"Shall I fasten the door, father?" cried Ralph excitedly.
"No," said Sir Morton firmly. "I know my man of old."
Ralph looked on and listened, as a low growl arose; but, bully and
coward or no, it was evident that Captain Purlrose was master of his
men, who stood listening and nodding their heads, one or two slapping
the hilts of their swords menacingly, and at last the leader of the
ragged crew turned and shook his fist threateningly at the house, and
ended by striding jauntily away through the embattled gateway, followed
by his gang.
"Will they come back, father, at night?" said Ralph, after uttering a
sigh of relief.
"No, my boy; I judge the men by their leader. Michael Purlrose always
had a wholesome love of keeping his skin sound; his men have, without
doubt, the same. He will execute his threat, though, of going to
Eden's."
"And if Sir Edward takes them into his service, it will be awkward for
us, father."
"Yes, _if_, my boy; but I do not think that Eden will. We shall hear no
more of the vagabonds, unless Purlrose comes back to beg."
"I'll go and watch them, father," cried Ralph eagerly.
"Yes; but you will not go near, so as to run any risk? If they found
you alone, they would attack and strip you of everything of value you
have."
"I'll take care," cried the lad. "I can get up to the side of the
cliff, and watch them right away. I can see the path to the Black Tor
from there."
"Yes; go," said Sir Morton, and the boy hurried out, crossed the little
court, and passing through a small side-door, reached the slope of the
cliff upon which the old castle was built, and then by a narrow pathway,
clambered a couple of hundred feet higher, starting the jackdaws from
their resting-places, making them fly off, uttering angry cries of
_tah_! _tah_! Then throwing himself down behind a great block of
limestone, which had fallen from above, and which looked as if a thrust
would send it hurtling down some hundred feet, into the river below, he
waited till, as he fully expected, he saw the party of men appear down
below in the track; and then he followed their course, seeing them
disappear behind the trees, appear again, and after making divers short
cuts, as if their leader were well acquainted with the place, make off
for the ford. Then he watched them as they straggled across the river,
and struck into the narrow cliff path which led to the great dark-hued
cliff known as the Black Tor, where the Edens' impregnable stronghold
stood, perched upon a narrow ledge of rock which rose up like a
monstrous tongue from the earth, connected on one side by a narrow
natural bridge with the main cliff, the castellated building being
protected on all sides by a huge rift fully a couple of hundred feet
deep, the tongue being merely a portion of the cliff split away during
some convulsion of nature; or perhaps gradually separated by subsidence,
the top affording sufficient space for the building, and its courtyards.
Ralph watched the men until the last had disappeared; and then, knowing
from the configuration of the place as he had seen it from another point
of view, that he would probably not see them again for an hour or two,
perhaps not again that day, if Sir Edward Eden received the proposals of
Captain Purlrose favourably, he began slowly and thoughtfully to
descend. For he knew that it would be a serious matter for his father
if Sir Edward Eden seized upon the opportunity for strengthening his
retainers and attacking his rival.
The feud between the two families had lasted for generations, beginning
so far back that the origin was lost in the mists of time. All that
Ralph Darley knew was, that in the days of Henry the Eighth, an Eden had
done a Darley deadly injury that could never be forgiven, and ever since
the wrong had been handed down from father to son as a kind of
unpleasant faith by which it was the duty of all Darleys to be prepared
to exterminate all Edens; and if they could not exterminate them and
seize upon their possessions, to do them all the injury they could.
There was another version of the story, as Ralph well knew, and it was
precisely the same, saving for the following exception: that in the
beginning it was a Darley who did the deadly wrong to an Eden. But one
thing was certain--the two families had carried on their petty warfare
in the most determined way. Edens had fallen by the sword; so had
Darleys. There was a grim legend, too, of an Eden having been taken
prisoner, and starved to death in one of the dungeons of Cliffe Castle,
in Queen Mary's time; and Ralph had often gone down below to look at the
place, and the staple ring and chain in the gloomy place, shuddering at
the horror of the prisoner's fate.
For this the Edens had waited their time, and surprised the castle one
night, driving the occupants from place to place, till they took refuge
in the central tower, from which they could not be dislodged; so the
Edens contented themselves by the following reprisal: they set fire to
the castle in a dozen places before they retired, the flames raging till
there was no more woodwork to destroy, and nothing was left but the
strong central tower and the sturdy walls. The place was restored,
though, soon after, and the Sir Ralph Darley of Elizabeth's time made an
expedition one night to give tit-for-tat, but only to find out that it
was impossible to get across the stoutly-defended natural bridge at
Black Tor, and that it was waste of time to keep on shooting arrows,
bearing burning rags soaked in pitch, on to the roofs of the towers and
in at the loopholes. So he retreated, with a very sore head, caused by
a stone thrown from above, dinting in his helmet, and with half his men
carrying the other half, wounded or dead.
His successor had tried again and again to master the Edens and seize
their possessions. Amongst these was the Black Tor lead-mine,
approached by steps in the side of the cliff; its galleries honeycombed
the place, running right under the earth, and into natural caverns of
the large opposite cliffs of limestone, where the jackdaws built their
nests.
Ralph Darley, living as he did that day in the days of King James,
pondered on all those old legends as he descended to give his father the
information he had acquired; and as he stepped down, he knit his brows
and began to think that it was quite time this feud had an end, and that
it must be his duty to finish it all off, in spite of the addition to
the strength at Black Tor, by waiting his opportunity, and meeting, and
in fair fight slaying, young Mark Eden, who was about his own age,
seventeen, and just back home from one of the great grammar-schools.
This done, he would make a scheme for seizing the Black Tor, putting Sir
Edward Eden and his mercenaries to the sword, but sparing the men who
were miners, so that they might go on working for the Darleys. By this
means he would end the feud, secure peace, and make his father a rich
and happy man, having proved himself a thoroughly good and chivalrous
son.
Ralph felt very brave, and proud, and happy, when he had reached this
point, which was just as he opened the door of his father's room, which
contained a very small library--books being rare and precious in those
days--plenty of handsome armour and war-like weapons of offence, and a
corner set apart for alchemy and the study of minerals; for, in a
desultory way, Sir Morton Darley, bitten by the desire to have a mine of
his own to produce him as good an income as that of his enemy neighbour,
had been given to searching without success for a good lode of lead.
Sir Morton was reading an old tome as his son entered the room, hot,
eager, and excited.
"Well, boy," he said, looking up dreamily; "what is it?"
"They've gone straight to Black Tor, father."
"The Edens? Have they? I did not know they had been away."
"No, no, father; that captain fellow and his men."
"Oh, of course. I had almost forgotten them. Tut, tut, tut! It will
be very awkward for us, Ralph, if Sir Edward listens to that scoundrel's
proposals. But there, it cannot be helped. There never was an Eden yet
who was a gentlemen, and all we have to do is to be well prepared. The
old tower is stronger than ever, and if they come we'll fight them from
the outer gate to the wall, from the wall to the inner wall, and if they
drive us from that, there is the tower, where we can set them at
defiance."
"As old Sir Ralph did, father," cried the boy, flushing with pride.
"Exactly, my boy; and I do not feel much fear of Captain Purlrose and
his men."
"No, father; I suppose he will keep on half-drawing his sword, and
thrusting it back with a clang."
"Exactly, Ralph, boy," cried Sir Morton, laughing. "Just that one act
shows the man's character to a T. Bluster, and then retreat. But
suppose it should come to fighting, my boy. Hadn't you better go back
to school, and stay till the trouble's over?"
"What!" cried Ralph fiercely.
"You surely don't want to fight, boy?"
"No, father, I don't want to fight; but if you are obliged to--Oh,
father, you will not send me away?"
Sir Morton looked searchingly at the flushed countenance before him for
some moments before speaking.
"If you wish to stay, Ralph, certainly I shall not send you away. I
only gave you the opportunity to go if you wished. However, perhaps we
shall hear no more of the matter. Eden may not listen to that
scoundrel. If he does, we may set to work and furbish up our arms, lay
in stores of provisions, and be prepared for our defence."
"Then I hope he will engage the men, father," cried Ralph.
"Eh? And pray why, boy?" exclaimed Sir Morton.
"Because, father," said the lad, speaking in a deeply-moved tone of
voice, his eyes flashing and his cheeks flushed. "You have done nothing
lately to show how deeply you resent all the old wrongs; and if the
Edens hire these men, it will be a good opportunity for fighting our old
foes, beating them and taking possession, and ending the feud."
"Yes," said Sir Morton, smiling, "a good opportunity, boy; but we might
lose the day."
"We will not lose the day, father," cried the lad hotly. "Those men who
fight for pay are cowards at heart, and they will lead the Edens to
their destruction."
"But suppose that, after all, the Darleys were the ones to blame?"
"Oh, father, we can't stop to think of that. We do know that they have
committed outrage after outrage against our family, and you have always
taught me that it was our duty to punish the Edens."
"Yes, my boy, I have, as my father and my grandfather taught me; but I
have often wished the wretched business were at an end. I want to be at
peace."
"And you shall be, father, and soon, too, now," cried Ralph excitedly.
"But you will begin at once?"
"What, making peace?"
"No, father, war," cried the lad eagerly.
"Yes," said Sir Morton sternly, "if the Edens do."
"Oh, father, how calmly you take it all. I should have thought you
would be ready to begin at once."
"Yes, Ralph, because you are young, and have never seen what even the
pettiest war means, not even the bright side, with its chivalry and
panoply, and gay show. I have seen that, and the other side too."
"But you would fight, father?" cried the lad, looking astonished.
"Yes," said Sir Morton, with his face turning hard and stern, "if the
need arises, boy, and to the death."