Frederick Marryat

“ How old are you, Edward?" said
Clara; "I am thirteen; Patience is past sixteen: now, how old are you?"
"I am not yet eighteen, Clara, so that I can hardly be called a man."
"Why, you are as tall as Mr. Heatherstone."
"Yes, I believe I am."
"And can't you do every thing that a man can do?"
"I really don't know; but I certainly shall always try so to do."
"Well, then, you must be a man."
"Well, Clara, if it pleases you, I will be a man."
"Here comes Mr. Heatherstone, so I know dinner is ready; is it not, sir?" ”

“ Who would ever have thought that James Southwold would have turned a traitor! more than traitor, for he is now ready to bite the hand that has fed him, to burn the house that has ever welcomed him. This is a bad world, and I thank Heaven that I have lived in the woods. But there is no time to lose;" and the old forester threw his gun over his shoulder, and hastened away in the direction of his own cottage.
"And so the king has escaped," thought Jacob, as he went along, "and he may be in the forest! Who knows but he may be at Arnwood, for he must hardly know where to go for shelter? ”

“ We must love one another dearly, and help one another. I will do my part, if my life is spared, and so will Humphrey, and so will you my dear sisters. I can answer for all. Now it is no use to lament—we must all work, and work cheerfully; and we will pray every morning and every night that God will bless our endeavors and enable us to provide for ourselves, and live here in peace and safety. Kiss me, dear Alice and Edith, and kiss Humphrey, and kiss one another. Let these kisses be the seals to our bond; and let us put our trust in Him who only is a father to the widow and the orphan. ”

“ That Edward Beverley had fits of gloominess and impatience is not surprising. Edward had been brought up as the heir of Arnwood; and a boy at a very early age imbibes notions of his position, if it promises to be a high one. He was not two miles from that property which by right was his own. His own mansion had been reduced to ashes—he himself was hidden in the forest, and he could not but feel his position. He sighed for the time when the king’s cause should be again triumphant, and his arrival at that age when he could in person support and uphold the cause. ”

“ And tell me, had not your father some money? for the robbers said that they saw him counting it out of a sack, through the chinks of the shutters, and that was why they made the attack."
"Hateful money!" cried the boy. "Yes, he had, I believe, a great deal of money; but I can not say how much."
"Now get up, and do as I request, my dear boy," said Edward, raising him up in his arms; "when your grief is lessened, you may have many happy days yet in store for you; you have a Father in heaven that you must put your trust in, and with him you will find peace." ”

“ I cannot treat as an inferior one to whom I owe such a debt of gratitude.”
Edward smiled as he took his seat.
“My father is as grateful to you as I am—I’m sure that he is; for I heard him when at prayer call down blessings on your head. What can he do for you? I begged Oswald Partridge to bring you here, that I might find out. Oh, sir, do pray let me know how we can show our gratitude by something more than words.”
“You have shown it already, Mistress Patience,” replied Edward; “have you not honoured a poor forester with your hand in friendship, and even admitted him to sit down before you?” ”

“ Edward Armitage, I will now answer for myself and thousands more. You are too young a man to have known the cause of the insurrection, or, rather, opposition, to the unfortunate King Charles. He attempted to make himself absolute, and to wrest the liberties from the people of England: that his warmest adherents will admit. When I joined the party which opposed him, I little thought that matters would have been carried so far as they have been; I always considered it lawful to take up arms in defense of our liberties, but at the same time I equally felt that the person of the king was sacred. ”

“ My dear children, you know that you must remain in this cottage, that the wicked troopers may not find you out; they killed your father, and if I had not taken you away, they would have burned you in your beds. You must, therefore, live here as my children, and you must call yourselves by the name of Armitage, and not that of Beverley; and you must dress like children of the forest, as you do now, and you must do as children of the forest do—that is, you must do every thing for yourselves, for you can have no servants to wait upon you. ”

“ It may be wrong."
"And it may be true," replied Edward, mournfully.
"Well, my view is different," replied Edith. "You know, Humphrey, how many offers Patience Heatherstone has had, and has every day, I may say. Why has she refused them all I In my opinion, because she has been constant to a proud brother of mine, who does not deserve her!"
"It may be so, Edith," replied Humphrey. "Women are riddles—I only argued upon the common sense of the thing."
"Much you know about women," replied Edith. "To be sure, you do not meet many in the New Forest, where you have lived all your life." ”

“ Billy, the pony, was now turned out to graze in the forest; he came home every night of his own accord.
"I'll tell you what we want," said Humphrey, who took the command altogether over the farm: "we want a cow."
"Oh yes, a cow," cried Alice, "I have plenty of time to milk her."
"Whose cows are those which I see in the forest sometimes?" said
Humphrey to Jacob.
"If they belong to any body, they belong to the king," replied Jacob; "but they are cattle which have strayed and found their way to the forest, and have remained here ever since. ”

“ And now, Edward Armitage, I have said more to you than I have to any person breathing, except my own kinsman."
"I thank you for your confidence, sir, which not only will not be betrayed, but will act as a warning to guide my future conduct."
"I meant it should. Be no longer rash and careless in avowing your opinions. You can do no good to the cause, and may do yourself much harm. And now I must ask you another question, which I could not before the other people. You have surprised me by stating that Major Ratcliffe had a son here; there must be some mistake, or the boy must be an impostor. ”

“ They know nobody, and have no friends in the world. Suppose anything was to happen to me—suppose both Humphrey and I were to die—for you know that we never know how soon that event may take place—who would there be to protect my poor sisters, and what would become of them? Is it not, therefore, wise that I should procure friends for them, in case of accident, who would look after them and protect them? and it is my hope, that by leaving them now, I shall make powerful and kind friends for them. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I see now; you think more than me, Massa Edward. ”

“ Recollect that I am an old man, Edward."
"Not so very old, Jacob; Oswald said that you were not more than sixty years old."
"Oswald knows nothing about it. I am past seventy-six, Edward; and you know, Edward, the Bible says that the days of man are threescore years and ten; so that I am beyond the mark. And now, Edward, I have but few words to say. Be careful—if not for your own sake, at least for your little sisters'. You are young, but you are strong and powerful above your years, and can better protect them than I could. ”

“ What has been the means of subsistence of Jacob Armitage?"
"If you think he has no means of subsistence, sir, you are mistaken," replied Edward. "We have land of our own, which we cultivate; we have our pony and our cart; we have our pigs and our cows." ”

“ I am in love with little Clara."
"Not a bad choice, Humphrey: we both aspire high, for two young foresters, do we not? However, they say 'Every dog has his day,' and Cromwell and his Parliament may have theirs. King Charles may be on his throne again now, long before you catch a forest pony, Humphrey."
"I hope he will, Edward; but recollect how you laughed at the idea of my catching a cow—you may be surprised a second time. 'Where there is a will there is a way,' the saying is. But I must go and help Alice with the heifer: she is not very quiet yet, and I see her going out with her pail." ”

“ I only should like, if possible, to have notice of his coming, that we may be prepared."
"You need no preparation, sir, if he should come," replied Oswald.
"Very true," said Edward; "we have nothing to conceal, and if he finds us in a pickle, it is of no consequence."
"Rather the better, sir," replied Oswald. "Let your sisters be at the wash-tub, and you and your brother carting manure; he will then be more likely to have no suspicion of your being otherwise than what you assume to be."
"Have you heard any news from London, Oswald?" ”

“ Edith.
"Well, my children," said Jacob, "depend upon it, you are most happy when your days pass quickest, and that is only the case when you have plenty to do. Here you are in peace and safety; and may it please God that you may continue so! We want very few things in this world—that is, we really want very few things, although we wish and sigh for many. You have health and spirits, which are the greatest blessings in life. Who would believe, to look at you all, that you were the same children that I brought away from Arnwood? ”

“ I wish you were, Humphrey: for my part, I feel as if I were a slave set at liberty. I do justice to old Jacob's kindness and good will, and acknowledge how much we are indebted to him; but still to be housed up here in the forest, never seeing or speaking to any one, shut out from the world, does not suit Edward Beverley. Our father was a soldier, and a right good one, and if I were old enough I think even now I should escape and join the royal party, broken as it may be and by all accounts is, at this moment. Deer stalking is all very well, but I fly at higher game. ”

“ Who is to cook your dinner, Humphrey? What can you do without them, and why did you send them away without letting me or Patience know that they were going, so that at least we might have bid them farewell?”
“My dear Clara,” replied Humphrey—who, feeling no little difficulty in replying to all these questions, resolved to cut the matter short by appearing to be angry—“you know that you are the daughter of a gentleman, and so is Patience Heatherstone. You are both of gentle birth; but my sisters, you know, are only the daughters of a forester, and my brother Edward and I are no better. ”

“ The next day, Jacob contrived to put all the remainder of the venison in the cart, and White Billy made no more difficulty; he dragged it all to Lymington, and returned with the cart as quietly and cleverly as if he had been in harness all his life.
"Well, Edward, the venison paid for the cart at all events," said Jacob, "and now, I will tell you all the news I collected while I was at Lymington. Captain Burly, who attempted to incite the people to rescue the king, has been hung, drawn, and quartered, as a traitor."
"They are traitors who condemned him," replied Edward, in wrath. ”

“ I can't teach them much; but I can teach them to fear God. We must get on how we can, and put our trust in Him who is a father to the fatherless."
With such thoughts running in his head, Jacob arrived at the cottage, and found the children outside the door, watching for him. They all hastened to him, and the dog rushed before them, to welcome his master. "Down, Smoker, good dog! Well, Mr. Edward, I have been as quick as I could. How have Mr. Humphrey and your sisters behaved? But we must not remain outside to-day, for the troopers are scouring the forest, and may see you. ”

“ And what do you want, Humphrey?"
"I want a dog. Smoker is yours altogether; I want a dog for myself, to bring up after my own fashion."
"Well, I ought to look out for another dog: although Smoker is not old, yet one ought to have two dogs to one's gun in case of accident."
"I think so too," replied Edward; "see if you can get two puppies, one for Humphrey and one for myself."
"Well, I must not go to Lymington for them. I must cross the forest, to see some friends of mine whom I have not seen for a long while, and I may get some of the right sort of puppies there, just like Smoker. ”

“ The Earl of Derby was made a prisoner, but not put to death with the others.
"This is bad news, Chaloner," said Edward.
"Yes; it is more than bad," replied the latter; "we have lost our best officers, who never should have left the army; and now the consequences of the defeat will be, that we shall not have any people come forward to join us. The winning side is the right side in this world; and there is more evil than that; the Duke of Buckingham has claimed the command of the army, which the king has refused, so that we are beginning to fight among ourselves. ”

“ No wonder that he is indignant, and looks upon us with scorn. And now he has left us: we have driven him into danger, and may never see him again. Oh, father! I am very, very miserable!”
“We must hope for the best, Patience. It is true that he has gone to the wars, but it does not therefore follow that he is to be killed. You are both very young—much too young to marry—and all may be explained. I must see Humphrey, and be candid with him.”
“But Alice and Edith,—where are they gone, father?” ”

“ I wish the new king, who is now in France would raise an army and come over. It is better that Edward should be fighting in the field than remain here and risk being shot as a deer-stealer, or put in prison. The farm is sufficient for us all; and when I have taken in more ground it will be much more than sufficient, even if I do not kill the wild cattle. I am fit for the farm, but Edward is not. He is thrown away, living in this obscurity, and he feels it. He will always be in hot water some way or another, that is certain. ”