A SET OF ROGUES 
 
A SET OF ROGUES 
 
 TO WIT 
 
 CHRISTOPHER SUTTON 
 
 JOHN DAWSON 
 
 THE SENOR DON SANCHEZ 
 
 DEL CASTILLO DE CASTELANA 
 
 AND MOLL DAWSON 
 
 THEIR WICKED CONSPIRACY 
 
 AND A TRUE ACCOUNT OF THEIR 
 TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES 
 
 TOGETHER WITH MANY OTHER SURPRISING THINGS, NOW 
 
 DISCLOSED FOR THE FIRST TIME, AS THE FAITHFUL 
 
 CONFESSION OF CHRISTOPHER SUTTON 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK BARRETT 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE ADMIRABLE LADY BIDDY FANE,' 
 " THE GREAT HESPER," ETC. 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 AND LONDON 
 1895 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1895, 
 BY MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 < 
 
 J. S. Gushing & Co. Berwick & Smith. 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
set 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of my companions and our adversities, and in particular from 
 our getting into the stocks at Tottenham Cross to our being 
 robbed at Edmonton . . I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of our first acquaintance with the Senor Don Sanchez del Castillo 
 
 de Castelana, and his brave entertaining of us 10 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Of that design which Don Sanchez opened to us at the Bell 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the several parts that we are appointed to play 27 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Don Sanchez puts tts in the way of robbing with an easy conscience 34 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A I oil is cast to play the part of a fine lady ; doubtful promise for 
 
 this undertaking 46 
 
 M638746 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of our journey through France to a very horrid pass in the 
 
 Pyraneans 52 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 How we were entertained in the mountains, and stand in a fair 
 
 way to have our throats cut 61 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Of the manner in which we escaped pretty fairly out of the hands 
 
 of Seilor Don Lopez and his brigands 70 
 
 CHAFIER X. 
 Of our merry journeying to Alicante 79 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Of our first coming to Elche and the strangeness of that city .... 88 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 How Don Sanchez very honestly offers to free us of our bargain 
 
 if we will; but we will not 96 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 A brief summary of those tivelve months we spent at Elche 104 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of our coming to London (with incidents by the way), and of the 
 
 great address whereby Moll confounds Simon, the steward. . . 114 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lay our hands on six hundred pounds and quarter ourselves in 
 Hurst Court, but stand in a fair way to be undone by Daw- . 
 son, his folly 127 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Prosper as well as any thieves may ; but Dawson greatly tor- 
 mented 135 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 How Dawson for Moll's good parts company with us, and goes 
 
 away a lonely man 144 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Of our getting a painter into the Court, with whom our Moll 
 
 falls straightway in love 152 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Of the business appointed to the painter, and how he set about the 
 
 same 161 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of MoWs ill humour and what befel thereby 170 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Of the strange things told us by the wise woman 180 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 How Moll and Mr. Godwin come together and declare their 
 
 hearts' passion, and how I carry these tidings to Dawson. . 185 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Don Sanchez proposes a. very artful way to make Mr. Godwin 
 
 a party to our knavery, etc 197 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 I overcome MoWs honest compunctions, lay hold of three thousand 
 pounds more, and do otherwise play the part of rascal to 
 perfection 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 A table of various accidents 212 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 How Moll Daivson %vas married to Mr. Richard Godwin ; brief 
 
 account of attendant circumstances 220 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Of the great change jn Moll, and the likely explanation thereof. . 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Moll plays us a mad prank for the last time in her life 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Of the subtile means whereby Simon leads Mr. Godwin to doubt 
 
 his wife 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 How we are discovered and utterly undone 254 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mollys conscience is quickened by grief and humiliation beyond 
 
 the ordinary 259 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 How we fought a most bloody battle -with Simon, the constable, 
 
 and others 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 We take Moll to Greenwich ; but no great happiness for her there 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 All agree to go out to Spain again in search of our old jollity . ... 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 How we lost our poor Moll, and our long search for her 288 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 IV e learn what hath become of Moll ; and how she nobly atoned 
 
 for our sins 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Don Sanchez again proves himself the most mannerly rascal in 
 
 the world 308 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 How we hear MoWs sweet voice through the walls of her prison, 
 
 and speak two words with her, tJiougJi almost to our undoing. 313 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of our bargaining witJi a Moorish seaman ; and of an English 
 
 slave 322 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Of our escape from Barbary, of the pursuit and horrid, fear- 
 ful slaughter that followed, together with other moving cir- 
 cumstances , 330 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 How Dawson counts himself an unlucky man who were best 
 
 dead ; and so he quits us, and /, the reader 340 
 
A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of my companions and our adversities, and in particular from our 
 getting into the stocks at Tottenham Cross to our being robbed at 
 Edmonton. 
 
 THERE being no plays to be acted at the "Red Bull," 
 because of the Plague, and the players all cast adrift for 
 want of employment, certain of us, to wit, Jack Dawson 
 and his daughter Moll, Ned Herring, and myself, clubbed 
 our monies together to buy a store of dresses, painted 
 cloths, and the like, with a cart and horse to carry them, 
 and thus provided set forth to travel the country and turn 
 an honest penny, in those parts where the terror of pesti- 
 lence had not yet turned men's stomachs against the pleas- 
 ures of life. And here, at our setting out, let me show 
 what kind of company we were. First, then, for our 
 master, Jack Dawson, who on no occasion was to be given 
 a second place; he was a hale, jolly fellow, who would eat 
 a pound of beef for his breakfast (when he could get it), 
 and make nothing of half a gallon of ale therewith, a very 
 masterful man, but kindly withal, and pleasant to look at 
 when not contraried, with never a line of care in his face, 
 though turned of fifty. He played our humorous parts, but 
 he had a sweet voice for singing of ditties, and could fetch 
 a tear as readily as a laugh, and he was also exceeding 
 
 B I 
 
2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 nimble at a dance, which was the strangest thing in the 
 world, considering his great girth. Wife he had none, 
 but Moll Dawson was his daughter, who was a most 
 sprightly, merry little wench, but no miracle for beauty, 
 being neither child nor woman at this time; surprisingly 
 thin, as if her frame had grown out of proportion with her 
 flesh, so that her body looked all arms and legs, and her 
 head all mouth and eyes, with a great towzled mass of 
 chestnut hair, which (off the stage) was as often as not half 
 tumbled over her shoulder. But a quicker little baggage 
 at mimicry (she would play any part, from an urchin of ten 
 to a crone of fourscore), or a livelier at dancing of Brantles 
 or the single Coranto never was, I do think, and as merry 
 as a grig. Of Ned Herring I need only here say that he 
 was the most tearing villain imaginable on the stage, and off 
 it the most civil-spoken, honest-seeming young gentleman. 
 Nor need I trouble to give a very lengthy description of 
 myself; what my character was will appear hereafter, and 
 as for my looks, the less I say about them, the better. Be- 
 ing something of a scholar and a poet, I had nearly died of 
 starvation, when Jack Dawson gave me a footing on the 
 stage, where I would play the part of a hero in one act, a 
 lacquey in the second, and a merry Andrew in the third, 
 scraping a tune on my fiddle to fill up the intermedios. 
 
 We had designed to return to London as soon as the 
 Plague abated, unless we were favoured with extraordinary 
 good fortune, and so, when we heard that the sickness was 
 certainly past, and the citizens recovering of their panic, 
 we (being by this time heartily sick of our venture, which 
 at the best gave us but beggarly recompense) set about to 
 retrace our steps with cheerful expectations of better times. 
 
WE SET FIRE TO A BARN. 3 
 
 But coming to Oxford, we there learned that a prodigious 
 fire had burnt all London down, from the Tower to Lud- 
 gate, so that if we were there, we should find no house to 
 play in. This lay us flat in our hopes, and set us again 
 to our vagabond enterprise; and so for six months more 
 we scoured the country in a most miserable plight, the 
 roads being exceedingly foul, and folks more humoured of 
 nights to drowse in their chimnies than to sit in a draughty 
 barn and witness our performances; and then, about the 
 middle of February we, in a kind of desperation, got back 
 again to London, only to find that we must go forth again, 
 the town still lying in ruins, and no one disposed to any 
 kind of amusement, except in high places, where such 
 actors as we were held in contempt. So we, with our 
 hearts in our boots, as one may say, set out again to seek 
 our fortunes on the Cambridge road, and here, with no 
 better luck than elsewhere, for at Tottenham Cross we had 
 the mischance to set fire to the barn wherein we were play- 
 ing, by a candle falling in some loose straw, whereby we 
 did injury to the extent of some shilling or two, for which 
 the farmer would have us pay a pound, and Jack Dawson 
 stoutly refusing to satisfy his demand he sends for the con- 
 stable, who locks us all up in the cage that night, to take 
 us before the magistrate in the morning. And we found 
 to our cost that this magistrate had as little justice as 
 mercy in his composition ; for though he lent a patient ear 
 to the farmer's case, he would not listen to Jack Dawson' s 
 argument, which was good enough, being to the effect that 
 we had not as much as a pound amongst us, and that he 
 would rather be hanged than pay it if he had; and when 
 Ned Herring (seeing the kind of Puritanical fellow he was) 
 
4 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 urged that, since the damage was not done by any design 
 of ours, it must be regarded as a visitation of Providence, 
 he says : " Very good. If it be the will of Providence that 
 one should be scourged, I take it as the Divine purpose 
 that I should finish the business by scourging the other"; 
 and therewith he orders the constable to take what money 
 we have from our pockets and clap us in the stocks till sun- 
 down for payment of the difference. So in the stocks we 
 three poor men were stuck for six mortal hours, which was 
 a wicked, cruel thing indeed, with the wind blowing a sort 
 of rainy snow about our ears; and there I do think we must 
 have perished of cold and vexation but that our little Moll 
 brought us a sheet for a cover, and tired not in giving us 
 kind words of comfort. 
 
 At five o'clock the constable unlocked us from our vile 
 confinement, and I do believe we should have fallen upon 
 him and done him a mischief for his pains there and then, 
 but that we were all frozen as stiff as stones with sitting in 
 the cold so long, and indeed it was some time ere we could 
 move our limbs at all. However, with much ado, we 
 hobbled on at the tail of our cart, all three very bitter, but 
 especially Ned Herring, who cursed most horridly and as I 
 had never heard him curse off the stage, saying he would 
 rather have stayed in London to carry links for the gentry 
 than join us again in this damnable adventure, etc. And 
 that which incensed him the more was the merriment of 
 our Moll, who, seated on the side of the cart, could do 
 nothing better than make sport of our discontent. But there 
 was no malice in her laughter, which, if it sprang not from 
 sheer love of mischief, arose maybe from overflowing joy 
 at our release. 
 
VERY MERRY AT EDMONTON. 5 
 
 Coming at dusk to Edmonton, and finding a fine new 
 inn there, called the "Bell," Jack Dawson leads the cart 
 into the yard, we following without a word of demur, and, 
 after putting up our trap, into the warm parlour we go, and 
 call for supper as boldly as you please. Then, when we 
 had eaten and drunk till we could no more, all to bed like 
 princes, which, after a night in the cage and a day in the 
 stocks, did seem like a very paradise. But how we were 
 to pay for this entertainment not one 9f us knew, nor did 
 we greatly care, being made quite reckless by our necessi- 
 ties. It was the next morning, when we met together at 
 breakfast, that our faces betrayed some compunctions; but 
 these did not prevent us eating prodigiously. " For," whis- 
 pers Ned Herring, " if we are to be hanged, it may as well 
 be for a sheep as a lamb." However, Jack Dawson, get- 
 ting on the right side of the landlord, who seemed a very 
 honest, decent man for an innkeeper, agreed with him that 
 we should give a performance that night in a cart-shed very 
 proper to our purpose, giving him half of our taking in 
 payment of our entertainment. This did Jack, thinking 
 from our late ill-luck we should get at the most a dozen 
 people in the sixpenny benches, and a score standing at 
 twopence a head. But it turned out, as the cunning land- 
 lord had foreseen, that our hanger was packed close to 
 the very door, in consequence of great numbers coming to 
 the town in the afternoon to see a bull baited, so that when 
 Jack Dawson closed the doors and came behind our scene 
 to dress for his part, he told us he had as good as five 
 pounds in his pocket. With that to cheer us we played 
 our tragedy of "The Broken Heart " very merrily, and after 
 that, changing our dresses in a twinkling, Jack Dawson, 
 
O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 disguised as a wild man, and Moll as a wood nymph, came 
 on to the stage to dance a pastoral, whilst I, in the fashion 
 of a satyr, stood on one side plying the fiddle to their foot- 
 ing. Then, all being done, Jack thanks the company for 
 their indulgence, and bids 'em good-night. 
 
 And now, before all the company are yet out of the 
 place, and while Jack Dawson is wiping the sweat from 
 his face, comes the landlord, and asks pretty bluntly to be 
 paid his share of our earnings. 
 
 "Well," says Jack, in a huff, "I see no reason for any 
 such haste; but if you will give me time to put on my 
 breeches, you shall be paid all the same." And therewith 
 he takes down his trunks from the nail where they hung. 
 And first giving them a doubtful shake, as seeming lighter 
 than he expected, and hearing no chink of money, he 
 thrusts his hand into one pocket, and then into the other, 
 and cries in dismay: "Heaven's mercy upon us; we are 
 robbed ! Every penny of our money is gone ! " 
 
 " Can you think of nothing better than such an idle story 
 as that?" says the landlord. "There hath been none be- 
 hind this sheet but yourselves all the night." 
 
 We could make no reply to this, but stood gaping at each 
 other in a maze for some seconds; then Jack Dawson, re- 
 covering his wits, turns him round, and looking about, 
 cries: "Why, where's Ned Herring?" 
 
 "If you mean him as was killed in your play," says the 
 landlord, "I'll answer for it he's not far off; for, to my 
 knowledge, he was in the house drinking with a man while 
 you were a-dancing of your antics like a fool. And I only 
 hope you may be as honest a man as he, for he paid for 
 his liquor like a gentleman." 
 
SCURVY BEHAVIOUR OF NED HERRING. / 
 
 That settled the question, for we knew the constable had 
 left never a penny in his pocket when he clapt us in the 
 stocks. 
 
 "Well," says Jack, "he has our money, as you may 
 prove by searching us, and if you have faith in him 'tis all 
 as one, and you may rest easy for your reckoning being 
 paid against his return." 
 
 The landlord went off, vowing he would take the law of 
 us if he were not paid by the morning; and we, as soon 
 as we had shuffled on our clothes, away to hunt for Ned, 
 thinking that maybe he had made off with the money to 
 avoid paying half to the landlord, and hoping always that, 
 though he might play the rogue with him, he would deal 
 honestly by us. But we could find no trace of him, though 
 we visited every alehouse in the town, and so back we go, 
 crestfallen, to the Bell, to beg the innkeeper to give us a 
 night's lodging and a crust of bread on the speculation 
 that Ned would come back and settle our accounts; but he 
 would not listen to our prayers, and so, hungry and thirsty, 
 and miserable beyond expression, we were fain to make 
 up with a loft over the stables, where, thanks to a good 
 store of sweet hay, we soon forgot our troubles in sleep, 
 but not before we had concerted to get away in the morn- 
 ing betimes to escape another day in the stocks. 
 
 Accordingly, before the break of day, we were afoot, 
 and after noiselessly packing our effects in the cart in the 
 misty grey light, Jack Dawson goes in the stable to harness 
 our nag, while I as silently take down the heavy bar that 
 fastened the yard gate. But while I was yet fumbling at 
 the bolts, and all of a shake for fear of being caught in the 
 act, Jack Dawson comes to me, with Moll holding of his 
 
5 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 hand, as she would when our troubles were great, and says 
 in a tone of despair : 
 
 " Give over, Kit. We are all undone again. For our 
 harness is stole, and there's never another I can take in its 
 place." 
 
 While we were at this stumble, out comes our landlord 
 to make sport of us. " Have you found your money yet, 
 friends? " says he, with a sneer. 
 
 "No," says Jack, savagely, "and our money is not all 
 that we have lost, for some villain has filched our nag's 
 harness, and I warrant you know who he is." 
 
 "Why, to be sure," returns the other, "the same friend 
 may have taken it who has gone astray with your other 
 belongings; but, be that as it may, I'll answer for it when 
 your money is found your harness will be forthcoming, and 
 not before." 
 
 "Come, Master," says I, "have you no more heart than 
 to make merry at the mischances of three poor wretches 
 such as we? " 
 
 "Aye," says he, "when you can show that you deserve 
 better treatment." 
 
 "Done," says Jack. "I'll show you that as quickly as 
 you please." With that he whips off his cap, and flinging 
 it on the ground, cries: "Off with your jacket, man, and 
 let us prove by such means as Heaven has given all which 
 is the honester of us two. And so he squares himself up 
 to fight; but the innkeeper, though as big a man as he, be- 
 ing of a spongy constitution, showed no relish for this 
 mode of argument, and turning his back on us with a shake 
 of the head, said he was very well satisfied of his own hon- 
 esty, and if we doubted it we could seek what satisfaction 
 
GO A-BEGGING IN ALEHOUSES. 9 
 
 the law would give us, adding slyly, as he turned at the 
 door, that he could recommend us a magistrate of his ac- 
 quaintance, naming him who had set us in the stocks at 
 Tottenham Cross. 
 
 The very hint of this put us again in a quake, and now, 
 the snow beginning to fall pretty heavily, we went into 
 the shed to cast about as to what on earth we should do 
 next. There we sat, glum and silent, watching idly the 
 big flakes of snow fluttering down from the leaden sky, for 
 not one of us could imagine a way out of this hobble. 
 
 "Holy Mother!" cries Jack at length, springing up in 
 a passion, " we cannot sit here and starve of cold and hun- 
 ger. Cuddle up to my arm, Moll, and do you bring your 
 fiddle, Kit, and let us try our luck a-begging in alehouses." 
 
 And so we trudged out into the driving snow, that 
 blinded us as we walked, bow our heads as we might, and 
 tried one alehouse after the other, but all to no purpose, 
 the parlours being empty because of the early hour, and 
 the snow keeping folks within doors; only, about midday, 
 some carters, who had pulled up at an inn, took pity on us, 
 and gave us a mug of penny ale and half a loaf, and that 
 was all the food we had the whole miserable day. Then 
 at dusk, wet-footed and fagged out in mind and body, we 
 trudged back to the Bell, thinking to get back into the loft 
 and bury ourselves in the sweet hay for warmth and com- 
 fort. But coming hither, we found our nag turned out of 
 the stable and the door locked, so that we were thrown 
 quite into despair by the loss of this last poor hope, and 
 poor Moll, turning her face away from us, burst out a- 
 crying she who all day had set us a brave example by 
 her cheerful merry spirit. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of our first acquaintance with the Senor Don Sanchez del Castillo de 
 Castelana, and his brave entertaining of us. 
 
 I WAS taking a turn or two outside the shed, for the 
 sight of Jack Dawson hugging poor Moll to his breast and 
 trying to soothe her bodily misery with gentle words was 
 more than I could bear, when a drawer coming across 
 from the inn told me that a gentleman in the Cherry room 
 would have us come to him. I gave him a civil answer 
 and carried this message to my friends. Moll, who had 
 staunched her tears and was smiling piteously, though her 
 sobs, like those of a child, still shook her thin frame, and 
 her father both looked at me in blank doubt as fearing 
 some trap for our further discomfiture. 
 
 "Nay," says Jack, stoutly. "Fate can serve us no worse 
 within doors than without, so let us in and face this gentle- 
 man, whoever he is." 
 
 So in we go, and all sodden and bedrabbled as we were, 
 went to follow the drawer upstairs, when the landlady cried 
 out she would not have us go into her Cherry room in that 
 pickle, to soil her best furniture and disgrace her house, and 
 bade the fellow carry us into the kitchen to take off our 
 cloaks and change our boots for slip-shoes, adding that if 
 we had any respect for ourselves, we should trim our hair 
 and wash the grime off our faces. So we enter the kitchen, 
 nothing loath, where a couple of pullets browning on the 
 
 10 
 
SURPRISING GOOD FORTUNE. II 
 
 spit, kettles bubbling on the fire, and a pasty drawing from 
 the oven, filled the air with delicious odours that nearly 
 drove us mad for envy ; and to think that these good 
 things were to tempt the appetite of some one who never 
 hungered, while we, famishing for want, had not even a crust 
 to appease our cravings ! But it was some comfort to 
 plunge our blue, numbed fingers into a tub of hot water and 
 feel the life blood creeping back into our hearts. The 
 paint we had put on our cheeks the night before was 
 streaked all over our faces by the snow, so that we did look 
 the veriest scarecrows imaginable ; but after washing our 
 heads well and stroking our hair into order with a comb 
 Mistress Cook lent us, we looked not so bad. And thus 
 changed, and with dry shoes to our feet, we at length went 
 upstairs, all full of wondering expectation, and were led into 
 the Cherry room, which seemed to us a very palace, being 
 lit with half a dozen candles (and they of wax) and filled 
 with a warm glow by the blazing logs on the hearth reflected 
 in the cherry hangings. And there in the midst was a table 
 laid for supper with a wondrous white cloth, glasses to drink 
 from, and silver forks all set out most bravely. 
 
 " His worship will be down ere long," says the drawer, 
 and with that he makes a pretence of building up the fire, 
 being warned thereto very like by the landlady, with an eye 
 to the safety of her silver. 
 
 "Can you tell me his worship's name, friend ? " I whispered, 
 my mind turning at once to his worship of Tottenham 
 Cross. 
 
 " Not I, were you to pay me," says he. " 'Tis that out- 
 landish and uncommon. But for sure he is some great 
 foreign grandee." 
 
12 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 He could tell us no more, so we stood there all together, 
 wondering, till presently the door opens, and a tall, lean 
 gentleman enters, with a high front, very finely dressed in 
 linen stockings, a long-waisted coat, and embroidered waist- 
 coat, and rich lace at his cuffs and throat. He wore no 
 peruke, but his own hair, cut quite close to his head, with a 
 pointed beard and a pair of long moustachios twisting up 
 almost to his ears ; but his appearance was the more 
 striking by reason of his beard and moustachios being quite 
 black, while the hair on his head was white as silver. He 
 had dark brows also, that overhung very rich black eyes ; 
 his nose was long and hooked, and his skin, which was of a 
 very dark complexion, was closely lined with wrinkles about 
 the eyes, while a deep furrow lay betwixt his brows. He 
 carried his head very high, and was majestic and gracious 
 in all his movements, not one of which (as it seemed to 
 me) was made but of forethought and purpose. I should 
 say his age was about sixty, though his step and carriage 
 were of a younger man. To my eyes he appeared a very 
 handsome and a pleasing, amiable gentleman. But, Lord, 
 what can you conclude of a man at a single glance, when 
 every line in his face (of which he had a score and more) 
 has each its history of varying passions, known only to 
 himself, and secret phases of his life ! 
 
 He saluted us with a most noble bow, and dismissed the 
 drawer with a word in an undertone. Then turning again 
 to us, he said : " I had the pleasure of seeing you act last 
 night, and dance," he adds with a slight inclination of his 
 head to Moll. "Naturally, I wish to be better acquainted 
 with you. Will it please you to dine with me? " 
 
 I could not have been more dumbfounded had an angel 
 
ENTERTAINED LIKE PRINCES. 13 
 
 asked me to step into heaven ; but Dawson was quick 
 enough to say something. 
 
 " That will we," cries he, " and God bless your worship for 
 taking pity on us, for I doubt not you have heard of our 
 troubles." 
 
 The other bowed his head and set a chair at the end of 
 the table for Moll, which she took with a pretty curtsey, but 
 saying never a word, for glee did seem to choke us all. 
 And being seated, she cast her eyes on the bread hungrily, 
 as if she would fain begin at once, but she had the good 
 manners to restrain herself. Then his worship (as we called 
 him), having shown us the chairs on either side, seated 
 himself last of all, at the head of the table, facing our Moll, 
 whom whenever he might without discourtesy, he regarded 
 with most scrutinising glances from first to last. Then the 
 door flinging open, two drawers brought in those same fat 
 pullets we had seen browning before the fire, and also the 
 pasty, with abundance of other good cheer, at which Moll, 
 with a little cry of delight, whispers to me : 
 
 " 'Tis like a dream. Do speak to me, Kit, or I must think 
 'twill all fade away presently and leave us in the snow." 
 
 Then I, finding my tongue, begged his worship would 
 pardon us if our manners were more uncouth than the 
 society to which he was accustomed. 
 
 " Nay," says Dawson. " Your worship will like us none 
 the worse, I warrant, for seeing what we are and aping none." 
 
 Finding himself thus beworshipped on both hands, our 
 good friend says : 
 
 " You may call me Sefior. I am a Spaniard. Don 
 Sanchez del Castillo de Castelana." And then to turn the 
 subject, he adds : " I have seen you play twice." 
 
14 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " Aye, Senor, and I should have known you again if by 
 nothing but this piece of generosity," replies Dawson, with 
 his cheek full of pasty, " for I remember both times you set 
 down a piece and would take no change." 
 
 Don Sanchez hunched his shoulders cavalierly, as if such 
 trifles were nought to him ; but indeed throughout his man- 
 ner was most high and noble. 
 
 And now, being fairly settled down to our repast, we said 
 no more of any moment that I can recall to mind till we 
 had done (which was not until nought remained of the 
 pullets and the pasty but a few bones and the bare dish), 
 and we were drawn round the fire at Don Sanchez's 
 invitation. Then the drawers, having cleared the tables, 
 brought up a huge bowl of hot spiced wine, a dish of 
 tobacco, and some pipes. The Don then offered us to 
 smoke some cigarros, but we, not understanding them, took 
 instead our homely pipes, and each with a beaker of hot 
 wine to his hand sat roasting before the fire, scarce saying a 
 word, the Don being silent because his humour was of the re- 
 flective grave kind (with all his courtesies he never smiled, 
 as if such demonstrations were unbecoming to his dignity), 
 and we from repletion and a feeling of wondrous content- 
 ment and repose. And another thing served to keep us still, 
 which was that our Moll, sitting beside her father, almost at 
 once fell asleep, her head lying against his shoulder as he 
 sat with his arm about her waist. As at the table, Don 
 Sanchez had seated himself where he could best observe her, 
 and now he scarcely once took his eyes off her, which were 
 half closed as if in speculation. At length, taking the cigarro 
 from his lips, he says softly to Jack Dawson, so .as not to 
 arouse Moll : 
 
"WHAT WILL BECOME OF HER?" 15 
 
 " Your daughter." 
 
 Jack nods for an answer, and looking down on her face 
 with pride and tenderness, he put back with the stem of his 
 pipe a little curl that had strayed over her eyes. She was 
 not amiss for looks thus, with her long eyelashes lying like 
 a fringe upon her cheeks, her lips open, showing her good 
 white teeth, and the glow of the firelight upon her face ; 
 but her attitude and the innocent, happy expression of her 
 features made up a picture which seemed to me mighty 
 pretty. 
 
 "Where is her mother?" asks Don Sanchez, presently ; 
 and Dawson, without taking his eyes from Moll's face, lifts 
 his pipe upwards, while his big thick lips fell a- trembling. 
 Maybe, he was thinking of his poor Betty as he looked at 
 the child's face. 
 
 "Has she no other relatives?" asks the Don, in the 
 same quiet tone ; and Jack shakes his head, still looking 
 down, and answers lowly : 
 
 " Only me." 
 
 Then after another pause the Don asks : 
 
 " What will become of her? " 
 
 And that thought also must have been in Jack Davvson's 
 mind ; for without seeming surprised by the question, which 
 appeared a strange one, he answers reverently, but with 
 a shake in his hoarse voice, " Almighty God knows." 
 
 This stilled us all for the moment, and then Don Sanchez, 
 seeing that these reflections threw a gloom upon us, turned 
 to me, sitting next him, and asked if I would give him some 
 account of my history, whereupon I briefly told him how 
 three years ago Jack Dawson had lifted me out of the mire, 
 and how since then we had lived in brotherhood. "And," 
 
l6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 says I in conclusion, " we will continue with the favour of 
 Providence to live so, sharing good and ill fortune alike to 
 the end, so much we do love one another." 
 
 To this Jack Dawson nods assent. 
 
 "And your other fellow, what of him?" asked Don 
 Sanchez. 
 
 I replied that Ned Herring was but a fair-weather friend, 
 who had joined fortunes with us to get out of London and 
 escape the Plague, and how having robbed us, we were like 
 never to see his face again. 
 
 "And well for him if we do not," cries Dawson, rousing 
 up " for by the Lord, if I clap eyes on him, though it be a 
 score of years hence, he shan't escape the most horrid beating 
 ever man outlived ! " 
 
 The Don nodded his satisfaction at this, and then Moll, 
 awaking with the sudden outburst of her father's voice, gives 
 first a gape, then a shiver, and looking about her with an air 
 of wonder, smiles as her eye fell on the Don. Whereon, 
 still as solemn as any judge, he pulls the bell, and the maid, 
 coming to the room with a rushlight, he bids her take the 
 poor weary child to bed, and the best there is in the house, 
 which I think did delight Dawson not less than his Moll to 
 hear. 
 
 Then Moll gives her father a kiss, and me another 
 according to her wont, and drops a civil curtsey to Don 
 Sanchez. 
 
 " Give me thy hand, child," says he ; and having it, he 
 lifts it to his lips and kisses it as if she had been the finest 
 lady in the land. 
 
 She being gone, the Don calls for a second bowl of spiced 
 wine, and we, mightily pleased at the prospect of another 
 
WELL PRIMED. \J 
 
 half-hour of comfort, stretch our legs out afresh before the 
 fire. Then Don Sanchez, lighting another cigarro, and setting 
 his chair towards us, says as he takes his knee up betwixt 
 his long, thin fingers : 
 
 " Now let us come to the heart of this business and under- 
 stand one another clearly." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of that design which Don Sanchez opened to us at the BelL 
 
 WE pulled our pipes from our mouths, Dawson and I, and 
 stretched our ears very eager to know what this business 
 was the Don had to propound, and he, after drawing two or 
 three mouthfuls of smoke, which he expelled through his 
 nostrils in a most surprising unnatural manner, says in 
 excellent good English, but speaking mighty slow and 
 giving every letter its worth : 
 
 " What do you go to do to-morrow? " 
 
 " The Lord only knows," answers Jack, and Don Sanchez, 
 lifting his eyebrows as if he considers this no answer at all, 
 he continues : " We cannot go hence without our stage 
 things ; and if we could, I see not how we are to act our 
 play, now that our villain is gone, with a plague to him ! I 
 doubt but we must sell all that we have for the few shillings 
 they will fetch to get us out of this hobble." 
 
 " With our landlord's permission," remarks Don Sanchez, 
 dryly. 
 
 " Permission ! " cries Dawson, in a passion. " I ask no 
 man's permission to do what I please with my own." 
 
 " Suppose he claims these things in payment of the money 
 you owe him. What then? " asks the Don. 
 
 " We never thought of that, Kit," says Dawson, turning 
 to me in a pucker. " But 'tis likely enough he has, for I 
 observed he was mighty careless whether we found our thief 
 
 18 
 
VERY PROPERLY REPROVED. IQ 
 
 or not. That's it, sure enough. We have nought to hope. 
 All's lost ! " 
 
 With that he drops his elbows on his knees, and stares 
 into the fire with a most desponding countenance, being in 
 that stage of liquor when a man must either laugh or weep. 
 
 "Come, Jack," says I. "You are not used to yield like 
 this. Let us make the best of a bad lot, and face the worst 
 like men. Though we trudge hence with nothing but the 
 rags on our backs, we shall be no worse off to-morrow than 
 we were this morning." 
 
 "Why, that's true enough!" cries he, plucking up his 
 courage. " Let the thieving rascal take our poor nag and 
 our things for his payment, and much good may they do him. 
 We will wipe this out of our memory the moment we leave 
 his cursed inn behind us." 
 
 It seemed to me that this would not greatly advance us, 
 and maybe Don Sanchez thought the same, for he presently 
 asks : 
 
 "And what then?" 
 
 "Why, Sefior," replies Dawson, "we will face each new 
 buffet as it comes, and make a good fight of it till we're 
 beat. A man may die but once." 
 
 "You think only of yourselves," says the Don, very 
 quietly. 
 
 " And pray, saving your Sefior's presence, who else should 
 we think of ? " 
 
 " The child above," answers the Don, a little more sternly 
 than he had yet spoken. " Is a young creature like that to 
 bear the buffets you are so bold to meet? Can you offer 
 her no shelter from the wind and rain but such as chance 
 offers? make no provision for the time when she is left alone, 
 
2O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 to protect her against the evils that lie in the path of friend- 
 less maids?" 
 
 " God forgive me," says Jack, humbly. And then we 
 could say nothing, for thinking what might befall Moll if 
 we should be parted, but sat there under the keen eye of 
 Don Sanchez, looking helplessly into the fire. And there 
 was no sound until Jack's pipe, slipping from his hand, fell 
 and broke in pieces upon the hearth. Then rousing himself 
 up and turning to Don Sanchez, he says : 
 
 " The Lord help her, Sefior, if we find no good friend to 
 lend us a few shillings for our present wants." 
 
 "Good friends are few," says the Don, "and they who 
 lend need some better security for repayment than chance. 
 For my own part, I would as soon fling straws to a drowning 
 man as attempt to save you and that child from ruin by set- 
 ting you on your feet to-day only to fall again to-morrow." 
 
 " If that be so, Sefior," says I, " you had some larger view 
 in mind than that of offering temporary relief to our misery 
 when you gave us a supper and Moll a bed for the night." 
 
 Don Sanchez assented with a grave inclination of his 
 head, and going to the door opened it sharply, listened 
 awhile, and then closing it softly, returned and stood before 
 us with folded arms. Then, in a low voice, not to be heard 
 beyond the room, he questioned us very particularly as to 
 our relations with other men, the length of time we had 
 been wandering about the country, and especially about the 
 tractability of Moll. And, being satisfied with our replies, 
 above all, with Jack's saying that Moll would jump out 
 of window at his bidding, without a thought to the conse- 
 quences, he says : 
 
 " There's a comedy we might play to some advantage if 
 
DON SANCHEZ OPENS HIS SCHEME. 21 
 
 you were minded to take the parts I give you and act them 
 as I direct." 
 
 " With all my heart," cries Dawson. " I'll play any part 
 you choose ; and as to the directing, you're welcome to that, 
 for I've had my fill of it. If you can make terms with our 
 landlord, those things in the yard shall be yours, and for our 
 payment I'm willing to trust to your honour's generosity." 
 
 " As regards payment," says the Don, " I can speak 
 precisely. We shall gain fifty thousand pounds by our 
 performance." 
 
 " Fifty thousand pounds," says Jack, as if in doubt 
 whether he had heard aright. Don Sanchez bent his 
 head, without stirring a line in his face. 
 
 Dawson took up his beaker slowly, and looked in it, to 
 make sure that he was none the worse for drink, then, after 
 emptying it, to steady his wits, he says again : 
 
 "Fifty thousand pounds." 
 
 " Fifty thousand pounds, if not more ; and that there be 
 no jealousies one of the other, it shall be divided fairly 
 amongst us, as much for your friend as for you, for the 
 child as for me." 
 
 "Pray God, this part be no more than I can compass," 
 says Jack, devoutly. 
 
 " You may learn it in a few hours at least, your first act." 
 
 "And mine?" says I, entering for the first time into the 
 dialogue. 
 
 The Don hunched his shoulders, lifting his eyebrows, and 
 sending two streams of smoke from his nose. 
 
 " I scarce know what part to give you, yet," says he. 
 " To be honest, you are not wanted at all in the play." 
 
 " Nay, but you must write him a part," says Dawson, 
 
22 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 stoutly; "if it be but to bring in a letter that I am deter- 
 mined on. Kit stood by us in ill fortune, and he shall share 
 better, or I'll have none of it, nor Moll neither. I'll answer 
 for her." 
 
 " There must be no discontent among us," says the Don, 
 meaning thereby, as I think, that he had included me in his 
 stratagem for fear I might mar it from envy. "The girl's 
 part is that which gives me most concern and had I not 
 faith in my own judgment " 
 
 " Set your mind at ease on that score," cried Jack. " I 
 warrant our Moll shall learn her part in a couple of days 
 or so." 
 
 " If she learn it in a twelvemonth, 'twill be time enough." 
 
 " A twelvemonth," said Jack, going to his beaker again, 
 for understanding. " Well, all's as one, so that we can get 
 something in advance of our payment, to keep us through 
 such a prodigious study." 
 
 "I will charge myself with your expenses," says Don 
 Sanchez ; and then, turning to me, he asks if I have any 
 objection to urge. 
 
 " I take it, Senor, that you speak in metaphor," says I ; 
 " and that this ' comedy ' is nought but a stratagem for 
 getting hold of a fortune that doesn't belong to us." 
 
 Don Sanchez calmly assented, as if this had been the 
 most innocent design in the world. 
 
 " Hang me," cries Dawson, " if I thought it was anything 
 but a whimsey of your honour's." 
 
 " I should like to know if we may carry out this stratagem 
 honestly," says I. 
 
 " Aye," cries Jack. " I'll not agree for cutting of throats 
 or breaking of bones, for any money." 
 
BETWIXT TWO FIRES. 23 
 
 " I can tell you no more than this," says the Don. "The 
 fortune we may take is now in the hands of a man who has 
 no more right to it than we have." 
 
 " If that's so," says Jack, "I'm with you, Senor. For I'd 
 as lief bustle a thief out of his gains as say my prayers, any 
 day, and liefer." 
 
 " Still," says I, " the money must of right belong to some 
 one." 
 
 " We will say that the money belongs to a child of the 
 same age as Moll." 
 
 "Then it comes to this, Sefior," says I, bluntly. "We 
 are to rob that child of fifty thousand pounds." 
 
 " When you speak of robbing," says the Don, drawing 
 himself up with much dignity, " you forget that I am to 
 play a part in this stratagem I, Don Sanchez del Castillo 
 de Castelafia." 
 
 " Fie, Kit, han't you any manners ? " cries Dick. " What's 
 all this talk of a child? Hasn't the Senor told us we are 
 but to bustle a cheat?" 
 
 " But I would know what is to become of this child, if 
 we take her fortune, though it be withheld from her by 
 another," says I, being exceeding obstinate and persistent 
 in my liquor. 
 
 " I shall prove to your conviction," says the Don, " that 
 the child will be no worse off, if we take this money, than 
 if we leave it in the hands of that rascally steward. But I 
 see," adds he, contemptuously, " that for all your brotherly 
 love, 'tis no such matter to you whether poor little Molly 
 comes to her ruin, as every maid must who goes to the 
 stage, or is set beyond the reach of temptation and the 
 goading of want." 
 
24 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Aye, and be hanged to you, Kit !" cries Dawson. 
 
 "Tell me, Mr. Poet," continues Don Sanchez, "do you 
 consider this steward who defrauds that child of a fortune 
 is more unfeeling than you who, for a sickly qualm of 
 conscience, would let slip this chance of making Molly an 
 honest woman? " 
 
 "Aye, answer that, Kit," adds Jack, striking his mug on 
 the table. 
 
 " I'll answer you to-morrow morning, Senor," says I. 
 " And whether I fall in with the scheme or not is all as one, 
 since my help is not needed ; for if it be to Moll's good, I'll 
 bid you farewell, and you shall see me never again." 
 
 "Spoken like a man !" says Don Sanchez, "and a wise 
 one to boot. An enterprise of this nature is not to be 
 undertaken without reflection, like the smoking of a pipe. 
 If you put your foot forward, it must be with the under- 
 standing that you cannot go back. I must have that assur- 
 ance, for I shall be hundreds of pounds out of pocket ere I 
 can get any return for my venture." 
 
 " Have no fear of me or of Moll turning tail at a scare- 
 crow," says Jack, adding with a sneer, "we are no poets." 
 
 "Reflect upon it. Argue it out with your friend here, 
 whose scruples do not displease me, and let me know your 
 determination when the last word is said. Business carries 
 me to London to-morrow ; but you shall meet me at night, 
 and we will close the business aye or nay ere supper." 
 
 With that he opens the door and gives us our congee, 
 the most noble in the world ; but not offering to give us a 
 bed, we are forced to go out of doors and grope our way 
 through the snow to the cart-shed, and seek a shelter there 
 from the wind, which was all the keener and more bitter for 
 
LIE ALL NIGHT A-DISPUTING. 2$ 
 
 our leaving a good fire. And I believe the shrewd Spaniard 
 had put us to this pinch as a foretaste of the misery we 
 must endure if we rejected his design, and so to shape our 
 inclinations to his. 
 
 Happily, the landlord, coming out with a lantern, and 
 finding us by the chattering of our teeth, was moved by the 
 consideration shown us by Don Sanchez to relax his sever- 
 ity ; and so, unlocking the stable door, he bade us get up 
 into the loft, which we did, blessing him as if he had been 
 the best Christian in the world. And then, having buried 
 ourselves in hay, Jack Dawson and I fell to arguing the 
 matter in question, I sticking to my scruples (partly from 
 vanity), and he stoutly holding t'other side ; and I, being 
 warmed by my own eloquence, and he not less heated by 
 liquor (having taken best part of the last bowl to his 
 share), we ran it pretty high, so that at one point Jack 
 was for lighting a candle end he had in his pocket and 
 fighting it out like men. But, little by little, we cooled 
 down, and towards morning, each giving way something, we 
 came to the conclusion that we would have Don Sanchez 
 show us the steward, that we might know the truth of his 
 story (which I misdoubted, seeing that it was but a roguish 
 kind of game at best that he would have us take part in), 
 and that if we found all things as he represented them, then 
 we would accept his offer. And also we resolved to be 
 down betimes and let him know our determination before 
 he set out for London, to the end that we might not be 
 left fasting all the day. But herein we miscalculated the 
 potency of liquor and a comfortable bed of hay, for 'twas 
 nine o'clock before either of us winked an eye, and when 
 we got down, we learnt that Don Sanchez had been gone a 
 
26 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 full hour, and so no prospect of breaking our fast till night- 
 fall. 
 
 Presently comes Moll, all fresh and pink from the house, 
 and falls to exclaiming upon the joy of sleeping betwixt 
 clean sheets in a feather bed, and could speak of nothing 
 else, saying she would give all the world to sleep so well 
 every day of her life. 
 
 "Eh," whispers her father in my ear, "you see how 
 luxuries do tempt the poor child, and what kind of a bed 
 she is like to lie in if our hopes miscarry." 
 
 On which, still holding to my scruples, I says to Moll : 
 
 " Tis easy to say you would give the world, Moll, but I 
 know full well you would give nothing for all the comfort 
 possible that was not your own." 
 
 " Nay," says she, crossing her hands on her breast, and 
 casting up her eyes with the look of a saint, " what are all 
 the fruits of the earth to her who cannot take them with an 
 easy conscience ? Honesty is dearer to me than the bread 
 of life." 
 
 Then, as Jack and I are looking at each other ruefully in 
 the face at this dash to our knavish project, she bursts into 
 a merry peal of laughter, like a set of Christmas bells chiming, 
 whereupon we, turning about to find the cause of her mer- 
 riment, she pulls another demure face, and, slowly lifting her 
 skirt, shows us a white napkin tied about her waist, stuffed 
 with a dozen delicacies she had filched from Don Sanchez's 
 table in coming down from her room. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the several parts that we are appointed to play. 
 
 FINDING a sheltered secret corner, we made a very hasty 
 breakfast of these stolen dainties, and since we had not the 
 heart to restore them to our innkeeper, so we had not the 
 face to chide Moll for her larceny, but made light of the 
 business and ate with great content and some mirth. 
 
 A drizzly rain falling and turning the snow into slush, we 
 kept under the shelter of the shed, and this giving us scope 
 for the reflection Don Sanchez had counselled, my com- 
 punctions were greatly shaken by the consideration of our 
 present position and the prospect of worse. When I thought 
 of our breakfast that Moll had stolen, and how willingly we 
 would all have eaten a dinner got by the same means, I had 
 to acknowledge that certainly we were all thieves at heart ; 
 and this conclusion, together with sitting all day doing noth- 
 ing in the raw cold, did make the design of Don Sanchez 
 seem much less heinous to me than it appeared the night 
 before, when I was warm and not exceedingly sober, and 
 indeed towards dusk I came to regard it as no bad thing 
 at all. 
 
 About six comes back our Don on a fine horse, and 
 receives our salutations with a cool nod we standing there 
 of a row, looking our sweetest, like hungry dogs in expecta- 
 tion of a bone. Then in he goes to the house without a 
 word, and now my worst fear was that he had thought better 
 
 27 
 
28 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 of his offer and would abandon it. So there we hang about 
 the best part of an hour, now thinking the Don would pres- 
 ently send for us, and then growing to despair of everything 
 but to be left in the cold forgotten ; but in the end comes 
 Master Landlord to tell us his worship in the Cherry room 
 would see us. So, after the same formalities of cleansing 
 ourselves as the night afore, upstairs we go at the heels of a 
 drawer, carrying a roast pig, which to our senses was more 
 delightful than any bunch of flowers. 
 
 With a gesture of his hands, after saluting us with great 
 dignity, Don Sanchez bade us take our places at the table 
 and with never a word of question as to our decision ; but 
 that was scarce necessary, for it needed no subtle observa- 
 tion to perceive that we would accept any conditions to get 
 our share of that roast pig. This supper differed not greatly 
 from the former, save that our Moll was taken with a kind 
 of tickling at the throat which presently attracted our 
 notice. 
 
 "What ails you, Molly, my dear?" asks Jack. "Has a 
 bit of crackling gone down the wrong way?" 
 
 She put it off as if she would have us take no notice of it, 
 but it grew worse and worse towards the end of the meal, 
 and became a most horrid, tearing cough, which she did so 
 natural as to deceive us all and put us in great concern, and 
 especially Don Sanchez, who declared she must have taken 
 a cold by being exposed all day to the damp weather. 
 
 " If I have," says she, very prettily, after wiping the tears 
 from her eyes upon another fit, " 'tis surely a most ungrate- 
 ful return for the kindness with which you sheltered me last 
 night, Senor." 
 
 " I shall take better care to shelter you in the future, my 
 
MOLL BUSTLES THE DON. 2Q 
 
 poor child," replies the Don, ringing the bell. Then, the 
 maid coming, he bids her warm a bed and prepare a hot 
 posset against Moll was tucked up in the blankets. " And," 
 says he, turning to Moll, " you shall not rise till noon, my 
 dear ; your breakfast shall be brought to you in your room, 
 where a fire shall be made, and such treatment shown you 
 as if you were my own child." 
 
 " Oh ! what have I done that you should be so gentle to 
 me ? " exclaims Moll, smothering another cough. And with 
 that she reaches out her leg under the table and fetches me 
 a kick of the shin, looking all the while as pitiful and inno- 
 cent as any painted picture. 
 
 "Would it be well to fetch in a doctor?" says Don 
 Sanchez, when Moll was gone barking upstairs. " The child 
 looks delicate, though she eats with a fairly good appetite." 
 
 " 'Tis nothing serious," replies Jack, who had doubt- 
 less received the same hint from Moll she had given me. 
 " I warrant she will be mended in a day or so, with proper 
 care. 'Tis a kind of family complaint. I am taken that 
 way at times," and with that he rasps his throat as a hint 
 that he would be none the worse for sleeping a night 
 between sheets. 
 
 This was carrying the matter too far, and I thought it 
 had certainly undone us ; for stopping short, with a sta^v, 
 in crossing the room, he turns and looks first at Dawson, 
 then at me, with anything but a pleasant look in his eyes as 
 finding his dignity hurt, to be thus bustled by a mere child. 
 Then his dark eyebrows unbending with the reflection, 
 maybe, that it was so much the better to his purpose that 
 Moll could so act as to deceive him, he seats himself 
 gravely, and replies to Jack : 
 
3O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Your family wit may get you a night's lodging, but I 
 doubt if you will ever merit it so well as your daughter." 
 
 "Well," says Jack, with a laugh, "what wit we have 
 amongst us we are resolved to employ in your honour's 
 service, so that you show us this steward-fellow is a rascal 
 that deserves to be bounced, and we do no great injury to 
 any one else." 
 
 " Good," says Don Sanchez. " We will proceed to that 
 without delay. And now, as we have no matter to discuss, 
 and must be afoot early to-morrow, I will ring for a light to 
 take you to bed." 
 
 So we up presently to a good snug room with a bed to 
 each of us fit for a prince. And there, with the blankets 
 drawn up to our ears, we fell blessing our stars that we were 
 now fairly out of our straits, and after that to discussing 
 whether we should consult Moll's inclination to this busi- 
 ness. First, Dawson was for telling her plump out all about 
 our project, saying that being so young she had no con- 
 science to speak of, and would like nothing better than to 
 take part in any piece of mischief. But against this I pro- 
 tested, seeing that it would be dangerous to our design to 
 let her know so much (she having a woman's tongue in her 
 head), and also of a bad tendency to make her, as it were, 
 u "the very beginning of her life, a knowing active party to 
 what looked like nothing more nor less than a piece of 
 knavery. Therefore I proposed we should, when necessary, 
 tell her just so much of our plan as was expedient, and no 
 more. And this agreeing mightily with Jack's natural turn 
 for taking of short cuts out of difficulties, he fell in with my 
 views at once, and so, bidding God bless me, he lays the 
 clothes over his head and was snoring the next minute. 
 
MOLL STILL VERY DELICATE. 31 
 
 In the morning we found the Don just as kind to us 
 as the day before he had been careless, and so made us 
 eat breakfast with him, to our great content. Also, he sent 
 a maid up to Moll to enquire of her health, and if she could 
 eat anything from our table, to which the baggage sends reply 
 that she feels a little easier this morning and could fancy 
 a dish of black puddings. These delicacies her father car- 
 ried to her, being charged by the Don to tell her that we 
 should be gone for a couple of days, and that in our absence 
 she might command whatever she felt was necessary to her 
 complete recovery against our return. Then I told Don 
 Sanchez how we had resolved to tell Moll no more of our 
 purpose than was necessary for the moment, which pleased 
 him, I thought, mightily, he saying that our success or fail- 
 ure depended upon secrecy as much as anything, for which 
 reason he had kept us in the dark as much as ever it 
 was possible. 
 
 About eight o'clock three saddle nags were brought to the 
 door, and we, mounting, set out for London, where we ar- 
 rived about ten, the roads being fairly passable save in the 
 marshy parts about Shoreditch, where the mire was knee- 
 deep; so to Gracious Street, and there leaving our nags at the 
 Turk inn, we walked down to the Bridge stairs, and thence 
 with a pair of oars to Greenwich. Here, after our tedious 
 chilly voyage, we were not ill-pleased to see the inside of an 
 inn once more, and Don Sanchez, taking us to the King's 
 posting-house, orders a fire to be lighted in a private room, 
 and the best there was in the larder to be served us in the 
 warm parlour. While we were at our trenchers Don San- 
 chez says : 
 
 " At two o'clock two men are coming hither to see me. 
 
32 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 One is a master mariner named Robert Evans, the other a 
 merchant adventurer of his acquaintance whom I have not 
 yet seen. Now you are to mark these two men well, note 
 all they say and their manner of speaking, for to-morrow you 
 will have to personate these characters before one who 
 would be only too glad to find you at fault." 
 
 " Very good, Sefior," says Dawson ; " but which of these 
 parts am I to play? " 
 
 " That you may decide when you have seen the men, but 
 I should say from my knowledge of Robert Evans that you 
 may best represent his character. For in your parts to-day 
 you are to be John and Christopher Knight, two needy 
 cousins of Lady Godwin, whose husband, Sir Richard 
 Godwin, was lost at sea seven years ago. I doubt if you 
 will have to do anything in these characters beyond looking 
 eager and answering merely yes and no to such questions as 
 I may put." 
 
 Thus primed, we went presently to the sitting-room above, 
 and the drawer shortly after coming to say that two gentle- 
 men desired to see Don Sanchez, Jack and I seated our- 
 selves side by side at a becoming distance from the Don, 
 holding our hats on our knees as humbly as may be. Then 
 in comes a rude, dirty fellow with a patch over one eye and a 
 most peculiar bearish gait, dressed in a tarred coat, with a 
 wool shawl about his neck, followed by a shrewd- visaged little 
 gentleman in a plain cloth suit, but of very good substance, 
 he looking just as trim and well-mannered as t'other was 
 uncouth and rude. 
 
 "Well, here am I," says Evans (whom we knew at once 
 for the master mariner), flinging his hat and shawl in a 
 corner. " There's his excellency Don Sanchez, and here's 
 
STRANGE COMPANY AT GREENWICH. 33 
 
 Mr. Hopkins, the merchant I spoke on yesterday ; and who 
 be these?" turning about to fix us with his one blue eye. 
 
 " Two gentlemen related to Mrs. Godwin, and very anx- 
 ious for her return," replies the Don. 
 
 " Then we being met friends all, let's have up a bottle and 
 heave off on this here business without more ado," says 
 Evans ; and with that he seats himself in the Don's chair, 
 pokes up the fire with his boots, and spits on the hearth. 
 
 The Don graciously places a chair for Mr. Hopkins, 
 rings the bell, and seats himself. Then after a few civilities 
 while the bottle was being opened and our glasses filled, he 
 says : 
 
 " You have doubtless heard from Robert Evans the pur- 
 pose of our coming hither, Mr. Hopkins." 
 
 "Roughly," replies Mr. Hopkins, with a dry little cough. 
 " But I should be glad to have the particulars from you, that 
 I may judge more clearly of my responsibilities in this 
 undertaking." 
 
 " Oh, Lord ! " exclaims Evans, in disgust. " Here give 
 us a pipe of tobacco if we're to warp out half a day ere we 
 get a capful of wind." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Don Sanchez puts us in the way of robbing with an easy conscience. 
 
 PROMISING to make his story as short as he possibly 
 could, Don Sanchez began : 
 
 " On the coming of our present king to his throne, Sir 
 Richard Godwin was recalled from Italy, whither he had 
 been sent as embassador by the Protector. He sailed from 
 Livorno with his wife and his daughter Judith, a child of 
 nine years old at that time, in the Seahawk. " 
 
 "I remember her," says Evans, "as stout a ship as ever 
 was put to sea." 
 
 " On the second night of her voyage the Seahawk became 
 parted from her convoy, and the next day she was pursued 
 and overtaken by a pair of Barbary pirates, to whom she 
 gave battle." 
 
 " Aye, and I'd have done the same," cries Evans, " though 
 they had been a score." 
 
 " After a long and bloody fight," continues Don Sanchez, 
 " the corsairs succeeded in boarding the Seahawk and over- 
 coming the remnant of her company." 
 
 " Poor hearts ! would I had been there to help 'em," says 
 Evans. 
 
 " Exasperated by the obstinate resistance of these English 
 and their own losses, the pirates would grant no mercy, but 
 tying the living to the dead they cast all overboard save Mrs. 
 Godwin and her daughter. Her lot was even worse ; for her 
 
 34 
 
HISTORY OF MRS. GODWIN. 35 
 
 wounded husband, Sir Richard, was snatched from her arms 
 and flung into the sea before her eyes, and he sank crying 
 farewell to her." 
 
 " These Turks have no hearts in their bellies, you must 
 understand," explains Evans. "And nought but venom in 
 their veins." 
 
 "The Seahawk was taken to Alger, and there Mrs. 
 Godwin and her daughter were sold for slaves in the public 
 market-place." 
 
 " I have seen 'em sold by the score there," says Evans, 
 " and fetch but an onion a head." 
 
 " By good fortune the mother and daughter were bought by 
 Sidi ben Moula, a rich old merchant who was smitten by the 
 pretty, delicate looks of Judith, whom he thenceforth treated 
 as if she had been his own child. In this condition they 
 lived with greater happiness than falls to the lot of most 
 slaves, until the beginning of last year, when Sidi died, and 
 his possessions fell to his brother, Bare ben Moula. Then 
 Mrs. Godwin appeals to Bare for her liberty and to be 
 sent home to her country, saying that what price (in reason) 
 he chooses to set upon their heads she will pay from her 
 estate in England a thing which she had proposed before 
 to Sidi, but he would not hear of it because of his love for 
 Judith and his needing no greater fortune than he had. 
 But this Bare, though he would be very well content, being 
 also an old man, to have his household managed by Mrs. 
 Godwin and to adopt Judith as his child, being of a more 
 avaricious turn than his brother, at length consents to it, on 
 condition that her ransoms be paid before she quits Barbary. 
 And so, casting about how this may be done, Mrs. Godwin 
 finds a captive whose price has been paid, about to be taken 
 
36 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 to Palma in the Baleares, and to him she entrusts two let- 
 ters." Here Don Sanchez pulls two folded sheets of vellum 
 from his pocket, and presenting one to me, he says: 
 
 " Mayhap you recognise this hand, Mr. Knight." 
 
 And I, seeing the signature Elizabeth Godwin, answers 
 quickly enough : " Aye, 'tis my dear cousin Bess, her own 
 hand." 
 
 " This," says the Don, handing the other to Evans, " you 
 may understand." 
 
 " I can make out 'tis writ in the Moorish style," says 
 Evans, " but the meaning of it I know not, for I can't tell 
 great A from a bull's foot though it be in printed English." 
 
 " Tis an undertaking on the part of Bare ben Moula," 
 says the Don, " to deliver up at Dellys in Barbary the per- 
 sons of Mrs. Godwin and her daughter against the payment 
 of five thousand gold ducats within one year. The other 
 writing tells its own story." 
 
 Mr. Hopkins took the first sheet from me and read it 
 aloud. It was addressed to Mr. Richard Godwin, Hurst 
 Court, Chislehurst in Kent, and after giving such particulars 
 of her past as we had already heard from Don Sanchez, she 
 writes thus : " And now, my dear nephew, as I doubt not 
 you (as the nearest of my kindred to my dear husband after 
 us two poor relicts) have taken possession of his estate in 
 the belief we were all lost in our voyage from Italy, I do 
 pray you for the love of God and of mercy to deliver us 
 from our bondage by sending hither a ship with the money 
 for our ransoms forthwith, and be assured by this that I shall 
 not dispossess you of your fortune (more than my bitter 
 circumstances do now require), so that I but come home to 
 die in a Christian country and have my sweet Judith where 
 
MRS. GODWIN, HER CASE CONSIDERED. 37 
 
 she may be less exposed to harm than in this infidel country. 
 I count upon your love, being ever a de'ar nephew, and 
 am your most hopeful, trusting, and loving aunt, Elizabeth 
 Godwin." 
 
 " Very well, sir," says Mr. Hopkins, returning the letter. 
 "You have been to Chislehurst." 
 
 " I have," answers the Don, " and there I find the estate 
 in the hands of a most curious Puritanical steward, whose 
 honesty is rather in the letter than the spirit. For though 
 I have reason to believe that not one penny's value of the 
 estate has been misemployed since it has been in his hands, 
 yet will he give nothing no, not a maravedi to the redemp- 
 tion of his mistress, saying that the letter is addressed to 
 Richard Godwin and not to him, etc., and that he hath no 
 power to pay out monies for this purpose, even though he 
 believed the facts I have laid before him which for his 
 own ends doubtless he fains to misdoubt." 
 
 " As a trader, sir," says Mr. Hopkins, " I cannot blame 
 his conduct in that respect. For should the venture fall 
 through, the next heir might call upon him to repay out of 
 his own pocket all that he had put into this enterprise. But 
 this Mr. Richard Godwin, what of him? " 
 
 " He is nowhere to be found. The only relatives I have 
 been able to discover are these two gentlemen." 
 
 "Who," remarks Mr. Hopkins, with a shrewd glance at 
 our soiled clothes, " are not, I venture to think, in a position 
 to pay their cousin's ransom." 
 
 "Alas, no, sir," says Jack. "We are but two poor shop- 
 keepers of London undone by the great fire." 
 
 " Well now, sir," says Mr. Hopkins, fetching an inkpot, 
 a pen, and a piece of paper from his pocket. "I may 
 
38 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 conclude that you wish me to adventure upon the redemp- 
 tion of these two ladies in Barbary, upon the hazard of 
 being repaid by Mrs. Godwin when she recovers her estate." 
 And the Don making him a reverence, he continues, " We 
 must first learn the extent of our liabilities. What sum is 
 to be paid to Bare ben Moula? " 
 
 " Five thousand gold ducats about two thousand pounds 
 English." 
 
 "Two thousand," says Mr. Hopkins, writing. "Then, 
 Robert Evans, what charge is yours for fetching the ladies 
 fromDellys?" 
 
 " Master Hopkins, I have said fifteen hundred pounds," 
 says he, " and I won't go from my word though all laugh at 
 me for a madman." 
 
 " That seems a great deal of money," says Mr. Hop- 
 kins. 
 
 " Well, if you think fifteen hundred pounds too much for 
 my carcase and a ship of twenty men, you can go seek a 
 cheaper market elsewhere." 
 
 " You think there is very small likelihood of coming back 
 alive?" 
 
 " Why, comrade, 'tis as if you should go into a den of 
 lions and hope to get out whole ; for though I have the 
 Duke's pass, these Moors are no fitter to be trusted than a 
 sackful of serpents. 'Tis ten to one our ship be taken, 
 and we fools all sold into slavery." 
 
 " Ten to one," says Mr. Hopkins ; " that is to say, you 
 would make this voyage for the tenth part of what you ask 
 were you sure of returning safe." 
 
 "I would go as far anywhere outside the straits for an 
 hundred pounds with a lighter heart." 
 
HOPKINS AND EVANS RELISH LITTLE THE VENTURE. 39 
 
 Mr. Hopkins nods his head, and setting down some 
 figures on his paper, says : 
 
 " The bare outlay in hard money amounts to thirty-five 
 hundred pounds. Reckoning the risk at Robert Evans' own 
 valuation (which I take to be a very low one), I must see 
 reasonable prospect of winning thirty-five thousand pounds 
 by my hazard." 
 
 " Mrs. Godwin's estate I know to be worth double that 
 amount." 
 
 "But who will promise me that return?" asks Mr. 
 Hopkins. " Not you ? " (The Don shook his head.) " Not 
 you?" (turning to us, with the same result). "Not Mrs. 
 Godwin, for we have no means of communicating with her. 
 Not the steward you have shown me that. Who then 
 remains but this Richard Godwin who cannot be found? 
 If," adds he, getting up from his seat, " you can find Richard 
 Godwin, put him in possession of the estate, and obtain 
 from him a reasonable promise that this sum shall be paid 
 on the return of Mrs. Godwin, I may feel disposed to con- 
 sider your proposal more seriously. But till then I can do 
 nothing." 
 
 " Likewise, masters all," says Evans, fetching his hat and 
 shawl from the corner, " I can't wait for a blue moon ; and if 
 so be we don't sign articles in a week, I'm off of my bar- 
 gain, and mighty glad to get out of it so cheap." 
 
 "You see," says Don Sanchez, when they were gone out 
 of the room, " how impossible it is that Mrs. Godwin and 
 her daughter shall be redeemed from captivity. To-morrow 
 I shall show you what kind of a fellow the steward is that 
 he should have the handling of this fortune rather than we." 
 
 Then presently, with an indifferent, careless air, as if 'twas 
 
4O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 nought, he gives us a purse and bids us go out in the town 
 to furnish ourselves with what disguise was necessary to our 
 purpose. Therewith Dawson gets him some seaman's old 
 clothes at a Jew's, and I a very neat, presentable suit of 
 cloth, etc., and the rest of the money we take back to Don 
 Sanchez without taking so much as a penny for our other 
 uses ; but he, doing all things very magnificent, would have 
 none of it, but bade us keep it against our other necessities. 
 And now having his money in our pockets, we felt 'twould 
 be more dishonest to go back from this business than to go 
 forward with it, lead us whither it might. 
 
 Next morning off we go betimes, Jack more like Robert 
 Evans than his mother's son, and I a most seeming substan- 
 tial man (so that the very stable lad took off his hat to 
 me), and on very good horses a long ride to Chislehurst. 
 And there coming to a monstrous fine park, Don Sanchez 
 stayed us before the gates, and bidding us look up a broad 
 avenue of great oaks to a most surprising brave house, he 
 told us this was Hurst Court, and we might have it for our 
 own within a year if we were so minded. 
 
 Hence, at no great distance we reach a square plain 
 house, the windows all barred with stout iron, and the most 
 like a prison I did ever see. Here Don Sanchez ringing a 
 bell, a little grating in the door is opened, and after some 
 parley we are admitted by a sturdy fellow carrying a cudgel 
 in his hand. So we into a cold room, with not a spark 
 of fire on the hearth but a few ashes, no hangings to the 
 windows, nor any ornament or comfort at all, but only a 
 table and half a dozen wooden stools, and a number of 
 shelves against the wall full of account books and papers 
 protected by a grating of stout wire secured with sundry 
 
WE COME TO CHISLEHURST. 41 
 
 padlocks. And here, behind a tableful of papers, sat our 
 steward, Simon Stout-in-faith, a most withered, lean old 
 man, clothed all in leather, wearing no wig but his own rusty 
 grey hair falling lank on his shoulders, with a sour face of a 
 very jaundiced complexion, and pale eyes that seemed to 
 swim in a yellowish rheum, which he was for ever a-mopping 
 with a rag. 
 
 "I am come, Mr. Steward," says Don Sanchez, "to con- 
 clude the business we were upon last week." 
 
 "Aye," cries Dawson, for all the world in the manner of 
 Evans, " but ere we get to this dry matter let's have a bottle 
 to ease the way, for this riding of horseback has parched up 
 my vitals confoundedly." 
 
 " If thou art athirst," says Simon, " Peter shall fetch thee 
 a jug of water from the well ; but other liquor have we none 
 in this house." 
 
 " Let Peter drown in your well," says Dawson, with an 
 oath ; " I'll have none of it. Let's get this matter done and 
 away, for I'd as lief sit in a leaky hold as in this here place 
 for comfort." 
 
 " Here," says Don Sanchez, " is a master mariner who is 
 prepared to risk his life, and here a merchant adventurer of 
 London who will hazard his money, to redeem your mistress 
 and her daughter from slavery." 
 
 " Praise the Lord, Peter," says the steward. Whereupon 
 the sturdy fellow with the cudgel fell upon his knees, as like- 
 wise did Simon, and both in a snuffling voice render thanks 
 to Heaven in words which I do not think it proper to write 
 here. Then, being done, they get up, and the steward, hav- 
 ing dried his eyes, says : 
 
 "So far our prayers have been answered. Put me in 
 
42 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 mind, friend Peter, that to-night we pray these worthy men 
 prosper in their design." 
 
 " If they succeed," says Don Sanchez, " it will cost your 
 mistress five-and-thirty thousand pounds." 
 
 The steward clutched at the table as if at the fortune 
 about to turn from him ; his jaw fell, and he stared at Don 
 Sanchez in bewilderment, then getting the face to speak, he 
 gasps out, " Thirty-five thousand pounds ! " and still in a 
 maze asks : "Art thou in thy right senses, friend? " 
 
 The Don hunches his shoulders and turns tome. Where- 
 upon I lay forth in pretty much the same words as Mr. Hop- 
 kins used, the risk of the venture, etc., to all which this 
 Simon listened with starting eyes and gaping mouth. 
 
 "Thirty-five thousand pounds!" he says again; "why, 
 friend, 'tis half of all I have made of the estate by a life of 
 thrift and care and earnest seeking." 
 
 " 'Tis in your power, Simon," says Don Sanchez, " to 
 spare your mistress this terrible charge, for which your fine 
 park must be felled, your farms cut up, and your economies 
 be scattered. The master here will fetch your mistress 
 home for fifteen hundred pounds." 
 
 "Why, even that is an extortion." 
 
 " Nay," says Jack, " if you think fifteen hundred pounds 
 too much for my carcase and a ship of twenty men, you 
 may seek a cheaper market and welcome, for I've no 
 stomach to risk my life and property for less." 
 
 " To the fifteen hundred pounds you must add the ransom 
 of two thousand pounds. Thus Mrs. Godwin and her 
 daughter may be redeemed for thirty-five hundred pounds 
 to her saving of thirty-one thousand five hundred pounds," 
 says the Don. 
 
SIMON AS ROGUISH AS ANY. 43 
 
 And here Dawson and I were secretly struck by his 
 honesty in not seeking to affright the steward from an 
 honest course, but rather tempting him to it by playing upon 
 his parsimony and avarice. 
 
 "Three thousand five hundred," says Simon, putting it 
 down in writing, that he might the better realise his position. 
 " But you say, friend merchant, that the risk is as ten to one 
 against seeing thy money again." 
 
 " I will run the risk for thirty-one thousand pounds, and 
 no less," says I. 
 
 " But if it may be done for a tenth part, how then? " 
 
 " Why, 'tis your risk, sir, and not mine," says I. 
 
 " Yea, yea, my risk. And you tell me, friend sailor, that 
 you stand in danger of being plundered by these infidels." 
 
 " Aye, more like than not." 
 
 " Why, then we may count half the estate gone ; and the 
 peril is to be run again, and thus all cast away for nought." 
 
 In this manner did Simon halt betwixt two ways like one 
 distracted, but only he did mingle a mass of sacred words 
 with his arguments which seemed to me nought but 
 profanity, his sole concern being the gain of money. Then 
 he falls to the old excuses Don Sanchez had told us of, 
 saying he had no money of his own, and offering to show his 
 books that we might see he had taken not one penny beyond 
 his bare expenses from the estate, save his yearly wage, and 
 that no more than Sir Richard had given him in his lifetime. 
 And on Don Sanchez showing Mrs. Godwin's letter as a 
 fitting authority to draw out this money for her use, he first 
 feigns to doubt her hand, and then says he : " If an acci- 
 dent befalls these two women ere they return to justify 
 me, how shall I answer to the next heir for this outlay? 
 
44 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Verily " (clasping his hands) " I am as one standing in 
 darkness, and I dare not move until I am better enlightened ; 
 so prithee, friend, give me' time to commune with my con- 
 science." 
 
 Don Sanchez hunches up his shoulders and turns to us. 
 
 "Why, look here, Master," says Dawson. " I can't see as 
 you need much enlightenment to answer yes or no to a fair 
 offer, and as for me, I'm not going to hang in a hedge for a 
 blue moon. So if you won't clap hands on the bargain with- 
 out more ado, I throw this business overboard and shall 
 count I've done the best day's work of my life in getting out 
 of the affair." 
 
 Then I made as if I would willingly draw out of my share 
 in the project. 
 
 " My friends," says Simon, " there can be scarce any hope 
 at all if thou wilt not hazard thy money for such a prodi- 
 gious advantage." Then turning to Peter as his last hope, 
 he asks in despair, " What shall we do, my brother? " 
 
 "We can keep on a-praying, friend Simon," replies Peter, 
 in a snivelling voice. 
 
 "A blessed thought!" exclaims the steward in glee. 
 " Surely that is more righteous than to lay faith in our own 
 vain effort. So do thou, friend " (turning to me), "put thy 
 money to this use, for I will none." 
 
 "I cannot do that, sir," says I, "without an assurance that 
 Mrs. Godwin's estate will bear this charge." 
 
 With wondrous alacrity Simon fetches a book with a plan 
 of the estate, whereby he showed us that not a holding on 
 the estate was untenanted, not a single tenant in arrear with 
 his rent, and that the value of the property with all deduc- 
 tions made was sixty-five thousand pounds. 
 
COUNT OURSELVES MIGHTY HONEST. 4$ 
 
 "Very good sir," says I. "Now you must give me a 
 written note, stating what you have shown, with your 
 sanction to my making this venture on Mrs. Godwin's 
 behalf, that I may justify my claim hereafter." 
 
 But this Simon stoutly refused to do, saying his con- 
 science would not allow him to sign any bond (clearly with 
 the hope that he might in the end shuffle out of paying 
 anything at all) , until Don Sanchez, losing patience, declared 
 he would certainly hunt all London through to find that Mr. 
 Richard Godwin, who was the next of kin, hinting that he 
 would certainly give us such sanction as we required if only 
 to prove his right to the succession should our venture fail. 
 
 This put the steward to a new taking ; but the Don hold- 
 ing firm, he at length agreed to give us this note, upon Don 
 Sanchez writing another affirming that he had seen Mrs. 
 Godwin and her daughter in Barbary, and was going forth to 
 fetch them, that should Mr. Richard Godwin come to claim 
 the estate he might be justly put off. 
 
 And so this business ended to our great satisfaction, we 
 saying to ourselves that we had done all that man could to 
 redeem the captives, and that it would be no harm at all to 
 put a cheat upon the miserly steward. Whether we were 
 any way more honest than he in shaping our conduct accord- 
 ing to our inclinations is a question which troubled us then 
 very little. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Moll is cast to play the part of a fine lady ; doubtful promise for 
 this undertaking. 
 
 ON our way back to Greenwich we stayed at an inn by 
 the road to refresh ourselves, and there, having a snug par- 
 lour to ourselves, and being seated about a fine cheese with 
 each a full measure of ale, Don Sanchez asks us if we are 
 satisfied with our undertaking. 
 
 "Aye, that we are," replies Dawson, mightily pleased as 
 usual to be a-feasting. " We desire nothing better than to 
 serve your honour faithfully in all ways, and are ready to put 
 our hands to any bond you may choose to draw up." 
 
 " Can you show me the man," asks the Don, lifting his 
 eyebrows contemptuously, " who ever kept a treaty he was 
 minded to break ? Men are honest enough when nought's 
 to be gained by breaking faith. Are you both agreed to 
 this course?" 
 
 "Yes, Senor," says I, "and my only compunction now is 
 that I can do so little to forward this business." 
 
 " Why, so far as I can see into it," says Dawson, " one of 
 us must be cast for old Mrs. Godwin, if Moll is to be her 
 daughter, and you're fitter to play the part than I, for I 
 take it this old gentlewoman should be of a more delicate, 
 sickly composition than mine." 
 
 " We will suppose that Mrs. Godwin is dead," says the 
 Don, gravely. 
 
 46 
 
THIEVING NOT SO EASY AS IT SEEMS. 47 
 
 " Aye, to be sure ; that simplifies the thing mightily. But 
 pray, Senor, what parts are we to play?" 
 
 " The parts you have played to-day. You go with me to 
 fetch Judith Godwin from Barbary." 
 
 "This hangs together and ought to play well ; eh, Kit? " 
 
 I asked Don Sanchez how long, fti the ordinary course of 
 things an expedition of this kind would take. 
 
 " That depends upon accidents of many kinds," answers 
 he. "We may very well stretch it out best part of a year." 
 
 " A year," says Jack, scratching his ear ruefully, for I 
 believe he had counted upon coming to live like a lord in a 
 few weeks. " And what on earth are we to do in the mean- 
 while?" 
 
 " Teach Moll," answers the Don. 
 
 " She can read anything print or scrip," says Jack, proudly, 
 " and write her own name." 
 
 "Judith Godwin," says the Don, reflectively, " lived two 
 years in Italy. She would certainly remember some words 
 of Italian. Consider this : it is not sufficient merely to 
 obtain possession of the Godwin estate ; it must be held 
 against the jealous opposition of that shrewd steward and 
 of the presumptive heir, Mr. Richard Godwin, who may 
 come forward at any time." 
 
 " You're in the right, Senor. Well, there's Kit knows the 
 language and can teach her a smattering of the Italian, I 
 warrant, in no time." 
 
 " Judith would probably know something of music," pur- 
 sues the Don. 
 
 " Why, Moll can play Kit's fiddle as well as he." 
 
 " But, above all," continues the Don, as taking no heed 
 of this tribute to Moll's abilities, " Judith Godwin must be 
 
48 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 able to read and write the Moorish character and speak the 
 tongue readily, answer aptly as to their ways and habits, and 
 to do these things beyond suspect. Moll must live with 
 these people for some months." 
 
 " God have mercy on us ! " cries Jack. " Your honour is 
 not for taking us to Barbary." 
 
 " No," answers the Don, dryly, passing his long ringers 
 with some significance over the many seams in his long 
 face, " but we must go where the Moors are to be found, on 
 the hither side of the straits." 
 
 " Well," says Dawson, " all's as one whither we go in 
 safety if we're to be out of our fortune for a year. There's 
 nothing more for our Moll to learn, I suppose, Senor." 
 
 " It will not be amiss to teach her the manners of a lady," 
 replies the Don, rising and knitting his brows together 
 unpleasantly, "and especially to keep her feet under her 
 chair at table." 
 
 With this he rings the bell for our reckoning, and so ends 
 our discussion, neither Dawson nor I having a word to say 
 in answer to this last hit, which .showed us pretty plainly 
 that in reaching round with her long leg for our shins, Moll 
 had caught the Don's shanks a kick that night she was seized 
 with a cough. 
 
 So to horse again and a long jog back to Greenwich, 
 where Dawson and I would fain have rested the night 
 (being unused to the saddle and very raw with our journey), 
 but the Don would not for prudence, and therefore, after 
 changing our clothes, we make a shift to mount once more, 
 and thence another long horrid jolt to Edmonton very 
 painfully. 
 
 Coming to the Bell (more dead than alive) about eight, 
 
COME BACK TO EDMONTON VERY JADED. 49 
 
 and pitch dark, we were greatly surprised that we could 
 make no one hear to take our horses, and further, having 
 turned the brutes into the stable ourselves, to find never 
 a soul in the common room or parlour, so that the place 
 seemed quite forsaken. But hearing a loud guffaw of 
 laughter from below, we go downstairs to the kitchen, 
 which we could scarce enter for the crowd in the doorway. 
 And here all darkness, save for a sheet hung at the further 
 end, and lit from behind, on which a kind of phantasmagory 
 play of Jack and the Giant was being acted by shadow 
 characters cut out of paper, the performer being hid by 
 a board that served as a stage for the puppets. And who 
 should this performer be but our Moll, as we knew by her 
 voice, and most admirably she did it, setting all in a roar 
 one minute with some merry joke, and enchanting 'em the 
 next with a pretty song for the maid in distress. 
 
 We learnt afterwards that Moll, who could never rest 
 still two minutes together, but must for ever be a- doing some- 
 thing new, had cut out her images and devised the show 
 to entertain the servants in the kitchen, and that the guests 
 above hearing their merriment had come down in time to 
 get the fag end, which pleased them so vastly that they 
 would have her play it all over again. 
 
 "This may undo us," says Don Sanchez, in a low voice 
 of displeasure, drawing us away. " Here are a dozen visi- 
 tors who will presently be examining Moll as a marvel. 
 Who can say but that one of them may know her again 
 hereafter to our confusion ? We must be seen together no 
 more than is necessary, until we are out of this country. I 
 shall leave here in the morning, and you will meet me next 
 at the Turk, in Gracious Street, to-morrow afternoon." 
 E 
 
5O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Therewith he goes up to his room, leaving us to shift for 
 ourselves; and we into the parlour to warm our feet at 
 the fire till we may be served with some victuals, both very 
 silent and surly, being still sore, and as tired as any dogs 
 with our day's jolting. 
 
 While we are in this mood, Moll, having finished her play, 
 comes to us in amazing high spirits, and all aglow with 
 pleasure shows us a handful of silver given her by the 
 gentry ; then, pulling up a chair betwixt us, she asks us a 
 dozen questions of a string as to where we have been, what 
 we have done, etc., since we left her. Getting no answer, 
 she presently stops, looks first at one, then at the other, and 
 bursting into a fit of laughter, cries : " Why, what ails you 
 both to be so grumpy?" 
 
 " In the first place, Moll," says Jack, " I'll have you to 
 know that I am your father, and will not be spoken to save 
 with becoming respect." 
 
 " Why, I did but ask you where you have been." 
 
 " Children of your age should not ask questions, but do 
 as they're bid, and there's an end of it." 
 
 " La, I'm not to ask any questions. Is there nothing else 
 I am not to do?" 
 
 " Yes ; I'll not have you playing of Galimaufray to cook 
 wenches and such stuff. I'll have you behave with more 
 decency. Take your feet off the hearth, and put 'em under 
 your chair. Let me have no more of these galanty-shows. 
 Why, 'twill be said I cannot give you a basin of porridge, 
 that you must go a-begging of sixpences like this ! " 
 
 " Oh, if you begrudge me a little pocket-money," cries 
 she, springing up with the tears in her eyes, " I'll have none 
 of it." 
 
FINE MAKINGS OF A LADY IN MOLL. 51 
 
 And with that she empties her pocket on the chair, and 
 out roll her sixpences together with a couple of silver 
 spoons. 
 
 "What," cries Jack, after .glancing round to see we were 
 alone. " You have filched a couple of spoons, Moll? " 
 
 "And why not?" asks she, her little nose turning quite 
 white with passion. " If I am to ask no questions, how 
 shall I know but we may have never a spoon to-morrow for 
 your precious basin of porridge ? " 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of our journey through France to a very horrid pass in the Pyraneans. 
 
 SKIPPING over many unimportant particulars of our leav- 
 ing Edmonton, of our rinding Don Sanchez at the Turk 
 in Gracious Street, of our going thence (the next day) to 
 Gravesend, of our preparation there for voyage, I come now 
 to our embarking, the loth March, in the Rose, for Bor- 
 deaux in France. Nor shall I dwell long on that journey, 
 neither, which was exceedingly long and painful, by reason 
 of our nearing the equinoctials, which dashed us from our 
 course to that degree that it was the 26th before we reached 
 our port and cast anchor in still water. And all those days 
 we were prostrated with sickness, and especially Jack Daw- 
 son, because of his full habit, so that he declared he would 
 rather ride a-horseback to the end of the earth than go 
 another mile on sea. 
 
 We stayed in Bordeaux, which is a noble town, but dirty, 
 four days to refresh ourselves, and here the Don lodged us 
 in a fine inn and fed us on the best; and also he made us 
 buy new clothes and linen (which we sadly needed after 
 the pickle we had lain in a fortnight) and cast away our 
 old; but no more than was necessary, saying 'twould be 
 better to furnish ourselves with fresh linen as we needed it, 
 than carry baggage, etc. "And let all you buy be good 
 goods," says he, "for in this country a man is valued at 
 
 5 2 
 
COME TO BORDEAUX NONE TOO SOON. 53 
 
 what he seems, and the innkeepers do go in such fear of 
 their seigneurs that they will charge him less for entertain- 
 ment than if he were a mean fellow who could ill afford to 
 pay." 
 
 So not to displease him we dressed ourselves in the 
 French fashion, more richly than ever we had been clad in 
 our lives, and especially Moll did profit by this occasion 
 to furnish herself like any duchess; so that Dawson and I 
 drew lots to decide which of us should present the bill to 
 Don Sanchez, thinking he would certainly take exception 
 to our extravagance; but he did not so much as raise his 
 eyebrows at the total, but paid it without ever a glance at 
 the items. Nay, when Moll presents herself in her new 
 equipment, he makes her a low reverence and pays her a 
 most handsome compliment, but in his serious humour and 
 without a smile. He himself wore a new suit all of black, 
 not so fine as ours, but very noble and becoming, by reason 
 of his easy, graceful manner and his majestic, high carriage. 
 
 On the last day of March we set forth for Toulouse. At 
 our starting Don Sanchez bade Moll ride by his side, and 
 so we, not being bid, fell behind; and, feeling awkward 
 in our new clothes, we might very well have been taken for 
 their servants, or a pair of ill-bred friends at the best, for 
 our Moll carried herself not a whit less magnificent than 
 the Don, to the admiration of all who looked at her. 
 
 To see these grand airs of hers charmed Jack Dawson. 
 
 "You see, Kit," whispers he, "what an apt scholar the 
 minx is, and what an obedient, dutiful, good girl. One 
 word from me is as good as six months' schooling, for all 
 this comes of that lecture I gave her the last night we were 
 at Edmonton." 
 
54 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 I would not deny him the satisfaction of this belief, but 
 I felt pretty sure that had she been riding betwixt us in 
 her old gown, instead of beside the Don as his daughter, 
 all her father's preaching would not have stayed her from 
 behaving herself like an orange wench. 
 
 We journey by easy stages ten days through Toulouse, 
 on the road to Perpignan, and being favoured with remark- 
 ably fine weather, a blue sky, and a bright sun above us, and 
 at every turn something strange or beautiful to admire, no 
 pleasure jaunt in the world could have been more delight- 
 ful. At every inn (which here they call hotels) we found 
 good beds, good food, excellent wine, and were treated 
 like princes, so that Dawson and I would gladly have given 
 up our promise of a fortune to have lived in this manner 
 to the end of our days. But Don Sanchez professed to 
 hold all on this side of the Pyrenese Mountains in great 
 contempt, saying these hotels were as nothing to the Span- 
 ish posadas, that the people here would rob you if they 
 dared, whereas, on t'other side, not a Spaniard would take 
 so much as the hair of your horse's tail, though he were at 
 the last extremity, that the food was not fit for aught but a 
 Frenchman, and so forth. And our Moll, catching this 
 humour, did also turn up her nose at everything she was 
 offered, and would send away a bottle of wine from the 
 table because 'twas not ripe enough, though but a few 
 weeks before she had been drinking penny ale with a relish, 
 and that as sour as verjuice. And, indeed, she did carry 
 it mighty high and artificial, wherever respect and humility 
 were to be commanded. But it was pretty to see how she 
 would unbend and become her natural self where her heart 
 was touched by some tender sentiment. How she would 
 
COME INTO THE PYRENESE. 55 
 
 empty her pockets to give to any one with a piteous tale, 
 how she would get from her horse to pluck wild-flowers by 
 the roadside, and how, one day, overtaking a poor woman 
 carrying a child painfully on her back, she must have the 
 little one up on her lap and carry it till we reached the 
 hamlet where the woman lived, etc. On the fifteenth day 
 we stayed at St. Denys, and going thence the next morning, 
 had travelled but a couple of hours when we were caught 
 in a violent storm of hailstones as big as peas, that was 
 swept with incredible force by a wind rushing through a 
 deep ravine in the mountains, so that 'twas as much as we 
 could make headway through it and gain a village which 
 lay but a little distance from us. And here we were forced 
 to stay all day by another storm of rain, that followed the 
 hail and continued till nightfall. Many others besides our- 
 selves were compelled to seek refuge at our inn, and 
 amongst them a company of Spanish muleteers, for it seems 
 we were come to a pass leading through the mountains into 
 Spain. These were the first Spaniards we had yet seen 
 (save the Don), and for all we had heard to their credit, 
 we could not admire them greatly, being a low-browed, 
 coarse-featured, ragged crew, and more picturesque than 
 cleanly, besides stinking intolerably of garlic. By night- 
 fall there was more company than the inn could accommo- 
 date; nevertheless, in respect to our quality, we were given 
 the best rooms in the house to ourselves. 
 
 About eight o'clock, as we were about to sit down to sup- 
 per, our innkeeper's wife comes in to tell us that a Spanish 
 grandee is below, who has been travelling for hours in the 
 storm, and then she asked very humbly if our excellencies 
 will permit her to lay him a bed in our room when we have 
 
56 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 done with it, as she can bestow him nowhere else (the 
 muleteers filling her house to the very cock loft), and has 
 not the heart to send him on to St. Denys in this pitiless 
 driving rain. To this Don Sanchez replies, that a Spanish 
 gentleman is welcome to all we can offer him, and there- 
 with sends down a mighty civil message, begging his com- 
 pany at our table. 
 
 Moll has just time to whip on a piece of finery, and we 
 to put on our best manners, when the landlady returns, 
 followed by a stout, robust Spaniard, in an old coat several 
 times too small for him, whom she introduced as Sefior 
 Don Lopez de Calvados. 
 
 Don Lopez makes us a reverence, and then, with his 
 shoulders up to his ears and like gestures, gives us an 
 harangue at some length, but this being in Spanish, is as 
 heathen Greek to our ears. However, Don Sanchez ex- 
 plains that our visitor is excusing his appearance as being 
 forced to change his wet clothes for what the innkeeper 
 can lend him, and so we, grinning to express our amia- 
 bility, all sit down to table and set to Moll with her 
 most finicking, delicate airs and graces, and Dawson and 
 I silent as frogs, with understanding nothing of the Dons' 
 conversation. This, we learn from Don Sanchez after sup- 
 per, has turned chiefly on the best means of crossing into 
 Spain, from which it appears there are two passes through 
 the mountains, both leading to the same town, but one 
 more circuitous than the other. Don Lopez has come by 
 the latter, because the former is used by the muleteers, 
 who are not always the most pleasant companions one can 
 have in a dangerous road; and for this reason he recom- 
 mends us to take his way, especially as we have a young 
 
SET OUT FOR RAVELLOS. 57 
 
 lady with us, which will be the more practicable, as the 
 same guides who conducted him will be only too glad to 
 serve us on their return the next morning. To this propo- 
 sition we very readily agree, and supper being ended, Don 
 Sanchez sends for the guides, two hardy mountaineers, who 
 very readily agree to take us this way the next morning, if 
 the weather permits. And so we all, wishing Don Lopez a 
 good-night, to our several chambers. 
 
 I was awoke in the middle of the night, as it seemed to 
 me, by a great commotion below of Spanish shouting and 
 roaring with much jingling of bells; and looking out of 
 window I perceived lanterns hanging here and there in the 
 courtyard, and the muleteers packing their goods to depart, 
 with a fine clear sky full of stars overhead. And scarce 
 had I turned into my warm bed again, thanking God I was 
 no muleteer, when in comes the Don with a candle, to say 
 the guide will have us moving at once if we would reach 
 Ravellos (our Spanish town) before night. So I to Daw- 
 son's chamber, and he to Moll's, and in a little while we 
 all shivering down to the great kitchen, where is never a 
 muleteer left, but only a great stench of garlic, to eat a 
 mess of soup, very hot and comforting. And after that 
 out into the dark (there being as yet but a faint flush of 
 green and primrose colour over towards the east), where 
 four fresh mules (which Don Sanchez overnight had bar- 
 gained to exchange against our horses, as being the only 
 kind of cattle fit for this service) are waiting for us with 
 other two mules, belonging to our guides, all very curiously 
 trapped out with a network of wool and little jingling 
 bells. Then when Don Sanchez had solemnly debated 
 whether we should not awake Don Lopez to say farewell, 
 
58 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 and we had persuaded him that it would be kinder to let 
 him sleep on, we mounted into our high, fantastic saddles, 
 and set out towards the mountains, our guides leading, and 
 we following close upon their heels as our mules could get, 
 but by no guidance of ours, though we held the reins, for 
 these creatures are very sagacious and so pertinacious and 
 opiniastre that I believe though you pulled their heads off 
 they would yet go their own way. 
 
 Our road at first lay across a rising plain, very wild and 
 scrubby, as I imagine, by the frequent deviations of our 
 beast, and then through a forest of cork oaks, which keep 
 their leaves all the year through, and here, by reason of 
 the great shade, we went, not knowing whither, as if blind- 
 fold, only we were conscious of being on rough, rising 
 ground, by the jolting of our mules and the clatter of their 
 hoofs upon stones; but after a wearisome, long spell of this 
 business, the trees growing more scattered and a thin grey 
 light creeping through, we could make out that we were all 
 together, which was some comfort. From these oaks, we 
 passed into a wood of chestnuts, and still going up and up, 
 but by such devious, unseen ways, that I think no man, 
 stranger to these parts, could pick it out for himself in 
 broad daylight, we came thence into a great stretch of pine 
 trees, with great rocks scattered amongst them, as if some 
 mountain had been blown up and fallen in a huge shower 
 of fragments. 
 
 And so, still for ever toiling and scambling upwards, we 
 found ourselves about seven o'clock, as I should judge by 
 the light beyond the trees and upon the side of the moun- 
 tain, with the whole champaign laid out like a carpet under 
 us on one side, prodigious slopes of rock on either hand, 
 
A MOST HORRID JOURNEY. 59 
 
 with only a shrub or a twisted fir here and there, and on 
 the further side a horrid stark ravine with a cascade of water 
 thundering down in its midst, and a peak rising beyond, 
 covered with snow, which glittered in the sunlight like a 
 monstrous heap of white salt. 
 
 After resting at this point half an hour to breathe our 
 mules, the guides got into their saddles, and we did like- 
 wise, and so on again along the side of the ravine, only 
 not of a cluster as heretofore, but one behind the other in 
 a long line, the mules falling into this order of themselves 
 as if they had travelled the path an hundred times; but 
 there was no means of going otherwise, the path being 
 atrociously narrow and steep, and only fit for wild goats, 
 there being no landrail, coping, or anything in the world 
 to stay one from being hurled down a thousand feet, and 
 the mountain sides so inclined that 'twas a miracle the 
 mules could find foothold and keep their balance. From 
 the bottom of the ravine came a constant roar of falling 
 water, though we could spy it only now and then leaping 
 down from one chasm to another; and more than once our 
 guides would cry to us to stop (and that where our mules 
 had to keep shifting their feet to get a hold) while some 
 huge boulder, loosened by the night's rain, flew down 
 across our path in terrific bounds from the heights above, 
 making the very mountain tremble with the shock. Not 
 a word spoke we ; nay, we had scarce courage at times to 
 draw breath, for two hours and more of this fearful passage, 
 with no encouragement from our guides save that one of 
 them did coolly take out a knife and peel an onion as 
 though he had been on a level, broad road; and then, 
 reaching a flat space, we came to a stand again before an 
 
60 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 ascent that promised to be worse than that we had done. 
 Here we got down, Moll clinging to our hands and looking 
 around her with large, frighted eyes. 
 
 "Shall we soon be there? " she asked. 
 
 And the Don, putting this question in Spanish to the 
 guides, they pointed upwards to a gap filled with snow, 
 and answered that was the highest point. This was some 
 consolation, though we could not regard the rugged way 
 that lay betwixt us and that without quaking. Indeed, I 
 thought that even Don Sanchez, despite the calm, unmoved 
 countenance he ever kept, did look about him with a cer- 
 tain kind of uneasiness. However, taking example from 
 our guides, we unloosed our saddle bags, and laid out our 
 store of victuals with a hogskin of wine which rekindled 
 our spirits prodigiously. 
 
 While we were at this repast, our guides, starting as if 
 they had caught a sound (though we heard none save the 
 horrid bursting of water), looked down, and one of them, 
 clapping two dirty fingers in his mouth, made a shrill 
 whistle. Then we, looking down, presently spied two 
 mules far below on the path we had come, but at such a 
 distance that we could scarce make out whether they were 
 mounted or not. 
 
 "Who are they?" asks Don Sanchez, sternly, as I man- 
 aged to understand. 
 
 "Friends," replies one of the fellows, with a grin that 
 seemed to lay his face in two halves. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 How we were entertained in the mountains, and stand in a fair way 
 to have our throats cut. 
 
 " WE will go on when you are ready," says Don Sanchez, 
 turning to us. 
 
 " Aye," growled Jack in my ear, " with all my heart. 
 For if these friends be of the same kidney as Don Lopez, 
 we may be persuaded to take a better road, which God for- 
 bid if this be a sample of their preference." 
 
 So being in our saddles forth we set once more and on 
 a path no easier than before, but worse like a very house- 
 top for steepness, without a tinge of any living thing for 
 succour if one fell, but only sharp, jagged rocks, and that 
 which now added to our peril was here and there a patch of 
 snow, so that the mules must cock their ears and feel their 
 way before advancing a step, now halting for dread, and 
 now scuttling on with their tails betwixt their legs as the 
 stones rolled under them. 
 
 But the longest road hath an end, and so at length reach- 
 ing that gap we had seen from below, to our great content 
 we beheld through an angle in the mountain a tract of open 
 country below, looking mighty green and sweet in the dis- 
 tance. And at the sight of this, Moll clapt her hands 
 and cried out with joy; indeed, we were all as mad as 
 children with the thought that our task was half done. 
 Only the Don kept his gravity. But turning to Moll, he 
 
 61 
 
62 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 stretches out his hand towards the plain and says with 
 prodigious pride, " My country ! " 
 
 And now we began the descent, which was actually more 
 perilous than the ascent, but we made light of it, being very 
 much enlivened by the high mountain air and the relief 
 from dread uncertainty, shouting out our reflections one to 
 another as we jolted down the rugged path. 
 
 "After all, Jack," says I to him at the top of my voice, 
 being in advance and next to Don Sanchez ; " after all, Don 
 Lopez was not such a bad friend to us." 
 
 Upon which, the Don, stopping his mule at the risk of 
 being cast down the abyss, turns in his saddle, and says : 
 
 " Fellow, Don Lopez is a Spaniard. A Castilian of noble 
 birth " but here his mule deciding that this was no fit place 
 for halting, bundled onward at a trot to overtake the guides, 
 and obliged his rider to turn his attention to other matters. 
 
 By the look of the sun it must have been about two in the 
 afternoon when, rounding a great bluff of rock, we came 
 upon a kind of tableland which commanded a wide view of 
 the plain below, most dazzling to our eyes after the gloomy 
 recesses of the pass ; and here we found trees growing and 
 some rude attempt at cultivation, but all very poor and 
 stunted, being still very high and exposed to the bleak winds 
 issuing from the gorges. 
 
 Our guides, throwing themselves on the ground, repaired 
 once more to their store of onions, and we, nothing loath to 
 follow their examples, opened our saddle bags, and with our 
 cold meat and the hogskin of wine made another good repast 
 and very merry. And the Don, falling into discourse with 
 the guides, pointed out to us a little white patch on the plain 
 below, and told us that was Ravellos, where we should find 
 
SIGNS OF TRIBULATION IN STORE. 63 
 
 one of the best posadas in the world, which added to our 
 satisfaction. " But " says he, " 'tis yet four hours' march 
 ere we reach it, so we had best be packing quickly." 
 
 Thereupon we finished our meal in haste, the guides still 
 lying on the ground eating onions, and when we were pre- 
 pared to start they still lay there and would not budge. 
 On this ensued another discussion, very indignant and 
 passionate on the part of Don Sanchez, and as cool and 
 phlegmatic on the side of the guides, the upshot of which 
 was, as we learned from Don, that these rascals maintained 
 they had fulfilled their bargain in bringing us over into Spain, 
 but as to carrying us to Ravellos they would by no means 
 do that without the permission of their zefe, who was one 
 of those they had whistled to from our last halting place, 
 and whom they were now staying for. 
 
 Then, beginning to quake a bit at the strangeness of this 
 treatment, we looked about us to see if we might venture to 
 continue our journey alone. But Lord ! one might as easily 
 have found a needle in a bundle of hay as a path amidst this 
 labyrinth of rocks and horrid fissures that environed us ; and 
 this was so obvious that the guides, though not yet paid for 
 their service, made no attempt to follow or to stay us, as 
 knowing full well we must come back in despair. So there 
 was no choice but to wait the coming up of the zefe, the 
 Don standing with his legs astride and his arms folded, with 
 a very storm of passion in his face, in readiness to confront 
 the tardy zefe with his reproaches for this delay and the 
 affront offered to himself, we casting our eye longingly down 
 at Ravellos, and the guides silently munching their onions. 
 Thus we waited until the fine ear of our guides catching a 
 sound, they rose to their feet muttering the word " zefe," 
 
64 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 and pull off their hats as two men mounted on mules tricked 
 out like our own, came round the corner and pulled up 
 before us. But what was our surprise to see that the fore- 
 most of these fellows was none other than the Don Lopez 
 de Calvados we had entertained to supper the night before, 
 and of whose noble family Don Sanchez had been prating so 
 highly, and not a thread better dressed than when we saw 
 him last, and full as dirty. That which gave us most uneasi- 
 ness, however, was to observe that each of these " friends " 
 carried an ugly kind of musket slung across his back, and a 
 most unpleasant long sheath knife in his waist cloth. 
 
 Not a word says our Don Sanchez, but feigning still to 
 believe him a man of quality, he returns the other Don's salu- 
 tation with all the ceremony possible. Then Don Lopez, 
 smiling from ear to ear, begs us (as I learnt afterwards) to 
 pardon him for keeping us waiting, which had not happened, 
 he assures us, if we had not suffered him to oversleep himself. 
 He then informs us that we are now upon his domain, and 
 begs us to accept such hospitality as his Castillo will furnish, 
 in return for our entertainment of last night. To this Don 
 Sanchez replies with a thousand thanks that we are anxious 
 to reach Ravellos before nightfall, and that, therefore, we 
 will be going at once if it is all the same to him. With 
 more bowing and scraping Don Lopez amiably but firmly 
 declines to accept any refusal of his offer or to talk of 
 business before his debt of gratitude is paid. With that 
 he gives a sign to our guides, who at once lead off our 
 mules at a brisk trot, leaving us to follow on foot with 
 Don Lopez and his companion, whom he introduces as 
 Don Ruiz del Puerto, as arrant a cut-throat rascal to 
 look at as ever I clapt eyes on. 
 
ENTERTAINED TO OUR DISCOMFORT. 65 
 
 So we with very dismal forebodings trudge on, having no 
 other course to take, Don Sanchez, to make the best of it, 
 warranting that no harm shall come to us while we are under 
 the hospitable protection of a Spaniard, but to no great effect 
 our faith being already shaken in his valuation of Spaniards. 
 
 Quitting the tableland, ten minutes of leaping and 
 scrambling brought us to a collection of miserable huts 
 built all higgledy-piggledy along the edge of a torrent, 
 overtopped by a square building of more consequence, 
 built of grey stone and roofed with slate shingles, but with 
 nothing but ill-shaped holes for windows ; and this, Don 
 Lopez with some pride told us was his castillo. A ragged 
 crew of women and children, apprised of our coming by the 
 guide, maybe, trooped out of the village to meet us and 
 hailed our approach with shouts of joy, " for all the world 
 like a pack of hounds at the sight of their keeper with a 
 dish of bones," whispers Jack Dawson in my ear ominously. 
 But it was curious to see how they did all fall back in two 
 lines, those that had hats taking them off as Don Lopez 
 passed, he bowing to them right and left, like any prince 
 in his progress. 
 
 So we up to the castillo, where all the men of the 
 village are assembled and all armed like Don Lopez, and 
 they greet us with cries of " Hola ! " and throwing up of 
 hats. They making way for us with salutations on both sides, 
 we enter the castillo, where we find one great ill-paved room 
 with a step-ladder on one side leading to the floor above, but 
 no furniture save a table and some benches of wood, all 
 black and shining with grease and dirt. But indeed the 
 walls, the ceiling, and all else about us was beyond every- 
 thing for blackness, and this was easily to be understood, 
 F 
 
66 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 for a wench coming in with a cauldron lights a faggot of 
 wood in a corner, where was no chimney to carry off the 
 smoke, but only a hole in the wall with a kind of eaves over 
 it, so that presently the place was so filled with the fumes 
 'twas difficult to see across it. 
 
 Don Lopez (always as gracious as a cat with a milk- 
 maid) asks Moll through Don Sanchez if she would like to 
 make her toilette, while dinner is preparing, and at this 
 offer all of us jump choosing anything for a change ; so he 
 takes us up the step-ladder to the floor above, which differs 
 from that below in being cut up into half a dozen pieces by 
 some low partition of planks nailed loosely together like 
 cribs for cattle, with some litter of dry leaves and hay in 
 each, but in other respects being just as naked and grimy, 
 with a cloud of smoke coming up through the chinks in the 
 floor. 
 
 "You will have the sole use of these chambers during 
 your stay," says Don Lopez, " and for your better assurance 
 you can draw the ladder up after you on retiring for the 
 night." 
 
 But for the gravity of our situation and prospects I could 
 have burst out laughing when Don Sanchez gave us the 
 translation of this promise, for the idea of regarding these 
 pens as chambers was not less ludicrous than the air of 
 pride with which Don Lopez bestowed the privilege of 
 using 'em upon us. 
 
 Don Lopez left us, promising to send a maid with the 
 necessary appointments for Moll's toilette. 
 
 "A plague of all this finery ! " growled Dawson. "How 
 long may it be, think you, Senor, ere we can quit this palace 
 and get to one of those posadas you promised us? " 
 
NO RELISH FOR OUR MEAT. 6/ 
 
 Don Sanchez hunched his shoulders for all reply and 
 turned away to hide his mortification. And now a girl 
 comes up with a biggin of water on her head, a broken 
 comb in her hand, and a ragged cloth on her arm that 
 looked as if it had never been washed since it left the 
 loom, and sets them down on a bench, with a grin at Moll ; 
 but she, though not over-nice, turns away with a pout of 
 disgust, and then we to get a breath of fresh air to a hole 
 in the wall on the windward side, where we stand all dumb 
 with disappointment and dread until we are called down to 
 dinner. But before going down Don Sanchez warns us to 
 stand on our best behaviour, as these Spaniards, for all their 
 rude seeming, were of a particularly punctilious, ticklish dis- 
 position, and that we might come badly out of this business 
 if we happened to displease them. 
 
 " I cannot see reason in that, Sefior," says Dawson ; " for 
 the less we please 'em, the sooner they are likely to send us 
 hence, and so the better for us." 
 
 "As you please," replies the Don, "but my warning is to 
 your advantage." 
 
 Down we go, and there stands Don Lopez with a dozen 
 choice friends, all the raggedest, dirty villains in the world ; 
 and they saluting us, we return their civility with a very 
 fair pretence and take the seats offered us they standing 
 until we are set. Then they sit down, and each man lugs 
 out a knife from his waist-cloth. The cauldron, filled with 
 a mess of kid stewed in a multitude of onions, is fetched 
 from the fire, and, being set upon a smooth board, is slid 
 down the table to our host, who, after picking out some tit- 
 bits for us, serves himself, and so slides it back, each man 
 in turn picking out a morsel on the end of his knife. Bear- 
 
68 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 ing in mind Don Sanchez's warning, we do our best to eat 
 of this dish ; but, Heaven knows ! with little relish, and 
 mighty glad when the cauldron is empty and that part of 
 the performance ended. Then the bones being swept from 
 the table, a huge skin of wine is set before Don Lopez, and 
 he serves us each with about a quart in an odd-shaped ves- 
 sel with a spout, which Don Sanchez and his countrymen 
 use by holding it above their heads and letting the wine 
 spurt into their mouths ; but we, being unused to this fashion, 
 preferred rather to suck it out of the spout, which seemed 
 to them as odd a mode as theirs was to us. However, bet- 
 ter wine, drink it how you may, there is none than the wine 
 of these parts, and this reconciling us considerably to our 
 condition, we listened with content to their singing of dit- 
 ties, which they did very well for such rude fellows, to the 
 music of a guitar and a tambourine. And so when our pots 
 came to be replenished a second time, we were all mighty 
 merry and agreeable save Jack Dawson, who never could 
 take his liquor like any other man, but must fall into some 
 extravagant humour, and he, I perceived, regarded some 
 of the company with a very sour, jealous eye because, being 
 warmed with drink, they fell to casting glances at Moll with 
 a certain dregee of familiarity. Especially there was one 
 fellow with a hook nose, who stirred his bile exceedingly, 
 sitting with his elbows on the table and his jaws in his 
 hands, and would scarcely shift his eyes from Moll. And 
 since he could not make his displeasure understood in 
 words, and so give vent to it and be done, Jack sat there in 
 sullen silence watching for an opportunity to show his resent- 
 ment in some other fashion. The other saw this well enough, 
 but would not desist, and so these two sat fronting each other 
 
COME TO BLOWS. 69 
 
 like two dogs ready to fly at each other's throats. At length, 
 the hook-nosed rascal, growing bolder with his liquor, rises 
 as if to reach for his wine pot, and stretching across the 
 table, chucks Moll under the chin with his grimy ringers. 
 At this Jack flinging out his great fist with all the force of 
 contained passion, catches the other right in the middle of 
 the face, with such effect that the fellow flies clean back 
 over his bench, his head striking the pavement with a crash. 
 Then, in an instant, all his fellows spring to their feet, and 
 a dozen long knives flash out from their sheaths. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Of the manner in which we escaped pretty fairly out of the hands of 
 Senor Don Lopez and his brigands. 
 
 UP starts Jack Dawson, catching Moll by the arm and his 
 joint stool by the leg, and stepping back a pace or two not 
 to be taken in the flank, he swings his stool ready to dash 
 the brains out of the first that nears him. And I do like- 
 wise, making the same show of valour with my stool, but 
 cutting a poor figure beside Dawson's mighty presence. 
 
 Seeing their fellow laid out for dead on the floor, with 
 his hook nose smashed most horridly into his face, the 
 others had no stomach to meet the same fate, but with their 
 Spanish cunning began to spread out that so they might 
 attack us on all sides ; and surely this had done our business 
 but that Don Lopez, flinging himself before us with his knife 
 raised high, cries out at the top of his voice, " Rekbah ! " 
 a word of their own language, I am told, taken from the 
 Moorish, and signifying that whosoever shall outrage the laws 
 of hospitality under his roof shall be his enemy to the death. 
 And at this word every man stood still as if by inchantment, 
 and let fall his weapon. Then in the same high voice he 
 gives them an harangue, showing them that Dawson was in 
 the right to avenge an insult offered his daughter, and the 
 other justly served for his offence to us. " For his offence 
 to me as the host of these strangers," adds he, "Jose shall 
 answer to me hereafter if he live ; if he be dead, his body 
 
 70 
 
CONDITIONS OF PEACE. Jl 
 
 shall be flung to the vultures of the gorge, and his name be 
 never uttered again beneath this roof." 
 
 " I bear no grudges, not I," says Dawson, when Don 
 Sanchez gave him the English of this. " If he live, let his 
 nose be set ; and if dead, let him be buried decently in a 
 churchyard. But hark ye, Sefior, lest we fall out again and 
 come out worse the next bout, do pray ask his worship if 
 we may not be accommodated with a guide to take us on 
 our way at once. We have yet two hours of daylight before 
 us, there's not a cloud in the sky, and with such a moon as 
 we had the night before last, we may get on well enough." 
 
 Poor Moll, who was all of a shake with the terror of 
 another catastrophe, added her prayers to Dawson's, and 
 Don Sanchez with a profusion of civilities laid the proposal 
 before Don Lopez, who, though professing the utmost regret 
 to lose us so soon, consented to gratify our wish, adding 
 that his mules were so well accustomed to the road that 
 they could make the journey as well in the dark as in broad 
 day. 
 
 " Well, then," says Dawson, when this was told us, " let us 
 settle the business at once, and be off." 
 
 And now, when Don Sanchez proposed to pay for the 
 service of our guides, it was curious to see how every rascal 
 at the table craned forward to watch the upshot. Don 
 Lopez makes a pretence of leaving the payment to Don 
 Sanchez's generosity ; and he, not behindhand in courtesy, 
 lugs out his purse and begs the other to pay himself. 
 Whereupon, with more apologies, Don Lopez empties the 
 money on the table and carefully counts it, and there being 
 but about a score of gold pieces and some silver, he shakes 
 his head and says a few words to Don Sanchez in a very 
 
/2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 reproachful tone of remonstrance, to which our Don replies 
 by turning all the trifles out of his pocket, one after the 
 other, to prove that he has no money. 
 
 " I thought as much," growls Jack in my ear. " A pretty 
 nest of hornets we're fallen into." 
 
 The company, seeing there was no more to be got out of 
 Don Sanchez, began to murmur and cast their eyes at us ; 
 whereupon Dawson, seeing how the land lay, stands up and 
 empties his pockets on the table, and I likewise ; but be- 
 twixt us there was no more than some French pennies and 
 a few odds and ends of no value at all. Fetching a deep 
 sigh, Don Lopez takes all these possessions into a heap 
 before him, and tells Don Sanchez that he cannot believe 
 persons of our quality could travel with so little, that he feels 
 convinced Don Sanchez must have dropped a purse on the 
 way, and that until it is found he can on no account allow 
 us to leave the neighbourhood. 
 
 " This comes of being so mighty fine ! " says Dawson, 
 when Don Sanchez had explained matters. " Had we trav- 
 elled as became our condition, this brigand would never 
 have ensnared us hither. And if they won't believe your 
 story, Senor, I can't blame 'em ; for I would have sworn you 
 had a thousand pounds to your hand." 
 
 "Do you reproach me for my generosity?" asks the Don. 
 
 " Nay, Master, I love you for being free with your money 
 while you have it, but 'tis a queer kind of generosity to 
 bring us into these parts with no means of taking us back 
 again. Hows'ever, we'll say no more about that if we get 
 out of this cursed smoke-hole ; and as we are like to come 
 off ill if these Jack-thieves keep us here a week or so and 
 get nothing by it, 'twill be best to tell 'em the honest truth, 
 
WE ARE PUT ON OUR METTLE. 73 
 
 and acquaint them that we are no gentle folk, but only three 
 poor English mountebanks brought hither on a wild goose 
 chase." 
 
 This was a bitter pill for Don Sanchez to swallow ; how- 
 ever, seeing no other cure for our ills, he gulped it down 
 with the best face he could put on it. But from the 
 mockery and laughter of all who heard him, 'twas plain to 
 see they would not believe a word of his story. 
 
 "What would you have me do now?" asks the Don, 
 turning to us when the clamour had subsided, and he told 
 us how he had tried to persuade them we were dancers he 
 was taking for a show to the fair at Barcelona, which they, 
 by our looks, would not believe, and especially that a man 
 of such build as Jack Dawson could foot it, even to please 
 such heavy people as the English. 
 
 " What ! " cries Jack. " I can't dance ! We will pretty 
 soon put them to another complexion if they do but give 
 us space and a fair trial. You can strum a guitar, Kit, for 
 I've heard you. And Moll, my chick, do you dash the 
 tears from your cheek and pluck up courage to show these 
 Portugals what an English lass can do." 
 
 The brigands agreeing to this trial, the table is shoved 
 back to give us a space in the best light, and our judges 
 seat themselves conveniently. Moll brushes her eyes (to a 
 little murmur of sympathy, as I thought), and I, striking 
 out the tune, Jack, with all the magnificence of a king, takes 
 her hand and leads her out to a French pavan; and sure 
 no one in the world ever stepped it more gracefully than 
 our poor little Moll (now put upon her mettle), nor more 
 lightly than Dawson, so that every rascal in our audience 
 was won to admiration, clapping hands and shouting 
 
74 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " Hola ! " when it was done. And this warming us, we 
 gave 'em next an Italian coranto, and after that, an English 
 pillow dance ; and, in good faith, had they all been our 
 dearest friends, these dirty fellows could not have gone 
 more mad with delight. And then Moll and her father 
 sitting down to fetch their breath, a dispute arose among 
 the brigands which we were at a loss to understand, until 
 Don Sanchez explained that a certain number would have 
 it we were real dancers, but that another party, with Don 
 Lopez, maintained these were but court dances, which 
 only proved the more we were of high quality to be thus 
 accomplished. 
 
 " We'll convince 'em yet, Moll, with a pox of their doubts," 
 cries Dawson, starting to his feet again. " Tell 'em we will 
 give 'em a stage dance of a nymph and a wild man, Senor, 
 with an excuse for our having no costume but this. Play us 
 our pastoral, Kit. And sing you your ditty of * Broken 
 Heart,' Moll, in the right place, that I may get my wind for 
 the last caper." 
 
 Moll nods, and with ready wit takes the ribbon from her 
 head, letting her pretty hair tumble all about her shoulders, 
 and then whipping up her long skirt, tucks one end under 
 her girdle, thereby making a very dainty show of pink lining 
 against the dark stuff, and also giving more play for her feet. 
 And so thus they dance their pastoral, Don Sanchez taking 
 a tambourine and tapping it lightly to the measure, up to 
 Moll's song, which so ravished these hardy, stony men by 
 the pathetic sweetness of her voice, for they could under- 
 stand nothing save by her expression, that they would not 
 let the dance go on until she had sung it through again. To 
 conclude, Jack springs up as one enamoured to madness 
 
THE DON AND I PLUMED OF OUR FINE FEATHERS. /5 
 
 and flings out his last steps with such vigour and agility as 
 to quite astound all. 
 
 And now the show being ended, and not one but is 
 a-crying of " Hola ! " and " Animo ! " Moll snatches the tam- 
 bourine from Don Sanchez's hand, and stepping before Don 
 Lopez drops him a curtsey, and offers it for her reward. 
 At this Don Lopez, glancing at the money on the table by 
 his side, and looking round for sanction to his company 
 (which they did give him without one voice of opposition), 
 he takes up two of the gold pieces and drops them on the 
 parchment. Thus did our Moll, by one clever hit, draw an 
 acknowledgment from them that we were indeed no fine 
 folks, but mere players, which point they might have stum- 
 bled over in their cooler moments. 
 
 But we were not quit yet ; for on Don Sanchez's begging 
 that we should now be set upon our road to Ravellos, the 
 other replies that though he will do us this service with 
 great pleasure, yet he cannot permit us to encounter the 
 danger again of being taken for persons of quality. " Fine 
 dress," says he, "may be necessary to the Senor and his 
 daughter for their court dances, and they are heartily wel- 
 come to them for the pleasure they have given us, but for 
 you and the musician who plays but indifferent well, meaner 
 garb is more suitable ; and so you will be good enough to 
 step upstairs, the pair of you, and change your clothing for 
 such as we can furnish from our store." 
 
 And upstairs we were forced to go, Don Sanchez and I, 
 and there being stripped we were given such dirty foul rags 
 and so grotesque, that when we came down, Jack Dawson 
 and Moll fell a-laughing at us, as though they would burst. 
 And, in truth, we made a most ludicrous spectacle, espe- 
 
? A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 cially the Don, whom hitherto we had seen only in the 
 neatest and most noble of clothes, looking more like a 
 couple of scarecrows than living men. 
 
 Don Sanchez neither smiled nor frowned at this treat- 
 ment, taking this misfortune with the resignation of a phi- 
 losopher; only to quiet Dawson's merriment he told him 
 that in the clothes taken from him was sewed up a bond for 
 two hundred pounds, but whether this was true or not I 
 cannot tell. 
 
 And now, to bring an end to this adventure, we were 
 taken down the intricate passes of the mountain in the 
 moonlight, as many of the gang as could find mules coming 
 with us for escort, and brought at last to the main road, 
 where we were left with nought but what we stood in (save 
 Moll's two pieces) , the robbers bidding us their adios with 
 all the courtesy imaginable. But even then, robbed of all 
 he had even to the clothes of his back, Don Sanchez's pride 
 was unshaken, for he bade us note that the very thieves in 
 Spain were gentlemen. 
 
 As we trudged along the road toward Ravellos, we fell 
 debating on our case, as what we should do next, etc., Don 
 Sanchez promising that we should have redress for our ill- 
 treatment, that his name alone would procure us a supply of 
 money for our requirements, etc., to my great content. But 
 Dawson was of another mind. 
 
 " As for seeking redress," says he, " I would as soon kick 
 at a hive for being stung by a bee, and the wisest course 
 when you've been once bit by a dog is to keep out of his 
 way for the future. With respect of getting money by your 
 honour's name, you may do as you please, and so may you, 
 Kit, if you're so minded. But for my part, henceforth I'll 
 
DAWSON PROPOUNDS A NOTABLE SCHEME. 7/ 
 
 pretend to be no better than I am, and the first suit of rags 
 I can get will I wear in the fashion of this country. And so 
 shall you, Moll, my dear ; so make up your mind to lay aside 
 your fine airs and hold up your nose no longer as if you 
 were too good for your father." 
 
 " Why, surely, Jack," says I, " you would not quit us and 
 go from your bargain." 
 
 "Not I, and you should know me well enough, Kit, to 
 have no doubt on that score. But 'tis no part of our bar- 
 gain that we should bustle anybody but Simon the 
 steward." 
 
 " We have four hundred miles to go ere we reach Elche," 
 says Don Sanchez. " Can you tell me how we are to get 
 there without money ? " 
 
 " Aye, that I can, and I warrant my plan as good as your 
 honour's. How many tens are there in four hundred, Kit ? " 
 
 " Forty." 
 
 " Well, we can walk ten miles a day on level ground, and 
 so may do this journey in six weeks or thereabouts, which is 
 no such great matter, seeing we are not to be back in Eng- 
 land afore next year. We can buy a guitar and a tabor out 
 of Moll's pieces ; with them we can give a show wherever 
 we stay for the night, and if honest men do but pay us half 
 as much as the thieves of this country, we may fare pretty 
 well." 
 
 " I confess," says Don Sanchez, " your scheme is the best, 
 and I would myself have proposed it but that I can do so 
 little for my share." 
 
 "Why, what odds does that make, Senor?" cries Jack. 
 " You gave us of the best while you had aught to give, and 
 'tis but fair we should do the same now. Besides which, 
 
78 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 how could we get along without you for a spokesman, and 
 I marked that you drummed to our dance very tunefully. 
 Come, is it a bargain, friend? " 
 
 And on Don Sanchez's consenting, Jack would have us all 
 shake hands on it for a sign of faith and good fellowship. 
 Then, perceiving that we were arrived at the outskirts of the 
 town, we ended our discussion. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Of our merry journeying to Alicante. 
 
 WE turned into the first posada we came to a poor, 
 mean sort of an inn and general shop, to be sure, but we 
 were in no condition to cavil about trifles, being fagged 
 out with our journey and the adventures of the day, and 
 only too happy to find a house of entertainment still open. 
 So after a dish of sausages with very good wine, we to our 
 beds and an end to the torment of fleas I had endured from 
 the moment I changed my French habit for Spanish rags. 
 
 The next morning, when we had eaten a meal of goats' 
 milk and bread and paid our reckoning, which amounted 
 to a few rials and no more, Don Sanchez and I, taking 
 what rested of Moll's two pieces, went forth into the town 
 and there bought two plain suits of clothes for ourselves in 
 the mode of the country, and (according to his desire) 
 another of the same cut for Dawson, together with a little 
 jacket and petticoat for Moll. And these expenditures left 
 us but just enough to buy a good guitar and a tambourine 
 indeed, we should not have got them at all but that Don 
 Sanchez higgled and bargained like any Jew, which he 
 could do with a very good face now that he was dressed 
 so beggarly. Then back to our posada, where in our room 
 Jack and I were mighty merry in putting on our new 
 clothes; but going below we find Moll still dressed in her 
 finery, and sulking before the petticoat and jacket we had 
 
 79 
 
80 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 bought for her, which she would not put on by any persuasion 
 until her father fell into a passion of anger. And the sight 
 of him fuming in a short jacket barely covering his loins, 
 and a pair of breeches so tight the seams would scarce hold 
 together, so tickled her sense of humour that she fell into a 
 long fit of laughter, and this ending her sulks she went up- 
 stairs with a good grace and returned in her hated petticoat, 
 carrying her fine dress in a bundle. But I never yet knew the 
 time when this sly baggage would not please herself for all 
 her seeming yielding to others, and we were yet to have more 
 pain from her than she from us in respect of that skirt. 
 For ere we had got half way through the town she, dawd- 
 ling behind to look first in this shop and then in that, gave 
 us the slip, so that we were best part of an hour hunting 
 the streets up and down in the utmost anxiety. Then as 
 we were sweating with our exercise and trouble, lol she 
 steps out of a shop as calm as you please in a petticoat and 
 jacket of her own fancy (and ten times more handsome 
 than our purchase), a red shawl tied about her waist, and a 
 little round hat with a bright red bob in it, set on one 
 side of her head, and all as smart as a carrot. 
 
 " Da ! " says she, " where have you been running all this 
 time?" 
 
 And we, betwixt joy at finding her and anger at her im- 
 pudence, could say nothing ; and yet we were fain to admire 
 her audacity too. But how, not knowing one word of the 
 language, she had made her wants known was a mystery, and 
 how she had obtained this finery was another, seeing that we 
 had spent all there was of her two pieces. Certainly she had 
 not changed her French gown and things for them, for these 
 in a cumbrous bundle had her father been carrying up and 
 down the town since we lost the minx. 
 
DO FALL INTO A MAD FROLICSOME HUMOUR. 8 1 
 
 " If you han't stole 'em," says Dawson, finding his tongue 
 at last, " where did you find the money to pay for those trap- 
 pings, slut?" 
 
 " In my pocket, sir," says she, with a curtsey, " where you 
 might have found yours had you not emptied it so readily for 
 the robbers yesterday. And I fancy," adds she slyly, " I may 
 still find some left to offer you a dinner at midday if you will 
 accept of it." 
 
 This hint disposed us to make light of our grievance against 
 her, and we went out of Ravellos very well satisfied to know 
 that our next meal depended not solely upon chance. And 
 this, together with the bright sunlight and the sweet invigo- 
 rating morning air, did beget in us a spirit of happy careless- 
 ness, in keeping with the smiling gay aspect of the country 
 about us. 
 
 It was strange to see how easily Moll fell into our happy- 
 go-lucky humour, she, who had been as stately as any Roman 
 queen in her long gown, being now, in her short coloured 
 petticoat, as frolicsome and familiar as a country wench at a 
 fair; but indeed she was a born actress and could accommo- 
 date herself as well to one condition as another with the mere 
 change of clothes. But I think this state was more to her 
 real taste than the other, as putting no restraint upon her 
 impulses and giving free play to her healthy, exuberant mirth. 
 Her very step was a kind of dance, and she must needs fall 
 a-carolling of songs like a lark when it flies. Then she would 
 have us rehearse our old songs to our new music. So, sling- 
 ing my guitar in front of me, I put it in tune, and Jack ties his 
 bundle to his back that he may try his hand at the tambour- 
 ine. And so we march along singing and playing as if to a 
 feast, and stopping only to laugh prodigiously when one or 
 
82 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 other fell out of tune, the most mad, light-hearted fools in 
 the world; but I speak not of Don Sanchez, who, feel what 
 he might, never relaxed his high bearing or unbent his serious 
 countenance. 
 
 One thing I remember of him on this journey. Hav- 
 ing gone about five miles, we sat us down on a bridge to 
 rest a while, and there the Don left us to go a little way up 
 the course of the stream that flowed beneath, and he came 
 back with a posey of sweet jonquils set off with a delicate 
 kind of fern very pretty, and this he presents to Moll with 
 a gracious little speech, which act, it seemed to me, was to 
 let her know that he respected her still as a young gentle- 
 woman in spite of her short petticoat, and Moll was not dull 
 to the compliment neither; for, after the first cry of delight 
 in seeing these natural dainty flowers (she loving such 
 things beyond all else in the world), she bethought her to 
 make him a curtsey and reply to his speech with another as 
 good and well turned, as she set them in her waist scarf. 
 Also I remember on this road we saw oranges and lemons 
 growing for the first time, but full a mile after Moll had 
 first caught their wondrous perfume in the air. And these 
 trees, which are about the size of a crab tree, grew in 
 close groves on either side of the road, with no manner of 
 fence to protect them, so that any one is lief to pluck what 
 he may without let, so plentiful are they, and curious to 
 see how fruit and blossom grow together on the same bush, 
 the lemons, as I hear, giving four crops in the year, and 
 more delicious, full, and juicy than any to be bought in 
 England at six to the groat. 
 
 We got a dinner of bread and cheese (very high) at a 
 roadside house, and glad to have that, only no meat of any 
 
VERY GOOD FARE ON THE ROAD. 83 
 
 kind, but excellent good wine with dried figs and walnuts, 
 which is the natural food of this country, where one may go 
 a week without touching flesh and yet feel as strong and 
 hearty at the end. And here very merry, Jack in his per- 
 tinacious, stubborn spirit declaring he would drink his wine 
 in the custom of the country or none at all, and so lifting up 
 the spouted mug at arm's length he squirts the liquor all 
 over his face, down his new clothes and everywhere 
 but into his mouth, before he could arrive to do it 
 like Don Sanchez; but getting into the trick of it, he so 
 mighty proud of his achievement that he must drink pot 
 after pot until he got as drunk as any lord. So after that, 
 finding a retired place, it being midday and prodigious 
 hot (though only now in mid-April), we lay down under 
 the orange trees and slept a long hour, to our great refresh- 
 ment. Dawson on waking remembered nothing of his 
 being drunk, and felt not one penny the worse for it. 
 And so on another long stretch through sweet country, 
 with here and there a glimpse of the Mediterranean, in the 
 distance, of a surprising blueness, before we reached 
 another town, and that on the top of a high hill. But it 
 seems that all the towns in these parts (save those armed 
 with fortresses) are thus built for security against the 
 pirates, who ravage the seaboard of this continent inces- 
 santly from end to end. And for this reason the roads 
 leading up to the town are made very narrow, tortuous, and 
 difficult, with watch-towers in places, and many points 
 where a few armed men lying in ambush may overwhelm 
 an enemy ten times as strong. The towns themselves are 
 fortified with gates, the streets extremely narrow and 
 crooked, and the houses massed all together with secret 
 
84 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 passages one to another, and a network of little alleys lead- 
 ing whither only the inhabitants knew, so that if an enemy 
 do get into them 'tis ten to one he will never come out alive. 
 
 It being market day in this town, here Jack and his 
 daughter gave a show of dancing, first in their French 
 suits, which were vastly admired, and after in their 
 Spanish clothes; but then they were asked to dance a 
 fandango, which they could not. However, we fared 
 very well, getting the value of five shillings in little 
 moneys, and the innkeepers would take nothing for our 
 entertainment, because of the custom we had brought his 
 house, which we considered very handsome on his part. 
 
 We set out again the next morning, but having shown 
 how we passed the first day I need not dwell upon those 
 which followed before we reached Barcelona, there being 
 nothing of any great importance to tell. Only Moll was 
 now all agog to learn the Spanish dances, and I cannot 
 easily forget how, after much coaxing and wheedling on 
 her part, she at length persuaded Don Sanchez to show her 
 a fandango; for, surely, nothing in the world was ever 
 more comic than this stately Don, without any music, and 
 in the middle of the high road, cutting capers, with a 
 countenance as solemn as any person at a burying. No 
 one could be more quick to observe the ludicrous than he, 
 nor more careful to avoid ridicule; therefore it said much 
 for Moll's cajolery, or for the love he bore her even at this 
 time, to thus expose himself to Dawson's rude mirth and 
 mine in order to please her. 
 
 We reached Barcelona the 25th of April, and there we 
 stayed till the ist of May, for Moll would go no further 
 before she had learnt a bolero and a fandango which 
 
THE SPANIARDS A GENEROUS NATURAL PEOPLE. 85 
 
 dances we saw danced at a little theatre excellently well, 
 but in a style quite different to ours, and the women very 
 fat and plain. And though Moll, being but a slight slip of 
 a lass, in whom the warmer passions were unbegotten, 
 could not give the bolero the voluptuous fervour of the 
 Spanish dancers, yet in agility and in pretty innocent grace 
 she did surpass them all to nought, which was abundantly 
 proved when she danced it in our posada before a court 
 full of Spaniards, for there they were like mad over her, 
 casting their silk handkerchiefs at her feet in homage, and 
 filling Jack's tambourine three times over with cigarros and 
 a plentiful scattering of rials. And I believe, had we stayed 
 there, we might have made more money than ever we 
 wanted at that time though not so much as Don Sanchez 
 had set his mind on; wherefore he would have us jogging 
 again as soon as Moll could be brought to it. 
 
 From Barcelona, we journeyed a month to Valencia, 
 growing more indolent with our easier circumstances, and 
 sometimes trudging no more than five or six miles in a day. 
 And we were, I think, the happiest, idlest set of vagabonds 
 in existence. But, indeed, in this country there is not 
 that spur to exertion which is for ever goading us in this. 
 The sun fills one's heart with content, and for one's other 
 wants a few halfpence a day will suffice, and if you have 
 them not 'tis no such great matter. For these people are 
 exceeding kind and hospitable; they will give you a meas- 
 ure of wine if you are thirsty, as we would give a mug of 
 water, and the poorest man will not sit down to table with- 
 out making you an offer to share what he has. Wherever 
 we went we were well received, and in those poor villages 
 where they had no money to give they would pay us for our 
 
86 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 show in kind, one giving us bed, another board, and filling 
 our wallets ere we left 'em with the best they could afford. 
 
 'Twas our habit to walk a few miles before dinner, to 
 sleep in the shade during the heat of the day, and to reach 
 a town (if possible) by the fall of the sun. There would 
 we spend half the night in jollity, and lie abed late in the 
 morning. The inns and big houses in these parts are built 
 in the form of squares, enclosing an open court with a 
 sort of arcade all round, and mostly with a grape-vine running 
 over the sunnier side, and in this space we used to give our 
 performance, by the light of oil lamps hung here and there 
 conveniently, with the addition, maybe, of moonlight re- 
 flected from one of the white walls. Here any one was free 
 to enter, we making no charge, but taking only what they 
 would freely give. And this treatment engenders a feeling 
 of kindness on both sides (very different to our sentiment 
 at home, where we players as often as not dread the audi- 
 ence as a kind of enemy, ready to tear us to pieces if we 
 fail to please), and ours was as great a pleasure to amuse 
 as theirs to be amused. I can recall to mind nothing of 
 any moment occurring on this journey, save that we spent 
 some time every day in perfecting our Spanish dances, I 
 getting to play the tunes correctly, which at first I made 
 sad bungling of, and Dawson in learning of his steps. Also, 
 he and Moll acquired the use of a kind of clappers, called 
 costagnettes, which they play with their hands in these 
 fandangos and boleros, with a very pleasing effect. 
 
 At Valencia we stayed a week and three days, lingering 
 more than was necessary, in order to see a bull-fight. And 
 this pastime they do not as we with dogs, but with men, 
 and the bull quite free, and, save for the needless killing 
 
MOLL STRANGELY TRACTABLE. 8/ 
 
 of horses, I think this a very noble exercise, being a fair 
 trial of human address against brute force. And 'tis not 
 nearly so beastly as seeing a prize fought by men, and not 
 more cruel, I take it, than the shooting of birds and hares 
 for sport, seeing that the agony of death is no greater for a 
 sturdy bull than for a timid coney, and hath this advantage, 
 that the bull, when exhausted, is despatched quickly, 
 whereas the bird or hare may just escape capture, to die a 
 miserable long death with a shattered limb. 
 
 From Valencia we travelled five weeks (growing, I think, 
 more lazy every day), over very hilly country to Alicante, 
 a seaport town very strongly protected by a castle on a 
 great rock, armed with guns of brass and iron, so that the 
 pirates dare never venture near. And here I fully thought 
 we were to dawdle away another week at the least, this 
 being a very populous and lively city, promising much 
 entertainment. For Moll, when not playing herself, was 
 mad to see others play, and she did really govern, with her 
 subtle wiles and winning smiles, more than her father, for 
 all his masterful spirit, or Don Sanchez with his stern 
 authority. But seeing two or three English ships in the 
 port, the Don deemed it advisable that we should push on 
 at once for Elche, and, to our great astonishment, Moll 
 consented to our speedy going without demur, though why, 
 we could not then discover,' but did soon after, as I shall 
 presently show. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Of our first coming to Elche and the strangeness of that city. 
 
 BEING resolved to our purpose overnight, we set out fairly 
 early in the morning for Elche, which lies half a dozen leagues 
 or thereabouts to the west of Alicante. Our way lay through 
 gardens of oranges and spreading vineyards, which flourish 
 exceedingly in this part, being protected from unkind winds 
 by high mountains against the north and east; and here 
 you shall picture us on the white, dusty road, Moll leading 
 the way a dozen yards in advance, a tambourine slung on 
 her back with streaming ribbons of many colours, taking two 
 or three steps on one foot, and then two or three steps on 
 t'other, with a Spanish twist of her hips at each turn, swing- 
 ing her arms as she claps her costagnettes to the air of a 
 song she had picked up at Barcelona, and we three men 
 plodding behind, the Don with a guitar across his back, 
 Dawson with our bundle of clothes, and I with a wallet of 
 provisions hanging o' one side and a skin of wine on the 
 other and all as white as any millers with the dust of Moll's 
 dancing. 
 
 " It might be as well," says Don Sanchez, in his solemn, 
 deliberate manner, " if Mistress Moll were advised to prac- 
 tise her steps in our rear." 
 
 " Aye, Sefior," replied Dawson, " I've been of the same 
 mind these last ten minutes. But with your consent, Don 
 Sanchez, I'll put her to a more serious exercise." 
 
SERIOUS DISCOURSE OF JACK DAWSON. 89 
 
 The Don consenting with a bov Jack continues : 
 
 " You may have observed that I haven't opened my lips 
 since we left the town, and the reason thereof is that I've 
 been turning over in my mind whether, having come thus 
 far, it would not be advisable to let my Moll know of our 
 project. Because, if she should refuse, the sooner we con- 
 sider some other plan, the better, seeing that now she is in 
 good case and as careless as a bird on the bough, and she 
 is less tractable to our purposes than when she felt the pinch 
 of hunger and cold and would have jumped at anything for 
 a bit of comfort." 
 
 " Does she not know of our design? " asks the Don, lift- 
 ing his eyebrows. 
 
 " No more than the man in the moon, Seiior," answers 
 Jack. " For, though Kit and I may have discoursed of it at 
 odd times, we have been mighty careful to shut our mouths 
 or talk of a fine day at her approach." 
 
 " Very good," says Don Sanchez. " You are her father." 
 
 " And she shall know it," says Jack, with resolution, and 
 taking a stride or two in advance he calls to her to give over 
 dancing and come to him. 
 
 " Have you forgot your breeding," he asks as she turns 
 and waits for him, " that you have no more respect for your 
 elders than to choke 'em with dust along of your shuffling? " 
 
 "What a thoughtless thing am I ! " cries she, in a voice of 
 contrition. " Why, you're floured as white as a shade ! " 
 
 Then taking up a corner of her waist-shawl, she gently 
 rubs away the dust from the tip of his nose, so that it stood 
 out glowing red from his face like a cherry through a hole 
 in a pie-crust, at which she claps her hands and rings out a 
 peal of laughter. 
 
9O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " I counted to make a lady of you, Moll," says Jack, in 
 sorrow, " but I see plainly you will ever be a fool, and so 
 'tis to no purpose to speak seriously." 
 
 " Surely, father, I have ever been what you wish me to be," 
 answers she, demurely, curious now to know what he would 
 be telling her. 
 
 " Then do you put them plaguy clappers away, and listen 
 to me patiently," says he. 
 
 Moll puts her hands behind her, and drawing a long lip 
 and casting round eyes at us over her shoulder, walks along 
 very slowly by her father's side, while he broaches the 
 matter to her. And this he did with some difficulty (for 'tis 
 no easy thing to make a roguish plot look innocent), as we 
 could see by his shifting his bundle from one shoulder to 
 the other now and again, scratching his ear and the like ; 
 but what he said, we, walking a pace or two behind, could 
 not catch, he dropping to a very low tone as if ashamed to 
 hear his own voice. To all he has to tell she listens very 
 attentively, but in the end she says something which causes 
 him to stop dead short and turn upon her gaping like a pig. 
 
 " What ! " he cries as we came up. "You knew all this 
 two months ago? " 
 
 " Yes, father," answers she, primly, "quite two months." 
 
 " And pray who told you? " he asks. 
 
 " No one, father, since you forbade me to ask questions. 
 But though I may be dumb to oblige you, I can't be deaf. 
 Kit and you are for ever a-talking of it." 
 
 "Maybe, child," says Dawson, mightily nettled. "Maybe 
 you know why we left Alicante this morning." 
 
 " I should be dull indeed if I didn't," answers she. " And 
 if you hadn't said when we saw the ships that we might meet 
 
MOLL AS RIPE FOR KNAVERY AS ANY. QI 
 
 more Englishmen in the town than we might care to know 
 hereafter, why, well, maybe we should have been in 
 Alicante now." 
 
 " By denying yourself that satisfaction," says Don Sanchez, 
 " we may conclude that the future we are making for you is 
 not unacceptable." 
 
 Moll stopped and says with some passion : 
 
 " I would turn back now and go over those mountains the 
 way we came to ride through France in my fine gown like a 
 lady." 
 
 " Brava ! bravamente ! " says the Don, in a low voice, as 
 she steps on in front of us, holding her head high with the 
 recollection of her former state. 
 
 " She was ever like that," whispers Dawson, with pride. 
 "We could never get her to play a mean part willingly; 
 could we, Kit? She was for ever wanting the part of a 
 queen writ for her." 
 
 The next day about sundown, coming to a little eminence, 
 Don Sanchez points out a dark patch of forest lying betwixt 
 us and the mountains, and says : 
 
 "That is Elche, the place where we are to stay some 
 months." 
 
 We could make out no houses at all, but he told us the 
 town lay in the middle of the forest, and added some curious 
 particulars as how, lying on flat ground and within easy 
 access of the sea, it could not exist at all but for the suffer- 
 ance of the Spaniards on one side and of the Barbary pirates 
 on the other, how both for their own convenience respected 
 it as neutral ground on which each could exchange his mer- 
 chandise without let or hindrance from the other, how the 
 sort of sanctuary thus provided was never violated either by 
 
Q2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Algerine or Spaniard, but each was free to come and go as 
 he pleased, etc., and this did somewhat reassure us, though 
 we had all been more content to see our destination on the 
 crest of a high hill. 
 
 From this point we came in less than half an hour to 
 Santa Pola, a small village, but very bustling, for here the 
 cart-road from Alicante ends, all transport of commodities 
 betwixt this and Elche being done on mules ; so here great 
 commotion of carriers setting down and taking up merchan- 
 dise, and the way choked with carts and mules and a very 
 babel of tongues, there being Moors here as well as Span- 
 iards, and all shouting their highest to be the better under- 
 stood of each other. These were the first Moors we had 
 seen, but they did not encourage us with great hopes of 
 more intimate acquaintance, wearing nothing but a kind of 
 long, ragged shirt to their heels, with a hood for their heads 
 in place of a hat, and all mighty foul with grease and dirt. 
 
 Being astir betimes the next morning, we reached Elche 
 before midday, and here we seemed to be in another world, 
 for this region is no more like Spain than Spain is like our 
 own country. Entering the forest, we found ourselves en- 
 compassed on all sides by prodigious high palm trees, which 
 hitherto we had seen only singly here and there, cultivated 
 as curiosities. And noble trees they are, standing eighty to 
 a hundred feet high, with never a branch, but only a great 
 spreading crown of leaves, with strings of dates hanging 
 down from their midst. Beneath, in marshy places, grew 
 sugar-canes as high as any haystack; and elsewhere were 
 patches of rice, which grows like corn with us, but thrives 
 well in the shade, curiously watered by artificial streams of 
 water. And for hedges to their property, these Moors have 
 
ELCHE A MOST CURIOUS TOWN. 93 
 
 agaves, with great spiky leaves which no man can penetrate, 
 and other strange plants, whereof I will mention only one, 
 they call the fig of Barbary, which is no fig at all, but a 
 thing having large, fleshy leaves, growing one out of the 
 other, with fruit and flower sprouting out of the edges, and 
 all monstrous prickly. To garnish and beautify this formi- 
 dable defence, nature had cast over all a network of creeping 
 herbs with most extraordinary flowers, delightful both to see 
 and smell, but why so prickly, no man can say. 
 
 "Surely, this must be paradise," cries Moll, staying to 
 look around her. 
 
 And we were of the same thinking, until we came to the 
 town, which, as I have said, lies in the midst of this forest, 
 and then all our hopes and expectations were dashed to the 
 ground. For we had looked to find a city in keeping with 
 these surroundings, of fairy palaces and stately mansions ; 
 in place whereof was nought but a wilderness of mean, low, 
 squalid houses, with meandering, ill-paved alleys, and all past 
 everything for unsavoury smells, heaps of refuse lying be- 
 fore every door, stark naked brats of children screaming 
 everywhere, and a pack of famished dogs snapping at our 
 heels. 
 
 Don Sanchez leads the way, we following, with rueful 
 looks one at the other, till we reach the market-place, and 
 there he takes us into a house of entertainment, where a 
 dozen Moors are squatting on their haunches in groups 
 about sundry bowls of a smoking mess, called cuscusson, 
 which is a kind of paste with a little butter in it and a store 
 of spices. Their manner of eating it is simple enough : 
 each man dips his hand in the pot, takes out a handful, 
 and dances it about till it is fashioned into a ball, and then 
 
94 A SET O F ROGUES. 
 
 he eats it with all the gusto in the world. For our repast 
 we were served with a joint of roast mutton, and this being 
 cut up, we had to take up in our hands and eat like any 
 savages, their religion denying these Moors anything but 
 the bare necessities of life. Also, their law forbids the 
 drinking of wine, which did most upset Jack Dawson, he 
 having for drink with his meat nothing but the choice of 
 water and sour milk ; but which he liked least I know not, 
 for he would touch neither, saying he would rather go dry 
 any day than be poisoned with such liquor. 
 
 Whilst we were at our meal, a good many Moors came 
 in to stare at us, as at a raree show, and especially at Moll, 
 whose bright clothes and loose hair excited their curiosity, 
 for their women do rarely go abroad, except they be old, 
 and wear only long dirty white robes, muffling the lower 
 part of their faces. None of them smiled, and it is notice- 
 able that these people, like our own Don, do never laugh, 
 taking such demonstration as a sign of weak understanding 
 and foolishness, but watching all our actions very intently. 
 And presently an old Moor, with a white beard and more 
 cleanly dressed than the rest, pushing the crowd aside to 
 see what was forward, recognised Don Sanchez, who at 
 once rose to his feet ; we, not to be behind him in good 
 manners, rising also. 
 
 "May Baba," says the old Moor; and repeating this 
 phrase thrice (which is a sure sign of hearty welcome), he 
 claps the Don's hand, without shaking it, and lays his own 
 upon his breast, the Don doing likewise. Then Don San- 
 chez, introducing us as we understood by his gestures, the 
 old Moor bends his head gravely, putting his right hand 
 first to his heart, next to his forehead, and then kissing the 
 
COME TO THE END OF OUR JOURNEY. 95 
 
 two foremost fingers laid across his lips, we replying as best 
 we could with a bowing and scraping. These formalities 
 concluded, the Don and the old Moor walk apart, and we 
 squat down again to our mutton bones. 
 
 After a lengthy discussion the old Moor goes, and Don 
 Sanchez, having paid the reckoning, leads us out of the 
 town by many crooked alleys and cross-passages ; he speak- 
 ing never a word, and we asking no questions, but marvelling 
 exceedingly what is to happen next. And, following a wall 
 overhung by great palms, we turn a corner, and find there 
 our old Moor standing beside an open door with a key in 
 his hand. The old Moor gives the key into Don Sanchez's 
 hand, and with a very formal salutation, leaves us. 
 
 Then following the Don through the doorway, we find 
 ourselves in a spacious garden, but quite wild for neglect ; 
 flower and weed and fruit all mingling madly together, but 
 very beautiful to my eye, nevertheless, for the abundance 
 of colour, the richness of the vegetables, and the graceful 
 forms of the adjacent palms. 
 
 A house stood in the midst of this wilderness, and thither 
 Don Sanchez picked his way, we at his heels still too amazed 
 to speak. Beside the house was a well with a little wall 
 about it, and seating himself on this, Don Sanchez opens 
 his lips for the first time. 
 
 " My friend, Sidi ben Ahmed, has offered me the use of 
 this place as long as we choose to stay here," says he. " Go 
 look in the house and tell me if you care to live in it for a 
 year." 
 
CHAPTER X,I. 
 
 Hcnv Don Sanchez very honestly offers to free us of our bargain if ive 
 will ; but we will not. 
 
 THE house, like nearly all Moo-ish houses of this class, 
 was simply one large and lofty room, with a domed ceiling 
 built of very thick masonry, to resist the heat of the sun. 
 There was neither window nor chimney, the door serving 
 to admit light and air, and let out the smoke if a fire were 
 lighted within. One half of this chamber was dug out to 
 a depth of a couple of feet, for the accommodation of cattle 
 (the litter being thrown into the hollow as it is needed, and 
 nought removed till it reaches the level of the other floor), 
 and above this, about eight feet from the ground and four 
 from the roof, was a kind of shelf (the breadth and length 
 of that half), for the storage of fodder and a sleeping-place 
 for the inhabitants, with no kind of partition, or any issue 
 for the foul air from the cattle below. 
 
 "Are we to live a year in this hutch?'' asks Moll, in 
 affright. 
 
 "Have done with your chatter, Moll!" answers Jack, 
 testily. "Don't you see I'm a-thinking? Heaven knows 
 there's enough to swallow without any bugbears of your 
 raising." 
 
 With that, having finished his inspection of the interior, 
 he goes out and looks at it outside. 
 
 "Well," says Don Sanchez, "what think you of the 
 house?" 
 
 96 
 
ENTER INTO MOST SERIOUS DISCUSSION. Q/ 
 
 "Why, Senor, 'tis no worse as I can see than any other 
 in these parts, and hath this advantage, which they have 
 not, of being in a sweet air. With a bit of contrivance we 
 could make a shift to live here well enough. We should not 
 do amiss neither for furniture, seeing that 'tis the custom of 
 the country to eat off the floor and sit upon nothing. A pot 
 to cook victuals in is about all we need in that way. But 
 how we are to get anything to .cook in it is one mystery, 
 and " (clacking his tongue) "what we are going to drink is 
 another, neither of which I can fathom. For, look you, 
 Senor, if one may judge of men's characters by their faces 
 or of their means by their habitations, we may dance our 
 legs off ere ever these Moors will bestow a penny piece 
 upon us, and as for their sour milk, I'd as lief drink hem- 
 lock, and liefer. Now, if this town had been as we counted 
 on, like Barcelona, all had gone as merry as a marriage 
 bell, for then might we have gained enough to keep us in 
 jollity as long as you please; but here, if we die not of 
 the colicks in a week, 'twill be to perish of starvation in a 
 fortnight. What say you, Kit? " 
 
 I was forced to admit that I had never seen a town less 
 likely to afford a subsistence than this. 
 
 Then Don Sanchez, having heard us with great patience, 
 and waited a minute to see if we could raise any further 
 objections, answers us in measured tones. 
 
 "I doubt not," says he, "that with a little ingenuity you 
 may make the house habitable and this wilderness agreea- 
 ble. My friend, Sidi ben Ahmed, has offered to provide 
 us with what commodities are necessary to that end. I 
 agree with you that it would be impossible to earn the 
 meanest livelihood here by dancing; it would not be ad- 
 H 
 
98 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 visable if we could. For that reason, my knowledge of 
 various tongues making me very serviceable to Sidi ben 
 Ahmed (who is the most considerable merchant of this 
 town), I have accepted an office in his house. This will 
 enable me to keep my engagement with you. You will 
 live at my charge, as I promised, and you shall want for 
 nothing in reason. If the Moors drink no wine them- 
 selves, they make excellent for those who will, and you 
 shall not be stinted in that particular." 
 
 "Come, this sounds fair enough," cries Dawson. "But 
 pray, Senor, are we to do nothing for our keep? " 
 
 "Nothing beyond what we came here to do," replies he, 
 with a meaning glance at Moll. 
 
 "What!" cries poor Moll, in pain. "We are to dance 
 no more ! " 
 
 The Don shook his head gravely; and, remembering the 
 jolly, vagabond, careless, adventurous life we had led these 
 past two months and more, with a thousand pleasant inci- 
 dents of our happy junketings, we were all downcast at the 
 prospect of living in this place though a paradise for 
 a year without change. 
 
 "Though I promised you no more than I offer," says the 
 Don, "yet if this prospect displease you, we will cry quits 
 and part here. Nay," adds he, taking a purse from his 
 pocket, " I will give you the means to return to Alicante, 
 where you may live as better pleases you." 
 
 It seemed to me that there was an unfeigned carelessness 
 in his manner, as if he would as lief as not throw up this 
 hazardous enterprise for some other more sure undertaking. 
 And, indeed, I believe he was then balancing another 
 alternative in his mind. 
 
WE WILL NOT GO FROM OUR BARGAIN. 99 
 
 At this generous offer Moll dashed away the tears that 
 had sprung to her eyes, brightening up wonderfully, but 
 then, casting her eyes upon the Don, her face fell again as 
 at the thought of leaving him. For we all admired him, 
 and she prodigiously, for his great reserve and many good 
 qualities which commanded respect, and this feeling was 
 tinged in her case, I believe, with a kind of growing 
 affection. 
 
 Seeing this sentiment in her eyes, the Don was clearly 
 touched by it, and so, laying his hand gently on her shoul- 
 der, he says : 
 
 " My poor child, remember you the ugly old women we 
 saw dancing at Barcelona? They were not more than 
 forty; what will they be like in a few years? Who will 
 tolerate them ? who love them ? Is that the end you choose 
 for your own life that the estate to which our little prin- 
 cess shall fall?" 
 
 "No, no, no!" cries she, in a passion, clenching her 
 little hands and throwing up her head in disdain. 
 
 "And no, no, no, say I," cries Dawson. "Were our 
 case ten times as bad, I'd not go back from my word. As 
 it is, we are not to be pitied, and I warrant ere long we 
 make ourselves to be envied. Come, Kit, rouse you out of 
 your lethargies, and let us consult how we may improve our 
 condition here; and do you, Senor, pray order us a little 
 of that same excellent wine you spoke of, if it be but a 
 pint, when you feel disposed that way." 
 
 The Don inclined his head, but lingered, talking to Moll 
 very gravely, and yet tenderly, for some while, Dawson 
 and I going into the house to see what we could make of 
 it; and then, telling us we should see him no more till the 
 
IOO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 next day, he left us. But for some time after he was gone 
 Moll sat on the side of the well, very pensive and wistful, 
 as one to whom the future was opened for the first 
 time. 
 
 Anon comes a banging at our garden gate, which Moll had 
 closed behind the Don; and, going to it, we find a Moor- 
 ish boy with a barrow charged with many things. We 
 could not understand a word he said, but Dawson decided 
 these chattels were sent us by the Don, by perceiving a 
 huge hogskin of wine, for which he thanked God and 
 Don Sanchez an hundred times over. So these commodi- 
 ties we carried up to the house, marvelling greatly at the 
 Don's forethought and generosity, for here were a score of 
 things over and above those we had already found ourselves 
 lacking; namely, earthen pipkins and wooden vessels, a 
 bag of charcoal, a box of carpenters' tools (which did 
 greatly like Dawson, he having been bred a carpenter in 
 his youth), instruments for gardening (to my pleasure, as 
 I have ever had a taste for such employment), some very 
 fine Moorish blankets, etc. So when the barrow was dis- 
 charged, Dawson gives the lad some rials out of his pocket, 
 which pleased him also mightily. 
 
 Then, first of all, Dawson unties the leg of the hogskin, 
 and draws off a quart of wine, very carefully securing the 
 leg after, and this we drank to our great refreshment; and 
 next Moll, being awoke from her dreams and eager to be 
 doing, sets herself to sort out our goods, such as belong to 
 us (as tools, etc.), on one side, and such as belong to her 
 (as pipkins and the rest) on the other. Leaving her to 
 this employment, Dawson and I, armed with a knife and 
 bagging hook, betake ourselves to a great store of canes 
 
FALL TO HOUSEKEEPING. IOI 
 
 stacked in one corner of the garden, and sorting out those 
 most proper to our purpose, we lopped them all of an equal 
 length, and shouldering as many as we could carried them 
 up to our house. Here we found Moll mighty jubilant in 
 having got her work done, and admirably she had done it, 
 to be sure. For, having found a long recess in the wall, 
 she had brushed it out clean with a whisp of herbs, and 
 stored up her crocks according to their size, very artificial, 
 with a dish of oranges plucked from the tree at our door 
 on one side, and a dish of almonds on the other, a pipkin 
 standing betwixt 'em with a handsome posey of roses in it. 
 She had spread a mat on the floor, and folded up our fine 
 blankets to serve for cushions; and all that did not belong 
 to her she had bundled out of sight into that hollowed side 
 I have mentioned as being intended for cattle. 
 
 After we had sufficiently admired the performance, she 
 told us she had a mind to give us a supper of broth. 
 "But," says she, "the Don has forgotten that we must eat, 
 and hath sent us neither bread nor flesh nor salt." 
 
 This put us to a stumble, for how to get these things we 
 knew not; but Moll declared she would get all she needed 
 if we could only find the money. 
 
 "Why, how?" asks Jack. "You know not their gib- 
 berish." 
 
 "That may be," answers she, "but I warrant the same 
 language that bought me this petticoat will get us a supper." 
 
 So we gave her what money we had, and she went off 
 a-marketing, with as much confidence as if she were a born 
 Barbary Moor. Then Jack falls to thanking God for bless- 
 ing him with such a daughter, at the same time taking 
 no small credit to himself for having bred her to such per- 
 
IO2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 fection, and in the midst of his encomiums, being down 
 in the hollow searching for his hammer, he cries : 
 
 " Plague take the careless baggage ! she has spilled all 
 our nails, and here's an hour's work to pick 'em up ! " 
 
 This accident was repaired, however, and Moll's trans- 
 gression forgotten when she returned with an old woman 
 carrying her purchases. Then were we forced to admire 
 her skill in this business, for she had bought all that was 
 needful for a couple of meals, and yet had spent but half 
 our money. Now arose the difficult question how to make 
 a fire, and this Jack left us to settle by our own devices, he 
 returning to his own occupation. Moll resolved we should 
 do our cooking outside the house, so here we built up a 
 kind of grate with stones; and, contriving to strike a spark 
 with the back of a jack-knife and a stone, upon a heap of 
 dried leaves, we presently blew up a fine flame, and feeding 
 this with the ends of cane we had cut and some charcoal, 
 we at last got a royal fire on which to set our pot of mutton. 
 And into this pot we put rice and a multitude of herbs from 
 the garden, which by the taste we thought might serve to 
 make a savoury mess. And, indeed, when it began to boil, 
 the odour was so agreeable that we would have Jack come 
 out to smell it. And he having praised it very highly, we 
 in return went in to look at his handiwork and praise that. 
 This we could do very heartily and without hypocrisy, for 
 he had worked well and made a rare good job, having 
 built a very seemly partition across the room, by nailing 
 of the canes perpendicularly to that kind of floor that hung 
 over the hollowed portion, thus making us now three rooms 
 out of one. At one end he had left an opening to enter 
 the cavity below and the floor above by the little ladder 
 
EVERY DOG HIS BONE. IO3 
 
 that stood there, and these canes were set not so close 
 together but that air and light could pass betwixt them, and 
 yet from the outer side no eye could see within, which 
 was very commodious. Also upon the floor above, he had 
 found sundry bundles of soft dried leaves, and these, opened 
 out upon the surface of both chambers, made a very sweet, 
 convenient bed upon which to lie. Then Dawson offering 
 Moll her choice, she took the upper floor for her chamber, 
 leaving us two the lower; and so, it being near sundown 
 by this time, we to our supper in the sweet, cool air of 
 evening, all mightily content with one another, and not 
 less satisfied with our stew, which was indeed most savoury 
 and palatable. This done, we took a turn round our little 
 domain, admiring the many strange and wonderful things 
 that grew there (especially the figs, which, though yet 
 green, were wondrous pleasant to eat) ; and I laying out my 
 plans for the morrow, how to get this wilderness into order, 
 tear out the worthless herbs, dig the soil, etc., Dawson' s 
 thoughts running on the building of an outhouse for the 
 accommodation of our wine, tools, and such like, and 
 Moll meditating on dishes to give us for our repasts. And 
 at length, when these divers subjects were no more to be 
 discussed, we turned into our dormitories, and fell asleep 
 mighty tired, but as happy as princes. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A brief summary of those twelve months we spent at Elche. 
 
 THE surprising activity with which we attacked our domes- 
 tic business at Elche lasted about two days and a half, 
 Dawson labouring at his shed, I at the cultivation of the 
 garden, and Moll quitting her cooking and household affairs, 
 as occasion permitted, to lend a helping hand first to her 
 father and then to me. And as man, when this fever of 
 enterprise is upon him, must for ever be seeking to add to 
 his cares, we persuaded Don Sanchez to let us have two 
 she-goats to stall in the shed and consume our waste herb- 
 age, that we might have milk and get butter, which they do 
 in these parts by shaking the cream in a skin bag (a method 
 that seems simple enough till you have been shaking the 
 bag for twenty minutes in vain on a sultry morning) with- 
 out cost. But the novelty of the thing wearing off, our 
 eagerness rapidly subsided, and so about the third day (as 
 I say) , the heat being prodigious, we toiled with no spirit at all. 
 
 Dawson was the first to speak his mind. Says he, com- 
 ing to me whilst I was still sweating over my shovel : 
 
 " I've done it, but hang me if I do more. There's a 
 good piece of work worth thirty shillings of any man's 
 money, but who'll give me a thank ye for it when we leave 
 here next year? " 
 
 And then he can find nothing better to do than fall 
 a-commenting on my labours, saying there was but precious 
 
 104 
 
THE PLEASURES OF INDUSTRY. 10$ 
 
 little to show for my efforts, that had he been in my place 
 he would have ordered matters otherwise, and begun dig- 
 ging t'other end, wagering that I should give up my job 
 before it was quarter done, etc., all which was mighty dis- 
 couraging and the more unpleasant because I felt there was 
 a good deal of truth in what he said. 
 
 Consequently, I felt a certain malicious enjoyment the 
 next morning upon finding that the goats had burst out one 
 side of his famous shed, and got loose into the garden, which 
 enabled me to wonder that two such feeble creatures could 
 undo such a good thirty shillings' worth of work, etc. But 
 ere I was done galling him, I myself was mortified exceed- 
 ingly to find these mischievous brutes had torn up all the 
 plants I had set by the trees in the shade as worthy of culti- 
 vation, which gave Jack a chance for jibing at me. But 
 that which embittered us as much as anything was to have 
 Moll holding her sides for laughter at our attempts to catch 
 these two devilish goats, which to our cost we found were 
 not so feeble, after all ; for getting one up in a corner, she 
 raises herself up on her hind legs and brings her skull down 
 with such a smack on my knee that I truly thought she had 
 broke my cramp-bone, whilst t'other, taking Dawson in the 
 ankles with her horns, as he was reaching forward to lay 
 hold of her, lay him sprawling in our little stream of water. 
 Nor do I think we should ever have captured them, but 
 that, giving over our endeavours from sheer fatigue, they of 
 their own accord sauntered into the shed for shelter from 
 the sun, where Moll clapt to the door upon them, and set 
 her back against the gap in the side, until her father came 
 with a hammer and some stout nails to secure the planks. 
 So for the rest of that day Jack and I lay on our backs in 
 
IO6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 the shade, doing nothing, but exceedingly sore one against 
 the other for these mischances. 
 
 But our heart burnings ended not there ; for coming in to 
 supper at sundown, Moll has nothing to offer us but dry 
 bread and a dish of dates, which, though it be the common 
 supper of the Moors in this place, was little enough to our 
 satisfaction, as Dawson told her in pretty round terms, ask- 
 ing her what she was good for if not to give us a meal fit for 
 Christians, etc., and stating very explicitly what he would 
 have her prepare for our dinner next day. Moll takes her 
 upbraiding very humbly (which was ever a bad sign), and 
 promises to be more careful of our comfort in the future. 
 And so ended that day. 
 
 The next morning Dawson and I make no attempt at 
 work, but after breakfast, by common accord, stretch us 
 out under the palms to meditate ; and there about half past 
 ten, Don Sanchez, coming round to pay us a visit, finds us 
 both sound asleep. A sudden exclamation from him aroused 
 us, and as we stumbled to our feet, staring about us, we 
 perceived Moll coming from the house, but so disfigured 
 with smuts of charcoal all over her face and hands, we scarce 
 knew her. 
 
 " God's mercy ! " cries the Don. " What on earth have 
 you been doing, child?" 
 
 To which Moll replies with a curtsey : 
 
 " I am learning to be a cook- wench, Senor, at my father's 
 desire." 
 
 "You are here," answers the Don, with a frown, " to learn 
 to be a lady. If a cook- wench is necessary, you shall have 
 one" (this to us), "and anything else that my means may 
 afford. You will do well to write me a list of your require- 
 
FALL INTO A VERY SLOTHFUL HABIT. IO/ 
 
 ments ; but observe," adds he, turning on his heel, " we may 
 have to stay here another twelvemonth, if my economies 
 are not sufficient by the end of the first year to take us 
 hence." 
 
 This hint brought us to our senses very quickly, and over- 
 taking him ere he reached our garden gate, Dawson and I 
 assured the Don we had no need of any servant, and would 
 be careful that Moll henceforth did no menial office ; that 
 we would tax his generosity no more than we could help, 
 etc., to our great humiliation when we came to reflect on 
 our conduct. 
 
 Thenceforth Dawson charged himself with the internal 
 economy of the house, and I with that part which concerned 
 the custody and care of the goats, the cultivation of pot- 
 herbs and with such instruction of Moll in the Italian tongue 
 as I could command. But to tell the truth, we neither of 
 us did one stroke of work beyond what was absolutely nec- 
 essary, and especially Dawson, being past everything for 
 indolence, did so order his part that from having two dishes 
 of flesh a day, we came, ere long, to getting but one mess a 
 week; he forcing himself and us to be content with dates 
 and bread for our repasts, rather than give himself the 
 trouble of boiling a pot. Beyond browsing my goats, 
 drawing their milk (the making of butter I quickly re- 
 nounced), and watering my garden night and morn (which 
 is done by throwing water from the little stream broadcast 
 with a shovel on either side), I did no more than Dawson, 
 but joined him in yawning the day away, for which my sole 
 excuse is the great heat of this region, which doth beget 
 most slothful humours in those matured in cooler climes. 
 
 With Moll, however, the case was otherwise; for she, 
 
IO8 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 being young and of an exceeding vivacious, active dispo- 
 sition, must for ever be doing of something, and lucky for us 
 when it was not some mischievous trick at our expense as 
 letting the goats loose, shaking lemons down on our heads 
 as we lay asleep beneath it, and the like. Being greatly 
 smitten with the appearance of the Moorish women (who, 
 though they are not permitted to wander about at will like 
 our women, are yet suffered to fetch water from the public 
 fountains), she surprised us one morning by coming forth 
 dressed in their mode. And this dress, which seems to be 
 nought but a long sheet wound loosely twice or thrice about 
 the body, buckled on the shoulder, with holes for the arms 
 to be put through in the manner of the old Greeks, became 
 her surprisingly ; and we noticed then for the first time that 
 her arms were rounder and fuller than when we had last 
 seen them bare. Then, to get the graceful, noble bearing 
 of the Moors, she practised day after day carrying a 
 pitcher of water on her head as they do, until she could do 
 this with perfect ease and sureness. In this habit the Don, 
 who was mightily pleased with her looks, took her to the 
 house of his friend and employer, Sidi ben Ahmed, where 
 she ingratiated herself so greatly with the women of his 
 household that they would have her come to them again 
 the next day, and after that the next, indeed, thenceforth 
 she spent far more of her time with these new friends than 
 with us. And here, from the necessity of making herself 
 understood, together with an excellent memory and a 
 natural aptitude, she learned to speak the Moorish tongue 
 in a marvellously short space of time. Dawson and I were 
 frequently asked to accompany Moll, and we went twice to 
 this house, which, though nothing at all to look at outside, 
 
UNCOMMON INDOLENT, BUT DISSATISFIED. IOQ 
 
 was very magnificently furnished within, and the entertain- 
 ment most noble. But Lord ! 'twas the most tedious, weari- 
 some business for us, who could make out never a word of 
 the civil speeches offered us without the aid of Don Sanchez 
 and Moll, and then could think of no witty response, but 
 could only sit there grinning like Gog and Magog. Still, it 
 gave us vast pleasure to see how Moll carried herself with 
 this company, talking as freely as they, yet holding herself 
 with the dignity of an equal, and delighting all by her 
 vivacity and sly, pretty ways. 
 
 I think no country in Europe can be richer than this 
 Elche in fruits and vegetation, more beautiful in its sur- 
 rounding aspects of plain and mountain, more blessed with 
 constant, glorious sunlight ; and the effect of these charms 
 upon the quick, receptive spirit of our Molly was like a 
 gentle May upon a nightingale, so that the days were all too 
 short for her enjoyment, and she must need vent her happi- 
 ness in song; but on us they made no more impression 
 than on two owls in a tower, nay, if anything they did add to 
 that weariness which arose from our lack of occupation. 
 For here was no contrast in our lives, one day being as like 
 another as two peas in a pod, and having no sort of adver- 
 sities to give savour to our ease, we found existence the 
 most flat, insipid, dull thing possible. I remember how, on 
 Christmas day, Dawson did cry out against the warm sun- 
 shine as a thing contrary to nature, wishing he might stand 
 up to his knees in snow in a whistling wind, and taking up 
 the crock Moll had filled with roses (which here bloom 
 more fully in the depth of winter than with us in the height 
 of summer) , he flung it out of the door with a curse for an 
 unchristian thing to have in the house on such a day. 
 
HO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 As soon as the year had turned, we began to count the 
 days to our departure, and thenceforth we could think of 
 nought but what we would do with our fortune when we got 
 it ; and, the evenings being long, we would set the bag of 
 wine betwixt us after our supper of dates, and sit there for 
 hours discussing our several projects. Moll being with us 
 (for in these parts no womankind may be abroad after 
 sundown), she would take part in these debates with as 
 much gusto as we. For though she was not wearied of 
 her life here as we were, yet she was possessed of a very 
 stirring spirit of adventure, and her quick imagination fur- 
 nished endless visions of lively pleasures and sumptuous 
 living. We agreed that we would live together, and share 
 everything in common as one family, but not in such an 
 outlandish spot as Chislehurst. That estate we would have 
 nothing to do with ; but, selling it at once, have in its 
 place two houses, one city house in the Cheap, and a 
 country house not further from town than Bednal Green, 
 or Clerkenwell at the outside, to the end that when we 
 were fatigued with the pleasures of the town, we might, 
 by an easy journey, resort to the tranquillity of rural life, 
 Dawson declaring what wines he would have laid down in 
 our cellars, I what books should furnish our library, and 
 Moll what dresses she would wear (not less than one for 
 every month of the year), what coaches and horses we 
 should keep, what liveries our servants should wear, what 
 entertainments we would give, and so forth. Don Sanchez 
 was not excluded from our deliberations; indeed, he en- 
 couraged us greatly by approving of all our plans, only 
 stipulating that we would guard one room for him in each 
 of our houses, that he might feel at home in our society 
 
DISCOURSE OF RETURNING TO ENGLAND. Ill 
 
 whenever he chanced to be in our neighbourhood. In all 
 these arguments, there was never one word of question 
 from any of us as to the honesty of our design. We had 
 settled that, once and for all, before starting on this expedi- 
 tion ; and since then, little by little, we had come to regard 
 the Godwin estate as a natural gift, as freely to be taken 
 as a blackberry from the hedge. Nay, I believe Dawson 
 and I would have contested our right to it by reason of 
 the pains we were taking to possess it. 
 
 And now, being in the month of June, and our year of 
 exile (as it liked us to call it) nigh at an end, Dawson one 
 night put the question to Don Sanchez, which had kept 
 us fluttering in painful suspense these past six months, 
 whether he had saved sufficient by his labours, to enable 
 us to return to England ere long. 
 
 " Yes," says he, gravely, at which we did all heave one 
 long sigh of relief, " I learn that a convoy of English ships 
 is about to sail from Alicante in the beginning of July, and 
 if we are happy enough to find a favourable opportunity, 
 we will certainly embark in one of them." 
 
 "Pray, Senor," says I, "what may that opportunity be; 
 for 'tis but two days' march hence to Alicante, and we 
 may do it with a light foot in one." 
 
 "The opportunity I speak of," answers he, "is the arrival, 
 from Algeria, of a company of pirates, whose good service 
 I hope to engage in putting us aboard an English ship 
 under a flag of truce as redeemed slaves from Barbary." 
 
 " Pirates ! " cry we, in a low breath. 
 
 "What, Senor!" adds Dawson, "are we to trust our- 
 selves to the mercy and honesty of Barbary pirates on the 
 open sea?" 
 
112 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " I would rather trust to their honesty," answers the Don, 
 dropping his voice that he might not be heard by Moll, 
 who was leading home the goats, " than to the mercy of an 
 English judge, if we should be brought to trial with insuffi- 
 cient evidence to support our story." 
 
 Jack and I stared at each other aghast at this talk of 
 trial, which had never once entered into our reckoning of 
 probabilities. 
 
 "If I know aught of my fellow-men," continues .the Don, 
 surely and slow, " that grasping steward will not yield up 
 his trust before he has made searching enquiry into Moll's 
 claim, act she her part never so well. We cannot refuse 
 to give him the name of the ship that brought us home, and, 
 learning that we embarked at Alicante, jealous suspicion 
 may lead him to seek further information there ; with what 
 result?" 
 
 " Why, we may be blown with a vengeance, if he come 
 ferreting so nigh as that," says Dawson, "and we are like 
 to rot in gaol for our pains." 
 
 "You may choose to run that risk; I will not," says the 
 Don. 
 
 "Nor I either," says Dawson, "and God forgive me for 
 overlooking such a peril to my Moll. But, do tell me 
 plainly, Senor, granting these pirates be the most honest 
 thieves in the world, is there no other risk to fear? " 
 
 The Don hunched his shoulders. 
 
 " Life itself is a game," says he, " in which the meanest 
 stroke may not be won without some risk ; but, played as I 
 direct, the odds are" in our favour. Picked up at sea from 
 an Algerine boat, who shall deny our story when the evi- 
 dence against us lies there " (laying his hand out towards 
 
VAST CHANGE IN MOLL. 113 
 
 the south) , " where no man in England dare venture to 
 seek it?" 
 
 "Why, to be sure," says Dawson; "that way all hangs 
 together to a nicety. For only a wizard could dream of 
 coming hither for our undoing." 
 
 "For the rest," continues the Don, thoughtfully, "there 
 is little to fear. Judith Godwin has eyes the colour of 
 Moll's, and in all else Simon must expect to find a change 
 since he last saw his master's daughter. They were in Italy 
 three years. That would make Judith a lisping child when 
 she left England. He must look to find her altered. Why," 
 adds he, in a more gentle voice, as if moved by some inner 
 feeling of affection and admiration, nodding towards Moll, 
 " see how she has changed in this little while. I should not 
 know her for the raw, half-starved spindle of a thing she 
 was when I saw her first playing in the barn at Tottenham 
 Cross." 
 
 Looking at her now (browsing the goats amongst my most 
 cherished herbs) , I was struck also by this fact, which, living 
 with her day by day, had slipped my observation somewhat. 
 She was no longer a gaunt, ungainly child, but a young 
 woman, well proportioned, with a rounded cheek and chin, 
 brown tinted by the sun, and, to my mind, more beautiful 
 than any of their vaunted Moorish women. But, indeed, 
 in this country all things do mature quickly ; and 'twas less 
 surprising in her case because her growth had been checked 
 before by privation and hardship, whereas since our coming 
 hither it had been aided by easy circumstances and good 
 living. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of our coming to London (T.vith incidents by the way}, and of the great 
 address whereby Moll confounds Simon, the steward. 
 
 ON the third day of July, all things falling in pat with 
 the Don's design, we bade farewell to Elche, Dawson and 
 I with no sort of regret, but Moll in tears at parting from 
 those friends she had grown to love very heartily. And 
 these friends would each have her take away something for 
 a keepsake, such as rings to wear on her arms and on her 
 ankles (as is the Moorish fashion), silk shawls, etc., so 
 that she had quite a large present of finery to carry away; 
 but we had nothing whatever but the clothes we stood in, 
 and they of the scantiest, being simply long shirts and 
 "bernouses" such as common Moors wear. For the wise 
 Don would let us take nought that might betray our sojourn 
 in Spain, making us even change our boots for wooden 
 sandals, he himself being arrayed no better than we. Nor 
 was this the only change insisted on by our governor; for 
 on Dawson bidding Moll in a surly tone to give over a 
 shedding of tears, Don Sanchez turns upon him, and says 
 he: 
 
 " It is time to rehearse the parts we are to play. From 
 this day forth your daughter is Mistress Judith Godwin, 
 you are Captain Robert Evans, and you" (to me), "Mr. 
 Hopkins, the merchant. Let us each play our part with 
 care, that we do not betray ourselves by a slip in a moment 
 of unforeseen danger." 
 
 114 
 
SET US ALL ABOARD AN ALGERINE. 11$ 
 
 "You are in the right, Senor," answers Jack, "for I doubt 
 it must be a hard task to forget that Mistress Judith is my 
 daughter, as it is for a loving father to hold from chiding 
 of his own flesh and blood; so I pray you, Madam" (to 
 Moll), "bear that in mind and vex me no more." 
 
 We lay this lesson seriously to heart, Dawson and I, for 
 the Don's hint that we might end our career in gaol did 
 still rankle woundily in our minds. And so very soberly 
 we went out of the forest of Elche in the night on mules 
 lent us by Sidi ben Ahmed, with a long cavalcade of mules 
 charged with merchandise for embarking on board the 
 pirates' vessel, and an escort of some half-dozen fierce- 
 looking corsairs armed with long firelocks and a great 
 store of awesome crooked knives stuck in their waist-cloths. 
 
 After journeying across the plain, we came about mid- 
 day to the seaboard, and there we spied, lying in a shel- 
 tered bay, a long galley with three masts, each dressed with 
 a single cross-spar for carrying a leg-of-mutton sail, and on 
 the shore a couple of ship's boats with a company of men 
 waiting to transport our goods and us aboard. And here 
 our hearts quaked a bit at the thought of trusting ourselves 
 in the hands of these same murderous-looking pirates. 
 Nevertheless, when our time came we got us into their boat, 
 recommending ourselves very heartily to God's mercy, and 
 so were rowed out to the galley, where we were very civilly 
 received by an old Moor with a white beard, who seemed 
 well acquainted with Don Sanchez. Then the merchan- 
 dise being all aboard, and the anchor up, the men went to 
 their oars, a dozen of each side, and rowed us out of the 
 bay until, catching a little wind of air, the sails were run 
 up, and we put out to sea very bravely. 
 
Il6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Senor," says Dawson, "I know not how I am to play 
 this part of a sea-captain when we are sent on board an 
 English ship, for if they ask me any questions on this 
 business of navigating, I am done for a certainty." 
 
 "Rest easy on that score, Evans," replies the Don. 
 " I will answer for you, for I see very clearly by your com- 
 plexion that you will soon be past answering them 
 yourself." 
 
 And this forecast was quickly verified; for ere the galley 
 had dipped a dozen times to the waves, poor Dawson was 
 laid low with a most horrid sickness like any dying man. 
 
 By sundown we sighted the island of Maggiore, and in 
 the roads there we cast anchor for the night, setting sail 
 again at daybreak; and in this latitude we beat up and 
 down a day and a night without seeing any sail, but on the 
 morning of the third day a fleet of five big ships appeared 
 to the eastward, and shifting our course we bore down 
 upon them with amazing swiftness. Then when we were 
 near enough to the foremast to see her English flag and the 
 men aboard standing to their deck guns for a defence, our 
 old Moor fires a gun in the air, takes in his sails, and runs 
 up a great white flag for a sign of peace. And now with 
 shrewd haste a boat was lowered, and we were set in it with 
 a pair of oars, and the old pirate bidding us farewell in his 
 tongue, clapt on all sail and stood out before the wind, 
 leaving us there to shift for ourselves. Don Sanchez took 
 one oar, and I t'other, Dawson lying in the bottom and 
 not able to move a hand to save his life, and Moll held 
 the tiller, and so we pulled with all our force, crying out 
 now and then for fear we should not be seen, till by God's 
 providence we came alongside the Talbot of London, and 
 
ARE TAKEN ABOARD OF AN ENGLISH SHIP. I \J 
 
 were presently hoisted aboard without mishap. Then the 
 captain of the Talbot and his officers gathering about us 
 were mighty curious to know our story, and Don Sanchez 
 very briefly told how we had gone in the Red Rose of Bris- 
 tol to redeem two ladies from slavery; how we had found 
 but one of these ladies living (at this Moll buries her face in 
 her hands as if stricken with grief); how, on the eve of our 
 departure, some of our crew in a drunken frolic had 
 drowned a Turk of Alger, for which we were condemned 
 by their court to pay an indemnity far and away beyond 
 our means; how they then made this a pretext to seize our 
 things, though we were properly furnished with the Duke's 
 pass, and hold our men in bond; and how having plun- 
 dered us of all we had, and seeing there was no more to be 
 got, they did offer us our freedom for a written quittance 
 of all they had taken for their justification if ever they 
 should be brought to court; and finally, how, accepting of 
 these conditions, we were shipped aboard their galley with 
 nothing in the world but a few trifles, begged by Mistress 
 Judith in remembrance of her mother. 
 
 This story was accepted without any demur; nay, Cap- 
 tain Ballcock, being one of those men who must ever appear 
 to know all things, supported it in many doubtful par- 
 ticulars, saying that he remembered the Rose of Bristol 
 quite well; that he himself had seen a whole ship's 
 crew sold into slavery for no greater offence than breaking 
 a mosque window; that the Duke's pass counted for noth- 
 ing with these Turks; that he knew the galley we were 
 brought in as well as he knew Paul's Church, having 
 chased it a dozen times, yet never got within gunshot for 
 her swift sailing, etc., which did much content us to hear. 
 
Il8 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 But the officers were mighty curious to know what ailed 
 Captain Robert Evans (meaning Dawson), fearing he 
 might be ill of the plague; however, on the Don's vowing 
 that he was only sick of a surfeit, Captain Ballcock de- 
 clared he had guessed it the moment he clapt eyes on him, 
 as he himself had been taken of the same complaint with 
 only eating a dish of pease pudding. Nevertheless, he 
 ordered the sick man to be laid in a part of the ship 
 furthest from his quarters, and so great was the dread of 
 pestilence aboard that (as his sickness continued) not a 
 soul would venture near him during the whole voyage 
 except ourselves, which also fell in very well with our 
 wishes. And so after a fairly prosperous voyage we came 
 up the Thames to Chatham, the third day of August. 
 
 We had been provided with some rough seamen's clothes 
 for our better covering on the voyage ; but now, being 
 landed, and lodged in the Crown inn at Chatham, Don 
 Sanchez would have the captain take them all back. 
 
 " But," says he, " if you will do us yet another favour, 
 Captain, will you suffer one of your men to carry a letter to 
 Mistress Godwin's steward at Chislehurst, that he may come 
 hither to relieve us from our present straits ? " 
 
 "Aye," answers he, "I will take the letter gladly, myself; 
 for nothing pleases me better than a ramble in the country 
 where I was born and bred." 
 
 So Moll writes a letter at once to Simon, bidding him 
 come at once to her relief; and Captain Ballcock, after 
 carefully enquiring his way to this place he knew so well 
 (as he would have us believe) , starts off with it, accompanied 
 by his boatswain, a good-natured kind of lick-spittle, who 
 never failed to back up his captain's assertions, which again 
 
ALL MATTERS FALL PAT TO OUR PURPOSE. I IQ 
 
 was to our great advantage ; for Simon would thus learn 
 our story from his lips, and find no room to doubt its 
 veracity. 
 
 As soon as these two were out of the house, Dawson, who 
 had been carried from the ship and laid in bed, though as 
 hale since we passed the Godwins as ever he was in his 
 life before, sprang up, and declared he would go to bed no 
 more, for all the fortunes in the world, till he had supped 
 on roast pork and onions, this being a dish he greatly 
 loved, but not to be had at Elche, because the Moors by 
 their religion forbid the use of swine's flesh, and seeing 
 him very determined on this head, Don Sanchez ordered a 
 leg of pork to be served in our chamber, whereof Dawson 
 did eat such a prodigious quantity, and drank therewith 
 such a vast quantity of strong ale (which he protested was 
 the only liquor an Englishman could drink with any satis- 
 faction), that in the night he was seized with most severe 
 cramp in his stomach. This gave us the occasion to send 
 for a doctor in the morning, who, learning that Jack had 
 been ill ever since we left Barbary, and not understand- 
 ing his present complaint, pulled a very long face, and, 
 declaring his case was very critical, bled him copiously, 
 forbade him to leave his bed for another fortnight, and sent 
 him in half a dozen bottles of physic. About midday he 
 returns, and, finding his patient no better, administers a 
 bolus ; and while we are all standing about the bed, and 
 Dawson the colour of death, and groaning, betwixt the 
 nausea of the drug he had swallowed and the cramp in 
 his inwards, in comes our Captain Ballcock and the little 
 steward. 
 
 " There ! " cries he, turning on Simon, " did not I tell you 
 
120 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 that my old friend Evans lay at death's door with the treat- 
 ment he hath received of these Barbary pirates? Now 
 will you be putting us off with your doubts and your question- 
 ings? Shall I have up my ship's company to testify to the 
 truth of my history? Look you, Madam," (to Moll), "we 
 had all the trouble in the world to make this steward of 
 yours do your bidding ; but he should have come though we 
 had to bring him by the neck and heels, and a pox to him 
 saving your presence." 
 
 "But this is not Simon," says Moll, with a pretty air of 
 innocence. " I seem to remember Simon a bigger man 
 than he." 
 
 " You must consider, Madam," says Don Sanchez, " that 
 then you were very small, scarce higher than his waist, 
 maybe, and so you would have to look up into his face." 
 
 " I did not think of that. And are you really Simon, 
 who used to scold me for plucking fruit?" 
 
 "Yea, verily," answers he. "Doubt it not, for thou also 
 hast changed beyond conception. And so it hath come to 
 pass ! " he adds, staring round at us in our Moorish garb 
 like one bewildered. "And thou art my mistress now" 
 (turning again to Moll) . 
 
 " Alas ! " says she, bowing her head and covering her 
 eyes with her hand. 
 
 " Han't I told you so, unbelieving Jew Quaker ! " growls 
 Captain Ballcock, in exasperation. " Why will you plague 
 the unhappy lady with her loss ? " 
 
 " We will leave Evans to repose," says Moll, brushing her 
 eyes and turning to the door. " You will save his life, Doc- 
 tor, for he has given me mine." 
 
 The doctor vowed he would, if bleeding and boluses 
 
MOLL BEGINS HER PART IN GOOD EARNEST. 121 
 
 could make him whole, and so, leaving him with poor 
 groaning Dawson, we went into the next chamber. And 
 there Captain Ballcock was for taking his leave ; but Moll, 
 detaining him, says : 
 
 " We owe you something more than gratitude we have 
 put you to much expense." 
 
 " Nay," cries he. "I will take nought for doing a com- 
 mon act of mercy." 
 
 " You shall not be denied the joy of generosity," says she, 
 with a sweet grace. " But you must suffer me to give your 
 ship's company some token of my gratitude." Then turn- 
 ing to Simon with an air of authority, she says, " Simon, I 
 have no money." 
 
 The poor man fumbled in his pocket, and bringing out 
 a purse, laid it open, showing some four or five pieces of sil- 
 ver and one of gold, which he hastily covered with his hand. 
 
 " I see you have not enough," says Moll, and taking up 
 a pen she quickly wrote some words on a piece of paper, 
 signing it " Judith Godwin." Then showing it to Simon, 
 she says, " You will pay this when it is presented to you," 
 and therewith she folds it and places it in the captain's 
 hand, bidding him farewell in a pretty speech. 
 
 " A hundred pounds ! a hundred pounds ! " gasps Simon, 
 under his breath, in an agony and clutching up his purse to 
 his breast. 
 
 " I am astonished," says Moll, returning from the door, 
 and addressing Simon, with a frown upon her brow, " that 
 you are not better furnished to supply my wants, knowing 
 by my letter how I stand." 
 
 " Mistress," replies he, humbly, " here is all I could raise 
 upon such sudden notice " laying his purse before her. 
 
122 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "What is this?" cries she, emptying the contents upon 
 the table. " Tis nothing. Here is barely sufficient to pay 
 for our accommodation in this inn. Where is the money 
 to discharge my debt to these friends who have lost all 
 in saving me? You were given timely notice of their 
 purpose." 
 
 " Prithee, be patient with me, gentle mistress. Tis true, 
 I knew of their intent, but they were to have returned 
 in six months, and when they came not at the end of the 
 year I did truly give up all for lost ; and so I made a fresh 
 investment of thy fortune, laying it out all in life bonds 
 and houses, to great worldly advantage, as thou shalt see in 
 good time. Ere long I may get in some rents " 
 
 " And in the meanwhile are we to stay in this plight to 
 beg for charity?" asks Moll, indignantly. 
 
 "Nay, mistress. Doubtless for your present wants this 
 kind merchant friend " 
 
 "We have lost all," says I, "Evans his ship, and I the 
 lading in which all my capital was embarked." 
 
 " And I every maravedi I possessed," adds the Don. 
 
 "And had they not," cries Moll, "were they possessed 
 now of all they had, think you that I with an estate, as I am 
 told, of sixty thousand pounds would add to the debt I owe 
 them by one single penny ! " 
 
 " If I may speak in your steward's defence, Madam," says 
 I, humbly, " I would point out that the richest estate is not 
 always readily converted into money. 'Tis like a rich jewel 
 which the owner, though he be starving, must hold till he 
 find a market." 
 
 "Thee nearest him, mistress," cries Simon, in delight. 
 " A man of business a merchant who knows these things. 
 
DO BUSTLE OLD SIMON MOST FINELY. 123 
 
 Explain it further, friend, for thine are words of precious 
 wisdom." 
 
 "With landed property the case is even more difficult. 
 Tenants cannot be forced to pay rent before it is due, nor 
 can their messuages be sold over their heads. And possibly 
 all your capital is invested in land " 
 
 " Every farthing that could be scraped together," says 
 Simon, "and not a rood of it but is leased to substantial 
 men. Oh ! what excellent discourse ! Proceed further, 
 friend." 
 
 "Nevertheless," says I, "there are means of raising money 
 upon credit. If he live there still, there is a worthy Jew in 
 St. Mary Axe, who upon certain considerations of interest " 
 
 " Hold, friend," cries Simon. " What art thee thinking 
 of ? Wouldst deliver my simple mistress into the hands of 
 Jew usurers?" 
 
 " Not without proper covenants made out by lawyers and 
 attorneys." 
 
 " Lawyers, attorneys, and usurers ! Heaven have mercy 
 upon us ! Verily, thee wouldst infest us with a pest, and 
 bleed us to death for our cure." 
 
 " I will have such relief as I may," says Moll ; " so pray, sir, 
 do send for these lawyers and Jews at once, and the quicker, 
 since my servant seems more disposed to hinder than to 
 help me." 
 
 " Forbear, mistress ; for the love of God, forbear ! " cries 
 Simon, in an agony, clasping his hands. " Be not misguided 
 by this foolish merchant, who hath all to gain and nought 
 to lose by this proceeding. Give me but a little space, and 
 their claims shall be met, thy desires shall be satisfied, and 
 yet half of thy estate be saved, which else must be all 
 
124 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 devoured betwixt these ruthless money-lenders and lawyers. 
 I can make a covenant more binding than any attorney, as 
 I have proved again and again, and " (with a gulp) "if money 
 must be raised at once, I know an honest, a fairly honest, 
 goldsmith in Lombard Street who will lend at the market 
 rate." 
 
 "These gentlemen," answers Moll, turning to us, "may 
 not choose to wait, and I will not incommode them for my 
 own convenience." 
 
 " Something for our present need we must have, Madam," 
 says the Don, with a significant glance at his outlandish dress ; 
 "but those wants supplied, /am content to wait." 
 
 "And you, sir?" says Moll to me. 
 
 "With a hundred or two," says I, taking Don Sanchez's 
 hint, " we may do very well till Michaelmas." 
 
 "Be reasonable, gentlemen," implores Simon, mopping 
 his eyes, which ran afresh at this demand. " Tis but some 
 five or six weeks to Michaelmas ; surely fifty pounds " 
 
 " Silence ! " cries Moll, with an angry tap of her foot. 
 "Will three hundred content you, gentlemen? Consider, 
 the wants of our good friend, Captain Evans, may be more 
 pressing than yours." 
 
 " He is a good, honest, simple man, and I think we may 
 answer for his accepting the conditions we make for our- 
 selves. Then, with some reasonable guarantee for our 
 future payment " 
 
 "That may be contrived to our common satisfaction, I 
 hope," says Moll, with a gracious smile. " I owe you half 
 my estate ; share my house at Chislehurst with me till the 
 rest is forthcoming. That will give me yet a little longer 
 the pleasure of your company. And there, sir," turning to 
 
CARRY IT VERY HIGH TO THE END. 12$ 
 
 me, " you can examine my steward's accounts for your own 
 satisfaction, and counsel me, mayhap, upon the conduct of 
 my affairs, knowing so much upon matters of business that 
 are incomprehensible to a simple, inexperienced maid. 
 Then, should you find aught amiss in my steward's books, 
 anything to shake your confidence in his management, you 
 will, in justice to your friends, in kindness to me, speak 
 your mind openly, that instant reformation may be made." 
 
 Don Sanchez and I expressed our agreement to this pro- 
 posal, and Moll, turning to the poor, unhappy steward, says 
 in her high tone of authority : 
 
 "You hear how this matter is ordered, Simon. Take up 
 that purse for your own uses. Go into the town and send 
 such tradesmen hither as may supply us with proper cloth- 
 ing. Then to your goldsmith in Lombard Street and bring 
 me back six hundred pounds." 
 
 " Six hundred pounds ! " cries he, hardly above his 
 breath, and with a pause between each word as if to gain 
 strength to speak 'em. 
 
 " Six hundred. Three for these gentlemen and three for 
 rny own needs ; when that is done, hasten to Chislehurst 
 and prepare my house ; and, as you value my favour, see 
 that nothing is wanting when I come there." 
 
 And here, lest it should be thought that Moll could not 
 possibly play her part so admirably in this business, despite 
 the many secret instructions given by the longheaded Don, I 
 do protest that I have set down no more than I recollect, 
 and that without exaggeration. Further, it must be ob- 
 served that in our common experience many things happen 
 which would seem incredible but for the evidence of our 
 
126 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 senses, and which no poet would have the hardihood to 
 represent. Tis true that in this, as in other more surprising 
 particulars to follow, Moll did surpass all common women ; 
 but 'tis only such extraordinary persons that furnish material 
 for any history. And I will add that anything is possible to 
 one who hath the element of greatness in her composition, 
 and that it depends merely on the accident of circumstances 
 whether a Moll Dawson becomes a great saint or a great 
 sinner a blessing or a curse to humanity. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Lay our hands on six hundred pounds and quarter ourselves in 
 Hurst Court, but stand in a fair way to be undone by Dawson, his 
 folly. 
 
 THE next day comes Simon with a bag of six hundred 
 pounds, which he tells over with infinite care, groaning 
 and mopping his eyes betwixt each four or five pieces with 
 a most rueful visage, so that it seemed he was weeping over 
 this great expenditure, and then he goes to prepare the 
 Court and get servants against Moll's arrival. By the 
 end of the week, being furnished with suitable clothing 
 and equipment, Moll and Don Sanchez leave us, though 
 Dawson was now as hale and hearty as ever he had been, 
 we being persuaded to rest at Chatham yet another week, to 
 give countenance to Jack's late distemper, and also that we 
 might appear less like a gang of thieves. 
 
 Before going, Don Sanchez warned us that very likely 
 Simon would pay us a visit suddenly, to satisfy any doubts 
 that might yet crop up in his suspicious mind; and so, to 
 be prepared for him, I got in a good store of paper and 
 books, such as a merchant might require in seeking to re- 
 establish himself in business, and Dawson held himself in 
 readiness to do his share of this knavish business. 
 
 Sure enough, about three days after this, the drawer, who 
 had been instructed to admit no one to my chamber with- 
 out my consent, comes up to say that the little old man 
 
 127 
 
128 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 in leather, with the weak eyes, would see me; so I bade him 
 in a high voice bid Mr. Simon step up, and setting myself 
 before my table of paper, engage in writing a letter (already 
 half writ), while Dawson slips out into the next room. 
 
 "Take a seat, Mr. Steward," says I, when Simon entered, 
 cap in hand, and casting a very prying, curious look 
 around. "I must keep you a minute or two"; and so I 
 feign to be mighty busy, and give him scope for observation. 
 
 "Well, sir," says I, finishing my letter with a flourish, 
 and setting it aside. "How do you fare? " 
 
 He raised his hands, and dropped them like so much 
 lead on his knees, casting up his eyes and giving a doleful 
 shake of his head for a reply. 
 
 " Nothing is amiss at the Court, I pray your lady Mis- 
 tress Godwin is well? " 
 
 "I know not, friend," says he. "She hath taken my 
 keys, denied me entrance to her house, and left me no 
 privilege of my office save the use of the lodge house. 
 Thus am I treated like a faithless servant, after toiling 
 night and day all these years, and for her advantage, rather 
 than mine own." 
 
 "That has to be proved, Mr. Steward," says I, severely; 
 " for you must admit that up to this present she has had no 
 reason to love you, seeing that, had her fate been left in 
 your hands, she would now be in Barbary, and like to end 
 her days there. How, then, can she think but that you had 
 some selfish, wicked end in denying her the service we, who 
 are strangers, have rendered her?" 
 
 " Thee speakest truth, friend, and yet thee knowest that 
 I observed only the righteous prudence of an honest ser- 
 vant." 
 
DISCOURSE OF SIMON. I2Q 
 
 "We will say no more on that head, but you may rest 
 assured on my promise knowing as I do the noble, gen- 
 erous nature of your mistress that if she has done you 
 wrong in suspecting you of base purpose, she will be the 
 first to admit her fault and offer you reparation." 
 
 " I seek no reparation, no reward, nothing in the world 
 but the right to cherish this estate," cries he, in passion; 
 and, upon my looking at him very curiously, as not under- 
 standing the motive of such devotion, he continues : " Thee 
 canst not believe me, and yet truly I am neither a liar nor 
 a madman. What do others toil for? A wife children 
 friends the gratification of ambition or lust ! I have 
 no kith or kin, no ambition, no lust; but this estate is 
 wife, child, everything, to me. 'Tis like some work of 
 vanity, a carved image that a man may give his whole 
 life to making, and yet die content if he achieves but some 
 approach to the creation of his soul. I have made this 
 estate out of nothing; it hath grown larger and larger, 
 richer and more rich, in answer to my skill; why should I 
 not love it, and put my whole heart in the accomplishment 
 of my design, with the same devotion that you admire in 
 the maker of graven images? " 
 
 Despite his natural infirmities, Simon delivered this 
 astonishing rhapsody with a certain sort of vehemence that 
 made it eloquent; and indeed, strange as his passion was, 
 I could not deny that it was as reasonable in its way as any 
 nobler act of self-sacrifice. 
 
 "I begin to understand you, Mr. Steward," says I. 
 
 "Then, good friend, as thee wouldst help the man in 
 peril of being torn from his child, render me this estate to 
 govern; save it from the hands of usurers and lawyers, 
 
I3O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 men of no conscience, to whom this Spanish Don would 
 deliver it for the speedy satisfaction of his greed." 
 
 "Nay, my claim's as great as his," says I, "and my 
 affairs more pressing" (with a glance at my papers). "I 
 am undone, my credit lost, my occupation gone." 
 
 " Thee shalt be paid to the last farthing. Examine my 
 books, enquire into the value of my securities, and thee 
 wilt find full assurance." 
 
 "Well, one of these days mayhap," says I, as if to put 
 him off. 
 
 "Nay, come at once, I implore thee; for until I am 
 justified to my mistress, I stand like one betwixt life and 
 death." 
 
 "For one thing," says I, still shuffling, "I can do noth- 
 ing, nor you either, to the payment of our just claim, 
 before the inheritance is safely settled upon Mistress 
 Godwin." 
 
 "That shall be done forthwith. I understand the intri- 
 cacies of the law, and know my way " (tapping his head 
 and then his pocket), "to get a seal, with ten times the 
 despatch of any attorney. I promise by Saturday thee 
 shalt have assurance to thy utmost requirement. Say, 
 good friend, thee wilt be at my lodge house on that 
 day." 
 
 "I'll promise nothing," says I. "Our poor Captain 
 Evans is still a prisoner in his room." 
 
 "Aye," says Dawson, coming in from the next room, in 
 his nightgown, seeming very feeble and weak despite his 
 blustering voice, "and I'm like to be no better till I can 
 get a ship of my own and be to sea again. Have you 
 brought my money, Mr. Quaker? " 
 
SET OUT FOR CHISLEHURST. 13! 
 
 "Thee shalt have it truly; wait but a little while, good 
 friend, a little while." 
 
 "Wait a little while and founder altogether, eh? I know 
 you land sharks, and would I'd been born with a smack of 
 your cunning; then had I never gone of this venture, and 
 lost my ship and twoscore men, that money'll ne'er re- 
 place. Look at me, a sheer hulk and no more, and all 
 through lending ear to one prayer and another. I doubt 
 you're minded to turn your back on poor old Bob Evans, 
 as t' others have, Mr. Hopkins, and why not? The poor 
 old man's worth nothing, and cannot help himself." With 
 this he fell a-snivelling like any girl. 
 
 "I vow I'll not quit you, Evans, till you're hale again." 
 
 "Bring him with thee o' Saturday," urged Simon. 
 "Surely, my mistress can never have the heart to refuse 
 you shelter at the Court, who owes her life to ye. Come 
 and stay there till thy wage be paid, friend Evans." 
 
 " What ! would ye make an honest sailor play bum-bailiff, 
 and stick in a house, willy nilly, till money's found ? Plague 
 of your dry land ! Give me a pitching ship and a rolling 
 sea, and a gale whistling in my shrouds. Oh, my reins, 
 my reins ! give me a paper of tobacco, Mr. Hopkins, and a 
 pipe to soothe this agony, or I shall grow desperate ! " 
 
 I left the room as if to satisfy this desire, and Simon 
 followed, imploring me still to come on Saturday to Chisle- 
 hurst; and I at length got rid of him by promising to come 
 as soon as Evans could be left or induced to accompany me. 
 
 I persuaded Dawson, very much against his gree, to 
 delay our going until Monday, the better to hoodwink old 
 Simon; and on that day we set out for Chislehurst, both 
 clad according to our condition, he in rough frieze, and 
 
132 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 I in a very proper, seemly sort of cloth, and with more 
 guineas in our pockets than ever before we had possessed 
 shillings. And a very merry journey this was; for Dawson, 
 finding himself once more at liberty, and hearty as a lark 
 after his long confinement and under no constraint, was 
 like a boy let loose from school. Carolling at the top of 
 his voice, playing mad pranks with all who passed us on 
 the road, and staying at every inn to drink twopenny ale, 
 so that I feared he would certainly fall ill of drinking, as he 
 had before of eating; but the exercise of riding, the fresh, 
 wholesome air, and half an hour's doze in a spinney, did 
 settle his liquor, and so he reached Hurst Court quite 
 sober, thanks be to Heaven, though very gay. And there 
 we had need of all our self-command, to conceal our joy 
 in finding those gates open to us, which we had looked 
 through so fondly when we were last here, and to spy Moll, 
 in a stately gown, on the fine terrace before this noble 
 house, carrying herself as if she had lived here all her life, 
 and Don Sanchez walking very deferential by her side. 
 Especially Dawson could scarce bring himself to speak to 
 her in an uncouth, surly manner, as befitted his character, 
 and no sooner were we entered the house but he whips Moll 
 behind a door, and falls a-hugging and kissing her like any 
 sly young lover. 
 
 Whilst he was giving way to these extravagances, which 
 Moll had not the heart to rebuff, for in her full, warm 
 heart she was as overjoyed to see him there as he her, 
 Don Sanchez and I paced up and down the spacious hall, 
 I all of a twitter lest one or other of the servants might dis- 
 cover the familiarity of these two (which must have been a 
 fine matter for curious gossip in the household and else- 
 
DAWSON LIKE TO SPOIL ALL. 133 
 
 where), and the Don mighty sombre and grave (as foresee- 
 ing an evil outcome of this business), so that he would 
 make no answer to my civilities save by dumb gestures, 
 showing he was highly displeased. But truly 'twas enough 
 to set us all crazy, but he, with joy, to be in possession of 
 all these riches and think that we had landed at Chatham 
 scarce a fortnight before without decent clothes to our 
 backs, and now, but for the success of our design, might 
 be the penniless strolling vagabonds we were when Don 
 Sanchez lighted on us. 
 
 Presently Moll came out from the side room with her 
 father, her hair all tumbled, and as rosy as a peach, and 
 she would have us visit the house from top to bottom, 
 showing us the rooms set apart for us, her own chamber, 
 the state room, the dining-hall, the store closets for plate 
 and linen, etc., all prodigious fine and in most excellent 
 condition; for the scrupulous minute care of old Simon 
 had suffered nothing to fall out of repair, the rooms being 
 kept well aired, the pictures, tapestries, and magnificent 
 furniture all preserved fresh with linen covers and the like. 
 From the hall she led us out on to the terrace to survey 
 the park and the gardens about the house, and here, as 
 within doors, all was in most admirable keeping, with no 
 wild growth or runaweeds anywhere, nor any sign of 
 neglect. But I observed, as an indication of the steward's 
 thrifty, unpoetic mind, that the garden beds were planted 
 with onions and such marketable produce, in place of flowers, 
 and that instead of deer grazing upon the green slopes of 
 the park there was only such profitable cattle as sheep, 
 cows, etc. And at the sight of all this abundance of good 
 things (and especially the well-stored buttery), Dawson 
 
134 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 declared he could live here all his life and never worry. 
 And with that, all unthinkingly, he lays his arm about 
 Moll's waist. 
 
 Then the Don, who had followed us up and down stairs, 
 speaking never one word till this, says, "We may count 
 ourselves lucky, Captain Evans, if we are suffered to stay 
 here another week." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Prosper as well as any thieves may; but Dauuson greatly tormented. 
 
 THE next morning I went to Simon at his lodge house, 
 having writ him a note overnight to prepare him for my 
 visit, and there I found him, with all his books and papers 
 ready for my examination. So to it we set, casting up 
 figures, comparing accounts, and so forth, best part of the 
 day, and in the end I came away convinced that he was 
 the most scrupulous, honest steward ever man had. And, 
 truly, it appeared that by his prudent investments and 
 careful management he had trebled the value of the estate, 
 and more, in the last ten years. He showed me, also, that 
 in all his valuations he had set off a large sum for loss by 
 accident of fire, war, etc., so that actually at the present 
 moment the estate, which he reckoned at seventy-five thou- 
 sand pounds, was worth at the least one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand. But for better assurance on this 
 head, I spent the remainder of the week in visiting the 
 farms, messuages, etc., on his rent roll, and found them all 
 in excellent condition, and held by good substantial men, 
 nothing in any particular but what he represented it. 
 
 Reporting on these matters privily to Don Sanchez and 
 Dawson, I asked the Don what we should now be doing. 
 
 "Two ways lie before us," says he, lighting a cigarro. 
 "Put Simon out of his house and make an enemy of 
 him," adds he, betwixt two puffs of smoke, "seize his 
 
136 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 securities, sell them for what they wiU fetch, and get out 
 of the country as quickly as possible. If the securities be 
 worth one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, we 
 may" (puff) "possibly" (puff) "get forty thousand for 
 them" (puff), "about a third of their value not more. 
 That yields us ten thousand apiece. On ten thousand 
 pounds a man may live like a prince in Spain. The 
 other way is to make a friend of Simon by restoring him 
 to his office, suffer him to treble the worth of the estate 
 again in the next ten years, and live like kings " (puff) " in 
 England." 
 
 "Pray, which way do you incline, Senor?" says I. 
 
 "Being a Spaniard," answers he, gravely, "I should 
 prefer to live like a prince in Spain." 
 
 "That would not I," says Dawson, stoutly. "A year and 
 a half of Elche have cured me of all fondness for foreign 
 parts. Besides, 'tis a beggarly, scurvy thing to fly one's 
 country, as if we had done some unhandsome, dishonest 
 trick. If I faced an Englishman, I should never dare look 
 him straight in the eyes again. What say you, Mr. Hop- 
 kins? " 
 
 "Why, Evans," says I, "you know my will without tell- 
 ing. I will not, of my own accord, go from your choice, 
 which way you will." 
 
 "Since we owe everything to Mistress Judith," observes 
 the Don, " and as she is no longer a child, ought not her 
 wishes to be consulted? " 
 
 "No," says Jack, very decidedly, and then, lowering his 
 voice, he adds, " for was she Judith Godwin ten times told, 
 and as old as my grandmother into the bargain, she is still 
 my daughter, and shall do as I choose her to do. And if, 
 
BEGIN TO TELL OUR UNHATCHED CHICKS. 137 
 
 as you say, we owe her everything, then I count 'twould be 
 a mean, dirty return to make her live out of England and 
 feel she has a sneaking coward for a father." 
 
 "As you please," says the Don. "Give me ten thou- 
 sand of the sum you are to be paid at Michaelmas, and 
 you are welcome to all the rest." 
 
 "You mean that, Senor," cries Jack, seizing the Don's 
 hand and raising his left. 
 
 " By the Holy Mother," answers Don Sanchez, in Spanish. 
 
 "Done! " cries Dawson, bringing his hand down with a 
 smack on the Don's palm. "Nay, I always believed you 
 was the most generous man living. Ten from t'other. 
 Master Hopkins," says he, turning to me, "what does that 
 leave us?" 
 
 "More than a hundred thousand ! " 
 
 "The Lord be praised for evermore! " cries Jack. 
 
 Upon this, Moll, by the advice of Don Sanchez, sends 
 for Simon, and telling him she is satisfied with the account 
 I have given of his stewardship, offers him the further con- 
 trol of her affairs, subject at all times to her decision on 
 any question concerning her convenience, and reserving to 
 herself the sole government of her household, the ordering 
 of her home, lands, etc. And Simon grasping eagerly at 
 this proposal, she then gives him the promise of one thou- 
 sand pounds for his past services, and doubles the wages 
 due to him under his contract with Sir R. Godwin. 
 
 "Give me what it may please thee to bestow that way," 
 cries he. " All shall be laid out to enrich this property. 
 I have no other use for money, no other worldly end in life 
 but that." 
 
 And when he saw me next he was most slavish in his 
 
138 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 thanks for my good offices, vowing I should be paid my 
 claim by Michaelmas, if it were in the power of man to 
 raise so vast a sum in such short space. 
 
 Surely, thinks I, there was never a more strange, origi- 
 nal creature than this, yet it do seem to me that there is 
 no man but his passion must appear a madness to others. 
 
 I must speak now of Moll, her admirable carriage and 
 sober conduct in these new circumstances, which would 
 have turned the heads of most others. Never once to my 
 knowledge did she lose her self-possession, on the most 
 trying occasion, and this was due, not alone to her own 
 shrewd wit and understanding, but to the subtle intelli- 
 gence of Don Sanchez, who in the character of an old and 
 trusty friend was ever by her side, watchful of her interest 
 (and his own), ready at any moment to drop in her ear a 
 quiet word of warning or counsel. By his advice she had 
 taken into her service a most commendable, proper old 
 gentlewoman, one Mrs. Margery Butterby, who, as being 
 the widow of a country parson, was very orderly in all 
 things, and particularly nice in the proprieties. This 
 notable good soul was of a cheery, chatty disposition, of 
 very pleasing manners, and a genteel appearance, and so, 
 though holding but the part of housekeeper, she served as 
 an agreeable companion and a respectable guardian, whose 
 mere presence in the house silenced any question that 
 might have arisen from the fact of three men living under 
 the same roof with the young and beautiful mistress of 
 Hurst Court. Moreover, she served us as a very useful 
 kind of mouthpiece; for all those marvellous stories of her 
 life in Barbary, of the pirates we had encountered in re- 
 deeming her from the Turk, etc., with which Moll would 
 
MOLL AN EXCELLENT CHEAT. 139 
 
 beguile away any tedious half-hour, for the mere amuse- 
 ment of creating Mrs. Butterby's wonder and surprise, 
 as one will tell stories of fairies to children, this good 
 woman repeated with many additions of her own concern- 
 ing ourselves, which, to reflect credit on herself, were all 
 to our advantage. This was the more fitting, because the 
 news spreading that the lost heiress had returned to Hurst 
 Court excited curiosity far and wide, and it was not long 
 before families in the surrounding seats, who had known 
 Sir R. Godwin in bygone times, called to see his daughter. 
 And here Moll's wit was taxed to the utmost, for those 
 who had known Judith Godwin as an infant expected that 
 she should remember some incident stored in their recol- 
 lection; but she was ever equal to the occasion, feign- 
 ing a pretty doubting innocence at first, then suddenly 
 asking this lady if she had not worn a cherry dress with a 
 beautiful stomacher at the time, or that gentleman if he 
 had not given her a gold piece for a token, and it generally 
 happened these shrewd shafts hit their mark: the lady, 
 though she might have forgotten her gown, remembering 
 she had a very becoming stomacher; the gentleman be- 
 lieving that he did give her a lucky penny, and so forth, 
 from very vanity. Then Moll's lofty carriage and her 
 beauty would remind them of their dear lost friend, Mrs. 
 Godwin, in the heyday of her youth, and all agreed in 
 admiring her beyond anything. And though Moll, from 
 her lack of knowledge, made many slips, and would now 
 and then say things uncustomary to women of breeding, 
 yet these were easily attributed to her living so long in a 
 barbarous country, and were as readily glanced over. In- 
 deed, nothing could surpass Moll's artificial conduct on 
 
I4O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 these occasions. She would lard her conversation with 
 those scraps of Italian she learnt from me, and sometimes, 
 affecting to have forgot her own tongue, she would stumble 
 at a word, and turning to Don Sanchez, ask him the Eng- 
 lish of some Moorish phrase. Then one day, there being 
 quite a dozen visitors in her state room, she brings down 
 her Moorish dress and those baubles given her by friends 
 at Elche, to show the ladies, much to the general astonish- 
 ment and wonder; then, being prayed to dress herself in 
 these clothes, she with some hesitation of modesty consents, 
 and after a short absence from the room returns in this 
 costume, looking lovelier than ever I had before seen, 
 with the rings about her shapely bare arms and on her 
 ankles, and thus arrayed she brings me a guitar, and to 
 my strumming sings a Moorish song, swaying her arms 
 above her head and turning gracefully in their fashion, so 
 that all were in an ecstasy with this strange performance. 
 And the talk spreading, the number of visitors grew apace, 
 as bees will flock to honey, and yielding to their 
 urgent entreaties, she would often repeat this piece of 
 business, and always with a most winning grace, that 
 charmed every one. But she was most a favourite of gen- 
 tlemen and elderly ladies; for the younger ones she did 
 certainly put their noses out of joint, since none could at 
 all compare with her in beauty nor in manner, either, for 
 she had neither the awkward shyness of some nor the bold- 
 ness of others, but contrived ever to steer neatly betwixt 
 the two extremes by her natural self-possession and fear- 
 lessness. 
 
 Of all her new friends, the most eager in courting her 
 were Sir Harry Upton and his lady (living in the Grays), 
 
DISCOURSE OF TAKING MOLL TO COURT. 14! 
 
 and they, being about to go to London for the winter, did 
 press Moll very hard to go with them, that she might be 
 presented to the king; and, truth to tell, they would not 
 have had to ask her twice had she been governed only 
 by her own inclination. For she was mad to go, that 
 audacious spirit of adventure still working very strong in 
 her, and she, like a winning gamester, must for ever be 
 playing for higher and higher stakes. But we, who had 
 heard enough of his excellent but lawless Majesty's court 
 to fear the fate of any impulsive, beauteous young woman 
 that came within his sway, were quite against this. Even 
 Don Sanchez, who was no innocent, did persuade her from 
 it with good strong argument, showing that, despite his 
 worldliness, he did really love her as much as 'twas in his 
 withered heart to love any one. As for Dawson, he declared 
 he would sooner see his Moll in her winding-sheet than 
 in the king's company, adding that 'twould be time enough 
 for her to think of going to court when she had a husband 
 to keep her out of mischief. And so she refused this offer 
 (but with secret tears, I believe). "But," says she to her 
 father, " if I'm not to have my own way till I'm married, 
 I shall get me a husband as soon as I can." 
 
 And it seemed that she would not have to look far nor 
 wait long for one neither. Before a month was passed, at 
 least half a dozen young sparks were courting her, they 
 being attracted, not only by her wit and beauty, but by the 
 report of her wealth, it being known to all how Simon 
 had enriched the estate. And 'twas this abundance of 
 suitors which prevented Moll from choosing any one in 
 particular, else had there been but one, I believe the 
 business would have been settled very quickly. For now 
 
142 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 she was in the very flush of life, and the blood that flowed 
 in her veins was of no lukewarm kind. 
 
 But here (that I may keep all my strings in harmony) 
 I must quit Moll for a space to tell of her father. That 
 first hint of the Don's bringing him to his senses somewhat 
 (like a dash of cold water), and the exuberance of his 
 joy subsiding, he quickly became more circumspect in his 
 behaviour, and fell into the part he had to play. And the 
 hard, trying, sorrowful part that was, neither he nor I had 
 foreseen. For now was he compelled for the first time 
 in his life, at any length, to live apart from his daughter, 
 to refrain from embracing her when they met in the morn- 
 ing, to speak to her in a rough, churlish sort when his heart, 
 maybe, was overflowing with love, and to reconcile him- 
 self to a cool, indifferent behaviour on her side, when his 
 very soul was yearning for gentle, tender warmth. And 
 these natural cravings of affection were rather strengthened 
 than stilled by repression, as one's hunger by starving. To 
 add to this, he now saw his Moll more bewitching than 
 ever she was before, the evidence of her wit and under- 
 standing stimulating that admiration which he dared not 
 express. He beheld her loved and courted openly by all, 
 whilst he who had deeper feeling for her than any, and 
 more right to caress her, must at each moment stifle his 
 desires and lay fetters on his inclinations, which constraint, 
 like chains binding down a stout, thriving oak, did eat and 
 corrode into his being, so that he did live most of these 
 days in a veritable torment. Yet, for Moll's sake, was he 
 very stubborn in his resolution; and, when he could no 
 longer endure to stand indifferently by while others were 
 enjoying her sprightly conversation, he would go up to 
 
DAWSON GREATLY TORTURED. 143 
 
 his chamber and pace to and fro, like some she-lion parted 
 from her cub. 
 
 These sufferings were not unperceived by Moll, who also 
 had strong feeling to repress, and therefore could compre- 
 hend her father's torture, and she would often seize an 
 opportunity, nay, run great risk of discovery, to hie her 
 secretly to his room, there to throw herself in his arms and 
 strain him to her heart, covering his great face with tender 
 kisses, and whispering words of hope and good cheer (with 
 the tears on her cheek) . And one day when Jack seemed 
 more than usual downhearted, she offered him to give up 
 everything and return to her old ways, if he would. But 
 this spurring his courage, he declared he would live in hell 
 rather than she should fall from her high estate, and become 
 a mere vagabond wench again, adding that 'twas but the first 
 effort gave him so much pain, that with practice 'twould all 
 be as nothing ; that such sweet kisses as hers once a week 
 did amply compensate him for his fast, etc. Then her tears 
 being brushed away, she would quit him with noiseless step 
 and all precautions, and maybe five minutes afterwards, 
 whilst Jack was sitting pensive at his window pondering 
 her sweetness and love, he would hear her laughing lightly 
 below, as if he were already forgotten. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 How Dawson for MoWs good parts company with us, and goes away 
 a lonely man, 
 
 ON the eve of Michaelmas day old Simon returned from 
 London, whither he had gone two days before, to raise the 
 money he had promised ; and calling upon him in the 
 afternoon I found him seated at his table, with a most woe- 
 begone look in his face, and his eyes streaming more 
 copiously than usual. And with most abject humility he 
 told me that doing the utmost that lay in his power, he had 
 not been able to persuade his goldsmith to lend more than 
 ten thousand pounds on the title deeds. Nor had he got 
 that, he declared, but that the goldsmith knew him for an 
 honest and trustworthy man whom he would credit beyond 
 any other in the world ; for the seal not yet being given to 
 Judith Godwin's succession, there was always peril of dis- 
 pute and lawsuits which might make these papers of no 
 value at all (the king's ministers vying one with another to 
 please their master by bringing money rightly or wrongly 
 into the treasury), and this, indeed, may have been true 
 enough. 
 
 " But," says he, " all will go well if thee wilt have but a 
 little patience for a while. To-morrow my rents will come 
 in, and I will exact to the last farthing; and there is a 
 parcel of land I may sell, mayhap, for instant payment, 
 though 'twill be at a fearsome loss" (mopping his eyes), "yet 
 
 144 
 
LAY HANDS ON TEN THOUSAND POUNDS. 145 
 
 I will do it rather than put thee to greater incommodity ; 
 and so, ere the end of the week, thee mayst safely count 
 on having yet another three thousand, which together makes 
 nigh upon half the sum promised. And this, dear good 
 friend," adds he, slyly, " thee mayst well take on account 
 of thine own share, and none dispute thy right, for 'tis 
 thy money hath done all. And from what I see of him, 
 smoking of pipes in the public way and drinking with any 
 low fellows in alehouses, this Captain Evans is but a paltry, 
 mean man who may be easily put off with a pound or two 
 to squander in his pleasures ; and as for the Spanish grandee, 
 he do seem so content to be with our mistress that I doubt 
 he needs no pretext for quitting her, added to which, being 
 of a haughty, proud nature, he should scorn to claim his 
 own, to the prejudice of a merchant who hath nought but 
 his capital to live upon. And I do implore thee, good 
 friend, to lay this matter before my mistress in such a way 
 that she may not be wroth with me." 
 
 I told him I would do all he could expect of me in 
 reason, but bade him understand that his cb/ance of for- 
 giveness for having broke his first engagement depended 
 greatly upon his exactitude in keeping the second, and that 
 he might count on little mercy from us if the other three 
 thousand were not forthcoming as he promised So I took 
 the money and gave him a quittance for it, signing it with 
 my false name, James Hopkins, but, reflecting on this when 
 I left him, I wished I had not. For I clearly perceived 
 that by this forgery I laid myself open to very grievous con- 
 sequences ; moreover, taking of this solid money, disguise it 
 how I would, appeared to me nothing short of downright 
 robbery, be it whose it might. In short, being now plunged 
 
146 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 up to my neck in this business, I felt like a foolish lad who 
 hath waded beyond his depth in a rapid current, hoping I 
 might somehow get out of it safely, but with very little 
 expectation. However, the sight of all this gold told up in 
 scores upon the table in our closed room served to quiet 
 these qualms considerably. Nevertheless, I was not dis- 
 pleased to remember our bargain with Don Sanchez, feeling 
 that I should breathe more freely when he had taken this 
 store of gold out of my hands, etc. Thus did my mind 
 waver this way and that, like a weather-cock to the blowing 
 of contrary winds. 
 
 'Twas this day that Moll (as I have said) dressed herself 
 in her Moorish clothes for the entertainment of her new 
 friends, and Dawson, hearing her voice, yet not daring to go 
 into the state room where she was, must needs linger on the 
 stairs listening to her song, and craning his neck to catch 
 a glimpse of her through the open door below. Here he 
 stands in a sort of ravishment, sucking in her sweet voice, 
 and the sounds of delight with which her guests paid tribute 
 to her performance, feeding his passion which, like some 
 fire, grew more fierce by feeding, till he was well-nigh beside 
 himself. Presently, out comes Moll from her state room, 
 all glowing with exercise, flushed with pleasure, a rich colour 
 in her cheek, and wild fire in her eyes, looking more witch- 
 ing than any siren. Swiftly she crosses the hall, and runs 
 up the stairs to gain her chamber and reclothe herself, but 
 half way up Dawson stops her, and clasping her about, 
 cries hoarsely in a transport : 
 
 " Thou art my own Moll my own sweet Moll ! " 
 adding, as she would break from him to go her way, " Nay, 
 chick. You shall not go till you have bussed your old dad." 
 
DAWSON ; HIS INDISCRETION. 147 
 
 Then she, hesitating a moment betwixt prudence and her 
 warmer feelings, suddenly yields to the impulse of her 
 heart (her head also being turned maybe with success and 
 delight), and flinging her arms about his neck gives him a 
 hearty kiss, and then bursts away with a light laugh. 
 
 Jack watches her out of sight, and then, when the 
 moment of escape is past, he looks below to see if there be 
 any danger, and there he spies Don Sanchez, regarding him 
 from the open door, where he stands, as if to guard it. 
 Without a sign the Don turns on his heel and goes back 
 into the room, while Dawson, with a miserable hangdog 
 look, comes to me in my chamber, where I am counting the 
 gold, and confesses his folly with a shamed face, cursing 
 himself freely for his indiscretion, which at this rate must 
 ruin all ere long. 
 
 This was no great surprise to me, for I myself had seen 
 him many a time clip his dear daughter's hand, when he 
 thought no one was by, and, more than once, the name of 
 Moll had slipped out when he should have spoken of Mis- 
 tress Judith. 
 
 These accidents threw us both into a very grave humour, 
 and especially I was tormented with the reflection that a 
 forgery could be proved against me, if things came to the 
 worst. The danger thereof was not slight ; for though all 
 in the house loved Moll dearly and would willingly do her 
 no hurt, yet the servants, should they notice how Mistress 
 Judith stood with Captain Evans, must needs be prating, 
 and there a mischief would begin, to end only the Lord 
 knows where ! Thereupon, I thought it as well to preach 
 Jack a sermon, and caution him to greater prudence ; and 
 this he took in amazing good part not bidding me tend 
 
148 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 my own business as he might at another time, but assenting 
 very submissively to all my hints of disaster, and thanking 
 me in the end for speaking my mind so freely. Then, see- 
 ing him so sadly downcast, I (to give a sweetmeat after a 
 bitter draught) bade him take the matter not too much to 
 heart, promising that, with a little practice, he would soon 
 acquire a habit of self-restraint, and so all would go well. 
 But he made no response, save by shaking of his head 
 sorrowfully, and would not be comforted. 
 
 When all were abed that night, we three men met in my 
 chamber, where I had set the bags of money on the table, 
 together with a dish of tobacco and a bottle of wine for our 
 refreshment, and then the Don, having lit him a cigarro, and 
 we our pipes, with full glasses beside us, I proposed we 
 should talk of our affairs, to which Don Sanchez consented 
 with a solemn inclination of his head. But ere I began, I 
 observed with a pang of foreboding, that Jack, who usually 
 had emptied his glass ere others had sipped theirs, did now 
 leave his untouched, and after the first pull or two at his 
 pipe, he cast it on the hearth as though it were foul to his 
 taste. Taking no open notice of this, I showed Don San- 
 chez the gold, and related all that had passed between 
 Simon and me. 
 
 " Happily, Sefior," says I, in conclusion, " here is just the 
 sum you generously offered to accept for your share, and 
 we give it you with a free heart, Evans and I being willing 
 to wait for what may be forthcoming." 
 
 " Is it your wish both, that I take this?" says he, laying 
 his hand on the money and looking from me to Dawson. 
 
 " Aye," says he, " 'tis but a tithe of what is left to us, and 
 not an hundredth part of what we owe to you." 
 
DAWSON RESOLVES TO LEAVE US. 149 
 
 " Very good," says the Don. " I will carry it to London 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " But surely, Sefior," says I, " you will not quit us so soon." 
 
 Don Sanchez rolls his cigarro in his lips, looking me straight 
 in the face and somewhat sternly, and asks me quietly if I 
 have ever found him lacking in loyalty and friendship. 
 
 " In truth, never, Sefior." 
 
 " Then why should you imagine I mean to quit you now 
 when you have more need of a friend in this house " (with a 
 sideward glance as towards Moll's chamber) " than ever you 
 before had? " Then, turning towards Jack, he says, " What 
 are you going to do, Captain Evans? " 
 
 Dawson pauses, as if to snatch one last moment for con- 
 sideration, and then, nodding at me, " You'll not leave my 
 Moll, Kit?" says he, with no attempt to disguise names. 
 
 " Why should I leave her ; are we not as brothers, you and 
 I?" 
 
 "Aye, I'd trust you with my life," answers he, " and more 
 than that, with my Moll ! If you were her uncle, she 
 couldn't love you more, Kit. And you will stand by her, 
 too, Senor?" 
 
 The Don bowed his head. 
 
 "Then when you leave, to-morrow, I'll go with you to 
 London," says Jack. 
 
 " I shall return the next day," says Don Sanchez, with 
 significance. 
 
 " And I shall not, God help me ! " says Jack, bitterly. 
 
 " Give me your hand," says the Don ; but I could speak 
 never a word, and sat staring at Jack, in a maze. 
 
 " We'll say nought of this to her," continues Jack ; " there 
 must be no farewells, I could never endure that. But it 
 
ISO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 shall seem that I have gone with you for company, and 
 have fallen in with old comrades who would keep me for 
 a carousing." 
 
 "But with out friends alone what shall you do there 
 in London?" says I, heart-stricken at the thought of his 
 desolation. The Don answers for Jack. 
 
 "Make the best of his lot with a stout heart, like any 
 other brave man," says he. " There are natural hardships 
 which every man must bear in his time, and this is one 
 of them." Then lowering his voice, he adds, "Unless you 
 would have her die an old maid, she and her father must 
 part sooner or later." 
 
 " Why, that's true, and yet, Master," says Jack, " I would 
 have you know that I'm not so brave but I would see her 
 now and then." 
 
 " That may be ordered readily enough," says the Don. 
 
 " Then do you tell her, Senor, I have but gone a-junketing, 
 and she may look to see me again when my frolic's over." 
 
 The Don closed his eyes as one in dubitation, and then 
 says, lifting his eyebrows : " She is a clever woman shrewd 
 beyond any I have ever known ; then why treat her as you 
 would a foolish child? You must let me tell her the truth 
 when I come back, and I warrant it will not break her heart, 
 much as she loves you." 
 
 " As you will," says t'other. " 'Twill be all as one to me," 
 with a sigh. 
 
 "This falls out well in all ways," continues the Don, 
 turning to me. " You will tell Simon, whose suspicion we 
 have most to fear, that we have handed over four thousand 
 of those pieces to Captain Evans as being most in need, we 
 ourselves choosing to stay here till the rest of our claim is 
 
DAWSON GOES HIS WAY. 15! 
 
 paid. That will account for Evans going away, and give us 
 a pretext for staying here." 
 
 " I'll visit him myself, if you will," says Jack, " and wring 
 his hand to show my gratitude. I warrant I'll make him 
 wince, such a grip will I give him. And I'll talk of nothing 
 else but seas and winds, and the manner of ship I'll have 
 for his money." 
 
 The following morning before Moll was stirring, Don 
 Sanchez and Dawson set forth on their journey, and I going 
 with them beyond the park gates to the bend of the road, 
 we took leave of each other with a great show of cheerful- 
 ness on both sides. But Lord ! my heart lay in my breast 
 like any lump of lead, and when Jack turned his back on 
 me, the tears sprang up in my eyes as though indeed this 
 was my brother and I was never to see him more. And 
 long after he was out of sight I sat on the bank by the 
 roadside, sick with pain to think of his sorrow in going 
 forth like this, without one last loving word of parting from 
 his dear Moll, to find no home in London, no friend to 
 cheer him, and he the most companionable man in the 
 world. 
 
CHAPTER XVTII. 
 
 Of our getting a painter into the Court, with whom our Moll falls 
 straightivay in love. 
 
 BEING somewhat of a coward, I essayed to put Moll off 
 with a story of her father having gone a- frolicking with 
 Don Sanchez, leaving it to the Don to break the truth to 
 her on his return. And a sorry, bungling business I made 
 of it, to be sure. For, looking me straight in the eyes, 
 whenever I dared lift them, she did seem to perceive that 
 I was lying, from the very first, which so disconcerted me, 
 though she interrupted me by never a word, that I could 
 scarce stammer to the end of my tale. Then, without ask- 
 ing a single question, or once breaking her painful silence, 
 she laid her face in her hands, her shoulders shook, and the 
 tears ran out between her fingers, and fell upon her lap. 
 
 " I know, I know," says she, putting me away, when I 
 attempted to speak. " He has gone away for my sake, and 
 will come back no more ; and 'tis all my fault, that I could 
 not play my part better." 
 
 Then, what words of comfort I could find, I offered her ; 
 but she would not be consoled, and shut herself up in her 
 room all that morning. Nevertheless, she ate more heartily 
 than I at dinner, and fresh visitors coming in the afternoon, 
 she entertained them as though no grief lay at her heart. 
 Indeed, she recovered of this cruel blow much easier than 
 I looked for ; and but that she would at times sit pensive, 
 with melancholy, wistful eyes, and rise from her seat with 
 
 152 
 
MOLL QUICKLY RECONCILED. 153 
 
 a troubled sigh, one would have said, at the end of the week, 
 that she had ceased to feel for her father. But this was not 
 so (albeit wounds heal quickly in the young and healthful), 
 for I believe that they who weep the least do ache the most. 
 
 Then, for her further excuse (if it be needed), Don 
 Sanchez brought back good tidings of her father, how he 
 was neatly lodged near the Cherry garden, where he could 
 hear the birds all day and the fiddles all night, with abun- 
 dance of good entertainment, etc. To confirm which, she 
 got a letter from him, three^ days later, very loving and 
 cheerful, telling how, his landlord being a carpenter, he did 
 amuse himself mightily at his old trade in the workshop, 
 and was all agog for learning to turn wood in a lathe, 
 promising that he would make her a set of egg-cups against 
 her birthday, please God. Added to this, the number of 
 her friends multiplying apace, every day brought some new 
 occupation to her thoughts ; also, having now those three 
 thousand pounds old Simon had promised us, Moll set 
 herself to spending of them as quickly as possible, by fur- 
 nishing herself with all sorts of rich gowns and appoint- 
 ments, which is as pretty a diversion of melancholy from a 
 young woman's thoughts as any. And so I think I need 
 dwell no longer on this head. 
 
 About the beginning of October, Simon comes, cap in 
 hand, and very humble, to the Court to crave Moll's con- 
 sent to his setting some men with guns in her park at night, 
 to lie in ambush for poachers, telling how they had shot one 
 man in the act last spring, and had hanged another the year 
 before for stealing of a sheep ; adding that a stranger had 
 been seen loitering in the neighbourhood, who, he doubted 
 not, was of their thieving crew. 
 
154 A SET F ROGUES. 
 
 "What makes you think that?" asks Moll. 
 
 "He has been seen lingering about here these three 
 days," answers Simon. "Yet to my knowledge he hath not 
 slept at either of the village inns. Moreover, he hath the 
 look of a desperate, starving rascal, ripe for such work." 
 
 " I will have no man killed for his misfortunes." 
 
 " Gentle mistress, suffer me to point out that if thee lets 
 one man steal with impunity, others, now innocent, are 
 thereby encouraged to sin, and thus thy mercy tends to 
 greater cruelty." 
 
 " No man shall be killed on my land, there is my 
 answer," says Moll, with passion. " If you take this poor, 
 starved creature, it shall be without doing him bodily hurt. 
 You shall answer for it else." 
 
 " Not a bone shall be broken, mistress. Tis enough if 
 we carry him before Justice Martin, a godly, upright man, 
 and a scourge to evil-doers." 
 
 " Nay, you shall not do that, neither, till I have heard his 
 case," says Moll. " 'Tis for me to decide whether he has 
 injured me or not, and I'll suffer none to take my place." 
 
 Promising obedience, Simon withdrew before any further 
 restrictions might be put upon him ; but Moll's mind was 
 much disturbed all day by fear of mischief being done de- 
 spite her commands, and at night she would have me take 
 her round the park to see all well. Maybe, she thought that 
 her own father, stealing hither to see her privily, might foil 
 a victim to Simon's ambushed hirelings. But we found no 
 one, though Simon had certainly hidden these fellows some- 
 where in the thickets. 
 
 Whilst we were at table next morning, we heard a great 
 commotion in the hall; and Mrs. Butterby coming in a 
 
MOLL SITS IN JUSTICE. 155 
 
 mighty pucker, told how the robber had been taken in the 
 park, and how Simon had brought him to the house in 
 obedience to her lady's command. 
 
 " But do, pray, have a care of yourself, my dear lady," says 
 she ; " for this hardy villain hath struck Mr. Simon in the 
 face and made most desperate resistance ; and Heaven pro- 
 tect us from such wicked outlaws as have the villany to 
 show themselves in broad daylight ! " 
 
 Moll, smiling, said she would rather face a lion in the 
 day than a mouse by night, and so bade the captive to be 
 brought before her. 
 
 Then in comes Simon, with a stout band over one eye, 
 followed by two sturdy fellows holding their prisoner betwixt 
 them. And this was a very passionate man, as was evidenced 
 by the looks of fury he cast from side to side upon his cap- 
 tors as they dragged him this way and that to make a show 
 of their power, but not ill-looking. In his struggles he had 
 lost his hat, and his threadbare coat and shirt were torn 
 open, laying bare his neck and showing a very fair white 
 skin and a good beard of light curling hair. There was 
 nought mean or vile in his face, but rather it seemed to me 
 a noble countenance, though woefully wasted, so that at a 
 glance one might perceive he was no born rascal, but likely 
 enough some ruined man of better sort driven to unlawful 
 ways by his distress. He was of a fair height, but gaunt 
 beyond everything, and so feeble that after one effort to 
 free his arms his chin sank upon his breast as if his forces 
 were all spent. 
 
 Seeing this, Moll bade the fellows unbind him, telling 
 them sharply they might see there was no need of such 
 rigour. 
 
156 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Being freed, our prisoner lifts his head and makes a slight 
 reverence to Moll, but with little gratitude in his look, and 
 places himself at the end of the table facing us, who are at 
 the other end, Moll sitting betwixt Don Sanchez and me. 
 And there, setting his hands for support upon the board, he 
 holds his head up pretty proudly, waiting for what might 
 come. 
 
 " Who are you? " asks Moll, in a tone of authority. 
 
 He waits a moment, as if deliberating with himself whether 
 to speak fairly or not, then, being still sore with his ill-treat- 
 ment, and angered to be questioned thus by a mere girl 
 (he, as I take it, being a man of thirty or thereabouts), he 
 answers : 
 
 " I do not choose to tell. Who I am, what I am, con- 
 cerns you no more than who and what you are concerns me, 
 and less since I may justly demand by what right these fel- 
 lows, whom I take to be your servants, have thus laid hands 
 on me." 
 
 " How do you answer this? " asks Moll, turning to Simon. 
 
 Then Simon told very precisely, as if he were before a 
 magistrate, how this man, having been seen lingering about 
 the Court several days, and being without home or occupa- 
 tion, had been suspected of felonious purposes ; how, there- 
 fore, he had set a watch to lay wait for him ; how that morn- 
 ing they had entrapped him standing within a covert of the 
 park regarding the house ; how he had refused to give his 
 name or any excuse for his being there, and how he had 
 made most desperate attempt to escape when they had lain 
 hands on him. 
 
 " Is this true? " asks Moll of the prisoner. 
 
 "Yes," says he. 
 
MOLLS GENTLE SPEECH. 1 57 
 
 Moll regards him with incredulous eyes a moment, then, 
 turning to Simon, " What arms had he for this purpose that 
 you speak of ? " says she. 
 
 "None, mistress; but 'twould be a dread villain verily 
 who would carry the engines of his trade abroad in daylight 
 to betray him." And then he told how 'tis the habit of 
 these poachers to reconnoitre their ground by day, and keep 
 their nets, guns, etc., concealed in some thicket or hollow 
 tree convenient for their purpose. " But," adds he, " we 
 may clearly prove a trespass against him, which is a pun- 
 ishable offence, and this assault upon me, whereof I have 
 evidence, shall also count for something with Justice Martin, 
 and so the wicked shall yet come by their deserts." And 
 with that he gives his fellows a wink with his one eye to 
 carry off their quarry. 
 
 "Stay," says Moll, "I would be further convinced " 
 
 " If he be an honest man, let him show thee his hand," 
 says Simon. 
 
 The man innocently enough stretches out his palm towards 
 us, not perceiving Simon's end. 
 
 "There ! " cries Simon. "What said I? Is that a hand 
 that ever did a day's honest work? " 
 
 " 'Tis no worse than mine," says Moll, regarding the 
 hand which in truth was exceeding smooth and well formed. 
 " Come," adds she, still more kindly, " you see I am no 
 harsh judge. I would not deny a fellow-creature the 
 pleasure that is not grudged the coney that runs across my 
 lawn. Tell me you were there but to gratify a passing 
 caprice, and I'll forgive you as freely as I'll believe you." 
 
 This gentle appeal seemed to move the young man 
 greatly, and he made as if he would do more than was 
 
158 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 demanded of him, and make that free confession which he 
 had refused to force. But ere a word could leave his 
 parted lips a deadly shade passed over his face, his knees 
 gave under him, and staggering to save himself, he fell to the 
 ground in a swoon. 
 
 Then, whilst all we men stood fixed in wonderment, Moll, 
 with the quick, helpful impulse of her womanhood, ran 
 swiftly from her place to his side, and dropping on her 
 knees cried for water to be brought her. 
 
 " Dead of hunger," says Don Sanchez, in my ear. " Fetch 
 a flask of brandy." 
 
 And then, laying hold of Simon by the shoulder, he 
 pointed significantly to the open door. This hint Simon 
 was not slow to take, and when I returned from the buttery 
 with a case of strong waters, I found no one in the room but 
 Don Sanchez, and Moll with the fainting man's head upon 
 her lap, bathing his temples gently. Life had not come 
 back, and the young man's face looked very handsome in 
 death, the curls pushed back from his brow, and his long 
 features still and colourless like a carved marble. 
 
 Then with a " lack-a-day " and " alas," in bustles Mrs. 
 Butterby with a bottle of cordial in one hand and a bunch 
 of burning feathers in the other. 
 
 " Fling that rubbish in the chimney," says the Don. " I 
 know this malady well enough," and pouring some hoi- 
 lands in a cup he put it to the dead man's parted lips. 
 
 In a few moments he breathed again, and hearing Moll's 
 cry of joy, he opened his eyes as one waking from a dream 
 and turned his head to learn what had happened. Then 
 finding his head in Moll's lap and her small, soft, cool hand 
 upon his brow, a smile played over his wasted face. And 
 
THE STRICKEN MAN RECOVERS HIS LIFE. 159 
 
 well, indeed, might he smile to see that young figure of 
 justice turned to the living image of tender mercy. 
 
 Perceiving him out of danger, and recovering her own wits 
 at the same time, Mrs. Butterby cries : " Lord ! Madam, do 
 let me call a maid to take your place ; for, dear heart ! you 
 have quite spoiled your new gown with this mess of water, 
 and all for such a paltry fellow as this ! " 
 
 Truly, it must have seemed to her understanding an out- 
 rageous thing that a lady of her mistress' degree should be 
 nursing such a ragged rascal ; but to me, knowing Moll's 
 helpful, impulsive disposition, 'twas no such extraordinary 
 matter, for she at such a moment could not entertain those 
 feelings which might have restrained a lady of more refined 
 breeding. 
 
 The pretty speech of Mrs. Butterby, reaching the fallen 
 man's ear, seemed instantly to quicken his spirits, and, cast- 
 ing off his lethargic humour, he quickly staggered to his feet, 
 while we raised Moll. Then, resting one hand upon the 
 table for support, he craved her pardon for giving so much 
 trouble, but in a very faint, weak voice. 
 
 "I would have done as much for a dog," says Moll. 
 " My friends will render you what further services are fit ; 
 and, if it appears that you have been unjustly used (as I do 
 think you have), be sure you shall have reparation." 
 
 " I ask no more," says he, " than to be treated as I may 
 merit in your esteem." 
 
 " Justice shall be done," says Don Sanchez, in his stern 
 voice, and with that he conducts Moll to the door. 
 
 But Moll was not content with this promise of justice. 
 For the quality of mercy begetteth love, so that one cannot 
 moderate one's anger against an enemy, but it doth breed 
 
l6o A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 greater compassion and leniency by making one better con- 
 tent with oneself, and therefore more indulgent to others. 
 And so, when she had left the room, she sends in her maid 
 to fetch me, and taking me aside says with vivacity : 
 
 " I will have no punishment made upon that man." 
 
 " Nay," says I, " but if 'tis proved that his intent was to 
 rob you " 
 
 " What then ! " says she. " Hath he not as much right 
 to this estate as we ? And are we one whit the better than 
 he, save in the more fortunate issue of our designs ? Under- 
 stand me," adds she, with passion ; " I will have nothing 
 added to his unhappiness." 
 
 I found the young man seated at the table, and Don 
 Sanchez gravely setting food before him. But he would 
 take nothing but bread, and that he ate as though it were 
 the sweetest meat in all the world. I lead the Don to the 
 window, and there, in an undertone, told him of Moll's 
 decision ; and, whether her tone of supreme authority 
 amused him or not, I cannot say, because of his impassive 
 humour, but he answered me with a serious inclination of 
 his head, and then we fell speaking of other matters in our 
 usual tone, until the young man, having satisfied the cravings 
 of nature, spoke : 
 
 "When you are at liberty, gentlemen," says he, "to 
 question my conduct, I will answer you." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Of the business appointed to the painter, and how he set about the same. 
 
 THE young man had risen and was standing by the table 
 when we turned from the window; he seemed greatly re- 
 freshed, his face had lost its livid hue of passion and 
 death, and looked the better for a tinge of colour. He 
 met our regard boldly, yet with no braggart, insolent air, 
 but the composure of a brave man facing his trial with 
 a consciousness of right upon his side. 
 
 "I would ask you," says the Don, seating himself on 
 t'other side the table, "why you refused to do that 
 before?" 
 
 "Sir," answers he, "I have lost everything in the world 
 save some small modicum of pride, which, being all I have, 
 I do cherish, maybe, unduly. And so, when these unman- 
 nerly hinds took me by the throat, calling on me to tell my 
 name and business, this spirit within me flaring up, I could 
 not answer with the humility of a villain seeking to slink 
 out of danger by submissive excuses." 
 
 "Be seated," says the Don, accepting this explanation 
 with a bow. " How may we call you? " 
 
 "In Venice," replies the other, with some hesitation, 
 "I was called Dario a name given me by my fellow- 
 scholars because my English name was not to their taste." 
 
 "Enough," says the Don. "I can understand a man of 
 better fortune, as I perceive you have been, wishing in 
 such a position as this to retain his incognito. There are 
 M 161 
 
1 62 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 no parks in Venice, to my knowledge, but surely, sir, you 
 would not enter a palazzo there uninvited without some 
 reasonable pretext." 
 
 " It would be sufficient that in such a house as this I 
 thought I might find some employment for a painter." 
 
 "You are a painter? " says I. 
 
 "A poor one, as you see," replies Dario, with a signifi- 
 cant glance at his clothes. 
 
 Don Sanchez turned to me, hunching his shoulders. 
 
 "'Tis clear," says he, "that Signor Dario has been 
 grossly abused by our lady's over-zealous steward. You 
 have but to tell us, sir, what reparation we can make 
 you." 
 
 "I'll not refuse it," answers Dario, eagerly. "You 
 shall grant me permission to prove the honesty of my 
 story and something more than that. Somewhere 
 here," adds he, glancing around him, "I'd leave a tribute 
 to the grace of that dear lady who brought me back to life." 
 
 Don Sanchez assents with a bow to this proposal, but 
 with a rueful glance at the rich panels of the wall, as fear- 
 ing this painter might be as poor in talent as in his clothes 
 the latter reflecting discredit on the former and would 
 disfigure the handsome walls with some rude daub. 
 
 "Ah!" cries Dario, casting his eye upon the ceiling, 
 which was plastered in the Italian mode and embellished 
 with a poor design of cherubs and clouds, " this ceiling is 
 ill done. I could paint a fresco that would less disgrace 
 the room." 
 
 "You will need materials," says the Don, laying his 
 purse upon the table. " When you return with them, you 
 may rely upon having our lady's consent to your wishes." 
 
DARIO NO OUTLAW, BUT A POOR PAINTER. 163 
 
 The painter took the purse with a bow of acknowledgment, 
 and no more hesitation than one gentleman would show in 
 receiving an obligation from another, and presently left us. 
 
 "Shall we see him again, think ye, Senor?" I asked 
 when we were left to ourselves. 
 
 He nodded, but with such a reflective, sombre air, that 
 I was impelled to ask him if he lacked confidence in the 
 story told us by the painter. 
 
 "His story may be true enough, but whether Signor 
 Dario be an honest man or not is another matter. A 
 painter's but a man. A ruined gentleman will accommodate 
 his principles to circumstances " (with a side glance that 
 seemed to say, "I am a ruined gentleman") "and my 
 mind would be easier if I knew by what curious accident 
 a painter in need should find himself in the heart of Kent, 
 and why fixing on this house to seek employment he should 
 linger to the point of starvation before he can pluck up 
 courage to ask a simple question. We must keep our eyes 
 open, Mr. Hopkins, and," adds he, dropping his voice, 
 "our mouths shut." 
 
 I could not sleep that night for thinking of house- 
 breakings and bloody struggles for dear life; for 'tis a 
 matter of common report that this sort of robbers, ere they 
 make attack, do contrive to get one of their number into 
 the house that he may learn where good goods are stowed, 
 which part is easiest of attack, etc. 
 
 I know not whether these quakings were shared by the 
 Don, but certainly our misgivings never entered Moll's little 
 head. Nay, rather, her romantic disposition did lead her 
 (when she heard our narration) to conceive that this mys- 
 terious Dario might be some wandering genius, whose work 
 
164 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 upon our ceiling would make the Court for ever glorious. 
 And while in this humour she bade me go to Simon, whose 
 presence she would not tolerate in her house, and make 
 him acquainted with her high displeasure, and further- 
 more, to command that he should make satisfactory apol- 
 ogy to Dario upon his return. So to him I went, and he 
 wringing his hands in anguish deplored that his best 
 endeavours to serve his mistress served only to incense her 
 the more against him. But for his apology he declared 
 that has been made the moment he heard of the gentleman's 
 release, at the same time that he restored to him his hat 
 and a pocket-book which had fallen from his pocket. 
 
 This did somewhat reassure me, knowing full well that 
 Simon would not have given up this book without first 
 acquainting himself with its contents, and urging that had 
 there been anything in it to incriminate him, he had cer- 
 tainly laid it before his mistress for his own justification. 
 
 A couple of days after this, as Don Sanchez and I were 
 discoursing in the great avenue, Dario presents himself, 
 looking all the better for a decent suit of clothes and a 
 more prosperous condition, and Moll joining us at that 
 moment, he makes her a very handsome obeisance and 
 standing uncovered before her, begs to know if it is her 
 will that he should paint the ceiling of her dining-hall. 
 
 As he spoke, the colour rose on his cheek, and a shaft 
 of sunlight falling on his curling hair, which shone with 
 the lustre of health, made him look as comely a man as 
 ever I did see, and a good five years younger than when he 
 stood before us in the extremity of distress. 
 
 "Sir," says Moll, "were you my debtor as much as I am 
 yours, I could not ask for better payment." 
 
MOLL'S ROMANTIC FANCIES UPSET. 165 
 
 Don Sanchez put an end to this pretty exchange of cour- 
 tesies which maybe he considered overmuch as between 
 a lady of Moll's degree and one who might turn out to be 
 no more than an indifferent painter at the best by pro- 
 posing that Dario should point out what disposition he 
 would have made for his convenience in working. So he 
 went within doors, and there Dario gave orders to our gar- 
 dener, who was a handy sort of Jack-of-all-trades, what 
 pieces of furniture should be removed, how the walls and 
 floor should be protected, and how a scaffold should be set 
 up for him to work on. And the gardener promising to 
 carry out all these instructions in the course of the day, 
 Dario took his leave of us in a very polished style, saying 
 he would begin his business the next morning betimes. 
 
 Sure enough, we were awoke next day by a scraping 
 below, and coming down, we found our painter in a scull- 
 cap and a smock that covered him to his heels, upon his 
 scaffold, preparing the ceiling in a very workmanlike man- 
 ner. And to see him then, with his face and beard thickly 
 crusted over with a mess of dry plaster and paint, did I 
 think somewhat dispel those fanciful illusions which our 
 Moll had fostered she, doubtless, expecting to find him 
 in a very graceful attitude and beautiful to look at, cre- 
 ating a picture as if by inchantment. Her mortification 
 was increased later in the day when, we having invited him 
 on her insistence to dine at our table, he declined (civilly 
 enough), saying he had brought his repast with him, and 
 we presently found him seated astride one of his planks 
 with a pocket knife in one hand and a thumb-piece of 
 bread and bacon in the other, which he seemed to be eating 
 with all the relish in the world. 
 
l66 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " Why, he is nought but a common labourer," says Moll, 
 disgusted to see him regaling himself in this fashion, as 
 we returned to our room. " A pretty picture we are like to 
 get for all this mess and inconvenience ! " 
 
 And her idol being broken (as it were), and all her foncl 
 fancies dashed, she would not as much as look at him again 
 nor go anigh the room, to be reminded of her folly. 
 
 However, on the third day Dario sent to ask if she would 
 survey his outlines and decide whether the design pleased 
 her or not. For this purpose he had pushed aside his 
 scaffold, and here we saw a perspective done on the ceiling 
 in charcoal, representing a vaulted roof with an opening to 
 the sky in the middle, surrounded by a little balcony with 
 trailing plants running over it, and flowers peeping out 
 betwixt the balusters. And this, though very rough, was 
 most artificial, making the room look twice its height, and 
 the most admirable, masterly drawing that I did ever see. 
 
 And now Moll, who had prepared a courteous speech to 
 cover the contempt she expected to feel for the work, could 
 say nought for astonishment, but stood casting her eyes 
 round at the work like one in a maze. 
 
 " If you would prefer an allegory of figures," says Dario, 
 misconceiving her silence. 
 
 " Nay," answers she, " I would have nothing altered. 
 Tis wonderful how such effect can be made with mere lines 
 of black. I can scarce believe the ceiling is flat." And then 
 she drops her eyes upon Dario, regarding him with wonder, 
 as if doubting that such a dirty-looking man could have 
 worked this miracle. 
 
 " You must have seen better designs in Rome," says he. 
 
 At this I took alarm, not thinking for the moment that he 
 
AN EXCELLENT PERSPECTIVE. l6/ 
 
 might have picked up some particulars of Judith Godwin's 
 history from Mrs. Butterby, or the curious servants who 
 were ever prying in the room. 
 
 " Tis so long ago," says Moll, readily. 
 
 " I think I have seen something like it in the Holy City," 
 observes the Don, critically. 
 
 " Probably. Nothing has been left undone in Rome 
 I am told. It has not been my good fortune to get so far." 
 
 This was good news j for otherwise he might have put 
 some posers to Moll, which she had found it hard to 
 answer without betraying her ignorance. 
 
 Having Moll's approval, Dario set to work forthwith to 
 colour his perspective ; and this he did with the sure firm 
 hand of one who understands his business, and with such 
 nice judgment, that no builder, whose design is ordered by 
 fixed rule and line, could accomplish his work with greater 
 truth and justice. He made it to appear that the lower 
 part of his vaulted roof was wainscoted in the style of the 
 walls, and to such perfection that 'twould have puzzled 
 a conjurer to decide where the oaken panels ended and 
 the painted ones began. 
 
 And now Moll suffers her fancies to run wild again, and 
 could not sufficiently marvel over this poor painter and his 
 work, of which she would discourse to such lengths, that 
 both the Don and I at times had some ado to stifle our 
 yawns. She would have it that he was no common man, 
 but some great genius, compelled by misfortune or the per- 
 secution of rivals, to wander abroad in disguise, taking for 
 evidence the very facts which had lately led her to condemn 
 him, pointing out that, whereas those young gentlemen who 
 courted her so persistently did endeavour, on all occasions, 
 
1 68 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 to make their estate and natural parts appear greater than 
 they were, this Dario did not, proving that he had no such 
 need of fictitious advancement, and could well afford to let 
 the world judge of his worth by his works, etc. This point 
 we did not contest, only we were very well content to 
 observe that he introduced no one into the house, had no 
 friends in the village (to our knowledge), and that nought 
 was lacking from our store of plate. 
 
 She never tired of watching him at his work having the 
 hardihood to mount upon the scaffold where he stood, and 
 there she would sit by the hour on a little stool, chatting like 
 any magpie, when the nature of his occupation allowed his 
 thoughts to wander, silent as a mouse when she perceived 
 that his mind was absorbed in travail ready at any 
 moment to fetch this or hold t'other, and seizing every 
 opportunity to serve him. Indeed, I believe she would 
 gladly have helped him shift the heavy planks, when he 
 would have their position altered, had he permitted her this 
 rough usage of her delicate hands. One day, when he was 
 about to begin the foliage upon his balcony, he brought in 
 a spray of ivy for a model ; then Moll told him she knew 
 where much better was to be found, and would have him 
 go with her to see it. And she, coming back from this 
 expedition, with her arms full of briony and herbage, richly 
 tinted by the first frost, I perceived that there was a new 
 kind of beauty in her face, a radiance of great happiness 
 and satisfaction which I had never seen there before. 
 
 Here was herbage enough for a week, but she must have 
 fresh the next morning, and thenceforth every day they 
 would go out ere the sun was high, hunting for new models. 
 
 To prepare for these early excursions, Mistress Moll, 
 
MOLL FALLS DOWNRIGHT IN LOVE. 169 
 
 though commonly disposed to lie abed late in the morning, 
 must have been up by daybreak. And, despite her admira- 
 tion of Dario's simplicity in dress, she showed no inclina- 
 tion to follow his example in this particular; but, on the 
 contrary, took more pains in adorning her person at this 
 time than ever she had done before ; and as she would 
 dress her hair no two mornings alike, so she would change 
 the fashion of her dress with the same inconstancy until the 
 sly hussy discovered which did most please Dario's taste; 
 then a word of approval from him, nay, a glance, would suf- 
 fice to fix her choice until she found that his admiration 
 needed rekindling. And so, as if her own imagination was 
 not sufficiently forcible, she would talk of nothing with her 
 friends but the newest fashions at court, with the result that 
 her maids were for ever a-brewing some new wash for her 
 face (which she considered too brown), compounding 
 charms to remove a little mole she had in the nape of 
 her neck, cutting up one gown to make another, and so 
 forth. One day she presented herself with a black patch at 
 the corner of her lip, and having seen nought of this fashion 
 before, I cried out in alarm : 
 
 " Lord, child ! have you injured your face with that mess 
 Betty was stewing yesterday?" 
 
 " What an absurd, old-fashioned creature you are ! " an- 
 swers she, testily. " Don't you know that 'tis the mode 
 now for ladies to wear spots? Signor Dario," adds she, 
 her eyes lighting up, " finds it mighty becoming." 
 
 When I saw her thus disfiguring her pretty face (as I 
 considered it then, though I came to admire this embellish- 
 ment later on) to please Signor Dario, I began to ask 
 myself how this business was likely to end. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of MoWs ill humour and what befel thereby. 
 
 FEELING, in the absence of Dawson, that I stood in the 
 position of a guardian to his daughter, and was responsible 
 for her welfare, my mind grew very uneasy about the conse- 
 quences of her extravagant admiration for the painter ; and, 
 knowing that Don Sanchez, despite his phlegmatic humour, 
 loved Moll very sincerely at heart, I took him aside one day, 
 and asked him if he had observed nothing particular in Moll's 
 behaviour of late. 
 
 " One would be blind," says he, "not to see that she is 
 enamoured of Dario, if that's what you mean." 
 
 I admitted that my suspicions inclined that way, and, ex- 
 plaining my concern on her behalf, I asked him what he 
 would do in my place. 
 
 " In my country," says he, " matters never would have 
 been suffered to go so far, and Mistress Judith would have 
 been shut up a prisoner in her room these past three weeks. 
 But I doubt if our maidens are any the safer or better for 
 such treatment, and I am quite sure that such treatment 
 would be worse than useless for an English girl, and espe- 
 cially such an one as this. For, guard her how you might, 
 she would assuredly find means to break her prison, and 
 then no course is open to her but to throw herself in the 
 arms of the man she loves, trusting to mere accident whether 
 he abuses her devotion or not. You might as well strive to 
 
 170 
 
SOUND ADVICE BUT UNPALATABLE. 171 
 
 catch the wind and hold it as stay and stem the course of 
 youthful passion." 
 
 "Aye, Senor," says I, "this may be all very true. But 
 what should you do in my place? " 
 
 " Nothing," says he. 
 
 This was a piece of advice which set me scratching my 
 head in dubitation. 
 
 "Beware," continues he, " how you suggest the thing you 
 fear to one who needs but a hint to act. I have great faith 
 in the natural modesty of women (and I do think no child 
 more innocent than Mistress Judith), which, though it blind 
 them to their danger, does, at the same time, safeguard them 
 against secret and illicit courses of more fatal consequences. 
 Let her discourse with him, openly, since it pleases her. In 
 another fortnight or so Dario's work will be finished, he 
 will go away, our young lady will shed secret tears and be 
 downcast for a week. Then another swain will please her, 
 and she'll smile again. That, as I take it, will be the natural 
 order of events, unless," adds he, " that natural order is dis- 
 turbed by some external influence." 
 
 Maugre this sage advice, my concern being unabated, I 
 would step pretty frequently into the room where these young 
 people were, as if to see how the work was going forward, 
 and with such a quick step that had any interchange of 
 amorous sentiments existed, I must at one time or another 
 have discovered it. But I never detected any sign of this 
 no bashful silence, no sudden confusion, or covert inter- 
 change of glances. Sometimes they would be chatting 
 lightly, at others both would be standing silent, she, maybe, 
 holding a bunch of leaves with untiring steadfastness, for 
 him to copy. But I observed that she was exceedingly 
 
172 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 jealous of his society, and no matter how glibly she was talking 
 when I entered, or how indifferent the subject, she would 
 quickly become silent, showing me very plainly by her man- 
 ner that she would vastly prefer my room to my company. 
 
 Still, I was not displeased when I perceived this fresco 
 drawing near to its completion. 
 
 "You are getting on apace," says I, very cheerfully one 
 day. " I reckon you will soon have done." 
 
 "Yes," answers he, "in a week I shall have nought to do 
 but to pack up my tools and go." 
 
 There was an accent of sorrow in his voice, despite him- 
 self, which did not escape me nor Moll neither, for I saw 
 her cast her eyes upon his face, as if to read if there were 
 sadness there. But she said never a word. 
 
 However, in the afternoon she comes to me, and says she : 
 
 " I am resolved I will have all the rooms in the house 
 plastered, if Signer Dario will consent to paint them." 
 
 " All the rooms ! " says I, in alarm. " Surely you have 
 not counted the cost of what you propose." 
 
 " I suppose I have enough to keep my house in suitable 
 condition." 
 
 " Without doubt, though I expect such work as Signer 
 Dario's must command a high price." 
 
 "All I ask of you, then," says she, "is to bid my steward 
 have five thousand pounds ready for my uses, and within 
 a week, lest I should need it suddenly. Should he raise 
 objections " 
 
 " As assuredly he will," says I, who knew the crafty, 
 subtle character of old Simon full well by this time. " A 
 thousand objections, and not one you can pick a hole in." 
 
 "Then show him this and tell him I accept Mr. Good- 
 
MORE MONEY TO BE STOLE. 1/3 
 
 man's offer unless he can find more profitable means of 
 raising money." 
 
 With that she puts in my hand a letter she had that morn- 
 ing received from one Henry Goodman, a tenant, who 
 having heard that she had disposed of a farm to his neigh- 
 bour, now humbly prayed she would do him the same 
 good turn by selling him the land he rented, and for which 
 he was prepared to pay down in ready money the sum of 
 five thousand pounds. 
 
 Armed with this letter, I sought Simon and delivered Moll's 
 message. As I expected, the wily old man had good excuses 
 ready for not complying with this request, showing me the 
 pains he had taken to get the king's seal, his failures to move 
 the king's officers, and the refusal of his goldsmith to furnish 
 further supplies before the deed of succession was passed. 
 
 " These objections are all very just," says I, " so I see no 
 way of pleasing our lady but by selling Mr. Goodman's farm, 
 which she will have done at once if there be no alternative." 
 
 So I give him the letter, which he can scarce read for 
 trembling with anguish. 
 
 " What," cries he, coming to the end, " I am to sell this 
 land which I bought for nine hundred pounds and is now 
 worth six thousand? I would rather my mistress had bid 
 me have the last teeth torn from my head." 
 
 " We must have money," says I. 
 
 " Thee shalt have it in good time. Evans hath been paid, 
 and thy debt shall be discharged ; fear not." 
 
 " I spoke as representing our lady ; for ourselves we are 
 content to wait her better convenience." And I told him 
 how his mistress would lay out her money in embellishing 
 the Court with paintings, which put him to a new taking to 
 
174 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 think so much good money should be wasted in such 
 vanities. 
 
 " But," says he, " this work must take time, and one pays 
 for nothing ere 'tis done. By quarter day our rents will be 
 coming in again " 
 
 " No," says I, cutting him short, " the money must be 
 found at once, or be assured that your lady will take the 
 management of her affairs out of your hands." 
 
 This raised a fresh outcry and more lamentations, but in 
 the end he promised to procure the money by collecting 
 his rents in advance, if his mistress would refuse Mr. Good- 
 man's offer and wait three weeks; and on Moll's behalf I 
 agreed to these terms. 
 
 A few days after this, we were called into the dining-hall 
 to see the finished ceiling, which truly deserved all the 
 praise we could bestow upon it, and more. For now that 
 the sky appeared through the opening, with a little pearly 
 cloud creeping across it, the verdure and flowers falling 
 over the marble coping, and the sunlight falling on one side 
 and throwing t'other into shade, the illusion was complete, 
 so that one could scarcely have been more astonished had 
 a leaf fallen from the hanging flowers or a face looked over 
 the balcony. In short, 'twas prodigious. 
 
 Nevertheless, the painter, looking up at his work with 
 half -closed, critical eyes, seemed dissatisfied, and asking 
 us if we found nothing lacking, we (not to appear behind- 
 hand in judgment) agreed that on one side there was a 
 vacant place which might yet be adorned to advantage. 
 
 "Yes," says he, "I see what is wanted and will supply 
 it. That," adds he, gently turning to Moll, "will give me 
 still another day." 
 
MOLL DISPUTES WITH DARIO. 1/5 
 
 "Why, what charm can you add that is not there? " asks 
 she. 
 
 "Something," says he, in a low voice, "which I must 
 see whenever I do cast my eyes heavenwards." 
 
 And now Moll, big with her purpose, which she had 
 hitherto withheld from Dario, begs him to come into her 
 state room, and there she told how she would have this 
 ceiling plastered over and painted, like her dining-hall, if 
 he would undertake to do it. 
 
 Dario casts his eye round the room and over the ceil- 
 ing, and then, shaking his head, says : " If I were in your 
 place, I would alter nothing here." 
 
 "But I will have it altered," says she, nettled, because 
 he did not leap at once at her offer, which was made rather 
 to prolong their communion than to obtain a picture. 
 "I detest these old-fashioned beams of wood." 
 
 " They are in keeping with the character of the room. I 
 think," adds he, looking round him again with renewed 
 admiration, "I think I have never seen a more perfect 
 example of English art." 
 
 "What of that," cries she, "if it pleases me to have it 
 otherwise? " 
 
 "Nothing," returns he, calmly. "You have as just a 
 right to stand by your opinion as I by mine." 
 
 "And am I to understand that you will rather hold by 
 your opinion than give me pleasure? " 
 
 "I pray you, do not press me to discourtesy," says he. 
 
 "Nay, but I would have a plain answer to my question," 
 says she, haughtily. 
 
 "Then," says he, angering in his turn, "I must tell you 
 that I would as soon chip an antique statue to suit the 
 
1/6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 taste of a French modiste as disfigure the work of him who 
 designed this room." 
 
 Now, whether Moll took this to be a reflection on her 
 own figure, which had grown marvellous slim in the waist 
 since she had her new stays from London, or not, I will 
 not say; but certainly this response did exasperate her be- 
 yond all endurance (as we could see by her blanched cheek 
 and flashing eye); so, dismissing him with a deep curtsey, 
 she turns on her heel without another word. 
 
 This foolish business, which was not very creditable to 
 our Moll's good sense (though I think she acted no worse 
 than other maids in her condition, for I have observed 
 that young people do usually lose their heads at the same 
 time that they lose their hearts), this foolish scene, I say, 
 I would gladly omit from my history, but that it completely 
 changed our destiny; for had these two parted with fair 
 words, we should probably have seen no more of Dario, and 
 Don Sanchez's prognostic had been realised. Such trifles 
 as these do influence our career as greatly as more serious 
 accidents, our lives being a fabric of events that hang 
 together by the slenderest threads. 
 
 Unmoved from his design by Moll's displeasure, Dario 
 replaced his scaffold before he left that day, and the next 
 morning he came to put the last touch upon his work. 
 Moll, being still in dudgeon, would not go near him, but 
 sat brooding in a corner of her state room, ready, as I 
 perceived, to fly out in passion at any one who gave her the 
 occasion. Perceiving this, Don Sanchez prudently went 
 forth for a walk after dinner; but I, seeing that some one 
 must settle accounts with the painter for his work, stayed 
 at home. And when I observed that he was collecting his 
 materials to go, I went in to Moll. 
 
MOLL STILL IN DUDGEON. 177 
 
 "My dear," says I, "I believe Dario is preparing to 
 leave us." 
 
 "My congratulations to him," says she, "for 'tis evident 
 he is weary of being here." 
 
 "Nay, won't you come in and see his work now 'tis fin- 
 ished?" 
 
 "No; I have no desire to see it. If I have lost my taste 
 for Italian art, 'tis through no fault of his." 
 
 "You will see him, surely, before he goes." 
 
 "No; I will not give him another opportunity to presume 
 upon my kindness." 
 
 "Why, to be sure," says I, like a fool, "you have been 
 a little over- familiar." 
 
 "Indeed," says she, firing up like a cracker. "Then I 
 think 'twould have been kinder of you to give me a hint of 
 it beforehand. However, 'tis a very good excuse for treat- 
 ing him otherwise now." 
 
 "Well, he must be paid for his work, at any rate." 
 
 " Assuredly. If you have not money enough, I will fetch 
 it from my closet." 
 
 " I have it ready, and here is a purse for the purpose. 
 The question is, how much to put in it. I should think 
 such a perspective as that could not be handsomely paid 
 under fifty guineas." 
 
 " Then you will give him a hundred, and say that I am 
 exceedingly obliged to him." 
 
 I put this sum in the purse and went out into the hall 
 where Dario was waiting, with his basket of brushes beside 
 him. In a poor, bungling, stammering fashion, I deliv- 
 ered Moll's message, and made the best excuse I could for 
 delivering it in her stead. 
 
178 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 He waited a moment or two after I had spoken, and 
 then, says he, in a low voice : 
 
 "Is that all?" 
 
 "Nay," says I, offering the purse, "we do beg you to 
 take this as " 
 
 He stopped me, pushing my hand aside. 
 
 "I have taken a purse from Don Sanchez," says he. 
 "There was more in it than I needed there are still 
 some pieces left. But as I would not affront him by offer- 
 ing to return them, so I beg you will equally respect my 
 feelings. I undertook the task in gratitude, and it hath 
 been a work of love all through, well paid for by the hap- 
 piness that I have found here." 
 
 He stood musing a little while, as if he were debating 
 with himself whether he should seek to overcome Moll's 
 resentment or not. Then, raising his head quickly, he says : 
 
 " 'Tis best so, maybe. Farewell, sir " (giving me his 
 hand). "Tell her," adds he, as we stand hand in hand at 
 the door, " that I can never forget her kindness, and will 
 ever pray for her happiness." 
 
 I found the door ajar and Moll pacing the room very 
 white, when I returned. She checked me the moment I 
 essayed to deliver Dario's message. 
 
 "You can save your breath," says she, passionately. 
 "I've heard every word." 
 
 "More shame for you," says I, in a passion, casting my 
 purse on the table. " 'Tis infamous to treat an honest gen- 
 tleman thus, and silly besides. Come, dear," altering my 
 tone, "do let me run and fetch him back." 
 
 " You forget whom you are speaking to, Mr. Hopkins," 
 cries she. 
 
MOLL'S PRIDE OVERCOME. i/9 
 
 I saw 'twas impossible to move her whilst she was in this 
 mood, for she had something of her father's obstinate, 
 stubborn disposition, and did yet hope to bring Dario back 
 to her feet, like a spaniel, by harsh treatment. But he 
 came no more, though a palette he had overlooked could 
 have given him the excuse, and for very vexation with Moll 
 I was glad he did not. 
 
 He had not removed the scaffold, but when I went upon 
 it to see what else he had put into his painting, the fading 
 light only allowed me to make out a figure that seemed to 
 be leaning over the balcony. 
 
 Moll would not go in there, though I warrant she was 
 dying of curiosity; and soon after supper, which she could 
 scarce force herself to touch, she went up to her own cham- 
 ber, wishing us a very distant, formal good-night, and 
 keeping her passionate, angry countenance. 
 
 But the next morning, ere I was dressed, she knocked at 
 my door, and, opening it, I found her with swollen eyes 
 and tears running down her cheeks. 
 
 " Come down," says she, betwixt her sobs, and catching 
 my hand in hers. " Come down and see." 
 
 So we went downstairs together, I wondering what now 
 had happened, and so into the dining-hall. And there I 
 found the scaffold pushed aside, and the ceiling open to 
 view. Then looking up, I perceived that the figure bending 
 over the balcony bore Moll's own face, with a most sweet, 
 compassionate expression in it as she looked down, such as 
 I had observed when she bent over Dario, having brought 
 him back to life. And this, thinks I, remembering his 
 words, this is what he must ever see when he looks heaven- 
 wards. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Of the strange things told us by the wise woman. 
 
 " TELL me I am wicked ; tell me I'm a fool," says Moll, 
 clinging to my arm. 
 
 But I had no feeling now but pity and forgiveness, and so 
 could only try to comfort her, saying we would make amends 
 to Dario when we saw him next. 
 
 " I will go to him," says she. " For nought in the world 
 would I have him yield to such a heartless fool as I am. I 
 know where he lodges." 
 
 " Well, when we have eaten " 
 
 " Nay ; we must go this moment. I cannot be at peace 
 till I have asked him to forgive. Come with me, or I must 
 go alone." 
 
 Yielding to her desire without further ado, I fetched my 
 hat and cloak, and, she doing likewise, we sallied out forth- 
 with. Taking the side path by which Dario came and went 
 habitually, we reached a little wicket gate, opening from the 
 path upon the highway ; and here, seeing a man mending 
 the road, we asked him where we should find Anne Fitch, 
 as she was called, with whom the painter lodged. Pointing 
 to a neat cottage that stood by the wayside, within a stone's 
 throw, he told us the "wise woman " lived there. We crossed 
 over and knocked at the door, and a voice within bidding 
 us come in, we did so. 
 
 There was a very sweet, pleasant smell in the room from 
 1 80 
 
ANNE FITCH, A WISE WOMAN. l8l 
 
 the herbs that hung in little parcels from the beams, for this 
 Anne Fitch was greatly skilled in the use of simples, and 
 had no equal for curing fevers and the like in all the coun- 
 try round. (But, besides this, it was said she could look 
 into the future and forecast events truer than any Egyp- 
 tian.) There was a chair by the table, on which was an 
 empty bowl and some broken bread ; but the wise woman 
 sat in the chimney corner, bending over the hearth, though 
 the fire had burnt out, and not an ember glowed. And a 
 strange little elf she looked, being very wizen and small, with 
 one shoulder higher than the other, and a face full of pain. 
 
 When I told her our business, for Moll was too greatly 
 moved to speak, the old woman pointed to the adjoining 
 room. 
 
 " He is gone ! " cries Moll, going to the open door, and 
 peering within. 
 
 " Yes," answers Anne Fitch. " Alas ! " 
 
 "When did he go?" asks Moll. 
 
 " An hour since," answers the other. 
 
 "Whither is he gone?" 
 
 " I am no witch." 
 
 " At least, you know which way he went." 
 
 " I have not stirred from here since I gave him his last 
 meal." 
 
 Moll sank into the empty chair, and bowed her head in 
 silence. 
 
 Anne Fitch, whose keen eyes had never strayed from 
 Moll since she first entered the room, seeming as if they 
 would penetrate to the most secret recesses of her heart, 
 with that shrewd perception which is common to many 
 whose bodily infirmity compels an extraordinary employ- 
 
1 82 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 ment of their other faculties, rises from her settle in the 
 chimney, and coming to the table, beside Moll, says : 
 
 " I am no witch, I say ; yet I could tell you things would 
 make you think I am." 
 
 " I want to know nothing further," answers she, dolefully, 
 " save where he is." 
 
 "Would you not know whether you shall ever see him 
 again, or not ? " 
 
 " Oh ! If you can tell me that ! " cries Moll, quickly. 
 
 " I may." Then, turning to me, the wise woman asks to 
 look at my hand, and on my demurring, she says she must 
 know whether I am a friend or an enemy, ere she speaks 
 before me. So, on that, I give my hand, and she ex- 
 amines it. 
 
 "You call yourself James Hopkins," says she. 
 
 " Why, every one within a mile knows that," says I. 
 
 "Aye," answers she, fixing her piercing eye on my face; 
 " but every one knows not that some call you Kit." 
 
 This fairly staggered me for a moment. 
 
 " How do you answer that? " she asks, observing my con- 
 fusion. 
 
 "Why," says I, recovering my presence of mind, "'tis 
 most extraordinary, to be sure, that you should read this, for 
 save one or two familiars, none know that my second name 
 is Christopher." 
 
 " A fairly honest hand," says she, looking at my hand 
 again. " Weak in some things, but a faithful friend. You 
 may be trusted." 
 
 And so she drops my hand and takes up Moll's. 
 
 " 'Tis strange," says she. " You call yourself Judith, yet 
 here I see your name writ Moll." 
 
THE WISE WOMAN DO SET US A QUESTIONING. 183 
 
 Poor Moll, sick with a night of sorrow and terrified by the 
 wise woman's divining powers, could make no answer ; but 
 soon Fitch, taking less heed of her tremble than of mine, re- 
 gards her hand again. 
 
 " How were you called in Barbary ? " asks she. 
 
 This question betraying a flaw in the wise woman's per- 
 ception, gave Moll courage, and she answered readily 
 enough that she was called " Lala Mollah " which was 
 true, " Lala " being the Moorish for lady, and " Mollah " the 
 name her friends in Elche had called her as being more 
 agreeable to their ear than the shorter English name. 
 
 "Mollah Moll!" says Anne Fitch, as if communing 
 with herself. "That may well be." Then, following a line 
 in Moll's hand, she adds, " You will love but once, child." 
 
 " What is my sweetheart's name ? " whispers Moll, the 
 colour springing in her face. 
 
 " You have not heard it yet," replies the other, upon which 
 Moll pulls her hand away impatiently. " But you have seen 
 him," continues the wise woman, " and his is the third hand 
 in which I have read another name." 
 
 "Tell me now if I shall see him again," cries Moll, 
 eagerly offering her hand again, and as quickly as she 
 had before withdrawn it. 
 
 " That depends upon yourself," returns the other. " The 
 line is a deep one. Would you give him all you have ? " 
 
 Moll bends her head low in silence, to conceal her hot 
 face. 
 
 " 'Tis nothing to be ashamed of," says the old woman, in 
 a strangely gentle tone. " 'Tis better to love once than often ; 
 better to give your whole heart than part. Were I young and 
 handsome and rich, I would give body and soul for such a 
 
1 84 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 man. For he is good and generous and exceeding kind. 
 Look you, he hath lived here but a few weeks, and I feel for 
 him, grieve for him, like a mother. Oh, I am no witch," 
 adds she, wiping a tear from her cheek, " only a crooked old 
 woman with the gift of seeing what is open to all who will 
 read, and a heart that quickens still at a kind word or a 
 gentle thought." (Moll's hand had closed upon hers at that 
 first sight of her grief.) "For your names," continues she, 
 recovering her composure, " I learnt from one of your maids 
 who came hither for news of her sweetheart, that the sea 
 captain who was with you did sometimes let them slip. I 
 was paid to learn this." 
 
 " Not by him," says Moll. 
 
 " No ; by your steward Simon." 
 
 " He paid for that ! " says I, incredulous, knowing Simon's 
 reluctance to spend money. 
 
 " Aye, and a good price, too. It seems you call heavily 
 upon him for money, and do threaten to cut up your estate 
 and sell the land he prizes as his life." 
 
 "That is quite true," says I. 
 
 " Moreover, he greatly fears that he will be cast from his 
 office, when your title to it is made good. For that reason 
 he would move heaven and earth to stay your succession by 
 casting doubts upon your claim. And to this end he has 
 by all the means at his command tried to provoke your 
 cousin to contest your right." 
 
 " My cousin ! " cries Moll. 
 
 " Richard Godwin." 
 
 "My cousin Richard why, where is he?" 
 
 "Gone," says the old woman, pointing to the broken 
 bread upon the table. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 How Moll and Mr. Godwin come together and declare their hearts* 
 passion, and how I carry these tidings to Dawson. 
 
 "WHAT!" cries Moll, starting to her feet. " He whom 
 I have treated thus is " and here she checked herself, as 
 if recoiling (and for the first time) from false pretence in 
 a matter so near her heart. 
 
 " He is your cousin, Richard Godwin," says the wise 
 woman. "Simon knew this from the first; for there were 
 letters showing it in the pocket-book he found after the 
 struggle in the park ; but for his own ends he kept that 
 knowledge secret, until it fitted his ends to speak. Why 
 your cousin did not reveal himself to you may be more 
 readily conceived by you than 'twas by me." 
 
 " Why, 'tis clear enough," says Moll. " Pressed by his 
 necessities, he came hither to claim assistance of his kins- 
 man ; but finding he was dead and none here but me, his 
 pride did shrink from begging of a mere maid that which he 
 might with justice have demanded from a man. And then, 
 for shame at being handled like a rogue " 
 
 Surely there is something in the blood of a gentleman 
 that tempers his spirit to a degree scarcely to be compre- 
 hended by men of meaner birth, thinks I. 
 
 " When did Simon urge him to dispute my rights ? " asks 
 Moll. 
 
 "On Sunday in the wood out there. I knew by his 
 185 
 
1 86 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 look he had some treacherous business in hand, and, match- 
 ing my stealth with his, I found means to overhear him, 
 creeping from thicket to thicket, as noiseless as a snake, to 
 where they stood ; for, be assured, I should not otherwise 
 have learnt one word of this." 
 
 "How did he receive these hints at my ill doing?" asks 
 Moll. 
 
 " Patiently, till the tale was told ; then, taking your steward 
 by the throat with sudden passion, he cries : ' Why should I 
 not strangle you, rascal ? Twould be a service to humanity. 
 What have I done to deserve your love, or this lady your 
 hate ? Nothing. You would pit us one against the other 
 merely to keep your hold upon these lands, and gratify your 
 insensate love of possession. Go, get you gone, beast ! ' 
 cries he, flinging him off; ' 'tis punishment enough for you 
 to live and know you've failed. For, had you proved your 
 case to my conviction, I'd not stir a hand against this lady, 
 be she who she may. Nay,' adds he, with greater fury, ' I 
 will not stay where my loyalty and better judgment may be 
 affected by the contagion of a vile suspicion. Away while 
 you may ; my fingers itch to be revenged on you for sunder- 
 ing me from one who should have been my closest, dearest 
 friend.' " 
 
 Moll claps her hands together with a cry of joy and pain 
 mingled, even as the smile played upon her lips whilst tears 
 filled her eyes. 
 
 " Sunday ! " cries she, turning to me and dashing the tears 
 that blinded her from her eyes ; " Sunday, and it 'twas o' 
 Monday he refused to stay. O, the brave heart ! " Then, 
 in impetuous haste, " He shall be found we must overtake 
 him." 
 
SET OUT IN PURSUIT OF MR. GODWIN. l/ 
 
 "That mayjbe done if you take horse," says Anne Fitch, 
 " for he travels afoot." 
 
 " But which way shall we turn ? " 
 
 "The way that any man would take, seeking to dispel 
 a useless sorrow," answers the wise woman; "the way to 
 London." 
 
 "God bless you !" cries Moll, clasping the withered old 
 woman to her heaving breast and kissing her. Then the 
 next moment she would be gone, bidding me get horses for 
 our pursuit. 
 
 So, as quickly as I might, I procured a couple of nags, 
 and we set out, leaving a message for Don Sanchez, who was 
 not yet astir. And we should have gone empty, but that 
 while the horses were a-preparing (and Moll, despite her 
 mighty haste at this business too), I took the precaution to 
 put some store of victuals in a saddle bag. 
 
 Reckoning that Mr. Godwin (as I must henceforth call 
 him) had been set out two hours or thereabouts, I considered 
 that we might overtake him in about three at an easy amble. 
 But Moll was in no mood for ambling, and no sooner were 
 we started than she put her nag to a gallop and kept up this 
 reckless pace up hill and down dale, I trailing behind and 
 expecting every minute to be cast and get my neck broke, 
 until her horse was spent and would answer no more to 
 the whip. Then I begged her for mercy's sake to take the 
 hill we were coming to at a walk, and break her fast. 
 "For," says I, "another such half-hour as the last on an 
 empty stomach will do my business, and you will have 
 another dead man to bring back to life, which will advance 
 your journey nothing, and so more haste, less speed." 
 Therewith I opened my saddle bag, and sharing its contents, 
 
1 88 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 we ate a rare good meal and very merry, and indeed it was 
 a pleasure now to look at her as great as the pain had been 
 to see her so unhappy a few hours before. For the exercise 
 had brought a flood of rich colour into her face, and a lively 
 hope sparkled in her eyes, and the sound of her voice was 
 like any peal of marriage bells for gaiety. Yet now and 
 then her tongue would falter, and she would strain a- wistful 
 glance along the road before us as fearing she did hope too 
 much. However, coming to an inn, we made enquiry, and 
 learnt that a man such as we described had surely passed 
 the house barely an hour gone, and one adding that he 
 carried a basket on his stick, we felt this must be our painter 
 for certain. 
 
 Thence on again at another tear (as if we were flying 
 from our reckoning) until, turning a bend of the road at the 
 foot of a hill, she suddenly drew rein with a shrill cry. And 
 coming up, I perceived close by our side Mr. Godwin, 
 seated upon the bridge that crossed a stream, with his 
 wallet beside him. 
 
 He sprang to his feet and caught in an instant the rein 
 that had fallen from Moll's hand, for the commotion in her 
 heart at seeing him so suddenly had stopped the current of 
 her veins, and she was deadly pale. 
 
 " Take me, take me ! " cries she, stretching forth her arms, 
 with a faint voice. "Take me, or I must fall," and slipping 
 from her saddle she sank into his open, ready arms. 
 
 " Help ! " says Mr. Godwin, quickly, and in terror. 
 
 "Nay," says she; "I am better 'tis nothing. But," 
 adds she, smiling at him, " you may hold me yet a little 
 longer." 
 
 The fervid look in his eyes, as he gazed down at her sweet 
 
PRETTY SPEECHES. 189 
 
 pale face, seemed to say : " Would I could hold you here 
 for ever, sweetheart." 
 
 " Rest her here," says I, pointing to the little wall of the 
 bridge, and he, complying (not too willingly), withdrew his 
 arm from her waist, with a sigh. 
 
 And now the colour coming back to her cheek, Moll 
 turns to him, and says : 
 
 " I thought you would have come again. And since one 
 of us must ask to be forgiven, lo ! here am I come to ask 
 your pardon." 
 
 "Why, what is there to pardon, Madam? " says he. 
 
 " Only a girl's folly, which unforgiven must seem some- 
 thing worse." 
 
 "Your utmost folly," says he, " is to have been over-kind 
 to a poor painter. And if that be an offence, 'tis my mis- 
 fortune to be no more offended." 
 
 "Have I been over-kind?" says Moll, abashed, as hav- 
 ing unwittingly passed the bounds of maiden modesty. 
 
 " As nature will be over-bounteous in one season, strewing 
 so many flowers in our path that we do underprize them till 
 they are lost, and all the world seems stricken with wintry 
 desolation." 
 
 " Yet, if I have said or done anything unbecoming to my 
 sex " 
 
 " Nothing womanly is unbecoming to a woman," returns 
 he. "And, praised be God, some still live who have not 
 learned to conceal their nature under a mask of fashion. If 
 this be due less to your natural free disposition than to an 
 ignorance of our enlightened modish arts, then could I find 
 it in my heart to rejoice that you have lived a captive in 
 Barbary." 
 
A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 They had been looking into each other's eyes with the 
 delight of reading there the love that filled their hearts, but 
 now Moll bent her head as if she could no longer bear that 
 searching regard, and unable to make response to his pretty 
 speech, sat twining her fingers in her lap, silent, with pain 
 and pleasure fluttering over her downcast face. And at this 
 time I do think she was as near as may be on the -point of 
 confessing she had been no Barbary slave, rather than 
 deceive the man who loved her, and profit by his faith in 
 her, which had certainly undone us all ; but in her passion, 
 a woman considered the welfare of her father and best 
 friends very lightly ; nay, she will not value her own body 
 and soul at two straws, but is ready to yield up everything 
 for one dear smile. 
 
 A full minute Mr. Godwin sat gazing at Moll's pretty, 
 blushing, half-hid face (as if for his last solace), and then, 
 rising slowly from the little parapet, he says : 
 
 " Had I been more generous, I should have spared you 
 this long morning ride. So you have something to forgive, 
 and we may cry quits ! " Then, stretching forth his hand, 
 he adds, " Farewell." 
 
 " Stay," cries Moll, springing to her feet, as fearing to lose 
 him suddenly again, " I have not eased myself of the burden 
 that lay uppermost. Oh ! " cries she, passionately, casting 
 off all reserve, " I know all ; who you are, and why you first 
 came hither, and I am here to offer you the half of all I have." 
 
 "Half, sweet cousin?" answers he, taking her two hands 
 in his. 
 
 " Aye ; for if I had not come to claim it, all would have 
 been yours by right. And 'tis no more than fair that, owing 
 so much to Fortune, I should offer you the half." 
 
TWO HEARTS DO MELT IN ONE. IQI 
 
 "Suppose that half will not suffice me, dear?" says he. 
 
 " Why, then I'll give you all," answers she ; " houses, 
 gardens, everything." 
 
 " Then what will you do, coz? " 
 
 "Go hence, as you were going but just now," answers she, 
 trembling. 
 
 " Why, that's as if you took the diamond from its setting, 
 and left me nothing but the foil," says he. " Oh, I would 
 order it another way : give me the gem, and let who 'will 
 take what remains. Unless these little hands are mine to 
 hold for ever, I will take nothing from them." 
 
 "They are thine, dear love," cries she, in a transport, 
 flinging them about his neck, " and my heart as well." 
 
 At this conjuncture I thought it advisable to steal softly 
 away to the bend of the road ; for surely any one coming 
 this way by accident, and finding them locked together 
 thus in tender embrace on the king's highway, would have 
 fallen to some gross conclusion, not understanding their 
 circumstances, and so might have offended their delicacy 
 by some rude jest. And I had not parted myself here a 
 couple of minutes, ere I spied a team of four stout horses 
 coming over the brow of the hill, drawing the stage waggon 
 behind them which plies betwixt Sevenoaks and London. 
 This prompting me to a happy notion, I returned to the 
 happy, smiling pair, who were now seated again upon the 
 bridge, hand in hand, and says I : 
 
 "My dear friends, for so I think I may now count 
 you, sir, as well as my Mistress Judith here, the waggon is 
 coming down the hill, by which I had intended to go to 
 London this morning upon some pressing business. And 
 so, Madam, if your cousin will take my horse and conduct 
 
IQ2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 you back to the Court, I will profit by this occasion and bid 
 you farewell for the present." 
 
 This proposal was received with evident satisfaction on 
 their part, for there was clearly no further thought of part- 
 ing ; only Moll, alarmed for the proprieties, did beg her 
 lover to lift her on her horse instantly. Nevertheless, when 
 she was in her saddle, they must linger yet, he to. kiss her 
 hands, and she to bend down and yield her cheek to his lips, 
 though the sound of the coming waggon was close at hand. 
 
 Scarcely less delighted than they with this surprising 
 strange turn of events, I left 'em there with bright, smiling 
 faces, and journeyed on to London, and there taking a pair of 
 oars at the Bridge to Greenwich, all eagerness to give these 
 joyful tidings to my old friend, Jack Dawson. I found him 
 in his workroom, before a lathe, and sprinkled from head 
 to toe with chips, mighty proud of a bed-post he was a-turn- 
 ing. And it did my heart good to see him looking stout 
 and hearty, profitably occupied in this business, instead of 
 soaking in an alehouse (as I feared at one time he would) 
 to dull his care ; but he was ever a stout, brave fellow, who 
 would rather fight than give in any day. A better man 
 never lived, nor a more honest circumstances permitting. 
 
 His joy at seeing me was past everything ; but his first 
 thought after our hearty greeting was of his daughter. 
 
 " My Moll," says he, " my dear girl ; you han't brought 
 her to add to my joy? She's not slinking behind a door to 
 fright me with delight, hey?" 
 
 " No," says I ; "but I've brought you great news of her." 
 
 "And good, I'll swear, Kit, for there's not a sad line in 
 your face. Stay, comrade, wait till I've shook these chips 
 off and we are seated in my parlour, for I do love to have a 
 
CARRYING GOOD NEWS TO DAWSON. 193 
 
 pipe of tobacco and a mug of ale beside me in times of 
 pleasure. You can talk of indifferent things, though, for 
 Lord ! I do love to hear the sound of your voice again." 
 
 I told him how the ceiling of our dining-hall had been 
 painted. 
 
 " Aye," says he. " I have heard of that ; for my dear 
 girl hath writ about that and nought else in her letters ; 
 and though I've no great fancy for such matters, yet I doubt 
 not it is mighty fine by her long-winded praises of it. Come, 
 Kit, let us in here and get to something fresher." 
 
 So we into his parlour, which was a neat, cheerful 
 room, with a fine view of the river, and there being duly 
 furnished with a mighty mug of ale and clean pipes, he bids 
 me give him my news, and I tell him how Moll had fallen 
 over head and ears in love with the painter, and he with her, 
 and how that very morning they had come together and 
 laid open their hearts' desire one to the other, with the 
 result (as I believed) that they would be married as soon 
 as they could get a parson to do their business. 
 
 " This is brave news indeed," cries he, " and easeth me 
 beyond comprehension, for I could see clearly enough she 
 was smitten with this painter, by her writing of nothing else ; 
 and seeing she could not get at his true name and condi- 
 tion, I felt some qualms as to how the matter might end. 
 But do tell me, Kit, is he an honest, wholesome sort of 
 man?" 
 
 " As honest as the day," says I, " and a nobler, handsomer 
 man never breathed." 
 
 " God be praised for all things," says he, devoutly. " Tell 
 me he's an Englishman, Kit as Moll did seem to think he 
 was, spite his foreign name and my joy's complete." 
 o 
 
IQ4 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "As true-born an Englishman as you are," says I. 
 
 " Lord love him for it ! " cries he. 
 
 Then coming down to particulars, I related the events of 
 the past few days pretty much as I have writ them here, 
 showing in the end how Mr. Godwin would have gone away, 
 unknown rather than profit by his claim as Sir Richard God- 
 win's kinsman, even though Moll should be no better than 
 old Simon would have him believe, upon which he cries, 
 " Lord love him for it, say I again ! Let us drink to their 
 health. Drink deep, Kit, for I've a fancy that no man shall 
 put his lips to this mug after us." 
 
 So I drank heartily, and he, emptying the jug, flung it 
 behind the chimney, with another fervent ejaculation of 
 gratitude. Then a shade of sorrow falling on his face as he 
 lay it in his hand, his elbow resting on the table : 
 
 " I'd give best half of the years I've got to live," says he, 
 "to see 'em together, and grasp Mr. Godwin's hand in mine. 
 But I'll not be tempted to it, for I perceive clearly enough 
 by what you tell me that my wayward tongue and weakness 
 have been undoing us all, and ruining my dear Moll's chance 
 of happiness. But tell me, Kit " (straightening himself up), 
 " how think you this marriage will touch our affairs ? " 
 
 " Only to better them. For henceforth our prosperity is 
 assured, which otherwise might have lacked security." 
 
 " Aye, to be sure, for now shall we be all in one family 
 with these Godwins, and this cousin, profiting by the estate 
 as much as Moll, will never begrudge her giving us a hun- 
 dred or two now and then, for rendering him such good 
 service." 
 
 " 'Twill appease Moll's compunctions into the bargain," 
 says I, heedlessly. 
 
DAWSON WOULD WARN HIS MOLL. IQ5 
 
 " What compunctions? " 
 
 "The word slipped me unintended," stammers I; " I mean 
 nothing." 
 
 " But something your word must mean. Come, out with 
 it, Kit." 
 
 " Well," says I, " since this fondness has possessed her, I 
 have observed a greater compunction to telling of lies than 
 she was wont to have." 
 
 " Tis my fault," answers he, sadly. " She gets this lean- 
 ing to honesty from me." 
 
 "This very morning," continues I, "she was, I truly 
 believe, of two minds whether she should not confess to her 
 sweetheart that she was not his cousin." 
 
 " For all the world my case ! " cries he, slapping the 
 table. " If I could only have five minutes in secret with 
 the dear girl, I would give her a hint that should make her 
 profit by my folly." And then he tells me how, in the hey- 
 day of courtship and the flush of confiding love, he did con- 
 fess to his wife that he had carried gallantry somewhat too 
 far with Sukey Taylor, and might have added a good half 
 dozen other names beside hers but for her sudden outcry ; 
 and how, though she might very well have suspected other 
 amours, she did never reproach him therewith, but was for 
 ever to her dying day a-flinging Sukey Taylor in his teeth, 
 etc. 
 
 "Lord, Kit!" cries he, in conclusion; "what would I 
 give to save her from such torment ! You know how obedi- 
 ent she is to my guiding, for I have ever studied to make 
 her respect me ; and no one in the world hath such empire 
 over her. Could it not be contrived anyhow that we should 
 meet for half an hour secretly?" 
 
IQ A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Not secretly," says I. "But there is no reason why 
 you should not visit her openly. Nay, it will create less 
 surprise than if you stay away. For what could be more 
 natural than your coming to the Court on your return from 
 a voyage to see the lady you risked so much to save?" 
 
 " Now God bless you for a good, true friend ! " cries he, 
 clasping my hand. " I'll come, but to stay no great length. 
 Not a drop will I touch that day, and a fool indeed I must 
 be if I can't act my part without bungling for a few hours at 
 a stretch, and I a-listening every night in the parlour of the 
 ' Spotted Dog ' to old seamen swearing and singing their 
 songs. And I'll find an opportunity to give Moll a hint of 
 my past folly, and so rescue her from a like pitfall. I'll 
 abide by your advice, Kit, which is the wisest I ever heard 
 from your lips." 
 
 But I was not so sure of this, and, remembering the kind 
 of obedience Moll had used to yield to her father's com- 
 mands, my mind misgave me. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Don Sanchez proposes a very artful way to make Mr, Godwin a party 
 to our knavery, etc. 
 
 I RETURNED to Hurst Court the following day in the 
 forenoon, and there I found Mr. Godwin, with Moll cling- 
 ing to his arm, in an upper room commanding a view of 
 the northern slopes, discussing their future, and Moll told 
 me with glee how this room was to be her husband's work- 
 room, where he would paint pictures for the admiration of 
 all the world, saying that he would not (nor would she have 
 him) renounce his calling to lead the idle life of a country 
 gentleman. 
 
 " If the world admire my pictures, the world shall pay 
 to have them," says he, with a smile; then turning to her he 
 adds very tenderly : " I will owe all my happiness to you, 
 sweetheart; yet guard my independence in more material 
 matters. No mercenary question shall ever cast suspicion 
 on my love." 
 
 Seeing I was not wanted here, I left them to settle their 
 prospectives, and sought Don Sanchez, whom I found 
 reading in a room below, seated in a comfortable chair 
 before a good fire of apple logs. To please me, he shut up 
 his book and agreed to take a stroll in the park while 
 dinner was a-dressing. So we clap on our hats and cloaks 
 and set forth, talking of indifferent matters till we are 
 come into a fair open glade (whicli sort of place the pru- 
 
 197 
 
198 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 dent Don did ever prefer to holes and corners for secret 
 conference), and then he told me how Moll and Mr. Godwin 
 had already decided they would be married in three weeks. 
 
 "Three weeks? " says I. " I would it were to be done in 
 three days." To which desire the Don coincides with 
 sundry grave nods, and then tells me how Moll would have 
 herself cried in church, for all to know, and that nothing 
 may be wanting to her husband's dignity. 
 
 "After all," says I, "three weeks is no such great matter. 
 And now, Senor, do tell me what you think of all this." 
 
 " If you had had the ordering of your own destiny, you 
 could not have contrived it better, " answers he. " 'Tis a most 
 excellent game, and you cannot fail to win if " (here he 
 pauses to blow his nose) " if the cards are played properly." 
 
 This somehow brought Dawson into my thoughts, and I 
 told the Don of my visit to him, and how he did purpose 
 to come down to see Moll ; whereat the Don, stopping 
 short, looked at me very curiously with his eyebrows 
 raised, but saying nothing. 
 
 " 'Tis no more than natural that a father should want to 
 see what kind of man is to be his daughter's husband," 
 says I, in excuse, " and if he w/7/come, what are we to do? " 
 
 " I know what I should do in your place, Mr. Hopkins," 
 says he, quietly. 
 
 "Pray, Senor, what is that?" 
 
 " Squeeze all the money you can out of old Simon before 
 he comes," answers he. "And it wouldn't be amiss to 
 make Mr. Godwin party to this business by letting him 
 have a hundred or two for his present necessities at once." 
 
 Acting on this hint, when Moll left us after supper and 
 we three men were seated before the fire, I asked Mr. God- 
 
SERIOUS DISCOURSE WITH MR. GODWIN. 
 
 win if he would permit me to speak upon a matter which 
 concerned his happiness no less than his cousin Judith's. 
 
 "Nay, sir," replies he, "I do pray you to be open with 
 me, for otherwise I must consider myself unworthy of your 
 friendship." 
 
 "Well, sir," says I, "my mind is somewhat concerned 
 on account of what you said this morning; namely, that no 
 pecuniary question shall ever be discussed betwixt you and 
 your wife, and that you will owe nothing to her but happi- 
 ness. This, together with your purpose of painting pic- 
 tures to sell, means, I take it, that you will leave your wife 
 absolute mistress of her present fortune." 
 
 "That is the case exactly, Mr. Hopkins," says he. "I 
 am not indifferent to the world's esteem, and I would give 
 no one reason to suspect that I had married my dear cousin 
 to possess her fortune." 
 
 " Nevertheless, sir, you would not have it thought that she 
 begrudged you an equal share of her possessions. Your 
 position will necessitate a certain outlay. To maintain 
 your wife's dignity and your own, you must dress well, 
 mount a good horse, be liberal in hospitality, give largely 
 to those in need, and so forth. With all due respect to 
 your genius in painting, I can scarcely think that art will 
 furnish you at once with supplies necessary to meet all 
 these demands." 
 
 "All this is very true, Mr. Hopkins," says he, after a little 
 reflection; "to tell the truth, I have lived so long in want 
 that poverty has become my second nature, and so these 
 matters have not entered into my calculations. Pray, sir, 
 continue." 
 
 "Your wife, be she never so considerate, may not always 
 
2OO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 anticipate your needs; and hence at some future moment 
 this question of supplies must arise unless they are dis- 
 posed of before your marriage." 
 
 " If that could be done, Mr. Hopkins," says he, hopefully. 
 
 "It may be done, sir, very easily. With your cousin's 
 consent and yours, I, as her elected guardian, at this time 
 will have a deed drawn up to be signed by you and her, 
 settling one-half the estate upon you, and the other on your 
 cousin. This will make you not her debtor, but her bene- 
 factor; for without this deed, all that is now hers becomes 
 yours by legal right upon your marriage, and she could not 
 justly give away a shilling without your permission. And 
 thus you assure to her the same independence that you 
 yourself would maintain." 
 
 "Very good," says Don Sanchez, in a sonorous voice of 
 approval, as he lies back in his high chair, his eyes closed, 
 and a cigarro in the corner of his mouth. 
 
 "I thank you with all my heart, Mr. Hopkins," says Mr. 
 Godwin, warmly. " I entreat you have this deed drawn up 
 if it be my wife's wish." 
 
 " You may count with certainty on that," says I ; " for if my 
 arguments lacked power, I have but to say 'tis your desire, 
 and 'twould be done though it took the last penny from her." 
 
 He made no reply to this, but bending forward he gazed 
 into the fire, with a rapture in his face, pressing one hand 
 within the other as if it were his sweetheart's. 
 
 "In the meantime," says I, "if you have necessity for a 
 hundred or two in advance, you have but to give me your 
 note of hand." 
 
 "Can you do me this service?" cries he, eagerly. 
 "Can you let me have five hundred by to-morrow?" 
 
MR. GODWIN PERSUADED AS WE DESIRE. 2OI 
 
 "I believe I can supply you to the extent of six or 
 seven." 
 
 "All that you can," says he; "for besides a pressing need 
 that will take me to London to-morrow, I owe something 
 to a friend here that I would fain discharge." 
 
 Don Sanchez waived his hand cavalierly, though I do 
 believe the subtle Spaniard had hinted at this business as 
 much for his own ends as for our assurance. 
 
 "I will have it ready against we meet in the morning," 
 says I. 
 
 "You are so certain of her sanction?" he asks in de- 
 
 
 
 light, as if he could not too much assure himself of Moll's 
 devotion. 
 
 "She has been guided by me in all matters relating to 
 her estate, and will be in this, I am convinced. But here's 
 another question, sir, which, while we are about business, 
 might be discussed with advantage. My rule here is nearly 
 at an end. Have you decided who shall govern the estate 
 when I am gone? " 
 
 " Only that when I have authority that rascal Simon shall 
 be turned from his office, neck and crop. He loves me as 
 little as he loves his mistress, that he would set us by the 
 ears for his own advantage." 
 
 "An honest man, nevertheless in his peculiar way," 
 observes the Don. 
 
 "Honest!" cries Mr. Godwin, hotly. "He honest who 
 would have suffered Judith to die in Barbary ! He shall go." 
 
 " Then you will take in your own hands the control of 
 your joint estate?" 
 
 " I ? Why, I know no more of such matters than the man 
 in the moon." 
 
2O2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "With all respect to your cousin's abilities, I cannot 
 think her qualified for this office." 
 
 "Surely another steward can be found." 
 
 "Undoubtedly," says I. "But surely, sir, you'd not trust 
 all to him without some supervision. Large sums of 
 money must pass through his hands, and this must prove 
 a great temptation to dishonest practices. 'Twould not 
 be fair to any man." 
 
 "This is true," says he. "And yet from natural disincli- 
 nation, ignorance, and other reasons, I would keep out of 
 it." Then after some reflection he adds, "My cousin has 
 told me how you have lost all your fortune in saving her, 
 and that 'tis not yet possible to repay you. May I ask, 
 sir, without offence, if you have any occupation for your 
 time when you leave us? " 
 
 " I went to London when I left you to see what might be 
 done; but a merchant without money is like a carpenter 
 without tools." 
 
 "Then, sir, till your debt is discharged, or you can find 
 some more pleasant and profitable engagement, would you 
 not consent to govern these affairs ? I do not ask you to 
 stay here, though assuredly you will ever be a, welcome 
 guest; but if you would have one of the houses on the 
 estate or come hither from time to time as it might fit your 
 other purposes, and take this office as a matter of business, 
 I should regard it as a most generous, friendly kindness 
 on your part." 
 
 I promised him with some demur, and yet with the 
 civility his offer demanded, to consider of this; and so 
 our debate ended, and I went to bed, very well content with 
 myself, for thus will vanity blind us to our faults. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 / overcome MolVs honest compunctions, lay hold of three thousand 
 pounds more, and do otherwise play the part of rascal to perfection. 
 
 I GOT together six hundred pounds (out of the sum left 
 us after paying Don Sanchez his ten thousand), and deliv- 
 ered 'em to Mr. Godwin against his note of hand, telling 
 him at the same time that, having slept upon his proposal, 
 I was resolved to be his steward for three months, with 
 freedom on both sides to alter our position, according to 
 our convenience, at the end of that time, and would serve 
 him and his lady to the best of my power. Thanking me 
 very heartily for my friendly service to him (though, God 
 knows, with little reason), he presently left us. And Moll, 
 coming back from taking tender leave of him at her gates, 
 appeared very downcast and pensive. However, after 
 moping an hour in her chamber, she comes to me in her 
 hood, and begs I will take her a walk to dispel her va- 
 pours. So we out across the common, it being a fine, 
 brisk, dry morning and the ground hard with a frost. 
 Here, being secure from observation, I showed her how I 
 had settled matters with Mr. Godwin, dividing the estate in 
 such a manner as would enable her to draw what funds she 
 pleased, without let, hindrance, or any inconvenient question. 
 
 At this she draws a deep sigh, fixing her eyes sadly 
 enough on the perspective, as if she were thinking rather 
 of her absent lover than the business in hand. Somewhat 
 
 203 
 
2O4 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 nettled to find she prized my efforts on her behalf so lightly, 
 I proceeded to show her the advantages of this arrange- 
 ment, adding that, to make her property the surer, I had 
 consented to manage both her affairs and Mr. Godwin's 
 when they were married. 
 
 "And so," says I, in conclusion, "you may have what 
 money you want, and dispose of it as you will, .and I'll 
 answer for it Mr. Godwin shall never be a penny the wiser." 
 
 "Do what you find is necessary," says she, with passion. 
 "But for mercy's sake say no more on this matter to me. 
 For all these hints do stab my heart like sharp knives." 
 
 Not reading rightly the cause of her petulance, I was at 
 first disposed to resent it; but, reflecting that a maiden is 
 no more responsible for her tongue than a donkey for his 
 heels in this season of life (but both must be for ever a-fly- 
 ing out at some one when parted from the object of their 
 affections), I held my peace; and so we walked on in sullen 
 silence for a space; then, turning suddenly upon me, she 
 cries in a trembling voice : 
 
 "Won't you say something to me? Can't you see that I 
 am unhappy? " 
 
 And now, seeing her eyes full of tears, her lips quiver- 
 ing, and her face drawn with pain, my heart melted in a 
 moment; so, taking her arm under mine and pressing it to 
 my side, I bade her be of good cheer, for her lover would 
 return in a clay or two at the outside. 
 
 "No, not of him, not of him," she entreats. "Talk 
 to me of indifferent things." 
 
 So, thinking to turn her thoughts to another furrow, I 
 told her how I had been to visit her father at Green- 
 wich. 
 
MOLL, THE WAYWARDNESS OF HER PASSION. 2O5 
 
 "My father," says she, stopping short. "Oh, what a 
 heartless, selfish creature am I ! I have not thought of him 
 in my happiness. Nay, had he been dead I could not 
 have forgot him more. You saw him is he well? " 
 
 " As hearty as you could wish, and full of love for you, 
 and rejoiced beyond measure to know you are to marry a 
 brave, honest gentleman." Then I told how we had drunk 
 to their health, and how her father had smashed his mug 
 for a fancy. And this bringing a smile to her cheek, I 
 went on to tell how he craved to see Mr. Godwin and grip 
 his hand. 
 
 "Oh, if he could see what a noble, handsome man my 
 Richard is! " cries she. "I do think my heart would ache 
 for pride." 
 
 "Why, so it shall," says I, "for your father does intend 
 to come hither before long." 
 
 " He is coming to see my dear husband ! " says she, her 
 face aglow with joy. 
 
 " Aye, but he does promise to be most circumspect, and 
 appear as if, returning from a voyage, he had come but to 
 see how you fare, and will stay no longer than is reason- 
 ably civil." 
 
 "Only that," says she, her countenance falling again, 
 "we are to hide our love, pretend indifference, behave 
 towards this dear father as if he were nought to me but a 
 friend." 
 
 "My dear," says I, "'tis no new part you have to play." 
 
 "I know it," she answers hotly, "but that makes it only 
 the worse." 
 
 "Well, what would you?" 
 
 "Anything" (with passion). "I would do anything but 
 
2O6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 cheat and cozen the man I love." Then, after some 
 moments' silence o' both sides, "Oh, if I were really 
 Judith Godwin! " 
 
 "If you were she, you'd be in Barbary now, and have 
 neither father nor lover; is that what you want?" says I, 
 with some impatience. 
 
 "Bear with me," says she, with a humility as strange in 
 her as these new-born scruples of conscience. 
 
 "You may be sure of this, my dear," says I, in a gentler 
 tone, " if you were anything but what you are, Mr. Godwin 
 would not marry you." 
 
 "Why, then, not tell him what I am? " asks she, boldly. 
 
 "That means that you would be to-morrow what you're 
 not to-day." 
 
 " If he told me he had done wrong, I could forgive him, 
 and love him none the less." 
 
 " Your conditions are not the same. He is a gentleman 
 by birth, you but a player's daughter. Come, child, be 
 reasonable. Ponder this matter but a moment justly, and 
 you shall see that you have all to lose and nought to gain 
 by yielding to this idle fancy. Is he lacking in affection, 
 that you would seek to stimulate his love by this hazardous 
 experiment?" 
 
 "Oh, no, no, no!" cries she. 
 
 "Would he be happier knowing all?" (She shakes her 
 head.) "Happier if you force him to give you up and 
 seek another wife? " (She starts as if flicked with a whip.) 
 "Would you be happier stripped of your possessions, cast 
 out of your house, and forced to fly from justice with your 
 father?" (She looks at me in pale terror.) "Why, then, 
 there's nothing to be won, and what's to lose? the love 
 
ALL MOLL'S SCRUPLES CAST ADRIFT. 2O/ 
 
 of a noble, honest gentleman, the joy of raising him from 
 penury." 
 
 "Oh, say no more," cries she, in passion. "I know not 
 what madness possessed me to overlook such consequences. 
 I kiss you for bringing me to my senses " (with that she 
 catches up my hand and presses her lips to it again and 
 again). "Look in my face," cries she, "and if you find 
 a lurking vestige of irresolution there, I'll tear it out." 
 
 Indeed, I could see nothing but set determination in her 
 countenance, a most hard expression of fixed resolve, that 
 seemed to age her by ten years, astonishing me not less 
 than those other phases in her rapidly developing character. 
 
 "Now," says she, quickly, and with not a note of her 
 repining tone, "what was that you spoke of lately, you 
 are to be our steward? " 
 
 "Yes," says I, "for Mr. Godwin has declared most firmly 
 that the moment he has authority he will cast Simon out 
 for his disloyalty." 
 
 "I will not leave that ungrateful duty to him," says she. 
 "Take me to this wretch at once, and choose the shortest 
 path." 
 
 I led her back across the common, and coming to 
 Simon's lodge, she herself knocked loudly at the door. 
 
 Seeing who it was through his little grating, Simon 
 quickly opens the door, and with fawning humility entreats 
 her to step into his poor room, and there he stands, cring- 
 ing and mopping his eyes, in dreadful apprehension, as 
 having doubtless gathered from some about the house how 
 matters stood betwixt Moll and Mr. Godwin. 
 
 "Where are your keys? " demands Moll, in a very hard, 
 merciless voice. 
 
2O8 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Perceiving how the land lay, and finding himself thus 
 beset, old Simon falls to his usual artifices, turning this way 
 and that, like a rat in a pit, to find some hole for escape. 
 First he feigns to misunderstand, then, clapping his hands 
 in his pockets, he knows not where he can have laid them; 
 after that fancies he must have given them to his man. 
 Peter, who is gone out of an errand, etc. ; until Moll, 
 losing patience, cut him short by declaring the loss of the 
 keys unimportant, as doubtless a locksmith could be found 
 to open his boxes and drawers without 'em. 
 
 "My chief requirement is," adds she, "that you leave 
 this house forthwith, and return no more." 
 
 Upon this, finding further evasion impossible, the old 
 man turns to bay, and asks upon what grounds she would 
 dismiss him without writ or warrant. 
 
 "Tis sufficient," returns she, "that this house is mine, 
 and that I will not have you a day longer for my tenant or 
 my servant. If you dispute my claim, as I am told you 
 do, you may take what lawful means you please to dis- 
 possess me of my estate, and at the same time redress what 
 wrong is done you." 
 
 Seeing his secret treachery discovered, Simon falls now to 
 his whining arts, telling once more of his constant toil to 
 enrich her, his thrift and self-denial ; nay, he even carries it 
 so far as to show that he did but incite Mr. Godwin to dis- 
 pute her title to the estate, that thereby her claim should be 
 justified before the law to the obtaining of her succession 
 without further delay, and at the expense of her cousin, 
 which did surpass anything I had ever heard of for artful- 
 ness. But this only incensed Moll the more. 
 
 " What ! " cries she, " you would make bad blood between 
 
SIMON APPEALS TO HEAVEN FOR JUSTICE. 209 
 
 two cousins, to the ruin and disgrace of one, merely to save 
 the expense of some beggarly fees ! I'll hear no more. Go 
 at once, or I will send for my servants to carry you out by 
 force." 
 
 He stood some moments in deliberation, and then he 
 says, with a certain dignity unusual to him, " I will go." 
 Then he casts his eye slowly round the room, with a linger- 
 ing regard for his piles of documents and precious boxes of 
 title deeds, as if he were bidding a last farewell to all that 
 was dear to him on earth, and grotesque as his appearance 
 might be, there was yet something pathetic in it. But even 
 at this moment his ruling passion prevailed. 
 
 "There is no need," says he, "to burst these goodly 
 locks by force. I do bethink me the keys are here " (open- 
 ing a drawer, and laying them upon the table). Then 
 dropping his head, he goes slowly to the door, but there he 
 turns, lifting his head and fixing his rheumy eyes on Moll. 
 " I will take nothing from this house, not even the chattels 
 that belong to me, bought from the mean wage I have 
 allowed myself. So shalt thou judge of my honesty. They 
 shall stand here till I return, for that I shall return I am as 
 fully persuaded as that a just God doth dispose of his 
 creatures. Thee hast might on thy side, woman, but 
 whether thee hast right as well, shall yet be proven not 
 by the laws of man, which are an invention of the devil to 
 fatten rogues upon the substance of fools, but by the law of 
 Heaven, to which I do appeal with all my soul " (lifting 
 high his shaking hands). "Morning and night I will pray 
 that God shall smite with heavy hand which of us two hath 
 most wronged the other. Offer the same prayer if thee 
 darest." 
 
 p 
 
2IO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 I do confess that this parting shot went home to my con- 
 science, and troubled my mind considerably ; for feeling that 
 he was in the right of it as regarded our relative honesty, I 
 was constrained to think that his prophecy might come true 
 also to our shame and undoing. But Moll was afflicted with 
 no such qualms, her spirit being very combative and high, 
 and her conscience (such as it was) being hardened by our 
 late discussion to resist sharper slaps than this. Nay, main- 
 taining that Simon must be dishonest by the proof we had 
 of his hypocrisy and double dealing, she would have me 
 enter upon my office at once by sending letters to all her 
 tenants, warning them to pay no rent to any one lately in 
 her service, but only to me ; and these letters (which kept 
 my pen going all that afternoon) she signed with the name 
 of Judith Godwin, which seemed to me a very bold, danger- 
 ous piece of business ; but she would have it so, and did her 
 signature with a strong hand and a flourish of loops beneath 
 like any queen. 
 
 Nor was this all ; for the next morning she would have me 
 go to that Mr. Goodman, who had offered to buy her farm 
 for ready money, and get what I could from him, seeing 
 that she must furnish herself with fresh gowns and make other 
 outlay for her coming marriage. So to him I go, and after 
 much haggling (having learnt from Simon that the land was 
 worth more than he offered for it), I brought him to give 
 six thousand pounds instead of five, and this was clearly 
 better business on his side than on mine at that, for that 
 the bargain might not slip from his hands he would have me 
 take three thousand pounds down as a handsell, leaving the 
 rest to be paid when the deed of transference was drawn up. 
 
 And now as I jogged home with all this gold chinking in 
 
AM CONVINCED OF MY ROGUERY. 211 
 
 my pockets, I did feel that I had thrust my head fairly into 
 a halter, and no chance left of drawing it out. Look at it 
 how I might, this business wore a most curst aspect, to be 
 sure ; nor could I regard myself as anything but a thorough- 
 paced rogue. 
 
 " For," thinks I, " if old Simon's prayer be answered, 
 what will become of this poor Mr. Goodman? His title 
 deeds will be wrested from him, for they are but stolen 
 goods he is paying for, and thus an innocent, honest man 
 will be utterly ruined. And for doing this villany I may 
 count myself lucky if my heels save my neck." 
 
 With this weight on my mind, I resolved to be very 
 watchful and careful of my safety, and before I fell asleep 
 that night I had devised a dozen schemes for making good 
 my escape as soon as I perceived danger ; nevertheless, I 
 could dream of nothing but prisons, scourgings, etc., and in 
 every vision I perceived old Simon in his leather skull-cap 
 sitting on the top of Tyburn tree, with his handkercher 
 a-hanging down ready to strangle me. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A table of various accidents, 
 
 As your guide, showing you an exhibition of paintings, 
 will linger over the first room, and then pass the second in 
 hurried review to come the quicker to a third of greater 
 interest, so I, having dwelt, may be, at undue length upon 
 some secondary passages in this history, must economise my 
 space by touching lightly on the events that came immediately 
 before Moll's marriage, and so get to those more moving ac- 
 cidents which followed. Here, therefore, will I transcribe 
 certain notes (forming a brief chronicle) from that secret 
 journal which, for the clearer understanding of my position, 
 I began to keep the day I took possession of Simon's lodge 
 and entered upon my new office. 
 
 December 8. Very busy all this forenoon setting my new 
 house in order, conveying, with the help of the gardener, 
 all those domestic and personal goods that belong to Simon 
 into the attick ; but Lord ! so few these things, and they so 
 patched and worn, that altogether they are not worth ten 
 shillings of anybody's money. I find the house wondrous 
 neat and clean in every part, but so comfortless and prison- 
 like, that I look forward with little relish to living here when 
 the time comes for me to leave the Court. After this to 
 examining books, papers, etc., and the more closely I look 
 into these, the more assured I am that never was any servant 
 
THE DON GREATLY MISDOUBTS OUR WISDOM. 213 
 
 more scrupulous, exact, and honest in his master's service 
 than this old steward, which puts me to the hope that I may 
 be only half as faithful to my trust as he, but I do fear I 
 shall not. 
 
 Conversing privily with Don Sanchez after dinner, he gave 
 me his opinion that we had done a very unwise thing in turn- 
 ing out old Simon, showing how by a little skill I might have 
 persuaded Moll to leave this business to Mr. Godwin as 
 the proper ruler of her estate ; how by such delay Mr. 
 Godwin's resentment would have abated and he willing to 
 listen to good argument in the steward's favour ; how then we 
 should have made Simon more eager than ever to serve us 
 in order to condone his late offence, and how by abusing 
 our opportunities we had changed this useful servant to a 
 dangerous enemy whose sole endeavour must be to undo 
 us and recover his former position, etc. ... " Why, what 
 have we to fear of this miserable old man?" says I. "Un- 
 less he fetch Mrs. Godwin from Barbary, he cannot disprove 
 Moll's right to the estate, and what else can he do ? " 
 
 " There's the mischief of it," answers he. " Tis because 
 you know not how he may attack you that you have no 
 means of defending yourself. 'Tis ever the unseen trifle 
 in our path which trips us up." And dismissing this part 
 of the subject with a hunch of his shoulders, he advises 
 me seriously to sell as many more farms as I may for 
 ready money, and keep it in some secret convenient cor- 
 ner where I may lay hands on it at a moment's warning. 
 
 This discourse coming atop of a night's ill rest, depressed 
 my mind to such a degree that I could take no interest in 
 my work, but sat there in my naked room with my accounts 
 before me, and no spirit to cast 'em up. Nor was I much 
 
214 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 happier when I gave up work and returned to the Court. For, 
 besides having to wait an hour later than usual for dinner, 
 Moll's treatment of me was none of the best, she being 
 particularly perverse and contrary, for having dressed 
 herself in her best in expectation of her lover's return, and 
 he not coming when at last she permitted supper to be 
 dished. We were scarcely seated, however, when she 
 springs up with a cry of joy and runs from the room, crying 
 she hears her Richard's step, which was indeed true, though 
 we had heard nothing more pleasant than the rattle of our 
 plates. Presently they come in, all radiant with happiness, 
 hand in hand, and thenceforth nought but sweetness and 
 mirth on the part of Mistress Moll, who before had been all 
 frown and pout. At supper Mr. Godwin tells us how his 
 sweetheart hath certainly dispelled the clouds that have 
 hung so long over him, he having heard in London that 
 Sir Peter Lely, on seeing one of his pieces, desires to see 
 him at Hatfield (where he is painting) on good business, 
 and to Hatfield he will go to discharge this matter before 
 his marriage ; which joyeth Moll less than me, I being 
 pleased to see he is still of the same, stout disposition to 
 live an active life. In the evening he gives Moll a very 
 beautiful ring for a troth token, which transports her with 
 joy, so that she cannot enough caress her lover or this toy, 
 but falls first to kissing one and then t'other in a rapture. 
 In return, she gives him a ring from her finger. " Tis too 
 small for my finger, love," says he ; " but I will wear it 
 against my heart as long as it beats." After that he finds 
 another case and puts it in Moll's hand, and she, opening it, 
 fetches her breath quickly and can say nothing for amaze- 
 ment ; then, turning it in the light, she regards it with wink- 
 
CHIEFLY BUSINESS. 21 5 
 
 ing eyes, as if dazzled by some fierce brilliancy. And so 
 closing the case as if it were too much for her, she lays her 
 face upon Mr. Godwin's breast, he having his arm about 
 her, murmuring some inarticulate words of passionate love. 
 Recovering her energies presently, she starts up, and putting 
 the case in her lover's hand, she bids him put on his gift, 
 therewith pulling down her kerchief to expose her beautiful 
 bare^eck, whereupon he draws from the box a diamond 
 collar and clasps it about her throat with a pretty speech. 
 And truly this was a gift worthy of a princess, the most 
 beautiful bauble I have ever seen, and must have cost him 
 all he had of me to the last shilling. 
 
 December 10. Finding amongst Simon's quittances a bill 
 for law expenses of one John Pearson, attorney, at Maid- 
 stone, I concluded this must be the most trustworthy man 
 of his kind in the country ; and so set forth early this morn- 
 ing to seek him, a tedious, long journey, and the roads 
 exceedingly foul. By good luck I found Mr. Pearson at 
 home, a very civil, shrewd man, as I think. Having laid 
 my business before him, he tells me there will be no diffi- 
 culty in dividing the estate according to the wish of Mr. 
 Godwin and Moll, which may be done by a simple deed of 
 agreement ; and this he promises to draw up, and send to 
 us for signature in a couple of days. But to get the seal to 
 Moll's succession will not be such an easy matter, and, unless 
 we are willing to give seven or eight hundred pounds in 
 fees, we may be kept waiting a year, with the chance of 
 being put to greater expense to prove our right ; for he tells 
 me the court and all about it are so corrupt that no minis- 
 ter is valued if he do not, by straight or crooked ways, draw 
 money into the treasury, and that they will rather impede 
 
2l6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 than aid the course of justice if it be to the king's interest, 
 and that none will stir a hand to the advantage of any one 
 but the king, unless it be secretly to his own, etc. And, 
 though he will say nothing against Simon, save (by way of 
 hint) that all men must be counted honest till they are 
 proved guilty, yet he do apprehend he will do all in his 
 power to obstruct the granting of this seal, which it is only 
 reasonable to suppose he will. So, to close this discussion, 
 I agree he shall spend as much as one thousand pounds 
 in bribery, and he thinks we may certainly look to have it 
 in a month at that price. Home late, and very sore. 
 
 December n. Much astonished this morning on going 
 to my house to find all changed within as if by inchantment 
 fine hangings to my windows, handsome furniture in every 
 room, all arranged in due order (with a pair of pictures in my 
 parlour), the linen press stocked with all that is needful and 
 more, and even the cellar well garnished with wines, etc. 
 And truly thus embellished my house looks no longer like a 
 prison, but as cheerful and pleasant a dwelling-place as the 
 heart of man could desire (in moderation) , and better than 
 any I have yet dreamt of possessing. And 'twas easy to 
 guess whose hands had worked this transformation, even had 
 I not recognised certain pieces of furniture as coming from 
 the Court, for 'twas of a piece with Moll's loving and play- 
 ful spirit to prepare this surprise for me while I was gone 
 yesterday to Maidstone. I am resolved I will sleep here 
 henceforth, there being two bedrooms all properly fur- 
 nished, as being more in keeping with my new position. 
 
 December ij. This day a little before dinner time came 
 Dawson to the Court, quite sober and looking as like a 
 rough honest seaman as anything could be, but evidently with 
 
DAWSON CONDUCTS HIMSELF TO A NICETY. 21 7 
 
 his best shore-going manners on. And when Moll very 
 graciously offers him her hand, he whips out a red hand- 
 kercher and lays it over her hand before kissing it, which 
 was a piece of ceremony he must have observed at Green- 
 wich, as also many odd phrases and sea expressions with 
 which he garnished his conversation. 
 
 " Captain Evans," says Moll, taking her lover's hand, 
 " this is Mr. Godwin, my cousin, and soon to be my hus- 
 band." 
 
 Mr. Godwin holds forth his hand, but ere he would take 
 it, Dawson looks him full in the face a good minute ; then, 
 taking it in his great grimy hand, and grasping it firmly, 
 " Master," says Jack, " I see thou art an honest man, and 
 none lives who hath ever sold me tar for pitch, be he never 
 so double-faced, and so I wish you joy of your sweet wife. 
 As for you, Mistress " (turning to Moll) " who have ever been 
 kind to me beyond my deserts, I do wish you all the happi- 
 ness in the world, and I count all my hardships well paid 
 in bringing you safely to this anchorage. For sure I would 
 sooner you were still Lala Mollah and a slave in Barbary 
 than the Queen of Chiney and ill-mated ; and so Lord love 
 the both of you !" 
 
 After staying a couple of hours with us, he was for going 
 (but not before he had given us the instructive history of 
 the torment he had endured, by telling his wife, in an un- 
 guarded moment, of his gallantries with Sukey Taylor), nor 
 would he be persuaded to sleep at the Court and leave next 
 day, maintaining that whilst he had never a penny in the 
 world he could very honestly accept Moll's hospitality, 
 but that now being well-to-do, thanks to her bounty, he 
 blessed Heaven he had sufficient good breeding, and 
 
2l8 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 valued himself well enough not to take advantage of her 
 beneficence. However, hearing I had a house of my own, 
 and could offer him a bed, he willingly agreed to be my 
 guest for the night, regarding me as one of his own quality. 
 We stayed to sup at the Court, where he entertained us 
 with a lengthy account of his late voyage, and how being 
 taken in a tempest, his masts had all been swept by the 
 board, and his craft so damaged that 'twas as much as she 
 would hold together till he brought her into Falmouth, where 
 she must lie a-repairing a good two months ere he could 
 again venture to sea in her. And this story he told with 
 such an abundance of detail and so many nautical partic- 
 ulars, that no one in the world could have dreamt he was 
 lying. 
 
 He explained to me later on that he had refused to lie at 
 the Court, for fear a glass or two after supper might lead his 
 tongue astray, telling me that he had touched nothing but 
 penny ale all his long journey from London, for fear of 
 losing his head ; and on my asking why he had fabricated 
 that long history of shipwreck he vowed I had put him to it 
 by saying I had a house of my own where he could lie ; 
 " For," says he, " my ship being laid up will furnish me 
 with a very good excuse for coming to spend a day or two 
 with you now and then. So may I get another glimpse of 
 my own dear Moll, and see her in the fulness of her joy." 
 
 He could not sufficiently cry up the excellence of Mr. 
 Godwin, his noble bearing, his frank, honest countenance, 
 his tenderness for Moll, etc., and he did truly shed tears of 
 gratitude to think that now, whatever befell him, her wel- 
 fare and happiness were assured; but this was when he had 
 emptied his bottle and had got to that stage of emotion 
 
DO COMMIT A GRAVE PIECE OF FOLLY. 2IQ 
 
 which usually preceded boisterous hilarity when he was in 
 his cups. 
 
 And whilst I am speaking of bottles, it will not be amiss 
 to note here, for my future warning, a grave imprudence 
 of mine, which I discovered on leaving the room to seek 
 more wine. On the flame of my candle blowing aside, I 
 perceived that I had left my door unfastened, so that it 
 now stood ajar. And, truly, this was as culpable a piece 
 of oversight as I could well have committed; for here, had 
 an enemy, or even an idle busybody, been passing, he 
 might very well have entered the little passage and over- 
 heard that which had been our undoing to have made 
 known. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 How Moll Dawson was married to Mr. Richard Godwin; brief 
 account of attendant circumstances. 
 
 December 14. Dawson left us this morning. In part- 
 ing, Mr. Godwin graciously begged him to come to his 
 wedding feast on Christmas day, they having fixed upon 
 Christmas eve to be married, and Dawson promised he 
 would; but he did assure me afterwards, as we were walk- 
 ing along the road to meet the stage waggon, that he would 
 certainly feign some reason for not coming. "For," says 
 he, "I am not so foolhardy as to jeopardise my Moll's hap- 
 piness for the pleasure this feast would give me. Nay, 
 Kit, I do think 'twould break my heart indeed, if anything 
 of my doing should mar my Moll's happiness." And I 
 was very well pleased to find him in this humour, promising 
 him that we would make amends for his abstinence on this 
 occasion by cracking many a bottle to Moll's joy when we 
 could come together again secretly at my house. In the 
 afternoon Mr. Pearson's clerk brought the deed of agree- 
 ment for the settlement of the estate upon Moll and Mr. 
 Godwin, which they signed, and so that is finished as we 
 would have it. This clerk tells me his master hath already 
 gone to London about getting the seal. So all things look 
 mighty prosperous. 
 
 December 77. Fearing to displease Sir Peter Lely by 
 longer delay, Mr. Godwin set out for Hatfield Tuesday, 
 
 220 
 
GO A-SHOPPING; VERY TEDIOUS. 221 
 
 we that is, Moll, Don Sanchez, and I going with him 
 as far as the borough, where Moll had a thousand things to 
 buy against her wedding. And here we found great activ- 
 ity of commerce, and many shops filled with excellent good 
 goods, more than ever there were before the great fire 
 drove out so many tradesmen from the city. Here Moll 
 spends her money royally, buying whatever catches her eye 
 that is rich and beautiful, not only for her own personal 
 adornment, but for the embellishment of her house (as 
 hangings, damasks, toys, etc.), yet always with a consider- 
 ation of Mr. Godwin's taste, so that I think she would not 
 buy a pair of stockings but she must ask herself whether he 
 would admire 'em. And the more she had, the more 
 eager she grew to have, buying by candle-light, which was 
 an imprudence, and making no sort of bargain, but giving 
 all the shopkeepers asked for their wares, which, to be 
 sure, was another piece of recklessness. This business 
 seemed to me the most wearisome in the world, but it 
 served only to increase her energies, and she would not be 
 persuaded to desist until, the shops closing, she could lay 
 out no more money that night. Supped very well (but 
 mighty late) at the Tabard inn, where we lay all night. 
 And the next morning, Moll's fever still unabated, we set 
 out again a-shopping, and no rest until we caught the stage 
 (and that by a miracle) at four; and so home, dead beat. 
 
 December 18. Moll mad all day because the carrier hath 
 brought but half her purchases, and they not what she 
 wanted. By the evening waggon come three seamstresses 
 she engaged yesterday morning, and they are to stay in the 
 house till all is finished; but as yet nothing for them to do, 
 which is less grievous to them than to poor Moll, who, I 
 
222 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 believe, would set 'em working all night for fear she shall 
 not be fitted against her wedding. 
 
 December 19. Thank God, the carrier brought all our 
 packages this morning, and they being all undone and laid 
 out, there is no sitting down anywhere with comfort, but 
 all confusion, and no regularity anywhere, so I was content 
 to get my meals in the kitchen the best I could. And here 
 I do perceive the wisdom of Don Sanchez, who did not 
 return with us from London, and does intend (he told me) 
 to stay there till the wedding eve. 
 
 December 20. Moll, bit by a new maggot, tells me this 
 morning she will have a great feast on Christmas day, and 
 bids me order matters accordingly. She will have a whole 
 ox roasted before the house by midday, and barrels of strong 
 ale set up, that there may be meat and drink for all who 
 choose to take it; and at four she will have a supper of 
 geese, Jturkeys, and plum puddings for all her tenants, their 
 wives and sweethearts, with fiddles afterwards for dancing, 
 etc. Lord knows how we shall come out of this madness; 
 but I have got the innkeeper (a busy, capable man) to help 
 me, and he does assure me all will go well enough, and I 
 pray he be right. 
 
 December 21. Sick with fears that all must end ill. 
 For the place is a very Babel for tradesmen and work- 
 people bringing in goods, and knowing not where to set 
 them, servants hurrying this way and that, one charged 
 with a dozen geese, another with silk petticoats, jostling 
 each other, laughing, quarrelling, and no sort of progress, 
 as it seems, anywhere, but all tumult and disorder. 
 
 December 22. Could not sleep a wink all last night for 
 casting up accounts of all this feasting and finery will cost 
 
STILL GREATLY DISTURBED IN MIND. 223 
 
 us, and finding it must eat up all that money we had of 
 poor Mr. Goodman, and make a deep hole in our quarter's 
 rents besides, I fell a speculating whether our tenants 
 would pay me with the same punctuality they have used to 
 pay old Simon, with grievous fears to the contrary. For, 
 assuredly, Simon hath not been idle these past days, and 
 will do us an ill turn if he can, by throwing doubts before 
 these same tenants whether they should pay or not before 
 Moll's succession is made sure. And I have good reason 
 to fear they will not, for I observed yesterday when I called 
 upon Farmer Giles to invite him to our feast, he seemed 
 very jerky and ill at ease, which perplexed me greatly, 
 until, on quitting, I perceived through a door that stood 
 ajar old Simon seated in a side room. And 'tis but natural 
 that if they find prudent excuse for withholding their rents 
 they will keep their money in pocket, which will pinch us 
 smartly when our bills come to be paid. Yet I conceived 
 that this feast would incline our tenants to regard us kindly; 
 but, on the other hand, thinks I, supposing they regard this 
 as a snare, and do avoid us altogether ! Then shall we be 
 nipped another way; for, having no one to eat our feast 
 but a few idle rogues, who would get beef and ale for noth- 
 ing, we shall but lay ourselves open to mockery, and get 
 further into discredit. Thus, betwixt one fear and another, 
 I lay like a toad under a harrow, all night, in a mortal sweat 
 and perturbation of spirit. 
 
 Nor has this day done much to allay my apprehension. 
 For at the Court all is still at sixes and sevens, none of a 
 very cheerful spirit, but all mighty anxious, save Moll, who 
 throughout has kept a high, bold spirit. And she does de- 
 clare they will work all night, but everything shall be in its 
 
224 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 place before her lover comes to-morrow. And, truly, I 
 pray they may, but do think they will not. For such a 
 mighty business as this should have been begun a full month 
 back. But she will not endure me in the house (though 
 God knows I am as willing as any to help), saying that I 
 do hinder all, and damp their spirit for work with my 
 gloomy countenance, which is no more than the truth, I 
 fear. The sky very overcast, with wind in the south and 
 the air very muggy, mild, and close, so that I do apprehend 
 our geese will be all stinking before they are eat. And if 
 it pour of rain on Christmas day how will the ox be roast, 
 and what sort of company can we expect? This puts me 
 to another taking for dread of a new fiasco. 
 
 December 23. Going to the Court about midday, I was 
 dumbfounded to find no sign of the disorder that pre- 
 vailed there yesterday, but all swept and garnished, and 
 Moll in a brave new gown seated at her fireside, reading a 
 book with the utmost tranquillity, though I suspect she 
 did assume something in this to increase my astonishment. 
 She was largely diverted by my amazement, and made very 
 light of her achievement; but she admitted that all had 
 worked till daybreak, and she had slept but two hours since. 
 Nevertheless, no one could have looked fresher and brighter 
 than she, so healthy and vigorous are her natural parts. 
 About one comes Mr. Godwin to cap her happiness and 
 give fresh glory to her beauty. And sure a handsomer 
 or better mated couple never was, Mr. Godwin's shapely 
 figure being now set off to advantage by a very noble cloth- 
 ing, as becoming his condition. With him came also by 
 the morning stage Don Sanchez, mighty fine in a new 
 head, of the latest mode, and a figured silk coat and waist- 
 
GREAT CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. 225 
 
 coat. And seeing the brave show they made at table, I 
 was much humbled to think I had gone to no expense in 
 this particular. But I was yet more mortified when Don 
 Sanchez presents Moll with a handsome set of jewels for a 
 wedding gift, to see that I had nothing in the world to 
 offer her, having as yet taken not a penny of her money, 
 save for the use of others and my bare necessities. Moll, 
 however, was too full of happiness to note this omission on 
 my part; she could think of no one now but her dear hus- 
 band, and I counted for nothing. 
 
 However, this little chagrin was no more than a little 
 cloud on a summer's day, which harms no one and is 
 quickly dispelled by generous heat; and the tender affec- 
 tion of these two for each other did impart a glow of hap- 
 piness to my heart. 'Tis strange to think how all things 
 to-night look bright and hopeful, which yesterday were 
 gloomy and awesome. Even the weather hath changed to 
 keep in harmony with our condition. A fresh wind sprang 
 up from the north this morning, and to-night every star 
 shines out sharp and clear through the frosty air, promis- 
 ing well for to-morrow and our Christmas feast. And 
 smelling of the geese, I do now find them all as sweet as 
 nuts, which contents me mightily, and so I shall go to bed 
 this night blessing God for all things. 
 
 December 24. Now this blessed day hath ended, and 
 Moll is sure and safely bound to Mr. Godwin in wedlock, 
 thanks to Providence. Woke at daybreak and joyed to 
 find all white without and covered with rime, sparkling 
 like diamonds as the sun rose red and jolly above the firs; 
 and so I thought our dear Moll's life must sparkle as she 
 looked out on this, which is like to be the brightest, happi- 
 Q 
 
226 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 est day of her life. Dressed in my best with great care, 
 and put on the favour of white ribbons given me by Moll's 
 woman last night, and so very well pleased with my looks, 
 to the Court, where Moll is still a-dressing, but Mr. Godwin 
 and Don Sanchez, nobly arrayed, conversing before the 
 fire. And here a great bowpot on the table (which Mr. 
 Godwin had made to come from London this morning) of 
 the most wondrous flowers I have ever seen at this time of 
 the year, so that I could not believe them real at first, but 
 they are indeed living; and Mr. Godwin tells me they are 
 raised in houses of glass very artificially heated. Presently 
 comes in Moll with her maids, she looking like any pearl, 
 in a shining gown of white satin decked with rich lace, the 
 collar of diamonds glittering about her white throat, her 
 face suffused with happy blushes and past everything for 
 sprightly beauty. Mr. Godwin offers his bowpot and takes 
 her into his arms, and there for a moment she lay with 
 closed eyes and a pallor spreading over her cheek as if this 
 joy were more than her heart could bear; but recovering 
 quickly, she was again all lively smiles and radiance. 
 
 Then comes a letter, brought by the night carrier, from 
 her father (a most dirty, ill-written scrawl signed Robert 
 Evans with his mark), praying he may be excused, as his 
 masts are to be stepped o' Wednesday, and he must take 
 the occasion of a ketch leaving Dartford for Falmouth this 
 day, and at the same time begging her acceptance of a 
 canister of China tea (which is, I learn, become a fashion- 
 able dish in London) as a marriage offering. Soon after 
 this a maid runs in to say the church bells are a-ringing; so 
 out we go into the crisp, fresh air, with not a damp place 
 to soil Moll's pretty shoes she and Mr. Godwin first, her 
 
MOLL IS WEDDED SAFELY. 22/ 
 
 maids next, carrying her train, and the Don and I closing 
 the procession, very stately. In the churchyard stand two 
 rows of village maids with baskets to strew rosemary and 
 sweet herbs in our path, and within the church a brave 
 show of gentlefolks, friends and neighbours, to honour the 
 wedding. 
 
 But here was I put to a most horrid quaking the moment 
 I passed the door, to perceive old Simon standing fore- 
 most in the throng about the altar, in his leather cap 
 (which he would not remove for clerk or sexton, but 
 threatened them, as I am told, with the law if they lay a 
 ringer on him). And seeing him there, I must needs con- 
 clude that he intended to do us an ill turn, for his face 
 wore the most wicked, cruel, malicious look that ever thirst 
 of vengeance could impart. Indeed, I expected nothing 
 less than that he would forbid the marriage on such 
 grounds as we had too good reason to fear; and with this 
 dread I regarded Moll, who also could not fail to see him. 
 Her face whitened as she looked at him, but her step never 
 faltered, and this peril seemed but to fortify her courage 
 and resolution; and indeed I do think by her high bearing 
 and the defiance in her eye as she held her lover's arm 
 that she was fully prepared to make good answer if he chal- 
 lenged her right to marry Mr. Godwin. But (the Lord be 
 thanked ! ) he did not put her to this trial, only he stood 
 there like a thing of evil omen to mar the joy of this day 
 with fearful foreboding. 
 
 I can say nothing about the ceremony, for all my atten- 
 tion was fixed upon this hideous Simon, and I had no 
 relief until 'twas safely ended and Moll's friends pressed 
 forward to kiss the bride and offer their good wishes; nor 
 
228 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 did I feel really at ease until we were back again at the 
 Court, and seated to a fine dinner, with all the friends who 
 would join us, whereof there were as many as could sit 
 comfortably to the long table. This feast was very joyous 
 and merry, and except that the parson would be facetious 
 over his bottle, nothing unseemingly or immodest was 
 said. So we stayed at table in exceeding good fellowship 
 till the candles were lit, and then the parson, being very 
 drunk, we made a pretext of carrying him home to break 
 up our company and leave the happy couple to their 
 joy. 
 
 December 26. Down betimes yesterday morning to find 
 the sky still clear, the air brisk and dry, and ample prom- 
 ise of a fair day. To the Court, and there perceive the 
 great ox spitted on a stout fir pole, and the fire just kind- 
 ling; John the gardener setting up the barrels of beer, and a 
 famous crowd of boys and beggars already standing before 
 the gates. And there they might have stayed till their 
 dinner was cooked, ere I had let them in, but Moll com- 
 ing down from the house with her husband, and seeing 
 this shivering crew, their pinched cheeks yellow and their 
 noses blue with cold, and so famished with hunger they 
 could scarce find strength to cry, "God bless you, merry 
 gentlefolks!" she would have them taste at once some of 
 that happiness with which her heart was overflowing, and 
 so did with her own hands unbolt the gates and set them 
 wide, bidding the halting wretches come in and warm 
 themselves. Not content with this, she sends up to the 
 house for loaves and gives every one a hunch of bread 
 and a mug of ale to stay his empty stomach. And Lord, 
 'twas a pleasure to see these poor folks' joy how they 
 
WONDROUS JOYFUL ALL. 22Q 
 
 spread their hands out to the flames; how they cockered 
 up the fire here and there to brown their ox equally, with 
 all hands now and then to turn him on the spit; how they 
 would set their bread to catch the dropping gravy; and 
 how they would lift their noses to catch the savoury whiffs 
 that came from the roasting beef. 
 
 This is all very well, thinks I, but how about our geese 
 and turkeys? will our tenants come, or shall we find that 
 Simon hath spoilt their appetite, and so be left with 
 nought but starved beggars for our company? However, 
 before four o'clock an end was put to these doubts, for 
 some in waggons, others on horse, with their wives or 
 sweethearts on pillions behind, clasping their men tight, 
 and the rest afoot, all came that were asked by me, and 
 more, and pretty jolly already with ale on the road, and a 
 great store of mistletoe amongst them for their further 
 merriment. And what pleased me as much as anything 
 was to find all mighty civil to Moll nearly all offering 
 her a Christmas box of fresh eggs, honey, and such homely 
 produce, which she received with the most pretty, winning 
 grace, that went home to every heart, so that the hardest 
 faces were softened with a glow of contentment and admi- 
 ration. Then down we sat to table, Moll at one end and 
 her husband beside her; Don Sanchez and I at t'other; 
 and all the rest packed as close as sprats in a barrel; but 
 every lad squeezing closer to his lass to make room for his 
 neighbour, we found room for all and not a sour look any- 
 where. Dear heart! what appetites they had, yet would 
 waste nothing, but picked every one his bone properly 
 clean (which did satisfy me nothing was amiss with our 
 geese), and great cheering when the puddings and flap- 
 
23O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 dragons came in all aflame, and all as merry as grigs 
 flinging of lighted plums at each other, but most mannerly 
 not to fling any at Moll or us. Then more shouting for 
 joy when the bowls of wassail and posset come in, and all 
 standing to give three times three for their new mistress 
 and her husband. Hearing of which, the beggars without 
 (now tired of dancing about the embers) troop up to the 
 door and give three times three as well, and end with cry- 
 ing joy and long life to the wedded pair. When this 
 tumult was ended and the door shut, Mr. Godwin gave a 
 short oration, thanking our tenants for their company and 
 good wishes; and then he told them how his dear wife 
 and he, wishing others to share their joy and remember 
 this day, had resolved to forgive every tenant one-half of 
 his quarter's rent. "And so, Mr. Hopkins," says he, 
 addressing me, "you will think of this to-morrow." 
 
 At first I was disposed to begrudge this munificence 
 thinking of my accounts and the bills I should have to 
 pay ere rent day came again; but on second thoughts it re- 
 joiced me much as being a counterblast to anything Simon 
 could do against us. For no tenant, thinks I, will be fool 
 enough to withold payment when he may get his quittance 
 to-morrow for half its value. And herein was I not mis- 
 taking; for to-day every tenant hath paid with a cheerful 
 countenance. So that this is very good business, and I 
 am not in any way astonished to find that our subtle 
 Spaniard was at the bottom of it, for indeed it was Don 
 Sanchez who (knowing my fears on this head and thinking 
 them well-grounded) suggested this act of generosity to 
 Moll, which she, in her fulness of heart, seized on at once. 
 (Truly, I believe she would give the clothes off her back, 
 
DON SANCHEZ LEAVES US, ILL OMEN. 23 1 
 
 no matter what it cost her, to any one in need, so reckless 
 is she in love and pity.) 
 
 December 27. Don Sanchez took leave of us this day, he 
 setting forth for Spain to-morrow, with the hope to reach 
 his friends there, for their great feast of the New Year. 
 And we are all mighty sorry to lose him ; for not only hath 
 he been a rare good friend to us, but also he is a most 
 seemly gentleman (to keep us in countenance), and a very 
 good staunch and reliable companion. But this comprises 
 not all our loss, he having, as I confess, more wit in his little 
 finger than we in all our bodies, and being ever ready with an 
 expedient in the hour of need ; and I know not why, but I 
 look on his going as a sign of coming evil ; nor am I greatly 
 comforted by his telling me privily that when we want him 
 he shall be found by a letter sent to the Albego Puerto del 
 Sole, Toledo, in Spain. And I pray Heaven we have no 
 occasion to write to him. 
 
 To-night at supper I find Moll all cock-a-hoop with a 
 new delight, by reason of her dear husband offering to take 
 her to London for a month to visit the theatres and other 
 diversions, which put me to a new quirk for fear Moll should 
 be known by any of our former playhouse companions. But 
 this I now perceive is a very absurd fear ; for no one in the 
 world who had seen Moll three years ago a half-starved, 
 long-legged, raw child could recognise her now, a beauti- 
 ful, well-proportioned young woman in her fine clothes ; and 
 so my mind is at ease on this head. When Moll was retired, 
 Mr. Godwin asked if I could let him have a few hundreds 
 upon his account, and I answered very willingly he shall. 
 And now setting aside enough to pay all bills and furnish our 
 wants till next quarter day, I am resolved to give him every 
 
232 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 farthing left of the rents paid yesterday, and shall be most 
 hearty glad to be rid of it, for this money do seem to scar 
 my hands every time I touch it ; nor can I look at it but 
 my heart is wrung with pity for those poor tenants who paid 
 so gleefully yesterday, for surely their quittances will hold 
 good for no more than spoilt paper if ever our roguery is 
 discovered. 
 
 December 28. This day Moll and Mr. Godwin set out for 
 London, all smiles and gladness, and Moll did make me 
 promise to visit them there, and share their pleasures. But 
 if I have no more appetite for gaiety than I feel at this 
 moment, I shall do better to stay here and mind my busi- 
 ness ; though I do expect to find little pleasure in that, and 
 must abide by a month of very dull, gloomy days. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Of the great change in Moll, and the likely explanation thereof. 
 
 A WEEK before the promised month was up, Moll and her 
 husband came back to the Court, and lest I should imagine 
 that her pleasures had been curtailed by his caprice, she was 
 at great pains to convince me that he had yielded to her 
 insistence in this matter, declaring she was sick of theatres, 
 ridottos, masquerades, and sight-seeing, and had sighed 
 to be home ere she had been in London a week. This 
 surprised me exceedingly, knowing how passionate fond 
 she had ever been of the playhouse and diversions of any 
 kind, and remembering how eager she was to go to town 
 with her husband ; and I perceived there was more signifi- 
 cance in the present distaste for diversion than she would 
 have known. And I observed further (when the joy of 
 return and ordering her household subsided) that she her- 
 self had changed in these past three weeks, more than was 
 to be expected in so short a time. For, though she seemed 
 to love her husband more than ever she had loved him as 
 her lover, and could not be happy two minutes out of his 
 company, 'twas not that glad, joyous love of the earlier days, 
 but a yearning, clinging passion, that made me sad to see ; 
 for I could not look upon the strained, anxious tenderness 
 in her young face without bethinking me of my poor sister, 
 as she knelt praying by her babe's cot for God to spare its 
 frail life. 
 
 233 
 
234 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Yet her husband never looked more hearty and strong, 
 and every look and word of his bespoke increasing love. 
 The change in her was not unperceived by him, and often 
 he would look down into her wistful, craving eyes as if he 
 would ask of her, "What is it, love? tell me all." And she, 
 as understanding this appeal, would answer nothing, but 
 only shake her head, still gazing into his kind eyes as if she 
 would have him believe she had nought to tell. 
 
 These things made me very thoughtful and urgent to find 
 some satisfactory explanation. To be sure, thinks I, mar- 
 riage is but the beginning of a woman's real life, and so one 
 may not reasonably expect her to be what she was as a 
 thoughtless child. And 'tis no less natural that a young 
 wife should love to be alone with her husband, rather than 
 in the midst of people who must distract his thoughts from 
 her ; as also it is right and proper she should wish to be in 
 her own home, directing her domestic affairs and tending to 
 her husband showing him withal she is a good and thought- 
 ful housewife. But why these pensive tristful looks, now she 
 hath her heart's desire? Then, finding I must seek some 
 better explanation of her case, I bethought me she must 
 have had a very hard, difficult task in London to conceal 
 from one, who was now a part of herself, her knowledge 
 of so many things it was unbefitting she should reveal. 
 At the playhouse she must feign astonishment at all she 
 saw, as having never visited one before, and keep con- 
 stant guard upon herself lest some word slipped her lips 
 to reveal her acquaintance with the players and their art. 
 At the ridotto she must equally feign ignorance of modish 
 dancing she whose nimble feet had tripped to every 
 measure since she could stand alone. There was scarcely 
 
MOLL RETURNS, MUCH CHANGED. 235 
 
 a subject on which she would dare to speak without deliber- 
 ation, and she must check her old habit of singing and be 
 silent, lest she fall by hazard to humming some known tune. 
 Truly, under such continuous strain (which none but such 
 a trained actress could maintain for a single day) her spirit 
 must have wearied. And if this part was hard to play in 
 public, where we are all, I take it, actors of some sort and 
 on the alert to sustain the character we would have our own, 
 how much more difficult must it be in private when we 
 drop our disguise and lay our hearts open to those we love ! 
 And here, as it seemed to me, I did hit rightly at the true 
 cause of her present secret distress ; for at home as abroad 
 she must still be acting a part, weighing her words, guarding 
 her acts for ever to be hiding of something from her dear- 
 est friend ever denying him that confidence he appealed 
 for ever keeping a cruel, biting bond upon the most gen- 
 erous impulse of her heart, closing that heart when it was 
 bursting to open to her dear mate. 
 
 Soon after their return Mr. Godwin set to work paint- 
 ing the head of a Sybil, which the Lord of Hatfield House 
 had commanded, on the recommendation of Sir Peter Lely, 
 taking Anne Fitch for his model, and she sitting in that 
 room of the Court house he had prepared for his work- 
 shop. Here he would be at it every day, as long as there 
 was light for his purpose, Moll, near at hand, watching 
 him, ready to chat or hold her peace, according to his incli- 
 nation just as she had done when he was a-painting of 
 the ceiling, only that now her regard was more intent upon 
 him than his work, and when he turned to look at her, 
 'twas with interchange of undisguised love in their fond eyes. 
 She ever had a piece of work or a book in her lap, but she 
 
236 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 made not half a dozen stitches or turned a single page in 
 the whole day, for he was the sole occupation of her mind ; 
 the living book, ever yielding her sweet thoughts. 
 
 This persevering, patient toil on his part did at first 
 engender in my mind suspicion that some doubting thoughts 
 urged him to assume his independence against any accident 
 that might befall the estate ; but now I believe 'twas noth- 
 ing but a love of work and of his art, and that his mind 
 was free from any taint of misgiving, as regards his wife's 
 honesty. 'Tis likely enough, that spite her caution, many 
 a word and sign escaped Moll, which an enemy would have 
 quickly seized on to prove her culpable ; but we do never 
 see the faults of those we love (or, seeing them, have ready 
 at a moment excuse to prove them no faults at all), and 
 at this time Mr. Godwin's heart was so full of love, there 
 was no place for other feeling. Venom from a rose had 
 seemed to him more possible than evil, from one so natural, 
 sweet, and beautiful as Moll. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Moll plays us a mad prank for the last time in her life. 
 
 ABOUT once in a fortnight I contrived to go to London for 
 a couple of days on some pretext of business, and best part 
 of this time I spent with Dawson. And the first visit I paid 
 him after the return of Moll and her husband, telling him 
 of their complete happiness, Moll's increasing womanly 
 beauty, and the prosperous aspect of our affairs (for I had 
 that day positive assurance our seal would be obtained 
 within a month), I concluded by asking if his mast might 
 not now be stepped, and he be in a position to come to 
 Chislehurst and see her as he had before. 
 
 " No, Kit, thanking ye kindly," says he, after fighting it 
 out with himself in silence a minute or two, " better not. I 
 am getting in a manner used to this solitude, and bar two or 
 three days a week when I feel a bit hangdog and hipped 
 a-thinking there's not much in this world for an old fellow 
 to live for when he's lost his child, I am pretty well content. 
 It would only undo me. If you had a child your own 
 flesh and blood part of your life a child that had been 
 to you what my sweet Moll hath been to me, you would com- 
 prehend better how I feel. To pretend indifference when 
 you're longing to hug her to your heart, to talk of fair 
 weather and foul when you're thinking of old times, and 
 then to bow and scrape and go away without a single desire 
 of your aching heart satisfied, 'tis more than a man with 
 
 237 
 
238 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 a spark of warmth in his soul can bear." And then he pro- 
 ceeded to give a dozen other reasons for declining the tempt- 
 ing bait, the sum of all proving to my conviction that he 
 was dying to see Moll, and I feared he would soon be doing 
 by stealth that which it were much safer he should do 
 openly. 
 
 About a week after this I got a letter from him, asking me 
 to come again as soon as I might, he having cut his hand with 
 a chisel, " so that I cannot work my lathe, and having nothing 
 to occupy my mind, do plague myself beyond endurance." 
 
 Much concerned for my old friend, I lose no time in re- 
 pairing to Greenwich, where I find him sitting idle before his 
 lathe, with an arm hanging in a handkerchief, and his face 
 very yellow ; but this, I think, was of drinking too much ale. 
 And here he fell speedily discoursing of Moll, saying he 
 could not sleep of nights for thinking of the pranks she 
 used to play us, our merry vagabond life together in Spain ere 
 we got to Elche, etc., and how he missed her now more than 
 ever he did before. After that, as I anticipated, he came in a 
 shuffling, roundabout way (as one ashamed to own his weak- 
 ness) to hinting at seeing Moll by stealth, declaring he 
 would rather see her for two minutes now and again 
 peering through a bush, though she should never cast a 
 glance his way, than have her treat him as if she were not 
 his child and ceased to feel any love for him. But seeing 
 the peril of such ways, I would by no means consent to his 
 hanging about the Court like a thief, and told him plainly 
 that unless he would undo us all and ruin Moll, he must 
 come openly as before or not at all. 
 
 Without further demur he consents to be guided by me, 
 and then, very eagerly, asks when it will be proper for him 
 
A FORESHADOWING. 239 
 
 to come ; and we agree that if he come in a week's time, 
 there will be no thought in anybody's mind of our having 
 conspired to this end. 
 
 As the fates would have it, Mr. Godwin finished his paint- 
 ing on the Saturday following (the most wonderful piece of 
 its kind I ever saw, or any one else, in my belief) , and being 
 justly proud of his work and anxious Sir Peter Lely should 
 see it soon, he resolved he would carry it to Hatfield on 
 Monday. Moll, who was prouder of her husband's piece 
 than if it were of her own doing, was not less eager it should 
 be seen ; yet the thought that she must lose him for four days 
 (for this journey could not well be accomplished in less 
 time) cast down her spirits exceedingly. 'Twas painful to 
 see her efforts to be cheerful despite of herself. And, see- 
 ing how incapable she was of concealing her real feeling from 
 him whom she would cheer, she at length confessed to him 
 her trouble. " I would have you go, and yet I'd have you 
 stay, love," says she. 
 
 " Tis but a little while we shall be parted," says he. 
 
 "A little while?" says she, trembling and wringing one 
 hand within the other. " It seems to me as if we were part- 
 ing for ever." 
 
 "Why, then," returns he, laughing, "we will not part at 
 all. You shall come with me, chuck. What should prevent 
 you?" 
 
 She starts with joy at this, then looks at him incredulous 
 for a moment, and so her countenance falling again, she 
 shakes her head as thinking, I take it, that if it were advis- 
 able she should go with him, he would have proposed it 
 before. 
 
 " No," says she, " 'twas an idle fancy, and I'll not yield to 
 
24O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 it. I shall become a burden, rather than a helpmate, if you 
 cannot stir from home without me. Nay," adds she, when 
 he would override this objection, "you must not tempt 
 me to be weak, but rather aid me to do that which I feel 
 right." 
 
 And she would not be persuaded from this resolution, but 
 bore herself most bravely, even to the moment when she 
 and her husband clasped each for the last time in a farewell 
 embrace. 
 
 She stood where he had left her for some moments after 
 he was gone. Suddenly she ran a few paces with parted 
 lips and outstretched hands, as if she would call him back ; 
 then, as sharply she halts, clasping her hands, and so 
 presently turns back, looking across her shoulder, with such 
 terror in her white face, that I do think her strong imagi- 
 nation figured some accusing spirits, threatening the end of 
 all her joys. 
 
 I followed her into the house, but there I learnt from 
 Mrs. Butterby that her mistress was gone to her own 
 chamber. 
 
 As I was sitting in my office in the afternoon, Jack 
 Dawson came to me in his seaman's dress, his hand still 
 wrapped up, but his face more healthful for his long ride 
 and cheerful thoughts. 
 
 " Why, this could not have fallen out better," says I, 
 when we had exchanged greetings ; " for Moll is all alone, 
 and down in the dumps by reason of her husband having 
 left her this morning on business, that will hold him absent 
 for three or four days. We will go up presently and have 
 supper with her." 
 
 " No, Kit," says he, very resolutely, " I'll not. I am 
 
MOLL HATH A VISION. 24! 
 
 resolved I won't go there till to-morrow, for this is no hour 
 to be a-calling on ladies, and her husband being away 'twill 
 look as if we had ordered it of purpose. Besides, if Moll's 
 in trouble, how am I to pretend I know nothing of the mat- 
 ter and care less, and this Mother Butterby and a parcel of 
 sly, observant servants about to surprise one at any moment ? 
 Say no more 'tis useless for I won't be persuaded 
 against my judgment." 
 
 "As you will," says I. 
 
 "There's another reason, if other's needed," says he, 
 "and that's this plaguey thirst of mine, which seizes me 
 when I'm doleful or joyful, with a force there's no resisting. 
 And chiefly it seizes me in the later part of the day ; there- 
 fore, I'd have you take me to the Court to-morrow morning 
 betimes, ere it's at its worst. My throat's like any limekiln 
 for dryness now ; so do pray, Kit, fasten the door snug, and 
 give me a mug of ale." 
 
 This ended our discussion; but, as it was necessary I 
 should give some reason for not supping with Moll, I left 
 Dawson with a bottle, and went up to the house to find Moll. 
 There I learnt that she was still in her chamber, and sleep- 
 ing, as Mrs. Butterby believed ; so I bade the good woman 
 tell her mistress when she awoke that Captain Evans had 
 come to spend the night with me, and he would call to 
 pay her his devoirs the next morning. 
 
 Here, that nothing may be unaccounted for in the se- 
 quence of events, I must depart from my train of present 
 observation to speak from after-knowledge. 
 
 I have said that when Moll started forward, as if to over- 
 take her husband, she suddenly stopped as if confronted by 
 some menacing spectre. And this indeed was the case ; 
 R 
 
242 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 for at that moment there appeared to her heated imag- 
 ination (for no living soul was there) a little, bent old 
 woman, clothed in a single white garment of Moorish 
 fashion, and Moll knew that she was Mrs. Godwin (though 
 seeing her now for the first time), come from Barbary to 
 claim her own, and separate Moll from the husband she 
 had won by fraud. 
 
 She stood there (says Moll) within her gates, with raised 
 hand and a most bitter, unforgiving look upon her wasted 
 face, barring the way by which Moll might regain her hus- 
 band ; and as the poor wife halted, trembling in dreadful 
 awe, the old woman advanced with the sure foot of right 
 and justice. What reproach she had to make, what male- 
 diction to pronounce, Moll dared not stay to hear, but turn- 
 ing her back fled to the house, where, gaining her chamber, 
 she locked the door, and flung herself upon her husband's 
 bed ; and in this last dear refuge, shutting her eyes, clasping 
 her ears, as if by dulling her senses to escape the phantom, 
 she lay in a convulsion of terror for the mere dread that 
 such a thing might be. 
 
 Then, at the thought that she might never again be en- 
 folded here in her husband's arms, an agony of grief suc- 
 ceeded her fit of maddening fear, and she wept till her 
 mind grew calm from sheer exhaustion. And so, little by 
 little, as her courage revived, she began to reason with her- 
 self as how 'twas the least likely thing in the world that if 
 Mrs. Godwin were in England, she should come to the 
 Court unattended and in her Moorish clothes ; and then, 
 seeing the folly of abandoning herself to a foolish fancy, 
 she rose, washed the tears from her face, and set herself 
 to find some occupation to distract her thoughts. And 
 
MOLL'S LAST PRANK. 243 
 
 what employment is nearer to her thoughts or dearer to 
 her heart than making things straight for her husband ; so 
 she goes into the next room where he worked, and falls to 
 washing his brushes, cleaning his paint-board, and putting 
 all things in order against his return, that he may lose no 
 time in setting to work at another picture. And at dinner 
 time, finding her face still disfigured with her late emotions 
 and ashamed of her late folly, she bids her maid bring a 
 snack to her room, under the pretence that she feels unwell. 
 This meal she eats, still working in her husband's room ; for 
 one improvement prompting another, she finds plenty to do 
 there : now bethinking her that the hangings of her own pri- 
 vate room (being handsomer) will look better on these walls, 
 whereas t'others are more fit for hers, where they are less 
 seen ; that this corner looks naked, and will look better for 
 her little French table standing there, with a china image 
 atop, and so forth. Thus, then, did she devote her time till 
 sundown, whereabouts Mrs. Butterby raps at her door to 
 know if she will have a cup of warm caudle to comfort her, 
 at the same time telling her that Mr. Hopkins will not sup 
 with her, as he has Captain Evans for his guest at the lodge. 
 And now Moll, by that natural succession of extremes 
 which seems to be a governing law of nature (as the flow 
 the ebb, the calm the storm, day the night, etc.), was not 
 less elated than she had been depressed in the early part 
 of the day, but still, I take it, in a nervous, excitable 
 condition. And hearing her father, whom she has not seen 
 so long, is here, a thousand mad projects enter her lively 
 imagination. So, when Mrs. Butterby, after the refusal of 
 her warm caudle, proposes she shall bring Madam a tray 
 of victuals, that she may pick something in bed, Moll, stifling 
 
244 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 a merry thought, asks, in a feeble voice, what there is in 
 the larder. 
 
 "Why, Madam," says Mrs. Butterby, from the outside, 
 " there's the partridges you did not eat at breakfast, there's 
 a cold pigeon pasty and a nice fresh ham, and a lovely 
 hasty pudding I made with my own hands, in the pot." 
 
 " Bring 'em all," says Moll, in the same aching voice ; 
 "and I'll pick what tempts me." 
 
 Therewith, she silently slips the bolt back, whips on her 
 nightgown, and whips into bed. 
 
 Presently, up comes Mrs. Butterby, carrying a wax candle, 
 followed by a couple of maids charged with all the pro- 
 visions Moll had commanded. Having permission to enter, 
 the good woman sets down her candle, puts on her glasses, 
 and, coming to the bedside, says she can see very well by 
 her poor looks, that her dear mistress has got a disorder 
 of the biliaries on her, and prays Heaven it may not turn 
 to something worse. 
 
 " Nay," says Moll, very faintly, " I shall be well again 
 when I am relieved of this headache, and if I can only fall 
 asleep, as I feel disposed to, you will see me to-morrow 
 morning in my usual health. I shan't attempt to rise this 
 evening" ("For mercy's sake, don't," cries Mrs. Butterby), 
 "and so, I pray you, order that no one shall come near my 
 room to disturb me " (" I'll see that no one so much as sets 
 a foot on your stair, Madam, poor dear ! " says t'other), "and 
 you will see that all is closed carefully. And so good-night, 
 mother, and good-night to you, Jane and Betsy oh, my 
 poor head ! " 
 
 With a whispered "Good-night, dear madam," Mrs. 
 Butterby and the maids leave the room a-tiptoe, closing 
 
NICELY FOOLED. 245 
 
 the door behind them as if 'twere of gingerbread ; and no 
 sooner are they gone than Moll, big with her mad design, 
 nips out of bed, strips off her nightgown, and finding noth- 
 ing more convenient for her purpose, puts the ham, pasty, 
 and partridges in a clean pillow-slip. This done, she puts 
 on her cloak and hood, and having with great caution set 
 the door open and seen all safe and quiet below, she takes 
 up her bag of victuals, blows out the candle, and as silent as 
 any mouse makes her way to the little private staircase at 
 the end of the stairs. And now, with less fear of encounter- 
 ing Mrs. Godwin than Black Bogey, she feels her way down 
 the dark, narrow staircase, reaches the lower door, unbolts 
 it, and steps out on the path at the back of the house. 
 
 There is still a faint twilight, and this enables her to find 
 her way to the wicket gate opposite Anne Fitch's cottage. 
 Not a soul is to be seen ; and so, with her hood drawn well 
 over her head, she speeds on, and in five minutes reaches 
 my house. Here finding the door fastened, she gives a 
 couple of knocks, and on my opening she asks meekly in 
 a feigned voice, which for the life of me I should not have 
 known for hers, if I am minded to buy a couple of par- 
 tridges a friend has sent and she has no use for. 
 
 " Partridges ! " cries Dawson, from within. " Have 'em, 
 Kit, for your bread and cheese is mighty every-day 
 fare." 
 
 "Let me see 'em, good woman," says I. 
 
 "Yes, sir," answers she, meekly, putting her pillow-slip 
 in my hand, which perplexed me vastly by its weight and 
 bulk. 
 
 "They seem to be pretty big birds by the feel of 'em," 
 says I. "You can come in and shut the door after you." 
 
246 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Moll shuts the door and shoots the bolt, then tripping 
 behind me into the light she casts back her hood and flings 
 her arms round her father's neck with a peal of joyful 
 laughter. 
 
 "What!" cries I. "Why, what can have brought you 
 here?" 
 
 " Why, I knew you'd have nothing to give my poor old 
 dad but mouldy cheese, so I've brought you a brace of 
 partridges, if you please, sir," says she, concluding in her 
 feigned voice, as she emptied the ham, pasty, and par- 
 tridges all higgledy-piggledy out of the slip on to the table. 
 
 "But, Mrs. Godwin " says I, in alarm. 
 
 "Oh, call me Moll," cries she, wildly. "Let me be 
 myself for this one night." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Of the subtile means whereby Simon leads Mr. Godwin to doubt 
 his wife. 
 
 AGAIN must I draw upon matter of after-knowledge to 
 show you how all things came to pass on this fatal night. 
 
 When Mr. Godwin reached London, he went to Sir Peter 
 Lely's house in Lincoln's Inn, to know if he was still at 
 Hatfield, and there learning he was gone hence to Hamp- 
 ton, and no one answering for certainty when he would 
 return, Mr. Godwin, seeing that he might linger in London 
 for days to no purpose, and bethinking him how pale and 
 sorrowful his dear wife was when they parted, concludes to 
 leave his picture at Sir Peter Lely's and post back to Chisle- 
 hurst, counting to give his wife a happy surprise. 
 
 About eight o'clock he reaches the Court, to find all 
 shut and barred by the prudent housekeeper, who, on letting 
 him in (with many exclamations of joy and wonder), falls 
 presently to sighing and shaking her head, as she tells how 
 her mistress has lain abed since dinner, and is sick of the 
 biliaries. 
 
 In great concern, Mr. Godwin takes the candle from 
 Mrs. Butterby's hand, and hastes up to his wife's room. 
 Opening the door softly, he enters, to find the bed tumbled, 
 indeed, but empty. He calls her in a soft voice, going 
 into the next room, and, getting no reply, nor finding her 
 there, he calls again, more loudly, and there is no response. 
 Then, as he stands irresolute and amazed, he hears a knock 
 
 247 
 
248 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 at the door below, and concluding that 'tis his wife, who 
 has had occasion to go out, seeking fresh air for her com- 
 fort maybe, he runs swiftly down and opens, ere a servant 
 can answer the call. And there he is faced, not by sweet 
 Moll, but the jaundiced, wicked old Simon, gasping and 
 panting for breath. 
 
 "Dost thee know," says he, fetching his breath at every 
 other word, "dost thee know where the woman thy wife is?" 
 
 "Where is she?" cries Mr. Godwin, in quick alarm, 
 thinking by this fellow' s sweating haste that some accident 
 had befallen his dear wife. 
 
 "I will show thee where she is; aye, and what she is," 
 gasps the old man, and then, clasping his hands, he adds, 
 "Verily, the Lord hath heard my prayers and delivered 
 mine enemies into my hand." 
 
 Mr. Godwin, who had stepped aside to catch up his hat 
 from the table, where he had flung it on entering, stopped 
 short, hearing this fervent note of praise, and turning 
 about, with misgivings of Simon's purpose, cries: 
 
 "What are your enemies to me? " 
 
 "Everything," cries Simon. "Mine enemies are thine, 
 for as they have cheated me so have they cheated thee." 
 
 "Enough of this," cries Mr. Godwin. "Tell me where 
 my wife is, and be done with it." 
 
 " I say I will show thee where she is and what she is." 
 
 "Tell me where she is," cries Mr. Godwin, with passion. 
 
 "That is my secret, and too precious to throw away." 
 
 "I comprehend you, now," says Mr. Godwin, bethink- 
 ing him of the fellow's greed. "You shall be paid. Tell 
 me where she is and name your price." 
 
 "The price is this," returns the other, "thy promise to 
 
SIMON ACCUSES MOLL. 249 
 
 be secret, to catch them in this trap, and give no opening 
 for escape. Oh, I know them; they are as serpents, that 
 slip through a man's fingers and turn to bite. They shall 
 not serve me so again. Promise " 
 
 "Nothing. Think you I'm of your own base kind, to 
 deal with you in treachery? You had my answer before, 
 when you would poison my mind, rascal. But," adds he, 
 with fury, "you shall tell me where my wife is." 
 
 "I would. tear the tongue from my throat ere it should 
 undo the work of Providence. If they escape the present 
 vengeance of Heaven, thee shalt answer for it, not I. Yet 
 I will give thee a clue to find this woman who hath fooled 
 thee. Seek her where there are thieves and drunkards to 
 mock at thy simplicity, to jeer at their easy gull, for I say 
 again thy wife never was in Barbary, but playing the farded, 
 wanton " 
 
 The patience with which Mr. Godwin had harkened to 
 this tirade, doubting by his passion that Simon was stark 
 mad, gave way before this vile aspersion on his wife, and 
 clutching the old man by the throat he flung him across the 
 threshold and shut the door upon him. 
 
 But where was his wife ? That question was still upper- 
 most in his thoughts. His sole misgiving was that acci- 
 dent had befallen her, and that somewhere in the house he 
 should find her lying cold and insensible. 
 
 With this terror in his mind, he ran again upstairs. On 
 the landing he was met by Mrs. Butterby, who (prudent 
 soul), at the first hint of misconduct on her mistress's part, 
 had bundled the gaping servants up to their rooms. 
 
 "Mercy on us, dear master!" says she. "Where can 
 our dear lady be ? For a surety she hath not left the house, 
 
25O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 for I locked all up, as she bade me when we carried up her 
 supper, and had the key in my pocket when you knocked. 
 ' See the house safe, ' says she, poor soul, with a voice could 
 scarce be heared, 'and let no one disturb me, for I do 
 feel most heavy with sleep.' " 
 
 Mr. Godwin passed into his wife's room and then into 
 the next, looking about him in distraction. 
 
 "Lord! here's the sweet thing's nightgown," exclaims 
 Mrs. Butterby, from the next room, whither she had followed 
 Mr. Godwin. "But dear heart o' me, where's the ham 
 gone?" 
 
 Mr. Godwin, entering from the next room, looked at her 
 as doubting whether he or all the world had taken leave of 
 their wits. 
 
 "And the pigeon pasty? " added Mrs. Butterby, regarding 
 the table laid out beside her mistress's bed. 
 
 "And the cold partridge," adds she, in redoubled as- 
 tonishment. "Why, here's nought left but my pudding, 
 and that as cold as a stone." 
 
 Mr. Godwin, with the candle flaring in his hand, passed 
 hastily by her, too wrought by fear to regard either the 
 ludicrous or incomprehensible side of Mrs. Butterby 's 
 consternation; and so, going down the corridor away from 
 the stairs, he comes to the door of the little back stairs, 
 standing wide open, and seeming to bid him descend. He 
 goes quickly down, yet trembling with fear that he may 
 find her at the bottom, broken by a fall; but all he dis- 
 covers is the bolt drawn and the door ajar. As he pushes 
 it open a gust of wind blows out the light, and here he 
 stood in the darkness, eager to be doing, yet knowing not 
 which way to turn or how to act. 
 
SIMON WILL BE HEARD. 25! 
 
 Clearly, his wife had gone out by this door, and so far 
 this gave support to Simon's statement that he knew where 
 she was; and with this a flame was kindled within him 
 that seemed to sear his very soul. If Simon spoke truth 
 in one particular, why should he lie in others? Why had 
 his wife refused to go with him to Hatfield? Why had she 
 bid no one come near her room? Why had she gone forth 
 by this secret stair, alone? Then, cursing himself for the 
 unnamed suspicion that could thus, though but for a 
 moment, disfigure the fair image that he worshipped, he 
 asked himself why his wife should not be free to follow a 
 caprice. But where was she? Ever that question surged 
 upwards in the tumult of his thoughts. Where should he 
 seek her? Suddenly it struck him that I might help him 
 to find her, and acting instantly upon this hope he made his 
 way in breathless haste to the road, and so towards my lodge. 
 
 Ere he has gone a hundred yards, Simon steps out of the 
 shadow, and stands before him like a shade in the dimness. 
 
 "I crave thy pardon, Master," says he, humbly. "I 
 spoke like a fool in my passion." 
 
 " If you will have my pardon, tell me where to find my 
 wife; if not, stand aside," answers Mr. Godwin. 
 
 " Wilt thee hear me speak for two minutes if I promise 
 to tell thee where she is and suffer thee to find her how 
 thee willst. 'Twill save thee time." 
 
 " Speak," says Mr. Godwin. 
 
 "Thy wife is there," says Simon, under his breath, 
 pointing towards my house. " She is revelling with Hop- 
 kins and Captain Evans, men that she did tramp the 
 country with as vagabond players, ere the Spaniard taught 
 them more profitable wickedness. Knock at the door, 
 
252 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 which thee mayst be sure is fast, and while one holds 
 thee in parley the rest will set the room in order, and find 
 a plausible tale to hoodwink thee afresh. Be guided 
 by me, and thee shalt enter the house unknown to them, 
 as I did an hour since, and there thee shalt know, of thine 
 own senses, how thy wife doth profit by thy blindness. If 
 this truth be not proved, if thee canst then say that I have 
 lied from malice, envy, and evil purpose, this knife," says 
 he, showing a blade in his hand, " this knife will I thrust 
 into my own heart, though I stand the next instant before 
 the Eternal Judge, my hands wet with my own blood, to 
 answer for my crime." 
 
 "Have you finished? " asks Mr. Godwin. 
 
 "No, not yet; I hold thee to thy promise," returns 
 Simon, with eager haste. "Why do men lie? for their 
 own profit. What profit have I in lying, when I pray thee 
 to put my word to the proof and not take it on trust, with 
 the certainty of punishment even if the proof be doubtful. 
 Thee believest this woman is what she pretends to be; what 
 does that show? your simplicity, not hers. How would 
 women trick their husbands without such skill to blind 
 them by a pretence of love and virtue? " 
 
 "Say no more," cries Mr. Godwin, hoarsely, "or I may 
 strangle you before you pass trial. Go your devilish way, 
 I'll follow." 
 
 " Now God be praised for this ! " cries Simon. " Softly, 
 softly ! " adds he, creeping in the shade of the bank towards 
 the house. 
 
 But ere he has gone a dozen paces Mr. Godwin repents 
 him again, with shame in his heart, and stopping, says: 
 
 "I'll go no further." 
 
MR. GODWIN ACCEPTS THE TRIAL. 253 
 
 "Then thee doubtest my word no longer," whispers 
 Simon, quickly. " 'Tis fear that makest thee halt, the 
 fear of finding thy wife a wanton and a trickster." 
 
 " No, no, by God ! " 
 
 " If that be so, then art thee bound to prove her innocent, 
 that I may not say to all the world, thee mightest have put 
 her honour to the test and dared not choosing rather to 
 cheat thyself and be cheated by her, than know thyself dis- 
 honoured. If thee dost truly love this woman and believe her 
 guiltless, then for her honour must thee put me not her 
 to this trial." 
 
 "No madman could reason like this," says Mr. Godwin. 
 " I accept this trial, and Heaven forgive me if I do wrong." 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 How we are discovered and utterly undone. 
 
 " WHAT ! " cries Dawson, catching his daughter in his arms 
 and hugging her to his breast, when the first shock of sur- 
 prise was past. " My own sweet Moll come hither to 
 warm her old father's heart?" 
 
 "And my own," says she, tenderly, "which I fear hath 
 grown a little wanting in love for ye since I have been mated. 
 But, though my dear Dick draws so deeply from my well of 
 affection, there is still somewhere down here " (clapping 
 her hand upon her heart) " a source that first sprang for you 
 and can never dry." 
 
 "Aye, and 'tis a proof," says he, "your coming here 
 where we may speak and act without restraint, though it be 
 but for five minutes." 
 
 " Five minutes ! " cries she, springing up with her natural 
 vivacity, " why, I'll not leave you before the morning, unless 
 you weary of me." And then with infinite relish and sly 
 humour, she told of her device for leaving the Court without 
 suspicion. 
 
 I do confess I was at first greatly alarmed for the safe 
 issue of this escapade ; but she assuring me 'twas a dirty 
 night, and she had passed no one on the road, I felt a little 
 reassured. To be sure, thinks I, Mr. Godwin by some 
 accident may return, but finding her gone, and hearing 
 Captain Evans keeps me to my house, he must conclude 
 
 254 
 
WE FALL A-REVELLING. 255 
 
 she has come hither, and think no harm of her for that 
 neither seeing we are old friends and sobered with years, 
 for 'tis the most natural thing in the world that, feeling 
 lonely and dejected for the loss of her husband, she should 
 seek such harmless diversion as may be had in our society. 
 
 However, for the sake of appearances I thought it would 
 be wise to get this provision of ham and birds out of sight, 
 for fear of misadventure, and also I took instant precaution 
 to turn the key in my street door. Being but two men, and 
 neither of us over-nice in the formalities, I had set a cheese, 
 a loaf, and a bottle betwixt us on the bare table of my 
 office room, for each to serve himself as he would ; but I 
 now proposed that, having a lady in our company, we 
 should pay more regard to the decencies by going upstairs 
 to my parlour, and there laying a tablecloth and napkins for 
 our repast. 
 
 "Aye, certainly!" cries Moll, who had grown mighty 
 fastidious in these particulars since she had been mistress 
 of Hurst Court ; " this dirty table would spoil the best appe- 
 tite in the world." 
 
 So I carried a faggot and some apple logs upstairs, and 
 soon had a brave fire leaping up the chimney, by which 
 time Moll and her father, with abundant mirth, had set 
 forth our victuals on a clean white cloth, and to each of 
 us a clean plate, knife, and fork, most proper. Then, all 
 things being to our hand, we sat down and made a most 
 hearty meal of Mrs. Butterby's good cheer, and all three of 
 us as merry as grigs, with not a shadow of misgiving. 
 
 There had seemed something piteous to me in that appeal 
 of Moll's, that she might be herself for this night ; and indeed 
 I marvelled now how she could have so trained her natural 
 
256 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 disposition to an artificial manner, and did no longer won- 
 der at the look of fatigue and weariness in her face on her 
 return to London. For the old reckless, careless, daredevil 
 spirit was still alive in her, as I could plainly see now that 
 she abandoned herself entirely to the free sway of impulse ; 
 the old twinkle of mirth and mischief was in her eyes ; she 
 was no longer a fine lady, but a merry vagabond again, and 
 when she laughed 'twas with her hands clasping her sides, 
 her head thrown back, and all her white teeth gleaming in 
 the light. 
 
 " Now," says I, when at length our meal was finished, " I 
 will clear the table." 
 
 " Hoop ! " cries she, catching up the corners of the table- 
 cloth, and flinging them over the fragments ; " 'tis done. 
 Let us draw round the fire, and tell old tales. Here's a 
 pipe, dear dad ; I love the smell of tobacco ; and you" (to 
 me) " do fetch me a pipkin, that I may brew a good drink 
 to keep our tongues going." 
 
 About the time this drink was brewed, Simon, leading Mr. 
 Godwin by a circuitous way, came through the garden to the 
 back of the house, where was a door, which I had never 
 opened for lack of a key td fit the lock. This key was now 
 in Simon's hand, and putting it with infinite care into the 
 hole, he softly turned it in the wards. Then, with the like 
 precaution, he lifts the latch and gently thrusts the door 
 open, listening at every inch to catch the sounds within. 
 At length 'tis opened wide ; and so, turning his face to 
 Mr. Godwin, who waits behind, sick with mingled shame 
 and creeping dread, he beckons him to follow. 
 
 Above, Dawson was singing at the top of his voice, a sea- 
 song he had learnt of a mariner at the inn he frequented at 
 
WE ARE CONFOUNDED. 257 
 
 Greenwich, with a troll at the end, taken up by Moll and 
 me. And to hear his wife's voice bearing part in this rude 
 song, made Mr. Godwin's heart to sink within him. Under 
 cover of this noise, Simon mounted the stairs without hesita- 
 tion, Mr. Godwin following at his heels, in a kind of sick 
 bewilderment. 'Twas pitch dark up there, and Simon, 
 stretching forth his hands to know if Mr. Godwin was by, 
 touched his hand, which was deadly cold and quivering ; for 
 here at the door he was seized with a sweating faintness, 
 which so sapped his vigour that he was forced to hold by 
 the wall to save himself from falling. 
 
 " Art thee ready? " asks Simon ; but he can get no answer, 
 for Mr. Godwin's energies, quickened by a word from with- 
 in like a jaded beast by the sting of a whip, is straining his 
 ears to catch what is passing within. And what hears he ? 
 The song is ended, and Dawson cries : 
 
 " You han't lost your old knack of catching a tune, Moll. 
 Come hither, wench, and sit upon my knee, for I do love ye 
 more than ever. Give me a buss, chuck ; this fine husband 
 of thine shall not have all thy sweetness to himself." 
 
 At this moment, Simon, having lifted the latch under his 
 thumb, pushes wide open the door, and there through the 
 thick cloud of tobacco smoke Mr. Godwin sees the table in 
 disorder, the white cloth flung back over the remnants of 
 our repast and stained with a patch of liquor from an over- 
 turned mug, a smutty pipkin set upon the board beside a 
 dish of tobacco, and a broken pipe me sitting o' one side 
 the hearth heavy and drowsy with too much good cheer, and 
 on t'other side his young wife, sitting on Dawson's knee, with 
 one arm about his neck, and he in his uncouth seaman's 
 garb, with a pipe in one hand, the other about Moll's waist, 
 s 
 
258 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 a-kissing her yielded cheek. With a cry of fury, like any 
 wild beast, he springs forward and clutches at a knife that 
 lies ready to his hand upon the board, and this cry is 
 answered with a shriek from Moll as she starts to her 
 feet. 
 
 "Who is this drunken villain?" he cries, stretching the 
 knife in his hand towards Dawson. 
 
 And Moll, flinging herself betwixt the knife and Dawson, 
 with fear for his life, and yet with some dignity in her voice 
 and gesture, answers swiftly : 
 
 " This drunken villain is my father." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MoWs conscience is quickened by grief and humiliation beyond the 
 ordinary. 
 
 " STAND aside, Moll," cries Dawson, stepping to the fore, 
 and facing Mr. Godwin. " This is my crime, and I will answer 
 for it with my blood. Here is my breast " (tearing open his 
 jerkin). "Strike, for I alone have done you wrong, this 
 child of mine being but an instrument to my purpose." 
 
 Mr. Godwin's hand fell by his side, and the knife slipped 
 from his fingers. 
 
 " Speak," says he, thickly, after a moment of horrible 
 silence broken only by the sound of the knife striking the 
 floor. " If this is your daughter, if she has lied to me, 
 what in God's name is the truth? Who are you, I ask? " 
 
 "John Dawson, a player," answers he, seeing the time is 
 past for lying. 
 
 Mr. Godwin makes no response, but turns his eyes upon 
 Moll, who stands before him with bowed head and clasped 
 hands, wrung to her innermost fibre with shame, remorse, 
 and awful dread, and for a terrible space I heard nothing 
 but the deep, painful breathing of this poor, overwrought man. 
 
 "You are my wife," says he, at length. " Follow me," 
 and with that he turns about and goes from the room. 
 Then Moll, without a look at us, without a word, her face 
 ghastly pale and drawn with agony, with faltering steps, 
 obeys, catching at table and chair, as she passes, for support. 
 
 259 
 
26O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Dawson made a step forward, as if he would have over- 
 taken her ; but I withheld him, shaking my head, and 
 himself seeing 'twas in vain, he dropped into a chair, and, 
 spreading his arms upon the table, hides his face in them 
 with a groan of despair. 
 
 Moll totters down the dark stairs, and finds her husband 
 standing in the doorway, his figure revealed against the 
 patch of grey light beyond, for the moon was risen, though 
 veiled by a thick pall of cloud. He sees, as she comes to 
 his side, that she has neither cloak nor hood to protect her 
 from the winter wind, and in silence he takes off his own 
 cloak and lays it on her shoulder. At this act of mercy a 
 ray of hope animates Moll's numbed soul, and she catches 
 at her husband's hand to press it to her lips, yet can find 
 never a word to express her gratitude. But his hand is cold 
 as ice, and he draws it away from her firmly, with obvious 
 repugnance. There was no love in this little act of giving 
 her his cloak ; 'twas but the outcome of that chivalry in 
 gentlemen which doth exact lenience even to an enemy. 
 
 So he goes on his way, she following like a whipped dog 
 at his heels, till they reach the Court gates, and these being 
 fast locked, on a little further, to the wicket gate. And 
 there, as Mr. Godwin is about to enter, there confronts him 
 Peter, that sturdy Puritan hireling of old Simon's. 
 
 " Thee canst not enter here, friend," says he, in his cant- 
 ing voice, as he sets his foot against the gate. 
 
 " Know you who I am ? " asks Mr. Godwin. 
 
 " Yea, friend ; and I know who thy woman is also. I 
 am bidden by friend Simon, the true and faithful steward of 
 Mistress Godwin in Barbary, to defend her house and lands 
 against robbers and evil-doers of every kind, and without 
 
GODWIN AND MOLL FORBID TO ENTER THE COURT. 26l 
 
 respect of their degree ; and, with the Lord's help," adds 
 he, showing a stout cudgel, " that will I do, friend." 
 
 " Tis true, fellow," returns Mr. Godwin. " I have no 
 right to enter here." 
 
 And then, turning about, he stands irresolute, as not 
 knowing whither he shall go to find shelter for his wife. 
 For very shame, he does not take her to the village inn, to 
 be questioned by gaping servants and landlord, who, ere 
 long, must catch the flying news of her shameful condition 
 and overthrow. A faint light in the lattice of Anne Fitch's 
 cottage catches his eye, and he crosses to her door, still 
 humbly followed by poor Moll. There he finds the thumb- 
 piece gone from the latch, to him a well-known sign that 
 Mother Fitch has gone out a-nursing ; so, pulling the hid- 
 den string he wots of, he lifts the latch within, and the door 
 opens to his hand. A rush is burning in a cup of oil upon the 
 table, casting a feeble glimmer round the empty room. He 
 closes the door when Moll has entered, sets a chair before the 
 hearth, and rakes the embers together to give her warmth. 
 
 " Forgive me, oh, forgive me ! " cries Moll, casting herself at 
 his feet as he turns, and clasping his knees to her stricken heart. 
 
 " Forgive you ! " says he, bitterly. " Forgive you for 
 dragging me down to the level of rogues and thieves, for 
 making me party to this vile conspiracy of plunder. A con- 
 spiracy that, if it bring me not beneath the lash of Justice, 
 must blast my name and fame for ever. You know not what 
 you ask. As well might you bid me take you back to finish 
 the night in drunken riot with those others of our gang." 
 
 " Oh, no, not now ! not now ! " cries Moll, in agony. " Do 
 but say that some day long hence, you will forgive me. Give 
 me that hope, for I cannot live without it." 
 
262 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "That hope's my fear ! " says he. " I have known men 
 who, by mere contact with depravity, have so dulled their 
 sense of shame that they could make light of sins that once 
 appalled them. Who knows but that one day I may forgive 
 you, chat easily upon this villany, maybe, regret I went no 
 further in it." 
 
 " Oh, God forbid that shall be of my doing ! " cries Moll, 
 springing to her feet. " Broken as I am, I'll not accept for- 
 giveness on such terms. Think you I'm like those plague- 
 stricken wretches who, of wanton wickedness, ran from their 
 beds to infect the clean with their foul ill? Not I." 
 
 "I spoke in heat," says Mr. Godwin, quickly. "I 
 repent even now what I said." 
 
 "Am I so steeped in infamy," continues she, "that I am 
 past all cure? Think," adds she, piteously, "I am not 
 eighteen yet. I was but a child a year ago, with no more 
 judgment of right and wrong than a savage creature. Until 
 I loved you, I think I scarcely knew the meaning of con- 
 science. The knowledge came when I yearned to keep no 
 secret from you. I do remember the first struggle to do 
 right. 'Twas on the little bridge ; and there I balanced 
 awhile, 'twixt cheating you and robbing myself. And then, 
 for fear you would not marry me, I dared not own the truth. 
 Oh, had I thought you'd only keep me for your mistress, I'd 
 have told you I was not your cousin. Little as this is, 
 there's surely hope in't. Is it more impossible that you, 
 a strong man, should lift me, than that I, a weak girl, 
 no more than that, should drag you down? " 
 r " I did not weigh my words." 
 
 " Yet, they were true," says she. " 'Tis bred in my body 
 part of my nature, this spirit of evil, and 'twill exist as 
 
CONSEQUENCES CLEARLY FORESEEN BY MOLL. 263 
 
 long as I. For, even now, I do feel that I would do this 
 wickedness again, and worse, to win you once more." 
 
 " My poor wife," says he, touched with pity ; and holding 
 forth his arms, she goes to them and lays her cheek against 
 his breast, and there stands crying very silently with mingled 
 thoughts now of the room she had prepared with such 
 delight against his return, of her little table in the corner, 
 with the chiney image atop, and other trifles with which she 
 had dreamed to give him pleasure all lost ! No more 
 would she sit by his side there watching, with wonder and 
 pride, the growth of beauty 'neath his dexterous hand ; and 
 then she feels that 'tis compassion, not love, that hath 
 opened his arms to her, that she hath killed his respect for 
 her, and with it his love. And so, stifling the sobs that rise 
 in her throat, she weeps on, till her tears trickling from her 
 cheek fall upon his hand. 
 
 The icy barrier of resentment is melted by the first warm 
 tear, this silent testimony of her smothered grief, and 
 bursting from the bonds of reason, he yields to the passion- 
 ate impulse of his heart, and clasping this poor sorrowing 
 wife to his breast, he seeks to kiss away the tears from her 
 cheek, and soothe her with gentle words. She responds to 
 his passion, kiss for kiss, as she clasps her hands about his 
 head ; but still her tears flow on, for with her readier wit 
 she perceives that this is but the transport of passion on his 
 side, and not the untaxed outcome of enduring love, prov- 
 ing again the truth of his unmeditated prophecy ; for how 
 can he stand who yields so quickly to the first assault, and 
 if he cannot stand, how can he raise her ? Surely and more 
 surely, little by little, they must sink together to some lower 
 depth, and one day, thinks she, repeating his words, "We 
 
264 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 may chat easily upon this villany and regret we went no 
 further in it." 
 
 Mr. Godwin leads her to the adjoining chamber, which 
 had been his, and says : 
 
 " Lie down, love. To-morrow we shall see things clearer, 
 and think more reasonably." 
 
 " Yes," says she, in return, " more reasonably," and with 
 that she does his bidding ; and he returns to sit before the 
 embers and meditate. And here he stays, striving in vain to 
 bring the tumult of his thoughts to some coherent shape, until 
 from sheer exhaustion he falls into a kind of lethargy of sleep. 
 
 Meanwhile, Moll, lying in the dark, had been thinking 
 also, but (as women will at such times) with clearer per- 
 ception, so that her ideas forming in logical sequence, and 
 growing more clear and decisive (as an argument becomes 
 more lively and conclusive by successful reasoning) served 
 to stimulate her intellect and excite her activity. And the 
 end of it was that she rose quickly from her bed and looked 
 into the next room, where she saw her husband sitting, with 
 his chin upon his breast and his hands folded upon his knee 
 before the dead fire. Then wrapping his cloak about her, 
 she steals toward the outer door ; but passing him she must 
 needs pause at his back to staunch her tears a moment, and 
 look down upon him for the last time. The light shines in 
 his brown hair, and she bending down till her lips touch a 
 stray curl, they part silently, and she breathes upon him from 
 her very soul, a mute " Fare thee well, dear love." 
 
 But she will wait no longer, fearing her courage may give 
 way, and the next minute she is out in the night, softly 
 drawing the door to that separates these two for ever. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Plow we fought a most bloody battle with Simon, the constable, and 
 
 others. 
 
 FOR some time we spoke never a word, Dawson and I, 
 he with his head lying on his arm, I seated in a chair with 
 my hands hanging down by my side, quite stunned by the 
 blow that had fallen upon us. At length, raising his head, 
 his eyes puffed, and his face bedaubed with tears, he says : 
 
 " Han't you a word of comfort, Kit, for a broken-hearted 
 man?" 
 
 I stammered a few words that had more sound than 
 sense ; but indeed I needed consolation myself, seeing my 
 own responsibility for bringing this misfortune upon Moll, 
 and being most heartily ashamed of my roguery now 'twas 
 discovered. 
 
 "You don't think he'll be too hard on poor Moll, tell me 
 that, Kit?" 
 
 " Aye, he'll forgive her," says I, " sooner than us, or we 
 ourselves." 
 
 " And you don't think he'll be for ever a-casting it in her 
 teeth that her father's a a drunken vagabond, eh?" 
 
 " Nay ; I believe he is too good a man for that." 
 
 "Then," says he, standing up, "I'll go and tell him the 
 whole story, and you shall come with me to bear me out." 
 
 " To-morrow will be time enough," says I, flinching from 
 this office; "'tis late now." 
 
 265 
 
266 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " No matter for that. Time enough to sleep when we've 
 settled this business. We'll not leave poor Moll to bear all 
 the punishment of our getting. Mr. Godwin shall know 
 what an innocent, simple child she was when we pushed 
 her into this knavery, and how we dared not tell her of 
 our purpose lest she should draw back. He shall know 
 how she was ever an obedient, docile, artless girl, yielding 
 always to my guidance ; and you can stretch a point, Kit, to 
 say you have ever known me for a headstrong, masterful 
 sort of a fellow, who would take denial from none, but must 
 have my own way in all things. I'll take all the blame on 
 my own shoulders, as I should have done at first, but I was 
 so staggered by this fall." 
 
 " Well," says I, " if you will have it so " 
 
 " I will," says he, stoutly. " And now give me a bucket 
 of water that I may souse my head, and wear a brave look. 
 I would have him think the worst of me that he may 
 feel the kinder to poor Moll. And I'll make what atone- 
 ment I can," adds he, as I led him into my bed-chamber. 
 " If he desire it, I will promise never to see Moll again ; 
 nay, I will offer to take the king's bounty, and go a-sailoring ; 
 and so, betwixt sickness and the Dutch, there'll be an end 
 of Jack Dawson in a very short space." 
 
 When he had ducked his head in a bowl of water, and 
 got our cloaks from the room below, we went to the door, 
 and there, to my dismay, I found the lock fast and the 
 key which I had left in its socket gone. 
 
 "What's amiss, Kit?" asks Dawson, perceiving my 
 consternation. 
 
 "The key, the key !" says I, holding the candle here and 
 there to seek it on the floor, then, giving up my search as 
 
WE ARE SHUT IN A TRAP. 267 
 
 it struck me that Mr. Godwin and Moll could not have left 
 the house had the door been locked on the inside ; " I 
 do believe we are locked in and made prisoners," says I. 
 
 " Why, sure, this is not Mr. Godwin's doing ! " cries he. 
 
 " 'Tis Simon," says I, with conviction, seeing him again 
 in my mind, standing behind Mr. Godwin, with wicked 
 triumph in his face, 
 
 " Is there no other door but this one? " asks Dawson. 
 
 " There is one at the back, but I have never yet opened 
 that, for lack of a key." And now setting one thing against 
 another, and recalling how I had before found the door 
 open, when I felt sure I had locked it fast, the truth ap- 
 peared to me ; namely, that Simon had that key and did get 
 in the back way, going out by the front on that former occa- 
 sion in haste upon some sudden alarm. 
 
 "Is there never a window we can slip through?" asks 
 Jack. 
 
 " Only those above stairs ; the lower are all barred." 
 
 " A fig for his bars. Does he think we have neither hands 
 nor wits to be hindered by this silly woman's trick? " 
 
 "'Tis no silly trick. He's not the man to do an idle 
 thing. There's mischief in this." 
 
 "What mischief can he do us more than he has done? 
 for I see his hand in our misfortune. What mischief, I say? 
 out with it, man, for your looks betray a fear of something 
 worse." 
 
 " Faith, Jack, I dread he has gone to fetch help and will 
 lodge us in gaol for this business." 
 
 "Gaol !" cries he, in a passion of desperation. "Why, 
 this will undo Moll for ever. Her husband can never forgive 
 her putting such shame upon him. Rouse yourself, man, 
 
268 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 from your stupor. Get me something in the shape of a 
 hammer, for God's sake, that we may burst our way from 
 this accursed trap." 
 
 I bethought me of an axe for splitting wood, that lay in 
 the kitchen, and fetching it quickly, I put it in his hand. 
 Bidding me stand aside, he let fly at the door like a mad- 
 man. The splinters flew, but the door held good ; and 
 when he stayed a moment to take a new grip on his axe, 
 I heard a clamour of voices outside Simon's, higher than 
 the rest, crying, "My new door, that cost me seven and 
 eightpence ! " 
 
 " The lock, the lock ! " says I. " Strike that off." 
 
 Down came the axe, striking a spark of fire from the 
 lock, which fell with a clatter at the next blow ; but ere we 
 had time to open the door, Simon and his party, entering 
 by the back door, forced us to turn for our defence. Per- 
 ceiving Dawson armed with an axe, however, these fellows 
 paused, and the leader, whom I recognised for the constable 
 of our parish, carrying a staff in one hand and a lanthorn 
 in t'other, cried to us in the king's name to surrender 
 ourselves. 
 
 "Take us, if you can," cries Dawson; "and the Lord 
 have mercy on the first who comes within my reach ! " 
 
 Deftly enough, old Simon, snatching the fellow's cap 
 who stood next him, flings it at the candle that stands flaring 
 on the floor, and justles the constable's lanthorn from his 
 hand, so that in a moment we were all in darkness. Taking 
 us at this disadvantage (for Dawson dared not lay about 
 him with his axe, for fear of hitting me by misadventure), 
 the rascals closed at once ; and a most bloody, desperate 
 fight ensued. For, after the first onslaught, in which 
 
VERY BLOODY BUSINESS. 269 
 
 Dawson (dropping his axe, as being useless at such close 
 quarters) and I grappled each our man, the rest, knowing 
 not friend from foe in the obscurity, and urged on by fear, 
 fell upon each other, this one striking out at the first he 
 met, and that giving as good as he had taken, and so all 
 fell a-mauling and belabouring with such lust of vengeance 
 that presently the whole place was of an uproar with the 
 din of cursing, howling, and hard blows. For my own lot 
 I had old Simon to deal with, as I knew at once by the 
 cold, greasy feel of his leathern jerkin, he being enraged 
 to make me his prisoner for the ill I had done him. 
 Hooking his horny fingers about my throat, he clung to 
 me like any wildcat ; but stumbling, shortly, over two who 
 were rolling on the floor, we went down both with a crack, 
 and with such violence that he, being undermost, was 
 stunned by the fall. Then, my blood boiling at this treat- 
 ment, I got astride of him, and roasted his ribs royally, and 
 with more force than ever I had conceived myself to be 
 possessed of. And, growing beside myself with this passion 
 of war, I do think I should have pounded him into a pulp, 
 but that two other combatants, falling across me with their 
 whole weight, knocked all the wind out of my body, op- 
 pressing me so grievously, that 'twas as much as I could 
 do to draw myself out of the fray, and get a gasp of breath 
 again. 
 
 About this time the uproar began to subside, for those 
 who had got the worst of the battle thought it advisable to 
 sneak out of the house for safety, and those who had fared 
 better, fearing a reverse of fortune, counted they had done 
 enough for this bout, and so also withdrew. 
 
 " Are you living, Kit? " asks Dawson, then. 
 
2/O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " Aye," says I, as valiantly as you please, " and ready 
 to fight another half-dozen such rascals," but pulling the 
 broken door open, all the same, to get out the easier, in 
 case they returned. 
 
 "Why, then, let's go," says he, "unless any is minded to 
 have us stay." 
 
 No one responding to this challenge, we made ado to 
 find a couple of hats and cloaks for our use and sallied 
 out. 
 
 "Which way do we turn? " asks Dawson, as we come into 
 the road. 
 
 "Whither would you go, Jack? " 
 
 " Why, to warn Moll of her danger, to be sure." 
 
 I apprehended no danger to her, and believed her husband 
 would defend her in any case better than we could, but 
 Dawson would have it we should warn them, and so we 
 turned towards the Court. And now upon examination we 
 found we had come very well out of this fight; for save 
 that the wound in Dawson' s hand had been opened afresh, 
 we were neither much the worse. 
 
 "But let us set our best foot foremost, Jack," says I, 
 " for I do think we have done more mischief to-night than 
 any we have before, and I shall not be greatly surprised if 
 we are called to account for the death of old Simon or 
 some of his hirelings." 
 
 "I know not how that may be," says he, "but I must 
 answer for knocking of somebody's teeth out." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 We take Moll to Greenwich ; but no great happiness for her there. 
 
 IN the midst of our heroics I was greatly scared by per- 
 ceiving a cloaked figure coming hurriedly towards us in 
 the dim light. 
 
 "'Tis another, come to succour his friends," whispers 
 I. "Let us step into this hedge." 
 
 "Too late," returns he. "Put on a bold face, 'tis only 
 one." 
 
 With a swaggering gait and looking straight before us, 
 we had passed the figure, when a voice calls " Father ! " 
 and there turning, we find that 'tis poor Moll in her 
 husband's cloak. 
 
 "Where is thy husband, child?" asks Dawson, as he 
 recovers from his astonishment, taking Moll by the hand. 
 
 "I have no husband, father," answers she, piteously. 
 
 "Why, sure he hath not turned you out of doors? " 
 
 "No, he'd not do that," says she, "were I ten times 
 more wicked than I am." 
 
 "What folly then is this?" asks her father. 
 
 " 'Tis no folly. I have left him of my own free will, 
 and shall never go back to him. For he's no more my 
 husband than that house is mine " (pointing to the Court). 
 "Both were got by the same means, and both are lost." 
 
 Then briefly she told how they had been turned from the 
 271 
 
2/2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 gate by Peter, and how Mr. Godwin was now as poor and 
 homeless as we. And this news throwing us into a silence 
 with new bewilderment, she asks us simply whither we are 
 going. 
 
 "My poor Moll!" is all the answer Dawson can make, 
 and that in a broken, trembling voice. 
 
 "Tis no good to cry," says she, dashing aside he'r tears 
 that had sprung at this word of loving sympathy, and forc- 
 ing herself to a more cheerful tone. "Why, let us think 
 that we are just awake from a long sleep to find ourselves 
 no worse off than when we fell a-dreaming. Nay, not so 
 ill," adds she, "for you have a home near London. Take 
 me there, dear." 
 
 "With all my heart, chuck," answers her father, eagerly. 
 "There, at least, I can give you a shelter till your husband 
 can offer better." 
 
 She would not dispute this point (though I perceived 
 clearly her mind was resolved fully never to claim her 
 right to Mr. Godwin's roof), but only begged we should 
 hasten on our way, saying she felt chilled; and in passing 
 Mother Fitch's cottage she constrained us to silence and 
 caution; then when we were safely past she would have 
 us run, still feigning to be cold, but in truth (as I think) 
 to avoid being overtaken by Mr. Godwin, fearing, maybe, 
 that he would overrule her will. This way we sped till 
 Moll was fain to stop with a little cry of pain, and clap- 
 ping her hand to her heart, being fairly spent and out of 
 breath. Then we took her betwixt us, lending her our 
 arms for support, and falling into a more regular pace 
 made good progress. We trudged on till we reached 
 Croydon without any accident, save that at one point, 
 
COME ALL THREE TO GREENWICH. 2/3 
 
 Moll's step faltering and she with a faint sob weighing 
 heavily upon our arms, we stopped, as thinking her strength 
 overtaxed, and then glancing about me I perceived we were 
 upon that little bridge where we had overtaken Mr. Godwin 
 and he had offered to make Moll his wife. Then I knew 
 'twas not fatigue that weighed her down, and gauging her 
 feelings by my own remorse, I pitied this poor wife even 
 more than I blamed myself; for had she revealed herself 
 to him at that time, though he might have shrunk from 
 marriage, he must have loved her still, and so she had 
 been spared this shame and hopeless sorrow. 
 
 At Croydon we overtook a carrier on his way to London 
 for the Saturday market, who for a couple of shillings gave 
 us a place in his waggon with some good bundles of hay 
 for a seat, and here was rest for our tired bodies (though 
 little for our tormented minds) till we reached Marsh End, 
 where we were set down; and so, the ground being hard 
 with frost, across the Marsh to Greenwich about daybreak. 
 Having the key of his workshop with him, Dawson took us 
 into his lodgings without disturbing the other inmates of 
 the house (who might well have marvelled to see us enter 
 at this hour with a woman in a man's cloak, and no cover- 
 ing but a handkerchief to her head), and Moll taking his 
 bed, we disposed ourselves on some shavings in his shop to 
 get a little sleep. 
 
 Dawson was already risen when I awoke, and going into 
 his little parlour, I found him mighty busy setting the 
 place in order, which was in a sad bachelor's pickle, to be 
 sure all littered up with odds and ends of turning, 
 unwashed plates, broken victuals, etc., just as he had 
 left it. 
 
 T 
 
2/4 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "She's asleep," says he, in a whisper. "And I'd have 
 this room like a little palace against she comes into it, so 
 do you lend me a hand, Kit, and make no more noise than 
 you can help. The kitchen's through that door; carry 
 everything in there, and what's of no use fling out of the 
 window into the road." 
 
 Setting to with a will, we got the parlour and kitchen 
 neat and proper, plates washed, tiles wiped, pots and pans 
 hung up, furniture furbished up, and everything in its 
 place in no time; then leaving me to light a fire in the 
 parlour, Dawson goes forth a-marketing, with a basket on 
 his arm, in high glee. And truly to see the pleasure in 
 his face later on, making a mess of bread and milk in one 
 pipkin and cooking eggs in another (for now we heard 
 Moll stirring in her chamber), one would have thought that 
 this was an occasion for rejoicing rather than grief, and 
 this was due not to want of kind feeling, but to the fond, 
 simple nature of him, he being manly enough in some 
 ways, but a very child in others. He did never see further 
 than his nose (as one says), and because it gave him joy 
 to have Moll beside him once more, he must needs think 
 hopefully, that she will quickly recover from this reverse 
 of fortune, and that all will come right again. 
 
 Our dear Moll did nothing to damp his hopes, but 
 played her part bravely and well to spare him the anguish 
 of remorse that secretly wrung her own heart. She met us 
 with a cheerful countenance, admired the neatness of the 
 parlour, the glowing fire, ate her share of porridge, and 
 finding the eggs cooked hard, declared she could not 
 abide them soft. Then she would see her father work his 
 lathe (to his great delight), and begged he would make 
 
MOLL VASTLY BRAVE. 2/5 
 
 her some cups for eggs, as being more to our present fash- 
 ion than eating them from one's hand. 
 
 "Why," says he, "there's an old bed-post in the corner 
 that will serve me to a nicety. But first I must see our 
 landlord and engage a room for Kit and me; for I take it, 
 my dear, " adds he, " you will be content to stay with us here. " 
 
 "Yes," answers she, "'tis a most cheerful view of the 
 river from the windows." 
 
 She tucked up her skirt and sleeves to busy herself in 
 household matters, and when I would have relieved her of 
 this office, she begged me to go and bear her father com- 
 pany, saying with a piteous look in her eyes that we must 
 leave her some occupation or she should weary. She was 
 pale, there were dark lines beneath her eyes, and she was 
 silent; but I saw no outward sign of grief till the after- 
 noon, when, coming from Jack's shop unexpected, I spied 
 her sitting by the window, with her face in her hands, 
 bowed over a piece of cloth we had bought in the morn- 
 ing, which she was about to fashion into a plain gown, as 
 being more suitable to her condition than the rich dress in 
 which she had left the Court. 
 
 "Poor soul ! " thinks I; "here is a sad awaking from thy 
 dream of riches and joy." 
 
 Upon a seasonable occasion I told Dawson we must 
 soon begin to think of doing something for a livelihood 
 a matter which was as remote from his consideration as the 
 day of wrath. 
 
 "Why, Kit," says he, "I've as good as fifty pounds yet 
 in a hole at the chimney back." 
 
 "Aye, but when that's gone " says I. 
 
 "That's a good way hence, Kit, but there never was 
 
2/6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 such a man as you for going forth to meet troubles half 
 way. However, I warrant I shall find some jobs of car- 
 pentry to keep us from begging our bread when the pinch 
 comes." 
 
 Not content to wait for this pinch, I resolved I would go 
 into the city and enquire there if the booksellers could 
 give me any employment thinking I might very well 
 write some good sermons on honesty, now I had learnt the 
 folly of roguery. Hearing of my purpose the morning I 
 was about to go, Moll takes me aside and asks me in a 
 quavering voice if I knew where Mr. Godwin might be 
 found. This question staggered me a moment, for her 
 husband's name had not been spoken by any of us since 
 the catastrophe, and it came into my mind now that she 
 designed to return to him, and I stammered out some fool- 
 ish hint at Hurst Court. 
 
 " No, he is not there," says she, " but I thought maybe 
 that Sir Peter Lely " 
 
 " Aye," says I ; " he will most likely know where Mr. 
 Godwin may be found." 
 
 " Can you tell me where Sir Peter lives? " 
 
 " No ; but I can learn easily when I am in the city." 
 
 " If you can, write the address and send him this," says 
 she, drawing a letter from her breast. She had writ her hus- 
 band's name on it, and now she pressed her lips to it twice, 
 and putting the warm letter in my hand, she turned away, 
 her poor mouth twitching with smothered grief. I knew 
 then that there was no thought in her mind of seeing her 
 husband again. 
 
 I carried the letter with me to the city, wondering what 
 was in it. I know not now, yet I think it contained but a 
 
GATHER NEWS OF MR. GODWIN. 
 
 few words of explanation and farewell, with some prayer, 
 maybe, that she might be forgiven and forgotten. 
 
 Learning where Sir Peter Lely lived, I myself went to his 
 house, and he not being at home, I asked his servant if Mr. 
 Godwin did sometimes come there. 
 
 "Why, yes, sir, he was here but yesterday," answers he. 
 " Indeed, never a day passes but he calls to ask if any one 
 hath sought him." 
 
 " In that case," says I, slipping a piece in his ready hand, 
 and fetching out Moll's letter, " you will give him this when 
 he comes next." 
 
 " That I will, sir, and without fail. But if you would see 
 him, sir, he bids me say he is ever at his lodging in Holborn, 
 from five in the evening to eight in the morning." 
 
 " Twill answer all ends if you give him that letter. He 
 is in good health, I hope." 
 
 "Well, sir, he is and he isn't, as you may say," answers 
 he, dropping into a familiar, confidential tone after casting 
 his eye over me to be sure I was no great person.. " He 
 ails nothing, to be sure, for I hear he is ever afoot from morn 
 till even a-searching hither and thither ; but a more down- 
 hearted, rueful looking gentleman for his age I never see. 
 Twixt you and me, sir, I think he hath lost his sweetheart, 
 seeing I am charged, with Sir Peter's permission, to follow 
 and not lose sight of any lady who may chance to call here 
 for him." 
 
 I walked back to Greenwich across the fields, debating in 
 my mind whether I should tell Moll of her husband's dis- 
 tress or not, so perplexed with conflicting arguments that I 
 had come to no decision when I reached home. 
 
278 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Moll spying me coming, from her window in the front of 
 the house, met me at the door, in her cloak and hood, and 
 begged I would take her a little turn over the heath. 
 
 "What have you to tell me?" asks she, pressing my arm 
 as we walked on. 
 
 " I have given your letter to Sir Peter Lely's servant, who 
 promises to deliver it faithfully to your husband." 
 
 u Well," says she, after a little pause of silence, " that is 
 not all." 
 
 " You will be glad to know that he is well in health," says 
 I, and then I stop again, all hanging in a hedge for not 
 knowing whether it were wiser to speak or hold my tongue. 
 
 " There is something else. I see it in your face. Hide 
 nothing from me for love's sake," says she, piteously. 
 Whereupon, my heart getting the better of my head (which, 
 to be sure, was no great achievement), I told all as I have 
 set it down here. 
 
 " My dear, dear love ! my darling Dick ! " says she, in 
 the end. And then she would have it told all over again, 
 with a thousand questions, to draw forth more ; and these 
 being exhausted, she asks why I would have concealed so 
 much from her, and if I did fear she would seek him. 
 
 " Nay, my dear," says I ; " 'tis t'other way about. For if 
 your husband does forgive you, and yearns but to take you 
 back into his arms, it would be an unnatural, cruel thing to 
 keep you apart. Therefore, to confess the whole truth, I 
 did meditate going to him and showing how we and not you 
 are to blame in this matter, and then telling him where he 
 might find you, if on reflection he felt that he could honestly 
 hold you guiltless. But ere I do that (as I see now), I 
 must know if you are willing to this accommodation ; for if 
 
MOLL MUCH PERPLEXED. 279 
 
 you are not, then are our wounds all opened afresh to no 
 purpose, but to retard their healing." 
 
 She made no reply nor any comment for a long time, nor 
 did I seek to bias her judgment by a single word (doubting 
 my wisdom) . But I perceived by the quivering of her arm 
 within mine that a terrible conflict 'twixt passion and princi- 
 ple was convulsing every fibre of her being. At the top of 
 the hill above Greenwich she stopped, and, throwing back 
 her hood, let the keen wind blow upon her face, as she 
 gazed over the grey flats beyond the river. And the air 
 seeming to give her strength and a clearer perception, she 
 says, presently : 
 
 "Accommodation ! " (And she repeats this unlucky word 
 of mine twice or thrice, as if she liked it less each time.) 
 " That means we shall agree to let bygones be bygones, and 
 do our best to get along together for the rest of our lives as 
 easily as we may." 
 
 "That's it, my dear," says I, cheerfully. 
 
 "Hush up the past," continues she, in the same calculat- 
 ing tone ; " conceal it from the world, if possible. Invent 
 some new lie to deceive the curious, and hoodwink our 
 decent friends. Chuckle at our success, and come in time " 
 (here she paused a moment) "to 'chat so lightly of our 
 past knavery, that we could wish we had gone farther in 
 the business.' " Then turning about to me, she asks : " If 
 you were writing the story of my life for a play, would you 
 end it thus?" 
 
 "My dear," says I, "a play's one thing, real life's an- 
 other; and believe me, as far as my experience goes of real 
 life, the less heroics there are in it the better parts are 
 those for the actors in't." 
 
28O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 She shook her head fiercely in the wind, and, turning 
 about with a brusque vigour, cries, "Come on. I'll have 
 no accommodation. And yet," says she, stopping short 
 after a couple of hasty steps, and with a fervent earnestness 
 in her voice, "and yet, if I could wipe out this stain, if 
 by any act I could redeem my fault, God knows, I'd do it, 
 cost what it might, to be honoured once again by my dear 
 Dick." 
 
 "This comes of living in a theatre all her life," thinks 
 I. And indeed, in this, as in other matters yet to be told, 
 the teaching of the stage was but tpo evident. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 All agree to go out to Spain again in search of our old jollity. 
 
 ANOTHER week passed by, and then Dawson, short- 
 sighted as he was in his selfishness, began to perceive that 
 things were not coming all right, as he had expected. 
 Once or twice when I went into his shop, I caught him 
 sitting idle before his lathe, with a most woe-begone look 
 in his face. 
 
 "What's amiss, Jack?" asks I, one day when I found 
 him thus. 
 
 He looked to see that the door was shut, and then says 
 he, gloomily: 
 
 "She don't sing as she used to, Kit; she don't laugh 
 hearty." 
 
 I hunched my shoulders. 
 
 "She doesn't play us any of her old pranks," continues 
 he. "She don't say one thing and go and do t'other 
 the next moment, as she used to do. She's too good." 
 
 What could I say to one who was fond enough to think 
 that the summer would come back at his wish and last for 
 ever? 
 
 "She's not the same, Kit," he goes on. "No, not by 
 twenty years. One would say she is older than I am, yet 
 she's scarce the age of woman. And I do see she gets more 
 pale and thin each day. D'ye think she's fretting for 
 him? " 
 
 28! 
 
282 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Like enough, Jack," says I. "What would you? He's 
 her husband, and 'tis as if he was dead to her. She can- 
 not be a maid again. 'Tis young to be a widow, and no 
 hope of being wife ever more." 
 
 "God forgive me," says he, hanging his head. 
 
 "We did it for the best," says I. "We could not foresee 
 this." 
 
 " 'Twas so natural to think we should be happy again 
 being all together. Howsoever," adds he, straightening 
 himself with a more manful vigour, "we will do something 
 to chase these black dogs hence." 
 
 On his lathe was the egg cup he had been turning for 
 Moll; he snapped it off from the chuck and flung it in the 
 litter of chips and shavings, as if 'twere the emblem of his 
 past folly. 
 
 It so happened that night that Moll could eat no supper, 
 pleading for her excuse that she felt sick. 
 
 "What is it, chuck?" says Jack, setting down his knife 
 and drawing his chair beside Moll's. 
 
 "The vapours, I think," says she, with a faint smile. 
 
 "Nay," says he, slipping his arm about her waist and 
 drawing her to him. "My Moll hath no such modish 
 humours. 'Tis something else. I have watched ye, 
 and do perceive you eat less and less. Tell us what 
 ails you." 
 
 "Well, dear," says she, "I do-believe 'tis idleness is the 
 root of my disorder." 
 
 "Idleness was never wont to have this effect on you." 
 
 "But it does now that I am grown older. There's not 
 enough to do. If I could find some occupation for my 
 thoughts, I should not be so silly." 
 
MOLL STRANGELY MOVED. 283 
 
 "Why, that's a good thought. What say you, dear, shall 
 we go a-play-acting again? " 
 
 Moll shook her head. 
 
 "To be sure," says he, scratching his jaw, "we come 
 out of that business with no great encouragement to go fur- 
 ther in it. But times are mended since then, and I do 
 hear the world is more mad for diversion now than ever 
 they were before the Plague." 
 
 "No, dear," says Moll, "'tis of no use to think of that. 
 I couldn't play now." 
 
 After this we sat silent awhile, looking into the embers; 
 then Jack, first to give expression to his thoughts, says : 
 
 " I think you were never so happy in your life, Moll, as 
 that time we were in Spain, nor can I recollect ever feeling 
 so free from care myself, after we got out of the hands 
 of that gentleman robber. There's a sort of infectious 
 brightness in the sun, and the winds, blow which way they 
 may, do chase away dull thoughts and dispose one to 
 jollity; eh, sweetheart? Why, we met never a tattered 
 vagabond on the road but he was halloing of ditties, 
 and a kinder, more hospitable set of people never lived. 
 With a couple of rials in your pocket, you feel as rich 
 and independent as with an hundred pounds in your hand 
 elsewhere." 
 
 At this point Moll, who had hitherto listened in apathy 
 to these eulogies, suddenly pushing back her chair, looks 
 at us with a strange look in her eyes, and says under her 
 breath, "Elche!" 
 
 "Barcelony for my money," responds Dawson, whose 
 memories of Elche were not so cheerful as of those parts 
 where we had led a more vagabond life. 
 
284 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Elche!" repeats Moll, twining her fingers, and with a 
 smile gleaming in her eyes. 
 
 "Does it please you, chuck, to talk of these matters? " 
 
 "Yes, yes!" returns she, eagerly. "You know not the 
 joy it gives me " (clapping her hand on her heart). "Talk 
 on." 
 
 Mightily pleased with himself, her father goes over our 
 past adventures, the tricks Moll played us, as buying of 
 her petticoat while we were hunting for her, our excel- 
 lent entertainment in the mountain villages, our lying 
 abed all one day, and waking at sundown to think it was 
 daybreak, our lazy days and jovial nights, etc., at great 
 length; and when his memory began to give out, giving 
 me a kick of the shin, he says : 
 
 "Han't you got anything to say? For a dull compan- 
 ion there's nothing in the world to equal your man of wit 
 and understanding "; which, as far as my observation goes, 
 was a very true estimation on his part. 
 
 But, indeed (since I pretend to no great degree of wit 
 or understanding), I must say, as an excuse for my silence, 
 that during his discourse I had been greatly occupied in 
 observing Moll, and trying to discover what was passing in 
 her mind. 'Twas clear this talk of Spain animated her 
 spirit beyond ordinary measure, so that at one moment I 
 conceived she did share her father's fond fancy that our 
 lost happiness might be regained by mere change of scene, 
 and I confess I was persuaded somewhat to this opinion by 
 reflecting how much we owe to circumstances for our vary- 
 ing moods, how dull, sunless days will cast a gloom upon 
 our spirits, and how a bright, breezy day will lift them up, 
 etc. But I presently perceived that the stream of her 
 
A NEW SCHEME. 285 
 
 thoughts was divided; for though she nodded or shook her 
 head, as occasion required, the strained, earnest expres- 
 sion in her tightened lips and knitted brows showed that 
 the stronger current of her ideas flowed in another and 
 deeper channel. Maybe she only desired her father to 
 talk that she might be left the freer to think. 
 
 " 'Twas near about this time of the year that we started 
 on our travels," said I, in response to Dawson's reminder. 
 
 "Aye, I recollect 'twas mighty cold when we set sail, 
 and the fruit trees were all bursting into bloom when we 
 came into France. I would we were there now; eh, Moll? " 
 
 "What, dear?" asks she, rousing herself at this direct 
 question. 
 
 " I say, would you be back there now, child ? " 
 
 "Oh, will you take me there if I would go? " 
 
 "With all my heart, dear Moll. Is there anything in 
 the world I'd not do to make you happy? " 
 
 She took his hand upon her knee, and caressing it, says : 
 
 "Let us go soon, father." 
 
 "What, will you be dancing of fandangos again? " asks 
 he; and she nods for reply, though I believe her thoughts 
 had wandered again to some other matter. 
 
 " I warrant I shall fall into the step again the moment I 
 smell garlic; but I'll rehearse it an hour to-morrow morn- 
 ing, that we may lose no time. Will you have a short 
 petticoat and a waist-cloth again, Moll? " 
 
 She, with her elbows on her knees now, and her chin in 
 her hands, looking into the fire, nodded. 
 
 "And you, Kit," continues he, "you'll get a guitar and 
 play tunes for us, as I take it you will keep us company 
 still." 
 
286 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "Yes, you may count on me for that," says I. 
 
 "We shan't have Don Sanchez to play the tambour for 
 us, but I wager I shall beat it as well as he; though, seeing 
 he owes us more than we owe him, we might in reason call 
 upon him, and " 
 
 "No, no; only we three," says Moll. 
 
 "Aye, three's enough, in all conscience, and seeing we 
 know a bit of the language, we shall get on well enough 
 without him. I do long, Moll, to see you a-flinging over 
 my shoulder, with your clappers going, your pretty eye and 
 cheek all aglow with pleasure, and a court full of senors 
 and caballeros crying ' Hole" ! ' and casting their handker- 
 chiefs at your feet." 
 
 Moll fetched a long, fluttering sigh, and, turning to her 
 father, says in an absent way: "Yes, dear; yes. When shall 
 we go? " 
 
 Then, falling to discussing particulars, Dawson, clasping 
 his hands upon his stomach, asked with a long face if at 
 this season we were likely to fall in with the equinoxes on 
 our voyage, and also if we could not hit some point of 
 Spain so as to avoid crossing the mountains of Pyranee and 
 the possibility of falling again into the hands of brigands. 
 To which I replied that, knowing nothing of the northern 
 part of Spain and its people, we stood a chance of rinding 
 a rude climate, unsuitable to travelling at this time of year, 
 and an inhospitable reception, and that, as our object was 
 to reach the South as quickly as possible, it would be more 
 to our advantage to find a ship going through the straits 
 which would carry us as far as Alicante or Valencia. And 
 Moll supporting my argument very vigorously, Dawson gave 
 way with much less reluctance than I expected at the out- 
 
SET OUT AGAIN FOR SPAIN. 287 
 
 set. But, indeed, the good fellow seemed now ready to 
 make any sacrifice of himself so that he might see his Moll 
 joyous again. 
 
 When I entered his shop the next morning, I found him 
 with his coat off, cutting capers, a wooden platter in his 
 hand for a tambourine, and the sweat pouring down his 
 face. 
 
 " I am a couple of stone or so too heavy for the boleros," 
 gasps he, coming to a stand, " but I doubt not, by the time 
 we land at Alicante, there'll not be an ounce too much 
 of me." 
 
 Learning that a convoy for the Levant was about to set 
 sail with the next favourable wind from Chatham, we took 
 horse and rode there that afternoon, and by great good 
 luck we found the Faithful Friend, a good ship bound 
 for Genoa in Italy, whereof Mr. Dixon, the master, having 
 intent to enter and victual at Alicante, undertook to carry 
 us there for ten pounds a head, so being we could get all 
 aboard by the next evening at sundown. 
 
 Here was short grace, to be sure ; but we did so despatch 
 our affairs that we were embarked in due time, and by day- 
 break the following morning, were under weigh. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 How we lost our poor Moll, and our long search for her. 
 
 WE reached Alicante the i5th March, after a long, tedious 
 voyage. During this time I had ample opportunity for 
 observing Moll, but with little relief to my gloomy appre- 
 hensions. She rarely quitted her father's side, being now 
 as sympathetic and considerate of him in his sufferings, as 
 before she had been thoughtless and indifferent. She had 
 ever a gentle word of encouragement for him ; she was ever 
 kind and patient. Only once her spirit seemed to weary : 
 that was when we had been beating about in the bay of 
 Cadiz four days, for a favourable gale to take us through 
 the straits. We were on deck, she and I, the sails flapping 
 the masts idly above our heads. 
 
 " Oh," says she, laying her hand on my shoulder, and her 
 wasted cheek against my arm, " oh, that it were all ended ! " 
 
 She was sweeter with me than ever she had been before ; 
 it seemed as if the love bred in her heart by marriage 
 must expend itself upon some one. But though this tender- 
 ness endeared her more to me, it saddened me, and I would 
 have had her at her tricks once more, making merry at my 
 expense. For I began to see that our happiness comes from 
 within and not from without, and so fell despairing that ever 
 this poor stricken heart of hers would be healed, which set 
 me a-repenting more sincerely than ever the mischief I had 
 helped to do her. 
 
 288 
 
NOUGHT THE SAME IN SPAIN. 289 
 
 Dawson also, despite his stubborn disposition to see things 
 as he would have them, had, nevertheless, some secret per- 
 ception of the incurable sorrow which she, with all her art, 
 could scarce dissimulate. Yet he clung to that fond belief 
 in a return of past happiness, as if 'twere his last hope on 
 earth. When at last our wind sprang up, and we were cut- 
 ting through the waters with bending masts and not a crease 
 in the bellied sails, he came upon deck, and spreading his 
 hands out, cries in joy : 
 
 " Oh, this blessed sunlight ! There is nought in the world 
 like it no, not the richest wine to swell one's heart 
 with content." 
 
 And then he fell again to recalling our old adventures and 
 mirthful escapades. He gave the rascals who fetched us 
 ashore a piece more than they demanded, hugely delighted 
 to find they understood his Spanish and such quips as he could 
 call to mind. Then being landed, he falls to extolling every- 
 thing he sees and hears, calling upon Moll to justify his 
 appreciation ; nay, he went so far as to pause in a narrow 
 street where was a most unsavoury smell, to sniff the air and 
 declare he could scent the oranges in bloom. And Lord ! to 
 hear him praise the whiteness of the linen, the excellence of 
 the meat and drink set before us at the posada, one would 
 have said he had never before seen clean sheets or tasted 
 decent victuals. 
 
 Seeing that neither Moll nor I could work ourselves up 
 (try as we might) to his high pitch of enthusiasm, he was 
 ready with an excuse for us. 
 
 " I perceive," says he, "you are still suffering from your 
 voyage. Therefore, we will not quit this town before to- 
 morrow " (otherwise I believe he would have started off 
 u 
 
290 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 on our expedition as soon as our meal was done) . " How- 
 ever," adds he, "do you make enquiry, Kit, if you can get 
 yourself understood, if there be ever a bull to be fought 
 to-day or any diversion of dancing or play-acting to-night, 
 that the time hang not too heavy on our hands." 
 
 As no such entertainments were to be had (this being 
 the season of Lent, which is observed very strictly in these 
 parts), Dawson contented himself with taking Moll out to 
 visit the shops, and here he speedily purchased a pair of 
 clappers for her, a tambour for himself, and a guitar for me, 
 though we were difficult to please, for no clappers pleased 
 Moll as those she had first bought ; and it did seem to me 
 that I could strike no notes out of any instrument but they 
 had a sad, mournful tone. 
 
 Then nothing would satisfy him but to go from one 
 draper's to another, seeking a short petticoat, a waist-cloth, 
 and a round hat to Moll's taste, which ended to his disap- 
 pointment, for she could find none like the old. 
 
 "Why, don't you like this?" he would say, holding up a 
 gown ; " to my eyes 'tis the very spit of t'other, only fresher." 
 
 And she demurring, whispers, " To-morrow, dear, to-mor- 
 row," with plaintive entreaty for delay in her wistful eyes. 
 
 Disheartened, but not yet at the end of his resources, 
 her father at last proposed that she should take a turn 
 through the town alone and choose for herself. "For," 
 says he, " I believe we do rather hinder than help you with 
 our advice in such matters." 
 
 After a moment's reflection, Moll agreed to this, and say- 
 ing she would meet us at the posada for supper, left us, and 
 walked briskly back the way we had come. 
 
 When she was gone, Dawson had never a word to say, 
 
GREATLY PERPLEXED STILL. 2QI 
 
 nor I either, for dejection, yet, had I been questioned, I 
 could have found no better reason for my despondency than 
 that I felt 'twas all a mistake coming here for happiness. 
 
 Strolling aimlessly through the narrow back ways, we 
 came presently to the market that stands against the port. 
 And here, almost at the first step, Dawson catches my arm 
 and nods towards the opposite side of the market-place. 
 Some Moors were seated there in their white clothes, with 
 bundles of young palm leaves, plaited up in various forms of 
 crowns, crosses, and the like, which the people of this 
 country do carry to church to be blessed on Palm Sunday ; 
 and these Moors I knew came from Elche, because palms 
 grow nowhere else in such abundance. 
 
 " Yes," says I, thinking 'twas this queer merchandise he 
 would point out, " I noticed these Moors and their ware 
 when we passed here a little while back with Moll." 
 
 " Don't you see her there now at the corner?" asks 
 he. 
 
 Then, to my surprise, I perceived Moll in very earnest 
 conversation with two Moors, who had at first screened her 
 from my sight. 
 
 " Come away," continues he. " She left us to go back 
 and speak to them, and would not have us know." 
 
 Why should she be secret about this trifling matter, I 
 asked myself. 'Twas quite natural that, if she recognised 
 in these Moors some old acquaintance of Elche, she should 
 desire to speak them. 
 
 We stole away to the port, and seating ourselves upon 
 some timber, there we looked upon the sea nigh upon half 
 an hour without saying a word. Then turning to me, 
 Dawson says : " Unless she speak to us upon this matter, 
 
2Q2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Kit, we will say nought to her. But, if she say nothing, I 
 shall take it for a sign her heart is set upon going back to 
 Elche, and she would have it a secret that we may not be 
 disheartened in our other project." 
 
 "That is likely enough," says I, not a little surprised by 
 his reasoning. But love sharpens a man's wit, be it never 
 so dull. 
 
 " Nevertheless," continues he, " if she can be happier at 
 Elche than elsewhere, then must we abandon our scheme 
 and accept hers with a good show of content. We owe 
 her that, Kit." 
 
 " Aye, and more," says I. 
 
 "Then when we meet to-morrow morning, I will offer to 
 go there, as if 'twas a happy notion that had come to me in 
 my sleep, and do you back me up with all the spirit you can 
 muster." 
 
 So after some further discussion we rose, and returned to 
 our posada, where we found Moll waiting for us. She told 
 us she had found no clothes to her liking (which was signifi- 
 cant), and said not a word of her speaking to the Moors 
 in the market-place, so we held our peace on these matters. 
 
 We did not part till late that night, for Moll would sit up 
 with us, confessing she felt too feverish for sleep ; and indeed 
 this was apparent enough by her strange humour, for she 
 kept no constant mood for five minutes together. Now, she 
 would sit pensive, paying no heed to us, with a dreamy look 
 in her eyes, as if her thoughts were wandering far away to 
 her husband in England maybe ; then she would hang her 
 head as though she dared not look him in the face even at 
 that distance ; and anon she would recover herself with a 
 noble exaltation, lifting her head with a fearless mien. And 
 
MOLL S STRANGE DEMEANOUR. 293 
 
 so presently her body drooping gradually to a reflective pos- 
 ture, she falls dreaming again, to rouse herself suddenly at 
 some new prompting of her spirit, and give us all her 
 thoughts, all eagerness for two moments, all melting sweet- 
 ness the next, with her pretty manner of clinging to her 
 father's arm, and laying her cheek against his shoulder. 
 And when at last we came to say good-night, she hangs 
 about his neck as if she would fain sleep there, quitting him 
 with a deep sigh and a passionate kiss. Also she kissed me 
 most affectionately, but could say never a word of farewell 
 to either of us hurrying to her chamber to weep, as I 
 think. 
 
 We knew not what to conclude from these symptoms, 
 save that she might be sickening of some disorder ; so we 
 to our beds, very down in the mouth and faint at heart. 
 
 About six the next morning I was awoke by the door 
 bursting suddenly open, and starting up in my bed, I see 
 Dawson at my side, shaking in every limb, and his eyes 
 wide with terror. 
 
 " Moll's gone ! " cries he, and falls a- blubbering. 
 
 " Gone ! " says I, springing out of bed. " Tis not pos- 
 sible." 
 
 " She has not lain in her bed ; and one saw her go forth 
 last night as the doors were closing, knowing her for a for- 
 eigner by her hood. Come with me," adds he, laying his 
 hand on a chair for support. " 1 dare not go alone." 
 
 "Aye, I'll go with ye, Jack ; but whither?" 
 
 " Down to the sea," says he, hoarsely. 
 
 I stopped in the midst of dressing, overcome by this fear- 
 ful hint ; for, knowing Moll's strong nature, the thought had 
 pever occurred to me that she might do away with herself. 
 
294 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Yet now reflecting on her strange manner of late, especially 
 her parting with us overnight, it seemed not so impossible 
 neither. For here, seeing the folly of our coming hither, 
 desponding of any happiness in the future, was the speed- 
 iest way of ending a life that was burdensome to herself and 
 a constant sorrow to us. Nay, with her notions of poetic 
 justice drawn from plays, she may have regarded this as 
 the only atonement she could make her husband ; the only 
 means of giving him back freedom to make a happier choice 
 in marriage. With these conclusions taking shape, I shuffled 
 on my clothes, and then, with shaking fear, we two, hanging 
 to each other's arms for strength, made our way through the 
 crooked streets to the sea ; and there, seeing a group of men 
 and women gathered at the water's edge some little distance 
 from us, we dared not go further, conceiving 'twas a dead 
 body they were regarding. But 'twas only a company of 
 fishers examining their haul of fishes, as we presently per- 
 ceived. So, somewhat cheered, we cast our eyes to the 
 right and left, and, seeing nothing to justify our fears, ad- 
 vanced along the mole to the very end, where it juts out 
 into the sea, with great stones around to break the surf. 
 Here, then, with deadly apprehensions, we peered amongst 
 the rocks, holding our breath, clutching tight hold of one 
 another by the hand, in terror of finding that we so eagerly 
 searched, a hood, a woman's skirt clinging to the stones, 
 a stiffened hand thrust up from the lapping waters. Never 
 may I forget the sickening horror of the moment when, 
 creeping out amidst the rocks, Dawson twitches my hand, 
 and points down through the clear water to something lying 
 white at the bottom. It looked for all the world like a dead 
 face, coloured a greenish white by the water ; but presently 
 
FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR MOLL. 
 
 we saw, by one end curling over in the swell of a wave, that 
 'twas only a rag of paper. 
 
 Then I persuaded Dawson to give up this horrid search, 
 and return to our posada, when, if we found not Moll, we 
 might more justly conclude she had gone to Elche, than put 
 an end to her life ; and though we could learn nothing of 
 her at our inn, more than Dawson had already told me, yet 
 our hopes were strengthened in the probability of finding 
 her at Elche by recollecting her earnest, secret conversation 
 with the Moors, who might certainly have returned to Elche 
 in the night, they preferring that time for their journey, as we 
 knew. So, having hastily snatched a repast, whilst our land- 
 lord was procuring mules for our use, we set off across the 
 plain, doing our best to cheer each other on the way. But 
 I confess one thing damped my spirits exceedingly, and that 
 was, having no hint from Moll the night before of this project, 
 which then must have been fully matured in her mind, 
 nor any written word of explanation and encouragement. 
 For, thinks I, she being no longer a giddy, heedless child, 
 ready to play any prank without regard to the consequences, 
 but a very considerate, remorseful woman, would not put us 
 to this anxiety without cause. Had she resolved to go to 
 her friends at Elche, she would, at least, have comforted us 
 with the hope of meeting her again ; whereas, this utter 
 silence did point to a knowledge on her part that we were 
 sundered for ever, and that she could give us no hope, but 
 such as we might glean from uncertainty. 
 
 Arriving at Elche, we made straight for the house of the 
 merchant, Sidi ben Ahmed, with whose family Moll had been 
 so intimate previously. Here we were met by Sidi himself, 
 who, after laying his fingers across his lips, and setting his 
 
296 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 hand upon His heart, in token of recognition and respect, 
 asked us very civilly our business, though without any show 
 of surprise at seeing us. But these Moors do pride them- 
 selves upon a stoic behaviour at all times, and make it a 
 point to conceal any emotion they may feel, so that men 
 never can truly judge of their feelings. 
 
 Upon explaining our circumstances as well as our small 
 knowledge of the tongue allowed us, he makes us a gesture 
 of his open hands, as if he would have us examine his house 
 for ourselves, to see that she was not hid away there for any 
 reason, and then calling his servants, he bids them seek 
 through all the town, promising them a rich reward if they 
 bring any tidings of Lala Mollah. And while this search was 
 being made, he entertained us at his own table, where we 
 recounted so much of our miserable history as we thought 
 it advisable he should know. 
 
 One by one the servants came in to tell that they had 
 heard nothing, save that some market-men had seen and 
 spoken with Moll at Alicante, but had not clapt eyes on 
 her since. Not content with doing us this service, the mer- 
 chant furnished us with fresh mules, to carry us back to 
 Alicante, whither we were now all eagerness to return, in the 
 hope of finding Moll at the posada. So, travelling all night, 
 we came to our starting-place the next morning, to learn no 
 tidings of our poor Moll. 
 
 We drew some grain of comfort from this ; for, it being 
 now the third day since the dear girl had disappeared, her 
 body would certainly have been washed ashore, had she 
 cast herself, as we feared, in the sea. It occurred to us 
 that if Moll were still living, she had either returned to 
 England, or gone to Don Sanchez at Toledo, whose wise 
 
AT OUR WITS END. 297 
 
 counsels she had ever held in high respect. The former 
 supposition seemed to me the better grounded ; for it was 
 easy to understand how, yearning for him night and day, 
 she should at length abandon every scruple, and throw 
 herself at his feet, reckless of what might follow. 'Twas 
 not inconsistent with her impulsive character, and that more 
 reasonable view of life she had gained by experience, and 
 the long reflections on her voyage hither. And that which 
 supported my belief still more was that a fleet of four sail 
 (as I learnt) had set forth for England the morning after 
 our arrival. So now finding, on enquiry, that a carrier was 
 to set out for Toledo that afternoon, I wrote a letter to 
 Don Sanchez, telling him the circumstances of our loss, and 
 begging him to let us know, as speedily as possible, if he 
 had heard aught of Moll. And in this letter I enclosed a 
 second, addressed to Mr. Godwin, having the same purport, 
 which I prayed Don Sanchez to send on with all expedition, 
 if Moll were not with him. 
 
 And now, having despatched these letters, we had nothing 
 to do but to await a reply, which, at the earliest, we could 
 not expect to get before the end of the week Toledo 
 being a good eighty English leagues distant. 
 
 We waited in Alicante four days more, making seven in 
 all from the day we lost Moll ; and then, the suspense and 
 torment of inactivity becoming insupportable, we set out 
 again for Elche, the conviction growing strong upon us, 
 with reflection, that we had little to hope from Don Sanchez. 
 And we resolved we would not go this time to Sidi ben Ahmed, 
 but rather seek to take him unawares, and make enquiry 
 by more subtle means, we having our doubts of his veracity. 
 For these Moors are not honest liars like plain Englishmen, 
 
298 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 who do generally give you some hint of their business by 
 shifting of their eyes this way and that, hawking, stam- 
 mering, etc., but they will ever look you calmly and straight 
 in the face, never at a loss for the right word, or over-anxious 
 to convince you, so that 'twill plague a conjurer to tell if 
 they speak truth or falsehood. And here I would remark, 
 that in all my observations of men and manners, there is no 
 nation in the world to equal the English, for a straight- 
 forward, pious, horse-racing sort of people. 
 
 Well, then, we went about our search in Elche with all 
 the slyness possible, prying here and there like a couple of 
 thieves a- robbing a hen-roost, and putting cross-questions 
 to every simple fellow we met, the best we could with 
 our small knowledge of their tongue, but all to no pur- 
 pose, and so another day was wasted. We lay under the 
 palms that night, and in the morning began our perquisi- 
 tion afresh ; now hunting up and down the narrow lanes 
 and alleys of the town, as we had scoured those of Alicante, 
 in vain, until, persuaded of the uselessness of our quest, we 
 agreed to return to Alicante, in the hope of finding there 
 a letter from Don Sanchez. But (not to leave a single 
 stone unturned), we settled we would call once again on 
 Sidi ben Ahmed, and ask if he had any tidings to give us, 
 but, openly, feeling we were no match for him at subterfuge. 
 So, to his house we went, where we were received very gra- 
 ciously by the old merchant, who, chiding us gently for 
 being in the neighbourhood a whole day without giving him 
 a call, prayed us to enter his unworthy parlour, adding that 
 we should find there a friend who would be very pleased 
 to see us. 
 
 At this, my heart bounded to such an extent that I could 
 
GET TIDINGS OF MOLL AT LAST. 299 
 
 utter never a word (nor could Dawson either), for I ex- 
 pected nothing less than to find this friend was our dear 
 Moll ; and so, silent and shaking with feverish anticipation, 
 we followed him down the tiled passage and round the 
 inner garden of his house by the arcade, till we reached a 
 doorway, and there, lifting aside the heavy hangings, he 
 bade us enter. We pushed by him in rude haste, and then 
 stopped of a sudden, in blank amazement ; for, in place of 
 Moll, whom we fully thought to find, we discovered only 
 Don Sanchez, sitting on some pillows gravely smoking a 
 Moorish chibouk. 
 
 "My daughter my Moll!" cries Dawson, in despair. 
 "Where is she?" 
 
 "By this time," replies Don Sanchez, rising, "your 
 daughter should be in Barbary." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 We learn what hath become of Moll ; and how she nobly atoned for 
 
 our sins. 
 
 " BARBARY Barbary ! " gasps Dawson, thunderstruck 
 by this discovery. " My Moll in Barbary?" 
 
 " She sailed three days ago," says the Don, laying down 
 his pipe, and rising. 
 
 Dawson regards him for a moment or two in a kind of 
 stupor, and then his ideas taking definite shape, he cries in 
 a fury of passion and clenching his fists : 
 
 "Spanish dog ! you shall answer this. And you" (turn- 
 ing in fury upon Sidi), " you I know your cursed traffic 
 you've sold her to the Turk ! " 
 
 Though Sidi may have failed to comprehend his words, 
 he could not misunderstand his menacing attitude, yet he 
 faced him with an unmoved countenance, not a muscle of 
 his body betraying the slightest fear, his stoic calm doing 
 more than any argument of words to overthrow Dawson's 
 mad suspicion. But his passion unabated, Dawson turns 
 again upon Don Sanchez, crying : 
 
 " Han't you won enough by your villany, but you must 
 rob me of my daughter? Are you not satisfied with bring- 
 ing us to shame and ruin, but this poor girl of mine must be 
 cast to the Turk? Speak, rascal!" adds he, advancing a 
 step, and seeking to provoke a conflict. " Speak, if you 
 have any reason to show why I shouldn't strangle you." 
 
 300 
 
STRANGE DISCOURSE OF DON SANCHEZ. 3<DI 
 
 " You'll not strangle me," answers the Don, calmly, "and 
 here's my reason if you would see it." And with that he 
 tilts his elbow, and with a turn of the wrist displays a long 
 knife that lay concealed under his forearm. " I know no 
 other defence against the attack of a madman." 
 
 " If I be mad," says Dawson, " and mad indeed I may 
 be, and no wonder, why, then, put your knife to merciful 
 use and end my misery here." 
 
 " Nay, take it in your own hand," answers the Don, offer- 
 ing the knife. " And use it as you will on yourself if you 
 are a fool, or on me if, being not a fool, you can hold me 
 guilty of such villany as you charged me with in your 
 passion." 
 
 Dawson looks upon the offered knife an instant with dis- 
 traction in his eyes, and the Don (not to carry this risky 
 business too far), taking his hesitation for refusal, claps up 
 the blade in his waist-cloth, where it lay mighty convenient 
 to his hand, 
 
 "You are wise," says he, " for if that noble woman is to 
 be served, 'tis not by spilling the blood of her best friends." 
 
 "You, her friend ! " says Dawson. 
 
 " Aye, her best friend ! " replies the other, with dignity, 
 " for he is best who can best serve her." 
 
 " Then must I be her worst," says Jack, humbly, " having 
 no power to undo the mischief I have wrought." 
 
 "Tell me, Sefior," says I, "who hath kidnapped poor 
 Moll?" 
 
 " Nobody. She went of her free will, knowing full well 
 the risk she ran the possible end of her noble adventure 
 against the dissuasions and the prayers of all her friends 
 here. She stood in the doorway there, and saw you cross 
 
3O2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 the garden when you first came to seek her saw you, her 
 father, distracted with grief and fear, and she suffered you 
 to go away. As you may know, nothing is more sacred to a 
 Moor than the laws of hospitality, and by those laws Sidi 
 was bound to respect the wishes of one who had claimed 
 his protection. He could not betray her secret, but he and 
 his family did their utmost to persuade her from her pur- 
 pose. While you were yet in the town, they implored her to 
 let them call you back, and she refused. Failing in their 
 entreaties, they despatched a messenger to me ; alas ! when 
 I arrived, she was gone. She went with a company of mer- 
 chants bound for Alger, and all that her friends here could 
 do was to provide her with a servant and letters, which will 
 ensure her safe conduct to Thadviir." 
 
 "But why has she gone there, Senor?" says I, having 
 heard him in a maze. of wonderment to the end. 
 
 " Cannot you guess ? Surely she must have given you 
 some hint of her purposes, for 'twas in her mind, as I learn, 
 when she agreed to leave England and come hither." 
 
 "Nothing we know nothing," falters Dawson. " 'Tis 
 all mystery and darkness. Only we did suppose to find 
 happiness a-wandering about the country, dancing and 
 idling, as we did before." 
 
 "That dream was never hers," answers the Don. "She 
 never thought to find happiness in idling pleasure. 'Tis the 
 joy of martyrdom she's gone to find, seeking redemption in 
 self-sacrifice." 
 
 " Be more explicit, sir, I pray," says I. 
 
 " In a word, then, she has gone to offer herself as a ran- 
 som for the real Judith Godwin." 
 
 We were too overwrought for great astonishment ; indeed, 
 
DAWSON EXALTED WITH GREAT PASSION. 303 
 
 my chief surprise was that I had not foreseen this event in 
 Moll's desire to return to Elche, or hit upon the truth in 
 seeking an explanation of her disappearance. 'Twas of a 
 piece with her natural romantic disposition and her newly 
 awaked sense of poetic justice, for here at one stroke she 
 makes all human atonement for her fault and ours, earn- 
 ing her husband's forgiveness by this proof of dearest love, 
 and winning back for ever an honoured place in his remem- 
 brance. And I bethought me of our Lord's saying that 
 greater love is there none than this : that one shall lay 
 down his life for another. 
 
 For some time Dawson stood silent, his arms folded upon 
 his breast, and his head bent in meditation, his lips pressed 
 together, and every muscle in his face contracted with pain 
 and labouring thought. Then, raising his head and fixing 
 his eyes on the Don, he says : 
 
 " If I understand aright, my Moll hath gone to give herself 
 up for a slave, in the place of her whose name she took." 
 
 The Don assents with a grave inclination of his head, and 
 Dawson continues : 
 
 " I ask your pardon for that injustice I did you in my 
 passion ; but now that I am cool I cannot hold you blame- 
 less for what has befallen my poor child, and I call upon 
 you as a man of honour to repair the wrong you've done me." 
 
 Again the Don bows very gravely, and then asks what we 
 would have him do. 
 
 " I ask you," says Dawson, " as we have no means for such 
 an expedition, to send me across the sea there to my Moll." 
 
 " I cannot ensure your return," says the Don, " and I 
 warn you that once in Barbary you may never leave it." 
 
 " I do not want to return if she is there ; nay," adds he, 
 
304 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 " if I may move them to any mercy, they shall do what they 
 will with this body of mine, so that they suffer my child to 
 be free." 
 
 The Don turns to Sidi, and tells him what Dawson has 
 offered to do ; whereupon the Moor lays his finger across 
 his lips, then his hand on Dawson's breast, and afterwards 
 upon his own, with a reverence, to show his respect. And 
 so he and the Don fall to discussing the feasibility of this 
 project (as I discovered by picking up a word here and 
 there) ; and, this ended, the Don turns to Dawson, and 
 tells him there is no vessel to convey him at present, where- 
 fore he must of force wait patiently till one comes in from 
 Barbary. 
 
 " But," says he, " we may expect one in a few days, and rest 
 you assured that your wish shall be gratified if it be possible." 
 
 We went down, Dawson and I, to the sea that afternoon ; 
 and, sitting on the shore at that point where we had for- 
 merly embarked aboard the Algerine galley, we scanned the 
 waters for a sail that might be coming hither, and Dawson 
 with the eagerness of one who looked to escape from 
 slavery rather than one seeking it. 
 
 As we sat watching the sea, he fell a-regretting he had 
 no especial gift of nature, by which he might more readily 
 purchase Moll's freedom of her captors. 
 
 " However," says he, " if I can show 'em the use of chairs 
 and benches, for lack of which they are now compelled, as 
 we see, to squat on mats and benches, I may do pretty well 
 with Turks of the better sort who can afford luxuries, and so 
 in time gain my end." 
 
 " You shall teach me this business, Jack," says I, " for at 
 present I'm more helpless than you." 
 
DAWSON WOULD GO ALONE INTO BARBARY. 305 
 
 " Kit," says he, laying hold of my hand, " let us have no 
 misunderstanding on this matter. You go not to Barbary 
 with me." 
 
 " What ! " cries I, protesting. " You would have the 
 heart to break from me after we have shared good and ill 
 fortune together like two brothers all these years?" 
 
 " God knows we shall part with sore hearts o' both sides, 
 and I shall miss you sadly enough, with no Christian to 
 speak to out there. But 'tis not of ourselves we must think 
 now. Some one must be here to be a father to my Moll 
 when she returns, and I'll trust Don Sanchez no farther 
 than I can see him, for all his wisdom. So, as you love 
 the dear girl, you will stay here, Kit, to be her watch and 
 ward, and as you love me you will spare me any further 
 discussion on this head. For I am resolved." 
 
 I would say nothing then to contrary him, but my judg- 
 ment and feeling both revolted against his decision. For, 
 thinks I, if one Christian is worth but a groat to the Turk, 
 two must be worth eightpence, therefore we together stand 
 a better chance of buying Moll's freedom than either 
 singly. And, for my own happiness, I would easier be a 
 slave in Barbary with Jack than free elsewhere and friend- 
 less. Nowhere can a man be free from toil and pain of 
 some sort or another, and there is no such solace in the 
 world for one's discomforts as the company of a true man. 
 
 But I was not regardless of Moll's welfare when she re- 
 turned, neither. For I argued with myself that Mr. God- 
 win had but to know of her condition to find means of 
 coming hither for her succour. So the next time I met 
 Don Sanchez, I took him aside and told him of my con- 
 cern, asking him the speediest manner of sending a letter 
 x 
 
3O6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 to England (that I had enclosed in mine to the Don having 
 missed him through his leaving Toledo before it arrived). 
 
 "There is no occasion to write," says he. "For the 
 moment I learnt your history from Sidi I sent a letter, 
 apprising him of his wife's innocence in this business, and 
 the noble reparation she had made for the fault of others. 
 Also, I took the liberty to enclose a sum of money to meet 
 his requirements, and I'll answer for it he is now on his 
 way hither. For no man living could be dull to the 
 charms of his wife, or bear resentment to her for an act 
 that was prompted by love rather than avarice, and with no 
 calculation on her part." 
 
 This cheered me considerably, and did somewhat return 
 my faith in Don Sanchez, who certainly was the most ex- 
 traordinary gentlemanly rascal that ever lived. 
 
 Day after day Dawson and I went down to the sea, and 
 on the fifth day of our watching (after many false hopes 
 and disappointments) we spied a ship, which we knew to be 
 of the Algerine sort by the cross-set of its lateen sails, 
 making it to look like some great bird with spread wings 
 on the water, bearing down upon the shore. 
 
 We watched the approach of this ship in a fever of joy 
 and expectation, for though we dared not breathe our 
 hopes one to another, we both thought that maybe Moll 
 was there. And this was not impossible. For, supposing 
 Judith was married happily, she would refuse to leave her 
 husband, and her mother, having lived so long in that 
 country, might not care to leave it now and quit her daugh- 
 ter; so might they refuse their ransom and Moll be sent 
 back to us. And, besides this reasoning, we had that 
 clinging belief of the unfortunate that some unforeseen 
 
WE LEARN THAT MOLL HATH PAID HER RANSOM. 307 
 
 accident might turn to our advantage and overthrow our 
 fears. 
 
 The Algerine came nearer and nearer, until at length we 
 could make out certain figures moving upon the deck; then 
 Dawson, laying a trembling hand on my sleeve, asked if I 
 did not think 'twas a woman standing in the fore part; but 
 I couldn't truly answer yes, which vexed him. 
 
 But, indeed, when the galley was close enough to drop 
 anchor, being at some distance from the shore because of 
 the shoals, I could not distinguish any women, and my 
 heart sank, for I knew well that if Moll were there, she, 
 seeing us, would have given us some signal of waving a 
 handkerchief or the like. As soon as the anchor was cast, 
 a boat was lowered, and being manned, drew in towards 
 us; then, truly, we perceived a bent figure sitting idle in 
 the stern, but even Dawson dared not venture to think it 
 might be Moll. 
 
 The boat running on a shallow, a couple of Moors stepped 
 into the water, and lifting the figure in their arms carried 
 it ashore to where we stood. And now we perceived 'twas 
 a woman muffled up in the Moorish fashion, a little, wizen 
 old creature, who, casting back her head clothes, showed 
 us a wrinkled face, very pale and worn with care and age. 
 Regarding us, she says in plain English: 
 
 " You are my countrymen. Is one of you named Dawson ? " 
 
 "My name is Dawson," says Jack. 
 
 She takes his hand in hers, and holding it in hers looks 
 in his face with great pity, and then at last, as if loath to 
 tell the news she sees he fears to hear, she says : 
 
 "I am Elizabeth Godwin." 
 
 What need of more to let us know that Moll had paid 
 her ransom? 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Don Sanchez again proves himself the most mannerly rascal in the 
 
 world. 
 
 IN silence we led Mrs. Godwin to the seat we had occu- 
 pied, and seating ourselves we said not a word for some 
 time. For my own part, the realisation of our loss threw 
 my spirits into a strange apathy; 'twas as if some actual 
 blow had stunned my senses. Yet I remember observing 
 the Moors about their business, despatching one to 
 Elche for a train of mules, charging a second boat with 
 merchandise while the first returned, etc. 
 
 "I can feel for you," says Mrs. Godwin at length, ad- 
 dressing Dawson, "for I also have lost an only child." 
 
 "Your daughter Judith, Madam?" says I. 
 
 "She died two years ago. Yours still lives," says she, 
 again turning to Dawson, who sat with a haggard face, 
 rocking himself like one nursing a great pain. "And 
 while there is life, there's hope, as one says." 
 
 "Why, to be sure," says Jack, rousing himself. "This 
 is no more, Kit, than we bargained for. Tell me, Madam, 
 you who know that country, do you think a carpenter 
 would be held in esteem there? I'm yet a strong man, as 
 you see, with some good serviceable years of life before 
 me. D'ye think they'd take me in exchange for my Moll, 
 who is but a bit of a girl? " 
 
 "She is beautiful, and beauty counts for more than 
 strength and abilities there, poor man," says she. 
 
 308 
 
HOPE OF REDEEMING MOLL. 309 
 
 "I'll make 'em the offer," says he, "and though they do 
 not agree to give her freedom, they may yet suffer me to 
 see her time and again, if I work well." 
 
 "Tis strange," says she. "Your child has told me all 
 your history. Had I learnt it from other lips, I might have 
 set you down for rogues, destitute of heart or conscience ; 
 yet, with this evidence before me, I must needs regard you 
 and your dear daughter as more noble than many whose 
 deeds are writ in gold. 'Tis a lesson to teach me faith in 
 the goodness of God, who redeems his creatures' follies, 
 with one touch of love. Be of good cheer, my friend," 
 adds she, laying her thin hand on his arm. "There is 
 hope. I would not have accepted this ransom no, not 
 for all your daughter's tears and entreaties without good 
 assurance that I, in my turn, might deliver her." 
 
 I asked the old gentlewoman how this might be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 "My niece," says she, dwelling on the word with a smile, 
 as if happy in the alliance, " my niece, coming to Barbary 
 of her free will, is not a slave like those captured in war- 
 fare and carried there by force. She remains there as a 
 hostage for me, and will be free to return when I send the 
 price of my ransom." 
 
 "Is that a great sum?" 
 
 "Three thousand gold ducats, about one thousand 
 pounds English." 
 
 "Why, Madam," says Dawson, "we have nothing, being 
 now reduced to our last pieces. And if you have the 
 goodness to raise this money, Heaven only knows how long 
 it may be ere you succeed. 'Tis a fortnight's journey, at 
 the least, to England, and then you have to deal with your 
 
3IO A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 steward, who will seek only to put obstacles in your way, 
 so that six weeks may pass ere Moll is redeemed, and what 
 may befall her in the meantime? " 
 
 "She is safe. AH Oukadi is a good man. She has 
 nought to fear while she is under his protection. Do not 
 misjudge the Moors. They have many estimable quali- 
 ties." 
 
 "Yet, Madam," says I, "by your saying there is hope, I 
 gather there must be also danger." 
 
 "There is," answers she, at which Jack nods with con- 
 viction. "A beautiful young woman is never free from 
 danger" (Jack assents again). "There are good and bad 
 men amongst the Moors as amongst other people." 
 
 "Aye, to be sure," says Dawson. 
 
 " I say she is safe under the protection of Ali Oukadi, 
 but when the ransom is paid and she leaves Thadviir, she 
 may stand in peril." 
 
 "Why, that's natural enough," cries Dawson, "be she 
 amongst Moors or no Moors; 'tis then she will most need 
 a friend to serve her, and one that knows the ins and outs 
 of the place and how to deal with these Turks must surely 
 be better than any half-dozen fresh landed and raw to their 
 business." Then he fell questioning Mrs. Godwin as to 
 how Moll was lodged, the distance of Thadviir from Alger, 
 the way to get there, and divers other particulars, which, 
 together with his eager, cheerful vivacity, showed clearly 
 enough that he was more firmly resolved than ever to go 
 into Barbary and be near Moll without delay. And pres- 
 ently, leaving me with Mrs: Godwin, he goes down to the 
 captain of the galley, who is directing the landing of goods 
 from the play-boat, and, with such small store of words as 
 
DON SANCHEZ NO WAY ABASHED. 311 
 
 he possessed, aided by plentiful gesture, he enters into a 
 very lively debate with him, the upshot of which was that 
 the captain tells him he shall start the next morning at 
 daybreak if there be but a puff of air, and agrees to carry 
 him to Alger for a couple of pieces (upon which they clap 
 hands), as Dawson, in high glee, informs us on his return. 
 
 "And now, Kit," says he, "I must go back to Elche to 
 borrow those same two pieces of Don Sanchez, so I pray 
 you, Madam, excuse me." 
 
 But just then the train of mules from Elche appears, and 
 with them Sidi ben Ahmed, who, having information of 
 Mrs. Godwin coming, brings a litter for her carriage, at 
 the same time begging her to accept his hospitality as the 
 true friend of her niece Moll. So we all return to Elche 
 together, and none so downcast as I at the thought of losing 
 my friend, and speculating on the mischances that might 
 befall him; for I did now begin to regard him as an ill- 
 fated man, whose best intentions brought him nothing but 
 evil and misfortune. 
 
 Being come to Elche, Don Sanchez presented himself to 
 Mrs. Godwin with all the dignity and calm assurance in the 
 world, and though she received him with a very cold, dis- 
 tant demeanour, as being the deepest rascal of us all and 
 the one most to blame, yet it ruffled him never a bit, but 
 he carried himself as if he had never benefited himself a 
 penny by his roguery and at her expense. 
 
 On Dawson asking him for the loan of a couple of 
 pieces and telling his project, the Don drew a very long 
 serious face and tried his utmost to dissuade him from it, 
 so that at first I suspected him of being loath to part with 
 this petty sum; but herein I did him injustice, for, finding 
 
312 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Dawson was by no means to be turned from his purpose, 
 he handed him his purse, advising him the first thing he 
 did on arriving at Alger to present himself to the Dey and 
 purchase a firman, giving him protection during his stay 
 in Barbary (which he said might be done for a few silver 
 ducats). Then, after discussing apart with Sidi, he comes 
 to Mrs. Godwin, and says he : 
 
 " Madam, with your sanction my friend Sidi ben Ahmed 
 will charge Mr. Dawson with a letter to Ali Oukadi, prom- 
 ising to pay him the sum of three thousand gold ducats 
 upon your niece being safely conducted hither within the 
 space of three weeks." 
 
 "Sefior," answers she, "I thank Sidi ben Ahmed very 
 deeply and you also," adds she, overcoming her com- 
 punctions, " for this offer. But unhappily, I cannot hope 
 to have this sum of money in so short a time." 
 
 "It is needless to say, Madam," returns he, with a 
 scrape, "that in making this proposal I have considered 
 of that difficulty; my friend has agreed to take my bond 
 for the payment of this sum when it shall be convenient to 
 you to discharge it." 
 
 Mrs. Godwin accepted this arrangement with a profound 
 bow, which concealed the astonishment it occasioned her. 
 But she drew a long breath, and I perceived she cast a 
 curious glance at all three of us, as if she were marvelling 
 at the change that must have taken place in civilised 
 countries since her absence, which should account for a 
 pack of thieves nowadays being so very unlike what a 
 pack of thieves was in her young days. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 ffow we hear MoWs sweet voice through the walls of her prison, and 
 speak two words with her, though almost to our undoing. 
 
 HAVING written his letter, Sidi ben Ahmed proposed 
 that Mrs. Godwin should await the return of Moll before 
 setting out for England, very graciously offering her the 
 hospitality of his house meanwhile, and this offer she 
 willingly accepted. And now, there being no reason for my 
 staying in Elche, Dawson gladly agreed I should accom- 
 pany him, the more so as I knew more of the Moors' lan- 
 guage than he. Going down with us to the water side, 
 Don Sanchez gave us some very good hints for our behav- 
 iour in Barbary, bidding us, above everything, be very 
 careful not to break any of the laws of that country. 
 "For," says he, "I have seen three men hanged there for 
 merely casting a Turk into the sea in a drunken frolic." 
 
 "Be assured, I'll touch nothing but water for my drink," 
 says Dawson, taking this warning to his share. 
 
 "Be careful," continues the Don, "to pay for all you 
 have, and take not so much as an orange from a tree by 
 the wayside without first laying a fleece or two on the 
 ground. I warn you that they, though upright enough 
 amongst themselves, are crafty and treacherous towards 
 strangers, whom they regard as their natural enemies; and 
 they will tempt you to break the law either by provoking 
 a quarrel, or putting you to some unlawful practice, that 
 they may annul your firman and claim you as convicted 
 
314 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 outlaws for their slaves. For stealing a pullet I have seen 
 the flesh beaten off the soles of an English sailor's feet, and 
 he and his companions condemned to slavery for life." 
 
 "I'll lay a dozen fleeces on the ground for every sour 
 orange I may take," says Dawson. "And as for quarrel- 
 ling, a Turk shall pull my nose before ever a curse shall 
 pass my lips." 
 
 With these and other exhortations and promises, we 
 parted, and lying aboard that night, we set sail by daybreak 
 the next morning, having a very fair gale off the land; and 
 no ships in the world being better than these galleys for swift- 
 ness, we made an excellent good passage, so that ere we 
 conceived ourselves half over the voyage, we sighted Alger 
 looking like nothing but a great chalk quarry for the white 
 houses built up the side of the hill. 
 
 We landed at the mole, which is a splendid construc- 
 tion some fifteen hundred feet or thereabouts in length 
 (with the forts), forming a beautiful terrace walk sup- 
 ported by arches, beneath which large, splendid maga- 
 zines, all the most handsome in the world, I think. Thence 
 our captain led us to the Cassanabah, a huge, heavy, 
 square, brick building, surrounded by high, massive walls 
 and defended by a hundred pieces of ordnance, cannons, 
 and mortars, all told. Here the Dey or Bashaw lives with 
 his family, and below are many roomy offices for the dis- 
 charge of business. Our captain takes us into a vast wait- 
 ing-hall where over a hundred Moors were patiently 
 attending an audience of the Dey's minister, and there 
 we also might have lingered the whole day and gone away 
 at night unsatisfied (as many of these Moors do, day after 
 day, but that counts for nothing with these enduring 
 
WE COME INTO BARBARY. 315 
 
 people), but having a hint from our friend we found occa- 
 sion to slip a ducat in the hand of a go-between officer, 
 who straightway led us to his master. Our captain having 
 presented us, with all the usual ceremonies, the grandee 
 takes our letter from Sidi ben Ahmed, reads it, and with- 
 out further ado signs and seals us a trader's pass for 
 twenty-eight days, to end at sunset the day after the festi- 
 val of Ranadal. With this paper we went off in high glee, 
 thinking that twenty-eight hours of safe-conduct would 
 have sufficed us. And so to an eating-house, where we 
 treated our friendly captain to the best, and greasing his 
 palm also for his good services, parted in mighty good 
 humour on both sides. 
 
 By this time it was getting pretty late in the day; never- 
 theless, we burnt with such impatience to be near our dear 
 Moll that we set forth for Thadviir, which lies upon the 
 seacoast about seven English leagues east of Alger. But 
 a cool, refreshing air from the sea and the great joy in 
 our hearts made this journey seem to us the most delight- 
 ful of our lives. And indeed, after passing through the 
 suburbs richly planted with gardens, and crossing the 
 river, on which are many mills, and so coming into the 
 plain of Mettegia, there is such an abundance of sweet 
 odours and lovely fertile views to enchant the senses, that a 
 dull man would be inspirited to a happy, cheerful mood. 
 
 'Twas close upon nine o'clock when we reached the 
 little town, and not a soul to be seen anywhere nor a light 
 in any window, but that troubled us not at all (having pro- 
 vided ourselves with a good store of victuals before quit- 
 ting Alger), for here 'tis as sweet to lie of nights in the open 
 air as in the finest palace elsewhere. Late as it was, how- 
 
3l6 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 ever, we could not dispose ourselves to sleep before we 
 had gone all round the town to satisfy our curiosity. At 
 the further extremity we spied a building looking very 
 majestic in the moonlight, with a large garden about it 
 enclosed with high walls, and deciding that this must be 
 the residence of Ali Oukadi, who, we had learnt, was the 
 most important merchant of these parts, we lay. us down 
 against the wall, and fell asleep, thinking of our dear Moll, 
 who perchance, all unconscious, was lying within. 
 
 Rising at daybreak, for Dawson was mightily uneasy unless 
 we might be breaking the law by sleeping out-of-doors (but 
 there is no cruel law of this sort in Barbary), we washed 
 ourselves very properly at a neighbouring stream, made a 
 meal of dry bread and dates, then, laying our bundles in a 
 secret place whence we might conveniently fetch them, if 
 Ali Oukadi insisted on entertaining us a day or two, we went 
 into the town, and finding, upon enquiry, that this was indeed 
 his palace, as we had surmised, bethought us what to say 
 and how to behave the most civil possible, and so presented 
 ourselves at his gate, stating our business. 
 
 Presently, we were admitted to an outer office, and there 
 received by a very bent, venerable old Moor, who, having 
 greeted us with much ceremony, says, " I am Ali Oukadi. 
 What would you have of me? " 
 
 " My daughter Moll," answers Jack, in an eager, choking 
 voice, offering his letter. The Moor regarded him keenly, 
 and, taking the letter, sits down to study it ; and while he is 
 at this business a young Moor enters, whose name, as we 
 shortly learnt, was Mohand ou Mohand. He was, I take it, 
 about twenty-five or thirty years of age, and as handsome a 
 man of his kind as ever I saw, with wondrous soft dark eyes, 
 
ALI OUKADI WOULD PUT US OFF. 317 
 
 but a cruel mouth and a most high, imperious bearing which, 
 together with his rich clothes and jewels, betokened him a 
 man of quality. Hearing who we were, he saluted us civilly 
 enough ; but there was a flash of enmity in his eyes and a 
 tightening of his lips, which liked me not at all. 
 
 When the elder man had finished the letter, he hands it 
 to the younger, and he having read it in his turn, they fall 
 to discussing it in a low tone, and in a dialect of which not 
 one word was intelligible to us. Finally, Ali Oukadi, rising 
 from his cushions, says gravely, addressing Dawson : 
 
 " I will write without delay to Sidi ben Ahmed in answer 
 to his letter." 
 
 " But my daughter," says Dawson, aghast, and as well as 
 he could in the Moorish tongue. " Am I not to have her? " 
 
 "My friend says nothing here/' answers the old man, 
 regarding the letter, " nothing that would justify my giving 
 her up to you. He says the money shall be paid upon her 
 being brought safe to Elche." 
 
 "Why, your Excellency, I and my comrade here will 
 undertake to carry her safely there. What better guard 
 should a daughter have than her father?" 
 
 "Are you more powerful than the elements? Can you 
 command the tempest? Have you sufficient armament to 
 combat all the enemies that scour the seas? If any accident 
 befall you, what is this promise of payment? Nothing." 
 
 " At least, you will suffer me to make this voyage with my 
 child." 
 
 " I do not purpose to send her to Elche," returned the 
 old man, calmly. " Tis a risk I will not undertake. I 
 have said that when I am paid three thousand ducats, I will 
 give Lala Mollah freedom, and I will keep my word. To 
 
3l8 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 send her to Elche is a charge that does not touch my com- 
 pact. This I will write and tell my friend, Sidi ben Ahmed, 
 and upon his payment and expressed agreement I will render 
 you your daughter. Not before." 
 
 We could say nothing for a while, being so foundered by 
 this reverse ; but at length Dawson says in a piteous voice : 
 
 " At least you will suffer me to see my daughter. Think, 
 if she were yours and you had lost her believing her a 
 while dead " 
 
 Mohand ou Mohand muttered a few words that seemed 
 to fix the old Moor's wavering resolution. 
 
 "I cannot agree to that," says he. "Your daughter is 
 becoming reconciled to her position. To see you would 
 open her wounds afresh to the danger of her life, maybe. 
 Reflect," adds he, laying his hand on the letter, "if this 
 business should come to nought, what could recompense 
 your daughter for the disappointment of those false hopes 
 your meeting would inspire ? It cannot be." 
 
 With this he claps his hands, and a servant, entering at 
 a nod from his master, lifts the hangings for us to go. 
 
 Dawson stammered a few broken words of passionate pro- 
 test, and then breaking down as he perceived the folly of 
 resisting, he dropped his head and suffered me to lead him 
 out. As I saluted the Moors in going, I caught, as I fan- 
 cied, a gleam of triumphant gladness in the dark eyes of 
 Mohand ou Mohand. 
 
 Coming back to the place where we had hid our bun- 
 dles, Dawson cast himself on the ground and gave vent to 
 his passion, declaring he would see his Moll though he 
 should tear the walls down to get at her, and other follies ; 
 but after a time he came to his senses again so that he could 
 
VERY WEARISOME DELAYS. 
 
 reason, and then I persuaded him to have patience, and for- 
 bear from any outburst of violence such as we had been 
 warned against, showing him that certainly Don Sanchez, 
 hearing of our condition, would send the money speedily, 
 and so we should get Moll by fair means instead of losing 
 her (and ourselves) by foul; that after all, 'twas but the 
 delay of a week or so that we had to put up with, and so 
 forth. Then, discussing what we should do next, I offered 
 that we should return to Elche and make our case known 
 rather than trust entirely to Ali Oukadi's promise of writ- 
 ing ; for I did suspect some treacherous design on the part 
 of Mohand ou Mohand, by which Mrs. Godwin failing of 
 her agreement, he might possess himself of Moll ; and this 
 falling in with Dawson's wishes, we set out to return to 
 Alger forthwith. But getting to Alger half-dead with the 
 fatigue of trudging all that distance in the full heat of the 
 day, we learnt to our chagrin that no ship would be sailing 
 to Elche for a fortnight at the least, and all the money we 
 had would not tempt any captain to carry us there ; so here 
 were we cast down again beyond everything for miserable, 
 gloomy apprehensions. 
 
 After spending another day in fruitless endeavour to 
 obtain a passage, nothing would satisfy Dawson's painful, 
 restless spirit but we must return to Thadviir ; so thither we 
 went once more to linger about the palace of Ali Oukadi, in 
 the poor hope that we might see Moll come out to take 
 the air. 
 
 One day as we were standing in the shade of the garden 
 wall, sick and weary with dejection and disappointment, 
 Dawson, of a sudden, starts me from my lethargy by clutch- 
 ing my arm and raising his finger to bid me listen and be 
 
32O A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 silent. Then straining my ear, I caught the distant sound 
 of female voices, but I could distinguish not one from 
 another, though by Dawson's joyous, eager look I perceived 
 he recognised Moll's voice amongst them. They came 
 nearer and nearer, seeking, as I think, the shade of those 
 palm trees which sheltered us. And presently, quite close 
 to us, as if but on the other side of the wall, one struck 
 a lute and began to sing a Moorish song; when she had 
 concluded her melancholy air a voice, as if saddened by the 
 melody, sighed : 
 
 " Ah me ! ah me ! " 
 
 There was no misdoubting that sweet voice : 'twas Moll's. 
 
 Then very softly Dawson begins to whistle her old favour- 
 ite ditty " Hearts will break." Scarce had he finished the 
 refrain when Moll within took it up in a faint trembling 
 voice, but only a bar, to let us know we were heard ; then 
 she fell a-laughing at her maids, who were whispering in 
 alarm, to disguise her purpose ; and so they left that part, 
 as we knew by their voices dying away in the distance. 
 
 " She'll come again," whispers Dawson, feverishly. 
 
 And he was in the right ; for, after we had stood there 
 best part of an hour, we hear Moll again gently humming 
 " Hearts will break," but so low, for fear of being heard by 
 others, that only we who strained so hard to catch a sound 
 could be aware of it. 
 
 " Moll, my love ! " whispers Dawson, as she comes to an 
 end. 
 
 " Dear father ! " answers she, as low. 
 
 " We are here Kit and I. Be comforted, sweet chuck, 
 you shall be free ere long." 
 
 "Shall I climb the wall?" asks she. 
 
FALL ONCE MORE INTO TROUBLE. 321 
 
 "No, no, for God's sake, refrain !" says I, seeing that 
 Jack was half minded to bid her come to him. " You will 
 undo all have patience." 
 
 At this moment other voices came to us from within, call- 
 ing Lala Mollah; and presently the quick witch answers 
 them from a distance, with a laugh, as if she had been 
 playing at catch-who-can. 
 
 Then Dawson and I, turning about, discovered to our 
 consternation AH Oukadi standing quite close beside us, 
 with folded arms and bent brows. 
 
 " You are unwise," says he, in a calm tone. 
 
 " Nay, master," says Jack, piteously. " I did but speak 
 a word to my child." 
 
 " If you understand our tongue," adds I, " you will know 
 that we did but bid her have patience, and wait." 
 
 " Possibly," says he. " Nevertheless, you compel me 
 henceforth to keep her a close prisoner, when I would give 
 her all the liberty possible." 
 
 "Master," says Jack, imploring, "I do pray you not to 
 punish her for my fault. Let her still have the freedom of 
 your garden, and I promise you we will go away this day 
 and return no more until we can purchase her liberty 
 for ever." 
 
 "Good," says the old man, "but mark you keep your 
 promise. Know that 'tis an offence against the law to 
 incite a slave to revolt. I tell you this, not as a threat, for 
 I bear you no ill will, but as a warning to save you from 
 consequences which I may be powerless to avert." 
 
 This did seem to me a hint at some sinister design of 
 Mohand ou Mohand a wild suspicion, maybe, on my 
 part, and yet, as I think, justified by evils yet to come. 
 Y 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Of our bargaining with a Moorish seaman ; and of an English slave. 
 
 WE lost no time, be sure, in going back to Alger, bless- 
 ing God on the way for our escape, and vowing most 
 heartily that we would be led into no future folly, no mat- 
 ter how simple and innocent the temptation might seem. 
 
 And now began again a tedious season of watching on 
 the mole of Alger ; but not to make this business as weari- 
 some to others, I will pass that over and come at once to 
 that joyful, happy morning, when, with but scant hope, 
 looking down upon the deck of a galley entering the port, 
 to our infinite delight and amazement we perceived Rich- 
 ard Godwin waving his hand to us in sign of recognition. 
 Then sure, mad with joy, we would have cast ourselves in 
 the sea had we thereby been able to get to him more 
 quickly. Nor was he much less moved with affection to 
 meet us, and springing on the quai he took us both in his 
 open arms and embraced us. But his first word was of 
 Moll. "My beloved wife? " says he, and could question 
 us no further. 
 
 We told him she was safe, whereat he thanks God most 
 fervently, and how we had spoken with her; and then he 
 tells us of his adventures how on getting Don Sanchez's 
 letter he had started forth at once with such help as Sir 
 Peter Lely generously placed at his disposition, and how 
 coming to Elche, he found Mrs. Godwin there in great 
 
 322 
 
OBTAIN RELEASE OF MOLL. 323 
 
 anxiety because we had not returned, and how Don San- 
 chez, guessing at our case, had procured money from To- 
 ledo to pay Moll's ransom, and did further charter a neutral 
 galley to bring him to Alger which was truly as hand- 
 some a thing as any man could do, be he thief or no thief. 
 All these matters we discussed on our way to the Cassanabah, 
 where Mr. Godwin furnished himself as we had with a 
 trader's permit for twenty-eight days. 
 
 This done, we set out with a team of good mules, and 
 reaching Thadviir about an hour before sundown, we re- 
 paired at once to AH Oukadi's, who received us with much 
 civility, although 'twas clear to see he was yet loath to give 
 up Moll; but the sight of the gold Mr. Godwin laid before 
 him did smooth the creases from his brow (for these Moors 
 love money before anything on earth), and having told it 
 carefully he writes an acknowledgment and fills up a 
 formal sheet of parchment bearing the Dey's seal, which 
 attested that Moll was henceforth a free subject and en- 
 titled to safe-conduct within the confines of the Dey's 
 administration. And having delivered these precious 
 documents into Mr. Godwin's hands, he leaves us for a 
 little space and then returns leading dear Moll by the hand. 
 And she, not yet apprised of her circumstances, seeing her 
 husband with us, gives a shrill cry, and like to faint with 
 happiness totters forward and falls in his ready arms. 
 
 I will not attempt to tell further of this meeting and our 
 passionate, fond embraces, for 'twas past all description; 
 only in the midst of our joy I perceived that Mohand ou 
 Mohand had entered the room and stood there, a silent 
 spectator of Moll's tender yielding to her husband's ca- 
 resses, his nostrils pinched, and his jaundiced face overcast 
 
324 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 with a wicked look of mortification and envy. And Moll 
 seeing him, paled a little, drawing closer to her husband; 
 for, as I learnt later on, and 'twas no more than I had 
 guessed, he had paid her most assiduous attentions from 
 the first moment he saw her, and had gone so far as to 
 swear by Mahomet that death alone should end his burning 
 passion to possess her. And I observed that when we 
 parted, and Moll in common civility offered him her hand, 
 he muttered some oath as he raised it to his lips. 
 
 Declining as civilly as we might Ali Oukadi's tender of 
 hospitality, we rested that night at the large inn or cara- 
 vansary, and I do think that the joy of Moll and her hus- 
 band lying once more within each other's arms was scarcely 
 less than we felt, Dawson and I, at this happy ending of 
 our long tribulations; but one thing it is safe to say, we 
 slept as sound as they. 
 
 And how gay were we when we set forth the next morn- 
 ing for Alger Moll's eyes twinkling like stars for happi- 
 ness, and her cheeks all pink with blushes like any new 
 bride, her husband with not less pride than passion in his 
 noble countenance, and Dawson and I as blithe and jolly 
 as schoolboys on a holiday. For now had Moll by this act 
 of heroism and devotion redeemed not only herself, but us 
 also, and there was no further reason for concealment or 
 deceit, but all might be themselves and fear no man. 
 
 Thus did joy beguile us into a false sense of security. 
 
 Coming to Alger about midday, we were greatly surprised 
 to find that the sail chartered by Don Sanchez was no 
 longer in the port, and the reason of this we presently 
 learnt was that the Dey, having information of a descent 
 being about to be made upon the town by the British fleet 
 
STILL IN GREAT JEOPARDY. 32$ 
 
 at Tangier, he had commanded, the night before, all alien 
 ships to be gone from the port by daybreak. This put us 
 to a quake, for in view of this descent not one single 
 Algerine would venture to put to sea for all the money 
 Mr. Godwin could offer or promise. So here we were 
 forced to stay in trepidation and doubt as to how we, being 
 English, might fare if the town should be bombarded as 
 we expected, and never did we wish our own countrymen 
 further. Only our Moll and her husband did seem careless 
 in their happiness; for so they might die in each other's 
 arms, I do think they would have faced death with a smile 
 upon their faces. 
 
 However, a week passing, and no sign of any English 
 flag upon the seas, the public apprehension subsided; and 
 now we began very seriously to compass our return to Elche, 
 our trader's passes (that is, Dawson's and mine) being run 
 out within a week, and we knowing full well that we should 
 not get them renewed after this late menace of an English 
 attack upon the town. So, one after the other, we tried 
 every captain in the port, but all to no purpose. And one 
 of these did openly tell me the Dey had forbidden any 
 stranger to be carried out of the town, on pain of having 
 his vessel confiscated and being bastinadoed to his last 
 endurance. 
 
 "And so," says he, lifting his voice, "if you offered 
 me all the gold in the world, I would not carry you a 
 furlong hence." But at the same time, turning his back 
 on a janizary who stood hard by, he gave me a most 
 significant wink and a little beck, as if I were to follow 
 him presently. 
 
 And this I did as soon as the janizary was gone, follow* 
 
326 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 ing him at a distance through the town and out into the 
 suburbs, at an idle, sauntering gait. When we had got out 
 beyond the houses, to the side of the river I have men- 
 tioned, he sits him down on the bank, and I, coming up, 
 sit down beside him as if for a passing chat. Then he, 
 having glanced to the right and left, to make sure we were 
 not observed, asks me what we would give to be taken to 
 Elche; and I answered that we would give him his price 
 so we could be conveyed shortly. 
 
 "When would you go? " asks he. 
 
 "Why," says I, "our passes expire at sundown after the 
 day of Ramadah, so we must get hence, by hook or by 
 crook, before that." 
 
 "That falls as pat as I would have it," returns he (but 
 not in these words), "for all the world will be up at the 
 Cassanabah on that day, to the feast the Dey gives to honour 
 his son's coming of age. Moreover, the moon by then 
 will not rise before two in the morning. So all being in 
 our favour, I'm minded to venture on this business. But 
 you must understand that 'I dare not take you aboard in the 
 port, where I must make a pretence of going out a-fishing 
 with my three sons, and give the janizaries good assurance 
 that no one else is aboard, that I may not fall into trouble 
 on my return." 
 
 "That's reasonable enough," says I, "but where will you 
 take us aboard? " 
 
 "I'll show you," returns he, "if you will stroll down 
 this bank with me, for my sons and I have discussed this 
 matter ever since we heard you were seeking a ship for this 
 project, and we have it all cut and dried properly." 
 
 So up we get and saunter along the bank leisurely, till we 
 
OFFER OF A FAIR-SPOKEN MOOR. 
 
 reached a part where the river spreads out very broad and 
 shallow. 
 
 "You see that rock," says he, nodding at a huge boulder 
 lapped by the incoming sea. " There shall you be at mid- 
 night. We shall lie about a half a mile out to sea, and two 
 of my sons will pull to the shore and take you up; so may 
 all go well and nought be known, if you are commonly 
 secret, for never a soul is seen here after sundown." 
 
 I told him I would consult with my friends and give him 
 our decision the next day, meeting him at this spot. 
 
 "Good," says he, "and ere you decide, you may cast an 
 eye at my ship, which you shall know by a white moon 
 painted on her beam; 'tis as fast a ship as any that sails 
 from Alger, though she carry but one mast, and so be we 
 agree to this venture, you shall find the cabin fitted for 
 your lady and everything for your comfort." 
 
 On this we separated presently, and I, joining my 
 friends at our inn, laid the matter before them. There 
 being still some light, we then went forth on the mole, 
 and there we quickly spied the White Moon, which, though 
 a small craft, looked very clean, and with a fair cabin 
 house, built up in the Moorish fashion upon the stern. 
 And here, sitting down, we all agreed to accept this offer, 
 Mr. Godwin being not less eager for the venture than we, 
 who had so much more to dread by letting it slip, though 
 his pass had yet a fortnight to run. 
 
 So the next day I repaired to the rock, and meeting Haroun 
 (as he was called), I closed with him, and put a couple of 
 ducats in his hand for earnest money. 
 
 "'Tis well," says he, pocketing the money, after kissing 
 it and looking up to heaven with a " Dill an," which means 
 
328 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 "It is from God." "We will not meet again till the day 
 of Ramadah at midnight, lest we fall under suspicion. 
 Farewell." 
 
 We parted as we did before, he going his way, and I 
 mine; but, looking back by accident before I had gone a 
 couple of hundred yards, I perceived a fellow stealing 
 forth from a thicket of canes that stood in the marshy 
 ground near the spot where I had lately stood with Haroun, 
 and turning again presently, I perceived this man follow- 
 ing in my steps. Then, fairly alarmed, I gradually has- 
 tened my pace (but not so quick neither as to seem to fly), 
 making for the town, where I hoped to escape pursuit in 
 the labyrinth of little, crooked, winding alleys. As I 
 rounded a corner, I perceived him out of the tail of my 
 eye, still following, but now within fifty yards of me, he 
 having run to thus overreach me ; and ere I had turned up 
 a couple of alleys he was on my heels and twitching me by 
 the sleeve. 
 
 " Lord love you, Master," says he, in very good English, 
 but gasping for breath. " Hold hard a moment, for 
 I've a thing or two to say to you as is worth your 
 hearing." 
 
 So I, mightily surprised by these words, stop ; and he see- 
 ing the alley quite empty and deserted, sits down on a door- 
 step, and I do likewise, both of us being spent with our 
 exertions. 
 
 " Was that man you were talking with a little while back 
 named Haroun? " asks he, when he could fetch his breath. 
 I nodded. 
 
 "Did he offer to take you and three others to Elche, 
 aboard a craft called the White Moon?" 
 
DISCOURSE OF AN ENGLISH SLAVE. 329 
 
 I nodded again, astonished at his information, for we had 
 not discussed our design to-day, Haroun and I. 
 
 " Did he offer to carry you off in a boat to his craft from 
 the rock on the mouth? " 
 
 Once more I nodded. 
 
 " Can you guess what will happen if you agree to this? " 
 
 Now I shook my head. 
 
 "The villain," says he, "will run you on a shoal, and 
 there will he be overhauled by the janizaries, and you be 
 carried prisoners back to Alger. Your freedom will be for- 
 feited, and you will be sold for slaves. And that's not all," 
 adds he ; " the lass you have with you will be taken from 
 you and given to Mohand ou Mohand, who has laid this 
 trap for your destruction and the gratification of his lust." 
 
 I fell a-shaking only to think of this crowning calamity, 
 and could only utter broken, unintelligible sounds to ex- 
 press my gratitude for this warning. 
 
 " Listen, Master, if you cannot speak," said he ; " for I 
 must quit you in a few minutes, or get my soles thrashed 
 when I return home. What I have told you is true, as 
 there is a God in heaven ; 'twas overheard by my comrade, 
 who is a slave in Mohand's household. If you escape this 
 trap, you will fall in another, for there is no bounds to 
 Mohand's devilish cunning. I say, if you stay here you 
 are doomed to share our miserable lot, by one device or 
 another. But I will show you how you may turn the 
 tables on this villain, and get to a Christian country ere 
 you are a week older, if you have but one spark of courage 
 amongst you." 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Of our escape from Barbary, of the pursuit and horrid, fearful slaugh- 
 ter that followed, together with other moving circumstances. 
 
 So Groves, as my man was named, told me how he and 
 eight other poor Englishmen, sharing the same bagnio, had 
 endured the hardships and misery of slavery, some for thir- 
 teen, and none less than seven, years ; how for three years 
 they had been working a secret tunnel by which they could 
 escape from their bagnio (in which they were locked up 
 every night at sundown) at any moment ; how for six 
 months, since the completion of their tunnel, they had been 
 watching a favourable opportunity to seize a ship and make 
 good their escape (seven of them being mariners); and how 
 now they were, by tedious suspense, wrought to such a pitch 
 of desperation that they were ripe for any means of winning 
 their freedom. " And here," says he, in conclusion, " hath 
 merciful Providence given us the power to save not only 
 ourselves from this accursed bondage, but you, also, if you 
 are minded to join us." 
 
 Asking him how he proposed to accomplish this end, 
 he replies : 
 
 " Tis as easy as kiss your hand. First, do you accept 
 Haroun's offer?" 
 
 "I have," says I. 
 
 "Good ! " says he, rubbing his hands, and speaking thick 
 with joy. " You may be sure that Mohand will suffer no 
 
 330 
 
JOE GROVES, HIS DEVICE. 331 
 
 one to interfere with your getting aboard, to the achieve- 
 ment of his design. When is it to be?" 
 
 I hesitated a moment, lest I should fall into another 
 trap, trying to escape from the first ; but, seeing he was an 
 Englishman, I would not believe him capable of playing into 
 the Turks' hands for our undoing, and so I told him our 
 business was for midnight on the feast of Ramadah. 
 
 " Sure, nought but Providence could have ordered matters 
 so well," says he, doubling himself up, as if unable to control 
 his joy. "We shall be there, we nine sturdy men. Some 
 shall hide in the canes, and others behind the rock ; and 
 when Haroun rows to shore, four of us will get into his boat 
 (muffled up as you would be to escape detection), and as 
 soon as they lay themselves to their oars, their business 
 shall be settled." 
 
 "As how?" asks I, shrinking (as ever) from deeds of 
 violence. 
 
 "Leave that to us; but be assured they shall not raise 
 a cry that shall fright your lady. Oh, we know the use 
 of a bow-string as well as any Turk amongst them. We 
 have that to thank 'em for. Well, these two being de- 
 spatched, we return to shore, and two more of our men 
 will get in ; then we four to the felucca, and there boarding, 
 we serve the others as we served the first two; so back 
 comes one of us to fetch off our other comrades and you 
 four. Then, all being aboard, we cut our cable, up with 
 our sail, and by the time Mohand comes, in the morning, 
 to seek his game on the sand-bank, we shall be half way to 
 Elche, and farther, if Providence do keep pace with this 
 happy beginning. What say you, friend? " adds he, noting 
 my reflective mood. 
 
33 2 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 Then I frankly confessed that I would have some assur- 
 ance of his honesty. 
 
 " I can give you none, Master," says he, " but the word 
 of a good Yorkshireman. Surely, you may trust me as I 
 trust you ; for 'tis in your power to reveal all to Haroun, 
 and so bring us all to the galleys. Have you no faith in 
 a poor broken Englishman? " 
 
 "Yes," says I ; " I'll trust you." 
 
 Then we rose, clapping hands, and he left me, with tears 
 of gratitude and joy in his eyes. Telling my friends I had 
 something of a secret nature to impart, we went out to the 
 end of the mole, where we were secure from eavesdroppers, 
 and there I laid the whole story before them, whereupon 
 we fell debating what we should do, looking at this matter 
 from every side, with a view to our security; but, slavery 
 lying before us, and no better means of escaping it coming 
 to our minds, we did at last unanimously agree to trust Joe 
 Groves rather than Haroun. 
 
 The next day there fell a great deluge of rain, and the 
 morrow being the feast of Ramadah, we regarded this as 
 highly favourable to our escape ; for here when rain falls it 
 ceases not for forty-eight hours, and thus might we count 
 upon the aid of darkness. And that evening as we were re- 
 garding some merchandise in a bazaar, a fellow sidles up 
 to me, and whispers (fingering a piece of cloth as if he were 
 minded to buy it): 
 
 "Does all go well?" 
 
 Then perceiving this was Joe Groves, I answered in the 
 same manner : 
 
 "All goes well." 
 
 "To-morrow at midnight? " 
 
DESPERATE DOINGS. 333 
 
 " To-morrow at midnight," I return. Upon which, cast- 
 ing down the cloth, he goes away without further sign. 
 
 And now comes in the feast of Ramadah with a heavy, 
 steady downpour of rain all day, and no sign of ceasing at 
 sundown, which greatly contented us. About ten, the house 
 we lodged in being quite still, and our fear of accident 
 pressing us to depart, we crept silently out into the street 
 without let or hindrance (though I warrant some spy of 
 Mohand's was watching to carry information of our flight to 
 his master), and so through the narrow deserted alleys to 
 the outskirts of the town, and thence by the river side to the 
 great rock, with only just so much light as enabled us to 
 hang together, and no more. And I do believe we should 
 have floundered into the river o' one side of the marsh of 
 canes or t'other, but that having gone over this road the 
 last time with the thought that it might lead us to liberty, 
 every object by the way impressed itself upon my mind 
 most astonishingly. 
 
 Here under this rock stood we above an hour with no 
 sound but the beating of the rain, and the lap of the water 
 running in from the sea. Then, as it might be about half- 
 past eleven, a voice close beside us (which I knew for Joe 
 Groves, though I could see no one but us four, Jack by my 
 side, and Moll bound close to her husband) says : 
 
 "All goes well?" 
 
 " Yes, all goes well," says I ; whereupon he gives a cry like 
 the croak of a frog, and his comrades steal up almost unseen 
 and unheard, save that each as he came whispered his name, 
 as Spinks, Davis, Lee, Best, etc., till their number was all told. 
 Then Groves, who was clearly chosen their captain, calls 
 Spinks, Lee, and Best to stand with him, and bids the others 
 
334 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 and us to stand back against the canes till we are called. 
 So we do his bidding, and fall back to the growth of 
 canes, whence we could but dimly make out the mass of 
 the rock for the darkness, and there waited breathless, lis- 
 tening for the sound of oars. But these Moors, for a bet- 
 ter pretence of secrecy, had muffled their oars, so that we 
 knew not they were at hand until we heard Haroun's voice 
 speaking low. 
 
 " Englishmen, are you there ? " asks he. 
 
 "Aye, we four," whispers Groves, in reply. 
 
 Then we hear them wade into the water and get into the 
 boat with whispering of Haroun where they are to dispose 
 themselves, and so forth. After that silence for about ten 
 minutes, and no sound but the ceaseless rain until we next 
 hear Groves' voice. 
 
 " Davis, Negus," whispers he, on which two of our num- 
 ber leave us and go out to the boat to replace Haroun and 
 that other Moor, who, in the manner of the Turks, had been 
 strangled and cast overboard. 
 
 And now follows a much longer period of silence, but at 
 length that comes to an end, and we hear Groves' voice 
 again whispering us to come. At the first sound of his voice 
 his three comrades rush forward ; but Groves, recognising 
 them, says hoarsely, " Back, every one of you but those I 
 called, or I'll brain you ! There's room but for six in the boat, 
 and those who helped us shall go first, as I ordered. The 
 rest must wait their time." 
 
 So these fellows, who would have ousted us, give way, 
 grumbling, and Mr. Godwin carrying Moll to the boat, Daw- 
 son and I wade in after him, and so, with great gratitude, 
 take our places as Groves directs. We being in, he and his 
 
PURSUED BY A GALLEY. 335 
 
 mate lay to their oars, and pull out to the felucca, guided 
 by the lanthorn on her bulwarks. 
 
 Having put us aboard safely, Groves and his mate fetch 
 the three fellows that remained ashore, and now all being 
 embarked, they abandon the small boat, slip the anchor, 
 and get out their long sweeps, all in desperate haste ; for 
 that absence of wind, which I at first took to be a blessing, 
 appeared now to be a curse, and our main hope of escape 
 lay in pulling far out to sea before Mohand discovered the 
 trick put upon him, and gave chase. All night long we 
 toiled with most savage energy, dividing our number into 
 two batches, so that one might go to the oars as the other 
 tired, turn and turn about. Not one of us but did his 
 utmost nay, even Moll would stand by her husband, and 
 strain like any man at this work. But for all our labour, 
 Alger was yet in sight when the break of day gave us light 
 to see it. Then was every eye searching the waters for 
 sign of a sail, be it to save or to undo us. Sail saw we none, 
 but about nine o'clock Groves, scanning the waters over 
 against Alger, perceived something which he took to be a 
 galley ; nor were we kept long in uncertainty, for by ten it 
 was obvious to us all, showing that it had gained considerably 
 upon us in spite of our frantic exertions, which convinced us 
 that this was Mohand, and that he had discovered us with 
 the help of a spy-glass, maybe. 
 
 At the prospect of being overtaken and carried back to 
 slavery, a sort of madness possessed those at the oars, the 
 first oar pulling with such a fury of violence that it snapped 
 at the rowlock, and was of no further use. Still we made 
 good progress, but what could we with three oars do against 
 the galley which maybe was mounted with a dozen ? Some 
 
33^ A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 were for cutting down the mast and throwing spars, sails, 
 and every useless thing overboard to lighten our ship, but 
 Groves would not hear of this, seeing by a slant in the 
 rain that a breeze was to be expected ; and surely enough, 
 the rain presently smote us on the cheek smartly, where- 
 upon Groves ran up our sail, which, to our infinite delight, 
 did presently swell out fairly, careening us so that the oar 
 on t'other side was useless. 
 
 But that which favoured us favoured also our enemies, 
 and shortly after we saw two sails go up to match our one. 
 Then Groves called a council of us and his felloVs, and his 
 advice was this : that ere the galley drew nigh enough for 
 our number to be sighted, he and his fellows should bestow 
 themselves away in the stern cabin, and lie there with such 
 arms of knives and spikes as they had brought with them 
 ready to their hands, and that, on Mohand boarding us 
 with his men, we four should retire towards the cabin, 
 when he and his comrades would spring forth and fight 
 every man to the death for freedom. And he held out 
 good promise of a successful issue. " For," says he, "know- 
 ing you four " (meaning us) " are unarmed, 'tis not likely he 
 will have furnished himself with any great force ; and as 
 his main purpose is to possess this lady, he will not suffer 
 his men to use their firepieces to the risk of her de- 
 struction ; therefore," adds he, " if you have the stomach 
 for your part of this business, which is but to hold the 
 helm as I direct, all must go well. But for the lady, if 
 she hath any fear, we may find a place in the cabin for 
 her." 
 
 This proposal was accepted by all with gladness, except 
 Moll, who would on no account leave her husband's side ; 
 
BOARDED BY THE MOORS. 337 
 
 but had he not been there, I believe she would have been 
 the last aboard to feel fear, or play a cowardly part. 
 
 So without further parley, the fellows crept into the little 
 cabin, each fingering his naked weapon, which made me 
 feel very sick with apprehension of bloodshed. 
 
 The air of wind freshening, we kept on at a spanking rate 
 for another hour, Groves lying on the deck with his eyes 
 just over the bulwarks and giving orders to Dawson and me, 
 who kept the helm ; then the galley, being within a quarter 
 of a mile of us, fired a shot as a signal to us to haul down 
 our sail, and this having no effect, he soon after fires another, 
 which, striking us in the stem, sent great splinters flying up 
 from the bulwarks there. 
 
 " Hold her helm, stiff," whispers Groves, and then he backs 
 cautiously into the cabin without rising from his belly, for 
 the men aboard the galley were now clearly distinguishable. 
 
 Presently bang goes another gun, and the same moment, 
 its shot taking our mast a yard or so above the deck, our 
 lateen falls over upon the water with a great slap, and so are 
 we brought to at once. 
 
 Dropping her sail, the galley sweeps up alongside us, and 
 casting out divers hooks and tackle they held ready for their 
 purpose, they grappled us securely. My heart sank within 
 me as I perceived the number of our enemies, thirty or forty, 
 as I reckon (but happily not above half a dozen armed 
 men), and Mohand ou Mohand amongst them with a scimi- 
 tar in his hand ; for now I foresaw the carnage which must 
 ensue when we were boarded. 
 
 Mohand ou Mohand was the first to spring upon our deck, 
 and behind came his janizaries and half a score of seamen. 
 We four, Mr. Godwin holding Moll's hand in his, stood in 
 z 
 
33$ A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 a group betwixt Mohand and his men and the cabin where 
 Joe Groves lay with his fellows, biding his time. One of the 
 janizaries was drawing his scimitar, but Mohand bade him 
 put it up, and making an obeisance to Moll, he told us we 
 should suffer no hurt if we surrendered peaceably. 
 
 "Never, you Turkish thief!" cries Dawson, shaking his 
 fist at him. 
 
 Mohand makes a gesture of regret, and turning to his 
 men tells them to take us, but to use no weapons, since we 
 had none. Then, he himself leading, with his eyes fixed 
 hungrily upon Moll, the rest came on, and we fell back 
 towards the cabin. 
 
 The next instant, with a wild yell of fury, the hidden men 
 burst out of the cabin, and then followed a scene of butch- 
 ery which I pray Heaven it may nevermore be my fate to 
 witness. 
 
 Groves was the first to spill blood. Leaping upon 
 Mohand, he buried a long curved knife right up to the hilt 
 in his neck striking downwards just over the collar bone, 
 and he fell, the blood spurting from his mouth upon the 
 deck. At the same time our men, falling upon the jani- 
 zaries, did most horrid battle nay, 'twas no battle, but 
 sheer butchery ; for these men, being taken so suddenly, 
 had no time to draw their weapons, and could only fly to 
 the fore end of the boat for escape, where, by reason of 
 their number and the narrow confines of the deck, they 
 were so packed and huddled together that none could raise 
 his hand to ward a blow even, and so stood, a writhing, 
 shrieking mass of humanity, to be hacked and stabbed and 
 ripped and cut down to their death. 
 
 And their butchers had no mercy. They could think 
 
THE END OF THAT BUSINESS. 339 
 
 only of their past wrongs, and of satiating the thirst for 
 vengeance, which had grown to a madness by previous 
 restraint. 
 
 "There's for thirteen years of misery," cries one, driving 
 his spike into the heart of one. " Take that for hanging of 
 my brother," screams a second, cleaving a Moor's skull with 
 his hatchet. " Quits for turning an honest lad into a devil," 
 calls a third, drawing his knife across the throat of a shriek- 
 ing wretch, and so forth, till not one of all the crowd was left 
 to murder. 
 
 Then still devoured by their lust for blood, they swarmed 
 over the side of the galley to finish this massacre Groves 
 leading with a shout of " No quarter," and all echoing these 
 words with a roar of joy. But here they were met with some 
 sort of resistance, for the Moors aboard, seeing the fate of 
 their comrades, forewarning them of theirs, had turned their 
 swivel gun about and now fired the ball carrying off the 
 head of Joe Groves, the best man of all that crew, if one 
 were better than another. But this only served to incense 
 the rest the more, and so they went at their cruel work 
 again, and ceased not till the last of their enemies was dead. 
 Then, with a wild hurrah, they signal their triumph, and 
 one fellow, holding up his bloody hands, smears them over 
 his face with a devilish scream of laughter. 
 
 And now, caring no more for us or what might befall us, 
 than for the Turks who lay all mangled on our deck, one 
 cuts away the tackle that lashes their galley to us, while the 
 rest haul up the sail, and so they go their way, leaving us 
 to shift for ourselves. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 How Dawson counts himself an unlucky man who were best dead ; and 
 so he quits us, and /, the reader. 
 
 THE galley bent over to the wind and sped away, and I 
 watched her go without regret, not thinking of our own hap- 
 less condition, but only of the brutal ferocity of that mad 
 crew aboard her. 
 
 Their shouts of joy and diabolical laughter died away, 
 and there was no sound but the lapping of the waves against 
 the felucca's side. They had done their work thoroughly ; 
 not a moan arose from the heaps of butchered men, not a 
 limb moved, but all were rigid, some lying in grotesque 
 postures as the death agony had drawn them. And after 
 the tumult that had prevailed this stillness of death was 
 terrific. From looking over this ghastly picture I turned 
 and clutched at Dawson's hand for some comforting sense 
 of life and humanity. 
 
 We were startled at this moment by a light laugh from 
 the cabin, whither Mr. Godwin had carried Moll, fainting 
 with the horror of this bloody business, and going in there 
 we found her now lying in a little crib, light-headed, 
 clean out of her wits indeed, for she fancied herself on 
 the dusty road to Valencia, taking her first lesson in the 
 fandango from Don Sanchez. Mr. Godwin knelt by the 
 cot side, with his arm supporting her head, and soothing 
 her the best he could. We found a little cask of water 
 
 340 
 
WE SPRING A LEAK. 341 
 
 and a cup, that he might give her drink, and then, seeing 
 we could be of no further service, Dawson and I went from 
 the cabin, our thoughts awaking now to the peril of our 
 position, without sail in mid-sea. 
 
 And first we cast our eyes all round about the sea, but 
 we could descry no sail save the galley (and that at a great 
 distance), nor any sign of land. Next, casting our eyes 
 upon the deck, we perceived that the thick stream of blood 
 that lay along that side bent over by the broken mast, was 
 greatly spread, and not so black, but redder, which was 
 only to be explained by the mingling of water; and this 
 was our first notice that the felucca was filling and we 
 going down. 
 
 Recovering presently from the stupor into which this 
 suspicion threw us, we pulled up a hatch, and looking down 
 into the hold perceived that this was indeed true, a pun- 
 cheon floating on the water there within arms' reach. 
 Thence, making our way quickly over the dead bodies, 
 which failed now to terrify us, to the fore part of our fe- 
 lucca, we discovered that the shot which had hit us had 
 started a plank, and that the water leaked in with every lap 
 of a wave. So now, our wits quickened by our peril, we took 
 a scimitar and a dirk from a dead janizary, to cut away the 
 cordage that lashed us to the fallen mast, to free us of that 
 burden and right the ship if we might. But ere we did 
 this, Dawson, spying the great sail lying out on the water, 
 bethought him to hack out a great sheet as far as we could 
 reach, and this he took to lay over the started plank and 
 staunch the leakage, while I severed the tackle and freed 
 us from the great weight of the hanging mast and long 
 spar. And certainly we thought ourselves safe when this 
 
342 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 was done, for the hull lifted at once and righted itself upon 
 the water. Nevertheless, we were not easy, for we knew 
 not what other planks below the water line were injured, 
 nor how to sink our sheet or bind it over the faulty 
 part. So, still further to lighten us, we mastered our 
 qualms and set to work casting the dead bodies overboard. 
 This horrid business, at another time, would have made me 
 sick as any dog, but there was no time to yield to mawkish 
 susceptibilities in the face of such danger as menaced 
 us. Only when all was done, I did feel very weakened 
 and shaky, and my gorge rising at the look of my jerkin, 
 all filthy with clotted blood, I tore it off and cast it in the 
 sea, as also did Dawson; and so, to turn our thoughts 
 (after washing of our hands and cleaning our feet), we 
 looked over the side, and agreed that we were no lower 
 than we were, but rather higher for having lightened our 
 burden. But no sail anywhere on the wide sea to add to 
 our comfort. 
 
 Going into the cabin, we found that our dear Moll had 
 fallen into a sleep, but was yet very feverish, as we could 
 see by her frequent turning, her sudden starts, and the 
 dreamy, vacant look in her eyes, when she opened them 
 and begged for water. We would not add to Mr. Godwin's 
 trouble by telling him of ours (our minds being still rest- 
 less with apprehensions of the leak), but searching about, 
 and discovering two small, dry loaves, we gave him one, 
 and took the other to divide betwixt us, Dawson and I. 
 And truly we needed this refreshment (as our feeble, shaking 
 limbs testified), after all our exertions of the night and day 
 (it being now high noon), having eaten nothing since sup- 
 per the night before. But, famished as we were, we must 
 
PERCEIVE WE ARE FOUNDERING. 343 
 
 needs steal to the side and look over to mark where the 
 water rose; and neither of us dared say the hull was no 
 lower, for we perceived full well it had sunk somewhat in 
 the last hour. 
 
 Jack took a bite of his loaf, and offered me the rest, 
 saying he had no stomach for food; but I could not eat my 
 own, and so we thrust the bread in our breeches pockets 
 and set to work, heaving everything overboard that might 
 lighten us, and for ever a-straining our eyes to sight a ship. 
 Then we set to devising means to make the sheet cling over 
 the damaged planks, but to little purpose, and so Dawson 
 essayed to get at it from the inside by going below, but the 
 water was risen so high there was no room between it and 
 the deck to breathe, and so again to wedging the canvas in 
 from the outside till the sun sank. And by that time the 
 water was beginning to lap up through the hatchway. Then 
 no longer able to blink the truth, Jack turns to me and asks : 
 
 " How long shall we last? " 
 
 "Why," says I, "we have sunk no more than a foot 
 these last six hours, and at this slow pace we may well last 
 out eight or nine more ere the water comes over the bul- 
 warks." 
 
 He shook his head ruefully, and, pointing to a sluice 
 hole in the side, said he judged it must be all over with 
 us when the water entered there. 
 
 "Why, in that case," says I, "let us find something to 
 fill the sluice hole." 
 
 So having nothing left on deck, we went into the cabin on 
 a pretence of seeing how Moll fared, and Jack sneaked away 
 an old jacket and I a stone bottle, and with these we stopped 
 the sluice hole the best we could. 
 
344 A SET OF ROGUES. 
 
 By the time we had made a job of this 'twas quite dark, 
 and having nothing more to do but to await the end, we 
 stood side by side, too dejected to speak for some time, 
 thinking of the cruelty of fate which rescued us from one 
 evil only to plunge us in a worse. At length, Jack fell to 
 talking in a low tone of his past life, showing how things had 
 ever gone ill with him and those he loved. 
 
 " I think," says he in conclusion, " I am an unlucky man, 
 Kit. One of those who are born to be a curse against their 
 will to others rather than a blessing." 
 
 "Fie, Jack," says I, " 'tis an idle superstition." 
 
 " Nay," says he, " I am convinced 'tis the truth. Not 
 one of us here but would have been the happier had I died 
 a dozen years ago. 'Tis all through me that we drown 
 to-night." 
 
 " Nay, 'tis a blessing that we die all together, and none 
 left to mourn." 
 
 " That may be for you and me who have lived the best 
 years of our life, but for those in there but just tasting the 
 sweets of life, with years of joy unspent, 'tis another matter." 
 
 Then we were silent for a while, till feeling the water lav- 
 ing my feet, I asked if we should not now tell Mr. Godwin 
 of our condition. 
 
 " 'Twas in my mind, Kit," answers he "I will send him 
 out to you." 
 
 He went into the cabin, and Mr. Godwin coming out, 
 I showed him our state. But 'twas no surprise to him. 
 Only, it being now about three in the morning, and the 
 moon risen fair and full in the heavens, he casts his eyes 
 along the silver path on the water in the hope of rescue, 
 and finding none, he grasps my hand and says : 
 
JACK DAWSON, HIS END. 345 
 
 " God's will be done ! Tis a mercy that my dear love is 
 spared this last terror. Our pain will not be long." 
 
 A shaft of moonlight entered the cabin, and there we per- 
 ceived Dawson kneeling by the crib, with his head laid upon 
 the pillow beside his daughter. 
 
 He rose and came out without again turning to look on 
 Moll, and Mr. Godwin took his place. 
 
 " I feel more happy, Kit," says Jack, laying his hand upon 
 my shoulder. " I do think God will be merciful to us." 
 
 " Aye, surely," says I, wilfully mistaking his meaning. " I 
 think the water hath risen no higher this last hour." 
 
 " I'll see how our sheet hangs ; do you look if the water 
 comes in yet at the sluice hole." 
 
 And so, giving my arm a squeeze as he slips his hand 
 from my shoulder, he went to the fore part of the vessel, 
 while I crossed to the sluice hole, where the water was 
 spurting through a chink. 
 
 I rose after jamming the jacket to staunch the leak, and 
 turning towards Jack I perceived him standing by the bulwark, 
 with the moon beyond. And the next moment he was gone. 
 And so ended the life of this poor, loving, unlucky man. 
 
 I know not whether it was this lightening of our burden, 
 or whether at that time some accident of a fold in the sail 
 sucking into the leaking planks, stayed the further ingress of 
 waters, but certain it is that after this we sank no deeper to 
 any perceptible degree ; and so it came about that we were 
 sighted by a fishing-boat from Carthagena, a little after day- 
 break, and were saved we three who were left. 
 
346 A SET OF ROGUES, 
 
 I have spent the last week at Hurst Court, where Moll 
 and her husband have lived ever since Lady Godwin's 
 death. They are making of hay in the meadows there ; 
 and 'twas sweet to see Moll and her husband, with their 
 two boys, cocking the sweet grass. And all very merry at 
 supper j only one sad memory cast me down as I thought 
 of poor Jack, sorrowing to think he could not see the 
 happiness which, as much as our past troubles, was due 
 to him. 
 
 THE END. 
 
WORKS BY S. R. CROCKETT. 
 
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 THE RAIDERS. 
 
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WORKS BY ROLF BOLDREWOOD. 
 
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 We have nothing but praise for this story. Of adventure .01 the most 
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 this. The characters are drawn with great skill. Everyone of the gang of 
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 of fortis Gyas fortisque Cloanthus, but genuine men. The father, a sturdy 
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 poor " Jim,' 1 his brother, a simple, lovable fellow who might have gone straight 
 under happier circumstances ; Starlight, a gentleman by birth and education, 
 who has a strange story behind him in the Old Country ; and, lastly, the half- 
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 literary force. Spectator. 
 
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 here and again. . . . The various types of humanity that strut, or in those 
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 gold-field, are capitally touched in, for Mr. Boldrewood can draw a man as 
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 but chiefly in the form of novels, and good novels they are too. The Austra- 
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 there are among the characters examples of the various adventurers and 
 rogues that infest new countries, which recall pur early California days. 
 Whoever wants to know how they live in Australia will have the want sup- 
 plied. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 
 
 One of the most interesting books about Australia we have ever read. 
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 there is no better reading than the adventurous parts of his books. Saturday 
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