A CHAIN OF PENANCE.
That brief voyage from Plymouth to the islands of the Azores was in the
main an uneventful one. Gilbert Oglander, who, notwithstanding his love
of ships, had never before spent a night upon the sea, very speedily
succumbed to the effects of the ship's motion. The _Revenge_ rolled and
pitched upon the great green waves that met her in the open channel
beyond the Eddystone rocks, and when she was off Ushant a thick sea-mist
hemmed her in, and she lay there tossing for many hours under
close-reefed sails, beyond sight or hail of the other vessels of the
fleet.
It was while the fog still held round her that Gilbert first ventured
upon deck. Jacob Hartop met him there, and greeted him with a question.
"Prithee, Master Oglander," said the old man, "hast seen aught of young
Robin Redfern these few hours past?"
"Nay," answered Gilbert, "he hath not been near me since I have been
below."
"Then I much fear," returned Hartop, "that the lad hath fallen
overboard, for no man hath set eyes upon him since we shortened sail
eight hours ago. We have searched for him all-wheres, but he cannot be
found. As a last resource I have sent a man up the main-mast to seek him
in the tops, although 'tis well-nigh impossible he can be there."
As he spoke the old man glanced aloft through the fog, and at the same
moment a voice hailed him from tops.
"Below there!" the voice cried. "The kid is here. I have found him!"
Jacob Hartop sprang up upon the bulwarks, grasped the shrouds, and
climbed up with the nimbleness of a much younger man. Gilbert watched
him, and presently he disappeared into the railed gallery there. When
he again appeared he was slowly descending, bearing the boy's inert form
over his shoulder.
"There!" cried Hartop, as he dumped the lad down upon the deck. "Thank
the Lord y'are not starved to death up there!"
The boy looked up, dazed as if he had been suddenly aroused from sleep.
"How came you to go hiding up there?" questioned Hartop in a severe
tone. "Dost know how you have alarmed us, quotha? How came you up there,
I say?"
The lad's eyes glanced about him as if in mortal fear.
"'Twas Red Bob," he stammered. "He's here, on board this ship. I was
afraid of him, Master Hartop; for he doth owe me a sorry grudge for
being the cause of his being put into prison. I went up the mast to hide
from him, and, being there, I could not get down again, try as I would."
"And, prithee, who might be this Red Bob of whom y'are so afraid?" asked
Jacob.
And then Robin caught sight of Gilbert Oglander, and he said:
"Master Gilbert should know the man. 'Tis the man that was put into
prison for stealing the ducks and geese from the Manor farm, Master
Gilbert, and that attacked you in Beddington Dingle, and that robbed
Master Hartop of his bag of precious stones that he had brought home
from the Spanish Main."
"Marry!" exclaimed Gilbert in surprise. "And you say he is aboard the
_Revenge_?"
"Ay, truly," said Robin; "and by the way he regarded me, I feel sure he
doth know that it was I who raised the alarm and was the cause of his
being caught."
"You need be in no such fear of the man, my lad," said Gilbert. "Let him
but attempt to harm you, and I warrant you he'll not soon forget it. You
are in my personal charge now, Robin, and I'll see you are hurt by no
man."
Later on that same day Gilbert encountered the man Red Bob in the
forward part of the ship, whence the lad had gone immediately after
prayers to witness a strange ceremony, of which the occasion was this:
that Red Bob had that day been taken in the swearing of a blasphemous
oath, and was now to be punished in sight of his companions. With a
general consent of all the ship's company, it had been ordained that any
man guilty of using profane language should be condemned to wear a heavy
iron chain about his neck, and that at the time of morning and evening
prayers he should receive three blows given him by the boatswain. The
guilty man could only free himself from the penalty by transferring it
to another whom he discovered swearing. Thus did the men of the
_Revenge_ endeavour to banish the vice of bad language on board.
Red Bob had worn the chain for the space of seven hours, and he was
standing in the midst of his fellows meekly submitting to the
boatswain's blows when Gilbert appeared. Gilbert thought he had never
seen a man whose face showed more of brutality and evil than this Red
Bob, and as he looked at him and remembered that night in Beddington
Dingle, he could not doubt that it was this same man, this poacher, who
had attacked Jacob Hartop and stolen the poor old man's wallet with its
jewels and the precious letter, of which so much had been said at
Modbury Manor.
Jacob Hartop himself was at Gilbert's elbow as Red Bob retired towards
the forecastle smarting from the boatswain's blows. As he approached
them he touched his forelock, and was passing on when Gilbert accosted
him.
"Stop," said the lad, "I have a word or two to say to you."
"I am at your worship's service," returned Red Bob. "What would you?"
And then, recognizing Gilbert as the young heir of Modbury, he added:
"But I have little need to ask, methinks, for I guess that you would
question me concerning the matter of the night when I was arrested and
thrown into Plymouth gaol?"
Gilbert nodded. "Yes," he said, "you have guessed my wish right truly."
"Well, your honour," said Red Bob, "as to the poaching of the farm
ducks--"
"Nay, I meant not the poaching matter," interrupted Gilbert. "You have
had your just punishment for that, and so 'tis at an end. It was rather
of the matter of your attack upon Master Hartop here, that I would know
more. You see, there was a letter stolen--a letter of grave importance."
"Ay, 'twas the Spaniards that purloined it," broke in Red Bob.
"The Spaniards?" echoed Gilbert. "Prithee, what Spaniards mean you?"
"Look you, my masters," said Red Bob, and then he drew Gilbert to the
bulwarks and signed to Hartop to join him. "I can tell you, mayhap, more
than you know. But firstly, be assured that I had no hand in the affair.
The men who waylaid Master Hartop were Jasper Oglander, his son Philip,
and one Andrea de Ortega. Nay, do not doubt me," he cautioned, seeing
that Gilbert shook his head in incredulity; "I had the whole story from
overhearing the Spaniards while I was in the gaol. For you must know
that, having been for some three years on the Spanish galleys, I know
their language, though of that they never dreamt when they contrived
their plots and conspiracies in my hearing. Willingly would I have
warned Master Richard Drake of their schemes; but in gaol one can hold
speech with none but one's fellow-prisoners, and ere I was released and
brought on board this ship the Spaniards had made good their escape."
"Ay, but what of Master Jasper Oglander?" interrupted Hartop. "Say you
that you have proof against him?"
"I have proof thus far," rejoined Red Bob, "that on that night in
December he and his two companions followed you from the ship with
intent to get possession of the letter. It was they who assailed you in
Beddington Dingle. They possessed themselves of the letter, which, it
seemeth, contained news of the Spanish plate fleet. It was on account of
that news that they were in so great haste to get back to Spain. Their
escape was contrived by Jasper Oglander and his son--"
"Marry come up!" cried Gilbert "Why, then, Timothy Trollope was right
after all!"
Red Bob shook his head, and a grim smile played about his lips.
"Timothy Trollope had been righter still if he had finished his work on
Polperro beach," said he. "'Tis said that the lad ran his rapier through
young Philip Oglander. Haply he did so; but of this I am certain, that
young Philip Oglander is at this moment on board the _Pearl_ on his way
to Spain, with intent to inform the Spanish king of the setting out of
this present expedition to waylay the plate fleet. That, my master, is
the sum of what I know, and if there be aught else that you would
question me upon, my name on the ship's books is Robert Cruse, and you
will find me when on duty in the carpenter's quarters." And so saying,
he again touched his forelock and proceeded on his way into the
forecastle.
Thus, when it was too late to relent, did Gilbert learn of his
injustice towards Timothy Trollope. He reflected that had he only
believed in Timothy's report of the character of Jasper and Philip
Oglander, much mischief might have been averted. For it needed no
assurance from Jacob Hartop to bring him to understand to the full all
that might follow from the escape of the Spanish prisoners. They were
now on their way to Spain, apparently with the object of hastening to
King Philip and informing him of the starting of Lord Thomas Howard's
expedition to the Azores; and the result of their intelligence would no
doubt be that the Spanish king would endeavour by all the means in his
power to frustrate the English designs upon his treasure-ships.
Gilbert spoke of these things with Roland Grenville, but young Grenville
regarded them with small concern, and reminded Gilbert that Lord Thomas
Howard was well acquainted with the situation, for that he had given
instructions to all his captains to keep a constant watch for the
_Pearl_, to the end that if any should sight her she was to be pursued
and captured, or else sent to the bottom with a well-directed shot.
But if any strange vessels were espied they were only peaceful traders
bearing our own flag of St. George, or else one or two of the Earl of
Cumberland's fleet, which were at that time cruising off the coasts of
Spain. Certain it is that the _Pearl_ did not come within sight of any
on board the _Revenge_, for her voyage across the Bay of Biscay and
thence westward to the Azores was performed without so much as the
firing of a single gun. Nor did any event of great moment occur the
while on board, or any circumstance worthy of mention, saving only that
ere the Western Isles were sighted the men had already begun to grumble
much at the quality of their rations and at their bodily discomforts.
For, as if the ill results of bad victualling of the Queen's ships in
1588 had not been a sufficient lesson, the food supplied to the present
expedition was of the poorest sort, and it was little wonder that there
was much discontent. The beer, of which one gallon each day was supplied
to every man and boy, had been stored in old oil and fish barrels, and
was so corrupt that many refused to drink of it. The meat was so salt
that many said the brine had been put into it for the purpose of
disguising the rank foulness thereof. The bread, too, was daily becoming
more closely inhabited by maggots, while even the sweetest food was like
to become unsavoury by reason of the noisome and poisonous scent of the
bilge-water, which was in itself enough, had not the men all been for
the most part hale and healthy, to make many a brave sailor food for
crabs and sharks.
But if the men grumbled it was as yet only in surly undertones, for all
knew that there was good fruit to be had on the island of Flores, and
perhaps even some good wine. Furthermore, the Spanish treasure-ships
were expected on an early day, when, after a little fighting, as none
doubted, our ships would speedily be filled up to the gunwales with bars
of gold and ingots of silver and bags of precious stones. And then it
would be--Hi! for England and a merry life for the rest of their days!
The thought of that treasure buoyed up the heart of many a man whose
spirit might else have failed him in the long days of waiting that were
before them. But more than the hope of gain was the hope, which every
man in the fleet felt in his inmost heart, of giving a trouncing to the
proud Dons of Spain. For assuredly there was no stronger feeling in the
British seaman's heart at that time than that of hatred of the Spaniard.