Captain Barecolt was not, according to the old proverb, like a garden
full of weeds; for, although he was undoubtedly a man of words, he was
also a man of deeds, as the reader may have already remarked, and the
deeds which he had performed since we last left him sitting in the
parlour of Mrs. White were manifold and various. His first expedition
was to the chamber of Arrah Neil, where the worthy landlady's sense of
decorum, as well as her privilege of curiosity, kept her present
during the conference.
Poor Arrah--although at one time she certainly had not been impressed
with the deepest sense of the personal merits of Captain Deciduous
Barecolt--had seen enough of his conduct in the skirmish which took
place at the bridge, to entertain a much higher respect for him than
before; and even had not such been the case, there is something in the
very sight of persons whom we have beheld in companionship with those
we love, which, by awakening sweet associations--those pleasant
door-keepers of the heart--renders their presence cheering to us in
the hour of misfortune and distress.
Mrs. White, too, upon Captain Barecolt's own statement, had assured
Arrah, that he came expressly to deliver her; and she looked upon her
escape from the clutches of Mr. Dry as now quite certain, with the aid
of the good landlady, and the more vigorous assistance of Barecolt's
long arm and long sword. She greeted him gladly, then, and with a
bright smile; but Barecolt, when he now saw her, could scarcely
believe that she was the same person with whom he had marched two days
during the absence from Bishop's Merton, not alone from the change in
her dress, though that of course made a very great difference, but
from the look of intelligence and mind which her whole countenance
displayed, and from the total absence of that lost and bewildered
expression which had been before so frequently present on her face.
Her great beauty, which had then been often clouded by that strange
shadow that we have so frequently mentioned, was now lighted up--like
a fair landscape first seen in the dim twilight of the morning, when
the sun rises upon it in all the majesty of light.
"Do not be the least afraid, my dear young lady," said Captain
Barecolt, after the first congratulations of their meeting were over,
and he had quieted down his surprise and admiration. "Do not be at all
afraid. I will deliver you, if the gates should be guarded by fiery
dragons. Not only have I a thousand times accomplished enterprises to
which this, of circumventing the dull burgesses of Hull, is no more
than eating the mites of a cheese off the point of a knife; but here
we have to assist us good Mrs. White, one of the most excellent women
that ever lived upon the face of this earth. It is true I have but had
the pleasure and honour of her acquaintance for the space of one hour
and three-quarters; but when you come to consider that I have been
called upon to converse and deal with, and investigate and examine, in
the most perilous circumstances, and in the most awful situations,
many millions of my fellow-creatures, of every different shade,
variety, and complexion of mind, you will easily understand that it
needs but a glance for me to estimate and appreciate the excellence of
a person so well disposed as Mrs. White."
"Oh, yes!" cried Arrah, interrupting him; "I know that she is kind and
good, and will do everything she can to help and deliver me. She was
kind to me long ago, and one can never forget kindness. But when shall
we go, Captain Barecolt? Cannot we go to-night?"
"That is impossible, my dear young lady," replied Barecolt; "for there
are many things to be done. In the first instance, these papers, which
Mrs. White talks of--they must be obtained, if possible. Has this man
got them about him, do you think?"
"I cannot tell," replied Arrah; "I do not even know that he has got
them at all. I only know that the cottage was stripped when I came
back, and that they, with everything else, were gone."
"Oh, he has got them! he has got them, my dear child!" cried Mrs.
White; "for depend upon it, that if he did not know you were a very
different person from Sergeant Neil's grand-daughter, just as well as
I do, he would never be so anxious about marrying you--a weazened old
red herring! I dare say he has got them safe in his trunk-mail."
"I will go," said Barecolt, "and cut them out of his heart;" and at
the same moment he rose, laid his hand upon his dagger, and strode
towards the door.
"Don't do him any mischief--don't do him any mischief in my house!"
cried Mrs. White, laying her hand upon the captain's arm. "Pray,
remember, captain, there will be inquiry made, as sure as you are
alive. You had better not take them till you are quite ready to go."
"Thou art a wise woman, Mrs. White," replied Captain Barecolt; "thou
art a wise woman, and I will forbear. I will but ascertain whether he
has these papers, while he yet lies in the mud of drunkenness, and
leave the appropriation of them till an after period."
Thus saying, he quitted the room; and having marked, with all his
shrewd perception, the door which had been opened and shut when the
reverend and respectable Mr. Dry, of Longsoaken, was carried tipsy to
his bed, he walked straight into his room with a candle in his hand,
and approaching the drunken man, gazed on his face, to see that he was
still in that state of insensibility to what was passing round him
which was necessary to his present purposes. Mr. Dry was happily
snoring unconsciously, almost in a state of apoplexy; and approaching
a large pair of saddlebags, Barecolt took them up, laid them on a
chair, and opened them without either ceremony or scruple. The
wardrobe of Mr. Dry was soon exposed to view: a short cloak, a black
coat, a clean stiff band, well starched and ironed, in case he should
be called upon to hold forth; a pair of brown breeches and grey
stockings; three shirts of delicately fine linen, and sundry other
articles: these were soon cast upon the ground, and the arm of the
valorous captain plunged up to the elbow in the heart of the begs,
searching about for anything having the feel of paper.
For some minutes his perquisition was vain; but at length, in drawing
out his hand suddenly, the knuckles struck against the lining of the
bag, at a spot where something like a button made itself apparent; and
feeling more closely, the worthy captain discovered an inside pocket.
Into that his fingers were soon dipped; and with an air of triumph he
drew forth some three sheets of written paper, and carrying them to
the candle, examined them minutely. What was his disappointment,
however, when the first words that struck his eyes were--"Habakkuk ii.
5; 2 Chronicles ii. 7, 9; Micah vi.; Lamentations iii. 7; Amos ii.
4.--For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn
away the punishment thereof."
"The hypocritical old swine!" cried Barecolt; "what have we got next?"
and turning over the page, he looked at the paper which was enclosed
in the other, which he found to be something a little more important,
namely, a letter from the parliamentary Colonel Thistleton to Mr. Dry,
informing him that he would be at Bishop's Merton on the day after the
date thereof, and begging him to keep a watchful eye upon the
malignant lord, that no changes might take place till he arrived; thus
establishing beyond all manner of doubt worthy Mr. Dry's collusion in
the visit of the parliamentary commission to the house of Lord Walton.
The next paper, which was the only one now remaining, seemed to puzzle
Captain Barecolt more than even Mr. Dry's list of texts. It was
evidently a paper of memoranda, in his own handwriting, but so brief
that, without some clue, little could be made of it. At the top stood
the name of Hugh O'Donnell; then came the words, "Whose daughter was
her mother?" Below that was written, "Are there any of them living?
What's the county? Ulster, it would seem? Sequestrated? or attainted?
Where did the money come from? How much a-year? What will he take?"
Bearing this away, after having made another search in the bag, and
thrown it down upon the scattered articles of clothing which remained
upon the floor, worthy Captain Barecolt retrod his steps to the room
of Arrah Neil, and there, with the fair girl herself, and the worthy
landlady, he pored over the paper, and endeavoured to gain some
further insight into its meaning.
Conjectures enough were formed, but with them we will not trouble the
reader. Suffice it that Captain Barecolt determined to copy the paper,
which being done, he replaced it with Mr. Dry's apparel in that worthy
gentleman's bags, and then left him to sleep off his drunkenness,
wishing him heartily that sort of sickening headache which is the
usual consequence of such intemperance as he had indulged in that
night.
To Arrah Neil he subsequently explained, that his various avocations
in the town of Hull would give him enough to do during the following
day, but that he did hope and trust, about midnight, or very early the
next morning, to be able to guide her safely forth from the gates of
the town, together with a friend of his who, he explained to her, was
still a captive in the hands of the governor.
After bidding her adieu, he descended once more to the little parlour
of Mrs. White, and there held a long and confidential conference with
her regarding his proceedings on the following day. He found the good
lady all that he could have desired, a staunch royalist at heart, and
thoroughly acquainted with the character, views, and principles of a
multitude of the officers and soldiers of the train-bands. She told
him whom he could depend upon, and whom he could not; where, when, and
how they were to be found, and what were the best means of rendering
them accessible to his solicitations. She also furnished him with the
address of Mr. Hugh O'Donnell, and having gained all this information,
the worthy captain retired to bed to rise prepared for action on the
following day.
Profound were his slumbers. No dream shook the long and cumbrous body
that lay there, like some colossal column fallen on the sands of the
desert, and he scarcely moved or stirred a finger till the young
Morning peeped with her grey eye in at the window, when up he started,
rubbing his head, and exclaiming--"There's the trumpet, by----!"
It was the first vision he had had; but in a moment or two he was wide
awake again, and, remembering his appointment with the governor of
Hull, he plunged his head into cold water, wiped it with the towels
provided, drew, his beard into a neat point, and, putting on his
clothes, again descended to seek for some breakfast before he set out.
He had not got through half the flagon of beer, however, nor
demolished above a pound of beef, when Captain Jenkins arrived, and
found him speaking execrable English to Nancy, in order to hurry her
with some fried eggs, which she was preparing as an addition to the
meal.
"Begar, I never vas see such voman as de English cooks! Dem can no
more make de omlet dan dey can fly. Vait but von leetle meenute, my
dear Captain Jenkin, and I go vid you."
"I can't wait," said Captain Jenkins, in a rough tone; "it's time to
be there now. If you had lodged at the 'Rose,' we should not have had
half so far to go."
"Ah, dat is very true! dat is very true!" cried Barecolt. "I lodge
dere anoder time; but if ye must go, vy den here goes," and putting
the tankard to his mouth, with one long and prodigious draught he
brought the liquor within to the bottom.
Being then once more conducted to the presence of the governor, he was
detained some little time, while Sir John gave various orders and
directions, and then set out with him upon a tour of the
fortifications, followed, as we have represented the party, by three
soldiers, Captain Jenkins having been dismissed for the time. If
Barecolt, however, had won upon the governor during their first
interview, on this second occasion he ingratiated himself still
further with the worthy officer. Nor, indeed, was it without cause
that Barecolt rose high in the opinion of Sir John, for he had his own
sense of what was honest and right, though it was a somewhat twisted
and perverted one, and he would not, on any account, so long as his
advice was asked, and likely to be taken, have given wrong and
dangerous counsel upon the pretence of friendship and service.
He pointed out, then, to the governor, with great shrewdness and
discrimination, numerous weak points in the defences, gave him various
hints for strengthening them without the loss of much time; and, while
pausing before the block-house in which he knew Lord Beverley was
confined, he drew upon the ground the plan of a small fort, which he
showed the governor might be very serviceable in the defence of the
town upon the river side.
Having now gone nearly half round the walls, and being pressed by
hunger as much as business, Sir John returned to break his fast, and
once more placed Captain Barecolt under the guidance of Jenkins;
adding a hint, however, to the latter, that his suspicions of the
Frenchman were removed, and that every assistance was to be given him
in carrying into execution the suggestions he had made.
Barecolt's difficulty now was, how to get rid of his companion; but as
the citizen-soldier was somewhat pursy and heavy in his temperament,
our worthy friend contrived, in the space of a few hours, to cast him
into such a state of perspiration and fatigue, by rapid motion from
one part of the town to the other, that he was ready to drop. In the
course of these perambulations, he led him, as we have seen, once more
past the block-house, in order to confer for a moment with Lord
Beverley; after which he brought him dexterously into the
neighbourhood of his own dwelling, and then told him if he would go
and get his dinner, while he did the same, they would meet again in
two hours at a spot which he named.
The proposal was a blessed relief to the captain of the train-bands,
who internally promised himself to take very good care to give the
long-legged Frenchman as little of his company as possible.
Barecolt, however, though his appetite, as the reader knows, was of a
capacious and ever-ready kind, sacrificed inclination to what he
considered duty, and hastened, without breaking bread, to seek two of
those persons whom Mrs. White had pointed out to him as worthy of all
confidence, and likely to engage in the adventure which he had in
hand.
He had some difficulty, however, in making the first of these, who was
an ancient of the train-bands, and well affected to the king, repose
any trust in him--for the man was prudent, and somewhat suspicious by
nature, and he entertained shrewd doubts as to the honesty, of Captain
Barecolt's purpose towards him. He shook his head, assumed a blank and
somewhat unmeaning countenance, vowed he did not understand, and when
the worthy captain spoke more plainly, told him that he had better
take care how he talked such stuff in Hull.
On this hint Barecolt withdrew, suspecting that the information he had
received from his landlady was not the most accurate in the world. He
resolved, however, to make another effort, and try to gain assistance
from the second person she had mentioned, though he, having displayed
his loyalty somewhat too openly, was not one to be placed in a
situation of confidence by the officers of the parliament.
The abode of this man, who was a sign-painter by trade, named Falgate,
was with much difficulty discovered up two pair of stairs in a back
street; but when Captain Barecolt had climbed to his high dwelling, he
found a personage of a frank and joyful countenance hewing away at the
remain of a leg of mutton on a large wooden trencher, and washing his
food down with copious draughts of very good beer. His propensity
towards these creature-comforts was a favourable omen in the eyes of
our worthy captain; but he was joyfully surprised when good Diggory
Falgate started up, with his mouth all shining with mutton fat, and
embraced him heartily, exclaiming, "Welcome, my noble captain! I have
been expecting you this last hour."
He proceeded, however, speedily to explain that he had looked in at
the "Swan" a short time before to take his morning draught, and that
the good landlady had given him information of Captain Barecolt's
character and objects.
With him all arrangements were very easy. Diggory Falgate was ready
for any enterprise that might present itself; and, with the gay and
dashing spirit which reigned amongst Cavaliers of high and low degree,
he was just as willing to walk up to a cannon's mouth in the service
of the king as to a tankard of strong waters on his own behalf, to cut
down a Roundhead, to make love to a pretty maiden, to spend his money,
or to sing his song.
"Ha! ha! ha!" he exclaimed, as Barecolt intimated to him the rebuff
that he met with from the ancient of the train-bands; "Billy Hazard is
a cunning rogue. I'll bet you a pint of sack that he thought you some
Roundhead come to take him in. Stay here, stay here, and finish my
tankard for me. I'll run and fetch him, and you will soon see a
difference."
Barecolt willingly agreed to play the part his companion proposed, and
before he had made free more than twice with the large black jug that
graced his new friend's table, Falgate had himself returned, followed
by his more sedate and cautious acquaintance.
"Here he is, here he is! as wise as a whipping-post," exclaimed the
sign-painter, "which receives all the lashes, and never says a word.
There sits Captain Barecolt, ancient Hazard; so to him, and tell him
what you would do to serve the king."
"A great deal," replied Hazard. "I beg your pardon, sir, for giving
you such a rough answer just now, but I did not know you."
"Always be cautious, always be cautious, mine ancient," replied
Barecolt; "so will you be a general in time, and a good one; but now
let us to business as fast as possible. You must know that there's a
prisoner----"
"Ay, I know, in the block-house," cried Diggory Falgate, "and he is to
be taken out to-night. Isn't it so, noble captain? Now, I'll bet you
three radishes to a dozen of crowns that this is some man of great
consequence."
Barecolt nodded his head.
"Is it the king?" asked Falgate, in a whisper.
"Phoo, nonsense!" cried Barecolt. "The king's at the head of his army,
and, before ten days are over, will march into Hull with drum and
colours, will hang the governor, disband the garrison, and overthrow
the walls. Why, the place can no more hold out against the power that
the king has, than a fresh egg can resist the side of a frying-pan.
No; this gentleman is a man of the greatest consequence, in whom the
king places vast reliance, and he must be got out at all risks. If you
can but get rid of that cursed guard, if it be but for ten minutes, I
will do all the rest."
"That will be no difficult matter," replied Hazard, after thinking for
a moment. "Here, Diggory and I will manage all that; but how will you
get him out of the town when you've done?"
"That's all arranged already," replied Barecolt: "I have a pass for
visiting the walls and gates at any hour between sunrise and sunset,
to inspect and repair the fortifications, forsooth I will manage the
whole of that matter; but how will you contrive to get away the
guard?"
Diggory and his companion consulted for a moment together, and at
length the former clapped his hands, exclaiming, "That will do! that
will do! Hark ye, Captain Barecolt! we are not particularly strict
soldiers here, and I will get the fellow away to drink with me."
"He won't do it!" exclaimed Barecolt. "It's death by the law."
"Then I'll quarrel with him," replied Diggory; "and in either case up
comes mine ancient here, rates him soundly, relieves him of his guard,
sends him back to the guardhouse, and bids him order down the next
upon the roll. In the mean while you get your man out, and away with
him, locking the door behind you; and no one knows anything of the
matter."
"It will do! it will do!" cried Barecolt; and after some further
conversation, in which all the particulars of their plan were
arranged, Barecolt took his leave, appointing them to meet him at the
"Swan" that night towards ten o'clock, and proceeded on his way to
seek out the house of Mr. Hugh O'Donnell.