Roger Willoughby Part 2

"'An please your Majesty, I have a post of 80 pounds a year, in which I do my duty as cheerfully as I would were it 4000 pounds a year,'

answered my father.

"'Alack, alack! that an old and faithful friend should have been so neglected,' said the King. 'You ought to have had one of the best posts I have it in my power to confer, for you lost not only your own property, but your brave brother lost his life, as I have heard, with many other gallant gentlemen.--Colonel Legge,' he said, turning to one of the officers in attendance, 'bring Colonel Benbow to me to-morrow, and we will see what office we can best bestow on him. I will provide for him an his family as becomes me.'

"As the King pa.s.sed on, my honoured father, overcome with joy and grat.i.tude for the King's intended goodness, sank down on a bench, where he sat motionless. Suddenly a pallor was seen to overspread his countenance, and he would have fallen forward had not some of those standing by hurried to support him;--but he was past human help; the sudden revulsion of feeling was more than his weak frame could stand, and before the King had left the Tower he had breathed his last. It was a sad day to my mother, but we tried to comfort her by reminding her that our father died from excessive joy, that the King would graciously bestow the favour he had intended for him on her and us. From that day forward, however, no message came from his Majesty to inquire why my father had not appeared at Court. Though means were also taken to let the King know of our father's death, and that his wife and family were almost dest.i.tute no notice was taken, and my mother had to depend on such support as I and her other children could give her; but do all we could, it was only sufficient to keep her from starving. Well may I say, 'Put not your trust in princes.'

"I need not trouble you, fair ladies and gentlemen, with a further account of my early life. I was in great favour with Captain Downing, with whom I sailed for many years as his chief officer, and on his death, which occurred at sea, he left me his share in the _Rainbow_, and other property. As she was getting old and unfit for long voyages, I sold her and built the _Benbow_ frigate, which ship several of my former crew joined as soon as she was ready for sea. Thus, you see, my life has not been a very eventful one, though I have risen to independence by just sticking to my duty. I do not say that I have not met with adventures, but I will occupy no more of your time by attempting to describe them."

Roger and Stephen, especially the former, had been eagerly listening to the account Captain Benbow gave of himself.

"How I should delight to sail with you, if my father would give me leave!" exclaimed Roger.

"If there were time, I should be happy to take you on board my ship and teach you to become a sailor, but I fear there is no time, as I must be away again as soon as the tide changes, for I am bound up to the further end of the Mediterranean, and you require certain suits of clothing and other articles which cannot be procured in a moment."

"If you propose putting into Plymouth, the difficulty might be obviated," said Roger, who looked much disappointed. "I could soon sc.r.a.pe such few things together as I require, for I care not much what I wear."

"But you have not yet obtained your father's sanction to your going, young gentleman, and it was only provided that he should give his permission that I offered to receive you on board my ship," said the Captain.

"Thank you heartily, Captain Benbow," said Mr Willoughby. "From the report I have heard of you through my friend Hands...o...b.. here, there is no man to whom I would more willingly confide my son, for he has set his heart on being a sailor; but, as you observe, he requires suitable clothing, and that cannot be procured forthwith; still, if you will give me intimation of your return to England, and are willing to take him on your next voyage, I will send him to the port at which your ship lies without fail."

"I will do that," said the Captain.--"So, Master Roger, you may look upon yourself as my future shipmate."

Still Roger appeared much disappointed, as he had expected to go off at once.

"Cheer up, my lad," said the Captain good-humouredly. "I will not fail to give notice of my arrival to your father." The Captain evidently took compa.s.sion on the boy's eagerness, for he added, "To show my readiness to take you, if your friends will undertake to collect such needful articles as you must have, I will agree to wait till a breeze springs up, which may not be for several hours to come."

"Thank you, sir, thank you," cried Roger, looking at his aunt and Mistress Alice, and then at his father and the Colonel, as much as to ask what they would do.

"If your father gives you leave, I will not say you nay," observed the Colonel. "But I know nothing of the required preparations. Madam Pauline and Alice had better say what they and the maidens in the house can do in the course of a few hours."

Roger turned inquiringly towards them.

"As Captain Benbow is good enough to take you, we will do our best to get the things you require ready," said Madam Pauline.

"I am loath to lose Roger, but if he will accept some of my clothing, I will ride back to Langton Park and get it for him," said Stephen. "It is much against the grain, though, I confess."

"Thank you, thank you, Stephen," cried Roger, grasping his friend's hand. "I know that you are sorry to part from me, but then you know how much I long to go to sea, and may never have so good an opportunity."

The matter being thus settled, Madam Pauline and Alice hastened to inspect poor Roger's scanty wardrobe, and to consider how with the materials in the house they could most speedily add to it, while Stephen, mounting his horse, rode away for Langton, and Roger himself, accompanied by Master Holden, hunted through the big lumber-room at the top of the house, with the hopes of finding a chest in which his property might be stowed. He soon found one of oak, clamped with iron, which, though larger and heavier than was desirable, might, he thought, serve the purpose required. Their next business was to collect the treasures, including a few well-thumbed books, which Roger wished to take with him, and which he at once placed in the bottom of the chest.

The rest of the party remained at table, the Colonel talking chiefly with Captain Benbow, whom he looked upon as an old friend.

"You will remain at the manor-house to-night, I hope," said the Colonel, "and you may return in the morning with my nephew at as early an hour as you desire. I suspect that the females of the family will take but few hours of rest, as their needles will be busy during the night in preparing the young fellow's wardrobe."

"Thank you for the offer, Colonel, but I have made a rule, from which I never depart, always to sleep on board my ship," answered the Captain.

"I know not what may happen during the night, and I am thus in readiness for any emergency."

Mr Willoughby was engaged in earnest conversation with Master Hands...o...b.., the merchant, on matters which, it appeared, they were unwilling should reach the ears of the Colonel. They spoke of the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Shaftesbury, and many other persons. Master Hands...o...b.. appeared to be very anxious to ascertain the political opinions of the landowners and other gentlemen residing in that part of Dorsetshire and the neighbouring counties of Wilts and Devon. It might have been suspected that the cloth-merchant had other objects in view besides those connected with his mercantile pursuits.

In spite of the exertions made by the indefatigable Madame Pauline and her a.s.sistants during the evening, Roger's wardrobe was not completed; indeed, darkness was approaching before Stephen Battis...o...b.. returned with the bundle of clothing which he had generously devoted to the use of his friend. Captain Benbow had risen from the table, and having wished the Colonel and the rest of the party good-bye, was prepared to set out on his return to his ship. Stephen and Roger insisted on accompanying him, and he was glad of their society, as he confessed that he might have some difficulty in finding his way alone. His boat was waiting for him at the beach.

"You will come down with your traps as soon as possible after daylight, my lad," he said, as he stepped on board, "and I will send a boat on sh.o.r.e for you."

"No fear, sir, about my being punctual," answered Roger, and his heart bounded as he thought that in a few hours more he should be on board the stout ship which rode at anchor out in the bay. He and Stephen stood on the beach watching the boat till she was lost to sight in the fast increasing gloom. Already, as they stood there, they observed that although the calm was as perfect as before, the water had begun to break with considerably more force than it had done since the morning. Smooth undulations came rolling in and burst with a dull splash on the sand, then rushed up in a sheet of snowy foam, which had scarcely disappeared before another took its place.

"I cannot quite make it out," observed Stephen. "It seems to me that the sky is unusually dark away to the south and south-west; to say the truth, it looks to me as if there was a bank of dark clouds out there."

"I do not see any bank. It is simply the coming gloom of evening which darkens the sky in that direction," answered Roger. "I think you are mistaken; however, it is time that we should get back, as I have many things to do, and I don't like to desert my poor father, as it will be the last evening I shall spend with him for many a day."

Stephen acknowledging this, they hastened back to the manor-house.

CHAPTER TWO.

Madam Pauline, aided by Alice and several active-fingered maidens, laboured without cessation for several hours till they had prepared Roger's kit as far as circ.u.mstances would allow. The Colonel had retired to his chamber, and Mr Willoughby had seen Master Hands...o...b.. to one which had been prepared for him. Roger and Stephen had fallen asleep in spite of their intention of sitting up all night to be ready for the morning, when suddenly a strong blast, which found its way through the window, blew out two of the lamps at which the maidens had been working. Madam Pauline ordered them to run and shut it. Scarcely had this been done, when another blast, sweeping round the house, shook it almost to its foundation, setting all the windows and doors rattling and creaking. Even Stephen and Roger were at length awakened. The wind howled and whistled and shrieked among the surrounding trees, the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, the rain came down in torrents.

"Which way does the wind blow, think you?" asked Roger in an anxious tone.

"From the south-west, I fear," answered Stephen. "And if so, Captain Benbow will have reason to wish that he had got a good offing from the sh.o.r.e before it came on."

"Surely she's a stout craft, and will stand a worse gale than this,"

answered Roger.

"I do not know what you would call a worse gale than this," said Stephen. "It makes the house rock, and I should not be surprised to find many an old elm torn up by the roots."

"I wish that I had been on board to a.s.sist our brave friend and his crew," said Roger.

"You may have reason to be thankful that you are safe on sh.o.r.e,"

remarked Stephen. "Such a gale as this is sufficient to drive even a stouter ship than the _Benbow_ frigate from her anchors; but we must wait patiently till the morning to ascertain the truth."

"Why should that be?" exclaimed Roger. "I am not afraid of the wind, and can find my way if it were twice as dark as it is.--Come along."

Stephen, however, who was not inclined to expose himself to the inclemency of the weather, proposed that they should wait till the morning.

"No, no," said Roger, rising and putting on his clothes; "if we are to be of any use we should go at once."

"Certainly, if such is the case," said Stephen, also rising. "But I am afraid that we can render no a.s.sistance to the stout frigate if she is in peril."

"Let us go and see about it, at all events," said Roger, who had finished dressing.

They put on their thick overcoats; fortunately Stephen had left his some days before at the manor-house. They had hitherto awakened no one, and had just reached the side-door when they saw a light coming along the pa.s.sage.

"Who goes there?" asked a voice, which they recognised as that of Mr Willoughby. "Whither are you going, lads, on such a night as this?" he inquired.

"We are greatly afraid that some misadventure may have befallen the _Benbow_ frigate, and are going to see, father. You will not say us no, I hope?"

Mr Willoughby hesitated, but Roger pressed the point, and finally obtained leave, his father a.s.sisting them to close the door, to do which required no small amount of exertion. So great was the darkness, in spite of Roger's knowledge of the road and the lantern he carried, the lads could not at times clearly see their way. The wind blew in their faces the branches waved to and fro, the tall trees bent, while ever and anon down came the rain in huge drops battering against them. Still they struggled on. Crossing the downs, they had still to make greater exertions, or further progress would have been impossible, but they were not to be daunted.

"We must take care that we do not go suddenly over the edge of the cliff," said Stephen, who was always cautious. "Even with the light of the lantern it is difficult to distinguish it."