The reader has doubtless remarked--for every reader who peruses a book
to any purpose must remark everything, inasmuch as the most important
events are so often connected with insignificant circumstances, that
the one cannot be understood without the other--the reader has
doubtless remarked, that Mr. Radford, on leaving Sir Robert Croyland,
informed his unhappy victim, that he had still a good deal of business
to do that night. Now, during the day he had--as may well be judged
from his own statement of all the preparations he had already
made--done a great deal of very important business; but the details of
his past proceedings I shall not enter into, and only beg leave to
precede him by a short time, to the scene of those farther operations
which he had laid out as the close of that evening's labours. It is to
the lone house, as it was called, near Iden Green, that I wish to
conduct my companions, and a solitary and gloomy looking spot it was,
at the time I speak of. All that part of the country is now very
thickly inhabited: the ground bears nearly as large a population as it
can support; and though there are still fields, and woods, and
occasional waste places, yet no such events could now happen as those
which occurred eighty or a hundred years ago, when one might travel
miles, in various parts of Kent, without meeting a living soul. The
pressure of a large population crushes out the bolder and more daring
sorts of crime, and leaves small cunning to effect, in secret, what
cannot be accomplished openly, under the police of innumerable eyes.
But it was not so in those days; and the lone house near Iden Green,
whatever it was originally built for, had become the refuge and the
lurking-place of some of the most fierce and lawless men in the
country. It was a large building, with numerous rooms and passages;
and it had stables behind it, but no walled courtyard; for the close
sweeping round of the wood, a part of which still exists in great
beauty, was a convenience on which its architect seemed to have
calculated. Standing some way off the high road, and about half a mile
from Collyer Green, it was so sheltered by trees that, on whichever
side approached, nothing could be seen but the top of the roof and
part of a garret-window, till one was within a short distance of the
edifice. But that garret-window had its advantages; for it commanded a
view over a great part of the country, on three sides, and especially
gave a prospect of the roads in the neighbourhood.
The building was not a farm-house, for it had none of the requisites;
it could not well be a public-house, though a sign swung before it;
for the lower windows were boarded up, and the owner or tenant
thereof, if any traveller whom he did not know, stopped at his
door--which was, indeed, a rare occurrence--told him that it was all a
mistake, and cursing the sign, vowed he would have it cut down.
Nevertheless, if the Ramleys, or any of their gang, or, indeed, any
members of a similar fraternity, came thither, the doors opened as if
by magic; and good accommodation for man and horse was sure to be
found within.
It was also remarked, that many a gentleman in haste went in there,
and was never seen to issue forth again till he appeared in quite a
different part of the country; and, had the master of the house lived
two or three centuries earlier, he might on that very account have
risked the fagot, on a charge of dealing with the devil. As it was, he
was only suspected of being a coiner; but in regard to that charge,
history has left no evidence, pro or con.
It was in this house, however, on the evening of the day subsequent to
the discomfiture of the smugglers, that six men were assembled in a
small room at the back, all of whom had, more or less, taken part in
the struggle near Woodchurch. The two younger Ramleys were there, as
well as one of the principal members of their gang, and two other men,
who had been long engaged in carrying smuggled goods from the coast,
as a regular profession; but who were, in other respects, much more
respectable persons than those by whom they were surrounded. At the
head of the table, however, was the most important personage of the
whole: no other than Richard Radford himself, who had joined his
comrades an hour or two before. The joy and excitement of his escape
from the wood, the temporary triumph which he had obtained over the
vigilance of the soldiery, and the effect produced upon a disposition
naturally bold, reckless, and daring, by the sudden change from
imminent peril to comparative security, had all raised his spirits to
an excessive pitch; and, indeed, the whole party, instead of seeming
depressed by their late disaster, appeared elevated with that wild and
lawless mirth, which owns no tie or restraint, reverences nothing
sacred or respectable. Spirits and water were circulating freely
amongst them; and they were boasting of their feats in the late
skirmish, or commenting upon its events, with many a jest and many a
falsehood.
"The Major did very well, too," said Ned Ramley, "for he killed one of
the dragoons, and wounded another, before he went down himself, poor
devil!"
"Here's to the Major's ghost!" cried young Radford, "and I'll try to
give it satisfaction by avenging him. We'll have vengeance upon them
yet, Ned."
"Ay, upon all who had any concern in it," answered Jim Ramley, with a
meaning look.
"And first upon him who betrayed us," rejoined Richard Radford; "and I
will have it, too, in a way that shall punish him more than if we
flogged him to death with horse-whips, as the Sussex men did to Chater
at the Flying Bull, near Hazlemere."
The elder of the two Ramleys gave a look towards the men who were at
the bottom of the table; and Richard Radford, dropping his voice,
whispered something to Ned Ramley, who replied aloud, with an oath,
"I'd have taken my revenge, whatever came of it."
"No, no," answered Radford, "the red-coats were too near. However,
all's not lost that's delayed. I wonder where that young devil, little
Starlight's gone to. I sent him three hours ago to Cranbrook with the
clothes, and told him to come back and tell me if she passed. She'll
not go now, that's certain; for she would be in the dark. Have you any
notion, Ned, how many men we could get together in case of need?"
"Oh, fifty or sixty!" said one of the men from the bottom of the
table, who seemed inclined to have his share in the conversation, as
soon as it turned upon subjects with which he was familiar; "there are
seven or eight hid away down at Cranbrook, and nine or ten at
Tenterden, with some of the goods, too."
"Ah, that's well!" answered young Radford; "I thought all the goods
had been taken."
"Oh, dear no," replied Jim Ramley, "we've got a thousand pounds' worth
in this house, and I dare say double as much is scattered about in
different hides. The light things were got off; but they are the most
valuable."
"I'll tell you what, my men," cried young Radford, "as soon as these
soldiers are gone down to the coast again, we'll all gather together,
and do some devilish high thing, just to show them that they are not
quite masters of the country yet. I've a great mind to burn their inn
at Woodchurch, just for harbouring them. If we don't make these
rascally fellows fear us, the trade will be quite put down in the
county."
"I swear," exclaimed Ned Ramley, with a horrible blasphemy, "that if I
can catch any one who has peached, even if it be but by one word, I
will split his head like a lobster."
"And I, too!" answered his brother; and several others joined in the
oath.
The conversation then took another turn; and while it went on
generally around the table, young Radford spoke several times in a low
voice to the two who sat next to him, and the name of Harding was more
than once mentioned. The glass circulated very freely also; and
although none of them became absolutely intoxicated, yet all of them
were more or less affected by the spirits, when the boy, whom we have
called Little Starlight, crept quietly into the room, and approached
Mr. Radford.
"She's not come, sir," he said; "I waited a long while, and then went
and asked the old woman of the shop, telling her that I was to be sure
and see that Kate Clare got the bundle; but she said that she
certainly wouldn't come to-night."
"That's a good boy," said young Radford. "Go and tell the people to
bring us some candles; and then I'll give you a glass of Hollands for
your pains. It's getting infernally dark," he continued, "and as
nothing more is to be done to-day, we may as well make a night of it."
"No, no," answered one of the men at the bottom of the table, "I've
had enough, and I shall go and turn in."
Nobody opposed him; and he and his companion soon after left them. A
smile passed round amongst the rest as soon as the two had shut the
door.
"Now those puny fellows are gone," said Jim Ramley, "we can say what
we like. First, let us talk about the goods, Mr. Radford, for I don't
think they are quite safe here. They had better be got up to your
father's as soon as possible, for if the house were to be searched, we
could get out into the wood, but they could not."
"Hark!" said young Radford; "there's some one knocking hard at the
house door, I think."
"Ay, trust all that to Obadiah," said Ned Ramley. "He wont open the
door till he sees who it is."
The minute after, however, old Mr. Radford stood amongst them; and he
took especial care not to throw any damp upon their spirits, but
rather to encourage them, and make light of the late events. He sat
down for a few minutes by his son, took a glass of Hollands and water,
and then whispered to his hopeful heir that he wanted to speak with
him for a minute. The young man instantly rose, and led the way out
into the room opposite, which was vacant.
"By Heaven, Dick, this is an awkward job!" said his father; "the loss
is enormous, and never to be recovered."
"The things are not all lost," answered Richard Radford. "A great
quantity of the goods are about the country. There's a thousand
pounds' worth, they say, in this house."
"We must have them got together as fast as possible," said Mr.
Radford, "and brought up to our place. All that is here had better be
sent up about three o'clock in the morning."
"I'll bring them up myself," replied his son.
"No, no, no!" said Mr. Radford; "you keep quiet where you are, till
to-morrow night."
"Pooh, nonsense," answered the young man; "I'm not at all
afraid.--Very well--very well, they shall come up, and I'll follow
to-morrow night, if you think I can be at the Hall in safety."
"I don't intend you to be long at the Hall," answered Mr. Radford:
"you must take a trip over the sea, my boy, till we can make sure of a
pardon for you. There! you need not look so blank. You shan't go
alone. Come up at eleven o'clock; and you will find Edith Croyland
waiting to give you her hand, the next day.--Then a post-chaise and
four, and a good tight boat on the beach, and you are landed in France
in no time. Everything is ready--everything is settled; and with her
fortune, you will have enough to live like a prince, till you can come
back here."
All this intelligence did not seem to give Richard Radford as much
satisfaction as his father expected. "I would rather have had little
Zara, a devilish deal!" he replied.
"Very likely," answered his father, with his countenance changing, and
his brow growing dark; "but that wont do, Dick. We have had enough
nonsense of all sorts; and it must now be brought to an end. It's not
the matter of the fortune alone; but I am determined that both you and
I shall have revenge."
"Revenge!" said his son; "I don't see what revenge has to do with
that."
"I'll tell you," answered old Mr. Radford, in a low tone, but bitter
in its very lowness. "The man who so cunningly surrounded you and the
rest yesterday morning, who took all my goods, and murdered many of
our friends, is that very Harry Leyton, whom you've heard talk of. He
has come down here on purpose to ruin you and me, if possible, and to
marry Edith Croyland; but he shall never have her, by----," and he
added a fearful oath which I will not repeat.
"Ay, that alters the case," replied Richard Radford, with a demoniacal
smile; "oh, I'll marry her and make her happy, as the people say. But
I'll tell you what--I'll have my revenge, too, before I go, and upon
one who is worse than the other fellow--I mean the man who betrayed us
all."
"Who is that?" demanded the father.
"Harding," answered young Radford--"Harding."
"Are you sure that it was he?" asked the old gentleman; "I have
suspected him myself, but I have no proof."
"But I have," replied his son: "he was seen several nights before, by
little Starlight, talking for a long while with this very Colonel of
Dragoons, upon the cliff. Another man was with him, too--most likely
Mowle; and then, again, yesterday evening, some of these good fellows
who were on the look-out to help me, saw him speaking to a dragoon
officer at Widow Clare's door; so he must be a traitor, or they would
have taken him."
"Then he deserves to be shot," said old Radford, fiercely; "but take
care, Dick: you had better not do it yourself. You'll find him
difficult to get at, and may be caught."
"Leave him to me--leave him to me," answered his hopeful son; "I've a
plan in my head that will punish him better than a bullet. But the
bullet he shall have, too; for all the men have sworn that they will
take his blood; but that can be done after I'm gone."
"But what's your plan, my boy?" asked old Mr. Radford.
"Never mind, never mind!" answered Richard, "I'll find means to
execute it.--I only wish those dragoons were away from Harbourne
Wood."
"Why, they are," exclaimed his father, laughing. "They were withdrawn
this afternoon, and a party of them, too, marched out of Woodchurch,
as if they were going to Ashford. I dare say, by this time to-morrow
night, they will be all gone to their quarters again."
"Then it's all safe!" said his son; and after some more conversation
between the two--and various injunctions upon the part of the old man,
as to caution and prudence, upon the part of the young one, they
parted for the time. Young Radford then rejoined his companions, and
remained with them till about one o'clock in the morning, when the
small portion of smuggled goods which had been saved, was sent off,
escorted by two men, towards Radford Hall, where they arrived safely,
and were received by servants well accustomed to such practices. They
consisted of only one horse-load, indeed, so that the journey was
quickly performed; and the two men returned before five. Although
Richard Radford had given his father every assurance that he would
remain quiet, and take every prudent step for his own concealment, his
very first acts showed no disposition to keep his word. Before eight
o'clock in the morning, he, the two Ramleys, and one or two other men,
who had come in during the night, were out amongst the fields and
woods, "reconnoitring," as they called it; but, with a spirit in their
breasts, which rendered them ready for any rash and criminal act that
might suggest itself. Thus occupied, I shall for the present leave
them, and show more of their proceedings at a future period.