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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 1^ |50 1^ 2.8 3.2 1^ 14.0 1.4 [ 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 ^ ^IPPLIED IfVHGE I Srv 1653 East Main Street ^= Rochester, New York 14609 USA S:= (716) 482 -0300 -Phone == (716) 288- 5989 -Fax nc JOAN, THE CURATE JC JOAN, THE CURATE BY FLORENCE WARDEN AUTHOR or '* THE HOUSE ON THE MARSH," "THE INN BY THE SHOCE," ETC. <;,^> 5^ Toronto GEORGE J. MCI.EOD PUBI^ISHER on Copyright, 1899 BY P. M. BUCKIvES & COMPANY 'PR. JsJi. Joan^ the Curate CONTENTS. OHAPTBR I. II. ni. IV. V. VI. VIT, VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. I'ACIE The New Broom 7 A Startling Incident 25 An Ally at Last 3^ Fresh Outrages 52 A Load of Hay 65 A Collision 84 An Ugly Customer 94 Rede Hall 106 Traitress or Friend ? ^26 The Mystery of the Gray Barn MS 111 The Lion's Mouth ^55 Settling Accounts ' • • • ^74 A Late Visitor • 1S7 A Perilous Ride 203 The Smuggler ' Ship 218 A Traitress 233 An Innocent Rival 250 A Prisoner 265 A Very Woman 280 The Free-Traders' Farewell 297 JOAN, THE CURATE. CHAPTER I. THE NEW BROOM. It was soon after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, had put an inglorious end to an in- glorious war, that the Government of the day began to give serious attention to an evil which had been suffered to grow while public atten- tion was absorbed by battles abroad and the doings of the press-gang at home. This was the practise of plundering wrecked vessels, which had been carried on in combina- tion with the smuggler's daring and dangerous trade, particularly on the wild marsh coast south of Kent, and the equally lonely Sussex cliffs beyond. So audacious had the doings of these ** free- traders " become, that a brigade of cavalry was 7 8 Joan, The Curate. sent down into the old town of Rye, for the purpose of overawing them, while, at the same time, a smart revenue cutter, under the com- mand of a young lieutenant of noted courage and efficiency, was despatched to cruise about the coast, to act in concert with the soldiers. It was on a windy night in early autumn, when the sea was roaring sullenly as it dashed against the sandstone clifTs, and echoed in the caves and hollows worn by the waves, that a sharp knocking at the door of Hurst Parsonage, a mile or two from the sea-coast, made Parson Langney look up from the "writing of his Sunday sermon, and glance inquiringly at his daughter. . " Now, who will that be, Joan ? " said he as he tilted his wig on to one side of his head, and pursed up his jolly, round, red face with an air of some anxiety. " Nay, father, you have as many visitors that come for the ills of the body as for the health of the soul!" cried Joan. "I can but hope you han't another long trudge across the marsh before you, like your journey of a week back." ^i.t ciitvl mUiilvxit lilCi L V^aixlv, allvJliiV^A iiiUllU.cr- .■S The New Broom. J, for the : the same the com- i courage lise about ioldiers. ^ autumn, it dashed ed in the es, that a arsonage, le Parson [g of his gly at his lid he as his head, 'ace with sitors that lie health 3ut hope TOSS the of a week fciiunuLcr- ing knock at the httle front door, and a hand- ful of stones and earth was flung against the window, followed the next moment by a rattling of the panes. Father and daughter, genial, portly parson, and creamy-skinned, black-eyed m:iiden, sprang their feet, and looked once at each other. There were wild folk in these parts, and lonesome errands to be run sometimes by Par- son Langney, who had begun life as a surgeon, and who had been lucky enough to be pitch- forked into a living which exactly suited his adventurous habits, his love of fox-hunting, and his liking for good wine and wxU-hung game. Before the importunate summons could be repeated. Parson Langney had come out of the little dining-parlor, and drawn the bolt of the front door. For Nance, the solitary housemaid of the modest establishment, was getting into years, and inclined to regard a late visitor as a person to be thwarted by being kept as long as pos- sible waiting at the door. " Hast no better manners than to do thy best to drive the glass from out the panes ? " asked w 10 Joan, The Curate. he, as soon as he found himself face to face with the intruder, who proved to be a sailor, in open jacket, loose shirt and slops, and flat, three-cornered hat. " Oons, sir, 'tis a matter of life and death ! " said the man, as he saluted the parson with becoming respect, and then pointed quickly back in the direction of the sea, which could be seen faintly glistening in the murky light of a clouded moon. " I'm from the revenue cutter in the offing yonder, where one of my mates lies with a bullet in's back, sent there by one of those rascally smugglers in a fray we've had with them but now. I've been in the village for help, but they say there's no doctor here but yourself. So I beg your honor'U come with me, and do what you can for him. And could you tell me of a woman that would watch by him ? For we've all got our hands full, and he'll be wandering from his wdts ere morning." The parson, without a moment's delay, had begun, by the help of his daughter, to get into a rough brown riding- coat that hung from a nail on the whitewashed wall. " Why, there you have me out, " said he, as 1 The New Broom. II :e to face 2 a sailor, and flat, death ! " rson with d quickly ich could rky light ; revenue ne of my ent there in a fray ; been in here's no beg your t you can a woman ve all got ring from elay, had :o get into Ling from aid he, as 1 -8 he buttoned himself up to the chin, and put a round, broad-brimmed black hat, with a bow and a twisted band of black cloth, tightly on to his somew^hat rusty, grizzled bob-wig. " For there's none in these parts to nurse the sick as well as my daughter Joan." " And sure I'm ready to go, father ! " cried the girl, who, with the nimbleness of a fawn, had darted back into the parlor and brought out her father's case of surgical instruments, as well as a diminutive portable chest, containing such drugs and medicines as were in use at the time. " I'll have on my hood in a tick of the dock." And by the time these words were uttered she had flown up the steep, narrow staircase and disappeared round the bend at the top. The sailor, who had stepped inside the porch, out of the wind and a drizzling rain which had now begun to fall, was full of admiration and astonishment. " Oons, sir, but ' twill be rough v;ork for the young mistress ! " said he. " The water's washing over the boat yonder, and we shan't be able to push off without getting wet up to the waist. " " The lass is used to rough weather," said 12 Joan, The Curate. Parson Langney, proudly. " She'll tell you herself that where her father can go she goes. " The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Joan, wrapped in a rough peasant's cloak, and wearing a loose hood, came tripping down the stairs. Not a moment was lost. With a word to Nance, who had put in a tardy appearance, the parson, with his daughter on one side and the sailor on the other, started for the shore. The wind was at its worst on the top of the hill where the Parsonage stood. A very few minutes' sharp walking brought them all to a lower level, and within the shelter of a wild straggling growth of bushes and small trees, which extended in patches from the village almost to the edge of the crumbling cliffs. Here they struck into a rough track made by the feet of the fishermen and less inoffensive characters, and before they had gone far they saw the hulk of the cutter, tossing like a little drifting spar amid the foam of the waves, and showing dark against the leaden, faint moon- light on the sea beyond. The parson asked a few questions, and elicited the usual story— ^ contraband cargo was being run in a little The New Broom. 13 I tell you ihe goes. " lis mouth nt's cloak, )ing down 1 word to ranee, the e and the ore. :op of the very few n all to a of a wdld lall trees, le village :liffs. ick made lofTensive 2 far they ke a little 'aves, and int moon- ion asked l1 story — in a little creek just where the cliffs broke off and the marsh began, when the lookout man on the cutter spied the smugglers, and a boat was sent out to give chase. There had been a smart brush, almost half in and half out of the water, between the smugglers on the one side and the cutter's men on the other. But on the whole, as the narrator was forced ruefully to admit, the smugglers had got the best of it, as they all got away, leaving not so much as a keg behind them, while one of the cutter's men had had to be carried off seriously wounded. " Zoons, and it was main odd they did get off so well 1 " went on the sailor, as if in some perplexity ; " for the lieutenant himself landed a bullet in the leg of one of the rascals, that should have brought him down, if he hadnt had the devil himself-saving your presence, mistress— to help him." In the momentary pause which followed the man's words, a sound suddenly came to the ears of them all, above the whining of the wind in the trees and bushes. It made Joan stop short for the space of a second, and turn her eyes hastily and furiiveiy m uic ^ixv-Ctiv.xx ^- -- 14 Joan, The Curate. dell on their left, where the bracken grew high about the trunks of a knot ot beeches. " Eh ! " cried the sailor, stopping short, also to listen. " What was that ? 'Twas like the groan of a man. " As he turned his head to listen, the parson and his daughter quickly exchanged a glance expressive both of alarm and of warning. Then the former seized the sailor by the arm, pushing onward towards the shore at a better pace than ever. " Sure," said he, in a deep, strong, resonant voice that would have drowned any fainter sound in the ears of his listener ; " 'tis but the screech of a hawk. This woody ground's alive with the creatures. " The man cast at him a rather r.uspicious look, but said nothing, and allowed himself to be led forward. So they hurried on, increasing their pace when the ground began to dip again, until they followed the course of a narrow and dark ravine, which cut its way through the cliffs to the seashore. Here they had to pick their way over the stones and bits of broken cliff, through which a brook, swollen by recent rains, gurgled noisily on its w^av to the sea. Thp i\r^e^ wqc The New Broom. 15 grew high s. short, also IS Hke the he parson 1 a glance ng. Then I, pushing pace than ;, resonant ny fainter is but the nid's alive :ious look, to be led sing their gain, until and dark e cliffs to their way f, through 5, gurgled I tide was going down, and the thunder of the waves, as they beat upon the cliff's base and echoed in its hollows, grew fainter as they went. It was an easier matter than they had expected t J get into the boat which was waiting to take them to the cutter ; and though the tiny craft rose like a nutshell on the crest of the waves, and sank into deep dells of dark water, they reached the cutter safely, and scrambled, not without difficulty, up the side of the little vessel, which was anchored not far from the land. /\ man's voice, full, clear, musical, a voice used to command, hailed them from the deck- " Ho, there ! Hast brought a doctor ? " -Ay,capt'n,andaparson to boot !" answered the sailor who had been despatched on this errand. " And a nurse that it would cure a sick man to look at." It was at that moment that Jo-n, who was as agile as a kitten, stepped on deck, and into the light of the lantern which the lieutenant himself was holding. The young man saluted her, with surprise in his eyes, and a thrill of some warmer feeling in his gallant heart. Joan curtsied, holding on to the nearest rope the while. i6 Joan, The Curate. " You are welcome on board, madam." " I thank you, sir." And the young people exchanged looks. What he saw was a most fair maiden, tall and straight, graceful with the ease and freedom of nature and good breeding, with sparkling brown eyes, even white teeth, and a merry gleam belying the demureness of her formal words. What she saw was a young man only a little above the middle height, stalwart and hand- some, with quick eyes gray as the winter sea, and a straight, clean-cut mouth, that closed with a look of indomitable courage and determination. " And yet, madam," the lieutenant went on, leaving his subordinates to help Parson Lang- ney, who was portly, and less agile than his daughter, up on to the deck, *' they should not have brought you. For, in truth, we are in no state to receive a lady on board. There has been ugly work to do with those rascally smugglers." " I come not as a fine lady, sir," retorted Joan, promptly ; ** but as a nurse for a sick man. There is no state needed by a woman when she comes but to do her duty." The New Broom. 17 ,dam." i looks, iiaiden, tall nd freedom 1 sparkling id a merry her formal Dnly a little and hand- iter sea, and Dsed with a ermination. it went on, irson Lang- e than his hey should nth, we are rd. There )se rascally r," retorted a sick man. )man when 'Well said, madam ; but I thankGod your -care will not be needed. The poor fellow who r .3 shot by those ruffians has taken a turn If or the better, and if the gentleman, whom I take to be your father, can but perform a sim- inle operation for him " ? ujJiy father, sir, is a most skilled surgeon, land can perform any operation," answered Joan, interrupting him proudly. Her look was so full of hre, the carriage of her head, in its graceful hood, so superb, as she uttered the ingenuous words, that Lieuten- ant Tregenna smiled a little as he saluted her and turned to the parson, who, panting and in some disorder, had at length reached the The young man introduced himself, and they saluted each other, the parson with some difficulty, since the continual motion of the vessel was somewhat trying to his landsman's legs. Then they went below, and in a few minutes the young man returned alone. Joan had been accommodated with a seat by the tiller, and protected from wind and water by a tarpiulin, out of which her bonny face peeped white in the moonlight. i8 Joan, The Curate. " You have no work for me, sir ? " she asked, as the lieutenant came up " None, madam ; and even less for your good father than we feared might be the case. He has found the bullet, and 'twill be an easy matter to extract it, so he says ; and after that, 'tis a mere matter of a few^ days' quiet to set the poor fellow on his legs again. So the rascals escaped murder this time ; not that one crime more or less would sit hard on the con- science of such villains ! " For a moment Joan said nothing. Then she hazarded, in a very dry, demure voice — " But, sir, by what I heard, your side went as near committing murder as the other. The man who brought us hither spoke of a bullet in the leg of one of the fishermen." " Fishermen ! Odds my life, madam, but that's a very pretty way of putting it ! I hope you han't the same kindness for the rascals that seems to be strong among the country-folk here ! Nay, I won't do you the injustice to suppose 3^ou could hold their villainies in aught but abhorrence.'' "Whatever is villainous I hope I abhor very properly," answered Joan with spirit. *' And The New Broom. 19 " she asked, 58 for your be the case, be an easy d after that, quiet to set n. So the not that one on the con- ing. Then re voice — : side went other. The of a bullet nadam, but it ! I hope the rascals :ountry-folk injustice to lies in aught [ abhor very irit. *' And the shooting down of one's fellow-men I do hold one of the greatest villainies of all." "When 'tis done by smugglers and plunder- ers of wrecks, no doubt you mean," retorted the lieutenant tartly. " Plunderers of wrecks we have none in these parts, or at least none that do the vile things that were done in times past," said slie quickly. "And if you and the soldiers that are come to Rye had had but the punishment of murderers and wreckers in your eye, you would ha\'e met with more sympathy than is like to be the case if you mean to repress what they call in these parts free-trade." " Well, madam, 'tis in truth the repression of ' free-trade' that we have in our minds, and that we intend to carry out by the strength of our arms. And I own I'm amazed to hear a gcntlevv'oman of your sense and spirit speak so leniently of a pack of thievish persons that live by robbing his Majesty, and, indeed, the whole nation to which they belong. I can but trust you speak in more ignorance than you imagine, and that the doings of such ruffians as one Jem Bax, and another wretch called Gardener Tom, of Long Jack and Bill Plunder, 20 Joan, The Curate. Robin Cursemotlier and Ben t/ie Blast have never come to your ears." Lieutenant Trcgenna uttt red each of these names very clearly, and \v ith solemn emphasis, standing so that he could see the expression of the girl's face as he mentioned them. To his great disgust, he perceived that, though she kept her eyes down as if to conceal her feelings, she was well acquainted with all these men, and appeared somewhat startled to learn that he knew tliem so well. "You have heard of these men?" he asked sharply. " Yes, I've— I've heard of them." " You know them, perhaps ?" A moment's pause. "Ye — e' . T know them." *' I won't jiffrmt you '^y asking whether you have any sympathy with them and their methods. With men that live by defrauding the revenue, and that scruple not to commit the most violent deeds in the exercise of their unlawful calling?" The lieutenant's tone was harsh and arrogant as he asked these questions. Miss Joan still sat with her eyelids down, giving him a new I The Kew Broom. 21 Blast have ch of these n emphasis, expression them. To liat, though :onceal her ith all these led to learn " he asked rhether you and their defrauding to commit :ise of their nd arrogant IS Joan still him a new nd ng le view of her beatity, unconsciously proving to him that her face was as handsome in rep >se, with the black eyelashes sweeping her , m\h d cheeks, as it was when her features w( ; ani- mated with the excitement of c iivei itioi , She was silent at lirst, and the lieutenant ^/c peated his last questif a somewhat impatit There was another shi^ht pause, however then a ponderous foots ep was heard crec> up the companion-ladder. "There's my father! " cried Jonn, as started up, in evident relief at the opporti. interruption. Parson Langney, holding on valiantly to such support as came ii his way, staggered towards them, and endea by hurling himself against the lieutenant wit! so much force that it was only by a most dixterous movement that the younger and slinaner man escaped being fiung into the sea. " I ask your pardon, capt: m," cried the jolly parson, in good-humored ipology, as, with the assistance of the young folk, he reached a place of satL y. " Remember, you're on your dement, but I'm not on mine! Come and dine with my daughter and me to-morrow. 22 Joan, The Curate. and you shall see that my feet carry me well enough on the dry land." " I thank you, sir, and I would most willingly have accepted your kind offer, but I'm engaged to dine with one who is, I believe, a neighbor of yours — Squire Waldron, of Hurst Court." "Why, God bless my soul, so am I !" cried the parson, in amazement at his own momen- tary lapse of memory. "Then, sir, I shall be happy to meet you there ; and I warrant you'll be happy too, for the squire's port wine, let me tell you, is a tipple not to be despised by his Majesty himself." "Ay, sir, and there at any rate I shall feel comfortable in the thought that the wine has paid duty, which, I give you my word, is what I have not felt in any other house in the neigh- borhood, public or private, since I arrived here." But at these words a sudden and singular alteration had occurred in the parson's features. He seemed to remember the office of the per- son to whom he was speaking, and to become more reserved. " Ay, sir, certainly," was all he said. The lieutenant went on, with a return to the "y me well st willingly m engaged a neighbor t Court." I I!" cried n momen- I sh'cill be rrant you'll t wine, let espised by I shall feel 3 wine has rd, is what the neigh- I arrived id singular I's features. of the per- to become .id. iturn to the The New Broom. 23 bitterness he had shown while discussing the subject of smugglers with Miss Joan. " And as the squire is a justice of the peace, whose duty it is to punish evil-doers, I may at last hope, under his roof, to meet with some sympathy with the objects of justice, such as one expects from all right-thinking people." *' Why, sir, certainly," said Parson Langney again, somewhat more dryly than before. And then, turning to his daughter, he added briskly, " Come, Joan, we must be returning. The lad below w^ill do very well now, sir, with quiet, and the physic I have left for him. And I'll pay him another visit in a day or two." As he addressed these last words to the lieutenant, the parson was already preparing to lower himself into the boat which had brought him. He seemed in haste to be gone. Lieutenant Tregenna then helped the young lady down into the boat, giving her as he did so a somewhat piqued and resentful glance, which, however, she demurely refused to meet with a return look from her own black eyes until she was safely in the little boat beside her father. Then, as the small craft was tossing amidst ■1 24 Joan, The Curate. the spray from the larger one, she did look up, with the struggling moonlight full upon her face, at the handsome young commander, on whom a touch of youthful arrogance sat not unbecomingly. And Lieutenant Tregenna, as he saluted and watched the little bo?t, and in particular its fair occupant, w^as irritated and incensed beyond measure by what he took for an expression of merry defiance in her bright eyes. A Startling Incident. 25 id look up, I upon her mander, on ice sat not jaluted and irticular its sed beyond pression of CHAPTER II. A STARTLING INCIDENT. HuRSii' Court, where Lieutenant Tregenna presented himself next day, by Squire Wal- dron's most obliging and pressing invitation, was an ugly Georgian house just outside the village of Hurst, standing in an extensive but little- cultivated park, much of which was in a primi- tive condition of gorse and tangle and un- dipped, undersized trees. The mansion itself was not in the heart of the park, but was built near the road, with nothing but a little stretch of grass and a wooden fence between. A great baying of hounds and noise of dis- puting men-servants were the sounds which greeted the lieutenant when he arrived at the house. Even before entering, he had formed, both from this circumstance and from the ex- itent of the stables, some idea of the sort of rollick- 26 Joan, The Curate. ing, happy-go-lucky, rough country household he was to expect ; and he had scarcely set foot inside the wide and lofty hall when the onrush of half a dozen barking dogs, the crowding into the hall of three or four gawky men-servants, and the entrance of the squire himself, in a scarlet coat, with a loud and hearty greeting on his lips, fully confirmed this impression. ''Welcome, welcome to Hurst Court, lieu- tenant ! " cried his host, seizing him by the hand with a grip like a blacksmith's, and promptly leading him in the direction of the music-room, across a floor where a couple of stag-hounds were lying lazily stretched out, and between walls laden with antlers and the grinning pates of three or four score foxes. "You should have come a couple of hours sooner ; for the ladies have a mind to show you their Dutch garden, and to regale you with some music before we dine. I know not, sir, whether such diversions are to your taste, or whether your liking runs more in the direction of fox-hunting and the shooting of game, as mine does ? I have no taste, myself, for your finicking London modes; but I'm told that V X i '„- j'^"-'& ;^Liwrvo iiOvvauajD pi iau Liiciiiseives "m A Startling Incident. 27 household ely set foot the onrush crowding n-servants, mself, in a greeting on sion. 'Ourt, lieu- im by the lith's, and ion of the couple of :ched out, s and the ore foxes. of hours show you you with V not, sir, r taste, or ; direction game, as , for your told that icrnseives more on cutting a fine figure in the ladies' drawing-rooms than in sitting a horse well and riding straight to hounds." '' Nay, squire, it will give me vast pleasure to hear the ladies' music," said Lieutenant Tregenna, when his host's volubility allowed him the chance of answering. *"Tis a diver- sion one can enjoy but seldom so far from town." " Nay, we have better diversions here than those," said the squire disparagingly. " But my wife and daughters will be prodigious pleased that you are not of my way of think- ing. For a stranger in these parts is a mighty welcome arrival, I assure you, and like to be made much of." Indeed, it was quite perceptible to the lieu- tenant that there was a flutter of excitement going on in the music-room up to the very moment of his entrance ; and the welcome he got from the squire's wife and two daughters was quite as sincere, though not so tempes- tuous, as that of the host himself. For Mrs. Waldron and the two young misses, her daughters, were quite as much in love with i.u „ ^i.^^oiir'-'c- r\( fVio +o^T"'»^ ^c flip b"«^b^nH ^nd 2S Joan, The Curate. father was with those of the country. And in dress, manner, conversation, and tone they marked the difference between themselves and him as ostentatiously as possible. Thus, while the squire wore the old-fash- ioned Ramillies wig, with its bush of powdered hair at the sides, and long pigtail tied at the top and bottom with black ribbon, and the loosely-fitting scarlet coat which he had worn for any number of years, his good wife and two round-faced, simpering daughters were all attired in the latest modes of the town. They all three wore the loose sacque or negligee, which was then the height of fashion ; they tottered about in slim-heeled shoes, under huge hoops which swayed as they walked ; while their hair was all dressed in the same way-knotted up tightly under the smallest and closest of caps, making their heads look smgularly small and mean, when compared with the^enormous width of their distended skirts. The.^^ all seemed the most amiable of living creatures ; and Lieutenant Tregenna found at last the sympathy he wanted when he expressed that horror and hatred of smugglers which was at present the ruling passion of his mind. The •y. And in tone they themselves le. e old-fash- f powdered ail tied at 3n, and the had worn i wife and Ts were all vn. sacque or )f fashion ; oes, under y walked ; the same 3 smallest eads look ^aredwith ed skirts. : of living found at expressed v'hich was inrl Tl-)p > li'.i, X lie A Startling Incident. 29 squire had left him with the ladies, and he had ibeen entertaining them with an account of the adventure of the preceding night. I "And I can assure you, madam," he said to his hostess, when they had hung attentively on his words, and cried, "Wretch!" "Villains!" "How monstrous shocking!" at appropriate intervals, "that so deep-rooted has this evil become, that even the parson and his young daughter appeared to grieve more for the smuggler whom I wounded than they did for the poor fellow whom the ruffians shot ! " " His daughter ! Oh, do you mean Mistress Joan?" said Mrs. Waldron, pursing her mouth a little. "Sure, sir, what would you expect from a country-bred wench like that, who tramps the villages and moors with her father like a man, and is almost as much among these fearsome wretches, the smugglers, as if she were their own kin?" " "Oh, la, sir; you must know they call her 'the curate,'" cried one of the young ladies, tittering, and looking languishingly at the vis- itor out of her little pink-rimmed eyes with the whitish eyelashes ; "for she's quite as use- ^ r , • 1 !_ • 1, ^„ u^ :„ " 11 iUi m nib pciiibii ab lie 10. 30 Joan, The Curate. " And I'm sure 'tis a very rational diversion for a girl of her tastes," said her sister. " You must know, sir, that she has never seen a play, nor any of the diversions of the town, and that she fills up her time twittering on a dulcimer to her father, and has barely so much as heard of the harpsichord." " I don't wonder you was affronted by her Gothic behavior," went on Mrs. Waldron ; " but sure 'tis very excusable in a girl who has no polish, no refinement, and who takes no more care of her complexion than if she was a dairymaid." Tregenna felt considerable surprise at the storm of reprobation which he had brought down on the head of poor Joan. For he could not know that the young men of the neighbor- hood, and even Bertram, the squire's son, all showed a most boorish preference for hand- some, straight-limbed Joan, with her free bear- ing and her ready tongue, over the fine ladies of Hurst Court; and that, at the Hastings assemblies, and at such routs as were given in the neighborhood, Joan had more partners than any one else, though her gown was sel- uom 01 tne ^atesL mode, and licr only fan A Startling Incident. 31 diversion ■. " You n a play, and that dulcimer as heard I by her ^aldron ; who has akes no she was 3 at the brought le could nghbor- son, all r hand- le bear- i ladies [astings " given >artners /^as sel- nly fan was one which had belonged to her grand- mother. M " Nay ; I honor and admire her for helping Jher father," said the lieutenant, hastily. " I Idid but grieve that a young lady of so much Ispirit should take so wrong-headed a view of Ithe matter." I "Your consideration is wasted upon her, isir, indeed," said Mrs. Waldron. " But hush ! I here comes her father with the squire." There was no possibility of mistaking the lloud, deep, cheery voice of Parson Langney, jwhich could be heard even above the barking [of the hounds, which was the first greeting given to every visitor. The next moment the door opened, and Parson Langney, the squire, and his son Bertram, entered, to be joined a few minutes later by a couple of country [gentlemen more clownish than their host. Bertram Waldron w^as an unhappy cross [between the country breeding of his father and the town airs and graces of the ladies. I For while he affected the modish cut of the town in his clothes, swore the latest oaths, and swaggered about with a great assumption of the manners of the beau, his rusticity peeped 32 Joan, The Curate. out every moment in his gait, and in his strong | provincial accent. When they ail I'rooped into the dining-parlor, where a huge sirloin was placed smoking on the table, it w^as not long before the stranger perceived that the sympathy he had met with from the ladies was not shared by the gentle- men. Not only did they express but faint interest in his collision with the smugglers, and profess the greatest incredulity as to the alleged magni- tude of their operations, but by the time the ladies had retired, it began to be hinted to him pretty freely, as the decanters passed round, that the less zeal he showed in the prosecution of his raids against the " free-traders," the more his discretion would be respected. " Gad, sir ; I don't say theirs is an honest trade," said the squire, whose face assumed a purplish and ..poplectic tint as the meal wore on ; " but I say that 'tis best to let sleeping dogs lie ; and that your soldiers will do a monstrous sight more harm than gooc^ by driv- ing the trade into wilder parts, where the fel- lows can be more daring and more dan.^erous. And what I say to you, who are but a young i( ^^^1 his strong A Startling Iiuidant. 33 ng-parlor, loking on ) stranger met with he gentle- it interest id profess ed magni- ; time the ed to him 3d round, osecution ' the more m honest ssumed a leal wore vill do a ■ by driv- e the fel- an.^erous. t a young man, and hot with zeal, is this : that the easier you take things, the easier things will take you. And if you won't trust the advice of a man of my experience— why- ask the parson there, and take his." " Gad's my life, sir ; but I can take no man's i advice who bids me do aught but what seems to me my duty ! " cried the young lieutenant with fire. He was incensed at the laxity of I murals, which he now perceived to have per- meated to every class of society in the neigh- borhood. " I'm here, under the orders of his Majesty— the stringent orders— to put down smuggling and the wrecking connected with it. And what I'm sent to do, I'll do, please God, no matter what the difficulties in my way may be, nor what the dangers ! " His words were followed by a dead, an omi- nous silence. The day was dying now, and the red fire 'leeping M that downed and flickered in the wide hearth showed strange lights and shadows on the painted ceilmg, the painted and paneled walls, the long spindle-legged sideboard, where more wine w^as waiting for the jovial band at the table. 34 Joan, The Curate. The country gentleman, one and all, looked up at the ceiling during tlie pause. Before any one spoke, there came to the ears of all a sound which was easily distinguished as the gallop of horses, accompanied by the loud shouts of men, the cracking of whips, the creakingof heavy wheels. Lieutenant Tregenn.i who was near the window, jumped up, and looked out, as a wagon, piled high with kegs, and surrounded by a band of half a dozen armed men on horseback, dashed past the house and up the hill towards the village. " Smugglers, as I live ! " cried Tregenna, much excited, and turning to attract the atten- tion of the rest. But not a man of them moved ; not one so much as turned his head in the dirsction of the window. The blood flew to the young man's brain. " Gentlemen ! " cried he, as he dashed across the room to the door ; " you will excuse me. You, squire, are a justice of the peace ; and I must do my best to bring some of these rascals before you, when, I doubt not, you will do your duty towards them— and towards the king ! " With that he swungout of the heated room, ^ /a A Startling Incident. 35 seized his hat and his heavy riding-coat which lay in the hall, and dashed down the lawn cut- ting across to the left, just as a party of soldiers came riding fast up the hill in full pursuit of the smugglers. " A d d coxcombical puppy ! " cried one of the husky squires, as he watched the stal- wart figure of the young lieutenant making his way rapidly past the window. " What does he want setting up his joodgment against ours, and presuming for to think he's a better sub- ject of his Majesty than what we be ? " " Let 'un be ! Let 'un be ! " said the third squire, grimly. " There's no need to worrit ourselves about him. If he doesn't get a bul- let in his head before many days be over, why, you may eat me for a Frenchman, and bury my bones at the cross-roads." And the rest of the company, w^ith only one protesting voice, that of Parson Langney, who said the lad had no fault but youth, and he hoped he would come to no hurt, filled -up their glasses and smacked their lips over the famous port, and never asked themselves whether it had paid duty ; for, indeed, there was no mystery about that. trimitinsm^iamtm 36 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER III. AN ALLY AT LAST. The soldiers were rattling on in pursuit of the smugglers at such a good pace that Lieu- tenant Tregenna only reached the road in time to see them turn the next corner and disappear. He followed, however, at the best pace he could, hoping to be of use in finding out the direction the smugglers had taken. He had not yet had time to become acquainted with the inland part of the neighborhood, or he would have known that, by dashing across the park in a northerly direction, he could have reached the village before the soldiers, who had to follow the windings of the road. As it was, when he reached the first of the straggling cottages of the picturesque Sussex village, the horsemen were out of sight ; and An Ally At Last. 37 n, he the g^ 5 O' the women and children of the neighborhood seemed to be all at their doors and windows, evidently discussing the recent invasion with boisterous mirth. As Tregenna was not in uniform, he flattered himself that he might go up the village un- recognized, and perhaps obtain some scraps of valuable information ; but whether they were better posted up than he supposed, or whether the mere sight of a stranger aw^oke suspicion in the shrewd women-folk, it w^as certain that as soon as they caught sight of him they checked their volubility, and stood, with their hands on their hips, staring at him with broad amusement still on their faces, or else dropped a curtsey with demure and sud- den respectfulness, which was in itself some- what suspicious. However, he thought he would make at least an attempt to obtain some information. So he addressed himself to a coarse-featured woman who might have been any age between twenty-five and forty-five, who stood wiping her hands on her apron at the door of one of the cottages, and who, by the curtsey she dropped and the good-humored expression of 38 Joan, The Curate. i her face, seemed to promise that she would at least give a civil answer. "Was that a troop of soldiers I caught sight of coming into the village ?" asked he, as in- differently as possible, when he had returned her salutation with deferential courtesy. "Maybe it were, sir," replied the woman promptly, with demure cheerfulness; "but I doan't rightly know. I were out at back yon- der when I heard the noise." She glanced out of the corners of her eyes at an older womdii outside the door of the next cottage. " Old Jenny yonder can tell ye more'n me, sir," added she slyly ; " slie's been there all the toime." Trcgenna, concealing the mortification he felt, turned to Jenny. But her stolid face offered little hope of success. "Av," said she, in a voice like a man's, "I've been sittin' an' standin' about here, I 'ave, all mornin' ; but I han't seen naught." " You haven't seen n, wagon full of smug- glers, maybe, coming through at full gallop ?" cried Tregenna, losing all patience with the mendacious females. " Nor a troop of soldiers after them?" But 1 lady, w which h 'Noa impertu] the whiL had the He di again, bi groups ( thatched noting e him by : thcmsclv The ve nine, grii to give h was in an When end of th three roa and anotl: impossibl thr«e roac with deep a An Ally At Last. .39 But the sarcasm was lost upon the good lady, who was chewing a quid of tobacco, which he well knew to be contraband. ' Noa. I han't seen aught o' that," she replied imperturbably, looking him steadily in the eyes the while. " Maybe I were m a dose, sir, or had the sun in my eyes as they passed." He did not trust himself to speak to her again, but went on up the village, between the groups of straggling red cottages with their thatched roofs overgrown with moss or lichen, noting everywhere the sidelong looks cast at him by such of the women as did not shut themselves in their cottages at his approach. The very urchins, chubby boys of eight and nine, grinned at him maliciously, and helped to give him confirmation of the fact that he was in an enemy's country. When the ground began to rise again, at the end of the village, he came to a point where three roads met, and where the high hedges and another patch of wooded ground made it impossible to see far in any direction. As all thr-e roads were in a most villainous condition, with deep ruts and pools and furrows of caked mud, and as ail three bore marks of horses' 40 Joan, The Curate. hoofs the lieutenant knew that it was useless to go further. So he returned through the vil- lage in a highly irritated state of mind. The excitement had subsided a little by this time, and most of the gossips had resumed their household occupations. There w^as a group of suspicious-looking loafers about the door of each of the two inns ; but although it seemed to Tregenna that the word smuggler was writ large across the bloated features of every one, there was nothing to be done but to look as if he ignored their existence. Thus, in the very worst of humors, he again reached the entrance of the village, and, after a moment's hesitation, struck up to the left in the direction of the Parsonage, at the garden gate of which he saw handsome Mistress Joan in conversation with another woman. He was still ostensibly bound on a mission of inquiry, yet it is doubtful whether he hoped to get much information from Joan, who had clearly shown herself to be one of the enemy. Still he strode up the hill with a resolute step, and saluted her in the most abrupt, business- like, and even somewhat offended manner. "Your pardon, Mistress Joan, for intruding. / . But'ti I you in that re them ? •'H( Do yoi Joan, ( Hec even h dying 1 light o evening into bri though' tares o Hurst C dress, t had don her abu her fore somewl: finitely tightly ladies, her full fell in gr useless the vil- by this sumcd was a )ut the )ugh it uggler ires of but to : again ; after left in garden s Joan ission hoped had me my. J step, in ess- er. iding. I ^0 An Ally At Last. 41 But 'tis in the performance of my duty. Can you inform me whither the smugglers be gone that rode by just now with the soldiers after them ? " " How should I be able to tell you that, sir ? Do you take me for a smuggler myself ?" asked Joan, demurely. lie did not at once answer. The girl looked even handsomer, so it seemed to him, in the dying light of day than she had done by the light of moon and lantern on the preceding evening. The creamy tints of her skin melted into bright carnation on her cheeks ; and he thought, with a flash of amusement, of the stric- tures of the powdered and painted ladies of JJurst Court upon her rustic complexion. Her dress, too, pleased his taste better than theirs had done. She wore neither hood nor cap, and her abundant brown hair was rolled back from her forehead in a style which was at that period somewhat old-fashioned, but which gave in- finitely more dignity to the head than the tightly screwcd-up knot of the fashionable ladies. She wore no hoop or next to none, and her full skirt, of some sort of gray homespun, fell in graceful folds around her. A lon^ fine 42 Joan, The Curate. white apron reached to the hem of her dress, and her bodice was adorned with a frilled ker- chief of soft white muslin, and with full gathers of mushn just below the elbow. The dress was neat, simple, eminently fresh and becoming. Perhaps Tregenna's masculiii ■ eye did not take in all these details ; but he was conscious that the whole effect was pleasing beyond any- thing feminine he had ever seen, and vastly superior to the modish charms of the Hurst Court ladies. He gave himself, however, little time for these reflections before a glance at the house behind her suggested to him a thought which he immediately put into the most mat- ter-of-fact words. "You stand high here, madam ; that tower to the east of your house will give you a view over many miles. Will you favor me with your per- mission to go up thither for a few minutes, that I may take a reconnaissance of the country?" By the startled look which instantly came into Joan's gray eyes, by the crimson flush which mounted to her forehead, Tregenna saw, to his intense annoyance, another proof that her sympathy with his foes went beyond the passive stage. i? "Oh least — ■ lookinsj lc;ist, in hither tired tl the wo r who hn of som( after, no misi trouble encumi she en her cor Treg glancec The W( was mo ban que time ol gone til divided king-pc wide t the eas An Ally At Last. 43 "Oh, you can't go into the tower, sir; at least " She hesitated a moment, evidently looking for an excuse, and then went on — " at Iciist, in my father's absence. If you will come hither to-morrow, or— or " Tregenna no- ticed that at this point she sought the eyes of the woman with whom she had been talking, and who had withdrawn respectfully to a distance of some paces on his approach. " Or the day after. 'Tis a fair view, certainly, when there's no mist on the marshes ; but hardly worth the trouble of climbing our staircase, which is encumbered by much lumber of my father's," vshe ended somewhat lamely, but recovering her composure. Tregenna did not at once answer, but he glanced at the house with a scrutinizing eye. The western portion of the building, which was most modest in dimensions, had been the banqueting-hall of a mansion as far back as the time of King John. It had since that time gone through many vicissitudes, and was now divided into small chambers, with the ancient king-post of the banqueting-hall spreading its wide beams through the upper story. On the east side of the dwelling an addition had 44 Joan, The Curate. been made, taller than the more ancient portion, and crowned by a gabled roof of red tiles. Over the whole house there hung a rich mantle of glossy dark ivy, which had grown into a massive tree over the more ancient part, and stretched its twining branches as far as the higher roof of the newer portion, leaving little to be seen of the structure but the win- dows, the knotted panes of which glistened like huge dewdrops in the setting sun. Tregenna drew himself up. He took it for granted she did not intend him to use the Par- sonage as a watch-tower, to descry the course the smugglers had taken. ^^ " You are afraid, I suppose," said he sharply, " that I might find out the direction in which lie the haunts of ' free-trade ?'" Joan drew herself up in her turn. "Nay, sir," said she quietly, "those haunts arc reached by now, I doubt not ; and your friends the soldiers will ere long be returning." " May be with a few of jo//r friends, the free- traders, at their saddle-bow, madam," retorted the lieutenant hotly. Sir, you are insulting," said Joan. {{ r^' An Ally At Last. 45 (( Nay, madam, there is no inference to be V » drawn from your speech and behavior in this niatter but the one I draw." " I wish you a good evening, sir," replied Joan, as, flashing upon him one look of indig- nant pride from her great brown eyes, she made him a most stately curtsey, with her arms folded across and her head erect, and sailed back into the house between the holly-bushes and the clipped yews. There was nothing for Tregenna to do but to retire, after having returned her curtsey wdth a deep bow of corresponding stiffness. As he turned to descend the hill, he had to pass the woman who had been talking with Joan, and who had made way for him to converse with the young lady. He glanced at her in passing, but noted only that she was appar- ently of the small-farmer class, youngish rather than young, with a quiet, stolid country face, and sinewy, rustic hands and arms. Her dress was that of her class, consisting of a thick dark stuff skirt drawn through the placket-holes, a coarse white apron, frilled white can., a kerchief knotted on the breast, and long close mittens. She wore buckled shoes 46 Joan, The Curate. with stout heels, and carried a big basket on her arm. There was aUogtdier nothing more remark- able about her than an air of extreme cleanli- ness, neatness, and dignihed respectability. She dropped a curtsey to the gentleman as lie went by, which he returned with a touch of the hat and a curt "Good evening." He vx-as m no mood for any unnecessary exchange of civilities ; for he judged by the glance Joan had thrown in the direction of this woman that demurely respectable as she looked, she shared the universal sympathy with the wrong-doers whom It was his mission to root out of the land. He had scarcely reached the bottom of the h.11 by the hinc vvliich formed an acute angle w.th the village street, when the soldiers, with the bngadier at their head, came trooping slowly through the village on their return journey. Alas ! tlK-y had no captured outlaws at then- br.dle ; they looked tired, hot, dis- Pintcd ; then- commander was swearing lustily after the military fashion of the times ; and he women of the village, keen-witted enonc^h to uess that the squadron would be "1 an ill. An Ally At Last. 47 humor, kept within doors, and satisfied their curiosity by furtive peeps from behind the drapery of their windows. The brigadier perceived the Heutenant, called " Halt," in a guttural voice, to his nieu, and proceeded to unfold his grievances, with a plentiful niterlarding of strange oaths. It was the old story that Tregenna knew so well : nobody had seen the smugglers ; nobody had heard them ; nobody had the least idea that there were such people about, or could give a suggestion as to the way they had gone. " Ods my life, sir, we got to the river through following what I took for their trail ; but there was no bridge, and I knew no means of getting across it, since the water appeared to be high and the stream swift. So, sir, the d d rascals may e'en be at t'other end of the county by this, and curse me if I see how they're to be got at, when every wench and every child in the place is on their side— damme ! " While he thus railed on, Tregenna became suddenly aware that he had an attentive listener in the person of the respectable-looking woman with the basket, who had evidently followed 48 Joan, The Curate. the lieutenant down the hill, and who now stood close to tlie bridle of the brigadier's charger, whose nose she presently began to caress with her broad brown hand. The brigadier, incensed by what he con- sidered a piece of gross impertinence on the part of one of the country-folk, drew back his horse with a jerk, and uttered an oath, bursting the next moment into a not very refined re- proof for her temerity. The woman remained however entirely unmoved by it, and as the horse retreated, she followed him up, until she again stood close to the bit he was champing. " May I make so bold as give him a drink of water, sir ?" asked she, in a pleasant, deep voice, with less of the rough country accent than one would have expected from her. " Sure you've had a long, hard ride, and one should be merciful to one's beast." Tregenna glanced at her with more interest than before. When she spoke, there was a certain quiet authority about her, most proper to the mistress of a farmhouse ; and he per- ceived that she w^as } ounger by some years than he had supposed, not more than eight I' ¥ An Ally At Last. 49 % and twenty perhaps, and that her features, though not handsome, had a homely attraction of their own when animated by the action of speaking. The brigadier, who, true to his profession, looked upon himself as a rake of the first water, cocked his hat, put his hand to his side, and leered at her with a roguish air, which was, in truth, not so fascinating in a gentleman of his portly build and purplish complexion as he fancied. "You wench -s in these parts are kinder to the beasts than to their riders, egad ! " said he, with a shake of the head that set his bob-wig wagging merrily. "You don't offer me a drink ; and if I was to beg such a favor of vou as a word to tell me whereto find the smugglers, I'll be sworn you'd give me a stare like the rest of 'em, and vow you'd never heard of the creatures ! " The woman listened to him with modest gravity, her face quite stolid, her eyes on the horse. Then she said, in a quiet, even tone, without either prudery or coquetry, but with an air of being much interested by what he said-- '* Well, sir, I'm not going to tell you that. 50 Joan, The Curate. I know to my cost the things that go on in these parts, and that there's many a man ruined for an honest calhng by being drawn in with these folks. You see, sir, it be in the air, and they breathe it in from childhood up, so to speak." ; That's it ; that's it, my good woman ! " cried the brigadier enthusiastically. " Egad my lass, you're the first person I've met in these parts to admit even so much. Now tell me think you not 'twould be better for you all if this thing, this free-trade, as they falsely call it, was rooted out ? " "Ay, sir, I do think so," said the woman earnestly. ''And if I thought you'd do your work without too rough a hand, I'd lead vou to their haunts myself." "You would ? You would ? " cried the brig- adier, with great eagerness. ''Well then 3^ou may rely on me. If you'll but take me to the spot where they harbor, I'll be as gentle as a lamb with the ruff-I should say, with the poor misguided fellows." "Come, sir, then, with me," said the woman as she at once began to lead the way back through the vilhge at a smart pace An Ally At Last. 51 The brigadier turned his horse, and com- manded his men to follow, and in a few min- utes every horseman was again lost to sight at the bend ot the road. Lieutenant Tregenna, who had heard this colloquy, had.been inclined to think, from the woman's manner, that in her indeed they had got hold of a decent-minded person who had no sympathy with the thieves. But happening to glance up at the latticed window under the eaves of the nearest cottage he caught sight of two faces, a man's and a woman's, in convulsions of laughter. A cursor}^ examination of such other windows as were near enough for him to see revealed similar phenomena. And the question darted into his mind : Was the respectable-looking woman a friend of the smugglers ? And was it her intention to lead the soldiers into an ambuscade ? 52 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER IV. FRESH OUTRi\GES. Tregexna debated with himself whether he should run after the brigadier and put him on his guard. But a moment's reflection convinced him that a word of warning from a young man like himself would be received with resentment rather than with gratitude by the old soldier. After all, the soldiers were well armed, and were presumably prepared for emergencies. So he turned his back on the village, and made his way over the cliffs to the creek where the gig was lying to take him to the cutter. It was at the mouth of the little ravine down which Parson Langney and his daughter had gone on the preceding evening. It was dark in this cleft between the sand- stone hills, dark and cool, with a breeze that rushed through from the sea and whistled in the scrubby pines and through the arching I briers ( which ling wa by rece and mi found t times o sight oi drawir ; that sq a sudde murk}^ : Sceni clamati( down tl water o red stre Heu The ne side of 1 Atthi fringed 1 of a CO? from hh from th( The t Fresh Outrages. 53 briers of the blackberry bushes. The stream which flowed swiftly down, making little trick- ling waterfalls from rock to rock, was swollen by recent rains, and made little patches of morass and mire at every few^ steps. The lieutenant found the water over his ankles half a dozen times on his way down. He had just come in sight of ^'^^ opening where the gig lay when, drawir^ his right foot out of a mossy swamp that squelched under his tread, he saw, with a sudden chill, that his boot was dyed a deep, murky red. Scenting another outrage, he uttered an ex- clamation, and looked about him. Trickling down the side of the ravine into the mud and water of the little patch of swamp was a dark red stream— and the stream was blood. He uttered a cry, a call ; no one answered. The next moment he was scrambling up the side of the ravine. At the top, lying in a patch of gorse that fringed the edge of the broken cliff, was the body of a coastguardsman, his head nearly severed from his body, and with the blood still oozing from the ghastly wound which had killed him. The DOor fellow^'s hands and limh< were xv«./ 54 Joan, The Curate. cold ; he had been dead some time. A sheath- knife, such as sailors use, apparently the weapon with which the murder had been effected, lay among the bushes a few paces off. The lieutenant ground his teeth. Not tliieves alone, but murderers, were these wretches with whom the whole country-side was in league. He picked up the knife, with the dried blood upon it ; there was a name scratched roughly on the blade, " Ben Bax." It was a name new to Tregenna, and strong as the clue seemed, it inspired him with but faint hopes of bringing the murderer to pun- ishment. The whole neighborhood would conspire to shield the author of the outrage ; the very fact of the knife, with the name on it, having been left behind, showed with what cynical impunity the wretches went about their work. However, here was at last a deed which not even Squire Waldron could excuse, not even Joan Langney could palliate. The man was dead; there was nothing to be done for him. But information must be given of the murder without delay. y t •<-'-• Fresh Outrages. 55 ;ath- i the 1, 3een (j aces • Tregenna was near enough to the gig to hail the men in charge of it, and these hurried up to the spot without delay. They knew of the raid, but not of the murder. During the lieutenant's absence a suspici- ous-looking sloop had been sighted at anchor some little distance away. A watch had been kept upon her from the cutter, and a boat seen to push off and make for the marshes. The cutter's crew had manned a boat and given chase, only to find that they had been drawn off in pursuit of a decoy craft, contain- ing nothing contraband, while the men remain- ing on the cutter had the mortihcation to see a second boat, piled high with kegs and full of smugglers arm.ed to the teeth, row up the creek, land crew and cargo, and then return to the sloop, exchanging shots with the cut- ter's men, without effect on either side. The cutter's men, however, had seen noth- ing of the murder, for the irregularities of the ground and the scrubby undergrowth of gorse and bramble had hidden the struggle from their sight, though, but for this circumstance, the spot would have been within the range of 56 Joan, The Curate. Lieutenant Tregenna lost not a moment in returning to Hurst, to report the outrage to Squire Waldron, whose lenity could not afford to excuse such a barbarous act as this on the part of his free-traders. He went by the shortest way this time, taking the foot-track over the hills, by which Parson Langney and his daughter had come on the previous night. Perhaps tlie ghastly sight he had just wit- nessed had sharpened his faculties; for before he had gone far over the worn grass of the path he caught sight of some marks which arrested his attention. Stooping to look at them, and then kneeling on the short turf, peering closely at the ground, he soon satisfied himself that the marks were bloodstains, and that they followed the course he was taking. Feeling sure that he was on the track of another piece of the free-traders' sanguinary work, he went back on his steps, and traced the bloodstains to a thicket by the side of the footpath, where there were traces, in broken branches and down-trodden bracken, of the wounded creature, whether man or animal, having hidden or rested. i Fresh Outrages. 57 And then it flashed suddenly across his mind that it was near this spot that the smuggler must have stood at whom he himself had, on the previous evening, fired with what he had bcHeved at the time to be good effect. If this were so, and if this were the trail of the wounded man, he might be able, by following it up, to find at least one of 'the guilty fraternity, and bring him to justice. Fired with this belief, which was like a ray of golden hope in the black despair which had been settling on him, he turned again, and following the track of the bloodstains, which were dry, although evidently recent, he went steadily on in the direction of Hurst, looking always on the ground, and not noticing at first whither the track was leading him. It was with a start and a sudden chill that he presently recognized, on raising his head when the ground began to rise, that it was to the Parsonage that the marks led. To the Parsonage-where he had stood talk- ing to Joan Langney that afternoon! For a moment he felt sick, and faltered in his pur- pose. He did not want to bring shame, dis- grace, upon that house of all others. ' Yet 58 ■Joan, The Curate. what was to be done ? If she and her father were indeed harboring one of the ferocious pack with whom he and his men had been in conflict on the prccedmg night, why should he hesitate to accuse them of the fact, and to demand that the rascal should be handed over to justice ? He was sorry to have to do it, almost pas- sionately sorry; for even Joan's prevarication, her defense of the outlaws, her defiance of himself, had not availed to destroy the admira- tion he felt for the handsome, fearless maiden who was her father's right hand, and who was ready to dare all dangers in the cause of what she considered her duty. But, then, there was his own duty to be considered. And that demanded that he should seize the smallest clue to the authors of the outrages which followed one another thick and fast, and showed an almost incon- ceivable audacity on the part of the smug- glers. He marched, therefore, after a few minutes' hesitation, boldly upwards, and following the track of the bloodstains still, found himself, a .^vr ..xxx.ai<.D, nut at me iront ot the house ^ii j P Fresh Outrages. 59 where he had been that morning, but at a garden-gate at the back. He hfted the latch and entered. The blood- stains were faintly visible in the dusk, on the gravel of the path that took him up to the back door of the house. And there, on the very doorstep, was a keg of contraband brandy. The sight of this gave Tregenna fresh nerve; and he knocked with his cane loudly at the door. It was opened by Joan herself. It was almost dark by this time; but he saw the look of horror and dismay w^hich flashed across her face when she saw who her visitor was. Her glance passed quickly to the keg on the step below, but only for a moment. Then, without appearing to notice that very suspicious article, she addressed Tregenna, not discourteously, but with decided coldness. " What is your pleasure, sir ? Are you come to see my father? He is not yet returned." " I am npt come to see your father, madam, but another person w4io is harboring beneath this roof ; the smuggler who is taking refuge here from the consequences of his ill deeds.' _ j» 6o Joan, The Curate. She was taken by surprise, and the look M crossed iaer caudid face betrayed " 'Tis in vain for you to deny it, madam " pursued Iregcnna, boldly, "for I have proof of what I say." ^ There was a siiort pause, and then Joan said steadily— ' " I do not deny it." Certain as he had felt of the truth of his surm.se, Tregenna felt that his breath was taken away for a moment by this cool con- fession He was shocked, grieved, through a I the tnumph he felt at having, ash; thought at last run his prey to earth. " You deny not, madam," he went on, in an altered vo,ce," that you have beneath yo " roof a thief, and if not a murderer, at least an associate and accomplice of murde;ers ' ' cried^Z'^mly.^°'^-"'-^^^"-that," ''Well a smuggler, if that name please von dSSni r '" T ''-''' -'^"^ ""'" madam, to see this smuggler, and to endeavor to hnd out whether he is th. m-^ f,,.* - T f Fresh Outrages. 6i h stabbed to death a poor coastguardsman but a couple or so of hours ago." " It was not he," said Joan, hastily. " He hath been here since last night." "Ah! then he was engaged in the fight with us last night; and 'twas he, doubtless, whom I shot in the leg as he got away." "And is not the wound, think you, sir, a sufficient injury to have inflicted on him, that you must relentlessly track him down for fresh punishment ?" " Madam, 'tis no matter of personal feeling; 'tis in the king's name, and on the king's be- half, I charge you to give him up to justice." "Then, in the name of justice and of humanity, I refuse!" said Joan, passionately, as she threw her handsome head back, and fixed upon him a look of proud defiance. "The man who takes shelter in my father's house, should be safe there, were he the greatest criminal on earth; and how much more when he comes bleeding from a wound inflicted by the men who should be our pro- tectors!" Exasperated as Tregenna was by the difB- culties which she put in his way, he could not 62 Joan, The Curate. help admiring her spirit. He answered more mildly than he would have done had her de- fiant speech been uttered by another mouth— "Nay, madam, you will not suffer us to protect you from the wrong-doers md their works ; you side with them, against us and the law ! " " Who is that talks of the law ? " cried a cheery voice from the narrow hall behind Joan. And Parson Langney, in a very genial mood havmg but just returned from Hurst Court and the merrymakers there, presented himself at the doorway where his daughter made ivav for him. ^ " You have a smuggler here, sir, whom I bo^ you to give up to justice," said Tregenna '' I can prove that he hath taken a foremost part in a raid and a fight with my men ; and sure Miss Joan may rest satisfied with what you have done for him, and \^i justice take its course now." The parson glanced at his daughter with a change of countenance— "Well," said he, "the soldiers are at Hurst Court ; bring them hither, and make a search '"' ^^-'^-•-i i^ jou piease. lou will find but Fresh Outrages. 63 a poor fellow that Hes sick with a wound in his leg. I fear me poor Tom will never live to take his trial if he be ^inved from where he lies with the fever thri: is ou him now." "He shall be useJ \ -ith : II gentleness, sir, I promise you. And . ny am I to have to intrude upon you and your kind charity in this manner. But you arc aware, sir, that I must do my duty." " Ay, sir, as we do ours," replied the parson, sturdily. " We ask not what a man has done when he comes to us for help. We ask but what we can do for him, be he friend or be he foe." " I know it, sir. I have experiei.- d your kindness— and Mistress Joan's." The young lady now stood a little in the background, looking anxious and perturbed. She hardly glanced at him when he uttered her name. " You will pardon me, sir, for being forced to incommode you thus." *' You must do your duty, sir," retorted Par- son Langney, dryly. " And you will admit us when we come with a warrant ? " 64 Joan, The Curate. " Ay, sir." Tregenna bowed and withdrew. Halfway down the garden path he heard a noise behind him, and turned. Parson Langney was busy rolhng the keg of brandy into his house. On meeting the heutenant's eyes, the parson hardly pausing in his labor, sang out with' much simphcity— '• Tis but the physician's fee, sir. And sure the laborer is worthy of his hire ! " ' And with that, he gave the keg a final roll got it within doors, and drew the bolt. A Load Of Hay. 65 CHAPTER V. A LOAD OF HAY. Lieutenant Tregenna was quite prepared to find the gentlemen at Hurst Court in a very merry mood, after the hours which they had spent at the dinner-table since his abrupt departure. He sent in his message that his business w^as urgent, and chose to wait in the great hall, with the staghounds sniffing about his ankles, Hither than have to discuss small-talk with the ladies, as the old butler wished him to do. In a few minutes Squire Waldron, not very steady as to gait, or clear as to utterance, came out of the dining-parior, followed by the brigadier, who was less coherent still. The news of the m irder of the coastguards- man, however, startled them both into sobriety and the squire made less difficulty than Tre genua had expected about making out a warrant y > 66 Joan, The Curate. for the apprehension of the one man whom he had tracked down. "What's his name, say you?" asked the squire, who had conducted his companions into the study, through the walls of which they could hear the stertorous snoring of the other guests, who had fallen asleep, whetlier upon or under the table Tregenna could only guess. " I know only that he is called Tom," replied Tregenna, who remembered that the parson had uttered that name. "Ah, then 'twill be ' Gardener Tom,' as thev call him, as fine a lad as ever you clapped eyes on," almost sighed the squire, as he began to make out the warrant, not without erasures, in a decidedly ' after-dinner ' handwriting " Poor Tom, poor Tom! You will not have him moved to-night, general, and jolt a man in a fever across die marshes to Rye ?" " Egad, squire, since he will certainly be hanged, what signifies a jog more or less to his rascally bonesh ? " retorted the brigadier ferociously. The warrant made out, and the soldiers summoned from the servants' hall, where they had been regaled by the squire's command the A Load Of Hay. 67 I lieutenant and the brigadier took leave of their host, and started from the house withe at loss of time, Tregenna keeping pace oa foot with the officer's charger, while the soldiers followed. The brigadier was in the highest spirits, and was inclined to look down upon Tregenna's capture, and upon his methods of work. " 'S'no use, mv lad, no mortal use," he said, laying down the law with vigor, and trying to sit straight upon the saddle so that his ges- ticulating arm should not overbalance him, " to try t' get on in anything without th' women ! Now, I alwaysh make up to th' women ! " he went on, with a wink and a roguish leer ; " and they're going to pull me through thish time, as they've done a hundred timesh afore I Did you see me with that lass ? " he went on, rest- ing his hand upon his hip, and cocking his hat knowingly. "That lass that went up the village with me ? " "A decent-looking woman, that has the ap- pearance of a farmer's wife or daughter ? " said Tregenna, somewhat dryly. "Ay, that's she. Name's Ann Price, keepsh house for her brother, who's a farmer living a little way inland yonder. Forget name of 68 Joan, The Curate. {)iace. Squire told me all about her. Fine woman, sir ; doosed fine woman ; sh'perior woman, too, monstrous sh'perior. She's go- ing to put me on the track of the beggars ; took me up the hill, and showed me the way to one of their haunts, that she did, sir. Though in these parts one wouldn't have thought she'd ha' dared do it, sir ; and she wouldn't if I hadn't known how to wheedle it out of her ! " "You don't think, general, she was playing you false ? " " False ! No, sir. I'm too devilish artful to be played tricks with. No, sir ; I played with her as a cat plays with a mouse, and led her on so far that she can't draw back. She is to come and see me at my quarters in Rye next market day, and—" he paused a moment to give a fatuous chuckle—" if I don't get out of her afore she goes back every damned thing I want to know, why, sir, then they may court- martial me for ad-d-d-damned blunderer, sir !" Tregenna did not attempt to betray further his doubts as to the woman's good faith. But when they reached the angle where the road through the village was joined by the by-road / up t( ligun door and 1 and t] liim. As tracte Price, pleats appea: Itw oil-Ian inn o] the ir the W( watchc a tall, I crman' knitted couple showed and his takable but an trade oi A Load Of Hay. 69 up to the Parsonage, and he saw a woman's figure which he thought he recognized at the door of one of the cottages, he dropped behind and let the brigadier, who had the warrant' and the soldiers, go up to the Parsonage without him. As he had supposed, the woman who had at- tracted his attention proved indeed to be Ann Price, who now wore a long round cloak of full pleats, With a hood attached to it, and who appeared to be waiting for some one. It was so dark by this time that the poor oil-Iamp over the door of the little thatched inn opposite made a small patch of light in the miry mr.dway ; into this patch, while the woman still stood waiting, and Trege-ma watched her, came, reeling from the inn-door a tall, brawny, muscular man, in a rough fish- erman's dress, wearing on his head the Ion- knitted, tasseled cap of his kind, i;., hadta couple of huge pistols stuck in his belt, which showedunder the flaps of his loose, open coat • and his whole appearance betrayed the unmis- takable fact that he was no peaceful seafarer, but an active participator in the contraband tiacie or the nei pursued Tregenna. She gave him a straight look, turning her head stolidly towards him to do so. "He's mate of a merchantman, I think," said she. nVe don't see much of him up here and we shouldn't mind if we saw less He's a' rough fellow, and free with his fists wlien he's m liquor." "It seems you know how to manage him however," said Tregenna. Ann only smiled. And Tregenna, who saw hat she meant to let lum know no more, allowed the subject to drop. They had by this time jogged some distance out of the village, and were descending aslope towards the river. "We shall have to cross the water by th- ford," said she. " You're not afraid, sir, to do it in the dark ?" "Not with you," answered Tregenna, A Load Of Hay. 8i promptly. " Have you much further to go, when the river is crossed ? " •'Not above another mile," rephed Ann. "And if you can't stay the night at the farm, sir, we can put you in the way of coming back b\' a path, a httle higher up, where there's a ferry-boat to take you across." " Thanks," rephed Tregenna. " I wish I could avail myself of your hospitality, but I must return to my boat to-night." They were descending the hill in the same jog-trot fashion, and w^ere within a few yards of the river, which was flowing swiftly, and looked, Tregenna thought, somewhat perilous to negotiate, when Ann uttered an exclamation of dismay. " Mercy on me ! " cried she, in a tone of great annoyance, "if I haven't dropped my whip! And it'll need all the lashing I can give her to get the mare across, with the river running as swift as it does to-n^'ght." She had reined in the animal, and was peer- ing round in the road w^ith anxious eyes. " Did you mind, sir, when I had it last ? Nay, nay, for sure you don't. You'd have spoken if you'd seen it drop. Would vou hold 6 82 Joan, The Curate. the reins a moment, sir, while I go back up the hill in search of it ? " " Nay, I'll do that," replied Tregenna, readily. " I'll take the lantern." He had unfastened the great clumsy thin from the side of the vehicle while he spoke, and had already begun his search. He had almost reached the crest of the hill before he found the whip, lying in a pool of mud under the hedge by the side of the road. " Hey ! " cried he, as he picked it up and cracked it in the air. " I've found it ! " As he turned, with the lantern in one hand, and the whip in the other, and looked down the hill towards the cart, he was astonished to see, by the light of the moon which had grown stronger since they started, the lad who had been at the back of the cart leap up to the seat beside Ann, with a long stick, cut from the hedge, in his hand. The next moment, with a speed which, com- pared with her former jog-trot, was like that of an arrow from a bow, the mare was gallop- ing towards tlie river, lashed unsparingly by her driver. Pursuit was hopeless. Almost before Tre- genna tricked throug of the I Her of the things But, Ic river tl gallopii all thoi Disg against ant Tre flung tl: and ret sible, tc Ann's f] his disc and i A Load Of Hay. «3 had time to genua Had time to recognize that he had been tricked, the cart, swaying, splashing, dashing through Httle eddies of foam, was in the middle of the stream. He ran a few paces, stumbling in the ruts of the road, and muttering uncomplimentary things of the high-spirited lady and all her sex. But, long before he reached his side of the river the cart had gained the other, and was galloping along the road at a pace which put all thoughts of overtaking it to llight. Disgusted, furious, and vowing vengeance against both Ann and smuggler Tom, Lieuten- ant Tregenna dashed the lantern on the ground, flung the whip into the middle of the stream, and returned towards the shore as fast as pos- sible, taking a byway to the cliffs, lest any of Ann's friends should see him, and rejoice at his discomfiture. 84 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER VI. A COLLISION. On the following day Tregenna sent word to General Hambledon that he had better search the neighborhood of Rede Hall for "Gardener Tom," who had escaped him at the Parsonage on the previous evening. But he had very little hope of any result ; and his fears were justified when, a few days later, he met the brigadier, w^ho had, of coarse, been as completely fooled by the artful Ann as Tregenna himself had been. Ann, whom the general had found with her arms in the wash-tub, placid, stolid, and as amiable as ever, had made profuse apologies for her behavior to Tregenna, whom she professed herself ashamed to meet. She had had no idea, she said, that there was any one hidden in the cart until the lieutenant had got out in search of the lost whip. Then a man had started up A Collision. 85 from under the hay, put a pistol to her head, and threatened her with instant death if she did not drive on, which she was thus forced to do. After crossing the river, he had jumped out at the first bend of tlie road, and she had no idea .vhat had become of him. Even the brigadier seemed to have his doubts about the entire truth of Ann's story; but Tregenna, who knew it was a tissue of falsehoods, said nothing. He perceived already that General Hambledon's precious plan of "getting hold of the women, my boy," only haci the result of letting the women get hold of him. Then there came a iull in the excitement of the times. Ben the Blast Iiad disappeared from the neighborhood, without Tregenna's having been able to identify him with the owner of the blood-stained knife. There were no more raids ; there were no more discoveries, things seemed to have settled down, and it appeared impossible to suspect the peaceful- looking carters and plowmen who went stol- idly about their work in the lields, looking as placid and unenterprising as their own oxen, of having had any hand in the lawless practises 86 Joan, The Curate. which the soldiers and the cutter's men had been sent to quell. The cutter was generally cruising about, keeping a sharp lookout on the coast for sus- picious-looking craft, so that Tregenna got very little time ashore. On the rare occasions when he did get as far inland as the village of Hurst, he always felt a longing to call at the Parsonage and twit Joan with her lawless behavior in helping a criminal to escape. He was returning to the shore one day, after paying a duty visit to Hurst Court, where the ladies' sympathy with him had been quite overwhelming, though he shrewdly guessed that their silken frocks had been cheaply come by, when he saw Mistress Joan, with a small flock of sheep before her, and a long osier wand in her hand, coming across the high ground from the marsh. She instantly checked her pace, as if to give him an opportunity to pass before she and her flock came up with him. But he, of course, checked his speed too, and raised his hat with a deep bow as soon as she came near. Joan threw back the heavy folds of her hooded cloak, and curtsied politely, but with A Collision. 87 a certain stately bashfulness which showed that his anxiety to meet her had scarcely been reciprocated. Tregcnna, however, was not to be daunted He could not help feeling a strong interest in the spirited young creature, and his heart had leapt up at the chance of speaking with her again. " Turned shepherdess, I perceive, Mistress Joan ! " said he, leaving the road to meet her as he spoke. "And not a very skilful one, I fear," replied she, keeping her gaze fixed on the sheep, who showed a decided inclination to wander "They belong to an old dame that lives on the edge of the marsh yonder ; and I offered to bring them into the village, and to fold them for the night in our own meadow, that they might go to market to-morrow morning with those of a neighbor." " May I not assist you in your task ? 'Tis no easy one, 1 see." ''And have you no fe.r, ',, lest they should be the property of smugg;, rs, or lest the wool which covers them be the receptacle of contra- band goods, even as innocent hav may be ?" 88 Joan, The Curate. asked she, with a certain demure mischief in her tone which piqued him. "Well, madam, since you challenge me," retorted Tregenna, " I own I may have reason for such thoughts ; for 3'ou have shown a marked tenderness, if I must say so, towards the breakers of the law, even to assisting a criminal to escape, that had a warrant out against liim." A ; iiige came over Joan's handsome face. The iuok of mutinous mischief in her eyes gave place to a certain wistful kindliness even more attractive. And she spoke in such a tender, pleading, gentle voice that, if Tregenna had harbored any resentful feelings towards her, he must have been disarmed. " Ah, sir," said she, " it is hard for you to understand, and I doubt not we must seem perverse in your eyes. But do but place your- self in imagination where we stand, and con- sider whether your own feelings would not be the same as ours, did you but live our life, and have your home among these poor folk as we have. Remember, sir, we have had our abode here since I was but an infant. When my mother died, and my father was left with me, A Collision. 89 a babe of but a few months old, on his hands all the country-folk for miles -o„n(^ ^^^.^.^^j ^^ nurse me, tend me, do whai .^cy could to help the pastor they already loved. I was taken to a farmhouse where this very Tom, whom we sheltered from your soldiers, was running about, a little lad who could scarce speak plain He was my companion ere I could walk • he would carry me in his arms to sec the ducks in tlie pond, fetch me the early primroses, rock me to sleep in the cradle which was placed for warmth by the big farmhouse fireplace. Think you, sir, those are memories one can ever for- get ? Think you I would suffer the man who was my playmate all those years ago to be imprisoned, hanged, while I could put out a hand to save him ? No, sir. Poor Tom's no villain. And even if he were, I would not give liim up, no, nor the sons and brothers of the kuid-hearted women who tended me in mv childhood ! " ^ And Joan's proud eyes flashed on him a look of passionate defiance, of noble enthusiasm, which for a moment struck him dumb. ^^ "Madam," he said at last, almost humbly, "'tis very true we cannot look upon these MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 LI 1.25 1^ 1^ 2.8 3.2 II 3.6 14.0 1.4 II— 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 A APPLIED IM/IGE Inc 1653 Eof.t Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax USA 90 Joan, The Curate. men, nay, nor even upon these deeds, with the same eyes. I only pray that you will m:ikc allow^ancc for my point of view, as I do for yours ; and thnt you will suffer that we may be foes, if we must be foes, after the most indulgent manner." Joan, who had suffered her attention to be diverted from her troublesome charges during her harangue, now perceived that they had wandered some distance away. She therefore curtsied hastily to the lieutenant, and saying briefly, but with a merry laugh, " Ay, sir, wc will be the most generous of foes ! " she ran off to gather her flock together again. Tregenna would have liked to follow and help her in her task, but he hardly dared, after the reception he had met with at her hands. Without being positively unfriendly, she had been defiant, daring, audacious ; she had let him see that there was a barrier between them which she, at least, regarded as insurmountable. And piqued more than ever, conscious that he admired her more than he had done before, Tregenna was obliged to turn reluctantly in the direction of the shore. October had come, bringing with it a sue- A Collision. 91 cession tic covere f misty evenings when the marshes d with a low-lying cloud of whitish vapor hile a gray haze hang over sea and shore,' making it diflicult to keep a proper look- out for smuggling craft, and for the experienced and cunning n atives in charge of them. Before Tregenna reached the creek where his boat was waiting, the sun was going down 1 on his right, over the land, while on every :iallv on the left, where the ret but side, oui especia marshes lay, the gray mist was getting thicker, the outlines of tree and rock, cottage and pass- ing ship more blurred and faint. He was but a few himdred yards from the creek when there came to his ears ceiiain sounds, deadened and muffled by the fog, which woke him with a start to the sudden knowledge that there was a conflict of some sort going on a little way oft, in the direction of the marshes. Shouts, oaths, the sharp report of a pistol, followed by a duller sound like that of blows or the fall of a heavy body ; all these struck upon his ears as he ran, at the top of his speed, in the direction whence the noise came. It was at a point where the cliff dipped 92 Joan, The Curate. gradually, to rise again in one last frownimr rock over the marshes beyond, that he cani'u suddenly upon the combatants, and found, as he had expected, that he was in the midst of a fray between his own crew on the one hand and the smugglers on the other. As he came over the crest of the hill towards the combatants, and, drawing his sword, shouted to the smugglers to surrender, hoping thuy might think he was supported by an approach- ing force behind, there arose out of the mist, from among the struggling, scuffling mass of cursing, fighting men, the figure of a lad, stal- wart but supple, clothed i- loose hshcrman's clothes and cap, and sur anted by a pale face, in which blazed a pair of steely gray eyes, surrounded by a shoulder-length crop of raven-black hair. There was something so wild, so ferocious in the whole aspect of the lad, young as he was, that Tregenna watched him even as he ran,' with singular interest. Springing down the slope at a great pace, he drew his pistol, and pointed it at the lad, who was watching him intently with a lowering face. A Collision. 93 "Surrender!" cried the lieutenant, as he ran. B'jt, instead of answering, the lad, after wait- in--, motionless, for him to come within range, suddenly leapt out from among the rest of the stnig;4iug men with a bound like an antelope, knocked up the pistol, and, with a savage cry, drew out a cutlass, and made a dash for Tre- gcnna's throat. 94 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER VII. AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Luckily forTregcnna, ti.e ground was wet and shppcry with the mist. As the lad flew at hini therefore, the force with wliich he knocked up the pistol in the lieutenant's hand caused hun to slip on the slimy ground. In a moment Tregenna had seized him by the wrist and flung him down. All this time the lad had not utteredasinde \yord The rest ofthesmugglcrsneverceased shouting and swearing as they fought, using their lungs quite as lustily as they did their arms and egs, and making a deafening din But the pale boy never uttered a sound, even when he was flung down. He was up again in a second, attacked Tregenna again, and suc- ceeded this time in inflicting a slight «-ound on ■■s arm. But the lieutenant w.as ready with his sword, and, just as the lad aimed a savage us: An Ugly Customer. 95 thrust at his breast, he parried it, and returned It bv a cut across the lad's head, which brought the blood flowing in a blinding stream down the side of his face. At that moment the hand-to-hand fight c.iught the attention of the rest of the combat- ants, who were struggling and scuffling in the taii'-^le of gorsc and bramble which choked up the dell at the bottom of the slope. And a second figure, as unlike as possible to the first, rose up out of the wclcc, and came to liclp his young comrade. A giant he was, this loose-limbed, heavy-built sea-dog, with grizzled hair and coarse, sullen red face, who swore loud and deep as he came on, and made for Trcgenna w^th a run, pistol in one hand and cutlass in the other. "Hey, Jack ! Bill ! Up with ye, lads, and let the cursed hound have as good as he's given us! 'Tis the lubber that shot poor Tom! Up, lads ! " Up started from the gorse bushes a fresh couple of ruffians, the one a long, lean, lanky fellow in corduroy breeches and an old rug- coat, that had rather the air of a highwayman than of a son of the sea; the other a little, 96 Joan, The Curate. pimpIy-faccd rogue in 1 who carried a pipe in lii geon in one hand. This latte oose J nioutl ket and si 'ops, 1. and a blud. uttered a savage oath on pcrcciv ing who it was that they were to attack. "Tis the chief, the captain. Lets cut l„. throat and carry him out, and hang hini ln\ own bowsprit, mates ! " cried lie, in a hoars, raspmg voice, as he swung his bludgeon round his head and dashed up the slope after hi, comrades. ''Ay, that will we, and serve him well for his devotion to's duty," sang out the burly giant who led the attack. " Have at 'un ! Slash at un, Robin ! " piped out the lean man, in a thin high voice that had a tone of unspeakable savagery in it. Meanwhile, the lad, blinded by the blood that flowed from the wound in his head, had staggered aside, out of the way of Tregenna and his new assailants. On they all came, quickly, eagerly, thirsting for revenge on the man who was, they consid- ered, the leading spirit in the crusade carried on against their nefarious enterprises. But Tregenna did not flinch. He had the advan- An Ugly Customer. 97 ind slops, <-! -d bind- 1 pcrcciv- ck. « cut Ins him tfi's '1 hoarse :on round after his cllforhis riy giant i piped that had e blood ^ad, had 'regenna :hirsting consid- carried s. But advan- t;iMe of the ground, and his own men were Hilhin calh Planting his feet firmly in the soil, and < rasping his sword, to which he chose rather to trust than to his pistol, he shouted to his men in the bushes below, and dealt a swash- uv^ blow at the burly giant, whoxU he guessed to be the redoubtable " Robin Cursemother," of whose exploits he had heard. kobin parried the blow with his cutlass, while the small man with the bludgeon, whom they addressed as Bill, came to his assistance with a swinging blow, which would have felled the lieutenant to the earth had he not sprung aside just in time to avoid the full force of it. At the same moment the tall, ti^di man, wliom they called "Jack," aimed at him a blow, with the butt-end of the huge horse-pistol he earried in his belt, which made Tregenna reel. Luckily for him, his own men had by this time seen him and recognized his perd. His arrival had made the numbers on both sides more equal ; and the revenue-men, who had been getting the worst of it, took heart from the courageous stand he was making single- handed against the smugglers, and, racing up 98 Joan, The Curate. the slope ill the rear of the assailants d tl leir attack ivcrt. Ihere ensued a short, sharp hand-to-lnri conflict, in which the lieutenant found himsd, face to face with a fresh opponent in that very "Ben the Blast" whom he had met ii sud, strange circumstances in front of the frigate at Hurst some days before. Ben came up with the last batch, pantin- roaring like a bull, his face and hands dyd with blood, his teeth set hard, and his cvis blood-shot and aflame. "The damned lubber that I caught with Ann ! Fll settle him ! Let me but get at him!" said he, furiously, as he came up. B}' this time, however, Tregenna had gath- ered his men round him, so that they pro- sented a strong front to the smugglers, who being on lower ground than they, and somc- wliat overmatched in skill, if not in strength, began to give way. The lieutenant noted this, and presently gave the signal for a simultaneous rush. Down they came, driving the cursing smugglers like sheep before them over the rough, broken ground ot the slope, until Ben the Blast An Ugly Customer. 99 i f stumbled and fell over a stone, spraining his ankle in the fall. He got up, turned once upon his foes, wifli a last vicious blow of his cutlass, which in- llicted a nasty cut on the forearm of one of the revenue-men, and yelled out— " Off, mates, off ! Game's played ! " Then there was a stampede. The smugglers tlirew away such weapons as they found cum- bersome, and took to flight with as much vigor as they had shown in the fight. Making for the dell at the bottom, Ben the Blast, the lithe, pimply-faced Bill, and two others who were evidently seamen, made for their boats, which, still half f'dl of the cargo they had been in the act of landing when they were disturbed by the revenue-incn, was lying snug among the rocks in charge of a lad. The tall, thin man in the rug-coat, with the rest of his companions, went up the slope in a northeasterly direction, towards the road. As they were all far nimbler of foot over the .qround, which they knew well, than were their opponents. Lieutenant Trcgenna stopped the pursuit of the smugglers when he saw how 100 Joan, The Curate. fast they gained ground, and directed his nun to seize such of the contraband goods as wa\ already landed. When, however, they reached in their turn tile bottom of the dell, wiiere they expected to find the booty, they discovered that it had all been safely removed, under cover of the mist, and of the excitement of the fight, and that the boat which had brought it had -nt out of sight also. In the meantime Tregenna had been look- ing about him for the lad who had been tin first to attack him, and whom he hnd himself, in self-defense, somewhat severely wounded. He felt something like admiration of the courage the boy had shown in attacking liim single-handed, and was sincerely anxious to learn whether the wound he had been forced to inflict was likely to have lasting conse- quences. In answer to the lieutenant's questions, one of the men said that he had seen one man stag- ger down the slope some mmutcs before the conclusion of the struggle, in the direction of the shore. "He looked, sir," said the man, **as if he'd An Ugly Customer. lOI •lis iiU'ii 'US \\\r^. ic'ir turn 'it it h.ul r of the gilt, and had i^iit en look- )CL'n the liimsclf, oundcd. of the ing Iiiiii ^ious to 1 forced consc- 3ns, one an stai^- ore the :tion of il licii had enough of it. He didn't hardly fare to to ki 'hither h scc'in to know wniiher ne was going. Trc'genna went down towards the shore, try- iii!L; to liiul some track which he might follow ; but the mist and the darkness were creeping (III t<>;;ether, and the traces of the conflict being on all sides, in trampled, blood-stained L;rass and roughened ground, he found nothing to i^uide his steps. P)Ut when he got down to the beach he was more fortunate. He found footmarks and h'ttlc red spots on the broken sandstone rocks, and, following these indications, he came round a jutting point of frowning cliff, to a cave, partly hollowed out by the action of the sea, and partly by human hands, the walls of which were green with the slime left by the tides. Half in and half out of the cave, lying on the shingle and broken rocks, lay the body of the lad of whom he was in search. It was with something like tenderness that Tregcnna stooped, and, full of dread that his I own blow had killed him, raised the lad from ' the ground, turning him, and looking into his j white and livid face, with the half-dried blood I maknig disfiguring patches on one side of it. 102 Joan, The Curate. For tlic first moment he thought the boy was dead ; but on further examinatiun he found that tlie heart was still beating, and at the same moment the lad, who had been in danger of suifoeation from the fact that he had falkn face downwards, showed by a movement of the cyehds, and by a quivering of the muscles of the mouth, that he was alive, and recovering. Tregenna cleansed his face as well as U- could from the blood and sand with which it was disfigured. There was no need to loosen his clothes, for his shirt was open at the neck, conhned only by a flowing neckerchief, whicli now hung wet and bedraggled on his breast. '' What cheer, mate ! " cried Tregenna, as he supported the lad by the shoulders against liis knee, and felt in his own pocket for the flask he usually carried there, and which was as much a necessity of his adventurous life asthe pistol at his belt or the sword at his side. The lad opened his eyes, stared at him for a moment dully, then with a gleam of returning consciousness. It was at that moment that Tregenna put the flask of aqiui ritiv to his lips. " Drink, lad, drink. Twill bring thy senses togethen And fear not. We'll not li^i a brave .■m^Wtms-;- An Ugly Customer. 103 hoy liang, smuggler though he may be ! Drink, and fear not. But take this warning, not to meddle with the affairs of lawless folk again." Still the boy maintained the dead silence which had been such a strangely marked characteristic of him during the fight. He gulped down the spirit put to his lips, and tlicn sat, witli his head bent upon his hand, as if still Iialf stupid, either from the blow which had wounded him or from consequent loss of hlood. Trcgenna thought there was something of despair in his attitude, and in the wild gaze with which he looked about him, staring hrst at the gray sea, the edge of which was like a roll of white vapor, and then at the frowning cliff above him. He seemed to be listening for some voice, some footstep. " Come," said the lieutenant, in a cheery tone, " don't lose thy spirit, boy ; thou show- edst enough and to spare but an hour since. Thy comrades are gone, 'tis true, and thou art left alone. But, give but thy word to refrain from such company for the future, and I'll par- don thee, and sec thee ori thy way, for the sake 104 Joan, The Curate. of the courage thou liast shown, ill as thy cause was." Still the lad said nothing in answer. But he looked around him with returning intelligence not at his captor indeed, but at everything else' and particularly at the cliffs, with their juttin' ponits and scrubby growth of reed and flower'^ ing weed. Tregenna followed the direction of his eyes but saw nothing in particular to attract his attention. But as he took a step away the lad suddenly sprang up, snatching up the lieutcn. ant's pistol, which he had deposited on the ground while tending tlie wounded bov and made tor a point vvhere tlie cliff was steepest and apparently most inaccessible. As soon as he reached it he placed his foot on a ledge of the rock, and, seizin- a rope which was evidently well-known to him, began to chmb up the face of the cUH with astound- ing agihty, considering his recent dazed con- dition. Tregenna followed quickly. But the lid who was by this time a good way up, drew lip the end of the rope after him, and fastened It nito a knot so that it was far out o( his An Ugly Customer 105 pursuer's reach. To attempt to climb the cliff witliout it was impossible and Tregcnna could only stand and shake his fist at the lad in im- potent rage at the daring with which he had been again outwitted. But the lad's impudence and audacity did not stop there. The moment he reached the summit of the cliff, he dislodged a loose mass of earth and sandstone which was lying loose in one of the crevices at the edge, and, with a deft kick, hurled it down upon his generous enemy below. Tregenna stepped back hastily, receiving thus only some fragments of dust and earth upon his head, instead of the heavy mass which had been intended for him. And he swore to himself, as he turned away and made for his own boat, that he would never again be so soft-hearted as to spare one of these ruffians, who, even in early youth, were dead to every generous human feeling. io6 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER VIII. REDE HALL. As Tregenna went quickly along the shore, he was not too well pleased to hnd that one of his own men had been a witness, at a little distance, of his discomhture at the lad's hands. The man indeed had a grin on his face when the lieutenant first caught sight of him, which changed to a look of supreme gravity when he caught his captain's eye. He pulled his fore- lock, and said the boat was ready. "I suppose you don't know who that fellow is that's got away over the cliff ? " said he, sharply. "Oh, ay, sir, I know who he be well enough," answered the man, promptly. " He be Jem Bax, by what I've heard tell, I'm pretty sure." "Jem Bax ! That bit of a lad ! " ■ mmtmwm'i' Rede Hall. 107 " \y, sir. And, by wluit I've heard tell, he be about the worst of the whole lot of 'em, old or young ! " This certainly tallied with the experience Tregenna had had of the young rufhan, so he swallowed his annoyance as well as he could, and, turning again to the man, said shortly— "And it's the old story, of course ? Nobody knows anything about him, or where he lives, or anything that could help to put us on his track ? " The man appeared to glance about him cautiously, as if afraid that his reply might be overheard by some unseen person. Then he answered, in a low voice— "Well, sir, they do say he's to be heard of somewheres about Rede Hall." "Rede Hall?" echoed the lieutenant with interest. For this was, he knew, the home of the artful xVnn Price, of whose wiles he retained so vivid a remembrance. "Ay, sir." And then it crossed Tregenna's mind that this rascally lad must be some relation of Ann's, a vounger brother, perhaps ; for, looking back io8 to ills seemed now to be able to tr bet Joan, The Curate, mpression of the boy's pale, set f; ice a resenihl ICC. he ent as was the expression of the cah., [Z^ woman from that of the fierce lad ' It was clear, then, tliat Rede Hall must nou- be v.s,ted, and that in the f.rs. place a ™ must be obtained forthe apprehension of',; of the smugRlersas he could identify ; for J,,,, BaxBcu the Blast, Robm, nicknamed "Cu >nother,"B,ll, nicknamed "Plunder," and,; one other, u-hom i,e could only de'scnbe:: Jack, as tliere was, even among the cutter's anvlrtr''"" ''™^' '''"'''"'' t° S'^-'^ I-™ any lurther name. obSIr'tl '''''^"•■""' '•'■'"''■^ •''* ""••«' Court to obtan the warrants, in company with ti,e hnnsclf m the midst of a very lively scene The squ,re had given a breakfast to the members of the hunt, a.ul the guests .ve roop„,g out of the house, and mounting the, horses on the lawn in front. The scarlet coats of the men gave a prettv touch of bright color to the scene ; Tuft presence of ladies, in then- s.lken skirts ^ Rede Hall. 109 velvet hoods, added brilUaney to the gather- ing. Behind the seattered groups on the grass, the white house and the red-brown trees on cither side of it formed a picturesque back- ground, throwing up the gay colors of the costumes in vivid relief. One tigure, and one only, attracted Trc- gcnna's attention the moment he entered the gates. This was Joan Langney, who, in her plain Sunday gown of russet tabby, with a full black hood, looked, he thought, a very queen of beauty among the more smartly dressed wives and daughters of the country squires. He let the brigadier pass on alone up to the place where Squire Waldron was standing, and, dismounting from his horse, lingered a moment to pay his respects to Mistress Joan. He had always the excuse to himself that she miglit be able to afford him some useful information. ''Your servant, IMiss Joan. Tis not neces- sary to ask if you are well this morning." " Your servant, Mr. Tregcnna. I am quite well, I thank you," replied Joan, with a curt- sey. It seemed to him there was in her brown e^'cs, as she looked quickly up and down again, no Joan, The Curat( a malicious suggestion that she had heard all about his unhicky encounter with the smui^.k'rs the day before. ^ You will bear me no good will to-day, Miss Joan since I come to obt Jim a warrant against per- t^'c in traders," said he, mce wandered at on your friends the fre cciving that her gl the direction of the brigadier. " I guessed as much, sir. Indeed, the doiiis yesterday put the village in an uproar. Thcv say you had a brush with some of the boldest spirits about here?" " r faith, 'tis true, madam. I made acquaint- ance with Jem Bax, in particular, and I do cen propose that, in return, he shall make acquaint- ance with the inside of a jail." At his mention of the name, Joan suddenly smiled, as if with an irresistible impulse to great amusement. She pursed up her lips again in a moment, but Tregenna, much nettled, said dr3dy — "Doubtless, Miss Joan, you have some kind- ness for that young knave also, though he played me the scurviest trick I have ever known." And with that he proceeded to give her an Rcdc Hall. Ill accoii nt of his own compassion upon the lad, ail d ot Jem's ungrateful return Tiiere was some Litisfaction, however, in SCClHi how Joan took this recital. Her face clouded as she listened ; and when he ended, there were tears in her eyes. "Twas infamous, sir, shameful, to treat you so, after what you had done," cried she, with ;i heii^htened color in her cheeks and the sparkle of indignation in her eyes. "And if they treat you like that again, I'll be a turncoat myself, and do my best to help you against— T " Jem. I •' You speak," said Tregenna, with curiosity, " as if that bit of a lad wxre the ringleader of the gang." Again Joan shot at him a glance in which there was some amusement. But she answered demurely — " He is old for his years, sir, I believe." "Well, Miss Joan, I shall think my experi- ence of yesterday worth the risk if it but bring you to our side, the side of law and of justice." By this tin he saw tha^ the brigadier had gut the ear of the squire, and that he had turned I 112 Joan, Tlic Curate. to sec wl.yhis companion had deserted him fregenna, therefore, witli a low bow to J ,„ "' mounted and rode across the grass to join l',i,l' Sqmre Waldron, though byno means i„ ti,, best of humors at tins interruption to th. seri ous busmess of fox-hunting, made out' tl,' warrants as desired b>- Tregenna and GcutJ Hambledon; but he took care to twittlicm with the,r ill success against the smugglers, and \iith their failure to catch " Gardener Tom " Tregenna took these reproaches modcsih- but the brigadier blustered, and said that \k' was ready to be shot if he did not bring one or more of the ringleaders among the smugglers back to Rye with him that afternoon. ' " And, gads my life, sir," he went on will, emphasis which made him purple in the fiec • " but I'll warrant me I'll have it out with M-s' tress Ann, and make her give up this Jem h:v; if she s harboring him." The squire smiled a little, just as Joan had done at the mention of Jem's name. And I'w genua was confirmed in his beli, ' that the young ruffian was a relation of Ann's, and that she would put every possible obstacle in the way of his being given -.p. on wit 1 IC J face ; ith Alis- .'m li'lX, 3an had ad Trc- lat tic nd that in the Rcdc Hall. 113 When General Hanihledon and Tre^^enna cM\K (Hit of the house, where tliey had been >lnit up with the squire during the formal iiiakin;^ out of the warrants, tlie lieutenant looked about in vain for Joar. Not only had she herself disappeared ; but Parson Langney, who liad been prominent, with his jolly face and jolly voice, among the red-coated groups on the lawn, trotting about on his nag, and as tagerforthe sport as anybody there, had taken his departure also. Tregenna pondered on this fact, which was the more strange, since not one other of the assembled guests was missing. Hut it was not until he and the general, and the score of mounted troopers who accompanied them, had traversed the village, forded the river, ridden the two miles to Rede Hall, and come in sight of that ancient dwelling, that the mystery was solved. From the gates of the farmhouse, just as the soldiers came into view, there issued Parson Langney on his nag, with his daughter Joan mounted on a pillion behind him. The brigadier saw no signihcance in this ; the parson was doing his rounds, that was all. 114 Joan, The Curate. BiittoTregcnna the incident bore a very dn. ferent meaning. He jumped to the ecMirl-' sion that Joan had set off witli her f[\hcj; ,,, warn the inhabitants of Rede Hall ot {lie visit which was in store for them ; and, on the jn. stant, he decided that he and the brigadier would be as unsuccessful )n this occasion as they had been hitherto. In the mean time, General Hambledon had caught ;,:^ht of a lonely inn a little way off tin- road, and directed his way thither, with the very proper excuse that in these places on,. could hear all the gossip and pick up valuable information. Tregenna ventured to make two suggestions —the one was that the sooner they gorto the farmhouse the more likely l;,ey wee to eiieel a capture ; the oilier, u^.i nobody about was likely to give information to them, since their uniform betrayed the sort of errand on which they had come. Of course he was overruled by the general ; and, a few minutes later, they found themselves at the bar of the rickety little timber erection, with its battered sign creaking from a tree un the opposite side of the road. iNHMKaMMMNn Rede Hall. 115 «"Tis a vastly pretty view you have from hcutc' remarked the bri^^adier, in the course of nKikuii; himself agreeable to the knot of dro- vers, laborers, and nondescript wanderers who stood within the inn doors, watching the soldiers. The landlord was the only p> rsou bold enough to answer the smart soldier - " Ay, sir ; 'tis, as you say, a prett} view." " What call you that building yonder? Is't a gcnUeman's seat, or what ? " "Nay, sir, 'tis no gentleman's se. 1 now; though methinks I've heard 'twas a c -nsider- able place once on a time. 'Tis but ,1 farm- house that they call Kcdc Hall." " Rede Hall— eh ? And what sort )f folk are they that live there now ?" " 'Tis kept by an old farmer, sir, th. lives there with his wife, his son, and his daughter. They be quiet folks, sir, and I know no\\ t else about 'em," said the landlord, who knew per- fectlv well on what business the brigadie- had come, as he remembered hearing of a siuiilar expedition which had c. 'e that way not many days before. "Qn.iet ! Ay, but they be main queer folks," piped out an old man, who was enjoying his ii6 Joan, The Curate. tankard of ale at the bar. " The phicc has had a mighty odd name these long years past ; and they do say, sir, 'tis liaunted. There was a wicked lord lived there in the orld toime, so they say, and lie killed his wife by flayin;^ her to death in what was once the chapel, and that now they call the Gray Barn." " Hey, man, them's but idle tales," said the landlord quickly. " Ah doan't knaw that. Ah doan't knawthat," chimed in another man, taking up the running now that the first awe of the grand soldier had worn off. " Ah've heeard the tale, too, and how they say he can't rest in's grave, but works with his flail in the Gray Barn o' nights e'en now. And for sure Ah've heeard myself most fearsome noises, and seen a blue light a-burning like to none other I ever see afore, as Ah've crossed the bridge below there yonder o' nights, when Ah've been late home wi' my wagon." " Ay, and Farmer Price, hisself, he've seen — summat. He's told as much hisself," said another man. " 'Tis a place I'd not care to sleep in while there was a hedge to lie under." " Tales ; naught but old wives' tales ! " said Rede Hall. 117 landlord, imperturbiibly. " The old lady Id never ha' lived all these years in tli( WOLl place it so ih be there was aught to be afeared on nil clcr von honest roof. Th e .i^e neral opinion, however, secme d to b e rather with the old man who had lirst spoken than with the landlord on this matter. And felt tlian ever convmced, as more t'lcy came away from the inn and crossed the strJani by the little bridge that led to the farm- h,)usc, that this was the wasps' nest to be smoked out. It was an ancient and picturesque pile of hiiiklin,^-, this Uede Hall, standing on the slope of a hill, and presenting to tlic view of the visitors a long south side of red brick, in the Tudor style, in a state of indifferent repair, with a somewhat nnkempt growth of ivy and other creepers hanging about it and almost choking a small door, of later date than the huikling, which was now the state entrance to the house. Tlie grass-grown state of the narrow garden- path which led to this door betrayed the fact that visits of state to the occupants of Rede Hall were a great rarity. ii8 Joan, The Curate. Beyond the main building, on the west side, was the Gray Barn, easily to be distinguished both by its color and by the ecclesiastical character of the blocked-up windows, in some of whicli the tracery was still almost perfect. The roof, however, was now of that* h, well- grown with moss and grass, lichen and tufts of wall (lower ; and the swallows buiit tlieir nests under the eaves. On this side of the house was the farm\ ard, surrounded by a high sandstone wall ; and llie space between the big barn and the dwellin;^ was hlled up by outbuildings, most of which were in a ruinous condition. It was when they rode up to the common entrance of the farmhouse, which was on the east side of the house, that the visitors came to the most interesting and ancient part of the building. All this portion was built of sand- stone, mellow with age and weather. And a huge, massive porch, with a small lodge on one side and a room above, formed a fitting en- trance to what was now the farmhouse kitchen, but which had been, in old times, the hall of the mansion. The door was open ; and when the brigadier Rede Hall. IK) and his young companion had dismounted 'j,om their horses and stood inside the porch, they had full opportunity to note the details ot one of the most picturesque scenes it was possihle to ftnd, while the great bell clanged, and an old woman came slowly forward to receive them. Anything more peaceful, more homely, more utterly irreconcilable with the notion of lawlessness and nefarious deeds than the room and its occupants presented it was impossible to imagine. At one end of the vast apartment, which was some forty feet long, and broad and lofty in proportion, a hre was built up on the iron dogs in tlie great open hreplace ; and an iron pot hanging from a crane in the chimney, gave forth a savory smell. Close by the fire, crouching in the warmest corner of the oak settle, witli her back to the light, sat a woman who never turned at the visitors' approach. On the opposite side of the h.earth, but well in the corner of the room, another woman, large-boned and gaunt, with gray hair half-hidden by a large mob-cap, sat busy with her spinning-wheel On his knees 120 Joan, The Cunite. before the fire, with a mongrel dog on each side of him, was a withered and bent old man. These, and the old woman who came to the door to speak with the strangers, were all tliu occupants of the huge apartment. Some other details Tregenna took in, sucli as the extreme cleanliness of the uneven red- tiled floor, of the long deal table at the north end of the room, of the yellow-washed, rouL;h walL. He noted the brown-and-red earthen- ware vessels on the tall oak dresser, the hams and bunches of herbs dangling from dark beams above. The next moment he was saluting the old dame, in answer to her respectful curtsey. A little, clean, bright-eyed vroman she was, spotless as to cap and apron, and as active as if the stick she carried were for ornament rather than use. Recognizing the brigadier with a smile, she dropped a curtsey to him, and asked his pleasure. " Faith, dame, 'tis no pleasiu'c brings us here, but rather the reverse ; since I have reason to think you played me false t'other day, and that you know more about those Rede Hall. 121 rascals the smugglers than you and Mistress Ann would have me suppose ! " "Smugglers! Nay, sir, I know naught of thcni ! ^ly good man and I have always kept ourselves froin such folks, and brought up our childcr in tiie same way. And if you please, sir, you can search where you like, if that be your purpose, but you shall find no such vil- lains here." In spite of all he had heard, of all he knew, Tregenna was almost inclined to believe her; for what could be more open, more honest, than this manner of receiving them, with the door (lung wide and this frank invitation to enter where they would? The brigadier's manner, however, was rather short with her. " Let us hope it may prove as you say," said he, as he beckoned his troopers to enter. "We have a warrant for certain of these fellows, ma'am, and we intend to search the place. But first I would speak with your daughter, IMistrcss Ann." "Ah, sir, you'll be sorry to see her so bad as she is ; for she's been nigh out of lier wits with the toothache these two days and nights. But slic'U speak with you, sir, I doubt not," 122 Joan, The Curate. And the old woman led the way the whole length of the room, and pausing in front of the settle, cried, in a loud voice, "Ann, dost hear? 'Tis the soldier-gentleman that was so polite when he came hither last Friday sennight! Dost mind? Him that was so civil to thee, for all he came to look for Gar- dener Tom, and could not hnd him." The old woman turned again to the brigadier, wliowas close behind, and added, with some irritation: " I know not, sir, why 'tis always to us you come in your search for these evil-doers ! " "We come, dame, where we're most like to find them ! " retorted the brigadier dryly, as he came clanking up the tiled floor, and planted himself before the suffering Ann. " And now, mistress, I'd be glad to have an explanation why you failed to come to Rye to see me, as you gave me your word, to put me on the trail of the smugglers." Ann, whose face was bound up in a hand- kerchief, with a huge flannel bag against the light check, turned to him impatiently. "Sir, I have been in no fit state for visiting, as you may judge by the size my face is swollen. I caught cold last market-day, and Rede Hall. I have not left the house since. Pr; 123 ly, sir, ni ;ikc your sc [irch of the place, if that is your good pleasure, and leave me alone." "As you please, Mistress Ann. And I shall know what to do next if we fail to lind the men," replied the brigadier angrily, as he turned on his spurred heel, and clanked down the great room again. Ann turned to Tregenna, who had followed modestly in the brigadier's steps. "And pray, sir, what may you want here ? Have you a warrant too ? " " Nay, Mistress Ann, I would fain have put some questions to you had you been in better licalth to answer them. As it is, I cannot trouble you now ; I will come hither again at some more convenient season." " Nay, sir, there's no time like the present," retorted Ann in a tone of considerable irrita- tion ; "ask what questions you please." "Well, then, I have heard talk that you have a barn that's haunted, and I would be glad to know whether 'tis by spirits or by men." " Sure, the best way to answer that would be to see for yourself, sir," retorted Ann sharply. 124 Joan, The Curate. " Nay, there's a time for suel 1 and that's not noondav id'l •'ipparitions. said Ireiijenna. Come at what time you please. isfy yourself by ear and ey sir, and sat- e. a (( You mean that ? Faith. sir, I d o. And she turned her baek upon 1 and erouched once moi nni UI). e over the fire, s\v ;ivini backwards and forwards, with her hand to 1 swollen fa KT ce, Tregenna saw that she was in pain, aiul made allowance for her irritation. He retreated to the other end of the long apartment, and awaited the return of the soldiers, who were now engaged in making an exhaustive search of the premises. Not much to his surprise, they presently returned to the front of the porch, while the brigadier re-entered the room, hot, flushed, and in a very bad temper. They had hunted in every corner of the house, of the outbuildings, of the barns, hut not a man was to be found. They took a very cold leave of the old far- mer's wife, and of the farmer himself, who came respectfully to the door to see them off. He Rede Hall. 125 was about seventy years of age, and almost :hikUsh, and he obeyed nicchanieally his wife's instruetions to salute the visitors. When the party had ridden off, before the eyes of the old couple, and the last of the troopers' horses had crossed the bridge over the stream at the bottom of the hill, Ann looked across, with a laugh, to the woman at the spinning-wheel. '"Twas lucky they were but men, Jack," said she, "or they'd have found out longsince that, while thy wheel went round, there was nothing spun I " And the woman at the spinning-wheel rose to a full height of some six feet, took off the cap and the gray woman's wig, and disclosed to view the sallow, thin face and mouse-colored hair of " Long Jack," the smuggler. 126 Joan, The Curate. CH,>(PTER IX. TRAITKESS OR FRIEND ? The October sunshine was bright ; there was a pleasant, bracing breeze coming from the sea; the brown trees were at their prettiest, as they shed their showers of dead leaves at the lightest touch of the wind : yet the brigadier and Lieutenant Tregenna, as they rode side by side away from Rede Hall, noted none of these things : for to them the sky was lower- ing and the wind whistled of failure and dis- appointment. "Did you search the great barn? "asked Tregenna, interrupting a string of his com- panion's curses upon things in general and women in particular. "Ay, every corner of it, rid poked into every cranny," answered General Hambledon, morosely. "There was naught :n the whole place, but a couple of rusty pbwshares, a Traitress Or Friend? 1-^7 few sacks full of grain, and some lumber tliat uc turned inside out in search of contraband t ; there from the ttiest, as ^s at the >rigadier )dc side none of s iower- and dis- " asked is coni- ral and ed into bledon, ; whole ares, a L^dOC is. Hut no, sir, not s(i much as a keg of (/,///ir, with replied [ajesty's instead 3'0ii ? " id upon igs had dining- ■er part lie roof whilc- ^ small in the of the d wide rionslv rood en 3n the candle- in that time of rushlights quite a hixurious extrava- (^ance. On the oak dining-table in the middle of the room were the parson's writing materials, his bunch of quills, round jar of ink, half a dozen rough sheets of paper, and a sand-box. And beside them was his pipe, just laid down. Two strips of carpet laid on the stone floor ; red window curtains ; half a dozen solid oak chairs with tapestry seats, and a couple of ancient oak chests, completed the furniture of the room, which yet had a comfortable and homely aspect. " What mean you by saying I impede his Majesty's troops in the execution of their duty?" repeated Parson Langney, standing in all the pugnacious dignity of the church mili- tant, with his back to the hre, and his wig more on one side than ever. " You was in a mighty hurry, sir, this morn- inc?, to get to Rede Hall before we could reach it with the warrants we hold for the arrest of certain plunderers of his Majesty's revenue," blurted out the brigadier, planting one hand on his hip, and thumping the table with the other as he spoke. Parson Langney was no actor ; the exprcs- 132 Joan, The Curate. sion which clouded his jolly face betrayed him. " Sir, I was at Rede Hall this mornin rolling-pin, de- murely in front of her, and looked down in a stately fashion, not at all disturbed at being discovered in the act of making a pudding, for those were domestic days. "Much the same business, IVIiss Joan, that the brigadier has with your father," said Tre- genna. "There is no pretense, as you know, betwixt you and me. We are foes avowed. 1 ask you no questions about your visit to the farm this morning, because I knoiv what took you thither. Neither will you need to ask why I am going again to Rede Hall, to inquire into this mystery concerning the Gray Barn." "You are going again? " said Joan, with in- terest, in which he thought he detected fear also. " Yes. And I make no secret of saying I am not going to be fooled by the innocent appear- ance of the place. I am going again and again, 138 Joan, The Curate. until I have cleared them all out, like wasps out of a hole. Mistress Ann Price and her confederates must find a fresh field for their practises ; I swear they shall not continue to carry them on in that part of the coast that is under my vigilance." "And you do not fear to tell me this, believ- ing, as you do, that I am in league with them myself ? " "Tis for that reason I tell you, that you may warn them the}^ must go." "Why did you not tell Mistress Ann her- self?" asked Joan, with strange quietness. "If you think, as you say, she is concerned with the gang?" "I w^ill tell her when I meet ht and to the left the iron 1 ,„d which held her rnshlight. Nutnrally the (cl.hlc light showed her very little The prmts of muddy boots were contnuied down the .tairs but she did not care to trace them out, Lcling, probably, that such investigat.ons miuht safely be left to the cnergefc Ann. Withagruntand a muttered gruml,le she atrcatcd into her own roon,, and 1 regenn. heard her draw the bolt on the nmer side of the door. . , . , , „ He heard the click of a pistol which, as he imagined, the intrepid Ann was trying. Bu he lelt that the moment for decisive action had come. He would not be discovered hiding behind the staircase like a thief. Coming out of his corner, therefore, he went into the big kitchen, to present himself to the redoubtable Ann. . , , -,1, The great hall looked a weird place, with the nickering of the log-hre and the ghmmcr „f a dying torch for all illumination. Kound about the wide hearth were piled bales of goods and kegs of spirits, while the table groaned un- der a weight of jugs and tankards, joints of 172 Joan, The Curate. beef, and long, Hat home-made loaves, gener- ous preparation for the smugglers' supper. In front of the hearth and between the two wide oak settles there was a gaping diasni a hole in the floor of which Tregenna was not long in guessing the meaning. The heavv wooden lid, b}^ day artfully concealed hv a piece of rough matting, apparently placed there for the comfort of the old people who sat on each side, was now thrown back ; and it was by this lid that the solitary occupant of the huge apartment was now standing. ' Although he was in part prepared for the discovery, Tregenna gave a slight start on find- ing himself face to face with this bemg. For he saw before him not Ann Price Hie decent farmers daughter, with her neat cap and snow-white apron, her calm face and quiet manners ; but Jem Bax, the young smuggler, with the rough shock of shoulcier-length iiair,' the seamen's breeches, and high boots, tliJ loose shirt, open jacket, and flowing tie, with the pale set face, and fierce devil-may-care expression. And even now that he knew them to be ouq and the same person,, he could hardly be sur- In the Lion's Mouth. 173 nnscd that he had not guessed the truth before. For, as there had seemed to be noth- i„o- nrascuhne about Ann in her skirts and cap : s.Miow in Jem Bax, in coat and breeches, he cuuld see no trace of the woman. 174 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER XII. SETTLING ACCOUNTS. When Tregenna came in, with his wide hat under his arm, and with the easy air of a casual caller, it was Ann who appeared more startled than he did. She had had one foot on the nearest settle, and had been engaged in priming one of her pistols. But on seeing the intruder she started erect, drew from her belt a second pistol, which was already charged, and leveled it at his head. It missed lire, however, and Tregenna sauntered up the room towards her, as if sueh a trifle as the attempted discharge of a pistol at him were the greeting he was most accustomed to. " Good evening. Mistress Ann," said he, with a low bow, when he liad come within half a dozen paces of her. la Settling Accounts. i75 She replied by a scowl, and by a muttered whi^pt'i- between her teeth of a very unfem- inme kind. Nothing daunted, he still came on ■ and knowing perfectly the artful character of his opponent, and profiting by her momen- tary confusion and annoyance at the failure of licr weapon, he seized her by both wrists, forced her into a seat and placed himself be- side her, still firmly holding both her hands. "Curse you ! What are you going to do to me ? "Nothing but keep you quiet for a tew miiuites till I get a chance of getting away." She laughed scornfully. " You won't get away. Not even if you kill mc. We've got you fast this time." She glared at him, her face within a foot of his, with eyes full of passionate hate. "In the mean time /'ve got you fast, for the moment, and I intend " She interrupted him, breathing heavily, and almost snorting dehance. "To humble me, to humiliate me, to treat me as— as " It was Tregenna's turn to interrupt, which he did with a scorn as steady as her own, 176 Joan, The Curate. (( As a woman! Troth, i There's nothing less likely, nothing less possible, I assure yoi' I intend to treat you— I am treating you~as Jem Bax the smuggler, as hardened a ruffian as I've ever met, as feroeious as a savage, and with naught of the other sex about him but the cunning and the meanness ! " *' Meanness ! " She quailed under the word. For the hrst time she flinched, and her eyelids quivered. " Yes. 'Twould be vast!}^ mean in a man to attempt to harm the enemy who had come to his succor, had promised to pardon him, to let him escape. In a woman 'twould be worse than meanness ; but what 'tis accounted by a creature of your sort, that's neither honest man nor true woman, why, in sooth, I know not ! " Again her gray eyes flashed a steely fire as they met his. There was a sudden touch of sex in the lowered eyelids, in the flush which came into her cheek, as she felt the young man's gaze full upon her, saw his handsome features so near her own. She drew a deep, shudder^ ing breath, and then said, in a fierce whisper, turning away her head, and moving nervoush- under the touch of his strong hands—- Settling Accounts. 177 " I care not to be helped, to be pardoned, bv one who stands to me as a foe ! Tvvas the lirst time I'd had a check, the first time I'd been hurt. The others-my comrades— might look at me askance, I thought, might treat me as a mere woman, despise me, when once they found me hurt, wounded, like one of them- selves. " Still, you need not have let your femmme spitefulness carry you so far ! " " Feminine spitefulness ! " echoed she , and she made a sudden, vain attempt to wrench her hands away. *' Pshaw, you don't understand ! And in truth I did you no hurt." " l\vas the fault of your feminine arm I " re- torted Tregenna. "The intention was bad ; s ), thank Heaven, was your aim ! " She clenched her teeth in rage and agony. Tre:^cnna was interested, excited, in spite of himself, by this sudden revelation of the woman who looked upon herself as a sort of Joan ot Arc, invulnerable, triumphant, bringing good fortune to her friends and ill luck to her enemies. He begar to understand the movement of im- potent rage which had caused her to behave so ungenerously. And he saw, too, that she now 5 178 Joan, The Curate. "SfS felt ashamed of her act of treachery, that she writhed beneath his taunts. '* Let me go," cried she, suddenly. " You- you Damn it, you hurt me ! " Unfeminine as tlie reproach was, rregcnii; was not unaffected by it. Not a very lovely (. lovable side of a woman's nature was this tha; she was revealing to him ; but a woman's it Wh for all that. "Well," said he, after a moment's pause, "1 will let you go." "You'll trust me?" cried she, quite ea- gerly. "No," retorted he, coolly. "I won't trust you. But I can trust to my own limbs to hold my own in a struggle with you." And he released her. She sprang up, drew back her shirt-sleeves, and looked at the rd marks on her wrists. " I'm sorry if I hurt you," said Tregenna. " So am not I," retorted Ann. " I'll show these marks to my kinsmen, my comrades; 'twill spur their spirits to see I have been su used." " Egad, they need but little spurring I And in truth you would do better, if you care for Settling Accounts. 179 I voiir kinsmen, to warn them to desist from their unlawful practises. The king and (lie Govern- ment arc alike resolved to put them down. A hiaiidful of men — and women— be they never so hold, can scarce hope to hold out long [against such forces as they can bring." Ann laughed derisively. "You know us not," said she, disdainfully, i"if you think we can be cowed into submission ! cither by red-coats on the land, or blue-jackets Ion the water. 'Tis in our blood to like the {'vM as well as the booty. There be spirits I among us— and I own myself one of them — I would care li^^le for the cargo but for the chance of a pistol-shot about our ears in the landing of it !" "But one of these nights you may find the hullcts whizz by a little too near, and see your i lover shot down by your side." Ann, who, conscious that Tregenna was watching her narrowly, had disdainfully with- drawn to some little distance, and was pacing up and down, throwing from time to time a sidelong glance at him, turned, planted her feet firndy, and put her hands on her hips in a defiant manner. m i8o Joan, The Curate. " My lover ! " said she. ** And pray who may he be ?" "Well, I know not which is the favoRd one," said Tre^enna. " But I gather from wha; I have heard—overheard, that there arc twn who crave your favor: one Gardener Tom, a handsome lad, too good for his vile trade, and he they call Ben the Blast, fgr whom, truly, 1 feel no great liking." "Well, then, sir, know this : little as your liking for him may be, 'tis greater than iiiiiii, And as for 3'oung Tom, why, in truth I should be sorry to see him fall, but, 'twould be for lii> mother's sake, and not for my own. As you said but some minutes since, I am ill-httcd tn deal in such small wares as kisses and ca- resses ! " " Nay, I said not so, Mistress Ann." "You said you looked not upon me as upon a woman." " But there be other men that do so look upon you." Ann came a little nearer, and smiled grinilv. "Ay, there's ^-our friend the general, if. looked upon me with a most kindly eye. And there's young Master Bertram at Hurst Court, Settling Accounts. i8i that cnivcs a kiss whene'er he sees me. You ^aiiiioi understand then" taste, sir, doubtless ? }M»r VDU a woman must have soft hands and black eyes, hke Mistress Joan Lanj^ney ? " There was something surprising in the sort of curious scorn with which she put these ciucstions, as if interested, though somewhat disdainfully, in his answer. Tregenna, who was leaning back on the settle, as easily as if enjoying his rest in an inn, smiled a little. "Ay, truly I do not know where you would lind a fairer specimen of womanhood than the vicar's daugliter." His face softened as he spoke. Ann came a few steps nearer to him, watching him with a slii^ht frown. "Vet she hath small liking for you. She is on our side, you know. 'Twas she that warned us of your coming with the soldiers." " She will no longer be on your side when she hears that you have murdered me, Mistress Ann." "Murdered ou?" " I underst' < )d that to be your intention." " Vou take it coolly." Tis as well to save my heat till 'tis wanted." Ik " 'M! l82 Joan, The Curate. *' Maybe you don't think I shall be as good as my word ? " " I have no reason to doubt that you can he as good as your word when you have pruniiscd to do something vile and mischievous ! " Ann snorted with anger. "Yet you can admire a woman of spirit in the parson's daughter ! " " Spirit ! Egad, it needs no spirit to call in half a score of your villainous confederates to make an end to one man." Ann came up and planted herself before him. " I wanted no confederates to help me with you. I did propose that task for myself," said she, " in return for the humbling you gave me t'other day in sight of all my friends." "Ay, so you did. But your pistol missed fire, and I was too quick for you afterwards." Even as he spoke his taunting words, he saw her hand go quickly towards the cutlass she carried at her side. And he smiled as he spranc^ up and changed his place to the other settle, thus putting the open trap-door to the cellar below between himself and her. "Come," said she, frowning and tossing back Settling Accounts, 183 her short hair like a fury, "you shall not say but I play you tair Out with your sword and t,,^lit UK" again, as sou did that day. If you 4ct the best of it this time I'll see you safe out of this. I give you my word." Trcgcnna shook his head. " I can neither take your word, nor fight you," said he, lightly. "Von have fought me before! Did you lind me such a contemptible foe ? " " No, indeed. But— I knew you not then for a woman." " Well, and you own me not for a woman now I "Just too much of a woman for me to fight with you I will own you to be." " Well, then, since you find me too much of a woman to be fought with, you shall hnd me woman enough to give me a kiss." " Nay, madam, I would rather be excused from that mark of your favor also. A kiss may be given with the lips and a stab with the hand at the same time." " You shall make fast my hands with this rope, sir, and then maybe you will be satisfied of my harmlessness." MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 I 50 156 us [| 2.8 [13.2 13.6 14,0 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 i 1.8 1.6 Ji APPLIED IfVMGE inc '653 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288- 5989 -Fax USA 184 Joan, The Curate. " Nay, madam, 'twould take more than ;i rope to satisfy me of that ! " retorted Tic- genua. Ann hiughed ; and he was surprised to note the change which had come over her counte- nance. This fierce creature, who but a mo. ment ago had looked like a fiend with her glit- tering eyes and frowning brows, had bciii transformed, by a fresh gust of the passions which were so strong in her, to a being gentk\ mild, humble, and submissive ; and all the more dangerous on that account. " You are hard to please, sir," said she, in a low voice ; " harder to please than any man I have ever met before ! " And she gave him a steady glance of lur glowing eyes which was a fresh revelation as to her strongly emotional temperament, lie began to understand the hold she got on the men she met, high and low, her equals and liii superiors, as he noted the transformation from the bold and daring front of the young bucca- neer to the modest mien and diffident voice ut the more gracious members of her sex. And he acknowledged to himself that the two sides to her nature gave her a fascination, an Settlin.^ Accounts. 18:; lore than :i ■tortccl Tic- •isecl to note her counle- but ii mo- :itli her i^lit- ,, had been :lie passions 3eing gentle, and all the said she, in an any man ance of lur 'evelation as ■anient. He got on the ]uals and her ination frora oung bueca- dent voice of ;r sex. : that the two sci nation, an I odd attractiveness, which made her a creature unique, unapproachable, dangerous. "I think, Mistress Ann," said he, "'twould be better for us if you pleased us less easily." She laughed again, showing her beautiful sound white teeth in a most winning mirthful- ncss which seemed to be wholly without guile, 'l^cgenna, however, was still cautious. The very fact that she now seemed to him to be handsome, whereas hitherto he had thought her features somewh.it homely, was enough to put him on his guard. " Xay, sir, I am not the foul foe you imagine. You shall not fare ill at my hands, if 'twere hut for the bold stand you have made against me!" said she. "You shall pledge me in a cup of wine ; and you shall find it none the less invigorating that it has never paid duty!" The archness with which she spoke was charming, irresistible. Tregenna watched her with amusement, interest, admiration, as she went to the table and poured out a full tankard from a flagon that stood at one end of the board. She turned to bring it to him, with a grave, rough grace that was odd and subtly attractive, i86 Joan, The Curate. when there came on a sudden a succession of sharp raps on the door. Tregenna sprang to his feet, thinking that the smugglers were at hand. Ann put the tankard hurriedly down on the table, and bounding forward to the place wIkr he stood beside the gaping hole in the Hour, she gave him a sudden push which sent him headlong into the cellar below, and shut down the trap-door. A Late Visitor. 187 cession of ig that the )\vn on the ilace wIkic the Hour, sent hiiii shut down CHAPTER XIII. A LATE VISITOR. Tregenna was so much taken by surprise by the suddenness of the attack made upon him by Ann, that he did not reahze her inten- tion until he found himself lying on something which was luckily not very hard, on the cellar iloor, in complete darkness. He had not had far to tall ; for the bales of silk which had been flung in from above were piled high, and made, moreover, a more com- ^table resting-place than kegs of spirits would have done. He floundered about in the darkness, with difficulty finding a footing, and wondered in what spirit Ann had made him thus a prisoner. Was it to shield him from the attacks of her confederates ? Or was it to prevent his finding an opportunity for escape ? This latter explanation seemed to him the i88 Joan, The Curate. more probable of the two. The woman \va> crafty, passionate, not to be trusted ; and she had seized the first chance which prcsciitid itself for putting him completely in Ikf power. In the meantime, while he recovered from the momentarily stupefying effects of his la!i, he could at first make out nothing of what was going on in the great kitchen above. A distant murmur, undoubtedly that of voices did indeed reach his ears ; but it was not until he had been down tliere for some minutes that \k heard heavy footsteps on the tiled floor above him, and was able to distinguish the voice of Ann, and then of the newcomer, whom, from his halting gait and from what he could hear of his voice, he guessed to be Gardener Tom. Tregenna piled the bales up together, mounted on them, and having thus brought his head near the level of the floor, listened intently. The two speakers had by this time come to the hearth, and it was possible to distinguish most of their words. Tom was displeased with her reception of himself. " Well, Ann, 'twas no such easy matter for me to get up the hill to tell thee, and I reckoned fo tc SI li tl c ' I V \ 1- t ^ woman \va> cd ; and she :h presented 'tcly in her •overecl from ts of his la!i, ling of what n above. A of voices dici 5 not until he nutcs that he d floor above the voice oi wliom, from :ould hear ot ncr Tom. her, mounted ^ht his liead I intently, imc come to distinguish spleasedwith y matter for d I reckoned A Late Visitor. 189 for sure on a word of thanks. 'Tis well to be IMcpared wiien visitors come so late ; and, as I tell thee, he'll be here in 'd few minutes." "Tis but the parson, maybe, called out to se'c some one that's ill or dying." " Ay, maybe 'tis he, for 'tis a horse tbat may I,, hi." bv the look of him. But it may be the lieutenant, come to see what's toward ; and, in that case, you'd do well to put those kegs out (>lsight,aiidgive warning to the lads to keep close till he's gone." There was a pause. Ann made no answer. By the angry tone in which Tom presently went on speaking, Tregenna guessed that she had smiled, or made some gesture which aroused the lover's suspicions. " Well, why dost thou not answer me ? Art so sure 'tis not the lieutenant ? Hast seen bim thvsclf ? Hast " '" Nay, nay, Tom, arc they not all out yonder looking for bim ?" " Ay, and maybe thou knowcst where be is all the toime ! Thou canst not always be trusted, Ann, e'en by thy own friends. And I'd not trust thee with a pretty fellow like yon lieutenant. Maybe you got rid of us all that 190 Joan, The Curate. you moight have it out with him by yourself P:h. I ;iss, ch ? And Tregenna could tell, by the sound moving feet, tliat Tom the room, was searching round Ann, who was btanding on the tran-d laughed easily "Jealou ip-d( )()]■, i\. s, eh, Tom? Tis late in the & with me ! First 'tis Ben the Blast, and now a kmg's man ! Hast no better opinion of thy- self, Tom, than to think thou wouldst be ousted so easy ? " "Oons, lass, I've abetter opinion of mvselt than I have of thee, for such a thing as con- stancy ! And for being ousted, as thou calls it, plague on me if 1 know I was ever in ! " "Come, now, Tom, han't I always been kind to thee ?" " Ay, wiien 3'ou wanted to get summat from me. Other toimes, I've to take thy kindness turn and turn about with Ben ! " '' Fie on you, Tom, fie on you ! Get you gone, and learn better manners than to speak to a woman so ! " ^ She gave him a push in the direction of the cloor ; but Tom was hrm. Lame as he was, he A Late Visitor 191 h}' yourself, :hc sound (if ching round ic trap-door, in the day, ^t, and now in ion of thy- ist be ousted n of myself ling as con- thou calls it, in ! " ways been mm at from ly kindness Get you m to speak ;tion of the he was, he ! niv loiie „i.ui;igcd to escape her, and came back to the tiap-iloor over the hearth, where a slight noise, iii.ule bv Tregenna in his endeavors to keep 1,,,, looting on the bales in the cku-k, had caught his trained ears. He stooped eiuicklv, and tried to raise the aoor. There was the sound of a scullle, of a l.ill, and then Tom growled out— "Now, by tlie Lord, Mistress Innocence, I've got you ! You've got some one in hidin below there, and 'tis the lieutenant, I'll stake loifel" "And what if 'twere ? " retorted Ann, coolly. "Dost think I want a lesson from ;;ee how to treat folks? Canst not thou trust me to do the best for us all ? " "Most toimes, yes, Ann. But not where a handsonie man's in the business. Oh, lass, I know thee ! Thou'rt a monstrous foine lass, and I love thee. But I wouldn't trust thee with a fresh face too near thine, so 'twere as hand- some a one as the lieutenant's, d him ! " "And canst thou not trust me to know how toshut a man's mouth, to stop his ears, to bind his hands?" hissed out Ann, with her lips close to his ear and her voice low and earnest. 192 Joan, The Curate. "Oons, no !" shouted Tom, with redoubled anger. " Not where thy fancy's caught, a> i do believe 'tis caught now ! I behcvi' thou wouldst let us all hang for him, while thy fanev lasted, and kill thyself for spite and grief atUr ward. That's what I think of thee, Aimrna and oons ! to save thee from that grief, aiu. in save all our necks, I'm going to tell the rest u( the lads who thy visitor is ! " "You would dare !" But before the words were well out of her mouth. Gardener Tom, with a fierce oath, had flung down a heavy wooden chair to inipcdi her steps, and swung out of the house at a gait which, considering his lameness, was a rapid one. Ann dashed into the porch after him, but stopped short with a cry on finding herself face to face with a tall figure enveloped in a long, hooded riding-cloak. " Miss Joan !" cried she, in amazement. Joan, who was standing at the entrance ot the porch, with her horse's bridle on her arm. held out her hand ; but she sighed as she did so, for she knew well the meaning of the attire Ann was wearing. A Late Visitor. t<)3 .,,,ikenotto sec you in that dross, Ann" .,,,,, -Tis bad enough for the men to ;; uWse tricks; but 'l.s worse in a woman! '^:' be grown mighty moral. Miss Joaa .,,tmccomein,"saiaiKrv.sUor,shortl... "lluive something to say to you." a as she spoke, Joan uKulc fast the horses bi to an iron staple in the wall of the porch, •uul entered the great kitchen. '! You have no one here? "she asked, as sic d,,Kcd arou.ul the big room, and peered mo £anncornerswherethekegswerep,ledh.gh. "You see I have no one. Miss Joan, an- swered Ann, \n a somewhat constramed tone " But vou had better hasten, it you would not „,,tsome of our rough folks; they U be m here ere long." , , ^ .1 .. I know," said Joan. And she turne abruptly to meet Ann's eyes, with a ace f.^ of anxiety. " They're outsule, seanhnig the nci:4hborhood on all sides ; and I can con- jecture for whom they search." Ann looked down on the floor. "Come, Ann, I can trust you to tell me what I would fain know," went o,i Joan, qujcdy " Lieutenant Tregenna-know you aug.it o '3 ^94 Joan, Tlic Curate. him ? He said he should (.oine hitlicr, by your invitation." " Ay, and you were soanxiors to kn()\v\vh;it I should do with him, that you sent .i l.ul Will Bramley, to be on the watch ai^ainst his coming! Pjill, that they call 'Plunder,' did find the lad, and learnt his errand, ere he ki him go back to you." " Tis true. I sent Will to see that he came to no harm. Even as I would not sutler the lieutenant to do harm to you or to poor Tom, foryour mother's sake and for the sake of Tom's kindness when I was a child ; so would not I have you do harm to him, since I know him tor a brave man, and one that but does his duty in pursuing you and your kindred." "And 'tis for him you have taken this journey, by yourself, on a night like this? Sure, Miss Joan, the lieutenant would feel flattered did he but know." " I would do as much for any man, weri' it a matter of life or death, as I do trulv think 'tis in tliis case ! " said Joan with spirit. " Ay, 'twill be death to him if he meets with Ben, or with Tom, either!" said Ann, mockingly. A Late X'lsitor. M) li^T, by your ) know what sent .1 I;ul, a:4;iinst his under/ did , ere he ki lat he canic it suffer the ' poor T(Mii, ike of Tom's would not I [low him for )es his duty taken this t hke this? would feci lan, weri' it truly think pirit. if he meets ' said Ann, Tom It Oh, Tom wtmld do him no harm ho did but know how niueh I care ! " burst )iit Joan, with sudden passion. There was a se cond's pause ds to her hips, am and then Ann I lauuhed lon^ p^t her hands and loudly— "Ih>-ho! How much you care I \ou have confessed, Miss Joan, you have con- Icssed! To be sure you would not be so ca-er if the lieutenant were pockmarked, and uf the age of your father ! " Her tone was so offensive that Joan, who was accustomed to be treated by her with deference and respect, was not only hurt but astonished. "I understand you not, Ann," said she at last, with dignity. "Nay, Miss Joan, I should have thought 'twas as easy for you to understand me, as 'tis f,.r me to understand you. This young king's man, being a pretty fellow, has taken your fancy, 'tis easy to see ! Oh, blush not, Miss Joan: 'tis a common complaint you sutler from. The young ladies at Hurst Court feel, I warrant me, much as you do yourself on this matter.'' 196 Joan, The Curate. Joan's answer was given modestly, but with some dignity. " If I blush at your words, Ann, 'tis because of the tone in which you utter them," she said, in a low voice, but so distinctly that every word reached Tregenna's ears, as, in- deed, they reached his heart also. " 'Tis no shame to have a liking for a brave man : and if all the world has the same, there is the less reason for my concealing it." "Well, 'tis a pity your kindness for him hath brought you so far, alone, and by niglit," said Ann, dryly. "For 'tis a bad road you have to traverse on your way back, and none the safer for the rough fellows that are abroad, and that will be by this scarce sober enough to tell the parson's daughter from a farm wench on her way back from market." "I can take care of myself, Ann, I thank you," answered Joan, coldly; "so you will but give me your word that Lieutenant Tre- genna is not here to your knowledge, I'll re- turn at once." " There was a moment's pause. Tregenna, who heard the question, waited with interest for the answer. Ann gave it in solemn tones, A Late Visitor. 197 ears, as, in- )• lis no 3 man : and e is the less dge, I'll rc- Hc is not here." Tis well, then. I'll retnrn." She took a towards the door, and then stopped, a sndden ehaniie to wistfnlness in step There was her [one whieh touehed Tregenna to the ciuiek when he heard her next words, " Ann, should he ho hrought hithv.. : should your kinsmen (iiul him and bring him to you, as I know they would do, you'll— you'll spare him, you'll do him no hurt, for my sake, Ann, for the sake hat I have done for you ? " Aiiain there was a pause. Then Ann Ol W aiiswc red, with a moeking laugh- " Oh, he shall not be treated worse than his (IcsLils, rU warrant you I " There was a bitterness in her tone whieh illed both her hearers. Joan stepped hur- llv back into the room, and cried, in a apr nee nui^uig voice — " Then, troth, Ann, I will not leave this roof till your friends have come back!" "Von had better go, Miss Joan," retorted Ami, dryly. " ^ly mates, and specially after a raid, are no companions for a gentlewoman," "Xor are thev to be trusted in their treat- mep.t of a sen itleman. So, faith, Ann, I will 198 Joan, The Curate. stay till I learn what has become of LieulLii- ant Tregenna." The girls' unseen hearer could contain him- self no longer. He had at first tliought that it would be safer for Joan to return to her home in ignorance of his presence in the farm- house. But on hearing her express this bravc resolution, he felt that there was nothing tor it but to make his presence known to her. He, therefore, dealt three sounding blows on the trap-door above his head with one of his pistols. The weight of the door was so great, especially as Ann was still standing on it, that it did not move. But the noise he made arrested Joan's attention, and aroused her suspicion. "What's that?" she cried, as she came nearer to Ann. The blows were repeated, and then Tre- genna's voice, muffled but recognizable, reached her ears : " Lift up this door, Mistress Ann. Let me out, or I'll put a bullet through it." And as he spoke, he succeeded in raising the trap-door a couple of inches, and in thrustinj.5 the muzzle of his pistol througli the aperture. A Late Visitor. 199 Anil with a muttered oath, raised the trap- door, and thing it back upon the settle. "Out with you, then I " cried she, dehantly, as she planted herself a foot or so away from the chasm thus made, and stared down upon him sullenly. "Out with you, and off with vou : And may the devil catch your heels ! " Thus adjured, Tregenna proceeded to pile up the bales of silk in order to reach the level (,l tlie kitchen floor. Joan, who was very white, and who had never uttered a sound since hearing his voice, came forward to help him. As she held out her firm white hand, he grasped it in his with a warm, strong pressure, which brought the red blood back to her face. The next moment they were standing side by side, and face to face with Ann, whose gray eyes Hashed in diabolical anger as she looked at them. Only for a moment. Recovering herself (luickly, so that they might almost have fancied tliat the evil expression they had seen on her features was the effect of fancy only, she closed the trap-door, and threw herself on the nearest settle, with a loud burst of laugiiter. 200 Joan, The Curate. " Well done, well done, both of you !" crkj she, as she clapped her hands in boisteroi; applause. "Sure, 'twas as fine a comedy a> ever was played up in London before tlk quality, to see Miss Joan's face when she heard your voice, Lieutenant." While she lauglied, Joan in her turn wi^ slowly recovering her self-possession. " Tis well, Ann, that it went not so far a>i, become tragedy rather than comedy," she said, as she glanced hurriedly towards the dour. Then pointing towards it with a hand that \\\h scarcely steady, she said to Tregenna, " I Ix,, sir, you will mount my horse, that is waitiii,^ outside, and make the best of your way bad to your vessel. Nay, fear not to leave me Ikr, They'll not harm me, as Ann will tell you. ' " Miss Joan," replied Tregenna, in a shakin, voice, as he looked into her noble face with eyes in which his admiration and gralitud. glowed like hre, " I'd not leave you in tlii^ nest of rascaldom if 1 were to be torn i\i piecd for disobeying you." "You do not understand. I am safe hea you are not," replied she, in a low voice, whu scarcely reached the listening ears of Ann. A Late Visitor. 201 "It may be SO, but I'll not risk it. I'll not Iciivc this house without 3-ou." 'Leave it with me, then, said Joan, making up her mind witli promptitude. "You shall numiit my horse, and I'll ride behind." And tuniing quiekly to Ann, " Good night," said she somewhat coldly. I'uit she got no answer. Ann was watching them hoth with no very friendly eyes. Sitting ,)ii the edge of the great table, and looking a;4ain to the life the dare-devil buccaneer, as she tossed her short hair, threw back her head, and swung one foot with great energy, she waved one hand impatiently, as if to speed the (kparture of the lieutenant and Joan, but ut- tered no word of farewell. Then Tregenna tried. Going back astep he heUl out his hand. "Come, Mistress Ann," said he, "I'll not credit that you would have done me a hurt, here in your own house, however fierce a foe you might be in a hand-to-hand conflict out- side. Let us part friends here, even if we meet as antagonists hereafter." For answer Ann put down her hands, one oil e;ieh side of licr, grasping tlie edge of the 202 Joan, The Curate. table ; and tilted herself backwards, lau'jhin leading them forth, for what purpose, unless It he to attack us on our way to Hurst, I cannot imagine. I would now we had kej^t the straight, short road, and risked passing the searchers. Now I fear they may come up uith us, since they will be mounted, and will lie in wait." The suggestion was not a pleasant one. lUit Tregenna was at hrst rather incredu- IdUS. "Surely," said he, "she would not have let us go forth unmolested, if she had meant ill by us! And they would not touch your father's daughter, villains though they be. You and he are both too well known, and too nuich respected even by the wrong -doers." "Xay, sir, I fear you exaggerate our powers and our position. These men do truly show us some respect, i eturn for my father's la- bors among them. But the least thing will '■it. 206 Joan, Tlic Curate. liirn them from kindness to savagery. An.l Ann is in that respect but little better thantlnv I fear." " Slie is a luD^t extraordinary woman !" "You may well say that. The more ex- traordinary, the more one knows of her. She can be as tender as a woman ought to be, as I have proved many a time, when I have be sought her kindness for the poor and sick in her neigliborhood or in ours. But she can also be as fierce as the hercest man, as you, sir, have, I believe, already proved." " Ay, that have I. And truly I think her fierceness is more to be depended on than her kindness. wShe hates me for having, as she considers, humbled her in the hght t'other dav. And I am much inclined to think she would never have suffered me to go forth from the farmhouse alive, had you not most happily come to my rescue." As he uttered these last words, in a tone which betrayed the depth of his feeling, he was conscious of a tremor which ran i\rough Joan's arms and communicated a thrill to his own frame. **You now see, sir," said she, quickly, ''that A Perilous Ride. 207 ickly, "that I (lid well to \v:irii you against accepting her vitation to Hede Hall !" in It was more than I deserved that v ou ,h()iild concern vourselt with me and mv ;) IV I " Nav, sir, if 'twas a follv, I understand that *.' > vou felt bound, in the exercise of your duty, tocounnit it. But now that you have learnt so much of their secrets as you have done to- ni;4ht, I greatly fear they will m.ike a strong ulfort to make your knowledge of no avail. It was witli that fear in my mind I did suggest \\\' should go by a less direct way than the one by whicli we came. You nuist now, sir, take that {X'lth to the left, and get down tothe marsh, which we must cross on the way to the shore. WhxTe will your boat be in waiting for you ?" " Down in a little creek near the cliff's end. I^iit I will not let you accompany me so far. I am but endangering your safety. Let me descend when we reach the foot of this hill. Trust me, I shall be able to reach tlie shore without encountering the " free-traders." And for your kindness I can never suOiciently thank you." " If you must thank me, sir, I must do some- 208 Joan, The Ciirat( thing to merit your thanks : I must see } uu in safety on your own element," replied Joup lightly. •'What! And then return alone to Hurst r Nay, indeed, Miss Joan, I'll not suffer that." "Then, sir, you must pass the night under my father's roof. He will he pleased to have you. He was abroad when I left home, visit- ing a sick woman. But he will he 1 lome ai;aiii by this, and will, I am sure, receive you with a hearty greeting." "You arebotii all goodness, all kindness. I know not how to thank you !" His voice trembled, and when he had said these words there was silence between them. Prosaic as their conversation had been since they left the farmhouse, iliere \vas an under current of deep feeling in butu their hearts which lent a vivid interest to their common- place words. To Tregenna there was thrill- ing, sweetest music in • )i this young girl, who undai'iitedlv to daneer ■('ICC .s* every tone of the v had exposed herself m) I the determinationt u save him from the results of his own d, U"nii While to Joan, careful as she was to speak stiffly and even coldly, there was a secret de- A Perilous Kick- 20() [;glil in tlic knowlcdijic of the real peril from hicli she had saved her haiuLsoine vtunpaii- w Idll, nii; simi! lie was, however, loth to accept her invita- t.) stay at the Parsonage, fearinj^; that hr ;lit, bv so cloiii.u;, brin.L; the ven}j;eaiu : of the ;krs on the heads of both fatl-er and (laip^hter. She made liL;ht of this fe;i ; but liiiallv, at her urjj;ent entreaties, he a.e;rL d to t^o home with her in the first place, ai d to t;ikc Parson Lant^ney's advice as to going fur- ther that night or not. Hardly had this been settled between the two ^•(, 'ng people, when the horse they i >de pricked up his ears, rousing the attention ot his rulers. They had now left the open fields, and w= re passing through a wild bit of country wIk re kints of trees, well-grown hedges, and clumps ut brunible made it dilTicult for them to see tai in any direction, and formed, moreove , sife hiding-places where an enemy might li ■ in ambush unperceived and imsuspected. (lithe distance, before them a little to the left, lay the marshes, with the white vapor rolling over them from the sea. 14 I 1..JLJ .-'id 2IO Joan, The Curate. Tregcnna reined in the horse to rccoiinoitir, Trees on tlic right, a hedge on the left of tlu.- miry road. Not a Hving creature to be seen. In the copse, however, there was a rustliiv, and crackling to be heard, which miglit be thi result of the night-wind, or might not. " Let us draw back," said Joan, in a whisper " and go straight down to the marsh and up te Hurst that way!" Tregenna assented, and was in the very act of turning the horse, when there was a shout, a hoarse cry, and a man sprang out from the copse : the next moment the lieutenant's bridle was seized by Ben the Blast, who was no horseman, and who chose, therefore, to do his part of the work on foot. At the very moment, however, that he sprang out from his ambush, a couple of horsemen appeared, the one behind, the other in front of Tregenna ; while a third, galloping up the road, joined his comrades, and, presenting a pistol at the lieutenant, shouted to his comrades to shoot him down. The newcomer was Jack Price, whose tears and maudlm protests at the farmhouse had excited the derision of his comrades. " Hold your hands ! " shouted Tregenna A Perilous Ride. 211 to recoiinoitir, the left of tlu; ire to be seui, ^vas a nistlini^ h miglit be thi ht not. 1, in a whisper irsh and up ti n the very act •e was a shout, \ out from the tenant's bridle who was no fore, to do his very moment, 11 his ambush, he one behind, while a third, his comrades, le lieutenant, t him down, e, whose tears rmhouse had ides. :ed TYegenna back. "Do you not see whom I have with ,,u^ ? There is none here, I am very sure, would harm Parson Langney's daui^hter ? " " Xay," cried out one of the horsemen, whom, bv the voice, Tregenna know to be Tom ; "we'll not harm her. But thou shalt not shelter thyself behind a woman's i^'tticoats ! " lint before he could finish his speech Tre- L;onna had deftly disengaged himself from the elaspol Joan's arms, and springing to the ground .truck Ben the Blast such a violent blow with the muzzle of one of his pistols that that burly rulfian released his hold on the horse's bridle. Then, before any one had time to stop him, or even to realize his intention, Tregenna thrust the reins into Joan's hands, and bidding her " Hold on ! Ride on cjuickly ! " gave the horse a smart cut which sent him galloping forward clear away from the throng. Then, springing to the side of the road, he put his back against a tree, drew his cutlass, and prepared to make the best defense he could. Jack Price, with a fearful oath, rode at him, hut missed his aim with the knife he held, and narrowly escaped being dismounted, as the horse swerved on nearing the tree. Robin 212 Joan, The Curate. Curscmothcr, wlio was one of the mounted ones, took warning by this, and swung himsdi off his horse. In truth, none of them were more efficient as horsemen than kegs of their own contralxuiil spirits would have been ; and Gardener Tom, who kept his saddle on account of ins lame- ness, contented himself with a passive sh;u\ in the business, by standing in the road wii'i his pistol cocked, waiting for a chance of aim- ing at Tregenna without risking the mainiiii; of his own comrades. Meantime, however, Robin had attacked tlii lieutenant hercely in front, while little uKaii- faced Bill Plunder, creeping through the brush- wood, struck at him from behind. Tregenna, thus attacked by the two, defendui himself with vigor, and had denlt an effectivi blow at Bill's shoulder, when a strange diver sion occurred. There was the sound of a galloping horse hoofs, of the splashing and churning up of tin mud and water in the road. The next nv- ment Joan's horse dashed into the midst ol ti;. group, causing the animal Jack Price rodo 1 start off at a smart pace ; and Joan herscii A Perilous Ride. 213 the mounted swung himsili more eflicient ivn contnilximl iardcr.cr Tom, it of iiis h\mr. passive sli;n\' the road wil'i diance of aini- g the inainiiii^ id attaeked thi le htile inuaii- )ugh the brush- id. 3 two, defendeii nit an effective . strange diwr- illoping horse rning up ofthi The next nv- he midst ol li;. V Price rode t :i Joan heiscli aliiihtiug in the very midst of the fray, made Mii.'htforTreLienna.lieedless of the knives and pi.iols with which the smugglers were armed, aiul of the vile curses which assailed her ears. "do hack, go back I " cried he. "I'll not go back!" retorted Joan, as she ^^lll came on, and daringly tlirust aside the arm of Jack Price, who had by this time dis- mounted in his turn. " I'll nut see you mur- dered before my eyes. If they will kill you, they shall kill me too I " And she sprang through the group and reached Tregenna, whde the smugglers, for the inoment disconcerted, lumg back and looked at her. " And you, Tom, I'm amazed to see }ou taking part in an attack like this, half a dozen men against one ! Oh, shame on you, shame !" uied she. Robin Cursemother recovered from his dis- eoinliture before the otliers. " 'Tis easy to talk I " said he, roughly. "We nhiin no harm to you, mistress, but we have a-eounts to settle with this fellow, and tliat to- !ii;-dd. If so be he's your friend, you should have tau'Jht him better manners than to inter- 214 Joan, The Curate. fere with us. So now, mistress, off with you, and leave him to us !" But for answer Joan crept a step nearer to Tregenna, who touched her arm gently. " Go, Miss Joan, go," said he, earnestly. "I can hold my own with these fellows, believi me!" '' Curse you ! You shall not bear that boast away with you," said Robin, liercely. And he made a lunge at Tregenna. Joan uttered a faint cry as she caught sig!.: of the gleaming knife in the smuggler's hand turned quickly, and flung her arms round Tregenna's neck. "Off with you, away with you ! We'll n : touch you, mistress, but you must leave him to us ! " cried Gardener Tom, reining in hi- horse behind the pair, and seizing Joan's mom: by the bridle. " Touch him if you dare ! " cried Joar fiercely, as she turned her head, panting, and looked full in Tom's face. " Why, what call have you to tell us to K him go, mistress ? He's a stranger, he is, an: naught to you ! " ■ " Cons, mistress, if so be you can make ou: , off with y oil step nearer to n gently, earnestly. " 1 "ellows, believi bear that boast Tcely. ^enna. ic caught sig!,: nuggler's hand T arms round )u ! We'll n,: Hist leave him reining in hi- ig Joan's mom: ! " cried Joar :l, panting, an! o tell us to K' iger, he is, an: can make ou; A Perilous Ride. 215 he's auglit to you, we'll let him go ! " roared ikii tlic IMast, in his thick, hoarse voice, wlncii ^cclncd to carry whiffs of sea-fog wherever he uciit. "Come, now, what is he to thee ?" For one moment Joan hesitated, while Tre- t;cnna in vain tried to disengage her arms, and whispered to her to go, to leave him. But she would pay no heed to his protests. In answer to Ben, her voice,after a moment's pause, rang mit clearly — "You will let him go, you say, if I tell you what lie is to me ? Well, then, you must let him <^o. For I tell you— he's-— he's the man I lov I'\)r a moment there fell a silence upon the roii;4h men There was something in the tones of the maidenly voice which reached even the hearts of the smugglers, and awed them for an instant into quietness. The horses stamped, splashing up the mud ; the wind whistled in the trees ; but the men, for the space of a few seconds, were still as mice. Then Tom, the most easily moved, the least hardened amongst them, leaned down from his horse, and touched Tregenna, not ungently, on the shoulder — 2l6 Joan, The Curate. " Off with you then, master, and get out of siglit and out of hearing before we change our minds ! " said he in alow and somewhat mock- ing voice. Tregenna took the hint. Lifting Joan on to the saddle of her father's liorse, he swung him- self into it in a twinkling, and digging liis bed into the animal's Hanks, urged him forwanl without a moment's delay, in the direction of Hurst. There was an outbreak of oaths and curses, bloodcurdling to hear. And a pistol was dis- charged after them, without, however, doiii^ any harm. But luckily for the lieutenant and the lady, this incident had already bred a quarrel anion;^ the smugglers ; and before the fugitives wcic out of earshot, they heard the unmist;ikabk' sounds of a conflict vdiich kept the "free- traders " occupied until Hurst was reacheel liy the parson's horse and his riders. Then, slackening his pace when they entered th3 stragglmg village street, Tregenna, whose heart was full, turned so that he might catch a glimpse of the face of his companion. They had ridden thus far in complete silence. A IVrilous Kick. 217 ..WMshalllsayloyou?" whispcrcdbc, j„ , v.bruting voice, as he bent Ins Lead to be ",'L'ri'h; answer ca.ne back coUl and clear, ,;,,„;,,„l,t laugh that chilled Inn, .0 the s.,u " What shall vou say ? You had best sa> „„„„„. sir. I sa,d what 1 did say but to save vour liic 1 " vevcr, tloiu^ 2l8 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER XV. THK SMUGGLERS SHIP. Tregenna must have been harder than stone if he had not been stirred to the depths of his being by the courage and devotion shown on his behalf by the parson's beautiful daughter, From the first moment of meeting her, when he had seen her winsome face and sparkling eyes in the moonlight, on board his own vessel, he had been struck with admiration for her person, her modest, unaffected manners, her spirit, and her devotion. This feeling had grown w^ith every meeting. So it was nut wonderful that, on this evening, when she had braved such perils on his behalf, Joan should have inspired him with a passion exalted on the one hand, strong on the other, such as he had never believed it possible that he could feel for any woman. All the greater, therefore, was his mortihca- The Smugglers' Ship. H) hat he could lis mortihca- ,,^„ ,,is sudden revulsion of fcchuR to despa.r 't'a slic replied to his stanimerinj; atte.upt ", ,U,;,ks with moeking words, and a chilhng '"f ;,,s some minutes before he recovered „i,„self sufficiently to speak. Hy that tune they ,,,1 rcaehed the lane that led from the end ot the v.llage street up to the Parsonage. As , ',„„ ,s the glimmern,g Ught in the >y.ed ,,„aoweaught las ^'y^^ •-, ^i";*' '"/'*;"'; ,,,„d. he tried to n.ake as nuhttere.U . s her „vn, but in wlnel> it was easy to detee traees .,( the emotion fronr which he was suffern>g- " You will not suffer me to thank you for vo.r goodness on n,y behalf. I trust your ' father may be more comphusant. •• Mv father, sir, will make as much hgh ot it as I do," replied Joan, as she relaxed her |,old on her companion's belt, and ahghtcd u. the mud of the lane. Parson Langncy's voice, hearty, cheery, bu not without a touch of anxiety rang out pleasantly, at this moment, upon their ears ' " Hey, Miss Madcap, is't you ? By wha Nance told me, I had begun to fear your wdd expedition had turned out ill ! " 220 Joan, The Curate. I "Nay, father, it has turned out very \\\H!" cried she; "for I have carried off Mi.Trc- gcnna from those that would have h.irmed him, and have thereby made him vastly civil; " Nay, sir. Miss Joan will not suffer mv civility or my .gratitude. She, who is so proud herself, will not allow me to acquit my own debt to her even by a word of thanks." " Tut-tut, there is no need ! " said the pan -n. "And the less, sir," put in Joan, quickly, " since I own I had some hand in bringiii;' about your discomfiture before, at the hanc's of the— h'm— ' free-traders.' Father," she went on quickly, turning to the vicar, " I'll never do aught for Ann or her friends again ! Twas she put them on our track ; and they had a mind to murder Mr. Trcgenna, I verilv hc- lieve ! " She was speaking very quickly, with a certain frivolous air which was new in her, and less becoming than her usual straightforwcird sim- plicity. Tregenna, who was too inexperiei^ccd in the ways of women to understand the cause of this change in her, was hurt and grieved by it. He could not understand how strong her anxiety must be to try to efface from his mind The Smugglers' Ship. ^7 ■»! ^,,, aMncinbrancc of her aetion in so boklly ll.^.aanug to the simigglers that it was tor love she protected him. Clrrrined on the one hand, yet still shaken ,, tlK-mv depths by the adorati<>n he teU for the heantifuh^irl .vhose to.eh he seemed sill t„ feci on his breast, Tre-Ltma slammered out ,„ n„ some hesitating words of thanks, as he heia out his hand to Parson Langncy, with a shv sidelong glance at his daughter. •q must hasten back to my ship," said he. '• \,ul in the morning I shall hope to pay my respects to von, and to induce Miss Joan to pvc me a better hearing than she will grant tD-night." \t these words, Joan, who had been moving rcstlcsslv from the horse to her father and back ,.ain apparently unable to keep still one innnient now that the tension of the evenmg's events was over, became suddenly as motion- Irss as a statue. Then, in a voice xvhich was ;u earnest as a moment before it had been at"tcctedly gay, she said quickly— "Father, bid Mr. Trcgenna stay here till the morning. These fellows may still be on the watch for him." 222 Joan, The Curate. "wSIi-sh !" said her father, raising his liandto enforce silence. In the pause which followed, both Joan md Trej^cnna were aware of a loud, rumbling noise in the village street below, coming graduallv nearer. And in a few minutes, during whidi they all stood silent and wondering, without exchanging a word, they perceived a Imj^c black mass, dim, shadowy, like some maninioth beast whose bulk makes rapid motion impos- sible, creeping slowly by in the obscurity of the trees at the bottom of the hill. Slow, phantom-like, it crept along with no sound but the rumbling and creaking that had at hrst arrested the vicar's attention. Trcgcnna, on the alert at once, would have descended the hill to find out what the monster was. But at a sign from his daughter, Parson Langney laid a restraining hand upon the young man's arm. "What can you do— alone ?" said he, warii- ingly. " Keep your heart in your breast for to- night, at least. In the morning — why, you must do your duty. Come, a tankard will do you no harm. You shall drink ' confusion to free-traders ' if you will. And, egad, I'm in- The Smugglers' Ship. 223 jmcd, after what I've heard, to drink the same Trc'4cnna agreed, anxious for another chanec , , unrd with Joan. But he siiw no more of Iki- Ihtt iHght. Even while the viear was giv- ,„,. tins invitation, his daughter had shpped miR-lly into tlie house, and disappeared tor the night. This left Tregenna free to tell his host, (»ver the mit-hrown ale whieh the vicar poured out ,v,th loving hands, the whole story of the adventures of the evening. Astounded, en- thralled, marveling at his daughter's courage, and furious at the smugglers' daring outrage, the vicar listened with all his ears. nuK man's tone grew lower, ic, as he declared his d admiration for the girl who had risked h for him, Parson Langney listened And when the young his eyes more passion love an svnip.i the ta s. to thctically, and with tears m ins e le he had often indeed heard before, bnt IK mv ver from such eager lips. " Av, ay, she's a good girl, a good girl, honnic'joan!"saidhc, in a tremulous voice, v.hcn Treixenna paused. "You're not the lu'st that has come to me with this tale, sir, though 224 Jonn, The Curate. 3'ou'rc the iirst she's sliown such kindness to a, she's shown to you. But reckon not tooniikli on that, I warn you. She's not your ordinarv lass, that minces and mouths, hke tlie I'irls at Ilurst Court we're going to dine with to-mor- row." Tregenna made a mental note of this fact, and determined that lie would be iiivitid too. "And what she did and what she sa;d she'd have done and s.'iid for any other MKiiiin such a plight as yours, I doubt not ! liut we'll see, we'll see. I'm in no hurry to lose my Joan, I promise you, sir. The d:iy must come wiun she'll go forth from me as a bride ; but theix > time enough for that, time enough for that', And I would not have you hope too mueli, though I do not bid you despair." Tregenna was forced to be content with this vague encouragement, and with the comfort of having unburdened his heart to a sympathetic ear. It was not long before he took his leave, and having followed the vicar's advice to con- cern himself for that night with nothing bu; his own safety, reached the boat in the cred; without accident, and was soon on board the Sen-Gull. Next morning he was early astir. He had >tir. He had The Smugglers' Ship. oo -^-^ ,lre;icly, on arriv in '4 on boai ftl. sent ii trusty UK' no ssc n.iier r to l\ve to beg the brigadier to lose time in niakuig a seeo nd expedition against Kaklhill; he pi- aiul In put him ui omise posse I to meet him there ssion ot some laets he 1i;h1 learnt eoneerm ng its hiding-places. Pait althou ( 1' hit was no later than umeo dock .,,,;:;:;:;:«. -he,, he ana G.nc,.l Han.>jc I ,, met -.t the funnvard gates, they l.mnd that ^ti^crs had lx-cnbcfo>x4uuul with then,. , X 'l a man or a woman was to be lound on „K- pam.ses ; not a cow or a horse ; no a p,g ,„. ,l,cn. And thongh tl,e trap-door to the ..tr had been lK,ng wide to assist .henrn, „,.„■ search, h was in vain thev songht for the tZ an.oug whieh Tregenna lud stood on the previous night. Xot a keg or a bale was there n, the who e pU.e, thongh they searched >t fnr.n garret to , ,11.,]- ' ''■n.e'brigadier was ferociously facetious, taunt- inub' joeose. ., ■•!leV-dav,Trcgenna,I fear they gave thee ,„„ ,nuch of their contraband .n„u, r//.r, and that it has bred visions in thy bran, I saalhc, ,,,han ugly smile on his red face, and a vicious 15 226 Joan, The Curate. look in his eyes. He was in no very good humor with the young man for having outrun himself in zeal, and was at heart rather picas. , that this expedition, designed by his rival should have been as complete a failure as tlic last. " Well, at any rate, you see. General, th;; there was something wrong with the place, tV- them all to have deserted it like this," said tlk lieutenant, reasonably enough. " More like they have deserted it from fcarot quarter-day ! " retorted the brigadier. " 'Tis a common thing enough a flitting like to tlii;, at such seasons ! " "A least," said Tregenna, who was hot and furious at this fresh rebuff, " you will find the ship under the barn-floor ! " But even as he uttered the words, a chill seized him as he remembered, in a fresh light, a mysterious incident of th^ previous eveniiii!, He was, therefore, more disgusted than sur- prised when, in searching the barn, the soldicr> discovered tha> the flooring was indeed loosc.as he had said, and that there was a crypt beneath; but that though there were traces of thecradlein which the smugglers' boat had been hauled up The Sinugglcrs' Ship. 227 and down, and some tools lying about in dark corners with logs and screws, ropes and mallets. the vessel itself had disappeared. Tregenna took almost in silence the taunts with which the brigadier now saluted lum. l.cavin,^ the soldiers to return to Kye, the youni^ uKUi, with a shrewd suspicion that the „i;iinniolh beast he had dimly seen crawling Ihrough the village in the dark on the previous evening was the smugglers' boat, resolved to try to track it to its new resting-place. Such a wxMghty thing as the unfinished vessel, and the wagon or wagons on which it nuist have been removed, could not, he ar- i^ued, but have left its mark on the roads it traversed. And so it proved. Following the deep ^A•hcelmarks which were easily discernible even now in the mire of the Hurst road, he arrived at that village, went through it, still tracing the wheehnarks; and finally, to his consternation, tracked the wagons to the stables of Hurst Court. It was a disconcerting discovery enough, but Trcgenna, furious at the conspiracy thus formed against the representatives of law and order, 228 Joan, The Curate. did not scruple to follow it up. It was cvidi;: that the hiding-place they had found for ik- vessel had been looked upon by the snnr^i^k;- as safe and sacred, for no steps had been taken to guard it. Tregenna opened the wide d^M of the coach-house ; and inside, as he had ex- pected, he saw the -hull of the unfinished boat, Without a moment's loss of time he wuit straight up to tlie house, where he fancicdtl : the butler who admitted him looked at hai. askance, as if with some suspicion of his errand, The squire himself, however, while affect- ing the greatest astonishment and indignation on hearing that the smugglers' boat had been placed in his stables, was evidently in a statco! extreme trepidation as to the course Tregenna meant to pursue with regard to himself. The lieutenant, however, thought it better to receive his assurances of innocence as if li believed them, thinking tliat this would be ; lesson strong enough to cure the sciuirc c complicity with the smugglers. Squire Waldron wa. , of course, particularly civil to his unwelcome guest, pressing liim t stay to dinner ; an invitation which Tregenna accepted at once, in the hope of meeting Joan. f meeting Joan. The Smugglers' Ship. 229 Then the squire made liaste to rid himself , his -uest bv presenting him to the ladies m I, nmsie-room. who again, as on a previous occ-ision, loaded him with hypoeritical expres- sions of horror at the snuigglers and then- coiuUict. Certain rumors of the adventures .,t the previous evening had reaehed then" ears tvoin the Parsonage, and thev all endeavored to worm out of Tregenna the exaet details of ;,,, visit to Kede Hnll, and of Joans late ride. ,, "They do say, you must know, dear Aii. Tregenna," lisped one young lady, with a prim little ghost of a malieious smile, "that Joan [.aiignev was so afraid you were gone to make lovAoAnn Priee, who is reekoned a great beauty in these parts (though I am sure I ha n t anotion why), that she cantered after you on horseback 1 " " The forward thing I " cried Tvliss ^jicy.^ "But maybe 'tis not true !" said Mrs. Wal- dron inquisitively. " Do prav, tell us how 'twas, sir," went on Miss Alathea, plaving affectedly with her fan. " Tis no breach of conhdence ; for you and she were seen to return to the Parsonage together, 230 Joan, The Curate. late ill the evening. So 'twill make the hestof a bad business to let us know the eircum. stances ! " "A bad business !" echoed Tregenna liotiv, " Nay, madam, 'twas a very good business ior me ! Since, if Miss Joan had not been good enough, knowing I was going thither, to ride to Rede Hall and release me from what was practically imprisonment at the hands of the scoundrels who infest that place, I sliould scarce have got hither alive ! " The young ladies both went off into a series of little twittering shrieks, raising their hands and turning up their eyes towards the painted ceiling, with ever}- mild expression of horror and affright. "So she luietv you was going thither!" chirped IMissI.ucy presently. "You are gre;it friendsattiie Parsonage then, Mr. Tregenna ?" " I hope I am, madam, " returned Tregenna promptly. " For there's no friendship in the world I value more than that of Miss Joan and her father." This prompt declaration seemed rather to damp the spirits of the two little pink-eyed girls, and they desisted from their attacks in this The Smuj4glcrs' Ship. 231 aircction; and having obtained his assurance lint music was his passion, they proceeded to the harpsichord and warbled monotonous httle ,lucts to him until the arrival of P.'rson Langney and his daughter brought a welcome relief from the iiidiction. l>oor Tregenna, however, rather regretted that he had been so prompt in accepting the squire's invitation, when he found how very iii<4id Miss Joan was to him. She made him a stak'lv curtsey, with her eyelids lowered, and without taking any notice of his proffered hand. And when the parson, who had heard already of the doings of the morning, twitted Tregenna ahout the escape of the smugglers, Joan joined hcartilv in his ironical comments while the squire was not long in adding his taunts; so that the voung man found himself assailed on all sides\vith no ally save the chirruping young Waldron ladies, whose advocacy irritated him more than did the attacks of Joan. So mortihed was he, indeed, that when the ladies withdrew from the table, he felt that he could not bear the society of the other three gentlemen-his host, Bertram Waldron, and the parson- any longer. He therefore made m 232 Joan, The Curate. the excuse of his duties calHng him away, and left them to their wine. Just as he was taking his three-cornered hat from the peg in the hall where it hung, he caught sight of one of the maids of the house, in her smart frilled cap and neat muslin ker- chief and apron, in a corner of the hall. On see- ing him she started and turned to g(i hack and this action arrested his attention, and caused him to look at her again. The first look made him start ; the second made him stare ; the third caused him to ru.i lightly across the liall, and to seize her by the apron as she tried to escape into one of the rooms. "Ann Price— masquerading as a housemaid, by all that's audacious ! "cried he, as they came face to face. A Traitress. 233 n away, and CHAPTER XVL A TKAITRESS. FiXDiXG escape impossible, Ann turned and put a bold face on the matter. Or rather, she turned indeed, and faced him, but with the -ainc air of modest womanhness whicli he had before remarked in her when she wore her SLx's clothes— a manner which altered so com- pletely as soon as she assumed the costume of "Icni Bax." "And what arc you pleased to want with me, sir?" she asked respectfully, after the short silence which had followed Tregenna's exclamation. "Well, I want to know, in the hrst place, what you are doing here ? " "Sure, sir, there's no harm in my taking a place as housemaid, now I'm turned out of ni\' mother's home by your pryings of last night." Tis rather a bad thing for the squire and II "I 234 Joan. Tht; Curate, his lady," said Trcgcnna, dryly, " to be harbor- ...g any of your kin, Ann, more cspcc, ,• "ft,r my discovery m the coaeh-house lln. "t;''not here, sir,as a smuggler, but. a homeles. farn.er's daughter," r^U,n,ecl An,, i„ the same modest, even tone. I beha. 1 am reckoned worth .ny salt with a broon, u, my hand, as well as in the dairy. " Nay nav, 'tis not for your services witli mop and churn they take you in, Aon, I know that," said Tregemm. " You would have d,,no best to keep out of my way a few da>'s, alter your doings of last night. T.s not your fanll your rascally crew did not make an end to me, when you sent thein in pursuit of me, as you did ! " , , -.i , " Nay sir, if I did," answered Ann, with a sudden change to a soft voice and a pleading manner which had in it something strangdy attractive, by reason of its nnexpeetediic.s, " 'twas done in the heat of unreasoning pas- sion, and without a thought of what grave eon. sequences it might bring upon yon If the. had really harmc never d you, by my troth I would have spoke to one of them again. A Traitress. " A very ■l'rc,:;cnna, c 235 sai( fair explanation, to be sure Irvly. " l^nt 'twas well I had the nan more womanly, to Is of vour solicitnde on luck to meet with a woi counteract the eifee my aec ount. You mean Miss Joan, s ;iid Ann, in a very qu ic t tone, as slie played with the e her ipron, keepmj^ the tune. her eves iixed upon i .'ormr !>f t all Whom should I mean WDiuan .'' thusiasm hi.; praise o hir u;(n)dness. but that most sweet d Tregenna, with tiie more en- that Ann was evidently displeased liy cvic i the lady (( Had it not been lor mill' I should most surely have been dered last night, either by you or some one of your vi llainous confederates. Id not," returned "Xay, nay, sir, you wou Ana, earnestly. " They would not have dared, I say, not one of them, to do a hurt to one m •liom— in whom "-her voice w an faltered a little, that d she looked down, bending her head, so he could not see her face-" in whom I had an interest ! " "An interest! Ay, truly, an interest so strong that, at first sight of me, you did show it at once by presenting 2 pistol at my head ! " 236 Joan, The Cunitc. Ann suddenly raised her head, and looked into his face with a steadfast earnestness which could not but arrest his attention. In her gray eyes there was a stranj^e liL;ht, in Ikf whole manner a softness, both new and sur- prising. Even her voice seemed to have hbi every trace of robust peasant harshness, and to have become tender and melting. "Sir, sir, you don't understand! How can I make you understand?" cried she passion- ately. Then, as he looked into her face with astonishment and curiosity, she suddcidv turned, walked a few steps towards a door in the darkest part of the hall, and beckoned him to follow her. " Come hither, sir, out into the air ! " said she, in a low voice. "I am stilling here; I want to feel the fresh wind on my face while I speak." Her voice was full of strong emotion. Trc- genna paused an instant, suspecting treaclierv in the strange woman ; but she divined fin cause of his hesitation, and with a sudden change to fire and pride, she said— " You need not fear mc. See, there is nu A Traitress. 237 ,,,bush prepared for you ! " And as she spoke, 'l^, thaw open the door, and showed the way mio the beautiful oUl garden behind tlic 'Vroi^cnna followed her in silenee as she ,v,nt out, and took, witlunit looking behind ,1,,- the path that led, through winding walks, .HJlKtu-een quaint, stiif yew hedges, to the 1, dun -garden. There a broad terraee, with , slone balustrade, led down to bright beds ',1 itte autumn n---rs, still pretty and fra- orant, though . . .y u ere growing tall and strag- gling at this late season, and were, in places, nipped with the early frosts of the comuig ''''^nn stopped on the terrace, and waited for Trc.cnna to come up to her. When he did so, she turned abruptly, and he was surprised ti) see that she was in tears. The discovery, in a woman of her fierce attributes, was startling, amazing; and Ire- i^ciina was disconcerted by it. "You arc astonished, I see, sir," she began, in llie same gentle voice that he had last heard from her, "to see a creature you have ahvavs looked upon as masculine and hard, 238 Joan, The Curate. with aught so feuiininc as a tear upon her face ! " "Well, Miss Ann, I confess it, I am sur- prised. I thought you were made of stuff too stern for such weakness ! " " Did you but know more of me," said she, sadly, " you would not think so. We are all, as you know, sir, made by our surroundings ; and see what mine have been ! Brought up from my earliest childhood among rough folk, hearing of scenes that 'twould make your blood run cold to relate, what chance had I to grow into your soft and tender woman, that sits and smiles, and screams at sight of a spider?" " But surely there's a wide difference hc- tween screaming at a spider, on the one hand, and using the weapons, ay, and the oaths of a man, on the other ?" At this reproach, Ann became suddenly red, and hung her head as if in shame. " Nay, sir, 'tis true," said she, almost below her breath, "and I am shocked myself, when I have leisure to reflect on't, at the work I do, and the words I utter, when my kinsmen have stirred me up to fight their battles and to do the deeds they demand of me ! " Joan, The Curate. Tlius left alone with the girl he loved, the young lieutenant was not slow in seizing tla^ opportunity he had so long wished for ; and although she tried to leave him and to return to the house, he gave her a look so full of en- treaty, as he mutely placed himself in her way, and gazed at her with an expression there was no mistaking, that she faltered, paused, and asked, in a low voice— "What have you, sir, to say to me ? I li;ui no notion of meeting you here." " Surely, IMiss Joan, if you could give ten minutes of your conversation to that booby young Waldron, you might bestow the same favor on me ! " " 'Twas from no liking for IMr. Waldron I came out," said Joan, hastily. " He lured me hither by saying I should see something very interesting in the Italian garden ; and I thought he had some rare flower or bird to show me. I should scarce have come, as you may guess. to see you in such interesting converse with Ann Price ! " In her voice, Tregenna was delighted to no- tice a tone of pique which seemed to be of good augury. A Traitress. 247 mc ? I li;ul .'There was nauj^ht oi great import in my ,ak with her," said lie. quickly. He was ^,,,,Uiug so much that his sword rattled at his side, and his voice was as hoarse as a raven's. •But 'tis true I have somethini^ of i^vvixi import to me on my mind, and I cannot but think, Miss Joan, you must know what it is ! " " Indeed, sir, I cannot guess your thoughts I " said Joan, though the heightened color in her checks belied her words. " Can you not imagine wbat I feel— what I ,,uiia not-dared not, say last night ? Oh, you I d;., v.ui must, I think ! Sure a man cannot feci what I feel for you without its getting from his heart into his eyes ! Don't you know I love vou. Joan ? " The change came about in the space of a second. When the last hurried words, husky, tremulous, half whispered, came bursting from his lips. Joan shivered, gave him one glance, and had betrayed herself before she was aware. ''You— you care for Ann!" she faltered between two long-drawn breaths. " Pshaw ! Not : ! I care for Joan. I care for Joan, only Joan ! " 248 Joan, Tliu Curate. And at the last word, as she hardly rcsislal him, he kissed her. It was growing cold even in the shLltuul garden, now that the late autiunn sun was de- scending in the sky, and the wind was risu,., and sending the red leaves fluttering h-om the boughs of the trees to the earth. But thcv never heeded it : they would have gone on sit- ting on that terrace, and walking round and round those ilower-beds, for an hour and more, had not Parson Langncy's voice presently startled them by calling— " Joan, Joan, my lass, where art thou ?" The girl gave one frightened glance at her lover, forbade him to follow her and speak t.^ her father till she had prepared the way, and fled away like an arrovv' from a bow. Happy and excited with the joy of success- ful love, Tregenna was sauntering round the house towards a side-gate out of the park, when Ann's voice startled him. He knew not whence she had sprung ; but she was looking at him from out a clump of bushes with a strange smile on her pallid face, As he started, she burst into a low, mockiiv^ laugh. ardlv rcsistul A Traitress. 249 uhcnVhcic's a fair maid to listen. lUit the jtmic's nut plavcd out yet ! " I'pon those words, with a Ihishin- look from her great somber gray eyes, she disappeared abruptly. 250 Joan, The Curate. CHAPTER XVTI. AN INNOCENT RIVAL. Now, although Harry Trcgcnna was in :, sta.te of mind more nearly approaching pcrt'ccl bliss than he had ever been before, w ith the knowledge that Joan Langney loved iiini fresh upon him, he could not but feel an uiicannv chill when Ann Price uttered h.cr niocking words of warning. " The game's not played out yet ! " He would have followed her, questioned her. But she knew every turn in the park much better than he ; and after a few moments spent in looking for her, he gave up the search as an idle one. After all, what could she do ? Despcrati and vindictive as he knew he.' to be, she could hardly go the length of trying to harm gen- erous-hearted Joan. And as for what she might clioose to attempt on his own person, All IniiDccnt Rival. 251 5cnna was m a icr, questioned rn in the park a few moments e up the search Tregcn na w as rcadv to take the risks of war w ,hieh, indeed, eould liardly i)e greater in the liilure than they had Vrcn in the past. So he presently lisnr.v ed all tlionglit of her, and gave himself up, hear and soul, to joyful thoughts of the bee iiuil, brave girl he had won. He lingered about for ,1 little whik , to give her time to break the news to her father, as she had herself wished to do. And when he thought they must have reached home, he turned his steps also in the direction of the Parsonage. By the wistful look of emotion on Parson Langney's rugged, kindly face, by the moisture in his eyes, the young man guossed that he had already been made aware thnt he was threatened with the loss of his fair daugh- ter : and the iirst w"ords he uttered, as he held out a shaking hand in welcome, confirmed this impression : " So you're going to take her away from me ! Well, well, 'tis the way of all flesh ! " Tregenna assured him that they wxtc in no hurry, that he was ready to wait any reasonable lime : a week, a month, any period they might choose. He further assured the vicar that he 2=^2 Joan, The Curate. would leave the service, and promised to settle down with his wife at no very great cUstanco from Hurst Parsonage. And although Parson Langney shook his head very lugubriously, and grumbled at the follv of a woman's marrying before she was thirty, his jolly face soon grew brighter when Joan came in, and, putting her arms round his neck under her lover's very nose, assured him that he was the nicest and handsomest man in the whole world, and that, if she v;ere driven to get married, it should only be on compulsion, and on receiving her future husband's assurance that she was her father's girl still, and might be with him as much as she liked. So they had a happy evening together, and when the young lieutenant bade them good night, and started on his way back to his boat, it was with never a thouglit of smugglers, or wreckers, builders of secret boats, or treach- erous farmers' daughters, to damp his spirits. There was a lull in the contraband traflic aft these events, and Tregenna and the brig- adier began to flatter themselves that their energy had at last awed the smugglers into submission, when one day the news Avas An Innocent Rivdl. 253 news ^vas ,,rou<.ht to the lieutenant that the sanie sloop ict, had been in sight on the occas.ouollhc ,:.st raid, was hovering about in the ch Jne. \ sharp lookout was aceordniglv kept tli.it ,„:|,l but nothing happened to justify their .^picions. On the following day, however, a ,,,;,;t mist sprang up, and not long afterwards tli^.v were able to discover thai, under eover of „, there was a boat making at a great rate for Ihc beach at Hastings. The snnigglers-for Tregcnna had httlc doubt of the nature of the boat's errand-had a liood start of the cutter's men ; but the latter .nvc chase at once in one of their own boats, Ind were soon justified in their surmise ; fc.r „., grouiKhng their craft as soon as they could on the pebbly shore, the occupants of the pur- sued boat deliberately emptied it of its con- tents in sight of their pursuers, and leaving it to its fate, ran up the beach towards the narrow streets of the old town, each with a couple of ku^s slung round him, the one in front, and the other behind. . Tliev did not fail, as they went, to bid a Rraceful adieu to Tregcnna and his men, wav- in" th^nr rough knitted caps and shouting 254 Joan, The Curate. " Good-by " as they disappeared through the openings between the houses. Straining every nerve, the cutter's nun grounded their own boat in an incredibly short time ; and, prohting by the precious nioiiKiit, the smugglers had lost in emptying thrir cargo, they raced up the stony beach in pur- suit, believing that, encumbered as they \\\r^', the "free-traders" would find it impossible tu keep ahead of them long. But alas ! they had reckoned without their host ; for while they, the representatives ot law and order, were fighting alone and unaided, the smugglers had each a brother or a mother, a sister or a sweetheart, in one or other of the mean, picturesque little hovels that nestled to- gether in the shelter of the tall cliffs beneath the castle, and lined the narrow, tortuous streets of the ancient town. No sooner had the hrst of the revenue-men turned the corner into the High Street, up which the smugglers were making their wav towards some chosen haunt of their own, than the hindermost of the rascals, who alone car- ried no burden, gave a peculiar kind of shrill whistle. An Innocent Rival. This was evidently the recognized method of giving an alarm to the rest, and was also the si'^nal tor the inhabitants of the squalid little houses to be on the alert. Already every door was standing open, show- iiio-, to the exasperation of the king's men, a -q-oiip of eag-r, grinning faces, intent on the sport. The moment ihe whistle sounded, the smug- glers who carried the kegs divested themselves eaeh of one of his burdens, and rolled it to- wards tlie nearest open cottage-door. The moment the keg was safe inside, the door closed. The smuggler, having thus got rid of one of his kegs, went on at a quicker pace for a few steps, and then, on the sounding of a second whistle, got rid of the rem.uning one in the same way. Well used to this maneuver, whicli was a eominonone at the time, those of the cottage- folk who had not received one of the contra- hand kegs, closed their doors also ; so that Tre- genna and his men, on reaching the point in the street where this trick had been played, found it unpossiblc to identify any particular 256 Joan, The Curate. house as one of those which had lent the use of its portal to the smugglers. A few half frightened, half mocking children stood about in the road ; but at the windows not a single face was to be seen. Tregenna, who was at the head of the pur- suing force, saw, to his chagrin, that it was now- impossible for him to hope to come up with the smugglers. Lightened of their burdens, and already well ahead of their pursuers, they flew like the wind up the steep street towards the old church, without so much as looking behind them to give the cutter's men a chance of seeing and remembering their faces. At this point in the route, however, they all somewhat abruptly disappeared, with the ex- ception of the one who had given the signal. From his limping gait, Tregenna had long since recognized him as " Gardener Tom, "and he felt at the first moment rather sorry that this man, the only one of the "free-traders ' for whom he felt the slightest kindness, should be the only one to fall into his hands. It was not until he had reached the queer little irregular group of nestling houses cluster- ing round the church, that Tom suddenly An Innocent Rival. 257 turned, put his back against the steep v;aU ;vinch banked up the houses on one side of the roadway, folded his arms, and waited lor Trc'cinato come up to him. llie lieutenant, expecting that Tom had a n,st(4 ready for him, put his hand to one of his n^^•n. The smuggler, however, shook his head, and held up his liands. "Where are the rest ? " criedTregenna, more by instinct than because he expected a useful answer. , Tom whose handsome, open face was flushed with his exertions, smiled mockingly at him " Whcc r ? Wheer ? " asked he, with a shake of the head. " Nay, master, look round, and sec if 'twill be easy for you to light upon 'em now! Tregenna did look round. Hesaw the close- packed cottages, sonic prim and neat, with a sort of look about them as if no c-.aturc with- in had ever heard of so terrible a thing as a smuggler : some dirty and neglected, and ca- pable of anything ; but all shut up, and with- out a human face at any window. One mean- looking little alehouse at the corner '^'^^ ''^^■ tainly beai a sort of rakish, contraband look. ^7 258 Joan, The Curate. But a peep within lis doors showed that Mk landlord and one old man iiad it, to ali a[ipear- ances, to themselves. Treg'jnna sighed, and howned. *' Well, I must arrest you, Tom, and carry you I il at least," said he. '' I be smuggling naught, master ! " objected Tom, quite mildly. "You were signalman to the others," an- swered Tregenna. "You're one of the gang." Tom took this very quietly. " All roight, take me if you will," said he. " 'Twas you, sir, that gave me the hurt niukes me too lame to get away ! " said he. Tregenna frowned, and looked uneasily round at his own men, who, deeming him quite aV.le to cope with this, the only one of the rullians whom they had in their power, had dispersed in various directions, engaged in the rather hopeless task of ferreting out ' " urlost enemies. " l'r\ sooner have caugh^ any one of the othei , Tom," saidTregenua, ' than laid hands on thee." "And I," replied Tom, with :; glance round in his tone, and a lowering the voice, "I'd sooner I was caught by you, sir, than as anyot An Innocent Rival. 25^) the others was ! For I've suniniat for to say to you, sir, summat for to arst you ! " And over Tom's open ruddy face there passed an expression of deep anxiety. "To ask me, Tom ? Well?" "Oons, sir you'd tell me the truth, wouldn't von ? You'd be above telling lies to a poor fellow loikc me ! " went on the young man, wistlnlly. Tfcgenna looked amazed, as well he might, at this most unexpected speech. "I hope, Tom," said he, " I'm above telling lies to any one." "Well, sir, it's loike to this 'ere : you han't forgot, sir, that noight as you came to Rede Hall, have you ?" "Xo, I'm not likely to forget that quickly I " " You'll moind, sir, how 'twas Ann Price sent us after thee, in a passion." ^\y, I'm not like to forget that eitlier,Tom, nor your treatment of me when you came up with me ! " Tom looked down, reddening. "Oons, sir," saidhc, gruffly, "we're rough customers, I know. But we had more than one account to settle with you, sir ; anc. you I 26o Joan, The Curate. see, you'd found out a bit too much to he ht off loight ! Wc had to turn out of the place where we'd met together for years, all aloir^^ of you and your hndings. And that wasn't all neither ! " And a significant frcwn puckered his brows once more. " Why, what other harm have I done you, than what I had to do in the course of mv duty ? " asked Tregenna. "You'd gotten the roight side of Ann!" growled Ann's lover, angrily. "The right side! Nay, th-^n I know not what getting the wrong side would be like : " retorted Tregenna, lightly. " For there's no sort of ill treatment, short of actual niurcUr, that I have not received at her hands, and I own I never meet her without watching hir hands, to be sure she holds not a knile concealed in some fold of her dress, wherewith to stab me ! " " Ay, that's Ann all over ! " said her lover, admiringly. " She's got such a spirit, has Anr . But it's just them ways of hers with you that makes me know she looks upon you with too koind an eye, sir. She loikes you, and she An Innocent Rival. 261 cd his brows de of Ann ! hates herself for loiking a kin.i^'s man, that's what it is I " " Indeed ! " said the yoiini^ lieutenant, with a laugh. Tiien I assure you, Tom, she's vastly welcome to transfer her liking to some one else ; for it's wasted on me ! " Tom scanned the speaker's face narrowly, and then drew a long breath of relief. "You speak as if it was truth," said he at last, in a muttering tone. "Then, maybe, sir," he went on, with deep earnestness, still keeping an anxious gaze upon Tregenna's faee, "maybe you don't know where she is now ? "' He seemed to wait with breathless eagerness for the answer. " Most surely I do not," rephed Tregenr; ,, promptly, "if she be not at Hurst Court, where I saw her near ten days ago." Tom shook his head. "Slv jen't there now, sir. Nobody here- abouts has a notion where she's got to ; so I thought as maybe it was you had spirited her away.' "'Gv>d forbid ! " said Tregenna, heartily. " My good fellow, set you: mind at rest. If 262 Joan, The Curate. there's one man in the world less likely than another to spirit away your friend Ann Piia, or indeed to have aught to do with her, gad, 'tis I ! " Tom passed his hand over his chin re- flectively : he did not yet seem satisfied. " Faith, man, \.hat further assurance do you want?" said Tregenna, amused ai ihe fclluw's persistency. " Dost still think I'm in love with thy fair friend the amazon ?" " Nay, sir that I do not," replied Tom, slowly. " But 'tis her that's in love with thu : And -iure, she's nore loike to have her way with thee, than ever thou wouldst ha' l-ccn to make ^' . ' with her, if so be it had been t'otlur way loimd ! " " Make yourself easy on that point also, answered Tr^ Mr i, now laughing heartily at the young m.. 's i^ u's. " Mistress Ann woiiM get no soft words from me, no loving looks, an. no fond embraces, were I the only man left o;i the earth, and she the only woman ! " " Sir," said Tom, not a bit relieved by tl. assurance, "I do believe you mean what you say. But she's no common wonran, isn't Ann; and since she's sworn she'll have your kisses ve with thie w An Innocent Rival. 263 iihin the month, why, I do surely believe ^hi'll .^et tlieni, whether you will or no." "Sworn to have my kisses!" echoed the lieutenant, in amaze nt. " Egad, then, she'll bu forsworn. Fear not, man; thy fair one has harms for me, and truly she hath never met less like to bestow his kisses Upon her. iu» c I know not : and if I were :i ni ni Where she is gone in thv shoes, I should be thankful she'd dis- i>peared, and I should look about for some- iiiiirr softer, something: more like a woman, to wii to give my kindness ! " " Sir, one cannot give love where one will !" said poor Tom, rather ruefully. " If I do know wliy I love her, 'tis on account of her not being loike to every other lass in tlie pu-^sh ; to her being so different from herself, a^ from all other women, that one never knows how she., going for to be two hours together I So it ain't no good of talking, sir; for, oons ! I've loved her too long to go trapesing after another now ! At that moment Tregenna caught sight of the first of his own men returning from a fruit- ess "Cil iO the r( :st of the smugglers. He turned quickly to Tom. 264 Joan, The Curate. "Tom," said he, "I cannot deal liarshly with thee ; get away with thee ere it be t(M) late. For these fellows of mine dare not show so much leniency as I am doing." Tom took the hint. He was artful enough to make a femtof striking the lieutenant, mak- ing a movement which caused the latter to take an instinctive step backward, as if he had really been pushed aside. Tom then made a dash for the nearest opening between the houses ; and lieing still wonderfully active when he chose to exert himself, he was lost to the sight of the cutter's men in a few seconds. A Prisoner. 265 CHAPTER XVIII A PRISONER. It was useless to pursue the smugglers any longLT, and equally useless to make any plans for seizing them on land on their way baek to the sloop. As they had friends all along the coast, it was very certain that they would make no attempt to re- embark from the beach at Hastings, but would reach the ship from some other point of the shore. All that Tregenna could do, therefore, was to seize the boat they had left upon the beach, and then to return to the cutter. Here he learnt that the sloop had sailed away under cover of the mist, so that there was nothing for it but to take their chance of falling in with her crew on their way back to her. Whe . night came on, therefore, a couple of boats, with Tregenna in one of them, left the cutter and cruised about, the one on the 266 Joan, The Curate. Hastings side, the other in the direction of the marshes. , , u t i Tregenna was in the former boat ; but it had not got very far when one of the men at tlic oars raised his head, as if hstening intentlv, "Did you hear that, sir?" asked he, m a low voice. " What ? I heard nothing." The man rested on his oar, and his example was followed by the others. There was a moment of dead silence, no sounds reaching their straining ears but the cry of a sea-biia and the soft plash of the calm water as it lapped the sides of the boat. It was a bcai^ tiful night, the sea as smooth as a lake, and the moon, which was almost at the full, making a bright path of silvery yellow on the still water There was nothing to tell of early winter save for a touch of frost in the air, and a thin hue of November fog along the shore. . , Suddenly there rang out in the keen night air the sharp report of a pistol, followed by a cry, which sounded shrill in the distance. ''''Turn," said Tregenna *'and row hard fjr the other boat." A Prisoner. 267 A, they ^vcnt, pulling wUh all Ihcr strength „: ^ card nothing n>orc f- -nK u„ t not until they iKKl conK u, s.lto U second boat that they pcrcc.vcd that a chase was in progress. . ,, . , uVid Well out to sea, and rowuig out at a - .p.c , 1 a long, low craft which was pauUed ra!c,\\as a 1011^, ,. to guess , lii;ht color, and winch it vvas as) i ^ \, property of the " free-traders. It u as wasthcpiopen> pursuing craft, ,„,ci>longerthanut c ot 1 ^^^^^ '^\ t 'c^;;; :? r::i us .«., ere.. :::,\re S little chance wUh U, had the ,ut-vthawall,andats,gh.oftlK:u-comn^cs .he way to join them they gave lo>h a e wS rang out over the water, puttn.g irU into the heart of then- con.adcs, and vigor into their strokes. ,,(,.,„„ u,e Astheanswermgchee ncf't ^^^ tl>'-ts of Trege,u,a an us -^^^ ,,„„.se, moek.ng '='»^-^'>'^'^^' '" "^,,„,, ,,„„, the -'^"^./St^::; 1 .-t-nuent.hnd- S'SSuXopposingboatswereganung s 268 Joan, Tlie Curate. on her, she swung round and waited for them to come up with lier. Tregenna's boat was now the nearer of the two. In the moonhghttheheutenant saw a face, coarse, evil, with eyes aHame, peering over the side of the smuggler's craft from under one ot the knitted caps the most of them wore ; it was that of Ben the Blast. The next moment the rascal raised his right arm, and pointed a pistol at him. The rest of the smugglers were all crouching, like Ben, round the sides of the boat. Sud- denly there sprang up above their heads the slighter, more lithe hgure, in open jacket and loose shirt-collar, which Tregenna had so much reason to remember. Even at that moment of excitement, the thought that this was a woman who stood exposed to his own fire and that of his men made Tregenna feel for a mo- ment sick and faint. Before he had recovered from the effects of his recognition of Ann Price in the guise of " Jem Bax," he saw her strike a violent blow at Ben's right arm : and the upraised pistol dropped into the water. Then there came a cry from the crew of the second cutter's boat ; in the last few moments A Prisoner. 269 thcv had gained on their comrades, and ,t vvas ,,,,;■ who lirst came up with the smugglers. OvT Tregenna there had suddenly come a fri..hl(ul sense of a new and sickening danger, llrd of killing a woman in open iiglu L n- .exed creature as she had seemed, when he ,„d heard her cursing and uttering threats ,,. uiist him at the farmhouse, ho could not but ;;;nember, at this fearful moment, how she l„a conversed with him in the garden at Hurst Court, with all the sweet tones and soft looks, ,|,c pleading words and winning ways, ot a vcrv woman. The feeling was paralyzing ; it went near to „„Uing a coward of him. Then, just as Ins boat was drawing in its turn alongside that of the smugglers, he saw one of his own men (,,,„, the other boat, in actual conflict w.th He saw the gleam of knives ; he saw the two boats rocking like cradles on the surface of the w Iter Then it was " Jem " who uttered a cry ; the red blood gushed forth over the white sl„rl she wore, and the next moment she stag- ficicd, and fell, not back into her comrades boat but into that of the revenue-men. 270 Joan, The Curate. At that moment Tregenna's attention was recalled to his own situation by his receiving a blow on the breast from a weapon in the hands of one of the smugglers. The attack re- called him to himself, roused again the savage instinct which is the best for a man to feel at such a time, and nerved his arm to retaliation. He saw no more of " Jem ; " he was able, therefore, in the excitement of the fight, to for- get her. And, although the smuggler's boat presently succeeded in sheering off, after hav- ing inflicted some damage on their opponents, it was with more than one of their number hurt and disabled that they made off in the direction of the sloop. Tregenna would have followed ; but to the signals he made to his second boat to accom- pany him, the crew replied that they were un- able to do so. He had, therefore, to be content with the damage he had undoubtedly inflicted upon the " free-traders," and to return to the cutter, which he reached some minutes before the second boat did. When this came up, in its turn, the boat- swain, who was in charge of it, saluted, in some triumph, as he drew alongside. A Prisoner. 271 Trcgenna was looking over the side, anxious to learn whether his men had suffered much. "Sir," called out the boatswain, cheerily, " I've good news for you 1 " "Well, and what is it?" asked the lieu- tenant as he scanned, with some bewilderment, a sort of heap which lay in the bows of the little boat. ^ " Oons, sir, we've brought a prisoner along, answered the boatswain, in a ringing voice. "\nd wounded beside. And 'tis none other than Jem Bax, that's long been known as the biggest rascal of the lot !" Instead of receiving this intelligence with the delight and congratulations which the hero of the capture evidently expected, Trcgenna uttered a sound which was very like a groan, and exclaimed, in a most lugubrious voice- " The devil you have ! " The boatswain, startled and disappointed, looked at his captain in astonishment. " Plague on't, sir, but I thought I'd done the smartest night's work ever fell to my lot . cried he. " Take him back ! " roared Tregenna, as soon ?>:■''*«:•»■.>■ 272 Joan, The Curate. as he caught the first sight of the white face he had so much reason to remember. The boatswain had uncovered the heap in the bows, exposing to view the prostrate form of "Jem Bax," who hiy, with closed eyes, and with blood-stains on face and breast, limp, motionless, helpless, without giving a sign of life. Tregenna's face and voice changed at the sight. " Well, haul him up," said he, with a sudden change to anxiety, as the thought struck him that Ann was perhaps already dead. " We'll see what we can do for the fellow ! " None of the others had, apparently, the least suspicion that "Jem Bax " was a woman ; and Tregenna intended to keep the secret to him- self if he could, and to get rid of her as fast as possible. There was something so ridiculous in having caught such a prisoner that he would not for worlds have had the truth suspected. They raised the still motionless body to the level of the cutter's deck, and Tregenna him- self knelt down to examine the injuries of the seemingl} unconscious prisoner. The men A Prisoner. 273 would have taken her below ; but Tregcnna. whose great anxiety was, after seeing to her wounds, to get rid of her as quiekly as he could. without discovery of her sex, desired them to leave h - where she lay, at any rate for the time, and threw his own cloak over her, while he snu-ht the wound which had reduced her to this condition. , He could hnd nothing but a superlicial cut near the collar-bone, wliich had indeed bled Ircelv, but scarcely to such an extent, to judge hv appearances, as to have produced insen- sibility. Further examination disclosed a large bruise on the upper pari of the right arm ; but this seemed to be the full extent of her injuries. It was not unnatural that Tregcnna, know- ing the artful character of the woman, should come to the conclusion that she was shamming sick to some extent, and that her injuries were not alone the cause of this excessive prostration. He dismissed his men, therefore, and per- lonned for her the same othce that had fallen 10 him before, by producing his llask of lUiua vita, and holding it to her lips. 18 2 74 Joan, The Curate. He did not, however, on this occasion, bestow so much patience or so much tender- ness upon her as he had tlone before. As soon as the men had retirca far enough for him not to risk being overheard, he said in her ear — " Come, Jem, 'tis vastly well done, but 'tis wasted on me this time ! " Very little to his surprise, she opened her eyes immediately, and said, but in a faint husky voice— " I did but wait till I could speak with you alone, sir. I am dying — I am bleeding within — I know it, I feel it — But I care not. So I die in your arms, or, at least, with you by mc, I care naught : I shall die happy ! " As c,he spoke, her great, weird gray eyes unnaturally large in appearance through the drawn expression of lier features and the utter absence of color from her cheeks and lips, were hxed intently upon his face. Although he reproached himself for the suspicion, Tregenna did at first ask himseU" whether this speech, moving as it was meant to be, were not part of the deception she had intended tliroughout to play upon him. But A Prisoner. 275 before he could utter a word in answer, she suitl, looking at him reproachfully the while- ' "You doubt me, sir; I can see it in your face ! But, tell me, did I not stay the hand of Ben the Blast, when he would have shot you down ? Did you not see how I caused his pistol to fall into the water ? Wherefore should I have acted so, I, who can fight as well as I can love, but for some feeling for you which was not that of an enemy. *' 'Tis true you saved me from that bullet, and I am grateful, Ann," said Tregenna. " And I will hope you think too gravely of your own case, and that I may soon be able to send you back on shore. Drink this, drink it, and it will, I hope, put some life into you, some warmth, as it did before ! " The reminder brought a tinge of color to Ann's white face. " Raise my head with your arm then, sir," said she, '' and I will drink, since 'tis you who bid me ! " She gave him another ; ng look, passionate, earnest, full of a strangle, mysterious pain. Then, having sipped the cordial, she drew a long breath, as if its potency were too great i tv 276 Joan, The Curate. for her in her weakened state, and wliis- pered — " I have something to ask you, sir, before— I— die ! " Her voice failed her on the la>l words, and he had to wait a little before slu gained strength enough to go on. "Will you promise that, when the breath has gone out of r. • body, you will let me lie here, in the oper. air, and with your cloak over me, till the nion^ing ? Nay, sure, sir," she went on feebly, as Iregcnna would have spoken, "you caul refuse me so small a boon ! " She clutched at his hand as she spoke, and held it with a convulsive grip, as he answered her. "You shall stay here, if you please," said he. " But do not give way. You are you 111^, and strong: you^'ill live yet, I doubt not. I can see no wound upon you that should lead to your death ! " " None the less," said she, as she tried to shake her head, "I shall die. And I am glad of it, since my body, in death, shall lie where I would have it lie, in Heaven's sweet air, and on your ship, yours." She pronounced the last word with inexpressible tenderness, and A Prisoner -'// i spoke, and ic answered 'jlease," said [ are youn.u, )ubt not. I should lead she tried to d I am glad dl lie where vect air, and loiinced tiic derness, and tiirnec I upon hini, as she spoke, a U)ok so niov in; Si< pierein:4 in its wistiV >s, that the tears sprang uvj. to 'rrei;enna's eyes. Kiss nie," said siic quickls Ki ss nie once die : kiss nie twiee, anc I thrice— before 1 As she uttere d these words, in a hoarse and broken voie'e, she .strove lilted her white antl eai^er face to his to raise herself, and to h He obeyed her, kissing her thr^.e times, not with the feeling that it was a elying woman whose lips touched his, but with a horrible, uncanny sen that was no se of contact with some be in; sceine t honest ilesh and bloi)d. It d to him that her dry lips burned, seared his, as if he had been touched by red-hot coals. th ditVicuitv that he repressed a ). She lixed upon to which the black It wa wi shudder as she let him gt him her du-k gray eyes, hues sunk beneath gave a strange brilliancy ; then suddenly her head fell forward upon his breast and she lay limp ai d motionless in US arms. lb' laid her down, looked long at the white fixed and ghastly in the moonlight. Then he felt himself seized once more with i IJC, PiV MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ 2.8 2.5 • 50 11111== la 1^' 2.2 til 2.0 •A u ■liUU 1.8 1.4 1.6 A /1PPLIED \MA\3B Inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester. New York 14609 (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax USA 278 Joan, The Curate. that sick horror which had taken possession of him once before that evening. As lie turned his head away, the boatswain came up, and looked curiously down at the prostrate body. "Why, sir, he's dead ! " cried he. Tregenna nodded. "Leave-him lying there-till morning!" stammered he. And as he spoke, he replaced his cloak, as he had promised Ann that he would do, upon her quiet limbs. It was a moment of intense horror for hmi: although the passion tlie woman had felt, or professed to feel for him had left him almost cold it was impossible not to be moved by the sight of that form, which he had seen so full of life and lire and energy, cold and still at his feet. He could not shake off the chilly feelmg o! having held converse with a creature of wend and supernatural attributes. Even when he retu-ed to rest, leaving a sailor to watch by the corpse till morning, the thought of the woman and her strange end haunted him, would not let him rest. A Prisoner. 279 It was lone; before he slept, and his shniiber was disturbed by many an uneasy ch-eam. When he awoke, in tiie early morning liglit, there was a good deal of commotion on deck. On going to see what was the matter, he found that the body of Ann Price, alias " Jem Bax," had disappeared. At lirst the man who had been left in the position of watcher professed to know nothing about the strange disappearance. Ikit, upon being questioned witli some shrewdness by Tregenna, he confessed that a small boat had come alongside abou.t two Ikmu's bef'be the master"!! be able to tell you more." So Tregenna went into the little dining- parlor, where he found the good vicar looldng rather gloomy. " Hey-day ! " cried Parson Langney, as soon as the young man entered, "what's this thou hast been about, Harry, to disturb thy sweet- heart's peace as thou hast done ? " " I disturb her peace ! " exclaiuKnl Tregenna. " Xay, sir, I know not. I parted with lier but last night the best of friends, as indeed you very well know, since it was here I passed the evening ! " " Well, she's taken herself away, this morn- ing, to her aunt's at Hastings, and charged me not to tell you how to find the house." 282 Joan, The Curate. " But, sir, how know you that I am tlie cause of this h'cak ? " " Aye freak you may well call it, as indeed I told her myself. But she is as stubborn and as proud as can be on this matter, and all she would say was that no man was worth a thought, save her old father, and she begged me give her a few days away, to collect her- self, ere she wrote to tell you you must see her no more ! " The lieutenant, whose limbs were shaking very much, sat down quietly, with his head spinning round. What cause of offense he could have given Joan, to induce her to treat him in this apparently heartless manner, he had not the remotest notion. The parson easily perceived how bewildered he was, and pres- ently he said— "Twas after a visit from poor Gardener Tom, who came to the door after breakfast this morning, that she flew into so great a passion. She would not tell me what he said, save that no man was to be trusted by any woman. Does that give you any clue to her behavior ? " "Gardener Tom!" echoed Tregenna, at A Very Woman, 2S3 first without an idea as to any connection be twcen departure the smuggler's vi sit and Joan's abrupt Had it naught to do with your con towards another woman, think you ? " sugges duct ted Parson Langney, watching liim with keen eyes. "It was at the same time that Tom told us of the death of poor Ann Price. " At the mention of the name Tregenna started " What did he tell her about that .'' " asked he quickly. " Ah! " said the vicar, with meaning. "Then it had something to do with that, eh ? " " Surely, surely, sir, Joan has too much sense, too much generosity, to be angry with me for showing kindness towards a dymg woman 1" cried the young man, with hre. " Nay," said the parson, " I know not. A lass is a strange creature : how far did thy kindness go, Harry ? " Tregenna frowned. It flaslied across his mind now that perhaps one of the smugglers' boats had been hovering about the cutter at the time of Ann's death, unnoticed in the ex- citement and commotion caused by the return 284 Joiin, The Curate. of the boats' crews and the capture of a pris- oner. If this were so, and if Gardener Tom had been one of the occupants, it was very p,)>- sible that he had seen the kiss Tregeinia haj given the dying woman, and that he had re- counted the incidents of that passionate fare- well of hers to Joan. Since Tom was jealous himself, it was \V)[ likely that he would let the story lose in the telling. This seemed the only possible ex- planation of Joan's strange (light, and it was a most disquieting one. " 'Tis true I did kiss her, sir, at her request," said Tregenna, after a short pause. " P>ut there was never a kiss given in this world tint was less cause for jealousy ! " "Well, I believe you, Harry, for I know you to be most truly attached to my daughter. Ikit whetlier she will believe, is another question. A woman looks not at these things with a man's eyes, nor does she listen to the recital of them with a man's ears." " Sir," said Tregenna, proudly, " I hope sli? will come round to a sensible state within a few- days, and send me some message to say so. For otherwise I will not liumble myself to write : of a pris- Iciicr Tom IS vcr\' p )-,. L'gcnna 1i;l1 he had i\'- .onatc taro it was 1) »l lose ill the ossiblc cx- id it was a cr rcquc-;!," isc. " Hut world tliat I know you filter. But ir question. A'ith a man's ital of thcni ' I hope sh J i^vithin a few say so. For ,eif to write A Very Womiin. '8; and demaiu I on I in action of a woman lidenec in her lovei " Nay ;ivbe you'll I eould not trust the dis- who would show so little in viear I won Id little longer let not your spirit carry you too far. or m'll lose her altogether!" said the \nd 1 would not have that ; for though f,i,, have kept my daughter with me had it been possible, I should ;,thopetohndforheranhonester man 1 believe you to be 1 ' than tt Twill be the erne f I do lose her known, I with emotion. il she is so bar lest loss I have ever answered Tregenna, But vet I shall have no choice rd as to -.'■t me go without one wor M U You wi 11 not take wi th vou the name of the house where her aunt resides ? ' sugg*. Parson Langney, w IS ,tfulb (( Xo. sir Let her send me a message wi not go to her ! " retorted Trege II itrudc, sir. You are e una. ;sted or I it ngaged upon your scr mon, I see. Let mc wish you a good day And with a bow, anci an air of great spirit, an left the house the young m Hard thou to his determination, Tregenn; gh it was to be stern and constant kept his word. 286 Joan, The Curate. He did not call again at the Parsonage, nor did he attempt to find out the address of Joan's aunt. Hut he did certainly wander pretty fre- quently, in the course of the next few days, both in the direction of Hurst and of the town of Hastings, not without a secret hope that he would meet his offended sweetheart. He felt that he had a right to consider him- self aggrieved, since she was condemning him unheard. But at the same time, his glances towards the I^irsonage grew more and more wistful as the days went by, and he still re- ceived no letter, no message. Had the vin- dictive and merciless Ann done him an injury in death greater than any she had tried to do him in life ? It seemed so ; and the lieutenant, though he assumed a more and more jaunty air as the time passed, hid a heart of lead un- derneath. It was on the fourth day after the morning, when Ann's body had been so mysteriously conveyed away, nobody knew whither, that Tregenna, on arriving at the village one morn- ing, found the inhabitants all astir with some great excitement. They were congregating in groups about one particular cottage in the A Very WoiiKin. 287 villa'^e ; and on inquiry as to the reason, he L;antthat it was the thiyof Ann Trice's funeral ;uul that they were waitin- for the body to be brought out. Tre'^enna hni^ered, on hearinii; tins, and hoped that he mii;ht have an opportunitv of uKcting Tom, and of questioning; hnnas to tlie mischief he had done. When the colTin, covered with a deep black p:ill, was brought out of the house, however, the 'lieutenant found no one he recognized among the four bearers. They were all rough-looking men, of the rather sinister tvpe he had begun to know so v.^' but neither Bill Plunder, nor Kobm Cursemother, Ben the Blast, Jack Brice, nor Gardener Tom, was among them. " How comes it her brother is not one of the bearers?" asked he of a bystander. " Sure, sir, 'tis you should know the reason of that better than anybody," returned the woman, saucily. For the person of the lieutenant was now well known in the neighborhood, and there was a sort of lively warfare carried on between liim on the one side, and the women of the 288 Joan, The Curate. place, with their frec-tradini^ sympathies, on the other. l^y this time the little procession had st.trkd towards the churchyard, and Tregeu'ia, I •arc headed, joined it on its way. Shnvly they went, past the few reniaiiiiii- houses of the villas^e, and up the hill where the Parsonai^e stood. The church, a weather-hLii'- en little structure, innocent of any sort ol res- toration except whitewash, stood beyond, on a somewhat lower level, and nenrer to the marsh. Under the building, at the east end of the church, there was a vault, which had beloiiL;id to the family at Rede Hall for nearly a century. The way to it v;as by a flight of worn steps, damp, uneven anxl overgrown with weeds, be- hind the east window. Here the vicar stood, with the great key of the vault in his hand, waiting for the arrival of the solemn little procession. Very weird, very awe-inspirin;^ it s iied to Tregenna— the brief service held i': Ihe keen frosty air, under the lee of the old church, whose stones had been gray and old before the ancient Faith gave place to the new. There was a dead calm that day over land aiul sea, A Very Woiniui. 2 89 n had st.irUd .'gL'ii'ia, Imi\. ;\v rcniainin;^ lill wlicrc the wcathcr-bi, •■ iv sort ol' rcs- bcyoiul, oil ;i to the marsh. ^t end of the had heloni^L'd :irly a century. )f worn steps, th weeds, bc- great key of the arrival of ; it s lied to I v^ 'A\Q keen ; old ehurch, old before the new. There land arjd sea, and the sea ■birds (lew inland, sereaniing, over the brown lieUh >e trast all the ealni, the peace d tcrniake, to the image ol lire and pas A strange con cnie sUl p. restless energy an d feverish struggle uiiich was c ailed up by the n.une of Ann. When the service was t )ver. and the coftin luid been locked away in the great bare vault left the rest of the company, uid the cliffs towards the Trcuenna took a straight cut across Ikistings road, it was with no defmite object of going u^. the direction of Joan's presei :is doubtless so it residence, yet ther w mi me thought ol her hovermg m that when, at a distance of some Ic and a half from Hurst, he came suddenly his mi nd so in tl le road, ficc to face with her at a turnm he lluslied indeed, but without much surprise, ho had been m his thoughts il ^tant present to him in i it the person w iid become on the ms the fiesh. Slie was in the company of a stout country lass, who cloak. Tregenna was carrymg is own wcap- on at the same mouieut, received a bullet in hi. right shoulder, and answered by In ing with his left a shot which made Bill leap up m the -lir with a loud crv. The next moment Tre- genna found himself giappling wHh Jack, who had risen from the ground and seized a broken piece of metal which was lying on the stone floor. Jack fought like a madman, slashing aiul plunging at his opponent with a vigor and ferocity whirh seemed to render the combat a hopeless one for the lieutenant, wliose wound was bleeding freely, when, just as Tregenna felt his head growing dizzy and his eyes be- coming dim, the smuggler, in mr.king a des- perate lunge at him, tripped in some ropes which were lying on the floor, and stumbled headlong over a couple of the smuggled kegs of spirit. . Quick as thought Tregenna seized one ol the kegs, sprang to the loor, got outside, and wedged the door tightly with the barrel, which he had rolled out in front of him. The space at the bottom of the steps was just wide enough to allow of this being done ; The Frcc-Tr:KkTs' IsircwcU. 301 „„ then, without ..U,,h; .0 S.C wU.t..r U. 1 1 .>^- !'(» '\nv attempt I*' c>»^«vi ^ „,,n would maU an '^^ J ^ ^ ^i,^ parsou- thcir imprisonment, he statUcltoii '^*^- .n i.ou'pvcr bo found him- U.'fnrc he U<' Ihcrc, however, nc 13etore ue j. ^^.^^^^^^^ ,^,,, sell sl.lgj-,eiiiis, h(uisr As tove strength left t,. rc.cU c im.^^^ he stood swayingto and fro o a f .v. ^ ^^ on the (ootnath, h. c.u^^^^^^^ ..v.,go,. going ^^long ^'^^ > ; ; ^^„ia. the 1-11 TluTc was ;i nv.m w.iiM"!^ "'. "' 'vin,< his whip and urging them ..n. Uorses,cuKUn h, ^ ,,,^^ ,„ ,,, ,iiher It was too ''•'''; '\,,^ ,.,;,(,. „r carried the ;=;*,:>:; s;;.:: .nd ..-.d ..u .s fainting cry- "Help, help 1" ^ -^ ^l,^ Then he fell down on the grass footpath. 1 • . ..u iftcr a curious experience o bt n. . ^^^^^^^__^j ,„,„^ Ufc,xvUhado.xnfacs - ^^^ ^^^^^ 302 Joan, The Curate. had been placed on the ground bc'ide h"in. And the face was that of Ga.dener Tom ! "Tom?" cried he faiiitl>. The great boorish fellow walching over him burst into a great blubbering and sobbing like an overgrown ciuld. " Ay, 'tis me, sir, and glad am I to see you look at me again. For oons, sir, I tliought you'd shut your eyes forever ! You're hurt, sir— badly hurt. And for sure 'tis one of them rascally smugglers that's done it ! " 111 as he was, Tregenna smiled and raised his eyebrows. " Smugglers, Tom ! Nay, sure you mean * free-traders.'" "I means 5/;"af'.f/tTS, domn 'em!" roared Tum, energeticiliv. "And 'f ever I carry a keg again, or lieip 'em in their wicked ways, may I be riddled through and through, loike as if I was a target ! " " Since— when have you— become so virtu- ous ? " panted out Tregenna feebly. " Since one of 'cm, nay two of 'cm served me a dirty trick, sir," answered Tom, fiercely. " Ask me no more, sir ; for sure I don't want for to let out what I ve m my nioma . :)U mean The Fixe Truckle' Farewell. 3^3 ii tt How long -have I lain here •i M Not more n the space o )f halt a minule, sir. And no more you m iistnt. I he y^o\n\ for all them at the l^u-sonage ti Nay, na} IV fom, I slnuiUl alarm them, i this plight, a Never fear lor th;r ^<>mc \ ee woun one, an dinilict 1 bylhll's bulkt was a serious d he had lost so nun h blood before he was disco ve re lest he might d by Tom, that there was a icar not be able to stand the drain. 304 Joan, The Curate. Thanks to the tender nursing he received, however, at Joan's loving hands, he presently began to mend. And it was when all danger was past that he learnt the (ate of he two smugglers whom he had imprisoned m tlie vault beneath the church. . , , , Jack Price had managed to escape, but luul had the misfortune to run straight mto the arms of the brigadier and his soldiers, who now patrolled the country round Hurst w,th more assiduity than before. Being recognized -is one of tl>e most prominent of the smug- glers, he was seized, carried to Rye, and hanged witlun a fortnight ; for such offenders as he had scant shrift in those times Bill Plunder was found dead m tlie vaull having been killed by the shot Tregenna had fired at him in exchange for his own An enormous quantity of smuggled goods which had been secreted in the vault were confiscated by the authorities : for even Squire Waldron had begun to see that his reign of laxity was over. . , ( .„i Not a sign of the coffins was to be found, however ; and a thrill of horror ran through every one at the thought that the smugglers The Free-Traders' Farewell. 305 Had even got rid o( these in order to make xvay for more plunder. A deep peace seeme I W OS. ^^^_^^ „eighhorhood a te. ^J^^° ,i,,t,,.,a cnue men had dcui brigade was ^1 ,„ff,^r \v;m sent to anotnci pan ui ^ Vr"ot^ntd alter h.s.Uhdr.var^^ theserv.ce,.he„thesn.^™r«-.^^^ above the ground, that l"-^^" ^,,j to riurst, and put up at ^^^^J, for his mannage wUl la o ^^^^^^^ It was to have >- " • -> U ^^ ,^^.,^^.^,, but Joan had '"/f •-^; ' ^..fore the time in the countrys.de t'"'' '°"^ ,,^, ,,hole ,,, the -;-;-^[,;'^^,; ".:^^^^^ .ere tlucU churchvard and the ^rabb with a dense throng of people. 20 3o6 Joan, The Curate. Gardener Tom was there with a huge nose- gay of hothouse llowers, speaking loudly his hatred and detestation of the whole sex, with the exception of Miss Joan. Squire Waldron and Bertram were there, in smart hunt colors, waitinc. to welcome the bride. The ladies from Ilurst Court were there, simpering and wondering how the vicar's daughter could be so selhsh as to leave her father! They wouldn't have done it, not tliev ! Men, women, and children from Hurst and the villages round were there with their snow- drops, to strew on the path before sweet Mistress Joan. All was peace, and brightness, and happi- ness ; and the winter sun came out in her honor as blushing Joan, tall and handsome, m her plain white dress and veil, came from the Parsonage, leaning on her father's arm. The service was over ; the blessing had been spoken on the young people, and Tre- genna was leading his bride down the little aisle, when a sound reached the ears of all pres- ent which froze the blood of some of them. Tlic Free-Traders' Farewell. 307 It xvas a peal «( loud, moeku.g laughter, iu ;i well-known voiee. It came into the ehureh from the wide poreh, and eehoed through the InuUhng "Ann'" cried Tregenna, under Ins bKatn " No no, not Ann ; but Jem Hax '. cried „,e well-known voice, in clear and nngmg '"'aiuI into the bright light of the doorway .tr..de Ann, in her lad's .Iress, with a keg slung in front and one behind, m approved smuggler fashion. . "Heaven bless vou both, for a pair of inno- cent lambs," she cried, raising one hand as 1 i„ benediction. " See, iien, do not they make 4 ™-,.Hv niir"' Prettier than you ;i monstrous pietty pan. ' '^ and me when thev made ns one . And Ihe burlv form of Ben the Blast, with his kegs slung over his shoulder, came ui.o view behind her. EverjbodN' was too much taken aback, too much ama/.Jd at the deception Ann had prac- tised, and at her unllagging audacity, o at- tempt to touch either her or the smuggler a her side. With another laugh and a wave of the hand, they both left the church porch, 3o8 Joan, The Curate. sprang on the back of a stout horse wh>d> was wa.tuig at the gate, and were away oNxr the marsh to the new haunt they had n:i..^U-, before Tregenna had had time to reeover his '^He had done with lier, forever ; but there was still trouble in store for the represent,,. tives of law and order, while the dar.ng, wieked spirit walked the earth in the lesh. "Are you jealous still, Joan.' whispered Tregenna, in his bride's ear. "No. But-I'm thankful she's married, Harry," was the fervent answer. " And I " returned Tregenna with equa, fervor, " am thankful 'tis no longer my clutv to cope with her and her tricks. For, faith, 1 believe she's hi league with the very powers of darkness 1 " THE END. 3rse whicli awciy over had mci:k'. recover his ; but there representa- the daring, he ilesh. whispered ;'s married, with cqir.il gcr my dutv For, faith, I very powers