CHAPTER XXVIII.
"He looks abroad, and soon appears, O'er Horncliffe-hill, a plump of spears, Beneath a pennon gay." _Marmion._
The sharp sounds of the supper-bell were ringing along the gallery, asMiss Plowden gained the gloomy passage; and she quickened her steps tojoin the ladies, in order that no further suspicions might be excitedby her absence.--Alice Dunscombe was already proceeding to the diningparlor, as Katherine passed through the door of the drawing-room; butMiss Howard had loitered behind, and was met by her cousin alone.
"You have then been so daring as to venture, Katherine!" exclaimedCecilia.
"I have," returned the other, throwing herself into a chair, to recoverher agitation--"I have, Cecilia; and I have met Barnstable, who willsoon be in the abbey, and its master."
The blood which had rushed to the face of Cecilia on first seeingher cousin now retreated to her heart, leaving every part of her finecountenance of the whiteness of her polished temples, as she said:
"And we are to have a night of blood!"
"We are to have a night of freedom, Miss Howard; freedom to you, and tome: to Andrew Merry, to Griffith and to his companion!"
"What freedom more than we now enjoy Katherine, is needed by two youngwomen? Think you I can remain silent, and see my uncle betrayed beforemy eyes? his life perhaps endangered!"
"Your own life and person will not be held more sacred, Cecilia Howard,than that of your uncle. If you will condemn Griffith to a prison,and perhaps to a gibbet, betray Barnstable, as you have threatened--anopportunity will not be wanting at the supper-table, whither I shalllead the way, since the mistress of the house appears to forget herduty."
Katharine arose, and with a firm step and proud eye she moved along thegallery to the room where their presence was expected by the rest ofthe family. Cecilia followed in silence, and the whole party immediatelytook their several places at the board.
The first few minutes were passed in the usual attentions of thegentlemen to the ladies, and the ordinary civilities of the table;during which Katherine had so far regained the equanimity of herfeelings, as to commence a watchful scrutiny of the manners and looksof her guardian and Borroughcliffe, in which she determined to persevereuntil the eventful hour when she was to expect Barnstable should arrive.Colonel Howard had, however, so far got the command of himself, as nolonger to betray his former abstraction. In its place Katherinefancied, at moments, that she could discover a settled look of conscioussecurity, mingled a little with an expression of severe determination;such as, in her earlier days, she had learned to dread as sureindications of the indignant, but upright, justice of an honorable mind.Borroughcliffe, on the other hand, was cool, polite, and as attentiveto the viands as usual, with the alarming exception of discovering muchless devotion to the Pride of the Vineyards than he commonly manifestedon such occasions. In this manner the meal passed by, and the clothwas removed, though the ladies appeared willing to retain their placeslonger than was customary. Colonel Howard, filling up the glassesof Alice Dunscombe and himself, passed the bottle to the recruitingofficer, and, with a sort of effort that was intended to rouse thedormant cheerfulness of his guests, cried:
"Come Borroughcliffe, the ruby lips of your neighbors would be stillmore beautiful, were they moistened with this rich cordial, and that,too, accompanied by some loyal sentiment. Miss Alice is ever ready toexpress her fealty to her sovereign; in her name, I can give the healthof his most sacred majesty, with defeat and death to all traitors!"
"If the prayers of an humble subject, and one of a sex that has butlittle need to mingle in the turmoil of the world, and that has lessright to pretend to understand the subtleties of statesmen, can muchavail a high and mighty prince like him who sits on the throne, thenwill he never know temporal evil," returned Alice, meekly; "but I cannotwish death to any one, not even to my enemies, if any I have, and muchless to a people who are the children of the same family with myself."
"Children of the same family!" the colonel repeated, slowly, and with abitterness of manner that did not fail to attract the painful interestof Katherine: "children of the same family! Ay! even as Absalom was thechild of David, or as Judas was of the family of the holy Apostles! Butlet it pass unpledged--let it pass. The accursed spirit of rebellionhas invaded my dwelling, and I no longer know where to find one of myhousehold that has not been assailed by its malign influence!"
"Assailed I may have been among others," returned Alice; "but notcorrupted, if purity, in this instance, consists in loyalty--"
"What sound is that?" interrupted the colonel, with startlingsuddenness. "Was it not the crash of some violence, CaptainBorroughcliffe?"
"It may have been one of my rascals who has met with a downfall inpassing from the festive board--where you know I regale them to-night,in honor of our success--to his blanket," returned the captain, withadmirable indifference; "or it may be the very spirit of whom you havespoken so freely, my host, that has taken umbrage at your remarks, andis passing from the hospitable walls of St. Ruth into the open air,without submitting to the small trouble of ascertaining the position ofdoors. In the latter case there may be some dozen perches or so of wallto replace in the morning."
The colonel, who had risen, glanced his eyes uneasily from the speakerto the door, and was evidently but little disposed to enter into thepleasantry of his guest.
"There are unusual noises, Captain Borroughcliffe, in the grounds ofthe abbey, if not in the building itself," he said advancing with a finemilitary air from the table to the centre of the room, "and as masterof the mansion I will inquire who it is that thus unseasonably disturbsthese domains. If as friends, they shall have welcome, though theirvisit be unexpected; and if enemies, they shall also meet with such areception as will become an old soldier!"
"No, no," cried Cecilia, entirely thrown off her guard by the mannerand language of the veteran and rushing into his arms. "Go not out, myuncle; go not into the terrible fray, my kind, my good uncle! youare old, you have already done more than your duty; why should you beexposed to danger?"
"The girl is mad with terror, Borroughcliffe," cried the colonel,bending his glistening eyes fondly on his niece, "and you will have tofurnish my good-for-nothing, gouty old person with a corporal's guard,to watch my nightcap, or the silly child will have an uneasy pillow,till the sun rises once more. But you do not stir, sir?"
"Why should I?" cried the captain; "Miss Plowden yet deigns to keep mecompany, and it is not in the nature of one of the --th to desert hisbottle and his standard at the same moment. For, to a true soldier, thesmiles of a lady are as imposing in the parlor as the presence of hiscolors in the field."
"I continue undisturbed, Captain Borroughcliffe," said Katherine,"because I have not been an inhabitant, for so many months, of St. Ruth,and not learned to know the tunes which the wind can play among itschimneys and pointed roofs. The noise which has taken Colonel Howardfrom his seat, and which has so unnecessarily alarmed my cousin Cicely,is nothing but the AEolian harp of the abbey sounding a double bass."
The captain fastened on her composed countenance, while she wasspeaking, a look of open admiration, that brought, though tardily,the color more deeply to her cheeks: and he answered with somethingextremely equivocal, both in his emphasis and his air:
"I have avowed my allegiance, and I will abide by it. So long as MissPlowden will deign to bestow her company, so long will she find me amongher most faithful and persevering attendants, come who may, or whatwill."
"You compel me to retire," returned Katherine, rising, "whatever mayhave been my gracious intentions in the matter; for even female vanitymust crimson, at an adoration so profound as that which can chainCaptain Borroughcliffe to a supper-table! As your alarm has nowdissipated, my cousin, will you lead the way? Miss Alice and myselfattend you."
"But not into the paddock, surely, Miss Plowden," said the captain;"the door, the key of which you have just turned, communicates with thevestibule. This is the passage to the drawing-room."
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The lady faintly laughed, as if in derision of her own forgetfulness,while she bowed her acknowledgment, and moved towards the properpassage: she observed:
"The madness of fear has assailed some, I believe, who have been able toaffect a better disguise than Miss Howard."
"Is it the fear of present danger, or of that which is in reserve?"asked the captain; "but, as you have stipulated so generously in behalfof my worthy host here, and of one, also, who shall be nameless, becausehe has not deserved such a favor at your hands, your safety shall be oneof my especial duties in these times of peril."
"There is peril, then!" exclaimed Cecilia; "your looks announce it.Captain Borroughcliffe! The changing countenance of my cousin tells methat my fears are too true!"
The soldier had now risen also, and, casting aside the air of badinage,which he so much delighted in, he came forward into the centre of theapartment, with the manner of one who felt it was time to be serious.
"A soldier is ever in peril, when the enemies of his king are at hand,Miss Howard," he answered: "and that such is now the case, MissPlowden can testify, if she will. But you are the allies of bothparties--retire, then, to your own apartments, and await the result ofthe struggle which is at hand."
"You speak of danger and hidden perils," said Alice Dunscombe; "know yeaught that justifies your fears?"
"I know all," Borroughcliffe coolly replied.
"All!" exclaimed Katherine.
"All!" echoed Alice, in tones of horror, "If, then, you know all, youmust know his desperate courage, and powerful hand, when opposed--yieldin quiet, and he will not harm ye. Believe me, believe one who knowshis very nature, that no lamb can be more gentle than he would be withunresisting women; nor any lion more fierce, with his enemies!"
"As we happen not to be of the feminine gender," returnedBorroughcliffe, with an air somewhat splenetic, "we must abide the furyof the king of beasts. His paw is, even now, at the outer door; and, ifmy orders have been obeyed, his entrance will be yet easier than thatof the wolf to the respectable female ancestor of the littleRed-riding-hood."
"Stay your hand for one single moment!" said Katherine, breathless withinterest; "you are the master of my secret, Captain Borroughcliffe, andbloodshed may be the consequence. I can yet go forward, and, perhaps,save many inestimable lives. Pledge to me your honor, that they who comehither as your enemies, this night, shall depart in peace, and I willpledge to you my life for the safety of the abbey."
"Oh! hear her, and shed not human blood!" cried Cecilla.
A loud crash interrupted further speech, and the sounds of heavyfootsteps were heard in the adjoining room, as if many men werealighting on its floor, in quick succession. Borroughcliffe drew back,with great coolness, to the opposite side of the large apartment, andtook a sheathed sword from the table where it had been placed; at thesame moment the door was burst open, and Barnstable entered alone, butheavily armed.
"You are my prisoners, gentlemen," said the sailor, as he advanced;"resistance is useless, and without it you shall receive favor. Ha, MissPlowden! my advice was that you should not be present at this scene."
"Barnstable, we are betrayed!" cried the agitated Katherine. "But itis not yet too late. Blood has not yet been spilt, and you can retire,without that dreadful alternative, with honor. Go, then, delay notanother moment; for should the soldiers of Captain Borroughcliffe cometo the rescue of their commander, the abbey would be a scene of horror!"
"Go you away; go, Katherine," said her lover, with impatience; "this isno place for such as you. But, Captain Borroughcliffe, if such be yourname, you must perceive that resistance is in vain. I have ten goodpikes in this outer room, in twenty better hands, and it will be madnessto fight against such odds."
"Show me your strength," said the captain, "that I may take counsel withmine honor."
"Your honor shall be appeased, my brave soldier, for such is yourbearing, though your livery is my aversion, and your cause most unholy!Heave ahead, boys! but hold your hands for orders."
The party of fierce-looking sailors whom Barnstable led, on receivingthis order, rushed into the room in a medley; but, notwithstanding thesurly glances, and savage characters of their dress and equipments, theystruck no blow, nor committed any act of hostility. The ladies shrankback appalled, as this terrific little band took possession of the hall;and even Borroughcliffe was seen to fall back towards a door which, insome measure, covered his retreat. The confusion of this suddenmovement had not yet subsided, when sounds of strife were heard rapidlyapproaching from a distant part of the building, and presently one ofthe numerous doors of the apartment was violently opened, when two ofthe garrison of the abbey rushed into the hall, vigorously pressed bytwice their number of seamen, seconded by Griffith, Manual, and Merry,who were armed with such weapons of offence as had presented themselvesto their hands, at their unexpected liberation. There was a movement onthe part of the seamen who were already in possession of the room, thatthreatened instant death to the fugitives; but Barnstable beat downtheir pikes with his sword, and sternly ordered them to fall back.Surprise produced the same pacific result among the combatants; and asthe soldiers hastily sought a refuge behind their own officers, andthe released captives, with their liberators, joined the body of theirfriends, the quiet of the hall, which had been so rudely interrupted,was soon restored.
"You see, sir," said Barnstable, after grasping the hands of Griffithand Manual in a warm and cordial pressure, "that all my plans havesucceeded. Your sleeping guard are closely watched in their barracksby one party; our officers are released and your sentinels cut off byanother; while, with a third, I hold the centre of the abbey, and am,substantially, in possession of your own person. In consideration,therefore, of what is due to humanity, and to the presence of theseladies, let there be no struggle! I shall impose no difficult terms, norany long imprisonment."
The recruiting officer manifested a composure throughout the whole scenethat would have excited some uneasiness in his invaders, had there beenopportunity for minute observation; but his countenance now graduallyassumed an appearance of anxiety, and his head was frequently turned, asif listening for further and more important interruptions. He answered,however, to this appeal with his ordinary deliberation.
"You speak of conquests, sir, before they are achieved. My venerablehost and myself are not so defenceless as you may chose to imagine."While speaking he threw aside the cloth of a side table, from beneathwhich the colonel and himself were instantly armed with a brace ofpistols each. "Here are the death-warrants of four of your party, andthese brave fellows at my back can account for two more. I believe, mytransatlantic warrior, that we are now something in the conditionof Cortes and the Mexicans, when the former overran part of yourcontinent--I being Cortes, armed with artificial thunder and lightning,and you the Indians, with nothing but your pikes and sling, and suchother antediluvian inventions. Shipwrecks and seawater are fatal dampersof gunpowder!"
"That we are unprovided with firearms, I will not deny," saidBarnstable; "but we are men who are used, from infancy, to depend on ourgood right arms for life and safety, and we know how to use them, thoughwe should even grapple with death! As for the trifles in your hands,gentlemen, you are not to suppose that men who are trained to look in atone end of a thirty-two pounder, loaded with grape, while the match isput to the other, will so much as wink at their report, though youfired them by fifties. What say you, boys, is a pistol a weapon to repelboarders?"
The discordant and disdainful laughs that burst from the restrainedseamen were a sufficient pledge of their indifference to so triflinga danger. Borroughcliffe noted their hardened boldness, and taking thesupper bell, which was lying near him, he rang it, for a minute, withgreat violence. The heavy tread of trained footsteps soon followed thisextraordinary summons; and presently the several doors of the apartmentwere opened, and filled with armed soldiers, wearing the livery of theEnglish crown.
"If you hold these smaller weapons in such vast contempt," s
aid therecruiting officer, when he perceived that his men had possessedthemselves of all the avenues, "it is in my power to try the virtue ofsome more formidable. After this exhibition of my strength, gentlemen, Ipresume you cannot hesitate to submit as prisoners of war."
The seamen had been formed in something like military array, by theassiduity of Manual, during the preceding dialogue; and as the differentdoors had discovered fresh accessions to the strength of the enemy,the marine industriously offered new fronts, until the small partywas completely arranged in a hollow square, that might have provedformidable in a charge, bristled as it was with the deadly pikes of theAriel.
"Here has been some mistake," said Griffith, after glancing his eyeat the formidable array of the soldiers; "I take precedence of Mr.Barnstable, and I shall propose to you, Captain Borroughcliffe, termsthat may remove this scene of strife from the dwelling of ColonelHoward."
"The dwelling of Colonel Howard," cried the veteran, "is the dwellingof his king, or of the meanest servant of the crown! so, Borroughcliffe,spare not the traitors on my behalf; accept no other terms than suchunconditional submission as is meet to exact from the rebellioussubjects of the anointed of the Lord."
While Griffith spoke, Barnstable folded his arms, in affected composure,and glanced his eyes expressively at the shivering Katherine, who, withher companions, still continued agitated spectators of all that passed,chained to the spot by their apprehensions; but to this formidabledenunciation of the master of the abbey he deemed proper to reply:
"Now, by every hope I have of sleeping again on salt water, oldgentleman if it were not for the presence of these three tremblingfemales, I should feel tempted to dispute, at once, the title of hismajesty. You may make such a covenant as you will with Mr. Griffith,but if it contain one syllable about submission to your king, or of anyother allegiance than that which I owe to the Continental Congress, andthe State of Massachusetts, you may as well consider the terms violatedat once; for not an article of such an agreement will I consider asbinding on me, or on any that shall choose to follow me as leader."
"Here are but two leaders, Mr. Barnstable," interrupted the haughtyGriffith; "the one of the enemy, and the other of the arms of America.Captain Borroughclffe, to you, as the former, I address myself. Thegreat objects of the contest which now unhappily divides England fromher ancient colonies can be, in no degree, affected by the events ofthis night; while, on the other hand, by a rigid adherence to militarynotions, much private, evil and deep domestic calamity must follow anystruggle in such a place. We have but to speak, sir, and these rude men,who already stand impatiently handling their instruments of death, willaim them at each other's lives; and who can say that he shall be able tostay their hands when and where he will. I know you to be a soldier,and that you are not yet to learn how much easier it is to stimulate toblood than to glut vengeance."
Borroughcliffe, unused to the admission of violent emotions, and securein the superiority of his own party, both in numbers and equipments,heard him with the coolest composure to the end, and then answered inhis customary manner:
"I honor your logic, sir. Your premises are indisputable, and theconclusion most obvious. Commit then these worthy tars to the goodkeeping of honest Drill, who will see their famished natures revived bydivers eatables and a due proportion of suitable fluids; while we candiscuss the manner in which you are to return to the colonies, around abottle of liquor, which my friend Manual there assures me has come fromthe sunny side of the island of Madeira, to be drunk in a bleak cornerof that of Britain. By my palate! but the rascals brighten at thethought. They know by instinct, sir, that a shipwrecked mariner is afitter companion to a ration of beef and a pot of porter than to suchunsightly things as bayonets and boarding-pikes!"
"Trifle, not unseasonably!" exclaimed the impatient young sailor. "Youhave the odds in numbers, but whether it will avail you much in a deadlystruggle of hand to hand, is a question you must put to your prudence:we stand not here to ask terms, but to grant them. You must be brief,sir; for the time is wasting while we delay."
"I have offered to you the means of obtaining, in perfection, theenjoyment of the three most ancient of the numerous family of thearts--eating, drinking, and sleeping! What more do you require?"
"That you order these men, who fill the pass to the outer door, to fallback and give us room. I would take, in peace, these armed men frombefore the eyes of those who are unused to such sights. Before youoppose this demand, think how easily these hardy fellows could make away for themselves, against your divided force."
"Your companion, the experienced Captain Manual, will tell you that sucha manoeuvre would be very unmilitary with a superior body in your rear!"
"I have not leisure, sir, for this folly," cried the indignant Griffith."Do you refuse us an unmolested retreat from the abbey?"
"I do."
Griffith turned with a look of extreme emotion to the ladies, andbeckoned to them to retire, unable to give utterance to his wishes inwords. After a moment of deep silence, however, he once more addressedBorroughcliffe in the tones of conciliation.
"If Manual and myself will return to our prisons, and submit to the willof your government," he said, "can the rest of the party return to thefrigate unmolested?"
"They cannot," replied the soldier, who, perceiving that the crisisapproached, was gradually losing his artificial deportment in theinterest of the moment. "You, and all others who willingly invade thepeace of these realms, must abide the issue!"
"Then God protect the innocent and defend the right!"
"Amen."
"Give way, villains!" cried Griffith, facing the party that held theouter door; "give way, or you shall be riddled with our pikes!"
"Show them your muzzles, men!" shouted Borroughcliffe, "but pull notrigger till they advance."
There was an instant of bustle and preparation, in which the rattlingof firearms blended with the suppressed execrations and threats of theintended combatants; and Cecilia and Katherine had both covered theirfaces to veil the horrid sight that was momentarily expected, whenAlice Dunscombe advanced, boldly, between the points of the threateningweapons, and spoke in a voice that stayed the hands that were alreadyuplifted.
"Hear me, men! if men ye be, and not demons, thirsting for each other'sblood; though ye walk abroad in the semblance of Him who died that yemight be elevated to the rank of angels! Call ye this war? Is this theglory that is made to warm the hearts of even silly and confiding women?Is the peace of families to be destroyed to gratify your wicked lust forconquest, and is life to be taken in vain, in order that ye may boastof the foul deed in your wicked revels? Fall back, then, ye Britishsoldiers! if ye be worthy of that name, and give passage to a woman; andremember that the first shot that is fired will be buried in her bosom!"
The men, thus enjoined, shrank before her commanding mien, and a way wasmade for her exit through that very door which Griffith had, in vain,solicited might be cleared for himself and party. But Alice, insteadof advancing, appeared to have suddenly lost the use of those facultieswhich had already effected so much. Her figure seemed rooted to the spotwhere she had spoken, and her eyes were fixed in a Settled gaze, as ifdwelling on some horrid object, While she yet stood in this attitudeof unconscious helplessness, the doorway became again darkened, and thefigure of the Pilot was seen on its threshold, clad, as usual, in thehumble vestments of his profession, but heavily armed with the weaponsof naval war. For an instant, he stood a silent spectator of the scene;and then advanced calmly, but with searching eyes, into the centre ofthe apartment.