"To my aunt"s, then--to my aunt"s, Harding," murmured Kate; "I would sooner die there than in any other place." And on Harding sped, without reply, while Leyton, sheathing his sword, which he had cast down, followed him, inquiring, "Is it far?"
"But a step, sir," answered the smuggler. "Pray, come with us.--This must be avenged."
"It shall," replied Leyton, sternly; "but I must stay here for a minute or two, till you can send somebody to me, to take my place, and let my men know where I am when they return."
Harding nodded his head, and then turned his eyes upon the face of the poor girl whom he bore in his arms, hurrying on without a moment"s pause, till he was lost to the young officer"s sight.
It is needless to describe the feelings of a high-minded and n.o.ble man like Leyton, when left alone to meditate over the horrible outrage which had been committed under his very eyes. He gave way to no burst of indignation, indeed, but with a frowning brow walked back upon the road, caught his horse without difficulty, and mounting, remained fixed near the spot where poor Kate had received her death-wound, like a soldier upon guard. In less than ten minutes, a lad ran up, saying, "Mr. Harding sent me, sir."
"Well, then, walk up and down here, my good boy," replied Leyton, "till some one comes to inquire for me. If it should be a servant, or a single soldier, send him down to the place which you came from, and wait where you are till a larger party of dragoons come up, when you must tell them the same--to go down to me there. If the party come first, wait for the servant and the soldier."
Having given these directions, he was turning away, but paused again to inquire his way to the place where Harding was; and then pointing to a bundle that lay upon the road, he said--"You had better bring that with you."
Following the boy"s direction, as soon as he issued out of the wood, Sir Henry Leyton turned through a little field to the left; and seeing a small farm-house at some distance before him, he leaped his horse over two fences to abridge the way. Then riding into the farm-yard, he sprang to the ground, looking round for some one to take his charger.
Several men of different ages were running about with eagerness and haste in their faces. Horses were being led forth from the stable; guns were in the hands of several; and one of them--a fine, tall, powerful young fellow--exclaimed, as soon as he saw Leyton--"We will catch them, sir--we will catch them! and by----they shall be hanged as high as Haman for hurting the poor dear girl. Here, take his honour"s horse, Bill."
"Is she still living?" asked Leyton.
"Oh dear, yes, sir!" cried the young man; "she seemed somewhat better for what mother gave her."
"Well, then," rejoined the young officer, "if you are going to search for these scoundrels, gallop up to the wood as fast as you can; you will find my servant and a trooper watching. They will give you information of which way the villains are gone. I will join you in a minute or two with a stronger force."
"Oh, sir, we shall do--we shall do," cried William Harris; "we will raise the whole county as we go, and will hunt them down like foxes.
Do they think that our sisters and our wives are to be ill-used and murdered by such sc.u.m as they are?" and at the same time he sprang upon his horse"s back. Leyton turned towards the house, but met the old farmer himself coming out with a great cavalry sword in his hand, and the b.u.t.t end of a pistol sticking out of each pocket. "Quick, quick! to your horses!" he cried, "they shall rue the day--they shall rue the day!--Ah, sir, go in," he continued, seeing Leyton; "she is telling my wife and Harding all about it; but I can"t stop to hear.--I will have that young Radford"s blood, if I have a soul to be saved!"
"Better take him alive, and hand him over to justice," said Leyton, going into the house.
"D----n him, I"ll kill him like a dog!" cried the farmer; and mounting somewhat less nimbly than his son, he put himself at the head of the whole party a.s.sembled, and rode fast away towards Hangley Wood.
In the meantime, Leyton entered the kitchen of the farm; but it was quite vacant. Voices, however, were heard speaking above, and he ventured to go up and enter the room. Three or four women were a.s.sembled there round good Mrs. Harris"s own bed, on which poor Kate Clare was stretched, with Harding on his knees beside her, and her hand in his, the hot tears of man"s bitterest agony, coursing each other down his bronzed and weather-beaten cheek.
"There, there!" said Mrs. Harris; "don"t take on so, Harding--you only keep down her spirits. She might do very well, if she would but take heart. You see she is better for the cordial stuff I gave her."
Harding made no reply; but Kate Clare faintly shook her head; and Leyton, after having gazed on the sad scene for a moment, with bitter grief and indignation in his heart, drew back, thinking that his presence would only be a restraint to Kate"s family and friends. He made a sign, however, to one of the women before he went, who followed him out of the room.
"I merely wish to tell you," he said, in a low voice, when the woman joined him at the top of the stairs, "that I am going back to the wood, to aid in the pursuit of these villains; for I can be of no use here, and may be there. If any of my people come, tell them where to find me; bid them follow me instantly, and stop every man on foot they see quitting the wood, till he gives an account of himself.--But had you not better send for a surgeon?"
"One is sent for, sir," replied the woman; "but I think she is not so bad as she was.--I"ll take care and tell your people. I do hope they will catch them, for this is _too_ bad."
Without more words Leyton went down, remounted his horse, and galloped back towards the edge of the wood. The news of what had happened, however, seemed to have spread over the country with the speed of lightning; for he saw four or five of the peasantry on horseback, already riding in the same direction across the fields. Two stout farmers joined him as he went, and both were already full of the story of poor Kate Clare. Rage and indignation were universal amongst the people; but as usual on such occasions, one proposed one plan, and another the other, so that by want of combination in their operations, all their resolution and eagerness were likely to be fruitlessly employed.
Leyton knew that it was of little use to argue on such points with undisciplined men; and his only trust was in the speedy arrival of the soldiers from Iden Green. When he reached the edge of the wood, however, with his two companions, they came upon farmer Harris"s party, now swelled to twelve or thirteen men; and at the same moment his own servant rode round, exclaiming, as soon as he saw his master, "They are still in the wood, sir, if they have not come out this way.
They dispersed so that we could not follow them on horseback, and we galloped out by different ways to watch."
"They haven"t come here," cried Farmer Harris, "or we should have seen them. So now we have them safe enough."
"Ride off towards Iden Green," said Leyton to the servant, "and direct Cornet Joyce to bring down his men at the gallop to the edge of the copse. Let him dismount twelve on the north side of the wood, and, with all the farm-servants and country people he can collect, sweep it down, while the rest of the mounted men advance, on a line, on either side.--Stay, I will write;" and tearing a leaf out of his pocket-book, he put down his orders in pencil.
The man had just galloped away, when the young farmer, William Harris, shouted, "There they go--there they go! After them!--after them! Tally ho!" and instantly set spurs to his horse. All the rest but Leyton followed at full speed; but he paused, and, directing his eyes along the edge of the wood, clearly saw, at the distance of somewhat more than half a mile, three men, who seemed to have issued forth from amongst the trees, running across the fields as fast as they could go.
It would seem that they had not been aware of the numbers collected to intercept them, till they had advanced too far to retreat; but they had got a good start; the country was difficult for any but well-trained horses; and darting on, they took their way towards Goudhurst, pa.s.sing within a hundred yards of the spot where the victim of their horrid barbarity lay upon the bed of death.
Taking the narrow paths, leaping the stiles and gates, they at first seemed to gain upon the ma.s.s of peasantry who followed them, though their pursuers were on horseback and they on foot. But, well knowing the country, the farmers spread out along the small bridle-roads; and, while the better mounted hors.e.m.e.n followed direct across the fields, the others prepared to cut off the ruffians on the right and left.
Gradually a semi-circle, enclosing them within its horns, was thus formed; and all chance of escape by flight was thus cut off.
In this dilemma, the three miscreants made straight towards a farm-house at which they occasionally received hospitality in their lawless expeditions, and which bears the name of "Smuggler Farm" to this day; but they knew not that all hearts had been raised against them by their late atrocities, and that the very tenant of the farm himself was now one of the foremost in pursuit. Rushing in, then, with no farther ceremony than casting the door open, they locked and barred it, just as some of the peasantry were closing in upon them; and then, hurrying to the kitchen, where the farmer"s wife, his sister, and a servant was collected, Ned Ramley, who was the first, exclaimed, "Have you no hide, good dame?"
"Hide!" replied the stout farmer"s wife, eyeing him askance--"not for such villains as you! Give me the spit, Madge; I"ve a great mind to run him through." Ned Ramley drew a pistol from his pocket; but at that moment the window was thrown up, the back door of the house was cast open, and half-a-dozen of the stout yeomanry rushed in. The smugglers saw that resistance would be vain; but still they resisted; and though, in the agitation of the moment, Ned Ramley"s pistol was discharged innocuously, he did not fail to aim it at the head of young William Harris, who was springing towards him. The stout farmer, however, instantly levelled him with the ground by a thundering blow upon the head; and the other two men, after a desperate struggle, were likewise taken and tied.
"Lucky for you it was me, and not my father, Master Ramley," said William Harris. "He"d have blown your brains out; but you"re only saved to be hanged, anyhow.--Ay, here he comes!--Stop, stop, old gentleman! he"s a prisoner; don"t you touch him.--Let the law have the job, as the gentleman said."
"Oh, you accursed villain--oh, you h.e.l.lish scoundrel," cried old Harris, kept back with difficulty by his son and the rest. "You were one of the foremost of them. But where is the greatest villain of them all?--where"s that limb of the devil, young Radford?--I will have him!
Let me go, Will--I will have him, I say!"
Ned Ramley laughed aloud: "You wont, though," he answered, bitterly; "he"s been gone this half hour, and will be at the sea, and over the sea, before you can catch him.--You may do with me what you like, but he"s safe enough."
"Some one ride off and tell the officer what he says!" cried the farmer. But when the intelligence was conveyed to Sir Henry Leyton, he was already aware that some of the men must have made their escape un.o.bserved; for his servant had met Cornet Joyce and the party of dragoons by the way, and with the aid of a number of farm servants from Iden Green and its neighbourhood, the wood had been searched with such strictness, that the pheasants, which were at that time numerous there, had flown out in clouds, as if a battue had been going on. He mistrusted Ned Ramley"s information, however; knowing that the hardened villain would find a sort of pride in misleading the pursuers of young Radford, even though taken himself. Riding quickly across to the farm, then, together with Mowle and the Cornet, he interrogated the men separately, but found they were all in the same story, from which they varied not in the least--that Richard Radford had crept out by the hedges near the wood, and had gone first to a place where a horse was in waiting for him, and thence would make straight to the sea-side, where a boat was already prepared. Instant measures to prevent him from executing this plan now became necessary; and Leyton directed the Cornet to hasten away as fast as possible in pursuit, sending information from Woodchurch to every point of the coast where the offender was likely to pa.s.s, spreading out his men so as to cover all the roads to the sea, and only leaving at the farm a sufficient guard to secure the prisoners.
On hearing the latter part of this order, however, Farmer Harris exclaimed, "No, no, sir; no need of that. We"ve taken them, and we"ll keep them safe enough. I"ll see these fellows into prison myself--ay, and hanged too, please G.o.d! and we"ll guard them sure, don"t you be afraid."
Leyton looked to Mowle, saying, "I must abide by your decision, Mr.
Mowle." But the officer answered: "Oh, you may trust them, sir, quite safely, after all I hear has happened. But I think, Mr. Harris, you had better have just a few men to help you. You"ve got no place to keep them here; and they must be taken before a magistrate first, before they can be committed."
"Oh, we"ll keep them safe enough," replied the farmer. "We"ll put them in Goudhurst church, till we can send them off, and, in the meantime, I"ll have them up before Squire Broughton. My son"s a constable, so they are in proper hands."
"Very well," answered Leyton; "in this case I have no right to interfere; but, of course, you are responsible for their safe custody."
"I say, Mowle," cried Ned Ramley, in his usual daring manner, "bid them give me something to drink, for I"m devilish thirsty; and I"ll give you some information, if you will."
Mowle obtained some beer for him, and then demanded, "Well, what is it, Ned?"
"Why, only this," said Ned Ramley, after they had held the beer to his lips, and he had taken a deep draught--"you will have your brains blown out, before ten days are over."
"I am not afraid," replied Mowle, laughing.
"That"s right," answered Ned Ramley. "But it will happen; for fifty of us have sworn it. We have had our revenge of your spy, Harding; and we have only you to settle with now."
"Harding!" cried Mowle. "He"s no spy of mine.--It was not he that peached, you young scoundrel; it was one of those whom you trusted more than him."
"Ah, well," answered Ned Ramley, indifferently; "then he"ll have a sore heart to-night, that he didn"t work for. But you"ll have your turn yet, Mr. Mowle, so look that you make good use of your brains, for they wont be long in your skull."
"You are a hardened villain," said Sir Henry Leyton. "You had better march them off as fast as you can, my good friends; take them before a magistrate; and above all things, get them to prison ere nightfall, or we may have another rescue."
"No fear, no fear!" answered Farmer Harris. "To rescue a smuggler is one thing--I never liked to see them taken myself--but bloodthirsty villains like these, that would ill use a poor, dear, good girl, and murder her in cold blood,--why, there is not a man in the county would not help to hang them. But I wish, sir, you would go yourself, and see and stop that other great villain. If he isn"t hanged too, I don"t think I shall ever rest in my bed again."
"I will do my best, depend upon it," replied Leyton; "but I must first, Mr. Harris, go to your house, and see the state of that poor girl. I have known her since she was a child, and feel for her almost as if she were a sister."
"Thank you, sir--thank you!" cried old Harris, shaking him by the hand. "There, boys," he continued, dashing away the tears from his eyes--"make a guard, and take these blackguards off in the middle of you. We"ll have them up to Squire Broughton"s at once; and then I must go back, too."