As the housemaid was just opening the front door, Jack entered, and learned that the Squire was already on foot, and that Mistress Alethea would soon be down to breakfast. Jack hurried into the Squire's own room, where he was examining several fire-arms, placed against the wall.

"Mr Harwood," he exclaimed, "I fear that you are in danger! If you have been connected with those engaged in the conspiracy to bring over a foreign army, and to dethrone King William, let me urge you to fly or to conceal yourself. The plot has been discovered!"

Mr Harwood turned deadly pale on hearing this, and trembled in every limb.

"I am deeply thankful to you for the warning you have given me," he answered. "But what am I to do? I cannot leave my daughter, and know not where to conceal myself."

"Mistress Alethea will surely find a welcome and shelter in the house of my father," answered Jack. "I will endeavour to a.s.sist you to escape to a place of safety. It may be that no one will search for you here; but if you think it more advisable to go abroad, I will accompany you either to Yarmouth or Harwich, where you may take ship and get across to France."

Mr Harwood overwhelmed Jack with thanks, and gladly accepted his offer.

Their plans were scarcely arranged when Alethea entered the room. She showed far more courage than her father had done on hearing of the discovery of the plot, though anxious about his safety. She at once declared her intention of accompanying him.

"That cannot be, my child!" said Mr Harwood. "You know not the difficulties and dangers I may have to go through; and though you might be willing to share them, they must of necessity be greatly increased should you be with me. We have friends in this neighbourhood who will, I am sure, take charge of you. With them you will live happily and securely; and I trust that in a short time, when this matter has blown over, I may be able to return once more to England."

Jack's heart beat violently when he heard these remarks of Mr Harwood.

"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed; "I feel sure that my mother and sisters will gladly afford all the protection Miss Harwood requires. I wish that I could accompany her to Nottingham. Could I not do it, and rejoin you, Mr Harwood?"

"What, and run the risk of being apprehended yourself?" exclaimed the Squire. "No; I will send Alethea under the escort of two trusty grooms with her tirewoman, and will throw myself on the kindness of your family. Already I am deeply indebted to them, and shall but add to the obligation."

The Squire spoke with some hesitation. Even at that moment his aristocratic feelings influenced him, and he felt as if he was honouring the Deane family by thus confiding his daughter to their charge. Some time had thus pa.s.sed when the Squire recollected that Jack must require food.

"It would never do to set forward without being prepared," he observed.

"Take your breakfast with Alethea, while I go and put together such valuables as it may be prudent for me to carry; and you, my daughter, will take the remainder, for I know not, should I be informed against, what will be the fate of the old Grange and of the estate my fathers have held for so many centuries."

Jack, as he sat by the side of Alethea endeavouring to eat his breakfast, in vain tried to utter the sentiments with which his heart was full. Whenever he attempted to speak he hesitated and stammered, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Alethea was more serious, naturally, than he had ever seen her before.

"I foresaw that it might come to this," she said, at last, to Jack.

"But, do you know, I rather glory in suffering for what I believe to be a right cause!"

"But oh, Miss Harwood," exclaimed Jack, now able to speak, "surely no cause would justify the means by which the conspirators have attempted to carry out their project--to murder the great and brave king! Surely nothing can justify a.s.sa.s.sination!"

"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Alethea. "But surely those with whom my father was a.s.sociated have not attempted to commit so fearful a crime?"

"Most certainly the crime was contemplated," answered Jack. "I heard the whole plan discussed, but whether Mr Harwood's especial friends were acquainted with it or not, I cannot say; but of one thing I feel very sure, from what I heard, that James was well aware of the project, and sanctioned it by the countenance he gave to those who undertook to carry it out."

"If I were sure of that," exclaimed Alethea, with a tone of indignation, "my whole feelings towards King James would be changed! While I thought him an honourable and an injured man, and the rightful sovereign of these realms, my feelings were in his favour; but if his principles would allow him to act as you describe, then I cannot but feel that the n.o.bles and commons of England were right in their dread of having such a man to reign over them."

"I wish Mr Harwood had seen matters in that light before he allowed himself to be drawn into the plot!" said Jack. "Perhaps, however, he may now be induced to do so. If so, when those who have princ.i.p.ally engaged in it have suffered the penalty of their crimes, he will probably be allowed to return home, and live quietly as heretofore. For my own part, as I have been consorting with the king's enemies, though unknowingly, I have determined, from henceforth, to fight for him and his friends, and to try my fortune on the ocean. It will be more to my taste than being pinched up in breastplate and helmet, and having to fight on sh.o.r.e. I may there win a name and fame, Alethea; and perchance when I come back I may look forward to--"

Whatever Jack was going to say was interrupted by the entrance of Mr Harwood. As may be supposed, he had but a small appet.i.te for breakfast, though pressed by his daughter, who in every way tried to keep up his spirits, to partake of it. The steward and head groom were ordered to accompany Miss Harwood into Nottingham, while his own fleetest hunter was to be got ready to start as soon as Jack's horse was sufficiently rested.

In vain Jack waited for an opportunity to finish the sentence he had begun, for having, as he thought, broken the ice, he hoped to get yet farther in, but just as the party were rising from breakfast, which had been put off to a later hour than usual, a visitor was announced, and Jasper Deane entered the room. His surprise at seeing Jack was very great. They greeted each other, however, as affectionate brothers, though Jasper refrained from asking Jack questions which it might have been disagreeable to him to answer in the presence of Alethea and Mr Harwood.

"I am sure, Jasper, you will answer for our parents being ready to receive Miss Harwood," said Jack, "during the temporary absence of her father. I have brought him some news, with which I need not trouble you, which requires him to leave home immediately."

"Why not trust me?" answered Jasper; "surely I would not betray Mr Harwood's secrets!"

"For your own sake it may be better for you not to know them," answered Jack. "It is time that we should be on our road. Bear my duty to my father and mother and my love to our sisters, and I will write to them of my proceedings as soon as I have an opportunity."

Jack saw that Mr Harwood was impatient to be off, while he himself knew the importance of losing no time in getting to a place of safety; he had no opportunity, therefore, of asking Jasper questions as to what had taken place at Nottingham, nor did he himself wish to tell him what he had been about. He merely mentioned his letter entrusted to the miller.

"That will tell you more about my intentions," he observed. If a pang of jealousy crossed his heart when he saw his brother ride off by the side of Alethea, he quickly banished it, and immediately afterwards he and Mr Harwood, with their valises strapped to their saddles, were making their way through the forest to the east.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

JOHN DEANE TURNS SAILOR, AND JOINS THE "WEYMOUTH," CAPTAIN JUMPER.

At no time for many years had there been greater activity in the chief naval ports of England than in February, 1696. All the ships in the service were ordered to be brought forward, and as many more as could be obtained were purchased for the Royal Navy. Officers and men eagerly offered their services; indeed the enthusiasm of all ranks and professions was very great. Numerous seamen from the merchant service joined the navy, and there was no lack of volunteers eager to be employed. A squadron lay in the Medway, fitting out as quickly as stores could be brought on board them and the men could be collected.

Among them was the "Weymouth," a ship of forty guns, commanded by the well-known Captain Jumper. Her sails were bent, and she only waited for her powder to be brought on board to go to sea, as soon as she could fill up with her proper complement of men. A boat had just come alongside, and the first lieutenant reported that she contained a number of volunteers.

Among the first who stepped on board was a fine, active-looking young man, though, to the nautical eye, he had not much the look of a sailor.

"Where have you served before, my man?" asked Mr Cammock, the first lieutenant; "and what do you know of seamanship?"

"I have served nowhere, please you, sir," was the answer, "but I am ready to learn. And I know how to handle a cutla.s.s, and shoot a partridge or pheasant flying."

"You are the lad for us then," answered the officer. "What is your name? We will enter you as a landsman; but you will soon make an able seaman."

"John Deane, at your service, sir," answered our friend; for he it was who, having put his purpose of joining the navy into execution, had volunteered for the "Weymouth."

It was the first time he had ever stood on the deck of a ship. No wonder then that he gazed about him with a look of astonishment, at the guns thickly ranged on either side; at the numerous bra.s.s swivels and other pieces which graced her quarters and forecastle, and the high lanterns of bra.s.s astern; at the numberless ropes which led here and there from the masts and spars, with their ends neatly coiled down on deck; at the seamen, in their loose dresses, shirts, and trousers, with belts round their waists, contrasting with the officers in their three-cornered hats and long coats, laced with gold or silver, large embroidered belts by which hung their rapiers--each dressed rather according to his fancy and means, than to any authorised uniform.

A number of other men were then called up. Among the first was one whose countenance Jack thought he knew. He looked at him several times, till at length it struck him that it must be the very man who had guided him to Pearson's farm in the fens--Ned Burdale. There was the same st.u.r.dy, independent look, bold eye, and manner. What, however, had induced him to enter on board a king's ship, Jack could not divine. At all events, he felt it would be wise in him not to claim acquaintance with a person of so doubtful a character.

He little expected to find any body else whom he had met before; but he had not been long on board, when a seaman came up to him, and, putting out his hand, exclaimed--

"What, Jack Deane, don't you know me?"

"Yes," said Jack, at last, wringing him by the hand; "but I should not have recognised you in that dress and with that ugly cut down your cheek, if I did not remember your voice."

"Yes; I have seen some service already," answered the seaman. "I have a bullet through my leg, and this pretty little remembrance on my cheek; but it's what we have to expect. We're paid for it, you know; and besides, we give as good as we take, and that's a consolation."

"But what made you come to sea?" asked Jack. "I had no idea you had any fancy that way."

"I may ask the same question of you, friend Deane," said Smedley, for it was Jack's old poaching acquaintance. "The honest truth is, I found Nottingham too hot to hold me, and so here I am come to serve his majesty. It is a pretty hard life, I will own; but I have brought myself into it, and so I have determined not to grumble."

"Well, I have my own reasons, too, Smedley, for coming to sea," said Jack, "but you will excuse me if I don't explain them. I hope we may both do our duty, and fight bravely for our country. That's what I have come to sea for, with the hope of seeing a little more of the world than I should if I had remained at Nottingham, or continued to drive oxen between Scotland and Stourbridge."

Smedley, who had already been some weeks at sea, was able to give Jack a good deal of instruction in his duties, and found him an apt scholar.

Jack was determined to make himself a seaman as soon as he could. From morning till night he was employed in picking up information, and he soon gained some knowledge in the arts of knotting and splicing. He quickly, too, found his way aloft; and though at first he felt rather giddy at the mast-head, his eye soon got accustomed to look down on the deck below, and he could run out on the yards in a short time with any man on board. He soon, indeed, surpa.s.sed Smedley himself. The man he took to be Burdale, from the way he walked the deck, was evidently accustomed to a sailor's life.

So rapidly were the ships got ready for sea, that in a short time a large fleet was collected in the Downs under the command of Admiral Russell. He had under him Lord Berkeley, Admiral of the Blue, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Vice-Admiral of the Red; Mr Aylmer, Vice-Admiral of the Blue, with two Dutch squadrons under two rear-admirals.

As soon as the fleet was collected, they set sail for the coast of France, arriving shortly afterwards off Dunkirk. It was here that the celebrated French Admiral, Jean Bart, held the command of a French fleet. As the English fleet pa.s.sed Calais, three or four hundred vessels of all sorts were seen with their sails bent ready for sea. As soon as the French saw the English fleet approaching Dunkirk, several of their men-of-war ran close up to the pier. Hopes were now entertained by the English crews that some fighting would take place. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, with several captains, stood in towards Dunkirk, to see if there was any possibility of burning the fleet. This, however, was declared to be impracticable, and Admiral Russell therefore sailed back to Dover, leaving a squadron under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, to watch the movements of the enemy. A short time after this, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who had returned to the Downs, was ordered to take with him the bomb-vessels, and such small ships as he should think necessary; and attempt the burning of Calais with the transports, and other ships in that harbour.

Calais was soon in sight. The English could see the harbour crowded with vessels, which as they approached, however, ran close up under their batteries where the ships could not get at them. The wind was off sh.o.r.e, which gave them smooth water; and the squadron, in gallant style, beat up as near to the town as the water would allow. They now anch.o.r.ed, their men-of-war protecting the bomb-vessels, which instantly commenced throwing sh.e.l.ls into the place. It was a fine sight to see them, like vast rockets, rising in the air and curling over, until they fell into the devoted town.