Micah Clarke Part 7

Saxon had listened with much attention to the widow's words, and had just opened his mouth to make some reply to her when a clattering and bustle outside announced the arrival of some traveller. Our hostess drank off her wine and p.r.i.c.ked up her ears, but when a loud authoritative voice was heard in the pa.s.sage, demanding a private room and a draught of sack, her call to duty overcame her private concerns, and she bustled off with a few words of apology to take the measure of the new-comer.

'Body o' me, lads!' quoth Decimus Saxon the moment that she disappeared, 'ye can see how the land lies. I have half a mind to let Monmouth carve his own road, and to pitch my tent in this quiet English towns.h.i.+p.'

'Your tent, indeed!' cried Reuben; 'it is a brave tent that is furnished with cellars of such wine as we are drinking. And as to the quiet, my ill.u.s.trious, if you take up your residence here I'll warrant that the quiet soon comes to an end.'

'You have seen the woman,' said Saxon, with his brow all in a wrinkle with thought. 'She hath much to commend her. A man must look to himself. Two hundred pounds a year are not to be picked off the roadside every June morning. It is not princely, but it is something for an old soldier of fortune who hath been in the wars for five-and-thirty years, and foresees the time when his limbs will grow stiff in his harness. What sayeth our learned Fleming-"an mulier-" but what in the name of the devil have we here?'

Our companion's e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n was called forth by a noise as of a slight scuffle outside the door, with a smothered 'Oh, sir!' and 'What will the maids think?' The contest was terminated by the door being opened, and Dame Hobson re-entering the room with her face in a glow, and a slim young man dressed in the height of fas.h.i.+on at her heels.

'I am sure, good gentlemen,' said she, 'that ye will not object to this young n.o.bleman drinking his wine in the same room with ye, since all the others are filled with the townsfolk and commonalty.'

'Faith! I must needs be mine own usher,' said the stranger, sticking his gold-laced cap under his left arm and laying his hand upon his heart, while he bowed until his forehead nearly struck the edge of the table. 'Your very humble servant, gentlemen, Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret of his Majesty's county of Surrey, and at one time custos rotulorum of the district of Beacham Ford.'

'Welcome, sir,' quoth Reuben, with a merry twinkle in his eye. 'You have before you Don Decimo Saxon of the Spanish n.o.bility, together with Sir Micah Clarke and Sir Reuben Lockarby, both of his Majesty's county of Hamps.h.i.+re.'

'Proud and glad to meet ye, gentlemen!' cried the newcomer, with a flourish. 'But what is this upon the table? Alicant? Fie, fie, it is a drink for boys. Let us have some good sack with plenty of body in it. Claret for youth, say I, sack for maturity, and strong waters in old age. Fly, my sweetest, move those dainty feet of thine, for egad! my throat is like leather. Od's 'oons, I drank deep last night, and yet it is clear that I could not have drunk enough, for I was as dry as a concordance when I awoke.'

Saxon sat silently at the table, looking so viciously at the stranger out of his half-closed glittering eyes that I feared that we should have another such brawl as occurred at Salisbury, with perhaps a more unpleasant ending. Finally, however, his ill-humour at the gallant's free and easy attention to our hostess spent itself in a few muttered oaths, and he lit his long pipe, the never-failing remedy of a ruffled spirit. As to Reuben and myself, we watched our new companion half in wonder and half in amus.e.m.e.nt, for his appearance and manners were novel enough to raise the interest of inexperienced youngsters like ourselves.

I have said that he was dressed in the height of fas.h.i.+on, and such indeed was the impression which a glance would give. His face was thin and aristocratic, with a well-marked nose, delicate features, and gay careless expression. Some little paleness of the cheeks and darkness under the eyes, the result of hard travel or dissipation, did but add a chastening grace to his appearance. His white periwig, velvet and silver riding coat, lavender vest and red satin knee-breeches were all of the best style and cut, but when looked at closely, each and all of these articles of attire bore evidence of having seen better days. Beside the dust and stains of travel, there was a s.h.i.+niness or a fading of colour here and there which scarce accorded with the costliness of their material or the bearing of their wearer. His long riding-boots had a gaping seam in the side of one of them, whilst his toe was pus.h.i.+ng its way through the end of the other. For the rest, he wore a handsome silver-hilted rapier at his side, and had a frilled cambric s.h.i.+rt somewhat the worse for wear and open at the front, as was the mode with the gallants of those days. All the time he was speaking he mumbled a toothpick, which together with his constant habit of p.r.o.nouncing his o's as a's made his conversation sound strange to our ears. (Note D Appendix) Whilst we were noting these peculiarities he was reclining upon Dame Hobson's best taffatta-covered settee, tranquilly combing his wig with a delicate ivory comb which he had taken from a small satin bag which hung upon the right of his sword-belt.

'Lard preserve us from country inns!' he remarked. 'What with the boors that swarm in every chamber, and the want of mirrors, and jasmine water, and other necessaries, blister me if one has not to do one's toilet in the common room. 'Oons! I'd as soon travel in the land of the Great Mogul!'

'When you shall come to be my age, young sir,' Saxon answered, 'you may know better than to decry a comfortable country hostel.'

'Very like, sir, very like!' the gallant answered, with a careless laugh. 'For all that, being mine own age, I feel the wilds of Wilts.h.i.+re and the inns of Bruton to be a sorry change after the Mall, and the fare of Pontack's or the Coca Tree. Ah, Lud! here comes the sack! Open it, my pretty Hebe, and send a drawer with fresh gla.s.ses, for these gentlemen must do me the honour of drinking with me. A pinch of snuff, sirs? Aye, ye may well look hard at the box. A pretty little thing, sirs, from a certain lady of t.i.tle, who shall be nameless; though, if I were to say that her t.i.tle begins with a D and her name with a C, a gentleman of the Court might hazard a guess.'

Our hostess, having brought fresh gla.s.ses, withdrew, and Decimus Saxon soon found an opportunity for following her. Sir Gervas Jerome continued, however, to chatter freely to Reuben and myself over the wine, rattling along as gaily and airily as though we were old acquaintances.

'Sink me, if I have not frighted your comrade away!' he remarked, 'Or is it possible that he hath gone on the slot of the plump widow? Methought he looked in no very good temper when I kissed her at the door. Yet it is a civility which I seldom refuse to anything which wears a cap. Your friend's appearance smacked more of Mars than of Venus, though, indeed, those who wors.h.i.+p the G.o.d are wont to be on good terms with the G.o.ddess. A hardy old soldier, I should judge, from his feature and attire.'

'One who hath seen much service abroad,' I answered.

'Ha! ye are lucky to ride to the wars in the company of so accomplished a cavalier. For I presume that it is to the wars that ye are riding, since ye are all so armed and accoutred.'

'We are indeed bound for the West,' I replied, with some reserve, for in Saxon's absence I did not care to be too loose-tongued.

'And in what capacity?' he persisted. 'Will ye risk your crowns in defence of King James's one, or will ye strike in, hit or miss, with these rogues of Devon and Somerset? Stop my vital breath, if I would not as soon side with the clown as with the crown, with all due respect to your own principles!'

'You are a daring man,' said I, 'if you air your opinions thus in every inn parlour. Dost not know that a word of what you have said, whispered to the nearest justice of the peace, might mean your liberty, if not your life?'

'I don't care the rind of a rotten orange for life or liberty either,' cried our acquaintance, snapping his finger and thumb. 'Burn me if it wouldn't be a new sensation to bandy words with some heavy-chopped country justice, with the Popish plot still stuck in his gizzard, and be thereafter consigned to a dungeon, like the hero in John Dryden's latest. I have been round-housed many a time by the watch in the old Hawkubite days; but this would be a more dramatic matter, with high treason, block, and axe all looming in the background.'

'And rack and pincers for a prologue,' said Reuben. 'This ambition is the strangest that I have ever heard tell of.'

'Anything for a change,' cried Sir Gervas, filling up a b.u.mper. 'Here's to the maid that's next our heart, and here's to the heart that loves the maids! War, wine, and women, 'twould be a dull world without them. But you have not answered my question.'

'Why truly, sir,' said I, 'frank as you have been with us, I can scarce be equally so with you, without the permission of the gentleman who has just left the room. He is the leader of our party. Pleasant as our short intercourse has been, these are parlous times, and hasty confidences are apt to lead to repentance.'

'A Daniel come to judgment!' cried our new acquaintance. 'What ancient, ancient words from so young a head! You are, I'll warrant, five years younger than a scatterbrain like myself, and yet you talk like the seven wise men of Greece. Wilt take me as a valet?'

'A valet!' I exclaimed.

'Aye, a valet, a man-servant. I have been waited upon so long that it is my turn to wait now, and I would not wish a more likely master. By the Lard! I must, in applying for a place, give an account of my character and a list of my accomplishments. So my rascals ever did with me, though in good truth I seldom listened to their recital. Honesty-there I score a trick. Sober-Ananias himself could scarce say that I am that. Trustworthy-indifferently so. Steady-hum! about as much so as Garraway's weatherc.o.c.k. Hang it, man, I am choke full of good resolutions, but a sparkling gla.s.s or a roguish eye will deflect me, as the mariners say of the compa.s.s. So much for my weaknesses. Now let me see what qualifications I can produce. A steady nerve, save only when I have my morning qualms, and a cheerful heart; I score two on that. I can dance saraband, minuet, or corranto; fence, ride, and sing French chansons. Good Lard! who ever heard a valet urge such accomplishments? I can play the best game of piquet in London. So said Sir George Etherege when I won a cool thousand off him at the Groom Parter. But that won't advance me much, either. What is there, then, to commend me? Why, marry, I can brew a bowl of punch, and I can broil a devilled fowl. It is not much, but I can do it well.'

'Truly, good sir,' I said, with a smile, 'neither of these accomplishments is like to prove of much use to us on our present errand. You do, however, but jest, no doubt, when you talk of descending to such a position.'

'Not a whit! not a whit!' he replied earnestly. '"To such base uses do we come," as Will Shakespeare has it. If you would be able to say that you have in your service Sir Gervas Jerome, knight banneret, and sole owner of Beacham Ford Park, with a rent-roll of four thousand good pounds a year, he is now up for sale, and will be knocked down to the bidder who pleases him best. Say but the word, and we'll have another flagon of sack to clinch the bargain.'

'But,' said I, 'if you are indeed owner of this fair property, why should you descend to so menial an occupation?'

'The Jews, the Jews, oh most astute and yet most slow-witted master! The ten tribes have been upon me, and I have been harried and wasted, bound, ravished, and despoiled. Never was Agag, king of Amalek, more completely in the hands of the chosen, and the sole difference is that they have hewed into pieces mine estate instead of myself.'

'Have you lost all, then?' Reuben asked, open-eyed.

'Why no-not all-by no means all!' he answered, with a merry laugh; 'I have a gold Jacobus and a guinea or two in my purse. 'Twill serve for a flask or so yet. There is my silver-hilted rapier, my rings, my gold snuff-box, and my watch by Tompion at the sign of the Three Crowns. It was never bought under a hundred, I'll warrant. Then there are such relics of grandeur as you see upon my person, though they begin to look as frail and worn as a waiting-woman's virtue. In this bag, too, I retain the means for preserving that niceness and elegance of person which made me, though I say it, as well groomed a man as ever set foot in St. James's Park. Here are French scissors, eyebrow brush, toothpick case, patch-box, powder-bag, comb, puff, and my pair of red-heeled shoes. What could a man wish for more? These, with a dry throat, a cheerful heart, and a ready hand, are my whole stock in trade.'

Reuben and I could not forbear from laughing at the curious inventory of articles which Sir Gervas had saved from the wreck of his fortunes. He upon seeing our mirth was so tickled at his own misfortunes, that he laughed in a high treble key until the whole house resounded with his merriment. 'By the Ma.s.s,' he cried at last, 'I have never had so much honest amus.e.m.e.nt out of my prosperity as hath been caused in me by my downfall. Fill up your gla.s.ses!'

'We have still some distance to travel this evening, and must not drink more,' I observed, for prudence told me that it was dangerous work for two sober country lads to keep pace with an experienced toper.

'So!' said he in surprise. 'I should have thought that would be a "raison de plus," as the French say. But I wish your long-legged friend would come back, even if he were intent upon slitting my weazand for my attention to the widow. He is not a man to flinch from his liquor, I'll warrant. Curse this Wilts.h.i.+re dust that clings to my periwig!'

'Until my comrade returns, Sir Gervas,' said I, 'you might, since the subject does not appear to be a painful one to you, let us know how these evil times, which you bear with such philosophy, came upon you.'

'The old story!' he answered, flicking away a few grains of snuff with his deeply-laced cambric handkerchief. 'The old, old story! My father, a good, easy country baronet, finding the family purse somewhat full, must needs carry me up to town to make a man of me. There as a young lad I was presented at Court, and being a slim active youngster with a pert tongue and a.s.sured manner, I caught the notice of the Queen, who made me one of her pages of honour. This post I held until I grew out of it, when I withdrew from town, but egad! I found I must get back to it again, for Beacham Ford Park was as dull as a monastery after the life which I had been living. In town I stayed then with such boon companions as Tommy Lawson, my Lord Halifax, Sir Jasper Lemarck, little Geordie Chichester, aye, and old Sidney G.o.dolphin of the Treasury; for with all his staid ways and long-winded budgets he could drain a cup with the best of us, and was as keen on a main of c.o.c.ks as on a committee of ways and means. Well, it was rare sport while it lasted, and sink me if I wouldn't do the same again if I had my time once more. It is like sliding down a greased plank though, for at first a man goes slow enough, and thinks he can pull himself up, but presently he goes faster and faster, until he comes with a crash on to the rocks of ruin at the bottom.'

'And did you run through four thousand pounds a year?' I exclaimed.

'Od's bodikins, man, you speak as if this paltry sum were all the wealth of the Indies. Why, from Ormonde or Buckingham, with their twenty thousand, down to ranting d.i.c.ky Talbot, there was not one of my set who could not have bought me out. Yet I must have my coach and four, my town house, my liveried servants, and my stable full of horses. To be in the mode I must have my poet, and throw him a handful of guineas for his dedication. Well, poor devil, he is one who will miss me. I warrant his heart was as heavy as his verses when he found me gone, though perchance he has turned a few guineas by this time by writing a satire upon me. It would have a ready sale among my friends. Gad's life! I wonder how my levees get on, and whom all my suitors have fastened on to now. There they were morning after morning, the French pimp, the English bully, the needy man o' letters, the neglected inventor-I never thought to have got rid of them, but indeed I have shaken them off very effectually now. When the honey-pot is broken it is farewell to the flies.'

'And your n.o.ble friends?' I asked. 'Did none of them stand by you in your adversity?'

'Well, well, I have nought to complain of!' exclaimed Sir Gervas. 'They were brave-hearted boys for the most part. I might have had their names on my bills as long as their fingers could hold a pen, but slit me if I like bleeding my own companions. They might have found a place for me, too, had I consented to play second-fiddle where I had been used to lead the band. I' faith, I care not what I turn my hand to amongst strangers, but I would fain leave my memory sweet in town.'

'As to what you proposed, of serving us as a valet,' said I, 'it is not to be thought of. We are, in spite of my friend's waggishness, but two plain blunt countrymen, and have no more need of a valet than one of those poets which you have spoken of. On the other hand, if you should care to attach yourself to our party, we shall take you where you will see service which shall be more to your taste than the curling of periwigs or the brus.h.i.+ng of eyebrows.'

'Nay, nay, my friend. Speak not with unseemly levity of the mysteries of the toilet,' he cried. 'Ye would yourselves be none the worse for a touch of mine ivory comb, and a closer acquaintance with the famous skin-purifying wash of Murphy which I am myself in the habit of using.'

'I am beholden to you, sir,' said Reuben, 'but the famous spring water wash by Providence is quite good enough for the purpose.'

'And Dame Nature hath placed a wig of her own upon me,' I added, 'which I should be very loth to change.'

'Goths! Perfect Goths!' cried the exquisite, throwing up his white hands. 'But here comes a heavy tread and the clink of armour in the pa.s.sage. 'Tis our friend the knight of the wrathful countenance, if I mistake not.'

It was indeed Saxon, who strode into the room to tell us that our horses were at the door, and that all was ready for our departure. Taking him aside I explained to him in a whisper what had pa.s.sed between the stranger and ourselves, with the circ.u.mstances which had led me to suggest that he should join our party. The old soldier frowned at the news.

'What have we to do with such a c.o.xcomb?' he said. 'We have hard fare and harder blows before us. He is not fit for the work.'

'You said yourself that Monmouth will be weak in horse,' I answered. 'Here is a well-appointed cavalier, who is to all appearance a desperate man and ready for anything. Why should we not enrol him?'

'I fear,' said Saxon, 'that his body may prove to be like the bran of a fine cus.h.i.+on, of value only for what it has around it. However, it is perhaps for the best. The handle to his name may make him welcome in the camp, for from what I hear there is some dissatisfaction at the way in which the gentry stand aloof from the enterprise.'

'I had feared,' I remarked, still speaking in a whisper, 'that we were about to lose one of our party instead of gaining one in this Bruton inn.'

'I have thought better of it,' he answered, with a smile. 'Nay, I'll tell you of it anon. Well, Sir Gervas Jerome,' he added aloud, turning to our new a.s.sociate, 'I hear that you are coming with us. For a day you must be content to follow without question or remark. Is that agreed!'

'With all my heart,' cried Sir Gervas.

'Then here's a b.u.mper to our better acquaintance,' cried Saxon, raising his gla.s.s.

'I pledge ye all,' quoth the gallant. 'Here's to a fair fight, and may the best men win.'

'Donnerblitz, man!' said Saxon. 'I believe there's mettle in you for all your gay plumes. I do conceive a liking for you. Give me your hand!'

The soldier of fortune's great brown grip enclosed the delicate hand of our new friend in a pledge of comrades.h.i.+p. Then, having paid our reckoning and bade a cordial adieu to Dame Hobson, who glanced methought somewhat reproachfully or expectantly at Saxon, we sprang on our steeds and continued our journey amidst a crowd of staring villagers, who huzzaed l.u.s.tily as we rode out from amongst them.

Chapter XIV. Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock

Our road lay through Castle Carey and Somerton, which are small towns lying in the midst of a most beautiful pastoral country, well wooded and watered by many streams. The valleys along the centre of which the road lies are rich and luxuriant, sheltered from the winds by long rolling hills, which are themselves highly cultivated. Here and there we pa.s.sed the ivy-clad turret of an old castle or the peaked gables of a rambling country house, protruding from amongst the trees and marking the country seat of some family of repute. More than once, when these mansions were not far from the road, we were able to perceive the unrepaired dints and fractures on the walls received during the stormy period of the civil troubles. Fairfax it seems had been down that way, and had left abundant traces of his visit. I have no doubt that my father would have had much to say of these signs of Puritan wrath had he been riding at our side.

The road was crowded with peasants who were travelling in two strong currents, the one setting from east to west, and the other from west to east. The latter consisted princ.i.p.ally of aged people and of children, who were being sent out of harm's way to reside in the less disturbed counties until the troubles should be over. Many of these poor folk were pus.h.i.+ng barrows in front of them, in which a few bedclothes and some cracked utensils represented the whole of their worldly goods. Others more prosperous had small carts, drawn by the wild s.h.a.ggy colts which are bred on the Somerset moors. What with the spirit of the half-tamed beasts and the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not uncommon, and we pa.s.sed several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with their property into a ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate round a cracked shaft or a broken axle.

The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand men in the prime of life, with little or no baggage. Their brown faces, heavy boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, though here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and corduroys, may have been small farmers or yeomen. These fellows walked in gangs, and were armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, which were carried as an aid to their journey, but which in the hands of powerful men might become formidable weapons. From time to time one of these travellers would strike up a psalm tune, when all the others within earshot would join in, until the melody rippled away down the road. As we pa.s.sed some scowled angrily at us, while others whispered together and shook their heads, in evident doubt as to our character and aims. Now and again among the people we marked the tall broad-brimmed hat and Geneva mantle which were the badges of the Puritan clergy.

'We are in Monmouth's country at last,' said Saxon to me, for Reuben Lockarby and Sir Gervas Jerome had ridden on ahead. 'This is the raw material which we shall have to lick into soldiers.h.i.+p.'

'And no bad material either,' I replied, taking note of the st.u.r.dy figures and bold hearty faces of the men. 'Think ye that they are bound for Monmouth's camp, then?'

'Aye, are they. See you yon long-limbed parson on the left-him with the pent-house hat. Markest thou not the stiffness wherewith he moves his left leg!'

'Why, yes; he is travel-worn doubtless.'

'Ho! ho!' laughed my companion. 'I have seen such a stiffness before now. The man hath a straight sword within he leg of his breeches. A regular Parliamentary tuck, I'll warrant. When he is on safe ground he will produce it, aye, and use it too, but until he is out of all danger of falling in with the King's horse he is shy of strapping it to his belt. He is one of the old breed by his cut, who: "Call fire and sword and desolation, A G.o.dly thorough reformation."

Old Samuel hath them to a penstroke! There is another ahead of him there, with the head of a scythe inside his smock. Can you not see the outline? I warrant there is not one of the rascals but hath a pike-head or sickle-blade concealed somewhere about him. I begin to feel the breath of war once more, and to grow younger with it. Hark ye, lad! I am glad that I did not tarry at the inn.'

'You seemed to be in two minds about it,' said I.

'Aye, aye. She was a fine woman, and the quarters were comfortable. I do not gainsay it. But marriage, d'ye see, is a citadel that it is plaguy easy to find one's way into, but once in old Tilly himself could not bring one out again with credit, I have known such a device on the Danube, where at the first onfall the Mamelukes have abandoned the breach for the very purpose of ensnaring the Imperial troops in the narrow streets beyond, from which few ever returned. Old birds are not caught with such wiles. I did succeed in gaining the ear of one of the gossips, and asking him what he could tell me of the good dame and her inn. It seemeth that she is somewhat of a shrew upon occasion, and that her tongue had more to do with her husband's death than the dropsy which the leech put it down to. Again, a new inn hath been started in the village, which is well-managed, and is like to draw the custom from her. It is, too, as you have said, a dull sleepy spot. All these reasons weighed with me, and I decided that it would be best to raise my siege of the widow, and to retreat whilst I could yet do so with the credit and honours of war.'

"Tis best so,' said I; 'you could not have settled down to a life of toping and ease. But our new comrade, what think you of him?'

'Faith!' Saxon answered, 'we shall extend into a troop of horse if we add to our number every gallant who is in want of a job. As to this Sir Gervas, however, I think, as I said at the inn, that he hath more mettle in him than one would judge at first sight. These young sprigs of the gentry will always fight, but I doubt if he is hardened enough or hath constancy enough for such a campaign as this is like to be. His appearance, too, will be against him in the eyes of the saints; and though Monmouth is a man of easy virtue, the saints are like to have the chief voice in his councils. Now do but look at him as he reins up that showy grey stallion and gazes back at us. Mark his riding-hat tilted over his eye, his open bosom, his whip dangling from his b.u.t.ton-hole, his hand on his hip, and as many oaths in his mouth as there are ribbons to his doublet. Above all, mark the air with which he looks down upon the peasants beside him. He will have to change his style if he is to fight by the side of the fanatics. But hark! I am much mistaken if they have not already got themselves into trouble.'

Our friends had pulled up their horses to await our coming. They had scarce halted, however, before the stream of peasants who had been moving along abreast of them slackened their pace, and gathered round them with a deep ominous murmur and threatening gestures. Other rustics, seeing that there was something afoot, hurried up to help their companions. Saxon and I put spurs to our horses, and pus.h.i.+ng through the throng, which was becoming every instant larger and more menacing, made our way to the aid of our friends, who were hemmed in on every side by the rabble. Reuben had laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, while Sir Gervas was placidly chewing his toothpick and looking down at the angry mob with an air of amused contempt.

'A flask or two of scent amongst them would not be amiss,' he remarked; 'I would I had a casting bottle.'

'Stand on your guard, but do not draw,' cried Saxon. 'What the henker hath come over the chaw-bacons? They mean mischief. How now, friends, why this uproar?'

This question instead of allaying the tumult appeared to make it tenfold worse. All round us twenty deep were savage faces and angry eyes, with the glint here and there of a weapon half drawn from its place of concealment. The uproar, which had been a mere hoa.r.s.e growl, began to take shape and form. 'Down with the Papists!' was the cry. 'Down with the Prelatists!' 'Smite the Erastian butchers!' 'Smite the Philistine hors.e.m.e.n!' 'Down with them!'

A stone or two had already whistled past our ears, and we had been forced in self-defence to draw our swords, when the tall minister whom we had already observed shoved his way through the crowd, and by dint of his lofty stature and commanding voice prevailed upon them to be silent.

'How say ye,' he asked, turning upon us, 'fight ye for Baal or for the Lord? He who is not with us is against us.'

'Which is the side of Baal, most reverend sir, and which of the Lord?' asked Sir Gervas Jerome. 'Methinks if you were to speak plain English instead of Hebrew we might come to an understanding sooner.'

'This is no time for light words,' the minister cried, with a flush of anger upon his face. 'If ye would keep your skins whole, tell me, are ye for the b.l.o.o.d.y usurper James Stuart, or are ye for his most Protestant Majesty King Monmouth?'

'What! He hath come to the t.i.tle already!' exclaimed Saxon. 'Know then that we are four unworthy vessels upon our way to offer our services to the Protestant cause.'

'He lies, good Master Pettigrue, he lies most foully,' shouted a burly fellow from the edge of the crowd. 'Who ever saw a good Protestant in such a Punchinello dress as yonder? Is not Amalekite written upon his raiment? Is he not attired as becometh the bridegroom of the harlot of Rome? Why then should we not smite him?'

'I thank you, my worthy friend,' said Sir Gervas, whose attire had moved this champion's wrath. 'If I were nearer I should give you some return for the notice which you have taken of me.'

'What proof have we that ye are not in the pay of the usurper, and on your way to oppress the faithful?' asked the Puritan divine.

'I tell you, man,' said Saxon impatiently, 'that we have travelled all the way from Hamps.h.i.+re to fight against James Stuart. We will ride with ye to Monmouth's camp, and what better proof could ye desire than that?'

'It may be that ye do but seek an opportunity of escaping from our bondage,' the minister observed, after conferring with one or two of the leading peasants. 'It is our opinion, therefore, that before coming with us ye must deliver unto us your swords, pistols, and other carnal weapons.'

'Nay, good sir, that cannot be,' our leader answered. 'A cavalier may not with honour surrender his blade or his liberty in the manner ye demand. Keep close to my bridle-arm, Clarke, and strike home at any rogue who lays hands on you.'

A hum of anger rose from the crowd, and a score of sticks and scythe-blades were raised against us, when the minister again interposed and silenced his noisy following.

'Did I hear aright?' he asked. 'Is your name Clarke?'

'It is,' I answered.

'Your Christian name?'

'Micah.'

'Living at?'

'Havant.'