Part 25 (1/2)
This urgent message is upon official paper, which I have taken from the desk of that very stupid Stubbard. Take the horse Jerry holds at the corner, and the officer's hat and cape provided are ample disguise for so dark a night. Take the lane behind the hills, and gallop two miles eastward, till you come to the sh.o.r.e again, then turn back towards the village by way of the beach, and you will meet the Coast-guard on duty, a stupid fellow called Vickers. Your horse by that time will be piping and roaring: he can go like the wind, but his own is broken. The moment you see Vickers, begin to swear at your horse. I have practised you in d--ns, for an emergency.”
”Ten thousand thunders, I can say d--n now to equal and surpa.s.s the purest born of all Britons.”
”Not so loud, my friend, until by-and-by. The Coast-guard will come to you, and you pull up with your horse hanging down his head, as if dead-beaten. Using your accomplishment again, you say: 'Here, take this on to Admiral Darling. My nag is quite done, and I must get to Stonnington to call Colonel James. For your life, run, run. You'll get a guinea, if you look sharp.' Before he can think of it, turn your horse, and make back to the lane, as if for Stonnington. But instead of that, gallop back to our ruins; and we'll go up the hill, and see what comes of it.”
”It is very good, it is magnificent. But will not the sentinel perceive my voice and accent?”
”Not he; he is a very honest and therefore stupid fellow. Give him no time, answer no questions. Be all in a rush, as you so generally are. I would do it myself, but I am too well known. Say, will you undertake it?
It will be a fine joke for you.”
About half an hour after this, the Lord-Lieutenant having hammered on the table with an empty bottle, stood up to propose the chief toast of the evening--the gallant crew of the Leda, and the bold sailors of Springhaven. His lords.h.i.+p had scarcely had a bottle and a half, and was now in the prime of his intellect. A very large man, with a long brocaded coat of ruby-coloured cloth, and white satin breeches, a waistcoat of primrose plush emblazoned with the Union-jack (then the popular device) in gorgeous silks with a margin of bright gold, and a neckcloth pointed and plaited in with the rarest lace, worth all the rest put together--what a pity it seemed that such a man should get drunk, or at any rate try so hard to do it. There was not a pimple on his face, his cheeks were rosy and glistening, but not flushed; and his eyes were as bright and clear and deep as a couple of large sapphires.
This n.o.bleman said a few words, without any excitement, or desire to create it, every word to the point, and the best that could be chosen not to go beyond the point. There was no attempt at eloquence, and yet the speech was eloquent, because it suggested so much more than was said. More excitable natures, overcome by half a bottle, resolved to have the other half, in honour of that toast.
Then the Marquis did a very kind and thoughtful thing, for which he deserved a bottle of the Royal Tokay, such as even Napoleon could not obtain. When the cheering was done, and every eye was fixed upon the blus.h.i.+ng Scudamore--who felt himself, under that fixture, like an insect under a lens which the sun is turning into a burning-gla.s.s--the Chairman perceived his sad plight, and to give him more time and more spirit, rose again.
”Gentlemen,” he said, ”or I would rather call you brother Englishmen at this moment, I have forgotten one thing. Before our young hero replies to his health, let us give him that spirited song 'Billy Blue,' which is well known to every man here, I'll be bound. Tell the drummer down there to be ready for chorus.” Billy Blue, though almost forgotten now (because the enemy would not fight him), the blockader of Brest, the hardy, skilful, and ever watchful Admiral Cornwallis, would be known to us nearly as well as Nelson, if fame were not a lottery.
As the Lord-Lieutenant waved his hand, the company rose with one accord, and followed the lead of his strong clear voice in the popular song, called
”BILLY BLUE”
1
”'Tis a terrible time for Englishmen; All tyrants do abhor them; Every one of them hath to fight with ten, And the Lord alone is for them.
But the Lord hath given the strong right hand, And the courage to face the thunder; If a Frenchman treads this English land, He shall find his grave thereunder.
CHORUS
Britannia is the Ocean-Queen, and she standeth staunch and true, With Nelson for her faulchion keen, and her buckler Billy Blue.
2
”They are mustering on yon Gallic coasts, You can see them from this high land, The biggest of all the outlandish hosts That ever devoured an island.
There are steeds that have scoured the Continent, Ere ever one might say, 'Whoa, there!'
And s.h.i.+ps that would fill the Thames and Trent, If we would let them go there.
CHORUS
But England is the Ocean-Queen, and it shall be hard to do; Not a Frenchman shall skulk in between herself and her Billy Blue.
3
”From the smiling bays of Devons.h.i.+re To the frowning cliffs of Filey, Leaps forth every son of an English sire, To fight for his native isley.
He hath drawn the sword of his father now From the rusty sheath it rattled in; And Dobbin, who dragged the peaceful plough, Is neighing for the battle-din.
CHORUS