Part 11 (1/2)

”But the next day, gentle the wreck of the other party, and with theroes; and these last proved the greatwhere he could to get food, every day one or more ent out never caroes had betrayed them to the Spaniards, or,upbraided, with that altogether left us, telling us boldly, that if they had eaten our felloed thereat terror and hunger, went forward and over the mountains till we came to a little river which ran northward, which seemed to lead into the Northern Sea; and there Mr O--who, sirs, I will say, after his first rage was over, behaved hih like a valiant and skilful coo down to the sea; which we began to do, with great labor and little profit, hewing down trees with our swords, and burning them out with fire, which, afterout of the first tree, and cutting down of another, a great party of negroes came upon us, and with much friendly show bade us flee for our lives, for the Spaniards were upon us in great force And so ere up and away again, hardly able to drag our legs after us for hunger and weariness, and the broiling heat And soroes, of hat becaht or ten held on with the captain, a as I, and fled doard toward the sea for one day; but afterwards finding, by the noise in the woods, that the Spaniards were on the track of us, we turned up again toward the inland, and co up the lady and the littlefro stout and long, even to fifty fatho the track, hoped to be out of the way of the enemy

”By which, nevertheless, we only increased our misery For two fell from that cliff, as men asleep for very weariness, and reat toil, or sunstrokes, or eating of strange berries, fell sick of fluxes and fevers; where was no drop of water, but rock of pumice stone as bare as the back of reat cracks, black and without bottoth to lift the sick, but were fain to leave them there aloft, in the sunshi+ne, like Dives in his torues; and every ly black fiend out of the pit, waiting till the poor soul should depart out of the corpse: but nothing could avail, and for the dear life we ain and into the woods, or be burned up alive upon those rocks

”So getting down the slope on the farther side, we came into the woods once more, and there wandered for one, and our clothes all rent off us with brakes and briars And yet how the lady endured all was a marvel to see; for she went barefoot many days, and for clothes was fain to wrap herself in Mr Oxenham's cloak; while the little maid went all but naked: but ever she looked still on Mr Oxenha and cheering us all with pleasant words; yea, and once sitting down under a great fig-tree, sang us all to sleep with very sweetstill upright, weeping very bitterly; on whom, sirs, God have mercy; for she was a fair and a brave jewel

”And so, to make feords of a sad matter, at last there were none left but Mr Oxenhaether with ood comrade And Mr Oxenham always led the lady, and Penberthy and I carried the little maid And for food we had fruits, such as we could find, and water we got frorew on the bark of trees, which I found by seeing the monkeys drink at them; and the little maid called the me clihlest the Spaniards should track us with dogs, whichthat the bloodhounds were upon her And it befell upon a day, that we caround like ours, but on ste as a pinnace's mast, and the bark of thee to see), where was very pleasant shade, cool and green; and there, gentlemen, we sat down on a bank of moss, like folk desperate and fordone, and every one looked the other in the face for a long while After which I took off the bark of those ferns, for I an to plait slippers for the little , Mr Oxenha likeon his oord?' To which I answered that I dare not; for a oman had prophesied of me, sirs, that I should die at sea, and yet neither by water or battle, wherefore I did not think right to meddle with the Lord's purposes And William Penberthy said, 'That he would sell his life, and that dear, but never give it away' But the lady said, 'Ah, how gladly would I die! but then la paouvre garse,' which is in French 'the poorthe little one Then Mr Oxenha, a weakness I never saw hiht ht befall; which I pro to it like a heathen, but would, if I had been able, have kept it like a Christian But on a sudden there was a great cry in the wood, and coh the trees on all sides Spanish arquebusiers, a hundred strong at least, and negroes with them, who bade us stand or they would shoot Willia upon the nearest negro ran hi on the Spaniards, fought manfully till he was borne doith pikes, and so died But I, seeing no thing better to do, sate still and finishedAnd so ere all taken, and I and Mr Oxenham bound with cords; but the soldiers made a litter for the lady and child, by coo de Trees, their coentleht down to the place where the house of boughs had been by the river-side; there ent over in boats, and found waiting for us certain Spanish gentleray-bearded and bent, in a suit of black velvet, who see theh, that was none other than the old old falcon at his breast, Don Francisco Xararte by name, whom you found aboard of the Lima shi+p And had you known as much of him as I do, or as Mr Oxenham did either, you had cut hiain

”Well, sirs, as soon as the lady came to shore, that old man ran upon her sword in hand, and would have slain her, but some there held him back On which he turned to, and reviled with every foul and spiteful hich he could think of, so that some there bade him be silent for shame; and Mr Oxenham said, 'It is worthy of you, Don Francisco, thus to truo that you were a cur; and are you not proving , would to Heaven I had never seen you!'

”And Mr Oxenhaer through your herring-ribs when you passed ht years last Easter-eve' At which the old ain to upbraid the lady, vowing that he would have her burnt alive, and other devilish words, to which she answered at last-- ”'Would that you had burnt ht years of misery!' And he-- ”'Misery? Hear the witch, senors! Oh, have I not pampered her, heaped with jewels, clothes, coaches, what not? The saints alone knohat 'I have spent on her What more would she have of me?'

”To which she answered only but this one word, 'Fool!' but in so terrible a voice, though low, that they ere about to laugh at the old pantaloon, were ain, after a while, 'I aste no words upon you I would have driven a dagger to your heart o, but that I was loath to set you free so soon froout and your rheuht my body from my parents, you did not buy my soul! Farewell, my love, my life! and farewell, senors! May you be hters than irdle of one of the soldiers, smote herself to the heart, and fell dead before them all

”At which Mr Oxenham smiled, and said, 'That orthy of us both If you will unbind my hands, senors, I shall be most happy to copy so fair a schoolo shook his head, and said-- ”'It ell for you, valiant senor, were I at liberty to do so; but on questioning those of your sailors whom I have already taken, I cannot hear that you have any letters of license, either froland, or any other potentate I am compelled, therefore, to ask you whether this is so; for it is a matter of life and death'

”To which Mr Oxenham answered merrily, that so it was: but that he was not aware that any potentate's license was required to perold which they had taken, if they had never allowed that fresh and fair young May to be forced intothat old January, he should never have old; so that was rather their fault than his And added, that if he was to be hanged, as he supposed, the only favor which he asked for was a long drop and no priests And all the while, gentlemen, he still kept his eyes fixed on the lady's corpse, till he was led aith me, while all that stood by, God reward theical end of those two sinful lovers

”And now, sirs, what befell me after that ain, nor ever shall in this life”

”He was hanged, then?”

”So I heard for certain the next year, and with hiiven away for slaves to the Spaniards, and may be alive now, unless, like me, they have fallen into the cruel clutches of the Inquisition For the Inquisition now, gentlemen, claims the bodies and souls of all heretics all over the world (as the devils told me with their own lips, when I pleaded that I was no Spanish subject); and none that it catches, whether peaceable merchants or shi+pwrecked et into the Inquisition?”

”Why, sir, after ere taken, we set forth to go down the river again; and the old Don took the little maid with hi from us and froo de Trees in another, and I in a third And from the Spaniards I learnt that ere to be taken down to Lima, to the Viceroy; but that the old ht back to Panama forthith the little ets there, for the old man swears she is none of his, and would have left her behind hio had not sha that there was nothing but death before ht, sirs, by God's help, I did it, and went southward away into the forest, avoiding the tracks of the Cientleot more mercy from heathens than ever I had from Christians; for when they found that I was no Spaniard, they fed ood wife she was to me), and painted me all over in patterns, as you see; and because I had so, and my fleareat honor aht ery So I lived with the a very heathen like them, or indeed worse, for they worshi+pped their Xe And in tientleot Mr Oxenham and his little maid, and my oath, ay, and my native land also Wherefore it was taken from me, else had I lived and died as the beasts which perish; for one night, after ere all lain down, ca up saw arht, and heard one read in Spanish, with a loud voice, some fool's sermon, after their custoiven to St Peter the doain the Indies to the Catholic king; wherefore, if they would all be baptized and serve the Spaniard, they should have some monkey's allowance or other of more kicks than pence; and if not, then have at them with fire and sword; but I dare say your worshi+ps know that devilish trick of theirs better than I”

”I know it, man Go on”

”Well--no sooner were the words spoken than, without waiting to hear what the poor innocents within would answer (though that mattered little, for they understood not one word of it), what do the villains but let fly right into the toith their calivers, and then rush in, sword in hand, killing pell- through the doorway, and close by me, struck my poor wife to the heart, that she never spoke wordup the babe from her breast, tried to run: but when I saw the town full of thes with them in leashes, which was yet worse, I knew all was lost, and sat down again by the corpse with the babe onthe end, like one stunned and in a dreaht God from whom I had fled had surely found me out, as He did Jonah, and the punished ether by the neck; and one, catching the pretty babe out of my ars with the the babe by the heels, he dashed out its brains,--oh! gentleround, as if it had been a kitten; and so did they to several ht, after they had christened theo to heaven while they were still sure thereof; and sothe old folk and the wounded to die at leisure But whencame, and they knew by my skin that I was no Indian, and bylishman, and one of Oxenham's crew At that says the leader, 'Then you shall to Li by the side of your captain the pirate;' by which I first knew that one; but alas forme Lutheran, heretic, and enemy of God; and so, to ena I went, where what I suffered, gentleustful for you to hear, as un twice racked, and having endured the water- torment as best I could, I was put to the scarpines, whereof I a to this day At which I could abide no more, and so, wretch that I am! denied my God, in hope to save my life; which indeed I did, but little it profited h I had turned to their superstition, I o to the galleys for seven years And there, gentleht that it had been better for me to have been burned at once and for all: but you knoell as I what a floating hell of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, stripes and toil, is every one of those accursed craft In which hell, nevertheless, gentlemen, I found the road to heaven,--I had almost said heaven itself For it fell out, by God's lish man of Bristol, who, as he told me, had been some manner of factor on board poor Captain Barker's shi+p, and had been a preacher aland And, oh! Sir Richard Grenville, if that man had done for you what he did for ainst those who serve the saether hold with you For fro and furious, like a wild beast in a pit, he set before me in secret earnestly the sweet promises of God in Christ,--who says, 'Come to me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will refresh you; and though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,--till all that past sinful life of ot all my bodily miseries in the misery of ainst that loving God who had chosen me before the foundation of the world, and co into very despair at the burden of ained sweet assurance that ed my burden upon His cross, and washed my sinful soul in His most sinless blood, Amen!”

And Sir Richard Grenville said Aentlemen, if that sweet youth won a soul to Christ, he paid as dearly for it as ever did saint of God For after a three or four months, when I had been all that while in sweet converse with him, and I ht to the barranco at Lima, where ere kept when on shore, three black devils of the Holy Office, and carried hi to me, 'Look that your turn come not next, for we hear that you have had much talk with the villain' And at these words I was so struck cold with terror that I swooned right away, and verily, if they had taken ain, forand weak: but instead, they left alley for a few e to Panama and back), in daily dread lest I should findfor me, but to burn as a relapsed heretic But e caain, and said to ainst you, so ill leave you for this ti with him so much, and the Holy Office suspects your conversion to be but a rotten one, you are adjudged to the galleys for the rest of your life in perpetual servitude'”

”But what became of him?” asked Aot to Lima, and five others with hilishuess”

”Ah!” said Amyas, ”we heard of that ere off Li still in prison, to be burnt in a few days If we had had our fleet with us (as we should have had if it had not been for John Winter) ould have gone in and rescued them all, poor wretches, and sacked the town to boot: but what could we do with one shi+p?”

”Would to God you had, sir; for the story was true enough; and a ladies of quality and their confessor, who ca out of Scripture the filthy and loathsoh and too well, is liker to Sodoe His saints, and their sins Amen”

”Amen,” said Sir Richard: ”but on with thy tale, for it is as strange as ever entlealley, I was for awhile like a madman: but in a day or two there came over me, I know not how, a full assurance of salvation, both for this life and the life to come, such as I had never had before; and it was revealed to entlemen, before Heaven) that now I had been tried to the uttermost, and that my deliverance was at hand

”And all the way up to Panao') I cast in inning to lose heart again, a door was opened by the Lord's own hand; for (I know not ere marched across from Panama to Noether into a great barranco close by the quay-side, shackled, as is the fashi+on, to one long bar that ran the whole length of the house And the very first night that ere there, I, looking out of the , spied, lying close aboard of the quay, a good-sized caravel well ar for sea; and the land breeze blew off very strong, so that the sailors were laying out a fresh warp to hold her to the shore And it came into my mind, that if ere aboard of her, we should be at sea in fiveat the quay, I saw all the soldiers who had guarded us scattered about drinking and ga into taverns to refresh themselves after their journey That was just at sundown; and half an hour after, in coht, and his keys at his girdle Whereon, sirs (whether by th to rend the lion), I rose against hiht or treachery of any kind, chained though I was, caught hiainst the wall, that he never spoke word after; and then with his keys freed myself and every soul in that roo to kill any man who disobeyedout of night into day, and death into life, and so aboard that caravel and out of the harbor (the Lord only knoho blinded the eyes of the idolaters), 'with no more hurt than a few chance-shot fro already, gentleood fellow, if you will”

”Well, sirs, they chose me for captain, and a certain Genoese for lieutenant, and away to go I would fain have gone ashore after all, and back to Panama to hear news of the little maid: but that would have been but a fool's errand Some wanted to turn pirates: but I, and the Genoese too, as a prudent land and get e them that there would be no safety in the Spanish Main, when once our escape got wind And theat the Barbadoes because it was desolate; and so eastward toward the Canaries In which voyage e endured (being taken by long calue can tell Many a tiht to catch the dew, and suck thein of rain-water out of the scuppers was as ht to as if he had been Adelantado of all the Indies; till of a hundred and forty poor wretches a hundred and ten were dead, blasphe God andthe Europe voyage, as if I had not sins enough of ht ourselves safe, recked by southwesters on the coast of Brittany, near to Cape Race, from which but nine souls of us came ashore with their lives; and so to Brest, where I found a Flushi+nger who carried me to Falmouth and so ends my tale, in which if I have said one word more or less than truth, I can wish o a second time”

And his voice, as he finished, sank from very weariness of soul; while Sir Richard sat opposite him in silence, his elbows on the table, his cheeks on his doubled fists, looking hi eyes No one spoke for several minutes; and then-- ”Amyas, you have heard this story You believe it?”

”Every word, sir, or I should not have the heart of a Christian man”

”So do I Anthony!”

The butler entered

”Take this man to the buttery; clothe him comfortably, and feed him with the best; and bid the knaves treat hiered

”If I ht be so bold as to ask your worshi+p a favor?--”

”Anything in reason, my brave fellow”

”If your worshi+p could put me in the way of another adventure to the Indies?”

”Another! Hast not had enough of the Spaniards already?”

”Never enough, sir, while one of the idolatrous tyrants is left unhanged,” said he, with a right bitter smile ”But it's not for that only, sir: but my little maid--Oh, sir! my little maid, that I swore to Mr Oxenham to look to, and never saw her froo ht but she co; and not aonof it I told that poor young ether; and he said oaths were oaths, and keep it I must; and keep it I will, sir, if you'll but help ood care of thy little maid as ever thou wilt”

”I know it, sir I know it: but faith's weak, sir! and oh! if she were bred up a Papist and an idolater; wouldn't her blood be on my head then, sir? Sooner than that, sooner than that, I'd be in the Inquisition again to-ood fellow, there are no adventures to the Indies forward now: but if you want to fight Spaniards, here is a gentleman will show you the way Amyas, take him with you to Ireland If he has learnt half the lessons God has set hiood stead”

Yeo looked eagerly at the young giant

”Will you have me, sir? There's fewto the Indies again, some day, eh? and take h I say it, either for gunner or for pilot I know every stone and tree from Nombre to Panama, and all the ports of both the seas You'll never be content, I'll warrant, till you've had another turn along the gold coasts, will you now?”

Aain was concluded

So out went Yeo to eat, and Aot ready for his journey home

”Go the short way over the ray when you can You must not lose an hour, but be ready to sail the oes about”

So they started: but as A into the saddle, he saw that there was so the servants, who see mysteriously; and just as his foot was in the stirrup, Anthony, the old butler, plucked him back