Thus I entered on a period which I look back upon, after fifty
years, as one of the happiest in my life. The steward, Mr. Johnson,
an active, silent man, employed me alternately in practical work
upon the estate--felling trees, repairing fences, and so.
forth--and in keeping his books, for which latter duty my service
with Mr. Vetch had in some sort fitted me. For a week I saw nothing
of my master, and caught but fugitive glimpses of the members of
his family. I suspected, and rightly, as it turned out, that he was
deliberately keeping out of my way, but receiving careful reports
of me from Mr. Johnson.
His name, I learned, was James Allardyce, and his rank was
something above that of a yeoman. He was choleric in temper and
hasty in judgment, but the soul of kindness and generosity, and the
servants loved him. The boy I had felled was his only son, just
home from the school at Rugby; and his niece, Mistress Lucy, as
everyone called her, had but lately become a member of his
household. She was an orphan. Her father had been a planter with
large estates in Jamaica, and on his death she had been brought to
England at his wish by an old nurse, and delivered into the care of
her mother's brother. She had another uncle, it was said--a squire,
her father's brother, who lived somewhat north of Shrewsbury. 'Twas
Susan who told me this; she was a chatterbox, and would have talked
all day to me had I not discouraged her, and then she said I gave
myself airs.
But it was from Roger Allardyce I learned things so surprising that
I wonder I did not betray myself. About a week after I came to the
Hall (so the house was called) I was returning early one morning
from bathing in a stream that crossed the estate, when I met the
boy face to face. He was striding along, whistling, with his towel
over his shoulder, and gave me a look aslant as he passed, then
halted and called after me: "I say, Joe!"
I turned at once, and knew that he bore me no malice for the blow I
had dealt him at our first meeting.
"I say," he repeated, "how did you manage to keep your crown piece
when those poacher fellows bagged your money?"
I could not forbear smiling at this blunt manner of holding out the
olive branch. I told him of my fight with the man called Topper.
"Wish I had seen it," he said, laughing heartily. "And I wish it
had happened a day or two before, for if you had been settled here
then you could have plied your fists to some better purpose."
I asked him to explain.
"Why, a lubber of a fellow rode over from Shrewsbury; he's a cousin
of mine, more's the pity, and a king's officer, by George! There
were two other officers with him, and they had been drinking, and
they insisted on coming in, and stayed ever so long playing the
fool. Father was in Bridgenorth, and Giles with him, and the other
men were not at hand, and we had to put up with their tomfoolery,
which soon drove mother and Lucy from the room: but if you had been
there we could have contrived to fling them out between us."
"I would have done my best," I said.
"How is the water?" he asked.
"Fresh, with a wholesome sting," I replied, and then, giving me a
friendly nod, he went on to his bath.
Here was strange news, I thought, as I returned to the house. I
could have no doubt that the obnoxious visitors were Dick Cludde
and his friends: for it was hardly possible that three other king's
officers should have ridden out of Shrewsbury in this direction on
the same day. If Cludde had come once he might come again, and
should he catch sight of me my story would not only be known to my
employer, but would be spread all over Shrewsbury--a thing I could
not contemplate with satisfaction. It crossed my mind that 'twould
be safer to leave Mr. Allardyce and seek employment with some other
yeoman; but from this course two reasons deterred me: first, the
liking I had taken for him and his family; second, an obstinate
reluctance to allow Dick Cludde in any way to alter my plans. It
would not be difficult, I reflected, for one in my humble position
to avoid him should he come to the house, and if I needs must meet
him, I should even welcome the occasion for bundling him out neck
and crop if he proved a troublesome visitor.
My resolution was strengthened a few days afterwards. Since the
morning when Roger Allardyce had first addressed me, a friendship
had sprung up between us, with a rapidity only possible to boys. We
bathed together of mornings; he would come and chat to me when I
was at my work; and the hours of work being over, he would lug me
into a little outhouse he kept as his own, and show me his
treasures--guns, and fishing tackle, a breastplate worn by his
grandfather in the Civil War, an oak-apple from the tree in which
King Charles had hidden after the battle of Worcester. He treated
me as his equal, and once, when I alluded to my dependent position,
his curiosity, which with excellent well-bred delicacy he kept in
check, got the better of him, and he begged me to tell him all
about myself, swearing never to reveal it to a soul. But I cleaved
to my determination; all I would tell him was what he knew already,
that I was a penniless orphan bent on making my way in the world.
Well, one evening, when I returned from my work in the fields, I
found him waiting for me with excitement plainly writ on his open
face. He dragged me to his outhouse, and having shut the door,
said:
"I say, Joe, there's a storm brewing, and we may need your fists.
You remember I told you about my cousin riding over from
Shrewsbury? Well, his father came today--Sir Richard Cludde, a big
red-faced bully of a man. He's Lucy's uncle, you know; her father
was his brother, and they quarreled, and hadn't seen each other for
twenty years. But now he declares that he is Lucy's legal guardian;
his brother died suddenly and left no will, and he came today to
claim her as his ward. Father wouldn't hear of it; but told him
Lucy had been brought here by the express command of her father,
and he refused to give her up. The squire was in a terrible rage:
'tis said he has fallen on evil times, and is set on getting a hold
on Lucy's property in Jamaica, and making a match between her and
his son Dick--the lubber I told you of. There was an angry scene
'twixt him and father, you could have heard him roaring all over
the house, and he went away in a towering passion, swearing that
we'd not heard the last of it, and he'd go to law, and he'd beat us
even though it cost him his last penny, and more to the same
effect. Father makes light of it, but I know he is uneasy: he has
been several times of late to see his lawyer in Bridgenorth, and
'tis by no means clear how the law will decide. There will be
trouble, for Sir Richard is an obstinate man, and I'm glad you are
here, for we are not going to let Lucy leave us, and if he comes
one day to take her by force we'll make a fight for it, Joe. And
I'll tell you what: you must teach me how to use my fists. Shall we
begin now, Joe?"
I smiled at his eagerness, and though I was tired after my day's
work I would not disappoint him, but stripped off my coat, and then
and there began his instruction in what my old friend the captain
called the noble art of self defense. He proved an apt pupil, and I
a conscientious teacher, pleasing myself with the thought that by
making him expert in boxing I was maybe gathering interest on Dick
Cludde's crown piece. And being then of the age when romantic ideas
get some hold upon a boy's mind, I flattered myself also that by
staying on at the Hall I became in some sort a defender of fair
Lucy Cludde, who was far too good, I vowed, for that pudding-headed
lubber Dick.
After this Roger and I became faster friends than ever. We had
constant sparring matches and some practice also with singlestick
and foils; and Mr. Johnson would let me off sometimes of an
afternoon to go a-fishing with the boy. Before I had been a month
at the Hall there were few likely streams for miles around that I
did not know. All this time I had seen very little of the other
members of the family. Mr. Allardyce was putting me to probation,
inquiring of my diligence from Mr. Johnson, and hearing somewhat of
me from his son. As for Mistress Lucy, I deliberately avoided her.
I had cut anything but an heroic figure at our two meetings, and
though I was ready to engage in mortal fray as her champion, the
recollection of my abashment before her caused me to hold aloof.
She and Roger would sometimes go riding together, and I thought
with a bitter envy that, but for the misfortune that had befallen
me, I might have made one of the party, though in truth I
remembered, a moment afterwards, that but for this same misfortune
I should very likely never have seen her.
Thus matters went on for upwards of a month. My wages, which I had
scrupulously saved, amounted to something above twenty-five
shillings--enough to pay my way to Bristowe. There was no reason
why I should remain longer at the Hall, and indeed I was beginning
to grow restive under my servitude, light as it was, and to think
more and more eagerly of my interrupted purpose. One day,
therefore, I sought an interview with Mr. Allardyce, and told him
that having now enough money for my needs I wished to leave his
service and set forth on my way. He laughed and said:
"I wondered how long 'twould go on. You are still bent upon your
travels, then?"
I assured him that such was the case, thanked him for his kindness,
and asked to be allowed to go on the following Monday: it was then
Friday.
"Well, Joe," says he, "I won't stay you. Mr. Johnson has given me
good reports of you, and as for Roger, he is never tired of singing
your praises. According to him, you are a past master in exercises
of arms, and I confess I had hopes you would give up your scheme
and return to your friends and take the position you were clearly
bred for: then Roger and you might have been companions still. But
'twas not to be; very well; on Monday we shall bid you our adieux,
and we shall look to see you someday when you have made a name for
yourself--which to be sure will not be Joe."
I was up early next morning, and was going off for my customary
swim when, on crossing a stile, I saw a figure draw back into a
coppice bounding the field. Thinking it was Roger who had been
before me, I called to him, but receiving no answer, and wondering
who could be abroad at that early hour--for the men of the estate
were engaged in their duties elsewhere--I sprang down and strode
off to the coppice, moved by some little curiosity. But though I
walked to and fro among the trees for some time, I saw no one, and
concluding that it was probably some poacher returning home from
his night's work I went on to the bathing place, resolved to give a
hint to Mr. Johnson.
Roger joined me presently, with a glum face.
"Oh, I say, Joe," he said, "this is deuced bad news. Father says
you are leaving us on Monday."
"Yes, I have been here long enough," I said.
"Of course, I didn't expect you to work here forever, but I did
think you would change your mind and remain friends with me."
"We shall always be friends, you and I, I hope," I said, "but it
will be on a different footing. I could not work here forever, as
you say: and if I mean to do anything in the world 'tis time I set
about it. Maybe five years hence I shall return, and you will not
be ashamed to own me for a friend."
"Ashamed! When was I ever ashamed? Why, we think a world of you,
father and mother and Lucy, too. When father told us last night,
they were sorry, yet glad, too, I own. Mother said she was sure you
would get on, and I know you will, but all the same I wish you were
not going. I say, tell me your real name, and if you have a bother
with your people I'll go and see them, I swear I will, and persuade
'em to forgive you."
How surprised he would have been, I thought, if I had told him that
the people whom I had not wronged, but who had done me wrong, were
relatives of his own! But I would not tell him, and when we had
finished our swim and were returning to the house, he declared that
he also would leave home; there was no fun in being a yeoman, he
said: and if a fellow like Dick Cludde could be an officer in the
king's navy, so could he--or in the army, and he would persuade his
father to let him go, by George he would! And he asked me to write
to him, so that he might know where to find me when his great plan
came to execution.
On Monday morning at half-past seven, after a good breakfast, I was
at the gate, girt and equipped for my journey. The poachers'
garments had, of course, long been discarded, and I was clad in the
suit of serviceable homespun obtained for me from Bridgenorth in
the first days of my service, and now but little the worse for
wear. All the family was at the gate to bid me farewell, even
Mistress Lucy, in her riding habit, for she was wont to go for an
hour's canter on fine mornings, before breakfast at half-past
eight. The adieux were said; all wished me well; Mr. Allardyce, as
a parting shot, said that I should always find a job on his estate
if I fell in with more poachers, or if my fortunes at Bristowe did
not turn out to my liking; and then, my heart warm with their
kindness, I set off up the road.
Six or seven miles lay between me and the highroad to Bristowe
through Worcester and Gloucester, but I knew of a short cut four
miles from the Hall, which would bring me into the road at the
turnpike at Deuxhill, some way farther south, and save a good three
miles of the road. I had learned of this short cut in the course of
my fishing expeditions with Roger; it was the nearest way to the
Borle Brook, where our angling had ever the best success--a narrow
track striking off to the right, very rutty and rough, bordered by
hedges, and uphill but not steep.
I had tramped three miles or more, at a good pace, when I heard
galloping horses behind me, and the rumble of wheels. Turning
about, I saw a coach drawn by three horses, with a postilion on the
leader, approaching at a great rate, jolting and swaying in a
manner that bespoke desperate haste.
I stood aside to let it pass, holding my nose against the whirling
dust cloud it raised, and giving it but a glance as it rattled by.
The shutters were up; I could not see whether it held anybody; and
when it had passed I again took the middle of the road, wondering
idly what necessity there might be for so great speed. Only a
minute or two afterwards I heard a light patter close at my heels,
and looking back without stopping, I was surprised to see the big
black retriever which belonged to Mistress Lucy, and with which,
since my first meeting with him in the garden, I had been on
friendly terms. The dog uttered a low bark when he recognized me,
fawned upon me, and then set off running ahead. I noticed now that
the beast left a thin trail of blood on the ground. He had not run
far when he stopped, turned round, and barked as if to invite me
on, not waiting, however, to see whether I responded.
For a moment I was too much taken up with wondering by what mishap
the dog had been wounded to connect his appearance, and his evident
wish to urge me on, with the coach that had lately passed. But then
the connection struck upon me in a flash, and I began to run with
all my might. The dog had doubtless accompanied his mistress on her
morning ride; he could only have been wounded in defending her; she
must have been waylaid, and, thought linking itself with thought, I
guessed that Sir Richard Cludde had taken this means of asserting
his claim to her guardianship, and the man I had seen in the
coppice a few days before was an emissary of his. Without a doubt
she was now a prisoner in the coach, being carried against her will
to Shrewsbury.
The road here ran steeply downhill, and the coach was out of sight
round a bend. Without pausing to consider the chances of overtaking
it, I leapt rather than ran forward, soon outstripping the dog,
which had done his best, poor beast, but was now well-nigh
exhausted. I flung away my staff, that encumbered me, and tore
headlong down the hill, till, coming to the bend, where the road
sloped upwards, I caught sight once more of the coach, no more than
half a mile ahead of me. This surprised me, for neither the ascent
nor my speed could account for its nearness, and I wondered, as I
pounded after it, whether I had after all been mistaken.
But the matter was explained when I came to the inn that stood at
the point where my short cut branched off. I saw wheel tracks to
the right, crossed by similar tracks back again to the road, and I
guessed that the postilion had intended to drive his horses down
the byroad, but having found it too rough or too narrow had been
compelled to return, even at the cost of loss of time in backing.
My heart leapt with exultation; the kidnappers were not making for
Shrewsbury after all; they purposed driving southward, with what
design I could not guess, nor did I stop to consider, for in a
twinkling I saw a possibility of intercepting them. Dashing into
the inn, much to the amazement of the innkeeper, who had sometimes
served Roger and me with a pot of ale as we returned from fishing,
I told him my suspicions in quick, breathless gasps, and bade him
send to Mr. Allardyce for assistance, and to follow me, if he
could, along the byroad to Deuxhill. The man was not too
quick-witted, and I could have beaten him for his slowness to
comprehend the urgency of the affair. But some glimmering of it
dawning upon him, he promised to borrow a horse from Farmer Grubb
close by, he having none of his own, and to send a messenger back
to the Hall. Without further parley I left him, and set off along
the byroad, scarce giving a glance to the poor dog limping
painfully towards the inn.