A MEETING IN CHEPE
A row of ten minutes took the boat with Master Lirriper and the
two boys alongside the ketch.
"How are you, Joe Chambers?" Master Lirriper hailed the skipper as
he appeared on the deck of the Susan. "I have brought you two more
passengers for London. They are going there under my charge."
"The more the merrier, Uncle John," the young skipper replied. "There
are none others going this journey, so though our accommodation is
not very extensive, we can put them up comfortably enough if they
don't mind roughing it."
"Oh, we don't mind that," Geoffrey said, as they climbed on board;
"besides, there seems lots of room."
"Not so much as you think," the skipper replied. "She is a roomy
craft is the Susan; but she is pretty nigh all hold, and we are
cramped a little in the fo'castle. Still we can sleep six, and
that's just the number we shall have, for we carry a man and a boy
besides myself. I think your flour will about fill her up, Master
Lirriper. We have a pretty full cargo this time."
"Well, we shall soon see," John Lirriper said. "Are you ready to
take the flour on board at once? Because, if so, we will begin to
discharge."
"Yes, I am quite ready. You told me you were going to bring forty
sacks, and I have left the middle part of the hold empty for them.
Sam Hunter's bacon will stow in on the top of your sacks, and just
fill her up to the beams there, as I reckon. I'll go below and stow
them away as you hand them across."
In an hour the sacks of flour were transferred from the barge to the
hold of the Susan, and the sides of bacon then placed upon them.
"It's a pity we haven't all the rest of the things on board," the
skipper said, "and then we could have started by this evening's tide
instead of waiting till the morning. The wind is fair, and I hate
throwing away a fair wind. There is no saying where it may blow
tomorrow, but I shouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't round
to the south, and that will be foul for us till we get pretty nigh
up into the mouth of the river. However, I gave them till tonight
for getting all their things on board and must therefore wait."
To the boys the Susan appeared quite a large craft, for there
was not water up at Hedingham for vessels of her size; and though
they had seen ships at Harwich, they had never before put foot on
anything larger than Master Lirriper's barge. The Susan was about
forty feet long by twelve feet beam, and drew, as her skipper
informed them, near five feet of water. She was entirely decked.
The cabin in the bows occupied some fourteen feet in length. The
rest was devoted to cargo. They descended into the cabin, which
seemed to them very dark, there being no light save what came down
through the small hatchway. Still it looked snug and comfortable.
There was a fireplace on one side of the ladder by which they had
descended, and on this side there were two bunks, one above the
other. On the other side there were lockers running along the entire
length of the cabin. Two could sleep on these and two on the bunks
above them.
"Now, young masters, you will take those two bunks on the top there.
John Lirriper and I will sleep on the lockers underneath you. The
man and the boy have the two on the other side. I put you on the
top because there is a side board, and you can't fall out if she
rolls, and besides, the bunks are rather wider than the lockers
below. If the wind is fair you won't have much of our company,
because we shall hold on till we moor alongside the wharves of
London; but if it's foul, or there is not enough of it to take us
against tide, we have to anchor on the ebb, and then of course we
turn in."
"How long do you take getting from here to London?"
"Ah, that I can tell you more about when I see what the weather
is like in the morning. With a strong fair wind I have done it in
twenty-four hours, and again with the wind foul it has taken me
nigh a week. Taking one trip with another I should put it at three
days."
"Well, now we will be going ashore," John Lirriper said. "I will
leave my barge alongside till tide turns, for I could not get her
back again to the jetty so long as it is running in strong, so I
will be off again in a couple of hours."
So saying he hauled up the dinghy that was towing behind the barge,
and he and Dick rowed the two boys ashore. Then he walked along
with them to a spot where several craft were hauled up, pointing
out to them the differences in their rig and build, and explained
their purpose, and gave them the names of the principal ropes and
stays.
"Now," he said, "it's getting on for supper time, and it won't do
to keep them waiting, for Ann is sure to have got some cakes made,
and there's nothing puts a woman out more than people not being
in to meals when they have something special ready. After that I
shall go out with Dick and bring the barge ashore. He will load up
her tomorrow, and take her back single handed; which can be done
easy enough in such weather as this, but it is too much for one
man if there is a strong wind blowing and driving her over to the
one side or other of the river."
As John Lirriper had expected, his daughter had prepared a pile of
hot cakes for supper, and her face brightened up when she saw the
party return punctually. The boys had been up early, and had slept
but little the night before, and were not sorry at eight o'clock
to lie down on the bed of freshly cut rushes covered with home spun
sheets, for regular beds of feathers were still but little used in
England. At five o'clock they were astir again, and their hostess
insisted on their eating a manchet of bread with some cheese, washed
down by a stoup of ale, before starting. Dick had the boat at the
jetty ready to row them off, and as soon as they were on board the
Susan preparations were made for a start.
The mainsail was first hoisted, its size greatly surprising the
boys; then the foresail and jib were got up, and lastly the mizzen.
Then the capstan was manned, and the anchor slowly brought on
board, and the sails being sheeted home, the craft began to steal
through the water. The tide was still draining up, and she had not
as yet swung. The wind was light, and, as the skipper had predicted,
was nearly due south. As the ketch made its way out from the mouth
of the river, and the wide expanse of water opened before them, the
boys were filled with delight. They had taken their seats, one on
each side of the skipper, who was at the tiller.
"I suppose you steer by the compass, Master Chambers?" Geoffrey
said. "Which is the compass? I have heard about it, always pointing
to the north."
"It's down below, young sir; I will show it you presently. We steer
by that at night, or when it's foggy; but on a fine day like this
there is no need for it. There are marks put up on all the sands,
and we steer by them. You see, the way the wind is now we can lay
our course for the Whittaker. That's a cruel sand, that is, and
stretches out a long way from a point lying away on the right there.
Once past that we bear away to the southwest, for we are then, so
to speak, fairly in the course of the river. There is many a ship
has been cast away on the Whittaker. Not that it is worse than
other sands. There are scores of them lying in the mouth of the
river, and if it wasn't for the marks there would be no sailing in
or out."
"Who put up the marks?" Lionel asked.
"They are put up by men who make a business of it. There is one
boat of them sails backwards and forwards where the river begins
to narrow above Sheerness, and every ship that goes up or down pays
them something according to her size. Others cruise about with long
poles, putting them in the sands wherever one gets washed away.
They have got different marks on them. A single cross piece, or
two cross pieces, or a circle, or a diamond; so that each sand has
got its own particular mark. These are known to the masters of all
ships that go up and down the river, and so they can tell exactly
where they are, and what course to take. At night they anchor, for
there would be no possibility of finding the way up or down in the
dark. I have heard tell from mariners who have sailed abroad that
there ain't a place anywhere with such dangerous sands as those we
have got here at the mouth of the Thames."
In the first three or four hours' sail Geoffrey and Lionel acquired
much nautical knowledge. They learned the difference between the
mainmast and the mizzen, found that all the strong ropes that kept
the masts erect and stiff were called stays, that the ropes that
hoist sails are called halliards, and that sheets is the name given
to the ropes that restrain the sails at the lower corner, and are
used to haul them in more tightly when sailing close to the wind,
or to ease them off when the wind is favourable. They also learned
that the yards at the head of the main and mizzen sails are called
gaffs, and those at the bottom, booms.
"I think that's about enough for you to remember in one day, young
masters," John Lirriper said. "You bear all that in your mind,
and remember that each halliard and sheet has the name of the sail
to which it is attached, and you will have learnt enough to make
yourself useful, and can lend a hand when the skipper calls out,
`Haul in the jib sheet,' or `Let go the fore halliards.' Now sit
yourselves down again and see what is doing. That beacon you can
just see right ahead marks the end of the Whittaker Spit. When we
get there we shall drop anchor till the tide turns. You see we are
going across it now, but when we round that beacon we shall have it
dead against us, and the wind would be too light to take us against
it even if it were not from the quarter it is. You see there are
two or three other craft brought up there."
"Where have they come from, do you think, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, they may have come out from Burnham, or they may have come
down from London and be going up to Burnham or to Bricklesey when
the tide turns. There is a large ship anchored in the channel beyond
the Whittaker. Of course she is going up when tide begins to flow.
And there are the masts of two vessels right over there. They are
in another channel. Between us and them there is a line of sands
that you will see will show above the water when it gets a bit
lower. That is the main channel, that is; and vessels coming from
the south with a large draught of water generally use that, while
this is the one that is handiest for ships from the north. Small
vessels from the south come in by a channel a good bit beyond those
ships. That is the narrowest of the three; and even light draught
vessels don't use it much unless the wind is favourable, for there
is not much room for them to beat up if the wind is against them."
"What is to beat up, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, you will see about that presently. I don't think we shall
be able to lay our course beyond the Whittaker. To lay our course
means to steer the way we want to go; and if we can't do that we
shall have to beat, and that is tedious work with a light wind like
this."
They dropped anchor off the beacon, and the captain said that this
was the time to take breakfast. The lads already smelt an agreeable
odour arising from the cabin forward, where the boy had been for
some time busily engaged, and soon the whole party were seated on
the lockers in the cabin devouring fried fish.
"Master Chambers," Geoffrey said, "we have got two boiled pullets
in our basket. Had we not better have them for dinner? They were
cooked the evening before we came away, and I should think they
had better be eaten now."
"You had better keep them for yourselves, Master Geoffrey," the
skipper said. "We are accustomed to living on fish, but like enough
you would get tired of it before we got to London."
But this the boys would not hear of, and it was accordingly arranged
that the dinner should be furnished from the contents of the basket.
As soon as tide turned the anchor was hove up and the Susan got under
way again. The boys soon learnt the meaning of the word beating,
and found that it meant sailing backwards and forwards across
the channel, with the wind sometimes on one side of the boat and
sometimes on the other. Geoffrey wanted very much to learn why,
when the wind was so nearly ahead, the boat advanced instead of
drifting backwards or sideways. But this was altogether beyond the
power of either Master Lirriper or Joe Chambers to explain. They
said every one knew that when the sails were full a vessel went in
the direction in which her head pointed. "It's just the same way
with yourself, Master Geoffrey. You see, when you look one way
that's the way you go. When you turn your head and point another
way, of course you go off that way; and it's just the same thing
with the ship."
"I don't think it's the same thing, Master Lirriper," Geoffrey
said puzzled. "In one case the power that makes one go comes from
the inside, and so one can go in any direction one likes; in the
other it comes from outside, and you would think the ship would
have to go any way the wind pushes her. If you stand up and I give
you a push, I push you straight away from me. You don't go sideways
or come forward in the direction of my shoulder, which is what the
ship does."
John Lirriper took off his cap and scratched his head.
"I suppose it is as you say, Master Geoffrey, though I never thought
of it before. There is some reason, no doubt, why the craft moves
up against the wind so long as the sails are full, instead of drifting
away to leeward; though I never heard tell of it, and never heard
anyone ask before. I dare say a learned man could tell why it is;
and if you ask your good father when you go back I would wager he
can explain it. It always seems to me as if a boat have got some
sort of sense, just like a human being or a horse, and when she
knows which way you wants her to go she goes. That's how it seems
to me--ain't it, Joe?"
"Something like that, uncle. Every one knows that a boat's got her
humours, and sometimes she sails better than she does others; and
each boat's got her own fancies. Some does their best when they are
beating, and some are lively in a heavy sea, and seem as if they
enjoy it; and others get sulky, and don't seem to take the trouble
to lift their bows up when a wave meets them; and they groans and
complains if the wind is too hard for them, just like a human being.
When you goes to a new vessel you have got to learn her tricks
and her ways and what she will do, and what she won't do, and just
to humour her as you would a child. I don't say as I think she
is actually alive; but every sailor will tell you that there is
something about her that her builders never put there."
"That's so," John Lirriper agreed. "Look at a boat that is hove
up when her work's done and going to be broke up. Why, anyone can
tell her with half an eye. She looks that forlorn and melancholy
that one's inclined to blubber at the sight of her. She don't look
like that at any other time. When she is hove up she is going to
die, and she knows it."
"But perhaps that's because the paint's off her sides and the ropes
all worn and loose," Geoffrey suggested.
But Master Lirriper waved the suggestion aside as unworthy even of
an answer, and repeated, "She knows it. Anyone can see that with
half an eye."
Geoffrey and Lionel talked the matter over when they were sitting
together on deck apart from the others. It was an age when there
were still many superstitions current in the land. Even the upper
classes believed in witches and warlocks, in charms and spells, in
lucky and unlucky days, in the arts of magic, in the power of the
evil eye; and although to the boys it seemed absurd that a vessel
should have life, they were not prepared altogether to discredit an
idea that was evidently thoroughly believed by those who had been
on board ships all their lives. After talking it over for some time
they determined to submit the question to their father on their
return.
It took them two more tides before they were off Sheerness. The
wind was now more favourable, and having increased somewhat in
strength, the Susan made her way briskly along, heeling over till
the water ran along her scuppers. There was plenty to see now, for
there were many fishing boats at work, some belonging, as Master
Chambers told them, to the Medway, others to the little village of
Leigh, whose church they saw at the top of the hill to their right.
They met, too, several large craft coming down the river, and passed
more than one, for the Susan was a fast boat.
"They would beat us," the skipper said when the boys expressed
their surprise at their passing such large vessels, "if the wind
were stronger or the water rough. We are doing our best, and if the
wind rises I shall have to take in sail; while they could carry all
theirs if it blew twice as hard. Then in a sea, weight and power
tell; a wave that would knock the way almost out of us would hardly
affect them at all."
So well did the Susan go along, that before the tide was much more
than half done they passed the little village of Gravesend on their
left, with the strong fort of Tilbury on the opposite shore, with
its guns pointing on the river, and ready to give a good account
of any Spaniard who should venture to sail up the Thames. Then at
the end of the next reach the hamlet of Grays was passed on the
right; a mile further Greenhithe on the left. Tide was getting
slack now, but the Susan managed to get as far as Purfleet, and
then dropped her anchor.
"This is our last stopping place," Joe Chambers said. "The morning
tide will carry us up to London Bridge."
"Then you will not go on with tonight's tide?" Geoffrey asked.
"No; the river gets narrower every mile, and I do not care to take
the risk of navigating it after dark, especially as there is always
a great deal of shipping moored above Greenwich. Tide will begin
to run up at about five o'clock, and by ten we ought to be safely
moored alongside near London Bridge. So we should not gain a great
deal by going on this evening instead of tomorrow morning, and I
don't suppose you are in a particular hurry."
"Oh, no," Lionel said. "We would much rather go on in the morning,
otherwise we should miss everything by the way; and there is the
Queen's Palace at Greenwich that I want to see above all things."
Within a few minutes of the hour the skipper had named for their
arrival, the Susan was moored alongside some vessels lying off one
of the wharves above the Tower. The boys' astonishment had risen with
every mile of their approach to the city, and they were perfectly
astounded at the amount of shipping that they now beheld. The great
proportion were of course coasters, like themselves, but there were
many large vessels among them, and of these fully half were flying
foreign colours. Here were traders from the Netherlands, with the
flag that the Spaniards had in vain endeavoured to lower, flying
at their mastheads. Here were caravels from Venice and Genoa, laden
with goods from the East. Among the rest Master Chambers pointed out
to the lads the ship in which Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated
the world, and that in which Captain Stevens had sailed to India,
round the Cape of Good Hope. There were many French vessels also
in the Pool, and indeed almost every flag save that of Spain was
represented. Innumerable wherries darted about among the shipping,
and heavier cargo boats dropped along in more leisurely fashion.
Across the river, a quarter of a mile above the point at which
they were lying, stretched London Bridge, with its narrow arches
and the houses projecting beyond it on their supports of stout
timbers. Beyond, on the right, rising high above the crowded roofs,
was the lofty spire of St. Paul's. The boys were almost awed by
this vast assemblage of buildings. That London was a great city they
had known, but they were not prepared for so immense a difference
between it and the place where they had lived all their lives. Only
with the Tower were they somewhat disappointed. It was very grand
and very extensive, but not so much grander than the stately abode
of the Veres as they had looked for.
"I wouldn't change, if I were the earl, with the queen's majesty,"
Geoffrey said. "Of course it is larger than Hedingham, but not so
beautiful, and it is crowded in by the houses, and has not like our
castle a fair lookout on all sides. Why, there can be no hunting
or hawking near here, and I can't think what the nobles can find
to do all day."
"Now, young sirs," Master Lirriper said, "if you will get your
wallets we will go ashore at once."
The boys were quite bewildered as they stepped ashore by the bustle
and confusion. Brawny porters carrying heavy packages on their
backs pushed along unceremoniously, saying from time to time
in a mechanical sort of way, "By your leave, sir!" but pushing
on and shouldering passersby into the gutter without the smallest
compunction. The narrowness and dinginess of the streets greatly
surprised and disappointed the boys, who found that in these
respects even Harwich compared favourably with the region they
were traversing. Presently, however, after passing through several
lanes and alleys, they emerged into a much broader street, alive
with shops. The people who were walking here were for the most
part well dressed and of quiet demeanour, and there was none of
the rough bustle that had prevailed in the riverside lanes.
"This is Eastchepe," their conductor said; "we have not far to go
now. The street in which my friend dwells lies to the right, between
this and Tower Street. I could have taken you a shorter way there,
but I thought that your impressions of London would not be favourable
did I take you all the way through those ill smelling lanes."
In a quarter of an hour they arrived at their destination, and
entered the shop, which smelt strongly of tar; coils of rope of
all sizes were piled up one upon another by the walls, while on
shelves above them were blocks, lanterns, compasses, and a great
variety of gear of whose use the boys were ignorant. The chandler
was standing at his door.
"I am right glad to see you, Master Lirriper," he said, "and have
been expecting you for the last two or three days. My wife would
have it that some evil must have befallen you; but you know what
women are. They make little allowance for time or tide or distance,
but expect that every one can so arrange his journeys as to arrive
at the very moment when they begin to expect him. But who have you
here with you?"
"These are the sons of the worshipful Mr. Vickars, the rector of
our parish and tutor to the Earl of Oxford and several of the young
Veres, his cousins--a wise gentleman and a kind one, and much
loved among us. He has entrusted his two sons to me that I might
show them somewhat of this city of yours. I said that I was right
sure that you and your good dame would let them occupy the chamber
you intended for me, while I can make good shift on board the
Susan."
"Nay, nay, Master Lirriper; our house is big enough to take in you
and these two young masters, and Dorothy would deem it a slight
indeed upon her hospitality were you not to take up your abode here
too.
"You will be heartily welcome, young sirs, and though such
accommodation as we can give you will not be equal to that which
you are accustomed to, I warrant me that you will find it a pleasant
change after that poky little cabin on board the Susan. I know it
well, for I supply her with stores, and have often wondered how
men could accustom themselves to pass their lives in places where
there is scarce room to turn, to say nothing of the smell of fish
that always hangs about it. But if you will follow me I will take
you up to my good dame, to whose care I must commit you for the
present, as my foreman, John Watkins, is down by the riverside
seeing to the proper delivery of divers stores on board a ship
which sails with the next tide for Holland. My apprentices, too,
are both out, as I must own is their wont. They always make excuses
to slip down to the riverside when there is aught doing, and I am
far too easy with the varlets. So at present, you see, I cannot
long leave my shop."
So saying the chandler preceded them up a wide staircase that led
from a passage behind the shop, and the boys perceived that the
house was far more roomy and comfortable than they had judged from
its outward appearance. Turning to the left when he reached the
top of the stairs the chandler opened a door.
"Dorothy," he said, "here is your kinsman, Master Lirriper, who
has suffered none of the misadventures you have been picturing to
yourself for the last two days, and he has brought with him these
young gentlemen, sons of the rector of Hedingham, to show them
something of London."
"You are welcome, young gentlemen," Dame Dorothy said, "though why
anyone should come to London when he can stay away from it I know
not."
"Why, Dorothy, you are always running down our city, though I know
right well that were I to move down with you to your native Essex
again you would very soon cry out for the pleasures of the town."
"That would I not," she said. "I would be well contented to live
in fresh country air all the rest of my life, though I do not say
that London has not its share of pleasures also, though I care but
little for them."
"Ah, Master Lirriper," her husband said laughing, "you would not
think, to hear her talk, that there is not a feast or a show that
Dorothy would stay away from. She never misses an opportunity, I
warrant you, of showing herself off in her last new kirtle and gown.
But I must be going down; there is no one below, and if a customer
comes and finds the shop empty he will have but a poor idea of me,
and will think that I am away gossiping instead of attending to my
business."
"Are you hungry, young sirs?" the dame asked. "Because if so the
maid shall bring up a manchet of bread and a cup of sack; if not,
our evening meal will be served in the course of an hour."
The boys both said that they were perfectly able to wait until the
meal came; and Geoffrey added, "If you will allow us, mistress, as
doubtless you have private matters to talk of with Master Lirriper,
my brother and I will walk out for an hour to see something of the
town."
"Mind that you lose not your way," Master Lirriper said. "Do not go
beyond Eastchepe, I beg you. There are the shops to look at there,
and the fashions of dress and other matters that will occupy your
attention well enough for that short time. Tomorrow morning I will
myself go with you, and we can then wander further abroad. I have
promised your good father to look after you, you know; and it will
be but a bad beginning if you meet with any untoward adventure upon
this the first day of your arrival here."
"We will not go beyond the limits of Eastchepe; and as to adventures,
I can't see very well how any can befall us."
"Oh, there are plenty of adventures to be met with in London, young
sir; and I shall be well content if on the day when we again embark
on board the Susan none of them have fallen to your share."
The two lads accordingly sallied out and amused themselves greatly
by staring at the goods exhibited in the open shops. They were
less surprised at the richness and variety of the silver work, at
the silks from the East, the costly satins, and other stuffs, than
most boys from the country would have been, for they were accustomed
to the splendour and magnificence displayed by the various noble
guests at the castle, and saw nothing here that surpassed the
brilliant shows made at the jousting and entertainments at Hedingham.
It was the scene that was novel to them: the shouts of the apprentices
inviting attention to their employers' wares, the crowd that filled
the street, consisting for the most part of the citizens themselves,
but varied by nobles and knights of the court, by foreigners from
many lands, by soldiers and men-at-arms from the Tower, by countrymen
and sailors. Their amusement was sometimes turned into anger by
the flippant remarks of the apprentices; these varlets, perceiving
easily enough by the manner of their attire that they were from
the country, were not slow, if their master happened for the moment
to be absent, in indulging in remarks that set Geoffrey and Lionel
into a fever to commit a breach of the peace. The "What do you lack,
masters?" with which they generally addressed passersby would be
exchanged for remarks such as, "Do not trouble the young gentlemen,
Nat. Do you not see they are up in the town looking for some of
their master's calves?" or, "Look you, Philip, here are two rustics
who have come up to town to learn manners."
"I quite see, Geoffrey," Lionel said, taking his brother by the
arm and half dragging him away as he saw that he was clenching his
fist and preparing to avenge summarily one of these insults even
more pointed than usual, "that Master Lirriper was not very far
out, and there is no difficulty in meeting with adventures in the
streets of London. However, we must not give him occasion on this
our first stroll in the streets to say that we cannot be trusted out
of his sight. If we were to try to punish these insolent varlets we
should have them on us like a swarm of bees, and should doubtless
get worsted in the encounter, and might even find ourselves hauled
off to the lockup, and that would be a nice tale for Master Lirriper
to carry back to Hedingham."
"That is true enough, Lionel; but it is not easy to keep one's
temper when one is thus tried. I know not how it is they see so
readily that we are strangers, for surely we have mixed enough with
the earl's family and friends to have rubbed off the awkwardness
that they say is common to country folk; and as to our dress, I
do not see much difference between its fashion and that of other
people. I suppose it is because we look interested in what is going
on, instead of strolling along like those two youths opposite with
our noses in the air, as if we regarded the city and its belongings
as infinitely below our regard. Well, I think we had best be turning
back to Master Swindon's; it will not do to be late for our meal."
"Well, young sirs, what do you think of our shops?" Dame Swindon
asked as they entered.
"The shops are well enough," Geoffrey replied; "but your apprentices
seem to me to be an insolent set of jackanapes, who take strange
liberties with passersby, and who would be all the better for
chastisement. If it hadn't been that Lionel and I did not wish to
become engaged in a brawl, we should have given some of them lessons
in manners."
"They are free in speech," Dame Swindon said, "and are an impudent
set of varlets. They have quick eyes and ready tongues, and are no
respecters of persons save of their masters and of citizens in a
position to lay complaints against them and to secure them punishment.
They hold together greatly, and it is as well that you should not
become engaged in a quarrel with them. At times they have raised
serious tumults, and have even set not only the watch but the
citizens at large at defiance. Strong measures have been several
times taken against them; but they are a powerful body, seeing that
in every shop there are one or more of them, and they can turn out
with their clubs many thousand strong. They have what they call their
privileges, and are as ready to defend them as are the citizens of
London to uphold their liberties. Ordinances have been passed many
times by the fathers of the city, regulating their conduct and the
hours at which they may be abroad and the carrying of clubs and
matters of this kind, but the apprentices seldom regard them, and
if the watch arrest one for a breach of regulations, he raises a
cry, and in two or three minutes a swarm of them collect and rescue
the offender from his hands. Therefore it is seldom that the watch
interferes with them."
"It would almost seem then that the apprentices are in fact the
masters," Geoffrey said.
"Not quite as bad as that," Master Swindon replied. "There are the
rules which they have to obey when at home, and if not they get a
whipping; but it is difficult to keep a hand over them when they
are abroad. After the shops are closed and the supper over they have
from time immemorial the right to go out for two hours' exercise.
They are supposed to go and shoot at the butts; but archery, I
grieve to say, is falling into disrepute, and although many still
go to the butts the practice is no longer universal. But here is
supper."
Few words were spoken during the meal. The foreman and the two
apprentices came up and sat down with the family, and it was not
until these had retired that the conversation was again resumed.
"Where are you going to take them tomorrow, Master Lirriper?"
"Tomorrow we will see the city, the shops in Chepe, the Guildhall,
and St. Paul's, then we shall issue out from Temple Bar and walk
along the Strand through the country to Westminster and see the
great abbey, then perhaps take a boat back. The next day, if the
weather be fine, we will row up to Richmond and see the palace
there, and I hope you will go with us, Mistress Dorothy; it is a
pleasant promenade and a fashionable one, and methinks the river
with its boats is after all the prettiest sight in London."
"Ah, you think there can be nothing pretty without water. That
is all very well for one who is ever afloat, Master Lirriper; but
give me Chepe at high noon with all its bravery of dress, and the
bright shops, and the gallants of the court, and our own citizens
too, who if not quite so gay in colour are proper men, better looking
to my mind than some of the fops with their silver and satins."
"That's right, Dorothy," her husband said; "spoken like the wife
of a citizen."
All these plans were destined to be frustrated. As soon as breakfast
was over the next morning Master Lirriper started with the two
boys, and they had but just entered Chepeside when they saw two
young men approaching.
"Why, Lionel, here is Francis Vere!" Geoffrey exclaimed. "I thought
he was across in Holland with the Earl of Leicester." They doffed
their caps. Captain Vere, for such was now his rank, looked at them
in surprise.
"Why!" he exclaimed, "here are Mr. Vickars' two sons. How came you
here, lads? Have you run away from home to see the wonders of London,
or to list as volunteers for the campaigns against the Dons?"
"I wish we were, Mr. Francis," Geoffrey said. "You promised when
you were at Hedingham a year and a half since that you would some
day take us to the wars with you, and our father, seeing that
neither of us have a mind to enter the church, has quite consented
that we shall become soldiers, the more so as there is a prospect
of fighting for the persecuted Protestants of Holland. And oh,
Mr. Francis, could it be now? You know we daily exercise with arms
at the castle, and we are both strong and sturdy for our age, and
believe me you should not see us flinch before the Spaniards however
many of them there were."
"Tut, tut!" Captain Vere laughed. "Here are young cockerels, Allen;
what think you of these for soldiers to stand against the Spanish
pikemen?"
"There are many of the volunteers who are not very much older than
they are," Captain Allen replied.
"There are two in my company who must be between seventeen and
eighteen."
"Ah! but these boys are three years younger than that."
"Would you not take us as your pages, Mr. Francis?" Lionel urged.
"We would do faithful service, and then when we come of age that
you could enter us as volunteers we should already have learnt a
little of war."
"Well, well, I cannot stop to talk to you now, for I am on my way
to the Tower on business. I am only over from Holland for a day or
two with despatches from the Earl to Her Majesty's Council, and am
lodging at Westminster in a house that faces the abbey. It is one
of my cousin Edward's houses, and you will see the Vere cognizance
over the door. Call there at one hour after noon, and I will have
a talk with you; but do not buoy yourselves up with hopes as to
your going with me." So saying, with a friendly nod of his head
Francis Vere continued his way eastward.
"What think you, Allen?" he asked his comrade as they went along.
"I should like to take the lads with me if I could. Their father,
who is the rector of Hedingham, taught my cousin Edward as well as
my brothers and myself. I saw a good deal of the boys when I was
at home. They are sturdy young fellows, and used to practise daily,
as we did at their age, with the men-at-arms at the castle, and
can use their weapons. A couple of years of apprenticeship would
be good schooling for them. One cannot begin to learn the art of
war too young, and it is because we have all been so ignorant of
it that our volunteers in Holland have not done better."
"I think, Vere, that they are too young yet to be enlisted
as volunteers, although in another two years, perhaps, you might
admit the elder of the two; but I see no reason why, if you are so
inclined, you should not take them with you as pages. Each company
has its pages and boys, and you might take these two for the
special service of yourself and your officers. They would then be
on pretty well the same footing as the five gentlemen volunteers
you have already with you, and would be distinct from the lads who
have entered as pages to the company. I suppose that you have not
yet your full number of boys?"
"No; there are fifteen boys allowed, one to each ten men, and I am
several short of this number, and have already written my brother
John to get six sturdy lads from among our own tenantry and to send
them over in the first ship from Harwich. Yes, I will take these
lads with me. I like their spirit, and we are all fond of their
father, who is a very kindly as well as a learned man."
"I don't suppose he will thank you greatly, Francis," Captain Allen
laughed.
"His goodwife is more likely to be vexed than he is," Captain Vere
said, "for it will give him all the more time for the studies in
which he is wrapped up. Besides, it will be a real service to the
boys. It will shorten their probation as volunteers, and they may
get commissions much earlier than they otherwise would do. We are
all mere children in the art of war; for truly before Roger Morgan
first took out his volunteers to fight for the Dutch there was
scarce a man in England who knew how to range a company in order.
You and I learned somewhat of our business in Poland, and some
of our leaders have also had a few lessons in the art of war in
foreign countries, but most of our officers are altogether new to
the work. However, we have good masters, and I trust these Spaniards
may teach us how to beat them in time; but at present, as I said,
we are all going to school, and the earlier one begins at school
the sooner one learns its lessons. Besides, we must have pages, and
it will be more pleasant for me having lads who belong in a sort
of way of our family, and to whom, if I am disposed, I can talk
of people at home. They are high spirited and full of fun, and I
should like to have them about me. But here we are at the Tower.
We shall not be long, I hope, over the list of arms and munitions
that the earl has sent for. When we have done we will take boat
back to Westminster. Half an hour will take us there, as the tide
will be with us."