CHAPTER XXVI

JOHN IS DRAINED AND CAST ASIDE

[Illustration: 213.jpg His Lordship busy with letters]

His lordship was busy with some letters, and did not look up for a

minute or two, although he knew that I was there. Meanwhile I stood

waiting to make my bow; afraid to begin upon him, and wondering at his

great bull-head. Then he closed his letters, well-pleased with their

import, and fixed his bold broad stare on me, as if I were an oyster

opened, and he would know how fresh I was.

“May it please your worship,” I said, “here I am according to order,

awaiting your good pleasure.”

“Thou art made to weight, John, more than order. How much dost thou tip

the scales to?”

“Only twelvescore pounds, my lord, when I be in wrestling trim. And sure

I must have lost weight here, fretting so long in London.”

“Ha, ha! Much fret is there in thee! Hath His Majesty seen thee?”

“Yes, my lord, twice or even thrice; and he made some jest concerning

me.”

“A very bad one, I doubt not. His humour is not so dainty as mine, but

apt to be coarse and unmannerly. Now John, or Jack, by the look of thee,

thou art more used to be called.”

“Yes, your worship, when I am with old Molly and Betty Muxworthy.”

“Peace, thou forward varlet! There is a deal too much of thee. We shall

have to try short commons with thee, and thou art a very long common.

Ha, ha! Where is that rogue Spank? Spank must hear that by-and-by. It is

beyond thy great thick head, Jack.”

“Not so, my lord; I have been at school, and had very bad jokes made

upon me.”

“Ha, ha! It hath hit thee hard. And faith, it would be hard to miss

thee, even with harpoon. And thou lookest like to blubber, now. Capital,

in faith! I have thee on every side, Jack, and thy sides are manifold;

many-folded at any rate. Thou shalt have double expenses, Jack, for the

wit thou hast provoked in me.”

“Heavy goods lack heavy payment, is a proverb down our way, my lord.”

“Ah, I hurt thee, I hurt thee, Jack. The harpoon hath no tickle for

thee. Now, Jack Whale, having hauled thee hard, we will proceed to

examine thee.” Here all his manner was changed, and he looked with his

heavy brows bent upon me, as if he had never laughed in his life, and

would allow none else to do so.

“I am ready to answer, my lord,” I replied, “if he asks me nought beyond

my knowledge, or beyond my honour.”

“Hadst better answer me everything, lump. What hast thou to do with

honour? Now is there in thy neighbourhood a certain nest of robbers,

miscreants, and outlaws, whom all men fear to handle?”

“Yes, my lord. At least, I believe some of them be robbers, and all of

them are outlaws.”

“And what is your high sheriff about, that he doth not hang them all? Or

send them up for me to hang, without more to do about them?”

“I reckon that he is afraid, my lord; it is not safe to meddle with

them. They are of good birth, and reckless; and their place is very

strong.”

“Good birth! What was Lord Russell of, Lord Essex, and this Sidney? 'Tis

the surest heirship to the block to be the chip of a good one. What is

the name of this pestilent race, and how many of them are there?”

“They are the Doones of Bagworthy forest, may it please your worship.

And we reckon there be about forty of them, beside the women and

children.”

“Forty Doones, all forty thieves! and women and children! Thunder of

God! How long have they been there then?”

“They may have been there thirty years, my lord; and indeed they may

have been forty. Before the great war broke out they came, longer back

than I can remember.”

“Ay, long before thou wast born, John. Good, thou speakest plainly.

Woe betide a liar, whenso I get hold of him. Ye want me on the Western

Circuit; by God, and ye shall have me, when London traitors are spun and

swung. There is a family called De Whichehalse living very nigh thee,

John?”

This he said in a sudden manner, as if to take me off my guard, and

fixed his great thick eyes on me. And in truth I was much astonished.

“Yes, my lord, there is. At least, not so very far from us. Baron de

Whichehalse, of Ley Manor.”

“Baron, ha! of the Exchequer--eh, lad? And taketh dues instead of His

Majesty. Somewhat which halts there ought to come a little further, I

trow. It shall be seen to, as well as the witch which makes it so to

halt. Riotous knaves in West England, drunken outlaws, you shall dance,

if ever I play pipe for you. John Ridd, I will come to Oare parish, and

rout out the Oare of Babylon.”

“Although your worship is so learned,” I answered seeing that now he

was beginning to make things uneasy; “your worship, though being Chief

Justice, does little justice to us. We are downright good and loyal

folk; and I have not seen, since here I came to this great town of

London, any who may better us, or even come anigh us, in honesty, and

goodness, and duty to our neighbours. For we are very quiet folk, not

prating our own virtues--”

“Enough, good John, enough! Knowest thou not that modesty is the

maidenhood of virtue, lost even by her own approval? Now hast thou ever

heard or thought that De Whichehalse is in league with the Doones of

Bagworthy?”

Saying these words rather slowly, he skewered his great eyes into mine,

so that I could not think at all, neither look at him, nor yet away.

The idea was so new to me that it set my wits all wandering; and looking

into me, he saw that I was groping for the truth.

“John Ridd, thine eyes are enough for me. I see thou hast never dreamed

of it. Now hast thou ever seen a man whose name is Thomas Faggus?”

“Yes, sir, many and many a time. He is my own worthy cousin; and I fear

he that hath intentions”--here I stopped, having no right there to speak

about our Annie.

“Tom Faggus is a good man,” he said; and his great square face had a

smile which showed me he had met my cousin; “Master Faggus hath made

mistakes as to the title to property, as lawyers oftentimes may do; but

take him all for all, he is a thoroughly straightforward man; presents

his bill, and has it paid, and makes no charge for drawing it.

Nevertheless, we must tax his costs, as of any other solicitor.”

“To be sure, to be sure, my lord!” was all that I could say, not

understanding what all this meant.

“I fear he will come to the gallows,” said the Lord Chief Justice,

sinking his voice below the echoes; “tell him this from me, Jack. He

shall never be condemned before me; but I cannot be everywhere, and some

of our Justices may keep short memory of his dinners. Tell him to change

his name, turn parson, or do something else, to make it wrong to hang

him. Parson is the best thing, he hath such command of features, and he

might take his tithes on horseback. Now a few more things, John Ridd;

and for the present I have done with thee.”

All my heart leaped up at this, to get away from London so: and yet I

could hardly trust to it.

“Is there any sound round your way of disaffection to His Majesty, His

most gracious Majesty?”

“No, my lord: no sign whatever. We pray for him in church perhaps,

and we talk about him afterwards, hoping it may do him good, as it is

intended. But after that we have naught to say, not knowing much about

him--at least till I get home again.”

“That is as it should be, John. And the less you say the better. But I

have heard of things in Taunton, and even nearer to you in Dulverton,

and even nigher still upon Exmoor; things which are of the pillory

kind, and even more of the gallows. I see that you know naught of them.

Nevertheless, it will not be long before all England hears of them. Now,

John, I have taken a liking to thee, for never man told me the truth,

without fear or favour, more thoroughly and truly than thou hast done.

Keep thou clear of this, my son. It will come to nothing; yet many shall

swing high for it. Even I could not save thee, John Ridd, if thou wert

mixed in this affair. Keep from the Doones, keep from De Whichehalse,

keep from everything which leads beyond the sight of thy knowledge. I

meant to use thee as my tool; but I see thou art too honest and simple.

I will send a sharper down; but never let me find thee, John, either a

tool for the other side, or a tube for my words to pass through.”

Here the Lord Justice gave me such a glare that I wished myself well

rid of him, though thankful for his warnings; and seeing how he had

made upon me a long abiding mark of fear, he smiled again in a jocular

manner, and said,--

“Now, get thee gone, Jack. I shall remember thee; and I trow, thou

wilt'st not for many a day forget me.”

“My lord, I was never so glad to go; for the hay must be in, and the

ricks unthatched, and none of them can make spars like me, and two men

to twist every hay-rope, and mother thinking it all right, and listening

right and left to lies, and cheated at every pig she kills, and even the

skins of the sheep to go--”

“John Ridd, I thought none could come nigh your folk in honesty, and

goodness, and duty to their neighbours!”

“Sure enough, my lord; but by our folk, I mean ourselves, not the men

nor women neither--”

“That will do, John. Go thy way. Not men, nor women neither, are better

than they need be.”

I wished to set this matter right; but his worship would not hear me,

and only drove me out of court, saying that men were thieves and liars,

no more in one place than another, but all alike all over the world,

and women not far behind them. It was not for me to dispute this point

(though I was not yet persuaded of it), both because my lord was a

Judge, and must know more about it, and also that being a man myself I

might seem to be defending myself in an unbecoming manner. Therefore I

made a low bow, and went; in doubt as to which had the right of it.

But though he had so far dismissed me, I was not yet quite free to

go, inasmuch as I had not money enough to take me all the way to Oare,

unless indeed I should go afoot, and beg my sustenance by the way, which

seemed to be below me. Therefore I got my few clothes packed, and my few

debts paid, all ready to start in half an hour, if only they would give

me enough to set out upon the road with. For I doubted not, being young

and strong, that I could walk from London to Oare in ten days or in

twelve at most, which was not much longer than horse-work; only I had

been a fool, as you will say when you hear it. For after receiving from

Master Spank the amount of the bill which I had delivered--less indeed

by fifty shillings than the money my mother had given me, for I had

spent fifty shillings, and more, in seeing the town and treating people,

which I could not charge to His Majesty--I had first paid all my debts

thereout, which were not very many, and then supposing myself to be an

established creditor of the Treasury for my coming needs, and already

scenting the country air, and foreseeing the joy of my mother, what had

I done but spent half my balance, ay and more than three-quarters of it,

upon presents for mother, and Annie, and Lizzie, John Fry, and his wife,

and Betty Muxworthy, Bill Dadds, Jim Slocombe, and, in a word, half of

the rest of the people at Oare, including all the Snowe family, who must

have things good and handsome? And if I must while I am about it, hide

nothing from those who read me, I had actually bought for Lorna a thing

the price of which quite frightened me, till the shopkeeper said it was

nothing at all, and that no young man, with a lady to love him, could

dare to offer her rubbish, such as the Jew sold across the way. Now the

mere idea of beautiful Lorna ever loving me, which he talked about as

patly (though of course I never mentioned her) as if it were a settled

thing, and he knew all about it, that mere idea so drove me abroad,

that if he had asked three times as much, I could never have counted the

money.

Now in all this I was a fool of course--not for remembering my friends

and neighbours, which a man has a right to do, and indeed is bound to

do, when he comes from London--but for not being certified first what

cash I had to go on with. And to my great amazement, when I went with

another bill for the victuals of only three days more, and a week's

expense on the homeward road reckoned very narrowly, Master Spank not

only refused to grant me any interview, but sent me out a piece of blue

paper, looking like a butcher's ticket, and bearing these words and no

more, “John Ridd, go to the devil. He who will not when he may, when he

will, he shall have nay.” From this I concluded that I had lost favour

in the sight of Chief Justice Jeffreys. Perhaps because my evidence had

not proved of any value! perhaps because he meant to let the matter lie,

till cast on him.

Anyhow, it was a reason of much grief, and some anger to me, and very

great anxiety, disappointment, and suspense. For here was the time of

the hay gone past, and the harvest of small corn coming on, and the

trout now rising at the yellow Sally, and the blackbirds eating our

white-heart cherries (I was sure, though I could not see them), and who

was to do any good for mother, or stop her from weeping continually? And

more than this, what was become of Lorna? Perhaps she had cast me away

altogether, as a flouter and a changeling; perhaps she had drowned

herself in the black well; perhaps (and that was worst of all) she was

even married, child as she was, to that vile Carver Doone, if the Doones

ever cared about marrying! That last thought sent me down at once to

watch for Mr. Spank again, resolved that if I could catch him, spank him

I would to a pretty good tune, although sixteen in family.

However, there was no such thing as to find him; and the usher vowed

(having orders I doubt) that he was gone to the sea for the good of his

health, having sadly overworked himself; and that none but a poor devil

like himself, who never had handling of money, would stay in London this

foul, hot weather; which was likely to bring the plague with it. Here

was another new terror for me, who had heard of the plagues of London,

and the horrible things that happened; and so going back to my lodgings

at once, I opened my clothes and sought for spots, especially as being

so long at a hairy fellmonger's; but finding none, I fell down and

thanked God for that same, and vowed to start for Oare to-morrow, with

my carbine loaded, come weal come woe, come sun come shower; though all

the parish should laugh at me, for begging my way home again, after the

brave things said of my going, as if I had been the King's cousin.

But I was saved in some degree from this lowering of my pride, and what

mattered more, of mother's; for going to buy with my last crown-piece

(after all demands were paid) a little shot and powder, more needful on

the road almost than even shoes or victuals, at the corner of the street

I met my good friend Jeremy Stickles, newly come in search of me. I took

him back to my little room--mine at least till to-morrow morning--and

told him all my story, and how much I felt aggrieved by it. But he

surprised me very much, by showing no surprise at all.

“It is the way of the world, Jack. They have gotten all they can from

thee, and why should they feed thee further? We feed not a dead pig, I

trow, but baste him well with brine and rue. Nay, we do not victual him

upon the day of killing; which they have done to thee. Thou art a lucky

man, John; thou hast gotten one day's wages, or at any rate half a day,

after thy work was rendered. God have mercy on me, John! The things I

see are manifold; and so is my regard of them. What use to insist on

this, or make a special point of that, or hold by something said of old,

when a different mood was on? I tell thee, Jack, all men are liars; and

he is the least one who presses not too hard on them for lying.”

This was all quite dark to me, for I never looked at things like that,

and never would own myself a liar, not at least to other people, nor

even to myself, although I might to God sometimes, when trouble was upon

me. And if it comes to that, no man has any right to be called a “liar”

for smoothing over things unwitting, through duty to his neighbour.

“Five pounds thou shalt have, Jack,” said Jeremy Stickles suddenly,

while I was all abroad with myself as to being a liar or not; “five

pounds, and I will take my chance of wringing it from that great rogue

Spank. Ten I would have made it, John, but for bad luck lately. Put back

your bits of paper, lad; I will have no acknowledgment. John Ridd, no

nonsense with me!”

For I was ready to kiss his hand, to think that any man in London (the

meanest and most suspicious place, upon all God's earth) should trust me

with five pounds, without even a receipt for it! It overcame me so that

I sobbed; for, after all, though big in body, I am but a child at heart.

It was not the five pounds that moved me, but the way of giving it; and

after so much bitter talk, the great trust in my goodness.