Sir John Hotham gazed alternately at Lord Beverley, Captain Barecolt,
and Mr. Dry, of Longsoaken, with not a little of that irascibility
which is common in the complaint from which he was suffering still
evident in his countenance, and ready to fall upon any one who said a
word to provoke his wrath. As several of the guard were in the room,
Lord Beverley thought it most prudent to remain perfectly silent; and
the governor at length began the conversation by exclaiming, "And who
the devil is this fellow?" At the same time he pointed to Mr. Dry,
with no very placable looks.
"I am a poor, God-fearing man, worshipful sir," began the personage of
whom he spoke; but Captain Barecolt interrupted him before he could
say more.
"He is von of de greatest rogue in all de Christendom," he said,
turning to the governor; "I know he very vell. He sheat de king, he
sheat de parliament, he sheat everybody. He be von grand imposture."
"The devil he is!" exclaimed the governor. "Is this true, sir?" And he
looked to Lord Beverley for an answer.
"Perfectly, Sir John," replied the earl. "I have heard a good deal of
this gentleman from various quarters; and I know that he carried off a
young gentlewoman from her friends, and brought her hither to Hull,
with very sinister views indeed."
Mr. Dry held up his hands and showed the whites of his eyes; but the
governor exclaimed, "Ay, by ----!" and he added a very unsanctified
oath: "I recollect the scoundrel now. He came here two or three days
ago; he came here making a great noise about this girl, and asking for
warrants, and I know not what: he declared that she was his ward. Take
him by the ears, fellows, and turn him out of the town. We want no
such vagabonds amongst us."
"I warn you, worshipful sir; I warn you," cried Mr. Dry while two of
the guards took him by the arms, "that these are two malignants and
prelatic conspirators. Did not false witnesses rise up against----"
"Away with him!" shouted Sir John Hotham before he could finish the
sentence; "away with him! and if he continues to bawl, put him in the
stocks and let him bawl there."
The soldiers removed Mr. Dry, of Longsoaken, without further
resistance; for he, like Erasmus, was not of the stuff from which they
make martyrs, and the name of the stocks had a great effect upon him.
The governor then directed the rest of the soldiers to quit the room,
but to wait in the passage without, adding, "I will examine into the
case of these gentlemen myself."
As soon as the room was clear he turned to the Earl of Beverley,
saying, "This is an unfortunate affair, my lord. You see how things
go. What can I do?"
"Why, methinks, Sir John," rejoined the earl, approaching the
governor, and speaking in a whisper, "the only thing for you to do is,
to throw open the gates at once to his majesty's forces and declare
your loyalty. A few hours would bring the army hither."
"Impossible! impossible!" cried Hotham aloud, with an impatient look.
"You know not what you talk of, sir. Everything is changed since you
were here. This place is full of people sent down from the parliament.
It will be as much as I can do to get you out safely, and unless my
son had given me cause to shut him up, I could not even do that. He
cannot be kept in long, however, for ere noon I shall have
remonstrances enow, and your only safety is in immediate departure.
You shall have a new pass without delay, and then the sooner your back
is turned on Hull the better."
"But what shall I say to the king?" demanded the earl, willing to
make one more effort for the grand object of his coming; "he fully
expects----"
"Expects what cannot be done!" exclaimed the governor, impatiently.
"Give my humble duty to his majesty, and say I will lose no
opportunity to do him service, but that I am no longer master in Hull.
Tell him he had better withdraw his troops as soon as may be, for if
they come before the walls the cannon must be fired on them, which I
would fain avoid. But say, sir--say that my heart is with him, and
that it is against my will I close the gates."
As he spoke, he drew the inkstand closer, and wrote a fresh pass for
the earl, looking up and adding, "But I will send people with you to
see you clear of the gates. On my life, I scarce know what contempt
these men will show to my orders; and as likely as not that they would
stop you and hang you in the streets if you had not a guard."
"Begar, den, de sooner we vish them good morning de better!" cried
Captain Barecolt.
"But, Sir John, there is another matter," said Lord Beverley, as the
governor put his signature to the paper. "You have here in bonds my
friend and the king's faithful servant, Colonel Ashburnham. I do
beseech you, for my sake, and for your loyalty's sake, set him free
also."
"Nay, I know not how that may be," replied Sir John Hotham: "the
parliament have written to my son, I hear, to send him up to
Westminster."
"But your son is not governor of Hull," answered the earl "if the
mandate came to him, not to you, there can be no cause why you should
know or recognise it. If you miss this opportunity of sending him away
with us, you may regret it when you have no longer the power to show
such an act of courtesy."
"True, true!" replied Sir John Hotham: "I have promised him his
freedom, and he shall have it, if the devil himself keep the gates.
Stay here a minute--stay here!" and rising from his chair he limped
away, and left Captain Barecolt and the earl alone in the hall.
A few minutes passed in explanations between the two Cavaliers; but
then they began to be somewhat impatient for the governor's return, as
they were but too well aware that their situation was still full of
danger and difficulty. Minute after minute passed, however, without
his coming; and a considerable degree of noise in the house, the
moving about of many feet, and a good deal of bustle and confusion,
did not tend to quiet their apprehensions.
"By heaven, my lord!" cried Barecolt, at length, "I fear your lordship
has gone farther than that worthy gentleman of old times who
sacrificed himself for his friend; for I've a great notion that you
have sacrificed me also for this good colonel, who was the original
cause of all our mishap. I would have let him take his chance and get
out as he could."
But, while the renowned captain was thus remonstrating, the door again
opened and Sir John Hotham reappeared, followed by Colonel Ashburnham.
"Quick, quick!" cried the governor, "you must lose no more time, but
all get away together. Here is already a deputation to remonstrate,
but I have shut the fellows up in a room above, and they shall wait
long enough before they see me."
"But we must provide a horse for my good friend here," said Lord
Beverley, who was shaking Ashburnham by the hand.
"That's all done, that's all done!" said Sir John Hotham: "his horse
and yours are both waiting in the court, and a party of men to see you
safe out of the town, and to ensure that you speak with no one as you
go. We must treat you as enemies, my lord, though we could wish you
were friends."
"But my horse!" cried the renowned Captain Barecolt: "I have left him
at the inn."
This intelligence somewhat discomposed Sir John Hotham; but it was at
length determined that Barecolt should have a fresh pass made out in
his own name, and should be left with this security, to find his way
out of Hull as best he might; and the whole party, issuing forth into
the court, left Sir John Hotham to account for his conduct, in the
matter of their liberation, to the partisans of the parliament in the
town. In taking leave of him, also, we need only remind the reader
that these very events, not long afterwards, brought his head to the
block.