THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER
"You want the king's marriage contract," he said presently; "you desire
the proof that Charles Stuart was married to Lucy Walters, and thus be
able to prove that the boy who is now with the king's mother is the next
heir to the English throne?"
I nodded my head in the affirmative, all the time watching the old man's
eyes, into which a cunning sinister expression had come.
"It is a great thing, a great thing," he cackled. "Fancy, the Duke of
York would give his fingers to get hold of it. And yet only you and I
have the secret of it."
"Only you at present," I urged.
"Ah, yes, only I, only I; but I need you, and you shall know. Ha! ha!"
and he laughed like a man tickled. "But we must bide our time," he
continued presently.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It is no use removing it from its present hiding-place until the proper
time," he said. "Suppose you had it in your hand now. What would you do
with it? Would you go to the king, and say, 'Look, here is the marriage
contract between you and Lucy Walters'? Such would be the act of a fool.
And you are not a fool--no, you are not a fool!"
"But I must know where it is," I cried, "and I must be assured that the
thing is not a hoax."
"Ay, that you shall," he replied; "come with me."
He rose, took a candle in his hand, and made his way towards the door.
"Whither?" I asked.
"To the hiding-place," was his answer, and he gazed anxiously around the
room.
Even in those days I possessed a fair amount of caution, and thus, while
I unbolted the door, I kept close to him, so that at no moment should he
be able to betray me.
Outside the door, he stopped and listened. Even in that lonely place and
at that awesome hour, he seemed apprehensive lest some one should spy
upon our actions. But he had no need to fear. All was silent as death.
The house was empty, and every sound that we made echoed and re-echoed
through the empty chambers.
"All is well," he said as if to himself, and then he led the way down a
flight of stairs which I had not hitherto noticed. Presently we came to
a dark cellar, which I saw was hewn out of the rock. We were now among
the foundations of the house, and my heart beat fast at the thought that
I was near placing my hand upon the precious document, which my father
declared would make my fortune.
"Who could find us here, Master Roland?" he cackled again; "not one in
fifty. But Old Solomon is wise, and he does not live at Pycroft Hall for
nought."
Whereupon he held the candle close to the floor, as if searching for
something.
"Do you see anything?" he asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
"Think you there is aught beneath here?"
"Beneath here? No, we are already in the bowels of the earth."
"Ah, that is good!" and again he cackled like a man well pleased with
himself.
Presently I saw him pressing the ground hard with his heel, and then, as
if by magic, there opened close by my feet a dark aperture.
"Descend," he cried, "descend!"
"We will go together, Father Solomon," I made answer.
"Ah, you do not trust me. A good youth, a cautious youth."
Still holding the candle in one hand, he came close to the dark hole in
the ground, from which came a musty ill-smelling air, and then he put
his left foot into the hole, while I held his right arm.
"That is well," he said, and then I saw the rungs of a ladder.
One, two, three, four steps he went down, until I was almost dragged
into the darkness in my endeavour to hold him fast.
"Come, come, Master Roland; but mind, it needs a brave heart."
I confess it here, I hesitated before following. How it may appear to
those who read this I know not, but at that moment I seemed to be in a
ghastly dream. Everything had become unreal to me save the shadow of a
great terror. The old man, with his head sunk between his shoulders, was
such a creature as only comes to one in a nightmare; the king's marriage
contract existed only in the wild imaginings of foolish men. A thousand
dangers suggested themselves, nameless dangers, and therefore all the
more terrible, and try as I might I could not keep from trembling.
"Afraid, Master Roland, eh? Ay, and well thou mayst be, for this hole is
full of lost spirits. Hark! do you not hear them?"
In the excited state of my imagination I fancied I heard distant wails,
and I felt my blood run cold.
"And yet only yesternight the fair Constance took this road, and she was
not afraid."
He said this tauntingly, which caused anger to take the place of fear. I
still held his right arm, the hand of which grasped one of the staves of
the ladder, and his words made my grasp the tighter.
"I will come with you, Father Solomon," I said; "but mind, if you betray
me, I will send you to hell with all your sins upon your head."
With that I placed my foot upon the ladder, but in so doing I had to
relax my hold upon him. I heard him cackling to himself while he went
farther and still farther into the darkness.
I had not descended more than six steps before I heard a noise above me,
and then I knew that the trap door which had lifted was closed again,
and that in all probability the secret of its opening was only known to
the man whose breath could be distinctly heard just beneath me.
As may be imagined, I lost no time in going down the ladder, and the
moment my feet touched the ground I grasped the old man's arm again.
"Ha, ha!" he laughed. "This is rare sport, eh? Do you know where you
are? Twill be a fine tale to tell Charles. Ten fathoms underneath the
foundations of Pycroft Hall, with Father Solomon! Do you think you'll
ever see daylight again, Master Roland?"
"If I do not you will not," I replied; and then I looked around me and
found myself in a narrow tunnel, which perchance was three feet wide and
high enough for a man of short stature to stand upright.
"Good boy, courageous boy, well he deserves to get what he seeks! But
oh, he will see rare sport before he puts his hand upon the king's
marriage contract."
"Where is it?" I asked, still holding his right arm.
"I must be free, and you must follow me."
"No," I replied. "Whither you go I will go. And I shall not loose my
hold upon you till I see daylight."
He looked at me savagely, and lifted his left hand, in which he held a
candlestick, as if to strike me. Then the angry looked passed away, and
I saw the cunning leer come in his eyes again.
"A good boy, a brave boy," he said coaxingly. "Ah, we are friends. I
cannot do without him, neither can he do without me. Youth and age,
strength and wisdom together, what can withstand it?"
He led the way along the tunnel, which I followed, still holding him
fast. How far we went I could not calculate, for although the time
seemed long, it might only in reality have been short. At length,
however, we came to a broad place, such as I have been told miners make
underground when digging for mineral.
"The time and the place, Master Roland," he said; "now let us search."
He held up the candle, and I saw that all around me were dark roads
leading from the cavern where we stood. Whither they went I knew not. I
seemed like a man standing on a place where many cross roads met, only
we were in the bowels of the earth, and the roads seemed to lead only
into greater darkness.
"A grand place to bury a secret, eh? Anything would be safe here, eh?
But there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. There is nothing
done in silence but shall be proclaimed on the housetops."
He placed the candle in my hand, and then began to peer cautiously
around the sides of the cavern.
"Ah!" he said at length. "You wanted to see, and you shall see. Lucy
married Prince Charles--no, King Charles--and Lucy gave the contract to
the priest, and the priest gave it to old Father Solomon, and old
Solomon waited--waited till his dream should be fulfilled. Do you know
this place, Master Roland? Once upon a time miners digged here for gold.
Oh, it was ages ago. Whoever dreamed of gold being found five miles from
Folkestone? They dug, and dug, and dug! They are dead, but their work
lives. Fancy those old men digging here ages ago. But they left a grand
hiding-place. Only one man knows the secret of these caverns. I, old
Solomon. The man who is left alone here never sees the light again. Ha,
ha! But it is a fine place to die!"
Presently he seemed to have discovered the place he sought, and then he
took the candle from my hand. I saw a dark hole in the side of the
cavern, into which he put his hand, and from which he drew a black box.
"You wanted to see it, and you shall see it," he said. Then he pressed a
spring in the box, and the lid flew open.
"Read! Read!" he cried.
I saw a piece of parchment which was emblazoned with a rude tracing of
the Lion and the Unicorn. This he took, and with trembling fingers
unfolded it.
"Read! Read!" he cried again.
It was written in French, but in such a crude fashion as to make it
difficult to read. But I saw these words--"Marriage Contract between
Charles Stuart, King of England and Scotland, and Lucy Walters, of Ros
Martat, in the County of Pembroke, Wales, daughter of Richard Walters."
After this there were many lines which seemed to be meaningless, but at
the bottom of the page I saw writing by other hands. I saw the words--
"Charles Stuart, By the Grace of God King of England and Scotland.
"Lucy Walters.
"Pierre Rousseau.
"Francois Abelard."
I saw, too, that Pierre Rousseau was stated to be a priest of the Roman
Catholic Church who had performed the sacrament of marriage, and that
Francois Abelard, a brother of the Benedictine Order, had witnessed
thereto.
"There, you have seen it; now let me put it away."
"No," I replied, "let me read it again; I would commit the writing to
memory."
He paid no heed to me, however, and before I well knew what he was doing
he had struck the paper from my hands. The box closed with a snap, and
he placed it in its hiding-place again.
"You have seen," he cried. "Oh, it is rare fun. Now, then, you must
swear to what I dictate, or you will never again see the light of the
sun."
"Swear what?" I cried, for I felt angry with myself for having allowed
him to put the thing back into its hiding-place.
"You must swear that you will obey me in all that appertains to this."
"That was not in our bargain," I cried.
"But it must be," he cried. "Swear, or you die."
"No," I said, "I will not. And do not think to frighten me. I will keep
to my bargain faithfully, but if you in aught do fail on your part, then
will I come hither alone, and I will act without you."
"Ah!" he cried, and there was a fearsome look in his eyes. "You defy me,
eh?"
"Yes, I defy you!" I cried, for the sight of the parchment had set my
blood on fire.
We had moved away a few steps from the place where he had put the black
box, but I kept my eye on the spot, so that I might know it again.
"Ah, we must be friends," he said wheedlingly. "Come, my son, I have
more to tell you."
I followed him a few steps, and then again I looked back over my
shoulder to mark the place where the precious document was hidden; but
this, as will be seen, led to my undoing, for no sooner did he note my
action than with a sudden wrench he leapt from me, and blowing out the
candle he left me in utter darkness.
I stretched out my hands to grasp him, but he was gone. I stopped and
listened to catch the sound of his retreating footsteps, but could hear
nothing to guide me, for the place seemed to be full of the sound of
footsteps, now coming from one direction, and now from another.
Moreover, he wore cloth-soled shoes, which made but little noise, so
that I was utterly unable to locate him. Presently I thought I heard him
cackling, as I had heard him more than once before when he was well
pleased with himself. Without an instant's delay I rushed to the spot
from whence I thought the sound came, but only to strike my head with a
terrible thud against the rocky side of the cavern.
What happened after that I do not know. I have a vague remembrance of
falling to the ground, and then rising and staggering away in the
darkness, but whether this was only fancy or fact it is not for me to
say, seeing that nothing was clear to me.
Presently, when I awoke to consciousness, I found myself lying in the
darkness. Not a ray of light came to me anywhere, neither did I possess
any means of kindling one. My head ached, and my whole body was racked
with pain. How long I had lain there I knew not, neither was I able to
calculate. All I knew was that I was in as sad a plight as any man could
be. But I determined not to give up hope. If there was a way into this
place there must also be a way out, and so I set to work to try and find
out my whereabouts. I was not long before I touched the side of the
cavern, close to which I groped until I came to an opening.
"This will lead back to the house," I reflected, and buoyed up with this
hope, and keeping my hand by the side of the tunnel, I followed its
windings for some distance, only to come to a sudden stop, for I found
that the place ended here. I therefore returned again, determining to
enter each level in turn until I should again find my way back to the
man whose wits had been keener than my own.
The second tunnel was shorter than the first, and ended in the same way,
so again I returned to the large cavern, and keeping ever to the right
hand, so as not to enter any one of them more than once, I again groped
along in the darkness.
Even then I tried to find the place into which the old man had put the
black box, but in this I was unsuccessful. Had I a light, I felt sure I
could have found it, for I had marked the place carefully; but, as I
have said, I was in utter darkness, neither had I means of obtaining
light.
After a time I was wellnigh despairing, and I felt sure that old Solomon
intended the place to be my grave. The more I tried to find my way out,
the more confused I became. Still I was young and strong, and youth does
not for long give way to hopelessness.
Of the thoughts which passed through my mind, or of the plans I made, as
well as of the schemes of vengeance I meditated upon I will not speak,
for while they were doubtless natural, they had so little of sense in
them that they are not worth recording. Only one plan, indeed, promised
aught, and that was to lie still until old Solomon came to seek me, as I
felt sure his curiosity would compel him to do. But that was given up,
for, as I reflected, it would be terrible to lie there in the cold and
in the darkness; besides, he would doubtless wait until lack of food had
so weakened me that he would be able to work his will on me.
I therefore continued to examine each level or tunnel in turn, and in
this I had to manifest great care, for there were many pitfalls which
might easily lead to a man's death. How long I remained in the darkness
I know not, neither for that matter do I care to dwell upon the
endeavours I made while there to find my way to the light, for even now,
after the lapse of years, I shudder to think of my sufferings during
that terrible time. For if there is one thing harder than another to
bear, it is to be alone in black darkness such as I was. I have faced
death more than once, I have experienced imprisonment in a noisome
evil-smelling cell, I have had to stand face to face with dread
alternatives; but at no time do I remember such utter despair as I felt
then. And this any man who hath imagination can easily believe. For I
had no other prospect than a slow death amidst darkness and loneliness.
Could I have heard human voice, I do not think I should have minded so
much; but nothing could I hear save the echo of my own sighs, while the
darkness was so great that it could be felt.
Moreover, I presently grew faint and weak. I needed food sadly, while
even worse than hunger was the thirst that presently gat hold of me. My
body grew stone cold, and yet my throat became parched and burnt.
"This must be hell," I thought to myself. "I am become like the rich man
in the New Testament--ay, I am worse than he, for I cannot see one afar
off to whom I can cry."
Presently, however, in spite of my suffering I fell asleep, and when I
awoke I felt better. My head ceased to ache, and although I felt very
weak my tongue had become cool again.
"Thank God," I cried out in my joy. "O, great Lord, who didst suffer for
the sins of the world, be pleased to help me in my dire distress."
But no answer came to my prayer: only silence, a great and terrible
silence, filled the place. Nevertheless, my prayer gave me hope. If God
lived, I reflected, I was in His keeping here in the bowels of the earth
as truly as if I was aboveground. This feeling put new heart into me,
and I determined to make another effort.
I had now no knowledge concerning the levels I had explored, but I kept
on praying for guidance, and ere long I found myself in another tunnel,
although whither it led I no more knew than a child but last night born.
I could not help reflecting, however, that the air grew purer, and
presently I put my foot in a pool of water. Giving no time to reflection
as to whence this water came, I knelt down and took a long deep draught,
and immediately I felt a new man. A great confidence possessed me, the
hideous time which I had been passing lost much of its terrors, and
while I was still in black darkness, I felt sure I was moving towards
the light.
I therefore pressed onward, feeling the air grow purer and purer at each
step, and then I fancied that, instead of gazing into black darkness, I
saw a darkness that was grey. I held my hand before me, and thought I
could see my fingers move. This inspired me with still greater hope,
and after a time my hope became a certainty. I could even see the sides
of the tunnel in which I walked. A few minutes later a streak of light,
very small but very distinct, reached me. I realized, moreover, that a
little stream of water trickled along the bed of the tunnel in which I
walked, and ere long I saw what appeared to me to be a small hole which
let in the light.
At this time my heart filled with a great joy, and in spite of my
weakness I shouted aloud for joy. I bethought me of the psalms which I
had heard the Puritans sing: "_Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, being bound in affliction and iron; they fell down and there
was none to help; then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He
saved them out of their distress._"
Never surely did man thank God as I thanked Him then, and when, a little
later, I crept out of the level through a hole scarce big enough for a
man to drag his body through, I could scarce breathe for very joy. I
heard the birds singing, and looking above me I saw the sunlight
piercing the leaves of the trees. Then I think I fainted, for I remember
falling down, while all became dark again.
When I awoke I found myself lying where I had fallen, and although I was
terribly weak I had still strength enough to look around and take notice
of my surroundings. I saw that the mouth of the level out of which I had
come was closed by a great heap of fallen debris, save for the hole
through which I had passed. It was much overgrown too, and a man might
pass it a hundred times without seeing it. There was another thing which
struck me also. Not a footmark of any sort was to be seen, not a
suggestion that any one had visited the place. Huge heaps of stones and
rocks were around, but they had become overgrown by bushes and trees.
The place seemed far away from human habitation.
"Father Solomon knows nothing of this entrance," I reflected, "and he
believes that he left me there to die. Well, all the better; the time
may come when I can make use of my knowledge."
After making careful examination, I rose, and found my way slowly from
the place. I took what I believed was the seaward direction, and after
walking wellnigh a mile through a wood, I saw a cottage among some
fields. It was with much difficulty that I reached it, but I succeeded
at length, and presently saw a peasant woman lighting a fire outside the
cottage door.
"What's o'clock, good dame?" I asked.
"Six o' th' mornin'," she made answer.
"Then perchance you can give me some breakfast," I said.
"I've nothing but milk and bread," she answered, looking at me
suspiciously.
"For which I will pay you well," I replied, taking a coin from my
pocket.
The sight of the money altered her behaviour with wondrous quickness.
"It's all ready," she replied. "Th' milk is boilin' and the bread be in
the dishes. My man will not be here for a minute or two, but there's no
need for you to wait, young master."
Hunger made me ravenous, and I gave no thought to others. I doubt not
the bread was black and heavy, but the milk was sweet, and I partook of
it greedily.
When I had finished it seemed to me as though my strength had come back
to me as if by a miracle.
"Will ye 'a' more, young master?"
"Presently, presently;" and I gave her the coin I had promised.
"Ah, here be my man comin';" and I noticed a farmer's man come up, who
looked at me wonderingly.
It was at this time that I realized the condition of my clothes. They
were covered with dirt; and catching reflection of my face in a bucket
of water, I saw that it was much bruised and smeared with blood.
"I will have a wash, good dame," I said, "after which I would like to
talk with you."
"Ay, and 'ere's water, master," she said; and I washed myself while she
looked on in silence.