Part 1 (1/2)
Sea-Dogs All!
by Tom Bevan
Chapter I
THE MAN IN BLACK
The river-path along the Severn shore at Gatcombe was almost knee-deep with turbid water, and only a post here and there shohere river ordinarily ended and fir rain and buffeting wind anxiously calculating what havoc the sudden suht work, helpless the from its fury Stout doors and firm casements (both were needed in the river-side hamlet) bent with the fury of the sou'-wester that beat upon the estuary like a ale tore off the tops of the waves, raised theainst everything that fringed the shore Gatcoh, red banks, and the yellow tide surged up the opening and held back the seething waters like a dam There was black sky above, and ainst the village only appeared at odd moments above the tumult of waters, and a couple of timber shi+ps that lay on the north side, partially loaded, were plunging and leaping at their anchor cables like two dogs at the end of their chains Great oaken logs bobbed up and down like corks, or raced with the current upstrea in the forest would be scattered as driftwood from Gloucester to the shores of Devon and Wales
On the high bank above Gatcombe, one other man, half hidden by the thick trees, braved the fury of the stor of the fisher or forester about hiure soberly clad in black betokened the monk or the scholar, but claimed no kinshi+p with theerous sea Leaning against a giant beech that rocked in wild rhythm with the storm, he watched the wind and tide at their work of devastation, an odd s about the corners of his thin lips
”A hundred candles to St James for this tempest!” he round, I will trah the man in black watched the river for the space of two hours longer, his hopes of utter destruction were unrealized; the cables held, the rain ceased, the wind abated, and the tide began to run seawards oncewaters Inshore the sands of the river-bed were uncovered, and the fishers and wharf fros of oak that ithin reach For a while the man on the cliff watched the recesses of the forest ”Co his bosoood
What water hath commenced, the fire shall finish!+”
Alure broke fro the cliff towards the harbour
Deep-chested, full-throated, weather-stained, co sailor-man, every inch of hiray; but if, on the one hand, the ass peeps out froh fustian; and the newco men He hallooed to the shi+ps, and then hastily scra of the trees and rustling of the undergrowth hid the footfalls of thefor him, but the time when they should meet was not yet come
Chapter II
THE PLOTTERS
Thestepped out fro the proly to the sea At Newnha his boat and hoping for a fare The ha the tides and the sands The water ran like a er crossed hiain when the ferryh the shalloater and the e, and then vanished quickly into the trees that shut in the village of Arlingham from the river The boatman watched hier visible he shi+vered, for a cold chill was running down his spine ”Seeh I'd carried the Evil One,” he muttered; ”he may halloo till he's as hoarse as his black children the crows ere I trust ain” He waded to his boat and rowed rapidly across streaht nor look to the ferry the woodland paths like one who had not a moment to spare
The broad Roman way stretched in a bee-line froe, but the wayfarer never once set foot upon it Swiftness and secrecy marked every movement The sun had been above the horizon scarce an hour when the er knocked at the door of a fare and northwards towards the river It was opened on the instant by the farain
In the kitchen were four men, two of ore black doublet and hosen, black caps with a black feather, and were sallow-looking counterparts of the last arrival They stood up, bowed gravely, and sat down again without speaking
”You have kept good tryst, my sons; did any hted upon us; alked by the stars,”
was the reply
”Good! Now, your tidings--Thine first, Basil”
The younger of the two men clad in black looked up Hitherto he had maintained a strict silence, his eyes fixed on the floor The face that was lifted to the ht was not a pleasant one It was pasty, colourless, and shrunken as though frolittered in their dull sockets like a pair of black diae all over him He was a monk released fros were given slowly in short, terse sentences
”Admiral Drake is at Gatcombe”
The leader nodded ”I know it; I saw him yesterday,” he said
”He hath wind of our plot and a description of your person Sir Walter Raleigh coiven out that he is visiting the Throckmortons, from which family he took his wife The truth is, that he co troops?”