FOX-HILL
When it was known in this fine old village that young Squire Carne from
foreign parts was come back to live in the ancient castle, there was
much larger outlay (both of words and thoughts) about that than about
any French invasion. “Let them land if they can,” said the able-bodied
men, in discussion of the latter question; “they won't find it so easy
to get away again as they seem to put into their reckoning. But the
plague of it all is the damage to the fishing.”
Not that the squadron of Captain Tugwell was shorn as yet of its number,
though all the young men were under notice to hold themselves ready as
“Sea-Fencibles.” The injury to their trade lay rather in the difficulty
of getting to their fishing-grounds, and in the disturbance of these by
cruisers, with little respect for their nets and lines. Again, as the
tidings of French preparation waxed more and more outrageous, Zebedee
had as much as he could do to keep all his young hands loyal. All their
solid interest lay (as he told them every morning) in sticking to
the Springhaven flag--a pair of soles couchant, herring salient,
and mackerel regardant, all upon a bright sea-green--rather than in
hankering after roll of drum and Union-Jack. What could come of these
but hardship, want of victuals, wounds, and death; or else to stump
about on one leg, and hold out a hat for a penny with one arm? They felt
that it was true; they had seen enough of that; it had happened in all
their own families.
Yet such is the love of the native land and the yearning to stand in
front of it, and such is the hate of being triumphed over by fellows who
kiss one another and weep, and such is the tingling of the knuckles for
a blow when the body has been kicked in sore places, that the heart
will at last get the better of the head--or at least it used to be so
in England. Wherefore Charley Bowles was in arms already against his
country's enemies; and Harry Shanks waited for little except a clear
proclamation of prize-money; and even young Daniel was tearing at his
kedge like a lively craft riding in a brisk sea-way. He had seen Lord
Nelson, and had spoken to Lord Nelson, and that great man would have
patted him on the head--so patriotic were his sentiments--if the great
man had been a little taller.
But the one thing that kept Dan Tugwell firm to his moorings at
Springhaven was the deep hold of his steadfast heart in a love which it
knew to be hopeless. To die for his country might become a stern duty,
about which he would rather not be hurried; but to die for Miss Dolly
would be a wild delight; and how could he do it unless he were at hand?
And now there were so many young officers again, landing in boats,
coming in post-chaises, or charging down the road on horseback, that
Daniel, while touching up the finish of his boat with paint and varnish
and Venetian Red, was not so happy as an artist should be who knows how
to place the whole. Sometimes, with the paint stirred up and creaming,
and the ooze of the brush trimmed warily, through the rushes and ragwort
and sea-willow his keen, unconquerable eyes would spy the only figure
that quelled them, faraway, shown against the shining water, or shadowed
upon the flat mirror of the sand. But, alas! there was always another
figure near it, bigger, bulkier, framed with ugly angles, jerking about
with the elbow sticking out, instead of gliding gracefully. Likely
enough the lovely form, brought nearer to the eyes and heart by love,
would flit about beautifully for two sweet moments, filling with rapture
all the flashes of the sea and calm of the evening sky beyond; and then
the third moment would be hideous. For the figure of the ungainly foe
would stride across the delicious vision, huge against the waves like
Cyclops, and like him gesticulant, but unhappily not so single-eyed that
the slippery fair might despise him. Then away would fly all sense of
art and joy in the touch of perfection, and a very nasty feeling would
ensue, as if nothing were worth living for, and nobody could be believed
in.
That plaguesome Polypheme was Captain Stubbard, begirt with a wife,
and endowed with a family almost in excess of benediction, and dancing
attendance upon Miss Dolly, too stoutly for his own comfort, in the hope
of procuring for his own Penates something to eat and to sit upon. Some
evil genius had whispered, or rather trumpeted, into his ear--for he
had but one left, and that worked very seldom, through alarm about the
bullet which had carried off its fellow--that if he desired, as he did
with heart and stomach, to get a clear widening by 200 pounds of his
strait ways and restricted means, through Admiral Darling it might
be done, and Miss Dolly was the proper one to make him do it. For the
Inspectorship of Sea-Fencibles from Selsea-Bill to Dungeness was worth
all that money in hard cash yearly; and the late Inspector having
quitted this life--through pork boiled in a copper kettle--the situation
was naturally vacant; and the Admiral being the man for whose check the
Inspectorship was appointed, it is needless to say that (in the spirit
of fair play) the appointment was vested in the Admiral.
The opinion of all who knew him was that Captain Stubbard was fairly
entitled to look for something higher. And he shared that opinion,
taking loftier aim than figures could be made to square with, till the
latter prevailed, as they generally do, because they can work without
victuals. For although the brave Captain had lost three ribs--or at any
rate more than he could spare of them (not being a pig)--in the service
of his country, he required as much as ever to put inside them; and
his children, not having inherited that loss as scientifically as
they should have done, were hard to bring up upon the 15 pounds yearly
allowed by Great Britain for each of the gone bones. From the ear that
was gone he derived no income, having rashly compounded for 25 pounds.
In the nature of things, which the names have followed, the father is
the feeder; and the world is full of remarks unless he becomes a good
clothier also. But everything went against this father, with nine little
Stubbards running after him, and no ninepence in any of his pockets,
because he was shelfed upon half-pay, on account of the depression of
the times and of his ribs. But Miss Dolly Darling was resolved to see
him righted, for she hated all national meanness.
“What is the use of having any influence,” she asked her good father,
“unless you employ it for your own friends? I should be quite ashamed
to have it said of me, or thought, that I could get a good thing for any
one I was fond of, and was mean enough not to do it, for fear of paltry
jealousy. Mean is much too weak a word; it is downright dishonest, and
what is much worse, cowardly. What is the government meant for, unless
it is to do good to people?”
“Certainly, my dear child, certainly. To the people at large, that is to
say, and the higher interests of the country.”
“Can there be any people more at large than Captain Stubbard and his
wife and children? Their elbows are coming out of their clothes, and
they have scarcely got a bed to sleep upon. My income is not enough to
stop to count, even when I get it paid punctually. But every farthing I
receive shall go--that is to say, if it ever does come--into the lap of
Mrs. Stubbard, anonymously and respectfully.”
“Pay your bills, first,” said the Admiral, taking the weather-gage of
the discussion: “a little bird tells me that you owe a good trifle, even
in Springhaven.”
“Then the little bird has got a false bill,” replied Dolly, who was not
very easy to fluster. “Who is there to spend sixpence with in a little
hole of this kind? I am not a customer for tea, coffee, tobacco, snuff,
or pepper, nor even for whiting, soles, or conger. Old Cheeseman imports
all the fashions, as he says; but I go by my own judgment. And trumpery
as my income is, very little of it goes into his till. But I should like
to know who told you such a wicked story, father?”
“Things are mentioned in confidence, and I put them together,” said the
Admiral. “Don't say another word, or look as if you would be happier if
you had something to cry about. Your dear mother used to do it; and it
beats me always. I have long had my eye upon Captain Stubbard, and I
remember well that gallant action when his three ribs flew away. We
called him Adam, because of his wife coming just when his middle rib
went, and his name was Adam Stubbard, sure enough. Such men, in the
prime of their life, should be promoted, instead of being disabled, for
a scratch like that. Why, he walks every bit as well as I do, and
his watch-ribbon covers it. And nine children! Lord bless my heart! I
scarcely know which way to turn, with only four!”
Within a short fortnight Captain Stubbard was appointed, with an
office established at the house of Widow Shanks--though his real office
naturally was at the public-house--and Royal Proclamations aroused the
valour of nearly everybody who could read them. Nine little Stubbards
soon were rigged too smart to know themselves, as the style is of all
dandies; and even Mrs. Stubbard had a new belt made to go round her,
when the weather was elastic.
“These are the things that prove the eye of an All-wise Providence over
us,” said the Captain to the Admiral, pointing out six pairs of short
legs, galligaskined from one roll of cloth; “these are the things that
make one feel the force of the words of David.”
“Certainly, yes, to be sure!” replied the gallant senior officer, all
at sea as to the passage suggested. “Good legs they have got, and no
mistake; like the polished corners of the temple. Let them go and dip
them in the sea, while you give the benefit of your opinion here. Not
here, I mean, but upon Fox-hill yonder; if Mrs. Stubbard will spare you
for a couple of hours, most kindly.”
Of the heights that look down with a breezy air upon the snug nest of
Springhaven, the fairest to see from a distance, and to tread with brisk
foot, is Fox-hill. For the downs, which are channelled with the springs
that form the brook, keep this for their own last spring into the air,
before bathing in the vigorous composure of the sea. All the other hills
fall back a little, to let Fox-hill have the first choice of aspect--or
bear the first brunt, as itself would state the matter. And to anybody
coming up, and ten times to a stranger, this resolute foreland offers
more invitation to go home again, than to come visiting. For the bulge
of the breast is steep, and ribbed with hoops coming up in denial,
concrete with chalk, muricated with flint, and thornily crested with
good stout furze. And the forefront of the head, when gained, is stiff
with brambles, and stubbed with sloes, and mitred with a choice band of
stanch sting-nettles.
“It would take a better Frenchman,” said the Admiral, with that brevity
which is the happy result of stoutness up steep hill, “than any of 'they
flat-bottoms,' as Swipes, my gardener, calls them, to get through
these prickles, Stubbard, without Sark-blewing. Such a wonderfully
thin-skinned lot they are! Did I ever tell you the story of our
boatswain's mate? But that takes a better sailing breeze than I've got
now. You see where we are, don't you?”
“Certainly, Admiral,” replied Captain Stubbard, disdaining to lay hand
to his injured side, painfully as it yearned for pressure; “we have had
a long pull, and we get a fine outlook over the country for leagues, and
the Channel. How close at hand everything looks! I suppose we shall have
rain, and we want it. I could thump that old castle among the trees into
smash, and your church looks as if I could put a shot with a rifle-gun
into the bell-chamber.”
“And so you could. What I want to show you is that very point, and
the importance of it. With a battery of long twenty-fours up here, the
landing, the bay, and all the roads are at our mercy. My dear old friend
Nelson drew my attention to it.”
“It is plain as a pikestaff to Tom, Dick, or Harry:” Captain Stubbard
was a frank, straightforward man, and much as he owed to the Admiral's
aid, not a farthing would he pay in flattery. “But why should we want to
command this spot? There is nothing to protect but a few common houses,
and some half-score of fishing-craft, and a schooner that trades to
London, and yonder old church, and--oh yes, to be sure, your own house
and property, Admiral.”
“Those must take their chance, like others. I hope I know better than to
think of them in comparison with the good of the country. But if we fail
to occupy this important post, the enemy might take us by surprise, and
do so.”
“Possible, but most improbable. This little place lies, by the trend of
the coast, quite out of their course from Boulogne to London; and what
is there here to tempt them? No rich town to sack, no great commerce to
rob, no valuable shipping to lay hands on.”
“No; but there's my house and my two girls; and I don't want my old
roof burned, and my daughters put to wait on Boney. But to think of
self-interest is below contempt, with our country going through such
trials. Neither should we add any needless expense to a treasury already
overburdened.”
“Certainly not. It would be absolutely wicked. We have a long and costly
war before us, and not a shilling should be spent except in case of
clear necessity.”
“I am very glad indeed to find your opinion so decided, so untainted
with petty self-interest.” As Admiral Darling spoke he closed a little
silver telescope, with which he had been gazing through the wooded
coronet of the hill. “I thought it my duty to consult you, Stubbard,
before despatching this letter, which, being backed by Nelson's opinion,
would probably have received attention. If a strong battery were thrown
up here, as it would be in a fortnight from the receipt of this bit of
foolscap, the appointment of commandant would rest with me, and I could
appoint nobody but your good self, because of your well-known experience
in earthworks. The appointment would have doubled your present pay,
which, though better than nothing, is far below your merits. But your
opinion settles the question otherwise, and I must burn my letter. Let
us lose no more time. Mrs. Stubbard will call me a savage, for keeping
you away so long.”
“Important business,” replied the Captain, “will not wait even for
ladies, or, rather, they must try to wait for it, and give way to more
reasonable urgency. Some time is required for considering this matter,
and deciding what is most for the interest of the nation. Oblige me with
your spy-glass, Admiral. There is one side on which I have neglected
to look out, and that may of all be the most important. A conclusion
arrived at by yourself and Nelson is not to be hastily set aside. Your
knowledge of the country is so far beyond mine, though I may have
had more to do with land-works. We ought to think twice, sir, if the
government will pay for it, about a valuable job of this kind.”
With these words Captain Stubbard began to use the telescope carefully,
forming his opinion through it, and wisely shaking his head, now and
then, with a longer and longer focus. Then he closed the glass, and his
own lips firmly--whereby a man announces that no other should open his
against them--and sternly striding the yard exact, took measurement for
the battery. The hill was crowned with a ring of Scotch firs, casting
a quiet shade upon the warlike haste of the Captain. If Admiral Darling
smiled, it was to the landscape and the offing, for he knew that
Stubbard was of rather touchy fibre, and relished no jokes unless of
home production. His slow, solid face was enough to show this, and the
squareness of his outline, and the forward thrust of his knees as he
walked, and the larkspur impress of his lingering heels. And he seldom
said much, without something to say.
“Well,” cried the Admiral, growing tired of sitting so long upon a
fallen trunk, “what conclusion do you feel inclined to come to? 'Tis
a fine breezy place to clear the brain, and a briny air to sharpen the
judgment.”
“Only one tree need come down--this crooked one at the southeast
corner.” Captain Stubbard began to swing his arms about, like a windmill
uncertain of the wind. “All gentlemen hate to have a tree cut down,
all blackguards delight in the process. Admiral, we will not hurt
your trees. They will add to our strength, by masking it. Six long
twenty-fours of the new make, here in front, and two eighteens upon
either flank, and I should like to see the whole of the Boulogne
flotilla try to take yonder shore by daylight. That is to say, of
course, if I commanded, with good old salts to second me. With
your common artillery officers, landlubbers, smell-the-wicks,
cross-the-braces sons of guns, there had better not be anything at all
put up. They can't make a fortification; and when they have made it,
they can't work it. Admiral Darling, you know that, though you have not
had the bad luck to deal with them as I have. I may thank one of them
for being up here on the shelf.”
“Of one thing you may be quite certain,” replied the commander of the
sea defence; “if we have any battery on this Fox-hill, it shall be
constructed and manned by blue-jackets. I have a large draft of them now
at discretion. Every man in Springhaven will lend a hand, if paid for
it. It would take at least a twelvemonth to get it done from Woolwich. A
seaman does a thing before a landsman thinks about it.”