MRS. BROWN AND MRS. TRENOW INDULGE IN A CROOM O' CHAT. WHILE CAP'N
TRENOW GIVES SOME SAGE ADVICE IN ANOTHER QUARTER.
The gossips of St. Just were spared the necessity of inventing idle
tales to keep conversation alive,--a practice so prevalent in small
communities, where the events that happen in everyday life are generally
so uninteresting and monotonous. Events had happened within the last few
months which gave ample scope to the most inveterate and accomplished
gossip for exercising the art of conversation to the fullest extent, and
yet be most truthful; although they still had the power of embellishing
the facts according to their own lively fancy and vivid imagination.
They could talk of "The Maister" now with the utmost freedom; for he was
no longer in the neighbourhood to pry into their secrets, and read their
thoughts, and ill-wish them for talking of him and his doings. And, as a
reservoir of water that has broken through the embankment, after having
been pent up till it was full almost to overflowing, rushes with greater
force on its first outburst,--or the pent-up steam in a mighty engine
when suddenly let loose,--so did the long-restrained tongues of the
gossips of St. Just now pour out, to their hearts' content, their secret
spleen and antipathy to their dangerous and dreaded neighbour, Mr.
Freeman. There was not a house in which some scandal was not going on
continually;--and this was not confined to the women, the men being
equally intent on "giving the devil his due," as they termed it.
Business was brisk at the "Commercial" Inn. The afternoons were
generally devoted to a gossip over a dish of tea and a drop of
"comfort," between Mrs. Brown and a few of her intimate female friends,
after which the kitchen was occupied until a late hour by the men, who
would drink a double quantity of beer if anyone could be found to amuse
them by relating some fresh tale.
The chair in which Mr. Freeman had been accustomed to sit in the
chimney-corner, was generally left unoccupied by a seeming tacit
consent, the better to enable the speaker for the time being to
designate the person of whom he was speaking, without mentioning any
name, by simply nodding his head towards the vacant chair;--for they
were, even now, afraid that "The Maister" might be listening to them in
secret.
Of all her female acquaintances, Mrs. Brown preferred Mrs. Trenow for a
quiet gossip, because, living very near "The Maister's" house, and
having been on intimate terms of friendship with both Alrina and Alice
Ann, she could impart as well as receive information.
The whole neighbourhood was teeming with news. Events of the most
thrilling interest were happening every hour--and, being told and retold
from house to house, they lost nothing in their transit--when, one
afternoon, Mrs. Trenow paid her accustomed visit to her old friend Mrs.
Brown, whom she fortunately found alone, with the exception of her
husband, who was sitting in the chimney-corner, thinking of nothing, and
whistling for want of thought.
As she entered, Mrs. Trenow closed the door after her, and looked round
the room in a mysterious manner, much to Mrs. Brown's surprise,--for
they had lately fallen into the habit of discussing their subject rather
more openly, in the conscious security of the absence of the evil-eye.
"Arrah, then!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown, smiling; "the Franch are landed
sure nuf now, then, I s'pose. Ef so, we'll put up a red coat to John
Brown, and stick 'n out afore the door to frighten them away."
"I don't knaw nothen' 'bout the Franch, not I," replied Mrs. Trenow,
drawing her chair as close to the landlady as she could, and bringing
her face almost close to the ear of her friend; "but he's come back,
cheeld vean!"
"Who's come back?" asked Mrs. Brown,--in a tone, however, which seemed
to require no answer.
"I wor setten' up brave an' late, doen a bit of menden'," continued Mrs.
Trenow,--"for, what with one body an' another comin' in chatting, I
haan't done much by day lately--when I heard footsteps outside, and a
woman's voice, complaining of a long walk, and how glad she was to get
home once more. So, after they were gone by, I opened the door an'
looked out, an' there I seed a man an' a woman. It was bright moonlight,
you knaw,--an' who shud they be, but 'The Maister' and Miss Reeney. I
cud see them so plain as I can see you now, as they went in through the
little gate. Alice Ann was sent for again to-day, an' there they are.
Where Miss Freeman es I caan't tell. They came back in a vessel, the
maid said, an' wor out a bra' while. Where they've b'en to she cudn't
tell, nor Miss Reeney neither, I b'lieve, for she wor kept fine an'
close; but I shall knaw more another time,--Alice Ann cudn't stop more
than a minute."
"Well, I'm glad they're come back, for one thing," said Mrs. Brown--"an'
that's for the sake of Miss Reeney, poor young lady; I b'lieve she's
dragged about more than she do like."
"Iss fie!" replied Mrs. Trenow, whispering into Mrs. Brown's ear again;
"she's grieving about that young chap, so Alice Ann do say. She wor took
away in the night, you knaw, an' never so much as wished 'n well; an'
now she don't knaw where aw es, f'rall she ha' sent two letters to un;
and she do b'lieve he's dead, for she haan't had a single line from him,
evar sence he have b'en gone. An' our 'Siah said that he wor mad after
har; an' ef he's alive he wud ha' found har somehow,--that's my b'lief."
"Well, all I can say es," chimed in Mrs. Brown, "that I'm sorry for them
both. I took a mighty fancy to that young man. 'Tes whisht; but I caan't
think that he's dead at all. But what's become of 'Siah?"
"Here!" exclaimed that individual, in a stentorian voice, which made the
two friends jump from their seats, as he stalked into the room. "Why, I
might ha' walked off weth your poor dear husband, Mrs. Brown, and you
wud nevar ha' know'd et; for I was standen' behind your backs a bra' bit
afore I spok', an' you nevar heard or seed me."
"No, sure," said his mother; "we wor just then spaiken' about you and
your young master;--why, where have 'ee b'en, Siah; we thoft you wor
lost, but I'm glad you're come back, for more reasons than one. Miss
Reeney will be more contenteder now,--I s'pose he'll make et up now,
Siah. Ef they're so mazed about one t'other as you do say, why the
sooner they're married the better."
"Married!" exclaimed Josiah; "I wish they cud be, poor souls; but where
es aw, says you?"
"Where es aw!" asked both the women in a breath; "why, come home weth
you, I s'pose,--where else shud aw be?"
"No fie," replied Josiah, in a more serious tone; "I wish aw wor. He
started from Ashley Hall a fortnight ago, or more, an' said he wor
comin' down here for to sarch for somebody, an' we thoft for to find om
here. Maister Morley, hes brother, es over to Leeftenant Fowler's. Mr.
Frederick not here! that's whisht, thon. What core to bâl es fe-a-ther
this week, mother?"
"He'll be home from bâl about six o'clock to-night," replied Mrs.
Trenow.
"I'll have a glass o' brandy toddy, ef you plaise, Mrs. Brown, an' then
go home to ax fe-a-ther's advice. He ded used to have brave thofts about
things."
Captain Trenow was very glad to see his son returned safe and sound:
for, as he had never been a great traveller himself, he could not
understand the pleasure to be derived from locomotion and change of
scene. "I can get along brave here," he would say, "where I do knaw
everybody: but how I should get along among strangers I caan't tell. I
shud be in a whisht porr sometimes, I reckon."
But notwithstanding his father's modest opinion of himself, Josiah held
his knowledge and shrewdness in high estimation; so he related to his
parent the whole of his adventures, from the time he left home until his
return, and then asked his advice upon the whole--not only as to his own
course, but as to the course he would advise his patron Mr. Morley to
pursue, and especially as to the search it seemed incumbent on them to
make after his young master.
"I'll tell 'ee, boy," said Captain Trenow, after he had heard his son's
story, and had ruminated over it for some minutes,--"'tes like as this
here, you knaw--he's kidnapped, that's what he es!"
"Hould your tongue, do," replied his son; "that's nonsense. Why, who wud
kidnap he, I shud like to knaw. What good wud that do to anybody? What
do anybody knaw about he, for to go for to kidnap 'n? No, no, ould man;
touch your pipe a bit. They'd be glad for to bring om back agen, I
reckon; for he's brave an' heavy, mon. No, he's no more kidnapped than
you are; he's fell in a shaft, more likely."
"Like enough! like enough!" replied the father, seriously; "we must
sarch, boy,--come!" And the kind-hearted miner rose at once, and took
his hat with the intention of proceeding at once to search and drag
every open shaft in the neighbourhood. But Josiah thought they had
better see Mr. Morley first, and inform him that no tidings of his
brother could be obtained at St. Just or the neighbourhood.
After a good supper, therefore, the two men started for
Tol-pedn-Penwith, where they arrived just as the two gentlemen were
about to retire for the night.
Mr. Morley was much concerned when he found that his brother had not
been seen or heard of at St. Just; for he had fully made up his mind
that he would visit that place first in his search after the girl he
seemed so devotedly attached to; and would naturally endeavour to trace
the fugitives, in their journey from thence round the sea-coast, to the
solitary house in which Alrina said, in her letter, she was then
confined.
"I am inclined to think," said he, at length, after a little
consideration, "that Captain Trenow's conjecture may be true, and that
my brother has been treacherously entrapped by some lawless band of
ruffians, for the sake of gain. I scarcely believe he is
murdered,--Cornishmen, from what I have heard of them, are not such
cold-blooded villains as that,--and I am inclined to hope and believe
that he has not fallen into a shaft; but wherever he is he must be
found."
"With the morning's dawn," said Lieut. Fowler, "we must commence the
search all along the coast, from the Land's-End to Truro. He was last
seen at the latter place, you say?"
"Yes," replied Mr. Morley; "we traced him there, but could gain no
further intelligence of him."
"If Captain Trenow and Josiah can go with us," said the lieutenant, "I
think they will be of greater service than my own men; for, in the first
place, I shouldn't like to take so many of us off duty, and, in the next
place, I think these two strong miners will be able to assist us in
exploring the shafts in our way, and may tend to prevent any suspicion
being attached to our search; whereas, a party of my men searching and
exploring the coast, would attract suspicion at once, and put the whole
neighbourhood on their guard."
Captain Trenow and Josiah readily consented to accompany the two
gentlemen; and, after a few hours' sleep, and a hearty breakfast, they
started on their expedition.
For two whole days they searched unceasingly, exploring every shaft they
came near,--the two miners having brought ropes, by which one of them
was frequently lowered down, to search for their young friend in the
bowels of the earth. Houses were entered and searched thoroughly, and
all manner of questions asked of the inmates, very much to the
astonishment and terror of some of them, but all to no purpose. Yet on
they went, searching still, and searching everywhere. At length, towards
the end of the third day, they arrived at a solitary spot, which
attracted the attention of Mr. Morley. It was a house surrounded by high
walls on every side.
"This," he exclaimed, "appears to answer the description given in that
letter, better than any place we have seen yet! Courage, my comrades! we
have found the spot at last."
As they approached the outer door of the garden, they saw in a ditch by
the side of the wall, the carcase of a dead horse, on which the crows
were feeding so ravenously that they did not perceive the intruders
until they were almost close upon them, when they rose in a cloud that
almost darkened the sky, making a discordant noise, and flapping the air
with their wings, which was heard distinctly until they settled down
again in a neighbouring field to wait a favourable opportunity to return
again to the feast from which they had been so suddenly dispersed.
Here was the spot, then, wherein, if not Frederick Morley, they felt
pretty certain his loved Alrina was confined; and it should go hard,
they said, if a clear discharge was not made of all prisoners inside,
whoever or whatever they might be. Lieut. Fowler and Mr. Morley were
armed with a brace of pistols each, while Capt. Trenow and his son had
only their stout cudgels to depend upon.
"Never mind," said Capt. Trenow; "a stout cudgel and a strong arm ha'
beat a good many men afore now, and may again;--I arn't afeard; art
thee, 'Siah boy?"
"No fie," said Josiah, flourishing his cudgel round his head, and
grinding his teeth with energetic determination; "I'll scat them all
abroad 'pon the planchen' ef I do come nigh them." And down came the end
of the cudgel on a log of wood near him, with such a crash, that the
crows were frightened once more, and rose like a rushing mighty wind,
and settled down again one field further off.
Whether it was the noise of the crows, or the sound of Josiah's cudgel
on the log of wood, or a sudden impulse of female curiosity to see who
the strangers were, the door was opened from the inside just at that
moment, and a female head peeped out, and as suddenly Josiah sprang at
the door, pushing it wide open, and asked as deliberately as he could
under the circumstances, "ef the lady wanted to buy a hoss?"
"A hoss!" said the woman, taken quite by surprise; "no,--how ded 'ee
think so?"
"Why, the crows are getten' fat upon the hoss you lost last week, and so
I thoft you'd be wanten' another," replied Josiah, with the greatest
coolness.
"Oh! that wasn't ours," said the woman, taken off her guard by the
coolness of Josiah,--"that belonged to a young gentleman that----"
"Hold your jaw and bar the door, and be d----d to you!" exclaimed a man,
coming out of the house in a rage.
"This looks suspicious and businesslike," said Lieut. Fowler, as he
rushed into the garden after Josiah, followed by their two companions.
The woman had disappeared at the first rush, but they were met midway
between the door of the house and the outer door of the garden, by a
rough, strong-built man, who seemed half sailor and half miner by his
dress.
"What the devil do you want here?" said he, addressing Lieut. Fowler,
who was now the foremost of the party. "I'm d----d if I don't see light
through you in about two twos." And he drew a pistol from a side-pocket,
and presented it at the lieutenant's breast.
"Two can play at that game," exclaimed Fowler, drawing a pistol from his
breast-pocket.
"And three!" cried Mr. Morley, drawing his pistol also.
"Now, I'll tell 'ee, soas," said Capt. Trenow, putting his cudgel very
coolly between the parties, and addressing the stranger on whom they had
intruded,--"'tes like as this here, you knaw; two to one es brave
odds,--the one might be killed--sure to be, I s'pose. Ef you've got any
more of your sort inside, comrade, bring them out and then we'll fight
fe-ar; or, ef you haan't got no backers for to fight, why lev es have a
croom o' chat. Now, I've done, soas; spaik the next who will. As for
fighten, I can stand a bra' tussle; but as for spaiken, I arn't wuth
much."
No backers--as Capt. Trenow called them--came out; and, as the occupant
of the house sew that he was left so sadly in the minority, and felt, no
doubt, that he had been the first aggressor, by presenting his pistol at
the breast of a king's officer, as he knew Lieut. Fowler to be by his
dress, he began to make apologies as best he could, very much to the
amusement of Capt. Trenow, who really seemed to be the coolest of the
party, and, like a good and experienced general, was equal to the
occasion, and could by his coolness and shrewd common sense, persuade
where he could not command. And he very soon led the way into the house,
as if he had been the owner of it, and was followed by all the party.
As resistance was quite out of the question, against four armed men, and
one of them a king's officer in authority, Capt. Cooper made a virtue of
necessity, and became very civil and obsequious.
What the object of this visit was he was puzzled to imagine. If it was
in search of contraband goods he was safe; for they had all been
disposed of long ago. He was not left long in suspense, however; for Mr.
Morley was too impatient to find his brother to delay his enquiries, and
he thought the bolder he did so, the better.
"We are in search of a gentleman," said he, "whom we have traced almost
to your door. If he is here you had better say so at once, and produce
him. If you decline, we shall proceed in our search; and if we find him,
after a denial by you, the consequences may be serious to you and your
household. If, on the other hand, you tell us honestly where he is, and
produce him, if in your power, you have nothing to fear."
"If you will tell me the name of the gentleman," replied Cooper,
cautiously, "I will inform you if I have seen him or not. I am
accustomed to see gentlemen here on business often. But this much I will
tell you, that unfortunately at present the only inmates of my house are
myself and my wife; otherwise, perhaps you would not so easily have
entered."
"The name of the gentleman we are in search of is Mr. Frederick Morley,"
said the interrogator. "Have you seen him?"
The mention of that name seemed to cause the smuggler to start
involuntarily; but he soon recovered his former coolness and said, "I
have no such person here; but, to satisfy yourselves, you are at full
liberty to search my house; I will get the keys." And he left the room
in search of his wife, who was not far off; and as he left the room,
Josiah slid out after him unperceived, and saw him give a key to his
wife, instead of taking any from her, and whisper something in her ear:
so he determined to watch below while the others went upstairs. He had
hid himself behind a door in a dark passage, from whence he watched the
momentary interview between Captain Cooper and his wife, unperceived by
them; and when Cooper returned to the party in the front room Josiah
took off his shoes and followed Mrs. Cooper stealthily down some dark
stone steps. It was so dark that even she was obliged to grope her way
down. Once or twice she stopped and turned round and listened as if she
fancied she heard someone following her; but Josiah was accustomed to
grope his way in the dark underground, and could, therefore, perhaps,
see better than she could under present circumstances; so he continued
to dodge her footsteps, until she arrived at a small secret door in the
wall on the right hand, which was so artfully concealed that a stranger,
even with a lamp in his hand, would most likely pass it, believing it a
part of the wall itself. Mrs. Cooper had evidently found the door by
counting the steps as she descended, and she now groped about with her
hand to find the keyhole, which she was not long in doing, for she had
evidently performed the feat many times before. When she had opened the
door Josiah heard her go down some more steps, into what he thought a
dungeon or vault; and he listened at the door, which she had left ajar.
When she was at the bottom of the steps, he heard her call to someone in
a low whisper, saying, "Sir! sir! where are you? follow me and I'll save
you. Come quickly!"
Josiah now determined at all risks to follow the woman, and see the end
of it and rescue the prisoner if possible; for he now firmly believed
that his young master was incarcerated here, and that it was to him the
woman was calling, perhaps with the intention of murdering him, or
getting rid of him in some way; so he put on his shoes again and
approached the spot from whence the woman's voice proceeded. She
evidently took him for some other person, and, seizing him by the hand,
she dragged him along after her through the darkness, until they heard
the sea dashing against the rocks, when she said in a hurried and
agitated manner,--
"The smugglers are seeking your life;--fly if you would be saved. At the
end of this passage you will find an outlet. Run for your life! the
smugglers are after you! Fly! fly!"
The truth now flashed on the mind of Josiah, and he saw exactly how
matters stood. It was evident that someone, most probably his young
master, was confined in that dungeon, and, fearing detection, she had
been sent to convey the prisoner away, and, by frightening him, and
pointing out a way of escape, induce him to run into the sea over the
rocks, at the entrance to the cavern, which perhaps communicated with
this dungeon, or, it might be, to jump over a precipice.
She had evidently mistaken Josiah, in the dark, for the prisoner, and he
was determined to turn the tables on her; so, seizing her by the wrist
in his powerful grasp, he exclaimed, in a stentorian voice which struck
terror into the affrighted woman, and made her sink on the ground as if
she had been struck by a thunderbolt,--
"You cold-blooded old hag! tell me who you ha' got here locked up in
this gashly old place, or else I'll carr' you where you wanted me to
run, an' throw 'ee into the sea, and hold your head under water till
you're so dead as a herren'."
"Oh! sir," said she, gasping and writhing with the pain that Josiah's
strong hand was inflicting; "it wasn't my doing,--'twas that boy; he put
the gentleman here."
"Come, come," said Josiah; "no nonsense! Was it Mr. Frederick Morley or
who was it?"
"Oh! sir," screamed the woman, "I b'lieve that was his name."
"Then where es he gone to?" said Josiah.
"Oh! sir," cried the woman; "I'm afraid he must be dead."
"Dead!" exclaimed Josiah; "ef so, I'll break every bone in your body,
and your husband's too, and burn the house over your heads. We must have
a light and sarch." So saying, he dragged the woman back towards the
steps which led up to the dark passage, while she continued to scream
from the pain she was suffering; for he did not relax his grasp in the
least.
When they had emerged on the main stairs again, Josiah flung the door
wide open that there might be no difficulty in finding it again, and
called out lustily for a light.
The woman's screams and Josiah's vociferous calls for a light, reached
the ears of the searchers upstairs, and they all ran down in great alarm
to enquire what had caused such a terrible commotion.
"He is here!" exclaimed Josiah, when his friends appeared;--"bring a
light quickly."
Captain Trenow had seen a lantern in the kitchen as they passed, and,
being accustomed to emergencies in his daily occupation as a miner, he
went back, and, lighting the candle, appeared again with the lantern in
his hand, before the others had recovered from their surprise.
Captain Cooper at first put a bold front on it, and denied all knowledge
of the young gentleman, until he saw the cellar door wide open and knew
there was now no escape. He then maintained a sullen silence, and
preceded the party down the narrow steps into the cellar. It was deemed
advisable to send him in first, coupled with Captain Trenow, fearing
treachery. Josiah still kept his hold on the woman.
On they went in double file, slowly and cautiously, searching every nook
and corner, looking behind old casks, and turning up old canvass bags
that lay about in corners; but no trace of their missing friend could be
found.
Capt. Cooper now began to hold up his head again. It had evidently
turned out better than he expected, and he called his wife a doating old
fool, to tell such lies and deceive the gentlemen in that way. They had
searched the whole of his house and premises,--and what more would they
have? He might complain, but he wouldn't, he said. They naturally felt
alarmed about the young gentleman,--who would not? He had no hesitation
in telling them that Mr. Freeman and his daughter Alrina had lodged at
his house for a few weeks, for change of air for the young lady, who was
delicate; but they had left, and, he believed, had gone back to St.
Just.
What could they do, therefore, under the circumstances, but thank Capt.
Cooper for allowing them to search for their friend, and to bid him
adieu? Josiah, however, still held his opinion that his young master had
been confined in this dungeon, and had been got rid of somehow. He was
not at all satisfied. He must have been starved to death there, he said,
and the rats might have eaten him, and he believed they had. This idea,
however, was not entertained by the others of the party, although they
knew not what else to think.