CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
HOW LUDAR TOOK DUNLUCE.
At first I saw nothing but a jagged line of cliff-top, lower than wherewe stood, with the sea beyond. Then I perceived that where Ludarpointed the line broke suddenly, and disclosed a great naked rockstanding alone, sheer out of the water which leapt wildly all round itand thundered into the cave at its base. I looked further. I saw anarrow bridge across the chasm, while what I had first thought to berugged piles of rock took the form of grim battlements and towers,rising so straight from the edge of the rock that I had thought them apart of it. Across the bridge frowned an angry portcullis. As theplace stood, it looked as if one man could hold it against a thousand,so unapproachable did it seem. On our side the bridge, on the mainland,was a large courtyard or barrack, with an outer wall and moat round it,of itself no easy place to carry; and when, beyond that, hung this angrycastle, perched like an eagle over the sea, I marvelled not so much thatthe McDonnells should hope to take it, as that they should ever havelost it.
I could understand Ludar's excitement as he stood there and gazed atthis old fortress of his fathers, with the standard of the foreigninvader floating above its top-mast tower. He said nothing; yet, Icould tell by the heaving of his chest, what thoughts were passing inhis mind, what hatred of the usurper, what impatience to stand once moreon those battlements and fling open the gate to his noble father.
The light faded from the sky as we stood there, until turrets and rockand flag melted away into a common blackness, and left us only thethunder of the waves in the hollows below, to tell us where Dunlucestood. Then Ludar led me quickly back to his men.
We found no little stir afoot. For the McDonnells' scouts had come inwith a man of the English garrison whom they had found foraging formeat; while, almost at the same moment, a herdsman from Ramore (whichwas a district westward of us), had come to tell us news of the enemy.
Ludar heard the soldier first.
"We be but thirty men in yonder hold," said he. "For so soon as thealarm spread that Castleroe and the town of Coleraine were to beattacked, fifty of our guard and three cannon were drawn away thitherthis very morning. I know it, for I stood sentinel when CaptainMerriman--"
"He! is he there?" demanded Ludar.
"No, in truth," said the soldier, "'twas he rode over from Castleroe andtook away half our men, leaving us, in place, a parcel of puling womento mind, whom he might have kept with better grace at Castleroe."
"And who are these women?" asked Ludar with heightened colour.
"They say the fair one is a sweetheart of his own--a straight enoughlass, but not of the sort I would willingly undertake myself. Some sayshe is kinswoman to the O'Neill or his lady, whom the captain was sentto guard hither; but, to my thinking, he was on his own business morethan Turlogh's, and when this fighting be over we shall see him comeback for his ladybird. I pray you, gentles," continued this man, whowas of a careless sort, and distressed by no mischance, "permit me toreturn to the castle with this brace of birds. They are, in fact, forthis same young lady, to whom our coarse fare hath little to recommendit, and who, being sickly, needs a dainty. I stand a fair chance to beshot for a truant when I get back; yet I may as well be that as hangedhere by your worships. The only difference will be that the maiden willget her supper in one case, and miss it in the other."
"Go back," said Ludar. "If you be a liar, you are a rare one; if you benot, you are an honest fellow, and can be trusted to report nothing ofwhat you have seen here."
"That will I not," said the man. "But when I see thee on thedrawbridge, I shall let fly at thee, by your leave, as at an enemy of myQueen."
"You shall," said Ludar. "I would scorn you if you did not. Buthearken, take the maiden this flower (and he pulled a poppy flower fromthe grass), and tell her, before it droop he who sent it will be inDunluce."
"Marry will I," said the soldier, laughing. "But thou wilt need tohasten, my master, for poppies fade fast. And if, as I expect, thou getno further than the bridge, or over the edge of it, you may trust me tolook to the lady for your honour's sake."
So the man departed amidst not a few murmurings from our men, whounderstood not letting an enemy go scot free, unless it were to betrayhis party into their hands.
The other fellow, one of the men of the Route, who served which everparty he must, confirmed what the Englishman had said respecting themovements of the enemy. Sorley Boy had for weeks past let it be hinted,that when he came to strike, it would be at the Castle on the Bann onthe one hand, and at Knockfergus, far to the south, on the other.Therefore, while Turlogh Luinech O'Neill tarried at Toome to watch whatpassed in the latter region, Captain Merriman strengthened Coleraine andthe forts on the Bann in order to hold the former. Meanwhile, SorleyBoy, having thus made the enemy busy elsewhere, was coming down, as Ihave said, betwixt the two, at Dunluce. No doubt but the Englishsuspected some scheme, for they withdrew only parts of their garrisonsalong the coast, depending on the natural strength of Dunluce and theother castles to hold off any attack till succour should arrive. Butsince the old fox never showed front till he was ready to spring, no oneknew exactly where to expect Sorley Boy; whereby the enemy was forced toremain scattered, in little companies, all along the coast, from Larneto the Bann Mouth. At any rate, said the man, after the signals withCantire last night, no one would expect the blow to fall till theScottish clansmen were landed, which might be this time to-morrow.
Ludar bade the man remain in their company, and then called me and twoothers of his chief men aside.
"'Tis plain," said he, "our chance is now or never. Give the men timeto sup, and then take forward your guns and have at them in front. Youtwo," said he, addressing the two Scots, "with the main body are tocarry the outworks, and pounding at the enemy's gate, keep him busy tolandward. Humphrey, and I, and twenty more must try the sea front. Assoon as you hear us shout from within, let drive every bolt you have,and the place is ours."
"But," said I, "you said that on the seaward side the place isunassailable."
"It is, except to McDonnells. I did not play on these rocks for naughtwhen a boy. Only pick me out twenty resolute men, and bring them roundsecretly to the first break in the cliffs eastward. I shall be there."
'Twas easy to find twenty men ready for the venture. Nay, the hardthing was to take no more than twenty, for a hundred were eager to come.No sooner were we started, than the main body, as agreed, leapt fromtheir hiding-place, and marched rapidly on Dunluce.
Our guide took us a mile eastward of the castle, where at the head ofthe narrow gully that led from the cliff to the shore, stood Ludar,pistol in hand, waiting for us. He turned silently as we came up, and,motioning to us to follow, began at once the steep descent. The cleftwas so narrow that one man could only lower himself at a time, and thatswinging as often as not by his elbows and hands. For me it was harderwork than for the active redshanks. As for Ludar, he stood at thebottom, while I, with half the troop growling at my back, was stuckmidway. Yet we all reached the bottom in time; and as we did so, theboom of a gun from the rocks above us told that our men were alreadybefore the castle knocking for entrance.
Then we waded and scrambled in the darkness at the water's edge, till wecame to the base of the great black rock on which the fortress stood.Often we were wading waist-deep in the pools, and often on hands andknees drawing ourselves over the surf-swept ledges. Ludar seemed toknow every step of the way, despite the years that had passed since as aboy he hunted there for sea-birds, nor was he in the humour now toslacken speed for us who knew not when we put out one foot, where weshould land with the other.
Above us, the noise of the guns was already lost in the thunder of thewaves as they echoed in the cave under the castle rock. It seemed, aswe stood there and looked up, that not a foot further could we go. Thegreat angry cliff beetled over our heads, and on its very edge, farabove, we might discern against the gloomy sky the dim corner of abuttress.
But it was not here
that Ludar meant us to ascend. "Now, my men," saidhe, "put your powder in your bonnets and follow me."
Whereupon he took a step up to his neck in the deep water, and startedto swim. One by one we followed him, armed and clad as we were, intothe angry surf. 'Twas a perilous voyage, and had not the tide been fulland high above the rocks, we should not have come out of it, some of us,sound in limb or wind. Once or twice as I was flung upwards with aswirl almost upon the jagged cliff, I thought my last hour was come, andwondered whose eye would be dim at the news of my end. Then, when, witha like swirl I was heaved back into the safety of deep water, I thoughtwhat a big venture was this, and who would not follow when Ludar led?
So, I scarce know how, we rounded the mouth of that resounding cave andstood panting on the narrow ledge on the far side. I say, we stood--yetnot all. Of the twenty-two men who had plunged, only nineteenforegathered at the far side.
"'Twas bravely swum," said Ludar, "and though it has cost McDonnellthree brave sons, it has won him Dunluce. I promise you, we shall goback by land."
I asked him, where next? and he pointed up to what seemed a rock assheer and threatening as ever we had met on the other side. Nay, onthis side, the castle itself seemed to hang clean over the edge.
"There is a path, I remember," said he, "by which in old days theMcQuillans came down to the cave. I went up it myself as a boy. Seehere."
And he led us a few steps round, as if back towards the cave; where wasan iron spike driven into the smooth rock a little above the edge of thewater.
He reached forward at this, and swung himself out over the water tillhis feet rested on a narrow ledge beyond, scarce the width of his boot,at the water's edge. Above this was a jutting nose of rock by which heraised himself on to the peg itself, and from that, by a long stride, onto a safer ledge above.
"Follow me," he cried, "and look not back."
Painfully and clumsily I achieved the perilous stride, and found myselfat the entrance of a crack in the rock, into which the waves belowdashed and thundered, and then, beaten back, shot up in an angry columnhigh over our heads, descending with a whirl that all but swept usheadlong from our perch.
Up this rift I watched Ludar clamber, losing him now and again in theshooting foam, and now and again, as the spray cleared off, seeing himsafe, and ever a foot higher than before. How I followed him 'twould behard to say. Yet the rock seemed riven into cracks which gave us atolerable foothold, the better as we got higher up; and had it not beenfor the constant dash of the water, and the darkness, it might have beenaccounted passable enough. As it was, but for Ludar's strong arm aboveme, I should have lost my feet twice, and in my fall, perchance, mighthave carried away one or more of those who followed.
When we reached the top of the rift, a still worse peril awaited. Fornow we had to crawl painfully for some distance along a narrow edge onthe face of the naked rock, with little hold for our hands, and, sincethe ledge slanted downward and was wet and slippery with the spray,still less for our feet. Even Ludar, I could see, was at a loss. Butto halt now was useless; to turn back impossible. So, gripping as besthe might at the rugged rock, he stepped boldly on to the ledge. I couldbut follow. Yet, at the first step, my feet slid from under me, and butthat my hands held firm I should have been headlong. Inch by inchhugging the cliff, with our backs to the sea, we crawled over thattreacherous ledge, sometimes slipping to our knees, sometimes hangingsheer by our hands.
Once, in a moment of weakness, I looked back to see how our men werefaring. As I did so, a youth, next after me, a tall, brave youth whohad been foremost in all the peril, suddenly staggered and slipped. Fora moment he hung by hand and knee to the ledge; the next with a loudgroan he fell backwards into the darkness. I heard the crash of hisbody on the rocks below, and, in my horror, my own grip for an instantrelaxed, and I felt myself following. But a strong hand caught me andheld me up, and Ludar said:
"Humphrey, are you a fool? Lookup, man, or you are lost."
After that I had eyes for naught but the cliff before me. And although,before that terrible passage was ended, I heard five more groans and asmany more crashes on the rocks below, I managed to keep my own footing,till at last, with my head in a whirl, I stood beside Ludar on abroader, straighter ledge, within a dozen feet of the cliff-top.
Ludar was pale, and his breath came and went hard, as he made room forme beside him. He too had heard those terrible crashes.
"That path," said he, "is easier passed by a boy than a man. Had Iknown what it would cost us-- Yet, come on now!"
There was indeed no time to tarry, for the men behind--all that wereleft of them--came up, and we must perforce move forward to make themroom.
Now, once more we heard the guns above, and a mighty shouting on the farside of the Castle. But, towards us, all frowned black and solitary.
The short distance yet to climb compared with what we had passed, waseasy. For, steep as it was and often overhanging the sea, the rock herewas rough and dry, and our feet held fast. Just as we came to the top,Ludar turned.
"Follow close, my men; shout, and discharge your pieces if you can,"called he, "and once entered, make for the drawbridge."
Almost as he spoke, we heard a shout above us, and the report of amusket discharged into the darkness. A sentinel had heard our voices,and this was his greeting.
Next moment I saw Ludar on the top, struggling with a man. It was toodark to discern which was which; but a moment later, one of the twostaggered a step backwards to the edge. There was a yell, a shower ofloose earth; then, as I stood below clinging to the rock, a dark massfell betwixt me and the sky, brushing me as it passed, and bounding fromthe ledge below with a hideous crash out into the deepness.
I stood there an instant as cold and pulse-less as the stone againstwhich I leaned. What if this were Ludar who had fallen?
A voice from above restored me to life.
"Quick there, come up, and the place is ours!"
In a moment I stood beside him on the narrow edge of grass between thecastle wall and the brink. We could hear the shouts and firing away atthe gate, but not a soul was left here to bar our passage. Even thesentinel's shot had passed unheeded. There was a low window leading toone of the offices of the castle, through which we clambered. Nextmoment we found ourselves standing within the walls of Dunluce.
"_Froach Eilan_!" shouted Ludar, drawing his dirk and waving on his men.
"_Froach Eilan! Ludar_!" shouted we, some of us discharging our piecesto add to the uproar, while one man exploded a swivel gun which stood onthe seaward battlement.
The effect was magical. There was a sudden pause in the fighting at thebridge. Then rose a mighty answering cry from our McDonnells outside;while the garrison, caught thus between the two fires, looked this wayand that, not knowing against which foe to turn.
Though we were but thirteen--nay, only twelve, for the English sentinelin his fall had swept yet another of our brave fellows from the ledge--it was hard for any one to say in the darkness how many we were or howmany were yet behind; and the thirty defenders to the place, when oncethe panic had spread, were in no mood for waiting to see. Many of themlaid down their arms at once. Some, still more terrified, attempted todescend the rocks, and so perished; others plunged boldly into the gulf,and there was an end of them.
Ludar meanwhile rushed to the bridge. Many a brave fellow to-night hadmet his fate on that narrow way. For so far, no assault from our menwithout had been able to shake the strong portcullis, or make an openingon the grim face of the fortress. Indeed, it seemed to me, a singlechild in the place might have defied an army, so unassailable did itappear. Our men had carried easily the outer courtyard across the moat,driving the slender garrison back, with only time to lower the gate andshut themselves within before the assault began. But, though theythundered with shot and rock, all was of no avail. The guns of thebesieged swept the narrow bridge on either side, and scarce a man whoventured across it returned alive.
Now, all was suddenly changed. Ludar, with a wild shout, fell on thekeepers of the gate within and drove them from their post. So suddenwas his onslaught, that none had time to ask whence he came or how manyfollowed him. Only a handful of soldiers withstood us. Among these wasthe gay English fellow whom we had let go an hour or so back; and whonow, true to his word, rushed sword in hand at Ludar. I wondered to seewhat Ludar would do, for kill the fellow I knew he would not. He metthe Englishman's sword with a tremendous blow from his own sheathedweapon, which shivered it. Then with his fist he felled him to theground, and, thus stunned, lifted him and laid him high on a parapet ofthe wall till he should come to.
Ere this was done, I and the rest of our men were at it, hand to handwith the few fighting men of the garrison that remained. It did nottake long, for there were but half-a-dozen of them, and valiantly asthey fought, we were too many and strong for them. One by one they fellor yielded, all except one stout man, the constable of the place, PeterGary by name, who fought as long as he could stand, and then, before oureyes, flung first his sword, then himself, headlong from the cliff.
That ended the matter. Next moment, the English flag--alas! that Ishould say it--tumbled from the battlements; and with shouts of "_Ludar!Froach Eilan_!" the portcullis swung open, and Dunluce belonged oncemore to the McDonnells.
Leaving us to guard the tower where most of the enemy had shutthemselves, Ludar stalked off to a remote corner of the castle; whencein a short time he returned and called me.
"Humphrey," said he, "the maiden is safe, thank God. Go to her and seewhat she and the old nurse may need. I have other work to do. Friend,"added he, "is this all a dream? Is this indeed the castle of myfathers? and when Sorley Boy comes, shall it be I who will give it intohis hands?"
"You and no other," said I, "for the place is yours."
"Alas!" he said, "at what cost! When I heard my brave men fall from thecliff like sheep, Humphrey, I was minded not to stay there myself. Butadieu now. To the maiden! Keep her safe for me."
He waved his hand and stalked to the gate, where I watched him, erect,amid his cheering clansmen, with a joyous smile on his face such as Ihad rarely seen there before, and which I knew belonged in part to thenoble chieftain, his father, and in part to his true love, the maiden.
Alas! 'twas many a long day before I was to see him smile again likethat, as you shall hear.
For the present, I went light at heart to the maiden, whom I found pale,indeed (for she had been ill), but serene and happy. The old nurse,who, I thought, ill liked my intrusion, forbade me to weary her youngmistress with talk or questions.
"A plague on every man of you," growled the old woman. "You're onlymatched by the women, who be worse. Did I not tell you, HumphreyDexter, my Lady Cantire would be no friend to my sweet mistress? 'Twasin vain the silly child tried to wheedle her over. Wheedle the TetherStake! My lady bade her be civil to the Captain, if she would pleaseher step-dame. And when the maiden put down her little foot at that,she was clapped within walls like a rogue, and fed on bread and water.Little harm that would have done, had not the captain himself served heras jailer, and every day thrust his evil presence into our company. Itell thee, Humphrey, that maiden hath fought as well as you or any ofthem; and shame on your sex, say I, that this devil should be one ofyou! Ill? No wonder if she was ill; with not a soul to pity her save apoor old body like me. Where's her father, to leave her thus? Eh, youmug-faced champion, you?"
"Indeed, Judy," said I, taken aback, "'tis a terrible case; but youcannot blame me."
"Not blame you! when instead of playing soldier you might have ridden toToome and brought Turlogh to help us? Take shame on yourself; and, whenyou see the maiden weak and white, thank God her death be not on yourhead. For dead she would have been, like the brave maid she is, beforeever she would have looked at this fellow-countryman of yours. Hethought he had her safe, forsooth, when he whipped her off here and tookthe key with him. Fiend! Little wonder if she hates the name of youEnglish!"
I grew angry at this, and told her she was a churlish old woman and hadbest leave me in peace till her temper was better. So we parted illfriends; I to guard the door, she to carry her waspish tongue where shelist.