A MEETING IN CHEPE.
A row of ten minutes took the boat with Master Lirriper and the two
boys alongside the ketch.
"How are you, Joe Chambers?" Master Lirriper hailed the skipper as he
appeared on the deck of the _Susan_. "I have brought you two more
passengers for London. They are going there under my charge."
"The more the merrier, Uncle John," the young skipper replied. "There
are none others going this journey, so though our accommodation is not
very extensive, we can put them up comfortably enough if they don't
mind roughing it."
"Oh, we don't mind that," Geoffrey said, as they climbed on board;
"besides, there seems lots of room."
"Not so much as you think," the skipper replied. "She is a roomy craft
is the _Susan_; but she is pretty nigh all hold, and we are cramped a
little in the fo'castle. Still we can sleep six, and that's just the
number we shall have, for we carry a man and a boy besides myself. I
think your flour will about fill her up, Master Lirriper. We have a
pretty full cargo this time."
"Well, we shall soon see," John Lirriper said. "Are you ready to take
the flour on board at once? Because, if so, we will begin to discharge."
"Yes, I am quite ready. You told me you were going to bring forty
sacks, and I have left the middle part of the hold empty for them. Sam
Hunter's bacon will stow in on the top of your sacks, and just fill her
up to the beams there, as I reckon. I'll go below and stow them away as
you hand them across."
In an hour the sacks of flour were transferred from the barge to the
hold of the _Susan_, and the sides of bacon then placed upon them.
"It's a pity we haven't all the rest of the things on board," the
skipper said, "and then we could have started by this evening's tide
instead of waiting till the morning. The wind is fair, and I hate
throwing away a fair wind. There is no saying where it may blow
to-morrow, but I shouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't round to the
south, and that will be foul for us till we get pretty nigh up into the
mouth of the river. However, I gave them till to-night for getting all
their things on board, and must therefore wait."
To the boys the _Susan_ appeared quite a large craft, for there was not
water up at Hedingham for vessels of her size; and though they had seen
ships at Harwich, they had never before put foot on anything larger
than Master Lirriper's barge. The _Susan_ was about forty feet long by
twelve feet beam, and drew, as her skipper informed them, near five
feet of water. She was entirely decked. The cabin in the bows occupied
some fourteen feet in length. The rest was devoted to cargo. They
descended into the cabin, which seemed to them very dark, there being
no light save what came down through the small hatchway. Still it
looked snug and comfortable. There was a fireplace on one side of the
ladder by which they had descended, and on this side there were two
bunks, one above the other. On the other side there were lockers
running along the entire length of the cabin. Two could sleep on these
and two on the bunks above them.
"Now, young masters, you will take those two bunks on the top there.
John Lirriper and I will sleep on the lockers underneath you. The man
and the boy have the two on the other side. I put you on the top
because there is a side board, and you can't fall out if she rolls, and
besides the bunks are rather wider than the lockers below. If the wind
is fair you won't have much of our company, because we shall hold on
till we moor alongside the wharves of London; but if it's foul, or
there is not enough of it to take us against tide, we have to anchor on
the ebb, and then of course we turn in."
"How long do you take getting from here to London?"
"Ah, that I can tell you more about when I see what the weather is like
in the morning. With a strong fair wind I have done it in twenty-four
hours, and again with the wind foul it has taken me nigh a week. Taking
one trip with another I should put it at three days."
"Well, now, we will be going ashore," John Lirriper said. "I will leave
my barge alongside till tide turns, for I could not get her back again
to the jetty so long as it is running in strong, so I will be off again
in a couple of hours."
So saying he hauled up the dingy that was towing behind the barge, and
he and Dick rowed the two boys ashore. Then he walked along with them
to a spot where several craft were hauled up, pointing out to them the
differences in their rig and build, and explained their purpose, and
gave them the names of the principal ropes and stays.
"Now," he said, "it's getting on for supper-time, and it won't do to
keep them waiting, for Ann is sure to have got some cakes made, and
there's nothing puts a woman out more than people not being in to meals
when they have got something special ready. After that I shall go out
with Dick and bring the barge ashore. He will load her up to-morrow,
and take her back single-handed; which can be done easy enough in such
weather as this, but it is too much for one man if there is a strong
wind blowing and driving her over to the one side or other of the
river."
As John Lirriper had expected, his daughter had prepared a pile of hot
cakes for supper, and her face brightened up when she saw the party
return punctually. The boys had been up early, and had slept but little
the night before, and were not sorry at eight o'clock to lie down on
the bed of freshly-cut rushes covered with home-spun sheets, for
regular beds of feathers were still but little used in England. At five
o'clock they were astir again, and their hostess insisted on their
eating a manchet of bread with some cheese, washed down by a stoup of
ale before starting. Dick had the boat at the jetty ready to row them
off, and as soon as they were on board the _Susan_ preparations were
made for a start.
The mainsail was first hoisted, its size greatly surprising the boys;
then the foresail and jib were got up, and lastly the mizzen. Then the
capstan was manned, and the anchor slowly brought on board, and the
sails being sheeted home, the craft began to steal through the water.
The tide was still draining up, and she had not as yet swung. The wind
was light, and, as the skipper had predicted, was nearly due south. As
the ketch made its way out from the mouth of the river, and the wide
expanse of water opened before them, the boys were filled with delight.
They had taken their seats, one on each side of the skipper, who was at
the tiller.
"I suppose you steer by the compass, Master Chambers?" Geoffrey said.
"Which is the compass? I have heard about it, always pointing to the
north."
"It's down below, young sir; I will show it you presently. We steer by
that at night, or when it's foggy; but on a fine day like this there is
no need for it. There are marks put up on all the sands, and we steer
by them. You see, the way the wind is now we can lay our course for the
Whittaker. That's a cruel sand, that is, and stretches out a long way
from a point lying away on the right there. Once past that we bear away
to the south-west, for we are then, so to speak, fairly in the course
of the river. There is many a ship has been cast away on the Whittaker.
Not that it is worse than other sands. There are scores of them lying
in the mouth of the river, and if it wasn't for the marks there would
be no sailing in or out."
"Who put up the marks?" Lionel asked.
"They are put up by men who make a business of it. There is one boat of
them sails backwards and forwards where the river begins to narrow
above Sheerness, and every ship that goes up or down pays them
something according to her size. Others cruise about with long poles,
putting them in the sands wherever one gets washed away. They have got
different marks on them. A single cross-piece, or two cross-pieces, or
a circle, or a diamond; so that each sand has got its own particular
mark. These are known to the masters of all ships that go up and down
the river, and so they can tell exactly where they are, and what course
to take. At night they anchor, for there would be no possibility of
finding the way up or down in the dark. I have heard tell from mariners
who have sailed abroad that there ain't a place anywhere with such
dangerous sands as those we have got here at the mouth of the Thames."
In the first three or four hours' sail Geoffrey and Lionel acquired
much nautical knowledge. They learned the difference between the
mainmast and the mizzen, found that all the strong ropes that kept the
masts erect and stiff were called stays, that the ropes that hoist
sails are called halliards, and that sheets is the name given to the
ropes that restrain the sails at the lower corner, and are used to haul
them in more tightly when sailing close to the wind, or to ease them
off when the wind is favourable. They also learned that the yards at
the head of the main and mizzen sails are called gaffs, and those at
the bottom, booms.
"I think that's about enough for you to remember in one day, young
masters," John Lirriper said. "You bear all that in your mind, and
remember that each halliard and sheet has the name of the sail to which
it is attached, and you will have learnt enough to make yourself
useful, and can lend a hand when the skipper calls out, 'Haul in the
jib-sheet,' or 'Let go the fore-halliards.' Now sit yourselves down
again and see what is doing. That beacon you can just see right ahead
marks the end of the Whittaker Spit. When we get there we shall drop
anchor till the tide turns. You see we are going across it now; but
when we round that beacon we shall have it dead against us, and the
wind would be too light to take us against it even if it were not from
the quarter it is. You see there are two or three other craft brought
up there."
"Where have they come from do you think, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, they may have come out from Burnham, or they may have come down
from London and be going up to Burnham or to Bricklesey when the tide
turns. There is a large ship anchored in the channel beyond the
Whittaker. Of course she is going up when tide begins to flow. And
there are the masts of two vessels right over there. They are in
another channel. Between us and them there is a line of sands that you
will see will show above the water when it gets a bit lower. That is
the main channel, that is; and vessels coming from the south with a
large draught of water generally use that, while this is the one that
is handiest for ships from the north. Small vessels from the south come
in by a channel a good bit beyond those ships. That is the narrowest of
the three; and even light draught vessels don't use it much unless the
wind is favourable, for there is not much room for them to beat up if
the wind is against them."
"What is to beat up, Master Lirriper?"
"Well, you will see about that presently. I don't think we shall be
able to lay our course beyond the Whittaker. To lay our course means to
steer the way we want to go; and if we can't do that we shall have to
beat, and that is tedious work with a light wind like this."
They dropped anchor off the beacon, and the captain said that this was
the time to take breakfast. The lads already smelt an agreeable odour
arising from the cabin forward, where the boy had been for some time
busily engaged, and soon the whole party were seated on the lockers in
the cabin devouring fried fish.
"Master Chambers," Geoffrey said, "we have got two boiled pullets in
our basket. Had we not better have them for dinner? They were cooked
the evening before we came away, and I should think they had better be
eaten now."
"You had better keep them for yourselves, Master Geoffrey," the skipper
said. "We are accustomed to living on fish, but like enough you would
get tired of it before we got to London."
But this the boys would not hear of, and it was accordingly arranged
that the dinner should be furnished from the contents of the basket.
As soon as tide turned the anchor was hove up and the _Susan_ got under
way again. The boys soon learnt the meaning of the word beating, and
found that it meant sailing backwards and forwards across the channel,
with the wind sometimes on one side of the boat and sometimes on the
other. Geoffrey wanted very much to learn why, when the wind was so
nearly ahead, the boat advanced instead of drifting backwards or
sideways. But this was altogether beyond the power of either Master
Lirriper or Joe Chambers to explain. They said every one knew that when
the sails were full a vessel went in the direction in which her head
pointed. "It's just the same way with yourself, Master Geoffrey. You
see, when you look one way that's the way you go. When you turn your
head and point another way, of course you go off that way; and it's
just the same thing with the ship."
"I don't think it's the same thing, Master Lirriper," Geoffrey said
puzzled. "In one case the power that makes one go comes from the
inside, and so one can go in any direction one likes; in the other it
comes from outside, and you would think the ship would have to go any
way the wind pushes her. If you stand up and I give you a push, I push
you straight away from me. You don't go sideways or come forward in the
direction of my shoulder, which is what the ship does."
John Lirriper took off his cap and scratched his head.
"I suppose it is as you say, Master Geoffrey, though I never thought of
it before. There is some reason, no doubt, why the craft moves up
against the wind so long as the sails are full, instead of drifting
away to leeward; though I never heard tell of it, and never heard
anyone ask before. I daresay a learned man could tell why it is; and if
you ask your good father when you go back I would wager he can explain
it. It always seems to me as if a boat have got some sort of sense,
just like a human being or a horse, and when she knows which way you
wants her to go she goes. That's how it seems to me--ain't it, Joe?"
"Something like that, uncle. Every one knows that a boat's got her
humours, and sometimes she sails better than she does others; and each
boat's got her own fancies. Some does their best when they are beating,
and some are lively in a heavy sea, and seem as if they enjoy it; and
others get sulky, and don't seem to take the trouble to lift their bows
up when a wave meets them; and they groans and complains if the wind is
too hard for them, just like a human being. When you goes to a new
vessel you have got to learn her tricks and her ways and what she will
do, and what she won't do, and just to humour her as you would a child,
I don't say as I think she is actually alive; but every sailor will
tell you that there is something about her that her builders never put
there."
"That's so," John Lirriper agreed. "Look at a boat that is hove up when
her work's done and going to be broken up. Why, anyone can tell her
with half an eye. She looks that forlorn and melancholy that one's
inclined to blubber at the sight of her. She don't look like that at
any other time. When she is hove up she is going to die, and she knows
it."
"But perhaps that's because the paint's off her sides and the ropes all
worn and loose," Geoffrey suggested.
But Master Lirriper waved the suggestion aside as unworthy even of an
answer, and repeated, "She knows it. Anyone can see that with half an
eye."
Geoffrey and Lionel talked the matter over when they were sitting
together on deck apart from the others. It was an age when there were
still many superstitions current in the land. Even the upper classes
believed in witches and warlocks, in charms and spells, in lucky and
unlucky days, in the arts of magic, in the power of the evil eye; and
although to the boys it seemed absurd that a vessel should have life,
they were not prepared altogether to discredit an idea that was
evidently thoroughly believed by those who had been on board ships all
their lives. After talking it over for some time they determined to
submit the question to their father on their return.
It took them two more tides before they were off Sheerness. The wind
was now more favourable, and having increased somewhat in strength, the
_Susan_ made her way briskly along, heeling over till the water ran
along her scuppers. There was plenty to see now, for there were many
fishing-boats at work, some belonging, as Master Chambers told them, to
the Medway, others to the little village of Leigh, whose church they
saw at the top of the hill to their right. They met, too, several large
craft coming down the river, and passed more than one, for the _Susan_
was a fast boat.
"They would beat us," the skipper said when the boys expressed their
surprise at their passing such large vessels, "if the wind were
stronger or the water rough. We are doing our best, and if the wind
rises I shall have to take in sail; while they could carry all theirs
if it blew twice as hard. Then in a sea, weight and power tell; a wave
that would knock the way almost out of us would hardly affect them at
all."
So well did the _Susan_ go along, that before the tide was much more
than half done they passed the little village of Gravesend on their
left, with the strong fort of Tilbury on the opposite shore, with its
guns pointing on the river, and ready to give a good account of any
Spaniard who should venture to sail up the Thames. Then at the end of
the next reach the hamlet of Grays was passed on the right; a mile
further Greenhithe on the left. Tide was getting slack now, but the
_Susan_ managed to get as far as Purfleet, and then dropped her anchor.
"This is our last stopping-place," Joe Chambers said. "The morning tide
will carry us up to London Bridge."
"Then you will not go on with to-night's tide?" Geoffrey asked.
"No; the river gets narrower every mile, and I do not care to take the
risk of navigating it after dark, especially as there is always a great
deal of shipping moored above Greenwich. Tide will begin to run up at
about five o'clock, and by ten we ought to be safely moored alongside
near London Bridge. So we should not gain a great deal by going on this
evening instead of to-morrow morning, and I don't suppose you are in a
particular hurry."
"Oh, no," Lionel said. "We would much rather go on in the morning,
otherwise we should miss everything by the way; and there is the
Queen's Palace at Greenwich that I want to see above all things."
Within a few minutes of the hour the skipper had named for their
arrival, the _Susan_ was moored alongside some vessels lying off one of
the wharves above the Tower. The boys' astonishment had risen with
every mile of their approach to the city, and they were perfectly
astounded at the amount of shipping that they now beheld. The great
proportion were of course coasters, like themselves, but there were
many large vessels among them, and of these fully half were flying
foreign colours. Here were traders from the Netherlands, with the flag
that the Spaniards had in vain endeavoured to lower, flying at their
mast-heads. Here were caravels from Venice and Genoa, laden with goods
from the East. Among the rest Master Chambers pointed out to the lads
the ship in which Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated the world, and
that in which Captain Stevens had sailed to India, round the Cape of
Good Hope. There were many French vessels also in the Pool, and indeed
almost every flag save that of Spain was represented. Innumerable
wherries darted about among the shipping, and heavier cargo boats
dropped along in more leisurely fashion. Across the river, a quarter of
a mile above the point at which they were lying, stretched London
Bridge, with its narrow arches and the houses projecting beyond it on
their supports of stout timbers. Beyond, on the right, rising high
above the crowded roofs, was the lofty spire of St. Paul's. The boys
were almost awed by this vast assemblage of buildings. That London was
a great city they had known, but they were not prepared for so immense
a difference between it and the place where they had lived all their
lives. Only with the Tower were they somewhat disappointed. It was very
grand and very extensive, but not so much grander than the stately
abode of the Veres as they had looked for.
"I wouldn't change, if I were the earl, with the queen's majesty,"
Geoffrey said. "Of course it is larger than Hedingham, but not so
beautiful, and it is crowded in by the houses, and has not like our
castle a fair look-out on all sides. Why, there can be no hunting or
hawking near here, and I can't think what the nobles can find to do all
day."
"Now, young sirs," Master Lirriper said, "if you will get your wallets
we will go ashore at once."
The boys were quite bewildered as they stepped ashore by the bustle and
confusion. Brawny porters carrying heavy packages on their backs pushed
along unceremoniously, saying from time to time in a mechanical sort of
way, "By your leave, sir!" but pushing on and shouldering passers-by
into the gutter without the smallest compunction. The narrowness and
dinginess of the streets greatly surprised and disappointed the boys,
who found that in these respects even Harwich compared favourably with
the region they were traversing. Presently, however, after passing
through several lanes and alleys, they emerged into a much broader
street, alive with shops. The people who were walking here were for the
most part well dressed and of quiet demeanour, and there was none of
the rough bustle that had prevailed in the river-side lanes.
"This is Eastchepe," their conductor said; "we have not far to go now.
The street in which my friend dwells lies to the right, between this
and Tower Street. I could have taken you a shorter way there, but I
thought that your impressions of London would not be favourable did I
take you all the way through those ill-smelling lanes."
In a quarter of an hour they arrived at their destination, and entered
the shop, which smelt strongly of tar; coils of rope of all sizes were
piled up one upon another by the walls, while on shelves above them
were blocks, lanterns, compasses, and a great variety of gear of whose
use the boys were ignorant. The chandler was standing at his door.
"I am right glad to see you, Master Lirriper," he said, "and have been
expecting you for the last two or three days. My wife would have it
that some evil must have befallen you; but you know what women are.
They make little allowance for time or tide or distance, but expect
that every one can so arrange his journeys as to arrive at the very
moment when they begin to expect him. But who have you here with you?"
"These are the sons of the worshipful Mr. Vickars, the rector of our
parish, and tutor to the Earl of Oxford and several of the young Veres,
his cousins--a wise gentleman and a kind one, and much loved among us.
He has entrusted his two sons to me that I might show them somewhat of
this city of yours. I said that I was right sure that you and your good
dame would let them occupy the chamber you intended for me, while I can
make good shift on board the _Susan_."
"Nay, nay, Master Lirriper; our house is big enough to take in you and
these two young masters, and Dorothy would deem it a slight indeed upon
her hospitality were you not to take up your abode here too. You will
be heartily welcome, young sirs, and though such accommodation as we
can give you will not be equal to that which you are accustomed to, I
warrant me that you will find it a pleasant change after that poky
little cabin on board the _Susan_. I know it well, for I supply her
with stores, and have often wondered how men could accustom themselves
to pass their lives in places where there is scarce room to turn, to
say nothing of the smell of fish that always hangs about it. But if you
will follow me I will take you up to my good dame, to whose care I must
commit you for the present, as my foreman, John Watkins, is down by the
riverside seeing to the proper delivery of divers stores on board a
ship which sails with the next tide for Holland. My apprentices, too,
are both out, as I must own is their wont. They always make excuses to
slip down to the river-side when there is aught doing, and I am far too
easy with the varlets. So at present, you see, I cannot long leave my
shop."
So saying the chandler preceded them up a wide staircase that led from
a passage behind the shop, and the boys perceived that the house was
far more roomy and comfortable than they had judged from its outward
appearance. Turning to the left when he reached the top of the stairs
the chandler opened a door.
"Dorothy," he said, "here is your kinsman, Master Lirriper, who has
suffered none of the misadventures you have been picturing to yourself
for the last two days, and he has brought with him these young
gentlemen, sons of the rector of Hedingham, to show them something of
London."
"You are welcome, young gentlemen," Dame Dorothy said, "though why
anyone should come to London when he can stay away from it I know not."
"Why, Dorothy, you are always running down our city, though I know
right well that were I to move down with you to your native Essex again
you would very soon cry out for the pleasures of the town."
"That would I not," she said. "I would be well contented to live in
fresh country air all the rest of my life, though I do not say that
London has not its share of pleasures also, though I care but little
for them."
"Ah, Master Lirriper," her husband said laughing, "you would not think,
to hear her talk, that there is not a feast or a show that Dorothy
would stay away from. She never misses an opportunity, I warrant you,
of showing herself off in her last new kirtle and gown. But I must be
going down; there is no one below, and if a customer comes and finds
the shop empty he will have but a poor idea of me, and will think that
I am away gossiping instead of attending to my business."
"Are you hungry, young sirs?" the dame asked. "Because if so the maid
shall bring up a manchet of bread and a cup of sack; if not, our
evening meal will be served in the course of an hour."
The boys both said that they were perfectly able to wait until the meal
came; and Geoffrey added, "If you will allow us, mistress, as doubtless
you have private matters to talk of with Master Lirriper, my brother
and I will walk out for an hour to see something of the town."
"Mind that you lose not your way," Master Lirriper said. "Do not go
beyond Eastchepe, I beg you. There are the shops to look at there, and
the fashions of dress and other matters that will occupy your attention
well enough for that short time. To-morrow morning I will myself go
with you, and we can then wander further abroad. I have promised your
good father to look after you, you know; and it will be but a bad
beginning if you meet with any untoward adventure upon this the first
day of your arrival here."
"We will not go beyond the limits of Eastchepe; and as to adventures, I
can't see very well how any can befall us."
"Oh, there are plenty of adventures to be met with in London, young
sir; and I shall be well content if on the day when we again embark on
board the _Susan_ none of them have fallen to your share."
The two lads accordingly sallied out and amused themselves greatly by
staring at the goods exhibited in the open shops. They were less
surprised at the richness and variety of the silver work, at the silks
from the East, the costly satins, and other stuffs, than most boys from
the country would have been, for they were accustomed to the splendour
and magnificence displayed by the various noble guests at the castle,
and saw nothing here that surpassed the brilliant shows made at the
jousting and entertainments at Hedingham.
It was the scene that was novel to them: the shouts of the apprentices
inviting attention to their employers' wares, the crowd that filled the
street, consisting for the most part of the citizens themselves, but
varied by nobles and knights of the court, by foreigners from many
lands, by soldiers and men-at-arms from the Tower, by countrymen and
sailors. Their amusement was sometimes turned into anger by the
flippant remarks of the apprentices; these varlets, perceiving easily
enough by the manner of their attire that they were from the country,
were not slow, if their master happened for the moment to be absent, in
indulging in remarks that set Geoffrey and Lionel into a fever to
commit a breach of the peace. The "What do you lack, masters?" with
which they generally addressed passers-by would be exchanged for
remarks such as, "Do not trouble the young gentlemen, Nat. Do you not
see they are up in the town looking for some of their master's calves?"
or, "Look you, Philip, here are two rustics who have come up to town to
learn manners."
"I quite see, Geoffrey," Lionel said, taking his brother by the arm and
half dragging him away as he saw that he was clenching his fist and
preparing to avenge summarily one of these insults even more pointed
than usual, "that Master Lirriper was not very far out, and there is no
difficulty in meeting with adventures in the streets of London.
However, we must not give him occasion on this our first stroll in the
streets to say that we cannot be trusted out of his sight. If we were
to try to punish these insolent varlets we should have them upon us
like a swarm of bees, and should doubtless get worsted in the
encounter, and might even find ourselves hauled off to the lock-up, and
that would be a nice tale for Master Lirriper to carry back to
Hedingham."
"That is true enough, Lionel; but it is not easy to keep one's temper
when one is thus tried. I know not how it is they see so readily that
we are strangers, for surely we have mixed enough with the earl's
family and friends to have rubbed off the awkwardness that they say is
common to country folk; and as to our dress, I do not see much
difference between its fashion and that of other people. I suppose it
is because we look interested in what is going on, instead of strolling
along like those two youths opposite with our noses in the air, as if
we regarded the city and its belongings as infinitely below our regard.
Well, I think we had best be turning back to Master Swindon's; it will
not do to be late for our meal."
"Well, young sirs, what do you think of our shops?" Dame Swindon asked
as they entered.
"The shops are well enough," Geoffrey replied; "but your apprentices
seem to me to be an insolent set of jackanapes, who take strange
liberties with passers-by, and who would be all the better for
chastisement. If it hadn't been that Lionel and I did not wish to
become engaged in a brawl, we should have given some of them lessons in
manners."
"They are free in speech," Dame Swindon said, "and are an impudent set
of varlets. They have quick eyes and ready tongues, and are no
respecters of persons save of their masters and of citizens in a
position to lay complaints against them and to secure them punishment.
They hold together greatly, and it is as well that you should not
become engaged in a quarrel with them. At times they have raised
serious tumults, and have even set not only the watch but the citizens
at large at defiance. Strong measures have been several times taken
against them; but they are a powerful body, seeing that in every shop
there are one or more of them, and they can turn out with their clubs
many thousand strong. They have what they call their privileges, and
are as ready to defend them as are the citizens of London to uphold
their liberties. Ordinances have been passed many times by the fathers
of the city, regulating their conduct and the hours at which they may
be abroad and the carrying of clubs and matters of this kind, but the
apprentices seldom regard them, and if the watch arrest one for a
breach of regulations, he raises a cry, and in two or three minutes a
swarm of them collect and rescue the offender from his hands. Therefore
it is seldom that the watch interferes with them."
"It would almost seem then that the apprentices are in fact the
masters," Geoffrey said.
"Not quite as bad as that," Master Swindon replied. "There are the
rules which they have to obey when at home, and if not they get a
whipping; but it is difficult to keep a hand over them when they are
abroad. After the shops are closed and the supper over they have from
time immemorial the right to go out for two hours' exercise. They are
supposed to go and shoot at the butts; but archery, I grieve to say, is
falling into disrepute, and although many still go to the butts the
practice is no longer universal. But here is supper."
Few words were spoken during the meal. The foreman and the two
apprentices came up and sat down with the family, and it was not until
these had retired that the conversation was again resumed.
"Where are you going to take them to-morrow, Master Lirriper?"
"To-morrow we will see the city, the shops in Chepe, the Guildhall, and
St. Paul's, then we shall issue out from Temple Bar and walk along the
Strand through the country to Westminster and see the great abbey, then
perhaps take a boat back. The next day, if the weather be fine, we will
row up to Richmond and see the palace there, and I hope you will go
with us, Mistress Dorothy; it is a pleasant promenade and a
fashionable, and methinks the river with its boats is after all the
prettiest sight in London."
"Ah, you think there can be nothing pretty without water. That is all
very well for one who is ever afloat, Master Lirriper; but give me
Chepe at high noon with all its bravery of dress, and the bright shops,
and the gallants of the court, and our own citizens too, who if not
quite so gay in colour are proper men, better looking to my mind than
some of the fops with their silver and satins."
"That's right, Dorothy," her husband said; "spoken like the wife of a
citizen."
All these plans were destined to be frustrated. As soon as breakfast
was over the next morning Master Lirriper started with the two boys,
and they had but just entered Chepe-side when they saw two young men
approaching.
"Why, Lionel, here is Francis Vere!" Geoffrey exclaimed. "I thought he
was across in Holland with the Earl of Leicester." They doffed their
caps. Captain Vere, for such was now his rank, looked at them in
surprise.
"Why!" he exclaimed, "here are Mr. Vickars' two sons. How came you
here, lads? Have you run away from home to see the wonders of London,
or to list as volunteers for the campaigns against the Dons?"
"I wish we were, Mr. Francis," Geoffrey said. "You promised when you
were at Hedingham a year and a half since that you would some day take
us to the wars with you, and our father, seeing that neither of us have
a mind to enter the church, has quite consented that we shall become
soldiers, the more so as there is a prospect of fighting for the
persecuted Protestants of Holland. And oh, Mr. Francis, could it be
now? You know we daily exercise with arms at the castle, and we are
both strong and sturdy for our age, and believe me you should not see
us flinch before the Spaniards however many of them there were."
"Tut, tut!" Captain Vere laughed. "Here are young cockerels, Allen;
what think you of these for soldiers to stand against the Spanish
pikemen?"
"There are many of the volunteers who are not very much older than they
are," Captain Allen replied. "There are two in my company who must be
between seventeen and eighteen."
"Ah! but these boys are three years younger than that."
"Would you not take us as your pages, Mr. Francis?" Lionel urged. "We
would do faithful service, and then when we come to the age that you
could enter us as volunteers we should already have learnt a little of
war."
"Well, well, I cannot stop to talk to you now, for I am on my way to
the Tower on business. I am only over from Holland for a day or two
with despatches from the Earl to Her Majesty's Council, and am lodging
at Westminster in a house that faces the abbey. It is one of my cousin
Edward's houses, and you will see the Vere cognizance over the door.
Call there at one hour after noon, and I will have a talk with you; but
do not buoy yourselves up with hopes as to your going with me." So
saying, with a friendly nod of his head Francis Vere continued his way
eastward.
"What think you, Allen?" he asked his comrade as they went along. "I
should like to take the lads with me if I could. Their father, who is
the rector of Hedingham, taught my cousin Edward as well as my brothers
and myself. I saw a good deal of the boys when I was at home. They are
sturdy young fellows, and used to practise daily, as we did at their
age, with the men-at-arms at the castle, and can use their weapons. A
couple of years of apprenticeship would be good schooling for them. One
cannot begin to learn the art of war too young, and it is because we
have all been so ignorant of it that our volunteers in Holland have not
done better."
"I think, Vere, that they are too young yet to be enlisted as
volunteers, although in another two years, perhaps, you might admit the
elder of the two. But I see no reason why, if you are so inclined, you
should not take them with you as pages. Each company has its pages and
boys, and you might take these two for the special service of yourself
and your officers. They would then be on pretty well the same footing
as the five gentlemen volunteers you have already with you, and would
be distinct from the lads who have entered as pages to the company. I
suppose that you have not yet your full number of boys?"
"No; there are fifteen boys allowed, one to each ten men, and I am
several short of this number, and have already written my brother John
to get six sturdy lads from among our own tenantry and to send them
over in the first ship from Harwich. Yes, I will take these lads with
me. I like their spirit, and we are all fond of their father, who is a
very kindly as well as learned man."
"I don't suppose he will thank you greatly, Francis," Captain Allen
laughed.
"His goodwife is more likely to be vexed than he is," Captain Vere
said, "for it will give him all the more time for the studies in which
he is wrapped up. Besides, it will be a real service to the boys. It
will shorten their probation as volunteers, and they may get
commissions much earlier than they otherwise would do. We are all mere
children in the art of war; for truly before Roger Morgan first took
out his volunteers to fight for the Dutch there was scarce a man in
England who knew how to range a company in order. You and I learned
somewhat of our business in Poland, and some of our leaders have also
had a few lessons in the art of war in foreign countries, but most of
our officers are altogether new to the work. However, we have good
masters, and I trust these Spaniards may teach us how to beat them in
time; but at present, as I said, we are all going to school, and the
earlier one begins at school the sooner one learns its lessons.
Besides, we must have pages, and it will be more pleasant for me having
lads who belong in a sort of way to our family, and to whom, if I am
disposed, I can talk of people at home. They are high-spirited and full
of fun, and I should like to have them about me. But here we are at the
Tower. We shall not be long, I hope, over the list of arms and
munitions that the earl has sent for. When we have done we will take
boat back to Westminster. Half an hour will take us there, as the tide
will be with us."