Yet the steed of the youth, who had so unceremoniously joined Lady Cecil"s funeral, was cropping the withered gra.s.s from the churchyard graves, while his master, apparently unconscious of the deepening night, leaned against one of the richly ornamented stone slabs that marked the entrance to the vault.
Suddenly the clatter of horses" hoofs sounded on the crisp road, the cavalier involuntarily placed his hand on his sword, and his horse lifted his head from the earth, bent back his ears, and whinnied in the low and peculiar tone that serves to intimate the approach of strangers.
The travellers (for there were two) halted at the churchyard gate.
"What ho there!" exclaimed the foremost--"you, sir, who are pondering in graveyards at this hour, canst tell me if Lady Cecil"s funeral took place this morning?"
"Her ladyship was buried this evening," replied the other, at the same time fairly drawing his sword out of its scabbard, though the movement was concealed by his cloak.
"They waited then?"
"They did, for one whose presence was not needed."
"And pray, how know you that? or knowing, think you it wisdom, Sir Dolorous, to give forth such knowledge, when it might be him they tarried for who questioneth?"
"It is because I know you, Sir Willmott Burrell, that I am so free of speech," replied the youth, vaulting into his saddle; "and I repeat it, your presence was not needed. The lady, as you truly know, loved you not while living; it was well, therefore, that you profaned not her burial by a show of false grief."
"Here"s a ruffler!" exclaimed the other, turning to his follower. "And pray who are you?"
"You shall know that, good sir, when you least desire it," answered he of the black cloak, reining up his horse, that pawed and pranced impatiently: he then loosened the bridle, and would have crossed Burrell to pa.s.s into the highway; but the other shouted to his a.s.sociate, "Hold, stop him, Robin! stop him in the name of the Lord! "tis doubtless one of the fellows who have a.s.sailed his Highness"s life--a leveller--a leveller! a friend of Miles Syndercomb, or some such ruffian, who is tarrying in this remote part of the island for some opportunity of escape. If you are an innocent man, you will remain; if guilty, this shall be my warrant."
He attempted to pull forth a pistol from his belt, but, before his purpose could be accomplished, the point of his adversary"s rapier rested on his throat, which, at the same instant, was grasped with more strength than so slight a person could be supposed to possess. Burrell cried to his comrade for help, but he was already out of hearing, having set spurs to his horse the moment he had seen the a.s.sault; he then entreated for quarter in an altered and humbled tone.
"I am neither a robber nor a murderer," replied the youth; "but, not having pistols, I hold my own safety of too much value to relax my grasp, till you pledge your honour not to attack me but with the same weapon I can use in my defence."
Burrell pledged his word "as a Christian and a soldier:" the stranger withdrew his sword.
"And now," said he, fixing himself firmly in his seat, and rolling his cloak around his left arm, "if you wish for honourable combat, I am at your service; if not, sir, I take my way, and you can proceed on yours."
He drew up to his full height, and awaited Burrell"s answer, who sat as if undetermined what course to pursue. He did not long hesitate; the villain"s ready friend--treachery--was at his elbow; in an instant the pistol was presented to the head of his confiding antagonist, who, though unprepared for such an act, bent forward previous to the effort of raising himself in the saddle to give more strength to his good steel. At the very instant that he bowed himself the ruffian fired! The ball pa.s.sed over him--he swayed in his saddle; the next moment, reining up his horse, he prepared to punish such dastardly conduct as it deserved; but, as worthless purposes are sometimes accomplished by worthy instruments, the fleet steed that Burrell rode was far on its way towards Minster, its track marked by fire-sparks, which glittered in the thickening darkness.
The youth remained on the same spot until the sound of the horse"s hoofs were lost in the distance, and then, setting spurs to his own gallant grey, proceeded on his course.
CHAPTER III.
"Now is the time when rakes their revels keep; Kindlers of riot, enemies of sleep."
GAY.
"A brewer may be like a fox or a cub, And teach a lecture out of a tub, And give the wicked world a rub, Which n.o.body can deny.
A brewer may be as bold as Hector, When he had drunk his cup of nectar; And a brewer may be a Lord Protector, Which n.o.body can deny.
But here remains the strangest thing, How this brewer about his liquor did bring To be an Emperor or King, Which n.o.body can deny.
Then push the brewer"s liquor about, And loudly let each true man shout-- Shout--"
"Shout not, I pray you, but rather keep silence," exclaimed an old woman, cautiously opening the door of a room in which the revellers were a.s.sembled, and thus interrupting their rude, but animated harmony; "shout not: you may hear a horse"s tramp without; and Crisp grumbles so hard, that sure I am "tis no friend"s footstep."
"Why, mother," cried one of the company, winking on the rest, "you say it was a horse you heard?"
"Well! and I say so still, good Master Roupall."
"Sure you do not make friends of horses?"
"Better make them of horses than of a.s.ses," replied the crone, bitterly; and the laugh was raised against Roupall, who, as with all jesters, could ill brook the jest that was at his own expense.
"I hear no tramp, and see no reason why you should interrupt us thus with your hooting, you ill-favoured owl," he exclaimed fiercely.
"Hush!" she replied, placing her finger on her lip, while the little terrier that stood at her feet, as if comprehending the signal, crept stealthily to the door, and laying his nose on the floor, drew in his breath; and then erecting his ears, and stiffening his short tail, uttered a low determined growl.
"There are strangers, and near us too," observed an older man, who had hitherto remained silent; "there is little doubt of their being unfriendly: we had therefore better, seeing it would be imprudent to fight, retreat."
"Retreat! and why, I wonder?" inquired Roupall, the most reckless and daring of the set; and whose efforts were invariably directed towards meriting the soubriquet of "Jack the Rover," by which he was usually designated among his a.s.sociates; "what care we, whether they be friends or foes! let them enter. Old Noll has too much to do abroad, to heed a few noisy troopers in an obscure hostelry in the Isle of Shepey."
"You are always heedless," observed the other; "and would sell your soul for an hour"s mirth."
"My soul thanks you for the compliment, truly, Master Grimstone, and my body would repay you for it, if there was time, which, I take it, there lacks just now, for it is past eleven. Observe, gentlemen, Jack Roupall retreats not--he only retires." As he spoke, he pushed from a corner of the apartment, a huge settle of black oak, that apparently required the strength of six men to displace, but which the trooper handled as easily as if it had been a child"s cradle. He then slid aside a panel, that fitted most accurately into the wall, of which it appeared a part; and in a few moments the party, consisting of some five or six, had entered the aperture, carrying with them the remnants of their feast, at the particular request of the old woman, who exhibited great alarm lest any symptom of revelling should remain. The last had hardly made good his retreat, when a loud knock at the door confirmed the dame in her apprehensions.
"In the devil"s name!" she growled, "how am I to shove this mountain into its place? One of you must remain here; I might as well attempt to throw Blackburn cliff into the sea."
"I"ll stay then, if you"ll wait a minute," replied Roupall; "I defy the devil and all his works; and old Noll himself, the worst of them:--so here goes."
Another and a louder noise testified the traveller"s impatience; but the summons was repeated a third time before the settle was replaced, and the room restored to its usually desolate and inhospitable appearance.
Roupall ascended a narrow ladder, that led to the loft of the cottage-like dwelling, carrying with him a pack resembling those used by itinerant venders of goods; and Mother Hays (for such was her cognomen) holding the flickering candle in one hand, unfastened the door with the other, while Crisp crouched and snarled at her feet.
"You could not have been all asleep, dame," said the stranger, as he threw off his horseman"s cloak, and hung his rapier on the back of the nearest seat, "for I distinctly saw lights. Is your son within?"
"No, marry, good sir; he is far away, in London, with his master, Sir Willmott Burrell, who was looked for home to-day, but came not, as I hear from some neighbours, belonging to East Church and Warden, who were at Lady Cecil"s funeral."
"Do you expect me to believe there is no one in the house but yourself?"
"One other kind gentleman, a pedlar-man, a simple body, who lies above; he"s weary travelling, and sleeps soundly."
The stranger took off his hat; and as he shook his head, throwing completely back the hair that had in some degree overshadowed his face, the old woman started, and an undefined expression of astonishment and doubt burst from her lips. The gentleman either did not, or appeared not to notice the effect he produced; but carefully drew from his bosom a small book or tablet, and read in it for some minutes with much attention, turning over and over the one or two leaves upon which his eyes were fixed.
"And are you sure, good woman, that no other persons are in your house save this same pedlar?" he inquired, now fixing his gaze steadily on the withered countenance of Mother Hays.
"Alack! yes, sir, few travellers come to the lone widow"s door, and it"s an out o" the way place: wouldn"t your honour like some supper, or a stoop of wine, or, mayhap, a gla.s.s of brandy?--it is useful these raw nights; or a rasher and eggs?"
"Are you quite certain there is no other in the house, and that your son is really not returned?" he again inquired, heedless of her invitation.
"Why should I deceive your honour?--am I not old, and would you that I should so sin against the Lord?"
"You were not always thus piously given," replied the youth, smiling.
"Know you aught of this token?" and he united his hands after a particular fashion: "heard you never the words----" and he whispered a short sentence into her ear: upon which she dropped a reverential courtesy, and, without reply, ascended, as quickly as her age and infirmities permitted, the ladder that led to Roupall"s place of retreat. Ere she returned, however, accompanied by the trooper, another person had entered the dwelling. It was no other than her son Robin, for whom the gentleman had first inquired, and they were both engaged in such deep and earnest conversation, that neither noticed the addition to the party, until the old woman had thrown her arms around her son"s neck, so as almost to stifle him with her caresses, seeming to lose all sense of the stranger"s presence in the fulness of joy at the youth"s return.