With Marlborough to Malplaquet.
by Herbert Strang and Richard Stead.
NOTE
The object of this series is to encourage a taste for history among boys and girls up to thirteen or fourteen years of age. An attempt has been made to bring home to the young reader the princ.i.p.al events and movements of the periods covered by the several volumes.
If in these little stories historical fact treads somewhat closely upon the heels of fiction, the authors would plead the excellence of their intentions and the limitations of their s.p.a.ce.
CHAPTER I
A BOUT AT SINGLESTICK
"Get thee down, laddie, I tell thee."
This injunction, given for the third time, and in a broad north-country dialect, came from the guard of the York and Newcastle coach, a strange new thing in England. A wonderful vehicle the York and Newcastle coach, covering the eighty-six long miles between the two towns in the s.p.a.ce of two-and-thirty hours, and as yet an object of delight, and almost of awe, to the rustics of the villages and small towns on that portion of the Great North Road.
It was the darkening of a stinging day in the latter part of December, in the year 1701--it wanted but forty-eight hours to Christmas Eve--when the coach pulled up at the princ.i.p.al inn of the then quiet little country town of Darlington, a place which roused itself from its general sleepiness only on market and fair days, or now, since the mail-coach had begun to run, on the arrival or departure of the marvellous conveyance, whose rattle over the cobble-stones drew every inhabitant of the main street to the door.
No reply coming from the boy on the roof, the guard went on, "Eh, but the lad must be frozen stark," and swinging himself up to the top of the coach, he seized the dilatory pa.s.senger by the arm, saying, "Now, my hearty, come your ways down; we gang na further to-day. Ye are as stiff as a frozen poker."
"And no wonder," came a voice from below; ""tis not a day fit for man or dog to be out a minute longer than necessary. Bring the bairn in, Charley." The invitation came from a kindly and portly dame, the hostess, who had come to the door to welcome such pa.s.sengers as might be disposed to put up for the night at the inn.
"I don"t think I can stir," the boy replied; "I"m about frozen."
He spoke in low tones and as if but half awake. He was, in fact, just dropping into a doze.
"Here, mates, catch hold," the guard cried, and without more ado the lad was lowered down to the little group of loafers who had come to see the sight and to pick up any stray penny that might be available.
A minute later George Fairburn was rapidly thawing before the rousing fire in the inn"s best parlour, and was gulping down the cup of hot mulled ale the good-natured landlady had put into his trembling hands.
"I"m all right, ma"am, now, and I"ll go. Thank you and good night, ma"am."
"Go, Fairburn?" cried another boy of about his own age, who sat comfortably in the arm-chair by the cosy chimney corner. "Surely you are not going to turn out again this bitter night?"
"Indeed I am," was the somewhat ungracious reply; "my father is not a rich man, and I"m not going to put him to needless expense."
The other boy blushed, but the next moment his face resumed its usual pallor. He was tall for his fourteen years, but evidently not particularly strong. He had, in truth, somewhat of a bookish look, and his rounded shoulders already told of much poring over a student"s tasks. Fairburn, on the other hand, though less tall, carried in his face and form all the evidence of robust good health.
"I"ve relatives somewhere in Darlington, Blackett," George explained, in a rather pleasanter tone, as if ashamed of his former surly speech, "and I"m going to hunt them up."
"Look here, Fairburn," said the other, springing from his seat and placing a patronizing hand on his companion"s shoulder, "just make yourself comfortable here with me for the night, and I"ll settle the bill for both of us in the morning." He spoke rather grandly, jingling the coins in his pocket the while.
"I can settle my own bills, thank you," answered Fairburn, a proud hot flush overspreading his face. And, seizing his little bag, the lad strode from the room and out of the inn, shivering as the chill northeasterly breeze caught him in the now dark and almost deserted street.
"Confound the fellow with his purse-proud patronage!" he muttered as he hurried along.
"Bless me, why is he so touchy?" Blackett was asking himself at the same moment. "We seem fated to quarrel, Fairburn"s family and ours.
Whose is the pride now, I wonder! Fairburn thinks a deal of his independence, as he calls it; I should call it simply pride, myself.
But I might have known that he wouldn"t accept my offer after his refusal of an inside place with me this morning, and after riding all those miles from York to-day in the bitter cold. Heigh-ho, the quarrel won"t be of my seeking anyhow."
These two lads were both sons of colliery owners, and both pupils of the ancient school of St. Peter of York, the most notable foundation north of the Humber. But there the likeness ended. Matthew Blackett"s father was a rich man and descended from generations of rich men. He owned a large colliery and employed many men and not a few ships. He was, moreover, a county magnate, and held his head high on Tyneside.
In politics he was a strong supporter of the Tory party, and had never been easy under the rule of Dutch William. He was proud and somewhat arrogant, yet not wanting his good points. George Fairburn, on the other hand, was the son of a much smaller man, of one, in truth, who had by his energy and thrift become the proprietor of a small pit, of which he himself acted as manager. The elder Fairburn was of a st.u.r.dy independent character, his independence, however, sometimes a.s.serting itself at the expense of his manners; that at least was the way Mr.
Blackett put it. Fairburn had been thrown much in his boyhood among the Quakers, of which new sect there were several little groups in the northern counties. He was a firm Whig, and as firm a hater of the exiled James II. He had made some sacrifice to send his boy to a good school, being a great believer in education, at a time when men of his cla.s.s were little disposed to set much store by book learning.
After breakfast by candlelight next morning the pa.s.sengers for the coach a.s.sembled at the door of the inn. Blackett was already comfortably seated among his many and ample rugs and wraps when George Fairburn appeared, accompanied by a woman who made an odd figure in an ancient cloak many sizes too big for her, covering her from head to foot. It had, in fact, originally been a soldier"s cloak, and had seen much hard service in the continental campaigns under William III. The good dame was very demonstrative in her affection, and kissed George again and again on both cheeks, with good sounding smacks, ere she would let him mount to the roof of the coach. Then she stood by the window and talked volubly in a rich northern brogue till the vehicle started, and even after, for George could see her gesticulations when he was far out of earshot.
"It is bitter cold, bairn," she had said for the third or fourth time, "and I doubt thou wilt be more dead than alive when thy father sees thee at Newcastle. But don"t forget that pasty; "tis good, for I made it myself. And there"s the sup of summat comforting in the little bottle; don"t forget that."
"Good-bye, aunt, and thank you over and over again," George called from the top of the coach. "Don"t stay any longer in the freezing cold. I"m all right."
But the talkative and kindly old dame would not budge, and Blackett could not help smiling quietly in his corner. "What a curious old rustic!" he said to himself, "and she"s the aunt, it appears." As for George himself, he was thinking much the same thing. "A good soul," he murmured to himself, "but, oh, so countrified!"
Fairburn"s limbs were pretty stiff by the time the grand old cathedral and the castle of Durham standing proudly on their cliff above the river came in sight. There was an unwonted stir in the streets of the picturesque little city. My lord the bishop with a very great train was coming for the Christmas high services.
"Our bishop is a prince," explained the guard, who had had not a little talk with George on the way. "There are squires and baronets and lords in his train, and as for his servants and horses, why--" the good fellow spread out his hands in his sheer inability to describe the magnificence of the bishops of Durham.
"Yes," Fairburn made answer, "and I"ve heard or read that when a new bishop first comes to the see he is met at Croft bridge by all the big men of the county, who do homage to him as if he were a king."
The guard stared at a youngster, an outside and therefore a poor pa.s.senger too, who appeared so well informed, and then applied himself vigorously to his horn.
The afternoon was fast waning when the coach brought to its pa.s.sengers the first glimpse of the blackened old fortress of Newcastle and the lantern tower of St. Nicholas. Fairburn, almost as helpless as on the previous afternoon, was speedily lifted down from his lofty perch by the strong arms of his father.
"Ah, my dear lad," the elder cried as he hugged George to his breast, "the mother has a store of good things ready for her bairn and for Christmas. And here is old Dapper ready to jog back with us and to his own Christmas Eve supper. How do you do, sir?"
These last words were addressed to a gentleman who had just driven up in a well-appointed family equipage.
"I hope I see young Mr. Blackett well," Fairburn continued.
"Ah! "tis you, Mr. Fairburn," said the great man condescendingly.
"This is your boy? Looks a trifle cold, don"t you think? "Tis bitter weather for travelling outside."
And with the curtest possible nod to the father, and no recognition whatever of the son, Mr. Blackett linked his arm in Matthew"s and strode away to his carriage.
George flushed, his father looked annoyed; then his face cleared.
"Come, lad," he said, "let us get along home."
Thursday, Christmas Day, and the Friday following pa.s.sed quietly but happily in the little Fairburn family. The father was in excellent spirits, and he had much to tell his son of the prosperity that was at last coming. Orders were being booked faster than the modest staff of the colliery could execute them. Best of all, Fairburn had secured several important contracts with London merchants; this, too, against the compet.i.tion of the great Blackett pit.
"The truth is," the elder explained, "Mr. Blackett is too big a man, and too easy-going to attend to his business as he should. But I suppose he"s rich enough and can afford to be a trifle slack."
"Whereas my dad has energy and to spare," George put in with a smile, "and by that energy is taking the business out of the hands of the bigger man. The Blacketts won"t be exactly pleased with us, eh?"