Part 9 (1/2)
Here the little round woman retorted on her spouse, a.s.suring Twm that he was a miserable dreamer, whose brains had been turned by the ravings of fanatical preachers; that some months ago he ran three miles, howling, thinking he was pursued by the foul fiend, when it turned out to be only his own shadow: and that when a patch of the mountain furze was set on a blaze to fertilize the land, nothing could convince him that the world was not on fire, and the day of judgement come, till he caught an ague by hiding himself up to the chin in the river for twelve hours.
All this the old man very indignantly repelled, and vowed that his courage was equal to that of any man breathing.
At this moment the violent galloping of a horse attracted their attention, and in an instant a horse and rider pa.s.sed the door, but suddenly checking his speed he returned, and calling at the cottage door, asking in a tone of authority if a lady had pa.s.sed that way towards Llandovery within the last half hour. The old man, trembling as he spoke, protested that no lady had pa.s.sed for many hours; on which the bluff horseman told him as he valued his life, neither he or his wife should appear on the outside of the cottage door, till he gave them leave. The old man a.s.sured him of his entire obedience, when the fellow quietly crossed the road, and effectually concealed himself and horse behind the opposite turf-rick.
Twm, unseen himself, caught a full view of this burley horseman, and instantly knew him. He felt a conviction that in a few minutes a scene was to be acted, in which he was determined to perform himself a conspicuous, if not a princ.i.p.al, part. He asked the timorous old cottager if he possessed such a thing as a long-handled hedge bill-hook, to which the poor dotard, his teeth chattering the while, replied in the negative. On searching the cottage, with the a.s.sistance of his mistress, to its great vexation he could find no weapon, but a blunt old hatchet, and a rusty reaping-hook.
The canter of a light horse now struck his ear; his heart caught fire at the sound, and with almost fierce vehemence he called to the people of the cottage, ”Give me some weapon in the name of G.o.d: to defend you and myself from having our throats cut;” but it only increased their terror and confusion.
In an instant, a lady on a slight white horse was opposite to the cottage, when the horseman, darting forward from behind the turf-rick, and producing pistols, demanded her money. The lady protested, in the most piteous and earnest tone, that she had accidentally left her purse behind, and must be indebted to a friend at Llandovery, should she fail to meet her husband there, for some small change. ”I'll not be disappointed for nothing,” cried the ruffian, ”Dio the devil is not to be fooled, and my pretty lady of Ystrad Fin, I have depended on a good booty from you to-day, so that unless in two minutes you strip, and give me every article in which you are clothed, a pistol bullet shall pa.s.s through your delicate body.”
The lady, with tears entreated him to be merciful, promising a future recompence; but the scoundrel laughed scornfully in her face, and c.o.c.ked his pistol, on which she uttered a loud scream and fainted, when he immediately approached to strip and rifle her.
Our hero, whose blood was boiling with honest indignation, now started up from behind the lady's horse, and stood on a small bank raised to separate the cottage yard from the road, struck the highwayman an astounding blow on the temples, with a stout hedge-stake grasped with both hands, and repeated the violent action till it brought the desperado senseless, and covered with blood, to the ground. After the first terrible blow, confounded as he was, he instinctively presented his pistol at random, but Twm struck him heavily on the extended arm, which caused it to fall, and swing dead by his side, like a withered oak branch smote by the thunderbolt.
The good woman of the cottage bathed the lady's temples and soon brought about her recovery; and great was her surprize and satisfaction to witness the result of our hero's courage and dexterity. While tears of grat.i.tude suffused her beautiful eyes, and ran down her bright ruddy face, Twm in the gentlest manner a.s.sured her of her entire safety, and that he would have the happiness of conducting and protecting her to Llandovery, where he intended to bring the highwayman dead or alive, and deliver him, with an account of the whole affair, to the magistrates.
The lady of Ystrad Fin, smiling as she spoke, uttered many expressions of her grat.i.tude, and admiration of his courage, a.s.suring him that her husband, Sir George Devereux, would not allow him to go unrewarded for such a signal piece of service: ”but for my own part,” continued she, ”as I truly a.s.sured the merciless highwayman, I am at present without my purse, having left it accidentally at the house of a poor sick person, whom I visited, relieved, and stayed with, many hours this morning, by which I have missed hearing the sermon preached to-day by the rev. Rhys Prichard.” Twm declared he did not in the least feel himself ent.i.tled to any reward, sufficient for him was the approval of so beautiful and amiable a lady; but that he had another gratification in the action he had performed, as it was his fortune to have punished the very man who had once stopped him on the highway and robbed him of his little all.
It was in vain that Twm summoned the old man of the cottage to a.s.sist in placing the robber on horseback, as he had hid himself beneath the bed, roaring all the while ”Oh lord! oh dear! I shall surely have my throat cut.” The lady of Ystrad Fin, however, alighted and lent an active hand in binding the thief, still insensible, with old halters contributed by the fat woman of the cottage, who also gave all possible a.s.sistance; so that with their united aid Twm soon got him across his own horse, like a sack of barley, and secured him by tying him neck and heels under the horse's belly. Our elated hero leaped into the saddle, and rode side by side with the lady of Ystrad Fin, and conversing freely with her, uninc.u.mbered with his former bashfulness, till they reached Llandovery.
They entered the town just as the sermon was over, and the dense swarm, as they issued from Llandingad church, stopped and gazed with astonishment at the sight presented to them. At the same instant that Sir George Devereux came up and a.s.sisted his lady to alight, Mr. Rhys the curate approached Twm, and each in a few minutes was in possession of the whole story. The baronet eagerly grasped our hero by the hand, and a.s.sured him of his protection and favor to the utmost of his power; declaring at the same time that no possible reward could equal his deserts or repay his services.
As soon as it was known among the farmers that the terrible Dio the devil, who had robbed many of them at different times, was captured, a subscription was immediately raised, to reward the captor; so that our hero was soon in possession of a sum little less than ten pounds, in addition to five more that the county awarded for the taking of a highwayman.
Sir George and his lady invited our hero and Mr. Rhys to dine with them the next day at Ystrad Fin, where the baronet said they would discuss in what manner he could repay the services of the brave deliverer of his lady.
The constables were now called to bring their hand-cuffs, and take possession of the robber, but in vain;-for when he was uncorded and taken from the horse, it was discovered he was dead.
CHAP. XX.
Twm visits the vicar of Llandovery. Visits also at Ystrad Fin. Fortune smiles on him. Undertakes to bear a sum of money to London for Sir George Devereux.
TWM retired that evening to a tavern which he had been directed to by Mr.
Rhys; and many of the good people of Llandovery eagerly sought the company of the wonderful young man who had had the courage to attack and conquer a highwayman; evincing their kindness by insisting on their right to treat him with whatever liquor he might be inclined to drink, on account of the benefit conferred by him on their community. Cautioned by the worthy curate, however, his potations were very limited; and urging his fatigue as an excuse for retiring, he soon left his admirers, and slept that night on a bed of roses.
Rather early in the morning he was awoke by his friend Rhys, who said that, by appointment, they were both to breakfast with the rev. Rhys Prichard, who had expressed a desire to see the brave young man that had captured the highway robber. This invitation was the most acceptable to Twm, as he was exceedingly anxious to see so celebrated a character as the vicar of Llandovery; though less for his pious than poetical celebrity, and more especially the a.s.sociation of his name with his own family calamity, in the death of his son Samuel, poetically called the ”Flower of Llandovery,” at the murderous hands of the young men of Maes-y-velin, as before related.
Ashamed of the rustic cut of his coat, Twm proposed to purchase a clerical one from his friend Rhys, who willingly made him a present of his second best; observing that this was the day of his entrance into the world, and as the ma.s.s of mankind were apt to judge of all by the external appearance, an appropriate garb would aid even a man of merit in making a favorable impression.
The house of the vicar of Llandovery was among the best in the town; a well-built strong mansion, distinguished from all others by a neat small cupola on the top, within which was a bell, formerly used to call the boys to school, but now useless, since the reverend gentleman had long discontinued teaching. Twm and Rhys waited in the breakfast parlour about half an hour, filling up the time by noticing and remarking on the well-waxed oaken floor and furniture, that, with the prints of some of the English martyrs, with which the room was hung, gave it something of a gloomy appearance; and skimming over some dusty old volumes of divinity, till the clock struck six.
Punctual to the moment, in came the worthy vicar, who received the pair courteously, but with very few words. Breakfast was preceded by prayers; after which came in bowls of milk and hot cakes, with cold meat, b.u.t.ter, cheese, and ale; of which, after grace, each was desired to take his choice. Twm looked at his venerable host with awed reverence. This eminent character was of a tall, stately figure; his hair white as wool, his face pale, and rather long, with a countenance beaming with sedate benignity. He regarded Twm for some time with silent attention, and afterwards made a few enquiries respecting his recent feat, which, when answered, he indulged in some pious e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns on the fortunate event.
In the comparison suggested by the slight figure of Twm opposed to the bluff rotundity of the robber, whose corpse he had seen the night before, he referred to the scriptural records of the combat between David and Goliah; strictly charging the fortunate youth to take no credit to himself for the achievement, as he was but an humble instrument in a mighty hand, and for a special purpose, unknown to the actors of the scenes themselves.
After a long grace, and a profusion of good counsel to our hero, the visitors rose to depart; but ere they left, the worthy churchman placed twenty s.h.i.+llings and a copy of his ”Welshman's Candle” in the hand of Twm, and after shaking him warmly by the hand, he saw the pair to the door and bade them farewell.