TWO FRIENDS.
Admiral Drake sat amidst his roses, watching the tide as it raced up
the river. Every day he sat thus, unless some pressing duty forbade,
for the sea held first place in his heart. When the tide was out, the
river was dull and dreary enough to the heart of the bold sailor. To
gaze on a stretch of a mile or more of sand and mud, with a shallow,
yellow stream dividing it into two unequal portions, is not
exhilarating; but when the sea makes its wild rush up the estuary,
quickly filling the wide river-bed from bank to bank, then the Severn
is noble enough, and one looks upon it with pride. The swirl and roar
of the waters was music to Sir Francis, and the tide was an old and
well-beloved friend that came up daily to embrace him. The happiest of
the knight's waking hours were those he spent by the side of the
flowing salt stream.
There was a click at the latch of the garden gate, and a most elegant
gentleman sauntered gracefully in. His doublet was of blue, slashed
silk, his feathered cap was of a colour to match, and there were golden
buckles to his shoes and golden hilts to sword and dagger. His beard
was trimmed to a dainty point, and curling locks slightly flecked with
white hung down to his broad shoulders. The admiral, in his gray
homespun, his short, frizzled hair bared to the breeze, turned at the
sound of approaching footsteps, caught sight of the gentleman in blue,
and sprang up to greet him.
"Now the winds of heaven be thanked for wafting thee hither, dear Wat,"
he cried. "Thou art more welcome than a fine day."
And the bluff sailor took the dainty visitor in his arms and kissed him
lovingly on both cheeks. Embrace and kiss were heartily returned, and,
arm in arm, the two sought the garden seat, and sat down to gaze on the
sunlit waters and exchange tidings. Raleigh--for the visitor was none
other than the famous knight of Devon--placed his sword across his knee
and began the conversation; the rough and ready admiral was a better
listener than talker.
"The Queen hath sent thee some coils of stout rope by my hand."
"Oh!"
"She saith that she hath had no news of Spanish acorns dangling from
the Dean oaks. Her words to me were: 'Tell my knight of the seas not
to spare the hemp where traitors are concerned. To hang none is to let
all escape, whereas to hang on reasonable suspicion is a sure way to
rid his plantations of many knaves. If he should make a mistake,
through excess of zeal, tell him that our pardon is assured
beforehand.'"
Drake smiled. "'Tis a good thing there is but one woman in the
government, and that men are entrusted with the carrying out of her
orders. Beshrew me, Wat, let but a scare be started and she would hang
every ill-favoured fellow she clapped eyes on."
Raleigh laughed. "Thou hast no faculty for comprehending the whimsies
and oddities of womankind, especially royal womankind."
"That is but sober truth. I can see in a bee-line as well as most men,
but I cannot follow all the twists and turns of our royal lady's
pathway. Bethink thee how she treated me when I came home from my
voyage round the world, my vessel crammed to the hatchway with Spanish
treasure. Before the court she frowned on me, called me no better than
a sea-thief, and threatened me with a hanging. Aboard my vessel, when
none were there but Cecil, Leicester, and thyself, she praised me
without stint, flattered me, well-nigh took me in her arms and kissed
me, offered me knighthood, and then seized upon the best part of my
hard-won spoils! Her mind doubles like a hare; there is no catching it
and holding it and seeing of what colour it is. I have navigated
unknown seas enough, but I should be shipwrecked in one month of court
life. A palace is as full of guile as an egg is full of meat!"
The admiral was waxing warm, and his companion was laughingly enjoying
his tirade.
"Every man to his trade, Frank," he said. "Thou art a striker of
straight blows, and hast no cunning save when the foe is in gunshot.
The sea breeze is life to thee, but some of us would choke with too
much of it. We must breathe ever and anon of the scented atmosphere of
courts. The turns and twists of intrigue attract us; we love to ruffle
it in silk as well as in mail or in homespun. The voices and faces of
fair women make music and beauty for our ears and our eyes; we love the
harp and the lute as well as the mavis and throstle in the hedgerow,
and we pore as diligently over a sonnet as thou dost over a sea chart."
"And that to me is a strange thing," replied Drake musingly.
"Sometimes thou and I are so close in touch as to be almost one; yet,
again, we find ourselves a world's space asunder: our thoughts oft run
in couples like hounds, and 'tis because of such times that I love thee
as a very dear brother."
Raleigh laid his hand affectionately on the admiral's shoulder. "Thou,
Frank, art a man of action ever and always. When the battle is in my
blood I can fight on land and sea as whole-heartedly as thou, and cry
out that only such days are worth the living. Yet I am by nature a
dreamer of dreams and a weaver of fancies. The soft, the still, the
beautiful in the world and humankind, attract me. I would have
seclusion rather than bustle and turmoil, the pen rather than the
sword, the sweet whispers from a woman's lips and not the shouts of
warriors. Thou dost not understand me, but I understand thee, and love
thee for thy simplicity and directness. Thou art a better man than I,
Frank, and the world will honour thee more than me. But let us quit
this self-analysis. How art thou faring in thy mission to prevent the
destruction of the forest?"
"Slowly. The forest is one vast hiding-place, and I have to deal with
men who are very serpents for cunning. The leader is a Spanish priest
masquerading as a gentleman, and he hath with him some of a like sort.
They are for ever popping up in fresh places, but it is not easy to
tell them one from another. There may be a dozen of them, or only two."
"The lesser number is the more likely. The more in a plot, the greater
the danger of failure."
"So I have thought, and I put down their many appearances to the
expedition with which they move. At present they can only plan
mischief. There is little woody undergrowth, and the bracken is at its
greenest. Ere long, however, the foresters and miners will begin the
yearly cutting and drying of the bracken, which they take away and
stack for the winter as bedding for themselves and their cattle. Then
the danger is great indeed, and the firing of the forest an easy matter
to a number of determined men skilfully posted."
"Have the conspirators many adherents?"
"I think not. The woodland folk are loyal, and have a right and proper
hatred of the King of Spain. Let me but lay hands on one man and we
may sleep in our beds without fear."
"And that man?"
"Is the priest, Father Jerome."
Raleigh sat up. "Canst describe him?"
"Ay. He is tall, lean, and yellow, looks a Spaniard, but speaks
English as no foreigner could speak it. He hath money in plenty, and
poor folk and greedy folk often fall a prey to Mammon."
"I have met this Father Jerome, unless I mistake him greatly. He is a
Spaniard without doubt, and came hither first in the train of the
Spanish ambassador in King Harry's reign. He came again with Philip
when he took Queen Mary to wife, and stayed here the whole of that
reign and much of the present. He knows our land and our language as
well as thou or I, and Philip has chosen the fittest leader for his
bold enterprise. Thou hast gotten a dangerous adversary; do not hold
him cheaply, for he obtains a strange power over some men. 'Tis
against his nature to strike openly. He works like a mole, and thou
must find his place of burrowing and trap him. Meantime I commend the
advice of the Queen to thee: lay all suspicious characters by the heels
at once; put rogues to catch rogues, and have a care how thou walkest
in the woods."
Sir Walter arose, but the admiral pressed him to stay and drink a cup
of wine. So the two friends sat on a while longer, talking of old
times in far-away Devon.
Hidden in the bushes on the top of the sandstone cliff that backed
Drake's house was the dark figure of Basil. He wriggled thither at the
moment when Raleigh lifted the garden latch.