TheMaidofSker 10178201

By L A U RE N CE W M L O C KH AR T Author
AIR T O SEE . .
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WI DDLE M AR C H : A ST U D YO F EN GLIS H P O VI N CIAL R L I FE .
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By EO R G E E L I O T F our B ooks .
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are iigu s
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IN T E R U D E S L B y A L FRE D A U ST I N Au t ho r of
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The
S ld
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C w ,
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eas o n, t he Go en Age, 62 0 . ro n 8m , 58 .
I n the Press,
ME MO I R S O F T HE L I FE OF T HE C O MT E DE
M O NT ALE MB E R T ; B ein g a C hap t er
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of Re c ent Fr en h H s to r c i y . By Mrs
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A D A PTED T O E N A LE B O UR A R M TO M EE T A C O NTI N ENT A L Y
A R M I N T HE F I EL DY B y L I E U T F MA U R I C E R o a Art er Ins t ru c t o r yl ill y
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EC By M Olipha t
OR , 50 . rs n ,
A t the p r ices quo ted , the Vo lu m es a r e in boa r d s, w ith p r inted cover s

a bove .
F or 6d extr a t hey ca n be ha d st r o ngly bo u nd in clo th, let tered

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W I L L I A M BLAC K W OOD AND ’

S O NS
DIN U H AN D L ND N
E B R G O O
R EPR I N T E D F R O M B L A C KW O O D S
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G
M A A "I N E
T H E
MA ID O F S K ER
R . D . B L A C K MO R E
A UT H O R OF
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L O R NA D OO N E ,
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CL A RA V A UG H AN ,
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AND
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C RA D O C K N O W E IJ .
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I N T H REE V O L U M E S
VO L . III .
W I L L IAM B L A C K W O O D AN D S O N S
E D IN B UR G H AN D LO N D O N
M D C C C L X XI I
C O N T E N T S O F T H E T H IR D V O L U M E .
CH AP . A E
P G
X LV I I I . A B R E A T H L E SS D I S I N T E R ME N T ,
X LI X . O NE W HO HAS I NT ER RED HIMS EL F ,
L A B RA VE M A N R
. U N S A WA Y ,
L I T R I P LE E D UC AT I O N
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L I I G R E AT M A R C H O F I NT E LL E C T
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L I I I B E A T I N G U P F O R T HE N A VY
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L I V T A M IN G O F T HE S A VA G E S
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LV U P O N F O R E I G N S E R V I C E
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LV I E X I LE S OF S O C I E TY
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LV I I M A N Y W E A K MO M E N T S
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LV I II M O R E H A S T E L E S S S P E E D
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L I X I N A R O C KY B O W E R
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L X N E L S O N A N D T HE N I L
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L X I A S A VA G E D E E D
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vi C O N T E N TS .
LX I I . A RA SH Y O UNG CA PT AI N ,
P O LLY A T HO M E ,
S U SAN " UIT E AC " I U TS H E R S E LF ,
P O O R O L D D A VY
SO DOES
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a m ,
L X V I T H E M A I D A T L A S T I S D E N T IF IE D
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v u D O G E ATS DO G
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L X V I I I T HE O LD P I T C H E R A T T H E W E L L A G A IN
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T HE MA ID OE SKE R .
C HA PT E R X L V I II .
A B REA T H L E SS D IS I N T E R M E N T .
BY this time we were up to all the ins and outs o f

everything A sailor has such a knowledge of knots
.
,
and the clever art o f splicing that you cannot play

,
loose tricks in trying o n a yarn with him Jerry

, .
Toms and I w ere ready long before that day was,
ou t
,
to tie up ou r minds in a bow -line knot and ,
never more undo them Jerry went even b eyond

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my views as was sure to be because he knew so

, ,
much less of the m atter ; he would hav e it that

Parson C ho w n e had choked the two children with
o u t any aid and then i n hatred and mockery of the
,
noble British uniform had buried them deep in

,
B raunton Burrows wearing a c o ok ed for a shovel

,
by way o f outrage .
V OL II I
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2 T HE M AID OF S K ER .
O n the other hand while I agreed with Jerry up ,
to a certai n distance I knew more of Parson C ho w ne ,
(whom he never had s et eyes upon ) than to listen t o

such rubbish And while we agreed in the main so
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truly and thoroughly praised each other s wisdom
, ,
all the people in the house made so highly much of

us that Jerry forgot the true line of reasoni ng even
, ,
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before nine o clock at night and dissented from my ,
conclusions so widely and with S O much a rrogance , ,
that it did not grieve me (after he got u p) to have

knocked him down like a ninepin .
H owever in the mornin g he was all right and

, ,
being informed upon every side that the cook did it

w ith the rolling -pin he acknowledged the j ustice Of
,
it having paid more attention to her than a married

,
lady should admit though parted from her husban d

, .
H owever she forgave him nobly an d he did the

, ,
same to her ; and I with all my knowledge o f ,
women made avowal in the presence O f the lady

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housekeeper that my o nl y uneasiness was to be

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c ertain whether I ought to admire the more Jerry s ’
behaviour or M rs Cook s A nd the cook had no

’
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certainty in the morning exactly what she m ight ,
have done .
This little matter made a stir far beyond its value ;

and having some knowledge of British nature I p ro ,
T HE M A ID OF S K ER .
3
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p osed ;
to the c o mi tatus
ith deference both t o t he,
w
cook and hou sekeeper a lso a glance at the first

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ho u semaid t hat we S hould righ t all m i sund ers tand

, , ?
m g by dinin g together comfo rt ably an hour before , .
t he u sual t i m e ,
Bec ause as I clearly expressed it
.
, ,
y e t most in of
f ensi vely o u r breakfast had been ruine
, d
by a piece I m ight s ay o f mis co nstruction overnight
,
~
between t w o admirable persons An d H eaviside .
came in just then and put t he cap o n all Of it by

, ,
saying that true sailors were the gr eatest o f all

sportsmen ; therefore in honour o f o u r arrival he , ,
had asked and got leave from the gamekeepers to

, ,
give a grea t rabbiting that afternoon down on Braun

t o n Burrows ; and he hoped that Mrs C o ck hant er
bury bei ng the lady-housekeeper wo ul d grace the

, ,
scene with her presence and let every m aid come to ,
the utmost .
’
Heav isid e s speech though nothing III itself , ,
n either displaying any manner at all w as received ,
with the hottest applause ; and for some time Jerry

’
and I had to look at on e another without any woman ,
to notic e us We made allowance for this of course

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although we did no t like it F or after all who was .

, ,
H eaviside ? But we felt so sorely the ill effect s o f

the absence o f perfect harmo ny upon the prece ding
evening (when all our male members o f the human
ce to ok more o r less the marks o f knuckles ) that

ra ,
a sense o f sti ffness helped us to m ake no obj ection

t o anything And tenfold thus when we saw how
.
,
the maids had made u p their minds for frolicking .
These young things must have their way as well ,
a s the nobler lot of us : for they really have not so
very much les s o f mind than higher women have ;

and they feel what a woman is t o o well to push
themselves so forw ard They know their place and
.
,
t hey like their place and they tempt us down into

,
it .
—
Be that either way and no w un w omanly women
waste their good brains upon a trifle o f this kind
rabbiting was to be ou r s port ; and no soon er was
t he dinner done and ten minutes given to the maids
,
to dress than ev eryd o g o n the premises wort h his

,
s alt was whistled for It wo ul d have amused yo u

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to s ee the maids or I might say all the womankin d

, ,
coming o u t with their best things o n and their hair ,
done up and all pretending never even to have see n

,
a looking glass
- .
M ad ame H eaviside (as she commanded all peo ple

to entitle her) was o f the whole the very grandest as
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r egards appearance Also in manner and carrying

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o n ; but O f t his I have no time to S peak E nough

'
t h at the for m er Naval Instru c tor t ho u ght it wiser to .

T HE M AID O F S K ER .
5
kee p his o w n place and let her flirt with the game
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keepers We had dogs and ferrets and nets and

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, , ,
spades and g uns for those who were clever enough

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to keep from l etting them O ff at all and to frighten ,
the women without any harm There must have been .
fi ve-and -twenty o f us in number altogether besides at ,
least a score o f children w ho ran down frOm Braun

ton vill age when they saw what we were at There
, .
w as no restraint laid u pon us by any presen c e o f
the gentry ; for S ir Ph ilip was n o t in the humour for

sport and the S quire o f course kept himself to his
,
room ; and as for the Captain we had no token o f ,
his return from S outh D evon yet .
Therefore we had the most w onderful fun enj oyin g ,
the wildness o f the place and the freshness o f the

,
river air and w ilfulness o f the sandhill s also the

, ,
hide -and-seek o f the rushes and the m any ups and ,
downs and pleasure o f helping the young women in

and o u t also ho w these latter got (if they had any
,
feet to be proud o f ) into rabbit-holes o n purpose to

be lifted o u t o f them and fill the rosettes o f their
,
’
shoes and have them dusted by a naval man s very
,
best pocket-handkerchief—together with a diffi cul ty

o f standing o n o n e foot while doing it o r having it ,
done to them and a fear o f breathing t o o much o u t

,
—
after smothered rabbit at dinner time whi c h made
-
6 ID OF S K ER
‘
T HE M A
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thei r figures lOOk beauti ful E nough that I t OOk m y .
choice am ong them for consi deration ; and j otted

,
down the names o f three who must have some c ash ,
from their petticoats Let nobody for a moment

.
dream that I started with this intention The rest .
o f my life was to be devoted to the R oyal Navy if ,
only a hot war should come again ; o f which we

alrea dy felt sim m erings But I could n ot regard all
.
t hese things after s o many years at sea without

, ,
some desire for further acquaintance with the m ean

ing o f everything At sea we forget a great deal o f
.
t heir W ys
a W. w —
hen e come ashore there they are
again "
This is a v erychil dish thing f or a man li ke me to
'
t hi nk o f
~
.Nevertheless I do fall back from perfect
propriety sometimes ; never as regards money; but
when my feeling s are touched by the way in which
s uperior young women try to catch me ; o r when my
O pini o n is ask ed conscientiously as to cordials And .
this same afternoon the noble clearness o f the su n

and air and the sound o f merry voices glanci ng
,
where all the world (unless it were soft sand) would

have echoed them and the se nse o f going sporting
,
which is half t he game o f it —these and o ther things ‘
’
as well as the fatness o f the rabbits backs and great ,
skill n ot to bruise them led t he whole o f us more or

, ,
T HE M AI D OF S K ER .
7
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less into c ontemplation o f Nature s beaut ies We
, .
m ust have killed more than a hundred and fifty .
c oneys in o n e way and anoth er when H eavisi d e

, ,
c am e up almost at a run to a hill where Jerry Toms

, ,
and I were sitting down to look about a bit and to , ,
let the young wo m en admire us .
’
“
What s the matter ? said I n ot liking to be ”
,
interrupted thus .
M att er enough he panted ou t where is

,
M adame ? The Lord keep her away .

”
“
M adame is gone down t o the water-side said ,
Jerry though I frowned at him together with that

, ,
— —
smart young fellow I forget his name underkeeper
they c al l him .
”
H urrah my hearties cried H eaviside ; that is

,
luck and no mistake N o w lend a hand every

, ,
lubber o f yo u H er pet d og S nap is in the sand ;

.
’
with the devil to pay and no pitch hot if we take , ,
long t o get him o u t again .

”
W e knew what he meant ; for several dogs o f an

o v er-z ealous character had got into premature burial
in the rabbit -galleries through the stupidity o f people ,
who crowded upon the cone over them S ome had .
been dug o u t alive and some dead according to what

, ,
their luck was And n ow we were bo u nd to dig ou t

.
p o or S nap and w o e to us all if we found him dead "

,
I took the biggest spade as well as the entire com

,
mand o f all o f u s and we started at quick step for

,
the place which H eaviside pointed o u t to us H e .
told us so far as his breath allowed that his small

, ,
brown terrier S nap had found a rabbit o f tender age

hiding in a tuft o f r ushes S nap put all speed on at
.
once but young bunny had the heels o f him and

, ,
flipped up her tail at the mouth o f a hole with an ,
air o f defiance which provoked S nap beyond all dis

cretion H e scarcely Stopped to think before he
.
plu nged with a yelp into the hole while another and ,
a wiser dog came up and shook his ears at it Fo r a

,
.
little while t hey heard poor S nap working away in

great ecstasy scratching at narrow turns and yelping
, ,
when he almost got hold o f fur H eaviside stood .

,
in his heavy way whistling into the entrance-hole

, ,
which went down from a steep ascent with a tuft of

rushes over it But S nap was a great deal too game
.
some a dog to come back— even if he heard him .
M ean whil e a lot o f bulky fellows who co u ld do no ,
more than clap their hands got on the brow o f the ,
burrow and stamped and shouted to S nap to dig

,
deeper Then of a sudden the whole hill s lided as a

.
,
hollow fire does and cast a great part o f itself into a

,
deep gully on the north o f it And those great .
louts who had sent it down so found it very ,

to T IIE M AID S K ER
’
OF .
and: joy, with Heaviside at the head of it th at I ,
feared to be hoisted qui te ou t o f the hole and ,
mounted o n hUm an shoulders Thi s I like well .
enough n o w and then having many a time deserve d

,
without altogether ensuing it ; but I co ul d not stop

‘
to think o f any private triumph now The whole o f .
my heart was hot inside me through what I was

,
thinking of .
That poor honest fellow who so eschewed the

,
adornment o f the outward man and carried ou t pure

,
Christianity so as to take no heed o f what he wore,

o r wh e ther he wore anything whatever ; yet who
really felt for people o f a weaker cul tivation to such ,
an extreme that he hardly ever went about by d ay

'
—
much this noble man had given evidence such as
,
no man who had lost respect by keeping a tailor"

,
i
c o u ld d o u bt o f
. In itself it was p erspicuous ; and so
,
was the witness before he put up w ith a sack i n

, ,
order to tender it .
The whole force of this broke upon me now ; while

the others were showing the hat round or blowing ,
’ ’
into the litt le dog s nos t rils and with a rabbit s tail
,
tickling him ; because in a single glance I had seen

’
that the hat was o ur Captain B am pfylde s And .
then I thought o f old S ir Philip striding sadly along,
these burrows fo r ever seeking somet hing

,
.
TH E M A ID OF S K ER :
Dig aw ay d ig away;
‘
,
my lad s :
min d the Ne
ver
li ttle dog Let the maid ens see t o him Under
. . .
o u r feet there is something now worth a hundred ,
thou sand dogs

All the peopl estood and stared and tho u ght that ,
I was o ff my wits and but for my u niform not one ,
would ever have stopped to harken me It w as use

‘
less to speak t o H eavisid e The whole of his mind . .
’
was exhausted by anxiety as to his wife s little dog:
No sleep coul d he s ee before him for at least thre e
lunar months unless little S nap came round again
,
.
S O I had to rely on myself alo ne and Jerry To m s , ,
an d t w o gamekeepers .
All these were for giving up ; because I can tell

u it is no j oke to throw o u t spadeful after sp adeful
y o
o f this heavy deceitful sa nd with half o f it coming ,
back into the hole ; and the place where you stand
n o t steadfast And the rushes were combing darkly
.
over u s showi ng their gi nger-coloured roots and

, ,
with tu fts o f j agged eyebrows threatening over

w helm ent .Fo r o u r lives we worked away— with
me (as seems t o be my fate) compelled to be the
master— en d all the people looking down and rea dy ,
t o revile us if we could n o t find a stirring thi n g

,
.
But we did find a sti rring thing exactly as I will ,
tell you .
F or suddenly my spade struck something soft ,
something which returned no sound and yet was firm ,
eno u gh to stop or at any rate to clog the tool Al

, .
though it was scarcely twilight yet and many people ,
stood around u s a feeling not o f fear so much as horror

,
seized upon me Because this was not like the case

.
o f digging o u t poor bodies smothered by accident or
the will o f God but was something far more dreadful ;

,
proof to wit o f atrocious m urder done by villany o f

, ,
mankind upon two little helpless babes S o that I .
scarce could hold the spade when a piece o f white ,
linen appeared through the sand and then some ,
tresses of long fair hair and then two little hands

,
c rossed o n the breast and a set of small toes sticking

,
upward And close at hand lay another young body

.
,
o f about the same si z e o r a trifle larger

, .
At this terrible sight the deepest breath of awe

,
drew through all of us and several o f the women

,
upon the hill shrieked and dropped and the children ,
fled and the men feared to come any nearer Even

,
.
my three o r four fellow-diggers leaped from the hole

with alacrity leaving me all by myself to go o n with
,
this piteous disinterment Fo r a moment I trembled.
too much to do so and leaned o n my spade in the

,
dusky grave watchi ng the poor little things and

, ,
loath to break with sa c rilegious hands such innocent

T HE M AID O F S K ER . I3
and eternal rest Ye pure and stainless souls I

.
,
c ried hoveri ng even now above u s ire your guar

“
, ,
’
dian angel s arms and appealing for ju dgment on
,
your icy-hearted murderer pardon me for thus in ,
vading in the s acred cause o f j ustice the Calm sleep

, ,
o f your tenements
”
.
In this sad and solemn moment with all the best ,
S pectators moved t o tears by my deep eloquence as ,
well as their o w n ri ch sympathies it struck me that ,
the legs o f on e o f the corpses stuck up rather

strangely I had n o t been taken aback at all by
.
, ,
the b right preservation of hands and toes because I ,
knew well what t hep o w er o f sand is when the air is r
kept far away ; but i t was dead against all my ex

‘
rien ce that even a baby eight years buried should

p e , , ,
hav e th at muscular powe r o f leg Without any .
furt her hesitation up I caught the n earest o f them

,
‘
,
.
be ing d esperate now to know what would be the end

o f it.
Three or four w Om en whose age had passed fro m ’

'
lyi n g in to l aying o u t now ran down the hill in great

,
z ealousnes s but though t heir profession is perhap s
the mos t needfu l o f all yet invented by human

natur e there was no exercise for it n o w F or behold
, .
,
in t hee v ening light and o n the brink Of the grave

, ,
Were laid t wo v e ry ha ndsome and large D u tch dolls .

,
14 TH E MAI D O F S K ER .
.
clad in their night-gowns and l ooking as fresh as

‘
when they left the doll-m a ’

ker s shop The sand .
remained in their hair of course and in their linen , ,
bu t fell away (by reason o f its dryness ) from their

faces and han d s and feet t he w hole O f which were
' "
, , , .
o f fine hard wax But the j oints o f their arms and

.
-
.
legs had sti ff ened from having no children to work

,
them also their noses had been spoiled at some

,
stage o f their O bsequies ; and upon the whole it

seemed hard to say whether their appearance was
more ludicrous or deplorable .
H o w ever that matter was settled for the m by the

,
universal guffa w o f the fellows who had been scared

o f their scanty wits not more than two minutes
since but all o f whom now were as brave as lions

,
to m ake laughter at my expense This is a thi ng .
which I never allo w but very soon put a stop to it

, .
And so I did n o w without any hard words but

, ,
turning their thoughts discreetly .
Come my l ads I said we have done a better

, ,
”
,
“
turn to the gentleman who feeds us than if we had ,
found two thousand babies s u ch as you ran away ,
from . R ally round me if yo u have a spark o f ,
c ourage in your loutish bodies You little know .
how much hangs o n this ; while in your clumsy

witless way you are making a stupid j oke o f it
,
.
T HE M AID O F S K ER . 15
Mr H eaviside ,
I pray you seek for me M istress
,
C o ck hant erbu ry; while I knock down any rogue w ho

shows the impudence t o come near me .
”
E very man pull ed his proud stomach in when I ,
spoke o the la y housekeeper who was a Tartar

f d -
, ,
high up o n a sh elf all owing no margin for argument

, .
S he appeared in the distance as managing -women

,
always do when called upon and she s aw the good

sense o f w hat lit tle I said and she laid them all
,
under my orders .
C H A PT E R X L IX .
O N E W HO H AS I N T ERRE D H MS
I E LF .
S UC H an effect was now produced all over all around

us that every man pressed f or his neighbour s
,
’
O pinion rather than O ffer his ow n almost This is

, , .
a sta t e o f the public mind that cannot be long put

up with ; for half the pleasure goes o u t o f life when
a man is stinted o f argument But inasmuch as I
.
was always ready for all comers and would not for a
,
mo m ent harken any other opinion the great bulk o f,
conclu sion ran into the grooves I laid for it .
’
This w as neither more nor less than t hat S atan s
o w n chaplain C ho w n e was at the helm o f the whole
, ,
o f it S ome people said that I formed this O pinion

.
through an unchristian recollection o f his former

rudeness to me ; I mean when he blew me o u t O f
bed and tried to drown and to burn me alive
, , .
H owever t he great maj ority saw that my nature was

,
not of this sort but rather inclined to reflect with

,
8 T HE MAID OF S K ER .
up and the two doll s in my arms with their heads

, ,
down and even their feet grudged to the view o f

,
the gossipers In the midst o f an excited mob a

.
,
calm sight of the right thing to do may lead them

almost anywhere A nd I saw that the only proper
;
thing was to leave every t hing to me They (with .
that sense o f fairness which exists in slow m inds

more than in qui ck ones) fell behind me because ,
all kn ew that the entire discovery was my o w n O f

.
course without S n ap I could never have done it ;

nor yet without further accidents : still there it was ;
and no man even o f our diifi dent Welsh nation can ,
in any fairness be expected to obscure himself .
M y tendency throughout this story always has

, ,
been to do this But I really did begin to feel

.
the need o f abjuring this national faul t since men ,
o f a mixture o f any sort w ithout even C eltic blood

,
in them over and over again had tried to make

,
a mere nobody o f me .
H ence it w as and not from any desire to advance

,
myself that among the inferior race I stood upon my

, ,
rights and stuck to them If ever there had been

,
.
any drop of desire for money left in me after per ,
p et u al purification (from seven years o f getting only

Ooppers and finding most of the m forgeries ) thi s
, ,
scene was alone su ffi cient to make me glad o f an

T HE M AID OF S K ER
‘ ’
.
19
F or any man who h as any money

' ' '
em pt y p u rse .
m us t long t o put more t o it ; as the children pile

their farthings,hoping how high they may go I like .
to see both old an d yOu ng full o f schemes so noble

o nl y they must l et an ancient fell ow lik e m e keep
Ou t o f them .
These superior senses glowed within me and would ,
not be set aside by any other rogue precedi ng me ,
’
when I knocked at S ir Philip s door and claimed ,
first right o f audienc e The other fellows were all

.
put a w ay by the serving-men as behoved the m ; then

,
I carried in everything just as it was and presented

, ,
the whole with t he u t most deference .
S ir Phili p had inklin g o f somethi n g i m port ant and ,
was beginning to shake now and then ; neverthel es s

he acknowledged my entrance with his wonte d
d ignity signed to the footman to refresh the S perm
O il lamps in the long dark room ; and then to me to
come and spread my burden o n a table Nothing .
could more clearly S how the self-command which a

good man wins by w restling long w ith adversity For .
’
rumour had reached him that I had dug up his son s
cocked-hat and his two grandchildren all as fresh as
, ,
the day itself It is not for me (who have neve r

.
been so deeply stirred in the grain o f the heart by

’
heaven s visitations ) to go through and make a show .
’
of this most noble and ancient gentleman s do ings or ,
feelings o r language even A man o f low station

, .
,
like myself would be loth to have this done to him

, ,
at many and many a time of his life ; so (if I could

even do it in the case of a man so far above m e and ,
so far more deeply harrowed ) instead o f being proud

o f describing I must o nl y despise myself
,
.
E nough to say that this snowy-haired most simple ,
yet stately gentleman mixed the usual mixture of the

,
things that weep and the things that laugh ; which

are the j oint-stock o f o u r nature from the old Adam ,
and the young o ne What I mean—if I keep to facts

.
—is that he knelt on a strip o f canvas laid at the

end o f the table and after some trouble to place his
,
elbows (because o f the grit o f the sandiness) bowed ,
his white forehead and silve ry hair and the calm ,
majesty o f his face over those t w o dollies and over

, ,
’
his son s very best cocked-hat and in silence wept ,
thanksgiving to the great F ather o f everything .
“
D avid Llewellyn he said as he rose and ap
,
”
,
ro a ched me as if I were quite his equal ; allow me

p
to take your hand my friend There are few men to
, .
whom I would sooner o w e this great debt of gratitude

than yourself because you h ave sailed with my so n
,
s o long
. To yo u and your patience and sagacity ,
u nder the mercy o f God I owe the proof or at any

'
, , .
T HE M AID OF S K ER . 2 1
’
rate these tokens o f my poor son s inno c ence I -I .
thank the Lord and you

H ere the General for the moment could not say
another word .
It is true your Worship I answered that none

, , ,
“
o f your o w n people showed the sense o r the courage
’
to go on But it is a IVelshm an s honest pride to
.
surpass all other races in v alour and ability I am .
n o more than the very humblest o f my anc est ers may
have been .
”
“
Then all o f them must have been very fine fel
lows S ir Philip replied w ith a twinkling glance
,
”
, .
But no w I wi ll beg of you o n e more favour Carry .
all these things just as they are to the room o f my

, ,
s o n M r Philip Bampfylde
”
.
,
A t first I w as s o taken aback that I could only

gaz e at him And then I began to think and to s ee
.
,
the reason of his asking it .
“
I have asked you to do a strange thing good ,
D avid ; if it is an unpleasant on e say so in your ,
’
blunt sailor s fashion .
”
“
Your honour I answered with all the delicacy
,
”
,
o f my nature upwards ; s ay not another word I

“
.
will do it .
”
F or tru ly to speak it if anything had been often a ,
grief and a c are to me it was the bitterness o f thinking

,
22 T HE M A ID O F S K ER .
of that S qu ire Philip deeply and not knowi ng any

,
;
t hing The General bo w ed to me with a kindne ss non e

.
could take advantage o f and signalled me to collect

'
my burden Then b e appointed me hOw to go to

.
,
g ether with a very Old and lo ng-accustomed servitor .
H imself would not come ne ar his son for fear o f ,
triumph over him .
Aft er a long bit o f tapping and whispering and , ,
t he mystery serv ants always love to make o f the
s implest orders I was shown with my arms well

,
aching (for t hose wooden dolls were no j oke and the ,
’
Captain s hat weighed a stone at least with all the ,
sand in the lining ) into a dark room softly strewn ,
and hung with ancient damask The light of the .
evening was shut ou t and the failure o f the candles

,
made it seem a cloudy starli ght O nly in the furthest

.
corner t here was light enough to see by ; and there

sate at a very Old desk a white -haired man with his
, ,
hat on .
If I can s ay o ne thing trul y (while I am striving

at e very line to tell the downright honesty) this ,
truth is that my bones and fibres now grew cold 1 n

side of me There was about this man so placed and
.
, ,
with the dimn ess round him such an air o f di fferen ce

,
from whatever we can reason with and of far with ,
draw al from the way s o f human nature as must send ,

TH E M AID OF S K ER . 2 3
a dismal shudder through a genial soul li ke mine .
There he sate and there he spent three parts o f his

,
time with his hat o n ga z ing at some old grey tokens

,
o f a happy period but (so far as c o ul d be j udge d hop

, )
ing fearing doi ng thinking even dreaming— nothing
, , , ,
H e would not allow any clock or watch o r other re ,
cord o f time in the c hamber he would not read o r be ,
read to neither write o r receive a letter

,
.
There he sate with one hand o n his forehead

,
pushing back the old dusty hat with his white hair ,
straggling und er it and even below the gaunt sho ul der

blades his face s et a little o n on e side without any
, ,
ki nd o f m eaning in it unl ess it were long weariness

, ,
’
and patient waiting God s time o f death .
I was told t hat once a-day whenever the sun was ,
going down over the bar in winter or summer in , ,
wet or dry this unfortunate man arose as if he kn ew

, ,
the time by instinct without View o f heaven and ,
drew the velve t curtain back and flung the shutter

open and for a moment stood and gaz ed with sorrow
,
worn yet tearless eyes upon the solemn hills and

woods and down the gliding o f the river following
, ,
the pens ive footfall o f another receding day Then .
with a deep S igh he retired from all chance o f star

light darkening body mind and soul until another
, , , ,
sunset .
24 T HE M A ID O F S KER .
Upon the better side o f my heart I could feel true ,
pity for a man overwhelmed like this by fortune ;

while my strength o f mind was vexed to see him
carry on 8 0 Therefore straight I marched up to him
.
,
w hen I began to recover myself having found no ,
better way o f getting through perplexi t y .
As my footsteps so u nded heavily in the gloomy

chamber S quire Philip turned and gazed at first
, ,
with cold displeasure and then w ith strong amaze

,
ment at me I waited for him to begin but he could

.
,
not whether from surprise or loss of readiness through

,
such long immurement .
“
May it please your H onour I said ; the Gene ,
“
ral has sent me hither to clear my Captain from the

charge o f burying vour H onour s children ’
.
”
What — what do yo u mean ? was all that he could ”
stammer forth whil e his glassy eyes were roving

,
from my face to the dolls I bore and round the ,
room and then back again

, .
E xactly as I say your H onour These are what

“
, .
the wild man t ook for your two children in Braunton

’
Burrows and here is the Captain s c ocked hat ,
which some o n e stole to counterfeit him The , .
whole thing w as a vile artifice a delusion cheat and , , ,
mockery .
”
I need not repeat how I set this before him but ,

26 TH E M AID OF S K ER .
‘
wards) the favourite toy o f his handsome w ife .
When I handed him this he took o ff his hat and , ,
shook his white hair back and ga ed earnestly but

‘
z
, ,
without any sorro w at his mournful image

, .
“
Twenty years at least he pronounced it in a ,
”
,
clear decided voice ; twenty years it must have

“
taken to have made me what I am Would twenty .
years in a dripping sand hill leave a smart gentle

’ ’
man s laced hat and a poor little baby s dolls as fresh
and bright as the day they were buried ? O ld mariner ,
I am sorry that you should lend you self to such

devices But perhaps you thought it right
. .
This although so much perverted made me think

, ,
o f his father s goodness and kind faith in eve ry o n e

’
.
And I s aw that here was no place now fo r any sort

o f argument .
“
Your H onour is altogether wrong I answered , ,
very gently : the m atter could have been at the

“
,
utmost scarcely more than eight years ago according

, ,
to what they tell me And if you can suppose that

.
a man o f my rank and age and service would lend

himself to mean devices there are at least thirty o f
,
your retainers and o f honest neighbours who have

, , .
seen the whole thing and can swear to its straight

forwardness And your H onour o f course knows
.
, ,
,
everything a thousand times bette r than I do ; but o f

TH E M AID O F S K ER . 27
sa n d and how it keeps things everlasting (SO long as

,
dry) your H onour seems if I may say it to have no

, , ,
exp erience .
H e did not take the trouble to answer but fell back ,
into his old way o f sitting as if there was nothing

,
worth argument .
People s ay that every man is lik e his father in

many ways ; but the first resemblance that I per
ceiv ed between S irPhil ip and his elder so n was that ,
the squire arose and bowed with courtesy as I departed .
Upon the whole t his undertakin g proved a dis ap

,
pointment to me And it mattered a h u ndredfold a s

.
much that o u r n oble General was not o nl y vexed ,
b u t angered more than o n e co u ld hope o f hi m .
H aving been treated a little amiss I trusted that ,
S ir Phili p would contribute to my self respect by

-
also feeling angry S till I did n o t desire m ore than

.
j ust enough to support me or at the utmost to over

,
lap me and give me the sense o f acting aright by

,
V irtue of appeasing him But on the present occasion

.
he showed so large and cloudy a shape o f anger ,
wholl y withdrawn from my sight (as happens with

—
the Peak o f Teneriffe) also he so clearly longed to be
left alone and meditate that I had no chance to o ff er
, ,
hi m more than thr ee O pinion s All these were o f

.
genuine value at the time o f offering ; and m us t

28 T HE M AID O F S K ER .
have continued so to be if the facts had not belied

,
them Allowing for this adverse view I will not

.
,
even state them .
Nevertheless I had the warmest invitat ion to

abide and be welcome to the best that turned upon
,
any o f all the four great spits o r simmered and lifted

,
the pot lids sudde nl y for a puff o f fin e smell to come

-
ou t in advance To a man o f less patriotic feeling

.
this might thus have commended itself B u t to m y .
mind t here was nothing Visible in these bills and

valleys and their sloping towards the sea which
, ,
could make a true Welshman do ubt the priority o f

Welshland For with us the sun is better and the
.
,
air moves less in creases and the sea has more o f

,
rapid gaiety in breaking The o t hers may have .
higher cli ffs or deeper valleys down them also (if

, ,
’
they like to think s o) darker woods for robbers nests
-but o u r o w n land has a sweetness and a gentle
,
liking for us and a motherly pleasure in its bosom

,
when we do come home to it such as no other land ,
may claim— according to my experience .
These were my sentiments as I climbed upon the ,
ensuing S unday a lofty hill near the Ilfracombe road

, ,
commanding a view o f the Bristol Channel and the

’
I Velsh coast beyond it The day was so clear that I
.
could follow the stretches and c ur es of my native v

TH E M AID OF S K ER . 29
shore from the low lands o f Gower away in the west

,
thro u gh the sandy ridges o f Aberavon and the grey

rocks o f S ker and Porthcawl as far as the eastern ,
cli ffs o f D unraven and t he fading bend o f S t D onat s ’

.
The s ea betw een us looked s o calm and softly ,
touched w ith shaded lights and gentle variations also ,
in u nru ffl ed beauty s o fostering and benevolent that ,
the white-sailed coasters seemed to be babies fast

’
asleep o n their mother s lap .
“
Ho w long is this m ore river to keep me from
my people at home ? I cried : it looks as if o ne
” “
could j u mp it al m ost " A child in a cockle -shell

c ould cross it .
At t hese words o f my o w n a sudden thought , ,
w hich had ne ver occurred before struck me s o that ,
my brain seemed to buz z .
But presen t ly reason came to my aid an d I said ,
No no ; it is o u t o f the question ; without even a

,
thread o f sail " I must not let t hese clods laugh at

me for such a wild idea And the name in the .
’
stern of the boat as well downright S anta Lucia "
,
‘
C ho w n e must have drowned those two poor children ,
and then rehearsed this farce o f a burial with the

’
Captain s hat o n to enable his man to swear truly to
,
it Tush I am not in my dotage yet I can see

.
, .
the force o f everything .

C H A PT E R L .
A B RA V E M AN R UN S A W A Y .
IT may be the power of honesty or it m ay be strength

,
o f character coupled with a more than usual bright
ness o f sagacity— but what ever the cau se may b e the ,

.
res ul t seems always to be the same in spite o f inborn

, .
humili ty— to wit that poor old D avy Llewellyn

, ,
wherever his ups and do w ns may throw him always ,
has to take the lead I This necessity as usual S eemed

, ,
—
to be arising now at N a n t o n Court the very last
r
place in the world where one could have desired it:

S ince the present grand war began (with the finest
promise o f lasting because nobody knows any cause
,
for it so that it must be a law o f nature) I have not

, ,
found much occasion to dwell upon common inl and

incidents These are in na t ure so far belo w all
.
maritime proceedings that a sailor is tempted to

,
.
fo rget such t rifl es as people are doing ashore .
Even upon H oly S cripture (since the stirring time s;

T HE M A ID OF S K ER .
began for me henc eforth to chronicle) it has not ,
been my good luck to be able t o sit and think o f

-
anything Nevertheless I am almost sure that it

'
must have been an active m an o f the n a m e o f

Nehemi ah who drew for his rations every day on e
”
, ,
fat ex and six choice sheep and fowls o f order

, ,
vari ous .
All o f these might I have claimed if my capacity ,
had been equal to thi s great occasion H ence it may .
b e well supposed that the kitchen was my favouri t e

place when ever I deigned to enter into converse
,
with the servants At fi st the head cook was a little

r
.
-
s hy ; but I p u t her soon at her e ase by d escribin g
(from my va t br adth of x rien ce

) h proper
'
s e e p e t e
manner to truss and roast a man— and still better a ,
W oman The knowledge I displayed upon a thing s o

.
far above her level coupled with my tales of what

,
we s ailors did in c onsequence led thi s excellent ,
Creat u re so to appreciate my character and thirst for ,
more o f my n arratives that I never c ould come

,
amiss even at dishin g-u p time

, .
But here I fell into a snare as every seaman is ,
Sure to do when he relaxes his mind too much in the

charms o f female society Not co ncerning the Cook
.
—
herself for I gave her to u nderstand at the ou t set
that I w as not a marrying man and she (p ossessing ,
3 2 THE M AID OF S K ER .
a husband somewhere) resolved not to hanker after

—
me but by means o f a fair young maid newly ,
app renticed to ou r head-cook although o f a loft ier

,
origin.
M ore than once while telling m y stories I had

, ,
O btained a little glimpse o f long bright ringlets fl ash

ing and of shy young eyes just peeping t hro u gh the
hatch O f the scullery door where the huckaback
-
,
towel hung down from the roller And then o n .

,
detection there used to ensue a very quick fu mbling

,
o f small red hands as if bei ng dried with a d esperate

,
haste in the O ld jack-towel and then a short sigh ,
and light feet retiring .
When this had happened for three or four times ,
I gave my head-cook a sudden wink and sprang ,
through the scullery-door and cau ght the lit t le red

hands in the fold o f the towel and brought forth the
,
owner in spite o f deep blushes and even a li ttle

, ,
scream or two Then I placed her in a chair behind

.
the j ack chains and continued my harrowing d escrip

-
,
tion o f the way I was larded for roast-ing once by a

s c ore o f un clothed G abo o n ers Also how the skewers
.
o f bar - wood thrust in to make me o f a good rich

colour when I should come to table had n o t that
, ,
tenacity which o u r English wood is gifted with ; so

that I was enabled to shake (after praying to G o d for
34. T HE M AID OF S K ER .
t hat ca se her peace o f mind woul d have been o f no

co nsequence to the household But as it happened
.
, ,
she was a person o f no small importance by reas on ,
o f the very lofty nature of her connections : f or she
was no less than genuine niece to the lady house -
keeper M rs C ockhant erbu ry herself And hence she

.
became the i nnocent cause o f my departure from

Narnt on Court before I had time to begin my in
,
q u ir ies about the two poor little children .
T hi s I had made up my mind to do as soon as ,
that strange idea had crossed it while I was gaz ing

,
upon the sea ; and my meaning was to go through

all the traces that might still be found of them and ,
the mode o f their disappearance It is true that t his

.
resolve was weakened by a tempest whi ch arose that

very same evening after the Channel had looked so
insignificant and which might have been expected
,
after that appearance Nevertheless I must have

.
pro c eeded a c cording to my intention if my heart had

,
not been t o o much for me in the matter o f Polly

C ock hant erbu ry .
Being j ust no w in my S ixtieth year I co ul d n o t ,
prove such a coxcomb o f course as to imagine that

, ,
a pretty girl of two and twenty could care for me so

- -
,
that no course remained open to me as an honour

able man and gallant British o ffi c er who studies his
,
T HE M AID OF S K ER .
35
own peace of min d except to withdraw from this t oo

,
tempting neighbourhood .
An d in t hi s resolution I w as confirmed by M rs
’
C o ckhan t erbu ry s reluctance to declare in a binding
manner her intentions towards her ni ece Also by .
finding that somehow o r other the whole o f the

ground -fl o or at N arnt on Court had taken it into their
heads to regard me as a man o f desirable substance .
It is possible that in larger moments when other ,
people were boastin g I may have insis t ed a little too

,
much upon my position as landowner in the parish

o f Newton Nottage . Al so I may have described too
warmly my patronage o f the schoolm aster and ,
investment of cash with a view to encourage the

literature o f the parish But I never co ul d have said
.
-what all o f them deposed t O— such a very strong
untruth as to c onvey the conclusion (even t o a

,
D evonshire state of mind ) that Colonel Lougher

,
and I divided the whole o f the parish between

us "
Be that as it may there w as not any maid over
,
thirty who failed to set her c ap at me and my silver ,
hair was quite restored t o a youthful tinge of gold .
H ence I was horrified at the thought that Polly

might even consent to have me for the sake of my
property and upon di s c overing its poetical existen c e
, ,
lead me a perfe c tly wretched life as bad as that of ,
poor H eaviside .
S o that in spite o f all attractions and really serious

, ,
business and the important duty o f awaiting the

,
’
Captain s return from Pomeroy Castle and even in ,
S pite of Jerry Toms offer to take Polly off my hands

’
— as if she would say a word to him I— and all the

adjurations of poor H eaviside who had d efied his ,
wife (all the time I was there to back him up) and ,
n ow must have to pay o t o u f r —

it what did I do but
agree to doff my u niform and work my passage o n
,
board the M aj estic a fore and aft-rigged limestone

-
,
-
boa t o f forty-eight tons and a half ? O f course she

was bound o n the usual business of stealing the good
’
Colonel Lou gher s rocks but I distinctly stipulated
,
t o have nothing to do with that .
My popularity now was such with all ranks of ,
society also I found myself pledged for so many

,
stories that same eveni ng that I imparted to none,
except S ir Philip and Polly and Jerry Toms and

, , ,
H eaviside and o n e or two more the scheme of my

, ,
sudden departure My mind was o n t he point of

.
’
changing when I beheld sweet Po lly s tears until I ,
f elt that I must behave at my time of life as her

, ,
father would because she had no father .
When I brought the M aj estic into Shallo w water

T HE MA I D O F S K ER .
37
O ff the Tuskar every inch o f which I kn ew it was no

, ,
small comfort t o me that I co u ld n ot s ee the shore .
Fo r years I had longed to s ee that shore and dreamed ,
o f it perpetually while tossing ten thousand miles

,
away ; and n o w I was glad to have it covered with

the twilight fogginess It suited me better to land at
.
night o nl y because my landing would not be such as

,
I w as entitled to And every o ne knows how the

.
Navy and Army dr op in public estimation when the ,
w ars seem to be done with Therefore I expected

.
little ; and I gi ve you my word that I got still

less
.
’
It may have been over eleven o clock but at ,
any rate nothing to call very late j ust at the ,
c rest o f the summer-time when I gave three good

,
strong raps at the door o f my o w n cottage knowing ,
exactly where the knots were I had not met a .
single soul to know me or to speak my name

, ,
al though the moon was a quar t er Old and I found a ,
broken spar and bore it as I used to bear my fishing

,
pole .
-
No man who has not been long a rovin g can
’
understand all the fluttering ways o f a man s hear t
when he comes home again How he looks at every
.
one of all the old houses he knows so well ; at first as

if he feared it for having another piece built o n or ,
3 8 T HE M AID OF S K ER .
gra nder p eople inside of it An d then upon finding .
this fear vain he is almost ready to beg its pardon

,
for not having looked at it such a long time It is '
not in him to say a word to or even about the , ,
c hildren coming o u t thus to stare at him All the .
c hildren he used to kno w are gone to day s work long ’
ago and the new ones woul d scarcely trust him so

as to suck a foreig n loll ipop H e knows them by .
their mothers ; but he cannot use their names tb

them .
There is nothing solid dwelling for a poor man

long away except the big trees that lay hold upon
,
the ground in earnest and the tomb -stones keeping

,
up his right to the parish churchyard Along the .
wall o f this I glanced with j oy to keep outside o f it

,
while I struck for the third time strongly at not

, ,
being let into mine ow n house .
At last a weak and faltering step sounded in my

little room and then a voice came through the latch
,
hole Man of noise how dare yo u thus ? you will

, ,
wake up o u r young lady .

”
M aster R oger let me in K now yo u n o t your

, .
o w n lan dl ord ?
”
The learned s choolmaster was so astonished that

he could scarcely draw back the bolt Is it so ? .
1 8 it so indeed ? I thank the Lord for sending thee ,

THE M AID OF S K ER .
39
was all he could say while he sto od there shaking

,
bo t h my hands to the very utmost that his slender

palms co ul d compas s .
F riend Llewellyn he whispered at last I beg

”
, ,
“
thy pardon heartily fo r havin g been so rude to thee

, .
But it is such a business t o hus h the you ng lady ;

and if she once wakes she talks all the night lon g .
I fear that her mind is al most t o o active for a maid

of her tender years .
”
What young lady do you mean ? I asked ; is ” “
B unny become a young lady now

B u nny " he cried w ith no sm al l contempt then
”
,
perceiving how rude thi s w as to me began cas ting ,
abo u t for apologies

.
Never mi nd that I said ; only tell me who this

,
wonderful young lady is .

”
“
Miss Andalusia the M aid o f S ker as every
,
’ ‘
,
one now begins to call her There is no Other .
young lady in the neighbourhood to my kn ow

ledge .
”
“
N o r in the whole world for you I should s ay , ,
by the look o f yo u r eyes M as ter R oger Berk rolles

,
.
Nevertheless put your coat o n my friend and give , ,
your old landlord a bit to eat I trow that the whole .
of my house does not belong even t o Miss D elushy .
H ave I not even a granddaughter ?

40 T HE M AID OF SKER .
To be sure and a very fine damsel she is ay and

, , ,
a good and comely one though she hath no turn for

erudition What we should do without Bunny I
.
,
kno w not S he is a most rare young housewife

. .
”
The tears sprang into my eyes at this as I thought ,
o f her poor grandmother and I gave M aster Berk ,
roll es hand a squee z e which brought some into his

’
as well .
Let me see her was all I said ; it is n o t easy

,
“
to break her rest u nless she is greatly altered

,
.
”
S he is not in bed she is singing her young friend

t o sleep I will call her present ly ”
. .
This was rather more however than even my , ,
pat ience co ul d endure : so I went quietly up the

stairs and pushi ng t he door of the best room gently
, ,
there I heard a pretty voice and saw a very pretty ,
sight In a lit tle bed which seemed almos t to shine

.
with cleanliness there lay a young girl fast aleep but

, ,
lying in such a way that none who had ever seen

coul d do u bt of her That is to say with o ne knee
.
,
u p and the foot o f the other leg thrown back and

, ,
showing through the bed-clothes as if she were run ,
ning a race in sleep And yet with the back laid .
flat and sinking into the pillow deeply whil e a pair

,
o f li ttle restless arms came o u t and s t rayed o n the
coverlet H er full and lively red lips were p arted as

.
,
4 2 THE M AID OF S K ER .
and most o f us were very we ll c ontent to allo w ou r

dear friends to think o f us S o that by my pay alone
.
co u ld my native parish argue whether I were ali v e

o r dead
.
It would not become me to enter into the public

rejoicing upon the morrow after my well-accustomed
,
fa c e was proved to be genui ne at the J Olly There

.
”
are moments that pass o u r very clearest perception ,
and j udgment and even ou r strength to go through

,
m .
—
the again And it was too early yet except for a
m —
man fro low latitudes to ca l for rum and water
l - - .
The whole o f this I let the m kno w while capable of

,
receiving it
.
C H A PT E R LI .
T RI PL E ED U C A T I O N .
MASTER R O G ER B ERKR OLLES

had proved hi mself a
s choolmaster o f the very driest honesty This ex .
pression upon afterthought I beg to use expressly

, , .
M y o w n honesty is o f a tr ul y unusual and choice

c haracter ; and I have not found s ay a dozen men
, ,
fit anyhow to approach it But there is always a

.
sense o f humour and a V iew of honour wagging

, ,
in among my principles to such an extent that

they never get dry as the mul tiplication -table does
,
.
M aster B erkr oll es was a man o f too mu c h mind for

joking.
Therefore upon the very first morning after my

,
return and even before o ur breakfast-time he po ured

, ,
l
me o u t such a lot o f coin as I never d id hope to see ,
himself regarding them as no more than so many

shells o f the sea to count All these he had saved
.
from my pay in a manner w holly beyond my imagina

44 T HE M A ID OF S K ER .
tion because though I love to make money o f people

, , ,
I soon let them m ake it o f me again An d t his w as .
my instinct now ; but R oger laid his thin hand o n the

heap most gravely and through his spectacles watched
,
me softly s o that I could n ot be wroth with him

, .
Friend Llewellyn I crave your pardon All this

, .
’
money is lawfully yours ; neither have I o r anybody , ,
the right to meddle with it But I beg yo u to con .
sider what occasions may arise for some o f these coins

hereafter Al so if it should please the Lord to call
.
,
me away w hile you are at s ea what might become o f ,
the dear child B u nny withou t this mammon to pro

,
cure her friends ? Wou ld yo u have her like poor ,
Andalusia dependent upon charity ?

,
H ush " I whispered ; too late however for there , ,
stood Bardie herself a slim light-footed and graceful

, , ,
child about ten years Old just then I think H er

, ,
.
d ress o f S late -coloured stuff was t he very plainest o f

the plain and made by hands more familiar with the
,
needle than the scissors No ornament or even change .

,
o f colour was she decked with not s o much as a white

, ,
crimped frill for the fringes o f hair to dance upon .
No child that came to the well (so long as she pos

sessed a mother) ever happened to be dressed in this
denying manner B u t two girls blessed with good
.
stepmothers having children o f their own were

, ,
THE MAID OF S K E R .
45
indued as was known already with dresses cut fro m

, ,
the self-same remnant No w as she looked at R oger

.
,
B erk rolles with a steadfast wonder not appearing for ,
the moment to remember me at all a deep spring ,
o f indefi ni te sa dness filled her dark grey eyes with
tears
.
Charity she said at last : if you please sir , ,
what is charity ? ”
Charity my dear is kindness the natural kind

, ,
ness o f good people .

”
Is it what begins at home sir ; as they say in the ,
c opy -books
Yes my dear ; but it never st ep s there It is a
, .
most beautiful thing It does good to everybody . .
You heard me s ay my dear child that you are depen

, ,
dent o n charity It is through no fault of your own

.
,
remember ; but by the wi ll o f God You need not be .
ashamed to depend on the kindness o f good people .
H er eyes shone for a moment with bright grati

, ,
tude towards him for reconciling her with her pride

and then being s hy at my presence perhaps she ,
turned away just as she used to do and said t o her

, ,
self very softly I would rather have a home

—
though I would rather have a home and a father ,
and mother o f my own instead of beautiful charity , .

”
M aster B erkrolles told me when she was gone , ,

that many children o f the place had no better man

ners than to be always sh outing after her when ,
’
coming back from the sandhill s Where s v our ,
“
’ ’
father ? W here s your mother Where s your home
"
D elu shy
This of course was grievous to her and shoul d
, , ,
never have been done ; and I let R oger know that

his business was to stop any scandal of this kind .
But he declared that really the whole o f hi s mind

was taken up and much of his body also in main
, ,
taining rule and reason through the proper hours .
After school-time it was not the place o f the school

master but o f the p erson o f the parish or by deputy
, ,
churchwardens or failing t hem the clerk and (if he

, ,
were ou t o f the way) the sexton to impress a c ertain

,
tone of duty on the y oung ones E specially the sexton

.
need not even call his wife to help if he wou ld but ,
have the wit to c ultivate more yo u ng thoughtfuln ess ,
by digging a grave every other day and t rusting the ,
Lord for orders .
It was not long before D elu shy learned some

memory of me partly with t he aid o f Bunny partly
, ,
through the ship I made— such as no other man

could turn ou t — partly through my uniform and the ,
rest of it by means o f goodness only can tell what .
A man who is knocked about all over rounds and

, ,
47
flats and sides o f mountains also kicked into and

, ,
o u t o f every hole and cor ner and t he strong and weak ,
places o f the earth and upset after all the most by

,
’
his fellow -creatures doings althou gh he may have ,
started with more principle than was good for him ,
c omes home in the end to look at results far more

, ,
than causes .
This was exa c tly mine ow n case I can hardly .
state it more clearly I wanted no praise from any

.
body ; because I felt it due to me A fell ow who .
doubts about himself may value approbation ; and

such was the case with me perhaps while m isu n der , ,
stood by the magistrates But n o w all the money .
which I had saved under stewardship of B erk roll es

, ,
enabled all my household to stand up and challenge

calumny .
There is a depth o f tender feeling in the hearts o f

Welshmen such as cannot anywhere else be di scov
,
ered by a Welshman H eartily we love to find man

.
o r woman o f o u r o w n kin (even at the utmost nip o f
the calipers o f pedigree ) doing anythi ng which reflects

a spark o f glory o n u s O f this man or woman even
.
, ,
we make all the very utmost to the extremest point ,
where truth assuages patriotism The w hole o f ou r .
neighbourhood took this m atter from a proper point

o f V iew and sent me such an invitation to a public
,
cu nner that I was obliged t o show them all the cor

,
ners o f the road when the stupid fellows thought it

,
safer to conduct me home again .
Upon that festive occasion also S andy M acraw , ,
took a great deal too much s o entirely in honour o f

,
me that I felt the deepest goodwil l towards him

before the evening was ev er even going so far it , ,
appears as to discharge him from all back-rent for

,
the use o f my li t tle frigate I certainly could n o t .
remember such an excess o f generosity u pon the ,
fo llowing morning ; until he pulled o ff his hat and

showed me the following document inscribed with
a pencil o n the lining : D earest and best of friends
“
,
—After the glorious tribute paid by t he generous

S cotchman to the humble but warm -hearted C am
brian the latter would be belo w contempt if he took
,
a penny from him S igned D AVI D LLEW E LLYN ;

.
w itness R ees H opkins chairman his mark

, ,
.
After this and the public manner of my execution

, ,
there was nothing to be said except that S andy ,
Macraw was below contempt for turnin g to inferior

u s e the flow of our finest feelings Therefore I went .
,
with some indignation to resume possession o f my

,
’
poor boat which might as well have been S andy s
,
o w n during the last five years and more

,
H owever .
,
I c ould not deny that the S c otchman had kept his

so T HE M AID O F S K ER .
return for the money sunk into the desolate sandy

’
soil Black E van s father took the place with a
.
quarter of a bushel heaped with golden guin eas of

"uee n Anne And very bravely he began but no
.
,
th ing ever came o f it ex c ept that he hanged himself

,
at last and left his son to go on with it Wh at chance

,
.
w as there now for M o xy with no money and o ne son

, ,
only and a far better heart than head ?

,
Nevertheless she would not hear for one moment of

such a thing as giving up D elu shy This little m aid .
’
had a way o f her ow n o f winding herself into people s
hearts given to her by the Lord Himself to make up
, ,
for hard dealings M exy loved her almost as much

.
as her ow n son Watkin and was brought with the ,
greatest trouble to consent to lose her often for the ,
sake of learning Because there never could be at

.
Sker the smallest chance o f growing strongly into

education And everybody felt that Bardie w as o f
.
a birth and nature such as demanded this thing
H owever even this public sentiment might have

,
ended in talk al one if Lady Bluett had not born e in

,
mind her solemn ple dge to me R oger B erkrolles .
would have done his best, o f course to s ee to it but ,
his authority in the parish hung for a while upon

fem ale tongues whi c h forced him to be most c autiou s
, .
5 I
S o that I though seven years absent am beyond

, ,
’
doubt entitled to the cre di t o f this child s scholarship .
I had seen the very beginni ng o f it as I must have ,
said long ago but what was that compared with all
,
that happened in my absence ? B erkrolles was a

mighty scholar (knowing every book almost that ever
in reason ought to have been indited or indicted) and ,
his cal m opinion was that he never had led into

,
“
’
letters such a mind as Bardie s
S he learned more in a week almost than all the ,
rising generation sucked in for the quarter Not a .
bit of m ilching knowledge could he gently o ff er her ,
ere she dragged the whole o f it ou t o f his crep like ,
a young pigeon feeding And sometimes she would .
put such questions that he coul d do nothi ng more

than c over both his eyes up "
Al l such thi n gs are well enough f or people w ho
forget how much the body does outweigh the mind ,
being meant of course to do so getting more food as

, , , ,
it does and able to enj oy it more by reason o f less

, ,
daintiness But for my part I have al ways found it

.
,
human prudence to prevent the mind or soul or , ,
other parts invisible fro m c onspiracy to outgo what

, ,
I can see and feel and manage and be punished for

, , ,
not heeding— that is to s ay my body ,

.
N o w the plan arranged for Bardie was the most

5 2 T HE M AID OF S K ER .
perfect that could be imagined springing from the ,
will o f Providence and therefore far superior to any

,
human invention Master B erkrolles told me that a

.
human being may be supposed to consist principally

o f three parts — the body which is chiefly water (this,
I could not bear to hear o f unless it were salt water , ,
which he said might be the case with me ) the mind ,
which may be formed o f air if it is formed o f any ,
thing ; and the soul which is strong spirit and for

, ,
that reason keeps the longest .
’
Accordi ngly this homeless maiden s time was so
divided that her three parts were provided for o n e
, ,
after other most beautifull y S he made her rounds

,
.
,
with her little bag from S ker to C an dlest on C ourt

, ,
and thence to M aster B erk roll es at my cottage and ,
back again to S ker when M o xy could not do without

,
her She wo ul d spend perhaps a fortni ght at Can

.
, ,
dl est o n then a fortnight in Newton village and after

, ,
that a month at S ker more o r less as might be , , ,
according to the weather and the chances o f convey

ance .
At C an dlest o n o f course she got the best o f bodily

, ,
food as well ; but Lady Bluett made a point O f attend

ing especially to her soul not in a sanctimonious ,
way but concerning grace and manners and the lov e

, , ,
o f music and the han dl ing of a knife and fork and

, ,
TH E M A ID O F SKER .
53
all the thousand li ttle things depen d ing o n that part

o f us . And here she was made a most perfect pet ,
and w ere very beautiful clothes an d so o n but left ,
them all behind and went as plain as a nun to New

,
ton as soon as t hetime arrived for giving her mind

,
its proper training .
Now when her mind was ready to burst with the

piles o f learning stored in it and she could n ot sleep ,
at night without being hushed by means o f singin g ,
Mexy would come from S ker to fetch her and scold ,
both t he M aster and Bunny w ell for the paleness o f ,
’
D elu shy s face and end by begging their pardon and
,
bearin g the c hi ld away triumphantly with Watkin ,
to carry the bag f or her .
And then for a month there was play and sea-air , ,
and rocks to climb over and san dhills an d rabbit s

, ,
and wild-fowl to watch by the hour and bathing ,
t hroughout the summer time and nothing but very

-
,
plain food at regular intervals o f fine appetite .
S o the over active mind sank back t o its due

-
repose and the tender cheeks recovered with kind

, ,
’
Nature s nursing all the bloo m the flowers have
, ,
because they think o f nothin g Also the lights ome .
feet returned and the native grace o f movement and

, ,
the enjoyment of good runs and laughter unrepressed ,
but made harmoniou s by discipline And then the .

54 T HE M AID O F S K ER .
hair came into gloss and the eyes to depths o f bright

,
ness and all the mysteries of wisdom soon were

,
tickled ou t of her .
This was the life she had been leadin g now for ,
some six years or more ; and being of a happy nature ’

,
she was quite contented In the boat I did my u t .
most that day to examine her as to all her recollec

, ,
t ions o f her early history But she seemed to dwell .
upon nothing n ew except the most trifli ng in c i dents

, ,
s uch as a crab lifting u p the c over o ne day when O ld
D avy was boiling him or D utch being found with ,
a lot o f small D utches and nobody knew where they ,
c a m e from S he had no r ecoll e ction o f any boat or

.
,
’
even a Coroner s inquest and as to papa and mama , ,
—
and brother she put her hand up to her beautifu l
forehead to think and then wondered about them
, ,
.
H aving cleverly brought you thus to a proper

acquaintance with the present situation I re all y think ,
that you must excuse me from going into all Moxy s ’
transport s called forth by the sight of me

, .
In spite o f all that I always say in depreciation of

,
myself (ay and often mean it too) nobody can have

, ,
failed t o gather that my countrymen at large and ,
( whi c h matters more ) my countrywomen take a most ,
kin d view of me And it would have been hard in

.
deed if M exy c ould not find a tear or two And .

T HE M AID O F S K ER .
55
Watkin now was a fine yo u ng fellow turned o f twenty

,
so m e time ago straight as an arrow and swif t as a

, ,
bird but shy as a trout in a mou ntain-stream F rom

, .
a humble distance he ad m ired M iss D elu shy pro

f o u ndly and was E
, ver at her beck and c all ; so t hat
of c ourse she lik ed him much but entertained a
,
feminine contempt for such a fellow .

C HA PT E R L II .
G REA T M AR C H OF I N T E LL E C T .
NOW I come to larger actions and the rise o f great ,
events and the movements of mankind eno u gh to

, ,
make their mother earth tremble and take them for ,
suicides and even grudge her boso m for their naked

,
burial O ften had I longed for war not from love o f

.
,
slaughter but because it is so good for us It calls

,
.
o u t the strength o f a man from his heart; into the

'
swing o f his legs and arms and fill s him with his ,
duty to the land that is his mother ; and scatters far

’
away small things and shows beyond dispute God s
,
wisdom when H e made us male and female

, .
The fair sex (after long peace ) al w ays want to take

the lead o f us having rash faith in their quicker
,
vigour o f words and temper But they prove their

.
goodness always coming down to their work at once

, ,
whe n t he blood flows and t he bones are split into

,
small splinters and a man dies bravely in their arms

, ,
through doing his duty to them .

58 T HE M AI D OF SK E R .
went the length o f declar ing all m en to be equal the ,
whole world common property and the very names ,
of the months all wrong " After this it was natural ,
and o n e might say the only sensible thing they ever

did to deny the existence o f their M aker For it
, .
c ould hardly be arg u ed that the Almi ghty ever did

lay hand to such a lot of scoundrels .
Now if these rats o the bilge hole had chosen to

f -
c o ok their tales in their dirt and devour o n e another

, ,
pleasure alone need have been the feeli ng o f the

human race looki ng down at them But the worst .
of it was t hat r eal men and women far above them , , ,
took up their filthy tricks and antics and their little ,
buck-j umps and allowed their judg m ent so to be

,
taken with grimaces — even as a man who mocks a fit

may fall into it— that in every country there were
sympathisers with the great and glorious march o f
intellect .
”
In D evonshire I had heard none o f all this for

, ,
none o f the servants ever set eyes or desired to do so , ,
on
“
public j ournals They had heard o f these but
.
”
,
believed them to be very dangerous and wicked

things ; also de void of interest for what was the ,
good o f knowing things which anybody else migh t

k no w H
’
. And even if t hey had taken trouble ever
e
That int llige e nt vi ew s t ill h lds

o it s own . A D e v on sh i e
r
T HE M AI D OF SKER .
59
to hear o f the great outbreak they would have ,
replied (until it led t o recruiting in their o wn parish) ,
Thiccy be no c onsarn t o we
”
.
B u t in o u r e nlightened neighbourhood thi ngs were

very di ff erent There had long been do w n among us
.
ever s o m anylarge-minded fell ows anxious to advance ,
mankind by great j u mps towards perfe c tion And

, ,
.
in this they showed their wisdom (bein all young g
bachelors) to strive to catch the golden age before

they got rheumatics .
H o w ever to m en whose life has been touched

,
with the proper grey and brown o f eart h all these ,
bright ideas seemed a baseless dan c e o f rainbo w s .
M an s p erfe c tion was a thing we had not fo rm d in

’
this world ; and be ing by divine wisdo m weaned

fro m human pride c oncerning it we could be well ,
co ntent to wait our inevitable Opportunity for seek

ing it in the other world We had found this world .
wag slowly ; someti m es better and sometimes worse , ,
pretty much a c cording to the way in which it treated

us Neither had we yet perc eived in the generation
.
,
newly breeched any grand advance but rather a

, ,
very poor backsliding from what we were at their ,
fa m chall e ged m t h
r er n e, e ot he da y, t o pro v ,
r e “
W hatt be t he
g d uf t h pappe
e o w ha e r, n a ny vul e
ca n r d e a un ? ”
—ED R M .
of S .
60 T HE M AI D or SK E R .
time of life We all like a strong fellow when we

.
s ee him ; and we all like a very bright child who ,
leaps through ou r misty sense o f childhood To .
either o f these an average chap knocks under when ,
quite sure of it And yet in o u r parish there was

.
, ,
but o n e of the one sort and o n e o f t he other

,
.
Bardie of course o f the new generation ; and old

, ,
D avy o f the elder It vexes me to tell the truth so

. .
B u t how can I help it unless I spoil my story ?

,
Ever so many people go t a meeting in the chapel

up t o sign a paper and to s ay that nobody co ul d
, ,
guess the mischief done by all except themselves .
They scouted the French R evolution as the direct

work of the devil ; and in the very next sentence
vowed it the work o f the seventh angel to shatter ,
the Church of E ngland They came with this rub

.
bish for me to sign ; and I signed it (and some o f

them also) with my wel l-attested toe and heel .
A fter such a demonstration any man o f candid ,
mind falls back on himself to ju dge if he may have

,
been too forcible But I could not s ee my way to

.
any cross -road o f repentance ; and when I found what

good I had done I wished that I had kicked harder
, .
By doing so I might have quenched a pestilential

,
doctrine ; as every orthodox person told me when ,
they heard how the fellows ran But—as my bad .

T HE M AI D OF SK E R . 61
luck always conquers — I had but a pair o f worn -out

pumps on and the only toe which a man can trust
,
(through his own defects o f discipline) happened to
be in hospital now and short o f spring and flavour

,
.
Nevertheless some good was done F or Parson .
Lougher not only praised me but in hi s generous

,
manner provided a new pair o f shoes fo r me to k ick ,
harder if again s o visited And the news o f these

, .
prevented the m .
But even the way these fellows had to rub them

selves was not enough to stop the sprea din g o f lo w
opinions for the strengt h o f my manifestation was im
pressive rather than permanent Also all the lower .
lot o f Nonconformists and schismat ics ran with their

tongues o u t like mad dogs all over the co u ntry
, ,
’
raving snapping at every good gentleman s heels
, ,
and yelping that the seventh vial was O pen and the ,
se venth seal broken To argue with a gale o f wi n d

.
would sho w more sense than to try discussion wi t h

such a s et o f ninnies ; and when I asked the m to
reconcile their ad m irat ion o f atheism with their
religious fervour one of the m answered bravely t hat
,
he would rather worship the Goddess o f R eason than

the God o f the Church of England
H owever the followers o f John Wesley and all
, ,
the respectable M ethodists scouted the s e ribalds as

,
62 T HE M AI D O F S K ER .
mu ch as we did ; and even H e z ekiah had the sense

to find himself going t oo far with them and to repair ,
the seventh seal and clap it on H ep z ibah s m ont h

,
’
.
Fo r how c o u ld he sell a clock if time was declared,
by the trumpet to be no more ?

Amid this universal turmoil u proar and u pheav , ,
ing I received a letter from Captain Bampfylde very

, ,
short and without a word o f thanks for what I had

,
done for him but saying that he was j ust appointed

,
t o the Bellona 74 carrying 6 carronades o n the

, ,
p oop ; that she w as fitt ing now‘

at Chatham and in ,
’
t w o months time wo ul d be at S pithead where he ,
was to man her H e believed that the greater part

.
’
o f the fine ship s company of the Thetis would be
only too glad to sail under him and he was enabled ,
to offer me the master s berth if I saw fit H e said

’
,
.
that he knew my e fficiency but would not have v en

,
t u red to take this step but f o r what I had told him
about my thorough acquirement of navigation under

the care of a learned man After saying that if I
.
reported myself at N arnt on Court by the end o f

O ctober he woul d have me cared for and sent on he ,
con cluded with these stirring words :

There is a great war near at hand ; our c ountry
will want every man young or old who can fight a
, ,
gun .
9)
T H E M AI D OF SKER 63
’
These las t words fixed my resolve I had not been .
very well treated perhaps at any rate my abili ties

, ,
had not been re c ognised t o o hi ghl y lest they shoul d

,
h ave to be paid for with a little handsomeness But .
a man o f large mind allows for this feeling that the ,
world o f course would gladly have him at half-price

, , .
But when it came to talk ing o f the proper style t o

fight a gun how coul d I give way t o any small co n
,
siderations
Fu zz y and Ike were stealing rock at thi s particular
period in a new ketch call ed the D evil (wholly in
honour o f Parson C how n e) ; and through these
wor thy fell ows and Bang (n o w the most tru stworthy
,
o f all sent a letter to N rn t on Court accepti ng

) I
, a ,
the mastership o f his M ajesty s ship o f the lin e

’
,
Bell ona .
Now everybody in earnest began to call me Cap

tai n Llewellyn — not at my o w n in stigation but in
”
,
spite o f all done t o the contrary The master o f a

.
ship must be the captain they argued obstinately ;

, ,
and my well known modesty had t he blame o f all

-
that I urged against it But I need not say any

.
more about it ; because the war has gone o n so lo ng ,
and so many seamen have now been killed that the ,
nation has been stirred u p to learn almost a little

about us .
While I was dwelling o n all these subjects who ,
should appear but M iss D elu shy newly deli vered ,
from C an dlest on Court o n her round o f high educa

,
tion ? And to my am azement who but Lieutenant ,
Bluett delivered her I had not even heard that he

?
was come home ; so much does a man when he rises ,
in life fail in proper wakefulness " But now he

,
leaped down from the forecastle and with a grave ,
and most excellent courtesy and his bright uniform

,
very rich and noble and his face outdoing it forth

, ,
he led this little lady who was clad in simple grey

,
.
S he descended quite as if it was the proper thing to

do ; and then she turned and kissed the tips of her
fingers to him gracefully And she was not yet .
eleven years old " Ho w can we be amaz ed at any

revolutions after this ?
Bardie " I cried with some indignati on as if
“ ”
, ,
she were growing beyond my control and she stood

o n the spring o f her toes exactly as she had do ne
when two years o ld and O ffered her bright lips for a

,
kiss to prove that she was not arrogant None but

, .
a surly bear could refuse her ; still my feelings were

deeply hurt that other people should take advantage
,
o f my being from home so much to wea nthe a ff ec ,
tions o f this darling from her o w n old D avy and ,
perhaps to s et up a claim for her .

66 T H E M AI D OF SKER .
But if I could not take much learning here was ,
s ome o n e else who could ; and there could be n o
finer sight for lovers of education than to watch old

Mr B erk rolles and his pupil entering into the very
pith o f everything I could not perceive any cause
.
for excitement in a dull matter of this sort n ev erthe

,
less they seemed to manage to get stirred up about it .
F or when they came to any depth of mystery for fathom

in g it was beautiful t o behold the long white hair and
,
the short brown curls dancing together over it That .
good O ld R oger was s o clever in every style of teach

ing that he often feigned not to know a thing of the
,
simplest order to him ; so that hi s pupil might work

it o u t and have a bit o f triumph over him H e knew
,
.
that nothing puts such speed into little folk and their
steps— be they o f mind o r body—as to run a race
with grown-u p people whether nurse or tutor
,
.
But in spite of all these brilliant beams o f know

ledge now shed over her our poor Bardie was held
,
fast in an awkward cleft o f conscience I may not .
h ave fully contrived to show that this little creature

was as qu ick o f conscience as myself alm ost ; although ,
o f course in a smaller way and without proper sense

, ,
o f proportions . But there w as enough o f it left to

make her sigh very heavily lest she might have
,
gone too far in one way or the other H er meaning

.
T H E M AI D OF SK E R .
"
67
had been fro m her earliest years to marry o r be

, , ,
married S he had p romised me through my gr ey

.
whiskers often (with t w o years to teach her her o w n

mind) never as lon g as she lived to accept any o n e
, , ,
but old D avy We had settled it ever s o many

.
times while she sate upon my shoulder ; and she

,
smacked me every now and then to prove that she ,
meant matrimony Now when I called to her mind.

,
all this she said that I was an old stupid and she
,
‘
,
meant to do j ust what s he liked ; tho u gh admit

ting that everybody wanted her And after a little .
thought she told me crossing her legs (in the true ,
old style ) and laying down her lashes that her u n

, ,
certainty lay between M aster R oger and M r Bluett .
S he had promised them both she did believe w ith , ,
o u t proper time to think o f it ; and co ul d she marry
them both because the o n e was so young and the

,
other so old ? I laid before her that the proper

middle age o f matrimony could not be attained in
this way ; though in the present upside -down o f t he
world it might come to be thought o f And then .
she ran away and danced exactly as she used t o do

( ) ,
and came ba c k with her merry laugh to argue the

point again with me .
Before I s et o ff for Narnt o n Court on my way to ,
j oin the Bellona Lieutenant Bluett engaged my boat

,
68 T HE M AI D OF SKER .
’
and my services both with o ar and net for a d ay s
, ,
whole pleasure o ff shore and o n I asked how many .
he meant to take for the craft was a very light one

,
but he answered As many as ever he chose for ,

“
,
he hoped that two officers of the R oyal Navy knew

better than to swamp a boat in a dead calm such as
this was My self-respect derived such comfort fro m
.
’
his outspoken and gallant way o f calli ng me a brother

o fficer (as well as from the most delicate air of ign o
rance which he displayed when I took up a two
guinea piece which happened to have come through my
roof at t his moment perhaps or at any rate somehow ,
to be lying in an old tobacco -box on my table) that ,
I declared my boat and self at his command entirely .
We had a very pleasant party and not so many ,
as to endanger us if the ladies showed good sense , .
Colonel Lougher and Lady Bluet t also the lieu t en ,
ant o f course and a young lady staying at C andlest on

, ,
Court and doing her utmost to entrap the youthful

,
—
sailor her name has quite escaped me also D elu shy ,
and myself These were all o r w ould have been all

.
, ,
if M aster R odney had not chanced as we marched ,
away from my cottage with two men carrying ham , ,
pers to espy in the corner o f the old well a face so

, , ,
s ad and eyes so black that they pier c ed his happy

, ,
an d genial heart .
T H E M AI D OF SK E R . 69
’
“
I ll give it to you you sly minx I cried for , , ,
“
an impudent braz en trick like this W hat orders

, .
did I give you Miss ? A master o f a ship o f the

,
line and not master o f his o w n grandchild "

”
,
The young lieutenant laughed so that the rushes

o n the sandhills shook for he saw in a moment all the
,
meaning of this most outrageous trick Bunny for .

,
getting her gra de in life had been crying ever since , ,
s he awoke at receiving no invitation to this great

,
festivity S he had even shown ill -will and jealousy

.
to w ards Bardie and a want o f proper submission t o

,
her inevita ble ra nk in the world I perceived that .
these vile e m otio ns grew entirely from the d em ago

g ic S pirit of the period which m u s t be taken in hand
,
at o nce Wherefore I boxed her ears with vigour

.
,
and loc ked her into a n empty cupboard there to wait ,
fo r o u r return with a j unk o f brea d a n d a che ese

,
rind H owever she mad e her w ay o u t as her father

.
, ,
had done with the prison o f D unkirk ; and here

s he w as in s pite o f all manners go od faith and , ,
discipline .
“
Let her come ; she deserves to come ; she shall
c ome M aster Ro dney cried ; and as all the others
,
”
s aid the same I w as forced to give in to it ; and

,
’
upon the whole I was proud perhaps o f ou r Bunny s
reso lution Neither did it turn o u t ill but rather a
.
,
O T HE M AI D OF SK E R ’
7 .
good luck for us becau se the young lady who wooed

,
the lieutenant proved her entire u nfit n ess for a

.
,
maritime alliance by wanting before we had l ong

, ,
been a fl oat although the sea was as smooth as a

,
duck-pond some o n e to attend upon her

, .
E very o n e knows what the Tuskar R ock is and ,
the caves under S outhern D own ; neither am I at

all of a nature to dwell upon eating and drinking .
And though all these w ere of lofty order and I made ,
a fire o f wreck-wood (just to broil some coll ops o f

a sewin who came from the water into it through a
, ,
revival of my old skill ; and t o do a few oysters in

their shells with their gravy sputtering to let us
, ,
know when they were done and to call for a bit o f

,
butter) no small considerations or most grateful

, ,
memories o f flavo ur could have whispered to me ,
twice thus to try my mouth with waterings over

,
such a cookery But I have two reasons for enlarg

.
ing o n this happy day and these two would be four

at once if any o n e contradicted the m
,
.
M y chief reason is that poor dear Bardie first

obtained a pure knowledge o f her desolate state upon
that occasion -at least s o far as we can guess what
works inside the little chips o f skulls that we call
babyish Everybody had spoiled her so (being taken
.
with her lovingness and real ne wness of going on

, ,
7 1
and power to look into things together with such a,
turn for play as never can be satiated in a world like

ours ; not to mention heaps o f things which yo u
must see to understand) let me not overdo it now
, ,
in saying that this little dear had taken such good

education through my liberal management as to
, ,
long to know a little more about herself if possible , .
This is a very legitimate wish and deserving of ,
more en couragement than most o f us c are to give to

it ; because so many o f us are not the waifs and
strays and salv age only but the dead shipwrecks of
, ,
ourselves content w ith the bottom o f the great deep ,
only if no shall ow fell ows shall c ome diving down

for us .
H aving the j oy o f sun and sea and the grat itude ,
f o r a most lovely dinner su c h as none c oul d take

,
from me I happened to lie o n my c ars and thi nk

, ,
while all my passengers roved on the rock They .
were astray upon bladder weed pop -weed d ellu sk

-
, , ,
o ar-weed ribbons
,
frill s kelp wrack o r fiv e-tails
, , , ,
anything you like to call them without falli ng over ,
them My orders were to stand o ff and o n till the

.
,
gentry had amused themselves O nly I must look .
alive ; for the Tuskar rock would be two fathoms

under water in about four hours at a mile and a
, ,
half from the nearest lan d .

7 2 T HE M AI D OF SK E R .
The sunset wanted not so much as a glance o f sea

to answer it but lay hovering qui etly and fading
, ,
beneath the dark brows o f t he cli ff s which do

sometimes glorify and sometimes s o di scourage it
, .
The meaning of the weather and the arrangement o f

the sk y and sea was not to make a show fo r once
, ,
but to let the sunset gently glide into the twilight and ,
the twilight take its time fo r melting into starli ght .
Thi s I n ev er thus have watched except in our old island .
There was not a wave to be seen or felt only t he ,
glassy heave o f the tide li fted my boat every now and

then o r lapped among the wrinkles o f the rocks and
, ,
S pread their fringes N o t a sound was in the air

.
,
and on the water nothing except the little tinkling

,
softness o f the drops that fe athered o ff from my sus

pended o ar-blades .
Floating round a corner thus I came upon a sight,
as gently sad as sky and s ea were A little maid .
was leaning on a shelf o f stone with her hair di

shev ell ed as the kelp it mingled with H er plain .
brown hat was cast aside and her clasped hands hi d

,
her face while her slender feet hung down and

, ,
scarcely cared to paddle in the water that embraced

them Now and then a quiet sob in harmony with
.
,
the evening tide showed that the storm of grief was

,
ove r but the c alm of deep sorrow abiding

,
.
74 T HE M AI D O F SK E R .
caused by the way in which Lieutenant R odney

played with Bardie This o f course interfered with
.
’
the lady s chances o f spreading nets for him so that
,
soon she lost her temper fell upon D elu shy and
, ,
upbraided her for being no more than an utterly

unknown c astaway .
CHAPTE R LI I I .
B E AT I N G UP FOR T HE N AVY .
MY other reason for setting down some short account

of that evening was to give yo u a little peace and ,
sense of grat itude to the Lord for our many qui et,
sunsets and t he tranquillity o f our shores It really

,
.
seems as if no other land was blest as ours is with ,
quiet orderly folk inside it and good rulers over it

, ,
and around it not too m u ch o f su n or moon or any ,
thing unless it may be now and then a little bit o f

, , ,
cloudiness An d this love of o u r country seems ever

.
to be strongest whether at departing for the w ars

,
with turbulent nations o r upon returning home as

, ,
soon as we have conquered them But now for a .
long time I S hall have very little peace to dwell

,
upon .
A t N arnt o n Court I found no solace for my warmth

O f feeling Polly had been sent out o f the way on
.
,
purpose because I was com in which was a most

,
fi”
(D J
“
7 6 T HE M AI D OF SKE R .
unhandsome thing o n the part of Mrs C o ckhant er

bury F or the very expectation which had buoyed
.
me up at a fl at t ish period and induced me to do

,
without three quids o f cross -cut negrohead was my ,
simple and humble looking forward to my Polly .
I knew that I was a fool o f course but still I could

,
not help it ; and I had got on so well among young

women always that I found it very hard to miss the
,
only chance I cared for I feared that my age was

.
beginning to tell ; for often since I had been ashore

, ,
my rheumatics had come back again Neither was .
that my only grief and source o f trouble at this time ;

but many other matters quite as grave combined
against me H eaviside was not there to talk and
.
,
make me hug my singleness ; nor even Jerry Toms ,
n o r the cook who used to let me teach her

,
It w a s .
not t hat all these had left t he place for any mischief .
In an ancient household such a loss is not allowable .
All meant to come back again when it suited their,
O pportunities and each perceived that the house was

,
sure to go to the dogs in the absence o f themselves

and o n e another H eaviside had found Nanette (in
.
spite o f my best prognostics) overget her seventh

occasion o f producing small C rapp o s and his n atural
,
disappoint ment with her led to such words that he

shouldered his bundle and made O ff for S pithead in ,
T HE M AI D OF SK E R .
77
c ompany with Jerry who was compelled to forsake

,
his creditors And as for the cook I did hear though

.
, ,
unable to believe it that she was in trouble about a

,
young fellow scarcely wort hy to turn her j ack .
In other respects I found that nothing of much

importance had occurred since I was there in the
summer -time S ir Phil ip continued to trust in the
.
Lord and the S quire to watch the sunsets ; neither

,
had the latter been persuaded to absolve his brother .
The Captain had been at home o n e o r two days in ,
qui ring into my di scovery o f the buried dolls H e .
di d not attach so much importance to this matter as

his father had done but s aid that it made a m yst eri
,
o u s question even more mysterious An d failing as .

,
a blunt sailor would to make either head o r tail o f

,
it and being disgusted with his brother for refusing

,
to see him he vowed to remain in the ho use no

,
longer but s et o ff for Pomeroy Castle again where

, ,
he had formed a close friendship with the eldest s on

o f the owner . H is lady-love the fair Isabel was not
, ,
living there now but might very easily be met with ;

,
for on coming o f age three years ago she had taken ,
possession o f her domain Carey Park a m agni ,

“
,
”
fic en t place a dj oining the Pomeroy prop erty It was .
said that the E arl had done his best to catch the
yo u ng heiress for his son and therefore had made a
,
7 8 T HE M AI D OF SKER .
pretext of the old charge against the Captain for the ,
purpose o f putting a stop to communication with

him But his son Lord M ohun upon finding how
.
, ,
’
the young lady s heart was settled withdrew his suit ,
(like a man o f honour) and all the more

,
promptly ,
perhaps because he had made up his mind to another

,
lady before Miss Carey came to them .
It was said that the Captain might now have per

s u ad ed the beautiful heiress to marry him and finish ,
their long affection if he could have thoroughly made

,
up his m ind that hono u r woul d bear him o u t in it .
F or her confidence was so perfect in him that she ,
left it to his ow n judg m ent herself perhaps longing

,
to put an end to their wearisome uncertainty S ir .
Philip heard of it and came down to implore them

, ,
thus to settle thems elves And Captain Bampfylde

.
was so hard set by the nature o f the case that he ,
might have been enticed away from what his con

science t old him This was that the solemn oath
.
whi c h he had taken in the church with Isabel beside ,
him to purge himself of all foul charges (ere he

,
made another guilty if himself were guilty) could

, ,
not th u s be laid aside without a loss o f hono u r S ir .
Philip would be the last man in the world to counsel

dishonest acti ons but being an old man and relu e ,
tant that his ra c e should all expire he looked upon ,

79
that sacrament as no more than a piece o f sacrilege ,
o r a hasty pledge o f whi c h the Lord wo u ld never
take advantage .
Nobo dy knows what m i ght have happened with

C aptain Bampfylde s o beset and longing to thi nk
,
that he o ught to act as everybody told hi m : but he

begged for a night to think over it ; and in the
morning he received his appointment to the Bellona .
E ven S ir Philip could not deny that the hand and

the will of the A lmighty must herein be recogni sed .
And there was a chance of a brush with S pain about ,
the Nootka S ound j ust then ; and if anything makes

,
a sailor s fortune it is a fight with these fine old D ons

’
, .
A Frenchman is sure to be captured but not half so ,
sure as a S paniard ; and the hid algo es do turn o u t

good gold with good manners behind it M any ships
,
.
have I boarded but with brightest alacrity always a

,
good fat old S paniard .
Therefore the Captain brushed away any little

weakness and set o u t for S pithead bravely in a
, ,
bachelor condition And after trying to collect what

.
ne w s there was at N arnt on and findin g that I must

,
not think of meeting my dear Polly I qu iet lv dre w ,
m y travelling -money and set forth to j oin him

,
O nly every o n e will reproach me and have right ,
to d o so if I fail to tell the latest tidings o f that

,
Parson Cho w n e People seemed to like this man

.
,
because they never could make him out and nearly ,
all the world is pleased to hear o f the rest being v an

qu ish ed It seems
. that a wholly new bish op arose ,
by reason o f the other dying and this gentleman ,
swore o n the Bible to have things in order When .
he heard o f Chow n e and his high defiance o f all

,
former bishops he said Fie fie " this must n ot be ;

, ,
“
,
I wil l very soon put this to rights TO follow up .

”
this resolution he appointed Tiverton and the old ,
church o f S t Peter for C how n e to bring his young

,
people up to a noble confirmation ; also for a visita

tion o f t he clergy all around ; such as they have now
’
and t hen to stop the spread o f king s evil
,
.
H is holiness the Bishop was surprised to receive

this answer : M y dear Lord — My m eet is at Cal
“
,
verly on the day yo u speak o f We al w ays find a .
fox hard by ; and if he S hould make for S toodleigh

covert s I may come do w n the Bolham road in time
,
to meet your Lordship At any rate I shall dine .

,
’
at The Angel somewhere between three and five
‘
,
’
o clock and hope to find you there and have a
, ,
pleasant even ing with you Yours very trul y .

,
R S C HOW NE
. . .
PS
“ — If you bring your two Archdeacons we will ,
have a rubber : but I never go beyond guinea points .

”
refractory Parson expected therefore he rode round

overnight and bade every farmer in the neighbour
hood send all his hands with pickaxes and shovels ,
’
by four o clock the next morning : al so he gathered
all his o w n men there as well as t he unclad folk
,
who were entirely at his orders Then he sent for .
Parson Jack as being the strongest man about there

, ,
and imparted hi s intention to hi m and placed him ,
over the workmen .
’
E arly in the afternoon the Bishop s state carriage
-
was descried moving up the Tiverton highroad ,
w ith a noble and imposing aspect Before he arrived .
at the cross -road leading O ff to Nympton R ectory ,
his Lordship was surprised to see a great collection

o f people standin g o n a hill above the road and all
saluting him with the deepest respect Not s o .
bad after all he exclaimed ; brother Cho w n e has

,
“
brought his men into good order which is the noblest,
’
use o f the Church Ah " they don t see a bishop
.
every day and they know when a thi ng is worth

,
looking at for their faces are black with astonish

,
ment H olloa Bob " what s that ?

.
,
’ ”
Up with the glass your Lordship the coach

“
, ,
man shouted back ; or it will be all over with you .
We are in a dam ned slough,and no mistake

‘
.
”
And s o they were His Lordship had no time to

.
slam the windows up before the coach lay wallowing

,
in a bog of nighty blackness In it poure d and filled

.
,
the coach and nearly smothered his Lordship who

, ,
was dragged o u t at last with the greatest trouble as ,
black as if he were dipped in pitch For the Parson .
had do ne a most shameful thing and t o o bad for ,
even him to think o f H e had taken up his privat e

.
road and dug out the groun d some six feet deep and
, ,
then (by means of carts and barrows) transferred to

it the contents o f a quagmire which lay handy and
, ,
Spread the surface again with road dirt so that it

-
,
looked as sound as a rock H aving seen with a

.
telescope from his window the grand success o f his

engineering he sent down a groom in smart livery
, ,
to present his compliments to the travell er who had

happened to lose his way and fall into a moor-hole
, ,
and was there anything he could do to mitigate that

misfortune ? But the Bishop sputtered o u t through
his chattering teeth that he hoped to hear n o more
o f him and that none but a D evonshire man was fit
,
to oversee D evonshi re parsons And thi s made the.
fifth bishop conquered by C ho w n e .
—
To return to our noble selves that is to say to ,
the better people dealt w ith in o u r history At t he .
close of this year 1 7 90 to wit upon Christm s day

,
a -
,
o f that excellent year o f race no less than three o f

g ,
84 T H E M AI D OF SK E R .
us dined together (of course with a good many others ,
’
also) in the Captain s cabin o f the Bellona 74 -gun ,
ship of the British Navy carrying also six carron ,
ades These three were Captain D rake Bampfylde

.
, ,
of course the H onourable R odney Bluett

, now our ,
second lieutenant and the M aster o f the ship whose

, ,
name was something like D avid Llewellyn Thi s

“
.
”
latter was n ow remarkable for the dig nity o f his

appearance and the gravity o f his deportment ; and
although he w as only ranked aft er the youngest of
the lieutenants and just before chits of reefers (called
,
by some people and though upon

any but festive occasions you might not have S pied
’
him at the Captain s table you cou ld scarcely have ,
found any o flicer more satisfied with his position

and more capable o f maintai ni ng it .
W e were cruising o ff the south coast o f Ireland ,
u nder orders to search all ships that might be likely
to carry arms but as a frigate would have done for

that service as well as or better than a 74 we knew
, , , ,
that ou r true commission was to shake together and

fall into discipline and brin g other seamen into the
,
same if we could get any to j oin us H aving a light

,
.
wind and plenty o sea room we resolved to enj oy

f -
,
ourselves that day ; and a very delightful party it

was especially after I w as c all ed on to S pin a few of
,
the many true yarns which mak e me such a general

favourite .
After fillin g o u r gl asses and drinking the health

of hi s M ajesty and o f the Navy at large an d
, ,
especially o f o u r Captain we began to talk of the

,
state o f a ff air s and the time at whi ch the war might

be expected to declare itself That it must come to
.
a great war with France not even a fool could doubt

, ,
although he might desire to do u bt it ever since ,
the destruction of the Bastile in July 1 7 8 9 And .
throughout all the year and a half since that a wild ,
and desperate m u ltit ude had done nothi ng but abolish

all the safeguards o f their country and every restraint
,
upon the vilest rabble O u r wisest plan was to

.
begin at once before this cruel monster should learn

,
the u se o f its fangs and the strength o f it s S pring ;

but as u sual Great Britain was too slow to seiz e the
, ,
cudgel whi ch might haply have sa v ed a mill ion lives

,
.
H owever we were preparing quietly for the inevitable

,
conflict as even o u r presence that day in the cabin

,
of the Bellona might indicate .
M aster we are sa dl y short o f hands said C ap

, ,
tain Bampfylde addressing me I shall have a poor

,
report to make unl ess we do something D o yo u

,
.
think that we could get o n without yo u if I sent ,
you on a cruise for a week o r so ? ”

86 T HE M AI D O F SK E R .
I think you might S ir I answered humbly if, ,

“
it d oes not come o n to blow an d if you keep well ,
away from land I have trained M r S ebright with

.
so much skill t hat you may always rely upon him

, ,
except in any diffi culty .

”
’
Nobly I spoke ; and the C aptain s reply was not
very far behind me If we carried 7 5 0 men he
.
,
”
exclaimed with genero u s candour we could not

, ,
hope to have more than o n e M aster D avid Llewellyn ;

so d iffid en t so truthful so entirely free from jealousy
, , .
Gentlemen is it not so
,
All the officers assented with a pleasant smile to

me and then to one another so that I hardly knew
, ,
what to s ay except that I co ul d not deserve it

,
.
O ur tender the S ealark is to meet us in the Cove

o f Cork o n New Year s D ay
’
continue d C aptain ,
”
B ampfylde ; and after shipping all o u r stores she

“
,
w ill be for a fortnight at my disposal Now you .
know as well as I do th at o u r complement for war

,
time is 6 5 0 men and boys and that o u r present ,
strength is more than 2 00 short o f that War may .
be declared any day almost and a pretty figure we ,
should cut against a French liner o f 8 0 guns There .
fore un less the S ealark S hould bring us a very large

,
draft which I do not expect my resolve is to m an

, ,
’
and victual her for a fortnight s cruise under some
, ,
on e w ho is a good ban d at recruiting Wo u ld you .
like the berth M aster Llewellyn ?

,
”
“
S ir I know not anythin g whi ch I should like
,
better .
”
O ur Captain perceived that the junior lieutenants

looked rather glum at being s o passed over from ,
M aster R odney downwards and though he had the

perfect right to appoint any offi cer be pleased he ,
knew the true wisdom o f shunning O ffence by givi ng ,
some good reason Therefore he went on again

. .
“
There is not on e o f us I daresay who would not , ,
e nj oy this little change But I think that Llewellyn .
is o u r man simply for this reason The part to be

, .
beaten up first is the Welsh coast from S t D avid s ,

’
H ead to Penarth I have heard of many good sea

.
men there an d especiall y at Llanelly I think that

,
.
none of our officers can speak Welsh except Master ,
D avid Even you Bluett though coming from Wales

.
, , ,
are not up to the lingo .

”
This settled it in the best nat ured manner ; and all

-
congratulated me and wished me good speed in get

,
ting hold of old salts if possible or else fresh young

, ,
ones Not to be too lo ng about it somewhere about

.
,
E piphany D ay in the year 1 7 91 I stretched away

, ,
for the coast of Wales being in command of the ,
S ealark a rattling cutter o f 1 00 tons with two 6 -pound

, ,
bow-chasers and a score o f picked men under me

,
.
I have no time no w to describe emotions even o f the ,
loftiest order such as patriotism modesty generosity

, , , ,
self abasement and many others which I indulged

-
,
in when I cast anchor o fl Porthcawl and they

’
, ,
thought that I meant to bombard them I ordered .
a boat ashore at once to reassure the natives when I

, ,
had given a waft of my flag an d fired a gun to salute ,
it But being now in such a position and the parish

.
,
to its utmost corners raving on the subj ect ashore I ,
durst n ot trust myself because without rupture o f

ancient ties and a low impression left behind I could
, ,
not have got aboard sober again And after that .

,
could I knock down any o f my crew for being tipsy ?

Nevertheless I had Bardie and Bunny and M other
, , ,
Jones with her children and M aster B erk rolles and

, ,
Charles M organ and Betsy M atthews and M o xy

, ,
Thomas all brought in a boat to visit me besides a

, ,
few others who came without leave They all seemed .
to be very well and happy and I entertained them ,
beautifully .
That same afternoon we made a hit enough to

encourage anybody We impressed not only my foe
.
the tailor but also H ezekiah " That is to say it was

, ,
n o t quite what m ight be call ed impressment ; because ,
with no war raging yet we could not resort to ,

guard against any nasty misconstruction Whatever .
had been done to me on the part o f Parson Chow ne ,
was by this time so wholly gone ou t o f my heart ,
and mind and everything any man can feel with

, ,
that nothing was further from my intention than to

stir at all in that matter again I knew that in .
S pite of all the deference paid me now on every side

(and too much for my comfort ) C ho w n e would
,
turn
me inside o u t ten thousand times worse than S te w
,
could This I like to see done when anything

.
,
wrong can be found inside a man But a thoroughly .
honest fellow should stick o n his honesty and refuse ,
it
.
S o when Providence in a dream laid before me

, ,
the great mercy and I might say miracle o f impress

, ,
ing the naked people and bringing them under our

,
good chaplain to be trained from the error o f their

,
ways and live I felt a sort o f delicacy as to trespass

,
’
ing thus upon Parson C hown e s o ld freehold .
These naked folk belonged to him and though he ,
did not cultivate them as another man might have

done it was n ot difficult to believe that he found
,
fine qualities in them And to take them from under

.
“
his very nose might seem like a narrow vexation

,
.
H owever times there are when duty overrides all

,
delicacy the Bell ona w as still short o f her number

9 1
by a hundred hands or more : and with thi s reflection

I cast away all further hesitation .
We left the S ealark off Heddo n s M outh a wild ’

,
and desola t e part of the coast for my obj ect was to

,
’
pounce unawares on the Parson s savage colony Fo r .
what we were going to do w as not altogether lawful

j ust at present although it very soon wo ul d be M y
,
.
force consisted o f no less than fift een j oll y w ell

seasoned tars all thoroughly armed all up for a spree
, , ,
and ready to do any mortal thing at a word or a

S ignal from me If we could only surprise the wild
.
men I had no fear as to our retreat because the feel

, ,
ing o f the country woul d be stro ngly in o u r favour ,
as the abaters o f a nuisance long pronounced unbear

able.
Fo r five or it may have been six leagues we

marched across the moors as straight as possible by
compass except when a quagmire o r a ridge o f
,
rugged stone prevented us We forded several beau

.
t iful streams of the brightest crystal water so full of ,
trout that I longed to have a turn at my o ld calling ;

and we came in view of Nympton steeple j ust as the
s u n was setting I remembered the lie of the land
.
qui te well ever since that night when the fire

,
happened ; s o I halted my men in a little wood and ,
left them to eat their suppers while I slung my S py

,
9 2 T H E M AI D OF SK E R .
glass and proceeded to reconnoitre the enemy Lying .
flat upon the crest o f a h u m mocky ridge o f moorland ,
I brought my glass to bear through the heather first

’
upon the great Parson s house which stood on a hill ,
to the left o f me and then o n the barbarous settle

“
ment The R ectory looked as snug and quiet as the

.
house of the very best m an could be ; with a deal

more of comfort than most o f these contrive to
gather around them .
The dens o f the tribe that obj ected to raiment were

quite out of sight from his windows nor were they
allowed to present the m selves to M rs C ho w n e unless ,
she had done anything to v ex him S haping my .
glass upon these wretches I saw that t hev w ere in

,
high festival O f course I could not tell the reason

.
,
’
but it turned o u t after w ards that the Parson s hound s
were o ff their feed throug h a sudden attack o f dis
temper and therefore a cartload of carrion had been
,
taken down to the settlement It was lucky that I .
knew it not for I doubt whether we should have

,
dared to invade their burrows at such a period .
H owever I thought that nothing could be more

,
suitable for ou r enterprise O f course they wo u ld .
all overgorge themselves and then their habit o f

,
drinking water which alone would establish their

,
barbarism was sure to throw the m into deep u n

,
to kill them E scape was impossible save for the

.
,
children a nd most o f them thought (as we found out

,
afterwards) that C ho w n e was tired o f them and had

ordered their destruction .
C hoose all the males from ten years to thirty I ,
shouted to my men who were almost as scared as

,
’ ’
the savages don t touch the females o r I ll cut ,
you down S et another blue —light burning we

.
’
don t want any cripples .
”
Not to be too long with it I o nl y found three men

,
worth impressing ; the others were so badly b u ilt o r ,
even actually deformed and o f appearance so repu l

,
sive that we could not bear to thi nk o f turning the m

into messmates .
Now for the boys " I cried ; we want boys ” “
even more than men almost ; but I found that all

’
the children save o ne had slipped through the sailors
legs adroitly while we were dealing with the men .
We could not have cau ght them in t he dark ; and

more tha n this the best -sized o f them had popped
, ,
like snakes int o burrow-holes o r like a fox into hi s

, ,
earth .
But the on e who stood his ground and faced us , ,
was a noble -looking boy in spite of dirt and naked

,
ness with long thick tangles o f golden hair an d a

, ,
forehead like a man s almost H e looked up a t m e

’
.
95
in a bold steady manner wholly unlike their sav age

,
stare and it str uck me that here was the li ttle fellow
,
whom I had saved eight or ni ne years ago from the

horse o f Parson Jack But though he appeared to be
.
twelve years old I co ul d not make out what he said

, ,
except Yes yes ; and me come with 0 0

“
,
“
S uch .
was his state o f education "

’
I hoisted hi m on a strong man s back f o r the long ,
march had made me feel my years and perceivin g ,
no call to molest the residue or injur e their home

,
—
such as it was w e simply handc u ffed the three bes t
fellows and borrowed three pig -whips of their o w n
,
(made right down inge ni ously ) so as to drive them to

Hed d on s M outh We durst not halt for a rest until
’
.
there were three leagues between us and Nympton

M oor then hurrying on at the break o f day we ,
found the S ealark at anchor ; and she sent us a boat ,
at o u r signal .
S carcely were we o n board of the boat and push ,
’
ing o ff with o u r c apture when the clash o f a horse s
,
hoofs upon rock rang through the murmuring o f the

waves We turned and gazed with o n e accord for
.
,
the boat lay broadside o n t o shore through the kick ,
ing of t he naked men when they felt salt water under

them and our qu itting good stroke to attend to them
,
.
At fu rious speed a horseman dashed o u t of the c rag g

glen and leaped the pool where the brook is barred

,
up and vanishes D own the shingle and shelves of

.
,
wrack he drove his horse into the sea until there

, ,
was no firmness under him H e almost laid hold o f .
o u r —
boat not quite ; for I struck wi t h an oar at the
horse and scared him shouting to all of my crew
, ,
to pull .
Finding himself just a li ttle too late C how ne gave ,
’
a turn to his horse s head and the lather and ,
foam o f the S pirited animal made a white curdle

in the calm blue sea The horse sprang gladly u p
.
the shingle crest— for the shore is very steep there

and he shook himself and scattered brine ; and there
were three other horses behind him O n o n e o f .
these sate Parson Jack and two huntsmen on the

,
o t her twain and the faces o f these were as red as fire

,
with hurry and indignation .
O nly C how n e s wicked face was white and set tled

’
,
with calm fury ; and his style o f address to us j ust ,
as if we were nothing b ut dogs o f his kennel .
H o yo u scoundrels
,
he shouted o u t hold ,
“
c ars and let me parley you

, .
At this I made a signal to my crew to slack fro m

rowing ; and I stood up in the boat and said What , ,
can we do o your R everence

f r ?
Nothing for me rogues ; but much for yourselves

, .
C H A P T E R LIV .
TAMING OF T HE SAVAG ES .
AF TER a most successfu l c ruise we returned to our

,
Bellona and were received as behoves success with

, ,
ever so many rounds o f cheers It was true that we

.
had sent before u s and n o w brought in an awkward

, ,
’
lot ; but it is beautiful to s ee how in a large shi p s
company and under a good commander mere coaster
, ,
fellows become true seamen and even land-lubbers

,
learn how to walk Captain D rake Bampfylde did

.
me the honour o f asking my advice as soon as hi s ,
o w n opini on was settled ; and I said no more than
Bay o f Biscay whi ch was hi s o w n opinion H ere

,
”
.
the very utmost of a noble sea awaited us and none of ,
o ur landsmen had any heart for f at o r even for lean ,
stuff We let them go o n for a day perpetually

.
,
groani ng and after that we provided for each a g all on

,
’
o f salt water and gave it the m through the s hi p s
,
tru mpet until they entirely ceased from noise

,
.
99
These prudent measures brought them into such a

wholesome state o f mind that really a child m ight ,
lead them as by o ne o f the prophets mentioned when

, ,
I read my Bible All o f o ur new hands I mean ex

.
, ,
c ept H e z ekiah and the three wild men

, .
Unfortunate M aster Perkin s c oul d n ot enter in to

the spirit of o u r exertions for his benefit ; because his
m ind was unsettled with knowing the hardship both
Of his back and front For his bac k was covered with
.
raw places sitting amiss to the fit o f his clothes while ,
the forward par t of his body became t o o hollow to

yield him comfort But strange t o say his wrath
.
, ,
was kindled not against us for these mi sfortunes but ,
against his wife H ep z ibah because she had not pre ,
dicted them And for the greater part o f a week the

.
,
poor fellow lay in a perfect cra z e upon the orlop -deck ,
while the ship was rolling heavily Nothing could .
persuade him but that he was the prophet Jonah in

the belly o f the whale and he took the stowage o f ,
’
o u r cables for the whale s inte stines Yo u co ul d hear .
him even from the main-deck scream ing at the top

o f his voice Wallow not O whale " 0 whale " Lo rd
, , ,
Thy servant repenteth only let not this whale wallow

,
so.
”
S o that in spite o f all his tricks hypocrisy , ,
pride and gluttony I could not help taking compas

, ,
sion upon him and having a hammock rigged t en

,
d erly for him so that his empty and helpless body

,
fell into a deep sleep as long as the prophet himself

c ould have had it Fo r I never could show myself at
.
Bridgend if through my means H ezekiah found the

,
s ea his churchyard O n the other hand the three

.
,
wild men took their visitation from a wholly difl erent

’
point of view They had never heard either o f God

.
o r the devil and coul d not b eh ev e themselves even

,
worth the interference o f either Power Fo r they di d .
not behev e that their souls were immortal (as I s u p

pose they must have been) n o r were they even aware ,
o f possessing anything more than a body apiece My .
o w n idea o f treatment was that to bring them into ,
self-respect we should flog the whole three very

,
soundly and handsomely pickle them afterwards

,
no r could I see any finer method o f curing them o f
their hairiness But C aptain Bampfylde who showed

.
,
the strangest interest in these savages would o n no ,
account have them flogged until they gave occasion .
H e said that their ideas of justice mi ght be t hrown

into a crooked line if the cat-and -nine-tail s were
,
promiscuously ahm inist ered W hereas I knew that

'
the only way to make a man dwell upon j ustice is to

g ive him a taste of the O pposite H e values the right .
a fter this be c ause he thinks there is none o f it left

,
upon earth .
The S heaves of the blocks were white with snow

( which they al w ays see m to be first to take ) and so ,
were the cleats and the weather side o f topmast and

top -gallant-mast When you see this you may make
.
,
up your mind to have every rope fros t ed ere morning .
Therefore Jack Cannibal looked at the coat and ,
around it as a monkey does

, .
Pu t it on I c ried ; poor fellow " put it on to

“ ”
,
cover you .
”
H e nodded and laughed as if I were making some ,
j oke which he ought to understand and then he ,
threw the warm c oat round his body (now quite blue
from cold) but without any perception o f sleeves o r
, ,
skirts or anything else except as it were like a bit

, , , ,
o f thatching And after that he helped us to civilise

.
the rest SO that in course o f time we had them in

decency far superior to the average Show o f S cotch
men And in about the same co urse of time C an nibal
.
,
Jack I do assure you became a very good seaman

, , ,
and a wonderfully honest fellow without any lies in ,
hi m .And yet he said things better than the finest

lies that coul d be told all comin g out of his oddness
, ,
and his manner o f taking tameness And if a roaring .
sound of laughter came to the ears o f an o fficer (such

as never could be allowed in the discipline of war
t ime) the o fficer always hft ed lip to have a smil e
, ,
T HE M AI D OF SKER . Io3
a c cordingly and said t o hims elf I should like to

, ,
“
know what Cannibal Jack has said to them .
The two other naked ones D ick and J o s—as we ,
c hristened them o u t of a bucket of tar without ,
meaning any harm to them never coul d be entirely

—
cured o f their here di tary short com in gs We taught .
them at last to wear clothes by keeping a Sharp ,
leather strap always handy against which their o nl y ,
protection w as a good watch coat or a piece o f sail ,
cloth so that after a great deal o f pleas antr y we set ,
the s hi p -tailor to work for them But no possible .
amount of strap nor even cat and nine tail s adm inis
,
- - -
’
t ered by o u r boatswain s mate (a most noble hand
at wiel din g it) c oul d prevail upon them to abandon

,
their desire for the property o f their messmates .
They even had the arrogance as their Enghs h grew ,
more fluent to attempt to reason it ou t with u s

, .
F ather D avid said Canni bal D ick for they had

,
”
,
agreed that n o w I was their patron even as Chow n e ,
had been ; you take the Crappo ship the enemy

“
,
you call it and then you leave them all their goods
, ,
not touch one of anythi ng and hand back the ship ,
to him .
“
D ick none but a savage would talk such ru b
,
bish We keep the ship and all it holds and pu t

.
, ,
the men in prison .

”
10 4 T HE M A I D OF SK E R .
There for you now there for you " And yo u

,
beat us be c ause we take not a great ship but some ,
little thing lying about in a ship from o u r enemies ,

.
”
Will you never see things aright D ick ? We ,
are not your enemies we are your friends ; and to

,
steal things from us is robbery .
Yo u call it friends to steal us from ou r place ,
and people and warm dry sands and put us

, ,
o n this strange great wetness where no mushrooms ,
grow and all we try to eat goes into it And then

,
.
y ou beat us and drive us

, up trees such as we never
s aw before and force us to hide in these dreadful
,
things " ”
H ere he pointed to his breeches wit h a gaze of

su ch hopeless misery that I felt it would be an u n
,
kind thing to press him with further argument .
H owever the boy was enough to make up for a far

,
worse lo t than these were We soaped him most .
powerfully to begin with even up to the skin o f his

, ,
eyelids and he made no more objection than a

,
Christian child might have o ffered And after we .
ha d scraped him dry with the rough side o f a

S pencer he came out bright I do assure you and
, , ,
was such a model figure that we said to o ne another

that he had some right to go naked F or his skin .
was now as fair and soft as the opening ou t o f a

fear that he had unhappy times through the wicked ,
ness o f the other boys H aving a stronger sense of .
mistake than afforded me any happiness in the —

thick O —
f my rank and c omfor s I could n ot find any
t
ease u nt il everythi ng looked at anyhow and from

, ,
all bearings contemplated lay before o u r Captain ,

.
H e tho u ght enough t o look wise and then he said

, ,
that really I was fit to see to such little things m y

self H e had heard o f a small boy covered over with
.
a great deal o f yellow hair this shoul d have been

fetched o ff long ago and what was the barber kept
for ? Thus it always does befall me to be t hrown ,
back without guid ance o n my ow n r eso u rces And

, , .
even Lieutenant Bluett with who m I next went to ,
hold counsel was more inclined to stretch and gape

, ,
after a heavy spell on deck than t o bring his mind ,
’
to bear upon thi s child s advent ures
S end t he poor little beggar in he said and , ,
“
let m e look at him if I can keep my eyes open

, .
Llewellyn you always did love savages

, .
”
Lieutenant you would not like me to account

,
you in the number .

”
D avy you might fairly do it when I come o ff

, ,
deck like this S end hi m in ere I snoo z e old fel

, .
, ,
lo w .
This I did and w hen the boy entered , shyly put

T HE M AI D OF SK E R . O7
ting one hand to his forelocks (as I had instructed

him) a beam of the newly -risen su n broke in throu gh
,
’
a bull s eye and made a golden frame for him In
,
.
the middle o f this he looked s o i nnocent and s o

c omely and at the same time so well bred th at
, ,
’
M aster R odney s sleepy eyes fell open with wonder
at him This was my doin g o f course entirely
.
, , .
S oap and di scipline is my signal to the next

”
generation ; and nothing else can counteract all the

’
heresies around us Therefore this little boy s cheeks
.
were brighter than any rose from towelling ; and

,
his beautiful eyes without speck of dirt ; and the

top of his head as sweet and c urly as a feathering
hyacinth .
When I perceive that I have had the luck to

make an impression my rule is to say nothin g at all ,
but appear to be unaware o f it This rule is founded

.
o n common -sense ; and it took me s o long to find it
o u t that it ought to be worth somethin g

, O ther .
wise what offence one gives " And not o nl y that

, ,
but consider how seldom the man who s u cceeds de

serves it Any modest man like me upon any
.
, ,
moderate success is bound to examine hi mself and

, ,
feel less confidence than he used to have His su c .
c ess is enough to prove accordi ng to the ways o f the

,
world that he never can have deserved it

, .
Thi s remembran c e led me now to abstain from

even pattin g H arry (as we had named this little
“
fellow) on his golden head at all lest I should mani ,
fes t undue pride in a creature o f my creation F or .
such he was beyond all mistake ; and it would have

,
given me pleasure to ba ck him for a crown against

any boy in o u r fleet or any three in the whole
,
French navy ; taking age o f course and size into , , ,
consideration .
What a fine little fellow " said R odney Bluett ”
why he ought to be a midshipman I had no idea

, .
your savages could turn o u t such young ones I .
’
must see what I can do for him D avy O nly I can t , .
think o f anything no w .
Perceiving that I was likely to do more harm than

good by pressing the matter j ust then I took little ,
H arry away with me and found hi m quite full

,
’
of the young lieutenant s brave appearance and
kindly smile In a word they were pleased with
.
,
o n e another so heartily and s o lastingly that it was

, ,
the luckiest day perhaps o f poor htt le H arry s u n

, ,
’
lucky career when I first commended him to the

,
notice of the H onourable R odney .
F or this latter was now n ot only a general favour

ite in the S hip but also a great power ; being ou r
,
s e c ond lu ff
,
and twice as a c tive as ou r first was .
CHAPTER LV .
UP ON FO REIGN SER VI C E .
’
AT length whe n all sailors hearts were sick with
,
vain hopes of some enterprise France did a truly bold

,
thing by declaring war against Great Britain Those .
people before this had given oc c asion for the strongest

s c andal by taking their King and "ueen in a das
,
t ardl y manner and cut t ing their heads o ff

,
Indi gna .
tion and hot hatred ran throughout E ngland and

Wales at the news but ou r Government did no
,
more than politely request that the London agent o f

these cut-throats shoul d withdraw .
Nevertheless I cannot be wrong— as my pension

c omes from Government— in saying that to my mind
the British Government at this noble crisis behaved
, ,
in a most forbearing prudent Christian generous

, , , ,
glorious and magnani m ous manner They waited for

,
.
war to be proclaimed by F rance before they accepted

,
it An d then they proved themselve s as wholly u n

.
T HE M AI D OF SK E R . II
ready as they ought to be What finer state of feehng

.
c an be sho w n by any country ?

It must have been e ither the end o f F ebruary or ,
the early part of M arch in the year o f gra ce 1 7 93

, ,
when we heard o f this grand and momento us affair .
And I remember the date by thi s that the onions ,
were sprouted and we were compelled to make s hi ft

,
with shall ots F or callin g at Falmouth to victual a

.
little we sent thr ee boats ashore and I o f course was

, ,
in command of o n e An d though we spread abroad

.
’
and ransacked all the Cornish gardeners hoards and ,
gave them a taste o f boat-hooks because they had n o ,
proper things n ot an onion co ul d we find except

, ,
with a crooked thumb to it N or were the youn g .
ones yet fit to pull ; and this fixes the date t o a

week or s o .
And now we found that the whole o f us were to

be turn ed over while the Bellona was refitting to the
, ,
7 4 -gun shi p D efence with orders for the West Indies

,
— —
at once as was generally be lieved to protect our
S hippin g and commerce there .
F or although the war had been so very long looked

forward to ou r Government w as not ready yet but
, ,
had t o send squadrons right and left to s ee to o u r ,
foreign interests ; whil e Por tsmouth Chatham and , ,
even Lo ndon had very f ew ships to defend them

, .
’
O ur charity never begins at home as poor Bardi e s
i
di d n her copy -book H owever it chanced to turn
.
,
ou t all right because the other side was quite as

,
much abroad as we were .
S ome o f o u r men were inclined to grumble at ,
having barely a spree ashore when they longed for a ,
turn at home agai n But the Admiralty settled that

.
,
by not paying their back wages which is the surest

-
way o f all for keeping a fello w well up to his work .
H is temptation for running is gone because he has ,
no cash to run with ; neither do his people want him

whil e in that condition This he knows well and it
.
,
makes him think ; and nine times o u t of ten he

resolves to double what is due to him and really ,
p ocket it when again due and almost be admired by

,
his o w n wife .
Therefore most part o f us tumbled over from t he

Bellona into the D efence after some liberty ashore
,
which for a godly man like me was nothing more

, ,
than a trial Captain D rake Bampfylde worked harder

.
’
than even Parson C how ne s horses were said to do
and as for me but I will not say fo r it now becomes
'
unbecoming E nough that the D efence cleared o u t

.
ward o f the No man buoy the very day three weeks

-
,
from the date of t he Bell ona standing inwards We .
had the wind at as it always is in spring -time .

11 4 T H E M AI D O F SKER .
What French sailors c ould have a chance with a

fleet under S ir John Jervis I cannot tell how many
islands we took fo r we could n ot stop to count them
, .
We caught j ust the tail of the hurricane o f the 1 2th

and 1 3 t h of August which ever will be remembered
,
as the most terrible ever known None o f us had .
the luck to see the p ine b ul khead blown through the

palm-tree or the whole of a sugar-estate s et down on
,
the other side o f the mountain ; but a sailor asks

credit for hi s stories because he has given it : and
,
otherw ise no tales can go on .
I need not dw ell o n o u r victories here except for ,
the sake o f H arry S avage as we had dubbed the ,
poor Nym pt on boy for want o f legitimate surname

, .
In o ne little skirmish ashore somewhere I think in ,
S an D omi ngo this little fello w by genuine courage

, ,
and unusual nimbleness saved the life o f hi s friend

,
and protector ou r Lieutenant Bluett F or while the

, .
Lieutenant was engaged sword to sword with o ne , ,
v ile republican another o f yet more rampant nature

,
made at him as it were fl ankw ise and must have

, ,
given him a bitter stab if H arry had not with a sud

,
den j ump grappled the rogue by the leg so tightly ,
that down he came o n his face with a curse so far as ,
their language enables t hem And we were so en .
raged I a ssure you at the duphcity o f this fello w

, , ,
5
that we borrowed a dirk from a li ttle mi ddy and gave ,
it to H arry to stick him with But this o u r young

savage refused to do and t u rned quite pale at the
,
thought o f it so that we placed that Equ ah t y man at

,
the mercy o f the F rench Royahst s w ho were acting ,
with us at that period : and these made very short

work with him as justice demanded with a ring
,
leader of pestilential principles .
Al so in a manner w hi ch true modesty forbids to

,
dwell upon— because neither o f us had clothes o n

I saved t he hfe before very long o f o u r new boat
, ,
swain H eaviside This worthy fellow was swim m ing

.
along in his usu al independent style after kicking ,
—
his good wife s S hackles o ff when I having taken the
’
,
—
inside o f him as his superior o fficer dis c overed a
,
shark o f unusual size desirous to swallow o ur boat

swain That this S hould never come to pas s was my
.
resolve immediately although I could not quite see

,
how to be in time to stop it F or H eaviside with .

,
his usual conceit and desire to S how himself o ff

, ,
was floating o n his back with arms laid square and

, ,
beard on breast and legs spread o u t lik e rollin g-pins

, .
And t he shark at twenty kn ots an hour split the

blue water towards him .
A ny man but m v s elf would have given him over;

o r left all the rest to help him es eciall af t his
p y er ,
utterly repubhcan w ant o f deference To me how .

,
ever such want of sympathy was almost impossible

, ,
s o that I swam with all speed to H eaviside where he ,
lay floating grandly .
Look there " I shouted ; all up with you Ben

”
, ,
unl ess yo u capitu late And with these words I .

”
,
pointed o u t the fin o f the shark advancing R oyal .
sharks we always called them being the largest ,
sharks in the world in and around Port Royal ,
H eaviside had hi s fat legs foremost and the royal ,
shark stopped to look at them

Will you or wi ll you no t ? I asked while pre ,
serving with some diffi c u lty a proper position behind

—
him for even a roy al S hark could have wanted
nothing more after H eaviside .
“
O h D avy D avy I will he ans wered ; o nl y
, , , ,
” “
,
only save me .
”
The look which he gave w as now enough to make

me sink small questions especially as the poor fellow ,
managed being a first -rate s w immer to o ffer me

, ,
almost foremost to the j aws of the shark j u st ope n

ing Therefore as this latter creature rolled o n his
.
,
side to make at us what did I do but a thing whi ch

,
none except a great fisherman could have done To ?
’
wit I plucked from its strings the boats wain s heavy
,
p eriwig (whi c h had often vexed me on acc ount of ,

Therefore he had been chosen by very bad taste ,
u pon so mebody s part and an utter forgetfu lness o f

’
,
’
m e t o be up at our Captain s snap o f a wedding and
, ,
to say Amen to it What could be worse than a

“
.
huddle o f this kind and a broad s c attering after

,
wards ? If they had only invited me both sense ,
and honesty w ould have been there ; as well as a

man not to be upset by things however female , .
That was their o w n c oncern o f course ; and it ,
misbecame me to think o f it ; and I saw upon fur ,
ther consideration that my sturdy honesty might not

,
quite have suited them For women are able with

’
.
,
the help of men to work themselves up to anything

,
.
Yo u m ay call them the shot and men the powde r ;

or you may take quite another view and regard th e m ,
as the powder with a superior man at the touch

,
hole Anyhow o ff they go ; and who shall ask the

.
,
reason ?
F or fro m what H eaviside told me it seems that ,
the Captain and his fair Isabel before ou r present ,
c ruise began had resolved that no o ne should ever

,
be able legally to sever them But o n e special term .
o f the compact was that the outer world should have
no acquaintance with things that happened betwee n

them In other words that they should leave their
.
,
excellent friends and relatives all in the dark about

T HE M AI D OF SKER . 1 19
’
thi s matter as well as save the poor Captain s oath
, ,
by quitting each other immediat ely It is to the .
utmost extent beyond my o w n experience to deny ,
that this is the wisest of all arrangements (if there

c an be anything wise ) after the deed o f wedlock ; for
what can equal severance in the savi ng of disagree
ment ? H owever they had not the wisdom as yet
,
to look at it in this light and the o n e wept and the

,
other sighed when they part ed at the churchyard

,
gate for the D efence must sail at 1 R M The lady .
had been content to come and dwell in a very dir ty

vill age o f the name o f Gosport so that the licence
,
might be forthcoming fr om proper people when paid

for. Because of course in her ow n county nothin g
, , ,
could have been done without ten thousand people

to talk o f it And thus they were spli ced without
.
,
hoisting flag ; for ever spliced both in soul and in

, ,
law (which takes the lead o f the other o ne) and yet ,
in body severed always till there S hould c ome fair

,
repute .
A common man of my rank in life and having no ,
more than common-sense must often find himself all

,
abroad with wonder about his superiors They seem .
to look at things as if everything and every person

were looking back at them again instead of trusting
,
to the Lord to o v erse e the whole of it If I had been .

of the proper age and a lovely rich maid in love with

,
me wo ul d I have stopped even twice to think what

,
’
the world might s ay about us Heaviside s O pinion
was that the lady wished to hide nothing whatever ,
but proclai m before all people where and when and ,
whom she wedded and ho w proud she was of him

, .
But the Captain in his kind regard and tenderness

,
f o r her f eeh ngs durst not expose her to the pain and
,
sense o f wrong which might ensue upon his name

c o m ing forward thus with the county thinking as it
,
did and himself not there to vindicat e And of

, .
c ourse he knew with what vigour and sk fll z vfl e

Parson Chown e woul d set to at once to blacken his
character and to make his bride a most unhappy o n e .
Therefore Sir Philip Bampfylde and the ancient E arl

o f Pomeroy were the only persons present o f their
rank and kindred ; and both o f these confessed the

’
wisdom o f the Captain s arguments .
Now on the 3 0t h o f April 1 7 94 at about the hour

,
o f sundo w n,
o u r anchor was scarcely beginning t o
bite in Cawsand Bay when the barge o f the old

,
Port-Admiral was alongside o f us We had long .
been foregathering what we wo ul d do as soon as we

got ashore again ; but n o w we c ould only shake
heads and fear that the whole would be disappoint
ment And thus it proved and even worse for many
.
,
CHAPTER LV I .
E XI L E S OF S O C I E TY .
A FINER sight was never seen than we had now

around us ; for all the convoy was come together as ,
well as the British fleet empowered to protect them .
I stood in ou r foretop and counted 1 5 2 large sail ,
nearly 5 0 of whi c h were men -o f-war and all the rest

-
,
goodly merchantme n A sight like this not only

.
’
strengthens a Briton s faith in Providence but puts ,
him into a qu iet pride concerning his King and country .
We had scarcely swun g to our moorin gs ere we

had signal from the Admiral Not a man to be ,
“
allowed ashore Water and victual all night and

.
,
be ready to weigh again at daybreak O f course .
we di d so though a hard thing upon us ; and new

,
hands desired to grumble until Captain Bampfylde

,
rigged the gratings H eaviside now was known to

.
have such a swing o f arm with a flick to it never

, ,
’
bein g satisfied with hi s m ate s administration that ,
3
never a man o f patrioti c sentiments encroa ched on

him We all determ ined t o sail on c e more and let
.
,
the French see what ou r nature was (al though they

’
might hope to find it spo iled by ou r being away ,
from home s o mu ch) especially when we heard that

they had 3 50 sail or more of merchantmen c o mi ng
home all very rich and fattened up for capture
, , .
What we wanted therefore was to see our ow n good

, ,
traders free from any chance o f piracy and at the ,
same time to stop those French from wicked importa

tions If in both points we might succeed an d give
.
,
battle afterwards ou r gratitude to the Lord would

,
almost equal our own glory And we heard that .
the m o b in Paris wo ul d starve failing of all this ,
American fleet .
O n the 2 d o f M ay the wind fetched back to its

proper place at that time o f year north-north -east , ,
with snow clouds always ready to endorse it ; and

-
thus we slipped from ou r moorings and went quietly

down Channel Concerning the rest we have no
.
,
’
c ause to plead for man s indulgen c e The Lord con .
t inu ed to ba ffle us and would not give us any help

,
to close quarters with the enemy We fought three .
days of rolli ng battle ending on the 1 s t of June

, ,
after two days of fog interrupting and not a breath ,
o f sleep four nights E very o n e says that we fought

.
v ery well having everything so much against us

, ,
and the French fleet far superior carrying also a re

,
presentative o f the human race large and fat and,
fluent o f the name o f John Bone A ndrews who

, ,
wrote a noble account of this action although before ,
it began his feehngs led him to seek security in a

hole far below the water -line .
But on e of the strangest thi ngs ever seen and ,
thoroughly worth considering was the behaviour o f

,
o u r two savages under heavy fire Two I s ay .

, ,
although we had three because Cannibal Jack

,
behaved most steadily and like a thorough Chris

,
~
tian But the t w o others most strongly proved

.
t heir want o f civilisation and gross ignorance o f war ,
inasmuch as no sooner did they s ee the opening of

bloodshed round them than mad they became— as
,
mad I assure you as any M arch hares the brace of

, , ,
them In the thick o f ou r combat with the Tower

.
f ul up and down the deck these fellows d anced in

,
the most conspicuous places as if inviting every

,
shot and cracking their knuckles and j abbering I

, .
was for lashing them to the mainmast but Captain ,
Bampfylde would n ot allow it ; he said that their

spirited conduct might encourage and cheer the rest
of us And indeed it was strange to s ee how the
.
shot fl ew around without striking them .

taken yo ung H arry S avage now a fine lad Of fifteen

,
years so far as o ne might g u ess it ; but Ja ck de

,
clared that he must not c ome for some reason not ,
to be told to me .
Now it was the flush o f summer very nearly ,
twelve years fro m the time I first began with .
S unny hedges spread their overlap o f roses over us ,
while the glad leaves danced in time with light and

S hade to foster them Every bank o f every lane was
.
held at home with flowers nourished by some fl it

,
ting rill that made a tinkle fo r them And through .
every gate almost whenever there was a man to look

, ,
the spread o f feathered grasses ran like water with ,
the wind o n it .
Even a sail or may see s u ch things and his heart ,
rej oice and be glad in them and his perilous life for
,
a while have rest without any thought o f anything .
Be that so neither D ick n or Jo e ever made glance at

,
anyt hing except the hen roosts near the road o r the
-
,
haunt o f a young rabbit in the hedge or the nesting ,
o f a partridge I kept the poor fellows from doing

.
harm by precept and example t o o ; yet we had a

,
roast fowl every night except when it was a boiled

,
one .And finding myself in my sixty -fourth year ,
what c ould I do but put up with it ?

It must be threes c ore mile s I think even accord
, ,
‘
ing to the shortest c ut from Plymouth to Nympton ,
o n -the -M oors and we wandered o u t o f the way of

, ,
course especi ally after guinea fowls whi ch are most

,
-
,
deluding creatures but roast even better than their

,
eggs boil Al so we got into cherry orchards o f a

'
.
,
very noble breed ; s o that we spent a whole day and

two ni ghts without any power to say farewell And
, .
’
though the farmer s wife put up both hands to us
at the windo w she sent o u t the maid to say that
,
we need not be frightened if we were real sail ors ,

.
Af ter giving this girl a kiss (to let her know what
o ur profession was) I sent in word that here was,
the M aster of hi s M aj esty s ship D efence which

’
,
had defended the British E mpir e in the late great ,
victory That night they made all o f u s drunk ex

.
,
cept me .
Upon these sweet ht t le inci dent s I must venture

to dwell no longer while havin g so much o f my yarn
,
in the slack and none but myself t o tauten it

, .
E nough that we came in about ten days to the

genuine naked colony without any meaning o f s u r ,
prise but n o w as gr eat ambassadors An d the least

, .
that we all expected was a true outburst o f wild

welcoming: C annibal Jack had announced his in
tention to c onvert hi s relatives while D ick and Jo e ,
only shook their heads and seemed t o doubt the ,

12 8 T HE M AI D O F S K ER .
advantage o f it B ut W e need not have thought o f

.
the matter twice for strange to say not o ne o f the

, , ,
savages would for a moment acknowledge us All .
the barbarou s tribe stood aloof and s c owled at their

o ld members with utter abhorrence and contempt as ,
’
if at some vast degeneracy E ven Jack s wife or .
,
the woman who might in humani ty have been called

s o stood moping and mowing at him afar as if his
, ,
c lothes made a sheep of him while he with ama z e ,
ment regarded her as if she were only a chimpan z ee .
Whereupon all o f them set up a yell and rushed ,
with such pelting o f mud at us that we thought ,
ourselves lucky to make ou r es c ape without any

further mis chief .
After hauling out of action in this most inglorious

manner we brought up to refit and revictual at the
,
nearest public-house a lonely bu t where four roads

,
met and the S ign hung from an ancient gibbet

, .
H ere we were treated very kindly and fo r very little ,
money so that I was quite astonished after all o u r

,
feedi ng And I happened to s ay to the landlady that

.
I was surprised to find honesty within a league o f

Parson C ho wne .
O h sir do you k now that dreadful man ? S he

, ,
”
answered with her apron up,

o r wo ul d you li k e to
s ee him sir ? ,
{1 3 0 T HE M AI D OF SK E R "
greyness nor 1 n his c o al -black hair o ne streak As

,
‘
"
~
’
.
’
v ig orous spri ngy an d strenuous seemed he as when

”
, , ,
he leaped O n board and thrashed me nearly twelve

-
,
years agone as I do believe

‘
, .
Woman where is my money ? he cri ed with the

, ,
Old pale frown overcoming him ; twice I have given

u time know what I always do thereafter ”
y o Y o u . .
Yes sir I know what your R everence doth

“
, , .
Your R everence never calleth law but taketh horse ,
W hip to the m ans o f us

”
.
Your memory is correct he answered my usual

“
,
“
c ourse is to that effect I have brought my heaviest .
whip this time for your husband has shown arrogance , .
Can yo u S how cause why he should no t have it ? ”
Yes your R everence here it is

“
:
,
And G o d know s , .
how we have scraped for it

”
.
’
With the glow o f triumph which a man s fa c e
’
hardly ever shows but a woman s cannot be denied ,
o f she spread before him all his rent upon an an c ient

,
ray and every piece f it copper Thirty -S ix

t ,
o w a s .
Shillings she had to pay and twenty-four times t hirtyf ,
S ix was there for his R everence to count The .
hostess looked at him with a chuckle brewing now ,
under her apron strings and ready t o rise t o her ,
ample breast and thence to her m outh if expedient, ,

.
But she mistook her c ustomer .

T HE M AI D OF SK E R . I
’
Wom an said C how ne in his deep low voice

, , ,
W hich had no anger in it ; I am tired o f signing “
warrants .
”
“
Warrants yo u r Worship " For what if you
, ,
please
Warrants fo r thieves who are foisting sham Irish
halfpennies o n the public I s ee no less than seven .
o f them in this sterling stu ff o f yours Three months .
at the treadmill n ow fo r yourself and your husband .
S ay no more Yo u have tried a tric k Tiverton jail

. .
for you both t o-morrow .

”
A nd there if you wanted either of them yo u must

, ,
go to find them only t w o days afterward according

, ,
to what I w as told o f it No Welsh gent leman would

.
“
have dreamed o f behaving to hi s tenants thus f o r ,
trying a little j oke with him ; but C how ne had no

sense o f any j oke unl ess himself began it
, .
O ur three cannibals had been t rem bhng at the

’
sound o f the Parson s voice believing that he would ,
drive them back and feeling that they had no power

,
to withstand his orders B u t luckily we had made .
—
such a smoke all o u r savages having taken to the
u se o f tobacco gloriously— that wh en the Parson put
his head in as he must do everywhere he drew it

, ,
back in double -quick time for he hated the weed as ,
old Nick does And then after calling his groo m as

'
.
1 32 TII E M AI D OF SKER .
a witness to the Irish coinage he m ade him tie the ,
whole of the rent-m oney in his pocket-handkerchief ,
and o ff he set at a good round gallop to make o u t the

warrant You may depend upon it that we four
.
were very soon o ff as well and in the opposite direc ,
tion after subs cribing a guinea among us to comfort

,
the poor woman who was sobbing her heart o u t at

,
her mistake and at the prospect (as seemed to me) of

,
being confined in more senses than o ne wit hin the

, ,
walls of a prison For some time I found myself .
much at a loss about harbouring my convoy ; for

though I coul d trust Jack Wildman— as I now began
to call him— anywhere and with anything this was ,
not the case with the other two who could never be ,
kept from picking up small things that took their

fancy We were shaping a course for Narnt on Court
.
,
’
where I intended t o sling my o w n hammock and ,
’
Jack s as well if agreeable but I durst not offer to
,
introduce D ick and Joe for the cause aforesaid , .
M oreover they had not yet acquired the manners of

,
good society which were no htt le in sisted upon in

,
’
S ir Philip B am pfyld e s k itchen Therefore I thought .
myself very clever when a settlement of this ques,
tion suddenly occurred to me .
This was no less than to settle them both under

my old ferry-boat if still to be found as two years
,
1 34 T H E M AI D O F SKER .
nobl ewas t he result o f uniting civilised cunning With

’
s avage ingenuity .
I can well believe that no other man either o f my ,
rank or age would have ventured on the step which

,
now I did res o lve upon This w as no le ss than t o.

“
pay a visit to my poor ht t le Polly and risk all pro ,
b abilit ies o f being dis gured by small po x

fi - For .
several times it had crossed my mind that although ,
She was among relat ives they were n o t like a father

‘
o r mother t o her and perhaps she might be but

’
poorly t en ded and even in need of moneyperh aps

, ,
.
F or her very o wn aunt o u r Mrs C o ckhant erbu ry ,

‘
would not go nigh her and almost shuddered when ,
her name was mentioned Now it seeme d to be only .
fair and honest to let S ir Philip know my intention;

s o that he might (if he should see fit) forbid me to
return to his mansion bringing the risk o f infection

, .
But the General only shook his head and smiled at ,
that idea . If it be the will o f God we shall hav e it , ,
o f course he said ; and people run into it all the

“
"
more by being over-timorous And I have often .
thought it sinful to mistrust the Lord so H owever .

,
you had better keep smoking a pipe and not stay

'
more than five minutes ; and perhaps you might j ust

as well change your clothes before you come b ack,
a nd sink the others to air for a wee k in the river I ”
.
THE M A ID OF SKER . 13 5
grieved t o see him so entirely pla c e his faith in

'
w as
Providence for th at kind o f feeling (when thus o verl

'
done) ends in what we call fat ahs m such as t he “

,
” “
very Turks ha ve S o t hat I w as please d when he

7 .
‘
called me back and said Take a s wim your self,

, ,
“
Llewellyn I hear that you can swim five m iles

.
‘
D on t attempt that but swimtwo if you li ke S wim

’
, , .
?
back t o us fro m Barnstaple bridge and I will have a ,

‘
boat to meet you with a wholeso me wardrobe , .
Thus w as the whole o f it arranged and c arried ou t ,
most cleverly I took poor Poll y -a b u nch of grapes

.
,
fro m one o f the N arn t o n vineries as well as a nu mber ,
o f nice little things such as o nl y a sailor can think ,
of. And trul y I went not a day too soon for I found ,
her in that w eak condition aft er the fury o f the

“
,
“
a u e is past wh en e very bit o f s t rengt hening st u fl

’
'
l
p g , ,
i
that can be thought o f or fancied by the feeble one , ,
may turn the scale and o ne cheering glance o r o ne ,
smiling word is as good as a beam o f the morning .
Then after a long walk I made my swim and a , ,
change o f cloth es exactly as the General had com ,
m an d ed me .
In a fortnight aft erwards where was I ? Why ,
under the boat in a burning madness without a soul

, ,
to co m e nigh me except Jack Wildman and S ir ,
Philip These two with the most noble c ourage

.
, ,
1 3 6 T HE M AI D OF SK E R .
v isited me through my sad attack o f small-pox as I ,
was told thereafter although at the time I kne w no

,
o ne . And at a di stance around the boat a ring o f ,
brushwood was kept burning day and night to clear

, ,
the ai r and warn the unwary from entering E very

, .
body gave me up for a living Christian any more ,
and my co ffin was ordered at a handsome figure (as a

death upon Narnt on premises) ay and made also lik e
, , ,
that o f the greatest man that I ever did meet with .
N o t only this but two No n co nform ist preachers

,
found o u t (as they always do) that in a weak period

o f my life when dissatisfied with my pension I had
, ,
been washed away by my poor wife into the scuppers

o f D issent .Therefore they prepared two sermons on
this j udgment o f the Lord and called me a scape
,
goat ; while goodness knows what care they took

never to lay hands o n me .
O nly you must not expect such truth as I always ,
give while competent

, .
Aft er the master o f the ship D efence had proved

s o unable to defend himself General S ir Phihp ,
Bampfylde with his large and quie t m ind forbidding

,
all intrusion opened o u t a little o f his goodness to

,
.
Jack Wildma n There are men o f the hi ghest st a

.
tion and o f noble in t ell ect w ho d o this and cannot

, , ,
help it when they meet a fello w -man with something

,
in him l ik e them There is no vanity in it nor even

.
,
desire to conciliate ; only a little t ouch o f som ethi ng

understood between them And n o w being brought
‘ ’
s o toge t her perhaps by their common kindliness and ,
with the door o f death wide open as it were before , ,
t hem the well -born and highly -nurtured baro n et and

, ,
the lowly neglected and ignorant savage found (per

, , ,
haps all the more clearly fr om contrast) something

harmonious in each other At any rate they had a .
good deal o f talk by the side o f the lonely river ,
W here even the lighters kept aloof and hugged to the ,
ut m ost the O pposite shore And t he G en eral finding

'
. .
,
’
much amusement in poor Ja ck s queer simplicity ,
and s t range remarks upon men and thing s would

'
often relax without losing any o f his acc u stomed

d ignity" S o while theywere speaking o f death o ne
“
d ay Jack look ed at Sir Philip with an air Of deep

“
,
.
,
T H E M A I D OF SK E R . 1 39
c ompassi o n and f e eling old him yn th t earful

and t
'
eyes how heartily he was grieved at o n ethi n B e- g .

e
ing p ressed as to what it was, he ans w ered t hat it

‘ ’ ‘
’
was S ir Philip s wealth .
Because said he I am s ad when I think that

,
”
,
y o u must go to hell ,s ir .
“
I go to hell " S ir Ph ili p exclaimed with a good
”
,
deal o f rather un pl easant surpris e; why shoul d I “
do that Jack ? I never thought that you enter

,
t ain ed so bad an opinion of me

”
.
Your H o nour said Jack h aving picked up some

,
”
,
Of my correct expressions it is n o t me ; it is G o d,
“
Almighty I was told afore ever I l earne d to read

.
,
o r ever heard o f reading how it was And so it is

, .
in the Bible n o w Poor men go to heaven rich men

.
,
go to hell I t must be so to be fair for both

. .
”
The G eneral had t o o much sense to attemp t t o

prove the opposite and would have thought no more
,
a bout it if Jack had dropped the subject

,
But to d o .
this at the proper moment requires great civilisation ;

wh ile o n the other hand Jack sought comfort need ,
less to men o f refinement .
“
Your H onour must go there he said with a nod , ,
o f his head w hich was meant to set t le it but there “

.
is one of your race or family — or whatever word Of

,
t hat s ort he employed , for he scarce coul d have c ome

1 40 T H E M AI D O F SK E R .
to any knowledge o f things hereditary who will go

to heaven .
”
“
Many are gone there already—too many an ,
s w ered S ir Philip devoutly ; but tell me whom yo u

“
,
mean Jack D o you mean my son the Captain ?

, .
“
Him " no no I know better than that It is
, . .
plain where he must go to .

”
“
Your Captain " you disloyal fellow W hy you .
,
ought to be lashed to the triangles But who is it .
y o u are thinking o f
“
I know I know said Jack nodding his head ;
, , ,
and no more could S ir Philip get o u t of him And .
whenever he tr ied to begin again Jack Wildman was ,
more than a match for him by feigning not to under ,
stand o r by some other of the many tricks which

,
nature supplies for self-defence to the savage against

, ,
the civilise d If I had been well I must have shelled

.
,
’
this poor Jack s meaning o u t o f him ; whereas o n ,
t he other hand but for my illness he might never

,
have spoke n S o it came to pass that he was sent

.
,
’
entirely at S ir Philip s cost and with a handsome ,
gratuity to rej oin o u r Captain in Plymouth S ound

, ,
and to carry back Cannibals D ick and Joe who had ,
scoured a w ay at great speed upon hearing o f my su d

den misfortune .
No w I will tell you a very strange thing and qui te ,

14 2 T HE M AI D OF SKER ’
righting all useless bellying S o that I c oul d now .
have warranted her the first o f ou r Navy to break

the line if rigged according to my directions and
, ,
with m e for her master H o w ever (while I lay .
docked like this careened I might s ay and u nhk ely

, ,
ever to Carry a keel again) the D efence without my , ,
knowledge even being new-masted sailed to j oin the

, ,
Channel Fleet with H eaviside acting as her master ;

,
and as might have been expected fell to leeward one ,
knot in three And even worse than this befell her ;

.
fo r in the second o f those two miserable actions ,
under H otham in t he year 1 7 95 when even Nelson

’
,
c oul d do nothing t he D efence having now another

,
captain as well as a stupid master actually backed ,
her mizz en-topsail in the rear o f the enemy when , ,
the S ignal was to fill and stand o n H owever as .

,
even that famous ship the Agam emnon did nothing

that day through getting no opportunity we must
, ,
forgive poor H eaviside especially as he was not cap ,
tain B u t the one who ground his teeth the hardest

.
,
and could forgive nobody was the H onourable ,
R odney Bluett now first li eutenant o f the

,
By this time every o ne must desire to know why

Captain Bampfylde was not there as he might hav e ,
been and might have made himself famous but for

, ,
his usual ill fortune This had c arried him to the .

T HE M AI D OF S E ER: 1 43
E as t Indies before the D efence had finished refit

’
“
ting ; and there with none of hi s old hands near him, ,
he com m anded a line -of-battle ship under Commo

'
f
,
dore R ainier ; and after some hard work and very ,
fin e fightin g drove t he brav e D utchmen o u t o f the

,
castle o f Trincomalee in August 1 7 95 whi ch we , ,
came to hear o f afterwards .
Thu S it was that everybody seemed to be scattered

'
everywhere None of u s happened to hold toge t her

.
,
except t hos e t hree poor savages ; an d they by a sort ,
o f instinct managed to get over acciden t s

,
F or they .
stuck with that fi deh t y whi ch is lost by education

, ,
to R odney Bluett as soon as ever poor F ather D avy ,
fa iled them But this is a melancholy subj ect and

.
,
must soon be done with .
Let me then not dwell upon this visitation o f the

, ,
Lord for a moment longer than the claims of nation

and o f kin combine to make it needfu l Nor did it .
seem to matter much for a long time what became

of m e
‘
The v e first thing I remember after months

.
,
o f w and ering has something to do with the hush o f

’
waves and the soft breath of heaven spread over me

,
.
Also kind young voices seemed to be murmuring

around me with a dear regard and love and sense of
, ,
p retty watchfu ln ess and the sound of my native

tongue as soft as t he wool of a nest to my bosom .
Because I was lyi ng I n a hammock slung by , ,
’
Colonel Lou gher s orders betwixt the very same ,
mooring -posts (at about half-tide in Newton Bay)

which truly enabled t he sons o f D evon to make such
'
a safe j ob o f stealing his rocks Not only the Colonel .

,
bu t Lady Bluett who generally led his judgment

, ,
felt by this time the pleasure o f owing true gratitude

to somebody M y fatherly care o f the young lieu
.
tenant had turned him ou t so nobly .
It misbecomes me to speak o f thi s ; and it mis

became me to speak at all with the sea-bree z e fl o w ,
ing over me the first words of knowledge that I had

,
spoken for ho w long I know not Nothing can be

‘
too high o r too low for human nature at both ends ;

, ,
but I ought to have known better than to do the

t hing I d id .
“
Give m e a pipe was all I said ; and then I ,
turned away and cared not whether I go t my pipe

, ,
o r whether the rising tide extinguished me .
H ere is your pipe sir came in a beautiful voice , ,

”
fro m down below me ; and we have the tinder “
ready Bunny let me do it now

.
, .
”
That pipe must have saved my life Everybody .
said s o It came and went in curls of comfort

.
through the hollow dying places o f my head that had ,
not eve n blood enough to c all for it ; and then it

14 6 TH E M AI D OF SKER .
“
co mpared to th at ; nevertheless it w as v ery furious

, ,
an d killed more than we c o u ld spare o f o u r very :
O ld est inhabitants .
An d but for the extraordinary kindness o f Colonel

Lougher that winter must have kill ed no t only m e
,
i n m y weak and
'
worn -o u t Condition but al so the poo r

'
m aid o f Sker if left to encounter the cold in that ice

,
berg F or truly speaking the poor o ld house was

.
'
, ,
nothing else through that winter The snow in . .

'
swirling sheets o f st orm first wrapp ed it up t o the '
window-sills ; and then in a single night overleaped

gables roofs and chimney tops Moxy an d Watkin
,
-
, .
‘
passed a m o nt h o f bitter cold and dark ness but were '
lu cky eno u gh to have some sheep w ho kept them

‘ ’
warm outside and warmed their insides afterwards , .
An d after that the thaw came B u t all this time

‘
there was nobody in my little cott age at Newton but ,
poor R oger B erk rolles and how he kept soul and ,
body together is known to none save himself and

H eav e n F or Colonel Lougher and Lady Bluett at
.
’
t he v ery beginning o f the frost sent down my old

“
'
f rie nd Gru m py t he butler to report upon my con

‘
, ,
d it ion and to give his candid opinion what was t he

‘ ‘
b est t hing to do with me Aft er t bat long stru ggle

' ‘ ’
n ow (th anks t o a fine c o n st it u t io n an d the de ath o f

‘
t he only doc tor anywher e o n o ur side o t ridgend)

'
'
,
T HE M AI D OF SKER : 1 47
I begun t o look up a little and t o know the time

had
o f day Crumpy felt my pulse and nodded and then
.
, ,
prescribed the only med ic ine which hi s o w n experi

ence in life had ever verified Port wine he said
”
.
, ,
w as the only thing to put me o n my legs agai n .
And this he laid before the Colonel with such absence

‘
o f all doubt t hat o n t he very same aft ernoon a lo w

,
and S low carriage w as sent fo r me and I found m y ,
s elf laid in a very snug room with the firelight

'
’
d ancing in the reflection of the key o f the wine

cellar Al so here was Bardie flittin g , light as a gnat
.
in spring-time and Bunny t o be had whenever any

,
body wanted her O nly her scantling and her t o n

. .
nage u nfit t ed her fo r frigate -service .
What had a poor o ld fello w l ike me— as in weak

- —
moment s I called myself ever done o r even suffered , ,
t o deserve t o find the world an Inn o f good S amari
tans ? I felt that it w as all o f p u re unreasonable

kindness ; the very thing which a man o f spirit .
cannot bear t o put up with I have felt thi s oft en

.
,
when o u r Parson discoursed about our gracious Lo rd ,
and all the things H e did fo r us A man o f proper .
self respect would like to have had a voice in it

- .
This however (as H ezekiah told us in the cockpit

, ,
after we had pickled him ) might be safely attribut ed

,
t o the force of unregeneracy ; while a man who is

down in luck and c onstitution also trusts to any

, ,
stout mortal for a loan of orthodoxy And so di d .
I to ou r R ector Lo u gher brother o f the C olonel a

, ,
gentleman who had bought my fish and felt my ,
spiritual needs To him I listened (for w ell he

.
read) especially a psalm to which I could for ever

,
li sten ful l o f noble navigation deeper even than our

, ,
soundings in the Bay of Biscay .
Every night we used to wonder where Lieutenant

Bluett was knowing as we did from my descriptions
,
(when the hob was hot) what it is to be at sea

with all the rigging freezing When the blocks are .
clogged with ice and make mysterious groanin gs

, ,
and the shrouds have grown a beard as cold as their

own name is and the deck begins to slip ; and all
,
the watch with ropes to handle spit upon their

, ,
palms and strike them (dancing with their toes the

,
’
while) o n e man to another man s hoping to see ,
sparks come out S o it is I can assure you who

.
, ,
have never been at sea when the barbs of icy spray

,
by a freezing wind are driven like a volley o f lan ,
el-shot raking the ship from stem to stern shrivel

g r ,
h ng blue cheeks and red noses S hattering quids fro m ,
the chatterin g teeth M any a time in these bitter

.
nights with the roar o f east wind through the fir

,
trees and the rattle of doors in the sno w-drift I felt

, ,
1 50 TII E M A I D OF S K E R .
of my native lan d But at anyrate this k ind baronet

thought himself bou nd to come and look after me in ,
the spri ng o f the year when the buds were awake;

and t he iron w as g one from the soul of the earth .
H e had O ften promised that fine old tyrant Anthony :
S tew to r evisit him ; so now b e resolved to kill t wo ’
birds with o ne stone as t he saying is ,

.
I had returned to my cottage now but being still

:
very frail and stupid in spite o f port wine every day

, ,
I could not keep the tears from starting when thi s , ,
good and great landowner bent his silver head be

neath my humble lintel and forbade me in his cal m ,
majestic m anner t o think for a moment o f dousing

m y pipe And even Justice S tew who o f course
.
,
took good care to come after him did not use an ,
uncivil word when he saw what S ir Philip t hought

,
o f me .
S ir said t heGeneral to the S quire after shaki ng

’
, ,
hand s most kindly wit h me this is a man whom ,

“
I t ruly respect There seems to be but o ne opinion

’
about him I call him a noble specimen o f your

.
fellow -countrymen .
”
“
Yes to be sure answere d Anthony S tew : but “ “
, ,
my noble ellow countrymen s ay that I am an Irish

f -
m an .
No doubt whatever about that your Worship

'
'
1
, ,
T HE M AI D OF S K E R
“
-
. 1 51
was
i proper thing f or me t o reply; but the con
t he
d ition o f my head forb ade me al m ost t o shake it .
If it had pleased the Lord to give me Only a do z e n

—
holes and s c ars w hich co ul d n ot matter at my t M e
o f life — the r e w ould no t by anym e ans have arisen;
as all the old women o f Newton said t s s ad pres
hi -J
,
sure o n the brain pan and di fficulty of c 0 pin g even

-
,
with a m a n of An thony S téw s kin d

’
But al as "
'
.
.
,
’
instead of o peni ng out the subtle plague struc k
,
inwards leaving not a sign outside but a delicate

, ,
transparency .
Th is visit fr om Si r Phili p did not end wi thout a

queer affair whereof I had no notice then being set
, ,
’
down by all the village as only fit to poke abo ut

among the sand -hills and then t o die
,
But no one .
c ould take the church -clock from me till the b ell ,
should be tolling for me ; and as a matter o f d uty

I dre w some long arrears o f salary .
It seems that S ir Ph ilip drove down o ne day from ‘
Pen C o ed to look after me and having d one this with

'
his u sual kindness spread word through the children

,
(w h o thro ughout our lane abo unded ) that really no ne

of his money remained for any more sticks of pep
permint It w as high time for the m t o think he
.
,
said after ever so much education of earni ng from

, ,
sevenpence t o tenpen c e a-week for the good o f the ,

1 52 T HE M AI D O F SKER .
babies they c arried All the children gathered round .
hi m at this fine idea really n ot believing quite that ,
the purse of such a gentleman could have nothing

more to say And the girls bearing babes were
.
concave in the back wh ile the boys in the same ,
p redicament stuck ou t clumsily where their spines

were setting .
“
D rive me away said S ir Philip to the groom ; ,
drive me straight away anywhere : these Welsh

chil dren are so cle ver I shall have no chance with ,
them .
”
“
Indeed your H onour they is said t he groom
, , ,
with a grin as behoved a \Velshm an

,
Would your .
H onour hk e to go down by the sea and see o u r

-
,
beautiful water rocks and o u r old annshent places ?

-
,
”
“
To be sure said S ir Philip ; the very thin g
,
” “
.
’
We have four hours time to dinner yet ; and I fear
I have worn o u t poor Llewellyn N ow follow the .
coast line if yo u are sure that your master would

-
like it Lewis with this young horse and ou r weight

, , ,
behind .
Your H onour nothing ever c omes amiss to this ,
’
young horse here Tis tire I should hke to see him .
,
for a change as we do s ay And master do alway s

, .
tell me keep salt water o n his legs whenever

- .
Right " c ried S ir Philip who loved the spree , ,

T HE M AI D '
S KER
‘
1 54 OF .
p ow erI ng . is almost u nknownt o

The t ast e
‘
of ru m
m e ; but I could not refuse when he pressed m e so ;
It has made me confoundedly thirsty Lewis ,

.
Your H onour said iLew is j ust round that c or

,
”
,
“
n er in a ht t le break o f t he rocks there is o ne Of

'
, ,
’
the finest S prings in Glamorgan n n no n Wen w e ,
‘
c all it the water does he sparkling s o

,
.
”
The groom having no cup to fetch the water sto o d

, ,
by the horse in the little pant o r combe while old

S ir Philip w ent down to the shore to dri nk as our ,
’
first forefather drank and Gideon s men in the Bible
, .
Whether he lapped o r dippe d I know not (p robably ,
the l at ter at his time of life) anyhow he assuage d

, ,
his thirst— which rum o f my quality coul d not have .
caused in a really sound constitu t ion after taking no ,
—
more than a thimbleful and then fo r a moment he
s ate o n a rock soothed by the purl ing water t o rest
, ,
and to look around him The place has no great .
beauty as o f a seaside spring in Devonshire b u t

, ,
more o f cheer and life about it than their ferny grot -a
toes The bright water breaks from an elbo w of :

.
rock in many veins all uniting and without any chff

, ,
above them and then after rushing a very few yards ,

‘
through s et stone and loose shingle loses its Self-will ,
upon the soft sand and S preads a way over a hundred

,
yards of vague wetness and shallo w Sh ining .

T HE M AI D OF S K E R . 71
‘
55
The mild April was glan cing On this, and

'
su n o f
the tide just advancing to s ee to it when t heshado w ,
o f a slim figure fell on the stones before S ir Philip S o .
q uietl yhad she slipped along and app e ared fro m the ,
ro c ks so suddenly that neither old man nor young

,
mai den thought of the other until their eyes met .
What why who ? cried the General with some

, ,
”
,
thing as much hk e a start as good conscience and

long service had left in him: who are you ? Who “
are you my dear ?

,
.
”
Fo r his eyes were fixed o n a fair young damsel Of
So me fifteen summe rs stan di ng upright with a pad

, ,
o n her head and o n the pad a red pi t cher

,
O ver her .
sh oul ders and down to her waist fell dark-brown

, ,
curls abundantly ful l o f gleami ng gold where t he

,
s u n stole through the rock s to d well in them H er .
dress was nothing but blue Welsh flannel gathered ,
at the waist and t u cked in front and her beautifully ,
tinted legs and azure -veined feet shone under it .
“
Who are you my pretty creatu re ? S ir Philip
,
”
Bampfylde aske d again while she opened her grey ,
eyes wide at him .
“
Y F erch o r S eer S yr S he answered shyly an d
’
, , ,
with t he strong guttural tone whi ch she knew w as

'
unpleasant to English ears For it w as her sensitive .
point that she could not tell any o ne who she was
1 56 T HE M AI D O F SKER .
and her pride (which was manifold) always led her

to draw back fro m questions .
’
O n the other hand the old man s gaz e O f strong
surprise and deep interest faded into mere admiration
at the sound o f o u r fine language .
F air young Cambrian I have asked you rudely , ,
and you are displeased with me Lift your curls .

,
my little dear and let me see your face a while I

,
.
remember o ne j ust like it There you are put ou t .

,
again " S o it was with the o ne I mean when any ,
thing happened hastily .
The beautiful girl fl u ng back her hair and knelt to ,
stoop her pitcher in the gurgling ru nnel ; and then

she looked at his silver locks and was sorry for her ,
impatience .
“
S ir I beg you to forgive me if I have been rude
, ,
to you I am the maid from the Old house yonder

. .
I am often sent for this water because it sparkles ,
much more than o u r o w n does If you please I .

,
must go home sir , .

”
S he filled the red pitcher and tucked the blue

‘
skirt as girls alone can manage it ; and S ir Philip

,
Bampfylde sighed at thinking of his age and loneli

’
ness while with an old -fashioned gentleman s grace
,
he lifted the pit cher and asked no more upon whose

head he laid it .
and really took the S aint Nicholas though other ,
p eople go t the credit and nearly took a four-decked

,
ship o f 1 30 guns whose name was the S aint M iss

,
T rinder and who managed to sneak away when by

, ,
all rights we had got her .
H owev er let us be content with things beyond con

,
”
t radict io n ; the foremost o f which is that no ship ,
ever was carried into action in a more mas terly style

than the E xcellent upon that occasion And the .
w e ight of this falls on t he M aster far more than t he ,
Captain I do assure you S O highly were m y skill

, .
and coolness commended in the despatches that if I ,
co ul d have borne t o be reduced belo w inferior men I ,
might have died a real Captain in the British Navy .
F or (as happ ened to the now Captain Bowen when ,
M a ster of the "ueen Charlotte) I was o ffered a lieu t en

’
ant s commission and do u bted about accepting it
,
.
H ad I been twenty ye ars younger o f course I must , ,
have jumped at the o ffer ; but at my time o f life and ,
with all my knowledge it would have been too pain

,
ful to be ordered about by some young dancer ; there

fore I declined ; at the same time thinking it fair to
'
s uggest for the s a e o f the many true Brit o r s now

,
k
d ependent upo n me that a small pecuniary remittance

,
woul d meet with my consideration That faculty o f .
mine however was not c alled to the en c ounter : I

'
, ,
T HE MAI D OF S K ER .
‘
heard more about it and had to be satisfied

'
“
never '
W ith glory .
But i f a man is u ndervalu ed Often an d puts u p

"
with it he generally finds that fortune treats him

,
with resp ec t in ot her more serious aspects F or .

“
in stance what w ould have happened if Providence

,
had o rdai ned to send m e into either o f those sad

m uti nies which disgraced o u r fleets so ter ribly ? Th at
deep respe ct for authority which (hk e the yolk o f a
n est-egg) lies calml y inside me waiting to be sate
'
’
upon ; as well as my inborn sense of Nature s resist :
les s determination to end by turning me into a gen

t lem an (indications o f which must have lo ng ago been
perceived by every reader) not to mention any ,
common sense o f duty in the abstract and wages in

the pocket — these considerations must have led me
,
to lay a pistol to the head of almost every man I c oul d

find .
H owever from s uch a course o f action grace and

,
m ercy preserved me : and perhaps it was q ui te as
well Fo r I am not sure that I could have stopped

'
’
'
any o ne of the four mutini es en tirely ; altho u gh I can

answer for it that never w ould balif m ann ers take the
,
lead in any ship while I was Master It is the shill y

, .
Shally ing t h at pr o duces all the mischief If all o u r .
Captains h ad beh ave d li ke Captain Peard and hi s

.
first lieutenant in the S t George o ff Cadi z at the first

, ,
spread o f disaffection it is my O pinion that a great

,
disgrace and danger would have been cru shed in the

bud But what could be expected when o u r Govern
.
ment showed the hk e weakness ? Twic e they went

hankering after peace and even sent ambassadors "
,
Who can ram Shot home with pleasure while things

o f this kind are encouraged ? To fight it o u t is the
true Christianity ordered by the Church itself
, .
And this we did and are doing s t ill as R oger Berk

, ,
rolles prophesied ; and the only regret I have about

it is that a stiffness in my knees enables the other
,
boarders to take a mean advantage o f their youth and ,
j ump into the chains o r port-holes of a ship (when by

my tactic s conquered) so as to get a false lea d o f me
, .
H owever no small consolation w as to be gained by

,
reflecting how muc h more pri z e -money would accrue

to me than to any o f these forward fellows so that ,
o n e might with an unmoved leg contemplate their
precipitancy .
Even a sorer grievance was the bre aking up and

dispersion o f our noble and gallant S hip s company so
’
,
long accustomed to one another and to sharp d iscip

line in the D efen c e Where was Captain Bampfylde ?
.
Where was Lieutenant R odney Bluett ? W hat was

become o f our three fine savages ? Even H eav iside
—
my own S unday clothes whose conscience woul d
,
not back him up in whatever he had a mind for .
My ow n had always worked like a power plainly

exposed to every o ne ; thereby gaining strengt h and
revolving as fast as a mountain windmill when the ,
c orn is falling away to chaff This however was not

.
, ,
required in t he p resent instance ; for H epzibah (li ke

a good woman) fell from one extrem e into the op
p osit e . F ro m bitter reviling to praise and gratitude
was but a turn of the tongue to her ; especially when
I happened to whisper into the ear of Griffith that
the whole of my stipend for Newton Church clock
woul d now according to my views of j ustice be
, ,
handed to H e z ekiah s wife inasmuch as the worthy

-
’
,
gunsmith had rejoined the Church of England And .
I said what a dreadful blow this would be to all the

Nicodemites when the gun-o ffi cer returned with
,
money enough to build a chap el : however I felt ,
that it served them right because they had lately

,
’
begun to sneer at hi s good wife s wonderful pro
p hecies .
In a word I had promi sed to find H e z ekiah and

, ,
both while in harbour and n o w w hen afloat I tried to ,
get ti di ngs not only o f him but also o f the Newton

,
tailor and H eaviside and the three wil d men as well

, , ,
as you ng H arry S avage Lieutenant Bluett and C ap

, ,
T HE M AI D OF SKER . 63
tain Bampfylde F or all of these being at sea and in

.
war-time who cou ld say what had befallen them ?

,
Where as I kn e w all about most o f ou r people n ow

hving ashore in the middle o f peace H owever o f .
,
c ourse o ne must expect old s hi pmates to be parted ;

and with all the vast force now afloat under the
British flag it would almost be a wonder if any of us
,
shoul d haul o ur wind withi n hailing distance o f the

others during o u r cruise in this world .
Nevertheless it did so happen as I plainly will s et

,
forth so far as I remember Through the rest o f the

, .
’
year 97 and the early part o f the followin g year I
was knocking about off and on near the S traits bein g ,
appointed to another ship while t he E xcellent was

refitt ing and afterw ards to the Goliath a fine 74
, , ,
under Captain F oley .
In the month of M ay 1 7 98 all ou r M editerr anean

,
fleet except three ships of the line lay blockading

, ,
Cadi z O ur Admiral the E arl S t V incent formerly

.
, ,
S ir John Jervis had orders also to watch Toulon

, ,
where a great fleet was assembling And ou r infor .
mation was so scant and contradictory that our Ad ,
miral sent but three ships o f the hne and a frigate or

two to see what those craft y F renchmen might be up
to But this searching squadron had a commander
.
whos e name w as H oratio Nelson .

This was not by any means the man to let frog

eaters do exactly as they pleased w ith us I beh ev e .
in the King o f E ngland ; I have faith in discipline

I abhor all F renchmen worse than the very devil .
S uch was his c reed ; and at any moment he would

give his life for it It is something for a man to
.
know what he means and be able to put it clearly ;

,
and thi s alone fetches to his S ide more than half of

the arguers who cannot make their minds up But .
it is a mu ch rarer gift and not often combined with

,
the other for a man to enter into and be able to fol

, ,
low up ways and turns and ins and outs o f the

, , ,
natures o f all other men If this is done by practised

.
subtlety it arouses hatred and can get no further

, ,
.
But if it be a gift of nature exercised unwittingly ,
and with kind love o f manliness all who are worth ,
bringing over are brought over by it .
If it were not hence I kno w not whence it was

,
that Nelson had such po w er over every man o f us .
To know what he meant to pronounce it and to per

, ,
c eive what others meant these three powers enabled

,
him to make all the rest mean what he di d At any .
rate such is my O pinion although I would not fly in

the face of better scholars than myself who declared ,
that here was witchcraft What else could account

.
’
for the manner in whi c h all Nelson s equals in rank
how we dashed away helter skelter from one end o f-

,
the world to the other almost in a thorough wild ,
goose chase because the Board of Admiralty with

, ,
t heir usual man agement sent thirteen ships o f the

,
line especially o n a searching scurry without o ne

frigate to scout for them " We were obliged to sail ,
o f course within signalling distance o f each other

, ,
and so that hn e o f battle might be formed without

delay upon appearance of the enemy F or we n o w
,
.
had a man whose S ign al was G 0 at em when you

’
’ ’
see em Al so as always comes to pass when the
.
9
s ons o f Beelzebub are abroad a thick haze lay both ,
day and night upon the face o f the water S o that .

,
while saihng in close order upon the night of the ,
shortest day we are said to have crossed the wake of

,
the Frenchmen almost ere it grew white again with

, ,
o u t even sniffing their roasted frogs Possibly this .
’
is true in spite o f all the great Nelson s vigilance ;
,
for I went to my hammock quite early that night ,
having suffered much from a hollow eye -tooth ever

S I n ce I lost sight o f poor Polly .
Admiral Nelson made no mistake H e had in .
the highest degree what is call ed in human nature

genius and in dogs and horses i nstin c t That
,
” “
.
”
is to say he knew how to sni ff o u t the road to almost

,
anything Trusting to this tenfold (when he found

.
T HE M AI D OF SK E R . 1 67
that o u r Government would not hear of it but was ,
nearly certain o f a mighty landing upon Ireland ) o ff ,
he set for Egyp t carrying o n with every blessed sail

,
that would o r even would not draw We came to .
that coast at a racing speed and you should have seen

,
hi s vexation when there w as no French ship in the ‘
roadstead .I have made a false c as t Troubridge , ,

”
he cried ; I shall write to be superseded M y want .
o f j udgment may prove fatal t o my K ing and

country .
”
F or o u r Government had sent him word through ,
the E arl S t Vincent that the great expedition from

,
Toul on would sail for England o r Ireland ; and he at

his peril had taken upon him to rej ect such nonsense .
’
But n o w (as happens by Nature s j ustice to all very
sanguine men) he w as ready to smite the breast th at
had suggested pure truth to him Thus being baffled
.
we made all sail and after a chase o f six hundred

,
leagues and continually beating to wind w ard were

, ,
forced to bear up on S t S within s D ay and make for

’
the coast o f S icily And it shows the value o f good

.
o ld hands and thoroughly sound experience that I

, , ,
the oldest man perhaps in the fleet could alone guide

,
the fleet into Syracuse H ere o u r fierce excitement

.
bubbled while we took in water .

CHAPTE R LI X .
IN A RO CKY BOW ER .
’
I NEVER hear o f a man s impatience without sagely
reflecting upon the rapid flight of time when age ,
draws on and business thickens and all the glory of

, ,
this world must soon be left behind us From the .
date of m y great catch of fish and landing o f Bardie

at Pool Tavan to the day o f my guiding the British
,
fleet betwixt the shoals o f S yracuse more than S ix

,
teen years had passed and scarc e left time to count

,
them .
Therefore it was but a natural thing that the two

htt le maidens with who m I began S hould now be
grown up and creating a stir in the minds o f young
,
men o f the neighbourhood E arly in this present

.
month o f July that north-west breeze which was

, ,
ba ffli ng ou r fleet o ff the coast o f Anatolia was play ,
ing among the rocks o f S ker with the curls and

skirts and ribbons o f these two fair young damsels .
My son s daughter w as a solid girl very well built

’
,
as ou r family is and raking most handsomely fore and

,
aft H er fine black eyes and abiding colour and the

.
, ,
modesty inherited from her grandfather and some ,
reflection perhaps o f his fame made her a favourite

,
everywhere And any grandfather might well have

.
been proud to see how she carried her dress o ff .
The younger maid sate right above her quite as if ,
Nature had ordered it so and drew her skirt of home

S pun camlet over her dainty feet because the place ,
was wet and chilly And anybody looking must have

.
said that she was born to grace The clear outlines .
o f oval face and delicate strength o f forehead were
moulded as by Nature only can such dainty work be

d one . Gentle pride and quiet moods o f lonely medi
t at io n had deepened and subdued the radiance o f the
large grey eyes and changed the dancin g mirth o f

,
childhood into soft intelligence And it must have .
been a fine a ffair with the sunshine glancing o n t he

,
breezy s ea to take a look at the lights and shadows

,
o f s o clear a countenance .
Bunny like a frigate riding doused her head and

, ,
all her outworks forward o f the bends and then hung

fluttering and doubtful j u st as if she had missed
,
stays .
It is not your engagement my dear Bunny began

, ,
D elu shy as if she were ten years the senior o fficer ;

, .
you must not suppose for a moment that I obj ect to

your engagement It is time o f course for you to .
, ,
thi nk among so many suitors o f some o n e to put up

, ,
with especially after what yo u told me about having

,
toothache And Watkin is thoroughly good and kind

.
,
and able to read quite respectably But what I blame .
you for is this that yo u have not been s t raightforward

, ,
Bunny Why have you kept me in the dark about

.
’
this one of your many s w eet heart ings as you always ,
call them 7
And for sure miss then I never did no such , ,
thing unless it was that I thought you was wanting

him .
”
I You surely cannot have thought it " I want

Watkin Thomas
“
Well miss you need not fly o u t hk e that All
, , .
’
the girls in Newton was after him And if it wasn t .
you as wanted him it might be him as wanted you , ,
which comes to the same thing al w ays .
’
I don t quite think t hat it does dear Bunny , ,
though you may have made it do s o Now look up .
and kiss me dear : you know that I love you very

,
much though I have a w ay o f saying things And

,
.
then I am longing to beg pardon when I have vexed

’
any o n e It comes o f my noble birth I suppose
.
‘
, ,
which the girls o f Newton laugh about How I wish .
that I were but the c hild of the poorest good man in

the parish " But now I am tired of thinking o f it .
What good ever comes of it ? And what can o ne poor

atom matter 7 ”
“
You are not a poor atom ; you are the best and ,
the cleverest and most learn ed est and most beautiful

, ,
lest lady as ever was seen in the whole o f the land .

”
After or rather in the middle o f which words o ur ,
Bunny with her usual vigour and true national ardour

, ,
leaped into the arms o f Delu shy so that they had a ,
good cry together You will wait o f course for

.
,
your Granny to come before you settle anything , .
“
Will I indeed ? cried that wicked Bunny and
,
”
,
lucky for her that I was n ot there : I shall do no “
thing o f the sort If he chooses to be always away

.
at sea conquering the F rench for ever an d never

, ,
coming home when he can help it he must make up ,
his mind to be surprised when he happens to come

home again F or sure then that is right enou gh
.
,
.
”
“
Well it does seem almost reasonable answered
, ,
”
the young lady : and I think sometimes that we

have no right to expect so much as that of things .
It is not what they often do ; an d so they lose the

habit o f it .
”
I do not quite understand sai d Bunny , .

now both to keep b ack I shall be back again now .

,
j ust sir With these words away fl ew Bunny as if

, .
”
,
her hfe were s et o n it .
“
What a fine creature to be sure " said Com ,
”
mander Bluett thoughtfu lly ; she remi nds me so

,
“
much o f her grandfather There is something so .
strongly alike between them in their reckless ou t ,
spoken honour as well as in the turn o f the nose

,
they have .
”
“
Let us follo w a nd admire her a httle more , ,
c ried D elu shy : she deserves it as you s ay ; and

“
,
perhaps —well perhaps she likes it .

”
Young R odney looked at her a little while and ,
then at the ground a little while because he was a

stupid fello w as concerns young women H e thought .
this o n e such a perfect wonder as may well be said ,
o f all of them Then those two fenced about a ht t le

.
,
’
o u t o f shot of each other s eyes .
There was no doubt between them as to the mean

ing o f each other But they both seemed to think it
.
wise to have a ht t le bit o f vexing before doing any

more And thus they looked at one another as if
.
there was nothing between them And all the time .

,
ho w they were longing "

“
I must have yes or no : for R odney c ould n ot
outlast the young lady : yes or no you kno w what “
I mean I am almost always at sea and to morro w

.
-
I start to j oin Nelson With him there is no play .
work I hope to satisfy him though I know what

.
,
he is to satisfy But I hope to do it . .
O f course you will D elu shy answered You ,

”
.
seem to give great satisfaction ; almost everywhere ,
I am sure .
”
D o I give it you proud c reature where I long to

, ,
give it most ? ”
H ow can I pretend to say without being told in ,
—
what latitude even as I think your expression is
this amiable desire lies ? ”
As if you did not know D elu shy ,
As if I did kno w Captain Bluett " And another ,
—
thing I am not to be called D elu shy much in ‘
,
’
,
that way .
”
“
V ery well then ; much in another way
,
De .
lushy D elu shy delicious D elu shy what makes yo u

, , ,
so unk ind to me ? To -morro w I go away and per ,
haps we shall never meet again D elushy : and then ,
how you would reproach yourself D on t you think .

’
y ou would n o w ?
”
When never and then come together— yes I .
suppose all sailors talk so .

”
If I cannot even talk to please you there is ,
nothing more to say I thi nk that the bards have .

turned your head with their harpings and their ,
fiddle-strings and ballads (in very bad Welsh no

, ,
’
doubt) about the charming maid of S ker ; and s o
‘
on . When you are old enough to know better and ,
the young conceit wears ou t o f you you may be sorry

, ,
M iss Andalusia for your wonderful cleverness

, .
”
H e made her a bow with his handsome hat and ,
her w arm young heart was chilled by it S u rely he .
o u ght to have S haken hands S he tried to keep her

.
o w n meaning at home and bid him farewell with a

,
curtsy wh ile he tried not t o look back again ; but

,
fortune o r nature was too much for them and their ,
eyes met wistfully .
These things are o u t of my line so m u ch that I ,
cannot pretend to say now for a moment what these

very young people did ; and everybody else having
done the same with more or less unwisdom accord
, ,
ing to cons titution may admire the power o f charity

,
which restrains me from describin g them My fa .
v ou rit e writer of S cripture is S t Paul who was afraid

,
o f nobody and who spent his time in making sails

,
when the thorn in the flesh permi tted him And .
this great writer describes the quick manners of

maidens far better than I c an Wherefore I keep
.
myself up aloft until they have had a good spell

o f it .
quietude ; as the manner o f young mortals is before

they begin to know better and with great ideas ,
moving them Bunny with the very kindest disere

.
,
tion had ru n away entirely and might now be seen

, ,
at the far end of the sands and springing up the ,
rocks o n her way to Newton S o those two sate

,
.
side by S ide with their heart s full o f o ne another

, ,
and their minds made u p to face the world together ,
whatever might come of it F or as yet they could .
s ee nothin g clearly through the warm haze of loving ,
being wrapped up in an atmosphere which generally

leads to a hurricane But t o them for a f ew short .
,
minutes earth and sea and sky were all o ne universal

,
heaven .
It will not do cried the maid of S ker su d,

-
d enly awaking with a short d eep sigh and drawi ng ,
back her delicate hand from the broad palm o f young

R odney : it will never never do We must bo t h , .
be mad to think of it .
”
“
Who could fail to be mad he answered if you , ,
“
s et the example ?
”
No w don t be so dreadfully stupid R odney

,
’
, .
What I say is most se rious O f course you kno w .
the world better than I do as you told me yesterday , ,
after sailing a dozen times round it But I am think .
ing o f other things Not of what the world will s ay

.
,
but of what I myself must feel And the first o f .
these things is that I cannot be cruelly ungrateful .
It would be the deepest ingratitude to the Colon el if

”
I went o n with it .
“
Went on with it " What a way to speak " As
if you co uld be o ff with it when you pleased " And
my good uncle loves you hk e his own daughter ; and
so does my mother Now what can yo u mean ?.
As if you did not know indeed " No w R odney , ,
do talk sensibly I ought to know if any o n e does

.
, ,
what your uncle and your mother are And I kno w .
that they would rather see your death in the Gazette

than your marriage with an unknown nameless no ,
body like me s ir , .
”
Well of course w e must take the chance o f that

, , ,
said Captain Bluett carelessly The Colonel is the

, .
best soul in the world and my dear mother a most ,
excellent creature whenever she hst en s to reason

, .
B ut as to my asking their permission —it is the last

~
thing I should dream of I am old enough to know .
my o w n mind and to get my o w n living I should

, ,
hO p e as well as that o f my family

, And if I am .
only in time with Nelson of c ourse we shall do ,
wonders .
For a mi nute or two the poor young maid had not

a word to say to him S he longed to throw her arms .
1 80 T HE M A I D OF S KER .
around him when he spoke so proudly and to in

, ,
d ulge her ow n pride in him as against all the world

,
beside But having been brought up in so much

.
trouble she had learned to check herself S o that

,
.
she did nothing more than wait for him t o go o n
again And this he did with sp arkhng eyes and the

.
c onfidence of a young British tar .
“
There is another thing my beauty which they
, ,
are bound to consider as w ell as all the prize money

,
-
I shall earn And that is that they have nobody

.
,
except themselves to thank for it They must have .
known what w as sure to happen if they chose to ,
have you there whenever I was home from s ea .
And my mother is so clever t oo— to my min d it is

plain enough that they meant me to do what I have
done .
”
And pray what is that ?

As if you did not know " Come now you mus t ,
pay the penalty o f askin g for a com phm ent Talk .
about breeding and good birth and that stuff " Why
, ,
look at your hands and then look at mine Put your .
fingers between mine both hands both hands

-
,
’
that s the way Now just feel my great clumsy
.
thi ngs and then see how lovely yours are—as clear
,
as wax -tapers and just touched with rose and every

, ,
n ail with a fairy gift and pointed hke an almond

, .
CH APTE R LX .
N E L SO N AN D T HE I E
N L .
THE first day o f August in the year o f o u r Lord

1 7 98 is a day to be long remembered by every
Briton with a piece o f constitution in him F or o n .
that day ou r glorious navy under the immortal

,
Nelson administered to the F renchmen under Ad

, ,
miral Brewer as pure and perfect a latherin g as is

,
to be found in all history This I never shoul d

.
venture to put upon my ow n authority (especially

after t he prominent part assigned therein by Provi
dence to a humble individual who came from New
to n-Nottage ) for with history I have no patience at
,
all because it always contradicts the very things I

,
have seen and known : but I am bound to beh ev e a

man o f such high principles and deep reading as
M aster R oger B erkrolles And he tells me that I
.
have helped to produ c e the greatest of all great

victories .
T H E M AI D OF SK E R . 1 83
Be that o ne way o r the other I c an tell you every

,
word concerning how we managed it ; and you need

not for o ne moment think me capable o f preju dice .
"uite the cont rary I as sure you

,
There could not .
have been in the British fleet any man more deter

mined to do justice to all C rappo s than a thoroughly ,
ancient navigator now M aster o f the Goliath

,
.
We knew exactly what t o do every Captain every

, ,
M aster every quarter-master ; even the p owder

,
m onkeys had their proper work laid out for them .
The spirit of Nelson ran through us all ; and ou r

hearts caught fire from his heart From the moment .
of our first glimpse at the Frenchmen spread o u t in

that tempting manner beautifully moored and riding
.
in a long line head and stern every old seaman among

,
us began to count o n his fingers priz e money They

- .
thought that we would n o t fight t hat night for the ,
s u n was low when we found them ; and with their
perpetual conceit they were hard at work taking

,
water in I shall never forget how beautiful these

.
Ships looked and how peaceful A French s hip

, .
always sits the water wi t h an elegant quickness hk e ,
a F renchwoman at the looking-glass And tho u gh .
we brought t he eveni ng breeze in very briskly with

us there was hardly swell enough in the bay to make
,
them play their hawsers M any fine thi ngs have I

“
.
1 84 TII E M AI D OF S K ER .
seen and therefore know pretty well how to look at

,
them which a man never can do upon the first or

,
even the second o c casion But it was worth any

.
’
man s while to live to the age of threescore years and
eight with a sound mind in a sound body and eyes
, ,
almost as good as ever if there w ere nothing for it

,
m ore than to s ee what I saw at this moment S ix .
and -twenty ships of the line thirteen bearing the

,
tricolor and riding c leared for action the other

, ,
thi rteen with the red cross flying the cross o f S t ,
George on the ground o f white and tossing the blue ,
water from their stems under pressure o f canvass .
O nward rushed o u r British ships as if every on e o f ,
them was ahv e and driven ou t o f all patience by

,
the w icked escapes o f t he enemy Twelve hundred .
leagues of chase had they c ost us ingratitude towards ,
God every night a n d love o f the devil at morning

, ,
with dread o f o u r country for ever prevailing and ,
m istrust o f ou r o w n good selves And now at last .
we had got them tight ; and mean we did to keep

them Captain F oley came up to me as I stood o n
.
the ratlines to hear the report o f the men in the

starboard fore -chains and hi s fine open face was
clouded “
M aster he said how much more of
.
,
”
,
“
this ? D amn your soundings C an t you see that

’
.
the "ealou s is drawing ahead of us ? H ood has no

1 86 T HE M AI D or S K-
ER .
me to say what Welshman it was who devised this

noble and most decisive stratagem while patriotic ,
duty compels me to say that it was a Welshman ,
and more than that a Glamorganshire man born in ,
a favoured part o f the quiet village o f N N

E nough unless I add that internal evidence wil l
,
convince any unprejudiced person that n one but an

ancient fisherman and thorough -going long -shore
,
man could by any possibility have smelled ou t his

,
way so cleverly .
O ur great Admiral saw with his usual insight into

,
F renchmen that if they remained at anchor we were

,
s u re to man their capstans : Fo r C rappo s fight well

enough with a rush but unsteadily when at a stand
,
still and worst o f all when taken by surprise and

,
.
outmanoeuvred And the manner in which the

.
British fleet advanced was enough to strike them

cold by its maj esty and its awfulness For in per .
feet silence we were gliding over the dark -blue sea ,
with the stately height of the white sails shining ,
and the sky behind us full o f solemn yellow sunset .
E ven we s o sure of conquest and so nerved with

, ,
stern delight could n o t ga z e on the things around

,
us and the work before us without for a moment

, ,
wondering whether the Lord in heaven looked down

at us .
At any rate we obeyed to the letter the orders

both o f o u r Admiral and o f a man scarcely less
remarkable Let not the sun go down o n your
“
w rath ,
are the very words o f S t Paul I believe and
”
,
we never fired a shot until there was no su n left to

look at it I stood by the men at the wheel myself
.
,
and laid my o w n hand to it : for it was a matter o f

very fine steerage to run in ahead o f the French
,
l ine ware soundings and then bear u p o n the ir

, ,
larboard bow to deliver a thorough good raking

,
broadsi d e I remember looking over m y left shoul

.
der after we bore up o u r helm a weather while

-
,
crossing the bows o f the Carrier (as the foremost

’
enemy s ship was called ) and there was the last ,
limb of the su n like the hoof o f a horse di sappear

ing And my own head nearly went with it as the
.
wind o f a round-shot knocked me over Bear up .

,
bear up lads cried Captain F oley o u r time has

, ,
”
,
come at last my boys Well done Llewellyn " A

,
.
finer sample of conning and steerage was n ever seen .
Let go the best bower Pass the word R eady at . .
quart ers all o f you Now she bears clear fore and
.
aft D amn their eyes let them have it

.
,
.
”
O ut rang the whole o f ou r larboard battery almost ,
like a single gun a finer thing was never seen and

before the ring passed into a roar the yell of French ,
1 88 T H E M AI D OF SKER .
men came through the smoke M asts and S pars fl ew “
right and left with the bones o f men among them ,
and the sea began to hiss and he ave and the ships ,
'
to reel and tremble and the ro ar o f a mad volcano

,
rose and nothing kept either shape or tenor except

, ,
the faces o f brave men .
E very ship in o u r fleet was prepared to anchor by

the stern so as to spring our broadsides aright ; but
,
the anchor o f the Goliath did not bite so soon as it

should have done so that we ran past the C arrier
, ,
and brought up o n the larboard quarter of the second

F rench 74 with a frigate and a brig o f war to employ
,
a few o f ou r starboard guns By this time the rapid .
darkness fell and we fought by the light of o u r ow n

,
“
guns And now the skill o f our Admiral and his

.
great ideas were m ani fest for every F rench ship had ,
two E nglish upon it and some of them even three

,
at a time In a word we began with the head of

.
,
their line and crushed it and so o n j oint by j oint

, , ,
ere even the c entre and much more the tail could
fetch their way up to take part in it O u r antagonist .
was the first that struck being the second o f the ,
F renchman s line and by name the Conquer-ant

’
, .
But she found in Captain F oley and D avid Llewellyn

an ant a little t oo clever to conquer We were a .
good deal kno cked about with most of our main ,

At least so everybody thought who had tim e to ,
think about it ; and the M aster s dead ran along“ ’ ”
the deck so far as time was to tell o f it I must

,
.
havelain numb for an hour I doubt wi t h the roar , ,
o f the guns and the shaking of bulk -heads like a

, ,
shiver jarring me and a pool of blood curdling into

, ,
me and another poor fellow cast into the scuppers

,
and clutching at me in his groaning when the heavens ,
took fire in o n e red blaze and a thundering roar that , ,
might rouse the dead drowned all the rolling battle

,
din I s aw the white looks o f o u r crew all aghast

.
,
’
and their bo dies scared o u t o f death s manufacture ,
by this triumph of mortality ; and the elbows o f big

fellows holding the linstock fell quivering back to
their shaken ribs F or the whole sky was blotched
.
with the corpses o f men like the stones of a crater ,
cast upwards and the sheet of the fire behind them

showed their knees and their bellies and streaming
, ,
hair Then w ith a hiss like electric hail from a

.
, ,
’
mile s height all came down again corpses first (being ,
softer things) and timbers next and then the great

, ,
spars that had streaked the sky like rockets .
The violence o f this matter s o attracted my atten

tion that I was enabled to rally my wits and lean o n ,
o ne elbow and look at it And I do assure you that .
anybody who happened to be out of sight of it lost ,

T HE M AI D or SKER . 191
a finer chance than ever he can have another pros

p ec t of
. F or a hundred -and -twenty -gun ship had
blown up with an Admiral and R ear-Admir al not to
, ,
mention a Commodore and at least 7 0 0 complement

, .
And when the concussion was over there fell t he ,
silence o f death upon all men Not a gun was fire d

.
,
nor an order gi ven except to man the boats in hopes

,
of saving some poor fellows .

C HAPTER LX L
A S A V A G E D EE D .
NEVERTHELESS o u r Britons were forced to renew the

battle aft erwards because those Frenchmen had not
the manners to surrender as they should have done .
And they even compelled us to batter their ships so

s eriously and sadly ,
that when we took possession
some were scarcely worth the trouble To make us .
blow up their poor Admiral was a distressing thi ng

to begin with ; but when that was done to go on ,
with the battle was as bad as the dog in the manger .
What good could it do them to rob a poor British

sailor o f half his prize-money ? And such conduct
becomes at least twice as ungenerous when they
actually have wounded him "
My wound was sore and so was I on the follow
, ,
ing day I can tell yo u ; for not being now such a very
,
young man I found it a precious hard thing to renew

,
the power o f blood that was gone from me And .

more and more clear to me it became that instead of ,
honour they had now incurred a lastin g national

disgrace The f ellows who charged that gun had
.
been afraid of the recoil o f it H alf a charge o f

.
—
powder makes the vilest fracture to deal with how
ever there I was by the heels and now for nobler
, ,
people O nly while my wound is green you must

.
not be too hard o n me .
The Goliath was ordered to chase down the bay ,
o n the morning after the battle together with the ,
Theseus and a frigate called the Leader This frigate .
was commanded by the H onourable R odney Blu ett ,
now a post-captain and who had done wonders in

,
the height o f last ni ght s combat H e had brought

’
.
up in the most brazen faced manner without any

-
,
sense o f hi s metal close below the starboard bow of

,
the great three -decker O rient and the quarter of the

Franklin and thence he fired away at both while all
, ,
their shot flew over hi m And this was afterwards

.
said to have been the cleverest thing done by all o f

us except the fine helm and calm handling o f H M
,
.
ship Goliath .
The two shi ps in chase of which we were de

,
sp at ched ran ashore and surrendered as I was told

, ,
afterwards (for o f course I was down in my berth at

the time with the surgeon looking after me ) ; and
,
thus ou t of thirteen F rench sail of the line we took ,
or destroyed eleven And as we bore up after takin g

.
possession the Leader ran under ou r counter and

,
hailed us H ave you a Justice o f the Peace on

,
board ? O ur Captain replied that he was himself a

”
member o f the quorum but co u ld not attend to such

,
business no w as making o f will s and so on H ereupon .
Captain Bluett came forward and with a polite wave

,
o f his hat call ed out that Captain F oley would lay
him under a special obligation as well as clear the

,
honour o f a gallant naval officer by comin g on board

,
o f the Leader to receive the deposition o f a dying

,
man In ten minutes time o u r good skipper sto o d

.
’
in the cockpit o f the Leader while Captain Bluett

,
wrote down the confession o f a desperately-wounded

seaman who was clearing his conscience of perilous
,
wrong before he should face hi s Creator The poor .
fellow sate on a pallet propped up by the bulkhead

and a pillo w ; that is to say if a man can sit who
,
has no legs left him A round shot had caught him

.
in the tuck of both thighs and the surgeon co ul d

,
now do no more for him Indeed he was only

.
enabled to speak or to gasp ou t his last syllables by

, ,
gulps o f raw brandy which he was taking with great ,
draughts of water between them O n the other si de .
o f his dying bed stood Cannibals D ick and Joe howl ,

9 6 T H E M AI D or SK E R .
ing and nodding their heads fro m time to time

, ,
whenever he lifted his glazing eyes to them for co n

firm at io n Fo r it was my honest and highly respected
.
-
friend the poor Jack Wildman who n ow lay in this

, ,
s a d condition upon the very brink o f another world

,
.
And I cannot do better than give his own words as ,
u t into shape by two clear -witted men Ca tai s

p p n ,
F oley and R odney Bluett O nly for the reader s .

’
s ak e I omit a great deal o f groaning .
T his is the so lem n a n d d ying d eliver y o f me ,
’
known as Jack Wildman A B seaman of H M
‘
,
. . . .
frigate Leader now off the coast o f Egypt and dying

, ,
through a hurt in battle w ith the Frenchmen I .
cannot tell my name or age or where I was born or

, , ,
anything about myself and it does not matter as I ,
have nothing to leave behind me D ick and Joe are .
to have my clothes and my pay if there is any ; and

,
the woman that used to be my wife is to have my

medals for good behaviour in the three battles I have
partaken o f My money wou ld be no good to her
.
,
because they never use it but the women are fond

o f ornaments .
“
I was one o f a race o f naked people li v ing in ,
holes o f the earth at a place we did not know the

name o f I now know that it was Nympton in
.
D evonshire which is in England they tell me No

, , .
great heap o f houses and hid in a cops e till the even

,
ing At du sk we set o u t again and came to a great

‘
.
,
and rich house by the side o f a river The lower .
p ortholes seemed full of lights and o n the flat place

'
in front of them a band o f music — such as now I love

'
—was playing and people were dancin g I had never

, .
heard such a thing before and my father had all he

could do to keep me in the black trees o u t o f sight
‘
o f them And among the thick o f the going about

.
we saw ou r master Chouane in his hunting-dress .
This must have been what great people call a

“
’
masked ball I am sure o f it since I s aw o ne
, ,
when in the Bellona there were many women some

, ,
where But at the end o f the great light place look

.
,
ing o u t over the water there was a quiet shady place

,
for tired people to rest a bit When the whole of . s
the music w as c rashing like a battle and people ,
going round like great flies in a web my father led ,
m edown by the river side and sent me up some dark

-
,
narro w steps and pointed to two little babies The

, .
whole o f the busi ness was all about these and the ,
festival was to make much o f them The nu rse for .
a moment had s et them upright while she j ust spoke ,
t o a young sailor man ; and crawling as all o f us can

-
, ,
I brought down these two babies to my father ; and '
o ne was hea vy and the other light

, .
My father had scarcely got hold them and of ,
the nurse had not yet mi ssed them when on the dark ,
shore by the river side perhaps five fathoms under

-
,
the gaiety Parson Chouane came up to m y father

, ,
and whispered and gave orders I know not what

,
.
they said for I had no sense of tongues then nor

, ,
desired it ; f or we knew what we wanted by signs ,
and sounds and saved a world o f trouble s o O nly

, .
I thought that o ur master was angr y at having the

girl-child brought away He wanted o nl y the boy .
perhaps who was sleepy and kn ew nothing But the

, .
girl child shook her hand at him and said E bad

-
, ,
‘
’ ’
man Bardie knows a
, .
— — —
I every o n e o f u s was amazed so very small
O h sir I can tell you no more I think

, , , .
Indeed then but you must my friend cried

, , ,
”
Captain F oley with spirit enough to set a dead man

,
talking ; finish this story you thief of the world

“
, ,
before you cheat the hangman Two lovely c hilder .
stolen away from a first -rate family to give a ball o f

that kind— and devil a bit you repent o f it "
Poor dying Jack looked up at hi m and then at the ,
place where his legs shoul d have been and he seemed ,
ashamed for the want of them Then he played with .
the sheet for a twitch o r two as if proud o f his ,
arms still remaining ; and checked back the agony

tempting him now to bite it with his great w hite

teeth .
“
Ask the rest of us Captain he said,
Jo e you ,
“
,
know it ; D ick you know it now that I am telli ng

, ,
you The boy was brought up with us and you call

.
,
him H arry S avage I knew the great house when I

.
s aw it again And I longed to tell the good old man

.
there ; but for the sake o f ou r people Chouan e .
wo ul d h ave destroyed them all I was tempted after .
they pelted me so and the old man was s o good to

,
me ; but something always stopped me and I wante d ,
poor H arry to go to H eaven O h a little drink ,
o f water "
”
Captain F oley was partly inclined to take a great

’
deal o f poor Jack s confession for no more than the
raving o f a light-headed man ; but R odney Bluett
conjured him to take down every word o f it And .
when thi s young officer spoke of hi s former chief and

well known friend now Commodore S ir D rake B am p
-
,
fylde (being knighted for service in India) and how ,
all his life he had lain under a cloud by reason of

thi s very matter not another word did ou r Captain
,
need from him bu t took up his pen again

, .
I ought to hav e told said the dying man slowly ;

,
”
only I c o ul d not bring myself But now you will .
know you will all know now My father is dead ;

, .
M y father before we got home stripped the o ff

"
’
little boy s clothes and buried them in a black moor
,
hole ful l of slime with a gr eat whi te stone in the

,
midst o f it An d the child himself was turned over

.
naked to herd with the other children (for none o f

o u r women look after them) and nobody kne w or ,
cared to kno w who he was or when c e he came ex , ,
c ept my poor father and ou r master—and I myself

, ,
many years afterwards But now I know well and .

,
I cannot have quiet to die without tellin g somebody ,

.
The boy-baby I was compelled to steal was S ir Phili p

’
B am p fyld e s grandson and the baby -girl his grand
,
daughter I never heard what became o f her S he

. .
must have been drowned o r starved most likely , , .
But as f or the boy he kept up his life and the man

,
who took us most in hand o f the name o f F ather ,

‘
D avid gave the names to all of us and the little o n e

’
, ,
H arry S avage now serving on board o f the Van

’
,
guard I know nothing o f the buried images found

.
by F ather D avid My father had nothing to do with

.
’
that I t may have been another o f C hou an e s plans
. .
I know no more o f anything There let me die I .

, ,
have told all I kno w I can write my nickname

'
. .
—
I never had any other Ja ck W ildm a n .
”
At the end o f this followed the proper things and ,
the forms the law is made o f with first o f all the sign ,
manual o f o ur noble Captain F oley who must have

,
been an Irishman to lead us into the battl e of the

,
Nile while in the co m mi ssion o f the Peace And

, .
after him Captain Bluett signed and two or three

,
warrant o fficers gifted with a writing elbow ; and

t hen a pair of bare -bone crosses mea n ing Canni bals
,
D ick and Joe who could not speak and much less
, ,
write in the depth of their emotions

, .
C H A P T E R LX I I .
A R A SH Y O UN G C A P TAI N .
N OW if I had been sewn up well in a hammock and ,
cast overboard (as the surgeon advised) who I should , ,
like to know would have been left capable o f goin g

,
to the bottom o f these strange proceedings ? H eze

kiah was alive o f course and prepared to swear to
, ,
any t hing especially after a round-shot must have

,
kill ed him but for his greasiness And clever

,
.
enough no doubt he was and suspicious and busy

, ,
minded and expecting to have all Wales under his

,
thumb because he was somewhere about o n the skirts

,
o f the great battle I led the m into But granting .
him skill and that narrow knowledge o f the world

,
which I c all cunning granting him also a restless

desire to get to the bottom o f everythi ng and a sni ff ,
’
ing sense like a t rnspit dog s
u - o f the shank end bone
-
,
he is roasting — none the more f or all that could we

grant him the do w nright power now loudly called ,
for to put t w o and two together

, .
206 T H E M AI D OF SK E R “
judgment and public impression instead o f m y ow n

, ,
superior instinct and knowledge of weather and

,
tideways .
Ho w bitterly it repented me now o f this ill founded

-
d iffid en c e when as we lay in the Chops of the

, ,
.
Channel about the end of O ctober w ith a nasty head ,
wind baffling us Captain R odney Bluett came on

,
board o f us from the Leader " H e asked if the

doctor could report the M aster as strong enough to
support an interview ; whereupon o u r worthy bone
j oiner laughed and showed him into me where I sate
,
at the latter end o f a fine aitch — bone o f beef And .
t hen Captain R o dn eypro d u ced his papers and told me ,
the whole o f his story I was deeply move d by Jack

.
’
Wildman s death though edified much by the man
,
ner o f it and some of his last observations For a

,
.
naked heathen to turn so soon into a trousered Chris

t ian and still more a good fore -top —
,
man was an evi ,
dence o f unusual grace even under such doctrine as

,
mine was Captain Bluett spoke much o f this

.
,
although his religious convictions were not by any

means so intense as mine while my sinews were ,
under treatment ; but even with only on e arm and a

quarter I seemed to be better fitted t o handle events
,
than this young Captain was H is abili ty was o f no .
common order as he had proved by running his

,
frigate under the very chains o f the thundering big

Frenchman s o that they coul d n ot be down on him
, .
And yet he could not s ee half the bearin gs o f Jack

’
Wil dman s evidence We had a long talk with some
.
,
hot rum-and -water for the evenings already were

,
chill y ; an d my natur al candour carried me almost

into too much of it And the H onourable R odney
.
ga z ed with a flush o f colour at me when I gave him ,
my opinions like a raki ng broadside .
You may be right he said ; you were always

,
” “
s o wonderful at a long shot Llewell yn But really ,

.
it does seem impossible .

”
Captain I answered ; how many thi ngs seem so

,
” “
,
yet come to pass contin ually " ”
I cannot gainsay you Llewellyn after all my ex , ,
rien ce o f the world I wo ul d give my life to find

p e .
it true But how are we to establish it ?

.
Leave me alone fo r that Captain Bluett if it can ,
be done it shall be done The idea is entirely my .
o w n remember
,
It had never occurr ed t o you had
.
,
it
Certainl y not he repli ed wi t h his usual down
, ,
right honesty ; my reason for comi ng to yo u with

“
’
that poor fellow s dyin g testimony was chiefly t o cheer
’
you up with the proofs of o ur old Captain s innocence ,
and to sho w you the turn o f luck for young H arry ,

20 8 T HE M AI D or SKER .
who has long been so shamefully treated And now .
I have another thing to tell you about him that is if

y o u have not heard it .
”
No I have heard nothing at all I did not even

, .
’
know what had become o f him until you read Jack s ,
c onfession With Nelson o n board the Vanguard

.
,
That was my doing said the H onourable R od

,
”
ney I recommended him to volunteer and he ,
was accepted imme di at ely with the character I gave ,
him But it is his ow n doing and proud I am o f it

.
, ,
that he is now j unior lieutenant o f Admiral Lord

’
Nelson s o w n ship the V anguard Just before .
Nelson received his wound and while powder was ,
bein g handed up there came a shell hiss ing among

,
them and hung with a sputtering fuse in the coil o f

,
a cable and the men fell down to escape it B u t

, .
young H arry with wonderful quickness leaped (as

he did to save me in S an D omingo) and sent the
, ,
fuse over the side with a dash Then Nelson came .
up for the firing was hot and of course he must be

, ,
in the thick o f it and he s aw in a moment what

,
H arry had done and he took down his name for

,
promotion being just what himself would have loved

,
to do It will have to be confirmed o f course ; but

.
,
o f that there can be no question after all that we ,
have done and when it turns o u t who he is .

had not thro ugh life looked forward to hanging as

, ,
‘
his latter end and salvation it is quite impossibl e

,
to account for the licence he a llow ed hi mself ;
H owever o n second thoughts I perceived that the

,
really weighty concern before us and what we were,
bound t o thin k first o f was to restore such a fine old

,
f amily to its health and happiness To reinstate ,
before he died that noble and most kind -hearted

,
man full o f religious feeling also and o f confidence

, ,
that the Lord having made a good man would look

after hi m — which is the very S pirit of King D avid ,
- —
when his self respect returns in a w ord to replace ,
’
in the world s esteem and (what matters far more)
,
in true f amily love that fine and pure old gentleman

, ,
the much troubled S ir Phi p Bampfylde this I

- li — , ,
say was the very first duty o f a fellow nursed by a

,
general and a baronet through the small pox ; while

-
i t was also a feat well worthy of the master of a

line -o f-battle ship whi ch was not last in the battle
,
o f the Nile And scarcely second even to this was

.
the duty and joy o f restoring to their proper rank in

life two horribly injured and innocent creatures o ne ,
o f who m was o ur own Bardie Therefore upon the

.
,
whole it seemed best to go to work very warily

,
.
S o it came to pass that I followed my usual prac

tice o f wholly forgetting myself ; and receiving from
. T HE M AI D OF SK E R ”
t he H onourable R odney B luett that most import ant

do cum ent I sewed it up in the watered silk bag with
,
-
my caul and other muniments and s et ou t for Narn ,
t o n Court where I found both Polly and the cook

, , ,
and the other comforts But nothin g wo ul d do for

.
o u r Captain R odney— all youn g men are so in c o n
s iderate —except to be o ff at racing sp eed for C an d é
leston Court and his sweetheart D elu shy and t he

, ,
’
excellent Colonel s old port wine And as he was so .
brisk I will take him first with your good leave if

, , ,
ever words of mine can keep up with him But o f .
course you will understand that I tell what came to

my knowledge afterwards .
With all the speed of men and horses young ,
R odney Bluett m ade o ff for h ome and when he got ,
there his luck was such as to find D elu shy in the

house It happened to be her v isit ing t im e accord
.
a
,
in g to the old arrangement and this crafty sailor ,
found it ou t fro m the fine old woman at the lodge.

S o what di d he do but discharge his carriage and ,
leave all his kit with her and go on with the spright
, ,
foot of a mariner to the ancient house which he

,
knew so well Then this tall and bold young Cap

.
’
tain entered by the butler s door the trick of which ,
was well kn own t o him and in a room o u t of t he ,
lobby he stood without his o w n mother kno w ing it

,
,
e
It was the fall of autumnal night when everything ,
is so rich and mellow when the waning daylight

,
ebbs ,
like a great spring -tide exhausted into the ,
qui ckening fl ow of star-light And the plates were

.
being cleared away after a snug din ner party

- .
The good Colonel s at at the head o f his table aft er ,
’
the ladies withdrawal with that modest and grace
,
ful kindliness which is the sure mark o f true blood

, .
Around him were a f ew choice old friends such as ,
only good men have ; friends who would scout the

,
evidence o f their ow n eyes against him According .
to ou r fine old fashion these were drinking healths

,
all round not with undue love of rare port so much

, ,
as with truth and sincerity .
R odney made a sign to Crumpy (who had been

shaking him by both hands until the tears prevented
,
him ) j ust to please to keep all quiet touching his

,
arrival ; and to let hi m have a slice or two o f the

haunch of venison put to grill if there was any left
,
o f it and give it him all o n a plate : together with a

,
twelve pound loaf o f farmhouse bread such as is not

-
,
to be had outside o f Great Britain This was done .
in about five minutes (for even Mrs Cook respected

Crumpy) and bei ng served up with a quart o f ale , ,
’
in C ru m py s o w n head privacy it had such a good ,
effe c t that the Captain was ready to face anybody .

2 14 T HE M AI D OF S K E R .
me feel qui t e ill think of such a dreadful c arnage

to ,
and to know t hat my o w n son was foremost in it .
D o yo u think my d ear that your delicate throat

, ,
wo ul d be any worse i n the morning if you were to ,
read it once more t o me ? The p eople in the papers

are s o clever ; and there was som ething I did no t
quite catch about poor R odney s recklessness How ’

.
like his dear father to be sure I see hi m in every

,
word o f it .
”
Auntie the first time I read it was best The

‘
“
.
,
second and third time I cried worse and worse ; and

,
the fourth time youknow what you said o f me And

,
.
I know that I d eserved it Auntie for having such , ,
foolish weak eyes like that You know what I told .
y o u about C a ptain R odney and begged y o u to let ,
m e come here no more An d yo u kno w W hat you

.
— ’
said that it was a child s fancy ; and if it were not;
it S hould take its course The Colonel w as wiser . .
O h Auntie A untie " why don t you always harken

, ,
’
”
him "
F or a very good reason my dear child— he always
,
’
proves wrong in the end ; and I don t I have t he .
v ery highest and purest respect for my dear brother s

’
j udgment Every one knows what his mind is and

.
,
"
every o ne values his j udgment And no Stranger; .
o f course c an e nter into him his v iews and his

. , ,
largeness and in tellect ; as I do when I agre e with

’
, ,
him There you have made me qui te warm my

.
, ,
dear ; I am so compelled to vindicate him .

”
“
di —
I am s o sorry I d not mean you know what
I am Auntie , .
”
“
My dear I know what you are and therefore it
, ,
is th at I love you s o Now go and wash your pretty .
eyes and read that again to me and to t he Colonel

, , .
M any mothers would be proud perhaps I feel no .
pride whatever because my son could n o t help doing

,
it
.
”
’
There was something else thi s excellent lady s son
could not help doing H e caught the beautiful maid .
o f S ker in her pure white dress in a nook o f the
passage and with tears o f pride for him rolling from

,
her dark grey eyes and he could not help— but all ,
lovers I trow know how much to expect o f him

, , .
Thank you R odney D elu shy cried ; to a cer

“
, ,
” “
tain extent I am gratefu l B ut if you please no

, .
, ,
more of it And you need not suppose that I w as

.
crying about about -about anything , , .
O f c ourse not you darling H ow long have I

“
, .
lived not to kno w that girls cry abou t nothing ?

,
nine times ou t o f ten at least Pearly tears n ow .

,
prove your substance .

”
R odney will you let me alone ? I am not a

“
,
French de cker o f 5 00 gun s for to do just what , yo u

’
you like with And I don t believe any on e knows
.
you are here Yes yes yes " E ver so many darlings
.
, , ,
if you like— and with my w hole heart I do love

‘
y o u
’
,
as darling M o xy says But o n e thing this .
,
moment I insist upon— no not in your ear nor yet

, , ,
through your hair you conceited curly creature ; but

,
at the distance o f a yard I pronounce that you S hall

come to your mother .
”
“
O h what a Shame 1 And with that u nfilial
,
”
vie w o f the subject he rendered himself after all , ,
those mortal perils into the arms o f his mother , .
With her usual quickness D elu shy fled but came ,
back to the drawing-room very sedately and with a ,
rose -coloured change o f dress in about half an hour ,
afterwards .
Ho w do you do Captain R odney Bluett ? ,

”
M adam I hope that I s ee you well

, .
”
Lady Bluett was amazed at the coolness o f them ,
and in her heart disappointed ; although she was

trying to argu e it down and to s ay to herself how , ,
“
wis e of them " S he knew how the Colonel loved

”
this young maid yet never could bear t o think o f his

,
nephew taking to wife a mere waif o f the sea The .
lady had faith in herself that she might in the end

overc ome this prejudice But of course if the young .
m oment to defy your uncle than in the presence o f ,
his oldest friends It is not like a gentleman sir

.
, .
It cuts me to the heart to say such a thing to the

so n o f my o w n S ister But sir it is not like a
'
.
, ,
gentleman .
”
The old friends nodded to o ne another in approval ,
o f this sentiment ; and t u rned to withdraw from a
family scene .
Wait if you please cried R odney Bluett

, , .
Colonel Lougher I should deserve your reproach , ,
if I had done anythi ng o f the kind My intention .
is not to defy you sir ; but to please you and gratify

,
you my dear un cl e as yo ur lifelong kindness to me

, ,
and t o this youn g lady deserves An d I have chosen .
to do it before old friends that your pleasure may be ,
increased by their congratu lations Instead o f being .
ashamed sir of the origin of your future niece — o r

, ,
you my dear mother o f your daughter you may well ,
be proud o f it S he belongs to o ne of the oldest

.
famili es in the West o f E ngland S he is the grand .
child of S ir Phili p Bampfylde of Narnt on Court near ,
Barnstaple And I think I have heard my mother

.
s peak o f him as an old friend o f my father .

”
To be sure to be sure " exclaimed Lady Bluett

,
”
,
ere the Colonel could recover himself the Blu et t s “
are an old west-country family ; but the B am pfyldes ’

even older Come t o m e m y pretty darling There

.
, .
,
d on t cry s o ; o r if you must come in here and I will

’
, ,
help you R odney my dear you have delighted u s

.
, , ,
and you have done it most cleverly But excuse my .
saying that an officer inthe army would have know n

a little better what ladies a re than to have thrown ,
them into this excitement even I n the presence o f ,
valued frie n ds Com e here my precious The

.
, .
gentlemen ill excuse us for a little hile ”

w w .
“
Let me kiss Colonel Lougher first whi spered ,
”
D elu shy ; all fri g h t ened cryin g and qui veri ng as

, ,
She was she co ul d not forget her gratitude

,
S o she .
bowed her white forehead and drooped her dark ,
lashes under the old man s benevolent gaze

’
.
S it down my dear friends said Colonel Lougher

, ,
”
,
as soon as the ladies had left the room My good .

“
’
nephew s tactics have been rather blunt and o f the ,
Aboukir order H owever he may be quite right if

.
,
thi s matter requires at once to be spread abroad At .
any rate my dear boy I owe you an apology R od

, ,
.
ney I beg your pardon for the very harsh terms I

,
used to you .
”
With these words he stood up and bowed to his ,
nephew ; who di d the same to him in silence and ,
then they shook hands warmly After which the .
young Captai n told his story to whi c h they all ,

listened intently— five being justi c es of the Shi re ,
and o ne the lord lieutenant all accustomed to

examine evidence .
“
It seems very li kely said Colonel Lougher as
, ,
they waited for his opinion That D avid Llewellyn

.
is a most shrewd fellow But he ought to have said

.
more about the boat There is o ne thing however

.
, ,
—
to be done at onc e to coll ect confirm at iv e evidence .
”
There is another thing to be d one at on c e cried ,
R odney Bluett warmly to p ull Cho w ne s nos e

,
’
.
And despite hi s cloth I will do it roundly

, .
”
“
My young friend said the Lord Lieutenant ;
,
”
prove it first And then I think there are some

.
, ,
people who would pardon you .

222 T HE M AI D TO F SK E R .
lucky Not o nl y did S tew baffl e my desire t o be

.
more candid t han the day itself by hi s o fficial brow ,
beating and the antipathy between u s—not only did

,
S tew like an over sharp fellow trust one of the

,
-
,
biggest rogues unhung — in his unregenerate dis

senting days and before we gave him six do z en
, ,
which certainly proved his salvation -(I am sorry to

s ay such things o f my present good neighbour K iah
’
; ,
but here he is n ow and subscribes to it) H ezekiah

,
Perkins whose Vie w o f the shipwreck and learned

, ,
d isquisition o n sand misled the poor Coroner and

,
all o f the Ju ry except myself so blindly that w e

, .
, ,
drowned the five young men and smothered the ,
bab y— n ot only did S tew I s ay get thus far in be , ,
wilderment o f the subj ect but he utterly ruined all ,
chance of clearing it by keeping S ir Phil ip from,
C an dlest o n C ourt "

I f you ask me how I can only say in common , ,
fairness to A nthony S tew (who is lately gone poor ,
fello w to be cross examined by somebody sharper

,
-
—
even than himself one to whom I would never
aff ord material for unpleasant questions by S peaki ng ,
amiss o f a man in his power— especially when so

needless) in a w ord to treat S tew as I hope myself
, ,
to be treated by survivors I admit that he may not ,
have wished to keep S ir Phili p away from the C olonel .

’
But the form er having Once accepted S tew s keen
hospitali ty and tried to eat fish (which I mi ght have
,
bettered had I known o f his being there) felt with

, ,
his usual delicacy that he ought not to visit a man

,
—
at feud with the host whose salt an d very li ttle else
— he was then enj oying F or M rs S tew was more
.
bitter o f course than even her husband against

Colonel Lougher and roundly abused hi m the very
,
’
first evening of S ir Phi lip s stay with them S o that .
the worthy General passed the gates o f the excellent

Colonel half a do z en times perhaps without once
,
- -
,
passing through them .
E nough about that ; and I need o nl y say before ,
returning to my o w n important and perhaps sagacious

inqu iries in D evonshire that the news so hastil y
, ,
blurted out by Captain R odney Bluett caused many ,
glad hear ts in ou r parish and neighbourhood ; but

nevertheless two sad ones O f these o ne belonged to
.
R oger B erk rolles and the other to Mo xy Thomas

, .
The child had so won upon both these not only by ,
her misfortunes and the way in whi ch she bore them ,
but by her loving disposition bright manner and , ,
docili ty that it seemed very hard to lose her so even

, ,
though it were for her own good Upon this latter .
point M aster B erkr oll es when I came to s ee him

, ,
held an Opinion the folly of which surprised me

, ,
from a man o f such reading and history In real .
earnest he laid down that it might be a very bad

thing for the maid and make again st her happiness
, ,
to co m e of a sudden into hi gh position importance , ,
and even money S uch sentiments are to be found

.
,
I believe in the weaker parts o f the Bible su c h as

, ,
are call ed the New Testament which nobody can

,
compare to the works o f my ancestor King D avid ; ,
and which if you put aside S aint Paul and S aint

, ,
’
Peter (who cut the man s ear o ff and rej ected qui te
,
rightly the table cloth) exhibit to my mi nd nobody

-
o f a patriotic spirit .
As for M oxy she would not have been a woman if

,
she had doubted about the value o f high position ,
c oin of the realm and rich raiment Nevertheless

, .
S he cried bitterly that this child as good as her ow n

,
to her and given her to make up for them and now

, ,
s o clever to s ee to things and to light the fir e and

, ,
S how her the way Lady Bluett put her dress o n ,
should be taken away in a heap as it were just as if ,
the great folk had m inded her S he blamed our poor

.
Bunny fo r stealing the heart o f young Watkin who ,
’
might have had the maid (according to his mother s
fancy) with money enough to restoc k the farm n ow ,
thi ngs had proved so handsome As if everybody .
did not know that Bardie woul d never thi nk twi c e o f

226 T HE M AI D OF S K ER .
risk n o c han c e i f it might be helped of exciting Sir

, ,
Philip Bampfylde and above all things no possibili ty

, , ,
o f arousing C ho w n e till the proper time , For his .
c raft w as so great that he migh t destroy every link

o f evidence if he once kne w that we were in chas e
,
o f hi m ; even as he coul d o u t -fo x a fox .
When things of im portance take their hinge a good ,
deal upon feminine evidence the first thing a wise

, ,
man always does is to seek female instinct if he ,
sees his way to guide it And to have the helm of a .
woman nothing is s o certain as a sort o f a promise of

,
marriage A man need not go too very far and must

.
,
be awake about pen and ink and witnesses and so , ,
on ; but if he knows how to do it and has lost an

'
arm in battle but preserved an unusually fine white

,
beard and has had another wife before who was

, ,
known to make too little o f him the fault is his ow n ,
if he cannot manage half a dozen spinsters

- - .
M y reputation had outrun me—as it used t o do ,
sometimes too often—for in the despatches my name

came after scarcely more than fifty though it S houl d ,
have been o ne of the foremost five ; however my ,
w ound was handsomely chronicled and with a touch ,
of m y o w n description such as is really heartfelt

'
.
,
Of course it was not quite cured yet and I felt ,
very shy about it ; and the very last thing I desired

T H E M AI D OF SK E R : 2 27
was for the women t o c ome bothering Tush " I .
have no patience with them they make such a fus s

o f a trifle .
B u t being bound upon such an err and and anxious ,
t o conciliate them s o far as self-respect allowed and ,
knowing that if I denied myself t o them the move ,
ment woul d be much greater I let them have p eeps

, ,
and perceive at the same time that I really did want

a new se o S hirts H a f a dozen o f damsels began
t f l - - .
at once to take my measure and the res u lt w ill last

my lifetime .
But amid all thi s glorification whenever I thought

, ,
o f settling there was o n e pretty face that I longed

,
to s ee and to my mind it beat the whole o f them

,
.
What was become o f my pretty Polly the lover o f ,
my truthfu l tales and did S he still remember a brave

, ,
though no t young o fficer in the Navy who had saved ,
her fro the jaws o death by catching small pox

m f ,
-
from her ? These questions were answered just in

time and in the right manner also by the appearance
, ,
of Polly herself outblushing the rose at S ight of me

, ,
an d without a spot o n her face except from the very

,
smart ve il she was wearing Fo r she was no longer

.
a servant now but free and independent an d there

, ,
fore entitled to take the veil and S he showed her ,
high spirit by doing this t o the deep indignation of

,
all o ur maid -servants And still more indignant

.
were these young women when Polly demeaned her ,
self as they declared with a perfectly shameless and

, ,
brazen -faced manner of carrying on towards the noble

’
o ld tar They did not allow for the poor thing s
.
gratitude to the only on e who came nigh her in her

despairing hour and saved her life thereby nor yet ,
for her sorrow and tender feeling at the dire conse

u en ce to him ; and it was not in their power
q ,
perhaps to sympathise with the S hock she felt at

,
my maimed and war beaten appearance H owever

- .
,
I carried the whole o f it off in a bantering manner as ,
usual .
S till there was o ne resolution I came to after long ,
pu z zling in what way to cope with the almost fatal

difficul ty o f having to trust a woman S o I said to .
myself that if thi s must be done I might make it

, ,
serve two purposes — first for discovery o f what I

sought and then for a test o f the value o f a female
, ,
about whom I had serious feelings These were in .
no way a ff ected by some news I picked up from

Nanette o r as she now call ed herself The wido w
, , ,
“
H eaviside Not that my old friend had left thi s

.
”
world but that he gave a wide berth to the part con

,
tainin g his beloved partner S he with a F rench .

,
’
woman s w it and s agac ity saw the ad vantage of ,
Yes Pau llee the Pau llee which hav e that hor
'
, ,
rible pest that makes holes in the face s Verole ’

.
‘
w e call it The Pau llee that was in the great man

.
sion until she have the money left the niece o f the
, ,
proud woman of manage You shall with great .
facility find that Paullee O f course I could for she

.
”
,
had told me where I might call upon her whi ch I ,
did that very same afternoon .
And a pretty and very snug cottage it was j ust a ,
furlong o r so above the fine old vill age o f Braunton ,

, ,
with four or five beautiful meadows around it and a ,
bright pebbly brook at the turn o f the lane The .
cottage itself even now in November was hung all

, ,
over wit h China roses and honeysuckle in it s second

,
bloom whi ch it often shows in D evonshire And up

, .
at the window that shook off the thatch and looked

, ,
’
wide -awake as a dog s house a face more bright than , ,
the roses came and went away and came again to

, , , ,
put a good face upon being caught .
H ereupon I dismiss ed the boys who with several , ,
rounds o f cheers had escorted me through Braunton ;

,
and with genuine thankfu lness I gazed at the quiet

and pleasing prospect S o charmin g now in the fall
.
o f the leaf what wo ul d

,
it be in the spring -time wi th ,
the meadows all breaking anew into green and the ,
trees all ready for their leaves again ? Also t hese

T HE M AI D OF SKER . 2 3 1
bright red D evonshire cows all belongin g to Polly , ,
—
and even now streaming mil ily a firkin apiece was
k
the least to expect o f them in the merry May m onth , .
A very deep feeling o f real pe ac e and the pleasure o f ,
small things fell o n me ; for a man of SO many years ,
and o ne arm might almost plead to himself some

,
right t o shed his experience over the eart h when ,
his blood had been c urdling on so many seas .

.
’
The very same thought was in Polly s eyes when
she ran down and opened the door for m e The .
whole of this prop erty w as her o w n or would be at ,
least when her o ld grandmother would allow herself

,
to be buried That o ld woman now w as ni nety-five

.
,
if the parsons had minded the register ; and a woman

more fully resolved to live o n I never had the luck
t o meet with And the worst o f it was that her con
.
,
’
sent to Polly s marriage was needfu l under the ancient ,
’
cow-keeper s will with all o f the meadows so de
,
scribed that nobody could get ou t o f them H ere

,
.
upon somehow I managed t o see that a very bold

, ,
stroke was needed And I took it and won the o ld.

,
lady over by downright defiance I told her that

,
.
she w as a great deal too youn g t o have any right t o
an opinion ; and when S he should come to my time

o f li fe S he would find me ready to hearken her
, S he .
said that no doubt it was bred from the wars for

2 32 T HE MA ID OF SKER .
s ailors to talk so bravely ; but that I ought t o know

—
better with a fie and a sigh and a fie again To
, , .
none of this would I give ear but began to rebuke all ,
the young generations holding to ridicule those very

,
points upon which they especially plume themselves ,
until this most excell ent woman began to count all

her cows on her fingers .
H er can t have them No her shan t have they

’ ’
.
, ,
she cried with a power which proved that s he s aw

,
’
the m droppi ng I nto my j aws almost ; her han t a got
’ ’
em yet ; and why should her have em
a Into this very fine feeling and sense o f possession
I entered so amiably that amid much laughter and
,
many blushes o n the part o f Polly (who pretended t o

treat the whole thing as a j oke) the old lady put o n ,
her S ilver goggles and set down her name to a mem

,
o ran d u m prepared o n the spur o f the moment by

,
me Whereupon I quite made m y mind up to go

.
bravely in for it and recompense Polly for all her

,
faith and gratitude and frugality if she sho ul d prove

, , ,
herself capable o f keeping counsel also .
To thi s intent I expressed myself as elegantly as

could be having led Polly ou t to the wooden bridge
, ,
that nobody else might hear me F or that fine old .
wom an became so deaf all o f a sudden that I had , ,
n o faith in any more o f her organs and desired to be ,

before he should cross the Ch annel ; unl ess I took it

o n myse lf to fetch him .
Polly opened her blue eyes to such a si z e at all I

told her that I became quite uneasy lest she sho u ld
,
O pen her mouth in proportion Fo r if my disco very .
once took wind before its entire completion there ,
would be at least fifty j ealous fe llo w s thrusting their

oars into my own rowlocks and robbing me of my ,
o w n private enterprise Also M iss Polly gave way

.
to a feeling of anger and indignation which cer t ainly ,
m ight be to some extent natural but was to say the , ,
least of it in a far greater measure indiscreet and

, ,
even perilous .
“
O h the villain " oh the cruel vill ain " she ex ”
claimed in a voice that quite alarmed me c onsider

, ,
i ng ho w near the footpath was and a mi nister o f

the Gospel too " O h the poor little babes o n e a drift ,
o n the s ea and the other among them naked sav ages "
,
’
What a mercy as they didn t eat him " And to blame
the whole of it on a nice harmless kind spoken ,
-
, ,
handsome gentleman like our Captain " O h let me

, ,
get hold o f him

That my dear Polly we never shall do if yo u
, , ,
raise your voice in this way Now come away from .
these trees with the ivy and let us speak very

,
quietly .
”
T his de ar c reature did (as n early as coul d be ex

p e ct ed ) what I told her ; so that I really need not
repent o f my noble faith in the female race This .
encouraged me ; from its tendency t o abolish pre

judice and to let the weaker vessels S how t hat there
,
is such a thing as a cork to them M en are apt to .
ju dge too much by experience on this subject when

they ought to know that experience never does apply
to women any more than reason does
,
.
Nevertheless my Polly s aw the way in and ou t o f

a lot o f things which to me were di fficul t E spe
,
.
cially as to the manner o f handling her cousin M rs ,
S hapland a very good woman in her way but a tick

, ,
lish one to deal with And all the credit for all the
.
truth we got o u t o f Mrs S hapland belo ngs not to

me (any more than herself) but goes down in a lu m p
,
to poor Polly .
T o pass this lightly— as now behoves me— just let
me tell what S usan Shapland said when I worked ,
it o u t o f her Any m an can get the truth o u t o f a

.
woman if he k nows the way ; I mean of course s o

, , ,
far as she has been able to receive it To expect .
more than this is unreasonable ; and to get that much

is wonderful H owever Polly and I between u s
.
, , ,
did get a good de al o f it .
O f co urse we did not let this good woman even

,
guess w hat we wanted with her ; only we borrowed a

’
farmer s cart from Bang my old boy who was now
, ,
’
set up in a farm on his grand m other s ashes ; a nd his
horse was not to be found fault with if a man did hi s ,
duty in lashing him This I was ready to under

.
stand w hen pointed o u t by Polly ; and he never

,
hoisted his tail but what I raked him under his

counter .
S o after a long hill commanding miles and mi les

,
o f the course of the river we fetched up in the c ourt

,
yard of F armer S hapland and found his wife a brisk

,
sharp woman quite ready to tell her story But

,
.
what she did first and for us at this moment was to

, , ,
r Ou se u
p the
‘
fire with a great dry fagot crackling ,
and sparkling merrily For the mist o f November

.
was no w begin ning to crawl up the wavering valley ,
and the fa di ng light from the west struck c ol dl y o n

the win di ng river .
In suc h a case and after a drive o f many miles and

,
’
much scenery any man loves to s ee pots and pans
,
goaded briskly to bubbling and sputtering or even to ,
help in the business himself so far as the cook will,
put up with it And then if a foolish good woman

.
allows him (as pride sometimes indu ces her) to lif t

up a pot lid when trembling with flavour o r give a
-
,
Shake to the frying pan in the ecstasy of cra ckling

-
,
CHAPTER LX IV .
S US AN "U IT E A C "U IT S HERS E L F .
IT really does seem as wise a plan as any I am ao

u ain t ed with t o let this good woman act according
q ,
to the constitution of her s e x— that is to s ay to s ay

, ,
her s ay and never be contradicte d We contradicted

, .
her once o r twice to reconcile her to herself ; but all

,
that came o f it was to make her contradict perhaps

herself but certainly us ten times as much S he did
, ,
.
her best to explai n her meaning ; and we really

ought to enter more into their di sabilities Therefore .
let her tell her story as nearly in her o w n words

, ,
poor thing as my sense of the E nglish language can

,
any style agree with .
I was nurse at N arnt on Court ever so many years ,
— M
ago when my name was S usan ogge idge C har r — ,
ley yo u cannot deny it you know ; and all of us must

, ,
be content to gro w old it is foolish to lo ck at things

,
otherwise Twelve and six that makes eighteen ;

.
,
n ow , Captain Wells you k now it do and Charley , , ,
can you say otherwise ? Then it mus t have been

eighteen years agone when I was took o n for under ,
nurse because the Princess was expecting the same

, ,
as the butler told me And it came to pas s o n a .
S unday night with two miles away from the doctor

,
.
O rders had been given ; but they foreigners always

do belie them To o soon always o r t oo lat e ; and
.
,
these two little dears was too soon by reason o f the ,
wonderful child the eldest one was prepared for .
A maid she was and the other a boy ; two real,
beauties both o f them ; as fair as could be with ht t le ,
clear dots under their skin in corner places because , ,
o f their mother the Princess But nothin g as any .
o n e would observe except for a beauty to both of

,
them The boy was the biggest though the girl came
.
,
first ; and first was her nature in everythi ng except , ,
o f course in fatness and by re as on of always dancing

, , .
N o t six months o ld was that child before she could

dance o n the kitchen table wi th only on e hand to ,
hold her up and a pleasure it was to look at her

, .
And lau gh with her little funny face and n o d her ,
head she would as if S he saw to the bottom of every

, ,
thing And when she were scarce turned the twelve

.
month She could run lik e— o h just like anythin g

, , , ,
and roll ov er and over o n the grass with her Pom

2 40 T H E M AI D OF S K ER .
’ ’
y o lianian dog as she called
, him and there wasn t a ,
word in the language as ever come amiss to her but ,
’ ’
for the r s or the y s in it Words such as I could .
lay no tongue to she would take and pronounce right

,
o ff and then laugh at herself and everybody

,
And .
the way S he used to put her hands o u t laying down ,
the law to all of u s— w e didn t want a Showman in

’
the house so long as we had M iss Bertha or Bardie ’

, ,
as she called herself though christened after her ,
mot her E verybody the poor little mite She ex

.
, ,
p ec t ed everybody to know her name and all about

her ; and nothing put her in such a passion as to
pretend not to know who S he was ’
I s e Bardie she .
,
’
used to cry ou t with her little hands spread and her

, ,
’ ’
bright eyes flashing ; I s e Bardie I tell a ; and evely ,
body knows it O h yes and she never could say

’
.
,
t h — but niss and nat for this and that

’ ’ ’
‘ ‘ ‘
And
, .
how an gry she used to be to be sure if anybody , ,
mocked her as we used to do for the fun o f it But

,
.
even there she was up to us for she began t o talk

, ,
French for revenge upon us having taken the trick

, ,
from her mother .
Likewise the boy was a different child altogether ,
in many ways H e scarcely could learn to speak at

.
all because he was a very fine child indeed and qui et

, , ,
and fat and easy H e would lie by for ho urs on a

, .
them " But they had scarc ely t ime to know him ,
before they were sadly murdered ; or worse perhaps , ,
for all that any one knows to the contrary Because .
S ir Philip s younger son Captain D rake Bampfylde

’
, ,
c ame from the seas and America just at thi s time ,

.
N 0 o ne expected him of course from among such , ,
distant places ; and he had not been home for three

years at least and how noble he d i d look until we
, ,
saw how his shir ts were cobbled " And every o n e
all about the place said that his little finger was
’
worth the whole of the S quire s body Because the .
S quire his elder brother and the heir o f Sir Philip

, , ,
was o f a n ature not to say— but I cannot make it

,
clear to you N0 o ne could s ay a word against him ;

.
o nl y he were not what you may call it —not as we

, ,
—
D evonshire people are not with a smile and k ind ,
look o f the eye the same as Captain D rake was

, .
“
This poor Captain D rake —poor or bad I scarc e ,
know which to put it after all I have heard of him

,
— anyhow his m i nd was set upon a little chit o f a

thi ng not more than fifteen at this time H er name
, .
w as Isabel Carey and her father had been a noble

,
man and when he departed this life, he ordered her

,
o ff to N arnt on Court S o she did at an early age ;

.
and being so beautiful as some thought she was des

, ,
perate with the Captain They used to go walkin g .

T HE M AI D OF SKER . 243
all up in the woods or down o n t he river in a boat

, ,
until it was t oo bad o f them The Captain I dare .

,
s ay meant no harm and p erhap s he did none ; but

, ,
still there are sure t o be talkative people w ho want

t o give their opinions If Charley had c arried o n
.
s o with me whatever shoul d I hav e thought o f

,
myself ?
Well there was everybody saying very fine things
,
to everybody gay doings likewise and great feasts

, , ,
and singing and dancing and all the rest And the
, , .
Captain hired a pleasure -boat by name t he Wild ,

‘
’
D uck o f Appledore ; and I never shall forget the
day when he too k a whole pack o f us for a sail o u t
over Barnstaple bar and back I w as forced to go .
,
because he needs must take the ch ildren ; and several

even old people were sick but no o ne a quarter s o ,
bad as me And it came into my mind in that state

.
,
that he was longing as well as welcome to cast us

, ,
all into the raging sea H owever the Lord preserved

.
,
us This little ship had o ne mast as they call it and

.
, ,
he kept her generally in a little bend just above

the salmon-weir s o as to see the men draw the pool
, ,
and himself to shoot the wild -fowl from a covered ,
place there is ; and by reason o f being so long at sea ,
he could not sleep comfortable at the Court but must ,
needs make his bed in this pleasuring -ship and to it ,

he used to go to and fro in a little white boat as

belonged to it .
All this time the weather was so hot we c ould

scarcely bear ou r clothes on and were ready to envy
,
them scandalous savages belonging to the famous

Parson C how ne who went about with no clothes o n
, .
There was o ne o f these known to be down on the

burrows a bathing of his wife and family if a decent
-
,
woman may name them so Well the whole of these

.
,
gay goings on to celebrate the return of S ir Philip

, ,
and o f C aptain D rake and all that they owed to the

,
Lord for H is goodness was to fi ni sh up with a great

,
dinner to all the tenants o n the property ; and then

’
o n the children s birthday a feasting o f all the gentry
,
around ; and a dance with all sorts o f outlandish

dresses and masks on in the evening For the
,
.
fashi on o f this was come down from London and ,
there had been a party of this sort over to Lord

’
Bassett s and the neighbourhood was wild with it .
And after this everything was to be quiet because ,
my Lady the Princess Bertha was again beginni ng to

expect almost .
A nd now Captain Wells you would hardly be

, ,
lieve what a blow there was sent by the will o f the,
Lord upon all of this riot and revelry There was

, .
many o f us having pious disposals as well as religious

,
sure of any one else almost I c ould not help look .
ing at them although m y place w as to heed the

,
children only and keep them ou t o f mischief and

, ,
take them to bed at the proper time But Captain .
D rake who was here there and elsewhere making

, , , ,
himself agreeable up he comes to me with a bottle

, ,
and he says M ary have some ,

’
My name is not
‘
,
.
M ary but S usan sir and much at your servi c e I

, ,
’
, ,
answered ; so that he poured me a great glassful and ,
said that it was S am— something I was not so .
rude as to give him denial but made him a curts y , ,
’
and drank it for it was not so strong as my father s
,
cider ; no nor so good to my liking And for any to

,
.
say that it got in my head shows a very spiteful ,
woman The Captain went o n t o the other maids as

.
,
were looking on for the life of them all being o u t -o f ,
doors you must mind and longing to have their turn

, ,
at it But I held myself above them always and

.
,
went back to my children .
These were in a little bower made up for the

occasion with boughs o f trees and twisted wood
, , ,
and moss from the forest to lie upon Master Philip .
was tired and heavy and working his eyes with the ,
backs o f his hands and yawning and falling away, ,
almost But that little Bertha was as wide -awake as

.
a lark on her nest in the morni ng E verywhere she .

W as looking about for somebody to encourage her to

have more play as she always c alled for ; and more
’
,
’
play continually That child was so ful l of life it
.
,
’
was more play all day long with her " And even
‘
now in t hefiery heat and thorough down thirst o f

,
the weather nothing was further fro m her mind than

,
to go to bed without a gambol for it S he had n o .
thing o n but her little shift or under-frock I sho ul d ,
c all it made by myself when the hot weather came

, , ,
from a new j em m yset o f the Prin c ess and c ut o u t by ,
my lady to fit her for the sake o f the coolness H er .
grand white upper frock trimmed with la c e had , ,
been taken o ff by her papa I believe when the , ,
visitors would have her dan c e o n the table and make ,
speeches to the m ; the p oor little so ul was so quick

and so hot .
Well I do declare to you Captain Wells and

, , ,
Charley Polly likewise whi ch will believe me

, , ,
though the men may not it was not more than a ,
minute or so much perhaps I sho u ld say not half a

,
minute as I happened t o turn round to pass a com

,
p lim e n t with a young man as seemed struck w ith me

the S unday before in church -time ; a sailor he were ,
and had come with the Captain and was hi s mate of ,

“
the pleasure -boat A right dow n handsome young

.
man he w as—no call for yo u to be j ealous Charley , .

Beneath the salt waves he do lie Well I turned .

,
back my head in about five seconds and both of the ,
babes was gone o u t o f my sight At first I were not

frighten ed much I took it for o n e of Miss Bertha s
.
’
tricks to make o ff wi t h her little brother S o strong

,
.
she was on her legs though light that many a time

, ,
she would lift him up by hi s mid dl e and carry hi m
half round the roo m and then both of them break ou t

,
’ ’ ’
laughing I ll whip you you see if I don t I cried as
.
, , ,
I ran round the corner to seek for them though w hip

them I never did poor dears any more than their
, ,
o w n mother did I ran all about for five minutes at

.
,
least around and among the branches stuck in to

,
make the bower and every moment I made up my

,
mind for Miss Bardi e to pop o u t on me But pop out .
she never did nor will until the day o f judgment

, , .
“
When I began to see something more than an
innocent baby trick in it and to think (I daresay ) o f ,
’
these two babies value with all the land they were,
born to the first thing I di d was to call ou t Jack "

,
’ ‘
’
such being all sailors names of course B u t Jack , .
was gone o u t of all hearing ; and most folk said it was

Jack that took them " To the contrary I co u ld s w ear
but who would listen to me when the lie went ou t
that I was qui te tipsy ?
“
O f the rest I c annot s p eak clearly be c ause my ,
are getting so dark ; and I never can see the moon

and the water like that and the trees without re
, , ,
m em bering No w ask me no more if you please

.
, ,
good people .
When Mrs S hapland had finished this tale and was ,
tak ng some well earned refreshment Polly and I

i -
,
looked at o ne another as much as to say That settles

, ,
it . N or did we press her with any more questions

”
until her mind had recovered its tone by frying some

sli ces of ham cut thin and half-a-do z en new -laid eggs
,
for us T hen I approached her with no small praise

.
, ,
which she deserved and appeared (so far as I coul d

,
j udge) to desire perhaps ; and wi t h a little skill on

,
my part she was soon warmed up again having tasted

, ,
egg fl ip to be sure o f it
-
,
.
Yes Captain Wells you can see through the

, ,
w hole o f it S ailors can understand a river when

.
,
nobody else kno ws anythin g The Captain came for .
ward as soon as he could and he says You fools , ,

‘
,
what are you about ? An hour ago the tide was

r u nning five k n ots an hour where you be dragging "
If the poor children fell over they must be down ,
’
river bar by this time
- And off he set out on .
a galloping horse to scurry the sand-hill s some

,
how And scurry was now t he whole o f it S ir

. .
Philip came forth and that poor S qui re Philip ;

,
TII E M AI D OF SK E R .
and a thousand pounds w as as freely talked o f as if

it was halfpence And every one w as to be put in
.
prison ; especially me if you please as blameless as

, ,
the unborn babe w as " And that very night the

Princess were taken and died the next day upsetting
, ,
everythi ng ever s o much worse than ever F or poor

, .
S quire Philip fell into a trance so to s ay ou t of sheer , ,
v exation H e cried o u t that the hand o f the Lo rd

.
was upon him and t o o heavy for him t o bear— parti

,
cul ar from his o w n brother And aft er that not an

.
inch wo ul d he budge t o make inqui ry or anyt hin g ,
but S hut himself up in hi s dead wife s rooms and

’
,
there he have moped from that day to this in a li ving ,
grave as you may call it

, .
”
In reply to my question what reasons the S quire ,
o r any one else might have for charg ing the Captain
,
with s o vile a deed this excellent woman s et them

,
forth pretty much to the foll owing purport First it .

,
was the Captain himself who proposed the dancing

o n the terrace . S econd it was his own man who
,
drew her attention away from the children after a ,
goblet o f wine had been administered by the master .
Third it w as his own boat which was m i s sin and

,
0
O ,
never heard of afterwards F ourth the Capta in .

,
himself disappeared from the party at the very time

that the children were stolen and refus ed to say ,
whi ther or why he was gone That active and shrewd

, , .
m an Parson C ho w n e no sooner heard o f the loss than
he raised a cry for the Captain all over the terrace ,
to come and command the fishermen ; and though as

a friend of the family C ho w n e wo u ld never express
an Opinion he could n o t undo that s ad shake o f the
,
head which he gave when no Captain could be found .
Fifth a man with a Captain s hat was seen burying

,
’
t w o small bodies that night in the depth o f Braunton

,
Wilderness though nothing was heard o f it till the

next week t hrough the savageness of the witness ;
,
and by that time t he fierce storm o n t he S unday

had changed the whole face o f the burrows so ,
that to find the spot was impossible S ixth it was .

,
now recalled to mind that D rake Bampfylde had

kill ed a poor schoolfellow in his yo u ng days for ,
which the Lord had most ri ghteously sent a shark

in pursuit o f him It was likely enough that he
.
would go on killing children upon oc c asion S eventh .
—
reason and perhaps worth all the rest only think
,
what a motive he had for it No o ne else could .
gain S ixpence by it ; D rake Bampfylde woul d gain

—
everything the succession to the title and estates ,
and the immediate right to aspire to the hand of the

beautiful heiress M is s Carey who was kn own to
, ,
favour him .
nothing more tha n was needful j ust to keep her talk

,
ing E xperience shows us that this need be v ery

.
little indeed if anything in a female dialogue But

, ,
.
n ow I was brought to such a pitch o f tenderness by
this time with my heart in a rapid pulse o f descrip

,
tions and the egg-flip going round sturdily also Polly

, ,
looking at me in a most beseeching way that I could

,
not keep my ow n counsel even but was compelled to

,
increase their c omf ort by decl aring everything .

CH APTE R LXV .
SO DOES POOR O LD DAVY .
HEREUP ON , y may well suppose that the grass

ou
must no longer grow un der my feet With one man .

,
an d positively two women in this very same county

, ,
having possession o f my secret how lo n g coul d I

,
hope to work this latter to any good purpose ?

Luckily Burrington lay at a very gr eat distance from
Nym pt on o n the M oors and with n o road from On e
,
to the other ; s o that if M r and M rs S hapland Should

fail of keepin g their promised tightness at least two ,
Barnstaple market d ays must pass before Nympton

-
heard anything And but for this consideration even

.
,
their style of treatment wo ul d n ot have made me so

c o n fiding
.
O n the following morn while looking fort h

,
pigs at ,
and calves and cocks and ducks I perceived that

, , ,
the crash must come speedily an d resolved to be

,
downright smart with it S o after making a brisk

.
little breakfast upon the two wings and two legs o f

,
a goose grilled with a trifle o f stuffing there was but

, ,
o n e question I asked before leavin g many warm tears
behind m e .
Good Mistress S hapland wo uld you know that ,
j em m yset of the child if you s aw it ?,
Captain Wells I am not quite a natural My

,
.
ow n stitching done with a club -head all of it and , ,
’
o f a three -lined thread as my uncle s and nobody ,
else had to Barnstaple Likewi se the mark o f the

, .
Princess done a m annygram as they call it

, ,
.
The w eather was d u ll and the time o f year as ,
stormy as any I know o f nevertheless it was qu ite

fine now and taking upon my
,
self to risk five gui neas
o u t of my savings Ilfracombe was t he place I sought
, ,
and found it with some difficul ty Thus mi ght .
Barnstaple bar be avoided and all the tumbling of ,
inshore waters ; and thus with no more than a pilo t

yawl did I cross that dangerous channel at the most ,
dangerous time o f the year almost Nothing less .
than my R oyal clothes and manifest high rank in

the Navy cou ld have induced this fine old p ilot to
make sail for the O pposite coast in the month o f
November when violent gales are so common with
,
us But I S howed him two alternatives three golden

.
,
guineas o n the o ne hand impressment o n the o ther ;

,
her as if She had been hi s daughter we will start

, ,
to -morrow if Llewell yn thinks the weather quite

,
settled and the boat quite safe H e knows so much

, .
about boats you see It woul d take us a week to

, .
’
go round by land B ut we won t start at all if you
.
,
cry my dear "

,
”
’
I did not altogether like the tone o f the Colonel s
all usion to me ; still less was I pleased when he
’
interrupted Lady Blu ett s congratulations thanks , ,
and fervent praises of my skill perseverance and , ,
trustiness in discovering all this vill any .
“
H umph " said the C olonel ; I am not quite
” “
sure that this vill any woul d have succeeded so long ,
unless a certain small boat had proved so adapted

for fishing purposes .
”
Why H enry cried hi s sister how very unl ike

,
“
you " What an unworthy insinuation " A fter all

M r Llewellyn has done ; it is positively ungrateful .
And he spoke o f that boat in thi s very room as I ,
—
can perfectly well remember not oh not I am —
,
sure any more than a very few years ago my dear ,

.
”
E xactly said the C olonel ; too few years ago

“ ” “
.
,
If he had spoken of that at the time as distinctly ,
as he did afterwards when the heat of inquiry was ,
over and when S ir Philip himself had abandoned it

, ,
I do not see how all this confusion between the loss ,

of a foreign shi p and the castin g away of a British

boat could have arisen or at any rate could have
, ,
failed t o be cleared away Llewellyn you kn ow .

,
that I do not j udge hastily S ir I condemn your .

,
conduct .
”
O h Colonel how dreadful o f you " M r Llew el

“
, ,
lyn go and look at the weather whil e I prove to the

, ,
Colonel his great mistake You did speak of t he .
boat at the very inquest in the most noble and posi ,
tive manner ; and nobody would believe you as you ,
your very self told me What more coul d any man .
do ? We are none o f us safe if we do our very best , ,
and have it turned agains t us .

”
M y conscience all this time was beatin g so that I ,
could hear it This is a gift very good men have

.
,
and I have made a point o f never fail ing to cultivate

it In this trying moment wi th even a man so kin d
.
,
and blameless suddenly possessed no doubt by an , ,
evil spirit against me stanch as rock my conscience

,
stood and to my support it rose cre di tably for both

, ,
o f us .
C olonel Lougher my answer was you will

, ,
regret this attack on t he honour o f a British o fficer .
O ne moreover whose great -grandfather harped in

, ,
your H onour s family C aptain Bluett understands

’
.
the buil d of a boat as well as I do H e shall lo c k at .

that boat to morrow morning and if he declares her

-
,
to be E nglish b ui lt you may set me down with all

-
, ,
my stripes and medals for a rogue sir But if he , , .
confirms my surety of her being a foreigner nothing ,
but diff erence o f rank will excuse yo u Colonel ,
Lougher fro m being responsible to me

, .
My spirit was up as you may see ; and the honour

,
o f the British Navy forced me to speak strongly :
although my affection for the man was such that

sooner than offend him I would have my other arm ,
shot a w ay .
“
Llewellyn said t he Colonel with his fine old
, ,
smile S preading very pleasantly upon his noble coun

t en an ce you are o f the peppery order which your
old Welsh blood produces Think no more of my .
words for the present And if my nephew agrees .
with you in pronouncing the boat a foreigner I will ,
give you full satisfaction by asking your pardon Llc ,
w ellyn .It was enough to mislead any man .

”
Not to dwell upon this mistake comm itted by so

—
good a man but which got abroad somehow though
,
my old friend Crumpy I am sure co ul d never have , ,
—
been listening at the door be it enough in this hurry
to say that o n the next morning I was enabled to
,
c ertify the weather A smartish breeze fro m the

.
north -north -west with the sea rather dancing than

,
always that I could have done the like to

'
, n ev er
Colonel Lo ugher had often been at s ea in the time ,
o f his active service and he seemed to enj oy thi s trip

,
across channel and knew all the names o f the sails

,
and spars But falhng in as we di d wi th no less

.
than three or four small craft o n o u r voyage he asked ,
’
me how D elu shy s boat could possibly have been
adrift for a whole ni ght and day on t he channel with ,
o u t any S hip even S ighting her I told hi m that thi s .
was as simple as could be during that state o f the

,
weather A burning ha z e or steam from the land

.
, ,
lay all that time on the water ; and the lower part
thereof was white while the upper spread w as yellow
,
.
Al so the sea itself was whi te from the long continued

-
calmness s o that a whi te boat scarcely woul d sho w

,
at half a m ile o f distance And even if it did what

.
,
sailors were likely to keep a smart look out in such

-
roasting weather ? M en talk o f the heat ashore some

ti m es ; but I know that for downright smiting blind ,
ing and overwhelming sun-power there is nothing

, ,
ashore to c ompare w ith a ship .
Al so I told the Colonel now that his fait h in me

,
was re-established gliding over the water thus I w as

, ,
enabled to make plain to him things which if he had

been ashore might hav e lain p erhaps a little beyond
his understandin g I S howed him the s et of the

.
tides by tossing corks from his bottles overboard and ,
begging him to take a glass of my perspective to

watch them And he took such interest in this and
.
,
evinced s o much sagacity that in order t o carry o n ,
my reasoning with any perspicacity cork after cork ,
I was forced to draw to establish my veracity

, .
Because he would argue it o u t that a boat u n ,
manned an d even u nm ast ed never could have crossed ,
’
the channel as Bardie s boat must needs have done .
I answered that I might have thought s o also and ,
had done s o for years and years till there came the ,
fact to the contrary ; o f which I w as pretty well

satisfied now ; and when the boat was produced and
sworn to who would not be satisfied ? Al so I begged
,
to re mi nd him how strongly the tide ran in our chan

nel and that even in common weather t he ebb o f the
,
Spring ou t of Barn staple river might safely be put at

four knots an hour till H artland point was doubled
, .
H ere about two in the m orn ing the flood would

, ,
catch the little wanderer and run her up channel ,
some ten or twelve mil es with the night -wind o n the

,
starboard beam driving her also northward When

- .
this was exhausted the ebb would take her into

,
S wansea Bay almost bei ng s o light a boat as she

,
w as with a southern bree z e prevailing

,
An d then .
2 64 T HE M AI D O F SK E R .
the next flood might well bring her to S ker — exactly ,
the thing that had come to pass M oreover I thought

.
,
as I told the Colonel (although o f course with diffi

dence ) from long acquaintance with tropical waters
,
and the power of the su n upon them I thought it by ,
no means unlikely that the intense heat o f the wea

ther then for more than six weeks prevailing might
, ,
have had some strong effect on the set and the Speed
o f the currents .
H owever no more o f arguments What good can

,
.
they do when the thing is there and n o reasonin g

, ,
can alter it ? E ven Parson C how ne might argue and ,
no doubt would with himself (although t oo proud

with other people) that all he did was right and
, ,
himself as good a man as need be .
We ran across channel in some six hours having ,
a nice breeze abaft the beam and about the middle

,
o f the afternoon we landed at Ilfracombe cleverly .
This is a litt le place lying in a hole and with great ,
rocks all around it fair enough to look at but more

, ,
easy to fall d own than to get up them And even .
the Barnstaple road is so steep that the first hill takes

nearly two hours o f climbing Therefore in spite o f
.
,
all eager spirits we found ourselves forced to stay

,
there that nigh t for no o ne would horse us onwards

, ,
so late at this November season .

ow n gr and-dau ghter although I could not help

,
grumbling ; and thus we began to explore a lane as

crooked as a cork -scre w and w ith ferns like palm ,
trees feathering In among them little trickling rills

.
o f water tinkled o r were hushed sometimes by moss

, ,
and it looked as if no frost c ould enter through the

leafy screen above .
“
What a country to be born in " What a c ountry
to belong to 1 exclaimed the maid conti nually sip
”
,
ping from each crystal runnel and stroking the ferns ,
with reverence Uncle H enry don t you think now

.
’
,
that it is enough to make o ne happy to belong to

such a land ? ”
“
Well my d ear said her Uncle H enry as S he
, , ,
had been ordered to call the Colonel I think it ,

“
would still more conduce to happiness for some of

the land to belong to you Ah Llewellyn I see is .
, , ,
o f my opinion
”
.
S o I was and still more so next day when having

, , ,
surmounted that terrible hill we travelled down rich ,
dairy valleys on o u r road to Barnstaple H ere we .
halted for refreshment and to let D elu shy rest and

,
beautify herself although we could see no need o f

,
that And now she began to get s o frightened that

.
I was qui te vexed with her : her first duty w as to do

me credi t ; and how could she manage it if her eyes ,
were red ? The Colonel also began to provoke m e ,
for when I wanted to give the maid a sti ff glass of

grog to steady her he had no more sense than to
,
countermand it and order a glass o f cold water

,
As soon as we cam e to N arn t on Court we found a ,
very smart coach in the yard that quite put to shame

,
o ur hired chaise although the good C olonel had taken

,
four horses s o as to land us in moderate style O f

,
.
course it was proper that I who alone could claim

,
’
S ir Philip s acquaintance as well as the merit o f the
,
whole affair sho ul d have the pleasure of introducing

,
his new grandchild to him ; s o that I begged all the

rest to withdraw and the only names that we sent
,
in were Captain Llewellyn and M iss D elu shy

, .
”
Therefore we were wrong no doubt in feeling first a

, ,
little grievance then a large -minde d impatience and

, ,
finally a strong desire— ay and n ot the desire alone

,
—to swear before we got ou t of it I speak of m y

,
.
self and Captain Bluett two good honest sailors

, ,
ac c ustomed to declare their meani ng since the war

enabled them But Colonel Lougher (who might be
.
said from his want of active service to belong to a

, ,
past generation) as well as D elu shy who was scarcely

, ,
—
c ome into any generation yet these two really set ,
an example good though hard to follow

, , , .
CH A PTE R LXV I .
T HE M AI D AT L AST I S D E N T IFI E D .
H OW EVER as too often happens we blamed a good

, ,
man without cause A good man rarely deserves

.
much blame ; whereas a bad man cannot have too

—
much whether he has earned it or otherwise to —
restrain hi m from deserving more The reason why .
S ir Philip Bampfylde kept us so long waiting proved ,
to be a sound and valid o n e ; namely that he was ,
e ngaged in earnest and important converse with hi s

daughter law Lady Bampfylde n ow wife (if yo u
-in -
, ,
will please to remember) to Commodore S ir D rake

Bampfylde although by birth entitled the H onourable
,
Isabel C arey the on e that had been so good to me

,
when I was a ferryman ; o f superior order certainly ; ,
but still no more than a ferryman "

,
S ince my ri se in the world began I have found o u t ,
o e satis fa c tory thing

n — that a m an gets o n by merit .
she was taking wedlock and being of Opinion that ,
an honourable miss ought always to be called a

“ ”
lady . My name is Lady Bampfylde and I lik e

it if you please : although I remember Mr Llewell yn
, , ,
w hat your views are o f matrimony Yo u used to .
declare them only too plainly whenever we crossed ,
your ferry for the purpose as I used to think o f

, , ,
driving poor Nanette to despair of you .

”
And a lucky thing for me your ladyship to have , ,
acted so consistently But his H onour the Commo

.
dore o f co u rse holds the opposite opinion

, ,
.
”
It is hard to guess the O pi nions of a commodore

always on service S ir D rake as I daresay you have
.
,
heard can scarcely bear to co m e home now

, .
I saw that she was vexed by something and al so ,
vexed with herself perhaps for having even hinted

, ,
it F or she turned her beautiful face away and

.
,
”
usual quickness of step I ran intr) the lobby-place
,
’
and back in a moment with o u r Delu shy cli nging ,
like a woodbine to a post A t such moments I .

,
never speak until women begin with questions It

, .
sa ves so much time to let them begin ; because they

are sure to insist o n it M eanwhil e D elu shy was .
making the prettiest cur tsy that presence of mind

permitted .
You lovely dear why who are you ? cried Lady

, ,
Bampfylde with a start that made me dread hysterics

, ,
.
I do not know M adam answered D elus hy with

, , ,
the whole of her m ind so well in hand by reason of ,
years o f suffering ; but many people believe me to

be the Bertha Bampfylde that was lost nearly twenty ,
years agone .
”
“ —
What " The baby " The baby at least o n e of
— —
the babies that my husband D avid Llewellyn ,
thi s is very cruel o f you .

”
And that was all the thank s I got " While what ,
c oul d I have done otherwise ? In five m in utes more ,
she would have been o ff in her grand coach wi t h Six
horses after offending S ir Philip s o much that he

, ,
could not have borne to look after her although o f ,
course he was now comin g ou t lik e a gentleman to

,
a visitor S eeing such a pay -night comin g and a

.
,
large confus ion I begged Colonel Lougher and Cap

,
tain Bluett to keep for a little w hile out of it An d .
nothing could more truly prove how thoroughly

these were gentlemen than that they withdrew to
,
’
a ni che o f the under-butler s pantry wherein they ,
could hear no word o f it .
It was now my place to stand forward bravely ,
and to put things clearly ; without any further loss

o f reason and even without considerin g ho w these
,
delicate ladies might contrive to take my meani ng

nicely To spare good ladies from any emotion is on e
.
,
o f the main things o f my life ; although they show
such a want o f gratitude when I have done my utmost

, .
But as for frightening S ir Phili p o f course I , ,
had no scruple about that because o f his confi

dence in the Lord Therefore abando ni ng Lady
.
,
Bampfylde to the care o f her maid who was running ,
’
up from the servants hall to look after her I fixed
'
my hook (screwed o n for the purpose) firmly into

’
D elu shy s sleeve that she might not fain t o r run
, ,
away or do anything else unreasonable and I led

, ,
her up the long hall to meet S ir Phili p as he came ,
down the steps at the upper end t hereof .
The Old General looked rather haggard and feeble ,
as if the power o f hi s life were lowered by perpetual

patience But something had happened to vex him
.
,
no doubt in his interview with Lady Bampfylde so

, ,
that he walked with more than his usual stateliness

and dignity H e had never beheld me as a o ne
.
armed man nor yet in my present u ni form for I took

, ,
particular care to avoid him during the day o r two

S pent at his house before I went to Bu rrington so for ,
a moment he did not know me but gazed with surprise ,
at the lovely figure which I was sustaining so clumsily .
S ir Philip Bampfylde allow me I said stretch

, ,
”
,
2 74
1
S ir Philip perceived a thing which had escaped me ,
though brought to my notice beforehand by ou r good

Colonel Lo ugher that I s to say how hard it would ,
be u pon the feelings of this young girl to have her ,
identity (as Crowner Bowles entitled it ) di scussed

”
in her o w n presence Therefore she was led away

.
by that regular busybody the housekeeper Mrs ,
C o ckhan t erbu ry ; whil eI begged leave to introduce

C olonel Lougher and Captain Bluett to S ir Phili p
Bampfylde And then when all had made their
.
bows and all due salutations I was called upon to ,
S how my documents and explain the evidence so

carefu ll y gathered by me .
It is as much above my power as beyond my pur ,
pose to tell how that ancient and noble gentleman

, ,
after so much worry from the long neglect of Provi

dence took (as if he had never deserved it) this
,
goodness o f the Lord to him Of course in my class

.
,
o f life we cannot be always dwelling on children ;

,
whose nature is provoking always and in nothing ,
more so than that they will come when not wanted ;

yet are not forthcoming with the folk who can afford
them Nevertheless I think that if the Lord had
.
,
allowed any thief o f a fellow (much more one o f His

o w n ministers ) to steal two grandchildren of mine ,
and make a savage o f one baby and o f the other a ,

T HE M AI D O F SKER .
“
2 75
c astaway the whole ,

my piety woul d hav e been
of
very hard pushed to produc e any gratitude S ir .
Phili p however did appear most truly desir ous t o

, ,
thank God for thi s great mercy vou chsafed to him ;

even before he had thoroughl y gone through the in s
and outs of the evidence F or he begged us to ex c use
.
him while he sho ul d go to see to our c omfort ; and

,
two fine bottles of wine (white and red) appeared ,
and began to di sappear under m y hatches mainl y, ,
before o u r noble host came back to set us a good

example And when he came he had qu ite forgotten
.
to dus t the knees of some fine kerseymere and the ,
shins o f black silk stockings .
D eep sense of religion is quite in its place when a .
man has had o ne arm shot o ff still more so if both ,
arms are gone and after a leg indispensable N ever

, , .
t heless it mus t not be intruded upon any on e ; no ,
not ev en by the chaplain till the doctor S hakes his

, ,
head Knowing also that Colonel Lougher had a

.
tendency towards it (enough to stop the decanters if

he should get upon that subj e c t with the arguments
it sticks fast in ) I was delighted to s ee Delu shy
,
Slipping into the room as if She had known the pla c e

for a century The General clearly had managed t o
.
visit her during the time of his absen c e fro m us ;

what passed between them matters not ex c ept that ,
he must have acknowledged her For now she went .
up to him and kissed him rather timidly perhaps , ,
but still she touched his forehead Then he arose

and stood very upright as if he had never begun to ,
stoop and passing his arm round her delicate waist

, ,
bot h her hands he took in his And as they faced .
us we were struck with the lik eness between bloom

,
ing youth and worn but yet majestic age .
Gentlemen he said or rather I shoul d c all you

,
”
,
kind good friends you have brought me not only a

,
grandchild but the

, very one I wo ul d have chosen if
the whole world gave me choice By-and -by you .
shall see her stand by the picture o f my dear and

long-lamented wife That I thi nk will convince .
, ,
you that we want no further evidenc e F or me .

,
these thumb -nails are enough Bertha show your .

,
thumb -nails .
”
S he laughed her usual merry laugh (although S he

had been crying so) while she spread her dainty ~
hands exactly as she used t o spread them when she

, ,
w as only two years old with me al o n e to look at her

, .
H ere it is sir cried the General overlooking

, ,
”
,
m e in the rush o f hi s sentiments towards the Colonel :

,
here is the true Bampfylde mark E ven the Bassets .
have it not nor the Traceys nor the S t Al byns Will

, , .
y o u oblige me by observing that these two thumb

C H A P T E R LXV I I .
DOG E AT S DOG .
To a man whose time of lif e begins to be a subj e c t

,
o f some c onsideration to him when the few years

,
still in hope can be c ounted on a hand an d may not ,
need a finger ; and with the tide of this world ebbing

to the inevitable sea— to hi m there is s c arcely any
sweet an d gentle pastime more delightful than to sit
o n a bank o f ancient moss beside a tidal river and
, ,
wat ch the decreasing waters and pro v e his o w n eter

,
ni ty by casting a pebble into them .
H ence it w as that S ir Phil ip Bampfylde on the ,
very morning after I gave him back hi s grandchild ,
sate ga zing into the ebb o f the Tawe some fifty yards
,
’
below the spot whence Jack Wildman s father carried
,
o ff s o wickedly that helpless pair o f children H ere .
it was my privil ege to come up to S ir P hi lip and ,
spread before him my humble reasons for having

preferred the kitchen last night to the dining -room
T HE M AI D O F SK E R . 2 79
and the drawing-room It was consistent with my

.
nature ; and he though wis hing otherwise agreed

, ,
not to be offended .
Then I asked him how the young lady (whos e

health every on e o f u s had honoured all over t he ,
kitchen-table ) had contrived to pass the night and ,
whether she had seen her father yet H e sai d she .
had slept pretty well c onsidering bu t that as con

,
;
c erned her father they had not thought it wise t o let

,
‘
her see him u ntil t he doctor came There w as no

, .
’
telli ng how it might act upon S quir e Phi lip s cons ti
t ut io n after s o many years o f misery cobwebs and
, , ,
desolation For Pro vidence had not g ifted him with

.
’
a m ind s o strong as his father s was and the sudden ,
break in on the death o f the mind has been known ,
in such a case to lead to bodily decease But few

, .
things vexed the General more than that wr etched

’
h e o f C ho w n e s and slander upon a loyal family
,
while in service of the Crown What Captain D rake

.
had landed from the boat was not an arm -chest but ,
'
a chest of plate and lin en belonging to his brother

, ,
which he wo u ld no longer borrow while the S qu ire

,
so cruelly dealt with him

Then I asked S ir Phili p whether the ancient builder
over at Appledore had been sent for to depose to the
boat ; for we had brought that little c raft on the top
2 80 T HE M A I D O F SKER .
o f our c oach fr om Il frac ombe The General said that .
I might see him even now examining her if I woul d ,
o nl y take the trouble to look round the corner ; but

he himself was so well c onvinced w ithout any furt her ,
testimony that he did not even care to hear what the

,
o ld man had to s ay o f it any more than he cared for

,
the jemm yset This however is not my manner o f

.
, ,
regardin g questio ns Not fro m any private fountains

.
o f c onviction and s o o n but ou t o f the mouths o f

, ,
many wi tnesses shall a thing be established There .
fore I hastened round the corner to sift this ancient ,
boatw right .
AS surly a fello w as e v er lived and from his re ,
p g
u n an c e to my uniform o n e who had made more ,
’
money I doubt by the smuggler s keg tha n the
, ,
’
shipwright s adze E ntering into hi s natu re at sight
.
,
I took the u pperhand o f him as my rank insisted on , .
H ark ye now master ship -carpenter where was

, ,
thi s little craft put together ac c ording to your ,
o p inion
E ither this fell ow was deaf as a post or else he ,
m eant to ins ul t me for he took no more notice of m e

,
than he did o f the pigs that were snu ffling at beech

nuts down by the side o f the landing-place I am .
not the right man to put up with insolence there

f ore I s c rewed my hammer-head into the socket
pleasantness I turned my head and there beheld

, ,
Captain Bluett harkening .
Come he cried o u t in hi s hearty manner what

,
”
, ,
“
a c ook s boiling o f fools we are H ere we are chew

’
ing a long-chewed qu id whil e the devil t hat brewed

,
thi s gale o f wind may fly far away and grin at us ,

.
Llewellyn do you mean to allow

,
“
H ush I S aid softly for that low shipwright
,
”
,
showed his eyes comi ng up under his cap And I .
saw that he was that parti c ular villain after hi s ,
scurrilous words about me who woul d sell his sou l ,
to that wretch o f a C how n e for half-a-crown a-week

almost Therefore I led ou r young Captain Bluett
.
’
well away out o f this fellow s hearing .
D avy said he we all know your courage your

,
”
, ,
rea di ness and your resources S till you appear t o be

,
.
under a spell — and you know you are superstitious

about this cunni ng and cowardly blackgu ard who ,
frightens the whole o f this country as he never co ul d ,
frighten Glamorganshi re .
”
“
I have no fear o f him sir I said ; I will go , ,
“
with you to confront him .

”
Why your teeth are ready to chatter Llewellyn ;

, ,
and your lips are blue " You who stood like a mile
stone they tell me at the helm o f the Goliath o r
, , ,
like a clock going steadi ly tick before we fired a ,

T HE M A I D OF SKER . 2 83
S hot and with both shell and shot through your grey
,
whiskers
B ut ,Captain a minister of the Lord
,
M aster a mini ster of the devil— once for all t o

, ,
day I go to horse -whip hi m if he is young enough

,
or to p ull hi s nose if he is old enough and O ld H arry

,
be with him In choice of the two ? "ounds S ir is it , ,
a thing to laugh at ? ”
R odn ey Bluett was well known to every o ne who

served under hi m for the mildness o f his language ,
and the want o f oaths he had and so o f cou rse for , ,
his self-c ontrol and the power o f hi s heart w hen it

,
did break forth E verybody loved him because

.
he never cursed any one at a venture and kept hi m ,
self very close to facts however hard dri ven by cir

,
cu m st an ces ; s o that I was now amazed to hear this
young man spoil my pipe with violent emotions .
“
H ave you consulted S ir P hili p ? I asked ”
.
is hi s place to take up the questio n

What question 7 There is no question The .
thi ng is proved M y duty is plain S ir Philip is too

. .
old to see to it . The S quire is a spooney The Com .
m o do re is not here yet I have S poken to his wife

.
,
who is a very sweet and wise lady ; and she agrees

with me that it will save the family a world o f scan
dal ; and perhaps fail ure o f the law for me to take
,
2 84 T HE M AI D OF S K ER .
t he law into my ow n hands and thrash this black ,
guard within an inch o f hi s life .

”
To be sure and save her husband from the risk

,
o f tackling a desperate man It is most wise o n her .
part But I beg you my dear sir for the sake o f

.
, ,
your dear u ncle and your good mother keep clear o f ,
this quarrel Yo u k now not the man yo u have to

.
deal with E ven if you c an thr ash him whi c h is no

.
,
easy business he will shoot you afterwar ds H e is

, .
the deadest shot in the county .

”
H urrah cried R odney tossing up his hat ; ,
that entirely settles it Come along old fello w and

.
, ,
show us the way : and not a word to any one .

”
Now this may seem a very mad resolve for a man

o f my sense to give in to But whether I turned m y
.
self thi s way or that I coul d see no chance o f better

,
ing it If I refused to go young R odney (as I co ul d

.
,
see by the s et of hi s mouth) would go alone and per ,
haps get killed and then how could any o f the family
,
ever look at me again ? O n t he other hand if I ,
should go to the Colonel or to the General for , ,
opinion and to beg them to stop it my interference

, ,
— nine chan c es to one— would only end in giving

offenc eamong the superior orders Add to this my .
real desire to square it ou t with C how ne himself ,
after all his persecution and you may be able to for

,
we did not see the lan dl ady ; but ye best way not to
’
go nigh u n .
”
Al r eady I seemed not to feel as I hoped in the ,
earlier stage c f the j ourney My thoughts had been .
very upright for a while and S pirited and delighted ;

, ,
but now I began to look at things from a different

’
point o f view almost It is not man s business to
.
worry his head about righting o f wrongs in this

world unl ess they are done to himself ; and if so
, ,
revenge is its name and an ugly on e Long life

, .
lea ds on e to forgive when to carry it on would be

,
troublesome .
Through the dri p of dying leaves the chill of dull ,
November now began t o darken over us as we turned

the corn er of Chow n e s o w n road and faced his lonely
’
,
mansion The house had a heavy and sullen look

.
,
according to my ideas not receiving light and ple as

'
ure o f the sun when possible H eavy fir-trees over .
hung it never par t ing with their weight ; and the

,
sunset (when there was any) could n o t pierc e the

holm oaks
- .
“
What a gloomy and devilish place " cried R od ”
ney Bluett beginning to tremble from some unkno w n

,
influence Up on my soul if I lived here I sho ul d

.
, ,
be hatching plots myself O r is it the nature o f the

.
man that has made the place so horrible ? ”

Let us go back said I ; c ome back my good ,

“
,
sir I conjure you

, S uch a man shoul d be left to
.
God to punish in His ow n good time

, .
”
“
H ark " cried R odney pul ling up and listenin g
”
, ,
’
through the gloomy wood ; that was a woman s “
scream I am sure Is he murdering some more little

, .
ones ? ”
We listened and heard a loud piercin g shriek that

, ,
made ou r hair stand on end almost s o mad was it , ,
and so unearthl y ; and then two more o f yet wilder

agony ; and after that a long low wailing .
O n o n " c ried R odney Bluett ; you know these

,
”
paths gallop o n D avy

, , .
”
Yo u go first I an swered ; your horse is fr esher ;

“ ”
,
— —
I am c oming to be sure I am do you think I am
frightened
’
Well I don t know he replied ; but I am n ot
, ,
ashamed to ow n that I am .
”
Clapping spurs to his horse he dashed o n ; and ,
thoroughly miserable as I felt there was nothing for ,
me but t o follow him .
In the name o f the Lord what a S ight we came o n , ,
where the drive sweeps round at the corner o f the

house " Under a dark tree of some sort and o n a ,
garden bench we discovered the figures of two

,
women O r rather o ne sate o n the bench ; the

.
,
other lay stretched on the ground with her head ,
c ast recklessly back o n the ledge her hair spread in ,
masses over it; and both hands pressed on her eyes

and ears to shut o u t sight and hearing H er lips
,
.
were Open and through her white teeth came wails

,
o f anguish that wo ul d have been shrieks if nature

, ,
had not failed her .
But the elder woman sate upright in scorn of all ,
such weakness with her gaunt figure dr aw n like a

,
c able taut no sign of a tear on her shrunk en chee ks

, ,
and the whole of her face as numb and cold as an

iced figu rehead in the Arctic seas Yet no o ne with .
,
k nowledge of the human ra c e coul d doubt which o f ,
these two su ffered most .
We reined up o u r horses and gaz ed in terror for , ,
neither o f them noticed us and then we heard fro m ,
inside the house sounds that made ou r flesh c reep

, .
Barkin g howling snapping o f teeth baying as o f a

, , ,
human bloodhound frothy S plutterings o f fu ry and , ,
then smothered yelling .
H er have a gat u n n ow cried a clown run ning

’
, ,
round the end of the house as if he were enjoying ,
it. R eckon ou r passon w u n t baite much moore

“ ’
,
’
after Passon Jack be atop o f u n .
’
O h S ir oh sir oh for God s sake S ir cried the
“
, , , ,
poor lady who had lain o n the ground rushing up to ,

290 T HE M AI D OF SKER ;
trembling foot man wh o ran away knowing that he

, ,
brought this light for his master to be strangled by .
And in the corner now lay his m aster smothered ,
under a feather-bed yet with his vicious head

fetched ou t in the last rabid struggle to bite There .
was the black hair black face and black to ngue , , ,
shown by the frothy wainscot or betw een it and the ,
.
—
ticking O n the feather bed lay exhausted and with ,
his mighty frame convu lsed so that a child might ,
master hi m Parson Jack R am bo n e the strongest

, ,
man whose strength (like all other powers ) had laid

,
a horrible duty upon hi m S obbing with all his .
great heart he lay yet afraid to take hi s weight o ff

, ,
and sweating at every pore with labour peril o f hi s ,
life and agony

, .
“
O h D ick D ick he said quite softly and be
,
.
, , ,
tween hi s pantings how m any larks have we had “
together and for me to have to do thi s to you " I

,
am sure you knew me before you die d I think ,
you know me now D ick O h for God s sake shut ,

.
,
’
,
yo ur eyes " D arling D ick are you dead are you , ,
dead ? You are the very cleverest fellow ever I

c ame across o f You can do it if you hk e O h
.
, .
,
dear D ick D ick my boy do shut your eyes "

, , ,
”
We stood lookin g at them with no power to go up ,
to them ; all experienc e failed u s as to what w as t he

proper thin g to do till I saw that C hown e s fac e

,
’
ought to have a napkin o ver it None had been laid .
for dinner ; but I knew where butlers keep them .
When I had done thi s Parson Jack (who coul d,
not escape from the great black eyes) arose and said , ,
I thank you sir, .H e staggered so that we had to

”
support him ; but not a word coul d we say to hi m .
“
I am bitten in two places if not more he rather , ,
”
gasped than said to us as he laid bare hi s enormous

,
arms . I c are not much I will follow my friend

“
. .
O r if the Lord sho ul d please to spare me hen c eforth ,
I am an altered man And yet for the sake of my

.
,
fam ily will you heat the k itchen poker ?

,
”
C H A P T E R LXVI I I .
T HE O LD P IT C HER AT T H E W E L L A G AI N .
IT helps a thou ghtless man o n his road towards a better

kingdom to get a glimpse every now and then o f
, , ,
such visitations of the Lord When I was a little .
boy nothing did me so much good in almost all the

,
Bible as to hear my father read the way in whi ch

,
H erod was eaten o f worms And now in mature .
years I received quite a serious turn by the death

,
o f this Parson C how n e o f ignominious canine mad
ness And still more when I came to kn ow by what

.
,
con dign parental justice this visitation smote him .
F or wh le the women were busy u p stairs by

i -
candle-light and with some weeping it fell to

, ,
’
Parson Ram bon e s lot to lay the truth before u s .
This great man took at once to Captain R odney

Bluett as if he had known hi m for years ; n or did
,
he fail to remember me and in his distress to seek

,
some comfort from my simple wisdom S o having .

ledge Of the affairs o f the family Also two Justi c es .
o f the Pea c e who had signed the warrant for poor

,
’
C how n e s end u pon the report o f t he doctors but
, ,
c ould find no one of strength and courage to carry it

o u t except Parson Jack ; these sate with us to get
,
their supper before the long cold ride over the moors
, .
And there sate Parson Jack himself with his thick ,
hands trembling hopeless o f eating a morsel but

, ,
dreading to be left alone for a moment .
What a difference it will make in all this neigh

bou rho o d to be sure "
, S o said on e of their
”
worships .
Ay that it will
,
answered his brother magi s
,
trate . S ince Tom Faggu s died there has not been ,
such a man to be found nowhere round these here ,
parts .
”
N o nor To m Faggu s himself said the other

, ,
a noble highwayman he were but for mind not fit ,
to hold a candle to our lamented friend n ow lying

up there in the counterpane .
”
Parson Jack shuddered and shook his great limbs ;

,
and feigned to have done so on purpose ; and then

in defiance c ollected himself and laid his iron hand ,
o n the table watching every great muscle to see how

, ,
long he cOu ld keep it fro m trembling Then I arose .
—
and grasped s hand for nobody else understood
hi
T HE M AI D OF SK E R ; 2 95
him at all— and he let me tak e it with reluctance

-
,
wonder and then deep gratitude H e had been s ay

,
.
ing t o hi mself— as I knew though his lips never

,
moved ; and hi s face was set in scorn of all our

,
—
moralising withi n himself he had been thi nk ing ;
I am Jack K etch ; I am worse I am Cain I have .
murdered my ow n dear brother .
A nd I w ho had seen him bran d his bitte n arm with

,
the red-hot poker laying the glowing iron on until

, ,
the blood hissed o u t at it I alone could gage the

,
strength of heart that now enabled him to answer

my grasp with his poor scorched arm and to S h o w ,
his gr eat tears and check them

,
.
E nough o f this I cannot stand these melancholy

,
subjects A man o f irreproachable life with a ten

.
,
deneytowards gaiety never must allow his feeli ngs

,
to play ducks and drakes wi th him If the j ustice .
o f the Almighty fell upon C ho w n e —as I said it

wo u ld -let C how n e die and let us hope that his
,
so ul was not past praying for It is not my place

.
to be wretched be c ause the biggest villain I ever

,
knew showed his wit by dying of a dise ase which

gave him power to snap at the very devil whe n ,
in the ful ness o f time he S hould come thirstin g to

lay hold o f him An d but for my purpose o f proving
.
how purely j ustice does c ome home to us well c o ri ,

tented would I be to s ay no more about him Why .
had he been such a villain through life ? Because

he w as an impostor Why did he die o f rabid mad
.
ness u nder the clutch o f his o w n best friend ? B e

,
c ause he lashed his favourite ho u nd to fly at the

throat of his ow n grandfather .
’
Not only does it confirm one s faith in the honesty
o f breeding but it enables me to acquit all the
,
C ho w n es o f D evonshire— and a fine and wholesome

race they are — o f ever having produced such a scamp ,
in true course o f legitimacy ; also enables me not t o

point ou t so much as to leave all my readers to think
,
o f the humble yet undeniable traces o f old D avy s

’
,
sagacity .
What had I said to Mrs S teelyard when she over ,
bore me SO upon an empty stomach 7 M adam I

, ,
”
said your son you mean " And it proved to be

, ,
”
o n e o f my famous hits at a range beyond that o f

,
other men W hen great stirs happen truth comes

.
,
o u t ; as an earthquake starts the weasels .
E verybody knows what fine old age those wander

ing gypsies c ome to The two most killing cares we
.
have are money and reputation H ere behold gypsy

, , .
wisdom " The disregard o f the latter o f the two does

away with the plag ue o f the former They take what .
they want ; while we clumsy fellows toil for the c ash

2 9 8 T HE M AI D OF S K ER .
T he hound was shot and the horse shared his f at e

,
in less than six weeks afterwards ; and as for the

Parson we know too well what they were forced to
,
do with him .
In her first horror t hat sto ny woman even Mrs , ,
S teelyard when her son came raveni ng at her coul d

, ,
not keep her secret It is the judgment o f God “

“
.
,
she cried ; after all there is a G o d H e set the dogs .
at his grandfather and now he wo ul d bite his ow n

,
mother " ”
H ow S he had managed to place him in the stead

o f the real C how n e heir I never heard o r at least no , ,
clear account o f it ; for she was not (as we know

already ) o n e who woul d answer questions Let him .
rest whoever he wa s
,
H is end was bad enough
‘
even for him .
E nough o f this fright —for it was a fright even to

me I assure yo u — let us come back to the innocent
,
people injured so long by his villany .
To begin with Parso n Jack Never in all his li fe .
had he taken a stroke towards hi s o w n salvation ,
until by that horrible job he earned repentance fear , ,
and conscience And not o nl y this (for none of these

.
would have stood him in any service with C hown e ,
still at his elbow) but that the face —which had

, ,
drawn him for years like a loadstone of hell to destr u o

, ,
T HE MAI D OF SKER . 2 99
tion —no w ever p resent in its terror till his prayers

, ,
got rid of it shone in the dark like the face o f a scare

,
crow if ever he durst think of wickedness H is

, .
wife found the benefit o f t his change and so di d ,
his growing family and so did the people who

,
flocked to his church in t he pleasure of bei ng ,
afraid of him In the roads he might bite ; but

.
,
in his Surplice he w as bound to behave himself

, ,
o r at least he must bite the churchwarden first

, .
Yet no o n e would have him to sprinkle a child ,
u ntil a whole year was over And then he re .
stored himself under a hint from a man beyond

,
him in intellect he made everybody allow that the

poker had entirely cured him by preaching from the ,
bottom o f his chest with a glass o f water upon the

,
cushion a sermon that stirred every heart with the

, ,
text Is thy servant a dog that he should do thi s

,
“
,
thing ?
I quit him with sorrow ; because I found him a
man o f true feeling and good tobacco We got o n
,
.
together so warmly that expense alone divided us .
H e would have had me for parish clerk if I c ould

-
,
have s een my way to it .
What prevails w ith a man like me foremost first ,
O f everything ? Why love o f the blessed native land

‘
— which every good W elshman will love me for I .

3 0 0 T HE M AI D OF SKER .
may have done a thing no w and then below our , ,
native dignity except to those who can enter into all

,
the thi ngs we look at It is not o u r nature alto

.
gether to go for less than ou r value We know that

, .
we are o f the oldest blood to be found in this ancient

island and we ask nothing more than to be treated
,
as the superior race should be .
In the presence o f such great ideas who cares ,
what be c omes o f me ? I really feel that my marriage

to Poll y and prolongation o f a fine old breed scarcely
, ,
ought to be S poken o f A man who has descri bed

.
the battle o f the Nile need no t d w ell on matrimony .
H urried speech does not become me o n any other

subj ect E verybody has the right to know and
.
,
everybo dy does know how the whole of North,
D evon was filled wi t h joy t alk and disputation as

, , ,
to Commodore Bampfylde and the brightness o f his

acquittal They drew him from Barnstaple in a
.
chaise wi t h only two springs broken men having

, ,
taken the horses o u t and do ne their best at collar

,
work H e would have gladly j umped o u t and kicked

.
them but for the feeling o f their goodwill

,
.
N othing would have detracted from this and the ,
feasts that were felt to be due upon it if S quire ,
Philip had only known how not to die at a time

when nobody was seasonably called on to think o f
30 2 T HE M A I D OF SKER .
Ou r dear M aid o f Sker woul d also give her beauti

ful son only six months old Bampfylde Lougher
, ,
Bluett t o go to t he wars and to fight the French ;

, ,
if any one coul d o nl y show her the way to do with

o u t him H e cocks up his toes in a manner whi ch
.
,
proves that his feet are meant for ratlines .
H ow the war is raging " I run to and fro upon ,
hearing o f F elix F arley s Journal and am o nl y fit to

’
,
talk o f it S ir Philip comes down with his best

.
,
tobacco whenever he stops at C an dles t on And a

, .
craft has been built f or me on purpose by the old ,
fellow at Appledore and her name it is the M aid

,
o f S ker —to dance across the Channel whenever a

”
,
o n e-armed man can navigate Colonel Lougher and

.
,
even Lady Bluett have such trust in me that they

, ,
c ross if their dear D elu shy seems to pine too much

for her husband And the M aid herself has brought
.
her so n as proud as if he came o u t of a wreck to

, ,
exhibit him to Moxy and R oger and B rm ny and

, , ,
—
S tradling the clerk in a word to all the parish and , ,
the extra-parochial district .
Now I hope that nobody will ask me any more

questions c on c erning any o ne male or female If I
, .
c annot speak well o f —

a person m y rule is to be
silent .
H ez ekiah found h is knavery altogether useless .

3 0 3
in
He scraped himself home at last ; and buil t a

'
bellows -organ at Bridgend with a 74 -gun crash to ,
.
u —
it H is reputation is therefore p especially S inc e
he rej oined the church— in all churches that can
afford him Yet he will not always own that I was
.
his salvation H epzibah prophesies nothing except

.
,
that Polly s lit tle so n D avid Llewellyn will do

’
,
“
,
”
something wonderful to keep the ancient name up , .
It may be so And I think that he will B u t hi s

. .
father never did it H ow many chances have I .
missed " H ow many tim es might I have advanced

to stern respectability Yet some folk will like m e
"
better and I like myself no less for not having

, ,
—
feigned to be more than I am a poor frail fell ow .
The children still c ome down to the well with ,
’
three o f our Bunny s foremost ; they get between
my kn ees and open blue or brown eyes up at me
, .
In spite o f R oger B erkrolles nodding to instil more

manners some of the prettiest stroke my white beard
, ,
coaxing for a story Then they push for w ard little

.
D avy thinking that I spoil him s o because o f hi s

, ,
decided genius giving such promise of bard-hood

already it woul d do you good to hear him o n the
’
Jew s harp Nevertheless I answer firm ly nine
.
,
times o u t o f ten at least

“
Little dears is all I say Captain D avy is
,
”
,
“
3 4
0 T HE M AI D OF S K ER .
getting o ld It is hard to tell a tale but easy to

.
,
find fault with it You tell me that my left arm will

.
grow quite as long as my right one if I only w ill ,
shake it about and keep a hollow sleeve o n M y

, .
pets when I get another arm I will tell you another

, ,
story .
”
THE END .
PR I N T E D B Y W I LL I AM B L AC K W O O D A ND S O NS , E D IN B UR G H.

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By L A U RE N CE W M L O C KH AR T Author

WI DDLE M AR C H : A ST U D YO F EN GLIS H P O VI N CIAL R L I FE .

l i y E diti Revi s ed and C o rr ec ted

G enera o f H er Maj es ty s rc s L b rar ’

I C CAD ILLY A FR A GME NT OF C O NT E MPO RA R Y B I O G RAPHY

B y L A U R E N C E O L I PHANT W t h E ght Il us tr at ons b y ar o e

Fo urt h E iti on, 6 8 l

HE C O MI N G R AC E . S ixth Edi t ion . C rown 8 vo , 6 8 .

W O RK S O F G EO R G E EL I O T . Unif orm E dit ion .

THE S YS T E M O F FI EL D MAN (E UVRES B ES T

E ACH N O VEL COM PL E T E I N ON E VOL UME .

SIR AND W W YL I By J h G alt

A t the p r ices quo ted , the Vo lu m es a r e in boa r d s, w ith p r inted cover s

F or 6d extr a t hey ca n be ha d st r o ngly bo u nd in clo th, let tered

W I L L I A M BLAC K W OOD AND ’

X LI X . O NE W HO HAS I NT ER RED HIMS EL F ,

S U SAN " UIT E AC " I U TS H E R S E LF ,

BY this time we were up to all the ins and outs o f

and the clever art o f splicing that you cannot play

loose tricks in trying o n a yarn with him Jerry

Toms and I w ere ready long before that day was,

never more undo them Jerry went even b eyond

my views as was sure to be because he knew so

much less of the m atter ; he would hav e it that

noble British uniform had buried them deep in

B raunton Burrows wearing a c o ok ed for a shovel

O n the other hand while I agreed with Jerry up ,

to a certai n distance I knew more of Parson C ho w ne ,

(whom he never had s et eyes upon ) than to listen t o

all the people in the house made so highly much of

conclusions so widely and with S O much a rrogance , ,

that it did not grieve me (after he got u p) to have

H owever in the mornin g he was all right and

being informed upon every side that the cook did it

it having paid more attention to her than a married

lady should admit though parted from her husban d

H owever she forgave him nobly an d he did the

same to her ; and I with all my knowledge o f ,

women made avowal in the presence O f the lady

housekeeper that my o nl y uneasiness was to be

c ertain whether I ought to admire the more Jerry s ’

behaviour or M rs Cook s A nd the cook had no

certainty in the morning exactly what she m ight ,

This little matter made a stir far beyond its value ;

cook and hou sekeeper a lso a glance at the ﬁrst

ho u semaid t hat we S hould righ t all m i sund ers tand

m g by dinin g together comfo rt ably an hour before , .

between t w o admirable persons An d H eaviside .

came in just then and put t he cap o n all Of it by

saying that true sailors were the gr eatest o f all

had asked and got leave from the gamekeepers to

give a grea t rabbiting that afternoon down on Braun

bury bei ng the lady-housekeeper wo ul d grace the

scene with her presence and let every m aid come to ,

n either displaying any manner at all w as received ,

with the hottest applause ; and for some time Jerry

and I had to look at on e another without any woman ,

to notic e us We made allowance for this of course

although we did no t like it F or after all who was .

H eaviside ? But we felt so sorely the ill effect s o f

ce to ok more o r less the marks o f knuckles ) that

a sense o f sti ffness helped us to m ake no obj ection

the maids had made u p their minds for frolicking .