Our speed did not last long; for very soon the hard road turned off to
the coast, whereas I, being chary, even of minutes, resolved to strike
inland and make direct for the Bann.
I was a fool for my pains, as I presently found; for we were soon
crawling and floundering among thickets and morasses like blind men.
Add to that that the weather grew boisterous and stormy, that our
provisions were sunk very low, that now and again we were set upon by
the clansmen of the Glynns, who, for all the truce, hated England with
all their hearts, and you may guess if we made quick progress.
At length we captured a countryman, who, to save his neck, offered to
guide us out into the Route country, where Castleroe was. But ten
precious days had been lost us in that journey; during which, who was to
say what evil might not be befalling those two helpless maids?
'Twas a dark evening when at last we swam the river and rode to the gate
of Turlogh's house. Well I remembered the place!
Lights were moving in the courtyard. There was a noise of horses
standing, and of men calling to one another. Even the sentry at the
gate was not at his post to challenge us, and we rode in almost
unobserved.
"Where is your Captain?" demanded I, dismounting, and addressing a
fellow who stood busily harnessing his horse.
He looked round, and, seeing a stranger, dropped his saddle and shouted:
"Here they be at last! Tell the Captain."
Presently, as I waited, scarcely knowing what to make of it, Captain
Merriman himself came up. And at sight of him 'twas all I could do to
hold my hand from my sword.
He ordered lights to be fetched, and when they came said:
"So you are here at last, sirrah? By my soul, I know not what Tom Price
calls nimble men; but I could have walked as far on foot in the time.
Come, who is your leader? Let me see your papers."
I stood forth and handed him Tom's letter, whereby the Captain was to
know we were the good men and true he was in need of. He eyed me
keenly, and said:
"Had you come an hour later, you would have had a longer ride still, for
we are even now setting out westward. Nevertheless, laggards as you be,
you are come in good time. Harkee, you," said he, beckoning me aside,
"a word in your ear."
I was ready to make an end of the villain then and there; for I smelt
falsehood and devilry in every word he spoke. But I waited to let him
say his say out first. There was little fear in the dark night, and the
unsteady flare of the torches, of his guessing to whom he spoke.
"I require you and your men to stay here," said he, "to guard this
place. Tom Price tells me you are a trusty fellow, that understands his
business and asks no questions, which is well. In this house are two
fair maidens, who, when we leave, will have no other protector but you
and your men. Now then, I bid you, guard them close. Let no one in to
them, and see they go not out. They are my captives, and but for this
cursed war I should not be leaving the charge of them thus to a
stranger. Hold no talk with them, and, if they be riotous, lock them
fast in their chambers. So soon as I have shown myself to the Deputy
Lord I shall return; or I may send you word to bring the maids to me.
Remember, hands-off; and if you serve me well in this, I may,
perchance--for they are both fair--"
"Enough!" exclaimed I through my teeth, and digging my fingers into the
palms of my hands till the blood came.
"I understand you, Captain. Depend on me."
"Thanks, good fellow," said he, not heeding my troubled voice. "We
shall meet again soon. And, by the way, see specially that a certain
hare-brained poetic fool and a swaggering bully, his companion, come not
near the place. If you catch them, you will do well to hang them on the
gate. Heaven knows they have marred sport enough! And now, farewell.
Your hand on this."
I gave him such a grip that he well-nigh danced with pain, and let him
go.
I was in a state of wild tumult. Within those very walls, then,
unconscious of all that came and went, lay the two sweet maids, for
whose sake I have travelled thus far from London. And this fool of a
villain was even now leaving me to guard them, while he, deferring his
crime for a more convenient season, went to show himself to my Lord
Deputy! 'Twas more like a dream of good fortune than real fact; and I
dreaded every moment to find myself awake with all my hopes vanished.
But no. The Captain and his men went to horse, and presently the order
was given to march out.
"Farewell," cried he to me as he rode forth; "be trusty and vigilant.
Draw up the gate after we be gone, for there be rogues in plenty about.
We shall meet again. Meanwhile, when you see my angel, tell her I left
in tears, breathing her name. Ha! ha!"
And he spurred off gaily.
I stood stock-still, I know not how long, till the sound of the hoofs
had clattered away into silence, and the voices were lost in the gentle
moaning of the night-wind among the trees. Then I turned and glanced up
at the house. All was dark; not a light flickered, nor was there aught
to show behind which of these windows slumbered my sweet Jeannette or
her fair mistress.
"Sleep on for to-night, dear hearts," said I. "To-morrow by this time
ye shall be safe for ever from the talons of yon cursed hawk."
Then, bidding my men draw up the gate and dispose themselves for the
night, I took up my post by the door, and waited patiently for the
morning.
My men were soon snoring, for we had travelled hard and long. But sleep
was never further from my eyes. As I sat there, listening to the rising
wind in the trees, and the rush of the river below, with now and again
the wail of a sea-bird crying out seaward, I grew to hate the darkness.
Despite the fair innocents who slumbered within and the sturdy rogues
who slept without, the loneliness of the place took hold upon me, and
made me uneasy and anxious. Once I thought I heard returning footsteps
without, and rushed to the gate. But it was only a creaking of the
trees. Another time I seemed to hear a calling from within, and sprang
wildly to the door. But it was only a hoot-owl. And when the leaves
tapped on the window above, I looked up expecting a face to appear
there. And when a horse in the stable whinnied, I imagined it the
mocking laughter of a troop of traitors left behind to rob me of my
trust.
At length I grew so restless and weary of waiting, that I determined to
delay no longer, but enter the house.
As I stood a moment at the door, hesitating, the wind suddenly dropped,
and there fell a silence on the place which made me shudder, and tempted
me after all to await the dawn. But, with a mighty effort, I gathered
up my courage, and, laughing at my qualms, pushed the door.
It was not even shut to, so that, giving way unexpectedly under my hand,
I stumbled heavily into the hall. As I did so, I struck my face against
something icy cold.
In the darkness I could see nothing; but I felt the thing swing away
from my touch; and before I could step back, or put out my hand, it
returned and struck me once more, harder than before. I clutched at it
wildly; then, with a gasp of horror, flung it from me, and rushed,
shouting to my men, into the open air.
For what had touched my face was the hand of a dead man!
It seemed an age before, amongst us all, we could strike light enough to
kindle a torch. Then, shuddering in every limb, I returned to the
house.
There, just within the open door, from a beam in the hall roof, hung a
corpse, still swinging slowly to and fro. And when I held up the torch
to look at his face, there leered down upon me the eyes of my old fellow
'prentice Peter Stoupe! At the sight the torch fell from my hands, and
I reeled back into my comrade's arms, stark and cold, well-nigh as the
corpse itself. Then there came upon me, with a rush, an inkling of what
all this meant. I seized the light again, and dashed past the hall and
up the staircase. Every room was still and empty as death. We searched
every nook and corner, and called aloud, till the place rang with our
shouts. The only occupant of Turlogh Luinech O'Neill's house was that
lonely corpse swinging in the hall.
Now all the truth dawned upon me, as if I had read it in a book. Peter,
little as I dreamed it, had both known me and guessed my errand. He had
overheard enough to know where the Captain was, and how he might revenge
himself on me. He had contrived to slip away at Knockfergus, and, being
better guided than we, had reached Castleroe in time to warn the villain
of my coming. Whether he lent his hand to the carrying off of the two
maids, 'twas hard to say. But it seemed plain that, at the first
warning, they had been carried off, and that the Captain that night had
ridden away, not to leave them behind, but to make good his possession
of them elsewhere. Why Peter should be left hanging thus, 'twas not
hard to guess. He never played straight even in villainy, and doubtless
had given the Captain reason to desire the shortest way to be rid of
him. As for me, thanks to Peter, the villain had known me through my
disguise, and, God knows! he had had his revenge on me this night.
While I speculated thus, I wandered to and fro in the house like a man
distraught, till presently my footsteps brought me back to a little
chamber at the end of the long passage into which I had scarce dared
peep before. The dawn had already begun to chase the night away, and
was flooding the room with a flush of light that suited its sacredness
better than my flaring torch. So I left that without and entered in the
twilight.
All was in the sweet confusion of a chamber whose owner expects to
return to it anon. The bed had not been disturbed since it was last
settled. Raiment lay scattered here and there. On the table lay a book
open, and beside it a jewel. What moved me most was a little scarf
which lay for a coverlet over the pillow on the bed. For it was the
self-same scarf I had once seen Ludar fasten round the maiden's neck
that night she took the helm beside him on board the _Misericorde_.
I durst touch nothing I saw, yet that single glance roused fires within
me which, if it be a sin to hate one's enemy, will assuredly stand to my
hurt in the day of reckoning. Yet how could mortal man stand thus and
not be stirred?