A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Woodstock; or, The Cavalier

S >> Sir Walter Scott >> Woodstock; or, The Cavalier




"Ah, base and degenerate spirit!" said the General; "soul of mud and
clay, wouldst thou not do it, and much more, for the possession of
empire!--that is, peradventure," continued he, changing his tone as one
who has said too much, "shouldst thou be called on to do this, that
thereby becoming a great man in the tribes of Israel, thou mightest
redeem the captivity of Jerusalem--ay, and it may be, work some great
work for the afflicted people of this land?"

"Your Highness may feel such calls," said the officer; "but they are not
for poor Gilbert Pearson, your faithful follower. You made a jest of me
yesterday, when I tried to speak your language; and I am no more able to
fulfil your designs than to use your mode of speech."

"But, Pearson," said Cromwell, "thou hast thrice, yea, four times,
called me your Highness."

"Did I, my lord? I was not sensible of it. I crave your pardon," said
the officer.

"Nay," said Oliver, "there was no offence. I do indeed stand high, and I
may perchance stand higher--though, alas, it were fitter for a simple
soul like me to return to my plough and my husbandry. Nevertheless, I
will not wrestle against the Supreme will, should I be called on to do
yet more in that worthy cause. For surely he who hath been to our
British Israel as a shield of help, and a sword of excellency, making
her enemies be found liars unto her, will not give over the flock to
those foolish shepherds of Westminster, who shear the sheep and feed
them not, and who are in very deed hirelings, not shepherds."

"I trust to see your lordship quoit them all down stairs," answered
Pearson. "But may I ask why we pursue this discourse even now, until we
have secured the common enemy?"

"I will tarry no jot of time," said the General; "fence the
communication of Love's Ladder, as it is called, below, as I take it for
almost certain, that the party whom we have driven from fastness to
fastness during the night, has at length sprung to the top of yonder
battlements from the place where we now stand. Finding the turret is
guarded below, the place he has chosen for his security will prove a
rat-trap, from whence there is no returning."

"There is a cask of gunpowder in this cabinet," said Pearson; "were it
not better, my lord, to mine the tower, if he will not render himself,
and send the whole turret with its contents one hundred feet in the
air?"

"Ah, silly man," said Cromwell, striking him familiarly on the shoulder;
"if thou hadst done this without telling me, it had been good service.
But we will first summon the turret, and then think whether the petard
will serve our turn--it is but mining at last.--Blow a summons there,
down below."

The trumpets rang at his bidding, till the old walls echoed from every
recess and vaulted archway. Cromwell, as if he cared not to look upon
the person whom he expected to appear, drew back, like a necromancer
afraid of the spectre which he has evoked.

"He has come to the battlement," said Pearson to his General.

"In what dress or appearance?" answered Cromwell, from within the
chamber.

"A grey riding-suit, passmented with silver, russet walking-boots, a cut
band, a grey hat and plume, black hair."

"It is he, it is he!" said Cromwell; "and another crowning mercy is
vouchsafed!"

Meantime, Pearson and young Lee exchanged defiance from their respective
posts.

"Surrender," said the former, "or we blow you up in your fastness."

"I am come of too high a race to surrender to rebels," said Albert,
assuming the air with which, in such a condition, a king might have
spoken. "I bear you to witness," cried Cromwell, exultingly, "he hath
refused quarter. Of a surety, his blood be on his head.--One of you
bring down the barrel of powder. As he loves to soar high, we will add
what can be taken from the soldiers' bandoliers.--Come with me, Pearson;
thou understandest this gear.--Corporal Grace-be-here, stand thou fast
on the platform of the window where Captain Pearson and I stood but even
now, and bend the point of thy partisan against any who shall attempt to
pass. Thou art as strong as a bull; and I will back thee against despair
itself."

"But," said the corporal, mounting reluctantly, "the place is as the
pinnacle of the Temple; and it is written, that Eutychus fell down from
the third loft and was taken up dead."

"Because he slept upon his post," answered Cromwell readily. "Beware
thou of carelessness, and thus thy feet shall be kept from stumbling.--
You four soldiers, remain here to support the corporal, if it be
necessary; and you, as well as the corporal, will draw into the vaulted
passage the minute the trumpets sound a retreat. It is as strong as a
casemate, and you may lie there safe from the effects of the mine. Thou,
Zerubbabel Robins, I know wilt be their lance-prisade." [Footnote:
"Lance-prisade," or "lance-brisade," a private appointed to a small
command--a sort of temporary corporal.]

Robins bowed, and the General departed to join those who were without.

As he reached the door of the hall, the petard was heard to explode, and
he saw that it had succeeded; for the soldiers rushed, brandishing their
swords and pistols, in at the postern of the turret, whose gate had been
successfully forced. A thrill of exultation, but not unmingled with
horror shot across the veins of the ambitious soldier.

"Now--now!" he cried; "they are dealing with him!"

His expectations were deceived. Pearson and the others returned
disappointed, and reported they had been stopt by a strong trap-door of
grated iron, extended over the narrow stair; and they could see there
was an obstacle of the same kind some ten feet higher. To remove it by
force, while a desperate and well armed man had the advantage of the
steps above them, might cost many lives. "Which, lack-a-day," said the
General, "it is our duty to be tender of. What dost thou advise, Gilbert
Pearson?"

"We must use powder, my lord," answered Pearson, who saw his master was
too modest to reserve to himself the whole merit of the proceeding--
"There may be a chamber easily and conveniently formed under the foot of
the stair. We have a sausage, by good luck, to form the train--and so"--

"Ah!" said Cromwell, "I know thou canst manage such gear well--But,
Gilbert, I go to visit the posts, and give them orders to retire to a
safe distance when the retreat is sounded. You will allow them five
minutes for this purpose."

"Three is enough for any knave of them all," said Pearson. "They will be
lame indeed, that require more on such a service.--I ask but one, though
I fire the train myself."

"Take heed," said Cromwell, "that the poor soul be listened to, if he
asks quarter. It may be, he may repent him of his hard-heartedness and
call for mercy."

"And mercy he shall have," answered Pearson, "provided he calls loud
enough to make me hear him; for the explosion of that damned petard has
made me as deaf as the devil's dam."

"Hush, Gilbert, hush!" said Cromwell; "you offend in your language."

"Zooks, sir, I must speak either in your way, or in my own," said
Pearson, "unless I am to be dumb as well as deaf!--Away with you, my
lord, to visit the posts; and you will presently hear me make some noise
in the world."

Cromwell smiled gently at his aide-de-camp's petulance, patted him on
the shoulder, and called him a mad fellow, walked a little way, then
turned back to whisper, "What thou dost, do quickly;" then returned
again towards the outer circle of guards, turning his head from time to
time, as if to assure himself that the corporal, to whom he had
intrusted the duty, still kept guard with his advanced weapon upon the
terrific chasm between Rosamond's Tower and the corresponding turret.
Seeing him standing on his post, the General muttered between his
mustaches, "The fellow hath the strength and courage of a bear; and
yonder is a post where one shall do more to keep back than an hundred in
making way." He cast a last look on the gigantic figure, who stood in
that airy position, like some Gothic statue, the weapon half levelled
against the opposite turret, with the but rested against his right foot,
his steel cap and burnished corslet glittering in the rising sun.

Cromwell then passed on to give the necessary orders, that such
sentinels as might be endangered at their present posts by the effect of
the mine, should withdraw at the sound of the trumpet to the places
which he pointed out to them. Never, on any occasion of his life, did he
display more calmness and presence of mind. He was kind, nay, facetious,
with the soldiers, who adored him; and yet he resembled the volcano
before the eruption commences--all peaceful and quiet without, while an
hundred contradictory passions were raging in his bosom.

Corporal Humgudgeon, meanwhile, remained steady upon his post; yet,
though as determined a soldier as ever fought among the redoubted
regiment of Ironsides, and possessed of no small share of that exalted
fanaticism which lent so keen an edge to the natural courage of those
stern religionists, the veteran felt his present situation to be highly
uncomfortable. Within a pike's length of him arose a turret, which was
about to be dispersed in massive fragments through the air; and he felt
small confidence in the length of time which might be allowed for his
escape from such a dangerous vicinity. The duty of constant vigilance
upon his post, was partly divided by this natural feeling, which induced
him from time to time to bend his eyes on the miners below, instead of
keeping them riveted on the opposite turret.

At length the interest of the scene arose to the uttermost. After
entering and returning from the turret, and coming out again more than
once, in the course of about twenty minutes Pearson issued, as it might
be supposed, for the last time, carrying in his hand, and uncoiling, as
he went along, the sausage, or linen bag, (so called from its
appearance,) which, strongly sewed together, and crammed with gunpowder,
was to serve as a train betwixt the mine to be sprung, and the point
occupied by the engineer who was to give fire. He was in the act of
finally adjusting it, when the attention of the corporal on the tower
became irresistibly and exclusively riveted upon the preparations for
the explosion. But while he watched the aide-de-camp drawing his pistol
to give fire, and the trumpeter handling his instrument as waiting the
order to sound the retreat, fate rushed on the unhappy sentinel in a way
he least expected.

Young, active, bold, and completely possessed of his presence of mind,
Albert Lee, who had been from the loopholes a watchful observer of every
measure which had been taken by his besiegers, had resolved to make one
desperate effort for self-preservation. While the head of the sentinel
on the opposite platform was turned from him, and bent rather downwards,
he suddenly sprung across the chasm, though the space on which he
lighted was scarce wide enough for two persons, threw the surprised
soldier from his precarious stand, and jumped himself down into the
chamber. The gigantic trooper went sheer down twenty feet, struck
against a projecting battlement, which launched the wretched man
outwards, and then fell on the earth with such tremendous force, that
the head, which first touched the ground, dinted a hole in the soil of
six inches in depth, and was crushed like an eggshell. Scarce knowing
what had happened, yet startled and confounded at the descent of this
heavy body, which fell at no great distance from him, Pearson snapt his
pistol at the train, no previous warning given; the powder caught, and
the mine exploded. Had it been strongly charged with powder, many of
those without might have suffered; but the explosion was only powerful
enough to blow out, in a lateral direction, a part of the wall just
above the foundation, sufficient, however, to destroy the equipoise of
the building. Then, amid a cloud of smoke, which began gradually to
encircle the turret like a shroud, arising slowly from its base to its
summit, it was seen to stagger and shake by all who had courage to look
steadily at a sight so dreadful. Slowly, at first, the building inclined
outwards, then rushed precipitately to its base, and fell to the ground
in huge fragments, the strength of its resistance showing the excellence
of the mason-work. The engineer, so soon as he had fired the train, fled
in such alarm that he wellnigh ran against his General, who was
advancing towards him, while a huge stone from the summit of the
building, flying farther than the rest, lighted within a yard of them.

"Thou hast been over hasty, Pearson," said Cromwell, with the greatest
composure possible--"hath no one fallen in that same tower of Siloe?"

"Some one fell," said Pearson, still in great agitation, "and yonder
lies his body half-buried in the rubbish."

With a quick and resolute step Cromwell approached the spot, and
exclaimed, "Pearson, thou hast ruined me--the young Man hath
escaped.--This is our own sentinel--plague on the idiot! Let him rot
beneath the ruins which crushed him!"

A cry now resounded from the platform of Rosamond's Tower, which
appeared yet taller than formerly, deprived of the neighbouring turret,
which emulated though it did not attain to its height,--"A prisoner,
noble General--a prisoner--the fox whom we have chased all night is now
in the snare--the Lord hath delivered him into the hand of his
servants."

"Look you keep him in safe custody," exclaimed Cromwell, "and bring him
presently down to the apartment from which the secret passages have
their principal entrance."

"Your Excellency shall be obeyed."

The proceedings of Albert Lee, to which these exclamations related, had
been unfortunate. He had dashed from the platform, as we have related,
the gigantic strength of the soldier opposed to him, and had instantly
jumped down into Rochecliffe's chamber. But the soldiers stationed there
threw themselves upon him, and after a struggle, which was hopelessly
maintained against such advantage of numbers, had thrown the young
cavalier to the ground, two of them, drawn down by his strenuous
exertions, falling across him. At the same moment a sharp and severe
report was heard, which, like a clap of thunder in the immediate
vicinity, shook all around them, till the strong and solid tower
tottered like the masts of a stately vessel when about to part by the
board. In a few seconds, this was followed by another sullen sound, at
first low, and deep, but augmenting like the roar of a cataract, as it
descends, reeling, bellowing, and rushing, as if to astound both heaven
and earth. So awful, indeed, was the sound of the neighbour tower as it
fell, that both the captive, and those who struggled with him, continued
for a minute or two passive in each other's grasp.

Albert was the first who recovered consciousness and activity. He shook
off those who lay above him, and made a desperate effort to gain his
feet, in which he partly succeeded. But as he had to deal with men
accustomed to every species of danger, and whose energies were recovered
nearly as soon as his own, he was completely secured, and his arms held
down. Loyal and faithful to his trust, and resolved to sustain to the
last the character which he had assumed, he exclaimed, as his struggles
were finally overpowered, "Rebel villains! would you slay your king?"

"Ha, heard you that?" cried one of the soldiers to the lance-prisade,
who commanded the party. "Shall I not strike this son of a wicked father
under the fifth rib, even as the tyrant of Moab was smitten by Ehud with
a dagger of a cubit's length?"

But Robins answered, "Be it far from us, Merciful Strickalthrow, to slay
in cold blood the captive of our bow and of our spear. Me thinks, since
the storm of Tredagh [Footnote: Tredagh, or Drogheda, was taken by
Cromwell in 1649, by storm, and the governor and the whole garrison put
to the sword.] we have shed enough of blood--therefore, on your lives do
him no evil; but take from him his arms, and let us bring him before the
chosen Instrument, even our General, that he may do with him what is
meet in his eyes."

By this time the soldier, whose exultation had made him the first to
communicate the intelligence from the battlements to Cromwell, returned,
and brought commands corresponding to the orders of their temporary
officer; and Albert Lee, disarmed and bound, was conducted as a captive
into the apartment which derived its name from the victories of his
ancestor, and placed in the presence of General Cromwell.

Running over in his mind the time which had elapsed since the departure
Charles till the siege, if it may be termed so, had terminated in his
own capture, Albert had every reason to hope that his Royal Master must
have had time to accomplish his escape. Yet he determined to maintain to
the last a deceit which might for a time insure the King's safety. The
difference betwixt them could not, he thought, be instantly discovered,
begrimed as he was with dust and smoke, and with blood issuing from some
scratches received in the scuffle.

In this evil plight, but bearing himself with such dignity as was
adapted to the princely character, Albert was ushered into the apartment
of Victor Lee, where, in his father's own chair, reclined the triumphant
enemy of the cause to which the house of Lee had been hereditarily
faithful.

* * * * *

CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH.


A barren title hast thou bought too dear,
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HENRY IV. PART I.

Oliver Cromwell arose from his seat as the two veteran soldiers,
Zerubbabel Robins and Merciful Strickalthrow, introduced into the
apartment the prisoner, whom they held by the arms, and fixed his stern
hazel eye on Albert long before he could give vent to the ideas which
were swelling in his bosom. Exultation was the most predominant.

"Art not thou," he at length said, "that Egyptian which, before these
days, madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness many
thousand men, who were murderers!--Ha, youth, I have hunted thee from
Stirling to Worcester, from Worcester to Woodstock, and we have met at
last!"

"I would," replied Albert, speaking in the character which he had
assumed, "that we had met where I could have shown thee the difference
betwixt a rightful King and an ambitious Usurper!"

"Go to, young man," said Cromwell; "say rather the difference between a
judge raised up for the redemption of England, and the son of those
Kings whom the Lord in his anger permitted to reign over her. But we
will not waste useless words. God knows that it is not of our will that
we are called to such high matters, being as humble in our thoughts as
we are of ourselves; and in our unassisted nature frail and foolish; and
unable to render a reason but for the better spirit within us, which is
not of us.--Thou art weary, young man, and thy nature requires rest and
refection, being doubtless dealt with delicately, as one who hath fed on
the fat, and drunk of the sweet, and who hath been clothed in purple and
fine linen."

Here the General suddenly stopt, and then abruptly exclaimed--"But is
this--Ay! whom have we here? These are not the locks of the swarthy lad
Charles Stewart?--A cheat! a cheat!"

Albert hastily cast his eyes on a mirror which stood in the room, and
perceived that a dark peruke, found among Dr. Rochecliffe's
miscellaneous wardrobe, had been disordered in the scuffle with the
soldiery, and that his own light-brown hair was escaping from beneath
it.

"Who is this?" said Cromwell, stamping with fury--"Pluck the disguise
from him."

The soldiers did so; and bringing him at the same time towards the
light, the deception could not be maintained for a moment longer with
any possibility of success. Cromwell came up to him with his teeth set,
and grinding against each other as he spoke, his hands clenched, and
trembling with emotion, and speaking with a voice low-pitched, bitterly
and deeply emphatic, such as might have preceded a stab with his dagger.
"Thy name, young man?"

He was answered calmly and firmly, while the countenance of the speaker
wore a cast of triumph, and even contempt.

"Albert Lee of Ditchley, a faithful subject of King Charles."

"I might have guessed it," said Cromwell.--"Ay, and to King Charles
shalt thou go as soon as it is noon on the dial.--Pearson," he
continued, "let him be carried to the others; and let them be executed
at twelve exactly."

"All, sir?" said Pearson, surprised; for Cromwell, though he at times
made formidable examples, was, in general, by no means sanguinary.

"_All_"--repeated Cromwell, fixing his eye on young Lee. "Yes, young
sir, your conduct has devoted to death thy father, thy kinsman, and the
stranger that was in thine household. Such wreck hast thou brought on
thy father's house."

"My father, too--my aged father!" said Albert, looking upward, and
endeavouring to raise his hands in the same direction, which was
prevented by his bonds. "The Lord's will be done!"

"All this havoc can be saved, if," said the General, "thou wilt answer
one question--Where is the young Charles Stewart, who was called King of
Scotland?"

"Under Heaven's protection, and safe from thy power," was the firm and
unhesitating answer of the young royalist.

"Away with him to prison!" said Cromwell; "and from thence to execution
with the rest of them, as malignants taken in the fact. Let a
courtmartial sit on them presently."

"One word," said young Lee, as they led him from the room. "Stop, stop,"
said Cromwell, with the agitation of renewed hope--"let him be heard."

"You love texts of Scripture," said Albert--"Let this be the subject of
your next homily--'Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?'"

"Away with him," said the General; "let him die the death.--I have said
it."

As Cromwell spoke these words, his aide-de-camp observed that he became
unwontedly pale.

"Your Excellency is overtoiled in the public service," said Pearson; "a
course of the stag in the evening will refresh you. The old knight hath
a noble hound here, if we can but get him to hunt without his master,
which may be hard, as he is faithful, and"--

"Hang him up!" said Cromwell.

"What--whom--hang the noble dog? Your Excellency was wont to love a good
hound?"

"It matters not," said Cromwell; "let him be killed. Is it not written,
that they slew in the valley of Achor, not only the accursed Achan, with
his sons and his daughters, but also his oxen and asses, and his sheep,
and every live thing belonging unto him? And even thus shall we do to
the malignant family of Lee, who have aided Sisera in his flight, when
Israel might have been delivered of his trouble for ever. But send out
couriers and patrols--Follow, pursue, watch in every direction--Let my
horse be ready at the door in five minutes, or bring me the first thou
canst find."

It seemed to Pearson that this was something wildly spoken, and that the
cold perspiration was standing upon the General's brow as he said it. He
therefore again pressed the necessity of repose, and it would appear
that nature seconded strongly the representation. Cromwell arose, and
made a step or two towards the door of the apartment; but stopped,
staggered, and, after a pause, sate down in a chair. "Truly, friend
Pearson," he said, "this weary carcass of ours is an impediment to us,
even in our most necessary business, and I am fitter to sleep than to
watch, which is not my wont. Place guards, therefore, till we repose
ourselves for an hour or two. Send out in every direction, and spare not
for horses' flesh. Wake me if the court-martial require instruction, and
forget not to see the sentence punctually executed on the Lees, and
those who were arrested with them."

As Cromwell spoke thus, he arose and half-opened a bedroom door, when
Pearson again craved pardon for asking if he had rightly understood his
Excellency, that all the prisoners were to be executed.

"Have I not said it?" answered Cromwell, displeasedly. "Is it because
thou art a man of blood, and hast ever been, that thou dost affect these
scruples to show thyself tenderhearted at my expense? I tell thee, that
if there lack one in the full tale of execution, thine own life shall
pay the forfeit."

So saying, he entered the apartment, followed by the groom of his
chamber, who attended upon Pearson's summons.

When his General had retired, Pearson remained in great perplexity what
he ought to do; and that from no scruples of conscience, but from
uncertainty whether he might not err either in postponing, or in too
hastily and too literally executing, the instructions he had received.

In the meantime, Strickalthrow and Robins had returned, after lodging
Albert in prison, to the room where Pearson was still musing on his
General's commands. Both these men were adjutators in their army, and
old soldiers, whom Cromwell was accustomed to treat with great
familiarity; so that Robins had no hesitation to ask Captain Pearson,
"Whether he meant to execute the commands of the General, even to the
letter?"

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