I HEAR RICHARD TRESIDDER TELL NAOMI PENRYN'S HISTORY, AND AM IN DANGER
OF BEING KILLED BY SMUGGLERS
Richard Tressider slowly filled his pipe again, and seemed to be
collecting his thoughts before telling his son what was in his mind.
"Her home, as you know, is at Trevose, not far from Trevose Head," he
said, presently. "The house is a funny old place--as lonely as a
churchyard and as bleak as a mountain peak. It seems a strange idea to
build a big house like that on a rocky eminence, but the Penryns have
always been a strange people. However, it is said that the Penryn who
built the house back in Oliver Cromwell's days kept ships for strange
purposes, and that he had curious dealings with 'gentlemen of fortune.'"
"Pirates do you mean?"
"Better let them be unnamed. Anyhow, from the tower of the house you can
see many miles up and down the coast--as far as Bude Harbour on the one
hand, and Gurnard's Head on the other. There is some very good land
belonging to the estate, too."
"Much?" asked Nick.
"More than belongs to Pennington by a long way, my boy. The rents are
handsome, I can assure you."
"Well, go on."
"The Penryns have always been a hot-tempered, impatient race, and
Naomi's father was no exception to the rule. He was the only child, too,
and from what I can gather spoiled. Well, he waited until he was over
thirty before he got married; indeed, both his parents were dead before
he saw Naomi's mother. By the time a man is thirty his habits are
settled, and he's generally unfit for marriage; people should marry at
twenty-five at latest."
"And who was Naomi's mother?"
"She was a widow of a cousin of mine, George Tresidder of Lelant."
"Well?"
"Well, she had what most women possess, a nasty, rasping, irritating
tongue, and a temper that would have done credit to Beelzebub's wife, if
there is such a lady. I know that, because I've had several interviews
with her. I've managed a good many women in my day, but never one who
was so difficult as she. Anyhow, John Penryn and she lived a cat-and-dog
life. John, I suppose, was a fine fellow in his way, but imperious,
impatient, and at times unreasonable. He couldn't bear being crossed,
and she was everlastingly crossing him. He was the soul of generosity,
and directly after his marriage made a most generous will. He left
everything unconditionally to his wife."
"Go on, you are awfully slow," cried Nick.
"They had been married about seven months when a terrible thing
happened. You were very young at the time, and would, of course, know
nothing about it. Penryn had a fearful quarrel with his wife. It was
simply terrible, and the servants were very much frightened, especially
as John's wife was expected to become a mother. Anyhow, she taunted him
with being unfaithful to her, and irritated him so with invective and
abuse that, forgetting everything, he tried to crush her by brute force.
Of course, in her state this was a mad thing to do, especially as she
was very weak and delicate; anyhow, she fell like one dead on the floor.
A doctor was sent for, and he declared that life was extinct. I suppose
the poor fellow's anguish was terrible; anyhow, when he heard of the
doctor's words, he seemed to lose his senses altogether. That night he
committed suicide."
"Suicide! Whew!" cried Nick.
"Yes; he threw himself over the cliffs at Trevose Head. When his body
was discovered it was much bruised and battered. Of course the affair
was hushed up, and it was made out to be an accident, but no one was
deceived."
"But about the woman?"
"Well, I suppose she lay like one in a trance for some considerable
time, and it is said that all arrangements were made for her funeral.
Presently, however, she gave signs of life, and in course of time Naomi
was born."
"And the mother lived?"
"My dear Nick, you'll find that it'll take a great deal to kill a woman.
Yes, she lived and enjoyed a fair amount of health. I suppose, too, that
her conduct improved, at least I was told so; still, as I said, I found
her difficult to manage."
"But you did manage her?"
"When I set my mind on a thing I generally do get my own way; but I
think it would have been impossible in this case but for mother."
"What, granny?"
"Yes, she took the matter in hand, and together we got on fairly well."
"Yes, but by what means did you establish a claim on her sympathies? She
had other relations!"
"It would take a long time to tell. Indeed, it has been a work of years.
I've had to visit Trevose many times, and have suffered more abuse than
I care to tell about. However, before she died the will was made all
right."
"How?" asked Nick, eagerly.
"Well, in this way. Everything is given to Naomi, and I am constituted
her sole guardian. She cannot marry until she's twenty-one without my
consent."
"I see."
"If she dies everything comes to me."
"What!"
"Yes, mother worked that. I despaired of reaching that point; but you
know what your granny is. She pleaded that I was a cousin, and a hundred
other things. Besides, mother has a strange power over people."
"Then it seems to me everything is safe."
"Yes, if matters go right. She is now eighteen; if you marry her before
she's twenty-one all's well, but if not, then when she arrives at that
age the lawyer who has to do with the estates will naturally want
everything accounted for. Naomi's a sharp girl, and I shall have to give
an account of my stewardship."
"Her mother was a Catholic, I suppose?"
"Yes, that was a difficult point. Still we promised that Naomi's
religious views should not be interfered with, and also that a priest
shall visit the house occasionally."
"He will want her to marry a Catholic."
"Undoubtedly; but, honestly, I don't believe Naomi troubles about the
fine distinction in religious beliefs. The priest wanted to persuade her
mother that the child ought to be placed in Mawgan Convent, and her
property given to the Church. I thought once the wily rascal would have
succeeded, but fortunately mother was in the house at the time."
They sat for some little time without speaking; then Richard Tresidder
spoke again.
"You are a bit in love with her, arn't you, Nick?"
"More than a little bit, and she knows it, too."
"Well, be careful, my boy, be very careful. If we can get Trevose--well,
it's a nice thing, isn't it? But we must be careful. You are no fool,
Nick; Naomi has her little weaknesses like other folks; find 'em out and
humour 'em. Now you know how things are, and we must be going or we
shall be caught by the tide. There'll be a high tide to-night, too."
Then they went away, leaving me to think over what they had said, and I
must confess that my mind was much disturbed by their words. I do not
pretend to have the lawyer-like power of seeing where many things lead
to, but I did see, or rather I fancied I saw, the meaning of the
conversation I had heard, and which, according to the best of my
ability, I have faithfully described. I saw that Naomi was brought to
this house because of her money. I saw, too, that every sort of pressure
would be brought to bear upon her to make her marry Nick Tresidder, and
I felt assured that did not fair means succeed, foul ones would be used.
And what troubled me most was that I could do nothing. Evidently the
Tresidders were still searching for me, and, if I were caught, they
would, in spite of the friends I still possessed, try to render me more
helpless than ever.
Besides, how would the poor, helpless maid be able to resist the
pleadings of Nick Tresidder, backed up as they would be by the cunning
and stratagem of the woman who had caused my grandfather to disinherit
his own son? These questions, as may be imagined, greatly exercised my
mind, so much so that I forgot all about my plans to travel through the
night to Fowey and to try and get a berth as a sailor on a trading
vessel.
Presently night came on, and I felt faint and weak. Then I remembered
that I had eaten nothing for many hours, and so I turned with great
gladness of heart to the food which I believe Naomi had brought with her
own hands to the rocks which stood at the foot of the cliff under the
mouth of my hiding-place. When I had eaten I went into the inner cave,
and lay a-thinking again and again of what I must do. I recalled to mind
the words that had passed between Naomi and me, of the joy I had felt
when she was by my side, and especially of the time when I held her
hands in mine; and then I thought of what I had heard spoken between
Tresidder and his son, and not being, as I have said, quick at thinking,
my mind presently became a blank, and I fell asleep.
How long I slept I know not, but I was awoke by the sound of voices, and
of footsteps near me, but the first thing of which I have a clear
recollection was a kick on the shin, and a voice saying, "Bless my soul
'n body, what es this?"
I jumped to my feet and saw two men before me in rough seamen's clothes,
and with high jack-boots. I did not know them at all, and so I concluded
that they were strangers to our part of the county. They were not
altogether ill-favoured men, although I could not help feeling that
there was a kind of reckless expression on their faces which was not
common among Cornish fisherfolk.
"And who might you be?" asked one presently, after staring at me for
some time as if in blank astonishment.
By this time I had mastered the amazement which for the moment had
overcome me, and had surmised who they were. Undoubtedly they were the
smugglers who infested the coast, and who knew the secret of Granfer
Fraddam's Cave. Probably they belonged to Jack Truscott's famous gang,
and had brought a cargo of goods that very night. I heard the swish of
the waves rushing up the cave, so I knew the tide was high.
I measured the men, too, from a wrestler's standpoint, and calculated
their strength from the size of their bare arms, and the breadth of
their chests. All the fear that had come into my heart left me. Living
men did not frighten me.
"I might as well ask who you are," I replied coolly.
"Oh, tha's yer soarts, es et? Well, I think we may, so we'll tell 'ee,
es you'll never go out of this 'ere place a livin' man."
"Never go out a living man. Why, pray?"
"Well, 'cos you do knaw too much, tha's why. This caave es wot you call
convainient. See, matey? Well, ef other people wos to knaw 'bout et,
twudden be convainient."
"I quite understand. You are smugglers, and wreckers most likely.
Perhaps even worse than that. Perhaps you belong to Jack Truscott's
gang. Ah, I see you do. Well, your idea is to kill me because I have
found your hiding-place."
"That's ev et. Generally we be'ant cruel men, we be'ant. But some things
must be done. You zee, dead men kip their saicrets well; livin' ones
do'ant. You be a curyus-looking cove, ragged 'nough for a vuss cutter,
but you be'ant owr soart."
"No," I said, coolly, "I'm not your sort."
"And you'd splet on us the fust fair chance you got, I spect?"
"Probably."
"Well, that settles et, and so--" He drew his finger across his throat
significantly.
I must confess that a curious sensation came into my heart; but I did
not betray any fear, and after a few seconds I was able to speak
steadily.
"You've done that kind of thing before, I expect?" I said, watching the
spokesman's face closely.
"Sam have done et a vew times," he said, looking significantly at his
companion, "I do'ant do et oftener than I can 'elp."
The man called Sam grinned, as though he was proud of his distinction.
"In cold blood?" I queried. I kept on asking these questions, because I
wanted to gain time. I had heard of many bloody deeds being done off the
Lizard, but, as I said, the coast of St. Eve had been regarded as quiet
and free from violent men and violent deeds ever since Granfer Fraddam
died.
"We'd ruther do et in hot fight," said the man, with a curious twitch of
his lips, "a good bit ruther. Et _do_ come aisier that way; but there,
we ca'ant allays pick and choose."
I have not inserted the epithets with which they garnished their words,
neither can I describe the careless way in which they spoke of murder.
But in my heart came a great loathing for them, and a desire to be even
with them.
Both of them stood between me and the outer cave, one of them holding a
smuggler's lantern in his hand, and the man called Sam whispered
something in the other's ear.
"Do you knaw what Sam's bin sayin'?" said the smuggler to me presently.
"No."
"He ses, 'Bill Lurgy,' ses 'ee, 'tha's a daicent fella, an' we do'ant
want to cut hes windpipe. Git 'im to jine us.'"
"To join you!" I said with a sneer, for I thought of Naomi just then.
"Oh, I zee. I thot zo. Well, then, that settles et."
"Settles what?"
"This business. You zee, we mus' be olf. I spoase you knaw oal 'bout
this caave?"
"Yes."
"Saicret way out?"
I nodded.
Sam took a huge knife which hung in a sheath by his side.
"I'm right sorry for this, matey," said Bill Lurgy. "If you'd a promist
to jine us, we cud a kipt 'ee ere till the Cap'n comed, an' then 'ee
might 'ave tooked 'ee on. Besides, ther's a special cargo comin' in
d'reckly, defferent to this," he added, looking at the ankers of spirits
in the cave; "in fact, it's a fortin to we pore chaps."
"And I'm to be killed?" I said.
"You mus' be. Sam Liddicoat 'll 'ave to do et," he said, as coolly as
though I were a chicken he intended to kill for a dinner.
"Then I tell you, I'm not," I said, quietly.
"How be 'ee goin' to git away, my sonny? It's 'bout wawn o'clock in the
mornin' now. Nobody 'll come 'ere but chaps like we."
I made a leap at Sam Liddicoat suddenly, and struck him a stunning blow,
which sent him with great force against the side of the cave. Then I
turned to Bill Lurgy. My idea was to master him before Sam should
recover, and then escape up the secret way to the copse. Bill leapt on
me like a mad bull. "Oa, tha's yer soarts, es et?" he cried. "Well, I
zed I'd ruther do et in 'ot fight."
I had not been struggling with Bill Lurgy more than a few seconds before
I had mastered him. As I said, the Penningtons are a large race, and
Bill Lurgy, strong man as he was, became but a child in my hands. He
went on the floor of the cave with a thud, and then I fastened my hands
around his throat. I felt mad at the moment, and, remembering that time,
I can quite understand how men, when driven to extremities, can forget
the sacredness of human life. But in mastering Bill I had forgotten Sam
Liddicoat, whom I had struck down before he was aware of my intentions.
Hearing a sound behind me, I turned, and saw Sam with his knife
uplifted. Whether I should have been able to save myself or no, I know
not; I have sometimes thought it would have been impossible. Anyhow, Sam
did not strike. He was startled, as I was, by a voice in the cave.
"No, Sam, no!"
We both turned and saw a man about fifty years of age. He was below the
medium height, and although hardy and agile, apparently possessed no
physical strength above the average. He had a large head, well shaped,
while his features were clearly cut and, I thought, pleasing. His face,
too, was cleanly shaved, and he was dressed with some amount of care.
The only thing that was strange about him was the curious colour of his
eyes. They were light gray, so light that sometimes they looked white.
He entered the inner cave as though he knew it well, and spoke very
quietly.
"What, Sam," he said, in a honeyed voice, "wud you 'ave done a thing
like that? Strick un down in a moment wethout givin' ev'n a chance to
say hes prayers and to make hes paice, so to spaik? No, Sam; that wud
never do!"
"He nearly killed me, cap'n," grunted Sam.
"Iss, an' what ef a did? Remember the Scripters, an' turn the other
cheek, so to spaik."
By this time Bill Lurgy had got up, and, seeming to understand the
situation, slunk to the entrance of the inner cave.
"An' wad'n you to blaame, too?" he said, turning to me. "Never be rash,
young man, an' remember that a soft answer turneth away wrath."
I must confess that I was at a loss to understand this mild-spoken man,
and had not Sam called him "Cap'n," I should have thought him one of
those foolish people converted by the Methodists.
"Are you Cap'n Jack Truscott?" I asked.
"Well, and what if I be, sonny? Law, I bean't pertikler, ye knaw.
Spoase some people do call me Cap'n Jack Truscott, or spoase others do
call me Jack Fraddam, what do I care? I'm a man as es friends weth
everybody, my deear--tha's what I be. An' you, you be Jasper Pennington,
who've been robbed of yer rights, my deear."
"How do you know?"
"How do I knaw? Oa, I pick up things goin' about. I do--lots ov things.
I knawed 'ee as soon as I zee'd 'ee tackle they two chaps. Why, 'twud
'a' gone to my 'art for Sam to 'ave knifed 'ee, my deear. You was born
to live a good ould age, and die in bed at Pennington, in the best room,
my deear, with yer cheldern and grancheldern cal around 'ee, ould an'
well stricken in eres. Tha's your lot, Maaster Jasper. Besides, I'm a
man of paice, I be: I love paice 'n' quietness; I like love an'
brotherly 'fection, I do!"
I looked at him again in amazement, for I had heard of deeds which
Captain Jack Truscott had done that were terrible enough to make one's
blood run cold. It was reported that he had a house in a gully which
runs up from Kynance Cove, which was the meeting-place for the wildest
outlaws of the county. Folks said, moreover, that he owned a vessel
which hoisted a black flag.
"Ah, I zee, my deear," said Captain Jack, pathetically; "people 'ave bin
'busin' me. I allays 'ave bin 'bused, my deear, but I do comfort myself,
I do, for what do the Scripters say?--'Blessed are they that are
abused.' I ain't a-got the words zackly, but the mainin', my deear, the
mainin' es right, and that's the chief thing, ed'n et, then?"
In spite of myself the man fascinated me. There was a mixture of mockery
and sincerity in his voice, as though he half believed in his pious
sayings; moreover, he was very cool and collected. His white eyes
wandered all over the cave, and exchanged meaning glances with the two
men with whom I had been struggling, but I knew that he was watching me
all the time. He must have known that he was in danger of being taken by
the Preventive men, but he spoke with the calm assurance of an innocent
man.
"Well," I said, "what do you intend doing with me? You are three to one,
and I am unarmed."
"There you be spaikin' vexed now. Wha's the use of that?"
"No wonder, when your men were trying to kill me, and would, perhaps, if
you hadn't come just then."
"No; they wouldn't, my deear. I was watching; I zeed the man they'd got
to dail weth--fresh as paint, my deear, and shinin' like a makerl's
back. Plenty of rail good fight; and I like that, though I be a man of
paice, Jasper Pennington, my deear."
I waited for him to go on, and although I was much excited, and scarcely
expected to live until morning, I managed to meet his white eyes without
shrinking.
"Spoasing you go out, Bill and Sam, my sonnies," said Cap'n Jack. "Don't
go fur away, my deears; we cudden bear that, could us, Jasper? Do 'ee
smok' then, Jasper? I zee you do. Lots of baccy 'ere, an' pipes too.
Well, this es oncommon lucky. Well, lev us load up, I zay."
Thinking it well to agree with him, I filled a pipe with tobacco and lit
it while Cap'n Jack, with evident satisfaction, smoked peacefully. He
sat opposite me, and I waited for him to speak.