creatures took no step towards me, but stood at gaze, their fierce eyes
glittering with I knew not what excitation of mind. I was still in my
wonderment, bracing myself to withstand the assault which I supposed
they intended against me, when I came to a sudden knowledge of my true
situation. I lay upon a thin crust of earth overlying the yielding bog,
and already I felt it sinking under my weight. I had not been so short
a time in the country but I knew in what extremity of peril I lay, and
this knowledge serving as a goad to my numbness, I strove to lift myself
from the clammy embrace of the bog that was beginning to suck me down.
And now my mind was smitten with the fear of death, and I take no shame
from the terror that beset me. A man may face his foes, and not quail,
with a weapon in his hand; but to lie helpless in the clutch of an enemy
against which neither weapon nor courage is of any avail is a condition
to turn the stoutest heart to water. I cried aloud to those kernes that
stood upon the bank, choosing rather to die swiftly by their knives than
to choke and smother in that slow torment. They did but mock me with
jeers and horrid execrations, uttered in their barbarous tongue,[#] and
their delight became doubly manifest when with every motion of my
ineffectual limbs I did but assist the bog. The more desperately I
strove to free myself, the more closely did the pitiless morass cling
about me and clog me, like to that loathly creature of which mariners
tell, that winds innumerable tentacles about its living prey and digests
it to a jelly. Presently I could no more move my limbs, and when I
sought to purchase succour from those that stood by, offering great
rewards whereby every one of those paupers might have become a petty
Croesus among his kind, they sat them down like spectators at a play, to
feast their eyes upon my agony, even as in ancient days the Romans saw
without compassion the holy martyrs yield up their lives beneath the
claws of Nubian lions. And when I saw that neither promises nor
entreaties would prevail with them, by reason mayhap that they knew not
what I said, I wrapped myself in despair and silence, endeavouring, as a
Christian ought, to contemplate the inevitable end with quiet mind.
[#] It must be remembered that Englishmen of Christopher Rudd's time
were ignorant of the Irish civilization and literature which their
ancestors had destroyed, and were even more apt than their descendants
to decry what they did not understand.--H.S.
[Illustration: THEY DID BUT MOCK ME WITH JEERS AND HORRID EXECRATIONS]
I had sunk wellnigh to my shoulder-blades, and as it were a mist was
hovering before my eyes, when the sound of a horse galloping awoke my
slumbering senses, and I looked up, thinking to see my Irishman
returning. The kernes had risen to their feet, and turned their backs
upon me, and their vociferous clamour fell to a great silence. And
gazing beyond them, I saw, not my Irishman, but a young maiden, upon a
hobby of the country, riding with loose rein at the very brink of the
cliff above. Distraught and speechless, I gazed in amaze and
wonderment, as this radiant creature brought her hobby to a stand on the
height over against me. She cast one glance at me, and I heard a voice
like a silver bell rung sharply, and at her words the kernes were set in
motion as they were puppets moved by invisible strings, and with one
consent, yet sullenly, they hasted to obey her behests. Having loosed
the bridles of my servant's horse and of the maiden's hobby, they knit
them together, and one of the men cast this rope of leather upon the bog
towards me. Mustering my remnant strength I caught it, and passed it
over my head and beneath my armpits, whereupon some few of the kernes
laid hold of it at the end, and with mighty hauling heaved me from my
slimy bed. So strong was the embrace wherein I had been clasped that I
came to the bank in my stocking feet, having left my boots in that
ravenous maw.
In this sorry plight my aspect was as filthy and foul as Odysseus when
he showed himself to the maiden Nausicaa. My Nausicaa smiled upon
viewing me, and when I could find no words wherewith to utter the
gratitude of my swelling spirit, her lips parted, and that silvery voice
uttered words in my own tongue, which fell the more sweetly upon my ear
by reason of their quaintness of accent.
"I am troubled, sir," said she, "at this your incommodity, but no herald
announced your coming, whereby we might furnish guides. Haply your
messenger went astray?"
I perceived that she mocked me, but being too far spent to answer her in
kind, I was content to relate briefly what had befallen me. She smiled
again, and said lightly--
"My kernes did what seemed good to them, at no man's bidding. I pray
you accept our hospitality, so that we can repair in some measure the
coldness of your welcome in this our country."
Then she turned upon the kernes that stood glooming by, and spake a few
words to them in their own tongue; and after she had assured me that
they would do me no harm, and bid me accompany them, she sped back
towards the quarter whence she had come, riding without bridle, a marvel
to behold.
*III*
I would fain have had further speech with the damsel, to know more fully
what was intended towards me; 'twas plain that she was of much
consideration with these ragged ruffians, with whom her lightest word
was law; and in truth I wondered not at their tame submission, for
though her age was, as I guessed, not above twenty years, she had a most
commanding and imperial mien, and a manner of speech that enforced
obedience.
Having set me upon my horse, and likewise upon his my Irishman that was
wounded, my servant and the other Irishman being compelled to remain
afoot, the kernes led us along the path over the hillside, one of them
bearing my pistol, another my sword, which he had taken from my belt.
Thus as we marched, my mind was busy with these late accidents, and with
my fair saviour, whose hair methought was of the hue of red gold, and
her eyes of an incomparable blue. From such meditation I shook myself,
to take note, as beseemed one in my case, of the nature of the country
we were traversing. I perceived that the track, very rugged and narrow,
wound steeply up the hillside, giving but few glimpses of any prospect.
But on a sudden, coming to the summit, I beheld a very fair and
delightful landscape, that put me in mind of the country in Devon.
Betwixt the hill whereon I stood, and another like to it, above a mile
distant, there lay a pleasant valley of emerald green, and in the midst
thereof a lake or mere, and a silvery stream feeding it from the high
ground above. But that which held the eye more especially in this
delectable prospect was a castle in the midst of the lake--a fortress of
stone built in the Norman style, of no great magnitude, but having a
keep, a courtyard, and divers appurtenances. 'Twas a goodly spectacle,
this hoary shape engoldened by the sunlight, girt about with blue water,
and all encompassed by the living green.
At the end of the lake nearest to us, I perceived the semblance of a
jetty framed of wood, whereto a vessel like unto our Thames wherries was
moored; and both on the vessel and the jetty I saw sundry folk, and
likewise a few assembled in the courtyard. In the castle wall was a
water-gate, which now lay open, bounded above by the teeth of a
portcullis.
We stayed not our march, but descended the hillside towards the lake.
And as I drew nearer, I perceived that the castle was in ill repair, the
stonework weatherworn and crumbling, and the iron of the portcullis
exceeding rusty, so that I misdoubted whether it were possible to be
raised. Methought the place was of very ancient date, perchance of the
time when, for our woe, Strongbow set his foot upon this
country--destined to be a continual nursery of trouble to her English
governors.
When we were come to the waterside, a man met me from the jetty, and
speaking in the English of a five-years' bairn, invited me to enter the
wherry. This I did, with my own men and some of those that were with
us, and we were ferried over the lake, and into the castle by the
water-gate, through a covered way that led from the lake into the
courtyard.
Alighting from the wherry and ascending some few ragged stone steps, I
found myself in the courtyard amid a strange medley of beasts and men.
There were cattle, swine, and poultry enclosed in tumbledown pens, and
set against the walls were rude cabins of wood overlaid with turfs,
which I supposed to be the dwellings of serving men and retainers. Of
mankind there were in the courtyard about a score, men, women and
children, the men being for the greater part well stricken in years.
All these folk gazed upon me as you see peasants gaze at quaint
outlandish monsters in a country fair. My men were taken, by command
already given, into one of the cabins aforesaid; but I myself was
ushered through a postern into the keep, and up a winding stair to a
chamber barely furnished with a stool and a truckle bed, whereon was
laid in a heap a suit of woollen garments. These I donned with much
contentment in exchange for my own sodden and miry raiment, a man
standing at the door with his back to me all the time, a courtesy I
little expected in such savages. When I was dry clad he conducted me
down the stairs into a lofty and spacious hall, where food of the
English sort was spread upon a table. With this I was mightily
refreshed and strengthened, for hard fortune had not bereft me of
appetite, though I acknowledge my satisfaction was tempered by the
recollection that I who had fought in campaigns with the greatest
captains of the age had fallen an inglorious victim to a handful of wild
Irish kernes.
Some while after the remains of my repast had been removed, and I was
drumming my heels alone and in idleness, the door opened, and the maiden
entered, and with her an old and withered dame of forbidding aspect and
mien. A smile flickered upon the maiden's countenance as she beheld me,
clad in coarse and ill-fitting garments, making my bow as courtly as to
a queen.
"Our fare is poorer than I could wish," she said, "but 'tis our
necessity at fault, not our good will."
"I thank you, mistress," said I, "and would fain beg that the same fare
may be provided for my men, one of whom, I fear, was somewhat incommoded
in the late misadventure."
"Their wants are supplied, sir," quoth she coldly; "and as for you, I
desire that you will rest in such comfort as our poor means and the
straitness of our dwelling may afford."
"In troth, mistress," said I, "I have known worse quarters and leaner
fare; but desiring that you be at no more pains or charges in my behoof,
I purpose with your leave to get me hence with all commendable speed as
soon as my garments are dried, not forgetting that I owe my life to
you."
At this she smiled again.
"Of what value your life may be to you or to your countrymen I know
not," she said, "but at this present time it is of some worth to me."
"I am honoured, madam," said I in some puzzlement.
And then, seeing my wonder writ on my face, she laughed outright.
"I fear me, good sir, we are scarcely of one mind," she said. "Loth as
I am to enforce you with any restraint, yet needs must I tell you that
for a time you shall rest content to remain my guest."
"Shall, madam?" said I, with a lift of the eyes.
"Shall, sir," she repeated. "You shall be a hostage, a pledge for the
fair treatment of my father."
"What have I to do with your father?" I asked, in my bewilderment.
"This: that your general has sworn to hang my father so soon as he lays
hands on him, wherefore I have despatched a letter to your general to
let him know that I have you in ward, and will surely execute upon you
any violence or indignity that my father may suffer."
[Illustration: "I WILL SURELY EXECUTE UPON YOU ANY VIOLENCE OR INDIGNITY
THAT MY FATHER MAY SUFFER"]
This she said with a firm voice, smiting the table with her little hand;
and I knew in my heart that what she said, that the fair termagant would
surely do.
"And may I presume to ask, madam," said I, "the name of the gentleman
upon whose safety my own salvation hangs?"
"His name, sir, is Kedagh O'Hagan: and yours?"
"A name of much less mark: Christopher Rudd, at your service."
"A knight?"
"Nay, madam, a plain gentleman."
She smiled a little at this, and continued--
"Well, Master Christopher Rudd, give me the word of a plain gentleman
that you will use no endeavour to flee away, and I give you the freedom
of this castle, such as it is."
"I thank you, madam, for your good will," said I, "but I have a larger
notion of freedom. With your leave I will put no fetters on my
discretion."
"Nor I on your limbs, and yet you shall be confined," said she; and
after the exchange of sundry civil nothings between us, she departed
with the ancient dame, who had stood by the while with arms folded upon
her hips, and lips pressed together grimly.
The door was closed upon them, and by the voices that came to me through
the timber I knew that two men had been set to guard me.
I had much to speculate upon in my solitude. This Kedagh O'Hagan, the
damsel's father, was a notorious rebel, and a doughty lieutenant of the
O'Neill. I knew that my general, Sir Arthur Chichester, had vowed to
hang him, as she had said; but seeing that the fellow was slippery as an
eel and had escaped us not a few times, I saw myself doomed in all
likelihood to a long imprisonment unless peradventure I could make my
escape. Moreover, if by any foul chance he should lose his life, the
gallows was my certain destination, an ignominious end which I could not
contemplate with any comfort or serenity.
From meditating on this I came to think of my fair hostess. I had seen
full many a glorious beauty at the Queen's Court, and in France when I
served King Henry, but none that so bewitched and teased me as this
Irish maiden, with her red-gold hair, and her eyes of unsoundable blue,
and her coral lips that curled the one above the other when she smiled.
And the dulcet fluting of her voice, breathing out pure English with a
faint smack of something outlandish and yet most pleasing, remained
singing in my ears. Moreover her bold and mettlesome spirit, yet not a
whit unmaidenly, liked me well, and I considered within myself that I
could be well content to enjoy her society during the few days which I
needed for the perfect recovery of my strength. Her converse, methought,
would sweeten my confinement until I should make my escape, whereto I
was resolved.
I remained in that chamber while daylight endured, now ruminating, now
reading in the one or two books that my fair jailer had set there for
me--some poems of Master Spenser, Tottel's _Miscellany_, and sundry
other volumes which I marvelled to find in that barbarous land; and it
chancing that my supper was brought to me by that man that had some
smattering of English, I fell on talk with him, to learn somewhat, if I
might, of his fair mistress. Her name was Sheila, he told me--quaint
and pretty to my ears; she was her father's sole child, and the apple of
his eye. She had dwelt some time in England, her father having been
carried there a hostage, but loved Ireland, said the man. He told me
also that she was vehemently besought in marriage by a young chieftain
of that neighbourhood, one Rory Mac Shane, betwixt whose family and her
own there was an ancient feud. 'Twas Mac Shane's purpose to end the
feud by this alliance, but he was looked upon with loathing both by the
maiden and by her father, not only because of the inveterate enmity
between the two houses, but also because they misliked the man himself,
a robustious unlettered fellow, a foul liver, and one that constantly
besotted himself with usquebagh, a vile drink of the country. Mac Shane
had sworn, so it was told me, to wed the maiden, will she, nill she, for
which reason had her father conveyed her to this castle in the lake, as
being more easily defended than his greater seat a few miles distant. I
had ofttimes heard of the raids made one upon another by these petty
Irish chiefs, and my informant did not question but that some time, when
occasion served, Mac Shane would seek to attain his end by violence. In
this case I could not but marvel that O'Hagan had left his daughter, and
withdrawn the main part of his people to assist O'Neill; but reflected
that he must know his own business best, and so dismissed the matter.
*IV*
At fall of night I was led upstairs again to the small chamber wherein I
had made my change of clothes. The door was locked and barred upon me,
and by divers faint noises that I heard I knew that sentinels were set
without to guard me. Being wondrous fatigued I slept very soundly, and
was awakened only when a sunbeam falling athwart my bed struck upon my
eyes. I rose up, and all being silent, made a more thorough survey of my
room than I had done afore. 'Twas by measurement of my paces not above
ten feet square, and had a single window, not closed with glass, looking
upon the lake forty or fifty feet beneath. The wall was thick, and the
window was splayed inwards, being upwards of an ell in breadth on the
inner side, but no more than three spans on the outer; and here 'twas
divided in twain from top to bottom by a bar of iron, set in the
stonework.
This bar I perceived to be deeply rusted, like the iron of the
portcullis above the water-gate, and methought I could with a vehement
wrench or two force it from its sockets, and so leave a clear space and
a way of escape. But when I leant upon the sill and contemplated the
water beneath, of whose depth I was ignorant, I was somewhat mistrustful
of my success if I should attempt so great a dive. My further
meditation of this matter was hindered by the noise of unlocking and
unbarring, and I was seated upon my bed when a man entered, to bid me
descend to break my fast in the chamber below.
The second day of my imprisonment was like unto the first, save that my
fair chatelaine did not deign to visit me, but sent me greetings by her
servitor. At this, without any reason, I was somewhat vexed, having
counted on seeing her comeliness and hearing the music of her speech. I
took no pleasure in reading of Colin Clout or Astrophel, laying down my
book, and striding about the room in dudgeon. But as I went I pondered
that matter of escaping by the window, which, though narrow, would let
me through, my body having been marvellously thinned by my late
sickness. My splash into the water, if 'twere heard by one of my
guards, would bring a boat in chase of me ere I could win to the bank,
swam I never so strongly. And if by good luck I were neither heard nor
seen, yet I misdoubted of my safety, for I was in poor health, unarmed,
ignorant of the country, and in no case to adventure myself in a
guideless journey over those rugged hills, the haunt and lair of maybe
thousands of the wild Irish, ay, and with a hue and cry ringing behind
me. What with these my doubts and fears, and the neglect (as I called
it) of the mistress of the castle, the day lingered out very
discomfortably, and I went to my bed at odds with myself and all men.
On the next day, after breakfast, my servant Stubbs was admitted to me.
He told me that he and my Irishmen were treated very handsomely, the
lady of the castle herself visiting them twice a day and inquiring of
their welfare.
"She's a beauty, sir," said the man heartily.
"And my neck is in a noose," said I, feeling a twinge of jealousy in
that Stubbs had been favoured above me, and I told him of my being a
hostage for the life of the maid's father.
"Why, then, the general will have a care that he comes to no harm," said
Stubbs, "seeing that an English gentleman is of more value than many
mere Irish."
"In his own conceit," said that sweet and tunable voice, and the lady
came into the room, attended as before by her ancient dame of the sour
visage. "Good morrow, Master Rudd."
"Good morrow, Mistress Sheila," said I, shooting a look at her as I made
my bow.
A flush mantled her cheek at this hearing of her name.
"I brook no plots nor complots between you two," said she. "I bade your
servant attend you as a grace, Master Rudd."
"For which you have my hearty thanks, madam," said I. "The conversation
of your servitor is a child's babble, and the reading of your books
breeds only discontent."
"You have but to give your word, and you are free to range this castle,
sir," said she.
"'Twould be but to beat my wings against the bars of my cage," said I.
"A bird, quotha!" said she, laughing. "His feathers are ruffled, and he
stints his song."
"He has no mate, madam," said I; and after more bandying of words, she
departed again.
So passed some few days, the while I nursed my strength for the attempt
whereon I was resolved. The lady paid me fitful visits, and I looked
for them ever more wistfully. Once, when I had not seen her for thirty
hours or more, I dared to read aloud at her entrance, from the book of
Master Spenser's sonnets upon my knees, the concluding verses--
"Dark is my day, whiles her fair light I miss,
And dead my life that wants such lively bliss;"
whereupon she took the book from my hand, averring that such woebegone
stuff would but addle my wits. She spoke as one chiding a froward
child, and I acknowledged to myself that she had dealt tenderly with my
presumption. One day when she came to me I perceived that all was not
well with her. Her bright hue was faded, her eye was sad, and whereas
she was wont to be merry with quips, answering me right saucily, her
spirit was now leaden. She heard me in silence, and heaved many a sigh.
I guessed that she had received ill news, and by little and little I got
from her what it was that so much troubled her. She told me that the
O'Neill had been signally worsted, and was withdrawing himself deeper
into his mountain fastnesses. She feared for her father's safety, and
then, with a flash of her old spirit, she struck my table and declared
right vehemently--
"If my father is taken, and suffers what is threatened against him, I
vow, Master Rudd, that you shall dangle from the castle wall, a feast
for kites and crows."
And then she broke into a passion of weeping and fled out of the room.
This news came as a rude shock to the contentment into which I had let
myself be lulled; and fearing lest in the heat of battle Kedagh O'Hagan
should come to harm even against the commandment of my general, I saw
that it behoved me, if I would put my neck beyond jeopardy, to slip the
noose at once. I had no manner of doubt that the girl would do even as
she had said, out of duty, though I believed that she held me in no
disfavour in my proper person.
I determined therefore to put my plan in practice in the early part of
that night, so that, if I should come safe to shore, I might have the
hours of darkness to cover my flight. But my design was frustrated by
much coming and going betwixt the shore and the castle. It was plain
that some enterprise was afoot, and from my little window looking forth,
I watched the daylight sink into night without any diminution of the
busy movements below.
But when the small hours crept on, and all around was wrapt in an
immense stillness, and a snoring in two several tones proclaimed that my
guardians were asleep, I clambered up into the embrasure, and, employing
one of the legs of my truckle bed as a lever, with as little noise as
might be, I forced the rusty iron bar from its sockets; which done, I
loosed part of my outer garments, and having made them into a bundle
with my boots, I tore my coverlid into strips and knit them into a cord,
and tied my bundle to one end of it. The other end I knotted about the
bar, which I laid transversely across the window, and then let down the
bundle into the depths towards the lake.
Upon hauling it up I discovered that it was dry, whereby I learnt that
my rope was not of length sufficient to touch the water, though having
used all my convenient bedding I knew that it could not fall far short.
I deemed neither the rope nor the bar stout enough to bear my own
weight, and saw that I must needs dive into the lake, and take my
chance. Accordingly I turned myself sideways, and so contrived to
squeeze my shoulders through the narrow opening, not without fear lest I
should lose my balance, and topple down in a heap without the
opportunity of poising for the clean dive that would best ensure my
safety and cause the least noise.