UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES With lingering steps, Blanche and Albert slowly returned to Rose Croft. Page 271. Frontispiece. Rob of the Bowl. Rob of the Bowl A LEGEND OF ST. INIGOE'S A Story of the Early Days of Maryland By JOHN P.JCENNEDY Author of " Horseshoe Robinson." With Four Page Illustrations By J. WATSON DAVIS A. L. BURT COMPANY, ^ ^ ^ & * # PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK c, (U D JS PREFACE. THE tale related in the following pages refers to a period in the history of Maryland, which has here- l\ tofore been involved in great obscurity, many of the most important records connected with it having been lost to public inspection in forgotten reposi tories, .where they have crumbled away under the touch of time. To the persevering research of the accomplished Librarian of the State a gentleman ^ whose dauntless, antiquarian zeal and liberal scholar- :> ship are only surpassed by the enlightened judgment with which he discharges the functions of his office we are indebted for the rescue of the remnant of these memorials of by-gone days, from the oblivion to which the carelessness of former generations had consigned them. Many were irrecoverable; and it was the fate of the gentleman referred to, to see them fall into the dust at the moment that the long estranged light first glanced upon them. To some of those which have been saved from this wreck, the author is indebted for no small por tion of the materials of his story. In his endeavour to illustrate these passages in the annals of the state, 349395 PREFACE it is proper for him to say that he has aimed to per form his task with historical fidelity. If he has set in harsher light than may be deemed charitable some of the actors in these scenes, or portrayed in lineaments of disparagement or extenuation, beyond their deserts, the partisans on either side in that war of intolerance which disfigured the epoch of this tale, it was apart from his purpose. As a native of the state he feels a prompt sensibility to the fame of her Catholic founders, and, though differing from them in his faith, cherishes the remembrance of their noble endeavours to establish religious freedom, with the affection due to what he believes the most wisely planned and honestly executed scheme of society which at that era, at least, was to be found in the annals of mankind. In the temper inspired by this sentiment, this volume has been given to the public, and is now respectfully inscribed to THE STATE OF MARYLAND, by one who takes the deepest interest in whatever concerns her present happiness or ancient renown. THE AUTHOR. BALTIMORE, DEC. i, 1838. KGB OF THE BOWL A LEGEND OF ST. INIGOES CHAPTER I. No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, But choked with sedges, works its weedy way; Along thy glades a solitary guest, The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest. The Deserted Village. IT is now more than one hundred and forty-four years since the ancient capital of Maryland was shorn of its honors, by the removal of the public offices, and, along with them, the public function aries, to Annapolis. The date of this removal, I think, is recorded as of the year of grace 1694. The port of St. Mary's, up to that epoch, from the first settlement of the province, comprehending rather more than three score years, had been the seat of the Lord Proprietary's government. 4 ROB OF THE BOWL Geographers are aware that the city of St. Mary's stood on the left bank of the river which now bears the same name (though of old it was called St. George's), and which flows into the Potomac at the southern extremity of the state of Maryland, on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay, at a short distance westward from Point Lookout; but the very spot where the old city stood is known only to a few, for the traces of the early residence of the Proprietary government have nearly faded away from the knowledge of this generation. The river penetrates from the Potomac some twelve miles inland, where it terminates in little forked bays which wash the base of the woody hills. St. George's Island stretches half across its mouth, forming a screen by which the course of the Poto mac is partly concealed from view. St. Inigoe's creek, flowing into the river upon the right hand, along the base of these cliffs, forms by its southern shore a flat, narrow and grass-clad point, upon which the ancient Jesuit House of the patron saint whose name distinguishes the creek, throws up, in sharp relief, its chateau-like profile, together with its windmill, its old trees, barns and cottages, the whole suggesting a resemblance to a strip of paste board scenery on a prolonged and slender base line of green. The ancient city was situated nearly two miles beyond the confluence of St. Inigoe's creek, upon a spacious level plain which maintained an elevation ROB OF THE BOWL 5 of some fifty feet above the river. The State House stood at the upper extremity of the town, upon a cedar-clad headland, which, by an abrupt descent, terminated in a long, flat, sandy point, that reached almost half across the river. In regard to this building, tradition which I find to be somewhat inclined to brag of its glory affirms it to have been constructed in the shape of a cross, looking towards the river, with walls thick enough to resist cannon, and perilous steep roofs, from the top of the chief of which shot up a spire, whereon was impaled a dolphin with a crooked, bifurcated tail. A wooden quay and warehouse on the point showed this to "be the seat of trade, and a crescent-shaped bay or indentation between this and a similar headland at the lower extremity of the town, con stituted the anchorage or harbour for the scant shipping of the port. The State House looked rearward over the town common, a large space of open ground, at the farther end of which, upon the border of a marshy inlet, covered with bulrushes and cat-tails, stood a squat, sturdy and tight little gaol, supported, to use the military phrase, on one flank by a pillory and stocks, and on the other by an implement of government which has gone out of fashion in our day, but which found favour with our ancestors as an approved antidote to the prevalent distemper of an unnecessary or too clamorous loquacity in their dames a ducking stool, that hung suspended over a pool of sufficient depth for the most obstinate case that might occur. Without wearying my reader with too much description, I shall content myself with referring to but two or three additional particulars as neces sary to my future purpose ; a Catholic chapel devoted to St. Ignatius, the patron of the province, in humble and unostentatious guise, occupied, with its appurtenances, a few acres in the centre of the plain, a short distance from that confine of the city which lay nearest to St. Inigoe's ; and in the opposite quar ter, not far from the State House, a building of much more pretension, though by no means so neat, had been erected for the service of the Church of England, which was then fast growing into the ascendant. On one of the streets leading to the beach was the market house, surrounded by its ordinaries and ale-houses; and lastly, in the year 1 68 1, to which this description refers, a little hos telry of famous report, known by the sign of "The Crow and Archer," and kept by Master Garret Weasel, stood on the water's edge, at the foot of the bank below the State House, on a piece of level ground looking out upon the harbour. At the extremity of the cape or headland which formed the lower or more seaward point of the crescent- shaped harbour, was erected the Fort of St. Mary's, where it threatened equal defiance to such as might meditate disturbance either by sea or land. A few hundred paces in the rear of the fort, stood the ROB OF THE BOWL 7 ample dwelling-house of the Lord Proprietary with its gables, roofs, chimneys and spires, sharply defined against the eastern sky. A massive build ing of dark brick, two stories in height, and pene trated by narrow windows, looking forth, beyond the fort, upon the river, constituted the chief mem ber or main body of the mansion. This was capped by a wooden, balustraded parapet, terminating, at each extremity, in a scroll like the head of a violin, and, in the middle, sustaining an entablature that rose to a summit on which was mounted a weather cock. From this central structure, right and left, a series of arcades, corridors, and vestibules served to bring "into line a range of auxiliary or subordinate buildings of grotesque shapes, of which several were bonneted like haycocks the array terminating, on one flank, in a private chapel surmounted by a cross, and, on the other, in a building of similar size but of different figure, which was designed and some times used for a banqueting room. The armorial bearings of the Baltimore family, emblazoned on a shield of free-stone, were built into the pediment of an arched brick porch which shaded the great hall door. In the rear of the buildings, a circular sweep of wall and paling reached as far as a group of stables, kennels and sheds. Vanward the same kind of enclosures, more ornate in their fashion, shut in a grassy court, to which admission was gained through a heavy iron gate swung between square, 8 ROB OF THE BOWL stuccoed pillars, each of which was surmounted by a couchant lion carved in stone. A garden occupied the space between the propri etary residence and the fort, and through it a path way led to a dry moat which formed one of the defences of the stronghold, into which admission was obtained from this quarter by a narrow bridge and postern gate. A palisade of sharp pickets fringed the outer and inner slopes of the ditch, or, to speak more technically, guarded the scarp and counter-scarp. The fort itself sat like a square bonnet on the brow of the headland. Its ramparts of earth were faced outwardly by heavy frame work of hewn logs, which, on the side looking askant towards the town, were penetrated by an arched gateway and secured by heavy doors studded thick with nails. This portal opened upon a road which lay along the beach beneath the cliff, all the way to the upper extremity of the town. Several low buildings within, appropriated to barracks and magazines, just peered above the ramparts. The province, it may be surmised, was belligerent at this day. For although the Lords Barons of Baltimore, absolute Proprietaries of Maryland and Avalon, would fain have encouraged a pacific tem per, and desired ever to treat with the Indians upon terms of friendly bargain and sale, and in all points of policy manifested an equitable disposition towards the native men of the forest, the province, neverthe less, had its full share of hard blows. There was ROB OF THE BOWL 9 seldom a period, in this early time, when some Indian quarrel was not coming to a head; and, young as the province was, it had already tasted of rebellion at the hands of Clayborne, and Ingle, to say nothing of that Fendall who was fain to play Cromwell in the plantation, by turning the burgesses out of their hall, and whose sedition hath still something to do with my story. However peaceable, therefore, the Lord Proprietary might incline to be, he could not but choose stand by his weapons. In the view of these and kindred troubles, the freemen of the province had no light service in their obligations of military duty. One of the forms in which this service was exacted, in addi tion to the occasional requisition, on emergency, of the whole population fit to bear arms, and in addi tion also to a force of mounted rangers who were constantly engaged in scouring the frontier, was in the maintenance of a regularly paid and trained body of musqueteers who supplied the necessary garrisons for the principal forts. That of St. Mary's which was the oldest and most redoubtable stronghold in the province, was furnished with a company of forty men of this class who were, at the date of this tale, under the command of a per sonage of some note, Captain Jasper Dauntrees. This worthy had been bred up to the science of arms from early youth, and had seen many varieties of service, first, in the civil wars in which he took 10 ROB OF THE BOWL the field with the royal army, a staunch cavalier, and afterwards, with a more doubtful complexion of loyalty, when he enlisted with Monk in Scotland, and followed his banner to London in the notable exploit of the Restoration. Yielding to the bent of that humour which the times engendered, and in imitation of many a hungry and peace-despising gallant of his day, he repaired to the continent, where, after various fortunes, he found himself in the train of Turenne and hard at loggerheads with the Prince of Orange, in which passage of his life he enjoyed the soldierly gratification of lending a hand to the famous ravage of the Palatinate. His figure had, in youth, been evidently remarked for strength and symmetry but age and varied ser vice, combined with habits of irregular indulgence had communicated to it a bluff and corpulent dimen sion. His port nevertheless was erect, and his step as firm as in his days of lustihood. His eye still sparkled with rays but little quenched by time, al though unseasonable vigils sometimes rendered it bloodshotten. A thick neck and rosy complexion betokened a hale constitution; and the ripple of a deep and constantly welling humour, that played upon his strongly marked features, expressed in characters that could not be misread, that love of companionship which had been, perhaps, the most frequent shoal upon which his hopes in life had been stranded. His crown was bald and encircled by a fair supply of crisp, curly and silvery hair, whilst ROB OF THE BOWL 11 a thick grey moustache gave a martial and veteran air to his visnomy. His dress served to set off his figure to the best advantage. It consisted of the doublet and ruff, short cloak and trunk hose, the parti-colored stock ing and capacious boot proper to the old English costume which, about the period of the Restoration, began to give way to the cumbrous foppery of the last century. This costume was still retained by many in the province, and belonged ta the military equipment of the garrison of St. Mary's, where it was fashioned of light green cloth garnished with yellow lace. On -a certain afternoon in October the Captain of Musqueteers sat in front of his quarters in the fort. A small table was displayed upon the pavement, sup plied with a flagon, pipes, and drinking cups. The Captain's solid bulk was deposited in a broad arm chair, close by the table. A sentinel stood on post at the gate, towards which the Captain, as he slowly quaffed a cup, ever and anon turned an expectant eye. Once or twice he rose from his seat and strode backward and forward across the parade, then vis ited the rampart, which afforded him a view of the road leading from the town, and finally resumed his seat and renewed his solitary and slow potation. When the sun had sunk halfway down the flag staff, the Captain's wishes were crowned by the arri val of a brace of visitors. The first of these was Garret Weasel, the publi- 12 ROB OF THE BOWL can, a thin, small man, in a suit of gray ; of a timid carriage and slender voice. He might have been observed for a restless, undefmable eye which seemed to possess the habitual circumspection of a tapster to see the need of a customer; and this ex pression was sustained by a rabbit-like celerity of motion which raised the opinion of his timidity. His companion was a tall, sinewy, and grave per son, habited in the guise of a forester a cap, namely, of undressed deer skin, a buff jerkin, guarded by a broad belt and buckle at the waist, and leggings of brown leather. This was a Flem ing, named Arnold de la Grange, who belonged to the corps of wood rangers in the service of the Lord Proprietary. He had arrived in the province in the time of Lord Cecilius, many years before, and had shared much of the toil of the early settlement. His weather-beaten and gaunt form, tawny cheek, and grizzled hair, bespoke a man inured to the hard service of a frontier life, whilst his erect port and firm step, evinced that natural gracefulness which belongs to men trained to the self-dependence nec essary to breast the ever-surrounding perils of such a service. A bluff greeting and short ceremony placed the visitors at the table, and each, upon a mute signal from the host, appropriated his cup and pipe. "You are never a true man, Garret Weasel," said the Captain, "to dally so long behind your appointment; and such an appointment, too! state ROB OF THE BOWL 13 matters would be trifles to it. The round dozen which you lost to me on Dame Dorothy's headgear a blessing on it ! you did yourself so order it, was to be broached at three of the clock; and now, by my troth, it is something past four. There is cul pable laches on it. Idleness is the canker of the spirit, but occupation is the lard of the body, as I may affirm in my own person. Mistress Dorothy, I suspect, has this tardy coming to answer for. I doubt the brow of our brave dame hath been cloudy this afternoon. How is it, Arnold! bachelor, and Dutchman to boot, you will speak without fear." "The woman," replied Arnold, in a broken Eng lish accent, which I do not attempt to convey in syllables, "had her suspicions." "Hold ye, Captain Dauntrees," eagerly inter rupted the innkeeper, drawing up his chair to the table for he had seated himself a full arms-length off, in awkward deference to his host ; "and hold ye, Master Arnold ! my wife rules not me, as some evil- minded jesters report ; no, in faith ! We were much beset to-day. In sooth I could not come sooner. Customers, you know, Captain, better than most men, customers must be answered, and will be answered, when we poor servants go athirst. We were thronged to-day; was it not so, Arnold?" "That is true," replied the forester; "the wife had her hands full as well as Garret himself. There were traders in the port, to-day, from the Bay Shore and the Isle of Kent, and some from the country back, 14 ROB OF THE BOWL to hear whether the brigantine had arrived. They had got some story that Cocklescraft should be here." "I see it," said Dauntrees; "that fellow, Cockles- craft, hath a trick of warning his friends. He never comes into port but there be strange rumors of him ahead ; it seems to be told by the pricking of thumbs. St. Mary's is not the first harbour where he drops his anchor, nor Anthony Warden the first to docket his cargo. You understand me." "You have a bold mind, Captain," said the pub lican; "you men of the wars speak your thoughts." "You are none the losers by Master Cocklescraft," interposed Arnold, drily. "My wife pays honestly for the liquors/'said Weasel, as his eye glanced timorously from one to the other of his comrades; "I take no heed of the accounts." "But the headgear, Garret," rejoined Dauntrees, laughing; "you pay for that, though the mercer saw my coin for it. Twelve bottles of Canary were a good return on that venture. The bauble sits lightly on the head of the dame, and it is but fair that the winnings should rise as lightly into ours. But for Cocklescraft, we should lack these means to be merry. The customs are at a discount on a dark night. Well, be it so. What point of duty calls on us to baulk the skipper in his trade? We are of the land, not of the water; consumers, on the dis bursing side of the account, not of the gathering ROB OF THE BOWL 15 in. The revenue hath its proper friends, and we should neither meddle nor make. Worthy Garret Weasel has good report in the province for the reasonableness of his wines and long may he de serve that commendation!" "I thank heaven that I strive to merit the good will of the freemen," interrupted the innkeeper. "And he is something given to brag of his wines. Faith, and with reason! Spain and Portugal, the Garonne and the Rhine, are his tributaries. Garret, we know the meridian of your El Dorado." "Nay, nay, Master Captain your worship is merry; I beseech you " "Never mind your beseeching, my modest friend. You scarce do yourself justice. You have his Lord ship's license paid for in good round ducatoons and that's the fee of a clear conscience. So let the trade thrive! The exchequer is not a baby to be in swaddling bands, unable to feed itself. No, it has the eagle's claw, and wants no help from thee, thou forlorn tapster ! Make thine honest penny, Garret ; all thirsty fellows will stand by thee." "I would be thought orderly, Master Dauntrees." "Thou art so computed to a fault. You would have been so reckoned in Lord Cecil's time; and matters are less straitened now-a-days. Lord Charles gives more play to good living than his father allowed of. You remember his Lordship's father set his face against wines and strong waters." "He did, gentlemen," said Weasel, squaring him- 16 ROB OF THE BOWL self in his seat with animation. "Heaven forbid I should speak but as becomes me of the honourable Lord Cecil's memory, or of his honourable son ! but to my cost, I know that his Lordship's father was no friend to evil courses, or sottish behaviour, or drinking, unless it was in moderation, mark you. But, with humility, I protest the law is something hard on us poor ordinary keepers; for you shall understand, Arnold Grange, that at a sale by outcry, if there should lack wherewithal to pay the debts of the debtor, the publican and vintner are shut out, seeing that the score for wines and strong waters is the last to be paid." "And good law it is, let me tell you Garret Weasel! Good and wholesome; wisely laid down by the burgesses, and wisely maintained by his Lordship. You rail without cause. Sober habits must be engenedered: your health, comrades! Then it behooves you publicans to be nice in your custom. We will none of your lurdans that can not pay scot and lot your runagates that fall under the statute of outcry. Let them drink of the clear brook ! There is wisdom and virtue in the law. Is it not so, Arnold?" "It preaches well," replied the forester, as he sent forth a volume of smoke from his lips. "Another flask, and we will drink to his Lord ship," said Dauntrees, who now left the table and re turned with the fourth bottle. "Fill up, friends; the evening wears apace. Here's to his Lordship, ROB OF THE BOWL 17 and his Lordship's ancestors of ever noble and happy memory !" As Dauntrees smacked his lip upon emptying his cup, he flung himself back in his chair, and in a thoughtful tone ejaculated : "the good Lord Charles has had a heavy time of it since his return from England ; these church brawlers would lay gunpow der under our hearth-stones. And then the death of young Lord Cecil, whilst his father was abroad, too; it was a heavy blow. My lady hath never held up her head since." A pause succeeded to this grave reflection, dur ing which the trio smoked their pipes in silence, which was at length broken by an attenuated sigh from the pnblican, as he exclaimed," Well-a-day ! the great have their troubles as well as the rest of us. It is my opinion that Heaven will have its. will, Cap tain; that's my poor judgment." And having thus disburdened himself of this weighty sentiment the weight of it being increased, perhaps, by the pres sure of his previous potations he drained the heel tap, which stood in his glass, and half whispered, when he had done, "That's as good a drop of Ca nary as ever grew within the horizon of the Peak of Teneriffe." "Through the good will of friend Cocklescraft," interrupted Dauntrees, suddenly resuming his former gaiety. "Pray you, Captain Dauntrees," said the publi can, with a hurried concern, "think what hurt thy 18 ROB OF THE BOWL jest may bring upon me. Arnold knows not your merry humour, and may believe, from your speech, that I am not reputable." "Pish, man; bridle thy foolish tongue! Did I not see the very cask on't at Trencher Rob's? Did I not mark how your sallow cheek took on an ashen complexion, when his Lordship's Secretary, a fort night since, suddenly showed himself among the cedars upon the bank that overlooks your door, when your ill luck would have you to be rolling the cask in open day into thy cellar. The secretary was in a bookish mood, and saw thee not or, perad- venture, was kind, and would not heed." To this direct testimony, Weasel could only reply by a faint-hearted and involuntary smile which sur rendered the point, and left him in a state of silly confusion. "Never droop in thy courage, worthy Weasel," exclaimed the Captain; "thou art as honest as thy betters; and, to my mind, the wine hath a better smack from its overland journey from St. Jerome's when there was no sun to heat it." "The secretary," said the innkeeper, anxious to give the conversation another direction, "is a wor shipful youth, and a modest, and grows in favor with the townspeople." "Ay, and is much beloved by his Lordship," added the Captain. "And comes, I warrant me, of gentle kind, though I have not heard aught of his country or friends. ROB OF THE BOWL 19 Dorothy, my wife, says that the women almost swear by him, for his quiet behaviour and pretty words and they have eyes, Captain Dauntrees, for excellence which we have not." "There is a cloud upon his birth," said Dauntrees, "and a sorrowful tale touching his nurture. I had it from Burton, the master of the ship who brought him with my Lord to the province." "Indeed, Captain Dauntrees ! you were ever quick to pick up knowledge. You have a full ear and a good memory." "Drink, drink, comrades !" said the Captain. "We should not go dry because the secretary hath had mishaps. If it please you, I will tell the story, though I will not vouch for the truth of what I have only at second hand." After the listeners had adjusted themselves in their chairs, Dauntrees proceeded. "There was, in Yorkshire, a Major William Weatherby, who fought against the Parliament I did not know him, for I was but a stripling at the time who, when King Charles was beheaded, went over and took service with the States General, and at Arnheim married a lady of the name of Verhey- den. Getting tired of the wars, he came back to England with his wife, where they lived together five or six years without children. The story goes that he was a man of fierce and crooked temper; choleric, and unreasonable in his quarrel; and for jealousy, no devil ever equalled him in that amialie 20 ROB OF THE BOWL virtue. It was said, too, that his living was riotous and unthrifty, which is, in part, the customary sin of soldiership. I am frank with you, masters." "You are a good judge, Captain; you have had experience," said the publican. "There was a man of some mark in the country where this Weatherby lived, a Sir George Alwin, who, taking pity on the unhappy lady, did her sun dry acts of kindness harmless acts, people say; such as you or I, neighbours, would be moved to do for a distressed female; but the lady was of rare beauty, and the husband full of foul fancies. "About this time, it was unlucky that nature wrought a change and the lady grew lusty for the first time in six years marriage. To make the story short, Weatherby was free with his dagger, and in the street, at Doncaster, in the midst of a public show, he stabbed Alwin to the heart." The wood ranger silently shook his head, and the publican opened his watery eyes in astonishment. "By the aid of a fleet horse and private enemies of the murdered man, Weatherby escaped out of the kingdom, and was never aftenvards heard of." "And died like a dog, I s'pose," said Arnold de la Grange. "Likely enough," replied Dauntrees. "The poor lady was struck down with the horror of the deed, and had nearly gone to her grave. But Heaven was kind, and she survived it, and was re lieved of her burden in the birth of a son. For some ROB OF THE BOWL 21 years afterwards, by the bounty of friends, but with many a struggle for her means were scanty she made shift to dwell in England. At last she re turned to Holland, where she found a resting place in her native earth, having lived long enough to see her son, a well grown lad, safely taken in charge by her brother, a merchant of Antwerp. The parents were both attached to our Church of Rome, and the son was sent by his uncle to the Jesuit school of his own city. Misfortune overtook the merchant, and he died before the nephew had reached his four teenth year. But the good priests of Antwerp tended the lad with the care of parents, and would have reared him as a servant of the altar. When our Lord Baltimore was in the Netherlands, three years ago, he found Albert Verheyden, (the youth has ever born his mother's name)' in the Seminary. His Lordship took a liking to him and brought him into his own service. Master Albert was then but eighteen. There is the whole story. It is as dry as a muscat raisin. It sticks in the throat, masters, so moisten, moisten!" "It is a marvelous touching story," said the inn keeper, as he swallowed at a draught a full goblet. "The hot hand and the cold steel," said Arnold, thoughtfully, "hold too much acquaintance in these times. Master Albert is an honest youth, and a good youth, and a brave follower too, of hawk or hound, Captain Dauntrees." "Then there is good reason for a cup to the secre 2 ROB OF THE BOWL tary," said the Captain, filling again. "The work! hath many arguments for a thirsty man. The blight of the year fall upon this sadness! Let us change our discourse I would carouse a little, friends. It is salutary to laugh. Thanks to my pa tron, I am a bachelor! So drink, Master Arnold, mein sauff bruder, as we used to say on the Rhine." "Ich trinck, euch zu," was the reply of the for ester, as he answered the challenge with a sparkling eye, and a face lit up with smiles; "a good lad, an excellent lad, though he come of a hot-brained father!" The wine began to show itself upon the revelers ; for by this time they had nearly got through half of the complement of the wager. The effect of this po tation upon the Captain was to give him a more flushed brow, and a moister eye, and to administer somewhat to the volubility of his tongue. It had wrought no further harm, for Dauntrees was bot tle-proof. Upon the forester it was equally harm less, rather enhancing than dissipating his saturnine steadfastness of demeanour. He was, perchance, somewhat more precise and thoughtful. Garret Weasel, of the three, was the only weak vessel. With every cup of the last half hour he grew more supple. "Ads heartlikens !" he exclaimed, "but this wine doth tingle, Captain Dauntrees. Here is a fig for my wife Dorothy ! Come and go as you list none ROB OF THE BOWL 23 of your fetch and carry! that's what the world is coming to, amongst us married cattle!" "Thou art a valourous tapster," said the Captain. "I am the man to stand by his friend, Captain mine; and I am thy friend, Captain Papist or Roman though they call thee!" "A man for need, Garret!" said Dauntrees, pat ting him on the head ; "a dozen flasks or so, when a friend wants them, come without the asking." "And I pay my wagers, I warrant, Captain, like a true comrade." "Like a prince, Garret, who does not stop to count the score, bnt makes sure of the total by throwing in a handful over." "I am no puritan, Master Dauntrees, I tell thee." "Thou hast the port of a cavalier, good Weasel. Thou wouldst have done deadly havoc amongst the round-heads, if they but took thee in the fact of discharging a wager. Thou wert scarce in debt, after this fashion, at Worcester, my valiant drawer. Thy evil destiny kept thee empty on that day." "Ha, ha, ha! a shrewd memory for a stale jest, Captain Dauntrees. The world is slanderous though I care little for it. You said you would be merry; shall we not have a song? Come, troll us a catch, Captain." "I am of thy humour, old madcap ; I'll wag it with thee bravely," replied Dauntrees, as he struck up a brisk drinking-bout glee of that day, in which he was followed by the treble voice of the publican, who 24 ROB OF THE BOWL at the same time rose from his seat and accom panied the music with some unsteady gyrations in the manner of a dance upon the gravel. "From too much keeping an evil decorum, From the manifold treason parliamentorum, From Oliver Cromwell, dux omnium malorum, Libera nos, Libera nos." Whilst Dauntrees and his gossips were thus occu pied in their carouse, they were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of two well-known persons, who had approached by the path of the postern gate. The elder of the two was a youth just on the verge of manhood. His person was slender, well propor tioned, and rather over the common height. His face, distinguished by a decided outline of beauty, wore a thoughtful expression, which was scarcely overcome by the flash of a black and brilliant eye. A complexion pale and even feminine, betokened studious habits. His dress, remarkable for its neat ness, denoted a becoming pride of appearance in the wearer. It told of the Low Countries. A well-fitted doublet and hose, of a grave colour, were partially concealed by a short camlet cloak of Vandyke brown. A black cap and feather, a profusion of dark hair hanging in curls towards the shoulders, and a falling band or collar of lace, left it unques tionable that the individual I have sketched was of gentle nurture, and associated with persons of rank. This was further manifested in the gay and some- ROB OF THE BOWL 25 what gaudy apparel of his companion, a lad of fourteen, who walked beside him in the profusely decorated costume of a young noble of that ambi tious era, when the thoughtless and merry monarch of England, instead of giving himself to the cares of government, was busy to invent extravagancies of dress. The lad was handsome, though his features wore the impress of feeble health. He now bore in his hand a bow and sheaf of arrows. The visitors had taken our revellers at unawares, and had advanced within a few feet before they were observed. The back of the publican was turned to them, and he was now in mid career of his dance, throwing up his elbows, tossing his head, and tread ing daintily upon the earth, as he sang the burden, "Libera nos, libera nos." "You give care a holiday, Captain Dauntrees," said the elder youth, with a slightly perceptible foreign accent. Dauntrees started abruptly from his seat, at this accost, smiled with a reddened brow, and made a low obeisance. The cessation of the song left Garret Weasel what a mariner would term "high and dry," for like a bark floated upon a beach and sud denly bereft of its element, he remained fixed in the attitude at which the music deserted him, one foot raised, an arm extended, and his face turned inquir ingly over his shoulder. His amazement upon dis- 26 ROB OF THE BOWL covering the cause of this interruption, brought about a sudden and ludicrous affectation of sobriety; in an instant his port was changed to one of defer ence, although somewhat awkwardly overcharged with what was intended to represent gravity and decorum. Arnold de la Grange rose from his chair and stood erect, firm and silent. "Hail, Master Albert Verheyden, and Master Benedict Leonard: God save you both!" said Daun- trees. "I say amen to that, and God save his lordship, besides!" ejaculated the publican with a drunken formality of utterance. "I would not disturb your merriment, friends," said the secretary, "but his lordship bade me sum mon Captain Dauntrees to the hall. You, Arnold de la Grange, will be pleased to accompany the Cap tain." Arnold bowed his head, and the visitors retired by the great gate of the fort. In a moment young Benedict Leonard came running back, and addressed the forester: "Master Arnold, I would have a new bow-string this is worn; and my bird-bolts want feathering; shall I leave them with you, good Arnold?" And without waiting an answer, he thrust the bow and arrows into the smiling wood-ranger's hand, and bounded away again through the gate. Dauntrees flung his sword-belt across his shoul- ROB OF THE BOWL 27 der, put on his cloak, delayed a moment to secure the remaining flasks of wine, and then beckoned to the ranger to follow him. "Stop," cried Weasel, with an officious zeal to make himself useful : "your belt is awry ; it is not comely to be seen by his lordship in this slovenly array." The belt was set right, and the two directed their steps towards the postern, and thence to the mansion. The publican tarried only until his com panions were out of sight, when, curious to know the object of the errand, and careful to avoid the appearance of intrusion, he followed upon the same path, at" a respectful distance, stepping wisely, as a drunken man is wont, and full of the opinion that his sobriety was above all suspicion. CHAPTER II. Oft as the peasant wight impelled To these untrodden paths had been, As oft he, horror struck, beheld Things of unearthly shape and mien. Glengonar's Wassail. THE day was drawing near to a close, and the Proprietary thoughtfully paced the hall. The wainscoted walls around him were hung with costly paintings, mingled, not untastefully, with Indian 28 ROB OF THE BOWL war clubs, shields, bows and arrows, and other trophies won from the savage. Musquets, cutlasses and partisans were bestowed on brackets ready for use in case of sudden invasion from that race of wild men whose stealthy incursions in times past had taught this policy of preparation. Lord Baltimore, at the period when I have intro duced him, might have been verging upon fifty. He was of a delicate and slender stature, with a grave and dignified countenance. His manners were sedate and graceful, and distinguished by that gen tleness which is characteristic of an educated mind when chastened by affliction. Charles Calvert had come to the province in 1662, and from that date, until the death of his father, thirteen years afterwards, administered the govern ment in the capacity of Lieutenant-General. Upon his accession to the proprietary rights, he found him self compelled by the intrigues of a faction to visit London, where he was detained nearly four years, having left Lady Baltimore, with a young family of children, behind him, under the care of his uncle, Philip Calvert, the chancellor of the province. He had now, within little more than a twelvemonth, returned to his domestic roof, to mingle his sorrows with those of his wife for the death of his eldest son, Cecilius, who had sunk into the tomb during his absence. The public cares of his government left him scant leisure to dwell upon his personal afflictions. The ROB OF THE BOWL 29 province was surrounded by powerful tribes of Indians who watched the white settlers with an eager hostility, and seized every occasion to molest them by secret inroad, and often by open assault. A still more vexatious annoyance existed in the party divisions of the inhabitants divisions unluck ily resting on religious distinctions the most fierce of all dissensions. Ever since the Restoration, the jealousy of the Protestant subjects of the crown against the adherents of the church of Rome had been growing into a sentiment that finally broke forth into the most flagrant persecution. In the province, the Protestants during the last twenty years had greatly increased in number, and at the date of this narrative constituted already the larger mass of the population. They murmured against the dominion of the Proprietary as one adverse to the welfare of the English church; and intrigues were set on foot to obtain the establishment of that church in the province through the interest of the ministry in England. Among the agitators in this cause was a man of some note in the former history of the province the famous Josias Fendall, the governor in the time of the Protectorate now in a green old age, whose turbulent temper, and wily propensity to mischief had lost none of their edge with the approach of gray hairs. This individual had stimulated some of the hot spirits of the province into open rebellion against the life of the Proprietary and his uncle. 30 ROB OF THE BOWL His chief associate was John Coode, a coarse but shrewd leader of a faction, who, with the worst inclinations against the Proprietary had the wit to avoid the penalties of the law, and to maintain himself in a popular position as a member of the house of Burgesses. Fendall, a few months before this era had been arrested with several followers, upon strong proofs of conspiracy, and was now a close prisoner in the gaol. Such is a brief but necessary view of the state of affairs on the date, at which I have presented the Lord Proprietary to my reader. When Lord Baltimore descried Captain Daun- trees and the ranger approaching the mansion from the direction of the fort, he advanced beyond the threshold to meet them. In a moment they stood unbonneted before him. "God save you, good friends!" was his salutation "Captain Dauntrees and worthy Arnold, wel come! Cover," he added in a tone of familiar kindness, "put on your hats; these evening airs sometimes distill an ague upon a bare head." A rugged smile played upon the features of the old forester as he resumed his shaggy cap, and said, "Lord Charles is good; but he does not remember that the head of an old ranger gets his blossoms like the dog- wood, in the wind and the rain : the dew sprinkles upon it the same as upon a stone." "Old friend," replied the Proprietary, "that grizzly head has taken many a sprinkling in the ROB OF THE BOWL 31 service of my father and myself; it is worthy of a better bonnet, and thou shalt have one, Arnold the best thou canst find in the town. Choose for yourself, and Master Verheyden shall look to the cost of it." The Fleming modestly bowed, as he replied with that peculiar foreign gesture and accent, neither of which may be described, "Lord Charles is good. He is the son of his father, Lord Cecil, Heaven bless his memory!" "Master Verheyden bade me attend your lord ship," said Dauntrees; "and to bring Arnold de la Grange with me." "I have matter for your vigilance, Captain," re plied the Proprietary. "Walk with me in the gar den we will talk over our business in the open air " air. When they had strolled some distance, Lord Bal timore proceeded "There are strange tales afloat touching certain mysterious doings in a house at St. Jerome's ; the old wives will have it that it is inhab ited by goblins and mischievous spirits and, in truth, wiser people than old women are foolish enough to hold it in dread. Father Pierre tells me he can scarcely check this terror." "Your Lordship means the fisherman's house on the beach at St. Jerome's," said the Captain. "The country is full of stories concerning it, and it has long had an ill fame. I know the house ; the gossips call it The Wizard's Chapel. It stands hard by the 32 ROB OF THE BOWL hut of The Cripple. By my faith, he who wanders there at nightfall had need of a clear shrift." "You give credence to these idle tales?" "No idle tales, an please your Lordship. Some of these marvels have I witnessed with my own eyes. There is a curse of blood upon that roof." "I pray you speak on," said the Proprietary, earnestly; "there is more in this than I dreamed of." "Paul Kelpy the fisherman," continued Dauntrees, "it was before my coming into the province but the story goes "It was in the Lord Cecil's time I knowed the fisherman," interrupted Arnold. "He was a man," said the Captain, "who, as your Lordship may have heard, had a name which caused him to be shunned in his time, and they are alive now who can tell enough of his wickedness to make one's hair rise on end. He dwelt in this house at St. Jerome's in Clayborne's day, and took part with that freebooter ; went with him, as I have heard, to the Island, and was outlawed." "Ay, and met the death he deserved I remember the story," said the Proprietary. "He was foiled in his attempt to get out of the province, and barred himself up in his own house." "And there he fought like a tiger, or more like a devil as he was," added the ranger. "They were more than two days before they could get into his house." ROB OF THE BOAVL 33 "When his door was forced at last," continued the Captain; "they found him, his wife and child lying in their own blood upon the hearth stone. They were all murdered, people say, by his own hand." "And that was true !" added Arnold ; "I remem ber how he was buried at the cross road, below the Mattapany Fort, with a stake drove through his body." "Ever since that time," continued Dauntrees, "they say the house has been without lodgers of flesh and blood, I mean, my Lord, for it has be come a devil's den, and a busy one." "What hast thou seen, Captain ? You speak as a witness." "It is not yet six months gone by, my Lord, when I was returning with Clayton, the master of the col lector's pinnace, from the Isle of Kent; we stood in, after night, towards the headland of St. Jerome's Bay; it was very dark and the four windows of the Wizard's Chapel, that looked across the beach, were lighted up with such a light as I have never seen from candle or fagot. And there were antic figures passing the blaze that seemed deep in some hellish carouse. We kept our course, until we got almost close aboard, when suddenly all grew dark. There came at that moment a gust of wind such as the master said he had never knew to sweep in day light across the Chesapeake. It struck us in our teeth, and we were glad to get out again upon the broad water. It would seem to infer that the Evil 34 ROB OF THE BOWL One had service rendered there, which it would be sinful to look upon. In my poor judgment it is mat ter for the church, rather than for the hand of the law." "You are not a man, Captain Daun trees, to be lightly moved by fantasies," said the Proprietary, gravely ; "you have good repute for sense and cour age. I would have you weigh well what you report." "Surely, my Lord, Clayton is as stout a man in heart as any in the province : and yet he could scarcely hold his helm for fear." "Why was I not told of this?" " Your Lordship's favour," replied Dauntrees, shaking his head; "neither the master, the seamen nor myself would hazard ill will by moving in the matter. There is malice in these spirits, my Lord, which will not brook meddling in their doings: we waited until we might be questioned by those who had right to our answer. The blessed martyrs shield me! I am pledged to fight your Lordship's bodily foes: the good priests of our holy patron St. Ignatius were better soldiers for this warfare." The Proprietary remained for some moments si lent: at last, turning to the ranger, he inquired "What dost thou know of this house, Arnold?" "Well, Lord Charles," replied the veteran, "I was not born to be much afeard of goblins or witches. In my rangings I have more than once come in the way of these wicked spirits ; and then I ROB OF THE BOWL 35 have found that a clean breast and a stout heart, with the help of an Ave Mary and a Paternoster was more than a match for all their howlings. But the fisherman's house oh, my good Lord Charles," he added with a portentous shrug, "has dwellers in it that it is best not to trouble. When Sergeant Travers and myself were ranging across by St. Jerome's, at that time when Tiquassino's men were thought to be a thieving, last Hallowmas, if I re member, we shot a doe towards night, and set down in the woods, waiting to dress our meat for a supper, which kept us late, before we mounted our horses again. But we had some aqua vitae, and didn't much care for hours. So it was midnight, with no light but the stars to show us our way. It hap pened that we rode not far from the Wizard's Chapel, which put us to telling stories to each other about Paul Kelpy and the ghosts that people said haunted his house." "The aqua vitae made you talkative as well as valiant, Arnold," interrupted the Proprietary. "I will not say that," replied the ranger; "but something pufit into our heads to go down the bank and ride round the chapel. At first all was as quiet as if it had been our church here of St. Mary's except that our horses snorted and reared with fright at something we could not see. The wind was blowing, and the waves were beating on the shore, and suddenly we began to grow cold; and then, all at once, there came a rumbling noise inside 36 ROB OF THE BOWL of the house like the rolling of a hogshead full of pebbles, and afterwards little flashes of light through the windows, and the sergeant said he heard clanking chains and groans: It isn't worth while to hide it from your lordship, but the sergeant ran away like a coward, and I followed him like another, Lord Charles. Since that night I have not been near the Black house. We have an old saying in my coun try, the scalded cat keeps clear of cold water ha, I mind the proverb." "It is not long ago," said Dauntrees, "perhaps not above two years, when, they say, the old sun- dried timber of the building turned suddenly black. It was the work of a single night your Lordship shall find it so now." "I can witness the truth of it," said Arnold "the house was never black until that night, and now it looks as if it was scorched with lightning from roof to ground sill. And yet, lightning could never leave it so black without burning it to the ground. "There is some trickery in this," said the Pro prietary. "It may scarce be accounted for on any pretence of witchcraft, or sorcery, although I know there are malignant influences at work in the pro vince which find motive enough to do all the harm they can. Has Kendall, or any of his confederates had commerce with this house, Captain Dauntrees? Can you suspect such intercourse?" "Assuredly not, my Lord," replied the Captain, "for Marshall, who is the most insolent of that fac- ROB OF THE BOWL 3? tion, hath, to my personal knowledge, the greatest dread of the chapel of all other men I have seen. Besides, these terrors have flourished in the winter- night tales of the neighbourhood, ever since the death of Kelpy, and long before the Fendalls grew so pestilent in the province." "It is the blood of the fisherman, my good Lord, and of his wife and children that stains the floor," said Arnold; "it is that blood which brings the evil spirits together about the old hearth. Twice every day the blood-spots upon the floor freshen and grow strong, as the tide comes to flood; at the ebb they may be hardly seen." "You have witnessed this yourself, Arnold?" "At the ebb, Lord Charles. I did not stay for the change of tide. When I saw the spots it was as much as we could do to make them out. But at the flood everybody says they are plain." "It is a weighty matter, a very weighty matter, an it like your Lordship's honour," muttered forth the slim voice of Garret Weasel, who had insinu ated himself, by slow approach, into the rear of the company, near enough to hear a part of this con versation, and who now fancied that his interest in the subject would ensure him an unrebuked access to the Proprietary: "and your Lordship hath a worthy care for the fears of the poor people touch ing the abominations of the Wizard's Chapel." "What brought thee here, Garret Weasel?" in quired the Proprietary, as he turned suddenly upon 38 ROB OF THE BOWL tl;c publican and looked him steadfastly in the face "What wonder hast thou to tell to excuse thy lurk ing at our heels?" "Much and manifold, our most noble Lord, touch ing the rumours," replied the confused innkeeper, with a thick utterance. "And it is the most notable thing about it that Robert Swale Rob o' the Trencher, as he is commonly called your Lordship apprehends I mean the Cripple that Rob lives so near the Wizard's Chapel. There's matter of con sideration in that if your Lordship will weigh it." "Fie, Master Garret Weasel ! Fie on thee ! Thou art in thy cups. I grieve to see thee making a beast of thyself. You had a name for sobriety. Look that you lose it not again. Captain Dauntrees, if the publican has been your guest this evening, you are scarce free of blame for this." "He has a shallow head, my Lord, and it is more easily sounded than I guessed. Arnold," said Daun trees apart "persuade the innkeeper home." The ranger took Garret's arm, and expostulating with him as he led him away, dismissed him at the gate with an admonition to bear himself discreetly in the presence of his wife, a hint which seemed to have a salutary effect, as the landlord was seen shaping his course with an improved carriage to wards the town. "Have you reason to believe, Captain Dauntrees," said the Proprietary, after Weasel had departed. ROB OF THE BOWL 39 "that the Cripple gives credit to these tales? He lives near this troubled house?" "Not above a gunshot off, my Lord. He cannot but be witness to these marvels. But he is a man of harsh words, and lives to himself. There is matter in his own life, I should guess, which leaves but little will to censure these doings. To a certainty he has no fear of what may dwell in the Black building. I have seldom spoken with him." "Your report and Arnold's," said the Proprietary, "confirm the common rumour. I have heard to-day, that two nights past some such phantoms as you speak of have been seen, and deemed it at first a mere gossip's wonder; but what you tell gives a graver complexion of truth to these whisperings. Be there demons or jugglers amongst us and I have reason to suspect both this matter must be sifted. I would have the inquiry made by men who are not moved by the vulgar love of marvel. This duty shall be yours, friends. Make suitable preparation, Captain, to discharge it at your earliest leisure. I would have you and Arnold, with such discreet friends as you may select, visit this spot at night and observe the doings there. Look that you keep your own counsel : we have enemies of flesh and blood that may be more dreaded than these phantoms. So, God speed you, friends!" "The man who purges the Black House of the fiend, so please you, my Lord," said Dauntrees, "should possess more odour of sanctity than I doubt 40 ROB OF THE BOWL will be found under our soldiers' jerkins. I shall nevertheless execute your Lordship's orders to the letter." "Hark you, Captain," said the Proprietary^ as his visitors were about to take their leave "if you have a scruple in this matter and are so inclined, I would have you confer with Father Pierre. Whether this adventure require prayer, or weapon of steel, you shall judge for yourself." "I shall take it, my Lord, as a point of soldier ship," said Dauntrees, "to be dealt with in soldierly fashion that is, with round blows if occasion serves. I ask no aid from our good priest. He hath a trick if I may be so bold as to speak it before your Lord ship which doth not so well sort with my age and bodily health, a trick, my Lord, of putting one to a fasting penance by way of purification. Our pur pose of visiting the Black House would be unsea sonably delayed by such a purgation." "As thou wilt as thou wilt!" said the Proprie tary, laughing; "Father Pierre would have but an idle sinecure, if he had no other calling but to bring thee to thy penitentiary. Good even, friends, may the kind saints be with you !" The Captain and his comrade now turned their steps toward the fort, and the Proprietary retired into the mansion. Here he found the secretary and Benedict Leonard waiting his arrival. They had just returned from the town, whither they had gone after doing their errand to the fort. Albert Verhey- ROB OF THE BOWL 41 den bore a packet secured with silken strings and sealed, which he delivered to the Proprietary. "Dick Pagan, the courier," he said, "has just come in from James Town in Virginia, whence he set forth but four days ago he has had a hard ride of it and brought this pacquet to the sheriff for my Lord. The courier reports that a ship had just arrived from England, and that Sir Henry Chichely, the governor, gave him this for your Lordship to be delivered without delay." The Proprietary took the pacquet. "Albert," he said, as he was about to withdraw, "I have promised the old ranger, Arnold de la Grange, a new cap. Look to it : get him the best that you may rind in the town or, perhaps, it would better content him to have one made express by Cony the leather dresser. Let it be as it may best please the veteran himself, good Albert." With this considerate re membrance of the ranger, Lord Baltimore withdrew into his study. A small fire blazed on the hearth of the study and mingled its light with that of a silver cresset, which hung from the ceiling above a table furnished with writing materials and strewed over with papers. Here the Proprietary sat intent upon the perusal of the pacquet. Its contents disquieted him; and with increasing solicitude he again and again read over the letters. At length the secretary was summoned into his presence. "Albert," he said, "the council must be 42 ROB OF THE BOWL called together to-morrow at noon. The messengers should be despatched to-night ; they have a dark road and far to ride. Let them be ready with the least delay." The secretary bowed and went forth to execute his order. The letters brought the Proprietary a fresh impor tation of troubles. That which most disturbed him was from the Board of Trade and Plantations, and spoke authoritatively of the growing displeasure of the ministry at the exclusiveness, as it was termed, of the Proprietary's favours, in the administration of his government, to the Catholic inhabitants of the province. This was a blow at Lord Baltimore which scarcely took him by surprise. His late visit to England had convinced him that not all the personal partiality of the monarch for his family and this was rendered conspicuous in more than one act of favour at a time when the Catholic lords were brought under the ban of popular odium would be able finally to shelter the province from that religious proscription which already was rife in the mother land. The first expression of irritation which the perusal of the pacquet brought to the lips of the Proprietary had a reference to the collector. "They would have me," he said, as he rose and strode through the apart ment, "discard from my service the very approved friends with whom in my severest toils in this wil derness I have for so many years buffeted side by ROB OF THE BOWL 43 side, and to whom I am most indebted for support and encouragement amidst the thousand disasters of my enterprise. They would have me turn adrift, without a moment's warning, and even with circum stances of disgrace, that tried pattern of honesty, old Anthony Warden. By the blessed light! old Anthony shall not budge on my motion. Am I to be schooled in my duty by rapacious malcontents, and to be driven to put away my trustiest friends, to make room for such thirsty leeches and coarse rufflers as John Coode? Come what may, Anthony Warden shall not lack the collectorship whilst a shred of my prerogative remains untorn !" In this strain of feeling the Proprietary continued to chafe his spirit, until the necessity of preparing the letters which were to urge the attendance of his council, drew him from his' fretful reverie into a calmer tone of mind. In the servants' hall there was an unusual stir occasioned by the preparations which were in train for the outriding of the messengers whom the secre tary had put in requisition for the service of the night. The first of these was Derrick Brown, a man of stout mould though somewhat advanced in years. He held in the establishment what might be termed the double post of master of the mews and keeper of the fox hounds, being principal falconer and hunts man of the household. The second was a short, plump little fellow, bearing the name of John Al- ward who was one of the grooms of the stable. 44 ROB OF THE BOWL These two, now ready booted, belted and spurred, were seated on a bench, discussing a luncheon, with the supplement of a large jack or tankard of brown bastard. Leaning against the jamb of the ample fire place, immediately below a lamp which tipped the prominent points of his grave visage with a sharp light, stood an old Indian, of massive figure and swarthy hue, named Pamesack, or, as he was called in the English translation of the Indian word, The Knife. This personage had been, for some years past, at intervals, a privileged inmate of the Proprie tary's family, and was now, though consigned to a portion of the duties of the evening, apparently an unconcerned spectator of the scene around him. He smoked his pipe in silence, or if he spoke, it was seldom more than in the short monosyllable, charac teristic of the incommunicative habits of his tribe. "When I saw Dick Pagan, the James Town cour ier, coming into town this evening with his leather pouch slung across his shoulder," said the elder of the riders, "I guessed as much as that there would be matter for the council. News from that quarter now-a-days is apt to bring business for their wor ships. I warrant you the brother of Master Fendall hath been contriving an outcome in Virginia. I heard John Rye, the miller of St. Clements, say last Sunday afternoon, that Samuel Fendall had forty mounted men ready in the forest to do his bidding -with broadsword and carbine. And he would have done it too, if my Lord had not laid him by the heels 45 at unawares. He hath a savage spite against my Lord and the chancellor both." "But knew ye ever the like before," said John Al- ward, "that his lordship should be in such haste to see their worships, he must needs have us tramping over the country at midnight? By the virtue of my belt, there must be a hot flavour in the news! It was a post haste letter." "Tush, copperface! What have you to do with the flavour of the news? The virtue of thy belt, indeed! Precious little virtue is there within its compass, ha, ha! You have little to complain of, John Alward, for a midnight tramp. It is scant twelve miles from this to Mattapany, and thine errand is done. Thou mayst be snoozing on a good truss of hay in Master Sewall's stable before mid night, if you malce speed. Think of my ride all the way to Notley Hall, and round about by the head of the river too for I doubt if I have any chance to get a cast over the ferry to-night. Simon the boatkeeper is not often sober at this hour: and if he was, a crustier churl the devil warm his pillow ! doesn't live 'twixt this and the old world. He gets out of his sleep for no man." "But it is a dark road mine," replied the groom. "A plague upon it ! I have no stomach for this bush and brier work, when a man can see the limb of a tree no more than a cobweb." "A dark road !" exclaimed the master of the ken nels, laughing. "A dark road, John! It is a long 46 ROB OF THE BOWL time, I trow, since there has been a dark road for thy night rides, with that nose shining like a lighted link a half score paces around thee. It was some what deadened last September, I allow, when you had the marsh ague, and the doctor fed you for a week on gruel but it hath waxed lately as bright as ever. I wish I could buckle it to my head-strap until to-morrow morning." A burst of laughter, at this sally, which rang through the hall, testified the effect of the falconer's wit and brought the groom to his feet. " 'S blood, you grinning fools!" he ejaculated, "haven't you heard Derrick's joke a thousand times before, that you must toss up your scurvy ha-haws at it, as if it was new! He stole it as the whole hundred knows from the fat captain, old Dauntrees, in the fort there; who would have got it back upon hue and cry, if it had been his own; but the truth is, the Captain filched it from a play-book, as the surveyor told him in my hearing at Garret Weasel's, where the Captain must needs have it for a laughing matter." "It is a joke that burns fresh every night," replied Derrick; "a thing to make light of. So, up with the bottom of the pot, boy, and feed it with mother's milk: it will stand thee in stead to-night. Well done, John Alward ! I can commend thee for taking a jest as well as another." "Master Derrick," said the other, "this is not the way to do his Lordship's bidding : if we must go, we ROB OF THE BOWL 47 should be jogging now. I would I had thy ride to take, instead of my own, short as you think it." "Ha, say you that! By the rochet, John, you shall have it, an it please Master Secretary! But upon one condition." "Upon what condition?" "That you tell me honestly why you would choose to ride twenty miles to Notley rather than twelve to Mattapany." "Good Derrick," answered the groom, "it is but as a matter of horsemanship. You have a broader road, and mine is a path much beset with brush wood. I like not the peril of being unhorsed !" "There -is a lie in thy face, John Alward; the Mattapany road is the broadest and best of the two is it not so, Pamesack?" "It is the first that was opened by the white man," replied the Indian; "and more people pass upon it than the other." "John," said the falconer, "you are a coward. I will not put you to the inventing another lie, but will wager I can tell you at one guess why you would change with me." "Out with it, Master Derrick !" exclaimed the by standers. "Oh, out with it!" repeated John Alward; "I heed not thy gibes." "You fear the cross road," said the falconer ; "you will not pass the fisherman's grave." "In troth, masters I must needs own," replied 48 ROB OF THE BOWL the groom, "that I have qualms. I never was ashamed to tell the truth, and confess that I am so much of a sinner as to feel an honest fear of the devil and his doings. I have known a horse to start and a rider to be flung at the cross road before now : there are times in the night when both horse and rider may see what it turns one's blood into ice to look at. Nay, I am in earnest, masters : I jest not." "Thou hast honestly confessed, like a brave man, that thou art a coward, John Alward ; and so it shall be a bargain between us. I will take your message. I fear not Paul Kelpy he has been down with that stake through his body, ever too fast to walk abroad." "There's my hand to it," said the groom, "and thanks to boot. I am no coward, Derrick, but have an infirmity which will not endure to look by night in the lonesome woods, upon a spirit which walks with a great shaft through it. Willy of the Flats saw it, in that fashion, as he went home from the Viewer's feast on the eve of St. Agnes." "Willy had seen too much of the Viewer's hollands that night," said Derrick ; "and they are spirits worth a dozen Paul Kelpy s, even if the whole dozen were trussed upon the same stake, like herrings hung up to smoke. In spite of the fisherman and his bolt, I warrant you I pass unchallenged betwixt this and Mattapany." The secretary, soon after this, entered the hall and confirmed the arrangements which had just been ROB OF THE BOWL '49 made. He accordingly delivered the letters intended for Colonel Talbot and Nicholas Sewall to the fal coner, and that for Mr. Notley, the late lieutenant general of the province, to John Alward. To the Indian was committed the duty oi bearing the mis sions to such members of the council as resided either in the town or within a few miles of it. Holding it matter of indifference whether he despatched this duty by night or by day, The Knife took it in hand at once, and set forth, on foot, with a letter for Colonel Digges, who lived about five miles off, at the same time that the other two couriers mounted their horses for their lonesome journeys through the CHAPTER III. If we should wait till you, in solemn council With due deliberation had selected The smallest out of four and twenty evils, 'I faith we should wait long. Dash and through with it that's the better watchword, Then after, come what may come. Piccolomini. ON the following day, the council, consisting of some four or five gentlemen, were assembled at the Proprietary Mansion. About noon their number was rendered complete by the arrival of Colonel George Talbot, who, mounted on a spirited, milk-white steed 50 ROB OF THE BOWL that smoked with the hot vigour of his motion, dashed through the gate and alighted at the door. A pair of pistols across his saddle-bow, and a poniard, partially disclosed under his vest, demon strated the precautions of the possessor to defend himself against sudden assault, and no less denoted the quarrelsome aspect of the times. His frame was tall, athletic, and graceful; his eye hawk-like, and his features prominent and handsome, at the same time indicative of quick temper and rash resolve. There was in his dress a manifestation of the con sciousness of a good figure it was the costume of a gallant of the times; and his bearing was character istic of a person accustomed to bold action and gay companionship. Talbot was a near kinsman of the Baltimore fam ily, and besides being a member of the Proprietary's council, he held the post of Surveyor General, and commanded, also, the provincial militia on the north ern frontier, including the settlements on the Elk River, where he owned a large manor, upon which he usually resided. At the present time he was in the temporary occupation of a favourite seat of the Proprietary, at Mattapany, on the Patuxent, whither the late summons had been despatched to call him to the council. "Well met !" he exclaimed, as he flung his hat and gloves upon a table and extended his hand to those who were nearest him. "How fares it, gentlemen? What devil of mutiny is abroad now ? Has that pirn- ROB OF THE BOWL 51 pled fellow of fustian, that swiller of the leavings of a tap room, the worshipful king of the Burgesses, Master Jack Coode, got drunk again and begun to bully in his cups? The falconer who hammered at my door last night, as if he would have beaten your Lordship's house about my ears, could tell me noth ing of the cause of this sudden convocation, save that Driving Dick had come in hot haste from James Town with letters that had set the mansion here all agog, from his Lordship's closet down to the scul lery." "With proper abatement for the falconer's love of gossip," said the Proprietary, "he told you true. The letters- are there on the table. When you have read them, you will see that with good reason I might make some commotion in my house. Talbot ran his eye over the papers. "Well, and well an old story!" he said, as he threw one letter aside and took up another. "Antichrist the Red Lady of Babylon the Jesuits and the devil : we have had it so often that the lecture is somewhat stale. The truculent Papists are the authors of all evil ! We had the Geneva band in fashion for a time ; but that wore out with old Noll. And then comes another flight of kestrels, and we must have the thirty-nine articles served up for a daily dish. That spider, Master Yeo, has grown to be a crony of His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is busy to knit his web around every poor Catholic fly of the province." 52 ROB OF THE BOWL "This must be managed without temper," said Darnall, the oldest member present, except the Chan cellor. "Our adversaries will find their advantage in our resolves, if made in the heat of passion." "You say true," replied Talbot. "I am a fool in my humour; but it doth move me to the last ex tremity of endurance to be ever goaded with this shallow and hypocritical pretence of sanctity. They prate of the wickedness of the province, forsooth! our evil deportment, and loose living, and notorious scandal! all will be cured, in the opinion of these solemn Pharisees, by turning that good man, Lord Charles and his friends out of his own province, and by setting up parson Yeo in a fat benefice under the wing of an established church." "Read on," said Lord Baltimore, "and you shall see the sum of all, in the argument that it is not fit Papists should bear rule over the free-born subjects of the English crown ; and, as a conclusion to that, a summary order to discharge every friend of our holy church from my employ." Talbot read the letter to the end. "So be it!" he ejaculated, as he threw the letter from him, and flung himself back into his chair. "You will obey this high behest? With all humble ness, we will thank these knaves for their many con descensions, and their good favours. Your uncle, the Chancellor here, our old frosted comrade, is the first that your Lordship will give bare-headed to the sky. As for myself, I have been voted an incarnate ROB OF THE BOWL 53 devil in a half dozen conclaves and so Fendall shall be the surveyor. I hope your Lordship will remem ber that I have a military command a sturdy stronghold in the fort of Christina and some stout fellows with me on the border. It might be hard to persuade them to part company with me." "Peace, I pray you, peace!" interrupted the Pro prietary; "you are nettled, Talbot, and that is not the mood for counsel." "These pious cut-throats here," said Talbot, "who talk of our degeneracy, slander us to the whole world; and, faith, I am not of the mind to bear it! I speak plainly what I have thought long since and would rather do than speak. I would arrest the ring leaders upon a smaller scruple of proof than I would set a vagrant in the stocks. You have Fendall now, my Lord I would have his fellows before long : and the space between taking and trying should not add much to the length of their beards : between trying and hanging, still less." "As to that," said the Proprietary, "every day brings us fresh testimony of the sedition afoot, and we shall not be slow to do justice on the parties. We have good information of the extent of the plot against us, and but wait until an open act shall make their guilt unquestionable. Master Coode is now upon bail only because we were somewhat too hasty in his arrest. There are associates of Fendall's at work who little dream of our acquaintance with their designs." 54 ROB OF THE BOWL "When does your provincial court hold its ses sions?" inquired the Surveyor. "In less than a month." "It should make sure work and speedy," said Tal- bot. "Master Fendall should find himself at the end of his tether at the first sitting." "Ay, and Coode, too," said one of the council: "notwithstanding that the burgesses have stepped forward to protect him. The House guessed well of the temper against your Lordship in England, when they stood up so hardily, last month, in favour of Captain Coode, after your Lordship had commanded his expulsion. It was an unnatural contumacy." "In truth, we have never had peace in the pro vince," said another, "since Fendall was allowed to return from his banishment. That man hath set on hotter, but not subtler spirits than his own. He has a quiet craftiness which never sleeps nor loses sight of his purpose of disturbance." "Alas!" said the Proprietary, "he has not lacked material to work with. The burgesses have been disaffected ever since my father's death. I know not in what point of kindness I have erred towards them. God knows I would cherish affection, not ill-will. My aim has ever been to do justice to all men." "Justice is not their aim, my Lord," exclaimed Talbot. "Oh, this zeal for church is a pretty weapon ! and honest Captain Coode, a dainty cham pion to handle it ! I would cut the spurs from that fowl, if I did it with a cleaver !" ROB OF THE BOWL 55 "He is but the fool in the hands of his betters," interposed Darnall. "This discontent has a broad base. There are many in the province who, if they will not take an open part against us, will be slow to rebuke an outbreak many who will counsel in secret who dare not show their faces to the sun." "These men have power to do us much harm," said Lord Baltimore; "and I would entreat you, gentlemen, consider, how, by concession to a moder ate point, which may comport with our honour, we may allay these irritations. Leaving that question for your future advisement, I ask your attention to the letters. The King has commanded for it is scarce less than a royal mandate." "Your Lordship," said Talbot, sarcastically, "has fallen under His Majesty's disfavour. You have, doubtless, failed somewhat in your courtesies to Nell Gwynn, or the gay Duchess; or have been wanting in some observance of respect to old Tom Killigrew, the King's fool. His Majesty is not wont to look so narrowly into state affairs." "Hold, Talbot!" interrupted the Proprietary. "I would not hear you speak slightingly of the King. He hath been friendly to me, and I will not forget it. Though this mandate come in his name, King Charles, I apprehend; knows but little of the matter. He has an easy conscience for an importunate suitor. Oh, it grieves me to the heart, after all my father's care for the province and surely mine has been no less it grieves me to see this wayward fortune com- 56 ROB OF THE BOWL ing over our hopes like a chill winter, when we looked for springtide, with its happy and cheerful promises. I am not to be envied for my prerogative. Here, in this new world, I have made my bed, where I had no wish but to lie in it quietly : it has become a bed of thorns, and cannot bring rest to me, until I am mingled with its dust. Well, since rebellion is the order of the times, I must e'en myself turn rebel now against this order." "Wherein might it be obeyed, my Lord?" asked Darnall. "You have already given all the rights of conscience which the freemen could ask, and the demand now is that you surrender your own. What servant would your Lordship displace ? Look around you : is Anthony Ward so incapable, or so hurtful to your service that you might find plea to dismiss him?" "There is no better man in the province than Anthony Warden," replied the Proprietary, with warmth ; "a just man ; a good man in whatever duty you scan him ; an upright, faithful servant to his post. My Lords of the Ministry would not and could not, if they knew him, ask me to remove that man. I will write letters back to remonstrate against this injustice." "And say you will not displace a man, my Lord, come what may!" exclaimed Talbot. "This battle must be fought and the sooner the better! Your Lordship will find your justification in the unanimous resolve of your council." ROB OF THE BOWL 57 This sentiment was echoed by all present, and by some of the more discreet an admonition was added, advising the Proprietary to handle the subject mildly with the Ministry, in a tone of kind expostulation, which, as it accorded with Lord Baltimore's own feeling, met his ready acquiescence. After despatching some business of less concern, the members of the council dispersed. Anthony Warden had resided in Maryland for forty years before the period of this story. During the greater portion of this time he performed the duties of the Collector of the Proprietary's revenues in the port. By the persuasion of Cecilius Calvert he had become a settler in the New World, where he had received from his patron the grant of a large tract of land, which, in progress of time, under a careful course of husbandry, rendered him a man of easy fortune. One portion of this tract lay adja cent to the town, and stretched along the creek of Si. Inigoe's, constituting an excellent farm of several hundred acres. Upon this land the Collector had dwelt from an early period of his settlement. Two marriages had brought him a large family of children, of whom the eldest (the only offspring of his first nuptials) was Alice Warden, a maiden lady who now, well advanced in life, occupied the highest post of authority in the household, which had, for several years past, been transferred to her by the demise of the second wife. His sons had all aban- 58 ROB OF THE BOWL cloned the paternal roof in the various purusits of fortune, leaving behind them, besides Mistress Alice, a sister, the youngest of the flock, who, at the epoch at which I am about to present her, was just verging towards womanhood. In his attire, Master Anthony Warden, the wor shipful Collector (to give him his usual style of ad dress in the province) exhibited some tendency to wards the coxcombry of his day. It was marked by that scrupulous observance of the prerogative of rank and age which characterised the costume of the olden time, smacking no little of the flavour of the official martinet The household at the Rose Croft, I have hinted, was regulated by Mistress Alice, who had, some time before our acquaintance with her, reached that period of life at which the female ambition for dis play is prone to subside into a love of domestic pur suits. It was now her chief worldly care and delight to promote the comfort of those who congregated around the family hearth. With such attractions for old and young it will readily be believed that the Rose Croft was a favour ite resort of the inhabitants of St. Mary's. The maidens gathered around Blanche as a May-day queen; the matrons possessed in Mistress Alice a discreet and kind friend, and the more sedate part of the population found an agreeable host in the worthy official himself. Towards noon of the day on which the council ROB OF THE BOWL 59 held their session, a troop of maidens was seen issu ing from the chapel. Their number might have been eight or ten. The orderly step with which they departed from the door was exchanged for a playful haste in grouping together when they got beyond the immediate precincts of the place of worship. Their buoyant carriage and lively gesticulations betokened the elasticity of health, which was still more un equivocally shown in their ruddy complexions and \vell rounded forms. Their path lay across the grassy plain towards the town, and passed immediately within the space em bowered by an ancient, spreading poplar, scarce a hundred "paces in front of the chapel. When the bevy reached this spot, they made a halt and gathered around one of their number, who seemed to be the object of a mirthful and rather tumultary importu nity. The individual thus beset was Blanche War den. Together with a few elderly dames, who were at this moment standing at the door of the chapel in parley with Father Pierre, this troop had constituted the whole congregation who had that morning at tended the service of the festival of St. Bridget. "Holy mother, how I am set upon!" exclaimed Blanche, as, half smiling and half earnest, she turned her back against the trunk of the tree. "Have I not said I could not? Why should my birthday be so remembered that all the town must be talking about it?" "You did promise/' said one of the party, "or at 60 ROB OF THE BOWL least, Mistress Alice promised for you, full six months ago, that when you came to eighteen we should have a merry-making at the Rose Croft." "It would not be seemly I should be thought bold," replied the maiden, "to be turning my birth day into a feast. Indeed, I must not and cannot, playmates." "There is no must not nor cannot in our books, Blanche Warden," exclaimed another, "but simply we will. There is troth plighted for it, and that's enough for us. So we hold to that, good Blanche." "Yes, good Blanche, gentle Blanche! sweetheart, we hold to that !" cried the whole party, in a clamor ous onset. "Truly, Grace Blackiston, you will have Father Pierre checking us for noisy behaviour," said the maiden. "You see that he is now looking towards us. It is a pretty matter to make such a coil about! I marvel, has no one ever been eighteen before!" "This day se'nnight," replied the arch girl to whom this reprimand was addressed, "will be the first day, Blanche Warden, the Rose of St. Mary's, has ever seen eighteen ; and it will be the last I trow : and what comes and goes but once in the wide world should be accounted a rare thing, and rarities should be noticed, sweetheart." "If I was coming eighteen," said a damsel who scarce reached as high as Blanche's shoulder, "and had as pretty a house for a dance as the Rose Croft, ROB OF THE BOWL 61 there should be no lack of sport amongst the towns people." "It is easy to talk on a two year's venture, little Madge," replied Blanche; "for that is far enough off to allow space for boasting. But gently, dear play mates! do not clamour so loud. I would do your bidding with good heart if I thought it would not be called something forward in me to be noising my age abroad, as if it was my lady herself." "We will advise with Father Pierre and Lady Maria," responded Grace Blackiston; "they are com ing this way." At this moment the reverend priest, and the ladies with whom he had been in conversation, approached. The sister of the Proprietary was distinguished as well by her short stature and neat attire, as by her little Indian attendant, who followed bearing the lady's missal. The tall figure of Father Pierre, ar rayed in his black tunic and belt, towered above his female companions. He bore his square bonnet of black cloth in his hand, disclosing a small silk cap closely fitted to his crown, fringed around with the silver locks which, separating on his brow, gave the grace of age to a countenance full of benignity. The presence of the churchman subdued the eager gaiety of the crowd, and two or three of the maidens ran up to him with an affectionate familiarity to make him acquainted with the subject of their con tention. "Father," said Grace Blackiston, "we have a com- 62 plaint to lodge against Mistress Blanche for a prem ise-breaker. You must counsel her, Father, to her duty." "Ah! my child! pretty Blanche!" exclaimed the priest, with the alacrity of his native French temper, as he took the assailed damsel by the hand, "what have they to say against you ? I will be your friend as well as your judge." "The maidens, Father," replied Blanche, "have taken leave of their wits, and have beset me like mad caps to give them a dance at the Rose Croft, on my birthday. And I have stood on my refusal, Father Pierre, as for a matter that would bring me into cen sure for pertness as I am sure you will say it would with worshipful people, that a damsel who should be modest in her behaviour, should so thrust herself forward to be observed." "And we do not heed that, Father Pierre," inter rupted Grace Blackiston, who assumed to be the spokeswoman of the party, "holding it a scruple more nice than wise. Blanche has a trick of standing back more than a maiden needs. And, besides, we say that Mistress Alice is bound by pledge of word, and partly Blanche, too for she stood by and said never a syllable against it that we should have good cheer and dancing on that day at the Rose Croft. It is the feast of the blessed virgin, Terese, and we would fain persuade Blanche that the festival should be kept for the sake of her birthday saint." "My children," said the priest, who, during- this ROB OF THE BOWL 63 debate stood in the midst of the blooming troop, cast ing his glances from one to another with the pleased expression of an interested partaker of their mirth, and at the same time endeavoring to assume a coun tenance of mock gravity, "we will consider this mat ter with impartial justice. And, first, we will hear all that Mistress Blanche has to say. It is a profound subject. Do you admit the promise, my child?" "I do not deny, Father Pierre, that last Easter, when we met and danced at Grace Blackiston's, my sister Alice did make some promise, and I said nothing against it. But it was an idle speech of sister Alice, which I thought no more of till now; and now should not have remembered it if these wild mates of mine had not sung it in my ear with such clamour as must have made you think we had all gone mad." "It is honestly confessed," said Father Pierre; "and though I heard the outcry all the way to the church door, yet I did not deem the damsels abso lutely mad, as you supposed. I am an old man, my child, and I have been taught by my experience, in what key seven, eight, or nine young girls will make known their desires when they are together: and, truly, it is their nature to speak all at the same time. They speak more than they listen ha, ha! But we shall be mistaken if we conclude they are mad." "Blanche, love," interposed the Lady Maria, "you have scarce given a good reason for gainsaying the 64 ROB OF THE BOWL wish of the damsels. Have a care, or you may find me a mutineer on this question." "That's a rare lady a kind lady!" shouted sev eral. "Now, Blanche, you have no word of denial left." "I am at mercy," said the maiden, "if my good mistress, the Lady Maria, is not content. Whatever my sister Alice and my father shall approve, and you, dear lady, shall say befits my state, that will I undertake right cheerfully. I would pleasure the whole town in the way of merry-making, if I may do so without seeming to set too much account upon so small a matter as my birthday. I but feared it would not be well taken in one so young as I am." "I will answer it to the town," said the Lady Maria. "It shall be done as upon my motion; and Mistress Alice shall take order in the matter as a thing wherein you had no part. Will that content you, Blanche?" "I will be ruled in all things by my dear lady," replied the maiden. "You will speak to my father?" "It shall be my special duty to look after it forth with," responded the lady. "Luckily," said Father Pierre, laughing, "this great business is settled without the aid of the church. Well, I have lost some of my consequence in the winding up, and the Lady Maria is in the ascendant. I will have my revenge by being as merry as any of you at the feast. So, good day, mes enfants !" ROB OF THE BOWL 65 With this sally, the priest left the company and retired to his dwelling hard by the chapel. The Lady Maria and her elderly companions moved to wards the town, whilst the troop of damsels with increased volubility pursued their noisy triumph, and with rapid steps hastened to their several homes. CHAPTER IV. THE Crow and Archer presented a busy scene on the evening of the day referred to in the last chapter. A report had been lately spread through the country that the brig Olive Branch, an occasional trader between the province and the coasts of Holland and England had arrived at St. Mary's. In conse quence of this report there had been, during the last two days, a considerable accession to the usual guests of the inn, consisting of travellers both by land and water. Several small sloops and other craft had come into the harbour, and a half score inland pro prietors had journeyed from their farms on horse back, and taken up their quarters under the snug roof of Garret Weasel. On a bench, in one corner of the tap-room, sat, in a ragged, patched coat re sembling a pea-jacket, a saucy, vagrant-looking fiddler, conspicuous for a red face and a playful light blue eye; he wore a dingy, pliant white hat, fretted 66 ROB OF THE BOWL at the rim, set daintily on one side of his head, from beneath which his yellow locks depended over either cheek, completely covering his ears ; and all the while scraped his begrimed and greasy instrument to a brisk tune, beating time upon the floor with a huge hob-nailed shoe. This personage had a vagabond popularity in the province under the name of Will of the Flats a designation no less suited to his musi cal commodity than to the locality of his ostensible habitation, which was seated on the flats of Patux- ent, not above fifteen miles from St. Mary's, where he was tenant of a few acres of barren marsh and a lodge or cabin not much larger than a good dog kennel. Will's chief compeer and brother in taste and in clination, though of more affluent fortune, was Dick Pagan, or Driving Dick, according to his more familiar appellation, the courier who had lately brought the missives from James Town; a hard- favoured, weather-beaten, sturdy, little bow-legged fellow, in russet boots and long spurs, and wrapt in a coarse drab doublet secured by a leathern belt, with an immense brass buckle in front. Old Pamesack, likewise, formed a part of the group, and might have been observed seated on a settle at the door, quietly smoking his pipe, as unmoved by the current of idlers which ebbed and flowed past him, as the old barnacled pier of the quay by the daily flux and reflux of the river. The dame having been on a visit to a neighbour 67 did not show herself in the tap-room until near the close of the day; in the meantime leaving her cus tomers to the unchidden enjoyment of their enter tainment which was administered by Matty Scamper, a broad-chested, red-haired and indefatigable dam sel, who in her capacity of adjutant to the hostess, had attained to great favour with the patrons of the tavern by her imperturbable good nature and ready answer to all calls of business. Matty's rule, however, was now terminated by the arrival of Mistress Weasel herself. The din of the tap-room was hushed into momen tary silence as soon as this notable figure appeared on the threshold. "Heaven help these thirsty, roystering men !" she exclaimed, as she paused an instant at the door and surveyed the group within "On my conscience, they are still at it as greedily as if they had just come out of a dry Lent ! From sunrise till noon, and from noon till night it is all the same drink, drink, drink. Have ye news of Master Cocklescraf t ? I would that the Olive Branch were come and gone, that I might sit under a quiet roof again! there is noth ing but riot and reeling from the time the skipper is expected in the port until he leaves it." "True enough, jolly queen!" said Ralph Hay- wood, a young inland planter, taking the hand of the merry landlady as she struggled by him on her way to the bar "what the devil, in good earnest, has become of Cocklescraf t ? This is the second day 68 ROB OF THE BOWL we have waited for him. I half suspect you, mis tress, of a trick to gather good fellows about you, by setting up a false report of the Olive Branch." 'Thou art a lying varlet, Ralph," quickly re sponded the dame: "you yourself came jogging hither with the story that Cocklescraft was seen two days ago, beating off the Rappahannock. I play a trick on you, truly! You must hink I have need of custom, to bring in a troop of swilling bumpkins from the country who would eat and drink out the character of any respectable house in the hundred without so much as one doit of profit. You have my free leave to tramp it back again to Providence, Ralph Haywood, whenever you have a mind." "Nay, now you quarrel with an old friend, Mis tress Dorothy." "Take thy hand off my shoulder, Ralph, thou coax ing villain! Ha, ha, I warrant you get naught but vinegar from me, for your treacle. But come thou art a good child, and shalt have of the best in this house: I would only warn you to call for it mannerly, Master Ralph." "Our dame is a woman of mettle," said another of the company, as the landlady escaped from the planter and took her station behind the bar. "What has become of that man Weasel ?" she in quired somewhat petulantly. "The man I am sure has been abroad ever since I left the house! He is of no more value than a cracked pet ; he would see ROB OF THE BOWL 69 me work myself as thin as a broom handle before he would think of turning himself round." "Garret is now upon the quay," replied one of the customers; "I saw him but a moment since with Arnold the Ranger." "Witji some idle stroller, you may be sure of that !" interrupted the hostess : "never at his place, if the whole house should go dry as Cuthbert's spring at midsummer. Call him to me, if you please, Mas ter Shortgrass. Michael Curtis, that wench Matty Scamper has something to do besides listen to your claverings! Matty, begone to the kitchen; these country cattle will want their suppers presently. Oh, Willy, Willy o' the Flats! for the sake of one's ears, in mercy, stop that everlasting twangling of your old crowd! It would disgrace the patience of any Christian woman in the world to abide in the midst of all this uproar ! Nay, then, come forward, old crony I would not offend thee," she said in a milder tone to the fiddler. "Here is a cup of ale for thee, and Matty will give you your supper to night. I have danced too often to thy music to deny thee a comfort : so, drink as you will ! but pray you rest your elbow for a while." "And there is a shilling down on the nail," said Driving Dick, as he and the crowder came together to the bar at the summons of the landlady: "when that is drunk out, dame, give me a space of warning, that I may resolve whether we shall go another shot." "Master Shortgrass told me you had need of me/' 70 ROB OF THE BOWL said Garret Weasel, as he now entered the door; "what wouldst with me, wife Dorothy?" "Get you gone!" replied the wife "thou art ever in the way. I warrant your head is always thrust in place when it is not wanted ! If you had been at your duty an hour ago, your service might have been useful." "I can but return to the quay," said Garret, at the same time beginning to retrace his steps. "Bide thee!" exclaimed the dame in a shrill voice "I have occasion for you. Go to the cellar and bring up another stoop of hollands ; these salt water fish have no relish for ale they must deal in the strong : nothing but hollands or brandy for them." The obedient husband took the key of the cellar and went on the duty assigned him. At this moment a door communicating with an adjoining apartment was thrown ajar and the head of Captain Dauntrees protruded into the tap-room. "Mistress Dorothy," he said "at your leisure, pray step this way." The dame tarried no longer than was necessary to complete a measure she was filling for a customer, and then went into the room to which she had been summoned. This was a little parlour, where the Captain of musqueteers had been regaling himself for the last hour over a jorum of ale, in solitary rumination. An open window gave to his view the full expanse of the river, now glowing with the rich reflexions of sunset; and a balmy October breeze ROB OF THE BOWL 71 played through the apartment and refreshed without chilling the frame of the comfortable Captain. He was seated near the window in a large easy chair when the hostess entered. "Welcome dame," he said, without rising from his seat, at the same time offering his hand, which was readily accepted by the landlady. "By St. Gregory and St. Michael both, a more buxom and tidy piece of flesh and blood hath never sailed between the two headlands of Potomac, than thou art! You are for a junketing, Mistress Dorothy; you are tricked out like a queen this evening! I have never seen thee in thy new suit before. Thou are as gay as a mary- gold ; and- 1 wear thy colours, thou laughing mother of mischief ! Green is the livery of thy true knight. Has your goodman, honest Garret, come home yet, dame?" "What would you with my husband, Master Bald- pate ? There is no good in the wind when you throw yourself into the big chair of this parlour." "In truth, dame, I only came to make a short night of it with you and your worthy spouse. Do not show your white teeth at me, hussy, you are too old to bite. Tell Matty to spread supper for me in this parlour. Arnold and Pamesack will partake with me; and if the veritable and most authentic head of this house I mean yourself, mistress have no need of Garret, I would entreat to have him in company. By the hand of thy soldier, Mistress Dorothy ! I am glad to see you thrive so in your call- 72 ROB OF THE BOWL ing. You will spare me Garret, dame? Come, I know you have not learnt how to refuse me a boon." "You are a saucy Jack, Master Captain," replied the dame. "I know you of old: you would have a rouse with that thriftless babe my husband. You sent him reeling home only last night. How can you look me in the face, knowing him, as you do, for a most shallow vessel, Captain Dauntrees ?" "Fie on thee, dame! You disgrace your own flesh and blood by such speech. Did you not choose him for his qualities? ay, and with all circumspec tion, as a woman of experience. You had two hus bands before Garret, and when you took him for a third, it was not in ignorance of the sex. Look thee in the face ! I dare, yea, and at thy whole configu ration. Faith, you wear most bravely, Mistress Weasel! Stand apart, and let me survey; turn thy shoulders round," he added, as by a sleight he twirled the dame upon her heel so as to bring her back to his view "thou art a woman of ten thou sand, and I envy Garret such store of womanly wealth." "If Garret were the man I took him for, Master Captain," said the dame with a saucy smile, "you would have borne a broken head long since. But he has his virtues, such as they are, though they may lie in an egg-shell: and Garret has his frailties too, like other men : alack, there is no denying it !" "Frailties, forsooth ! Which of us has not, dame ? Garret is an honest man; somewhat old a shade ROB OF THE BOWL 73 or so : yet it is but a shade. For my sake, pretty hostess, you will allow him to sup with us? Speak it kindly, sweetheart good, old Garret's jolly, young wife!" "Thou wheedling devil!" said the landlady; "Gar ret is no older than thou art. But, truly, I may say he is of little account in the tap-room; so, he shall come to you, Captain. But, look you, he is weak, and must not be over-charged." "He shall not, mistress you have a soldier's word for that. I could have sworn you would not deny me. Hark you, dame, bring thine ear to my lips ; a word in secret." The hostess bent her head down, as the Captain desired, when he said in a half whisper, "Send me a flask of the best, you understand? And there's for thy pains !" he aded, as he saluted her cheek with a kiss. "And there's for thy impudence, saucy Captain!" retorted the spirited landlady as she bestowed the palm of her hand on the side of his head and fled out of the apartment. Dauntrees sprang from his chair and chased the retreating dame into the midst of the crowd of the tap-room, by whose aid she was enabled to make her escape. Here he encountered Garret Weasel, with whom he went forth in quest of Arnold and the Indian, who were to be his guests at supper. In the course of the next half hour the Captain and his three comrades were assembled in the little 74 ROB OF THE BOWL parlour around the table, discussing their evening meal. When this was over, Matty was ordered to clear the board and to place a bottle of wine and glasses before the party, and then to leave the room. "You must know, Garret/' said Dauntrees when the serving-maid had retired, "that we go to-night to visit the Wizard's Chapel by his Lordship's order ; and as I would have stout fellows with me, I have come down here on purpose to take you along." "Heaven bless us, Master Jasper Dauntrees !" ex claimed Garret, somewhat confounded with this sud den appeal to his valour, which was not of that prompt complexion to stand so instant a demand, and yet which the publican was never willing to have doubted "truly there be three of you, and it might mar the matter to have too many on so secret an outgoing" "Tush, man, that has been considered. His Lordship especially looks to your going : you cannot choose but go." 'But my wife, Captain Dauntrees"- "Leave that to me," said the Captain; "I will manage it as handsomely as the taking of Troy. Worthy Garret, say naught against it you must go, and take with you a few bottles of Canary and a good luncheon of provender in the basket. You shall be our commissary. I came on set purpose to pro cure the assistance of your experience, and store of comfortable sustenance. Get the bottles, Garret, his Lordship pays the scot to-night." ROB OF THE BOWL 75 "I should have my nag," said Garret, "and the dame keeps the key of the stable, and will in no wise consent to let me have it. She would suspect us for a rouse if I but asked the key." "I will engage for that, good Weasel," said Daun- trees : "I will cozen the dame with some special in vention which shall put her to giving the key of her own motion: she shall be coaxed with a device that shall make all sure only say you will obey his Lordship's earnest desire." "It is a notable piece of service," said the inn keeper, meditating over the subject, and tickled with the importance which was ascribed to his co-opera tion "and will win thanks from the whole province. His Lordship did wisely to give it in charge to valiant men." "In faith did he," replied the Captain; "and it will be the finishing stroke of thy fortunes. You will be a man of mark for ever after." "I am a man to be looked to in a strait, Captain," said Weasel, growing valorous with the thought. "I saw by his Lordship's eye yesternight that he was much moved by what I told him. I have had a wrestle with devils before now." Arnold smiled and cast his eye towards the Indian, who, immediately after supper, had quitted the table and taken a seat in the window. "There be hot devils and cold devils," said he, "and he that wrestles with them must have a hand 76 ROB OF THE BOWL that will hold fire as well as ice : that is true, Fame- sack?" "Pamesack has no dealing with the white man's devil," replied the Indian; "he has enough to do with his own." "Drink some wine, old blade," said Dauntrees as he presented a cup to Pamesack; "The Knife must be sharp to-night this will whet his edge. We shall have need of your woodcraft." The Indian merely sipped the wine, as he replied, "Pamesack knows the broad path and the narrow both. He can lead you to the Black House day or night." "Brandy is more natural to his throat than this thin drink," said Weasel, who forthwith left the room and returned with a measure of the stronger liquor. When this was presented Pamesack swal lowed it at a draught, and with something approaching a laugh, he said, "It is the white man's devil but the Indian does not fear him." "Now, Garret," said Dauntrees, "we have no time to lose. Make ready your basket and bottles, and lay them at the foot of the cedar below the bank, near the Town House steps ; then hasten back to the par lour. I will put the dame to sending you on an errand which may be done only on horseback ; you will mount with the basket and make speedy way to the Fort. Tell Nicholas Verback, the lieutenant, that I shall be there in reasonable time. We must ROB OF THE BOWL 77 set forth by ten ; it may take up three hours to reach St. Jerome's." "My heart is big enough," said Weasel, once more beginning to waver, "for any venture ; but, in truth, I fear the dame. It will be a livelong night carouse, and she is mortal against that. What will she say in the morning?" "What can she say, when all is come and gone, but, perchance, that thou wert rash and hot-headed? That will do you no harm : but an hour ago she swore to me that you were getting old and sighed too, as if she believed her words." "Old, did she say? Ho, mistress, I will show you my infirmities! A fig for her scruples! the hey day blood yerks yet, Master Captain. I will go with thee, comrades : I will follow you to any goblin's chapel ; twixt St. Mary's and Christina." "Well said, brave vintner!" exclaimed the Cap tain; "now stir thee! And when you come back to the parlour, Master Weasel, you shall find the dame here. Watch my eye and take my hint, so that you play into my hand when need shall be. I will get the nag out of the stable if he were covered with bells. Away for the provender!" The publican went about his preparations, and had no sooner left the room than the Captain called the landlady, who at his invitation showed herself at the door. "Come in, sweetheart. Good Mistress Daffodil," he said, "I called you that you may lend us your 78 ROB OF THE BOWL help to laugh ; since your rufflers are dispersed, your smokers smothered in their own clouds, your tip plers strewed upon the benches, and nothing more left for you to do in the tap-room, we would have your worshipful and witty company here in the par lour. So, come in, my princess of pleasant thoughts, and make us merry with thy fancies." "There is nothing but clinking of cans and swag gering speeches where you are, Captain Dauntrees," said the hostess. "An honest woman had best be little seen in your company. It is a wonder you ever got out of the Low Countries, where, what with drinking with boors and quarrelling with belted bul lies, your three years' service was enough to put an end to a thousand fellows of your humour." "There's destiny in it, dame. I was born to be the delight of your eyes. It was found in my horo scope, when my nativity was cast, that a certain jolly mistress of a most-especially-to-be-commended inn, situate upon a delectable point of land in the New World, was to be greatly indebted to me, first, for the good fame of her wines amongst worshipful people; and, secondly, for the sufficient and decent praise of her beauty. So was it read to my mother by the wise astrologer. And then, dame, you slander the virtue of the Low Countries. Look at Arnold there : is there a more temperate, orderly, well- behaved liegeman in the world than the ranger? And did he not bring his sobriety with him from the very bosom of the land you rail against ?" ROB OF THE BOWL 79 "If Arnold de la Grange is not all that you say of him," replied the hostess, "it is because he has lost some share of his good quality by consorting with you, Captain. Besides, Arnold has never been hack neyed in the wars." "A Dutch head," said Arnold, laughing, "is not easily made to spin. In the Old World men can drink more than in the New : a Friesland fog is an excellent shaving horn, mistress!" "Heaven help the men of the Old World, if they drink more than they do in our province !" exclaimed Mistress Weasel. "Look in the tap-room, and you may see the end of a day's work in at least ten great loons. One half are sound asleep, and the other of so dim of sight that neither can see his neighbour." "The better reason, then, Mistress Dorothy," re plied Dauntrees, "why you, a reputable woman, should leave such topers, and keep company with sober, waking, discreet friends. That cap becomes thee, mistress. I never saw you in so dainty a head gear. I honour it as a covering altogether worthy of thy comeliness. Faith, it has been a rich piece of merchandise to me! Upon an outlay of fourteen shillings which I paid for it, as a Michaelmas present to my excellent hostess, I have got in return, by way of profit, full thirteen bottles of Garret's choicest Canary, on my wager. Garret was obstinate, and would face me out with it that you wore it to church last Sunday, when I knew that you went only in your hood that day : he has never an eye to look on 80 ROB OF THE BOWL thee, dame, as he ought, so he must needs put it to a wager. Well, as this is the first day thou hast ever gone abroad in it, here I drink to thee and thy cap, upon my knees Success to its travels, and joy to the merry eye that sparkles below it! Come, Arnold, drink to that, and get Pamesack another glass of aqua vitse: top off to the hostess, com rades!" The toast was drunk, and at his moment Garret Weasel returned to the room. A sign from him in formed the Captain that the preparation he had been despatched to make was accomplished. "How looks the night, Garret?" inquired Daun- trees ; "when have we the moon ?" "It is a clear starlight and calm," replied the pub lican; "the moon will not show herself till near morning." "Have you heard the news, mistress?" inquired the Captain, with an expression of some eagerness; "there is pleasant matter current, concerning the mercer's wife at the Blue Triangle. But you must have heard it before this ?" "No, truly, not I," replied the hostess. "Indeed !" said Dauntrees, "then there's a month's amusement for you. You owe the sly jade a grudge, mistress." "In faith I do," said the dame, smiling, "and would gladly pay it." "You may pay it off with usury now," added the Captain, "with no more trouble than telling the ROB OF THE BOWL 81 story. It is a rare jest, and will not die quickly." "I pray you tell it to me, good Captain give me all of it," exclaimed the dame, eagerly. "Peregrine Cadger, the mercer, you know," said the Captain "but it is a long story, and will take time to rehearse it. Garret, how comes it that you did not tell this matter to your wife, as I charged you to do?" he inquired, with a wink at the publican. "I resolved to tell it to her," said Weasel, "but, I know not how, it ran out of my mind the day being a busy one " "A busy day to thee!" exclaimed the spouse. "Thou, who hast no more to do than a stray in the pound, what are you fit for, if it be not to do as you are commanded? But go on, Captain; the story would only be marred by Garret's telling go on yourself I am impatient to hear it." "I pray you, what o'clock is it, mistress?" asked the Captain. "It is only near nine. It matters not for the hour go on." "Nine!" exclaimed Dauntrees; "truly, dame, I must leave the story for Master Garret. Nine, said you? By my sword, I have overstaid my time! I have business with the Lord Proprietary before he goes to his bed. There are papers at the fort which should have been delivered to his Lordship before this." "Nay, Captain," said the hostess, "if it be but the delivery of a pacquet, it may be done by some other 82 ROB OF THE BOWL hand. There is Driving Dick in the tap-room: he shall do your bidding in the matter. Do not let so light a business as that take you away." "To-morrow, dame, and I will tell you the tale." "To-night, Captain to-night." "Truly, I must go ; the papers should be delivered by a trusty hand I may not leave it to an ordinary messenger. Now if Garret but I will ask no such service from the good man at his time of night; it is a long way. No, no, I must do my own errand." "There is no reason upon earth," said the land lady, "why Garret should not do it : it is but a step to the Fort and back." "I can take my nag and ride there in twenty minutes," said Garret. "I warrant you his Lordship will think the message wisely entrusted to me." "Then get you gone, without parley," exclaimed the dame. "The key of the stable, wife," said Garret. "If you will go, Master Garret," said Dauntrees "and it is very obliging of you do it quickly. Tell Nicholas Verbrack to look in my scritoire; he will find the pacquet addressed to his Lordship. Take it, and see it safely put into his Lordship's hands. Say to Nicholas, moreover, that I will be at the Fort before ten to-night. You comprehend ?" "I comprehend," replied Garret, as his wife gave him the key of the stable, and he departed from the room: "Now, Captain." ROB OF THE BOWL 83 "Well, mistress : you must know that Peregrine Cadger, the mercer, who in the main is a discreet man " "Yes." "A discreet man I mean, bating some follies which you wot of: for this trading and trafficking naturally begets foresight. A man has so much to do with the world in that vocation, and the world, Mistress Dorothy, is inclined by temper to be some what knavish, so that they who have much to do with it learn cautions which other folks do not. Now, in our calling of soldiership, caution is a sneaking virtue which we soon send to the devil ; and thereby you may see how it is that we are more honest than other people. Caution and honesty do not much consort together." "But of the mercer's wife, Captain." "Ay, the mercer's wife I shall come to her pres ently. Well, Peregrine, as you have often seen, is a shade or so jealous of that fussock, his wife, who looks, when she is tricked out in her new russet gro- gram cloak, more like a brown haycock in motion than a living woman." "Yes," interrupted the dame, laughing, "and with a sunburnt top. Her red hair on her shoulders is no better, I trow." "Her husband, who at best is but a cotquean one of those fellows who has a dastardly fear of his wife, which, you know, Mistress Dorothy, truly makes both man and wife to be laughed at. A husband 84: ROB OF THE BOWL should have his own way, and follow his humour, no matter whether the dame rails or not. You agree with me in this, Mistress Weasel ?" "In part, Captain. I am not for stinting a hus band in his lawful walks; but the wife should have an eye to his ways : she may counsel him." "Oh, in reason, I grant; but she should not chide him, I mean, nor look too narrowly into his hours, that's all. Now Peregrine's dame hath a free foot, and the mercer himself somewhat of a sulky brow. Well, Halfpenny, the chapman, who is a mad wag for mischief, and who is withal a sure customer of the mercer's in small wares, comes yesternight to Peregrine Cadger's house, bringing with him wor shipful Master Lawrence Hay, the Viewer." At this moment the sound of horse's feet from the court-yard showed that Garret Weasel had set forth on his ride. "Arnold, I am keeping you waiting," said Daun- trees. "Fill up another cup for yourself and Pame- sack, and go your ways. Stay not for me, friends ; or if it pleases you, wait for me in the tap-room. I will be ready in a brief space." The ranger and the Indian, after swallowing an other glass, withdrew. "The Viewer," continued Dauntrees, "is a hand some man, and a merry man on occasion, too. I had heard it whispered before but not liking to raise a scandal upon a neighbour, I kept my thoughts to myself that the mercer's wife had rather a ROB OF THE BOWL 85 warm side for the Viewer. But be that as it may : there was the most laughable prank played on the mercer by Halfpenny and the Viewer together, last night, that ever was heard of. It was thus : they had a game at Hoodman-blind, and when it fell to Law rence to be the seeker, somehow the fat termagant was caught in his arms, and so the hood next came tc her. Well, she was blindfolded; and there was an agreement all round that no one should speak a word." "Ay, I understand I see it," said the hostess, eagerly drawing her chair nearer to the Captain. "No, you would never guess," replied Dauntrees, "if you cudgelled your brains from now till Christ mas. But I can show you, Mistress Dorothy, better by the acting of the scene. Here, get down on your knees, and let me put your kerchief over your eyes." "What can that signify?" inquired the dame. "Do it, mistress you will laugh at the explosion. Give me the handkerchief. Down, dame, upon your marrow bones : it is an excellent jest and worth the learning." The landlady dropped upon her knees, and the Captain secured the bandage round her eyes. "How many fingers, dame!" he asked, holding his hand before her face. "Never a finger can I see, Captain." "It is well. Now stand up forth and away ! That was the word given by the Viewer. Turn, Mis- 86 ROB OF THE BOWL tress Dorothy, and grope through the room. Oh, you shall laugh at this roundly. Grope, grope, dame." The obedient and marvelling landlady began to grope through the apartment, and Dauntrees, quietly opening the door, stole off to the tap-room, where being joined by his comrades, they hied with all speed towards the Fort, leaving the credulous dame floundering after a jest, at least until they got beyond the hail of her voice. CHAPTER V. Pale lights on Cadez' rocks were seen, And midnight voices heard to moan, 'Twas even said the blasted oak, Convulsive heaved a hollow groan. The Spirit's Blasted Tree. DAUNTREES, after his unmannerly escape from the credulous landlady, hastened with his two compan ions, at a swinging gait, along the beach to the fort, where they found Garret Weasel waiting for them in a state of eager expectation. "Is the dame likely to be angry, Captain?" were the publican's first words. "Does she suspect us for a frisk to-night ? Adsheartlikens, it is a perilous ad venture for the morrow ! You shall bear the burden of that reckoning, Master Captain." ROB OF THE BOWL 87 "I left Mistress Dorothy groping for a secret at Hoodman-blind," replied the Captain, laughing. "She has found it before now, and by my computation is in the prettiest hurricane that ever brought a frown upon a woman's brow. She would bless the four quarters of thee, Garret, if thou shouldst return home to-night, with a blessing that would leave a scorch-mark on thee for the rest of thy days. I shouldn't wonder presently to hear her feet pattering on the gravel of the beach in full pursuit of us dark as it is : I have left her in a mood to tempt any unheard of danger for revenge. So, let us be away upon our errand. You have the eatables safe and the wine" sound, worthy Weasel? Nicholas," he said, speaking to the Lieutenant "are our horses saddled?" "They are at the post on the other side of the parade," replied the Lieutenant. "Alack!" exclaimed Weasel "Alack for these pranks! Here will be a week's repentance. But a fig for conclusions ! in for a penny, in for a pound, masters. I have the basket well stored and in good keeping. It will be discreet to mount quickly I will not answer against the dame's rapping at the gate to-night: she is a woman of spirit and valiant in her anger." "Then let us be up and away," said the Captain, who was busily bestowing a pair of pistols in his belt and suspending his sword across his body. "A cutlass and pistols for me," said the publican, 88 ROB OF THE BOWL as he selected his weapons from several at hand. Arnold and Pamesack were each provided with a carbine, when Dauntrees, throwing his cloak across his shoulders, led the way to the horses, where the party having mounted, sallied through the gate of the fort at a gallop. Their road lay around the head of St. Inigoe's Creek, and soon became entangled in dark, woody ravines and steep acclivities which presented, at this hour, no small interruption to their progress. Pame sack, on a slouching pony, his legs dangling within a foot of the ground, led the way with an almost in stinctive knowledge of his intricate path, which might have defied a darker night. They had journeyed for more than two hours in the depths of the forest before they approached the inlet of St. Jerome's. "Where are we, Pamesack? I surely hear the stroke of the tide upon the beach; are we so near St. Jerome's, or have we missed the track and struck the bay shore short of our aim ?" "The she-fox does not run to her den where she has left her young, by a track more sure than mine to-night," replied the guide : "it is the wave strik ing upon the sand at the head of the inlet : you may see the stars on the water through yonder wood." "Pamesack says true," added Arnold. "He has found his way better than a hound." A piece of cleared land, or old field, a few acres in v;idth, lay between the travellers and the water ROB OF THE BOWL 89 which began now to glimmer on their sight through a fringe of wood that grew upon the margin of the creek or inlet, and the fresh breeze showed that the broad expanse of the Chesapeake was at no great distance. "The Wizard's Chapel," said Dauntrees, "by my reckoning then, should be within a mile of this spot. It were a good point of soldiership to push forward a vanguard. That duty, Garret, will best comport with your mad-cap humour there may be pith in it ; so, onward man, until you are challenged by some out-post of the Foul One we will tarry here for your report. In the meantime, leave us your ham per of provender. Come, man of cold iron, be alert thy stomach is growing restive for a deed of valour." "You are a man trained to pike and musquetoon," replied the publican; "and have the skill to set a company, as men commonly fight with men. But I humbly opine, Captain, that our venture to-night stands in no need of vanguard, patrol or picquet. We have unearthly things to wrestle with, and do not strive according to the usages of the wars. I would not be slow to do your bidding, but that I know good may not come of it; in my poor judgment we should creep towards the Chapel together, not part ing company. I will stand by thee, Captain, with a sharp eye and ready hand." "Thy teeth will betray us, Master Vintner, even at a score rods from the enemy," said Dauntrees: 90 ROB OF THE BOWL "they chatter so rudely that thy nether jaw is in dan ger. If thou are cold, man, button up thy coat." "Of a verity it is a cold night, and my coat is none of the thickest," replied Weasel with an increas ing shudder. "I understand you, Garret," responded the Cap tain with a laugh ; "we must drink. So, friends, to the green grass, and fasten your horses to the trees whilst we warm up the liver of our forlorn vintner with a cup. We can all take that physic." This command was obeyed by the immediate dis mounting of the party and their attack upon one of the flasks in the basket. "It has a rare smack for a frosty night," said Dauntrees as he quaffed a third and fourth cup. "When I was in Tours I visited the abbey of Mar- moustier, and there drank a veritable potation from the huge tun which the blessed St. Martin himself filled, by squeezing a single cluster of grapes. It has the repute of being the kindliest wine in all Christendom for the invigorating of those who are called to do battle with the devil. The monks of the abbey have ever found it a most deadly weapon against Satan. And truly, Master Weasel, if I did not know that this wine was of the breed of the islands, I should take it to be a dripping from the holy tun I spoke of : it hath the like virtue of defi ance of Beezlebub. So, drink drink again, worthy purveyor and valiant adjutant !" "What is that?" exclaimed Weasel, taking the ROB OF THE BOWL 91 cup from his lips before he had Finished the contents. "There is something far off like the howl of a dog and yet more devilish I should say did ye not hear it, masters ? I pray heaven there be no evil warning in this : I am cold still cold, Captain Dauntrees." "Tush, it is the ringing of your own ears, Garret, or it may be, like enough, some devil's cur that scents our footsteps. Make yourself a fire, and whilst you grow warm by that grosser element we will take a range, for a brief space, round the Chapel. You shall guard the forage till we return." "That is well thought of," replied the innkeeper quickly. ""Light and heat will both be useful in our onslaught : while you three advance towards the shore I will keep a look out here; for there is no knowing what devices the enemy may have a-foot to take us by surprise." Some little time was spent in kindling a fire, which had no sooner begun to blaze than Dauntrees, with the Ranger and the Indian, set forth on their recon- noissance of the Chapel, leaving Weasel assured that he was rendering important service in guarding the provender and comforting himself by the blazing iagots. They walked briskly across the open ground to wards the water, and as they now approached the spot which common rumour had invested with so many terrors, even these bold adventurers them selves were not without some misgivings. 92 ROB OF THE BOWL "By my troth, Arnold," said Dauntrees, as they strode forward, "although we jest at yonder white- livered vintner, this matter we have in hand might excuse an ague in a stouter man. I care not to con fess that the love I bear his Lordship, together with some punctilio of duty, is the only argument that might bring me here to-night. I would rather stand a score pikes in an onset with my single hand, where the business is with flesh and blood, than buffet with a single imp of the Wizard. They say these spirits are quick to punish rashness." "As Lord Charles commands we must do his bid ding," replied the forester. "When the business in hand must be done, I never stop to think of the danger of it. If we should not get back, Lord Charles has as good men to fill our places. I have been scared more than once by these night devils, till my hair lifted my cap with the fright, but I never lost my wits so far as not to strike or to run at the good season." "Laet lopen die lopen luste, as we used to say in Holland," returned the Captain. "I am an old rover and have had my share of goblins, and never flinched to sulphur or brimstone, whether projected by the breath of a devil or a culverin. I am not to be scared now from my duty by any of Paul Kelpy's brood though I say again I like not this strife with shadows. His Lordship shall not say we failed in our outlook. I did purpose, before we set out, to talk with Father Pierre concerning this matter, but ROB OF THE BOWL 93 Garret's wine and his wife together put it out of my head." "The holy father would only have told you," re plied Arnold, "to keep a Latin prayer in your head and Master Weasel's wine and wife both out of it." "So he would, Arnold, and it would have gone more against the grain than a hair-shirt penance. I have scarce a tag of a prayer in my memory, not even a line of the Fac Salve; and I have moreover a most special need for a flask of that vintage of Teneriffe on a chilly night ; and then, as you your self was a witness, I had most pressing occasion to practise a deceit upon Mistress Dorothy. The Priest's counsel would have been wasted words that's true : so we were fain to do our errand to-night without the aid of the church. Why do you halt, Fame- sack?" "I hear the tread of a foot," replied the Indian. "A deer stalking on the shore of the creek," said Dauntrees. "More like the foot of a man," returned Fame- sack, in a lowered voice; "we should talk less to make our way safe. There is the growl of a dog." Arnold now called the attention of his companions to the outlines of a low hut which was barely dis cernible through the wood where an open space brought the angle of the roof into relief against the water of the creek, and as they approached near enough to examine the little structure more minutely, they were saluted by the surly bark of a deep throated 9-i ROB OF THE BOWL dog, fiercely redoubled. At the same time the sound of receding footsteps was distinctly audible. "Who dwells here?" inquired Dauntrees, striking the door with the hilt of his sword. There was no answer, and the door gave way to the thrust and flew wide open. The apartment was tenantless. A few coals of fire gleaming from the embers, and a low bench furnished with a blan ket, rendered it obvious that this solitary abode had been but recently deserted by its possessor. A hasty survey of the hut, which was at first fiercely disputed by the dog a cross-grained and sturdy mastiff until a sharp blow from a staff which the forester bestowed sent him growling from the premises, sat isfied the explorers that so far, at least, they had encountered nothing supernatural; and without fur ther delay or comment upon this incident they took their course along the margin of St. Jerome's Creek. After a short interval, the beating of the waves upon the beach informed them that they had reached the neighbourhood of the shore of the Chesapeake. Here a halt and an attentive examination of the locality made them aware that they stood upon a bank, which descended somewhat abruptly to the level of the beach that lay some fifty yards or more beyond them. In the dim starlight they were able to trace the pro file of a low but capacious tenement which stood almost on the tide mark. "It is the Chapel?" said Dauntrees, in an involun tary whisper as he touched the Ranger's arm. ROB OF THE BOWL 95 "It is Paul Kelpy's house, all the same as I have known it these twenty years: a silent and wicked house," whispered Arnold, in reply. "And a pretty spot for the Devil to lurk in," said Dauntrees, resuming his ordinary tone. "Hold, Captain," interrupted the Ranger, "no foul words so near the Haunted House. The good saints be above us !" he added, crossing himself and muttering a short prayer. "Follow me down the bank," said Dauntrees, in a low but resolute voice ; "but first look to your car bines that they be charged and primed. I will break in the door of this ungodly den and ransack its cor ners before I leave it. Holy St. Michael, the Arch fiend is in the Chapel, and warns us away!" he ex claimed, as suddenly a flash of crimson light illumi nated every window of the building. "It is the same warning given to Burton and myself once before. Stand your ground, comrades; we shall be beset by these ministers of sin !" As the flashes of this lurid light were thrice re peated, Pamesack was seen on the edge of the bank fixed like a statue, with foot and arm extended, look ing with a stern gaze towards this appalling spectacle. Arnold recoiled a pace and brought his hand across his eyes, and was revealed in this posture as he exclaimed in his marked Dutch accent, "The fisher man's blood is turned to fire: we had best go no further, masters." Dauntrees had advanced half way down the bank, and the glare disclosed him as 96 ROB OF THE BOWL suddenly arrested in his career; his sword gleamed above his head whilst his short cloak was drawn by the motion of his left arm under his chin; and his broad beaver, pistolled belt, and wide boots, now tinged with the premature light, gave to his figure that rich effect which painters are pleased to copy. "I saw Satan's imps within the chamber," ex claimed the Captain. "As I would the blessed Mar tyrs be with us, I saw the very servitors of the Fiend! They are many and mischievous, and shall be defied though we battle with the Prince of the Air. What ho, bastards of Beezlebub, I defy thee! in the name of our patron, the holy and blessed St. Ignatius, I defy thee!" There was a deeper darkness as Dauntrees rushed almost to the door of the house with his sword in his hand. Again the same deep flashes of fire illumed the windows, and two or three figures in grotesque costume, with strange unearthly faces, were seen, for the instant, within. Dauntrees retreated a few steps nearer to his companions, and drawing a pistol, held it ready for instant use. It was discharged at the windows with the next flash of the light, and the re port was followed by a hoarse and yelling laugh from the tenants of the house. "Once more I defy thee!" shouted the Captain, with a loud voice; "and in the name of our holy church, and by the order of the Lord Proprietary. I demand what do you here with these hellish rites !" The answer was returned in a still louder laugh, ROB OF THE BOWL 97 and in a shot fired at the challenger, the momentary light of the explosions revealing, as Datmtrees ima gined, a cloaked figure presenting a harquebuss through the window. "Protect yourselves, friends !" he exclaimed, "with such shelter as you may find," at the same time re treating to the cover of an oak which stood upon the bank. "These demons show weapons like our own. I will e'en ply the trade with thee, accursed spirits I" he added, as he discharged a second pistol. The Ranger and Pamesack had already taken shelter, and their carbines were also levelled and fired. Some two or three shots were returned from the house accompanied with the same rude laugh which attended the first onset, and the scene, for a moment, would have been thought rather to resemble the assault and defence of mortal foes, than the strife of men with intangible goblins, but that there were mixed with it other accompaniments altogether unlike the circumstance of mortal battle; a loud heavy sound as of rolling thunder, echoed from the interior of the chapel, and in the glimpses of light the antic figures within were discerned as dancing with strange and preposterous motions. "It avails us not to contend against these fiends," said Dauntrees. "They are enough to maintain their post against us, even if they fought with human im plements. Our task is accomplished by gaining sight of the chapel and its inmates. We may certify what we have seen to his Lordship ; so, masters, move war- 98 ROB OF THE BOWL iiy and quickly rearward. Ay, laugh again, you jug gling minions of the devil !" he said, as a ' hoarse shout of exultation resounded from the house, when the assailants commenced their retreat. "Put on the shape of men and we may deal with you ! For ward, Arnold ; if we tarry, our retreat may be vexed with dangers against which we are not provided." "I hope this is the last time we shall visit this devil's den," said Arnold, as he obeyed the Captain's injunction, and moved, as rapidly as his long stride would enable him to walk, from the scene of their late assault. Whilst these events were passing, I turn back to the publican, who was left a full mile in the rear to guard the baggage and keep up the fire, a post, as he described it, of no small danger. It was with a mistrusting conscience, as to the pro priety of his separation from his companions, that Garret, when he had leisure for reflection, set him self to scanning his deportment at this juncture. His chief scruple had reference to the point of view in which Dauntrees and Arnold de la Grange would hereafter represent this incident : would they set it down, as Weasel hoped they might, to the account of a proper and soldier-like disposition of the forces, which required a detachment to defend a weak point ? or would they not attribute his hanging back to a want of courage, which his conscience whispered was not altogether so wide of the truth, but which he had hoped to conceal by his martial tone of ROB OF THE BOWL 99 bravado? There are many brave men, he reflected, who have a constitutional objection to fighting in the dark, and he was rather inclined to rank himself in that class. "In the dark," said he, as he sat down by the fire, with his hands locked across his knees, which were drawn up before him in grasshopper angles, and looked steadily at the blazing brushwood; "in the dark a man cannot see that stands to reason. And it makes a great difference, let me tell you, mas ters, when you can't see your enemy. Besides, the Captain, who is all in all in his command, hath set me here to watch, which, as it were, was a forbidding of me to go onward. Well, let the world wag, and the upshot "be what it may, here are comforts at hand, and I will not stint to use them." Saying this the self-satisfied martialist opened the basket and solaced his appetite with a slice of pasty and a draught of wine. "I will now perform a turn of duty," he continued, after his refreshment; and accordingly drawing his hanger, he set forth to make a short circuit into the open field. He had wandered some fifty paces into the field, on this valorous outlook, when he bethought him that he had ventured far enough, and might now return, deeming it more safe to be near the fire and the horses than out upon a lonesome plain, which he believed to be infested by witches and their kin dred broods. He had scarcely set his face towards hif- original post when an apparition came upon his sight that filled him with horror, and caused his hair 100 ROB OF THE BOWL to rise like bristles. This was the real bodily form and proportions of such a spectre as might be sup posed to prefer such a spot an old woman in a loose and ragged robe, who was seen gliding up to the burning fagots with a billet of pine in her hand, which she lighted at the fire and ^hen waved above her head as she advanced into the field towards the innkeeper. Weasel's tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and his teeth chattered audibly against each other, his knees smote together, and his eyes glanced steadfastly upon the phantom. For a moment he lost the power of utterance or motion, and when these began to return, as the hag drew nearer, his impulse was to fly; but his bewildered reflection came to his aid and suggested greater perils in ad vance; he therefore stood stock still. "Heaven have mercy upon me! the Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner!" he ejaculated; "I am alone, and the enemy has come upon me." "Watcher of the night," said a voice, in a shrill note, "draw nigh. What do you seek on the wold?" "Tetra grammaton, Ahaseel in the name of the Holy Evangels, spare me!" muttered the innkeeper, fruitlessly ransacking his memory for some charm against witches, and stammering out an incoherent jargon. "Abracadabra spare me, excellent and worthy dame! I seek no hurt to thee. I am old, mother, too old and with too many sins of my own to account for, to wish harm to any one, much less to the good woman of this wold. Oh, Lord, oh Lord ! "Heaven have mercy upon me ! the Lord have mercy upon me, a smner ! ' Ejaculated Weasel. Page 100. Rob of the Bowl. ROB OF THE BOWL 101 why was I seduced upon this fool's errand?" "Come nigh, old man, when I speak to you. Why do you loiter there ?" shouted the witch, as she stood erect some twenty paces in front of the publican and beckoned him with her blazing fagot. "What dost thou mutter?" "I but sported with my shadow, mother," replied Weasel, with a tremulous attempt at a laugh, as he approached the questioner, in an ill assumed effort at composure and cheerfulness. "I was fain to di vert myself with an antic, till some friends of mine, who left me but a moment since, returned. How goes the night with you, dame?" "Merrily," replied the hag, as she set up a shrill laugh which more resembled a scream, "merrily; I cannot but laugh to find the henpecked vintner of St. Mary's at this time of night within the sound of the tide at the Black Chapel. I know your errand, old chapman of cheap liquors, and why you have brought your cronies. You pretend to be a liegeman of his Lordship, and you travel all night to cheat him of five shillings. You will lie on the morrow with as sad a face as there is in the hundred. I know you." "You know all things, worthy dame, and I were a fool to keep a secret from you. What new com modity, honest mistress, shall I find with Rob? The port is alive with a rumour of the Olive Branch; I would be early with the Cripple. Ha, ha !" he added, with a fearful laugh, "thou seest I am stirring in my trade." 102 ROB OF THE BOWL "Garret Weasel," said the beldam, "you may take it for a favour, past your deservings, that Rob will see thee alone at his hut even in day time: but it is as much as your life is worth to bring your huff -cap brawlers to St. Jerome's at midnight. It is not law ful ground for thee, much less for the hot-brained fools who bear you company. Who showed them the path to my cabin, that I must be driven out at this hour?" "Worthy, mistress, indeed I know not. I am ig norant of what you say !" "They will call themselves friends to the Chapel : but we have no friends to the Chapel amongst living men. The Chapel belongs to the dead and the tor mentors of the dead. So follow your cronies and command them back. I warn you to follow and bring them back, as you would save them from harm. Ha! look you, it is come already!" she ex claimed, raising her torch in the air, as the flashes from the Haunted House illumined the horizon ; "the seekers have roused our sentries, and there shall be angry buffets to the back of it !" At this moment the first shot was heard. "Friends, forsooth!" she shouted at the top of her voice: "friends, are ye? there is the token that ye are known to be false liars. Wo to the fool that plants his foot before the Chapel ! Stand there, Garret Weasel : I must away ; follow me but a step raise thy head to look after my path, and I will strike thee blind and turn thee into a drivelling idiot for the rest of thy days. Remember " ROB OF THE BOWL 103 In uttering this threat the figure disappeared ; Gar ret knew not how, as he strictly obeyed the parting injunction, and his horrors were greatly increased by the report of the several shots which now reached his ear from the direction of the Black House. He had hardly recovered himself sufficiently to wander back to the fire, before Dauntrees, Arnold, and Pamesack arrived, evidently flurried by the scene through which they had passed, as well as by the rapidity of their retreat. "Some wine, Garret ! some wine, old master of the tap!" was Dauntrees' salutation: "and whilst we regale as briefly as we may, have thou our horses loose from the trees ; we must mount and away. To the horses, Garret ! We will help ourselves." "I pray you, Master Captain," inquired the pub lican, having now regained his self-possession, "what speed at the Chapel ? Oh, an we have all had a night of it! Sharp encounters all round, masters! I can tell you a tale, I warrant you." "Stop not to prate now," interrupted Dauntrees in a voice choked by the huge mouthful of the pasty he was devouring; "we shall discourse as we ride. That flask, Arnold, I must have another draught e'er we mount, and then, friends, to horse as quickly as you may ; we may be followed ; we may have ghost, devil, and man of flesh, all three, at our heels." "I have had store of them, I can tell you ghosts and devils without number," said Weasel, as he brought the horses forward. 104 ROB OF THE BOWL "You shall be tried by an inquest of both, for your life, if you tarry another instant," interposed the Captain, as he sprang into his saddle. "What ! are we set upon, comrades ?" cried out the vintner, manfully, as he rose to his horse's back, and pricked forward until he got between Pamesack and Arnold. "Are we set upon? Let us halt and give them an accolado; we are enough for them, I war rant you! Oh, but it had well nigh been a bloody night," he continued, as the whole party trotted briskly from the ground. "We had work to do mas ters, and may tell of it to-morrow. Good Pamesack, take this basket from me, it impedes my motion in these bushes. Master Arnold, as we must ride here in single files, let me get before thee : I would speak with the Captain. Who should I see, Captain Daun- trees," continued the publican, after these arrange ments were made, and he had thrust himself into the middle of the line of march, and all now proceeded at a slackened pace, "but that most notorious and abominable hag, the woman of Warrington Kate, who lives, as everybody knows, on the Cliffs. She must needs come trundling down before me, astride a broomstick, with a black cat upon her shoulder, and sail up to the fire which I had left, for a space, to make a round on my watch for you may be sworn a strict watch I made of it, going even out of my way to explore the more hidden and perilous lurking- places where one might suspect an enemy to lie. So, whilst I was gone on this quest, she whips in and ROB OF THE BOWL 105 seats herself by the fire, with a whole score of devils at their antics around her. Then up I come, natur ally surprised at this audacity, and question them, partly in soldier-wise, showing my sword ready to make good my speech, and partly by adjuration, which soon puts me the whole bevy to flight, leaving Kate of Warrington at mercy: and there I con strained her to divulge the secrets of the Chapel. She said there had been devilish work under that roof, and would be again ; when pop, and bang, and slash, and crash, I heard the outbreak, and saw the devil's lights that were flashed. I could hold no longer parley with the hag, but was just moving off at full speed to your relief, determined in this need to desert my post which, in my impatience to lend you a hand, I could not help when I heard your footfall coming back, and so I was fain to bide your coming." "A well conceived sally of soldiership," said Daun- trees, "and spoken with a cavalier spirit, Master Garret. It hath truth upon the face of it : I believe every word. It shall serve you a good turn with his Lordship. What does Kate of Warrington in this neighbourhood? She travels far on her broomstick unless, indeed, what seems likely, she has taken her quarters in the cabin we disturbed to-night. These crows will be near their carrion." By degrees the party, as they pursued their home ward journey, grew drowsy. The publican had lost all his garrulity, and nodded upon his horse. Arnold 106 ROB OF THE BOWL and Pamesack rode in silence, until Dauntrees, as if waking up from a reverie, said "Well, friends, we return from no barren mission to-night. His Lordship may have some satisfaction in our story ; particularly in the vintner's. We shall be ready to report to his Lordship by noon, and after that we shall hasten to quiet our Dame Dorothy. The night is far spent : I should take it, Arnold, to be past three o'clock, by the rising of the moon. At peep of day we shall be snug upon our pallets, with no loss of relish for a sleep which will have been well earned." As the Captain continued to urge his journey, which he did with the glee that waits upon a safe deliverance from an exploit of hazard, he turned his face upwards to the bright orb which threw a cheer ful light over the scenery of the road-side, and in the distance flung a reflection, as of burnished silver, over the broad surface of St. Mary's river, as seen from the height which the travellers were now de scending. Not more than two miles of their route remained to be achieved, when the Captain broke forth with an old song of that day, in a voice which would not have discredited a professor: "The moon, the moon, the jolly moon, And a jolly old queen is she! She hath stroll'd o' nights this thousand year, With ever the best of company. Sing, Hie and hoc sumus nocturno, Huzza for the jolly old moon!" ROB OF THE BOWL 107 "Why, Garret, vintner, art asleep, man?" inquired the Captain. "Why dost thou not join in the bur den?" "To your hand, Captain," exclaimed Weasel, rous ing himself and piping forth the chorus "Hie and hoc sumus nocturne, Huzza, for the jolly old moon!" which he did not fail to repeat at the top of his voice at each return. Dauntrees proceeded : "She trails a royal following, And a merry mad court doth keep, With her chirping boys that walk i' the shade, And wake when the bailiff's asleep. Sing, Hie and hoc sumus nocturne, Huzza for the jolly old moon! This ditty was scarcely concluded for it was spun out with several noisy repetitions of the chorus before the troop reined up at the gate of the fort. The drowsy sentinel undid the bolt at the Captain's summons, and, in a very short space, the wearied adventurers were stretched in the enjoyment of that most satisfactory of physical comforts, the deep sleep of tired men. 108 ROB OF THE BOWL CHAPTER VI. There remains A rugged trunk, dismember'd and unsightly, Waiting the bursting of the final bolt To splinter it to shivers. The Doom of Devorgoil. THE shore of the Chesapeake between Cape St. Michael as the northern headland at the mouth of Potomac was denominated by the early settlers and the Patuxent, is generally flat, and distinguished by a clear pebbly beach or strand, here and there re lieved by small elevations which in any other region would scarce deserve the name, but which are suffi ciently prominent in this locality to attract remark. It was upon this flat that, in ancient times, stood the dwelling house of Paul Kelpy the fisherman a long, low building of deal boards, constructed somewhat in the shape of a warehouse or magazine. Some quarter of a mile along the beach, so sheltered under the brow of the slope as scarcely to be seen amongst the natural shrubbery that shaded it, stood a cottage or hut of very humble pretensions. It was so low that a man of ordinary height, while standing at the door, might lay his hand upon the eaves of the roof, and correspondent to its elevation, it was so scanty in space as to afford but two apartments, of which the largest was not above ten feet square. It was ROB OF THE BOWL 109 strongly built of hewn logs, and the door, strength ened by nails thickly studded over its surface, was further fortified by a heavy padlock, which rendered it sufficiently impregnable against a sharper assault than might be counted on from such as ordinarily should find motive to molest the proprietor of such a dwelling. To this spot I propose to introduce my reader, the day preceding that at which my story has been opened. It was about an hour before sunset, and a light, drizzling rain, with a steady wind from the north-east, infused a chilly gloom into the air, and heightened the tone of solitude which prevailed over the scene. A thin curl of smoke which rose from the clumsy chimney of the hut gave a sign of habita tion to the premises, and this was further confirmed by the presence of a large and cross-visaged mastiff- bitch, whose heavy head might be discerned thrust forth from beneath the sill of the gable, a sullen warder of this sullen place of strength. In the larger apartment of the hut a few fagots blazed upon the hearth, supplying heat to a pot that simmered above them, the care of which, together with other culinary operations, engaged the attention of a brown, haggard and weather-beaten woman, who plied this household duty with a silent and mechanical thrift. Remote from the hearth, and im mediately below a small window, sat, apparently upon the floor, a figure eminently calculated to chal lenge observation. His features were those of a 110 ROB OF THE BOWL man of seventy, sharp, shrewd and imprinted with a deep trace of care. His frame indicated the pos session, at an earlier period of his life, of the highest degree of strength; it was broad in the shoulders, ample in chest, and still muscular, although deprived of its roundness by age. His dress, of coarse green serge, made into a doublet with skirts that fell both front and rear, secured by a leathern belt, was so contrived as to conceal, in his present posture, his lower extremities. A broad ruff received his locks of iron gray, which fell over his back in crisp wiry curls : a thick grizzly beard, of the same hue, gave an elongation to his countenance which imparted to the observer the unpleasant impression of a head disproportionately large for the body, at least as seen in its present aspect. His girdle sustained a long knife or dagger, which apparently constituted a part of his daily equipment ; and the oblique flash of his eye, and tremulous mo tion of his thin lip betrayed a temperament, from which one might infer that this weapon of offence was not worn merely as an ornament of the person. The individual described in this summary was familiar to report, throughout the province, as The Cripple. His true name was supposed to be Robert Swale, but this was almost lost in the pervading popular designation of Rob of the Bowl, or Trencher Rob an appellative which he had borne ever since his arrival in the province, now some fifteen years gone by. Of his history but little was known, and ROB OF THE BOWL 111 that little was duly mystified, in the public repute, by the common tendency in the vulgar mind to make the most of any circumstance of suspicion. The story went that he had been shipwrecked, on a winter voy age, upon this coast, and, after suffering incredible hardships, had saved his life only at the expense of the loss of both legs by frost. In this maimed con dition he had reached the shore of the province, and some time afterwards built the hut in which he now dwelt, near the mouth of St. Jerome's. Here he had passed many years, without attracting other no tice than such as the stinted charity of the world affords, when it is exercised upon the fate or fortunes of an obscure recluse. Before 'many years, some few of the traders and country people round had found out that Rob was occasionally possessed of good merchantable commo dities much in request by the inhabitants of the port, and dark whispers were sometimes circulated touch ing the manner in which he came by them. The loss of his legs was supplied by a wooden bowl or trencher, of an elliptical shape, to which his thighs were attached by a strap, and this rude contrivance was swayed forward, when the owner chose, by the aid of two short crutches, which enabled him to lift himself from the ground and assume a progressive motion. A small painting of St. Romuald at his devotions, by the hand of Salvator himself, hung over a dress ing table, in the back room of the hut in which the 112 ROB OF THE BOWL bed of the Cripple was placed; and this exquisite gem of art, which the possessor seemed duly to appreciate, was surmounted by a crucifix, indicating the religious faith in which he worshipped. This might be gathered also from a curious, antique pix, of heavy gilded metal, a ponderous missal with silver clasps, a few old volumes of the lives of the saints, and other furniture of the like nature, all of which denoted that the ingredient of a religious devotee formed an element in his singular compound of character. The person who acted the part of servant in the dwelling had long maintained a most unenviable fame as The Woman of Warrington, in the small hamlet of that name on the Cliffs of Patuxent, from whence she had been recently transplanted to per form the domestic drudgery in which we have found her. Her habitation was a rude hovel some few hundred paces distant from the hut of the Cripple, on the margin of St. Jerome's Creek, and within gunshot of the rear of the Black Chapel. T.o this hovel, after her daily work was done, she retired to pass the night, leaving her master or patron to that solitude which he seemed to prefer to any society. The surly mastiff -bitch, we have noticed, alternately kept guard at the hut of the master and domestic, roving between the two in nightly patrol, with a gruff and unsocial fidelity, no unsuitable go-be tween to so strange a pair. The Cripple, at the time when I have chosen to ROB OF THE BOWL 113 present him to my reader, was seated, as I have said, immediately beneath the window. A pair of spec tacles assisted his vision as he perused a pacquet of papers, several of which lay scattered around him. The dim light for a while perplexed his labour, and he had directed the door to be thrown wi4e open that he might take advantage of the last moment be fore the approaching twilight should arrest his occu pation. Whilst thus employed, the deadened sound of a shot boomed across the bay. "Ha!" he exclaimed as he threw aside the paper in his hand and directed his eyes towards the water ; "there is a signal by my body, a signal gun! an ill bird is flying homeward. Did you not hear that shot, woman?" "I had my dream of the brigantine two nights ago," replied the servitress; "and of the greedy kite that calls himself her master; the shot must be his." "Whose can it be else?" demanded the Cripple sharply, as he swung himself forward to the door- sill and shook his locks from his brow in the act of straining his sight across the dim surface of the bay. "Ay, ay; there it is. Hark another shot! that is the true pass word between us: Dickon, sure enough ! The brigantine is in the offing. Cockles- craft is coming in with the speed of a gull. He comes full freighted full freighted, as is his wont, with the world's plunder. What dole hath he done this flight ? what more wealthy knave than himself 114 ROB OF THE BOWL hath he robbed ? Mischief, mischief, mischief good store of it, I'll be sworn : and a keener knave than himself he hath not found in his wide venture. He will be coming ashore to visit the Cripple, ha! he shall be welcome as he hath ever been. We are comrades, we are cronies, and merry in our divis ions the Skipper and the Cripple ! there is concord in it the Skipper and the Cripple merry men both!" The beldam, accustomed to this habit of self-com munion in the Cripple, apparently heeded not these mutterings, until he, at length, accosted her with a command : "Mistress Kate, double the contents of your pot; the skipper and some of his men will be here presently, as keen and trenchant as their own cutlasses. They will be hungry, woman, as these saltwater monsters always are for earthy provender." "Such sharp-set cattle should bring their proven der with them," replied the domestic, as she went about increasing her store of provision in compliance with her master's directions. "Or the good red gold, or the good red gold, old jade!" interrupted the Cripple. "The skipper doth not shrink in the girdle from the disease of a lean purse, and is therefore worthy of our worshipful entertainment. So goes the world, and we will be in the fashion! Though the world's malisons drive him hither as before a tempest, yet, comes he rich in its gear; he shall have princely reception. I am king of this castle, and ordain it. Is he taking in sail? ROB OF THE BOWL 115 is he seeking an anchorage? Ha, he understands his craft, and will be with us anon," he continued, as he marked the movements of the approaching vessel. There might be dimly seen, nearly abreast of St. Jerome's, a close-reefed brig, holding her course be fore a fair wind directly across the bay towards the hut of the Cripple. She was, at intervals, lost to view behind the thickening haze, and as often re-ap peared as she bent under the fresh north-east breeze and bounded rapidly with the waves towards the lee shore. It was after the hour of sunset when the tenants of the hut were just able to discern, in the murky gloom of the near nightfall, that she had low ered sail and swung round with her head seaward, at an anchorage some two miles out in the bay. "Quick, Mistress Kate, and kindle some brush wood on the shore," said the master of the hut. "It grows suddenly dark, and the boat's crew will need a signal to steer by." The woman gathered a handful of fagots, and, kindling them into a blaze, transferred them to the beach in front of the hut, where, notwithstanding the rain, they burned with a steady light. This il lumination had not subsided before the stroke of oars rose above the din of the waves ; and the boat with her crew, sheeted with the broad glare of the signal- fire, suddenly appeared mounted on the surf, sur rounded with foam and spray, and in the same in stant was heard grating on the gravel of the beach. Cocklescraft, with two seamen, entered the hut. 116 ROB OF THE BOWL The skipper was now in the prime of youthful man hood ; tall, active and strong, with the free step and erect bearing that no less denoted the fearlessness of his nature than pride in the consciousness of such a quality. His face, tinged with a deep brown hue, was not unhandsome, although an expression of sen suality, to some extent, deprived it of its claim to be admired. A scarlet jacket fitted close across the breast, wide breeches of ash-coloured stuff, hanging in the fashion of a kirtle or kilt to the knees, tight grey hose, accu rately displaying the leg in all its fine proportions, and light shoes, furnished a costume well adapted to the lithe and sinewy figure of the wearer. He wore in his embroidered belt, a pair of pistols richly mounted with chased silver and costly jewels, and his person was somewhat gorgeously and, in his present occupation, inappropriately ornamented with gems and chains of gold. His hair, in almost feminine luxuriance, descended in ringlets upon his neck. A large hat made of the palm leaf, broad enough to shade his face and shoulders, but ill sorted with the rest of his apparel, and was still less adapted to the season and the latitude he was in, though it threw into the general expression of his figure that trait of the swaggering companion which was, in fact, some what prominent in his character. "How dost, friend Rob?" was his salutation in crossing the threshold ; "how dost, Rob o' the Bowl, or Rob o' the Trencher? bowl or trencher, either ROB OF THE BOWL likes me; I am sworn friend to both," he continued as he stooped and took the Cripple's hand. "Ay thy conscience has never stayed thee," was the Cripple's reply, as he received the skipper's grasp "when thou wouldst put thy hand in another man's bowl or trencher, and especially, Dickon, if they were made of gold. Thou hast an appetite for such dishes. How now! where do you come from?" "That shall be answered variously, friend of the wooden platter. If you speak to me as Meinherr Von Cogglescraft, I am from Antwerp, master of the Olive Branch, with a comfortable cargo of Hol lands, and wines French and Rhenish, old greybeard, and some solid articles of Dutch bulk. But if it be to the Caballero Don Ricardo, le beso las manos! I am from Tortuga and the Keys, Senor Capi- tan del Escalfador (there is much virtue in a painted cloth) with a choice assortment of knicknackeries, which shall set every wench in the province agog. I have rare velvets of Genoa, piled and cut in the choicest fashions: I have grograms, and stuffs, and sarsnets, with a whole inventory of woman trumpery the very pick of a Spanish bark, bound from Naples to the islands, which was so foolish as to read my flag by its seeming, and just to drop into the Chafing-Dish when he thought he was getting a con voy to help him out of the way of the too pressing and inquisitive courtesies of certain lurking friends of our's in the Keys. I have, besides, some trinkets, 118 ROB OF THE BOWL which are none the worse for having been blessed by the church. You shall have a choice, Rob, to deck out your chamber with some saintly gems." "Ha! I guessed thy deviltry, Dickon," said Rob, with a laugh which, as always happened when much moved, brought tears down his cheeks "I guessed it when I saw thee step across the door-sill with that large and suspicious sombrero on thy head. It never came from Holland though you would fain per suade the province folks that you trade no where else : it is of the breed of the tropics, and smells of Hispaniola and Santo Domingo." "It is a tell-tale," replied Cocklescraft, "and should have been thrown overboard before this. Old Kate of Warrington, thy hand and here is a hand for thee ! How does the world use thee? Fairly, I hope, as you deserve ? You shall have the sombrero, Kate : you can truss it up into a new fashion for a bonnet, and I have store of ribands to give thee to set it off." "My share of this world's favour," said the crone, in acknowledgment of the skipper's bounty, "has never been more than the cast-off bravery of such as hold a high head over a wicked heart. I have ever served at the mess of the devil's bantlings. But, as the custom is, I must be civil and thankful for these blessings; and so, Master Cocklescraft, I give you thanks," she added with a courtesy, as she placed the hat upon her head and strutted fantastically in the room, "for your dainty head-gear that you are ROB OF THE BOWL 119 unwilling to wear, and durst not, master, before the Port Wardens of St. Mary's." "How, Kate!" exclaimed the skipper, "you have lost no whit of that railing tongue I left with you at my last venture? I marvel that the devil hath not shorn it, out of pure envy. But I know, Kate, you can do justice to the good will cf a friend, after all : I would have thee to know that thou hast not been unconsidered, good mother of a thousand devilkins : I have brought thee stuff for a new gown, rich and ladylike, Kate, and becoming thy grave and matronly years, and sundry trickeries for it, by way of garni ture; and, reverend dam of night-monsters, I have in store for thee some most choice distillations of the West Indies, both plain and spiced. Thou dost not spurn the strong waters, Kate of Warrington, nor the giver of them?" "This is a make-peace fashion of thine," said the beldam, relaxing into a smile. "You thought not of the woman of Warrington no, not so much as a dog's dream of her until it chanced to come into your head that the foolish crone had a will which it might not be for your good to set against you. I knew your incoming, Richard Cocklescraft, before it was thought of in the province; and I know when your outgoirig will be. You come with a surly sky and a gay brow; you shall trip it hence with a bright heaven above you, and deftly, boy but with a heavy heart and a new crime upon thy soul." "Peace, woman! I will hear none of thy croak- 120 ROB OF THE BOWL ings it is an old trick of thine; the device is too stale," said Cocklescraft, half playfully and half vexed. "You are no conjuror, Kate, as you would make the world believe by these owl-hootings : if you had but a needle's-eyeful of the true witch in you, you would have foretold what bounty my luck has brought you. Rob, we have packages to land to night. Is the Chapel ready for our service?" "How should it be other than ready! Doth not the devil keep his quarters there?" said Rob with a low-toned chuckle that shook his figure for some moments, and almost closed his eyes; "hath he not his court in the Chapel ? Go ask the whole country, side ; they will swear to it on their bible oaths. Sun dries have seen the hoofs and horns, and heard the bowlings, ay, and smelt the brimstone ha, ha, ha ! They'll swear to it. Is the Chapel ready, in sooth! It is a precious Chapel! Paul Kelpy, thou wert an honest cut-throat, to bedevil so good a house; we turn it to account ha, ha ! It needs but to take the key, Dickon. I warrant you ne'er a man in the province, burgher or planter, gentle or simple, ven tures near enough to molest you." "The surf runs high," said Cocklescraft, "and may give us trouble in the landing to-night ; and as daylight must not find me in this latitude, I shall put what I may ashore before the dawn, and then take a flight to the opposite side of the bay. To-morrow night I shall finish my work; and you shall soon after hear, at St. Mary's, that the good and peaceful ROB OF THE BOWL 121 brigantine, the Olive Branch, has arrived from Hol land. Meantime, I will leave you a half dozen men to garrison the Chapel, Rob." "It is so well garrisoned with my merry goblins already," said Rob, "that it requires but a light watch. The fires alone would frighten his Lord ship's whole array of rangers. That was a pretty device of mine, Dickon blue, green, and red excel lent devil-fires all ! Then I have masks faith, most special masks ! the very noses of them would frighten the short-winded train-bands of the Port into cata lepsy. And the Chapel had an ill name when the fisherman shed blood on the floor; but since we blackened it, Richard oh, that was a subtle thought ! it is past all power of exorcism; there is an ague in the very name of the Black Chapel." And here the Cripple gave way to a burst of laughter, which had been struggling for vent during all this reference to the arts by which he had contrived to maintain the popular dread of the fisherman's lodge. Whilst this conference was held, the crone had prepared their evening meal, which being now ready, Rob was lifted upon a low platform that brought him to the proper level with the table, where he was able to help himself. Cocklescrait partook with him, and might almost have envied the keen gust and ravenous appetite with which his host despatched the coarse but savoury fare of the board for the Cripple's power of stomach seemed to be no whit impaired by age. He continued to talk, during his meal, in the 122 ROB OF THE BOWL same strain which we have described, now indulging a peevish self-communion, now bursting forth with some sarcastic objurgation of the world, and again breaking a jest with his visitor. When the seamen, under the ministration of the aged domestic, had got their supper, Cocklescraft took his departure. All night long lights were gleaming in the Cha pel; the rain continued in a steady misty drizzle, and not a star was seen to tempt a wanderer abroad. The morning, which broke upon an atmosphere purged of its vapours, showed no trace of the brig in the vicinity of St. Jerome's. Far down the bay, hugging the eastern shore, might have been dis cerned what a practised mariner would affirm to be a sail ; but whether ship or brig whether outward or homeward bound, might not be told without the aid of a glass. CHAPTER VII. Up she rose and forth she goes, I'll mote she speed therefor. Adam Bell. IT was nine o'clock of the morning before Daun- trees and his companions, Garret and Arnold, rose from their beds. Pamesack, whose taciturnity was not greater than his indifference to fatigue, had, at ROB OF THE BOWL 123 an earlier hour, gone his way. A breakfast was provided in the Captain's quarters, and the three heroes of the past night sat down to it with a relish which showed that, however unfit they might be to contend against spiritual foes, their talents for this encounter of material existences were highly respect able. "You have had a busy time of it in dreams, Master Weasel," said Dauntrees, since you laid yourself down on your truckle bed this morning. You have been reacting your exploits at the Chapel. I heard you at daylight crying aloud for sword and dagger." "I warrant you, Captain Dauntrees," replied the publican, "my head, has been full of fantasies since I laid me down to rest for I was exceeding weary and weariness doth set the brain to ramble in sleep. There was good argument, too, in our deeds at St. Jerome's for a world of dreaming." "Ah, the night has made a man of you, my gal lant vintner. You should bless your stars that you fell into such worthy company. You knew not here tofore even with your experience at Worcester what elements of valour it pleased Heaven to mix up in the mould whereof thou wert made. A man never sufficiently values himself until he has had some such passage as this." "Ay, and look you, Captain Dauntrees," said Garret, his eye flashing with self-gratulation, "you will reflect that I had the brunt of it alone, whilst you three were banded together for common defence 124 ROB OF THE BOWL and support. There I was, by my single self, in the very centre of them. A man needs more comfort and companionship in a matter with witches and devils than he does against your sword and buckler fellows. Tut ! I wouldn't have cared a fig for a foe that could be struck at ; but these pestilent things of the dark hags on besoms, and flying bats as big as a man, great sword-fishes walking on legs, with their screechings, and mopings, and mewings Lord, Lord, how it tries the reins of a solitary man! But you had flashing and firing, and charging, Captain, which is more in the way of what one expects in a fight, and one is prepared for : it has life in it." "That is most true, doughty Garret. A culverin is but the whiff of an oaten pipe, compared with a hag upon her broomstick. Thou wert ever the man to encounter these women. It needs thy mettle to face them. Now there is thy wife, Master Weasel oh, but that is a perilous venture in store for thee! You shall go to her and have it over, whilst I make my report to his Lordship; when that is done I will straight for the Crow and Archer, to help you in the battle, which by that time will doubtless find you sore at need." "I must go to his Lordship with you," replied Garret, in a lowered key; "'I must have my hand in the report; after that we will set out together for the inn." "Why, man!" exclaimed Dauntrees, with affected astonishment, "would you tarry to do your duty to ROB OF THE BOWL 125 Mistress Dorothy ? Do you not know that she hath suffered agony of mind the live-long night in your behalf, and that she is now in the very tempest of her affection waiting for you?" "I know it, I know it, worthy Captain ; but it doth not become my respect for Lord Charles's service to defer his business for mine own." "Thou shalt not budge an inch," said Dauntrees, "on any other path than that which takes thee quickly to thy loving wife." "Truly, Captain," replied Weasel, in a dolorous tone," I would have thee to go with me; I beseech you heartily, allow me to bear you company to his Lordship. His Lordship will think it strange I did not come: and it will take more than me to pacify the dame." "Well, friend Weasel, in consideration that you contended single handed last night with a whole score of devils, and bore thee gallantly; and, more over, as it is such heavy odds against thee in this mat ter of Dame Dorothy for, of a verity, I know she is in a devil of a passion at thy contumacy, and not less at mine, I'll be sworn why we will make a mus ter of it and breathe our defence in solid column. Arnold you go with us. And mark me, vintner, at the fitting time, we shall regale." "On the best in cellar or larder at the Crow and Archer," replied Garret. "You have the word of a man and a soldier for it." "I wot of a woman and no soldier, whose word 126 ROB OF THE BOWL would go further to that bargain, Garret, than yours. Make ready, friends, we must move." Dauntrees now set his beaver jauntily over his brow, and throwing his short cloak across his arm, inarched through the postern of the fort, followed by his trusty allies, to the mansion of the Lord Pro prietor. Lord Baltimore received them in his library, and there heard from the Captain a circumstantial nar rative of the events of the preceding night. "It is a strange tale," he said, "and may well per plex the faith of the simple rustics of the province. That evil spirits preside over that blood-stained house, from your testimony, Captain Dauntrees, may no longer be denied. Friends, you all saw these things?" "All," said Garret Weasel, with emphatic solem nity as he straightened his body even beyond the per pendicular line. "Pamesack and Arnold stood by the Captain and can vouch for him. I maintained a post of danger, an please your Lordship, alone; what I saw neither the Captain, Arnold, nor Pame sack, saw it was a fearful sight." "What was it?" inquired the Proprietary, with some earnestness. "A woman," replied Garret, "seemingly a woman, an your Lordship comprehends : but in truth a witch, as we all do know : Kate of Warrington, of whom your Lordship has heard. She it was who came sud denly down upon the wold. How she came," here ROB OF THE BOWL 127 Garret shook his head, "and what came with her, it was a sight to look upon!" "The vintner affirms to sundry fantastic shapes of imps and spectres in company with the woman of Warrington," said Dauntrees. "We saw nothing of the hag, having left Master Weasel, some distance in our rear when we visited the Chapel. He was cold, and required comfort. What he recounts, my Lord, you have his own avouch for." "And what say you, Arnold?" inquired his Lord ship, smiling. "These ghosts and goblins keep a hot house, and the less we have to do with them the better," replied the forester, gravely. "They fired upon you, Captain?" said the Pro prietary; "with what weapons?" "They had the sharp crack of the musket and pistol," replied Dauntrees, "or what seemed to be such : yet I would not swear I saw carnal weapons in the strife, though in the flash I thought I noted fire arms. This may tell better than guess of mine, my Lord," he added, as he held up his cloak and pointed to a rent in one of its folds ; "this hole was made by some missive from the house : whether it be a bullet mark or an elf-shot, I will not say." "Body o' me!" exclaimed Garret Weasel, as the Captain pointed to the damage he had sustained, "I knew not this before. There was hot work, I war rant." "There is knavery in alliance with this sorcery," 128 ROB OF THE BOWL said the Proprietary, as he examined the cloak. "These wicked spirits ever find kindred amongst men. They have profligate companions of flesh to profit by their devilish arts. I thank you, friends, kindly, for this venture, and will turn it to whole some account hereafter. Fare you well." The party left the room, and now shaping their course towards the Crow and Archer, soon descended below the bank and took the road along the beach. Whilst they trudged through the sand and gravel, midway between the fort and the town, Dauntrees, looking behind, saw a figure descending on horse back from the main gate of the fort down to the road upon which they now travelled. It was that of a woman, whose gestures, at the distance of half a mile, were sufficiently observable to show that she urged her horse forward with impatient earnestness. As soon as she arrived at the level of the beach, her speed was increased nearly to the utmost of the faculty of the animal which bore her, and she now came flying over the sand, with her garments and loose tresses floating in the wind. "In the devil's name, what have we here?" ex claimed Dauntrees. "As I live, it is our queen of the hostel ! Oh, Garret, Garret, here is a volcano ! Here is an outcome with a conclusion at hand! Stand, masters, firmly on your legs, and brace up for the onset !" "Alack, alack !" groaned the publican ; "the woman ii bereft. She hath my nag from the fort." ROB OF THE BOWL 129 "Ay, and rides upon your saddle, as if it were made for her," ejaculated the Captain. "Take post behind me, Garret : I will answer her speech." "It were no more than the luck she deserves," said Garret, pettishly, "if she should fall from the nag and break her little ringer, or at the least sprain an ancle-joint" "Hold, runagates! varlets! out upon you for a filthy Captain!" shouted the dame, in a shrill voice, as she came within call of the party, and now gal loped up to the spot at which they had halted. "Give me that idiot from your beastly company. Garret Weasel, Garret Weasel! you have been the death of me!" "Good lack, Mistress Dorothy, wife, why dost thou bear thyself in such a sort as this?" "I will bare thee to the buff, driveller, for this. Are you not steeped in wickedness and abomination by evil-consorting with this copper Captain, and this most horrid wood ranger? Hast no eye for thy family ; no regard for good name, that you must be strolling o' nights with every pot-guzzler and foul- breathed and cankered cast-off of the wars? I am ashamed of thee. You have been in your cups, I warrant, the live-long night." "Dame, I must speak now," said Dauntrees. "Thou, thou!" interrupted the hostess, with her face scarlet from anger. "Never in a Christian land should such as thou be permitted to lift thy head before honest people. His Lordship would do but 130 ROB OF THE BOWL justice to the province to chain thee up in a dark stable, as a bull which may not be trusted at large. Did you not beguile me last night with a base lie? Did you not practice upon me, you faithless, false hearted coward?" here tears fell from the flashing eyes of the voluble landlady. "Did you not steal that lob, my husband, from me, thief ?" "Appearances, dame," replied the Captain, with a grave composure, "if they might be trusted, were certainly to my disfavour last night. But then, I knew that when this matter was all over I had a most sufficient and excellent reason, which a considerate, virtuous, and tender-hearted woman like yourself would fully approve, when she came to hear it. There was matter in hand of great import and urgency ; no revelling, dame no riot but brave ser vice, enjoined by his Lordship, and which it was his Lordship's most earnest desire should be committed in part to thy husband. It was an action of pith and bravery he had on hand; and his Lordship being well aware, dame, that Garret's wife was a woman of a loving heart, and gentle withal in her nature, and not fitted to endure the wringing of her affection by such a trial as the adventure imposed upon Garret, he charged me to make some light pretext for withdraw ing thy husband from thine eye, which, by fraud, I confess, I did, and am now since Garret hath worthily achieved his most perilous duty here to avow my own treachery. There is promotion and great advantage at hand for this which will set up thy ROB OF THE BOWL 131 head, dame, the highest amongst them that wear hoods." "We have barely escaped with our lives, Mistress Dorothy," said Weasel, in a whining accent of depre cation ; "we should be made much of and praised for our duty, not be set upon with taunts and foul re bukes; and when you know all, wife, you will be sorry for this wounding of our good name." "This is but another trick," said the landlady. "Nay, good mistress," interrupted the Captain, "I will agree to be gibbeted by thine own fair hand, if I do not satisfy thee that in this adventure we are de serving of all applause. The Lieutenant at the fort, doubtless, . told thee that we were absent last night on special duty at his Lordship's command?" "The varlet did feign such a story, when I thought to catch this fool in thy company. And he would deny me, too, the nag ; but I brought such coil about his ears that he was glad to give me the beast and set all gates open. Where do you say you have spent the night?" "At the Black Chapel, mistress," said Weasel, with a most portentous solemnity of speech : "at the Black Chapel, by his Lordship's order ; and, oh, the sights we have seen ! and the time we have had of it, wife ! it would make thy blood freeze to hear it." "On the honor of a soldier, dame! by the faith of this right hand !" said Dauntrees, as he offered it to the hostess and took her's. "I swear this is true. We have had a night of wonders, which you shall 132 ROB OF THE BOWL hear in full when the time suits. We are on our way now to the Crow and Archer, for thine especial gratification." "Can this be true, Arnold ?" inquired the mollified and bewildered landlady. "I will believe what you say." "You may trust in every word of it, as I am a Christian man. There be marvellous doings at the Black Chapel. We have seen spirits and devils in company." "It is graver matter, wife, than you wot of," said Weasel. "Ride forward, dame," added Dauntrees; "you shall see us soon at the hostel. And I promise you shall have the story, too, of the Mercer's Wife from beginning to end : you shall dame." "You are a wheedling, cogging cheat, Captain; thy roguery will have a melancholy end yet," replied the dame, as she now rode forward with a sunshiny smile playing upon features which but a few mo ments before were dark with storm. When they reached the Crow and Archer they found a group of traders assembled on the quay, gaz ing with a busy speculation towards the mouth of the river. By degrees the crowd increased, and the rumour soon spread abroad that the Olive Branch was in sight. A vessel was, indeed, dis cernible across the long flat of St. Inigoe's, just en tering the river, and those who professed a knowl edge of nautical affairs had no scruple in announc- ROB OF THE BOWL 133 ing her as the brigantine of Cocklescraft. She was apparently an active craft, belonging to the smaller class of sea-vessels, and manifestly a faster sailer than was ordinarily seen at that period. A fair and fresh breeze impelled her steadily towards her haven, and as she bounded over the glittering waters, the good folks of the little city were seen clustering in knots on every prominent cliff along the high bank, and counting the minutes which brought this messen ger from the old world nearer to their salutation. Meantime the Olive Branch began to show the sparkling foam which broke upon her bow; then to give forth voices from her deck, audible to the crowd ; presently to lower sail ; and at last, being stripped to her bare poles and naked rigging, she glided with lessening speed, slower and slower, until her ex tended cable showed that her anchor was dropt and her voyage at an end. It was past noon when the brig came to her moor ing, opposite the Town House wharf, and after a brief interval, Cocklescraft, arrayed as we have be fore seen him, except that he had changed his som brero for a tasseled cap of cloth, landed on the quay, and soon became the lion of the Crow and Archer. 134 ROB OF THE BOWL CHAPTER VIII. Every white will have its black, And every sweet its sour. Old Ballad. THE birthday festival at the Rose Croft might be said appropriately to belong to the eminent dominion of the Lady Maria. It therefore lacked nothing of her zealous supervision. With the aid of Father Pierre and some female auxiliaries she had persuaded the Collector a task of no great difficulty to sanc tion the proceeding, and she was now intent upon the due ordering and setting out of the preparations. The day was still a week off, when, early after break fast, on a pleasant morning the business-fraught lady was seen in the hall, arrayed in riding hood and mantle, ready to mount a quiet black-and-white pony that, in the charge of a groom, awaited her pleasure at the door. Natta, the little Indian girl, stood by entrusted with the care of a work-bag or wallet ap parently well stuffed with the materials for future occupation, the parcel-fragments which thrifty housewives and idleness-hating dames, down to this day, are accustomed to carry with them, for the sake of the appearance, at least, of industry. Just at this moment the Proprietary came into the hall, and seeing that his worthy sister was bound on some enterprise of more than usual earnestness, he added ROB OF THE BOWL 135 to his customary morning salutation a playful inquiry into the purport of her excursion. "Ah, Charles," she replied, "there are doings in the province which are above the rule of your bur gesses and councils. I hold a convocation at the Rose Croft to-day, touching matters more earnest than your state affairs. We have a merry-making in the wind, and I am looked to both for countenance and advice. It is my prerogative, brother, to be mistress of all revels." "God bless thine age, Maria !" was the affectionate reply of the Proprietary "it wears a pleasant ver dure and betokens a life of innocent thoughts and kind actions. May the saints bear thee gently on ward to thy rest ! Come, I will serve as your cava lier, and help you to your horse, sister. See, now, my arm has pith in it. Hither, Natta there is the wench on the pillion who could serve thee with a better grace than that?" "Thanks thanks, good brother!" ejaculated the lady as the Proprietary lifted her to her seat, and then swung the Indian girl upon the pillion behind her. "Your arm is a valiant arm, and L is blessed by more than one in this province. It has ever been stretched forth in acts of charity and pro tection." "Nay, Maria, you are too old to flatter. Fie! I have no advancement to offer thee. In truth thou art sovereign here though you go through your realm with but scant attendance for one so mangified. 136 ROB OF THE BOWL Why is not Albert in your train ? I may well spare him as he has a liking for such service." "Brother, I would not tax the Secretary. He hath a free foot for his own pleasure ; and, methinks, he finds his way to the Rose Croft easily enough without my teaching. It is an ancient caution of mine, in such affairs, neither to mar nor make." "Heaven help thee for a considerate spinster!" said the Proprietary with a benignant smile as he raised his hands and shook them sportively towards his sister. "Go thy ways, with thy whimsies and thy scruples; and a blessing on them! I wish yours were our only cares : but go thy ways, girl !" he added, as the lady set forth on her journey, and he withdrew from the door. At the Rose Croft, the approaching merry-making had superseded all other family topics, both in par lour and kitchen. The larder was already beginning to exhibit the plentiful accumulations which, in a place of strength, might portend a siege: the stable boys were ever on the alert, with their cavalry, to do rapid errands to the town, and Michael Mossbank, the gardener, was seen in frequent and earnest con sultation with John Pouch, a river-side cotter, touch ing supplies of fish and wild fowl. Whilst the elder sister Alice despatched the graver duties of the housekeeping, she had consigned to Blanche the not less important care of summoning the guests, and the maiden was now seated at the table with pen in hand registering the names of those ROB OF THE BOWL 137 who had been, or were to be invited to the feast, or in other words making a census of pretty nearly the whole titheable population of St. Mary's and its dependencies. j "A plague upon it for a weary labour!" she ex claimed as she threw down the pen and rested her chin upon the palm of her hand. "I know I shall forget somebody I ought not to forget and shall be well rated for it. And then again I shall be chid for being too free with my fellowship. What a world of names is here! I did not think the whole province had so many. There is Winnefred Hay, the View er's sister, they have tales about her which, if they be true, it is not fit she should be a crony of mine and yet I don't believe them, though many do. Truly the Viewer will be in a grand passion if I slight her ! Sister Alice, give me your advice." "Bid her to the feast, Blanche. We should be slow to believe these rumours to the injury of a neighbour. Winnefred Hay is not over discreet and gives more semblance to an evil opinion than, in truth, her faults deserve : but the townspeople are scarce better in this quickness to censure especially such as look to the tobacco viewing. Lawrence Hay's place has something to do with that scandal." "I am glad, sister Alice, you give me an argu ment to indulge my own secret wish," replied Blanche; "for I like not to believe harsh reports against any of our province. And so, that is at an end. Alack ! here is another matter for counsel : 138 ROB OF THE BOWL Grace Blackiston says Helen Clements is too young to be at my gathering: she has two years before her yet at school, and has only begun embroidering. Oh, but I would as soon do a barefoot penance for a month as disappoint her ! she is the wildest of all for a dance, and looks for it, I know, though she says never a word, and has her eyes on the ground when we talk about it. Ha, let Grace Blackiston prate as she will, Helen shall be here! Fairly, my gossip, I will be mistress in my own house, I pro mise you !" "There is room for all thy friends, young and old," said Alice; "and you should not stint to ask them for the difference of a span or so in height. You are not quite a woman yourself, Blanche, no, nor Grace neither although you perk yourselves up so dain tily." "Would you have the gauger's wife, sister?" in quired Blanche, with a face of renewed perplexity. "I think my dear Lady Maria would be pleased if I bid the dame for the ganger is a good friend of his Lordship hot-headed, they say, but that does not make him the worse and his dame takes it kindly to be noticed." "Even as you will, Blanche, it is a mark of gen tle nurture not to be too scrupulous with thy ques tions of quality a kind neighbour will never dis grace your courtesy. But one thing, child, your father will look to : see that you avoid these Coodes and Fendalls and even the Chiseldines. There is a ROB OF THE BOWL 139 feud between them and the Proprietary, and my Lord's friends are warm in the matter, your father amongst the rest." "I warrant you they get no bid from me," said Blanche, as the colour mantled in her cheek. "I hate them stock and branch yes, as my good lady hates them." Blanche had scarcely uttered these words before the good lady herself rode past the window. The maiden bounded forth to receive her, and Alice with less precipitation followed. "I come with pony and pillion," said the visiter as she was assisted to the ground, and bustled into the parlour. "I could not rest until I saw Blanche, to know if all her biddings were abroad. My pretty bird, pray look you to your task you have no time to lose : there are the families beyond Patuxent and our friends across the bay, besides many at home that I know have not heard from you yet. And here, sweet, I have brought you some trinketry which you shall wear at the feast : a part is for Grace Blackis- ton, and a part for you. Thou shalt have the choice, Blanche: but whisht! not a word of it to Grace, because I think she hath a conceit to be jealous of thy favour." Whilst the two sisters welcomed the lady and re sponded to her voluble communications in a tone of affectionate intimacy, the contents of the work-bag were thrown open to view, and successively gave rise to sundry discussions relating not only to the 140 ROB OF THE BOWL objects presented, but also collaterally to the thou sand matters of detail connected with the festival, thus engrossing the first hour of their interview, until the subject was changed by an exclamation from Blanche, as she looked through the window upon the river "Oh, but here is a gallant sight ! see yonder hawk following a heron. He will strike presently the heron cannot get away. Poor bird ! how he doubles and drops in his flight to escape the swift hawk; but it is of no avail. I should almost say it was sin ful, if it was not approved and followed by those I love best I should hold it sinful to frighten and torture a harmless heron by such pursuit. There, the hawk has struck, and down comes hawk and quarry to the water." "It is his Lordship's hawk," said the Lady Maria, as she looked out upon the river. "Derrick the fal coner must be abroad to-day with his birds: and now whilst I speak, there he is walking along the beach. And he is not alone neither : by that short mantle and that feather, Blanche, you may know a friend." The colour rose on the maiden's cheek as she said, "it is Albert, his Lordship's secretary." "His eyes are turned this way," said the sister of the Proprietary. "A wager he comes to the house in the next ten minutes! He would fain find some business with the Collector I know Master Albert's ROB OF THE BOWL 141 occasions : nay, do not flurry thyself, my sweet Blanche." "I wish the Secretary would come," returned the maiden; "we have need of him; he promised to show me how I were best to arrange my flower vases." "Then thou shouldst do well to despatch a mes senger to him," interrupted the Lady Maria, play fully; dost thou not think he might forget?" "Oh no, my dear lady," replied Blanche, "Mas ter Albert never forgets a promise to me." "Indeed! Well, I should have thought that hav ing occasion to make you so many promises for he is here at the Rose Croft thrice a week at least and every visit has its promise, or I mistake he would forget full one half." "I deal but scantily in promises with the Secre tary," replied Blanche. "Master Albert's errands here are for pastime mostly." "Ah, he doth not forget," exclaimed the Lady Maria; "for there I see the feather of his bonnet as he climbs up the bank, and now we have his head and shoulders; we shall get the whole man anon, and Master Benedict Leonard in the bargain, for I see him trudging in the Secretary's footsteps, as he is wont to do; his young Lordship hath become the Secretary's shadow. And there is Derrick behind. They are all bound for this haven." As the lady spoke, the Secretary was seen from the window with the heir apparent and the falconer 143 ROB OF THE BOWL on the verge of the bank which they had just as cended. Benedict Leonard had a hooded hawk upon his fist; and Derrick, waving a light rod to which a small streamer or flag was attached, was busy in luring down the bird that had just flown at the heron. Whilst the falconer continued his occupa tion the Secretary and his young companion entered the mansion. Albert Verheyden's accost to the ladies was characterized by a familiarity not unmixed with diffidence, and a momentary flush passed across his cheek as, after saluting Mistress Alice, and turn ing to Blanche, his eye fell upon the sister of the Proprietary. "I did not expect to find my honoured lady so early at the Rose Croft," he said with a profound reverence. "It should have been my duty, madam, to attend you, but I knew not of your pur pose; and the falconer being bent to fly the cast of lanerets which Colonel Talbot lately sent to my Lord, would have me witness the trial, and so I came with Master Benedict to see this sport." "Nay, Albert," replied the lady, "you should not have been of my company even if you had sought permission. I come to-day on no idle errand which might allow your loitering paces and customary de lays to gaze on headlands and meadows, whereby you are wont to interrupt the course of your journey. The matter of our present meeting has need of stir ring feet, which go direct to their work, yours are not such. Still, Master Albert, you shall not be use- ROB OF THE BOWL 143 less to-day: here is occupation to thy hand; Blanche is in much want of a penman, and as you are of the writing craft, she would gladly enlist thee in her service that is, if thou hast not been already marshaled and sworn under her colours." "Master Albert, our dear lady does but jest," said Blanche. "She knows I had at first no need of better penman than myself, and now have need of none, for, in truth, my work was finished ere she came. But your service I may command in a better task. You did promise to bring me some device for my flower-stands." "The joiner will have them here to-day," replied the Secretary. "I have not failed to spur his indus try as well as my own poor invention to that endea vour." "Then all is done but the rendering of thanks," said Blanche, "which yet I am not in the humour to do, having matter of quarrel with you for that fol lowing of the poor heron which, but now, we saw the hawk strike down, whilst you were a looker-on, and, as we suspect, an encourager of the trespass. It was a cruel thing to assail the innocent fowl, which, being native here, has ever found friends in our house; yes, and has daily fed upon the flat below the garden. These herons scarce fly when I walk by them on the beach. I wish the falconer had sought his quarry elsewhere than amongst my harmless birds. You should have controlled him." "I am deeply grieved," replied the Secretary. "In- 144 ROB OF THE BOWL deed, I knew not of the bird nor whence he came: nor thought of it, in truth. A feather of his wing should not have come to harm had I been aware that he had ever pleased your eye. I am all unskilled in these out-door sports, and have scarce worn out the complexion of my school at Antwerp, where worldly pastimes were a forbidden thought. A poor scholar of the cloister might go free of blame if, in this sunny and gallant world, the transport of a noble game should rob him of his circumspection. I thought of naught but the glorious circling of the hawk and his swift and imperious assault. I crave your pardon for my inconsiderate error." "You speak more like a practised cavalier than a scholar of the cloister," said the sister of the Propri etary; "thou hast a cavalier's love of the sport, Al bert." "It doth not beseem me, madam," was the Secre tary's reply, "to affect a pastime which belongs nei ther to my rank nor humble means ; but, in sadness, dear lady, I do love hawk, and hound, and steed. And when in my sequestered study where, being, as I thought, destined to the service of the altar, I read mostly of holy men and holy things, little dreaming that I should ever see the world it sometimes chanced, in my stray reading, I fell upon a lay wherein deeds of chivalry were told ; and then I was conscious of a wish, I am now almost ashamed to confess, that fortune might some day bring me better acquainted with that world to which such deeds be- ROB OF THE BOWL 145 longed. Oh, blessed chance! it hath befallen now: that is, I mean to say," continued the Secre tary, checking himself, as his flashing eye fell to the floor and a blush flitted across his brow "it hath pleased Heaven to give me a kind master in my good Lord, who doth not deny me to look on when these sports are afield." "And if we did strike down the heron, Blanche Warden," said Benedict Leonard, saucily accosting the maiden, and showing the hawk that was bound to his wrist "what is a heron good for, but to be brought down ? Herons were made for hawks yes, and for the hawks of the Proprietary above all others ; for I have heard say that every heron on the Chesapeake, within my father's boundary, is his own bird : so Derrick has said a hundred times. And there's my Uncle Talbot, who flies a hawk better than any other in the province I don't care if Der rick hears me and has the best mews, he says that these fire-arms have broken up hawking in the old country ; and he told me I must not let it fall through when I come to the province; for my father, he thinks, doesn't care much for it. I promise you in my time we shall have hawking enough chide as you like, Mistress Blanche. It was partly for me that my Uncle Talbot sent us this cast of birds. Look at that laneret, Blanche, look at her! Isn't that a bird? Talk to me of a goshawk after that!" "Benedict nephew," interposed the Lady Maria, 146 ROB OF THE BOWL "why dost thou fling thy bird so rudely ? She brushes Blanche's cheek with her wing. Pray, not so bold : Blanche will not like thee for it." "Blanche will never quarrel with me for loving my hawk, aunt," replied the boy playfully. "Will you, mistress ? A laneret's wing and Blanche War den's cheek are both accounted* beautiful in this prov ince, and will not grow angry with each other upon acquaintance." "I know not that, Benedict," replied the maiden; "my cheek may grow jealous of your praise of the wing, and mischief might follow. She is but a sav age bird, and hath a vicious appetite." "I will away to the falconer," said the boy. "It is but wasting good things to talk with women about hawks. You will find me, Master Albert, along the bank with Derrick, if you have need of me." "That boy hath more of the Talbot in him than the Calvert," said the Lady Maria, after he had left the room. "His father was ever grave from youth upwards, and cared but little for these exercises. Benedict Leonard lives in the open air, and has a light heart. Thou hast a book under thy mantle, Master Albert," continued the lady. "Is your bre viary needful when you go forth to practise a lane- ret?" "It is a volume I have brought for Mistress Blanche," replied the Secretary, as, with some evi dent confusion, he produced a gilded quarto with clasps, from beneath his dress. "It is a delightful ROB OF THE BOWL 147 history of a brave cavalier, that I thought would please her." "Ah!" exclaimed the sister of the Proprietary, taking the book and reading the title-page " 'La tres j'oyeuse et plaisante Hisioire, composee par le Loyal Seruitcur, des faits, gestes et prouesses du bon Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche/ Ay, and a right pleasant history it is, this of the good Knight Bayard, without fear and without reproach. But, Albert, thou knowest Blanche doth not read French." "I designed to render it myself to Mistress Blanche, in her native tongue," replied the Secre tary. "Blanche," said the lady, shaking her head, "this comes of not taking my counsel to learn this lan guage of chivalry long ago. See what peril you will suffer now in journeying through this huge book alone with Master Albert." "I see no peril," replied the maiden, unconscious of the raillery. "Master Albert will teach me, ere he be done, to read French for myself." "When thou hast such a master, and the Secre tary such a pupil," said the lady, smiling, "Heaven speed us! I will eat all the French thou learnest in a month. But, Master Albert, if Blanche cannot understand your legend, in the tongue in which it is writ, she can fully comprehend your music and so can we. It is parcel of your duty at the Rose Croft to do minstrel's service. You have so many songs and I saw thee stealing a glance at 148 ROB OF THE BOWL yon lute, as if thou wouldst greet an old acquain tance." "If it were not for Master Albert," said Alice, "Blanche's lute would be unstrung. She scarce keeps it, one would think, but for the Secretary's occupation." "Ah, sister Alice, and my dear lady," said Blanche, "the Secretary hath such a touch of the lute, that I but shame my own ears to play upon it, after hearing his ditties. Sing, Master Albert, I pray you," she added, as she presented him the instru ment. "I will sing to the best of my skill," replied Al bert, "which has been magnified beyond my deserv- ings. With your leave, I will try a canzonet I learned in London. It was much liked by the gal lants there, and I confess a favour for it because it hath a stirring relish. It runs thus: 'Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind To war and arms I fly. 'True, a new mistress, now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield. 'Yet this inconstancy is such As you too shall adore: I could not love thee, dear, so much, Lov'd I not honor more.' " ROB OF THE BOWL 149 "Well done! Well touched lute well trolled ditty! Brave song for a bird of thy feather, Mas ter Verheyden !" exclaimed the Collector, who, when the song was finished, entered the room with Cocklescraft. "That's as good a song, Master Cocklescraft the Skipper, ladies my friend of the Olive Branch, who has been with me this hour past docketing his cargo : I may call him especially your friend he is no enemy to the vanities of this world. Ha, Master Cocklescraft, thou hast where with to win a world of grace with the petticoats ! . thou hast an eye for the trickery of the sex! Sit down, sir I pray you, without further reverence, sit down." The Skipper, during this introduction, stood neai the door, bowing to the company, and then advance4 into the room with a careless and somewhat over bold step, such as denotes a man who, in the en deavour to appear at his ease in society, carries hig acting to the point of familiarity. Still his freedom was not without grace, and his demeanour, very soon after the slight perturbation of his first accost, became natural and appropriate to his character. "Save you, madam," he said, addressing the sister of the Proprietary, and bowing low, "and you, Mistress Alice, and you, my young lady of the Rose Croft. It is a twelvemonth since I left the Port, and I am right glad to meet the worshipful ladies of the province once again, and to see that good friends thrive. The salt water whets a sailor's 150 ROB OF THE BOWL eye for friendly faces. Mistress Blanche, I would take upon me to say, without being thought too free, that you have grown some trifle taller than be fore I sailed. I did not then think you could be bettered in figure." The maiden bowed without answering the Skip per's compliment. "Richard Cocklescraft, " said the Collector, "I know not if you ever saw Albert Verheyden. Had he come hither before you sailed? His Lordship's secretary." "I was not so lucky as to fall into his company," replied Cocklescraft, turning towards the Secretary, and eyeing him from head to foot. "I think I heard that his Lordship brought new comers with him. We shall not lack acquaintance. Your hand, Master Verdun I think so you said?" he added, as he looked inquiringly at the Collector. The Collector again pronounced the name of the Secretary with more precision. "Nearly the same thing," continued the Skipper. "Master Verheyden, your hand : mine is something rougher, but it shall be the hand of a comrade, if thine be in the service of worshipful Master Anthony Warden, the good Collector of St. Mary's. I know how to value a friend, Master Secretary, and a friend's friend. You have a rare voice for a ballad I pretend to have an opinion in such matters an excellent voice and a free finger for the lute." ROB OF THE BOWL 151 "I am flattered by your liking, sir," returned Al bert Verheyden coldly, as he retired towards a win dow, somewhat repelled by the too freely proffered acquaintance of the Skipper, and the rather loud voice and obtrusive manner with which he addressed those around him. "Oh, this craft of singing is the touchstone of gentility now-a-days," said Cocklescraft, twirling his velvet bonnet by the gold tassel appended to the crown. "A man is accounted unfurnished who has no skill in that joyous art. Sea-bred as I am, Collec tor worshipful Master Warden you would scarce believe me, but I have touched lute and guitar myself, and passably well. I learned this trick in Milan, whither I have twice gone in my voyages, and dwelt there with these Italians, some good summer months. That is your climate for dark eyes and bright nights balconies, and damsels behind the lattice, listening to thrummers and singers upon the pavements below. And upon occasion, we wear the short cloak and dagger. I have worn cloak and stiletto in my travels, Master Collector, and trolled a catch in the true tongue of Tuscany, when tuck and rapier rung in the burden. The hot blood there is a commodity which the breeze from the Alps hath no virtue to cool, as it doth in Switzerland." "We will try your singing craft ere it be long," replied the Collector. "We will put you to catch 1 and glee, with a jig to the heel of it, Richard Cockles- craft. You must know Blanche is eighteen on the 152 ROB OF THE BOWL festival of St. Therese, and we have a junketing for ward which has set the whole province astir. You shall take part in the sport with the town's-people, Master Skipper; and I warrant you find no rest of limb until you show us some new antics of the fash ion which you have picked up abroad. You shall dance and sing with witnesses or a good leg and a topping voice shall have no virtue! I pray you do not forget to make one of our company on the festival of St. Therese. Your gewgaws, Richard, and wo man's gear, could not be more in season; every wench in the port is like to be your debtor." "Thanks, Master Collector, I have a foot and voice, ay, and hand, ever at the service of your good company. I will be first to come and last to depart. I have been mindful of the Rose of St. Mary's in my voyaging," he said in a respectful and lowered tone, as he approached the maiden. "Mistress Blanche is never so far out of my thoughts that I might come back to the Port without some token for her. I would crave your acceptance of a pretty mantle of crimson silk lined with minever. I found it in Dort, and being taken with its beauty, and thinking how well it would become the gay figure of my pretty mistress of the Rose Croft, I brought it away, and now make bold to ask that is, if it be agreeable to Mistress Blanche, and if I do not ven ture too far that I may be allowed to bring it hither." "You may find a worthier hand for such a fa- ROB OF THE BOWL 153 vour," said Blanche, with a tone and look that some what eagerly repelled the proffered gift, and mani fested dislike of the liberty which the Skipper had taken a liberty which was in no degree lessened to her apprehension by the unaccustomed gentleness of his voice, and the humble and faltering manner in which he had asked her consent to the present. "I am unused to such gaudy trappings, and should not be content to wear the cloak;" then perceiving some reproof, as she fancied, in the countenance of her sister Alice and the Lady Maria, she added, in a kindlier voice, "I dare not accept it at your hand, Master Skipper." "Nay/' replied Cocklescraft, presuming upon the mildness of the maiden's last speech, and pressing the matter with that obtrusiveness which marked his character and nurture, "I shall not take it kindly if thou dost not;" and as a flush overspread his cheek, he added, "I counted to a certainty that you would do me this courtesy." "Men sometimes count rashly, Master Cockles- craft," interposed the Lady Maria, "who presume upon a maiden's willingness to incur such debts." "Save you, madam," replied the Skipper; "I should be sorry Mistress Blanche should deem it to be incurring a debt." "I have not been trained," said Blanche, with per fect self-possession and firmness of manner, which she intended should put an end to the Skipper's im portunity, "to receive such favours from the hand of 154 ROB OF THE BOWL a stranger ; when I have need of a mantle, the mercer shall be my friend." "You will, perchance, think better of it when you see the mantle," said the Skipper, carelessly, and then added with a saucy smile, "women are changeful, Master Collector ; I will bring the gewgaw for Mis tress Blanche's inspection a chapman may have that privilege." "You may spare yourself the trouble," said the maiden. "Nay, mistress, think it not a trouble, I beseech you ; I count nothing a trouble which shall allow me to please thy fancy." As the Skipper uttered this he came still nearer to the chair on which Blanche was seated, and, almost in a whisper, said, "I pray you, mistress, think not so lightly of my wish to serve you. I have set my heart upon your taking the mantle." "Master Skipper, a word with you," interrupted the Secretary, who had watched the whole scene; and aware of the annoyance which Cocklescraft's rudeness inflicted upon the maiden, had quietly ap proached him and now beckoned him to a recess of the window, where they might converse without being heard by the company. "It is not civil to im portune the lady in this fashion. You must be satis fied with her answer as she has given it to you. It vexes the daughter of Master Warden to be thus be sought. I pray you, sir, no more of it." Cocklescraft eyed the Secretary for a moment with ROB OF THE BOWL 155 a glance of scornful resentment, and then replied in a voice inaudible to all but the person to whom it was addressed. "Right! perhaps you are right, sir; but when I would be tutored for my behaviour, he shall be a man, by my troth, who takes that duty on him, and shall wear a beard and sword both. I needed not thy schooling, master crotchet-monger!" Then leaving the Secretary, he strode towards the maiden, and assuming a laughing face, which but awkwardly concealed his vexation, he said, "well, Mistress Blanche, since you are resolved that you will not take my poor bauble off my hands, I must give it over as a venture lost, and so an end of it. I were a fool to be vexed because I could not read the riddle of a maiden's fancy; how should such fish of the sea be learned in so gentle a study? So, viaggio, it shall break no leg of mine! I will dance none the less merrily for it at the feast; and as for the mantle, why it may find other shoulders in the Port, though it shall never find them so fit to wear it withal, as the pretty shoulders of Mistress Blanche. Master War den I must fain take my leave; my people wait me at the quay. Fair weather for the feast, and a merry time of it, ladies ! Adios, Master Collector !" The gaiety of this leaving-taking was dashed with a sternness of manner which all the Skipper's acting could not conceal, and as he walked towards the door, he paused a moment to touch Albert Verhey- den's cloak and whispered in his ear, "We shall be better acquainted, sir;" then leaving the house 156 ROB OF THE BOWL he rapidly shaped his course towards the town. He had scarcely got out of sight before Blanche sprang from her chair and ran towards her father, pouring out upon him a volley of reproof for his un advised and especially unauthorized invitation of the Skipper to the festival. The maiden was joined in this assault by her auxiliaries, the Proprietary's sister and Mistress Alice, who concurred in reading the simple-minded and unconsciously offending old gen tleman a lecture upon his improvident interference in this delicate matter. They insisted that Cockles- craft's associations in the port gave him no claim to such a favour, and that, at all events, it was Blanche's prerogative to be consulted in regard to the admis sion of the younger and gayer portions of her com pany. "Have you not had your will, my dear father," was the summing up of Blanche's playful attack, "to your full content, in summoning all the old humdrum folks of the province, even to the Dominie and his wife, who have never been known to go to a merry making anywhere, and who are both so deaf that they have not heard each other speak this many a day ? and now you must needs be bringing the Skip per hither." "Lackaday, wench ! what have I done to redden thy brow?" interrupted Mr. Warden, with a face of perplexed good humour, unable longer to bear the storm of rebuke, or to parry the arguments which were so eagerly thrust at him; "I warrant now I ROB OF THE BOWL 15? have made mischief without knowing how! The Skipper is a free blade, of good metal, and of a fig ure, too, which, methinks, might please a damsel in a dance, and spare us all this coil ; his leg has not its fellow in the province. You take me to task roundly, when all the while I was so foolish as to believe I was doing you regardful service." "He hath a wicked look, father," was Blanche's reply; "and a saucy freedom which I like not. He is ever too bold in his greeting, and lacks gentle breeding. He must come to me, forsooth, with his mantle, as an especial token, and set upon me with so much constancy to take it ! Take a mantle from him ! I have never even seen him but twice before, and then it was in church, where he must needs claim to speak to me as if he were an old acquaintance! I will none of him nor his mantle, if he were fifty times a properer man than he is !" "Be it so, my daughter," replied the Collector. "But we must bear this mishap cheerily. I will not offend again. You women," he said, as he walked to and fro through the parlour, with his hands be hind his back, and a good natured smile playing over his features, "you women are more shrewd to read the qualities of men, especially in matters touching behaviour, than such old pock-puddings as I am. I will be better counselled before I trespass in this sort again. But remember, Blanche, the Skipper has his summons, and our hospitality must not suffer re proach ; so we will e'en make the best we can of this 158 ROB OF THE BOWL blundering misadventure of mine. , For our own honour, we must be courteous, Blanche, to the Skip per; and, therefore, do thou take heed that he have no cause to say we slight him. As I get old I shall grow wise." Blanche threw her arms around her father's neck and imprinting a kiss upon his brow, said in a tone of affectionate playfulness, "for your sake, dear father, I will not chide : the Skipper shall not want due observance from me. I did but speak to give you a caution, by which you shall learn that the maidens of this province are so foolish as to stand to it, and I amongst the rest, that they are better able to choose their gallants than their fathers, though their fathers be amongst his Lordship's most trusty advisers." "Now a thousand benisons upon thy head, my child!" said the Collector, as he laid his hand upon Blanche's glossy locks, and then left the apartment. CHAPTER IX. Friend to the sea, and foeman sworn To all that on her waves are borne, When falls a mate in battle broil His comrade heirs his portioned spoil Chalice and plate from churches borne, And gems from shrieking beauty torn, Each string of pearl, each silver bar, And all the wealth of western war. Rokeby. As the Skipper strode towards the town, his dogged air and lowering brow evinced the disquiet; ROB OF THE BOWL 159 of his spirit at what had just occurred. He was nettled by the maiden's rejection of his proffered gift, and a still deeper feeling of resentment agitated his mind against the Secretary. Far other man was he than he was deemed by the burghers of St. Mary's. Cocklescraft belonged to that tribe of desperate men, until near this period in the full career of their bloody successes, known as "The Brethren of the Coast." His first breath was drawn upon the billows of the ocean, and his infancy was nursed in the haunts of the buccaneers, amongst the Keys of the Bahamas. When but a lad, attending upon these wild hordes in their expeditions against the com merce of the Gulf, he chanced to attract the notice of the famous Captain Morgan, whilst that most ra pacious of all the pirate leaders was preparing, at Jamaica, for his incursion against Maracaibo. The freebooter was charmed with the precocious relish for rapine conspicuous in the character of the boy; and, with an affectionate interest, took him under his tutelage, assigning to him a post near his person, rather of pageantry than service that of a page or armour-bearer, according to the yet lingering forms of chivalry. The incredible bravery of the bucca neers in this exploit, and their detestable cruelties were witnessed by this callow imp of the sea, with a delight and a shrewdness of apprehension which gave to his youthful nature the full benefit of the lesson. He was scarce two years older when, in the 160 ROB OF THE BOWL due succession of his hopeful experience, he again attended his patron upon that unmatched adventure of plunder and outrage, the leaguer of Panama ; and it was remarked that amidst the perils of the cruise upon the Costa Rica, the toils of the inland march over moor and mountain, and the desperate hazards of the storming of the city, the page, graceful and active as the minion of a lady's bower, and fierce as a young sea-wolf, was seen everywhere, like an elvish sprite, tracking the footsteps of his ruthless master. About this date the European powers began to deal more resolutely with the banditti of the islands, and their trade consequently became more precarious. They were compelled, in pursuit of new fields for robbery, to cross the isthmus and try their fortunes on the coast of the Pacific whither Cocklescraft followed and reaped his harvest in the ravage of Peru; but in turn, the Brethren found themselves tracked into these remoter seas, and our adventurer was fain, with many of his comrades, to find his way back to the coves and secret harbours of Tortuga and the Keys, whence he contrived to eke out a scant subsistence, by an occasional stoop upon such de fenceless wanderers of the ocean as chance threw within his grasp. The Olive Branch was a beauti ful light vessel, which, in one of his sea-forays, he had wrested from a luckless merchant; and this ac quisition suggested to him the thought that, with such necessary alterations as should disguise her fig ure and equipment, he might drive a more secure, ROB OF THE BOWL 161 an/i, perchance, more profitable trade between the Atlantic colonies and the old countries; so, with a mongrel crew of trusty cut-throats, carefully selected from the companions of his former fortunes, and a secret armament well bestowed for sudden emer gency, he set himself up for an occasional trader between the Chesapeake and the coast of Holland. A lucky acquaintance with the Cripple of St. Je rome's gave him a useful ally in his vocation as a smuggler ; the fisherman's hut, long believed to be the haunt of evil spirits, admirably favoured his design, and under the management of Rob, soon became a spot of peculiar desecration in popular report; and thus, in no long space of time, the gay, swashing cavalier, master of the Olive Branch, began to find good account in his change of character from the Filibuster of the Keys into that of smuggler and trader of the Chesapeake. He had now made several voyages from St. Mary's to the various marts of Holland and England, taking out cargoes of tobacco and bringing back such merchandise as was likely to find a ready sale in the colonies. His absence from port was often mysteriously prolonged, and on his return it not infrequently happened that there were found amongst his cargo commodities such as might scarce be conjectured to have been brought from the ports of Europe, consisting sometimes of tropical fruits, ingots of gold and silver, and sundry rich fur niture of Indian aspect, better fitted for the cabinet of the virtuoso than the trade of a new province. 162 ROB OF THE BOWL Then, also, there were occasionally costly stuffs, and tissues of exceeding richness, such as cloth of gold, velvets of Genoa, arras tapestry, and even pictures which might have hung in churches. These com modities were invariably landed at St. Jerome's Bay before the Olive Branch cast her anchor in the har bour of St. Mary's, and were reshipped on the out ward voyage. The Cripple of St. Jerome's had a few customers who were privileged at certain periods to traffic with him in a species of merchandise of which he was seldom without a supply at his com mand chiefly wines and strong waters, and coarser household goods, which were charily exhibited in small parcels at the hut, and when the bargain was made, supplied in greater bulk by unseen hands from secret magazines, concerning which the cus tomer was not so rash as even to inquire for Rob was a man who, the country people most devoutly believed, had immediate commerce with the Evil One, and who, it was known, would use his dagger before he gave warning by words. The open and lawful dealing of the Skipper, in the port of St. Mary's had brought him into an acquaint ance with most of the inhabitants, and as his arrival was always a subject of agreeable expectation, he was, by a natural consequence, looked upon with a friendly regard. His address, gaiety of demeanour, and fine figure which last was studiously set off tc great advantage by a rich and graceful costume Heightened this sentiment of personal favour, and ROB OF THE BOWL 163 gave him privileges in the society of the town which, in that age of scrupulous regard to rank, would have been denied him if he had been a constant sojourner. Emboldened by this reception he had essayed to offer some gallant civilities to the maiden of the Rose Croft, which were instantly repelled, however, by the most formal coldness. The awakening of a new passion had overmastered both the ferocity and the levity of his character. He was, in truth, the undi- vulged, anxious and almost worshipping lover of Blanche Warden. When such a nature as I have described chances to fall into the loving vein, it will be admitted to be a somewhat fearful category both for the lady and the lover's rival. Such men are not apt to mince matters in the course of their wooing. This was the person who now plied his way to wards the port, in solitary rumination over two dis tinct topics of private grief, each of a nature to rouse the angry devil of his bosom. He could not but see that his first approach towards the favour of his mis tress had been promptly repelled. That alone would have filled his mind with bitterness, and given a harsh complexion to his thoughts; but this cause of complaint was almost stifled by the more engrossing sentiment of hostility against the Secretary. "Who and what is this Master Secretary that hath set the maiden of the Rose Croft to look upon me with an evil spirit? I would fain know if he think himself a properer man than I. Doth he stand upon 164 ROB OF THE BOWL his fingering of a lute, and his skill to dance ? Why even in this chamber-craft I will put it to a wager he is no master of mine. Is he more personable in shape or figure? goes he in better apparel? or is that broken English of his more natural to the province than my plain speech, that he should claim the right to chide me for my behaviour ? We shall understand each other better, in good time, or I shall lack oppor tunity to speak my mind : I shall, good Master Ver- heyden, you have the word of a 'Brother of the Bloody Coast' for that!" Before the Skipper had ceased this petulant and resentful self-communion, he found himself in the neighbourhood of the Catholic Chapel, nearly in front of the dwelling of Father Pierre, when the good priest, who was at this moment returning from noon day service, took him at unawares with the saluta tion, "Peace be with you, son! you reckon up the sum of your ventures with a careful brow, and speak loud enough to make the town acquainted with thy gains, if perchance some of the chapmen with whom thou hast dealing should be in thy path. How fares it with thee, Master Skipper?" "Ha, Mi Padre!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, instant ly throwing aside his graver thoughts and assuming a jocular tone. "Well met; I was on my way to visit you : that would I have done yesterday upon my arrival, but that the press of my business would not allow it. You grow old, father, so evenly that, ROB OF THE BOWL 165 although I see you but after long partings, I can count no fresh touch of time upon your head." "Men of your calling should not flatter," said the priest smiling. "What news do you bring us from the old world?" "Oh, much and merry, Father Pierre. The old world plies her old trade and thrives by it. Knavery hath got somewhat of the upper hand since they have quit crossing swords in this new piece of Nime- guen. The Hogan Mogans are looking a little surly at the Frenchman for cocking his beaver so bravely ; and our jobbernowl English, now that they can find no more reason to throttle each other, have gone back to their old sport of pricking the side of our poor church. You shall find as many plots in Lon don, made out of hand and ready for use in one month, as would serve all the stage plays of the kingdom for the next hundred years and every plot shall have a vile Papist at the bottom of it, if you may believe Gates and Bedloe. I was there when my Lord Stafford was made a head shorter on Tower Hill. You heard of this, father ?" "Alack ! in sorrow we heard of this violence," re plied the priest; "and deeply did it grieve my Lord to lose so good a friend. Even as you have found it in England, so is it here. The discontents against the holy church are nursed by many who seek there by to command the province. We have plotters here who do not scruple to contrive against the life of his Lordship, and his Lordship's brother the Chancellor. 166 Besides, the government at home is unfriendly to us." "You have late news from England ?" inquired the Skipper. "We have, and which, but that you are true in your creed, I might scarce mention to your ear the royal order has come to my Lord to dismiss his Catholic servants from office every one. His Lord ship scruples to obey. This, Master Skipper, I con fide to you in private, as not to be told again." "To remove all!" said Cocklescraft. "Why it will sweep off his nearest friends Anthony War den and all." "Fven so." "There is fighting matter in that, upon the spot," exclaimed the Skipper. "By St. Sebastian, I hope it may come up while I am in port! The Collector, old as he is, will buckle on his Toledo in that quarrel. He has mettle for it ; and I could wish no better play than to stand by his side. Who is this Secretary of my Lord's private chamber? I met him at the Col lector's to-day." "Master Albert Verheyden," replied the priest. "I know his name they told it to me there but his quality and condition, father?" "You may be proud of his fellowship," said Father Pierre; "he was once a scholar of the Jesuit school at Antwerp, of the class inscribed 'Princeps Dili- gentiae,' and brought thence by my Lord. A youth, Master Cocklescraft, of promise and discretion a ROB OF THE BOWL 167 model to such as would learn good manners and cherish virtuous inclinations. You may scarcely fail to see him at the Collector's : the townspeople do say he has an eye somewhat dazzled there." "Craving pardon for my freedom, I say, Father Pierre, a fig's end for such a model !" exclaimed the Skipper, pettishly : "you may have such by the score, wherever lazy, bookish men eat their bread. I like him not, with his laced band and feather, his book and lute : harquebuss and whinyard are the tools for these days. I hear the Kendalls have been at mis chief again. We shall come to bilbo and buff be-- fore long. Your Secretary will do marvellous ser vice in these straits, father." "Son, you are somewhat sinful in your scorn," said the priest, mildly; "the Secretary doth not de serve this taunt " "By the holy hermits, father, I speak of the Secre tary but as I think. He does not awe me with his greatness. I vail no topsail to him, I give you my word for it." "The saints preserve us from harm!" said the churchman. "We know not what may befall us from the might of our enemies, when this hot blood shall sunder our friends. In sober counsel, son, and not in rash divisions shall we find our safety. It doth not become thee, Master Cccklescraft, to let thy tetchy humour rouse thee against the Secretary. It might warrant my displeasure." "Mea culpa, holy father I do confess my fault," 168 ROB OF THE BOWL said the seaman, in a tone of assumed self -constraint "I will not again offend; and for my present atone ment will offer a censer of pure silver, which in my travels I picked up, and in truth did then design to give, to the Chapel of St. Mary's. I will bring it to the chapel, Father Pierre, as soon as my vessel is unladen." "You should offer up your anger too, to make this gift acceptable," returned the priest. "Let thy dedi cation be with a cleansed heart." "Ha, Father Pierre," said the Skipper, jocu larly ; "my conscience does easily cast off a burden : so it shall be as you command. I did not tell you that whilst my brigantine lay in the Helder, I made a land flight to Louvaine, where a certain Abbot of Andoyne, a pious, somewhat aged, and, thanks to a wholesome refectory! a good jolly priest, hearing I came from the province, must needs send for me to ask if I knew Father Pierre de la Maise, and upon my answer, that I did right well, he begs me to bring his remembrance back to you." "I knew Father Gervase," replied the priest with a countenance full of benignity "some forty years ago, when he was a reader in the Chair of St. Isidore at Rome. He remembers me? a blessing on his head ! and he wears well, Master Skipper ?" "Quite as well as yourself," replied Cocklescraft. "Father, a cup of your cool water, and I will de part," he said, as he helped himself to the draught. "I will take heed to what you have said touching the ROB OF THE BOWL 169 royal order and by St. lago, I will be a friend in need to the Collector. Master Verheyden shall not be a better one. Now fare thee well, father. Pere grine Cadger shall have order to cut you off a cas sock from the best cloth I have brought him, and little Abbot the tailor shall put it in fashion for you." "You are lavish of your bounties, son," replied the priest, taking Cocklescraft by both hands as he was now about to withdraw. "You have a poor churchman's thanks. It gives me comfort to be so considered, and I prize your kindness more than the cassock. A blessing on thy ways, Master Cockles- craft!" The Skipper once more set forth on his way to wards the port ; and with a temper somewhat allayed by the acting of the scene I have just described, though with no abatement of the resentment which rankled at the bottom of his heart, even under the smiling face and gay outside which he could assume with the skill of a consummate dissembler, he soon reached the Crow and Archer. From thence he meditated, as soon as his occasions would permit, a visit to the Cripple of St. Jerome's. The council had been summoned to meet on the morning following that of the incidents just related, and the members were now accordingly assembling, soon after breakfast, at the Proprietary mansion. The arrival of one or two gentlemen on horseback with their servants, added somewhat to the bustle of 170 ROB OF THE BOWL the stable yard, which was already the scene of that kind of busy idleness and lounging occupation so agreeable to the menials of a large establishment. Here, in one quarter, a few noisy grooms were col lected around the watering troughs, administering the discipline of the currycomb or the wash bucket to some half score of horses. In a corner of the yard Dick Pagan, the courier, and Willy o' the Flats, with the zeal of amateur vagrants, were striving to cozen each other out of their coppers at the old game of Cross and Pile ; whilst, in an opposite direction, Der rick was exhibiting to a group of spectators, amongst whom the young heir apparent was a prominent per sonage, a new set of hawk bells just brought by the Olive Branch from Dort, and lecturing, with a learned gravity, upon their qualities, to the infinite edification and delight of his youthful pupil. Slouch ing foxhounds, thick-lipped mastiffs and wire-haired terriers mingled indiscriminately amongst these groups, as if confident of that favouritism which is the universal privilege of the canine race amongst good tempered persons and contented idlers all the world over. Whilst the inhabitants of the yard were engrossed with these occupations, a trumpet was heard at a distance in the direction of the town. The blast came so feebly upon the ear as, at first, to pass unregarded, but being repeated at short intervals, and at every repetition growing louder, it soon ar rested the general attention, and caused an inquiry ROB OF THE BOWL from all quarters into the meaning of so unusual an incident. "Fore God, I think that there be an alarm of In dians in the town!" exclaimed the falconer as he spread his hand behind his ear and listened for some moments, with a solemn and portentous visage. "Look to it, lads there may be harm afoot. Put up thy halfpence, Dick Pagan, and run forward to seek out the cause of this trumpeting. I will wager it means mischief, masters." "Indians!" said Willy; " Derrick's five wits have gone on a fool's errand ever since the murder of that family at the Zachaiah fort by the salvages. If the Indians- were coming you should hear three guns from Master Randolph Brandt's look-out on the Notley road. It is more likely there may be trouble at the gaol with the townspeople, for there was a whisper afloat yesterday concerning a rescue of the prisoners. Troth, the fellow has a lusty breath who blows that trumpet!" "Ay, and the trumpet," said Derrick, "is not made to dance with, masters : there is war and throat-cut ting in it, or I am no true man." During this short exchange of conjectures, Dick Pagan had hastened to the gate which opened to wards the town, and mounting the post, for the sake of a more extensive view, soon discerned the object of alarm, when, turning towards his companions, he shouted, "Wounds, but here's a sight ! Pike and musket,, 172 ROB OF THE BOWL belt and saddle, boys! To it quickly; you shall have rare work anon. Wake up the ban dogs of the fort and get into your harness. Here comes the Dutch Doctor with his trumpeter as fierce as the Dragon of Wantley. Buckle to and stand your ground !" "Ho, ho!" roared the fiddler with an impudent, swaggering laugh. "Here's a pretty upshot to your valours! Much cry and little wool, like the Devil's hog-shearing at Christmas. You dullards, couldn't I have told you it was the Dutch Doctor, if your fright had left you but a handful of sense to ask a question ? He is expected and wanted at the council chamber at once," and, catching the Dutch Doctor by the sleeve of his coat, the fiddler led him, without further ceremony, to the chamber in which the coun cil were convened. Here sat the Proprietary, and Philip Calvert, the Chancellor, who were now, with five or six other gentlemen, engaged in the transaction of business of grave import. Some depredations had been recently committed upon the English by the Indians inhabiting the upper regions of the Susquehanna, especially by the Sin- niquoes, who, in an incursion against the Piscatta- ways, a friendly tribe in the vicinity of St. Mary's, had advanced into the low country, where they had plundered the dwellings of the settlers and even mur dered two or three families. The victims of these outrages happened to be Protestants, and Kendall's ROB OF THE BOWL 173 party availed themselves of the circumstances, to excite the popular jealousy against Lord Baltimore by circulating the report that these murders were committed by Papists in disguise. What was, therefore, but an ordinary though frightful incident of Indian hostility, was thus exag gerated into a crime of deep malignity, peculiarly cal culated still more to embitter the party exasperations of the day. This consideration rendered it a subject of eager anxiety, on the part of the Council, to pro cure the fullest evidence of the hostile designs of the Indians, and thus not only to enable the province to adopt the proper measure for its own safety, but also confute the false report which had imputed to the Catholics so absurd and atrocious a design. A traveller by the name of Launcelot Sakel happened, but two or three days before the present meeting of the Council, to arrive at the port, where he put afloat the story of an intended invasion of the province by certain Indians of New York, belonging to the tribes of the Five Nations, and gave as his authority for this piece of news a Dutch doctor, whom he had fallen in with on the Delaware, where he left him selling nostrums, and who, he affirmed, was in a short space to appear at St. Mary's. This story, with many particulars, was communicated to the Proprie tary, which induced the order to summon the doctor to attend the council as soon after his arrival as pos sible. In obedience to this summons, our worthy was now in the presence of the high powers of the 174 ROB OF THE BOWL province, not a little elated with the personal conse quence attached to his coming. Lord Baltimore received the itinerant physician with that bland and benignant accost which was ha bitual to him, and proceeded with brief ceremony to interrogate him as to the purport of his visit. The answers were given with a solemn self-complacency, not unmixed with that shrewdness which was an essential attribute to the success of the ancient quack salver. He described himself as Doctor Claus De- bor, a native of Holland, a man of travel, enjoying no mean renown in New York, and, for two years past, a resident of Albany. His chief design in his present journey, he represented to be to disseminate the blessings of his great medicament; whereupon he was about to launch forth into an exuberant tone of panegyric, and had, in fact, already produced a smile at the council board by some high wrought phrases expressive of his incredible labour in the quest of his great secret, when the Proprietary checked his career by a timely admonition. "Ay, we do not seek to know thy merits as a physician, nor doubt the great virtue of thy drugs, worthy doctor; but in regard thereto, give thee free permission to make what profit of them you reason ably may in the province." "Your very goot and admirable Lordship, mis translates de significance of my visit," said the Doc tor, in his ambitious phrase; "for although I most heartily tank your Lordship's bounty for de permis- ROB OF THE BOWL 175 sion to sell my inestimable medicament, still, I come to opey your most honourable Lordship's summons, which I make pold to pelieve is concerned wid state matters pefore de high and noble council." "We would hear what you can tell touching a rumour brought to us by one Master Launcelot Sakel, whom you saw at Christina Fort," said the Proprietary. "Dere is weighty news, my Lord," replied the Doctor. I have goot reason to pelieve dat de Nor- dern Indians of New York are meditating and con cocting mischief against your Lordship's province." "Have a care to the truth of your report," said Colonel" Talbot, rising from his seat: "it may be worse for you if you be found to trifle with us by passing current a counterfeit story, churned into consistence in your own brain, out of the froth of idle, way-side gossipings. We have a statute against the spreaders of false news." "If I am mendacious," replied the Doctor, "dat is, if I am forgetful of mine respect for trute, dese honourable gentlemens shall teal wid me as a lying pusy pody and pragmatical tale-bearer. Your Lord ship shall hear. It is put a fortnight ago, when I was making ready for dis journey, in Alpany, I chanced to see in de town so many as two score, perhaps fifty Indians, who were dere trading skins for powder and shot. Dey reported demselves to be Sinniquoes, and said dey came to talk wid de tribes 176 ROB OF THE BOWL furder back, to get deir help to fight against de Pis- cattaways." "Indeed! there is probability in that report," said the Proprietary : "well, and how had they sped ? what was their success ?" "Some of de Five Nations, I forget de name of de tribe, my Lord it might pe de Oneidas dey told us, promised to march early de next season; in dere own worts, when de sap pegin to rise." "In what force, did they say?" "In large force, my Lord. De Piscattaways, dey said, were frents to my Lord and de English, and so dey should make clean work wid red and white." "What more?" "Dey signified dat dey should have great help from de Delawares and Susquehannocks, who, as I could make it out, wanted to go to war wid your Lordship's peoples at once." "True; and they have done so. The insolencies of these tribes are already as much as we can endure. Did they find it easy to purchase their powder and lead in Albany ? I should hope that traffic would not be allowed." "My Lord, de traders do not much stop, when dey would turn a penny, to reckon who shall get de loss, so dey get de profit. Dese same Indians I saw afterwards in de town^of New York, trading in de same way wid Master Grimes, a merchant." "Mischief will come of this," said the Proprie tary, "unless it be speedily taken in hand. What ROB OF THE BOWL 177 reason was given by the Northern Indians for join ing in this scheme?" "I tink it was said," replied the Doctor, "dat your Lordship had not made your treaties wid dem, nor sent dem presents, dese two years past." "True," interposed the Chancellor ; "we have failed in that caution although I have more than once re minded your Lordship of its necessity." "It shall not be longer delayed," replied the Pro prietary. "You are sure, Doctor Debor, these were Sinniquoes you saw?" "I only know dem by dere own report I never heard de name pefore." The Doctor in due time received permission to retire, having delivered all that he was able to say touching the matter in agitation before the Proprie tary. The Council were for some time after this inci dent engaged in the consideration of the conspiracy against the Proprietary, of which new evidences were every day coming to light ; and it was now re solved that the matter should be brought into the notice of the judicial authority at an early day. The only circumstance which I have further occa sion to notice related to a diversion which was not unusual at that day amongst the inhabitants of the province, and which required the permission of the Council. It was brought into debate by Colonel Talbot. "Stark Whittle, the swordsman," he said, "has 178 ROB OF THE BOWL challenged Sergeant Travers to play a prize at such weapons as they may select and the Sergeant ac cepts the challenge, provided it meet the pleasure of his Lordship and the Council. I promised to be a patron to the play." "It shall be as you choose," said the Proprietary. "This martial sport has won favor with our people. Let it be so ordered that it tend not to the breach of the peace. We commit it to your hands, Colonel Talbot." The Council assented, and the necessary order was recorded on the journal. CHAPTER X. Some do call me Jack, sweetheart, And some do call me Jille: But when I come to the king's faire courte, They call me Wilfulle Wille. The Knight and Shepherd's Daughter. THE Skipper's necessary affairs in the port en gaged him all the day succeeding that of his interview with Father Pierre, and therefore prevented him from making his intended visit to the Cripple of St. Jerome's. When the next morning broke upon him, the early bell of St. Mary's Chapel informed him of the Sabbath, a day seldom distinguished in his cal endar from the rest of the week. It was, however, ROB OF THE BOWL 179 not unheeded now, as it suggested the thought that an opportunity might be afforded him to gain a sight of Blanche Warden and even, perchance an inter view at the service of the Chapel. In this hope he at once relinquished his design of going to St. Jerome's, at least until after the morning offices of the church were performed. Accordingly, at an hour somewhat in advance of the general attendance of the congregation, the Skipper was seen loitering in the purlieus of the Chapel, where he marked with an inquisitive but cautious watchfulness the various groups that were coming to their devotions. When at length his strained vision was able to descry a cavalcade approaching from the direction of St. Ini- goe's, and he discerned the figures of Albert Ver- heyden and Blanche Warden dallying far in the rear of the Collector and his daughter Alice, their horses almost at a walk, and themselves manifestly en grossed in an earnest conference, he turned hastily towards the church and with a compressed lip and knitted brow, ascended the stair and threw himself into an obscure corner of the little gallery which looked upon the altar. The Collector's family entered the place of wor ship. The Secretary still accompanied Blanche, knelt beside her in prayer, opened her missal to the various services of the day, and tendered the custom ary offices of familiar gallantry common to such an occasion with an unrebuked freedom : all this in the view of the Skipper, whose eye flashed with a venge- 180 ROB OF THE BOWL ful fire, as he gazed upon the man to whom he at tributed the wrong he deemed himself to have suf fered in his recent interview with the maiden. The service ended and the throng was retiring, when Cocklescraft planted himself on the outside of the door. His purpose was to exchange even but a word with the daughter of the Collector at least to win a recognition of his presence by a smile, a nod, the smallest courtesy, so dear to the heart of a lover. She came at last, loiteringly, with Father Pierre and Albert Verheyden. Perhaps she did not see Cockles- craft in the shade of the big elm, even although her father's weaker sight had recognized him, and the old man had stepped aside to shake his hand. She passed on to her horse without once turning her head towards him. The Skipper abruptly sprang from the Collector to help her into her saddle, but Blanche had already Albert's hand, and in a moment was in her seat. Cocklescraft's proffered service was ac knowledged by a bow and only a casual word. The Secretary in an instant mounted his steed, and, with the maiden, set forth on their ride at a brisk gallop. The Brother of the Coast, forgetful of his usual cir cumspection, stood with folded arms and moody visage, looking darkly upon them as they disap peared and muttering half audible ejaculations of wrath. He was, after an interval, roused from his abstraction by the hand of Father Pierre gently laid upon his shoulder : "You have forgotten the censer of virgin silver ROB OF THE BOWL 181 you promised t^ offer at this shrine," said the priest in a grave voice. "It was to be an offering for the sin of a wayward spirit of anger. Beware, son, that thou dost no wrong to a brother." "I have not forgotten the censer, holy father," returned the Skipper, with an ineffectual effort to assume his usual equanimity. "I have only deferred the offering until I may give it," he added in a stern voice "with an honest conscience. Thou shalt have it anon. I have business now that stands in the way: good morning to you, father." And with these words he walked rapidly away. In the afternoon Cocklescraft was seen plying his way from the quay in a small boat, attended by two seamen who rowed him to a point some five or six miles below the town, where he landed, and set out on foot for St. Jerome's. On the following morning, whilst the dawn yet cast its grey hue over the face of the land, two men, in shaggy frieze dresses, arrived at the hut of the Cripple. They rode on rough little beach-ponies, each provided with a sack. The mastiff bitch eyed the visitors with a malign aspect from her station beneath the door sill, and by her low mutterings warned them against a too near approach. They accordingly stood at bay. "Curse on the slut!" said one; "she has the eye of a very devil ; it might not be safe to defy her. Not a mouse is stirring : the old Trencherman is as 182 ROB OF THE BOWL still as his bowl. Were it safe, think you, to wake him?" "Why not?" demanded the other. "He will be in a passion, and threaten, at first, with his weapon ; but when he knows we come to trade with him, I will warrant he butters his wrinkles as smoothly with a smile as you could desire. Strike your staff, Nichol, against the door." "The fiend fetch me, if I venture so near as to strike, with that bitch at the step. Try it thyself, Perry Cadger." "Nay, and it comes to that, I will rouse him in another fashion," said the other. "Master Swale Master Robert Swale Halloo halloo!" "Rob, man, awake, turn out for thy friends!" exclaimed the first. The growl of the mastiff bitch was now changed into a hoarse bark. Some stir was heard from the inside of the hut, and, in a mo ment afterwards, the door was unbolted and brought sufficiently open to allow the uncouth head and half dressed figure of the Cripple to be seen. A short blunderbuss was levelled directly in the face of the visitors, whilst an ungracious repulse was screamed out in a voice husky with rage. "Begone, you misbegotten thieves! What makes you here? Do you think I am an ale draper to take in every strolling runagate of the night. Begone, or by my body, I will baptize you with a sprinkling of lead!" ROB OF THE BOWL 183 "In God's name, Robert Swale," exclaimed the first speaker, "turn thy weapon aslant! Thou mayst do a deed of mischief upon thy friends. We are Nichol Upstake and Peregrine Cadger friends, Rob, friends, who have come to drive bargains to thy profit. Open your eyes, Master put on your glasses we have gold in pocket, man." "Ha, ha, ha!" chuckled the tenant of the hut; "thou art astir, cronies! Ha, ha! I took ye for land loupers sharks. By the Five Wounds, I knew ye not ! Have patience a space and I will open." When the Cripple had dressed himself he came swinging forth in his bowl, and passing beyond the curtilage of his dwelling went to the beach, whither he was followed by his two visitors, who had now dismounted from their ponies. Here he halted, and taking off his cap, exposed his bare head and loose white tresses to the morning breeze, which came somewhat sharply from the water. "Soh!" he exclaimed, "there is refreshment in that! It is my custom to expel these night-cap vapours with the good salt water breeze: that is a commodity that may reach the province without pay ing duty to his Lordship! a cheap physic, a cheap physic, masters. Now what scent art thou upon, Nichol Upstake? Perry Cadger, man of sarsnet and grogram, I guess thy errand." "In truth, Robert Swale," said Upstake "No Robert Swale, nor Master Robert Swale," testily interrupted the owner of the cabin : "none of 184 ROB OF THE BOWL your worshipful phrase for me! Thou art but a shallow hypocrite to affect this reverence. Rob of the Bowl is the best I get from you when your long ings are satisfied; ay, and it is said with a curl of your lip ; and you make merry over my unworthiness with your pot-fellows. So, be honest, and give me plain Rob ; I seek no flattery." "You do us wrong, good Master Rob," interposed Peregrine Cadger "To your needs," said Rob, sternly: "Speak in the way of your trade! You have no voice, nor I ear for aught else." "Then, in brief," said Nichol Upstake, "I would fain know if you could supply me with Antigua to day, or aqua vitse, I care not which ?" "If such a thing might be, where wouldst thou take it, Nichol?" inquired Rob. "To Warrington on the Cliffs." "Ay, to Warrington on the Cliffs; good! and warily to be borne? no hawk's eye upon thy path?" "It shall be by night, if you like it," said the dealer. "Well, well!" replied the Cripple; "I can give you a little of both, master: a flagon or so; some three or four. My hut is small, and hath a scant cellar. But the money in hand, Nichol Upstake! Good gold full weight and a fair price, too, mark you ! I must have a trifle above my last market ten shillings the gallon on the brandy, and two more for the Antigua. Leave thy kegs, and see me again at ROB OF THE BOWL 185 sunset. The money in hand! the money in hand! there is no trust in my commonwealth." "It shall be so," said Nichol. "And now, Master Cadger, what wilt? You have a scheme to cozen dame and wench with gewgaws; I see it in thine eye : and you will swear upon book and cross, if need be, they have stood you a wondrous hard purchase, even at the full three hundred per cent, excess you purpose to exact above the cost; and all the while it has come out of Rob's warehouse as cheap as beggars' alms : Ha, ha, ha ! This world thrives on honesty ! it grows fat on virtue ! knavery only starves ! Your rogue in rags, what hath he but his deserts ! Let him repent and turn virtuous, like you and me, Perry, and his torn cloak and threadbare doublet shall be fenced and lined to defy all weathers. Hark ye, masters, I have camblets, satins, and vel vets, cambric, and lawn for thee choice commodi ties all. Thou shalt see them in the hut." "How came you by so rich an inventory, Rob?" The Cripple turned a fierce eye upon the mercer, and with one glance conveyed his meaning, as he touched the handle of his dagger and said in a low tone, "Dost forget the covenant between us ? Peregrine Cadger, you know I brook no such question." The mercer stood for a moment abashed, and then replied : "An idle word, Master Rob, which meant no harm : as you say, honesty will only thrive. You shall find never a knave that is not some part 186 ROB OF THE BOWL fool. I will into the hut to look at the wares." "Do so," said the Cripple. "You will find them in the box behind the door. There is need that you leave me, so follow him, Nichol. I have sudden business, masters, which it does not concern you to witness. When you have seen what you desire, de part quickly ; leave your sacks and come back at sun set. I charge you, have a care that your eyes do not wander towards my motions. You know me, and know that I have sentinels upon your steps who have power to sear your eye-balls if you but steal one forbidden glance: away!" The dealers withdrew into the hut, wondering at the abrupt termination of their interview, and im plicitly confiding in the power of the Cripple to make good his threat. "The Lord have mercy upon us !" said the mercer, in a smothered voice, after they had entered the door; "the Cripple hath matters on hand which it were not for our good to pry into. Pray you, Nichol, let us make our survey and do his bidding, by setting forth at once. I am not the man to give him offence." The cause of this unexpected dismissal of the visi tors was the apparition of Cocklescraft, whose figure, in the doubtful light of the morning, was seen by Rob at a distance, on the profile of the bank in the neighbourhood of the Wizard's Chapel. He had halted upon observing the Cripple in company with strangers, and had made a signal which was sufii- ROB OF THE BOWL 187 ciently intelligible to the person to whom it was ad dressed, to explain his wish to meet him. Rob, having thus promptly rid himself of his com pany, now swung on his short crutches, almost as rapidly as a good walker could have got over the ground, towards the spot where the Buccaneer had halted. "Steer your cockleshell there to the right, old worm!" said the Freebooter, as Rob came opposite to the bank on which he stood. "You shall find it easier to come up by the hollow." "The plagues of a foul conscience light on thee !" replied the Cripple, desisting from farther motion, and wiping the perspiration from his brow. "Is it more seemly I should waste my strength on the fruit less labour to clamber up that rough slope, or thou come down to me? You mock me, sirrah !" he added, with an expression of sudden anger ; "Thou know'st I cannot mount the bank." "Thou know'st I can drag thee up, reverend frag ment of a sinful man !" returned Cocklescraft, jocu larly ; "yes, and with all thy pack of evil passions at thy back, besides. Would you hold our meeting in sight from the window of the hut, where you have just lodged a pair of your busy meddlers your bumpkin cronies in the way of trade? It was such as these that, but a few nights ago, set his Lordship's hounds upon our tracks. Come up, man, without farther parley." The Cripple's fleeting anger changed, as usual, to 188 ROB OF THE BOWL that bitter smile and chuckle with which he was wont to return into a tractable mood, as he said, "A provident rogue! a shrewd imp! He has his instinct of mischief so keen that his forecast never sleepeth. The devil hath made him a perfect scholar. There, Dickon, give me thy hand," he added, when he came to the steep ascent which his machine of locomotion was utterly inadequate to surmount. "Give me thy hand, good cut-throat. Help me to the top." The muscular seaman, instead of extending his hand to his companion, descended the bank, and tak ing the bowl and its occupant upon his shoulder, strode upward to the even ground, and deposited his load with as little apparent effort as if he had been dealing with a truss of hay. "Bravely !" ejaculated Rob, when he was set down. "I scarce could have done better in my best day. Now, what set thee to jogging so early, Dickon? Where dost thou come from?" "From the Chapel," replied the other. "I came there from the Port last night, express to see you; and having no special favour for the bed I slept on, I left it at the first streak of light to go and rouse you from your dreams, and lo ! there you are at one of your dog and wolf bargains with the countryside clowns." "Discreet knaves, Dickon, who have come to ease us of somewhat of our charge of contraband : stout jerkins stout and well lined ; rogues of substance ROB OF THE BOWL 189 Nichol Upstake, the ordinary keeper of Warrington, and Perry Cadger, the mercer of St. Mary's. Seeing thee here, I dismissed them until sunset. That Pere grine Cadger is somewhat leaky as a gossip, and might tell tales if he were aware that I consorted with you." "I see them taking the road on their ponies," said Cocklescraf t ; "we may venture to the hut. I am sharp set for breakfast, and when I have a contented stomach, I will hold discourse with you, Rob, touch ing matters of some concern to us both." The Cripple and his guest, upon this hint, repaired to the hut, and in due time the morning meal was supplied and despatched. Cocklescraft then opened the purport of his visit. "Has it ever come into your wise brain, Master Rob," he asked, "that you are getting somewhat old; and that it might behoove you to make a shrift at the confessional, by way of settling your account? I take it, it will not be a very clean reckoning with out a good swashing penance." "How now, thou malignant kite!" exclaimed the Cripple; "what's in the wind?" "Simply, Rob, that the time has come when, per- ad venture, we must part. I am tired of this wicked life. I shall amend; and I come to counsel you to the like virtuous resolution. I will be married, Robert Swale, Man of the Bowl !" "Grammercy! thou wilt be married! thou! I spit upon thee for a fool. What crotchet is this ?" 190 ROB OF THE BOWL "I will be married, as I say, neither more nor less. Now to what wench, ask you? Why to the very fairest and primest flower of this province the Rose of St. Mary's the Collector's own daughter. I mark that devil's sneer of unbelief of yours, old buckler man : truer word was never spoke by son of the sea or land, than I speak now." "To the Collector's daughter!" ejaculated the Cripple, in a tone of derision. "Thy carriage is bold in the Port, but no measure of audacity will ever bring thee to that favour. Would'st thou play at thine old game, and sack the town, and take the daintiest in it for ransom ? You know no other trick of wooing, Dickon." "By my hand, Rob, I am specially besought by the Collector to make one at a choice merry-making which his daughter has on foot for next Thursday. Ay, and I am going, on his set command, to dance a gailliard with Mistress Blanche. Oh, she shall be the very bird of the sea the girl of the billow, Rob ! She shall be empress of the green wave that nursed me, and the blue sky, and the wide waste. Her throne shall be on the deck of my gay bark : and my merry men shall spring at her beck as deftly as at the boatswain's pipe!" "You shall sooner meet your deservings," said Rob, "on the foal of the acorn, with a hempen string, than find grace with the Collector's child. Thy whole life has been adversary to the good will of the father." ROB OF THE BOWL 191 "I know it," replied Cocklescraft. "I was born in natural warfare with the customs and all who gather them ; the more praise for my exploit ! I shall change my ways and forsake evil company. I shall be a man of worship. We shall shut up the Chapel, Rob; expel our devils; pack off our witches to Nor way, and establish an honest vocation. Therefore, Rob, go to Father Pierre; repent of your misdeeds, and live upon your past gains. You are rich and may afford to entertain henceforth a reputable con science." "Do not palter with me, sirrah! but tell me what this imports." "Then truly, Rob, I am much disturbed in my fancies. " I love the wench, and mean to have her fairly if I can but after the fashion of the Coast if I must. She doth not consent as yet mainly be cause she hath a toy of delight in that silken Secre tary of my Lord a bookish pale-cheeked, sickly strummer of stringed instruments one Master Ver- heyden, I think they call him." "Ha !" exclaimed the Cripple, as a frown gathered on his brow; "what is he? Whence comes he?" "His Lordship's chamber secretary," replied Cocklescraft; "brought hither I know not when nor whence. A silent-paced, priestly pattern of modesty, who feeds on the favour of his betters, as a lady's dog, that being allowed to lick the hand of his mis tress, takes the privilege to snarl on all who approach her. I shall make light work with him by whipping 192 ROB OF THE BOWL him out of my way. Why are you angry, that you scowl so, Master Rob?" "I needs must be angry to see thee make a fool of thyself," replied the master of the hut. "Verheyden his Lordship's secretary!" he muttered to himself. "No, no ! it would be folly to think it." "Mutter as you will, Rob," said Cocklescraft ; "by St. lago, I will try conclusions with the Secretary folly or no folly! He hath taught the maiden," he added, with a bitter emphasis, "to affect a scorn for me, and he shall smart for it." "Ha! thy spirit is ever for undoing!" exclaimed Rob, suddenly changing his mood, and forcing a harsh laugh of derision. "Mischief is your proper element your food, your repose, your luxury. Well, if thou needst must take on a new life, and strive to be worshipful, I would counsel thee to begin it with some deed of charity, not strife. I had as well make my lecture to a young wolf ! Ha, Dickon, thou wilt be a prospering pupil to the master that teaches thee the virtue of charity ! Such rede will be welcome to thee as water to thy shoes; I have scanned thee in all thy humours !" "I spurn upon your advice, and will not be scorned, old man !" said Cocklescraft, angrily. "The maiden shall be mine, though I pluck her from beneath her father's blazing roof-tree; and then farewell to the province, and to thee ! Mark you that ! I come not to be taunted with thy ill-favored speech! My men shall be withdrawn from the Chapel. I will put them ROB OF THE BOWL 193 on worthier service than to minister to thy greedi ness." "Hot-brained, silly idiot thou drivelling fool!" shouted Rob. "Dost thou not know that I can put thee in the dust and trample on thee as a caitiff? that I can drive thee from the province as a vile outlaw? Art thou such a dizzard as to tempt my anger? If you would thrive even in your villanous wooing, have a care not to provoke my displeasure ! One word from me, and not a man paces thy deck : thou goest abroad unattended, stiverless a fugitive, with hue and cry at thy heels. How dar'st thou re prove me, boy?" "Thy hand, Rob," said Cocklescraft, relenting. "You say no more than my folly warrants; I am a wanton fool: your pardon let there be peace be tween us." "Art reasonable again? Bravely confessed, Dick on! I forgive thy rash speech. Now go thy ways, and the Foul One speed thee! I have naught to counsel, either for strife or peace, since thou hast neither wit, wisdom, nor patience for sober advice against the current of thy will. It will not be long before this maimed trunk shall sink into its natural resting place and it matters not to me how my remnant of time be spent whether in hoarding or keeping. The world will find me an heir to squander what little store it hath pleased my fortune to gather. So go thy ways !" "I will see you again, friend Rob," said the Buc- 194 ROB OF THE BOWL cancer. "I have matter to look after at the Chapel, and then shall get back to the Port, to drive my suit to a speedy issue. I came here but in honest dealing with you, to give you friendly notice of my design, and, perchance, to get your aid. You have no counsel for me? It is well; my own head and arm shall befriend me; they have stood me in stead in straits more doubtful than this: farewell fare well!" As the Skipper stepped along the beach, Rob planted himself in the door of the hut and looked after him for some moments, nodding his head sig nificantly towards him, and muttering in a cynical undertone, "Go thy ways, snake of the sea, spawn of a water devil! Thou married! ha, ha! Thy lady gay shall have a sweetened cup in thee ; and thy wooing shall be tender and gentle yea, as the appe tite of the sword-fish. It shall be festival wooing all in the light in the light of the bride's own blazing roof : a dainty wolf ! a most tractable shark ! Oh, I cannot choose but laugh !" CHAPTER XL "You wear a sword, sir, and so do I !" "Well, sir!" "You know the use, sir, of a sword?" "I do, to whip a knave, sir." The Hunchback. THE festival of St. Therese, Blanche's birthday, so anxiously looked for by the younger inhabitants ROB OF THE BOWL 195 of St. Mary's, and scarcely less heartily welcomed by the elder, at length came round. Towards sun set of an evening, mild in temperature and resplen dent with the glorious golden-tipped clouds of the October sky, the air fraught with that joyful fresh ness which distinguishes this season in Maryland, groups of gay-clad persons were seen passing on the high road that led from the town to the Rose Croft. The greater number, according to the usage of that day, rode on horseback, the women seated on pil lions behind their male escort. Some of the younger men trudged on foot, and amongst these was even seen, here and there, a buxom damsel cheerily mak ing her way in this primitive mode of travel and showing by her merry laugh and elastic step how little she felt the inconvenience of her walk. It must not be supposed from this account that the luxury of the coach was altogether unknown to the good people of the province. Two of these vehicles were already within the dominions of the Lord Pro prietary ; one belonging to his Lordship himself, and the other to Master Thomas Notley, of Notley Hall, member of the Council, and sometime, during the Proprietary's late visit to London, the Lieutenant- General of the province. They were both of the same fashion, stiff, lumbering, square old machines which had been imported some twenty years past, and were often paraded in the street of St. Mary's with their bedizened postillions and footmen, to the inconsiderable enhancement, in the eyes of the burgh- 196 ROB OF THE BOWL ers, of the dignity and state of their possessors. The bountiful foresight and supreme authority, it may be said, of the Lady Maria had procured the aid of both of these accommodations for the service of the evening, and they were, accordingly, now plying backward and forward between the Port and the Collector's, for the especial ease and delectation of sundry worshipful matrons whose infirmities rather inclined them to avoid the saddle, and also for the gratification of such favourites of the good lady, amongst the younger members of the popula tion, as she vouchsafed to honour by this token of her regard. The fame of the preparations at the Rose Croft had attracted, in addition to the invited guests, all such mere idlers as the humbler ranks of the towns people supplied. In their estimation Willy of the Flats, ordinarily a comrade of the idle craft, but now elevated into a character of some importance on a theatre of higher honour, was a personage at the present moment of no mean consideration, and he did not fail to let his consequence be seen and felt by his old compeers. His fiddle, which was soon to be called into active employment, was as yet suspended to the kitchen wall in its green bag, and he strutted, in vacant leisure, across the lawn in the presence of his envying cronies at the gateway, with a vain glorious and self-gratulating step, that showed, at least, how complacently he viewed his own exalta- ROB OF THE BOWL 197 tion, even if he did not win as much worship from the spectators. "Troth, Michael Mossbank," he said with a sig nificant twinkle of the eye; "but we will make dainty work of it to-night our junketing shall be spoken of on both sides of the bay, come this many a long year." "You may make Bible oath to that," replied the gardener ; "and you would never be fore-sworn." "Out upon thee, Michael, thyself, for a churl, a cockle weed! I eat no broken victual, I trow, at thy hands : he would have scant fare who waited on thy charity. A crowder has as much worship as a spade-lifter any day in the year so, cock your nose at some" one below you!" "A jest for a gibe, Willy," returned the gardener good humouredly; "a jest for a gibe! Play turkey- cock and swell to your heart's content! and when you have let off your spite go to the gate where you are wanted. Go, friend Willy, I would not vex you, in faith." The fiddler, not displeased at the chance of show ing his importance to the loiterers about the gate, addressed the assemblage, consisting of some dozen auditors, with a discourse upon the behaviour ex pected of them on this interesting occasion both by himself and the master of the feast. Prominent amongst those upon whom this instruc tion was bestowed, was one who had ever regarded Willy with singular deference: this was a lean and 198 ROB OF THE BOWL freckled lad, just on the verge of manhood, whose unmeaning eye, relaxed fibre and ever present smile denoted a stinted intellect, whilst his unoffending in- quisitiveness gained him admission to the skirts of all gatherings, whether festive or sad. His restless foot and characteristic thirst for knowledge habitu ally impelled him to seek the most conspicuous post of observation, and he was now, accordingly, in the foremost rank of Willy's hearers. Wise Watkin (for by this name he was familiarly greeted by young and old), notwithstanding the parsimony with which nature had doled out to him the gift of wit, was remarkable for his acquaintance with all classes of persons, and for a certain share of cunning in pick ing up the shreds of whatever rumour might chance, for the time, to agitate the gossip of the town: he was still more remarkable for his inordinate admira tion of the fiddler. Willy had just concluded his lecture of advice to his cronies, when his attention was arrested by the rumble of wheels heard at a distance, and by a cloud of dust which was seen rising in the neighbouring wood through which the road lay from the town. "Hearken, neighbours, his Lordship's coach!" he cried out. "We shall have it here anon, stuffed with people of worship. Take ranks on each side of the road quickly, I beseech you ! I will see you all cared for at the feast. Now, remember, at my signal, thus, hands to your caps, lads, and girls, sink: do it comely and altogether." ROB OF THE BOWL 198 "Ranks, ranks!" exclaimed Wise Watkin, who, with officious alacrity, began to push the crowd into the array indicated by the fiddler. "Heed Willy, and do as he bids. I warrant you, he knows what will please the gentle-folks hands to your caps !" The motley ranks being formed according to the fiddler's direction, awaited the arrival of those for whom this formal salutation was designed. Instead of the Proprietary's coach, a few mo ments disclosed a cart with a little thickset, shaggy pony attached to it, coming at high gallop upon the road. On the bench above the shafts was descried the jolly figure of the landlady of the Crow and Archer, in the identical suit of green and scarlet in which we have heretofore noticed her, playing the part of charioteer. Beside her sat the terrified Gar ret Weasel, who, of too light bulk to maintain a solid seat, jolted fearfully to and fro at every spring of the vehicle. The pony had manifestly taken the speed of his journey into his own discretion, and, with the shank of the bit gripped between his teeth, and head curved sidewise, set his course doggedly for the gate, in obstinate resistance of the dame, who, with both arms at stretch, reddened brow and clenched teeth, tugged at the reins, to turn him into a road that led, by a circuit, towards the rear of the dwell ing, whither she was now conveying sundry articles of provision which she had undertaken to supply for the feast. "For the Lord's sake, friends, stop the beast!" 200 ROB OF THE BOWL shouted the treble voice of the vintner as soon as he perceived Willy's corps "stop us for the love of mercy !" As the crowd gathered to arrest the runaways, a waive of the hand from the dame suspended their purpose. Her mettle was roused by the contumacy of the pony; whereupon, in disdain of the proffered aid, she gave loose rein to her beast, and, at the same time plying her whip across his flanks, whilst her forlorn helpmate, with eyes starting from their sockets, shouted aloud for help, flew through the gateway with increased velocity, a broad smile playing upon the face of the dame as she cried out to the lookers on, "Never heed the babe, a gay ride will mend his health." The address of the landlady in safely passing through the narrow way, elicited a general burst of applause, which rang in shouts until she had fairly got the better of the self-will of her four-footed an tagonist, and had halted him, panting, at the back of the house. "By my gossip," exclaimed Willy; "it was no such great mistake to set down Dame Dorothy's tumbrel for my Lord's coach ! If it had been a coach and six it could not have made more dust or better speed." "It could not, on my conscience!" shouted Wise Watkin, in a shrill response to Willy's laugh. "There's a tickle to the ribs! that fiddler Willy should take Dame Dorothy's cart and bow-necked ROB OF THE BOWL 201 Bogle for my Lord's coach!" and with this reflec tion he joined still louder in the chorus which echoed the general merriment, not doubting that the laugh was occasioned by Willy's mistake. Meantime the company continued to arrive. The coaches came with new freights, and fresh parties on horseback alighted at the gate. The Collector, more than usually precise in apparel, stood at the door receiving the frequent comers with all that par ticularity of observance which so strongly marked the manners of the past century; and group after group was ushered into the hall. Here Mistress Alice, in sad-coloured, silken attire, plain and be coming in its fashion, gave welcome to her visitors ; whilst the Lady Maria, in character of what might be termed the patroness of the revel, took post by her side. Blanche Warden, with a playfulness that vibrated between the woman and the girl, abandoned the re ception of the guests to the elders of the family, and gave herself up to the guidance of her prevailing humour, as she appeared, at one moment, in the hall smiling amidst the congratulations of friends, and at another, skimming across the lawn with a dozen of her school-mates in the random flight of their wild fancies. For a time, until the thickening shades of twilight and the keenness of the evening air began to ad monish them of the comfort of the house, many of the guests, attracted by the unusual mildness of the 202 ROB OF THE BOWL season, loitered about the door or strolled across the grounds. With the lighting of candles the first notes of Willy's fiddle were heard in a bravura flourish sum moning the dancers to the hall; and here the ball was opened, according to prescriptive custom, with the country dance, which was led off by no less a per sonage than the Lady Maria, attended by the wor shipful Collector himself as her partner, the couple affording, both in costume and movement, the richest imaginable portraiture of that "ancientry and state" which so wonderfully pleased the fancy of our pro genitors. Other dances of the same character, min gled with jigs and reels, succeeded, and the company soon rose into that tone of enjoyment which the con tagious merriment of the dance diffuses over all such assemblages. Cards, at that day, even more than at present, constituted the sober resource of the elder and graver portions of society of both sexes; and accordingly, by degrees, the Collector had drawn off to the parlour a respectable corps of veterans, who, grouped around the small tables, pursued this ancient pastime with that eagerness which it has always in spired amongst its votaries, leaving the hall to the unchecked mirth of the dancers. "We heard it said that Master Cocklescraft, of the Olive Branch, was to be here to-night," said Grace Blackiston, as she encountered Blanche in the dance. "He told Father Pierre that he was coming: and I have heard it whispered too, that he has brought 203 some pretty presents with him from abroad. I do not behold him yet, and here is the evening half gone. Oh, I do long to see him, for they say he dances so well. Is he not coming?" "He has been bidden," replied Blanche, "though not much with my will : I care not whether he comes or stays away." "Ha, Blanche has no eye but for Master Albert," said the merry maiden, as she turned off and ad dressed herself to a school-mate who stood near; "yet a good dancer is not to be scorned now-a-days, even if the Secretary were a better. And if he were a better, he doesn't dance so much that we should content ourselves with him. The Secretary has not been on the floor to-night, but must needs be track ing and trailing Father Pierre about the room. I do believe he does so for no purpose but to win sights of Blanche Warden. I wonder if the dullard can be in love ? It looks hugely like it." The Secretary had, in truth, not yet mingled in the dance, but from the beginning of the evening had loitered in the hall, apparently watching the sports, and, now and then, communing with Father Pierre, who, though a priestly, was far from being a silent or grave looker-on. "They will presently begin to think Master Albert Verheyden intends to set himself up for a philoso pher," he said, as the Secretary encountered him on the skirts of the dancers, the eye of the priest beam ing with good-natured playfulness. "It is not usual 204 ROB OF THE BOWL for a squire of dames to be so contemplative. My son, have you given over the company of damsels to consort with an old priest in so gay a scene as this ?" "Father, I would dance if there were need; but there is not often an empty space upon the floor, nor lack of those who seek to fill it. It pleases me as well to hold discourse with you." "Ah, benedictus ! my son, it is not at your time of life that you may gain credence for such self-denial. More than one of the maidens has put the question to me to-night, how this should come to pass." "Reverend father, though I will not deny I love the dance, yet my nurture long made me a stranger to it; and now, since my fortune has brought me into the gay world, I scarce may con quer the diffidence I feel to exhibit myself in such unaccustomed exercise." "It is an innocent pleasure, son Albert, and a graceful. There is healthful virtue in these laughing faces and active limbs. St. Ignatius forbid that I should commend an unseemly sport ! but it hath ever been my belief that the young men can find no better instructors in the gentle perfections of charity and good will than in their sport-mates amongst the maidens, and so I preach in mine office : nor, truly, may the maidens better learn how to temper their behaviour with the grace of pleasing which hath in it a summary of many excellences, Master Albert than in the fellowship of our sons. Now, away with thee! There is Blanche Warden, who has sent her ROB OF THE BOWL 205 eye hither a dozen times, since we have been speak ing, to ask the question why I detain thee from thy duty. Ah, blessed Therese! daughter Blanche does not suspect I am chiding thee for that very fault Go, my son ; it were shame to see you so little dainty in your company to prefer the cassock to the petti coat. Go, go !" The lively gesture of the priest and his laughing face, as he dismissed the Secretary from his side, at tracted the notice of Blanche, who, as Albert Ver- heyden approached her, saluted him with "I am right glad, Master Albert, that Father Pierre has seen fit to bestow upon you such chiding as, with a will, I would have given you myself. I looked to you to help me through my ball to-night, and made sure of it that you would lead out some of the maid ens to dance; for there are many here that have not yet had their turn : there's Mistress Hay, the View er's sister, she has sat there all night, unregarded by mortal man. Ah, Master Albert, you are no true friend to desert me in my need." "Fair Mistress Blanche," replied the Secretary with a downcast look, "I stand under your displea sure, and acknowledge my undeserving. Indeed, my dull brain did not perceive your straits. I waited for your bidding. You will pardon me that, being trained to obedience on your command, I did not now presume to move without it. I will away and lead forth the Viewer's sister on the instant." "Nay, stay now : I have saved you that errand. 206 ROB OF THE BOWL Captain Dauntrees, upon my petition, has proffered his hand, and, you may see, they are now standing on the floor ready to begin. You shall find other duty." "To dance with you, gentle mistress, an' it like you." "How can it but like me, Master Albert?" Oh, but I do affect this dancing ! And yet, truly, I much bet ter like it as we have danced many a time at the Rose Croft, on a winter's night, with our handful of cronies, and sister Alice to touch the spinnet to a gay tune, and you to teach us these new over-sea dances. These were pleasant hours, Master Albert, and worth a world of our stately birth-day junketings. Was it not so?" "I love not the crowd," returned the Secretary with a lively emotion; "but these fire-side pastimes! you may praise them with your most prodigal speech, and still fall short of their just meed. We had no holiday finery there to make proud the eye, nor glozing speech to set up perfections which we did not own, nor studied behaviour to win opinion by; but what we were we seemed, and what we felt we said. There is more virtue in these hearth-side com- munings than you shall find in a hemisphere of shows." "Ah, Master Albert, you have seen the gaudy world on the other side of the water, and can speak of it with assurance. Our little, unfurnished province hath but scant pleasures for you : it is a make-believe to praise our homely hearths." ROB OF THE BOWL 207 "Now, by the blessed virgin Therese! I speak, Mistress Blanche, the very breathings of my secret heart, and tell you, though little I can boast of ac quaintance with that gaudy world, nothing have I seen, dreamed or tasted of worldly pleasure, nay, nothing have I, in the wildest flight of fond imagina tion, ever fancied of human happiness, that might exceed the rich delight c those household scenes you speak of." "Were they not happy!" exclaimed Blanche, kin dling into a rapture excited by the fervour of the Secretary's earnest and eloquent manner. "We owe so much of it to you, Master Albert. Until you came into the province, we sometimes had a weary hour at the Rose Croft : now, my father finds it weary when you are away. I do not, because I may surely count that it shall never be long until you are here again. Sancta Maria! did we not stand here to dance? and, look you, our turn has past all unheeded. Truly, they will say we were both distraught ! We will to the foot again and take another turn." It was as the maiden had said. In the engross ment of their conversation they had been passed by in the country-dance. As they now went to the foot to bring themselves into place, Blanche whispered, "I rejoice the Skipper is not come to-night : his shrewdness has taught him, notwithstanding my father's good will, that there is but little relish for his company at the Rose Croft." "You reckon without your host, Mistress Blanche," 208 ROB OF THE BOWL replied the Secretary. "There is the Skipper outside of the window; and not well pleased with his own ruminations, if I may judge by his folded arms and thoughtful eye." Cocklescraft had been in the porch, looking in upon the scene, some moments before he was observed; a crowd of domestics having so pre-occupied the same station as almost to shield him from the notice of those within. Whilst Blanche and Albert now danced, he had planted himself in the door. His countenance was grave, his attitude statue-like, and his eye sharply followed the motions of the maiden. His dress, somewhat outlandish but still within the license of that period, was of a Spanish fashion, profusely dec orated with embroidery and set off by jewels of ex ceeding richness. The thoughtfulness of his coun tenance denoted an abstraction, of which he was ob viously not conscious at the moment, for he no sooner caught the glance of Blanche than his whole bearing underwent a sudden change; his eye sparkled, his lip assumed a smile, and he became at once, in ap pearance, the gay and careless reveller. "God save the Rose of St. Mary's, the beautiful flower of our New World !" he said, as he approached the maiden with what she could not fail to note as an over-acted effort to assume the cavalier. "Viva la Padrona, tutta bella, tutta bona ! The damsels of Portugal will teach you the meaning of that speech,- pretty mistress. St. lago! but you have a gallant company to-night," he added, as he cast his eyes ROB OF THE BOWL 20 around; in doing which he recognised Albert Ver- heyden with a scarcely perceptible nod of the head, and then turned his back upon him. "By your leave, Mistress Blanche, I would dance with you at your first leisure : the next dance, or the next, I am thine humble servant for as long as you will. Shall it not be the next dance, lady?" "I will tell you anon : I know not whether I may dance again to-night, Master Cocklescraft," replied the maiden coldly. "There spoke the same tongue that refused my mantle! Your cruelty, mistress, exceeds that beauty which all men so boast of in this province. I would that I might bring you to look upon me with com passion. Not even a dance with the queen of our feast! A poor, rough-spoken sailor meets but little grace in a lady's favour, when white handed lute- players and ballad-singing pages stand ready at her call. It is even as you will ! damsels have the privi lege of denial all the world over, and I am too much of a gallant to trouble you with an unwelcome suit " "I will dance with you, Master Cocklescraft," said Blanche anxiously, as she saw the chafed spirit of the Skipper working in his face notwithstanding his effort to disguise it; whilst, at the same time, she feared that his peevish allusion to the Secretary might have been overheard; "call on me for the next set, and I will dance with you." "Now by the light, I thought your goodness would 210 ROB OF THE BOWL relent ! 'Tis not in your nature to be unkind. Gra- cias! I am at your feet, Senora I shall be on the watch. Scotch jig, reel, or country-dance, they all come pat to me. I can dance the bransle, cinque- pace, or minuet the corant, fandango, or gailliard. You shall find me at home, mistress, in every clime. Meantime, I will seek our host, the worshipful Col lector : I have not seen him yet." This unusual familiarity in the address of the Skip per, and the importunate and even offensive freedom of his manner were the result of an endeavour to conceal a discontented temper under the mask of gaiety. He had brooded over the incidents con nected with his late visit to the Rose Croft, until he had wrought himself into a tone of feeling that might engender any extravagance of behaviour. "Why, Richard Cocklescraft," said the host, upon looking up from the cards which had been absorb ing his attention, and discovering the Skipper, "art thou here amongst the grey beards ? Why should you flock to the old fowl when the young are gathered in the hall ? There is no gout in your toe, I warrant. Get thee back, man we will have no deserters here! You promised to bring a blithe foot for a jig, Master Cocklescraft; art tired of the sport already?" "In truth, worshipful Master Warden," replied the Skipper, "I have, but within this half hour, arrived at the house ; 'tis not long since I left my brigantine, where matters on board detained me." "Ha, and you have not danced to-night ? Then you ROB OF THE BOWL 211 owe Blanche a turn of duty. Go quickly back, Richard, and foot it with my girl. I have praised your leg, man, and said enough to put you on your mettle. Back to the hall, Master Cocklescraft, and say to Blanche I sent thee for a straight-backed com rade to hold her to the pledge of a reel." "I am already bound to that pledge, and the time is at hand to make it good. I but stole away for an instant to pay my duty here," replied the Skipper; and taking heart from the familiar greeting of his host, returned to the dancing apartment with lighter step and more cheerful face. Blanche took the earliest moment to perform her engagement, hoping by this alacrity to acquit herself of her obligation in a manner least calculated to occasion remark, and soonest to disembarrass herself of her partner's importunity. The dance, on her part, was a reluctant courtesy, and was accordingly so manifested in her demeanour, in spite of her resolu tion to the contrary. Cocklescraft, however, was too much elated to perceive how ill he stood in the maiden's grace. When the engagement was accomplished the maiden quickly escaped from her distasteful suitor, by retiring from the hall and mingling with other companions. The guests were now summoned to supper. In a wing of the dwelling house the tables were loaded with dainty cheer, more to be remarked for its capa city to please the palate, than for the enticements 212 ROB OF THE BOWL which modern epicurism has invented to gratify the eye. An orderly division of matrons in damask and brocade, escorted by quaint cavaliers in periwigs, moved forward at a measured pace to make the first 'onslaught. These were followed by active bevies of youthful revellers, who rushed pell-mell to the scene of assault. Upon the lawn in front of the house, Albert Ver- heyden had erected a bower, which sheltered a rus tic altar dedicated to St. Therese, over which the name of Blanche had been wrought in large letters, formed by a number of suspended lamps, which threw a softened light for a considerable space around. Hither, after supper, Mr. Warden, with a small party of his guests, had strolled, in the inter val before the sports of the evening were resumed. Cocklescraft had watched the opportunity, and now, somewhat elated with wine as well as buoyed up with hope, had tracked the Collector's footsteps until he found him separated some little space from his company. "Well met, Master Warden!" was the Skipper's accost, so familiarly whispered in the ear of his host as to produce a slight movement of surprise. "Well met, Caballero! I have a word for thy private ear; this way, if you please. It is somewhat cool, so I. will to my purpose roundly, in seaman's fashion." "Speak what thou wilt, but quickly, Master Cocklescraft, and in plain phrase: I shall like it the better." ROB OF THE BOWL S13 '* Master Warden, then, without mincing the matter, I would have your leave to woo our beautiful maiden, your daughter." "Who, what, how?" interrupted the Collector, in a voice that spoke his astonishment. "Your daughter, Mistress Blanche; ay, and have your good word to the suit: I love her like a true son of the sea heartily, and in that sort would woo her." "What is it you ask?" again spoke the host with increased surprise. "I have gear enough, Master Warden; no man may turn his heel on me for lack of gold." "How now, sirrah!" interrupted the Collector, as in this brief space the storm had gathered to the bursting point: "You would woo my daughter? woo her ? my Blanche ? Richard Cocklescraf t, hast lost thy wits turned fool, idiot; or is thy brain fevered with drink ? You make suit to my daughter ! You win and wear a damsel of her nurture! Hear me. Thy craft is a good craft I do not deny it; an honest calling, when lawfully followed! a brave calling! but thou sail'st on a false reckoning when thou hopest to find favour with my girl Blanche. Thy rough sea- jacket and thy sharking license on the salt sea mates not with daughter of mine : the rose leaf and the sea-nettle ! You venture too largely on your welcome, sirrah!" he said, as his anger be gan to show itself in his quickened speech, above his effort to restrain it. "Master Skipper, there is in- 214 ROB OF THE BOWL science in this. Hark you, sir ! if you would not have me disown your acquaintance and forbid you my house, you will never speak again of my daugh ter." With this brief rebuke of the Skipper's aspirations the host retreated hastily, and much out of humour, into the house, leaving his guest in a state of be wilderment at the sudden and unexpected issue of the interview. For a moment the seaman stood fixed on the spot, his lips compressed, his hands clenched, and his eye directed to the retiring figure of the Collector : at length, beginning to find breath and motion, he muttered, "So, it has come to this! he has been playing the hypocrite ! It was but a holiday welcome, after all ! I shall note it for future remem brance. A sea-nettle! By Saint Anthony he shall find me one ! And that sharking license he spoke of : he shall taste its flavour. This girl hath been trained in her dislikes. Oh, it is his sport to see me foiled ! I am brought here express to the ball by his per suasion, nay, command; I am caressed with cour tesies, and even challenged to romps with the maiden by his own lips. Who so free in his admission here as I? Thou'rt not too old yet, Anthony Warden, to be taught the hazard of rousing a Bloody Brother ! And as for thee, gay maiden, dream on of thy book ish ballad-singer, Master Albert ! I have a reckoning to settle with him. It will be a dainty exploit to send him, feet foremost, into the Chapel for a blessing. Luckily, Sir Secretary, you owe me the worth of ROB OF THE BOWL 215 an unsatisfied grudge! Softly Master Verheyden himself! we meet at a fortunate hour." The soliloquy of the Skipper was interrupted by the approach of the Secretary, who entered alone into the bower and paused a moment before the little altar. A light tap on the shoulder made Albert aware of the presence of Cocklescraft, and turning round to confront the person who gave it, he was immediately greeted with the accost, "I have a word for your ear, sir; if you be a man you will follow me out of this broad light. What I have to say is better told where no one may observe us ; follow me, sir." "You are somewhat too peremptory," replied the Secretary, as he stepped after the Skipper toward the cliff : "I follow, though I think more courtesy would befit your station. I have once before marked and reproved your rudeness." "I have no courtesies to waste on thee," said Cocklescraft, sharply; "my business is with my manhood. You have the maiden to thank that I did not bring you to instant account for that insolent re proof you speak of. I come to deal with you upon it now. Art thou a man? Dar'st thou meet me to-morrow, at noon, at Cornwaleys's Cross?" "I dare meet you and any or all who have right to claim it of me," replied Albert, promptly, "in the way of honourable quarrel, if such be the meaning of your challenge. And although I am ignorant of your degree, and may question your right to defy 216 ROB OF THE BOWL me to equal contest, yet honoured as you have been under this roof, I shall rest content with that as sufficient pledge of your claim to my attention. You shall find me, sir, punctual to your sum mons." "I scorn the shallow claim," returned the Skipper, "to such honour as they who inhabit here may con fer. The master of the Olive Branch need not vail his top to a clerkish spinrter of syllables, even though the minion's writing-stool be found in my Lord's own ante-chamber. I shall see you to-morrow at noon, at the Cross." "To-morrow at noon," replied the Secretary, "you shall not complain of my absence, sir." "It is well! So good night, Master Secretary!" rejoined the Skipper, scornfully, as he bowed to his antagonist and set forth to seek his boat, which lay in waiting beneath the bank. The Secretary turned towards the dwelling, some what disturbed by the novel situation into which he had been so unexpectedly thrown, but resolved to conceal the disquiet of his mind and preserve the same outward composure which had marked his de portment during the previous portion of the even ing. "Who lurks there?" he demanded in a stern voice, as he perceived the figure of a man stealing off from his path immediately in the vicinity of the spot where the interview with Cocklescraft had terminated, "Who is it?" he added, checking himself and speak- ROB OF THE BOWL 217 ing in a gentler tone, "that plays hide and seek here on the lawn ?" "Nobody," returned a voice from the shelter of the shrubbery, "nobody but me, honourable Master Verheyden : me, Watkin," continued the half-witted lad, as he came visibly into the presence of the Secre tary. "Hav'nt we had a famous junketing? Oh, what I have eaten and drunk this blessed night ! and what dancing, Master Verheyden! was there ever such fiddling? Willy is a treasure to the quality, I warrant you. Where have you such another?" "You should be looking on at the dancing," said Albert, anxious to ascertain from the lad if he had heard anything of what had just passed between himself and Cocklescraft. "How comes it, Watkin, that you are away from your post?" "Oh, bless you, Master Verheyden, I have more on my hands than you would guess in a week's striv ing. Now, what should Mistress Coldcale say to me when I had gobbled up my supper, but, Watkin, take this trencher and this pot down to the bank side, and there feed the seamen of Master Cocklescraft's boat, which you shall find at the landing below the garden. And so, truly, there I found the hungry tarpaulins : and they did eat, Master Albert, like fishes, and drink like wolves. It is Mistress Blanche's birth-day, says I, so we will have no hungry bellies here, comrades. And they laughed, and I came up the bank as I went, running almost out of breath to see fiddler Willy 218 ROB OF THE BOWL strike up again. And that's the way I fell pop upon you, Master Secretary." "It was a lucky speed, Watkin; now get thee gone!" said Albert, as he slowly bent his steps towards the hall and mingled again in the bustle of the scene. As midnight drew near the elder guests had all retired; and at last even the most buoyant began to yield to that weariness of limb, by which nature has set her limit to the endurance of social pleasure, no less peremptorily to those in the prime of youth than to such as wane in their days of decline. CHAPTER XII. These businesses of fighting Should be despatched as doctors do prescribe Physical pills, not to be chew'd but swallowed: Time spent in the considering deads the appetite. Shirley. EARLY in the morning after the ball, Willy of the Flats, who had spent the night amongst the servants at the Rose Croft, strayed forth from his truckle bed and betook himself to the margin of St. Inigoe's creek, where he sat down to look abroad over the waters at the rising sun, and to profit by the breeze as it cooled his brow, still aching with the effects of the late revel. He had not been long in this position before Wise Watkin, fresh from a truss of hay in ROB OF THE BOWL 219 the barn, espied him, and now hastened to take a seat at his side. "Well, lad of the clear head and mother wit, what has brought you to the waterside so early?" was Willy's question, as the obsequious Watkin came into the presence of his patron. "As I lay in the barn, Willy," replied Watkin, with a world of gravity in his looks, "I heard first a hem, mark you, and then a cough; and says I, that's Willy of the Flats, by the sound of his throat. And so, I gets up and looks out through the cranny, and, sure enough, there was you walking, with your hands in your pockets and your hat set a one side like a gentleman : and then, says I, if Willy's stir ring now so early, honest folks ought to be abroad too. And with that, out I walked, he, he, he! and here I am sitting beside you, like another gentle man." "Then, Wise Watkin, since we are so sociable, tell me what you think of our ball last night?" "Oh, grand ! grand, grand, Master Willy ! Oh, you have tickled Toby in the ribs, Master Willy! you have done it, as it was never done before. People will talk of Willy of the Flats after this. Mistress Blanche will talk of you, Master Albert will talk of you. I shouldn't wonder if his Lordship should send you a purse of gold. I'm sure it's no more than folks look to see done." "And Mistress Coldcale did not stint to give you plenty to stay your stomach, Watkin?" 220 ROB OF THE BOWL "Plenty, troth, and to spare, Willy ! Mistress Cold- cale is a mother of open hands. I could live under Mistress Coldcale all my born days and never grudge what I did for her." "Mistress Bridget will give us our breakfast this morning," said the fiddler, patting the simpleton on the head; "and then, Watkin, we must away. It will not be well taken if we tarry too long after the feast." "There is more sport on hand to-day, Willy. We must not go till that be over. There is to be a set-to at Cornwaleys's Cross to-day." "A set-to?" "I know all about it, Master Willy. I heard them appoint it." "Heard who? What dost thou mean, Wise Watkin?" "Listen, Willy ; it was as I shall tell you. When I carried fodder to the boat last night, as Mistress Bridget ordered I call a full trencher of meat fod der, Master Willy I comes back by the way of the stile over the hedge, when what should I see but two gentlefolks in a discourse, and what should I hear but Til meet you, and you will meet me to-morrow morning at noon, at Cornwaleys's Cross.' Oh, it is a made up business, Willy." "Who art thou speaking of, thou slippery-witted fool?" demanded the fiddler, sharply. "Nay, if you tax me so keenly, Willy, I will not answer. I could have told you what Master Albert ROB OF THE BOWL 221 said to me afterwards, when Master Cocklescraft went over the bank and into his boat but I will not, for thy sharpness." "Now, Watkin, wise lad, are you not a fool to, take in dudgeon the freedom of an old friend? Come, there's a hand and in token of good will you will tell me what all this story comes to." "As true as I am an honest man, Willy, I heard it. Master Cocklescraft comes first to the hedge and Master Verheyden following. Oh ho, says I, here's a state matter, and so I doused my head under the hedge. Then Master Cocklescraft says to our honourable Secretary, you will meet me if you are a man. And the Secretary says, I am a man of as good gristle as you, and I will meet you at the Cross Cornwaleys's Cross. When? says Cocklescraft at noon to-morrow morning, says the Secretary. I'll go and get ready, says Cocklescraft; and with that, off he marches. There will be a pretty wrest ling match for you, Master Willy ! And I shouldn't wonder if they should get to a pitch of the bar before they part: Master Cocklescraft has a great arm for heaving a bar. You and me, Willy, will be there to see it. Oh I made up my mind last night that the first thing I did this day was to tell you, that you might see it. I know you love a wrestle, Willy." "Truly, this is a matter to be looked to, Watkin, I will cast it over in my mind and tell you whether we shall go to it or not." "Well," continued Watkin, "the Secretary turns 222 ROB OF THE BOWL himself about to go to the house, and suddenly, out of the back of his head, he spies me; and so takes me to an account to say what I lurked there for. Oh, bless you, Willy, I didn't tell him! I am no fool; if I had let on about the wrestling I should never have had the luck to get sight of it these gentlefolks will not be a country gaze I know them : the Secretary was not going to tickle Toby in my ribs. All he got out of me was that I had borne a trencher of fodder to the boatmen and so he went his way, and I went mine." "Thou art a wise boy, Watkin, and all that I would have thee do now is keep thy counsel. Say not a word of this to living man. We will have it clean to ourselves." "My lips shall be as fast as a padlock, Master Willy. Mortal man shall not screw it out of me." The fiddler having extracted from Wise Watkin the particulars detailed in this dialogue, was shrewd enough to interpret them according to the real nature of the incident to which they referred. He knew that the lad was scrupulous in telling the truth, as well as he comprehended it, in all matters that came under his observation, and Willy therefore had no reserve in the assurance that there was on foot a quarrel between the Secretary and the Skipper, which was to be adjusted at Cornwaleys's Cross, on that day. Upon revolving over the circumstances of Wat- kins's disclosure, and maturely perpending, after his ROB OF THE BOWL 223 own manner, the pressure of the case, he came to the wise conclusion that the best thing he could do was to communicate the whole story to Blanche and leave the matter in her hands. Accordingly, as soon as the maiden had taken her morning repast, he gained access to her in the little bower of St. Therese, and there made her a confidential relation of the particulars, not only as he received them from Wise Watkin, but with such commentary as occurred to him to belong to the probable state of the facts. Blanche received the communication with the deepest emotion. Whilst the fiddler told his story, her cheek grew pale tears started in her eyes, her lip quiv ered, her limbs, at last, became rigid, and she fainted away. Before Willy, however, could quit her side to call in others to her relief, she revived, and with a tottering step made her way into the house. After it was possible for her to realize fully the meaning of all that Willy had told, she called her sister Alice into a conference, and their joint conclusion was to make known the matter to Mr. Warden. But the Collector had already gone abroad, and time pressed, leaving but a few hours for action. Their next resource was Father Pierre ; and instantly upon the thought of him, Alice sat down and wrote the reverend priest a letter, narrating the whole story and imploring his instant intercession by such offices as he might believe most effectual to frustrate the purpose of the belligerents. When the letter was ready, Willy of the Flats was summoned into the 224 ROB OF THE BOWL presence of the ladies, and was strictly charged to hie him with all haste to Father Pierre's dwelling, and to put the missive into his own hands, as a matter of the utmost importance requiring his immediate atten tion. To this charge was added a dozen alternatives adapted to every contingency dependent upon father Pierre's possible absence or inability to act. Thus commissioned, Willy, followed by his shadow, Wise Watkin, set forth for the town, at a rate which kept the good-natured attendant in a half trot. Whilst these things were going on at the Rose Croft, the Secretary was not idle in his preparation, for the issues of the day. He awoke at the dawn of day, full of the thoughts connected with the affair in hand; and in casting about for a fit counsellor and friend in this emergency, he fixed his attention upon Captain Dauntrees, as a man who would not only do him a friendly turn, but as one well qualified to ad vise him how to comport himself through the ordeal of the meeting. Having resolved instantly to see the Captain, he arose, and before the domestics were stirring about the Proprietary mansion, threw his cloak over his shoulder, concealing under its folds his rapier, and betook himself to the Fort. Being admitted by the sentry, he hastened to the little par lour of the Captain's quarters, where he arrived whilst that worthy was still snoring in his bed. The master of the garrison, however, was soon awak ened from his slumber by a servant with the ROB OF THE BOWL 225 announcement of his visitor, and immediately after wards threw open his chamber door, which com municated with the parlour, and disclosed to the Secretary his burly figure half attired, whilst he was yet busy in throwing on his garments. "Good morrow, Master Verheyden !" he said with a yawn, scarcely half awake ; "I take shame to myself for a laggard to have so honourable a guest my teacher of good habits in early rising. But the Collector's wine was drugged last night, and had a virtue of sleepiness in it which hath touched me in the brain pan. It is not more than once in a man's lifetime, Master Secretary, that so choice a maiden as our Mistress Blanche comes to so rich an age as eighteen. You may search the two hemispheres for another like her, and still make a bootless er rand of it. It was an occasion for a cup, and a most reasonable excuse for a late nap in the morn ing." "The sun is just peering above the water, Cap tain," replied the Secretary; "and he who sleeps no later than sunrise, even without the excuse of a night revel, may scarcely be chid for laziness. I have broken in thus early upon you that I might speak with you on a matter of moment to myself. I want your counsel and friendship in an affair touch ing mine honour, Captain Dauntrees." "Ah, is it there the wind sits? Tarry, Master Verheyden, but a moment, whilst I get my serving 1 man to truss my points, I shall be with you anon. 226 ROB OF THE BOWL An affair of the sword, truly ! It is well to be early in the consideration of such matters. Matchcote, hark ye! come hither, quickly," he shouted from his door to his valet ; "come, gather these points and set me abroad. There, there, now leave us, and busy thyself about breakfast, Matchcote, we shall have a relish for the best in the larder. Away, good fellow!" As soon as the servant, in obedience to this order, had left the apartment, the Captain in quired "Who have we opposed to us, Master Ver- heyden? Do we take him with long sword, tuck or rapier? Where do we meet? But first begin the story at the beginning." "That I propose to do, Captain," said the Secre tary, smiling. "This Cocklescraft, the master of the Olive Branch, hath chosen to conceive himself offended by a rebuke I found it necessary to give him for some unseasonable importunity of our maiden of the Rose Croft. It is almost a sennight past, and he must needs tax me with it last night and challenge me to a trial of manhood. His challenge grows out of some sudden moodiness engendered by some what that vexed him at the dance. Now, though I hold the Skipper as scarce privileged to exact of me the redress of his weapon, being of a base condition so far as he is known in the province yet, Cap tain, I did not choose to be defied by him, and, there fore, without parley or asking time for deliberation, accepted his challenge, wherein it was appointed to hold the meeting this day at noon at Cornwaleys's ROB OF THE BOWL 227 Cross. I would entreat your friendship to stand by me in this appointment ; and, as I am all unversed in the usage of the duel, your better experience may instruct me." "It was well done on your part, Master Albert, exceeding well done," replied the Captain. "I ap plaud you for a gentleman of prompt spirit, and care ful consideration of his honour. This same Master Cocklescraft needs such discipline as you may teach him. He tosses the feather of his bonnet somewhat more jauntily over his shoulder than he has warrant to do; and he hath a trick of turning the buckle of his belt behind more frequently than peaceable, well- disposed persons may choose to bear. I have noted him with greater strictness than others in the port, and have, from the first, written him down a dog of rough breed, notwithstanding his velvet jerkin and golden tassels. I have seen too many whelps of that litter, Master Verheyden, not to know them when I meet them. You did well to receive his challenge, although one would hardly have thought you had learned as much in the seminary at Antwerp. At noon, is it ? We have some hours before us, Master Secretary, and may employ the time in practice for the encounter. I will give you some cautions that shall stand you in stead to-day." Whilst the Secretary was undergoing the Cap tain's preparatory training in the Fort, the Skipper was no less busy in making provision for the meet ing. Having secured the services of a second, he 228 ROB OF THE BOWL betook himself on board of his vessel, which he caused to be loosed from her mooring and then dropped down the river opposite the creek of St, Inigoe's, where he anchored his purpose being to take a position convenient to the spot chosen for the encounter, and to which he might proceed without suspicion from the townspeople. Cornwaleys's Cross was situated near the most inland extremity of a deep and narrow inlet, known by the name of St. Luke's creek a branch of St. Inigoe's on a piece of meadow, surrounded by woods, immediately at the foot of a range of hills, not more than four miles, by land, from the Port of St. Mary's, and about half that distance by water from the anchorage of the Olive Branch. This spot was traditionally notorious to the inhabitants of the town as the scene of a melancholy event that had happened nearly fifty years anterior to the date of this story, in which a gentleman of repute in the early history of the province, Captain Cornwaleys. had the misfortune, on a hunting excursion, accident ally and with fatal effect to lodge the contents of his carbine in the bosom of his friend. The bitterness of this unhappy gentleman's grief, unallayed by active and meritorious service in the early wars of the colony, induced him, in the decline of his life, to erect a hermitage on the spot, whither he retired, in obedience to a penitential vow, and dedicated the remnant of his days to austere self-denial and relig ious devotion. A cross of locust, now swayed from ROB OF THE BOWL 229 its perpendicular by age, still reared its shattered frame above the ruins of the ancient hermitage. In the vicinity of this spot, about half an hour be fore noon, occasional glimpses through the foliage might have been had of Captain Dauntrees and Albert Verheyden, followed by Matchcote, the Cap tain's man, all mounted, as they descended the hill in the rear of St. Luke's, by a winding, gravelly road, partially overgrown with bay-tree, alder, and laurel. The murmur of cheerful conversation, and now and then an outflash of audible mirth in the voice of the Captain, for some moments before they arrived at their halting point, would have puzzled a casual hearer to guess the nature of their errand: and when they reached the level ground and finally reined up their horses, hard by the old, wind-shaken cross, Dauntrees was till engaged in narrating to the Secretary some story of pleasant interest, which had evidently, for the time, drawn off at least the narrator's thoughts from the main purpose of the day. "By our patron! Master Verheyden," said the commander of the Fort, as he carefully clambered down from his saddle and drew forth his watch, "we have here reached our ground before I was aware of it : a cheerful companion has a marvellous faculty in abridging a long road. The adventures of this Claude de la Chastre would wear out a winter night in the telling, and never a drowsy ear in the com pany. I purpose, on a fit occasion, Master Albert, to 230 ROB OF THE BOWL rehearse to you more of that worthy soldier's ex ploits. He served under six kings, and fought fifteen duels, the last at three score and ten. I have seen his chapel and tomb with my own eyes at Bourges, and his true effigies cut in stone." "I have been but a listener, Captain," said the Secretary with a smile, "and would willingly hear more of that valiant gentleman, when we have brought our own adventures to an end. Methinks now, we may find other occupation in the matter we have in hand." "Why as to that, Master Verheyden," replied the Captain, "as we have very diligently perpended all matters relating to this meeting, before we quitted the Fort, and have now nothing left to do but to wait for the accolade, the less thought we give it the bet ter. We should go to this pinking and scratching as a mumbling old priest goes to mass, even as a thing of custom, wherein there is but little premeditation : and yet, by my gossip, not exactly as a priest goes to mass, for he goes hungry and dry : I would by no means have it so. Here, Matchcote, that flask from thy wallet? I have ever found that when an affair of business or sport be on hand, it is good grace to begin it, first by devoutly drawing thy sleeve, like a Dutch toper, across thy mouth, and then to take such reasonable and opportune refreshment as shall give a fillip to the spirit without clouding the brain. And so, by way of example, as your senior, Master Ver heyden," he added, taking the bottle from the ser- ROB OF THE BOWL 231 vant's hand and applying it to his mouth, "here I drink Good fortune to our venture! 'True eye and steady hand, Home thrust and keen brand,' as the rhyme has it. You will drink, master?" "I pray you, excuse me, Captain," replied Albert; "my head will not stand so early a freedom, and, to say the truth, I have no relish for food or drink until this affair be done. I scarce ate this morning." "Over-anxiousness, Master Secretary! too eager for thy first entry upon the field of Mars ! ha, ha ! the token of a green soldier, a callow martialist; but it is natural, and will wear off when thou hast fought half-a-dozen of these bouts. I went through it all myself. In my 'prenticeship I could neither sleep nor eat faith! I will not say drink at the contemplation of a pitched field, but was ever taken up with the thought of making ready. Keep thyself cool, Master Verheyden, it is a cardinal point of discretion. And, I beseech you, be not fanciful in your conceit of skill with your weapon; for though you play well, you have a swordsman to deal with. I pray, you, therefore, Master Secretary, bear your T self humbly, as it were. Remember, this is thy first quarrel." "You shall find me tractable in all things, wortHy Captain, to your better experience." "By my manhood ! I think that nothing short of the maiden herself will be fit guerdon for this exploit. 232 ROB OF THE BOWL He was a wise and a courteous king, as the ballad feigns him, that gave his daughter to the brave knight who overthrew his adversary in combat. Now, I will take on me to say that no king of the ballad ever had more need to be rid of a pestilent suitor to his daughter than our worshipful friend, old Anthony Warden, has to be free of this sea-dog. Thou shalt fairly win a most fair meed: and here, once more, I do thee honour in a sup, with this pledge May'st thou richly wear The meed thou winn'st so fair! There's verse for it halting verse, ha, ha ! Master Verheyden, but of an honest coinage : it comes from thine and the maiden's well-wisher." And with this flash of merriment, the Captain again plied the flask, and spent some moments laughing at his jest, when he suddenly ceased with the remark, "I hear the stroke of oars this Master Cocklescraft is at hand. He is punctual, for it is just noon. We shall see him anon." It was as the Captain said: for at that moment Cocklescraft, attended by two followers, was seen coming up from the margin of St. Luke's, across the meadow, to the place appointed for the combat. Cocklescraft' s bearing was stern; his brow high charged with passion, and a keen resentment flashed from his eye, as he advanced into the presence of his adversary. A slight salute passed between the combatants, and for some moments each party drew aside. In the presence of his antagonist Datmtrees' whole deportment was changed. He had heretofore, as , we have seen, assumed a cheerful vein of intercourse with his principal, considerately adapted with a view to amuse his mind and give him the necessary assurance which the successful conduct of the enter prise required a labour, however, which was in no degree rendered necessary by the circumstances of the case, as it was very apparent that the Secretary, although a novice in the practice of the quarrel, was altogether self-possessed and even eager for the issue. The Captain, however, was not slow to perceive that there was still in his carriage that hurried motion and too anxious restlessness which betokened the novelty of the situation in which he found himself, and the earnestness of his desire to acquit himself to the satisfaction of his own feelings. Through all this cheerful colloquy of the Captain, Albert's man ner was grave, and scarce responded to his com panion's merriment; but now that the moment of action arrived, he grew apparently more light- hearted; whilst, on the other hand, Dauntrees be came serious, and addressed himself to the business in hand, like a careful and provident man. "The Skipper is surly," said Dauntrees, as he stood apart with the Secretary, wiping the sword that was to be used by his friend. '"I am glad to see it: it denotes passion. Receive the assault from him; 234 ROB OF THE BOWL stand on your defence, giving ground slightly to his advance : then suddenly, when you have whipped him to a rage, as you will surely do, give back the attack hotly ; follow it up, as you did this morning in prac tice with me, and you will hardly fail to find him at disadvantage ; then thrust home for the shorter you tnake this quarrel the better for your strength." "I am more at my ease in this play than you think me," replied Albert, smiling; "you shall find it so. Pray let us go to our business." The Captain, with two rapiers in his hand, ad vanced to the ground occupied by Cocklescraft and his friends. "I would be acquainted with thy second, Master Cocklescraft," he said. "Here are our swords : shall we measure?" "Master Roche Del Carmine," replied the Skipper, as he presented a swarthy Portuguese seaman, the mate of the Olive Branch; "this other companion is but a looker on." "I would thou had'st matched me," replied Daun- trees, hastily, and with some show of displeasure, with an antagonist of better degree, Master Skip per, than this mate of thine. He was but a boatswain within the year past. Our quality deserved that you should sort us with gentlemen, at least." "Gentlemen !" exclaimed the Portuguese, in a pas sion; "St. Salvadore! are we not gentlemen enough for you? We belong to the Coast " "Peace, sirrah!" hastily interrupted Cocklescraft: ROB OF THE BOWL 235 "Prate not here leave me to speak ! Master Roche Del Carmine is my follower, not my second, further than as your bearing, Master Dauntrees, may render one needful to me. I came hither to make my own battle." "I came to this field," replied Dauntrees, "pre pared with my sword to make good the quarrel of my friend against any you might match me with. So, second or follower, bully or bravo at your heels, Master Cocklescraft, I will fight with this Master Roche." "That is but a boy's play, and I will none of it, Captain Dauntrees," said Cocklescraft, angrily. "This custom of making parties brings the quarrel to an end at the first drawing of blood. I wish no respite upon a scratch; my demand stops not short of a mortal strife." "My sword, sir!" said Albert Verheyden, hastily striding up to the Captain and seizing his sword. "This is my quarrel alone; Captain Dauntrees, you strike no blow in it. Upon your guard, sir!" he added, whilst his eye flashed fire, and his whole fig ure was lighted up with the animation of his anger. "To your guard ! I will have no parley !" "Are you bereft?" exclaimed Dauntrees, inter posing with his sword between the parties, and look ing the Secretary steadfastly in the face. "Back, Master Verheyden; this quarrel must proceed orderly." Then conducting his principal some paces off, the 236 ROB OF THE BOWL other yielding to his guidance, he again cautioned him against losing his self-command by such bursts of passion. The Secretary promised obedience and begged him to proceed. "Go to it, in cuerpo strip to thy shirt, Master Albert !" said the Captain. When the Secretary had, in obedience to this order, thrown aside his cloak and doublet, and come to the spot designated by his second as his position in the fight, Dauntrees once more approached the opposite party, went through the formal ceremony of measuring swords, and then returned and placed the weapon in Albert's hand, at the same time drawing his own and planting himself within a few paces of his friend. "We are ready, sir!" he said, bowing to the Skip per's attendant. Cocklescraft lost no time in taking his ground; Master Roche del Carmine, carefully keeping out of the way of harm from any party. The onset was made by the Skipper with an energy that almost amounted to rage, and it was with a most lively interest, not unmingled with pleasure, that Dauntrees watched the eye of Albert Verheyden, and saw it playing with an expression of confidence and self-command whilst, with admir able dexterity, he parried his antagonist's assault. "Bravo!" exclaimed Dauntrees, more than once during this anxious moment. "To it, Master Ver heyden! passado hotly, master!" he cried aloud, at the same time flourishing his own blade above his ROB OF THE BOWL 237 head when he saw Albert return the attack with great animation upon his adversary, who was thus com pelled to give ground. This rapid exchange of thrust and parry was sud denly arrested by the sword of the Skipper being struck from his hand. The Secretary had disarmed him, and instead of following up his advantage, generously halted and brought the point of his own sword to the ground. "The fight is done; we hold you, sir, at mercy!" said Dauntrees, promptly interposing, and placing his foot upon the Skipper's rapier. "Master Ver- heyden has come hither upon your challenge ; you will acknowledge that your life is in his hands. You have had your satisfaction, sir." As the Captain said this he stepped one pace aside, and Cocklescraft at the same instant picked up the rapier from the ground, and madly called out for a renewal of the fight, as with extended arm he pre sented himself upon his guard. "Instead of the favour that has been shown thee in sparing thy worthless life, thou deservest to be cloven to the chine for this dastardly bravado !" ex claimed Dauntrees, as his spirit suddenly kindled into wrath, notwithstanding the advice he had given the Secretary to keep his temper. "Out upon thee for a disgrace to thy calling!" he added, in a tone of angry reproof, as, advancing nearer to the Skipper, he struck the extended rapier with a dexterous under- blow and made it spin in the air above his head ; "I 238 ROB OF THE BOWL could almost find it in my conscience to spit thee upon my sword." "By the Virgin, I will not see my Captain put upon !" said Roche del Carmine, as he now advanced towards the combatants, though still keeping a re spectful distance between himself and the Captain, whose skill of fence he had no mind to try. "Nor I!" exclaimed the other attendant, at the some time drawing his hanger and shouting, "Whoop, Master Cocklescraf t ! Perros, a la savanna ! For the Brothers of the Coast! let them have it in the fashion of the Costa Rica!" "Caitiffs !" vociferated Dauntrees, as he and Albert Verheyden now sprang forward to engage with the attendants "Back to your boat, you knaves! Is it thus you serve me?" interposed Cocklescraft, thrusting his officious followers aside, and then whispering to the mate, "There is an end of it begone!" "By my sword, but here is a crossing of our plot!" exclaimed Dauntrees, on looking towards the range of upland over which the road towards the town lay, and discovering no less a personage than the Pro prietary and Father Pierre approaching them on horseback ; "we have been informed on and tracked. Thanks to our luck! his Lordship may do nothing better than rail against us, as is his wont. He has ever had a quick nose to scent out a duel ay, and a nimble tongue, Master Verheyden, to reprove one : this is not my first experience of his ROB OF THE BOWL 239 reprimand. We shall have it without stint presently." 'To the boat, quickly, and put off !" said Cockles- craft, with a sullen, angry tone to his companions. "I will find another day to right myself," he mut tered, as he gathered up his sword, cloak, and hat, and, with a moody swagger, hurriedly strode towards his boat, which lay in a direction opposite to that from which the Proprietary was hastening towards the scene. In a few moments he had embarked, and was seen shooting along the glassy surface of St. Luke's, until he was speedily lost to view by round ing one of the turns of the creek. In the meantime Lord Baltimore and the priest arrived on the ground of the combat before the Secretary had yet resumed his doublet. "Ah, my son, my son !" exclaimed the good Father Pierre, as he pricked his steed forward in advance of the Proprietary, and made haste to alight and throw his arms around Albert's neck, kissing his cheeks, whilst the tears flowed down his own; "my son Albert, how could you be so unmindful of poor Father Pierre, to give him all this pain? We saw swords flashing in the sun, and heard the clank of steel. Are you hurt, my son? You look pale." "I am not hurt, Father, more than I am pained to see you here," replied the Secretary, as he affec tionately placed his arm across the old man's shoul ders; "our quarrel has ended without the shedding of blood." "Albert Verheyden," said the Proprietary gravely, 240 ROB OF THE BOWL reining up beside the young man, "I take it much amiss that one of my household should dare to con temn the laws of this province by coming forth to such appointment as I find you concerned in here. I had reason to hope for the setting of good example from him whom I chose for my Secretary ; but I find you fostering an evil usage which is worthy no better countenance than such as it hath gained from hot- bloods and rufHers. Fie on thee, Albert! Is it for thee, who hast but lately changed thy square cloister- bonnet for the feathery gewgaw of a page is it for thee to play at bilbo and buff like a common royster? Have we no shallow-pated coxcomb with the privilege of wearing a sword, who, for lack of other quality to be noted by, hath learned a trick to vapour and strut, and swear filthy oaths, and break God's commandments and men's peace with his bloody broils, but that a scholar and a gentleman, nursed in all kindly studies ay, and who hath been reared, Master Verheyden, within the pale of the altar must needs turn buckler-man with a rude sea- rover, and quarrel and strike as in an ale-house fray ? Oh, it doth grieve me to find you thus !" "My honoured Lord," replied Albert, not ventur ing to raise his eyes from the ground, "I do confess my fault, which with forethought and weighing of all consequence, except my Lord's displeasure, I did commit. I was called hither by such defiance as it would not have consisted with my manhood to re fuse. I have sought no companionship with the ROB OF THE BOWL 241 Skipper, nor knew that such man was, till within a week and even now was prone to slight him off, as one not worthy of my resentment; but, my good Lord, venturing to presume upon my cloistered schooling and my unskilfulness with my sword, he must taunt with a question of my courage, and defy me hither." "And if a fellow who lives upon the element of his own brawls must take a conceit to exalt his base con dition by having a contest with his betters, shall he compass it by bragging words and bullying ques tions? Does it mend his manners, or exalt thy de- servings to have a pass with him on the green sward ? Would it comfort thee to bring away from this field a hand red with his blood ? Captain Dauntrees, how comes it to pass that I see you here? Your age should have given you the privilege to be a peace maker, not the fomenter of a quarrel." "My Lord," said the Captain, folding his arms across his breast and advancing one foot to give a more sturdy fixedness to his attitude, whilst an ex pression half comic lurked in his eye, "I am an old ban-dog that has been chidden too often for barking to heed reproof in my old age. Your Lordship hath the credit of a persevering spirit to abolish the duello within the province ; I foretell you will even give over before your work is done : it were but lost pains, if I might be so bold as to say so at least until your Lordship shall find a more mannerly brood of lieges. By the mass ! we shall win sainthood for our patience, ?42 ROB OF THE BOWL if, in these saucy times, we may reach such perfec tion of humility as to brook the insolence of some of your Lordship's hopeful children of the province. The Skipper was rude to our Mistress Blanche, and the Secretary, like a cavalier, such as be comes your Lordship's household, rebuked him for it; and thereupon grew a considered challenge, which Master Verheyden accepting, as, in my poor judgment, he could not otherwise do, I came hither with him to see fair play. It is well I did for, to my thinking, this seaman would not have stopped at any measure of treachery. He has a deep hate against the Secretary, and the lesson Master Ver heyden has taught him will not much sweeten his humour." "Thy profession, Captain Dauntrees, gives thee a license which makes it but lost breath to chide thee," said the Proprietary calmly, nowise offended with the soldier's familiar and rebellious good nature; "and, to say the truth, there is much rude speech and provoking action to tempt even a more governed man into quarrel; yet I would not have you believe that I take this transgression so lightly. Albert Ver heyden, you will incur my deepest displeasure if, under any pretext or advice, you farther prosecute this feud. Captain Dauntrees, I command you to look to it, and charge you to arrest the first who r ceks to revive the quarrel." "On the faith of my love to your Lordship," re plied Albert, "I promise that I will not again offend." ROB OF THE BOWL 243 "My dear son," interposed the priest, still holding the Secretary's hand, "my experience has long ad monished me that to preach restraint upon the de sires of the young is but struggling up the channel of a torrent : it is hard to teach patience under wrong to those whose blood is hot with the fever of passion. How should Father Pierre have borne the bereave ment of his son, if thine adversary had chanced to be too skilful for thy defence? There is yet an other," said the good priest, drawing nigh to the Secretary's ear and speaking almost in a whisper, "who takes this peril even more to heart than Father Pierre. Ah, Master Albert, you did not think of them that loved you !" The Secretary blushed at the last allusion of the priest, as he hurriedly replied, "Father, it is over now let us say no more about it." "There, the truce is made!" said the old man, ex- ultingly, whilst he grasped Albert by the hand and shook it, a smile playing amongst the tears that stood in his eyes: "We have made a truce benedicite! We shall be as happy and as gay as ever! Allons, mon enfant, put on thy cloak, and get thee to thy horse. My Lord, we shall reserve our scolding for another time." "Get back to my house, Master Verheyden," said the Proprietary in a quiet tone, not heeding the ap peal to him, but with a thoughtful and serious manner, which stood in marked opposition to the light and laughing air of the priest. "Captain Daua- 244 ROB OF THE BOWL trees, do not tarry on this field, but follow us back to the Port. Come on, Father Pierre, the day is wasting." In a moment the Captain and Secretary were left to themselves. "Nay, never take on, Master Verheyden, nor fall into dumps," said Dauntrees, observing that his com panion felt the silent displeasure of the Proprietary. "It is ever thus with his Lordship, who, from his cradle, I believe, hath set his heart to the extirpation of our noble art of self-defence. A conceit of his which doth no harm. His face will be sunny again to-morrow never heed it." "I cannot see that I have done wrong," replied Albert, with a sigh; "I would not offend his Lord ship." "Tut, man, if you watched his eye, you would have seen in a corner of it that he likes you all the better for this day's hazard. Now to horse!" The combatants mounted and rode at a moderate pace to the town. CHAPTER XIII. I read you by your bugle horn, And by your palfrey good : I read you for a Ranger sworn To keep the king's greenwood. Scott. THE Skipper returned to his vessel in no gentle mood, for, in the language of the ballad, "an angry ROB OF THE BOWL 245 man was he." Springing alertly from the small boat to the deck of the brigantine, he peevishly flung down his weapon and cloak, and paced to and fro, with a hurried step, for some moments in silence. "Give me drink! some wine!" he exclaimed, at length; and when a boy, in obedience to this order, brought him what he had called for, and he had put the liquid to his lips, he shouted in a tone that made the lad tremble, as he threw the glass upon the deck and shivered it into fragments, "Knave! why dost thou bring me this weak stuff ? I would have aqua vitae, fool!" The stronger potation being supplied, he eagerly swallowed a draught, and then threw him self upon the seat at the stern of the vessel, where, for a considerable space, he sat with his eyes fixed upon the broad field of water around him. By de grees the fever of his passion subsided into a sullen thoughtfulness, and he began to meditate, with a more self-possessed consistency of view, over the con dition of his affairs. "I renounce them, their tribe and generation !" he said, mutteringly. "From this day forth, I renounce them and all they consort with Anthony Warden and his cronies; yes his Lordship and the rest. I abjure all fellowship with them, but such fellowship as my sword may maintain. The maiden! not so fast, master!" he continued, with a smile that be trayed the true devil of his nature: "scornful mis tress, it would be over charitable to give thee up. Bonny damsel, thou shalt dance a corant yet to my 246 ROB OF THE BOWL bidding and on the deck of my merry Escalfador; but it shall be beneath a warmer sun than thy pride has been nursed in: by my hand, you shall, girl, if there be virtue in these honest cut- throats of mine ! And Master Collector shall be cared for. I thank thee, Father Pierre, for thy considerateness : didst thou not let me into a secret touching the royal order ? Faith, did you, holy father ! and I will make profit of it. Oh, this excellent church quarrel, too! I will join Master Chiseldine and Coode, and teach them devilish inventions! Ha! that's a thought worth the nursing Coode and the Fendalls! We shall have blows struck ; we shall have good store of cutlass and hanger-work, pistol-play and dagger! Bravo ! there will be feasting for a hungry man ! I will straight about this plot of mischief, whilst my blood is warm enough to hatch it. Ho ! Roche ! order me two men into the shallop I would visit the Port" Whilst the Skipper, in this amiable temper, was making his way towards the town, I may take the opportunity to give my reader a brief history of cer tain persons and events with which our tale is now connected. Josias Fendall, when the Lord Protector had seized upon the Proprietary's rights in Maryland, had the address to obtain the appointment of Lieu- tenant-General of the province, which he held under this authority, until, by an act of treachery to those who had procured his preferment, he was able to ROB OF THE BOWL 247 secure to himself the same post by the commission of Cecilius, when in the decline of Cromwell's power the government was restored to its rightful owner. Having, in turn, attempted to betray the Proprietary, and to usurp an independent control in the govern ment, he was expelled from office; in consequence of which he engaged in a rebellion which, after a troublesome contest, ended in his banishment. The clemency of the Proprietary eventually restored him to the province, where, before the lapse of many months, he fell into his old practices and again em broiled himself with the authorities. He was a man of an eager, seditious temper; a skilful dissembler in conduct;, bold in action and dissolute in manners, although sufficiently crafty to conceal his excesses from public observation. He was now, in his old age, the ringleader of the present troubles ; and some months anterior to the opening of this narrative, his threats of violence against the Proprietary as well as certain well-founded suspicions of a design to over throw the provincial government by force, had led to his arrest for treason. He was, consequently, as we have hinted in a former chapter, at this moment a close prisoner in the gaol. His brother, Samuel Fen- dall, upon this event, took upon himself to stir up his friends to the enterprise of a rescue; but this had produced no better result than to lodge Samuel in the same prison with his kinsman. The Protestant party, I mean that portion of them who had been active in sustaining the violent measures set on foot 2-18 ROB OF THE BOWL by the Kendalls headed by John Coode, Kenelm Chiseldine and some others, hotly resented this per secution, as they deemed the imprisonment of their friends. They had seduced into their association George Godfrey, a weak-minded yet daring man, who held the post of Lieutenant of the Rangers in the service of the Proprietary, and who in this station found many secret opportunities to promote the pur poses of the malcontent party. John Coode himself was, at this epoch, smarting under the exasperation of a personal indignity which he had recently re ceived from the Proprietary in an arrest, from which he was released upon bail for coarse and in sulting conduct to the Chancellor. He had hitherto cunningly avoided or successfully concealed all open participation in the plot which was hatching against the present domination of the province, although he had not, as we have heretofore seen, escaped the sus picion of foul designs. He was a member of the House of Burgesses, and, in the session which had just terminated, had rendered himself conspicuous for a keen, vindictive, and (as he was sustained by the popular party) successful war of vituperation against Lord Baltimore and his council. About four o'clock in the afternoon, this Captain John Coode, according to a custom which he was prone to indulge, was found seated on a bench that stood at the door of the Crow and Archer, recreating his outward man with the solace of a tankard of ale and a pipe, whilst his inward self was absorbed with ROB OF THE BOWL 249 a rumination that spread its bland repose over every lineament of his ruddy and somewhat pimpled visage. At the moment I have introduced him to the view of my reader, his meditation was interrupted by the arrival of a horseman, a tall, athletic person, in the prime of manhood, equipped partly in the manner of a wood ranger, as was indicated by the hatchet and knife in his belt and the carbine slung across his shoulder, and partly in that of a dragoon betok ened by his horseman's sword and the pistols at his saddle-bow. "Master Coode, your servant," was the greeting of the rider whilst he dismounted and flung the rein carelessly upon the neck of his steed, whose head drooped and sides panted with the toil of his recent journey: "Your ale is like to grow flat from a lack of thirst: I can supply that commodity," he said, as he took up the tankard and deliberately drained it to the bottom. "By G , Lieutenant, you had as well help your self without my leave!" exclaimed Coode with a laugh. "Where in the d 1 are you from now?" "From Potapaco and the parts above," replied Godfrey (for it was no other than the Lieutenant of the Rangers) : "that painted devil Manahoton and his wild cats have been prowling around the upper settlements. There have been throat-cutting and scalping again. Red haired Tom Galloway was waylaid on his road to Zacaiah Fort, and the savages 250 ROB OF THE BOWL stole into his plantation and have murdered his wife and children. Nothing but speed and bottom saved me to-day : a party with that son of Tiquassino's Robin Hood, they call him at least I suspect him for it, from a limp which I saw in the fellow's walk lay in cover and fired at me, just over there at the head of Britton's bay. They must have been in liquor, for they popped their pieces so much at ran dom as to strike wide both of me and my horse. I gave them a parting volley, as far as pistols and car bine served, and then bade them good by.'* "I dare be sworn they were stirred up to these attacks," replied Coode. "These bloody Papists have set a mark upon us all, and not only rouse the savages against us, but disguise themselves, and murder and burn with as hot a hand as the worst red devil of them all. Whilst Charles Calvert is allowed to hector it over the good people of the province, we may hope for nothing 1 better. Did you see Will Clements?" "I did, and have news from him that the Huttons and Hatfields, with twenty more on the Virginia side, are ready to cross the river at the first signal." "Have a care, Lieutenant," whispered Coode, as he cast his eye towards the quay; "here comes a boat with that fellow Cocklescraft, one of his Lord ship's lurchers. It would do you no good to be seen in parley with me. We meet to-night, at Chisel- dine's. Let me see you there: and now, away to your own concerns." ROB OF THE BOWL 251 "I will not fail to go to Chiseldine's, worthy Mas ter Coode," replied the Lieutenant, whilst he now turned aside to look after his beast. "What ho! Garret Weasel, send me some one to this horse!" he cried out as he thrust his head into the door of the inn. Instead of the innkeeper, the summons was an swered by Matty Scamper, who, with a courtesy, announced that both Master Garret and the landlady were abroad; and upon being made acquainted with the Lieutenant's wish, took upon himself the busi ness of ostler and led off the jaded steed to the stable, whilst Godfrey entered the hostel. At the same instant Cocklescraft arrived at the door. "Perhaps you could tell me, Master Coode," he inquired, "whether Kenelm Chiseldine is likely to be at home?" "Faith, most unlikely as I should guess," replied the burgess with a leer at the questioner. "Whilst his Lordship allows the savages to shoot down and scalp the honest people of the province, here under his very nose a wise man will learn who his visitor may be before he will allow himself to be seen." "Master Chiseldine has nothing to fear from me," said Cocklescraft. "I would I might see him," he added with an earnestness that forcibly attracted Coode's attention. "Why what, in the devil's name, have you to do with Kenelm Chiseldine?" 252 ROB OF THE BOWL "More than you suspect, sir. I would speak with him on affairs of importance. It perhaps may con cern you to hear what I have to say." "God's wounds, man! speak out, if thou hast aught to say against me or my friends. This shall be a free land for speech. Master Cocklescraft free to all men: it is so already, let me tell you, to us who wear our swords however his Lordship and his Lordship's brangling church-bullies would fain force it down our throats to be silent, with what you call sedition." "Your flurry is but spent breath, Master Coode. If you will allow me an instant's private speech with you, I will open myself in somewhat that may be for your interest to hear. The bench of a public tavern does not well become the matter of my speaking." "Ha, a private conference, and on matter of mo ment!" ejaculated Coode. "Then follow me, Mas ter Cocklescraft, by the Town House path, amongst the cedars on yon bank. Now, sir, you may speak your mind though it were enough to hang a country side," said Coode, as he strode slowly in advance of the Skipper until they found themselves enveloped by the thicket of cedar. "I have heard it whispered," quoth the Skipper, "since my arrival in the port, that you and others have been brewing mischief, and are like to come to scratches with his Lordship's men of the buff." "And dost thou come to me with this fool's errand. ROB OF THE BOWL 253 Master Skipper?" interrupted the burgess. "Are you sent hither, sirrah, to drain me of a secret which you may commend to the notice of the Proprietary for your own advancement in his good favour ? By my hilt, I have a mind to rap thee about the pate with my whinyard!" "Tush, cool thy courage, valiant Captain, or spend it where it may give thee more profit. I come to thicken thy hell-broth with new spices of my own devising not to mar it. I say again, I have heard it whispered that you have bloody fancies in the wind. I care not to inquire what they are, but knowing thou hast no good will towards the Council and their friends, I have a hand to help in any devil's crotchet your plot may give life to. Besides, the Olive Branch is a more spiteful imp than she looks to be,- and you may, perchance, stand in need, here after, of a salt water help-mate. I can commend her to thy liking, Captain Coode." Coode gazed with a steadfast and incredulous eye, for some moments, in the face of the Skipper. At last he asked "Art thou in earnest, Master Cockles- craft? By G if thou comest here to entrap me, I will have thee so bestowed that the kites shall feed upon thy bowels before the breath be out of thy body!" "And so they may if I deceive you," replied the Skipper, coolly. "Put me to the proof, Captain, put me to the proof, and if I fail thou mayst fatten all the kites of St. Mary's with my body." 254 ROB OF THE BOWL "Are you willing to say this before witnesses?" inquired Coode. "A legion if they hate the friends of the Council as I hate them." "Then come to-night to Master Chiseldine's. You shall find me and others there. Until then, it may be wise that we hold no more discourse together. And so now we part." Cocklescraft promised to keep the appointment, and took his leave of the burgess who walked on ward to the Town House. Here, Coode found Willy of the Flats busy in setting up against the trunk of the mulberry a sheet of paper, designed, according to the custom of the town, to advertise some matter of interest to the inhabitants. To the question "What have you in the wind, Willy?" the fiddler's reply was an invitation to the Captain to inform himself by a perusal of the paper. He accordingly read as follows : "ORDER OF COUNCIL. "License given to Stark Whittle and Sergeant Travers to play a prize at the several weapons be longing to the Noble Science ( such as shall be agreed on by them) publickly at such place in or near St. Marie's City, as they shall for this day appoint: provided that no foul play be used, nor any riott or disturbance tending to the breach of his Lordship's peace, be by them or any of their associates there upon offered. Dated at his Lordship's mansion, in ROB OF THE BOWL 255 the City of St. Marie's this gth day of October, Anno Domini, 1681. J. LLEWELLIN, Clerk." "On the common, behind the Town House in St. Marie's City, by permission of an order of Council,) as above recited, a trial of skill shall be performed between Stark Whittle and Sergeant Gilbert Travers, two masters of the Noble Science of Defence, at four of the clock in the afternoon of Thursday the twenty-third of October instant. "I, Stark Whittle, of the town of Stratford, Eng land, who have fought thirty-one times at Hockley in the Hole, at Portugal and in divers part of the West Indies, and never left a stage to any man, do invite Gflbert Travers to meet and exercise at the several weapons following, viz: Back Sword, Sword and Buckler, Sword and Dagger, Case of Falchons, Single Falchon. "I, Gilbert Travers, sergeant of musqueteers, who formerly served in the Walloon Guard of his High ness the Prince of Orange, and hath held the degree of Master of the Noble Science of Defence in forty- seven prizes, besides four that I fought as a provost before I took said degree, will not, in regard to the fame of Stark Whittle, fail to meet this brave inviter at the time and place appointed; desiring a clear stage and from him no favour. "ViVAT REX." 256 ROB OF THE BOWL "This promises well, for a fair sport, Willy," said Coode; "they are both pretty fellows with the sword. Who has set this matter a foot?" "I heard, an it please your worship," replied the fiddler; "it is near a fortnight since, that Stark Whittle and the Sergeant, being together at an ale- drinking, on an afternoon, at Master Weasel's ordi nary, and having got into a merry pin, must needs fall into an argument, and thereupon into a debate, as men commonly do now-a-days, upon church matters. So, when words got high, and Stark began to be puzzled by some of Gilbert's quiddities which he learned from the priests, he whips off from the church and turns the discourse upon sword- craft. And thereupon, after some crowing by Gil bert, Stark takes him short with a challenge to play a prize which the Sergeant accepted out of hand. Then it was left to Colonel Talbot to bring it to the Council, and the next thing I hear of it is that Colonel Talbot sends me here to set this writing, concerning the whole matter, against the mulberry before the Town House door." Before Willy had got through this account of the origin of Stark Whittle's challenge, Godfrey had come to the spot. "We may find an occasion in this prize fight that shall jump with our plot, Lieutenant," said Coode. "What think you Richard Cocklescraft had to tell me?" "I cannot guess." ROB OF THE BOWL 257 "Why, that these shavelings who meddle so much in the affairs of the province and rule the Council are downright knaves; that his Lordship is no better than a sneaking dotard ; the Council themselves but white-livered whelps of the litter of Babylon, and that the whole brood of craw thumpers, taking in master and serving-man all round, are but scurvy thieves who deserve, each and all, to be set in the stocks. Now, there is a wise Skipper! a clear sighted, conscientious wight, who has seen his errors and confesses them honestly! This Master Cockles- craft has promised me to meet us at Chiseldine's to-night, which I put it to him to do by way of test to his honesty. If he come not there, I shall hold that he has cozened me with a base, juggling, papistical lie. And in that case, George Godfrey, I desire you to set thy mark upon him; dost hear? So, until we meet again at Master Chiseldine's, good even, Lieutenant." The residence of Chiseldine stood upon the river, a short distance beyond the upper limits of the town, from which it was separated by the small creek which I have heretofore described as bounding the common. This creek at its embouchure where it crossed the river beach was reduced into a narrow strait, scarcely, in the ordinary state of the tides, beyond the compass of an active man's leap. Here a small bridge gave to the townspeople access at all times to the dwelling house of Master Chiseldine. When the twilight hr.d subsided, some three or 258 ROB OF THE BOWL four visitors were found assembled under this roof, and their number in the course of an hour was gradually increased to as many more. Amongst these, Coode and Godfrey were the first to arrive; they were soon followed by a person of no small influence in stimulating the disorders of that time the Reverend Master Yeo. The host, Master Kenelm Chiseldine, though a young man, had already arrived at some authority in the House of Burgesses by his persevering and zealous hostility to the Proprietary, and had, through the popularity which generally follows resistance to the established order of things, obtained such a control over the course of that unhappy dissension which agitated the peace of the province, as entitled him to be con sidered, in modern phrase, one of the leaders of the movement. Conspicuous, at least for his estimate of himself, in this assemblage, whither the love of hav ing something to do, and a thirst for a patriot's im mortality had lured him, was little Corporal Abbot, the tailor a wight remarkable for the vast dispro portion between the smallness of his person and the greatness of his aspirations, and still more remark able for an upspringing walk and an ambitious, erect carriage of the head. Such were the principal personages who were now convened to deliberate upon the course of that secret rebellion which, in a few years later than this period, terminated in what is known in the history of Mary land as the Protestant Revolution. Their more im- ROB OF THE BOWL 259 mediate purpose was to devise measures for the res cue or liberation of the Fendalls. It was late before Cocklescraft made his appear ance in this assembly. His absence from Chiseldine's began to be remarked. Master Yeo had already let fall when Coode spoke of his interview with the Skipper some expressions of distrust in the sin cerity of such a conversion as the tale implied; and more than one of the company hinted at a trick con trived by the Papists to entrap them. Private mutterings of dissatisfaction and threats of retribu tion were growled in whispered tones. Corporal Abbot was remarkably fierce and denunciatory. "By my sword, neighbours !" he said, with a scowling eye-brow, "an' I find it should turn out that we have been paltered with by that briny rufHer, it shall go hard with him, but he shall find that I wear cold iron,- if he learn as much from never a man in the town beside. To my seeming, this Richard Cockles- craft ever had a hang-dog " "Ay, that's true a hang-dog devil in his looks," said Cocklescraft himself, taking the parole from the speaker, as he strode into the room immediately be hind the Corporal, who stood near the door. His brow was flushed, his air hurried and disturbed, and he had entered the outer door without knocking or ceremony of announcement, and thus came into the apartment where the meeting was assembled, at un awares, and at the moment that his name was upon the Corporal's lips. "Nay, Master Corporal, thou 260 need'st not shrink, for thy brave speaking: 'tis a license of a man of the wars to rail at such as leave their colours ; and as I have left mine, I stand under your reproof. God save you, my masters, for a set of merry contrivers of mischief! By St. lago, but you make a snug house of it here together ! Master Chiseldine, Captain Coode would have me come here to-night to speak before witnesses. Presto, change ! is the word. I have done with the cowls and the cassocks, and with all who bow to the honourable Council : I have done with my lords gentlemen of taffeta and buckram; yea, and have a reckoning to make which shall be remembered in Maryland. Santo Rosario! but I will make it," he added, as he spoke, through his clenched teeth, "when the foremost man amongst you all shall cry shame for pity ! We shall forswear water-drinking, comrades. I have renounced it to-day : for an hour past I have fed upon the milk of Scheidam most wholesome usquebaugh, without taint of Papistry in it: I fetched it myself from Holland to the Crow and Archer. Ha! it has baptized me in the faith of our new quarrel. I will swear by it as your only holy water!" "Master Cocklescraft, I would you had brought us a cooler head though you are not the less wel come," said Chiseldine. "Think you, sir, you can strike, if there be need for it, at those you have lately consorted with?" "Strike!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, "Ay, by Saint Anthony, can I strike! on the broad sea, or green ROB OF THE BOWL 361 land, in pell-mell or orderly fight, amongst pikes and musquets, or grenades and culverins. I can strike with sword or dagger, at waking man, or sleeping babe grey head or green : strike, Master Chiseldine, to drum and trumpet, or to the music of shrieking wives and sobbing maidens. I have been nursed to the craft. What else should have brought me here to-night?" "A most monstrous and horrid papistical school ing the wolf has had!" piously ejaculated Master Yeo, in the ear of a neighbour. "This fellow would have been a Guido Fawkes in time." "We must use him, nevertheless, reverend Master Yeo," said Coode; "we shall teach him gentleness, when we have got over the rough work of our plot." The Parson assented by a nod of the head; and then approaching the Skipper, inquired, "What argu ment, worthy Master Cocklescraft, hath persuaded you to renounce your old associates ? There may be much edification in the experience of a man so thoroughly converted." "That concerns no man here," replied the seaman bluntly. "Enough for you, sir, that I have changed my colours. I come to you not alone, neither: I have men to back me, and follow where I lead, and a trim bark which may serve a turn when you are put in straits. If you will have service out of me, I ask no return for it but that you set quickly about the work. Do you want motive for present quarrel ? I can give it to you. I know it for a truth that the 262 King hath sent orders hither to dislodge every Papist from his office in this province ; and I know, further, that the Council do, upon deliberation, refuse to obey the King's bidding. There is a handle for rebellion which may serve you for a throat-cutting ! But what is a royal order to Charles Calvert if the wind of his humour set contrary against it? A feather. Who are they that counsel my Lord Baltimore ? The men that feed their own idleness on the substance of the honest folk who toil; the men who flatter his Lordship with crafty courtesies. First amongst them is that old grout-head, Anthony Warden: I would have you note him, masters, for a chief leech ; a most topping blood-sucker. To whom should the offices of this province belong? To such as the good pleasure of the Burgesses may appoint " "Surely," grunted Coode. "To such as the King would have " "Without question," breathed the reverend Parson Yeo." "Then, there are reasons for rebellion as thick as you could wish, masters," continued Cocklescraft, by way of close to an harangue which showed him qualified to take a rank amongst the demagogues of the time not inferior to that of the most successful masters of the art of agitation at the present day. "So, fall to, and make yourselves worshipful digni taries, men of consideration amongst your neigh bours : I am here to help." "Bravely spoken !" shouted Coode, as the Skipper ROB OF THE BOWL 263 concluded this successful essay in political oratory, whilst severa. 1 voices re-echoed the commendation; "that is the true aspect of our plot, and Master Cocklescraft shows himself a worthy and apt scholar. The sooner we come to buffets the better. We have force enough to match the pikes and musquets of his Lordship, and make ourselves masters of the Fort. By a placard set against the mulberry at the Town House this afternoon, it seems we are to have a prize play between Stark Whittle and Sergeant Travers, come next Wednesday week. This will not fail to bring our friends of the country swarming to the sport, and the occasion will be apt for us to manage the appointments of a general revolt." This suggestion receiving the countenance of the conclave, was adopted, and the execution of the par ticulars committed to Coode himself. For the present, it was thought advisable that no immediate step be taken in reference to the rescue of the Fen- dalls, as it was very obvious, from various intelli gence which had been brought to the conspirators, that a crisis was near at hand which must be de cisive of the question of strength between the two parties. After this the company gradually dispersed. 264 ROB OF THE BOWL CHAPTER XIV. She sat hie on the tap tower stane, Nae waiting may was there; She lows'd the gowd busk frae her breast, The kaim frae 'mang her hair, She wip'd the tear blobs frae her ee, An' looked lang and sair. The Mermaid of Galloway. IT is proper, before we move onward with our tale, to give some account of affairs at the Rose Croft, towards which the interest of our lady readers especially is very naturally directed. After Willy of the Flats had departed with the missive that was designed to frustrate the duel, there was, for a considerable time, a general restlessness manifested by the household, extending from Alice Warden and Blanche downward through the entire roll of domestics ; for Willy had not omitted to avail himself of the occasion to give Mistress Coldcale a circumstantial history of the whole affair of the quarrel between the Skipper and the Secretary, in the presence of Michael Mossbank, as well as of the housemaids, the cook and the scullion, all of whom were opportunely assembled in the kitchen, at work amongst the litter and wreck of the last night's feast, and were, of course, thrown by the recital into a condition of most extraordinary doubt and curiosity as to the upshot of the adventure. When morning broke it found the Secretary's ROB OF THE BOWL 2G5 spirits enlivened by gay thoughts, and his counte nance made cheerful by the impression of pleasant dreams dreams that had conducted him into fairy bowers where all the images that enchanted his view bore some reference to the Rose of St. Mary's. He sprang from his couch with the buoyancy of unusual health, and, whilst he made his toilet, his mind ran with an impatient resolve upon an early visit to the Rose Croft. Accordingly, as soon in the day as he might with propriety visit at the Collector's dwelling for all at once he grew scrupulous as to these observances which, until now, had never entered into his reckon ings he was mounted on his steed and forth and away, a gallant cavalier seeking the bower of his lady-love. When he arrived at the Rose Croft, Blanche and her father were just prepared to set out on a morn ing's walk, and were upon the lawn sauntering around the rustic temple which contained the altar of St. Therese. "Welcome, Master Verheyden," said the Collector with a brisk and cordial greeting; "heartily wel come! Zounds, man, you had brought us into a fine coil yesterday! my women here, Alice and Blanche, yea, and Mistress Bridget and Meg and Sue, the whole of them, were as much astir as if the Sinniquoes had made an inroad upon us. You have been playing the swashing buckler-man since \ve saw you last; you must try your hand at edge 266 ROB OF THE BOWL and point, Master Albert. Marry, after this thou mayst wear thy toledo with an air, cock thy beaver, and draw at a word, like a pretty fellow of the rapier. Give us a hand, good Albert, I thank thee for the service thou hast done in lowering the plume of that saucy sea-urchin. Why didst not run him through the body?" The Secretary was not prepared for this bluff questioning, and as he took the Collector's hand, his cheek reddened and he replied with a modest mien, "I sought no quarrel with the Skipper and am thank ful that we parted with so little hurt." Notwithstanding the complacency with which Albert regarded his recent conduct, and the gaiety of heart with which he now visited the Rose Croft ; and despite his resolution to assume a bolder carriage in the presence of Blanche, his bearing at this mo ment was characterized by more than ordinary diffi dence and show of respect. It was even with some confusion that he now approached the maiden and offered her his hand; and, what was equally to be remarked, Blanche Warden, on her part, seemed to have lost that confiding and unguarded tone of inti macy with which she was e^er in the habit of re ceiving the Secretary. Still, joy sparkled in her eye and warmed her features w?th a genial flush, as she noted Albert's humbleness in her presence, and read in it his more profound ?nse of the value of her favour. "Our birth-day feast/'' he said, after saluting tHe ROB OF THE BOWL 267 maiden, "will be well remembered in the province for the general content it has given. All voices are praising Mistress Blanche: and she has won many sincere wishes from the townspeople for long and happy life." "Alas !" replied the maiden, "whatever others may think, I have wept sorely for that unlucky feast. I did not wish it at first, and, in the end, had better reason to grieve that I had been persuaded to make it." "Master Verheyden," interposed the Collector, "thou hast come most seasonably hither: this girl must have me consent to trail my old limbs after her, like a young gallant, this morning, in a ramble to enjoy the air, as she calls it simply because she hath happened to leave her nest with the merry chirp of a spring lark. Thou shalt take my place as a fitter man for such service. There, Blanche, is the Secretary for thee a better squire of thy body than thy old rusty-jointed father! I have a more profitable calling on hand to visit my fields. Ha, Master Albert, you wear a love token on your breast!" added the old gentleman, with a playful smile, as he took in his hand a small miniature set in gold, which hung by a chain from the Secretary's neck, and had accidentally escaped unobserved from beneath his vest in the action of dismounting from his horse ; "some lady of the other side of the water, eh? And on the back, here, letters which my eyes are too old to make out without my glasses a posy, 268 ROB OF THE BOWL no doubt: 'Let fools great Cupid's yoke disdain ' thou know'st the song, Master; 'tis the way of all living." " Tis my poor mother's likeness," said Albert, gravely, at the same time restoring the miniature to his bosom. "She put it round my neck with her own hands whilst she lay upon her death-bed : and I have worn it ever since. 'Tis the only remembrance I have of her. I was a child when she died, but not too young to feel the loss of one who loved me so well." The tear started into the Secretary's eye as he spoke, and when Mr. Warden saw it, a tear also came into his, which he brushed away with his hand, saying, with an assumed vivacity, "Pardon, good lad ! a thousand times I ask your forgiveness for my rude speech. I did not think of what I said; and I but love thee the more for thy kind memory of thy mother. Hang up care by his wing! the world is overstocked with it. You will stay to dinner with us, good master? I go forth to look after some neces sary affairs, and will be back before this girl has led you her dance. At dinner I will have much to say to you concerning that tarpaulin bully. A plague on the wool cap ! I could have found it in my heart to fight with him myself: my gray hairs against his raver locks. Do you know, Master Verheyden, he was ain to ask my leave to woo our girl here this Blanche of mine? See how she hoists her red ensign on the cheek at the thought of it: ay, and ROB OF THE BOWL 269 pressed it on me so rudely, and with such clap-me- on-the-back familiarity, as he would have used to cozen Mistress Dorothy of the Crow and Archer out of a jack of ale. Thou should'st have spitted him on thy sword, for a public benefaction, and had the thanks of the Mayor and Aldermen for thy good works. I would as lief see him so trussed as the haunch of a brocket in my own kitchen." "Nay, my dear father," interrupted Blanche, as she saw a storm rising on the Collector's brow, "pray you say no more about the Skipper. Master Albert doth not like to be tasked with discourse of his quarrel ; and besides, the Skipper " "Hath had his belly full, I warrant thou would'st say, girl. Well, well, I will order my horse, and away; so go your own road. Farewell, Master Albert, until I see you again at dinner." The Secretary and the maiden now set forth upon their walk, and directed their steps along the upper margin of the bank which overhung the river, until they were soon shaded in the forest that grew thickly upon the steep slope by which the plain descended to the beach. "Heaven hath garnished out no fairer land than this," said the Secretary, as at length, after pursuing a path that wound through this wilderness, some times descending to the pebbly beach and again rising to the level of the plain above Blanche had seated herself upon the trunk of a fallen tree, in a position from which the whole extent of the river, the 370 ROB OF THE BOWL fort, and the upper headland, with the Town House, were visible; "nor is there a nook upon this wide globe which I would more contentedly make my home." "It will ever be your home, Master Albert," was the maiden's reply ; "for they who come hither from the old world seldom think of going back. You can find no reason to return/' "My fortunes are guided by our good Lord," re turned the Secretary, "and even now he sometimes speaks of going hence again to England. With my own free will, methinks, I should never leave this sunny land. These woods are richer to my eye than pent-up cities ; these spreading oaks and stately pop lars, than our groined and shafted cathedrals and our cloistered aisles : yes, and I more love to think of the free range of this woodland life, these forest-fed deer, and flight of flocking wild fowl, than all the busy assembling of careful men which throng the great marts of trade." "Surely his Lordship would not take you hence against your will," said Blanche, thoughtfully. "In deed, we could not," she continued, and then sud denly checking herself, as if upon some self-reproof for speaking more freely than was proper, added, "his Lordship will not leave the province again, >r if he does " "I am but an humble Secretary of his Lordship," interrupted Albert, "and needs must follow as he shall command." ROB OF THE BOWL 271 "He will not command it, Master Albert. Our dear Lady Maria loves you well, as I have heard her say, and will persuade his Lordship to command you stay." "I need not his command," replied the Secretary; "it would be enough for me I was not constrained to go hence; your wish, Mistress Blanche, nay, your permission would keep me here, even if my inclination tended back again to the old world." "My wish, Master Albert! How could I have other wish but that thou should'st stay?" inquired the maiden, in all singleness of heart. "Do we not sing and play together; ride, sail, hawk, and hunt to gether? Have you not promised to render that his tory of the good Chevalier into English for me ? Am I not to be skilled in the French tongue, under your teaching ? Oh, how could I wish other than that you stay with us, Master Albert ?" "Come what hazards may," said the Secretary, with deep emotion, as he took the maiden's hand, "I swear by this good day and by this beauteous world, that I will never leave thee." But few words more passed and these were of such an import as my reader may well conceive, from what has gone before till Albert Verheyden kneeled at the maiden's feet and vowed unalterable devotion to her happiness, and rose a betrothed lover. With lingering steps and freer speech, Blanche hang ing on Albert's arm, the plighted pair slowly returned to the Rose Croft, 272 ROB OF THE BOWL CHAPTER XV. I guess by all this quaint array The burghers hold their sports to-day. Scott. THE day appointed for the prize-play was mild and clear; and as the anticipation of the sport had created a stir throughout the province, there was reason to expect a large attendance. Stark Whittle had, within a year past, emigrated to the dominions of the Proprietary from Jamaica, and by dint of trumpeting his own renown an act for which the professors of his craft were somewhat distinguished had obtained the repute of a skilful master of fence. Sergeant Travers had bee several years in the province, and had already established his fame in more than one trial, with such wandering professors of the Noble Science as, at that era, were to be found in every quarter of Christendom. Great expectations were therefore entertained of an en counter of rare interest to the men of the sword a class which might be said to have comprehended not only the military men of the times, and such gentlemen in civil life as were educated in the use of the weapon, but also that extensive circle of idlers, boasters, tavern-frequenters, and sport-loving gentry which have always passed under the denomination of choice spirits. Under the direction of Colonel Talbot the patron ROB OF THE BOWL 273 of all sports and pastimes in the province a plat form or stage of deal boards, about twenty feet square and three feet above the ground had been constructed near the centre of the common in the rear of the Town House. A few paces from the platform stood a flag-staff, from which floated a forked pennon bearing the device of the provincial arms, ambitiously executed in oil by Master Bister, the artist of the city. On a skirt of the common, some six or eight tents marked the position of the Court of Guard, formed by the garrison of the fort, under the command of Nicholas Verbrack, the Lieu tenant. Opposite to this encampment, a range of booths had been erected by the townspeople, where was displayed every variety of refreshment which the housekeeping stores of the proprietors might afford. These booths were distinguished by various devices in the way of signs ; one presenting a banner hung out on a pole with rude representation of a Cock in jack-boots and sword, with his neck stretched as in the act of crowing, and a label from his bill having written on it "STARK WHTTLE FOR EVER!" whilst another manifested its partizanship for the adverse champion by the device of a bull in armour, reared on his hind legs, with the inscriptioi SERGEANT TRAVERS. THE OLD SWORD AGAINST THE NEW BUCKLER.' 274 ROB OF THE BOWL Others were designated simply by a green bush, the old sign of good wine within. Amongst these tem porary sheds was especially to be noted one which was surmounted by a towering staff bearing a flag embellished with the cross of St. Andrew, whose pro prietor was sufficiently indicated by a flaring and, to say the truth, not very perspicuous portraiture of the Crow and Archer, from the pallet of Master Bister. Sundry legends, scrawled in charcoal over the front of the booth, expressed the utmost impartiality be tween the combatants and their several friends, as might be read in such as "Honour to the brave." "A fair field and no favours," and others of similar import equally guarded against the accident of de noting the party of the host. Within the shed the saucy face of our jolly dame Dorothy might have been seen, long before the appointed hour of the com bat, as she busied herself in adjusting matters to meet the expected pressure of the day. Such was the picture presented on the Town Com mon about noon. Already a large number of the inland inhabitants had arrived, and troops of new comers were every moment seen halting their horses in the vicinity of the common : others were discerned as far off as the inequalities of the country allowed, iourneying down from the distant highlands, or mov- : ^"f forward in disorderly squadrons across the plain 1 v every road which led to the town. The river pre- serted a scene not less animated. Boats of various sizes, from a pinnace down to a canoe, were ROB OF THE BOWL 275 sprinkled over the whole expanse of water, ferrying across the inhabitants who resided beyond the St. Mary's river, as well as many from the opposite shore of the Potomac. The hostel of Master Weasel was thronged with guests, and every ale-house and ordinary of inferior note bore testimony to the attrac tion which the projected prize-play presented to the country people both far and near. About half an hour before four o'clock the com mon was filled with the groups of spectators, leaving the town almost emptied of its inhabitants. These thronged around the booths, or strolled across the plain, or took their places at the platform. Nicholas Verbrack at this moment wheeled off his company from the Court of Guard, and, marching to the scene of the expected fight, formed them in two ranks im mediately behind the flag-staff, which might be said to represent the head of the lists. From this position he detached sentinels, armed with pikes, who were posted at intervals, in military fashion, around the platform, at the distance of some ten paces from it, beyond which limit the lookers-on were compelled to retire, leaving the intervening space entirely clear. The crowd which was thus thrust back consisted indifferently of both sexes the women, as is always the case in public shows wherever they may gain admission, forming no inconsiderable portion of the mass, and they were now seen elbowing their way to the front of the throng, and sustaining their posi tions there with as stout resolve as the sturdiest of 276 ROB OF THE BOWL their antagonists. Carts, wagons, tumbrels, and sun dry nondescript conveyances, fabricated for the occa sion and laden to their utmost capacity with females^ formed a kind of rear division surrounding the stage. Several gentlemen, among whom was the Pro prietary, accompanied by his uncle Philip Calvert, the Chancellor, nearly all the members of the Council, Master Anthony Warden, and others, were seen grouped together on horseback. Albert Verheyden with Benedict Leonard had come in the train of this party, but were now observed in various quarters of the field, as they rode around to amuse themselves with the spectacle. Chiseldine, the reverend Master Yeo, and some others conspicuous in the ranks of opposition to the Proprietary and his party, were seen frequently reining up their horses together in small squads, and as often dispersing, as if under some occasional suggestion against the propriety of their consorting too much together in public. Cocklescraft, with Roche del Carmine and three or four men in sailors' dress, the Skipper and his mate being both armed rather beyond what was usual, strolled about the field, without ostensibly partici pating in the affairs of either party. At a signal from Colonel Talbot, a trumpeter bear ing an instrument which, like himself, was covered with ribands, mounted upon the stage and blew r forth a sprightly summons. When this was repeated thrice two small parties were seen entering on the common from different quarters. That which came from the ROB OF THE BOWL 277 direction of the centre of the town was immediately descried as Stark Whittle and his party, consisting of Captain Coode with three or four attendants. The champion was wrapped in a horseman's cassock that concealed his figure from observation, whilst beside him walked his second, a squat, brawny, fierce little man, with a huge red rose, a squint in one eye, a scar across his brow, and a large broad-flapped beaver garnished with a black ostrich feather, which hung backward a span below his shoulder. This worthy enjoyed the designation of Ensign Tick, be ing a decayed officer of Lord Cecil's time, and still retaining his title, though reduced to a sharking live lihood in a civil station. He was, like his principal, shrouded in a cloak : in one hand he bore a pair of swords, and in the other a small creel or basket con taining a bottle of usquebaugh and sundry com modities used for the speedy staunching of a wound furniture familiar to the backers of heroes in such circumstances as those of his principal at the present moment. The other group came from the quarter of the Town House, by the road that led up from the Crow and Archer, where they had betaken themselves to await the summons : it was composed of Travers, attended by Captain Dauntrees, and his second, the Sergeant-Major of the musqueteers, bearing the name of Master Stocket, one or two privates of the same corps, and a cortege of bare headed and bare-legged boys, that stepped forth at the full compass of their stride, to keep pace with 278 ROB OF THE BOWL the rapid movement of the principals of the party. As soon as these adverse bands came within the range of the crowd, lanes were opened for their ad mission, and the two champions, advancing to an open space before the guard of soldiers, there threw aside their cloaks and sprang upon the stage. They were instantly followed by their seconds, whilst a flourish of the trumpet and a long ruffle from the drums and fifes of the musqueteers announced that the ceremonies of the fight were about to commence. The champions were both men of fine shape and sinew, nearly equal in height and bulk, and both came to their engagement with apparently composed and cheerful countenances. The only face of wrath and fire correspondent to the valorous prowess which had impelled this warlike meeting was that of Ensign Tick. He alone seemed to be duly impressed with the resentment which a belligerent should indulge in such a strife. Sergeant-Major Stocket retained a practised calmness that was altogether professional, and performed his duty on the stage with exemplary gravity. The champions were dressed in military costume ; Travers in that of his corps, Whittle in the cumbrous scarlet coat of the English uniform. Both wore the heavy, wide-legged boot, which, immedi ately after mounting the stage, they exchanged for pumps. As soon as this was done, they were sev erally disrobed of their coats, and thus presented for the combat in their shirt sleeves. A fillet of red riband was tied around the right arm of the chal- ROB OF THE BOWL lenger above the elbow, whilst one of green was similarly adjusted on the arm of Travers. During the arranging of these preliminaries, Dauntrees and Coode had ascended the platform, that they might, as patrons of the parties, bear testimony to the due observance of the established laws of the play. When all was done, and the combatants were announced to be ready for the encounter, Coode retired from the stage and took a post at that end of the platform most remote from the flag-staff, whilst Dauntrees marched with military precision to a post in front of his com pany, where, taking a halberd from a sergeant who held it ready for him, he planted himself, erect and stately, immediately at the head of his men. The seconds now advanced, each bearing in his hand a pair of back-swords of moderate length, and each selecting one for his principal, these were measured in public to show, what had indeed been previously adjusted by private regulation, that no advantage was possessed by either side in the length of weapon, and after this ceremony they were placed in the hands of those who were to use them. The seconds then retired to opposite points on the platform, whilst the champions themselves, with a praiseworthy cour tesy and some expressions of good will, shook hands ; after which, with a flourish of swords and a gay alacrity of manner, they wheeled round and took the stations allotted to them by their seconds. All this time the utmost silence pervaded the crowd of spectators. Every one had pressed towards 280 ROB OF THE BOWL the stage at the summons of the trumpet : the booths were deserted, or left with but a solitary watchman : a sentinel here and there in the verge of the little encampment on the skirt of the common was the only moving thing that was not crowded up to the scene of conflict. The Proprietary and his friends had a post of honour assigned to them in the rear of Dauntrees' soldiers, whence they might minutely observe all that was going on. Chiseldine and his party occupied a post at the opposite end of the stage, relatively the same as that of the Proprietary; but as no space was kept clear for their accommoda tion, they were forced somewhat in the rear of the crowd of spectators on foot, and a close observer might have seen in their thoughtful countenances that other subjects besides the trivial amusements of the hour occupied their minds. The champions now took their attitudes of attack and defence, and forthwith engaged with great vigour. Blows were made and parried with masterly address. A quick onset, the assailant pressing his antagonist across the full length of the stage, was returned with an assault not less prompt, and the weapons were wielded with a dexterity and sleight that almost defied the eye to follow the several strokes and their counter defences. Nothing was heard but the clank of steel and the sullen stamp of the combatants on the boards of the platform, as they gave and received blows; but, as yet, neither party Had gained advantage ; and the seconds, deem- ROB OF THE BOWL 281 ing that the first bout was played long enough, inter posed to give their principals time to breathe. Whilst the combatants, in this interval, were re freshing themselves under the care of their seconds, the busy murmur of conversation amongst the crowd announced the interest which the play inspired. Many tokens of active partisanship began to manifest them selves, and it was obvious, from the emphasis with which the commendations were bestowed upon the new champion Whittle, that he was a decided favourite of at least one party on the field a party composed exclusively of Protestants ; whilst those of the Catholic faith were no less energetic in their advocacy of Travers. It had already grown to be a sectarian division of feeling, founded on the well- known religious professions of the two champions; and as the Protestants were the most numerous on the ground, it may be affirmed that Stark Whittle enlisted the larger share of popular admiration. John Coode was not backward to foment the party spirit, which had thus unfortunately begun to be developed, by such artifices as he well knew how to practise. "Stark battles with the Papist as old Luther battled with the Devil," he said exultingly to a group of inland proprietors, who were casually discussing the expected issue of the fight; "we shall see this cub of Papacy disciplined with a wholesome Protestant purgation presently." The din of voices was suddenly stilled by the notes of the trumpet, announcing the renewal of the fight. 283 ROB OF THE BOWL The parties again took their posts; and again the clash of swords was heard, falling thickly upon the ear. All was suspense and silence, except that now, as a casual advantage was gained by one or other of the combatants, notes of applause and exhortation rose in half-stifled tones from the friends of either side, or ejaculations of fear from their opponents, these proceeding most frequently from the females. This passage, however, suddenly terminated by a stroke from Whittle's sword, the point of which just severed the skin upon Travers' brow. The appear ance of blood was a signal to drop their points, and thus the combatants were afforded a second breath ing spell. The wound of Sergeant Travers was no sooner perceived than the whole party who had taken such interest in his adversary's success, raised a shout of exultation that rent the air. This mani festation of triumph, rousing the partisans of the opposite champion into a tone of feeling that par took of defiance, they returned the acclamation with no less vehemence, taking the word from Talbot as he galloped round the confines of the crowd "Suc cess to Gilbert Travers, a tried master of the Noble Science!" In this temper of the bystanders, the third passage was announced. Again the combatants engaged, with more than their former vehemence, for, taking the hue of their respective adherents, they were wrought up into a state of ardent hostility, which showed itself in the acerbity and vigour of their ROB OF THE BOWL 283 blows. The spectators were sensibly impelled, as the struggle waxed fiercer, into more intense and angry maintenance of their champions, and all other thoughts seemed now to be absorbed in the desire of victory. Unlike the former passages, this was accompanied with all the clamour of incensed rivalry. At no instant were the voices of partisans lulled into silence. "Bravo, good Stark! Well played, Gil bert!" "Huzza, excellent ! By Saint Dunstan, nobly parried, Sergeant!" and similar expressions of encouragement burst forth from the lips of the excited groups, as they involuntarily laid their hands upon their swords, and, breaking through all con straint, passed up to the frame of the platform. In the height of this animating impulse, Travers threw aside a blow which had been directed with great energy at his breast, and the vigour with which he parried it swayed the sword of his adversary so far out of his sphere of defence as to leave his body open to the return stroke, which was plied with such effect as to make a deep incision midway down Whittle's thigh and thence across the knee, laying open the flesh, through that whole track, to the bone, and covering the wounded man with his blood. It was observed that Whittle's previous stroke had been thrown with such violence as to cause him to reel from his footing when the force of the blow was dashed aside into the air, and many were of opinion that this slip of the foot was an accident which should have saved him from the return cut that was 284 ROB OF THE BOWL made with such disabling effect. It was instantly apparent that this hit decided the fight and gave the victory to the Sergeant of the Musqueteers. "A Roland for an Oliver!" exclaimed Talbot with wild exultation. "Admirable, Sergeant! well done! you have shorn the spur of that cock for a while, at least." "Huzza for Travers!" resounded over the field from the voices of the large party of his friends; whilst, on the other side, with equal vehemence, was shouted, "Foul play! Shame, shame! A Papistical, cowardly trick !" "I'll meet thee, for a beggarly foister," cried an incensed partisan, who sprang upon the platform and shook his sword in Travers' face "I'll meet thee, Master Toasting-iron, when you dare! I'll give thee a lesson for striking a man below the knee." "Push it at him now, Master Hardthrust," ex claimed a second, following in the steps of the new challenger; he deserves no better than to be put on his defence where he stands for a filthy Roman as he is. A foul cut below the knee, and at a man who has lost his footing ! That is the upshot of his valour!" These invaders of the platform were instantly confronted by two or three of the opposite party, who ascended the stage to drag them off; and, in turn, some dozens of either complexion in the quarrel sprang to the aid of their respective friends thus ROB OF THE BOWL 285 presenting on both sides a compact body of excited opponents fiercely bent on mischief. Talbot was instantly off his horse, and, sword in hand, rushed to the scene of broil, calling upon Dauntrees to advance his men and make a clear stage. Swords were drawn in all quarters, and the first person with whom Talbot came in conflict was John Coode, who, with his naked weapon in his hand, was stimulating his partisans to commence an assault. Talbot seized him by the front of his coat, and presenting the point of his sword to his breast, cried out "Swiller of the leavings of a tap room! by my hand, if thou openest thy rotten throat with but a cough, I will thrust my sword ell deep into thy worthless body. Begone, hound!" And with this word he pushed the burgess vio lently over the edge of the platform, on the brink of which he stood. In a moment the musqueteers were marched by Dauntrees, in solid mass, upon the stage, and the threatened rioters were thus expelled from the seat of contest. Holding this position, the troops had the command of the field, and by threatening to fire, which Dauntrees, with the trained coolness of an old soldier, announced, in a stentorian voice, he would certainly do if further violence were menaced, Chiseldine, Coode and their companions, amongst whom was Parson Yeo, interfered to quiet the tumult and draw off their adherents. During all this com motion Corporal Abbot was seen on the outer skirt of the crowd, brandishing his weapon, and hurrying 286 ROB OF THE BOWL to and fro with a look which had wrath enough in it to annihilate the whole Church of Rome, yet mixed up with a discretion which would have left a casual spectator at a loss to determine exactly on what side he was arrayed. "Odso!" he ejaculated; "let me into that skirmish! I will teach them orderly be haviour, the varlets! Shall we have brawls put upon us? Shall we digest cold iron against our will? No, by my belt not whilst my name is Abbot! The fight will be this way anon and, I warrant you, my hand is in it." "Put up thy sword, thou venturesome fool," ex claimed Verbrack, who in hurrying round the con fines of the crowd with a small party of the mus- queteers, encountered the man of war in the height of his ire "put up thy sword nor stand vapouring here like a grain thrasher!" which exhortation the Lieutenant accompanied with a slight blow across the offender's shoulders, laid on with the flat of his sword. "Ha, ha! venturesome you may find me, truly, Master Lieutenant; but, as thou say'st, it is a good example to put up our weapons when headstrong men might be led off by evil examples" ; with which sage reflection the wrath of the Corporal suddenly surceased, and his weapon was immediately con signed to its sheath, whence it was not abstracted for full five seconds after the Lieutenant had dis appeared. Godfrey had, at tHe first symptom of confusion, ROB OF THE BOWL 287 retired from the field, and Cocklescraft, with his sea men, stood by an unconcerned spectator of the whole scene nor passed a word with any one, except that at one moment, when stalking around the platform, the halberd of Dauntrees accidently, and without the observation of the Captain, was protruded across his path. The Skipper, disdaining to walk out of the way of this impediment, drew his sword and struck it down, saying fiercely as he did it, "Find other service for your pike than to stop my wandering." "By my troth, saucy master," replied Dauntrees, "but I will speedily find service for my pike that shall teach thee more civil behaviour. But pass on, sir, you have a license in the Port to go free of all notice except such as shall give thee accommodation in the stocks." Lord Baltimore, with the graver gentlemen of his suite, rode around the scene of disorder, manifest ing the utmost concern, and exhorting all whom he might address with any hope of persuasion to re tire quietly from the field. The old Collector, how ever, was not the most docile of his adherents; for the veteran's blood had risen to fever heat, and he repeatedly charged the rioters, cane in hand, with strenuous reproof of their misconduct, expressed in no very dainty terms. By degrees the authors of these tumults began to withdraw from the scene of action and to form themselves into detached bodies far apart, where their rage was allowed to spend 288 ROB OF THE BOWL itself in unchallenged vituperation and rebuke of their antagonists, and finally to subside, at least, into a manageable degree of resentment. CHAPTER XVI. Nor less upon the saddened town The evening sunk in sorrow down. The burghers spoke of civil jar, Of rumour'd feuds and mountain war. Scott. IN this state of excitement and exasperation, the early twilight found the greater number of the spec tators of the recent show, and crowds still lingered in detached and angry parties about the common, even until the new moon began to shed a pale light over the field. The Council, whose suspicions of the disaffected had, for some time past, put them on the strictest observation of Coode and his friends, had now seen enough in the conduct of that party to con vince them that the spirit of rebellion was sufficiently bold to manifest itself on the first occasion in some decided and dangerous attempt upon the peace of the province. They therefore determined to lose no time in the adoption of such proceedings as should enable them to act most effectually against the ringleaders. With this view, Colonel Darnall was directed by the ROB OF THE BOWL 289 Proprietary to take measures to obtain accurate in formation of the movements of Coode and his party. He accordingly repaired to the Fort to Dauntrees, who, after duly weighing the delicate nature of the commission, determined to take the matter in his own hands, and promised to report to the Council before midnight. This being approved by Darnall, the Cap tain, after he had taken his supper, threw aside his military dress and equipped himself in that of a burgher or private citizen of the Port ; and wrapping himself in a cloak, set forward about nine o'clock on his adventures. His first attention was given to John Coode, and he consequently bent his steps towards the dwelling of the burgess. The house stood retired from a street or shaded lane, in a position somewhat remote from immediate neighbours, whilst a thick bower of foliage threw the mass of building at this hour of midnight into deep obscurity. The Captain approached as near to the premises as he might do \vith safety, and, under the shelter of the shrubbery, found himself in a post where he might observe, without much risk of detection, at least such persons as approached or left the house. He had no diffi culty very soon to convince himself that the dwelling was crowded with visitors. This was manifest not only from the figures that were seen passing and repassing the few dim lights that flickered from the casements, but from the constant ingress and egress of persons by the outer gate, the path to which led immediately past the Captain's place of concealment. 290 ROB OF THE BOWL Many of the passers he could observe to be persons from the inland settlements. After a brief lapse of time came Parson Yeo, moving from the house to the gate, and, at intervals, following him, Kenelm Chiseldine, Godfrey, and several individuals known to be prominent in promoting the late quarrel be tween the Burgesses and the Proprietary. The few words that dropped from the visitors of the dwelling house, as they moved within the range of the Cap tain's hearing, related to the Fendalls, and he more than once heard Lieutenant Godfrey's name con nected with them in a manner that it greatly puzzled him to comprehend; for, as yet, Godfrey had alto gether escaped the suspicion of the Proprietary's friends. When these had gone by, the redoubtable Corporal Abbot was the next that traversed the path way. He was alone, and walked with a brisk pace through the gate, after which he turned into the street in a direction opposite to that which the greater number of those who preceded him had taken. The Captain now boldly left his hiding-place, and, with a free step, followed the lonely professor of war and the 'gentle craft,' and overtook him in a short space, when he was enabled to discern that the troubles of the day had led to some excess in the little martialist's potations, by which his walk was rendered slightly unsteady. The Captain, confiding in his disguise, and the probable bewilderment of the tailor's brain, accosted him boldly as a fellow-conspirator. "Zounds, neighbour ! you are in haste to get under ROB OF THE BOWL 291 cover to-night. I have striven like a goaded horse to overtake you all the way from the door of Master Coode's. Wherefore so fast?" "It isn't wise to be seen so near Master Coode's. The Proprietary hath already an evil eye upon him, and notes his associates." "Truly, then it is discreet to make speed away from the dwelling though it be, after all, but a sneaking thing to fear the Proprietary. We are enough to master his bullies, to my thinking." "Enough! troth, are we. There is Lieutenant Godfrey, as you might have heard him say, has sixty men a score of them to come across the Potomac ready to. ride into the town any night he may wink his eye; besides the friends we have in swarms as thick as pigeon-flights 'twixt this and Christina. Enough, truly! enough and to spare, Master Your pardon, I have forgot your name?" "Whitebread," replied Dauntrees. "Oh, surely! How addled is my pate! Master Whitebread, we shall do it," said the Corporal, with an utterance that might just be discerned to trip a little on the tongue, for his excesses had not so much disturbed as quickened his speech and left him more communicative than in his present circumstances was altogether safe. "We shall do it, Master White- bread, on the night of the fifth of November, as the reverend Master Yeo has appointed." "Guy Fawkes's night," said Dauntrees. But the Kendalls " 292 ROB OF THE BOWL "The Lord love you, Master Whitebread! thou couldst not have rightly apprehended Captain Cocde. Lieutenant Godfrey is to bring his troopers I am one of them, and counted on : I wear his Lordship's colours and take his pay, though I be not of his cause, mark you Lieutenant Godfrey is to fetch his minute- men on Wednesday come next sennight, and make an onslaught upon the prison. We begin with that." "Ay, so I take it, valiant Master Corporal. Cap tain Coode so laid it down." "Faith did he; and he looks to see it done to the last scruple, which, I promise you, it shall be, if there be virtue in steel!" "But he did not explain how these friends from Virginia should reach our shore." "Thou wert asleep, Master Sweetbread : thou wert dull. Did you not know that Master Cockles- craft hath quarreled with the Proprietary, and brings us his brigantine? Truly, does he! When knaves fall out, honest men come by their own, ha, ha ! By cock and pye, but that's a true word !" "Now, good night, brave Corporal," said Daun- trees, as soon as he came to a convenient point to free himself of the company of the flustered and leaky hatcher of treasons. "Good-night, and mayst thou be soon rewarded for thy deserts." "Good night, Master Sweetbread and thank you heartily for your kind wishes I warrant you I get my deserts. But remember," the tailor added, laying his hand upon his lips ; "mute as a mattock ROB OF THE BOWL 293 not a breath !" Having given this parting admoni tion, he pursued his way with a confident carriage; and very soon after they parted, Dauntrees heard his voice lifted up into a brisk song. "Well," said the Captain, when he was left alone; "for the sneaking trade of an eaves-dropper, I have a most apt and commendable talent. In this, my first traffic in so noble and praise-worthy an employ ment, have I succeeded to a marvel. Scarce an hour since my fertile genius struck out this point of war, and here have I unravelled a whole web of treason, that shall go nigh to hanging up these curs by the score. All's fair in war, they say: but, by my faith, I had rather have won my knowledge by some little show of buckler-work, even if it were but a show." The Captain now took a road that led back towards the common, where he carefully recon- noitered the whole ground. Some few persons yet loitered in the vicinity of the booths, and two or three small bands of men, muffled in cloaks, were seen in close conference amongst the cedars that formed a thicket near the Town House. From this point, looking across the narrow bottom of low and marshy ground which lay between the town and the homestead of Chiseldine, which was in full view wherever an opening between the trees gave a range to the eye, he could discover that the dwelling house was more than usually lighted, and that visitors were, at this late hour, thronging 1 the apartments. 294 ROB OF THE BOWL Whilst he was busy with these observations, Lieutenant Godfrey and Cocklescraft emerged from the cedars, in earnest discourse, and slowly followed the path which led down the bank to Master Weasel's inn. Without giving himself the trouble to listen, he could not help hearing the short colloquy which passed between them before they entered the hostel. "What would you have with a horse at this hour of the night?" inquired the Lieutenant. "It is but a freak," replied the Skipper. "By St. lago, Lieutenant, I will deal roundly with him. In honour, I will admonish him beforehand. He shall have warning, on my conscience warning that it shall make him pale to read." "I will not baulk thy devilment, Dick Cockles- craft: So, thou shalt have the steed. When wilt thou return?" "By as early a minute after midnight as I may ride the space with such speed as thy beast by spur ring may afford." "Ha, ha ! a sailor o' horseback and the devil rides at his crupper! Ho, Filch, there ostler Filch! Hither, man : see that an hour hence, when Master Cocklescraft hath finished his supper, thou saddle my nag and fetch him where, Master Skipper?" "To the Town House steps," said his companion. "To the Town House steps dost thou hear?" Dauntrees having now gathered all the informa tion w T hich his good fortune through his night's ROB OF THE BOWL 285 adventure had thrown in his way, betook himself, with all haste to the Proprietary mansion. Here he found Lord Baltimore, Talbot, Darnall and others awaiting his arrival. He narrated circumstantially the strange and ample details connected with the plots in concoction and their contrivers, as he had learned them; and laid a tissue of facts before the Council which left no room for hesitation as to the judgment to be formed of the shape and pressure of the rebellion. Having thus executed the commis sion confided to him, he retired to his quarters. On the following morning, soon after the town was emptied of the press of visitors who had crowded in the prize play, the greater portion of whom had taken their departure at an early hour, it is sufficient for me only to inform my reader, that John Coode, Lieutenant Godfrey, and Corporal Abbot, with a half score of others less distinguished in this history, were snugly ensconced in gaol, sharing the apartment of the persecuted patriots Josias and Samuel Fendall. For the present, neither Kenelm Chiseldine nor the reverend Parson Yeo, were molested, though it may be conceived that they did not pass free of that close observation of their outgoings and in comings with which, in all countries, suspected per sons are wont to be favoured by the guardians of the authority of government. When day broke upon the drowsy burghers of 296 ROB OF THE BOWL St. Mary's on the morning after the prize play, the Olive Branch was no longer to be seen in the river. Such a sudden departure of so important a portion of the commercial marine of the port, produced no small degree of speculation amongst the waking citizens as, by degrees, after sunrise, they began to rub their eyes and look abroad. This speculation became still more intense when, in a few hours, they saw files of soldiers passing through the town, and heard, immediately afterwards, the rumour of the arrest of Coode and his compatriots. Still more was it excited by a report which was early brought to town from the Rose Croft, that the broad arrow the mysterious presignification of mischief, a mark by which a suspected person was proscribed, or a devoted one forewarned had been found deeply scratched, as with the point of a dagger, on the Col lector's door. An unusual stir and buzz of mur mured wonder prevailed through the little city, and every body was on foot to learn the cause of these phenomena. By some it was said that the Skipper had gone on a trading excursion up the bay to Kent Island, as it was his custom to do. Those in the secret of the last night's conspiracy had no difficulty in ascribing his departure to movements connected with the plot: the broad arrow on the Collector's door was easily accounted for by such as were aware of Cocklescraft's midnight ride on Godfrey's horse; and, on all sides, expectation was raised into silent dread of some eruption that was to break forth, in ROB OF THE BOWL 297 a moment when none might be aware of it, and from a quarter to which few might look. The Council was convened at the Proprietary mansion, and there the emergency was gravely debated and the most energetic measures of precau tion and defence adopted. The escape of Cockles- craft, connected with his recent quarrel with the Secretary, and the disclosure made by Abbot of his concurrence in the plot of the conspirators, left no doubt of his treachery. The outbreak was rendered more formidable by its coincidence in point of time with the contemplated incursion of the North ern Indians, as related by the travelling doctor a circumstance that seemed to infer correspondence between the leaders of the conspiracy and the sav ages, and to give the plot a consistency well calcu lated to excite alarm. To these topics of apprehen sion, on the part of the Council, was added a certain undefined and anxious misgiving that the goblin stories of the Wizard's Chapel, as reported by Daun- trees and Arnold de la Grange, and now repeated by the Proprietary with all the testimony he had obtained to support them, had some connexion with this long-hatched rebellion, and that there were secret ramifications of the plot that had never yet been suspected. The participation of Godfrey and Cocklescraft in the designs of Coode, of which none of the Proprietary's friends had entertained a sur mise until the previous night, was a fact adapted to confirm their fears of the wide diffusion of 298 ROB OF THE BOWL disaffection where it had not been looked for. The result of this deliberation was a resolve to pursue matters to a speedy conclusion by a decisive and bold action. The ringleaders were to be brought instantly to trial; the military force was to be increased; their ranks purged of all who were sus pected to want heartiness in the cause; and every precaution was to be taken to provide against assault from all quarters, by night or day. Captain Dauntrees was commanded to look to the safety of the town, and to endeavour to ascertain what had become of Cocklescraft. In this state of preparation and suspense, twenty- four hours passed over without tidings of the Skipper, or any new developments of the designs of the conspirators. The vigorous measures taken by the Proprietary seemed to have struck terror into his adversaries, and at least driven them into the shelter of silence and concealment. At the end of this period Willy of the Flats, who was one of those expert politicians who make it a point to manifest their patriotism by the most eager zeal in favour of the side that is uppermost, having until the overthrow of Coode been strongly inclined to take part with the agitators, now made his way, about ten o'clock at night, into the Fort, and thence to the presence of Captain Dauntrees. Approaching the Captain, with an air of constrained self-import ance, he said in a half whisper, "News, Master Captain grave news, worshipful ROB OF THE BOWL 299 sir, state matters! I have come post-haste to tell you, that twenty minutes ago no, that I may not lie, I will say twenty-five minutes ago just so long as with good speed a dog trot we will say it might suffice for me to come hither from Master Weasel's tap-room who think you I saw, and what did he do?" "Speak, varlet, without this windy prologue." "There comes me in Master Cocklescraft, and straight orders a noggin of brandy, whereof guz zling it down with a most treasonable haste, he wiped his lip, and asked for Lieutenant Godfrey and when he heard that the Lieutenant was in prison he bit his lip and gave a kind of ha ! or I might say grunt, and walked very suspiciously away." "And thou hadst not the wit to follow him?" "Follow him, Master Dauntrees, I did, as far as the cedars of the Town House, where the moon being down I lost him. He might have been on his way to the gaol, but I staid not to seek that out, for turning round, now, said I, Willy, make for the Fort as fast as you can, and tell the Captain the whole matter." "Thanks, at least, for that diligence of thine. Thou shalt have thy supper and a stoop of liquor for this." "Blessings on thy worship, for thinking of the need of an empty man!" said Willy, as with his hat tucked under his arm he went towards the Captain's, 300 ROB OF THE BOWL kitchen to acquaint Matchcote with his master's hint touching the refreshment. Dauntrees lost no time in despatching an inferior officer, with two or three files, in quest of the Skip per. These returned after midnight with a tale con firming Willy's narrative; but with the further intelligence that no traces could be obtained of Cocklescraft beyond his appearance at the Crow and Archer. The next day the Superior of the Jesuit House of St. Inigoe's visited the Proprietary to inform him that, at the dawn, the servants of his establishment had found their skiff hauled up on the beach, some fifty or a hundred yards remote from the wharf where, on the preceding night, it had been carefully locked by a chain, which, it appeared, had been broken, showing that the boat had been used by some person of whom no knowledge could yet be obtained. He further stated that Fluke the fisher man, who lived some distance below St. Inigoe's, on the river bank, had that morning reported, that be fore daylight his dogs had waked him with loud barking, and that he had heard the footsteps of a man upon the beach : that the fisherman had chal lenged the stranger from his window, but had got no reply, and was fain to let him pass on without molestation, owing to the darkness of the hour. This intelligence, combined with that brought to the fort by the fiddler, strongly pointed to the visit and retreat of the Skipper, and seemed to indicate ROB OF THE BOWL 301 that he was lurking somewhere near the mouth of the river, and had, in the night, crossed St. Inigoe's creek immediately from the wharf of the Jesuit House to that of the Rose Croft, by which road he had visited the town and returned again before day light. Dauntrees, upon receiving this information, lost no time in visiting the House of St. Inigoe's, to inquire into the particulars ; after which he went to see the fisherman. The result of this journey was to confirm him in the impression of the secret cor respondence of the Skipper with the town, and to engage Fluke in the service of watching the future motions of the same visitant. Simon Fluke lived some two or three miles below St. Inigoe's, near the mouth of the river, where a small cabin gave shelter to his wife and a troop of children. This man earned a hard liveli hood by supplying his neighbours of St. Inigoe's and the townspeople with fish; and it was greatly to his content that he now found himself engaged in the service of the Proprietary, with the promise of a handsome reward if his good fortune should enable him to aid effectually in securing the person of the Skipper. It was a few day's after his employment in this service, that the sun was seen to set amongst thickly scudding clouds and blasts of wind, such as, with the near approach of November, are apt suddenly to break in upon the serene autumn, giving rude 302 ROB OF THE BOWL foretastes of winter. The horzion was dark, and the overmastered sun hopelessly struggled to fling a parting beam upon the ruffled waters. The fisherman had hauled his boat upon the sand, bestowed his nets and other tackle in safety for the night, and taken his seat at his fireside, with a lighted pipe. The door of his hut standing wide open and looking southwardly, showed him the Potomac, even across to that remote cape called by the early settlers after St. Gregory, but now known as Smith's Point. "Look out, dame," said the fisherman, as he cast his eye over this extensive sheet of water, yet illu mined with the light of parting day, "and you shall see a strange craft beating up from the Virginia shore; she is almost too light a skiff for such a sea as that now running in. Hast seen it go down the river to-day? Where can it belong?" "It is a new sight to me," replied the wife; "I saw nothing like it go down from St. Mary's to day." "He does not shape his course, either, up the river, so much as he makes for this shore," added the fisherman. "He comes from some harbour on the other side, short of St. Gregory. His business must drive him hard, to bring him out at this hour, in the teeth of such a wind. I will keep an eye on that fellow, wife; there is enough in his venturing, to raise a suspicion." The homely supper of the family, soon after this, ROB OF THE BOWL 303 called off the fisherman from his watch, which indeed the thickening shades of night soon rendered useless, and the only vigilance which the master of the hut could now exercise was shown in an occa sional walk to the beach, in the hope that the nearer approach of the boatman might inform him with more certainty whether her course lay towards the town. Nothing however was gained by these visits ; no boat came in view, and the gloom forbade further observation. The craft was some seven or eight miles, at least, from shore when she was last seen, and the fisherman, giving up all hope of learn ing more that night, threw his weary frame upon his tattered couch and sunk into a profound sleep. During the night a growl of the house-dog, and the tread of a foot upon the gravel, woke the uneasy-slumbering dame, but the sound had died away amidst the plash of waves upon the strand, before she could rouse the heavy and torpid frame of her snoring lord. When at last he woke, it was only to utter a drowsy and bewildered reproof for the annoyance he had suffered, and to fall back again into his former deep unconsciousness. At early dawn, however, he was abroad, breathing the sharp, cold breeze of the clear morning. Below his hut, seaward, he could descry upon the beach, some miles short of Point Look Out, the small craft which, on the previous evening, he had noted stand ing across the river. It was a suspicious sight to see a boat at such a time in such a place; and con- 304 ROB OF THE BOWL necting it with the circumstances his wife had remarked in the night, Fluke found reason enough to put himself on the watch for the person who con trolled its motions. He accordingly went into his hut, sticking under his girdle a horseman's pistol which he kept for domestic defence, and taking a stout \vhite-oak staff in his hand, he trudged forth along the margin of the river, resolved to plant him self in some advantageous position, whence he might intercept any one who should approach the boat by land. He had not left his door above half an hour, before his wife observed a traveller, in a seaman's dress partially concealed by a grey cloak, striding on foot along the field contiguous to the beach, in the same direction that her husband had just taken. The mastiff of the household was the first to chal lenge the stranger, by springing almost to his heel, a trespass that was instantly resented by a sturdy blow from a walking-stick that sent the dog yelping back to the hut. "St. lago! I will kill the dog!" exclaimed the wayfarer. "Woman," he added, as soon as he became aware that the dame had her eye upon him, "why dost thou not chain up the beast? By my hand! I will make short work with him if he interrupt me again." And without waiting to hear the dame's half-chiding, half-encouraging address to the dog "Get thee in, for a saucy, old, honest snarler !" or her defence of him : "He will not hurt you, sir; his growl is worse than his bite," he ROB OF THE BOWL 305 strode so rapidly onward as soon to be out of view. In less than an hour after sunrise, the little chaloupe was seen laying her course gallantly before the wind, with her tiny sail filled almost to burst ing, as she bore for the opposite side of the Poto mac. CHAPTER XVII. It creeps, the swarthy funeral train, The corse is on the bier. Leonora. THE distant bell of St. Inigoe's was heard sum moning the priests of the House to the chapel service of the Vigil of All Souls, or, in other words, the season had now advanced as far as high noon on the last day of October, when the quay in front of the Crow and Archer was enlivened by the gossipping faces of a group of quidnuncs who had assembled there in the warm sunshine, to dis cuss a most melancholy piece of intelligence which had just come to town, and which was debated with that characteristic respect for truth and decent spirit of condolence with which horrible accidents and distressing casualties are generally propagated. "There's proclamation of hue and cry out," said Willy of the Flats, speaking as one who had obtained possession of a state secret "I heard it 306 ROB OF THE BOWL myself, but now, at the mansion, from Master Llewellen, who was sent for, on set purpose, by his Lordship, to make proclamation by hue and cry as fast as it can be writ down." "Good reason!" replied Mug the sexton; "I'll warrant you Tiquassino's men have slipped across the bay, with Jackanapes or Robin Hood at their lead, to whet their knives on Christian flesh; and if they are to be caught, we must do it quick, I can tell you, neighbours. Will the body be brought to town?" "That shall be as Master Coroner shall order," said Garret Weasel, with the air of a man who felt himself entitled to instruct the company in matters of law. "No one durst touch the body till the coro ner has dealt with it. Giles Ferret must have a fancy, forsooth, to summon me on his jury! but I foiled him on privilege, d'ye see, masters, for the Sheriff hath set me down on the panel for the pro vincial court next week; so no two juries for me, Master Coroner, says I. Lord, lord! I could no more face Simon Fluke's family, to say nothing of the dead man himself, in their distress, than I could look upon my own dame in her winding- sheet." "Troth ! you shall never look at me in that dress," exclaimed the laughing landlady, who stood on the skirt of the crowd, hitherto unseen by her husband. "I have pranked out two as pretty men in woollen as yourself, Garret Weasel, before I had the good ROB OF THE BOWL 307 luck to clap eyes on you; and, faith, I mean to put you to bed with the shovel, ere I go myself. What are the townsfolk good for, that they are not up and abroad to find out the villains who murdered the fisherman ?" "They talk of a following with hot hand," said Derrick Brown, in reply to the question of the hos tess, "as soon as the Coroner comes back. The Indians are lurking somewhere upon the border of the settlements : take my word it will be proved so." "An' we were sure of that," said Garret Weasel, "I should be for boot and spur, harquebuss and hanger, up and away, lads; but we must move with caution in the matter till we get lawful ground for an out-riding. Give us the hue and cry before we start." "Some do say," interposed Master Clink, a mender of kettles, who had left his work so hastily that he had not thrown aside his leather apron, "that the murder was done by Papists in the dis guise of Indians." "I'll warrant you as many lies will be pinned upon the back of this murder as it will hold," said a tall, sallow, spare-built man, who was known as the head constable of the riding of St. George's. "It is ever the fashion now, when a piece of mischief has been practised, for one side or the other to turn it into a church matter. Everybody knows that Simon Fluke was as good a Roman as there was in the riding. Why dost thou prate about the 308 ROB OF THE BOWL Papists, Tom Clink ? Who told thee that monstrous lie?" "By the faith of my body! I did hear it whis pered," replied the tinker; "though, as I am an honest man, I did not believe it." Whilst this little knot of newsmongers continued upon the quay, discussing the rumours of the day and, now and then, enlivening their drooping spirits with a resort to the red lattice of the Crow and Archer, behind which Matty Scamper and Dame Dorothy by turns administered the refreshment of a cup of ale or some stronger potation, two boats were discovered approaching the harbour from a point below St. Inigoe's, and making as much speed as their complement of oars would allow. As they neared the quay, it became apparent that the first contained a coffin attended by the fisherman's family, and two priests; the second was freighted with the jury under the charge of Master Giles Fer ret, the Coroner. Whilst the boats are approaching, we recur to our narrative where we left it at the conclusion of the last chapter; deeming it necessary to say that the anxious wife, after venting some unavailing and affectionate expressions of impatience at her hus band's delay in returning to his breakfast, sat down to her meal, unconscious of the cause that detained her mate, and ascribing his absence to that care lessness of hours which grew out of the nature of his calling. Noon came, and the frugal board was ROB OF THE BOWL 309 again spread for dinner, but to it came no father of the wondering household ; still the vacant seat was not so unusual a spectacle as to excite alarm. But when the sun began to dip upon the verge of the western horizon, and no trace could be discerned of the homeward step of the fisherman, fears arose in the bosom of his wife, and long and earnestly she paced the beach and strained her sight to catch his expected form. At length, heading her little household troop, she sallied forth, with hurried step, along the sands, for more than a mile; and finding no vestige of him, returned sorrowfully to her humble roof and gave up the night to that sharpest of all the trials by which grief may assail the human breast, the half-hoping, half-fearing, silent, doubting watchfulness for the approach of evil tidings, which the heart, by a strange presenti ment, sometimes truly foretells. At daylight her eldest boy was despatched to the house of St. Inigoe's for aid, and very soon some four or five persons were on foot to scour the coun try in quest of the lost man. A short search dis closed the dreadful truth : the body was found in a thicket of cedar, with the marks of a bullet through the brain ; the spot within a hundred paces of the shore of a small inlet (at this day known as Smith's creek,) that flowed from the Potomac a few miles westward of Point Lookout. There were the foot prints of men upon the beach, and marks of the keel of a boat which had been drawn up on the sand. 310 ROB OF THE BOWL The wretched wife could only tell of her husband's jdeparture in the morning: all other recollections, in the depth of her sorrow, were swept from her mind; and the persons who were busy in seeking out the facts of the murder were obliged to leave the spot with nothing better than vague conjectures as to the agency by which it was perpetrated. The tidings were quickly brought to the town, and the Coroner instantly proceeded with a jury to the spot to perform the duties required by the law. His office was soon discharged, and, as we have seen, he was now, early in the afternoon, on his return with the body of the deceased, attended by the wailing family and the jury who had pro nounced their verdict of "intentional homicide by persons unknown." In the excited state of parties, at this crisis, the Proprietary did not choose to risk a popular tumult. Already, as was usual at that day, regardless of any ascertained fact relating to the murder, common opinion ascribed it to the Indians; whilst the more violent of the factionists noised it abroad as a con trivance of the Catholic party to overawe their ad versaries, directly charging the murder upon the friends of the Proprietary, who, it was alleged, had accomplished it in the garb of Indians. The ani mosity with which this improbable and, in this case, absurd report (for the deceased was known by many, to be of the same faith with his imputed murderers) was propagated, induced, in the mind ROB OF THE BOWL 311 of Lord Baltimore, an apprehension of some dis turbance, and he had accordingly directed Captain Dauntrees to keep his force in readiness to suppress any attempt at disorder which might arise. The boats, therefore, were no sooner discovered ap proaching the quay, than the garrison of the Fort were drawn out by their Captain and marched to the foot of the mulberry at the Town House, where they awaited the funeral procession, which it was designed they should accompany to the grave. Many of the townspeople of both sexes formed in the procession, which was brought up in the rear by the company of musqueteers, who wheeled into the line of march, as the last of the marshalled fol lowers of the body passed from beneath the shade of the mulberry. The bell of the Chapel of St. Mary's tolled whilst the train moved, at a measured pace, towards the church door, where being met by Father Pierre, the corpse was deposited in the aisle; and the good priest, with such despatch as might com port with the solemnity of his duty, performed the appointed service of the dead, in the presence of the large body of spectators who had pressed into the building. Whilst the crowd was still engaged as witnesses of this scene, a rumour was whispered around that the proclamation of hue and cry had just been put forth by the council. A messenger came for Cap tain Dauntrees, who was observed, immediately afterward, silently to steal forth from the church, 3lfc ROB OF THE BOWL and to take his way with hasty strides towards the Proprietary mansion. By degrees, one after an other, the spectators followed, and were soon discovered in groups scattered about the town; until, at last, the corpse was left with but few more attendants than were necessary to perform the proper duties of sepulture. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed before mounted men were seen galloping through the ave nues of the little city. The silence which attended the funeral procession was exchanged for busy and clamorous conversation; the bell had ceased to toll, and in its place the notes of a trumpet were suc cessively heard at several points, as a horseman paced from place to place, and read the proclama tion calling on the burghers to follow with Hue and Cry the perpetrators of the vile murder of honest Simon Fluke. Whilst the burial of the fisherman, and the topics to which it gave rise, engrossed the attention of young and old in the town, Albert Verheyden, dressed in a riding suit with a winter surcoat or horseman's cassock loosely thrown around his per son, made his appearance on horseback at the Rose Croft. He had engaged to ride towards the Chesa peake with Colonel Talbot and a troop of followers, to explore the country as far down as Point Look out, where rumour had already affirmed certain Indians of suspicious bearing to have recently landed from the opposite shore of the Chesapeake. ROB OF THE BOWL 313 Talbot himself had projected this expedition mainly with a view to sift out and expose the calumny which imputed the recent murder to the friends of the Proprietary; and he was the more whetted in his purpose by a secret expectation that a vigorous endeavour would enable him not only to refute the slander, but to furnish evidence of the agency of the opposite party in the perpetration of the crime. His purpose being made known in the family of the Proprietary, it was with a modest yet eager petition that Albert Verheyden asked leave to accompany him on the expedition, a request which was granted with even more alacrity than that with which it was made. The hour appointed for setting out was delayed only until a sufficient party should be collected; and this was retarded by the ceremony of the funeral and the common anxiety to await the tidings expected by the coroner and his attendants. In the meantime, the Secretary, feeling more con cern in the affairs at the Rose Croft than in the gossip of the town, repaired thither to await the moment of departure, having commissioned the young Benedict Leonard to ride as far as the Col lector's and give him warning when the troop should take the road a service which the heir ap parent promised to perform with the greater satis faction, as it assigned him some show of duty in the general engrossment of the household, and there fore conferred upon him an importance interesting to his vanity. 314 ROB OF THE BOWL The Secretary had been seated for some time in the parlour with Blanche, where he related to her the story of the fisherman's murder with a touching sadness; and when he told her of his purposed ad venture, it was with a prouder tone than he had ever assumed before ; there was even perceptible in it a trace of self-exaltation altogether unusual in his speech. Blanche listened with maidenly reserve, as if she was almost ashamed to confess the interest she took in Master Albert's communication. She was solicitous for his health and comfort in the dreary ride through the woods he was about to under take, and which might be prolonged until late at night ; and she was fain almost to advise him against such an exposure, but she feared to tell him so much, lest it might be thought taking too great a freedom. Thus engrossed, the hours flew by un heeded, and, in truth, forgotten, until the afternoon had reached nearly four o'clock, when suddenly Benedict Leonard, without announcement or even premonitory rap at the door, entered the parlour. "Goodness, Master Albert !" he exclaimed, "think of me such a crack-noddle! You will never trust me again, I may make sure of that. Would you be lieve it, I rode full two miles past the Rose Croft here, with my uncle Talbot and John Alward, and all the people on their way to hunt the murderers, without so much as ever once thinking of you? I said, when we started, I would ride as far as St. Inigoe's mill, and then come back; and I as clear ROB OF THE BOWL 315 forgot you till I stopped at the mill as if there was no such person as you or Blanche Warden in the wide world : and I might have thought of Mistress Blanche, too, because my Aunt Maria gave me a message for her now what is it ? Oh, it is gone, it is gone ! a plague on it ! that's got out of my head, too. No matter, Master Albert, my Uncle Talbot told me to say, when we parted, that he would be on the path which leads down to Point Lookout, and that you must follow as fast as you can." "It is late in the evening for so long a ride, Master Albert," said Blanche, as with a look of alarm she involuntarily laid her hand upon his shoulder; "you will not venture alone so near nightfall ?" "I should be accounted a most faithless laggard if I stayed behind now," replied the Secretary. "There is a broad road for some four miles, and I will go at speed till I overtake the riders. At the greatest mischance," he added, smiling, whilst he buttoned his overcoat closely across his breast, " 'tis but a night in the woods. I will keep this vigil of Hallow Mass like a hermit or rather like a squire of chiv alry undergoing the ordinance of knighthood, by watching over his sword. The holy saints be with you, mistress ! I must set good store by the daylight and turn it to account : farewell, till we meet again !" "Farewell!" faintly echoed the maiden; "Master Albert, let us see you to-morrow." When Albert Verheyden turned out upon the highroad he put spurs to his horse and raised his 316 ROB OF THE BOWL speed to a gallop, until he found himself immersed in the hills and ravines which lay about the head of St. Inigoe's. One or two wayfarers whom he had chanced to meet had answered his inquiry after his companions by informing him that a troop of towns people, consisting of some eight or ten, had passed along the road at a pretty brisk motion not less than three or four miles ahead of him. The broken coun try into which he had plunged (the road winding through narrow dells and surmounting short and steep acclivities), the thickets that tangled his path, and the occasional swamps of the low grounds, forced him to slacken his pace and proceed with greater caution on his route. The prints of horses' hoofs upon the damp soil in places were fresh, and showed him that he was not only on the right track, but also that he was at no great distance behind his company. Once or twice the Secretary reined up his horse and directed his eyes toward the heavens, as he meditated an abandonment of his expedition and a return home before nightfall, but as often his pride forbade a retreat whilst his com rades were afield, and he resumed his journey. He was in momentary expectation of overtaking the party in advance, and made sure of doing so when he should reach the fisherman's hut upon the river beach, towards which it was his purpose to direct his way. Occasionally a farmhouse opened upon his view across a distant field ; but he was unwilling to lose the time which a digression from his road to ROB OF THE BOWL 317 visit it would have required, only for the sake of assuring himself of his road, with which he believed himself to be sufficiently acquainted. It grew at last to be dark night, and, to add to his discomfort, the rain began to fall. The Secre tary dismounted from his horse and stood, with suppressed breath, endeavouring to catch the sound of distant waves, hoping to find himself near enough to the river to obtain this guide to his footsteps; but all was silent, except the pattering of rain upon the dry leaves of the forest, and the impatient paw ing of his horse upon the sod. He shouted aloud for his lost companions, but his voice echoed, without response, through the lonesome wood. "I jested with thee," he muttered to himself, in a jocular tone, referring to the maiden who was ever uppermost in his thoughts, "I jested with thee, but a few hours ago, upon my keeping a vigil of Hallow Mass in the woods. Dear Blanche, I thought nothing farther away than that jest should be true; but here my evil destiny hath brought me, for a punishment, to make it real." He now groped around to gather some dry wood, hoping, by the aid of his pistol, to kindle a blaze by which he might warm himself and prepare to spend the night in more comfort than on his horse. He laboured in vain, for everything he could lay his hand on was saturated with moisture. At length he mounted again into his saddle, determined to ride onward until he should chance to find some place of 318 ROB OF THE BOWL shelter. He had now not only lost his path, but also all perception of his course : the darkness confused him, and he therefore plodded on at a slow pace, unconscious to what quarter of the compass his foot steps tended, and discouraged with the thought that every moment, perhaps, carried him still further from the home he was anxious to seek. In this state of mind, for full four hours after dark, did he wander, uncertain of his way, through wood and over plain, mid brush and brier, over fen and field. At length his ear could plainly distinguish the beat of waves upon a strand, and it was with a joyful change of feeling that he believed himself, after so weary a circuit, approaching the margin of the river, along which he was aware he should have a plainer ride, with the certainty, in the course of a mile or two, of finding some human habitation. As the sound of the waters grew stronger, whilst he advanced to the beach, his eye was all at once greeted with the welcome sight of a taper glimmering through the glade, and, by its steady light, assuring him that no Will-o'-the-wisp, as sometimes he feared, had risen to bewilder his journey. With new courage and reviving strength he shaped his course towards the friendly ray; on which pursuit we must now leave him, to attend to other personages in our story. ROB OF THE BOWL 319 CHAPTER XVIII. Have not we commonwealth amongst ourselves, ye Tripolites? A commonwealth? a kingdom! And I am The prince of Qui-va-las, your sovereign thief, And you are all my subjects. The Sisters. WHEN Cocklescraft asked for Godfrey's horse on the night that succeeded the prize-play, the reader will remember that, as Captain Dauntrees overheard the conversation, it was accompanied with an avowal of a purpose to warn an enemy, whose name was not disclosed, of some premeditated harm which the speaker designed to inflict. The broad arrow scratched on the door of the Collector's dwelling, when discovered on the ensuing morning, plainly enough referred to the fearful menace of the seaman, and sufficiently indicated how bitter was his change of feeling against the peaceful inmates of the Rose Croft. Mr. Warden attached but little consequence to the implied threat, nor troubled himself with measures to guard against the intended mischief, believing it to be but an ebullition of that spirit of disaffection which the prompt measures of the Council had already so far rebuked as to leave but little to apprehend. Cocklescraft, immediately after returning to the town from his midnight ride, went on board of his 320 ROB OF THE BOWL brigantine, and quietly weighing anchor, set sail down the river and thence across the Potomac here some eight miles wide and finally, before day light, made his way into a small creek on the Vir ginia shore, a few miles above Smith's Point, or Cape St. Gregory. Here his vessel lay sheltered from the observation of the few boats which passed up and down the Potomac, thus affording him probable security against pursuit; whilst, at the same time, the inhabitants of this region were reputed generally to be friends to the cause of the Fendalls and enemies of long standing to the Proprietary. He had, therefore, only to make known the colours under which he had lately taken service, and he might assure himself of stout partisans in his defence. On the second night after his arrival at this retreat, up to which period he had remained ignorant of all that had transpired in the town in regard to the arrest of his comrades, he threw a cloak over his shoulders, and taking a common sailor-cap, got into his yawl, which was now rigged with a mast and sail, and steered for a point on the Maryland shore, but a short distance below the hut of the fisherman. His motive for this caution in not approaching nearer to the town arose from an apprehension that he might be watched by the garrison of the Fort, and perhaps pursued to his lurking place an appre hension suggested by that sense of guilt which pre dominated over every other feeling since his deser- ROB OF THE BOWL 321 tion of his late friends and what weighed with heavier terror upon his mind his abandonment of his church. To avoid this notice he landed near the mouth of St. Mary's river, and proceeded from that point, on foot, to the town, a distance of some five or six miles. In his journey along the beach he had passed by the hut of the fisherman, and had crossed the creek of St. Inigoe's, immediately from the Jesuit House over to the Collector's landing place, being enabled to make this passage in the manner detailed by the Superior to the Lord Proprietary. Upon his arrival at the Crow and Archer after night, he became acquainted for the first time with the arrest of the conspirators. This intelligence hastened him away to hold a short interview with Chiseldine, by whom he was admonished to tarry as short a time as possible in the port, as orders were already abroad for his apprehension. The ad vice thus timely offered enabled him to effect a speedy retreat to his boat, by the same route that he had taken in coming to the town; and he was thus saved from the fate that would have overtaken him if he had remained half an hour longer than the moment of the fiddler's visit to Captain Dauntrees. Tired of lying perdue so long on the Virginia shore, he determined to proceed with his brig first to St. Jerome's, where he proposed to wait two or three days to observe the course of events, and then either to sail abroad or take his course up the Chesa peake, where, if pursued, he was willing to trust 322 ROB OF THE BOWL to the speed of his vessel to baffle all endeavours towards his arrest. Upon the deck of the Olive Branch, or, as she has now laid aside her peaceful character, we may call her the Escalfador he felt himself secure against annoyance from any naval force at the disposal of the Proprietary, and this cir cumstance, together with a strong confidence in the number of the disaffected with whom he was associ ated, inspired him with an audacity that almost defied the public authorities even in their own resorts. With a view to communicate his intended change of position to his confederates, he made his second visit to the town pretty nearly in the same man ner that he had accomplished the first. His stay in the port, however, was longer than on the former night, and it was consequently after break of day that he passed the hut of Simon Fluke. On his near approach to the spot where his skiff awaited him he encountered the fisherman, who was lurking upon his path, and who, at the moment they came within speaking distance, was endeavouring to conceal him self in a thicket of cedars. Cocklescraft was not a man to hesitate in the commission of a crime under any circumstances, and least of all when it con cerned his safety. On the present occasion he did not stop to parley with the person who waylaid his footsteps, but obeying the impulse of his habitual sense of hostility to his kind, and the ferocity of his nature, he drew a pistol from his girdle and dis charged the contents with such certain effect that ROB OF THE BOWL 323 the fisherman fell dead at his feet without a groan. He tarried not to look upon the murdered man, nor to take any concern even for the disposal of the body, but leaving it a prey to the wild birds that hovered near, he stept into his boat with as little emotion or remorse as if he had despatched some prowling beast, not caring to inquire who or what he was that invaded his path. On the night that followed this adventure the Olive Branch quitted her temporary harbour, and the next morning found her secretly ensconced behind a woody headland, in a nook of St. Jerome's creek, about two miles above its mouth, where she lay safe from the view of all who navigated the Chesapeake. Cocklescraft began already to feel that he had joined his new associates in an hour not the most auspicious to his fortunes. The arrest of the leaders and the quiet that seemed to prevail throughout the land created a doubt in his mind whether anything was likely to be achieved in the way that he desired ; and more than once he meditated a retreat from the province, yet resolved before he did so to signalise the event by some flagrant act of vengeance upon his enemies. This thought seemed to please him; and he spent the day in ruminating over schemes of retribution against those who had of late treated him with such contumely. Uppermost in his breathings of hatred was the name of Albert Verheyden, and a demon smile curled upon his lip when he muttered it. Such provision as might hastily be made for a 324 ROB OF THE BOWL short voyage now engrossed the attention of his crew. His armament was put in order, water > taken in, and every thing done except the stowing on board of such commodities as he designed to take away to other markets to prepare him for sailing within the next twenty-four hours, if occasion should require. When night came on, and the rain fell, and the moon was quenched, and the murky, cheerless atmosphere so congenial with the unlawful com plexion of his designs admonished him how little likely it was that prying feet or watchful eyes should be abroad, a revel was held in the Wizard's Chapel. Amidst the lumber that lay piled in confusion over the floor of the rude but spacious building, room was found for a rough table, around which empty casks, broken boxes and other appropriate furniture of a smuggler's den supplied seats sufficient for the accommodation of twelve or fifteen persons. Here were assembled the crew of the Escalfador, with an abundant supply of strong liquors and tobacco. A fire blazed on the ample hearth, furnishing to such as desired it the means of cooking, in a simple fashion, some substantial elements of the evening meal; an opportunity which was not neglected, as was apparent from the bones and scraps of broken victuals which lay scattered about the fireplace, and from the strong fumes of roasted meat which sent their savour into every corner of the apartment. The men who constituted this company, number- ROB OF THE BOWL 32S ing without their leader full sixteen, were robust, swarthy seamen, the greater portion of them dis tinguished by the dark olive complexions and curling black hair which denoted their origin in Portugal or other parts of the South of Europe. Several wore rings in the ears and on the fingers, and were bedizened with strange and outlandish jewelry. The thick moustache and shaggy brow gave a peculiar ferocity to more than one of the company, whilst the close and braided seaman's jacket, gaudy woollen caps and wide breeches the common costume of the crew imparted a foreign air to the whole group. Some wore rich girdles with ornamented pistols and daggers; and the plainest among them showed a knife secured under a leathern belt. Their only attendant was Kate of Warrington, who grudgingly answered the frequent call for fresh potations, as the revellers washed down their coarse mirth with draughts of brandy and usquebaugh. Cocklescraft sat somewhat elevated above the rest, at the head of the board, where, without carous ing as deeply as his sailors, he stimulated their noisy jollity by clamorous applause. A witness rather than a partaker of this uncouth wassail was the Cripple, who, having matters of account to settle with several of the crew before they took their de parture, had now swung himself into a corner, where, with a lighted faggot stuck in the crevice of the wall, he alternately gave his attention to a pouch containing his papers of business and to the revelry 326 ROB OF THE BOWL of the moment, chiding the prodigal laughter of the crew one moment with querulous reproof and the next with a satirical merriment. "Bowse it, lads!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, as he brandished a cup in his hand; "drain dry to the Escalfador! our merry little frigate shall dance to-morrow on the green wave, so do honour to the last night we spend ashore. Remember, we have a reckoning to settle before we depart with the good folks of St. Mary's. Are you all ready to follow me in an exploit of rare deviltry ? Speak, boys !" "Ay, ready, Master Captain!" was the response in a general shout. This outburst roused the Cripple, who, lifting his head from the paper, which at that moment he was perusing, and looking from under his spectacles upon the crew, was heard to mutter when the shout subsided "As ready as wolves to suck the blood of lambs. How can they be else under thy nursing, Dickon?" "Ha, old dry bones, art thou awake? By St. lago! I thought that thy leaden eyelids, Rob, had been sealed before this. Ho, lads, bring Master Robert Swale forward we shall treat him as be comes a man of worship : upon the table with him, boys." The face of the Cripple grew instantly red, as a sudden flash of passion broke across it. He dropped the paper from his hand and drew his dagger; then, with a compressed lip and kindling eye, spoke ROB OF THE BOWL 327 out "By St. Romuald! the man that dares to lay hand on me to move me where it is not my pleasure to go shall leave as deep a blood stain on this floor as flowed from the veins of Paul Kelpy. Who are you, Dickon Cocklescraft, that you venture to bait me with your bullies?" "How now, Master Rob ?" exclaimed the Skipper, as he rose from his seat and approached the Cripple. "Would'st quarrel with friends? 'Twas but in honest reverence, and not as against your will, that I would have had thee brought to the table. Come, old comrade, we will not be ruffled when we are to part so soon. What would'st thou have, good Rob?" "These bills shall be first paid by your drinking roysters before they go to sea," replied the Cripple, somewhat appeased by the Skipper's manner. "Here are items of sundry comforts supplied meat and drink and lodging; and here are services of Mis tress Kate both in making and mending; here for trampling down my corn, and for killing " "Pshaw a fig's end for thy trampings and kill ings, and all this rigmarole of washing and mend ing!" interrupted Cocklescraft. "I would be sworn thy conscience has undercharged thy commodity: so, there is enough to content thee for the whole, with good usury to the back of it," he said, putting a well-stored purse of gold into Rob's hand. "Thou hast ever been too modest in thy dealings, friend Robert of the Trencher : when thou gettest older 328 ROB OF THE BOWL thou wilt know how to increase thy gear by lawful gain." "A hang-dog a scape-grace a kill-cow a devil's babe in swaddling bands of iniquity, thou art, child Dickon !" said Rob, laughing with that bitter, salt laugh that gave to his countenance the expres sion of extreme old age. "Thou dost not lack, with all thy wickedness, an open hand. I have ever found thee ready with thy gold. It comes over the devil's back Dickon, ha, ha! over the devil's back, youngster, and it goes you know the proverb. This closes accounts, so now for your humour, lads. I will pledge you in a cup." "To the table with him, boys," said Cocklescraft, nodding his head to those who sat near him ; and in a moment the Cripple was lifted up in his bowl and set, like a huge dish, in the middle of the board, a ghastly grin of acquiescence playing all the time upon his sallow features. "Fill me a glass of that wine of Portugal," said Rob, as soon as he found himself in the centre of the company. "Here, boys," he added when the wine was put in his hand, "here is success to your next venture, and a merry meeting- to count your gains." "Amen to that!" shouted Cocklescraft. "Our next venture will be a stoop upon the doves of St. Mary's." "And a merry meeting will it be when you count your grains," interposed the harsh voice of Kate of ROB OF THE BOWL 329 Warrington. "Robert Swale will keep the reckon ing of it." "Peace, old woman," said Cocklescraft, sharply; "your accursed croaking is ever loudest when least welcome." "Fill for rrie," cried out Roche del Carmine, in his Portuguese accent. "I will pledge the Captain and our company with 'His Lordship's Secretary,' we owe him a debt which shall be paid in the coin of the Costa Rica." "Bravo, A la savanna, perros! Huzza, boys, shout to that!" clamoured Cocklescraft at the top of his voice. "Drink deep to it, in token of a deep vengeance! I thank you, Master Roche, for this remembrance. Now, comrades, you have but half an hour left before you must depart to bring down the brigantine to the mouth of the creek. A pipe and a glass more and then away : so, to it roundly and make profit of your time! Tobacco, Mistress Kate, fill Master Swale's pipe first, and then mine : make the bottle stir, my merry men all !" Having thus given a new spur to the revelry of the board, the Skipper, unasked, broke forth with a smoking song familiar to the tavern-haunters of that era : "Tobacco's a musician, And in a pipe delighteth; It descends in a close Through the organ of the nose, With a relish that inviteth. This makes me sing, So, ho, ho! so, ho, ho, boys. 330 ROB OF THE BOWL Ho, boys, sound I loudly, Earth never did breed Such a jovial weed Whereof to boast so proudly." "The cackle of a wild goose, the screech of a kingfisher in foul weather, hath more music in it, Dickon Cocklescraft, than this thou call'st singing," said Rob. "I would counsel thee stick to thy voca tion thy vocation, Master Shark, of drinking and throat-cutting, and leave this gentle craft of music- making to such as have no heart to admire thy virtues. Ha, ha !" he paused a moment to indulge his laugh. "When a galliard of thy kidney, dashed with such poisonous juices as went into the milk that fed thee, hath a conceit to be merry, the fire-crack ling of roof trees and the clashing of steel are the fittest melody for his mirth. Dickon, try no more ditties thou wilt never make a living by the art." "By St. James! I have sung at more honourable feasts than it ever fell to your lot to partake of. Ay, and lady-songs, too, and been applauded for my voice, old goblin of the Bowl! Have I not sung at the back of Sir Harry Morgan's chair, in the great hall of the Governor of Chagres, in the Castle St. Lawrence, when we made feast there after the sack of the place?" "Truly," replied the Cripple; "whilst the hall streamed with blood, and the dead corpse of the ROB OF THE BOWL 331 Governor was flung like rubbish into a corner, to give more zest to your banquet " "You have a license, Rob of the Trencher," inter rupted Cocklescraft, "to snarl at those you cannot excel. So e'en take your own sweep. When you can better sing a better song, then I will hearken to thee." "On my conscience, can I now, at this very speak ing, Dickon Cocklescraft," said the Cripple, "a better song than ever trilled through thy pipes. All dainty meats, I do defy, Which feed men fat as swine/ " he sung, by way of proof of his skill, with a tremu' lous cadence and melancholy whine, as he flourished his pipe in a line with his eyes, and nodded his head to mark the time. "The man has gone clean mad," ejaculated Kate of Warrington, who had for some time past been quietly seated on a stool near the fire, and who now arose and stepped up to the table to satisfy herself that it was actually the Cripple whose voice had aroused her. "Thou hadst better be telling thy beads and repenting of thy sins upon thy shrivelled hams than tinkling thy cracked and worn-out voice at mid night, to be laughed at by guzzling fools '.arked at by sea-dogs ! It is time, Robert Swale, thy old bones were stretched on thy bed." "Faith, thou say'st true, Mistress Nightshade," replied Rob; "thou speak'st most truly: I am over 332 ROB OF THE BOWL easy to be persuaded into unwholesome merriment it hath been the sin of my life. So put me on the floor and now my crutches my sticks, Kate. There thy lantern, Kate." "Away, lads, to the brigantine," said Cocklescraft, rising from his seat. "When you get her at anchor off the Chapel, come ashore and pipe me up with the boatswain's whistle. We have some boxes here to put on board ; and then, good fellows, we will make a flight into the city, and ruffle the sleep of some of the burghers by way of a farewell. Rob, I will go with you to your cabin : I shall catch an hour's sleep in my cloak." "As thou wilt as thou wilt, Dickon," returned the Cripple as he set forth, with a brisk fling, on his journey, lighted by the lantern of the beldam. "Leave the lamp burning," said Cocklescraft to the last of the crew, as the man was about to follow his companions, who had already left the room; "it will serve to steer by when the brigantine comes out of the creek." In the next moment the Wizard's Chapel was de serted by all its late noisy tenants, and the Skipper was on his way, in the track of the Cripple, towards the hut. ROB OF THE BOWL 333 CHAPTER XIX. Cold drove the rain November's wind Sang to the night with dreary din: A wanderer came, but did not find A heart or hand to let him in. Glengonar's Wassail. As Albert Verheyden approache nearer to the light that had broken upon his view and cheered his footstep, he was able to discern the dim outline of a building of ample dimensions, obscurely traced on the eastern horizon, now relieved of that background of forest which had hitherto circumscribed his vision. The rain still continued to fail in a soft and steady drizzle, through which a feeble, diffused light barely sufficed to show that the moon, new entering on her second quarter, struggled to assert her dominion over the night. The w:\ve rolling in upon t^e sand with a ceaseless and sharp monotony apprised him of the proximity of a broad expanse of water, and he had accordingly little doubt that re had now reached the shore of the Potomac somewhere, as he con jectured, in the neighbourhood of the cabin of Simon Fluke, whither he supposed his steps had unknow ingly tended through the long and perplexed circuit of his bewildered journey. When within an hundred paces of the light, he found his further progress on horseback embarrassed by a somewhat precipitous bank, which induced Him 334 ROB OF THE BOWL to alight and make the rest of his way on foot, leav ing his horse attached to the drooping limb of the tree under which he had dismounted. \Yith eager step he advanced to the house, and on reaching the door, knocking loudly for admission." "Good people," he exclaimed as he repeated his knocks, "arouse for the sake of a benighted wanderer who has lost his way in the wood. Pray you, give me admittance." There was no answer; and finding that upon touching the latch the door yielded to his thrust, he entered without further ceremony. The embers of a large fire glowed on the hearth : a solitary iron lamp, supplied with the fat of some animal, instead of oil, burned with a bickering flame upon the middle of a coarse table, over which cups and cans, glasses and bottles were strewed in disorder; pipes lay scattered around, and the coarse hempen covers of bales and cordage of broken packages lumbered up the corners of the room. As the Secretary raked up the glowing coals and warmed himself before the welcome fire, it was with an air of wonderment, not unmixed with apprehension, that he cast his eyes around this strange and uncouth place, and lost himself in the attempt to conjecture whither his erring fortune had conducted him. "Here have been dwellers," he said, "and recently; but whither have they fled? Can I have so far lost my way as to have straggled to the Patuxent, instead of the Potomac? Faith, I believe it; for I ROB OF THE BOWL 335 have heard my Lord has a store-house there, where he collects his customs and this, by what I see around me, must be some such place. Well, Patux- ent or Potomac, I care not which ; most heartily is the roof welcome; for beyond this I venture not again to-night. I shall stretch me down on these coarse wrappings. And there, good cassock, thou hast done me faithful service to-night : before the fire I spread thee out to dry, and in this corner make my bed." As these muttered ruminations escaped the Secre tary's lips, he collected the remnants of bags and the rough cloths that had formerly served to envelope items of merchandise into a heap on one side of the fireplace "near the wall; and spreading his wet sur- coat in front of the live embers which he had now renovated with some billets of wood that lay at hand, he flung his exhausted frame upon his hastily-gath ered bed, and in a few moments was locked in a sleep that might have defied the clamour of a marching host. Here we leave him, whilst we turn to the hut of the Cripple. The Skipper, intending to meet his men as soon as they should despatch the business upon which they were sent, and desirous to snatch a short repose in the interval of their absence, had thrown himself, immediately after entering Rob's cabin, upon a couch of the skins of wild animals, which the woman of Warrington had spread for him; Rob had with- 336 ROB OF THE BOWL drawn into his own apartment, and the crone, hav ing now discharged her household cares, hastened over the bank to her solitary lodge. For some time the Cripple remained in an abstracted self-com munion, whispering to himself bitter taunts upon his own folly in consorting with the ruffians of the Chapel, and occasionally chuckling with his cus tomary sneer, at the profligate arts by which they collected their wealth, and the dissolute liberality with which it was squandered. After this, accord ing to a usage which was observed with singular exactness for one of his habits of life, he addressed himself to his devotions, with the apparent fervour of a sincere penitent, and scrupulously performed the offices of prayer and meditation appointed by the ordinances of the church to which he belonged. When, at length, he was about to retire to rest, he was not able contentedly to do so, until, with that characteristic solicitude which belonged equally to his temper and the period of his life, he gave a few parting moments to the computation of the gains of the day. "Dotard!" he exclaimed, as he began to cast up this account, "I have left my wallet in yonder Chapel, with all my papers. Oh these cup-riots these heady revels, made for hot-brained fools and prodigal unthrifts! What fellowship should my white hairs and hollow wrinkles find with them, that I must needs turn herdsmen to these bears? Folly goeth armed with a scourge, and layeth on ROB OF THE BOWL 337 roundly, good faith ! How have I been whipped by that most wise fool in my time! Well, for a pen ance, get thee back, thou curtailed and misshapen sinner ! get thee back the weary way to the Chapel. Ha! should these night-birds make prize of my written memorials! Hasten hasten thee, Rob! The lantern the lantern! and then away." The lantern was lighted and swung by a small chain across his shoulder, and taking his crutches, he was soon beyond his threshold, making good speed to the Wizard's Chapel. This sudden motion had so far roused his spirit and altered his mood which was ever fitful and subject to rapid change that as he swung briskly onward, he found himself humming a tune; and when he had reached the door of the Black House, he was engaged in audibly singing the words of the song which had been so unceremoniously suspended by the interposition of Kate of Warrington: "He needs no napkin for his hands, His finger-ends to wipe, That keeps his kitchen in a box And roast meat in a pipe." "Marry, I can troll it with the best of them yet !" said, evidently proud of his performance, as he pushed the door open and entered the apartment. His first movement was towards the corner where he had been sitting before he was lifted to the table; here he discovered the leather pouch as he had left 338 ROB OF THE BOWL it. His eagerness to find what he sought in this spot, rendered him for the moment unobservant of everything else; but, now, on casting his eyes around him, he perceived the coat of the Secretary hanging in front of the fire and, in the next instant, the figure of Albert Verheyden himself prostrate on his rude pallet, breathing the long and audible in spirations of profound sleep. It was apparent to the Cripple, at a glance, that the person who lay stretched before him was not of the crew of the Skipper. With an instinctive motion he drew his long knife, or dagger, from its sheath, and swayed himself forward to the very side of the sleeping man. The dagger was uplifted, and about to descend with the impulse of a brawny muscle that would have pinned the victim to the floor, when the Cripple suspended the blow, only to make more sure, by the flash of the light of his lan tern across the sleeper's face, that the person he was about to assail was one who had no claim, from acquaintance or confederacy, to the privilege of entering under this forbidden roof. When the secret of the Black House was endangered by the rash curiosity of prying eyes, or even by the invol untary knowledge of the casual wanderer, no scruple of conscience, nor shrinking reluctance to do a deed of murder, might withhold the arm of the ruthless ascetic who ruled unquestioned over this fearful domain. A savage scowl lowered upon his sallow front as Blessed St. Romuald, shield me from this sight!" murmured Rob whilst with still fixed eyes he stared upon this image before aim. Page 339. __ Rab o ROB OF THE BOWL 339 he stretched forth his long arm and passed the lantern across the quiet visage of his unconscious victim, whilst his right hand still held the dagger in act to strike. The scowl suddenly changed, as he stooped forward more narrowly to scan the coun tenance of the sleeping man, and a strange ex pression of instant terror took its place. For some seconds his gaze was riveted upon Albert Verhey- den's beautiful features, as heaving his head up ward, in a casual motion of his slumber, the Secre tary threw the whole contour of his face into the full blaze of the light and disclosed his glossy and almost womanish ringlets, which now straggled over his ear and upon his beardless cheek. "Blessed St. Romuald, shield me from this sight!" murmured Rob, with a slow utterance and whispered voice, whilst with still fixed eyes and a frame trembling in every fibre, he stared upon the image before him. "Is it a spectre conjured hither from the grave, or the juggling cheat of a fiend, that reads to me, in that face, the warning of a life of sin? Oh God! I cannot strike thee, whatsoe'er thou art ! So, in very truth, she looked whilst slum bering on her pillow : that same fair forehead that silken eye-lash, that curling lip. Who art thou, and whence comest? What witchcraft hath thrown thee into this foul abode? Sure, I am awake! I have not closed mine eye to-night. There stand the tokens of this night's debauch; these cups, these flasks, and this familiar den of villany, all bear tes- 340 ROB OF THE BOWL timony that I do not wander in my sleep. These limbs are flesh and blood," he added, as he raised Albert's yielding hand from his bosom; "and that brow is warm with the heat of healthful action. Holy saints of Heaven! can it be? What is here?" he suddenly demanded, as his eye caught a glimpse of a jewelled trinket which, as the sleeper lay, was disclosed in the inner folds of his dress, and which the Cripple drew forth by the chain to which it was attached. " 'To LOUISE !' " he exclaimed, when his eye fell upon the simple inscription on the back of the richly mounted miniature "God of Heaven, by what miracle am I haunted with this sight! Louise Louise poor girl! that little por traiture of thyself I gave thee with mine own hand 'tis now two and twenty years ago : it was a stolen effort of the painter's skill, and thou wert then an angel of light that shed a blissful radiance upon my path. And is it then true, that this Ver- heyden, upon whose head I have heard ruffian curses heaped and pledged in maddening draughts by devils at their carouse, is thy child, Louise? Mine, I would fain confess, after a long and stubborn life of passionate denial and scornful hate. Oh, Louise!" he groaned aloud, as tears coursed down his withered cheek, whilst he bent over the Secre tary and parted the hair from the forehead, upon which he imprinted a kiss; "hapless was thy fate, but doubly wretched mine. William Weatherby, thou hast been the fool and dupe of that devilish ROB OF THE BOWL 341 disease of thy blood which hath brought showered curses upon thee and thine! There, sleep on the bosom of thy child, mother of an unhappy destiny!" he said, as he quietly replaced the miniature. "This is no place for thee, unwary boy! I must rouse him ere these blood-hounds fall upon his track " "A soaking night, by St. Anthony!" ejaculated the boatswain of the Escalfador, who, at this in stant, thrust open the door and, with four or five of the seamen, came clamorously towards the fire. "Push us yon bottle, and let us see if there be any of the stuff left." "And let us have fire, Master Boatswain; I am chilled to the marrow. Pipe thy best whistle for the Captain r he told thee to pipe it roundly, as soon as the brigantine was out of the creek." "I warrant you, I will wake him," replied the boatswain, as he went to the door and blew his shrill note. "Ho, old boy of the bowl ! what i' the devil makes thee here?" demanded one of the crew, when his eyes fell upon Rob, who had, at the entrance of the men, extinguished his light. "Knave!" returned the Cripple; "who gave thee license to huff and swagger under this roof ? Where is Roche?" "Aboard the brigantine with five of our mess mates. They have her at hand ready to take in the stowage the Captain spoke of." "We heard as we came across the field," said the 342 ROB OF THE BOWL boatswain, "the snort of a runaway horse, which this fool Francis must take to be a devil in earnest and he falls to crossing himself like an old monk in a battle with Belzebub." "Whisht! we have a traveller here," said Rob, whose restless eye and anxious motion had evinced the disquiet of his mind, ever since the sailors had burst into the room, and who had now placed him self in such a position as to screen the Secretary from their observation, "a traveller who has doubt less lost his way and wandered into the Chapel." "Why dost not give him the knife?" interrupted the boatswain, in a whisper ; " 'tis the old law of the Black House." "Cut-throat!" ejaculated Rob, "am I to be schooled by thee in the law of the Black House? The stranger hath come at unawares, and is now asleep. He hath seen nothing, heard nothing, and can report against no one. Put a bandage across his eyes before he awakes, and let two of the men bear him, in silence, on their shoulders free of the Chapel, and set him down in the woods. Thou hast stabbing enough, John of Brazil, in thy proper calling, without doing murder in sport." "Ha, ha! thou preachest, by Saint Longface! Thou'rt growing tender-hearted, father Robert!" said the boatswain, laughing. "Caitiff, wolf! kite! thou shark of the bloody mouth!" exclaimed the Cripple, in a voice sup pressed by the fear of waking the sleeper, whilst his ROB OF THE BOWL 343 face grew crimson with rage; "but that I have no limb to reach thee, that taunt should be thy last. Here, Francis ! thou and Pedro, muffle this traveller in his cassock and take him hence; when thou hast borne him a quarter of a mile in the woods, set him down to make his own way." Before the sailors could obey this order, and whilst they hesitated to perform what seemed to them an useless service of humanity, Cocklescraft entered the apartment. At the same moment Albert Verheyden, whose slumber ha'd been disturbed by the clamour of conversation, now awoke, and, startled by the first impression which the inmates of the place made upon him, sprang to his feet, retreated to the wall and drew his sword. "Where am I and who are ye?" he exclaimed, with a confused perception of the persons around him, and of the spot he inhabited. "Your pardon, friends," he added, as gaining more self-possession, he turned the point of his weapon to the ground, and smiled; "I had an evil dream that awoke me. Will your goodness let me know for I am a be nighted traveller what place this is, and to whom I am indebted for this shelter?" "Ha, by St. lago, thou art most welcome, Mas ter Verheyden!" said the Skipper, as he recognized his enemy in the person who had made this appeal to the good-will of the company. 'Tis my house; make free of it, master! I did not hope for ti.e honour of this courtesy; thrice welcome! Thou 344 ROB OK THE BOWL hast been abroad to-day to seek the man who made bold to lodge a bullet in the brain of yon caster of nets, below St. Inigoe's ; do I not guess well ? Thou hast had most marvellous good luck; for first, be fore all the world, thou, his Lordship's Secretary, hast chanced upon the very murderer. What will thou do with him, Master Verheyden?" "A misadventure has thrown me in to the power of banditti,' replied the Secretary, with quiet resig nation. "I have naught to say. I know you daring to do the purpose of a wicked will, and can hope for no mercy." "You guess me right," replied Cocklescraft sternly. "I dare do what I will to do. Thee and thine, especially I hate and have sworn against thy life. No to-morrow's sun rises on my Lord's dainty and darling minion. By the law of our brotherhood, thou cliest this night, Albert Verhey den. John of Brazil, take him forth and, by the lamp-light, discharge a brace of pistols into his heart. His heart be sure of it ! I would strike his heart: it shall kill more than one," he muttered as he turned fiercely away. "Dickon Cocklescraft," said Rob, with a gather ing anger that was ill concealed under the show of calmness which he now assumed, "have" I lost my authority under this roof mine own roof, let me tell thee, that thou venturest to usurp my right to ordain the fate of the rash fool who invades our secret? At peril of your future peace and thriving ROB OF THE BOWL 345 fortune, John of Brazil, dare to do the bidding of your Captain! Would'st have the evidences of his death rising up in judgment against us, in the blood thou spill'st? Thou art but an apprentice, Dickon, to thy devil's craft, and a halter will yet reward thee for thy folly. I will pronounce the doom of this in truding spy. Drown him ! let the wide waters wash away all trace of the deed : let the ravening shark devour him." "Ha, ha!" ejaculated Cocklescraft, with a sneer, "thou has a conceit in thy humanity, Rob! Do it do it in thy own way; but, in the devil's name, be quick about it. I have a merry sport for these lads to-night, and little time to lose : so, despatch." "Give me Francis and Pedro," said Rob, "and I will order the matter myself." "Away then, about it!" said Cocklescraft; "we lose time in prating like women at this baby-play. You have commodities to go aboard to-night look to it, John. Give a signal to the brigantine to send the yawl ashore briskly, boys; we must work; so, to it!" And in this strain of ordinary business occupa tion, the Skipper turned from the horrible fate of his victim with a careless indifference almost for getting, in the concern of shipping some contraband merchandise, (the rapine of his last voyage), the dreadful tragedy which, at his instance, was now in a course of acting. Albert, calm and silent, like the victim of a Pagan 346 ROB OF THE BOWL sacrifice, neither gave vent to the agony of his feel ings in sighs, nor offered resistance to the savage hands that pinioned his arms. Under the direction of the Cripple, the two sailors conducted their cap tive towards the hut, Rob himself following with the coat of the Secretary thrown over his own shoulder. The rain still poured steadily down, and the faint light of the moon had disappeared, leaving the scene in almost perfect darkness. Albert Verheyden, his arms bound with cords, moved at the bidding of his ruthless conductors, at a brisk and firm pace, along the beach, until the party arrived opposite the hut of the Cripple. They approached the door, which being thrown open, gave to their view the smoulder ing fire that still threw forth a glimmering ray from the hearth. A pine fagot soon kindled up a blaze, and cast a broad, lurid light over the apartment. At Rob's command the prisoner was brought in and stripped of his doublet, his boots and his weapon, all which were taken in charge by the master of the hut. A deadly paleness was spread over the Secre tary's face whilst these preparations were making; but his lip did not quiver, nor did his eye lose its lustre. "Why not take my life at once? Why mock my spirit with this horrible delay?" he asked, in a tone that partook as much of anger as of grief. "I appeal to stones to brutes, more senseless than stones! Holy martyrs, aid me in my extremity!" ROB OF THE BOWL 347 he added, with a subdued and Designed temper. "God will avenge this wrong." "Why dost falter, knaves?" exclaimed Rob, when he saw the sailors retreat a pace and mutter inaud ible whisperings to each other. "Ha, thou must be wrought, by thine accustomed devil, to this work. There, go to it: there are strong waters to aid thy lacking courage drink your fill ! I will help thee." Rob now gave to the seamen a bottle, which they put alternately to their lips. "Fear it not, Pedro! Stint not, Francis! 'Tis an ugly job at best, and needs the countenance of a man's draught. Drink again !" "Ay, bravely will I, like a Bloody Brother!" re plied Pedro, making good his word by a second ap plication of the bottle. "I have been on the Coast, Master Rob, with Mansvelt, before I ever saw Cap tain Cocklescraft." "Ha!" said Francis, in a French accent, "and wasn't Francois Le Grand at the taking of Mara- caibo, and in the fight with the three Spanish galle ons? Diavolo! give me the bottle!" "Brave lads, both !" shouted Rob, with an attempt to laugh ; "brave lads, and worthy ! We shall be late with our work, haste thee!" "The necklace ! I had forgot the necklace !" said Pedro, with a somewhat thick utterance; and leav ing the room for a moment, he returned with a large round stone, which was expertly enveloped in cords and fastened around the Secretary's neck. 348 ROB OF THE BOWL "Now to the skiff, lads! get it ready upon the beach see that thou hast the oars." At this command the sailors went forth to make their preparations. "In God's name, boy!" eagerly demanded the Cripple, the moment the seamen had left the room, "cans't swim? Answer quickly; I would save thy life." "I can." "Thanks for that word ! Thou wilt sit beside me in the boat I will cut these cords. When I extin guish my light, spring into the wave; make to this shore. You will find your weapons and your gar ments under the door-sill. These drunken knaves I will detain from pursuit. Make your way north ward, along the beach. Four miles from here you will reach the dwelling of one Jarvis you will find him friendly." "All ready, Master Rob !" shouted one of the sea men, as he thrust his head within the door. "Take more drink, Pedro 'tis a wet night," said Rob. Whilst the sailor obeyed this command, the Cripple took up a billet of resinous pine, which he lighted at the fire, and, under the guidance of this flaming torch, Albert was led to the boat. The two mariners took their places at the oars; the captive was seated alongside of the Cripple, who assumed the helm, and all things made ready for their eventful voyage. The surf ran high under the ROB OF THE BOWL 349 pressure of an easterly wind, which blew in upon this shore ; and nothing was heard but the stunning sound of the surge, whose foam sparkled as it broke on the beach from the dark waste of waters of the bay. The torch streamed aloft in the wind, fling ing its light full upon the faces of the sturdy oars men, and plainly enough disclosed to Rob the stupe fying effect of their late debauch at the Chapel, re doubled as it was in the recent potations which had been supplied at the hut. Albert Verheyden, unable to account for the sudden interest which the Cripple had so hurriedly expressed in his fate, scarcely could persuade himself to believe in its sincerity. But still, like one in a dreadful hazard resolved to avail him self of every chance, he inclined his body towards his companion, anxiously waiting to find himself relieved of the strictures that bound his limbs. From suspense, doubt and almost despair, he was suddenly elevated to the most exhilarating hope, when he found the knife of the Cripple applied to sever the cord that suspended the weight to his neck, and, in almost the same instant, to set his arms free. The boatmen were struggling to push the boat over the sand in which she was partially imbedded, and hav ing got afloat waited the moment to go out upon the ebbing surf. "Steady! strike together, and briskly!" said Rob, "you will bring home a lighter load than you take. There sturdily as we ride the wave! Ha, the fiend on that white cap! this salt sea is an unruly 350 ROB OF THE BOWL monster it has quenched my light. Pull away we have shipped a hogshead of brine ! A plague on thee for handling an oar ! thou hast left me never a dry thread to my back : mine eyes flash fire with this dripping sea. In the name of the wizard! are we not too light in our craft for such a heavy sea?" "All free!" said Pedro. "A little salt water will do no harm; we have good space before us. Keep her head to it, Master Rob. You may throw the landlouper over, now. If the tide should wash him ashore, there's a berth to be found for him in the sand." "Over with him!" said Francis; "I would not row a cable's length in so dark a night to drown a king." "Ha! by my body, I believe that wave hath rid us of the spy before we were willing to part with him!" said Rob; "he is not in the boat I can feel nothing of him around me. Thou hast better eyes than I, Francis; look under the seat. Seest thou the prisoner?" "I see nothing here," replied the seaman. "Nor I," added his comrade; "these landsmen have never a liking to a long voyage ha, ha ! Well, he sleeps where no one will call to wake him in the morning. Put about, Master Rob!" "I know not right hand from left north from south, in this darkness," returned the Man of the Bowl, as he still kept the boat heading on her out ward course. ROB OF THE BOWL 351 "Down to leeward!" cried Pedro. "Dost not know when the wind is in your teeth?" "Ay," responded Rob, "thou'rt a wise teacher, master frize-jacket ! So, now for the surf again another drenching ! I am a mad-cap fool to be play ing the boy, in my old days, with these storm-chick ens. But, to your oars, lads! we must back to shore." Some time was taken up in maneuvering the boat so as to bring her bow towards the shore, and a full half hour elapsed before the voyagers had again reached the hut. As Rob made haste towards his dwelling, he heard footsteps approaching from the direction of the Chapel, and anxious to relieve his mind, on the instant, from the doubt whether the Secretary had been fortunate in his endeavour to reach the shore, he swung himself the more rapidly forward, and before he entered his door, thrust his arm beneath the sill to ascertain if the clothes, to which he had directed Albert's attention, were removed. "Holy St. Romuald, my blessed patron, I thank thee!" he ejaculated, upon assuring himself that the articles deposited had been taken off; "and here, on this threshold, in the sincerity of a godly vow, I dedicate the remnant of a sinful life to penitence and prayer! Is it you, Master Cocklescraft ?" he demanded, confusedly, as the footstep he had heard now arrived at the gate of his enclosure. "A stormy night we have had for this foul play." 352 ROB OF THE BOWL "Have you done it, and well ?" eagerly inquired the Skipper. "Hast given that saucy jack to the supper of the crabs ? By my fellowship, I envy you, Robert Swale! and would have chosen to do the deed myself, if it were not, that having made a miss in my encounter with him with swords, it might be taken cowardly in me to handle him in this fashion. I was glad, Rob, you took it upon yourself. Didst make a clear plunge of it? Did he pray for his life, ha? Oh, it was a rare chance that gave him to us this night! Tell me how he bore himself." The sailors coming up at this moment, Rob was obliged to confess that neither he nor the oarsmen had seen the prisoner go overboard; and thereupon he related the extinguishment of his light, the heavy surf, and the subsequent missing of the victim. "A weight was fastened around him?" sharply inquired the Skipper. "It was." "And he did not shuffle it off? Art sure of it? A light there, Pedro! let me see the boat." The light was brought, and the boat examined, and the stone which had been prepared to sink the body found lying under the stern-seat. "Ten thousand devils! he has escaped," roared Cocklescraft. "Fool that I was, to trust this mat ter to a deformed and unfurnished cripple! how happened he to be so weakly bound and lightly watched, that in such brief time he could release his arms and cast away this weight?" ROB OF THE BOWL 353 Rob listened to the outpouring of the Skipper's wrath and impatience, with an unaccustomed calm ness. Ordinarily his fretful and rebellious temper would have broken out, at such rebuke, into impre cation and defiance, and he would have spoken in a tone which would have made the leader of the pirate crew quail before him. There was, in the counte nance and bearing of the misshapen tenant of the hut, an expression of command and harsh and fiery resolve, which alone might master the rough minds with whom he held his daily commerce; but there was, besides, a personal awe of him, derived from his secluded life and greater intelligence, approach ing to the fear inspired by a supernatural being, which was sufficiently potent to disarm the hostility and secure the obedience of the credulous seamen who followed the fortunes of Cocklescraft. "Thou must needs have a revel to-night, in the Chapel, Dickon," he said, with a laugh in which he could not entirely disguise his scorn; "and these tarred monsters of thine have grown muddy-brained and thick-sighted; they have neglected to do their work of breath-stopping no neatly, as thou hast taught them of old." "Whither hath the slave fled?" exclaimed Cockles- craft, as they returned to the hut. "Lurks he not in the bush, may he not yet be followed and re taken?" "Oh, truly !" replied the Cripple ; "it is the nature of an escaped captive to lurk around his prison; an 354 ROB OF THE BOWL eaglet that hath broken his cage will fret against the wires for admittance the wolf will dally upon the footstep of the hunter. When thou can'st be lieve these, Dickon, thou mayst hope to find the prisoner still prowling in the neighbourhood of the Chapel." "The curse of the Brethren of the Coast upon him! By St. lago I will have my vengeance yet! Rob, as the fox hath scaped from your hand, I may claim a service of you. I shall set forth in stantly for St. Mary's, with a dozen of my picked men. I have doings on foot, old sinner, that shall delight thee in the telling. Mischief, mischief, Master Rob of the Trencher! which I shall keep secret until it be done. I would put such of my crew as remain behind barely enough to sail the brigantine under your command. You will go aboard and direct her to an anchorage on the outer side of the Heron Islands nearest the mouth of St. George's river. There will I join you soon after daylight. Oh! but his Lordship's city shall ring with wailing at my leave-taking! What say'st thou, Rob? Wilt go aboard?" "When dost thou set forth ?" inquired Rob. "Now, on the instant as soon as I may gather my cut-throats in the yawl." "And at what hour shall the brigantine sail?" "By two o' the clock, at latest, as much soonei as you choose." "Ha, ha ! Thou wilt make me a limb to Help tfiy ROB OF THE BOWL 355 deviltry. Well, so be it, Dickon !" said the Cripple, after a moment's pondering over the proposal. "I will take on the office of Skipper for the nonce, as thou takest on thy more accustomed garb of an in carnate devil." " 'Tis agreed," cried Cocklescraft, turning around to leave the cabin; "behind the first of the Heron Islands, Master Rob St. George's, I think it is called remember! And have a caution that, before you cast anchor, you have got a position from which the brigantine may not be observed from the town." "Ay, truly," returned the Cripple, nodding his head and smiling in derision, as the Skipper de parted and closed the door after him "I will take good care that the brigantine be not observed from the town!" It was now an hour past midnight. Cocklescraft hurried to the Black House where he found his crew awaiting his return. Francis and Pedro were di rected to take Rob on board of the brigantine, and with two other seamen, who were appointed to go before them, to await the Cripple's orders. The rest of the crew, amounting to twelve men, were armed with cutlasses, pikes and pistols, and, under the im mediate command of Cocklescraft, took possession of the yawl. In brief space, the Captain himself stepped on board. With the turn of the night the rain began to abate; the wind was veering round westwardly, and appearances seemed to indicate a change of weather before morning. 356 ROB OF THE BOWL The word being given, the boat was shoved off from the strand; and the regular, sturdy and rapid stroke of the oar was heard, long after she was lost to view, as she laid her course towards Cape Look- Out. Soon after this, Francis and Pedro knocked at the door of Rob's cabin. "We are ready to put you on board of the Escalfador, Master Swale," said the first, just thrusting his capped head and frize-clad shoulders into the hut. "I am with you, honest gentlemen," returned the Cripple, as he came forth and followed them to the boat. "Up with your anchor," cried out Rob, when he found himself on the deck of the brigantine. "Pedro, make what sail thou think'st best, and stand out into the bay." In less than half an hour the sailor waited on his new captain for orders. "We have a fair berth up and down, master. Whither do we steer?" "To the Patuxent," replied Rob. "Ay, ay our course is northward." And the brig was soon under easy sail with the wind abeam, as it blew moderately from the west, with here and there a star twinkling through the breaking clouds, as she made her way towards the headlands of the Patuxent. ROB OF THE BOWL 357 CHAPTER XX. Both child and nurse are fast asleep And closed is every flower, And winking tapers faintly peep, High from my lady's bower. Joanna Baillie. COCKLESCRAFT had not communicated to his men the exact nature of the expedition in which they had embarked. They were only aware that their leader had conceived a deep and mortal hatred to certain individuals in the port; that he had fled from it as an outlaw; and that their services were required in some daring enterprise which was designed to in flict chastisement upon his enemies j they cared to know no more. In an hour they had doubled Cape Look-Out and were making dextrous speed up the Potomac. Cocklescraft himself was moody and silent. His thoughts dwelt upon the past scenes of the night, and upon his present long-revolved purpose, which, during the last twenty-four hours, scarce left him leisure to think of other matters. Even the acci dental capture of his enemy at the Chapel, and the escape of that enemy from the fate allotted to him, lost their power to move him, whilst he gloated upon the cherished design of this night. In another hour the boat had weathered the head land at the mouth of St. Mary's river. As the Skip- 358 ROB OF THE BOWL per entered the river the first of the Heron Islands lay upon his left, and he anxiously surveyed the localities, to regulate the course of his retreat to his brigantine, which by his order was to be in waiting for him abreast the outer shore. "The blessed sun," he muttered to himself "shall light me with his first rays to-morrow, on my seaward track, with my vengeance satisfied to the last scruple. Ay, by St. lago," he added, as he shook his clenched hand, and gnashed his teeth with the energy of his resolve, "to the last doit of the delpt !" Another interval of silent labour at the oar, and the dim light in the windows of the Chapel attached to the House of St. Inigoe's, yet far off, upon the narrow strip of land which jutted entirely across the direct line of the boat's course, as she hugged the shore, showed the mariners that some one of the officials of the house was at the service of early matins on the vigil of the Feast of All Souls; and their familiarity with the watches of the night ap prised them, that the hour approached four of the morning. And now the creek of St. Inigoe's is opened upon their view; and on the further bank, the house of the Rose Croft, with its embowering trees, is dis tinctly traced against the clear starlit sky. A soli tary taper glimmering through an upper window, denotes a lady's bower, where, under the protection of the friendly ray, Blanche Warden, perchance, reposes in innocent slumber, her fancy sporting in ROB OF THE BOWL 359 dreams of him who day and night lives in her thoughts. This reflection flashed across the brain of Cockles- craft as he directed the head of the boat into the creek. "Pull, with a long sweep and a quick," he said in a low but stern voice. "These watch dogs of the fort may catch a glimpse of us." Then having ad vanced far enough to interpose the bluff bank of the Rose Croft between him and the fort, he commanded the men to cease rowing, whilst they muffled their oars. "Not a word above your breath," he now added in giving the orders which were to guide his follow ers through the enterprise for which they had been brought hither. "Listen to me : we land under yonder bank creep in silence to the dwelling you see above, and pluck from her bed the fairest damsel of this Western world. Mark me, comrades, you have sacked towns and spoiled many an humble roof; you have torn children from the breasts of their mothers, and wives from the arms of their hus bands; you have dragged maidens from the inmost chambers of their dwelling and laughed at their prayers for safety, and you have rioted over all, with the free license of the Bloody Brothers but take it to your souls this night, that if, in the assault of yonder house, one unnecessary blow be struck, a war cry be raised or deed of violence done, the man who offends dies by my hand. And further, when 360 ROB OF THE BOWL the maiden is brought into your presence let no rude speech assail her ear. I go to seek a bride, not to plunder; and I command you all, on the duty you owe your leader, as Brethren of the Coast, that you do her all honour as mistress of the Escalfador. My sweetest revenge," he muttered without intending to be heard by the crew "is to marry the worship ful Collector's daughter without his leave or her own, by St. lago! The rose shall consort with the sea nettle, Anthony Warden! though it be not to your liking. Do ye heed me, messmates? Roche del Carmine, to you I look to see this order en forced!" "If it be but the taking of a single damsel," mur mured Roche, "it was hardly worth leaving the warm fire and the bottle of the Chapel. Ha ! it will be a story to tell in the Keys that our last frolic in St. Mary's was at the Captain's wedding!" "Dost thou prate, sirrah?" demanded Cockles- craft. "By my sword, I am in earnest in what I say I will shoot down the man that disobeys my order." "I will answer for the crew," said Roche del Carmine; "the lady shall be handled as gently as a child in the arms of its nurse." "Ay," responded several of the sailors ; "the Cap tain shall not complain of us." The oars were muffled and the boat was once more in full progress towards her destination. A few minutes sufficed to bring the voyagers to the ROB OF THE BOWL 361 small wharf beneath the cliff of the Rose Croft, and in a moment all were ashore, except a single mari ner who was left to guard the boat. "Peace!" whispered Cocklescraf t ; "peace with that rattling of pikes. Form under the bank and remain quiet until I ascend and examine the place." The leader now crept, with noiseless footstep, up the pathway which terminated upon the plain in front of the dwelling. He walked across the lawn, by the very spot where, scarce a fortnight gone by, he had had his hostile interview with Albert Ver- heyden. The little rustic temple of St. Therese yet stood, with its faded foliage, upon the grass-plot; the flower stands were still there, although the plants were removed to their shelter from the frost; noth ing met the eye of the foul-purposed rover but the images of content and innocence which marked the abode of a happy family; even the house dog, who at first growled as with show of battle, changed his threat into greeting as the Skipper proffered his hand and claimed acquaintance. The tokens of con fiding security were all around him, and as he re called the last time he had visited this place, and re membered the incidents of the festival of St. Therese the maiden's coldness, her father's disdain, and the Secretary's favour, he laughed with the thought of the mastery he now held over the fate of the household. He could scarcely withdraw himself from the luxury of his present rumination, but wan dered to and fro in front of the dwelling, then 362 ROB OF THE BOWL made a circuit around it, and, returning again to the front, stood beneath the window through which the feeble taper shone with that steady but subdued ray which of itself was a symbol of the deep repose of the tenant of the chamber. "I could wake thee, lady gay," he said, "with as blithe a serenade as ever tuned thy dream to pleas ant measures but that I lack the instrument. And though I be not the cavalier of thy fancy, Blanche Warden, pretty Rose of St. Mary's, yet, by my soul, I love thee well enough to put myself to some pains to teach thee how thou shalt love me. We dance together on the green wave to-morrow, lass! little as you dream of such merriment now. And as I would not have thy blushes seen, I must e'en lead thee forth before the day." With this sally, he returned to his comrades, and commanded them to ascend the bank. Three men were detached around the house to keep a look-out, and the other eight, following Cocklescraft himself, approached the hall door. "What, ho! Fire, thieves, robbers!" shouted Cocklescraft, aided, in raising a clamour, by his men, at the same time striking loudly with the butt of a pike against the door. "Rouse ye, rouse ye, or you will have a house about your ears! Fire, Master Warden, thieves, rovers and savages!" A scream was first heard in the chamber from the window of which the light had been seen and Cocklescraft putting his hand to his ear, ROB OF THE BOWL 363 laughed as he recognised the voice of the maiden. "By our lady," he said "our gentle mistress sings well!" In the next instant a window was thrown open on the opposite side of the house, and the figure of Anthony Warden, in his night gown, with a candle in his hand, was partially thrust out, whilst he ex claimed "What is this pother? Who comes at this hour to alarm the family ? Who are ye, I say, that seek to disturb the rest of my household with your vil lainous shoutings?" "Answer him, Roche," whispered Cocklescraf t ; "I dare not." "Open your doors, Collector," said Roche; "we have business with you." "Get you hence, drunken knaves!" returned Mr. Warden. "I will call my servants and drive you off the ground." "By my hand, if you do not open your doors, Master Warden," said Cocklescraft, finding that he could not trust the conduct of the assault to his mate, "we will break them open, and quickly " "Who are you that speak so saucily?" demanded the Collector. "Richard Cocklescraft an old friend, Master An thony, who being about to put to sea, would make his last visit to the officer of the Port. Throw wide your doors and let us in, old man, or it may be the worse for thy grey hairs." 364 ROB OF THE BOWL "Ho, Michael Mossbank, Nicholas, Tomkin!" shouted Mr. Warden, as he withdrew his head from the window ; "up, get up bring me my blunderbuss we are beset stir yourselves, my trusty fellows !" The house was now lighted in various parts, and every one was on foot. Blanche at the first sum mons sprang from her bed, and ran to her sister Alice, screaming in a paroxysm of alarm ; but whilst the invaders parleyed with her father, she had suffi ciently resumed her self-possession to make a hasty toilet, and then to repair to the protection of Mr. Warden's presence. The old man, not coolly for he was wrought into excessive rage but with all necessary discretion and forecast, made his arrange ments for the coming struggle. Two or three ser vants had gathered around him, as he descended the staircase to meet the assailants who were still bat tering at the door ; and it was with difficulty that he could shake off the females, who clung around his step with piteous intreaties that he would not ven ture into collision with the band who, it was now evident, must, in a few moments, make good their entrance into the house. "Leave me, daughters get thee back to thy chamber," he cried, as he forced his way through their feeble impediment, with a blunderbuss in his hand, and, followed by the servants, took a station midway in the hall, whence he was able to direct his defence to either the front or the rear. The precautions to which the inhabitants of the ROB OF THE BOWL 365 province were accustomed to resort for the purpose of guarding their dwellings against the attacks of the Indians, had rendered, in fact, every house al most a castle, and it was no easy matter, without the proper tools, to force an admission against the will of the owner. The stubborn character of the defences of Mr. Warden's dwelling detained the assailants longer than they expected, and gave time to the small garrison within to take all measures for guarding themselves that the condition of the house afforded. The door at length yielded to the vigour of the Attack, and as it flew wide open, the veteran master of the mansion stood with dauntless front, in full view of the eager seamen; in the same instant his piece was discharged with such effect, that the two foremost men reeled and fell across the threshold. "Give me thy gun, Michael," he exclaimed, as he turned to the gardener and seized the long Spanish fowling-piece with which my reader has already had some acquaintance ; "I will teach these ruffians good manners! Back knaves! unhand me, villains! Michael, Nicholas!" "Stay that blow, coward !" roared Cocklescraft at the height of his voice, in the exertion of his full command over the crew, as they had, immediately upon receiving the Collector's fire, rushed forward and overcome the old man by the press of numbers, the servants having fled at this onset. "Strike him, and you shall fall by my own sword !" he con- 366 ROB OF THE BOWL tinued, as with his cutlass he turned aside the pike of a seaman who had aimed it at the Collector's breast. "Is it for men to war against grey hairs?" "Save my father oh God, spare his life!" screamed Blanche, as she now sprang, wild with ter ror, half way down the stair. "Men of blood, have mercy on his age! he is old too old to do you harm. Oh, save him !" "By the blessed Virgin, gentle mistress, I swear not one hair upon his head shall suffer harm, for thy sake, dainty lady, if for no other!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, as with one bound he placed himself beside the maiden ; and raising her aloft on his arm, he leaped back to the hall and thence out upon the lawn. "Follow me, comrades!" he shouted, as he bore the screaming maiden stoutly on his shoulder down the bank, and laid her senseless upon the seat of the boat. Here he threw his cloak over her per son, and summoned his men immediately to their posts, having taken care to bring away the two wounded seamen. The boat was about to be shoved off from the wharf, when the figure of a female was descried coming, at a rapid flight, from the direction of the dwelling, and uttering a shrill note of lamen tation, as she begged them to stop : "For the love of God, leave her behind ! Oh, have pity, good men, and do not tear away the Collector's daughter, our young mistress ! Christian men, spare her to us ! She will die of cold she will perish on ROB OF THE BOWL 307 the water her blood will be on your heads!'' "Thou'rt a good nurse, Mistress Coldcale," said the Skipper with a sportive tone which mocked the distress of the sufferers; "and as our queen will want an attendant, thou shalt even go with us. Put the old woman aboard, comrades !" he added, speak ing to some of the men, who, almost before the housekeeper could utter the shriek which now rose from her lips, was lifted over half a dozen heads, and deposited beside her young lady. "Cheerily, now to your oars!" shouted Cockles- craft, exulting in the success of his inroad. "Lay your sinews to it, lads, until we get clear of the creek, and then up with your sail! we have a fair wind and a merry voyage before us. Speed thee! I scent the coming dawn." Almost in as brief space as we have taken to re late it, the boat had shot forth into the middle of the creek, and now glided over the waters like an imp of darkness flying homeward to his ocean cave freighted with the spoils of some evil errand. CHAPTER XXI. And hurry skurry, forth they go, Unheeding wet or dry ; And horse and rider snort and blow, And sparkling pebbles fly. Leonora. ALBERT VERHEYDEN; at the appointed signal from the Cripple, had sprung into the surf, at 368 ROB OF THE BOWL the moment when it broke with its greatest violence against the bow of the boat, and, almost without an effort, was swept in upon the hard beach. His first motion, on gaining his breath, was to hasten to the hut, seize the clothes that had been stripped from him, as well as his weapons, and to speed, at the full measure of his strength, now animated by his mys terious and almost miraculous deliverance, north wardly along the margin of the bay; keeping suffi ciently remote from it, however, to screen himself by the thickets, which grew a short distance from the water's edge, from detection by those who might, perchance, be on the watch to observe his course. His limbs were chilled, and it was only by violent and unintermitted motion that he was able to pre serve himself from the dangerous consequences which were likely to attend his exposure. By de grees, exercise threw a glow over his frame, and he soon found himself recovering his suppleness of limb and power of enduring the toilsome walk by which he laboured to reach the friendly shelter in dicated by Rob's hurried instruction in the hut. After what seemed a progress of at least twice the space in which he was told he should find the dwell ing of Jarvis, he was, at length, greeted with the cheerful sight of an humble homestead, seated so near the shore that the fence, which bounded the curtilage of the dwelling, actually bordered upon the confines of the tide-mark. He staid not to con sider how he were best to claim admittance, but ROB OF THE BOWL 369 walked at once to the door and rapped loudly, as a distressed man is apt to feel it his right to do in a Christian land. "I pray you, good people, open your door to me," he said; "rise, Master Jarvis, and admit a friend. Rise, kind sir; in the name of charity, I intreat the shelter of your roof." In a moment the door was ajar, and a sleepy voice heard from within challenging the comer "Who are you that strays so late, in so lonely a region?" "A friend, good Master Jarvis." "Is it shipwreck?" inquired the master of the house, as he opened the door and admitted the wan derer. "Stand a moment, sir, until I get you a light. Are you alone?" Before an answer could be given to either of these queries, the questioner had departed, and in a few moments returned with a candle, whose light disclosed to the Secretary a comfortable family room, furnished according to the primitive but use ful fashion of a substantial tiller of the soil of that era. It took but little time for Albert to rehearse the eventful story of the night, and his narrative was answered with a kindness that gave him assur ance of being now under the protection of a friend. The good man of the house seeing that nothing was so necessary to his guest as sleep, detained him no longer than was requisite to enable his dame to prepare a couch, to which the Secretary, upon the 370 ROB OF THE BOWL housewife's summons, eagerly repaired, and soon turned his sufferings to a happy account, as, in self- felicitation at his escape, and in rendering thanks to God for the mercy that had raised him up a friend in his extreme need, he sank into sweet oblivion of all the past. At the dawn of day, he rose refreshed and invigor ated, and, being provided with a horse by the hos pitable farmer, staid only to express his gratitude to his host for the favours he had received, and then, with as much expedition as he could command, pricked onward to the town. The rising sun gilded the chimney-tops of the dwelling of the Rose Croft, as the Secretary turned a delighted eye upon that quiet scene, whilst he de scended from the distant hill which gave him a glimpse of what he deemed, that happy homestead, through the embowering trees. The atmosphere was instinct with a keen and bracing healthfulness which gave a cheerful tone to the feeling of all ani mated nature. The roofs and bowers of the Rose Croft sank from his view, as he hastened onward; and he, at length, found himself on the skirts of the little city. There were ominous gatherings of the burghers in the street; and the speakers shook their heads, and seemed to the Secretary to converse with a myste rious gravity. "They have heard," he said to himself, "of my mischance in losing my way, and are fancying that ROB OF THE BOWL 371 I have encountered the Indians. No, they see me riding here, yet no one comes to greet me: there are other tidings in the wind." And with this conclusion, anxious to know what had occasioned this early commotion in the little mart of news, he pressed forward to the Proprietary mansion. An hour before the arrival of the Secretary, Rob of the Bowl, mounted on a sober-paced horse, his thighs grasping the saddle with more security than one might expect from his diminished quantity of limb, his trencher hanging by a strap like a huge shield at his back, (this being his customary mode of travel when his occasions required him to assume the equestrian) entered the town. He had run the Escalfador into the little inlet of Mattapany, just inside the Patuxent, where he left her under the guns of the Fort which the Proprietary maintained at this post ; and repairing immediately on shore, he communicated to the commander of the garrison the circumstances which induced his visit, requesting that the brigantine should be detained at her present mooring until his Lordship's pleasure might be known. Then, having procured a horse, he set forth, long before day-light threw its flush upon the eastern sky, upon his journey to St. Mary's, not doubting to hear, upon his arrival there, a story of outrage (though against whom or how perpetrated he could not guess) done by the band of the Wiz ard's Chapel. Without stopping to notice the won- 372 ROB OF THE BOWL dering gaze of the townsfolk at the strange, though not altogether unfamiliar spectacle he exhibited to them, he made his way directly to the dwelling of Father Pierre. By the aid of the good father himself, he was dis mounted from his horse and straightway conducted into the study of the churchman. "You have reason to be amazed at this early visit, reverend father," he said, "but my errand will brook no ceremony." "Thou comest to tell somewhat of the ruffians," hastily answered Father Pierre, with a look and tone of sorrow, which informed the Cripple, at the outset, that some deed of horror had already been done, "who last night violated the sanctuary of the worthy Collector's roof, and stole away his daughter " "Hah!" exclaimed Rob, kindling with sudden wonder; "was that the drift of Dickon Cockles- craft's venture ! He has stolen the damsel ? Viper ! hellhound ! I heard it not, holy father ; but I guessed no less an outrage. I have hastened hither, faster than these crippled limbs are wont to travel, to tell thee where the robber may be found. I knew his purpose of mischief, though not against whom it tended ha, ha, ha! I have baulked him! I have baulked him !" "Speak, old man, more coherently : we are lost in doubt, and overcome with grief, say, where has the ravisher fled?" "To the Heron islands, at the mouth of the river. ROB OF THE BOWL 373 There he hopes to find his brigantine but I have cheated him, Father Pierre ! Lose no time but set pursuit on foot." "The town is wild with conjecture," returned the priest; "Master Warden's servants have told the dreadful tale; but whither to search, no one yet has told. Come instantly with me to the Proprie tary's. He who can point out the path of rescue will be a welcome guest." The priest lost no time in causing Rob to be again set in his saddle; and walking beside the horse across the plain which separated the dwelling of the Proprietary from the city, Father Pierre soon halted with his companion at the door. Previous to the arrival of the Cripple, and after wards, during the conference between him and the Proprietary, in which measures were debated for the pursuit of the pirates, the excitement of the in habitants of St. Mary's was aroused to the most in tense agitation. The tidings brought from the Rose Croft had awakened the town at the dawn of day, and rumour told in every dwelling the sad history of the Skipper's onslaught. "The Olive Branch did not slip off so quietly on a harmless flight," said Nicholas Verbrack, the lieu tenant of the fort, as he stood in the midst of some eight or ten companions, on a bluff bank which, near the middle of the town, gave a view of the whole extent of the river. "I ever thought that there was something too saucy both in the craft and in her 3T4 ROB OF THE BOWL Skipper, to have either of them accounted honest dealers in the Port." "Honest dealers!" exclaimed Master Wiseman, one of the five aldermen who were elected every two years to preserve the corporate franchise of the city, and who contrived to make up for the want of official duty by a redundancy of official im portance. "Honest dealers, forsooth! That fellow Cocklescraft hath ever been under the suspicion of the board. We have noted him, masters; but what could we do when his Lordship hath ever been per sonally present in the city, and hath, I may say, encouraged the fellow as a trader, because, for sooth, his custom helped to fill the exchequer of the province. Morals before money has always been my song; but it is preaching to a degenerate age what have we to expect ?" "And the women," added Peregrine Cadger, "the women ran away with the man's wits. Why, mark you, sirs what man, I would ask, but would grow bold and freakish, ay, and wicked, who has wife, maid, and widow ever at his heels, singing and say ing all manner of flatteries, till, at last, one would think they had no other note." "Oh, but it was horrible, most aggravating and miserable, this taking off!" groaned Willy, the fiddler. "Proudly and gladly would I have felt to be taken in her stead ! I would suffer every misfor tune," "And the worst of it is, Master Willy," inter- ROB OF THE BOWL 375 rupted Wise Watkin, "they have taken Mistress Pridget Coldcale that's a loss to the province: I should not lie if I said to the whole town." "Why stand prating and grieving like gossips at a funeral," said John Firebrace, the smith, "whilst all the time the rascal thieves are putting more land and water between them and us. I think their wor ships of the council are somewhat tedious over the matter; they talk longer than is necessary, or else that old crop-limbed, vinegar-face, Rob of the Bowl, hath more to tell, than commonly it is his habit. It is special matter that has brought him to the Port this morning. He knows more devil's-dealing than it pleases him, at all times, to let his neighbour hear. Yonder rides Master Verheyden, the Secretary," he added, as Albert now appeared at a distance direct ing his course towards the mansion of the Proprie tary; "he may hasten matters. I would that they would put us in the way of doing something to save our poor young lady from the jaws of these sharks!" The smith had scarcely ceased speaking when Captain Dauntrees was seen coming towards the group. Whilst he was yet some fifty paces off, he called out to the Lieutenant, "Master Verbrack, quickly get thee to the fort, and march me instantly twenty men down to the quay. See that they be provided, Lieutenant, with all things necessary for service. Lose no time; but away." 376 ROB OF THE BOWL The Lieutenant instantly departed, and the Cap tain approaching the assemblage, continued, "John Firebrace, get thy horse, man, and thy weapon. Colonel Talbot rides down the opposite bank of the river, with a score of good fellows at his heels. He counts upon you and your friends. Meet him quickly on the common behind the Town House." These orders, hastily given, separated the com pany; and every one now hied towards the places appointed for these gatherings. Already Colonel Talbot was on horseback col lecting some of the more active young men of the town ; and in an incredibly brief space for in truth most of them were expecting the summons a troop of some twenty were assembled, ready to follow wherever he should command. Amongst these were Arnold de la Grange and old Pamesack, both equipped and mounted after their accustomed fash ion, in a manner that might have provoked a smile from the furred, and laced, and feathered cavalry of more orderly armies, but which, we may venture to believe, was quite as effective as a more gaudy furniture. Last in this marshaled array, came Al bert Verheyden, pale, breathless, and almost fren zied with the narrative he had just heard of the disasters of the night. He staid at the mansion but long enough to substitute a more active horse for the clumsy animal on which he had made his journey to the town; and then hastened to join the party ROB OF THE BOWL 37? who were about to be ferried across the river, and to scour the country along the opposite shore. Meantime the musqueteers arrived at the quay, where two barges being in readiness, the men were separated into equal divisions, and, very soon after sunrise, were embarked under the respective charge of Dauntrees and the Lieutenant, who, with all ex pedition, shaped their course towards the islands at the mouth of the river. Talbot despatched a half dozen of the party to scour the shore of the Potomac below St. Inigoe's; the rest, under his own command, and attended by Albert, were transported to the opposite side of St. Mary's river, by every boat that could be mustered for such a service; and being now collected on the; further bank, sprang forward, at the orders of their leadr, on their career of duty, with an alacrity which showed how deeply they took to heart the outrage which it was now their purpose to chastise. CHAPTER XXII. She turned her right and round about, And she swore by the mold, "I would not be your love," said she "For that church full of gold." He turned him right and round about, And he swore by the mass, Says "lady, ye my love shall be, And gold ye shall have less." Old Ballad WHEN Cocklescraft and his crew had again doubled the point of St. Inigoe's, on their retreat, 378 ROB OF THE BOWL the sail of the yawl was spread before the breeze, and she skimmed the waves like a bird of the sea. Blanche had yet scarcely shown signs of animation, except in the low and smothered moan that escaped from beneath the folds of the cloak which, with an officious care, the leader of the pirate gang had dis posed for the protection of her person from the cold. Beside her crouched the housekeeper, sobbing and sighing and uttering ejaculations of alarm one moment for her own fate at the next, for the lot of her young lady, and at intervals shrieking with a causeless terror, as the little bark, bending to the wind, dipped the end of her sail into the wave. The seamen, now released from the oars, were called to the care of their bleeding comrades. Roche del Carmine, the mate, was already dead, and the other writhed in the torments of an unstaunched wound. The band were too familiar with the acci dents of war to be much moved by the fate of their companions, and accordingly, after applying a band age to the hurt of the living man, and merely dispos ing the body of the dead one in a position least in convenient to themselves, they assumed that glee- some indifference to the hazards of their condition, which has ever been a characteristic trait of the hardened and reckless temper engendered by the dis cipline of the Buccaneer's life. The beams of the sun had begun to bicker on the face of the waters when the fugitives reached the island of St. George's, the first of those few scat- ROB OF THE BOWL 379 tered islands in the Potomac which passed under the general name of the Heron Islands. During this brief voyage, Cocklescraft had in vain endeavoured to soothe the maiden with kind words and protes tations that no harm should befall her. He took her cold hand and it quivered in his grasp ; and when he released it, it fell lifeless back upon her bosom; he laid his palm upon her brow, and a clammy mois ture bespoke the agony that wrung it. "Dame," he said, addressing Mistress Coldcale; "thou art better skilled than I, in these woman qualms, look to thy lady, and tell me of what she may stand in need. Thou shalt take her presently on board of the brigantine, and the whole vessel, if she require it, shall be given up to her comfort." "She stands in need of her father's house," re plied the dame, with more spirit than she might have been thought, from her previous fright, to pos sess. "She stands in need of friendly faces and kind hearts ; her soul is bowed down by misery. She will never open her eyes again, never, never unless it be to look upon the friends from whom you have stole her. Oh, Master Cocklescraft you have broken bread under her father's roof and have sat in the warmth of his fireside his old eyes have looked kindly upon you, and he has spoken words of wel come that have gone to your heart with a blessing in the very sound of them; how can you heap tor ments on the head of his child? In sorrow and wailing have you borne her away, and she will 380 ROB OF THE BOWL quickly wither in your hand; you have stolen a flower that dies in the cropping. And oh, her grey- haired father! with a broken heart, you have cast him down to the tomb." "By St. Mary, woman, but I honour, love and cherish the maid !" returned Cocklescraft. "Have I not loved her long, as never father loved her, thought of her on the wide waters of the ocean, under every sun ; dreamed of her night after night, in many a weary voyage, borne her image before me in storm and battle, in the chase and in the flight, beneath the stars in the dead hour of mid night, and at the feast at high noon? Have I not made honourable petition for her, from her father and been refused with scorn and foul insult? And have I not now, at last, entrapped her as gently as she doth the winter bird that seeks a crumb upon her window sill? By my faith, fairly have I won her, and proudly will I wear her, dame ! Her father ! I owe him nothing for his kindly greeting and warm fireside, and breaking of bread; he hath paid him self by his disdain and mockery of my suit. Have I not there," he added, speaking with an angry vehemence and pointing towards the bow of the boat "given the life-blood of two of my best and bravest comrades to the old man's wrath, and yet did I not myself turn aside the blow that would have laid him upon the floor of his own hall?" "Better that he had so fallen," replied the dame, "than live to witness what his old eyes saw last ROB OF THE BOWL 381 night. Better that he died outright, than live to lose his child." "Be silent, woman," exclaimed the Skipper, "if thou canst not give me fairer speech. When this anger is gone, and the maiden is more resigned, I will speak to you not now. To your oata, good fellows," he said in a calmer tone to the seamen, as with the rising sun the breeze had fallen away and the sail flapped loosely against the mast. "We must pass through this narrow strait to the opposite side of the islands; we shall find the brigantine there at anchor." A confined and crooked channel, scarce above a pistol shot wide from shore to shore, divided the two islands .immediately across the mouth of St. Mary's river, and afforded a passage for a light boat be tween. These islands, thickly timbered to the water's edge, effectually prevented, by their forest screen, the voyager along the inner shore from discerning the largest vessel which might be in the river beyond. It was, therefore, with undoubting confidence in the certainty of finding the Escalfador at her appointed ground, that the leader of these rude Argonauts commanded his men to labour at the oar whilst they shot through the strait I have described. When they emerged upon the open river, on the outer side of the islands, the sun, looming through the thick autumnal haze, shot his fiery beam over the broad sheet of water, without disclosing to the anxiously-searching eye of Cocklescraft trace of 382 ROB OF THE BOWL brig or boat or sail of any kind. His vision, how ever, was circumscribed within a narrow horizon ; for the mist which, at this season, broods over the landscape, the forerunner of a genial day scarce brought within the compass of his observation the nearer points of the mainland, and effectually shut out all more distant objects; a circumstance which however embarrassing to his present inspec tion, had so far been favourable to his escape from the prying eye of the sentinel on the look-out sta tion of the Fort of St. Mary's. "Ha! twice have I been fooled by that old do tard of St. Jerome's," he peevishly murmured, when, after straining his sight in every direction, he be came aware that the brigantine was nowhere to be seen ; "he hath overslept himself, forsooth, or must stay to mumble a paternoster, or tell his beads. Why did I trust a laggard with this enterprise ! But that I spoke somewhat hastily and with temper to him last night, and would not have his displeasure, I would have seen him gibbeted e'er I would have given the brigantine into his charge. Yet he is trusty, and hath a devil's spice in him that fits him somewhat for such an outcome, too. He will be here anon; the wind has left him, and what he had was in his teeth ; the Escalfador makes not such way as may keep pace with my longings. Patience for a season, and meantime we will land on the island, comrades, and wait for our crippled ad miral," ROB OF THE BOWL 383 With this intimation he steered directly upon the beach. "John of Brasil," he continued; "use your time to scoop a grave for our comrade Roche, and see him bestowed with such honour as belongs to a Brother of the Coast. Joseph, thou and a messmate will kindle a fire under yonder oak these women are frozen into a dead silence. Harry Skelton, get to the lower end of the island, and there keep watch upon the river, and report every thing that comes in sight. Now, Mistress Bridget, thou and our lady Blanche shall have sway over the whole island; the lady shall be an empress and thou her maid of honour. See, how quickly preferment comes ! You have your liberty, pretty Rose of St. Mary's so cheer up, and make a fair use of it." To this ill-timed jocularity the maiden yielded no reply; and the Skipper believing that, upon being left alone with Mistress Coldcale, she would perhaps relent into a more tractable tone of feeling, quitted the boat with the seamen who had gone to execute his several orders, and thus abandoned the two fe males to themselves. "Alack, alack!" sobbed Blanche, as she raised her head and then dropped it on the lap of the house keeper; "dear Bridget, what will become of us? I shall die, I shall die! my poor father!" "Poor indeed, mistress," replied the dame. "If we are not rescued, he will never hold up his head after the loss of his child. Oh, if our townspeople would but follow, as I trust in the saints they will !" 384 ROB OF THE BOWL "Is there a chance of it," exclaimed Blanche, "good Bridget, is there a chance of it !" "Ay, truly, my dear young lady, good and rea sonable hope that these villains have been watched and will be followed. Be of good cheer, and trust in Heaven. This bloodhound thought to find his vessel at the island, but the saints have befriended us, and the vessel has not yet come. All will go well, mistress, such wicked men shall not prevail against the shield of innocence." "The fire blazes cheerily, Mistress Coldcale I pray thee intreat our lady to come ashore," called out Cocklescraft from a distance. "Arouse thee, child, I shall be at thy side," said the dame; "it may be discreet not to provoke the Skipper he is a harsh man and may be rude, if we be stubborn." "Mother of Grace, sustain me!" said Blanche, as her frame shook from head to foot, and she grasped the arm of her friendly attendant. "Even as thou shalt advise, I walk, Bridget I pray thee hold me," she added, as, raising herself on her feet, her loose and disordered tresses fell over her wan cheek and covered her breast and shoulders. "Oh, God, this trial will craze my brain !" "Do not sink, dear child thou needest fire, and this barbarous Captain hath provided it pray thee, be of stout heart, and trust in coming help." Encouraged by the support of her companion, "Spare me! 1 ' Exclaimed Blanche "Oh, spare me from a broken heart." Page 385. Rob of the Bowl, ROB OF THE BOWL 383 Blanche feebly tottered towards the bow of the boat, and thence landed on the beach. Whilst she leaned upon Mistress Coldcale's arm and advanced towards the fire, Cocklescraft came forward to meet her; and as he was about to address her in that tone of light salutation in which he had heretofore spoken, he was arrested in his first words, by the maiden flinging herself upon her knees, immediately at his feet, and looking up in his face with her eyes be- dimmed with tears, as she cried out for mercy "Spare me!" she exclaimed "Oh, spare a wretched girl, who has never imagined, thought, nor spoken word of harm against you. Save me from a broken heart and bewildered brain from misery, ruin and disgrace. If I, or any friend of mine have ever given you offence, on my knees and in the dust, I intreat forgiveness ; pardon, pardon a fault whereof I have ever been unconscious. If one touch of pity dwell in your bosom, oh think of the miserable being at your feet and send her back to her home. Land me but on yonder shore, and I will, morning and evening, remember you in prayers and invoke blessings on your head !" "This posture doth not become our queen," said Cocklescraft, stooping to raise the maiden to her feet, who shrinking from his touch crouched still lower to the earth. "This is but a foolish sorrow. Do I not love thee, Blanche ? Ay, by the virgin ! and mean to do well by thee. I have stuffs of price on board the Escalfador, which shall trick thee out 386 ROB OF THE BOWL as gloriously as a queen indeed; our dame here, shall ply her skill at the needle to set thee forth quickly. And then that pretty robe of crimson and minever which unthinkingly you did refuse, you shall wear it yet, girl. I have chains of gold and jewels rare, to make you gay as gaudiest flower of the field. I will bear you to an enchanted island, where slaves shall bend before you to do your bid ding, and where you shall have store of wealth to scatter with such profusion as in dreams you have never even fancied. We will abide in a sea-girt tower upon a sunny cliff, and through your window shall the breeze from the beautiful blue Atlantic fan you to evening slumbers. My gay bark shall be your servant, and ride, at your command, upon the wave; whilst our merry men shall take tribute from all the world, that thou mayst go braver and more daintily. Cheer up, weeping mistress ; your mishap is not so absolute as at first you feared. Thy hand, lass!" Blanche sprang to her feet with a sudden energy, and retreating a pace from her persecutor, cast upon him a look of resolute and indignant pride : "Base wretch," she said, "I dare to spurn your suit. Defenceless as I stand here, a weak and cap tive maid, if it be the last word I have to utter, I abhor you, and your loathsome offer." Then re lapsing into that tone of grief from which this mo mentary impulse had drawn her, she added, "Did you think did you think, Master Cocklescraft, ROB OF THE BOWL 387 when you stole me from my father's house, that fair speech from you, or promise of gold, could win me to be your wife? Oh, sir, if, in that error, you have heaped the sin of this deed upon your soul, quickly learn that not all the gold of all the mines, nor long est wooing, nor promise of a kingdom, if that were yours to give, might persuade me, though the speaking of the word should lift me from abject misery or the pangs of death, to give a favourable word to your suit. With holy faith and saddest rev erence, I call my guardian, the ever-blesed virgin Therese, to hear my vow; I never will be thine." "A boat, a boat!" cried out the voice of the man at the lower point of the island, and instantly this painful interview was at an end. The seamen had since their landing been busy in depositing the body of the mate in a shallow grave, and had just set up a wooden cross, formed of the boughs of trees, to mark the spot, when the alarm from the look-out reached them. Cocklescraft repaired, with all haste, to the end of the island, and was soon aware, not only of the boat to which the seaman alluded, but also of a second of the same description, dimly seen in the haze, at no great distance behind the first They were both holding their course towards the mouth of St. Mary's River, close on the eastern margin, as if their purpose were to proceed down the Poto mac. St. George's Island lay abreast the opposite or western shore, and it was therefore necessary for these boats, if they were destined for the island, 388 ROB OF THE BOWL to take a course nearly across the entire breadth of the river at its mouth. As, at the moment when first descried, they gave no indication of such a pur pose, Cocklescraft, (who did not doubt that these were parties in pursuit of him) began to assure him self that his retreat to the island was not discovered, and that his pursuers were most probably bound to St. Jerome's. Again he cast a troubled eye over the waters, in the hope to perceive the brigantine, for which, at this moment, he looked with increased solicitude, as he had reason to apprehend that, on her voyage up the Potomac, she must pass the boats that were apparently on the voyage downward. For some time, he gazed keenly abroad in silence, or muttering only inaudible curses on the delay of Rob with the Escalfador, and on his own folly in committing the vessel to the Cripple's guidance. It was not long before the boats had reached the Potomac. Here, instead of shaping their further voyage, as the Skipper had been led to expect, towards the Chesapeake, they took the opposite course and stood directly for the island. They were near enough to make it apparent to Cocklescraft that each was filled with armed men, and if any doubts of their hostile purpose had existed before, it now became altogether unquestionable. Hasten ing towards the spot where the yawl was drawn up on the strand, the buccaneer ordered his crew im mediately to their posts. Blanche and Mistress Bridget were forced to take their former seats, and ROB OF THE BOWL 389 the boat being shoved off, was directed towards the point of land opposite the western extremity of the upper inland, then only known as a nameless sandy flat, thinly covered with pines, but of late rendered somewhat more familiar to public repute, by the comfortable accommodation with which it has been provided as a place of refuge against the heats of summer, and for the luxury of its bathing. "By St. lago, we are hotly followed!" said the retreating and anxious rover, as he now measured the size of the barges with his eye, whilst they shot out from behind the cover of the extreme eastern point of the islands and disclosed themselves in full pursuit; "and with swift craft, well manned. The devil hath sent us a dead calm, otherwise, with this rag of canvass, I would show these lurch ers the trick of a sea-fight; as it is, we must give them a clean pair of heels. Oh, that my good brig- antine were here ! I would defy twenty barges, and sweep through them all. Lustily, good fellows! slacken not; halter and harquebuss are on our track; we die by hemp or leaden bullet if we are overtaken so pull amain. You have been in as great straits before and found a lucky ending. We shall see Rob anon, when this mist shall lift its cur tain; and, once in sight of our good bark, we shall fight our way to her side. Courage, friends!" In this strain of exhortation, Cocklescraft spoke at intervals to his men, whilst anxiously looking to the rear h watched the progress of his pursuers and 390 ROB OF THE BOWL seemed to count every wave that broke against their bows. Not even his experienced eye could tell which of the struggling rivals in this race had the swiftest keel. So intense became the competition that soon all other cares were absorbed in the engrossing thought of the escape. The boat's crew fell into silence, and when the necessary orders were deliv ered they were spoken in the low tone of familiar conversation, as if the speakers were afraid they might be overheard by the enemy in their wake. If the concern of the leader and his crew in their present condition was eager, still more did it awaken the feelings of Blanche Warden and Mistress Bridget. The maiden seemed to have forgotten her tears ; occupied with a more absorbing emotion than her grief, she found herself renovated in strength, and by degrees assuming an upright posture in the boat, whence, with an ardent and unblenching gaze, she kept her eye fixed upon the barges that came like angel-messengers to her deliverance. Two miles or more yet lay between the parties in the chase. Cocklescraft steered towards the upper headland for Piney Point to use its modern desig nation and reaching this, found a long sweep of the river ahead of him, bounded by a smooth strand unmarked by creek or inlet. At one moment he thought of running for the Virginia shore, and there, by doubling back upon his pursuers, aim to win the Capes of Potomac, in the hope of meeting the Escalfador; but he could not count sufficiently ROB OF THE BOWL 391 on the speed of his boat to risk so dangerous a hazard. "If I can but keep my way till night, I shall baffle these hounds upon my track;" he said, in pondering over the emergency. "A weary day it is before me, and a long run till night. Perchance, I may meet some stouter craft upon the water, some up- river trader, whom I may easily master, and once on a broader deck, I will fight these landsmen with all their odds against me. Or, at the worst, I shall run ashore, if I am pressed, and take to the thicket, where at least, till day be done, I may lie concealed, and after find my way to the Chapel." In this perplexity and doubt he still pursued his voyage. The point which he had passed momen tarily screened him from the view of his pursuers; but in clue time the barges were again seen across the white sandy flat, apparently, by the effect of that optical deception which may be observed on a low shore, raised above the level of the land and looming to twice their natural size. "They come, they come Heaven be praised, they gain upon us!" involuntarily ejaculated Blanche, as she rose from her seat and gazed across the extrem ity of the point. "Not so fast, my merry queen," said Cocklescraft, for the moment attracted by the lively utterance of the maiden; "they do not gain upon us, mistress; you forget that they must weather the point by that same circuit which you may see traced by our wake. 392 r 3B OF THE BOWL Thou wilt be a better sailor anon. Steadily, good lads! do not overwork yourselves; we are likely to hav& a long run of it." Now, for some miles, the chase continued with little diminution of the space between the parties. At length it began to be perceptible that the barges drew nearer to the object of their pursuit; the short ened stroke of the oar denoted the flagging strength of the labouring Buccaneer, whilst the unabated vigour of the pursuers showed that the chase was urged by men enured to the toil of rowing. Still, there was the energy of desperate men in the force with which the flying band held on their way, and Cocklescraft did not yet abandon the hope of weary ing down the strength of those from whom he fled. Another hour, and the barges still crept up nearer to their chase. A death-like stillness prevailed on board the latter, broken only by the monotonous dipping of the oar and its dull jar upon the boat, as the sea man, with unvarying time, turned it in the row-lock and repeated his stroke. Still nearer came the barges and nearer, with fearful cer tainty. "They come within musket shot!" exclaimed Cocklescraft. "To the land, boys! we must even fight them on the land." "Back your oars!" cried out Dauntrees, from the leading barge; "back, and lay to, or by St. Michael, I fire!" A scream from Bridget Coldcale was, for a mo- ROB OF THE BOWL 393 ment, the only answer that reached the ears of the Captain. "To your feet, mistress!" said Cocklescraft, as seizing Blanche by the arm he placed her erect in the boat. "Fire at your peril!" was the reply he now gave to the accost of his enemy; "my crew sail under the protection of the Rose of St. Mary's. Have your weapons at hand !" he added, addressing his men; "we must e'en leave our boat, and this precious freight to these land-rats, and take to the wood. You cannot call me cruel, pretty maiden, for I give you up, in pure courtesy, to your friends. You will remember the Master of the Escalfador as a gallant who would have made you mistress of as pretty a dowry as ever won maiden's good will. We have had a merry morning of it, lady I would it had been longer but these churls behind forbid it; so, without more ceremony in the leave-taking for thou seest I must needs be in haste fare thee well, girl ! Even without asking this favour, I kiss thy cheek. To the shore, lads !" As he spoke, and made good his word by stooping over the maiden and enforcing her submission to this parting token of his gallantry, the boat struck the sand, and, in an instant, leader and crew had sprung into the shallow water and bounded to the shore, leaving but their wounded comrade and the maiden with her faithful companion on board of the boat. A volley was discharged from the nearest barge at the fugitives, but the result served to show 394 ROB OF THE BOWL that the common deception of distance on the water had misled the party who fired; the balls fell short of their mark, and the persons aimed at were soon out of sight in the forest that covered the shore. Upon the land side an enterprise was afoot of almpst equal excitement to that upon the water. The party of horsemen that had crossed with Colonel Talbot to the opposite shore of St. Mary's River, submitting to the guidance of Arnold de la Grange and his old Indian comrade, were conducted along a path which threaded the thickets lying around the head of an inlet, that now bears the name of St. George's, and thence took a course down the peninsula towards Piney Point. Whilst galloping upon the further margin of the inlet by which the eastern side of the peninsula was formed, and yet two miles from the point, they perceived the yawl of Cocklescraft stretching across from the islands toward the main. A halt was immediately called by the commander of the party, and they were or dered to screen themselves and their horses from ob servation among the wild shrubbery of the spot. "It is even as the Cripple of St. Jerome's told us," said Talbot. "This is the boat of the Olive Branch with her thieving knaves. You may know the Skipper, Master Verheyden, by his flat bonnet and scarlet jacket. See, he looks sternward and waves his hand to his rowers as if he would hasten their speed." "And I see the forms of cowering females at his ROB OF THE BOWL 395 feet," added Albert. "The boat makes for the point. A blessing on the day! these marauders design to land. Oh, happy chance that we are here! let us not delay to set upon them." "Hold, Master Secretary! be not too eager," re plied the leader. "Think you they will land, if they see us lying at lurch to attack them ? No, no ! our honest friend of the Bowl hath stolen away their brigantine, and the cheated felons, all agaze at their mishap, are now seeking a hiding place where they may abide till night, and then, perchance, repair their misfortune by some other villany. We should mar our best hope if they but catch a glimpse of us. So, quiet, gentlemen; your impatience shall find action soon enough e'er we get home again. Ah, good luck, friends! see how bravely sets the wind of our fortune; yonder comes old Jasper Dauntrees, like a trusty comrade, hot in chace, with his barge trimmed to the nicety of an arrow's feath ering. He follows close in the wake of the Free booter and at his heels, by my faith, there opens now, from behind the point of the island, his second party. Push for it, old friend! The good powers cheer thee in thy race !" "Master Cocklescraft," said Arnold, "will not be so fool-hardy as to land on that deep sand with two helpless women to take care of, whilst he has a sol dier like Captain Dauntrees to track his march." "You are right, Arnold," returned Talbot, after watching the leading boat for a space; "the Skipper 396 ROB OF THE BOWL steers wide of the beach, and means to make a run of it up the river; he is already passing by the point. Gentlemen, to horse again ! we will get back towards the highland and there keep an even speed with the chace, and, like well trained hawks, stoop upon our quarry in the nick of time. Beware the open ground, that the Skipper may not see us on the heights." In obedience to this command, the party set out quickly, by a retrograde movement, towards the upland, which, although somewhat remote from the river, gave them, at frequent intervals, where the cleared forest allowed, an extensive range of river view. Having gained this height, they traversed it in a line parallel to the course of the shore, ever di recting their anxious eyes to the fierce contention between the boats for mastery in the race. Occa sionally, in this progress, ravines were to be passed, a piece of marshy land to be avoided, or an open field, which might expose the party to the view of the boatmen, to be shunned. In all such passages of the journey, the services of Pamesack and of Arnold -de la Grange contributed greatly to the speed with which this scouting company were enabled to keep pace with the rapid flight of the boats. With deep .and intense speculation did the horsemen watch the progress of the chace, and measure the distance be tween the fugitives and their pursuers. Albert Ver- heyden, almost counting the strokes of the Skip per's *?ars as their wet blades flashed the sunbeams ROB OF THE BOWL 397 upon his sight, rode, for some time in despairing silence. "He loses not an inch !" he breathed to himself, as his thought ran upon the Freebooter's chance of evading his enemies ; "he has men at the oar used to the sleight, and he will tire down his pursuers." Again he gazed, and with no better hope. But when, after losing sight of the river for a long space whilst the party galloped over a piece of wooded low ground, he came again in view of the boats, joy beamed from every feature of his face as he ex claimed to his companions, "We advance upon his flight and shorten the space between ! The Skipper grows weary of his labour; thanks to the Cap tain and his noble comrades, the day begins to brighten on our enterprise." "We will halt here," said Talbot, reining up his steed upon a summit which commanded a near view of that region, recognised at the present day as Med ley's Neck; "the game is nearly run down and presently will come our time to speak a word of comfort to this renegade spoiler. He strains for yon der point, as if there he meant to land. By the body of St. Ignatius ! it is a wise choice he has made. We have him if his folly be so bold as to touch that strand we have him in a trap. He comes he comes, driving headlong into our hands. Fol low!" Without waiting to marshal his troop, and even without looking behind, Talbot spurred his horse to 398 ROB OF THE BOWL a gallop, and plunged into the forest which covered the lowland even down to the river brink. As Cocklescraft and his band deserted their boat and fled into the wood, Dauntrees with the barges drove rapidly in upon the shore. A loud huzza from his men announced the recapture of the maiden and Mistress Bridget. The Captain himself, by the aid of a boat-hook, made a spring from his barge with an agility that would not have passed unap- plauded even at an earlier period of his life, and was the first to board the Skipper's abandoned yawl. "God bless thee, gentle damsel !" he exclaimed as he eagerly seized Blanche by both hands and almost lifted her into his arms, whilst the maiden, with scarce less alacrity, her eyes laughing through the big drops that rolled down her cheeks, threw her head upon his breast, and sobbed with convulsive joy "God bless thee, dear Mistress Blanche! we will make your father a happy man again. And you, old sweetheart, Bridget, they would have stolen you away! Lieutenant," he added, almost in the same breath, "leave six files with our oarsmen to guard the boats ; and see that they draw off from the shore into a fathom water, there to await our signal when we return. The rest of the men will push forward on the track of the runaways. Follow, comrades; we have no time to lose." As the Captain spoke, he was already pushing his way into the wood, on the footsteps of the retreat ing pirates, at the head of some dozen files of mus- ROB OF THE BOWL queteers. In another moment, the two females were left alone with the boats and their appointed guard. "Spread yourselves across the neck," said Arnold de la Grange, as with a small division of the horse men he had now reached a position not more than half a mile from the Point. "Pamesack, creep down on the shore of Britton's Bay, and report whatever comes in sight. The first man who finds the enemy will discharge his firelock. Scatter, gentlemen, scat ter." This little party of scouts were at the next mo ment extending their line across the extremity of Medley's Neck, and cautiously drawing towards the Point. Some distance in their rear was to be seen Talbot and the rest of the horsemen moving at a walk, in a compact body, upon the trail of the ranger's advance, and silently awaiting the signal by which they were to be guided to the quarter where their attack was to be made. After a short period of suspense, the report of a carbine, from the direction taken by Pamesack, arrested the general attention, and, on the instant, Albert, with three or four com panions, set off at high speed towards the spot. On reaching the margin of the little bay which formed one confine of the neck of land, he discovered, ad vancing at a quick pace, though yet some distance off, the handful of men whom the wild adventure of the Skipper had brought into these desperate circum stances. They were in close array, armed with pikes, and led forward by their reckless captain. 400 ROB OF THE BOWL The confidence with which they hurried upon their march seemed to indicate an unconsciousness of any foe except the party in their rear. This conviction was now instantly changed, as they became aware of the presence of Verheyden and his friends. Staggered by this unexpected dis closure, they were observed to halt for a moment, as if to receive some counsel from their chief, and then to advance with a steadiness that indicated prompt and desperate resolve. Their ranks were formed with more precision; their pace gradually quickened, as they came nearer to their enemy; and having approached so near as to enable either side to hear the commands of the other, Albert could distinctly recognize the voice of Cocklescraft ex horting them to the onset. In another moment, they set up the war-cry which they had learned from the Spaniards of the Gulf, and which had grown to be their own, from the recollections of the bloody frays with which it was associated "A la savanna, per- ros ! to the field, dogs !" and thus shouting, anti cipated the attack of their enemies by themselves striking the first blow. Talbot had delayed to follow Verheyden, only until he could assure himself that the signal shot truly announced the presence of Cocklescraft's party. This was rendered certain by a messenger who rode back to report the fact, and, without loss of time, the commander of the troop repaired to the scene of the assault. The pirates had already forced the little ROB OF THE BOWL 401 party of horsemen to give ground, when Talbot reached the spot. "Upon them, gentlemen," he cried aloud, without halting to form his men; and, in an instant was seen, opening his way through the pikes of the buccaneers with his sword. Albert Verheyden, lead ing on th0 little band of untrained' cavalry, followed with impetuous haste in the track of s his commander. The compact array of the pirates being broken, a confused pell-mell fight ensued, with sword, | pike and pistol, which was marked by various success. Two or three of the horsemen were thrown to the ground, and as many of the seamen slain. Albert's horse was killed by a , pistol-shot, and the rider for a moment was brought into imminent peril. Cockles- craft, animated as much by revenge, as by a deter mination to sell his life at a dear price, no sooner perceived the prostrate Secretary than he sprang upon him, and would have done the work of death, if Arnold de la Grange, who had followed Albert's footsteps through the fray, had not thrown himself from his horse and rushed to his comrade's rescue. He arrived in time to avert the stroke of the Skip per's sword, by interposing his carbine, and, at the same moment, seized Cocklescraft by the shoulder and dragged him backward to the earth. The active seaman was, in an instant, again upon his feet, but before he could renew the fight with effect, he found himself overwhelmed by the musqueteers, whose unobserved approach now put an end to the struggle. 402 ROB OF THE BOWL "Hands off!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, shaking from him some two or three assailants, who had now crowded upon him, as the blood of a recent wound over the eye trickled down his cheek; "hemmed in and overnumbered, I surrender; you may do with me as you will I ask no favours at your hands." And saying this, he flung his sword, with a moody and sullen anger, upon the ground. "A fairer field on land or water, and by St. lago! we would have disputed it with you till set of sun. We came not pre pared for this fight we have neither arms nor am munition to cope with an equal force, much less with the swarm that you have brought on horse and foot against this little boat's crew. Take your vic tory and make the best of it !" "Silence!" said Dauntrees with the habitual calm ness of an old soldier: "Call your men to the foot of yonder tree, or I may prick them thither with a halbert." Under a chestnut hard by, the remnant of the buccaneers, amounting to not more than seven men beside their leader, assembled. Some of them bore the marks of the severity of the conflict in wounds upon their persons. Three of the Skipper's men were found dead upon the field. Their oppo nents had escaped with better fortune. Two only were found severely though, it was believed, not mortally wounded ; a few others slightly. A guard was detailed to conduct the prisoners to the boat; the dead were hastily buried in the wood, and the ROB OF THE BOWL 403 wounded borne on the shoulders of their comrades to the point of embarcation. It was already afternoon when victors and van quished were bestowed in due order in the boats. The horsemen had by this time set forward on their homeward journey, eager to report the good tidings of the day. The captured yawl, manned with a proper complement of rowers, was consigned to the maiden and her faithful Bridget, attended by the Secretary and Captain Dauntrees the former of whom, we may imagine, had many things to say to the maiden, which, however agreeable to the nar rator, would make but dull entertainment on our pages.. All matters being now disposed for sailing, the squadron of boats, led by the yawl, put off in order from the shore, and, with moderate speed, bent their course towards the anxious little city. Before sundown the maiden was placed in her father's longing arms on the little wharf of the Rose Croft, and, in due time, the prisoners were marched through a crowd of gaping townspeople into the Fort of St Mary/s. 404 ROB OF THE BOWL CHAPTER XXIII. No more the slave of human pride, Vain hope and sordid care, I meekly vow'd to spend my life In penitence and prayer. The Hermit of Warkworth. DURING the day occupied by the events narrated in the last chapter, the Cripple of St. Jerome's re mained in the dwelling of Father Pierre. His mis anthropy had relaxed into a kinder tone, and con trition had spread a sadness over his mind. In this temper he had made his shrift, and abjured the law less life and evil fellowship into which his passions had plunged him, and now offered up a sincere and needful vow of penitence, to which he was resolved to devote the scant remainder of his days. The good priest did not fail to encourage the convertite in his wholesome purpose, nor to aid him with such ghostly counsel as was likely to strengthen his reso lution. The Proprietary had directed the brigantine to be brought from Mattapany to St. Mary's, and she had, in consequence, been anchored in the harbour, a short distance from the quay, before Dauntrees had returned from his late expedition; the men left by Cocklescraft to navigate her were held on board as prisoners, under a small guard from the Mattapany ROB OF THE BOWL 405 Fort. The provincial court, the chief judicial au thority of the government, had assembled on the same day, with the intention to continue its sessions until the cases of the conspirators were disposed of. The sitting of this court had attracted, from all quarters of the province, an unusually large crowd of attendants; and the town was accordingly filled with farmers, planters and craftsmen from the in terior, who, in character of suitors, witnesses, men of business, or mere seekers of news, occupied every place of public accommodation. Such was the state of things at the close of the day to which we have referred. The faction ad verse to the Proprietary, notwithstanding the vigi lance -with which they were watched, still found means for private conference. A few of the prin cipal men who had not yet fallen under the sus picion of the public authorities, assembled in familiar guise under the roof of Chiseldine, and there con sulted upon their affairs. The hope of rescuing Fendall and his companions by force, although some what depressed by recent events, was not abandoned. There were some sufficiently bold still to encourage this enterprise, and they spoke confidently of the assistance of friends, now in the port, who were anxious to bring about an immediate conflict with the Proprietary. It was deemed essential to the success of this attempt that the Olive Branch should be got into the possession of the conspirators ; with out the aid of the brigantine, neither the escape of 406 ROB OF THE BOWL the prisoners, nor the assistance of their confederates on the opposite shore of the Potomac could be relied on, even if all the other chances turned up favour ably to the design. These topics were duly debated in conclave, and the result was a determination to leave the enterprise in the hands of those who had projected it, either to be pursued or abandoned as the means at their command might counsel. With this conclusion the restless spirits, who had met at Chiseldine's, retired to organise their plans amongst their kindred mal contents throughout the town. On the following morning when the hour for com mencing business drew nigh, an unwonted throng of customers frequented the tap-room of the Crow and Archer. There was but little of that cheerfulness which usually characterizes such a resort; the occu pants of the place seemed to be chiefly engaged with matters that rendered them thoughtful, and their conferences were held in undertones; many loitered through the room in silence; and it was manifest that the aspect of public affairs had impressed all with a sense of the weightiness of the issues which were pending. The concourse was no less conspic uous upon the quay. Here little knots of burghers and inland inhabitants, sorted according to the com plexion of their political sentiments, whether of hos tility or attachment to the Proprietary, were scat tered about in quiet communings, and exchanging distrustful and hostile glances as they came within ROB OF THE BOWL 40? the sphere of each other's observation. The yawl of the Skipper lay secured to the wharf by a rope, and the Escalfador, scarce a cable's length out in the stream, was near enough to present to the view of the townspeople the sentinels that paced her deck, and kept guard over the remnant of the pirate band, who were yet detained on board until their pres ence might be required by the authorities. The arrival of Lord Baltimore at the Town House attended by Albert Verheyden and the greater num ber of the members of the Council, as it indicated his Lordship's intention to examine the prisoners in person, served to increase the public interest in the events of the day, and to draw a considerable portion of trie crowd into the immediate neighbourhood of the Hall of Justice. The Proprietary with his friends took possession of a chamber opposite to that occu pied by the court, where they were soon joined by the sturdy old Collector who, with an erect and vigorous carriage, and a face flushed with mingled resentment and pride of manhood aroused by the recent events, rode up to the door and alighted amidst the salutations of his townsmen and the clamorous expressions of their joy at the good for tune which had restored him his daughter. A brief interval brought Father Pierre, conducting Rob of the Bowl, to the same spot, and by order of the Proprietary they were both admitted into the cham ber. The prisoners had not yet arrived. In the mean 408 ROB OF THE BOWL time the Council were occupied with such inquiries as the presence of Albert Verheyden suggested. The appearance and demeanour of the Cripple of St. Jerome's engrossed the chief interest of the as sembly. His age, his deformity, his singularly harsh and shrewd features, the extraordinary mys tery of his life, his connexion with the ruffians of the Chapel, his apparent contrition, amounting to melancholy, above all, his presence in this conclave, amongst persons with whom he had never before exchanged a word, were circumstances of a nature to throw around him the eager regard of the by standers. There was a peculiarly subdued and sor rowful expression in his countenance, as he gazed with silent intensity, upon the features of Albert Verheyden and listened to his story of the disasters of that night of horrors, in which Rob had first become acquainted with him. The old man's lip quivered and his eye glistened with a tear, as he dwelt upon the tones of the Secretary's voice, and watched the changes of his countenance. At length, whilst the Secretary still continued his eventful nar rative, unable longer to control his feelings or re strain his eagerness to catch every word that fell from Albert's lips, he heaved an involuntary but deep sigh, and muttered, loud enough to be heard by every one in the apartment: "Oh, God, I have been reserved for this deed ! in mercy, have I been spared to save his life." After a pause he added in a voice of loud and fervent entreaty "I pray you, ROB OF THE BOWL 409 gentlemen, raise me to the table that I may look him nearer in the face; my eyes are old and dim;" he continued, wiping away the tear with his hand, "this seared and maimed trunk holds me too near the earth ; it hath placed me below my fellow man and taught my spirit to grovel to grovel," he re peated with a bitter emphasis "in the very mire of the basest fellowship. Lift me on the table, I beseech you. I have saved his life! the saints be thanked, I have saved his life!" he uttered with a wild ges ticulation. "Albert, I had made up my mind to save it with loss of my own ! I had, boy !" The strange frenzy that for the time seemed to possess the deformed old man, the wild glance of his eye and the nervous tone, almost of raving laugh ter, with which he ejaculated these last words, gave rise to an instant doubt of the sanity of his mind; but in a moment he subsided into a calmer state, and resumed his original self-command. Upon a sign from the Proprietary his request was complied with, and he was lifted upon the table that occupied the middle of the room. "Go on, boy/'he continued, as soon as he was adjusted in this position; then suddenly checking himself for the familiarity of the address, "I crave pardon I forget Master Verheyden," he added, choking with the utterance of the name, as now within a few feet of the Secretary he still more nar rowly gazed upon his face "I pray thee, go on !" When the Secretary had concluded his narrative, 410 ROB OF THE BOWL a deep silence prevailed throughout the room, and all eyes were bent upon the Cripple in expectation that he had something to disclose which all were anxious to hear. He, however, remained mute, still fixing his gaze upon Albert; and when the Secre tary casually turned his back upon him, he reached forth his hand and caught the skirt of the young man's cloak, with an evidently unconscious motion, as if he sought by this constraint to prevent the Sec retary from leaving him. The Proprietary at length, as much struck with the deportment of the Cripple as the rest who wit nessed it, and hoping to draw from him some history of himself, addressed him in a tone in which the severity of rebuke seemed to have been softened by the anxious interest he took in the endeavour to learn more of the singular person to whom he spoke. It was therefore with a grave, though scarcely stern manner that Lord Baltimore accosted him : "Master Robert Swale," he said, "the Secre tary's narrative which we have just heard has a dreadful import ; nor is it coloured by a distempered fancy. We are all witnesses to facts connected with this fearful tale that leave no room to doubt the scru pulous truth of all that has been told " "True in every syllable, true!" interrupted Rob, with quick assent. "As God shall judge us, it is all true." "It is a tale," continued the Proprietary, "fraught with crimes of ruthless men who, we find, have lived ROB OF THE BOWL 411 in near companionship with you. Long has the province been frightened with stories of wicked rites celebrated in the Black Chapel, as our people have been taught to call that accursed house. The com mon terror could solve the mystery only by refer ring it to the acts of the Fiend, and it has ascribed to you some fearful intercourse with evil spirits." "It hath it hath, and with reason! mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!" muttered Rob, as he vehemently struck his bosom with his open palm. "More sober eyes have seen in your sequestered life and rare communion with your fellow men, but the evidences of a mind soured by adversity a mind, it would seem, not so humbly cast as your condition might infer, but stricken, as the common belief has signified, by some heavy blow of for tune." A stifled groan spoke the listener's apprehension of the Proprietary's words. "All have been deceived; you have not lived that secluded life which in charity many have imputed to you. No sorcery nor witchcraft hath wrought these terrors, but the trickery of lawless ruffians; and what was deemed your solitude, it is now confessed, was active and commanding fellowship in this den of robbers. Thou art too far journeyed in the vale of years to be reproved, even if time, which seldom fails to do his office, had not already been the aven ger of the past. Your interposition in behalf of the Secretary's life, your removal of the brigantine and 412 ROB OF THE BOWL prompt repairing hither, as well as rumours, which I trust are true, of clear shrift and penitential vow, announce an honest though a late purpose of amend ment. We think you owe it now to the consum mation of this good purpose, that you divulge all it concerns us to know of that wicked haunt, the Wizard's Chapel, the scene of so much grief and crime, and of its inmates. Speak freely, old man." "My Lord," answered Rob, with a calm though somewhat tremulous voice; "the story of my life I have confided to this holy man. Until my sand is run would that its stream were spent! that story lies in his bosom under the seal of the confessional. I dare not again rehearse it : when I am gone he will tell it. It will be heard with curses by many I deserve them; but if a life clouded by disgrace and stung with misery may atone for a deed of pas sion, I pray, with an humble spirit, that my story may raise one voice of pity but it doth not concern us to speak of this," he said as in deep emotion he paused for some moments with his hand closely pressed across his eyes "these are unaccustomed tears, my Lord, I have not wept before to-day this many a long year. "What concerns my coming to the province, the life I have led here and the history of the Black House," he resumed after an interval in which he had regained his composure "of these, I have no scruple to speak. Sixteen years ago, my Lord, I sailed from a port on the other side of the Atlantic, ROB OF THE BOWL 413 with some little store of wealth consisting chiefly of jewels. My destination was the islands : my name was hidden from the world, and I had hoped to hide myself. Disasters at sea drove us upon this coast, where in a winter's storm, such as I have never known but that, our ship was wrecked. I know not who survived I only know that it pleased Heaven for my sins, to prolong a life that I could have bet ter parted with than any who found their grave beneath the waters. I chanced to save the larger portion of my valuables, and, on a raft of floating spars, was drifted into the Chesapeake, where a fish erman took me up almost lifeless, famished and starved with cold. He put me down at St. Jerome's I had no wish to face my fellow men, and, for such hire as I gave him, provided me with comforts, the scant comforts my condition needed, in that for saken house, which then was terrible, as it hath been since the house where Paul Kelpy murdered his own family. There, my Lord, I lived a solitary lodger, with no attendant near me except an aged woman, who afterwards abandoned me and took up her habitation at Warrington on the Cliffs : she hath of late again returned. That winter passed away in suffering ay, to the full measure of my deserts and when spring came, my frosted limbs had rotted off, and I lay on my pallet that wretched, deformed and unsightly thing thou seest me now. There, for many weary years, I dwelt, a man of sin and misery. Use made my state familiar, and I be- 414 ROB OF THE BOWL gan to think my penance would, at last, restore my peace of mind. In this lone spot, from which all the world turned away with shuddering-, I did not dream that worldly passions could again be awakened. But it so fell out that, four years ago, a band of bucca neers in a trim brigantine, led by this ravening wolf Cocklescraft, tempted their fortune in these waters. They came in the disguise of traders, pitched upon the Chapel as their lurking place, won me to their purpose of unlawful commerce, and drove their craft with such success as you, my Lord, have seen. I consorted with them, first because they were out lawed men, and in that thought I took pleasure; there was sympathy, the food for which my heart was hungered. They built me a lodge, and came and went as my familiar guests and I made money by them. Can you wonder, my Lord, that I became their comrade? they made me their chief I had their secret, they gave me friendship, and they brought me that devil's lure, gold gold more than I had ever known before. Can you wonder, my Lord, that I became their companion? The treas ures of the Chapel needed guarding from curious eyes. I made the spot to be doubly desecrated we had visors, masks and strange disguises. I had the skill to compound chemical fires : we had sentinels on the watch, and plied our game of witchcraft sea sonably, till the whole country was filled with alarm " At this moment, some tumult from without at- ROB OF THE BOWL 415 tracted the attention of the inmates of the chamber, and interrupted the further narrative of the Cripple. At a distance, in the direction of the Fort, was seen a guard of some ten or twelve musqueteers ad vancing along the principal street of the city, led by Captain Dauntrees in person, and forming an escort to Cocklescraft and the prisoners who had been cap tured with him. Their progress was impeded by the crowd that thronged upon their path, amongst whom were some who scarcely attempted to conceal their sympathy with the prisoners, and who by signs, if not by words, cheered them with the hope of deliv erance from their present durance. Nods of recog nition were exchanged with Cocklescraft, and signi ficant gestures made which he was at no loss to comprehend. The press increased as they drew near the door of the Town House, and in the disorder incident to the introduction of the prisoners into the building, more than one of the movers in the late sedition found an occasion to assure the master of the Escalfador, by a brief hint, of their readiness to co-operate in seizing the brigantine. Cocklescraft and his crew were conducted into the presence of the Proprietary by Dauntrees, who, leaving the guard in the hall or passage way that separated the court-room from that occupied by the Council, ranged the prisoners within the apartment on either side of the door, which, being left open, exposed to view the musqueteers, who were thus in a position to do their duty in case any difficulty 416 ROB OF THE BOWL should render their interference necessary; whibt the crowd, at the same time, intruded itself into the hall with such importunity as to leave but little space for the occupation of the guard. Cocklescraft had lost none of the moodiness that characterized his demeanour after his surrender on the day previous. He was somewhat paler, owing to the wound upon his brow, which was now bound up with a bandage of black silk that, in some degree, enhanced the sickly aspect of his complexion. Still the fire of his spirit sparkled in his unquenched eye, and a sullen scowl, as he looked Albert Verheyden in the face, rested on his features. A slight but guarded expression of surprise flashed across his countenance when his glance encountered Rob of the Bowl. He was unaware of the presence of the Cripple in the Port ; nor had he, up to this moment, ever entertained a suspicion that Rob had deserted him. The escape of the Secretary he imputed alone to the carelessness of the seamen; the failure of the brigantine to meet him at the rendezvous, he set down to accident and unskil fulness, and her presence now in the harbour to a cause altogether discon nected with any conjecture of treachery in the Crip ple. Even the old man's presence before the Coun cil, he attributed to force, and believed him to be, like himself, a prisoner. In this conviction he now found himself before the chief authorities of the province. He was, of course, weaponless ; and as all eyes were turned upon him, he stood with folded ROB OF THE BOWL 417 arms, his cloth cap dangling from his hand, gazing in silent defiance upon the assembly. He meditated no purpose of defence to the charges which he ex pected to hear : the facts of his late outrage admitted none, and the presence of the Secretary assured him that the crime he had attempted to perpetrate on All SouFs Eve had been divulged in all its enormity, and with such full identification of the actors in it as to render useless all attempt even at palliation. The unabashed gesture of the Buccaneer, his con fident port and look, even of scorn, provoked an in stant emotion of resentment in the Proprietary as well as of the greater number of those who sur rounded him. "Viper!" he said, "dost thou approach us with this shameless front to brave our authority in the province! Does no sense of crime abash thy brow, that here, in the presence of those whom thou hast most foully wronged, thou showest thy dastardly face without a blush! Richard Cocklescraft, you came hither, as all men thought, a peaceful trader, and found the friendship of the Port accorded to you, without stint or question. Again and again you left us, and returned ; and the townspeople ever gave you hearty welcome to their homes. How brief a span is it, since we saw you breaking bread and sharing the wine-cup with this aged father, whose daughter, execrable villain, thou soughtest to carry off by force, in the dead hour of the night? Hast thou not plotted against the life of the Secre- 418 ROB OF THE BOWL tary? Didst thou not murder the fisherman, bloody and remorseless man ? Didst thou not, like a coward, strike at the gray hairs of this venerable man, when thou stol'st upon him in his sleep ?" "No!" replied the pirate leader, in a voice loud and angry, undaunted by the presence of the chief functionaries of the province, and untamed by his captivity. "He lies who says I struck at the Col lector, though, by St. lago, Anthony Warden may claim no favour at my hands, " "Favour at thy hands!" exclaimed the Collector, who could not sit quiet whilst the Skipper spoke "A boy, who undertakes to play at man's game, with men! A boy to prate me thus!" "I pray you, Master Warden," interposed the Pro prietary, mildly, "do not interfere." "I struck not at the Collector," repeated Cockles- craft; "I look to match my sword with men not spent with age. When others would have beaten this old man to the ground, I saved him. I plotted not against the Secretary's life," he continued, an swering the accusations which the Proprietary had at random heaped upon him. "I slew the fisher man, as a hound that had been set to track my path. I carried away this old man's daughter, be cause I loved her. Are you answered, Lord Balti more?" "Impudent outlaw" returned the Proprietary, with an excitement of speech altogether unaccus tomed, "dost thou beard us with a confession of thy ROB OF THE BOWL 419 crimes? Have the laws of the province no terrors forthee?" "I never acknowledged your Lordship's laws," retorted the seaman, scornfully. "I have lived above them coming when I would, and going when it pleased me. By St. Anthony, your Lordship hath but a sorry set of lieges! You might do well to teach the better half of the freemen to remember that Charles Calvert claims to be Lord and master of this province they seem to have forgotten it. You think I am saucy, my Lord; I have but one master here Old Rob of the Trencher, my fellow prisoner: we will die in company." "Peace, knave!" ejaculated Rob, in his former peevish voice of command. "I know thee and thy villanies of old. Never again call me comrade of thine. Thou shalt not depart in ignorance of the favour you owe me, Dickon Cocklescraft. Know that I saved the Secretary's life that I gave back the daughter to her father's bosom " "Thou!" exclaimed Cocklescraft, with a deeper storm thickening on his brow. "Thou! didst thou betray me?" "I foiled thee," replied Rob, as a vengeful smile played on his features, "in thy horrid plot; I saved the boy's life ha, ha! I saved his life! and left thee on the island without a refuge thy villany de served it." "Betrayed, betrayed by thee!" vociferated the Pirate, as with the swift spring of the tiger he 420 ROB OF THE BOWL threw himself upon the Cripple, and seized the long knife from the old man's girdle, and plunged it deep into his bosom, shouting as he struck the blow, "By St. lago, I have paid thee for it!" The suddenness of the deed took all by surprise, and scarce a step was made, nor a hand raised to arrest the murderer, who, with a quickness that defied orderly resistance, turned towards the door, with the bloody weapon in his hand, and pronounc ing aloud the watchword that seemed to electrify his men "A la savanna!" rushed, at the head of his crew, into the hall. The guards at the door were no less unprepared for resistance than the persons with in, whilst the crowd in the hall gave ground, with that sudden panic which belongs to all unorganized masses of men, and fled tumultuously before the Buccaneer and his band thus increasing the con fusion and rendering it impossible for the weak guard of the hall, either to follow the fugitives with the necessary expedition to overtake them, or to fire upon them, without risk of greater injury to friend than foe. As soon as Cocklescraft was seen on the open ground in front of the Town House, driving with headlong haste towards the quay, the partisans of Coode and Fendall, constituting a considerable num ber of those who frequented the spot, increased the disorder by a clamour which, under the show of pursuit, in truth retarded the movement of those who endeavored to intercept the flying band. The ROB OF THE BOWL 421 momentary consternation in the chamber being over, the Proprietary and those around him, sprang from their seats and ran to the great door, whence they could witness the struggle of pursuit. Dauntrees, at the first moment, had repaired to his men, and was immediately busy in attempting to open a way through the crowd, in which he was greatly impeded by the tumultuous interference of the malcontents. Albert Verheyden, in the act of moving to leave the apartment, was recalled by the voice of the wounded man, and instantly returned to his side, where, with Father Pierre, he awaited, in anxious suspense, the recapture of the prisoners. Meantime Cocklescraft furiously urged his on ward course. He had snatched a sword in the crowd, with which he became a formidable enemy to all who crossed his path, and soon discovered, from their shouts, that his nearest pursuers were in fact aiding his escape. The only exception to this was Talbot and our old friend Arnold, who, foremost in the melee, had at one moment, as they sped down the bank, come in actual contact with the fugitives, and Talbot had exchanged more than one pass with Cocklescraft. The crowd thickened on the quay; shouts rent the air, and cries of encouragement and strife resounded from all sides. The passage over the quay was opened the boat gained, the rope severed, the oars in place, and in another instant the buccaneers were in full flight upon their accustomed element. The musqueteers 422 ROB OF THE BOWL hasten to the wharf, their small band jostled, pressed, and swayed by the encumbering crowd an ineffectual volley is fired Cocklescraft waves his hand in triumph the Escalfador is won from the feeble resistance of her light guard, and the pirates are again upon their own deck. The cable is slipped, sail after sail drops from the yard or runs up along the mast the brigantine swings round to a fair and stiff breeze under a cloudless heaven, and cleaves her way mid-stream towards the mouth of the river. A few harmless shots were fired from the Fort, as she bounded past ; and almost before the bewildered burghers were aware, she had swept beyond the limit of the harbour her daring master standing at the helm and looking back at the town, scarce able to realize the truth of his own escape, as he waved his bonnet in derision of the gaping crowd. Many eyes still lingered upon this fleeting vision, until the white sails of the Escalfador disappeared behind the projecting headland which opened to her prow the broad current of the Potomac. Not all could note this stirring strife of flight. A melancholy attraction drew back the Proprietary and his council to the chamber. When Albert was re called to the side of the wounded man, it was but to hear his own name pronounced in a whispered ac cent, and then to see the sufferer faint away. For some minutes, Father Pierre and the Secretary, the only persons in the room, thought life was fled ; but whilst they still watched, the light of the eye flick- ered upon them, and, by degrees, a sickly animation returned to the body. When Lord Baltimore and the others had gathered around, Rob was able to speak. His voice was faint, and his gaze was upon the Secretary. "My web is wove," he said, in that figurative language which had grown to be his habitual form of expression. "Albert Verheyden thou look'st upon upon thy father William Weatherby a man of crime and misery. Thy hand, boy thy lips upon my brow there there," he whispered, as his son, pale as a spectre and trembling with emotion, bent down over his prostrate trunk and kissed his forehead. "Pity me, my son, and forgive me for thy mother's sake. Poor Louise Louise " and with this name again and again breathed from his lips, when no other sound could be heard, his spirit was gradually wafted from its mutilated and weary tenement of clay. "I forgive thee I forgive and pity!" breathed Albert, with sobs that shook his whole frame, as he threw himself upon the lifeless body of his father. "My dear Albert, leave this place," said Father Pierre; "let us go to the Chapel, and there thou may'st temper thy ^rief with prayer. His Lordship will take order for the disposal of the body. I have a paper which I was charged, when this event should take place and in his reckoning it was not far off to deliver into thy hands. Come, and when we have done our duty at the altar, I will give it thee." 424 ROB OF THE BOWL With silent step and slow, Albert leaning on the arm of the priest, they left the Town House, and walked towards the little Chapel of St. Mary's. CHAPTER XXIV. FINIS. HERE ends my tale. We have no longer an inter est to follow the fortunes of the personages who have been brought to view in this motlied narrative of trivial and tragic events. A brief memorandum will tell all that remains to gratify the inquiries of rny readers. After the crossings of fortune which we have read in the history of Albert and Blanche, we may presume the time, at last, came for the current of true love to run smooth as a glassy lake. The next festival at the Rose Croft found Father Pierre in a prominent official position, and the maiden a blooming bride upon the arm of the happy Secre tary. The worldly wise will be pleased, perhaps, to learn that, after some most liberal appropriations to charitable uses, by way of purification of the more than doubtful uncleanness of the Cripple's wealth, Albert fell heir to no small hoard ; and this gear, as ROB OF THE BOWL 425 it was generously distributed in acts of hospitality and bounty to the poor, we would fain hope the straitest casuist will allow, was not unjustly taken by the Secretary, his title to it resting upon the will of William Weatherby, which was produced in due time by Father Pierre. As to the conspirators, they were losers in every way. First the Buccaneer and his Brigantine came not to their rescue; and secondly, the trials pro ceeded without interruption. Josias Fendall was fined in a very heavy sum, and imprisoned at the pleasure of the Proprietary. His brother and John Coode, from some apprehension, of rousing too keenly the popular grudge, were more mildly dealt with. George Godfrey was sentenced to death, but finding favour upon the petition of his wife, had his punishment commuted into a rigorous confinement in the gaol of St. Mary's. What became of the other confederates of Coode and Fendall, the records do not inform us; but we may infer that the dominant party in the province felt their authority too slender to prosecute them with much severity "They fear to punish, therefore do they pardon." Touching our unfortunate friend of "the gentle craft," the warlike corporal, history happens to have embalmed his memory with the unction of a favour ite, and to have consigned him to the notice of pos terity with a distinctness of fame that would, if he 426 ROB OF THE BOWL could have contemplated it, have almost made him, in spite of his miseries, in love with rebellion. I find in the proceedings of the council, in the month of March following these events, the "the humble petition" of Edward Abbott, a "poor, distressed, and sorrowful penitent" who most dolorously complains of his insufferable confinement, meekly confessing his sins, and affirming by way of extenuation, that in the commission of them, "he was so much in drink that he did not remember any thing either what was done or spoken at the time." And to this petition is appended the following entry: "The petitioner making his submission in open court, upon his knees begging pardon for his offence, the Justices are ordered to wave sentence passing against him, his Lordship having granted his par don." And so, gentle reader, good night! We part, I would even indulge the hope, but for a short period ; after which we may find motive to look again into the little city and renew our acquaintance. THE END. A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE. A story of American Colonial Times. By Chauncey C. Hotchkisa. Cloth, I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $ i.oo. A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the true American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter, until the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The love story Is a y charming idyl. THE TOWER OF LONDON. A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady Jane Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, izmo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, Ji.oo. This romance of the "Tower of London" depicts the Tower as palace, prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is the middle of the sixteenth century. The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable char acters of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of the reader In the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerably over a half a century. IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING. A Romance of the American Revolution. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit of the Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves taking part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is so absorbing that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a love romance it is charming. GARTHOWEN. A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, iznio. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. "This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare before us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some strong points of Welsh character the pride, the hasty temper, the quick dying out of wrath. ,. . . We call this a well-written story, interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into another life than ours. A delightful and clever picture of Welsh village life. The result is excellent." Detroit Free Press. MIFANWY. The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. "This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, it is ap parent at once, are as true to life as though the author had known them all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story is worked up in that touching and quaint strain which never grows wearisome, no matter how often the lights and shadows of love are introduced. It rings true, and does not tax the imagination." Boston Herald. w or sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the pubr listers. A. L. BURT COMtfANKa .M-vtf Dusme St.. New York. Good Fiction Worth Reading. A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. WINDSOR CASTLE. A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boieyn. By Win. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 'J2mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. "Windsor Castle" Is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne Boieyn. "Bluff King Hal," although a well-loved monarch, was none too ood a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable acts, none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, and his mar riage to the beautiful Anne Boieyn. The King's love was as brief as it was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, attracted him, and Anne Boieyn was forced to the block to make room for her successor. This romance is one of extreme interest to all readers. HORSESHOE ROBINSON. A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Caro lina in 1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 121110. with four illustrations by J. WaUon Davis. Price, $1.00. Among the old favorites In the field of what Is known as historical fic tion, there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans than Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story which depict* with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonists in South Caro lina to defend their homes against the brutal oppression of the British under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton. The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread of the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning those times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, is never over drawn, but painted faithfully and honestly by one who spared neither time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming love story all that price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid as their share in the winning of the republic. Take it all in all, "Horseshoe Robinson" Is a work which should be found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning the colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once more, well Illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to thousands who have long desired an opportunity to read the story again, and to the many who have tried vainly in these latter days to procure a copy that they might read It for the first time. THE PEARL OP ORR'S ISLAND. A story of the Coast of Maine. By 'Harriet Beecher Stowe. Cloth, izmo. Illustrated. Price, Ji.oo. Written prior to 1862, the "Pearl of Orr's Island" Is ever new; a book filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves anew each time one reads them. One sees the "sea like an unbroken mirror all around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr's Island," and straightway comes "the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, like the wild angry howl of some savage animal." Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which came Into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel's wings, without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud blos somed? Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the char acter of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid the angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother's breast There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that which Mrs. Stowe gives in "The Pearl of Orr's Island." For sale by all bookseller-,, or sent post-pa? 1 on receipt of price by tie pub' lishers, A. L. BURT COMPANY. 53-58 Duane St.. New York. Good Fiction Worth Reading. A series of romances containing several of the old favorites In the fiW T)f historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and diplomacy that excel i^ thrilling and absorbing interest. GUY FAWKES. A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Win. Harri- <son Ainsworth. Cloth, zaaio. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. (Price, $1.00. The "Gunpowder Plot" was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, the King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, svas weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. In their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spirits con- f:luded to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters were arrested, *nd the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other prisoners with royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through the entire romance. THE SPIPITOF THE BORDER. A Romance of the Ea'-'y Settlers in the Ohio Valley, By Zane Grey. Clotli. I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, |i. oo. A book rather out of the ordinary is this "Spirit of tne Border." The main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian mis sionaries in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given details of the, frontier, life of those hardy pioneers who broke the wilderness for the plant ing of this great nation. Chief among these, as a matter of course, ia Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and at the same time the most admirable of all the brave men who spent their lives battling with the savage foe, that others might dwell in comparative security. Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian "Village of Peace" are given at some length, and with minute description. The efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never have been before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leaders of the several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will be of interest to the student. By no means least among the charms of the story are the vlvfd word- pictures of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings of the beau ties of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests. It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by It, perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly braved every privation and danger that the westward progress of the star of em pire might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, simple and tender, runs through the book. RICHELIEU. A tale of France in the reign of King Louis Xm. By G. P R. James. Cloth, I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, Ji.oo. In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, "Richelieu," and was recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft. In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great car dinal's life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while it was ret sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic outbursts which overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost wave of prosperity. One of the most striking portions of the story is that of Cinq Mar's conspir acy; the method of conducting criminal cases, and the political trickery resorted to by royal favorites, affording a. better insight into the tate- craft of that day than can be had even by an exhaustive study of history. It is a powerful romance of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling and absorbing interest has never been excelled. For Bale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid 0*1 receipt of price by the pub- Ushers, A. L. BURT COMPANY, 53-58 Duane St., New York. Good Fiction Worth Reading. A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and rUplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. D ARNLE Y. A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey t?.y G. P. R. James. Cloth, I2mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis x'rice, $1.00. In point of publication, "Darnley" is that work by Mr. James which follows "Richelieu," and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to the ad vice and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we are indebted primarily for the story, the young author questioning whether he could properly paint the difference in the characters of the two great cardinals. And it is not surprising that James should have hesitated; he had been/ eminently successful in giving to the world the portrait of Richelieu as a' man, and by attempting a similar tislc with Wolsey as the theme, was much like tempting fortune. Irving insisted that "Darnley" came natur ally in sequence, and this opinion being supported by Sir Walter Scott, the author set about the work. As a historical romanc* "Darnley" is a book that can be taken up pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm whict those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have claimed wa only to be imparted by Dumas. If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial attention, the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic "field of the cloth of gold" would ewtltle the story to the most favorable consideration of every reader. There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author hat taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom history hat credited with having entertained the tender passion one for another, and he succeeds in making? such lovers as all the world must love. CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE. By Went. Henry A. Wise, U.S.N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, lamo. with four illustra tions by J. Watson Davis. Price, Ji.oo. The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarn* who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come through the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea and thos* "who go down in ships" been written by one more familiar with the scene* depicted. The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and which will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is "Captain Brand," who, as the author states on his title page, was a "pirate of eminence in the West Indies." As a sea story pure and simple, "Captain Brand" has never been excelled,, and as a story of piratical life, told without the usual embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no equal. NICK OP THE WOODS. A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By Robert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, izmo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life In Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long out of print, had In its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic presentation of Indian and frontier life in the early days of settlement in the South, nar rated in the tale with all the art of a practiced writer. A very charming love romance runs through the story. This new and tasteful edition of "Nick of the Woods" will be certain to make many new admirers for this enchanting story from Dr. Bird's clever and versatile pen. For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the pub lishers. A, U BURT CQMPANV, ; 53.58 Duane St , New York. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped "below 4 **> DEC 10 1848 Mtt 11 1951 *" ?9 Vti AUGS1W Form L-9 20m -12, '39(3388) CALlFOJUBft LS8 LIBHART PS 2162 Kennedy - 00562 6832 x^/^^^4^ /ft" 000033412 PS 2162 R53 . 'j