CHAPTER IV

OUR JOURNEY COMMENCES

I have already said that the river was the boundary of the Hanyards on

the side towards the village. About a hundred yards above the pocket of

deep water where the jack had lain, I had built a little covered dock, and

here I kept a craft, half boat and half punt, which I used for my fishing,

and in which mother and Kate could lie on cushions while I rowed them on

the river on warm summer nights. It was heavy and ungainly, but very

comfortable, and as safe as the ark.

Joe received the information that he was to row to Stafford as cheerfully

as an invitation to a jug of beer, and went off whistling to get the boat

ready.

Everything that care could suggest was done for Mistress Waynflete's

comfort. Jane carried down to the boat two huge stone beer bottles, filled

with boiling water. Mother insisted on madam taking her thick hooded

cloak, shaped like a fashionable domino, and covering her from head to

ankles. Kate slipped into my pocket a pint flask of her extra special

concoction of peppermint cordial, the best possible companion on a night

like this. Jane came back and returned again laden with rugs and cushions,

and soon reported that the boat was ready.

Mother and Kate, with Jane behind them, came to the garden gate to bid us

farewell. Little was said, for Mistress Waynflete was too moved by their

kindness to say much, and I was too preoccupied. Madam kissed them all in

turn and murmured a good-bye. I kissed mother and Kate, and they wished me

a good voyage and a safe return. We turned our faces riverward and started.

It was now nearly eight o'clock. The night was pitch-dark, the sky

star-studded and moonless. It was freezing hard, the keen air stung our

faces, the tiniest twig was finger-thick with hoar-frost, and the grass

crunched under our feet at every step. I went ahead as guide, and in five

minutes we arrived at the dock, where Joe, the boat out, cushioned and

trim for the voyage, was vigorously slapping his hands crosswise round his

waist to keep them warm. He held the boat up to the bank, I stepped in,

handed in Mistress Waynflete, bestowed her with all possible comfort,

settled by her side, and took the ropes. Then Joe, clambering in, pushed

off and the voyage began.

It was up-stream, but fortunately the current was gentle, though there

was a fair amount of water coming down. There was, or rather would have

been on an ordinary night, no danger of discovery, since the river was

half a mile from the main road at our starting-place, and ran still

farther away from it for nearly two miles. Then came the one possible

danger-spot on such a night as this, with the road occupied by troops on

the march. A long bend in the river took it so close to the road that the

yard of a wayside inn ran right down to the water. If we got safely past

this, all danger would be over till we ran sheer up to the ruined wall of

the town. The moon would not rise for two hours, so there was ample time

for our row of about five miles.

"I trust you are comfortable, madam?" I said.

"Comfortable and warm and cosy," she replied. "But for my fears for my

father I should even be happy, for it has never before been my lot, and I

have wandered far and wide over half Europe, to experience such and so

much kindness in one day from perfect strangers."

"I am, indeed, happy in my mother and sister. They are pearls of great

price."

"None better in all Staffordsheer," said Joe.

"You have rendered me a greater service than you know of, and I must not

let you leave yourself out." To hide a note of wistfulness in her voice,

she added mischievously, "Must I, Joe?"

"Yow could find wus'n' Wheatman o' th' 'Anyards," said Joe, with sturdy

precision of praise.

"Is he really a hell-hound, Joe, when he's got a sup of beer in him? I've

no clear notion what a hell-hound is, but clearly it means something as

bad, say, as a janissary--the worst animal I ever came across."

"Sup o' beer in 'im," snorted Joe contemptuously. "He dunna really know

what beer is, my lady. It's a grand thing is beer, if y'll only tak'

enough of it to do y' good, but there's no vartue in half a pint of it.

I've told 'im that lots of times. But it's God's truth, my lady, 'e dunna

want no beer, dunna Master Noll, to mak 'im 'it like the kick of a 'oss. I

on'y brought 'im a few daceys up t'ouse this mawnin', an'--"

"You row harder, Joe, and yawp less," said I, interrupting him. "Between

you and Jane I shan't have a rag of character left."

"Sup o' beer in him," he growled, and spat loudly on his hands. Joe

looked at all men as potential customers of the "Bull and Mouth," and

judged them accordingly.

"I know the worst about you now, Master Wheatman, and by way of providing

you with a less embarrassing topic of conversation, you might tell me what

we shall do when we get to Stafford."

"We are going to Marry-me-quick's."

She started so abruptly that I laughed outright, and Joe rumbled like an

overloaded wagon. I explained.

"We shall approach the town on the south side where the wall comes down

to the river. 'Marry-me-quick' is not, as you seem to suppose, a

disagreeable process, but an agreeable old woman who lives in a cottage

which backs on to the river. Every schoolboy in the town knows her by that

name, which is also the name of a kind of toffee she makes, and by the

sale of which she earns a modest living. I cannot tell you how the name

originated, but there it is. I went to the grammar school in the town, and

in my time I must have bought and consumed some hundredweights of her

'marry-me-quick.' In her tiny cottage you may rest in safety while I hunt

up Jack Dobson and learn what has been done with your father."

"An' if I'd got a shilling," said the irrepressible Joe, "for every pat

of butter I've taken owd Marry-me-quick, I'd--I'd--"

He seemed lost for words, so I assisted him, and paid him back at the

same time, by saying, "Pluck up courage enough to speak to Jane."

"That's rate, Master Noll."

"Is Jane so very fond of money, Joe?" asked Mistress Waynflete curiously.

"No," said Joe. "She ain't grasping, ain't Jin. She told me t'nate, she

c'd 'ave 'ad a mint of money if she'd liked, but she wouldna tak' it. Said

it would 'a' burnt 'er fingers. 'More fool yow,' says I; 'it'd 'a' soon

gotten cowd weather like this'n.' But Jin's all rate. Er'll never bre'k

'er arm at church door, wunna Jin."

I explained to Mistress Waynflete that a woman who broke her arm at the

church door was a housewifely maiden who became a slatternly housewife

after marriage. "There's no fear of Jane doing that," she replied; "she's

as good as the guineas she would not take."

For a space silence fell on us. All my attention was required to keep the

boat clear of the banks, for the little river turned and twisted through

its meadows like a hunted hare. There was only the starlight to steer by,

but I had fished every yard of the river, and knew it so well that I gave

Joe a clear channel to row in. Not a sound jarred on the rhythmic purr of

the oars in the rowlocks and the gentle lapping of the stream against the

bow. This day had God been very good to me. This was life as I would have

it; work to do for brain and brawn, and a woman to do it for who was worth

the uttermost that was in me. Romance had flushed the drab night of my

life with a rosy dawn, and my heart was lifted up within me. If it faded

away, there would at least be the memory of it. But it might not fade. I

was under no illusions as to the stiffness of my task. I was matched

against the powers that be, against my Lord Brocton, whose ability to work

this maiden ill was increased a thousandfold by his military authority. I

saw my way into Stafford, and I saw no more, not even my way out of it,

and least of all my way out of it with the Colonel rescued and restored to

his daughter. Mistress Waynflete had been so determined in her decision to

follow her father that perhaps she had some plan in mind. She said nothing

if she had, and if she had, it would, I supposed, depend on her woman's

power of influencing Brocton. The future was as black as the outlook along

the river, but I faced it eagerly.

She broke the silence: "The last boat I was in was a gondola. It was on a

perfect night in a Venetian June, the sky a sapphire sprinkled with

diamonds, the warm, scent-laden air filled with murmurings and snatches of

song. And there was no danger."

"Romance, perchance," said I.

"You cannot have a one-sided romance. Romance is an atmosphere breathed

by two, not an emotion felt by one. To be sure, he was the most

appallingly in earnest lover woman ever had. He wept for a kiss with his

fingers twiddling on the hilt of his stiletto. Dear heart, these Italians!"

"I should like to meet his countship," said I energetically.

"Yes, he was a count, with a pedigree as long as the Rialto, and he had

not two silver piastres to rub against each other. He was the handsomest

man I have even seen. Fortunately, we left Venice before he had quite

decided that it was time to dig his knife into me."

"You speak lightly of your danger, madam," I said coldly.

"A hot-blooded Italian with a stiletto in his hand is a much more

desirable creature, let me tell you, than a cold-blooded Englishman with

the devil in his heart. That fiery little count, conceited and

poverty-stricken, did at any rate pay me the compliment of thinking for at

least a fortnight that I was a patch of heaven fallen in his way, whereas

to your cold-livered English lord I am no more than an appetizing dish."

She was not speaking lightly now, but with cold, concentrated anger. I

remembered the reticencies of her statement at the Hanyards, and began to

see dimly some of the connecting links in her story. My Lord Brocton's

character was well enough known to be the subject of common talk at our

market ordinaries. My very manhood shamed me in the presence of this

queenly woman, marked down by a titled blackguard as his quarry, and I sat

still, fists tightly clenched on the tiller-ropes, and said nothing,

waiting for her to speak again.

"I have seen to-day, Master Wheatman," she said, "a sight I have never

seen before--a beautiful English maiden growing up to womanhood in the

calm and safety of an English country home. You will be tempted, I know,

to envy me my wanderings, my experiences, my freedom, but, believe me, I

would rather be your sweet Kate in the quiet of the Hanyards."

"It isn't as quiet as it might be when Jack's about," said I, seeking to

change the current of her thoughts. Then I had to tell her all about Jack,

and our boyish escapades and fightings and friendings, and because I had

earlier in the day though evil of dear Jack, I now could say nothing good

enough about him.

It was time to relieve Joe at the oars. At first he would not agree, for,

he said, he'd been "lagging a bit during the day 'long o' them squaddies,"

and wanted to put in a day's work.

"You will, before you've done, Joe, for you've got to pull the boat back.

So have a swig of beer and we'll change over. And madam shall acknowledge

the virtues of our Kate's peppermint cordial."

Joe shipped his oars and reached out for his bottle of beer. I got out

the flask and said in a sing-song voice: "Take two gallons of the best

Hollands money can buy, and add thereto, first, four pounds of choice

Barbados sugar, and, secondly, two bushels of freshly gathered leaves of

the plant peppermint. Steep together for a whole moon, stirring the

concoction every four hours during the daytime, and as often as you wake

o' nights. Strain through a piece of linen, if you've got one; if not, do

what our Kate did this year, use a fair maiden's silk stocking. The result

is a drink fit for the gods, and, indeed, one which may even be offered to

goddesses. Drink, madam!"

She was laughing merrily before I had finished. "Kate's stocking sounds

the most innocent ingredient in it, Master Wheatman, but I must try her

skill in brewing."

She did so, and pronounced it excellent but strong. I tried it too,

rather more copiously, I confess. Indeed, it was good, but to me, I know,

the charm of the cordial this time lay in the thought of the rich red lips

that had touched the flask before mine.

Joe and I then changed places, and I kept hard at the oars until we came

to the reach which ran close up to the "Why Not." Here Joe resumed the

oars and I the ropes.

"This is the only danger-spot," I said. "Yonder are the lights of the

ale-house. On an ordinary night there would be no one about, even if it

mattered if there were, but to-night, when it does matter, there are

thousands of soldiers on the march, and there is some risk of our being

observed."

In another five minutes or so we heard faint snatches of song and bursts

of applause, and shouting and laughing. The "Why Not" was now about a

hundred yards ahead on our left. On the right the bank was lined with

willows which, not having been pollarded for many years, stretched their

long, thin branches well over the river. I ran the boat as far under them

as I could. Joe pulled with short, soft strokes, and we crept slowly

along. For a minute the lighted windows were obscured by the outhouses,

and just as I caught sight of them again, a door was flung open, and the

jumble of noises swelled into a roar of jeering laughter. A young woman

flew out, heedlessly and noisily as a flustered hen, and a burly soldier

lurched after her down the yard. At a whisper, Joe shipped his oars, and I

ran the boat right into the bank. I grabbed in the dark for a hold-to, and

luckily seized the roots of a willow. At his end Joe did the same. We

hardly dared to breathe as we watched the doings on the other bank.

Lust, of blood or worse, and the fear of it, were there. The lighted

windows and the open door made every movement of the man and the girl

clearly visible. No one followed them. It was so ordinary an event to the

company, perhaps that it was not worth while leaving mirth and beer to see

the issue. But all serious elements in their affair changed abruptly and

to our instant jeopardy. On the very edge of the water the girl, knowing

her whereabouts to an inch, turned cleverly. The man, a stranger

obviously, ran on and pitched clean and far into the river, while she,

laughing and triumphant, scuttled back to the house. Her tale brought out

at once a spurt of men, yelling with joy, to watch the fun. Some of them

had snatched up lanterns and lighted candles, and they were followed later

by a fresh, older, shrieking woman who carried a huge, burning brand

plucked from the hearth.

Happily for us the river was shallow, for a couple of strokes would have

brought the man clean into us. The shock of the icy water sobered him. He

splashed and spluttered to his feet, climbed up the bank like a giant

water-rat, and would have slunk towards the house; but the rabble were on

him before he had taken a dozen paces, and tormented him till he roared

like a wounded bull. The woman with the brand cried out on him with vile

words that made my face burn in the dark, and belaboured him about the

head with her blazing cudgel. At every blow a shower of sparks flew out

that drove his rollicking mates into a ring around them at a safe distance

away. The man must have been set afire had he not been soused in the river

beforehand. None of his fellows tried to help him, just as before none had

tried to hinder him. It was his look out either way, and they enjoyed his

discomfiture with all the gusto of children. At last the breathless woman

and the cowed man came to a parley, the result of which was that, with a

whoop of "pots round," they all crowded back into the ale-house, and we

were once more alone on the river.

"The ordeal by water and by fire," I said. "Push out, Joe."

"Gom! Owd Bess give 'im sock," he replied, and levered the nose of the

boat into midstream again.

Although there was no real need for it, the escape kept us all quiet. I

persuaded Mistress Waynflete to lie down, so as to avoid the biting wind

that was sweeping across the river, and Joe and I by turns made such

progress that in less than an hour we drew up to the town meadow.

The greatest caution was now necessary, since we saw that the bridge

leading into the town was thronged with people, many carrying lanterns or

torches. The town wall ran parallel to the river, on our right, with a

narrow fringe of meadow between them. Here the wall was for the most part

tumbled into ruins, and in the gaps stood little cottages, built in part

of the stones that had once formed the wall. In one of these lived little

old Marry-me-quick, Mistress Martha Tonks, to give her her christening

name, and we ran up to the bank level with her place without being

observed from the bridge, although it was only a few boat-lengths distant.

I stepped cautiously out and tiptoed to her back window. There the

ancient maiden was, busily engaged in the manufacture of her staple, no

doubt in anticipation of a greater demand for it in these stirring days,

when much extra money would be passing around in the town, and many

pennies thereof would dribble into the pockets of the youngsters. I lifted

the latch and stepped in. She squeaked with affright till she saw who it

was, and then turned her note into a gurgle of astonishment.

"Are you alone?" I asked. She nodded. "Just a minute then, and I'll be

back again, with a visitor. Keep quiet!"

I returned to the boat, and as I was obliged to move as stealthily as a

cat, I could not help, as I approached, hearing Joe say emphatically, "I

wunna." I cursed him silent, without troubling to ask what he was

objecting to, and handed Mistress Waynflete out.

"Now, Joe," I whispered, "off you go back! The moon will be up in a few

minutes, and you ought to do it in an hour. You can sit in the kitchen all

to-morrow to make up for this."

"Jin said 'er'd sit up for me," he said, and I was glad he had such a

good motive to keep him up to his hard task.

"Good-bye, Joe," said Mistress Waynflete, shaking the good fellow warmly

by the hand. "Give my loving remembrances to your mistresses and to Jane.

Say how grateful I am."

"Good-bye, my lady," he said simply, "and God bless you." So that only I

could hear him, he added, "Tak' good keer on 'er, Master Noll. Jin's awful

sot on 'er, and wunna luk at me if any 'arm 'appens 'er."

I gripped his hard hand, gave him my parting message home, and then

crouched and pushed the boat into and down the stream. As I lifted my hand

from her and she glided into the blackness, I felt in my heart that the

last link with the old life was broken. Then, as I rose to my feet, a hand

was placed on my arm, and I tingled in every fibre at this sweet link with

the new life.