"I am hoping, sir, the cutter will catch Miles Gaffin"s craft. There is not a bigger villain to be found than he is in these parts."
"What has he done to gain such a character?" asked Headland.
"That"s just what no one can say exactly," answered Ned, "still it"s pretty well known that there is nothing he would not dare to do if he chose to do it. He says he is one thing, and we know he is another.
When he first came to Hurlston, he used to call himself a miller, and there is not a bolder seaman to be found anywhere. He does not now, however, pretend that he isn"t. Many is the cargo of smuggled goods he has run on this coast, and yet he always manages to keep out of the clutches of the revenue officers. There are not a few decent lads he has got to go aboard his craft, and they have either lost their lives, or turned out such ruffians that they have been a sorrow and disgrace to their families. He is more than suspected of having been a pirate, or something of that sort, in foreign parts. And they say when he first came to Hurlston, he seemed to know this coast as well as if he had been born and bred here, though he told people that chance brought him to the place, and that he had never set eyes on it before."
"At all events, if common report speaks true, Hurlston will be well rid of him, if he does not venture back. I hope that the law will, at all events, be able to lay hands on the villain should it be proved that he kidnapped your friend Jacob," observed Headland.
"If the cutter catches his craft, Jacob may be saved. I am more than afraid that Gaffin will knock him on the head, and heave him overboard with a shot to his feet, if he finds that he is hard-pressed, and then he will deny ever having had the poor fellow on board."
"I trust, bad as he is, that he will not be guilty of such an act," said Headland, though, at the same time, he feared, from what he had heard of Gaffin, that he would not scruple to commit that or any other dark deed to serve his purpose.
Headland was thankful when at length the boat glided into the Tex, and ran alongside the quay.
Several people were standing there. The news of what had occurred had spread about the village. Headland, anxious to lose no time, asked if any boy would be willing to run on to the Texford Arms to order his horse.
"Say Captain Headland"s horse, the gentleman who accompanied Mr Harry Castleton," he said.
"Captain Headland!" said a person standing near, stepping up to him.
"May I venture to ask where you come from?"
"I shall be happy to reply when I know to whom I speak," said Headland, not quite liking the man"s tone of voice.
"I am Miles Gaffin, the miller of Hurlston. My good neighbours here have been making pretty free with my name, and accusing me of carrying off one of their number on board a lugger, which I understand you have been chasing, sir, when I have had nothing to do with the matter, having been miles away at the time the occurrence is said to have taken place."
"I cannot say that I am unacquainted with your name, for I have just heard it mentioned, and I shall be glad to hear that you can give me the a.s.surance that the young man has not been carried away," said Headland.
"I know nothing about the matter," answered Gaffin, "so I cannot tell whether the story I have heard is true or not. You, at all events, see, sir, that I am not on board the lugger, which I hear left the coast some hours ago. But I must again beg your pardon, and ask you to answer the question I put when I first had the honour of addressing you."
"I am a commander in his Majesty"s service, and you must rest satisfied with that answer, sir," said Headland, not feeling disposed to be more communicative to his suspicious questioner.
"Were you ever in the Indian seas in your younger days, sir? You will believe me that it is not idle curiosity that makes me put the question," said Gaffin, in the blandest tone he could a.s.sume.
"You are right in your supposition," said Headland, his own curiosity somewhat excited by the question.
"And you were known as Jack Headland when a boy."
"I was."
"And you took that name from another to whom it properly belonged."
"I did. Can you tell me anything of him?" said Headland, eagerly.
"I wish to ask that question of you, sir," replied Gaffin. "He was an old shipmate of mine, and being struck by hearing your name, I thought there might be some connection. I have long lost sight of him, and should have been glad to hear that he was alive and well."
"He lost his life, I have too much reason to believe, in the Indian seas many years ago," said Headland.
"Ah, poor fellow, I am sorry to hear that. Good evening to you, Captain Headland," and Miles Gaffin, turning away, was soon lost to sight in the darkness.
Captain Headland, accompanied by one of the _Nancy"s_ crew, hastened on till he met his horse, and mounting rode back to Downside. He found the ladies somewhat anxious at his and his friend"s long absence. Julia had sent a messenger on foot home to say that they were delayed, and hoped to return in the evening. Julia and the ladies made many inquiries for Harry, while May stood by, showing, by her looks, even still greater anxiety about him. Headland a.s.sured them that he would run no risk, though he probably would not be back till the following day.
Headland, for Julia"s sake, wished to set off at once for Texford, but Miss Jane had supper prepared, and insisted on his taking some before starting. Whether or not they suspected that he would become their relation, they treated him as if he were one already, and completely won his heart.
"What dear, amiable ladies your cousins are!" he observed, as he rode on with Julia. "I have never had the happiness of meeting any one like them."
"Indeed they are," said Julia; "I wish they were more appreciated at home. I have till lately been prejudiced against them. It has been an advantage for that sweet girl to have been brought up by them. Though she would have been equally lovely otherwise, yet she might not have had the charms of mind which she possesses. I am not surprised that Harry should have fallen in love with her, though I fear he will have a severe trial to go through when our father hears of his engagement. Though I do not forget that we are bound to obey our parents, yet I could not counsel him to give her up."
"If she is all Harry believes her to be, I hope he may surmount that difficulty," said Headland. "Though I have no parents to obey, I feel that he would be wrong to marry against his parents" wishes."
"Then, how ought I to act should Sir Ralph refuse to allow us to marry,"
asked Julia in a voice which showed her agitation.
"I dare not advise you to disobey your father," answered Headland. "But believe me, dearest Julia, whatever opposition he may make, and whatever may be his conduct towards me, I will remain faithful."
"Should he forbid me to marry, to no one else will I give my hand," said Julia, sorrowfully.
Neither Julia nor Headland uttered a vow or protestation; such they both felt was not required, so perfect was the confidence they had in each other"s love.
"I spoke this," said Julia, "because Harry warned me to expect opposition; and yet I trust, when our father knows you as I do, and that my happiness depends on becoming your wife, he will not withhold his consent."
"I wish that I could feel as little anxiety about Harry as I do about myself, and yet if our father can be induced to see May, I think she will do more to soften his heart than all Harry or I can plead in her favour. During the few hours I spent in her company, she completely won mine."
As they rode up to the house, two servants, who had evidently been on the watch for them, hastened down the steps to take their horses.
Headland helped Julia to dismount, and led her into the hall.
Lady Castleton hurried out of the drawing-room to meet them.
"Sir Ralph arrived this afternoon. We have been very anxious about you; we could not understand your message. Where is Harry? What has happened, Captain Headland?"
Headland explained that a young Hurlston fisherman had been kidnapped by a band of smugglers, that he and Harry, indignant at the outrage, had set off in the hopes of recovering him, and that while he had returned on sh.o.r.e, Harry had continued the chase on board the cutter.
"Harry was scarcely called upon to go through so much risk and inconvenience for the sake of a stranger," observed Lady Castleton.
"His father was much disappointed at not seeing him on his arrival."
Julia pleaded that Harry had done what he thought to be right, and then went in to see her father, who was reclining on the sofa, with his fingers between the pages of a book closed in his hand. He received her even more coldly than usual; he never exhibited much warmth of feeling even to her. She had again to recount what had happened, and he expressed the utmost surprise at Harry"s acting in so extraordinary a manner. He did not allude to her ride home with Captain Headland, though she every moment thought he would speak of it. She excused herself for leaving him as soon as possible on the plea that she must change her riding-habit.
When Headland at last entered the drawing-room, the baronet received him with marked coldness, and made no allusion to his having been absent.
The young captain could not help feeling that Sir Ralph did not regard him with a favourable eye.
Julia came down only for a few minutes before the usual hour for retiring for the night had arrived, and Headland had no opportunity of speaking to her.
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
NO NEWS OF THE CUTTER.
When Sir Ralph entered the breakfast-room next morning, Headland could not help remarking the formal politeness with which he greeted him.