CHAPTER XXXVI.
A FIGHTING BOUT.
After that mighty crash, every body with any sense left in its head wenthome. There was more to talk about than Perlycross had come across inhalf a century. And the worst of it was, that every blessed man had hisown troubles first to attend to; which is no fun at all, though hisneighbour's are so pleasant. The Fair, in the covered market-place, hadlong been a dreary concern, contending vainly against the stronger charmof the wrestling booth, and still more vainly against the furiousweather. Even the biggest and best fed flares--and they were quite asbrisk in those days as they are now--gifted though they might be withrage and vigour, lost all self-control, and dashed in yellow forks, herethere and everywhere, singeing sometimes their own author's whiskers.Like a man who lives too fast, they killed themselves; and the poorCheap-Jacks, the Universal Oracles, the Benevolent Bounty-men, chuckingguineas right and left, the Master of Cupid's bower, who supplied everylass with a lord, and every lad with a lady having a lapful of a hundredthousand pounds--sadly they all strapped up, and lit their pipes, andshivered at that terrible tramp before them, cursing the weather, andtheir wives, and even the hallowed village of Perlycross.
Though the coaches had forsaken this ancient track from Exeter toLondon, and followed the broader turnpike roads, there still used to beevery now and then a string of packhorses, or an old stage-waggon, notafraid of hills and making no fuss about time, but straggling at leisurethrough the pristine thoroughfares, thwarted less with toll-bars.
Notably, old Hill's _God-be-with-us_ van left Exeter on Tuesdays, withthe goodwill of three horses, some few hours in the afternoon, and mightbe trusted to appear at Perlycross according to the weather andcondition of the roads. What more comfortable course of travel couldthere be for any one who understood it, and enjoyed sound sleep, and agood glass of ale at intervals, with room enough to dine inside if hethought fit, than the _God-be-with-us_ van afforded? For old Hill wasalways in charge of it himself, and expected no more than a penny amile, and perhaps the power to drink the good health of any peacefulsubject of the King, who might be inclined to come along with him, andlisten to his moving tales. The horses were fat, and they rested atnight, and took it easily in the daytime; and the leader had threelittle bells on his neck, looking, when you sat behind him, like a pairof scales; and without them he always declined to take a step, and thewheelers backed him up in that denial. For a man not bound to anydomineering hour, or even to a self-important day, the broad-wheeledwaggon belonging to old Hill--"Old-as-the-Hills" some flippant younkerscalled him--was as good an engine as need be, for crossing of thecountry, when it wanted to be crossed, and halting at any town ofhospitable turn.
That same Shrove-Tuesday,--and it is well to mark the day, becauseMaster Hill was so superior to dates--this man who asserted the dignityof our race, by not allowing matter to disturb him, was coming down hillwith his heavy drag on, in a road that was soft from the goodness of thesoil; when a man with two legs made of better stuff than ours, eithercame out of a gate across the van, or else fairly walked it down bysuperior speed behind. "Ship ahoy!" he shouted; and old Hill was wideawake, for he had two or three barrels that would keep rolling into thesmall of his back--as he called it, with his usual oblivion ofchronology--and so he was enabled to discern this man, and begin at hisleisure to consider him.
If the man had shouted again, or shown any other symptom of small hurry,the driver--or properly speaking the drifter, for the horses did theirown driving--would have felt some disappointment in him, as an inferiorfellow-creature. But the man on foot, or at least on stumps, was in nomore hurry than old Hill himself, and steadfastly trudged to the bottomof the hill, looking only at the horses--a very fine sign.
The land being Devon, it is needless to say that there was noinconsistency about it. Wherever one hill ends, there another begins,with just room enough between them for a horse to spread his legs, andshake himself with self-approbation. And he is pretty sure to find acrystal brook, purling across the road, and twinkling bright temptationto him.
"Hook up skid, and then 'e can jump in;" said old Hill in the hollowwhere the horses backed, and he knew by the clank that it had been done,and then by a rattle on the floor behind him, that the stranger hadembarked by the chains at the rear. After about a mile or so of soft lowwhistling, in which he excelled all Carriers, old Hill turned round witha pleasant grin, for there was a great deal of good about him.
"Going far?" He asked, as an opening of politeness, rather than ofcuriosity.
"Zort of a place, called Perlycrass;" replied the wooden-leg'd man, whowas sitting on a barrel. Manifestly an ancient sailor, weather-beaten,and taciturn, the residue of a strong and handsome man.
The whole of this had been as nearly to the Carrier's liking, as thewords and deeds of any man can be to any other's. Therefore beforeanother mile had been travelled, old Hill turned round again, with agrin still sweeter.
"Pancake day, bain't it?" was his very kind enquiry.
"B'lieve it be;" replied the other, in the best and truest Britishstyle. After this no more was lacking to secure old Hill's regard thanthe very thing the sailor did. There was a little flap of canvas, like aloophole in the tilt, fitted for the use of chawers, and the cleanlinessof the floor. Timberlegs after using this, with much deliberation andgreat skill, made his way forward, and in deep silence poked old Hillwith his open tobacco-box. If it were not silver, it was quite as goodto look at, and as bright as if it held the freedom of the City; thetobacco, moreover, was of goodly reek, and a promise of inspiration suchas never flows through Custom-house.
"Thank 'e, I'll have a blade bumbai. Will 'e zit upon that rope ofonions?" The sailor shook his head; for the rim of a barrel, though aptto cut, cuts evenly like a good schoolmaster.
"'Long of Nelson?" Master Hill enquired, pointing to the places wherethe feet were now of deputy. The old Tar nodded; and then with thatsensitive love of accuracy which marks the Tar, growled out, "Leastways,wan of them."
"And what come to t'other wan?" Master Hill was capable of really largehuman interest.
"Had 'un off, to square the spars, and for zake of vamily." He had nodesire to pursue the subject, and closed it by a big squirt through theflap.
Old Hill nodded with manly approbation. Plymouth was his birthplace; andhe knew that other sons of Nelson had done this; for it balanced theirbodies, and composed their minds with another five shillings a week forlife, and the sale of the leg covered all expenses.
"You'm a very ingenious man;" he glanced as he spoke, at the sailor'sjury-rig; "I'll war'n no doctor could a' vitted 'e up, like thiccy."
"Vitted 'un myself with double swivel. Can make four knots an hour now.They doctors can undo 'e; but 'em can't do 'e up. A cove can't make sailupon a truck-head."
"And what do 'e say to the weather, Cap'n?" Master Hill enquired of hispassenger, when a few more compliments had passed, and the manes of thehorses began to ruffle, and the tilt to sway and rattle with the waxingstorm.
"Think us shall have as big a gale of wind as ever come out of theheavens," the sailor replied, after stumping to the tail of the van, andgazing windwards; "heave to pretty smart, and make all snug aforesunset, is my advice. Too much sail on this here little craft, for sucha blow as us shall have to-night."
"Can't stop short of Taunton town." Old Hill was famed for hisobstinacy.
"Can 'e take in sail? Can 'e dowse this here canvas? Can 'e reef it thensomehow?" The old man shook his head. "Tell 'e what then, shipmate--if'e carry on for six hours more, this here craft will be on herbeam-ends, wi'out mainsail parteth from his lashings, sure as my name isDick Herniman."
This Tar of the old school, better known as "timber-leg'd Dick,"disembarked from the craft, whose wreck he had thus predicted, at aturning betwixt Perliton and Perlycross, and stumped away up a narrowlane, at a pace quite equal to that of the _God-be-with-us_ van. Thehorses looked after him, as a specimen of biped hitherto beyond theirexperience; and old Hill himself, tho
ugh incapable of amazement (whichis a rapid process) confessed that there were some advantages in thisform of human pedal, as well as fine economy of cloth and leather.
"How 'a doth get along, nimbler nor I could!" the Carrier reflected, ashis nags drove on again. "Up to zummat ratchety, I'll be bound he benow. A leary old salt as ever lived. Never laughed once, never showed asmile, but gotten it all in his eyes he have: and the eyes be truerfolks than the lips. Enough a'most to tempt a man to cut off 's own twolegses."
Some hours later than this, and one hour later than the downfall of thewrestler's roof, the long market-place, forming one side of thestreet--a low narrow building set against the churchyard wall, betweenthe school and the lych-gate, looked as dismal, and dreary, anddeserted, as the bitterest enemy of Fairs could wish. The torrents ofrain, and fury of the wind, had driven all pleasure-seekers, in agrievously drenched and battered plight, to seek for wiser comfort; andonly a dozen or so of poor creatures, either too tipsy to battle withthe wind, or too reckless in their rags to care where they were,wallowed upon sacks, and scrabbled under the stanchion-boards, where thegaiety had been. The main gates, buckled back upon their heavy hinges,were allowed to do nothing in their proper line of business, until theChurch-clock should strike twelve, for such was the usage; though asusual nobody had ever heard who ordained it. A few oil-lamps were stillin their duty, swinging like welted horn-poppies in the draught, andshedding a pale and spluttering light.
The man who bore the keys had gone home three times, keeping under helewith his oil-skins on, to ask his wife--who was a woman of somemark--whether he might not lock the gates, and come home and have hisbit of bacon. But she having strong sense of duty, and a good logblazing, and her cup of tea, had allowed him very generously to warmhis hands a little, and then begged him to think of his family. This wasthe main thing that he had to do; and he went forth again into the dark,to do it.
Meanwhile, without anybody to take heed (for the Sergeant, evervigilant, was now on guard in Spain), a small but choice company ofhuman beings, was preparing for action in the old school-porch, whichstood at the back of the building. Staffs they had, and handcuffs too,and supple straps, and loops of cord; all being men of some learning inthe law, and the crooked ways of people out of harmony therewith. Ifthere had been light enough to understand a smile, they would havesmiled at one another, so positive were they that they had an easy job,and so grudgeful that the money should cut up so small. The two worthyconstables of Perlycross felt certain that they could do it better bythemselves; and the four invoked from Perliton were vexed, to have toact with village lubbers. Their orders were not to go nigh thewrestling, or show themselves inside the market-place, but to keepthemselves quiet, and shun the weather, and what was a great deal worse,the beer. Every now and then, the ideas of jolly noises, such as wereappropriate to the time, were borne upon the rollicking wings of thewind into their silent vestibule, suggesting some wiping of lips, which,alas, were ever so much too dry already. At a certain signal, they wereall to hasten across the corner of the churchyard, at the back of themarket-place, and enter a private door at the east end of the building,after passing through the lych-gate.
Suddenly the rain ceased, as if at sound of trumpet; like the mouth of acavern the sky flew open, and the wind, leaping three points of thecompass, rushed upon the world from the chambers of the west. Such ablast, as had never been felt before, filled the whole valley of thePerle, and flung mowstack, and oakwood, farmhouse, and abbey, under thesweep of its wings as it flew. The roar of the air overpowered the crashof the ruin it made, and left no man the sound of his own voice tohimself.
These great swoops of wind always lighten the sky; and as soon as thepeople blown down could get up, they were able to see the church-towerstill upright, though many men swore that they heard it go rock. Verylikely it rocked, but could they have heard it?
In the thick of the din of this awful night, when the church-clockstruck only five instead of ten--and it might have struck fifty, withoutbeing heard--three men managed, one by one, and without any view of oneanother, to creep along the creases of the storm, and gain the gloomyshelter of the market-place. "Every man for himself," is the universallaw, when the heavens are against the whole race of us. Not one of thesemen cared to ask about the condition of the other two, nor even expectedmuch to see them, though each was more resolute to be there himself,because of its being so difficult.
"Very little chance of Timberlegs to-night," said one to another, as twoof them stood in deep shadow against the back wall, where a voice couldbe heard if pitched in the right direction; "he could never make wayagain' a starm like this."
"Thou bee'st a liar," replied a gruff voice, as the clank of metal onthe stone was heard. "Timberlegs can goo, where flesh and bone bemollichops." He carried a staff like a long handspike, and prodded thebiped on his needless feet, to make him wish to be relieved of them.
"Us be all here now," said the third man, who seemed in the waveringgloom to fill half the place. "What hast thou brought us for,Timber-leg'd Dick?"
"Bit of a job, same as three months back. Better than clam-pits, worn'tit now? Got a good offer for thee too, Harvey, for that old ramshackleplace. Handy hole for a louderin' job, and not far from them clam-pits."
"Ay, so a' be. Never thought of that. And must have another coney, nowthey wise 'uns have vound out Nigger's Nock. Lor' what a laugh we had,Jem and I, at they fules of Perlycrass!"
"Then Perlycross will have the laugh at thee. Harvey Tremlett, and JamesKettel, I arrest 'e both, in the name of His Majesty the King."
Six able-bodied men (who had entered, unheard in the roar of the gale,and unseen in the gloom), stood with drawn staffs, heels together, andshoulder to shoulder, in a semi-circle, enclosing the threeconspirators.
"Read thy warrant aloud," said Dick Herniman, striking his handspikeupon the stones, and taking command in right of intellect; while theother twain laid their backs against the wall, and held themselves readyfor the issue.
Dick had hit a very hard nail on the head. None of these constables hadbeen young enough to undergo Sergeant Jakes, and thenceforth defy themost lofty examiner.
"Didn't hear what 'e zed," replied head-constable, making excuse of thewind, which had blown him but little of the elements. But he lowered hisstaff, and held consultation.
"Then I zay it again," shouted Timber-leg'd Dick, stumping forth with apower of learning, for he had picked up good leisure in hospitals; "ifthou representest the King, read His Majesty's words, afore taking hisname in vain."
These six men were ready, and resolute enough, to meet any bodilyconflict; but the literary crisis scared them.
"Can e' do it, Jack?" "Don't know as I can." "Wish my boy Bill washere." "Don't run in my line"--and so on.
"If none on 'e knows what he be about," said the man with the best legsto stand upon, advancing into the midst of them, "I know a deal of thelaw; and I tell 'e, as a friend of the King, who hath lost two legs for'un, in the Royal Navy, there can't be no lawful arrest made here. Andthe liberty of the subject cometh in, the same as a' doth again'highwaymen. Harvey Tremlett, and Jem Kettel, the law be on your side, to'protect the liberty of the subject.'"
This was enough for the pair who had stood, as law-abiding Englishmen,against the wall, with their big fists doubled, and their great heartsdoubting. "Here goo'th for the liberty of the subject," cried HarveyTremlett, striding forth; "I shan't strike none as don't strike me. Butif a doth, a' must look out."
The constables wavered, in fear of the law, and doubt of their own duty;for they had often heard that every man had a right to know what he wasarrested for. Unluckily one of them made a blow with his staff at HarveyTremlett; then he dropped on the flags with a clump in his ear, and thefight in a moment was raging.
Somebody knocked Jemmy Kettel on the head, as being more easy to dealwith; and then the blood of the big man rose. Three stout fellows fellupon him all together, and heavy blows rung on the drum of his chest,from truncheon
s plied like wheel-spokes. Forth flew his fist-clubs rightand left, one of them meeting a staff in the air, and shattering it backinto its owner's face. Never was the peace of the King more broken; noman could see what became of his blows, legs and arms went about likewindmills, substance and shadow were all as one, till the substancerolled upon the ground, and groaned.
This dark flight resembled the clashing of a hedgerow in the fury of amidnight storm; when the wind has got in and cannot get out, whenground-ash, and sycamore, pole, stub, and saplin, are dashing andwhirling against one another, and even the sturdy oak-tree in the troughis swaying, and creaking, and swinging on its hole.
"Zoonder not to kill e'er a wan of 'e, I 'ood. But by the Lord, if 'ecomes they byses"--shouted Harvey Tremlett, as a rope was thrown overhis head from behind, but cut in half a second by Herniman--"more of 'e,be there?" as the figures thickened--"have at 'e then, wi' zummat moreharder nor visties be!"
He wrenched from a constable his staff, and strode onward, being alreadynear the main gate now. As he whirled the heavy truncheon round hishead, the constables hung back, having two already wounded, and one inthe grip of reviving Jem, who was rolling on the floor with him."Zurrender to His Majesty;" they called out, preferring the voluntarysystem.
"A varden for the lot of 'e!" the big man said, and he marched in amanner that presented it.
But not so did he walk off, blameless and respectable. He had kept histemper wonderfully, believing the law to be on his side, after all hehad done for the County.
Now his nature was pressed a little too hard for itself, when just as hehad called out--"coom along, Jem; there be nort to stop 'e, Timberlegs;"retiring his forces with honour--two figures, hitherto out of the moil,stood across him at the mouth of exit.
"Who be you?" he asked, with his anger in a flame; for they showedneither staff of the King, nor warrant. "Volunteers, be 'e? Have a carewhat be about."
"Harvey Tremlett, here you stop." Said a tall man, square in front ofhim. But luckily for his life, the lift of the sky showed that his hairwas silvery.
"Never hits an old man. You lie there;" Tremlett took him with his lefthand, and laid him on the stones. But meanwhile the other flung his armsaround his waist.
"Wult have a zettler? Then thee shall," cried the big man, tearing himout like a child, and swinging his truncheon, for to knock him on thehead, and Jemmy Fox felt that his time was come.
Down came the truncheon, like a paviour's rammer, and brains would haveweltered on the floor like suds, but a stout arm dashed across, andreceived the crash descending.
"Pumpkins!" cried the smiter, wondering much what he had smitten, as twobodies rolled between his legs and on the stones. "Coom along, Jemmyboy. Nare a wan to stop 'e."
The remnant of the constables upon their legs fell back. The Lord wasagainst them. They had done their best. The next job for them was toheal their wounds, and get an allowance for them, if they could.
Now the human noise was over, but the wind roared on, and the rushing ofthe clouds let the stars look down again. Tremlett stood victorious inthe middle of the gateway. Hurry was a state of mind beyond hisunderstanding. Was everybody satisfied? Well, no one came for more. Hetook an observation of the weather, and turned round.
"Shan't bide here no longer," he announced. "Dick, us'll vinish up ourclack to my place. Rain be droud up, and I be off."
"No, Harvey Tremlett, you will not be off. You will stay here like aman, and stand your trial."
Mr. Penniloe's hand was upon his shoulder, and the light of the stars,thrown in vaporous waves, showed the pale face firmly regarding him.
"Well, and if I says no to it, what can 'e do?"
"Hold you by the collar, as my duty is." The Parson set his teeth, andhis delicate white fingers tightened their not very formidable grasp.
"Sesh!" said the big man, with a whistle, and making as if he could notmove. "When a man be baten, a' must gie in. Wun't 'e let me goo, Passon?Do 'e let me goo."
"Tremlett, my duty is to hold you fast. I owe it to a dear friend ofmine, as well as to my parish."
"Well, you be a braver man than most of 'em, I zimmeth. But do 'e tell apoor chap, as have no chance at all wi' 'e, what a' hath dooed, to belawed for 'un so crule now."
"Prisoner, as if you did not know. You are charged with breaking openColonel Waldron's grave, and carrying off his body."
"Oh Lord! Oh Lord in Heaven!" shouted Harvey Tremlett. "Jem Kettel, harkto thiccy! Timberlegs, do 'e hear thic? All they blessed constables, ashas got their bellyful, and ever so many wise gen'lemen too, what do 'ethink 'em be arter us for? Arter us for resurrectioneering! Never heeredtell such a joke in all my life. They hosebirds to _Ivy-bush_ cries'Carnwall for ever!' But I'm blest if I don't cry out 'Perlycrass forever!' Oh Lord, oh Lord! Was there ever such a joke? Don't 'e hold me,sir, for half a minute, just while I has out my laugh--fear I shouldthrow 'e down with shaking so."
Timber-leg'd Dick came up to his side, and not being of the laughingkind, made up for it by a little hornpipe in the lee; his mental feetstriking, from the flints pitched there, sparks enough to light a dozenpipes; while Kettel, though damaged severely about the mouth, was stillable to compass a broad and loud guffaw.
"Prisoners," Mr. Penniloe said severely, for he misliked the ridicule ofhis parish; "this is not at all a matter to be laughed at. The evidenceagainst you is very strong, I fear."
"Zurrender, zurrender, to His Majesty the King!" cried Tremlett, beingnever much at argument. "Constables, if 'ee can goo, take charge. But I'ont have no handicuffs, mind. Wudn't a gie'd 'ee a clout, if I hadknawed it. Zarve 'ee right though, for not rading of thicwarrant-papper. Jemmy boy, you zurrender to the King; and I be Passon'sprisoner. Honour bright fust though--nort to come agin' us, unless a' bezet down in warrant-papper. Passon, thee must gi'e thy word for that.Timberlegs, coom along for layyer."
"Certainly, I give my word, as far as it will go, that no other chargeshall be brought against you. The warrant is issued for that crime only.Prove yourselves guiltless of that, and you are free."
"Us won't be very long in prison then. A day or two bain't much odds towe."