CHAPTER XIII.
"How! Lucia, wouldst them have me sink away In pleasing dreams, and lose myself in love?" _Cato_.
The reader must not imagine that the world stood still during theoccurrence of the scenes we have related. By the time the three seamenwere placed in as many different rooms, and a sentinel was stationed inthe gallery common to them all, in such a manner as to keep an eye onhis whole charge at once, the hour had run deep into the night. CaptainBorroughcliffe obeyed a summons from the colonel, who made him anevasive apology for the change in their evening's amusement, andchallenged his guest to a renewal of the attack on the Madeira. Thiswas too grateful a theme to be lightly discussed by the captain; and theabbey clock had given forth as many of its mournful remonstrances as thedivision of the hours would permit, before they separated. In the meantime, Mr. Dillon became invisible; though a servant, when questioned bythe host on the subject, announced that "he believed Mr. Christopher hadchosen to ride over to----, to be in readiness to join the hunt, onthe morning, with the dawn." While the gentlemen were thus indulgingthemselves in the dining-parlor, and laughing over the tales of othertimes and hard campaigns, two very different scenes occurred in otherparts of the building.
When the quiet of the abbey was only interrupted by the howling ofthe wind, or by the loud and prolonged laughs which echoed through thepassages from the joyous pair, who were thus comfortably established bythe side of the bottle, a door was gently opened on one of the galleriesof the "cloisters," and Katherine Plowden issued from it, wrapped in aclose mantle, and holding in her hand a chamber-lamp, which threw itsdim light faintly along the gloomy walls in front, leaving all behindher obscured in darkness. She was, however, soon followed by two otherfemale figures, clad in the same manner, and provided with similarlights. When all were in the gallery, Katherine drew the door softly to,and proceeded in front to lead the way.
"Hist!" said the low, tremulous voice of Cecilia, "they are yet up inthe other parts of the house; and if it be as you suspect, our visitwould betray them, and prove the means of their certain destruction."
"Is the laugh of Colonel Howard in his cups so singular and unknown toyour ear, Cecilia, that you know it not?" said Katherine with a littlespirit; "or do you forget that on such occasions he seldom leaveshimself ears to hear, or eyes to see with? But follow me; it is as Isuspect--it must be as I suspect; and unless we do something to rescuethem, they are lost, unless they have laid a deeper scheme than isapparent."
"It is a dangerous road ye both journey," added the placid tones ofAlice Dunscombe; "but ye are young, and ye are credulous."
"If you disapprove of our visit," said Cecilia, "it cannot be right, andwe had better return."
"No, no: I have said nought to disapprove of your present errand. IfGod has put the lives of those in your custody whom ye have taughtyourselves to look up to with love and reverence, such as woman is boundto yield to one man, he has done it for no idle purpose. Lead us totheir doors, Katherine; let us relieve our doubts, at least."
The ardent girl did not wait for a second bidding, but she led them,with light and quick steps, along the gallery, until they reached itstermination, where they descended to the basement floor by a flight ofnarrow steps; and carefully opening a small door, emerged into the openair. They now stood on a small plat of grass, which lay between thebuilding and the ornamental garden, across which they moved rapidly,concealing their lights, and bending their shrinking forms before theshivering blasts that poured their fury upon them from the ocean. Theysoon reached a large but rough addition to the buildings, that concealedits plain architecture behind the more labored and highly finished partsof the edifice, into which they entered through a massive door thatstood ajar, as if to admit them.
"Chloe has been true to my orders," whispered Katherine, as they passedout of the chilling air; "now, if all the servants are asleep, ourchance to escape unnoticed amounts to certainty."
It became necessary to go through the servants' hall, which theyeffected unobserved, as it had but one occupant, an aged black man, who,being posted with his ear within two feet of a bell, in this attitudehad committed himself to a deep sleep. Gliding through this hall, theyentered divers long and intricate passages, all of which seemed asfamiliar to Katherine as they were unknown to her companions, until theyreached another flight of steps, which they ascended. They were now neartheir goal, and stopped to examine whether any or what difficulties werelikely to be opposed to their further progress.
"Now, indeed, our case seems hopeless," whispered Katherine, as theystood, concealed by the darkness, in one end of an extremely long,narrow passage; "here is the sentinel in the building, instead of being,as I had supposed, under the windows; what is to be done now?"
"Let us return," said Cecilia, in the same manner; "my influence withmy uncle is great, even though he seems unkind to us at times. In themorning I will use it to persuade him to free them, on receiving theirpromise to abandon all such attempts in future."
"In the morning it will be too late," returned Katherine; "I saw thatdemon, Kit Dillon, mount his horse, under the pretence of riding to thegreat hunt of to-morrow, but I know his malicious eye too well tobe deceived in his errand. He is silent that he may be sure; and ifto-morrow comes, and finds Griffith within these walls, he will becondemned to a scaffold."
"Say no more," said Alice Dunscombe, with singular emotion; "some luckycircumstance may aid us with this sentinel."
As she spoke, she advanced: they had not proceeded far, before the sternvoice of the soldier challenged the party.
"'Tis no time to hesitate," whispered Katherine: "we are the ladies ofthe abbey, looking to our domestic affairs," she continued aloud, "andthink it a little remarkable that we are to encounter armed men, whilegoing through our own dwelling."
The soldier respectfully presented his musket, and replied:
"My orders are to guard the doors of these three rooms, ladies; we haveprisoners in them, and as for anything else, my duty will be to serveyou all in my power."
"Prisoners!" exclaimed Katherine, in affected surprise; "does CaptainBorroughcliffe make St. Ruth's Abbey a jail! Of what offences are thepoor men guilty?"
"I know not, my lady; but, as they are sailors, I suppose they have runfrom his majesty's service."
"This is singular, truly! and why are they not sent to the countyprison?"
"This must be examined into," said Cecilia, dropping the mantle frombefore her face. "As mistress of this house, I claim a right to knowwhom its walls contain; you will oblige me by opening the doors, for Isee you have the keys suspended from your belt."
The sentinel hesitated. He was greatly awed by the presence and beautyof the speakers, but a still voice reminded him of his duty. A luckythought, however, interposed to relieve him from his dilemma, and at thesame time to comply with the request, or rather order, of the lady. Ashe handed her the keys, he said:
"Here they are, my lady; my orders are to keep the prisoners in, not tokeep any one out. When you are done with them, you will please to returnthem to me, if it be only to save a poor fellow's eye; for unless thedoor is kept locked, I shall not dare to look about me for a moment."
Cecilia promised to return the keys, and she had applied one of them toa lock with a trembling hand, when Alice Dunscombe arrested her arm, andaddressed the soldier.
"Say you there are three?--are they men in years?"
"No, my lady, all good serviceable lads, who couldn't do better thanto serve his majesty, or, as it may prove, worse than to run from theircolors."
"But are their years and appearance similar? I ask; for I have a friendwho has been guilty of some boyish tricks, and has tried the seas, Ihear, among other foolish hazards."
"There is no boy here. In the far room on the left is a smart,soldier-looking chap, of about thirty, who the captain thinks hascarried a musket before now; on him I am charged to keep a particulareye. Next to him is as pretty a looking youth as eyes could wish to see,and it makes one f
eel mournful to think what he must come to, if hehas really deserted his ship. In the room near you, is a smaller,quiet little body, who might make a better preacher than a sailor, or asoldier either, he has such a gentle way with him."
Alice covered her eyes with her hand a moment, and then recoveringherself, proceeded:
"Gentleness may do more with the unfortunate men than fear; here is aguinea; withdraw to the far end of the passage, where you can watch themas well as here, while we enter, and endeavor to make them confess whoand what they really are."
The soldier took the money, and after looking about him in a littleuncertainty, he at length complied, as it was obviously true they couldonly escape by passing him, near the flight of steps. When he was beyondhearing, Alice Dunscombe turned to her companions, and a slight glowappeared in feverish spots on her cheeks, as she addressed them:
"It would be idle to attempt to hide from you, that I expect to meet theindividual whose voice I must have heard in reality to-night, insteadof only imaginary sounds, as I vainly, if not wickedly, supposed. I havemany reasons for changing my opinion, the chief of which is, that he isleagued with the rebellious Americans in this unnatural war. Nay, chideme not, Miss Plowden; you will remember that I found my being on thisisland. I come here on no vain or weak errand, Miss Howard, but to sparehuman blood." She paused, as if struggling to speak calmly. "But no onecan witness the interview except our God."
"Go, then," said Katherine, secretly rejoicing at her determination,"while we inquire into the characters of the others."
Alice Dunscombe turned the key; and gently opening the door, she desiredher companions to tap for her, as they returned, and then instantlydisappeared in the apartment.
Cecilia and her cousin proceeded to the next door, which they opened insilence, and entered cautiously into the room. Katherine Plowden had sofar examined into the arrangements of Colonel Howard, as to know that atthe same time he had ordered blankets to be provided for the prisoners,he had not thought it necessary to administer any further to theaccommodations of men who had apparently made their beds and pillows ofplanks for the greater part of their lives.
The ladies accordingly found the youthful sailor whom they sought, withhis body rolled in the shaggy covering, extended at his length along thenaked boards, and buried in a deep sleep. So timid were the steps of hisvisitors, and so noiseless was their entrance, that they approached evento his side without disturbing his slumbers. The head of the prisonerlay rudely pillowed on a billet of wood, one hand protecting his facefrom its rough surface, and the other thrust in his bosom, where itrested, with a relaxed grasp, on the handle of a dirk. Although heslept, and that heavily, yet his rest was unnatural and perturbed.His breathing was hard and quick, and something like the low, rapidmurmurings of a confused utterance mingled with his respiration. Themoment had now arrived when the character of Cecilia Howard appeared toundergo an entire change. Hitherto she had been led by her cousin, whoseactivity and enterprise seemed to qualify her so well for the office ofguide; but now she advanced before Katherine, and, extending her lamp insuch a manner as to throw the light across the face of the sleeper, shebent to examine his countenance, with keen and anxious eyes.
"Am I right?" whispered her cousin.
"May God, in His infinite compassion, pity and protect him!" murmuredCecilia, her whole frame involuntarily shuddering, as the convictionthat she beheld Griffith flashed across her mind. "Yes, Katherine, it ishe, and presumptuous madness has driven him here. But time presses; hemust be awakened, and his escape effected at every hazard."
"Nay, then, delay no longer, but rouse him from his sleep."
"Griffith! Edward Griffith!" said the soft tones of Cecilia, "Griffith,awake!"
"Your call is useless, for they sleep nightly among tempests andboisterous sounds," said Katherine; "but I have heard it said that thesmallest touch will generally cause one of them to stir."
"Griffith!" repeated Cecilia, laying her fair hand timidly on his own.
The flash of lightning is not more nimble than the leap that the youngman made to his feet, which he no sooner gained, than his dirk gleamedin the light of the lamps, as he brandished it fiercely with one hand,while with the other he extended a pistol, in a menacing attitude,towards his disturbers.
"Stand back!" he exclaimed; "I am your prisoner only as a corpse."
The fierceness of his front, and the glaring eyeballs, that tolledwildly around, him, appalled Cecilia, who shrank back in fear, droppingher mantle from her person, but still keeping her mild eyes fastened onhis countenance with a confiding gaze, that contradicted her shrinkingattitude, as she replied:
"Edward, it is I; Cecilia Howard, come to save you from destruction; youare known even through your ingenious disguise."
The pistol and the dirk fell together on the blanket of the youngsailor, whose looks instantly lost their disturbed expression in a glowof pleasure.
"Fortune at length favors me!" he cried. "This is kind, Cecilia; morethan I deserve, and much more than I expected. But you are not alone."
"'Tis my cousin Kate; to her piercing eyes you owe your detection,and she has kindly consented to accompany me, that we might urge youto--nay, that we might, if necessary, assist you to fly. For 'tis cruelfolly, Griffith, thus to tempt your fate."
"Have I tempted it, then, in vain! Miss Plowden, to you I must appealfor an answer and a justification."
Katherine looked displeased; but after a moment's hesitation shereplied:
"Your servant, Mr. Griffith; I perceive that the erudite CaptainBarnstable has not only succeeded in spelling through my scrawl, but hehas also given it to all hands for perusal."
"Now you do both him and me injustice," said Griffith; "it surely wasnot treachery to show me a plan in which I was to be a principal actor."
"Ah! doubtless your excuses are as obedient to your calls as your men,"returned the young lady; "but how comes it that the hero of the Arielsends a deputy to perform a duty that is so peculiarly his own? Is hewont to be second in rescues?"
"Heaven forbid that you should think so meanly of him for a moment! Weowe you much, Miss Plowden; but we may have other duties. You know thatwe serve our common country, and have a superior with us, whose beck isour law."
"Return, then, Mr. Griffith, while you may, to the service of ourbleeding country," said Cecilia, "and, after the joint efforts of herbrave children have expelled the intruders from her soil, let us hopethere shall come a time when Katherine and myself may be restored to ournative homes."
"Think you, Miss Howard, to how long a period the mighty arm of theBritish king may extend that time? We shall prevail; a nation fightingfor its dearest rights must ever prevail; but 'tis not the work of aday, for a people, poor, scattered, and impoverished as we have been,to beat down a power like that of England; surely you forget, that inbidding me to leave you with such expectations, Miss Howard, you doom meto an almost hopeless banishment!"
"We must trust to the will of God," said Cecilia; "if he ordain thatAmerica is to be free only after protracted sufferings, I can aid herbut with my prayers; but you have an arm and an experience, Griffith,that might do her better service; waste not your usefulness, then, invisionary schemes for private happiness, but seize the moments as theyoffer, and return to your ship, if indeed it is yet in safety, andendeavor to forget this mad undertaking, and, for a time, the being whohas led you to the adventure."
"This is a reception that I had not anticipated," returned Griffith;"for though accident, and not intention, has thrown me into yourpresence this evening, I did hope that, when I again saw the frigate, itwould be in your company, Cecilia."
"You cannot justly reproach me, Mr. Griffith, with your disappointment;for I have not uttered or authorized a syllable that could induce you orany one to believe that I would consent to quit my uncle."
"Miss Howard will not think me presumptuous, if I remind her that therewas a time when she did not think me unworthy to be entrusted with herperson and happiness."<
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A rich bloom mantled on the face of Cecilia, as she replied:
"Nor do I now, Mr. Griffith; but you do well to remind me of my formerweakness, for the recollection of its folly and imprudence only adds tomy present strength."
"Nay," interrupted her eager lover, "if I intended a reproach, orharbored a boastful thought, spurn me from you forever, as unworthy ofyour favor."
"I acquit you of both much easier than I can acquit myself of the chargeof weakness and folly," continued Cecilia; "but there are many thingsthat have occurred, since we last met, to prevent a repetition of suchinconsiderate rashness on my part. One of them is," she added, smilingsweetly, "that I have numbered twelve additional months to my age, and ahundred to my experience. Another, and perhaps a more important one, is,that my uncle then continued among the friends of his youth, surroundedby those whose blood mingles with his own; but here he lives a stranger;and, though he finds some consolation in dwelling in a building wherehis ancestors have dwelt before him, yet he walks as an alien throughits gloomy passages, and would find the empty honor but a miserablecompensation for the kindness and affection of one whom he has loved andcherished from her infancy."
"And yet he is opposed to you in your private wishes, Cecilia, unlessmy besotted vanity has led me to believe what it would now be madness tolearn was false; and in your opinions of public things, you are quiteas widely separated. I should think there could be but little happinessdependent on a connection where there is no one feeling entertained incommon."
"There is, and an all-important one," said Miss Howard; "'tis our love.He is my kind, my affectionate, and, unless thwarted by some evil cause,my indulgent uncle and guardian,--and I am his brother Harry's child.This tie is not easily to be severed, Mr. Griffith; though, as I do notwish to see you crazed, I shall not add, that your besotted vanity hasplayed you false; but surely, Edward, it is possible to feel a doubletie, and so to act as to discharge our duties to both. I never, nevercan or will consent to desert my uncle, a stranger as he is in the landwhose rule he upholds so blindly. You know not this England, Griffith;she receives her children from the colonies with cold and haughtydistrust, like a jealous stepmother, who is wary of the favors that shebestows on her fictitious offspring."
"I know her in peace, and I know her in war," said the young sailor,proudly, "and can add, that she is a haughty friend, and a stubborn foe;but she grapples now with those who ask no more of her than an open seaand an enemy's favors. But this determination will be melancholy tidingsfor me to convey to Barnstable."
"Nay," said Cecilia, smiling, "I cannot vouch for others who have nouncles, and who have an extra quantity of ill humor and spleen againstthis country, its people, and its laws, although profoundly ignorant ofthem all."
"Is Miss Howard tired of seeing me under the tiles of St. Ruth?" askedKatherine. "But hark! are there not footsteps approaching along thegallery?"
They listened, in breathless silence, and soon heard distinctly theapproaching tread of more than one person. Voices were quite audible,and before they had time to consult on what was best to be done, thewords of the speakers were distinctly heard at the door of their ownapartment.
"Ay! he has a military air about him, Peters, that will make him aprize; come, open the door."
"This is not his room, your honor," said the alarmed soldier; "hequarters in the last room in the gallery."
"How know you that, fellow? come, produce the key, and open the way forme; I care not who sleeps here; there is no saying but I may enlist themall three."
A single moment of dreadful incertitude succeeded, when the sentinel washeard saying, in reply to this peremptory order:
"I thought your honor wanted to see the one with the black stock, and soleft the rest of the keys at the other end of the passage; but----"
"But nothing, you loon; a sentinel should always carry his keys abouthim, like a jailer; follow, then, and let me see the lad who dresses sowell to the right."
As the heart of Katherine began to beat less vehemently, she said:
"'Tis Borroughcliffe, and too drunk to see that we have left the keyin the door; but what is to be done? we have but a moment forconsultation."
"As the day dawns," said Cecilia, "quickly, I shall send here, under thepretence of conveying you food, my own woman----"
"There is no need of risking anything for my safety," interruptedGriffith; "I hardly think we shall be detained, and if we are,Barnstable is at hand with a force that would scatter these recruits tothe four winds of heaven."
"Ah! that would lead to bloodshed, and scenes of horror!" exclaimedCecilia.
"Listen!" cried Katherine, "they approach again!"
A man now stopped, once more, at their door, which was opened softly,and the face of the sentinel was thrust into the apartment.
"Captain Borroughcliffe is on his rounds, and for fifty of your guineasI would not leave you here another minute."
"But one word more," said Cecilia.
"Not a syllable, my lady, for my life," returned the man; "the lady fromthe next room waits for you, and in mercy to a poor fellow go back whereyou came from."
The appeal was unanswerable, and they complied, Cecilia saying, as theyleft the room:
"I shall send you food in the morning, young man, and directions how totake the remedy necessary to your safety."
In the passage they found Alice Dunscombe, with her face concealed inher mantle; and, it would seem, by the heavy sighs that escaped fromher, deeply agitated by the interview which she had just encountered.
But as the reader may have some curiosity to know what occurredto distress this unoffending lady so sensibly, we shall detain thenarrative, to relate the substance of that which passed between her andthe individual whom she sought.