Harry Rochester

“ He took up an official-looking paper that lay at his hand and read in Dutch:
"Mynheer Henry Rochester is appointed to a cornetcy in the Anspach dragoons in succession to Mynheer Lodewyk van Monnen deceased."
Harry flushed to the eyes.
"'Tis a mistake, Mynheer, surely. I have not sought this; I know nothing of it."
"A mistake! Not at all. General van Santen come to me and zay, 'Grootz, you have in your business a young man dat has no business to be in your business ”

“ Harry knew as much as Sherebiah of his subsequent career, and shared the surprise of the whole village at the strangely close acquaintanceship between the captain and the squire.
This was the man who was to die next day, and Harry, sitting on the bridge, one hand clasping his knee, almost wished that he had let the villain go. He had been brought up in the worst school; all his life long he had been an Ishmael, his hand against every man, every man's hand against him. His mother had been a Minshull: surely there was some seed of good in him ”

“ Harry had already mentioned having seen Polignac drive away from Breda in company with the squire.
"The odious man!" cried Madame de Vaudrey, when Harry translated the gaffer's letter. "I only wonder that the other man, that insolent captain, is not with them. I wonder where he is?"
"I don't know," said Harry, who had kept his own counsel regarding the last he had seen of Aglionby.
"I hope he will never cross my path," said Mynheer Grootz. "He is truly a villain, a dastard: to inform on his cousin, and to plan the attack on Harry, and to have the insolence to pay court to Madame la Comtesse!" ”

“ Do 'ee know pa'son? a good man, saven your honour, ay, a right good man is Pa'son Rochester, and stands up to old Squire like a game-cock, so he do—a right good man is pa'son, ay sure. And his son Harry—well, to tell 'ee the truth, I'm main fond of the lad; main fond; 'tis a well-favoured lad, well spoken too, and he thinks a deal o' me, he do, and I thinks a deal o' he. Why, 'twas he bowled that artful ball as put out t' last man from Cambridge college.—There, my old tongue runs on; I don't offend your honour?"
"Not a whit," said my lord. "The young bowler is the parson's son, eh? ”

“ The man made no sound or movement. Harry shivered and thought he must be dead; of the means to resuscitate a half-drowned man he knew nothing.
A few seconds passed; then he heard hasty footsteps behind him, and turned just as Sherebiah sprang down the slope. The faithful fellow had been again playing his part of watch-dog; he had seen Harry's plunge into the river, and raced round the embankment in alarm.
"Fecks, you give me a jump, sir," he panted. "What's amiss?"
"Ah! Sherry, look; 'tis a man, in a sack; the poor wretch is drowned, I fear."
"'Tis murder then. Let's see, sir." ”

“ His nerves were a-tingle with his unexpected good fortune. To have seen and spoken with the greatest man in the kingdom was itself an unforeseen privilege; and the prospect of assistance from such a powerful and august personage filled him with elation. The earl had shown no great cordiality, it was true; but Harry was inclined to draw good augury from the few words he had uttered. They were probably more sincere than a warm volubility would have been. He left the house with a sparkling eye and a springy gait, and looked eagerly around to see if Sherebiah were near at hand to hear his news. ”

“ Not far behind him three sailors were sauntering in the same direction, on their way perhaps to rejoin their vessel in the Thames. The damp cold air struck Harry to the bone; he shivered and drew his cloak closer around him, and was on the point of turning to retrace his steps when there suddenly stood before him a woman, thin-clad, bare-headed, with a whining child in her arms.
"Spare a penny, kind sir, to buy bread. My lips have not touched food the livelong day, and my little boy is fair starved. Oh, sir, have pity on a poor lone woman; spare a penny, kind sir." ”

“ Harry's curiosity was growing. The two men were clearly expecting somebody; for a moment he wondered whether Aglionby was meditating another attempt on Sherebiah, but it could hardly be that, for the captain had looked towards Breda as he spoke, not in the other direction. He listened with all his ears.
"They may as well stay away altogether if the others are here before them. We are only ten minutes ahead." ”

“ From the parapet of the keep Max shouted that he saw a large troop of horse not a mile away, galloping amain towards the castle.
"Men, with me!" cried Harry.
Twelve dragoons sprang through the coach after him, and with haste helped him to draw the planks of the bridge within the archway. They had completed their task save for the last plank when the foremost files of the enemy galloped up, checking their horses at the very brink when they saw the unbridged gap before them; no horse could cross on a two-foot plank. ”

“ One afternoon Harry went on in advance with Sherebiah from Langenhandel to Weissembourg, to secure quarters for Prince Eugene. His errand accomplished, he was sitting at dinner in the inn when through the open window came the sound of hubbub in the street.
"What is it, Sherry?" he asked.
"'Pears to be a crowd of Germans a-setten on to a wounded Frenchman, sir. He have his arm strapped, and——why, sakes alive! 'tis black John Simmons hisself."
"Indeed!" cried Harry, rising. "Then the captain will be near at hand. Out and bring the fellow in." ”

“ Who's our next man?"
"'Tis our bowler friend, the young sprig of a parson, unless I mistake," said my lord. "What's the lad's name, gaffer?"
"'Tis Henry Winterborne Rochester, my lard, by the water o' baptism; too rich a name for poor folks like we. Young pa'son we calls un mostly."
"A limber youth. I like his looks, eh, Frank? Does he bat as well as he bowls?"
"Middlen, my lord, middlen," said Sherebiah. "Has a good eye, but a deal o' growen to do afore he can smite the ball as it should. ”

“ Immediately Harry wheeled round and dashed back to the support of his men, now engaged in a desperate and unequal battle. Their backs to the coach, they were facing dauntlessly thrice their number of infuriated brigands, who had discarded their firearms and came to the attack with swords flashing in ever-narrowing circles. One of the dragoons had already fallen; but his comrades were all tough soldiers tried on many a battle-field, recking nothing of the odds, every man with full confidence in himself and his fellows. ”

“ He turned gloomily away, and wandered aimlessly through the streets, disposed, under the first sting of the disappointment, to believe that fate had indeed a spite against him. He was glad he had said nothing to Sherebiah of his intention, being in no mood to endure condolences, in word or look. "What a useless loon I am!" he said to himself bitterly. "Sherry can earn his living by tumbling in the streets, and maybe in dozens of other ways; I can do nothing. Even Piers Berkeley has a commission in the army—that puppy!"
But Harry was never long in the dumps. ”

“ Harry stared in puzzlement. Then a light dawned, and he smiled.
"You don't mean to say you've been on your knees to Mademoiselle Adèle?"
"Indeed I have! By George, Harry! isn't she a splendid creature? But she wouldn't have me: that's all over; life isn't worth living now: I don't care how soon a bullet puts an end to my miserable existence."
Fanshawe sighed lugubriously; Harry laughed.
"Poor fellow! is it so bad as that? She didn't fall a victim to your new coat, then?"
"'Tis all very well for you to laugh. Wait till you suffer just such a rebuff." ”

“ Only Sherebiah still appeared full of confidence.
"A fight bean't lost till it be won," he said. "Keep up your sperits, souls."
Soft Jemmy never got a chance to miss the ball. Such scheming was never seen on a cricket-field before. Harry had privately instructed Jemmy to do just as he was told, and the half-witted youth at least knew how to obey. When Harry called him he ran; when told to stand in his ground he remained fixed like a post; and so, snatching byes, blocking, hitting when it was safe, Harry defied all the bowling, and the score rose by ones and twos and threes. ”

“ What luck, Harry, if we make the next campaign together! The earl will surely go back to Flanders when the winter is over."
"I should like nothing better."
"Where are you staying?"
"At the Angel and Crown, in Threadneedle Street."
"You must leave that and come westward. Are you alone?"
"Sherry Minshull is with me at present; but he'll get work for himself as soon as I am settled."
"Sherry's a handy fellow; egad, I know no better! He'll tie a fly with any man, and is as good with sword or quarterstaff as he is with his fists. ”

“ A few minutes afterwards a message reached him from Sherebiah that the wagons had arrived. He ran upstairs and, regardless of ceremony, called out: "Mademoiselle de Vaudrey!"
Adèle came out of a room, holding a strip of red ribbon.
"Mademoiselle," said Harry, "I must go to the gate. Will you make every unarmed man look as much like a soldier as possible, and see that each is provided with one of the sticks that the gardener is now collecting?"
"Yes. Is there anything else?"
"Is it possible to run up a flag on the belfry-tower?" ”

“ What d'ye think, Sherry? I met the earl himself at Lord Godolphin's, and he has my name on a scrap of paper, and to-morrow or next day I shall hold the queen's commission, and then off with the troops to Flanders, and I shall make my fortune, man, and then——"
"Huh!" put in a voice from the doorway. "Haastige spoed is zelden goed."
Harry's excitement was dashed by the slow drawl of Mynheer Grootz, whose little eyes were twinkling as he puffed at his big pipe.
"Ay, a true word," said Sherebiah. "'More haste, less speed,' as the Dutch words mean put into rightful language. ”

“ The foc'sle was dark and noisome. The smell of bilge water and the reek of the lamp affixed to the side nauseated Harry. Physically and mentally, he was desperately wretched. And through all his misery he was overcome by sheer puzzlement. Hitherto he had surmised that, being young and strong, he had been marked as an easy prey by the professional kidnappers who prowled the streets of London, trepanning unfortunate young men likely to fetch a good price with shipmasters or unscrupulous colonial merchants. ”

“ We cannot leave the general; we will not leave the house. Consult your own duty."
Her tone was not to be gainsaid. Harry went into the hall, wondering what he could do for the best. He met Sherebiah at the door.
"Eh, sir, 'tis a pretty pickle o' fish."
"What are we to do, Sherry?"
"As a man o' peace, I say cut and run."
"Can't we defend the house?"
"Wi' ten Dutch dragoons and a gardener and a maid or two? And two hundred French, so 'tis said!"
"But men will come in from the villages round."
"Ay, on foot, and with pitchforks and flails. Not much good against swords and carbines." ”

“ Disregarding the falling stone-work, Harry ran forward to the archway, his eyes smarting with the fumes. As the cloud gradually settled, he saw crowds of the enemy huddled together on the farther side of the fosse, their eyes aghast intently fixed on the archway. But of the bridge, and the sheds, and the stream of men who a minute before had been pressing forward exultantly across the fosse, not a vestige remained. Wood and men lay an indistinguishable mass at the bottom. ”

“ A sudden notion flashed through Harry's mind. It was a chance in a thousand; the risks were great; the odds were all against success; but on the other side there was the imminent danger of destruction to the house, ruin to the owners, the capture of the Dutch general, and the subsequent burning of the village.
"We'll try it," he said to himself. "Sherry, send every man up to the house, and let me know the instant our wagons appear."
"Ay, I will, sir.—'Tis a pretty ticklish time o' day for a man o' peace," he muttered under his breath. ”

“ Turning to the ladies he said: "Is the young man mad?"
"You shall judge, Monsieur," said Harry quietly. "Do me the favour to place yourself at the window."
He had just caught sight of one of the colonel's dragoons galloping up the drive towards the house.
"That is one of your hundred sabres, I presume. He is hastening to inform you that he has met Dutch troops belonging to General van Santen half a mile up the road. In the other direction—this way, Monsieur—you can just see our men barring your retreat. You observed, no doubt, a canal on your left as you rode along; it is twenty feet deep ”

“ We'll cure that. All aboard! Stow the cockerel in the foc'sle; strap un to a plank; we'll have no 'tarnal tricks."
As Harry was lugged forward he noticed two figures standing beneath a lamp swinging to one of the yards. He started, and involuntarily increased his weight upon his bearers. One of the two came forward a step towards the captain and, tapping a snuff-box, said:
"Whom have we here, captain?"
"A young puppy as ha' run through a duke's fortune and goes as redemptioner where I've carried many a man before him."
"Indeed! So young! 'Tis sad, the wastefulness of young men in this age." ”

“ An' th' old curmudgeon kept the fish; ay, he did so!—Ah! ha' got it; 'tis a fly that cost me more time in the maken than a dozen others; a beauty, to be sure; eh, Master Harry?"
He proceeded to put it on his hook. It was an artificial oak-fly, blue, green, brown, and orange so cunningly mingled that no trout could fail to be deceived.
"We'll now see some sport," continued Sherebiah, still in a whisper, as he prepared to cast. "I can't abide bait-fishen; sport, i' faith! 'tis mere bludgeon-play. True, it fills the pot, but there's no pleasure in 't. 'Tis no pastime for a true bob." ”