Chapter 8. On Board The Prize...

________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER EIGHT. ON BOARD THE PRIZE--BEN GIVES BAD ADVICE--A STRANGE LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIP--FRIEND OR FOE?--THE WOLF AND HER PRIZE REACH PLYMOUTH--NOT ALLOWED TO GO ASHORE--PETER PURKISS--DICK DESERTS--HOMEWARD BOUND--VISIT TO THE SMUGGLER'S WIFE--RECEPTION AT THE FARM--DICK RECOGNISED BY LORD REGINALD AND VOULES--FEAR OF BEING RETAKEN--DICK LEAVES HOME--CAPTURED AND SENT ON BOARD A CUTTER.

The _Wolf_, with a fair breeze, having her prize in tow, shaped a course for Plymouth. The wind though favourable was light, and should it continue so, it would be some time before she could reach her destination. It was fortunate, however, that the sea was smooth, as it enabled the carpenters the more easily to get at the numerous shot-holes in the sides of the prize, and to stop the water coming in, which it had been doing at a rapid rate, making it necessary to keep the pumps constantly going. This was hard work for the prize crew, for the few Frenchmen left on board, though they did not refuse to go to the pumps, worked listlessly, and very soon knocked off, declaring that they could work no more. The British seamen had therefore to work away until they could stand no longer.

Lieutenant Jager, commanding the prize, had sent Lord Reginald and Voules to see that the crew at the pumps were persevering in their labours. Among them his eye fell on Ben Rudall and Richard Hargrave, who had both been working away for some time until their arms ached.

"Spell oh!" cried Ben.

"Spell oh!" echoed Dick, in order that some other men might come and help them.

"Keep at your work, you idle rascals!" cried Lord Reginald.

"I am not an 'idle rascal,'" answered Ben, leaving the pump and folding his arms; "I have been working for two hours, and can work no longer until I have had some rest."

Dick, who could really work no longer, and was wellnigh ready to drop to the deck, also knocked off, though he said nothing.

Lord Reginald's anger was aroused in a moment. Seizing a rope, he struck Dick across the shoulders. "Go back, both of you!" he exclaimed; "we can have no skulking on board here."

"I am not skulking," answered Dick, again seizing the pump handle and working away as hard as his strength would allow.

"Do you dare to answer me?" exclaimed the young lord, striking Dick.

Ben stood still, fixing his eye on the midshipman, who, though he flourished the rope, did not strike him, and Ben, with a look which showed the ill feelings aroused in his bosom, returned to the pump.

Lord Reginald stood by, watching them until the whole gang, utterly unable to work longer, were relieved by fresh hands.

"Let me see that you fellows keep at it longer and better than the last have done," he said.

"That's what we get for working our lives out," growled Ben, as he and his shipmates staggered forward and threw themselves down to rest. "It's just as well he did not strike me, or something might have come of it. If I were you, Dick, I wouldn't stand it; I'd give him as good in return. He can but hang one, and that would be better than leading a dog's life on board this ship."

"He might flog you round the fleet, which would be something worse than hanging," observed an old man-of-war's man, who had overheard Ben. "You wouldn't like that. I've a notion, mate, that it's wiser to grin and bear it, and hope for better times."

"I do hope for better times," said Ben, addressing Dick, when no one else was within hearing. "I'll tell you what, lad; I'd advise you to give them leg-bail, if you have the chance. That's what I've made up my mind to, as soon as we get into port; they're sure not to keep a strict look-out, and, as usual, crowds of people will be coming on board to visit the ships. Tom Harris was right; keep your temper, as you did just now. To strike an officer, even though he strikes you first, is a serious matter, and I was wrong in advising it. But though, if you desert and are caught, you run the risk of a flogging, the chances are you'll escape, for they'll not take the trouble of sending after you if you can once get off into the country."

"I'll think about it," said Dick. "I can't bear being struck by that young lord, or by any one else; and if he treats me as he has done before, I cannot answer for keeping my temper."

The conversation was put an end to by the whole gang being ordered back to the pumps. The carpenters were gradually getting the leaks stopped, and before night the crew were able with less difficulty to keep the water under. Fresh hands were sent on board to attempt getting up jurymasts, in case the _Wolf_ should be compelled to cast off the prize. It was still doubtful whether they would reach the port in safety. An enemy might at any moment appear, and not only retake the prize, but themselves. A single frigate would prove a serious antagonist to the _Wolf_ in her present battered and disabled condition.

During the night the breeze increased slightly, and the two frigates made better progress. Lord Reginald had told Voules of Hargrave's impudence, as he called it, and the midshipman had reported it to Mr Jager.

"If we have mutinous behaviour among our own crew, we shall have the Frenchmen rising upon us," observed the lieutenant. "You must keep an eye, Voules, on those fellows, and put down that spirit of insubordination."

"A flogging would do that lad Hargrave good," observed Voules, "and that old smuggler richly deserves one also."

Voules, believing that it would please Lord Reginald, kept a watchful eye on both Dick and Ben, hoping that they would give him the opportunity of reporting them.

Twice finding Dick moving slowly, as he considered about his duty, he started him with a rope's end. Several of the other men, knowing that he was no longer under the protection of the boatswain, took the opportunity of bullying him in a variety of ways. Ben did not interfere, his object being evidently to disgust him with the service. Fortunately for Dick, however, his persecutors had no time to annoy him when below, for, fatigued with their work, the moment they turned in they fell asleep. All hands, indeed, were employed from morning until night in clearing the ship of water, getting up jurymasts and repairing the worst damages, so that there might be a chance of keeping her afloat should bad weather come on. Hitherto but little progress had been made. All the sail which the _Wolf_ could carry was set. The prize was at length able to help herself by hoisting a small amount of canvas. A very sharp watch was kept for the appearance of any strange sail.

At length, early on the second morning, the look-out from the masthead of the _Wolf_ shouted, "A sail in the south-west!"

The first lieutenant went aloft to have a look at her. On his return to the deck, he reported that she was a large ship, standing on a course which would soon bring her up to them. It was difficult, at that distance, to say whether she was a frigate or a line-of-battle ship.

"We must steer as we are," observed Captain Moubray. "Whatever she is, we must fight her."

He then hailed the prize, directing Lieutenant Jager to get all the guns he could ready for use, so that he might be able to take a part in the fight, should it be necessary. He was, however, to do his best to escape, while the _Wolf_ engaged the stranger.

The French officers on deck eagerly watched the ship coming up. As her topsails rose above the horizon, various opinions were expressed about her. Some thought that she might be the leading ship of a French squadron; others that she was a British man-of-war. As, however, she drew nearer, no other vessels were seen astern of her. One after the other the officers went aloft, to try and discover her character. She was soon pronounced to be a seventy-four, at least. The Frenchmen became highly elated, having fully persuaded themselves that she was a French line-of-battle ship.

"Never mind, my friend," said one of them, "you have treated us well; we hope soon to have an opportunity of showing our gratitude."

"Much obliged to you," answered the first lieutenant, to whom the observation was made. "It is not settled beyond doubt that yonder ship belongs to your nation. There is something about the cut of her canvas which tells me that she is an English line-of-battle ship. If she's an enemy, we intend to fight her, and, if we can, enable our prize to escape."

"Morbleu!" exclaimed the Frenchman. "One might suppose that you rarely capture a prize, you seem so anxious to retain the one you have now got."

On board the prize, all the preparations which could possibly be made were carried out. Such guns as were uninjured were loaded, fresh tackles rove. Her hard-worked crew recovered their spirits, and even Ben, for a time, ceased to growl. Still, considering the battered state of both ships, there seemed every probability, should the stranger turn out to be an enemy, that they must fall into her hands; and that a French prison would be their destination, instead of the triumphant reception they expected to meet at home, and the prize-money with which they hoped to fill their pockets.

"It would be a great bore if that fellow does turn out to be a Frenchman," observed Voules to Lord Reginald. "I was in hopes that you would be able to get leave to pay another visit to Elverston Hall. It would be a great pleasure to accompany you."

"Of course, my dear fellow, I shall be delighted, as my father gives me leave to bring any friends I like; though it appeared to me that you got rather tired at last, or you wouldn't have taken to dangling after the ladies in the curious fashion you did."

"Tired! Oh dear no! their delightful society was sufficient attraction. I was never happier in my life."

"Well, the honest truth is, my brother John told me that he thought you spent too much of your time with them, and he made one or two other remarks which I don't wish to repeat. You'll take the hint, should you go there again. However, instead of that, we may possibly have to spend the next few months at Verdun, or some other delectable place in France. I suppose they won't shut us up in the Bastile, or treat us as Napoleon did Captain Wright?"

"Oh, don't talk of that!" cried Voules. "We must hope that yonder ship will prove to be a friend; for though the captain may resolve to fight her, should she be an enemy, we must inevitably suffer severely, even if we escape capture."

As the stranger drew nearer and nearer, the excitement on board increased. The countenances of the Frenchmen at length, however, began to look blank. Then, as the glorious flag of England blew out from the peak of the stranger, a cheer rose from the deck of the _Wolf_, which was taken up by that of the prize.

Signals were exchanged. The British ship made her number, the _Triumph_, seventy-four, Captain Sir Thomas Hardy, one of the noblest officers in the British service. Drawing nearer, and directing the frigate to cast off, he took the prize in tow, and all three ships proceeded together, as had previously been intended, to Plymouth. Having arrived at the mouth of the harbour, the _Wolf_ once more took charge of her prize, while the _Triumph_ again stood out to sea on her cruise. Cheers saluted the _Wolf_ as she proceeded through the narrow entrance to Hamoze, and scarcely had she dropped her anchor than numberless boats were alongside, containing people of all ranks, eager to hear an account of her victory. As soon as the prisoners and wounded had been sent on shore, the decks of the prize were crowded with visitors, and the Frenchmen lost no credit when it was seen to what a state she had been reduced before they yielded.

Ben found several old friends, with whom he had many long talks, though what they were about Dick did not hear. The prize agents took charge of the captured frigate, and her crew returned on board their own ship. Battered as was the prize, she sold for a good sum, and was bought in by the Government. Then came pay day, and many a golden guinea jingled in the victors' pockets, though with most they did not jingle there long. Leave being given to as many as could be spared to go on shore, scarcely had the poor fellows landed than they were set upon by harpies of every description, whose object was to extract the said golden guineas, which Jack--not knowing what to do with--was willing enough to throw away. Some of the brave heroes might have been seen driving about in a coach and four, crowding the vehicle inside and out, with bottles and mugs on the roof, cheering as they went. Others might have been met with parading the streets, bedecked with pinchbeck watches and chains, which they had purchased under the belief that they were pure gold; seldom without a companion of the other sex on their arm, dressed out in the finery their money had bought. The dancing saloons and grog shops were crowded, few troubling themselves as to how the seamen were employed, provided that they returned on board in due time with empty pockets, ready to fight the battles of Old England, and win more prize-money, to be expended in the same senseless fashion.

The crew of the _Wolf_ had been turned over to a hulk, while the dockyard people took possession of her to repair the numerous damages she had received, with orders to proceed with all possible despatch.

General leave had of course not been granted, for many of the crew who had lately joined could not, it was considered, very justly be trusted: the smugglers, the jailbirds, the pressed men, and the boys. A certain number of old hands, together with the ever-faithful marines, were retained on board to watch them. Grumbling was of course the order of the day.

Ben, being among those who could not obtain leave, was loud in his complaints. He vowed that leave he would have, though it might be French leave. "It is hard that a steady man, who never got drunk, and always did his duty from the time he stepped on board, should not be allowed to go on shore to send off his prize-money to his wife!" he exclaimed.

People still came off in considerable numbers every evening, to see the victorious frigate; and although when the workmen were about they could not go on her deck, they could see her from the hulk.

"Now is your time, Dick," said Ben, one evening when the decks were more than usually crowded. "Here's an old chum of mine alongside, Peter Purkiss; he'll take us ashore and will rig us in smock-frocks and gaiters, to look for all the world like countrymen. You slip first into his boat, and as soon as it's dark I'll follow; we'll then start away out of the town, and by the morning we shall be a long stretch off, my boy; no fear of being caught then."

Dick hesitated; he had often thought that if properly treated he should like the service. The step his evil counsellor advised would be fatal to all his best aspirations.

"Do as you like," said Ben; "depend upon it that Lord Reginald won't rest until he has seen you and the cat make acquaintance."

At that moment Dick caught sight of the young lord talking to Voules. They did not observe him, but he thought that there was something sinister in the expression of their countenances. "They shan't catch me, as they fancy they will," he said to himself. He no longer hesitated. Several persons were descending the side; going down to the main-deck, he slipped through a port into the boat Ben had pointed out.

"Where is your shipmate Ben?" asked the old boatman.

"He said that he was coming as soon as it was dark," answered Dick.

Several other people from the shore got into the boat, and ordered old Peter to land them without delay. Dick every moment expected to be discovered and to hear a hail ordering him back, but no one had observed him, and he was soon landed.

"Now, lad," said the old man, "I'll take you to my house, as I promised. Ben will no doubt come next trip. You must be smart, though, lest we should meet any of your officers."

As it was growing dusk Dick hoped not to be seen, and soon reached a house not far from the water's edge. The boatman, taking him into a small room, produced a carter's frock and gaiters, with a billycock hat and a large red handkerchief to tie round his throat.

"Put on these duds, and keep close until I come back, when you and Ben may start together," said old Purkiss, as he left him to return to his boat.

"Maybe he'll find it a harder matter to slip away than I did," said Dick to himself, "and if he doesn't come, I shall look foolish. Still, I have no fancy to go back and be bullied by that Lord Reginald and his toady Voules."

Dick waited some hours; at last old Purkiss came back.

"Poor Ben's in for it," he said. "He was just slipping down the side when the master-at-arms laid hands on him, and I'm afraid he's in limbo and very little chance of getting out of it until the ship goes to sea. Whether or not he thought something of the sort might happen, I don't know, but he gave me these ten guineas which he wants you to take to his wife. It won't do, however, for you to stay longer here, unless you wish to go back and be flogged to a certainty for attempting to desert. I'd advise you to cut and run this very night. Now, lad, fair play's a jewel. I am helping you off, and I expect to be paid for what I'm doing, as well as for the clothes I got for you. A five-pound note will satisfy me, though it wouldn't if you were not a chum of my old shipmate Ben."

Dick paid the money without hesitation, for he knew that old Purkiss might have fleeced him, had he been so disposed, of every sixpence in his pocket.

"Now we are clear," said the old man, who prided himself on his honesty, "and I want to give you a piece of advice, which mind you stick to. Don't show your cash to any one, or you'll be robbed and murdered maybe. I'll give you change for a guinea in sixpences and coppers; don't show too many of them either; better by far pay in coppers for the food you want, and sleep under haystacks or in barns until you reach home. You may get a lift in a cart or waggon, but don't let anybody know you've been on board a man-of-war. Just say you've been down to see an old friend, Peter Purkiss, and that's true for the most part, and that you are going home again to your father and mother. Now, lad, it's time to be off. I'll put you in the way out of the town, and when once you are in the country strike away north-east. You've got Dartmoor to cross, and as it's a wildish tract, I'd advise you to get a lift if you can until you are over it. If you can't get a lift, don't attempt to cross it at night, or you may lose yourself."

Peter, who was a good-natured old fellow, though his morality was not of the strictest order, gave Dick a hearty supper, then, taking a thick stick in hand, started off with him, walking at a rapid pace until they reached the confines of Plymouth--a much smaller town in those days than it is at present. Dick then, having received directions from the old man as to the road he was to take, commenced what he had made up his mind would be a long tramp homewards.

He was strong and active, and had not been long enough at sea to lose his shore legs. The night being clear, he was able to see the road, and he knew by the position of the Great Bear, which he always kept on his left hand, that he was going in the right direction. The dread he felt of being overtaken by a pressgang, or by the seamen of his own ship, whom he thought might be sent in pursuit, made him walk all the faster. It was with difficulty indeed at first that he restrained himself from breaking into a run; but he guessed rightly that he would thus be more likely to be stopped by any one who might meet him, and he restrained himself, continuing on only at a rapid walk. Every now and then, however, he turned his head over his shoulder, fancying that he heard footsteps, expecting to find himself seized and carried back to be ignominiously flogged--a fate he well knew would be in store for him, should he be caught. He was not, however, very well contented with himself. He was perfectly aware of the light in which the crime of desertion was regarded; and that he was abandoning all hopes of rising in the service, for which he had always had a liking, notwithstanding the way Ben had abused it. He had sufficient discernment to distinguish the good, true-hearted seamen from the bad, and he had observed that the former were well treated and looked on with respect by their officers. Then the recollection of the way Lord Reginald and Toady Voules had behaved to him would occur. "If it hadn't been for them, and others like them, I should have been happy enough on board, and willing to do my duty," he exclaimed. "I should have got on very well with Mr Bitts, for he was always kind in his way, and wanted to make a seaman of me; and I should have been one, for he was ready to show me how to do everything I wanted to learn. However, it's all past now, and I must go back to the plough. I must take care, though, that Mr Gooch doesn't hear of my being at home again, or he will be down upon me. I suspect that father will be afraid of that, and will be sending me off to a farm away from home, so that, after all, I shall not be with him and mother and Janet. I've half a mind even now to go back again--but then there's this flogging, and Lord Reginald would be down upon me more than ever; and what would Ben say? and old Purkiss would get it for helping me off."

Such were some of Dick's meditations as he trudged on during the night, making good about four miles an hour, so that he was nearly thirty miles away from Plymouth when morning broke. He still walked on until he came to a roadside inn, where, feeling very hungry, he stopped for breakfast. While the landlady was cooking some eggs and bacon, he fell asleep, with his head on the table.

"What ails you, lad?" said the woman, as she placed the smoking hot dish near him, and shook him by the shoulder. "It's not the time o' day people who have had a night's rest take to sleeping."

"But I haven't had a night's rest," answered Dick, rousing himself. "I have been walking on all the morning; but I am more hungry than sleepy, so I thank you for the eggs and bacon, and would be glad of a jug of ale to wash them down."

The landlady, still looking at him somewhat suspiciously--detecting, perhaps, the seaman's shirt below his frock--placed the ale before him. From the questions she put to him, Dick thought that she guessed who he was, and deemed it prudent to again set off. Recollecting Peter's advice, he produced sixpence to pay for his breakfast, and then at once took his leave. For another hour or more he trudged on, until he became so weary that he could scarcely move. He saw a haystack a short distance from the road, inviting him to rest beneath it. Hardly had he thrown himself down on the lee side, away from the public path, than he was fast asleep.

It was late in the afternoon before he awoke, when he continued his journey, stopping only at the first inn he came to that he might obtain some food. He at length reached Exeter, but as he saw seamen moving about and ships in the distance, he was afraid of stopping there, and, passing through it, he again found himself in the country.

Many a weary mile he trudged on. What might be in store for him he could not tell, but anything would be better than going back. Puzzling questions were often asked him, and he ran, on several occasions, great risk of being detected. His sun-burnt countenance and seaman's roll, which he had already acquired, often nearly betrayed him.

As he approached his home, the anxiety to get safely to his journey's end increased. At length, passing through Christchurch, he recognised the familiar scenery of his native district. The high white cliffs of the Isle of Wight, the Needle rocks below them, and the tall lighthouse of Hurst, with its cheese-like castle, bathed in a rich glow from the rays of the setting sun. He sat down on the top of the cliff, and considered--while he ate some bread and cheese he had obtained at his last stopping-place--in which direction he should bend his steps. Longing as he did to go home, he was anxious to fulfil Ben's commission by delivering the money entrusted to him for Susan. He decided to do this first.

"She'll be longing, poor woman! to hear of her husband; and it won't make much difference to father and mother whether I get home an hour or two later."

Having come to this resolution, he hurried on, wishing to reach Keyhaven soon after dark, as he had no desire to be seen by any one. He reached Susan's cottage.

"Who's there?" asked a voice from within, in reply to his knock.

"Open the door, and I'll tell you," he answered.

Susan herself admitted him, though he would scarcely have known her, so pale and wan did she look. She did not know him, and he had to tell her who he was. She then began to make inquiries about "her good man."

Dick had no very satisfactory account to give. All he could say was that Ben had intended to desert and come home, but that in all probability he had been caught and kept on board. "He did not forget you, however," said Dick, presenting ten guineas to the poor woman.

At the sight of the money Susan's countenance brightened. "Bless him! he was always kind and ready to give when he had it; but it is the last, I much fear, I shall ever get from him!" she exclaimed, and then burst into tears.

"I hope not," said Dick. "The ship will be paid off some day, and then he will be able to come home, with plenty more in his pocket. I have sometimes wished that I had stopped, but he advised me to run with him; and it might have been better if I had been caught, and he got away."

"It cannot be helped, Dick," said Susan, inclined to take the matter very philosophically; "though when the ten guineas are gone--and they can't last for ever--I don't know what I shall do. If it hadn't been for them, I should have been in the workhouse next week."

"I must tell my mother about you," said Dick; "maybe she'll send some food for you and the children."

"Your mother will be a long way off, Dick. You haven't heard, maybe, that they are going to leave the farm next week, and have taken one the other side of Christchurch. Your father, after all, accepted Lord Elverston's offer, though it was what my good man always said he would not do if he was in his place, and the farm is to be taken into the park. It was a sore trial to your father and mother, but after you went they seemed not to care what became of them."

"And Janet! Have you heard how she is?" asked Dick, eagerly.

"She's better than she was, and it is said she's at the bottom of the matter."

"How's that?" asked Dick, somewhat astonished.

"Why, Lady Elverston, who is a very kind lady--and even those who don't like my lord confess that--was very often at your cottage, and one day she told your mother that she thought Janet's sight might be restored. She promised to take her up to London to a doctor of some sort, who makes blind people see, they say. So it is all arranged, and after that your father gave in. As soon as they move to their new home, Janet is to go up with my lady."

Dick could scarcely believe what he heard, and was now, naturally enough, in a greater hurry than ever to get home. He promised, if he could manage it, to come back and see Mrs Rudall again.

In better spirits than he had been for some time, he set off on his walk home. He had not much fear of being recognised, since Susan had failed to know him. He therefore took the shortest road. Seeing a light beaming through the window, he guessed that his father and mother were still up. The door, however, was bolted. He knocked loudly, crying out, "Let me in! let me in!"

"Oh, that's Dick!" he heard Janet exclaim.

The door was hastily opened, and in another minute he was in his mother's arms.

"Where do you come from?" asked his father, somewhat sternly. "You have given us all a great fright about you since we found that letter which you left in your room; and the rumours we heard did little to allay it."

Dick expressed his contrition, declaring that he had acted for the best, and then gave, as briefly as he could, an account of himself up to the present time.

"No man must do evil that good may come of it, and in this case I don't see that any good has come of it," said his father. "You leagued yourself with smugglers and got pressed in consequence, and now you have run from your ship, perhaps to be seized and carried back as a deserter."

"But I must take care not to be seized, and am ready to stop and work with you, father. I deserted because I was forced to serve against my will, though I found the life on board not so bad as I expected, and if it hadn't been for the bullying I got from Lord Reginald and that other midshipman, I would have remained where I was."

Mrs Hargrave and Janet now took Dick's part, and his father was ultimately pacified, though, as he said, it went against the grain to have a son of his called a deserter, however ill he might have been treated. Dick found that the account Susan had given him about Janet was correct; that she was shortly to accompany Lady Elverston to London, to be put under a celebrated oculist, and to undergo the operation of couching.

"Bless her ladyship's heart for her kindness!" said Mrs Hargrave.

"We have not many days to remain here, and I must have you stay in-doors, lest you should be seen by any who have an ill will against you, Dick," observed his father.

"I don't think they would know me any more than Susan Rudall did when I paid her a visit," answered Dick. "I'd rather not be boxed up in the house, if I can help it. I should soon fall sick after being accustomed to the sea air so long."

"Better remain in-doors at home than be locked up in a prison," observed his father. "It is a sad thing for me to have to say it, but remember, Dick, you have made yourself liable to that, and it will be wiser for you to remain in hiding until we go to our new farm and people have forgotten all about you."

Dick did not longer argue the point, but he made no promises. His mother, observing how weary he was, and that he could scarcely keep his eyes open, suggested that he should go to bed, and gladly acting on the advice he staggered off to his room, which remained exactly as he had left it.

Dick took a day to recover from his fatigue and, after that, shut up in his room, be began to find the time pass heavily away. His mother was engaged in household affairs, and in preparing for the removal, while his father was absent from home until late in the evening, having to make more than one trip to the new farm. Janet came and sat with him frequently. She was in good spirits at the anticipation of recovering her sight, about which she was very sanguine. Still Dick pined for fresh air. "You ought to get out," he said to Janet, "instead of sitting all day shut up here. I'll chance it; put on your shawl and bonnet; we are not likely to meet any one, and if we do they'll not interfere with us."

Janet, without further consideration, forgetting her father's warning, agreed, and she leaning on Dick's arm, they took their way down a green lane in which she especially delighted, and which turned off near the house. She knew that scarcely any one passed that way, as she had frequently gone along it alone, with her dog to guide her. Tempted by the pleasantness of the evening, they went on for some distance, through a forest glade.

"We ought to be going back," said Janet at length, "for I feel the air damp, though you don't find it out, Dick, and I know that the sun must have set."

"There will be plenty of light for me to see my way home," answered Dick; "but we will turn, as you wish it."

They had not got far on their way back, when Janet felt Dick give a start, and she heard the sound of horses' approaching at a quick pace.

"What do you see?" she asked.

Dick did not answer; he was looking about to find some place of concealment. Had he been alone he could easily have hid himself, but he could not leave Janet. The horsemen approached rapidly. Dick tried to walk on in an unconcerned manner. In another minute they were up to him, and he saw Lord Reginald and Mr Voules. He felt sure that they recognised him, for he saw the latter turn to the young lord and make some remark, though, possibly on Janet's account, he did not speak sufficiently loud to allow what he said to be heard. They both, however, stared very hard, and then passed on, allowing Dick and his sister to proceed on their way.

"Who are those persons?" asked Janet.

Dick told her, but, not wishing to alarm her, observed, "If they knew me, they didn't think it worth while to interfere. I don't suppose any harm will come of it."

Janet, however, became very anxious. "As they are officers of the ship you ran away from, they'll think it right to take you. Oh, Dick! you must try and hide where they can't find you. It would be dreadful to have you carried off again!"

"Don't tell father and mother, then; it will frighten them, and I'll see what's best to be done. Both these fellows hate me, and I don't suppose they will let me remain in quiet. They were afraid of attempting to seize me, for they knew well that they would have found it a tough job."

It did not occur to Dick that he enjoyed his safety at the moment from being in company with his blind sister, as Lord Reginald, at all events, was unwilling to interfere with him.

Janet, in her eagerness to get home, almost dragged Dick along, and he felt her arm tremble as she thought of the danger to which he was exposed. According to his wish, she said nothing to her mother of the encounter. Mr Hargrave was not expected home until late. Dick had been thinking of what he should do. As soon as he had had supper, Janet having gone to her room, he jumped up, saying--

"Mother! that young lord and his friend are at the hall, and they have seen me. They may not trouble themselves about me, but I'd rather not trust them. I'll go off and hide somewhere; and if they send here, you can say that you don't know where I am. Tell father that I am sorry, very sorry, that he should be troubled so much about me; but it cannot be helped now. Those two midshipmen will be joining their ship soon. It won't be long before she's ready for sea again, and then I may go back to the new farm without fear. No one in that neighbourhood will know me, and I'll promise to work hard and make amends to you and father, and keep clear of smugglers in future."

Mrs Hargrave was naturally much grieved, but she had no other proposal to offer. She knew the angry feelings which existed between her son, and the young lord, and thought it best that they should not again run the risk of meeting.

"But where do you intend going?" she asked.

"That's the very thing I don't want you to know, mother," he answered. "You can now say honestly that I left home, and that you have no idea where I went to. Good-bye, give my love and duty to father."

Mrs Hargrave embraced Dick with tears in her eyes. He ran in to wish Janet good-bye.

"I have told mother all about it," he said. "Keep up your spirits! no harm will come to me. I need only keep away for a week or two, and as soon as the ship sails, I shall be all safe."

Janet was not so satisfied as her brother appeared to be on that point. She threw her arms round his neck, and burst into tears.

"Cheer up, cheer up!" said Dick, "I know I am a brute to have made you all so unhappy, but when I come home again I intend to turn over a new leaf."

Janet held his hand. An indefinite fear of what might happen seized her. He tore himself away, half inclined to be angry with her and his mother, for making so much fuss about the matter, and rushed outside the house. He soon turned off the high road and hurried on along a path in the direction of Keyhaven.

"I'll get Susan Rudall to stow me away. She'll be grateful to me for bringing her the money, and, as I've got a few guineas in my pocket, I can pay her well for keeping me, and it will be an advantage to her," he said to himself. "I must take care that no one sees me going into her cottage, and I don't suppose the young lord or that fellow Voules will think of looking for me there."

The night was dark, but Dick, who knew the way, ran on, stopping every now and then to listen if any one was approaching. He had got close to Keyhaven, when it became necessary to use more caution, as people who knew him might probably be about, and should an inquiry be set on foot they might state that they had met him. He had almost reached Susan's cottage when, turning up an angle of the road, he found himself close to several men who were coming up it. He stopped, he could not go on without passing between them. Acting on the impulse of the moment, he turned and ran back, hoping to find some place where he might conceal himself until they had passed.

"Stop that fellow, whoever he is!" shouted a voice, in an authoritative tone.

A couple of men darted forward, and before Dick had got many paces away he found himself seized by the shoulder.

"Halloa, my fine fellow! who are you? and what are you about?" asked one of the men.

"I am going to visit a neighbour," answered Dick, trying to free himself.

"You must come back to our officer first, and give an account of yourself," said the first speaker, whom Dick recognised as a man-of-war's man.

Resistance was useless, and he made no further attempt to escape. The officer and the rest of the men soon came up, and Dick repeated the account he had given of himself.

"Very fine!" was the answer; "but you must come up to the station, and if Lieutenant Hilton knows you he will be able to state how far what you tell us is true."

Dick, making no answer, walked on between his two captors. From what he could make out, the men belonged to a revenue cutter, which had dropped anchor off Hurst that evening, in consequence of information received of some smuggling work likely to take place in the neighbourhood.

"My ill luck!" thought Dick. "If it hadn't been for that I should have got down to Susan's without difficulty, and now, because I am known to have been on board the _Nancy_, they'll accuse me of being concerned in this matter, of which I never so much as heard, until this moment."

Dick was perfectly right in his conjectures. Lieutenant Hilton, who had just returned from visiting the neighbouring posts, no sooner set eyes on Dick, than he exclaimed, "Why, that's young Hargrave, the very fellow Lord Reginald Oswald was speaking to me about, not an hour ago, a deserter from the _Wolf_, a desperate young ruffian, by all accounts. I'll hand him over to you Mason, to carry on board your cutter, but you must take good care that he doesn't escape."

The commander of the cutter laughed. "I'll clap him in irons, and he'll be clever if he gets his wrists out of them," he answered.

Dick was led down to the beach by the cutter's crew, who at once pulled on board. Being hauled up the side without ceremony, he was handed down below, and a pair of handcuffs were placed on his wrists.

"You've had a long run on shore, my lad, and it is to be hoped you enjoyed yourself," said the seaman who was fastening them on. "I wouldn't stand in your shoes for something, let me tell you. You've heard tell of Tim Macarthy, who three times ran from his ship, and got hanged. You must look out that the same doesn't happen to you if you play that trick again."

Dick made no reply; his spirit was so utterly broken that he could have burst into tears, had he not made a strong effort to restrain himself.

"They shan't see me play the woman, if I can help it," he said to himself; "but if ever I have the chance I'll make that Lord Reginald pay for it. If he hadn't informed against me, the chances are I should have got off. He and his messmate hadn't the courage to stop me by themselves, and so they must needs gallop off and tell that lieutenant that they had seen me. What a fool I was to go down to Keyhaven, instead of striking away inland, where I should have been safe from them. Now, I suppose I shall be flogged and branded as a deserter, and perhaps be hung, as that fellow says. I shouldn't care if I had changed my name, I should not like to bring disgrace on my father and mother. It would break their hearts to know such had been my fate."

These, and if possible, still more gloomy thoughts passed through Dick's mind, until, leaning his head against the side of the vessel, near which he had been placed, he fell off into a troubled slumber. _

Read next: Chapter 9. Treatment Of The Prisoners...

Read previous: Chapter 7. Defiant Looks...

Table of content of Rival Crusoes


GO TO TOP OF SCREEN

Post your review
Your review will be placed after the table of content of this book