"Ha! say'st thou?" said Cromwell; "thou hast powerful motives, I doubt
not, for running thy head into a noose. But I will speak with thee by
and by. - Ho! Pearson, Gilbert Pearson, take this scroll - Take the elder
woman with thee - Let her guide you to the various places therein
mentioned - Search every room therein set down, and arrest, or slay upon
the slightest resistance, whomsoever you find there. Then note those
places marked as commanding points for cutting off intercourse through
the mansion - the landing-places of the great staircase, the great
gallery, and so forth. Use the woman civilly. The plan annexed to the
scroll will point out the posts, even if she prove stupid or refractory.
Meanwhile, the corporal, with a party, will bring the old man and the
girl there to some apartment - the parlour, I think, called Victor Lee's,
will do as well as another. - We will then be out of this stifling smell
of gunpowder."
So saying, and without requiring any farther assistance or guidance, he
walked towards the apartment he had named. Sir Henry had his own
feelings, when he saw the unhesitating decision with which the General
led the way, and which seemed to intimate a more complete acquaintance
with the various localities of Woodstock than was consistent with his
own present design, to engage the Commonwealth party in a fruitless
search through the intricacies of the Lodge.
"I will now ask thee a few questions, old man," said the General, when
they had arrived in the room; "and I warn thee, that hope of pardon for
thy many and persevering efforts against the Commonwealth, can be no
otherwise merited than by the most direct answers to the questions I am
about to ask."
Sir Henry bowed. He would have spoken, but he felt his temper rising
high, and became afraid it might be exhausted before the part he had
settled to play, in order to afford the King time for his escape, should
be brought to an end.
"What household have you had here, Sir Henry Lee, within these few
days - what guests - what visitors? We know that your means of
house-keeping are not so profuse as usual, so the catalogue cannot be
burdensome to your memory."
"Far from it," replied the knight, with unusual command of temper, "my
daughter, and latterly my son, have been my guests; and I have had these
females, and one Joceline Joliffe, to attend upon us."
"I do not ask after the regular members of your household, but after
those who have been within your gates, either as guests, or as malignant
fugitives taking shelter."
"There may have been more of both kinds, sir, than I, if it please your
valour, am able to answer for," replied the knight. "I remember my
kinsman Everard was here one morning - Also, I bethink me, a follower of
his, called Wildrake."
"Did you not also receive a young cavalier, called Louis Garnegey?" said
Cromwell.
"I remember no such name, were I to hang for it," said the knight.
"Kerneguy, or some such word," said the General; "we will not quarrel
for a sound."
"A Scotch lad, called Louis Kerneguy, was a guest of mine," said Sir
Henry, "and left me this morning for Dorsetshire."
"So late!" exclaimed Cromwell, stamping with his foot - "How fate
contrives to baffle us, even when she seems most favourable! - What
direction did he take, old man?" continued Cromwell - "what horse did he
ride - who went with him?"
"My son went with him," replied the knight; "he brought him here as the
son of a Scottish lord. - I pray you, sir, to be finished with these
questions; for although I owe thee, as Will Shakspeare says,
Respect for thy great place, and let the devil
Be sometimes honoured for his burning throne, -
yet I feel my patience wearing thin."
Cromwell here whispered to the corporal, who in turn uttered orders to
two soldiers, who left the room. "Place the knight aside; we will now
examine the servant damsel," said the General. - "Dost them know," said
he to Phoebe, "of the presence of one Louis Kerneguy, calling himself a
Scotch page, who came here a few days since?"
"Surely, sir," she replied, "I cannot easily forget him; and I warrant
no well-looking wench that comes into his way will be like to forget him
either."
"Aha," said Cromwell, "sayst thou so? truly I believe the woman will
prove the truer witness. - When did he leave this house?"
"Nay, I know nothing of his movements, not I," said Phoebe; "I am only
glad to keep out of his way. But if he have actually gone hence, I am
sure he was here some two hours since, for he crossed me in the lower
passage, between the hall and the kitchen."
"How did you know it was he?" demanded Cromwell.
"By a rude enough token," said Phoebe. - "La, sir, you do ask such
questions!" she added, hanging down her head.
Humgudgeon here interfered, taking upon himself the freedom of a
co-adjutor. "Verily," he said, "if what the damsel is called to speak
upon hath aught unseemly, I crave your Excellency's permission to
withdraw, not desiring that my nightly meditations may be disturbed with
tales of such a nature."
"Nay, your honour," said Phoebe, "I scorn the old man's words, in the
way of seemliness or unseemliness either. Master Louis did but snatch a
kiss, that is the truth of it, if it must be told."
Here Humgudgeon groaned deeply, while his Excellency avoided laughing
with some difficulty. "Thou hast given excellent tokens, Phoebe," he
said; "and if they be true, as I think they seem to be, thou shalt not
lack thy reward. - And here comes our spy from the stables."
"There are not the least signs," said the trooper, "that horses have
been in the stables for a month - there is no litter in the stalls, no
hay in the racks, the corn-bins are empty, and the mangers are full of
cobwebs."
"Ay, ay," said the old knight, "I have seen when I kept twenty good
horses in these stalls, with many a groom and stable-boy to attend
them."
"In the meanwhile," said Cromwell, "their present state tells little for
the truth of your own story, that there were horses to-day, on which
this Kerneguy and your son fled from justice."
"I did not say that the horses were kept there," said the knight. "I
have horses and stables elsewhere."
"Fie, fie, for shame, for shame!" said the General; "can a white-bearded
man, I ask it once more, be a false witness?"
"Faith, sir," said Sir Henry Lee, "it is a thriving trade, and I wonder
not that you who live on it are so severe in prosecuting interlopers.
But it is the times, and those who rule the times, that make grey-beards
deceivers."
"Thou art facetious friend, as well as daring in thy malignity," said
Cromwell; "but credit me, I will cry quittance with you ere I am done.
Whereunto lead these doors?"
"To bedrooms," answered the knight.
"Bedrooms! only to bedrooms?" said the Republican General, in a voice
which indicated such was the internal occupation of his thoughts, that
he had not fully understood the answer.
"Lord, sir," said the knight, "why should you make it so strange? I say
these doors lead to bedrooms - to places where honest men sleep, and
rogues lie awake."
"You are running up a farther account, Sir Henry," said the General;
"but we will balance it once and for all."
During the whole of the scene, Cromwell, whatever might be the internal
uncertainty of his mind, maintained the most strict temperance in
language and manner, just as if he had no farther interest in what was
passing, than as a military man employed in discharging the duty
enjoined him by his superiors. But the restraint upon his passion
was but
"The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below."
[Footnote:
But mortal pleasure, what art thou in truth?
The torrent's smoothness ere it dash, below.
CAMPBELL'S _Gertrude of Wyoming_.]
The course of his resolution was hurried on even more forcibly, because
no violence of expression attended or announced its current. He threw
himself into a chair, with a countenance that indicated no indecision of
mind, but a determination which awaited only the signal for action.
Meanwhile the knight, as if resolved in nothing to forego the privileges
of his rank and place, sat himself down in turn, and putting on his hat,
which lay on a table, regarded the General with a calm look of fearless
indifference. The soldiers stood around, some holding the torches, which
illuminated the apartment with a lurid and sombre glare of light, the
others resting upon their weapons. Phoebe, with her hands folded, her
eyes turned upwards till the pupils were scarce visible, and every shade
of colour banished from her ruddy cheek, stood like one in immediate
apprehension of the sentence of death being pronounced, and instant
execution commanded.
Heavy steps were at last heard, and Pearson and some of the soldiers
returned. This seemed to be what Cromwell waited for. He started up, and
asked hastily, "Any news, Pearson? any prisoners - any malignants slain
in thy defence?"
"None, so please your Excellency," said the officer.
"And are thy sentinels all carefully placed, as Tomkins' scroll gave
direction, and with fitting orders?"
"With the most deliberate care," said Pearson.
"Art thou very sure," said Cromwell, pulling him a little to one side,
"that this is all well and duly cared for? Bethink thee, that when we
engage ourselves in the private communications, all will be lost should
the party we look for have the means of dodging us by an escape into the
more open rooms, and from thence perhaps into the forest."
"My Lord-General," answered Pearson, "if placing the guards on the
places pointed out in this scroll be sufficient, with the strictest
orders to stop, and, if necessary, to stab or shoot, whoever crosses
their post, such orders are given to men who will not fail to execute
them. If more is necessary, your Excellency has only to speak."
"No - no - no, Pearson," said the General, "thou hast done well. - This
night over, and let it end but as we hope, thy reward shall not be
wanting. - And now to business. - Sir Henry Lee, undo me the secret spring
of yonder picture of your ancestor. Nay, spare yourself the trouble and
guilt of falsehood or equivocation, and, I say, undo me that spring
presently."
"When I acknowledge you for my master, and wear your livery, I may obey
your commands," answered the knight; "even then I would need first to
understand them."
"Wench," said Cromwell, addressing Phoebe, "go thou undo the spring - you
could do it fast enough when you aided at the gambols of the demons of
Woodstock, and terrified even Mark Everard, who, I judged, had more
sense."
"Oh Lord, sir, what shall I do?" said Phoebe, looking to the knight;
"they know all about it. What shall I do?"
"For thy life, hold out to the last, wench! Every minute is worth a
million."
"Ha! heard you that, Pearson?" said Cromwell to the officer; then,
stamping with his foot, he added, "Undo the spring, or I will else use
levers and wrenching-irons - Or, ha! another petard were well bestowed -
Call the engineer."
"O Lord, sir," cried Phoebe, "I shall never live another peter - I will
open the spring."
"Do as thou wilt," said Sir Henry; "it shall profit them but little."
Whether from real agitation, or from a desire to gain time, Phoebe was
some minutes ere she could get the spring to open; it was indeed secured
with art, and the machinery on which it acted was concealed in the frame
of the portrait. The whole, when fastened, appeared quite motionless,
and betrayed, as when examined by Colonel Everard, no external mark of
its being possible to remove it. It was now withdrawn, however, and
showed a narrow recess, with steps which ascended on one side into the
thickness of the wall. Cromwell was now like a greyhound slipped from
the leash with the prey in full view. - "Up," he cried, "Pearson, thou
art swifter than I - Up thou next, corporal." With more agility than
could have been expected from his person or years, which were past the
meridian of life, and exclaiming, "Before, those with the torches!" he
followed the party, like an eager huntsman in the rear of his hounds, to
encourage at once and direct them, as they penetrated into the labyrinth
described by Dr. Rochecliffe in the "Wonders of Woodstock."
* * * * *
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FOURTH.
The King, therefore, for his defence
Against the furious Queen,
At Woodstock builded such a bower,
As never yet was seen.
Most curiously that bower was built,
Of stone and timber strong;
An hundred and fifty doors
Did to this bower belong;
And they so cunningly contrived,
With turnings round about,
That none but with a clew of thread
Could enter in or out.
BALLAD OF FAIR ROSAMOND.
The tradition of the country, as well as some historical evidence,
confirmed the opinion that there existed, within the old Royal Lodge at
Woodstock, a labyrinth, or connected series of subterranean passages,
built chiefly by Henry II., for the security of his mistress, Rosamond
Clifford, from the jealousy of his Queen, the celebrated Eleanor. Dr.
Rochecliffe, indeed, in one of those fits of contradiction with which
antiquaries are sometimes seized, was bold enough to dispute the alleged
purpose of the perplexed maze of rooms and passages, with which the
walls of the ancient palace were perforated; but the fact was
undeniable, that in raising the fabric some Norman architect had exerted
the utmost of the complicated art, which they have often shown
elsewhere, in creating secret passages, and chambers of retreat and
concealment. There were stairs, which were ascended merely, as it
seemed, for the purpose of descending again - passages, which, after
turning and winding for a considerable way, returned to the place where
they set out - there were trapdoors and hatchways, panels and
portcullises. Although Oliver was assisted by a sort of ground-plan,
made out and transmitted by Joseph Tomkins, whose former employment in
Dr. Rochecliffe's service had made him fully acquainted with the place,
it was found imperfect; and, moreover, the most serious obstacles to
their progress occurred in the shape of strong doors, party-walls, and
iron-grates - so that the party blundered on in the dark, uncertain
whether they were not going farther from, rather than approaching, the
extremity of the labyrinth. They were obliged to send for mechanics,
with sledge-hammers and other instruments, to force one or two of those
doors, which resisted all other means of undoing them. Labouring along
in these dusky passages, where, from time to time, they were like to be
choked by the dust which their acts of violence excited, the soldiers
were obliged to be relieved oftener than once, and the bulky Corporal
Grace-be-here himself puffed and blew like a grampus that has got into
shoal water. Cromwell alone continued, with unabated zeal, to push on
his researches - to encourage the soldiers, by the exhortations which
they best understood, against fainting for lack of faith - and to secure,
by sentinels at proper places, possession of the ground which they had
already explored. His acute and observing eye detected, with a sneering
smile, the cordage and machinery by which the bed of poor Desborough had
been inverted, and several remains of the various disguises, as well as
private modes of access, by which Desborough, Bletson, and Harrison, had
been previously imposed upon. He pointed them out to Pearson, with no
farther comment than was implied in the exclamation, "The simple fools!"
But his assistants began to lose heart and be discouraged, and required
all his spirit to raise theirs. He then called their attention to voices
which they seemed to hear before them, and urged these as evidence that
they were moving on the track of some enemy of the Commonwealth, who,
for the execution of his malignant plots, had retreated into these
extraordinary fastnesses.
The spirits of the men became at last downcast, notwithstanding all this
encouragement. They spoke to each other in whispers, of the devils of
Woodstock, who might be all the while decoying them forward to a room
said to exist in the Palace, where the floor, revolving on an axis,
precipitated those who entered into a bottomless abyss. Humgudgeon
hinted, that he had consulted the Scripture that morning by way of lot,
and his fortune had been to alight on the passage, "Eutychus fell down
from the third loft." The energy and authority of Cromwell, however, and
the refreshment of some food and strong waters, reconciled them to
pursuing their task.
Nevertheless, with all their unwearied exertions, morning dawned on the
search before they had reached Dr. Rochecliffe's sitting apartment, into
which, after all, they obtained entrance by a mode much more difficult
than that which the Doctor himself employed. But here their ingenuity
was long at fault. From the miscellaneous articles that were strewed
around, and the preparations made for food and lodging, it seemed they
had gained the very citadel of the labyrinth; but though various
passages opened from it, they all terminated in places with which they
were already acquainted, or communicated with the other parts of the
house, where their own sentinels assured them none had passed. Cromwell
remained long in deep uncertainty. Meantime he directed Pearson to take
charge of the ciphers, and more important papers which lay on the table.
"Though there is little there," he said, "that I have not already known,
by means of Trusty Tomkins - Honest Joseph - for an artful and
thorough-paced agent, the like of thee is not left in England."
After a considerable pause, during which he sounded with the pommel of
his sword almost every stone in the building, and every plank on the
floor, the General gave orders to bring the old knight and Dr.
Rochecliffe to the spot, trusting that he might work out of them some
explanation of the secrets of this apartment.
"So please your Excellency, to let me deal with him," said Pearson, who
was a true soldier of fortune, and had been a buccaneer in the West
Indies, "I think that, by a whipcord twitched tight round their
forehead, and twisted about with a pistol-but, I could make either the
truth start from their lips, or the eyes from their head."
"Out upon thee, Pearson!" said Cromwell, with abhorrence; "we have no
warrant for such cruelty, neither as Englishmen nor Christians. We may
slay malignants as we crush noxious animals, but to torture them is a
deadly sin; for it is written, 'He made them to be pitied of those who
carried them captive.' Nay, I recall the order even for their
examination, trusting that wisdom will be granted us without it, to
discover their most secret devices."
There was a pause accordingly, during which an idea seized upon
Cromwell's imagination - "Bring me hither," he said, "yonder stool;" and
placing it beneath one of the windows, of which there were two so high
in the wall as not to be accessible from the floor, he clambered up into
the entrance of the window, which was six or seven feet deep,
corresponding with the thickness of the wall. "Come up hither, Pearson,"
said the General; "but ere thou comest, double the guard at the foot of
the turret called Love's Ladder, and bid them bring up the other
petard - So now, come thou hither."
The inferior officer, however brave in the field, was one of those whom
a great height strikes with giddiness and sickness. He shrunk back from
the view of the precipice, on the verge of which Cromwell was standing
with complete indifference, till the General, catching the hand of his
follower, pulled him forward as far as he would advance. "I think," said
the General, "I have found the clew, but by this light it is no easy
one! See you, we stand in the portal near the top of Rosamond's Tower;
and yon turret, which rises opposite to our feet, is that which is
called Love's Ladder, from which the drawbridge reached that admitted
the profligate Norman tyrant to the bower of his mistress."
"True, my lord, but the drawbridge is gone," said Pearson.
"Ay, Pearson," replied the General; "but an active man might spring from
the spot we stand upon to the battlements of yonder turret."
"I do not think so, my lord," said Pearson.
"What?" said Cromwell; "not if the avenger of blood were behind you,
with his slaughter-weapon in his hand?"
"The fear of instant death might do much," answered Pearson; "but when I
look at that sheer depth on either side, and at the empty chasm between
us and yonder turret, which is, I warrant you, twelve feet distant, I
confess the truth, nothing short of the most imminent danger should
induce me to try. Pah - the thought makes my head grow giddy! - I tremble
to see your Highness stand there, balancing yourself as if you meditated
a spring into the empty air. I repeat, I would scarce stand so near the
verge as does your Highness, for the rescue of my life."
"Ah, base and degenerate spirit!" said the General; "soul of mud and
clay, wouldst thou not do it, and much more, for the possession of
empire! - that is, peradventure," continued he, changing his tone as one
who has said too much, "shouldst thou be called on to do this, that
thereby becoming a great man in the tribes of Israel, thou mightest
redeem the captivity of Jerusalem - ay, and it may be, work some great
work for the afflicted people of this land?"
"Your Highness may feel such calls," said the officer; "but they are not
for poor Gilbert Pearson, your faithful follower. You made a jest of me
yesterday, when I tried to speak your language; and I am no more able to
fulfil your designs than to use your mode of speech."
"But, Pearson," said Cromwell, "thou hast thrice, yea, four times,
called me your Highness."
"Did I, my lord? I was not sensible of it. I crave your pardon," said
the officer.
"Nay," said Oliver, "there was no offence. I do indeed stand high, and I
may perchance stand higher - though, alas, it were fitter for a simple
soul like me to return to my plough and my husbandry. Nevertheless, I
will not wrestle against the Supreme will, should I be called on to do
yet more in that worthy cause. For surely he who hath been to our
British Israel as a shield of help, and a sword of excellency, making
her enemies be found liars unto her, will not give over the flock to
those foolish shepherds of Westminster, who shear the sheep and feed
them not, and who are in very deed hirelings, not shepherds."
"I trust to see your lordship quoit them all down stairs," answered
Pearson. "But may I ask why we pursue this discourse even now, until we
have secured the common enemy?"
"I will tarry no jot of time," said the General; "fence the
communication of Love's Ladder, as it is called, below, as I take it for
almost certain, that the party whom we have driven from fastness to
fastness during the night, has at length sprung to the top of yonder
battlements from the place where we now stand. Finding the turret is
guarded below, the place he has chosen for his security will prove a
rat-trap, from whence there is no returning."
"There is a cask of gunpowder in this cabinet," said Pearson; "were it
not better, my lord, to mine the tower, if he will not render himself,
and send the whole turret with its contents one hundred feet in the
air?"
"Ah, silly man," said Cromwell, striking him familiarly on the shoulder;
"if thou hadst done this without telling me, it had been good service.
But we will first summon the turret, and then think whether the petard
will serve our turn - it is but mining at last. - Blow a summons there,
down below."
The trumpets rang at his bidding, till the old walls echoed from every
recess and vaulted archway. Cromwell, as if he cared not to look upon
the person whom he expected to appear, drew back, like a necromancer
afraid of the spectre which he has evoked.
"He has come to the battlement," said Pearson to his General.
"In what dress or appearance?" answered Cromwell, from within the
chamber.
"A grey riding-suit, passmented with silver, russet walking-boots, a cut
band, a grey hat and plume, black hair."
"It is he, it is he!" said Cromwell; "and another crowning mercy is
vouchsafed!"
Meantime, Pearson and young Lee exchanged defiance from their respective
posts.
"Surrender," said the former, "or we blow you up in your fastness."
"I am come of too high a race to surrender to rebels," said Albert,
assuming the air with which, in such a condition, a king might have
spoken. "I bear you to witness," cried Cromwell, exultingly, "he hath
refused quarter. Of a surety, his blood be on his head. - One of you
bring down the barrel of powder. As he loves to soar high, we will add
what can be taken from the soldiers' bandoliers. - Come with me, Pearson;
thou understandest this gear. - Corporal Grace-be-here, stand thou fast
on the platform of the window where Captain Pearson and I stood but even
now, and bend the point of thy partisan against any who shall attempt to
pass. Thou art as strong as a bull; and I will back thee against despair
itself."
"But," said the corporal, mounting reluctantly, "the place is as the
pinnacle of the Temple; and it is written, that Eutychus fell down from
the third loft and was taken up dead."
"Because he slept upon his post," answered Cromwell readily. "Beware
thou of carelessness, and thus thy feet shall be kept from stumbling. -
You four soldiers, remain here to support the corporal, if it be
necessary; and you, as well as the corporal, will draw into the vaulted
passage the minute the trumpets sound a retreat. It is as strong as a
casemate, and you may lie there safe from the effects of the mine. Thou,
Zerubbabel Robins, I know wilt be their lance-prisade." [Footnote:
"Lance-prisade," or "lance-brisade," a private appointed to a small
command - a sort of temporary corporal.]
Robins bowed, and the General departed to join those who were without.
As he reached the door of the hall, the petard was heard to explode, and
he saw that it had succeeded; for the soldiers rushed, brandishing their
swords and pistols, in at the postern of the turret, whose gate had been
successfully forced. A thrill of exultation, but not unmingled with
horror shot across the veins of the ambitious soldier.
"Now - now!" he cried; "they are dealing with him!"
His expectations were deceived. Pearson and the others returned
disappointed, and reported they had been stopt by a strong trap-door of
grated iron, extended over the narrow stair; and they could see there
was an obstacle of the same kind some ten feet higher. To remove it by
force, while a desperate and well armed man had the advantage of the
steps above them, might cost many lives. "Which, lack-a-day," said the
General, "it is our duty to be tender of. What dost thou advise, Gilbert
Pearson?"
"We must use powder, my lord," answered Pearson, who saw his master was
too modest to reserve to himself the whole merit of the proceeding -
"There may be a chamber easily and conveniently formed under the foot of
the stair. We have a sausage, by good luck, to form the train - and so" -
"Ah!" said Cromwell, "I know thou canst manage such gear well - But,
Gilbert, I go to visit the posts, and give them orders to retire to a
safe distance when the retreat is sounded. You will allow them five
minutes for this purpose."
"Three is enough for any knave of them all," said Pearson. "They will be
lame indeed, that require more on such a service. - I ask but one, though
I fire the train myself."
"Take heed," said Cromwell, "that the poor soul be listened to, if he
asks quarter. It may be, he may repent him of his hard-heartedness and
call for mercy."
"And mercy he shall have," answered Pearson, "provided he calls loud
enough to make me hear him; for the explosion of that damned petard has
made me as deaf as the devil's dam."
"Hush, Gilbert, hush!" said Cromwell; "you offend in your language."
"Zooks, sir, I must speak either in your way, or in my own," said
Pearson, "unless I am to be dumb as well as deaf! - Away with you, my
lord, to visit the posts; and you will presently hear me make some noise
in the world."
Cromwell smiled gently at his aide-de-camp's petulance, patted him on
the shoulder, and called him a mad fellow, walked a little way, then
turned back to whisper, "What thou dost, do quickly;" then returned
again towards the outer circle of guards, turning his head from time to
time, as if to assure himself that the corporal, to whom he had
intrusted the duty, still kept guard with his advanced weapon upon the
terrific chasm between Rosamond's Tower and the corresponding turret.
Seeing him standing on his post, the General muttered between his
mustaches, "The fellow hath the strength and courage of a bear; and
yonder is a post where one shall do more to keep back than an hundred in
making way." He cast a last look on the gigantic figure, who stood in
that airy position, like some Gothic statue, the weapon half levelled
against the opposite turret, with the but rested against his right foot,
his steel cap and burnished corslet glittering in the rising sun.
Cromwell then passed on to give the necessary orders, that such
sentinels as might be endangered at their present posts by the effect of
the mine, should withdraw at the sound of the trumpet to the places
which he pointed out to them. Never, on any occasion of his life, did he
display more calmness and presence of mind. He was kind, nay, facetious,
with the soldiers, who adored him; and yet he resembled the volcano
before the eruption commences - all peaceful and quiet without, while an
hundred contradictory passions were raging in his bosom.
Corporal Humgudgeon, meanwhile, remained steady upon his post; yet,
though as determined a soldier as ever fought among the redoubted
regiment of Ironsides, and possessed of no small share of that exalted
fanaticism which lent so keen an edge to the natural courage of those
stern religionists, the veteran felt his present situation to be highly
uncomfortable. Within a pike's length of him arose a turret, which was
about to be dispersed in massive fragments through the air; and he felt
small confidence in the length of time which might be allowed for his
escape from such a dangerous vicinity. The duty of constant vigilance
upon his post, was partly divided by this natural feeling, which induced
him from time to time to bend his eyes on the miners below, instead of
keeping them riveted on the opposite turret.
At length the interest of the scene arose to the uttermost. After
entering and returning from the turret, and coming out again more than
once, in the course of about twenty minutes Pearson issued, as it might
be supposed, for the last time, carrying in his hand, and uncoiling, as
he went along, the sausage, or linen bag, (so called from its
appearance,) which, strongly sewed together, and crammed with gunpowder,
was to serve as a train betwixt the mine to be sprung, and the point
occupied by the engineer who was to give fire. He was in the act of
finally adjusting it, when the attention of the corporal on the tower
became irresistibly and exclusively riveted upon the preparations for
the explosion. But while he watched the aide-de-camp drawing his pistol
to give fire, and the trumpeter handling his instrument as waiting the
order to sound the retreat, fate rushed on the unhappy sentinel in a way
he least expected.
Young, active, bold, and completely possessed of his presence of mind,
Albert Lee, who had been from the loopholes a watchful observer of every
measure which had been taken by his besiegers, had resolved to make one
desperate effort for self-preservation. While the head of the sentinel
on the opposite platform was turned from him, and bent rather downwards,
he suddenly sprung across the chasm, though the space on which he
lighted was scarce wide enough for two persons, threw the surprised
soldier from his precarious stand, and jumped himself down into the
chamber. The gigantic trooper went sheer down twenty feet, struck
against a projecting battlement, which launched the wretched man
outwards, and then fell on the earth with such tremendous force, that
the head, which first touched the ground, dinted a hole in the soil of
six inches in depth, and was crushed like an eggshell. Scarce knowing
what had happened, yet startled and confounded at the descent of this
heavy body, which fell at no great distance from him, Pearson snapt his
pistol at the train, no previous warning given; the powder caught, and
the mine exploded. Had it been strongly charged with powder, many of
those without might have suffered; but the explosion was only powerful
enough to blow out, in a lateral direction, a part of the wall just
above the foundation, sufficient, however, to destroy the equipoise of
the building. Then, amid a cloud of smoke, which began gradually to
encircle the turret like a shroud, arising slowly from its base to its
summit, it was seen to stagger and shake by all who had courage to look
steadily at a sight so dreadful. Slowly, at first, the building inclined
outwards, then rushed precipitately to its base, and fell to the ground
in huge fragments, the strength of its resistance showing the excellence
of the mason-work. The engineer, so soon as he had fired the train, fled
in such alarm that he wellnigh ran against his General, who was
advancing towards him, while a huge stone from the summit of the
building, flying farther than the rest, lighted within a yard of them.
"Thou hast been over hasty, Pearson," said Cromwell, with the greatest
composure possible - "hath no one fallen in that same tower of Siloe?"
"Some one fell," said Pearson, still in great agitation, "and yonder
lies his body half-buried in the rubbish."
With a quick and resolute step Cromwell approached the spot, and
exclaimed, "Pearson, thou hast ruined me - the young Man hath
escaped. - This is our own sentinel - plague on the idiot! Let him rot
beneath the ruins which crushed him!"
A cry now resounded from the platform of Rosamond's Tower, which
appeared yet taller than formerly, deprived of the neighbouring turret,
which emulated though it did not attain to its height, - "A prisoner,
noble General - a prisoner - the fox whom we have chased all night is now
in the snare - the Lord hath delivered him into the hand of his
servants."
"Look you keep him in safe custody," exclaimed Cromwell, "and bring him
presently down to the apartment from which the secret passages have
their principal entrance."
"Your Excellency shall be obeyed."
The proceedings of Albert Lee, to which these exclamations related, had
been unfortunate. He had dashed from the platform, as we have related,
the gigantic strength of the soldier opposed to him, and had instantly
jumped down into Rochecliffe's chamber. But the soldiers stationed there
threw themselves upon him, and after a struggle, which was hopelessly
maintained against such advantage of numbers, had thrown the young
cavalier to the ground, two of them, drawn down by his strenuous
exertions, falling across him. At the same moment a sharp and severe
report was heard, which, like a clap of thunder in the immediate
vicinity, shook all around them, till the strong and solid tower
tottered like the masts of a stately vessel when about to part by the
board. In a few seconds, this was followed by another sullen sound, at
first low, and deep, but augmenting like the roar of a cataract, as it
descends, reeling, bellowing, and rushing, as if to astound both heaven
and earth. So awful, indeed, was the sound of the neighbour tower as it
fell, that both the captive, and those who struggled with him, continued
for a minute or two passive in each other's grasp.
Albert was the first who recovered consciousness and activity. He shook
off those who lay above him, and made a desperate effort to gain his
feet, in which he partly succeeded. But as he had to deal with men
accustomed to every species of danger, and whose energies were recovered
nearly as soon as his own, he was completely secured, and his arms held
down. Loyal and faithful to his trust, and resolved to sustain to the
last the character which he had assumed, he exclaimed, as his struggles
were finally overpowered, "Rebel villains! would you slay your king?"
"Ha, heard you that?" cried one of the soldiers to the lance-prisade,
who commanded the party. "Shall I not strike this son of a wicked father
under the fifth rib, even as the tyrant of Moab was smitten by Ehud with
a dagger of a cubit's length?"
But Robins answered, "Be it far from us, Merciful Strickalthrow, to slay
in cold blood the captive of our bow and of our spear. Me thinks, since
the storm of Tredagh [Footnote: Tredagh, or Drogheda, was taken by
Cromwell in 1649, by storm, and the governor and the whole garrison put
to the sword.] we have shed enough of blood - therefore, on your lives do
him no evil; but take from him his arms, and let us bring him before the
chosen Instrument, even our General, that he may do with him what is
meet in his eyes."
By this time the soldier, whose exultation had made him the first to
communicate the intelligence from the battlements to Cromwell, returned,
and brought commands corresponding to the orders of their temporary
officer; and Albert Lee, disarmed and bound, was conducted as a captive
into the apartment which derived its name from the victories of his
ancestor, and placed in the presence of General Cromwell.
Running over in his mind the time which had elapsed since the departure
Charles till the siege, if it may be termed so, had terminated in his
own capture, Albert had every reason to hope that his Royal Master must
have had time to accomplish his escape. Yet he determined to maintain to
the last a deceit which might for a time insure the King's safety. The
difference betwixt them could not, he thought, be instantly discovered,
begrimed as he was with dust and smoke, and with blood issuing from some
scratches received in the scuffle.
In this evil plight, but bearing himself with such dignity as was
adapted to the princely character, Albert was ushered into the apartment
of Victor Lee, where, in his father's own chair, reclined the triumphant
enemy of the cause to which the house of Lee had been hereditarily
faithful.
* * * * *
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH.
A barren title hast thou bought too dear,
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HENRY IV. PART I.
Oliver Cromwell arose from his seat as the two veteran soldiers,
Zerubbabel Robins and Merciful Strickalthrow, introduced into the
apartment the prisoner, whom they held by the arms, and fixed his stern
hazel eye on Albert long before he could give vent to the ideas which
were swelling in his bosom. Exultation was the most predominant.
"Art not thou," he at length said, "that Egyptian which, before these
days, madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness many
thousand men, who were murderers! - Ha, youth, I have hunted thee from
Stirling to Worcester, from Worcester to Woodstock, and we have met at
last!"
"I would," replied Albert, speaking in the character which he had
assumed, "that we had met where I could have shown thee the difference
betwixt a rightful King and an ambitious Usurper!"
"Go to, young man," said Cromwell; "say rather the difference between a