wrong. I have gone on stealing every day, everything you have had; only
it was only my own breakfast and dinner."
"Then you have been starving yourself for me!" said Godfrey excitedly.
"Oh, no, I haven't," cried Waller merrily, "only I've got the credit of
being such a pig that cook's quite anxious about me. It was only the
day before yesterday she wanted me to take some physic; said I was
eating twice as much as was good for me, and it made her very anxious,
and she wished my father would come home."
"Yes," cried Godfrey, "your father, too. Why, you told me long ago that
you expected him every day."
"Well, so I did; but he doesn't come, and he doesn't write. I don't
know why it is; but, of course, he will come some day."
"Yes, and there will be terrible trouble about your harbouring me. Oh,
Waller, I did hope your man of the woods would have got a passage for me
in some boat. Why, it's four days since he was here and promised to
make that right."
"Oh, give him time," said Waller impatiently; "and do pray leave off
grumbling when things are going so well."
"Going so well?"
"Yes, I didn't tell you. I was saving it up, only we got talking about
other things. I have some news. The soldiers are gone. I am sorry to
say."
"You are sorry to say?"
"Why, of course," said Waller sadly. "Doesn't it mean that I have to
keep my promise and help to get you away?"
"Yes," said Godfrey softly, and his fingers began to grip his
companion's shoulder; "but some day I hope that I shall be able to cross
over again, not as a poor fugitive, but in peace, and come here and see
you, if you will have me when I am not a prisoner."
"If I will have you, lad!" cried Waller enthusiastically. "Why, you
know I will; and my father will be glad to see you too, if you don't
come, as old Bunny said, to try and steal the crown. Why, of course,
you and I are going to be friends always. And you will write to me, and
I shall write to you."
"Yes, yes; of course," cried Godfrey eagerly. "I don't want to go away,
Waller, but I must; and as that man--Bunny you call him--does not bring
us any news, I want you to let me start off to-morrow night as soon as
it is dark, and make my way to Southampton."
"To be caught and put in prison," cried Waller, "and--Bother that owl!
That's the third time it has hooted this last five minutes. No!" he
cried in an excited whisper, as he rested his hands on the window-sill.
"Hist! It's Bunny Wrigg!" And then, clapping his hands to each side of
his mouth, he softly imitated with wonderful accuracy the call of one of
the woodland owls.
"_Hoi hoi hoi hoi hoi_!"
"_Pee-week_! _Pee-week_! _Pee-week_!" came from below them in the
shrubbery a little to their left.
"All right, Bunny," whispered Waller. "I'll come down."
"Nay, lad; hold hard. I'm coming up."
The darkness was so dense that, as the lads gazed down, they had but a
mere glimpse of a shadowy animal, as it seemed to be running across the
lawn, and directly after there was a faint, soft rustling in the thick
ivy.
"Isn't it dangerous for him?" whispered Godfrey.
"Not it. Bunny can climb like a cat. He'll be right up in the big
gutter directly."
The lad was quite correct, for, with wonderfully little noise,
considering, the active fellow climbed up by the huge old stems of the
ivy, and a couple of minutes later he was standing in the stone gutter,
holding on by the division between the open casements.
"Catch hold of this 'ere bundle--on my back," he whispered. "It's only
hanging on by the strap over my neck."
Waller did as he was told, and, pulling the strap over the man's head,
he drew a big soft bundle into the room.
"That's your sort," whispered Bunny. "If I tried to clamber in with
that on it would have ketched."
The next moment he was gliding in over the window-sill, slowly and
softly like a huge black slug, and ended by seating himself cross-legged
on the floor.
"Anybody hear me if I talk?"
"No, but speak low," whispered Waller, while Godfrey's breath was quite
audible as he breathed hard in his excitement. "We were beginning to
think that you did not mean to come."
"What call had you got to think that?" grumbled the man in a hoarse
whisper. "I went directly.--How are you, young gentleman?--My
brother-in-law Jem had gone to sea, and I had to wait; and here I am
now, large as life and twiced as ugly."
"But has your brother-in-law come back?"
"Oh, ay, he's got back."
"And will he take my friend across to Cherbourg?"
"Oh, I have been having a long fight with him about that, sir. He's got
a nasty disposition, he has. I telled him that I'd give him a good
price for doing the job, and that I'd go as far as three pounds."
"What!" cried Waller. "I told you five."
"To be sure you did, sir, but I warn't going to let him have all his own
way, so I said three, meaning, if he argufied very much, to spring
another pound and make it four. But he wouldn't. He stuck out for the
five, and I had to promise him."
"Oh, but you shouldn't have wasted time over that, Bunny."
"Don't you tell me, Master Waller. I know brother Jem better than you
do. He's a close-fisted one, brother Jem is, and he always takes care
that them as buys his fish to sell ashore shan't have too much profit.
Why, if I had offered him five pound right off he'd have held out for
six. But don't you get wasting time talking. There aren't none to
lose."
"No time to lose? What do you mean?" said Waller.
"Ah, you don't know, then? The soldiers is coming here to-night."
"To-night! Nonsense!" cried Waller. "They have gone right away--to
Chichester, I think."
"Maybe they went, sir, but it warn't to Chichester; it was to
Christchurch; and Tony Gusset got hold of something, and he's gone after
them, and some one I know telled me they were coming here to-night, and
don't mean to be put off this time."
"Then I must go at once," cried Godfrey excitedly.
"That's right, sir," said Bunny. "I brought you some things as will
make you look like a fisher-lad when I have done with you. Can you slip
them on in the dark?"
"Oh, yes, of course he can," cried Waller. "I will help him."
"The sooner the better, then, sir," whispered the man, and, busying
himself with the knots in a great cotton handkerchief, he soon shook out
a big, broad, canvas petticoat, such as the fishers use, sewed right up
the middle so as to give it the semblance of a clumsy pair of trousers.
Godfrey winced a little as he handled the stiff garment; but it was for
liberty, and he soon had the canvas buttoned on.
"You had better take off that jacket, sir. I can't see it, but I can
feel as it don't look a bit like a fisher-boy's things. That's your
sort! Now then, Master Waller, pull that there jersey over his head.
That's the way. There, now, he feels like a regular sailor-lad. Here's
a sou'-wester, too. It's rather an old un, but none the worse for that.
There you are. Now then, I have got a bit of a pot here. You hold
your hands, and I'll fish out a dob of it with my knife. Then you give
it a good rub round with your hands so as to go all over them, and then
you can gorm them well over your face. Don't be afraid of it, sir.
It'll make you look every bit a sailor, and won't wash off in a month."
Godfrey drew in his breath with a hiss.
"Why, what is it, Bunny?" said Waller.
"Real good pitch, sir, same as they pays over the bottoms of their
boats."
"Oh, but surely that isn't necessary," cried Waller angrily.
"He's right," said Godfrey, as he began to rub the sticky brown produce
of the fir well over his hands and face. "It's the best disguise I
could assume."
"Hist!" said Waller. "Didn't I hear something?"
Bunny turned to the window, looked out cautiously, and drew in his head
again.
"They've come," he whispered. "Now sir, can't you get us down to the
back door, so that we can slip away at once?"
"No," said Waller excitedly. "We should have to cross the hall, and
they'd be there."
"I'm all right," said Bunny. "I can slip down easier than I got up.
What about this here young gentleman? He won't find it so easy with
that there canvas on."
"No," cried Waller. "He couldn't get down. I don't believe I could.
What in the world are we to do?"
"Ar'n't got a bit of rope, I suppose, sir?" whispered Bunny.
"Yes, of course. I'd forgotten."
"Strong un?"
"The new one I got for the fishing-net," said Waller.
"That'll do it. Now then, let me look out while you get it. You make
it fast to the big window-bar while I just try and see what they are
doing. I want to make sure that they all go in and leave the way clear
for us to slide down. Once we can get to the woods we shall be all
right."
"Make sure," whispered Waller, "that they don't leave a sentry by the
porch."
Bunny grunted, and as silently as he could Waller took his coil of rope
from the drawer, fastened it again to the beam, and, as soon as the man
drew in his head, prepared to lower it down.
"It's all right, my lad. Be quick. Some of them has gone round to the
back, and your gal Bella has just let t'others in by the front door.
Here, I'll go down first to see if the rope's safe, and ready to knock
over any of them sojers if he tries to stop us. The young gent had
better come next, and you last. You'll have to leave the rope to get
back after you have seen us a bit on the way. But hold hard a minute.
How long is that rope?"
"About thirty yards," said Waller.
"Here, let me get at it," said Bunny, and, rapidly unfastening it, he
ran it through his hands till he could put the two ends together to get
its measurement, and then, passing an end on either side of the upright
division of the window, he lowered it down till the bight came in
contact with the upright bar. "There you are;" he whispered; "twice as
strong; and when we are all down I can haul on one end and bring it
after us to hide it somewheres in the wood so as it shan't give you
away."
"Capital!" whispered Waller, hurrying to the window, thrusting out his
head, and listening, to find all still. "No one there," he whispered
again, "so down with you."
Bunny gave a grunt, took hold of the rope, and as he was squeezing
himself out to stand with his feet in the gutter. Waller caught hold of
his friend's hand, gave it a grip, and then crept to the door, turned
the key softly, opened it and listened there, to hear the murmur of
voices down in the hall.
He turned the key again and darted back to the window, to feel the rope
quivering for a few moments and then slacken.
Bunny was at the bottom.
"Now can I help you?" whispered Waller.
"No," was the reply. "I can manage." But Waller's heart beat fast and
a strange choking sensation seemed to rise in his breast as the boy,
hampered by his stiff petticoat-trousers, had no little difficulty in
getting clear of the window.
The next minute he was letting himself glide down, rustling loudly
through the ivy.
Waller waited, leaning half out of the window and gazing down till he
was satisfied that his companion was nearly at the bottom, when he
hurried back to the door, unlocked it and withdrew the key, and then,
opening, he felt for the hole and thrust the key in on the outer side.
"There," he muttered; "when they come up here, they won't suspect me."
It was his turn now, and, full of activity, he crept out of the window
and stood for a moment amongst the ivy in the gutter, and then began to
slide so quickly down the double rope that his hands were ready to burn.
As he touched the soft earth he felt Bunny thrust him aside and take
hold of one end of the rope.
"You haul steadily," he whispered; and as the lad drew on the rope the
big country fellow laid it in rings at his feet. "Mind your head," he
whispered, "when t'other end falls."
But Waller was on his guard, and as the end glided round the upright of
the window-frame and came rustling down through the ivy, it just touched
the lad's protecting arm, and that was all.
"I'll hide this here somewhere, where I can find it again," whispered
Bunny. "You won't want to go in again that way when there's the doors."
As the last ring was formed of the rope and caught up by the rough
gipsy-looking fellow, they stood listening to the sound of voices, which
came loudly from within, two of those present recognising the husky,
throaty speech of the village constable, and Waller set it down to
questioning as to where he was.
Directly after, at a word from Bunny, they stepped off the bed on to the
soft turf, just as there was the rattle of a lock, the big door was
thrown open, and a bright bar of light flashed across the lawn, while
_clump, clump_, came the heavy footsteps of a couple of the soldiers
marching through the porch.
To go on seemed to Waller like courting danger; to stand still suggested
the certainty of being seen; and giving Godfrey a thrust, he pressed
onward, risking all, and following Bunny, who was hurrying in the
direction of the forest.
Over and over again Waller felt certain that they must be seen by the
two men, whom he could make out as he glanced back, standing against the
light that came through the porch, and he could hardly believe in their
good fortune, as neither shout nor shot was sent in their direction,
while a few minutes later they were threading their way amongst the
trees.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
THE ESCAPE.
"Well, so far so good," said Bunny softly. "We are not likely to meet
anybody in the hevenue, Master Waller, so that's the best going, and we
will keep to that."
"The soldiers will be all up at the Manor, but suppose anybody else is
coming up from the village?"
"If they was I should 'ear them, sir, before they 'eard me. We will
step out, and when you think it best, Master Waller, you turn back, and
make yourself easy. I'll see young squire here safe aboard brother
Jem's boat some time to-morrow, so you had better say good-bye pretty
sharp so as to be ready to slip off when you like. But what about that
there money? Shall I tell brother Jem as I have it ready for him and
his mates when he's set young squire here safe across?"
"Yes, of course," cried Waller.
"Pst!" whispered the man. "In among the trees!" and he caught hold of
Godfrey's hand, dragging him through the bracken and bush, while in his
excitement Waller took cover on the other side of the winding way.
For all at once he was conscious of the flashing of two lights and the
dull rattle of wheels coming through the deep sand of the road.
Directly after the lights were illumining the big trunks of the fine old
trees through which the track ran, and the boy's heart beat all the
faster as through the open window of the post-chaise he caught a glimpse
of the grey, stern-looking head of him whom he had expected so long.
"Father!" he breathed to himself, and he stood gazing after the chaise
till it had passed round another curve and the last gleam of the lights
had disappeared. "Pst!" he whispered. "Bunny! Did you see that!"
There was no reply, not a sound but the faint whirr of the wheels
growing fainter moment by moment, and, confident now that he could not
be seen, the boy left the shelter of the trees, crossed the road, and
entered those on the other side beyond the broad strip of grass.
"Bunny!" he whispered again with no result, and then three times over at
intervals he hazarded the call of an owl; but in vain. Then, after
hurrying for a short distance in the direction he felt that his
companions must have taken, he was brought up short in a clump of
brambles, and, feeling the madness of attempting to follow farther, he
began to think.
"I must trust to Bunny getting him safely off, whether I will or not,"
he muttered. "Oh, but he's sure to get him aboard, and I had not
reckoned on this. Father is up at the porch door by now, to find the
soldiers searching the place, and the first thing he will say will be,
`Where is Waller?'"
The next minute the boy was trotting steadily back towards the Manor,
trusting more to instinct than to sight in avoiding the trees.
"And I never said good-bye!" he kept on muttering. "I never said
good-bye!"
Then all at once he stopped short, panting hard, partly from exertion,
partly from excitement, for the thought came strong upon him now of his
father.
"He will ask me," he panted, "where I have been; and what am I to say?"
An end to the boy's musings was put by the returning post-chaise, whose
wheels he heard far ahead, and as soon as it had passed he hurried on
along the road; but before he had gone far he took to cover again, for
voices were approaching him in the darkness, one of which, loud and
threatening, Waller recognised at once as that of the sergeant in
command of the search-party.
He was talking in a menacing tone, and the reply came in a husky,
petulant voice, plainly that of the village constable, while directly
after there was a chorus of laughter.
Waller shrank farther back amongst the trees, and stood thinking much of
his friend's escape, of this second fruitless mission of the soldiery,
but, above all, of that which was before him, for, as he hurried on,
there, straight before him, his father's stern countenance seemed to
rise out of the darkness to look at him with questioning eyes.
The rest of the journey back he saw nothing, heard nothing, thought of
nothing, but that stern, questioning face. In fact, later on it seemed
to the lad as if there had been a blank until he found himself standing
in the well-lit dining-room, listening to his father's words.
These were very few, the principal being comprised in the question, very
shortly and sharply uttered--
"Well, Waller, my boy, where have you been?"
The next minute the tired traveller was sitting back in the big
armchair, his brow resting upon one hand, which shaded his face from the
young speaker, who slowly, and without a moment's hesitation, spoke out
frankly and related all that has been told here.
"Well," said the Squire, as his son ended his narrative, "I am a
magistrate, my boy, and it would have been my duty if I had been here to
give up that lad to those who sought him. I was not here, and you acted
upon the promptings of your own breast. Well, my boy, I have had a long
and slow journey down; I am very tired, and I was not prepared for such
a business as this. It is late, and beyond your time for bed; quite
mine, too. And so this young French Englishman whom you have sheltered
is on his way with that fellow Wrigg to Loo Creek, where he is to join a
lugger, and be set ashore at Cherbourg?"
"Yes, father. But you will not send the soldiers in chase of him now?"
"Not to-night, my boy," was the reply, "for I am too worn out and weary
for anything but bed. I will sleep upon it and see what I think is my
duty on the subject to-morrow morning."
"Ah," thought Waller Froy, as he went slowly up, candle in hand, to the
room from which his prisoner had so lately escaped; and his first act
was to pick up the jacket Godfrey Boyne had thrown upon the floor.
"Why, I needn't have minded," said Waller to himself. "It's my jacket
that I lent him; and I feel so comfortable and easy now that dad knows
all. There, I believe I can sleep better to-night than I have for a
month."
He descended to his bedroom, feeling rather sad, though, as he thought
of his late companion's journey through the darkness of the night.
Then, as he slowly undressed and laid his head upon the pillow, he had
one more wandering thought:
"Will father do anything more about that poor fellow Boyne?"
The next minute Waller Froy had ceased to think, and thought no more
till he opened his eyes upon the light of another bright autumn morning.
"Father said he would sleep upon it. What will he say to me when we
meet?" And then another question flashed through his brain: "France
isn't so very far away; I wonder whether Godfrey Boyne and I will ever
meet again?"
End of Project Gutenberg's The New Forest Spy, by George Manville Fenn