Dick Trevanion

“ Thereupon Dick made a clean breast of it, telling all that had happened since the rescue of Penwarden. The Squire's face clouded as he listened to the story.
"John Trevanion is at the bottom of this," he cried, thumping the table. "They would never believe I was against them unless their minds had been poisoned. I will see Tonkin to-morrow and get at the truth." Then, with one of the swift changes of mood characteristic of him, he added: "No, I won't do it. I won't gratify that cur; he shall never think I care a snap for him. ”

“ Feeling that at such a crisis all quiet work at his books was impossible, Dick determined to beg Mr. Carlyon to release him, and to devote himself heart and soul to the contest, whether of wits or weapons. The first object must be the rescue of Joe Penwarden.
Mr. Polwhele was still at home.
"This is a new thing, 'pon my life," he said, when Dick had told him his tidings. "Till now the villains have been only on the defensive; to take the offensive means there's a new spirit working in 'em. D'you think, now, that your father is right, and John Trevanion is the man behind?" ”

“ But I wonder, indeed I do, that John Trevanion has dared to show his face here again."
"Oh, 'tis no wonder," said the Squire bitterly. "No one knew of his crime but three, you and I and John Hammond; only Hammond had proof of it, and he is dead. My worthless cousin learnt of his death, I warrant you; the Devil has quick couriers for such as he; and he comes back, relying on my weakness and your holiness. But I'll speak no more of him; he is gone, and I hope I shall never see him again. There's my boy Dick: what is to become of him? He is seventeen; he ought to be making his way in the world. ”

“ Cook be here, too, and Feyther do look tarrible low in the sperits, 'cos she told un he'd no more idee than a chiel o' three how to stir up a figgy pudden."
When Dick joined his parents, he found them discussing the future of the two women with Mr. Carlyon.
"We can't afford to keep them, you know, Vicar," said Mrs. Trevanion. "The girl seems a pleasant, handy young thing, and I should like her about the house much better than young Sam; but——"
"Exactly," said the Vicar. "Well now, 'tis Christmas Eve. Shall we forget all our troubles, and get our souls in tune for to-morrow? ”

“ I do not know. No doubt a stranger, who has more money than judgment. I am sorry for this; I am indeed; and if there were any chance of getting metal out of the earth I could have transferred your mortgages with the greatest ease. As it is—but there, I won't talk of it. As for my own little bond on the Towers, that may remain till Doomsday so far as I am concerned. It would cut me to the heart to see the old place in the hands of any one but a Trevanion."
"You're a good fellow, Trevenick," said the Squire, "and I'm grateful to you."
"Not at all, not at all, my dear sir. ”

“ If Dick, who had been so much persecuted, they argued, had the generosity to risk his life on behalf of one of those who had most injured him, it was hardly credible that he should really be the spy and informer he was suspected of being. Others, however, would not agree that the family was less open to suspicion, so far as smuggling was concerned, because of a single plucky act. Their view was supported by John Trevanion, who, having heard of the incident, took care to drop seeds of depreciation in the ears of such of the fishers as he encountered here and there. ”

“ Men lean over the sides, dip their baskets, lift them full of shining fish, empty them into the boats, and dip them again for more. Soon they stand ankle deep in pilchards, and when the boats sink to the gunwales, they are rowed away to the jetty, where men are waiting with shovels and barrows, ready to carry the fish to the salting-house.
Dick Trevanion was among the spectators. He never missed the first haul of the season. But to-day he was acutely conscious of a change. Last year the villagers had greeted him with smiles and cheery words ”

“ Dick was surprised that there was no sign of pursuers from the village. Now that the feeling between his family and the people was less acute, he had expected that the bell would already have summoned a concourse of fishers, miners, and men of all occupations. He was surprised, too, that the alarm was not echoed by the new bell which had recently been rigged up in the Dower House. Surely at such a moment personal feuds might well be forgotten, and private enemies unite to beat off a public foe. But between the Towers and the hill not a man was to be seen except the advancing Frenchmen. ”

“ There was a sound of rustling paper.
"'Tis a monstrous sum," he said, half turning.
"Ah, 'tis, to be sure," said Doubledick feelingly, "but King's officers do hev' a tarrible big swaller."
"Well, here you are," said Trevanion, recrossing the room. "I'm not the man to refuse a friend."
"So ye said afore. Thank 'ee. 'Tis atween us two, in course; my mouth is shet. But there's another thing, Maister. Did 'ee know as old Joe and young Dick brought a heap o' silks and satins out o' the old mine?" ”

“ Doubledick strolled up the hill next day, and stood with a look of keen enjoyment on his face as a score of miners drilled under Trevanion's direction. At the close of the exercise he accosted Trevanion.
"'Tis a noble sperit, to be sure, Maister John," he said, "but daze me if I think yer new sojers and yer iron shetters will keep out Boney and his thousands and millions. He's a tarrible feller, by all accounts."
"'Tis every man's duty to defend his country so far as he is able," said Trevanion coldly, beginning to move away. ”

“ He be a very clever feller: I say it to his face."
"Good night, then. I wish you well."
Dick heard his cousin return to the house and lock the door. So John Trevanion was a freighter: one who bought contraband goods in a foreign port, paid the expenses of shipment and carrying, and received the profits. This was food for reflection. A word to Mr. Mildmay or Mr. Polwhele, the riding-officer, would lead to John Trevanion's arrest. The fate of smugglers caught in the act was five years' service in a man-of-war, or a long term of imprisonment ”

“ Dick felt a momentary damping of the spirits when it occurred to him that Penwarden's place of concealment might be some nook below the cliffs. In that case the sentries would be changed by boat from the harbour, and he would see nothing of them. But even in that case the farmer must ascend the hill and cross the moor, and though he might be concealed at some portions of his road by trees and bushes, he must at length cross open country. Behind the parapet Dick could watch unseen, and he settled himself to wait in patience. ”

“ The sight awoke no reflections, regrets, remorse, in his soul. He was obsessed by anxiety for his own safety.
Dick, having accompanied Mr. Carlyon to the Parsonage, remained there for an hour or two, talking over the strange events of the day, and then started homeward along the path that would bring him to the bridge. He noticed a man, bowed beneath a load, turn aside on to the moor, and chuckled at the thought that perhaps the smugglers had made their run after all, and this was one of the tub-carriers conveying his precious load to an expectant farmer. Well, it was no business of his. ”

“ Mildmay is going to the randy at the Dower House to-morrow, I hear," said the Squire.
"Is he, sir?" replied Dick, surprised.
"Yes; I heard it from Mr. Polwhele, who is going too."
"Mr. Mildmay is almost a stranger, and 'tis rather a dull life for him between whiles; but Mr. Polwhele knew John Trevanion years ago, did he not, sir?"
"Oh! he is going as watch-dog. He suspects that the invitation may be a trick to get them out of the way while the smugglers run a cargo, and got Mr. Mildmay to promise to leave promptly at nine. He accompanies him to see that he is not detained." ”

“ I'm thinking of supper."
"It do be queer, sure enough. 'Tis a hot night, and they mostly comes in close when 'tis hot, and the biggest comes the closest. I 'spect what us do want is a bit of a tumble, to stir up the bottom and muddy the water."
Dick Trevanion had come out at sunset with his companion Sam Pollex to fish for salmon bass, which at this time of year were usually plentiful along the coast. ”

“ Dick shivered, and prepared to dash forth and force his way through the men grouped at the tunnel, in the hope that their surprise and alarm, and their being encumbered, would give him time at least to escape instant seizure. To his relief the man at the windlass replied sharply:
"No, they bean't. They be for the higher powers; let 'em alone. And you come and hoist; I be tired."
The voice was Doubledick's.
While the tubs were being hoisted, and the waiting men talked quietly among themselves, Dick had leisure to turn his thoughts towards the object at his feet. It could hardly be an animal ”

“ I happen to know that Mildmay has been twice to the Towers of late; the Squire's as poor as a church mouse, and informer's pay will be riches to him."
"Squire turn informer!" cried Tonkin. "I can't believe it."
"I can, though," said Doubledick. "When a man's as low down in the world as Squire, he'll do a deal o' dirtiness to fill his purse, 'a b'lieve."
"Of course he will," said Trevanion. "You don't know the world, Tonkin. Depend upon it, a good many golden guineas will find their way to the Towers before a week's out." ”

“ Mildmay?" cried the Squire. "'Tis for him to capture that rascally privateer."
Doubledick looked conscious; Tonkin and his fishers exchanged glances, and thought of the cargo in the hold of the Isaac and Jacob.
"We can do it, sir," cried Dick suddenly. "She must pass beneath that big rock at the head of the Beal. It doesn't stand steady, and a good push would hurl it over into the fairway. Let the vessel come in, and then block up the channel; she'd be caught then."
"A capital notion," said the Vicar. "Off with you, Dick; take two or three men with you. ”

“ Into these boats Delarousse and his men leapt, and pulled off swiftly to the privateer. They had no sooner left the jetty than a puff of smoke issued from one of the vessel's portholes; there was a roar, and a round shot crashed into the planking, smashing several yards of it, and sending up splinters almost into the eyes of the Squire.
"'Tis no good, Trevanion," cried the Vicar. "We shall all be slaughtered if we line up and fire at them. They've got your cousin, and we can't help it."
"But they can't get out of the fairway, and there's no water on the reef," said the Squire. ”

“ The tide was rather lower than they had expected. Their eyes ranged the cave for a time without discovering any sign of the seals. Then Dick lit a torch, and holding it over the dark space beneath, he suddenly saw two orbs of light, like the eyes of a monstrous cat, in a far corner to the right of him. Moving along the ledge in that direction, he descried two seals, greyish in colour, and much larger than he had supposed them to be, lying on a rock, with the two young ones between them.
"We will only kill one, Sam," he whispered, "and I hope 'twill be the father." ”

“ Dick shook his head.
"Now, young Sam Pollex," cried Mrs. Doubledick, "you be off! Maister Trevanion don't want 'ee kiddlin' and quaddlin' about when he do feel bad. Just pick up his clothes out o' that plosh o' water and spread 'em on this chair-back. Then go. We'll send him home-along in a cart or a wheelbarrow when he's better."
"Daze me if I go, Mistress!" cried Sam. "Here I bide till Maister be able to shail along, so I tell 'ee."
"Let the chiel bide," said Nathan Pendry. "They be like two twains in everything, mischief and all, and they 'm best not parted." ”

“ Penwarden was already hurrying towards the path. It seemed to Dick sheer madness for one man, and a man no longer young, to attempt to deal with a score of rough and determined smugglers. He was rushing headlong upon destruction. All care for what might be the consequences to himself vanished from Dick's mind; he could not leave the exciseman to his fate. But what could he do to help him, without weapon of any kind? He suddenly bethought him of the fowling-pieces laid up in the little nook on the Beal.
"Come, Sam," he said, and started to run at full speed to fetch them. ”

“ Late as it was, neither Dick nor Sam was fated to get any sleep for hours. They walked rapidly without speaking across the cliff towards the Towers, being in fact so tired and hungry that the thoughts of both were fixed on supper and bed. There was no path on this part of the cliff, except a faint track which daylight would have revealed, where the grass had been slightly worn by Joe Penwarden in his marchings to and fro. Ordinary pedestrians always avoided the windings of the shore, taking the high road farther inland. ”

“ Cuby's Well, and we can climb to the top in no time."
"St. Cuby's Well! Dash my bones if I go within a mile o't. Dead men's bones, and sperits o' darkness—no, never will I do it."
"Stuff and nonsense!" cried Dick, as stoutly as if he had never felt the least tremor on his own account. "I've seen no bones, and the spirits haven't laid a hand on me. Those silly tales only frighten children."
"And females. Ah, 'tis a pity the mistress won't let me take eggs and things to the Dower House. What I could tell to that nice young female wi' the hole in her rosy cheeks! ”

“ After a few moments' colloquy, a man came forward.
"Hark 'ee, sir," he said, and Dick recognised his voice as Doubledick's, in spite of an attempt to disguise it. "We take it hard as you've meddled wi' honest free-traders as never did 'ee no harm. As for old Joe, 'twas only a bit of fun—hee! hee!—he bean't for drownin'. What I says I says for all, and that is, we'll let 'ee take un away if you do give us yer sacred word not to gie our names to Sir Bevil or Mr. Mildmay,—them as you knows."
"I don't want to play informer," replied Dick. "I agree to that." ”