CHAPTER XXXVII.
GENTLE AS A LAMB.
Of the nine people wounded in that Agoraeic struggle, which cast expiringlustre on the Fairs of Perlycross, every one found his case most seriousto himself, and still more so to his wife; and even solemn, in thepresence of those who had to settle compensation. Herniman had done someexecution, as well as received a nasty splinter of one leg, which brokedown after his hornpipe; and Kettel had mauled the man who rolled overwith him. But, as appeared when the case was heard, Tremlett had by nomeans done his best; and his lawyer put it touchingly and with greateffect, that he was loth to smite the sons of his native county, when hehad just redeemed their glory, by noble discomfiture of Cornwall.
One man only had a parlous wound; and as is generally ordained in humanmatters, this was the one most impartial of all, the one who had nointerest of his own to serve, the one who was present simply out of purebenevolence, and a Briton's love of order. So at least his mother said;and every one acknowledged that she was a woman of high reasoningpowers. Many others felt for him, as who would have done the same, withlike opportunity.
For only let a healthy, strong, and earnest-minded Englishman--to use abeloved compound epithet of the day--hear of a hot and lawful fightimpending, with people involved in it, of whom he has some knowledge,and we may trust him heartily to be there or thereabouts, to see--as heputs it to his conscience--fair play. But an if he chance to be in lovejust then, with a very large percentage of despair to reckon up, and oneof the combatants is in the count against him, can a doubt remain of hiseager punctuality?
This was poor Frank Gilham's case. Dr. Gronow was a prudent man, andliked to have the legions on his side. He perceived that young Frank wasa staunch and stalwart fellow, sure to strike a good blow on a friend'sbehalf. He was well aware also of his love for Christie, and could notsee why it should come to nothing. While Jemmy Fox's faith in theresources of the law, and in his own prowess as a power in reserve, werenot so convincing to the elder mind. "Better make sure, than be toocertain," was a favourite maxim of this shrewd old stager; and sowithout Jemmy's knowledge he invited Frank, to keep out of sight unlesswanted.
This measure saved the life of Dr. Fox, and that of Harvey Tremlett too,some of whose brothers had adorned the gallows. Even as it was, JemmyFox lay stunned, with the other man's arm much inserted in his hat.Where he would have been without that arm for buffer, the Cherub, whosits on the chimney-pots of Harley Street, alone can say. Happily theother doctor was unhurt, and left in full possession of his wits, whichhe at once exerted. After examining the wounded yeoman, who had faintedfrom the pain and shock, he borrowed a mattress from the rectory, aspring-cart and truss of hay from Channing the baker, and various otherappliances; and thus in spite of the storm conveyed both patients tohospital. This was the _Old Barn_ itself, because all surgical needswould be forthcoming there more readily, and so it was wiser to declineMr. Penniloe's offer of the rectory.
With the jolting of the cart, and the freshness of the air, Fox began torevive ere long; and though still very weak and dizzy, was able to be ofsome service at his own dwelling-place; and although he might not, whenthis matter first arose, have shown all the gratitude which the sanguinedo expect, in return for Frank Gilham's loyalty, he felt very deepcontrition now, when he saw this frightful fracture, and found his ownhead quite uncracked.
The six constables, though they had some black eyes, bruised limbs, andbroken noses, and other sources of regret, were (in strict matter offact, and without any view to compensation) quite as well as could beexpected. And as happens too often, the one who groaned the most had theleast occasion for it. It was only the wick of a lamp, that had dropped,without going out, on this man's collar, and burned a little hole in his_niddick_, as it used to be called in Devonshire.
Tremlett readily gave his word that no escape should be attempted; andwhen Mrs. Muggridge came to know that this was the man who had saved hermaster, nothing could be too good for him. So constables and prisonerswere fed and cared for, and stowed for the night in the long schoolroom,with hailstones hopping in the fireplace.
In the morning, the weather was worse again; for this was adouble-barrel'd gale, as an ignorant man might term it; or ratherperhaps two several gales, arising from some vast disturbance, andhitting into one another. Otherwise, why should it be known andremembered even to the present day, as the great Ash-Wednesday gale,although it began on Shrove-Tuesday, and in many parts raged mostfiercely then? At Perlycross certainly there was no such blast upon thesecond day, as that which swept the Abbey down: when the wind leapedsuddenly to the west, and the sky fell open, as above recorded.
Upon that wild Ash-Wednesday forenoon, the curate stood in thechurchyard mourning, even more than the melancholy date requires. Wherethe old Abbey had stood for ages (backing up the venerable church withgrand dark-robed solemnity, and lifting the buckler of ancient faithabove many a sleeping patriarch) there was nothing but a hideous gap,with murky clouds galloping over it. Shorn of its ivy curtain by thetempest of last Sunday, the mighty frame had reeled, and staggered, andwith one crash gone to ground last night, before the impetuous welkin'sweight.
"Is all I do to be always vain, and worse than vain--destructive,hurtful, baneful, fatal I might say, to the very objects for which Istrive? Here is the church, unfinished, leaky, with one of its cornersgone underground, and the grand stone screen smashed in two; here is theAbbey, or alas not here, but only an ugly pile of stones! Here is theoutrage to my dear friend, and the shame to the parish as black as ever;for those men clearly know nothing of it. And here, or at any rate closeat hand, the sad drawback upon all good works; for at Lady-day in pourthe bills, and my prayers (however earnest) will not pay them. It haspleased the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, to leave me very short ofcash."
Unhappily his best hat had been spoiled, in that interview with the fourvergers; and in his humility he was not sure that the one on his headwas good enough even to go to the Commination service. However it neednot have felt unworthy; for there was not a soul in the church to beadjured, save that which had been under its own brim. The clerk was offfor Perliton, swearing--even at his time of life!--that he had beensubpoenaed, as if that could be on such occasion; and as for the pupils,all bound to be in church, the Hopper had been ordered by the Constablesto present himself to the Magistrates (though all the Constables deniedit) and Pike, and Mopuss, felt it their duty to go with him.
In a word, all Perlycross was off, though services of the Church had notyet attained their present continuity; and though every woman, and evenman, had to plod three splashy miles, with head on chest, in the teethof the gale up the river. How they should get into the room, when there,was a question that never occurred to them. There they all yearned tobe; and the main part, who could not raise a shilling, or provethemselves Uncles, or Aunts, or former sweethearts of the two Constableswho kept the door, had to crouch under dripping shrubs outside thewindows, and spoiled all Squire Mockham's young crocuses.
That gentleman was so upright, and thoroughly impartial, that tocounteract his own predilections for a champion wrestler, he had beggeda brother-magistrate to come and sit with him on this occasion; not SirEdwin Sanford, who was of the Quorum for Somerset, but a man of somelearning and high esteem, the well-known Dr. Morshead. Thus there wouldbe less temptation for any tattler to cry, "hole and corner," asspiteful folk rejoice to do, while keeping in that same placethemselves. Although there was less perhaps of mischief-making in thosedays than now; and there could be no more.
The Constables marched in, with puff and blow, like victors over rebels,and as if they had carried the prisoners captive, every yard of the way,from Perlycross. All of them began to talk at once, and to describe withmore vigour than truth the conflict of the night before. But Dr.Morshead stopped them short, for the question of resistance was not yetraised. What the Bench had first to decide was whether a case could bemade out for a _mittimus_, in pursuance of the warrant, to the nextPetty Sessions on Monday;
whence the prisoners would be remittedprobably to the Quarter Sessions.
The two accused stood side by side (peaceful and decorous, as if theywere accustomed to it); and without any trepidation admitted theiridentity. It was rather against their interests that the Official Clerkwas absent--this not being a stated meeting, but held for specialpurpose--for Magistrates used to be a little nervous, without theirproper adviser; and in fear of permitting the guilty to escape, theysometimes remanded upon insufficient grounds.
In the present case, there was nothing whatever to connect these two menwith the crime, except the testimony of Joe Crang, and what might beregarded as their own admission, overheard by Dr. Fox. The latter wasnot in court, nor likely so to be; and as for the blacksmith's evidence,however positive it might seem, what did it amount to? And such as itwas, it was torn to rags, through the quaking of the deponent.
For a sharp little lawyer started up, as lawyers are sure to doeverywhere, and crossed the room to where Herniman sat, drumming thefloor with metallic power, and looking very stolid. But a glance hadconvinced the keen Attorney, that here were the brains of the party, anda few short whispers settled it. "Guinea, if 'e gets 'em off; if not,ne'er a farden." "Right!" said the lawyer, and announced himself.
"Blickson, for the defence, your Worships--Maurice Blickson ofSilverton." The proper bows were interchanged; and then came Crang'sexcruciation. Already this sturdy and very honest fellow, was as heelegantly described it, in a "lantern-sweat" of terror. It is one thingto tell a tale to two friends in a potato-field, and another to narratethe same on oath, with four or five quills in mysterious march, two mostworshipful signors bending brows of doubt upon you, and thirty or fortyfaces scowling at every word--"What a liar you be!" And when on the topof all this, stands up a noble gentleman, with keen eyes, peremptoryvoice, contemptuous smiles, and angry gestures, all expressing hisChristian sorrow, that the Devil should have so got hold of you,--whatblacksmith, even of poetic anvil (whence all rhythm and metre spring)can have any breath left in his own bellows?
Joe Crang had fallen on his knees, to take the oath; as witnesses did,from a holy belief that this turned the rungs of the gallows the wrongway; and then he had told his little tale most sadly, as one who hopesnever to be told of it again. His business had thriven, while his healthwas undermined; through the scores of good people, who could rout up somuch as a knife that wanted a rivet, or even a boy with one toothpushing up another; and though none of them paid more than fourpence forthings that would last them a fortnight to talk about, their moneystayed under the thatch, while Joe spent nothing but a wink for all hisbeer.
But ah, this was no winking time! Crang was beginning to shuffle off,with his knuckles to his forehead; and recovering his mind so loudlythat he got in a word about the quality of his iron--which for the restof his life he would have cited, to show how he beat theyJustesses--when he found himself recalled, and told to put his feettogether. This, from long practice of his art, had become a difficultyto him, and in labouring to do it he lost all possibility of bringinghis wits into the like position. This order showed Blickson to be almosta Verulam in his knowledge of mankind. Joe Crang recovered noself-possession, on his own side of better than a gallon strong.
"Blacksmith, what o'clock is it now?"
Crang put his ears up, as if he expected the Church-clock to come to hisaid; and then with a rally of what he was hoping for, as soon as he gotround the corner, replied--"Four and a half, your honour."
"I need not remind your Worships," said Blickson, when the laughter hadsubsided; "that this fellow's evidence, even if correct, proves nothingwhatever against my Clients. But just to show what it is worth, I will,with your Worships' permission, put a simple question to him. He hassworn that it was two o'clock on a foggy morning, and with noChurch-clock to help him, when he saw, in his night-mare this ghostlyvision. Perhaps he should have said--'four and a half;' which in broaddaylight is his idea of the present hour. Now, my poor fellow, did youswear, or did you not, on a previous occasion, that one of the men whoso terrified you out of your heavy sleep, was Dr. James Fox--agentleman, Dr. Morshead, of your own distinguished Profession? Don'tshuffle with your feet, Crang, nor yet with your tongue. Did you swearthat, or did you not?"
"Well, if I did, twadn't arkerate."
"In plain English, you perjured yourself on that occasion. And yet youexpect their Worships to believe you now! Now look at the other man, thetall one. By which of his features do you recognize him now, at four anda half, in the morning?"
"Dun'now what veitchers be. Knows 'un by his size, and manner ofstandin'. Should like to hear's voice, if no object to you, layyer."
"My friend, you call me by your own name. Such is your confusion ofideas. Will your Worships allow me to assist this poor numskull? Thegreat Cornish wrestler is here, led by that noble fraternal feeling,which is such a credit to all men distinguished, in any walk of life.Mr. Polwarth of Bodmin, will you kindly stand by the side of yourbrother in a very noble art?"
It was worth a long journey in bad weather (as Squire Mockham told hisguests at his dinner-party afterwards, and Dr. Morshead and his sonconfirmed it) to see the two biggest growths of Devonshire and ofCornwall standing thus amicably side by side, smiling a little slyly ateach other, and blinking at their Worships with some abashment, as if tosay--"this is not quite in our line."
For a moment the audience forgot itself, and made itself audible withthree loud cheers. "Silence!" cried their Worships, but not so verysternly.
"Reckon, I could drow 'e next time;" said Cornwall.
"Wun't zay but what 'e maight;" answered Devon courteously.
"Now little blacksmith," resumed the lawyer, though Joe Crang wasconsiderably bigger than himself; "will you undertake to swear, uponyour hope of salvation, which of those two gentlemen you saw, thatnight?"
Joe Crang stared at the two big men, and his mind gave way within him.He was dressed in his best, and his wife had polished up his cheeks andnose with yellow soap, which gleamed across his vision with a kind ofglaze, and therein danced pen, ink, and paper, the figures of the bigmen, the faces of their Worships, and his own hopes of salvation.
"Maight 'a been Carnisher;" he began to stammer, with a desire togratify his county; but a hiss went round the room from Devonian senseof Justice; and to strike a better balance, he finished indespair--"Wull then, it waz both on 'em."
"Stand down, sir!" Dr. Morshead shouted sternly, while Blickson wentthrough a little panorama of righteous astonishment and disgust. All theaudience roared, and a solid farmer called out--"Don't come near me, youinfernal liar," as poor Crang sought shelter behind his topcoat. So muchfor honesty, simplicity, and candour, when the nervous system has brokendown!
"After that, I should simply insult the intelligence of your Worships;"continued the triumphant lawyer, "by proceeding to address you. PerhapsI should ask you to commit that wretch for perjury; but I leave him tohis conscience, if he has one."
"The case is dismissed," Dr. Morshead announced, after speaking for amoment to his colleague. "Unless there is any intention to charge thesemen with resisting or assaulting officers, in the execution of theirwarrant. It has been reported, though not formally, that some bystanderwas considerably injured. If any charge is entered on either behalf, weare ready to receive the depositions."
The constables, who had been knocked about, were beginning to consulttogether, when Blickson slipped among them, after whispering toHerniman, and a good deal of nodding of heads took place, whilepleasant ideas were interchanged, such as, "handsome privatecompensation;" "twenty-five pounds to receive to-night, and such men arealways generous;" "a magnificent supper-party at the least, if they arefree. If not, all must come to nothing."
The worthy constabulary--now represented by a still worthier body, andone of still finer feeling--perceived the full value of these arguments;and luckily for the accused, Dr. Gronow was not present, being sadlyoccupied at _Old Barn_.
"Although there is no charge, and n
o sign of any charge, your Worships,and therefore I have no _locus standi_;" Mr. Blickson had returned tohis place, and adopted an airy and large-hearted style; "I would cravethe indulgence of the Bench, for one or two quite informal remarks; myobject being to remove every stigma from the characters of my respectedClients. On the best authority I may state, that their one desire, andintention, was to surrender, like a pair of lambs"--at this descriptiona grin went round, and the learned Magistrates countenanced it--"if theycould only realise the nature of the charge against them. But when theydemanded, like Englishmen, to know why their liberty should be suddenlyabridged, what happened? No one answered them! All those admirable menwere doubtless eager to maintain the best traditions of the law; but thehurricane out-roared them. They laboured to convey their legal message;but where is education, when the sky falls on its head? On the otherhand, one of these law-abiding men had been engaged gloriously, inmaintaining the athletic honour of his county. This does not appear tohave raised in him at all the pugnacity, that might have been expected.He strolled into the market-place, partly to stretch his poor bruisedlegs, and partly perhaps, to relieve his mind; which men of smallernature would have done, by tippling. Suddenly he is surrounded by acrowd of very strong men in the dark. The Fair has long been over; thelights are burning low; scarcely enough of fire in them to singe theneck of an enterprising member of our brave Constabulary. In the thickdarkness, and hubbub of the storm, the hero who has redeemed the belt,and therewith the ancient fame of our county, supposes--naturallysupposes, charitable as his large mind is, that he is beset for the sakeof the money, which he has not yet received, but intends to distributeso freely, when he gets it. The time of this honourable Bench is toovaluable to the public to be wasted over any descriptions of a pettyskirmish, no two of which are at all alike. My large-bodied Client, themighty wrestler, might have been expected to put forth his strength. Itis certain that he did not do so. The man, who had smitten down thepride of Cornwall, would strike not a blow against his own county. Hegave a playful push or two, a chuck under the chin, such as a prettymilkmaid gets, when she declines a sweeter touch. I marvel at hiswonderful self-control. His knuckles were shattered by a blow from astaff; like a roof in a hailstorm his great chest rang--for the men ofPerliton can hit hard--yet is there anything to show that he evenendeavoured to strike in return? And how did it end? In the very noblestway. The Pastor of the village, a most saintly man, but less than aninfant in Harvey Tremlett's hands, appears at the gate, when there is noother let or hindrance to the freedom of a Briton. Is he thrust asiderudely? Is he kicked out of the way? Nay, he lays a hand upon the bigman's breast, the hand of a Minister of the Cross. He explains that thelaw, by some misapprehension, is fain to apprehend this simple-mindedhero. The nature of the sad mistake is explained; and to use a commonmetaphor, which excited some derision just now, but which I repeat, withfacts to back me,--gentle as a lamb, yonder lion surrenders!"
"The lamb is very fortunate in his shepherd;" said Dr. Morshead drily,as the lawyer sat down, under general applause. "But there is nothingbefore the Bench, Mr. Blickson. What is the object of all thiseloquence?"
"The object of my very simple narrative, your Worships, is to dischargemy plain duty to my clients. I would ask this Worshipful Bench, not onlyto dismiss a very absurd application, but also to add their most weightyopinions, that Harvey Tremlett, and James Fox--no, I beg pardon that wasthe first mistake of this ever erroneous blacksmith--James Kettel, Ishould say, have set a fine example of perfect submission to the law ofthe land."
"Oh come, Mr. Blickson, that is out of the record. We pronounce noopinion upon that point. We simply adjudge that the case be nowdismissed."