration, on those four weather-beaten mariners, decked out with knotsand ribbons by loving hands; and yet more on that gigantic figure whowalks before them, a beardless boy, and yet with the frame and statureof a Hercules, towering, like Saul of old, a head and shoulders aboveall the congregation, with his golden locks flowing down over hisshoulders? And why, as the five go instinctively up to the altar, andthere fall on their knees before the rails, are all eyes turned to thepew where Mrs. Leigh of Burrough has hid her face between her hands, and her hood rustles and shakes to her joyful sobs? Because there wasfellow-feeling of old in merry England, in county and in town; andthese are Devon men, and men of Bideford, whose names are Amyas Leigh ofBurrough, John Staveley, Michael Heard, and Jonas Marshall of Bideford, and Thomas Braund of Clovelly: and they, the first of all Englishmariners, have sailed round the world with Francis Drake, and are comehither to give God thanks. 

It is a long story. To explain how it happened we must go back for apage or two, almost to the point from whence we started in the lastchapter. 

For somewhat more than a twelvemonth after Mr. Oxenham's departure, young Amyas had gone on quietly enough, according to promise, with theexception of certain occasional outbursts of fierceness common to allyoung male animals, and especially to boys of any strength of character. His scholarship, indeed, progressed no better than before; but his homeeducation went on healthily enough; and he was fast becoming, young ashe was, a right good archer, and rider, and swordsman (after the oldschool of buckler practice), when his father, having gone down onbusiness to the Exeter Assizes, caught (as was too common in those days)the gaol-fever from the prisoners; sickened in the very court; and diedwithin a week. 

And now Mrs. Leigh was left to God and her own soul, with this younglion-cub in leash, to tame and train for this life and the life tocome. She had loved her husband fervently and holily. He had been oftenpeevish, often melancholy; for he was a disappointed man, with an estateimpoverished by his father's folly, and his own youthful ambition, whichhad led him up to Court, and made him waste his heart and his purse infollowing a vain shadow. He was one of those men, moreover, who possessalmost every gift except the gift of the power to use them; and thougha scholar, a courtier, and a soldier, he had found himself, when he waspast forty, without settled employment or aim in life, by reason ofa certain shyness, pride, or delicate honor (call it which you will), which had always kept him from playing a winning game in that very worldafter whose prizes he hankered to the last, and on which he revengedhimself by continual grumbling. At last, by his good luck, he met witha fair young Miss Foljambe, of Derbyshire, then about Queen Elizabeth'sCourt, who was as tired as he of the sins of the world, though she hadseen less of them; and the two contrived to please each other so well, that though the queen grumbled a little, as usual, at the lady formarrying, and at the gentleman for adoring any one but her royal self, they got leave to vanish from the little Babylon at Whitehall, andsettle in peace at Burrough. In her he found a treasure, and he knewwhat he had found. 

Mrs. Leigh was, and had been from her youth, one of those noble oldEnglish churchwomen, without superstition, and without severity, whoare among the fairest features of that heroic time. There was a certainmelancholy about her, nevertheless; for the recollections of herchildhood carried her back to times when it was an awful thing to be aProtestant. She could remember among them, five-and-twenty years ago, the burning of poor blind Joan Waste at Derby, and of Mistress JoyceLewis, too, like herself, a lady born; and sometimes even now, in hernightly dreams, rang in her ears her mother's bitter cries to God, either to spare her that fiery torment, or to give her strength to bearit, as she whom she loved had borne it before her. For her mother, whowas of a good family in Yorkshire, had been one of Queen Catherine'sbedchamber women, and the bosom friend and disciple of Anne Askew. Andshe had sat in Smithfield, with blood curdled by horror, to see thehapless Court beauty, a month before the paragon of Henry's Court, carried in a chair (so crippled was she by the rack) to her fiery doomat the stake, beside her fellow-courtier, Mr. Lascelles, while the veryheavens seemed to the shuddering mob around to speak their wrath andgrief in solemn thunder peals, and heavy drops which hissed upon thecrackling pile. 

Therefore a sadness hung upon her all her life, and deepened in the daysof Queen Mary, when, as a notorious Protestant and heretic, she had hadto hide for her life among the hills and caverns of the Peak, and wasonly saved, by the love which her husband's tenants bore her, and by hisbold declaration that, good Catholic as he was, he would run throughthe body any constable, justice, or priest, yea, bishop or cardinal, whodared to serve the queen's warrant upon his wife. 

So she escaped: but, as I said, a sadness hung upon her all her life;and the skirt of that dark mantle fell upon the young girl who had beenthe partner of her wanderings and hidings among the lonely hills; andwho, after she was married, gave herself utterly up to God. 

And yet in giving herself to God, Mrs. Leigh gave herself to herhusband, her children, and the poor of Northam Town, and was none theless welcome to the Grenvilles, and Fortescues, and Chichesters, andall the gentle families round, who honored her husband's talents, andenjoyed his wit. She accustomed herself to austerities, which oftencalled forth the kindly rebukes of her husband; and yet she did sowithout one superstitious thought of appeasing the fancied wrath of God, or of giving Him pleasure (base thought) by any pain of hers; for herspirit had been trained in the freest and loftiest doctrines of Luther'sschool; and that little mystic "Alt-Deutsch Theologie" (to which thegreat Reformer said that he owed more than to any book, save the Bible, and St. Augustine) was her counsellor and comforter by day and night. 

And now, at little past forty, she was left a widow: lovely stillin face and figure; and still more lovely from the divine calm whichbrooded, like the dove of peace and the Holy Spirit of God (which indeedit was), over every look, and word, and gesture; a sweetness which hadbeen ripened by storm, as well as by sunshine; which this world hadnot given, and could not take away. No wonder that Sir Richard and LadyGrenville loved her; no wonder that her children worshipped her; nowonder that the young Amyas, when the first burst of grief was over, andhe knew again where he stood, felt that a new life had begun for him;that his mother was no more to think and act for him only, but that hemust think and act for his mother. And so it was, that on the very dayafter his father's funeral, when school-hours were over, instead ofcoming straight home, he walked boldly into Sir Richard Grenville'shouse, and asked to see his godfather. 

"You must be my father now, sir, " said he, firmly. 

And Sir Richard looked at the boy's broad strong face, and swore a greatand holy oath, like Glasgerion's, "by oak, and ash, and thorn, " thathe would be a father to him, and a brother to his mother, for Christ'ssake. And Lady Grenville took the boy by the hand, and walked homewith him to Burrough; and there the two fair women fell on each other'snecks, and wept together; the one for the loss which had been, theother, as by a prophetic instinct, for the like loss which was to cometo her also. For the sweet St. Leger knew well that her husband's fieryspirit would never leave his body on a peaceful bed; but that death (ashe prayed almost nightly that it might) would find him sword inhand, upon the field of duty and of fame. And there those two vowedeverlasting sisterhood, and kept their vow; and after that all thingswent on at Burrough as before; and Amyas rode, and shot, and boxed, andwandered on the quay at Sir Richard's side; for Mrs. Leigh was toowise a woman to alter one tittle of the training which her husband hadthought best for his younger boy. It was enough that her elder son hadof his own accord taken to that form of life in which she in her secretheart would fain have moulded both her children. For Frank, God'swedding gift to that pure love of hers, had won himself honor at homeand abroad; first at the school at Bideford; then at Exeter College, where he had become a friend of Sir Philip Sidney's, and many anotheryoung man of rank and promise; and next, in the summer of 1572, on hisway to the University of Heidelberg, he had gone to Paris, with (luckilyfor him) letters of recommendation to Walsingham, at the EnglishEmbassy: by which letters he not only fell in a second time with PhilipSidney, but saved his own life (as Sidney did his) in the Massacre ofSt. Bartholomew's Day. At Heidelberg he had stayed two years, winningfresh honor from all who knew him, and resisting all Sidney's entreatiesto follow him into Italy. For, scorning to be a burden to his parents, he had become at Heidelberg tutor to two young German princes, whom, after living with them at their father's house for a year or more, he atlast, to his own great delight, took with him down to Padua, "toperfect them, " as he wrote home, "according to his insufficiency, in allprincely studies. " Sidney was now returned to England; but Frank foundfriends enough without him, such letters of recommendation and diplomasdid he carry from I know not how many princes, magnificos, and learneddoctors, who had fallen in love with the learning, modesty, and virtueof the fair young Englishman. And ere Frank returned to Germany he hadsatiated his soul with all the wonders of that wondrous land. He hadtalked over the art of sonneteering with Tasso, the art of historywith Sarpi; he had listened, between awe and incredulity, to the daringtheories of Galileo; he had taken his pupils to Venice, that theirportraits might be painted by Paul Veronese; he had seen the palaces ofPalladio, and the merchant princes on the Rialto, and the argosies ofRagusa, and all the wonders of that meeting-point of east and west; hehad watched Tintoretto's mighty hand "hurling tempestuous glories o'erthe scene;" and even, by dint of private intercession in high places, had been admitted to that sacred room where, with long silver beard andundimmed eye, amid a pantheon of his own creations, the ancient Titian, patriarch of art, still lingered upon earth, and told old tales of theBellinis, and Raffaelle, and Michael Angelo, and the building of St. Peter's, and the fire at Venice, and the sack of Rome, and of kings andwarriors, statesmen and poets, long since gone to their account, andshowed the sacred brush which Francis the First had stooped to pick upfor him. And (license forbidden to Sidney by his friend Languet) he hadbeen to Rome, and seen (much to the scandal of good Protestants at home)that "right good fellow, " as Sidney calls him, who had not yet eatenhimself to death, the Pope for the time being. And he had seen thefrescos of the Vatican, and heard Palestrina preside as chapel-masterover the performance of his own music beneath the dome of St. Peter's, and fallen half in love with those luscious strains, till he wasawakened from his dream by the recollection that beneath that same domehad gone up thanksgivings to the God of heaven for those blood-stainedstreets, and shrieking women, and heaps of insulted corpses, which hehad beheld in Paris on the night of St. Bartholomew. At last, a fewmonths before his father died, he had taken back his pupils to theirhome in Germany, from whence he was dismissed, as he wrote, with richgifts; and then Mrs. Leigh's heart beat high, at the thought that thewanderer would return: but, alas! within a month after his father'sdeath, came a long letter from Frank, describing the Alps, and thevalleys of the Waldenses (with whose Barbes he had had much talk aboutthe late horrible persecutions), and setting forth how at Padua he hadmade the acquaintance of that illustrious scholar and light of the age, Stephanus Parmenius (commonly called from his native place, Budaeus), who had visited Geneva with him, and heard the disputations of theirmost learned doctors, which both he and Budaeus disliked for their hardjudgments both of God and man, as much as they admired them for theirsubtlety, being themselves, as became Italian students, Platonists ofthe school of Ficinus and Picus Mirandolensis. So wrote Master Frank, in a long sententious letter, full of Latin quotations: but the letternever reached the eyes of him for whose delight it had been penned: andthe widow had to weep over it alone, and to weep more bitterly than everat the conclusion, in which, with many excuses, Frank said that he had, at the special entreaty of the said Budaeus, set out with him down theDanube stream to Buda, that he might, before finishing his travels, make experience of that learning for which the Hungarians were famousthroughout Europe. And after that, though he wrote again and again tothe father whom he fancied living, no letter in return reached him fromhome for nearly two years; till, fearing some mishap, he hurried back toEngland, to find his mother a widow, and his brother Amyas gone to theSouth Seas with Captain Drake of Plymouth. And yet, even then, afteryears of absence, he was not allowed to remain at home. For Sir Richard, to whom idleness was a thing horrible and unrighteous, would have him upand doing again before six months were over, and sent him off to Courtto Lord Hunsdon. 

There, being as delicately beautiful as his brother was huge and strong, he had speedily, by Carew's interest and that of Sidney and his UncleLeicester, found entrance into some office in the queen's household; andhe was now basking in the full sunshine of Court favor, and fair ladies'eyes, and all the chivalries and euphuisms of Gloriana's fairyland, andthe fast friendship of that bright meteor Sidney, who had returned withhonor in 1577, from the delicate mission on behalf of the German andBelgian Protestants, on which he had been sent to the Court of Vienna, under color of condoling with the new Emperor Rodolph on his father'sdeath. Frank found him when he himself came to Court in 1579 as lovelyand loving as ever; and, at the early age of twenty-five, acknowledgedas one of the most remarkable men of Europe, the patron of all men ofletters, the counsellor of warriors and statesmen, and the confidant andadvocate of William of Orange, Languet, Plessis du Mornay, and all theProtestant leaders on the Continent; and found, moreover, that the sonof the poor Devon squire was as welcome as ever to the friendship ofnature's and fortune's most favored, yet most unspoilt, minion. 

Poor Mrs. Leigh, as one who had long since learned to have no self, and to live not only for her children but in them, submitted without amurmur, and only said, smiling, to her stern friend--"You took away mymastiff-pup, and now you must needs have my fair greyhound also. "

"Would you have your fair greyhound, dear lady, grow up a tall andtrue Cotswold dog, that can pull down a stag of ten, or one of thosesmooth-skinned poppets which the Florence ladies lead about with a ringof bells round its neck, and a flannel farthingale over its loins?"

Mrs. Leigh submitted; and was rewarded after a few months by a letter, sent through Sir Richard, from none other than Gloriana herself, inwhich she thanked her for "the loan of that most delicate and flawlesscrystal, the soul of her excellent son, " with more praises of him than Ihave room to insert, and finished by exalting the poor mother above thefamed Cornelia; "for those sons, whom she called her jewels, sheonly showed, yet kept them to herself: but you, madam, having two asprecious, I doubt not, as were ever that Roman dame's, have, beyond hercourage, lent them both to your country and to your queen, who thereinholds herself indebted to you for that which, if God give her grace, shewill repay as becomes both her and you. " Which epistle the sweet motherbedewed with holy tears, and laid by in the cedar-box which held herhousehold gods, by the side of Frank's innumerable diplomas and lettersof recommendation, the Latin whereof she was always spelling over(although she understood not a word of it), in hopes of finding, hereand there, that precious excellentissimus Noster Franciscus LeighiusAnglus, which was all in all to the mother's heart. 

But why did Amyas go to the South Seas? Amyas went to the South Seas fortwo causes, each of which has, before now, sent many a lad to far worseplaces: first, because of an old schoolmaster; secondly, because of ayoung beauty. I will take them in order and explain. 

Vindex Brimblecombe, whilom servitor of Exeter College, Oxford (commonlycalled Sir Vindex, after the fashion of the times), was, in those days, master of the grammar-school of Bideford. He was, at root, a godly andkind-hearted pedant enough; but, like most schoolmasters in the oldflogging days, had his heart pretty well hardened by long, banefullicense to inflict pain at will on those weaker than himself; a powerhealthful enough for the victim (for, doubtless, flogging is the best ofall punishments, being not only the shortest, but also a mere bodily andanimal, and not, like most of our new-fangled "humane" punishments, aspiritual and fiendish torture), but for the executioner pretty certainto eradicate, from all but the noblest spirits, every trace of chivalryand tenderness for the weak, as well, often, as all self-control andcommand of temper. Be that as it may, old Sir Vindex had heart enoughto feel that it was now his duty to take especial care of the fatherlessboy to whom he tried to teach his qui, quae, quod: but the only outcomeof that new sense of responsibility was a rapid increase in the numberof floggings, which rose from about two a week to one per diem, notwithout consequences to the pedagogue himself. 

For all this while, Amyas had never for a moment lost sight of hisdarling desire for a sea-life; and when he could not wander on the quayand stare at the shipping, or go down to the pebble-ridge at Northam, and there sit, devouring, with hungry eyes, the great expanse of ocean, which seemed to woo him outward into boundless space, he used to consolehimself, in school-hours, by drawing ships and imaginary charts upon hisslate, instead of minding his "humanities. "

Now it befell, upon an afternoon, that he was very busy at a map, orbird's-eye view of an island, whereon was a great castle, and at thegate thereof a dragon, terrible to see; while in the foreground camethat which was meant for a gallant ship, with a great flag aloft, butwhich, by reason of the forest of lances with which it was crowded, looked much more like a porcupine carrying a sign-post; and, at theroots of those lances, many little round o's, whereby was signifiedthe heads of Amyas and his schoolfellows, who were about to slay thatdragon, and rescue the beautiful princess who dwelt in that enchantedtower. To behold which marvel of art, all the other boys at the samedesk must needs club their heads together, and with the more security, because Sir Vindex, as was his custom after dinner, was lying back inhis chair, and slept the sleep of the just. 

But when Amyas, by special instigation of the evil spirit who hauntssuccessful artists, proceeded further to introduce, heedless ofperspective, a rock, on which stood the lively portraiture of SirVindex--nose, spectacles, gown, and all; and in his hand a brandishedrod, while out of his mouth a label shrieked after the runaways, "You come back!" while a similar label replied from the gallant bark, "Good-bye, master!" the shoving and tittering rose to such a pitch thatCerberus awoke, and demanded sternly what the noise was about. To which, of course, there was no answer. 

"You, of course, Leigh! Come up, sir, and show me your exercitation. "

Now of Amyas's exercitation not a word was written; and, moreover, he was in the very article of putting the last touches to Mr. Brimblecombe's portrait. Whereon, to the astonishment of all hearers, hemade answer--

"All in good time, sir!" and went on drawing. 

"In good time, sir! Insolent, veni et vapula!"

But Amyas went on drawing. 

"Come hither, sirrah, or I'll flay you alive!"

"Wait a bit!" answered Amyas. 

The old gentleman jumped up, ferula in hand, and darted across theschool, and saw himself upon the fatal slate. 

"Proh flagitium! what have we here, villain?" and clutching at hisvictim, he raised the cane. Whereupon, with a serene and cheerfulcountenance, up rose the mighty form of Amyas Leigh, a head andshoulders above his tormentor, and that slate descended on the baldcoxcomb of Sir Vindex Brimblecombe, with so shrewd a blow that slate andpate cracked at the same instant, and the poor pedagogue dropped to thefloor, and lay for dead. 

After which Amyas arose, and walked out of the school, and so quietlyhome; and having taken counsel with himself, went to his mother, andsaid, "Please, mother, I've broken schoolmaster's head. "

"Broken his head, thou wicked boy!" shrieked the poor widow; "what didstdo that for?"

"I can't tell, " said Amyas, penitently; "I couldn't help it. It lookedso smooth, and bald, and round, and--you know?"

"I know? Oh, wicked boy! thou hast given place to the devil; and now, perhaps, thou hast killed him. "

"Killed the devil?" asked Amyas, hopefully but doubtfully. 

"No, killed the schoolmaster, sirrah! Is he dead?"

"I don't think he's dead; his coxcomb sounded too hard for that. But hadnot I better go and tell Sir Richard?"

The poor mother could hardly help laughing, in spite of her terror, at Amyas's perfect coolness (which was not in the least meant forinsolence), and being at her wits' end, sent him, as usual, to hisgodfather. 

Amyas rehearsed his story again, with pretty nearly the sameexclamations, to which he gave pretty nearly the same answers; andthen--"What was he going to do to you, then, sirrah?"

"Flog me, because I could not write my exercise, and so drew a pictureof him instead. "

"What! art afraid of being flogged?"

"Not a bit; besides, I'm too much accustomed to it; but I was busy, andhe was in such a desperate hurry; and, oh, sir, if you had but seen hisbald head, you would have broken it yourself!"

Now Sir Richard had, twenty years ago, in like place, and very muchin like manner, broken the head of Vindex Brimblecombe's father, schoolmaster in his day, and therefore had a precedent to direct him;and he answered--"Amyas, sirrah! those who cannot obey will never be fitto rule. If thou canst not keep discipline now, thou wilt never make acompany or a crew keep it when thou art grown. Dost mind that, sirrah?"

"Yes, " said Amyas. 

"Then go back to school this moment, sir, and be flogged. "

"Very well, " said Amyas, considering that he had got off very cheaply;while Sir Richard, as soon as he was out of the room, lay back in hischair, and laughed till he cried again. 

So Amyas went back, and said that he was come to be flogged; whereon theold schoolmaster, whose pate had been plastered meanwhile, wept tears ofjoy over the returning prodigal, and then gave him such a switching ashe did not forget for eight-and-forty hours. 

But that evening Sir Richard sent for old Vindex, who entered, trembling, cap in hand; and having primed him with a cup of sack, said--"Well, Mr. Schoolmaster! My godson has been somewhat too much foryou to-day. There are a couple of nobles to pay the doctor. "

"O Sir Richard, gratias tibi et Domino! but the boy hits shrewdlyhard. Nevertheless I have repaid him in inverse kind, and set him animposition, to learn me one of Phaedrus his fables, Sir Richard, if youdo not think it too much. "

"Which, then? The one about the man who brought up a lion's cub, and waseaten by him in play at last?"

"Ah, Sir Richard! you have always a merry wit. But, indeed, the boy is abrave boy, and a quick boy, Sir Richard, but more forgetful than Lethe;and--sapienti loquor--it were well if he were away, for I shall neversee him again without my head aching. Moreover, he put my son Jack uponthe fire last Wednesday, as you would put a football, though he is ayear older, your worship, because, he said, he looked so like a roastingpig, Sir Richard. "

"Alas, poor Jack!"

"And what's more, your worship, he is pugnax, bellicosus, gladiator, a fire-eater and swash-buckler, beyond all Christian measure; avery sucking Entellus, Sir Richard, and will do to death some of hermajesty's lieges erelong, if he be not wisely curbed. It was but a monthagone that he bemoaned himself, I hear, as Alexander did, because therewere no more worlds to conquer, saying that it was a pity he was sostrong; for, now he had thrashed all the Bideford lads, he had no sportleft; and so, as my Jack tells me, last Tuesday week he fell upon ayoung man of Barnstaple, Sir Richard, a hosier's man, sir, and plebeius(which I consider unfit for one of his blood), and, moreover, a man fullgrown, and as big as either of us (Vindex stood five feet four in hishigh-heeled shoes), and smote him clean over the quay into the mud, because he said that there was a prettier maid in Barnstaple (yourworship will forgive my speaking of such toys, to which my fidelitycompels me) than ever Bideford could show; and then offered to do thesame to any man who dare say that Mistress Rose Salterne, his worshipthe mayor's daughter, was not the fairest lass in all Devon. "

"Eh? Say that over again, my good sir, " quoth Sir Richard, who had thusarrived, as we have seen, at the second count of the indictment. "I say, good sir, whence dost thou hear all these pretty stories?"

"My son Jack, Sir Richard, my son Jack, ingenui vultus puer. "

"But not, it seems, ingenui pudoris. Tell thee what, Mr. Schoolmaster, no wonder if thy son gets put on the fire, if thou employ him as atale-bearer. But that is the way of all pedagogues and their sons, by which they train the lads up eavesdroppers and favor-curriers, andprepare them--sirrah, do you hear?--for a much more lasting and hotterfire than that which has scorched thy son Jack's nether-tackle. Do youmark me, sir?"

The poor pedagogue, thus cunningly caught in his own trap, stoodtrembling before his patron, who, as hereditary head of the BridgeTrust, which endowed the school and the rest of the Bideford charities, could, by a turn of his finger, sweep him forth with the besomof destruction; and he gasped with terror as Sir Richard wenton--"Therefore, mind you, Sir Schoolmaster, unless you shall promise menever to hint word of what has passed between us two, and that neitheryou nor yours shall henceforth carry tales of my godson, or speak hisname within a day's march of Mistress Salterne's, look to it, if I donot--"

What was to be done in default was not spoken; for down went poor oldVindex on his knees:--

"Oh, Sir Richard! Excellentissime, immo praecelsissime Domine etSenator, I promise! O sir, Miles et Eques of the Garter, Bath, andGolden Fleece, consider your dignities, and my old age--and my greatfamily--nine children--oh, Sir Richard, and eight of them girls!--Doeagles war with mice? says the ancient!"

"Thy large family, eh? How old is that fat-witted son of thine?"

"Sixteen, Sir Richard; but that is not his fault, indeed!"

"Nay, I suppose he would be still sucking his thumb if he dared--get up, man--get up and seat yourself. "

"Heaven forbid!" murmured poor Vindex, with deep humility. 

"Why is not the rogue at Oxford, with a murrain on him, instead oflurching about here carrying tales and ogling the maidens?"

"I had hoped, Sir Richard--and therefore I said it was not hisfault--but there was never a servitorship at Exeter open. "

"Go to, man--go to! I will speak to my brethren of the Trust, and toOxford he shall go this autumn, or else to Exeter gaol, for a strongrogue, and a masterless man. Do you hear?"

"Hear?--oh, sir, yes! and return thanks. Jack shall go, Sir Richard, doubt it not--I were mad else; and, Sir Richard, may I go too?"

And therewith Vindex vanished, and Sir Richard enjoyed a second mightylaugh, which brought in Lady Grenville, who possibly had overheard thewhole; for the first words she said were--

"I think, my sweet life, we had better go up to Burrough. "

So to Burrough they went; and after much talk, and many tears, matterswere so concluded that Amyas Leigh found himself riding joyfully towardsPlymouth, by the side of Sir Richard, and being handed over to CaptainDrake, vanished for three years from the good town of Bideford. 

And now he is returned in triumph, and the observed of all observers;and looks round and round, and sees all faces whom he expects, exceptone; and that the one which he had rather see than his mother's? He isnot quite sure. Shame on himself!

And now the prayers being ended, the rector ascends the pulpit, andbegins his sermon on the text:--

"The heaven and the heaven of heavens are the Lord's; the whole earthhath he given to the children of men;" deducing therefrom craftily, tothe exceeding pleasure of his hearers, the iniquity of the Spaniardsin dispossessing the Indians, and in arrogating to themselves thesovereignty of the tropic seas; the vanity of the Pope of Rome inpretending to bestow on them the new countries of America; and thejustice, valor, and glory of Mr. Drake and his expedition, as testifiedby God's miraculous protection of him and his, both in the Straits ofMagellan, and in his battle with the Galleon; and last, but not least, upon the rock by Celebes, when the Pelican lay for hours firmly fixed, and was floated off unhurt, as it were by miracle, by a sudden shift ofwind. 

Ay, smile, reader, if you will; and, perhaps, there was matter for asmile in that honest sermon, interlarded, as it was, with scraps ofGreek and Hebrew, which no one understood, but every one expected astheir right (for a preacher was nothing then who could not prove himself"a good Latiner"); and graced, moreover, by a somewhat pedantic andlengthy refutation from Scripture of Dan Horace's cockney horror of thesea--

 "Illi robur et aes triplex, " etc. 

and his infidel and ungodly slander against the impias rates, and theircrews. 

Smile, if you will: but those were days (and there were never lesssuperstitious ones) in which Englishmen believed in the living God, andwere not ashamed to acknowledge, as a matter of course, His help andprovidence, and calling, in the matters of daily life, which we nowin our covert atheism term "secular and carnal;" and when, the sermonended, the communion service had begun, and the bread and the wine weregiven to those five mariners, every gallant gentleman who stood nearthem (for the press would not allow of more) knelt and received theelements with them as a thing of course, and then rose to join withheart and voice not merely in the Gloria in Excelsis, but in the TeDeum, which was the closing act of all. And no sooner had the clerkgiven out the first verse of that great hymn, than it was taken up byfive hundred voices within the church, in bass and tenor, treble andalto (for every one could sing in those days, and the west-country folk, as now, were fuller than any of music), the chant was caught up by thecrowd outside, and rang away over roof and river, up to the woods ofAnnery, and down to the marshes of the Taw, in wave on wave of harmony. And as it died away, the shipping in the river made answer with theirthunder, and the crowd streamed out again toward the Bridge Head, whither Sir Richard Grenville, and Sir John Chichester, and Mr. Salterne, the Mayor, led the five heroes of the day to await the pageantwhich had been prepared in honor of them. And as they went by, therewere few in the crowd who did not press forward to shake them by thehand, and not only them, but their parents and kinsfolk who walkedbehind, till Mrs. Leigh, her stately joy quite broken down at last, could only answer between her sobs, "Go along, good people--God a mercy, go along--and God send you all such sons!"

"God give me back mine!" cried an old red-cloaked dame in the crowd; andthen, struck by some hidden impulse, she sprang forward, and catchinghold of young Amyas's sleeve--

"Kind sir! dear sir! For Christ his sake answer a poor old widow woman!"

"What is it, dame?" quoth Amyas, gently enough. 

"Did you see my son to the Indies?--my son Salvation?"

"Salvation?" replied he, with the air of one who recollected the name. 

"Yes, sure, Salvation Yeo, of Clovelly. A tall man and black, andsweareth awfully in his talk, the Lord forgive him!"

Amyas recollected now. It was the name of the sailor who had given himthe wondrous horn five years ago. 

"My good dame, " said he, "the Indies are a very large place, and yourson may be safe and sound enough there, without my having seen him. I knew one Salvation Yeo. But he must have come with--By the by, godfather, has Mr. Oxenham come home?"

There was a dead silence for a moment among the gentlemen round; andthen Sir Richard said solemnly, and in a low voice, turning away fromthe old dame, --

"Amyas, Mr. Oxenham has not come home; and from the day he sailed, noword has been heard of him and all his crew. "

"Oh, Sir Richard! and you kept me from sailing with him! Had I knownthis before I went into church, I had had one mercy more to thank Godfor. "

"Thank Him all the more in thy life, my child!" whispered his mother. 

"And no news of him whatsoever?"

"None; but that the year after he sailed, a ship belonging to AndrewBarker, of Bristol, took out of a Spanish caravel, somewhere off theHonduras, his two brass guns; but whence they came the Spaniard knewnot, having bought them at Nombre de Dios. "

"Yes!" cried the old woman; "they brought home the guns, and neverbrought home my boy!"

"They never saw your boy, mother, " said Sir Richard. 

"But I've seen him! I saw him in a dream four years last Whitsuntide, asplain as I see you now, gentles, a-lying upon a rock, calling for a dropof water to cool his tongue, like Dives to the torment! Oh! dear me!"and the old dame wept bitterly. 

"There is a rose noble for you!" said Mrs. Leigh. 

"And there another!" said Sir Richard. And in a few minutes four or fivegold coins were in her hand. But the old dame did but look wonderinglyat the gold a moment, and then--

"Ah! dear gentles, God's blessing on you, and Mr. Cary's mighty good tome already; but gold won't buy back childer! O! young gentleman! younggentleman! make me a promise; if you want God's blessing on you thisday, bring me back my boy, if you find him sailing on the seas! Bringhim back, and an old widow's blessing be on you!"

Amyas promised--what else could he do?--and the group hurried on; butthe lad's heart was heavy in the midst of joy, with the thought of JohnOxenham, as he walked through the churchyard, and down the short streetwhich led between the ancient school and still more ancient town-house, to the head of the long bridge, across which the pageant, havingarranged "east-the-water, " was to defile, and then turn to the rightalong the quay. 

However, he was bound in all courtesy to turn his attention now to theshow which had been prepared in his honor, and which was really wellenough worth seeing and hearing. The English were, in those days, analtogether dramatic people; ready and able, as in Bideford that day, toextemporize a pageant, a masque, or any effort of the Thespian art shortof the regular drama. For they were, in the first place, even down tothe very poorest, a well-fed people, with fewer luxuries than we, butmore abundant necessaries; and while beef, ale, and good woollen clothescould be obtained in plenty, without overworking either body or soul, men had time to amuse themselves in something more intellectualthan mere toping in pot-houses. Moreover, the half century after theReformation in England was one not merely of new intellectual freedom, but of immense animal good spirits. After years of dumb confusion andcruel persecution, a breathing time had come: Mary and the fires ofSmithfield had vanished together like a hideous dream, and the mightyshout of joy which greeted Elizabeth's entry into London, was thekey-note of fifty glorious years; the expression of a new-found strengthand freedom, which vented itself at home in drama and in song; abroadin mighty conquests, achieved with the laughing recklessness of boys atplay. 

So first, preceded by the waits, came along the bridge toward thetown-hall a device prepared by the good rector, who, standing by, actedas showman, and explained anxiously to the bystanders the import ofa certain "allegory" wherein on a great banner was depicted QueenElizabeth herself, who, in ample ruff and farthingale, a Bible in onehand and a sword in the other, stood triumphant upon the necks of twosufficiently abject personages, whose triple tiara and imperial crownproclaimed them the Pope and the King of Spain; while a label, issuingfrom her royal mouth, informed the world that--

 "By land and sea a virgin queen I reign, And spurn to dust both Antichrist and Spain. "

Which, having been received with due applause, a well-bedizened lad, having in his cap as a posy "Loyalty, " stepped forward, and deliveredhimself of the following verses:--

 "Oh, great Eliza! oh, world-famous crew! Which shall I hail more blest, your queen or you? While without other either falls to wrack, And light must eyes, or eyes their light must lack. She without you, a diamond sunk in mine, Its worth unprized, to self alone must shine; You without her, like hands bereft of head, Like Ajax rage, by blindfold lust misled. She light, you eyes; she head, and you the hands, In fair proportion knit by heavenly hands; Servants in queen, and queen in servants blest; Your only glory, how to serve her best; And hers how best the adventurous might to guide, Which knows no check of foemen, wind, or tide, So fair Eliza's spotless fame may fly Triumphant round the globe, and shake th' astounded sky!"

With which sufficiently bad verses Loyalty passed on, while my Lady Bathhinted to Sir Richard, not without reason, that the poet, in trying toexalt both parties, had very sufficiently snubbed both, and intimatedthat it was "hardly safe for country wits to attempt that euphuistic, antithetical, and delicately conceited vein, whose proper fountain wasin Whitehall. " However, on went Loyalty, very well pleased with himself, and next, amid much cheering, two great tinsel fish, a salmon and atrout, symbolical of the wealth of Torridge, waddled along, by meansof two human legs and a staff apiece, which protruded from the fishes'stomachs. They drew (or seemed to draw, for half the 'prentices in thetown were shoving it behind, and cheering on the panting monarchs ofthe flood) a car wherein sate, amid reeds and river-flags, three orfour pretty girls in robes of gray-blue spangled with gold, their headswreathed one with a crown of the sweet bog-myrtle, another with hopsand white convolvulus, the third with pale heather and golden fern. Theystopped opposite Amyas; and she of the myrtle wreath, rising and bowingto him and the company, began with a pretty blush to say her say:--

 "Hither from my moorland home, Nymph of Torridge, proud I come; Leaving fen and furzy brake, Haunt of eft and spotted snake, Where to fill mine urns I use, Daily with Atlantic dews; While beside the reedy flood Wild duck leads her paddling brood. For this morn, as Phoebus gay Chased through heaven the night mist gray, Close beside me, prankt in pride, Sister Tamar rose, and cried, 'Sluggard, up! 'Tis holiday, In the lowlands far away. Hark! how jocund Plymouth bells, Wandering up through mazy dells, Call me down, with smiles to hail, My daring Drake's returning sail. ' 'Thine alone?' I answer'd. 'Nay; Mine as well the joy to-day. Heroes train'd on Northern wave, To that Argo new I gave; Lent to thee, they roam'd the main; Give me, nymph, my sons again. ' 'Go, they wait Thee, ' Tamar cried, Southward bounding from my side. Glad I rose, and at my call, Came my Naiads, one and all. Nursling of the mountain sky, Leaving Dian's choir on high, Down her cataracts laughing loud, Ockment leapt from crag and cloud, Leading many a nymph, who dwells Where wild deer drink in ferny dells; While the Oreads as they past Peep'd from Druid Tors aghast. By alder copses sliding slow, Knee-deep in flowers came gentler Yeo And paused awhile her locks to twine With musky hops and white woodbine, Then joined the silver-footed band, Which circled down my golden sand, By dappled park, and harbor shady, Haunt of love-lorn knight and lady, My thrice-renowned sons to greet, With rustic song and pageant meet. For joy! the girdled robe around Eliza's name henceforth shall sound, Whose venturous fleets to conquest start, Where ended once the seaman's chart, While circling Sol his steps shall count Henceforth from Thule's western mount, And lead new rulers round the seas From furthest Cassiterides. For found is now the golden tree, Solv'd th' Atlantic mystery, Pluck'd the dragon-guarded fruit; While around the charmed root, Wailing loud, the Hesperids Watch their warder's drooping lids. Low he lies with grisly wound, While the sorceress triple-crown'd In her scarlet robe doth shield him, Till her cunning spells have heal'd him. Ye, meanwhile, around the earth Bear the prize of manful worth. Yet a nobler meed than gold Waits for Albion's children bold; Great Eliza's virgin hand Welcomes you to Fairy-land, While your native Naiads bring Native wreaths as offering. Simple though their show may be, Britain's worship in them see. 'Tis not price, nor outward fairness, Gives the victor's palm its rareness; Simplest tokens can impart Noble throb to noble heart: Graecia, prize thy parsley crown, Boast thy laurel, Caesar's town; Moorland myrtle still shall be Badge of Devon's Chivalry!"

And so ending, she took the wreath of fragrant gale from her own head, and stooping from the car, placed it on the head of Amyas Leigh, whomade answer--

"There is no place like home, my fair mistress and no scent to my tastelike this old home-scent in all the spice-islands that I ever sailedby!"

"Her song was not so bad, " said Sir Richard to Lady Bath--"but how cameshe to hear Plymouth bells at Tamar-head, full fifty miles away? That'stoo much of a poet's license, is it not?"

"The river-nymphs, as daughters of Oceanus, and thus of immortalparentage, are bound to possess organs of more than mortal keenness;but, as you say, the song was not so bad--erudite, as well asprettily conceived--and, saving for a certain rustical simplicity andmonosyllabic baldness, smacks rather of the forests of Castaly thanthose of Torridge. "

So spake my Lady Bath; whom Sir Richard wisely answered not; for she wasa terribly learned member of the college of critics, and disputed evenwith Sidney's sister the chieftaincy of the Euphuists; so Sir Richardanswered not, but answer was made for him. 

"Since the whole choir of Muses, madam, have migrated to the Court ofWhitehall, no wonder if some dews of Parnassus should fertilize at timeseven our Devon moors. "

The speaker was a tall and slim young man, some five-and-twenty yearsold, of so rare and delicate a beauty, that it seemed that some Greekstatue, or rather one of those pensive and pious knights whom the oldGerman artists took delight to paint, had condescended to tread awhilethis work-day earth in living flesh and blood. The forehead was verylofty and smooth, the eyebrows thin and greatly arched (the enviousgallants whispered that something at least of their curve was due toart, as was also the exceeding smoothness of those delicate cheeks). The face was somewhat long and thin; the nose aquiline; and the languidmouth showed, perhaps, too much of the ivory upper teeth; but themost striking point of the speaker's appearance was the extraordinarybrilliancy of his complexion, which shamed with its whiteness that ofall fair ladies round, save where open on each cheek a bright red spotgave warning, as did the long thin neck and the taper hands, of sadpossibilities, perhaps not far off; possibilities which all saw with aninward sigh, except she whose doting glances, as well as her resemblanceto the fair youth, proclaimed her at once his mother, Mrs. Leighherself. 

Master Frank, for he it was, was dressed in the very extravagance ofthe fashion, --not so much from vanity, as from that delicate instinctof self-respect which would keep some men spruce and spotless from oneyear's end to another upon a desert island; "for, " as Frank used to sayin his sententious way, "Mr. Frank Leigh at least beholds me, thoughnone else be by; and why should I be more discourteous to him thanI permit others to be? Be sure that he who is a Grobian in his owncompany, will, sooner or later, become a Grobian in that of hisfriends. "

So Mr. Frank was arrayed spotlessly; but after the latest fashion ofMilan, not in trunk hose and slashed sleeves, nor in "French standingcollar, treble quadruple daedalian ruff, or stiff-necked rabato, thathad more arches for pride, propped up with wire and timber, than fiveLondon Bridges;" but in a close-fitting and perfectly plain suit ofdove-color, which set off cunningly the delicate proportions of hisfigure, and the delicate hue of his complexion, which was shaded fromthe sun by a broad dove-colored Spanish hat, with feather to match, looped up over the right ear with a pearl brooch, and therein a crownedE, supposed by the damsels of Bideford to stand for Elizabeth, whichwas whispered to be the gift of some most illustrious hand. This samelooping up was not without good reason and purpose prepense; thereby allthe world had full view of a beautiful little ear, which looked as ifit had been cut of cameo, and made, as my Lady Rich once told him, "tohearken only to the music of the spheres, or to the chants of cherubim. "Behind the said ear was stuck a fresh rose; and the golden hair was alldrawn smoothly back and round to the left temple, whence, tied with apink ribbon in a great true lover's knot, a mighty love-lock, "curled asit had been laid in press, " rolled down low upon his bosom. Oh, Frank!Frank! have you come out on purpose to break the hearts of all Bidefordburghers' daughters? And if so, did you expect to further that triumphby dyeing that pretty little pointed beard (with shame I report it) ofa bright vermilion? But we know you better, Frank, and so does yourmother; and you are but a masquerading angel after all, in spite ofyour knots and your perfumes, and the gold chain round your neck which aGerman princess gave you; and the emerald ring on your right fore-fingerwhich Hatton gave you; and the pair of perfumed gloves in your leftwhich Sidney's sister gave you; and the silver-hilted Toledo which anItalian marquis gave you on a certain occasion of which you never chooseto talk, like a prudent and modest gentleman as you are; but of whichthe gossips talk, of course, all the more, and whisper that you savedhis life from bravoes--a dozen, at the least; and had that sword foryour reward, and might have had his beautiful sister's hand beside, andI know not what else; but that you had so many lady-loves already thatyou were loath to burden yourself with a fresh one. That, at least, weknow to be a lie, fair Frank; for your heart is as pure this day as whenyou knelt in your little crib at Burrough, and said--

 "Four corners to my bed Four angels round my head; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on. "

And who could doubt it (if being pure themselves, they have instinctivesympathy with what is pure), who ever looked into those great deep blueeyes of yours, "the black fringed curtains of whose azure lids, "usually down-dropt as if in deepest thought, you raise slowly, almostwonderingly each time you speak, as if awakening from some fair dreamwhose home is rather in your platonical "eternal world of supra-sensibleforms, " than on that work-day earth wherein you nevertheless acquityourself so well? There--I must stop describing you, or I shall catchthe infection of your own euphuism, and talk of you as you would havetalked of Sidney or of Spenser, or of that Swan of Avon, whose songhad just begun when yours--but I will not anticipate; my Lady Bath iswaiting to give you her rejoinder. 

"Ah, my silver-tongued scholar! and are you, then, the poet? or haveyou been drawing on the inexhaustible bank of your friend Raleigh, or mycousin Sidney? or has our new Cygnet Immerito lent you a few unpublishedleaves from some fresh Shepherd's Calendar?"

"Had either, madam, of that cynosural triad been within call of mymost humble importunities, your ears had been delectate with far noblermelody. "

"But not our eyes with fairer faces, eh? Well, you have chosen yournymphs, and had good store from whence to pick, I doubt not. Fewyoung Dulcineas round but must have been glad to take service under sorenowned a captain?"

"The only difficulty, gracious countess, has been to know where to fixthe wandering choice of my bewildered eyes, where all alike are fair, and all alike facund. "

"We understand, " said she, smiling;--

 "Dan Cupid, choosing 'midst his mother's graces, Himself more fair, made scorn of fairest faces. "

The young scholar capped her distich forthwith, and bowing to her with ameaning look, "'Then, Goddess, turn, ' he cried, 'and veil thy light; Blinded by thine, what eyes can choose aright?'"

"Go, saucy sir, " said my lady, in high glee: "the pageant stays yoursupreme pleasure. "

And away went Mr. Frank as master of the revels, to bring up the'prentices' pageant; while, for his sake, the nymph of Torridge wasforgotten for awhile by all young dames, and most young gentlemen: andhis mother heaved a deep sigh, which Lady Bath overhearing--

"What? in the dumps, good madam, while all are rejoicing in your joy?Are you afraid that we court-dames shall turn your Adonis's brain forhim?"

"I do, indeed, fear lest your condescension should make him forget thathe is only a poor squire's orphan. "

"I will warrant him never to forget aught that he should recollect, "said my Lady Bath. 

And she spoke truly. But soon Frank's silver voice was heard callingout--

"Room there, good people, for the gallant 'prentice lads!"

And on they came, headed by a giant of buckram and pasteboard armor, forth of whose stomach looked, like a clock-face in a steeple, a humanvisage, to be greeted, as was the fashion then, by a volley of quips andpuns from high and low. 

Young Mr. William Cary, of Clovelly, who was the wit of those parts, opened the fire by asking him whether he were Goliath, Gogmagog, orGrantorto in the romance; for giants' names always began with a G. Towhich the giant's stomach answered pretty surlily--

"Mine don't; I begin with an O. "

"Then thou criest out before thou art hurt, O cowardly giant!"

"Let me out, lads, " quoth the irascible visage, struggling in hisbuckram prison, "and I soon show him whether I be a coward. "

"Nay, if thou gettest out of thyself, thou wouldst be beside thyself, and so wert but a mad giant. "

"And that were pity, " said Lady Bath; "for by the romances, giants havenever overmuch wit to spare. "

"Mercy, dear lady!" said Frank, "and let the giant begin with an O. "

"A ----"

"A false start, giant! you were to begin with an O. "

"I'll make you end with an O, Mr. William Cary!" roared the testy towerof buckram. 

"And so I do, for I end with 'Fico!'"

"Be mollified, sweet giant, " said Frank, "and spare the rash youth ofyon foolish knight. Shall elephants catch flies, or Hurlo-Thrumbo stainhis club with brains of Dagonet the jester? Be mollified; leave thycaverned grumblings, like Etna when its windy wrath is past, anddiscourse eloquence from thy central omphalos, like Pythonessventriloquizing. "

"If you do begin laughing at me too, Mr. Leigh ----" said the giant'sclock-face, in a piteous tone. 

"I laugh not. Art thou not Ordulf the earl, and I thy humblest squire?Speak up, my lord; your cousin, my Lady Bath, commands you. "

And at last the giant began:--

 "A giant I, Earl Ordulf men me call, -- 'Gainst Paynim foes Devonia's champion tall; In single fight six thousand Turks I slew; Pull'd off a lion's head, and ate it too: With one shrewd blow, to let St. Edward in, I smote the gates of Exeter in twain; Till aged grown, by angels warn'd in dream, I built an abbey fair by Tavy stream. But treacherous time hath tripped my glories up, The stanch old hound must yield to stancher pup; Here's one so tall as I, and twice so bold, Where I took only cuffs, takes good red gold. From pole to pole resound his wondrous works, Who slew more Spaniards than I e'er slew Turks; I strode across the Tavy stream: but he Strode round the world and back; and here 'a be!"

"Oh, bathos!" said Lady Bath, while the 'prentices shouted applause. "Isthis hedge-bantling to be fathered on you, Mr. Frank?"

"It is necessary, by all laws of the drama, madam, " said Frank, with asly smile, "that the speech and the speaker shall fit each other. Passon, Earl Ordulf; a more learned worthy waits. "

Whereon, up came a fresh member of the procession; namely, no lessa person than Vindex Brimblecombe, the ancient schoolmaster, withfive-and-forty boys at his heels, who halting, pulled out hisspectacles, and thus signified his forgiveness of his whilom brokenhead:--

"That the world should have been circumnavigated, ladies and gentles, were matter enough of jubilation to the student of Herodotus and Plato, Plinius and ---- ahem! much more when the circumnavigators are Britons;more, again, when Damnonians. "

"Don't swear, master, " said young Will Cary. 

"Gulielme Cary, Gulielme Cary, hast thou forgotten thy--"

"Whippings? Never, old lad! Go on; but let not the license of thescholar overtop the modesty of the Christian. "

"More again, as I said, when, incolae, inhabitants of Devon; but, most of all, men of Bideford school. Oh renowned school! Oh schoolboysennobled by fellowship with him! Oh most happy pedagogue, to whom it hasbefallen to have chastised a circumnavigator, and, like another Chiron, trained another Hercules: yet more than Hercules, for he placedhis pillars on the ocean shore, and then returned; but my scholar'svoyage--"

"Hark how the old fox is praising himself all along on the sly, " saidCary. 

"Mr. William, Mr. William, peace;--silentium, my graceless pupil. Urgethe foaming steed, and strike terror into the rapid stag, but meddle notwith matters too high for thee. "

"He has given you the dor now, sir, " said Lady Bath; "let the old mansay his say. "

"I bring, therefore, as my small contribution to this day's feast; firsta Latin epigram, as thus--"

"Latin? Let us hear it forthwith, " cried my lady. 

And the old pedant mouthed out--

 "Torriguiam Tamaris ne spernat; Leighius addet Mox terras terris, inclyte Drake, tuis. "

"Neat, i' faith, la!" Whereon all the rest, as in duty bound, approvedalso. 

"This for the erudite: for vulgar ears the vernacular is more consonant, sympathetic, instructive; as thus:--

 "Famed Argo ship, that noble chip, by doughty Jason's steering, Brought back to Greece the golden fleece, from Colchis home careering; But now her fame is put to shame, while new Devonian Argo, Round earth doth run in wake of sun, and brings wealthier cargo. "

"Runs with a right fa-lal-la, " observed Cary; "and would go nobly to afiddle and a big drum. "

 "Ye Spaniards, quake! our doughty Drake a royal swan is tested, On wing and oar, from shore to shore, the raging main who breasted:-- But never needs to chant his deeds, like swan that lies a-dying, So far his name, by trump of fame, around the sphere is flying. "

"Hillo ho! schoolmaster!" shouted a voice from behind; "move on, andmake way for Father Neptune!" Whereon a whole storm of raillery fellupon the hapless pedagogue. 

"We waited for the parson's alligator, but we wain't for yourn. "

"Allegory! my children, allegory!" shrieked the man of letters. 

"What do ye call he an alligator for? He is but a poor little starvedevat!"

"Out of the road, old Custis! March on, Don Palmado!"

These allusions to the usual instrument of torture in West-countryschools made the old gentleman wince; especially when they were followedhome by--

"Who stole Admiral Grenville's brooms, because birch rods were dear?"

But proudly he shook his bald head, as a bull shakes off the flies, andreturned to the charge once more. 

"Great Alexander, famed commander, wept and made a pother, At conqueringonly half the world, but Drake had conquer'd t'other; And Hercules tobrink of seas!--"

"Oh--!"

And clapping both hands to the back of his neck, the schoolmaster begandancing frantically about, while his boys broke out tittering, "O! theochidore! look to the blue ochidore! Who've put ochidore to maister'spoll!"

It was too true: neatly inserted, as he stooped forward, between hisneck and his collar, was a large live shore-crab, holding on tight withboth hands. 

"Gentles! good Christians! save me! I am mare-rode! Incubo, vel abincubo, opprimor! Satanas has me by the poll! Help! he tears my jugular;he wrings my neck, as he does to Dr. Faustus in the play. Confiteor!--Iconfess! Satan, I defy thee! Good people, I confess! [Greek text]! Thetruth will out. Mr. Francis Leigh wrote the epigram!" And diving throughthe crowd, the pedagogue vanished howling, while Father Neptune, crownedwith sea-weeds, a trident in one hand, and a live dog-fish in the other, swaggered up the street surrounded by a tall bodyguard of mariners, andfollowed by a great banner, on which was depicted a globe, with Drake'sship sailing thereon upside down, and overwritten--

 "See every man the Pelican, Which round the world did go, While her stern-post was uppermost, And topmasts down below. And by the way she lost a day, Out of her log was stole: But Neptune kind, with favoring wind, Hath brought her safe and whole. "

"Now, lads!" cried Neptune; "hand me my parable that's writ for me, andhere goeth!"

And at the top of his bull-voice, he began roaring--

 "I am King Neptune bold, The ruler of the seas I don't understand much singing upon land, But I hope what I say will please. 

 "Here be five Bideford men, Which have sail'd the world around, And I watch'd them well, as they all can tell, And brought them home safe and sound. 

 "For it is the men of Devon. To see them I take delight, Both to tack and to hull, and to heave and to pull, And to prove themselves in fight. 

 "Where be those Spaniards proud, That make their valiant boasts; And think for to keep the poor Indians for their sheep, And to farm my golden coasts?

 "'Twas the devil and the Pope gave them My kingdom for their own: But my nephew Francis Drake, he caused them to quake, And he pick'd them to the bone. 

 "For the sea my realm it is, As good Queen Bess's is the land; So freely come again, all merry Devon men, And there's old Neptune's hand. "

"Holla, boys! holla! Blow up, Triton, and bring forward the freedom ofthe seas. "

Triton, roaring through a conch, brought forward a cockle-shell full ofsalt-water, and delivered it solemnly to Amyas, who, of course, put anoble into it, and returned it after Grenville had done the same. 

"Holla, Dick Admiral!" cried neptune, who was pretty far gone in liquor;"we knew thou hadst a right English heart in thee, for all thou standestthere as taut as a Don who has swallowed his rapier. "

"Grammercy, stop thy bellowing, fellow, and on; for thou smellest vilelyof fish. "

"Everything smells sweet in its right place. I'm going home. "

"I thought thou wert there all along, being already half-seas over, "said Cary. 

"Ay, right Upsee-Dutch; and that's more than thou ever wilt be, thou'long-shore stay-at-home. Why wast making sheep's eyes at MistressSalterne here, while my pretty little chuck of Burrough there wasplaying at shove-groat with Spanish doubloons?"

"Go to the devil, sirrah!" said Cary. Neptune had touched on a soresubject; and more cheeks than Amyas Leigh's reddened at the hint. 

"Amen, if Heaven so please!" and on rolled the monarch of the seas; andso the pageant ended. 

The moment Amyas had an opportunity, he asked his brother Frank, somewhat peevishly, where Rose Salterne was. 

"What! the mayor's daughter? With her uncle by Kilkhampton, I believe. "

Now cunning Master Frank, whose daily wish was to "seek peace and ensueit, " told Amyas this, because he must needs speak the truth: but he waspurposed at the same time to speak as little truth as he could, for fearof accidents; and, therefore, omitted to tell his brother how that he, two days before, had entreated Rose Salterne herself to appear as thenymph of Torridge; which honor she, who had no objection either toexhibit her pretty face, to recite pretty poetry, or to be trainedthereto by the cynosure of North Devon, would have assented willingly, but that her father stopped the pretty project by a peremptorycountermove, and packed her off, in spite of her tears, to the saiduncle on the Atlantic cliffs; after which he went up to Burrough, andlaughed over the whole matter with Mrs. Leigh. 

"I am but a burgher, Mrs. Leigh, and you a lady of blood; but I am tooproud to let any man say that Simon Salterne threw his daughter at yourson's head;--no; not if you were an empress!"

"And to speak truth, Mr. Salterne, there are young gallants enough inthe country quarrelling about her pretty face every day, without makingher a tourney-queen to tilt about. "

Which was very true; for during the three years of Amyas's absence, RoseSalterne had grown into so beautiful a girl of eighteen, that half NorthDevon was mad about the "Rose of Torridge, " as she was called; andthere was not a young gallant for ten miles round (not to speak of herfather's clerks and 'prentices, who moped about after her like so manyMalvolios, and treasured up the very parings of her nails) who wouldnot have gone to Jerusalem to win her. So that all along the vales ofTorridge and of Taw, and even away to Clovelly (for young Mr. Cary wasone of the sick), not a gay bachelor but was frowning on his fellows, and vying with them in the fashion of his clothes, the set of his ruffs, the harness of his horse, the carriage of his hawks, the pattern of hissword-hilt; and those were golden days for all tailors and armorers, from Exmoor to Okehampton town. But of all those foolish young ladsnot one would speak to the other, either out hunting, or at the archerybutts, or in the tilt-yard; and my Lady Bath (who confessed that therewas no use in bringing out her daughters where Rose Salterne was in theway) prophesied in her classical fashion that Rose's wedding bid fairto be a very bridal of Atalanta, and feast of the Lapithae; and poorMr. Will Cary (who always blurted out the truth), when old Salterne onceasked him angrily in Bideford Market, "What a plague business had hemaking sheep's eyes at his daughter?" broke out before all bystanders, "And what a plague business had you, old boy, to throw such an apple ofdiscord into our merry meetings hereabouts? If you choose to have sucha daughter, you must take the consequences, and be hanged to you. " Towhich Mr. Salterne answered with some truth, "That she was none of hischoosing, nor of Mr. Cary's neither. " And so the dor being given, thebelligerents parted laughing, but the war remained in statu quo; andnot a week passed but, by mysterious hands, some nosegay, or languishingsonnet, was conveyed into The Rose's chamber, all which she stowed away, with the simplicity of a country girl, finding it mighty pleasant; andtook all compliments quietly enough, probably because, on the authorityof her mirror, she considered them no more than her due. 

And now, to add to the general confusion, home was come young AmyasLeigh, more desperately in love with her than ever. For, as is theway with sailors (who after all are the truest lovers, as they are thefinest fellows, God bless them, upon earth), his lonely ship-watcheshad been spent in imprinting on his imagination, month after month, yearafter year, every feature and gesture and tone of the fair lass whom hehad left behind him; and that all the more intensely, because, besidehis mother, he had no one else to think of, and was as pure as the dayhe was born, having been trained as many a brave young man was then, to look upon profligacy not as a proof of manhood, but as what the oldGermans, and those Gortyneans who crowned the offender with wool, knewit to be, a cowardly and effeminate sin. 

CHAPTER III

OF TWO GENTLEMEN OF WALES, AND HOW THEY HUNTED WITH THE HOUNDS, AND YETRAN WITH THE DEER

 "I know that Deformed; he has been a vile thief this seven years; he goes up and down like a gentleman: I remember his name. "--Much Ado About Nothing. 

Amyas slept that night a tired and yet a troubled sleep; and his motherand Frank, as they bent over his pillow, could see that his brain wasbusy with many dreams. 

And no wonder; for over and above all the excitement of the day, therecollection of John Oxenham had taken strange possession of his mind;and all that evening, as he sat in the bay-windowed room where he hadseen him last, Amyas was recalling to himself every look and gestureof the lost adventurer, and wondering at himself for so doing, tillhe retired to sleep, only to renew the fancy in his dreams. At last hefound himself, he knew not how, sailing westward ever, up the wake ofthe setting sun, in chase of a tiny sail which was John Oxenham's. Upon him was a painful sense that, unless he came up with her in time, something fearful would come to pass; but the ship would not sail. Allaround floated the sargasso beds, clogging her bows with their longsnaky coils of weed; and still he tried to sail, and tried to fancy thathe was sailing, till the sun went down and all was utter dark. And thenthe moon arose, and in a moment John Oxenham's ship was close aboard;her sails were torn and fluttering; the pitch was streaming from hersides; her bulwarks were rotting to decay. And what was that line ofdark objects dangling along the mainyard?--A line of hanged men! And, horror of horrors, from the yard-arm close above him, John Oxenham'scorpse looked down with grave-light eyes, and beckoned and pointed, asif to show him his way, and strove to speak, and could not, and pointedstill, not forward, but back along their course. And when Amyas lookedback, behold, behind him was the snow range of the Andes glittering inthe moon, and he knew that he was in the South Seas once more, and thatall America was between him and home. And still the corpse kept pointingback, and back, and looking at him with yearning eyes of agony, and lipswhich longed to tell some awful secret; till he sprang up, and woke witha shout of terror, and found himself lying in the little coved chamberin dear old Burrough, with the gray autumn morning already stealing in. 

Feverish and excited, he tried in vain to sleep again; and after anhour's tossing, rose and dressed, and started for a bathe on his belovedold pebble ridge. As he passed his mother's door, he could not helplooking in. The dim light of morning showed him the bed; but itspillow had not been pressed that night. His mother, in her long whitenight-dress, was kneeling at the other end of the chamber at herprie-dieu, absorbed in devotion. Gently he slipped in without a word, and knelt down at her side. She turned, smiled, passed her arm aroundhim, and went on silently with her prayers. Why not? They were for him, and he knew it, and prayed also; and his prayers were for her, and forpoor lost John Oxenham, and all his vanished crew. 

At last she rose, and standing above him, parted the yellow locks fromoff his brow, and looked long and lovingly into his face. There wasnothing to be spoken, for there was nothing to be concealed betweenthese two souls as clear as glass. Each knew all which the other meant;each knew that its own thoughts were known. At last the mutual gaze wasover; she stooped and kissed him on the brow, and was in the act toturn away, as a tear dropped on his forehead. Her little bare feet werepeeping out from under her dress. He bent down and kissed them again andagain; and then looking up, as if to excuse himself, --

"You have such pretty feet, mother!"

Instantly, with a woman's instinct, she had hidden them. She had been abeauty once, as I said; and though her hair was gray, and her roses hadfaded long ago, she was beautiful still, in all eyes which saw deeperthan the mere outward red and white. 

"Your dear father used to say so thirty years ago. "

"And I say so still: you always were beautiful; you are beautiful now. "

"What is that to you, silly boy? Will you play the lover with an oldmother? Go and take your walk, and think of younger ladies, if you canfind any worthy of you. "

And so the son went forth, and the mother returned to her prayers. 

He walked down to the pebble ridge, where the surges of the bay havedefeated their own fury, by rolling up in the course of ages a rampartof gray boulder-stones, some two miles long, as cunningly curved, andsmoothed, and fitted, as if the work had been done by human hands, whichprotects from the high tides of spring and autumn a fertile sheet ofsmooth, alluvial turf. Sniffing the keen salt air like a young sea-dog, he stripped and plunged into the breakers, and dived, and rolled, andtossed about the foam with stalwart arms, till he heard himself hailedfrom off the shore, and looking up, saw standing on the top of therampart the tall figure of his cousin Eustace. 

Amyas was half-disappointed at his coming; for, love-lorn rascal, he hadbeen dreaming all the way thither of Rose Salterne, and had no wishfor a companion who would prevent his dreaming of her all the way back. Nevertheless, not having seen Eustace for three years, it was but civilto scramble out and dress, while his cousin walked up and down upon theturf inside. 

Eustace Leigh was the son of a younger brother of Leigh of Burrough, whohad more or less cut himself off from his family, and indeed from hiscountrymen, by remaining a Papist. True, though born a Papist, he hadnot always been one; for, like many of the gentry, he had become aProtestant under Edward the Sixth, and then a Papist again under Mary. But, to his honor be it said, at that point he had stopped, havingtoo much honesty to turn Protestant a second time, as hundreds did, atElizabeth's accession. So a Papist he remained, living out of the wayof the world in a great, rambling, dark house, still called "Chapel, "on the Atlantic cliffs, in Moorwinstow parish, not far from Sir RichardGrenville's house of Stow. The penal laws never troubled him; for, inthe first place, they never troubled any one who did not make conspiracyand rebellion an integral doctrine of his religious creed; and next, they seldom troubled even them, unless, fired with the glory ofmartyrdom, they bullied the long-suffering of Elizabeth and her councilinto giving them their deserts, and, like poor Father Southwell inafter years, insisted on being hanged, whether Burleigh liked or not. Moreover, in such a no-man's-land and end-of-all-the-earth was that oldhouse at Moorwinstow, that a dozen conspiracies might have been hatchedthere without any one hearing of it; and Jesuits and seminary priestsskulked in and out all the year round, unquestioned though unblest; andfound a sort of piquant pleasure, like naughty boys who have creptinto the store-closet, in living in mysterious little dens in a lonelyturret, and going up through a trap-door to celebrate mass in a secretchamber in the roof, where they were allowed by the powers that were toplay as much as they chose at persecuted saints, and preach about hidingin dens and caves of the earth. For once, when the zealous parsonof Moorwinstow, having discovered (what everybody knew already) theexistence of "mass priests and their idolatry" at Chapel House, madeformal complaint thereof to Sir Richard, and called on him, as thenearest justice of the peace, to put in force the act of the fourteenthof Elizabeth, that worthy knight only rated him soundly for afantastical Puritan, and bade him mind his own business, if he wishednot to make the place too hot for him; whereon (for the temporalauthorities, happily for the peace of England, kept in those daysa somewhat tight hand upon the spiritual ones) the worthy parsonsubsided, --for, after all, Mr. Thomas Leigh paid his tithes regularlyenough, --and was content, as he expressed it, to bow his head in thehouse of Rimmon like Naaman of old, by eating Mr. Leigh's dinnersas often as he was invited, and ignoring the vocation of old FatherFrancis, who sat opposite to him, dressed as a layman, and callinghimself the young gentleman's pedagogue. 

But the said birds of ill-omen had a very considerable lien on theconscience of poor Mr. Thomas Leigh, the father of Eustace, in the formof certain lands once belonging to the Abbey of Hartland. He more thanhalf believed that he should be lost for holding those lands; but he didnot believe it wholly, and, therefore, he did not give them up; whichwas the case, as poor Mary Tudor found to her sorrow, with most of her"Catholic" subjects, whose consciences, while they compelled them toreturn to the only safe fold of Mother Church (extra quam nulla salus), by no means compelled them to disgorge the wealth of which they hadplundered that only hope of their salvation. Most of them, however, likepoor Tom Leigh, felt the abbey rents burn in their purses; and, as JohnBull generally does in a difficulty, compromised the matter by a secondfolly (as if two wrong things made one right one), and petted foreignpriests, and listened, or pretended not to listen, to their plottingsand their practisings; and gave up a son here, and a son there, as asort of a sin-offering and scapegoat, to be carried off to Douay, orRheims, or Rome, and trained as a seminary priest; in plain English, tobe taught the science of villainy, on the motive of superstition. One ofsuch hapless scapegoats, and children who had been cast into the fire toMoloch, was Eustace Leigh, whom his father had sent, giving the fruit ofhis body for the sin of his soul, to be made a liar of at Rheims. 

And a very fair liar he had become. Not that the lad was a bad fellow atheart; but he had been chosen by the harpies at home, on account of his"peculiar vocation;" in plain English, because the wily priests had seenin him certain capacities of vague hysterical fear of the unseen (thereligious sentiment, we call it now-a-days), and with them that tendencyto be a rogue, which superstitious men always have. He was now a tall, handsome, light-complexioned man, with a huge upright forehead, a verysmall mouth, and a dry and set expression of face, which was alwaystrying to get free, or rather to seem free, and indulge in smiles anddimples which were proper; for one ought to have Christian love, andif one had love one ought to be cheerful, and when people were cheerfulthey smiled; and therefore he would smile, and tried to do so; but hischarity prepense looked no more alluring than malice prepense would havedone; and, had he not been really a handsome fellow, many a woman whoraved about his sweetness would have likened his frankness to that of askeleton dancing in fetters, and his smiles to the grins thereof. 

He had returned to England about a month before, in obedience to theproclamation which had been set forth for that purpose (and certainlynot before it was needed), that, "whosoever had children, wards, etc. , in the parts beyond the seas, should send in their names to theordinary, and within four months call them home again. " So Eustace wasnow staying with his father at Chapel, having, nevertheless, his privatematters to transact on behalf of the virtuous society by whom hehad been brought up; one of which private matters had brought him toBideford the night before. 

So he sat down beside Amyas on the pebbles, and looked at him all overout of the corners of his eyes very gently, as if he did not wish tohurt him, or even the flies on his back; and Amyas faced right round, and looked him full in the face with the heartiest of smiles, and heldout a lion's paw, which Eustace took rapturously, and a great shaking ofhands ensued; Amyas gripping with a great round fist, and a quiet quiverthereof, as much as to say, "I AM glad to see you;" and Eustace pinchinghard with white, straight fingers, and sawing the air violently up anddown, as much as to say, "DON'T YOU SEE how glad I am to see you?" Avery different greeting from the former. 

"Hold hard, old lad, " said Amyas, "before you break my elbow. And wheredo you come from?"

"From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down init, " said he, with a little smile and nod of mysterious self-importance. 

"Like the devil, eh? Well, every man has his pattern. How is my uncle?"

Now, if there was one man on earth above another, of whom Eustace Leighstood in dread, it was his cousin Amyas. In the first place, he knewAmyas could have killed him with a blow; and there are natures, who, instead of rejoicing in the strength of men of greater prowess thanthemselves, look at such with irritation, dread, at last, spite;expecting, perhaps, that the stronger will do to them what they feelthey might have done in his place. Every one, perhaps, has the sameenvious, cowardly devil haunting about his heart; but the brave men, though they be very sparrows, kick him out; the cowards keep him, andfoster him; and so did poor Eustace Leigh. 

Next, he could not help feeling that Amyas despised him. They had notmet for three years; but before Amyas went, Eustace never could arguewith him, simply because Amyas treated him as beneath argument. No doubthe was often rude and unfair enough; but the whole mass of questionsconcerning the unseen world, which the priests had stimulated in hiscousin's mind into an unhealthy fungus crop, were to Amyas simply, as heexpressed it, "wind and moonshine;" and he treated his cousin as asort of harmless lunatic, and, as they say in Devon, "half-baked. " AndEustace knew it; and knew, too, that his cousin did him an injustice. "He used to undervalue me, " said he to himself; "let us see whether hedoes not find me a match for him now. " And then went off into an agonyof secret contrition for his self-seeking and his forgetting that"the glory of God, and not his own exaltation, " was the object of hisexistence. 

There, dear readers, Ex pede Herculem; I cannot tire myself or you(especially in this book) with any wire-drawn soul-dissections. I havetried to hint to you two opposite sorts of men, --the one trying to begood with all his might and main, according to certain approved methodsand rules, which he has got by heart, and like a weak oarsman, feelingand fingering his spiritual muscles over all day, to see if they aregrowing; the other not even knowing whether he is good or not, but justdoing the right thing without thinking about it, as simply as a littlechild, because the Spirit of God is with him. If you cannot see thegreat gulf fixed between the two, I trust that you will discover it someday. 

But in justice be it said, all this came upon Eustace, not because hewas a Romanist, but because he was educated by the Jesuits. Had he beensaved from them, he might have lived and died as simple and honest agentleman as his brothers, who turned out like true Englishmen (as didall the Romish laity) to face the great Armada, and one of whom wasfighting at that very minute under St. Leger in Ireland, and as braveand loyal a soldier as those Roman Catholics whose noble blood hasstained every Crimean battlefield; but his fate was appointed otherwise;and the Upas-shadow which has blighted the whole Romish Church, blightedhim also. 

"Ah, my dearest cousin!" said Eustace, "how disappointed I was thismorning at finding I had arrived just a day too late to witness yourtriumph! But I hastened to your home as soon as I could, and learningfrom your mother that I should find you here, hurried down to bid youwelcome again to Devon. "

"Well, old lad, it does look very natural to see you. I often used tothink of you walking the deck o' nights. Uncle and the girls are allright, then? But is the old pony dead yet? And how's Dick the smith, andNancy? Grown a fine maid by now, I warrant. 'Slid, it seems half a lifethat I've been away. 

"And you really thought of your poor cousin? Be sure that he, too, thought of you, and offered up nightly his weak prayers for your safety(doubtless, not without avail) to those saints, to whom would thatyou--"

"Halt there, coz. If they are half as good fellows as you and I takethem for, they'll help me without asking. "

"They have helped you, Amyas. "

"Maybe; I'd have done as much, I'm sure, for them, if I 'd been in theirplace. "

"And do you not feel, then, that you owe a debt of gratitude to them;and, above all, to her, whose intercessions have, I doubt not, availedfor your preservation? Her, the star of the sea, the all-compassionateguide of the mariner?"

"Humph!" said Amyas. "Here's Frank; let him answer. "

And, as he spoke, up came Frank, and after due greetings, sat downbeside them on the ridge. 

"I say, brother, here's Eustace trying already to convert me; andtelling me that I owe all my luck to the Blessed Virgin's prayers forme. 

"It may be so, " said Frank; "at least you owe it to the prayers of thatmost pure and peerless virgin by whose commands you sailed; the sweetincense of whose orisons has gone up for you daily, and for whose sakeyou were preserved from flood and foe, that you might spread the fameand advance the power of the spotless championess of truth, and right, and freedom, --Elizabeth, your queen. "

Amyas answered this rhapsody, which would have been then bothfashionable and sincere, by a loyal chuckle. Eustace smiled meekly, butanswered somewhat venomously nevertheless--

"I, at least, am certain that I speak the truth, when I call mypatroness a virgin undefiled. "

Both the brothers' brows clouded at once. Amyas, as he lay on his backon the pebbles, said quietly to the gulls over his head--"I wonder whatthe Frenchman whose head I cut off at the Azores, thinks by now aboutall that. "

"Cut off a Frenchman's head?" said Frank. 

"Yes, faith; and so fleshed my maiden sword. I'll tell you. It wasin some tavern; I and George Drake had gone in, and there sat thisFrenchman, with his sword on the table, ready for a quarrel (I foundafterwards he was a noted bully), and begins with us loudly enough aboutthis and that; but, after awhile, by the instigation of the devil, whatdoes he vent but a dozen slanders against her majesty's honor, one atopof the other? I was ashamed to hear them, and I should be more ashamedto repeat them. "

"I have heard enough of such, " said Frank. "They come mostly throughlewd rascals about the French ambassador, who have been bred (God helpthem) among the filthy vices of that Medicean Court in which the Queenof Scots had her schooling; and can only perceive in a virtuous freedoma cloak for licentiousness like their own. Let the curs bark; Honi soitqui mal y pense is our motto, and shall be forever. "

"But I didn't let the cur bark; for I took him by the ears, to show himout into the street. Whereon he got to his sword, and I to mine; and avery near chance I had of never bathing on the pebble ridge more; forthe fellow did not fight with edge and buckler, like a Christian, buthad some newfangled French devil's device of scryming and foining withhis point, ha'ing and stamping, and tracing at me, that I expected to befull of eyelet holes ere I could close with him. "

"Thank God that you are safe, then!" said Frank. "I know that play wellenough, and dangerous enough it is. "

"Of course you know it; but I didn't, more's the pity. "

"Well, I'll teach it thee, lad, as well as Rowland Yorke himself, 'Thy fincture, carricade, and sly passata, Thy stramazon, and resolute stoccata, Wiping maudritta, closing embrocata, And all the cant of the honorable fencing mystery. '"

"Rowland Yorke? Who's he, then?"

"A very roystering rascal, who is making good profit in London just nowby teaching this very art of fence; and is as likely to have his mortalthread clipt in a tavern brawl, as thy Frenchman. But how did you escapehis pinking iron?"

"How? Had it through my left arm before I could look round; and at thatI got mad, and leapt upon him, and caught him by the wrist, and then hada fair side-blow; and, as fortune would have it, off tumbled his head onto the table, and there was an end of his slanders. "

"So perish all her enemies!" said Frank; and Eustace, who had beentrying not to listen, rose and said--

"I trust that you do not number me among them?"

"As you speak, I do, coz, " said Frank. "But for your own sake, letme advise you to put faith in the true report of those who have dailyexperience of their mistress's excellent virtue, as they have of thesun's shining, and of the earth's bringing forth fruit, and not in thetattle of a few cowardly back-stair rogues, who wish to curry favor withthe Guises. Come, we will say no more. Walk round with us by Appledore, and then home to breakfast. "

But Eustace declined, having immediate business, he said, in Northamtown, and then in Bideford; and so left them to lounge for anotherhalf-hour on the beach, and then walk across the smooth sheet of turf tothe little white fishing village, which stands some two miles above thebar, at the meeting of the Torridge and the Taw. 

Now it came to pass, that Eustace Leigh, as we have seen, told hiscousins that he was going to Northam: but he did not tell them thathis point was really the same as their own, namely, Appledore; and, therefore, after having satisfied his conscience by going as far as thevery nearest house in Northam village, he struck away sharp to the leftacross the fields, repeating I know not what to the Blessed Virgin allthe way; whereby he went several miles out of his road; and also, asis the wont of crooked spirits, Jesuits especially (as three centuriessufficiently testify), only outwitted himself. For his cousins goingmerrily, like honest men, along the straight road across the turf, arrived in Appledore, opposite the little "Mariner's Rest" Inn, just intime to see what Eustace had taken so much trouble to hide from them, namely, four of Mr. Thomas Leigh's horses standing at the door, held byhis groom, saddles and mail-bags on back, and mounting three of them, Eustace Leigh and two strange gentlemen. 

"There's one lie already this morning, " growled Amyas; "he told us hewas going to Northam. "

"And we do not know that he has not been there, " blandly suggestedFrank. 

"Why, you are as bad a Jesuit as he, to help him out with such a fetch. "

"He may have changed his mind. "

"Bless your pure imagination, my sweet boy, " said Amyas, laying hisgreat hand on Frank's head, and mimicking his mother's manner. "Isay, dear Frank, let's step into this shop and buy a penny-worth ofwhipcord. "

"What do you want with whipcord, man?"

"To spin my top, to be sure. "

"Top? how long hast had a top?"

"I'll buy one, then, and save my conscience; but the upshot of thissport I must see. Why may not I have an excuse ready made as well asMaster Eustace?"

So saying, he pulled Frank into the little shop, unobserved by the partyat the inn-door. 

"What strange cattle has he been importing now? Look at thatthree-legged fellow, trying to get aloft on the wrong side. How he clawsat his horse's ribs, like a cat scratching an elder stem!"

The three-legged man was a tall, meek-looking person, who had bedizenedhimself with gorgeous garments, a great feather, and a sword so longand broad, that it differed little in size from the very thin and stiffshanks between which it wandered uncomfortably. 

"Young David in Saul's weapons, " said Frank. "He had better not go inthem, for he certainly has not proved them. "

"Look, if his third leg is not turned into a tail! Why does not some onein charity haul in half-a-yard of his belt for him?"

It was too true; the sword, after being kicked out three or four timesfrom its uncomfortable post between his legs, had returned unconquered;and the hilt getting a little too far back by reason of the too greatlength of the belt, the weapon took up its post triumphantly behind, standing out point in air, a tail confest, amid the tittering of theostlers, and the cheers of the sailors. 

At last the poor man, by dint of a chair, was mounted safely, while hisfellow-stranger, a burly, coarse-looking man, equally gay, and rathermore handy, made so fierce a rush at his saddle, that, like "vaultingambition who o'erleaps his selle, " he "fell on t'other side:" or wouldhave fallen, had he not been brought up short by the shoulders of theostler at his off-stirrup. In which shock off came hat and feather. 

"Pardie, the bulldog-faced one is a fighting man. Dost see, Frank? hehas had his head broken. "

"That scar came not, my son, but by a pair of most Catholic andapostolic scissors. My gentle buzzard, that is a priest's tonsure. "

"Hang the dog! O, that the sailors may but see it, and put him over thequay head. I've a half mind to go and do it myself. "

"My dear Amyas, " said Frank, laying two fingers on his arm, "thesemen, whosoever they are, are the guests of our uncle, and thereforethe guests of our family. Ham gained little by publishing Noah's shame;neither shall we, by publishing our uncle's. "

"Murrain on you, old Franky, you never let a man speak his mind, andshame the devil. "

"I have lived long enough in courts, old Amyas, without a murrain onyou, to have found out, first, that it is not so easy to shame thedevil; and secondly, that it is better to outwit him; and the only wayto do that, sweet chuck, is very often not to speak your mind at all. We will go down and visit them at Chapel in a day or two, and see if wecannot serve these reynards as the badger did the fox, when he found himin his hole, and could not get him out by evil savors. "

"How then?"

"Stuck a sweet nosegay in the door, which turned reynard's stomach atonce; and so overcame evil with good. "

"Well, thou art too good for this world, that's certain; so we will gohome to breakfast. Those rogues are out of sight by now. "

Nevertheless, Amyas was not proof against the temptation of going overto the inn-door, and asking who were the gentlemen who went with Mr. Leigh. 

"Gentlemen of Wales, " said the ostler, "who came last night in a pinnacefrom Milford-haven, and their names, Mr. Morgan Evans and Mr. EvanMorgans. "

"Mr. Judas Iscariot and Mr. Iscariot Judas, " said Amyas between histeeth, and then observed aloud, that the Welsh gentlemen seemed ratherpoor horsemen. 

"So I said to Mr. Leigh's groom, your worship. But he says that thoseparts be so uncommon rough and mountainous, that the poor gentlemen, yousee, being enforced to hunt on foot, have no such opportunities as younggentlemen hereabout, like your worship; whom God preserve, and send avirtuous lady, and one worthy of you. "

"Thou hast a villainously glib tongue, fellow!" said Amyas, who wasthoroughly out of humor; "and a sneaking down visage too, when I come tolook at you. I doubt but you are a Papist too, I do!"

"Well, sir! and what if I am! I trust I don't break the queen's laws bythat. If I don't attend Northam church, I pay my month's shilling forthe use of the poor, as the act directs; and beyond that, neither younor any man dare demand of me. "

"Dare! act directs! You rascally lawyer, you! and whence does an ostlerlike you get your shilling to pay withal? Answer me. " The examinatefound it so difficult to answer the question, that he suddenly becameafflicted with deafness. 

"Do you hear?" roared Amyas, catching at him with his lion's paw. 

"Yes, missus; anon, anon, missus!" quoth he to an imaginary landladyinside, and twisting under Amyas's hand like an eel, vanished into thehouse, while Frank got the hot-headed youth away. 

"What a plague is one to do, then? That fellow was a Papist spy!"

"Of course he was!" said Frank. 

"Then, what is one to do, if the whole country is full of them?"

"Not to make fools of ourselves about them, and so leave them to makefools of themselves. "

"That's all very fine: but--well, I shall remember the villain's face ifI see him again. "

"There is no harm in that, " said Frank. 

"Glad you think so. "

"Don't quarrel with me, Amyas, the first day. "

"Quarrel with thee, my darling old fellow! I had sooner kiss the dustoff thy feet, if I were worthy of it. So now away home; my inside criescupboard. "

In the meanwhile Messrs. Evans and Morgans were riding away, as fastas the rough by-lanes would let them, along the fresh coast of the bay, steering carefully clear of Northam town on the one hand, and on theother, of Portledge, where dwelt that most Protestant justice of thepeace, Mr. Coffin. And it was well for them that neither Amyas Leigh, nor indeed any other loyal Englishman, was by when they entered, as theyshortly did, the lonely woods which stretch along the southern wall ofthe bay. For there Eustace Leigh pulled up short; and both he and hisgroom, leaping from their horses, knelt down humbly in the wet grass, and implored the blessing of the two valiant gentlemen of Wales, who, having graciously bestowed it with three fingers apiece, becamethenceforth no longer Morgan Evans and Evan Morgans, Welshmen andgentlemen; but Father Parsons and Father Gampian, Jesuits, and gentlemenin no sense in which that word is applied in this book. 

After a few minutes, the party were again in motion, ambling steadilyand cautiously along the high table-land, towards Moorwinstow in thewest; while beneath them on the right, at the mouth of rich-woodedglens, opened vistas of the bright blue bay, and beyond it the sandhillsof Braunton, and the ragged rocks of Morte; while far away to the northand west the lonely isle of Lundy hung like a soft gray cloud. 

But they were not destined to reach their point as peaceably as theycould have wished. For just as they got opposite Clovelly dike, the hugeold Roman encampment which stands about midway in their journey, theyheard a halloo from the valley below, answered by a fainter one farahead. At which, like a couple of rogues (as indeed they were), FatherCampian and Father Parsons looked at each other, and then both staredround at the wild, desolate, open pasture (for the country was then allunenclosed), and the great dark furze-grown banks above their heads; andCampian remarked gently to Parsons, that this was a very dreary spot, and likely enough for robbers. 

"A likelier spot for us, Father, " said Eustace, punning. "The old Romansknew what they were about when they put their legions up aloft here tooverlook land and sea for miles away; and we may thank them some day fortheir leavings. The banks are all sound; there is plenty of good waterinside; and" (added he in Latin), "in case our Spanish friends--youunderstand?"

"Pauca verba, my son!" said Campian: but as he spoke, up from the ditchclose beside him, as if rising out of the earth, burst through thefurze-bushes an armed cavalier. 

"Pardon, gentlemen!" shouted he, as the Jesuit and his horse recoiledagainst the groom. "Stand, for your lives!"

"Mater caelorum!" moaned Campian; while Parsons, who, as all the worldknows, was a blustering bully enough (at least with his tongue), asked:What a murrain right had he to stop honest folks on the queen's highway?confirming the same with a mighty oath, which he set down as peccatumveniale, on account of the sudden necessity; nay, indeed fraus pia, asproper to support the character of that valiant gentleman of Wales, Mr. Evan Morgans. But the horseman, taking no notice of his hint, dashedacross the nose of Eustace Leigh's horse, with a "Hillo, old lad! whereridest so early?" and peering down for a moment into the ruts of thenarrow track-way, struck spurs into his horse, shouting, "A freshslot! right away for Hartland! Forward, gentlemen all! follow, follow, follow!"

"Who is this roysterer?" asked Parsons, loftily. 

"Will Cary, of Clovelly; an awful heretic: and here come more behind. "

And as he spoke four or five more mounted gallants plunged in and out ofthe great dikes, and thundered on behind the party; whose horses, quiteunderstanding what game was up, burst into full gallop, neighing andsquealing; and in another minute the hapless Jesuits were hurling alongover moor and moss after a "hart of grease. "

Parsons, who, though a vulgar bully, was no coward, supported thecharacter of Mr. Evan Morgans well enough; and he would have reallyenjoyed himself, had he not been in agonies of fear lest those precioussaddle-bags in front of him should break from their lashings, androlling to the earth, expose to the hoofs of heretic horses, perhaps tothe gaze of heretic eyes, such a cargo of bulls, dispensations, secretcorrespondences, seditious tracts, and so forth, that at the verythought of their being seen, his head felt loose upon his shoulders. Butthe future martyr behind him, Mr. Morgan Evans, gave himself up at onceto abject despair, and as he bumped and rolled along, sought vainly forcomfort in professional ejaculations in the Latin tongue. 

"Mater intemerata! Eripe me e--Ugh! I am down! Adhaesit pavimentoventer!--No! I am not! El dilectum tuum e potestate canis--Ah! Audistime inter cornua unicornium! Put this, too, down in--ugh!--thy account infavor of my poor--oh, sharpness of this saddle! Oh, whither, barbarousislanders!"

Now riding on his quarter, not in the rough track-way like a cockney, but through the soft heather like a sportsman, was a very gallant knightwhom we all know well by this time, Richard Grenville by name; who hadmade Mr. Cary and the rest his guests the night before, and then riddenout with them at five o'clock that morning, after the wholesome earlyways of the time, to rouse a well-known stag in the glens at Buckish, byhelp of Mr. Coffin's hounds from Portledge. Who being as good a Latineras Campian's self, and overhearing both the scraps of psalm and the"barbarous islanders, " pushed his horse alongside of Mr. EustaceLeigh, and at the first check said, with two low bows towards the twostrangers--

"I hope Mr. Leigh will do me the honor of introducing me to his guests. I should be sorry, and Mr. Cary also, that any gentle strangers shouldbecome neighbors of ours, even for a day, without our knowing who theyare who honor our western Thule with a visit; and showing them ourselvesall due requital for the compliment of their presence. "

After which, the only thing which poor Eustace could do (especially asit was spoken loud enough for all bystanders), was to introduce in dueform Mr. Evan Morgans and Mr. Morgan Evans, who, hearing the name, and, what was worse, seeing the terrible face with its quiet searching eye, felt like a brace of partridge-poults cowering in the stubble, with ahawk hanging ten feet over their heads. 

"Gentlemen, " said Sir Richard blandly, cap in hand, "I fear that yourmails must have been somewhat in your way in this unexpected gallop. Ifyou will permit my groom, who is behind, to disencumber you of themand carry them to Chapel, you will both confer an honor on me, and beenabled yourselves to see the mort more pleasantly. "

A twinkle of fun, in spite of all his efforts, played about good SirRichard's eye as he gave this searching hint. The two Welsh gentlemenstammered out clumsy thanks; and pleading great haste and fatigue froma long journey, contrived to fall to the rear and vanish with theirguides, as soon as the slot had been recovered. 

"Will!" said Sir Richard, pushing alongside of young Cary. 

"Your worship?"

"Jesuits, Will!"

"May the father of lies fly away with them over the nearest cliff!"

"He will not do that while this Irish trouble is about. Those fellowsare come to practise here for Saunders and Desmond. "

"Perhaps they have a consecrated banner in their bag, the scoundrels!Shall I and young Coffin on and stop them? Hard if the honest men maynot rob the thieves once in a way. "

"No; give the devil rope, and he will hang himself. Keep thy tongue athome, and thine eyes too, Will. "

"How then?"

"Let Clovelly beach be watched night and day like any mousehole. No onecan land round Harty Point with these south-westers. Stop every fellowwho has the ghost of an Irish brogue, come he in or go he out, and sendhim over to me. "

"Some one should guard Bude-haven, sir. "

"Leave that to me. Now then, forward, gentlemen all, or the stag willtake the sea at the Abbey. "

And on they crashed down the Hartland glens, through the oak-scrub andthe great crown-ferns; and the baying of the slow-hound and the tantarasof the horn died away farther and fainter toward the blue Atlantic, while the conspirators, with lightened hearts, pricked fast acrossBursdon upon their evil errand. But Eustace Leigh had other thoughtsand other cares than the safety of his father's two mysterious guests, important as that was in his eyes; for he was one of the many who haddrunk in sweet poison (though in his case it could hardly be calledsweet) from the magic glances of the Rose of Torridge. He had seen herin the town, and for the first time in his life fallen utterly in love;and now that she had come down close to his father's house, he looked onher as a lamb fallen unawares into the jaws of the greedy wolf, whichhe felt himself to be. For Eustace's love had little or nothing ofchivalry, self-sacrifice, or purity in it; those were virtues which werenot taught at Rheims. Careful as the Jesuits were over the practicalmorality of their pupils, this severe restraint had little effect inproducing real habits of self-control. What little Eustace had learnt ofwomen from them, was as base and vulgar as the rest of their teaching. What could it be else, if instilled by men educated in the schools ofItaly and France, in the age which produced the foul novels of Cinthioand Bandello, and compelled Rabelais in order to escape the rack andstake, to hide the light of his great wisdom, not beneath a bushel, butbeneath a dunghill; the age in which the Romish Church had mademarriage a legalized tyranny, and the laity, by a natural and pardonablerevulsion, had exalted adultery into a virtue and a science? That alllove was lust; that all women had their price; that profligacy, thoughan ecclesiastical sin, was so pardonable, if not necessary, as to behardly a moral sin, were notions which Eustace must needs have gatheredfrom the hints of his preceptors; for their written works bear to thisday fullest and foulest testimony that such was their opinion; and thattheir conception of the relation of the sexes was really not a whithigher than that of the profligate laity who confessed to them. Helonged to marry Rose Salterne, with a wild selfish fury; but only thathe might be able to claim her as his own property, and keep all othersfrom her. Of her as a co-equal and ennobling helpmate; as one in whosehonor, glory, growth of heart and soul, his own were inextricably wraptup, he had never dreamed. Marriage would prevent God from being angrywith that, with which otherwise He might be angry; and therefore thesanction of the Church was the more "probable and safe" course. But asyet his suit was in very embryo. He could not even tell whether Roseknew of his love; and he wasted miserable hours in maddening thoughts, and tost all night upon his sleepless bed, and rose next morning fierceand pale, to invent fresh excuses for going over to her uncle's house, and lingering about the fruit which he dared not snatch. 

CHAPTER IV

THE TWO WAYS OF BEING CROST IN LOVE

 "I could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honor more. "--LOVELACE. 

And what all this while has become of the fair breaker of so manyhearts, to whom I have not yet even introduced my readers?

She was sitting in the little farm-house beside the mill, buried in thegreen depths of the valley of Combe, half-way between Stow and Chapel, sulking as much as her sweet nature would let her, at being thusshut out from all the grand doings at Bideford, and forced to keep aMartinmas Lent in that far western glen. So lonely was she, in fact, that though she regarded Eustace Leigh with somewhat of aversion, and(being a good Protestant) with a great deal of suspicion, she could notfind it in her heart to avoid a chat with him whenever he came down tothe farm and to its mill, which he contrived to do, on I know not whatwould-be errand, almost every day. Her uncle and aunt at first lookedstiff enough at these visits, and the latter took care always to make athird in every conversation; but still Mr. Leigh was a gentleman'sson, and it would not do to be rude to a neighboring squire and a goodcustomer; and Rose was the rich man's daughter and they poor cousins, so it would not do either to quarrel with her; and besides, thepretty maid, half by wilfulness, and half by her sweet winning tricks, generally contrived to get her own way wheresoever she went; andshe herself had been wise enough to beg her aunt never to leave themalone, --for she "could not a-bear the sight of Mr. Eustace, onlyshe must have some one to talk with down here. " On which her auntconsidered, that she herself was but a simple country-woman; and thattownsfolks' ways of course must be very different from hers; and thatpeople knew their own business best; and so forth, and let things goon their own way. Eustace, in the meanwhile, who knew well that thedifference in creed between him and Rose was likely to be the veryhardest obstacle in the way of his love, took care to keep his privateopinions well in the background; and instead of trying to convert thefolk at the mill, daily bought milk or flour from them, and gave itaway to the old women in Moorwinstow (who agreed that after all, fora Papist, he was a godly young man enough); and at last, having takencounsel with Campian and Parsons on certain political plots then onfoot, came with them to the conclusion that they would all three go tochurch the next Sunday. Where Messrs. Evan Morgans and Morgan Evans, having crammed up the rubrics beforehand, behaved themselves in a mostorthodox and unexceptionable manner; as did also poor Eustace, to thegreat wonder of all good folks, and then went home flattering himselfthat he had taken in parson, clerk, and people; not knowing in hissimple unsimplicity, and cunning foolishness, that each good wife in theparish was saying to the other, "He turned Protestant? The devil turnedmonk! He's only after Mistress Salterne, the young hypocrite. "

But if the two Jesuits found it expedient, for the holy cause in whichthey were embarked, to reconcile themselves outwardly to the powersthat were, they were none the less busy in private in plotting theiroverthrow. 

Ever since April last they had been playing at hide-and-seek through thelength and breadth of England, and now they were only lying quiet tillexpected news from Ireland should give them their cue, and a great"rising of the West" should sweep from her throne that stiff-necked, persecuting, excommunicate, reprobate, illegitimate, and profligateusurper, who falsely called herself the Queen of England. 

For they had as stoutly persuaded themselves in those days, as theyhave in these (with a real Baconian contempt of the results of sensibleexperience), that the heart of England was really with them, and thatthe British nation was on the point of returning to the bosom of theCatholic Church, and giving up Elizabeth to be led in chains to the feetof the rightful Lord of Creation, the Old Man of the Seven Hills. And this fair hope, which has been skipping just in front of them forcenturies, always a step farther off, like the place where the rainbowtouches the ground, they used to announce at times, in language whichterrified old Mr. Leigh. One day, indeed, as Eustace entered hisfather's private room, after his usual visit to the mill, he couldhear voices high in dispute; Parsons as usual, blustering; Mr. Leighpeevishly deprecating, and Campian, who was really the sweetest-naturedof men, trying to pour oil on the troubled waters. Whereat Eustace (forthe good of the cause, of course) stopped outside and listened. 

"My excellent sir, " said Mr. Leigh, "does not your very presence hereshow how I am affected toward the holy cause of the Catholic faith? ButI cannot in the meanwhile forget that I am an Englishman. "

"And what is England?" said Parsons: "A heretic and schismatic Babylon, whereof it is written, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you be partakerof her plagues. ' Yea, what is a country? An arbitrary division ofterritory by the princes of this world, who are naught, and come tonaught. They are created by the people's will; their existence dependson the sanction of him to whom all power is given in heaven andearth--our Holy Father the Pope. Take away the latter, and what is aking?--the people who have made him may unmake him. "

"My dear sir, recollect that I have sworn allegiance to QueenElizabeth!"

"Yes, sir, you have, sir; and, as I have shown at large in my writings, you were absolved from that allegiance from the moment that the bull ofPius the Fifth declared her a heretic and excommunicate, and thereby tohave forfeited all dominion whatsoever. I tell you, sir, what I thoughtyou should have known already, that since the year 1569, England has hadno queen, no magistrates, no laws, no lawful authority whatsoever; andthat to own allegiance to any English magistrate, sir, or to plead in anEnglish court of law, is to disobey the apostolic precept, 'How dare yougo to law before the unbelievers?' I tell you, sir, rebellion is now notmerely permitted, it is a duty. "

"Take care, sir; for God's sake, take care!" said Mr. Leigh. "Right orwrong, I cannot have such language used in my house. For the sake of mywife and children, I cannot!"

"My dear brother Parsons, deal more gently with the flock, " interposedCampian. "Your opinion, though probable, as I well know, in the eyes ofmost of our order, is hardly safe enough here; the opposite is at leastso safe that Mr. Leigh may well excuse his conscience for accepting it. After all, are we not sent hither to proclaim this very thing, and torelieve the souls of good Catholics from a burden which has seemed tothem too heavy?"

"Yes, " said Parsons, half-sulkily, "to allow all Balaams who will tosacrifice to Baal, while they call themselves by the name of the Lord. "

"My dear brother, have I not often reminded you that Naaman was allowedto bow himself in the house of Rimmon? And can we therefore complain ofthe office to which the Holy Father has appointed us, to declare to suchas Mr. Leigh his especial grace, by which the bull of Pius the Fifth(on whose soul God have mercy!) shall henceforth bind the queen and theheretics only; but in no ways the Catholics, at least as long as thepresent tyranny prevents the pious purposes of the bull?"

"Be it so, sir; be it so. Only observe this, Mr. Leigh, that our brotherCampian confesses this to be a tyranny. Observe, sir, that the bull doesstill bind the so-called queen, and that she and her magistrates arestill none the less usurpers, nonentities, and shadows of a shade. Andobserve this, sir, that when that which is lawful is excused to theweak, it remains no less lawful to the strong. The seven thousand whohad not bowed the knee to Baal did not slay his priests; but Elijah did, and won to himself a good reward. And if the rest of the children ofIsrael sinned not in not slaying Eglon, yet Ehud's deed was none theless justified by all laws human and divine. "

"For Heaven's sake, do not talk so, sir! or I must leave the room. Whathave I to do with Ehud and Eglon, and slaughters, and tyrannies? Ourqueen is a very good queen, if Heaven would but grant her repentance, and turn her to the true faith. I have never been troubled aboutreligion, nor any one else that I know of in the West country. "

"You forget Mr. Trudgeon of Launceston, father, and poor Father Mayne, "interposed Eustace, who had by this time slipped in; and Campian addedsoftly--

"Yes, your West of England also has been honored by its martyrs, as wellas my London by the precious blood of Story. "

"What, young malapert?" cried poor Leigh, facing round upon his son, glad to find any one on whom he might vent his ill-humor; "are you tooagainst me, with a murrain on you? And pray, what the devil broughtCuthbert Mayne to the gallows, and turned Mr. Trudgeon (he was always afoolish hot-head) out of house and home, but just such treasonable talkas Mr. Parsons must needs hold in my house, to make a beggar of me andmy children, as he will before he has done. "

"The Blessed Virgin forbid!" said Campian. 

"The Blessed Virgin forbid? But you must help her to forbid it, Mr. Campian. We should never have had the law of 1571, against bulls, andAgnus Deis, and blessed grains, if the Pope's bull of 1569 had not madethem matter of treason, by preventing a poor creature's saving his soulin the true Church without putting his neck into a halter by denying thequeen's authority. "

"What, sir?" almost roared Parsons, "do you dare to speak evil of theedicts of the Vicar of Christ?"

"I? No. I didn't. Who says I did? All I meant was, I am sure--Mr. Campian, you are a reasonable man, speak for me. "

"Mr. Leigh only meant, I am sure, that the Holy Father's prudentintentions have been so far defeated by the perverseness and invinciblemisunderstanding of the heretics, that that which was in itself meantfor the good of the oppressed English Catholics has been perverted totheir harm. "

"And thus, reverend sir, " said Eustace, glad to get into his father'sgood graces again, "my father attaches blame, not to the Pope--Heavenforbid!--but to the pravity of his enemies. "

"And it is for this very reason, " said Campian, "that we have broughtwith us the present merciful explanation of the bull. "

"I'll tell you what, gentlemen, " said Mr. Leigh, who, like other weakmen, grew in valor as his opponent seemed inclined to make peace, "Idon't think the declaration was needed. After the new law of 1571 wasmade, it was never put in force till Mayne and Trudgeon made fools ofthemselves, and that was full six years. There were a few offenders, they say, who were brought up and admonished, and let go; but even thatdid not happen down here, and need not happen now, unless you put my sonhere (for you shall never put me, I warrant you) upon some deed whichhad better be left alone, and so bring us all to shame. "

"Your son, sir, if not openly vowed to God, has, I hope, a due senseof that inward vocation which we have seen in him, and reverences hisspiritual fathers too well to listen to the temptations of his earthlyfather. "

"What, sir, will you teach my son to disobey me?"

"Your son is ours also, sir. This is strange language in one who owes adebt to the Church, which it was charitably fancied he meant to pay inthe person of his child. "

These last words touched poor Mr. Leigh in a sore point, and breakingall bounds, he swore roundly at Parsons, who stood foaming with rage. 

"A plague upon you, sir, and a black assizes for you, for you will cometo the gallows yet! Do you mean to taunt me in my own house with thatHartland land? You had better go back and ask those who sent you wherethe dispensation to hold the land is, which they promised to get meyears ago, and have gone on putting me off, till they have got my money, and my son, and my conscience, and I vow before all the saints, seem nowto want my head over and above. God help me!"--and the poor man's eyesfairly filled with tears. 

Now was Eustace's turn to be roused; for, after all, he was anEnglishman and a gentleman; and he said kindly enough, but firmly--

"Courage, my dearest father. Remember that I am still your son, and nota Jesuit yet; and whether I ever become one, I promise you, will dependmainly on the treatment which you meet with at the hands of thesereverend gentlemen, for whom I, as having brought them hither, mustconsider myself as surety to you. "

If a powder-barrel had exploded in the Jesuits' faces, they could nothave been more amazed. Campian looked blank at Parsons, and Parsons atCampian; till the stouter-hearted of the two, recovering his breath atlast--

"Sir! do you know, sir, the curse pronounced on those who, after puttingtheir hand to the plough, look back?"

Eustace was one of those impulsive men, with a lack of moral courage, who dare raise the devil, but never dare fight him after he has beenraised; and he now tried to pass off his speech by winking and makingsigns in the direction of his father, as much as to say that he was onlytrying to quiet the old man's fears. But Campian was too frightened, Parsons too angry, to take his hints: and he had to carry his partthrough. 

"All I read is, Father Parsons, that such are not fit for the kingdom ofGod; of which high honor I have for some time past felt myself unworthy. I have much doubt just now as to my vocation; and in the meanwhile havenot forgotten that I am a citizen of a free country. " And so saying, hetook his father's arm, and walked out. 

His last words had hit the Jesuits hard. They had put the poorcobweb-spinners in mind of the humiliating fact, which they have hadthrust on them daily from that time till now, and yet have never learntthe lesson, that all their scholastic cunning, plotting, intriguing, bulls, pardons, indulgences, and the rest of it, are, on this sidethe Channel, a mere enchanter's cloud-castle and Fata Morgana, whichvanishes into empty air by one touch of that magic wand, the constable'sstaff. "A citizen of a free country!"--there was the rub; and theylooked at each other in more utter perplexity than ever. At last Parsonsspoke. 

"There's a woman in the wind. I'll lay my life on it. I saw him blush upcrimson yesterday when his mother asked him whether some Rose Salterneor other was still in the neighborhood. "

"A woman! Well, the spirit may be willing, though the flesh be weak. Wewill inquire into this. The youth may do us good service as a layman;and if anything should happen to his elder brother (whom the saintsprotect!) he is heir to some wealth. In the meanwhile, our dear brotherParsons will perhaps see the expediency of altering our tactics somewhatwhile we are here. "

And thereupon a long conversation began between the two, who had beensent together, after the wise method of their order, in obedience to theprecept, "Two are better than one, " in order that Campian might restrainParsons' vehemence, and Parsons spur on Campian's gentleness, and soeach act as the supplement of the other, and each also, it must beconfessed, gave advice pretty nearly contradictory to his fellow's ifoccasion should require, "without the danger, " as their writers have it, "of seeming changeable and inconsistent. "

The upshot of this conversation was, that in a day or two (during whichtime Mr. Leigh and Eustace also had made the amende honorable, andmatters went smoothly enough) Father Campian asked Father Francis, the household chaplain, to allow him, as an especial favor, to hearEustace's usual confession on the ensuing Friday. 

Poor Father Francis dared not refuse so great a man; and assented withan inward groan, knowing well that the intent was to worm out somefamily secrets, whereby his power would be diminished, and the Jesuits'increased. For the regular priesthood and the Jesuits throughout Englandwere toward each other in a state of armed neutrality, which wanted butlittle at any moment to become open war, as it did in James the First'stime, when those meek missionaries, by their gentle moral tortures, literally hunted to death the poor Popish bishop of Hippopotamus (thatis to say, London) for the time being. 

However, Campian heard Eustace's confession; and by putting to him suchquestions as may be easily conceived by those who know anything aboutthe confessional, discovered satisfactorily enough, that he was whatCampian would have called "in love:" though I should question muchthe propriety of the term as applied to any facts which poor prurientCampian discovered, or indeed knew how to discover, seeing that a swinehas no eye for pearls. But he had found out enough: he smiled, and setto work next vigorously to discover who the lady might be. 

If he had frankly said to Eustace, "I feel for you; and if your desiresare reasonable, or lawful, or possible, I will help you with all myheart and soul, " he might have had the young man's secret heart, andsaved himself an hour's trouble; but, of course, he took instinctivelythe crooked and suspicious method, expected to find the case the worstpossible, --as a man was bound to do who had been trained to take thelowest possible view of human nature, and to consider the basest motivesas the mainspring of all human action, --and began his moral tortureaccordingly by a series of delicate questions, which poor Eustace dodgedin every possible way, though he knew that the good father was toocunning for him, and that he must give in at last. Nevertheless, like arabbit who runs squealing round and round before the weasel, into whosejaws it knows that it must jump at last by force of fascination, heparried and parried, and pretended to be stupid, and surprised, andhonorably scrupulous, and even angry; while every question as to herbeing married or single, Catholic or heretic, English or foreign, brought his tormentor a step nearer the goal. At last, when Campian, finding the business not such a very bad one, had asked something abouther worldly wealth, Eustace saw a door of escape and sprang at it. 

"Even if she be a heretic, she is heiress to one of the wealthiestmerchants in Devon. "

"Ah!" said Campian, thoughtfully. "And she is but eighteen, you say?"

"Only eighteen. "

"Ah! well, my son, there is time. She may be reconciled to the Church:or you may change. "

"I shall die first. "

"Ah, poor lad! Well; she may be reconciled, and her wealth may be of useto the cause of Heaven. "

"And it shall be of use. Only absolve me, and let me be at peace. Letme have but her, " he cried piteously. "I do not want her wealth, --not I!Let me have but her, and that but for one year, one month, one day!--andall the rest--money, fame, talents, yea, my life itself, hers if it beneeded--are at the service of Holy Church. Ay, I shall glory in showingmy devotion by some special sacrifice, --some desperate deed. Prove menow, and see what there is I will not do!"

And so Eustace was absolved; after which Campian added, --

"This is indeed well, my son: for there is a thing to be done now, butit may be at the risk of life. "

"Prove me!" cried Eustace, impatiently. 

"Here is a letter which was brought me last night; no matter fromwhence; you can understand it better than I, and I longed to have shownit you, but that I feared my son had become--"

"You feared wrongly, then, my dear Father Campian. "

So Campian translated to him the cipher of the letter. 

"This to Evan Morgans, gentleman, at Mr. Leigh's house in Moorwinstow, Devonshire. News may be had by one who will go to the shore of Clovelly, any evening after the 25th of November, at dead low tide, and therewatch for a boat, rowed by one with a red beard, and a Portugal by hisspeech. If he be asked, 'How many?' he will answer, 'Eight hundred andone. ' Take his letters and read them. If the shore be watched, let himwho comes show a light three times in a safe place under the cliffabove the town; below is dangerous landing. Farewell, and expect greatthings!"

"I will go, " said Eustace; "to-morrow is the 25th, and I know a sure andeasy place. Your friend seems to know these shores well. "

"Ah! what is it we do not know?" said Campian, with a mysterious smile. "And now?"

"And now, to prove to you how I trust to you, you shall come with me, and see this--the lady of whom I spoke, and judge for yourself whethermy fault is not a venial one. "

"Ah, my son, have I not absolved you already? What have I to do withfair faces? Nevertheless, I will come, both to show you that I trustyou, and it may be to help towards reclaiming a heretic, and saving alost soul: who knows?"

So the two set out together; and, as it was appointed, they had just gotto the top of the hill between Chapel and Stow mill, when up the lanecame none other than Mistress Rose Salterne herself, in all the gloriesof a new scarlet hood, from under which her large dark languid eyesgleamed soft lightnings through poor Eustace's heart and marrow. Upto them she tripped on delicate ankles and tiny feet, tall, lithe, andgraceful, a true West-country lass; and as she passed them with apretty blush and courtesy, even Campian looked back at the fair innocentcreature, whose long dark curls, after the then country fashion, rolleddown from beneath the hood below her waist, entangling the soul ofEustace Leigh within their glossy nets. 

"There!" whispered he, trembling from head to foot. "Can you excuse menow?"

"I had excused you long ago;" said the kindhearted father. "Alas, thatso much fair red and white should have been created only as a feast forworms!"

"A feast for gods, you mean!" cried Eustace, on whose common sense thenaive absurdity of the last speech struck keenly; and then, as if toescape the scolding which he deserved for his heathenry--

"Will you let me return for a moment? I will follow you: let me go!"

Campian saw that it was of no use to say no, and nodded. Eustace dartedfrom his side, and running across a field, met Rose full at the nextturn of the road. 

She started, and gave a pretty little shriek. 

"Mr. Leigh! I thought you had gone forward. "

"I came back to speak to you, Rose--Mistress Salterne, I mean. "

"To me?"

"To you I must speak, tell you all, or die!" And he pressed up close toher. She shrank back, somewhat frightened. 

"Do not stir; do not go, I implore you! Rose, only hear me!" Andfiercely and passionately seizing her by the hand, he poured out thewhole story of his love, heaping her with every fantastic epithet ofadmiration which he could devise. 

There was little, perhaps, of all his words which Rose had not heardmany a time before; but there was a quiver in his voice, and a fire inhis eye, from which she shrank by instinct. 

"Let me go!" she said; "you are too rough, sir!"

"Ay!" he said, seizing now both her hands, "rougher, perhaps, than thegay gallants of Bideford, who serenade you, and write sonnets to you, and send you posies. Rougher, but more loving, Rose! Do not turn away!I shall die if you take your eyes off me! Tell me, --tell me, nowhere--this moment--before we part--if I may love you!"

"Go away!" she answered, struggling, and bursting into tears. "This istoo rude. If I am but a merchant's daughter. I am God's child. Rememberthat I am alone. Leave me; go! or I will call for help!"

Eustace had heard or read somewhere that such expressions in a woman'smouth were mere facons de parler, and on the whole signs that she had noobjection to be alone, and did not intend to call for help; and he onlygrasped her hands the more fiercely, and looked into her face with keenand hungry eyes; but she was in earnest, nevertheless, and a loud shriekmade him aware that, if he wished to save his own good name, he mustgo: but there was one question, for an answer to which he would risk hisvery life. 

"Yes, proud woman! I thought so! Some one of those gay gallants has beenbeforehand with me. Tell me who--"

But she broke from him, and passed him, and fled down the lane. 

"Mark it!" cried he, after her. "You shall rue the day when you despisedEustace Leigh! Mark it, proud beauty!" And he turned back to joinCampian, who stood in some trepidation. 

"You have not hurt the maiden, my son? I thought I heard a scream. "

"Hurt her! No. Would God that she were dead, nevertheless, and I by her!Say no more to me, father. We will home. " Even Campian knew enough ofthe world to guess what had happened, and they both hurried home insilence. 

And so Eustace Leigh played his move, and lost it. 

Poor little Rose, having run nearly to Chapel, stopped for very shame, and walked quietly by the cottages which stood opposite the gate, andthen turned up the lane towards Moorwinstow village, whither she wasbound. But on second thoughts, she felt herself so "red and flustered, "that she was afraid of going into the village, for fear (as she said toherself) of making people talk, and so, turning into a by-path, struckaway toward the cliffs, to cool her blushes in the sea-breeze. And therefinding a quiet grassy nook beneath the crest of the rocks, she sat downon the turf, and fell into a great meditation. 

Rose Salterne was a thorough specimen of a West-coast maiden, full ofpassionate impulsive affections, and wild dreamy imaginations, a fitsubject, as the North-Devon women are still, for all romantic and gentlesuperstitions. Left early without mother's care, she had fed her fancyupon the legends and ballads of her native land, till she believed--whatdid she not believe?--of mermaids and pixies, charms and witches, dreams and omens, and all that world of magic in which most of thecountrywomen, and countrymen too, believed firmly enough but twentyyears ago. Then her father's house was seldom without some merchant, orsea-captain from foreign parts, who, like Othello, had his tales of--

 "Antres vast, and deserts idle, Of rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads reach heaven. "

And, --

 "And of the cannibals that each other eat, The anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. "

All which tales, she, like Desdemona, devoured with greedy ears, whenever she could "the house affairs with haste despatch. " And whenthese failed, there was still boundless store of wonders open to her inold romances which were then to be found in every English house of thebetter class. The Legend of King Arthur, Florice and Blancheflour, SirYsumbras, Sir Guy of Warwick, Palamon and Arcite, and the Romaunt of theRose, were with her text-books and canonical authorities. And lucky itwas, perhaps, for her that Sidney's Arcadia was still in petto, or Mr. Frank (who had already seen the first book or two in manuscript, andextolled it above all books past, present, or to come) would have surelybrought a copy down for Rose, and thereby have turned her poor littleflighty brains upside down forever. And with her head full of these, itwas no wonder if she had likened herself of late more than once to someof those peerless princesses of old, for whose fair hand paladins andkaisers thundered against each other in tilted field; and perhaps shewould not have been sorry (provided, of course, no one was killed) ifduels, and passages of arms in honor of her, as her father reasonablydreaded, had actually taken place. 

For Rose was not only well aware that she was wooed, but found the saidwooing (and little shame to her) a very pleasant process. Not that shehad any wish to break hearts: she did not break her heart for any of heradmirers, and why should they break theirs for her? They were all verycharming, each in his way (the gentlemen, at least; for she had longsince learnt to turn up her nose at merchants and burghers); but one ofthem was not so very much better than the other. 

Of course, Mr. Frank Leigh was the most charming; but then, as acourtier and squire of dames, he had never given her a sign of reallove, nothing but sonnets and compliments, and there was no trustingsuch things from a gallant, who was said (though, by the by, mostscandalously) to have a lady love at Milan, and another at Vienna, andhalf-a-dozen in the Court, and half-a-dozen more in the city. 

And very charming was Mr. William Cary, with his quips and his jests, and his galliards and lavoltas; over and above his rich inheritance;but then, charming also Mr. Coffin of Portledge, though he were a littleproud and stately; but which of the two should she choose? It would bevery pleasant to be mistress of Clovelly Court; but just as pleasant tofind herself lady of Portledge, where the Coffins had lived ever sinceNoah's flood (if, indeed, they had not merely returned thither afterthat temporary displacement), and to bring her wealth into a familywhich was as proud of its antiquity as any nobleman in Devon, and mighthave made a fourth to that famous trio of Devonshire Cs, of which it iswritten, --

 "Crocker, Cruwys, and Copplestone, When the Conqueror came were all at home. "

And Mr. Hugh Fortescue, too--people said that he was certain to become agreat soldier--perhaps as great as his brother Arthur--and that wouldbe pleasant enough, too, though he was but the younger son of aninnumerable family: but then, so was Amyas Leigh. Ah, poor Amyas! Hergirl's fancy for him had vanished, or rather, perhaps, it was very muchwhat it always had been, only that four or five more girl's fanciesbeside it had entered in, and kept it in due subjection. But still, shecould not help thinking a good deal about him, and his voyage, and thereports of his great strength, and beauty, and valor, which had alreadyreached her in that out-of-the-way corner; and though she was not in theleast in love with him, she could not help hoping that he had at least(to put her pretty little thought in the mildest shape) not altogetherforgotten her; and was hungering, too, with all her fancy, to give himno peace till he had told her all the wonderful things which he had seenand done in this ever-memorable voyage. So that, altogether, it was nowonder, if in her last night's dream the figure of Amyas had been evenmore forward and troublesome than that of Frank or the rest. 

But, moreover, another figure had been forward and troublesome enough inlast night's sleep-world; and forward and troublesome enough, too, nowin to-day's waking-world, namely, Eustace, the rejected. How strangethat she should have dreamt of him the night before! and dreamt, too, of his fighting with Mr. Frank and Mr. Amyas! It must be a warning--see, she had met him the very next day in this strange way; so the first halfof her dream had come true; and after what had past, she only had tobreathe a whisper, and the second part of the dream would come truealso. If she wished for a passage of arms in her own honor, she couldeasily enough compass one: not that she would do it for worlds! Andafter all, though Mr. Eustace had been very rude and naughty, yet stillit was not his own fault; he could not help being in love with her. And--and, in short, the poor little maid felt herself one of the mostimportant personages on earth, with all the cares (or hearts) of thecountry in her keeping, and as much perplexed with matters of weight asever was any Cleophila, or Dianeme, Fiordispina or Flourdeluce, in verserun tame, or prose run mad. 

Poor little Rose! Had she but had a mother! But she was to learn herlesson, such as it was, in another school. She was too shy (too proudperhaps) to tell her aunt her mighty troubles; but a counsellor she musthave; and after sitting with her head in her hands, for half-an-houror more, she arose suddenly, and started off along the cliffs towardsMarsland. She would go and see Lucy Passmore, the white witch; Lucy kneweverything; Lucy would tell her what to do; perhaps even whom to marry. 

Lucy was a fat, jolly woman of fifty, with little pig-eyes, whichtwinkled like sparks of fire, and eyebrows which sloped upwards andoutwards, like those of a satyr, as if she had been (as indeed she had)all her life looking out of the corners of her eyes. Her qualificationsas white witch were boundless cunning, equally boundless good nature, considerable knowledge of human weaknesses, some mesmeric power, someskill in "yarbs, " as she called her simples, a firm faith in the virtueof her own incantations, and the faculty of holding her tongue. By dintof these she contrived to gain a fair share of money, and also (whichshe liked even better) of power, among the simple folk for many milesround. If a child was scalded, a tooth ached, a piece of silver wasstolen, a heifer shrew-struck, a pig bewitched, a young damsel crost inlove, Lucy was called in, and Lucy found a remedy, especially for thelatter complaint. Now and then she found herself on ticklish ground, forthe kind-heartedness which compelled her to help all distressed damselsout of a scrape, sometimes compelled her also to help them into one;whereon enraged fathers called Lucy ugly names, and threatened to sendher into Exeter gaol for a witch, and she smiled quietly, and hintedthat if she were "like some that were ready to return evil for evil, such talk as that would bring no blessing on them that spoke it;" whichbeing translated into plain English, meant, "If you trouble me, I willoverlook (i. E. Fascinate) you, and then your pigs will die, your horsesstray, your cream turn sour, your barns be fired, your son have St. Vitus's dance, your daughter fits, and so on, woe on woe, till you arevery probably starved to death in a ditch, by virtue of this terriblelittle eye of mine, at which, in spite of all your swearing andbullying, you know you are now shaking in your shoes for fear. So youhad much better hold your tongue, give me a drink of cider, and leaveill alone, lest you make it worse. "

Not that Lucy ever proceeded to any such fearful extremities. On thecontrary, her boast, and her belief too, was, that she was sent intothe world to make poor souls as happy as she could, by lawful means, of course, if possible, but if not--why, unlawful ones were better thannone; for she "couldn't a-bear to see the poor creatures taking on;she was too, too tender-hearted. " And so she was, to every one but herhusband, a tall, simple-hearted rabbit-faced man, a good deal older thanherself. Fully agreeing with Sir Richard Grenville's great axiom, that he who cannot obey cannot rule, Lucy had been for the lastfive-and-twenty years training him pretty smartly to obey her, with theintention, it is to be charitably hoped, of letting him rule her inturn when his lesson was perfected. He bore his honors, however, meeklyenough, having a boundless respect for his wife's wisdom, and a firmbelief in her supernatural powers, and let her go her own way and earnher own money, while he got a little more in a truly pastoral method(not extinct yet along those lonely cliffs), by feeding a herd of somedozen donkeys and twenty goats. The donkeys fetched, at each low-tide, white shell-sand which was to be sold for manure to the neighboringfarmers; the goats furnished milk and "kiddy-pies;" and when there wasneither milking nor sand-carrying to be done, old Will Passmore justsat under a sunny rock and watched the buck-goats rattle their hornstogether, thinking about nothing at all, and taking very good careall the while neither to inquire nor to see who came in and out of hislittle cottage in the glen. 

The prophetess, when Rose approached her oracular cave, was seated ona tripod in front of the fire, distilling strong waters out ofpenny-royal. But no sooner did her distinguished visitor appear at thehatch, than the still was left to take care of itself, and a cleanapron and mutch having been slipt on, Lucy welcomed Rose with endlesscourtesies, and--"Bless my dear soul alive, who ever would have thoughtto see the Rose of Torridge to my poor little place!"

Rose sat down: and then? How to begin was more than she knew, and shestayed silent a full five minutes, looking earnestly at the point ofher shoe, till Lucy, who was an adept in such cases, thought it bestto proceed to business at once, and save Rose the delicate operationof opening the ball herself; and so, in her own way, half fawning, halffamiliar--

"Well, my dear young lady, and what is it I can do for ye? For I guessyou want a bit of old Lucy's help, eh? Though I'm most mazed to see yehere, surely. I should have supposed that pretty face could manage theysort of matters for itself. Eh?"

Rose, thus bluntly charged, confessed at once, and with many blushes andhesitations, made her soon understand that what she wanted was "To haveher fortune told. "

"Eh? Oh! I see. The pretty face has managed it a bit too well already, eh? Tu many o' mun, pure fellows? Well, 'tain't every mayden has herpick and choose, like some I know of, as be blest in love by starsabove. So you hain't made up your mind, then?"

Rose shook her head. 

"Ah--well, " she went on, in a half-bantering tone. "Not so asy, is it, then? One's gude for one thing, and one for another, eh? One has theblood, and another the money. "

And so the "cunning woman" (as she truly was), talking half to herself, ran over all the names which she thought likely, peering at Rose all thewhile out of the corners of her foxy bright eyes, while Rose stirred thepeat ashes steadfastly with the point of her little shoe, half angry, half ashamed, half frightened, to find that "the cunning woman" hadguessed so well both her suitors and her thoughts about them, and triedto look unconcerned at each name as it came out. 

"Well, well, " said Lucy, who took nothing by her move, simply becausethere was nothing to take; "think over it--think over it, my dear life;and if you did set your mind on any one--why, then--then maybe I mighthelp you to a sight of him. "

"A sight of him?"

"His sperrit, dear life, his sperrit only, I mane. I 'udn't have nokeeping company in my house, no, not for gowld untowld, I 'udn't; butthe sperrit of mun--to see whether mun would be true or not, you'd liketo know that, now, 'udn't you, my darling?"

Rose sighed, and stirred the ashes about vehemently. 

"I must first know who it is to be. If you could show me that--now--"

"Oh, I can show ye that, tu, I can. Ben there's a way to 't, a sure way;but 'tis mortal cold for the time o' year, you zee. "

"But what is it, then?" said Rose, who had in her heart been longing forsomething of that very kind, and had half made up her mind to ask for acharm. 

"Why, you'm not afraid to goo into the say by night for a minute, areyou? And to-morrow night would serve, too; 't will be just low tide tomidnight. "

"If you would come with me perhaps--"

"I'll come, I'll come, and stand within call, to be sure. Only do yemind this, dear soul alive, not to goo telling a crumb about mun, noo, not for the world, or yu'll see naught at all, indeed, now. And beside, there's a noxious business grow'd up against me up to Chapel there; andI hear tell how Mr. Leigh saith I shall to Exeter gaol for a witch--didye ever hear the likes?--because his groom Jan saith I overlookedmun--the Papist dog! And now never he nor th' owld Father Francis goo byme without a spetting, and saying of their Ayes and Malificas--I doknow what their Rooman Latin do mane, zo well as ever they, I du!--and amaking o' their charms and incantations to their saints and idols! Theybe mortal feared of witches, they Papists, and mortal hard on 'em, evenon a pure body like me, that doth a bit in the white way; 'case why yousee, dear life, " said she, with one of her humorous twinkles, "tu to atrade do never agree. Do ye try my bit of a charm, now; do ye!"

Rose could not resist the temptation; and between them both the charmwas agreed on, and the next night was fixed for its trial, on thepayment of certain current coins of the realm (for Lucy, of course, must live by her trade); and slipping a tester into the dame's hand asearnest, Rose went away home, and got there in safety. 

But in the meanwhile, at the very hour that Eustace had been prosecutinghis suit in the lane at Moorwinstow, a very different scene was beingenacted in Mrs. Leigh's room at Burrough. 

For the night before, Amyas, as he was going to bed, heard his brotherFrank in the next room tune his lute, and then begin to sing. Andboth their windows being open, and only a thin partition between thechambers, Amyas's admiring ears came in for every word of the followingcanzonet, sung in that delicate and mellow tenor voice for which Frankwas famed among all fair ladies:--

 "Ah, tyrant Love, Megaera's serpents bearing, Why thus requite my sighs with venom'd smart? Ah, ruthless dove, the vulture's talons wearing, Why flesh them, traitress, in this faithful heart? Is this my meed? Must dragons' teeth alone In Venus' lawns by lovers' hands be sown?

 "Nay, gentlest Cupid; 'twas my pride undid me. Nay, guiltless dove; by mine own wound I fell. To worship, not to wed, Celestials bid me: I dreamt to mate in heaven, and wake in hell; Forever doom'd, Ixion-like, to reel On mine own passions' ever-burning wheel. "

At which the simple sailor sighed, and longed that he could write suchneat verses, and sing them so sweetly. How he would besiege the earof Rose Salterne with amorous ditties! But still, he could not beeverything; and if he had the bone and muscle of the family, it was butfair that Frank should have the brains and voice; and, after all, he wasbone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and it was just the same asif he himself could do all the fine things which Frank could do; for aslong as one of the family won honor, what matter which of them it was?Whereon he shouted through the wall, "Good night, old song-thrush; Isuppose I need not pay the musicians. "

"What, awake?" answered Frank. "Come in here, and lull me to sleep witha sea-song. "

So Amyas went in, and found Frank laid on the outside of his bed not yetundrest. 

"I am a bad sleeper, " said he; "I spend more time, I fear, in burningthe midnight oil than prudent men should. Come and be my jongleur, my minnesinger, and tell me about Andes, and cannibals, and theice-regions, and the fire-regions, and the paradises of the West. "

So Amyas sat down, and told: but somehow, every story which he tried totell came round, by crooked paths, yet sure, to none other point thanRose Salterne, and how he thought of her here and thought of her there, and how he wondered what she would say if she had seen him in thisadventure, and how he longed to have had her with him to show her thatglorious sight, till Frank let him have his own way, and then out camethe whole story of the simple fellow's daily and hourly devotion to her, through those three long years of world-wide wanderings. 

"And oh, Frank, I could hardly think of anything but her in the churchthe other day, God forgive me! and it did seem so hard for her to be theonly face which I did not see--and have not seen her yet, either. "

"So I thought, dear lad, " said Frank, with one of his sweetest smiles;"and tried to get her father to let her impersonate the nymph ofTorridge. "

"Did you, you dear kind fellow? That would have been too delicious. "

"Just so, too delicious; wherefore, I suppose, it was ordained not tobe, that which was being delicious enough. "

"And is she as pretty as ever?"

"Ten times as pretty, dear lad, as half the young fellows round havediscovered. If you mean to win her and wear her (and God grant you mayfare no worse!) you will have rivals enough to get rid of. "

"Humph!" said Amyas, "I hope I shall not have to make short work withsome of them. "

"I hope not, " said Frank, laughing. "Now go to bed, and to-morrowmorning give your sword to mother to keep, lest you should be tempted todraw it on any of her majesty's lieges. "

"No fear of that, Frank; I am no swash-buckler, thank God; but if anyone gets in my way, I'll serve him as the mastiff did the terrier, and just drop him over the quay into the river, to cool himself, or myname's not Amyas. "

And the giant swung himself laughing out of the room, and slept allnight like a seal, not without dreams, of course, of Rose Salterne. 

The next morning, according to his wont, he went into his mother's room, whom he was sure to find up and at her prayers; for he liked to say hisprayers, too, by her side, as he used to do when he was a little boy. Itseemed so homelike, he said, after three years' knocking up and downin no-man's land. But coming gently to the door, for fear of disturbingher, and entering unperceived, beheld a sight which stopped him short. 

Mrs. Leigh was sitting in her chair, with her face bowed fondly downupon the head of his brother Frank, who knelt before her, his faceburied in her lap. Amyas could see that his whole form was quiveringwith stifled emotion. Their mother was just finishing the last wordsof a well-known text, --"for my sake, and the Gospel's, shall receive ahundred-fold in this present life, fathers, and mothers, and brothers, and sisters. "

"But not a wife!" interrupted Frank, with a voice stifled with sobs;"that was too precious a gift for even Him to promise to those who gaveup a first love for His sake!"

"And yet, " said he, after a moment's silence, "has He not heaped me withblessings enough already, that I must repine and rage at His refusing meone more, even though that one be--No, mother! I am your son, and God's;and you shall know it, even though Amyas never does!" And he looked upwith his clear blue eyes and white forehead; and his face was as theface of an angel. 

Both of them saw that Amyas was present, and started and blushed. Hismother motioned him away with her eyes, and he went quietly out, as onestunned. Why had his name been mentioned?

Love, cunning love, told him all at once. This was the meaning of lastnight's canzonet! This was why its words had seemed to fit his own heartso well! His brother was his rival. And he had been telling him all hislove last night. What a stupid brute he was! How it must have made poorFrank wince! And then Frank had listened so kindly; even bid him Godspeed in his suit. What a gentleman old Frank was, to be sure! No wonderthe queen was so fond of him, and all the Court ladies!--Why, if itcame to that, what wonder if Rose Salterne should be fond of him too?Hey-day! "That would be a pretty fish to find in my net when I come tohaul it!" quoth Amyas to himself, as he paced the garden; and clutchingdesperately hold of his locks with both hands, as if to hold his poorconfused head on its shoulders, he strode and tramped up and down theshell-paved garden walks for a full half hour, till Frank's voice (ascheerful as ever, though he more than suspected all) called him. 

"Come in to breakfast, lad; and stop grinding and creaking upon thosemiserable limpets, before thou hast set every tooth in my head on edge!"

Amyas, whether by dint of holding his head straight, or by higher means, had got the thoughts of the said head straight enough by this time; andin he came, and fell to upon the broiled fish and strong ale, with asort of fury, as determined to do his duty to the utmost in all mattersthat day, and therefore, of course, in that most important matter ofbodily sustenance; while his mother and Frank looked at him, not withoutanxiety and even terror, doubting what turn his fancy might have takenin so new a case; at last--

"My dear Amyas, you will really heat your blood with all that strongale! Remember, those who drink beer, think beer. "

"Then they think right good thoughts, mother. And in the meanwhile, those who drink water, think water. Eh, old Frank? and here's yourhealth. "

"And clouds are water, " said his mother, somewhat reassured by hisgenuine good humor; "and so are rainbows; and clouds are angels'thrones, and rainbows the sign of God's peace on earth. "

Amyas understood the hint, and laughed. "Then I'll pledge Frank outof the next ditch, if it please you and him. But first--I say--he musthearken to a parable; a manner mystery, miracle play, I have got inmy head, like what they have at Easter, to the town-hall. Now then, hearken, madam, and I and Frank will act. " And up rose Amyas, and shovedback his chair, and put on a solemn face. 

Mrs. Leigh looked up, trembling; and Frank, he scarce knew why, rose. 

"No; you pitch again. You are King David, and sit still upon yourthrone. David was a great singer, you know, and a player on the viols;and ruddy, too, and of a fair countenance; so that will fit. Now, then, mother, don't look so frightened. I am not going to play Goliath, forall my cubits; I am to present Nathan the prophet. Now, David, hearken, for I have a message unto thee, O King!

"There were two men in one city, one rich, and the other poor: and therich man had many flocks and herds, and all the fine ladies in Whitehallto court if he liked; and the poor man had nothing but--"

And in spite of his broad honest smile, Amyas's deep voice began totremble and choke. 

Frank sprang up, and burst into tears: "Oh! Amyas, my brother, mybrother! stop! I cannot endure this. Oh, God! was it not enough to haveentangled myself in this fatal fancy, but over and above, I must meetthe shame of my brother's discovering it?"

"What shame, then, I'd like to know?" said Amyas, recovering himself. "Look here, brother Frank! I've thought it all over in the garden; andI was an ass and a braggart for talking to you as I did last night. Of course you love her! Everybody must; and I was a fool for notrecollecting that; and if you love her, your taste and mine agree, andwhat can be better? I think you are a sensible fellow for loving her, and you think me one. And as for who has her, why, you're the eldest;and first come first served is the rule, and best to keep to it. Besides, brother Frank, though I'm no scholar, yet I'm not so blind butthat I tell the difference between you and me; and of course your chanceagainst mine, for a hundred to one; and I am not going to be fool enoughto row against wind and tide too. I'm good enough for her, I hope; butif I am, you are better, and the good dog may run, but it's the bestthat takes the hare; and so I have nothing more to do with the matterat all; and if you marry her, why, it will set the old house on its legsagain, and that's the first thing to be thought of, and you may just aswell do it as I, and better too. Not but that it's a plague, a horribleplague!" went on Amyas, with a ludicrously doleful visage; "but soare other things too, by the dozen; it's all in the day's work, as thehuntsman said when the lion ate him. One would never get through thefurze-croft if one stopped to pull out the prickles. The pig didn'tscramble out of the ditch by squeaking; and the less said the soonermended; nobody was sent into the world only to suck honey-pots. Whatmust be must, man is but dust; if you can't get crumb, you must faineat crust. So I'll go and join the army in Ireland, and get it out ofmy head, for cannon balls fright away love as well as poverty does; andthat's all I've got to say. " Wherewith Amyas sat down, and returned tothe beer; while Mrs. Leigh wept tears of joy. 

"Amyas! Amyas!" said Frank; "you must not throw away the hopes of years, and for me, too! Oh, how just was your parable! Ah! mother mine! towhat use is all my scholarship and my philosophy, when this dear simplesailor-lad outdoes me at the first trial of courtesy!"

"My children, my children, which of you shall I love best? Which of youis the more noble? I thanked God this morning for having given me onesuch son; but to have found that I possess two!" And Mrs. Leigh laid herhead on the table, and buried her face in her hands, while the generousbattle went on. 

"But, dearest Amyas!--"

"But, Frank! if you don't hold your tongue, I must go forth. Itwas quite trouble enough to make up one's mind, without having youafterwards trying to unmake it again. "

"Amyas! if you give her up to me, God do so to me, and more also, if Ido not hereby give her up to you!"

"He had done it already--this morning!" said Mrs. Leigh, looking upthrough her tears. "He renounced her forever on his knees before me!only he is too noble to tell you so. "

"The more reason I should copy him, " said Amyas, setting his lips, andtrying to look desperately determined, and then suddenly jumping up, he leaped upon Frank, and throwing his arms round his neck, sobbed out, "There, there, now! For God's sake, let us forget all, and think aboutour mother, and the old house, and how we may win her honor before wedie! and that will be enough to keep our hands full, without frettingabout this woman and that. --What an ass I have been for years! insteadof learning my calling, dreaming about her, and don't know at thisminute whether she cares more for me than she does for her father's'prentices!"

"Oh, Amyas! every word of yours puts me to fresh shame! Will you believethat I know as little of her likings as you do?"

"Don't tell me that, and play the devil's game by putting fresh hopesinto me, when I am trying to kick them out. I won't believe it. If sheis not a fool, she must love you; and if she don't, why, be hanged ifshe is worth loving!"

"My dearest Amyas! I must ask you too to make no more such speeches tome. All those thoughts I have forsworn. "

"Only this morning; so there is time to catch them again before they aregone too far. "

"Only this morning, " said Frank, with a quiet smile: "but centuries havepassed since then. "

"Centuries? I don't see many gray hairs yet. "

"I should not have been surprised if you had, though, " answered Frank, in so sad and meaning a tone that Amyas could only answer--

"Well, you are an angel!"

"You, at least, are something even more to the purpose, for you are aman!"

And both spoke truth, and so the battle ended; and Frank went to hisbooks, while Amyas, who must needs be doing, if he was not to dream, started off to the dockyard to potter about a new ship of Sir Richard's, and forget his woes, in the capacity of Sir Oracle among the sailors. And so he had played his move for Rose, even as Eustace had, and losther: but not as Eustace had. 

CHAPTER V

CLOVELLY COURT IN THE OLDEN TIME

 "It was among the ways of good Queen Bess, Who ruled as well as ever mortal can, sir, When she was stogg'd, and the country in a mess, She was wont to send for a Devon man, sir. "

 West Country Song. 

The next morning Amyas Leigh was not to be found. Not that he had goneout to drown himself in despair, or even to bemoan himself "down by theTorridge side. " He had simply ridden off, Frank found, to Sir RichardGrenville at Stow: his mother at once divined the truth, that he wasgone to try for a post in the Irish army, and sent off Frank after himto bring him home again, and make him at least reconsider himself. 

So Frank took horse and rode thereon ten miles or more: and then, asthere were no inns on the road in those days, or indeed in these, andhe had some ten miles more of hilly road before him, he turned downthe hill towards Clovelly Court, to obtain, after the hospitable humanefashion of those days, good entertainment for man and horse from Mr. Cary the squire. 

And when he walked self-invited, like the loud-shouting Menelaus, intothe long dark wainscoted hall of the court, the first object he beheldwas the mighty form of Amyas, who, seated at the long table, wasalternately burying his face in a pasty, and the pasty in his face, hissorrows having, as it seemed, only sharpened his appetite, while youngWill Cary, kneeling on the opposite bench, with his elbows on the table, was in that graceful attitude laying down the law fiercely to him in alow voice. 

"Hillo! lad, " cried Amyas; "come hither and deliver me out of the handsof this fire-eater, who I verily believe will kill me, if I do not lethim kill some one else. "

"Ah! Mr. Frank, " said Will Cary, who, like all other young gentlemen ofthese parts, held Frank in high honor, and considered him a very oracleand cynosure of fashion and chivalry, "welcome here: I was just longingfor you, too; I wanted your advice on half-a-dozen matters. Sit down, and eat. There is the ale. "

"None so early, thank you. "

"Ah no!" said Amyas, burying his head in the tankard, and then mimickingFrank, "avoid strong ale o' mornings. It heats the blood, thickensthe animal spirits, and obfuscates the cerebrum with frenetical andlymphatic idols, which cloud the quintessential light of the purereason. Eh? young Plato, young Daniel, come hither to judgment! And yet, though I cannot see through the bottom of the tankard already, I can seeplain enough still to see this, that Will shall not fight. "

"Shall I not, eh? who says that? Mr. Frank, I appeal to you, now; onlyhear. "

"We are in the judgment-seat, " said Frank, settling to the pasty. "Proceed, appellant. "

"Well, I was telling Amyas, that Tom Coffin, of Portledge; I will standhim no longer. "

"Let him be, then, " said Amyas; "he could stand very well by himself, when I saw him last. "

"Plague on you, hold your tongue. Has he any right to look at me as hedoes, whenever I pass him?"

"That depends on how he looks; a cat may look at a king, provided shedon't take him for a mouse. "

"Oh, I know how he looks, and what he means too, and he shall stop, or Iwill stop him. And the other day, when I spoke of Rose Salterne"--"Ah!"groaned Frank, "Ate's apple again!"--"(never mind what I said) he burstout laughing in my face; and is not that a fair quarrel? And what ismore, I know that he wrote a sonnet, and sent it to her to Stow by amarket woman. What right has he to write sonnets when I can't? It's notfair play, Mr. Frank, or I am a Jew, and a Spaniard, and a Papist; it'snot!" And Will smote the table till the plates danced again. 

"My dear knight of the burning pestle, I have a plan, a device, adisentanglement, according to most approved rules of chivalry. Let usfix a day, and summon by tuck of drum all young gentlemen under theage of thirty, dwelling within fifteen miles of the habitation of thatpeerless Oriana. "

"And all 'prentice-boys too, " cried Amyas, out of the pasty. 

"And all 'prentice-boys. The bold lads shall fight first, with goodquarterstaves, in Bideford Market, till all heads are broken; and thehead which is not broken, let the back belonging to it pay the penaltyof the noble member's cowardice. After which grand tournament, to whichthat of Tottenham shall be but a flea-bite and a batrachomyomachy--"

"Confound you, and your long words, sir, " said poor Will, "I know youare flouting me. "

"Pazienza, Signor Cavaliere; that which is to come is no flouting, butbloody and warlike earnest. For afterwards all the young gentlemenshall adjourn into a convenient field, sand, or bog--which last will bebetter, as no man will be able to run away, if he be up to his kneesin soft peat: and there stripping to our shirts, with rapiers of equallength and keenest temper, each shall slay his man, catch who catch can, and the conquerors fight again, like a most valiant main of gamecocksas we are, till all be dead, and out of their woes; after which thesurvivor, bewailing before heaven and earth the cruelty of our FairOriana, and the slaughter which her basiliscine eyes have caused, shallfall gracefully upon his sword, and so end the woes of this our lovelorngeneration. Placetne Domini? as they used to ask in the Senate atOxford. "

"Really, " said Cary, "this is too bad. "

"So is, pardon me, your fighting Mr. Coffin with anything longer than abodkin. "

"Bodkins are too short for such fierce Bobadils, " said Amyas; "theywould close in so near, that we should have them falling to fisticuffsafter the first bout. "

"Then let them fight with squirts across the market-place; for by heavenand the queen's laws, they shall fight with nothing else. "

"My dear Mr. Cary, " went on Frank, suddenly changing his bantering toneto one of the most winning sweetness, "do not fancy that I cannot feelfor you, or that I, as well as you, have not known the stings of loveand the bitterer stings of jealousy. But oh, Mr. Cary, does it not seemto you an awful thing to waste selfishly upon your own quarrel thatdivine wrath which, as Plato says, is the very root of all virtues, andwhich has been given you, like all else which you have, that you mayspend it in the service of her whom all bad souls fear, and all virtuoussouls adore, --our peerless queen? Who dares, while she rules England, call his sword or his courage his own, or any one's but hers? Are thereno Spaniards to conquer, no wild Irish to deliver from their oppressors, that two gentlemen of Devon can find no better place to flesh theirblades than in each other's valiant and honorable hearts?"

"By heaven!" cried Amyas, "Frank speaks like a book; and for me, I dothink that Christian gentlemen may leave love quarrels to bulls andrams. "

"And that the heir of Clovelly, " said Frank, smiling, "may find morenoble examples to copy than the stags in his own deer-park. "

"Well, " said Will, penitently, "you are a great scholar, Mr. Frank, andyou speak like one; but gentlemen must fight sometimes, or where wouldbe their honor?"

"I speak, " said Frank, a little proudly, "not merely as a scholar, but as a gentleman, and one who has fought ere now, and to whom it hashappened, Mr. Cary, to kill his man (on whose soul may God have mercy);but it is my pride to remember that I have never yet fought in my ownquarrel, and my trust in God that I never shall. For as there is nothingmore noble and blessed than to fight in behalf of those whom we love, so to fight in our own private behalf is a thing not to be allowed to aChristian man, unless refusal imports utter loss of life or honor;and even then, it may be (though I would not lay a burden on any man'sconscience), it is better not to resist evil, but to overcome it withgood. "

"And I can tell you, Will, " said Amyas, "I am not troubled with fear ofghosts; but when I cut off the Frenchman's head, I said to myself, 'Ifthat braggart had been slandering me instead of her gracious majesty, Ishould expect to see that head lying on my pillow every time I went tobed at night. '"

"God forbid!" said Will, with a shudder. "But what shall I do? for tothe market tomorrow I will go, if it were choke-full of Coffins, and aghost in each coffin of the lot. "

"Leave the matter to me, " said Amyas. "I have my device, as well asscholar Frank here; and if there be, as I suppose there must be, aquarrel in the market to-morrow, see if I do not--"

"Well, you are two good fellows, " said Will. "Let us have anothertankard in. "

"And drink the health of Mr. Coffin, and all gallant lads of the North, "said Frank; "and now to my business. I have to take this runaway youthhere home to his mother; and if he will not go quietly, I have orders tocarry him across my saddle. "

"I hope your nag has a strong back, then, " said Amyas; "but I must go onand see Sir Richard, Frank. It is all very well to jest as we have beendoing, but my mind is made up. "

"Stop, " said Cary. "You must stay here tonight; first, for goodfellowship's sake; and next, because I want the advice of our Phoenixhere, our oracle, our paragon. There, Mr. Frank, can you construe thatfor me? Speak low, though, gentlemen both; there comes my father; youhad better give me the letter again. Well, father, whence this morning?"

"Eh, company here? Young men, you are always welcome, and such as you. Would there were more of your sort in these dirty times! How is yourgood mother, Frank, eh? Where have I been, Will? Round the house-farm, to look at the beeves. That sheeted heifer of Prowse's is all wrong;her coat stares like a hedgepig's. Tell Jewell to go up and bring her inbefore night. And then up the forty acres; sprang two coveys, and pickeda leash out of them. The Irish hawk flies as wild as any haggard still, and will never make a bird. I had to hand her to Tom, and take thelittle peregrine. Give me a Clovelly hawk against the world, afterall; and--heigh ho, I am very hungry! Half-past twelve, and dinner notserved? What, Master Amyas, spoiling your appetite with strong ale?Better have tried sack, lad; have some now with me. "

And the worthy old gentleman, having finished his oration, settledhimself on a great bench inside the chimney, and put his hawk on a perchover his head, while his cockers coiled themselves up close to the warmpeat-ashes, and his son set to work to pull off his father's boots, amidsundry warnings to take care of his corns. 

"Come, Master Amyas, a pint of white wine and sugar, and a bit of ashoeing-horn to it ere we dine. Some pickled prawns, now, or a rasheroff the coals, to whet you?"

"Thank you, " quoth Amyas; "but I have drunk a mort of outlandishliquors, better and worse, in the last three years, and yet never foundaught to come up to good ale, which needs neither shoeing-horn beforenor after, but takes care of itself, and of all honest stomachs too, Ithink. "

"You speak like a book, boy, " said old Cary; "and after all, what aplague comes of these newfangled hot wines, and aqua vitaes, which havecome in since the wars, but maddening of the brains, and fever of theblood?"

"I fear we have not seen the end of that yet, " said Frank. "My friendswrite me from the Netherlands that our men are falling into a swinishtrick of swilling like the Hollanders. Heaven grant that they may notbring home the fashion with them. "

"A man must drink, they say, or die of the ague, in those vile swamps, "said Amyas. "When they get home here, they will not need it. "

"Heaven grant it, " said Frank; "I should be sorry to see Devonshirea drunken county; and there are many of our men out there with Mr. Champernoun. "

"Ah, " said Cary, "there, as in Ireland, we are proving her majesty'ssaying true, that Devonshire is her right hand, and the young childrenthereof like the arrows in the hand of the giant. "

"They may well be, " said his son, "when some of them are giantsthemselves, like my tall school-fellow opposite. "

"He will be up and doing again presently, I'll warrant him, " said oldCary. 

"And that I shall, " quoth Amyas. "I have been devising brave deeds;and see in the distance enchanters to be bound, dragons choked, empiresconquered, though not in Holland. "

"You do?" asked Will, a little sharply; for he had had a half suspicionthat more was meant than met the ear. 

"Yes, " said Amyas, turning off his jest again, "I go to what Raleighcalls the Land of the Nymphs. Another month, I hope, will see me abroadin Ireland. "

"Abroad? Call it rather at home, " said old Cary; "for it is full ofDevon men from end to end, and you will be among friends all day long. George Bourchier from Tawstock has the army now in Munster, and WarhamSt. Leger is marshal; George Carew is with Lord Grey of Wilton (PoorPeter Carew was killed at Glendalough); and after the defeat last year, when that villain Desmond cut off Herbert and Price, the companies weremade up with six hundred Devon men, and Arthur Fortescue at their head;so that the old county holds her head as proudly in the Land of Ire asshe does in the Low Countries and the Spanish Main. "

"And where, " asked Amyas, "is Davils of Marsland, who used to teach mehow to catch trout, when I was staying down at Stow? He is in Ireland, too, is he not?"

"Ah, my lad, " said Mr. Cary, "that is a sad story. I thought all Englandhad known it. "

"You forget, sir, I am a stranger. Surely he is not dead?"

"Murdered foully, lad! Murdered like a dog, and by the man whom he hadtreated as his son, and who pretended, the false knave! to call himfather. "

"His blood is avenged?" said Amyas, fiercely. 

"No, by heaven, not yet! Stay, don't cry out again. I am gettingold--I must tell my story my own way. It was last July, --was it not, Will?--Over comes to Ireland Saunders, one of those Jesuit foxes, as thePope's legate, with money and bulls, and a banner hallowed by the Pope, and the devil knows what beside; and with him James Fitzmaurice, thesame fellow who had sworn on his knees to Perrott, in the church atKilmallock, to be a true liegeman to Queen Elizabeth, and confirmed itby all his saints, and such a world of his Irish howling, that Perrotttold me he was fain to stop his own ears. Well, he had been practisingwith the King of France, but got nothing but laughter for his pains, andso went over to the Most Catholic King, and promises him to join Irelandto Spain, and set up Popery again, and what not. And he, I suppose, thinking it better that Ireland should belong to him than to the Pope'sbastard, fits him out, and sends him off on such another errand asStukely's, --though I will say, for the honor of Devon, if Stukely livedlike a fool, he died like an honest man. "

"Sir Thomas Stukely dead too?" said Amyas. 

"Wait a while, lad, and you shall have that tragedy afterwards. Well, where was I? Oh, Fitzmaurice and the Jesuits land at Smerwick, withthree ships, choose a place for a fort, bless it with their holy water, and their moppings and their scourings, and the rest of it, to purifyit from the stain of heretic dominion; but in the meanwhile one ofthe Courtenays, --a Courtenay of Haccombe, was it?--or a Courtenay ofBoconnock? Silence, Will, I shall have it in a minute--yes, a Courtenayof Haccombe it was, lying at anchor near by, in a ship of war of his, cuts out the three ships, and cuts off the Dons from the sea. John andJames Desmond, with some small rabble, go over to the Spaniards. EarlDesmond will not join them, but will not fight them, and stands by totake the winning side; and then in comes poor Davils, sent down by theLord Deputy to charge Desmond and his brothers, in the queen's name, toassault the Spaniards. Folks say it was rash of his lordship: but Isay, what could be better done? Every one knows that there never was astouter or shrewder soldier than Davils; and the young Desmonds, I haveheard him say many a time, used to look on him as their father. Buthe found out what it was to trust Englishmen turned Irish. Well, the Desmonds found out on a sudden that the Dons were such desperatePaladins, that it was madness to meddle, though they were five to one;and poor Davils, seeing that there was no fight in them, goes back forhelp, and sleeps that night at some place called Tralee. Arthur Carterof Bideford, St. Leger's lieutenant, as stout an old soldier as Davilshimself, sleeps in the same bed with him; the lacquey-boy, who is nowwith Sir Richard at Stow, on the floor at their feet. But in the dead ofnight, who should come in but James Desmond, sword in hand, with a dozenof his ruffians at his heels, each with his glib over his ugly face, and his skene in his hand. Davils springs up in bed, and asks but this, 'What is the matter, my son?' whereon the treacherous villain, withoutgiving him time to say a prayer, strikes at him, naked as he was, crying, 'Thou shalt be my father no longer, nor I thy son! Thou shaltdie!' and at that all the rest fall on him. The poor little lad (so hesays) leaps up to cover his master with his naked body, gets three orfour stabs of skenes, and so falls for dead; with his master and CaptainCarter, who were dead indeed--God reward them! After that the ruffiansransacked the house, till they had murdered every Englishman in it, thelacquey-boy only excepted, who crawled out, wounded as he was, througha window; while Desmond, if you will believe it, went back, up to hiselbows in blood, and vaunted his deeds to the Spaniards, and askedthem--'There! Will you take that as a pledge that I am faithful to you?'And that, my lad, was the end of Henry Davils, and will be of all whotrust to the faith of wild savages. "

"I would go a hundred miles to see that Desmond hanged!" said Amyas, while great tears ran down his face. "Poor Mr. Davils! And now, what isthe story of Sir Thomas?"

"Your brother must tell you that, lad; I am somewhat out of breath. "

"And I have a right to tell it, " said Frank, with a smile. "Do you knowthat I was very near being Earl of the bog of Allen, and one of thepeers of the realm to King Buoncompagna, son and heir to his holinessPope Gregory the Thirteenth?"

"No, surely!"

"As I am a gentleman. When I was at Rome I saw poor Stukely often; andthis and more he offered me on the part (as he said) of the Pope, if Iwould just oblige him in the two little matters of being reconciled tothe Catholic Church, and joining the invasion of Ireland. "

"Poor deluded heretic, " said Will Cary, "to have lost an earldom foryour family by such silly scruples of loyalty!"

"It is not a matter for jesting, after all, " said Frank; "but I saw SirThomas often, and I cannot believe he was in his senses, so frantic washis vanity and his ambition; and all the while, in private matters ashonorable a gentleman as ever. However, he sailed at last for Ireland, with his eight hundred Spaniards and Italians; and what is more, Iknow that the King of Spain paid their charges. Marquis Vinola--JamesBuoncompagna, that is--stayed quietly at Rome, preferring that Stukelyshould conquer his paternal heritage of Ireland for him while he tookcare of the bona robas at home. I went down to Civita Vecchia to seehim off; and though his younger by many years, I could not but takethe liberty of entreating him, as a gentleman and a man of Devon, toconsider his faith to his queen and the honor of his country. There werehigh words between us; God forgive me if I spoke too fiercely, for Inever saw him again. "

"Too fiercely to an open traitor, Frank? Why not have run him through?"

"Nay, I had no clean life for Sundays, Amyas; so I could not throw awaymy week-day one; and as for the weal of England, I knew that it waslittle he would damage it, and told him so. And at that he waxed utterlymad, for it touched his pride, and swore that if the wind had not beenfair for sailing, he would have fought me there and then; to which Icould only answer, that I was ready to meet him when he would; and heparted from me, saying, 'It is a pity, sir, I cannot fight you now; whennext we meet, it will be beneath my dignity to measure swords with you. '

"I suppose he expected to come back a prince at least--Heaven knows; Iowe him no ill-will, nor I hope does any man. He has paid all debts nowin full, and got his receipt for them. "

"How did he die, then, after all?"

"On his voyage he touched in Portugal. King Sebastian was just sailingfor Africa with his new ally, Mohammed the Prince of Fez, to help KingAbdallah, and conquer what he could. He persuaded Stukely to go withhim. There were those who thought that he, as well as the Spaniards, hadno stomach for seeing the Pope's son King of Ireland. Others used tosay that he thought an island too small for his ambition, and must needsconquer a continent--I know not why it was, but he went. They had heavyweather in the passage; and when they landed, many of their soldierswere sea-sick. Stukely, reasonably enough, counselled that they shouldwait two or three days and recruit; but Don Sebastian was so mad for theassault that he must needs have his veni, vidi, vici; and so ended witha veni, vidi, perii; for he Abdallah, and his son Mohammed, all perishedin the first battle at Alcasar; and Stukely, surrounded and overpowered, fought till he could fight no more, and then died like a hero with allhis wounds in front; and may God have mercy on his soul!"

"Ah!" said Amyas, "we heard of that battle off Lima, but nothing aboutpoor Stukely. "

"That last was a Popish prayer, Master Frank, " said old Mr. Cary. 

"Most worshipful sir, you surely would not wish God not to have mercy onhis soul?"

"No--eh? Of course not: but that's all settled by now, for he is dead, poor fellow. "

"Certainly, my dear sir. And you cannot help being a little fond of himstill. "

"Eh? why, I should be a brute if I were not. He and I wereschoolfellows, though he was somewhat the younger; and many a goodthrashing have I given him, and one cannot help having a tenderness fora man after that. Beside, we used to hunt together in Exmoor, and haveroyal nights afterward into Ilfracombe, when we were a couple of madyoung blades. Fond of him? Why, I would have sooner given my forefingerthan that he should have gone to the dogs thus. "

"Then, my dear sir, if you feel for him still, in spite of all hisfaults, how do you know that God may not feel for him still, in spite ofall his faults? For my part, " quoth Frank, in his fanciful way, "withoutbelieving in that Popish Purgatory, I cannot help holding with Plato, that such heroical souls, who have wanted but little of true greatness, are hereafter by some strait discipline brought to a better mind;perhaps, as many ancients have held with the Indian Gymnosophists, bytransmigration into the bodies of those animals whom they have resembledin their passions; and indeed, if Sir Thomas Stukely's soul should nowanimate the body of a lion, all I can say is that he would be a veryvaliant and royal lion; and also doubtless become in due time heartilyashamed and penitent for having been nothing better than a lion. "

"What now, Master Frank? I don't trouble my head with such matters--Isay Stukely was a right good-hearted fellow at bottom; and if you plaguemy head with any of your dialectics, and propositions, and college quipsand quiddities, you sha'n't have any more sack, sir. But here come theknaves, and I hear the cook knock to dinner. "

After a madrigal or two, and an Italian song of Master Frank's, allwhich went sweetly enough, the ladies rose, and went. Whereon Will Cary, drawing his chair close to Frank's, put quietly into his hand a dirtyletter. 

"This was the letter left for me, " whispered he, "by a country fellowthis morning. Look at it and tell me what I am to do. "

Whereon Frank opened, and read--

 "Mister Cary, be you wary By deer park end to-night. Yf Irish ffoxe com out of rocks Grip and hold hym tight. "

"I would have showed it my father, " said Will, "but--"

"I verily believe it to be a blind. See now, this is the handwriting ofa man who has been trying to write vilely, and yet cannot. Look atthat B, and that G; their formae formativae never were begotten in ahedge-school. And what is more, this is no Devon man's handiwork. We say'to' and not 'by, ' Will, eh? in the West country?"

"Of course. "

"And 'man, ' instead of 'him'?"

"True, O Daniel! But am I to do nothing therefore?"

"On that matter I am no judge. Let us ask much-enduring Ulysses here;perhaps he has not sailed round the world without bringing home a deviceor two. "

Whereon Amyas was called to counsel, as soon as Mr. Cary could bestopped in a long cross-examination of him as to Mr. Doughty's famoustrial and execution. 

Amyas pondered awhile, thrusting his hands into his long curls; andthen--

"Will, my lad, have you been watching at the Deer Park End of late?"

"Never. "

"Where, then?"

"At the town-beach. "

"Where else?

"At the town-head. "

"Where else?"

"Why, the fellow is turned lawyer! Above Freshwater. "

"Where is Freshwater?"

"Why, where the water-fall comes over the cliff, half-a-mile from thetown. There is a path there up into the forest. "

"I know. I'll watch there to-night. Do you keep all your old hauntssafe, of course, and send a couple of stout knaves to the mill, to watchthe beach at the Deer Park End, on the chance; for your poet may be atrue man, after all. But my heart's faith is, that this comes just todraw you off from some old beat of yours, upon a wild-goose chase. Ifthey shoot the miller by mistake, I suppose it don't much matter?"

"Marry, no. "

 "'When a miller's knock'd on the head, The less of flour makes the more of bread. '"

"Or, again, " chimed in old Mr. Cary, "as they say in the North--

 "'Find a miller that will not steal, Or a webster that is leal, Or a priest that is not greedy, And lay them three a dead corpse by; And by the virtue of them three, The said dead corpse shall quicken'd be. '"

"But why are you so ready to watch Freshwater to-night, Master Amyas?"

"Because, sir, those who come, if they come, will never land atMouthmill; if they are strangers, they dare not; and if they arebay's-men, they are too wise, as long as the westerly swell sets in. Asfor landing at the town, that would be too great a risk; but Freshwateris as lonely as the Bermudas; and they can beach a boat up under thecliff at all tides, and in all weathers, except north and nor'west. Ihave done it many a time, when I was a boy. "

"And give us the fruit of your experience now in your old age, eh? Well, you have a gray head on green shoulders, my lad; and I verily believeyou are right. Who will you take with you to watch?"

"Sir, " said Frank, "I will go with my brother; and that will be enough. "

"Enough? He is big enough, and you brave enough, for ten; but still, themore the merrier. "

"But the fewer, the better fare. If I might ask a first and last favor, worshipful sir, " said Frank, very earnestly, "you would grant me twothings: that you would let none go to Freshwater but me and my brother;and that whatsoever we shall bring you back shall be kept as secret asthe commonweal and your loyalty shall permit. I trust that we are not sounknown to you, or to others, that you can doubt for a moment but thatwhatsoever we may do will satisfy at once your honor and our own. "

"My dear young gentleman, there is no need of so many courtier's words. I am your father's friend, and yours. And God forbid that a Cary--for Iguess your drift--should ever wish to make a head or a heart ache; thatis, more than--"

"Those of whom it is written, 'Though thou bray a fool in a mortar, yetwill not his folly depart from him, '" interposed Frank, in so sad a tonethat no one at the table replied; and few more words were exchanged, till the two brothers were safe outside the house; and then--

"Amyas, " said Frank, "that was a Devon man's handiwork, nevertheless; itwas Eustace's handwriting. "

"Impossible!"

"No, lad. I have been secretary to a prince, and learnt to interpretcipher, and to watch every pen-stroke; and, young as I am, I think thatI am not easily deceived. Would God I were! Come on, lad; and strike noman hastily, lest thou cut off thine own flesh. "

So forth the two went, along the park to the eastward, and past thehead of the little wood-embosomed fishing-town, a steep stair of housesclinging to the cliff far below them, the bright slate roofs and whitewalls glittering in the moonlight; and on some half-mile farther, alongthe steep hill-side, fenced with oak wood down to the water's edge, bya narrow forest path, to a point where two glens meet and pour theirstreamlets over a cascade some hundred feet in height into the seabelow. By the side of this waterfall a narrow path climbs upward fromthe beach; and here it was that the two brothers expected to meet themessenger. 

Frank insisted on taking his station below Amyas. He said that he wascertain that Eustace himself would make his appearance, and that hewas more fit than Amyas to bring him to reason by parley; that if Amyaswould keep watch some twenty yards above, the escape of the messengerwould be impossible. Moreover, he was the elder brother, and the post ofhonor was his right. So Amyas obeyed him, after making him promise thatif more than one man came up the path, he would let them pass him beforehe challenged, so that both might bring them to bay at the same time. 

So Amyas took his station under a high marl bank, and, bedded inluxuriant crown-ferns, kept his eye steadily on Frank, who sat down ona little knoll of rock (where is now a garden on the cliff-edge) whichparts the path and the dark chasm down which the stream rushes to itsfinal leap over the cliff. 

There Amyas sat a full half-hour, and glanced at whiles from Frank tolook upon the scene around. Outside the southwest wind blew fresh andstrong, and the moonlight danced upon a thousand crests of foam; butwithin the black jagged point which sheltered the town, the sea didbut heave, in long oily swells of rolling silver, onward into the blackshadow of the hills, within which the town and pier lay invisible, save where a twinkling light gave token of some lonely fisher's wife, watching the weary night through for the boat which would return withdawn. Here and there upon the sea, a black speck marked a herring-boat, drifting with its line of nets; and right off the mouth of theglen, Amyas saw, with a beating heart, a large two-masted vessellying-to--that must be the "Portugal"! Eagerly he looked up the glen, and listened; but he heard nothing but the sweeping of the wind acrossthe downs five hundred feet above, and the sough of the waterfall uponthe rocks below; he saw nothing but the vast black sheets of oak-woodsloping up to the narrow blue sky above, and the broad bright hunter'smoon, and the woodcocks, which, chuckling to each other, hawked to andfro, like swallows, between the tree-tops and the sky. 

At last he heard a rustle of the fallen leaves; he shrank closer andcloser into the darkness of the bank. Then swift light steps--not downthe path, from above, but upward, from below; his heart beat quick andloud. And in another half-minute a man came in sight, within three yardsof Frank's hiding-place. 

Frank sprang out instantly. Amyas saw his bright blade glance in theclear October moonlight. 

"Stand in the queen's name!"

The man drew a pistol from under his cloak, and fired full in his face. Had it happened in these days of detonators, Frank's chance had beensmall; but to get a ponderous wheel-lock under weigh was a longerbusiness, and before the fizzing of the flint had ceased, Frank hadstruck up the pistol with his rapier, and it exploded harmlessly overhis head. The man instantly dashed the weapon in his face and closed. 

The blow, luckily, did not take effect on that delicate forehead, butstruck him on the shoulder: nevertheless, Frank, who with all his graceand agility was as fragile as a lily, and a very bubble of the earth, staggered, and lost his guard, and before he could recover himself, Amyas saw a dagger gleam, and one, two, three blows fiercely repeated. 

Mad with fury, he was with them in an instant. They were scufflingtogether so closely in the shade that he was afraid to use his swordpoint; but with the hilt he dealt a single blow full on the ruffian'scheek. It was enough; with a hideous shriek, the fellow rolled over athis feet, and Amyas set his foot on him, in act to run him through. 

"Stop! stay!" almost screamed Frank; "it is Eustace! our cousinEustace!" and he leant against a tree. 

Amyas sprang towards him: but Frank waved him off. 

"It is nothing--a scratch. He has papers: I am sure of it. Take them;and for God's sake let him go!"

"Villain! give me your papers!" cried Amyas, setting his foot once moreon the writhing Eustace, whose jaw was broken across. 

"You struck me foully from behind, " moaned he, his vanity and envy eventhen coming out, in that faint and foolish attempt to prove Amyas not sovery much better a man. 

"Hound, do you think that I dare not strike you in front? Give me yourpapers, letters, whatever Popish devilry you carry; or as I live, I willcut off your head, and take them myself, even if it cost me the shameof stripping your corpse. Give them up! Traitor, murderer! give them, Isay!" And setting his foot on him afresh, he raised his sword. 

Eustace was usually no craven: but he was cowed. Between agony andshame, he had no heart to resist. Martyrdom, which looked so splendidwhen consummated selon les regles on Tower Hill or Tyburn, beforepitying, or (still better) scoffing multitudes, looked a confused, dirty, ugly business there in the dark forest; and as he lay, a streamof moonlight bathed his mighty cousin's broad clear forehead, and hislong golden locks, and his white terrible blade, till he seemed, toEustace's superstitious eye, like one of those fair young St. Michaelstrampling on the fiend, which he had seen abroad in old German pictures. He shuddered; pulled a packet from his bosom, and threw it from him, murmuring, "I have not given it. "

"Swear to me that these are all the papers which you have in cipher orout of cipher. Swear on your soul, or you die!"

Eustace swore. 

"Tell me, who are your accomplices?"

"Never!" said Eustace. "Cruel! have you not degraded me enough already?"and the wretched young man burst into tears, and hid his bleeding facein his hands. 

One hint of honor made Amyas as gentle as a lamb. He lifted Eustace up, and bade him run for his life. 

"I am to owe my life, then, to you?"

"Not in the least; only to your being a Leigh. Go, or it will be worsefor you!" And Eustace went; while Amyas, catching up the preciouspacket, hurried to Frank. He had fainted already, and his brother hadto carry him as far as the park before he could find any of the otherwatchers. The blind, as far as they were concerned, was complete. Theyhad heard and seen nothing. Whosoever had brought the packet had landedthey knew not where; and so all returned to the court, carrying Frank, who recovered gradually, having rather bruises than wounds; for his foehad struck wildly, and with a trembling hand. 

Half-an-hour after, Amyas, Mr. Cary, and his son Will were in deepconsultation over the following epistle, the only paper in the packetwhich was not in cipher:--

"'DEAR BROTHER N. S. In Chto. Et Ecclesia. 

"This is to inform you and the friends of the cause, that S. Josephushas landed in Smerwick, with eight hundred valiant Crusaders, burningwith holy zeal to imitate last year's martyrs of Carrigfolium, andto expiate their offences (which I fear may have been many) by thepropagation of our most holy faith. I have purified the fort (which theyare strenuously rebuilding) with prayer and holy water, from the stainof heretical footsteps, and consecrated it afresh to the service ofHeaven, as the first-fruits of the isle of saints; and having displayedthe consecrated banner to the adoration of the faithful, have returnedto Earl Desmond, that I may establish his faith, weak as yet, by reasonof the allurements of this world: though since, by the valor of hisbrother James, he that hindered was taken out of the way (I mean Davilsthe heretic, sacrifice well-pleasing in the eyes of Heaven!), the youngman has lent a more obedient ear to my counsels. If you can do anything, do it quickly, for a great door and effectual is opened, and there aremany adversaries. But be swift, for so do the poor lambs of the Churchtremble at the fury of the heretics, that a hundred will flee before oneEnglishman. And, indeed, were it not for that divine charity towardthe Church (which covers the multitude of sins) with which they areresplendent, neither they nor their country would be, by the carnaljudgment, counted worthy of so great labor in their behalf. For theythemselves are given much to lying, theft, and drunkenness, vainbabbling, and profane dancing and singing; and are still, as S. Gildasreports of them, 'more careful to shroud their villainous faces in bushyhair, than decently to cover their bodies; while their land (byreason of the tyranny of their chieftains, and the continual wars andplunderings among their tribes, which leave them weak and divided, an easy prey to the myrmidons of the excommunicate and usurpingEnglishwoman) lies utterly waste with fire, and defaced with corpses ofthe starved and slain. But what are these things, while the holy virtueof Catholic obedience still flourishes in their hearts? The Church caresnot for the conservation of body and goods, but of immortal souls. 

"If any devout lady shall so will, you may obtain from her liberality ashirt for this worthless tabernacle, and also a pair of hose; for I amunsavory to myself and to others, and of such luxuries none here hassuperfluity; for all live in holy poverty, except the fleas, who havethat consolation in this world for which this unhappy nation, and thosewho labor among them, must wait till the world to come. *

"Your loving brother, "N. S. "

 * See note at end of chapter. 

"Sir Richard must know of this before daybreak, " cried old Cary. "Eighthundred men landed! We must call out the Posse Comitatus, and sail withthem bodily. I will go myself, old as I am. Spaniards in Ireland? not adog of them must go home again. "

"Not a dog of them, " answered Will; "but where is Mr. Winter and hissquadron?"

"Safe in Milford Haven; a messenger must be sent to him too. "

"I'll go, " said Amyas: "but Mr. Cary is right. Sir Richard must know allfirst. "

"And we must have those Jesuits. "

"What? Mr. Evans and Mr. Morgans? God help us--they are at my uncle's!Consider the honor of our family!"

"Judge for yourself, my dear boy, " said old Mr. Cary, gently: "wouldit not be rank treason to let these foxes escape, while we have thisdamning proof against them?"

"I will go myself, then. "

"Why not? You may keep all straight, and Will shall go with you. Call agroom, Will, and get your horse saddled, and my Yorkshire gray; he willmake better play with this big fellow on his back, than the little ponyastride of which Mr. Leigh came walking in (as I hear) this morning. Asfor Frank, the ladies will see to him well enough, and glad enough, too, to have so fine a bird in their cage for a week or two. "

"And my mother?"

"We'll send to her to-morrow by daybreak. Come, a stirrup cup to startwith, hot and hot. Now, boots, cloaks, swords, a deep pull and a warmone, and away!"

And the jolly old man bustled them out of the house and into theirsaddles, under the broad bright winter's moon. 

"You must make your pace, lads, or the moon will be down before you areover the moors. " And so away they went. 

Neither of them spoke for many a mile. Amyas, because his mind was fixedfirmly on the one object of saving the honor of his house; and Will, because he was hesitating between Ireland and the wars, and RoseSalterne and love-making. At last he spoke suddenly. 

"I'll go, Amyas. "

"Whither?"

"To Ireland with you, old man. I have dragged my anchor at last. "

"What anchor, my lad of parables?"

"See, here am I, a tall and gallant ship. "

"Modest even if not true. "

"Inclination, like an anchor, holds me tight. "

"To the mud. "

"Nay, to a bed of roses--not without their thorns. "

"Hillo! I have seen oysters grow on fruit-trees before now, but never ananchor in a rose-garden. "

"Silence, or my allegory will go to noggin-staves. "

"Against the rocks of my flinty discernment. "

"Pooh--well. Up comes duty like a jolly breeze, blowing dead from thenortheast, and as bitter and cross as a northeaster too, and tugsme away toward Ireland. I hold on by the rosebed--any ground in astorm--till every strand is parted, and off I go, westward ho! to get mythroat cut in a bog-hole with Amyas Leigh. "

"Earnest, Will?"

"As I am a sinful man. "

"Well done, young hawk of the White Cliff!"

"I had rather have called it Gallantry Bower still, though, " saidWill, punning on the double name of the noble precipice which forms thehighest point of the deer park. 

"Well, as long as you are on land, you know it is Gallantry Bower still:but we always call it White Cliff when you see it from the sea-board, asyou and I shall do, I hope, to-morrow evening. "

"What, so soon?"

"Dare we lose a day?"

"I suppose not: heigh-ho!"

And they rode on again in silence, Amyas in the meanwhile being not alittle content (in spite of his late self-renunciation) to find that oneof his rivals at least was going to raise the siege of the Rose gardenfor a few months, and withdraw his forces to the coast of Kerry. 

As they went over Bursdon, Amyas pulled up suddenly. 

"Did you not hear a horse's step on our left?"

"On our left--coming up from Welsford moor? Impossible at this time ofnight. It must have been a stag, or a sownder of wild swine: or may beonly an old cow. "

"It was the ring of iron, friend. Let us stand and watch. "

Bursdon and Welsford were then, as now, a rolling range of drearymoors, unbroken by tor or tree, or anything save few and far betweena world-old furze-bank which marked the common rights of some distantcattle farm, and crossed then, not as now, by a decent road, but by arough confused track-way, the remnant of an old Roman road from Clovellydikes to Launceston. To the left it trended down towards a lower rangeof moors, which form the watershed of the heads of Torridge; and thitherthe two young men peered down over the expanse of bog and furze, whichglittered for miles beneath the moon, one sheet of frosted silver, inthe heavy autumn dew. 

"If any of Eustace's party are trying to get home from Freshwater, theymight save a couple of miles by coming across Welsford, instead of goingby the main track, as we have done. " So said Amyas, who though (luckilyfor him) no "genius, " was cunning as a fox in all matters of tactic andpractic, and would have in these days proved his right to be consideredan intellectual person by being a thorough man of business. 

"If any of his party are mad, they'll try it, and be stogged till theday of judgment. There are bogs in the bottom twenty feet deep. Plagueon the fellow, whoever he is, he has dodged us! Look there!"

It was too true. The unknown horseman had evidently dismounted below, and led his horse up on the other side of a long furze-dike; till comingto the point where it turned away again from his intended course, heappeared against the sky, in the act of leading his nag over a gap. 

"Ride like the wind!" and both youths galloped across furze and heatherat him; but ere they were within a hundred yards of him, he had leaptagain on his horse, and was away far ahead. 

"There is the dor to us, with a vengeance, " cried Cary, putting in thespurs. 

"It is but a lad; we shall never catch him. "

"I'll try, though; and do you lumber after as you can, old heavysides;"and Cary pushed forward. 

Amyas lost sight of him for ten minutes, and then came up with himdismounted, and feeling disconsolately at his horse's knees. 

"Look for my head. It lies somewhere about among the furze there; andoh! I am as full of needles as ever was a pin-cushion. "

"Are his knees broken?"

"I daren't look. No, I believe not. Come along, and make the best of abad matter. The fellow is a mile ahead, and to the right, too. "

"He is going for Moorwinstow, then; but where is my cousin?"

"Behind us, I dare say. We shall nab him at least. "

"Cary, promise me that if we do, you will keep out of sight, and let memanage him. "

"My boy, I only want Evan Morgans and Morgan Evans. He is but the cat'spaw, and we are after the cats themselves. "

And so they went on another dreary six miles, till the land trendeddownwards, showing dark glens and masses of woodland far below. 

"Now, then, straight to Chapel, and stop the foxes' earth? Or throughthe King's Park to Stow, and get out Sir Richard's hounds, hue and cry, and queen's warrant in proper form?"

"Let us see Sir Richard first; and whatsoever he decides about my uncle, I will endure as a loyal subject must. "

So they rode through the King's Park, while Sir Richard's colts camewhinnying and staring round the intruders, and down through a richwoodland lane five hundred feet into the valley, till they could hearthe brawling of the little trout-stream, and beyond, the everlastingthunder of the ocean surf. 

Down through warm woods, all fragrant with dying autumn flowers, leavingfar above the keen Atlantic breeze, into one of those delicious Westerncombes, and so past the mill, and the little knot of flower-cladcottages. In the window of one of them a light was still burning. Thetwo young men knew well whose window that was; and both hearts beatfast; for Rose Salterne slept, or rather seemed to wake, in thatchamber. 

"Folks are late in Combe to-night, " said Amyas, as carelessly as hecould. 

Cary looked earnestly at the window, and then sharply enough at Amyas;but Amyas was busy settling his stirrup; and Cary rode on, unconsciousthat every fibre in his companion's huge frame was trembling like hisown. 

"Muggy and close down here, " said Amyas, who, in reality, was quitefaint with his own inward struggles. 

"We shall be at Stow gate in five minutes, " said Cary, looking back anddown longingly as his horse climbed the opposite hill; but a turn of thezigzag road hid the cottage, and the next thought was, how to effect anentrance into Stow at three in the morning without being eaten by theban-dogs, who were already howling and growling at the sound of thehorse-hoofs. 

However, they got safely in, after much knocking and calling, throughthe postern gate in the high west wall, into a mansion, the descriptionwhereof I must defer to the next chapter, seeing that the moon hasalready sunk into the Atlantic, and there is darkness over land and sea. 

Sir Richard, in his long gown, was soon downstairs in the hall; theletter read, and the story told; but ere it was half finished--

"Anthony, call up a groom, and let him bring me a horse round. Gentlemen, if you will excuse me five minutes, I shall be at yourservice. "

"You will not go alone, Richard?" asked Lady Grenville, putting herbeautiful face in its nightcoif out of an adjoining door. 

"Surely, sweet chuck, we three are enough to take two poor polecats ofJesuits. Go in, and help me to boot and gird. "

In half an hour they were down and up across the valley again, under thefew low ashes clipt flat by the sea-breeze which stood round the lonelygate of Chapel. 

"Mr. Cary, there is a back path across the downs to Marsland; go andguard that. " Cary rode off; and Sir Richard, as he knocked loudly at thegate--

"Mr. Leigh, you see that I have consulted your honor, and that of yourpoor uncle, by adventuring thus alone. What will you have me do now, which may not be unfit for me and you?"

"Oh, sir!" said Amyas, with tears in his honest eyes, "you have shownyourself once more what you always have been--my dear and beloved masteron earth, not second even to my admiral Sir Francis Drake. "

"Or the queen, I hope, " said Grenville, smiling, "but pocas palabras. What will you do?"

"My wretched cousin, sir, may not have returned--and if I might watchfor him on the main road--unless you want me with you. "

"Richard Grenville can walk alone, lad. But what will you do with yourcousin?"

"Send him out of the country, never to return; or if he refuses, run himthrough on the spot. "

"Go, lad. " And as he spoke, a sleepy voice asked inside the gate, "Whowas there?"

"Sir Richard Grenville. Open, in the queen's name?"

"Sir Richard? He is in bed, and be hanged to you. No honest folk come atthis hour of night. "

"Amyas!" shouted Sir Richard. Amyas rode back. 

"Burst that gate for me, while I hold your horse. "

Amyas leaped down, took up a rock from the roadside, such as Homer'sheroes used to send at each other's heads, and in an instant the doorwas flat on the ground, and the serving-man on his back inside, whileSir Richard quietly entering over it, like Una into the hut, told thefellow to get up and hold his horse for him (which the clod, who knewwell enough that terrible voice, did without further murmurs), and thenstrode straight to the front door. It was already opened. The householdhad been up and about all along, or the noise at the entry had arousedthem. 

Sir Richard knocked, however, at the open door; and, to hisastonishment, his knock was answered by Mr. Leigh himself, fullydressed, and candle in hand. 

"Sir Richard Grenville! What, sir! is this neighborly, not to saygentle, to break into my house in the dead of night?"

"I broke your outer door, sir, because I was refused entrance when Iasked in the queen's name. I knocked at your inner one, as I shouldhave knocked at the poorest cottager's in the parish, because I foundit open. You have two Jesuits here, sir! and here is the queen's warrantfor apprehending them. I have signed it with my own hand, and, moreover, serve it now, with my own hand, in order to save you scandal--and it maybe, worse. I must have these men, Mr. Leigh. "

"My dear Sir Richard--!"

"I must have them, or I must search the house; and you would not puteither yourself or me to so shameful a necessity?"

"My dear Sir Richard!--"

"Must I, then, ask you to stand back from your own doorway, my dearsir?" said Grenville. And then changing his voice to that fearful lion'sroar, for which he was famous, and which it seemed impossible that lipsso delicate could utter, he thundered, "Knaves, behind there! Back!"

This was spoken to half-a-dozen grooms and serving-men, who, well armed, were clustered in the passage. 

"What? swords out, you sons of cliff rabbits?" And in a moment, SirRichard's long blade flashed out also, and putting Mr. Leigh gentlyaside, as if he had been a child, he walked up to the party, whovanished right and left; having expected a cur dog, in the shape of aparish constable, and come upon a lion instead. They were stout fellowsenough, no doubt, in a fair fight: but they had no stomach to be hangedin a row at Launceston Castle, after a preliminary running through thebody by that redoubted admiral and most unpeaceful justice of the peace. 

"And now, my dear Mr. Leigh, " said Sir Richard, as blandly as ever, "where are my men? The night is cold; and you, as well as I, need to bein our beds. "

"The men, Sir Richard--the Jesuits--they are not here, indeed. "

"Not here, sir?"

"On the word of a gentleman, they left my house an hour ago. Believe me, sir, they did. I will swear to you if you need. "

"I believe Mr. Leigh of Chapel's word without oaths. Whither are theygone?"

"Nay, sir--how can I tell? They are--they are, as I may say, fled, sir;escaped. "

"With your connivance; at least with your son's. Where are they gone?"

"As I live, I do not know. "

"Mr. Leigh--is this possible? Can you add untruth to that treason fromthe punishment of which I am trying to shield you?"

Poor Mr. Leigh burst into tears. 

"Oh! my God! my God! is it come to this? Over and above having the fearand anxiety of keeping these black rascals in my house, and having tostop their villainous mouths every minute, for fear they should hang meand themselves, I am to be called a traitor and a liar in my old age, and that, too, by Richard Grenville! Would God I had never been born!Would God I had no soul to be saved, and I'd just go and drown care indrink, and let the queen and the Pope fight it out their own way!" Andthe poor old man sank into a chair, and covered his face with his hands, and then leaped up again. 

"Bless my heart! Excuse me, Sir Richard--to sit down and leave youstanding. 'S life, sir, sorrow is making a hawbuck of me. Sit down, mydear sir! my worshipful sir! or rather come with me into my room, andhear a poor wretched man's story, for I swear before God the men arefled; and my poor boy Eustace is not home either, and the groom tells methat his devil of a cousin has broken his jaw for him; and his mother isall but mad this hour past. Good lack! good lack!"

"He nearly murdered his angel of a cousin, sir!" said Sir Richard, severely. 

"What, sir? They never told me. "

"He had stabbed his cousin Frank three times, sir, before Amyas, who isas noble a lad as walks God's earth, struck him down. And in defenceof what, forsooth, did he play the ruffian and the swashbuckler, but tobring home to your house this letter, sir, which you shall hear at yourleisure, the moment I have taken order about your priests. " And walkingout of the house he went round and called to Cary to come to him. 

"The birds are flown, Will, " whispered he. "There is but one chance forus, and that is Marsland Mouth. If they are trying to take boat there, you may be yet in time. If they are gone inland we can do nothing tillwe raise the hue and cry to-morrow. "

And Will galloped off over the downs toward Marsland, while Sir Richardceremoniously walked in again, and professed himself ready and happy tohave the honor of an audience in Mr. Leigh's private chamber. And as weknow pretty well already what was to be discussed therein, we had bettergo over to Marsland Mouth, and, if possible, arrive there before WillCary: seeing that he arrived hot and swearing, half an hour too late. 

Note. --I have shrunk somewhat from giving these and other sketches (trueand accurate as I believe them to be) of Ireland during Elizabeth'sreign, when the tyranny and lawlessness of the feudal chiefs had reducedthe island to such a state of weakness and barbarism, that it wasabsolutely necessary for England either to crush the Norman-Irishnobility, and organize some sort of law and order, or to leave Irelandan easy prey to the Spaniards, or any other nation which should go towar with us. The work was done--clumsily rather than cruelly; but wrongswere inflicted, and avenged by fresh wrongs, and those by fresh again. May the memory of them perish forever! It has been reserved for thisage, and for the liberal policy of this age, to see the last ebullitionsof Celtic excitability die out harmless and ashamed of itself, andto find that the Irishman, when he is brought as a soldier under theregenerative influence of law, discipline, self-respect, and loyalty, can prove himself a worthy rival of the more stern Norse-Saxon warrior. God grant that the military brotherhood between Irish and English, which is the special glory of the present war, may be the germ of abrotherhood industrial, political, and hereafter, perhaps, religiousalso; and that not merely the corpses of heroes, but the feuds andwrongs which have parted them for centuries, may lie buried, once andforever, in the noble graves of Alma and Inkerman. 

CHAPTER VI

THE COMBES OF THE FAR WEST

 "Far, far from hence The Adriatic breaks in a warm bay Among the green Illyrian hills, and there The sunshine in the happy glens is fair, And by the sea and in the brakes The grass is cool, the sea-side air Buoyant and fresh, the mountain flowers More virginal and sweet than ours. "

 MATTHEW ARNOLD. 

And even such are those delightful glens, which cut the high table-landof the confines of Devon and Cornwall, and opening each through itsgorge of down and rock, towards the boundless Western Ocean. Each islike the other, and each is like no other English scenery. Each has itsupright walls, inland of rich oak-wood, nearer the sea of dark greenfurze, then of smooth turf, then of weird black cliffs which range outright and left far into the deep sea, in castles, spires, and wingsof jagged iron-stone. Each has its narrow strip of fertile meadow, itscrystal trout stream winding across and across from one hill-foot to theother; its gray stone mill, with the water sparkling and humming roundthe dripping wheel; its dark, rock pools above the tide mark, where thesalmon-trout gather in from their Atlantic wanderings, after each autumnflood: its ridge of blown sand, bright with golden trefoil and crimsonlady's finger; its gray bank of polished pebbles, down which thestream rattles toward the sea below. Each has its black field of jaggedshark's-tooth rock which paves the cove from side to side, streaked withhere and there a pink line of shell sand, and laced with white foam fromthe eternal surge, stretching in parallel lines out to the westward, in strata set upright on edge, or tilted towards each other at strangeangles by primeval earthquakes;--such is the "mouth"--as those coves arecalled; and such the jaw of teeth which they display, one rasp of whichwould grind abroad the timbers of the stoutest ship. To landward, all richness, softness, and peace; to seaward, a waste and howlingwilderness of rock and roller, barren to the fisherman, and hopeless tothe shipwrecked mariner. 

In only one of these "mouths" is a landing for boats, made possible bya long sea-wall of rock, which protects it from the rollers of theAtlantic; and that mouth is Marsland, the abode of the White Witch, LucyPassmore; whither, as Sir Richard Grenville rightly judged, the Jesuitswere gone. But before the Jesuits came, two other persons were standingon that lonely beach, under the bright October moon, namely, RoseSalterne and the White Witch herself; for Rose, fevered with curiosityand superstition, and allured by the very wildness and possible dangerof the spell, had kept her appointment; and, a few minutes beforemidnight, stood on the gray shingle beach with her counsellor. 

"You be safe enough here to-night, miss. My old man is snoring soundabed, and there's no other soul ever sets foot here o' nights, exceptit be the mermaids now and then. Goodness, Father, where's our boat? Itought to be up here on the pebbles. "

Rose pointed to a strip of sand some forty yards nearer the sea, wherethe boat lay. 

"Oh, the lazy old villain! he's been round the rocks after pollock thisevening, and never taken the trouble to hale the boat up. I'll trouncehim for it when I get home. I only hope he's made her fast where she is, that's all! He's more plague to me than ever my money will be. O dearyme!"

And the goodwife bustled down toward the boat, with Rose behind her. 

"Iss, 'tis fast, sure enough: and the oars aboard too! Well, I never!Oh, the lazy thief, to leave they here to be stole! I'll just sit in theboat, dear, and watch mun, while you go down to the say; for you mustbe all alone to yourself, you know, or you'll see nothing. There's thelooking-glass; now go, and dip your head three times, and mind you don'tlook to land or sea before you've said the words, and looked upon theglass. Now, be quick, it's just upon midnight. "

And she coiled herself up in the boat, while Rose went faltering downthe strip of sand, some twenty yards farther, and there slipping off herclothes, stood shivering and trembling for a moment before she enteredthe sea. 

She was between two walls of rock: that on her left hand, some twentyfeet high, hid her in deepest shade; that on her right, though muchlower, took the whole blaze of the midnight moon. Great festoons of liveand purple sea-weed hung from it, shading dark cracks and crevices, fithaunts for all the goblins of the sea. On her left hand, the peaks ofthe rock frowned down ghastly black; on her right hand, far aloft, thedowns slept bright and cold. 

The breeze had died away; not even a roller broke the perfect stillnessof the cove. The gulls were all asleep upon the ledges. Over all was atrue autumn silence; a silence which may be heard. She stood awed, andlistened in hope of a sound which might tell her that any living thingbeside herself existed. 

There was a faint bleat, as of a new-born lamb, high above her head;she started and looked up. Then a wail from the cliffs, as of a childin pain, answered by another from the opposite rocks. They were but thepassing snipe, and the otter calling to her brood; but to her theywere mysterious, supernatural goblins, come to answer to her call. Nevertheless, they only quickened her expectation; and the witch hadtold her not to fear them. If she performed the rite duly, nothingwould harm her: but she could hear the beating of her own heart, as shestepped, mirror in hand, into the cold water, waded hastily, as far asshe dare, and then stopped aghast. 

A ring of flame was round her waist; every limb was bathed in lambentlight; all the multitudinous life of the autumn sea, stirred by herapproach, had flashed suddenly into glory;--

"And around her the lamps of the sea nymphs, Myriad fiery globes, swamheaving and panting, and rainbows, Crimson and azure and emerald, werebroken in star-showers, lighting Far through the wine-dark depths of thecrystal, the gardens of Nereus, Coral and sea-fan and tangle, the bloomsand the palms of the ocean. "

She could see every shell which crawled on the white sand at her feet, every rock-fish which played in and out of the crannies, and stared ather with its broad bright eyes; while the great palmate oarweeds whichwaved along the chasm, half-seen in the glimmering water, seemed tobeckon her down with long brown hands to a grave amid their chillybowers. She turned to flee; but she had gone too far now to retreat;hastily dipping her head three times, she hurried out to the sea-marge, and looking through her dripping locks at the magic mirror, pronouncedthe incantation--

 "A maiden pure, here I stand, Neither on sea, nor yet on land; Angels watch me on either hand. If you be landsman, come down the strand; If you be sailor, come up the sand; If you be angel, come from the sky, Look in my glass, and pass me by; Look in my glass, and go from the shore; Leave me, but love me for evermore. "

The incantation was hardly finished, her eyes were straining into themirror, where, as may be supposed, nothing appeared but the sparkle ofthe drops from her own tresses, when she heard rattling down the pebblesthe hasty feet of men and horses. 

She darted into a cavern of the high rock, and hastily dressed herself:the steps held on right to the boat. Peeping out, half-dead with terror, she saw there four men, two of whom had just leaped from their horses, and turning them adrift, began to help the other two in running the boatdown. 

Whereon, out of the stern sheets, arose, like an angry ghost, the portlyfigure of Lucy Passmore, and shrieked in shrillest treble--

"Eh! ye villains, ye roogs, what do ye want staling poor folks' boats bynight like this?"

The whole party recoiled in terror, and one turned to run up the beach, shouting at the top of his voice, "'Tis a marmaiden--a marmaiden asleepin Willy Passmore's boat!"

"I wish it were any sich good luck, " she could hear Will say; "'tis mywife, oh dear!" and he cowered down, expecting the hearty cuff which hereceived duly, as the White Witch, leaping out of the boat, dared anyman to touch it, and thundered to her husband to go home to bed. 

The wily dame, as Rose well guessed, was keeping up this delay chieflyto gain time for her pupil: but she had also more solid reasons formaking the fight as hard as possible; for she, as well as Rose, hadalready discerned in the ungainly figure of one of the party the samesuspicious Welsh gentleman, on whose calling she had divined longago; and she was so loyal a subject as to hold in extreme horror herhusband's meddling with such "Popish skulkers" (as she called the wholeparty roundly to their face)--unless on consideration of a very handsomesum of money. In vain Parsons thundered, Campian entreated, Mr. Leigh'sgroom swore, and her husband danced round in an agony of mingled fearand covetousness. 

"No, " she cried, "as I am an honest woman and loyal! This is why youleft the boat down to the shoore, you old traitor, you, is it? To helpoff sich noxious trade as this out of the hands of her majesty's quorumand rotulorum? Eh? Stand back, cowards! Will you strike a woman?"

This last speech (as usual) was merely indicative of her intention tostrike the men; for, getting out one of the oars, she swung it round andround fiercely, and at last caught Father Parsons such a crack acrossthe shins, that he retreated with a howl. 

"Lucy, Lucy!" shrieked her husband, in shrillest Devon falsetto, "be youmazed? Be you mazed, lass? They promised me two gold nobles before I'dlend them the boot!"

"Tu?" shrieked the matron, with a tone of ineffable scorn. "And do yucall yourself a man?"

"Tu nobles! tu nobles!" shrieked he again, hopping about at oar'slength. 

"Tu? And would you sell your soul under ten?"

"Oh, if that is it, " cried poor Campian, "give her ten, give herten, brother Pars--Morgans, I mean; and take care of your shins, OffaCerbero, you know--Oh, virago! Furens quid faemina possit! Certainly sheis some Lamia, some Gorgon, some--"

"Take that, for your Lamys and Gorgons to an honest woman!" and ina moment poor Campian's thin legs were cut from under him, while thevirago, "mounting on his trunk astride, " like that more famous one onHudibras, cried, "Ten nobles, or I'll kep ye here till morning!" And theten nobles were paid into her hand. 

And now the boat, its dragon guardian being pacified, was run down tothe sea, and close past the nook where poor little Rose was squeezingherself into the farthest and darkest corner, among wet sea-weed andrough barnacles, holding her breath as they approached. 

They passed her, and the boat's keel was already in the water; Lucy hadfollowed them close, for reasons of her own, and perceiving close to thewater's edge a dark cavern, cunningly surmised that it contained Rose, and planted her ample person right across its mouth, while she grumbledat her husband, the strangers, and above all at Mr. Leigh's groom, towhom she prophesied pretty plainly Launceston gaol and the gallows;while the wretched serving-man, who would as soon have dared to leap offWelcombe Cliff as to return railing for railing to the White Witch, invain entreated her mercy, and tried, by all possible dodging, to keepone of the party between himself and her, lest her redoubted eye should"overlook" him once more to his ruin. 

But the night's adventures were not ended yet; for just as the boat waslaunched, a faint halloo was heard upon the beach, and a minute after, a horseman plunged down the pebbles, and along the sand, and pulling hishorse up on its haunches close to the terrified group, dropped, ratherthan leaped, from the saddle. 

The serving-man, though he dared not tackle a witch, knew well enoughhow to deal with a swordsman; and drawing, sprang upon the newcomer, andthen recoiled--

"God forgive me, it's Mr. Eustace! Oh, dear sir, I took you for one ofSir Richard's men! Oh, sir, you're hurt!"

"A scratch, a scratch!" almost moaned Eustace. "Help me into the boat, Jack. Gentlemen, I must with you. "

"Not with us, surely, my dear son, vagabonds upon the face of theearth?" said kind-hearted Campian. 

"With you, forever. All is over here. Whither God and the causelead"--and he staggered toward the boat. 

As he passed Rose, she saw his ghastly bleeding face, half bound up witha handkerchief, which could not conceal the convulsions of rage, shame, and despair, which twisted it from all its usual beauty. His eyes glaredwildly round--and once, right into the cavern. They met hers, so full, and keen, and dreadful, that forgetting she was utterly invisible, theterrified girl was on the point of shrieking aloud. 

"He has overlooked me!" said she, shuddering to herself, as sherecollected his threat of yesterday. 

"Who has wounded you?" asked Campian. 

"My cousin--Amyas--and taken the letter!"

"The devil take him, then!" cried Parsons, stamping up and down upon thesand in fury. 

"Ay, curse him--you may! I dare not! He saved me--sent me here!"--andwith a groan, he made an effort to enter the boat. 

"Oh, my dear young gentleman, " cried Lucy Passmore, her woman's heartbursting out at the sight of pain, "you must not goo forth with a granewound like to that. Do ye let me just bind mun up--do ye now!" and sheadvanced. 

Eustace thrust her back. 

"No! better bear it, I deserve it--devils! I deserve it! On board, or weshall all be lost--William Cary is close behind me!"

And at that news the boat was thrust into the sea, faster than ever itwent before, and only in time; for it was but just round the rocks, andout of sight, when the rattle of Cary's horsehoofs was heard above. 

"That rascal of Mr. Leigh's will catch it now, the Popish villain!" saidLucy Passmore, aloud. "You lie still there, dear life, and settle yoursperrits; you'm so safe as ever was rabbit to burrow. I'll see whathappens, if I die for it!" And so saying, she squeezed herself upthrough a cleft to a higher ledge, from whence she could see what passedin the valley. 

"There mun is! in the meadow, trying to catch the horses! There comesMr. Cary! Goodness, Father, how a rid'th! he's over wall already! Ron, Jack! ron then! A'll get to the river! No, a wain't! Goodness, Father!There's Mr. Cary cotched mun! A's down, a's down!"

"Is he dead?" asked Rose, shuddering. 

"Iss, fegs, dead as nits! and Mr. Cary off his horse, standingoverthwart mun! No, a bain't! A's up now. Suspose he was hit wi' theflat. Whatever is Mr. Cary tu? Telling wi' mun, a bit. Oh dear, dear, dear!"

"Has he killed him?" cried poor Rose. 

"No, fegs, no! kecking mun, kecking mun, so hard as ever was futeball!Goodness, Father, who did ever? If a haven't kecked mun right intoriver, and got on mun's horse and rod away!"

And so saying, down she came again. 

"And now then, my dear life, us be better to goo hoom and get you sommatwarm. You'm mortal cold, I rackon, by now. I was cruel fear'd for ye:but I kept mun off clever, didn't I, now?"

"I wish--I wish I had not seen Mr. Leigh's face!"

"Iss, dreadful, weren't it, poor young soul; a sad night for his poormother!"

"Lucy, I can't get his face out of my mind. I'm sure he overlooked me. "

"Oh then! who ever heard the like o' that? When young gentlemen dooverlook young ladies, tain't thikketheor aways, I knoo. Never you thinkon it. "

"But I can't help thinking of it, " said Rose. "Stop. Shall we go homeyet? Where's that servant?"

"Never mind, he wain't see us, here under the hill. I'd much sooner toknow where my old man was. I've a sort of a forecasting in my inwards, like, as I always has when aught's gwain to happen, as though I shuldn'tzee mun again, like, I have, miss. Well--he was a bedient old soul, after all, he was. Goodness, Father! and all this while us have forgotthe very thing us come about! Who did you see?"

"Only that face!" said Rose, shuddering. 

"Not in the glass, maid? Say then, not in the glass?"

"Would to heaven it had been! Lucy, what if he were the man I was fatedto--"

"He? Why, he's a praste, a Popish praste, that can't marry if he would, poor wratch. "

"He is none; and I have cause enough to know it!" And, for want of abetter confidant, Rose poured into the willing ears of her companion thewhole story of yesterday's meeting. 

"He's a pretty wooer!" said Lucy at last, contemptuously. "Be a bravemaid, then, be a brave maid, and never terrify yourself with his unluckyface. It's because there was none here worthy of ye, that ye seed nonein glass. Maybe he's to be a foreigner, from over seas, and that's whyhis sperit was so long a coming. A duke, or a prince to the least, I'llwarrant, he'll be, that carries off the Rose of Bideford. "

But in spite of all the good dame's flattery, Rose could not wipe thatfierce face away from her eyeballs. She reached home safely, and creptto bed undiscovered: and when the next morning, as was to be expected, found her laid up with something very like a fever, from excitement, terror, and cold, the phantom grew stronger and stronger before her, andit required all her woman's tact and self-restraint to avoid betrayingby her exclamations what had happened on that fantastic night. After afortnight's weakness, however, she recovered and went back to Bideford:but ere she arrived there, Amyas was far across the seas on his way toMilford Haven, as shall be told in the ensuing chapters. 

CHAPTER VII

THE TRUE AND TRAGICAL HISTORY OF MR. JOHN OXENHAM OF PLYMOUTH

 "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew; The furrow follow'd free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. "

 The Ancient Mariner. 

It was too late and too dark last night to see the old house at Stow. Wewill look round us, then, this bright October day, while Sir Richard andAmyas, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, are pacing up and down theterraced garden to the south. Amyas has slept till luncheon, i. E. Tillan hour ago: but Sir Richard, in spite of the bustle of last night, wasup and in the valley by six o'clock, recreating the valiant souls ofhimself and two terrier dogs by the chase of sundry badgers. 

Old Stow House stands, or rather stood, some four miles beyond theCornish border, on the northern slope of the largest and loveliest ofthose combes of which I spoke in the last chapter. Eighty years afterSir Richard's time there arose there a huge Palladian pile, bedizenedwith every monstrosity of bad taste, which was built, so the story runs, by Charles the Second, for Sir Richard's great-grandson, the heir ofthat famous Sir Bevil who defeated the Parliamentary troops at Stratton, and died soon after, fighting valiantly at Lansdowne over Bath. But, like most other things which owed their existence to the Stuarts, it rose only to fall again. An old man who had seen, as a boy, thefoundation of the new house laid, lived to see it pulled down again, and the very bricks and timber sold upon the spot; and since then thestables have become a farm-house, the tennis-court a sheep-cote, thegreat quadrangle a rick-yard; and civilization, spreading wave onwave so fast elsewhere, has surged back from that lonely corner of theland--let us hope, only for a while. 

But I am not writing of that great new Stow House, of the past glorieswhereof quaint pictures still hang in the neighboring houses; nor ofthat famed Sir Bevil, most beautiful and gallant of his generation, on whom, with his grandfather Sir Richard, old Prince has his pompousepigram--

 "Where next shall famous Grenvil's ashes stand? Thy grandsire fills the sea, and thou the land. "

I have to deal with a simpler age, and a sterner generation; and withthe old house, which had stood there, in part at least, from gray andmythic ages, when the first Sir Richard, son of Hamon Dentatus, Lord ofCarboyle, the grandson of Duke Robert, son of Rou, settled at Bideford, after slaying the Prince of South-Galis, and the Lord of Glamorgan, andgave to the Cistercian monks of Neath all his conquests in South Wales. It was a huge rambling building, half castle, half dwelling-house, suchas may be seen still (almost an unique specimen) in Compton Castlenear Torquay, the dwelling-place of Humphrey Gilbert, Walter Raleigh'shalf-brother, and Richard Grenville's bosom friend, of whom morehereafter. On three sides, to the north, west, and south, the loftywalls of the old ballium still stood, with their machicolated turrets, loopholes, and dark downward crannies for dropping stones and fire onthe besiegers, the relics of a more unsettled age: but the southerncourt of the ballium had become a flower-garden, with quaint terraces, statues, knots of flowers, clipped yews and hollies, and all thepedantries of the topiarian art. And toward the east, where the vistaof the valley opened, the old walls were gone, and the frowning Normankeep, ruined in the Wars of the Roses, had been replaced by the richand stately architecture of the Tudors. Altogether, the house, like thetime, was in a transitionary state, and represented faithfully enoughthe passage of the old middle age into the new life which had just burstinto blossom throughout Europe, never, let us pray, to see its autumn orits winter. 

From the house on three sides, the hill sloped steeply down, and thegarden where Sir Richard and Amyas were walking gave a truly Englishprospect. At one turn they could catch, over the western walls, aglimpse of the blue ocean flecked with passing sails; and at the next, spread far below them, range on range of fertile park, stately avenue, yellow autumn woodland, and purple heather moors, lapping over and overeach other up the valley to the old British earthwork, which stood blackand furze-grown on its conical peak; and standing out against the sky onthe highest bank of hill which closed the valley to the east, the loftytower of Kilkhampton church, rich with the monuments and offerings offive centuries of Grenvilles. A yellow eastern haze hung soft over park, and wood, and moor; the red cattle lowed to each other as they stoodbrushing away the flies in the rivulet far below; the colts in thehorse-park close on their right whinnied as they played together, andtheir sires from the Queen's Park, on the opposite hill, answered themin fuller though fainter voices. A rutting stag made the still woodlandrattle with his hoarse thunder, and a rival far up the valley gave backa trumpet note of defiance, and was himself defied from heathery browswhich quivered far away above, half seen through the veil of easternmist. And close at home, upon the terrace before the house, amid rompingspaniels and golden-haired children, sat Lady Grenville herself, thebeautiful St. Leger of Annery, the central jewel of all that gloriousplace, and looked down at her noble children, and then up at her morenoble husband, and round at that broad paradise of the West, till lifeseemed too full of happiness, and heaven of light. 

And all the while up and down paced Amyas and Sir Richard, talking long, earnestly, and slow; for they both knew that the turning point of theboy's life was come. 

"Yes, " said Sir Richard, after Amyas, in his blunt simple way, had toldhim the whole story about Rose Salterne and his brother, --"yes, sweetlad, thou hast chosen the better part, thou and thy brother also, and itshall not be taken from you. Only be strong, lad, and trust in God thatHe will make a man of you. "

"I do trust, " said Amyas. 

"Thank God, " said Sir Richard, "that you have yourself taken from myheart that which was my great anxiety for you, from the day that yourgood father, who sleeps in peace, committed you to my hands. For allbest things, Amyas, become, when misused, the very worst; and the loveof woman, because it is able to lift man's soul to the heavens, is alsoable to drag him down to hell. But you have learnt better, Amyas; andknow, with our old German forefathers, that, as Tacitus saith, Serajuvenum Venus, ideoque inexhausta pubertas. And not only that, Amyas;but trust me, that silly fashion of the French and Italians, to behanging ever at some woman's apron string, so that no boy shall counthimself a man unless he can vagghezziare le donne, whether maids orwives, alas! matters little; that fashion, I say, is little less hurtfulto the soul than open sin; for by it are bred vanity and expense, envyand heart-burning, yea, hatred and murder often; and even if that beescaped, yet the rich treasure of a manly worship, which should be keptfor one alone, is squandered and parted upon many, and the bride at lastcomes in for nothing but the very last leavings and caput mortuum ofher bridegroom's heart, and becomes a mere ornament for his table, anda means whereby he may obtain a progeny. May God, who has saved me fromthat death in life, save you also!" And as he spoke, he looked downtoward his wife upon the terrace below; and she, as if guessinginstinctively that he was talking of her, looked up with so sweeta smile, that Sir Richard's stern face melted into a very glory ofspiritual sunshine. 

Amyas looked at them both and sighed; and then turning the conversationsuddenly--

"And I may go to Ireland to-morrow?"

"You shall sail in the 'Mary' for Milford Haven, with these letters toWinter. If the wind serves, you may bid the master drop down the rivertonight, and be off; for we must lose no time. "

"Winter?" said Amyas. "He is no friend of mine, since he left Drake andus so cowardly at the Straits of Magellan. "

"Duty must not wait for private quarrels, even though they be just ones, lad: but he will not be your general. When you come to the marshal, orthe Lord Deputy, give either of them this letter, and they will set youwork, --and hard work too, I warrant. 

"I want nothing better. "

"Right, lad; the best reward for having wrought well already, is to havemore to do; and he that has been faithful over a few things, must findhis account in being made ruler over many things. That is the true andheroical rest, which only is worthy of gentlemen and sons of God. As forthose who, either in this world or the world to come, look for idleness, and hope that God shall feed them with pleasant things, as it were witha spoon, Amyas, I count them cowards and base, even though they callthemselves saints and elect. "

"I wish you could persuade my poor cousin of that. "

"He has yet to learn what losing his life to save it means, Amyas. Badmen have taught him (and I fear these Anabaptists and Puritans at hometeach little else), that it is the one great business of every one tosave his own soul after he dies; every one for himself; and that that, and not divine self-sacrifice, is the one thing needful, and the betterpart which Mary chose. "

"I think men are inclined enough already to be selfish, without beingtaught that. "

"Right, lad. For me, if I could hang up such a teacher on high as anenemy of mankind, and a corrupter of youth, I would do it gladly. Isthere not cowardice and self-seeking enough about the hearts of usfallen sons of Adam, that these false prophets, with their baits ofheaven, and their terrors of hell, must exalt our dirtiest vices intoheavenly virtues and the means of bliss? Farewell to chivalry and todesperate valor, farewell to patriotism and loyalty, farewell to Englandand to the manhood of England, if once it shall become the fashion ofour preachers to bid every man, as the Jesuits do, take care first ofwhat they call the safety of his soul. Every man will be afraid to dieat his post, because he will be afraid that he is not fit to die. Amyas, do thou do thy duty like a man, to thy country, thy queen, and thy God;and count thy life a worthless thing, as did the holy men of old. Dothy work, lad; and leave thy soul to the care of Him who is just andmerciful in this, that He rewards every man according to his work. Isthere respect of persons with God? Now come in, and take the letters, and to horse. And if I hear of thee dead there at Smerwick fort, withall thy wounds in front, I shall weep for thy mother, lad; but I shallhave never a sigh for thee. "

If any one shall be startled at hearing a fine gentleman and a warriorlike Sir Richard quote Scripture, and think Scripture also, they mustbe referred to the writings of the time; which they may read not withoutprofit to themselves, if they discover therefrom how it was possiblethen for men of the world to be thoroughly ingrained with the Gospel, and yet to be free from any taint of superstitious fear, or falsedevoutness. The religion of those days was such as no soldier need havebeen ashamed of confessing. At least, Sir Richard died as he lived, without a shudder, and without a whine; and these were his last words, fifteen years after that, as he lay shot through and through, a captiveamong Popish Spaniards, priests, crucifixes, confession, extremeunction, and all other means and appliances for delivering men out ofthe hands of a God of love:--

"Here die I, Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind; for thatI have ended my life as a true soldier ought, fighting for his country, queen, religion, and honor: my soul willingly departing from this body, leaving behind the lasting fame of having behaved as every valiantsoldier is in his duty bound to do. "

Those were the last words of Richard Grenville. The pulpits of thosedays had taught them to him. 

But to return. That day's events were not over yet. For, when they wentdown into the house, the first person whom they met was the old steward, in search of his master. 

"There is a manner of roog, Sir Richard, a masterless man, at the door;a very forward fellow, and must needs speak with you. "

"A masterless man? He had better not to speak to me, unless he is inlove with gaol and gallows. "

"Well, your worship, " said the steward, "I expect that is what he doeswant, for he swears he will not leave the gate till he has seen you. "

"Seen me? Halidame! he shall see me, here and at Launceston too, if helikes. Bring him in. "

"Fegs, Sir Richard, we are half afeard. With your good leave--"

"Hillo, Tony, " cried Amyas, "who was ever afeard yet with Sir Richard'sgood leave?"

"What, has the fellow a tail or horns?"

"Massy no: but I be afeard of treason for your honor; for the fellow ispinked all over in heathen patterns, and as brown as a filbert; and atall roog, a very strong roog, sir, and a foreigner too, and a mightystaff with him. I expect him to be a manner of Jesuit, or wild Irish, sir; and indeed the grooms have no stomach to handle him, nor the dogsneither, or he had been under the pump before now, for they that saw himcoming up the hill swear that he had fire coming out of his mouth. "

"Fire out of his mouth?" said Sir Richard. "The men are drunk. "

"Pinked all over? He must be a sailor, " said Amyas; "let me out and seethe fellow, and if he needs putting forth--"

"Why, I dare say he is not so big but what he will go into thy pocket. So go, lad, while I finish my writing. "

Amyas went out, and at the back door, leaning on his staff, stood atall, raw-boned, ragged man, "pinked all over, " as the steward had said. 

"Hillo, lad!" quoth Amyas. "Before we come to talk, thou wilt please tolay down that Plymouth cloak of thine. " And he pointed to the cudgel, which among West-country mariners usually bore that name. 

"I'll warrant, " said the old steward, "that where he found his cloak hefound purse not far off. "

"But not hose or doublet; so the magical virtue of his staff hasnot helped him much. But put down thy staff, man, and speak like aChristian, if thou be one. "

"I am a Christian, though I look like a heathen; and no rogue, thougha masterless man, alas! But I want nothing, deserving nothing, and onlyask to speak with Sir Richard, before I go on my way. "

There was something stately and yet humble about the man's tone andmanner which attracted Amyas, and he asked more gently where he wasgoing and whence he came. 

"From Padstow Port, sir, to Clovelly town, to see my old mother, ifindeed she be yet alive, which God knoweth. "

"Clovally man! why didn't thee say thee was Clovally man?" asked all thegrooms at once, to whom a West-countryman was of course a brother. Theold steward asked--

"What's thy mother's name, then?"

"Susan Yeo. "

"What, that lived under the archway?" asked a groom. 

"Lived?" said the man. 

"Iss, sure; her died three days since, so we heard, poor soul. "

The man stood quite silent and unmoved for a minute or two; and thensaid quietly to himself, in Spanish, "That which is, is best. "

"You speak Spanish?" asked Amyas, more and more interested. 

"I had need to do so, young sir; I have been five years in the SpanishMain, and only set foot on shore two days ago; and if you will let mehave speech of Sir Richard, I will tell him that at which both the earsof him that heareth it shall tingle; and if not, I can but go on to Mr. Cary of Clovelly, if he be yet alive, and there disburden my soul; but Iwould sooner have spoken with one that is a mariner like to myself. "

"And you shall, " said Amyas. "Steward, we will have this man in; for allhis rags, he is a man of wit. " And he led him in. 

"I only hope he ben't one of those Popish murderers, " said the oldsteward, keeping at a safe distance from him as they entered the hall. 

"Popish, old master? There's little fear of my being that. Look here!"And drawing back his rags, he showed a ghastly scar, which encircled hiswrist and wound round and up his fore-arm. 

"I got that on the rack, " said he, quietly, "in the Inquisition atLima. "

"O Father! Father! why didn't you tell us that you were a poorChristian?" asked the penitent steward. 

"Because I have had naught but my deserts; and but a taste of themeither, as the Lord knoweth who delivered me; and I wasn't going to makemyself a beggar and a show on their account. "

"By heaven, you are a brave fellow!" said Amyas. "Come along straight toSir Richard's room. "

So in they went, where Sir Richard sat in his library among books, despatches, state-papers, and warrants; for though he was not yet, as inafter times (after the fashion of those days) admiral, general, memberof parliament, privy councillor, justice of the peace, and so forth, allat once, yet there were few great men with whom he did not correspond, or great matters with which he was not cognizant. 

"Hillo, Amyas, have you bound the wild man already, and brought him into swear allegiance?"

But before Amyas could answer, the man looked earnestly on him--"Amyas?"said he; "is that your name, sir?"

"Amyas Leigh is my name, at your service, good fellow. "

"Of Burrough by Bideford?"

"Why then? What do you know of me?"

"Oh sir, sir! young brains and happy ones have short memories; but oldand sad brains too long ones often! Do you mind one that was with Mr. Oxenham, sir? A swearing reprobate he was, God forgive him, and hathforgiven him too, for His dear Son's sake--one, sir, that gave you ahorn, a toy with a chart on it?"

"Soul alive!" cried Amyas, catching him by the hand; "and are you he?The horn? why, I have it still, and will keep it to my dying day, too. But where is Mr. Oxenham?"

"Yes, my good fellow, where is Mr. Oxenham?" asked Sir Richard, rising. "You are somewhat over-hasty in welcoming your old acquaintance, Amyas, before we have heard from him whether he can give honest account ofhimself and of his captain. For there is more than one way by whichsailors may come home without their captains, as poor Mr. Barker ofBristol found to his cost. God grant that there may have been no suchtraitorous dealing here. "

"Sir Richard Grenville, if I had been a guilty man to my noble captain, as I have to God, I had not come here this day to you, from whomvillainy has never found favor, nor ever will; for I know yourconditions well, sir; and trust in the Lord, that if you will be pleasedto hear me, you shall know mine. "

"Thou art a well-spoken knave. We shall see. "

"My dear sir, " said Amyas, in a whisper, "I will warrant this manguiltless. "

"I verily believe him to be; but this is too serious a matter to be lefton guess. If he will be sworn--"

Whereon the man, humbly enough, said, that if it would please SirRichard, he would rather not be sworn. 

"But it does not please me, rascal! Did I not warn thee, Amyas?"

"Sir, " said the man, proudly, "God forbid that my word should not be asgood as my oath: but it is against my conscience to be sworn. "

"What have we here? some fantastical Anabaptist, who is wiser than histeachers. "

"My conscience, sir--"

"The devil take it and thee! I never heard a man yet begin to prate ofhis conscience, but I knew that he was about to do something more thanordinarily cruel or false. "

"Sir, " said the man, coolly enough, "do you sit here to judge meaccording to law, and yet contrary to the law swear profane oaths, forwhich a fine is provided?"

Amyas expected an explosion: but Sir Richard pulled a shilling out andput it on the table. "There--my fine is paid, sirrah, to the poor ofKilkhampton: but hearken thou all the same. If thou wilt not speak anoath, thou shalt speak on compulsion; for to Launceston gaol thou goest, there to answer for Mr. Oxenham's death, on suspicion whereof, and ofmutiny causing it, I will attach thee and every soul of his crew thatcomes home. We have lost too many gallant captains of late by treacheryof their crews, and he that will not clear himself on oath, must be heldfor guilty, and self-condemned. "

"My good fellow, " said Amyas, who could not give up his belief in theman's honesty, "why, for such fantastical scruples, peril not only yourlife, but your honor, and Mr. Oxenham's also? For if you be examined byquestion, you may be forced by torment to say that which is not true. "

"Little fear of that, young sir!" answered he, with a grim smile; "Ihave had too much of the rack already, and the strappado too, to caremuch what man can do unto me. I would heartily that I thought it lawfulto be sworn: but not so thinking, I can but submit to the cruelty ofman; though I did expect more merciful things, as a most miserable andwrecked mariner, at the hands of one who hath himself seen God's waysin the sea, and His wonders in the great deep. Sir Richard Grenville, if you will hear my story, may God avenge on my head all my sins from myyouth up until now, and cut me off from the blood of Christ, and, if itwere possible, from the number of His elect, if I tell you one whit moreor less than truth; and if not, I commend myself into the hands of God. "

Sir Richard smiled. "Well, thou art a brave ass, and valiant, though anass manifest. Dost thou not see, fellow, how thou hast sworn a ten-timesbigger oath than ever I should have asked of thee? But this is the waywith your Anabaptists, who by their very hatred of forms and ceremonies, show of how much account they think them, and then bind themselves outof their own fantastical self-will with far heavier burdens than everthe lawful authorities have laid on them for the sake of the commonweal. But what do they care for the commonweal, as long as they can save, asthey fancy, each man his own dirty soul for himself? However, thou artsworn now with a vengeance; go on with thy tale: and first, who artthou, and whence?"

"Well, sir, " said the man, quite unmoved by this last explosion; "myname is Salvation Yeo, born in Clovelly Street, in the year 1526, wheremy father exercised the mystery of a barber surgeon, and a preacher ofthe people since called Anabaptists, for which I return humble thanks toGod. "

Sir Richard. --Fie! thou naughty knave; return thanks that thy father wasan ass?

Yeo. --Nay, but because he was a barber surgeon; for I myself learnta touch of that trade, and thereby saved my life, as I will tellpresently. And I do think that a good mariner ought to have allknowledge of carnal and worldly cunning, even to tailoring andshoemaking, that he may be able to turn his hand to whatsoever may hap. 

Sir Richard. --Well spoken, fellow: but let us have thy text without thycomments. Forwards!

Yeo. --Well, sir. I was bred to the sea from my youth, and was withCaptain Hawkins in his three voyages, which he made to Guinea for negroslaves, and thence to the West Indies. 

Sir Richard. --Then thrice thou wentest to a bad end, though CaptainHawkins be my good friend; and the last time to a bad end thou camest. 

Yeo. --No denying that last, your worship: but as for the former, Idoubt--about the unlawfulness, I mean; being the negroes are of thechildren of Ham, who are cursed and reprobate, as Scripture declares, and their blackness testifies, being Satan's own livery; among whomtherefore there can be none of the elect, wherefore the elect are notrequired to treat them as brethren. 

Sir Richard. --What a plague of a pragmatical sea-lawyer have we here?And I doubt not, thou hypocrite, that though thou wilt call the negroes'black skin Satan's livery, when it serves thy turn to steal them, thouwilt find out sables to be Heaven's livery every Sunday, and up with agodly howl unless a parson shall preach in a black gown, Geneva fashion. Out upon thee! Go on with thy tale, lest thou finish thy sermon atLaunceston after all. 

Yeo. --The Lord's people were always a reviled people and a persecutedpeople: but I will go forward, sir; for Heaven forbid but that I shoulddeclare what God has done for me. For till lately, from my youth up, I was given over to all wretchlessness and unclean living, and was bynature a child of the devil, and to every good work reprobate, even asothers. 

Sir Richard. --Hark to his "even as others"! Thou new-whelped Pharisee, canst not confess thine own villainies without making out others as badas thyself, and so thyself no worse than others? I only hope that thouhast shown none of thy devil's doings to Mr. Oxenham. 

Yeo. --On the word of a Christian man, sir, as I said before, I kept truefaith with him, and would have been a better friend to him, sir, what ismore, than ever he was to himself. 

Sir Richard. --Alas! that might easily be. 

Yeo. --I think, sir, and will make good against any man, that Mr. Oxenhamwas a noble and valiant gentleman; true of his word, stout of his sword, skilful by sea and land, and worthy to have been Lord High Admiral ofEngland (saving your worship's presence), but that through two greatsins, wrath and avarice, he was cast away miserably or ever his soul wasbrought to the knowledge of the truth. Ah, sir, he was a captain worthsailing under!

And Yeo heaved a deep sigh. 

Sir Richard. --Steady, steady, good fellow! If thou wouldst quitpreaching, thou art no fool after all. But tell us the story withoutmore bush-beating. 

So at last Yeo settled himself to his tale:--

"Well, sirs, I went, as Mr. Leigh knows, to Nombre de Dios, with Mr. Drake and Mr. Oxenham, in 1572, where what we saw and did, your worship, I suppose, knows as well as I; and there was, as you've heard maybe, a covenant between Mr. Oxenham and Mr. Drake to sail the South Seastogether, which they made, your worship, in my hearing, under the treeover Panama. For when Mr. Drake came down from the tree, after seeingthe sea afar off, Mr. Oxenham and I went up and saw it too; and when wecame down, Drake says, 'John, I have made a vow to God that I will sailthat water, if I live and God gives me grace;' which he had done, sir, upon his bended knees, like a godly man as he always was, and would Ihad taken after him! and Mr. O. Says, 'I am with you, Drake, to live ordie, and I think I know some one there already, so we shall not be quiteamong strangers;' and laughed withal. Well, sirs, that voyage, as youknow, never came off, because Captain Drake was fighting in Ireland; soMr. Oxenham, who must be up and doing, sailed for himself, and I, wholoved him, God knows, like a brother (saving the difference in ourranks), helped him to get the crew together, and went as his gunner. That was in 1575; as you know, he had a 140-ton ship, sir, and seventymen out of Plymouth and Fowey and Dartmouth, and many of them old handsof Drake's, beside a dozen or so from Bideford that I picked up when Isaw young Master here. "

"Thank God that you did not pick me up too. "

"Amen, amen!" said Yeo, clasping his hands on his breast. "Those seventymen, sir, --seventy gallant men, sir, with every one of them an immortalsoul within him, --where are they now? Gone, like the spray!" And heswept his hands abroad with a wild and solemn gesture. "And their bloodis upon my head!"

Both Sir Richard and Amyas began to suspect that the man's brain was notaltogether sound. 

"God forbid, my man, " said the knight, kindly. 

"Thirteen men I persuaded to join in Bideford town, beside WilliamPenberthy of Marazion, my good comrade. And what if it be said to me atthe day of judgment, 'Salvation Yeo, where are those fourteen whom thoudidst tempt to their deaths by covetousness and lust of gold?' Not thatI was alone in my sin, if the truth must be told. For all the way outMr. Oxenham was making loud speech, after his pleasant way, that hewould make all their fortunes, and take them to such a Paradise, thatthey should have no lust to come home again. And I--God knows why--forevery one boast of his would make two, even to lying and empty fables, and anything to keep up the men's hearts. For I had really persuadedmyself that we should all find treasures beyond Solomon his temple, and Mr. Oxenham would surely show us how to conquer some golden city ordiscover some island all made of precious stones. And one day, as thecaptain and I were talking after our fashion, I said, 'And you shall beour king, captain. ' To which he, 'If I be, I shall not be long withouta queen, and that no Indian one either. ' And after that he often jestedabout the Spanish ladies, saying that none could show us the way totheir hearts better than he. Which speeches I took no count of then, sirs: but after I minded them, whether I would or not. Well, sirs, wecame to the shore of New Spain, near to the old place--that's Nombrede Dios; and there Mr. Oxenham went ashore into the woods with a boat'screw, to find the negroes who helped us three years before. Those arethe Cimaroons, gentles, negro slaves who have fled from those devilsincarnate, their Spanish masters, and live wild, like the beaststhat perish; men of great stature, sirs, and fierce as wolves inthe onslaught, but poor jabbering mazed fellows if they be but a bitdismayed: and have many Indian women with them, who take to thesenegroes a deal better than to their own kin, which breeds war enough, asyou may guess. 

"Well, sirs, after three days the captain comes back, looking heavyenough, and says, 'We played our trick once too often, when we playedit once. There is no chance of stopping another reco (that is, amule-train, sirs) now. The Cimaroons say that since our last visitthey never move without plenty of soldiers, two hundred shot at least. Therefore, ' he said, 'my gallants, we must either return empty-handedfrom this, the very market and treasury of the whole Indies, or do sucha deed as men never did before, which I shall like all the better forthat very reason. ' And we, asking his meaning, 'Why, ' he said, 'if Drakewill not sail the South Seas, we will;' adding profanely that Drake waslike Moses, who beheld the promised land afar; but he was Joshua, whowould enter into it, and smite the inhabitants thereof. And, for ourconfirmation, showed me and the rest the superscription of a letter: andsaid, 'How I came by this is none of your business: but I have had it inmy bosom ever since I left Plymouth; and I tell you now, what I forboreto tell you at first, that the South Seas have been my mark all along!such news have I herein of plate-ships, and gold-ships, and what not, which will come up from Quito and Lima this very month, all which, withthe pearls of the Gulf of Panama, and other wealth unspeakable, will beours, if we have but true English hearts within us. '

"At which, gentles, we were like madmen for lust of that gold, andcheerfully undertook a toil incredible; for first we run our shipaground in a great wood which grew in the very sea itself, and then tookout her masts, and covered her in boughs, with her four cast pieces ofgreat ordnance (of which more hereafter), and leaving no man in her, started for the South Seas across the neck of Panama, with two smallpieces of ordnance and our culverins, and good store of victuals, andwith us six of those negroes for a guide, and so twelve leagues to ariver which runs into the South Sea. 

"And there, having cut wood, we made a pinnace (and work enough we hadat it) of five-and-forty foot in the keel; and in her down the stream, and to the Isle of Pearls in the Gulf of Panama. "

"Into the South Sea? Impossible!" said Sir Richard. "Have a care whatyou say, my man; for there is that about you which would make me sorryto find you out a liar. "

"Impossible or not, liar or none, we went there, sir. "

"Question him, Amyas, lest he turn out to have been beforehand withyou. "

The man looked inquiringly at Amyas, who said--

"Well, my man, of the Gulf of Panama I cannot ask you, for I never wasinside it, but what other parts of the coast do you know?"

"Every inch, sir, from Cabo San Francisco to Lima; more is my sorrow, for I was a galley-slave there for two years and more. "

"You know Lima?"

"I was there three times, worshipful gentlemen, and the last wasFebruary come two years; and there I helped lade a great plate-ship, theCacafuogo, ' they called her. "

Amyas started. Sir Richard nodded to him gently to be silent, and then--

"And what became of her, my lad?"

"God knows, who knows all, and the devil who freighted her. I brokeprison six weeks afterwards, and never heard but that she got safe intoPanama. "

"You never heard, then, that she was taken?"

"Taken, your worships? Who should take her?"

"Why should not a good English ship take her as well as another?" saidAmyas. 

"Lord love you, sir; yes, faith, if they had but been there. Many's thetime that I thought to myself, as we went alongside, 'Oh, if CaptainDrake was but here, well to windward, and our old crew of the "Dragon"!'Ask your pardon, gentles: but how is Captain Drake, if I may make sobold?"

Neither could hold out longer. 

"Fellow, fellow!" cried Sir Richard, springing up, "either thou art thecunningest liar that ever earned a halter, or thou hast done a deedthe like of which never man adventured. Dost thou not know that CaptainDrake took that 'Cacafuogo' and all her freight, in February come twoyears?"

"Captain Drake! God forgive me, sir; but--Captain Drake in the SouthSeas? He saw them, sir, from the tree-top over Panama, when I was withhim, and I too; but sailed them, sir?--sailed them?"

"Yes, and round the world too, " said Amyas, "and I with him; and tookthat very 'Cacafuogo' off Cape San Francisco, as she came up to Panama. "

One glance at the man's face was enough to prove his sincerity. Thegreat stern Anabaptist, who had not winced at the news of his mother'sdeath, dropt right on his knees on the floor, and burst into violentsobs. 

"Glory to God! Glory to God! O Lord, I thank thee! Captain Drake inthe South Seas! The blood of thy innocents avenged, O Lord! The spoilerspoiled, and the proud robbed; and all they whose hands were mighty havefound nothing. Glory, glory! Oh, tell me, sir, did she fight?"

"We gave her three pieces of ordnance only, and struck down hermizzenmast, and then boarded sword in hand, but never had need to strikea blow; and before we left her, one of her own boys had changed hername, and rechristened her the 'Cacaplata. '"

"Glory, glory! Cowards they are, as I told them. I told them they nevercould stand the Devon mastiffs, and well they flogged me for saying it;but they could not stop my mouth. O sir, tell me, did you get the shipthat came up after her?"

"What was that?"

"A long race-ship, sir, from Guayaquil, with an old gentleman onboard, --Don Francisco de Xararte was his name, and by token, he had agold falcon hanging to a chain round his neck, and a green stone in thebreast of it. I saw it as we rowed him aboard. O tell me, sir, tell mefor the love of God, did you take that ship?"

"We did take that ship, and the jewel too, and her majesty has it atthis very hour. "

"Then tell me, sir, " said he slowly, as if he dreaded an answer; "tellme, sir, and oh, try and mind--was there a little maid aboard with theold gentleman?"

"A little maid? Let me think. No; I saw none. "

The man settled his features again sadly. 

"I thought not. I never saw her come aboard. Still I hoped, like; Ihoped. Alackaday! God help me, Salvation Yeo!"

"What have you to do with this little maid, then, good fellow!" askedGrenville. 

"Ah, sir, before I tell you that, I must go back and finish the story ofMr. Oxenham, if you will believe me enough to hear it. "

"I do believe thee, good fellow, and honor thee too. "

"Then, sir, I can speak with a free tongue. Where was I?"

"Where was he, Amyas?"

"At the Isle of Pearls. "

"And yet, O gentles, tell me first, how Captain Drake came into theSouth Seas:--over the neck, as we did?"

"Through the Straits, good fellow, like any Spaniard: but go on with thystory, and thou shalt have Mr. Leigh's after. "

"Through the Straits! O glory! But I'll tell my tale. Well, sirsboth--To the Island of Pearls we came, we and some of the negroes. Wefound many huts, and Indians fishing for pearls, and also a fair house, with porches; but no Spaniard therein, save one man; at which Mr. Oxenham was like a man transported, and fell on that Spaniard, crying, 'Perro, where is your mistress? Where is the bark from Lima?' To whichhe boldly enough, 'What was his mistress to the Englishman?' But Mr. O. Threatened to twine a cord round his head till his eyes burst out; andthe Spaniard, being terrified, said that the ship from Lima was expectedin a fortnight's time. So for ten days we lay quiet, letting neithernegro nor Spaniard leave the island, and took good store of pearls, feeding sumptuously on wild cattle and hogs until the tenth day, whenthere came by a small bark; her we took, and found her from Quito, andon board 60, 000 pezos of gold and other store. With which if we had beencontent, gentlemen, all had gone well. And some were willing to go backat once, having both treasure and pearls in plenty; but Mr. O. , hewaxed right mad, and swore to slay any one who made that motion again, assuring us that the Lima ship of which he had news was far greater andricher, and would make princes of us all; which bark came in sight onthe sixteenth day, and was taken without shot or slaughter. The takingof which bark, I verily believe, was the ruin of every mother's son ofus. "

And being asked why, he answered, "First, because of the discontentwhich was bred thereby; for on board was found no gold, but only 100, 000pezos of silver. "

Sir Richard Grenville. --Thou greedy fellow; and was not that enough tostay your stomachs?

Yeo answered that he would to God it had been; and that, moreover, theweight of that silver was afterwards a hindrance to them, and freshcause of discontent, as he would afterwards declare. "So that it hadbeen well for us, sirs, if we had left it behind, as Mr. Drake left histhree years before, and carried away the gold only. In which I do seethe evident hand of God, and His just punishment for our greedinessof gain; who caused Mr. Oxenham, by whom we had hoped to attain greatwealth, to be a snare to us, and a cause of utter ruin. "

"Do you think, then, " said Sir Richard, "that Mr. Oxenham deceived youwilfully?"

"I will never believe that, sir: Mr. Oxenham had his private reasons forwaiting for that ship, for the sake of one on board, whose face wouldthat he had never seen, though he saw it then, as I fear, not for thefirst time by many a one. " And so was silent. 

"Come, " said both his hearers, "you have brought us thus far, and youmust go on. "

"Gentlemen, I have concealed this matter from all men, both on my voyagehome and since; and I hope you will be secret in the matter, for thehonor of my noble captain, and the comfort of his friends who are alive. For I think it shame to publish harm of a gallant gentleman, and of anancient and worshipful family, and to me a true and kind captain, whenwhat is done cannot be undone, and least said soonest mended. Neithernow would I have spoken of it, but that I was inwardly moved to it forthe sake of that young gentleman there" (looking at Amyas), "thathe might be warned in time of God's wrath against the crying sin ofadultery, and flee youthful lusts, which war against the soul. "

"Thou hast done wisely enough, then, " said Sir Richard; "and look to itif I do not reward thee: but the young gentleman here, thank God, needsno such warnings, having got them already both by precept and example, where thou and poor Oxenham might have had them also. "

"You mean Captain Drake, your worship?"

"I do, sirrah. If all men were as clean livers as he, the world would bespared one half the tears that are shed in it. "

"Amen, sir. At least there would have been many a tear spared to us andours. For--as all must out--in that bark of Lima he took a younglady, as fair as the sunshine, sir, and seemingly about two orthree-and-twenty years of age, having with her a tall young lad ofsixteen, and a little girl, a marvellously pretty child, of about asix or seven. And the lady herself was of an excellent beauty, like awhale's tooth for whiteness, so that all the crew wondered at her, andcould not be satisfied with looking upon her. And, gentlemen, this wasstrange, that the lady seemed in no wise afraid or mournful, and bidher little girl fear naught, as did also Mr. Oxenham: but the lad kept avery sour countenance, and the more when he saw the lady and Mr. Oxenhamspeaking together apart. 

"Well, sir, after this good luck we were minded to have gone straightback to the river whence we came, and so home to England with all speed. But Mr. Oxenham persuaded us to return to the island, and get a few morepearls. To which foolishness (which after caused the mishap) I verilybelieve he was moved by the instigation of the devil and of that lady. For as we were about to go ashore, I, going down into the cabin of theprize, saw Mr. Oxenham and that lady making great cheer of each otherwith, 'My life, ' and 'My king, ' and 'Light of my eyes, ' and such toys;and being bidden by Mr. Oxenham to fetch out the lady's mails, and takethem ashore, heard how the two laughed together about the old ape ofPanama (which ape, or devil rather, I saw afterwards to my cost), andalso how she said that she had been dead for five years, and now thatMr. Oxenham was come, she was alive again, and so forth. 

"Mr. Oxenham bade take the little maid ashore, kissing her and playingwith her, and saying to the lady, 'What is yours is mine, and what ismine is yours. ' And she asking whether the lad should come ashore, heanswered, 'He is neither yours nor mine; let the spawn of Beelzebub stayon shore. ' After which I, coming on deck again, stumbled over that verylad, upon the hatchway ladder, who bore so black and despiteful a face, that I verily believe he had overheard their speech, and so thrust himupon deck; and going below again, told Mr. Oxenham what I thought, andsaid that it were better to put a dagger into him at once, professing tobe ready so to do. For which grievous sin, seeing that it wascommitted in my unregenerate days, I hope I have obtained the grace offorgiveness, as I have that of hearty repentance. But the lady criedout, 'Though he be none of mine, I have sin enough already on my soul;'and so laid her hand on Mr. Oxenham's mouth, entreating pitifully. AndMr. Oxenham answered laughing, when she would let him, 'What care we?let the young monkey go and howl to the old one;' and so went ashorewith the lady to that house, whence for three days he never came forth, and would have remained longer, but that the men, finding but fewpearls, and being wearied with the watching and warding so manySpaniards, and negroes came clamoring to him, and swore that theywould return or leave him there with the lady. So all went on boardthe pinnace again, every one in ill humor with the captain, and he withthem. 

"Well, sirs, we came back to the mouth of the river, and there began ourtroubles; for the negroes, as soon as we were on shore, called on Mr. Oxenham to fulfil the bargain he had made with them. And now it came out(what few of us knew till then) that he had agreed with the Cimaroonsthat they should have all the prisoners which were taken, save the gold. And he, though loath, was about to give up the Spaniards to them, nearforty in all, supposing that they intended to use them as slaves: butas we all stood talking, one of the Spaniards, understanding what wasforward, threw himself on his knees before Mr. Oxenham, and shriekinglike a madman, entreated not to be given up into the hands of 'thosedevils, ' said he, 'who never take a Spanish prisoner, but they roast himalive, and then eat his heart among them. ' We asked the negroes if thiswas possible? To which some answered, What was that to us? But otherssaid boldly, that it was true enough, and that revenge made the bestsauce, and nothing was so sweet as Spanish blood; and one, pointingto the lady, said such foul and devilish things as I should be ashamedeither for me to speak, or you to hear. At this we were like men amazedfor very horror; and Mr. Oxenham said, 'You incarnate fiends, if you hadtaken these fellows for slaves, it had been fair enough; for you wereonce slaves to them, and I doubt not cruelly used enough: but as forthis abomination, ' says he, 'God do so to me, and more also, if Ilet one of them come into your murderous hands. ' So there was a greatquarrel; but Mr. Oxenham stoutly bade put the prisoners on boardthe ships again, and so let the prizes go, taking with him only thetreasure, and the lady and the little maid. And so the lad went on toPanama, God's wrath having gone out against us. 

"Well, sirs, the Cimaroons after that went away from us, swearingrevenge (for which we cared little enough), and we rowed up the riverto a place where three streams met, and then up the least of the three, some four days' journey, till it grew all shoal and swift; and there wehauled the pinnace upon the sands, and Mr. Oxenham asked the men whetherthey were willing to carry the gold and silver over the mountains to theNorth Sea. Some of them at first were loath to do it, and I and othersadvised that we should leave the plate behind, and take the gold only, for it would have cost us three or four journeys at the least. But Mr. Oxenham promised every man 100 pezos of silver over and above his wages, which made them content enough, and we were all to start the morrowmorning. But, sirs, that night, as God had ordained, came a mishap bysome rash speeches of Mr. Oxenham's, which threw all abroad again; forwhen we had carried the treasure about half a league inland, and hiddenit away in a house which we made of boughs, Mr. O. Being always full ofthat his fair lady, spoke to me and William Penberthy of Marazion, mygood comrade, and a few more, saying, 'That we had no need to returnto England, seeing that we were already in the very garden of Eden, andwanted for nothing, but could live without labor or toil; and that itwas better, when we got over to the North Sea, to go and seek out somefair island, and there dwell in joy and pleasure till our lives' end. And we two, ' he said, 'will be king and queen, and you, whom I cantrust, my officers; and for servants we will have the Indians, who, Iwarrant, will be more fain to serve honest and merry masters like usthan those Spanish devils, ' and much more of the like; which words Iliked well, --my mind, alas! being given altogether to carnal pleasureand vanity, --as did William Penberthy, my good comrade, on whom I trustGod has had mercy. But the rest, sirs, took the matter all across, andbegan murmuring against the captain, saying that poor honest marinerslike them had always the labor and the pain, while he took his delightwith his lady; and that they would have at least one merry night beforethey were slain by the Cimaroons, or eaten by panthers and lagartos;and so got out of the pinnace two great skins of Canary wine, which weretaken in the Lima prize, and sat themselves down to drink. Moreover, there were in the pinnace a great sight of hens, which came from thesame prize, by which Mr. O. Set great store, keeping them for the ladyand the little maid; and falling upon these, the men began to blaspheme, saying, 'What a plague had the captain to fill the boat with dirty livelumber for that giglet's sake? They had a better right to a good supperthan ever she had, and might fast awhile to cool her hot blood;' andso cooked and ate those hens, plucking them on board the pinnace, andletting the feathers fall into the stream. But when William Penberthy, my good comrade, saw the feathers floating away down, he asked them ifthey were mad, to lay a trail by which the Spaniards would surely trackthem out, if they came after them, as without doubt they would. But theylaughed him to scorn, and said that no Spanish cur dared follow onthe heels of true English mastiffs as they were, and other boastfulspeeches; and at last, being heated with wine, began afresh to murmur atthe captain. And one speaking of his counsel about the island, the restaltogether took it amiss and out of the way; and some sprang up cryingtreason, and others that he meant to defraud them of the plate which hehad promised, and others that he meant to desert them in a strange land, and so forth, till Mr. O. , hearing the hubbub, came out to them fromthe house, when they reviled him foully, swearing that he meant to cheatthem; and one Edward Stiles, a Wapping man, mad with drink, dared to saythat he was a fool for not giving up the prisoners to the negroes, andwhat was it to him if the lady roasted? the negroes should have her yet;and drawing his sword, ran upon the captain: for which I was about tostrike him through the body; but the captain, not caring to waste steelon such a ribald, with his fist caught him such a buffet behind the ear, that he fell down stark dead, and all the rest stood amazed. Then Mr. Oxenham called out, 'All honest men who know me, and can trust me, standby your lawful captain against these ruffians. ' Whereon, sirs, I, andPenberthy my good comrade, and four Plymouth men, who had sailed withMr. O. In Mr. Drake's ship, and knew his trusty and valiant conditions, came over to him, and swore before God to stand by him and the lady. Then said Mr. O. To the rest, 'Will you carry this treasure, knaves, or will you not? Give me an answer here. ' And they refused, unless hewould, before they started, give each man his share. So Mr. O. Waxedvery mad, and swore that he would never be served by men who did nottrust him, and so went in again; and that night was spent in greatdisquiet, I and those five others keeping watch about the house ofboughs till the rest fell asleep, in their drink. And next morning, whenthe wine was gone out of them, Mr. O. Asked them whether they would goto the hills with him, and find those negroes, and persuade them afterall to carry the treasure. To which they agreed after awhile, thinkingthat so they should save themselves labor; and went off with Mr. Oxenham, leaving us six who had stood by him to watch the lady and thetreasure, after he had taken an oath of us that we would deal justly andobediently by him and by her, which God knows, gentlemen, we did. Sohe parted with much weeping and wailing of the lady, and was gone sevendays; and all that time we kept that lady faithfully and honestly, bringing her the best we could find, and serving her upon our bendedknees, both for her admirable beauty, and for her excellent conditions, for she was certainly of some noble kin, and courteous, and withoutfear, as if she had been a very princess. But she kept always within thehouse, which the little maid (God bless her!) did not, but soon learnedto play with us and we with her, so that we made great cheer of her, gentlemen, sailor fashion--for you know we must always have our minionsaboard to pet and amuse us--maybe a monkey, or a little dog, or asinging bird, ay, or mice and spiders, if we have nothing better toplay withal. And she was wonderful sharp, sirs, was the little maid, andpicked up her English from us fast, calling us jolly mariners, which Idoubt but she has forgotten by now, but I hope in God it be not so;" andtherewith the good fellow began wiping his eyes. 

"Well, sir, on the seventh day we six were down by the pinnace clearingher out, and the little maid with us gathering of flowers, and WilliamPenberthy fishing on the bank, about a hundred yards below, when ona sudden he leaps up and runs toward us, crying, 'Here come our hens'feathers back again with a vengeance!' and so bade catch up the littlemaid, and run for the house, for the Spaniards were upon us. 

"Which was too true; for before we could win the house, there were fulleighty shot at our heels, but could not overtake us; nevertheless, someof them stopping, fixed their calivers and let fly, killing one of thePlymouth men. The rest of us escaped to the house, and catching up thelady, fled forth, not knowing whither we went, while the Spaniards, finding the house and treasure, pursued us no farther. 

"For all that day and the next we wandered in great misery, the ladyweeping continually, and calling for Mr. Oxenham most piteously, andthe little maid likewise, till with much ado we found the track of ourcomrades, and went up that as best we might: but at nightfall, by goodhap, we met the whole crew coming back, and with them 200 negroes ormore, with bows and arrows. At which sight was great joy and embracing, and it was a strange thing, sirs, to see the lady; for before that shewas altogether desperate: and yet she was now a very lioness, as soonas she had got her love again; and prayed him earnestly not to carefor that gold, but to go forward to the North Sea, vowing to him in myhearing that she cared no more for poverty than she had cared for hergood name, and then--they being a little apart from the rest--pointedround to the green forest, and said in Spanish--which I suppose theyknew not that I understood, --'See, all round us is Paradise. Were it notenough for you and me to stay here forever, and let them take the goldor leave it as they will?'

"To which Mr. Oxenham--'Those who lived in Paradise had not sinned as wehave, and would never have grown old or sick, as we shall. '

"And she--'If we do that, there are poisons enough in these woods, bywhich we may die in each other's arms, as would to Heaven we had diedseven years agone!'

"But he--'No, no, my life. It stands upon my honor both to fulfil mybond with these men, whom I have brought hither, and to take home toEngland at least something of my prize as a proof of my own valor. '

"Then she smiling--'Am I not prize enough, and proof enough?' But hewould not be so tempted, and turning to us offered us the half of thattreasure, if we would go back with him, and rescue it from the Spaniard. At which the lady wept and wailed much; but I took upon myself tocomfort her, though I was but a simple mariner, telling her that itstood upon Mr. Oxenham's honor; and that in England nothing was esteemedso foul as cowardice, or breaking word and troth betwixt man and man;and that better was it for him to die seven times by the Spaniards, thanto face at home the scorn of all who sailed the seas. So, after muchado, back they went again; I and Penberthy, and the three Plymouth menwhich escaped from the pinnace, keeping the lady as before. 

"Well, sirs, we waited five days, having made houses of boughs asbefore, without hearing aught; and on the sixth we saw coming afar offMr. Oxenham, and with him fifteen or twenty men, who seemed very wearyand wounded; and when we looked for the rest to be behind them, beholdthere were no more; at which, sirs, as you may well think, our heartssank within us. 

"And Mr. O. , coming nearer, cried out afar off, 'All is lost!' and sowalked into the camp without a word, and sat himself down at the footof a great tree with his head between his hands, speaking neither to thelady or to any one, till she very pitifully kneeling before him, cursingherself for the cause of all his mischief, and praying him to avengehimself upon that her tender body, won him hardly to look once upon her, after which (as is the way of vain and unstable man) all between themwas as before. 

"But the men were full of curses against the negroes, for theircowardice and treachery; yea, and against high Heaven itself, which hadput the most part of their ammunition into the Spaniards' hands; andtold me, and I believe truly, how they forced the enemy awaiting them ina little copse of great trees, well fortified with barricades of boughs, and having with them our two falcons, which they had taken out of thepinnace. And how Mr. Oxenham divided both the English and the negroesinto two bands, that one might attack the enemy in front, and theother in the rear, and so set upon them with great fury, and would haveutterly driven them out, but that the negroes, who had come on with muchhowling, like very wild beasts, being suddenly scared with the shot andnoise of the ordnance, turned and fled, leaving the Englishmen alone; inwhich evil strait Mr. O. Fought like a very Guy of Warwick, and I verilybelieve every man of them likewise; for there was none of them who hadnot his shrewd scratch to show. And indeed, Mr. Oxenham's party had oncegotten within the barricades, but the Spaniards being sheltered bythe tree trunks (and especially by one mighty tree, which stood as Iremembered it, and remember it now, borne up two fathoms high upon itsown roots, as it were upon arches and pillars), shot at them with suchadvantage, that they had several slain, and seven more taken alive, onlyamong the roots of that tree. So seeing that they could prevail nothing, having little but their pikes and swords, they were fain to give back;though Mr. Oxenham swore he would not stir a foot, and making at theSpanish captain was borne down with pikes, and hardly pulled away bysome, who at last reminding him of his lady, persuaded him to come awaywith the rest. Whereon the other party fled also; but what had becomeof them they knew not, for they took another way. And so they miserablydrew off, having lost in men eleven killed and seven taken alive, besides five of the rascal negroes who were killed before they had timeto run; and there was an end of the matter. *

 * In the documents from which I have drawn this veracious history, a note is appended to this point of Yeo's story, which seems to me to smack sufficiently of the old Elizabethan seaman, to be inserted at length. 

 "All so far, and most after, agreeth with Lopez Vaz his tale, taken from his pocket by my Lord Cumberland's mariners at the river Plate, in the year 1586. But note here his vainglory and falsehood, or else fear of the Spaniard. 

 "First, lest it should be seen how great an advantage the Spaniards had, he maketh no mention of the English calivers, nor those two pieces of ordnance which were in the pinnace. 

 "Second, he saith nothing of the flight of the Cimaroons: though it was evidently to be gathered from that which he himself saith, that of less than seventy English were slain eleven, and of the negroes but five. And while of the English seven were taken alive, yet of the negroes none. And why, but because the rascals ran?

 "Thirdly, it is a thing incredible, and out of experience, that eleven English should be slain and seven taken, with loss only of two Spaniards killed. 

 "Search now, and see (for I will not speak of mine own small doings), in all those memorable voyages, which the worthy and learned Mr. Hakluyt hath so painfully collected, and which are to my old age next only to my Bible, whether in all the fights which we have endured with the Spaniards, their loss, even in victory, hath not far exceeded ours. For we are both bigger of body and fiercer of spirit, being even to the poorest of us (thanks so the care of our illustrious princes), the best fed men of Europe, the most trained to feats of strength and use of weapons, and put our trust also not in any Virgin or saints, dead rags and bones, painted idols which have no breath in their mouths, or St. Bartholomew medals and such devil's remembrancers; but in the only true God and our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom whosoever trusteth, one of them shall chase a thousand. So I hold, having had good experience; and say, if they have done it once, let them do it again, and kill their eleven to our two, with any weapon they will, save paper bullets blown out of Fame's lying trumpet. Yet I have no quarrel with the poor Portugal; for I doubt not but friend Lopez Vaz had looking over his shoulder as he wrote some mighty black velvet Don, with a name as long as that Don Bernaldino Delgadillo de Avellaneda who set forth lately his vainglorious libel of lies concerning the last and fatal voyage of my dear friends Sir F. Drake and Sir John Hawkins, who rest in peace, having finished their labors, as would God I rested. To whose shameless and unspeakable lying my good friend Mr. Henry Savile of this county did most pithily and wittily reply, stripping the ass out of his lion's skin; and Sir Thomas Baskerville, general of the fleet, by my advice, send him a cartel of defiance, offering to meet him with choice of weapons, in any indifferent kingdom of equal distance from this realm; which challenge he hath prudently put in his pipe, or rather rolled it up for one of his Spanish cigarros, and smoked it, and I doubt not, found it foul in the mouth. "

"But the next day, gentlemen, in came some five-and-twenty more, beingthe wreck of the other party, and with them a few negroes; and theselast proved themselves no honester men than they were brave, for therebeing great misery among us English, and every one of us stragglingwhere he could to get food, every day one or more who went out nevercame back, and that caused a suspicion that the negroes had betrayedthem to the Spaniards, or, maybe, slain and eaten them. So these fellowsbeing upbraided, with that altogether left us, telling us boldly, that if they had eaten our fellows, we owed them a debt instead of theSpanish prisoners; and we, in great terror and hunger, went forward andover the mountains till we came to a little river which ran northward, which seemed to lead into the Northern Sea; and there Mr. O. --who, sirs, I will say, after his first rage was over, behaved himself all throughlike a valiant and skilful commander--bade us cut down trees and makecanoes, to go down to the sea; which we began to do, with great laborand little profit, hewing down trees with our swords, and burning themout with fire, which, after much labor, we kindled; but as we werea-burning out of the first tree, and cutting down of another, a greatparty of negroes came upon us, and with much friendly show bade us fleefor our lives, for the Spaniards were upon us in great force. And so wewere up and away again, hardly able to drag our legs after us for hungerand weariness, and the broiling heat. And some were taken (God helpthem!) and some fled with the negroes, of whom what became God aloneknoweth; but eight or ten held on with the captain, among whom was I, and fled downward toward the sea for one day; but afterwards finding, bythe noise in the woods, that the Spaniards were on the track of us, weturned up again toward the inland, and coming to a cliff, climbed upover it, drawing up the lady and the little maid with cords of liana(which hang from those trees as honeysuckle does here, but exceedingstout and long, even to fifty fathoms); and so breaking the track, hopedto be out of the way of the enemy. 

"By which, nevertheless, we only increased our misery. For two fell fromthat cliff, as men asleep for very weariness, and miserably broke theirbones; and others, whether by the great toil, or sunstrokes, or eatingof strange berries, fell sick of fluxes and fevers; where was no dropof water, but rock of pumice stone as bare as the back of my hand, andfull, moreover, of great cracks, black and without bottom, over whichwe had not strength to lift the sick, but were fain to leave them therealoft, in the sunshine, like Dives in his torments, crying aloud fora drop of water to cool their tongues; and every man a great stinkingvulture or two sitting by him, like an ugly black fiend out of the pit, waiting till the poor soul should depart out of the corpse: but nothingcould avail, and for the dear life we must down again and into thewoods, or be burned up alive upon those rocks. 

"So getting down the slope on the farther side, we came into the woodsonce more, and there wandered for many days, I know not how many;our shoes being gone, and our clothes all rent off us with brakes andbriars. And yet how the lady endured all was a marvel to see; for shewent barefoot many days, and for clothes was fain to wrap herself in Mr. Oxenham's cloak; while the little maid went all but naked: but ever shelooked still on Mr. Oxenham, and seemed to take no care as long as hewas by, comforting and cheering us all with pleasant words; yea, andonce sitting down under a great fig-tree, sang us all to sleep withvery sweet music; yet, waking about midnight, I saw her sitting stillupright, weeping very bitterly; on whom, sirs, God have mercy; for shewas a fair and a brave jewel. 

"And so, to make few words of a sad matter, at last there were none leftbut Mr. Oxenham and the lady and the little maid, together with me andWilliam Penberthy of Marazion, my good comrade. And Mr. Oxenham alwaysled the lady, and Penberthy and I carried the little maid. And for foodwe had fruits, such as we could find, and water we got from the leavesof certain lilies which grew on the bark of trees, which I found byseeing the monkeys drink at them; and the little maid called themmonkey-cups, and asked for them continually, making me climb for them. And so we wandered on, and upward into very high mountains, alwaysfearing lest the Spaniards should track us with dogs, which made thelady leap up often in her sleep, crying that the bloodhounds were uponher. And it befell upon a day, that we came into a great wood of ferns(which grew not on the ground like ours, but on stems as big as apinnace's mast, and the bark of them was like a fine meshed net, verystrange to see), where was very pleasant shade, cool and green; andthere, gentlemen, we sat down on a bank of moss, like folk desperate andfordone, and every one looked the other in the face for a long while. After which I took off the bark of those ferns, for I must needs bedoing something to drive away thought, and began to plait slippers forthe little maid. 

"And as I was plaiting, Mr. Oxenham said, 'What hinders us from dyinglike men, every man falling on his own sword?' To which I answered thatI dare not; for a wise woman had prophesied of me, sirs, that I shoulddie at sea, and yet neither by water or battle, wherefore I did notthink right to meddle with the Lord's purposes. And William Penberthysaid, 'That he would sell his life, and that dear, but never give itaway. ' But the lady said, 'Ah, how gladly would I die! but then lapaouvre garse, ' which is in French 'the poor maid, ' meaning the littleone. Then Mr. Oxenham fell into a very great weeping, a weakness I neversaw him in before or since; and with many tears besought me neverto desert that little maid, whatever might befall; which I promised, swearing to it like a heathen, but would, if I had been able, have keptit like a Christian. But on a sudden there was a great cry in thewood, and coming through the trees on all sides Spanish arquebusiers, a hundred strong at least, and negroes with them, who bade us standor they would shoot. William Penberthy leapt up, crying 'Treason!' andrunning upon the nearest negro ran him through, and then another, andthen falling on the Spaniards, fought manfully till he was borne downwith pikes, and so died. But I, seeing no thing better to do, satestill and finished my plaiting. And so we were all taken, and I and Mr. Oxenham bound with cords; but the soldiers made a litter for the ladyand child, by commandment of Senor Diego de Trees, their commander, avery courteous gentleman. 

"Well, sirs, we were brought down to the place where the house of boughshad been by the river-side; there we went over in boats, and foundwaiting for us certain Spanish gentlemen, and among others one old andill-favored man, gray-bearded and bent, in a suit of black velvet, whoseemed to be a great man among them. And if you will believe me, Mr. Leigh, that was none other than the old man with the gold falcon at hisbreast, Don Francisco Xararte by name, whom you found aboard of the Limaship. And had you known as much of him as I do, or as Mr. Oxenham dideither, you had cut him up for shark's bait, or ever you let the curashore again. 

"Well, sirs, as soon as the lady came to shore, that old man ran uponher sword in hand, and would have slain her, but some there held himback. On which he turned to, and reviled with every foul and spitefulword which he could think of, so that some there bade him be silent forshame; and Mr. Oxenham said, 'It is worthy of you, Don Francisco, thusto trumpet abroad your own disgrace. Did I not tell you years ago thatyou were a cur; and are you not proving my words for me?'

"He answered, 'English dog, would to Heaven I had never seen you!'

"And Mr. Oxenham, 'Spanish ape, would to Heaven that I had sentmy dagger through your herring-ribs when you passed me behind St. Ildegonde's church, eight years last Easter-eve. ' At which the old manturned pale, and then began again to upbraid the lady, vowing thathe would have her burnt alive, and other devilish words, to which sheanswered at last--

"'Would that you had burnt me alive on my wedding morning, and spared meeight years of misery!' And he--

"'Misery? Hear the witch, senors! Oh, have I not pampered her, heapedwith jewels, clothes, coaches, what not? The saints alone know what 'Ihave spent on her. What more would she have of me?'

"To which she answered only but this one word, 'Fool!' but in soterrible a voice, though low, that they who were about to laugh at theold pantaloon, were more minded to weep for her. 

"'Fool!' she said again, after a while, 'I will waste no words upon you. I would have driven a dagger to your heart months ago, but that Iwas loath to set you free so soon from your gout and your rheumatism. Selfish and stupid, know when you bought my body from my parents, youdid not buy my soul! Farewell, my love, my life! and farewell, senors!May you be more merciful to your daughters than my parents were to me!'And so, catching a dagger from the girdle of one of the soldiers, smoteherself to the heart, and fell dead before them all. 

"At which Mr. Oxenham smiled, and said, 'That was worthy of us both. Ifyou will unbind my hands, senors, I shall be most happy to copy so faira schoolmistress. '

"But Don Diego shook his head, and said--

"'It were well for you, valiant senor, were I at liberty to do so; buton questioning those of your sailors whom I have already taken, I cannothear that you have any letters of license, either from the queen ofEngland, or any other potentate. I am compelled, therefore, to ask youwhether this is so; for it is a matter of life and death. '

"To which Mr. Oxenham answered merrily, that so it was: but that hewas not aware that any potentate's license was required to permit agentleman's meeting his lady love; and that as for the gold which theyhad taken, if they had never allowed that fresh and fair young May to beforced into marrying that old January, he should never have meddled withtheir gold; so that was rather their fault than his. And added, that ifhe was to be hanged, as he supposed, the only favor which he asked forwas a long drop and no priests. And all the while, gentlemen, he stillkept his eyes fixed on the lady's corpse, till he was led away with me, while all that stood by, God reward them for it, lamented openly thetragical end of those two sinful lovers. 

"And now, sirs, what befell me after that matters little; for I neversaw Captain Oxenham again, nor ever shall in this life. "

"He was hanged, then?"

"So I heard for certain the next year, and with him the gunner andsundry more: but some were given away for slaves to the Spaniards, and may be alive now, unless, like me, they have fallen into the cruelclutches of the Inquisition. For the Inquisition now, gentlemen, claimsthe bodies and souls of all heretics all over the world (as the devilstold me with their own lips, when I pleaded that I was no Spanishsubject); and none that it catches, whether peaceable merchants orshipwrecked mariners, but must turn or burn. "

"But how did you get into the Inquisition?"

"Why, sir, after we were taken, we set forth to go down the river again;and the old Don took the little maid with him in one boat (and bitterlyshe screeched at parting from us and from the poor dead corpse), and Mr. Oxenham with Don Diego de Trees in another, and I in a third. And fromthe Spaniards I learnt that we were to be taken down to Lima, to theViceroy; but that the old man lived hard by Panama, and was goingstraight back to Panama forthwith with the little maid. But they said, 'It will be well for her if she ever gets there, for the old man swearsshe is none of his, and would have left her behind him in the woods, now, if Don Diego had not shamed him out of it. ' And when I heard that, seeing that there was nothing but death before me, I made up my mindto escape; and the very first night, sirs, by God's help, I did it, and went southward away into the forest, avoiding the tracks of theCimaroons, till I came to an Indian town. And there, gentlemen, I gotmore mercy from heathens than ever I had from Christians; for when theyfound that I was no Spaniard, they fed me and gave me a house, anda wife (and a good wife she was to me), and painted me all over inpatterns, as you see; and because I had some knowledge of surgery andblood-letting, and my fleams in my pocket, which were worth to me afortune, I rose to great honor among them, though they taught me more ofsimples than ever I taught them of surgery. So I lived with them merrilyenough, being a very heathen like them, or indeed worse, for theyworshipped their Xemes, but I nothing. And in time my wife bare me achild; in looking at whose sweet face, gentlemen, I forgot Mr. Oxenhamand his little maid, and my oath, ay, and my native land also. Whereforeit was taken from me, else had I lived and died as the beasts whichperish; for one night, after we were all lain down, came a noise outsidethe town, and I starting up saw armed men and calivers shining in themoonlight, and heard one read in Spanish, with a loud voice, some fool'ssermon, after their custom when they hunt the poor Indians, how God hadgiven to St. Peter the dominion of the whole earth, and St. Peteragain the Indies to the Catholic king; wherefore, if they would allbe baptized and serve the Spaniard, they should have some monkey'sallowance or other of more kicks than pence; and if not, then haveat them with fire and sword; but I dare say your worships know thatdevilish trick of theirs better than I. "

"I know it, man. Go on. "

"Well--no sooner were the words spoken than, without waiting to hearwhat the poor innocents within would answer (though that matteredlittle, for they understood not one word of it), what do the villainsbut let fly right into the town with their calivers, and then rushin, sword in hand, killing pell-mell all they met, one of which shots, gentlemen, passing through the doorway, and close by me, struck my poorwife to the heart, that she never spoke word more. I, catching up thebabe from her breast, tried to run: but when I saw the town full ofthem, and their dogs with them in leashes, which was yet worse, I knewall was lost, and sat down again by the corpse with the babe on myknees, waiting the end, like one stunned and in a dream; for now Ithought God from whom I had fled had surely found me out, as He didJonah, and the punishment of all my sins was come. Well, gentlemen, theydragged me out, and all the young men and women, and chained us togetherby the neck; and one, catching the pretty babe out of my arms, callsfor water and a priest (for they had their shavelings with them), and nosooner was it christened than, catching the babe by the heels, he dashedout its brains, --oh! gentlemen, gentlemen!--against the ground, as if ithad been a kitten; and so did they to several more innocents that night, after they had christened them; saying it was best for them to go toheaven while they were still sure thereof; and so marched us all forslaves, leaving the old folk and the wounded to die at leisure. But whenmorning came, and they knew by my skin that I was no Indian, and by myspeech that I was no Spaniard, they began threatening me with torments, till I confessed that I was an Englishman, and one of Oxenham's crew. At that says the leader, 'Then you shall to Lima, to hang by the side ofyour captain the pirate;' by which I first knew that my poor captain wascertainly gone; but alas for me! the priest steps in and claims me forhis booty, calling me Lutheran, heretic, and enemy of God; and so, tomake short a sad story, to the Inquisition at Cartagena I went, wherewhat I suffered, gentlemen, were as disgustful for you to hear, asunmanly for me to complain of; but so it was, that being twice racked, and having endured the water-torment as best I could, I was put to thescarpines, whereof I am, as you see, somewhat lame of one leg to thisday. At which I could abide no more, and so, wretch that I am! denied myGod, in hope to save my life; which indeed I did, but little it profitedme; for though I had turned to their superstition, I must have twohundred stripes in the public place, and then go to the galleys forseven years. And there, gentlemen, ofttimes I thought that it had beenbetter for me to have been burned at once and for all: but you knowas well as I what a floating hell of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, stripes and toil, is every one of those accursed craft. In which hell, nevertheless, gentlemen, I found the road to heaven, --I had almost saidheaven itself. For it fell out, by God's mercy, that my next comrade wasan Englishman like myself, a young man of Bristol, who, as he told me, had been some manner of factor on board poor Captain Barker's ship, andhad been a preacher among the Anabaptists here in England. And, oh! SirRichard Grenville, if that man had done for you what he did for me, youwould never say a word against those who serve the same Lord, becausethey don't altogether hold with you. For from time to time, sir, seeingme altogether despairing and furious, like a wild beast in a pit, he setbefore me in secret earnestly the sweet promises of God in Christ, --whosays, 'Come to me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will refreshyou; and though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white assnow, --till all that past sinful life of mine looked like a dream whenone awaketh, and I forgot all my bodily miseries in the misery of mysoul, so did I loathe and hate myself for my rebellion against thatloving God who had chosen me before the foundation of the world, andcome to seek and save me when I was lost; and falling into very despairat the burden of my heinous sins, knew no peace until I gained sweetassurance that my Lord had hanged my burden upon His cross, and washedmy sinful soul in His most sinless blood, Amen!"

And Sir Richard Grenville said Amen also. 

"But, gentlemen, if that sweet youth won a soul to Christ, he paidas dearly for it as ever did saint of God. For after a three or fourmonths, when I had been all that while in sweet converse with him, andI may say in heaven in the midst of hell, there came one night to thebarranco at Lima, where we were kept when on shore, three black devilsof the Holy Office, and carried him off without a word, only saying tome, 'Look that your turn come not next, for we hear that you have hadmuch talk with the villain. ' And at these words I was so struck coldwith terror that I swooned right away, and verily, if they had taken methere and then, I should have denied my God again, for my faith was butyoung and weak: but instead, they left me aboard the galley for a fewmonths more (that was a whole voyage to Panama and back), in daily dreadlest I should find myself in their cruel claws again--and then nothingfor me, but to burn as a relapsed heretic. But when we came back toLima, the officers came on board again, and said to me, 'That heretichas confessed naught against you, so we will leave you for this time:but because you have been seen talking with him so much, and the HolyOffice suspects your conversion to be but a rotten one, you are adjudgedto the galleys for the rest of your life in perpetual servitude. '"

"But what became of him?" asked Amyas. 

"He was burned, sir, a day or two before we got to Lima, and five otherswith him at the same stake, of whom two were Englishmen; old comrades ofmine, as I guess. "

"Ah!" said Amyas, "we heard of that when we were off Lima; and theysaid, too, that there were six more lying still in prison, to be burntin a few days. If we had had our fleet with us (as we should have had ifit had not been for John Winter) we would have gone in and rescued themall, poor wretches, and sacked the town to boot: but what could we dowith one ship?"

"Would to God you had, sir; for the story was true enough; and amongthem, I heard, were two young ladies of quality and their confessor, who came to their ends for reproving out of Scripture the filthy andloathsome living of those parts, which, as I saw well enough and toowell, is liker to Sodom than to a Christian town; but God will avengeHis saints, and their sins. Amen. "

"Amen, " said Sir Richard: "but on with thy tale, for it is as strange asever man heard. "

"Well, gentlemen, when I heard that I must end my days in that galley, Iwas for awhile like a madman: but in a day or two there came over me, Iknow not how, a full assurance of salvation, both for this life and thelife to come, such as I had never had before; and it was revealed to me(I speak the truth, gentlemen, before Heaven) that now I had been triedto the uttermost, and that my deliverance was at hand. 

"And all the way up to Panama (that was after we had laden the'Cacafuogo') I cast in my mind how to escape, and found no way: but justas I was beginning to lose heart again, a door was opened by the Lord'sown hand; for (I know not why) we were marched across from Panama toNombre, which had never happened before, and there put all together intoa great barranco close by the quay-side, shackled, as is the fashion, toone long bar that ran the whole length of the house. And the very firstnight that we were there, I, looking out of the window, spied, lyingclose aboard of the quay, a good-sized caravel well armed and justloading for sea; and the land breeze blew off very strong, so that thesailors were laying out a fresh warp to hold her to the shore. And itcame into my mind, that if we were aboard of her, we should be at seain five minutes; and looking at the quay, I saw all the soldiers who hadguarded us scattered about drinking and gambling, and some going intotaverns to refresh themselves after their journey. That was just atsundown; and half an hour after, in comes the gaoler to take a last lookat us for the night, and his keys at his girdle. Whereon, sirs (whetherby madness, or whether by the spirit which gave Samson strength to rendthe lion), I rose against him as he passed me, without forethought ortreachery of any kind, chained though I was, caught him by the head, and threw him there and then against the wall, that he never spoke wordafter; and then with his keys freed myself and every soul in thatroom, and bid them follow me, vowing to kill any man who disobeyed mycommands. They followed, as men astounded and leaping out of night intoday, and death into life, and so aboard that caravel and out of theharbor (the Lord only knows how, who blinded the eyes of the idolaters), 'with no more hurt than a few chance-shot from the soldiers on the quay. But my tale has been over-long already, gentlemen--"

"Go on till midnight, my good fellow, if you will. "

"Well, sirs, they chose me for captain, and a certain Genoese forlieutenant, and away to go. I would fain have gone ashore after all, andback to Panama to hear news of the little maid: but that would have beenbut a fool's errand. Some wanted to turn pirates: but I, and the Genoesetoo, who was a prudent man, though an evil one, persuaded them to runfor England and get employment in the Netherland wars, assuring themthat there would be no safety in the Spanish Main, when once our escapegot wind. And the more part being of one mind, for England we sailed, watering at the Barbadoes because it was desolate; and so eastwardtoward the Canaries. In which voyage what we endured (being taken bylong calms), by scurvy, calentures, hunger, and thirst, no tongue cantell. Many a time were we glad to lay out sheets at night to catchthe dew, and suck them in the morning; and he that had a noggin ofrain-water out of the scuppers was as much sought to as if he had beenAdelantado of all the Indies; till of a hundred and forty poor wretchesa hundred and ten were dead, blaspheming God and man, and above allme and the Genoese, for taking the Europe voyage, as if I had not sinsenough of my own already. And last of all, when we thought ourselvessafe, we were wrecked by southwesters on the coast of Brittany, near toCape Race, from which but nine souls of us came ashore with their lives;and so to Brest, where I found a Flushinger who carried me to Falmouthand so ends my tale, in which if I have said one word more or less thantruth, I can wish myself no worse, than to have it all to undergo asecond time. "

And his voice, as he finished, sank from very weariness of soul; whileSir Richard sat opposite him in silence, his elbows on the table, his cheeks on his doubled fists, looking him through and through withkindling eyes. No one spoke for several minutes; and then--

"Amyas, you have heard this story. You believe it?"

"Every word, sir, or I should not have the heart of a Christian man. "

"So do I. Anthony!"

The butler entered. 

"Take this man to the buttery; clothe him comfortably, and feed him withthe best; and bid the knaves treat him as if he were their own father. "

But Yeo lingered. 

"If I might be so bold as to ask your worship a favor?--"

"Anything in reason, my brave fellow. "

"If your worship could put me in the way of another adventure to theIndies?"

"Another! Hast not had enough of the Spaniards already?"

"Never enough, sir, while one of the idolatrous tyrants is leftunhanged, " said he, with a right bitter smile. "But it's not for thatonly, sir: but my little maid--Oh, sir! my little maid, that I swore toMr. Oxenham to look to, and never saw her from that day to this! I mustfind her, sir, or I shall go mad, I believe. Not a night but she comesand calls to me in my dreams, the poor darling; and not a morning butwhen I wake there is my oath lying on my soul, like a great black cloud, and I no nearer the keeping of it. I told that poor young minister of itwhen we were in the galleys together; and he said oaths were oaths, andkeep it I must; and keep it I will, sir, if you'll but help me. "

"Have patience, man. God will take as good care of thy little maid asever thou wilt. "

"I know it, sir. I know it: but faith's weak, sir! and oh! if she werebred up a Papist and an idolater; wouldn't her blood be on my head then, sir? Sooner than that, sooner than that, I'd be in the Inquisition againto-morrow, I would!"

"My good fellow, there are no adventures to the Indies forward now: butif you want to fight Spaniards, here is a gentleman will show you theway. Amyas, take him with you to Ireland. If he has learnt half thelessons God has set him to learn, he ought to stand you in good stead. "

Yeo looked eagerly at the young giant. 

"Will you have me, sir? There's few matters I can't turn my hand to:and maybe you'll be going to the Indies again, some day, eh? and take mewith you? I'd serve your turn well, though I say it, either for gunneror for pilot. I know every stone and tree from Nombre to Panama, and allthe ports of both the seas. You'll never be content, I'll warrant, tillyou've had another turn along the gold coasts, will you now?"

Amyas laughed, and nodded; and the bargain was concluded. 

So out went Yeo to eat, and Amyas having received his despatches, gotready for his journey home. 

"Go the short way over the moors, lad; and send back Cary's gray whenyou can. You must not lose an hour, but be ready to sail the moment thewind goes about. "

So they started: but as Amyas was getting into the saddle, he saw thatthere was some stir among the servants, who seemed to keep carefully outof Yeo's way, whispering and nodding mysteriously; and just as his footwas in the stirrup, Anthony, the old butler, plucked him back. 

"Dear father alive, Mr. Amyas!" whispered he: "and you ben't going bythe moor road all alone with that chap?"

"Why not, then? I'm too big for him to eat, I reckon. "

"Oh, Mr. Amyas! he's not right, I tell you; not company for aChristian--to go forth with creatures as has flames of fire in theirinwards; 'tis temptation of Providence, indeed, then, it is. "

"Tale of a tub. "

"Tale of a Christian, sir. There was two boys pig-minding, seed him atit down the hill, beside a maiden that was taken mazed (and no wonder, poor soul!) and lying in screeching asterisks now down to the mill--youask as you go by--and saw the flames come out of the mouth of mun, andthe smoke out of mun's nose like a vire-drake, and the roaring of munlike the roaring of ten thousand bulls. Oh, sir! and to go with he afterdark over moor! 'Tis the devil's devices, sir, against you, becauseyou'm going against his sarvants the Pope of Room and the Spaniard; andyou'll be Pixy-led, sure as life, and locked into a bog, you will, andsee mun vanish away to fire and brimstone, like a jack-o'-lantern. Oh, have a care, then, have a care!"

And the old man wrung his hands, while Amyas, bursting with laughter, rode off down the park, with the unconscious Yeo at his stirrup, chatting away about the Indies, and delighting Amyas more and more byhis shrewdness, high spirit, and rough eloquence. 

They had gone ten miles or more; the day began to draw in, and thewestern wind to sweep more cold and cheerless every moment, when Amyas, knowing that there was not an inn hard by around for many a mile ahead, took a pull at a certain bottle which Lady Grenville had put into hisholster, and then offered Yeo a pull also. 

He declined; he had meat and drink too about him, Heaven be praised!

"Meat and drink? Fall to, then, man, and don't stand on manners. "

Whereon Yeo, seeing an old decayed willow by a brook, went to it, andtook therefrom some touchwood, to which he set a light with his knifeand a stone, while Amyas watched, a little puzzled and startled, as Yeo's fiery reputation came into his mind. Was he really asalamander-sprite, and going to warm his inside by a meal of burningtinder? But now Yeo, in his solemn methodical way, pulled out of hisbosom a brown leaf, and began rolling a piece of it up neatly to thesize of his little finger; and then, putting the one end into his mouthand the other on the tinder, sucked at it till it was a-light; anddrinking down the smoke, began puffing it out again at his nostrils witha grunt of deepest satisfaction, and resumed his dog-trot by Amyas'sside, as if he had been a walking chimney. 

On which Amyas burst into a loud laugh, and cried--

"Why, no wonder they said you breathed fire? Is not that the Indians'tobacco?"

"Yea, verily, Heaven be praised! but did you never see it before?"

"Never, though we heard talk of it along the coast; but we took it forone more Spanish lie. Humph--well, live and learn!"

"Ah, sir, no lie, but a blessed truth, as I can tell, who have ere nowgone in the strength of this weed three days and nights without eating;and therefore, sir, the Indians always carry it with them on theirwar-parties: and no wonder; for when all things were made none was madebetter than this; to be a lone man's companion, a bachelor's friend, a hungry man's food, a sad man's cordial, a wakeful man's sleep, and achilly man's fire, sir; while for stanching of wounds, purging of rheum, and settling of the stomach, there's no herb like unto it under thecanopy of heaven. "

The truth of which eulogium Amyas tested in after years, as shall befully set forth in due place and time. But "Mark in the meanwhile, " saysone of the veracious chroniclers from whom I draw these facts, writingseemingly in the palmy days of good Queen Anne, and "not having" (as hesays) "before his eyes the fear of that misocapnic Solomon James I. Orof any other lying Stuart, " "that not to South Devon, but to North; notto Sir Walter Raleigh, but to Sir Amyas Leigh; not to the banks of Dart, but to the banks of Torridge, does Europe owe the day-spring of thelatter age, that age of smoke which shall endure and thrive, when theage of brass shall have vanished like those of iron and of gold; forwhereas Mr. Lane is said to have brought home that divine weed (asSpenser well names it) from Virginia, in the year 1584, it is herebyindisputable that full four years earlier, by the bridge of Putford inthe Torridge moors (which all true smokers shall hereafter visit as ahallowed spot and point of pilgrimage) first twinkled that fiery beaconand beneficent lodestar of Bidefordian commerce, to spread hereafterfrom port to port and peak to peak, like the watch-fires whichproclaimed the coming of the Armada or the fall of Troy, even to theshores of the Bosphorus, the peaks of the Caucasus, and the farthestisles of the Malayan sea, while Bideford, metropolis of tobacco, saw herPool choked with Virginian traders, and the pavement of her BridgelandStreet groaning beneath the savory bales of roll Trinadado, leaf, andpudding; and her grave burghers, bolstered and blocked out of their ownhouses by the scarce less savory stock-fish casks which filled cellar, parlor, and attic, were fain to sit outside the door, a silver pipein every strong right hand, and each left hand chinking cheerfully thedoubloons deep lodged in the auriferous caverns of their trunk-hose;while in those fairy-rings of fragrant mist, which circled round theircontemplative brows, flitted most pleasant visions of Wiltshire farmersjogging into Sherborne fair, their heaviest shillings in their pockets, to buy (unless old Aubrey lies) the lotus-leaf of Torridge for itsweight in silver, and draw from thence, after the example of theCaciques of Dariena, supplies of inspiration much needed, then as now, in those Gothamite regions. And yet did these improve, as Englishmen, upon the method of those heathen savages; for the latter (so SalvationYeo reported as a truth, and Dampier's surgeon Mr. Wafer after him), when they will deliberate of war or policy, sit round in the hut of thechief; where being placed, enter to them a small boy with a cigarro ofthe bigness of a rolling-pin and puffs the smoke thereof into the faceof each warrior, from the eldest to the youngest; while they, puttingtheir hand funnel-wise round their mouths, draw into the sinuosities ofthe brain that more than Delphic vapor of prophecy; which boy presentlyfalls down in a swoon, and being dragged out by the heels and laid by tosober, enter another to puff at the sacred cigarro, till he is draggedout likewise; and so on till the tobacco is finished, and the seed ofwisdom has sprouted in every soul into the tree of meditation, bearingthe flowers of eloquence, and in due time the fruit of valiant action. "With which quaint fact (for fact it is, in spite of the bombast) I endthe present chapter. 

CHAPTER VIII

HOW THE NOBLE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE WAS FOUNDED

 "It is virtue, yea virtue, gentlemen, that maketh gentlemen; that maketh the poor rich, the base-born noble, the subject a sovereign, the deformed beautiful, the sick whole, the weak strong, the most miserable most happy. There are two principal and peculiar gifts in the nature of man, knowledge and reason; the one commandeth, and the other obeyeth: these things neither the whirling wheel of fortune can change, neither the deceitful cavillings of worldlings separate, neither sickness abate, neither age abolish. "--LILLY's Euphues, 1586. 

It now falls to my lot to write of the foundation of that mostchivalrous brotherhood of the Rose, which after a few years made itselfnot only famous in its native country of Devon, but formidable, as willbe related hereafter, both in Ireland and in the Netherlands, in theSpanish Main and the heart of South America. And if this chapter shallseem to any Quixotic and fantastical, let them recollect that thegeneration who spoke and acted thus in matters of love and honor were, nevertheless, practised and valiant soldiers, and prudent and craftypoliticians; that he who wrote the "Arcadia" was at the same time, inspite of his youth, one of the subtlest diplomatists of Europe; thatthe poet of the "Faerie Queene" was also the author of "The Stateof Ireland;" and if they shall quote against me with a sneer Lilly's"Euphues" itself, I shall only answer by asking--Have they ever readit? For if they have done so, I pity them if they have not found it, inspite of occasional tediousness and pedantry, as brave, righteous, andpious a book as man need look into: and wish for no better proof ofthe nobleness and virtue of the Elizabethan age, than the fact that"Euphues" and the "Arcadia" were the two popular romances of the day. Itmay have suited the purposes of Sir Walter Scott, in his cleverly drawnSir Piercie Shafton, to ridicule the Euphuists, and that affectatamcomitatem of the travelled English of which Languet complains; but overand above the anachronism of the whole character (for, to give but oneinstance, the Euphuist knight talks of Sidney's quarrel with Lord Oxfordat least ten years before it happened), we do deny that Lilly's bookcould, if read by any man of common sense, produce such a coxcomb, whose spiritual ancestors would rather have been Gabriel Harvey andLord Oxford, --if indeed the former has not maligned the latter, andill-tempered Tom Nash maligned the maligner in his turn. 

But, indeed, there is a double anachronism in Sir Piercie; for he doesnot even belong to the days of Sidney, but to those worse times whichbegan in the latter years of Elizabeth, and after breaking her mightyheart, had full license to bear their crop of fools' heads in theprofligate days of James. Of them, perhaps, hereafter. And in themeanwhile, let those who have not read "Euphues" believe that, if theycould train a son after the fashion of his Ephoebus, to the greatsaving of their own money and his virtue, all fathers, even in thesemoney-making days, would rise up and call them blessed. Let usrather open our eyes, and see in these old Elizabeth gallants our ownancestors, showing forth with the luxuriant wildness of youth all thevirtues which still go to the making of a true Englishman. Let us notonly see in their commercial and military daring, in their politicalastuteness, in their deep reverence for law, and in their solemn senseof the great calling of the English nation, the antitypes or ratherthe examples of our own: but let us confess that their chivalry is onlyanother garb of that beautiful tenderness and mercy which is now, asit was then, the twin sister of English valor; and even in theirextravagant fondness for Continental manners and literature, let usrecognize that old Anglo-Norman teachableness and wide-heartedness, which has enabled us to profit by the wisdom and civilization of allages and of all lands, without prejudice to our own distinctive nationalcharacter. 

And so I go to my story, which, if any one dislikes, he has but to turnthe leaf till he finds pasturage which suits him better. 

Amyas could not sail the next day, or the day after; for the southwesterfreshened, and blew three parts of a gale dead into the bay. So havinggot the "Mary Grenville" down the river into Appledore pool, ready tostart with the first shift of wind, he went quietly home; and whenhis mother started on a pillion behind the old serving-man to rideto Clovelly, where Frank lay wounded, he went in with her as far asBideford, and there met, coming down the High Street, a procession ofhorsemen headed by Will Cary, who, clad cap-a-pie in a shining armor, sword on thigh, and helmet at saddle-bow, looked as gallant a younggentleman as ever Bideford dames peeped at from door and window. Behindhim, upon country ponies, came four or five stout serving-men, carryinghis lances and baggage, and their own long-bows, swords, and bucklers;and behind all, in a horse-litter, to Mrs. Leigh's great joy, MasterFrank himself. He deposed that his wounds were only flesh-wounds, thedagger having turned against his ribs; that he must see the last ofhis brother; and that with her good leave he would not come home toBurrough, but take up his abode with Cary in the Ship Tavern, close tothe Bridge-foot. This he did forthwith, and settling himself on a couch, held his levee there in state, mobbed by all the gossips of the town, not without white fibs as to who had brought him into that sorry plight. 

But in the meanwhile he and Amyas concocted a scheme, which was putinto effect the next day (being market-day); first by the innkeeper, whobegan under Amyas's orders a bustle of roasting, boiling, and frying, unparalleled in the annals of the Ship Tavern; and next by Amyashimself, who, going out into the market, invited as many of his oldschoolfellows, one by one apart, as Frank had pointed out to him, to amerry supper and a "rowse" thereon consequent; by which crafty scheme, in came each of Rose Salterne's gentle admirers, and found himself, tohis considerable disgust, seated at the same table with six rivals, tonone of whom had he spoken for the last six months. However, all weretoo well bred to let the Leighs discern as much; and they (though, ofcourse, they knew all) settled their guests, Frank on his couch lyingat the head of the table, and Amyas taking the bottom: and contrived, byfilling all mouths with good things, to save them the pain of speakingto each other till the wine should have loosened their tongues andwarmed their hearts. In the meanwhile both Amyas and Frank, ignoring thesilence of their guests with the most provoking good-humor, chatted, and joked, and told stories, and made themselves such good company, thatWill Cary, who always found merriment infectious, melted into a jest, and then into another, and finding good-humor far more pleasant thanbad, tried to make Mr. Coffin laugh, and only made him bow, and tomake Mr. Fortescue laugh, and only made him frown; and unabashednevertheless, began playing his light artillery upon the waiters, tillhe drove them out of the room bursting with laughter. 

So far so good. And when the cloth was drawn, and sack and sugar becamethe order of the day, and "Queen and Bible" had been duly drunk with allthe honors, Frank tried a fresh move, and--

"I have a toast, gentlemen--here it is. 'The gentlemen of the Irishwars; and may Ireland never be without a St. Leger to stand by aFortescue, a Fortescue to stand by a St. Leger, and a Chichester tostand by both. '"

Which toast of course involved the drinking the healths of the threerepresentatives of those families, and their returning thanks, andpaying a compliment each to the other's house: and so the ice cracked alittle further; and young Fortescue proposed the health of "Amyas Leighand all bold mariners;" to which Amyas replied by a few blunt kindlywords, "that he wished to know no better fortune than to sail round theworld again with the present company as fellow-adventurers, and so givethe Spaniards another taste of the men of Devon. "

And by this time, the wine going down sweetly, caused the lips of themthat were asleep to speak; till the ice broke up altogether, and everyman began talking like a rational Englishman to the man who sat nexthim. 

"And now, gentlemen, " said Frank, who saw that it was the fit momentfor the grand assault which he had planned all along; "let me give youa health which none of you, I dare say, will refuse to drink with heartand soul as well as with lips;--the health of one whom beauty and virtuehave so ennobled, that in their light the shadow of lowly birthis unseen;--the health of one whom I would proclaim as peerless inloveliness, were it not that every gentleman here has sisters, who mightwell challenge from her the girdle of Venus: and yet what else dareI say, while those same lovely ladies who, if they but use their ownmirrors, must needs be far better judges of beauty than I can be, havein my own hearing again and again assigned the palm to her? Surely, ifthe goddesses decide among themselves the question of the golden apple, Paris himself must vacate the judgment-seat. Gentlemen, your hearts, Idoubt not, have already bid you, as my unworthy lips do now, to drink'The Rose of Torridge. '"

If the Rose of Torridge herself had walked into the room, she couldhardly have caused more blank astonishment than Frank's bold speech. Every guest turned red, and pale, and red again, and looked at the otheras much as to say, "What right has any one but I to drink her? Liftyour glass, and I will dash it out of your hand;" but Frank, with sweeteffrontery, drank "The health of the Rose of Torridge, and a doublehealth to that worthy gentleman, whosoever he may be, whom she is fatedto honor with her love!"

"Well done, cunning Frank Leigh!" cried blunt Will Cary; "none of usdare quarrel with you now, however much we may sulk at each other. Forthere's none of us, I'll warrant, but thinks that she likes him the bestof all; and so we are bound to believe that you have drunk our healthsall round. "

"And so I have: and what better thing can you do, gentlemen, than todrink each other's healths all round likewise: and so show yourselvestrue gentlemen, true Christians, ay, and true lovers? For what is love(let me speak freely to you, gentlemen and guests), what is love, butthe very inspiration of that Deity whose name is Love? Be sure that notwithout reason did the ancients feign Eros to be the eldest of the gods, by whom the jarring elements of chaos were attuned into harmony andorder. How, then, shall lovers make him the father of strife? ShallPsyche wed with Cupid, to bring forth a cockatrice's egg? or the soul befilled with love, the likeness of the immortals, to burn with envy andjealousy, division and distrust? True, the rose has its thorn: but itleaves poison and stings to the nettle. Cupid has his arrow: but hehurls no scorpions. Venus is awful when despised, as the daughters ofProetus found: but her handmaids are the Graces, not the Furies. Surelyhe who loves aright will not only find love lovely, but become himselflovely also. I speak not to reprehend you, gentlemen; for to you (asyour piercing wits have already perceived, to judge by your honorableblushes) my discourse tends; but to point you, if you will but permitme, to that rock which I myself have, I know not by what Divine goodhap, attained; if, indeed, I have attained it, and am not about to bewashed off again by the next tide. "

Frank's rapid and fantastic oratory, utterly unexpected as it was, hadas yet left their wits no time to set their tempers on fire; but when, weak from his wounds, he paused for breath, there was a haughtymurmur from more than one young gentleman, who took his speech asan impertinent interference with each man's right to make a fool ofhimself; and Mr. Coffin, who had sat quietly bolt upright, and lookingat the opposite wall, now rose as quietly, and with a face which triedto look utterly unconcerned, was walking out of the room: anotherminute, and Lady Bath's prophecy about the feast of the Lapithae mighthave come true. 

But Frank's heart and head never failed him. 

"Mr. Coffin!" said he, in a tone which compelled that gentleman to turnround, and so brought him under the power of a face which none couldhave beheld for five minutes and borne malice, so imploring, tender, earnest was it. "My dear Mr. Coffin! If my earnestness has made meforget even for a moment the bounds of courtesy, let me entreat you toforgive me. Do not add to my heavy griefs, heavy enough already, thegrief of losing a friend. Only hear me patiently to the end (generously, I know, you will hear me); and then, if you are still incensed, I canbut again entreat your forgiveness a second time. "

Mr. Coffin, to tell the truth, had at that time never been to Court; andhe was therefore somewhat jealous of Frank, and his Court talk, and hisCourt clothes, and his Court company; and moreover, being the eldestof the guests, and only two years younger than Frank himself, he was alittle nettled at being classed in the same category with some who werescarce eighteen. And if Frank had given the least hint which seemedto assume his own superiority, all had been lost: but when, insteadthereof, he sued in forma pauperis, and threw himself upon Coffin'smercy, the latter, who was a true-hearted man enough, and after all hadknown Frank ever since either of them could walk, had nothing to do butto sit down again and submit, while Frank went on more earnestly thanever. 

"Believe me; believe me, Mr. Coffin, and gentlemen all, I no morearrogate to myself a superiority over you than does the sailor hurledon shore by the surge fancy himself better than his comrade who is stillbattling with the foam. For I too, gentlemen, --let me confess it, thatby confiding in you I may, perhaps, win you to confide in me, --haveloved, ay and do love, where you love also. Do not start. Is it a matterof wonder that the sun which has dazzled you has dazzled me; thatthe lodestone which has drawn you has drawn me? Do not frown, either, gentlemen. I have learnt to love you for loving what I love, and toadmire you for admiring that which I admire. Will you not try the samelesson: so easy, and, when learnt, so blissful? What breeds more closecommunion between subjects than allegiance to the same queen? betweenbrothers, than duty to the same father? between the devout, thanadoration for the same Deity? And shall not worship for the same beautybe likewise a bond of love between the worshippers? and each lover seein his rival not an enemy, but a fellow-sufferer? You smile and say inyour hearts, that though all may worship, but one can enjoy; and thatone man's meat must be the poison of the rest. Be it so, though I denyit. Shall we anticipate our own doom, and slay ourselves for fear ofdying? Shall we make ourselves unworthy of her from our very eagernessto win her, and show ourselves her faithful knights, by cherishingenvy, --most unknightly of all sins? Shall we dream with the Italianor the Spaniard that we can become more amiable in a lady's eyes, bybecoming hateful in the eyes of God and of each other? Will she loveus the better, if we come to her with hands stained in the blood ofhim whom she loves better than us? Let us recollect ourselves rather, gentlemen; and be sure that our only chance of winning her, if she beworth winning, is to will what she wills, honor whom she honors, lovewhom she loves. If there is to be rivalry among us, let it be a rivalryin nobleness, an emulation in virtue. Let each try to outstrip the otherin loyalty to his queen, in valor against her foes, in deeds of courtesyand mercy to the afflicted and oppressed; and thus our love will indeedprove its own divine origin, by raising us nearer to those gods whosegift it is. But yet I show you a more excellent way, and that ischarity. Why should we not make this common love to her, whom I amunworthy to name, the sacrament of a common love to each other? Whyshould we not follow the heroical examples of those ancient knights, whohaving but one grief, one desire, one goddess, held that one heart wasenough to contain that grief, to nourish that desire, to worship thatdivinity; and so uniting themselves in friendship till they became butone soul in two bodies, lived only for each other in living only forher, vowing as faithful worshippers to abide by her decision, to findtheir own bliss in hers, and whomsoever she esteemed most worthy ofher love, to esteem most worthy also, and count themselves, by that herchoice, the bounden servants of him whom their mistress had condescendedto advance to the dignity of her master?--as I (not without hope that Ishall be outdone in generous strife) do here promise to be the faithfulfriend, and, to my ability, the hearty servant, of him who shall behonored with the love of the Rose of Torridge. "

He ceased, and there was a pause. 

At last young Fortescue spoke. 

"I may be paying you a left-handed compliment, sir: but it seems to methat you are so likely, in that case, to become your own faithful friendand hearty servant (even if you have not borne off the bell alreadywhile we have been asleep), that the bargain is hardly fair between sucha gay Italianist and us country swains. "

"You undervalue yourself and your country, my dear sir. But set yourmind at rest. I know no more of that lady's mind than you do: nor shallI know. For the sake of my own peace, I have made a vow neither to seeher, nor to hear, if possible, tidings of her, till three full years arepast. Dixi?"

Mr. Coffin rose. 

"Gentlemen, I may submit to be outdone by Mr. Leigh in eloquence, butnot in generosity; if he leaves these parts for three years, I do soalso. "

"And go in charity with all mankind, " said Cary. "Give us your hand, old fellow. If you are a Coffin, you were sawn out of no wishy-washyelm-board, but right heart-of-oak. I am going, too, as Amyas here cantell, to Ireland away, to cool my hot liver in a bog, like a Jack-harein March. Come, give us thy neif, and let us part in peace. I was mindedto have fought thee this day--"

"I should have been most happy, sir, " said Coffin. 

--"But now I am all love and charity to mankind. Can I have the pleasureof begging pardon of the world in general, and thee in particular? Doesany one wish to pull my nose; send me an errand; make me lend him fivepounds; ay, make me buy a horse of him, which will be as good as givinghim ten? Come along! Join hands all round, and swear eternal friendship, as brothers of the sacred order of the--of what. Frank Leigh? Open thymouth, Daniel, and christen us!"

"The Rose!" said Frank quietly, seeing that his new love-philtre wasworking well, and determined to strike while the iron was hot, and carrythe matter too far to carry it back again. 

"The Rose!" cried Cary, catching hold of Coffin's hand with his right, and Fortescue's with his left. "Come, Mr. Coffin! Bend, sturdy oak! 'Woeto the stiffnecked and stout-hearted!' says Scripture. "

And somehow or other, whether it was Frank's chivalrous speech, orCary's fun, or Amyas's good wine, or the nobleness which lies in everyyoung lad's heart, if their elders will take the trouble to call it out, the whole party came in to terms one by one, shook hands all round, andvowed on the hilt of Amyas's sword to make fools of themselves no more, at least by jealousy: but to stand by each other and by their lady-love, and neither grudge nor grumble, let her dance with, flirt with, or marrywith whom she would; and in order that the honor of their peerless dame, and the brotherhood which was named after her, might be spread throughall lands, and equal that of Angelica or Isonde of Brittany, they wouldeach go home, and ask their fathers' leave (easy enough to obtain inthose brave times) to go abroad wheresoever there were "good wars, " toemulate there the courage and the courtesy of Walter Manny and GonzaloFernandes, Bayard and Gaston de Foix. Why not? Sidney was the hero ofEurope at five-and-twenty; and why not they?

And Frank watched and listened with one of his quiet smiles (his eyes, as some folks' do, smiled even when his lips were still), and only said:"Gentlemen, be sure that you will never repent this day. "

"Repent?" said Cary. "I feel already as angelical as thou lookest, SaintSilvertongue. What was it that sneezed?--the cat?"

"The lion, rather, by the roar of it, " said Amyas, making a dash at thearras behind him. "Why, here is a doorway here! and--"

And rushing under the arras, through an open door behind, he returned, dragging out by the head Mr. John Brimblecombe. 

Who was Mr. John Brimblecombe?

If you have forgotten him, you have done pretty nearly what every oneelse in the room had done. But you recollect a certain fat lad, son ofthe schoolmaster, whom Sir Richard punished for tale-bearing three yearsbefore, by sending him, not to Coventry, but to Oxford. That was theman. He was now one-and-twenty, and a bachelor of Oxford, where hehad learnt such things as were taught in those days, with more or lesssuccess; and he was now hanging about Bideford once more, intending toreturn after Christmas and read divinity, that he might become a parson, and a shepherd of souls in his native land. 

Jack was in person exceedingly like a pig: but not like every pig: notin the least like the Devon pigs of those days, which, I am sorry tosay, were no more shapely than the true Irish greyhound who paysPat's "rint" for him; or than the lanky monsters who wallow in Germanrivulets, while the village swineherd, beneath a shady lime, forgets hisfleas in the melody of a Jew's harp--strange mud-colored creatures, fourfeet high and four inches thick, which look as if they had passed theirlives, as a collar of Oxford brawn is said to do, between two tightboards. Such were then the pigs of Devon: not to be compared with thetrue wild descendant of Noah's stock, high-withered, furry, grizzled, game-flavored little rooklers, whereof many a sownder still gruntedabout Swinley down and Braunton woods, Clovelly glens and Bursdon moor. Not like these, nor like the tame abomination of those barbarous times, was Jack: but prophetic in face, figure, and complexion, of Fisher Hobbsand the triumphs of science. A Fisher Hobbs' pig of twelve stone, onhis hind-legs--that was what he was, and nothing else; and if you do notknow, reader, what a Fisher Hobbs is, you know nothing about pigs, and deserve no bacon for breakfast. But such was Jack. The same plumpmulberry complexion, garnished with a few scattered black bristles; thesame sleek skin, looking always as if it was upon the point of bursting;the same little toddling legs; the same dapper bend in the small of theback; the same cracked squeak; the same low upright forehead, and tinyeyes; the same round self-satisfied jowl; the same charming sensitivelittle cocked nose, always on the look-out for a savory smell, --andyet while watching for the best, contented with the worst; a pig ofself-helpful and serene spirit, as Jack was, and therefore, like him, fatting fast while other pigs' ribs are staring through their skins. 

Such was Jack; and lucky it was for him that such he was; for it waslittle that he got to fat him at Oxford, in days when a servitor meantreally a servant-student; and wistfully that day did his eyes, led byhis nose, survey at the end of the Ship Inn passage the preparationsfor Amyas's supper. The innkeeper was a friend of his; for, in the firstplace, they had lived within three doors of each other all their lives;and next, Jack was quite pleasant company enough, beside being alearned man and an Oxford scholar, to be asked in now and then to theinnkeeper's private parlor, when there were no gentlemen there, tocrack his little joke and tell his little story, sip the leavings of theguests' sack, and sometimes help the host to eat the leavings of theirsupper. And it was, perhaps, with some such hope that Jack trotted offround the corner to the Ship that very afternoon; for that faithfullittle nose of his, as it sniffed out of a back window of the school, had given him warning of Sabean gales, and scents of Paradise, from theinn kitchen below; so he went round, and asked for his pot of small ale(his only luxury), and stood at the bar to drink it; and looked inwardwith his little twinkling right eye, and sniffed inward with his littlecurling right nostril, and beheld, in the kitchen beyond, salad instacks and fagots: salad of lettuce, salad of cress and endive, salad ofboiled coleworts, salad of pickled coleworts, salad of angelica, saladof scurvy-wort, and seven salads more; for potatoes were not as yet, andsalads were during eight months of the year the only vegetable. And onthe dresser, and before the fire, whole hecatombs of fragrant victims, which needed neither frankincense nor myrrh; Clovelly herrings andTorridge salmon, Exmoor mutton and Stow venison, stubble geese andwoodcocks, curlew and snipe, hams of Hampshire, chitterlings of Taunton, and botargos of Cadiz, such as Pantagruel himself might have devoured. And Jack eyed them, as a ragged boy eyes the cakes in a pastrycook'swindow; and thought of the scraps from the commoners' dinner, which werehis wages for cleaning out the hall; and meditated deeply on the unequaldistribution of human bliss. 

"Ah, Mr. Brimblecombe!" said the host, bustling out with knife and apronto cool himself in the passage. "Here are doings! Nine gentlemen tosupper!"

"Nine! Are they going to eat all that?"

"Well, I can't say--that Mr. Amyas is as good as three to his trencher:but still there's crumbs, Mr. Brimblecombe, crumbs; and waste notwant not is my doctrine; so you and I may have a somewhat to stay ourstomachs, about an eight o'clock. "

"Eight?" said Jack, looking wistfully at the clock. "It's but four now. Well, it's kind of you, and perhaps I'll look in. "

"Just you step in now, and look to this venison. There's a breast! youmay lay your two fingers into the say there, and not get to the bottomof the fat. That's Sir Richard's sending. He's all for them Leighs, andno wonder, they'm brave lads, surely; and there's a saddle-o'-mutton! Irode twenty miles for mun yesterday, I did, over beyond Barnstaple; andfive year old, Mr. John, it is, if ever five years was; and not a toothto mun's head, for I looked to that; and smelt all the way home like anyapple; and if it don't ate so soft as ever was scald cream, never youcall me Thomas Burman. "

"Humph!" said Jack. "And that's their dinner. Well, some are born with asilver spoon in their mouth. "

"Some be born with roast beef in their mouths, and plum-pudding intheir pocket to take away the taste o' mun; and that's better than emptyspunes, eh?"

"For them that get it, " said Jack. "But for them that don't--" And witha sigh he returned to his small ale, and then lingered in and out of theinn, watching the dinner as it went into the best room, where the guestswere assembled. 

And as he lounged there, Amyas went in, and saw him, and held out hishand, and said--

"Hillo, Jack! how goes the world? How you've grown!" and passedon;--what had Jack Brimblecombe to do with Rose Salterne?

So Jack lingered on, hovering around the fragrant smell like a fly rounda honey-pot, till he found himself invisibly attracted, and as it wereled by the nose out of the passage into the adjoining room, and to thatside of the room where there was a door; and once there he could nothelp hearing what passed inside; till Rose Salterne's name fell on hisear. So, as it was ordained, he was taken in the fact. And now beholdhim brought in red-hand to judgment, not without a kick or two fromthe wrathful foot of Amyas Leigh. Whereat there fell on him a storm ofabuse, which, for the honor of that gallant company, I shall not give indetail; but which abuse, strange to say, seemed to have no effect on theimpenitent and unabashed Jack, who, as soon as he could get his breath, made answer fiercely, amid much puffing and blowing. 

"What business have I here? As much as any of you. If you had asked mein, I would have come: but as you didn't, I came without asking. "

"You shameless rascal!" said Cary. "Come if you were asked, where therewas good wine? I'll warrant you for that!"

"Why, " said Amyas, "no lad ever had a cake at school but he woulddog him up one street and down another all day for the crumbs, thetrencher-scraping spaniel!"

"Patience, masters!" said Frank. "That Jack's is somewhat of a gnathonicand parasitic soul, or stomach, all Bideford apple-women know; but Isuspect more than Deus Venter has brought him hither. "

"Deus eavesdropping, then. We shall have the whole story over the townby to-morrow, " said another; beginning at that thought to feel somewhatashamed of his late enthusiasm. 

"Ah, Mr. Frank! You were always the only one that would stand up for me!Deus Venter, quotha? 'Twas Deus Cupid, it was!"

A roar of laughter followed this announcement. 

"What?" asked Frank; "was it Cupid, then, who sneezed approval to ourlove, Jack, as he did to that of Dido and Aeneas?"

But Jack went on desperately. 

"I was in the next room, drinking of my beer. I couldn't help that, could I? And then I heard her name; and I couldn't help listening then. Flesh and blood couldn't. "

"Nor fat either!"

"No, nor fat, Mr. Cary. Do you suppose fat men haven't souls to be savedas well as thin ones, and hearts to burst, too, as well as stomachs?Fat! Fat can feel, I reckon, as well as lean. Do you suppose there'snaught inside here but beer?"

And he laid his hand, as Drayton might have said, on that stout bastion, hornwork, ravelin, or demilune, which formed the outworks to the citadelof his purple isle of man. 

"Naught but beer?--Cheese, I suppose?"

"Bread?"

"Beef?"

"Love!" cried Jack. "Yes, Love!--Ay, you laugh; but my eyes are not sogrown up with fat but what I can see what's fair as well as you. "

"Oh, Jack, naughty Jack, dost thou heap sin on sin, and luxury ongluttony?"

"Sin? If I sin, you sin: I tell you, and I don't care who knows it, I'veloved her these three years as well as e'er a one of you, I have. I'vethought o' nothing else, prayed for nothing else, God forgive me! Andthen you laugh at me, because I'm a poor parson's son, and you finegentlemen: God made us both, I reckon. You?--you make a deal of givingher up to-day. Why, it's what I've done for three miserable years asever poor sinner spent; ay, from the first day I said to myself, 'Jack, if you can't have that pearl, you'll have none; and that you can'thave, for it's meat for your masters: so conquer or die. ' And I couldn'tconquer. I can't help loving her, worshipping her, no more than you; andI will die: but you needn't laugh meanwhile at me that have done as muchas you, and will do again. "

"It is the old tale, " said Frank to himself; "whom will not lovetransform into a hero?"

And so it was. Jack's squeaking voice was firm and manly, his pig'seyes flashed very fire, his gestures were so free and earnest, that theungainliness of his figure was forgotten; and when he finished witha violent burst of tears, Frank, forgetting his wounds, sprang up andcaught him by the hand. 

"John Brimblecombe, forgive me! Gentlemen, if we are gentlemen, weought to ask his pardon. Has he not shown already more chivalry, moreself-denial, and therefore more true love, than any of us? My friends, let the fierceness of affection, which we have used as an excuse formany a sin of our own, excuse his listening to a conversation in whichhe well deserved to bear a part. "

"Ah, " said Jack, "you make me one of your brotherhood; and see if I donot dare to suffer as much as any of you! You laugh? Do you fancy nonecan use a sword unless he has a baker's dozen of quarterings in hisarms, or that Oxford scholars know only how to handle a pen?"

"Let us try his metal, " said St. Leger. "Here's my sword, Jack; draw, Coffin! and have at him. "

"Nonsense!" said Coffin, looking somewhat disgusted at the notion offighting a man of Jack's rank; but Jack caught at the weapon offered tohim. 

"Give me a buckler, and have at any of you!"

"Here's a chair bottom, " cried Cary; and Jack, seizing it in his left, flourished his sword so fiercely, and called so loudly to Coffin to comeon, that all present found it necessary, unless they wished blood to bespilt, to turn the matter off with a laugh: but Jack would not hear ofit. 

"Nay: if you will let me be of your brotherhood, well and good: but ifnot, one or other I will fight: and that's flat. "

"You see, gentlemen, " said Amyas, "we must admit him or die the death;so we needs must go when Sir Urian drives. Come up, Jack, and take theoaths. You admit him, gentlemen?"

"Let me but be your chaplain, " said Jack, "and pray for your luck whenyou're at the wars. If I do stay at home in a country curacy, 'tis notmuch that you need be jealous of me with her, I reckon, " said Jack, witha pathetical glance at his own stomach. 

"Sia!" said Cary: "but if he be admitted, it must be done according tothe solemn forms and ceremonies in such cases provided. Take him intothe next room, Amyas, and prepare him for his initiation. "

"What's that?" asked Amyas, puzzled by the word. But judging from thecorner of Will's eye that initiation was Latin for a practical joke, he led forth his victim behind the arras again, and waited five minuteswhile the room was being darkened, till Frank's voice called to him tobring in the neophyte. 

"John Brimblecombe, " said Frank, in a sepulchral tone, "you cannot beignorant, as a scholar and bachelor of Oxford, of that dread sacramentby which Catiline bound the soul of his fellow-conspirators, in orderthat both by the daring of the deed he might have proof of theirsincerity, and by the horror thereof astringe their souls by adamantinefetters, and Novem-Stygian oaths, to that wherefrom hereafter theweakness of the flesh might shrink. Wherefore, O Jack! we too havedetermined, following that ancient and classical example, to fill, as hedid, a bowl with the lifeblood of our most heroic selves, and to pledgeeach other therein, with vows whereat the stars shall tremble in theirspheres, and Luna, blushing, veil her silver cheeks. Your blood alone iswanted to fill up the goblet. Sit down, John Brimblecombe, and bare yourarm!"

"But, Mr. Frank!--" said Jack, who was as superstitious as any oldwife, and, what with the darkness and the discourse, already in a coldperspiration. 

"But me no buts! or depart as recreant, not by the door like a man, butup the chimney like a flittermouse. "

"But, Mr. Frank!"

"Thy vital juice, or the chimney! Choose!" roared Cary in his ear. 

"Well, if I must, " said Jack; "but it's desperate hard that because youcan't keep faith without these barbarous oaths, I must take them too, that have kept faith these three years without any. "

At this pathetic appeal Frank nearly melted: but Amyas and Cary hadthrust the victim into a chair and all was prepared for the sacrifice. 

"Bind his eyes, according to the classic fashion, " said Will. 

"Oh no, dear Mr. Cary; I'll shut them tight enough, I warrant: but notwith your dagger, dear Mr. William--sure, not with your dagger? I can'tafford to lose blood, though I do look lusty--I can't indeed; sure, apin would do--I've got one here, to my sleeve, somewhere--Oh!"

"See the fount of generous juice! Flow on, fair stream. How hebleeds!--pints, quarts! Ah, this proves him to be in earnest!"

"A true lover's blood is always at his fingers' ends. "

"He does not grudge it; of course not. Eh, Jack? What matters an oddgallon for her sake?"

"For her sake? Nothing, nothing! Take my life, if you will: but--oh, gentlemen, a surgeon, if you love me! I'm going off--I 'm fainting!"

"Drink, then, quick; drink and swear! Pat his back, Cary. Courage, man!it will be over in a minute. Now, Frank!--"

And Frank spoke--

"If plighted troth I fail, or secret speech reveal, May Cocytean ghostsaround my pillow squeal; While Ate's brazen claws distringe my spleenin sunder, And drag me deep to Pluto's keep, 'mid brimstone, smoke, andthunder!"

"Placetne, domine?"

"Placet!" squeaked Jack, who thought himself at the last gasp, andgulped down full three-quarters of the goblet which Cary held to hislips. 

"Ugh--Ah--Puh! Mercy on us! It tastes mighty like wine!"

"A proof, my virtuous brother, " said Frank, "first, of thyabstemiousness, which has thus forgotten what wine tastes like; andnext, of thy pure and heroical affection, by which thy carnal sensesbeing exalted to a higher and supra-lunar sphere, like those Platonicaldaemonizomenoi and enthusiazomenoi (of whom Jamblichus says that theywere insensible to wounds and flame, and much more, therefore, to evilsavors), doth make even the most nauseous draught redolent of thatcelestial fragrance, which proceeding, O Jack! from thine own inwardvirtue, assimilates by sympathy even outward accidents unto its ownharmony and melody; for fragrance is, as has been said well, the songof flowers, and sweetness, the music of apples--Ahem! Go in peace, thouhast conquered!"

"Put him out of the door, Will, " said Amyas, "or he will swoon on ourhands. "

"Give him some sack, " said Frank. 

"Not a blessed drop of yours, sir, " said Jack. "I like good wine as wellas any man on earth, and see as little of it; but not a drop ofyours, sirs, after your frumps and flouts about hanging-on andtrencher-scraping. When I first began to love her, I bid good-bye to alldirty tricks; for I had some one then for whom to keep myself clean. "

And so Jack was sent home, with a pint of good red Alicant wine in him(more, poor fellow, than he had tasted at once in his life before);while the rest, in high glee with themselves and the rest of the world, relighted the candles, had a right merry evening, and parted like goodfriends and sensible gentlemen of devon, thinking (all except Frank)Jack Brimblecombe and his vow the merriest jest they had heard formany a day. After which they all departed: Amyas and Cary to Winter'ssquadron; Frank (as soon as he could travel) to the Court again;and with him young Basset, whose father Sir Arthur, being in London, procured for him a page's place in Leicester's household. Fortescue andChicester went to their brothers in Dublin; St. Leger to his unclethe Marshal of Munster; Coffin joined Champernoun and Norris in theNetherlands; and so the Brotherhood of the Rose was scattered far andwide, and Mistress Salterne was left alone with her looking-glass. 

CHAPTER IX

HOW AMYAS KEPT HIS CHRISTMAS DAY

 "Take aim, you noble musqueteers, And shoot you round about; Stand to it, valiant pikemen, And we shall keep them out. There's not a man of all of us A foot will backward flee; I'll be the foremost man in fight, Says brave Lord Willoughby!"

 Elizabethan Ballad. 

It was the blessed Christmas afternoon. The light was fading down; theeven-song was done; and the good folks of Bideford were trooping homein merry groups, the father with his children, the lover with hissweetheart, to cakes and ale, and flapdragons and mummer's plays, andall the happy sports of Christmas night. One lady only, wrapped close inher black muffler and followed by her maid, walked swiftly, yet sadly, toward the long causeway and bridge which led to Northam town. Sir Richard Grenville and his wife caught her up and stopped hercourteously. 

"You will come home with us, Mrs. Leigh, " said Lady Grenville, "andspend a pleasant Christmas night?"

Mrs. Leigh smiled sweetly, and laying one hand on Lady Grenville's arm, pointed with the other to the westward, and said:

"I cannot well spend a merry Christmas night while that sound is in myears. "

The whole party around looked in the direction in which she pointed. Above their heads the soft blue sky was fading into gray, and here andthere a misty star peeped out: but to the westward, where the downs andwoods of Raleigh closed in with those of Abbotsham, the blue was webbedand turfed with delicate white flakes; iridescent spots, marking thepath by which the sun had sunk, showed all the colors of the dyingdolphin; and low on the horizon lay a long band of grassy green. Butwhat was the sound which troubled Mrs. Leigh? None of them, with theirmerry hearts, and ears dulled with the din and bustle of the town, hadheard it till that moment: and yet now--listen! It was dead calm. Therewas not a breath to stir a blade of grass. And yet the air was full ofsound, a low deep roar which hovered over down and wood, salt-marsh andriver, like the roll of a thousand wheels, the tramp of endless armies, or--what it was--the thunder of a mighty surge upon the boulders of thepebble ridge. 

"The ridge is noisy to-night, " said Sir Richard. "There has been windsomewhere. "

"There is wind now, where my boy is, God help him!" said Mrs. Leigh: andall knew that she spoke truly. The spirit of the Atlantic storm had sentforward the token of his coming, in the smooth ground-swell which washeard inland, two miles away. To-morrow the pebbles, which were nowrattling down with each retreating wave, might be leaping to the ridgetop, and hurled like round-shot far ashore upon the marsh by theforce of the advancing wave, fleeing before the wrath of the westernhurricane. 

"God help my boy!" said Mrs. Leigh again. 

"God is as near him by sea as by land, " said good Sir Richard. 

"True, but I am a lone mother; and one that has no heart just now but togo home and pray. "

And so Mrs. Leigh went onward up the lane, and spent all that night inlistening between her prayers to the thunder of the surge, till it wasdrowned, long ere the sun rose, in the thunder of the storm. 

And where is Amyas on this same Christmas afternoon?

Amyas is sitting bareheaded in a boat's stern in Smerwick bay, with thespray whistling through his curls, as he shouts cheerfully--

"Pull, and with a will, my merry men all, and never mind shipping a sea. Cannon balls are a cargo that don't spoil by taking salt-water. "

His mother's presage has been true enough. Christmas eve has been thelast of the still, dark, steaming nights of the early winter; and thewestern gale has been roaring for the last twelve hours upon the Irishcoast. 

The short light of the winter day is fading fast. Behind him is aleaping line of billows lashed into mist by the tempest. Beside himgreen foam-fringed columns are rushing up the black rocks, and fallingagain in a thousand cataracts of snow. Before him is the deep andsheltered bay: but it is not far up the bay that he and his can see; forsome four miles out at sea begins a sloping roof of thick gray cloud, which stretches over their heads, and up and far away inland, cuttingthe cliffs off at mid-height, hiding all the Kerry mountains, anddarkening the hollows of the distant firths into the blackness of night. And underneath that awful roof of whirling mist the storm is howlinginland ever, sweeping before it the great foam-sponges, and the graysalt spray, till all the land is hazy, dim, and dun. Let it howl on! forthere is more mist than ever salt spray made, flying before that gale;more thunder than ever sea-surge wakened echoing among the cliffs ofSmerwick bay; along those sand-hills flash in the evening gloom redsparks which never came from heaven; for that fort, now christened bythe invaders the Fort Del Oro, where flaunts the hated golden flag ofSpain, holds San Josepho and eight hundred of the foe; and but threenights ago, Amyas and Yeo, and the rest of Winter's shrewdest hands, slung four culverins out of the Admiral's main deck, and floated themashore, and dragged them up to the battery among the sand-hills; and nowit shall be seen whether Spanish and Italian condottieri can hold theirown on British ground against the men of Devon. 

Small blame to Amyas if he was thinking, not of his lonely mother atBurrough Court, but of those quick bright flashes on sand-hill andon fort, where Salvation Yeo was hurling the eighteen-pound shot withdeadly aim, and watching with a cool and bitter smile of triumph theflying of the sand, and the crashing of the gabions. Amyas and his partyhad been on board, at the risk of their lives, for a fresh supply ofshot; for Winter's battery was out of ball, and had been firing stonesfor the last four hours, in default of better missiles. They ran theboat on shore through the surf, where a cove in the shore made landingpossible, and almost careless whether she stove or not, scrambledover the sand-hills with each man his brace of shot slung across hisshoulder; and Amyas, leaping into the trenches, shouted cheerfully toSalvation Yeo--

"More food for the bull-dogs, Gunner, and plums for the Spaniards'Christmas pudding!"

"Don't speak to a man at his business, Master Amyas. Five mortal timeshave I missed; but I will have that accursed Popish rag down, as I'm asinner. "

"Down with it, then; nobody wants you to shoot crooked. Take good ironto it, and not footy paving-stones. "

"I believe, sir, that the foul fiend is there, a turning of my shotaside, I do. I thought I saw him once: but, thank Heaven, here's ballagain. Ah, sir, if one could but cast a silver one! Now, stand by, men!"

And once again Yeo's eighteen-pounder roared, and away. And, oh glory!the great yellow flag of Spain, which streamed in the gale, liftedclean into the air, flagstaff and all, and then pitched wildly downhead-foremost, far to leeward. 

A hurrah from the sailors, answered by the soldiers of the oppositecamp, shook the very cloud above them: but ere its echoes had died away, a tall officer leapt upon the parapet of the fort, with the fallen flagin his hand, and rearing it as well as he could upon his lance point, held it firmly against the gale, while the fallen flagstaff was raisedagain within. 

In a moment a dozen long bows were bent at the daring foeman: but Amyasbehind shouted--

"Shame, lads! Stop and let the gallant gentleman have due courtesy!"

So they stopped, while Amyas, springing on the rampart of the battery, took off his hat, and bowed to the flag-holder, who, as soon as relievedof his charge, returned the bow courteously, and descended. 

It was by this time all but dark, and the firing began to slacken onall sides; Salvation and his brother gunners, having covered up theirslaughtering tackle with tarpaulings, retired for the night, leavingAmyas, who had volunteered to take the watch till midnight; and the restof the force having got their scanty supper of biscuit (for provisionswere running very short) lay down under arms among the sand-hills, andgrumbled themselves to sleep. 

He had paced up and down in the gusty darkness for some hour or more, exchanging a passing word now and then with the sentinel, when twomen entered the battery, chatting busily together. One was in completearmor; the other wrapped in the plain short cloak of a man of pensand peace: but the talk of both was neither of sieges nor of sallies, catapult, bombard, nor culverin, but simply of English hexameters. 

And fancy not, gentle reader, that the two were therein fiddling whileRome was burning; for the commonweal of poetry and letters, in that samecritical year 1580, was in far greater danger from those same hexametersthan the common woe of Ireland (as Raleigh called it) was from theSpaniards. 

Imitating the classic metres, "versifying, " as it was called incontradistinction to rhyming, was becoming fast the fashion among themore learned. Stonyhurst and others had tried their hands at hexametertranslations from the Latin and Greek epics, which seem to have beendoggerel enough; and ever and anon some youthful wit broke out iniambics, sapphics, elegiacs, and what not, to the great detriment of thequeen's English and her subjects' ears. 

I know not whether Mr. William Webbe had yet given to the world anyfragments of his precious hints for the "Reformation of English poetry, "to the tune of his own "Tityrus, happily thou liest tumbling under abeech-tree:" but the Cambridge Malvolio, Gabriel Harvey, had succeededin arguing Spenser, Dyer, Sidney, and probably Sidney's sister, and thewhole clique of beaux-esprits round them, into following his model of

 "What might I call this tree? A laurel? O bonny laurel! Needes to thy bowes will I bowe this knee, and vail my bonetto;"

after snubbing the first book of "that Elvish Queene, " which was thenin manuscript, as a base declension from the classical to the romanticschool. 

And now Spenser (perhaps in mere melancholy wilfulness and want ofpurpose, for he had just been jilted by a fair maid of Kent) was wastinghis mighty genius upon doggerel which he fancied antique; and somepiratical publisher (bitter Tom Nash swears, and with likelihood thatHarvey did it himself) had just given to the world, --"Three properwittie and familiar Letters, lately past between two Universitymen, touching the Earthquake in April last, and our English reformedVersifying, " which had set all town wits a-buzzing like a swarm offlies, being none other than a correspondence between Spenser andHarvey, which was to prove to the world forever the correctness andmelody of such lines as, "For like magnificoes, not a beck but glorious in show, In deede most frivolous, not a looke but Tuscanish always. "

Let them pass--Alma Mater has seen as bad hexameters since. But then thematter was serious. There is a story (I know not how true) that Spenserwas half bullied into re-writing the "Faerie Queene" in hexameters, hadnot Raleigh, a true romanticist, "whose vein for ditty or amorous odewas most lofty, insolent, and passionate, " persuaded him to followhis better genius. The great dramatists had not yet arisen, to formcompletely that truly English school, of which Spenser, unconscious ofhis own vast powers, was laying the foundation. And, indeed, it was nottill Daniel, twenty years after, in his admirable apology for rhyme, hadsmashed Mr. Campian and his "eight several kinds of classical numbers, "that the matter was finally settled, and the English tongue left to gothe road on which Heaven had started it. So that we may excuse Raleigh'sanswering somewhat waspish to some quotation of Spenser's from the threeletters of "Immerito and G. H. "

"Tut, tut, Colin Clout, much learning has made thee mad. A good oldfishwives' ballad jingle is worth all your sapphics and trimeters, and'riff-raff thurlery bouncing. ' Hey? have I you there, old lad? Do youmind that precious verse?"

"But, dear Wat, Homer and Virgil--"

"But, dear Ned, Petrarch and Ovid--"

"But, Wat, what have we that we do not owe to the ancients?"

"Ancients, quotha? Why, the legend of King Arthur, and Chevy Chase too, of which even your fellow-sinner Sidney cannot deny that every timehe hears it even from a blind fiddler it stirs his heart like atrumpet-blast. Speak well of the bridge that carries you over, man! Didyou find your Redcross Knight in Virgil, or such a dame as Una in oldOvid? No more than you did your Pater and Credo, you renegado baptizedheathen, you!"

"Yet, surely, our younger and more barbarous taste must bow beforedivine antiquity, and imitate afar--"

"As dottrels do fowlers. If Homer was blind, lad, why dost not pokeout thine eye? Ay, this hexameter is of an ancient house, truly, NedSpenser, and so is many a rogue: but he cannot make way on our roughEnglish roads. He goes hopping and twitching in our language like athree-legged terrier over a pebble-bank, tumble and up again, rattle andcrash. "

"Nay, hear, now--

 'See ye the blindfolded pretty god that feathered archer, Of lovers' miseries which maketh his bloody game?'*

True, the accent gapes in places, as I have often confessed to Harvey, but--"

 * Strange as it may seem, this distich is Spenser's own; and the other hexameters are all authentic. 

Harvey be hanged for a pedant, and the whole crew of versifiers, fromLord Dorset (but he, poor man, has been past hanging some time since)to yourself! Why delude you into playing Procrustes as he does with thequeen's English, racking one word till its joints be pulled asunder, andsqueezing the next all a-heap as the Inquisitors do heretics in theirbanca cava? Out upon him and you, and Sidney, and the whole kin. Youhave not made a verse among you, and never will, which is not as lame agosling as Harvey's own--

 'Oh thou weathercocke, that stands on the top of Allhallows, Come thy ways down, if thou dar'st for thy crown, and take the wall on us. '

"Hark, now! There is our young giant comforting his soul with a ballad. You will hear rhyme and reason together here, now. He will not miscall'blind-folded, ' 'blind-fold-ed, I warrant; or make an 'of' and a 'which'and a 'his' carry a whole verse on their wretched little backs. "

And as he spoke, Amyas, who had been grumbling to himself some Christmascarol, broke out full-mouthed:--

 "As Joseph was a-walking He heard an angel sing-- 'This night shall be the birth night Of Christ, our heavenly King. 

 His birthbed shall be neither In housen nor in hall, Nor in the place of paradise, But in the oxen's stall. 

 He neither shall be rocked In silver nor in gold, But in the wooden manger That lieth on the mould. 

 He neither shall be washen With white wine nor with red, But with the fair spring water That on you shall be shed. 

 He neither shall be clothed In purple nor in pall, But in the fair white linen That usen babies all. '

 As Joseph was a-walking Thus did the angel sing, And Mary's Son at midnight Was born to be our King. 

 Then be you glad, good people, At this time of the year; And light you up your candles, For His star it shineth clear. "

"There, Edmunde Classicaster, " said Raleigh, "does not that simplestrain go nearer to the heart of him who wrote 'The Shepherd'sCalendar, ' than all artificial and outlandish

 'Wote ye why his mother with a veil hath covered his face?'

Why dost not answer, man?"

But Spenser was silent awhile, and then, --

"Because I was thinking rather of the rhymer than the rhyme. Goodheaven! how that brave lad shames me, singing here the hymns which hismother taught him, before the very muzzles of Spanish guns; instead ofbewailing unmanly, as I have done, the love which he held, I doubt not, as dear as I did even my Rosalind. This is his welcome to the winter'sstorm; while I, who dream, forsooth, of heavenly inspiration, can butsee therein an image of mine own cowardly despair. 

 'Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath has wasted, Art made a mirror to behold my plight. '*

Pah! away with frosts, icicles, and tears, and sighs--"

 * "The Shepherd's Calendar. "

"And with hexameters and trimeters too, I hope, " interrupted Raleigh:"and all the trickeries of self-pleasing sorrow. "

"--I will set my heart to higher work than barking at the hand whichchastens me. "

"Wilt put the lad into the 'Faerie Queene, ' then, by my side? Hedeserves as good a place there, believe me, as ever a Guyon, or even asLord Grey your Arthegall. Let us hail him. Hallo! young chanticleer ofDevon! Art not afraid of a chance shot, that thou crowest so lustilyupon thine own mixen?"

"Cocks crow all night long at Christmas, Captain Raleigh, and so do I, "said Amyas's cheerful voice; "but who's there with you?"

"A penitent pupil of yours--Mr. Secretary Spenser. "

"Pupil of mine?" said Amyas. "I wish he'd teach me a little of his art;I could fill up my time here with making verses. "

"And who would be your theme, fair sir?" said Spenser. 

"No 'who' at all. I don't want to make sonnets to blue eyes, nor blackeither: but if I could put down some of the things I saw in the SpiceIslands--"

"Ah, " said Raleigh, "he would beat you out of Parnassus, Mr. Secretary. Remember, you may write about Fairyland, but he has seen it. "

"And so have others, " said Spenser; "it is not so far off from any oneof us. Wherever is love and loyalty, great purposes, and lofty souls, even though in a hovel or a mine, there is Fairyland. "

"Then Fairyland should be here, friend; for you represent love, andLeigh loyalty; while, as for great purposes and lofty souls, who so fitto stand for them as I, being (unless my enemies and my conscience areliars both) as ambitious and as proud as Lucifer's own self?"

"Ah, Walter, Walter, why wilt always slander thyself thus?"

"Slander? Tut. --I do but give the world a fair challenge, and tell it, 'There--you know the worst of me: come on and try a fall, for eitheryou or I must down. ' Slander? Ask Leigh here, who has but known me afortnight, whether I am not as vain as a peacock, as selfish as a fox, as imperious as a bona roba, and ready to make a cat's paw of him or anyman, if there be a chestnut in the fire: and yet the poor fool cannothelp loving me, and running of my errands, and taking all my schemes andmy dreams for gospel; and verily believes now, I think, that I shall bethe man in the moon some day, and he my big dog. "

"Well, " said Amyas, half apologetically, "if you are the cleverest manin the world what harm in my thinking so?"

"Hearken to him, Edmund! He will know better when he has outgrown thissame callow trick of honesty, and learnt of the great goddess Detractionhow to show himself wiser than the wise, by pointing out to the worldthe fool's motley which peeps through the rents in the philosopher'scloak. Go to, lad! slander thy equals, envy thy betters, pray for an eyewhich sees spots in every sun, and for a vulture's nose to scentcarrion in every rose-bed. If thy friend win a battle, show that he hasneedlessly thrown away his men; if he lose one, hint that he sold it;if he rise to a place, argue favor; if he fall from one, argue divinejustice. Believe nothing, hope nothing, but endure all things, even tokicking, if aught may be got thereby; so shalt thou be clothed in purpleand fine linen, and sit in kings' palaces, and fare sumptuously everyday. "

"And wake with Dives in the torment, " said Amyas. "Thank you fornothing, captain. "

"Go to, Misanthropos, " said Spenser. "Thou hast not yet tasted thesweets of this world's comfits, and thou railest at them?"

"The grapes are sour, lad. "

"And will be to the end, " said Amyas, "if they come off such a devil'stree as that. I really think you are out of your mind, Captain Raleigh, at times. "

"I wish I were; for it is a troublesome, hungry, windy mind as man everwas cursed withal. But come in, lad. We were sent from the lord deputyto bid thee to supper. There is a dainty lump of dead horse waiting forthee. "

"Send me some out, then, " said matter-of-fact Amyas. "And tell hislordship that, with his good leave, I don't stir from here till morning, if I can keep awake. There is a stir in the fort, and I expect them outon us. "

"Tut, man! their hearts are broken. We know it by their deserters. "

"Seeing's believing. I never trust runaway rogues. If they are false totheir masters, they'll be false to us. "

"Well, go thy ways, old honesty; and Mr. Secretary shall give you abook to yourself in the 'Faerie Queene'--'Sir Monoculus or the Legend ofCommon Sense, ' eh, Edmund?"

"Monoculus?"

"Ay, Single-eye, my prince of word-coiners--won't that fit?--And givehim the Cyclops head for a device. Heigh-ho! They may laugh that win. I am sick of this Irish work; were it not for the chance of advancementI'd sooner be driving a team of red Devons on Dartside; and now I amangry with the dear lad because he is not sick of it too. What a plaguebusiness has he to be paddling up and down, contentedly doing his duty, like any city watchman? It is an insult to the mighty aspirations of ournobler hearts, --eh, my would-be Ariosto?"

"Ah, Raleigh! you can afford to confess yourself less than some, for youare greater than all. Go on and conquer, noble heart! But as for me, Isow the wind, and I suppose I shall reap the whirlwind. "

"Your harvest seems come already; what a blast that was! Hold on by me, Colin Clout, and I'll hold on by thee. So! Don't tread on that pikeman'sstomach, lest he take thee for a marauding Don, and with sudden daggerslit Cohn's pipe, and Colin's weasand too. "

And the two stumbled away into the darkness, leaving Amyas to stride upand down as before, puzzling his brains over Raleigh's wild words andSpenser's melancholy, till he came to the conclusion that there was somemysterious connection between cleverness and unhappiness, and thankinghis stars that he was neither scholar, courtier, nor poet, said graceover his lump of horseflesh when it arrived, devoured it as if it hadbeen venison, and then returned to his pacing up and down; but this timein silence, for the night was drawing on, and there was no need to tellthe Spaniards that any one was awake and watching. 

So he began to think about his mother, and how she might be spendingher Christmas; and then about Frank, and wondered at what grand Courtfestival he was assisting, amid bright lights and sweet music and gayladies, and how he was dressed, and whether he thought of his brotherthere far away on the dark Atlantic shore; and then he said his prayersand his creed; and then he tried not to think of Rose Salterne, and ofcourse thought about her all the more. So on passed the dull hours, tillit might be past eleven o'clock, and all lights were out in the batteryand the shipping, and there was no sound of living thing but themonotonous tramp of the two sentinels beside him, and now and then agrunt from the party who slept under arms some twenty yards to the rear. 

So he paced to and fro, looking carefully out now and then over thestrip of sand-hill which lay between him and the fort; but all was blankand black, and moreover it began to rain furiously. 

Suddenly he seemed to hear a rustle among the harsh sand-grass. True, the wind was whistling through it loudly enough, but that sound wasnot altogether like the wind. Then a soft sliding noise; something hadslipped down a bank, and brought the sand down after it. Amyas stopped, crouched down beside a gun, and laid his ear to the rampart, wherebyhe heard clearly, as he thought, the noise of approaching feet; whetherrabbits or Christians, he knew not, but he shrewdly guessed the latter. 

Now Amyas was of a sober and business-like turn, at least when he wasnot in a passion; and thinking within himself that if he made any noise, the enemy (whether four or two-legged) would retire, and all the sportbe lost, he did not call to the two sentries, who were at the oppositeends of the battery; neither did he think it worth while to rouse thesleeping company, lest his ears should have deceived him, and the wholecamp turn out to repulse the attack of a buck rabbit. 

So he crouched lower and lower beside the culverin, and was rewarded ina minute or two by hearing something gently deposited against the mouthof the embrasure, which, by the noise, should be a piece of timber. 

"So far, so good, " said he to himself; "when the scaling ladder is up, the soldier follows, I suppose. I can only humbly thank them for givingmy embrasure the preference. There he comes! I hear his feet scuffling. "

He could hear plainly enough some one working himself into the mouth ofthe embrasure: but the plague was, that it was so dark that he couldnot see his hand between him and the sky, much less his foe at two yardsoff. However, he made a pretty fair guess as to the whereabouts, and, rising softly, discharged such a blow downwards as would have split ayule log. A volley of sparks flew up from the hapless Spaniard's armor, and a grunt issued from within it, which proved that, whether he waskilled or not, the blow had not improved his respiration. 

Amyas felt for his head, seized it, dragged him in over the gun, spranginto the embrasure on his knees, felt for the top of the ladder, foundit, hove it clean off and out, with four or five men on it, and then ofcourse tumbled after it ten feet into the sand, roaring like a town bullto her majesty's liege subjects in general. 

Sailor-fashion, he had no armor on but a light morion and a cuirass, so he was not too much encumbered to prevent his springing to his legsinstantly, and setting to work, cutting and foining right and left atevery sound, for sight there was none. 

Battles (as soldiers know, and newspaper editors do not) are usuallyfought, not as they ought to be fought, but as they can be fought; andwhile the literary man is laying down the law at his desk as to how manytroops should be moved here, and what rivers should be crossed there, and where the cavalry should have been brought up, and when the flankshould have been turned, the wretched man who has to do the work findsthe matter settled for him by pestilence, want of shoes, empty stomachs, bad roads, heavy rains, hot suns, and a thousand other stern warriorswho never show on paper. 

So with this skirmish; "according to Cocker, " it ought to have beena very pretty one; for Hercules of Pisa, who planned the sortie, hadarranged it all (being a very sans-appel in all military science) uponthe best Italian precedents, and had brought against this very haplessbattery a column of a hundred to attack directly in front, a company offifty to turn the right flank, and a company of fifty to turn the leftflank, with regulations, orders, passwords, countersigns, and what not;so that if every man had had his rights (as seldom happens), Don GuzmanMaria Magdalena de Soto, who commanded the sortie, ought to have takenthe work out of hand, and annihilated all therein. But alas! here sternfate interfered. They had chosen a dark night, as was politic; they hadwaited till the moon was up, lest it should be too dark, as was politiclikewise: but, just as they had started, on came a heavy squall of rain, through which seven moons would have given no light, and which washedout the plans of Hercules of Pisa as if they had been written on aschoolboy's slate. The company who were to turn the left flank walkedmanfully down into the sea, and never found out where they were goingtill they were knee-deep in water. The company who were to turn theright flank, bewildered by the utter darkness, turned their own flankso often, that tired of falling into rabbit-burrows and filling theirmouths with sand, they halted and prayed to all the saints for a compassand lantern; while the centre body, who held straight on by a trackwayto within fifty yards of the battery, so miscalculated that shortdistance, that while they thought the ditch two pikes' length off, theyfell into it one over the other, and of six scaling ladders, the onlyone which could be found was the very one which Amyas threw down again. After which the clouds broke, the wind shifted, and the moon shone outmerrily. And so was the deep policy of Hercules of Pisa, on which hungthe fate of Ireland and the Papacy, decided by a ten minutes' squall. 

But where is Amyas?

In the ditch, aware that the enemy is tumbling into it, but unable tofind them; while the company above, finding it much too dark to attempta counter sortie, have opened a smart fire of musketry and arrows onthings in general, whereat the Spaniards are swearing like Spaniards (Ineed say no more), and the Italians spitting like venomous cats; whileAmyas, not wishing to be riddled by friendly balls, has got his backagainst the foot of the rampart, and waits on Providence. 

Suddenly the moon clears; and with one more fierce volley, the Englishsailors, seeing the confusion, leap down from the embrasures, and to itpell-mell. Whether this also was "according to Cocker, " I know not: butthe sailor, then as now, is not susceptible of highly-finished drill. 

Amyas is now in his element, and so are the brave fellows at his heels;and there are ten breathless, furious minutes among the sand-hills; andthen the trumpets blow a recall, and the sailors drop back again by twosand threes, and are helped up into the embrasures over many a dead anddying foe; while the guns of Fort del Oro open on them, and blaze awayfor half an hour without reply; and then all is still once more. And inthe meanwhile, the sortie against the deputy's camp has fared no better, and the victory of the night remains with the English. 

Twenty minutes after, Winter and the captains who were on shore weredrying themselves round a peat-fire on the beach, and talking over theskirmish, when Will Cary asked--

"Where is Leigh? who has seen him? I am sadly afraid he has gone toofar, and been slain. "

"Slain? Never less, gentlemen!" replied the voice of the very person inquestion, as he stalked out of the darkness into the glare of the fire, and shot down from his shoulders into the midst of the ring, as he mighta sack of corn, a huge dark body, which was gradually seen to be a manin rich armor; who being so shot down, lay quietly where he was dropped, with his feet (luckily for him mailed) in the fire. 

"I say, " quoth Amyas, "some of you had better take him up, if he is tobe of any use. Unlace his helm, Will Cary. "

"Pull his feet out of the embers; I dare say he would have been gladenough to put us to the scarpines; but that's no reason we should puthim to them. "

As has been hinted, there was no love lost between Admiral Winterand Amyas; and Amyas might certainly have reported himself in a moreceremonious manner. So Winter, whom Amyas either had not seen, or hadnot chosen to see, asked him pretty sharply, "What the plague he had todo with bringing dead men into camp?"

"If he's dead, it's not my fault. He was alive enough when I startedwith him, and I kept him right end uppermost all the way; and what wouldyou have more, sir?"

"Mr. Leigh!" said Winter, "it behoves you to speak with somewhatmore courtesy, if not respect, to captains who are your elders andcommanders. "

"Ask your pardon, sir, " said the giant, as he stood in front of the firewith the rain steaming and smoking off his armor; "but I was bred ina school where getting good service done was more esteemed than makingfine speeches. "

"Whatsoever school you were trained in, sir, " said Winter, nettled atthe hint about Drake; "it does not seem to have been one in which youlearned to obey orders. Why did you not come in when the recall wassounded?"

"Because, " said Amyas, very coolly, "in the first place I did not hearit; and in the next, in my school I was taught when I had once startednot to come home empty-handed. "

This was too pointed; and Winter sprang up with an oath--"Do you mean toinsult me, sir?"

"I am sorry, sir, that you should take a compliment to Sir Francis Drakeas an insult to yourself. I brought in this gentleman because I thoughthe might give you good information; if he dies meanwhile, the loss willbe yours, or rather the queen's. "

"Help me, then, " said Cary, glad to create a diversion in Amyas's favor, "and we will bring him round;" while Raleigh rose, and catching Winter'sarm, drew him aside, and began talking earnestly. 

"What a murrain have you, Leigh, to quarrel with Winter?" asked two orthree. 

"I say, my reverend fathers and dear children, do get the Don's talkingtackle free again, and leave me and the admiral to settle it our ownway. "

There was more than one captain sitting in the ring, but discipline, andthe degrees of rank, were not so severely defined as now; and Amyas, asa "gentleman adventurer, " was, on land, in a position very difficultto be settled, though at sea he was as liable to be hanged as any otherperson on board; and on the whole it was found expedient to patch thematter up. So Captain Raleigh returning, said that though Admiral Winterhad doubtless taken umbrage at certain words of Mr. Leigh's, yet thathe had no doubt that Mr. Leigh meant nothing thereby but what wasconsistent with the profession of a soldier and a gentleman, and worthyboth of himself and of the admiral. 

From which proposition Amyas found it impossible to dissent; whereonRaleigh went back, and informed Winter that Leigh had freely retractedhis words, and fully wiped off any imputation which Mr. Winter mightconceive to have been put upon him, and so forth. So Winter returned, and Amyas said frankly enough--

"Admiral Winter, I hope, as a loyal soldier, that you will understandthus far; that naught which has passed to-night shall in any way preventyou finding me a forward and obedient servant to all your commands, bethey what they may, and a supporter of your authority among the men, and honor against the foe, even with my life. For I should be ashamed ifprivate differences should ever prejudice by a grain the public weal. "

This was a great effort of oratory for Amyas; and he therefore, in orderto be safe by following precedent, tried to talk as much as he couldlike Sir Richard Grenville. Of course Winter could answer nothing to it, in spite of the plain hint of private differences, but that he shouldnot fail to show himself a captain worthy of so valiant and trustya gentleman; whereon the whole party turned their attention to thecaptive, who, thanks to Will Cary, was by this time sitting up, standingmuch in need of a handkerchief, and looking about him, having beenunhelmed, in a confused and doleful manner. 

"Take the gentleman to my tent, " said Winter, "and let the surgeon seeto him. Mr. Leigh, who is he?--"

"An enemy, but whether Spaniard or Italian I know not; but he seemedsomebody among them, I thought the captain of a company. He and I cut ateach other twice or thrice at first, and then lost each other; and afterthat I came on him among the sand-hills, trying to rally his men, andswearing like the mouth of the pit, whereby I guess him a Spaniard. Buthis men ran; so I brought him in. "

"And how?" asked Raleigh. "Thou art giving us all the play but themurders and the marriages. "

"Why, I bid him yield, and he would not. Then I bid him run, and hewould not. And it was too pitch-dark for fighting; so I took him by theears, and shook the wind out of him, and so brought him in. "

"Shook the wind out of him?" cried Cary, amid the roar of laughter whichfollowed. "Dost know thou hast nearly wrung his neck in two? His vizorwas full of blood. "

"He should have run or yielded, then, " said Amyas; and getting up, slipped off to find some ale, and then to sleep comfortably in a dryburrow which he scratched out of a sandbank. 

The next morning, as Amyas was discussing a scanty breakfast of biscuit(for provisions were running very short in camp), Raleigh came up tohim. 

"What, eating? That's more than I have done to-day. "

"Sit down, and share, then. "

"Nay, lad, I did not come a-begging. I have set some of my rogues to digrabbits; but as I live, young Colbrand, you may thank your stars thatyou are alive to-day to eat. Poor young Cheek--Sir John Cheek, thegrammarian's son--got his quittance last night by a Spanish pike, rushing headlong on, just as you did. But have you seen your prisoner?"

"No; nor shall, while he is in Winter's tent. "

"Why not, then? What quarrel have you against the admiral, friendBobadil? Cannot you let Francis Drake fight his own battles, withoutthrusting your head in between them?"

"Well, that is good! As if the quarrel was not just as much mine, andevery man's in the ship. Why, when he left Drake, he left us all, did henot?"

"And what if he did? Let bygones be bygones is the rule of a Christian, and of a wise man too, Amyas. Here the man is, at least, safe home, in favor and in power; and a prudent youth will just hold his tongue, mumchance, and swim with the stream. "

"But that's just what makes me mad; to see this fellow, after desertingus there in unknown seas, win credit and rank at home here for being thefirst man who ever sailed back through the Straits. What had he to dowith sailing back at all! As well make the fox a knight for being thefirst that ever jumped down a jakes to escape the hounds. The fiercerthe flight the fouler the fear, say I. "

"Amyas! Amyas! thou art a hard hitter, but a soft politician. "

"I am no politician, Captain Raleigh, nor ever wish to be. An honestman's my friend, and a rogue's my foe; and I'll tell both as much, aslong as I breathe. "

"And die a poor saint, " said Raleigh, laughing. "But if Winter invitesyou to his tent himself, you won't refuse to come?"

"Why, no, considering his years and rank; but he knows too well to dothat. "

"He knows too well not to do it, " said Raleigh, laughing as he walkedaway. And verily in half-an-hour came an invitation, extracted ofcourse, from the admiral by Raleigh's silver tongue, which Amyas couldnot but obey. 

"We all owe you thanks for last night's service, sir, " said Winter, whohad for some good reasons changed his tone. "Your prisoner is found tobe a gentleman of birth and experience, and the leader of the assaultlast night. He has already told us more than we had hoped, for whichalso we are beholden to you; and, indeed, my Lord Grey has been askingfor you already. "

"I have, young sir, " said a quiet and lofty voice; and Amyas saw limpingfrom the inner tent the proud and stately figure of the stern deputy, Lord Grey of Wilton, a brave and wise man, but with a naturally harshtemper, which had been soured still more by the wound which had crippledhim, while yet a boy, at the battle of Leith. He owed that limp to MaryQueen of Scots; and he did not forget the debt. 

"I have been asking for you; having heard from many, both of your lastnight's prowess, and of your conduct and courage beyond the promise ofyour years, displayed in that ever-memorable voyage, which may well beranked with the deeds of the ancient Argonauts. "

Amyas bowed low; and the lord deputy went on, "You will needs wishto see your prisoner. You will find him such a one as you need not beashamed to have taken, and as need not be ashamed to have been taken byyou: but here he is, and will, I doubt not, answer as much for himself. Know each other better, gentlemen both: last night was an ill one formaking acquaintances. Don Guzman Maria Magdalena Sotomayor de Soto, knowthe hidalgo, Amyas Leigh!"

As he spoke, the Spaniard came forward, still in his armor, all save hishead, which was bound up in a handkerchief. 

He was an exceedingly tall and graceful personage, of that sangre azulwhich marked high Visigothic descent; golden-haired and fair-skinned, with hands as small and white as a woman's; his lips were delicate butthin, and compressed closely at the corners of the mouth; and his paleblue eye had a glassy dulness. In spite of his beauty and his carriage, Amyas shrank from him instinctively; and yet he could not helpholding out his hand in return, as the Spaniard, holding out his, saidlanguidly, in most sweet and sonorous Spanish--

"I kiss his hands and feet. The senor speaks, I am told, my nativetongue?"

"I have that honor. "

"Then accept in it (for I can better express myself therein than inEnglish, though I am not altogether ignorant of that witty and learnedlanguage) the expression of my pleasure at having fallen into thehands of one so renowned in war and travel; and of one also, " he added, glancing at Amyas's giant bulk, "the vastness of whose strength, beyondthat of common mortality, makes it no more shame for me to have beenoverpowered and carried away by him than if my captor had been a paladinof Charlemagne's. "

Honest Amyas bowed and stammered, a little thrown off his balance by theunexpected assurance and cool flattery of his prisoner; but he said--

"If you are satisfied, illustrious senor, I am bound to be so. Ionly trust that in my hurry and the darkness I have not hurt youunnecessarily. "

The Don laughed a pretty little hollow laugh: "No, kind senor, my head, I trust, will after a few days have become united to my shoulders;and, for the present, your company will make me forget any slightdiscomfort. "

"Pardon me, senor; but by this daylight I should have seen that armorbefore. "

"I doubt it not, senor, as having been yourself also in the forefront ofthe battle, " said the Spaniard, with a proud smile. 

"If I am right, senor, you are he who yesterday held up the standardafter it was shot down. "

"I do not deny that undeserved honor; and I have to thank the courtesyof you and your countrymen for having permitted me to do so withimpunity. "

"Ah, I heard of that brave feat, " said the lord deputy. "You shouldconsider yourself, Mr. Leigh, honored by being enabled to show courtesyto such a warrior. "

How long this interchange of solemn compliments, of which Amyas wasgetting somewhat weary, would have gone on, I know not; but at thatmoment Raleigh entered hastily--

"My lord, they have hung out a white flag, and are calling for aparley!"

The Spaniard turned pale, and felt for his sword, which was gone; andthen, with a bitter laugh, murmured to himself--"As I expected. "

"I am very sorry to hear it. Would to Heaven they had simply fought itout!" said Lord Grey, half to himself; and then, "Go, Captain Raleigh, and answer them that (saving this gentleman's presence) the laws ofwar forbid a parley with any who are leagued with rebels against theirlawful sovereign. "

"But what if they wish to treat for this gentleman's ransom?"

"For their own, more likely, " said the Spaniard; "but tell them, on mypart, senor, that Don Guzman refuses to be ransomed; and will return tono camp where the commanding officer, unable to infect his captains withhis own cowardice, dishonors them against their will. "

"You speak sharply, senor, " said Winter, after Raleigh had gone out. 

"I have reason, Senor Admiral, as you will find, I fear, erelong. "

"We shall have the honor of leaving you here, for the present, sir, asAdmiral Winter's guest, " said the lord deputy. 

"But not my sword, it seems. "

"Pardon me, senor; but no one has deprived you of your sword, " saidWinter. 

"I don't wish to pain you, sir, " said Amyas, "but I fear that we wereboth careless enough to leave it behind last night. "

A flash passed over the Spaniard's face, which disclosed terrible depthsof fury and hatred beneath that quiet mask, as the summer lightningdisplays the black abysses of the thunder-storm; but like the summerlightning it passed almost unseen; and blandly as ever, he answered:

"I can forgive you for such a neglect, most valiant sir, more easilythan I can forgive myself. Farewell, sir! One who has lost his sword isno fit company for you. " And as Amyas and the rest departed, he plungedinto the inner tent, stamping and writhing, gnawing his hands with rageand shame. 

As Amyas came out on the battery, Yeo hailed him:

"Master Amyas! Hillo, sir! For the love of Heaven, tell me!"

"What, then?"

"Is his lordship stanch? Will he do the Lord's work faithfully, root andbranch: or will he spare the Amalekites?"

"The latter, I think, old hip-and-thigh, " said Amyas, hurrying forwardto hear the news from Raleigh, who appeared in sight once more. 

"They ask to depart with bag and baggage, " said he, when he came up. 

"God do so to me, and more also, if they carry away a straw!" said LordGrey. "Make short work of it, sir!"

"I do not know how that will be, my lord; as I came up a captain shoutedto me off the walls that there were mutineers; and, denying that hesurrendered, would have pulled down the flag of truce, but the soldiersbeat him off. "

"A house divided against itself will not stand long, gentlemen. Tellthem that I give no conditions. Let them lay down their arms, and trustin the Bishop of Rome who sent them hither, and may come to save themif he wants them. Gunners, if you see the white flag go down, open yourfire instantly. Captain Raleigh, we need your counsel here. Mr. Cary, will you be my herald this time?"

"A better Protestant never went on a pleasanter errand, my lord. "

So Cary went, and then ensued an argument, as to what should be donewith the prisoners in case of a surrender. 

I cannot tell whether my Lord Grey meant, by offering conditions whichthe Spaniards would not accept, to force them into fighting the quarrelout, and so save himself the responsibility of deciding on theirfate; or whether his mere natural stubbornness, as well as his justindignation, drove him on too far to retract: but the council of warwhich followed was both a sad and a stormy one, and one which he hadreason to regret to his dying day. What was to be done with the enemy?They already outnumbered the English; and some fifteen hundred ofDesmond's wild Irish hovered in the forests round, ready to side withthe winning party, or even to attack the English at the least sign ofvacillation or fear. They could not carry the Spaniards away with them, for they had neither shipping nor food, not even handcuffs enough forthem; and as Mackworth told Winter when he proposed it, the only planwas for him to make San Josepho a present of his ships, and swim homehimself as he could. To turn loose in Ireland, as Captain Touch urged, on the other hand, seven hundred such monsters of lawlessness, cruelty, and lust, as Spanish and Italian condottieri were in those days, wasas fatal to their own safety as cruel to the wretched Irish. All thecaptains, without exception, followed on the same side. "What was to bedone, then?" asked Lord Grey, impatiently. "Would they have him murderthem all in cold blood?"

And for a while every man, knowing that it must come to that, and yetnot daring to say it; till Sir Warham St. Leger, the marshal of Munster, spoke out stoutly: "Foreigners had been scoffing them too long and tootruly with waging these Irish wars as if they meant to keep them alive, rather than end them. Mercy and faith to every Irishman who would showmercy and faith, was his motto; but to invaders, no mercy. Ireland wasEngland's vulnerable point; it might be some day her ruin; a terribleexample must be made of those who dare to touch the sore. Rather pardonthe Spaniards for landing in the Thames than in Ireland!"--till LordGrey became much excited, and turning as a last hope to Raleigh, askedhis opinion: but Raleigh's silver tongue was that day not on the sideof indulgence. He skilfully recapitulated the arguments of hisfellow-captains, improving them as he went on, till each worthy soldierwas surprised to find himself so much wiser a man than he had thought;and finished by one of his rapid and passionate perorations upon hisfavorite theme--the West Indian cruelties of the Spaniards, ". . . By which great tracts and fair countries are now utterly stripped ofinhabitants by heavy bondage and torments unspeakable. Oh, witlessIslanders!" said he, apostrophizing the Irish, "would to Heaven that youwere here to listen to me! What other fate awaits you, if this viper, which you are so ready to take into your bosom, should be warmed tolife, but to groan like the Indians, slaves to the Spaniard; but toperish like the Indians, by heavy burdens, cruel chains, plunder andravishment; scourged, racked, roasted, stabbed, sawn in sunder, cast tofeed the dogs, as simple and more righteous peoples have perished erenow by millions? And what else, I say, had been the fate of Irelandhad this invasion prospered, which God has now, by our weak hands, confounded and brought to naught? Shall we then answer it, my lord, either to our conscience, our God, or our queen, if we shall set loosemen (not one of whom, I warrant, but is stained with murder on murder)to go and fill up the cup of their iniquity among these silly sheep?Have not their native wolves, their barbarous chieftains, shorn, peeled, and slaughtered them enough already, but we must add this pack offoreign wolves to the number of their tormentors, and fit the Desmondwith a body-guard of seven, yea, seven hundred devils worse thanhimself? Nay, rather let us do violence to our own human nature, andshow ourselves in appearance rigorous, that we may be kind indeed; lestwhile we presume to be over-merciful to the guilty, we prove ourselvesto be over-cruel to the innocent. "

"Captain Raleigh, Captain Raleigh, " said Lord Grey, "the blood of thesemen be on your head!"

"It ill befits your lordship, " answered Raleigh, "to throw on yoursubordinates the blame of that which your reason approves as necessary. "

"I should have thought, sir, that one so noted for ambition as CaptainRaleigh would have been more careful of the favor of that queen forwhose smiles he is said to be so longing a competitor. If you have notyet been of her counsels, sir, I can tell you you are not likely to be. She will be furious when she hears of this cruelty. "

Lord Grey had lost his temper: but Raleigh kept his, and answeredquietly--

"Her majesty shall at least not find me among the number of those whoprefer her favor to her safety, and abuse to their own profit thatover-tenderness and mercifulness of heart which is the only blemish(and yet, rather like a mole on a fair cheek, but a new beauty) in hermanifold perfections. "

At this juncture Cary returned. 

"My lord, " said he, in some confusion, "I have proposed your terms; butthe captains still entreat for some mitigation; and, to tell you truth, one of them has insisted on accompanying me hither to plead his causehimself. "

"I will not see him, sir. Who is he?"

"His name is Sebastian of Modena, my lord. "

"Sebastian of Modena? What think you, gentlemen? May we make anexception in favor of so famous a soldier?"

"So villainous a cut-throat, " said Zouch to Raleigh, under his breath. 

All, however, were for speaking with so famous a man; and in came, infull armor, a short, bull-necked Italian, evidently of immense strength, of the true Caesar Borgia stamp. 

"Will you please to be seated, sir?" said Lord Grey, coldly. 

"I kiss your hands, most illustrious: but I do not sit in an enemy'scamp. Ha, my friend Zouch! How has your signoria fared since we foughtside by side at Lepanto? So you too are here, sitting in council on thehanging of me. "

"What is your errand, sir? Time is short, " said the lord deputy. 

"Corpo di Bacco! It has been long enough all the morning, for myrascals have kept me and my friend the Colonel Hercules (whom you know, doubtless) prisoners in our tents at the pike's point. My lord deputy, I have but a few words. I shall thank you to take every soldier in thefort--Italian, Spaniard, and Irish--and hang them up as high as Haman, for a set of mutinous cowards, with the arch-traitor San Josepho attheir head. "

"I am obliged to you for your offer, sir, and shall deliberate presentlyas to whether I shall not accept it. "

"But as for us captains, really your excellency must consider that weare gentlemen born, and give us either buena querra, as the Spaniardssay, or a fair chance for life; and so to my business. "

"Stay, sir. Answer this first. Have you or yours any commission to showeither from the King of Spain or any other potentate?"

"Never a one but the cause of Heaven and our own swords. And with them, my lord, we are ready to meet any gentlemen of your camp, man to man, with our swords only, half-way between your leaguer and ours; and Idoubt not that your lordship will see fair play. Will any gentlemanaccept so civil an offer? There sits a tall youth in that cornerwho would suit me very well. Will any fit my gallant comrades withhalf-an-hour's punto and stoccado?"

There was a silence, all looking at the lord deputy, whose eyes werekindling in a very ugly way. 

"No answer? Then I must proceed to exhortation. So! Will that besufficient?"

And walking composedly across the tent, the fearless ruffian quietlystooped down, and smote Amyas Leigh full in the face. 

Up sprang Amyas, heedless of all the august assembly, and with a singlebuffet felled him to the earth. 

"Excellent!" said he, rising unabashed. "I can always trust my instinct. I knew the moment I saw him that he was a cavalier worth letting blood. Now, sir, your sword and harness, and I am at your service outside!"

The solemn and sententious Englishmen were altogether taken aback by theItalian's impudence; but Zouch settled the matter. 

"Most noble captain, will you be pleased to recollect a certain littleoccurrence at Messina, in the year 1575? For if you do not, I do; andbeg to inform this gentleman that you are unworthy of his sword, andhad you, unluckily for you, been an Englishman, would have found thefashions of our country so different from your own that you would havebeen then hanged, sir, and probably may be so still. "

The Italian's sword flashed out in a moment: but Lord Grey interfered. 

"No fighting here, gentlemen. That may wait; and, what is more, shallwait till--Strike their swords down, Raleigh, Mackworth! Strike theirswords down! Colonel Sebastian, you will be pleased to return as youcame, in safety, having lost nothing, as (I frankly tell you) youhave gained nothing, by your wild bearing here. We shall proceed todeliberate on your fate. "

"I trust, my lord, " said Amyas, "that you will spare this braggart'slife, at least for a day or two. For in spite of Captain Zouch'swarning, I must have to do with him yet, or my cheek will rise up injudgment against me at the last day. "

"Well spoken, lad, " said the colonel, as he swung out. "So! worth areprieve, by this sword, to have one more rapier-rattle before thegallows! Then I take back no further answer, my lord deputy? Not evenour swords, our virgin blades, signor, the soldier's cherished bride?Shall we go forth weeping widowers, and leave to strange embrace thelovely steel?"

"None, sir, by heaven!" said he, waxing wroth. "Do you come hither, pirates as you are, to dictate terms upon a foreign soil? Is it notenough to have set up here the Spanish flag, and claimed the landof Ireland as the Pope's gift to the Spaniard; violated the laws ofnations, and the solemn treaties of princes, under color of a madsuperstition?"

"Superstition, my lord? Nothing less. Believe a philosopher who has notsaid a pater or an ave for seven years past at least. Quod tangocredo, is my motto; and though I am bound to say, under pain of theInquisition, that the most holy Father the Pope has given this land ofIreland to his most Catholic Majesty the King of Spain, Queen Elizabethhaving forfeited her title to it by heresy, --why, my lord, I believe itas little as you do. I believe that Ireland would have been mine, if Ihad won it; I believe religiously that it is not mine, now I have lostit. What is, is, and a fig for priests; to-day to thee, to-morrow to me. Addio!" And out he swung. 

"There goes a most gallant rascal, " said the lord deputy. 

"And a most rascally gallant, " said Zouch. "The murder of his own page, of which I gave him a remembrancer, is among the least of his sins. "

"And now, Captain Raleigh, " said Lord Grey, "as you have been so earnestin preaching this butchery, I have a right to ask none but you topractise it. "

Raleigh bit his lip, and replied by the "quip courteous--"

"I am at least a man, my lord, who thinks it shame to allow others to dothat which I dare not do myself. "

Lord Grey might probably have returned "the countercheck quarrelsome, "had not Mackworth risen--

"And I, my lord, being in that matter at least one of Captain Raleigh'skidney, will just go with him to see that he takes no harm by being boldenough to carry out an ugly business, and serving these rascals as theircountrymen served Mr. Oxenham. "

"I bid you good morning, then, gentlemen, though I cannot bid you Godspeed, " said Lord Grey; and sitting down again, covered his face withhis hands, and, to the astonishment of all bystanders, burst, say thechroniclers, into tears. 

Amyas followed Raleigh out. The latter was pale, but determined, andvery wroth against the deputy. 

"Does the man take me for a hangman, " said he, "that he speaks to methus? But such is the way of the great. If you neglect your duty, they haul you over the coals; if you do it, you must do it on yourown responsibility. Farewell, Amyas; you will not shrink from me as abutcher when I return?"

"God forbid! But how will you do it?"

"March one company in, and drive them forth, and let the other cut themdown as they come out. --Pah!"

 * * * * *

It was done. Right or wrong, it was done. The shrieks and curses haddied away, and the Fort del Oro was a red shambles, which the soldierswere trying to cover from the sight of heaven and earth, by dragging thebodies into the ditch, and covering them with the ruins of the rampart;while the Irish, who had beheld from the woods that awful warning, fledtrembling into the deepest recesses of the forest. It was done; andit never needed to be done again. The hint was severe, but it wassufficient. Many years passed before a Spaniard set foot again inIreland. 

The Spanish and Italian officers were spared, and Amyas had Don GuzmanMaria Magdalena Sotomayor de Soto duly adjudged to him, as his prizeby right of war. He was, of course, ready enough to fight Sebastianof Modena: but Lord Grey forbade the duel: blood enough had been shedalready. The next question was, where to bestow Don Guzman till hisransom should arrive; and as Amyas could not well deliver the gallantDon into the safe custody of Mrs. Leigh at Burrough, and still less intothat of Frank at Court, he was fain to write to Sir Richard Grenville, and ask his advice, and in the meanwhile keep the Spaniard with him uponparole, which he frankly gave, --saying that as for running away, he hadnowhere to run to; and as for joining the Irish he had no mind to turnpig; and Amyas found him, as shall be hereafter told, pleasant companyenough. But one morning Raleigh entered--

"I have done you a good turn, Leigh, if you think it one. I have talkedSt. Leger into making you my lieutenant, and giving you the custody ofa right pleasant hermitage--some castle Shackatory or other in the midstof a big bog, where time will run swift and smooth with you, betweenhunting wild Irish, snaring snipes, and drinking yourself drunk withusquebaugh over a turf fire. "

"I'll go, " quoth Amyas; "anything for work. " So he went and tookpossession of his lieutenancy and his black robber tower, and therepassed the rest of the winter, fighting or hunting all day, and chattingand reading all the evening, with Senor Don Guzman, who, like a goodsoldier of fortune, made himself thoroughly at home, and a generalfavorite with the soldiers. 

At first, indeed, his Spanish pride and stateliness, and Amyas's Englishtaciturnity, kept the two apart somewhat; but they soon began, if notto trust, at least to like each other; and Don Guzman told Amyas, bit bybit, who he was, of what an ancient house, and of what a poor one; andlaughed over the very small chance of his ransom being raised, andthe certainty that, at least, it could not come for a couple of years, seeing that the only De Soto who had a penny to spare was a fat old deanat St. Yago de Leon, in the Caracas, at which place Don Guzman had beenborn. This of course led to much talk about the West Indies, and theDon was as much interested to find that Amyas had been one of Drake'sworld-famous crew, as Amyas was to find that his captive was thegrandson of none other than that most terrible of man-hunters, DonFerdinando de Soto, the conqueror of Florida, of whom Amyas had readmany a time in Las Casas, "as the captain of tyrants, the notoriousestand most experimented amongst them that have done the most hurts, mischiefs, and destructions in many realms. " And often enough his bloodboiled, and he had much ado to recollect that the speaker was his guest, as Don Guzman chatted away about his grandfather's hunts of innocentwomen and children, murders of caciques and burnings alive of guides, "pour encourager les autres, " without, seemingly, the least feeling thatthe victims were human beings or subjects for human pity; anything, inshort, but heathen dogs, enemies of God, servants of the devil, to beused by the Christian when he needed, and when not needed killed downas cumberers of the ground. But Don Guzman was a most finished gentlemannevertheless; and told many a good story of the Indies, and told itwell; and over and above his stories, he had among his baggage twobooks, --the one Antonio Galvano's "Discoveries of the World, " a mineof winter evening amusement to Amyas; and the other, a manuscript book, which, perhaps, it had been well for Amyas had he never seen. For it wasnone other than a sort of rough journal which Don Guzman had kept as alad, when he went down with the Adelantado Gonzales Ximenes de Casada, from Peru to the River of Amazons, to look for the golden country of ElDorado, and the city of Manoa, which stands in the midst of the WhiteLake, and equals or surpasses in glory even the palace of the IncaHuaynacapac; "all the vessels of whose house and kitchen are of goldand silver, and in his wardrobe statues of gold which seemed giants, andfigures in proportion and bigness of all the beasts, birds, trees, andherbs of the earth, and the fishes of the water; and ropes, budgets, chests, and troughs of gold: yea, and a garden of pleasure in an Islandnear Puna, where they went to recreate themselves when they would takethe air of the sea, which had all kind of garden herbs, flowers, andtrees of gold and silver of an invention and magnificence till thennever seen. "

Now the greater part of this treasure (and be it remembered that thesewonders were hardly exaggerated, and that there were many men alive thenwho had beheld them, as they had worse things, "with their corporal andmortal eyes") was hidden by the Indians when Pizarro conquered Peru andslew Atahuallpa, son of Huaynacapac; at whose death, it was said, oneof the Inca's younger brothers fled out of Peru, and taking with hima great army, vanquished all that tract which lieth between the greatRivers of Amazons and Baraquan, otherwise called Maranon and Orenoque. 

There he sits to this day, beside the golden lake, in the golden city, which is in breadth a three days' journey, covered, he and his court, with gold dust from head to foot, waiting for the fulfilment of theancient prophecy which was written in the temple of Caxamarca, where hisancestors worshipped of old; that heroes shall come out of the West, andlead him back across the forests to the kingdom of Peru, and restore himto the glory of his forefathers. 

Golden phantom! so possible, so probable, to imaginations which were yetreeling before the actual and veritable prodigies of Peru, Mexico, andthe East Indies. Golden phantom! which has cost already the livesof thousands, and shall yet cost more; from Diego de Ordas, and JuanCorteso, and many another, who went forth on the quest by the Andes, andby the Orinoco, and by the Amazons; Antonio Sedenno, with his ghastlycaravan of manacled Indians, "on whose dead carcasses the tigers beingfleshed, assaulted the Spaniards;" Augustine Delgado, who "came to acacique, who entertained him with all kindness, and gave him beside muchgold and slaves, three nymphs very beautiful, which bare the namesof three provinces, Guanba, Gotoguane, and Maiarare. To requite whichmanifold courtesies, he carried off, not only all the gold, but all theIndians he could seize, and took them in irons to Cubagua, and sold themfor slaves; after which, Delgado was shot in the eye by an Indian, ofwhich hurt he died;" Pedro d'Orsua, who found the cinnamon forests ofLoxas, "whom his men murdered, and afterwards beheaded Lady Anes hiswife, who forsook not her lord in all his travels unto death, " and manyanother, who has vanished with valiant comrades at his back into thegreen gulfs of the primaeval forests, never to emerge again. Goldenphantom! man-devouring, whose maw is never satiate with souls of heroes;fatal to Spain, more fatal still to England upon that shameful day, whenthe last of Elizabeth's heroes shall lay down his head upon the block, nominally for having believed what all around him believed likewisetill they found it expedient to deny it in order to curry favor with thecrowned cur who betrayed him, really because he alone dared to make onelast protest in behalf of liberty and Protestantism against the incomingnight of tyranny and superstition. Little thought Amyas, as he devouredthe pages of that manuscript, that he was laying a snare for the life ofthe man whom, next to Drake and Grenville, he most admired on earth. 

But Don Guzman, on the other hand, seemed to have an instinct that thatbook might be a fatal gift to his captor; for one day ere Amyas hadlooked into it, he began questioning the Don about El Dorado. WhereonDon Guzman replied with one of those smiles of his, which (as Amyas saidafterwards) was so abominably like a sneer, that he had often hard workto keep his hands off the man--

"Ah! You have been eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, senor?Well; if you have any ambition to follow many another brave captainto the pit, I know no shorter or easier path than is contained in thatlittle book. "

"I have never opened your book, " said Amyas; "your private manuscriptsare no concern of mine: but my man who recovered your baggage readpart of it, knowing no better; and now you are at liberty to tell me aslittle as you like. "

The "man, " it should be said, was none other than Salvation Yeo, whohad attached himself by this time inseparably to Amyas, in quality ofbody-guard: and, as was common enough in those days, had turned soldierfor the nonce, and taken under his patronage two or three rusty bases(swivels) and falconets (four-pounders), which grinned harmlessly enoughfrom the tower top across the cheerful expanse of bog. 

Amyas once asked him, how he reconciled this Irish sojourn with his vowto find his little maid? Yeo shook his head. 

"I can't tell, sir, but there's something that makes me always to thinkof you when I think of her; and that's often enough, the Lord knows. Whether it is that I ben't to find the dear without your help; orwhether it is your pleasant face puts me in mind of hers; or what, Ican't tell; but don't you part me from you, sir, for I'm like Ruth, and where you lodge I lodge; and where you go I go; and where youdie--though I shall die many a year first--there I'll die, I hope andtrust; for I can't abear you out of my sight; and that's the truththereof. "

So Yeo remained with Amyas, while Cary went elsewhere with Sir WarhamSt. Leger, and the two friends met seldom for many months; so thatAmyas's only companion was Don Guzman, who, as he grew more familiar, and more careless about what he said and did in his captor's presence, often puzzled and scandalized him by his waywardness. Fits of deepmelancholy alternated with bursts of Spanish boastfulness, utterlyastonishing to the modest and sober-minded Englishman, who would oftenhave fancied him inspired by usquebaugh, had he not had ocular proof ofhis extreme abstemiousness. 

"Miserable?" said he, one night in one of these fits. "And have I nota right to be miserable? Why should I not curse the virgin and all thesaints, and die? I have not a friend, not a ducat on earth; not even asword--hell and the furies! It was my all: the only bequest I ever hadfrom my father, and I lived by it and earned by it. Two years ago I hadas pretty a sum of gold as cavalier could wish--and now!"--

"What is become of it, then? I cannot hear that our men plundered you ofany. "

"Your men? No, senor! What fifty men dared not have done, one woman did!a painted, patched, fucused, periwigged, bolstered, Charybdis, cannibal, Megaera, Lamia! Why did I ever go near that cursed Naples, the commonsewer of Europe? whose women, I believe, would be swallowed up byVesuvius to-morrow, if it were not that Belphegor is afraid of theirmaking the pit itself too hot to hold him. Well, sir, she had all ofmine and more; and when all was gone in wine and dice, woodcocks' brainsand ortolans' tongues, I met the witch walking with another man. I hada sword and a dagger; I gave him the first (though the dog fought wellenough, to give him his due), and her the second; left them lying acrosseach other, and fled for my life, --and here I am! after twenty years offighting, from the Levant to the Orellana--for I began ere I had ahair on my chin--and this is the end!--No, it is not! I'll have that ElDorado yet! the Adelantado made Berreo, when he gave him his daughter, swear that he would hunt for it, through life and death. --We'll seewho finds it first, he or I. He's a bungler; Orsua was a bungler--Pooh!Cortes and Pizarro? we'll see whether there are not as good Castiliansas they left still. I can do it, senor. I know a track, a plan; over theLlanos is the road; and I'll be Emperor of Manoa yet--possess the jewelsof all the Incas; and gold, gold! Pizarro was a beggar to what I willbe!"

Conceive, sir, he broke forth during another of these peacock fits, as Amyas and he were riding along the hill-side; "conceive! with fortychosen cavaliers (what need of more?) I present myself before the goldenking, trembling amid his myriad guards at the new miracle of the mailedcentaurs of the West; and without dismounting, I approach his throne, lift the crucifix which hangs around my neck, and pressing it to mylips, present it for the adoration of the idolater, and give him hisalternative; that which Gayferos and the Cid, my ancestors, offeredthe Soldan and the Moor--baptism or death! He hesitates; perhapssmiles scornfully upon my little band; I answer him by deeds, as DonFerdinando, my illustrious grandfather, answered Atahuallpa at Peru, insight of all his court and camp. "

"With your lance-point, as Gayferos did the Soldan?" asked Amyas, amused. 

"No, sir; persuasion first, for the salvation of a soul is at stake. Notwith the lance-point, but the spur, sir, thus!"--

And striking his heels into his horse's flanks, he darted off at fullspeed. 

"The Spanish traitor!" shouted Yeo. "He's going to escape! Shall weshoot, sir? Shall we shoot?"

"For Heaven's sake, no!" said Amyas, looking somewhat blank, nevertheless, for he much doubted whether the whole was not a ruse onthe part of the Spaniard, and he knew how impossible it was for hisfifteen stone of flesh to give chase to the Spaniard's twelve. But hewas soon reassured; the Spaniard wheeled round towards him, and began toput the rough hackney through all the paces of the manege with a graceand skill which won applause from the beholders. 

"Thus!" he shouted, waving his hand to Amyas, between his curvets andcaracoles, "did my illustrious grandfather exhibit to the Paynim emperorthe prowess of a Castilian cavalier! Thus!--and thus!--and thus, atlast, he dashed up to his very feet, as I to yours, and bespatteringthat unbaptized visage with his Christian bridle foam, pulled up hischarger on his haunches, thus!"

And (as was to be expected from a blown Irish garron on a peaty Irishhill-side) down went the hapless hackney on his tail, away went hisheels a yard in front of him, and ere Don Guzman could "avoid hisselle, " horse and man rolled over into neighboring bog-hole. 

"After pride comes a fall, " quoth Yeo with unmoved visage, as he luggedhim out. 

"And what would you do with the emperor at last?" asked Amyas when theDon had been scrubbed somewhat clean with a bunch of rushes. "Kill him, as your grandfather did Atahuallpa?"

"My grandfather, " answered the Spaniard, indignantly, "was one of thosewho, to their eternal honor, protested to the last against that mostcruel and unknightly massacre. He could be terrible to the heathen; buthe kept his plighted word, sir, and taught me to keep mine, as you haveseen to-day. "

"I have, senor, " said Amyas. "You might have given us the slip easilyenough just now, and did not. Pardon me, if I have offended you. "

The Spaniard (who, after all, was cross principally with himself and the"unlucky mare's son, " as the old romances have it, which had played himso scurvy a trick) was all smiles again forthwith; and Amyas, as theychatted on, could not help asking him next--

"I wonder why you are so frank about your own intentions to an enemylike me, who will surely forestall you if he can. "

"Sir, a Spaniard needs no concealment, and fears no rivalry. He is thesoldier of the Cross, and in it he conquers, like Constantine of old. Not that you English are not very heroes; but you have not, sir, andyou cannot have, who have forsworn our Lady and the choir of saints, thesame divine protection, the same celestial mission, which enables theCatholic cavalier single-handed to chase a thousand Paynims. "

And Don Guzman crossed himself devoutly, and muttered half-a-dozen AveMarias in succession, while Amyas rode silently by his side, utterlypuzzled at this strange compound of shrewdness with fanaticism, ofperfect high-breeding with a boastfulness which in an Englishman wouldhave been the sure mark of vulgarity. 

At last came a letter from Sir Richard Grenville, complimenting Amyason his success and promotion, bearing a long and courtly message to DonGuzman (whom Grenville had known when he was in the Mediterranean, atthe battle of Lepanto), and offering to receive him as his own guestat Bideford, till his ransom should arrive; a proposition which theSpaniard (who of course was getting sufficiently tired of the Irishbogs) could not but gladly accept; and one of Winter's ships, returningto England in the spring of 1581, delivered duly at the quay of Bidefordthe body of Don Guzman Maria Magdalena. Raleigh, after forming forthat summer one of the triumvirate by which Munster was governed afterOrmond's departure, at last got his wish and departed for England andthe Court; and Amyas was left alone with the snipes and yellow mantlesfor two more weary years. 

CHAPTER X

HOW THE MAYOR OF BIDEFORD BAITED HIS HOOK WITH HIS OWN FLESH

 "And therewith he blent, and cried ha! As though he had been stricken to the harte. "

 Palamon and Arcite. 

So it befell to Chaucer's knight in prison; and so it befell also to DonGuzman; and it befell on this wise. 

He settled down quietly enough at Bideford on his parole, in betterquarters than he had occupied for many a day, and took things as theycame, like a true soldier of fortune; till, after he had been withGrenville hardly a month, old Salterne the Mayor came to supper. 

Now Don Guzman, however much he might be puzzled at first at our strangeEnglish ways of asking burghers and such low-bred folk to eat and drinkabove the salt, in the company of noble persons, was quite gentlemanenough to know that Richard Grenville was gentleman enough to do onlywhat was correct, and according to the customs and proprieties. So aftershrugging the shoulders of his spirit, he submitted to eat and drink atthe same board with a tradesman who sat at a desk, and made up ledgers, and took apprentices; and hearing him talk with Grenville neitherunwisely nor in a vulgar fashion, actually before the evening was outcondescended to exchange words with him himself. Whereon he found hima very prudent and courteous person, quite aware of the Spaniard'ssuperior rank, and making him feel in every sentence that he was awarethereof; and yet holding his own opinion, and asserting his own rightsas a wise elder in a fashion which the Spaniard had only seen beforeamong the merchant princes of Genoa and Venice. 

At the end of supper, Salterne asked Grenville to do his humble roof thehonor, etc. Etc. , of supping with him the next evening, and then turningto the Don, said quite frankly, that he knew how great a condescensionit would be on the part of a nobleman of Spain to sit at the board ofa simple merchant: but that if the Spaniard deigned to do him sucha favor, he would find that the cheer was fit enough for any rank, whatsoever the company might be; which invitation Don Guzman, being onthe whole glad enough of anything to amuse him, graciously condescendedto accept, and gained thereby an excellent supper, and, if he had chosento drink it, much good wine. 

Now Mr. Salterne was, of course, as a wise merchant, as ready as any manfor an adventure to foreign parts, as was afterwards proved by his greatexertions in the settlement of Virginia; and he was, therefore, equallyready to rack the brains of any guest whom he suspected of knowinganything concerning strange lands; and so he thought no shame, first totry to loose his guest's tongue by much good sack, and next, to ask himprudent and well-concocted questions concerning the Spanish Main, Peru, the Moluccas, China, the Indies, and all parts. 

The first of which schemes failed; for the Spaniard was as abstemiousas any monk, and drank little but water; the second succeeded not overwell, for the Spaniard was as cunning as any fox, and answered littlebut wind. 

In the midst of which tongue-fence in came the Rose of Torridge, lookingas beautiful as usual; and hearing what they were upon, added, artlesslyenough, her questions to her father's: to her Don Guzman could not butanswer; and without revealing any very important commercial secrets, gave his host and his host's daughter a very amusing evening. 

Now little Eros, though spirits like Frank Leigh's may choose to callhim (as, perhaps, he really is to them) the eldest of the gods, andthe son of Jove and Venus, yet is reported by other equally goodauthorities, as Burton has set forth in his "Anatomy of Melancholy, " tobe after all only the child of idleness and fulness of bread. To whichscandalous calumny the thoughts of Don Guzman's heart gave at least acertain color; for he being idle (as captives needs must be), and alsofull of bread (for Sir Richard kept a very good table), had alreadylooked round for mere amusement's sake after some one with whom to fallin love. Lady Grenville, as nearest, was, I blush to say, thought offirst; but the Spaniard was a man of honor, and Sir Richard his host; sohe put away from his mind (with a self-denial on which he plumed himselfmuch) the pleasure of a chase equally exciting to his pride and his loveof danger. As for the sinfulness of the said chase, he of course thoughtno more of that than other Southern Europeans did then, or than (I blushagain to have to say it) the English did afterwards in the days of theStuarts. Nevertheless, he had put Lady Grenville out of his mind; and soleft room to take Rose Salterne into it, not with any distinct purposeof wronging her: but, as I said before, half to amuse himself, and half, too, because he could not help it. For there was an innocent freshnessabout the Rose of Torridge, fond as she was of being admired, which wasnew to him and most attractive. "The train of the peacock, " as hesaid to himself, "and yet the heart of the dove, " made so charming acombination, that if he could have persuaded her to love no one but him, perhaps he might become fool enough to love no one but her. And at thatthought he was seized with a very panic of prudence, and resolved tokeep out of her way; and yet the days ran slowly, and Lady Grenvillewhen at home was stupid enough to talk and think about nothing but herhusband; and when she went to Stow, and left the Don alone in one cornerof the great house at Bideford, what could he do but lounge down to thebutt-gardens to show off his fine black cloak and fine black feather, see the shooting, have a game or two of rackets with the youngsters, agame or two of bowls with the elders, and get himself invited home tosupper by Mr. Salterne?

And there, of course, he had it all his own way, and ruled the roast(which he was fond enough of doing) right royally, not only on accountof his rank, but because he had something to say worth hearing, as atravelled man. For those times were the day-dawn of English commerce;and not a merchant in Bideford, or in all England, but had hisimagination all on fire with projects of discoveries, companies, privileges, patents, and settlements; with gallant rivalry of the braveadventures of Sir Edward Osborne and his new London Company of TurkeyMerchants; with the privileges just granted by the Sultan Murad Khanto the English; with the worthy Levant voyages of Roger Bodenham inthe great bark Aucher, and of John Fox, and Lawrence Aldersey, and JohnRule; and with hopes from the vast door for Mediterranean trade, whichthe crushing of the Venetian power at Famagusta in Cyprus, and thealliance made between Elizabeth and the Grand Turk, had just thrownopen. So not a word could fall from the Spaniard about the Mediterraneanbut took root at once in right fertile soil. Besides, Master EdmundHogan had been on a successful embassy to the Emperor of Morocco; JohnHawkins and George Fenner had been to Guinea (and with the latter Mr. Walter Wren, a Bideford man), and had traded there for musk and civet, gold and grain; and African news was becoming almost as valuable as WestIndian. Moreover, but two months before had gone from London CaptainHare in the bark Minion, for Brazil, and a company of adventurers withhim, with Sheffield hardware, and "Devonshire and Northern kersies, "hollands and "Manchester cottons, " for there was a great opening forEnglish goods by the help of one John Whithall, who had married aSpanish heiress, and had an ingenio and slaves in Santos. (Don't smile, reader, or despise the day of small things, and those who sowed the seedwhereof you reap the mighty harvest. ) In the meanwhile, Drake had provednot merely the possibility of plundering the American coasts, butof establishing an East Indian trade; Frobisher and Davis, worthyforefathers of our Parrys and Franklins, had begun to bore their wayupward through the Northern ice, in search of a passage to China whichshould avoid the dangers of the Spanish seas; and Anthony Jenkinson, notthe least of English travellers, had, in six-and-twenty years of travelin behalf of the Muscovite Company, penetrated into not merely Russiaand the Levant, but Persia and Armenia, Bokhara, Tartary, Siberia, andthose waste Arctic shores where, thirty years before, the brave Sir HughWilloughby, "In Arzina caught, Perished with all his crew. "

Everywhere English commerce, under the genial sunshine of Elizabeth'swise rule, was spreading and taking root; and as Don Guzman talkedwith his new friends, he soon saw (for he was shrewd enough) that theybelonged to a race which must be exterminated if Spain intended tobecome (as she did intend) the mistress of the world; and that it wasnot enough for Spain to have seized in the Pope's name the whole newworld, and claimed the exclusive right to sail the seas of America; notenough to have crushed the Hollanders; not enough to have degraded theVenetians into her bankers, and the Genoese into her mercenaries; notenough to have incorporated into herself, with the kingdom of Portugal, the whole East Indian trade of Portugal, while these fierce islandersremained to assert, with cunning policy and texts of Scripture, and, ifthey failed, with sharp shot and cold steel, free seas and free tradefor all the nations upon earth. He saw it, and his countrymen saw ittoo: and therefore the Spanish Armada came: but of that hereafter. AndDon Guzman knew also, by hard experience, that these same islanders, whosat in Salterne's parlor, talking broad Devon through their noses, wereno mere counters of money and hucksters of goods: but men who, thoughthey thoroughly hated fighting, and loved making money instead, couldfight, upon occasion, after a very dogged and terrible fashion, as wellas the bluest blood in Spain; and who sent out their merchant shipsarmed up to the teeth, and filled with men who had been trained fromchildhood to use those arms, and had orders to use them without mercyif either Spaniard, Portugal, or other created being dared to stop theirmoney-making. And one evening he waxed quite mad, when, after havingcivilly enough hinted that if Englishmen came where they had no right tocome, they might find themselves sent back again, he was answered by avolley of--

"We'll see that, sir. "

"Depends on who says 'No right. '"

"You found might right, " said another, "when you claimed the Indianseas; we may find right might when we try them. "

"Try them, then, gentlemen, by all means, if it shall so please yourworships; and find the sacred flag of Spain as invincible as ever wasthe Roman eagle. "

"We have, sir. Did you ever hear of Francis Drake?"

"Or of George Fenner and the Portugals at the Azores, one againstseven?"

"Or of John Hawkins, at St. Juan d'Ulloa?"

"You are insolent burghers, " said Don Guzman, and rose to go. 

"Sir, " said old Salterne, "as you say, we are burghers and plain men, and some of us have forgotten ourselves a little, perhaps; we must begyou to forgive our want of manners, and to put it down to the strengthof my wine; for insolent we never meant to be, especially to a noblegentleman and a foreigner. "

But the Don would not be pacified; and walked out, calling himselfan ass and a blinkard for having demeaned himself to such a company, forgetting that he had brought it on himself. 

Salterne (prompted by the great devil Mammon) came up to him next day, and begged pardon again; promising, moreover, that none of those who hadbeen so rude should be henceforth asked to meet him, if he would deignto honor his house once more. And the Don actually was appeased, andwent there the very next evening, sneering at himself the whole time forgoing. 

"Fool that I am! that girl has bewitched me, I believe. Go I must, andeat my share of dirt, for her sake. "

So he went; and, cunningly enough, hinted to old Salterne that hehad taken such a fancy to him, and felt so bound by his courtesy andhospitality, that he might not object to tell him things which he wouldnot mention to every one; for that the Spaniards were not jealous ofsingle traders, but of any general attempt to deprive them of theirhard-earned wealth: that, however, in the meanwhile, there were plentyof opportunities for one man here and there to enrich himself, etc. 

Old Salterne, shrewd as he was, had his weak point, and the Spaniard hadtouched it; and delighted at this opportunity of learning the mysteriesof the Spanish monopoly, he often actually set Rose on to draw out theDon, without a fear (so blind does money make men) lest she might beherself drawn in. For, first, he held it as impossible that she wouldthink of marrying a Popish Spaniard as of marrying the man in the moon;and, next, as impossible that he would think of marrying a burgher'sdaughter as of marrying a negress; and trusted that the religion of theone, and the family pride of the other, would keep them as separate asbeings of two different species. And as for love without marriage, ifsuch a possibility ever crossed him, the thought was rendered absurd;on Rose's part by her virtue, on which the old roan (and rightly) wouldhave staked every farthing he had on earth; and on the Don's part, by acertain human fondness for the continuity of the carotid artery and theparts adjoining, for which (and that not altogether justly, seeingthat Don Guzman cared as little for his own life as he did for hisneighbor's) Mr. Salterne gave him credit. And so it came to pass, thatfor weeks and months the merchant's house was the Don's favorite haunt, and he saw the Rose of Torridge daily, and the Rose of Torridge heardhim. 

And as for her, poor child, she had never seen such a man. He had, orseemed to have, all the high-bred grace of Frank, and yet he was cast ina manlier mould; he had just enough of his nation's proud self-assertionto make a woman bow before him as before a superior, and yet tact enoughto let it very seldom degenerate into that boastfulness of which theSpaniards were then so often and so justly accused. He had marvels totell by flood and field as many and more than Amyas; and he toldthem with a grace and an eloquence of which modest, simple, old Amyaspossessed nothing. Besides, he was on the spot, and the Leighs were not, nor indeed were any of her old lovers; and what could she do but amuseherself with the only person who came to hand?

So thought, in time, more ladies than she; for the country, the north ofit at least, was all but bare just then of young gallants, what with theNetherland wars and the Irish wars; and the Spaniard became soon welcomeat every house for many a mile round, and made use of his welcome sofreely, and received so much unwonted attention from fair young dames, that his head might have been a little turned, and Rose Salterne havethereby escaped, had not Sir Richard delicately given him to understandthat in spite of the free and easy manners of English ladies, brotherswere just as jealous, and ladies' honors at least as inexpugnable, asin the land of demureness and duennas. Don Guzman took the hint wellenough, and kept on good terms with the country gentlemen as with theirdaughters; and to tell the truth, the cunning soldier of fortune foundhis account in being intimate with all the ladies he could, in order toprevent old Salterne from fancying that he had any peculiar predilectionfor Mistress Rose. 

Nevertheless, Mr. Salterne's parlor being nearest to him, still remainedhis most common haunt; where, while he discoursed for hours about

 "Antres vast and deserts idle, And of the cannibals that each other eat, Of Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders, "

to the boundless satisfaction of poor Rose's fancy, he took care toseason his discourse with scraps of mercantile information, which keptthe old merchant always expectant and hankering for more, and made itworth his while to ask the Spaniard in again and again. 

And his stories, certainly, were worth hearing. He seemed to have beeneverywhere, and to have seen everything: born in Peru, and sent home toSpain at ten years old; brought up in Italy; a soldier in the Levant; anadventurer to the East Indies; again in America, first in the islands, and then in Mexico. Then back again to Spain, and thence to Rome, andthence to Ireland. Shipwrecked; captive among savages; looking down thecraters of volcanoes; hanging about all the courts of Europe; fightingTurks, Indians, lions, elephants, alligators, and what not? Atfive-and-thirty he had seen enough for three lives, and knew how to makethe best of what he had seen. 

He had shared, as a lad, in the horrors of the memorable siege ofFamagusta, and had escaped, he hardly knew himself how, from the handsof the victorious Turks, and from the certainty (if he escaped beingflayed alive or impaled, as most of the captive officers were) of endinghis life as a Janissary at the Sultan's court. He had been at the Battleof the Three Kings; had seen Stukely borne down by a hundred lances, unconquered even in death; and had held upon his knee the head of thedying King of Portugal. 

And now, as he said to Rose one evening, what had he left on earth, buta heart trampled as hard as the pavement? Whom had he to love? Who lovedhim? He had nothing for which to live but fame: and even that was deniedto him, a prisoner in a foreign land. 

Had he no kindred, then? asked pitying Rose. 

"My two sisters are in a convent;--they had neither money nor beauty;so they are dead to me. My brother is a Jesuit, so he is dead to me. Myfather fell by the hands of Indians in Mexico; my mother, a pennilesswidow, is companion, duenna--whatsoever they may choose to callit--carrying fans and lapdogs for some princess or other there inSeville, of no better blood than herself; and I--devil! I have lost evenmy sword--and so fares the house of De Soto. "

Don Guzman, of course, intended to be pitied, and pitied he wasaccordingly. And then he would turn the conversation, and begin tellingItalian stories, after the Italian fashion, according to his auditory:the pathetic ones when Rose was present, the racy ones when she wasabsent; so that Rose had wept over the sorrows of Juliet and Desdemona, and over many another moving tale, long before they were ever enactedon an English stage, and the ribs of the Bideford worthies had shaken tomany a jest which Cinthio and Bandello's ghosts must come and make forthemselves over again if they wish them to be remembered, for I shalllend them no shove toward immortality. 

And so on, and so on. What need of more words? Before a year was out, Rose Salterne was far more in love with Don Guzman than he with her; andboth suspected each other's mind, though neither hinted at the truth;she from fear, and he, to tell the truth, from sheer Spanish pride ofblood. For he soon began to find out that he must compromise that bloodby marrying the heretic burgher's daughter, or all his labor would bethrown away. 

He had seen with much astonishment, and then practised with muchpleasure, that graceful old English fashion of saluting every lady onthe cheek at meeting, which (like the old Dutch fashion of asking youngladies out to feasts without their mothers) used to give such cause ofbrutal calumny and scandal to the coarse minds of Romish visitors fromthe Continent; and he had seen, too, fuming with jealous rage, more thanone Bideford burgher, redolent of onions, profane in that way the velvetcheek of Rose Salterne. 

So, one day, he offered his salute in like wise; but he did it when shewas alone; for something within (perhaps a guilty conscience) whisperedthat it might be hardly politic to make the proffer in her father'spresence: however, to his astonishment, he received a prompt thoughquiet rebuff. 

"No, sir; you should know that my cheek is not for you. "

"Why, " said he, stifling his anger, "it seems free enough to everycounter-jumper in the town!"

Was it love, or simple innocence, which made her answer apologetically?

"True, Don Guzman; but they are my equals. "

"And I?"

"You are a nobleman, sir; and should recollect that you are one. "

"Well, " said he, forcing a sneer, "it is a strange taste to prefer theshopkeeper!"

"Prefer?" said she, forcing a laugh in her turn; "it is a mere formamong us. They are nothing to me, I can tell you. "

"And I, then, less than nothing?"

Rose turned very red; but she had nerve to answer--

"And why should you be anything to me? You have condescended too much, sir, already to us, in giving us many a--many a pleasant evening. Youmust condescend no further. You wrong yourself, sir, and me too. No, sir; not a step nearer!--I will not! A salute between equals meansnothing: but between you and me--I vow, sir, if you do not leave me thismoment, I will complain to my father. "

"Do so, madam! I care as little for your father's anger, as you for mymisery. "

"Cruel!" cried Rose, trembling from head to foot. 

"I love you, madam!" cried he, throwing himself at her feet. "I adoreyou! Never mention differences of rank to me more; for I have forgottenthem; forgotten all but love, all but you, madam! My light, my lodestar, my princess, my goddess! You see where my pride is gone; remember Iplead as a suppliant, a beggar--though one who may be one day a prince, a king! ay, and a prince now, a very Lucifer of pride to all except toyou; to you a wretch who grovels at your feet, and cries, 'Have mercyon me, on my loneliness, my homelessness, my friendlessness. ' Ah, Rose(madam I should have said, forgive the madness of my passion), you knownot the heart which you break. Cold Northerns, you little dream how aSpaniard can love. Love? Worship, rather; as I worship you, madam; asI bless the captivity which brought me the sight of you, and the ruinwhich first made me rich. Is it possible, saints and Virgin! do my owntears deceive my eyes, or are there tears, too, in those radiant orbs?"

"Go, sir!" cried poor Rose, recovering herself suddenly; "and let menever see you more. " And, as a last chance for life, she darted out ofthe room. 

"Your slave obeys you, madam, and kisses your hands and feet foreverand a day, " said the cunning Spaniard, and drawing himself up, walkedserenely out of the house; while she, poor fool, peeped after him outof her window upstairs, and her heart sank within her as she watched hisjaunty and careless air. 

How much of that rhapsody of his was honest, how much premeditated, Icannot tell: though she, poor child, began to fancy that it was all aset speech, when she found that he had really taken her at her word, andset foot no more within her father's house. So she reproached herselffor the cruelest of women; settled, that if he died, she should be hismurderess; watched for him to pass at the window, in hopes that he mightlook up, and then hid herself in terror the moment he appeared roundthe corner; and so forth, and so forth:--one love-making is very likeanother, and has been so, I suppose, since that first blessed marriagein Paradise, when Adam and Eve made no love at all, but found itready-made for them from heaven; and really it is fiddling while Romeis burning, to spend more pages over the sorrows of poor little RoseSalterne, while the destinies of Europe are hanging on the marriagebetween Elizabeth and Anjou: and Sir Humphrey Gilbert is stirring heavenand earth, and Devonshire, of course, as the most important portionof the said earth, to carry out his dormant patent, which will give toEngland in due time (we are not jesting now) Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Canada, and the Northern States; and to Humphrey Gilbert himselfsomething better than a new world, namely another world, and a crown ofglory therein which never fades away. 

CHAPTER XI

HOW EUSTACE LEIGH MET THE POPE'S LEGATE

 "Misguided, rash, intruding fool, farewell! Thou see'st to be too busy is some danger. "

 Hamlet. 

It is the spring of 1582-3. The gray March skies are curdling hard andhigh above black mountain peaks. The keen March wind is sweeping harshand dry across a dreary sheet of bog, still red and yellow with thestains of winter frost. One brown knoll alone breaks the waste, and onit a few leafless wind-clipt oaks stretch their moss-grown arms, likegiant hairy spiders, above a desolate pool which crisps and shivers inthe biting breeze, while from beside its brink rises a mournful cry, andsweeps down, faint and fitful, amid the howling of the wind. 

Along the brink of the bog, picking their road among crumbling rocks andgreen spongy springs, a company of English soldiers are pushing fast, clad cap-a-pie in helmet and quilted jerkin, with arquebus on shoulder, and pikes trailing behind them; stern steadfast men, who, two yearssince, were working the guns at Smerwick fort, and have since then seenmany a bloody fray, and shall see more before they die. Two captainsride before them on shaggy ponies, the taller in armor, stained andrusted with many a storm and fray, the other in brilliant inlaid cuirassand helmet, gaudy sash and plume, and sword hilt glittering with gold, a quaint contrast enough to the meager garron which carries him and hisfinery. Beside them, secured by a cord which a pikeman has fastened tohis own wrist, trots a bare-legged Irish kerne, whose only clothing ishis ragged yellow mantle, and the unkempt "glib" of hair, through whichhis eyes peer out, right and left, in mingled fear and sullenness. He isthe guide of the company, in their hunt after the rebel Baltinglas; andwoe to him if he play them false. 

"A pleasant country, truly, Captain Raleigh, " says the dingy officer tothe gay one. "I wonder how, having once escaped from it to Whitehall, you have the courage to come back and spoil that gay suit with bog-waterand mud. "

"A very pleasant country, my friend Amyas; what you say in jest, I sayin earnest. "

"Hillo! Our tastes have changed places. I am sick of it already, as youforetold. Would Heaven that I could hear of some adventure Westward-ho!and find these big bones swinging in a hammock once more. Pray what hasmade you so suddenly in love with bog and rock, that you come back totramp them with us? I thought you had spied out the nakedness of theland long ago. "

"Bog and rock? Nakedness of the land? What is needed here but prudenceand skill, justice and law? This soil, see, is fat enough, if men werehere to till it. These rocks--who knows what minerals they may hold? Ihear of gold and jewels found already in divers parts; and Daniel, mybrother Humphrey's German assayer, assures me that these rocks are ofthe very same kind as those which yield the silver in Peru. Tut, man!if her gracious majesty would but bestow on me some few square miles ofthis same wilderness, in seven years' time I would make it blossom likethe rose, by God's good help. "

"Humph! I should be more inclined to stay here, then. "

"So you shall, and be my agent, if you will, to get in my mine-rents andmy corn-rents, and my fishery-rents, eh? Could you keep accounts, oldknight of the bear's-paw?"

"Well enough for such short reckonings as yours would be, on the profitside at least. No, no--I'd sooner carry lime all my days from Cauldy toBideford, than pass another twelve-month in the land of Ire, amongthe children of wrath. There is a curse upon the face of the earth, Ibelieve. "

"There is no curse upon it, save the old one of man's sin--'Thorns andthistles it shall bring forth to thee. ' But if you root up the thornsand thistles, Amyas, I know no fiend who can prevent your growing wheatinstead; and if you till the ground like a man, you plough and barrowaway nature's curse, and other fables of the schoolmen beside, " addedhe, in that daring fashion which afterwards obtained for him (and neverdid good Christian less deserve it) the imputation of atheism. 

"It is sword and bullet, I think, that are needed here, before ploughand harrow, to clear away some of the curse. Until a few more of theseIrish lords are gone where the Desmonds are, there is no peace forIreland. "

"Humph! not so far wrong, I fear. And yet--Irish lords? These verytraitors are better English blood than we who hunt them down. When Yeohere slew the Desmond the other day, he no more let out a drop of Irishblood, than if he had slain the lord deputy himself. "

"His blood be on his own head, " said Yeo, "He looked as wild a savage asthe worst of them, more shame to him; and the ancient here had nigh cutoff his arm before he told us who he was: and then, your worship, havinga price upon his head, and like to bleed to death too--"

"Enough, enough, good fellow, " said Raleigh. "Thou hast done what wasgiven thee to do. Strange, Amyas, is it not? Noble Normans sunk intosavages--Hibernis ipsis hiberniores! Is there some uncivilizing venom inthe air?"

"Some venom, at least, which makes English men traitors. But the Irishthemselves are well enough, if their tyrants would let them be. See now, what more faithful liegeman has her majesty than the Inchiquin, who, they say, is Prince of Themond, and should be king of all Ireland, ifevery man had his right?"

"Don't talk of rights in the land of wrongs, man. But the Inchiquinknows well that the true Irish Esau has no worse enemy than hissupplanter, the Norman Jacob. And yet, Amyas are even these men worsethan we might be, if we had been bred up masters over the bodies andsouls of men, in some remote land where law and order had never come?Look at this Desmond, brought up a savage among savages, a Papist amongPapists, a despot among slaves; a thousand easy maidens deeming it honorto serve his pleasure, a thousand wild ruffians deeming it piety tofulfil his revenge: and let him that is without sin among us cast thefirst stone. "

"Ay, " went on Raleigh to himself, as the conversation dropped. "Whathadst thou been, Raleigh, hadst thou been that Desmond whose lands thounow desirest? What wilt thou be when thou hast them? Will thy childrensink downwards, as these noble barons sank? Will the genius of tyrannyand falsehood find soil within thy heart to grow and ripen fruit? Whatguarantee hast thou for doing better here than those who went beforethee? And yet, cannot I do justice and love mercy? Can I not establishplantations, build and sow, and make the desert valleys laugh with corn?Shall I not have my Spenser with me, to fill me with all noble thoughts, and raise my soul to his heroic pitch? Is not this true knight-errantry, to redeem to peace and use, and to the glory of that glorious queen whomGod has given to me, a generous soil and a more generous race? Trustfuland tenderhearted they are--none more; and if they be fickle andpassionate, will not that very softness of temper, which makes them soeasily led to evil, make them as easy to be led towards good? Yes--here, away from courts, among a people who should bless me as their benefactorand deliverer--what golden days might be mine! And yet--is this butanother angel's mask from that same cunning fiend ambition's stage? Andwill my house be indeed the house of God, the foundations of which areloyalty, and its bulwarks righteousness, and not the house of fame, whose walls are of the soap-bubble, and its floor a sea of glass mingledwith fire? I would be good and great--When will the day come when Ishall be content to be good, and yet not great, like this same simpleLeigh, toiling on by my side to do his duty, with no more thought forthe morrow than the birds of God? Greatness? I have tasted that cupwithin the last twelve months; do I not know that it is sweet in themouth, but bitter in the belly? Greatness? And was not Essex great, andJohn of Austria great, and Desmond great, whose race, but threeshort years ago, had stood for ages higher than I shall ever hope toclimb--castles, and lands, and slaves by thousands, and five hundredgentlemen of his name, who had vowed to forswear God before theyforswore him and well have they kept their vow! And now, dead in aturf-hovel, like a coney in a burrow! Leigh, what noise was that?"

"An Irish howl, I fancied: but it came from off the bog; it may be onlya plover's cry. "

"Something not quite right, sir captain, to my mind, " said the ancient. "They have ugly stories here of pucks and banshees, and what not ofghosts. There it was again, wailing just like a woman. They say thebanshee cried all night before Desmond was slain. "

"Perhaps, then, this one may be crying for Baltinglas; for his turn islikely to come next--not that I believe in such old wives' tales. "

"Shamus, my man, " said Amyas to the guide, "do you hear that cry in thebog?"

The guide put on the most stolid of faces, and answered in brokenEnglish--

"Shamus hear naught. Perhaps--what you call him?--fishing in ta pool. "

"An otter, he means, and I believe he is right. Stay, no! Did you nothear it then, Shamus? It was a woman's voice. "

"Shamus is shick in his ears ever since Christmas. "

"Shamus will go after Desmond if he lies, " said Amyas. "Ancient, we hadbetter send a few men to see what it is; there may be a poor soul takenby robbers, or perhaps starving to death, as I have seen many a one. "

"And I too, poor wretches; and by no fault of their own or ours either:but if their lords will fall to quarrelling, and then drive each other'scattle, and waste each other's lands, sir, you know--"

"I know, " said Amyas, impatiently; "why dost not take the men, and go?"

"Cry you mercy, noble captain, but--I fear nothing born of woman. "

"Well, what of that?" said Amyas, with a smile. 

"But these pucks, sir. The wild Irish do say that they haunt the pools;and they do no manner of harm, sir, when you are coming up to them; butwhen you are past, sir, they jump on your back like to apes, sir, --andwho can tackle that manner of fiend?"

"Why, then, by thine own showing, ancient, " said Raleigh, "thou may'stgo and see all safely enough, and then if the puck jumps on thee as thoucomest back, just run in with him here, and I'll buy him of thee for anoble; or thou may'st keep him in a cage, and make money in London byshowing him for a monster. "

"Good heavens forefend, Captain Raleigh! but you talk rashly! But if Imust, Captain Leigh--

 'Where duty calls To brazen walls, How base the slave who flinches'

Lads, who'll follow me?"

"Thou askest for volunteers, as if thou wert to lead a forlorn hope. Pull away at the usquebaugh, man, and swallow Dutch courage, since thineEnglish is oozed away. Stay, I'll go myself. "

"And I with you, " said Raleigh. "As the queen's true knight-errant, Iam bound to be behindhand in no adventure. Who knows but we may find awicked magician, just going to cut off the head of some saffron-mantledprincess?" and he dismounted. 

"Oh, sirs, sirs, to endanger your precious--"

"Pooh, " said Raleigh. "I wear an amulet, and have a spell of art-magicat my tongue's end, whereby, sir ancient, neither can a ghost see me, nor I see them. Come with us, Yeo, the Desmond-slayer, and we will shamethe devil, or be shamed by him. "

"He may shame me, sir, but he will never frighten me, " quoth Yeo; "butthe bog, captains?"

"Tut! Devonshire men, and heath-trotters born, and not know our way overa peat moor!"

And the three strode away. 

They splashed and scrambled for some quarter of a mile to the knoll, while the cry became louder and louder as they neared. 

"That's neither ghost nor otter, sirs, but a true Irish howl, as CaptainLeigh said; and I'll warrant Master Shamus knew as much long ago, " saidYeo. 

And in fact, they could now hear plainly the "Ochone, Ochonorie, " ofsome wild woman; and scrambling over the boulders of the knoll, inanother minute came full upon her. 

She was a young girl, sluttish and unkempt, of course, but fair enough:her only covering, as usual, was the ample yellow mantle. There she satupon a stone, tearing her black dishevelled hair, and every now and thenthrowing up her head, and bursting into a long mournful cry, "for allthe world, " as Yeo said, "like a dumb four-footed hound, and not aChristian soul. "

On her knees lay the head of a man of middle age, in the long soutane ofa Romish priest. One look at the attitude of his limbs told them that hewas dead. 

The two paused in awe; and Raleigh's spirit, susceptible of all poeticalimages, felt keenly that strange scene, --the bleak and bitter sky, theshapeless bog, the stunted trees, the savage girl alone with the corpsein that utter desolation. And as she bent her head over the still face, and called wildly to him who heard her not, and then, utterly unmindfulof the intruders, sent up again that dreary wail into the dreary air, they felt a sacred horror, which almost made them turn away, and leaveher unquestioned: but Yeo, whose nerves were of tougher fibre, askedquietly--

"Shall I go and search the fellow, captain?"

"Better, I think, " said Amyas. 

Raleigh went gently to the girl, and spoke to her in English. She lookedup at him, his armor and his plume, with wide and wondering eyes, andthen shook her head, and returned to her lamentation. 

Raleigh gently laid his hand on her arm, and lifted her up, while Yeoand Amyas bent over the corpse. 

It was the body of a large and coarse-featured man, but wasted andshrunk as if by famine to a very skeleton. The hands and legs werecramped up, and the trunk bowed together, as if the man had died of coldor famine. Yeo drew back the clothes from the thin bosom, while the girlscreamed and wept, but made no effort to stop him. 

"Ask her who it is? Yeo, you know a little Irish, " said Amyas. 

He asked, but the girl made no answer. "The stubborn jade won't tell, ofcourse, sir. If she were but a man, I'd make her soon enough. "

"Ask her who killed him?"

"No one, she says; and I believe she says true, for I can find no wound. The man has been starved, sirs, as I am a sinful man. God help him, though he is a priest; and yet he seems full enough down below. What'shere? A big pouch, sirs, stuffed full of somewhat. "

"Hand it hither. "

The two opened the pouch; papers, papers, but no scrap of food. Then aparchment. They unrolled it. 

"Latin, " said Amyas; "you must construe, Don Scholar. "

"Is it possible?" said Raleigh, after reading a moment. "This is indeeda prize! This is Saunders himself!"

Yeo sprang up from the body as if he had touched an adder. "NickSaunders, the Legacy, sir?"

"Nicholas Saunders, the legate. "

"The villain! why did not he wait for me to have the comfort of killinghim? Dog!" and he kicked the corpse with his foot. 

"Quiet! quiet! Remember the poor girl, " said Amyas, as she shrieked atthe profanation, while Raleigh went on, half to himself:

"Yes, this is Saunders. Misguided fool, and this is the end! To thisthou hast come with thy plotting and thy conspiring, thy lying and thyboasting, consecrated banners and Pope's bulls, Agnus Deis and holywaters, the blessing of all saints and angels, and thy Lady of theImmaculate Conception! Thou hast called on the heavens to judge betweenthee and us, and here is their answer! What is that in his hand, Amyas?Give it me. A pastoral epistle to the Earl of Ormond, and all nobles ofthe realm of Ireland; 'To all who groan beneath the loathsome tyrannyof an illegitimate adulteress, etc. , Nicholas Saunders, by the graceof God, Legate, etc. ' Bah! and this forsooth was thy last meditation!Incorrigible pedant! Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni!"

He ran his eye through various other documents, written in the usualstrain: full of huge promises from the Pope and the king of Spain;frantic and filthy slanders against Elizabeth, Burghley, Leicester, Essex (the elder), Sidney, and every great and good man (never mindof which party) who then upheld the commonweal; bombastic attempts toterrify weak consciences, by denouncing endless fire against those whoopposed the true faith; fulsome ascriptions of martyrdom and sanctity toevery rebel and traitor who had been hanged for the last twentyyears; wearisome arguments about the bull In Caena Domini, Elizabeth'sexcommunication, the nullity of English law, the sacred duty ofrebellion, the right to kill a prince impenitently heretical, and thelike insanities and villainies, which may be read at large in Camden, the Phoenix Britannicus, Fox's Martyrs, or, surest of all, in thewritings of the worthies themselves. 

With a gesture of disgust, Raleigh crammed the foul stuff back againinto the pouch. Taking it with them, they walked back to the company, and then remounting, marched away once more towards the lands of theDesmonds; and the girl was left alone with the dead. 

An hour had passed, when another Englishman was standing by the wailinggirl, and round him a dozen shockheaded kernes, skene on thigh andjavelin in hand, were tossing about their tawny rags, and adding theirlamentations to those of the lonely watcher. 

The Englishman was Eustace Leigh; a layman still, but still at his oldwork. By two years of intrigue and labor from one end of Ireland to theother, he had been trying to satisfy his conscience for rejecting "thehigher calling" of the celibate; for mad hopes still lurked within thatfiery heart. His brow was wrinkled now; his features harshened; thescar upon his face, and the slight distortion which accompanied it, washidden by a bushy beard from all but himself; and he never forgot it fora day, nor forgot who had given it to him. 

He had been with Desmond, wandering in moor and moss for many a monthin danger of his life; and now he was on his way to James Fitz-Eustace, Lord Baltinglas, to bring him the news of Desmond's death; and withhim a remnant of the clan, who were either too stout-hearted, or toodesperately stained with crime, to seek peace from the English, and, astheir fellows did, find it at once and freely. 

There Eustace stood, looking down on all that was left of the mostsacred personage of Ireland; the man who, as he once had hoped, was toregenerate his native land, and bring the proud island of the West oncemore beneath that gentle yoke, in which united Christendom labored forthe commonweal of the universal Church. There he was, and with him allEustace's dreams, in the very heart of that country which he had vowed, and believed as he vowed, was ready to rise in arms as one man, even tothe baby at the breast (so he had said), in vengeance against the Saxonheretic, and sweep the hated name of Englishman into the deepest abyssesof the surge which walled her coasts; with Spain and the Pope to backhim, and the wealth of the Jesuits at his command; in the midstof faithful Catholics, valiant soldiers, noblemen who had pledgedthemselves to die for the cause, serfs who worshipped him as ademigod--starved to death in a bog! It was a pretty plain verdict on thereasonableness of his expectations; but not to Eustace Leigh. 

It was a failure, of course; but it was an accident; indeed, to havebeen expected, in a wicked world whose prince and master, as allknew, was the devil himself; indeed, proof of the righteousness ofthe cause--for when had the true faith been other than persecuted andtrampled under foot? If one came to think of it with eyes purified fromthe tears of carnal impatience, what was it but a glorious martyrdom?

"Blest Saunders!" murmured Eustace Leigh; "let me die the death of therighteous, and let my last end he like this! Ora pro me, most excellentmartyr, while I dig thy grave upon this lonely moor, to wait there forthy translation to one of those stately shrines, which, cemented by theblood of such as thee, shall hereafter rise restored toward heaven, tomake this land once more 'The Isle of Saints. '"

The corpse was buried; a few prayers said hastily; and Eustace Leigh wasaway again, not now to find Baltinglas; for it was more than his lifewas worth. The girl had told him of the English soldiers who had passed, and he knew that they would reach the earl probably before he did. Thegame was up; all was lost. So he retraced his steps, as a desperateresource, to the last place where he would be looked for, and after amonth of disguising, hiding, and other expedients, found himself againin his native county of Devon, while Fitz-Eustace Viscount Baltinglashad taken ship for Spain, having got little by his famous argumentto Ormond in behalf of his joining the Church of Rome, "Had not thineancestor, blessed Thomas of Canterbury, died for the Church of Rome, thou hadst never been Earl of Ormond. " The premises were certainlysounder than those of his party were wont to be; for it was to expiatethe murder of that turbulent hero that the Ormond lands had been grantedby Henry II. : but as for the conclusion therefrom, it was much on a parwith the rest. 

And now let us return to Raleigh and Amyas, as they jog along theirweary road. They have many things to talk of; for it is but three dayssince they met. 

Amyas, as you see, is coming fast into Raleigh's old opinion of Ireland. Raleigh, under the inspiration of a possible grant of Desmond's lands, looks on bogs and rocks transfigured by his own hopes and fancy, as ifby the glory of a rainbow. He looked at all things so, noble fellow, even thirty years after, when old, worn out, and ruined; well for himhad it been otherwise, and his heart had grown old with his head! Amyas, who knows nothing about Desmond's lands, is puzzled at the change. 

"Why, what is this, Raleigh? You are like children sitting in themarket-place, and nothing pleases you. You wanted to get to Court, andyou have got there; and are lord and master, I hear, or something verylike it, already--and as soon as fortune stuffs your mouth full ofsweet-meats, do you turn informer on her?"

Raleigh laughed insignificantly, but was silent. 

"And how is your friend Mr. Secretary Spenser, who was with us atSmerwick?"

"Spenser? He has thriven even as I have; and he has found, as I have, that in making one friend at Court you make ten foes; but 'Oderint dummetuant' is no more my motto than his, Leigh. I want to be great--greatI am already, they say, if princes' favor can swell the frog into an ox;but I want to be liked, loved--I want to see people smile when I enter. "

"So they do, I'll warrant, " said Amyas. 

"So do hyenas, " said Raleigh; "grin because they are hungry, and I maythrow them a bone; I'll throw you one now, old lad, or rather a goodsirloin of beef, for the sake of your smile. That's honest, at least, I'll warrant, whosoever's else is not. Have you heard of my brotherHumphrey's new project?"

"How should I hear anything in this waste howling wilderness?"

"Kiss hands to the wilderness, then, and come with me to Newfoundland!"

"You to Newfoundland?"

"Yes. I to Newfoundland, unless my little matter here is settled atonce. Gloriana don't know it, and sha'n't till I'm off. She'd send me tothe Tower, I think, if she caught me playing truant. I could hardly getleave to come hither; but I must out, and try my fortune. I am over earsin debt already, and sick of courts and courtiers. Humphrey must go nextspring and take possession of his kingdom beyond seas, or his patentexpires; and with him I go, and you too, my circumnavigating giant. "

And then Raleigh expounded to Amyas the details of the greatNewfoundland scheme, which whoso will may read in the pages of Hakluyt. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Raleigh's half-brother, held a patent for"planting" the lands of Newfoundland and "Meta Incognita" (Labrador). He had attempted a voyage thither with Raleigh in 1578, whereof I nevercould find any news, save that he came back again, after a heavy brushwith some Spanish ships (in which his best captain, Mr. Morgan, waskilled), having done nothing, and much impaired his own estate: but nowhe had collected a large sum; Sir Gilbert Peckham of London, Mr. Hayesof South Devon, and various other gentlemen, of whom more hereafter, hadadventured their money; and a considerable colony was to be sent out thenext year, with miners, assayers, and, what was more, Parmenius Budaeus, Frank's old friend, who had come to England full of thirst to see thewonders of the New World; and over and above this, as Raleigh told Amyasin strictest secrecy, Adrian Gilbert, Humphrey's brother, was turningevery stone at Court for a patent of discovery in the North-West;and this Newfoundland colony, though it was to produce gold, silver, merchandise, and what not, was but a basis of operations, a halfwayhouse from whence to work out the North-West passage to the Indies--thatgolden dream, as fatal to English valor as the Guiana one toSpanish--and yet hardly, hardly to be regretted, when we remember theseamanship, the science, the chivalry, the heroism, unequalled in thehistory of the English nation, which it has called forth among thoseour later Arctic voyagers, who have combined the knight-errantry of themiddle age with the practical prudence of the modern, and dared for dutymore than Cortez or Pizarro dared for gold. 

Amyas, simple fellow, took all in greedily; he knew enough of thedangers of the Magellan passage to appreciate the boundless value of aroad to the East Indies which would (as all supposed then) save half thedistance, and be as it were a private possession of the English, safefrom Spanish interference; and he listened reverently to Sir Humphrey'squaint proofs, half true, half fantastic, of such a passage, whichRaleigh detailed to him--of the Primum Mobile, and its diurnal motionfrom east to west, in obedience to which the sea-current flowed westwardever round the Cape of Good Hope, and being unable to pass through thenarrow strait between South America and the Antarctic Continent, rushedup the American shore, as the Gulf Stream, and poured northwestwardbetween Greenland and Labrador towards Cathay and India; of that mostcrafty argument of Sir Humphrey's--how Aristotle in his book "De Mundo, "and Simon Gryneus in his annotations thereon, declare that the world(the Old World) is an island, compassed by that which Homer calls theriver Oceanus; ergo, the New World is an island also, and there isa North-West passage; of the three brothers (names unknown) who hadactually made the voyage, and named what was afterwards called Davis'sStrait after themselves; of the Indians who were cast ashore in Germanyin the reign of Frederic Barbarossa who, as Sir Humphrey had learnedlyproved per modum tollendi, could have come only by the North-West; andabove all, of Salvaterra, the Spaniard, who in 1568 had told Sir HenrySidney (Philip's father), there in Ireland, how he had spoken with aMexican friar named Urdaneta, who had himself come from Mar del Zur (thePacific) into Germany by that very North-West passage; at which lastAmyas shook his head, and said that friars were liars, and seeingbelieving; "but if you must needs have an adventure, you insatiable soulyou, why not try for the golden city of Manoa?"

"Manoa?" asked Raleigh, who had heard, as most had, dim rumors of theplace. "What do you know of it?"

Whereon Amyas told him all that he had gathered from the Spaniard; andRaleigh, in his turn, believed every word. 

"Humph!" said he after a long silence. "To find that golden emperor;offer him help and friendship from the queen of England; defend himagainst the Spaniards; if we became strong enough, conquer back all Perufrom the Popish tyrants, and reinstate him on the throne of the Incas, with ourselves for his body-guard, as the Norman Varangians were tothe effeminate emperors of Byzant--Hey, Amyas? You would make a gallantchieftain of Varangs. We'll do it, lad!"

"We'll try, " said Amyas; "but we must be quick, for there's one Berreosworn to carry out the quest to the death; and if the Spaniards once getthither, their plan of works will be much more like Pizarro's than likeyours; and by the time we come, there will be neither gold nor cityleft. "

"Nor Indians either, I'll warrant the butchers; but, lad, I am promisedto Humphrey; I have a bark fitting out already, and all I have, andmore, adventured in her; so Manoa must wait. "

"It will wait well enough, if the Spaniards prosper no better on theAmazon than they have done; but must I come with you? To tell the truth, I am quite shore-sick, and to sea I must go. What will my mother say?"

"I'll manage thy mother, " said Raleigh; and so he did; for, to cut along story short, he went back the month after, and he not only tookhome letters from Amyas to his mother, but so impressed on that goodlady the enormous profits and honors to be derived from Meta Incognita, and (which was most true) the advantage to any young man of sailingwith such a general as Humphrey Gilbert, most pious and most learned ofseamen and of cavaliers, beloved and honored above all his compeers byQueen Elizabeth, that she consented to Amyas's adventuring in thevoyage some two hundred pounds which had come to him as his share ofprize-money, after the ever memorable circumnavigation. For Mrs. Leigh, be it understood, was no longer at Burrough Court. By Frank'spersuasion, she had let the old place, moved up to London with hereldest son, and taken for herself a lodging somewhere by Palace Stairs, which looked out upon the silver Thames (for Thames was silver then), with its busy ferries and gliding boats, across to the pleasant fieldsof Lambeth, and the Archbishop's palace, and the wooded Surrey hills;and there she spent her peaceful days, close to her Frank and to theCourt. Elizabeth would have had her re-enter it, offering her a smallplace in the household: but she declined, saying that she was too oldand heart-weary for aught but prayer. So by prayer she lived, under thesheltering shadow of the tall minster where she went morn and even toworship, and to entreat for the two in whom her heart was bound up; andFrank slipped in every day if but for five minutes, and brought with himSpenser, or Raleigh, or Dyer, or Budaeus or sometimes Sidney's self: andthere was talk of high and holy things, of which none could speak betterthan could she; and each guest went from that hallowed room a humblerand yet a loftier man. So slipped on the peaceful months, and fewand far between came Irish letters, for Ireland was then farther fromWestminster than is the Black Sea now; but those were days in whichwives and mothers had learned (as they have learned once more, sweetsouls!) to walk by faith and not by sight for those they love: and Mrs. Leigh was content (though when was she not content?) to hear that Amyaswas winning a good report as a brave and prudent officer, sober, just, and faithful, beloved and obeyed alike by English soldiers and Irishkernes. 

Those two years, and the one which followed, were the happiest which shehad known since her husband's death. But the cloud was fast coming upthe horizon, though she saw it not. A little longer, and the sun wouldbe hid for many a wintry day. 

Amyas went to Plymouth (with Yeo, of course, at his heels), and therebeheld, for the first time, the majestic countenance of the philosopherof Compton castle. He lodged with Drake, and found him not over-sanguineas to the success of the voyage. 

"For learning and manners, Amyas, there's not his equal; and the queenmay well love him, and Devon be proud of him: but book-learning is notbusiness: book-learning didn't get me round the world; book-learningdidn't make Captain Hawkins, nor his father neither, the bestship-builders from Hull to Cadiz; and book-learning, I very much fear, won't plant Newfoundland. "

However, the die was cast, and the little fleet of five sail assembledin Cawsand Bay. Amyas was to go as a gentleman adventurer on board ofRaleigh's bark; Raleigh himself, however, at the eleventh hour, had beenforbidden by the queen to leave England. Ere they left, Sir HumphreyGilbert's picture was painted by some Plymouth artist, to be sent up toElizabeth in answer to a letter and a gift sent by Raleigh, which, as aspecimen of the men and of the time, I here transcribe*--

"BROTHER--I have sent you a token from her Majesty, an anchor guidedby a lady, as you see. And further, her Highness willed me to send youword, that she wisheth you as great good hap and safety to your ship asif she were there in person, desiring you to have care of yourself as ofthat which she tendereth and, therefore, for her sake, you must providefor it accordingly. Furthermore, she commandeth that you leave yourpicture with her. For the rest I leave till our meeting, or to thereport of the bearer, who would needs be the messenger of this goodnews. So I commit you to the will and protection of God, who send ussuch life and death as he shall please, or hath appointed. 

"Richmond, this Friday morning, "Your true Brother, "W. RALEIGH. "

 * This letter was a few years since in the possession of Mr. Pomeroy Gilbert, fort-major at Dartmouth, a descendant of the admiral's. 

"Who would not die, sir, for such a woman?" said Sir Humphrey (and hesaid truly), as he showed that letter to Amyas. 

"Who would not? But she bids you rather live for her. "

"I shall do both, young man; and for God too, I trust. We are going inGod's cause; we go for the honor of God's Gospel, for the deliverance ofpoor infidels led captive by the devil; for the relief of my distressedcountrymen unemployed within this narrow isle; and to God we commit ourcause. We fight against the devil himself; and stronger is He that iswithin us than he that is against us. "

Some say that Raleigh himself came down to Plymouth, accompanied thefleet a day's sail to sea, and would have given her majesty the slip, and gone with them Westward-ho, but for Sir Humphrey's advice. It islikely enough: but I cannot find evidence for it. At all events, on the11th June the fleet sailed out, having, says Mr. Hayes, "in number about260 men, among whom we had of every faculty good choice, as shipwrights, masons, carpenters, smiths, and such like, requisite for such an action;also mineral men and refiners. Beside, for solace of our people andallurement of the savages, we were provided of musique in good variety;not omitting the least toys, as morris-dancers, hobby-horses, andMay-like conceits, to delight the savage people, whom we intended to winby all fair means possible. " An armament complete enough, even to thattenderness towards the Indians, which is so striking a feature ofthe Elizabethan seamen (called out in them, perhaps, by horror at theSpanish cruelties, as well as by their more liberal creed), and to thedaily service of God on board of every ship, according to the simpleold instructions of Captain John Hawkins to one of his little squadrons, "Keep good company; beware of fire; serve God daily; and love oneanother"--an armament, in short, complete in all but men. The sailorshad been picked up hastily and anywhere, and soon proved themselves amutinous, and, in the case of the bark Swallow, a piratical set. Themechanics were little better. The gentlemen-adventurers, puffed up withvain hopes of finding a new Mexico, became soon disappointed and surlyat the hard practical reality; while over all was the head of a sage andan enthusiast, a man too noble to suspect others, and too pure tomake allowances for poor dirty human weaknesses. He had got his schemeperfect upon paper; well for him, and for his company, if he had askedFrancis Drake to translate it for him into fact! As early as the secondday, the seeds of failure began to sprout above ground. The men ofRaleigh's bark, the Vice-Admiral, suddenly found themselves seized, orsupposed themselves seized, with a contagious sickness, and at midnightforsook the fleet, and went back to Plymouth; whereto Mr. Hayes can onlysay, "The reason I never could understand. Sure I am that Mr. Raleighspared no cost in setting them forth. And so I leave it unto God!"

But Amyas said more. He told Butler the captain plainly that, if thebark went back, he would not; that he had seen enough of ships desertingtheir consorts; that it should never be said of him that he had followedWinter's example, and that, too, on a fair easterly wind; and finallythat he had seen Doughty hanged for trying to play such a trick; andthat he might see others hanged too before he died. Whereon CaptainButler offered to draw and fight, to which Amyas showed no repugnance;whereon the captain, having taken a second look at Amyas's thews andsinews, reconsidered the matter, and offered to put Amyas on board ofSir Humphrey's Delight, if he could find a crew to row him. 

Amyas looked around. 

"Are there any of Sir Francis Drake's men on board?"

"Three, sir, " said Yeo. "Robert Drew, and two others. "

"Pelicans!" roared Amyas, "you have been round the world, and will youturn back from Westward-ho?"

There was a moment's silence, and then Drew came forward. 

"Lower us a boat, captain, and lend us a caliver to make signals with, while I get my kit on deck; I'll after Captain Leigh, if I row himaboard all alone to my own hands. "

"If I ever command a ship, I will not forget you, " said Amyas. 

"Nor us either, sir, we hope; for we haven't forgotten you and yourhonest conditions, " said both the other Pelicans; and so away over theside went all the five, and pulled away after the admiral's lantern, firing shots at intervals as signals. Luckily for the five desperadoes, the night was all but calm. They got on board before the morning, and soaway into the boundless West. *

 * The Raleigh, the largest ship of the squadron, was of only 200 tons burden; The Golden Hind, Hayes' ship, which returned safe, of 40; and The Squirrel (whereof more hereafter), of 10 tons! In such cockboats did these old heroes brave the unknown seas. 

CHAPTER XII

HOW BIDEFORD BRIDGE DINED AT ANNERY HOUSE

 "Three lords sat drinking late yestreen, And ere they paid the lawing, They set a combat them between, To fight it in the dawing"--Scotch Ballad. 

Every one who knows Bideford cannot but know Bideford bridge; for it isthe very omphalos, cynosure, and soul, around which the town, as a body, has organized itself; and as Edinburgh is Edinburgh by virtue of itscastle, Rome Rome by virtue of its capitol, and Egypt Egypt by virtue ofits pyramids, so is Bideford Bideford by virtue of its bridge. But alldo not know the occult powers which have advanced and animated thesaid wondrous bridge for now five hundred years, and made it the chiefwonder, according to Prince and Fuller, of this fair land of Devon:being first an inspired bridge, a soul-saving bridge, an alms-givingbridge, an educational bridge, a sentient bridge, and last, but notleast, a dinner-giving bridge. All do not know how, when it began tobe built some half mile higher up, hands invisible carried the stonesdown-stream each night to the present site; until Sir Richard Gurney, parson of the parish, going to bed one night in sore perplexity and fearof the evil spirit who seemed so busy in his sheepfold, beheld a visionof an angel, who bade build the bridge where he himself had so kindlytransported the materials; for there alone was sure foundation amid thebroad sheet of shifting sand. All do not know how Bishop Grandison ofExeter proclaimed throughout his diocese indulgences, benedictions, and"participation in all spiritual blessings for ever, " to all who wouldpromote the bridging of that dangerous ford; and so, consulting alikethe interests of their souls and of their bodies, "make the best of bothworlds. "

All do not know, nor do I, that "though the foundation of the bridgeis laid upon wool, yet it shakes at the slightest step of a horse;" orthat, "though it has twenty-three arches, yet one Wm. Alford (anotherMilo) carried on his back for a wager four bushels salt-water measure, all the length thereof;" or that the bridge is a veritable esquire, bearing arms of its own (a ship and bridge proper on a plain field), and owning lands and tenements in many parishes, with which the saidmiraculous bridge has, from time to time, founded charities, builtschools, waged suits at law, and finally (for this concerns us most)given yearly dinners, and kept for that purpose (luxurious and liquorishbridge that it was) the best stocked cellar of wines in all Devon. 

To one of these dinners, as it happened, were invited in the year 1583all the notabilities of Bideford, and beside them Mr. St. Legerof Annery close by, brother of the marshal of Munster, and of LadyGrenville; a most worthy and hospitable gentleman, who, finding richesa snare, parted with them so freely to all his neighbors as long as helived, that he effectually prevented his children after him from fallinginto the temptations thereunto incident. 

Between him and one of the bridge trustees arose an argument, whethera salmon caught below the bridge was better or worse than one caughtabove; and as that weighty question could only be decided by practicalexperiment, Mr. St. Leger vowed that as the bridge had given him a gooddinner, he would give the bridge one; offered a bet of five pounds thathe would find them, out of the pool below Annery, as firm and flaky asalmon as the Appledore one which they had just eaten; and then, in thefulness of his heart, invited the whole company present to dine with himat Annery three days after, and bring with them each a wife or daughter;and Don Guzman being at table, he was invited too. 

So there was a mighty feast in the great hall at Annery, such as hadseldom been since Judge Hankford feasted Edward the Fourth there; andwhile every one was eating their best and drinking their worst, RoseSalterne and Don Guzman were pretending not to see each other, andwatching each other all the more. But Rose, at least, had to be verycareful of her glances; for not only was her father at the table, butjust opposite her sat none other than Messrs. William Cary and ArthurSt. Leger, lieutenants in her majesty's Irish army, who had returned onfurlough a few days before. 

Rose Salterne and the Spaniard had not exchanged a word in the last sixmonths, though they had met many times. The Spaniard by no means avoidedher company, except in her father's house; he only took care to obeyher carefully, by seeming always unconscious of her presence, beyond thestateliest of salutes at entering and departing. But he took care, atthe same time, to lay himself out to the very best advantage wheneverhe was in her presence; to be more witty, more eloquent, more romantic, more full of wonderful tales than he ever yet had been. The cunningDon had found himself foiled in his first tactic; and he was nowtrying another, and a far more formidable one. In the first place, Rosedeserved a very severe punishment, for having dared to refuse the loveof a Spanish nobleman; and what greater punishment could he inflict thanwithdrawing the honor of his attentions, and the sunshine of his smiles?There was conceit enough in that notion, but there was cunning too;for none knew better than the Spaniard, that women, like the world, arepretty sure to value a man (especially if there be any real worth inhim) at his own price; and that the more he demands for himself, themore they will give for him. 

And now he would put a high price on himself, and pique her pride, asshe was too much accustomed to worship, to be won by flattering it. Hemight have done that by paying attention to some one else: but he wastoo wise to employ so coarse a method, which might raise indignation, ordisgust, or despair in Rose's heart, but would have never brought her tohis feet--as it will never bring any woman worth bringing. So he quietlyand unobtrusively showed her that he could do without her; and she, poorfool, as she was meant to do, began forthwith to ask herself--why? Whatwas the hidden treasure, what was the reserve force, which made himindependent of her, while she could not say that she was independent ofhim? Had he a secret? how pleasant to know it! Some huge ambition? howpleasant to share in it! Some mysterious knowledge? how pleasant tolearn it! Some capacity of love beyond the common? how delicious to haveit all for her own! He must be greater, wiser, richer-hearted than shewas, as well as better-born. Ah, if his wealth would but supply herpoverty! And so, step by step, she was being led to sue in formapauperis to the very man whom she had spurned when he sued in like formto her. That temptation of having some mysterious private treasure, ofbeing the priestess of some hidden sanctuary, and being able to thankHeaven that she was not as other women are, was becoming fast too muchfor Rose, as it is too much for most. For none knew better than theSpaniard how much more fond women are, by the very law of their sex, of worshipping than of being worshipped, and of obeying than of beingobeyed; how their coyness, often their scorn, is but a mask to hidetheir consciousness of weakness; and a mask, too, of which theythemselves will often be the first to tire. 

And Rose was utterly tired of that same mask as she sat at table atAnnery that day; and Don Guzman saw it in her uneasy and downcast looks, and thinking (conceited coxcomb) that she must be by now sufficientlypunished, stole a glance at her now and then, and was not abashed whenhe saw that she dropped her eyes when they met his, because he saw hersilence and abstraction increase, and something like a blush steal intoher cheeks. So he pretended to be as much downcast and abstracted as shewas, and went on with his glances, till he once found her, poor thing, looking at him to see if he was looking at her; and then he knew hisprey was safe, and asked her, with his eyes, "Do you forgive me?" andsaw her stop dead in her talk to her next neighbor, and falter, and dropher eyes, and raise them again after a minute in search of his, thathe might repeat the pleasant question. And then what could she do butanswer with all her face and every bend of her pretty neck, "And do youforgive me in turn?"

Whereon Don Guzman broke out jubilant, like nightingale on bough, withstory, and jest, and repartee; and became forthwith the soul of thewhole company, and the most charming of all cavaliers. And poor Roseknew that she was the cause of his sudden change of mood, and blamedherself for what she had done, and shuddered and blushed at her owndelight, and longed that the feast was over, that she might hurry homeand hide herself alone with sweet fancies about a love the reality ofwhich she felt she dared not face. 

It was a beautiful sight, the great terrace at Annery that afternoon;with the smart dames in their gaudy dresses parading up and down in twosand threes before the stately house; or looking down upon the park, withthe old oaks, and the deer, and the broad land-locked river spread outlike a lake beneath, all bright in the glare of the midsummer sun; orlistening obsequiously to the two great ladies who did the honors, Mrs. St. Leger the hostess, and her sister-in-law, fair Lady Grenville. Allchatted, and laughed, and eyed each other's dresses, and gossiped abouteach other's husbands and servants: only Rose Salterne kept apart, andlonged to get into a corner and laugh or cry, she knew not which. 

"Our pretty Rose seems sad, " said Lady Grenville, coming up to her. "Cheer up, child! we want you to come and sing to us. "

Rose answered she knew not what, and obeyed mechanically. 

She took the lute, and sat down on a bench beneath the house, while therest grouped themselves round her. 

"What shall I sing?"

"Let us have your old song, 'Earl Haldan's Daughter. '"

Rose shrank from it. It was a loud and dashing ballad, which chimed inbut little with her thoughts; and Frank had praised it too, in happierdays long since gone by. She thought of him, and of others, and of herpride and carelessness; and the song seemed ominous to her: and yet forthat very reason she dared not refuse to sing it, for fear of suspicionwhere no one suspected; and so she began per force--

I. 

"It was Earl Haldan's daughter, She look'd across the sea; She look'dacross the water, And long and loud laugh'd she; 'The locks of sixprincesses Must be my marriage-fee, So hey bonny boat, and ho bonnyboat! Who comes a wooing me?'

II. 

"It was Earl Haldan's daughter, She walk'd along the sand; When she wasaware of a knight so fair, Come sailing to the land. His sails were allof velvet, His mast of beaten gold, And 'hey bonny boat, and ho bonnyboat, Who saileth here so bold?'

III. 

"'The locks of five princesses I won beyond the sea; I shore theirgolden tresses, To fringe a cloak for thee. One handful yet is wanting, But one of all the tale; So hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat! Furl upthy velvet sail!'

IV. 

"He leapt into the water, That rover young and bold; He gript EarlHaldan's daughter, He shore her locks of gold; 'Go weep, go weep, proudmaiden, The tale is full to-day. Now hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat!Sail Westward-ho, and away!'"

As she ceased, a measured voice, with a foreign accent, thrilled throughher. 

"In the East, they say the nightingale sings to the rose; Devon, morehappy, has nightingale and rose in one. "

"We have no nightingales in Devon, Don Guzman, " said Lady Grenville;"but our little forest thrushes sing, as you hear, sweetly enough tocontent any ear. But what brings you away from the gentlemen so early?"

"These letters, " said he, "which have just been put into my hand; andas they call me home to Spain, I was loath to lose a moment of thatdelightful company from which I must part so soon. "

"To Spain?" asked half-a-dozen voices: for the Don was a generalfavorite. 

"Yes, and thence to the Indies. My ransom has arrived, and with itthe promise of an office. I am to be Governor of La Guayra in Caracas. Congratulate me on my promotion. "

A mist was over Rose's eyes. The Spaniard's voice was hard and flippant. Did he care for her, after all? And if he did, was it neverthelesshopeless? How her cheeks glowed! Everybody must see it! Anything to turnaway their attention from her, and in that nervous haste which makespeople speak, and speak foolishly too, just because they ought to besilent, she asked--

"And where is La Guayra?"

"Half round the world, on the coast of the Spanish Main. The loveliestplace on earth, and the loveliest governor's house, in a forest of palmsat the foot of a mountain eight thousand feet high: I shall only want awife there to be in paradise. "

"I don't doubt that you may persuade some fair lady of Seville toaccompany you thither, " said Lady Grenville. 

"Thanks, gracious madam: but the truth is, that since I have had thebliss of knowing English ladies, I have begun to think that they are theonly ones on earth worth wooing. "

"A thousand thanks for the compliment; but I fear none of our freeEnglish maidens would like to submit to the guardianship of a duenna. Eh, Rose? how should you like to be kept under lock and key all day byan ugly old woman with a horn on her forehead?"

Poor Rose turned so scarlet that Lady Grenville knew her secret on thespot, and would have tried to turn the conversation: but before shecould speak, some burgher's wife blundered out a commonplace aboutthe jealousy of Spanish husbands; and another, to make matters better, giggled out something more true than delicate about West Indian mastersand fair slaves. 

"Ladies, " said Don Guzman, reddening, "believe me that these are but thecalumnies of ignorance. If we be more jealous than other nations, it isbecause we love more passionately. If some of us abroad are profligate, it is because they, poor men, have no helpmate, which, like theamethyst, keeps its wearer pure. I could tell you stories, ladies, ofthe constancy and devotion of Spanish husbands, even in the Indies, asstrange as ever romancer invented. "

"Can you? Then we challenge you to give us one at least. "

"I fear it would be too long, madam. "

"The longer the more pleasant, senor. How can we spend an hour betterthis afternoon, while the gentlemen within are finishing their wine?"

Story-telling, in those old times, when books (and authors also, luckyfor the public) were rarer than now, was a common amusement; and as theSpaniard's accomplishments in that line were well known, all the ladiescrowded round him; the servants brought chairs and benches; and DonGuzman, taking his seat in the midst, with a proud humility, at LadyGrenville's feet, began--

"Your perfections, fair and illustrious ladies, must doubtless haveheard, ere now, how Sebastian Cabota, some forty-five years ago, sailedforth with a commission from my late master, the Emperor Charles theFifth, to discover the golden lands of Tarshish, Ophir, and Cipango; butbeing in want of provisions, stopped short at the mouth of that mightySouth American river to which he gave the name of Rio de la Plata, andsailing up it, discovered the fair land of Paraguay. But you may nothave heard how, on the bank of that river, at the mouth of the RioTerceiro, he built a fort which men still call Cabot's Tower; nor haveyou, perhaps, heard of the strange tale which will ever make the tower asacred spot to all true lovers. 

"For when he returned to Spain the year after, he left in his tower agarrison of a hundred and twenty men, under the command of Nuno de Lara, Ruiz Moschera, and Sebastian da Hurtado, old friends and fellow-soldiersof my invincible grandfather Don Ferdinando da Soto; and with thema jewel, than which Spain never possessed one more precious, LuciaMiranda, the wife of Hurtado, who, famed in the court of the emperorno less for her wisdom and modesty than for her unrivalled beauty, had thrown up all the pomp and ambition of a palace, to marry a pooradventurer, and to encounter with him the hardships of a voyage roundthe world. Mangora, the cacique of the neighboring Timbuez Indians (withwhom Lara had contrived to establish a friendship), cast his eyes onthis fair creature, and no sooner saw than he coveted; no sooner covetedthan he plotted, with the devilish subtilty of a savage, to seize byforce what he knew he could never gain by right. She soon found out hispassion (she was wise enough--what every woman is not--to know when sheis loved), and telling her husband, kept as much as she could out of hernew lover's sight; while the savage pressed Hurtado to come and visithim, and to bring his lady with him. Hurtado, suspecting the snare, andyet fearing to offend the cacique, excused himself courteously onthe score of his soldier's duty; and the savage, mad with desire anddisappointment, began plotting against Hurtado's life. 

"So went on several weeks, till food grew scarce, and Don Hurtado andDon Ruiz Moschera, with fifty soldiers, were sent up the river on aforaging party. Mangora saw his opportunity, and leapt at it forthwith. 

"The tower, ladies, as I have heard from those who have seen it, standson a knoll at the meeting of the two rivers, while on the land sidestretches a dreary marsh, covered with tall grass and bushes; a fitplace for the ambuscade of four thousand Indians, which Mangora, withdevilish cunning, placed around the tower, while he himself went boldlyup to it, followed by thirty men, laden with grain, fruit, game, and allthe delicacies which his forests could afford. 

"There, with a smiling face, he told the unsuspecting Lara his sorrowfor the Spaniards' want of food; besought him to accept the provision hehad brought, and was, as he had expected, invited by Lara to come in andtaste the wines of Spain. 

"In went he and his thirty fellow-bandits, and the feast continued, with songs and libations, far into the night, while Mangora often lookedround, and at last boldly asked for the fair Miranda: but she had shutherself into her lodging, pleading illness. 

"A plea, fair ladies, which little availed that hapless dame, for nosooner had the Spaniards retired to rest, leaving (by I know not whatmadness) Mangora and his Indians within, than they were awakened by thecry of fire, the explosion of their magazine, and the inward rush of thefour thousand from the marsh outside. 

"Why pain your gentle ears with details of slaughter? A few fearfulminutes sufficed to exterminate my bewildered and unarmed countrymen, tobind the only survivors, Miranda (innocent cause of the whole tragedy)and four other women with their infants, and to lead them away intriumph across the forest towards the Indian town. 

"Stunned by the suddenness of the evils which had passed, and stillmore by the thought of those worse which were to come (as she toowell foresaw), Miranda travelled all night through the forest, and wasbrought in triumph at day-dawn before the Indian king to receive herdoom. Judge of her astonishment, when, on looking up, she saw that hewas not Mangora. 

"A ray of hope flashed across her, and she asked where he was. 

"'He was slain last night, ' said the king; 'and I, his brother Siripa, am now cacique of the Timbuez. '

"It was true; Lara, maddened with drink, rage, and wounds, had caught uphis sword, rushed into the thick of the fight, singled out the traitor, and slain him on the spot; and then, forgetting safety in revenge, hadcontinued to plunge his sword into the corpse, heedless of the blows ofthe savages, till he fell pierced with a hundred wounds. 

"A ray of hope, as I said, flashed across the wretched Miranda for amoment; but the next she found that she had been freed from one banditonly to be delivered to another. 

"'Yes, ' said the new king, in broken Spanish; 'my brother played a boldstake, and lost it; but it was well worth the risk, and he showed hiswisdom thereby. You cannot be his queen now: you must content yourselfwith being mine. '

"Miranda, desperate, answered him with every fierce taunt which shecould invent against his treachery and his crime; and asked him, how hecame to dream that the wife of a Christian Spaniard would condescendto become the mistress of a heathen savage; hoping, unhappy lady, toexasperate him into killing her on the spot. But in vain; she onlyprolonged thereby her own misery. For, whether it was, ladies, that thenovel sight of divine virtue and beauty awed (as it may have awed me erenow), where it had just before maddened; or whether some dream crossedthe savage (as it may have crossed me ere now), that he could make thewisdom of a mortal angel help his ambition, as well as her beauty hishappiness; or whether (which I will never believe of one of those darkchildren of the devil, though I can boldly assert it of myself) somespark of boldness within him made him too proud to take by force whathe could not win by persuasion, certain it is, as the Indians themselvesconfessed afterwards, that the savage only answered her by smiles; andbidding his men unbind her, told her that she was no slave of his, andthat it only lay with her to become the sovereign of him and allhis vassals; assigned her a hut to herself, loaded her with savageornaments, and for several weeks treated her with no less courtesy(so miraculous is the power of love) than if he had been a cavalier ofCastile. 

"Three months and more, ladies, as I have heard, passed in this misery, and every day Miranda grew more desperate of all deliverance, and sawstaring her in the face, nearer and nearer, some hideous and shamefulend; when one day going down with the wives of the cacique to draw waterin the river, she saw on the opposite bank a white man in a tatteredSpanish dress, with a drawn sword in his hand; who had no sooner espiedher, than shrieking her name, he plunged into the stream, swam across, landed at her feet, and clasped her in his arms. It was no other, ladies, incredible as it may seem, than Don Sebastian himself, who hadreturned with Ruiz Moschera to the tower, and found it only a charredand bloodstained heap of ruins. 

"He guessed, as by inspiration, what had passed, and whither his ladywas gone; and without a thought of danger, like a true Spanish gentlemanand a true Spanish lover, darted off alone into the forest, andguided only by the inspiration of his own loyal heart, found again histreasure, and found it still unstained and his own. 

"Who can describe the joy, and who again the terror, of their meeting?The Indian women had fled in fear, and for the short ten minutes thatthe lovers were left together, life, to be sure, was one long kiss. But what to do they knew not. To go inland was to rush into the enemy'sarms. He would have swum with her across the river, and attempted it;but his strength, worn out with hunger and travel, failed him; he drewher with difficulty on shore again, and sat down by her to await theirdoom with prayer, the first and last resource of virtuous ladies, asweapons are of cavaliers. 

"Alas for them! May no true lovers ever have to weep over joys so soonlost, after having been so hardly found! For, ere a quarter of an hourwas passed, the Indian women, who had fled at his approach, returnedwith all the warriors of the tribe. Don Sebastian, desperate, wouldfain have slain his wife and himself on the spot; but his hand sankagain--and whose would not but an Indian's?--as he raised it againstthat fair and faithful breast; in a few minutes he was surrounded, seized from behind, disarmed, and carried in triumph into the village. And if you cannot feel for him in that misery, fair ladies, who haveknown no sorrow, yet I, a prisoner, can. "

Don Guzman paused a moment, as if overcome by emotion; and I will notsay that, as he paused, he did not look to see if Rose Salterne's eyeswere on him, as indeed they were. 

"Yes, I can feel with him; I can estimate, better than you, ladies, thegreatness of that love which could submit to captivity; to the loss ofhis sword; to the loss of that honor, which, next to god and his mother, is the true Spaniard's deity. There are those who have suffered thatshame at the hands of valiant gentlemen" (and again Don Guzman lookedup at Rose), "and yet would have sooner died a thousand deaths; but hedared to endure it from the hands of villains, savages, heathens; for hewas a true Spaniard, and therefore a true lover: but I will go on withmy tale. 

"This wretched pair, then, as I have been told by Ruiz Moschera himself, stood together before the cacique. He, like a true child of the devil, comprehending in a moment who Don Sebastian was, laughed with delight atseeing his rival in his power, and bade bind him at once to a tree, andshoot him to death with arrows. 

"But the poor Miranda sprang forward, and threw herself at his feet, andwith piteous entreaties besought for mercy from him who knew no mercy. 

"And yet love and the sight of her beauty, and the terrible eloquence ofher words, while she invoked on his head the just vengeance of Heaven, wrought even on his heart: nevertheless the pleasure of seeing her, whohad so long scorned him, a suppliant at his feet, was too delicate tobe speedily foregone; and not till she was all but blind with tears, and dumb with agony of pleading, did he make answer, that if she wouldconsent to become his wife, her husband's life should be spared. She, inher haste and madness, sobbed out desperately I know not what consent. Don Sebastian, who understood, if not the language, still the meaning(so had love quickened his understanding), shrieked to her not to loseher precious soul for the sake of his worthless body; that death wasnothing compared to the horror of that shame; and such other words asbecame a noble and valiant gentleman. She, shuddering now at her ownfrailty, would have recalled her promise; but Siripa kept her to it, vowing, if she disappointed him again, such a death to her husband asmade her blood run cold to hear of; and the wretched woman could onlyescape for the present by some story, that it was not the custom of herrace to celebrate nuptials till a month after the betrothment; that theanger of Heaven would be on her, unless she first performed in solitudecertain religious rites; and lastly, that if he dared to lay handson her husband, she would die so resolutely, that every drop of watershould be deep enough to drown her, every thorn sharp enough to stabher to the heart: till fearing lest by demanding too much he should loseall, and awed too, as he had been at first by a voice and looks whichseemed to be, in comparison with his own, divine, Siripa bade her goback to her hut, promising her husband life; but promising too, thatif he ever found the two speaking together, even for a moment, he wouldpour out on them both all the cruelty of those tortures in which thedevil, their father, has so perfectly instructed the Indians. 

"So Don Sebastian, being stripped of his garments, and painted afterthe Indian fashion, was set to all mean and toilsome work, amid thebuffetings and insults of the whole village. And this, ladies, heendured without a murmur, ay, took delight in enduring it, as he wouldhave endured things worse a thousand times, only for the sake, like atrue lover as he was, of being near the goddess whom he worshipped, andof seeing her now and then afar off, happy enough to be repaid even bythat for all indignities. 

"And yet, you who have loved may well guess, as I can, that ere a weekhad passed, Don Sebastian and the Lady Miranda had found means, in spiteof all spiteful eyes, to speak to each other once and again; and toassure each other of their love; even to talk of escape, before themonth's grace should be expired. And Miranda, whose heart was full ofcourage as long as she felt her husband near her, went so far as to plana means of escape which seemed possible and hopeful. 

"For the youngest wife of the cacique, who, till Miranda's coming, had been his favorite, often talked with the captive, insulting andtormenting her in her spite and jealousy, and receiving in return onlygentle and conciliatory words. And one day when the woman had beenthreatening to kill her, Miranda took courage to say, 'Do you fancy thatI shall not be as glad to be rid of your husband, as you to be rid ofme? Why kill me needlessly, when all that you require is to get me forthof the place? Out of sight, out of mind. When I am gone, your husbandwill soon forget me, and you will be his favorite as before. ' Soon, seeing that the girl was inclined to listen, she went on to tell herof her love to Don Sebastian, entreating and adjuring her, by the lovewhich she bore the cacique, to pity and help her; and so won upon thegirl, that she consented to be privy to Miranda's escape, and evenoffered to give her an opportunity of speaking to her husband about it;and at last was so won over by Miranda, that she consented to keep allintruders out of the way, while Don Sebastian that very night visitedMiranda in her hut. 

"The hapless husband, thirsting for his love, was in that hut, be sure, the moment that kind darkness covered his steps:--and what cheer thesetwo made of each other, when they once found themselves together, lovers must fancy for themselves: but so it was, that after many aleave-taking, there was no departure; and when the night was well-nighpast, Sebastian and Miranda were still talking together as if they hadnever met before, and would never meet again. 

"But it befell, ladies (would that I was not speaking truth, butinventing, that I might have invented something merrier for your ears), it befell that very night, that the young wife of the cacique, whoseheart was lifted up with the thought that her rival was now at lastdisposed of, tried all her wiles to win back her faithless husband;but in vain. He only answered her caresses by indifference, then bycontempt, then insults, then blows (for with the Indians, woman isalways a slave, or rather a beast of burden), and went on to draw suchcruel comparisons between her dark skin and the glorious fairness of theSpanish lady, that the wretched girl, beside herself with rage, burstout at last with her own secret. 'Fool that you are to madden yourselfabout a stranger who prizes one hair of her Spanish husband's head morethan your whole body! Much does your new bride care for you! She is atthis moment in her husband's arms!'

"The cacique screamed furiously to know what she meant; and she, herjealousy and hate of the guiltless lady boiling over once for all, badehim, if he doubted her, go see for himself. 

"What use of many words? They were taken. Love, or rather lust, repelled, turned in a moment into devilish hate; and the cacique, summoning his Indians, bade them bind the wretched Don Sebastian to atree, and there inflicted on him the lingering death to which he had atfirst been doomed. For Miranda he had more exquisite cruelty in store. And shall I tell it? Yes, ladies, for the honor of love and of Spain, and for a justification of those cruelties against the Indians which areso falsely imputed to our most Christian nation, it shall be told: hedelivered the wretched lady over to the tender mercies of his wives; andwhat they were is neither fit for me to tell, nor you to hear. 

"The two wretched lovers cast themselves upon each other's neck; drankeach other's salt tears with the last kisses; accused themselves asthe cause of each other's death; and then, rising above fear and grief, broke out into triumph at thus dying for and with each other; andproclaiming themselves the martyrs of love, commended their souls toGod, and then stepped joyfully and proudly to their doom. "

"And what was that?" asked half-a-dozen trembling voices. 

"Don Sebastian, as I have said, was shot to death with arrows; but asfor the Lady Miranda, the wretches themselves confessed afterwards, whenthey received due vengeance for their crimes (as they did receive it), that after all shameful and horrible indignities, she was bound toa tree, and there burned slowly in her husband's sight, stifling hershrieks lest they should wring his heart by one additional pang, andnever taking her eyes, to the last, off that beloved face. And so died(but not unavenged) Sebastian de Hurtado and Lucia Miranda, --a Spanishhusband and a Spanish wife. "

The Don paused, and the ladies were silent awhile, for, indeed, therewas many a gentle tear to be dried; but at last Mrs. St. Leger spoke, half, it seemed, to turn off the too painful impression of the over-truetale, the outlines whereof may be still read in old Charlevoix. 

"You have told a sad and a noble tale, sir, and told it well; but, though your story was to set forth a perfect husband, it has endedrather by setting forth a perfect wife. "

"And if I have forgotten, madam, in praising her to praise him also, have I not done that which would have best pleased his heroical andchivalrous spirit? He, be sure, would have forgotten his own virtue inthe light of hers; and he would have wished me, I doubt not, to do thesame also. And beside, madam, where ladies are the theme, who has timeor heart to cast one thought upon their slaves?" And the Don made one ofhis deliberate and highly-finished bows. 

"Don Guzman is courtier enough, as far as compliments go, " said one ofthe young ladies; "but it was hardly courtier-like of him to find us sosad an entertainment, upon a merry evening. "

"Yes, " said another; "we must ask him for no more stories. "

"Or songs either, " said a third. "I fear he knows none but aboutforsaken maidens and despairing lovers. "

"I know nothing at all about forsaken ladies, madam; because ladies arenever forsaken in Spain. "

"Nor about lovers despairing there, I suppose?"

"That good opinion of ourselves, madam, with which you English arepleased to twit us now and then, always prevents so sad a state of mind. For myself, I have had little to do with love; but I have had still lessto do with despair, and intend, by help of Heaven, to have less. "

"You are valiant, sir. "

"You would not have me a coward, madam?" and so forth. 

Now all this time Don Guzman had been talking at Rose Salterne, andgiving her the very slightest hint, every now and then, that he wastalking at her; till the poor girl's face was almost crimson withpleasure, and she gave herself up to the spell. He loved her still;perhaps he knew that she loved him: he must know some day. She felt nowthat there was no escape; she was almost glad to think that there wasnone. 

The dark, handsome, stately face; the melodious voice, with its richSpanish accent; the quiet grace of the gestures; the wild pathos ofthe story; even the measured and inflated style, as of one speaking ofanother and a loftier world; the chivalrous respect and admiration forwoman, and for faithfulness to woman--what a man he was! If he had beenpleasant heretofore, he was now enchanting. All the ladies round feltthat, she could see, as much as she herself did; no, not quite as much, she hoped. She surely understood him, and felt for his loneliness morethan any of them. Had she not been feeling for it through long and sadmonths? But it was she whom he was thinking of, she whom he was speakingto, all along. Oh, why had the tale ended so soon? She would gladly havesat and wept her eyes out till midnight over one melodious misery afteranother; but she was quite wise enough to keep her secret to herself;and sat behind the rest, with greedy eyes and demure lips, full ofstrange and new happiness--or misery; she knew not which to call it. 

In the meanwhile, as it was ordained, Cary could see and hear throughthe window of the hall a good deal of what was going on. 

"How that Spanish crocodile ogles the Rose!" whispered he to young St. Leger. 

"What wonder? He is not the first by many a one. "

"Ay--but--By heaven, she is making side-shots at him with thoselanguishing eyes of hers, the little baggage!"

"What wonder? He is not the first, say I, and won't be the last. Passthe wine, man. "

"I have had enough; between sack and singing, my head is as mazed as adizzy sheep. Let me slip out. "

"Not yet, man; remember you are bound for one song more. "

So Cary, against his will, sat and sang another song; and in themeanwhile the party had broken up, and wandered away by twos and threes, among trim gardens and pleasaunces, and clipped yew-walks--

 Where west-winds with musky wing About the cedarn alleys fling Nard and cassia's balmy smells--"

admiring the beauty of that stately place, long since passed into otherhands, and fallen to decay, but then (if old Prince speaks true) one ofthe noblest mansions of the West. 

At last Cary got away and out; sober, but just enough flushed with wineto be ready for any quarrel; and luckily for him, had not gone twentyyards along the great terrace before he met Lady Grenville. 

"Has your ladyship seen Don Guzman?"

"Yes--why, where is he? He was with me not ten minutes ago. You know heis going back to Spain. "

"Going! Has his ransom come?"

"Yes, and with it a governorship in the Indies. "

"Governorship! Much good may it do the governed. "

"Why not, then? He is surely a most gallant gentleman. "

"Gallant enough--yes, " said Cary, carelessly. "I must find him, andcongratulate him on his honors. "

"I will help you to find him, " said Lady Grenville, whose woman's eyeand ear had already suspected something. "Escort me, sir. "

"It is but too great an honor to squire the Queen of Bideford, " saidCary, offering his hand. 

"If I am your queen, sir, I must be obeyed, " answered she, in a meaningtone. Cary took the hint, and went on chattering cheerfully enough. 

But Don Guzman was not to be found in garden or in pleasaunce. 

"Perhaps, " at last said a burgher's wife, with a toss of her head, "yourladyship may meet with him at Hankford's oak. "

"At Hankford's oak! what should take him there?"

"Pleasant company, I reckon" (with another toss). "I heard him andMistress Salterne talking about the oak just now. "

Cary turned pale and drew in his breath. 

"Very likely, " said Lady Grenville, quietly. "Will you walk with me sofar, Mr. Cary?"

"To the world's end, if your ladyship condescends so far. " And off theywent, Lady Grenville wishing that they were going anywhere else, butafraid to let Cary go alone; and suspecting, too, that some one or otherought to go. 

So they went down past the herds of deer, by a trim-kept path intothe lonely dell where stood the fatal oak; and, as they went, LadyGrenville, to avoid more unpleasant talk, poured into Cary's unheedingears the story (which he probably had heard fifty times before) how oldChief-justice Hankford (whom some contradictory myths make the man whocommitted Prince Henry to prison for striking him on the bench), wearyof life and sickened at the horrors and desolations of the Wars of theRoses, went down to his house at Annery there, and bade his keeper shootany man who, passing through the deer-park at night, should refuse tostand when challenged; and then going down into that glen himself, andhiding himself beneath that oak, met willingly by his keeper's hand thedeath which his own dared not inflict: but ere the story was half done, Cary grasped Lady Grenville's hand so tightly that she gave a littleshriek of pain. 

"There they are!" whispered he, heedless of her; and pointed to the oak, where, half hidden by the tall fern, stood Rose and the Spaniard. 

Her head was on his bosom. She seemed sobbing, trembling; he talkingearnestly and passionately; but Lady Grenville's little shriek made themboth look up. To turn and try to escape was to confess all; and thetwo, collecting themselves instantly, walked towards her, Rose wishingherself fathoms deep beneath the earth. 

"Mind, sir, " whispered Lady Grenville as they came up; "you have seennothing. "

"Madam?"

"If you are not on my ground, you are on my brother's. Obey me!"

Cary bit his lip, and bowed courteously to the Don. 

"I have to congratulate you, I hear, senor, on your approachingdeparture. "

"I kiss your hands, senor, in return; but I question whether it be amatter of congratulation, considering all that I leave behind. "

"So do I, " answered Cary, bluntly enough, and the four walked back tothe house, Lady Grenville taking everything for granted with the mostcharming good humor, and chatting to her three silent companionstill they gained the terrace once more, and found four or five ofthe gentlemen, with Sir Richard at their head, proceeding to thebowling-green. 

Lady Grenville, in an agony of fear about the quarrel which she knewmust come, would have gladly whispered five words to her husband: butshe dared not do it before the Spaniard, and dreaded, too, a faint ora scream from the Rose, whose father was of the party. So she walkedon with her fair prisoner, commanding Cary to escort them in, and theSpaniard to go to the bowling-green. 

Cary obeyed: but he gave her the slip the moment she was inside thedoor, and then darted off to the gentlemen. 

His heart was on fire: all his old passion for the Rose had flashed upagain at the sight of her with a lover;--and that lover a Spaniard! Hewould cut his throat for him, if steel could do it! Only he recollectedthat Salterne was there, and shrank from exposing Rose; and shrank, too, as every gentleman should, from making a public quarrel in another man'shouse. Never mind. Where there was a will there was a way. He could gethim into a corner, and quarrel with him privately about the cut ofhis beard, or the color of his ribbon. So in he went; and, luckily orunluckily, found standing together apart from the rest, Sir Richard, theDon, and young St. Leger. 

"Well, Don Guzman, you have given us wine-bibbers the slip thisafternoon. I hope you have been well employed in the meanwhile?"

"Delightfully to myself, senor, " said the Don, who, enraged at beinginterrupted, if not discovered, was as ready to fight as Cary, butdisliked, of course, an explosion as much as he did; "and to others, Idoubt not. "

"So the ladies say, " quoth St. Leger. "He has been making them all crywith one of his stories, and robbing us meanwhile of the pleasure we hadhoped for from some of his Spanish songs. "

"The devil take Spanish songs!" said Cary, in a low voice, but loudenough for the Spaniard. Don Guzman clapt his hand on his sword-hiltinstantly. 

"Lieutenant Cary, " said Sir Richard, in a stern voice, "the wine hassurely made you forget yourself!"

"As sober as yourself, most worshipful knight; but if you want a Spanishsong, here's one; and a very scurvy one it is, like its subject--

 "Don Desperado Walked on the Prado, And there he met his enemy. He pulled out a knife, a, And let out his life, a, And fled for his own across the sea. "

And he bowed low to the Spaniard. 

The insult was too gross to require any spluttering. 

"Senor Cary, we meet?"

"I thank your quick apprehension, Don Guzman Maria Magdalena Sotomayorde Soto. When, where, and with what weapons?"

"For God's sake, gentlemen! Nephew Arthur, Cary is your guest; do youknow the meaning of this?"

St. Leger was silent. Cary answered for him. 

"An old Irish quarrel, I assure you, sir. A matter of years' standing. In unlacing the senor's helmet, the evening that he was taken prisoner, I was unlucky enough to twitch his mustachios. You recollect the fact, of course, senor?"

"Perfectly, " said the Spaniard; and then, half-amused and half-pleased, in spite of his bitter wrath, at Cary's quickness and delicacy inshielding Rose, he bowed, and--

"And it gives me much pleasure to find that he whom I trust to have thepleasure of killing tomorrow morning is a gentleman whose nice sense ofhonor renders him thoroughly worthy of the sword of a De Soto. "

Cary bowed in return, while Sir Richard, who saw plainly enough that theexcuse was feigned, shrugged his shoulders. 

"What weapons, senor?" asked Will again. 

"I should have preferred a horse and pistols, " said Don Guzman aftera moment, half to himself, and in Spanish; "they make surer work of itthan bodkins; but" (with a sigh and one of his smiles) "beggars must notbe choosers. "

"The best horse in my stable is at your service, senor, " said SirRichard Grenville, instantly. 

"And in mine also, senor, " said Cary; "and I shall be happy to allow youa week to train him, if he does not answer at first to a Spanish hand. "

"You forget in your courtesy, gentle sir, that the insult being with me, the time lies with me also. We wipe it off to-morrow morning with simplerapiers and daggers. Who is your second?"

"Mr. Arthur St. Leger here, senor: who is yours?"

The Spaniard felt himself alone in the world for one moment; and thenanswered with another of his smiles, --

"Your nation possesses the soul of honor. He who fights an Englishmanneeds no second. "

"And he who fights among Englishmen will always find one, " said SirRichard. "I am the fittest second for my guest. "

"You only add one more obligation, illustrious cavalier, to a two-years'prodigality of favors, which I shall never be able to repay. "

"But, Nephew Arthur, " said Grenville, "you cannot surely be secondagainst your father's guest, and your own uncle. "

"I cannot help it, sir; I am bound by an oath, as Will can tell you. Isuppose you won't think it necessary to let me blood?"

"You half deserve it, sirrah!" said Sir Richard, who was very angry: butthe Don interposed quickly. 

"Heaven forbid, senors! We are no French duellists, who are mad enoughto make four or six lives answer for the sins of two. This gentlemanand I have quarrel enough between us, I suspect, to make a right bloodyencounter. "

"The dependence is good enough, sir, " said Cary, licking his sinfullips at the thought. "Very well. Rapiers and shirts at three tomorrowmorning--Is that the bill of fare? Ask Sir Richard where, Atty? It isagainst punctilio now for me to speak to him till after I am killed. "

"On the sands opposite. The tide will be out at three. And now, gallantgentlemen, let us join the bowlers. "

And so they went back and spent a merry evening, all except poor Rose, who, ere she went back, had poured all her sorrows into Lady Grenville'sear. For the kind woman, knowing that she was motherless and guileless, carried her off into Mrs. St. Leger's chamber, and there entreated herto tell the truth, and heaped her with pity but with no comfort. Forindeed, what comfort was there to give?

 * * * * *

Three o'clock, upon a still pure bright midsummer morning. A broadand yellow sheet of ribbed tide-sands, through which the shallow riverwanders from one hill-foot to the other, whispering round dark knollsof rock, and under low tree-fringed cliffs, and banks of golden broom. A mile below, the long bridge and the white walled town, all sleepingpearly in the soft haze, beneath a cloudless vault of blue. Thewhite glare of dawn, which last night hung high in the northwest, hastravelled now to the northeast, and above the wooded wall of the hillsthe sky is flushing with rose and amber. 

A long line of gulls goes wailing up inland; the rooks from Annery comecawing and sporting round the corner at Landcross, while high above themfour or five herons flap solemnly along to find their breakfast on theshallows. The pheasants and partridges are clucking merrily in the longwet grass; every copse and hedgerow rings with the voice of birds, butthe lark, who has been singing since midnight in the "blank height ofthe dark, " suddenly hushes his carol and drops headlong among the corn, as a broad-winged buzzard swings from some wooded peak into the abyss ofthe valley, and hangs high-poised above the heavenward songster. The airis full of perfume; sweet clover, new-mown hay, the fragrant breath ofkine, the dainty scent of sea-weed wreaths and fresh wet sand. Gloriousday, glorious place, "bridal of earth and sky, " decked well with bridalgarlands, bridal perfumes, bridal songs, --What do those four cloakedfigures there by the river brink, a dark spot on the fair face of thesummer morn?

Yet one is as cheerful as if he too, like all nature round him, weregoing to a wedding; and that is Will Cary. He has been bathing downbelow, to cool his brain and steady his hand; and he intends to stop DonGuzman Maria Magdalena Sotomayor de Soto's wooing for ever and a day. The Spaniard is in a very different mood; fierce and haggard, he ispacing up and down the sand. He intends to kill Will Cary; but then?Will he be the nearer to Rose by doing so? Can he stay in Bideford?Will she go with him? Shall he stoop to stain his family by marrying aburgher's daughter? It is a confused, all but desperate business; andDon Guzman is certain but of one thing, that he is madly in love withthis fair witch, and that if she refuse him, then, rather than see heraccept another man, he would kill her with his own hands. 

Sir Richard Grenville too is in no very pleasant humor, as St. Legersoon discovers, when the two seconds begin whispering over theirarrangements. 

"We cannot have either of them killed, Arthur. "

"Mr. Cary swears he will kill the Spaniard, sir. "

"He sha'n't. The Spaniard is my guest. I am answerable for him to Leigh, and for his ransom too. And how can Leigh accept the ransom if the manis not given up safe and sound? They won't pay for a dead carcass, boy!The man's life is worth two hundred pounds. "

"A very bad bargain, sir, for those who pay the said two hundred forthe rascal; but what if he kills Cary?"

"Worse still. Cary must not be killed. I am very angry with him, but heis too good a lad to be lost; and his father would never forgive us. Wemust strike up their swords at the first scratch. "

"It will make them very mad, sir. "

"Hang them! let them fight us then, if they don't like our counsel. Itmust be, Arthur. "

"Be sure, sir, " said Arthur, "that whatsoever you shall command I shallperform. It is only too great an honor to a young man as I am to findmyself in the same duel with your worship, and to have the advantage ofyour wisdom and experience. "

Sir Richard smiles, and says--"Now, gentlemen! are you ready?"

The Spaniard pulls out a little crucifix, and kisses it devoutly, smiting on his breast; crosses himself two or three times, andsays--"Most willingly, senor. "

Cary kisses no crucifix, but says a prayer nevertheless. 

Cloaks and doublets are tossed off, the men placed, the rapiers measuredhilt and point; Sir Richard and St. Leger place themselves right andleft of the combatants, facing each other, the points of their drawnswords on the sand. Cary and the Spaniard stand for a moment quiteupright, their sword-arms stretched straight before them, holding thelong rapier horizontally, the left hand clutching the dagger close totheir breasts. So they stand eye to eye, with clenched teeth and palecrushed lips, while men might count a score; St. Leger can hear thebeating of his own heart; Sir Richard is praying inwardly that no lifemay be lost. Suddenly there is a quick turn of Cary's wrist and a leapforward. The Spaniard's dagger flashes, and the rapier is turned aside;Cary springs six feet back as the Spaniard rushes on him in turn. Parry, thrust, parry--the steel rattles, the sparks fly, the men breathe fierceand loud; the devil's game is begun in earnest. 

Five minutes have the two had instant death a short six inches off fromthose wild sinful hearts of theirs, and not a scratch has been given. Yes! the Spaniard's rapier passes under Cary's left arm; he bleeds. 

"A hit! a hit! Strike up, Atty!" and the swords are struck up instantly. 

Cary, nettled by the smart, tries to close with his foe, but the secondscross their swords before him. 

"It is enough, gentlemen. Don Guzman's honor is satisfied!"

"But not my revenge, senor, " says the Spaniard, with a frown. "This duelis a l'outrance, on my part; and, I believe, on Mr. Cary's also. "

"By heaven, it is!" says Will, trying to push past. "Let me go, ArthurSt. Leger; one of us must down. Let me go, I say!"

"If you stir, Mr. Cary, you have to do with Richard Grenville!" thundersthe lion voice. "I am angry enough with you for having brought on thisduel at all. Don't provoke me still further, young hot-head!"

Cary stops sulkily. 

"You do not know all, Sir Richard, or you would not speak in this way. "

"I do, sir, all; and I shall have the honor of talking it over with DonGuzman myself. "

"Hey!" said the Spaniard. "You came here as my second, Sir Richard, as Iunderstood, but not as my counsellor. "

"Arthur, take your man away! Cary! obey me as you would your father, sir! Can you not trust Richard Grenville?"

"Come away, for God's sake!" says poor Arthur, dragging Cary's swordfrom him; "Sir Richard must know best!"

So Cary is led off sulking, and Sir Richard turns to the Spaniard, "And now, Don Guzman, allow me, though much against my will, to speak toyou as a friend to a friend. You will pardon me if I say that I cannotbut have seen last night's devotion to--"

"You will be pleased, senor, not to mention the name of any lady to whomI may have shown devotion. I am not accustomed to have my little affairstalked over by any unbidden counsellors. "

"Well, senor, if you take offence, you take that which is not given. Only I warn you, with all apologies for any seeming forwardness, thatthe quest on which you seem to be is one on which you will not beallowed to proceed. "

"And who will stop me?" asked the Spaniard, with a fierce oath. 

"You are not aware, illustrious senor, " said Sir Richard, parrying thequestion, "that our English laity look upon mixed marriages with full asmuch dislike as your own ecclesiastics. "

"Marriage, sir? Who gave you leave to mention that word to me?"

Sir Richard's brow darkened; the Spaniard, in his insane pride, hadforced upon the good knight a suspicion which was not really just. 

"Is it possible, then, Senor Don Guzman, that I am to have the shame ofmentioning a baser word?"

"Mention what you will, sir. All words are the same to me; for, just orunjust, I shall answer them alike only by my sword. "

"You will do no such thing, sir. You forget that I am your host. "

"And do you suppose that you have therefore a right to insult me? Standon your guard, sir!"

Grenville answered by slapping his own rapier home into the sheath witha quiet smile. 

"Senor Don Guzman must be well enough aware of who Richard Grenville is, to know that he may claim the right of refusing duel to any man, if heshall so think fit. "

"Sir!" cried the Spaniard, with an oath, "this is too much! Do you dareto hint that I am unworthy of your sword? Know, insolent Englishman, Iam not merely a De Soto, though that, by St. James, were enough for youor any man. I am a Sotomayor, a Mendoza, a Bovadilla, a Losada, a--sir!I have blood royal in my veins, and you dare to refuse my challenge?"

"Richard Grenville can show quarterings, probably, against even DonGuzman Maria Magdalena Sotomayor de Soto, or against (with no offence tothe unquestioned nobility of your pedigree) the bluest blood of Spain. But he can show, moreover, thank God, a reputation which raises himas much above the imputation of cowardice, as it does above that ofdiscourtesy. If you think fit, senor, to forget what you have just, invery excusable anger, vented, and to return with me, you will find mestill, as ever, your most faithful servant and host. If otherwise, youhave only to name whither you wish your mails to be sent, and I shall, with unfeigned sorrow, obey your commands concerning them. "

The Spaniard bowed stiffly, answered, "To the nearest tavern, senor, "and then strode away. His baggage was sent thither. He took a boat downto Appledore that very afternoon, and vanished, none knew whither. Avery courteous note to Lady Grenville, enclosing the jewel which he hadbeen used to wear round his neck, was the only memorial he left behindhim: except, indeed, the scar on Cary's arm, and poor Rose's brokenheart. 

Now county towns are scandalous places at best; and though all partiestried to keep the duel secret, yet, of course, before noon all Bidefordknew what had happened, and a great deal more; and what was even worse, Rose, in an agony of terror, had seen Sir Richard Grenville enter herfather's private room, and sit there closeted with him for an hour andmore; and when he went, upstairs came old Salterne, with his stick inhis hand, and after rating her soundly for far worse than a flirt, gaveher (I am sorry to have to say it, but such was the mild fashion ofpaternal rule in those times, even over such daughters as Lady JaneGrey, if Roger Ascham is to be believed) such a beating that her poorsides were black and blue for many a day; and then putting her on apillion behind him, carried her off twenty miles to her old prison atStow mill, commanding her aunt to tame down her saucy blood with breadof affliction and water of affliction. Which commands were willinglyenough fulfilled by the old dame, who had always borne a grudge againstRose for being rich while she was poor, and pretty while her daughterwas plain; so that between flouts, and sneers, and watchings, and prettyopen hints that she was a disgrace to her family, and no better than sheshould be, the poor innocent child watered her couch with her tears fora fortnight or more, stretching out her hands to the wide Atlantic, andcalling wildly to Don Guzman to return and take her where he would, andshe would live for him and die for him; and perhaps she did not call invain. 

CHAPTER XIII

HOW THE GOLDEN HIND CAME HOME AGAIN

 "The spirits of your fathers Shall start from every wave; For the deck it was their field of fame, And ocean was their grave. "

 CAMPBELL. 

"So you see, my dear Mrs. Hawkins, having the silver, as your own eyesshow you, beside the ores of lead, manganese, and copper, and above allthis gossan (as the Cornish call it), which I suspect to be not merelythe matrix of the ore, but also the very crude form and materia primaof all metals--you mark me?--If my recipes, which I had from Doctor Dee, succeed only half so well as I expect, then I refine out the luna, thesilver, lay it by, and transmute the remaining ores into sol, gold. Whereupon Peru and Mexico become superfluities, and England the mistressof the globe. Strange, no doubt; distant, no doubt: but possible, mydear madam, possible!"

"And what good to you if it be, Mr. Gilbert? If you could find aphilosopher's stone to turn sinners into saints, now--but naught saveGod's grace can do that; and that last seems ofttimes over long incoming. " And Mrs. Hawkins sighed. 

"But indeed, my dear madam, conceive now. --The Comb Martin mine thusbecomes a gold mine, perhaps inexhaustible; yields me wherewithal tocarry out my North-West patent; meanwhile my brother Humphrey holdsNewfoundland, and builds me fresh ships year by year (for the forests ofpine are boundless) for my China voyage. "

"Sir Humphrey has better thoughts in his dear heart than gold, Mr. Adrian; a very close and gracious walker he has been this seven year. Iwish my Captain John were so too. "

"And how do you know I have naught better in my mind's eye than gold?Or, indeed, what better could I have? Is not gold the Spaniard'sstrength--the very mainspring of Antichrist? By gold only, therefore, can we out-wrestle him. You shake your head, but say, dear madam (forgold England must have), which is better, to make gold bloodlessly athome, or take it bloodily abroad?"

"Oh, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert! is it not written, that those who makehaste to be rich, pierce themselves through with many sorrows? Oh, Mr. Gilbert! God's blessing is not on it all. "

"Not on you, madam? Be sure that brave Captain John Hawkins's startold me a different tale, when I cast his nativity for him. --Born understormy planets, truly, but under right royal and fortunate ones. "

"Ah, Mr. Adrian! I am a simple body, and you a great philosopher, butI hold there is no star for the seaman like the Star of Bethlehem; andthat goes with 'peace on earth and good will to men, ' and not with sucharms as that, Mr. Adrian. I can't abide to look upon them. "

And she pointed up to one of the bosses of the ribbed oak-roof, on whichwas emblazoned the fatal crest which Clarencieux Hervey had grantedyears before to her husband, the "Demi-Moor proper, bound. "

"Ah, Mr. Gilbert! since first he went to Guinea after those poornegroes, little lightness has my heart known; and the very day that thatcrest was put up in our grand new house, as the parson read the firstlesson, there was this text in it, Mr. Gilbert, 'Woe to him thatbuildeth his house by iniquity, and his chambers by wrong. Shalt thoulive because thou closest thyself in cedar?' And it went into my earslike fire, Mr. Gilbert, and into my heart like lead; and when the parsonwent on, 'Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice?Then it was well with him, ' I thought of good old Captain Will; and--Itell you, Mr. Gilbert, those negroes are on my soul from morning untilnight! We are all mighty grand now, and money comes in fast, but theLord will require the blood of them at our hands yet, He will!"

"My dearest madam, who can prosper more than you? If your husband copiedthe Dons too closely once or twice in the matter of those negroes (whichI do not deny, ) was he not punished at once when he lost ships, men, allbut life, at St. Juan d'Ulloa?"

"Ay, yes, " she said; "and that did give me a bit of comfort, especiallywhen the queen--God save her tender heart!--was so sharp with him forpity of the poor wretches, but it has not mended him. He is growing fastlike the rest now, Mr. Gilbert, greedy to win, and niggardly to spend(God forgive him!) and always fretting and plotting for some new gain, and envying and grudging at Drake, and all who are deeper in thesnare of prosperity than he is. Gold, gold, nothing but gold inevery mouth--there it is! Ah! I mind when Plymouth was a quiet littleGod-fearing place as God could smile upon: but ever since my John, andSir Francis, and poor Mr. Oxenham found out the way to the Indies, it'sbeen a sad place. Not a sailor's wife but is crying 'Give, give, ' likethe daughters of the horse-leech; and every woman must drive herhusband out across seas to bring her home money to squander on hoods andfarthingales, and go mincing with outstretched necks and wanton eyes;and they will soon learn to do worse than that, for the sake of gain. But the Lord's hand will be against their tires and crisping-pins, theirmufflers and farthingales, as it was against the Jews of old. Ah, dearme!"

The two interlocutors in this dialogue were sitting in a lowoak-panelled room in Plymouth town, handsomely enough furnished, adornedwith carving and gilding and coats of arms, and noteworthy for manystrange knickknacks, Spanish gold and silver vessels on the sideboard;strange birds and skins, and charts and rough drawings of coast whichhung about the room; while over the fireplace, above the portrait of oldCaptain Will Hawkins, pet of Henry the Eighth, hung the Spanish ensignwhich Captain John had taken in fair fight at Rio de la Hacha fifteenyears before, when, with two hundred men, he seized the town in despiteof ten hundred Spanish soldiers, and watered his ship triumphantly atthe enemy's wells. 

The gentleman was a tall fair man, with a broad and lofty forehead, wrinkled with study, and eyes weakened by long poring over the crucibleand the furnace. 

The lady had once been comely enough, but she was aged and worn, assailors' wives are apt to be, by many sorrows. Many a sad day had shehad already; for although John Hawkins, port-admiral of Plymouth, andpatriarch of British shipbuilders, was a faithful husband enough, andas ready to forgive as he was to quarrel, yet he was obstinate andruthless, and in spite of his religiosity (for all men were religiousthen) was by no means a "consistent walker. "

And sadder days were in store for her, poor soul. Nine years hence shewould be asked to name her son's brave new ship, and would christen itThe Repentance, giving no reason in her quiet steadfast way (so saysher son Sir Richard) but that "Repentance was the best ship in whichwe could sail to the harbor of heaven;" and she would hear that QueenElizabeth, complaining of the name for an unlucky one, had re-christenedher The Dainty, not without some by-quip, perhaps, at the characterof her most dainty captain, Richard Hawkins, the complete seaman andEuphuist afloat, of whom, perhaps, more hereafter. 

With sad eyes Mrs. (then Lady) Hawkins would see that gallant bark sailWestward-ho, to go the world around, as many another ship sailed; andthen wait, as many a mother beside had waited, for the sail which neverreturned; till, dim and uncertain, came tidings of her boy fighting forfour days three great Armadas (for the coxcomb had his father's heart inhim after all), a prisoner, wounded, ruined, languishing for weary yearsin Spanish prisons. And a sadder day than that was in store, when agallant fleet should round the Ram Head, not with drum and trumpet, butwith solemn minute-guns, and all flags half-mast high, to tell herthat her terrible husband's work was done, his terrible heart broken byfailure and fatigue, and his body laid by Drake's beneath the far-offtropic seas. 

And if, at the close of her eventful life, one gleam of sunshine openedfor a while, when her boy Richard returned to her bosom from his Spanishprison, to be knighted for his valor, and made a privy councillor forhis wisdom; yet soon, how soon, was the old cloud to close in againabove her, until her weary eyes should open in the light of Paradise. For that son dropped dead, some say at the very council-table, leavingbehind him naught but broken fortunes, and huge purposes which neverwere fulfilled; and the stormy star of that bold race was set forever, and Lady Hawkins bowed her weary head and died, the groan of thosestolen negroes ringing in her ears, having lived long enough to see herhusband's youthful sin become a national institution, and a nationalcurse for generations yet unborn. 

I know not why she opened her heart that night to Adrian Gilbert, witha frankness which she would hardly have dared to use to her own family. Perhaps it was that Adrian, like his great brothers, Humphrey andRaleigh, was a man full of all lofty and delicate enthusiasms, tenderand poetical, such as women cling to when their hearts are lonely; butso it was; and Adrian, half ashamed of his own ambitious dreams, satelooking at her a while in silence; and then--

"The Lord be with you, dearest lady. Strange, how you women sit at hometo love and suffer, while we men rush forth to break our hearts andyours against rocks of our own seeking! Ah well! were it not forScripture, I should have thought that Adam, rather than Eve, had beenthe one who plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree. "

"We women, I fear; did the deed nevertheless; for we bear the doom of itour lives long. "

"You always remind me, madam, of my dear Mrs. Leigh of Burrough, and hercounsels. "

"Do you see her often? I hear of her as one of the Lord's most preciousvessels. "

"I would have done more ere now than see her, " said he with a blush, "had she allowed me: but she lives only for the memory of her husbandand the fame of her noble sons. "

As he spoke the door opened, and in walked, wrapped in his roughsea-gown, none other than one of those said noble sons. 

Adrian turned pale. 

"Amyas Leigh! What brings you hither? how fares my brother? Where is theship?"

"Your brother is well, Mr. Gilbert. The Golden Hind is gone on toDartmouth, with Mr. Hayes. I came ashore here, meaning to go north toBideford, ere I went to London. I called at Drake's just now, but he wasaway. "

"The Golden Hind? What brings her home so soon?"

"Yet welcome ever, sir, " said Mrs. Hawkins. "This is a great surprise, though. Captain John did not look for you till next year. "

Amyas was silent. 

"Something is wrong!" cried Adrian. "Speak!"

Amyas tried, but could not. 

"Will you drive a man mad, sir? Has the adventure failed? You said mybrother was well. "

"He is well. "

"Then what--Why do you look at me in that fashion, sir?" and springingup, Adrian rushed forward, and held the candle to Amyas's face. 

Amyas's lip quivered, as he laid his hand on Adrian's shoulder. 

"Your great and glorious brother, sir, is better bestowed than insettling Newfoundland. "

"Dead?" shrieked Adrian. 

"He is with the God whom he served!"

"He was always with Him, like Enoch: parable me no parables, if you loveme, sir!"

"And, like Enoch, he was not; for God took him. "

Adrian clasped his hands over his forehead, and leaned against thetable. 

"Go on, sir, go on. God will give me strength to hear all. "

And gradually Amyas opened to Adrian that tragic story, which Mr. Hayeshas long ago told far too well to allow a second edition of it from me:of the unruliness of the men, ruffians, as I said before, caught up athap-hazard; of conspiracies to carry off the ships, plunder of fishingvessels, desertions multiplying daily; licenses from the general to thelazy and fearful to return home: till Adrian broke out with a groan--

"From him? Conspired against him? Deserted from him? Dotards, buzzards!Where would they have found such another leader?"

"Your illustrious brother, sir, " said Amyas, "if you will pardon me, wasa very great philosopher, but not so much of a general. "

"General, sir? Where was braver man?"

"Not on God's earth, but that does not make a general, sir. If Cortezhad been brave and no more, Mexico would have been Mexico still. Thetruth is, sir, Cortez, like my Captain Drake, knew when to hang a man;and your great brother did not. "

Amyas, as I suppose, was right. Gilbert was a man who could be angryenough at baseness or neglect, but who was too kindly to punish it; hewas one who could form the wisest and best-digested plans, but who couldnot stoop to that hail-fellow-well-met drudgery among his subordinateswhich has been the talisman of great captains. 

Then Amyas went on to tell the rest of his story; the setting sail fromSt. John's to discover the southward coast; Sir Humphrey's chivalrousdetermination to go in the little Squirrel of only ten tons, and"overcharged with nettings, fights, and small ordnance, " not onlybecause she was more fit to examine the creeks, but because he had heardof some taunt against him among the men, that he was afraid of the sea. 

After that, woe on woe; how, seven days after they left Cape Raz, theirlargest ship, the Delight, after she had "most part of the night" (Iquote Hayes), "like the swan that singeth before her death, continued insounding of trumpets, drums, and fifes, also winding of the comets andhautboys, and, in the end of their jollity, left off with the battle anddoleful knells, " struck the next day (the Golden Hind and the Squirrelsheering off just in time) upon unknown shoals; where were lost all butfourteen, and among them Frank's philosopher friend, poor Budaeus; andthose who escaped, after all horrors of cold and famine, were cast onshore in Newfoundland. How, worn out with hunger and want of clothes, the crews of the two remaining ships persuaded Sir Humphrey to sailtoward England on the 31st of August; and on "that very instant, even inwinding about, " beheld close alongside "a very lion in shape, hair, andcolor, not swimming, but sliding on the water, with his whole body; whopassed along, turning his head to and fro, yawning and gaping wide, with ugly demonstration of long teeth and glaring eyes; and to bid usfarewell (coming right against the Hind) he sent forth a horrible voice, roaring or bellowing as doth a lion. " "What opinion others had thereof, and chiefly the general himself, I forbear to deliver; but he took itfor bonum omen, rejoicing that he was to war against such an enemy, ifit were the devil. "

"And the devil it was, doubtless, " said Adrian, "the roaring lion whogoes about seeking whom he may devour. "

"He has not got your brother, at least, " quoth Amyas. 

"No, " rejoined Mrs. Hawkins (smile not, reader, for those were days inwhich men believed in the devil); "he roared for joy to think how manypoor souls would be left still in heathen darkness by Sir Humphrey'sdeath. God be with that good knight, and send all mariners where he isnow!"

Then Amyas told the last scene; how, when they were off the Azores, thestorms came on heavier than ever, with "terrible seas, breaking shortand pyramid-wise, " till, on the 9th September, the tiny Squirrel nearlyfoundered and yet recovered; "and the general, sitting abaft with abook in his hand, cried out to us in the Hind so oft as we did approachwithin hearing, 'We are as near heaven by sea as by land, ' reiteratingthe same speech, well beseeming a soldier resolute in Jesus Christ, as Ican testify he was. 

"The same Monday, about twelve of the clock, or not long after, thefrigate (the Squirrel) being ahead of us in the Golden Hind, suddenlyher lights were out; and withal our watch cried, the general was castaway, which was true; for in that moment the frigate was devoured andswallowed up of the sea. "

And so ended (I have used Hayes' own words) Amyas Leigh's story. 

"Oh, my brother! my brother!" moaned poor Adrian; "the glory of hishouse, the glory of Devon!"

"Ah! what will the queen say?" asked Mrs. Hawkins through her tears. 

"Tell me, " asked Adrian, "had he the jewel on when he died?"

"The queen's jewel? He always wore that, and his own posy too, 'Mutarevel timere sperno. ' He wore it; and he lived it. "

"Ay, " said Adrian, "the same to the last!"

"Not quite that, " said Amyas. "He was a meeker man latterly than he usedto be. As he said himself once, a better refiner than any whom he had onboard had followed him close all the seas over, and purified him in thefire. And gold seven times tried he was, when God, having done His workin him, took him home at last. "

And so the talk ended. There was no doubt that the expedition hadbeen an utter failure; Adrian was a ruined man; and Amyas had lost hisventure. 

Adrian rose, and begged leave to retire; he must collect himself. 

"Poor gentleman!" said Mrs. Hawkins; "it is little else he has left tocollect. "

"Or I either, " said Amyas. "I was going to ask you to lend me one ofyour son's shirts, and five pounds to get myself and my men home. "

"Five? Fifty, Mr. Leigh! God forbid that John Hawkins's wife shouldrefuse her last penny to a distressed mariner, and he a gentleman born. But you must eat and drink. "

"It's more than I have done for many a day worth speaking of. "

And Amyas sat down in his rags to a good supper, while Mrs. Hawkins toldhim all the news which she could of his mother, whom Adrian Gilbert hadseen a few months before in London; and then went on, naturally enough, to the Bideford news. 

"And by the by, Captain Leigh, I've sad news for you from your place;and I had it from one who was there at the time. You must know a Spanishcaptain, a prisoner--"

"What, the one I sent home from Smerwick?"

"You sent? Mercy on us! Then, perhaps, you've heard--"

"How can I have heard? What?"

"That he's gone off, the villain?"

"Without paying his ransom?"

"I can't say that; but there's a poor innocent young maid gone off withhim, one Salterne's daughter--the Popish serpent!"

"Rose Salterne, the mayor's daughter, the Rose of Torridge!"

"That's her. Bless your dear soul, what ails you?"

Amyas had dropped back in his seat as if he had been shot; but herecovered himself before kind Mrs. Hawkins could rush to the cupboardfor cordials. 

"You'll forgive me, madam; but I'm weak from the sea; and your good alehas turned me a bit dizzy, I think. "

"Ay, yes, 'tis too, too heavy, till you've been on shore a while. Trythe aqua vitae; my Captain John has it right good; and a bit too fond ofit too, poor dear soul, between whiles, Heaven forgive him!"

So she poured some strong brandy and water down Amyas's throat, in spiteof his refusals, and sent him to bed, but not to sleep; and after anight of tossing, he started for Bideford, having obtained the means forso doing from Mrs. Hawkins. 

CHAPTER XIV

HOW SALVATION YEO SLEW THE KING OF THE GUBBINGS

 "Ignorance and evil, even in full flight, deal terrible backhanded strokes at their pursuers. "--HELPS. 

Now I am sorry to say, for the honor of my country, that it was by nomeans a safe thing in those days to travel from Plymouth to the north ofDevon; because, to get to your journey's end, unless you were minded tomake a circuit of many miles, you must needs pass through the territoryof a foreign and hostile potentate, who had many times ravaged thedominions, and defeated the forces of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, andwas named (behind his back at least) the King of the Gubbings. "So nowI dare call them, " says Fuller, "secured by distance, which one of morevalor durst not do to their face, for fear their fury fall upon him. Yethitherto have I met with none who could render a reason of their name. We call the shavings of fish (which are little worth) gubbings; and sureit is that they are sensible that the word importeth shame and disgrace. 

"As for the suggestion of my worthy and learned friend, Mr. JosephMaynard, that such as did inhabitare montes gibberosos, were calledGubbings, such will smile at the ingenuity who dissent from the truth ofthe etymology. 

"I have read of an England beyond Wales, but the Gubbings land is aScythia within England, and they pure heathens therein. It lieth nighBrent. For in the edge of Dartmoor it is reported that, some two hundredyears since, two bad women, being with child, fled thither to hidethemselves; to whom certain lewd fellows resorted, and this was theirfirst original. They are a peculiar of their own making, exempt frombishop, archdeacon, and all authority, either ecclesiastical or civil. They live in cots (rather holes than houses) like swine, having all incommon, multiplied without marriage into many hundreds. Their languageis the dross of the dregs of the vulgar Devonian; and the more learneda man is, the worse he can understand them. During our civil wars nosoldiers were quartered upon them, for fear of being quartered amongstthem. Their wealth consisteth in other men's goods; they live bystealing the sheep on the moors; and vain is it for any to search theirhouses, being a work beneath the pains of any sheriff, and above thepower of any constable. Such is their fleetness, they will outrun manyhorses; vivaciousness, they outlive most men; living in an ignorance ofluxury, the extinguisher of life. They hold together like bees; offendone, and all will revenge his quarrel. 

"But now I am informed that they begin to be civilized, and tender theirchildren to baptism, and return to be men, yea, Christians again. I hopeno CIVIL people amongst us will turn barbarians, now these barbariansbegin to be civilized. "*

 * Fuller, p. 398. 

With which quip against the Anabaptists of his day, Fuller ends hisstory; and I leave him to set forth how Amyas, in fear of these sameScythians and heathens, rode out of Plymouth on a right good horse, inhis full suit of armor, carrying lance and sword, and over and above twogreat dags, or horse-pistols; and behind him Salvation Yeo, and fiveor six north Devon men (who had served with him in Ireland, and werereturning on furlough), clad in head-pieces and quilted jerkins, eachman with his pike and sword, and Yeo with arquebuse and match, while twosumpter ponies carried the baggage of this formidable troop. 

They pushed on as fast as they could, through Tavistock, to reach beforenightfall Lydford, where they meant to sleep; but what with buying thehorses, and other delays, they had not been able to start beforenoon; and night fell just as they reached the frontiers of the enemy'scountry. A dreary place enough it was, by the wild glare of sunset. Ahigh tableland of heath, banked on the right by the crags and hills ofDartmoor, and sloping away to the south and west toward the foot of thegreat cone of Brent-Tor, which towered up like an extinct volcano (assome say that it really is), crowned with the tiny church, the votiveoffering of some Plymouth merchant of old times, who vowed in soredistress to build a church to the Blessed Virgin on the first point ofEnglish land which he should see. Far away, down those waste slopes, they could see the tiny threads of blue smoke rising from the dens ofthe Gubbings; and more than once they called a halt, to examine whetherdistant furze-bushes and ponies might not be the patrols of an advancingarmy. It is all very well to laugh at it now, in the nineteenth century, but it was no laughing matter then; as they found before they had gonetwo miles farther. 

On the middle of the down stood a wayside inn; a desolate andvillainous-looking lump of lichen-spotted granite, with windowspaper-patched, and rotting thatch kept down by stones and straw-banks;and at the back a rambling court-ledge of barns and walls, around whichpigs and barefoot children grunted in loving communion of dirt. At thedoor, rapt apparently in the contemplation of the mountain peaks whichglowed rich orange in the last lingering sun-rays, but really watchingwhich way the sheep on the moor were taking, stood the innkeeper, abrawny, sodden-visaged, blear-eyed six feet of brutishness, holding uphis hose with one hand, for want of points, and clawing with the otherhis elf-locks, on which a fair sprinkling of feathers might denote:first, that he was just out of bed, having been out sheep-stealingall the night before; and secondly, that by natural genius he hadanticipated the opinion of that great apostle of sluttishness, Fridericus Dedekind, and his faithful disciple Dekker, which last speaksthus to all gulls and grobians: "Consider that as those trees of cobweblawn, woven by spinners in the fresh May mornings, do dress the curledheads of the mountains, and adorn the swelling bosoms of the valleys; oras those snowy fleeces, which the naked briar steals from the innocentsheep to make himself a warm winter livery, are, to either of themboth, an excellent ornament; so make thou account, that to have featherssticking here and there on thy head will embellish thee, and set thycrown out rarely. None dare upbraid thee, that like a beggar thou hastlain on straw, or like a travelling pedlar upon musty flocks; for thosefeathers will rise up as witnesses to choke him that says so, and toprove thy bed to have been of the softest down. " Even so did thosefeathers bear witness that the possessor of Rogues' Harbor Inn, onBrent-Tor Down, whatever else he lacked, lacked not geese enough to keephim in soft lying. 

Presently he spies Amyas and his party coming slowly over the hill, pricks up his ears, and counts them; sees Amyas's armor; shakes his headand grunts; and then, being a man of few words, utters a sleepy howl--

"Mirooi!--Fushing pooale!"

A strapping lass--whose only covering (for country women at work inthose days dispensed with the ornament of a gown) is a green bodice andred petticoat, neither of them over ample--brings out his fishing-rodand basket, and the man, having tied up his hose with some ends ofstring, examines the footlink. 

"Don vlies' gone!"

"May be, " says Mary; "shouldn't hay' left mun out to coort. May be oldhen's ate mun off. I see her chocking about a while agone. "

The host receives this intelligence with an oath, and replies by aviolent blow at Mary's head, which she, accustomed to such slightmatters, dodges, and then returns the blow with good effect on the shockhead. 

Whereon mine host, equally accustomed to such slight matters, quietlyshambles off, howling as he departs--

"Tell Patrico!"

Mary runs in, combs her hair, slips a pair of stockings and her bestgown over her dirt, and awaits the coming guests, who make a few longfaces at the "mucksy sort of a place, " but prefer to spend the nightthere than to bivouac close to the enemy's camp. 

So the old hen who has swallowed the dun fly is killed, plucked, androasted, and certain "black Dartmoor mutton" is put on the gridiron, andbeing compelled to confess the truth by that fiery torment, proclaimsitself to all noses as red-deer venison. In the meanwhile Amyas has puthis horse and the ponies into a shed, to which he can find neitherlock nor key, and therefore returns grumbling, not without fear for hissteed's safety. The baggage is heaped in a corner of the room, and Amyasstretches his legs before a turf fire; while Yeo, who has his notionsabout the place, posts himself at the door, and the men are seized witha desire to superintend the cooking, probably to be attributed to thefact that Mary is cook. 

Presently Yeo comes in again. 

"There's a gentleman just coming up, sir, all alone. "

"Ask him to make one of our party, then, with my compliments. " Yeo goesout, and returns in five minutes. 

"Please, sir, he's gone in back ways, by the court. "

"Well, he has an odd taste, if he makes himself at home here. "

Out goes Yeo again, and comes back once more after five minutes, in highexcitement. 

"Come out, sir; for goodness' sake come out. I've got him. Safe as a ratin a trap, I have!"

"Who?"

"A Jesuit, sir. "

"Nonsense, man!"

"I tell you truth, sir. I went round the house, for I didn't like thelooks of him as he came up. I knew he was one of them villains theminute he came up, by the way he turned in his toes, and put down hisfeet so still and careful, like as if he was afraid of offending God atevery step. So I just put my eye between the wall and the dern of thegate, and I saw him come up to the back door and knock, and call 'Mary!'quite still, like any Jesuit; and the wench flies out to him ready toeat him; and 'Go away, ' I heard her say, 'there's a dear man;' and thensomething about a 'queer cuffin' (that's a justice in these canters'thieves' Latin); and with that he takes out a somewhat--I'll swear itwas one of those Popish Agnuses--and gives it her; and she kisses it, and crosses herself, and asks him if that's the right way, and then putsit into her bosom, and he says, 'Bless you, my daughter;' and then I wassure of the dog: and he slips quite still to the stable, and peeps in, and when he sees no one there, in he goes, and out I go, and shut to thedoor, and back a cart that was there up against it, and call out one ofthe men to watch the stable, and the girl's crying like mad. "

"What a fool's trick, man! How do you know that he is not some honestgentleman, after all?"

"Fool or none, sir; honest gentlemen don't give maidens Agnuses. I'veput him in; and if you want him let out again, you must come and do ityourself, for my conscience is against it, sir. If the Lord's enemiesare delivered into my hand, I'm answerable, sir, " went on Yeo as Amyashurried out with him. "'Tis written, 'If any let one of them go, hislife shall be for the life of him. '"

So Amyas ran out, pulled back the cart grumbling, opened the door, andbegan a string of apologies to--his cousin Eustace. 

Yes, here he was, with such a countenance, half foolish, half venomous, as reynard wears when the last spadeful of earth is thrown back, andhe is revealed sitting disconsolately on his tail within a yard of theterriers' noses. 

Neither cousin spoke for a minute or two. At last Amyas--

"Well, cousin hide-and-seek, how long have you added horse-stealing toyour other trades?"

"My dear Amyas, " said Eustace, very meekly, "I may surely go into an innstable without intending to steal what is in it. "

"Of course, old fellow, " said Amyas, mollified, "I was only in jest. Butwhat brings you here? Not prudence, certainly. "

"I am bound to know no prudence save for the Lord's work. "

"That's giving away Agnus Deis, and deceiving poor heathen wenches, Isuppose, " said Yeo. 

Eustace answered pretty roundly--

"Heathens? Yes, truly; you Protestants leave these poor wretchesheathens, and then insult and persecute those who, with a devotionunknown to you, labor at the danger of their lives to make themChristians. Mr. Amyas Leigh, you can give me up to be hanged at Exeter, if it shall so please you to disgrace your own family; but from thisspot neither you, no, nor all the myrmidons of your queen, shall driveme, while there is a soul here left unsaved. "

"Come out of the stable, at least, " said Amyas; "you don't want to makethe horses Papists, as well as the asses, do you? Come out, man, and goto the devil your own way. I sha'n't inform against you; and Yeo herewill hold his tongue if I tell him, I know. "

"It goes sorely against my conscience, sir; but being that he is yourcousin, of course--"

"Of course; and now come in and eat with me; supper's just ready, andbygones shall be bygones, if you will have them so. "

How much forgiveness Eustace felt in his heart, I know not: but he knew, of course, that he ought to forgive; and to go in and eat with Amyas wasto perform an act of forgiveness, and for the best of motives, too, forby it the cause of the Church might be furthered; and acts and motivesbeing correct, what more was needed? So in he went; and yet he neverforgot that scar upon his cheek; and Amyas could not look him in theface but Eustace must fancy that his eyes were on the scar, and peepup from under his lids to see if there was any smile of triumph on thathonest visage. They talked away over the venison, guardedly enough atfirst; but as they went on, Amyas's straightforward kindliness warmedpoor Eustace's frozen heart; and ere they were aware, they foundthemselves talking over old haunts and old passages of theirboyhood--uncles, aunts, and cousins; and Eustace, without any sinisterintention, asked Amyas why he was going to Bideford, while Frank and hismother were in London. 

"To tell you the truth, I cannot rest till I have heard the whole storyabout poor Rose Salterne. "

"What about her?" cried Eustace. 

"Do you not know?"

"How should I know anything here? For heaven's sake, what has happened?"

Amyas told him, wondering at his eagerness, for he had never had theleast suspicion of Eustace's love. 

Eustace shrieked aloud. 

"Fool, fool that I have been! Caught in my own trap! Villain, villainthat he is! After all he promised me at Lundy!"

And springing up, Eustace stamped up and down the room, gnashinghis teeth, tossing his head from side to side, and clutching withoutstretched hands at the empty air, with the horrible gesture (Heavengrant that no reader has ever witnessed it!) of that despair which stillseeks blindly for the object which it knows is lost forever. 

Amyas sat thunderstruck. His first impulse was to ask, "Lundy? Whatknew you of him? What had he or you to do at Lundy?" but pity conqueredcuriosity. 

"Oh, Eustace! And you then loved her too?"

"Don't speak to me! Loved her? Yes, sir, and had as good a right to loveher as any one of your precious Brotherhood of the Rose. Don't speak tome, I say, or I shall do you a mischief!"

So Eustace knew of the brotherhood too! Amyas longed to ask him how; butwhat use in that? If he knew it, he knew it; and what harm? So he onlyanswered:

"My good cousin, why be wroth with me? If you really love her, now isthe time to take counsel with me how best we shall--"

Eustace did not let him finish his sentence. Conscious that he hadbetrayed himself upon more points than one, he stopped short in hiswalk, suddenly collected himself by one great effort, and eyed Amyasfrom underneath his brows with the old down look. 

"How best we shall do what, my valiant cousin?" said he, in a meaningand half-scornful voice. "What does your most chivalrous Brotherhood ofthe Rose purpose in such a case?"

Amyas, a little nettled, stood on his guard in return, and answeredbluntly--

"What the Brotherhood of the Rose will do, I can't yet say. What itought to do, I have a pretty sure guess. "

"So have I. To hunt her down as you would an outlaw, because forsoothshe has dared to love a Catholic; to murder her lover in her arms, anddrag her home again stained with his blood, to be forced by threats andpersecution to renounce that Church into whose maternal bosom she hasdoubtless long since found rest and holiness!"

"If she has found holiness, it matters little to me where she has foundit, Master Eustace, but that is the very point that I should be glad toknow for certain. "

"And you will go and discover for yourself?"

"Have you no wish to discover it also?"

"And if I had, what would that be to you?"

"Only, " said Amyas, trying hard to keep his temper, "that, if we had thesame purpose, we might sail in the same ship. "

"You intend to sail, then?"

"I mean simply, that we might work together. "

"Our paths lie on very different roads, sir!"

"I am afraid you never spoke a truer word, sir. In the meanwhile, ere wepart, be so kind as to tell me what you meant by saying that you had metthis Spaniard at Lundy?"

"I shall refuse to answer that. "

"You will please to recollect, Eustace, that however good friends wehave been for the last half-hour, you are in my power. I have a right toknow the bottom of this matter; and, by heaven, I will know it. "

"In your power? See that you are not in mine! Remember, sir, that youare within a--within a few miles, at least, of those who will obey me, their Catholic benefactor, but who owe no allegiance to those Protestantauthorities who have left them to the lot of the beasts which perish. "

Amyas was very angry. He wanted but little more to make him catchEustace by the shoulders, shake the life out of him, and deliver himinto the tender guardianship of Yeo; but he knew that to take him atall was to bring certain death on him, and disgrace on the family; andremembering Frank's conduct on that memorable night at Clovelly, he kepthimself down. 

"Take me, " said Eustace, "if you will, sir. You, who complain of us thatwe keep no faith with heretics, will perhaps recollect that you asked meinto this room as your guest, and that in your good faith I trusted whenI entered it. "

The argument was a worthless one in law; for Eustace had been a prisonerbefore he was a guest, and Amyas was guilty of something very likemisprision of treason in not handing him over to the nearest justice. However, all he did was, to go to the door, open it, and bowing to hiscousin, bid him walk out and go to the devil, since he seemed to haveset his mind on ending his days in the company of that personage. 

Whereon Eustace vanished. 

"Pooh!" said Amyas to himself, "I can find out enough, and too much, Ifear, without the help of such crooked vermin. I must see Cary; I mustsee Salterne; and I suppose, if I am ready to do my duty, I shall learnsomehow what it is. Now to sleep; to-morrow up and away to what Godsends. "

"Come in hither, men, " shouted he down the passage, "and sleep here. Haven't you had enough of this villainous sour cider?"

The men came in yawning, and settled themselves to sleep on the floor. 

"Where's Yeo?"

No one knew; he had gone out to say his prayers, and had not returned. 

"Never mind, " said Amyas, who suspected some plot on the old man's part. "He'll take care of himself, I'll warrant him. "

"No fear of that, sir;" and the four tars were soon snoring in concertround the fire, while Amyas laid himself on the settle, with his saddlefor a pillow. 

 * * * * *

It was about midnight, when Amyas leaped to his feet, or rather fellupon his back, upsetting saddle, settle, and finally, table, under thenotion that ten thousand flying dragons were bursting in the windowclose to his ear, with howls most fierce and fell. The flying dragonspast, however, being only a flock of terror-stricken geese, which flewflapping and screaming round the corner of the house; but the noisewhich had startled them did not pass; and another minute made it evidentthat a sharp fight was going on in the courtyard, and that Yeo washallooing lustily for help. 

Out turned the men, sword in hand, burst the back door open, stumblingover pails and pitchers, and into the courtyard, where Yeo, his backagainst the stable-door, was holding his own manfully with sword andbuckler against a dozen men. 

Dire and manifold was the screaming; geese screamed, chickens screamed, pigs screamed, donkeys screamed, Mary screamed from an upper window;and to complete the chorus, a flock of plovers, attracted by the noise, wheeled round and round overhead, and added their screams also to thatDutch concert. 

The screaming went on, but the fight ceased; for, as Amyas rushed intothe yard, the whole party of ruffians took to their heels, and vanishedover a low hedge at the other end of the yard. 

"Are you hurt, Yeo?"

"Not a scratch, thank Heaven! But I've got two of them, the ringleaders, I have. One of them's against the wall. Your horse did for t'other. "

The wounded man was lifted up; a huge ruffian, nearly as big as Amyashimself. Yeo's sword had passed through his body. He groaned and chokedfor breath. 

"Carry him indoors. Where is the other?"

"Dead as a herring, in the straw. Have a care, men, have a care how yougo in! the horses are near mad!"

However, the man was brought out after a while. With him all was over. They could feel neither pulse nor breath. 

"Carry him in too, poor wretch. And now, Yeo, what is the meaning of allthis?"

Yeo's story was soon told. He could not get out of his Puritan head thenotion (quite unfounded, of course) that Eustace had meant to stealthe horses. He had seen the inn-keeper sneak off at their approach; andexpecting some night-attack, he had taken up his lodging for the nightin the stable. 

As he expected, an attempt was made. The door was opened (how, he couldnot guess, for he had fastened it inside), and two fellows came in, andbegan to loose the beasts. Yeo's account was, that he seized the bigfellow, who drew a knife on him, and broke loose; the horses, terrifiedat the scuffle, kicked right and left; one man fell, and the otherran out, calling for help, with Yeo at his heels; "Whereon, " saidYeo, "seeing a dozen more on me with clubs and bows, I thought best toshorten the number while I could, ran the rascal through, and stood onmy ward; and only just in time I was, what's more; there's two arrows inthe house wall, and two or three more in my buckler, which I caught upas I went out, for I had hung it close by the door, you see, sir, to beall ready in case, " said the cunning old Philistine-slayer, as they wentin after the wounded man. 

But hardly had they stumbled through the low doorway into theback-kitchen when a fresh hubbub arose inside--more shouts for help. Amyas ran forward breaking his head against the doorway, and beheld, assoon as he could see for the flashes in his eyes, an old acquaintance, held on each side by a sturdy sailor. 

With one arm in the sleeve of his doublet, and the other in a not overspotless shirt; holding up his hose with one hand, and with the othera candle, whereby he had lighted himself to his own confusion; foamingwith rage, stood Mr. Evan Morgans, alias Father Parsons, looking, between his confused habiliments and his fiery visage (as Yeo told himto his face), "the very moral of a half-plucked turkey-cock. " And behindhim, dressed, stood Eustace Leigh. 

"We found the maid letting these here two out by the front door, " saidone of the captors. 

"Well, Mr. Parsons, " said Amyas; "and what are you about here? A prettynest of thieves and Jesuits we seem to have routed out this evening. "

"About my calling, sir, " said Parsons, stoutly. "By your leave, Ishall prepare this my wounded lamb for that account to which your man'scruelty has untimely sent him. "

The wounded man, who lay upon the floor, heard Parsons' voice, andmoaned for the "Patrico. "

"You see, sir, " said he, pompously, "the sheep know their shepherd'svoice. "

"The wolves you mean, you hypocritical scoundrel!" said Amyas, who couldnot contain his disgust. "Let the fellow truss up his points, lads, anddo his work. After all, the man is dying. "

"The requisite matters, sir, are not at hand, " said Parsons, unabashed. 

"Eustace, go and fetch his matters for him; you seem to be in all hisplots. "

Eustace went silently and sullenly. 

"What's that fresh noise at the back, now?"

"The maid, sir, a wailing over her uncle; the fellow that we saw sneakaway when we came up. It was him the horse killed. "

It was true. The wretched host had slipped off on their approach, simplyto call the neighboring outlaws to the spoil; and he had been filledwith the fruit of his own devices. 

"His blood be on his own head, " said Amyas. 

"I question, sir, " said Yeo, in a low voice, "whether some of it willnot be on the heads of those proud prelates who go clothed in purpleand fine linen, instead of going forth to convert such as he, and thenwonder how these Jesuits get hold of them. If they give place to thedevil in their sheepfolds, sure he'll come in and lodge there. Look, sir, there's a sight in a gospel land!"

And, indeed, the sight was curious enough. For Parsons was kneeling bythe side of the dying man, listening earnestly to the confession whichthe man sobbed out in his gibberish, between the spasms of his woundedchest. Now and then Parsons shook his head; and when Eustace returnedwith the holy wafer, and the oil for extreme unction, he asked him, in alow voice, "Ballard, interpret for me. "

And Eustace knelt down on the other side of the sufferer, andinterpreted his thieves' dialect into Latin; and the dying man helda hand of each, and turned first to one and then to the other stupideyes, --not without affection, though, and gratitude. 

"I can't stand this mummery any longer, " said Yeo. "Here's a soulperishing before my eyes, and it's on my conscience to speak a word inseason. "

"Silence!" whispered Amyas, holding him back by the arm; "he knows them, and he don't know you; they are the first who ever spoke to him as ifhe had a soul to be saved, and first come, first served; you can do nogood. See, the man's face is brightening already. "

"But, sir, 'tis a false peace. "

"At all events he is confessing his sins, Yeo; and if that's not goodfor him, and you, and me, what is?"

"Yea, Amen! sir; but this is not to the right person. "

"How do you know his words will not go to the right person, after all, though he may not send them there? By heaven! the man is dead!"

It was so. The dark catalogue of brutal deeds had been gasped out; butere the words of absolution could follow, the head had fallen back, andall was over. 

"Confession in extremis is sufficient, " said Parsons to Eustace("Ballard, " as Parsons called him, to Amyas's surprise), as he rose. "Asfor the rest, the intention will be accepted instead of the act. "

"The Lord have mercy on his soul!" said Eustace. 

"His soul is lost before our very eyes, " said Yeo. 

"Mind your own business, " said Amyas. 

"Humph; but I'll tell you, sir, what our business is, if you'll stepaside with me. I find that poor fellow that lies dead is none other thanthe leader of the Gubbings; the king of them, as they dare to call him. "

"Well, what of that?"

"Mark my words, sir, if we have not a hundred stout rogues upon usbefore two hours are out; forgive us they never will; and if we get offwith our lives, which I don't much expect, we shall leave our horsesbehind; for we can hold the house, sir, well enough till morning, butthe courtyard we can't, that's certain!"

"We had better march at once, then. "

"Think, sir; if they catch us up--as they are sure to do, knowing thecountry better than we--how will our shot stand their arrows?"

"True, old wisdom; we must keep the road; and we must keep together; andso be a mark for them, while they will be behind every rock and bank;and two or three flights of arrows will do our business for us. Humph!stay, I have a plan. " And stepping forward he spoke--

"Eustace, you will be so kind as to go back to your lambs; and tellthem, that if they meddle with us cruel wolves again to-night, we areready and willing to fight to the death, and have plenty of shot andpowder at their service. Father Parsons, you will be so kind as toaccompany us; it is but fitting that the shepherd should be hostage forhis sheep. "

"If you carry me off this spot, sir, you carry my corpse only, " saidParsons. "I may as well die here as be hanged elsewhere, like mymartyred brother Campian. "

"If you take him, you must take me too, " said Eustace. 

"What if we won't?"

"How will you gain by that? you can only leave me here. You cannot makeme go to the Gubbings, if I do not choose. "

Amyas uttered sotto voce an anathema on Jesuits, Gubbings, and things ingeneral. He was in a great hurry to get to Bideford, and he feared thatthis business would delay him, as it was, a day or two. He wanted tohang Parsons, he did not want to hang Eustace; and Eustace, he knew, was well aware of that latter fact, and played his game accordingly; buttime ran on, and he had to answer sulkily enough:

"Well then; if you, Eustace, will go and give my message to yourconverts, I will promise to set Mr. Parsons free again before we come toLydford town; and I advise you, if you have any regard for his life, to see that your eloquence be persuasive enough; for as sure as I aman Englishman, and he none, if the Gubbings attack us, the firstbullet that I shall fire at them will have gone through his scoundrellybrains. "

Parsons still kicked. 

"Very well, then, my merry men all. Tie this gentleman's hands behindhis back, get the horses out, and we'll right away up into Dartmoor, find a good high tor, stand our ground there till morning, and thencarry him into Okehampton to the nearest justice. If he chooses to delayme in my journey, it is fair that I should make him pay for it. "

Whereon Parsons gave in, and being fast tied by his arm to Amyas'ssaddle, trudged alongside his horse for several weary miles, while Yeowalked by his side, like a friar by a condemned criminal; and in orderto keep up his spirits, told him the woful end of Nicholas Saunders theLegate, and how he was found starved to death in a bog. 

"And if you wish, sir, to follow in his blessed steps, which I heartilyhope you will do, you have only to go over that big cow-backed hillthere on your right hand, and down again the other side to Crawmerepool, and there you'll find as pretty a bog to die in as ever Jesuitneeded; and your ghost may sit there on a grass tummock, and tell yourbeads without any one asking for you till the day of judgment; and muchgood may it do you!"

At which imagination Yeo was actually heard, for the first and last timein this history, to laugh most heartily. 

His ho-ho's had scarcely died away when they saw shining under the moonthe old tower of Lydford castle. 

"Cast the fellow off now, " said Amyas. 

"Ay, ay, sir!" and Yeo and Simon Evans stopped behind, and did not comeup for ten minutes after. 

"What have you been about so long?"

"Why, sir, " said Evans, "you see the man had a very fair pair of hoseon, and a bran-new kersey doublet, very warm-lined; and so, thinking ita pity good clothes should be wasted on such noxious trade, we've justbrought them along with us. "

"Spoiling the Egyptians, " said Yeo as comment. 

"And what have you done with the man?"

"Hove him over the bank, sir; he pitched into a big furze-bush, and foraught I know, there he'll bide. "

"You rascal, have you killed him?

"Never fear, sir, " said Yeo, in his cool fashion. "A Jesuit has as manylives as a cat, and, I believe, rides broomsticks post, like a witch. Hewould be at Lydford now before us, if his master Satan had any businessfor him there. "

Leaving on their left Lydford and its ill-omened castle (which, acentury after, was one of the principal scenes of Judge Jeffreys'scruelty), Amyas and his party trudged on through the mire towardOkehampton till sunrise; and ere the vapors had lifted from the mountaintops, they were descending the long slopes from Sourton down, whileYestor and Amicombe slept steep and black beneath their misty pall; androaring far below unseen, "Ockment leapt from crag and cloud Down her cataracts, laughing loud. "

The voice of the stream recalled these words to Amyas's mind. The nymphof Torridge had spoken them upon the day of his triumph. He recollected, too, his vexation on that day at not seeing Rose Salterne. Why, he hadnever seen her since. Never seen her now for six years and more! Of herripened beauty he knew only by hearsay; she was still to him the lovelyfifteen years' girl for whose sake he had smitten the Barnstaple draperover the quay. What a chain of petty accidents had kept them frommeeting, though so often within a mile of each other! "And what a luckyone!" said practical old Amyas to himself. "If I had seen her as she isnow, I might have loved her as Frank does--poor Frank! what will hesay? What does he say, for he must know it already? And what ought I tosay--to do rather, for talking is no use on this side the grave, nor onthe other either, I expect!" And then he asked himself whether his oldoath meant nothing or something; whether it was a mere tavern frolic, ora sacred duty. And he held, the more that he looked at it, that it meantthe latter. 

But what could he do? He had nothing on earth but his sword, so he couldnot travel to find her. After all, she might not be gone far. Perhapsnot gone at all. It might be a mistake, an exaggerated scandal. Hewould hope so. And yet it was evident that there had been some passagesbetween her and Don Guzman. Eustace's mysterious words about the promiseat Lundy proved that. The villain! He had felt all along that he was avillain; but just the one to win a woman's heart, too. Frank had beenaway--all the Brotherhood away. What a fool he had been, to turn thewolf loose into the sheepfold! And yet who would have dreamed ofit? . . . 

"At all events, " said Amyas, trying to comfort himself, "I need notcomplain. I have lost nothing. I stood no more chance of her againstFrank than I should have stood against the Don. So there is no use forme to cry about the matter. " And he tried to hum a tune concerning thegeneral frailty of women, but nevertheless, like Sir Hugh, felt that "hehad a great disposition to cry. "

He never had expected to win her, and yet it seemed bitter to know thatshe was lost to him forever. It was not so easy for a heart of his maketo toss away the image of a first love; and all the less easy becausethat image was stained and ruined. 

"Curses on the man who had done that deed! I will yet have his heart'sblood somehow, if I go round the world again to find him. If there's nolaw for it on earth, there's law in heaven, or I'm much mistaken. "

With which determination he rode into the ugly, dirty, and stupid townof Okehampton, with which fallen man (by some strange perversity) haschosen to defile one of the loveliest sites in the pleasant land ofDevon. And heartily did Amyas abuse the old town that day; for he wasdetained there, as he expected, full three hours, while the JusticeShallow of the place was sent for from his farm (whither he had goneat sunrise, after the early-rising fashion of those days) to take Yeo'sdeposition concerning last night's affray. Moreover, when Shallow came, he refused to take the depositions, because they ought to have been madebefore a brother Shallow at Lydford; and in the wrangling which ensued, was very near finding out what Amyas (fearing fresh loss of time andworse evils beside) had commanded to be concealed, namely, the presenceof Jesuits in that Moorland Utopia. Then, in broadest Devon--

"And do you call this Christian conduct, sir, to set a quiet man like meupon they Gubbings, as if I was going to risk my precious life--no, norever a constable to Okehampton neither? Let Lydfor' men mind Lydfor'roogs, and by Lydfor' law if they will, hang first and try after; butas for me, I've rade my Bible, and 'He that meddleth with strife is likehim that taketh a dog by the ears. ' So if you choose to sit down and ateyour breakfast with me, well and good: but depositions I'll have none. If your man is enquired for, you'll be answerable for his appearing, incourse; but I expect mortally" (with a wink), "you wain't hear much moreof the matter from any hand. 'Leave well alone is a good rule, but leaveill alone is a better. '--So we says round about here; and so you'll say, captain, when you be so old as I. "

So Amyas sat down and ate his breakfast, and went on afterwards a longand weary day's journey, till he saw at last beneath him the broadshining river, and the long bridge, and the white houses piled up thehill-side; and beyond, over Raleigh downs, the dear old tower of NorthamChurch. 

Alas! Northam was altogether a desert to him then; and Bideford, as itturned out, hardly less so. For when he rode up to Sir Richard's door, he found that the good knight was still in Ireland, and Lady Grenvilleat Stow. Whereupon he rode back again down the High Street to that samebow-windowed Ship Tavern where the Brotherhood of the Rose made theirvow, and settled himself in the very room where they had supped. 

"Ah! Mr. Leigh--Captain Leigh now, I beg pardon, " quoth mine host. "Bideford is an empty place now-a-days, and nothing stirring, sir. Whatwith Sir Richard to Ireland, and Sir John to London, and all the younggentlemen to the wars, there's no one to buy good liquor, and no one tocourt the young ladies, neither. Sack, sir? I hope so. I haven't breweda gallon of it this fortnight, if you'll believe me; ale, sir, and aquavitae, and such low-bred trade, is all I draw now-a-days. Try a pint ofsherry, sir, now, to give you an appetite. You mind my sherry of old?Jane! Sherry and sugar, quick, while I pull off the captain's boots. "

Amyas sat weary and sad, while the innkeeper chattered on. 

"Ah, sir! two or three like you would set the young ladies all aliveagain. By-the-by, there's been strange doings among them since you werehere last. You mind Mistress Salterne!"

"For God's sake, don't let us have that story, man! I heard enough of itat Plymouth!" said Amyas, in so disturbed a tone that mine host lookedup, and said to himself--

"Ah, poor young gentleman, he's one of the hard-hit ones. "

"How is the old man?" asked Amyas, after a pause. 

"Bears it well enough, sir; but a changed man. Never speaks to a soul, if he can help it. Some folk say he's not right in his head; or turnedmiser, or somewhat, and takes naught but bread and water, and sits upall night in the room as was hers, turning over her garments. Heavenknows what's on his mind--they do say he was over hard on her, and thatdrove her to it. All I know is, he has never been in here for a dropof liquor (and he came as regular every evening as the town clock, sir)since she went, except a ten days ago, and then he met young Mr. Cary atthe door, and I heard him ask Mr. Cary when you would be home, sir. "

"Put on my boots again. I'll go and see him. "

"Bless you, sir! What, without your sack?"

"Drink it yourself, man. "

"But you wouldn't go out again this time o' night on an empty stomach, now?"

"Fill my men's stomachs for them, and never mind mine. It's market-day, is it not? Send out, and see whether Mr. Cary is still in town;" andAmyas strode out, and along the quay to Bridgeland Street, and knockedat Mr. Salterne's door. 

Salterne himself opened it, with his usual stern courtesy. 

"I saw you coming up the street, sir. I have been expecting this honorfrom you for some time past. I dreamt of you only last night, and manya night before that too. Welcome, sir, into a lonely house. I trust thegood knight your general is well. "

"The good knight my general is with God who made him, Mr. Salterne. "

"Dead, sir?"

"Foundered at sea on our way home; and the Delight lost too. "

"Humph!" growled Salterne, after a minute's silence. "I had a venture inher. I suppose it's gone. No matter--I can afford it, sir, and more, I trust. And he was three years younger than I! And Draper Heard wasburied yesterday, five years younger. --How is it that every one can die, except me? Come in, sir, come in; I have forgotten my manners. "

And he led Amyas into his parlor, and called to the apprentices to runone way, and to the cook to run another. 

"You must not trouble yourself to get me supper, indeed. "

"I must though, sir, and the best of wine too; and old Salterne had agood tap of Alicant in old time, old time, old time, sir! and you mustdrink it now, whether he does or not!" and out he bustled. 

Amyas sat still, wondering what was coming next, and puzzled at thesudden hilarity of the man, as well as his hospitality, so differentfrom what the innkeeper had led him to expect. 

In a minute more one of the apprentices came in to lay the cloth, andAmyas questioned him about his master. 

"Thank the Lord that you are come, sir, " said the lad. 

"Why, then?"

"Because there'll be a chance of us poor fellows getting a little brokenmeat. We'm half-starved this three months--bread and dripping, bread anddripping, oh dear, sir! And now he's sent out to the inn for chickens, and game, and salads, and all that money can buy, and down in the cellarhaling out the best of wine. "--And the lad smacked his lips audibly atthe thought. 

"Is he out of his mind?"

"I can't tell; he saith as how he must save mun's money now-a-days; forhe've a got a great venture on hand: but what a be he tell'th no man. They call'th mun 'bread and dripping' now, sir, all town over, " said theprentice, confidentially, to Amyas. 

"They do, do they, sirrah! Then they will call me bread and no drippingto-morrow!" and old Salterne, entering from behind, made a dash at thepoor fellow's ears: but luckily thought better of it, having a couple ofbottles in each hand. 

"My dear sir, " said Amyas, "you don't mean us to drink all that wine?"

"Why not, sir?" answered Salterne, in a grim, half-sneering tone, thrusting out his square-grizzled beard and chin. "Why not, sir? whyshould I not make merry when I have the honor of a noble captain in myhouse? one who has sailed the seas, sir, and cut Spaniards' throats; andmay cut them again too; eh, sir? Boy, where's the kettle and the sugar?"

"What on earth is the man at?" quoth Amyas to himself--"flattering me, or laughing at me?"

"Yes, " he ran on, half to himself, in a deliberate tone, evidentlyintending to hint more than he said, as he began brewing the sack--inplain English, hot negus; "Yes, bread and dripping for those who can'tfight Spaniards; but the best that money can buy for those who can. Iheard of you at Smerwick, sir--Yes, bread and dripping for me too--Ican't fight Spaniards: but for such as you. Look here, sir; I shouldlike to feed a crew of such up, as you'd feed a main of fighting-cocks, and then start them with a pair of Sheffield spurs a-piece--you've agood one there to your side, sir: but don't you think a man might carrytwo now, and fight as they say those Chineses do, a sword to each hand?You could kill more that way, Captain Leigh, I reckon?"

Amyas half laughed. 

"One will do, Mr. Salterne, if one is quick enough with it. "

"Humph!--Ah--No use being in a hurry. I haven't been in a hurry. No--Iwaited for you; and here you are and welcome, sir! Here comes supper, alight matter, sir, you see. A capon and a brace of partridges. I had notime to feast you as you deserve. "

And so he ran on all supper-time, hardly allowing Amyas to get a wordin edge-ways; but heaping him with coarse flattery, and urging him todrink, till after the cloth was drawn, and the two left alone, he grewso outrageous that Amyas was forced to take him to task good-humoredly. 

"Now, my dear sir, you have feasted me royally, and better far than Ideserve, but why will you go about to make me drunk twice over, firstwith vainglory and then with wine?"

Salterne looked at him a while fixedly, and then, sticking out hischin--"Because, Captain Leigh, I am a man who has all his life tried thecrooked road first, and found the straight one the safer after all. "

"Eh, sir? That is a strange speech for one who bears the character ofthe most upright man in Bideford. "

"Humph. So I thought myself once, sir; and well I have proved it. ButI'll be plain with you, sir. You've heard how--how I've fared since yousaw me last?"

Amyas nodded his head. 

"I thought so. Shame rides post. Now then, Captain Leigh, listen to me. I, being a plain man and a burgher, and one that never drew iron in mylife except to mend a pen, ask you, being a gentleman and a captainand a man of honor, with a weapon to your side, and harness to yourback--what would you do in my place?"

"Humph!" said Amyas, "that would very much depend on whether 'my place'was my own fault or not. "

"And what if it were, sir? What if all that the charitable folks ofBideford--(Heaven reward them for their tender mercies!)--have beentelling you in the last hour be true, sir, --true! and yet not half thetruth?"

Amyas gave a start. 

"Ah, you shrink from me! Of course a man is too righteous to forgivethose who repent, though God is not. "

"God knows, sir--"

"Yes, sir, God does know--all; and you shall know a little--as much as Ican tell--or you understand. Come upstairs with me, sir, as you'll drinkno more; I have a liking for you. I have watched you from your boyhood, and I can trust you, and I'll show you what I never showed to mortal manbut one. "

And, taking up a candle, he led the way upstairs, while Amyas followedwondering. 

He stopped at a door, and unlocked it. 

"There, come in. Those shutters have not been opened since she--" andthe old man was silent. 

Amyas looked round the room. It was a low wainscoted room, such as onesees in old houses: everything was in the most perfect neatness. The snow-white sheets on the bed were turned down as if ready for anoccupant. There were books arranged on the shelves, fresh flowers on thetable; the dressing-table had all its woman's mundus of pins, and rings, and brushes; even the dressing-gown lay over the chair-back. Everythingwas evidently just as it had been left. 

"This was her room, sir, " whispered the old man. 

Amyas nodded silently, and half drew back. 

"You need not be modest about entering it now, sir, " whispered he, witha sort of sneer. "There has been no frail flesh and blood in it for manya day. "

Amyas sighed. 

"I sweep it out myself every morning, and keep all tidy. See here!"and he pulled open a drawer. "Here are all her gowns, and there are herhoods; and there--I know 'em all by heart now, and the place of everyone. And there, sir--"

And he opened a cupboard, where lay in rows all Rose's dolls, and theworn-out playthings of her childhood. 

"That's the pleasantest place of all in the room to me, " said he, whispering still, "for it minds me of when--and maybe, she may become alittle child once more, sir; it's written in the Scripture, you know--"

"Amen!" said Amyas, who felt, to his own wonder, a big tear stealingdown each cheek. 

"And now, " he whispered, "one thing more. Look here!"--and pulling out akey, he unlocked a chest, and lifted up tray after tray of necklacesand jewels, furs, lawns, cloth of gold. "Look there! Two thousand poundwon't buy that chest. Twenty years have I been getting those thingstogether. That's the cream of many a Levant voyage, and East Indianvoyage, and West Indian voyage. My Lady Bath can't match those pearls inher grand house at Tawstock; I got 'em from a Genoese, though, and paidfor 'em. Look at that embroidered lawn! There's not such a piece inLondon; no, nor in Alexandria, I'll warrant; nor short of Calicut, whereit came from. . . . Look here again, there's a golden cup! I bought thatof one that was out with Pizarro in Peru. And look here, again!"--andthe old man gloated over the treasure. 

"And whom do you think I kept all these for? These were for herwedding-day--for her wedding-day. For your wedding-day, if you'd beenminded, sir! Yes, yours, sir! And yet, I believe, I was so ambitiousthat I would not have let her marry under an earl, all the while I waspretending to be too proud to throw her at the head of a squire's son. Ah, well! There was my idol, sir. I made her mad, I pampered her up withgewgaws and vanity; and then, because my idol was just what I had madeher, I turned again and rent her. 

"And now, " said he, pointing to the open chest, "that was what I meant;and that" (pointing to the empty bed) "was what God meant. Never mind. Come downstairs and finish your wine. I see you don't care about it all. Why should you! you are not her father, and you may thank God you arenot. Go, and be merry while you can, young sir! . . . And yet, all thismight have been yours. And--but I don't suppose you are one to be wonby money--but all this may be yours still, and twenty thousand pounds toboot. "

"I want no money, sir, but what I can earn with my own sword. "

"Earn my money, then!"

"What on earth do you want of me!"

"To keep your oath, " said Salterne, clutching his arm, and looking upinto his face with searching eyes. 

"My oath! How did you know that I had one?"

"Ah! you were well ashamed of it, I suppose, next day! A drunken frolicall about a poor merchant's daughter! But there is nothing hidden thatshall not be revealed, nor done in the closet that is not proclaimed onthe house-tops. "

"Ashamed of it, sir, I never was: but I have a right to ask how you cameto know it?"

"What if a poor fat squinny rogue, a low-born fellow even as I am, whom you had baffled and made a laughing-stock, had come to me in myloneliness and sworn before God that if you honorable gentlemen wouldnot keep your words, he the clown would?"

"John Brimblecombe?"

"And what if I had brought him where I have brought you, and shownhim what I have shown you, and, instead of standing as stiff as anySpaniard, as you do, he had thrown himself on his knees by that bedside, and wept and prayed, sir, till he opened my hard heart for the firstand last time, and I fell down on my sinful knees and wept and prayed byhim?"

"I am not given to weeping, Mr. Salterne, " said Amyas; "and as forpraying, I don't know yet what I have to pray for, on her account: mybusiness is to work. Show me what I can do; and when you have done that, it will be full time to upbraid me with not doing it. "

"You can cut that fellow's throat. "

"It will take a long arm to reach him. "

"I suppose it is as easy to sail to the Spanish Main as it was to sailround the world. "

"My good sir, " said Amyas, "I have at this moment no more worldly goodsthan my clothes and my sword, so how to sail to the Spanish Main, Idon't quite see. "

"And do you suppose, sir, that I should hint to you of such a voyage ifI meant you to be at the charge of it? No, sir; if you want two thousandpounds, or five, to fit a ship, take it! Take it, sir! I hoarded moneyfor my child: and now I will spend it to avenge her. "

Amyas was silent for a while; the old man still held his arm, stilllooked up steadfastly and fiercely in his face. 

"Bring me home that man's head, and take ship, prizes--all! Keep thegain, sir, and give me the revenge!"

"Gain? Do you think I need bribing, sir? What kept me silent was thethought of my mother. I dare not go without her leave. "

Salterne made a gesture of impatience. 

"I dare not, sir; I must obey my parent, whatever else I do. "

"Humph!" said he. "If others had obeyed theirs as well!--But you areright, Captain Leigh, right. You will prosper, whoever else does not. Now, sir, good-night, if you will let me be the first to say so. My oldeyes grow heavy early now-a-days. Perhaps it's old age, perhaps it'ssorrow. "

So Amyas departed to the inn, and there, to his great joy, found Carywaiting for him, from whom he learnt details, which must be kept foranother chapter, and which I shall tell, for convenience' sake, in myown words and not in his. 

CHAPTER XV

HOW MR. JOHN BRIMBLECOMBE UNDERSTOOD THE NATURE OF AN OATH

 "The Kynge of Spayn is a foul paynim, And lieveth on Mahound; And pity it were that lady fayre Should marry a heathen hound. "

 Kyng Estmere. 

About six weeks after the duel, the miller at Stow had come up tothe great house in much tribulation, to borrow the bloodhounds. RoseSalterne had vanished in the night, no man knew whither. 

Sir Richard was in Bideford: but the old steward took on himself to sendfor the keepers, and down went the serving-men to the mill with all theidle lads of the parish at their heels, thinking a maiden-hunt very goodsport; and of course taking a view of the case as favorable as possibleto Rose. 

They reviled the miller and his wife roundly for hard-hearted oldheathens; and had no doubt that they had driven the poor maid to throwherself over cliff, or drown herself in the sea; while all the women ofStow, on the other hand, were of unanimous opinion that the hussy had"gone off" with some bad fellow; and that pride was sure to have a fall, and so forth. 

The facts of the case were, that all Rose's trinkets were left behind, so that she had at least gone off honestly; and nothing seemed to bemissing, but some of her linen, which old Anthony the steward broadlyhinted was likely to be found in other people's boxes. The only tracewas a little footmark under her bedroom window. On that the bloodhoundwas laid (of course in leash), and after a premonitory whimper, liftedup his mighty voice, and started bell-mouthed through the garden gate, and up the lane, towing behind him the panting keeper, till they reachedthe downs above, and went straight away for Marslandmouth, where thewhole posse comitatus pulled up breathless at the door of Lucy Passmore. 

Lucy, as perhaps I should have said before, was now a widow, and foundher widowhood not altogether contrary to her interest. Her augury abouther old man had been fulfilled; he had never returned since the night onwhich he put to sea with Eustace and the Jesuits. 

 *"Some natural tears she shed, but dried them soon"

as many of them, at least, as were not required for purposes ofbusiness; and then determined to prevent suspicion by a bold move; shestarted off to Stow, and told Lady Grenville a most pathetic tale: howher husband had gone out to pollock fishing, and never returned: but howshe had heard horsemen gallop past her window in the dead of night, andwas sure they must have been the Jesuits, and that they had carried offher old man by main force, and probably, after making use of hisservices, had killed and salted him down for provision on their voyageback to the Pope at Rome; after which she ended by entreating protectionagainst those "Popish skulkers up to Chapel, " who were sworn to do her amischief; and by an appeal to Lady Grenville's sense of justice, as towhether the queen ought not to allow her a pension, for having had herheart's love turned into a sainted martyr by the hands of idolatroustraitors. 

Lady Grenville (who had a great opinion of Lucy's medical skill, andalways sent for her if one of the children had a "housty, " i. E. Sorethroat) went forth and pleaded the case before Sir Richard with sucheffect, that Lucy was on the whole better off than ever for the next twoor three years. But now--what had she to do with Rose's disappearance?and, indeed, where was she herself? Her door was fast; and round it herflock of goats stood, crying in vain for her to come and milk them;while from the down above, her donkeys, wandering at their own sweetwill, answered the bay of the bloodhound with a burst of harmony. 

"They'm laughing at us, keper, they neddies; sure enough, we'm lost ourlabor here. "

But the bloodhound, after working about the door a while, turned downthe glen, and never stopped till he reached the margin of the sea. 

"They'm taken water. Let's go back, and rout out the old witch'shouse. "

"'Tis just like that old Lucy, to lock a poor maid into shame. "

And returning, they attacked the cottage, and by a general plebiscitum, ransacked the little dwelling, partly in indignation, and partly, if thetruth be told, in the hope of plunder; but plunder there was none. Lucyhad decamped with all her movable wealth, saving the huge black catamong the embers, who at the sight of the bloodhound vanished up thechimney (some said with a strong smell of brimstone), and being viewedoutside, was chased into the woods, where she lived, I doubt not, manyhappy years, a scourge to all the rabbits of the glen. 

The goats and donkeys were driven off up to Stow; and the mob returned, a little ashamed of themselves when their brief wrath was past; and alittle afraid, too, of what Sir Richard might say. 

He, when he returned, sold the donkeys and goats, and gave the money tothe poor, promising to refund the same, if Lucy returned and gaveherself up to justice. But Lucy did not return; and her cottage, fromwhich the neighbors shrank as from a haunted place, remained as she hadleft it, and crumbled slowly down to four fern-covered walls, past whichthe little stream went murmuring on from pool to pool--the only voice, for many a year to come, which broke the silence of that lonely glen. 

A few days afterwards, Sir Richard, on his way from Bideford to Stow, looked in at Clovelly Court, and mentioned, with a "by the by, " newswhich made Will Cary leap from his seat almost to the ceiling. What itwas we know already. 

"And there is no clue?" asked old Cary; for his son was speechless. 

"Only this; I hear that some fellow prowling about the cliffs that nightsaw a pinnace running for Lundy. "

Will rose, and went hastily out of the room. 

In half an hour he and three or four armed servants were on board atrawling-skiff, and away to Lundy. He did not return for three days, and then brought news: that an elderly man, seemingly a foreigner, hadbeen lodging for some months past in a part of the ruined MorescoCastle, which was tenanted by one John Braund; that a few weeks since ayounger man, a foreigner also, had joined him from on board a ship: theship a Flushinger, or Easterling of some sort. The ship came and wentmore than once; and the young man in her. A few days since, a lady andher maid, a stout woman, came with him up to the castle, and talked withthe elder man a long while in secret; abode there all night; and thenall three sailed in the morning. The fishermen on the beach had heardthe young man call the other father. He was a very still man, much as amass-priest might be. More they did not know, or did not choose toknow. 

Whereon old Cary and Sir Richard sent Will on a second trip with theparish constable of Hartland (in which huge parish, for its sins, issituate the Isle of Lundy, ten miles out at sea); who returned with thebody of the hapless John Braund, farmer, fisherman, smuggler, etc. ;which worthy, after much fruitless examination (wherein examinate wasafflicted with extreme deafness and loss of memory), departed to Exetergaol, on a charge of "harboring priests, Jesuits, gipsies, and othersuspect and traitorous persons. "

Poor John Braund, whose motive for entertaining the said ugly customershad probably been not treason, but a wife, seven children, and arrearsof rent, did not thrive under the change from the pure air of Lundy tothe pestiferous one of Exeter gaol, made infamous, but two years after(if I recollect right), by a "black assizes, " nearly as fatal as thatmore notorious one at Oxford; for in it, "whether by the stench of theprisoners, or by a stream of foul air, " judge, jury, counsel, andbystanders, numbering among them many members of the best families inDevon, sickened in court, and died miserably within a few days. 

John Braund, then, took the gaol-fever in a week, and died raving inthat noisome den: his secret, if he had one, perished with him, andnothing but vague suspicion was left as to Rose Salterne's fate. Thatshe had gone off with the Spaniard, few doubted; but whither, and inwhat character? On that last subject, be sure, no mercy was shown toher by many a Bideford dame, who had hated the poor girl simply for herbeauty; and by many a country lady, who had "always expected that thegirl would be brought to ruin by the absurd notice, beyond what herstation had a right to, which was taken of her, " while every youngmaiden aspired to fill the throne which Rose had abdicated. So that, onthe whole, Bideford considered itself as going on as well without poorRose as it had done with her, or even better. And though she lingeredin some hearts still as a fair dream, the business and the bustle ofeach day soon swept that dream away, and her place knew her no more. 

And Will Cary?

He was for a while like a man distracted. He heaped himself with allmanner of superfluous reproaches, for having (as he said) first broughtthe Rose into disgrace, and then driven her into the arms of theSpaniard; while St. Leger, who was a sensible man enough, tried in vainto persuade him that the fault was not his at all; that the two musthave been attached to each other long before the quarrel; that it musthave ended so, sooner or later; that old Salterne's harshness, ratherthan Cary's wrath, had hastened the catastrophe; and finally, that theRose and her fortunes were, now that she had eloped with a Spaniard, notworth troubling their heads about. Poor Will would not be so comforted. He wrote off to Frank at Whitehall, telling him the whole truth, callinghimself all fools and villains, and entreating Frank's forgiveness; towhich he received an answer, in which Frank said that Will had no reasonto accuse himself; that these strange attachments were due to asynastria, or sympathy of the stars, which ruled the destinies of eachperson, to fight against which was to fight against the heavensthemselves; that he, as a brother of the Rose, was bound to believe, nay, to assert at the sword's point if need were, that the incomparableRose of Torridge could make none but a worthy and virtuous choice; andthat to the man whom she had honored by her affection was due on theirpart, Spaniard and Papist though he might be, all friendship, worship, and loyal faith for evermore. 

And honest Will took it all for gospel, little dreaming what agony ofdespair, what fearful suspicions, what bitter prayers, this letter hadcost to the gentle heart of Francis Leigh. 

He showed the letter triumphantly to St. Leger; and he was quite wiseenough to gainsay no word of it, at least aloud; but quite wise enough, also, to believe in secret that Frank looked on the matter in quite adifferent light; however, he contented himself with saying:

"The man is an angel as his mother is!" and there the matter dropped fora few days, till one came forward who had no mind to let it drop, andthat was Jack Brimblecombe, now curate of Hartland town, and "passingrich on forty pounds a year. 

"I hope no offence, Mr. William; but when are you and the rest goingafter--after her?" The name stuck in his throat. 

Cary was taken aback. 

"What's that to thee, Catiline the blood-drinker?" asked he, trying tolaugh it off. 

"What? Don't laugh at me, sir, for it's no laughing matter. I drankthat night naught worse, I expect, than red wine. Whatever it was, weswore our oaths, Mr. Cary; and oaths are oaths, say I. "

"Of course, Jack, of course; but to go to look for her--and when we'vefound her, cut her lover's throat. Absurd, Jack, even if she were worthlooking for, or his throat worth cutting. Tut, tut, tut--"

But Jack looked steadfastly in his face, and after some silence:

How far is it to the Caracas, then, sir?"

"What is that to thee, man?"

"Why, he was made governor thereof, I hear; so that would be the placeto find her?"

"You don't mean to go thither to seek her?" shouted Cary, forcing alaugh. 

"That depends on whether I can go, sir; but if I can scrape the moneytogether, or get a berth on board some ship, why, God's will must bedone. "

Will looked at him, to see if he had been drinking, or gone mad; but thelittle pigs' eyes were both sane and sober. 

Will knew no answer. To laugh at the poor fellow was easy enough; todeny that he was right, that he was a hero and cavalier, outdoingromance itself in faithfulness, not so easy; and Cary, in the firstimpulse, wished him at the bottom of the bay for shaming him. Ofcourse, his own plan of letting ill alone was the rational, prudent, irreproachable plan, and just what any gentleman in his senses wouldhave done; but here was a vulgar, fat curate, out of his senses, determined not to let ill alone, but to do something, as Cary felt inhis heart, of a far diviner stamp. 

"Well, " said Jack, in his stupid steadfast way, "it's a very badlook-out; but mother's pretty well off, if father dies, and the maidensare stout wenches enough, and will make tidy servants, please the Lord. And you'll see that they come to no harm, Mr. William, for oldacquaintance' sake, if I never come back. "

Cary was silent with amazement. 

"And, Mr. William, you know me for an honest man, I hope. Will you lendme a five pound, and take my books in pawn for them, just to help meout?"

"Are you mad, or in a dream? You will never find her!"

"That's no reason why I shouldn't do my duty in looking for her, Mr. William. "

"But, my good fellow, even if you get to the Indies, you will be claptinto the Inquisition, and burnt alive, as sure as your name is Jack. "

"I know that, " said he, in a doleful tone; "and a sore struggle of theflesh I have had about it; for I am a great coward, Mr. William, a dirtycoward, and always was, as you know: but maybe the Lord will take careof me, as He does of little children and drunken men; and if not, Mr. Will, I'd sooner burn, and have it over, than go on this way any longer, I would!" and Jack burst out blubbering. 

"What way, my dear old lad?" said Will, softened as he well might be. 

"Why, not--not to know whether--whether--whether she's married to him ornot--her that I looked up to as an angel of God, as pure as the light ofday; and knew she was too good for a poor pot-head like me; and prayedfor her every night, God knows, that she might marry a king, if therewas one fit for her--and I not to know whether she's living in sin ornot, Mr. William. --It's more than I can bear, and there's an end of it. And if she is married to him they keep no faith with heretics; they candissolve the marriage, or make away with her into the Inquisition; burnher, Mr. Cary, as soon as burn me, the devils incarnate!"

Cary shuddered; the fact, true and palpable as it was, had never struckhim before. 

"Yes! or make her deny her God by torments, if she hasn't done italready for love to that--I know how love will make a body sell hissoul, for I've been in love. Don't you laugh at me, Mr. Will, or Ishall go mad!"

"God knows, I was never less inclined to laugh at you in my life, mybrave old Jack. "

"Is it so, then? Bless you for that word!" and Jack held out his hand. "But what will become of my soul, after my oath, if I don't seek herout, just to speak to her, to warn her, for God's sake, even if it didno good; just to set before her the Lord's curse on idolatry andAntichrist, and those who deny Him for the sake of any creature, thoughI can't think he would be hard on her, --for who could? But I must speakall the same. The Lord has laid the burden on me, and done it must be. God help me!"

"Jack, " said Cary, "if this is your duty, it is others'. "

"No, sir, I don't say that; you're a layman, but I am a deacon, and thechaplain of you all, and sworn to seek out Christ's sheep scattered upand down this naughty world, and that innocent lamb first of all. "

"You have sheep at Hartland, Jack, already. "

"There's plenty better than I will tend them, when I am gone; but nonethat will tend her, because none love her like me, and they won'tventure. Who will? It can't be expected, and no shame to them?"

"I wonder what Amyas Leigh would say to all this, if he were at home?"

"Say? He'd do. He isn't one for talking. He'd go through fire andwater for her, you trust him, Will Cary; and call me an ass if hewon't. "

"Will you wait, then, till he comes back, and ask him?"

"He may not be back for a year and more. "

"Hear reason, Jack. If you will wait like a rational and patient man, instead of rushing blindfold on your ruin, something may be done. "

"You think so!"

"I cannot promise; but--"

"But promise me one thing. Do you tell Mr. Frank what I say--or rather, I'll warrant, if I knew the truth, he has said the very same thinghimself already. "

"You are out there, old man; for here is his own handwriting. "

Jack read the letter and sighed bitterly. "Well, I did take him foranother guess sort of fine gentleman. Still, if my duty isn't his, it'smine all the same. I judge no man; but I go, Mr. Cary. "

"But go you shall not till Amyas returns. As I live, I will tell yourfather, Jack, unless you promise; and you dare not disobey him. "

"I don't know even that, for conscience' sake, " said Jack, doubtfully. 

"At least, you stay and dine here, old fellow, and we will settlewhether you are to break the fifth commandment or not, over good brewedsack. "

Now a good dinner was (as we know) what Jack loved, and loved too oft invain; so he submitted for the nonce, and Cary thought, ere he went, thathe had talked him pretty well round. At least he went home, and wasseen no more for a week. 

But at the end of that time he returned, and said with a joyful voice--

"I have settled all, Mr. Will. The parson of Welcombe will serve mychurch for two Sundays, and I am away for London town, to speak to Mr. Frank. "

"To London? How wilt get there?"

"On Shanks his mare, " said Jack, pointing to his bandy legs. "But Iexpect I can get a lift on board of a coaster so far as Bristol, andit's no way on to signify, I hear. "

Cary tried in vain to dissuade him; and then forced on him a small loan, with which away went Jack, and Cary heard no more of him for threeweeks. 

At last he walked into Clovelly Court again just before supper-time, thin and leg-weary, and sat himself down among the serving-men till Willappeared. 

Will took him up above the salt, and made much of him (which indeed thehonest fellow much needed), and after supper asked him in private how hehad sped. 

"I have learnt a lesson, Mr. William. I've learnt that there is one onearth loves her better than I, if she had but had the wit to have takenhim. "

"But what says he of going to seek her?"

"He says what I say, Go! and he says what you say, Wait. "

"Go? Impossible! How can that agree with his letter?"

"That's no concern of mine. Of course, being nearer heaven than I am, he sees clearer what he should say and do than I can see for him. Oh, Mr. Will, that's not a man, he's an angel of God; but he's dying, Mr. Will. "

"Dying?"

"Yes, faith, of love for her. I can see it in his eyes, and hear it inhis voice; but I am of tougher hide and stiffer clay, and so you see Ican't die even if I tried. But I'll obey my betters, and wait. "

And so Jack went home to his parish that very evening, weary as he was, in spite of all entreaties to pass the night at Clovelly. But he hadleft behind him thoughts in Cary's mind, which gave their owner no restby day or night, till the touch of a seeming accident made them allstart suddenly into shape, as a touch of the freezing water covers it inan instant with crystals of ice. 

He was lounging (so he told Amyas) one murky day on Bideford quay, whenup came Mr. Salterne. Cary had shunned him of late, partly fromdelicacy, partly from dislike of his supposed hard-heartedness. Butthis time they happened to meet full; and Cary could not pass withoutspeaking to him. 

"Well, Mr. Salterne, and how goes on the shipping trade?"

"Well enough, sir, if some of you young gentlemen would but follow Mr. Leigh's example, and go forth to find us stay-at-homes new markets forour ware. "

"What? you want to be rid of us, eh?"

"I don't know why I should, sir. We sha'n't cross each other now, sir, whatever might have been once. But if I were you, I should be in theIndies about now, if I were not fighting the queen's battles nearerhome. "

"In the Indies? I should make but a poor hand of Drake's trade. " And sothe conversation dropped; but Cary did not forget the hint. 

"So, lad, to make an end of a long story, " said he to Amyas; "if you areminded to take the old man's offer, so am I: and Westward-ho with you, come foul come fair. "

"It will be but a wild-goose chase, Will. "

"If she is with him, we shall find her at La Guayra. If she is not, andthe villain has cast her off down the wind, that will be only anadditional reason for making an example of him. "

"And if neither of them are there, Will, the Plate-fleets will be; so itwill be our own shame if we come home empty-handed. But will yourfather let you run such a risk?"

"My father!" said Cary, laughing. "He has just now so good hope of along string of little Carys to fill my place, that he will be in no lackof an heir, come what will. "

"Little Carys?"

"I tell you truth. I think he must have had a sly sup of that fountainof perpetual youth, which our friend Don Guzman's grandfather went toseek in Florida; for some twelvemonth since, he must needs marry atenant's buxom daughter; and Mistress Abishag Jewell has brought him onefat baby already. So I shall go, back to Ireland, or with you: butsomewhere. I can't abide the thing's squalling, any more than I canseeing Mistress Abishag sitting in my poor dear mother's place, andinforming me every other day that she is come of an illustrious house, because she is (or is not) third cousin seven times removed to myfather's old friend, Bishop Jewell of glorious memory. I hadthree-parts of a quarrel with the dear old man the other day; for afterone of her peacock-bouts, I couldn't for the life of me help saying, that as the Bishop had written an Apology for the people of England, myfather had better conjure up his ghost to write an apology for him, andhead it, 'Why green heads should grow on gray shoulders. '"

"You impudent villain! And what did he say?"

Laughed till he cried again, and told me if I did not like it I mightleave it; which is just what I intend to do. Only mind, if we go, wemust needs take Jack Brimblecombe with us, or he will surely heavehimself over Harty Point, and his ghost will haunt us to our dying day. "

"Jack shall go. None deserves it better. "

After which there was a long consultation on practical matters, and itwas concluded that Amyas should go up to London and sound Frank and hismother before any further steps were taken. The other brethren of theRose were scattered far and wide, each at his post, and St. Leger hadreturned to his uncle, so that it would be unfair to them, as well as aconsiderable delay, to demand of them any fulfilment of their vow. And, as Amyas sagely remarked, "Too many cooks spoil the broth, andhalf-a-dozen gentlemen aboard one ship are as bad as two kings ofBrentford. "

With which maxim he departed next morning for London, leaving Yeo withCary. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE MOST CHIVALROUS ADVENTURE OF THE GOOD SHIP ROSE

 "He is brass within, and steel without, With beams on his topcastle strong; And eighteen pieces of ordinance He carries on either side along. "

 Sir Andrew Barton. 

Let us take boat, as Amyas did, at Whitehall-stairs, and slip down aheadof him under old London Bridge, and so to Deptford Creek, where remains, as it were embalmed, the famous ship Pelican, in which Drake had sailedround the world. There she stands, drawn up high and dry upon the sedgybank of Thames, like an old warrior resting after his toil. Nailed uponher mainmast are epigrams and verses in honor of her and of her captain, three of which, by the Winchester scholar, Camden gives in his History;and Elizabeth's self consecrated her solemnly, and having banqueted onboard, there and then honored Drake with the dignity of knighthood. "Atwhich time a bridge of planks, by which they came on board, broke underthe press of people, and fell down with a hundred men upon it, who, notwithstanding, had none of them any harm. So as that ship may seem tohave been built under a lucky planet. "

There she has remained since as a show, and moreover as a sort ofdining-hall for jovial parties from the city; one of which would seemto be on board this afternoon, to judge from the flags which bedizen themasts, the sounds of revelry and savory steams which issue from thosewindows which once were portholes, and the rushing to and fro along theriver brink, and across that lucky bridge, of white-aproned waiters fromthe neighboring Pelican Inn. A great feast is evidently toward, forwith those white-aproned waiters are gay serving men, wearing on theirshoulders the city-badge. The lord mayor is giving a dinner to certaingentlemen of the Leicester house party, who are interested in foreigndiscoveries; and what place so fit for such a feast as the Pelicanitself?

Look at the men all round; a nobler company you will seldom see. Especially too, if you be Americans, look at their faces, and reverencethem; for to them and to their wisdom you owe the existence of yourmighty fatherland. 

At the head of the table sits the lord mayor; whom all readers willrecognize at once, for he is none other than that famous Sir EdwardOsborne, clothworker, and ancestor of the dukes of Leeds, whose romancenow-a-days is in every one's hands. He is aged, but not changed, sincehe leaped from the window upon London Bridge into the roaring tidebelow, to rescue the infant who is now his wife. The chivalry andpromptitude of the 'prentice boy have grown and hardened into thethoughtful daring of the wealthy merchant adventurer. There he sits, aright kingly man, with my lord Earl of Cumberland on his right hand, andWalter Raleigh on his left; the three talk together in a low voice onthe chance of there being vast and rich countries still undiscoveredbetween Florida and the River of Canada. Raleigh's half-scientificdeclamation and his often quotations of Doctor Dee the conjuror, haveless effect on Osborne than on Cumberland (who tried many an adventureto foreign parts, and failed in all of them; apparently for the simplereason that, instead of going himself, he sent other people), andRaleigh is fain to call to his help the quiet student who sits on hisleft hand, Richard Hakluyt, of Oxford. But he is deep in talk with areverend elder, whose long white beard flows almost to his waist, andwhose face is furrowed by a thousand storms; Anthony Jenkinson by name, the great Asiatic traveller, who is discoursing to the Christ-churchvirtuoso of reindeer sledges and Siberian steppes, and of the fossilivory, plain proof of Noah's flood, which the Tungoos dig from theice-cliffs of the Arctic sea. Next to him is Christopher Carlile, Walsingham's son-in-law (as Sidney also is now), a valiant captain, afterwards general of the soldiery in Drake's triumphant West Indianraid of 1585, with whom a certain Bishop of Carthagena will hereafterdrink good wine. He is now busy talking with Alderman Hart thegrocer, Sheriff Spencer the clothworker, and Charles Leigh (Amyas'smerchant-cousin), and with Aldworth the mayor of Bristol, and WilliamSalterne, alderman thereof, and cousin of our friend at Bideford. ForCarlile, and Secretary Walsingham also, have been helping them heartand soul for the last two years to collect money for Humphrey and AdrianGilbert's great adventures to the North-West, on one of which Carlilewas indeed to have sailed himself, but did not go after all; I nevercould discover for what reason. 

On the opposite side of the table is a group, scarcely less interesting. Martin Frobisher and John Davis, the pioneers of the North-West passage, are talking with Alderman Sanderson, the great geographer and "setterforth of globes;" with Mr. Towerson, Sir Gilbert Peckham, our oldacquaintance Captain John Winter, and last, but not least, with PhilipSidney himself, who, with his accustomed courtesy; has given up hisrightful place toward the head of the table that he may have a knot ofvirtuosi all to himself; and has brought with him, of course, his twoespecial intimates, Mr. Edward Dyer and Mr. Francis Leigh. They too aretalking of the North-West passage: and Sidney is lamenting that he istied to diplomacy and courts, and expressing his envy of old MartinFrobisher in all sorts of pretty compliments; to which the other repliesthat, "It's all very fine to talk of here, a sailing on dry land with agood glass of wine before you; but you'd find it another guess sort ofbusiness, knocking about among the icebergs with your beard frozen fastto your ruff, Sir Philip, specially if you were a bit squeamish aboutthe stomach. "

"That were a slight matter to endure, my dear sir, if by it I could winthe honor which her majesty bestowed on you, when her own ivory handwaved a farewell 'kerchief to your ship from the windows of GreenwichPalace. "

"Well, sir, folks say you have no reason to complain of lack of favors, as you have no reason to deserve lack; and if you can get them bystaying ashore, don't you go to sea to look for more, say I. Eh, MasterTowerson?"

Towerson's gray beard, which has stood many a foreign voyage, both fairand foul, wags grim assent. But at this moment a Waiter enters, and--

"Please my lord mayor's worship, there is a tall gentleman outside, would speak with the Right Honorable Sir Walter Raleigh. "

"Show him in, man. Sir Walter's friends are ours. "

Amyas enters, and stands hesitating in the doorway. 

"Captain Leigh!" cry half a-dozen voices. 

"Why did you not walk in, sir?" says Osborne. "You should know your waywell enough between these decks. "

"Well enough, my lords and gentlemen. But, Sir Walter--you will excuseme"--and he gave Raleigh a look which was enough for his quick wit. Turning pale as death, he rose, and followed Amyas into an adjoiningcabin. They were five minutes together; and then Amyas came out alone. 

In few words he told the company the sad story which we already know. Ere it was ended, noble tears were glistening on some of those sternfaces. 

"The old Egyptians, " said Sir Edward Osborne, "when they banqueted, seta corpse among their guests, for a memorial of human vanity. Have weforgotten God and our own weakness in this our feast, that He Himselfhas sent us thus a message from the dead?"

"Nay, my lord mayor, " said Sidney, "not from the dead, but from therealm of everlasting life. "

"Amen!" answered Osborne. "But, gentlemen, our feast is at an end. Thereare those here who would drink on merrily, as brave men should, in spiteof the private losses of which they have just had news; but none herewho can drink with the loss of so great a man still ringing in hisears. "

It was true. Though many of the guests had suffered severely by thefailure of the expedition, they had utterly forgotten that fact in theawful news of Sir Humphrey's death; and the feast broke up sadly andhurriedly, while each man asked his neighbor, "What will the queen say?"

Raleigh re-entered in a few minutes, but was silent, and pressing manyan honest hand as he passed, went out to call a wherry, beckoning Amyasto follow him. Sidney, Cumberland, and Frank went with them in anotherboat, leaving the two to talk over the sad details. 

They disembarked at Whitehall-stairs; Raleigh, Sidney, and Cumberlandwent to the palace; and the two brothers to their mother's lodgings. 

Amyas had prepared his speech to Frank about Rose Salterne, but now thatit was come to the point, he had not courage to begin, and longed thatFrank would open the matter. Frank, too, shrank from what he knew mustcome, and all the more because he was ignorant that Amyas had been toBideford, or knew aught of the Rose's disappearance. 

So they went upstairs; and it was a relief to both of them to find thattheir mother was at the Abbey; for it was for her sake that both dreadedwhat was coming. So they went and stood in the bay-window which lookedout upon the river, and talked of things indifferent, and lookedearnestly at each other's faces by the fading light, for it was nowthree years since they had met. 

Years and events had deepened the contrast between the two brothers; andFrank smiled with affectionate pride as he looked up in Amyas's face, and saw that he was no longer merely the rollicking handy sailor-lad, but the self-confident and stately warrior, showing in every look andgesture, "The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill, "

worthy of one whose education had been begun by such men as Drake andGrenville, and finished by such as Raleigh and Gilbert. His long lockswere now cropped close to the head; but as a set-off, the lips and chinwere covered with rich golden beard; his face was browned by a thousandsuns and storms; a long scar, the trophy of some Irish fight, crossedhis right temple; his huge figure had gained breadth in proportion toits height; and his hand, as it lay upon the window-sill, was hard andmassive as a smith's. Frank laid his own upon it, and sighed; and Amyaslooked down, and started at the contrast between the two--so slender, bloodless, all but transparent, were the delicate fingers of thecourtier. Amyas looked anxiously into his brother's face. It waschanged, indeed, since they last met. The brilliant red was still oneither cheek, but the white had become dull and opaque; the lips werepale, the features sharpened; the eyes glittered with unnatural fire:and when Frank told Amyas that he looked aged, Amyas could not helpthinking that the remark was far more true of the speaker himself. 

Trying to shut his eyes to the palpable truth, he went on with his chat, asking the names of one building after another. 

"And so this is old Father Thames, with his bank of palaces?"

"Yes. His banks are stately enough; yet, you see, he cannot stay to lookat them. He hurries down to the sea; and the sea into the ocean; and theocean Westward-ho, forever. All things move Westward-ho. Perhaps we maymove that way ourselves some day, Amyas. "

"What do you mean by that strange talk?"

"Only that the ocean follows the primum mobile of the heavens, and flowsforever from east to west. Is there anything so strange in my thinkingof that, when I am just come from a party where we have been drinkingsuccess to Westward-ho?"

"And much good has come of it! I have lost the best friend and thenoblest captain upon earth, not to mention all my little earnings, inthat same confounded gulf of Westward-ho. "

"Yes, Sir Humphrey Gilbert's star has set in the West--why not? Sun, moon, and planets sink into the West: why not the meteors of this lowerworld? why not a will-o'-the-wisp like me, Amyas?"

"God forbid, Frank!"

"Why, then? Is not the West the land of peace, and the land of dreams?Do not our hearts tell us so each time we look upon the setting sun, andlong to float away with him upon the golden-cushioned clouds? They burymen with their faces to the East. I should rather have mine turnedto the West, Amyas, when I die; for I cannot but think it some divineinstinct which made the ancient poets guess that Elysium lay beneath thesetting sun. It is bound up in the heart of man, that longing for theWest. I complain of no one for fleeing away thither beyond the utmostsea, as David wished to flee, and be at peace. "

"Complain of no one for fleeing thither?" asked Amyas. "That is morethan I do. "

Frank looked inquiringly at him; and then--

"No. If I had complained of any one, it would have been of you just now, for seeming to be tired of going Westward-ho. "

"Do you wish me to go, then?"

"God knows, " said Frank, after a moment's pause. "But I must tell younow, I suppose, once and for all. That has happened at Bideford which--"

"Spare us both, Frank; I know all. I came through Bideford on my wayhither; and came hither not merely to see you and my mother, but to askyour advice and her permission. "

"True heart! noble heart!" cried Frank. "I knew you would be stanch!"

"Westward-ho it is, then?"

"Can we escape?"

"We?"

"Amyas, does not that which binds you bind me?"

Amyas started back, and held Frank by the shoulders at arm's length; ashe did so, he could feel through, that his brother's arms were but skinand bone. 

"You? Dearest man, a month of it would kill you!"

Frank smiled, and tossed his head on one side in his pretty way. 

"I belong to the school of Thales, who held that the ocean is the motherof all life; and feel no more repugnance at returning to her bosom againthan Humphrey Gilbert did. "

"But, Frank, --my mother?"

"My mother knows all; and would not have us unworthy of her. "

"Impossible! She will never give you up!"

"All things are possible to them that believe in God, my brother; andshe believes. But, indeed, Doctor Dee, the wise man, gave her but thissummer I know not what of prognostics and diagnostics concerning me. Iam born, it seems, under a cold and watery planet, and need, if I am tobe long-lived, to go nearer to the vivifying heat of the sun, and therebask out my little life, like fly on wall. To tell truth, he has biddenme spend no more winters here in the East; but return to our nativesea-breezes, there to warm my frozen lungs; and has so filled mymother's fancy with stories of sick men, who were given up for lost inGermany and France, and yet renewed their youth, like any serpent oreagle, by going to Italy, Spain, and the Canaries, that she herself willbe more ready to let me go than I to leave her all alone. And yet I mustgo, Amyas. It is not merely that my heart pants, as Sidney's does, asevery gallant's ought, to make one of your noble choir of Argonauts, who are now replenishing the earth and subduing it for God and for thequeen; it is not merely, Amyas, that love calls me, --love tyrannous anduncontrollable, strengthened by absence, and deepened by despair; buthonor, Amyas--my oath--"

And he paused for lack of breath, and bursting into a violent fit ofcoughing, leaned on his brother's shoulder, while Amyas cried, "Fools, fools that we were--that I was, I mean--to take that fantasticalvow!"

"Not so, " answered a gentle voice from behind: "you vowed for thesake of peace on earth, and good-will toward men, and 'Blessed are thepeacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ' No my sons, be sure that such self-sacrifice as you have shown will meet its fullreward at the hand of Him who sacrificed Himself for you. "

"Oh, mother! mother!" said Amyas, "and do you not hate the very sight ofme--come here to take away your first-born?"

"My boy, God takes him, and not you. And if I dare believe in suchpredictions, Doctor Dee assured me that some exceeding honor awaited youboth in the West, to each of you according to your deserts. "

"Ah!" said Amyas. "My blessing, I suppose, will be like Esau's, to liveby my sword; while Jacob here, the spiritual man, inherits the kingdomof heaven, and an angel's crown. "

"Be it what it may, it will surely be a blessing, as long as you aresuch, my children, as you have been. At least my Frank will be safe fromthe intrigues of court, and the temptations of the world. Would that Itoo could go with you, and share in your glory! Come, now, " said she, laying her head upon Amyas's breast, and looking up into his face withone of her most winning smiles, "I have heard of heroic mothers erenow who went forth with their sons to battle, and cheered them on tovictory. Why should I not go with you on a more peaceful errand? I couldnurse the sick, if there were any; I could perhaps have speech of thatpoor girl, and win her back more easily than you. She might listen towords from a woman--a woman, too, who has loved--which she could nothear from men. At least I could mend and wash for you. I suppose it isas easy to play the good housewife afloat as on shore? Come, now!"

Amyas looked from one to the other. 

"God only knows which of the two is less fit to go. Mother! mother! youknow not what you ask. Frank! Frank! I do not want you with me. Thisis a sterner matter than either of you fancy it to be; one that must beworked out, not with kind words, but with sharp shot and cold steel. "

"How?" cried both together, aghast. 

"I must pay my men, and pay my fellow-adventurers; and I must pay themwith Spanish gold. And what is more, I cannot, as a loyal subject ofthe queen's, go to the Spanish Main with a clear conscience on my ownprivate quarrel, unless I do all the harm that my hand finds to do, byday and night, to her enemies, and the enemies of God. "

"What nobler knight-errantry?" said Frank, cheerfully; but Mrs. Leighshuddered. 

"What! Frank too?" she said, half to herself; but her sons knew what shemeant. Amyas's warlike life, honorable and righteous as she knew itto be, she had borne as a sad necessity: but that Frank as well shouldbecome "a man of blood, " was more than her gentle heart could face atfirst sight. That one youthful duel of his he had carefully concealedfrom her, knowing her feeling on such matters. And it seemed toodreadful to her to associate that gentle spirit with all the ferocitiesand the carnage of a battlefield. "And yet, " said she to herself, "isthis but another of the self-willed idols which I must renounce one byone?" And then, catching at a last hope, she answered--

"Frank must at least ask the queen's leave to go; and if she permits, how can I gainsay her wisdom?"

And so the conversation dropped, sadly enough. 

But now began a fresh perplexity in Frank's soul, which amused Amyas atfirst, when it seemed merely jest, but nettled him a good deal whenhe found it earnest. For Frank looked forward to asking the queen'spermission for his voyage with the most abject despondency and terror. Two or three days passed before he could make up his mind to ask foran interview with her; and he spent the time in making as much interestwith Leicester, Hatton, and Sidney, as if he were about to sue for areprieve from the scaffold. 

So said Amyas, remarking, further, that the queen could not cut his headoff for wanting to go to sea. 

"But what axe so sharp as her frown?" said Frank in most lugubrioustone. 

Amyas began to whistle in a very rude way. 

"Ah, my brother, you cannot comprehend the pain of parting from her. "

"No, I can't. I would die for the least hair of her royal head, Godbless it! but I could live very well from now till Doomsday without eversetting eyes on the said head. "

"Plato's Troglodytes regretted not that sunlight which they had neverbeheld. "

Amyas, not understanding this recondite conceit, made no answer to it, and there the matter ended for the time. But at last Frank obtained hisaudience; and after a couple of hours' absence returned quite pale andexhausted. 

"Thank Heaven, it is over! She was very angry at first--what else couldshe be?--and upbraided me with having set my love so low. I could onlyanswer, that my fatal fault was committed before the sight of her hadtaught me what was supremely lovely, and only worthy of admiration. Thenshe accused me of disloyalty in having taken an oath which bound me tothe service of another than her. I confessed my sin with tears, and whenshe threatened punishment, pleaded that the offence had avenged itselfheavily already, --for what worse punishment than exile from the sunlightof her presence, into the outer darkness which reigns where she is not?Then she was pleased to ask me, how I could dare, as her sworn servant, to desert her side in such dangerous times as these; and asked me how Ishould reconcile it to my conscience, if on my return I found her deadby the assassin's knife? At which most pathetic demand I could onlythrow myself at once on my own knees and her mercy, and so awaitedmy sentence. Whereon, with that angelic pity which alone makes herawfulness endurable, she turned to Hatton and asked, 'What say you, Mouton? Is he humbled sufficiently?' and so dismissed me. "

"Heigh-ho!" yawned Amyas;

 "If the bridge had been stronger, My tale had been longer. "

"Amyas! Amyas!" quoth Frank, solemnly, "you know not what power over thesoul has the native and God-given majesty of royalty (awful enough initself) when to it is superadded the wisdom of the sage, and therewithalthe tenderness of the woman. Had I my will, there should be in everyrealm not a salique, but an anti-salique law: whereby no kings, but onlyqueens should rule mankind. Then would weakness and not power be to manthe symbol of divinity; love, and not cunning, would be the arbiter ofevery cause; and chivalry, not fear, the spring of all obedience. "

"Humph! There's some sense in that, " quoth Amyas. "I'd run a mile fora woman when I would not walk a yard for a man; and--Who is this ourmother is bringing in? The handsomest fellow I ever saw in my life!"

Amyas was not far wrong; for Mrs. Leigh's companion was none other thanMr. Secretary, Amyas's Smerwick Fort acquaintance; alias Colin Clout, alias Immerito, alias Edmund Spenser. Some half-jesting conversation hadseemingly been passing between the poet and the saint; for as they camein she said with a smile (which was somewhat of a forced one)--"Well, my dear sons, you are sure of immortality, at least on earth; for Mr. Spenser has been vowing to me to give your adventure a whole canto toitself in his 'Faerie Queene'. "

"And you no less, madam, " said Spenser. "What were the story of theGracchi worth without the figure of Cornelia? If I honor the fruit, Imust not forget the stem which bears it. Frank, I congratulate you. "

"Then you know the result of my interview, mother?"

"I know everything, and am content, " said Mrs. Leigh. 

"Mrs. Leigh has reason to be content, " said Spenser, "with that which isbut her own likeness. "

Spare your flattery to an old woman, Mr. Spenser. When, pray, did I"(with a most loving look at Frank) "refuse knighthood for duty's sake?"

"Knighthood?" cried Amyas. "You never told me that, Frank!"

"That may well be, Captain Leigh, " said Spenser; "but believe me, hermajesty (so Hatton assures me) told him this day, no less than that bygoing on this quest he deprived himself of that highest earthly honor, which crowned heads are fain to seek from their own subjects. "

Spenser did not exaggerate. Knighthood was then the prize of merit only;and one so valuable, that Elizabeth herself said, when asked why she didnot bestow a peerage upon some favorite, that having already knightedhim, she had nothing better to bestow. It remained for young Essex tobegin the degradation of the order in his hapless Irish campaign, andfor James to complete that degradation by his novel method of raisingmoney by the sale of baronetcies; a new order of hereditary knighthoodwhich was the laughing-stock of the day, and which (however venerableit may have since become) reflects anything but honor upon its firstpossessors. 

"I owe you no thanks, Colin, " said Frank, "for having broached mysecret: but I have lost nothing after all. There is still an order ofknighthood in which I may win my spurs, even though her majesty refuseme the accolade. "

"What, then? you will not take it from a foreign prince?"

Frank smiled. 

"Have you never read of that knighthood which is eternal in the heavens, and of those true cavaliers whom John saw in Patmos, riding on whitehorses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, knights-errant in theeverlasting war against the False Prophet and the Beast? Let me butbecome worthy of their ranks hereafter, what matter whether I be calledSir Frank on earth?"

"My son, " said Mrs. Leigh, "remember that they follow One whose vestureis dipped, not in the blood of His enemies, but in His own. "

"I have remembered it for many a day; and remembered, too, that thegarments of the knights may need the same tokens as their captain's. "

"Oh, Frank! Frank! is not His precious blood enough to cleanse all sin, without the sacrifice of our own?"

"We may need no more than His blood, mother, and yet He may need ours, "said Frank. 

 * * * * *

How that conversation ended I know not, nor whether Spenser fulfilledhis purpose of introducing the two brothers and their mother into his"Faerie Queene. " If so, the manuscripts must have been lost among thosewhich perished (along with Spenser's baby) in the sack of Kilcolman bythe Irish in 1598. But we need hardly regret the loss of them; for thetemper of the Leighs and their mother is the same which inspires everycanto of that noblest of poems; and which inspired, too, hundreds inthose noble days, when the chivalry of the Middle Ages was wedded to thefree thought and enterprise of the new. 

 * * * * *

So mother and sons returned to Bideford, and set to work. Frankmortgaged a farm; Will Cary did the same (having some land of his ownfrom his mother). Old Salterne grumbled at any man save himself spendinga penny on the voyage, and forced on the adventurers a good ship of twohundred tons burden, and five hundred pounds toward fitting her out;Mrs. Leigh worked day and night at clothes and comforts of every kind;Amyas had nothing to give but his time and his brains: but, as Salternesaid, the rest would have been of little use without them; and day afterday he and the old merchant were on board the ship, superintendingwith their own eyes the fitting of every rope and nail. Cary went aboutbeating up recruits; and made, with his jests and his frankness, thebest of crimps: while John Brimblecombe, beside himself with joy, toddled about after him from tavern to tavern, and quay to quay, exaltedfor the time being (as Cary told him) into a second Peter the Hermit;and so fiercely did he preach a crusade against the Spaniards, throughBideford and Appledore, Clovelly and Ilfracombe, that Amyas might havehad a hundred and fifty loose fellows in the first fortnight. But heknew better: still smarting from the effects of a similar haste in theNewfoundland adventure, he had determined to take none but picked men;and by dint of labor he obtained them. 

Only one scapegrace did he take into his crew, named Parracombe; andby that scapegrace hangs a tale. He was an old schoolfellow of hisat Bideford, and son of a merchant in that town--one of those unluckymembers who are "nobody's enemy but their own"--a handsome, idle, clever fellow, who used his scholarship, of which he had picked up somesmattering, chiefly to justify his own escapades, and to string songstogether. Having drunk all that he was worth at home, he had in apenitent fit forsworn liquor, and tormented Amyas into taking him tosea, where he afterwards made as good a sailor as any one else, but sorely scandalized John Brimblecombe by all manner of hereticalarguments, half Anacreontic, half smacking of the rather loose doctrinesof that "Family of Love" which tormented the orthodoxy and morality ofmore than one Bishop of Exeter. Poor Will Parracombe! he was born a fewcenturies too early. Had he but lived now, he might have publisheda volume or two of poetry, and then settled down on the staff of anewspaper. Had he even lived thirty years later than he did, he mighthave written frantic tragedies or filthy comedies for the edification ofJames's profligate metropolis, and roistered it in taverns with Marlowe, to die as Marlowe did, by a footman's sword in a drunken brawl. But inthose stern days such weak and hysterical spirits had no fair vent fortheir "humors, " save in being reconciled to the Church of Rome, andplotting with Jesuits to assassinate the queen, as Parry and Somerville, and many other madmen, did. 

So, at least, some Jesuit or other seems to have thought, shortly afterAmyas had agreed to give the spendthrift a berth on board. For one dayAmyas, going down to Appledore about his business, was called into thelittle Mariners' Rest inn, to extract therefrom poor Will Parracombe, who (in spite of his vow) was drunk and outrageous, and had vowed thedeath of the landlady and all her kin. So Amyas fetched him out by thecollar, and walked him home thereby to Bideford; during which walk Willtold him a long and confused story; how an Egyptian rogue had met himthat morning on the sands by Boathythe, offered to tell his fortune, and prophesied to him great wealth and honor, but not from the Queen ofEngland; had coaxed him to the Mariners' Rest, and gambled with himfor liquor, at which it seemed Will always won, and of course drank hiswinnings on the spot; whereon the Egyptian began asking him all sorts ofquestions about the projected voyage of the Rose--a good many of which, Will confessed, he had answered before he saw the fellow's drift;after which the Egyptian had offered him a vast sum of money to do somedesperate villainy; but whether it was to murder Amyas or the queen, whether to bore a hole in the bottom of the good ship Rose or to set theTorridge on fire by art-magic, he was too drunk to recollect exactly. Whereon Amyas treated three-quarters of the story as a tipsy dream, and contented himself by getting a warrant against the landlady forharboring "Egyptians, " which was then a heavy offence--a gipsy disguisebeing a favorite one with Jesuits and their emissaries. She of coursedenied that any gipsy had been there; and though there were some whothought they had seen such a man come in, none had seen him go outagain. On which Amyas took occasion to ask, what had become of thesuspicious Popish ostler whom he had seen at the Mariners' Rest threeyears before; and discovered, to his surprise, that the said ostlerhad vanished from the very day of Don Guzman's departure from Bideford. There was evidently a mystery somewhere: but nothing could be proved;the landlady was dismissed with a reprimand, and Amyas soon forgot thewhole matter, after rating Parracombe soundly. After all, he could nothave told the gipsy (if one existed) anything important; for the specialdestination of the voyage (as was the custom in those times, for fear ofJesuits playing into the hands of Spain) had been carefully kept secretamong the adventurers themselves, and, except Yeo and Drew, none of themen had any suspicion that La Guayra was to be their aim. 

And Salvation Yeo?

Salvation was almost wild for a few days, at the sudden prospect ofgoing in search of his little maid, and of fighting Spaniards once morebefore he died. I will not quote the texts out of Isaiah and the Psalmswith which his mouth was filled from morning to night, for fear ofseeming irreverent in the eyes of a generation which does not believe, as Yeo believed, that fighting the Spaniards was as really fighting inGod's battle against evil as were the wars of Joshua or David. But theold man had his practical hint too, and entreated to be sent back toPlymouth to look for men. 

"There's many a man of the old Pelican, sir, and of Captain Hawkins'sMinion that knows the Indies as well as I, and longs to be back again. There's Drew, sir, that we left behind (and no better sailing-master forus in the West-country, and has accounts against the Spaniards, too; forit was his brother, the Barnstaple man, that was factor aboard of poorMr. Andrew Barker, and got clapt into the Inquisition at the Canaries);you promised him, sir, that night he stood by you on board the Raleigh:and if you'll be as good as your word, he'll be as good as his; andbring a score more brave fellows with him. "

So off went Yeo to Plymouth, and returned with Drew and a score of oldnever-strikes. One look at their visages, as Yeo proudly ushered theminto the Ship Tavern, showed Amyas that they were of the metal which hewanted, and that, with the four North-Devon men who had gone round theworld with him in the Pelican (who all joined in the first week), he hada reserve-force on which he could depend in utter need; and that utterneed might come he knew as well as any. 

Nor was this all which Yeo had brought; for he had with him a letterfrom Sir Francis Drake, full of regrets that he had not seen "his dearlad" as he went through Plymouth. "But indeed I was up to Dartmoor, surveying with cross-staff and chain, over my knees in bog for a threeweeks or more. For I have a project to bring down a leat of fair waterfrom the hill-tops right into Plymouth town, cutting off the headsof Tavy, Meavy, Wallcomb, and West Dart, and thereby purging Plymouthharbor from the silt of the mines whereby it has been choked of lateyears, and giving pure drink not only to the townsmen, but to the fleetsof the queen's majesty; which if I do, I shall both make some poorreturn to God for all His unspeakable mercies, and erect unto myself amonument better than of brass or marble, not merely honorable to me, butuseful to my countrymen. "* Whereon Frank sent Drake a pretty epigram, comparing Drake's projected leat to that river of eternal life whereofthe just would drink throughout eternity, and quoting (after the fashionof those days) John vii. 38; while Amyas took more heed of a practicalappendage to the same letter, which was a list of hints scrawled forhis use by Captain John Hawkins himself, on all sea matters, fromthe mounting of ordnance to the use of vitriol against the scurvy, indefault of oranges and "limmons;" all which stood Amyas in good steadduring the ensuing month, while Frank grew more and more proud of hisbrother, and more and more humble about himself. 

 * This noble monument of Drake's piety and public spirit still remains in full use. 

For he watched with astonishment how the simple sailor, without genius, scholarship, or fancy, had gained, by plain honesty, patience, andcommon sense, a power over the human heart, and a power over his work, whatsoever it might be, which Frank could only admire afar off. The menlooked up to him as infallible, prided themselves on forestalling hiswishes, carried out his slightest hint, worked early and late to wina smile from him; while as for him, no detail escaped him, no drudgerysickened him, no disappointment angered him, till on the 15th ofNovember, 1583, dropped down from Bideford Quay to Appledore Pool thetall ship Rose, with a hundred men on board (for sailors packed closein those days), beef, pork, biscuit, and good ale (for ale went to seaalways then) in abundance, four culverins on her main deck, her poop andforecastle well fitted with swivels of every size, and her racks so fullof muskets, calivers, long bows, pikes, and swords, that all agreed sowell-appointed a ship had never sailed "out over Bar. "

The next day being Sunday, the whole crew received the Communiontogether at Northam Church, amid a mighty crowd; and then going on boardagain, hove anchor and sailed out over the Bar before a soft east wind, to the music of sacbut, fife, and drum, with discharge of all ordnance, great and small, with cheering of young and old from cliff and strandand quay, and with many a tearful prayer and blessing upon that gallantbark, and all brave hearts on board. 

And Mrs. Leigh who had kissed her sons for the last time after theCommunion at the altar-steps (and what more fit place for a mother'skiss?) went to the rocky knoll outside the churchyard wall, and watchedthe ship glide out between the yellow denes, and lessen slowly hour byhour into the boundless West, till her hull sank below the dim horizon, and her white sails faded away into the gray Atlantic mist, perhapsforever. 

And Mrs. Leigh gathered her cloak about her, and bowed her head andworshipped; and then went home to loneliness and prayer. 

CHAPTER XVII

HOW THEY CAME TO BARBADOS, AND FOUND NO MEN THEREIN

 "The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out; At one stride comes the dark. "

 COLERIDGE. 

Land! land! land! Yes, there it was, far away to the south and west, beside the setting sun, a long blue bar between the crimson sea andgolden sky. Land at last, with fresh streams, and cooling fruits, andfree room for cramped and scurvy-weakened limbs. And there, too, mightbe gold, and gems, and all the wealth of Ind. Who knew? Why not? The oldworld of fact and prose lay thousands of miles behind them, and beforethem and around them was the realm of wonder and fable, of boundlesshope and possibility. Sick men crawled up out of their stiflinghammocks; strong men fell on their knees and gave God thanks; and alleyes and hands were stretched eagerly toward the far blue cloud, fadingas the sun sank down, yet rising higher and broader as the ship rushedon before the rich trade-wind, which whispered lovingly round browand sail, "I am the faithful friend of those who dare!" "Blow freshly, freshlier yet, thou good trade-wind, of whom it is written that He makesthe winds His angels, ministering breaths to the heirs of His salvation. Blow freshlier yet, and save, if not me from death, yet her from worsethan death. Blow on, and land me at her feet, to call the lost lambhome, and die!"

So murmured Frank to himself, as with straining eyes he gazed upon thatfirst outlier of the New World which held his all. His cheeks were thinand wasted, and the hectic spot on each glowed crimson in the crimsonlight of the setting sun. A few minutes more, and the rainbows of theWest were gone; emerald and topaz, amethyst and ruby, had faded intosilver-gray; and overhead, through the dark sapphire depths, the Moonand Venus reigned above the sea. 

"That should be Barbados, your worship, " said Drew, the master; "unlessmy reckoning is far out, which, Heaven knows, it has no right to be, after such a passage, and God be praised. "

"Barbados? I never heard of it. "

"Very like, sir: but Yeo and I were here with Captain Drake, and I washere after, too, with poor Captain Barlow; and there is good harborageto the south and west of it, I remember. "

"And neither Spaniard, cannibal, or other evil beast, " said Yeo. "A verygarden of the Lord, sir, hid away in the seas, for an inheritance tothose who love Him. I heard Captain Drake talk of planting it, if everhe had a chance. "

"I recollect now, " said Amyas, "some talk between him and poor SirHumphrey about an island here. Would God he had gone thither instead ofto Newfoundland!"

"Nay, then, " said Yeo, "he is in bliss now with the Lord; and you wouldnot have kept him from that, sir?"

"He would have waited as willingly as he went, if he could have servedhis queen thereby. But what say you, my masters? How can we do betterthan to spend a few days here, to get our sick round, before we make theMain, and set to our work?"

All approved the counsel except Frank, who was silent. 

"Come, fellow-adventurer, " said Cary, "we must have your voice too. "

"To my impatience, Will, " said he, aside in a low voice, "there is butone place on earth, and I am all day longing for wings to fly thither:but the counsel is right. I approve it. "

So the verdict was announced, and received with a hearty cheer by thecrew; and long before morning they had run along the southern shore ofthe island, and were feeling their way into the bay where Bridgetown nowstands. All eyes were eagerly fixed on the low wooded hills which sleptin the moonlight, spangled by fireflies, with a million dancing stars;all nostrils drank greedily the fragrant air, which swept from the land, laden with the scent of a thousand flowers; all ears welcomed, as agrateful change from the monotonous whisper and lap of the water, thehum of insects, the snore of the tree-toads, the plaintive notes of theshore-fowl, which fill a tropic night with noisy life. 

At last she stopped; at last the cable rattled through the hawsehole;and then, careless of the chance of lurking Spaniard or Carib, aninstinctive cheer burst from every throat. Poor fellows! Amyas had muchado to prevent them going on shore at once, dark as it was, by remindingthem that it wanted but two hours of day. 

"Never were two such long hours, " said one young lad, fidgeting up anddown. 

"You never were in the Inquisition, " said Yeo, "or you'd know better howslow time can run. Stand you still, and give God thanks you're where youare. "

"I say, Gunner, be there goold to that island?"

"Never heard of none; and so much the better for it, " said Yeo, dryly. 

"But, I say, Gunner, " said a poor scurvy-stricken cripple, licking hislips, "be there oranges and limmons there?"

"Not of my seeing; but plenty of good fruit down to the beach, thank theLord. There comes the dawn at last. "

Up flushed the rose, up rushed the sun, and the level rays glittered onthe smooth stems of the palm-trees, and threw rainbows across the foamupon the coral-reefs, and gilded lonely uplands far away, where nowstands many a stately country-seat and busy engine-house. Long lines ofpelicans went clanging out to sea; the hum of the insects hushed, and athousand birds burst into jubilant song; a thin blue mist crept upwardtoward the inner downs, and vanished, leaving them to quiver in theburning glare; the land-breeze, which had blown fresh out to sea allnight, died away into glassy calm, and the tropic day was begun. 

The sick were lifted over the side, and landed boat-load after boat-loadon the beach, to stretch themselves in the shade of the palms; and inhalf-an-hour the whole crew were scattered on the shore, except somedozen worthy men, who had volunteered to keep watch and ward on boardtill noon. 

And now the first instinctive cry of nature was for fruit! fruit! fruit!The poor lame wretches crawled from place to place plucking greedily theviolet grapes of the creeping shore vine, and staining their mouthsand blistering their lips with the prickly pears, in spite of Yeo'sentreaties and warnings against the thorns. Some of the healthy beganhewing down cocoa-nut trees to get at the nuts, doing little thereby butblunt their hatchets; till Yeo and Drew, having mustered half-a-dozenreasonable men, went off inland, and returned in an hour laden with thedainties of that primeval orchard, --with acid junipa-apples, lusciousguavas, and crowned ananas, queen of all the fruits, which they hadfound by hundreds on the broiling ledges of the low tufa-cliffs;and then all, sitting on the sandy turf, defiant of galliwasps andjackspaniards, and all the weapons of the insect host, partook of theequal banquet, while old blue land-crabs sat in their house-doors andbrandished their fists in defiance at the invaders, and solemn cranesstood in the water on the shoals with their heads on one side, andmeditated how long it was since they had seen bipeds without feathersbreaking the solitude of their isle. 

And Frank wandered up and down, silent, but rather in wonder thanin sadness, while great Amyas walked after him, his mouth fullof junipa-apples, and enacted the part of showman, with a sort ofpatronizing air, as one who had seen the wonders already, and was abovebeing astonished at them. 

"New, new; everything new!" said Frank, meditatively. "Oh, awfulfeeling! All things changed around us, even to the tiniest fly andflower; yet we the same, the same forever!"

Amyas, to whom such utterances were altogether sibylline andunintelligible, answered by:

"Look, Frank, that's a colibri. You 've heard of colibris?"

Frank looked at the living gem, which hung, loud humming, over somefantastic bloom, and then dashed away, seemingly to call its mate, andwhirred and danced with it round and round the flower-starred bushes, flashing fresh rainbows at every shifting of the lights. 

Frank watched solemnly awhile, and then:

"Qualis Natura formatrix, si talis formata? Oh my God, how fair must beThy real world, if even Thy phantoms are so fair!"

"Phantoms?" asked Amyas, uneasily. "That's no ghost, Frank, but a jollylittle honey-sucker, with a wee wife, and children no bigger than peas, but yet solid greedy little fellows enough, I'll warrant. "

"Not phantoms in thy sense, good fellow, but in the sense of those whoknow the worthlessness of all below. "

"I'll tell you what, brother Frank, you are a great deal wiser than me, I know; but I can't abide to see you turn up your nose as it were atGod's good earth. See now, God made all these things; and never a man, perhaps, set eyes on them till fifty years agone; and yet they were aspretty as they are now, ever since the making of the world. And whydo you think God could have put them here, then, but to pleaseHimself"--and Amyas took off his hat--"with the sight of them? Now, Isay, brother Frank, what's good enough to please God, is good enough toplease you and me. "

"Your rebuke is just, dear old simple-hearted fellow; and God forgiveme, if with all my learning, which has brought me no profit, and mylongings, which have brought me no peace, I presume at moments, sinnerthat I am, to be more dainty than the Lord Himself. He walked inParadise among the trees of the garden, Amyas; and so will we, andbe content with what He sends. Why should we long for the next world, before we are fit even for this one?"

"And in the meanwhile, " said Amyas, "this earth's quite good enough, atleast here in Barbados. "

"Do you believe, " asked Frank, trying to turn his own thoughts, "inthose tales of the Spaniards, that the Sirens and Tritons are heardsinging in these seas?"

"I can't tell. There's more fish in the water than ever came out of it, and more wonders in the world, I'll warrant, than we ever dreamt of; butI was never in these parts before; and in the South Sea, I must say, Inever came across any, though Yeo says he has heard fair music at nightup in the Gulf, far away from land. "

"The Spaniards report that at certain seasons choirs of these nymphsassemble in the sea, and with ravishing music sing their watery loves. It may be so. For Nature, which has peopled the land with rationalsouls, may not have left the sea altogether barren of them; above all, when we remember that the ocean is as it were the very fount of allfertility, and its slime (as the most learned hold with Thales ofMiletus) that prima materia out of which all things were one by oneconcocted. Therefore, the ancients feigned wisely that Venus, the motherof all living things, whereby they designed the plastic force of nature, was born of the sea-foam, and rising from the deep, floated ashore uponthe isles of Greece. "

"I don't know what plastic force is; but I wish I had had the luck to beby when the pretty poppet came up: however, the nearest thing I ever sawto that was maidens swimming alongside of us when we were in the SouthSeas, and would have come aboard, too; but Drake sent them all off againfor a lot of naughty packs, and I verily believe they were no better. Look at the butterflies, now! Don't you wish you were a boy again, andnot too proud to go catching them in your cap?"

And so the two wandered on together through the glorious tropic woods, and then returned to the beach to find the sick already grown cheerful, and many who that morning could not stir from their hammocks, pacing upand down, and gaining strength with every step. 

"Well done, lads!" cried Amyas, "keep a cheerful mind. We will have themusic ashore after dinner, for want of mermaids to sing to us, and thosethat can dance may. "

And so those four days were spent; and the men, like schoolboys ona holiday, gave themselves up to simple merriment, not forgetting, however, to wash the clothes, take in fresh water, and store up agood supply of such fruit as seemed likely to keep; until, tired withfruitless rambles after gold, which they expected to find in every bush, in spite of Yeo's warnings that none had been heard of on the island, they were fain to lounge about, full-grown babies, picking up shells andsea-fans to take home to their sweethearts, smoking agoutis out of thehollow trees, with shout and laughter, and tormenting every living thingthey could come near, till not a land-crab dare look out of his hole, oran armadillo unroll himself, till they were safe out of the bay, andoff again to the westward, unconscious pioneers of all the wealth, andcommerce, and beauty, and science which has in later centuries made thatlovely isle the richest gem of all the tropic seas. 

CHAPTER XVIII

HOW THEY TOOK THE PEARLS AT MARGARITA

 P. Henry. Why, what a rascal art thou, then, to praise him so for running! Falstaff. O' horseback, ye cuckoo! but a-foot, he will not budge a foot. P. Henry. Yes, Jack, upon instinct. Falstaff. I grant ye, upon instinct. 

 Henry IV. Pt. I. 

They had slipped past the southern point of Grenada in the night, andwere at last within that fairy ring of islands, on which nature hadconcentrated all her beauty, and man all his sin. If Barbados had beeninvested in the eyes of the newcomers with some strange glory, how muchmore the seas on which they now entered, which smile in almost perpetualcalm, untouched by the hurricane which roars past them far to northward!Sky, sea, and islands were one vast rainbow; though little marked, perhaps, by those sturdy practical sailors, whose main thought was ofSpanish gold and pearls; and as little by Amyas, who, accustomed to thescenery of the tropics, was speculating inwardly on the possibility ofextirpating the Spaniards, and annexing the West Indies to the domainsof Queen Elizabeth. And yet even their unpoetic eyes could not beholdwithout awe and excitement lands so famous and yet so new, aroundwhich all the wonder, all the pity, and all the greed of the age hadconcentrated itself. It was an awful thought, and yet inspiriting, thatthey were entering regions all but unknown to Englishmen, where thepenalty of failure would be worse than death--the torments of theInquisition. Not more than five times before, perhaps, had thosemysterious seas been visited by English keels; but there were thoseon board who knew them well, and too well; who, first of all Britishmariners, had attempted under Captain John Hawkins to trade along thosevery coasts, and, interdicted from the necessaries of life by Spanishjealousy, had, in true English fashion, won their markets at the sword'spoint, and then bought and sold honestly and peaceably therein. The oldmariners of the Pelican and the Minion were questioned all day long forthe names of every isle and cape, every fish and bird; while Frank stoodby, listening serious and silent. 

A great awe seemed to have possessed his soul; yet not a sad one: forhis face seemed daily to drink in glory from the glory round him; andmurmuring to himself at whiles, "This is the gate of heaven, " he stoodwatching all day long, careless of food and rest, as every forwardplunge of the ship displayed some fresh wonder. Islands and capes hunghigh in air, with their inverted images below them; long sand-hillsrolled and weltered in the mirage; and the yellow flower-beds, and hugethorny cacti like giant candelabra, which clothed the glaring slopes, twisted, tossed, and flickered, till the whole scene seemed one blazingphantom-world, in which everything was as unstable as it was fantastic, even to the sun itself, distorted into strange oval and pear-shapedfigures by the beds of crimson mist through which he sank to rest. Butwhile Frank wondered, Yeo rejoiced; for to the southward of that settingsun a cluster of tall peaks rose from the sea; and they, unless hisreckonings were wrong, were the mountains of Macanao, at the western endof Margarita, the Isle of Pearls, then famous in all the cities ofthe Mediterranean, and at the great German fairs, and second only inrichness to that pearl island in the gulf of Panama, which fifteen yearsbefore had cost John Oxenham his life. 

The next day saw them running along the north side of the island, havingpassed undiscovered (as far as they could see) the castle which theSpaniards had built at the eastern end for the protection of the pearlfisheries. 

At last they opened a deep and still bight, wooded to the water's edge;and lying in the roadstead a caravel, and three boats by her. And atthat sight there was not a man but was on deck at once, and not a mouthbut was giving its opinion of what should be done. Some were for sailingright into the roadstead, the breeze blowing fresh toward the shore (asit usually does throughout those islands in the afternoon). However, seeing the billows break here and there off the bay's mouth, theythought it better, for fear of rocks, to run by quietly, and thensend in the pinnace and the boat. Yeo would have had them show Spanishcolors, for fear of alarming the caravel; but Amyas stoutly refused, "counting it, " he said, "a mean thing to tell a lie in that way, unlessin extreme danger, or for great ends of state. "

So holding on their course till they were shut out by the next point, they started; Cary in the largest boat with twenty men, and Amyas inthe smaller one with fifteen more; among whom was John Brimblecombe, who must needs come in his cassock and bands, with an old sword of hisuncle's which he prized mightily. 

When they came to the bight's mouth, they found, as they had expected, coral rocks, and too many of them; so that they had to run along theedge of the reef a long way before they could find a passage for theboats. While they were so doing, and those of them who were new to theIndies were admiring through the clear element those living flower-beds, and subaqueous gardens of Nereus and Amphitrite, there suddenly appearedbelow what Yeo called "a school of sharks, " some of them nearly as longas the boat, who looked up at them wistfully enough out of their wickedscowling eyes. 

"Jack, " said Amyas, who sat next to him, "look how that big felloweyes thee: he has surely taken a fancy to that plump hide of thine, andthinks thou wouldst eat as tender as any sucking porker. "

Jack turned very pale, but said nothing. 

Now, as it befell, just then that very big fellow, seeing a parrot-fishcome out of a cleft of the coral, made at him from below, as did two orthree more; the poor fish finding no other escape, leaped clean into theair, and almost aboard the boat; while just where he had come out ofthe water, three or four great brown shagreened noses clashed togetherwithin two yards of Jack as he sat, each showing its horrible rows ofsaw teeth, and then sank sulkily down again, to watch for a fresh bait. At which Jack said very softly, "In manus tuas, Domine!" and turning hiseyes in board, had no lust to look at sharks any more. 

So having got through the reef, in they ran with a fair breeze, thecaravel not being now a musket-shot off. Cary laid her aboard beforethe Spaniards had time to get to their ordnance; and standing up in thestern-sheets, shouted to them to yield. The captain asked boldly enough, in whose name? "In the name of common sense, ye dogs, " cries Will; "doyou not see that you are but fifty strong to our twenty?" Whereon up theside he scrambled, and the captain fired a pistol at him. Cary knockedhim over, unwilling to shed needless blood; on which all the crewyielded, some falling on their knees, some leaping overboard; and theprize was taken. 

In the meanwhile, Amyas had pulled round under her stern, and boardedthe boat which was second from her, for the nearest was fast alongside, and so a sure prize. The Spaniards in her yielded without a blow, crying"Misericordia;" and the negroes, leaping overboard, swam ashore likesea-dogs. Meanwhile, the third boat, which was not an oar's lengthoff, turned to pull away. Whereby befell a notable adventure: for JohnBrimblecombe, casting about in a valiant mind how he should distinguishhimself that day, must needs catch up a boat-hook, and claw on to herstern, shouting, "Stay, ye Papists! Stay, Spanish dogs!"--by which, aswas to be expected, they being ten to his one, he was forthwith pulledoverboard, and fell all along on his nose in the sea, leaving the hookfast in her stern. 

Where, I know not how, being seized with some panic fear (his livelyimagination filling all the sea with those sharks which he had justseen), he fell a-roaring like any town-bull, and in his confusion neverthought to turn and get aboard again, but struck out lustily after theSpanish boat, whether in hope of catching hold of the boat-hook whichtrailed behind her, or from a very madness of valor, no man coulddivine; but on he swam, his cassock afloat behind him, looking for allthe world like a great black monk-fish, and howling and puffing, withhis mouth full of salt water, "Stay, ye Spanish dogs! Help, all goodfellows! See you not that I am a dead man? They are nuzzling already atmy toes! He hath hold of my leg! My right thigh is bitten clean off!Oh that I were preaching in Hartland pulpit! Stay, Spanish dogs! Yield, Papist cowards, least I make mincemeat of you; and take me aboard!Yield, I say, or my blood be on your heads! I am no Jonah; if he swallowme, he will never cast me up again! it is better to fall into the handsof man, than into the hands of devils with three rows of teeth apiece. In manus tuas. Orate pro anima--!"

And so forth, in more frantic case than ever was Panurge in that hisever-memorable seasickness; till the English, expecting him every minuteto be snapped up by sharks, or brained by the Spaniard's oars, let fly avolley into the fugitives, on which they all leaped overboard like theirfellows; whereon Jack scrambled into the boat, and drawing sword withone hand, while he wiped the water out of his eyes with the other, beganto lay about him like a very lion, cutting the empty air, and crying, "Yield, idolaters! Yield, Spanish dogs!" However, coming to himselfafter a while, and seeing that there was no one on whom to flesh hismaiden steel, he sits down panting in the sternsheets, and beginsstripping off his hose. On which Amyas, thinking surely that the goodfellow had gone mad with some stroke of the sun, or by having falleninto the sea after being overheated with his rowing, bade pullalongside, and asked him in heaven's name what he was doing with hisnether tackle. On which Jack, amid such laughter as may be conceived, vowed and swore that his right thigh was bitten clean through, and tothe bone; yea, and that he felt his hose full of blood; and so wouldhave swooned away for imaginary loss of blood (so strong was thedelusion on him) had not his friends, after much arguing on their part, and anger on his, persuaded him that he was whole and sound. 

After which they set to work to overhaul their maiden prize, which theyfound full of hides and salt-pork; and yet not of that alone; for inthe captain's cabin, and also in the sternsheets of the boat whichBrimblecombe had so valorously boarded, were certain frails of leavespacked neatly enough, which being opened were full of goodly pearls, though somewhat brown (for the Spaniards used to damage the color intheir haste and greediness, opening the shells by fire, instead ofleaving them to decay gradually after the Arabian fashion); with whichprize, though they could not guess its value very exactly, they went offcontent enough, after some malicious fellow had set the ship on fire, which, being laden with hides, was no nosegay as it burnt. 

Amyas was very angry at this wanton damage, in which his model, Drake, had never indulged; but Cary had his jest ready. "Ah!" said he, "'Lutheran devils' we are, you know; so we are bound to vanish, likeother fiends, with an evil savor. "

As soon, however, as Amyas was on board again, he rounded his friendMr. Brimblecombe in the ear, and told him he had better play the man alittle more, roaring less before he was hurt, and keeping his breathto help his strokes, if he wished the crew to listen much to hisdiscourses. Frank, hearing this, bade Amyas leave the offender to him, and so began upon him with--

"Come hither, thou recreant Jack, thou lily-livered Jack, thouhysterical Jack. Tell me now, thou hast read Plato's Dialogues, andAristotle's Logic?"

To which Jack very meekly answered, "Yes. "

"Then I will deal with thee after the manner of those ancient sages, andask whether the greater must not contain the less?"

Jack. Yes, sure. 

Frank. And that which is more than a part, contain that part, more thanwhich it is?

Jack. Yes, sure. 

Frank. Then tell me, is not a priest more than a layman?

Jack (who was always very loud about the dignity of the priesthood, as many of his cloth are, who have no other dignity whereon to stand)answered very boldly, "Of course. "

Frank. Then a priest containeth a man, and is a man, and somethingover--viz, his priesthood?

Jack (who saw whither this would lead). I suppose so. 

Frank. Then, if a priest show himself no man, he shows himself all themore no priest?

"I'll tell you what, Master Frank, " says Jack, "you may be right bylogic; but sharks aren't logic, nor don't understand it neither. "

Frank. Nay but, my recalcitrant Jack, my stiff-necked Jack, is it thepart of a man to howl like a pig in a gate, because he thinks that isthere which is not there?

Jack had not a word to say. 

Frank. And still more, when if that had been there, it had been the dutyof a brave man to have kept his mouth shut, if only to keep salt waterout, and not add the evil of choking to that of being eaten?

"Ah!" says Jack, "that's all very fine; but you know as well as I thatit was not the Spaniards I was afraid of. They were Heaven's handiwork, and I knew how to deal with them; but as for those fiends' spawn ofsharks, when I saw that fellow take the fish alongside, it upset meclean, and there's an end of it!"

Frank. Oh, Jack, Jack, behold how one sin begets another! Just now thouwert but a coward, and now thou art a Manichee. For thou hast imputedto an evil creator that which was formed only for a good end, namely, sharks, which were made on purpose to devour useless carcasses likethine. Moreover, as a brother of the Rose, thou wert bound by the vow ofthy brotherhood to have leaped joyfully down that shark's mouth. 

Jack. Ay, very likely, if Mistress Rose had been in his stomach; but Iwanted to fight Spaniards just then, not to be shark-bitten. 

Frank. Jack, thy answer savors of self-will. If it is ordained that thoushouldst advance the ends of the Brotherhood by being shark-bitten, or flea-bitten, or bitten by sharpers, to the detriment of thy carnalwealth, or, shortly, to suffer any shame or torment whatsoever, even tostrappado and scarpines, thou art bound to obey thy destiny, and not, after that vain Roman conceit, to choose the manner of thine own death, which is indeed only another sort of self-murder. We therefore considerthee as a cause of scandal, and a rotten and creaking branch, to beexcised by the spiritual arm, and do hereby excise thee, and cut theeoff. 

Jack. Nay faith, that's a little too much, Master Frank. How long haveyou been Bishop of Exeter?

Frank. Jack, thy wit being blinded, and full of gross vapors, by reasonof the perturbations of fear (which, like anger, is a short madness, and raises in the phantasy vain spectres, --videlicet, of sharks andSpaniards), mistakes our lucidity. For thy Manicheeism, let his lordshipof Exeter deal with it. For thy abominable howling and caterwauling, offensive in a chained cur, but scandalous in a preacher and a brotherof the Rose, we do hereby deprive thee of thine office of chaplain tothe Brotherhood; and warn thee, that unless within seven days thou dosome deed equal to the Seven Champions, or Ruggiero and Orlando's self, thou shalt be deprived of sword and dagger, and allowed henceforth tocarry no more iron about thee than will serve to mend thy pen. 

"And now, Jack, " said Amyas, "I will give thee a piece of news. Nowonder that young men, as the parsons complain so loudly, will notlisten to the Gospel, while it is preached to them by men on whom theycannot but look down; a set of softhanded fellows who cannot dig, andare ashamed to beg; and, as my brother has it, must needs be parsonsbefore they are men. 

"Frank. Ay, and even though we may excuse that in Popish priests andfriars, who are vowed not to be men, and get their bread shamefullyand rascally by telling sinners who owe a hundred measures to sit downquickly and take their bill and write fifty: yet for a priest of theChurch of England (whose business is not merely to smuggle sinful soulsup the backstairs into heaven, but to make men good Christians by makingthem good men, good gentlemen, and good Englishmen) to show the whitefeather in the hour of need, is to unpreach in one minute all that hehad been preaching his life long. 

"I tell thee, " says Amyas, "if I had not taken thee for another guesssort of man, I had never let thee have the care of a hundred brave lads'immortal souls--"

And so on, both of them boarding him at once with their heavy shot, larboard and starboard, till he fairly clapped his hands to his earsand ran for it, leaving poor Frank laughing so heartily, that Amyas wasafter all glad the thing had happened, for the sake of the smile whichit put into his sad and steadfast countenance. 

The next day was Sunday; on which, after divine service (which theycould hardly persuade Jack to read, so shamefaced was he; and as forpreaching after it, he would not hear of such a thing), Amyas readaloud, according to custom, the articles of their agreement; and thenseeing abreast of them a sloping beach with a shoot of clear waterrunning into the sea, agreed that they should land there, wash theclothes, and again water the ship; for they had found water somewhatscarce at Barbados. On this party Jack Brimblecombe must needs go, taking with him his sword and a great arquebuse; for he had dreamed lastnight (he said) that he was set upon by Spaniards, and was sure that thedream would come true; and moreover, that he did not very much care ifthey did, or if he ever got back alive; "for it was better to die thanbe made an ape, and a scarecrow, and laughed at by the men, and badgeredwith Ramus his logic, and Plato his dialectical devilries, to confesshimself a Manichee, and, for aught he knew, a turbaned Turk, or HebrewJew, " and so flung into the boat like a man desperate. 

So they went ashore, after Amyas had given strict commands againstletting off firearms, for fear of alarming the Spaniards. There theywashed their clothes, and stretched their legs with great joy, admiringthe beauty of the place, and then began to shoot the seine which theyhad brought on shore with them. "In which, " says the chronicler, "wecaught many strange fishes, and beside them, a sea-cow full seven feetlong, with limpets and barnacles on her back, as if she had been a stickof drift-timber. This is a fond and foolish beast: and yet pious withal;for finding a corpse, she watches over it day and night until it decayor be buried. The Indians call her manati; who carries her youngunder her arm, and gives it suck like a woman; and being wounded, shelamenteth aloud with a human voice, and is said at certain seasons tosing very melodiously; which melody, perhaps, having been heard in thoseseas, is that which Mr. Frank reported to be the choirs of the Sirensand Tritons. The which I do not avouch for truth, neither rashly deny, having seen myself such fertility of Nature's wonders that I hold himwho denieth aught merely for its strangeness to be a ribald and anignoramus. Also one of our men brought in two great black fowls whichhe had shot with a crossbow, bodied and headed like a capon, but biggerthan any eagle, which the Spaniards call curassos; which, with thatsea-cow, afterwards made us good cheer, both roast and sodden, for thecow was very dainty meat, as good as a four-months' calf, and tender andfat withal. "

After that they set to work filling the casks and barricos, having laidthe boat up to the outflow of the rivulet. And lucky for them it was, as it fell out, that they were all close together at that work, and notabroad skylarking as they had been half-an-hour before. 

Now John Brimblecombe had gone apart as soon as they landed, with ashamefaced and doleful countenance; and sitting down under a great tree, plucked a Bible from his bosom, and read steadfastly, girded with hisgreat sword, and his arquebuse lying by him. This too was well for him, and for the rest; for they had not yet finished their watering, whenthere was a cry that the enemy was on them; and out of the wood, not twenty yards from the good parson, came full fifty shot, with amultitude of negroes behind them, and an officer in front on horseback, with a great plume of feathers in his hat, and his sword drawn in hishand. 

"Stand, for your lives!" shouted Amyas: and only just in time; for therewas ten good minutes lost in running up and down before he could get hismen into some order of battle. But when Jack beheld the Spaniards, as ifhe had expected their coming, he plucked a leaf and put it into thepage of his book for a mark, laid the book down soberly, caught up hisarquebuse, ran like a mad dog right at the Spanish captain, shot himthrough the body stark dead, and then, flinging the arquebuse at thehead of him who stood next, fell on with his sword like a very Colbrand, breaking in among the arquebuses, and striking right and left such uglystrokes, that the Spaniards (who thought him a very fiend, or Luther'sself come to life to plague them) gave back pell-mell, and shot at himfive or six at once with their arquebuses: but whether from fear of him, or of wounding each other, made so bad play with their pieces, that heonly got one shrewd gall in his thigh, which made him limp for many aday. But as fast as they gave back he came on; and the rest by this timeran up in good order, and altogether nearly forty men well armed. Onwhich the Spaniards turned, and went as fast as they had come, whileCary hinted that, "The dogs had had such a taste of the parson, thatthey had no mind to wait for the clerk and people. "

"Come back, Jack! are you mad?" shouted Amyas. 

But Jack (who had not all this time spoken one word) followed themas fiercely as ever, till, reaching a great blow at one of thearquebusiers, he caught his foot in a root; on which down he went, andstriking his head against the ground, knocked out of himself all thebreath he had left (which between fatness and fighting was not much), and so lay. Amyas, seeing the Spaniards gone, did not care to pursuethem: but picked up Jack, who, staring about, cried, "Glory be! glorybe!--How many have I killed? How many have I killed?"

"Nineteen, at the least, " quoth Cary, "and seven with one backstroke;" and then showed Brimblecombe the captain lying dead, and twoarquebusiers, one of which was the fugitive by whom he came to his fall, beside three or four more who were limping away wounded, some of them bytheir fellows' shot. 

"There!" said Jack, pausing and blowing, "will you laugh at me any more, Mr. Cary; or say that I cannot fight, because I am a poor parson's son?"

Cary took him by the hand, and asked pardon of him for his scoffing, saying that he had that day played the best man of all of them; andJack, who never bore malice, began laughing in his turn, and--

"Oh, Mr. Cary, we have all known your pleasant ways, ever since you usedto put drumble-drones into my desk to Bideford school. " And so they wentto the boats, and pulled off, thanking God (as they had need to do) fortheir great deliverance: while all the boats' crew rejoiced over Jack, who after a while grew very faint (having bled a good deal withoutknowing it), and made as little of his real wound as he made much theday before of his imaginary one. 

Frank asked him that evening how he came to show so cool and approved avalor in so sudden a mishap. 

"Well, my masters, " said Jack, "I don't deny that I was very downcast onaccount of what you said, and the scandal which I had given to the crew;but as it happened, I was reading there under the tree, to fortify myspirits, the history of the ancient worthies, in St. Paul his eleventhchapter to the Hebrews; and just as I came to that, 'out of weaknesswere made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armiesof the aliens, ' arose the cry of the Spaniards. At which, gentlemen, thinking in myself that I fought in just so good a cause as they, and, as I hoped, with like faith, there came upon me so strange an assuranceof victory, that I verily believed in myself that if there had beena ten thousand of them, I should have taken no hurt. Wherefore, " saidJack, modestly, "there is no credit due to me, for there was no valorin me whatsoever, but only a certainty of safety; and any coward wouldfight if he knew that he were to have all the killing and none of thescratches. "

Which words he next day, being Sunday, repeated in his sermon which hemade on that chapter, with which all, even Salvation Yeo himself, werewell content and edified, and allowed him to be as godly a preacher ashe was (in spite of his simple ways) a valiant and true-hearted comrade. 

They brought away the Spanish officer's sword (a very good blade), andalso a great chain of gold which he wore about his neck; both of whichwere allotted to Brimblecombe as his fair prize; but he, accepting thesword, steadfastly refused the chain, entreating Amyas to put it intothe common stock; and when Amyas refused, he cut it into links anddistributed it among those of the boat's crew who had succored him, winning thereby much good-will. "And indeed" (says the chronicler), "I never saw in that worthy man, from the first day of ourschool-fellowship till he was laid in his parish church of Hartland(where he now sleeps in peace), any touch of that sin of covetousnesswhich has in all ages, and in ours no less than others, beset especially(I know not why) them who minister about the sanctuary. But this man, though he was ugly and lowly in person, and in understanding simple, andof breeding but a poor parson's son, had yet in him a spirit so lovingand cheerful, so lifted from base and selfish purposes to the worshipof duty, and to a generosity rather knightly than sacerdotal, that allthrough his life he seemed to think only that it was more blessed togive than to receive. And all that wealth which he gained in the wars hedispersed among his sisters and the poor of his parish, living unmarriedtill his death like a true lover and constant mourner (as shall be saidin place), and leaving hardly wherewith to bring his body to thegrave. At whom if we often laughed once, we should now rather envy him, desiring to be here what he was, that we may be hereafter where he is. Amen. "

CHAPTER XIX

WHAT BEFELL AT LA GUAYRA

 "Great was the crying, the running and riding, Which at that season was made in the place; The beacons were fired, as need then required, To save their great treasure they had little space. "

 Winning of Cales. 

The men would gladly have hawked awhile round Margarita and Cubagua foranother pearl prize. But Amyas having, as he phrased it, "fleshed hisdogs, " was loth to hang about the islands after the alarm had beengiven. They ran, therefore, south-west across the mouth of that greatbay which stretches from the Peninsula of Paria to Cape Codera, leavingon their right hand Tortuga, and on their left the meadow-islands of thePiritoos, two long green lines but a few inches above the tideless sea. Yeo and Drew knew every foot of the way, and had good reason to know it;for they, the first of all English mariners, had tried to trade alongthis coast with Hawkins. And now, right ahead, sheer out of the sea frombase to peak, arose higher and higher the mighty range of the Caracasmountains; beside which all hills which most of the crew had ever seenseemed petty mounds. Frank, of course, knew the Alps; and Amyas theAndes; but Cary's notions of height were bounded by M'Gillicuddy'sReeks, and Brimblecombe's by Exmoor; and the latter, to Cary's infiniteamusement, spent a whole day holding on by the rigging, and staringupwards with his chin higher than his nose, till he got a stiff neck. Soon the sea became rough and chopping, though the breeze was fair andgentle; and ere they were abreast of the Cape, they became aware ofthat strong eastward current which, during the winter months, so oftenbaffles the mariner who wishes to go to the westward. All night longthey struggled through the billows, with the huge wall of Cape Codera athousand feet above their heads to the left, and beyond it again, bankupon bank of mountain, bathed in the yellow moonlight. 

Morning showed them a large ship, which had passed them during the nightupon the opposite course, and was now a good ten miles to the eastward. Yeo was for going back and taking her. Of the latter he made a matter ofcourse; and the former was easy enough, for the breeze blowing dead offthe land, was a "soldier's wind, there and back again, " for either ship;but Amyas and Frank were both unwilling. 

"Why, Yeo, you said that one day more would bring us to La Guayra. "

"All the more reason, sir, for doing the Lord's work thoroughly, when Hehas brought us safely so far on our journey. "

"She can pass well enough, and no loss. "

"Ah, sirs, sirs, she is delivered into your hands, and you will have togive an account of her. "

"My good Yeo, " said Frank, "I trust we shall give good account enoughof many a tall Spaniard before we return: but you know surely that LaGuayra, and the salvation of one whom we believe dwells there, was ourfirst object in this adventure. "

Yeo shook his head sadly. "Ah, sirs, a lady brought Captain Oxenham toruin. "

"You do not dare to compare her with this one?" said Frank and Cary, both in a breath. 

"God forbid, gentlemen: but no adventure will prosper, unless there is asingle eye to the Lord's work; and that is, as I take it, to cripplethe Spaniard, and exalt her majesty the queen. And I had thought thatnothing was more dear than that to Captain Leigh's heart. "

Amyas stood somewhat irresolute. His duty to the queen bade him followthe Spanish vessel: his duty to his vow, to go on to La Guayra. It mayseem a far-fetched dilemma. He found it a practical one enough. 

However, the counsel of Frank prevailed, and on to La Guayra he went. Hehalf hoped that the Spaniard would see and attack them. However, he wenton his way to the eastward; which if he had not done, my story had had avery different ending. 

About mid-day a canoe, the first which they had seen, came staggeringtoward them under a huge three-cornered sail. As it came near, theycould see two Indians on board. 

"Metal floats in these seas, you see, " quoth Cary. "There's a freshmarvel, for you, Frank. "

"Expound, " quoth Frank, who was really ready to swallow any freshmarvel, so many had he seen already. 

"Why, how else would those two bronze statues dare to go to sea in sucha cockleshell, eh? Have I given you the dor now, master courtier!"

"I am long past dors, Will. But what noble creatures they are! and howfearlessly they are coming alongside! Can they know that we are English, and the avengers of the Indians?"

"I suspect they just take us for Spaniards, and want to sell theircocoa-nuts. See, the canoe is laden with vegetables. "

"Hail them, Yeo!" said Amyas. "You talk the best Spanish, and I wantspeech of one of them. "

Yeo did so; the canoe, without more ado, ran alongside, and lowered herfelucca sail, while a splendid Indian scrambled on board like a cat. 

He was full six feet high, and as bold and graceful of bearing as Frankor Amyas's self. He looked round for the first moment smilingly, showinghis white teeth; but the next, his countenance changed; and springing tothe side, he shouted to his comrade in Spanish--

"Treachery! No Spaniard, " and would have leaped overboard, but a dozenstrong fellows caught him ere he could do so. 

It required some trouble to master him, so strong was he, and soslippery his naked limbs; Amyas, meanwhile, alternately entreated themen not to hurt the Indian, and the Indian to be quiet, and no harmshould happen to him; and so, after five minutes' confusion, thestranger gave in sulkily. 

"Don't bind him. Let him loose, and make a ring round him. Now, my man, there's a dollar for you. "

The Indian's eyes glistened, and he took the coin. 

"All I want of you is, first, to tell me what ships are in La Guayra, and next, to go thither on board of me, and show me which is thegovernor's house, and which the custom-house. "

The Indian laid the coin down on the deck, and crossing himself, lookedAmyas in the face. 

"No, senor! I am a freeman and a cavalier, a Christian Guayqueria, whose forefathers, first of all the Indians, swore fealty to the King ofSpain, and whom he calls to this day in all his proclamations his mostfaithful, loyal, and noble Guayquerias. God forbid, therefore, that Ishould tell aught to his enemies, who are my enemies likewise. "

A growl arose from those of the men who understood him; and more thanone hinted that a cord twined round the head, or a match put between thefingers, would speedily extract the required information. 

"God forbid!" said Amyas; "a brave and loyal man he is, and as suchwill I treat him. Tell me, my brave fellow, how do you know us to be hisCatholic majesty's enemies?"

The Indian, with a shrewd smile, pointed to half-a-dozen differentobjects, saying to each, "Not Spanish. "

"Well, and what of that?"

"None but Spaniards and free Guayquerias have a right to sail theseseas. "

Amyas laughed. 

"Thou art a right valiant bit of copper. Pick up thy dollar, and go thyway in peace. Make room for him, men. We can learn what we want withouthis help. "

The Indian paused, incredulous and astonished. "Overboard with you!"quoth Amyas. "Don't you know when you are well off?"

"Most illustrious senor, " began the Indian, in the drawling sententiousfashion of his race (when they take the trouble to talk at all), "Ihave been deceived. I heard that you heretics roasted and ate all trueCatholics (as we Guayquerias are), and that all your padres had tails. "

"Plague on you, sirrah!" squeaked Jack Brimblecombe. "Have I a tail?Look here!"

"Quien sabe? Who knows?" quoth the Indian through his nose. 

"How do you know we are heretics?" said Amyas. 

"Humph! But in repayment for your kindness, I would warn you, illustrious senor, not to go on to La Guayra. There are ships of warthere waiting for you; and moreover, the governor Don Guzman sailed tothe eastward only yesterday to look for you; and I wonder much that youdid not meet him. "

"To look for us! On the watch for us!" said Cary. "Impossible; lies!Amyas, this is some trick of the rascal's to frighten us away. "

"Don Guzman came out but yesterday to look for us? Are you sure youspoke truth?"

"As I live, senor, he and another ship, for which I took yours. "

Amyas stamped upon the deck: that then was the ship which they hadpassed!

"Fool that I was to have been close to my enemy, and let my opportunityslip! If I had but done my duty, all would have gone right!"

But it was too late to repine; and after all, the Indian's story waslikely enough to be false. 

"Off with you!" said he; and the Indian bounded over the side into hiscanoe, leaving the whole crew wondering at the stateliness and courtesyof this bold sea-cavalier. 

So Westward-ho they ran, beneath the mighty northern wall, the highestcliff on earth, some seven thousand feet of rock parted from the seaby a narrow strip of bright green lowland. Here and there a patch ofsugar-cane, or a knot of cocoa-nut trees, close to the water's edge, reminded them that they were in the tropics; but above, all was savage, rough, and bare as an Alpine precipice. Sometimes deep clefts allowedthe southern sun to pour a blaze of light down to the sea marge, andgave glimpses far above of strange and stately trees lining the glens, and of a veil of perpetual mist which shrouded the inner summits; whileup and down, between them and the mountain side, white fleecy cloudshung motionless in the burning air, increasing the impression ofvastness and of solemn rest, which was already overpowering. 

"Within those mountains, three thousand feet above our heads, " saidDrew, the master, "lies Saint Yago de Leon, the great city which theSpaniards founded fifteen years agone. "

"Is it a rich place?" asked Cary. 

"Very, they say. "

"Is it a strong place?" asked Amyas. 

"No forts to it at all, they say. The Spaniards boast, that Heaven hasmade such good walls to it already, that man need make none. "

"I don't know, " quoth Amyas. "Lads, could you climb those hills, do youthink?"

"Rather higher than Harty Point, sir: but it depends pretty much onwhat's behind them. "

And now the last point is rounded, and they are full in sight of thespot in quest of which they have sailed four thousand miles of sea. Alow black cliff, crowned by a wall; a battery at either end. Within, afew narrow streets of white houses, running parallel with the sea, upona strip of flat, which seemed not two hundred yards in breadth; andbehind, the mountain wall, covering the whole in deepest shade. How thatwall was ever ascended to the inland seemed the puzzle; but Drew, whohad been off the place before, pointed out to them a narrow path, whichwound upwards through a glen, seemingly sheer perpendicular. That wasthe road to the capital, if any man dare try it. In spite of the shadowof the mountain, the whole place wore a dusty and glaring look. Thebreaths of air which came off the land were utterly stifling; and nowonder, for La Guayra, owing to the radiation of that vast fire-brickof heated rock, is one of the hottest spots upon the face of the wholeearth. 

Where was the harbor? There was none. Only an open roadstead, whereinlay tossing at anchor five vessels. The two outer ones were smallmerchant caravels. Behind them lay two long, low, ugly-looking craft, atsight of which Yeo gave a long whew. 

"Galleys, as I'm a sinful saint! And what's that big one inside of them, Robert Drew? She has more than hawseholes in her idolatrous black sides, I think. "

"We shall open her astern of the galleys in another minute, " said Amyas. "Look out, Cary, your eyes are better than mine. "

"Six round portholes on the main deck, " quoth Will. 

"And I can see the brass patararoes glittering on her poop, " quothAmyas. "Will, we're in for it. "

"In for it we are, captain. 

 "Farewell, farewell, my parents dear. I never shall see you more, I fear. 

"Let's go in, nevertheless, and pound the Don's ribs, my old lad ofSmerwick. Eh? Three to one is very fair odds. "

"Not underneath those fort guns, I beg leave to say, " quoth Yeo. "If thePhilistines will but come out unto us, we will make them like unto Zebaand Zalmunna. "

"Quite true, " said Amyas. "Game cocks are game cocks, but reason'sreason. "

"If the Philistines are not coming out, they are going to send amessenger instead, " quoth Cary. "Look out, all thin skulls!"

And as he spoke, a puff of white smoke rolled from the eastern fort, anda heavy ball plunged into the water between it and the ship. 

"I don't altogether like this, " quoth Amyas. "What do they mean byfiring on us without warning? And what are these ships of war doinghere? Drew, you told me the armadas never lay here. "

"No more, I believe, they do, sir, on account of the anchorage being sobad, as you may see. I'm mortal afeared that rascal's story was true, and that the Dons have got wind of our coming. "

"Run up a white flag, at all events. If they do expect us, they musthave known some time since, or how could they have got their crafthither?"

"True, sir. They must have come from Santa Marta, at the least; perhapsfrom Cartagena. And that would take a month at least going and coming. "

Amyas suddenly recollected Eustace's threat in the wayside inn. Could hehave betrayed their purpose? Impossible!

"Let us hold a council of war, at all events, Frank. "

Frank was absorbed in a very different matter. A half-mile to theeastward of the town, two or three hundred feet up the steep mountainside, stood a large, low, white house embosomed in trees and gardens. There was no other house of similar size near; no place for one. And wasnot that the royal flag of Spain which flaunted before it? That must bethe governor's house; that must be the abode of the Rose of Torridge!And Frank stood devouring it with wild eyes, till he had persuadedhimself that he could see a woman's figure walking upon the terracein front, and that the figure was none other than hers whom he sought. Amyas could hardly tear him away to a council of war, which was a sad, and only not a peevish one. 

The three adventurers, with Brimblecombe, Yeo, and Drew, went apart uponthe poop; and each looked the other in the face awhile. For what wasto be done? The plans and hopes of months were brought to naught in anhour. 

"It is impossible, you see, " said Amyas, at last, "to surprise the townby land, while these ships are here; for if we land our men, we leaveour ship without defence. "

"As impossible as to challenge Don Guzman while he is not here, " saidCary. 

"I wonder why the ships have not opened on us already, " said Drew. 

"Perhaps they respect our flag of truce, " said Cary. "Why not send in aboat to treat with them, and to inquire for--

"For her?" interrupted Frank. "If we show that we are aware of herexistence, her name is blasted in the eyes of those jealous Spaniards. "

"And as for respecting our flag of truce, gentlemen, " said Yeo, "if youwill take an old man's advice, trust them not. They will keep the samefaith with us as they kept with Captain Hawkins at San Juan d'Ulloa, inthat accursed business which was the beginning of all the wars; whenwe might have taken the whole plate-fleet, with two hundred thousandpounds' worth of gold on board, and did not, but only asked license totrade like honest men. And yet, after they had granted us license, anddeceived us by fair speech into landing ourselves and our ordnance, thegovernor and all the fleet set upon us, five to one, and gave no quarterto any soul whom he took. No, sir; I expect the only reason why theydon't attack us is, because their crews are not on board. "

"They will be, soon enough, then, " said Amyas. "I can see soldierscoming down the landing-stairs. "

And, in fact, boats full of armed men began to push off to the ships. 

"We may thank Heaven, " said Drew, "that we were not here two hoursagone. The sun will be down before they are ready for sea, and thefellows will have no stomach to go looking for us by night. "

"So much the worse for us. If they will but do that, we may give themthe slip, and back again to the town, and there try our luck; for Icannot find it in my heart to leave the place without having one dash atit. "

Yeo shook his head. "There are plenty more towns along the coast moreworth trying than this, sir: but Heaven's will be done!"

And as they spoke, the sun plunged into the sea, and all was dark. 

At last it was agreed to anchor, and wait till midnight. If the shipsof war came out, they were to try to run in past them, and, desperateas the attempt might be, attempt their original plan of landing to thewestward of the town, taking it in flank, plundering the governmentstorehouses, which they saw close to the landing-place, and thenfighting their way back to their boats, and out of the roadstead. Twohours would suffice if the armada and the galleys were but once out ofthe way. 

Amyas went forward, called the men together, and told them the plan. Itwas not very cheerfully received: but what else was there to be done!

They ran down about a mile and a half to the westward, and anchored. 

The night wore on, and there was no sign of stir among the shipping;for though they could not see the vessels themselves, yet their lights(easily distinguished by their relative height from those in the townabove) remained motionless; and the men fretted and fumed for wearyhours at thus seeing a rich prize (for of course the town was paved withgold) within arm's reach, and yet impossible. 

Let Amyas and his men have patience. Some short five years more, and thegreat Armada will have come and gone; and then that avenging storm, of which they, like Oxenham, Hawkins, and Drake, are but theavant-couriers, will burst upon every Spanish port from Corunna toCadiz, from the Canaries to Havana, and La Guayra and St. Yago de Leonwill not escape their share. Captain Amyas Preston and Captain Sommers, the colonist of the Bermudas, or Sommers' Islands, will land, with aforce tiny enough, though larger far than Leigh's, where Leigh dare notland; and taking the fort of Guayra, will find, as Leigh found, thattheir coming has been expected, and that the Pass of the Venta, threethousand feet above, has been fortified with huge barricadoes, abattis, and cannon, making the capital, amid its ring of mountain-walls, impregnable--to all but Englishmen or Zouaves. For up that seventhousand feet of precipice, which rises stair on stair behind the town, those fierce adventurers will climb hand over hand, through rain andfog, while men lie down, and beg their officers to kill them, for nofarther can they go. Yet farther they will go, hewing a path with theirswords through woods of wild plantain, and rhododendron thickets, over(so it seems, however incredible) the very saddle of the Silla, * downupon the astonished "Mantuanos" of St. Jago, driving all before them;and having burnt the city in default of ransom, will return triumphantby the right road, and pass along the coast, the masters of the deep. 

 * Humboldt says that there is a path from Caravellada to St. Jago, between the peaks, used by smugglers. This is probably the "unknowen way of the Indians, " which Preston used. 

I know not whether any men still live who count their descent from thosetwo valiant captains; but if such there be, let them be sure that thehistory of the English navy tells no more Titanic victory over natureand man than that now forgotten raid of Amyas Preston and his comrade, in the year of grace 1595. 

But though a venture on the town was impossible, yet there was anotherventure which Frank was unwilling to let slip. A light which now shonebrightly in one of the windows of the governor's house was the lodestarto which all his thoughts were turned; and as he sat in the cabin withAmyas, Cary, and Jack, he opened his heart to them. 

"And are we, then, " asked he, mournfully, "to go without doing the verything for which we came?"

All were silent awhile. At last John Brimblecombe spoke. 

"Show me the way to do it, Mr. Frank, and I will go. "

"My dearest man, " said Amyas, "what would you have? Any attempt to seeher, even if she be here, would be all but certain death. "

"And what if it were? What if it were, my brother Amyas? Listen to me. Ihave long ceased to shrink from Death; but till I came into these magicclimes, I never knew the beauty of his face. "

"Of death?" said Cary. "I should have said, of life. God forgive me! butman might wish to live forever, if he had such a world as this whereinto live. "

"And do you forget, Cary, that the more fair this passing world of time, by so much the more fair is that eternal world, whereof all here is buta shadow and a dream; by so much the more fair is He before whose thronethe four mystic beasts, the substantial ideas of Nature and her powers, stand day and night, crying, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, Thouhast made all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created!'My friends, if He be so prodigal of His own glory as to have deckedthese lonely shores, all but unknown since the foundation of the world, with splendors beyond all our dreams, what must be the glory of His faceitself! I have done with vain shadows. It is better to depart and to bewith Him, where shall be neither desire nor anger, self-deception norpretence, but the eternal fulness of reality and truth. One thing Ihave to do before I die, for God has laid it on me. Let that be doneto-night, and then, farewell!"

"Frank! Frank! remember our mother!"

"I do remember her. I have talked over these things with her many atime; and where I would fain be, she would fain be also. She sent me outwith my virgin honor, as the Spartan mother did her boy with the shield, saying, 'Come back either with this, or upon this;' and one or the otherI must do, if I would meet her either in this life or in the next. Butin the meanwhile do not mistake me; my life is God's, and I promise notto cast it away rashly. "

"What would you do, then?"

"Go up to that house, Amyas, and speak with her, if Heaven gives me anopportunity, as Heaven, I feel assured, will give. "

"And do you call that no rashness?"

"Is any duty rashness? Is it rash to stand amid the flying bullets, ifyour queen has sent you? Is it more rash to go to seek Christ's lostlamb, if God and your own oath hath sent you? John Brimblecombe answeredthat question for us long ago. "

"If you go, I go with you!" said all three at once. 

"No. Amyas, you owe a duty to our mother and to your ship. Cary, you areheir to great estates, and are bound thereby to your country and to yourtenants. John Brimblecombe--"

"Ay!" squeaked Jack. "And what have you to say, Mr. Frank, against mygoing?--I, who have neither ship nor estates--except, I suppose, that Iam not worthy to travel in such good company?"

"Think of your old parents, John, and all your sisters. "

"I thought of them before I started, sir, as Mr. Cary knows, andyou know too. I came here to keep my vow, and I am not going to turnrenegade at the very foot of the cross. "

"Some one must go with you, Frank, " said Amyas; "if it were only tobring back the boat's crew in case--" and he faltered. 

"In case I fall, " replied Frank, with a smile. "I will finish yoursentence for you, lad; I am not afraid of it, though you may be for me. Yet some one, I fear, must go. Unhappy me! that I cannot risk my ownworthless life without risking your more precious lives!"

"Not so, Mr. Frank! Your oath is our oath, and your duty ours!" saidJohn. "I will tell you what we will do, gentlemen all. We three willdraw cuts for the honor of going with him. "

"Lots?" said Amyas. "I don't like leaving such grave matters to chance, friend John. "

"Chance, sir? When you have used all your own wit, and find it fail you, then what is drawing lots but taking the matter out of your own weakhands, and laying it in God's strong hands?"

"Right, John!" said Frank. "So did the apostles choose their successor, and so did holy men of old decide controversies too subtle for them;and we will not be ashamed to follow their example. For my part, I haveoften said to Sidney and to Spenser, when we have babbled together ofUtopian governments in days which are now dreams to me, that I wouldhave all officers of state chosen by lot out of the wisest and most fit;so making sure that they should be called by God, and not by man alone. Gentlemen, do you agree to Sir John's advice?"

They agreed, seeing no better counsel, and John put three slips of paperinto Frank's hand, with the simple old apostolic prayer--

"Show which of us three Thou hast chosen. "

The lot fell upon Amyas Leigh. 

Frank shuddered, and clasped his hands over his face. 

"Well, " said Cary, "I have ill-luck to-night: but Frank goes at least ingood company. "

"Ah, that it had been I!" said Jack; "though I suppose I was too poor abody to have such an honor fall on me. And yet it is hard for flesh andblood; hard indeed to have come all this way, and not to see her afterall!"

"Jack, " said Frank, "you are kept to do better work than this, doubtnot. But if the lot had fallen on you--ay, if it had fallen on a threeyears' child, I would have gone up as cheerfully with that child to leadme, as I do now with this my brother! Amyas, can we have a boat, and acrew? It is near midnight already. "

Amyas went on deck, and asked for six volunteers. Whosoever would come, Amyas would double out of his own purse any prize-money which might fallto that man's share. 

One of the old Pelican's crew, Simon Evans of Clovelly, stepped out atonce. 

"Why six only, captain? Give the word, and any and all of us will goup with you, sack the house, and bring off the treasure and the lady, before two hours are out. "

"No, no, my brave lads! As for treasure, if there be any, it is sure tohave been put all safe into the forts, or hidden in the mountains; andas for the lady, God forbid that we should force her a step without herown will. "

The honest sailor did not quite understand this punctilio: but--

"Well, captain, " quoth he, "as you like; but no man shall say that youasked for a volunteer, were it to jump down a shark's throat, but whatyou had me first of all the crew. "

After this sort of temper had been exhibited, three or four more cameforward--Yeo was very anxious to go, but Amyas forbade him. 

"I'll volunteer, sir, without reward, for this or anything; though"(added he in a lower tone) "I would to Heaven that the thought had neverentered your head. "

"And so would I have volunteered, " said Simon Evans, "if it were theship's quarrel, or the queen's; but being it's a private matter of thecaptain's, and I've a wife and children at home, why, I take no shame tomyself for asking money for my life. "

So the crew was made up; but ere they pushed off, Amyas called Caryaside--

"If I perish, Will--"

"Don't talk of such things, dear old lad. "

"I must. Then you are captain. Do nothing without Yeo and Drew. But ifthey approve, go right north away for San Domingo and Cuba, and try theports; they can have no news of us there, and there is booty withoutend. Tell my mother that I died like a gentleman; and mind--mind, dearlad, to keep your temper with the men, let the poor fellows grumble asthey may. Mind but that, and fear God, and all will go well. "

The tears were glistening in Cary's eyes as he pressed Amyas's hand, andwatched the two brothers down over the side upon their desperate errand. 

They reached the pebble beach. There seemed no difficulty about findingthe path to the house--so bright was the moon, and so careful a surveyof the place had Frank taken. Leaving the men with the boat (Amyas hadtaken care that they should be well armed), they started up the beach, with their swords only. Frank assured Amyas that they would find a pathleading from the beach up to the house, and he was not mistaken. Theyfound it easily, for it was made of white shell sand; and following it, struck into a "tunal, " or belt of tall thorny cactuses. Through thisthe path wound in zigzags up a steep rocky slope, and ended at awicket-gate. They tried it, and found it open. 

"She may expect us, " whispered Frank. 

"Impossible!"

"Why not? She must have seen our ship; and if, as seems, the townsfolkknow who we are, how much more must she! Yes, doubt it not, she stilllongs to hear news of her own land, and some secret sympathy will drawher down towards the sea to-night. See! the light is in the windowstill!"

"But if not, " said Amyas, who had no such expectation, "what is yourplan?"

"I have none. "

"None?"

"I have imagined twenty different ones in the last hour; but all areequally uncertain, impossible. I have ceased to struggle--I go whereI am called, love's willing victim. If Heaven accept the sacrifice, itwill provide the altar and the knife. "

Aymas was at his wits' end. Judging of his brother by himself, he hadtaken for granted that Frank had some well-concocted scheme for gainingadmittance to the Rose; and as the wiles of love were altogether out ofhis province, he had followed in full faith such a sans-appel as he heldFrank to be. But now he almost doubted of his brother's sanity, thoughFrank's manner was perfectly collected and his voice firm. Amyas, honestfellow, had no understanding of that intense devotion, which so many inthose days (not content with looking on it as a lofty virtue, and yetone to be duly kept in its place by other duties) prided themselves onpampering into the most fantastic and self-willed excesses. 

Beautiful folly! the death-song of which two great geniuses werecomposing at that very moment, each according to his light. For, whileSpenser was embalming in immortal verse all that it contained of nobleand Christian elements, Cervantes sat, perhaps, in his dungeon, writingwith his left hand Don Quixote, saddest of books, in spite of all itswit; the story of a pure and noble soul, who mistakes this actual lifefor that ideal one which he fancies (and not so wrongly either) eternalin the heavens: and finding instead of a battlefield for heroes in God'scause, nothing but frivolity, heartlessness, and godlessness, becomes alaughing-stock, --and dies. One of the saddest books, I say again, whichman can read. 

Amyas hardly dare trust himself to speak, for fear of saying too much;but he could not help saying--

"You are going to certain death, Frank. "

"Did I not entreat, " answered he, very quietly, "to go alone?"

Amyas had half a mind to compel him to return: but he feared Frank'sobstinacy; and feared, too, the shame of returning on board withouthaving done anything; so they went up through the wicket-gate, along asmooth turf walk, into what seemed a pleasure-garden, formed by the handof man, or rather of woman. For by the light, not only of the moon, butof the innumerable fireflies, which flitted to and fro across the swardlike fiery imps sent to light the brothers on their way, they could seethat the bushes on either side, and the trees above their heads, weredecked with flowers of such strangeness and beauty, that, as Frankonce said of Barbados, "even the gardens of Wilton were a desert incomparison. " All around were orange and lemon trees (probably the onlyaddition which man had made to Nature's prodigality), the fruit ofwhich, in that strange colored light of the fireflies, flashed in theireyes like balls of burnished gold and emerald; while great white tasselsswinging from every tree in the breeze which swept down the glade, tossed in their faces a fragrant snow of blossoms, and glittering dropsof perfumed dew. 

"What a paradise!" said Amyas to Frank, "with the serpent in it, as ofold. Look!"

And as he spoke, there dropped slowly down from a bough, right beforethem, what seemed a living chain of gold, ruby, and sapphire. Bothstopped, and another glance showed the small head and bright eyes of asnake, hissing and glaring full in their faces. 

"See!" said Frank. "And he comes, as of old, in the likeness of an angelof light. Do not strike it. There are worse devils to be fought withto-night than that poor beast. " And stepping aside, they passed thesnake safely, and arrived in front of the house. 

It was, as I have said, a long low house, with balconies along the upperstory, and the under part mostly open to the wind. The light was stillburning in the window. 

"Whither now?" said Amyas, in a tone of desperate resignation. 

"Thither! Where else on earth?" and Frank pointed to the light, trembling from head to foot, and pushed on. 

"For Heaven's sake! Look at the negroes on the barbecue!"

It was indeed time to stop; for on the barbecue, or terrace of whiteplaster, which ran all round the front, lay sleeping full twenty blackfigures. 

"What will you do now? You must step over them to gain an entrance. "

"Wait here, and I will go up gently towards the window. She may see me. She will see me as I step into the moonlight. At least I know an air bywhich she will recognize me, if I do but hum a stave. "

"Why, you do not even know that that light is hers!--Down, for yourlife!"

And Amyas dragged him down into the bushes on his left hand; for oneof the negroes, wakening suddenly with a cry, had sat up, and begancrossing himself four or five times, in fear of "Duppy, " and mumblingvarious charms, ayes, or what not. 

The light above was extinguished instantly. 

"Did you see her?" whispered Frank. 

"No. "

"I did--the shadow of the face, and the neck! Can I be mistaken?" Andthen, covering his face with his hands, he murmured to himself, "Misery!misery! So near and yet impossible?"

"Would it be the less impossible were you face to face? Let us go back. We cannot go up without detection, even if our going were of use. Comeback, for God's sake, ere all is lost! If you have seen her, as you say, you know at least that she is alive, and safe in his house--"

"As his mistress? or as his wife? Do I know that yet, Amyas, and can Idepart until I know?" There was a few minutes' silence, and then Amyas, making one last attempt to awaken Frank to the absurdity of the wholething, and to laugh him, if possible, out of it, as argument had noeffect--

"My dear fellow, I am very hungry and sleepy; and this bush is veryprickly; and my boots are full of ants--"

"So are mine. --Look!" and Frank caught Amyas's arm, and clenched ittight. 

For round the farther corner of the house a dark cloaked figure stolegently, turning a look now and then upon the sleeping negroes, and cameon right toward them. 

"Did I not tell you she would come?" whispered Frank, in a triumphanttone. 

Amyas was quite bewildered; and to his mind the apparition seemedmagical, and Frank prophetic; for as the figure came nearer, incredulousas he tried to be, there was no denying that the shape and the walk wereexactly those of her, to find whom they had crossed the Atlantic. True, the figure was somewhat taller; but then, "she must be grown since I sawher, " thought Amyas; and his heart for the moment beat as fiercely asFrank's. 

But what was that behind her? Her shadow against the white wall of thehouse. Not so. Another figure, cloaked likewise, but taller far, wasfollowing on her steps. It was a man's. They could see that he wore abroad sombrero. It could not be Don Guzman, for he was at sea. Who then?Here was a mystery; perhaps a tragedy. And both brothers held theirbreaths, while Amyas felt whether his sword was loose in the sheath. 

The Rose (if indeed it was she) was within ten yards of them, when sheperceived that she was followed. She gave a little shriek. The cavaliersprang forward, lifted his hat courteously, and joined her, bowing low. The moonlight was full upon his face. 

"It is Eustace, our cousin! How came he here, in the name of all thefiends?"

"Eustace! Then that is she, after all!" said Frank, forgettingeverything else in her. 

And now flashed across Amyas all that had passed between him and Eustacein the moorland inn, and Parracombe's story, too, of the suspiciousgipsy. Eustace had been beforehand with them, and warned Don Guzman! Allwas explained now: but how had he got hither?

"The devil, his master, sent him hither on a broomstick, I suppose: orwhat matter how? Here he is; and here we are, worse luck!" And, settinghis teeth, Amyas awaited the end. 

The two came on, talking earnestly, and walking at a slow pace, so thatthe brothers could hear every word. 

"What shall we do now?" said Frank. "We have no right to beeavesdroppers. "

"But we must be, right or none. " And Amyas held him down firmly by thearm. 

"But whither are you going, then, my dear madam?" they heard Eustacesay in a wheedling tone. "Can you wonder if such strange conduct shouldcause at least sorrow to your admirable and faithful husband?"

"Husband!" whispered Frank faintly to Amyas. "Thank God, thank God! I amcontent. Let us go. "

But to go was impossible; for, as fate would have it, the two hadstopped just opposite them. 

"The inestimable Senor Don Guzman--" began Eustace again. 

"What do you mean by praising him to me in this fulsome way, sir? Do yousuppose that I do not know his virtues better than you?"

"If you do, madam" (this was spoken in a harder tone), "it were wise foryou to try them less severely, than by wandering down towards the beachon the very night that you know his most deadly enemies are lying inwait to slay him, plunder his house, and most probably to carry you offfrom him. "

"Carry me off? I will die first!"

"Who can prove that to him? Appearances are at least against you. "

"My love to him, and his trust for me, sir!"

"His trust? Have you forgotten, madam, what passed last week, and why hesailed yesterday?"

The only answer was a burst of tears. Eustace stood watching her with aterrible eye; but they could see his face writhing in the moonlight. 

"Oh!" sobbed she at last. "And if I have been imprudent, was it notnatural to wish to look once more upon an English ship? Are you notEnglish as well as I? Have you no longing recollections of the dear oldland at home?"

Eustace was silent; but his face worked more fiercely than ever. 

"How can he ever know it?"

"Why should he not know it?"

"Ah!" she burst out passionately, "why not, indeed, while you are here?You, sir, the tempter, you the eavesdropper, you the sunderer of lovinghearts! You, serpent, who found our home a paradise, and see it now ahell!"

"Do you dare to accuse me thus, madam, without a shadow of evidence?"

"Dare? I dare anything, for I know all! I have watched you, sir, and Ihave borne with you too long. "

"Me, madam, whose only sin towards you, as you should know by now, is tohave loved you too well? Rose! Rose! have you not blighted my life forme--broken my heart? And how have I repaid you? How but by sacrificingmyself to seek you over land and sea, that I might complete yourconversion to the bosom of that Church where a Virgin Mother standsstretching forth soft arms to embrace her wandering daughter, and criesto you all day long, 'Come unto me, ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest!' And this is my reward!"

"Depart with your Virgin Mother, sir, and tempt me no more! You haveasked me what I dare; and I dare this, upon my own ground, and in myown garden, I, Donna Rosa de Soto, to bid you leave this place now andforever, after having insulted me by talking of your love, and temptedme to give up that faith which my husband promised me he would respectand protect. Go, sir!"

The brothers listened breathless with surprise as much as with rage. Love and conscience, and perhaps, too, the pride of her lofty alliance, had converted the once gentle and dreamy Rose into a very Roxana; but itwas only the impulse of a moment. The words had hardly passed her lips, when, terrified at what she had said, she burst into a fresh flood oftears; while Eustace answered calmly:

"I go, madam: but how know you that I may not have orders, and that, after your last strange speech, my conscience may compel me to obeythose orders, to take you with me?"

"Me? with you?"

"My heart has bled for you, madam, for many a year. It longs now thatit had bled itself to death, and never known the last worst agony oftelling you--"

And drawing close to her he whispered in her ear--what, the brothersheard not--but her answer was a shriek which rang through the woods, andsent the night-birds fluttering up from every bough above their heads. 

"By Heaven!" said Amyas, "I can stand this no longer. Cut that devil'sthroat I must--"

"She is lost if his dead body is found by her. "

"We are lost if we stay here, then, " said Amyas; "for those negroes willhurry down at her cry, and then found we must be. "

"Are you mad, madam, to betray yourself by your own cries? The negroeswill be here in a moment. I give you one last chance for life, then:"and Eustace shouted in Spanish at the top of his voice, "Help, help, servants! Your mistress is being carried off by bandits!"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Let your woman's wit supply the rest: and forget not him who thus savesyou from disgrace. "

Whether the brothers heard the last words or not, I know not; but takingfor granted that Eustace had discovered them, they sprang to their feetat once, determined to make one last appeal, and then to sell theirlives as dearly as they could. 

Eustace started back at the unexpected apparition; but a second glanceshowed him Amyas's mighty bulk; and he spoke calmly--

"You see, madam, I did not call without need. Welcome, good cousins. Mycharity, as you perceive, has found means to outstrip your craft; whilethe fair lady, as was but natural, has been true to her assignation!"

"Liar!" cried Frank. "She never knew of our being--"

"Credat Judaeus!" answered Eustace; but, as he spoke, Amyas burstthrough the bushes at him. There was no time to be lost; and ere thegiant could disentangle himself from the boughs and shrubs, Eustace hadslipped off his long cloak, thrown it over Amyas's head, and ran up thealley shouting for help. 

Mad with rage, Amyas gave chase: but in two minutes more Eustace wassafe among the ranks of the negroes, who came shouting and jabberingdown the path. 

He rushed back. Frank was just ending some wild appeal to Rose--

"Your conscience! your religion!--"

"No, never! I can face the chance of death, but not the loss of him. Go!for God's sake, leave me!"

"You are lost, then, --and I have ruined you!"

"Come off, now or never, " cried Amyas, clutching him by the arm, anddragging him away like a child. 

"You forgive me?" cried he. 

"Forgive you?" and she burst into tears again. 

Frank burst into tears also. 

"Let me go back, and die with her--Amyas!--my oath!--my honor!" and hestruggled to turn back. 

Amyas looked back too, and saw her standing calmly, with her handsfolded across her breast, awaiting Eustace and the servants; and he halfturned to go back also. Both saw how fearfully appearances had put herinto Eustace's power. Had he not a right to suspect that they were thereby her appointment; that she was going to escape with them? And wouldnot Eustace use his power? The thought of the Inquisition crossed theirminds. "Was that the threat which Eustace had whispered?" asked he ofFrank. 

"It was, " groaned Frank, in answer. 

For the first and last time in his life, Amyas Leigh stood irresolute. 

"Back, and stab her to the heart first!" said Frank, struggling toescape from him. 

Oh, if Amyas were but alone, and Frank safe home in England! To chargethe whole mob, kill her, kill Eustace, and then cut his way back againto the ship, or die, --what matter? as he must die some day, --sword inhand! But Frank!--and then flashed before his eyes his mother's hopelessface; then rang in his ears his mother's last bequest to him of thatfrail treasure. Let Rose, let honor, let the whole world perish, he mustsave Frank. See! the negroes were up with her now--past her--away forlife! and once more he dragged his brother down the hill, and throughthe wicket, only just in time; for the whole gang of negroes were withinten yards of them in full pursuit. 

"Frank, " said he, sharply, "if you ever hope to see your mother again, rouse yourself, man, and fight!" And, without waiting for an answer, heturned, and charged up-hill upon his pursuers, who saw the long brightblade, and fled instantly. 

Again he hurried Frank down the hill; the path wound in zigzags, and hefeared that the negroes would come straight over the cliff, and so cutoff his retreat: but the prickly cactuses were too much for them, andthey were forced to follow by the path, while the brothers (Frank havingsomewhat regained his senses) turned every now and then to menacethem: but once on the rocky path, stones began to fly fast; small onesfortunately, and wide and wild for want of light--but when they reachedthe pebble-beach? Both were too proud to run; but, if ever Amyas prayedin his life, he prayed for the last twenty yards before he reached thewater-mark. 

"Now, Frank! down to the boat as hard as you can run, while I keep thecurs back. "

"Amyas! what do you take me for? My madness brought you hither: yourdevotion shall not bring me back without you. "

"Together, then!"

And putting Frank's arm through his, they hurried down, shouting totheir men. 

The boat was not fifty yards off: but fast travelling over the pebbleswas impossible, and long ere half the distance was crossed, the negroeswere on the beach, and the storm burst. A volley of great quartz pebbleswhistled round their heads. 

"Come on, Frank! for life's sake! Men, to the rescue! Ah! what wasthat?"

The dull crash of a pebble against Frank's fair head! Drooping likeHyacinthus beneath the blow of the quoit, he sank on Amyas's arm. Thegiant threw him over his shoulder, and plunged blindly on, --himselfstruck again and again. 

"Fire, men! Give it the black villains!"

The arquebuses crackled from the boat in front. What were thosedull thuds which answered from behind? Echoes? No. Over his head thecaliver-balls went screeching. The governors' guard have turned out, followed them to the beach, fixed their calivers, and are firing overthe negroes' heads, as the savages rush down upon the hapless brothers. 

If, as all say, there are moments which are hours, how many hours wasAmyas Leigh in reaching that boat's bow? Alas! the negroes are there assoon as he, and the guard, having left their calivers, are close behindthem, sword in hand. Amyas is up to his knees in water--battered withstones--blinded with blood. The boat is swaying off and on against thesteep pebble-bank: he clutches at it--misses--falls headlong--riseshalf-choked with water: but Frank is still in his arms. Another heavyblow--a confused roar of shouts, shots, curses--a confused mass ofnegroes and English, foam and pebbles--and he recollects no more. 

 * * * * *

He is lying in the stern-sheets of the boat; stiff, weak, half blindwith blood. He looks up; the moon is still bright overhead: but they areaway from the shore now, for the wave-crests are dancing white beforethe land-breeze, high above the boat's side. The boat seems strangelyempty. Two men are pulling instead of six! And what is this lying heavyacross his chest? He pushes, and is answered by a groan. He puts hishand down to rise, and is answered by another groan. 

"What's this?"

"All that are left of us, " says Simon Evans of Clovelly. 

"All?" The bottom of the boat seemed paved with human bodies. "OhGod! oh God!" moans Amyas, trying to rise. "And where--where is Frank?Frank!"

"Mr. Frank!" cries Evans. There is no answer. 

"Dead?" shrieks Amyas. "Look for him, for God's sake, look!" andstruggling from under his living load, he peers into each pale andbleeding face. 

"Where is he? Why don't you speak, forward there?"

"Because we have naught to say, sir, " answers Evans, almost surlily. 

Frank was not there. 

"Put the boat about! To the shore!" roars Amyas. 

"Look over the gunwale, and judge for yourself, sir!"

The waves are leaping fierce and high before a furious land-breeze. Return is impossible. 

"Cowards! villains! traitors! hounds! to have left him behind. "

"Listen you to me, Captain Amyas Leigh, " says Simon Evans, resting onhis oar; "and hang me for mutiny, if you will, when we're aboard, if weever get there. Isn't it enough to bring us out to death (as you knewyourself, sir, for you're prudent enough) to please that poor younggentleman's fancy about a wench; but you must call coward an honest manthat have saved your life this night, and not a one of us but has hiswound to show?"

Amyas was silent; the rebuke was just. 

"I tell you, sir, if we've hove a stone out of this boat since we gotoff, we've hove two hundredweight, and, if the Lord had not fought forus, she'd have been beat to noggin-staves there on the beach. "

"How did I come here, then?"

"Tom Hart dragged you in out of five feet water, and then thrust theboat off, and had his brains beat out for reward. All were knocked downbut us two. So help me God, we thought that you had hove Mr. Frank onboard just as you were knocked down, and saw William Frost drag him in. "

But William Frost was lying senseless in the bottom of the boat. Therewas no explanation. After all, none was needed. 

"And I have three wounds from stones, and this man behind me as manymore, beside a shot through his shoulder. Now, sir, be we cowards?"

"You have done your duty, " said Amyas, and sank down in the boat, andcried as if his heart would break; and then sprang up, and, wounded ashe was, took the oar from Evans's hands. With weary work they made theship, but so exhausted that another boat had to be lowered to get themalongside. 

The alarm being now given, it was hardly safe to remain where they were;and after a stormy and sad argument, it was agreed to weigh anchor andstand off and on till morning; for Amyas refused to leave the spot tillhe was compelled, though he had no hope (how could he have?) that Frankmight still be alive. And perhaps it was well for them, as will appearin the next chapter, that morning did not find them at anchor close tothe town. 

However that may be, so ended that fatal venture of mistaken chivalry. 

CHAPTER XX

SPANISH BLOODHOUNDS AND ENGLISH MASTIFFS

 "Full seven long hours in all men's sight This fight endured sore, Until our men so feeble grew, That they could fight no more. And then upon dead horses Full savorly they fed, And drank the puddle water, They could no better get. 

 "When they had fed so freely They kneeled on the ground, And gave God thanks devoutly for The favor they had found; Then beating up their colors, The fight they did renew; And turning to the Spaniards, A thousand more they slew. "

 The Brave Lord Willoughby. 1586. 

When the sun leaped up the next morning, and the tropic lightflashed suddenly into the tropic day, Amyas was pacing the deck, withdishevelled hair and torn clothes, his eyes red with rage and weeping, his heart full--how can I describe it? Picture it to yourselves, pictureit to yourselves, you who have ever lost a brother; and you who havenot, thank God that you know nothing of his agony. Full of impossibleprojects, he strode and staggered up and down, as the ship thrashedclose-hauled through the rolling seas. He would go back and burn thevilla. He would take Guayra, and have the life of every man in it inreturn for his brother's. "We can do it, lads!" he shouted. "If Draketook Nombre de Dios, we can take La Guayra. " And every voice shouted, "Yes. "

"We will have it, Amyas, and have Frank too, yet, " cried Cary; but Amyasshook his head. He knew, and knew not why he knew, that all the ports inNew Spain would never restore to him that one beloved face. 

"Yes, he shall be well avenged. And look there! There is the first cropof our vengeance. And he pointed toward the shore, where between themand the now distant peaks of the Silla, three sails appeared, not fivemiles to windward. 

"There are the Spanish bloodhounds on our heels, the same ships which wesaw yesterday off Guayra. Back, lads, and welcome them, if they were adozen. "

There was a murmur of applause from all around; and if any young heartsank for a moment at the prospect of fighting three ships at once, itwas awed into silence by the cheer which rose from all the older men, and by Salvation Yeo's stentorian voice. 

"If there were a dozen, the Lord is with us, who has said, 'One of youshall chase a thousand. ' Clear away, lads, and see the glory of the Lordthis day. "

"Amen!" cried Cary; and the ship was kept still closer to the wind. 

Amyas had revived at the sight of battle. He no longer felt his wounds, or his great sorrow; even Frank's last angel's look grew dimmer everymoment as he bustled about the deck; and ere a quarter of an hour hadpassed, his voice cried firmly and cheerfully as of old--

"Now, my masters, let us serve God, and then to breakfast, and afterthat clear for action. "

Jack Brimblecombe read the daily prayers, and the prayers before afight at sea, and his honest voice trembled, as, in the Prayer forall Conditions of Men (in spite of Amyas's despair), he added, "andespecially for our dear brother Mr. Francis Leigh, perhaps captive amongthe idolaters;" and so they rose. 

"Now, then, " said Amyas, "to breakfast. A Frenchman fights best fasting, a Dutchman drunk, an Englishman full, and a Spaniard when the devil isin him, and that's always. "

"And good beef and the good cause are a match for the devil, " said Cary. "Come down, captain; you must eat too. "

Amyas shook his head, took the tiller from the steersman, and bade himgo below and fill himself. Will Cary went down, and returned in fiveminutes, with a plate of bread and beef, and a great jack of ale, coaxed them down Amyas's throat, as a nurse does with a child, and thenscuttled below again with tears hopping down his face. 

Amyas stood still steering. His face was grown seven years older inthe last night. A terrible set calm was on him. Woe to the man who cameacross him that day!

"There are three of them, you see, my masters, " said he, as the crewcame on deck again. "A big ship forward, and two galleys astern of her. The big ship may keep; she is a race ship, and if we can but recoverthe wind of her, we will see whether our height is not a match for herlength. We must give her the slip, and take the galleys first. "

"I thank the Lord, " said Yeo, "who has given so wise a heart to so younga general; a very David and Daniel, saving his presence, lads; and ifany dare not follow him, let him be as the men of Meroz and of Succoth. Amen! Silas Staveley, smite me that boy over the head, the young monkey;why is he not down at the powder-room door?"

And Yeo went about his gunnery, as one who knew how to do it, and hadthe most terrible mind to do it thoroughly, and the most terrible faiththat it was God's work. 

So all fell to; and though there was comparatively little to be done, the ship having been kept as far as could be in fighting order allnight, yet there was "clearing of decks, lacing of nettings, making ofbulwarks, fitting of waist-cloths, arming of tops, tallowing of pikes, slinging of yards, doubling of sheets and tacks, " enough to satisfy eventhe pedantical soul of Richard Hawkins himself. Amyas took charge ofthe poop, Cary of the forecastle, and Yeo, as gunner, of the main-deck, while Drew, as master, settled himself in the waist; and all was ready, and more than ready, before the great ship was within two miles of them. 

And now while the mastiffs of England and the bloodhounds of Spain arenearing and nearing over the rolling surges, thirsting for each other'sblood, let us spend a few minutes at least in looking at them both, andconsidering the causes which in those days enabled the English to faceand conquer armaments immensely superior in size and number of ships, and to boast that in the whole Spanish war but one queen's ship, theRevenge, and (if I recollect right) but one private man-of-war, SirRichard Hawkins's Dainty, had ever struck their colors to the enemy. 

What was it which enabled Sir Richard Grenville's Revenge, in his lastfearful fight off the Azores, to endure, for twelve hours before shestruck, the attack of eight Spanish armadas, of which two (three timesher own burden) sank at her side; and after all her masts were gone, andshe had been boarded three times without success, to defy to the lastthe whole fleet of fifty-four sail, which lay around her, waiting forher to sink, "like dogs around the dying forest king"?

What enabled young Richard Hawkins's Dainty, though half her guns wereuseless through the carelessness or treachery of the gunner, to maintainfor three days a running fight with two Spaniards of equal size withher, double the weight of metal, and ten times the number of men?

What enabled Sir George Cary's illustrious ship, the Content, to fight, single-handed, from seven in the morning till eleven at night, withfour great armadas and two galleys, though her heaviest gun was butone nine-pounder, and for many hours she had but thirteen men fit forservice?

What enabled, in the very year of which I write, those two "valiantTurkey Merchantmen of London, the Merchant Royal and the Tobie, "with their three small consorts, to cripple, off Pantellaria in theMediterranean, the whole fleet of Spanish galleys sent to interceptthem, and return triumphant through the Straits of Gibraltar?

And lastly, what in the fight of 1588, whereof more hereafter, enabledthe English fleet to capture, destroy, and scatter that Great Armada, with the loss (but not the capture) of one pinnace, and one gentleman ofnote?

There were more causes than one: the first seems to have lain in thebuild of the English ships; the second in their superior gunnery andweight of metal; the third (without which the first would have beenuseless) in the hearts of the English men. 

The English ship was much shorter than the Spanish; and this (withthe rig of those days) gave them an ease in manoeuvring, which utterlyconfounded their Spanish foes. "The English ships in the fight of 1588, "says Camden, "charged the enemy with marvellous agility, and havingdischarged their broadsides, flew forth presently into the deep, andlevelled their shot directly, without missing, at those great ships ofthe Spaniards, which were altogether heavy and unwieldy. " Moreover, theSpanish fashion, in the West Indies at least, though not in the shipsof the Great Armada, was, for the sake of carrying merchandise, to buildtheir men-of-war flush-decked, or as it was called "race" (razes), whichleft those on deck exposed and open; while the English fashion was toheighten the ship as much as possible at stem and stern, both bythe sweep of her lines, and also by stockades ("close fights andcage-works") on the poop and forecastle, thus giving to the mena shelter, which was further increased by strong bulkheads("cobridgeheads") across the main-deck below, dividing the ship thusinto a number of separate forts, fitted with swivels ("bases, fowlers, and murderers") and loopholed for musketry and arrows. 

But the great source of superiority was, after all, in the menthemselves. The English sailor was then, as now, a quite amphibiousand all-cunning animal, capable of turning his hand to everything, fromneedlework and carpentry to gunnery or hand-to-hand blows; and hewas, moreover, one of a nation, every citizen of which was not merelypermitted to carry arms, but compelled by law to practise fromchildhood the use of the bow, and accustomed to consider sword-playand quarter-staff as a necessary part and parcel of education, and thepastime of every leisure hour. The "fiercest nation upon earth, " asthey were then called, and the freest also, each man of them fought forhimself with the self-help and self-respect of a Yankee ranger, and oncebidden to do his work, was trusted to carry it out by his own wit asbest he could. In one word, he was a free man. 

The English officers, too, as now, lived on terms of sympathy with theirmen unknown to the Spaniards, who raised between the commander and thecommanded absurd barriers of rank and blood, which forbade to his prideany labor but that of fighting. The English officers, on the other hand, brought up to the same athletic sports, the same martial exercises, astheir men, were not ashamed to care for them, to win their friendship, even on emergency to consult their judgment; and used their rank, not todiffer from their men, but to outvie them; not merely to command and beobeyed, but, like Homer's heroes, or the old Norse Vikings, to lead andbe followed. Drake touched the true mainspring of English success whenhe once (in his voyage round the world) indignantly rebuked some coxcombgentlemen-adventurers with--"I should like to see the gentleman thatwill refuse to set his hand to a rope. I must have the gentlemen to haleand draw with the mariners. " But those were days in which her majesty'sservice was as little overridden by absurd rules of seniority, as bythat etiquette which is at once the counterfeit and the ruin of truediscipline. Under Elizabeth and her ministers, a brave and a shrewd manwas certain of promotion, let his rank or his age be what they might;the true honor of knighthood covered once and for all any lowliness ofbirth; and the merchant service (in which all the best sea-captains, even those of noble blood, were more or less engaged) was then anursery, not only for seamen, but for warriors, in days when Spanishand Portuguese traders (whenever they had a chance) got rid of Englishcompetition by salvos of cannon-shot. 

Hence, as I have said, that strong fellow-feeling between officers andmen; and hence mutinies (as Sir Richard Hawkins tells us) were all butunknown in the English ships, while in the Spanish they broke out onevery slight occasion. For the Spaniards, by some suicidal pedantry, hadallowed their navy to be crippled by the same despotism, etiquette, and official routine, by which the whole nation was gradually frozen todeath in the course of the next century or two; forgetting that, fiftyyears before, Cortez, Pizarro, and the early Conquistadores of Americahad achieved their miraculous triumphs on the exactly opposite methodby that very fellow-feeling between commander and commanded by which theEnglish were now conquering them in their turn. 

Their navy was organized on a plan complete enough; but on one whichwas, as the event proved, utterly fatal to their prowess and unanimity, and which made even their courage and honor useless against the assaultsof free men. "They do, in their armadas at sea, divide themselves intothree bodies; to wit, soldiers, mariners, and gunners. The soldiers andofficers watch and ward as if on shore; and this is the only duty theyundergo, except cleaning their arms, wherein they are not over curious. The gunners are exempted from all labor and care, except about theartillery; and these are either Almaines, Flemings, or strangers; forthe Spaniards are but indifferently practised in this art. The marinersare but as slaves to the rest, to moil and to toil day and night; andthose but few and bad, and not suffered to sleep or harbor under thedecks. For in fair or foul weather, in storms, sun, or rain, they mustpass void of covert or succor. "

This is the account of one who was long prisoner on board their ships;let it explain itself, while I return to my tale. For the great ship isnow within two musket-shots of the Rose, with the golden flag of Spainfloating at her poop; and her trumpets are shouting defiance up thebreeze, from a dozen brazen throats, which two or three answer lustilyfrom the Rose, from whose poop flies the flag of England, and from herfore the arms of Leigh and Cary side by side, and over them the ship andbridge of the good town of Bideford. And then Amyas calls:

"Now, silence trumpets, waits, play up! 'Fortune my foe!' and God andthe Queen be with us!"

Whereon (laugh not, reader, for it was the fashion of those musicalas well as valiant days) up rose that noble old favorite of good QueenBess, from cornet and sackbut, fife and drum; while Parson Jack, who hadtaken his stand with the musicians on the poop, worked away lustily athis violin, and like Volker of the Nibelungen Lied. 

"Well played, Jack; thy elbow flies like a lamb's tail, " said Amyas, forcing a jest. 

"It shall fly to a better fiddle-bow presently, sir, an I have theluck--"

"Steady, helm!" said Amyas. "What is he after now?"

The Spaniard, who had been coming upon them right down the wind under apress of sail, took in his light canvas. 

"He don't know what to make of our waiting for him so bold, " said thehelmsman. 

"He does though, and means to fight us, " cried another. "See, he ishauling up the foot of his mainsail, but he wants to keep the wind ofus. "

"Let him try, then, " quoth Amyas. "Keep her closer still. Let no onefire till we are about. Man the starboard guns; to starboard, and wait, all small arm men. Pass the order down to the gunner, and bid all firehigh, and take the rigging. "

Bang went one of the Spaniard's bow guns, and the shot went wide. Then another and another, while the men fidgeted about, looking at thepriming of their muskets, and loosened their arrows in the sheaf. 

"Lie down, men, and sing a psalm. When I want you, I'll call you. Closerstill, if you can, helmsman, and we will try a short ship against a longone. We can sail two points nearer the wind than he. "

As Amyas had calculated, the Spaniard would gladly enough have stoodacross the Rose's bows, but knowing the English readiness, dare not forfear of being raked; so her only plan, if she did not intend to shootpast her foe down to leeward, was to put her head close to the wind, andwait for her on the same tack. 

Amyas laughed to himself. "Hold on yet awhile. More ways of killing acat than choking her with cream. Drew, there, are your men ready?"

"Ay, ay, sir!" and on they went, closing fast with the Spaniard, tillwithin a pistol-shot. 

"Ready about!" and about she went like an eel, and ran upon the oppositetack right under the Spaniard's stern. The Spaniard, astounded at thequickness of the manoeuvre, hesitated a moment, and then tried to getabout also, as his only chance; but it was too late, and while hislumbering length was still hanging in the wind's eye, Amyas's bowsprithad all but scraped his quarter, and the Rose passed slowly across hisstern at ten yards' distance. 

"Now, then!" roared Amyas. "Fire, and with a will! Have at her, archers: have at her, muskets all!" and in an instant a storm of bar andchain-shot, round and canister, swept the proud Don from stem to stern, while through the white cloud of smoke the musket-balls, and the stilldeadlier cloth-yard arrows, whistled and rushed upon their venomouserrand. Down went the steersman, and every soul who manned thepoop. Down went the mizzen topmast, in went the stern-windows andquarter-galleries; and as the smoke cleared away, the gorgeous paintingof the Madre Dolorosa, with her heart full of seven swords, which, ina gilded frame, bedizened the Spanish stern, was shivered in splinters;while, most glorious of all, the golden flag of Spain, which the lastmoment flaunted above their heads, hung trailing in the water. The ship, her tiller shot away, and her helmsman killed, staggered helplessly amoment, and then fell up into the wind. 

"Well done, men of Devon!" shouted Amyas, as cheers rent the welkin. 

"She has struck, " cried some, as the deafening hurrahs died away. 

"Not a bit, " said Amyas. "Hold on, helmsman, and leave her to patch hertackle while we settle the galleys. "

On they shot merrily, and long ere the armada could get herself torights again, were two good miles to windward, with the galleys sweepingdown fast upon them. 

And two venomous-looking craft they were, as they shot through theshort chopping sea upon some forty oars apiece, stretching their longsword-fish snouts over the water, as if snuffing for their prey. Behindthis long snout, a strong square forecastle was crammed with soldiers, and the muzzles of cannon grinned out through portholes, not only in thesides of the forecastle, but forward in the line of the galley's course, thus enabling her to keep up a continual fire on a ship right ahead. 

The long low waist was packed full of the slaves, some five or six toeach oar, and down the centre, between the two banks, the English couldsee the slave-drivers walking up and down a long gangway, whip in hand. A raised quarter-deck at the stern held more soldiers, the sunlightflashing merrily upon their armor and their gun-barrels; as they neared, the English could hear plainly the cracks of the whips, and the yells asof wild beasts which answered them; the roll and rattle of the oars, and the loud "Ha!" of the slaves which accompanied every stroke, and theoaths and curses of the drivers; while a sickening musky smell, as ofa pack of kennelled hounds, came down the wind from off those dens ofmisery. No wonder if many a young heart shuddered as it faced, for thefirst time, the horrible reality of those floating hells, the crueltieswhereof had rung so often in English ears, from the stories of their owncountrymen, who had passed them, fought them, and now and then passedyears of misery on board of them. Who knew but what there might beEnglish among those sun-browned half-naked masses of panting wretches?

"Must we fire upon the slaves?" asked more than one, as the thoughtcrossed him. 

Amyas sighed. 

"Spare them all you can, in God's name; but if they try to run us down, rake them we must, and God forgive us. "

The two galleys came on abreast of each other, some forty yards apart. To outmanoeuvre their oars as he had done the ship's sails, Amyas knewwas impossible. To run from them was to be caught between them and theship. 

He made up his mind, as usual, to the desperate game. 

"Lay her head up in the wind, helmsman, and we will wait for them. "

They were now within musket-shot, and opened fire from their bow-guns;but, owing to the chopping sea, their aim was wild. Amyas, as usual, withheld his fire. 

The men stood at quarters with compressed lips, not knowing what wasto come next. Amyas, towering motionless on the quarter-deck, gave hisorders calmly and decisively. The men saw that he trusted himself, andtrusted him accordingly. 

The Spaniards, seeing him wait for them, gave a shout of joy--was theEnglishman mad? And the two galleys converged rapidly, intending tostrike him full, one on each bow. 

They were within forty yards--another minute, and the shock would come. The Englishman's helm went up, his yards creaked round, and gatheringway, he plunged upon the larboard galley. 

"A dozen gold nobles to him who brings down the steersman!" shoutedCary, who had his cue. 

And a flight of arrows from the forecastle rattled upon the galley'squarter-deck. 

Hit or not hit, the steersman lost his nerve, and shrank from the comingshock. The galley's helm went up to port, and her beak slid all butharmless along Amyas's bow; a long dull grind, and then loud crack oncrack, as the Rose sawed slowly through the bank of oars from stem tostern, hurling the wretched slaves in heaps upon each other; and ereher mate on the other side could swing round, to strike him in his newposition, Amyas's whole broadside, great and small, had been poured intoher at pistol-shot, answered by a yell which rent their ears and hearts. 

"Spare the slaves! Fire at the soldiers!" cried Amyas; but the work wastoo hot for much discrimination; for the larboard galley, crippledbut not undaunted, swung round across his stern, and hooked herselfvenomously on to him. 

It was a move more brave than wise; for it prevented the other galleyfrom returning to the attack without exposing herself a second time tothe English broadside; and a desperate attempt of the Spaniards to boardat once through the stern-ports and up the quarter was met with such ademurrer of shot and steel, that they found themselves in three minutesagain upon the galley's poop, accompanied, to their intense disgust, byAmyas Leigh and twenty English swords. 

Five minutes' hard cutting, hand to hand, and the poop was clear. Thesoldiers in the forecastle had been able to give them no assistance, open as they lay to the arrows and musketry from the Rose's lofty stern. Amyas rushed along the central gangway, shouting in Spanish, "Freedomto the slaves! death to the masters!" clambered into the forecastle, followed close by his swarm of wasps, and set them so good an examplehow to use their stings, that in three minutes more there was not aSpaniard on board who was not dead or dying. 

"Let the slaves free!" shouted he. "Throw us a hammer down, men. Hark!there's an English voice!"

There is indeed. From amid the wreck of broken oars and writhing limbs, a voice is shrieking in broadest Devon to the master, who is lookingover the side. 

"Oh, Robert Drew! Robert Drew! Come down, and take me out of hell!"

"Who be you, in the name of the Lord!"

"Don't you mind William Prust, that Captain Hawkins left behind in theHonduras, years and years agone? There's nine of us aboard, if your shothasn't put 'em out of their misery. Come down, if you've a Christianheart, come down!"

Utterly forgetful of all discipline, Drew leaps down hammer in hand, andthe two old comrades rush into each other's arms. 

Why make a long story of what took but five minutes to do? The nine men(luckily none of them wounded) are freed, and helped on board, to behugged and kissed by old comrades and young kinsmen; while the remainingslaves, furnished with a couple of hammers, are told to free themselvesand help the English. The wretches answer by a shout; and Amyas, oncemore safe on board again, dashes after the other galley, which hasbeen hovering out of reach of his guns: but there is no need to troublehimself about her; sickened with what she has got, she is strugglingright up wind, leaning over to one side, and seemingly ready to sink. 

"Are there any English on board of her?" asks Amyas, loath to lose thechance of freeing a countryman. 

"Never a one, sir, thank God. "

So they set to work to repair damages; while the liberated slaves, having shifted some of the galley's oars, pull away after their comrade;and that with such a will, that in ten minutes they have caught her up, and careless of the Spaniard's fire, boarded her en masse, with yellsas of a thousand wolves. There will be fearful vengeance taken on thosetyrants, unless they play the man this day. 

And in the meanwhile half the crew are clothing, feeding, questioning, caressing those nine poor fellows thus snatched from living death;and Yeo, hearing the news, has rushed up on deck to welcome his oldcomrades, and--

"Is Michael Heard, my cousin, here among you?"

Yes, Michael Heard is there, white-headed rather from misery than age;and the embracings and questionings begin afresh. 

"Where is my wife, Salvation Yeo?"

"With the Lord. "

"Amen!" says the old man, with a short shudder. "I thought so much; andmy two boys?"

"With the Lord. "

The old man catches Yeo by the arm. 

"How, then?" It is Yeo's turn to shudder now. 

"Killed in Panama, fighting the Spaniards; sailing with Mr. Oxenham; and'twas I led 'em into it. May God and you forgive me!"

"They couldn't die better, cousin Yeo. Where's my girl Grace?"

"Died in childbed. "

"Any childer?"

"No. "

The old man covers his face with his hands for a while. 

"Well, I've been alone with the Lord these fifteen years, so I must notwhine at being alone a while longer--'t won't be long. "

"Put this coat on your back, uncle, " says some one. 

"No; no coats for me. Naked came I into the world, and naked I go out ofit this day, if I have a chance. You'm better to go to your work, lads, or the big one will have the wind of you yet. "

"So she will, " said Amyas, who has overheard; but so great is thecuriosity on all hands, that he has some trouble in getting the mento quarters again; indeed, they only go on condition of parting amongthemselves with them the new-comers, each to tell his sad and strangestory. How after Captain Hawkins, constrained by famine, had put themashore, they wandered in misery till the Spaniards took them; how, instead of hanging them (as they at first intended), the Dons fed andclothed them, and allotted them as servants to various gentlemen aboutMexico, where they throve, turned their hands (like true sailors) to allmanner of trades, and made much money, and some of them were married, even to women of wealth; so that all went well, until the fatal year1574, when, "much against the minds of many of the Spaniards themselves, that cruel and bloody Inquisition was established for the first time inthe Indies;" and how from that moment their lives were one longtragedy; how they were all imprisoned for a year and a half, not forproselytizing, but simply for not believing in transubstantiation;racked again and again, and at last adjudged to receive publicly, onGood Friday, 1575, some three hundred, some one hundred stripes, and toserve in the galleys for six or ten years each; while, as the crowningatrocity of the Moloch sacrifice, three of them were burnt alive in themarket-place of Mexico; a story no less hideous than true, the detailswhereof whoso list may read in Hakluyt's third volume, as told byPhilip Miles, one of that hapless crew; as well as the adventures of JobHortop, a messmate of his, who, after being sent to Spain, and seeingtwo more of his companions burnt alive at Seville, was sentenced torow in the galleys ten years, and after that to go to the "everlastingprison remediless;" from which doom, after twenty-three years ofslavery, he was delivered by the galleon Dudley, and came safely home toRedriff. 

The fate of Hortop and his comrades was, of course, still unknown tothe rescued men; but the history even of their party was not likely toimprove the good feeling of the crew toward the Spanish ship which wastwo miles to leeward of them, and which must be fought with, or fledfrom, before a quarter of an hour was past. So, kneeling down upon thedeck, as many a brave crew in those days did in like case, they "gaveGod thanks devoutly for the favor they had found;" and then with oneaccord, at Jack's leading, sang one and all the Ninety-fourth Psalm:*

 "Oh, Lord, thou dost revenge all wrong; Vengeance belongs to thee, " etc. 

 * The crew of the Tobie, cast away on the Barbary coast a few years after, "began with heavy hearts to sing the twelfth Psalm, 'Help, Lord, for good and godly men, ' etc. Howbeit, ere we had finished four verses, the waves of the sea had stopped the breaths of most. "

And then again to quarters; for half the day's work, or more than half, still remained to be done; and hardly were the decks cleared afresh, and the damage repaired as best it could be, when she came ranging up toleeward, as closehauled as she could. 

She was, as I said, a long flush-decked ship of full five hundred tons, more than double the size, in fact, of the Rose, though not so lofty inproportion; and many a bold heart beat loud, and no shame to them, asshe began firing away merrily, determined, as all well knew, to wipe outin English blood the disgrace of her late foil. 

"Never mind, my merry masters, " said Amyas, "she has quantity and wequality. "

"That's true, " said one, "for one honest man is worth two rogues. "

"And one culverin three of their footy little ordnance, " said another. "So when you will, captain, and have at her. "

"Let her come abreast of us, and don't burn powder. We have the wind, and can do what we like with her. Serve the men out a horn of ale allround, steward, and all take your time. "

So they waited for five minutes more, and then set to work quietly, after the fashion of English mastiffs, though, like those mastiffs, theywaxed right mad before three rounds were fired, and the white splinters(sight beloved) began to crackle and fly. 

Amyas, having, as he had said, the wind, and being able to go nearer itthan the Spaniard, kept his place at easy point-blank range for his twoeighteen-pounder culverins, which Yeo and his mate worked with terribleeffect. 

"We are lacking her through and through every shot, " said he. "Leave thesmall ordnance alone yet awhile, and we shall sink her without them. "

"Whing, whing, " went the Spaniard's shot, like so many humming-tops, through the rigging far above their heads; for the ill-constructedports of those days prevented the guns from hulling an enemy who was towindward, unless close alongside. 

"Blow, jolly breeze, " cried one, "and lay the Don over all thoucanst. --What the murrain is gone, aloft there?"

Alas! a crack, a flap, a rattle; and blank dismay! An unlucky shot hadcut the foremast (already wounded) in two, and all forward was a mass ofdangling wreck. 

"Forward, and cut away the wreck!" said Amyas, unmoved. "Small arm men, be ready. He will be aboard of us in five minutes!"

It was too true. The Rose, unmanageable from the loss of her head-sail, lay at the mercy of the Spaniard; and the archers and musqueteers hadhardly time to range themselves to leeward, when the Madre Dolorosa'schains were grinding against the Rose's, and grapples tossed on boardfrom stem to stern. 

"Don't cut them loose!" roared Amyas. "Let them stay and see the fun!Now, dogs of Devon, show your teeth, and hurrah for God and the queen!"

And then began a fight most fierce and fell: the Spaniards, according totheir fashion, attempting to board, the English, amid fierce shouts of"God and the queen!" "God and St. George for England!" sweeping themback by showers of arrows and musquet balls, thrusting them down withpikes, hurling grenades and stink-pots from the tops; while the swivelson both sides poured their grape, and bar, and chain, and the greatmain-deck guns, thundering muzzle to muzzle, made both ships quiver andrecoil, as they smashed the round shot through and through each other. 

So they roared and flashed, fast clenched to each other in that devil'swedlock, under a cloud of smoke beneath the cloudless tropic sky; whileall around, the dolphins gambolled, and the flying-fish shot on fromswell to swell, and the rainbow-hued jellies opened and shut their cupsof living crystal to the sun, as merrily as if man had never fallen, andhell had never broken loose on earth. 

So it raged for an hour or more, till all arms were weary, and alltongues clove to the mouth. And sick men, rotting with scurvy, scrambled up on deck, and fought with the strength of madness; and tinypowder-boys, handing up cartridges from the hold, laughed and cheeredas the shots ran past their ears; and old Salvation Yeo, a text upon hislips, and a fury in his heart as of Joshua or Elijah in old time, workedon, calm and grim, but with the energy of a boy at play. And now andthen an opening in the smoke showed the Spanish captain, in his suitof black steel armor, standing cool and proud, guiding and pointing, careless of the iron hail, but too lofty a gentleman to soil his glovewith aught but a knightly sword-hilt: while Amyas and Will, after thefashion of the English gentlemen, had stripped themselves nearly as bareas their own sailors, and were cheering, thrusting, hewing, and hauling, here, there, and everywhere, like any common mariner, and filling themwith a spirit of self-respect, fellow-feeling, and personal daring, which the discipline of the Spaniards, more perfect mechanically, butcold and tyrannous, and crushing spiritually, never could bestow. Theblack-plumed senor was obeyed; but the golden-locked Amyas was followed, and would have been followed through the jaws of hell. 

The Spaniards, ere five minutes had passed, poured en masse into theRose's waist, but only to their destruction. Between the poop andforecastle (as was then the fashion) the upper-deck beams were left openand unplanked, with the exception of a narrow gangway on either side;and off that fatal ledge the boarders, thrust on by those behind, fellheadlong between the beams to the main-deck below, to be slaughteredhelpless in that pit of destruction, by the double fire from thebulkheads fore and aft; while the few who kept their footing onthe gangway, after vain attempts to force the stockades on poop andforecastle, leaped overboard again amid a shower of shot and arrows. The fire of the English was as steady as it was quick; and thoughthree-fourths of the crew had never smelt powder before, they provedwell the truth of the old chronicler's saying (since proved again moregloriously than ever, at Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman), that "theEnglish never fight better than in their first battle. "

Thrice the Spaniards clambered on board, and thrice surged back beforethat deadly hail. The decks on both sides were very shambles; and JackBrimblecombe, who had fought as long as his conscience would allow him, found, when he turned to a more clerical occupation, enough to do incarrying poor wretches to the surgeon, without giving that spiritualconsolation which he longed to give, and they to receive. At last therewas a lull in that wild storm. No shot was heard from the Spaniard'supper-deck. 

Amyas leaped into the mizzen rigging, and looked through the smoke. Deadmen he could descry through the blinding veil, rolled in heaps, laidflat; dead men and dying: but no man upon his feet. The last volley hadswept the deck clear; one by one had dropped below to escape thatfiery shower: and alone at the helm, grinding his teeth with rage, hismustachios curling up to his very eyes, stood the Spanish captain. 

Now was the moment for a counter-stroke. Amyas shouted for the boarders, and in two minutes more he was over the side, and clutching at theSpaniard's mizzen rigging. 

What was this? The distance between him and the enemy's side waswidening. Was she sheering off? Yes--and rising too, growing bodilyhigher every moment, as if by magic. Amyas looked up in astonishment andsaw what it was. The Spaniard was heeling fast over to leeward away fromhim. Her masts were all sloping forward, swifter and swifter--the endwas come, then!

"Back! in God's name back, men! She is sinking by the head!" And withmuch ado some were dragged back, some leaped back--all but old MichaelHeard. 

With hair and beard floating in the wind, the bronzed naked figure, like some weird old Indian fakir, still climbed on steadfastly up themizzen-chains of the Spaniard, hatchet in hand. 

"Come back, Michael! Leap while you may!" shouted a dozen voices. Michael turned--

"And what should I come back for, then, to go home where no one knowethme? I'll die like an Englishman this day, or I'll know the rason why!"and turning, he sprang in over the bulwarks, as the huge ship rolledup more and more, like a dying whale, exposing all her long blackhulk almost down to the keel, and one of her lower-deck guns, as if indefiance, exploded upright into the air, hurling the ball to the veryheavens. 

In an instant it was answered from the Rose by a column of smoke, andthe eighteen-pound ball crashed through the bottom of the defencelessSpaniard. 

"Who fired? Shame to fire on a sinking ship!"

"Gunner Yeo, sir, " shouted a voice up from the main-deck. "He's like amadman down here. "

"Tell him if he fires again, I'll put him in irons, if he were my ownbrother. Cut away the grapples aloft, men. Don't you see how she dragsus over? Cut away, or we shall sink with her. "

They cut away, and the Rose, released from the strain, shook herfeathers on the wave-crest like a freed sea-gull, while all men heldtheir breaths. 

Suddenly the glorious creature righted herself, and rose again, as if innoble shame, for one last struggle with her doom. Her bows were deep inthe water, but her after-deck still dry. Righted: but only for a moment, long enough to let her crew come pouring wildly up on deck, with criesand prayers, and rush aft to the poop, where, under the flag of Spain, stood the tall captain, his left hand on the standard-staff, his swordpointed in his right. 

"Back, men!" they heard him cry, "and die like valiant mariners. "

Some of them ran to the bulwarks, and shouted "Mercy! We surrender!" andthe English broke into a cheer and called to them to run her alongside. 

"Silence!" shouted Amyas. "I take no surrender from mutineers. Senor, "cried he to the captain, springing into the rigging and taking off hishat, "for the love of God and these men, strike! and surrender a buenaquerra. "

The Spaniard lifted his hat and bowed courteously, and answered, "Impossible, senor. No querra is good which stains my honor. "

"God have mercy on you, then!"

"Amen!" said the Spaniard, crossing himself. 

She gave one awful lounge forward, and dived under the coming swell, hurling her crew into the eddies. Nothing but the point of her poopremained, and there stood the stern and steadfast Don, cap-a-pie in hisglistening black armor, immovable as a man of iron, while over him theflag, which claimed the empire of both worlds, flaunted its gold aloftand upwards in the glare of the tropic noon. 

"He shall not carry that flag to the devil with him; I will have ityet, if I die for it!" said Will Cary, and rushed to the side to leapoverboard, but Amyas stopped him. 

"Let him die as he has lived, with honor. "

A wild figure sprang out of the mass of sailors who struggled andshrieked amid the foam, and rushed upward at the Spaniard. It wasMichael Heard. The Don, who stood above him, plunged his sword into theold man's body: but the hatchet gleamed, nevertheless: down went theblade through headpiece and through head; and as Heard sprang onward, bleeding, but alive, the steel-clad corpse rattled down the deck intothe surge. Two more strokes, struck with the fury of a dying man, andthe standard-staff was hewn through. Old Michael collected all hisstrength, hurled the flag far from the sinking ship, and then stooderect one moment and shouted, "God save Queen Bess!" and the Englishanswered with a "Hurrah!" which rent the welkin. 

Another moment and the gulf had swallowed his victim, and the poop, andhim; and nothing remained of the Madre Dolorosa but a few floating sparsand struggling wretches, while a great awe fell upon all men, and asolemn silence, broken only by the cry

 "Of some strong swimmer in his agony. "

And then, suddenly collecting themselves, as men awakened from a dream, half-a-dozen desperate gallants, reckless of sharks and eddies, leapedoverboard, swam towards the flag, and towed it alongside in triumph. 

"Ah!" said Salvation Yeo, as he helped the trophy up over the side; "ah!it was not for nothing that we found poor Michael! He was always a goodcomrade--nigh as good a one as William Penberthy of Marazion, whom theLord grant I meet in bliss! And now, then, my masters, shall we inshoreagain and burn La Guayra?"

"Art thou never glutted with Spanish blood, thou old wolf?" asked WillCary. 

"Never, sir, " answered Yeo. 

"To St. Jago be it, " said Amyas, "if we can get there; but--God helpus!"

And he looked round sadly enough; while no one needed that he shouldfinish his sentence, or explain his "but. "

The foremast was gone, the main-yard sprung, the rigging hanging inelf-locks, the hull shot through and through in twenty places, the deckstrewn with the bodies of nine good men, beside sixteen wounded downbelow; while the pitiless sun, right above their heads, poured down aflood of fire upon a sea of glass. 

And it would have been well if faintness and weariness had been all thatwas the matter; but now that the excitement was over, the collapse came;and the men sat down listlessly and sulkily by twos and threes upon thedeck, starting and wincing when they heard some poor fellow below cryout under the surgeon's knife; or murmuring to each other that all waslost. Drew tried in vain to rouse them, telling them that all dependedon rigging a jury-mast forward as soon as possible. They answered onlyby growls; and at last broke into open reproaches. Even Will Cary'svolatile nature, which had kept him up during the fight, gave way, whenYeo and the carpenter came aft, and told Amyas in a low voice--

"We are hit somewhere forward, below the water-line, sir. She leaks aterrible deal, and the Lord will not vouchsafe to us to lay our hands onthe place, for all our searching. "

"What are we to do now, Amyas, in the devil's name?" asked Cary, peevishly. 

"What are we to do, in God's name, rather, " answered Amyas, in a lowvoice. "Will, Will, what did God make you a gentleman for, but to knowbetter than those poor fickle fellows forward, who blow hot and cold atevery change of weather!"

"I wish you'd come forward and speak to them, sir, " said Yeo, who hadoverheard the last words, "or we shall get naught done. "

Amyas went forward instantly. 

"Now then, my brave lads, what's the matter here, that you are allsitting on your tails like monkeys?"

"Ugh!" grunts one. "Don't you think our day's work has been long enoughyet, captain?"

"You don't want us to go in to La Guayra again, sir? There are enough ofus thrown away already, I reckon, about that wench there. "

"Best sit here, and sink quietly. There's no getting home again, that'splain. "

"Why were we brought out here to be killed?"

"For shame, men!" cries Yeo; "you're no better than a set ofstiff-necked Hebrew Jews, murmuring against Moses the very minute afterthe Lord has delivered you from the Egyptians. "

Now I do not wish to set Amyas up as a perfect man; for he had hisfaults, like every one else; nor as better, thank God, than many andmany a brave and virtuous captain in her majesty's service at this veryday: but certainly he behaved admirably under that trial. Drake hadtrained him, as he trained many another excellent officer, to be asstout in discipline, and as dogged of purpose, as he himself was: buthe had trained him also to feel with and for his men, to make allowancesfor them, and to keep his temper with them, as he did this day. True, hehad seen Drake in a rage; he had seen him hang one man for a mutiny(and that man his dearest friend), and threaten to hang thirty more;but Amyas remembered well that that explosion took place when having, asDrake said publicly himself, "taken in hand that I know not in the worldhow to go through with; it passeth my capacity; it hath even bereavedme of my wits to think of it, " . . . And having "now set together bythe ears three mighty princes, her majesty and the kings of Spainand Portugal, " he found his whole voyage ready to come to naught, "bymutinies and discords, controversy between the sailors and gentlemen, and stomaching between the gentlemen and sailors. " "But, my masters"(quoth the self-trained hero, and Amyas never forgot his words), "I musthave it left; for I must have the gentlemen to haul and draw with themariner, and the mariner with the gentlemen. I would like to know himthat would refuse to set his hand to a rope!"

And now Amyas's conscience smote him (and his simple and pious soul tookthe loss of his brother as God's verdict on his conduct), because he hadset his own private affection, even his own private revenge, before thesafety of his ship's company, and the good of his country. 

"Ah, " said he to himself, as he listened to his men's reproaches, "ifI had been thinking, like a loyal soldier, of serving my queen, andcrippling the Spaniard, I should have taken that great bark three daysago, and in it the very man I sought!"

So "choking down his old man, " as Yeo used to say, he made answercheerfully--

"Pooh! pooh! brave lads! For shame, for shame! You were lionshalf-an-hour ago; you are not surely turned sheep already! Why, butyesterday evening you were grumbling because I would not run in andfight those three ships under the batteries of La Guayra, and nowyou think it too much to have fought them fairly out at sea? What hashappened but the chances of war, which might have happened anywhere?Nothing venture, nothing win; and nobody goes bird-nesting without afall at times. If any one wants to be safe in this life, he'd best stayat home and keep his bed; though even there, who knows but the roofmight fall through on him?"

"Ah, it's all very well for you, captain, " said some grumbling younker, with a vague notion that Amyas must be better off than he, because hewas a gentleman. Amyas's blood rose. 

"Yes, sirrah! it is very well for me, as long as God is with me: but Heis with every man in this ship, I would have you to know, as much asHe is with me. Do you fancy that I have nothing to lose? I who haveadventured in this voyage all I am worth, and more; who, if I fail, mustreturn to beggary and scorn? And if I have ventured rashly, sinfully, if you will, the lives of any of you in my own private quarrel, am I notpunished? Have I not lost--?"

His voice trembled and stopped there, but he recovered himself in amoment. 

"Pish! I can't stand here chattering. Carpenter! an axe! and help me tocast these spars loose. Get out of my way, there! lumbering the scuppersup like so many moulting fowls! Here, all old friends, lend a hand!Pelican's men, stand by your captain! Did we sail round the world fornothing?"

This last appeal struck home, and up leaped half-a-dozen of the oldPelicans, and set to work at his side manfully to rig the jury-mast. 

"Come along!" cried Cary to the malcontents; "we're raw longshorefellows, but we won't be outdone by any old sea-dog of them all. " Andsetting to work himself, he was soon followed by one and another, tillorder and work went on well enough. 

"And where are we going, when the mast's up?" shouted some saucy handfrom behind. 

"Where you daren't follow us alone by yourself, so you had better keepus company, " replied Yeo. 

"I'll tell you where we are going, lads, " said Amyas, rising from hiswork. "Like it or leave it as you will, I have no secrets from my crew. We are going inshore there to find a harbor, and careen the ship. "

There was a start and a murmur. 

"Inshore? Into the Spaniards' mouths?"

"All in the Inquisition in a week's time. "

"Better stay here, and be drowned. "

"You're right in that last, " shouts Cary. "That's the right death forblind puppies. Look you! I don't know in the least where we are, and Ihardly know stem from stern aboard ship; and the captain may be right orwrong--that's nothing to me; but this I know, that I am a soldier, andwill obey orders; and where he goes, I go; and whosoever hinders me mustwalk up my sword to do it. "

Amyas pressed Cary's hand, and then--

"And here's my broadside next, men. I'll go nowhere, and do nothingwithout the advice of Salvation Yeo and Robert Drew; and if any man inthe ship knows better than these two, let him up, and we'll give him ahearing. Eh, Pelicans?"

There was a grunt of approbation from the Pelicans; and Amyas returnedto the charge. 

"We have five shot between wind and water, and one somewhere below. Canwe face a gale of wind in that state, or can we not?"

Silence. 

"Can we get home with a leak in our bottom?"

Silence. 

"Then what can we do but run inshore, and take our chance? Speak! It'sa coward's trick to do nothing because what we must do is not pleasant. Will you be like children, that would sooner die than take nasty physic, or will you not?"

Silence still. 

"Come along now! Here's the wind again round with the sun, and up to thenorth-west. In with her!"

Sulkily enough, but unable to deny the necessity, the men set to work, and the vessel's head was put toward the land; but when she began toslip through the water, the leak increased so fast, that they were kepthard at work at the pumps for the rest of the afternoon. 

The current had by this time brought them abreast of the bay ofHiguerote; and, luckily for them, safe out of the short heavy swellwhich it causes round Cape Codera. Looking inland, they had now to thesouth-west that noble headland, backed by the Caracas Mountains, rangeon range, up to the Silla and the Neguater; while, right ahead of themto the south, the shore sank suddenly into a low line of mangrove-wood, backed by primaeval forest. As they ran inward, all eyes were strainedgreedily to find some opening in the mangrove belt; but none was tobe seen for some time. The lead was kept going; and every fresh heaveannounced shallower water. 

"We shall have very shoal work off those mangroves, Yeo, " said Amyas; "Idoubt whether we shall do aught now, unless we find a river's mouth. "

"If the Lord thinks a river good for us, sir, He'll show us one. " So onthey went, keeping a south-east course, and at last an opening in themangrove belt was hailed with a cheer from the older hands, thoughthe majority shrugged their shoulders, as men going open-eyed todestruction. 

Off the mouth they sent in Drew and Cary with a boat, and watchedanxiously for an hour. The boat returned with a good report of twofathoms of water over the bar, impenetrable forests for two miles up, the river sixty yards broad, and no sign of man. The river's banks weresoft and sloping mud, fit for careening. 

"Safe quarters, sir, " said Yeo, privately, "as far as Spaniards go. Ihope in God it may be as safe from calentures and fevers. "

"Beggars must not be choosers, " said Amyas. So in they went. 

They towed the ship up about half-a-mile to a point where she could notbe seen from the seaward; and there moored her to the mangrove-stems. Amyas ordered a boat out, and went up the river himself to reconnoitre. He rowed some three miles, till the river narrowed suddenly, and was allbut covered in by the interlacing boughs of mighty trees. There was nosign that man had been there since the making of the world. 

He dropped down the stream again, thoughtfully and sadly. How many yearsago was it that he passed this river's mouth? Three days. And yet howmuch had passed in them! Don Guzman found and lost--Rose found andlost--a great victory gained, and yet lost--perhaps his ship lost--aboveall, his brother lost. 

Lost! O God, how should he find his brother?

Some strange bird out of the woods made mournful answer--"Never, never, never!"

How should he face his mother?

"Never, never, never!" wailed the bird again; and Amyas smiled bitterly, and said "Never!" likewise. 

The night mist began to steam and wreathe upon the foul beer-coloredstream. The loathy floor of liquid mud lay bare beneath the mangroveforest. Upon the endless web of interarching roots great purple crabswere crawling up and down. They would have supped with pleasure uponAmyas's corpse; perhaps they might sup on him after all; for a heavysickening graveyard smell made his heart sink within him, and hisstomach heave; and his weary body, and more weary soul, gave themselvesup helplessly to the depressing influence of that doleful place. The black bank of dingy leathern leaves above his head, the endlesslabyrinth of stems and withes (for every bough had lowered its ownliving cord, to take fresh hold of the foul soil below); the web ofroots, which stretched away inland till it was lost in the shades ofevening--all seemed one horrid complicated trap for him and his; andeven where, here and there, he passed the mouth of a lagoon, there wasno opening, no relief--nothing but the dark ring of mangroves, and hereand there an isolated group of large and small, parents and children, breeding and spreading, as if in hideous haste to choke out air and sky. Wailing sadly, sad-colored mangrove-hens ran off across the mud into thedreary dark. The hoarse night-raven, hid among the roots, startled thevoyagers with a sudden shout, and then all was again silent as a grave. The loathly alligators, lounging in the slime, lifted their hornyeyelids lazily, and leered upon him as he passed with stupid savageness. Lines of tall herons stood dimly in the growing gloom, like whitefantastic ghosts, watching the passage of the doomed boat. All was foul, sullen, weird as witches' dream. If Amyas had seen a crew of skeletonsglide down the stream behind him, with Satan standing at the helm, hewould have scarcely been surprised. What fitter craft could haunt thatStygian flood?

That night every man of the boat's crew, save Amyas, was down withraging fever; before ten the next morning, five more men were taken, andothers sickening fast. 

CHAPTER XXI

HOW THEY TOOK THE COMMUNION UNDER THE TREE AT HIGUEROTE

 "Follow thee? Follow thee? Wha wad na follow thee? Lang hast thou looed and trusted us fairly. "

Amyas would have certainly taken the yellow fever, but for one reason, which he himself gave to Cary. He had no time to be sick while his menwere sick; a valid and sufficient reason (as many a noble soul inthe Crimea has known too well), as long as the excitement of work ispresent, but too apt to fail the hero, and to let him sink into the pitwhich he has so often over-leapt, the moment that his work is done. 

He called a council of war, or rather a sanitary commission, thenext morning; for he was fairly at his wits' end. The men werepanic-stricken, ready to mutiny: Amyas told them that he could not seeany possible good which could accrue to them by killing him, or--(forthere were two sides to every question)--being killed by him; and thenwent below to consult. The doctor talked mere science, or nonscience, about humors, complexions, and animal spirits. Jack Brimblecombe, merepulpit, about its being the visitation of God. Cary, mere despair, though he jested over it with a smile. Yeo, mere stoic fatalism, thoughhe quoted Scripture to back the same. Drew, the master, had nothing tosay. His "business was to sail the ship, and not to cure calentures. "

Whereon Amyas clutched his locks, according to custom; and at last brokeforth--"Doctor! a fig for your humors and complexions! Can you curea man's humors, or change his complexion? Can an Ethiopian change hisskin, or a leopard his spots? Don't shove off your ignorance on God, sir. I ask you what's the reason of this sickness, and you don't know. Jack Brimblecombe, don't talk to me about God's visitation; this looksmuch more like the devil's visitation, to my mind. We are doing God'swork, Sir John, and He is not likely to hinder us. So down with thedevil, say I. Cary, laughing killed the cat, but it won't cure aChristian. Yeo, when an angel tells me that it's God's will that weshould all die like dogs in a ditch, I'll call this God's will; but notbefore. Drew, you say your business is to sail the ship; then sail herout of this infernal poison-trap this very morning, if you can, whichyou can't. The mischief's in the air, and nowhere else. I felt it runthrough me coming down last night, and smelt it like any sewer: andif it was not in the air, why was my boat's crew taken first, tell methat?"

There was no answer. 

"Then I'll tell you why they were taken first: because the mist, whenwe came through it, only rose five or six feet above the stream, and wewere in it, while you on board were above it. And those that were takenon board this morning, every one of them, slept on the main-deck, andevery one of them, too, was in fear of the fever, whereby I judge twothings, --Keep as high as you can, and fear nothing but God, and we'reall safe yet. "

"But the fog was up to our round-tops at sunrise this morning, " saidCary. 

"I know it: but we who were on the half-deck were not in it so long asthose below, and that may have made the difference, let alone our havingfree air. Beside, I suspect the heat in the evening draws the poison outmore, and that when it gets cold toward morning, the venom of it goesoff somehow. "

How it went off Amyas could not tell (right in his facts as he was), fornobody on earth knew I suppose, at that day; and it was not tillnearly two centuries of fatal experience that the settlers in Americadiscovered the simple laws of these epidemics which now every childknows, or ought to know. But common sense was on his side; and Yeo roseand spoke--

"As I have said before, many a time, the Lord has sent us a very youngDaniel for judge. I remember now to have heard the Spaniards say, howthese calentures lay always in the low ground, and never came more thana few hundred feet above the sea. "

"Let us go up those few hundred feet, then. "

Every man looked at Amyas, and then at his neighbor. 

"Gentlemen, 'Look the devil straight in the face, if you would hit himin the right place. ' We cannot get the ship to sea as she is; and if wecould, we cannot go home empty-handed; and we surely cannot stay here todie of fever. --We must leave the ship and go inland. "

"Inland?" answered every voice but Yeo's. 

"Up those hundred feet which Yeo talks of. Up to the mountains; stockadea camp, and get our sick and provisions thither. "

"And what next?"

"And when we are recruited, march over the mountains, and surprise St. Jago de Leon. "

Cary swore a great oath. "Amyas! you are a daring fellow!"

"Not a bit. It's the plain path of prudence. "

"So it is, sir, " said old Yeo, "and I follow you in it. "

"And so do I, " squeaked Jack Brimblecombe. 

"Nay, then, Jack, thou shalt not outrun me. So I say yes too, " quothCary. 

"Mr. Drew?"

"At your service, sir, to live or die. I know naught about stockading;but Sir Francis would have given the same counsel, I verily believe, ifhe had been in your place. "

"Then tell the men that we start in an hour's time. Win over thePelicans, Yeo and Drew; and the rest must follow, like sheep over ahedge. "

The Pelicans, and the liberated galley-slaves, joined the project atonce; but the rest gave Amyas a stormy hour. The great question was, where were the hills? In that dense mangrove thicket they could not seefifty yards before them. 

"The hills are not three miles to the south-west of you at this moment, "said Amyas. "I marked every shoulder of them as we ran in. "

"I suppose you meant to take us there?"

The question set a light to a train--and angry suspicions were blazingup one after another, but Amyas silenced them with a countermine. 

"Fools! if I had not wit enow to look ahead a little farther than youdo, where would you be? Are you mad as well as reckless, to rise againstyour own captain because he has two strings to his bow? Go my way, Isay, or, as I live, I'll blow up the ship and every soul on board, andsave you the pain of rotting here by inches. "

The men knew that Amyas never said what he did not intend to do; notthat Amyas intended to do this, because he knew that the threat would beenough. So they, agreed to go; and were reassured by seeing that the oldPelican's men turned to the work heartily and cheerfully. 

There is no use keeping the reader for five or six weary hours, under abroiling (or rather stewing) sun, stumbling over mangrove roots, hewinghis way through thorny thickets, dragging sick men and provisions upmountain steeps, amid disappointment, fatigue, murmurs, curses, snakes, mosquitoes, false alarms of Spaniards, and every misery, save cold, which flesh is heir to. Suffice it that by sunset that evening they hadgained a level spot, a full thousand feet above the sea, backed by aninaccessible cliff which formed the upper shoulder of a mighty mountain, defended below by steep wooded slopes, and needing but the felling of afew trees to make it impregnable. 

Amyas settled the sick under the arched roots of an enormous cottonwoodtree, and made a second journey to the ship, to bring up hammocks andblankets for them; while Yeo's wisdom and courage were of inestimablevalue. He, as pioneer, had found the little brook up which they forcedtheir way; he had encouraged them to climb the cliffs over which itfell, arguing rightly that on its course they were sure to find someground fit for encampment within the reach of water; he had supportedAmyas, when again and again the weary crew entreated to be dragged nofarther, and had gone back again a dozen times to cheer them upward;while Cary, who brought up the rear, bullied and cheered on thestragglers who sat down and refused to move, drove back at the sword'spoint more than one who was beating a retreat, carried their burdens forthem, sang them songs on the halt; in all things approving himself thegallant and hopeful soul which he had always been: till Amyas, besidehimself with joy at finding that the two men on whom he had countedmost were utterly worthy of his trust, went so far as to whisper to themboth, in confidence, that very night--

"Cortez burnt his ships when he landed. Why should not we?"

Yeo leapt upright; and then sat down again, and whispered--

"Do you say that, captain? 'Tis from above, then, that's certain; forit's been hanging on my mind too all day. "

"There's no hurry, " quoth Amyas; "we must clear her out first, youknow, " while Cary sat silent and musing. Amyas had evidently moreschemes in his head than he chose to tell. 

The men were too tired that evening to do much, but ere the sun rosenext morning Amyas had them hard at work fortifying their position. Itwas, as I said, strong enough by nature; for though it was commanded byhigh cliffs on three sides, yet there was no chance of an enemy comingover the enormous mountain-range behind them, and still less chancethat, if he came, he would discover them through the dense mass oftrees which crowned the cliff, and clothed the hills for a thousand feetabove. The attack, if it took place, would come from below; and againstthat Amyas guarded by felling the smaller trees, and laying them withtheir boughs outward over the crest of the slope, thus forming an abatis(as every one who has shot in thick cover knows to his cost) warrantedto bring up in two steps, horse, dog, or man. The trunks were sawn intologs, laid lengthwise, and steadied by stakes and mould; and three orfour hours' hard work finished a stockade which would defy anythingbut artillery. The work done, Amyas scrambled up into the boughs of theenormous ceiba-tree, and there sat inspecting his own handiwork, lookingout far and wide over the forest-covered plains and the blue sea beyond, and thinking, in his simple straightforward way, of what was to be donenext. 

To stay there long was impossible; to avenge himself upon La Guayra wasimpossible; to go until he had found out whether Frank was alive or deadseemed at first equally impossible. But were Brimblecombe, Cary, andthose eighty men to be sacrificed a second time to his private interest?Amyas wept with rage, and then wept again with earnest, honest prayer, before he could make up his mind. But he made it up. There were ahundred chances to one that Frank was dead; and if not, he was equallypast their help; for he was--Amyas knew that too well--by this timein the hands of the Inquisition. Who could lift him from that pit? NotAmyas, at least! And crying aloud in his agony, "God help him! for Icannot!" Amyas made up his mind to move. But whither? Many an hour hethought and thought alone, there in his airy nest; and at last he wentdown, calm and cheerful, and drew Cary and Yeo aside. They could not, he said, refit the ship without dying of fever during the process; anassertion which neither of his hearers was bold enough to deny. Evenif they refitted her, they would be pretty certain to have to fight theSpaniards again; for it was impossible to doubt the Indian's story, thatthey had been forewarned of the Rose's coming, or to doubt, either, thatEustace had been the traitor. 

"Let us try St. Jago, then; sack it, come down on La Guayra in the rear, take a ship there, and so get home. "

"Nay, Will. If they have strengthened themselves against us at LaGuayra, where they had little to lose, surely they have done so at St. Jago, where they have much. I hear the town is large, though new; andbesides, how can we get over these mountains without a guide?"

"Or with one?" said Cary, with a sigh, looking up at the vast walls ofwood and rock which rose range on range for miles. "But it is strange tofind you, at least, throwing cold water on a daring plot. "

"What if I had a still more daring one? Did you ever hear of the goldencity of Manoa?"

Yeo laughed a grim but joyful laugh. "I have, sir; and so have the oldhands from the Pelican and the Jesus of Lubec, I doubt not. "

"So much the better;" and Amyas began to tell Cary all which he hadlearned from the Spaniard, while Yeo capped every word thereof withrumors and traditions of his own gathering. Cary sat half aghast asthe huge phantasmagoria unfolded itself before his dazzled eyes; and atlast--

"So that was why you wanted to burn the ship! Well, after all, nobodyneeds me at home, and one less at table won't be missed. So you want toplay Cortez, eh?"

"We shall never need to play Cortez (who was not such a bad fellow afterall, Will), because we shall have no such cannibal fiends' tyranny torid the earth of, as he had. And I trust we shall fear God enough not toplay Pizarro. "

So the conversation dropped for the time, but none of them forgot it. 

In that mountain-nook the party spent some ten days and more. Several ofthe sick men died, some from the fever superadded to their wounds;some, probably, from having been bled by the surgeon; the others mendedsteadily, by the help of certain herbs which Yeo administered, muchto the disgust of the doctor, who, of course, wanted to bleed the poorfellows all round, and was all but mutinous when Amyas stayed his hand. In the meanwhile, by dint of daily trips to the ship, provisionswere plentiful enough, --beside the raccoons, monkeys, and other smallanimals, which Yeo and the veterans of Hawkins's crew knew how to catch, and the fruit and vegetables; above all, the delicious mountain cabbageof the Areca palm, and the fresh milk of the cow-tree, which theybrought in daily, paying well thereby for the hospitality they received. 

All day long a careful watch was kept among the branches of the mightyceiba-tree. And what a tree that was! The hugest English oak would haveseemed a stunted bush beside it. Borne up on roots, or rather walls, of twisted board, some twelve feet high, between which the wholecrew, their ammunitions, and provisions, were housed roomily, rosethe enormous trunk full forty feet in girth, towering like some talllighthouse, smooth for a hundred feet, then crowned with boughs, each ofwhich was a stately tree, whose topmost twigs were full two hundredand fifty feet from the ground. And yet it was easy for the sailors toascend; so many natural ropes had kind Nature lowered for their use, inthe smooth lianes which hung to the very earth, often without a knot orleaf. Once in the tree, you were within a new world, suspended betweenheaven and earth, and as Cary said, no wonder if, like Jack when heclimbed the magic bean-stalk, you had found a castle, a giant, and a fewacres of well-stocked park, packed away somewhere amid that labyrinth oftimber. Flower-gardens at least were there in plenty; for every limb wascovered with pendent cactuses, gorgeous orchises, and wild pines; andwhile one-half the tree was clothed in rich foliage, the other half, utterly leafless, bore on every twig brilliant yellow flowers, aroundwhich humming-birds whirred all day long. Parrots peeped in and out ofevery cranny, while, within the airy woodland, brilliant lizards baskedlike living gems upon the bark, gaudy finches flitted and chirruped, butterflies of every size and color hovered over the topmost twigs, innumerable insects hummed from morn till eve; and when the sun wentdown, tree-toads came out to snore and croak till dawn. There was morelife round that one tree than in a whole square mile of English soil. 

And Amyas, as he lounged among the branches, felt at moments as if hewould be content to stay there forever, and feed his eyes and earswith all its wonders--and then started sighing from his dream, as herecollected that a few days must bring the foe upon them, and forcehim to decide upon some scheme at which the bravest heart might falterwithout shame. So there he sat (for he often took the scout's placehimself), looking out over the fantastic tropic forest at his feet, and the flat mangrove-swamps below, and the white sheet of foam-fleckedblue; and yet no sail appeared; and the men, as their fear of feversubsided, began to ask when they would go down and refit the ship, andAmyas put them off as best he could, till one noon he saw slippingalong the shore from the westward, a large ship under easy sail, andrecognized in her, or thought he did so, the ship which they had passedupon their way. 

If it was she, she must have run past them to La Guayra in the night, and have now returned, perhaps, to search for them along the coast. 

She crept along slowly. He was in hopes that she might pass the river'smouth: but no. She lay-to close to the shore; and, after a while, Amyassaw two boats pull in from her, and vanish behind the mangroves. 

Sliding down a liane, he told what he had seen. The men, tired ofinactivity, received the news with a shout of joy, and set to work tomake all ready for their guests. Four brass swivels, which they hadbrought up, were mounted, fixed in logs, so as to command the path; themusketeers and archers clustered round them with their tackle ready, andhalf-a-dozen good marksmen volunteered into the cotton-tree with theirarquebuses, as a post whence "a man might have very pretty shooting. "Prayers followed as a matter of course, and dinner as a matter ofcourse also; but two weary hours passed before there was any sign of theSpaniards. 

Presently a wreath of white smoke curled up from the swamp, and then thereport of a caliver. Then, amid the growls of the English, the Spanishflag ran up above the trees, and floated--horrible to behold--at themast-head of the Rose. They were signalling the ship for more hands;and, in effect, a third boat soon pushed off and vanished into theforest. 

Another hour, during which the men had thoroughly lost their temper, butnot their hearts, by waiting; and talked so loud, and strode up and downso wildly, that Amyas had to warn them that there was no need to betraythemselves; that the Spaniards might not find them after all; that theymight pass the stockade close without seeing it; that, unless they hitoff the track at once, they would probably return to their ship for thepresent; and exacted a promise from them that they would be perfectlysilent till he gave the word to fire. 

Which wise commands had scarcely passed his lips, when, in the pathbelow, glanced the headpiece of a Spanish soldier, and then another andanother. 

"Fools!" whispered Amyas to Cary; "they are coming up in single file, rushing on their own death. Lie close, men!"

The path was so narrow that two could seldom come up abreast, and sosteep that the enemy had much ado to struggle and stumble upwards. Themen seemed half unwilling to proceed, and hung back more than once;but Amyas could hear an authoritative voice behind, and presently thereemerged to the front, sword in hand, a figure at which Amyas and Caryboth started. 

"Is it he?"

"Surely I know those legs among a thousand, though they are in armor. "

"It is my turn for him, now, Cary, remember! Silence, silence, men!"

The Spaniards seemed to feel that they were leading a forlorn hope. DonGuzman (for there was little doubt that it was he) had much ado to getthem on at all. 

"The fellows have heard how gently we handled the Guayra squadron, "whispers Cary, "and have no wish to become fellow-martyrs with thecaptain of the Madre Dolorosa. "

At last the Spaniards get up the steep slope to within forty yards ofthe stockade, and pause, suspecting a trap, and puzzled by the completesilence. Amyas leaps on the top of it, a white flag in his hand; but hisheart beats so fiercely at the sight of that hated figure, that he canhardly get out the words--

"Don Guzman, the quarrel is between you and me, not between your men andmine. I would have sent in a challenge to you at La Guayra, but you wereaway; I challenge you now to single combat. "

"Lutheran dog, I have a halter for you, but no sword! As you served usat Smerwick, we will serve you now. Pirate and ravisher, you and yoursshall share Oxenham's fate, as you have copied his crimes, and learnwhat it is to set foot unbidden on the dominions of the king of Spain. "

"The devil take you and the king of Spain together!" shouts Amyas, laughing loudly. "This ground belongs to him no more than it does tome, but to the Queen Elizabeth, in whose name I have taken as lawfulpossession of it as you ever did of Caracas. Fire, men! and God defendthe right!"

Both parties obeyed the order; Amyas dropped down behind the stockadein time to let a caliver bullet whistle over his head; and the Spaniardsrecoiled as the narrow face of the stockade burst into one blaze ofmusketry and swivels, raking their long array from front to rear. 

The front ranks fell over each other in heaps; the rear ones turned andran; overtaken, nevertheless, by the English bullets and arrows, whichtumbled them headlong down the steep path. 

"Out, men, and charge them. See! the Don is running like the rest!" Andscrambling over the abattis, Amyas and about thirty followed them fast;for he had hope of learning from some prisoner his brother's fate. 

Amyas was unjust in his last words. Don Guzman, as if by miracle, hadbeen only slightly wounded; and seeing his men run, had rushed back andtried to rally them, but was borne away by the fugitives. 

However, the Spaniards were out of sight among the thick bushes beforethe English could overtake them; and Amyas, afraid lest they shouldrally and surround his small party, withdrew sorely against his will, and found in the pathway fourteen Spaniards, but all dead. For one ofthe wounded, with more courage than wisdom, had fired on the Englishas he lay; and Amyas's men, whose blood was maddened both by theirdesperate situation, and the frightful stories of the rescuedgalley-slaves, had killed them all before their captain could stop them. 

"Are you mad?" cries Amyas, as he strikes up one fellow's sword. "Willyou kill an Indian?"

And he drags out of the bushes an Indian lad of sixteen, who, slightlywounded, is crawling away like a copper snake along the ground. 

"The black vermin has sent an arrow through my leg; and poisoned too, most like. "

"God grant not: but an Indian is worth his weight in gold to us now, "said Amyas, tucking his prize under his arm like a bundle. The lad, assoon as he saw there was no escape, resigned himself to his fate withtrue Indian stoicism, was brought in, and treated kindly enough, butrefused to eat. For which, after much questioning, he gave as a reason, that he would make them kill him at once; for fat him they should not;and gradually gave them to understand that the English always (soat least the Spaniards said) fatted and ate their prisoners likethe Caribs; and till he saw them go out and bury the bodies of theSpaniards, nothing would persuade him that the corpses were not to becooked for supper. 

However, kind words, kind looks, and the present of that inestimabletreasure--a knife, brought him to reason; and he told Amyas that hebelonged to a Spaniard who had an "encomienda" of Indians some fifteenmiles to the south-west; that he had fled from his master, and livedby hunting for some months past; and having seen the ship where she laymoored, and boarded her in hope of plunder, had been surprised thereinby the Spaniards, and forced by threats to go with them as a guide intheir search for the English. But now came a part of his story whichfilled the soul of Amyas with delight. He was an Indian of the Llanos, or great savannahs which lay to the southward beyond the mountains, andhad actually been upon the Orinoco. He had been stolen as a boy by someSpaniards, who had gone down (as was the fashion of the Jesuits evenas late as 1790) for the pious purpose of converting the savages by thesimple process of catching, baptizing, and making servants of thosewhom they could carry off, and murdering those who resisted their gentlemethod of salvation. Did he know the way back again? Who could ask sucha question of an Indian? And the lad's black eyes flashed fire, as Amyasoffered him liberty and iron enough for a dozen Indians, if he wouldlead them through the passes of the mountains, and southward to themighty river, where lay their golden hopes. Hernando de Serpa, Amyasknew, had tried the same course, which was supposed to be about onehundred and twenty leagues, and failed, being overthrown utterly by theWikiri Indians; but Amyas knew enough of the Spaniards' brutal methodof treating those Indians, to be pretty sure that they had brought thatcatastrophe upon themselves, and that he might avoid it well enough bythat common justice and mercy toward the savages which he had learnedfrom his incomparable tutor, Francis Drake. 

Now was the time to speak; and, assembling his men around him, Amyasopened his whole heart, simply and manfully. This was their only hopeof safety. Some of them had murmured that they should perish like JohnOxenham's crew. This plan was rather the only way to avoid perishinglike them. Don Guzman would certainly return to seek them; and not onlyhe, but land-forces from St. Jago. Even if the stockade was not forced, they would be soon starved out; why not move at once, ere the Spaniardscould return, and begin a blockade? As for taking St. Jago, it wasimpossible. The treasure would all be safely hidden, and the town wellprepared to meet them. If they wanted gold and glory, they must seek itelsewhere. Neither was there any use in marching along the coast, andtrying the ports: ships could outstrip them, and the country was alreadywarned. There was but this one chance; and on it Amyas, the first andlast time in his life, waxed eloquent, and set forth the glory of theenterprise, the service to the queen, the salvation of heathens, andthe certainty that, if successful, they should win honor and wealth andeverlasting fame, beyond that of Cortez or Pizarro, till the men, sulkyat first, warmed every moment; and one old Pelican broke out with--

"Yes, sir! we didn't go round the world with you for naught; and watchedyour works and ways, which was always those of a gentleman, as youare--who spoke a word for a poor fellow when he was in a scrape, and sawall you ought to see, and naught that you ought not. And we'll followyou, sir, all alone to ourselves; and let those that know you worsefollow after when they're come to their right mind. "

Man after man capped this brave speech; the minority, who, if they likedlittle to go, liked still less to be left behind, gave in their consentperforce; and, to make a long story short, Amyas conquered, and the planwas accepted. 

"This, " said Amyas, "is indeed the proudest day of my life! I have lostone brother, but I have gained fourscore. God do so to me and more also, if I do not deal with you according to the trust which you have put inme this day!"

We, I suppose, are to believe that we have a right to laugh at Amyas'sscheme as frantic and chimerical. It is easy to amuse ourselves with thepremises, after the conclusion has been found for us. We know, now, thathe was mistaken: but we have not discovered his mistake for ourselves, and have no right to plume ourselves on other men's discoveries. Had welived in Amyas's days, we should have belonged either to the many wisemen who believed as he did, or to the many foolish men, who not onlysneered at the story of Manoa, but at a hundred other stories, which wenow know to be true. Columbus was laughed at: but he found a new world, nevertheless. Cortez was laughed at: but he found Mexico. Pizarro: buthe found Peru. I ask any fair reader of those two charming books, Mr. Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and his Conquest of Peru, whether the truewonders in them described do not outdo all the false wonders of Manoa. 

But what reason was there to think them false? One quarter, perhaps, ofAmerica had been explored, and yet in that quarter two empires had beenalready found, in a state of mechanical, military, and agriculturalcivilization superior, in many things, to any nation of Europe. Wasit not most rational to suppose that in the remaining three-quarterssimilar empires existed? If a second Mexico had been discovered in themountains of Parima, and a second Peru in those of Brazil, what rightwould any man have had to wonder? As for the gold legends, nothing wastold of Manoa which had not been seen in Peru and Mexico by the bodilyeyes of men then living. Why should not the rocks of Guiana have beenas full of the precious metals (we do not know yet that they are not) asthe rocks of Peru and Mexico were known to be? Even the details of thestory, its standing on a lake, for instance, bore a probability withthem. Mexico actually stood in the centre of a lake--why should notManoa? The Peruvian worship centred round a sacred lake--why not thatof Manoa? Pizarro and Cortez, again, were led on to their desperateenterprises by the sight of small quantities of gold among savages, whotold them of a civilized gold-country near at hand; and they found thatthose savages spoke truth. Why was the unanimous report of the Caribtribes of the Orinoco to be disbelieved, when they told a similar tale?Sir Richard Schomburgk's admirable preface to Raleigh's Guiana proves, surely, that the Indians themselves were deceived, as well as deceivers. It was known, again, that vast quantities of the Peruvian treasure hadbeen concealed by the priests, and that members of the Inca family hadfled across the Andes, and held out against the Spaniards. Barely fiftyyears had elapsed since then;--what more probable than that this remnantof the Peruvian dynasty and treasure still existed? Even the story ofthe Amazons, though it may serve Hume as a point for his ungenerous anduntruthful attempt to make Raleigh out either fool or villain, hascome from Spaniards, who had with their own eyes seen the Indian womenfighting by their husbands' sides, and from Indians, who asserted theexistence of an Amazonian tribe. What right had Amyas, or any man, todisbelieve the story? The existence of the Amazons in ancient Asia, andof their intercourse with Alexander the Great, was then an accreditedpart of history, which it would have been gratuitous impertinence todeny. And what if some stories connected these warlike women with theEmperor of Manoa, and the capital itself? This generation ought surelyto be the last to laugh at such a story, at least as long as theAmazonian guards of the King of Dahomey continue to outvie the men inthat relentless ferocity, with which they have subdued every neighboringtribe, save the Christians of Abbeokuta. In this case, as in a hundredmore, fact not only outdoes, but justifies imagination; and Amyas spokecommon sense when he said to his men that day--

"Let fools laugh and stay at home. Wise men dare and win. Saul went tolook for his father's asses, and found a kingdom; and Columbus, my men, was called a madman for only going to seek China, and never knew, theysay, until his dying day, that he had found a whole new world insteadof it. Find Manoa? God only, who made all things, knows what we may findbeside!"

So underneath that giant ceiba-tree, those valiant men, reduced bybattle and sickness to some eighty, swore a great oath, and kept thatoath like men. To search for the golden city for two full years to come, whatever might befall; to stand to each other for weal or woe; to obeytheir officers to the death; to murmur privately against no man, butbring all complaints to a council of war; to use no profane oaths, butserve God daily with prayer; to take by violence from no man, save fromtheir natural enemies the Spaniards; to be civil and merciful to allsavages, and chaste and courteous to all women; to bring all booty andall food into the common stock, and observe to the utmost their faithwith the adventurers who had fitted out the ship; and finally, to marchat sunrise the next morning toward the south, trusting in God to betheir guide. 

"It is a great oath, and a hard one, " said Brimblecombe; "but God willgive us strength to keep it. " And they knelt all together and receivedthe Holy Communion, and then rose to pack provisions and ammunition, and lay down again to sleep and to dream that they were sailing homeup Torridge stream--as Cavendish, returning from round the world, didactually sail home up Thames but five years afterwards--"with marinersand soldiers clothed in silk, with sails of damask, and topsails ofcloth of gold, and the richest prize which ever was brought at one timeunto English shores. "

 * * * * *

The Cross stands upright in the southern sky. It is the middle of thenight. Cary and Yeo glide silently up the hill and into the camp, and whisper to Amyas that they have done the deed. The sleepers areawakened, and the train sets forth. 

Upward and southward ever: but whither, who can tell? They hardly thinkof the whither; but go like sleep-walkers, shaken out of one land ofdreams, only to find themselves in another and stranger one. All aroundis fantastic and unearthly; now each man starts as he sees the figuresof his fellows, clothed from head to foot in golden filigree; looks up, and sees the yellow moonlight through the fronds of the huge tree-fernsoverhead, as through a cloud of glittering lace. Now they are hewingtheir way through a thicket of enormous flags; now through bamboos fortyfeet high; now they are stumbling over boulders, waist-deep in cushionsof club-moss; now they are struggling through shrubberies of heaths andrhododendrons, and woolly incense-trees, where every leaf, as they brushpast, dashes some fresh scent into their faces, and

 "The winds, with musky wing, About the cedarn alleys fling Nard and cassia's balmy smells. "

Now they open upon some craggy brow, from whence they can see far belowan ocean of soft cloud, whose silver billows, girdled by the mountainsides, hide the lowland from their sight. 

And from beneath the cloud strange voices rise; the screams of thousandnight-birds, and wild howls, which they used at first to fancy were thecries of ravenous beasts, till they found them to proceed from nothingfiercer than an ape. But what is that deeper note, like a seriesof muffled explosions, --arquebuses fired within some subterraneancavern, --the heavy pulse of which rolls up through the depths of theunseen forest? They hear it now for the first time, but they will hearit many a time again; and the Indian lad is hushed, and cowers closeto them, and then takes heart, as he looks upon their swords andarquebuses; for that is the roar of the jaguar, "seeking his meat fromGod. "

But what is that glare away to the northward? The yellow moon is ringedwith gay rainbows; but that light is far too red to be the reflectionof any beams of hers. Now through the cloud rises a column of black andlurid smoke; the fog clears away right and left around it, and showsbeneath, a mighty fire. 

The men look at each other with questioning eyes, each half suspecting, and yet not daring to confess their own suspicions; and Amyas whispersto Yeo--

"You took care to flood the powder?"

"Ay, ay, sir, and to unload the ordnance too. No use in making a noiseto tell the Spaniards our whereabouts. "

Yes; that glare rises from the good ship Rose. Amyas, like Cortez ofold, has burnt his ship, and retreat is now impossible. Forward into theunknown abyss of the New World, and God be with them as they go!

The Indian knows a cunning path: it winds along the highest ridges ofthe mountains; but the travelling is far more open and easy. 

They have passed the head of a valley which leads down to St. Jago. Beneath that long shining river of mist, which ends at the foot ofthe great Silla, lies (so says the Indian lad) the rich capital ofVenezuela; and beyond, the gold-mines of Los Teques and Baruta, whichfirst attracted the founder Diego de Losada; and many a longing eye isturned towards it as they pass the saddle at the valley head; but theattempt is hopeless, they turn again to the left, and so down towardsthe rancho, taking care (so the prudent Amyas had commanded) to breakdown, after crossing, the frail rope bridge which spans each torrent andravine. 

They are at the rancho long before daybreak, and have secured there, not only fourteen mules, but eight or nine Indians stolen from offthe Llanos, like their guide, who are glad enough to escape from theirtyrants by taking service with them. And now southward and away, withlightened shoulders and hearts; for they are all but safe from pursuit. The broken bridges prevent the news of their raid reaching St. Jagountil nightfall; and in the meanwhile, Don Guzman returns to the rivermouth the next day to find the ship a blackened wreck, and the campempty; follows their trail over the hills till he is stopped by a brokenbridge; surmounts that difficulty, and meets a second; his men areworn out with heat, and a little afraid of stumbling on the hereticdesperadoes, and he returns by land to St. Jago; and when he arrivesthere, has news from home which gives him other things to think of thanfollowing those mad Englishmen, who have vanished into the wilderness. "What need, after all, to follow them?" asked the Spaniards of eachother. "Blinded by the devil, whom they serve, they rush on in search ofcertain death, as many a larger company has before them, and they willfind it, and will trouble La Guayra no more forever. " "Lutheran dogs andenemies of God, " said Don Guzman to his soldiers, "they will leave theirbones to whiten on the Llanos, as may every heretic who sets foot onSpanish soil!"

Will they do so, Don Guzman? Or wilt thou and Amyas meet again upon amightier battlefield, to learn a lesson which neither of you yet haslearned?

CHAPTER XXII

THE INQUISITION IN THE INDIES

My next chapter is perhaps too sad; it shall be at least as short as Ican make it; but it was needful to be written, that readers may judgefairly for themselves what sort of enemies the English nation had toface in those stern days. 

Three weeks have passed, and the scene is shifted to a long, low rangeof cells in a dark corridor in the city of Cartagena. The door of one isopen; and within stand two cloaked figures, one of whom we know. It isEustace Leigh. The other is a familiar of the Holy Office. 

He holds in his hand a lamp, from which the light falls on a bed ofstraw, and on the sleeping figure of a man. The high white brow, thepale and delicate features--them too we know, for they are those ofFrank. Saved half-dead from the fury of the savage negroes, he has beenreserved for the more delicate cruelty of civilized and Christian men. He underwent the question but this afternoon; and now Eustace, hisbetrayer, is come to persuade him--or to entrap him? Eustace himselfhardly knows whether of the two. 

And yet he would give his life to save his cousin. 

His life? He has long since ceased to care for that. He has done whathe has done, because it is his duty; and now he is to do his dutyonce more, and wake the sleeper, and argue, coax, threaten him intorecantation while "his heart is still tender from the torture, " soEustace's employers phrase it. 

And yet how calmly he is sleeping! Is it but a freak of the lamplight, or is there a smile upon his lips? Eustace takes the lamp and bends overhim to see; and as he bends he hears Frank whispering in his dreams hismother's name, and a name higher and holier still. 

Eustace cannot find the heart to wake him. 

"Let him rest, " whispers he to his companion. "After all, I fear mywords will be of little use. "

"I fear so too, sir. Never did I behold a more obdurate heretic. He didnot scruple to scoff openly at their holinesses. "

"Ah!" said Eustace; "great is the pravity of the human heart, and thepower of Satan! Let us go for the present. "

"Where is she?"

"The elder sorceress, or the younger?"

"The younger--the--"

"The Senora de Soto? Ah, poor thing! One could be sorry for her, wereshe not a heretic. " And the man eyed Eustace keenly, and then quietlyadded, "She is at present with the notary; to the benefit of her soul, Itrust--"

Eustace half stopped, shuddering. He could hardly collect himself enoughto gasp out an "Amen!"

"Within there, " said the man, pointing carelessly to a door as theywent down the corridor. "We can listen a moment, if you like; but don'tbetray me, senor. "

Eustace knows well enough that the fellow is probably on the watch tobetray him, if he shows any signs of compunction; at least to reportfaithfully to his superiors the slightest expression of sympathy witha heretic; but a horrible curiosity prevails over fear, and he pausesclose to the fatal door. His face is all of a flame, his knees knocktogether, his ears are ringing, his heart bursting through his ribs, ashe supports himself against the wall, hiding his convulsed face as wellas he can from his companion. 

A man's voice is plainly audible within; low, but distinct. The notaryis trying that old charge of witchcraft, which the Inquisitors, whetherto justify themselves to their own consciences, or to whiten theirvillainy somewhat in the eyes of the mob, so often brought against theirvictims. And then Eustace's heart sinks within him as he hears a woman'svoice reply, sharpened by indignation and agony--

"Witchcraft against Don Guzman? What need of that, oh God! what need?"

"You deny it then, senora? we are sorry for you; but--"

A confused choking murmur from the victim, mingled with words whichmight mean anything or nothing. 

"She has confessed!" whispered Eustace; "saints, I thank you!--she--"

A wail which rings through Eustace's ears, and brain, and heart! Hewould have torn at the door to open it; but his companion forces himaway. Another, and another wail, while the wretched man hurries off, stopping his ears in vain against those piercing cries, which followhim, like avenging angels, through the dreadful vaults. 

He escaped into the fragrant open air, and the golden tropic moonlight, and a garden which might have served as a model for Eden; but man's hellfollowed into God's heaven, and still those wails seemed to ring throughhis ears. 

"Oh, misery, misery, misery!" murmured he to himself through grindingteeth; "and I have brought her to this! I have had to bring her to it!What else could I? Who dare blame me? And yet what devilish sin can Ihave committed, that requires to be punished thus? Was there no one tobe found but me? No one? And yet it may save her soul. It may bring herto repentance!"

"It may, indeed; for she is delicate, and cannot endure much. Youought to know as well as I, senor, the merciful disposition of the HolyOffice. "

"I know it, I know it, " interrupted poor Eustace, trembling now forhimself. "All in love--all in love. --A paternal chastisement--"

"And the proofs of heresy are patent, beside the strong suspicionof enchantment, and the known character of the elder sorceress. You yourself, you must remember, senor, told us that she had been anotorious witch in England, before the senora brought her hither as herattendant. "

"Of course she was; of course. Yes; there was no other course open. Andthough the flesh may be weak, sir, in my case, yet none can have provedbetter to the Holy Office how willing is the spirit!"

And so Eustace departed; and ere another sun had set, he had gone to theprincipal of the Jesuits; told him his whole heart, or as much of it, poor wretch, as he dare tell to himself; and entreated to be allowed tofinish his novitiate, and enter the order, on the understanding that hewas to be sent at once back to Europe, or anywhere else; "Otherwise, "as he said frankly, "he should go mad, even if he were not mad already. "The Jesuit, who was a kindly man enough, went to the Holy Office, andsettled all with the Inquisitors, recounting to them, to set him aboveall suspicion, Eustace's past valiant services to the Church. Histestimony was no longer needed; he left Cartagena for Nombre that verynight, and sailed the next week I know not whither. 

I say, I know not whither. Eustace Leigh vanishes henceforth from thesepages. He may have ended as General of his Order. He may have worn outhis years in some tropic forest, "conquering the souls" (including, ofcourse, the bodies) of Indians; he may have gone back to his old workin England, and been the very Ballard who was hanged and quartered threeyears afterwards for his share in Babington's villainous conspiracy:I know not. This book is a history of men, --of men's virtues and sins, victories and defeats; and Eustace is a man no longer: he is become athing, a tool, a Jesuit; which goes only where it is sent, and does goodor evil indifferently as it is bid; which, by an act of moral suicide, has lost its soul, in the hope of saving it; without a will, aconscience, a responsibility (as it fancies), to God or man, but only to"The Society. " In a word, Eustace, as he says himself, is "dead. " Twicedead, I fear. Let the dead bury their dead. We have no more concern withEustace Leigh. 

CHAPTER XXIII

THE BANKS OF THE META

 "My mariners, Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me--Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with gods!"

 TENNYSON'S Ulysses. 

Nearly three years are past and gone since that little band had kneltat evensong beneath the giant tree of Guayra--years of seeming blank, through which they are to be tracked only by scattered notes andmis-spelt names. Through untrodden hills and forests, over a space ofsome eight hundred miles in length by four hundred in breadth, they hadbeen seeking for the Golden City, and they had sought in vain. They hadsought it along the wooded banks of the Orinoco, and beyond the roaringfoam-world of Maypures, and on the upper waters of the mighty Amazon. They had gone up the streams even into Peru itself, and had trodden thecinchona groves of Loxa, ignorant, as all the world was then, of theirhealing virtues. They had seen the virgin snows of Chimborazo toweringwhite above the thundercloud, and the giant cone of Cotopaxi blackeningin its sullen wrath, before the fiery streams rolled down its sides. Foiled in their search at the back of the Andes, they had turnedeastward once more, and plunged from the alpine cliffs into "the greenand misty ocean of the Montana. " Slowly and painfully they had workedtheir way northward again, along the eastern foot of the inlandCordillera, and now they were bivouacking, as it seems, upon one of themany feeders of the Meta, which flow down from the Suma Paz into theforest-covered plains. There they sat, their watch-fires glitteringon the stream, beneath the shadow of enormous trees, Amyas and Cary, Brimblecombe, Yeo, and the Indian lad, who has followed them in alltheir wanderings, alive and well: but as far as ever from Manoa, andits fairy lake, and golden palaces, and all the wonders of the Indian'stale. Again and again in their wanderings they had heard faint rumors ofits existence, and started off in some fresh direction, to meet only afresh disappointment, and hope deferred, which maketh sick the heart. 

There they sit at last--four-and-forty men out of the eighty-four wholeft the tree of Guayra:--where are the rest?

 "Their bones are scatter'd far and wide, By mount, by stream, and sea. "

Drew, the master, lies on the banks of the Rio Negro, and five bravefellows by him, slain in fight by the poisoned arrows of the Indians, ina vain attempt to penetrate the mountain-gorges of the Parima. Two morelie amid the valleys of the Andes, frozen to death by the fierce slatyhail which sweeps down from the condor's eyrie; four more were drownedat one of the rapids of the Orinoco; five or six more wounded men areleft behind at another rapid among friendly Indians, to be recoveredwhen they can be: perhaps never. Fever, snakes, jaguars, alligators, cannibal fish, electric eels, have thinned their ranks month by month, and of their march through the primeval wilderness no track remains, except those lonely graves. 

And there the survivors sit, beside the silent stream, beneath thetropic moon; sun-dried and lean, but strong and bold as ever, with thequiet fire of English courage burning undimmed in every eye, and thegenial smile of English mirth fresh on every lip; making a jest ofdanger and a sport of toil, as cheerily as when they sailed over the barof Bideford, in days which seem to belong to some antenatal life. Theirbeards have grown down upon their breasts; their long hair is knottedon their heads, like women's, to keep off the burning sunshine; theirleggings are of the skin of the delicate Guazu-puti deer; their shirtsare patched with Indian cotton web; the spoils of jaguar, puma, and apehang from their shoulders. Their ammunition is long since spent, theirmuskets, spoilt by the perpetual vapor-bath of the steaming woods, areleft behind as useless in a cave by some cataract of the Orinoco: buttheir swords are bright and terrible as ever; and they carry bows ofa strength which no Indian arm can bend, and arrows pointed with theremnants of their armor; many of them, too, are armed with the pocunaor blowgun of the Indians--more deadly, because more silent, than thefirearms which they have left behind them. So they have wandered, and sothey will wander still, the lords of the forest and its beasts; terribleto all hostile Indians, but kindly, just, and generous to all who willdeal faithfully with them; and many a smooth-chinned Carib andAture, Solimo and Guahiba, recounts with wonder and admiration therighteousness of the bearded heroes, who proclaimed themselves thedeadly foes of the faithless and murderous Spaniard, and spoke to themof the great and good queen beyond the seas, who would send her warriorsto deliver and avenge the oppressed Indian. 

The men are sleeping among the trees, some on the ground, and some ingrass-hammocks slung between the stems. All is silent, save the heavyplunge of the tapir in the river, as he tears up the water-weeds forhis night's repast. Sometimes, indeed, the jaguar, as he climbs from onetree-top to another after his prey, wakens the monkeys clustered on theboughs, and they again arouse the birds, and ten minutes of unearthlyroars, howls, shrieks, and cacklings make the forest ring as if allpandemonium had broke loose; but that soon dies away again; and, evenwhile it lasts, it is too common a matter to awaken the sleepers, much less to interrupt the council of war which is going on besidethe watch-fire, between the three adventurers and the faithful Yeo. Ahundred times have they held such a council, and in vain; and, for aughtthey know, this one will be as fruitless as those which have gone beforeit. Nevertheless, it is a more solemn one than usual; for the two yearsduring which they had agreed to search for Manoa are long past, and somenew place must be determined on, unless they intend to spend the rest oftheir lives in that green wilderness. 

"Well, " says Will Cary, taking his cigar out of his mouth, "at least wehave got something out of those last Indians. It is a comfort to have apuff at tobacco once more, after three weeks' fasting. "

"For me, " said Jack Brimblecombe, "Heaven forgive me! but when I get themagical leaf between my teeth again, I feel tempted to sit as still as achimney, and smoke till my dying day, without stirring hand or foot. "

"Then I shall forbid you tobacco, Master Parson, " said Amyas; "for wemust be up and away again to-morrow. We have been idling here threemortal days, and nothing done. "

"Shall we ever do anything? I think the gold of Manoa is like the goldwhich lies where the rainbow touches the ground, always a field beyondyou. "

Amyas was silent awhile, and so were the rest. There was no denying thattheir hopes were all but gone. In the immense circuit which they hadmade, they had met with nothing but disappointment. 

"There is but one more chance, " said he at length, "and that is, themountains to the east of the Orinoco, where we failed the first time. The Incas may have moved on to them when they escaped. "

"Why not?" said Cary; "they would so put all the forests, beside theLlanos and half-a-dozen great rivers, between them and those dogs ofSpaniards. "

"Shall we try it once more?" said Amyas. "This river ought to runinto the Orinoco; and once there, we are again at the very foot of themountains. What say you, Yeo?"

"I cannot but mind, your worship, that when we came up the Orinoco, the Indians told us terrible stories of those mountains, how far theystretched, and how difficult they were to cross, by reason of the cliffsaloft, and the thick forests in the valleys. And have we not lost fivegood men there already?"

"What care we? No forests can be thicker than those we have boredthrough already; why, if one had had but a tail, like a monkey, foran extra warp, one might have gone a hundred miles on end along thetree-tops, and found it far pleasanter walking than tripping in withes, and being eaten up with creeping things, from morn till night. "

"But remember, too, " said Jack, "how they told us to beware of theAmazons. "

"What, Jack, afraid of a parcel of women?"

"Why not?" said Jack, "I wouldn't run from a man, as you know; but awoman--it's not natural, like. They must be witches or devils. See howthe Caribs feared them. And there were men there without necks, and withtheir eyes in their breasts, they said. Now how could a Christian tacklesuch customers as them?"

"He couldn't cut off their heads, that's certain; but, I suppose, a pokein the ribs will do as much for them as for their neighbors. "

"Well, " said Jack, "if I fight, let me fight honest flesh and blood, that's all, and none of these outlandish monsters. How do you know butthat they are invulnerable by art-magic?"

"How do you know that they are? And as for the Amazons, " said Cary, "woman's woman, all the world over. I'll bet that you may wheedle themround with a compliment or two, just as if they were so many burghers'wives. Pity I have not a court-suit and a Spanish hat. I would havetaken an orange in one hand and a handkerchief in the other, gone allalone to them as ambassador, and been in a week as great with QueenBlackfacealinda as ever Raleigh is at Whitehall. "

"Gentlemen!" said Yeo, "where you go, I go; and not only I, but everyman of us, I doubt not; but we have lost now half our company, and spentour ammunition, so we are no better men, were it not for our swords, than these naked heathens round us. Now it was, as you all know, by thewonder and noise of their ordnance (let alone their horses, which is abreak-neck beast I put no faith in) that both Cortez and Pizarro, thoseimps of Satan, made their golden conquests, with which if we could haveastounded the people of Manoa--"

"Having first found the said people, " laughed Amyas. "It is like theold fable. Every craftsman thinks his own trade the one pillar of thecommonweal. "

"Well! your worship, " quoth Yeo, "it may be that being a gunner Ioverprize guns. But it don't need slate and pencil to do this sum--Areforty men without shot as good as eighty with?"

"Thou art right, old fellow, right enough, and I was only jesting forvery sorrow, and must needs laugh about it lest I weep about it. Ourchance is over, I believe, though I dare not confess as much to themen. "

"Sir, " said Yeo, "I have a feeling on me that the Lord's hand is againstus in this matter. Whether He means to keep this wealth for worthier menthan us, or whether it is His will to hide this great city in the secretplace of His presence from the strife of tongues, and so to spare themfrom sinful man's covetousness, and England from that sin and luxurywhich I have seen gold beget among the Spaniards, I know not, sir; forwho knoweth the counsels of the Lord? But I have long had a voice withinwhich saith, 'Salvation Yeo, thou shalt never behold the Golden Citywhich is on earth, where heathens worship sun and moon and the hosts ofheaven; be content, therefore, to see that Golden City which is above, where is neither sun nor moon, but the Lord God and the Lamb are thelight thereof. "

There was a simple majesty about old Yeo when he broke forth inutterances like these, which made his comrades, and even Amyas and Cary, look on him as Mussulmans look on madmen, as possessed of mysteriousknowledge and flashes of inspiration; and Brimblecombe, whose pious soullooked up to the old hero with a reverence which had overcome all hisChurchman's prejudices against Anabaptists, answered gently, --

"Amen! amen! my masters all: and it has been on my mind, too, this longtime, that there is a providence against our going east; for see howthis two years past, whenever we have pushed eastward, we have falleninto trouble, and lost good men; and whenever we went Westward-ho, wehave prospered; and do prosper to this day. "

"And what is more, gentlemen, " said Yeo, "if, as Scripture says, dreamsare from the Lord, I verily believe mine last night came from Him; foras I lay by the fire, sirs, I heard my little maid's voice calling ofme, as plain as ever I heard in my life; and the very same words, sirs, which she learned from me and my good comrade William Penberthy to say, 'Westward-ho! jolly mariners all!' a bit of an ungodly song, my masters, which we sang in our wild days; but she stood and called it as plain asever mortal ears heard, and called again till I answered, 'Coming! mymaid, coming!' and after that the dear chuck called no more--God grant Ifind her yet!--and so I woke. "

Cary had long since given up laughing at Yeo about the "little maid;"and Amyas answered, --

"So let it be, Yeo, if the rest agree: but what shall we do to thewestward?"

"Do?" said Cary; "there's plenty to do; for there's plenty of gold, and plenty of Spaniards, too, they say, on the other side of thesemountains: so that our swords will not rust for lack of adventures, mygay knights-errant all. "

So they chatted on; and before night was half through a plan wasmatured, desperate enough--but what cared those brave hearts for that?They would cross the Cordillera to Santa Fe de Bogota, of the wealthwhereof both Yeo and Amyas had often heard in the Pacific: try to seizeeither the town or some convoy of gold going from it; make for thenearest river (there was said to be a large one which ran northwardthence), build canoes, and try to reach the Northern Sea once more; andthen, if Heaven prospered them, they might seize a Spanish ship, andmake their way home to England, not, indeed, with the wealth of Manoa, but with a fair booty of Spanish gold. This was their new dream. It wasa wild one: but hardly more wild than the one which Drake had fulfilled, and not as wild as the one which Oxenham might have fulfilled, but forhis own fatal folly. 

Amyas sat watching late that night, sad of heart. To give up thecherished dream of years was hard; to face his mother, harder still: butit must be done, for the men's sake. So the new plan was proposed nextday, and accepted joyfully. They would go up to the mountains and restawhile; if possible, bring up the wounded whom they had left behind; andthen, try a new venture, with new hopes, perhaps new dangers; they wereinured to the latter. 

They started next morning cheerfully enough, and for three hours or morepaddled easily up the glassy and windless reaches, between two greenflower-bespangled walls of forest, gay with innumerable birds andinsects; while down from the branches which overhung the stream longtrailers hung to the water's edge, and seemed admiring in the clearmirror the images of their own gorgeous flowers. River, trees, flowers, birds, insects, --it was all a fairy-land: but it was a colossal one; andyet the voyagers took little note of it. It was now to them an everydayoccurrence, to see trees full two hundred feet high one mass of yellowor purple blossom to the highest twigs, and every branch and stem onehanging garden of crimson and orange orchids or vanillas. Common to themwere all the fantastic and enormous shapes with which Nature bedecks herrobes beneath the fierce suns and fattening rains of the tropic forest. Common were forms and colors of bird, and fish, and butterfly, morestrange and bright than ever opium-eater dreamed. The long processionsof monkeys, who kept pace with them along the tree-tops, and proclaimedtheir wonder in every imaginable whistle, and grunt, and howl, hadceased to move their laughter, as much as the roar of the jaguar and therustle of the boa had ceased to move their fear; and when a brilliantgreen and rose-colored fish, flat-bodied like a bream, flab-finned likea salmon, and saw-toothed like a shark, leapt clean on board of thecanoe to escape the rush of the huge alligator (whose loathsome snout, ere he could stop, actually rattled against the canoe within a foot ofJack Brimblecombe's hand), Jack, instead of turning pale, as he had doneat the sharks upon a certain memorable occasion, coolly picked up thefish, and said, "He's four pound weight! If you can catch 'pirai' forus like that, old fellow, just keep in our wake, and we'll give you thecleanings for wages. "

Yes. The mind of man is not so "infinite, " in the vulgar sense of thatword, as people fancy; and however greedy the appetite for wonder maybe, while it remains unsatisfied in everyday European life, it is aseasily satiated as any other appetite, and then leaves the senses ofits possessor as dull as those of a city gourmand after a lord mayor'sfeast. Only the highest minds--our Humboldts, and Bonplands, andSchomburgks (and they only when quickened to an almost unhealthyactivity by civilization)--can go on long appreciating where Nature isinsatiable, imperious, maddening, in her demands on our admiration. Thevery power of observing wears out under the rush of ever new objects;and the dizzy spectator is fain at last to shut the eyes of his soul, and take refuge (as West Indian Spaniards do) in tobacco and stupidity. The man, too, who has not only eyes but utterance, --what shall he dowhere all words fail him? Superlatives are but inarticulate, after all, and give no pictures even of size any more than do numbers of feet andyards: and yet what else can we do, but heap superlative on superlative, and cry, "Wonderful, wonderful!" and after that, "wonderful, past allwhooping"? What Humboldt's self cannot paint, we will not try to daub. The voyagers were in a South American forest, readers. Fill up themeaning of those words, each as your knowledge enables you, for I cannotdo it for you. 

Certainly those adventurers could not. The absence of any attempt atword-painting, even of admiration at the glorious things which they saw, is most remarkable in all early voyagers, both Spanish and English. Theonly two exceptions which I recollect are Columbus--(but then all wasnew, and he was bound to tell what he had seen)--and Raleigh; the twomost gifted men, perhaps, with the exception of Humboldt, who ever setfoot in tropical America; but even they dare nothing but a few feeblehints in passing. Their souls had been dazzled and stunned by a greatglory. Coming out of our European Nature into that tropic one, they hadfelt like Plato's men, bred in the twilight cavern, and then suddenlyturned round to the broad blaze of day; they had seen things awful andunspeakable: why talk of them, except to say with the Turks, "God isgreat!"

So it was with these men. Among the higher-hearted of them, the grandeurand the glory around had attuned their spirits to itself, and kept up inthem a lofty, heroical, reverent frame of mind; but they knew as littleabout the trees and animals in an "artistic" or "critical" pointof view, as in a scientific one. This tree the Indians called oneunpronounceable name, and it made good bows; that, some other name, andit made good canoes; of that, you could eat the fruit; that produced thecaoutchouc gum, useful for a hundred matters; that was what the Indians(and they likewise) used to poison their arrows with; from the ashes ofthose palm-nuts you could make good salt; that tree, again, was full ofgood milk if you bored the stem: they drank it, and gave God thanks, andwere not astonished. God was great: but that they had discovered longbefore they came into the tropics. Noble old child-hearted heroes, withjust romance and superstition enough about them to keep them from thatprurient hysterical wonder and enthusiasm, which is simply, one oftenfears, a product of our scepticism! We do not trust enough in God, we donot really believe His power enough, to be ready, as they were, as everyone ought to be on a God-made earth, for anything and everything beingpossible; and then, when a wonder is discovered, we go into ecstasiesand shrieks over it, and take to ourselves credit for being susceptibleof so lofty a feeling, true index, forsooth, of a refined and cultivatedmind. 

They paddled onward hour after hour, sheltering themselves as best theycould under the shadow of the southern bank, while on their right handthe full sun-glare lay upon the enormous wall of mimosas, figs, andlaurels, which formed the northern forest, broken by the slender shaftsof bamboo tufts, and decked with a thousand gaudy parasites; bank uponbank of gorgeous bloom piled upward to the sky, till where its outlinecut the blue, flowers and leaves, too lofty to be distinguished by theeye, formed a broken rainbow of all hues quivering in the ascendingstreams of azure mist, until they seemed to melt and mingle with thevery heavens. 

And as the sun rose higher and higher, a great stillness fell upon theforest. The jaguars and the monkeys had hidden themselves in the darkestdepths of the woods. The birds' notes died out one by one; the verybutterflies ceased their flitting over the tree-tops, and slept withoutspread wings upon the glossy leaves, undistinguishable from theflowers around them. Now and then a colibri whirred downward towardthe water, hummed for a moment around some pendent flower, and thenthe living gem was lost in the deep blackness of the inner wood, amongtree-trunks as huge and dark as the pillars of some Hindoo shrine; ora parrot swung and screamed at them from an overhanging bough; or athirsty monkey slid lazily down a liana to the surface of the stream, dipped up the water in his tiny hand, and started chattering back, ashis eyes met those of some foul alligator peering upward through theclear depths below. In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, the capybaras, rabbits as large as sheep, went paddling sleepily round and round, thrusting up their unwieldy heads among the blooms of the bluewater-lilies; while black and purple water-hens ran up and down upon therafts of floating leaves. The shining snout of a freshwater dolphin roseslowly to the surface; a jet of spray whirred up; a rainbow hung uponit for a moment; and the black snout sank lazily again. Here and there, too, upon some shallow pebbly shore, scarlet flamingoes stood dreamingknee-deep, on one leg; crested cranes pranced up and down, admiringtheir own finery; and ibises and egrets dipped their bills under waterin search of prey: but before noon even those had slipped away, andthere reigned a stillness which might be heard--such a stillness (tocompare small things with great) as broods beneath the rich shadows ofAmyas's own Devon woods, or among the lonely sweeps of Exmoor, when theheather is in flower--a stillness in which, as Humboldt says, "If beyondthe silence we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled, continuous hum of insects, which crowd the air close to the earth; aconfused swarming murmur which hangs round every bush, in the crackedbark of trees, in the soil undermined by lizards, millepedes, andbees; a voice proclaiming to us that all Nature breathes, that under athousand different forms life swarms in the gaping and dusty earth, asmuch as in the bosom of the waters, and the air which breathes around. "

At last a soft and distant murmur, increasing gradually to a heavy roar, announced that they were nearing some cataract; till turning a point, where the deep alluvial soil rose into a low cliff fringed with delicateferns, they came full in sight of a scene at which all paused: not withastonishment, but with something very like disgust. 

"Rapids again!" grumbled one. "I thought we had had enough of them onthe Orinoco. "

"We shall have to get out, and draw the canoes overland, I suppose. Three hours will be lost, and in the very hottest of the day, too. "

"There's worse behind; don't you see the spray behind the palms?"

"Stop grumbling, my masters, and don't cry out before you are hurt. Paddle right up to the largest of those islands, and let us look aboutus. "

In front of them was a snow-white bar of raging foam, some ten feethigh, along which were ranged three or four islands of black rock. Eachwas crested with a knot of lofty palms, whose green tops stood out clearagainst the bright sky, while the lower half of their stems loomed hazythrough a luminous veil of rainbowed mist. The banks right and leftof the fall were so densely fringed with a low hedge of shrubs, thatlanding seemed all but impossible; and their Indian guide, suddenlylooking round him and whispering, bade them beware of savages; andpointed to a canoe which lay swinging in the eddies under the largestisland, moored apparently to the root of some tree. 

"Silence all!" cried Amyas, "and paddle up thither and seize the canoe. If there be an Indian on the island, we will have speech of him: butmind and treat him friendly; and on your lives, neither strike norshoot, even if he offers to fight. "

So, choosing a line of smooth backwater just in the wake of the island, they drove their canoes up by main force, and fastened them safelyby the side of the Indian's, while Amyas, always the foremost, sprangboldly on shore, whispering to the Indian boy to follow him. 

Once on the island, Amyas felt sure enough, that if its wild tenant hadnot seen them approach, he certainly had not heard them, so deafeningwas the noise which filled his brain, and seemed to make the very leavesupon the bushes quiver, and the solid stone beneath his feet to reel andring. For two hundred yards and more above the fall nothing met his eyebut one white waste of raging foam, with here and there a transversedyke of rock, which hurled columns of spray and surges of beaded waterhigh into the air, --strangely contrasting with the still and silentcliffs of green leaves which walled the river right and left, and morestrangely still with the knots of enormous palms upon the islets, whichreared their polished shafts a hundred feet into the air, straight andupright as masts, while their broad plumes and golden-clustered fruitslept in the sunshine far aloft, the image of the stateliest repose amidthe wildest wrath of Nature. 

He looked round anxiously for the expected Indian; but he was nowhere tobe seen; and, in the meanwhile, as he stept cautiously along the island, which was some fifty yards in length and breadth, his senses, accustomedas they were to such sights, could not help dwelling on the exquisitebeauty of the scene; on the garden of gay flowers, of every imaginableform and hue, which fringed every boulder at his feet, peeping out amiddelicate fern-fans and luxuriant cushions of moss; on the chequeredshade of the palms, and the cool air, which wafted down from thecataracts above the scents of a thousand flowers. Gradually his earbecame accustomed to the roar, and, above its mighty undertone, he couldhear the whisper of the wind among the shrubs, and the hum of myriadinsects; while the rock manakin, with its saffron plumage, flittedbefore him from stone to stone, calling cheerily, and seeming to leadhim on. Suddenly, scrambling over the rocky flower-beds to the otherside of the isle, he came upon a little shady beach, which, beneath abank of stone some six feet high, fringed the edge of a perfectly stilland glassy bay. Ten yards farther, the cataract fell sheer in thunder:but a high fern-fringed rock turned its force away from that quiet nook. In it the water swung slowly round and round in glassy dark-green rings, among which dimpled a hundred gaudy fish, waiting for every fly and wormwhich spun and quivered on the eddy. Here, if anywhere, was the place tofind the owner of the canoe. He leapt down upon the pebbles; and as hedid so, a figure rose from behind a neighboring rock, and met him faceto face. 

It was an Indian girl; and yet, when he looked again, --was it an Indiangirl? Amyas had seen hundreds of those delicate dark-skinned daughtersof the forest, but never such a one as this. Her stature was taller, her limbs were fuller and more rounded; her complexion, though tanned bylight, was fairer by far than his own sunburnt face; her hair, crownedwith a garland of white flowers, was not lank, and straight, and black, like an Indian's, but of a rich, glossy brown, and curling richly andcrisply from her very temples to her knees. Her forehead, though low, was upright and ample; her nose was straight and small; her lips, thelips of a European; her whole face of the highest and richest type ofSpanish beauty; a collar of gold mingled with green beads hung round herneck, and golden bracelets were on her wrists. All the strange and dimlegends of white Indians, and of nations of a higher race than Carib, orArrowak, or Solimo, which Amyas had ever heard, rose up in his memory. She must be the daughter of some great cacique, perhaps of the lostIncas themselves--why not? And full of simple wonder, he gazed uponthat fairy vision, while she, unabashed in her free innocence, gazedfearlessly in return, as Eve might have done in Paradise, upon themighty stature, and the strange garments, and above all, on the bushybeard and flowing yellow locks of the Englishman. 

He spoke first, in some Indian tongue, gently and smilingly, and madea half-step forward; but quick as light she caught up from the ground abow, and held it fiercely toward him, fitted with the long arrow, with which, as he could see, she had been striking fish, for a line oftwisted grass hung from its barbed head. Amyas stopped, laid down hisown bow and sword, and made another step in advance, smiling still, and making all Indian signs of amity: but the arrow was still pointedstraight at his breast, and he knew the mettle and strength of theforest nymphs well enough to stand still and call for the Indian boy;too proud to retreat, but in the uncomfortable expectation of feelingevery moment the shaft quivering between his ribs. 

The boy, who had been peering from above, leaped down to them in amoment; and began, as the safest method, grovelling on his nose upon thepebbles, while he tried two or three dialects; one of which at last sheseemed to understand, and answered in a tone of evident suspicion andanger. 

"What does she say?"

"That you are a Spaniard and a robber, because you have a beard. "

"Tell her that we are no Spaniards, but that we hate them; and are comeacross the great waters to help the Indians to kill them. "

The boy translated his speech. The nymph answered by a contemptuousshake of the head. 

"Tell her, that if she will send her tribe to us, we will do them noharm. We are going over the mountains to fight the Spaniards, and wewant them to show us the way. "

The boy had no sooner spoken, than, nimble as a deer, the nymph hadsprung up the rocks, and darted between the palm-stems to her canoe. Suddenly she caught sight of the English boat, and stopped with a cry offear and rage. 

"Let her pass!" shouted Amyas, who had followed her close. "Push yourboat off, and let her pass. Boy, tell her to go on; they will not comenear her. "

But she hesitated still, and with arrow drawn to the head, faced firston the boat's crew, and then on Amyas, till the Englishmen had shovedoff full twenty yards. 

Then, leaping into her tiny piragua, she darted into the wildest whirlof the eddies, shooting along with vigorous strokes, while the Englishtrembled as they saw the frail bark spinning and leaping amid themuzzles of the alligators, and the huge dog-toothed trout: but with theswiftness of an arrow she reached the northern bank, drove her canoeamong the bushes, and leaping from it, darted through some narrowopening in the bush, and vanished like a dream. 

"What fair virago have you unearthed?" cried Cary, as they toiled upagain to the landing-place. 

"Beshrew me, " quoth Jack, "but we are in the very land of the nymphs, and I shall expect to see Diana herself next, with the moon on herforehead. "

"Take care, then, where you wander hereabouts, Sir John: lest you end asActaeon did, by turning into a stag, and being eaten by a jaguar. "

"Actaeon was eaten by his own hounds, Mr. Cary, so the parallel don'thold. But surely she was a very wonder of beauty!"

Why was it that Amyas did not like this harmless talk? There had comeover him the strangest new feeling; as if that fair vision was hisproperty, and the men had no right to talk about her, no right to haveeven seen her. And he spoke quite surlily as he said--

"You may leave the women to themselves, my masters; you'll have to dealwith the men ere long: so get your canoes up on the rock, and keep goodwatch. "

"Hillo!" shouted one in a few minutes, "here's fresh fish enough to feedus all round. I suppose that young cat-a-mountain left it behind herin her hurry. I wish she had left her golden chains and ouches into thebargain. "

"Well, " said another, "we'll take it as fair payment, for having madeus drop down the current again to let her ladyship pass. "

"Leave that fish alone, " said Amyas; "it is none of yours. "

"Why, sir!" quoth the finder in a tone of sulky deprecation. 

"If we are to make good friends with the heathens, we had better notbegin by stealing their goods. There are plenty more fish in the river;go and catch them, and let the Indians have their own. "

The men were accustomed enough to strict and stern justice in theirdealings with the savages: but they could not help looking slyly ateach other, and hinting, when out of sight, that the captain seemed in amighty fuss about his new acquaintance. 

However, they were expert by this time in all the Indian's fishingmethods; and so abundant was the animal life which swarmed around everyrock, that in an hour fish enough lay on the beach to feed them all;whose forms and colors, names and families, I must leave the reader toguess from the wondrous pages of Sir Richard Schomburgk, for I know toolittle of them to speak without the fear of making mistakes. 

A full hour passed before they saw anything more of their Indianneighbors; and then from under the bushes shot out a canoe, on which alleyes were fixed in expectation. 

Amyas, who expected to find there some remnant of a higher race, wasdisappointed enough at seeing on board only the usual half-dozen oflow-browed, dirty Orsons, painted red with arnotto: but a gray-headedelder at the stern seemed, by his feathers and gold ornaments, to besome man of note in the little woodland community. 

The canoe came close up to the island; Amyas saw that they were unarmed, and, laying down his weapons, advanced alone to the bank, making allsigns of amity. They were returned with interest by the old man, andAmyas's next care was to bring forward the fish which the fair nymphhad left behind, and, through the medium of the Indian lad, to give thecacique (for so he seemed to be) to understand that he wished to renderevery one his own. This offer was received, as Amyas expected, withgreat applause, and the canoe came alongside; but the crew still seemedafraid to land. Amyas bade his men throw the fish one by one into theboat; and then proclaimed by the boy's mouth, as was his custom with allIndians, that he and his were enemies of the Spaniards, and on theirway to make war against them, --and that all which they desired was apeaceable and safe passage through the dominions of the mighty potentateand renowned warrior whom they beheld before them; for Amyas arguedrightly enough, that even if the old fellow aft was not the cacique, hewould be none the less pleased at being mistaken for him. 

Whereon the ancient worthy, rising in the canoe, pointed to heaven, earth, and the things under, and commenced a long sermon, in tone, manner, and articulation, very like one of those which the greatblack-bearded apes were in the habit of preaching every evening whenthey could get together a congregation of little monkeys to listen, tothe great scandal of Jack, who would have it that some evil spirit setthem on to mimic him; which sermon, being partly interpreted by theIndian lad, seemed to signify, that the valor and justice of the whitemen had already reached the ears of the speaker, and that he was sent towelcome them into those regions by the Daughter of the Sun. 

"The Daughter of the Sun!" quoth Amyas; "then we have found the lostIncas after all. "

"We have found something, " said Cary; "I only hope it may not be amare's nest, like many another of our finding. "

"Or an adder's, " said Yeo. "We must beware of treachery. "

"We must beware of no such thing, " said Amyas, pretty sharply. "Have Inot told you fifty times, that if they see that we trust them, they willtrust us, and if they see that we suspect them, they will suspect us?And when two parties are watching to see who strikes the first blow, they are sure to come to fisticuffs from mere dirty fear of each other. "

Amyas spoke truth; for almost every atrocity against savages which hadbeen committed by the Spaniards, and which was in later and worse timescommitted by the English, was wont to be excused in that same base fearof treachery. Amyas's plan, like that of Drake, and Cook, and allgreat English voyagers, had been all along to inspire at once aweand confidence, by a frank and fearless carriage; and he was notdisappointed here. He bade the men step boldly into their canoes, andfollow the old Indian whither he would. The simple children of theforest bowed themselves reverently before the mighty strangers, and thenled them smilingly across the stream, and through a narrow passage inthe covert, to a hidden lagoon, on the banks of which stood, not Manoa, but a tiny Indian village. 

CHAPTER XXIV

HOW AMYAS WAS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL

 "Let us alone. What pleasure can we have To war with evil? Is there any peace In always climbing up the climbing wave? All things have rest, and ripen toward the grave In silence; ripen, fall, and cease: Give us long rest or death, dark death, or dreamful ease. "

 TENNYSON. 

Humboldt has somewhere a curious passage; in which, looking on somewretched group of Indians, squatting stupidly round their fires, besmeared with grease and paint, and devouring ants and clay, hesomewhat naively remarks, that were it not for science, which teachesus that such is the crude material of humanity, and this the state fromwhich we all have risen, he should have been tempted rather to look uponthose hapless beings as the last degraded remnants of some fallen anddying race. One wishes that the great traveller had been bold enoughto yield to that temptation, which his own reason and common sensepresented to him as the real explanation of the sad sight, insteadof following the dogmas of a so-called science, which has not a factwhereon to base its wild notion, and must ignore a thousand facts inasserting it. His own good sense, it seems, coincided instinctively withthe Bible doctrine, that man in a state of nature is a fallen being, doomed to death--a view which may be a sad one, but still one morehonorable to poor humanity than the theory, that we all began as somesort of two-handed apes. It is surely more hopeful to believe that thosepoor Otomacs or Guahibas were not what they ought to be, than to believethat they were. It is certainly more complimentary to them to think thatthey had been somewhat nobler and more prudent in centuries gone by, than that they were such blockheads as to have dragged on, the son afterthe father, for all the thousands of years which have elapsed since manwas made, without having had wit enough to discover any better food thanants and clay. 

Our voyagers, however, like those of their time, troubled their headswith no such questions. Taking the Bible story as they found it, theyagreed with Humboldt's reason, and not with his science; or, to speakcorrectly, agreed with Humboldt's self, and not with the shallowanthropologic theories which happened to be in vogue fifty years ago;and their new hosts were in their eyes immortal souls like themselves, "captivated by the devil at his will, " lost there in the pathlessforests, likely to be lost hereafter. 

And certainly facts seemed to bear out their old-fashioned theories;although these Indians had sunk by no means so low as the Guahibas whomthey had met upon the lower waters of the same river. 

They beheld, on landing, a scattered village of palm-leaf sheds, underwhich, as usual, the hammocks were slung from tree to tree. Hereand there, in openings in the forest, patches of cassava and indigoappeared; and there was a look of neatness and comfort about the littlesettlement superior to the average. 

But now for the signs of the evil spirit. Certainly it was no goodspirit who had inspired them with the art of music; or else (as Carysaid) Apollo and Mercury (if they ever visited America) had played theirforefathers a shabby trick, and put them off with very poor instruments, and still poorer taste. For on either side of the landing-place werearranged four or five stout fellows, each with a tall drum, or longearthen trumpet, swelling out in the course of its length into severalhollow balls from which arose, the moment the strangers set foot onshore, so deafening a cacophony of howls, and groans, and thumps, asfully to justify Yeo's remark, "They are calling upon their devil, sir. "To which Cary answered, with some show of reason, that "they were theless likely to be disappointed, for none but Sir Urian would ever cometo listen to such a noise. "

"And you mark, sirs, " said Yeo, "there's some feast or sacrifice toward. I'm not overconfident of them yet. "

"Nonsense!" said Amyas, "we could kill every soul of them inhalf-an-hour, and they know that as well as we. "

But some great demonstration was plainly toward; for the children of theforest were arrayed in two lines, right and left of the open space, themen in front, and the women behind; and all bedizened, to the best oftheir power, with arnotto, indigo, and feathers. 

Next, with a hideous yell, leapt into the centre of the space apersonage who certainly could not have complained if any one had takenhim for the devil, for he had dressed himself up carefully for that veryintent, in a jaguar-skin with a long tail, grinning teeth, a pair ofhorns, a plume of black and yellow feathers, and a huge rattle. 

"Here's the Piache, the rascal, " says Amyas. 

"Ay, " says Yeo, "in Satan's livery, and I've no doubt his works areaccording, trust him for it. "

"Don't be frightened, Jack, " says Cary, backing up Brimblecombe frombehind. "It's your business to tackle him, you know. At him boldly, andhe'll run. "

Whereat all the men laughed; and the Piache, who had intended to producea very solemn impression, hung fire a little. However, being accustomedto get his bread by his impudence, he soon recovered himself, advanced, smote one of the musicians over the head with his rattle to procuresilence; and then began a harangue, to which Amyas listened patiently, cigar in mouth. 

"What's it all about, boy?"

"He wants to know whether you have seen Amalivaca on the other shore ofthe great water?"

Amyas was accustomed to this inquiry after the mythic civilizer ofthe forest Indians, who, after carving the mysterious sculptures whichappear upon so many inland cliffs of that region, returned again whencehe came, beyond the ocean. He answered, as usual, by setting forth thepraises of Queen Elizabeth. 

To which the Piache replied, that she must be one of Amalivaca's sevendaughters, some of whom he took back with him, while he broke the legsof the rest to prevent their running away, and left them to people theforests. 

To which Amyas replied, that his queen's legs were certainly not broken;for she was a very model of grace and activity, and the best dancer inall her dominions; but that it was more important to him to know whetherthe tribe would give them cassava bread, and let them stay peaceably onthat island, to rest a while before they went on to fight the clothedmen (the Spaniards), on the other side of the mountains. 

On which the Piache, after capering and turning head over heels withmuch howling, beckoned Amyas and his party to follow him; they did so, seeing that the Indians were all unarmed, and evidently in the highestgood humor. 

The Piache went toward the door of a carefully closed hut, and crawlingup to it on all-fours in most abject fashion, began whining to some onewithin. 

"Ask what he is about, boy. "

The lad asked the old cacique, who had accompanied them, and receivedfor answer, that he was consulting the Daughter of the Sun. 

"Here is our mare's nest at last, " quoth Cary, as the Piache from whinesrose to screams and gesticulations, and then to violent convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and rolling of the eyeballs, till he suddenly sankexhausted, and lay for dead. 

"As good as a stage play. "

"The devil has played his part, " says Jack; "and now by the rules of allplays Vice should come on. "

"And a very fair Vice it will be, I suspect; a right sweet Iniquity, myJack! Listen. "

And from the interior of the hut rose a low sweet song, at which allthe simple Indians bowed their heads in reverence; and the English werehushed in astonishment; for the voice was not shrill or guttural, likethat of an Indian, but round, clear, and rich, like a European's; and asit swelled and rose louder and louder, showed a compass and power whichwould have been extraordinary anywhere (and many a man of the party, as was usual in musical old England, was a good judge enough of sucha matter, and could hold his part right well in glee, and catch, androundelay, and psalm). And as it leaped, and ran, and sank again, androse once more to fall once more, all but inarticulate, yet perfect inmelody, like the voice of bird on bough, the wild wanderers were raptin new delight, and did not wonder at the Indians as they bowed theirheads, and welcomed the notes as messengers from some higher world. Atlast one triumphant burst, so shrill that all ears rang again, and thendead silence. The Piache, suddenly restored to life, jumped upright, andrecommenced preaching at Amyas. 

"Tell the howling villain to make short work of it, lad! His tune won'tdo after that last one. "

The lad, grinning, informed Amyas that the Piache signified theiracceptance as friends by the Daughter of the Sun; that her friends weretheirs, and her foes theirs. Whereon the Indians set up a scream ofdelight, and Amyas, rolling another tobacco leaf up in another strip ofplantain, answered, --

"Then let her give us some cassava, " and lighted a fresh cigar. 

Whereon the door of the hut opened, and the Indians prostratedthemselves to the earth, as there came forth the same fair apparitionwhich they had encountered upon the island, but decked now infeather-robes, and plumes of every imaginable hue. 

Slowly and stately, as one accustomed to command, she walked up toAmyas, glancing proudly round on her prostrate adorers, and pointingwith graceful arms to the trees, the gardens, and the huts, gave him tounderstand by signs (so expressive were her looks, that no words wereneeded) that all was at his service; after which, taking his hand, shelifted it gently to her forehead. 

At that sign of submission a shout of rapture rose from the crowd; andas the mysterious maiden retired again to her hut, they pressed roundthe English, caressing and admiring, pointing with equal surprise totheir swords, to their Indian bows and blow-guns, and to the trophiesof wild beasts with which they were clothed; while women hastened offto bring fruit, and flowers, and cassava, and (to Amyas's great anxiety)calabashes of intoxicating drink; and, to make a long story short, theEnglish sat down beneath the trees, and feasted merrily, while the drumsand trumpets made hideous music, and lithe young girls and lads danceduncouth dances, which so scandalized both Brimblecombe and Yeo, thatthey persuaded Amyas to beat an early retreat. He was willing enoughto get back to the island while the men were still sober; so there weremany leave-takings and promises of return on the morrow, and the partypaddled back to their island-fortress, racking their wits as to who orwhat the mysterious maid could be. 

Amyas, however, had settled in his mind that she was one of the lostInca race; perhaps a descendant of that very fair girl, wife of theInca Manco, whom Pizarro, forty years before, had, merely to torturethe fugitive king's heart, as his body was safe from the tyrant's reach, stripped, scourged, and shot to death with arrows, uncomplaining to thelast. 

They all assembled for the evening service (hardly a day had passedsince they left England on which they had not done the same); and afterit was over, they must needs sing a Psalm, and then a catch or two, erethey went to sleep; and till the moon was high in heaven, twenty mellowvoices rang out above the roar of the cataract, in many a good old tune. Once or twice they thought they heard an echo to their song: but theytook no note of it, till Cary, who had gone apart for a few minutes, returned, and whispered Amyas away. 

"The sweet Iniquity is mimicking us, lad. "

They went to the brink of the river; and there (for their ears were bythis time dead to the noise of the torrent) they could hear plainly thesame voice which had so surprised them in the hut, repeating, clearand true, snatches of the airs which they had sung. Strange and solemnenough was the effect of the men's deep voices on the island, answeredout of the dark forest by those sweet treble notes; and the two youngmen stood a long while listening and looking out across the eddies, which swirled down golden in the moonlight: but they could see nothingbeyond save the black wall of trees. After a while the voice ceased, andthe two returned to dream of Incas and nightingales. 

They visited the village again next day; and every day for a week ormore: but the maiden appeared but rarely, and when she did, kept herdistance as haughtily as a queen. 

Amyas, of course, as soon as he could converse somewhat better with hisnew friends, was not long before he questioned the cacique abouther. But the old man made an owl's face at her name, and intimated bymysterious shakes of the head, that she was a very strange personage, and the less said about her the better. She was "a child of the Sun, "and that was enough. 

"Tell him, boy, " quoth Cary, "that we are the children of the Sun byhis first wife; and have orders from him to inquire how the Indianshave behaved to our step-sister, for he cannot see all their tricks downhere, the trees are so thick. So let him tell us, or all the cassavaplants shall be blighted. "

"Will, Will, don't play with lying!" said Amyas: but the threat wasenough for the cacique, and taking them in his canoe a full mile downthe stream, as if in fear that the wonderful maiden should overhear him, he told them, in a sort of rhythmic chant, how, many moons ago (hecould not tell how many), his tribe was a mighty nation, and dwelt inPapamene, till the Spaniards drove them forth. And how, as they wanderednorthward, far away upon the mountain spurs beneath the flaming coneof Cotopaxi, they had found this fair creature wandering in the forest, about the bigness of a seven years' child. Wondering at her white skinand her delicate beauty, the simple Indians worshipped her as a god, and led her home with them. And when they found that she was human likethemselves, their wonder scarcely lessened. How could so tender a beinghave sustained life in those forests, and escaped the jaguar and thesnake? She must be under some Divine protection: she must be a daughterof the Sun, one of that mighty Inca race, the news of whose fearfulfall had reached even those lonely wildernesses; who had, many of them, haunted for years as exiles the eastern slopes of the Andes, about theUcalayi and the Maranon; who would, as all Indians knew, rise againsome day to power, when bearded white men should come across the seas torestore them to their ancient throne. 

So, as the girl grew up among them, she was tended with royal honors, by command of the conjuror of the tribe, that so her forefather the Sunmight be propitious to them, and the Incas might show favor to the poorruined Omaguas, in the day of their coming glory. And as she grew, shehad become, it seemed, somewhat of a prophetess among them, as wellas an object of fetish-worship; for she was more prudent in council, valiant in war, and cunning in the chase, than all the elders of thetribe; and those strange and sweet songs of hers, which had so surprisedthe white men, were full of mysterious wisdom about the birds, and theanimals, and the flowers, and the rivers, which the Sun and the GoodSpirit taught her from above. So she had lived among them, unmarriedstill, not only because she despised the addresses of all Indian youths, but because the conjuror had declared it to be profane in them to minglewith the race of the Sun, and had assigned her a cabin near his own, where she was served in state, and gave some sort of oracular responses, as they had seen, to the questions which he put to her. 

Such was the cacique's tale; on which Cary remarked, probably notunjustly, that he "dared to say the conjuror made a very good thing ofit:" but Amyas was silent, full of dreams, if not about Manoa, stillabout the remnant of the Inca race. What if they were still to be foundabout the southern sources of the Amazon? He must have been very nearthem already, in that case. It was vexatious; but at least he mightbe sure that they had formed no great kingdom in that direction, or heshould have heard of it long ago. Perhaps they had moved lately fromthence eastward, to escape some fresh encroachment of the Spaniards; andthis girl had been left behind in their flight. And then he recollected, with a sigh, how hopeless was any further search with his diminishedband. At least, he might learn something of the truth from the maidenherself. It might be useful to him in some future attempt; for hehad not yet given up Manoa. If he but got safe home, there was many agallant gentleman (and Raleigh came at once into his mind) who wouldjoin him in a fresh search for the Golden City of Guiana; not by theupper waters, but by the mouth of the Orinoco. 

So they paddled back, while the simple cacique entreated them to tellthe Sun, in their daily prayers, how well the wild people had treatedhis descendant; and besought them not to take her away with them, lestthe Sun should forget the poor Omaguas, and ripen their manioc and theirfruit no more. 

Amyas had no wish to stay where he was longer than was absolutelynecessary to bring up the sick men from the Orinoco; but this, he wellknew, would be a journey probably of some months, and attended with muchdanger. 

Cary volunteered at once, however, to undertake the adventure, ifhalf-a-dozen men would join him, and the Indians would send a few youngmen to help in working the canoe: but this latter item was not an easyone to obtain; for the tribe with whom they now were, stood in some fearof the fierce and brutal Guahibas, through whose country they must pass;and every Indian tribe, as Amyas knew well enough, looks on each tribeof different language to itself as natural enemies, hateful, and madeonly to be destroyed wherever met. This strange fact, too, Amyas and hisparty attributed to delusion of the devil, the divider and accuser; andI am of opinion that they were perfectly right: only let Amyas take carethat while he is discovering the devil in the Indians, he does not giveplace to him in himself, and that in more ways than one. But of thatmore hereafter. 

Whether, however, it was pride or shyness which kept the maiden aloof, she conquered it after a while; perhaps through mere woman's curiosity;and perhaps, too, from mere longing for amusement in a place sounspeakably stupid as the forest. She gave the English to understand, however, that though they all might be very important personages, noneof them was to be her companion but Amyas. And ere a month was past, shewas often hunting with him far and wide in the neighboring forest, witha train of chosen nymphs, whom she had persuaded to follow her exampleand spurn the dusky suitors around. This fashion, not uncommon, perhaps, among the Indian tribes, where women are continually escaping tothe forest from the tyranny of the men, and often, perhaps, formingtemporary communities, was to the English a plain proof that they werenear the land of the famous Amazons, of whom they had heard so oftenfrom the Indians; while Amyas had no doubt that, as a descendant of theIncas, the maiden preserved the tradition of the Virgins of the Sun, andof the austere monastic rule of the Peruvian superstition. Had not thatvaliant German, George of Spires, and Jeronimo Ortal too, fifty yearsbefore, found convents of the Sun upon these very upper waters?

So a harmless friendship sprang up between Amyas and the girl, whichsoon turned to good account. For she no sooner heard that he needed acrew of Indians, than she consulted the Piache, assembled the tribe, andhaving retired to her hut, commenced a song, which (unless the Piachelied) was a command to furnish young men for Cary's expedition, under penalty of the sovereign displeasure of an evil spirit with anunpronounceable name--an argument which succeeded on the spot, and thecanoe departed on its perilous errand. 

John Brimblecombe had great doubts whether a venture thus started bydirect help and patronage of the fiend would succeed; and Amyas himself, disliking the humbug, told Ayacanora that it would be better to havetold the tribe that it was a good deed, and pleasing to the Good Spirit. 

"Ah!" said she, naively enough, "they know better than that. The GoodSpirit is big and lazy; and he smiles, and takes no trouble: but thelittle bad spirit, he is so busy--here, and there, and everywhere, " andshe waved her pretty hands up and down; "he is the useful one to havefor a friend!" Which sentiment the Piache much approved, as became hisoccupation; and once told Brimblecombe pretty sharply, that he was ameddlesome fellow for telling the Indians that the Good Spirit cared forthem; "for, " quoth he, "if they begin to ask the Good Spirit for whatthey want, who will bring me cassava and coca for keeping the bad spiritquiet?" This argument, however forcible the devil's priests in all ageshave felt it to be, did not stop Jack's preaching (and very good andrighteous preaching it was, moreover), and much less the morning andevening service in the island camp. This last, the Indians, attractedby the singing, attended in such numbers, that the Piache found hisoccupation gone, and vowed to put an end to Jack's Gospel with apoisoned arrow. 

Which plan he (blinded by his master, Satan, so Jack phrased it) tookinto his head to impart to Ayacanora, as the partner of his tithes andofferings; and was exceedingly astonished to receive in answer a box onthe ear, and a storm of abuse. After which, Ayacanora went to Amyas, and telling him all, proposed that the Piache should be thrown to thealligators, and Jack installed in his place; declaring that whatsoeverthe bearded men said must be true, and whosoever plotted against themshould die the death. 

Jack, however, magnanimously forgave his foe, and preached on, of coursewith fresh zeal; but not, alas! with much success. For the conjuror, though his main treasure was gone over to the camp of the enemy, had areserve in a certain holy trumpet, which was hidden mysteriously in acave on the neighboring hills, not to be looked on by woman under painof death; and it was well known, and had been known for generations, that unless that trumpet, after fastings, flagellations, and othersolemn rites, was blown by night throughout the woods, the palm-treeswould bear no fruit; yea, so great was the fame of that trumpet, thatneighboring tribes sent at the proper season to hire it and the blowerthereof, by payment of much precious trumpery, that so they might besharers in its fertilizing powers. 

So the Piache announced one day in public, that in consequence of theimpiety of the Omaguas, he should retire to a neighboring tribe, of morereligious turn of mind; and taking with him the precious instrument, leave their palms to blight, and themselves to the evil spirit. 

Dire was the wailing, and dire the wrath throughout the village. Jack's words were allowed to be good words; but what was the Gospel incomparison of the trumpet? The rascal saw his advantage, and begana fierce harangue against the heretic strangers. As he maddened, hishearers maddened; the savage nature, capricious as a child's, flashedout in wild suspicion. Women yelled, men scowled, and ran hastily totheir huts for bows and blow-guns. The case was grown critical. Therewere not more than a dozen men with Amyas at the time, and they had onlytheir swords, while the Indian men might muster nearly a hundred. Amyasforbade his men either to draw or to retreat; but poisoned arrows wereweapons before which the boldest might well quail; and more than onecheek grew pale, which had seldom been pale before. 

"It is God's quarrel, sirs all, " said Jack Brimblecombe; "let Him defendthe right. "

As he spoke, from Ayacanora's hut arose her magic song, and quiveredaloft among the green heights of the forest. 

The mob stood spell-bound, still growling fiercely, but not daring tomove. Another moment, and she had rushed out, like a very Diana, intothe centre of the ring, bow in hand, and arrow on the string. 

The fallen "children of wrath" had found their match in her; for herbeautiful face was convulsed with fury. Almost foaming in her passion, she burst forth with bitter revilings; she pointed with admiration tothe English, and then with fiercest contempt to the Indians; and atlast, with fierce gestures, seemed to cast off the very dust of herfeet against them, and springing to Amyas's side, placed herself in theforefront of the English battle. 

The whole scene was so sudden, that Amyas had hardly discovered whethershe came as friend or foe, before her bow was raised. He had just timeto strike up her hand, when the arrow flew past the ear of the offendingPiache, and stuck quivering in a tree. 

"Let me kill the wretch!" said she, stamping with rage; but Amyas heldher arm firmly. 

"Fools!" cried she to the tribe, while tears of anger rolled down hercheeks. "Choose between me and your trumpet! I am a daughter of the Sun;I am white; I am a companion for Englishmen! But you! your mothers wereGuahibas, and ate mud; and your fathers--they were howling apes! Letthem sing to you! I shall go to the white men, and never sing you tosleep any more; and when the little evil spirit misses my voice, he willcome and tumble you out of your hammocks, and make you dream of ghostsevery night, till you grow as thin as blow-guns, and as stupid asaye-ayes!"*

 * Two-toed sloths. 

This terrible counter-threat, in spite of the slight bathos involved, had its effect; for it appealed to that dread of the sleep world whichis common to all savages: but the conjuror was ready to outbid theprophetess, and had begun a fresh oration, when Amyas turned the tideof war. Bursting into a huge laugh at the whole matter, he took theconjuror by his shoulders, sent him with one crafty kick half-a-dozenyards off upon his nose; and then, walking out of the ranks, shook handsround with all his Indian acquaintances. 

Whereon, like grown-up babies, they all burst out laughing too, shookhands with all the English, and then with each other; being, after all, as glad as any bishops to prorogue the convocation, and let unpleasantquestions stand over till the next session. The Piache relented, likea prudent man; Ayacanora returned to her hut to sulk; and Amyas to hisisland, to long for Cary's return, for he felt himself on dangerousground. 

At last Will returned, safe and sound, and as merry as ever, not havinglost a man (though he had had a smart brush with the Guahibas). Hebrought back three of the wounded men, now pretty nigh cured; the othertwo, who had lost a leg apiece, had refused to come. They had Indianwives; more than they could eat; and tobacco without end: and if it werenot for the gnats (of which Cary said that there were more mosquitoesthan there was air), they should be the happiest men alive. Amyas couldhardly blame the poor fellows; for the chance of their getting homethrough the forest with one leg each was very small, and, after all, they were making the best of a bad matter. And a very bad matter itseemed to him, to be left in a heathen land; and a still worse matter, when he overheard some of the men talking about their comrades' lonelyfate, as if, after all, they were not so much to be pitied. He saidnothing about it then, for he made a rule never to take notice of anyfacts which he got at by eavesdropping, however unintentional; but helonged that one of them would say as much to him, and he would "givethem a piece of his mind. " And a piece of his mind he had to give withinthe week; for while he was on a hunting party, two of his men weremissing, and were not heard of for some days; at the end of which timethe old cacique come to tell him that he believed they had taken to theforest, each with an Indian girl. 

Amyas was very wroth at the news. First, because it had never happenedbefore: he could say with honest pride, as Raleigh did afterwards whenhe returned from his Guiana voyage, that no Indian woman had ever beenthe worse for any man of his. He had preached on this point month aftermonth, and practised what he preached; and now his pride was sorelyhurt. 

Moreover, he dreaded offence to the Indians themselves: but on thisscore the cacique soon comforted him, telling him that the girls, as faras he could find, had gone off of their own free will; intimating thathe thought it somewhat an honor to the tribe that they had found favorin the eyes of the bearded men; and moreover, that late wars had sothinned the ranks of their men, that they were glad enough to findhusbands for their maidens, and had been driven of late years to killmany of their female infants. This sad story, common perhaps to everyAmerican tribe, and one of the chief causes of their extermination, reassured Amyas somewhat: but he could not stomach either the loss ofhis men, or their breach of discipline; and look for them he would. Didany one know where they were? If the tribe knew, they did not care totell: but Ayacanora, the moment she found out his wishes, vanished intothe forest, and returned in two days, saying that she had found thefugitives; but she would not show him where they were, unless hepromised not to kill them. He, of course, had no mind for so rigorous amethod: he both needed the men, and he had no malice against them, --forthe one, Ebsworthy, was a plain, honest, happy-go-lucky sailor, andas good a hand as there was in the crew; and the other was that samene'er-do-weel Will Parracombe, his old schoolfellow, who had beentempted by the gipsy-Jesuit at Appledore, and resisting that bait, hadmade a very fair seaman. 

So forth Amyas went, with Ayacanora as a guide, some five miles upwardalong the forest slopes, till the girl whispered, "There they are;"and Amyas, pushing himself gently through a thicket of bamboo, behelda scene which, in spite of his wrath, kept him silent, and perhapssoftened, for a minute. 

On the farther side of a little lawn, the stream leapt through a chasmbeneath overarching vines, sprinkling eternal freshness upon all around, and then sank foaming into a clear rock-basin, a bath for Dian's self. On its farther side, the crag rose some twenty feet in height, bank uponbank of feathered ferns and cushioned moss, over the rich green beds ofwhich drooped a thousand orchids, scarlet, white, and orange, and madethe still pool gorgeous with the reflection of their gorgeousness. Atits more quiet outfall, it was half-hidden in huge fantastic leaves andtall flowering stems; but near the waterfall the grassy bank slopeddown toward the stream, and there, on palm-leaves strewed upon the turf, beneath the shadow of the crags, lay the two men whom Amyas sought, and whom, now he had found them, he had hardly heart to wake from theirdelicious dream. 

For what a nest it was which they had found! the air was heavy withthe scent of flowers, and quivering with the murmur of the stream, thehumming of the colibris and insects, the cheerful song of birds, thegentle cooing of a hundred doves; while now and then, from far away, the musical wail of the sloth, or the deep toll of the bell-bird, camesoftly to the ear. What was not there which eye or ear could need? Andwhat which palate could need either? For on the rock above, some strangetree, leaning forward, dropped every now and then a luscious apple uponthe grass below, and huge wild plantains bent beneath their load offruit. 

There, on the stream bank, lay the two renegades from civilized life. They had cast away their clothes, and painted themselves, like theIndians, with arnotto and indigo. One lay lazily picking up the fruitwhich fell close to his side; the other sat, his back against a cushionof soft moss, his hands folded languidly upon his lap, giving himself upto the soft influence of the narcotic coca-juice, with half-shut dreamyeyes fixed on the everlasting sparkle of the waterfall--

 "While beauty, born of murmuring sound, Did pass into his face. "

Somewhat apart crouched their two dusky brides, crowned with fragrantflowers, but working busily, like true women, for the lords whom theydelighted to honor. One sat plaiting palm fibres into a basket; theother was boring the stem of a huge milk-tree, which rose like somemighty column on the right hand of the lawn, its broad canopy of leavesunseen through the dense underwood of laurel and bamboo, and betokenedonly by the rustle far aloft, and by the mellow shade in which it bathedthe whole delicious scene. 

Amyas stood silent for awhile, partly from noble shame at seeing twoChristian men thus fallen of their own self-will; partly because--andhe could not but confess that--a solemn calm brooded above that gloriousplace, to break through which seemed sacrilege even while he felt ita duty. Such, he thought, was Paradise of old; such our first parents'bridal bower! Ah! if man had not fallen, he too might have dwelt foreverin such a home--with whom? He started, and shaking off the spell, advanced sword in hand. 

The women saw him, and springing to their feet, caught up their longpocunas, and leapt like deer each in front of her beloved. There theystood, the deadly tubes pressed to their lips, eyeing him like tigresseswho protect their young, while every slender limb quivered, not withterror, but with rage. 

Amyas paused, half in admiration, half in prudence; for one rash stepwas death. But rushing through the canes, Ayacanora sprang to the front, and shrieked to them in Indian. At the sight of the prophetess the womenwavered, and Amyas, putting on as gentle a face as he could, steppedforward, assuring them in his best Indian that he would harm no one. 

"Ebsworthy! Parracombe! Are you grown such savages already, that youhave forgotten your captain? Stand up, men, and salute!"

Ebsworthy sprang to his feet, obeyed mechanically, and then slippedbehind his bride again, as if in shame. The dreamer turned his headlanguidly, raised his hand to his forehead, and then returned to hiscontemplation. 

Amyas rested the point of his sword on the ground, and his hands uponthe hilt, and looked sadly and solemnly upon the pair. Ebsworthy brokethe silence, half reproachfully, half trying to bluster away the comingstorm. 

"Well, noble captain, so you've hunted out us poor fellows; and want todrag us back again in a halter, I suppose?"

"I came to look for Christians, and I find heathens; for men, and I findswine. I shall leave the heathens to their wilderness, and the swine totheir trough. Parracombe!"

"He's too happy to answer you, sir. And why not? What do you want of us?Our two years vow is out, and we are free men now. "

"Free to become like the beasts that perish? You are the queen'sservants still, and in her name I charge you--

"Free to be happy, " interrupted the man. "With the best of wives, thebest of food, a warmer bed than a duke's, and a finer garden than anemperor's. As for clothes, why the plague should a man wear them wherehe don't need them? As for gold, what's the use of it where Heaven sendseverything ready-made to your hands? Hearken, Captain Leigh. You've beena good captain to me, and I'll repay you with a bit of sound advice. Give up your gold-hunting, and toiling and moiling after honor andglory, and copy us. Take that fair maid behind you there to wife; pitchhere with us; and see if you are not happier in one day than ever youwere in all your life before. "

"You are drunk, sirrah! William Parracombe! Will you speak to me, orshall I heave you into the stream to sober you?"

"Who calls William Parracombe?" answered a sleepy voice. 

"I, fool!--your captain. "

"I am not William Parracombe. He is dead long ago of hunger, and labor, and heavy sorrow, and will never see Bideford town any more. He isturned into an Indian now; and he is to sleep, sleep, sleep for ahundred years, till he gets his strength again, poor fellow--"

"Awake, then, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christshall give thee light! A christened Englishman, and living thus the lifeof a beast?"

"Christ shall give thee light?" answered the same unnatural abstractedvoice. "Yes; so the parsons say. And they say too, that He is Lord ofheaven and earth. I should have thought His light was as near us hereas anywhere, and nearer too, by the look of the place. Look round!"said he, waving a lazy hand, "and see the works of God, and the place ofParadise, whither poor weary souls go home and rest, after their mastersin the wicked world have used them up, with labor and sorrow, and madethem wade knee-deep in blood--I'm tired of blood, and tired of gold. I'll march no more; I'll fight no more; I'll hunger no more after vanityand vexation of spirit. What shall I get by it? Maybe I shall leave mybones in the wilderness. I can but do that here. Maybe I shall get homewith a few pezos, to die an old cripple in some stinking hovel, that amonkey would scorn to lodge in here. You may go on; it'll pay you. Youmay be a rich man, and a knight, and live in a fine house, and drinkgood wine, and go to Court, and torment your soul with trying toget more, when you've got too much already; plotting and planning toscramble upon your neighbor's shoulders, as they all did--Sir Richard, and Mr. Raleigh, and Chichester, and poor dear old Sir Warham, and allof them that I used to watch when I lived before. They were no happierthan I was then; I'll warrant they are no happier now. Go your ways, captain; climb to glory upon some other backs than ours, and leave ushere in peace, alone with God and God's woods, and the good wives thatGod has given us, to play a little like school children. It's long sinceI've had play-hours; and now I'll be a little child once more, with theflowers, and the singing birds, and the silver fishes in the stream, that are at peace, and think no harm, and want neither clothes, normoney, nor knighthood, nor peerage, but just take what comes; and theirheavenly Father feedeth them, and Solomon in all his glory was notarrayed like one of these--and will He not much more feed us, that areof more value than many sparrows?"

"And will you live here, shut out from all Christian ordinances?"

"Christian ordinances? Adam and Eve had no parsons in Paradise. The Lordwas their priest, and the Lord was their shepherd, and He'll be ourstoo. But go your ways, sir, and send up Sir John Brimblecombe, and lethim marry us here Church fashion (though we have sworn troth to eachother before God already), and let him give us the Holy Sacrament onceand for all, and then read the funeral service over us, and go his ways, and count us for dead, sir--for dead we are to the wicked worthlessworld we came out of three years ago. And when the Lord chooses to callus, the little birds will cover us with leaves, as they did the babiesin the wood, and fresher flowers will grow out of our graves, sir, thanout of yours in that bare Northam churchyard there beyond the weary, weary, weary sea. "

His voice died away to a murmur, and his head sank on his breast. 

Amyas stood spell-bound. The effect of the narcotic was all butmiraculous in his eyes. The sustained eloquence, the novel richness ofdiction in one seemingly drowned in sensual sloth, were, in his eyes, the possession of some evil spirit. And yet he could not answer the EvilOne. His English heart, full of the divine instinct of duty and publicspirit, told him that it must be a lie: but how to prove it a lie? Andhe stood for full ten minutes searching for an answer, which seemed tofly farther and farther off the more he sought for it. 

His eye glanced upon Ayacanora. The two girls were whispering to hersmilingly. He saw one of them glance a look toward him, and then saysomething, which raised a beautiful blush in the maiden's face. With aplayful blow at the speaker, she turned away. Amyas knew instinctivelythat they were giving her the same advice as Ebsworthy had given to him. Oh, how beautiful she was! Might not the renegades have some reason ontheir side after all. 

He shuddered at the thought: but he could not shake it off. It glidedin like some gaudy snake, and wreathed its coils round all his heartand brain. He drew back to the other side of the lawn, and thought andthought--

Should he ever get home? If he did, might he not get home a beggar?Beggar or rich, he would still have to face his mother, to go throughthat meeting, to tell that tale, perhaps, to hear those reproaches, theforecast of which had weighed on him like a dark thunder-cloud for twoweary years; to wipe out which by some desperate deed of glory he hadwandered the wilderness, and wandered in vain. 

Could he not settle here? He need not be a savage, he and his mightChristianize, civilize, teach equal law, mercy in war, chivalry towomen; found a community which might be hereafter as strong a barrieragainst the encroachments of the Spaniard, as Manoa itself would havebeen. Who knew the wealth of the surrounding forests? Even if there wereno gold, there were boundless vegetable treasures. What might he notexport down the rivers? This might be the nucleus of a great commercialsettlement--

And yet, was even that worth while? To settle here only to tormenthis soul with fresh schemes, fresh ambitions; not to rest, but only tochange one labor for another? Was not your dreamer right? Did they notall need rest? What if they each sat down among the flowers, beside anIndian bride? They might live like Christians, while they lived like thebirds of heaven. --

What a dead silence! He looked up and round; the birds had ceased tochirp; the parroquets were hiding behind the leaves; the monkeys wereclustered motionless upon the highest twigs; only out of the far depthsof the forest, the campanero gave its solemn toll, once, twice, thrice, like a great death-knell rolling down from far cathedral towers. Wasit an omen? He looked up hastily at Ayacanora. She was watching himearnestly. Heavens! was she waiting for his decision? Both dropped theireyes. The decision was not to come from them. 

A rustle! a roar! a shriek! and Amyas lifted his eyes in time to see ahuge dark bar shoot from the crag above the dreamer's head, among thegroup of girls. 

A dull crash, as the group flew asunder; and in the midst, upon theground, the tawny limbs of one were writhing beneath the fangs of ablack jaguar, the rarest and most terrible of the forest kings. Of one?But of which? Was it Ayacanora? And sword in hand, Amyas rushed madlyforward; before he reached the spot those tortured limbs were still. 

It was not Ayacanora, for with a shriek which rang through the woods, the wretched dreamer, wakened thus at last, sprang up and felt for hissword. Fool! he had left it in his hammock! Screaming the name of hisdead bride, he rushed on the jaguar, as it crouched above its prey, andseizing its head with teeth and nails, worried it, in the ferocity ofhis madness, like a mastiff-dog. 

The brute wrenched its head from his grasp, and raised its dreadful paw. Another moment and the husband's corpse would have lain by the wife's. 

But high in air gleamed Amyas's blade; down with all the weight of hishuge body and strong arm, fell that most trusty steel; the head of thejaguar dropped grinning on its victim's corpse;

 "And all stood still, who saw him fall, While men might count a score. "

"O Lord Jesus, " said Amyas to himself, "Thou hast answered the devilfor me! And this is the selfish rest for which I would have bartered therest which comes by working where Thou hast put me!"

They bore away the lithe corpse into the forest, and buried it undersoft moss and virgin mould; and so the fair clay was transfigured intofairer flowers, and the poor, gentle, untaught spirit returned to Godwho gave it. 

And then Amyas went sadly and silently back again, and Parracombe walkedafter him, like one who walks in sleep. 

Ebsworthy, sobered by the shock, entreated to come too: but Amyasforbade him gently, --

"No, lad, you are forgiven. God forbid that I should judge you or anyman! Sir John shall come up and marry you; and then, if it still be yourwill to stay, the Lord forgive you, if you be wrong; in the meanwhile, we will leave with you all that we can spare. Stay here and pray to Godto make you, and me too, wiser men. "

And so Amyas departed. He had come out stern and proud; but he came backagain like a little child. 

Three days after Parracombe was dead. Once in camp he seemed unable toeat or move, and having received absolution and communion from good SirJohn, faded away without disease or pain, "babbling of green fields, "and murmuring the name of his lost Indian bride. 

Amyas, too, sought ghostly council of Sir John, and told him all whichhad passed through his mind. 

"It was indeed a temptation of Diabolus, " said that simple sage; "for heis by his very name the divider who sets man against man, and temptsone to care only for oneself, and forget kin and country, and dutyand queen. But you have resisted him, Captain Leigh, like a true-bornEnglishman, as you always are, and he has fled from you. But that is noreason why we should not flee from him too; and so I think the sooner weare out of this place, and at work again, the better for all our souls. "

To which Amyas most devoutly said, "Amen!" If Ayacanora were thedaughter of ten thousand Incas, he must get out of her way as soon aspossible. 

The next day he announced his intention to march once more, and tohis delight found the men ready enough to move towards the Spanishsettlements. One thing they needed: gunpowder for their muskets. Butthat they must make as they went along; that is, if they could get thematerials. Charcoal they could procure, enough to set the world on fire;but nitre they had not yet seen; perhaps they should find it among thehills: while as for sulphur, any brave man could get that where therewere volcanoes. Who had not heard how one of Cortez' Spaniards, in likeneed, was lowered in a basket down the smoking crater of Popocatepetl, till he had gathered sulphur enough to conquer an empire? And what aSpaniard could do an Englishman could do, or they would know the reasonwhy. And if they found none--why clothyard arrows had done Englishmen'swork many a time already, and they could do it again, not to mentionthose same blow-guns and their arrows of curare poison, which, thoughthey might be useless against Spaniards' armor, were far more valuablethan muskets for procuring food, from the simple fact of their silence. 

One thing remained; to invite their Indian friends to join them. Andthat was done in due form the next day. 

Ayacanora was consulted, of course, and by the Piache, too, who was gladenough to be rid of the rival preacher, and his unpleasantly good newsthat men need not worship the devil, because there was a good God abovethem. The maiden sang most melodious assent; the whole tribe echoed it;and all went smoothly enough till the old cacique observed that beforestarting a compact should be made between the allies as to their shareof the booty. 

Nothing could be more reasonable; and Amyas asked him to name his terms. 

"You take the gold, and we will take the prisoners. "

"And what will you do with them?" asked Amyas, who recollected poor JohnOxenham's hapless compact made in like case. 

"Eat them, " quoth the cacique, innocently enough. 

Amyas whistled. 

"Humph!" said Cary. "The old proverb comes true--'the more the merrier:but the fewer the better fare. ' I think we will do without our redfriends for this time. "

Ayacanora, who had been preaching war like a very Boadicea, was muchvexed. 

"Do you too want to dine off roast Spaniards?" asked Amyas. 

She shook her head, and denied the imputation with much disgust. 

Amyas was relieved; he had shrunk from joining the thought of so fair acreature, however degraded, with the horrors of cannibalism. 

But the cacique was a man of business, and held out stanchly. 

"Is it fair?" he asked. "The white man loves gold, and he gets it. Thepoor Indian, what use is gold to him? He only wants something to eat, and he must eat his enemies. What else will pay him for going so farthrough the forests hungry and thirsty? You will get all, and theOmaguas will get nothing. "

The argument was unanswerable; and the next day they started without theIndians, while John Brimblecombe heaved many an honest sigh at leavingthem to darkness, the devil, and the holy trumpet. 

And Ayacanora?

When their departure was determined, she shut herself up in her hut, andappeared no more. Great was the weeping, howling, and leave-taking onthe part of the simple Indians, and loud the entreaties to come again, bring them a message from Amalivaca's daughter beyond the seas, and helpthem to recover their lost land of Papamene; but Ayacanora took no partin them; and Amyas left her, wondering at her absence, but joyful andlight-hearted at having escaped the rocks of the Sirens, and being atwork once more. 

CHAPTER XXV

HOW THEY TOOK THE GOLD-TRAIN

 "God will relent, and quit thee all thy debt, Who ever more approves, and more accepts Him who imploring mercy sues for life, Than who self-rigorous chooses death as due, Which argues over-just, and self-displeased For self-offence, more than for God offended. "

 Samson Agonistes. 

A fortnight or more has passed in severe toil, but not more severe thanthey have endured many a time before. Bidding farewell once andforever to the green ocean of the eastern plains, they have crossed theCordillera; they have taken a longing glance at the city of Santa Fe, lying in the midst of rich gardens on its lofty mountain plateau, andhave seen, as was to be expected, that it was far too large a place forany attempt of theirs. But they have not altogether thrown away theirtime. Their Indian lad has discovered that a gold-train is going downfrom Santa Fe toward the Magdalena; and they are waiting for it besidethe miserable rut which serves for a road, encamped in a forest of oakswhich would make them almost fancy themselves back again in Europe, wereit not for the tree-ferns which form the undergrowth; and were it not, too, for the deep gorges opening at their very feet; in which, whiletheir brows are swept by the cool breezes of a temperate zone, theycan see far below, dim through their everlasting vapor-bath of rank hotsteam, the mighty forms and gorgeous colors of the tropic forest. 

They have pitched their camp among the tree-ferns, above a spot wherethe path winds along a steep hill-side, with a sheer cliff below of manya hundred feet. There was a road there once, perhaps, when Cundinamarcawas a civilized and cultivated kingdom; but all which Spanish misrulehas left of it are a few steps slipping from their places at the bottomof a narrow ditch of mud. It has gone the way of the aqueducts, andbridges, and post-houses, the gardens and the llama-flocks of thatstrange empire. In the mad search for gold, every art of civilizationhas fallen to decay, save architecture alone; and that survives only inthe splendid cathedrals which have risen upon the ruins of the templesof the Sun, in honor of a milder Pantheon; if, indeed, that can becalled a milder one which demands (as we have seen already) humansacrifices, unknown to the gentle nature-worship of the Incas. 

And now, the rapid tropic vegetation has reclaimed its old domains, and Amyas and his crew are as utterly alone, within a few miles of animportant Spanish settlement, as they would be in the solitudes of theOrinoco or the Amazon. 

In the meanwhile, all their attempts to find sulphur and nitre have beenunavailing; and they have been forced to depend after all (much to Yeo'sdisgust) upon their swords and arrows. Be it so: Drake took Nombre deDios and the gold-train there with no better weapons; and they may do asmuch. 

So, having blocked up the road above by felling a large tree across it, they sit there among the flowers chewing coca, in default of food anddrink, and meditating among themselves the cause of a mysterious roar, which has been heard nightly in their wake ever since they left thebanks of the Meta. Jaguar it is not, nor monkey: it is unlike any soundthey know; and why should it follow them? However, they are in the landof wonders; and, moreover, the gold train is far more important than anynoise. 

At last, up from beneath there was a sharp crack and a loud cry. The crack was neither the snapping of a branch, nor the tapping of awoodpecker; the cry was neither the scream of the parrot, nor the howlof the monkey. 

"That was a whip's crack, " said Yeo, "and a woman's wail. They are closehere, lads!"

"A woman's? Do they drive women in their gangs?" asked Amyas. 

"Why not, the brutes? There they are, sir. Did you see their basnetsglitter?"

"Men!" said Amyas, in a low voice, "I trust you all not to shoot tillI do. Then give them one arrow, out swords, and at them! Pass the wordalong. "

Up they came, slowly, and all hearts beat loud at their coming. 

First, about twenty soldiers, only one-half of whom were on foot; theother half being borne, incredible as it may seem, each in a chair onthe back of a single Indian, while those who marched had consigned theirheaviest armor and their arquebuses into the hands of attendant slaves, who were each pricked on at will by the pike of the soldier behind them. 

"The men are mad to let their ordnance out of their hands. "

"Oh, sir, an Indian will pray to an arquebus not to shoot him; he suretheir artillery is safe enough, " said Yeo. 

"Look at the proud villains, " whispered another, "to make dumb beasts ofhuman creatures like that!"

"Ten shot, " counted the business-like Amyas, "and ten pikes; Will cantackle them up above. "

Last of this troop came some inferior officer, also in his chair, who, as he went slowly up the hill, with his face turned toward the gangwhich followed, drew every other second the cigar from his lips, toinspirit them with those pious ejaculations to the various objects ofhis worship, divine, human, anatomic, wooden and textile, which earnedfor the pious Spaniards of the sixteenth century the uncharitableimputation of being at once the most fetish-ridden idolaters and themost abominable swearers of all Europeans. 

"The blasphemous dog!" said Yeo, fumbling at his bow-string, as ifhe longed to send an arrow through him. But Amyas had hardly laid hisfinger on the impatient veteran's arm, when another procession followed, which made them forget all else. 

A sad and hideous sight it was: yet one too common even then in thoseremoter districts, where the humane edicts were disregarded which theprayers of Dominican friars (to their everlasting honor be it spoken)had wrung from the Spanish sovereigns, and which the legislation of thatmost wise, virtuous, and heroic Inquisitor (paradoxical as the words mayseem), Pedro de la Gasca, had carried into effect in Peru, --futile andtardy alleviations of cruelties and miseries unexampled in thehistory of Christendom, or perhaps on earth, save in the conquests ofSennacherib and Zingis Khan. But on the frontiers, where negroes wereimported to endure the toil which was found fatal to the Indian, and allIndian tribes convicted (or suspected) of cannibalism were hunted downfor the salvation of their souls and the enslavement of their bodies, such scenes as these were still too common; and, indeed, if we are tojudge from Humboldt's impartial account, were not very much amended evenat the close of the last century, in those much-boasted Jesuit missionsin which (as many of them as existed anywhere but on paper) militarytyranny was superadded to monastic, and the Gospel preached with fireand sword, almost as shamelessly as by the first Conquistadores. 

A line of Indians, Negroes, and Zambos, naked, emaciated, scarred withwhips and fetters, and chained together by their left wrists, toiledupwards, panting and perspiring under the burden of a basket held upby a strap which passed across their foreheads. Yeo's sneer was buttoo just; there were not only old men and youths among them, but women;slender young girls, mothers with children, running at their knee;and, at the sight, a low murmur of indignation rose from the ambushedEnglishmen, worthy of the free and righteous hearts of those days, whenRaleigh could appeal to man and God, on the ground of a common humanity, in behalf of the outraged heathens of the New World; when Englishmenstill knew that man was man, and that the instinct of freedom wasthe righteous voice of God; ere the hapless seventeenth century hadbrutalized them also, by bestowing on them, amid a hundred other badlegacies, the fatal gift of negro-slaves. 

But the first forty, so Amyas counted, bore on their backs a burdenwhich made all, perhaps, but him and Yeo, forget even the wretches whobore it. Each basket contained a square package of carefully cordedhide; the look whereof friend Amyas knew full well. 

"What's in they, captain?"

"Gold!" And at that magic word all eyes were strained greedily forward, and such a rustle followed, that Amyas, in the very face of detection, had to whisper--

"Be men, be men, or you will spoil all yet!"

The last twenty, or so, of the Indians bore larger baskets, but morelightly freighted, seemingly with manioc, and maize-bread, and otherfood for the party; and after them came, with their bearers andattendants, just twenty soldiers more, followed by the officer incharge, who smiled away in his chair, and twirled two huge mustachios, thinking of nothing less than of the English arrows which were itchingto be away and through his ribs. The ambush was complete; the onlyquestion how and when to begin?

Amyas had a shrinking, which all will understand, from drawing bow incool blood on men so utterly unsuspicious and defenceless, even thoughin the very act of devilish cruelty--for devilish cruelty it was, asthree or four drivers armed with whips lingered up and down the slowlystaggering file of Indians, and avenged every moment's lagging, evenevery stumble, by a blow of the cruel manati-hide, which cracked likea pistol-shot against the naked limbs of the silent and uncomplainingvictim. 

Suddenly the casus belli, as usually happens, arose of its own accord. 

The last but one of the chained line was an old gray-headed man, followed by a slender graceful girl of some eighteen years old, andAmyas's heart yearned over them as they came up. Just as they passed, the foremost of the file had rounded the corner above; there was abustle, and a voice shouted, "Halt, senors! there is a tree across thepath!"

"A tree across the path?" bellowed the officer, with a variety ofpassionate addresses to the Mother of Heaven, the fiends of hell, SaintJago of Compostella, and various other personages; while the line oftrembling Indians, told to halt above, and driven on by blows below, surged up and down upon the ruinous steps of the Indian road, until thepoor old man fell grovelling on his face. 

The officer leaped down, and hurried upward to see what had happened. Ofcourse, he came across the old man. 

"Sin peccado concebida! Grandfather of Beelzebub, is this a place to lieworshipping your fiends?" and he pricked the prostrate wretch with thepoint of his sword. 

The old man tried to rise: but the weight on his head was too much forhim; he fell again, and lay motionless. 

The driver applied the manati-hide across his loins, once, twice, withfearful force; but even that specific was useless. 

"Gastado, Senor Capitan, " said he, with a shrug. "Used up. He has beenfailing these three months!"

"What does the intendant mean by sending me out with worn-out cattlelike these? Forward there!" shouted he. "Clear away the tree, senors, and I'll soon clear the chain. Hold it up, Pedrillo!"

The driver held up the chain, which was fastened to the old man's wrist. The officer stepped back, and flourished round his head a Toledo blade, whose beauty made Amyas break the Tenth Commandment on the spot. 

The man was a tall, handsome, broad-shouldered, high-bred man; and Amyasthought that he was going to display the strength of his arm, and thetemper of his blade, in severing the chain at one stroke. 

Even he was not prepared for the recondite fancies of a Spanishadventurer, worthy son or nephew of those first conquerors, who used totry the keenness of their swords upon the living bodies of Indians, andregale themselves at meals with the odor of roasting caciques. 

The blade gleamed in the air, once, twice, and fell: not on the chain, but on the wrist which it fettered. There was a shriek--a crimsonflash--and the chain and its prisoner were parted indeed. 

One moment more, and Amyas's arrow would have been through the throatof the murderer, who paused, regarding his workmanship with a satisfiedsmile; but vengeance was not to come from him. 

Quick and fierce as a tiger-cat, the girl sprang on the ruffian, andwith the intense strength of passion, clasped him in her arms, andleaped with him from the narrow ledge into the abyss below. 

There was a rush, a shout; all faces were bent over the precipice. The girl hung by her chained wrist: the officer was gone. There was amoment's awful silence; and then Amyas heard his body crashing throughthe tree-tops far below. 

"Haul her up! Hew her in pieces! Burn the witch!" and the driver, seizing the chain, pulled at it with all his might, while all springingfrom their chairs, stooped over the brink. 

Now was the time for Amyas! Heaven had delivered them into his hands. Swift and sure, at ten yards off, his arrow rushed through the body ofthe driver, and then, with a roar as of the leaping lion, he sprang likean avenging angel into the midst of the astonished ruffians. 

His first thought was for the girl. In a moment, by sheer strength, hehad jerked her safely up into the road; while the Spaniards recoiledright and left, fancying him for the moment some mountain giant orsupernatural foe. His hurrah undeceived them in an instant, and a cryof "English! Lutheran dogs!" arose, but arose too late. The men of Devonhad followed their captain's lead: a storm of arrows left five Spaniardsdead, and a dozen more wounded, and down leapt Salvation Yeo, his whitehair streaming behind him, with twenty good swords more, and the work ofdeath began. 

The Spaniards fought like lions; but they had no time to fix theirarquebuses on the crutches; no room, in that narrow path, to use theirpikes. The English had the wall of them; and to have the wall there, wasto have the foe's life at their mercy. Five desperate minutes, and not aliving Spaniard stood upon those steps; and certainly no living one layin the green abyss below. Two only, who were behind the rest, happeningto be in full armor, escaped without mortal wound, and fled down thehill again. 

"After them! Michael Evans and Simon Heard; and catch them, if they runa league. "

The two long and lean Clovelly men, active as deer from forest training, ran two feet for the Spaniard's one; and in ten minutes returned, havingdone their work; while Amyas and his men hurried past the Indians, tohelp Cary and the party forward, where shouts and musket shots announceda sharp affray. 

Their arrival settled the matter. All the Spaniards fell but three orfour, who scrambled down the crannies of the cliff. 

"Let not one of them escape! Slay them as Israel slew Amalek!" criedYeo, as he bent over; and ere the wretches could reach a place ofshelter, an arrow was quivering in each body, as it rolled lifeless downthe rocks. 

"Now then! Loose the Indians!"

They found armorers tools on one of the dead bodies, and it was done. 

"We are your friends, " said Amyas. "All we ask is, that you shall helpus to carry this gold down to the Magdalena, and then you are free. "

Some few of the younger grovelled at his knees, and kissed his feet, hailing him as the child of the Sun: but the most part kept a stolidindifference, and when freed from their fetters, sat quietly down wherethey stood, staring into vacancy. The iron had entered too deeply intotheir soul. They seemed past hope, enjoyment, even understanding. 

But the young girl, who was last of all in the line, as soon as she wasloosed, sprang to her father's body, speaking no word, lifted it in herthin arms, laid it across her knees, kissed the fallen lips, strokedthe furrowed cheeks, murmured inarticulate sounds like the cooing of awoodland dove, of which none knew the meaning but she, and he who heardnot, for his soul had long since fled. Suddenly the truth flashed onher; silent as ever, she drew one long heaving breath, and rose erect, the body in her arms. 

Another moment, and she had leaped into the abyss. 

They watched her dark and slender limbs, twined closely round the oldman's corpse, turn over, and over, and over, till a crash among theleaves, and a scream among the birds, told that she had reached thetrees; and the green roof hid her from their view. 

"Brave lass!" shouted a sailor. 

"The Lord forgive her!" said Yeo. "But, your worship, we must have theserascals' ordnance. "

"And their clothes too, Yeo, if we wish to get down the Magdalenaunchallenged. Now listen, my masters all! We have won, by God's goodgrace, gold enough to serve us the rest of our lives, and that withoutlosing a single man; and may yet win more, if we be wise, and He thinksgood. But oh, my friends, remember Mr. Oxenham and his crew; and donot make God's gift our ruin, by faithlessness, or greediness, or anymutinous haste. "

"You shall find none in us!" cried several men. "We know your worship. We can trust our general. "

"Thank God!" said Amyas. "Now then, it will be no shame or sin tomake the Indians carry it, saving the women, whom God forbid weshould burden. But we must pass through the very heart of the Spanishsettlements, and by the town of Saint Martha itself. So the clothes andweapons of these Spaniards we must have, let it cost us what labor itmay. How many lie in the road?"

"Thirteen here, and about ten up above, " said Cary. 

"Then there are near twenty missing. Who will volunteer to go down overcliff, and bring up the spoil of them?"

"I, and I, and I;" and a dozen stepped out, as they did always whenAmyas wanted anything done; for the simple reason, that they knew thathe meant to help at the doing of it himself. 

"Very well, then, follow me. Sir John, take the Indian lad for yourinterpreter, and try and comfort the souls of these poor heathens. Tellthem that they shall all be free. "

"Why, who is that comes up the road?"

All eyes were turned in the direction of which he spoke. And, wonder ofwonders! up came none other than Ayacanora herself, blow-gun in hand, bow on back, and bedecked in all her feather garments, which last wererather the worse for a fortnight's woodland travel. 

All stood mute with astonishment, as, seeing Amyas, she uttered a cryof joy, quickened her pace into a run, and at last fell panting andexhausted at his feet. 

"I have found you!" she said; "you ran away from me, but you could notescape me!" And she fawned round Amyas, like a dog who has found hismaster, and then sat down on the bank, and burst into wild sobs. 

"God help us!" said Amyas, clutching his hair, as he looked down uponthe beautiful weeper. "What am I to do with her, over and above allthese poor heathens?"

But there was no time to be lost, and over the cliff he scrambled; whilethe girl, seeing that the main body of the English remained, sat down ona point of rock to watch him. 

After half-an-hour's hard work, the weapons, clothes, and armor of thefallen Spaniards were hauled up the cliff, and distributed in bundlesamong the men; the rest of the corpses were thrown over the precipice, and they started again upon their road toward the Magdalena, while Yeosnorted like a war-horse who smells the battle, at the delight of oncemore handling powder and ball. 

"We can face the world now, sir! Why not go back and try Santa Fe, afterall?"

But Amyas thought that enough was as good as a feast, and they held ondownwards, while the slaves followed, without a sign of gratitude, butmeekly obedient to their new masters, and testifying now and then by asign or a grunt, their surprise at not being beaten, or made to carrytheir captors. Some, however, caught sight of the little calabashes ofcoca which the English carried. That woke them from their torpor, and they began coaxing abjectly (and not in vain) for a taste of thatmiraculous herb, which would not only make food unnecessary, and enabletheir panting lungs to endure that keen mountain air, but would ridthem, for awhile at least, of the fallen Indian's most unpitying foe, the malady of thought. 

As the cavalcade turned the corner of the mountain, they paused for onelast look at the scene of that fearful triumph. Lines of vultures werealready streaming out of infinite space, as if created suddenly for theoccasion. A few hours and there would be no trace of that fierce fray, but a few white bones amid untrodden beds of flowers. 

And now Amyas had time to ask Ayacanora the meaning of this her strangeappearance. He wished her anywhere but where she was: but now that shewas here, what heart could be so hard as not to take pity on the poorwild thing? And Amyas as he spoke to her had, perhaps, a tenderness inhis tone, from very fear of hurting her, which he had never used before. Passionately she told him how she had followed on their track day andnight, and had every evening made sounds, as loud as she dared, in hopesof their hearing her, and either waiting for her, or coming back to seewhat caused the noise. 

Amyas now recollected the strange roaring which had followed them. 

"Noises? What did you make them with?"

Ayacanora lifted her finger with an air of most self-satisfied mystery, and then drew cautiously from under her feather cloak an object at whichAmyas had hard work to keep his countenance. 

"Look!" whispered she, as if half afraid that the thing itself shouldhear her. "I have it--the holy trumpet!"

There it was verily, that mysterious bone of contention; a handsomeearthen tube some two feet long, neatly glazed, and painted with quaintgrecques and figures of animals; a relic evidently of some civilizationnow extinct. 

Brimblecombe rubbed his little fat hands. "Brave maid! you have cheatedSatan this time, " quoth he; while Yeo advised that the "idolatrousrelic" should be forthwith "hove over cliff. "

"Let be, " said Amyas. "What is the meaning of this, Ayacanora? And whyhave you followed us?"

She told a long story, from which Amyas picked up, as far as he couldunderstand her, that that trumpet had been for years the torment of herlife; the one thing in the tribe superior to her; the one thing whichshe was not allowed to see, because, forsooth, she was a woman. So shedetermined to show them that a woman was as good as a man; and henceher hatred of marriage, and her Amazonian exploits. But still the Piachewould not show her that trumpet, or tell her where it was; and as forgoing to seek it, even she feared the superstitious wrath of the tribeat such a profanation. But the day after the English went, the Piachechose to express his joy at their departure; whereon, as was to beexpected, a fresh explosion between master and pupil, which ended, sheconfessed, in her burning the old rogue's hut over his head, from whichhe escaped with loss of all his conjuring-tackle, and fled raging intothe woods, vowing that he would carry off the trumpet to the neighboringtribe. Whereon, by a sudden impulse, the young lady took plenty of coca, her weapons, and her feathers, started on his trail, and ran him toearth just as he was unveiling the precious mystery. At which sight(she confessed) she was horribly afraid, and half inclined to run; but, gathering courage from the thought that the white men used to laugh atthe whole matter, she rushed upon the hapless conjuror, and bore off herprize in triumph; and there it was!

"I hope you have not killed him?" said Amyas. 

"I did beat him a little; but I thought you would not let me kill him. "

Amyas was half amused with her confession of his authority over her; butshe went on--

"And then I dare not go back to the Indians; so I was forced to comeafter you. "

"And is that, then, your only reason for coming after us?" asked stupidAmyas. 

He had touched some secret chord--though what it was he was too busy toinquire. The girl drew herself up proudly, blushing scarlet, and said:

"You never tell lies. Do you think that I would tell lies?"

On which she fell to the rear, and followed them steadfastly, speakingto no one, but evidently determined to follow them to the world's end. 

They soon left the highroad; and for several days held on downwards, hewing their path slowly and painfully through the thick underwood. Onthe evening of the fourth day, they had reached the margin of a river, at a point where it seemed broad and still enough for navigation. Forthose three days they had not seen a trace of human beings, and the spotseemed lonely enough for them to encamp without fear of discovery, andbegin the making of their canoes. They began to spread themselves alongthe stream, in search of the soft-wooded trees proper for their purpose;but hardly had their search begun, when, in the midst of a densethicket, they came upon a sight which filled them with astonishment. Beneath a honeycombed cliff, which supported one enormous cotton-tree, was a spot of some thirty yards square sloping down to the stream, planted in rows with magnificent banana-plants, full twelve feet high, and bearing among their huge waxy leaves clusters of ripeningfruit; while, under their mellow shade, yams and cassava plants wereflourishing luxuriantly, the whole being surrounded by a hedge of orangeand scarlet flowers. There it lay, streaked with long shadows from thesetting sun, while a cool southern air rustled in the cotton-tree, andflapped to and fro the great banana-leaves; a tiny paradise of art andcare. But where was its inhabitant?

Aroused by the noise of their approach, a figure issued from a cave inthe rocks, and, after gazing at them for a moment, came down the gardentowards them. He was a tall and stately old man, whose snow-white beardand hair covered his chest and shoulders, while his lower limbs werewrapt in Indian-web. Slowly and solemnly he approached, a staff in onehand, a string of beads in the other, the living likeness of some oldHebrew prophet, or anchorite of ancient legend. He bowed courteously toAmyas (who of course returned his salute), and was in act to speak, whenhis eye fell upon the Indians, who were laying down their burdens ina heap under the trees. His mild countenance assumed instantly anexpression of the acutest sorrow and displeasure; and, striking hishands together, he spoke in Spanish:

"Alas! miserable me! Alas! unhappy senors! Do my old eyes deceive me, and is it one of those evil visions of the past which haunt my dreamsby night; or has the accursed thirst of gold, the ruin of my race, penetrated even into this my solitude? Oh, senors, senors, know you notthat you bear with you your own poison, your own familiar fiend, theroot of every evil? And is it not enough for you, senors, to loadyourselves with the wedge of Achan, and partake his doom, but you mustmake these hapless heathens the victims of your greed and cruelty, and forestall for them on earth those torments which may await theirunbaptized souls hereafter?"

"We have preserved, and not enslaved these Indians, ancient senor, " saidAmyas, proudly; "and to-morrow will see them as free as the birds overour heads. "

"Free? Then you cannot be countrymen of mine! But pardon an old man, my son, if he has spoken too hastily in the bitterness of his ownexperience. But who and whence are you? And why are you bringing intothis lonely wilderness that gold--for I know too well the shape of thoseaccursed packets, which would God that I had never seen!"

"What we are, reverend sir, matters little, as long as we behave to youas the young should to the old. As for our gold, it will be a curse ora blessing to us, I conceive, just as we use it well or ill; and so isa man's head, or his hand, or any other thing; but that is no reason forcutting off his limbs for fear of doing harm with them; neither is itfor throwing away those packages, which, by your leave, we shall depositin one of these caves. We must be your neighbors, I fear, for a dayor two; but I can promise you, that your garden shall be respected, oncondition that you do not inform any human soul of our being here. "

"God forbid, senor, that I should try to increase the number of myvisitors, much less to bring hither strife and blood, of which I haveseen too much already. As you have come in peace, in peace depart. Leaveme alone with God and my penitence, and may the Lord have mercy on you!"

And he was about to withdraw, when, recollecting himself, he turnedsuddenly to Amyas again--

"Pardon me, senor, if, after forty years of utter solitude, I shrink atfirst from the conversation of human beings, and forget, in the habitualshyness of a recluse, the duties of a hospitable gentleman of Spain. My garden, and all which it produces, is at your service. Only let meentreat that these poor Indians shall have their share; for heathensthough they be, Christ died for them; and I cannot but cherish in mysoul some secret hope that He did not die in vain. "

"God forbid!" said Brimblecombe. "They are no worse than we, for aughtI see, whatsoever their fathers may have been; and they have fared noworse than we since they have been with us, nor will, I promise you. "

The good fellow did not tell that he had been starving himself for thelast three days to cram the children with his own rations; and thatthe sailors, and even Amyas, had been going out of their way every fiveminutes, to get fruit for their new pets. 

A camp was soon formed; and that evening the old hermit asked Amyas, Cary, and Brimblecombe to come up into his cavern. 

They went; and after the accustomed compliments had passed, sat down onmats upon the ground, while the old man stood, leaning against a slab ofstone surmounted by a rude wooden cross, which evidently served him asa place of prayer. He seemed restless and anxious, as if he waited forthem to begin the conversation; while they, in their turn, waited forhim. At last, when courtesy would not allow him to be silent any longer, he began with a faltering voice:

"You may be equally surprised, senors, at my presence in such a spot, and at my asking you to become my guests even for one evening, while Ihave no better hospitality to offer you. "

"It is superfluous, senor, to offer us food in your own habitation whenyou have already put all that you possess at our command. "

"True, senors: and my motive for inviting you was, perhaps, somewhat ofa selfish one. I am possessed by a longing to unburthen my heart of atale which I never yet told to man, and which I fear can give to younothing but pain; and yet I will entreat you, of your courtesy, to hearof that which you cannot amend, simply in mercy to a man who feels thathe must confess to some one, or die as miserable as he has lived. AndI believe my confidence will not be misplaced, when it is bestowed uponyou. I have been a cavalier, even as you are; and, strange as it mayseem, that which I have to tell I would sooner impart to the ears of asoldier than of a priest; because it will then sink into souls which canat least sympathize, though they cannot absolve. And you, cavaliers, Iperceive to be noble, from your very looks; to be valiant, by your merepresence in this hostile land; and to be gentle, courteous, and prudent, by your conduct this day to me and to your captives. Will you, then, hear an old man's tale? I am, as you see, full of words; for speech, from long disuse, is difficult to me, and I fear at every sentence lestmy stiffened tongue should play the traitor to my worn-out brain: butif my request seems impertinent, you have only to bid me talk as a hostshould, of matters which concern his guests, and not himself. "

The three young men, equally surprised and interested by this exordium, could only entreat their host to "use their ears as those of hisslaves, " on which, after fresh apologies, he began:

"Know, then, victorious cavaliers, that I, whom you now see here as apoor hermit, was formerly one of the foremost of that terrible band whowent with Pizarro to the conquest of Peru. Eighty years old am I thisday, unless the calendar which I have carved upon yonder tree deceivesme; and twenty years old was I when I sailed with that fierce man fromPanama, to do that deed with which all earth, and heaven, and hellitself, I fear, has rung. How we endured, suffered, and triumphed; how, mad with success, and glutted with blood, we turned our swords againsteach other, I need not tell to you. For what gentleman of Europe knowsnot our glory and our shame?"

His hearers bowed assent. 

"Yes; you have heard of our prowess: for glorious we were awhile, inthe sight of God and man. But I will not speak of our glory, for it istarnished; nor of our wealth, for it was our poison; nor of the sins ofmy comrades, for they have expiated them; but of my own sins, senors, which are more in number than the hairs of my head, and a burden toogreat to bear. Miserere Domine!"

And smiting on his breast, the old warrior went on:

"As I said, we were mad with blood; and none more mad than I. Surely itis no fable that men are possessed, even in this latter age, by devils. Why else did I rejoice in slaying? Why else was I, the son of a nobleand truthful cavalier of Castile, among the foremost to urge uponmy general the murder of the Inca? Why did I rejoice over his dyingagonies? Why, when Don Ferdinando de Soto returned, and upbraided uswith our villainy, did I, instead of confessing the sin which that noblecavalier set before us, withstand him to his face, ay, and would havedrawn the sword on him, but that he refused to fight a liar, as he saidthat I was?"

"Then Don de Soto was against the murder? So his own grandson told me. But I had heard of him only as a tyrant and a butcher. "

"Senor, he was compact of good and evil, as are other men: he has paiddearly for his sin; let us hope that he has been paid in turn for hisrighteousness. "

John Brimblecombe shook his head at this doctrine, but did not speak. 

"So you know his grandson? I trust he is a noble cavalier?"

Amyas was silent; the old gentleman saw that he had touched some sorepoint, and continued:

"And why, again, senors, did I after that day give myself up to crueltyas to a sport; yea, thought that I did God service by destroying thecreatures whom He had made; I who now dare not destroy a gnat, lest Iharm a being more righteous than myself? Was I mad? If I was, how thenwas I all that while as prudent as I am this day? But I am not here toargue, senors, but to confess. In a word, there was no deed of blooddone for the next few years in which I had not my share, if it were butwithin my reach. When Challcuchima was burned, I was consenting; whenthat fair girl, the wife of Inca Manco, was tortured to death, I smiledat the agonies at which she too smiled, and taunted on the soldiers, totry if I could wring one groan from her before she died. You know whatfollowed, the pillage, the violence, the indignities offered to thevirgins of the Sun. Senors, I will not pollute your chaste ears withwhat was done. But, senors, I had a brother. "

And the old man paused awhile. 

"A brother--whether better or worse than me, God knows, before whom hehas appeared ere now. At least he did not, as I did, end as a rebelto his king! There was a maiden in one of those convents, senors, morebeautiful than day: and (I blush to tell it) the two brothers of whomI spoke quarrelled for the possession of her. They struck each other, senors! Who struck first I know not; but swords were drawn, and--Thecavaliers round parted them, crying shame. And one of those twobrothers--the one who speaks to you now--crying, 'If I cannot have her, no man shall!' turned the sword which was aimed at his brother, againstthat hapless maiden--and--hear me out, senors, before you flee from mypresence as from that of a monster!--stabbed her to the heart. And asshe died--one moment more, senors, that I may confess all!--she lookedup in my face with a smile as of heaven, and thanked me for having ridher once and for all from Christians and their villainy. "

The old man paused. 

"God forgive you, senor!" said Jack Brimblecombe, softly. 

"You do not, then, turn from me, do not curse me? Then I will try youfarther still, senors. I will know from human lips, whether man can dosuch deeds as I have done, and yet be pitied by his kind; that so I mayhave some hope, that where man has mercy, God may have mercy also. Doyou think that I repented at those awful words? Nothing less, senorsall. No more than I did when De Soto (on whose soul God have mercy)called me--me, a liar! I knew myself a sinner; and for that very reasonI was determined to sin. I would go on, that I might prove myself rightto myself, by showing that I could go on, and not be struck dead fromheaven. Out of mere pride, senors, and self-will, I would fill up thecup of my iniquity; and I filled it. 

"You know, doubtless, senors, how, after the death of old Almagro, hisson's party conspired against Pizarro. Now my brother remained faithfulto his old commander; and for that very reason, if you will believe it, did I join the opposite party, and gave myself up, body and soul, to doAlmagro's work. It was enough for me, that the brother who had struckme thought a man right, for me to think that man a devil. What Almagro'swork was, you know. He slew Pizarro, murdered him, senors, like a dog, or rather, like an old lion. "

"He deserved his doom, " said Amyas. 

"Let God judge him, senor, not we; and least of all of us I, who drewthe first blood, and perhaps the last, that day. I, senors, it waswho treacherously stabbed Francisco de Chanes on the staircase, and soopened the door which else had foiled us all; and I--But I am speakingto men of honor, not to butchers. Suffice it that the old man died likea lion, and that we pulled him down, young as we were, like curs. 

"Well, I followed Almagro's fortunes. I helped to slay Alvarado. Callthat my third murder, if you will, for if he was traitor to a traitor, Iwas traitor to a true man. Then to the war; you know how Vaca de Castrowas sent from Spain to bring order and justice where was naught butchaos, and the dance of all devils. We met him on the hills of Chupas. Peter of Candia, the Venetian villain, pointed our guns false, andAlmagro stabbed him to the heart. We charged with our lances, managainst man, horse against horse. All fights I ever fought" (and the oldman's eyes flashed out the ancient fire) "were child's play to that day. Our lances shivered like reeds, and we fell on with battle-axe and mace. None asked for quarter, and none gave it; friend to friend, cousin tocousin--no, nor brother, O God! to brother. We were the better armed:but numbers were on their side. Fat Carbajal charged our cannon like anelephant, and took them; but Holguin was shot down. I was with Almagro, and we swept all before us, inch by inch, but surely, till the nightfell. Then Vaca de Castro, the licentiate, the clerk, the schoolman, the man of books, came down on us with his reserve like a whirlwind. Oh! cavaliers, did not God fight against us, when He let us, the men ofiron, us, the heroes of Cuzco and Vilcaconga, be foiled by a scholar ina black gown, with a pen behind his ear? We were beaten. Some ran; somedid not run, senors; and I did not. Geronimo de Alvarado shouted tome, 'We slew Pizarro! We killed the tyrant!' and we rushed upon theconqueror's lances, to die like cavaliers. There was a gallant gentlemanin front of me. His lance struck me in the crest, and bore me over myhorse's croup: but mine, senors, struck him full in the vizor. We bothwent to the ground together, and the battle galloped over us. 

"I know not how long I lay, for I was stunned: but after awhile I liftedmyself. My lance was still clenched in my hand, broken but not parted. The point of it was in my foeman's brain. I crawled to him, weary andwounded, and saw that he was a noble cavalier. He lay on his back, hisarms spread wide. I knew that he was dead: but there came over me thestrangest longing to see that dead man's face. Perhaps I knew him. Atleast I could set my foot upon it, and say, 'Vanquished as I am, therelies a foe!' I caught hold of the rivets, and tore his helmet off. Themoon shone bright, senors, as bright as she shines now--the glaring, ghastly, tell-tale moon, which shows man all the sins which he tries tohide; and by that moonlight, senors, I beheld the dead man's face. Andit was the face of my brother!

 * * * * *

"Did you ever guess, most noble cavaliers, what Cain's curse might belike? Look on me, and know!

"I tore off my armor and fled, as Cain fled--northward ever, till Ishould reach a land where the name of Spaniard, yea, and the name ofChristian, which the Spaniard has caused to be blasphemed from east towest, should never come. I sank fainting, and waked beneath this rock, this tree, forty-four years ago, and I have never left them since, saveonce, to obtain seeds from Indians, who knew not that I was a SpanishConquistador. And may God have mercy on my soul!"

The old man ceased; and his young hearers, deeply affected by his tale, sat silent for a few minutes. Then John Brimblecombe spoke:

"You are old, sir, and I am young; and perhaps it is not my place tocounsel you. Moreover, sir, in spite of this strange dress of mine, I amneither more nor less than an English priest; and I suppose you will notbe willing to listen to a heretic. "

"I have seen Catholics, senor, commit too many abominations even withthe name of God upon their lips, to shrink from a heretic if he speakwisely and well. At least, you are a man; and after all, my heart yearnsmore and more, the longer I sit among you, for the speech of beings ofmy own race. Say what you will, in God's name!"

"I hold, sir, " said Jack, modestly, "according to holy Scripture, thatwhosoever repents from his heart, as God knows you seem to have done, isforgiven there and then; and though his sins be as scarlet, they shallbe white as snow, for the sake of Him who died for all. "

"Amen! Amen!" said the old man, looking lovingly at his little crucifix. "I hope and pray--His name is Love. I know it now; who better? But, sir, even if He have forgiven me, how can I forgive myself? In honor, sir, Imust be just, and sternly just, to myself, even if God be indulgent;as He has been to me, who has left me here in peace for forty years, instead of giving me a prey to the first puma or jaguar which howlsround me every night. He has given me time to work out my own salvation;but have I done it? That doubt maddens me at whiles. When I look uponthat crucifix, I float on boundless hope: but if I take my eyes fromit for a moment, faith fails, and all is blank, and dark, and dreadful, till the devil whispers me to plunge into yon stream, and once and forever wake to certainty, even though it be in hell. "

What was Jack to answer? He himself knew not at first. More was wantedthan the mere repetition of free pardon. 

"Heretic as I am, sir, you will not believe me when I tell you, as apriest, that God accepts your penitence. "

"My heart tells me so already, at moments. But how know I that it doesnot lie?"

"Senor, " said Jack, "the best way to punish oneself for doing ill, seemsto me to go and do good; and the best way to find out whether God meansyou well, is to find out whether He will help you to do well. If youhave wronged Indians in time past, see whether you cannot right themnow. If you can, you are safe. For the Lord will not send the devil'sservants to do His work. "

The old man held down his head. 

"Right the Indians? Alas! what is done, is done!"

"Not altogether, senor, " said Amyas, "as long as an Indian remains alivein New Granada. "

"Senor, shall I confess my weakness? A voice within me has bid me ahundred times go forth and labor, for those oppressed wretches, but Idare not obey. I dare not look them in the face. I should fancy thatthey knew my story; that the very birds upon the trees would reveal mycrime, and bid them turn from me with horror. "

"Senor, " said Amyas, "these are but the sick fancies of a noble spirit, feeding on itself in solitude. You have but to try to conquer. "

"And look now, " said Jack, "if you dare not go forth to help theIndians, see now how God has brought the Indians to your own door. Oh, excellent sir--"

"Call me not excellent, " said the old man, smiting his breast. 

"I do, and shall, sir, while I see in you an excellent repentance, anexcellent humility, and an excellent justice, " said Jack. "But oh, sir, look upon these forty souls, whom we must leave behind, like sheep whichhave no shepherd. Could you not teach them to fear God and to love eachother, to live like rational men, perhaps to die like Christians? Theywould obey you as a dog obeys his master. You might be their king, theirfather, yea, their pope, if you would. "

"You do not speak like a Lutheran. "

"I am not a Lutheran, but an Englishman: but, Protestant as I am, Godknows, I had sooner see these poor souls of your creed, than of none. "

"But I am no priest. "

"When they are ready, " said Jack, "the Lord will send a priest. If youbegin the good work, you may trust to Him to finish it. "

"God help me!" said the old warrior. 

The talk lasted long into the night, but Amyas was up long beforedaybreak, felling the trees; and as he and Cary walked back tobreakfast, the first thing which they saw was the old man in his gardenwith four or five Indian children round him, talking smilingly to them. 

"The old man's heart is sound still, " said Will. "No man is lost whostill is fond of little children. "

"Ah, senors!" said the hermit as they came up, "you see that I havebegun already to act upon your advice. "

"And you have begun at the right end, " quoth Amyas; "if you win thechildren, you win the mothers. "

"And if you win the mothers, " quoth Will, "the poor fathers must needsobey their wives, and follow in the wake. "

The old man only sighed. "The prattle of these little ones softensmy hard heart, senors, with a new pleasure; but it saddens me, when Irecollect that there may be children of mine now in the world--childrenwho have never known a father's love--never known aught but a master'sthreats--"

"God has taken care of these little ones. Trust that He has taken careof yours. "

That day Amyas assembled the Indians, and told them that they must obeythe hermit as their king, and settle there as best they could: for ifthey broke up and wandered away, nothing was left for them but to fallone by one into the hands of the Spaniards. They heard him with theirusual melancholy and stupid acquiescence, and went and came as they werebid, like animated machines; but the negroes were of a different temper;and four or five stout fellows gave Amyas to understand that they hadbeen warriors in their own country, and that warriors they would bestill; and nothing should keep them from Spaniard-hunting. Amyas sawthat the presence of these desperadoes in the new colony would bothendanger the authority of the hermit, and bring the Spaniards downupon it in a few weeks; so, making a virtue of necessity, he asked themwhether they would go Spaniard-hunting with him. 

This was just what the bold Coromantees wished for; they grinned andshouted their delight at serving under so great a warrior, and then setto work most gallantly, getting through more in the day than any tenIndians, and indeed than any two Englishmen. 

So went on several days, during which the trees were felled, and theprocess of digging them out began; while Ayacanora, silent and moody, wandered into the woods all day with her blow-gun, and brought homeat evening a load of parrots, monkeys, and curassows; two or three oldhands were sent out to hunt likewise; so that, what with the game andthe fish of the river, which seemed inexhaustible, and the fruit of theneighboring palm-trees, there was no lack of food in the camp. But whatto do with Ayacanora weighed heavily on the mind of Amyas. He opened hisheart on the matter to the old hermit, and asked him whether he wouldtake charge of her. The latter smiled, and shook his head at the notion. "If your report of her be true, I may as well take in hand to tame ajaguar. " However, he promised to try; and one evening, as they wereall standing together before the mouth of the cave, Ayacanora came upsmiling with the fruit of her day's sport; and Amyas, thinking this afit opportunity, began a carefully prepared harangue to her, which heintended to be altogether soothing, and even pathetic, --to the effectthat the maiden, having no parents, was to look upon this good old manas her father; that he would instruct her in the white man's religion(at which promise Yeo, as a good Protestant, winced a good deal), andteach her how to be happy and good, and so forth; and that, in fine, shewas to remain there with the hermit. 

She heard him quietly, her great dark eyes opening wider and wider, herbosom swelling, her stature seeming to grow taller every moment, as sheclenched her weapons firmly in both her hands. Beautiful as she alwayswas, she had never looked so beautiful before; and as Amyas spoke ofparting with her, it was like throwing away a lovely toy; but it must bedone, for her sake, for his, perhaps for that of all the crew. 

The last words had hardly passed his lips, when, with a shriek ofmingled scorn, rage, and fear, she dashed through the astonished group. 

"Stop her!" were Amyas's first words; but his next were, "Let hergo!" for, springing like a deer through the little garden and over theflower-fence, she turned, menacing with her blow-gun the sailors, whohad already started in her pursuit. 

"Let her alone, for Heaven's sake!" shouted Amyas, who, he scarce knewwhy, shrank from the thought of seeing those graceful limbs strugglingin the seamen's grasp. 

She turned again, and in another minute her gaudy plumes had vanishedamong the dark forest stems, as swiftly as if she had been a passingbird. 

All stood thunderstruck at this unexpected end to the conference. Atlast Aymas spoke:

"There's no use in standing here idle, gentlemen. Staring after herwon't bring her back. After all, I'm glad she's gone. "

But the tone of his voice belied his words. Now he had lost her, hewanted her back; and perhaps every one present, except he, guessed why. 

But Ayacanora did not return; and ten days more went on in continualtoil at the canoes without any news of her from the hunters. Amyas, bythe by, had strictly bidden these last not to follow the girl, not evento speak to her, if they came across her in their wanderings. He wasshrewd enough to guess that the only way to cure her sulkiness was tooutsulk her; but there was no sign of her presence in any direction; andthe canoes being finished at last, the gold, and such provisions as theycould collect, were placed on board, and one evening the party preparedfor their fresh voyage. They determined to travel as much as possible bynight, for fear of discovery, especially in the neighborhood of the fewSpanish settlements which were then scattered along the banks of themain stream. These, however, the negroes knew, so that there was no fearof coming on them unawares; and as for falling asleep in their nightjourneys, "Nobody, " the negroes said, "ever slept on the Magdalena; themosquitoes took too good care of that. " Which fact Amyas and his crewverified afterwards as thoroughly as wretched men could do. 

The sun had sunk; the night had all but fallen; the men were all onboard; Amyas in command of one canoe, Cary of the other. The Indianswere grouped on the bank, watching the party with their listlessstare, and with them the young guide, who preferred remaining among theIndians, and was made supremely happy by the present of Spanish swordand an English axe; while, in the midst, the old hermit, with tears inhis eyes, prayed God's blessing on them. 

"I owe to you, noble cavaliers, new peace, new labor, I may say, newlife. May God be with you, and teach you to use your gold and yourswords better than I used mine. "

The adventurers waved their hands to him. 

"Give way, men, " cried Amyas; and as he spoke the paddles dashed intothe water, to a right English hurrah! which sent the birds flutteringfrom their roosts, and was answered by the yell of a hundred monkeys, and the distant roar of the jaguar. 

About twenty yards below, a wooded rock, some ten feet high, hung overthe stream. The river was not there more than fifteen yards broad; deepnear the rock, shallow on the farther side; and Amyas's canoe led theway, within ten feet of the stone. 

As he passed, a dark figure leapt from the bushes on the edge, andplunged heavily into the water close to the boat. All started. A jaguar?No; he would not have missed so short a spring. What, then? A humanbeing?

A head rose panting to the surface, and with a few strong strokes theswimmer had clutched the gunwale. It was Ayacanora!

"Go back!" shouted Amyas. "Go back, girl!"

She uttered the same wild cry with which she had fled into the forest. 

"I will die, then!" and she threw up her arms. Another moment, and shehad sunk. 

To see her perish before his eyes! who could bear that? Her handsalone were above the surface. Amyas caught convulsively at her in thedarkness, and seized her wrist. 

A yell rose from the negroes: a roar from the crew as from a cage oflions. There was a rush and a swirl along the surface of the stream; and"Caiman! caiman!" shouted twenty voices. 

Now, or never, for the strong arm! "To larboard, men, or over we go!"cried Amyas, and with one huge heave he lifted the slender body uponthe gunwale. Her lower limbs were still in the water, when, within arm'slength, rose above the stream a huge muzzle. The lower jaw lay flat, theupper reached as high as Amyas's head. He could see the long fangsgleam white in the moonshine; he could see for one moment full down themonstrous depths of that great gape, which would have crushed a buffalo. Three inches, and no more, from that soft side, the snout surged up--

There was the gleam of an axe from above, a sharp ringing blow, and thejaws came together with a clash which rang from bank to bank. He hadmissed her! Swerving beneath the blow, his snout had passed beneathher body, and smashed up against the side of the canoe, as the striker, overbalanced, fell headlong overboard upon the monster's back. 

"Who is it?"

"Yeo!" shouted a dozen. 

Man and beast went down together, and where they sank, the moonlightshone on a great swirling eddy, while all held their breaths, andAyacanora cowered down into the bottom of the canoe, her proud spiritutterly broken, for the first time, by the terror of that great need, and by a bitter loss. For in the struggle, the holy trumpet, companionof all her wanderings, had fallen from her bosom; and her fond hope ofbringing magic prosperity to her English friends had sunk with it to thebottom of the stream. 

None heeded her; not even Amyas, round whose knees she clung, fawninglike a spaniel dog: for where was Yeo?

Another swirl; a shout from the canoe abreast of them, and Yeo rose, having dived clean under his own boat, and risen between the two. 

"Safe as yet, lads! Heave me a line, or he'll have me after all. "

But ere the brute reappeared, the old man was safe on board. 

"The Lord has stood by me, " panted he, as he shot the water fromhis ears. "We went down together: I knew the Indian trick, and beinguppermost, had my thumbs in his eyes before he could turn: but hecarried me down to the very mud. My breath was nigh gone, so I left go, and struck up: but my toes tingled as I rose again, I'll warrant. Therethe beggar is, looking for me, I declare!"

And, true enough, there was the huge brute swimming slowly round andround, in search of his lost victim. It was too dark to put an arrowinto his eye; so they paddled on, while Ayacanora crouched silently atAmyas's feet. 

"Yeo!" asked he, in a low voice, "what shall we do with her?"

"Why ask me, sir?" said the old man, as he had a very good right to ask. 

"Because, when one don't know oneself, one had best inquire of one'selders. Besides, you saved her life at the risk of your own, and have aright to a voice in the matter, if any one has, old friend. "

"Then, my dear young captain, if the Lord puts a precious soul underyour care, don't you refuse to bear the burden He lays on you. "

Amyas was silent awhile; while Ayacanora, who was evidently utterlyexhausted by the night's adventure, and probably by long wanderings, watchings, and weepings which had gone before it, sank with her headagainst his knee, fell fast asleep, and breathed as gently as a child. 

At last he rose in the canoe, and called Cary alongside. 

"Listen to me, gentlemen, and sailors all. You know that we have amaiden on board here, by no choice of our own. Whether she will be ablessing to us, God alone can tell: but she may turn to the greatestcurse which has befallen us ever since we came out over Bar three yearsago. Promise me one thing, or I put her ashore the next beach, and thatis, that you will treat her as if she were your own sister; and make anagreement here and now, that if the maid comes to harm among us, the manthat is guilty shall hang for it by the neck till he's dead, even thoughhe be I, Captain Leigh, who speak to you. I'll hang you, as I am aChristian; and I give you free leave to hang me. "

"A very fair bargain, " quoth Cary, "and I for one will see it kept to. Lads, we'll twine a double strong halter for the captain as we go downalong. "

"I am not jesting, Will. "

"I know it, good old lad, " said Cary, stretching out his own hand to himacross the water through the darkness, and giving him a hearty shake. "Iknow it; and listen, men! So help me God! but I'll be the first to backthe Captain in being as good as his word, as I trust he never will needto be. "

"Amen!" said Brimblecombe. "Amen!" said Yeo; and many an honest voicejoined in that honest compact, and kept it too, like men. 

CHAPTER XXVI

HOW THEY TOOK THE GREAT GALLEON

 "When captains courageous, whom death could not daunt, Did march to the siege of the city of Gaunt, They muster'd their soldiers by two and by three, But the foremost in battle was Mary Ambree. When brave Sir John Major was slain in her sight, Who was her true lover, her joy and delight, Because he was murther'd most treacherouslie, Then vow'd to avenge him fair Mary Ambree. "

 Old Ballad, A. D. 1584. 

One more glance at the golden tropic sea, and the golden tropicevenings, by the shore of New Granada, in the golden Spanish Main. 

The bay of Santa Marta is rippling before the land-breeze one sheet ofliving flame. The mighty forests are sparkling with myriad fireflies. The lazy mist which lounges round the inner hills shines golden inthe sunset rays; and, nineteen thousand feet aloft, the mighty peak ofHorqueta cleaves the abyss of air, rose-red against the dark-bluevault of heaven. The rosy cone fades to a dull leaden hue; but only forawhile. The stars flash out one by one, and Venus, like another moon, tinges the eastern snows with gold, and sheds across the bay a longyellow line of rippling light. Everywhere is glory and richness. Whatwonder if the earth in that enchanted land be as rich to her inmostdepths as she is upon the surface? The heaven, the hills, the sea, areone sparkling garland of jewels--what wonder if the soil be jewelledalso? if every watercourse and bank of earth be spangled with emeraldsand rubies, with grains of gold and feathered wreaths of native silver?

So thought, in a poetic mood, the Bishop of Cartagena, as he sat inthe state cabin of that great galleon, The City of the True Cross, andlooked pensively out of the window towards the shore. The good man wasin a state of holy calm. His stout figure rested on one easy-chair, hisstout ankles on another, beside a table spread with oranges and limes, guavas and pine-apples, and all the fruits of Ind. 

An Indian girl, bedizened with scarfs and gold chains, kept off theflies with a fan of feathers; and by him, in a pail of ice from theHorqueta (the gift of some pious Spanish lady, who had "spent" an Indianor two in bringing down the precious offering), stood more than oneflask of virtuous wine of Alicant. But he was not so selfish, good man, as to enjoy either ice or wine alone; Don Pedro, colonel of the soldierson board, Don Alverez, intendant of his Catholic majesty's customs atSanta Marta, and Don Paul, captain of mariners in The City of theTrue Cross, had, by his especial request, come to his assistance thatevening, and with two friars, who sat at the lower end of the table, were doing their best to prevent the good man from taking too bitterlyto heart the present unsatisfactory state of his cathedral town, whichhad just been sacked and burnt by an old friend of ours, Sir FrancisDrake. 

"We have been great sufferers, senors, --ah, great sufferers, " snuffledthe bishop, quoting Scripture, after the fashion of the day, gliblyenough, but often much too irreverently for me to repeat, so boldly werehis texts travestied, and so freely interlarded by grumblings at Titaand the mosquitoes. "Great sufferers, truly; but there shall be aremnant, --ah, a remnant like the shaking of the olive tree and thegleaning grapes when the vintage is done. --Ah! Gold? Yes, I trustOur Lady's mercies are not shut up, nor her arms shortened. --Look, senors!"--and he pointed majestically out of the window. "It looks gold!it smells of gold, as I may say, by a poetical license. Yea, the verywaves, as they ripple past us, sing of gold, gold, gold!"

"It is a great privilege, " said the intendant, "to have comfort sogracefully administered at once by a churchman and a scholar. "

"A poet, too, " said Don Pedro. "You have no notion what sweet sonnets--"

"Hush, Don Pedro--hush! If I, a mateless bird, have spent an idle hourin teaching lovers how to sing, why, what of that? I am a churchman, senors; but I am a man and I can feel, senors; I can sympathize; I canpalliate; I can excuse. Who knows better than I how much human naturelurks in us fallen sons of Adam? Tita!"

"Um?" said the trembling girl, with a true Indian grunt. 

"Fill his excellency the intendant's glass. Does much more treasure comedown, illustrious senor? May the poor of Mary hope for a few more crumbsfrom their Mistress's table?"

"Not a pezo, I fear. The big white cow up there"--and he pointed to theHorqueta--"has been milked dry for this year. "

"Ah!" And he looked up at the magnificent snow peak. "Only good to coolwine with, eh? and as safe for the time being as Solomon's birds. "

"Solomon's birds? Explain your recondite allusion, my lord. "

"Enlighten us, your excellency, enlighten us. "

"Ah! thereby hangs a tale. You know the holy birds who run up and downon the Prado at Seville among the ladies' pretty feet, --eh? with hookednoses and cinnamon crests? Of course. Hoopoes--Upupa, as the classicshave it. Well, senors, once on a time, the story goes, these hoopoesall had golden crowns on their heads; and, senors, they took theconsequences--eh? But it befell on a day that all the birds and beastscame to do homage at the court of his most Catholic majesty KingSolomon, and among them came these same hoopoes; and they had a littlerequest to make, the poor rogues. And what do you think it was? Why, that King Solomon would pray for them that they might wear any sort ofcrowns but these same golden ones; for--listen, Tita, and see the snareof riches--mankind so hunted, and shot, and trapped, and snared them, for the sake of these same golden crowns, that life was a burden tobear. So Solomon prayed, and instead of golden crowns, they all receivedcrowns of feathers; and ever since, senors, they live as merrily ascrickets in an oven, and also have the honor of bearing the name of hismost Catholic majesty King Solomon. Tita! fill the senor commandant'sglass. Fray Gerundio, what are you whispering about down there, sir?"

Fray Gerundio had merely commented to his brother on the bishop's storyof Solomon's birds with an--

"O si sic omnia!--would that all gold would turn to feathers in likewise!"

"Then, friend, " replied the other, a Dominican, like Gerundio, but of adarker and sterner complexion, "corrupt human nature would within a weekdiscover some fresh bauble, for which to kill and be killed in vain. "

"What is that, Fray Gerundio?" asked the bishop again. 

"I merely remarked, that it were well for the world if all mankind wereto put up the same prayer as the hoopoes. "

"World, sir? What do you know about the world? Convert your Indians, sir, if you please, and leave affairs of state to your superiors. Youwill excuse him, senors" (turning to the Dons, and speaking in a lowertone). "A very worthy and pious man, but a poor peasant's son; andbeside--you understand. A little wrong here; too much fasting andwatching, I fear, good man. " And the bishop touched his foreheadknowingly, to signify that Fray Gerundio's wits were in anunsatisfactory state. 

The Fray heard and saw with a quiet smile. He was one of those excellentmen whom the cruelties of his countrymen had stirred up (as thedarkness, by mere contrast, makes the light more bright), as they didLas Casas, Gasca, and many another noble name which is written in thebook of life, to deeds of love and pious daring worthy of any creed orage. True Protestants, they protested, even before kings, against theevil which lay nearest them, the sin which really beset them; trueliberals, they did not disdain to call the dark-skinned heathen theirbrothers; and asserted in terms which astonish us, when we recollect theage in which they were spoken, the inherent freedom of every being whowore the flesh and blood which their Lord wore; true martyrs, theybore witness of Christ, and received too often the rewards of such, in slander and contempt. Such an one was Fray Gerundio; a poor, mean, clumsy-tongued peasant's son, who never could put three sentencestogether, save when he waxed eloquent, crucifix in hand, amid somegroup of Indians or negroes. He was accustomed to such rebuffs as thebishop's; he took them for what they were worth, and sipped his wine insilence; while the talk went on. 

"They say, " observed the commandant, "that a very small Plate-fleet willgo to Spain this year. "

"What else?" says the intendant. "What have we to send, in the name ofall saints, since these accursed English Lutherans have swept us outclean?"

"And if we had anything to send, " says the sea-captain, "what have we tosend it in? That fiend incarnate, Drake--"

"Ah!" said his holiness; "spare my ears! Don Pedro, you will oblige myweakness by not mentioning that man;--his name is Tartarean, unfitfor polite lips. Draco--a dragon--serpent--the emblem of Diabolushimself--ah! And the guardian of the golden apples of the West, whowould fain devour our new Hercules, his most Catholic majesty. DeceivedEve, too, with one of those same apples--a very evil name, senors--aTartarean name, --Tita!"

"Um!"

"Fill my glass. "

"Nay, " cried the colonel, with a great oath, "this English fellow is ofanother breed of serpent from that, I warrant. "

"Your reason, senor; your reason?"

"Because this one would have seen Eve at the bottom of the sea, beforehe let her, or any one but himself, taste aught which looked like gold. "

"Ah, ah!--very good! But--we laugh, valiant senors, while the Churchweeps. Alas for my sheep!"

"And alas for their sheepfold! It will be four years before we can getCartagena rebuilt again. And as for the blockhouse, when we shall getthat rebuilt, Heaven only knows, while his majesty goes on draining theIndies for his English Armada. The town is as naked now as an Indian'sback. "

"Baptista Antonio, the surveyor, has sent home by me a relation to theking, setting forth our defenceless state. But to read a relation andto act on it are two cocks of very different hackles, bishop, as allstatesmen know. Heaven grant we may have orders by the next fleet tofortify, or we shall be at the mercy of every English pirate!"

"Ah, that blockhouse!" sighed the bishop. "That was indeed a villainoustrick. A hundred and ten thousand ducats for the ransom of the town!After having burned and plundered the one-half--and having made medine with them too, ah! and sit between the--the serpent, and hislieutenant-general--and drunk my health in my own private wine--winethat I had from Xeres nine years ago, senors and offered, the shamelessheretics, to take me to England, if I would turn Lutheran, and find me awife, and make an honest man of me--ah! and then to demand fresh ransomfor the priory and the fort--perfidious!"

"Well, " said the colonel, "they had the law of us, the cunning rascals, for we forgot to mention anything but the town, in the agreement. Whowould have dreamed of such a fetch as that?"

"So I told my good friend the prior, when he came to me to borrow thethousand crowns. It was Heaven's will. Unexpected like the thunderbolt, and to be borne as such. Every man must bear his own burden. How could Ilend him aught?"

"Your holiness's money had been all carried off by them before, " saidthe intendant, who knew, and none better, the exact contrary. 

"Just so--all my scanty savings! desolate in my lone old age. Ah, senors, had we not had warning of the coming of these wretches frommy dear friend the Marquess of Santa Cruz, whom I remember daily in myprayers, we had been like to them who go down quick into the pit. I toomight have saved a trifle, had I been minded: but in thinking too muchof others, I forgot myself, alas!"

"Warning or none, we had no right to be beaten by such a handful, " saidthe sea-captain; "and a shame it is, and a shame it will be, for many aday to come. "

"Do you mean to cast any slur, sir, upon the courage and conduct of hisCatholic majesty's soldiers?" asked the colonel. 

"I?--No; but we were foully beaten, and that behind our barricades too, and there's the plain truth. "

"Beaten, sir! Do you apply such a term to the fortunes of war? What morecould our governor have done? Had we not the ways filled with poisonedcaltrops, guarded by Indian archers, barred with butts full of earth, raked with culverins and arquebuses? What familiar spirit had we, sir, to tell us that these villains would come along the sea-beach, and notby the high-road, like Christian men?"

"Ah!" said the bishop, "it was by intuition diabolic, I doubt not, thatthey took that way. Satanas must need help those who serve him; and formy part, I can only attribute (I would the captain here had piety enoughto do so) the misfortune which occurred to art-magic. I believe thesemen to have been possessed by all fiends whatsoever. "

"Well, your holiness, " said the colonel, "there may have been devilryin it; how else would men have dared to run right into the mouths of ourcannon, fire their shot against our very noses, and tumble harmless overthose huge butts of earth?"

"Doubtless by force of the fiends which raged with them, " interposed thebishop. 

"And then, with their blasphemous cries, leap upon us with sword andpike? I myself saw that Lieutenant-General Carlisle hew down with onestroke that noble young gentleman the ensign-bearer, your excellency'ssister's son's nephew, though he was armed cap-a-pie. Was not art-magichere? And that most furious and blaspheming Lutheran Captain Young, Isaw how he caught our general by the head, after the illustrious DonAlonzo had given him a grievous wound, threw him to the earth, and sotook him. Was not art-magic here?"

"Well, I say, " said the captain, "if you are looking for art-magic, whatsay you to their marching through the flank fire of our galleys, witheleven pieces of ordnance, and two hundred shot playing on them, as ifit had been a mosquito swarm? Some said my men fired too high: but thatwas the English rascals' doing, for they got down on the tide beach. But, senor commandant, though Satan may have taught them that trick, wasit he that taught them to carry pikes a foot longer than yours?"

"Ah, well, " said the bishop, "sacked are we; and San Domingo, as I hear, in worse case than we are; and St. Augustine in Florida likewise; andall that is left for a poor priest like me is to return to Spain, andsee whether the pious clemency of his majesty, and of the universalFather, may not be willing to grant some small relief or bounty to thepoor of Mary--perhaps--(for who knows?) to translate to a sphere ofmore peaceful labor one who is now old, senors, and weary with manytoils--Tita! fill our glasses. I have saved somewhat--as you may havedone, senors, from the general wreck; and for the flock, when I am nomore, illustrious senors, Heaven's mercies are infinite; new cities willrise from the ashes of the old, new mines pour forth their treasuresinto the sanctified laps of the faithful, and new Indians flock towardthe life-giving standard of the Cross, to put on the easy yoke and lightburden of the Church, and--"

"And where shall I be then? Ah, where? Fain would I rest, and faindepart. Tita! sling my hammock. Senors, you will excuse age andinfirmities. Fray Gerundio, go to bed!"

And the Dons rose to depart, while the bishop went on maundering, --

"Farewell! Life is short. Ah! we shall meet in heaven at last. And thereare really no more pearls?"

"Not a frail; nor gold either, " said the intendant. 

"Ah, well! Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than--Tita!"

"My breviary--ah! Man's gratitude is short-lived, I had hoped--You haveseen nothing of the Senora Bovadilla?"

"No. "

"Ah! she promised:--but no matter--a little trifle as a keepsake--a goldcross, or an emerald ring, or what not--I forget. And what have I to dowith worldly wealth!--Ah! Tita! bring me the casket. "

And when his guests were gone, the old man began mumbling prayers out ofhis breviary, and fingering over jewels and gold, with the dull greedyeyes of covetous old age. 

"Ah!--it may buy the red hat yet!--Omnia Romae venalia! Put it by, Tita, and do not look at it too much, child. Enter not into temptation. Thelove of money is the root of all evil; and Heaven, in love for theIndian, has made him poor in this world, that he may be rich in faith. Ah!--Ugh!--So!"

And the old miser clambered into his hammock. Tita drew the mosquitonet over him, wrapt another round her own head, and slept, or seemed tosleep; for she coiled herself up upon the floor, and master and slavesoon snored a merry bass to the treble of the mosquitoes. 

It was long past midnight, and the moon was down. The sentinels, who hadtramped and challenged overhead till they thought their officers weresound asleep, had slipped out of the unwholesome rays of the planet toseek that health and peace which they considered their right, and sleptas soundly as the bishop's self. 

Two long lines glided out from behind the isolated rocks of the MorroGrande, which bounded the bay some five hundred yards astern of thegalleon. They were almost invisible on the glittering surface of thewater, being perfectly white; and, had a sentinel been looking out, hecould only have descried them by the phosphorescent flashes along theirsides. 

Now the bishop had awoke, and turned himself over uneasily; for the winewas dying out within him, and his shoulders had slipped down, and hisheels up, and his head ached! so he sat upright in his hammock, lookedout upon the bay, and called Tita. 

"Put another pillow under my head, child! What is that? a fish?"

Tita looked. She did not think it was a fish: but she did not choose tosay so; for it might have produced an argument, and she had her reasonsfor not keeping his holiness awake. 

The bishop looked again; settled that it must be a white whale, orshark, or other monster of the deep; crossed himself, prayed for a safevoyage, and snored once more. 

Presently the cabin-door opened gently, and the head of the senorintendant appeared. 

Tita sat up; and then began crawling like a snake along the floor, amongthe chairs and tables, by the light of the cabin lamp. 

"Is he asleep?"

"Yes: but the casket is under his head. "

"Curse him! How shall we take it?"

"I brought him a fresh pillow half-an-hour ago; I hung his hammock wrongon purpose that he might want one. I thought to slip the box away as Idid it; but the old ox nursed it in both hands all the while. "

"What shall we do, in the name of all the fiends? She sails to-morrowmorning, and then all is lost. "

Tita showed her white teeth, and touched the dagger which hung by theintendant's side. 

"I dare not!" said the rascal, with a shudder. 

"I dare!" said she. "He whipt my mother, because she would not give meup to him to be taught in his schools, when she went to the mines. Andshe went to the mines, and died there in three months. I saw her go, with a chain round her neck; but she never came back again. Yes; I darekill him! I will kill him! I will!"

The senor felt his mind much relieved. He had no wish, of course, tocommit the murder himself; for he was a good Catholic, and feared thedevil. But Tita was an Indian, and her being lost did not matter somuch. Indians' souls were cheap, like their bodies. So he answered, "Butwe shall be discovered!"

"I will leap out of the window with the casket, and swim ashore. Theywill never suspect you, and they will fancy I am drowned. "

"The sharks may seize you, Tita. You had better give me the casket. "

Tita smiled. "You would not like to lose that, eh? though you carelittle about losing me. And yet you told me that you loved me!"

"And I do love you, Tita! light of my eyes! life of my heart! I swear, by all the saints, I love you. I will marry you, I swear I will--I willswear on the crucifix, if you like!"

"Swear, then, or I do not give you the casket, " said she, holding outthe little crucifix round her neck, and devouring him with the wild eyesof passionate unreasoning tropic love. 

He swore, trembling, and deadly pale. 

"Give me your dagger. "

"No, not mine. It may be found. I shall be suspected. What if my sheathwere seen to be empty?"

"Your knife will do. His throat is soft enough. "

And she glided stealthily as a cat toward the hammock, while hercowardly companion stood shivering at the other end of the cabin, andturned his back to her, that he might not see the deed. 

He stood waiting, one minute--two--five? Was it an hour, rather? A coldsweat bathed his limbs; the blood beat so fiercely within his temples, that his head rang again. Was that a death-bell tolling? No; it was thepulses of his brain. Impossible, surely, a death-bell. Whence could itcome?

There was a struggle--ah! she was about it now; a stifled cry--Ah! hehad dreaded that most of all, to hear the old man cry. Would there bemuch blood? He hoped not. Another struggle, and Tita's voice, apparentlymuffled, called for help. 

"I cannot help you. Mother of Mercies! I dare not help you!" hissed he. "She-devil! you have begun it, and you must finish it yourself!"

A heavy arm from behind clasped his throat. The bishop had broken loosefrom her and seized him! Or was it his ghost? or a fiend come to draghim down to the pit? And forgetting all but mere wild terror, he openedhis lips for a scream, which would have wakened every soul on board. Buta handkerchief was thrust into his mouth and in another minute he foundhimself bound hand and foot, and laid upon the table by a giganticenemy. The cabin was full of armed men, two of whom were lashing upthe bishop in his hammock; two more had seized Tita; and more wereclambering up into the stern-gallery beyond, wild figures, with brightblades and armor gleaming in the starlight. 

"Now, Will, " whispered the giant who had seized him, "forward andclap the fore-hatches on; and shout Fire! with all your might. Girl!murderess! your life is in my hands. Tell me where the commander sleeps, and I pardon you. "

Tita looked up at the huge speaker, and obeyed in silence. The intendantheard him enter the colonel's cabin, and then a short scuffle, andsilence for a moment. 

But only for a moment; for already the alarm had been given, and madconfusion reigned through every deck. Amyas (for it was none other) hadalready gained the poop; the sentinels were gagged and bound; and everyhalf-naked wretch who came trembling up on deck in his shirt by the mainhatchway, calling one, "Fire!" another, "Wreck!" and another, "Treason!"was hurled into the scuppers, and there secured. 

"Lower away that boat!" shouted Amyas in Spanish to his first batch ofprisoners. 

The men, unarmed and naked, could but obey. 

"Now then, jump in. Here, hand them to the gangway as they come up. "

It was done; and as each appeared he was kicked to the scuppers, andbundled down over the side. 

"She's full. Cast loose now and off with you. If you try to board againwe'll sink you. "

"Fire! fire!" shouted Cary, forward. "Up the main hatchway for yourlives!"

The ruse succeeded utterly; and before half-an-hour was over, all theship's boats which could be lowered were filled with Spaniards in theirshirts, getting ashore as best they could. 

"Here is a new sort of camisado, " quoth Cary. "The last Spanish oneI saw was at the sortie from Smerwick: but this is somewhat moreprosperous than that. "

"Get the main and foresail up, Will!" said Amyas, "cut the cable; and wewill plume the quarry as we fly. "

"Spoken like a good falconer. Heaven grant that this big woodcock maycarry a good trail inside!"

"I'll warrant her for that, " said Jack Brimblecombe. "She floats solow. "

"Much of your build, too, Jack. By the by, where is the commander?"

Alas! Don Pedro, forgotten in the bustle, had been lying on the deckin his shirt, helplessly bound, exhausting that part of his vocabularywhich related to the unseen world. Which most discourteous act seemed atfirst likely to be somewhat heavily avenged on Amyas; for as he spoke, acouple of caliver-shots, fired from under the poop, passed "ping" "ping"by his ears, and Cary clapped his hand to his side. 

"Hurt, Will?"

"A pinch, old lad--Look out, or we are 'allen verloren' after all, asthe Flemings say. "

And as he spoke, a rush forward on the poop drove two of their best mendown the ladder into the waist, where Amyas stood. 

"Killed?" asked he, as he picked one up, who had fallen head over heels. 

"Sound as a bell, sir: but they Gentiles has got hold of the firearms, and set the captain free. "

And rubbing the back of his head for a minute, he jumped up the ladderagain, shouting--

"Have at ye, idolatrous pagans! Have at ye, Satan's spawn!"

Amyas jumped up after him, shouting to all hands to follow; for therewas no time to be lost. 

Out of the windows of the poop, which looked on the main-deck, a gallingfire had been opened, and he could not afford to lose men; for, as faras he knew, the Spaniards left on board might still far outnumber theEnglish; so up he sprang on the poop, followed by a dozen men, and therebegan a very heavy fight between two parties of valiant warriors, whoeasily knew each other apart by the peculiar fashion of their armor. Forthe Spaniards fought in their shirts, and in no other garments: but theEnglish in all other manner of garments, tag, rag, and bobtail; and yethad never a shirt between them. 

The rest of the English made a rush, of course, to get upon the poop, seeing that the Spaniards could not shoot them through the deck; butthe fire from the windows was so hot, that although they dodged behindmasts, spars, and every possible shelter, one or two dropped; and JackBrimblecombe and Yeo took on themselves to call a retreat, and withabout a dozen men, got back, and held a council of war. 

What was to be done? Their arquebuses were of little use; for theSpaniards were behind a strong bulkhead. There were cannon: but wherewas powder or shot? The boats, encouraged by the clamor on deck, werepaddling alongside again. Yeo rushed round and round, probing every gunwith his sword. 

"Here's a patararo loaded! Now for a match, lads. "

Luckily one of the English had kept his match alight during the scuffle. 

"Thanks be! Help me to unship the gun--the mast's in the way here. "

The patararo, or brass swivel, was unshipped. 

"Steady, lads, and keep it level, or you'll shake out the priming. Shipit here; turn out that one, and heave it into that boat, if they comealongside. Steady now--so! Rummage about, and find me a bolt or two, a marlin-spike, anything. Quick, or the captain will be over-masteredyet. "

Missiles were found--odds and ends--and crammed into the swivel up tothe muzzle: and, in another minute, its "cargo of notions" was crashinginto the poop-windows, silencing the fire from thence effectually enoughfor the time. 

"Now, then, a rush forward, and right in along the deck!" shouted Yeo;and the whole party charged through the cabin-doors, which their shothad burst open, and hewed their way from room to room. 

In the meanwhile, the Spaniards above had fought fiercely: but, inspite of superior numbers, they had gradually given back before the"demoniacal possession of those blasphemous heretics, who fought, not like men, but like furies from the pit. " And by the time thatBrimblecombe and Yeo shouted from the stern-gallery below that thequarter-deck was won, few on either side but had their shrewd scratch toshow. 

"Yield, senor!" shouted Amyas to the commander, who had been fightinglike a lion, back to back with the captain of mariners. 

"Never! You have bound me, and insulted me! Your blood or mine must wipeout the stain!"

And he rushed on Amyas. There was a few moments' heavy fence betweenthem; and then Amyas cut right at his head. But as he raised his arm, the Spaniard's blade slipped along his ribs, and snapped against thepoint of his shoulder-blade. An inch more to the left, and it would havebeen through his heart. The blow fell, nevertheless, and the commandantfell with it, stunned by the flat of the sword, but not wounded;for Amyas's hand had turned, as he winced from his wound. But thesea-captain, seeing Amyas stagger, sprang at him, and, seizing him bythe wrist, ere he could raise his sword again, shortened his weapon torun him through. Amyas made a grasp at his wrist in return, but, betweenhis faintness and the darkness, missed it. --Another moment, and allwould have been over!

A bright blade flashed close past Amyas's ear; the sea-captain's grasploosened, and he dropped a corpse; while over him, like an angry lionessabove her prey, stood Ayacanora, her long hair floating in the wind, herdagger raised aloft, as she looked round, challenging all and every oneto approach. 

"Are you hurt?" panted she. 

"A scratch, child. --What do you do here? Go back, go back. "

Ayacanora slipped back like a scolded child, and vanished in thedarkness. 

The battle was over. The Spaniards, seeing their commanders fall, laiddown their arms, and cried for quarter. It was given; the poor fellowswere tied together, two and two, and seated in a row on the deck; thecommandant, sorely bruised, yielded himself perforce; and the galleonwas taken. 

Amyas hurried forward to get the sails set. As he went down thepoop-ladder, there was some one sitting on the lowest step. 

"Who is here--wounded?"

"I am not wounded, " said a woman's voice, low, and stifled with sobs. 

It was Ayacanora. She rose, and let him pass. He saw that her face wasbright with tears; but he hurried on, nevertheless. 

"Perhaps I did speak a little hastily to her, considering she saved mylife; but what a brimstone it is! Mary Ambree in a dark skin! Now then, lads! Get the Santa Fe gold up out of the canoes, and then we will puther head to the north-east, and away for Old England. Mr. Brimblecombe!don't say that Eastward-ho don't bring luck this time. "

It was impossible, till morning dawned, either to get matters into anyorder, or to overhaul the prize they had taken; and many of the men wereso much exhausted that they fell fast asleep on the deck ere the surgeonhad time to dress their wounds. However, Amyas contrived, when once theship was leaping merrily, close-hauled against a fresh land-breeze, to count his little flock, and found out of the forty-four but sixseriously wounded, and none killed. However, their working numbers werenow reduced to thirty-eight, beside the four negroes, a scanty crewenough to take home such a ship to England. 

After awhile, up came Jack Brimblecombe on deck, a bottle in his hand. 

"Lads, a prize!"

"Well, we know that already. "

"Nay, but--look hither, and laid in ice, too, as I live, the luxuriousdogs! But I had to fight for it, I had. For when I went down into thestate cabin, after I had seen to the wounded; whom should I find loosebut that Indian lass, who had just unbound the fellow you caught--"

"Ah! those two, I believe, were going to murder the old man in thehammock, if we had not come in the nick of time. What have you done withthem?"

"Why, the Spaniard ran when he saw me, and got into a cabin; but thewoman, instead of running, came at me with a knife, and chased me roundthe table like a very cat-a-mountain. So I ducked under the old man'shammock, and out into the gallery; and when I thought the coast wasclear, back again I came, and stumbled over this. So I just picked itup, and ran on deck with my tail between my legs, for I expectedverily to have the black woman's knife between my ribs out of some darkcorner. "

"Well done, Jack! Let's have the wine, nevertheless, and then down toset a guard on the cabin doors for fear of plundering. "

"Better go down, and see that nothing is thrown overboard by Spaniards. As for plundering, I will settle that. "

And Amyas walked forward among the men. 

"Muster the men, boatswain, and count them. "

"All here, sir, but the six poor fellows who are laid forward. "

"Now, my men, " said Amyas, "for three years you and I have wanderedon the face of the earth, seeking our fortune, and we have found it atlast, thanks be to God! Now, what was our promise and vow which we madeto God beneath the tree of Guayra, if He should grant us good fortune, and bring us home again with a prize? Was it not, that the dead shouldshare with the living; and that every man's portion, if he fell, shouldgo to his widow or his orphans, or if he had none, to his parents?"

"It was, sir, " said Yeo, "and I trust that the Lord will give these mengrace to keep their vow. They have seen enough of His providences bythis time to fear Him. "

"I doubt them not; but I remind them of it. The Lord has put into ourhands a rich prize; and what with the gold which we have already, we arewell paid for all our labors. Let us thank Him with fervent heartsas soon as the sun rises; and in the meanwhile, remember all, thatwhosoever plunders on his private account, robs not the adventurersmerely, but the orphan and the widow, which is to rob God; and makeshimself partaker of Achan's curse, who hid the wedge of gold, andbrought down God's anger on the whole army of Israel. For me, lest youshould think me covetous, I could claim my brother's share; but I herebygive it up freely into the common stock, for the use of the whole ship'screw, who have stood by me through weal and woe, as men never stoodbefore, as I believe, by any captain. So, now to prayers, lads, and thento eat our breakfast. "

So, to the Spaniards' surprise (who most of them believed that theEnglish were atheists), to prayers they went. 

After which Brimblecombe contrived to inspire the black cook and thePortuguese steward with such energy that, by seven o'clock, the latterworthy appeared on deck, and, with profound reverences, announced to"The most excellent and heroical Senor Adelantado Captain Englishman, "that breakfast was ready in the state-cabin. 

"You will do us the honor of accompanying us as our guest, sir, or ourhost, if you prefer the title, " said Amyas to the commandant, who stoodby. 

"Pardon, senor: but honor forbids me to eat with one who has offered tome the indelible insult of bonds. "

"Oh!" said Amyas, taking off his hat, "then pray accept on the spot myhumble apologies for all which has passed, and my assurances that theindignities which you have unfortunately endured, were owing altogetherto the necessities of war, and not to any wish to hurt the feelings ofso valiant a soldier and gentleman. "

"It is enough, senor, " said the commandant, bowing and shrugging hisshoulders--for, indeed, he too was very hungry; while Cary whispered toAmyas--

"You will make a courtier, yet, old lad. "

"I am not in jesting humor, Will: my mind sadly misgives me that weshall hear black news, and have, perhaps, to do a black deed yet, onboard here. Senor, I follow you. "

So they went down, and found the bishop, who was by this time unbound, seated in a corner of the cabin, his hands fallen on his knees, his eyesstaring on vacancy, while the two priests stood as close against thewall as they could squeeze themselves, keeping up a ceaseless mutter ofprayers. 

"Your holiness will breakfast with us, of course; and these two frockedgentlemen likewise. I see no reason for refusing them all hospitality, as yet. "

There was a marked emphasis on the last two words, which made both monkswince. 

"Our chaplain will attend to you, gentlemen. His lordship the bishopwill do me the honor of sitting next to me. "

The bishop seemed to revive slowly as he snuffed the savory steam;and at last, rising mechanically, subsided into the chair which Amyasoffered him on his left, while the commandant sat on his right. 

"A little of this kid, my lord? No--ah--Friday, I recollect. Some ofthat turtle-fin, then. Will, serve his lordship; pass the cassava-breadup, Jack! Senor commandant! a glass of wine? You need it after yourvaliant toils. To the health of all brave soldiers--and a toast fromyour own Spanish proverb, 'To-day to me, tomorrow to thee!'"

"I drink it, brave senor. Your courtesy shows you the worthy countrymanof General Drake, and his brave lieutenant. "

"Drake! Did you know him, senor?" asked all the Englishmen at once. 

"Too well, too well--" and he would have continued; but the bishop burstout--

"Ah, senor commandant! that name again! Have you no mercy? To sitbetween another pair of--, and my own wine, too! Ugh, ugh!"

The old gentleman, whose mouth had been full of turtle the whole time, burst into a violent fit of coughing, and was only saved from apoplexyby Cary's patting him on the back. 

"Ugh, ugh! The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel, and theirprecious balms. Ah, senor lieutenant Englishman! May I ask you to passthose limes?--Ah! what is turtle without lime?--Even as a fat old manwithout money! Nudus intravi, nudus exeo--ah!"

"But what of Drake?"

"Do you not know, sir, that he and his fleet, only last year, swept thewhole of this coast, and took, with shame I confess it, Cartagena, SanDomingo, St. Augustine, and--I see you are too courteous, senors, toexpress before me what you have a right to feel. But whence come you, sir? From the skies, or the depth of the sea?"

"Art-magic, art-magic!" moaned the bishop. 

"Your holiness! It is scarcely prudent to speak thus here, " said thecommandant, who was nevertheless much of the same opinion. 

"Why, you said so yourself, last night, senor, about the taking ofCartagena. "

The commandant blushed, and stammered out somewhat--"That it wasexcusable in him, if he had said, in jest, that so prodigious andcurious a valor had not sprung from mortal source. "

"No more it did, senor, " said Jack Brimblecombe, stoutly: "but from Himwho taught our 'hands to war, and our fingers to fight. '"

The commandant bowed stiffly. "You will excuse me, sir preacher: but Iam a Catholic, and hold the cause of my king to be alone the cause ofHeaven. But, senor captain, how came you thither, if I may ask? That youneeded no art-magic after you came on board, I, alas! can testify buttoo well: but what spirit--whether good or evil, I ask not--brought youon board, and whence? Where is your ship? I thought that all Drake'ssquadron had left six months ago. "

"Our ship, senor, has lain this three years rotting on the coast nearCape Codera. "

"Ah! we heard of that bold adventure--but we thought you all lost in theinterior. "

"You did? Can you tell me, then, where the senor governor of La Guayramay be now?"

"The Senor Don Guzman de Soto, " said the commandant, in a somewhatconstrained tone, "is said to be at present in Spain, having thrown uphis office in consequence of domestic matters, of which I have not thehonor of knowing anything. "

Amyas longed to ask more: but he knew that the well-bred Spaniard wouldtell him nothing which concerned another man's wife; and went on. 

"What befell us after, I tell you frankly. "

And Amyas told his story, from the landing at Guayra to the passage downthe Magdalena. The commandant lifted up his hands. 

"Were it not forbidden to me, as a Catholic, most invincible senor, Ishould say that the Divine protection has indeed--"

"Ah, " said one of the friars, "that you could be brought, senors, torender thanks for your miraculous preservation to her to whom alone itis due, Mary, the fount of mercies!"

"We have done well enough without her as yet, " said Amyas, bluntly. 

"The Lord raised up Nebuchadnezzar of old to punish the sins of theJewish Church; and He has raised up these men to punish ours!" said FrayGerundio. 

"But Nebuchadnezzar fell, and so may they, " growled the other tohimself. Jack overheard him. 

"I say, my lord bishop, " called he from the other end of the table. "Itis our English custom to let our guests be as rude as they like; butperhaps your lordship will hint to these two friars, that if they wishto keep whole skins, they will keep civil tongues. "

"Be silent, asses! mules!" shouted the bishop, whose spirits wereimproving over the wine, "who are you, that you cannot eat dirt as wellas your betters?"

"Well spoken, my lord. Here's the health of our saintly and venerableguest, " said Cary: while the commandant whispered to Amyas, "Fat oldtyrant! I hope you have found his money--for I am sure he has some onboard, and I should be loath that you lost the advantage of it. "

"I shall have to say a few words to you about that money this morning, commandant: by the by, they had better be said now. My lord bishop, doyou know that had we not taken this ship when we did, you had lost notmerely money, as you have now, but life itself?"

"Money? I had none to lose! Life?--what do you mean?" asked the bishop, turning very pale. 

"This, sir. That it ill befits one to lie, whose throat has been savedfrom the assassin's knife but four hours since. When we entered thestern-gallery, we found two persons, now on board this ship, in the veryact, sir, and article, of cutting your sinful throat, that they mightrob you of the casket which lay beneath your pillow. A moment more, andyou were dead. We seized and bound them, and so saved your life. Is thatplain, sir?"

The bishop looked steadfastly and stupidly into Amyas's face, heaved adeep sigh, and gradually sank back in his chair, dropping the glass fromhis hand. 

"He is in a fit! Call in the surgeon! Run!" and up jumped kind-heartedJack, and brought in the surgeon of the galleon. 

"Is this possible, senor?" asked the commandant. 

"It is true. Door, there! Evans! go and bring in that rascal whom weleft bound in his cabin!"

Evans went, and the commandant continued--

"But the stern-gallery? How, in the name of all witches and miracles, came your valor thither?"

"Simply enough, and owing neither to witch nor miracle. The night beforelast we passed the mouth of the bay in our two canoes, which we hadlashed together after the fashion I had seen in the Moluccas, to keepthem afloat in the surf. We had scraped the canoes bright the daybefore, and rubbed them with white clay, that they might be invisible atnight; and so we got safely to the Morro Grande, passing within half amile of your ship. "

"Oh! my scoundrels of sentinels!"

"We landed at the back of the Morro, and lay there all day, beingpurposed to do that which, with your pardon, we have done. We took oursails of Indian cloth, whitened them likewise with clay which we hadbrought with us from the river (expecting to find a Spanish ship as wewent along the coast, and determined to attempt her, or die with honor), and laid them over us on the canoes, paddling from underneath them. Sothat, had your sentinels been awake, they would have hardly made usout, till we were close on board. We had provided ourselves, insteadof ladders, with bamboos rigged with cross-pieces, and a hook of strongwood at the top of each; they hang at your stern-gallery now. And therest of the tale I need not tell you. "

The commandant rose in his courtly Spanish way, --

"Your admirable story, senor, proves to me how truly your nation, whileit has yet, and I trust will ever have, to dispute the palm of valorwith our own, is famed throughout the world for ingenuity, and fordaring beyond that of mortal man. You have succeeded, valiant captain, because you have deserved to succeed; and it is no shame to me tosuccumb to enemies who have united the cunning of the serpent with thevalor of the lion. Senor, I feel as proud of becoming your guest as Ishould have been proud, under a happier star, of becoming your host. "

"You are, like your nation, only too generous, senor. But what noise isthat outside? Cary, go and see. "

But ere Cary could reach the door, it was opened; and Evans presentedhimself with a terrified face. 

"Here's villainy, sir! The Don's murdered, and cold; the Indian lassfled; and as we searched the ship for her, we found an Englishwoman, asI'm a sinful man!--and a shocking sight she is to see!"

"An Englishwoman?" cried all three, springing forward. 

"Bring her in!" said Amyas, turning very pale; and as he spoke, Yeo andanother led into the cabin a figure scarcely human. 

An elderly woman, dressed in the yellow "San Benito" of the Inquisition, with ragged gray locks hanging about a countenance distorted bysuffering and shrunk by famine. Painfully, as one unaccustomed to thelight, she peered and blinked round her. Her fallen lip gave her ahalf-idiotic expression; and yet there was an uneasy twinkle in the eye, as of boundless terror and suspicion. She lifted up her fettered wristto shade her face; and as she did so, disclosed a line of fearful scarsupon her skinny arm. 

"Look there, sirs!" said Yeo, pointing to them with a stern smile. "Here's some of these Popish gentry's handiwork. I know well enough howthose marks came;" and he pointed to the similar scars on his own wrist. 

The commandant, as well as the Englishmen, recoiled with horror. 

"Holy Virgin! what wretch is this on board my ship? Bishop, is this theprisoner whom you sent on board?"

The bishop, who had been slowly recovering his senses, looked at her amoment; and then thrusting his chair back, crossed himself, and almostscreamed, "Malefica! Malefica! Who brought her here? Turn her away, gentlemen; turn her eye away; she will bewitch, fascinate"--and he beganmuttering prayers. 

Amyas seized him by the shoulder, and shook him on to his legs. 

"Swine! who is this? Wake up, coward, and tell me, or I will cut youpiecemeal!"

But ere the bishop could answer, the woman uttered a wild shriek, andpointing to the taller of the two monks, cowered behind Yeo. 

"He here?" cried she, in broken Spanish. "Take me away! I will tell youno more. I have told you all, and lies enough beside. Oh! why is he comeagain? Did they not say that I should have no more torments?"

The monk turned pale: but like a wild beast at bay, glared firmly roundon the whole company; and then, fixing his dark eyes full on the woman, he bade her be silent so sternly, that she shrank down like a beatenhound. 

"Silence, dog!" said Will Cary, whose blood was up, and followed hiswords with a blow on the monk's mouth, which silenced him effectually. 

"Don't be afraid, good woman, but speak English. We are all Englishhere, and Protestants too. Tell us what they have done for you. "

"Another trap! another trap!" cried she, in a strong Devonshire accent. "You be no English! You want to make me lie again, and then torment me. Oh! wretched, wretched that I am!" cried she, bursting into tears. "Whomshould I trust? Not myself: no, nor God; for I have denied Him! O Lord!O Lord!"

Amyas stood silent with fear and horror; some instinct told him that hewas on the point of hearing news for which he feared to ask. But Jackspoke--

"My dear soul! my dear soul! don't you be afraid; and the Lord willstand by you, if you will but tell the truth. We are all Englishmen, andmen of Devon, as you seem to be by your speech; and this ship is ours;and the pope himself sha'n't touch you. "

"Devon?" she said doubtingly; "Devon! Whence, then?"

"Bideford men. This is Mr. Will Cary, to Clovelly. If you are a Devonwoman, you've heard tell of the Carys, to be sure. "

The woman made a rush forward, and threw her fettered arms round Will'sneck, --

"Oh, Mr. Cary, my dear life! Mr. Cary! and so you be! Oh, dear soulalive! but you're burnt so brown, and I be 'most blind with misery. Oh, who ever sent you here, my dear Mr. Will, then, to save a poor wretchfrom the pit?"

"Who on earth are you?"

"Lucy Passmore, the white witch to Welcombe. Don't you mind LucyPassmore, as charmed your warts for you when you was a boy?"

"Lucy Passmore!" almost shrieked all three friends. "She that went offwith--"

"Yes! she that sold her own soul, and persuaded that dear saint tosell hers; she that did the devil's work, and has taken the devil'swages;--after this fashion!" and she held up her scarred wrists wildly. 

"Where is Dona de--Rose Salterne?" shouted Will and Jack. 

"Where is my brother Frank?" shouted Amyas. 

"Dead, dead, dead!"

"I knew it, " said Amyas, sitting down again calmly. 

"How did she die?"

"The Inquisition--he!" pointing to the monk. "Ask him--he betrayed herto her death. And ask him!" pointing to the bishop; "he sat by her andsaw her die. "

"Woman, you rave!" said the bishop, getting up with a terrified air, andmoving as far as possible from Amyas. 

"How did my brother die, Lucy?" asked Amyas, still calmly. 

"Who be you, sir?"

A gleam of hope flashed across Amyas--she had not answered his question. 

"I am Amyas Leigh of Burrough. Do you know aught of my brother Frank, who was lost at La Guayra?"

"Mr. Amyas! Heaven forgive me that I did not know the bigness of you. Your brother, sir, died like a gentleman as he was. "

"But how?" gasped Amyas. 

"Burned with her, sir!"

"Is this true, sir?" said Amyas, turning to the bishop, with a veryquiet voice. 

"I, sir?" stammered he, in panting haste. "I had nothing to do--I wascompelled in my office of bishop to be an unwilling spectator--thesecular arm, sir; I could not interfere with that--any more than I canwith the Holy Office. I do not belong to it--ask that gentleman--sir!Saints and angels, sir! what are you going to do?" shrieked he, as Amyaslaid a heavy hand upon his shoulder, and began to lead him towards thedoor. 

"Hang you!" said Amyas. "If I had been a Spaniard and a priest likeyourself, I should have burnt you alive. "

"Hang me?" shrieked the wretched old Balaam; and burst into abject howlsfor mercy. 

"Take the dark monk, Yeo, and hang him too. Lucy Passmore, do you knowthat fellow also?"

"No, sir, " said Lucy. 

"Lucky for you, Fray Gerundio, " said Will Cary; while the good friarhid his face in his hands, and burst into tears. Lucky it was forhim, indeed; for he had been a pitying spectator of the tragedy. "Ah!"thought he, "if life in this mad and sinful world be a reward, perhapsthis escape is vouchsafed to me for having pleaded the cause of the poorIndian!"

But the bishop shrieked on. 

"Oh! not yet. An hour, only an hour! I am not fit to die. "

"That is no concern of mine, " said Amyas. "I only know that you are notfit to live. "

"Let us at least make our peace with God, " said the dark monk. 

"Hound! if your saints can really smuggle you up the back-stairsto heaven, they will do it without five minutes' more coaxing andflattering. "

Fray Gerundio and the condemned man alike stopped their ears at theblasphemy. 

"Oh, Fray Gerundio!" screamed the bishop, "pray for me. I have treatedyou like a beast. Oh, Fray, Fray!"

"Oh, my lord! my lord!" said the good man, as with tears streamingdown his face he followed his shrieking and struggling diocesan up thestairs, "who am I? Ask no pardon of me. Ask pardon of God for all yoursins against the poor innocent savages, when you saw your harmless sheepbutchered year after year, and yet never lifted up your voice to savethe flock which God had committed to you. Oh, confess that, my lord!confess it ere it be too late!"

"I will confess all about the Indians, and the gold, and Tita too, Fray;peccavi, peccavi--only five minutes, senors, five little minutes' grace, while I confess to the good Fray!"--and he grovelled on the deck. 

"I will have no such mummery where I command, " said Amyas, sternly. "Iwill be no accomplice in cheating Satan of his due. "

"If you will confess, " said Brimblecombe, whose heart was melting fast, "confess to the Lord, and He will forgive you. Even at the last momentmercy is open. Is it not, Fray Gerundio?"

"It is, senor; it is, my lord, " said Gerundio; but the bishop onlyclasped his hands over his head. 

"Then I am undone! All my money is stolen! Not a farthing left to buymasses for my poor soul! And no absolution, no viaticum, nor anything! Idie like a dog and am damned!"

"Clear away that running rigging!" said Amyas, while the dark Dominicanstood perfectly collected, with something of a smile of pity atthe miserable bishop. A man accustomed to cruelty, and firm in hisfanaticism, he was as ready to endure suffering as to inflict it;repeating to himself the necessary prayers, he called Fray Gerundio towitness that he died, however unworthy, a martyr, in charity with allmen, and in the communion of the Holy Catholic Church; and then, ashe fitted the cord to his own neck, gave Fray Gerundio various pettycommissions about his sister and her children, and a little vineyard faraway upon the sunny slopes of Castile; and so died, with a "Domine, inmanus tuas, " like a valiant man of Spain. 

Amyas stood long in solemn silence, watching the two corpses danglingabove his head. At last he drew a long breath, as if a load was takenoff his heart. 

Suddenly he looked round to his men, who were watching eagerly to knowwhat he would have done next. 

"Hearken to me, my masters all, and may God hearken too, and do so tome, and more also, if, as long as I have eyes to see a Spaniard, andhands to hew him down, I do any other thing than hunt down that accursednation day and night, and avenge all the innocent blood which has beenshed by them since the day in which King Ferdinand drove out the Moors!"

"Amen!" said Salvation Yeo. "I need not to swear that oath, for I havesworn it long ago, and kept it. Will your honor have us kill the rest ofthe idolaters?"

"God forbid!" said Cary. "You would not do that, Amyas?"

"No; we will spare them. God has shown us a great mercy this day, and wemust be merciful in it. We will land them at Cabo Velo. But henceforthtill I die no quarter to a Spaniard. "

"Amen!" said Yeo. 

Amyas's whole countenance had changed in the last half-hour. He seemedto have grown years older. His brow was wrinkled, his lip compressed, his eyes full of a terrible stony calm, as of one who had formed a greatand dreadful purpose, and yet for that very reason could afford to bequiet under the burden of it, even cheerful; and when he returned to thecabin he bowed courteously to the commandant, begged pardon of himfor having played the host so ill, and entreated him to finish hisbreakfast. 

"But, senor--is it possible? Is his holiness dead?"

"He is hanged and dead, senor. I would have hanged, could I have caughtthem, every living thing which was present at my brother's death, evento the very flies upon the wall. No more words, senor; your consciencetells you that I am just. "

"Senor, " said the commandant--"one word--I trust there are nolisteners--none of my crew, I mean; but I must exculpate myself in youreyes. "

"Walk out, then, into the gallery with me. "

"To tell you the truth, senor--I trust in Heaven no one overhears. --Youare just. This Inquisition is the curse of us, the weight which iscrushing out the very life of Spain. No man dares speak. No man darestrust his neighbor, no, not his child, or the wife of his bosom. Itavails nothing to be a good Catholic, as I trust I am, " and he crossedhimself, "when any villain whom you may offend, any unnatural son orwife who wishes to be rid of you, has but to hint heresy against you, and you vanish into the Holy Office--and then God have mercy on you, for man has none. Noble ladies of my family, sir, have vanishedthither, carried off by night, we know not why; we dare not ask why. Toexpostulate, even to inquire, would have been to share their fate. Thereis one now, senor--Heaven alone knows whether she is alive or dead!--Itwas nine years since, and we have never heard; and we shall never hear. "

And the commandant's face worked frightfully. 

"She was my sister, senor!"

"Heavens! sir, and have you not avenged her?"

"On churchmen, senor, and I a Catholic? To be burned at the stake inthis life, and after that to all eternity beside? Even a Spaniarddare not face that. Beside, sir, the mob like this Inquisition, and anAuto-da-fe is even better sport to them than a bull-fight. They would bethe first to tear a man in pieces who dare touch an Inquisitor. Sir, may all the saints in heaven obtain me forgiveness for my blasphemy, butwhen I saw you just now fearing those churchmen no more than you fearedme, I longed, sinner that I am, to be a heretic like you. "

"It will not take long to make a brave and wise gentleman who hassuffered such things as you have, a heretic, as you call it--a freeChristian man, as we call it. "

"Tempt me not, sir!" said the poor man, crossing himself fervently. "Letus say no more. Obedience is my duty; and for the rest the Church mustdecide, according to her infallible authority--for I am a good Catholic, senor, the best of Catholics, though a great sinner. --I trust no one hasoverheard us!"

Amyas left him with a smile of pity, and went to look for Lucy Passmore, whom the sailors were nursing and feeding, while Ayacanora watched themwith a puzzled face. 

"I will talk to you when you are better, Lucy, " said he, taking herhand. "Now you must eat and drink, and forget all among us lads ofDevon. "

"Oh, dear blessed sir, and you will send Sir John to pray with me? ForI turned, sir, I turned: but I could not help it--I could not abear thetorments: but she bore them, sweet angel--and more than I did. Oh, dearme!"

"Lucy, I am not fit now to hear more. You shall tell me all to-morrow;"and he turned away. 

"Why do you take her hand?" said Ayacanora, half-scornfully. "She isold, and ugly, and dirty. "

"She is an Englishwoman, child, and a martyr, poor thing; and I wouldnurse her as I would my own mother. "

"Why don't you make me an Englishwoman, and a martyr? I could learn howto do anything that that old hag could do!"

"Instead of calling her names, go and tend her; that would be muchfitter work for a woman than fighting among men. "

Ayacanora darted from him, thrust the sailors aside, and took possessionof Lucy Passmore. 

"Where shall I put her?" asked she of Amyas, without looking up. 

"In the best cabin; and let her be served like a queen, lads. "

"No one shall touch her but me;" and taking up the withered frame in herarms, as if it were a doll, Ayacanora walked off with her in triumph, telling the men to go and mind the ship. 

"The girl is mad, " said one. 

"Mad or not, she has an eye to our captain, " said another. 

"And where's the man that would behave to the poor wild thing as hedoes?"

"Sir Francis Drake would, from whom he got his lesson. Do you mind hisputting the negro lass ashore after he found out about--"

"Hush! Bygones be bygones, and those that did it are in their graveslong ago. But it was too hard of him on the poor thing. "

"If he had not got rid of her, there would have been more throats thanone cut about the lass, that's all I know, " said another; "and so therewould have been about this one before now, if the captain wasn't a bornangel out of heaven, and the lieutenant no less. "

"Well, I suppose we may get a whet by now. I wonder if these Dons haveany beer aboard. "

"Naught but grape vinegar, which fools call wine, I'll warrant. "

"There was better than vinegar on the table in there just now. "

"Ah, " said one grumbler of true English breed, "but that's not for poorfellows like we. "

"Don't lie, Tom Evans; you never were given that way yet, and I don'tthink the trade will suit a good fellow like you. "

The whole party stared; for the speaker of these words was none otherthan Amyas himself, who had rejoined them, a bottle in each hand. 

"No, Tom Evans. It has been share and share alike for three years, and bravely you have all held up, and share alike it shall be now, andhere's the handsel of it. We'll serve out the good wine fairly all roundas long as it lasts, and then take to the bad: but mind you don't getdrunk, my sons, for we are much too short of hands to have any stoutfellows lying about the scuppers. "

But what was the story of the intendant's being murdered? Brimblecombehad seen him run into a neighboring cabin; and when the door of itwas opened, there was the culprit, but dead and cold, with a deepknife-wound in his side. Who could have done the deed? It must have beenTita, whom Brimblecombe had seen loose, and trying to free her lover. 

The ship was searched from stem to stern: but no Tita. The mystery wasnever explained. That she had leapt overboard, and tried to swim ashore, none doubted: but whether she had reached it, who could tell? One thingwas strange; that not only had she carried off no treasure with her, but that the gold ornaments which she had worn the night before, laytogether in a heap on the table, close by the murdered man. Had shewished to rid herself of everything which had belonged to her tyrants?

The commandant heard the whole story thoughtfully. 

"Wretched man!" said he, "and he has a wife and children in Seville. "

"A wife and children?" said Amyas; "and I heard him promise marriage tothe Indian girl. "

That was the only hint which gave a reason for his death. What if, in the terror of discovery and capture, the scoundrel had dropped anyself-condemning words about his marriage, any prayer for those whom hehad left behind, and the Indian had overheard them? It might be so; atleast sin had brought its own punishment. 

And so that wild night and day subsided. The prisoners were kindly usedenough; for the Englishman, free from any petty love of tormenting, knows no mean between killing a foe outright, and treating him as abrother; and when, two days afterwards, they were sent ashore in thecanoes off Cabo Velo, captives and captors shook hands all round; andAmyas, after returning the commandant his sword, and presenting him witha case of the bishop's wine, bowed him courteously over the side. 

"I trust that you will pay us another visit, valiant senor capitan, "said the Spaniard, bowing and smiling. 

"I should most gladly accept your invitation, illustrious senorcommandant; but as I have vowed henceforth, whenever I shall meet aSpaniard, neither to give nor take quarter, I trust that our paths toglory may lie in different directions. "

The commandant shrugged his shoulders; the ship was put again before thewind, and as the shores of the Main faded lower and dimmer behind her, a mighty cheer broke from all on board; and for once the cry from everymouth was Eastward-ho!

Scrap by scrap, as weakness and confusion of intellect permitted her, Lucy Passmore told her story. It was a simple one after all, and Amyasmight almost have guessed it for himself. Rose had not yielded to theSpaniard without a struggle. He had visited her two or three times atLucy's house (how he found out Lucy's existence she herself could nevertell, unless from the Jesuits) before she agreed to go with him. He hadgained Lucy to his side by huge promises of Indian gold; and, in fine, they had gone to Lundy, where the lovers were married by a priest, whowas none other, Lucy would swear, than the shorter and stouter of thetwo who had carried off her husband and his boat--in a word, FatherParsons. 

Amyas gnashed his teeth at the thought that he had had Parsons in hispower at Brenttor down, and let him go. It was a fresh proof to him thatHeaven's vengeance was upon him for letting one of its enemies escape. Though what good to Rose or Frank the hanging of Parsons would havebeen, I, for my part, cannot see. 

But when had Eustace been at Lundy? Lucy could throw no light on thatmatter. It was evidently some by-thread in the huge spider's web ofJesuit intrigue, which was, perhaps, not worth knowing after all. 

They sailed from Lundy in a Portugal ship, were at Lisbon a few days(during which Rose and Lucy remained on board), and then away for theWest Indies; while all went merry as a marriage bell. "Sir, he wouldhave kissed the dust off her dear feet, till that evil eye of Mr. Eustace's came, no one knew how or whence. " And, from that time, allwent wrong. Eustace got power over Don Guzman, whether by threateningthat the marriage should be dissolved, whether by working on hissuperstitious scruples about leaving his wife still a heretic, orwhether (and this last Lucy much suspected) by insinuations that herheart was still at home in England, and that she was longing for Amyasand his ship to come and take her home again; the house soon became aden of misery, and Eustace the presiding evil genius. Don Guzman hadeven commanded him to leave it--and he went; but, somehow, within a weekhe was there again, in greater favor than ever. Then came preparationsto meet the English, and high words about it between Don Guzman andRose; till a few days before Amyas's arrival, the Don had dashed outof the house in a fury, saying openly that she preferred these Lutherandogs to him, and that he would have their hearts' blood first, and hersafter. 

The rest was soon told. Amyas knew but too much of it already. The verymorning after he had gone up to the villa, Lucy and her mistress weretaken (they knew not by whom) down to the quay, in the name of the HolyOffice, and shipped off to Cartagena. 

There they were examined, and confronted on a charge of witchcraft, which the wretched Lucy could not well deny. She was tortured tomake her inculpate Rose; and what she said, or did not say, under thetorture, the poor wretch could never tell. She recanted, and became aRomanist; Rose remained firm. Three weeks afterwards, they were broughtout to an Auto-da-fe; and there, for the first time, Lucy saw Frankwalking, dressed in a San Benito, in that ghastly procession. Lucy wasadjudged to receive publicly two hundred stripes, and to be sent to"The Holy House" at Seville to perpetual prison. Frank and Rose, witha renegade Jew, and a negro who had been convicted of practising "Obi, "were sentenced to death as impenitent, and delivered over to thesecular arm, with prayers that there might be no shedding of blood. Incompliance with which request, the Jew and the negro were burnt at onestake, Frank and Rose at another. She thought they did not feel it morethan twenty minutes. They were both very bold and steadfast, and heldeach other's hand (that she would swear to) to the very last. 

And so ended Lucy Passmore's story. And if Amyas Leigh, after he hadheard it, vowed afresh to give no quarter to Spaniards wherever heshould find them, who can wonder, even if they blame?

CHAPTER XXVII

HOW SALVATION YEO FOUND HIS LITTLE MAID AGAIN

 "All precious things, discover'd late, To them who seek them issue forth; For love in sequel works with fate, And draws the veil from hidden worth. "

 The Sleeping Beauty. 

And so Ayacanora took up her abode in Lucy's cabin, as a regularlyaccredited member of the crew. 

But a most troublesome member; for now began in her that perilous crisiswhich seems to endanger the bodies and souls of all savages and savagetribes, when they first mingle with the white man; that crisis which, a few years afterwards, began to hasten the extermination of the NorthAmerican tribes; and had it not been for the admirable good sense andconstancy of Amyas, Ayacanora might have ended even more miserably thandid the far-famed Pocahontas, daughter of the Virginian king; who, afterhaving been received at Court by the old pedant James the First, with the honors of a sister sovereign, and having become the reputedancestress of more than one ancient Virginian family, ended her days inwretchedness in some Wapping garret. 

For the mind of the savage, crushed by the sight of the white man'ssuperior skill, and wealth, and wisdom, loses at first its self-respect;while his body, pampered with easily obtained luxuries, insteadof having to win the necessaries of life by heavy toil, loses itsself-helpfulness; and with self-respect and self-help vanish all thesavage virtues, few and flimsy as they are, and the downward road towardbegging and stealing, sottishness and idleness, is easy, if not sure. 

And down that road, it really seemed at first, that poor Ayacanora waswalking fast. For the warrior-prophetess of the Omaguas soon became, toall appearance, nothing but a very naughty child; and the Diana of theMeta, after she had satisfied her simple wonder at the great floatinghouse by rambling from deck to deck, and peeping into every cupboardand cranny, manifested a great propensity to steal and hide (she was tooproud or too shy to ask for) every trumpery which smit her fancy; andwhen Amyas forbade her to take anything without leave, threatenedto drown herself, and went off and sulked all day in her cabin. Nevertheless, she obeyed him, except in the matter of sweet things. Perhaps she craved naturally for the vegetable food of her nativeforests; at all events the bishop's stores of fruit and sweetmeatsdiminished rapidly; and what was worse, so did the sweet Spanish winewhich Amyas had set apart for poor Lucy's daily cordial. Whereon anothersevere lecture, in which Amyas told her how mean it was to rob poorsick Lucy; whereat she, as usual, threatened to drown herself; and wasrunning upon deck to do it, when Amyas caught her and forgave her. Onwhich a violent fit of crying, and great penitence and promises; anda week after, Amyas found that she had cheated Satan and her ownconscience by tormenting the Portuguese steward into giving her someother wine instead: but luckily for her, she found Amyas's warningsabout wine making her mad so far fulfilled, that she did several foolishthings one evening, and had a bad headache next morning; so the murderwas out, and Amyas ordered the steward up for a sound flogging; butAyacanora, honorably enough, not only begged him off, but offered to bewhipped instead of him, confessing that the poor fellow spoke truly whenhe swore that she had threatened to kill him, and that he had given herthe wine in bodily fear for his life. 

However, her own headache and Amyas's cold looks were lesson enough, andafter another attempt to drown herself, the wilful beauty settled downfor awhile; and what was better, could hardly be persuaded, thenceforthto her dying day, to touch fermented liquors. 

But, in the meanwhile, poor Amyas had many a brains-beating as to howhe was to tame a lady who, on the least provocation, took refuge insuicide. Punish her he dared not, even if he had the heart. And as forputting her ashore, he had an instinct, and surely not a superstitiousone, that her strange affection for the English was not unsent byHeaven, and that God had committed her into his charge, and that Hewould require an account at his hands of the soul of that fair lostlamb. 

So, almost at his wits' end, he prayed to God, good simple fellow, andthat many a time, to show him what he should do with her before shekilled either herself, or what was just as likely, one of the crew; andit seemed best to him to make Parson Jack teach her the rudiments ofChristianity, that she might be baptized in due time when they got hometo England. 

But here arose a fresh trouble--for she roundly refused to learn ofJack, or of any one but Amyas himself; while he had many a good reasonfor refusing the office of schoolmaster; so, for a week or two more, Ayacanora remained untaught, save in the English tongue, which shepicked up with marvellous rapidity. 

And next, as if troubles would never end, she took a violent dislike, not only to John Brimblecombe, whose gait and voice she openly mimickedfor the edification of the men; but also to Will Cary, whom she neverallowed to speak to her or approach her. Perhaps she was jealous of hisintimacy with Amyas; or perhaps, with the subtle instinct of a woman, she knew that he was the only other man on board who might dare to makelove to her (though Will, to do him justice, was as guiltless of anysuch intention as Amyas himself). But when she was remonstrated with, her only answer was that Cary was a cacique as well as Amyas, and thatthere ought not to be two caciques; and one day she actually proposed toAmyas to kill his supposed rival, and take the ship all to himself;and sulked for several days at hearing Amyas, amid shouts of laughter, retail her precious advice to its intended victim. 

Moreover, the negroes came in for their share, being regarded all alongby her with an unspeakable repugnance, which showed itself at first inhiding from them whenever she could, and, afterwards, in throwing atthem everything she could lay hands on, till the poor Quashies, indanger of their lives, complained to Amyas, and got rest for awhile. 

Over the rest of the sailors she lorded it like a very princess, callingthem from their work to run on her errands and make toys for her, enforcing her commands now and then by a shrewd box on the ears; whilethe good fellows, especially old Yeo, like true sailors, petted her, obeyed her, even jested with her, much as they might have done with atame leopard, whose claws might be unsheathed and about their ears atany moment. But she amused them, and amused Amyas too. They must ofcourse have a pet; and what prettier one could they have? And as forAmyas, the constant interest of her presence, even the constantanxiety of her wilfulness, kept his mind busy, and drove out many a sadforeboding about that meeting with his mother, and the tragedy whichhe had to tell her, which would otherwise, so heavily did they weigh onhim, have crushed his spirit with melancholy, and made all his worldlysuccess and marvellous deliverance worthless in his eyes. 

At last the matter, as most things luckily do, came to a climax; and itcame in this way. 

The ship had been slipping along now for many a day, slowly but steadilybefore a favorable breeze. She had passed the ring of the West Indiaislands, and was now crawling, safe from all pursuit, through the vastweed-beds of the Sargasso Sea. There, for the first time, it was thoughtsafe to relax the discipline which had been hitherto kept up, and to"rummage" (as was the word in those days) their noble prize. What theyfound, of gold and silver, jewels, and merchandise, will interest noreaders. Suffice it to say, that there was enough there, with the othertreasure, to make Amyas rich for life, after all claims of Cary's andthe crew, not forgetting Mr. Salterne's third, as owner of the ship, had been paid off. But in the captain's cabin were found two chests, onefull of gorgeous Mexican feather dresses, and the other of Spanish andEast Indian finery, which, having come by way of Havana and Cartagena, was going on, it seemed, to some senora or other at the Caracas. Whichtwo chests were, at Cary's proposal, voted amid the acclamations ofthe crew to Ayacanora, as her due and fit share of the pillage, inconsideration of her Amazonian prowess and valuable services. 

So the poor child took greedy possession of the trumpery, had themcarried into Lucy's cabin, and there knelt gloating over them many anhour. The Mexican work she chose to despise as savage; but the Spanishdresses were a treasure; and for two or three days she appeared on thequarter-deck, sunning herself like a peacock before the eyes of Amyas inSeville mantillas, Madrid hats, Indian brocade farthingales, and I knownot how many other gewgaws, and dare not say how put on. 

The crew tittered: Amyas felt much more inclined to cry. There isnothing so pathetic as a child's vanity, saving a grown person aping achild's vanity; and saving, too, a child's agony of disappointment whenit finds that it has been laughed at instead of being admired. Amyaswould have spoken, but he was afraid: however, the evil brought its owncure. The pageant went on, as its actor thought, most successfullyfor three days or so; but at last the dupe, unable to contain herselflonger, appealed to Amyas, --"Ayacanora quite English girl now; is shenot?"--heard a titter behind her, looked round, saw a dozen honestfaces in broad grin, comprehended all in a moment, darted down thecompanion-ladder, and vanished. 

Amyas, fully expecting her to jump overboard, followed as fast as hecould. But she had locked herself in with Lucy, and he could hear herviolent sobs, and Lucy's faint voice entreating to know what was thematter. 

In vain he knocked. She refused to come out all day, and at even theywere forced to break the door open, to prevent Lucy being starved. 

There sat Ayacanora, her finery half torn off, and scattered about thefloor in spite, crying still as if her heart would break; while poorLucy cried too, half from fright and hunger, and half for company. 

Amyas tried to comfort the poor child, assured her that the men shouldnever laugh at her again; "But then, " added he, "you must not beso--so--" What to say he hardly knew. 

"So what?" asked she, crying more bitterly than ever. 

"So like a wild girl, Ayacanora. "

Her hands dropped on her knees: a strong spasm ran through herthroat and bosom, and she fell on her knees before him, and looked upimploringly in his face. 

"Yes; wild girl--poor, bad wild girl. . . . But I will be English girlnow!"

"Fine clothes will never make you English, my child, " said Amyas. 

"No! not English clothes--English heart! Good heart, like yours! Yes, Iwill be good, and Sir John shall teach me!"

"There's my good maid, " said Amyas. "Sir John shall begin and teach youto-morrow. "

"No! Now! now! Ayacanora cannot wait. She will drown herself if she isbad another day! Come, now!"

And she made him fetch Brimblecombe, heard the honest fellow patientlyfor an hour or more, and told Lucy that very night all that he had said. And from that day, whenever Jack went in to read and pray with thepoor sufferer, Ayacanora, instead of escaping on deck as before, stoodpatiently trying to make it all out, and knelt when he knelt, and triedto pray too--that she might have an English heart; and doubtless herprayers, dumb as they were, were not unheard. 

So went on a few days more, hopefully enough, without any outbreak, tillone morning, just after they had passed the Sargasso-beds. The shipwas taking care of herself; the men were all on deck under the awning, tinkering, and cobbling, and chatting; Brimblecombe was catechising hisfair pupil in the cabin; Amyas and Cary, cigar in mouth, were chattingabout all heaven and earth, and, above all, of the best way of gettingup a fresh adventure against the Spaniards as soon as they returned;while Amyas was pouring out to Will that dark hatred of the wholenation, that dark purpose of revenge for his brother and for Rose, whichhad settled down like a murky cloud into every cranny of his heart andmind. Suddenly there was a noise below; a scuffle and a shout, which made them both leap to their feet; and up on deck rushed JackBrimblecombe, holding his head on with both his hands. 

"Save me! save me from that she-fiend! She is possessed with a legion!She has broken my nose--torn out half my hair!--and I'm sure I have noneto spare! Here she comes! Stand by me, gentlemen both! Satanas, I defythee!" And Jack ensconced himself behind the pair, as Ayacanora whirledupon deck like a very Maenad, and, seeing Amyas, stopped short. 

"If you had defied Satan down below there, " said Cary, with a laugh, "Isuspect he wouldn't have broken out on you so boldly, Master Jack. "

"I am innocent--innocent as the babe unborn! Oh! Mr. Cary! this is toobad of you, sir!" quoth Jack indignantly, while Amyas asked what was thematter. 

"He looked at me, " said she, sturdily. 

"Well, a cat may look at a king. "

"But he sha'n't look at Ayacanora. Nobody shall but you, or I'll killhim!"

In vain Jack protested his innocence of having even looked at her. Thefancy (and I verily believe it was nothing more) had taken possession ofher. She refused to return below to her lesson. Jack went off grumbling, minus his hair, and wore a black eye for a week after. 

"At all events, " quoth Cary, re-lighting his cigar, "it's a fault on theright side. "

"God give me grace, or it may be one on the wrong side for me. "

"He will, old heart-of-oak!" said Cary, laying his arm around Amyas'sneck, to the evident disgust of Ayacanora, who went off to the side, got a fishing-line, and began amusing herself therewith, while the shipslipped on quietly and silently as ever, save when Ayacanora laughed andclapped her hands at the flying-fish scudding from the bonitos. At last, tired of doing nothing, she went forward to the poop-rail to listen toJohn Squire the armorer, who sat tinkering a headpiece, and humming asong, mutato nomine, concerning his native place--

 "Oh, Bideford is a pleasant place, it shines where it stands, And the more I look upon it, the more my heart it warms; For there are fair young lasses, in rows upon the quay, To welcome gallant mariners, when they come home from say. "

"'Tis Sunderland, John Squire, to the song, and not Bidevor, " said hismate. 

"Well, Bidevor's so good as Sunderland any day, for all there'sno say-coals there blacking a place about; and makes just so goodharmonies, Tommy Hamblyn--

 "Oh, if I was a herring, to swim the ocean o'er, Or if I was a say-dove, to fly unto the shoor, To fly unto my true love, a waiting at the door, To wed her with a goold ring, and plough the main no moor. "

Here Yeo broke in--

"Aren't you ashamed, John Squire, to your years, singing such carnalvanities, after all the providences you have seen? Let the songs of Zionbe in your mouth, man, if you must needs keep a caterwauling all daylike that. "

"You sing 'em yourself then, gunner. "

"Well, " says Yeo, "and why not?" And out he pulled his psalm-book, andbegan a scrap of the grand old psalm--

 "Such as in ships and brittle barks Into the seas descend, Their merchandise through fearful floods To compass and to end; There men are forced to behold The Lord's works what they be; And in the dreadful deep the same, Most marvellous they see. "

"Humph!" said John Squire. "Very good and godly: but still I du likea merry catch now and then, I du. Wouldn't you let a body sing'Rumbelow'--even when he's heaving of the anchor?"

"Well, I don't know, " said Yeo; "but the Lord's people had betterpraise the Lord then too, and pray for a good voyage, instead of howlingabout--

 "A randy, dandy, dandy O, A whet of ale and brandy O, With a rumbelow and a Westward-ho! And heave, my mariners all, O!"

"Is that fit talk for immortal souls? How does that child's-trade soundbeside the Psalms, John Squire?"

Now it befell that Salvation Yeo, for the very purpose of holding up toridicule that time-honored melody, had put into it the true nasal twang, and rung it out as merrily as he had done perhaps twelve years before, when he got up John Oxenham's anchor in Plymouth Sound. And it befellalso that Ayacanora, as she stood by Amyas's side, watching the men, andtrying to make out their chat, heard it, and started; and then, half toherself, took up the strain, and sang it over again, word for word, inthe very same tune and tone. 

Salvation Yeo started in his turn, and turned deadly pale. 

"Who sung that?" he asked quickly. 

"The little maid here. She's coming on nicely in her English, " saidAmyas. 

"The little maid?" said Yeo, turning paler still. "Why do you go aboutto scare an old servant, by talking of little maids, Captain Amyas?Well, " he said aloud to himself, "as I am a sinful saint, if I hadn'tseen where the voice came from, I could have sworn it was her; just aswe taught her to sing it by the river there, I and William Penberthy ofMarazion, my good comrade. The Lord have mercy on me!"

All were silent as the grave whenever Yeo made any allusion to that lostchild. Ayacanora only, pleased with Amyas's commendation, went hummingon to herself--

 "And heave, my mariners all, O!"

Yeo started up from the gun where he sat. 

"I can't abear it! As I live, I can't! You, Indian maiden, where did youlearn to sing that there?"

Ayacanora looked up at him, half frightened by his vehemence, then atAmyas, to see if she had been doing anything wrong; and then turnedsaucily away, looked over the side, and hummed on. 

"Ask her, for mercy's sake--ask her, Captain Leigh!"

"My child, " said Amyas, speaking in Indian, "how is it you sing that somuch better than any other English? Did you ever hear it before?"

Ayacanora looked up at him puzzled, and shook her head; and then--

"If you tell Indian to Ayacanora, she dumb. She must be English girlnow, like poor Lucy. "

"Well then, " said Amyas, "do you recollect, Ayacanora--do yourecollect--what shall I say? anything that happened when you were alittle girl?"

She paused awhile; and then moving her hands overhead--

"Trees--great trees like the Magdalena--always nothing but trees--wildand bad everything. Ayacanora won't talk about that. "

"Do you mind anything that grew on those trees?" asked Yeo, eagerly. 

She laughed. "Silly! Flowers and fruit, and nuts--grow on all trees, andmonkey-cups too. Ayacanora climbed up after them--when she was wild. Iwon't tell any more. "

"But who taught you to call them monkey-cups?" asked Yeo, trembling withexcitement. 

"Monkey's drink; mono drink. "

"Mono?" said Yeo, foiled on one cast, and now trying another. "How didyou know the beasts were called monos?"

"She might have heard it coming down with us, " said Cary, who had joinedthe group. 

"Ay, monos, " said she, in a self-justifying tone. "Faces like littlemen, and tails. And one very dirty black one, with a beard, say Amen ina tree to all the other monkeys, just like Sir John on Sunday. "

This allusion to Brimblecombe and the preaching apes upset all but oldYeo. 

"But don't you recollect any Christians?--white people?"

She was silent. 

"Don't you mind a white lady?"

"Um?"

"A woman, a very pretty woman, with hair like his?" pointing to Amyas. 

"No. "

"What do you mind, then, beside those Indians?" added Yeo, in despair. 

She turned her back on him peevishly, as if tired with the efforts ofher memory. 

"Do try to remember, " said Amyas; and she set to work again at once. 

"Ayacanora mind great monkeys--black, oh, so high, " and she held up herhand above her head, and made a violent gesture of disgust. 

"Monkeys? what, with tails?"

"No, like man. Ah! yes--just like Cooky there--dirty Cooky!"

And that hapless son of Ham, who happened to be just crossing themain-deck, heard a marlingspike, which by ill luck was lying at hand, flying past his ears. 

"Ayacanora, if you heave any more things at Cooky, I must have youwhipped, " said Amyas, without, of course, any such intention. 

"I'll kill you, then, " answered she, in the most matter-of-fact tone. 

"She must mean negurs, " said Yeo; "I wonder where she saw them, now. What if it were they Cimaroons?"

"But why should any one who had seen whites forget them, and yetremember negroes?" asked Cary. 

"Let us try again. Do you mind no great monkeys but those black ones?"asked Amyas. 

"Yes, " she said, after a while, --"devil. "

"Devil?" asked all three, who, of course, were by no means free from thebelief that the fiend did actually appear to the Indian conjurors, suchas had brought up the girl. 

"Ay, him Sir John tell about on Sundays. "

"Save and help us!" said Yeo; "and what was he like unto?"

She made various signs to intimate that he had a monkey's face, anda gray beard like Yeo's. So far so good: but now came a series ofmanipulations about her pretty little neck, which set all their fanciesat fault. 

"I know, " said Cary, at last, bursting into a great laugh. "Sir Urianhad a ruff on, as I live! Trunk-hose too, my fair dame? Stop--I'll makesure. Was his neck like the senor commandant's, the Spaniard?"

Ayacanora clapped her hands at finding herself understood, and thequestioning went on. 

"The 'devil' appeared like a monkey, with a gray beard, in aruff;--humph!--"

"Ay!" said she in good enough Spanish, "Mono de Panama; viejo diablo dePanama. "

Yeo threw up his hands with a shriek--"Oh Lord of all mercies! Thosewere the last words of Mr. John Oxenham! Ay--and the devil is surelynone other than the devil Don Francisco Xararte! Oh dear! oh dear! ohdear! my sweet young lady! my pretty little maid! and don't you know me?Don't you know Salvation Yeo, that carried you over the mountains, and used to climb for the monkey-cups for you, my dear young lady? AndWilliam Penberthy too, that used to get you flowers; and your poor dearfather, that was just like Mr. Cary there, only he had a black beard, and black curls, and swore terribly in his speech, like a Spaniard, mydear young lady?"

And the honest fellow, falling on his knees, covered Ayacanora's handswith kisses; while all the crew, fancying him gone suddenly mad, crowdedaft. 

"Steady, men, and don't vex him!" said Amyas. "He thinks that he hasfound his little maid at last. "

"And so do I, Amyas, as I live, " said Cary. 

"Steady, steady, my masters all! If this turn out a wrong scent afterall, his wits will crack. Mr. Yeo, can't you think of any other token?"

Yeo stamped impatiently. "What need then? it's her, I tell ye, andthat's enough! What a beauty she's grown! Oh dear! where were my eyesall this time, to behold her, and not to see her! 'Tis her very mortalself, it is! And don't you mind me, my dear, now? Don't you mindSalvation Yeo, that taught you to sing 'Heave my mariners all, O!'a-sitting on a log by the boat upon the sand, and there was a sight ofred lilies grew on it in the moss, dear, now, wasn't there? and we madeposies of them to put in your hair, now?"--And the poor old man ran onin a supplicating, suggestive tone, as if he could persuade the girlinto becoming the person whom he sought. 

Ayacanora had watched him, first angry, then amused, then attentive, andat last with the most intense earnestness. Suddenly she grew crimson, and snatching her hands from the old man's, hid her face in them, andstood. 

"Do you remember anything of all this, my child?" asked Amyas, gently. 

She lifted up her eyes suddenly to his, with a look of imploring agony, as if beseeching him to spare her. The death of a whole old life, the birth of a whole new life, was struggling in that beautiful face, choking in that magnificent throat, as she threw back her small head, and drew in her breath, and dashed her locks back from her temples, asif seeking for fresh air. She shuddered, reeled, then fell weeping onthe bosom, not of Salvation Yeo, but of Amyas Leigh. 

He stood still a minute or two, bearing that fair burden, ere he couldrecollect himself. Then, --

"Ayacanora, you are not yet mistress of yourself, my child. You werebetter to go down, and see after poor Lucy, and we will talk about itall to-morrow. "

She gathered herself up instantly, and with eyes fixed on the deck slidthrough the group, and disappeared below. 

"Ah!" said Yeo, with a tone of exquisite sadness; "the young to theyoung! Over land and sea, in the forests and in the galleys, in battleand prison, I have sought her! And now!--"

"My good friend, " said Amyas, "neither are you master of yourself yet. When she comes round again, whom will she love and thank but you?"

"You, sir! She owes all to you; and so do I. Let me go below, sir. Myold wits are shaky. Bless you, sir, and thank you for ever and ever!"

And Yeo grasped Amyas's hand, and went down to his cabin, from which hedid not reappear for many hours. 

From that day Ayacanora was a new creature. The thought that she wasan Englishwoman; that she, the wild Indian, was really one of thegreat white people whom she had learned to worship, carried in it someregenerating change: she regained all her former stateliness, and withit a self-restraint, a temperance, a softness which she had never shownbefore. Her dislike to Cary and Jack vanished. Modest and distant asever, she now took delight in learning from them about England andEnglish people; and her knowledge of our customs gained much from thesomewhat fantastic behaviour which Amyas thought good, for reasonsof his own, to assume toward her. He assigned her a handsome cabin toherself, always addressed her as madam, and told Cary, Brimblecombe, andthe whole crew that as she was a lady and a Christian, he expected themto behave to her as such. So there was as much bowing and scrapingon the poop as if it had been a prince's court: and Ayacanora, thoughsorely puzzled and chagrined at Amyas's new solemnity, contrived toimitate it pretty well (taking for granted that it was the right thing);and having tolerable masters in the art of manners (for both Amyas andCary were thoroughly well-bred men), profited much in all things, exceptin intimacy with Amyas, who had, cunning fellow, hit on this parade ofgood manners, as a fresh means of increasing the distance between himand her. The crew, of course, though they were a little vexed at losingtheir pet, consoled themselves with the thought that she was a "realborn lady, " and Mr. Oxenham's daughter, too; and there was not a man onboard who did not prick up his ears for a message if she approached him, or one who would not have, I verily believe, jumped overboard to do hera pleasure. 

Only Yeo kept sorrowfully apart. He never looked at her, spoke to her, met her even, if he could. His dream had vanished. He had found her! andafter all, she did not care for him? Why should she?

But it was hard to have hunted a bubble for years, and have it breakin his hand at last. "Set not your affections on things on the earth, "murmured Yeo to himself, as he pored over his Bible, in the vain hope offorgetting his little maid. 

But why did Amyas wish to increase the distance between himself andAyacanora? Many reasons might be given: I deny none of them. But themain one, fantastic as it may seem, was simply, that while she haddiscovered herself to be an Englishwoman, he had discovered her to be aSpaniard. If her father were seven times John Oxenham (and even that theperverse fellow was inclined to doubt), her mother was a Spaniard--Pah!one of the accursed race; kinswoman--perhaps, to his brother'smurderers! His jaundiced eyes could see nothing but the Spanish elementin her; or, indeed, in anything else. As Cary said to him once, using acant phrase of Sidney's, which he had picked up from Frank, all heavenand earth were "spaniolated, " to him. He seemed to recollect nothing butthat Heaven had "made Spaniards to be killed, and him to kill them. " Ifhe had not been the most sensible of John Bulls, he would certainly haveforestalled the monomania of that young Frenchman of rank, who, someeighty years after him, so maddened his brain by reading of the Spanishcruelties, that he threw up all his prospects and turned captain offilibusters in the West Indies, for the express purpose of ridding themof their tyrants; and when a Spanish ship was taken, used to relinquishthe whole booty to his crew, and reserve for himself only the pleasureof witnessing his victims' dying agonies. 

But what had become of that bird-like song of Ayacanora's which hadastonished them on the banks of the Meta, and cheered them many a timein their anxious voyage down the Magdalena? From the moment that shefound out her English parentage, it stopped. She refused utterly to singanything but the songs and psalms which she picked up from the English. Whether it was that she despised it as a relic of her barbarism, orwhether it was too maddening for one whose heart grew heavier andhumbler day by day, the nightingale notes were heard no more. 

So homeward they ran, before a favoring southwest breeze: but longere they were within sight of land, Lucy Passmore was gone to her restbeneath the Atlantic waves. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

HOW AMYAS CAME HOME THE THIRD TIME

 "It fell about the Martinmas, When nights were lang and mirk, That wife's twa sons cam hame again, And their hats were o' the birk. 

 "It did na graw by bush or brae, Nor yet in ony shough; But by the gates o' paradise That birk grew fair eneugh. "

 The Wife of Usher's Well. 

It is the evening of the 15th of February, 1587, and Mrs. Leigh (forwe must return now to old scenes and old faces) is pacing slowly up anddown the terrace-walk at Burrough, looking out over the winding river, and the hazy sand-hills, and the wide western sea, as she has done everyevening, be it fair weather or foul, for three weary years. Three yearsand more are past and gone, and yet no news of Frank and Amyas, andthe gallant ship and all the gallant souls therein; and loving eyes inBideford and Appledore, Clovelly and Ilfracombe, have grown hollow withwatching and with weeping for those who have sailed away into the West, as John Oxenham sailed before them, and have vanished like a dream, ashe did, into the infinite unknown. Three weary years, and yet no word. Once there was a flush of hope, and good Sir Richard (without Mrs. Leigh's knowledge), had sent a horseman posting across to Plymouth, whenthe news arrived that Drake, Frobisher, and Carlisle had returned withtheir squadron from the Spanish Main. Alas! he brought back great news, glorious news; news of the sacking of Cartagena, San Domingo, SaintAugustine; of the relief of Raleigh's Virginian Colony: but no news ofthe Rose, and of those who had sailed in her. And Mrs. Leigh bowed herhead, and worshipped, and said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath takenaway; blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Her hair was now grown gray; her cheeks were wan; her step was feeble. She seldom went from home, save to the church, and to the neighboringcottages. She never mentioned her sons' names; never allowed a word topass her lips, which might betoken that she thought of them; but everyday, when the tide was high, and red flag on the sandhills showed thatthere was water over the bar, she paced the terrace-walk, and devouredwith greedy eyes the sea beyond in search of the sail which never came. The stately ships went in and out as of yore; and white sails hung offthe bar for many an hour, day after day, month after month, year afteryear: but an instinct within told her that none of them were the sailsshe sought. She knew that ship, every line of her, the cut of everycloth; she could have picked it out miles away, among a whole fleet, butit never came, and Mrs. Leigh bowed her head and worshipped, and wentto and fro among the poor, who looked on her as an awful being, and onewhom God had brought very near to Himself, in that mysterious heaven ofsorrow which they too knew full well. And lone women and bed-ridden menlooked in her steadfast eyes, and loved them, and drank in strength fromthem; for they knew (though she never spoke of her own grief) that shehad gone down into the fiercest depths of the fiery furnace, and waswalking there unhurt by the side of One whose form was as of the Sonof God. And all the while she was blaming herself for her "earthly"longings, and confessing nightly to Heaven that weakness which she couldnot shake off, which drew her feet at each high tide to the terrace-walkbeneath the row of wind-clipt trees. 

But this evening Northam is in a stir. The pebble ridge is thunderingfar below, as it thundered years ago: but Northam is noisy enoughwithout the rolling of the surge. The tower is rocking with the pealingbells: the people are all in the streets shouting and singing roundbonfires. They are burning the pope in effigy, drinking to the queen'shealth, and "So perish all her enemies!" The hills are red with bonfiresin every village; and far away, the bells of Bideford are answeringthe bells of Northam, as they answered them seven years ago, when Amyasreturned from sailing round the world. For this day has come the newsthat Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded in Fotheringay; and all England, like a dreamer who shakes off some hideous nightmare, has leapt up inone tremendous shout of jubilation, as the terror and the danger ofseventeen anxious years is lifted from its heart for ever. 

Yes, she is gone, to answer at a higher tribunal than that of theEstates of England, for all the noble English blood which has beenpoured out for her; for all the noble English hearts whom she hastempted into treachery, rebellion, and murder. Elizabeth's own wordshave been fulfilled at last, after years of long-suffering, --

 "The daughter of debate, That discord aye doth sow, Hath reap'd no gain where former rule Hath taught still peace to grow. "

And now she can do evil no more. Murder and adultery, the heart whichknew no forgiveness, the tongue which could not speak truth even for itsown interest, have past and are perhaps atoned for; and her fair facehangs a pitiful dream in the memory even of those who knew that eithershe, or England, must perish. 

 "Nothing is left of her Now, but pure womanly. "

And Mrs. Leigh, Protestant as she is, breathes a prayer, that the Lordmay have mercy on that soul, as "clear as diamond, and as hard, " as shesaid of herself. That last scene, too, before the fatal block--it couldnot be altogether acting. Mrs. Leigh had learned many a priceless lessonin the last seven years; might not Mary Stuart have learned somethingin seventeen? And Mrs. Leigh had been a courtier, and knew, as far as achaste Englishwoman could know (which even in those coarser days was notvery much), of that godless style of French court profligacy in whichpoor Mary had had her youthful training, amid the Medicis, and theGuises, and Cardinal Lorraine; and she shuddered, and sighed toherself"--To whom little is given, of them shall little be required!"But still the bells pealed on and would not cease. 

What was that which answered them from afar out of the fast darkeningtwilight? A flash, and then the thunder of a gun at sea. 

Mrs. Leigh stopped. The flash was right outside the bar. A ship indistress it could not be. The wind was light and westerly. It was ahigh spring-tide, as evening floods are always there. What could it be?Another flash, another gun. The noisy folks of Northam were hushed atonce, and all hurried into the churchyard which looks down on the broadflats and the river. 

There was a gallant ship outside the bar. She was running in, too, withall sails set. A large ship; nearly a thousand tons she might be; butnot of English rig. What was the meaning of it? A Spanish cruiser aboutto make reprisals for Drake's raid along the Cadiz shore! Not that, surely. The Don had no fancy for such unscientific and dare-devilwarfare. If he came, he would come with admiral, rear-admiral, andvice-admiral, transports, and avisos, according to the best-approvedmethods, articles, and science of war. What could she be?

Easily, on the flowing tide and fair western wind, she has slippedup the channel between the two lines of sandhill. She is almost offAppledore now. She is no enemy; and if she be a foreigner, she is adaring one, for she has never veiled her topsails, --and that, all know, every foreign ship must do within sight of an English port, or stand thechance of war; as the Spanish admiral found, who many a year sincewas sent in time of peace to fetch home from Flanders Anne of Austria, Philip the Second's last wife. 

For in his pride he sailed into Plymouth Sound without veiling topsails, or lowering the flag of Spain. Whereon, like lion from his den, outrushed John Hawkins the port admiral, in his famous Jesus of Lubec(afterwards lost in the San Juan d'Ulloa fight), and without argument orparley, sent a shot between the admiral's masts; which not producing thedesired effect, alongside ran bold Captain John, and with his nextshot, so says his son, an eye-witness, "lackt the admiral through andthrough;" whereon down came the offending flag; and due apologies weremade, but not accepted for a long time by the stout guardian of hermajesty's honor. And if John Hawkins did as much for a Spanish fleet intime of peace, there is more than one old sea-dog in Appledore who willdo as much for a single ship in time of war, if he can find even an ironpot to burn powder withal. 

The strange sail passed out of sight behind the hill of Appledore; andthen there rose into the quiet evening air a cheer, as from a hundredthroats. Mrs. Leigh stood still, and listened. Another gun thunderedamong the hills; and then another cheer. 

It might have been twenty minutes before the vessel hove in sight againround the dark rocks of the Hubbastone, as she turned up the Bidefordriver. Mrs. Leigh had stood that whole time perfectly motionless, a paleand scarcely breathing statue, her eyes fixed upon the Viking's rock. 

Round the Hubbastone she came at last. There was music on board, drumsand fifes, shawms and trumpets, which wakened ringing echoes from everyknoll of wood and slab of slate. And as she opened full on BurroughHouse, another cheer burst from her crew, and rolled up to the hillsfrom off the silver waters far below, full a mile away. 

Mrs. Leigh walked quickly toward the house, and called her maid, --

"Grace, bring me my hood. Master Amyas is come home!"

"No, surely? O joyful sound! Praised and blessed be the Lord, then;praised and blessed be the Lord! But, madam, however did you know that?"

"I heard his voice on the river; but I did not hear Mr. Frank's withhim, Grace!"

"Oh, be sure, madam, where the one is the other is. They'd never partcompany. Both come home or neither, I'll warrant. Here's your hood, madam. "

And Mrs. Leigh, with Grace behind her, started with rapid steps towardsBideford. 

Was it true? Was it a dream? Had the divine instinct of the motherenabled her to recognize her child's voice among all the rest, and atthat enormous distance; or was her brain turning with the long effort ofher supernatural calm?

Grace asked herself, in her own way, that same question many a timebetween Burrough and Bideford. When they arrived on the quay thequestion answered itself. 

As they came down Bridgeland Street (where afterwards the tobaccowarehouses for the Virginia trade used to stand, but which then was buta row of rope-walks and sailmakers' shops), they could see the strangeship already at anchor in the river. They had just reached the lower endof the street, when round the corner swept a great mob, sailors, women, 'prentices, hurrahing, questioning, weeping, laughing: Mrs. Leighstopped; and behold, they stopped also. 

"Here she is!" shouted some one; "here's his mother!"

"His mother? Not their mother!" said Mrs. Leigh to herself, and turnedvery pale; but that heart was long past breaking. 

The next moment the giant head and shoulders of Amyas, far above thecrowd, swept round the corner. 

"Make a way! Make room for Madam Leigh!"--And Amyas fell on his knees ather feet. 

She threw her arms round his neck, and bent her fair head over his, while sailors, 'prentices, and coarse harbor-women were hushed into holysilence, and made a ring round the mother and the son. 

Mrs. Leigh asked no question. She saw that Amyas was alone. 

At last he whispered, "I would have died to save him, mother, if Icould. "

"You need not tell me that, Amyas Leigh, my son. "

Another silence. 

"How did he die?" whispered Mrs. Leigh. 

"He is a martyr. He died in the----"

Amyas could say no more. 

"The Inquisition?"

"Yes. "

A strong shudder passed through Mrs. Leigh's frame, and then she liftedup her head. 

"Come home, Amyas. I little expected such an honor--such an honor--ha!ha! and such a fair young martyr, too; a very St. Stephen! God, havemercy on me; and let me not go mad before these folk, when I ought to bethanking Thee for Thy great mercies! Amyas, who is that?"

And she pointed to Ayacanora, who stood close behind Amyas, watchingwith keen eyes the whole. 

"She is a poor wild Indian girl--my daughter, I call her. I will tellyou her story hereafter. "

"Your daughter? My grand-daughter, then. Come hither, maiden, and be mygrand-daughter. "

Ayacanora came obedient, and knelt down, because she had seen Amyaskneel. 

"God forbid, child! kneel not to me. Come home, and let me know whetherI am sane or mazed, alive or dead. "

And drawing her hood over her face, she turned to go back, holding Amyastight by one hand, and Ayacanora by the other. 

The crowd let them depart some twenty yards in respectful silence, andthen burst into a cheer which made the old town ring. 

Mrs. Leigh stopped suddenly. 

"I had forgotten, Amyas. You must not let me stand in the way of yourduty. Where are your men?"

"Kissed to death by this time; all of them, that is, who are left. "

"Left?"

"We went out a hundred, mother, and we came home forty-four--if we areat home. Is it a dream, mother? Is this you? and this old BridgelandStreet again? As I live, there stands Evans the smith, at his door, tankard in hand, as he did when I was a boy!"

The brawny smith came across the street to them; but stopped when he sawAmyas, but no Frank. 

"Better one than neither, madam!" said he, trying a rough comfort. Amyasshook his hand as he passed him; but Mrs. Leigh neither heard nor sawhim nor any one. 

"Mother, " said Amyas, when they were now past the causeway, "we are richfor life. "

"Yes; a martyr's death was the fittest for him. "

"I have brought home treasure untold. "

"What, my boy?"

"Treasure untold. Cary has promised to see to it to-night. "

"Very well. I would that he had slept at our house. He was a kindly lad, and loved Frank. When did he?"--

"Three years ago, and more. Within two months of our sailing. "

"Ah! Yes, he told me so. "

"Told you so?"

"Yes; the dear lad has often come to see me in my sleep; but you nevercame. I guessed how it was--as it should be. "

"But I loved you none the less, mother!"

"I know that, too: but you were busy with the men, you know, sweet;so your spirit could not come roving home like his, which was free. Yes--all as it should be. My maid, and do you not find it cold here inEngland, after those hot regions?"

"Ayacanora's heart is warm; she does not think about cold. "

"Warm? perhaps you will warm my heart for me, then. "

"Would God I could do it, mother!" said Amyas, half reproachfully. 

Mrs. Leigh looked up in his face, and burst into a violent flood oftears. 

"Sinful! sinful that I am!"

"Blessed creature!" cried Amyas, "if you speak so I shall go mad. Mother, mother, I have been dreading this meeting for months. It hasbeen a nightmare hanging over me like a horrible black thunder-cloud; agreat cliff miles high, with its top hid in the clouds, which I had toclimb, and dare not. I have longed to leap overboard, and flee from itlike a coward into the depths of the sea. --The thought that you mightask me whether I was not my brother's keeper--that you might require hisblood at my hands--and now, now! when it comes! to find you all love, and trust, and patience--mother, mother, it's more than I can bear!" andhe wept violently. 

Mrs. Leigh knew enough of Amyas to know that any burst of this kind, from his quiet nature, betokened some very fearful struggle; and theloving creature forgot everything instantly, in the one desire to soothehim. 

And soothe him she did; and home the two went, arm in arm together, while Ayacanora held fast, like a child, by the skirt of Mrs. Leigh'scloak. The self-help and daring of the forest nymph had given place tothe trembling modesty of the young girl, suddenly cast on shore in a newworld, among strange faces, strange hopes, and strange fears also. 

"Will your mother love me?" whispered she to Amyas, as she went in. 

"Yes; but you must do what she tells you. "

Ayacanora pouted. 

"She will laugh at me, because I am wild. "

"She never laughs at any one. "

"Humph!" said Ayacanora. "Well, I shall not be afraid of her. I thoughtshe would have been tall like you; but she is not even as big as me. "

This hardly sounded hopeful for the prospect of Ayacanora's obedience;but ere twenty-four hours had passed, Mrs. Leigh had won her overutterly; and she explained her own speech by saying that she thought sogreat a man ought to have a great mother. She had expected, poor thing, in her simplicity, some awful princess with a frown like Juno's own, andfound instead a healing angel. 

Her story was soon told to Mrs. Leigh, who of course, woman-like, would not allow a doubt as to her identity. And the sweet mother neverimprinted a prouder or fonder kiss upon her son's forehead, thanthat with which she repaid his simple declaration, that he had keptunspotted, like a gentleman and a Christian, the soul which God had putinto his charge. 

"Then you have forgiven me, mother?"

"Years ago I said in this same room, what should I render to the Lordfor having given me two such sons? And in this room I say it once again. Tell me all about my other son, that I may honor him as I honor you. "

And then, with the iron nerve which good women have, she made him giveher every detail of Lucy Passmore's story and of all which had happenedfrom the day of their sailing to that luckless night at Guayra. And whenit was done, she led Ayacanora out, and began busying herself about thegirl's comforts, as calmly as if Frank and Amyas had been sleeping intheir cribs in the next room. 

But she had hardly gone upstairs, when a loud knock at the door wasfollowed by its opening hastily; and into the hall burst, regardless ofetiquette, the tall and stately figure of Sir Richard Grenville. 

Amyas dropped on his knees instinctively. The stern warrior was quiteunmanned; and as he bent over his godson, a tear dropped from that ironcheek, upon the iron cheek of Amyas Leigh. 

"My lad! my glorious lad! and where have you been? Get up, and tell meall. The sailors told me a little, but I must hear every word. I knewyou would do something grand. I told your mother you were too good aworkman for God to throw away. Now, let me have the whole story. Why, Iam out of breath! To tell truth, I ran three-parts of the way hither. "

And down the two sat, and Amyas talked long into the night; while SirRichard, his usual stateliness recovered, smiled stern approval at eachdeed of daring; and when all was ended, answered with something like asigh:

"Would God that I had been with you every step! Would God, at least, that I could show as good a three-years' log-book, Amyas, my lad!"

"You can show a better one, I doubt not. "

"Humph! With the exception of one paltry Spanish prize, I don't knowthat the queen is the better, or her enemies the worse, for me, since weparted last in Dublin city. "

"You are too modest, sir. "

"Would that I were; but I got on in Ireland, I found, no better than myneighbors; and so came home again, to find that while I had been wastingmy time in that land of misrule, Raleigh had done a deed to which I cansee no end. For, lad, he has found (or rather his two captains, Amadasand Barlow, have found for him) between Florida and Newfoundland, acountry, the like of which, I believe, there is not on the earth forclimate and fertility. Whether there be gold there, I know not, and itmatters little; for there is all else on earth that man can want; furs, timber, rivers, game, sugar-canes, corn, fruit, and every commoditywhich France, Spain, or Italy can yield, wild in abundance; the savagescivil enough for savages, and, in a word, all which goes to the makingof as noble a jewel as her majesty's crown can wear. The people call itWingandacoa; but we, after her majesty, Virginia. "

"You have been there, then?"

"The year before last, lad; and left there Ralf Lane, Amadas, and sometwenty gentlemen, and ninety men, and, moreover, some money of my own, and some of old Will Salterne's, which neither of us will ever seeagain. For the colony, I know not how, quarrelled with the Indians (Ifear I too was over-sharp with some of them for stealing--if I was, Godforgive me!), and could not, forsooth, keep themselves alive for twelvemonths; so that Drake, coming back from his last West Indian voyage, after giving them all the help he could, had to bring the whole partyhome. And if you will believe it, the faint-hearted fellows had not beengone a fortnight, before I was back again with three ships and all thatthey could want. And never was I more wroth in my life, when all I foundwas the ruins of their huts, which (so rich is the growth there) werealready full of great melons, and wild deer feeding thereon--a prettysight enough, but not what I wanted just then. So back I came; and beingin no overgood temper, vented my humors on the Portugals at the Azores, and had hard fights and small booty. So there the matter stands, but notfor long; for shame it were if such a paradise, once found by Britons, should fall into the hands of any but her majesty; and we will try againthis spring, if men and money can be found. Eh, lad?"

"But the prize?"

"Ah! that was no small make-weight to our disasters, after all. Isighted her for six days' sail from the American coast: but ere we couldlay her aboard it fell dead calm. Never a boat had I on board--theywere all lost in a gale of wind--and the other ships were becalmed twoleagues astern of me. There was no use lying there and pounding her tillshe sank; so I called the carpenter, got up all the old chests, and withthem and some spars we floated ourselves alongside, and only just intime. For the last of us had hardly scrambled up into the chains, whenour crazy Noah's ark went all aboard, and sank at the side, so that ifwe had been minded to run away, Amyas, we could not; whereon, judgingvalor to be the better part of discretion (as I usually do), we fell towith our swords and had her in five minutes, and fifty thousand pounds'worth in her, which set up my purse again, and Raleigh's too, though Ifear it has run out again since as fast as it ran in. "

And so ended Sir Richard's story. 

Amyas went the next day to Salterne, and told his tale. The old man hadheard the outlines of it already: but he calmly bade him sit down, andlistened to all, his chin upon his hand, his elbows on his knees. Hischeek never blanched, his lips never quivered throughout. Only whenAmyas came to Rose's marriage, he heaved a long breath, as if a weightwas taken off his heart. 

"Say that again, sir!"

Amyas said it again, and then went on; faltering, he hinted at themanner of her death. 

"Go on, sir! Why are you afraid? There is nothing to be ashamed ofthere, is there?"

Amyas told the whole with downcast eyes, and then stole a look at hishearer's face. There was no sign of emotion: only somewhat of a proudsmile curled the corners of that iron mouth. 

"And her husband?" asked he, after a pause. 

"I am ashamed to have to tell you, sir, that the man still lives. "

"Still lives, sir?"

"Too true, as far as I know. That it was not my fault, my story bears mewitness. "

"Sir, I never doubted your will to kill him. Still lives, you say? Well, so do rats and adders. And now, I suppose, Captain Leigh, your worshipis minded to recruit yourself on shore a while with the fair lass whomyou have brought home (as I hear) before having another dash at thedevil and his kin!"

"Do not mention that young lady's name with mine, sir; she is no more tome than she is to you; for she has Spanish blood in her veins. "

Salterne smiled grimly. 

"But I am minded at least to do one thing, Mr. Salterne, and that is, tokill Spaniards, in fair fight, by land and sea, wheresoever I shall meetthem. And, therefore, I stay not long here, whithersoever I may be boundnext. "

"Well, sir, when you start, come to me for a ship, and the best I haveis at your service; and, if she do not suit, command her to be fitted asyou like best; and I, William Salterne, will pay for all which you shallcommand to be done. "

"My good sir, I have accounts to square with you after a very differentfashion. As part-adventurer in the Rose, I have to deliver to you yourshare of the treasure which I have brought home. "

"My share, sir? If I understood you, my ship was lost off the coast ofthe Caracas three years agone, and this treasure was all won since?"

"True; but you, as an adventurer in the expedition, have a just claimfor your share, and will receive it. "

"Captain Leigh, you are, I see, as your father was before you, a justand upright Christian man: but, sir, this money is none of mine, for itwas won in no ship of mine. --Hear me, sir! And if it had been, andthat ship"--(he could not speak her name)--"lay safe and sound now byBideford quay, do you think, sir, that William Salterne is the man tomake money out of his daughter's sin and sorrow, and to handle the priceof blood? No, sir! You went like a gentleman to seek her, and like agentleman, as all the world knows, you have done your best, and I thankyou: but our account ends there. The treasure is yours, sir; I haveenough, and more than enough, and none, God help me, to leave it to, butgreedy and needy kin, who will be rather the worse than the better forit. And if I have a claim in law for aught--which I know not, neithershall ever ask--why, if you are not too proud, accept that claim as aplain burgher's thank-offering to you, sir, for a great and a noble lovewhich you and your brother have shown to one who, though I say it, to myshame, was not worthy thereof. "

"She was worthy of that and more, sir. For if she sinned like a woman, she died like a saint. "

"Yes, sir!" answered the old man, with a proud smile; "she had the rightEnglish blood in her, I doubt not; and showed it at the last. But now, sir, no more of this. When you need a ship, mine is at your service;till then, sir, farewell, and God be with you. "

And the old man rose, and with an unmoved countenance, bowed Amyasto the door. Amyas went back and told Cary, bidding him take half ofSalterne's gift: but Cary swore a great oath that he would have none ofit. 

"Heir of Clovelly, Amyas, and want to rob you? I who have lostnothing, --you who have lost a brother! God forbid that I should evertouch a farthing beyond my original share!"

That evening a messenger from Bideford came running breathless up toBurrough Court. The authorities wanted Amyas's immediate attendance, forhe was one of the last, it seemed, who had seen Mr. Salterne alive. 

Salterne had gone over, as soon as Amyas departed, to an oldacquaintance; signed and sealed his will in their presence with a firmand cheerful countenance, refusing all condolence; and then gone home, and locked himself into Rose's room. Supper-time came, and he did notappear. The apprentices could not make him answer, and at last calledin the neighbors, and forced the door. Salterne was kneeling by hisdaughter's bed; his head was upon the coverlet; his Prayer-book wasopen before him at the Burial Service; his hands were clasped insupplication; but he was dead and cold. 

His will lay by him. He had left all his property among his poorrelations, saving and excepting all money, etc. , due to him as owner andpart-adventurer of the ship Rose, and his new bark of three hundred tonsburden, now lying East-the-water; all which was bequeathed to CaptainAmyas Leigh, on condition that he should re-christen that bark theVengeance, --fit her out with part of the treasure, and with her sailonce more against the Spaniard, before three years were past. 

And this was the end of William Salterne, merchant. 

CHAPTER XXIX

HOW THE VIRGINIA FLEET WAS STOPPED BY THE QUEEN'S COMMAND

 "The daughter of debate, That discord still doth sow, Shall reap no gain where former rule Hath taught still peace to grow. No foreign banish'd wight Shall anker in this port Our realm it brooks no stranger's force; Let them elsewhere resort. "

 QU. ELIZABETH. 1569. 

And now Amyas is settled quietly at home again; and for the next twelvemonths little passes worthy of record in these pages. Yeo has installedhimself as major domo, with no very definite functions, save those ofwalking about everywhere at Amyas's heels like a lank gray wolf-hound, and spending his evenings at the fireside, as a true old sailordoes, with his Bible on his knee, and his hands busy in manufacturingnumberless nicknacks, useful and useless, for every member of thefamily, and above all for Ayacanora, whom he insults every week byhumbly offering some toy only fit for a child; at which she pouts, andis reproved by Mrs. Leigh, and then takes the gift, and puts it awaynever to look at it again. For her whole soul is set upon beingan English maid; and she runs about all day long after Mrs. Leigh, insisting upon learning the mysteries of the kitchen and the still-room, and, above all, the art of making clothes for herself, and at last foreverybody in Northam. For first, she will be a good housewife, like Mrs. Leigh; and next a new idea has dawned on her: that of helping others. To the boundless hospitality of the savage she has been of courseaccustomed: but to give to those who can give nothing in return, is anew thought. She sees Mrs. Leigh spending every spare hour in workingfor the poor, and visiting them in their cottages. She sees Amyas, afterpublic thanks in church for his safe return, giving away money, food, what not, in Northam, Appledore, and Bideford; buying cottages andmaking them almshouses for worn-out mariners; and she is told thatthis is his thank-offering to God. She is puzzled; her notion ofa thank-offering was rather that of the Indians, and indeed of theSpaniards, --sacrifices of human victims, and the bedizenment of theGreat Spirit's sanctuary with their skulls and bones. Not that Amyas, as a plain old-fashioned churchman, was unmindful of the good oldinstinctive rule, that something should be given to the Church itself;for the vicar of Northam was soon resplendent with a new surplice, andwhat was more, the altar with a splendid flagon and salver of plate(lost, I suppose, in the civil wars) which had been taken in the greatgalleon. Ayacanora could understand that: but the almsgiving she couldnot, till Mrs. Leigh told her, in her simple way, that whosoever gaveto the poor, gave to the Great Spirit; for the Great Spirit was in them, and in Ayacanora too, if she would be quiet and listen to him, insteadof pouting, and stamping, and doing nothing but what she liked. And thepoor child took in that new thought like a child, and worked her fingersto the bone for all the old dames in Northam, and went about with Mrs. Leigh, lovely and beloved, and looked now and then out from under herlong black eyelashes to see if she was winning a smile from Amyas. Andon the day on which she won one, she was good all day; and on the day onwhich she did not, she was thoroughly naughty, and would have worn outthe patience of any soul less chastened than Mrs. Leigh's. But as forthe pomp and glory of her dress, there was no keeping it within bounds;and she swept into church each Sunday bedizened in Spanish finery, withsuch a blaze and rustle, that the good vicar had to remonstrate humblywith Mrs. Leigh on the disturbance which she caused to the eyes andthoughts of all his congregation. To which Ayacanora answered, that shewas not thinking about them, and they need not think about her; and thatif the Piache (in plain English, the conjuror), as she supposed, wanteda present, he might have all her Mexican feather-dresses; she wouldnot wear them--they were wild Indian things, and she was an Englishmaid--but they would just do for a Piache; and so darted upstairs, brought them down, and insisted so stoutly on arraying the vicartherein, that the good man beat a swift retreat. But he carried offwith him, nevertheless, one of the handsomest mantles, which, insteadof selling it, he converted cleverly enough into an altar-cloth; and forseveral years afterwards, the communion at Northam was celebrated upon ablaze of emerald, azure, and crimson, which had once adorned the sinfulbody of some Aztec prince. 

So Ayacanora flaunted on; while Amyas watched her, half amused, half insimple pride of her beauty; and looked around at all gazers, as much asto say, "See what a fine bird I have brought home!"

Another great trouble which she gave Mrs. Leigh was her conduct to theladies of the neighborhood. They came, of course, one and all, not onlyto congratulate Mrs. Leigh, but to get a peep at the fair savage; butthe fair savage snubbed them all round, from the vicar's wife to LadyGrenville herself, so effectually, that few attempted a second visit. 

Mrs. Leigh remonstrated, and was answered by floods of tears. "They onlycome to stare at a poor wild Indian girl, and she would not be made ashow of. She was like a queen once, and every one obeyed her; but hereevery one looked down upon her. " But when Mrs. Leigh asked her, whethershe would sooner go back to the forests, the poor girl clung to her likea baby, and entreated not to be sent away, "She would sooner be a slavein the kitchen here, than go back to the bad people. "

And so on, month after month of foolish storm and foolish sunshine; butshe was under the shadow of one in whom was neither storm nor sunshine, but a perpetual genial calm of soft gray weather, which tempered downto its own peacefulness all who entered its charmed influence; and theoutbursts grew more and more rare, and Ayacanora more and more rational, though no more happy, day by day. 

And one by one small hints came out which made her identity certain, atleast in the eyes of Mrs. Leigh and Yeo. After she had become familiarwith the sight of houses, she gave them to understand that she had seensuch things before. The red cattle, too, seemed not unknown to her;the sheep puzzled her for some time, and at last she gave Mrs. Leigh tounderstand that they were too small. 

"Ah, madam, " quoth Yeo, who caught at every straw, "it is because shehas been accustomed to those great camel sheep (llamas they call them)in Peru. "

But Ayacanora's delight was a horse. The use of tame animals at all wasa daily wonder to her; but that a horse could be ridden was the crowningmiracle of all; and a horse she would ride, and after plaguing Amyas forone in vain (for he did not want to break her pretty neck), she proposedconfidentially to Yeo to steal one, and foiled in that, went to thevicar and offered to barter all her finery for his broken-kneed pony. But the vicar was too honest to drive so good a bargain, and the matterended, in Amyas buying her a jennet, which she learned in a fortnight toride like a very Gaucho. 

And now awoke another curious slumbering reminiscence. For one day, atLady Grenville's invitation, the whole family went over to Stow; Mrs. Leigh soberly on a pillion behind the groom, Ayacanora cantering roundand round upon the moors like a hound let loose, and trying to makeAmyas ride races with her. But that night, sleeping in the same roomwith Mrs. Leigh, she awoke shrieking, and sobbed out a long story howthe "Old ape of Panama, " her especial abomination, had come to herbedside and dragged her forth into the courtyard, and how she hadmounted a horse and ridden with an Indian over great moors and highmountains down into a dark wood, and there the Indian and the horsesvanished, and she found herself suddenly changed once more into alittle savage child. So strong was the impression, that she could not bepersuaded that the thing had not happened, if not that night, at leastsome night or other. So Mrs. Leigh at last believed the same, and toldthe company next morning in her pious way how the Lord had revealed ina vision to the poor child who she was, and how she had been exposed inthe forests by her jealous step-father, and neither Sir Richard nor hiswife could doubt but that hers was the true solution. It was probablethat Don Xararte, though his home was Panama, had been often at Quito, for Yeo had seen him come on board the Lima ship at Guayaquil, oneof the nearest ports. This would explain her having been found by theIndians beyond Cotopaxi, the nearest peak of the Eastern Andes, if, aswas but too likely, the old man, believing her to be Oxenham's child, had conceived the fearful vengeance of exposing her in the forests. 

Other little facts came to light one by one. They were all connected(as was natural in a savage) with some animal or other natural object. Whatever impressions her morals or affections had received, had beenerased by the long spiritual death of that forest sojourn; and Mrs. Leigh could not elicit from her a trace of feeling about her mother, orrecollection of any early religious teaching. This link, however, wassupplied at last, and in this way. 

Sir Richard had brought home an Indian with him from Virginia. Of hisoriginal name I am not sure, but he was probably the "Wanchese" whosename occurs with that of "Manteo. "

This man was to be baptized in the church at Bideford by the name ofRaleigh, his sponsors being most probably Raleigh himself, who may havebeen there on Virginian business, and Sir Richard Grenville. All thenotabilities of Bideford came, of course, to see the baptism of thefirst "Red man" whose foot had ever trodden British soil, and the mayorand corporation-men appeared in full robes, with maces and tipstaffs, todo honor to that first-fruits of the Gospel in the West. 

Mrs. Leigh went, as a matter of course, and Ayacanora would needs gotoo. She was very anxious to know what they were going to do with the"Carib. "

"To make him a Christian. "

"Why did they not make her one?"

Because she was one already. They were sure that she had been christenedas soon as she was born. But she was not sure, and pouted a good dealat the chance of an "ugly red Carib" being better off than she was. However, all assembled duly; the stately son of the forest, nowtransformed into a footman of Sir Richard's, was standing at the font;the service was half performed when a heavy sigh, or rather groan, madeall eyes turn, and Ayacanora sank fainting upon Mrs. Leigh's bosom. 

She was carried out, and to a neighboring house; and when she came toherself, told a strange story. How, as she was standing there trying torecollect whether she too had ever been baptized, the church seemedto grow larger, the priest's dress richer; the walls were covered withpictures, and above the altar, in jewelled robes, stood a lady, and inher arms a babe. Soft music sounded in her ears; the air was full (onthat she insisted much) of fragrant odor which filled the church likemist; and through it she saw not one, but many Indians, standing by thefont; and a lady held her by the hand, and she was a little girl again. 

And after, many questionings, so accurate was her recollection, not onlyof the scene, but of the building, that Yeo pronounced:

"A christened woman she is, madam, if Popish christening is worthcalling such, and has seen Indians christened too in the CathedralChurch at Quito, the inside whereof I know well enough, and too well, for I sat there three mortal hours in a San Benito, to hear a friarpreach his false doctrines, not knowing whether I was to be burnt or notnext day. "

So Ayacanora went home to Burrough, and Raleigh the Indian toSir Richard's house. The entry of his baptism still stands, crooked-lettered, in the old parchment register of the Bideford baptismsfor 1587-3:

 "Raleigh, a Winganditoian: March 26. "

His name occurs once more, a year and a month after:

 "Rawly, a Winganditoian, April 1589. "

But it is not this time among the baptisms. The free forest wanderer haspined in vain for his old deer-hunts amid the fragrant cedar woods, and lazy paddlings through the still lagoons, where water-lilies sleepbeneath the shade of great magnolias, wreathed with clustered vines; andnow he is away to "happier hunting-grounds, " and all that is left ofhim below sleeps in the narrow town churchyard, blocked in with dingyhouses, whose tenants will never waste a sigh upon the Indian's grave. There the two entries stand, unto this day; and most pathetic they haveseemed to me; a sort of emblem and first-fruits of the sad fate of thatworn-out Red race, to whom civilization came too late to save, but nottoo late to hasten their decay. 

But though Amyas lay idle, England did not. That spring saw another anda larger colony sent out by Raleigh to Virginia, under the charge of oneJohn White. Raleigh had written more than once, entreating Amyas to takethe command, which if he had done, perhaps the United States had begunto exist twenty years sooner than they actually did. But his mother hadbound him by a solemn promise (and who can wonder at her for asking, orat him for giving it?) to wait at home with her twelve months at least. So, instead of himself, he sent five hundred pounds, which I supposeare in Virginia (virtually at least) until this day; for they never cameback again to him. 

But soon came a sharper trial of Amyas's promise to his mother; andone which made him, for the first time in his life, moody, peevish, andrestless, at the thought that others were fighting Spaniards, whilehe was sitting idle at home. For his whole soul was filling fast withsullen malice against Don Guzman. He was losing the "single eye, " andhis whole body was no longer full of light. He had entered into thedarkness in which every man walks who hates his brother; and it lay uponhim like a black shadow day and night. No company, too, could be morefit to darken that shadow than Salvation Yeo's. The old man grew morestern in his fanaticism day by day, and found a too willing listener inhis master; and Mrs. Leigh was (perhaps for the first and last timein her life) seriously angry, when she heard the two coolly debatingwhether they had not committed a grievous sin in not killing the Spanishprisoners on board the galleon. 

It must be said, however (as the plain facts set down in this booktestify), that if such was the temper of Englishmen at that day, the Spaniards had done a good deal to provoke it; and were just thenattempting to do still more. 

For now we are approaching the year 1588, "which an astronomer ofKonigsberg, above a hundred years before, foretold would be an admirableyear, and the German chronologers presaged would be the climactericalyear of the world. "

The prophecies may stand for what they are worth; but they were at leastfulfilled. That year was, indeed, the climacterical year of the world;and decided once and for all the fortunes of the European nations, andof the whole continent of America. 

No wonder, then, if (as has happened in each great crisis of the humanrace) some awful instinct that The Day of the Lord was at hand, some dimfeeling that there was war in heaven, and that the fiends of darknessand the angels of light were arrayed against each other in some mightystruggle for the possession of the souls of men, should have triedto express itself in astrologic dreams, and, as was the fashion then, attributed to the "rulers of the planetary houses" some sympathy withthe coming world-tragedy. 

But, for the wise, there needed no conjunction of planets to tell themthat the day was near at hand, when the long desultory duel betweenSpain and England would end, once and for all, in some greatdeath-grapple. The war, as yet, had been confined to the Netherlands, tothe West Indies, and the coasts and isles of Africa; to the quarters, in fact, where Spain was held either to have no rights, or to haveforfeited them by tyranny. But Spain itself had been respected byEngland, as England had by Spain; and trade to Spanish ports went on asusual, till, in the year 1585, the Spaniard, without warning, laid anembargo on all English ships coming to his European shores. They were tobe seized, it seemed, to form part of an enormous armament, which was toattack and crush, once and for all--whom? The rebellious Netherlanders, said the Spaniards: but the queen, the ministry, and, when it was justnot too late, the people of England, thought otherwise. England was thedestined victim; so, instead of negotiating, in order to avoid fighting, they fought in order to produce negotiation. Drake, Frobisher, andCarlisle, as we have seen, swept the Spanish Main with fire and sword, stopping the Indian supplies; while Walsingham (craftiest, and yet mosthonest of mortals) prevented, by some mysterious financial operation, the Venetian merchants from repairing the Spaniards' loss by a loan; andno Armada came that year. 

In the meanwhile, the Jesuits, here and abroad, made no secret, amongtheir own dupes, of the real objects of the Spanish armament. Theimpious heretics, --the Drakes and Raleighs, Grenvilles and Cavendishes, Hawkinses and Frobishers, who had dared to violate that hidden sanctuaryof just half the globe, which the pope had bestowed on the defender ofthe true faith, --a shameful ruin, a terrible death awaited them, whentheir sacrilegious barks should sink beneath the thunder of Spanishcannon, blessed by the pope, and sanctified with holy water and prayerto the service of "God and his Mother. " Yes, they would fall, andEngland with them. The proud islanders, who had dared to rebel againstSt. Peter, and to cast off the worship of "Mary, " should bow theirnecks once more under the yoke of the Gospel. Their so-called queen, illegitimate, excommunicate, contumacious, the abettor of free-trade, the defender of the Netherlands, the pillar of false doctrine throughoutEurope, should be sent in chains across the Alps, to sue for her life atthe feet of the injured and long-suffering father of mankind, whilehis nominee took her place upon the throne which she had long sinceforfeited by her heresy. 

"What nobler work? How could the Church of God be more gloriouslypropagated? How could higher merit be obtained by faithful Catholics?It must succeed. Spain was invincible in valor, inexhaustible in wealth. Heaven itself offered them an opportunity. They had nothing now to fearfrom the Turk, for they had concluded a truce with him; nothing from theFrench, for they were embroiled in civil war. The heavens themselveshad called upon Spain to fulfil her heavenly mission, and restore tothe Church's crown this brightest and richest of her lost jewels. Theheavens themselves called to a new crusade. The saints, whose altarsthe English had rifled and profaned, called them to a new crusade. TheVirgin Queen of Heaven, whose boundless stores of grace the Englishspurned, called them to a new crusade. Justly incensed at her own wrongsand indignities, that 'ever-gracious Virgin, refuge of sinners, andmother of fair love, and holy hope, ' adjured by their knightly honor allvaliant cavaliers to do battle in her cause against the impious harlotwho assumed her titles, received from her idolatrous flatterers thehomage due to Mary alone, and even (for Father Parsons had asserted it, therefore it must be true) had caused her name to be substituted forthat of Mary in the Litanies of the Church. Let all who wore within amanly heart, without a manly sword, look on the woes of 'Mary, '--hershame, her tears, her blushes, her heart pierced through with dailywounds, from heretic tongues, and choose between her and Elizabeth!"

So said Parsons, Allen, and dozens more; and said more than this, too, and much which one had rather not repeat; and were somewhat surprisedand mortified to find that their hearers, though they granted thepremises, were too dull or carnal to arrive at the same conclusion. TheEnglish lay Romanists, almost to a man, had hearts sounder than theirheads, and, howsoever illogically, could not help holding to the strangesuperstition that, being Englishmen, they were bound to fight forEngland. So the hapless Jesuits, who had been boasting for years pastthat the persecuted faithful throughout the island would rise as one manto fight under the blessed banner of the pope and Spain, found that thefaithful, like Demas of old, forsook them and "went after this presentworld;" having no objection, of course, to the restoration of Popery:but preferring some more comfortable method than an invasion which wouldinevitably rob them of their ancestral lands and would seat needy andgreedy Castilians in their old country houses, to treat their tenants asthey had treated the Indians of Hispaniola, and them as they had treatedthe caciques. 

But though the hearts of men in that ungodly age were too hard to meltat the supposed woes of the Mary who reigned above, and too dull to turnrebels and traitors for the sake of those thrones and principalities insupra-lunar spheres which might be in her gift: yet there was a Marywho reigned (or ought to reign) below, whose woes (like her gifts) weresomewhat more palpable to the carnal sense. A Mary who, having everycomfort and luxury (including hounds and horses) found for her by theEnglish Government, at an expense which would be now equal to sometwenty thousand a year, could afford to employ the whole of her jointureas Queen Dowager of France (probably equal to fifty thousand a yearmore), in plotting the destruction of the said government, and themurder of its queen; a Mary who, if she prospered as she ought, mighthave dukedoms, and earldoms, fair lands and castles to bestow on herfaithful servants; a Mary, finally, who contrived by means of an angelface, a serpent tongue, and a heart (as she said herself) as hard asa diamond, to make every weak man fall in love with her, and, what wasworse, fancy more or less that she was in love with him. 

Of her the Jesuits were not unmindful; and found it convenient, indeed, to forget awhile the sorrows of the Queen of Heaven in those of theQueen of Scots. Not that they cared much for those sorrows; but theywere an excellent stock-in-trade. She was a Romanist; she was "beautifuland unfortunate, " a virtue which, like charity, hides the multitude ofsins; and therefore she was a convenient card to play in the great gameof Rome against the Queen and people of England; and played the poorcard was, till it got torn up by over-using. Into her merits or demeritsI do not enter deeply here. Let her rest in peace. 

To all which the people of England made a most practical and terribleanswer. From the highest noble to the lowest peasant, arose onesimultaneous plebiscitum: "We are tired of these seventeen years ofchicanery and terror. This woman must die: or the commonweal of Englandperish!" We all know which of the two alternatives was chosen. 

All Europe stood aghast: but rather with astonishment at Englishaudacity, than with horror at English wickedness. Mary's own Frenchkinsfolk had openly given her up as too bad to be excused, much lessassisted. Her own son blustered a little to the English ambassador;for the majesty of kings was invaded: whereon Walsingham said in opencouncil, that "the queen should send him a couple of hounds, and thatwould set all right. " Which sage advice (being acted on, and some deersent over and above) was so successful that the pious mourner, havingrun off (Randolph says, like a baby to see the deer in their cart), returned for answer that he would "thereafter depend wholly upon hermajesty, and serve her fortune against all the world; and that he onlywanted now two of her majesty's yeoman prickers, and a couple of hergrooms of the deer. " The Spaniard was not sorry on the whole for thecatastrophe; for all that had kept him from conquering England long agowas the fear lest, after it was done, he might have had to put the crownthereof on Mary's head, instead of his own. But Mary's death was asconvenient a stalking-horse to him as to the pope; and now the Armadawas coming in earnest. 

Elizabeth began negotiating; but fancy not that she does nothing more, as the following letter testifies, written about midsummer, 1587. 

"F. Drake to Captain Amyas Leigh. This with haste. 

"DEAR LAD, "As I said to her most glorious majesty, I say to you now. There are twoways of facing an enemy. The one to stand off, and cry, 'Try that again, and I'll strike thee'; the other to strike him first, and then, 'Trythat at all, and I'll strike thee again. ' Of which latter counsel hermajesty so far approves, that I go forthwith (tell it not in Gath) downthe coast, to singe the king of Spain's beard (so I termed it to hermajesty, she laughing), in which if I leave so much as a fishing-boatafloat from the Groyne unto Cadiz, it will not be with my good will, whointend that if he come this year, he shall come by swimming and not bysailing. So if you are still the man I have known you, bring a good shipround to Plymouth within the month, and away with me for hard blows andhard money, the feel of both of which you know pretty well by now. 

"Thine lovingly, "F. Drake. "

Amyas clutched his locks over this letter, and smoked more tobacco theday he got it than had ever before been consumed at once in England. Buthe kept true to his promise; and this was his reply:--

"Amyas Leigh to the Worshipful Sir F. Drake, Admiral of her Majesty'sFleet in Plymouth. 

"MOST HONORED SIR, "A magician keeps me here, in bilboes for which you have no picklock;namely, a mother who forbids. The loss is mine: but Antichrist I canfight any year (for he will not die this bout, nor the next), while mymother--but I will not trouble your patience more than to ask from youto get me news, if you can, from any prisoners of one Don Guzman MariaMagdalena Sotomayor de Soto; whether he is in Spain or in the Indies;and what the villain does, and where he is to be found. This only Ientreat of you, and so remain behind with a heavy heart. 

"Yours to command in all else, and I would to Heaven, in this also, "AMYAS LEIGH. "

I am sorry to have to say, that after having thus obeyed his mother, Master Amyas, as men are too apt to do, revenged himself on her by beingmore and more cross and disagreeable. But his temper amended much, when, a few months after, Drake returned triumphant, having destroyeda hundred sail in Cadiz alone, taken three great galleons with immensewealth on board, burnt the small craft all along the shore, and offeredbattle to Santa Cruz at the mouth of the Tagus. After which it isunnecessary to say, that the Armada was put off for yet another year. 

This news, indeed, gave Amyas little comfort; for he merely observed, grumbling, that Drake had gone and spoiled everybody else's sport: butwhat cheered him was news from Drake that Don Guzman had been heard offrom the captain of one of the galleons; that he was high in favor inSpain, and commandant of soldiers on board one of the largest of themarquis's ships. 

And when Amyas heard that, a terrible joy took possession of him. Whenthe Armada came, as come it would, he should meet his enemy at last! Hecould wait now patiently: if--and he shuddered at himself, as he foundhimself in the very act of breathing a prayer that Don Guzman might notdie before that meeting. 

In the meanwhile, rumor flew thousand-tongued through the length andbreadth of the land; of vast preparations going on in Spain and Italy;of timber felled long before for some such purpose, brought down to thesea, and sawn out for shipbuilding; of casting of cannon, and drillingof soldiers; of ships in hundreds collecting at Lisbon; of a crusadepreached by Pope Sixtus the Fifth, who had bestowed the kingdom ofEngland on the Spaniard, to be enjoyed by him as vassal tributary toRome; of a million of gold to be paid by the pope, one-half down atonce, the other half when London was taken; of Cardinal Allen writingand printing busily in the Netherlands, calling on all good Englishmento carry out, by rebelling against Elizabeth, the bull of Sixtus theFifth, said (I blush to repeat it) to have been dictated by the HolyGhost; of Inquisitors getting ready fetters and devil's engines of allsorts; of princes and noblemen, flocking from all quarters, gentlemenselling their private estates to fit out ships; how the Prince ofMelito, the Marquess of Burgrave, Vespasian Gonzaga, John Medicis, Amadas of Savoy, in short, the illegitimate sons of all the southernprinces, having no lands of their own, were coming to find thatnecessary of life in this pleasant little wheat-garden. Nay, the Duke ofMedina Sidonia had already engaged Mount-Edgecombe for himself, as thefairest jewel of the south; which when good old Sir Richard Edgecombeheard, he observed quietly, that in 1555 he had the pleasure ofreceiving at his table at one time the admirals of England, Spain, andthe Netherlands, and therefore had experience in entertaining Dons; andmade preparations for the visit by filling his cellars with gunpowder, with a view to a house-warming and feu-de-joie on the occasion. But asold Fuller says, "The bear was not yet killed, and Medina Sidonia mighthave catched a great cold, had he no other clothes to wear than the skinthereof. "

So flew rumor, false and true, till poor John Bull's wits were well-nighturned: but to the very last, after his lazy fashion, he persuadedhimself that it would all come right somehow; that it was too great newsto be true; that if it was true, the expedition was only meant for theNetherlands; and, in short, sat quietly over his beef and beer for manya day after the French king had sent him fair warning, and the queen, the ministry, and the admirals had been assuring him again and againthat he, and not the Dutchman, was the destined prey of this greatflight of ravenous birds. 

At last the Spaniard, in order that there should be no mistake about thematter, kindly printed a complete bill of the play, to be seen still inVan Meteran, for the comfort of all true Catholics, and confusion of allpestilent heretics; which document, of course, the seminary priests usedto enforce the duty of helping the invaders, and the certainty of theirsuccess; and from their hands it soon passed into those of the devoutladies, who were not very likely to keep it to themselves; till JohnBull himself found his daughters buzzing over it with very pale faces(as young ladies well might who had no wish to follow the fate ofthe damsels of Antwerp), and condescending to run his eye through it, discovered, what all the rest of Europe had known for months past, thathe was in a very great scrape. 

Well it was for England, then, that her Tudor sovereigns had compelledevery man (though they kept up no standing army) to be a trainedsoldier. Well it was that Elizabeth, even in those dangerous days ofintrigue and rebellion, had trusted her people enough, not only to leavethem their weapons, but (what we, forsooth, in these more "free" and"liberal" days dare not do) to teach them how to use them. Well itwas, that by careful legislation for the comfort and employment of "themasses" (term then, thank God, unknown), she had both won their hearts, and kept their bodies in fighting order. Well it was that, acting asfully as Napoleon did on "la carriere ouverte aux talens, " she hadraised to the highest posts in her councils, her army, and her navy, menof business, who had not been ashamed to buy and sell as merchants andadventurers. Well for England, in a word, that Elizabeth had pursuedfor thirty years a very different course from that which we have beenpursuing for the last thirty, with one exception, namely, the leaving asmuch as possible to private enterprise. 

There we have copied her: would to Heaven that we had in some othermatters! It is the fashion now to call her a despot: but unless everymonarch is to be branded with that epithet whose power is not ascircumscribed as Queen Victoria's is now, we ought rather to call herthe most popular sovereign, obeyed of their own free will by the freestsubjects which England has ever seen; confess the Armada fight to havebeen as great a moral triumph as it was a political one; and (now thatour late boasting is a little silenced by Crimean disasters) inquirewhether we have not something to learn from those old Tudor times, asto how to choose officials, how to train a people, and how to defend acountry. 

To return to the thread of my story. 

January, 1587-8, had well-nigh run through, before Sir Richard Grenvillemade his appearance on the streets of Bideford. He had been appointed inNovember one of the council of war for providing for the safety of thenation, and the West Country had seen nothing of him since. But onemorning, just before Christmas, his stately figure darkened the oldbay-window at Burrough, and Amyas rushed out to meet him, and bring himin, and ask what news from Court. 

"All good news, dear lad, and dearer madam. The queen shows the spiritof a very Boadicea or Semiramis; ay, a very Scythian Tomyris, and if shehad the Spaniard before her now, would verily, for aught I know, feasthim as the Scythian queen did Cyrus, with 'Satia te sanguine, quodsitisti. '"

"I trust her most merciful spirit is not so changed already, " said Mrs. Leigh. 

"Well, if she would not do it, I would, and ask pardon afterwards, asRaleigh did about the rascals at Smerwick, whom Amyas knows of. Mrs. Leigh, these are times in which mercy is cruelty. Not England alone, but the world, the Bible, the Gospel itself, is at stake; and we must doterrible things, lest we suffer more terrible ones. "

"God will take care of world and Bible better than any cruelty of ours, dear Sir Richard. "

"Nay, but, Mrs. Leigh, we must help Him to take care of them! If thoseSmerwick Spaniards had not been--"

"The Spaniard would not have been exasperated into invading us. "

"And we should not have had this chance of crushing him once and forall; but the quarrel is of older standing, madam, eh, Amyas? Amyas, hasRaleigh written to you of late?"

"Not a word, and I wonder why. "

"Well; no wonder at that, if you knew how he has been laboring. Thewonder is, whence he got the knowledge wherewith to labor; for he neversaw sea-work to my remembrance. "

"Never saw a shot fired by sea, except ours at Smerwick, and thatbrush with the Spaniards in 1579, when he sailed for Virginia with SirHumphrey; and he was a mere crack then. "

"So you consider him as your pupil, eh? But he learnt enough in theNetherland wars, and in Ireland too, if not of the strength of ships, yet still of the weakness of land forces; and would you believe it, theman has twisted the whole council round his finger, and made them giveup the land defences to the naval ones. "

"Quite right he, and wooden walls against stone ones for ever! But asfor twisting, he would persuade Satan, if he got him alone for half anhour. "

"I wish he would sail for Spain then, just now, and try the powers ofhis tongue, " said Mrs. Leigh. 

"But are we to have the honor, really?"

"We are, lad. There were many in the council who were for disputing thelanding on shore, and said--which I do not deny--that the 'prenticeboys of London could face the bluest blood in Spain. But Raleigh argued(following my Lord Burleigh in that) that we differed from the LowCountries, and all other lands, in that we had not a castle or townthroughout, which would stand a ten days' siege, and that our ramparts, as he well said, were, after all, only a body of men. So, he argued, aslong as the enemy has power to land where he will, prevention, ratherthan cure, is our only hope; and that belongs to the office, not of anarmy, but of a fleet. So the fleet was agreed on, and a fleet we shallhave. "

"Then here is his health, the health of a true friend to all boldmariners, and myself in particular! But where is he now?"

"Coming here to-morrow, as I hope--for he left London with me, and sodown by us into Cornwall, to drill the train-bands, as he is boundto do, being Seneschal of the Duchies and Lieutenant-General of thecounty. "

"Besides Lord Warden of the Stanneries! How the man thrives!" said Mrs. Leigh. 

"How the man deserves to thrive!" said Amyas; "but what are we to do?"

"That is the rub. I would fain stay and fight the Spaniards. "

"So would I; and will. "

"But he has other plans in his head for us. "

"We can make our own plans without his help. "

"Heyday, Amyas! How long? When did he ask you to do a thing yet and yourefuse him?"

"Not often, certainly; but Spaniards I must fight. "

"Well, so must I, boy: but I have given a sort of promise to him, nevertheless. "

"Not for me too, I hope?"

"No: he will extract that himself when he comes; you must come and supto-morrow, and talk it over. "

"Be talked over, rather. What chestnut does the cat want us monkeys topull out of the fire for him now, I wonder?"

"Sir Richard Grenville is hardly accustomed to be called a monkey, " saidMrs. Leigh. 

"I meant no harm; and his worship knows it, none better: but where isRaleigh going to send us, with a murrain?"

"To Virginia. The settlers must have help: and, as I trust in God, weshall be back again long before this armament can bestir itself. "

So Raleigh came, saw, and conquered. Mrs. Leigh consented to Amyas'sgoing (for his twelve-month would be over ere the fleet could start)upon so peaceful and useful an errand; and the next five months werespent in continual labor on the part of Amyas and Grenville, till sevenships were all but ready in Bideford river, the admiral whereof wasAmyas Leigh. 

But that fleet was not destined ever to see the shores of the New World:it had nobler work to do (if Americans will forgive the speech) thaneven settling the United States. 

It was in the long June evenings, in the year 1588; Mrs. Leigh sat inthe open window, busy at her needle-work; Ayacanora sat opposite to her, on the seat of the bay, trying diligently to read "The History of theNine Worthies, " and stealing a glance every now and then towards thegarden, where Amyas stalked up and down as he had used to do in happierdays gone by. But his brow was contracted now, his eyes fixed on theground, as he plodded backwards and forwards, his hands behind his back, and a huge cigar in his mouth, the wonder of the little boys of Northam, who peeped in stealthily as they passed the iron-work gates, to see theback of the famous fire-breathing captain who had sailed round the worldand been in the country of headless men and flying dragons, and thenpopped back their heads suddenly, as he turned toward them in his walk. And Ayacanora looked, and looked, with no less admiration than theurchins at the gate: but she got no more of an answering look from Amyasthan they did; for his head was full of calculations of tonnage andstowage, of salt pork and ale-barrels, and the packing of tools andseeds; for he had promised Raleigh to do his best for the new colony, and he was doing it with all his might; so Ayacanora looked back againto her book, and heaved a deep sigh. It was answered by one from Mrs. Leigh. 

"We are a melancholy pair, sweet chuck, " said the fair widow. "What ismy maid sighing about, there?"

"Because I cannot make out the long words, " said Ayacanora, telling avery white fib. 

"Is that all? Come to me, and I will tell you. "

Ayacanora moved over to her, and sat down at her feet. 

"H--e, he, r--o, ro, i--c--a--l, heroical, " said Mrs. Leigh. 

"But what does that mean?"

"Grand, good, and brave, like--"

Mrs. Leigh was about to have said the name of one who was lost to heron earth. His fair angelic face hung opposite upon the wall. She pausedunable to pronounce his name; and lifted up her eyes, and gazed on theportrait, and breathed a prayer between closed lips, and drooped herhead again. 

Her pupil caught at the pause, and filled it up for herself--

"Like him?" and she turned her head quickly toward the window. 

"Yes, like him, too, " said Mrs. Leigh, with a half-smile at the gesture. "Now, mind your book. Maidens must not look out of the window in schoolhours. "

"Shall I ever be an English girl?" asked Ayacanora. 

"You are one now, sweet; your father was an English gentleman. "

Amyas looked in, and saw the two sitting together. 

"You seem quite merry there, " said he. 

"Come in, then, and be merry with us. "

He entered, and sat down; while Ayacanora fixed her eyes moststeadfastly on her book. 

"Well, how goes on the reading?" said he; and then, without waiting foran answer--"We shall be ready to clear out this day week, mother, I dobelieve; that is, if the hatchets are made in time to pack them. "

"I hope they will be better than the last, " said Mrs. Leigh. "It seemsto me a shameful sin to palm off on poor ignorant savages goods which weshould consider worthless for ourselves. "

"Well, it's not over fair: but still, they are a sight better than theyever had before. An old hoop is better than a deer's bone, as Ayacanoraknows, --eh?"

"I don't know anything about it, " said she, who was always nettled atthe least allusion to her past wild life. "I am an English girl now, andall that is gone--I forget it. "

"Forget it?" said he, teasing her for want of something better to do. "Should not you like to sail with us, now, and see the Indians in theforests once again?"

"Sail with you?" and she looked up eagerly. 

"There! I knew it! She would not be four-and-twenty hours ashore, butshe would be off into the woods again, bow in hand, like any runawaynymph, and we should never see her more. "

"It is false, bad man!" and she burst into violent tears, and hid herface in Mrs. Leigh's lap. 

"Amyas, Amyas, why do you tease the poor fatherless thing?"

"I was only jesting, I'm sure, " said Amyas, like a repentant schoolboy. "Don't cry now, don't cry, my child, see here, " and he began fumbling inhis pockets; "see what I bought of a chapman in town to-day, for you, mymaid, indeed, I did. "

And out he pulled some smart kerchief or other, which had taken hissailor's fancy. 

"Look at it now, blue, and crimson, and green, like any parrot!" and heheld it out. 

She looked round sharply, snatched it out of his hand, and tore it toshreds. 

"I hate it, and I hate you!" and she sprang up and darted out of theroom. 

"Oh, boy, boy!" said Mrs. Leigh, "will you kill that poor child? Itmatters little for an old heart like mine, which has but one or twochords left whole, how soon it be broken altogether; but a young heartis one of God's precious treasures, Amyas, and suffers many a long pangin the breaking; and woe to them who despise Christ's little ones!"

"Break your heart, mother?"

"Never mind my heart, dear son; yet how can you break it more surelythan by tormenting one whom I love, because she loves you?"

"Tut! play, mother, and maids' tempers. But how can I break your heart?What have I done? Have I not given up going again to the West Indies foryour sake? Have I not given up going to Virginia, and now again settledto go after all, just because you commanded? Was it not your will? HaveI not obeyed you, mother, mother? I will stay at home now, if you will. I would rather rust here on land, I vow I would, than grieve you--" andhe threw himself at his mother's knees. 

"Have I asked you not to go to Virginia? No, dear boy, though everythought of a fresh parting seems to crack some new fibre within me, youmust go! It is your calling. Yes; you were not sent into the world toamuse me, but to work. I have had pleasure enough of you, my darling, for many a year, and too much, perhaps; till I shrank from lending youto the Lord. But He must have you. . . . It is enough for the poor oldwidow to know that her boy is what he is, and to forget all her anguishday by day, for joy that a man is born into the world. But, Amyas, Amyas, are you so blind as not to see that Ayacanora--"

"Don't talk about her, poor child. Talk about yourself. "

"How long have I been worth talking about? No, Amyas, you must see it;and if you will not see it now, you will see it one day in some sad andfearful prodigy; for she is not one to die tamely. She loves you, Amyas, as a woman only can love. "

"Loves me? Well, of course. I found her, and brought her home; and Idon't deny she may think that she owes me somewhat--though it was nomore than a Christian man's duty. But as for her caring much for me, mother, you measure every one else's tenderness by your own. "

"Think that she owes you somewhat? Silly boy, this is not gratitude, but a deeper affection, which may be more heavenly than gratitude, asit may, too, become a horrible cause of ruin. It rests with you, Amyas, which of the two it will be. "

"You are in earnest?"

"Have I the heart or the time to jest?"

"No, no, of course not; but, mother, I thought it was not comely forwomen to fall in love with men?"

"Not comely, at least, to confess their love to men. But she has neverdone that, Amyas; not even by a look or a tone of voice, though I havewatched her for months. "

"To be sure, she is as demure as any cat when I am in the way. I onlywonder how you found it out. "

"Ah, " said she, smiling sadly, "even in the saddest woman's soul therelinger snatches of old music, odors of flowers long dead and turned todust--pleasant ghosts, which still keep her mind attuned to that whichmay be in others, though in her never more; till she can hear her ownwedding-hymn re-echoed in the tones of every girl who loves, and seesher own wedding-torch re-lighted in the eyes of every bride. "

"You would not have me marry her?" asked blunt, practical Amyas. 

"God knows what I would have--I know not; I see neither your path normy own--no, not after weeks and months of prayer. All things beyond arewrapped in mist; and what will be, I know not, save that whatever elseis wrong, mercy at least is right. "

"I'd sail to-morrow, if I could. As for marrying her, mother--her birth, mind me--"

"Ah, boy, boy! Are you God, to visit the sins of the parents upon thechildren?"

"Not that. I don't mean that; but I mean this, that she is half aSpaniard, mother; and I cannot!--Her blood may be as blue as KingPhilip's own, but it is Spanish still! I cannot bear the thought that mychildren should have in their veins one drop of that poison. "

"Amyas! Amyas!" interrupted she, "is this not, too, visiting theparents' sins on the children?"

"Not a whit; it is common sense, --she must have the taint of theirbloodthirsty humor. She has it--I have seen it in her again and again. I have told you, have I not? Can I forget the look of her eyes asshe stood over that galleon's captain, with the smoking knife in herhand. --Ugh! And she is not tamed yet, as you can see, and never willbe:--not that I care, except for her own sake, poor thing!"

"Cruel boy! to impute as a blame to the poor child, not only the errorsof her training, but the very madness of her love!"

"Of her love?"

"Of what else, blind buzzard? From the moment that you told me the storyof that captain's death, I knew what was in her heart--and thus it isthat you requite her for having saved your life!"

"Umph! that is one word too much, mother. If you don't want to send mecrazy, don't put the thing on the score of gratitude or duty. As it is, I can hardly speak civilly to her (God forgive me!) when I recollectthat she belongs to the crew who murdered him"--and he pointed to thepicture, and Mrs. Leigh shuddered as he did so. 

"You feel it! You know you feel it, tender-hearted, forgiving angel asyou are; and what do you think I must feel?"

"Oh, my son, my son!" cried she, wringing her hands, "if I be wretchenough to give place to the devil for a moment, does that give you aright to entertain and cherish him thus day by day?"

"I should cherish him with a vengeance, if I brought up a crew ofchildren who could boast of a pedigree of idolaters and tyrants, huntersof Indians, and torturers of women! How pleasant to hear her tellingMaster Jack, 'Your illustrious grand-uncle the pope's legate, wasthe man who burned Rose Salterne at Cartagena;' or Miss Grace, 'Yourgreat-grandfather of sixteen quarterings, the Marquis of this, son ofthe Grand-equerry that, and husband of the Princess t'other, used tofeed his bloodhounds, when beef was scarce, with Indians' babies!' Eh, mother? These things are true, and if you can forget them, I cannot. Isit not enough to have made me forego for awhile my purpose, my business, the one thing I live for, and that is, hunting down the Spaniards as Iwould adders or foxes, but you must ask me over and above to take one tomy bosom?"

"Oh, my son, my son! I have not asked you to do that; I have onlycommanded you, in God's name, to be merciful, if you wish to obtainmercy. Oh, if you will not pity this poor maiden, pity yourself; for Godknows you stand in more need of it than she does!"

Amyas was silent for a minute or two; and then, --

"If it were not for you, mother, would God that the Armada would come!"

"What, and ruin England?"

"No! Curse them! Not a foot will they ever set on English soil, such awelcome would we give them. If I were but in the midst of that fleet, fighting like a man--to forget it all, with a galleon on board of me tolarboard, and another to starboard--and then to put a linstock in themagazine, and go aloft in good company--I don't care how soon it comes, mother, if it were not for you. "

"If I am in your way, Amyas, do not fear that I shall trouble you long. "

"Oh, mother, mother, do not talk in that way! I am half-mad, I think, already, and don't know what I say. Yes, I am mad; mad at heart, thoughnot at head. There's a fire burning me up, night and day, and nothingbut Spanish blood will put it out. "

"Or the grace of God, my poor wilful child! Who comes to the door?--soquickly, too?"

There was a loud hurried knocking, and in another minute a serving-manhurried in with a letter. 

"This to Captain Amyas Leigh with haste, haste!"

It was Sir Richard's hand. Amyas tore it open; and "a loud laugh laughedhe. "

"The Armada is coming! My wish has come true, mother!"

"God help us, it has! Show me the letter. "

It was a hurried scrawl. 

"DR. GODSON, --Walsingham sends word that the Ada. Sailed from Lisbon tothe Groyne the 18. Of May. We know no more, but have commandment to staythe ships. Come down, dear lad, and give us counsel; and may the Lordhelp His Church in this great strait. 

"Your loving godfather, "R. G. "

"Forgive me, mother, mother, once for all!" cried Amyas, throwing hisarms round her neck. 

"I have nothing to forgive, my son, my son! And shall I lose thee, also?"

"If I be killed, you will have two martyrs of your blood, mother!--"

Mrs. Leigh bowed her head, and was silent. Amyas caught up his hat andsword, and darted forth toward Bideford. 

Amyas literally danced into Sir Richard's hall, where he stood talkingearnestly with various merchants and captains. 

"Gloria, gloria! gentles all! The devil is broke loose at last; and nowwe know where to have him on the hip!"

"Why so merry, Captain Leigh, when all else are sad?" said a gentlevoice by his side. 

"Because I have been sad a long time, while all else were merry, dearlady. Is the hawk doleful when his hood is pulled off, and he sees theheron flapping right ahead of him?"

"You seem to forget the danger and the woe of us weak women, sir?"

"I don't forget the danger and the woe of one weak woman, madam, and shethe daughter of a man who once stood in this room, " said Amyas, suddenlycollecting himself, in a low stern voice. "And I don't forget the dangerand the woe of one who was worth a thousand even of her. I don't forgetanything, madam. "

"Nor forgive either, it seems. "

"It will be time to talk of forgiveness after the offender has repentedand amended; and does the sailing of the Armada look like that?"

"Alas, no! God help us!"

"He will help us, madam, " said Amyas. 

"Admiral Leigh, " said Sir Richard, "we need you now, if ever. Here arethe queen's orders to furnish as many ships as we can; though from thesegentlemen's spirit, I should say the orders were well-nigh needless. "

"Not a doubt, sir; for my part, I will fit my ship at my own charges, and fight her too, as long as I have a leg or an arm left. "

"Or a tongue to say, never surrender, I'll warrant!" said an oldmerchant. "You put life into us old fellows, Admiral Leigh: but itwill be a heavy matter for those poor fellows in Virginia, and for mydaughter too, Madam Dare, with her young babe, as I hear, just born. "

"And a very heavy matter, " said some one else, "for those who haveventured their money in these cargoes, which must lie idle, you see, nowfor a year maybe--and then all the cost of unlading again--"

"My good sir, " said Grenville, "what have private interests to dowith this day? Let us thank God if He only please to leave us the barefee-simple of this English soil, the honor of our wives and daughters, and bodies safe from rack and fagot, to wield the swords of freemen indefence of a free land, even though every town and homestead in Englandwere wasted with fire, and we left to rebuild over again all which ourancestors have wrought for us in now six hundred years. "

"Right, sir!" said Amyas. "For my part, let my Virginian goods roton the quay, if the worst comes to the worst. I begin unloading theVengeance to-morrow; and to sea as soon as I can fill up my crew to agood fighting number. "

And so the talk ran on; and ere two days were past, most of theneighboring gentlemen, summoned by Sir Richard, had come in, and greatwas the bidding against each other as to who should do most. Cary andBrimblecombe, with thirty tall Clovelly men, came across the bay, andwithout even asking leave of Amyas, took up their berths as a matter ofcourse on board the Vengeance. In the meanwhile, the matter was takenup by families. The Fortescues (a numberless clan) offered to furnisha ship; the Chichesters another, the Stukelys a third; while themerchantmen were not backward. The Bucks, the Stranges, the Heards, joyfully unloaded their Virginian goods, and replaced them with powderand shot; and in a week's time the whole seven were ready once more forsea, and dropped down into Appledore pool, with Amyas as their admiralfor the time being (for Sir Richard had gone by land to Plymouth to jointhe deliberations there), and waited for the first favorable wind tostart for the rendezvous in the Sound. 

At last, upon the twenty-first of June, the clank of the capstans rangmerrily across the flats, and amid prayers and blessings, forth sailedthat gallant squadron over the bar, to play their part in Britain'sSalamis; while Mrs. Leigh stood watching as she stood once before, beside the churchyard wall: but not alone this time; for Ayacanora stoodby her side, and gazed and gazed, till her eyes seemed ready to burstfrom their sockets. At last she turned away with a sob, --

"And he never bade me good-bye, mother!"

"God forgive him! Come home and pray, my child; there is no other reston earth than prayer for woman's heart!"

They were calling each other mother and daughter then? Yes. The sacredfire of sorrow was fast burning out all Ayacanora's fallen savageness;and, like a Phoenix, the true woman was rising from those ashes, fair, noble, and all-enduring, as God had made her. 

CHAPTER XXX

HOW THE ADMIRAL JOHN HAWKINS TESTIFIED AGAINST CROAKERS

 "Oh, where be these gay Spaniards, Which make so great a boast O? Oh, they shall eat the gray-goose feather, And we shall eat the roast O!"

 Cornish Song. 

What if the spectators who last summer gazed with just pride upon thenoble port of Plymouth, its vast breakwater spanning the Sound, itsarsenals and docks, its two estuaries filled with gallant ships, andwatched the great screw-liners turning within their own length by forceinvisible, or threading the crowded fleets with the ease of the tiniestboat, --what if, by some magic turn, the nineteenth century, and all themagnificence of its wealth and science, had vanished--as it may vanishhereafter--and they had found themselves thrown back three hundred yearsinto the pleasant summer days of 1588?

Mount Edgecombe is still there, beautiful as ever: but where are thedocks, and where is Devonport? No vast dry-dock roofs rise at thewater's edge. Drake's island carries but a paltry battery, just raisedby the man whose name it bears; Mount Wise is a lone gentleman's houseamong fields; the citadel is a pop-gun fort, which a third-class steamerwould shell into rubble for an afternoon's amusement. And the shipping, where are they? The floating castles of the Hamoaze have dwindled toa few crawling lime-hoys; and the Catwater is packed, not as now, withmerchant craft, but with the ships who will to-morrow begin the greatestsea-fight which the world has ever seen. 

There they lie, a paltry squadron enough in modern eyes; the largest ofthem not equal in size to a six-and-thirty-gun frigate, carrying lessweight of metal than one of our new gun-boats, and able to employ eventhat at not more than a quarter of our modern range. Would our modernspectators, just come down by rail for a few hours, to see the cavalryembark, and return tomorrow in time for dinner, have looked down uponthat petty port, and petty fleet, with a contemptuous smile, and begunsome flippant speech about the progress of intellect, and the triumphsof science, and our benighted ancestors? They would have done so, doubtit not, if they belonged to the many who gaze on those very triumphsas on a raree-show to feed their silly wonder, or use and enjoy themwithout thankfulness or understanding, as the ox eats the clover thrustinto his rack, without knowing or caring how it grew. But if any of themwere of the class by whom those very triumphs have been achieved; thethinkers and the workers, who, instead of entering lazily into othermen's labors, as the mob does, labor themselves; who know by hardexperience the struggles, the self-restraints, the disappointments, theslow and staggering steps, by which the discoverer reaches to his prize;then the smile of those men would not have been one of pity, but ratherof filial love. For they would have seen in those outwardly paltryarmaments the potential germ of that mightier one which now loads theBlack Sea waves; they would have been aware, that to produce it, withsuch materials and knowledge as then existed, demanded an intellect, anenergy, a spirit of progress and invention, equal, if not superior, tothose of which we now so loudly boast. 

But if, again, he had been a student of men rather than of machinery, he would have found few nobler companies on whom to exercise hisdiscernment, than he might have seen in the little terrace bowling-greenbehind the Pelican Inn, on the afternoon of the nineteenth of July. Chatting in groups, or lounging over the low wall which commanded aview of the Sound and the shipping far below, were gathered almostevery notable man of the Plymouth fleet, the whole posse comitatusof "England's forgotten worthies. " The Armada has been scattered by astorm. Lord Howard has been out to look for it, as far as the Spanishcoast; but the wind has shifted to the south, and fearing lest the Donsshould pass him, he has returned to Plymouth, uncertain whether theArmada will come after all or not. Slip on for a while, like Prince Hal, the drawer's apron; come in through the rose-clad door which opensfrom the tavern, with a tray of long-necked Dutch glasses, and a silvertankard of wine, and look round you at the gallant captains, who arewaiting for the Spanish Armada, as lions in their lair might wait forthe passing herd of deer. 

See those five talking earnestly, in the centre of a ring, which longsto overhear, and yet is too respectful to approach close. Those softlong eyes and pointed chin you recognize already; they are WalterRaleigh's. The fair young man in the flame-colored doublet, whose armis round Raleigh's neck, is Lord Sheffield; opposite them stands, bythe side of Sir Richard Grenville, a man as stately even as he, LordSheffield's uncle, the Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, lord highadmiral of England; next to him is his son-in-law, Sir Robert Southwell, captain of the Elizabeth Jonas: but who is that short, sturdy, plainlydressed man, who stands with legs a little apart, and hands behind hisback, looking up, with keen gray eyes, into the face of each speaker?His cap is in his hands, so you can see the bullet head of crisp brownhair and the wrinkled forehead, as well as the high cheek bones, theshort square face, the broad temples, the thick lips, which are yet firmas granite. A coarse plebeian stamp of man: yet the whole figure andattitude are that of boundless determination, self-possession, energy;and when at last he speaks a few blunt words, all eyes are turnedrespectfully upon him;--for his name is Francis Drake. 

A burly, grizzled elder, in greasy sea-stained garments, contrastingoddly with the huge gold chain about his neck, waddles up, as if he hadbeen born, and had lived ever since, in a gale of wind at sea. The upperhalf of his sharp dogged visage seems of brick-red leather, the lower ofbadger's fur; and as he claps Drake on the back, and, with a broad Devontwang, shouts, "be you a coming to drink your wine, Francis Drake, orbe you not?--saving your presence, my lord;" the lord high admiral onlylaughs, and bids Drake go and drink his wine; for John Hawkins, admiralof the port, is the patriarch of Plymouth seamen, if Drake be theirhero, and says and does pretty much what he likes in any company onearth; not to mention that to-day's prospect of an Armageddon fight hasshaken him altogether out of his usual crabbed reserve, and made himoverflow with loquacious good-humor, even to his rival Drake. 

So they push through the crowd, wherein is many another man whom onewould gladly have spoken with face to face on earth. Martin Frobisherand John Davis are sitting on that bench, smoking tobacco from longsilver pipes; and by them are Fenton and Withrington, who have bothtried to follow Drake's path round the world, and failed, though by nofault of their own. The man who pledges them better luck next time, is George Fenner, known to "the seven Portugals, " Leicester's pet, andcaptain of the galleon which Elizabeth bought of him. That short primman in the huge yellow ruff, with sharp chin, minute imperial, andself-satisfied smile, is Richard Hawkins, the Complete Seaman, AdmiralJohn's hereafter famous and hapless son. The elder who is talking withhim is his good uncle William, whose monument still stands, or shouldstand, in Deptford Church; for Admiral John set it up there but one yearafter this time; and on it record how he was, "A worshipper of the truereligion, an especial benefactor of poor sailors, a most just arbiterin most difficult causes, and of a singular faith, piety, and prudence. "That, and the fact that he got creditably through some sharp work atPorto Rico, is all I know of William Hawkins: but if you or I, reader, can have as much or half as much said of us when we have to follow him, we shall have no reason to complain. 

There is John Drake, Sir Francis' brother, ancestor of the present stockof Drakes; and there is George, his nephew, a man not overwise, who hasbeen round the world with Amyas; and there is Amyas himself, talkingto one who answers him with fierce curt sentences, Captain Barker ofBristol, brother of the hapless Andrew Barker who found John Oxenham'sguns, and, owing to a mutiny among his men, perished by the Spaniards inHonduras, twelve years ago. Barker is now captain of the Victory, one ofthe queen's best ships; and he has his accounts to settle with the Dons, as Amyas has; so they are both growling together in a corner, while allthe rest are as merry as the flies upon the vine above their heads. 

But who is the aged man who sits upon a bench, against the sunny southwall of the tavern, his long white beard flowing almost to his waist, his hands upon his knees, his palsied head moving slowly from side toside, to catch the scraps of discourse of the passing captains? Hisgreat-grandchild, a little maid of six, has laid her curly head upon hisknees, and his grand-daughter, a buxom black-eyed dame of thirty, standsby him and tends him, half as nurse, and half, too, as showman, for heseems an object of curiosity to all the captains, and his fair nurse hasto entreat again and again, "Bless you, sir, please now, don't give himno liquor, poor old soul, the doctor says. " It is old Martin Cockrem, father of the ancient host, aged himself beyond the years of man, whocan recollect the bells of Plymouth ringing for the coronation of Henrythe Eighth, and who was the first Englishman, perhaps, who ever set footon the soil of the New World. There he sits, like an old Druid Tor ofprimeval granite amid the tall wheat and rich clover crops of a modernfarm. He has seen the death of old Europe and the birth-throes of thenew. Go to him, and question him; for his senses are quick as ever;and just now the old man seems uneasy. He is peering with rheumy eyesthrough the groups, and seems listening for a well-known voice. 

"There 'a be again! Why don't 'a come, then?"

"Quiet, gramfer, and don't trouble his worship. "

"Here an hour, and never speak to poor old Martin! I say, sir"--and theold man feebly plucks Amyas's cloak as he passes. "I say, captain, do 'etell young master old Martin's looking for him. "

"Marcy, gramfer, where's your manners? Don't be vexed, sir, he'm a'mosta babe, and tejous at times, mortal. "

"Young master who?" says Amyas, bending down to the old man, and smilingto the dame to let him have his way. 

"Master Hawkins; he'm never been a-near me all day. "

Off goes Amyas; and, of course, lays hold of the sleeve of young RichardHawkins; but as he is in act to speak, the dame lays hold of his, laughing and blushing. 

"No, sir, not Mr. Richard, sir; Admiral John, sir, his father; he alwayscalls him young master, poor old soul!" and she points to the grizzledbeard and the face scarred and tanned with fifty years of fight andstorm. 

Amyas goes to the Admiral, and gives his message. 

"Mercy on me! Where be my wits? Iss, I'm a-coming, " says the old hero inhis broadest Devon, waddles off to the old man, and begins lugging ata pocket. "Here, Martin, I've got mun, I've got mun, man alive; but hisLordship keept me so. Lookee here, then! Why, I do get so lusty of late, Martin, I can't get to my pockets!"

And out struggle a piece of tarred string, a bundle of papers, athimble, a piece of pudding-tobacco, and last of all, a little paper ofMuscovado sugar--then as great a delicacy as any French bonbons would benow--which he thrusts into the old man's eager and trembling hand. 

Old Martin begins dipping his finger into it, and rubbing it on histoothless gums, smiling and nodding thanks to his young master; whilethe little maid at his knee, unrebuked, takes her share also. 

"There, Admiral Leigh; both ends meet--gramfers and babies! You and Ishall be like to that one day, young Samson!"

"We shall have slain a good many Philistines first, I hope. "

"Amen! so be it; but look to mun! so fine a sailor as ever drank liquor;and now greedy after a hit of sweet trade! 'tis piteous like; but Ibring mun a hit whenever I come, and he looks for it. He's one of my ownflesh like, is old Martin. He sailed with my father Captain Will, whenthey was both two little cracks aboard of a trawler; and my fatherwent up, and here I am--he didn't, and there he is. We'm up now, weHawkinses. We may be down again some day. "

"Never, I trust, " said Amyas. 

"'Tain't no use trusting, young man: you go and do. I do hear too muchof that there from my lad. Let they ministers preach till they'm blackin the face, works is the trade!" with a nudge in Amyas's ribs. "Faithcan't save, nor charity nether. There, you tell with him, while I goplay bowls with Drake. He'll tell you a sight of stories. You ask himabout good King Hal, now, just--"

And off waddled the Port Admiral. 

"You have seen good King Henry, then, father?" said Amyas, interested. 

The old man's eyes lighted at once, and he stopped mumbling his sugar. 

"Seed mun? Iss, I reckon. I was with Captain Will when he went to meetthe Frenchman there to Calais--at the Field, the Field--"

"The Field of the Cloth of Gold, gramfer, " suggested the dame. 

"That's it. Seed mun? Iss, fegs. Oh, he was a king! The face o' mun likea rising sun, and the back o' mun so broad as that there" (and he heldout his palsied arms), "and the voice of mun! Oh, to hear mun swear ifhe was merry, oh, 'tas royal!--Seed mun? Iss, fegs! And I've seed mun dowhat few has; I've seed mun christle like any child. "

"What--cry?" said Amyas. "I shouldn't have thought there was much cry inhim. "

"You think what you like--"

"Gramfer, gramfer, don't you be rude, now--

"Let him go on, " said Amyas. 

"I seed mun christle; and, oh dear, how he did put hands on mun's face;and 'Oh, my gentlemen, ' says he, 'my gentlemen! Oh, my gallant men!'Them was his very words. "

"But when?"

"Why, Captain Will had just come to the Hard--that's to Portsmouth--tospeak with mun, and the barge Royal lay again the Hard--so; and our bootalongside--so; and the king he standth as it might be there, above myhead, on the quay edge, and she come in near abreast of us, looking mostroyal to behold, poor dear! and went to cast about. And Captain Will, saith he, 'Them lower ports is cruel near the water;' for she had notmore than a sixteen inches to spare in the nether overloop, as I heardafter. And saith he, 'That won't do for going to windward in a say, Martin. ' And as the words came out of mun's mouth, your worship, therewas a bit of a flaw from the westward, sharp like, and overboard goethmy cap, and hitth against the wall, and as I stooped to pick it up, Iheard a cry, and it was all over!"

"He is telling of the Mary Rose, sir. "

"I guessed so. "

"All over: and the cry of mun, and the screech of mun! Oh, sir, up tothe very heavens! And the king he screeched right out like any maid, 'Ohmy gentlemen, oh my gallant men!' and as she lay on her beam-ends, sir, and just a-settling, the very last souls I seen was that man's father, and that man's. I knowed mun by their armor. "

And he pointed to Sir George Carew and Sir Richard Grenville. 

"Iss! Iss! Drowned like rattens. Drowned like rattens!"

"Now; you mustn't trouble his worship any more. "

"Trouble? Let him tell till midnight, I shall be well pleased, " saidAmyas, sitting down on the bench by him. "Drawer! ale--and a parcel oftobacco. "

And Amyas settled himself to listen, while the old man purred tohimself--

"Iss. They likes to hear old Martin. All the captains look upon oldMartin. "

"Hillo, Amyas!" said Cary, "who's your friend? Here's a man been tellingme wonders about the River Plate. We should go thither for luck therenext time. "

"River Plate?" said old Martin. "It's I knows about the River Plate;none so well. Who'd ever been there, nor heard of it nether, beforeCaptain Will and me went, and I lived among the savages a whole year;and audacious civil I found 'em if they 'd had but shirts to theirbacks; and so was the prince o' mun, that Captain Will brought home toKing Henry; leastwise he died on the voyage; but the wild folk took itcruel well, for you see, we was always as civil with them as Christians, and if we hadn't been, I should not have been here now. "

"What year was that?"

"In the fifteen thirty: but I was there afore, and learnt the speecho' mun; and that's why Captain Will left me to a hostage, when he tukedtheir prince. "

"Before that?" said Cary; "why, the country was hardly known beforethat. "

The old man's eyes flashed up in triumph. 

"Knowed? Iss, and you may well say that! Look ye here! Look to mun!" andhe waved his hand round--"There's captains! and I'm the father of 'emall now, now poor Captain Will's in gloory; I, Martin Cockrem! . . . Iss, I've seen a change. I mind when Tavistock Abbey was so fullo' friars, and goolden idols, and sich noxious trade, as ever was awheat-rick of rats. I mind the fight off Brest in the French wars--Oh, that was a fight, surely!--when the Regent and the French Carack wereburnt side by side, being fast grappled, you see, because of Sir ThomasKnivet; and Captain Will gave him warning as he ran a-past us, saying, says he--"

"But, " said Amyas, seeing that the old man was wandering away, "what doyou mind about America?"

"America? I should think so! But I was a-going to tell you of theRegent--and seven hundred Englishmen burnt and drowned in her, and ninehundred French in the Brest ship, besides what we picked up. Oh dear!But about America. "

"Yes, about America. How are you the father of all the captains?"

"How? you ask my young master! Why, before the fifteen thirty, I was upthe Plate with Cabot (and a cruel fractious ontrustful fellow he was, like all they Portingals), and bid there a year and more, and up theParaguaio with him, diskivering no end; whereby, gentles, I was thefirst Englishman, I hold, that ever sot a foot on the New World, I was!"

"Then here's your health, and long life, sir!" said Amyas and Cary. 

"Long life? Iss, fegs, I reckon, long enough a'ready! Why, I mind thebeginning of it all, I do. I mind when there wasn't a master marinerto Plymouth, that thought there was aught west of the Land's End exceptherrings. Why, they held them, pure wratches, that if you sailed rightwest away far enough, you'd surely come to the edge, and fall overcleve. Iss--'Twas dark parts round here, till Captain Will arose; andthe first of it I mind was inside the bar of San Lucar, and he and Iwere boys about a ten year old, aboord of a Dartmouth ship, and wentfor wine, and there come in over the bar he that was the beginning of itall. "

"Columbus?"

"Iss, fegs, he did, not a pistol-shot from us; and I saw mun stand onthe poop, so plain as I see you; no great shakes of a man to lookto nether; there's a sight better here, to plase me, and we wasdisappointed, we lads, for we surely expected to see mun with a gooldencrown on, and a sceptre to a's hand, we did, and the ship o' mun allover like Solomon's temple for gloory. And I mind that same year, too, seeing Vasco da Gama, as was going out over the bar, when he foundthe Bona Speranza, and sailed round it to the Indies. Ah, that was themaking of they rascally Portingals, it was! . . . And our crew told whatthey seen and heerd: but nobody minded sich things. 'Twas dark parts, and Popish, then; and nobody knowed nothing, nor got no schooling, norcared for nothing, but scrattling up and down alongshore like to prawnsin a pule. Iss, sitting in darkness, we was, and the shadow of death, till the day-spring from on high arose, and shined upon us poorout-o'-the-way folk--The Lord be praised! And now, look to mun!" and hewaved his hand all round--"Look to mun! Look to the works of the Lord!Look to the captains! Oh blessed sight! And one's been to the Brazils, and one to the Indies, and the Spanish Main, and the North-West, and theRooshias, and the Chinas, and up the Straits, and round the Cape, and round the world of God, too, bless His holy name; and I seed thebeginning of it; and I'll see the end of it too, I will! I was born intothe old times: but I'll see the wondrous works of the new, yet, I will!I'll see they bloody Spaniards swept off the seas before I die, if myold eyes can reach so far as outside the Sound. I shall, I knows it. Isays my prayers for it every night; don't I, Mary? You'll bate mun, sureas Judgment, you'll bate mun! The Lord'll fight for ye. Nothing'll standagainst ye. I've seed it all along--ever since I was with young masterto the Honduras. They can't bide the push of us! You'll bate mun offthe face of the seas, and be masters of the round world, and all thattherein is. And then, I'll just turn my old face to the wall, and departin peace, according to his word. 

"Deary me, now, while I've been telling with you, here've this littlemaid been and ate up all my sugar!"

"I'll bring you some more, " said Amyas; whom the childish bathos of thelast sentence moved rather to sighs than laughter. 

"Will ye, then? There's a good soul, and come and tell with old Martin. He likes to see the brave young gentlemen, a-going to and fro in theirships, like Leviathan, and taking of their pastime therein. We hadno such ships to our days. Ah, 'tis grand times, beautiful timessurely--and you'll bring me a bit sugar?"

"You were up the Plate with Cabot?" said Cary, after a pause. "Do youmind the fair lady Miranda, Sebastian de Hurtado's wife?"

"What! her that was burnt by the Indians? Mind her? Do you mind the sunin heaven? Oh, the beauty! Oh, the ways of her! Oh, the speech of her!Never was, nor never will be! And she to die by they villains; and allfor the goodness of her! Mind her? I minded naught else when she was ondeck. "

"Who was she?" asked Amyas of Cary. 

"A Spanish angel, Amyas. "

"Humph!" said Amyas. "So much the worse for her, to be born into anation of devils. "

"They'em not all so bad as that, yer honor. Her husband was a propergallant gentleman, and kind as a maid, too, and couldn't abide that DeSolis's murderous doings. "

"His wife must have taught it him, then, " said Amyas, rising. "Where didyou hear of these black swans, Cary?"

"I have heard of them, and that's enough, " answered he, unwilling tostir sad recollections. 

"And little enough, " said Amyas. "Will, don't talk to me. The devil isnot grown white because he has trod in a lime-heap. "

"Or an angel black because she came down a chimney, " said Cary; and sothe talk ended, or rather was cut short; for the talk of all the groupswas interrupted by an explosion from old John Hawkins. 

"Fail? Fail? What a murrain do you here, to talk of failing? Who madeyou a prophet, you scurvy, hang-in-the-wind, croaking, white-livered sonof a corby-crow?"

"Heaven help us, Admiral Hawkins, who has put fire to your culverins inthis fashion?" said Lord Howard. 

"Who? my lord! Croakers! my lord! Here's a fellow calls himself thecaptain of a ship, and her majesty's servant, and talks about failing, as if he were a Barbican loose-kirtle trying to keep her apple-squireashore! Blurt for him, sneak-up! say I. "

"Admiral John Hawkins, " quoth the offender, "you shall answer thislanguage with your sword. "

"I'll answer it with my foot; and buy me a pair of horn-tips to myshoes, like a wraxling man. Fight a croaker? Fight a frog, an owl! Ifight those that dare fight, sir!"

"Sir, sir, moderate yourself. I am sure this gentleman will show himselfas brave as any, when it comes to blows: but who can blame mortal manfor trembling before so fearful a chance as this?"

"Let mortal man keep his tremblings to himself, then, my lord, and notbe like Solomon's madmen, casting abroad fire and death, and saying, itis only in sport. There is more than one of his kidney, your lordship, who have not been ashamed to play Mother Shipton before their ownsailors, and damp the poor fellows' hearts with crying before they'rehurt, and this is one of them. I've heard him at it afore, and I'llpresent him, with a vengeance, though I'm no church-warden. "

"If this is really so, Admiral Hawkins--"

"It is so, my lord! I heard only last night, down in a tavern below, such unbelieving talk as made me mad, my lord; and if it had not beenafter supper, and my hand was not oversteady, I would have let out apottle of Alicant from some of their hoopings, and sent them to DickSurgeon, to wrap them in swaddling-clouts, like whining babies asthey are. Marry come up, what says Scripture? 'He that is fearful andfaint-hearted among you, let him go and'--what? son Dick there? Thou'rtpious, and read'st thy Bible. What's that text? A mortal fine one it is, too. "

"'He that is fearful and faint-hearted among you, let him go back, '"quoth the Complete Seaman. "Captain Merryweather, as my father'scommand, as well as his years, forbid his answering your challenge, Ishall repute it an honor to entertain his quarrel myself--place, time, and weapons being at your choice. "

"Well spoken, son Dick!--and like a true courtier, too! Ah! thou hastthe palabras, and the knee, and the cap, and the quip, and the innuendo, and the true town fashion of it all--no old tarry-breeks of a sea-dog, like thy dad! My lord, you'll let them fight?"

"The Spaniard, sir; but no one else. But, captains and gentlemen, consider well my friend the Port Admiral's advice; and if any man'sheart misgives him, let him, for the sake of his country and his queen, have so much government of his tongue to hide his fears in his ownbosom, and leave open complaining to ribalds and women. For if thesailor be not cheered by his commander's cheerfulness, how will theignorant man find comfort in himself? And without faith and hope, howcan he fight worthily?"

"There is no croaking aboard of us, we will warrant, " said twentyvoices, "and shall be none, as long as we command on board our ownships. "

Hawkins, having blown off his steam, went back to Drake and the bowls. 

"Fill my pipe, Drawer--that croaking fellow's made me let it out, ofcourse! Spoil-sports! The father of all manner of troubles on earth, be they noxious trade of croakers! 'Better to meet a bear robbed of herwhelps, ' Francis Drake, as Solomon saith, than a fule who can't keep hismouth shut. What brought Mr. Andrew Barker to his death but croakers?What stopped Fenton's China voyage in the '82, and lost your nephewJohn, and my brother Will, glory and hard cash too, but croakers? Whatsent back my Lord Cumberland's armada in the '86, and that after they'dproved their strength, too, sixty o' mun against six hundred Portugalsand Indians; and yet wern't ashamed to turn round and come homeempty-handed, after all my lord's expenses that he had been at? Whatbut these same beggarly croakers, that be only fit to be turned intoyellow-hammers up to Dartymoor, and sit on a tor all day, and cry 'Verylittle bit of bread, and no chee-e-ese!' Marry, sneak-up! say I again. "

"And what, " said Drake, "would have kept me, if I'd let 'em, from eversailing round the world, but these same croakers? I hanged my bestfriend for croaking, John Hawkins, may God forgive me if I was wrong, and I threatened a week after to hang thirty more; and I'd have done it, too, if they hadn't clapped tompions into their muzzles pretty fast. "

"You'm right, Frank. My old father always told me--and old King Hal(bless his memory!) would take his counsel among a thousand;--'And, myson, ' says he to me, 'whatever you do, never you stand no croaking; buthang mun, son Jack, hang mun up for an ensign. There's Scripture forit, ' says he (he was a mighty man to his Bible, after bloody Mary'sdays, leastwise), 'and 'tis written, ' says he, 'It's expedient that oneman die for the crew, and that the whole crew perish not; so show youno mercy, son Jack, or you'll find none, least-wise in they manner ofcattle; for if you fail, they stamps on you, and if you succeeds, theytakes the credit of it to themselves, and goes to heaven in your shoes. 'Those were his words, and I've found mun true. --Who com'th here now?"

"Captain Fleming, as I'm a sinner. "

"Fleming? Is he tired of life, that he com'th here to look for a halter?I've a warrant out against mun, for robbing of two Flushingers on thehigh seas, now this very last year. Is the fellow mazed or drunk, then?or has he seen a ghost? Look to mun!"

"I think so, truly, " said Drake. "His eyes are near out of his head. "

The man was a rough-bearded old sea-dog, who had just burst in from thetavern through the low hatch, upsetting a drawer with all his glasses, and now came panting and blowing straight up to the high admiral, --

"My lord, my lord! They'm coming! I saw them off the Lizard last night!"

"Who? my good sir, who seem to have left your manners behind you. "

"The Armada, your worship--the Spaniard; but as for my manners, 'tis nofault of mine, for I never had none to leave behind me. "

"If he has not left his manners behind, " quoth Hawkins, "look out foryour purses, gentlemen all! He's manners enough, and very bad ones theybe, when he com'th across a quiet Flushinger. "

"If I stole Flushingers' wines, I never stole negurs' souls, JackHawkins; so there's your answer. My lord, hang me if you will; life'sshort and death's easy 'specially to seamen; but if I didn't see theSpanish fleet last sun-down, coming along half-moon wise, and full sevenmile from wing to wing, within a four mile of me, I'm a sinner. "

"Sirrah, " said Lord Howard, "is this no fetch, to cheat us out of yourpardon for these piracies of yours?"

"You'll find out for yourself before nightfall, my lord high admiral. All Jack Fleming says is, that this is a poor sort of an answer to a manwho has put his own neck into the halter for the sake of his country. "

"Perhaps it is, " said Lord Howard. "And after all, gentlemen, what canthis man gain by a lie, which must be discovered ere a day is over, except a more certain hanging?"

"Very true, your lordship, " said Hawkins, mollified. "Come here, JackFleming--what wilt drain, man? Hippocras or Alicant, Sack or JohnBarleycorn, and a pledge to thy repentance and amendment of life. "

"Admiral Hawkins, Admiral Hawkins, this is no time for drinking. "

"Why not, then, my lord? Good news should be welcomed with good wine. Frank, send down to the sexton, and set the bells a-ringing to cheer upall honest hearts. Why, my lord, if it were not for the gravity of myoffice, I could dance a galliard for joy!"

"Well, you may dance, port admiral: but I must go and plan, but God giveto all captains such a heart as yours this day!"

"And God give all generals such a head as yours! Come, Frank Drake, we'll play the game out before we move. It will be two good days beforewe shall be fit to tackle them, so an odd half-hour don't matter. "

"I must command the help of your counsel, vice-admiral, " said LordCharles, turning to Drake. 

"And it's this, my good lord, " said Drake, looking up, as he aimed hisbowl. "They'll come soon enough for us to show them sport, and yet slowenough for us to be ready; so let no man hurry himself. And as exampleis better than precept, here goes. "

Lord Howard shrugged his shoulders, and departed, knowing two things:first, that to move Drake was to move mountains; and next, that when theself-taught hero did bestir himself, he would do more work in an hourthan any one else in a day. So he departed, followed hastily by most ofthe captains; and Drake said in a low voice to Hawkins:

"Does he think we are going to knock about on a lee-shore all theafternoon and run our noses at night--and dead up-wind, too--into theDons' mouths? No, Jack, my friend. Let Orlando-Furioso-punctilio-fire-eaters go and get their knuckles rapped. The following game is the game, and not the meeting one. The dog goes after the sheep, and not aforethem, lad. Let them go by, and go by, and stick to them well towindward, and pick up stragglers, and pickings, too, Jack--the prizes, Jack!"

"Trust my old eyes for not being over-quick at seeing signals, if I behanging in the skirts of a fat-looking Don. We'm the eagles, Drake; andwhere the carcase is, is our place, eh?"

And so the two old sea-dogs chatted on, while their companions droppedoff one by one, and only Amyas remained. 

"Eh, Captain Leigh, where's my boy Dick?"

"Gone off with his lordship, Sir John. "

"On his punctilios too, I suppose, the young slashed-breeks. He's halfa Don, that fellow, with his fine scholarship, and his fine manners, and his fine clothes. He'll get a taking down before he dies, unless hemends. Why ain't you gone too, sir?"

"I follow my leader, " said Amyas, filling his pipe. 

"Well said, my big man, " quoth Drake. "If I could lead you round theworld, I can lead you up Channel, can't I?--Eh? my little bantam-cock ofthe Orinoco? Drink, lad! You're over-sad to-day. "

"Not a whit, " said Amyas. "Only I can't help wondering whether I shallfind him after all. "

"Whom? That Don? We'll find him for you, if he's in the fleet. We'llsqueeze it out of our prisoners somehow. Eh, Hawkins? I thought all thecaptains had promised to send you news if they heard of him. "

"Ay, but it's ill looking for a needle in a haystack. But I shall findhim. I am a coward to doubt it, " said Amyas, setting his teeth. 

"There, vice-admiral, you're beaten, and that's the rubber. Pay upthree dollars, old high-flyer, and go and earn more, like an honestadventurer. "

"Well, " said Drake, as he pulled out his purse, "we'll walk down now, and see about these young hot-heads. As I live, they are setting to towthe ships out already! Breaking the men's backs over-night, to make themfight the lustier in the morning! Well, well, they haven't sailed roundthe world, Jack Hawkins. "

"Or had to run home from San Juan d'Ulloa with half a crew. 

"Well, if we haven't to run out with half crews. I saw a sight of ourlads drunk about this morning. "

"The more reason for waiting till they be sober. Besides, if everybody'scaranting about to once each after his own men, nobody'll find nothingin such a scrimmage as that. Bye, bye, Uncle Martin. We'm going to blowthe Dons up now in earnest. "

CHAPTER XXXI

THE GREAT ARMADA

 "Britannia needs no bulwarks, No towers along the steep, Her march is o'er the mountain wave, Her home is on the deep. "

 CAMPBELL, Ye Mariners of England. 

And now began that great sea-fight which was to determine whether Poperyand despotism, or Protestantism and freedom, were the law which God hadappointed for the half of Europe, and the whole of future America. Itis a twelve days' epic, worthy, as I said in the beginning of this book, not of dull prose, but of the thunder-roll of Homer's verse: but havingto tell it, I must do my best, rather using, where I can, the words ofcontemporary authors than my own. 

"The Lord High Admirall of England, sending a pinnace before, calledthe Defiance, denounced war by discharging her ordnance; and presentlyapproaching with in musquet-shot, with much thundering out of his ownship, called the Arkroyall (alias the Triumph), first set upon theadmirall's, as he thought, of the Spaniards (but it was Alfonso deLeon's ship). Soon after, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher played stoutlywith their ordnance on the hindmost squadron, which was commanded byRecalde. " The Spaniards soon discover the superior "nimbleness of theEnglish ships;" and Recalde's squadron, finding that they are gettingmore than they give, in spite of his endeavors, hurry forward to jointhe rest of the fleet. Medina the Admiral, finding his ships scatteringfast, gathers them into a half-moon; and the Armada tries to keep solemnway forward, like a stately herd of buffaloes, who march on across theprairie, disdaining to notice the wolves which snarl around their track. But in vain. These are no wolves, but cunning hunters, swiftly horsed, and keenly armed, and who will "shamefully shuffle" (to use Drake's ownexpression) that vast herd from the Lizard to Portland, from Portlandto Calais Roads; and who, even in this short two hours' fight, have mademany a Spaniard question the boasted invincibleness of this Armada. 

One of the four great galliasses is already riddled with shot, to thegreat disarrangement of her "pulpits, chapels, " and friars thereinassistant. The fleet has to close round her, or Drake and Hawkinswill sink her; in effecting which manoeuvre, the "principal galleon ofSeville, " in which are Pedro de Valdez and a host of blue-blooded Dons, runs foul of her neighbor, carries away her foremast, and is, in spiteof Spanish chivalry, left to her fate. This does not look like victory, certainly. But courage! though Valdez be left behind, "our Lady, " andthe saints, and the bull Caena Domini (dictated by one whom I dare notname here), are with them still, and it were blasphemous to doubt. Butin the meanwhile, if they have fared no better than this against athird of the Plymouth fleet, how will they fare when those fortybelated ships, which are already whitening the blue between them and theMewstone, enter the scene to play their part?

So ends the first day; not an English ship, hardly a man, is hurt. It has destroyed for ever, in English minds, the prestige of boastfulSpain. It has justified utterly the policy which the good Lord Howardhad adopted by Raleigh's and Drake's advice, of keeping up a runningfight, instead of "clapping ships together without consideration, " inwhich case, says Raleigh, "he had been lost, if he had not been betteradvised than a great many malignant fools were, who found fault with hisdemeanor. "

Be that as it may, so ends the first day, in which Amyas and the otherBideford ships have been right busy for two hours, knocking holes in ahuge galleon, which carries on her poop a maiden with a wheel, and bearsthe name of Sta. Catharina. She had a coat of arms on the flag at hersprit, probably those of the commandant of soldiers; but they were shotaway early in the fight, so Amyas cannot tell whether they were DeSoto's or not. Nevertheless, there is plenty of time for privaterevenge; and Amyas, called off at last by the admiral's signal, goesto bed and sleeps soundly. 

But ere he has been in his hammock an hour, he is awakened by Cary'scoming down to ask for orders. 

"We were to follow Drake's lantern, Amyas; but where it is, I can'tsee, unless he has been taken up aloft there among the stars for a newDrakium Sidus. "

Amyas turns out grumbling: but no lantern is to be seen; only a suddenexplosion and a great fire on board some Spaniard, which is graduallygot under, while they have to lie-to the whole night long, with nearlythe whole fleet. 

The next morning finds them off Torbay; and Amyas is hailed by apinnace, bringing a letter from Drake, which (saving the spelling, whichwas somewhat arbitrary, like most men's in those days) ran somewhatthus:--

"DEAR LAD, --I have been wool-gathering all night after five great hulks, which the Pixies transfigured overnight into galleons, and this morningagain into German merchantmen. I let them go with my blessing; andcoming back, fell in (God be thanked!) with Valdez' great galleon;and in it good booty, which the Dons his fellows had left behind, likefaithful and valiant comrades, and the Lord Howard had let slip pasthim, thinking her deserted by her crew. I have sent to Dartmouth a sightof noblemen and gentlemen, maybe a half-hundred; and Valdez himself, whowhen I sent my pinnace aboard must needs stand on his punctilios, andpropound conditions. I answered him, I had no time to tell with him; ifhe would needs die, then I was the very man for him; if he would live, then, buena querra. He sends again, boasting that he was Don PedroValdez, and that it stood not with his honor, and that of the Dons inhis company. I replied, that for my part, I was Francis Drake, and mymatches burning. Whereon he finds in my name salve for the wounds ofhis own, and comes aboard, kissing my fist, with Spanish lies of holdinghimself fortunate that he had fallen into the hands of fortunate Drake, and much more, which he might have kept to cool his porridge. But I havemuch news from him (for he is a leaky tub); and among others, this, that your Don Guzman is aboard of the Sta. Catharina, commandant of hersoldiery, and has his arms flying at her sprit, beside Sta. Catharina atthe poop, which is a maiden with a wheel, and is a lofty built ship of3 tier of ordnance, from which God preserve you, and send you like luckwith. 

"Your deare Friend and Admirall, "F. Drake. 

"She sails in this squadron of Recalde. The Armada was minded to smokeus out of Plymouth; and God's grace it was they tried not: but theirorders from home are too strait, and so the slaves fight like a bullin a tether, no farther than their rope, finding thus the devil a hardmaster, as do most in the end. They cannot compass our quick handlingand tacking, and take us for very witches. So far so good, and betterto come. You and I know the length of their foot of old. Time and lightwill kill any hare, and they will find it a long way from Start toDunkirk. "

"The admiral is in a gracious humor, Leigh, to have vouchsafed you solong a letter. "

"St. Catherine! why, that was the galleon we hammered all yesterday!"said Amyas, stamping on the deck. 

"Of course it was. Well, we shall find her again, doubt not. Thatcunning old Drake! how he has contrived to line his own pockets, eventhough he had to keep the whole fleet waiting for him. "

"He has given the lord high admiral the dor, at all events. "

"Lord Howard is too high-hearted to stop and plunder, Papist though heis, Amyas. "

Amyas answered by a growl, for he worshipped Drake, and was not too justto Papists. 

The fleet did not find Lord Howard till nightfall; he and Lord Sheffieldhad been holding on steadfastly the whole night after the Spanishlanterns, with two ships only. At least there was no doubt now of theloyalty of English Roman Catholics, and indeed, throughout the fight, the Howards showed (as if to wipe out the slurs which had been cast ontheir loyalty by fanatics) a desperate courage, which might have thrustless prudent men into destruction, but led them only to victory. Soon alarge Spaniard drifts by, deserted and partly burnt. Some of the men arefor leaving their place to board her; but Amyas stoutly refuses. He has"come out to fight, and not to plunder; so let the nearest ship to herhave her luck without grudging. " They pass on, and the men pull longfaces when they see the galleon snapped up by their next neighbor, and towed off to Weymouth, where she proves to be the ship of Migueld'Oquenda, the vice-admiral, which they saw last night, all but blown upby some desperate Netherland gunner, who, being "misused, " was minded topay off old scores on his tyrants. 

And so ends the second day; while the Portland rises higher and clearerevery hour. The next morning finds them off the island. Will they tryPortsmouth, though they have spared Plymouth? The wind has shiftedto the north, and blows clear and cool off the white-walled downs ofWeymouth Bay. The Spaniards turn and face the English. They must meanto stand off and on until the wind shall change, and then to try forthe Needles. At least, they shall have some work to do before they roundPurbeck Isle. 

The English go to the westward again: but it is only to return on theopposite tack; and now begin a series of manoeuvres, each fleet tryingto get the wind of the other; but the struggle does not last long, andere noon the English fleet have slipped close-hauled between the Armadaand the land, and are coming down upon them right before the wind. 

And now begins a fight most fierce and fell. "And fight they didconfusedly, and with variable fortunes; while, on the one hand, theEnglish manfully rescued the ships of London, which were hemmed inby the Spaniards; and, on the other side, the Spaniards as stoutlydelivered Recalde being in danger. " "Never was heard such thundering ofordnance on both sides, which notwithstanding from the Spaniardsflew for the most part over the English without harm. Only Cock, anEnglishman" (whom Prince claims, I hope rightfully, as a worthy ofDevon), "died with honor in the midst of the enemies in a small ship ofhis. For the English ships, being far the lesser, charged the enemy withmarvellous agility; and having discharged their broadsides, flew forthpresently into the deep, and levelled their shot directly, withoutmissing, at those great and unwieldy Spanish ships. " "This was the mostfurious and bloody skirmish of all" (though ending only, it seems, inthe capture of a great Venetian and some small craft), "in which thelord admiral fighting amidst his enemies' fleet, and seeing one of hiscaptains afar off (Fenner by name, he who fought the seven Portugals atthe Azores), cried, 'O George, what doest thou? Wilt thou now frustratemy hope and opinion conceived of thee? Wilt thou forsake me now?' Withwhich words he being enflamed, approached, and did the part of a mostvaliant captain;" as, indeed, did all the rest. 

Night falls upon the floating volcano; and morning finds them far pastPurbeck, with the white peak of Freshwater ahead; and pouring out pastthe Needles, ship after ship, to join the gallant chase. For now fromall havens, in vessels fitted out at their own expense, flock thechivalry of England; the Lords Oxford, Northumberland, and Cumberland, Pallavicin, Brooke, Carew, Raleigh, and Blunt, and many anotherhonorable name, "as to a set field, where immortal fame and honor was tobe attained. " Spain has staked her chivalry in that mighty cast; not anoble house of Arragon or Castile but has lent a brother or a son--andshall mourn the loss of one: and England's gentlemen will measure theirstrength once for all against the Cavaliers of Spain. Lord Howard hassent forward light craft into Portsmouth for ammunition: but they willscarce return to-night, for the wind falls dead, and all the evening thetwo fleets drift helpless with the tide, and shout idle defiance at eachother with trumpet, fife, and drum. 

The sun goes down upon a glassy sea, and rises on a glassy sea again. But what day is this? The twenty-fifth, St. James's-day, sacred to thepatron saint of Spain. Shall nothing be attempted in his honor bythose whose forefathers have so often seen him with their bodily eyes, charging in their van upon his snow-white steed, and scattering Paynimswith celestial lance? He might have sent them, certainly, a favoringbreeze; perhaps, he only means to try their faith; at least the galleysshall attack; and in their van three of the great galliasses (the fourthlies half-crippled among the fleet) thrash the sea to foam with threehundred oars apiece; and see, not St. James leading them to victory, butLord Howard's Triumph, his brother's Lion, Southwell's Elizabeth Jonas, Lord Sheffield's Bear, Barker's Victory, and George Fenner's Leicester, towed stoutly out, to meet them with such salvoes of chain-shot, smashing oars, and cutting rigging, that had not the wind sprung upagain toward noon, and the Spanish fleet come up to rescue them, theyhad shared the fate of Valdez and the Biscayan. And now the fightbecomes general. Frobisher beats down the Spanish admiral's mainmast;and, attacked himself by Mexia and Recalde, is rescued by Lord Howard;who, himself endangered in his turn, is rescued in his turn; "whileafter that day" (so sickened were they of the English gunnery) "nogalliasse would adventure to fight. "

And so, with variable fortune, the fight thunders on the livelongafternoon, beneath the virgin cliffs of Freshwater; while myriadsea-fowl rise screaming up from every ledge, and spot with their blackwings the snow-white wall of chalk; and the lone shepherd hurries downthe slopes above to peer over the dizzy edge, and forgets the wheatearfluttering in his snare, while he gazes trembling upon glimpses of tallmasts and gorgeous flags, piercing at times the league-broad veil ofsulphur-smoke which welters far below. 

So fares St. James's-day, as Baal's did on Carmel in old time, "Eitherhe is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey; or peradventurehe sleepeth, and must be awaked. " At least, the only fire by which hehas answered his votaries, has been that of English cannon: and theArmada, "gathering itself into a roundel, " will fight no more, but makethe best of its way to Calais, where perhaps the Guises' faction mayhave a French force ready to assist them, and then to Dunkirk, to joinwith Parma and the great flotilla of the Netherlands. 

So on, before "a fair Etesian gale, " which follows clear and brightout of the south-southwest, glide forward the two great fleets, pastBrighton Cliffs and Beachy Head, Hastings and Dungeness. Is it a battleor a triumph? For by sea Lord Howard, instead of fighting is rewarding;and after Lord Thomas Howard, Lord Sheffield, Townsend, and Frobisherhave received at his hands that knighthood, which was then morehonorable than a peerage, old Admiral Hawkins kneels and rises up SirJohn, and shaking his shoulders after the accolade, observes to therepresentative of majesty, that his "old woman will hardly know herselfagain, when folks call her My Lady. "

And meanwhile the cliffs are lined with pike-men and musketeers, and byevery countryman and groom who can bear arms, led by their squires andsheriffs, marching eastward as fast as their weapons let them, towardsthe Dover shore. And not with them alone. From many a mile inland comedown women and children, and aged folk in wagons, to join their feebleshouts, and prayers which are not feeble, to that great cry of mingledfaith and fear which ascends to the throne of God from the spectators ofBritain's Salamis. 

Let them pray on. The danger is not over yet, though Lord Howard has hadnews from Newhaven that the Guises will not stir against England, andSeymour and Winter have left their post of observation on the Flemishshores, to make up the number of the fleet to an hundred and fortysail--larger, slightly, than that of the Spanish fleet, but of not morethan half the tonnage, or one third the number of men. The Spaniards aredispirited and battered, but unbroken still; and as they slide to theiranchorage in Calais Roads on the Saturday evening of that most memorableweek, all prudent men know well that England's hour is come, and thatthe bells which will call all Christendom to church upon the morrowmorn, will be either the death-knell or the triumphal peal of theReformed faith throughout the world. 

A solemn day that Sabbath must have been in country and in town. Andmany a light-hearted coward, doubtless, who had scoffed (as many did) atthe notion of the Armada's coming, because he dare not face the thought, gave himself up to abject fear, "as he now plainly saw and heard that ofwhich before he would not be persuaded. " And many a brave man, too, ashe knelt beside his wife and daughters, felt his heart sink to the verypavement, at the thought of what those beloved ones might be enduring afew short days hence, from a profligate and fanatical soldiery, or fromthe more deliberate fiendishness of the Inquisition. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, the fires of Smithfield, the immolation of the Moors, the extermination of the West Indians, the fantastic horrors of thePiedmontese persecution, which make unreadable the too truthful pagesof Morland, --these were the spectres, which, not as now, dim and distantthrough the mist of centuries, but recent, bleeding from still gapingwounds, flitted before the eyes of every Englishman, and filled hisbrain and heart with fire. 

He knew full well the fate in store for him and his. One false step, andthe unspeakable doom which, not two generations afterwards, befell theLutherans of Magdeburg, would have befallen every town from London toCarlisle. All knew the hazard, as they prayed that day, and many a daybefore and after, throughout England and the Netherlands. And none knewit better than she who was the guiding spirit of that devoted land, and the especial mark of the invaders' fury; and who, by some Divineinspiration (as men then not unwisely held), devised herself the daringstroke which was to anticipate the coming blow. 

But where is Amyas Leigh all this while? Day after day he has beenseeking the Sta. Catharina in the thickest of the press, and cannot comeat her, cannot even hear of her: one moment he dreads that she has sunkby night, and balked him of his prey; the next, that she has repairedher damages, and will escape him after all. He is moody, discontented, restless, even (for the first time in his life) peevish with his men. Hecan talk of nothing but Don Guzman; he can find no better employment, at every spare moment, than taking his sword out of the sheath, andhandling it, fondling it, talking to it even, bidding it not to fail himin the day of vengeance. At last, he has sent to Squire, the armorer, for a whetstone, and, half-ashamed of his own folly, whets and polishesit in bye-corners, muttering to himself. That one fixed thought ofselfish vengeance has possessed his whole mind; he forgets England'spresent need, her past triumph, his own safety, everything but hisbrother's blood. And yet this is the day for which he has been longingever since he brought home that magic horn as a fifteen years boy; theday when he should find himself face to face with an invader, andthat invader Antichrist himself. He has believed for years with Drake, Hawkins, Grenville, and Raleigh, that he was called and sent into theworld only to fight the Spaniard: and he is fighting him now, in such acause, for such a stake, within such battle-lists, as he will neversee again: and yet he is not content, and while throughout that gallantfleet, whole crews are receiving the Communion side by side, and risingwith cheerful faces to shake hands, and to rejoice that they are sharersin Britain's Salamis, Amyas turns away from the holy elements. 

"I cannot communicate, Sir John. Charity with all men? I hate, if everman hated on earth. "

"You hate the Lord's foes only, Captain Leigh. "

"No, Jack, I hate my own as well. "

"But no one in the fleet, sir?"

"Don't try to put me off with the same Jesuit's quibble which that falseknave Parson Fletcher invented for one of Doughty's men, to drug hisconscience withal when he was plotting against his own admiral. No, Jack, I hate one of whom you know; and somehow that hatred of him keepsme from loving any human being. I am in love and charity with no man, Sir John Brimblecombe--not even with you! Go your ways in God's name, sir! and leave me and the devil alone together, or you'll find my wordsare true. "

Jack departed with a sigh, and while the crew were receiving theCommunion on deck, Amyas sate below in the cabin sharpening his sword, and after it, called for a boat and went on board Drake's ship to asknews of the Sta. Catharina, and listened scowling to the loud chants andtinkling bells, which came across the water from the Spanish fleet. Atlast, Drake was summoned by the lord admiral, and returned with a secretcommission, which ought to bear fruit that night; and Amyas, who hadgone with him, helped him till nightfall, and then returned to his ownship as Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, to the joy and glory of every soul onboard, except his moody self. 

So there, the livelong summer Sabbath-day, before the little high-walledtown and the long range of yellow sandhills, lie those two mightyarmaments, scowling at each other, hardly out of gunshot. Messengerafter messenger is hurrying towards Bruges to the Duke of Parma, forlight craft which can follow these nimble English somewhat better thantheir own floating castles; and, above all, entreating him to put to seaat once with all his force. The duke is not with his forces at Dunkirk, but on the future field of Waterloo, paying his devotions to St. Maryof Halle in Hainault, in order to make all sure in his Pantheon, andalready sees in visions of the night that gentle-souled and pure-lippedsaint, Cardinal Allen, placing the crown of England on his head. Hereturns for answer, first, that his victual is not ready; next, that hisDutch sailors, who have been kept at their post for many a week at thesword's point, have run away like water; and thirdly, that over andabove all, he cannot come, so "strangely provided" of great ordnance andmusketeers are those five-and-thirty Dutch ships, in which round-sternedand stubborn-hearted heretics watch, like terriers at a rat's hole, theentrance of Nieuwport and Dunkirk. Having ensured the private patronageof St. Mary of Halle, he will return to-morrow to make experience of itseffects: but only hear across the flats of Dixmude the thunder of thefleets, and at Dunkirk the open curses of his officers. For while hehas been praying and nothing more, the English have been praying, andsomething more; and all that is left for the Prince of Parma is, tohang a few purveyors, as peace offerings to his sulking army, and then"chafe, " as Drake says of him, "like a bear robbed of her whelps. "

For Lord Henry Seymour has brought Lord Howard a letter of command fromElizabeth's self; and Drake has been carrying it out so busily all thatSunday long, that by two o'clock on the Monday morning, eight fire-ships"besmeared with wild-fire, brimstone, pitch, and resin, and all theirordnance charged with bullets and with stones, " are stealing down thewind straight for the Spanish fleet, guided by two valiant men of Devon, Young and Prowse. (Let their names live long in the land!) The ships arefired, the men of Devon steal back, and in a moment more, the heaven isred with glare from Dover Cliffs to Gravelines Tower; and weary-heartedBelgian boors far away inland, plundered and dragooned for many ahideous year, leap from their beds, and fancy (and not so far wronglyeither) that the day of judgment is come at last, to end their woes, andhurl down vengeance on their tyrants. 

And then breaks forth one of those disgraceful panics, which so oftenfollow overweening presumption; and shrieks, oaths, prayers, andreproaches, make night hideous. There are those too on board whorecollect well enough Jenebelli's fire-ships at Antwerp three yearsbefore, and the wreck which they made of Parma's bridge across theScheldt. If these should be like them! And cutting all cables, hoistingany sails, the Invincible Armada goes lumbering wildly out to sea, everyship foul of her neighbor. 

The largest of the four galliasses loses her rudder, and drifts helplessto and fro, hindering and confusing. The duke, having (so the Spaniardssay) weighed his anchor deliberately instead of leaving it behind him, runs in again after awhile, and fires a signal for return: but histruant sheep are deaf to the shepherd's pipe, and swearing and prayingby turns, he runs up Channel towards Gravelines picking up stragglerson his way, who are struggling as they best can among the flats andshallows: but Drake and Fenner have arrived as soon as he. When Monday'ssun rises on the quaint old castle and muddy dykes of Gravelines town, the thunder of the cannon recommences, and is not hushed till night. Drake can hang coolly enough in the rear to plunder when he thinks fit;but when the battle needs it, none can fight more fiercely, among theforemost; and there is need now, if ever. That Armada must never beallowed to re-form. If it does, its left wing may yet keep the Englishat bay, while its right drives off the blockading Hollanders fromDunkirk port, and sets Parma and his flotilla free to join them, and tosail in doubled strength across to the mouth of Thames. 

So Drake has weighed anchor, and away up Channel with all his squadron, the moment that he saw the Spanish fleet come up; and with him Fennerburning to redeem the honor which, indeed, he had never lost; and ereFenton, Beeston, Crosse, Ryman, and Lord Southwell can join them, theDevon ships have been worrying the Spaniards for two full hours intoconfusion worse confounded. 

But what is that heavy firing behind them? Alas for the great galliasse!She lies, like a huge stranded whale, upon the sands where now standsCalais pier; and Amyas Preston, the future hero of La Guayra, ispounding her into submission, while a fleet of hoys and drumblers lookon and help, as jackals might the lion. 

Soon, on the south-west horizon, loom up larger and larger two mightyships, and behind them sail on sail. As they near a shout greets theTriumph and the Bear; and on and in the lord high admiral glides statelyinto the thickest of the fight. 

True, we have still but some three-and-twenty ships which can cope atall with some ninety of the Spaniards: but we have dash, and daring, andthe inspiration of utter need. Now, or never, must the mighty strugglebe ended. We worried them off Portland; we must rend them in piecesnow; and in rushes ship after ship, to smash her broadsides through andthrough the wooden castles, "sometimes not a pike's length asunder, "and then out again to re-load, and give place meanwhile to another. Thesmaller are fighting with all sails set; the few larger, who, once in, are careless about coming out again, fight with top-sails loose, andtheir main and foreyards close down on deck, to prevent being boarded. The duke, Oquenda, and Recalde, having with much ado got clear of theshallows, bear the brunt of the fight to seaward; but in vain. The daygoes against them more and more, as it runs on. Seymour and Winter havebattered the great San Philip into a wreck; her masts are gone by theboard; Pimentelli in the San Matthew comes up to take the mastiffsoff the fainting bull, and finds them fasten on him instead; but theEvangelist, though smaller, is stouter than the Deacon, and of all theshot poured into him, not twenty "lackt him thorough. " His masts aretottering; but sink or strike he will not. 

"Go ahead, and pound his tough hide, Leigh, " roars Drake off the poopof his ship, while he hammers away at one of the great galliasses. "Whatright has he to keep us all waiting?"

Amyas slips in as best he can between Drake and Winter; as he passes heshouts to his ancient enemy, --

"We are with you, sir; all friends to-day!" and slipping round Winter'sbows, he pours his broadside into those of the San Matthew, and thenglides on to re-load; but not to return. For not a pistol shot toleeward, worried by three or four small craft, lies an immense galleon;and on her poop--can he believe his eyes for joy?--the maiden and thewheel which he has sought so long!

"There he is!" shouts Amyas, springing to the starboard side of theship. The men, too, have already caught sight of that hated sign; acheer of fury bursts from every throat. 

"Steady, men!" says Amyas, in a suppressed voice. "Not a shot! Re-load, and be ready; I must speak with him first;" and silent as the grave, amid the infernal din, the Vengeance glides up to the Spaniard'squarter. 

"Don Guzman Maria Magdalena Sotomayor de Soto!" shouts Amyas from themizzen rigging, loud and clear amid the roar. 

He has not called in vain. Fearless and graceful as ever, the tall, mail-clad figure of his foe leaps up upon the poop-railing, twenty feetabove Amyas's head, and shouts through his vizor, --

"At your service, sir whosoever you may be. "

A dozen muskets and arrows are levelled at him; but Amyas frowns themdown. "No man strikes him but I. Spare him, if you kill every other soulon board. Don Guzman! I am Captain Sir Amyas Leigh; I proclaim you atraitor and a ravisher, and challenge you once more to single combat, when and where you will. "

"You are welcome to come on board me, sir, " answers the Spaniard, in aclear, quiet tone; "bringing with you this answer, that you lie in yourthroat;" and lingering a moment out of bravado, to arrange his scarf, hesteps slowly down again behind the bulwarks. 

"Coward!" shouts Amyas at the top of his voice. 

The Spaniard re-appears instantly. "Why that name, senor, of allothers?" asks he in a cool, stern voice. 

"Because we call men cowards in England, who leave their wives to beburnt alive by priests. "

The moment the words had passed Amyas's lips, he felt that they werecruel and unjust. But it was too late to recall them. The Spaniardstarted, clutched his sword-hilt, and then hissed back through hisclosed vizor, --

"For that word, sirrah, you hang at my yardarm, if Saint Mary gives megrace. "

"See that your halter be a silken one, then, " laughed Amyas, "for Iam just dubbed knight. " And he stepped down as a storm of bullets rangthrough the rigging round his head; the Spaniards are not as punctiliousas he. 

"Fire!" His ordnance crash through the stern-works of the Spaniard; andthen he sails onward, while her balls go humming harmlessly through hisrigging. 

Half-an-hour has passed of wild noise and fury; three times has theVengeance, as a dolphin might, sailed clean round and round the Sta. Catharina, pouring in broadside after broadside, till the guns areleaping to the deck-beams with their own heat, and the Spaniard's sidesare slit and spotted in a hundred places. And yet, so high has been hisfire in return, and so strong the deck defences of the Vengeance, that afew spars broken, and two or three men wounded by musketry, are all herloss. But still the Spaniard endures, magnificent as ever; it is thebattle of the thresher and the whale; the end is certain, but the workis long. 

"Can I help you, Captain Leigh?" asked Lord Henry Seymour, as he passeswithin oar's length of him, to attack a ship ahead. "The San Matthew hashad his dinner, and is gone on to Medina to ask for a digestive to it. "

"I thank your lordship: but this is my private quarrel, of which Ispoke. But if your lordship could lend me powder--"

"Would that I could! But so, I fear, says every other gentleman in thefleet. "

A puff of wind clears away the sulphurous veil for a moment; the sea isclear of ships towards the land; the Spanish fleet are moving again upChannel, Medina bringing up the rear; only some two miles to their righthand, the vast hull of the San Philip is drifting up the shore with thetide, and somewhat nearer the San Matthew is hard at work at her pumps. They can see the white stream of water pouring down her side. 

"Go in, my lord, and have the pair, " shouts Amyas. 

"No, sir! Forward is a Seymour's cry. We will leave them to pay theFlushingers' expenses. " And on went Lord Henry, and on shore went theSan Philip at Ostend, to be plundered by the Flushingers; while theSan Matthew, whose captain, "on a hault courage, " had refused to savehimself and his gentlemen on board Medina's ship, went blunderingmiserably into the hungry mouths of Captain Peter Vanderduess and fourother valiant Dutchmen, who, like prudent men of Holland, contrived tokeep the galleon afloat till they had emptied her, and then "hung up herbanner in the great church of Leyden, being of such a length, that beingfastened to the roof, it reached unto the very ground. "

But in the meanwhile, long ere the sun had set, comes down the darknessof the thunderstorm, attracted, as to a volcano's mouth, to that vastmass of sulphur-smoke which cloaks the sea for many a mile; and heaven'sartillery above makes answer to man's below. But still, through smokeand rain, Amyas clings to his prey. She too has seen the northwardmovement of the Spanish fleet, and sets her topsails; Amyas calls tothe men to fire high, and cripple her rigging: but in vain: for three orfour belated galleys, having forced their way at last over the shallows, come flashing and sputtering up to the combatants, and take his fireoff the galleon. Amyas grinds his teeth, and would fain hustle into thethick of the press once more, in spite of the galleys' beaks. 

"Most heroical captain, " says cary, pulling a long face, "if we do, weare stove and sunk in five minutes; not to mention that Yeo says he hasnot twenty rounds of great cartridge left. "

So, surely and silent, the Vengeance sheers off, but keeps as nearas she can to the little squadron, all through the night of rain andthunder which follows. Next morning the sun rises on a clear sky, witha strong west-north-west breeze, and all hearts are asking what the daywill bring forth. 

They are long past Dunkirk now; the German Ocean is opening before them. The Spaniards, sorely battered, and lessened in numbers, have, duringthe night, regained some sort of order. The English hang on their skirtsa mile or two behind. They have no ammunition, and must wait for more. To Amyas's great disgust, the Sta. Catharina has rejoined her fellowsduring the night. 

"Never mind, " says Cary; "she can neither dive nor fly, and as long asshe is above water, we--What is the admiral about?"

He is signalling Lord Henry Seymour and his squadron. Soon theytack, and come down the wind for the coast of Flanders. Parma must beblockaded still; and the Hollanders are likely to be too busy with theirplunder to do it effectually. Suddenly there is a stir in the Spanishfleet. Medina and the rearmost ships turn upon the English. What can itmean? Will they offer battle once more? If so, it were best to getout of their way, for we have nothing wherewith to fight them. So theEnglish lie close to the wind. They will let them pass, and return totheir old tactic of following and harassing. 

"Good-bye to Seymour, " says Cary, "if he is caught between them andParma's flotilla. They are going to Dunkirk. "

"Impossible! They will not have water enough to reach his light craft. Here comes a big ship right upon us! Give him all you have left, lads;and if he will fight us, lay him alongside, and die boarding. "

They gave him what they had, and hulled him with every shot; but hishuge side stood silent as the grave. He had not wherewithal to returnthe compliment. 

"As I live, he is cutting loose the foot of his mainsail! the villainmeans to run. "

"There go the rest of them! Victoria!" shouted Cary, as one afteranother, every Spaniard set all the sail he could. 

There was silence for a few minutes throughout the English fleet;and then cheer upon cheer of triumph rent the skies. It was over. TheSpaniard had refused battle, and thinking only of safety, was pressingdownward toward the Straits again. The Invincible Armada had cast awayits name, and England was saved. 

"But he will never get there, sir, " said old Yeo, who had come upon deckto murmur his Nunc Domine, and gaze upon that sight beyond all humanfaith or hope: "Never, never will he weather the Flanders shore, againstsuch a breeze as is coming up. Look to the eye of the wind, sir, and seehow the Lord is fighting for His people!"

Yes, down it came, fresher and stiffer every minute out of the graynorth-west, as it does so often after a thunder-storm; and the sea beganto rise high and white under the "Claro Aquilone, " till the Spaniardswere fain to take in all spare canvas, and lie-to as best they could;while the English fleet, lying-to also, awaited an event which was inGod's hands and not in theirs. 

"They will be all ashore on Zealand before the afternoon, " murmuredAmyas; "and I have lost my labor! Oh, for powder, powder, powder! to goin and finish it at once!"

"Oh, sir, " said Yeo, "don't murmur against the Lord in the very day ofHis mercies. It is hard, to be sure; but His will be done. "

"Could we not borrow powder from Drake there?"

"Look at the sea, sir!"

And, indeed, the sea was far too rough for any such attempt. TheSpaniards neared and neared the fatal dunes, which fringed the shore formany a dreary mile; and Amyas had to wait weary hours, growling like adog who has had the bone snatched out of his mouth, till the day woreon; when, behold, the wind began to fall as rapidly as it had risen. Asavage joy rose in Amyas's heart. 

"They are safe! safe for us! Who will go and beg us powder? A cartridgehere and a cartridge there?--anything to set to work again!"

Cary volunteered, and returned in a couple of hours with some quantity:but he was on board again only just in time, for the south-wester hadrecovered the mastery of the skies, and Spaniards and English weremoving away; but this time northward. Whither now? To Scotland? Amyasknew not, and cared not, provided he was in the company of Don Guzman deSoto. 

The Armada was defeated, and England saved. But such great undertakingsseldom end in one grand melodramatic explosion of fireworks, throughwhich the devil arises in full roar to drag Dr. Faustus forever into theflaming pit. On the contrary, the devil stands by his servants to thelast, and tries to bring off his shattered forces with drums beating andcolors flying; and, if possible, to lull his enemies into supposing thatthe fight is ended, long before it really is half over. All which thegood Lord Howard of Effingham knew well, and knew, too, that Medina hadone last card to play, and that was the filial affection of that dutifuland chivalrous son, James of Scotland. True, he had promised faith toElizabeth: but that was no reason why he should keep it. He had beenhankering and dabbling after Spain for years past, for its absolutionwas dear to his inmost soul; and Queen Elizabeth had had to warn him, scold him, call him a liar, for so doing; so the Armada might still findshelter and provision in the Firth of Forth. But whether Lord Howardknew or not, Medina did not know, that Elizabeth had played her cardcunningly, in the shape of one of those appeals to the purse, which, toJames's dying day, overweighed all others save appeals to his vanity. "The title of a dukedom in England, a yearly pension of 5000 pounds, aguard at the queen's charge, and other matters" (probably more houndsand deer), had steeled the heart of the King of Scots, and sealed theFirth of Forth. Nevertheless, as I say, Lord Howard, like the rest ofElizabeth's heroes, trusted James just as much as James trusted others;and therefore thought good to escort the Armada until it was safely pastthe domains of that most chivalrous and truthful Solomon. But on the4th of August, his fears, such as they were, were laid to rest. TheSpaniards left the Scottish coast and sailed away for Norway; and thegame was played out, and the end was come, as the end of such mattersgenerally comes, by gradual decay, petty disaster, and mistake; tillthe snow-mountain, instead of being blown tragically and heroically toatoms, melts helplessly and pitiably away. 

CHAPTER XXXII

HOW AMYAS THREW HIS SWORD INTO THE SEA

 "Full fathom deep thy father lies; Of his bones are corals made; Those are pearls which were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange; Fairies hourly ring his knell, Hark! I hear them. Ding dong bell. "

 The Tempest. 

Yes, it is over; and the great Armada is vanquished. It is lulled forawhile, the everlasting war which is in heaven, the battle of Iran andTuran, of the children of light and of darkness, of Michael and hisangels against Satan and his fiends; the battle which slowly and seldom, once in the course of many centuries, culminates and ripens into aday of judgment, and becomes palpable and incarnate; no longer a merespiritual fight, but one of flesh and blood, wherein simple men maychoose their sides without mistake, and help God's cause not merely withprayer and pen, but with sharp shot and cold steel. A day of judgmenthas come, which has divided the light from the darkness, and the sheepfrom the goats, and tried each man's work by the fire; and, behold, thedevil's work, like its maker, is proved to have been, as always, a lieand a sham, and a windy boast, a bladder which collapses at the merestpinprick. Byzantine empires, Spanish Armadas, triple-crowned papacies, Russian despotisms, this is the way of them, and will be to the end ofthe world. One brave blow at the big bullying phantom, and it vanishesin sulphur-stench; while the children of Israel, as of old, see theEgyptians dead on the sea-shore, --they scarce know how, save that Godhas done it, and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. 

And now, from England and the Netherlands, from Germany and Geneva, andthose poor Vaudois shepherd-saints, whose bones for generations past

 "Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;"

to be, indeed, the seed of the Church, and a germ of new life, liberty, and civilization, even in these very days returning good for evil tothat Piedmont which has hunted them down like the partridges on themountains;--from all of Europe, from all of mankind, I had almost said, in which lay the seed of future virtue and greatness, of the destiniesof the new-discovered world, and the triumphs of the coming age ofscience, arose a shout of holy joy, such as the world had not heardfor many a weary and bloody century; a shout which was the propheticbirth-paean of North America, Australia, New Zealand, the PacificIslands, of free commerce and free colonization over the whole earth. 

"There was in England, by the commandment of her majesty, " says VanMeteran, "and likewise in the United Provinces, by the direction of theStates, a solemn festival day publicly appointed, wherein all personswere solemnly enjoined to resort unto ye Church, and there to renderthanks and praises unto God, and ye preachers were commanded to exhortye people thereunto. The aforesaid solemnity was observed upon the 29thof November: which day was wholly spent in fasting, prayer, and givingof thanks. 

"Likewise the Queen's Majesty herself, imitating ye ancient Romans, rodeinto London in triumph, in regard of her own and her subjects' gloriousdeliverance. For being attended upon very solemnly by all ye principalEstates and officers of her Realm, she was carried through her said Cityof London in a triumphant Chariot, and in robes of triumph, from herPalace unto ye said Cathedral Church of St. Paul, out of ye which yeEnsigns and Colours of ye vanquished Spaniards hung displayed. Andall ye Citizens of London, in their liveries, stood on either side yestreet, by their several Companies, with their ensigns and banners, andthe streets were hanged on both sides with blue Cloth, which, togetherwith ye foresaid banners, yielded a very stately and gallant prospect. Her Majestie being entered into ye Church together with her Clergy andNobles, gave thanks unto God, and caused a public Sermon to be preachedbefore her at Paul's Cross; wherein none other argument was handled, but that praise, honour, and glory might be rendered unto God, and thatGod's Name might be extolled by thanksgiving. And with her own princelyvoice she most Christianly exhorted ye people to do ye same; whereuntoye people, with a loud acclamation, wished her a most long and happylife to ye confusion of her foes. "

Yes, as the medals struck on the occasion said, "It came, it saw, and itfled!" And whither? Away and northward, like a herd of frightened deer, past the Orkneys and Shetlands, catching up a few hapless fishermen asguides; past the coast of Norway, there, too, refused water and food bythe brave descendants of the Vikings; and on northward ever towards thelonely Faroes, and the everlasting dawn which heralds round the Pole themidnight sun. 

Their water is failing; the cattle must go overboard; and the wildnorthern sea echoes to the shrieks of drowning horses. They musthomeward at least, somehow, each as best he can. Let them meet againat Cape Finisterre, if indeed they ever meet. Medina Sidonia, with somefive-and twenty of the soundest and best victualled ships, will leadthe way, and leave the rest to their fate. He is soon out of sight; andforty more, the only remnant of that mighty host, come wandering wearilybehind, hoping to make the south-west coast of Ireland, and have help, or, at least, fresh water there, from their fellow Romanists. Alas forthem!--

 "Make Thou their way dark and slippery, And follow them up ever with Thy storm. "

For now comes up from the Atlantic, gale on gale; and few of thathapless remnant reached the shores of Spain. 

And where are Amyas and the Vengeance all this while?

At the fifty-seventh degree of latitude, the English fleet, findingthemselves growing short of provision, and having been long since out ofpowder and ball, turn southward toward home, "thinking it best to leavethe Spaniard to those uncouth and boisterous northern seas. " A fewpinnaces are still sent onward to watch their course: and the Englishfleet, caught in the same storms which scattered the Spaniards, "withgreat danger and industry reached Harwich port, and there providethemselves of victuals and ammunition, " in case the Spaniards shouldreturn; but there is no need for that caution. Parma, indeed, who cannotbelieve that the idol at Halle, after all his compliments to it, willplay him so scurvy a trick, will watch for weeks on Dunkirk dunes, hoping against hope for the Armada's return, casting anchors, andspinning rigging to repair their losses. 

 "But lang, lang may his ladies sit, With their fans intill their hand, Before they see Sir Patrick Spens Come sailing to the land. "

The Armada is away on the other side of Scotland, and Amyas is followingin its wake. 

For when the lord high admiral determined to return, Amyas askedleave to follow the Spaniard; and asked, too, of Sir John Hawkins, who happened to be at hand, such ammunition and provision as could beafforded him, promising to repay the same like an honest man, out ofhis plunder if he lived, out of his estate if he died; lodging for thatpurpose bills in the hands of Sir John, who, as a man of business, took them, and put them in his pocket among the thimbles, string, andtobacco; after which Amyas, calling his men together, reminded them oncemore of the story of the Rose of Torridge and Don Guzman de Soto, andthen asked:

"Men of Bideford, will you follow me? There will be plunder for thosewho love plunder; revenge for those who love revenge; and for all of us(for we all love honor) the honor of having never left the chase as longas there was a Spanish flag in English seas. "

And every soul on board replied, that they would follow Sir Amyas Leigharound the world. 

There is no need for me to detail every incident of that long and wearychase; how they found the Sta. Catharina, attacked her, and had to sheeroff, she being rescued by the rest; how when Medina's squadron left thecrippled ships behind, they were all but taken or sunk, by thrustinginto the midst of the Spanish fleet to prevent her escaping with Medina;how they crippled her, so that she could not beat to windward out intothe ocean, but was fain to run south, past the Orkneys, and down throughthe Minch, between Cape Wrath and Lewis; how the younger hands wereready to mutiny, because Amyas, in his stubborn haste, ran past two orthree noble prizes which were all but disabled, among others one ofthe great galliasses, and the two great Venetians, La Ratta and LaBelanzara--which were afterwards, with more than thirty other vessels, wrecked on the west coast of Ireland; how he got fresh water, in spiteof certain "Hebridean Scots" of Skye, who, after reviling him in anunknown tongue, fought with him awhile, and then embraced him and hismen with howls of affection, and were not much more decently clad, normore civilized, than his old friends of California; how he pacified hismen by letting them pick the bones of a great Venetian which was goingon shore upon Islay (by which they got booty enough to repay them forthe whole voyage), and offended them again by refusing to land andplunder two great Spanish wrecks on the Mull of Cantire (whose crews, bythe by, James tried to smuggle off secretly into Spain in ships of hisown, wishing to play, as usual, both sides of the game at once; butthe Spaniards were stopped at Yarmouth till the council's pleasure wasknown--which was, of course, to let the poor wretches go on their way, and be hanged elsewhere); how they passed a strange island, half black, half white, which the wild people called Raghary, but Cary christened it"the drowned magpie;" how the Sta. Catharina was near lost on the Isleof Man, and then put into Castleton (where the Manx-men slew a wholeboat's-crew with their arrows), and then put out again, when Amyasfought with her a whole day, and shot away her mainyard; how theSpaniard blundered down the coast of Wales, not knowing whither he went;how they were both nearly lost on Holyhead, and again on Bardsey Island;how they got on a lee shore in Cardigan Bay, before a heavy westerlygale, and the Sta. Catharina ran aground on Sarn David, one of thosestrange subaqueous pebble-dykes which are said to be the remnants of thelost land of Gwalior, destroyed by the carelessness of Prince Seitheninthe drunkard, at whose name each loyal Welshman spits; how she got offagain at the rising of the tide, and fought with Amyas a fourth time;how the wind changed, and she got round St. David's Head;--these, andmany more moving incidents of this eventful voyage, I must pass overwithout details, and go on to the end; for it is time that the endshould come. 

It was now the sixteenth day of the chase. They had seen, the eveningbefore, St. David's Head, and then the Welsh coast round MilfordHaven, looming out black and sharp before the blaze of the inlandthunder-storm; and it had lightened all round them during the fore partof the night, upon a light south-western breeze. 

In vain they had strained their eyes through the darkness, to catch, bythe fitful glare of the flashes, the tall masts of the Spaniard. Ofone thing at least they were certain, that with the wind as it was, shecould not have gone far to the westward; and to attempt to pass themagain, and go northward, was more than she dare do. She was probablylying-to ahead of them, perhaps between them and the land; and when, alittle after midnight, the wind chopped up to the west, and blew stifflytill day break, they felt sure that, unless she had attempted thedesperate expedient of running past them, they had her safe in the mouthof the Bristol Channel. Slowly and wearily broke the dawn, on such a dayas often follows heavy thunder; a sunless, drizzly day, roofed with lowdingy cloud, barred and netted, and festooned with black, a sign thatthe storm is only taking breath awhile before it bursts again; while allthe narrow horizon is dim and spongy with vapor drifting before a chillybreeze. As the day went on, the breeze died down, and the sea fell to along glassy foam-flecked roll, while overhead brooded the inky sky, andround them the leaden mist shut out alike the shore and the chase. 

Amyas paced the sloppy deck fretfully and fiercely. He knew that theSpaniard could not escape; but he cursed every moment which lingeredbetween him and that one great revenge which blackened all his soul. The men sate sulkily about the deck, and whistled for a wind; the sailsflapped idly against the masts; and the ship rolled in the long troughsof the sea, till her yard-arms almost dipped right and left. 

"Take care of those guns. You will have something loose next, " growledAmyas. 

"We will take care of the guns, if the Lord will take care of the wind, "said Yeo. 

"We shall have plenty before night, " said Cary, "and thunder too. "

"So much the better, " said Amyas. "It may roar till it splits theheavens, if it does but let me get my work done. "

"He's not far off, I warrant, " said Cary. "One lift of the cloud, and weshould see him. "

"To windward of us, as likely as not, " said Amyas. "The devil fightsfor him, I believe. To have been on his heels sixteen days, and not sentthis through him yet!" And he shook his sword impatiently. 

So the morning wore away, without a sign of living thing, not even apassing gull; and the black melancholy of the heaven reflected itselfin the black melancholy of Amyas. Was he to lose his prey after all?The thought made him shudder with rage and disappointment. It wasintolerable. Anything but that. 

"No, God!" he cried, "let me but once feel this in his accursed heart, and then--strike me dead, if Thou wilt!"

"The Lord have mercy on us, " cried John Brimblecombe. "What have yousaid?"

"What is that to you, sir? There, they are piping to dinner. Go down. Ishall not come. "

And Jack went down, and talked in a half-terrified whisper of Amyas'sominous words. 

All thought that they portended some bad luck, except old Yeo. 

"Well, Sir John, " said he, "and why not? What better can the Lord dofor a man, than take him home when he has done his work? Our captain iswilful and spiteful, and must needs kill his man himself; while for me, I don't care how the Don goes, provided he does go. I owe him no grudge, nor any man. May the Lord give him repentance, and forgive him all hissins: but if I could but see him once safe ashore, as he may be erenightfall, on the Mortestone or the back of Lundy, I would say, 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, ' even if it were thelightning which was sent to fetch me. "

"But, master Yeo, a sudden death?"

"And why not a sudden death, Sir John? Even fools long for a short lifeand a merry one, and shall not the Lord's people pray for a short deathand a merry one? Let it come as it will to old Yeo. Hark! there's thecaptain's voice!"

"Here she is!" thundered Amyas from the deck; and in an instant all werescrambling up the hatchway as fast as the frantic rolling of the shipwould let them. 

Yes. There she was. The cloud had lifted suddenly, and to the south aragged bore of blue sky let a long stream of sunshine down on her tallmasts and stately hull, as she lay rolling some four or five miles tothe eastward: but as for land, none was to be seen. 

"There she is; and here we are, " said Cary; "but where is here? andwhere is there? How is the tide, master?"

"Running up Channel by this time, sir. "

"What matters the tide?" said Amyas, devouring the ship with terribleand cold blue eyes. "Can't we get at her?"

"Not unless some one jumps out and shoves behind, " said Cary. "I shalldown again and finish that mackerel, if this roll has not chucked it tothe cockroaches under the table. "

"Don't jest, Will! I can't stand it, " said Amyas, in a voice whichquivered so much that Cary looked at him. His whole frame was tremblinglike an aspen. Cary took his arm, and drew him aside. 

"Dear old lad, " said he, as they leaned over the bulwarks, "what isthis? You are not yourself, and have not been these four days. "

"No. I am not Amyas Leigh. I am my brother's avenger. Do not reasonwith me, Will: when it is over I shall be merry old Amyas again, " and hepassed his hand over his brow. 

"Do you believe, " said he, after a moment, "that men can be possessed bydevils?"

"The Bible says so. "

"If my cause were not a just one, I should fancy I had a devil in me. Mythroat and heart are as hot as the pit. Would to God it were done, fordone it must be! Now go. "

Cary went away with a shudder. As he passed down the hatchway he lookedback. Amyas had got the hone out of his pocket, and was whetting awayagain at his sword-edge, as if there was some dreadful doom on him, towhet, and whet forever. 

The weary day wore on. The strip of blue sky was curtained over again, and all was dismal as before, though it grew sultrier every moment; andnow and then a distant mutter shook the air to westward. Nothing couldbe done to lessen the distance between the ships, for the Vengeance hadhad all her boats carried away but one, and that was much too smallto tow her: and while the men went down again to finish dinner, Amyasworked on at his sword, looking up every now and then suddenly at theSpaniard, as if to satisfy himself that it was not a vision which hadvanished. 

About two Yeo came up to him. 

"He is ours safely now, sir. The tide has been running to the eastwardfor this two hours. "

"Safe as a fox in a trap. Satan himself cannot take him from us!"

"But God may, " said Brimblecombe, simply. 

"Who spoke to you, sir? If I thought that He--There comes the thunder atlast!"

And as he spoke an angry growl from the westward heavens seemed toanswer his wild words, and rolled and loudened nearer and nearer, tillright over their heads it crashed against some cloud-cliff far above, and all was still. 

Each man looked in the other's face: but Amyas was unmoved. 

"The storm is coming, " said he, "and the wind in it. It will beEastward-ho now, for once, my merry men all!"

"Eastward-ho never brought us luck, " said Jack in an undertone to Cary. But by this time all eyes were turned to the north-west, where a blackline along the horizon began to define the boundary of sea and air, tillnow all dim in mist. 

"There comes the breeze. "

"And there the storm, too. "

And with that strangely accelerating pace which some storms seem topossess, the thunder, which had been growling slow and seldom far away, now rang peal on peal along the cloudy floor above their heads. 

"Here comes the breeze. Round with the yards, or we shall be takenaback. "

The yards creaked round; the sea grew crisp around them; the hot airswept their cheeks, tightened every rope, filled every sail, bent herover. A cheer burst from the men as the helm went up, and they staggeredaway before the wind, right down upon the Spaniard, who lay stillbecalmed. 

"There is more behind, Amyas, " said Cary. "Shall we not shorten sail alittle?"

"No. Hold on every stitch, " said Amyas. "Give me the helm, man. Boatswain, pipe away to clear for fight. "

It was done, and in ten minutes the men were all at quarters, whilethe thunder rolled louder and louder overhead, and the breeze freshenedfast. 

"The dog has it now. There he goes!" said Cary. 

"Right before the wind. He has no liking to face us. "

"He is running into the jaws of destruction, " said Yeo. "An hour morewill send him either right up the Channel, or smack on shore somewhere. "

"There! he has put his helm down. I wonder if he sees land?"

"He is like a March hare beat out of his country, " said Cary, "and don'tknow whither to run next. "

Cary was right. In ten minutes more the Spaniard fell off again, andwent away dead down wind, while the Vengeance gained on him fast. After two hours more, the four miles had diminished to one, while thelightning flashed nearer and nearer as the storm came up; and from thevast mouth of a black cloud-arch poured so fierce a breeze that Amyasyielded unwillingly to hints which were growing into open murmurs, andbade shorten sail. 

On they rushed with scarcely lessened speed, the black arch followingfast, curtained by the flat gray sheet of pouring rain, before which thewater was boiling in a long white line; while every moment behind thewatery veil, a keen blue spark leapt down into the sea, or darted zigzagthrough the rain. 

"We shall have it now, and with a vengeance; this will try your tackle, master, " said Cary. 

The functionary answered with a shrug, and turned up the collar of hisrough frock, as the first drops flew stinging round his ears. Anotherminute and the squall burst full upon them, in rain, which cut likehail--hail which lashed the sea into froth, and wind which whirled offthe heads of the surges, and swept the waters into one white seethingwaste. And above them, and behind them and before them, the lightningleapt and ran, dazzling and blinding, while the deep roar of the thunderwas changed to sharp ear-piercing cracks. 

"Get the arms and ammunition under cover, and then below with you all, "shouted Amyas from the helm. 

"And heat the pokers in the galley fire, " said Yeo, "to be ready if therain puts our linstocks out. I hope you'll let me stay on deck, sir, incase--"

"I must have some one, and who better than you? Can you see the chase?"

No; she was wrapped in the gray whirlwind. She might be within half amile of them, for aught they could have seen of her. 

And now Amyas and his old liegeman were alone. Neither spoke; each knewthe other's thoughts, and knew that they were his own. The squall blewfiercer and fiercer, the rain poured heavier and heavier. Where was theSpaniard?

"If he has laid-to, we may overshoot him, sir!"

"If he has tried to lay-to, he will not have a sail left in thebolt-ropes, or perhaps a mast on deck. I know the stiff-neckedness ofthose Spanish tubs. Hurrah! there he is, right on our larboard bow!"

There she was indeed, two musket-shots' off, staggering away with canvassplit and flying. 

"He has been trying to hull, sir, and caught a buffet, " said Yeo, rubbing his hands. "What shall we do now?"

"Range alongside, if it blow live imps and witches, and try our luckonce more. Pah! how this lightning dazzles!"

On they swept, gaining fast on the Spaniard. "Call the men up, and toquarters; the rain will be over in ten minutes. "

Yeo ran forward to the gangway; and sprang back again, with a face whiteand wild--

"Land right ahead! Port your helm, sir! For the love of God, port yourhelm!"

Amyas, with the strength of a bull, jammed the helm down, while Yeoshouted to the men below. 

She swung round. The masts bent like whips; crack went the fore-saillike a cannon. What matter? Within two hundred yards of them was theSpaniard; in front of her, and above her, a huge dark bank rose throughthe dense hail, and mingled with the clouds; and at its foot, plainerevery moment, pillars and spouts of leaping foam. 

"What is it, Morte? Hartland?"

It might be anything for thirty miles. 

"Lundy!" said Yeo. "The south end! I see the head of the Shutter in thebreakers! Hard a-port yet, and get her close-hauled as you can, and theLord may have mercy on us still! Look at the Spaniard!"

Yes, look at the Spaniard!

On their left hand, as they broached-to, the wall of granite sloped downfrom the clouds toward an isolated peak of rock, some two hundred feetin height. Then a hundred yards of roaring breaker upon a sunken shelf, across which the race of the tide poured like a cataract; then, amid acolumn of salt smoke, the Shutter, like a huge black fang, rose waitingfor its prey; and between the Shutter and the land, the great galleonloomed dimly through the storm. 

He, too, had seen his danger, and tried to broach-to. But his clumsymass refused to obey the helm; he struggled a moment, half hid in foam;fell away again, and rushed upon his doom. 

"Lost! lost! lost!" cried Amyas madly, and throwing up his hands, let gothe tiller. Yeo caught it just in time. 

"Sir! sir! What are you at? We shall clear the rock yet. "

"Yes!" shouted Amyas, in his frenzy; "but he will not!"

Another minute. The galleon gave a sudden jar, and stopped. Then onelong heave and bound, as if to free herself. And then her bows lightedclean upon the Shutter. 

An awful silence fell on every English soul. They heard not the roaringof wind and surge; they saw not the blinding flashes of the lightning;but they heard one long ear-piercing wail to every saint in heaven risefrom five hundred human throats; they saw the mighty ship heel over fromthe wind, and sweep headlong down the cataract of the race, plunging heryards into the foam, and showing her whole black side even to her keel, till she rolled clean over, and vanished for ever and ever. 

"Shame!" cried Amyas, hurling his sword far into the sea, "to lose myright, my right! when it was in my very grasp! Unmerciful!"

A crack which rent the sky, and made the granite ring and quiver; abright world of flame, and then a blank of utter darkness, against whichstood out, glowing red-hot every mast, and sail, and rock, and SalvationYeo as he stood just in front of Amyas, the tiller in his hand. Allred-hot, transfigured into fire; and behind, the black, black night. 

 * * * * *

A whisper, a rustling close beside him, and Brimblecombe's voice saidsoftly:

"Give him more wine, Will; his eyes are opening. "

"Hey day?" said Amyas, faintly, "not past the Shutter yet! How long shehangs in the wind!"

"We are long past the Shutter, Sir Amyas, " said Brimblecombe. 

"Are you mad? Cannot I trust my own eyes?"

There was no answer for awhile. 

"We are past the Shutter, indeed, " said Cary, very gently, "and lying inthe cove at Lundy. "

"Will you tell me that that is not the Shutter, and that theDevil's-limekiln, and that the cliff--that villain Spaniard onlygone--and that Yeo is not standing here by me, and Cary there forward, and--why, by the by, where are you, Jack Brimblecombe, who were talkingto me this minute?"

"Oh, Sir Amyas Leigh, dear Sir Amyas Leigh, " blubbered poor Jack, "putout your hand, and feel where you are, and pray the Lord to forgive youfor your wilfulness!"

A great trembling fell upon Amyas Leigh; half fearfully he put out hishand; he felt that he was in his hammock, with the deck beams closeabove his head. The vision which had been left upon his eye-ballsvanished like a dream. 

"What is this? I must be asleep? What has happened? Where am I?"

"In your cabin, Amyas, " said Cary. 

"What? And where is Yeo?"

"Yeo is gone where he longed to go, and as he longed to go. The sameflash which struck you down, struck him dead. "

"Dead? Lightning? Any more hurt? I must go and see. Why, what is this?"and Amyas passed his hand across his eyes. "It is all dark--dark, as Ilive!" And he passed his hand over his eyes again. 

There was another dead silence. Amyas broke it. 

"Oh, God!" shrieked the great proud sea-captain, "Oh, God, I am blind!blind! blind!" And writhing in his great horror, he called to Cary tokill him and put him out of his misery, and then wailed for hismother to come and help him, as if he had been a boy once more; whileBrimblecombe and Cary, and the sailors who crowded round the cabin-door, wept as if they too had been boys once more. 

Soon his fit of frenzy passed off, and he sank back exhausted. 

They lifted him into their remaining boat, rowed him ashore, carried himpainfully up the hill to the old castle, and made a bed for him onthe floor, in the very room in which Don Guzman and Rose Salterne hadplighted their troth to each other, five wild years before. 

Three miserable days were passed within that lonely tower. Amyas, utterly unnerved by the horror of his misfortune, and by theover-excitement of the last few weeks, was incessantly delirious; whileCary, and Brimblecombe, and the men nursed him by turns, as sailorsand wives only can nurse; and listened with awe to his piteousself-reproaches and entreaties to Heaven to remove that woe, which, as he shrieked again and again, was a just judgment on him for hiswilfulness and ferocity. The surgeon talked, of course, learnedly aboutmelancholic humors, and his liver's being "adust by the over-pungencyof the animal spirits, " and then fell back on the universal panacea ofblood-letting, which he effected with fear and trembling during a shortinterval of prostration; encouraged by which he attempted to administera large bolus of aloes, was knocked down for his pains, and then thoughtit better to leave Nature to her own work. In the meanwhile, Cary hadsent off one of the island skiffs to Clovelly, with letters to hisfather, and to Mrs. Leigh, entreating the latter to come off to theisland: but the heavy westerly winds made that as impossible as it wasto move Amyas on board, and the men had to do their best, and did itwell enough. 

On the fourth day his raving ceased: but he was still too weak to bemoved. Toward noon, however, he called for food, ate a little, andseemed revived. 

"Will, " he said, after awhile, "this room is as stifling as it is dark. I feel as if I should be a sound man once more if I could but get onesnuff of the sea-breeze. "

The surgeon shook his head at the notion of moving him: but Amyas wasperemptory. 

"I am captain still, Tom Surgeon, and will sail for the Indies, if Ichoose. Will Cary, Jack Brimblecombe, will you obey a blind general?"

"What you will in reason, " said they both at once. 

"Then lead me out, my masters, and over the down to the south end. To the point at the south end I must go; there is no other place willsuit. "

And he rose firmly to his feet, and held out his hands for theirs. 

"Let him have his humor, " whispered Cary. "It may be the working off ofhis madness. "

"This sudden strength is a note of fresh fever, Mr. Lieutenant, "said the surgeon, "and the rules of the art prescribe rather a freshblood-letting. "

Amyas overheard the last word, and broke out:

"Thou pig-sticking Philistine, wilt thou make sport with blind Samson?Come near me to let blood from my arm, and see if I do not let bloodfrom thy coxcomb. Catch him, Will, and bring him me here!"

The surgeon vanished as the blind giant made a step forward; and theyset forth, Amyas walking slowly, but firmly, between his two friends. 

"Whither?" asked Cary. 

"To the south end. The crag above the Devil's-limekiln. No other placewill suit. "

Jack gave a murmur, and half-stopped, as a frightful suspicion crossedhim. 

"That is a dangerous place!"

"What of that?" said Amyas, who caught his meaning in his tone. "Dostthink I am going to leap over cliff? I have not heart enough for that. On, lads, and set me safe among the rocks. "

So slowly, and painfully, they went on, while Amyas murmured to himself:

"No, no other place will suit; I can see all thence. "

So on they went to the point, where the cyclopean wall of granite cliffwhich forms the western side of Lundy, ends sheer in a precipice of somethree hundred feet, topped by a pile of snow-white rock, bespangled withgolden lichens. As they approached, a raven, who sat upon the topmoststone, black against the bright blue sky, flapped lazily away, and sankdown the abysses of the cliff, as if he scented the corpses underneaththe surge. Below them from the Gull-rock rose a thousand birds, andfilled the air with sound; the choughs cackled, the hacklets wailed, the great blackbacks laughed querulous defiance at the intruders, and asingle falcon, with an angry bark, dashed out from beneath their feet, and hung poised high aloft, watching the sea-fowl which swung slowlyround and round below. 

It was a glorious sight upon a glorious day. To the northward the glensrushed down toward the cliff, crowned with gray crags, and carpeted withpurple heather and green fern; and from their feet stretched away tothe westward the sapphire rollers of the vast Atlantic, crowned with athousand crests of flying foam. On their left hand, some ten miles tothe south, stood out against the sky the purple wall of Hartland cliffs, sinking lower and lower as they trended away to the southward along thelonely ironbound shores of Cornwall, until they faded, dim and blue, into the blue horizon forty miles away. 

The sky was flecked with clouds, which rushed toward them fast upon theroaring south-west wind; and the warm ocean-breeze swept up the cliffs, and whistled through the heather-bells, and howled in cranny and incrag, "Till the pillars and clefts of the granite Rang like a God-swept lyre;"

while Amyas, a proud smile upon his lips, stood breasting that genialstream of airy wine with swelling nostrils and fast-heaving chest, and seemed to drink in life from every gust. All three were silent forawhile; and Jack and Cary, gazing downward with delight upon the gloryand the grandeur of the sight, forgot for awhile that their companionsaw it not. Yet when they started sadly, and looked into his face, didhe not see it? So wide and eager were his eyes, so bright and calm hisface, that they fancied for an instant that he was once more even asthey. 

A deep sigh undeceived them. "I know it is all here--the dear old sea, where I would live and die. And my eyes feel for it; feel for it--andcannot find it; never, never will find it again forever! God's will bedone!"

"Do you say that?" asked Brimblecombe, eagerly. 

"Why should I not? Why have I been raving in hell-fire for I know nothow many days, but to find out that, John Brimblecombe, thou better manthan I?"

"Not that last: but Amen! Amen! and the Lord has indeed had mercy uponthee!" said Jack, through his honest tears. 

"Amen!" said Amyas. "Now set me where I can rest among the rockswithout fear of falling--for life is sweet still, even without eyes, friends--and leave me to myself awhile. "

It was no easy matter to find a safe place; for from the foot of thecrag the heathery turf slopes down all but upright, on one side to acliff which overhangs a shoreless cove of deep dark sea, and on theother to an abyss even more hideous, where the solid rock has sunk away, and opened inland in the hillside a smooth-walled pit, some sixty feetsquare and some hundred and fifty in depth, aptly known then as now, as the Devil's-limekiln; the mouth of which, as old wives say, was onceclosed by the Shutter-rock itself, till the fiend in malice hurled itinto the sea, to be a pest to mariners. A narrow and untrodden cavern atthe bottom connects it with the outer sea; they could even then hear themysterious thunder and gurgle of the surge in the subterranean adit, as it rolled huge boulders to and fro in darkness, and forced before itgusts of pent-up air. It was a spot to curdle weak blood, and to makeweak heads reel: but all the fitter on that account for Amyas and hisfancy. 

"You can sit here as in an arm-chair, " said Cary, helping him down toone of those square natural seats so common in the granite tors. 

"Good; now turn my face to the Shutter. Be sure and exact. So. Do I faceit full?"

"Full, " said Cary. 

"Then I need no eyes wherewith to see what is before me, " said he, witha sad smile. "I know every stone and every headland, and every wave too, I may say, far beyond aught that eye can reach. Now go, and leave mealone with God and with the dead!"

They retired a little space and watched him. He never stirred for manyminutes; then leaned his elbows on his knees, and his head upon hishands, and so was still again. He remained so long thus, that the pairbecame anxious, and went towards him. He was asleep, and breathing quickand heavily. 

"He will take a fever, " said Brimblecombe, "if he sleeps much longerwith his head down in the sunshine. "

"We must wake him gently if we wake him at all. " And Cary moved forwardto him. 

As he did so, Amyas lifted his head, and turning it to right and left, felt round him with his sightless eyes. 

"You have been asleep, Amyas. "

"Have I? I have not slept back my eyes, then. Take up this great uselesscarcase of mine, and lead me home. I shall buy me a dog when I get toBurrough, I think, and make him tow me in a string, eh? So! Give me yourhand. Now march!"

His guides heard with surprise this new cheerfulness. 

"Thank God, sir, that your heart is so light already, " said good Jack;"it makes me feel quite upraised myself, like. "

"I have reason to be cheerful, Sir John; I have left a heavy load behindme. I have been wilful, and proud, and a blasphemer, and swollen withcruelty and pride; and God has brought me low for it, and cut me offfrom my evil delight. No more Spaniard-hunting for me now, my masters. God will send no such fools as I upon His errands. "

"You do not repent of fighting the Spaniards. "

"Not I: but of hating even the worst of them. Listen to me, Will andJack. If that man wronged me, I wronged him likewise. I have been afiend when I thought myself the grandest of men, yea, a very avengingangel out of heaven. But God has shown me my sin, and we have made upour quarrel forever. "

"Made it up?"

"Made it up, thank God. But I am weary. Set me down awhile, and I willtell you how it befell. "

Wondering, they set him down upon the heather, while the bees hummedround them in the sun; and Amyas felt for a hand of each, and clasped itin his own hand, and began:

"When you left me there upon the rock, lads, I looked away and out tosea, to get one last snuff of the merry sea-breeze, which will neversail me again. And as I looked, I tell you truth, I could see the waterand the sky; as plain as ever I saw them, till I thought my sight wascome again. But soon I knew it was not so; for I saw more than man couldsee; right over the ocean, as I live, and away to the Spanish Main. AndI saw Barbados, and Grenada, and all the isles that we ever sailed by;and La Guayra in Caracas, and the Silla, and the house beneath it whereshe lived. And I saw him walking with her on the barbecue, and he lovedher then. I saw what I saw; and he loved her; and I say he loves herstill. 

"Then I saw the cliffs beneath me, and the Gull-rock, and the Shutter, and the Ledge; I saw them, William Cary, and the weeds beneath the merryblue sea. And I saw the grand old galleon, Will; she has righted withthe sweeping of the tide. She lies in fifteen fathoms, at the edge ofthe rocks, upon the sand; and her men are all lying around her, asleepuntil the judgment-day. "

Cary and Jack looked at him, and then at each other. His eyes wereclear, and bright, and full of meaning; and yet they knew that hewas blind. His voice was shaping itself into a song. Was he inspired?Insane? What was it? And they listened with awe-struck faces, as thegiant pointed down into the blue depths far below, and went on. 

"And I saw him sitting in his cabin, like a valiant gentleman of Spain;and his officers were sitting round him, with their swords upon thetable at the wine. And the prawns and the crayfish and the rockling, they swam in and out above their heads: but Don Guzman he never heeded, but sat still, and drank his wine. Then he took a locket from his bosom;and I heard him speak, Will, and he said: 'Here's the picture of my fairand true lady; drink to her, senors all. ' Then he spoke to me, Will, and called me, right up through the oar-weed and the sea: 'We have hada fair quarrel, senor; it is time to be friends once more. My wife andyour brother have forgiven me; so your honor takes no stain. ' And Ianswered, 'We are friends, Don Guzman; God has judged our quarrel andnot we. ' Then he said, 'I sinned, and I am punished. ' And I said, 'And, senor, so am I. ' Then he held out his hand to me, Cary; and I stooped totake it, and awoke. "

He ceased: and they looked in his face again. It was exhausted, butclear and gentle, like the face of a new-born babe. Gradually his headdropped upon his breast again; he was either swooning or sleeping, andthey had much ado to get him home. There he lay for eight-and-fortyhours, in a quiet doze; then arose suddenly, called for food, ateheartily, and seemed, saving his eyesight, as whole and sound as ever. The surgeon bade them get him home to Northam as soon as possible, and he was willing enough to go. So the next day the Vengeance sailed, leaving behind a dozen men to seize and keep in the queen's name anygoods which should be washed up from the wreck. 

CHAPTER XXXIII

HOW AMYAS LET THE APPLE FALL

 "Would you hear a Spanish lady, How she woo'd an Englishman? Garments gay and rich as may be, Deck'd with jewels had she on. "

 Elizabethan Ballad. 

It was the first of October. The morning was bright and still; the skieswere dappled modestly from east to west with soft gray autumn cloud, asif all heaven and earth were resting after those fearful summer monthsof battle and of storm. Silently, as if ashamed and sad, the Vengeanceslid over the bar, and passed the sleeping sand-hills and dropped heranchor off Appledore, with her flag floating half-mast high; for thecorpse of Salvation Yeo was on board. 

A boat pulled off from the ship, and away to the western end of thestrand; and Cary and Brimblecombe helped out Amyas Leigh, and led himslowly up the hill toward his home. 

The crowd clustered round him, with cheers and blessings, and sobs ofpity from kind-hearted women; for all in Appledore and Bideford knewwell by this time what had befallen him. 

"Spare me, my good friends, " said Amyas, "I have landed here that Imight go quietly home, without passing through the town, and being madea gazing-stock. Think not of me, good folks, nor talk of me; but comebehind me decently, as Christian men, and follow to the grave the bodyof a better man than I. "

And, as he spoke, another boat came off, and in it, covered with theflag of England, the body of Salvation Yeo. 

The people took Amyas at his word; and a man was sent on to Burrough, totell Mrs. Leigh that her son was coming. When the coffin was landedand lifted, Amyas and his friends took their places behind it as chiefmourners, and the crew followed in order, while the crowd fell in behindthem, and gathered every moment; till ere they were halfway to Northamtown, the funeral train might number full five hundred souls. 

They had sent over by a fishing-skiff the day before to bid the sextondig the grave; and when they came into the churchyard, the parson stoodready waiting at the gate. 

Mrs. Leigh stayed quietly at home; for she had no heart to face thecrowd; and though her heart yearned for her son, yet she was wellcontent (when was she not content?) that he should do honor to hisancient and faithful servant; so she sat down in the bay-window, withAyacanora by her side; and when the tolling of the bell ceased, sheopened her Prayer-book, and began to read the Burial-service. 

"Ayacanora, " she said, "they are burying old Master Yeo, who loved you, and sought you over the wide, wide world, and saved you from the teethof the crocodile. Are you not sorry for him, child, that you look so gayto-day?"

Ayacanora blushed, and hung down her head; she was thinking of nothing, poor child, but Amyas. 

The Burial-service was done; the blessing said; the parson drew back:but the people lingered and crowded round to look at the coffin, whileAmyas stood still at the head of the grave. It had been dug by hiscommand, at the west end of the church, near by the foot of the tallgray windswept tower, which watches for a beacon far and wide over landand sea. Perhaps the old man might like to look at the sea, and seethe ships come out and in across the bar, and hear the wind, on winternights, roar through the belfry far above his head. Why not? It was buta fancy: and yet Amyas felt that he too should like to be buried in sucha place; so Yeo might like it also. 

Still the crowd lingered; and looked first at the grave and then atthe blind giant who stood over it, as if they felt, by instinct, thatsomething more ought to come. And something more did come. Amyas drewhimself up to his full height, and waved his hand majestically, as oneabout to speak; while the eyes of all men were fastened on him. 

Twice he essayed to begin; and twice the words were choked upon hislips; and then, --

"Good people all, and seamen, among whom I was bred, and to whom I comehome blind this day, to dwell with you till death--Here lieth the flowerand pattern of all bold mariners; the truest of friends, and the mostterrible of foes; unchangeable of purpose, crafty of council, and swiftof execution; in triumph most sober, in failure (as God knows I havefound full many a day) of endurance beyond mortal man. Who first of allBritons helped to humble the pride of the Spaniard at Rio de la Hachaand Nombre, and first of all sailed upon those South Seas, which shallbe hereafter, by God's grace, as free to English keels as is the bayoutside. Who having afterwards been purged from his youthful sins bystrange afflictions and torments unspeakable, suffered at the hands ofthe Popish enemy, learned therefrom, my masters, to fear God, and tofear naught else; and having acquitted himself worthily in his place andcalling as a righteous scourge of the Spaniard, and a faithful soldierof the Lord Jesus Christ, is now exalted to his reward, as Elijah was ofold, in a chariot of fire unto heaven: letting fall, I trust and pray, upon you who are left behind the mantle of his valor and his godliness, that so these shores may never be without brave and pious mariners, whowill count their lives as worthless in the cause of their Country, theirBible, and their Queen. Amen. "

And feeling for his companions' hands he walked slowly from thechurchyard, and across the village street, and up the lane to Burroughgates; while the crowd made way for him in solemn silence, as for anawful being, shut up alone with all his strength, valor, and fame, inthe dark prison-house of his mysterious doom. 

He seemed to know perfectly when they had reached the gates, opened thelock with his own hands, and went boldly forward along the gravel path, while Cary and Brimblecombe followed him trembling; for they expectedsome violent burst of emotion, either from him or his mother, and thetwo good fellows' tender hearts were fluttering like a girl's. Up tothe door he went, as if he had seen it; felt for the entrance, stoodtherein, and called quietly, "Mother!"

In a moment his mother was on his bosom. 

Neither spoke for awhile. She sobbing inwardly, with tearless eyes, hestanding firm and cheerful, with his great arms clasped around her. 

"Mother!" he said at last, "I am come home, you see, because I needsmust come. Will you take me in, and look after this useless carcase? Ishall not be so very troublesome, mother, --shall I?" and he looked down, and smiled upon her, and kissed her brow. 

She answered not a word, but passed her arm gently round his waist, andled him in. 

"Take care of your head, dear child, the doors are low. " And they wentin together. 

"Will! Jack!" called Amyas, turning round: but the two good fellows hadwalked briskly off. 

"I'm glad we are away, " said Cary; "I should have made a baby of myselfin another minute, watching that angel of a woman. How her face workedand how she kept it in!"

"Ah, well!" said Jack, "there goes a brave servant of the queen's cutoff before his work was a quarter done. Heigho! I must home now, and seemy old father, and then--"

"And then home with me, " said Cary. "You and I never part again! We havepulled in the same boat too long, Jack; and you must not go spendingyour prize-money in riotous living. I must see after you, old Jackashore, or we shall have you treating half the town in taverns for aweek to come. "

"Oh, Mr. Cary!" said Jack, scandalized. 

"Come home with me, and we'll poison the parson, and my father shallgive you the rectory. "

"Oh, Mr. Cary!" said Jack. 

So the two went off to Clovelly together that very day. 

And Amyas was sitting all alone. His mother had gone out for a fewminutes to speak to the seamen who had brought up Amyas's luggage, andset them down to eat and drink; and Amyas sat in the old bay-window, where he had sat when he was a little tiny boy, and read "King Arthur, "and "Fox's Martyrs, " and "The Cruelties of the Spaniards. " He put outhis hand and felt for them; there they lay side by side, just as theyhad lain twenty years before. The window was open; and a cool airbrought in as of old the scents of the four-season roses, and rosemary, and autumn gilliflowers. And there was a dish of apples on the table: heknew it by their smell; the very same old apples which he used to gatherwhen he was a boy. He put out his hand, and took them, and felt themover, and played with them, just as if the twenty years had never been:and as he fingered them, the whole of his past life rose up before him, as in that strange dream which is said to flash across the imaginationof a drowning man; and he saw all the places which he had ever seen, andheard all the words which had ever been spoken to him--till he came tothat fairy island on the Meta; and he heard the roar of the cataractonce more, and saw the green tops of the palm-trees sleeping in thesunlight far above the spray, and stept amid the smooth palm-trunksacross the flower-fringed boulders, and leaped down to the gravel beachbeside the pool: and then again rose from the fern-grown rocks thebeautiful vision of Ayacanora--Where was she? He had not thought of hertill now. How he had wronged her! Let be; he had been punished, and theaccount was squared. Perhaps she did not care for him any longer. Whowould care for a great blind ox like him, who must be fed and tendedlike a baby for the rest of his lazy life? Tut! How long his motherwas away! And he began playing again with his apples, and thought aboutnothing but them, and his climbs with Frank in the orchard years ago. 

At last one of them slipt through his fingers, and fell on the floor. Hestooped and felt for it: but he could not find it. Vexatious! He turnedhastily to search in another direction, and struck his head sharplyagainst the table. 

Was it the pain, or the little disappointment? or was it the sense ofhis blindness brought home to him in that ludicrous commonplace way, and for that very reason all the more humiliating? or was it the suddenrevulsion of overstrained nerves, produced by that slight shock? Or hadhe become indeed a child once more? I know not; but so it was, that hestamped on the floor with pettishness, and then checking himself, burstinto a violent flood of tears. 

A quick rustle passed him; the apple was replaced in his hand, andAyacanora's voice sobbed out:

"There! there it is! Do not weep! Oh, do not weep! I cannot bear it!I will get you all you want! Only let me fetch and carry for you, tendyou, feed you, lead you, like your slave, your dog! Say that I may beyour slave!" and falling on her knees at his feet, she seized both hishands, and covered them with kisses. 

"Yes!" she cried, "I will be your slave! I must be! You cannot help it!You cannot escape from me now! You cannot go to sea! You cannot turnyour back upon wretched me. I have you safe now! Safe!" and she clutchedhis hands triumphantly. "Ah! and what a wretch I am, to rejoice in that!to taunt him with his blindness! Oh, forgive me! I am but a poor wildgirl--a wild Indian savage, you know: but--but--" and she burst intotears. 

A great spasm shook the body and soul of Amyas Leigh; he sat quitesilent for a minute, and then said solemnly:

"And is this still possible? Then God have mercy upon me a sinner!"

Ayacanora looked up in his face inquiringly: but before she could speakagain, he had bent down, and lifting her as the lion lifts the lamb, pressed her to his bosom, and covered her face with kisses. 

The door opened. There was the rustle of a gown; Ayacanora sprang fromhim with a little cry, and stood, half-trembling, half-defiant, as if tosay, "He is mine now; no one dare part him from me!"

"Who is it?" asked Amyas. 

"Your mother. "

"You see that I am bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, mother, "said he, with a smile. 

He heard her approach. Then a kiss and a sob passed between the women;and he felt Ayacanora sink once more upon his bosom. 

"Amyas, my son, " said the silver voice of Mrs. Leigh, low, dreamy, likethe far-off chimes of angels' bells from out the highest heaven, "fearnot to take her to your heart again; for it is your mother who has laidher there. "

"It is true, after all, " said Amyas to himself. "What God has joinedtogether, man cannot put asunder. "

 * * * * *

From that hour Ayacanora's power of song returned to her; and day byday, year after year, her voice rose up within that happy home, andsoared, as on a skylark's wings, into the highest heaven, bearing withit the peaceful thoughts of the blind giant back to the Paradises of theWest, in the wake of the heroes who from that time forth sailed out tocolonize another and a vaster England, to the heaven-prospered cry ofWestward-Ho!