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CHAPTER XLVIII
EVERY MAN MUST DEFEND HIMSELF
It was only right in Jeremy Stickles, and of the
simplest common sense, that he would not tell, before
our girls, what the result of his journey was. But he
led me aside in the course of the evening, and told me
all about it; saying that I knew, as well as he did,
that it was not woman's business. This I took, as it
was meant, for a gentle caution that Lorna (whom he had
not seen as yet) must not he informed of any of his
doings. Herein I quite agreed with him; not only for
his furtherance, but because I always think that women,
of whatever mind, are best when least they meddle with
the things that appertain to men.
Master Stickles complained that the weather had been
against him bitterly, closing all the roads around him;
even as it had done with us. It had taken him eight
days, he said, to get from Exeter to Plymouth; whither
he found that most of the troops had been drafted off
from Exeter. When all were told, there was but a
battalion of one of the King's horse regiments, and two
companies of foot soldiers; and their commanders had
orders, later than the date of Jeremy's commission, on
no account to quit the southern coast, and march
inland. Therefore, although they would gladly have
come for a brush with the celebrated Doones, it was
more than they durst attempt, in the face of their
instructions. However, they spared him a single
trooper, as a companion of the road, and to prove to
the justices of the county, and the lord lieutenant,
that he had their approval.
To these authorities Master Stickles now was forced to
address himself, although he would rather have had one
trooper than a score from the very best trained bands.
For these trained bands had afforded very good
soldiers, in the time of the civil wars, and for some
years afterwards; but now their discipline was gone;
and the younger generation had seen no real fighting.
Each would have his own opinion, and would want to
argue it; and if he were not allowed, he went about his
duty in such a temper as to prove that his own way was
the best.
Neither was this the worst of it; for Jeremy made no
doubt but what (if he could only get the militia to
turn out in force) he might manage, with the help of
his own men, to force the stronghold of the enemy; but
the truth was that the officers, knowing how hard it
would be to collect their men at that time of the year,
and in that state of the weather, began with one accord
to make every possible excuse. And especially they
pressed this point, that Bagworthy was not in their
county; the Devonshire people affirming vehemently that
it lay in the shire of Somerset, and the Somersetshire
folk averring, even with imprecations, that it lay in
Devonshire. Now I believe the truth to be that the
boundary of the two counties, as well as of Oare and
Brendon parishes, is defined by the Bagworthy river; so
that the disputants on both sides were both right and
wrong.
Upon this, Master Stickles suggested, and as I thought
very sensibly, that the two counties should unite, and
equally contribute to the extirpation of this pest,
which shamed and injured them both alike. But hence
arose another difficulty; for the men of Devon said
they would march when Somerset had taken the field; and
the sons of Somerset replied that indeed they were
quite ready, but what were their cousins of Devonshire
doing? And so it came to pass that the King's
Commissioner returned without any army whatever; but
with promise of two hundred men when the roads should
be more passable. And meanwhile, what were we to do,
abandoned as we were to the mercies of the Doones, with
only our own hands to help us? And herein I grieved at
my own folly, in having let Tom Faggus go, whose wit
and courage would have been worth at least half a dozen
men to us. Upon this matter I held long council with
my good friend Stickles; telling him all about Lorna's
presence, and what I knew of her history. He agreed
with me that we could not hope to escape an attack from
the outlaws, and the more especially now that they knew
himself to be returned to us. Also he praised me for
my forethought in having threshed out all our corn, and
hidden the produce in such a manner that they were not
likely to find it. Furthermore, he recommended that
all the entrances to the house should at once be
strengthened, and a watch must be maintained at night;
and he thought it wiser that I should go (late as it
was) to Lynmouth, if a horse could pass the valley, and
fetch every one of his mounted troopers, who might now
be quartered there. Also if any men of courage, though
capable only of handling a pitchfork, could be found in
the neighbourhood, I was to try to summon them. But
our district is so thinly peopled, that I had little
faith in this; however my errand was given me, and I
set forth upon it; for John Fry was afraid of the
waters.
Knowing how fiercely the floods were out, I resolved to
travel the higher road, by Cosgate and through
Countisbury; therefore I swam my horse through the
Lynn, at the ford below our house (where sometimes you
may step across), and thence galloped up and along the
hills. I could see all the inland valleys ribbon'd
with broad waters; and in every winding crook, the
banks of snow that fed them; while on my right the
turbid sea was flaked with April showers. But when I
descended the hill towards Lynmouth, I feared that my
journey was all in vain.
For the East Lynn (which is our river) was ramping and
roaring frightfully, lashing whole trunks of trees on
the rocks, and rending them, and grinding them. And
into it rushed, from the opposite side, a torrent even
madder; upsetting what it came to aid; shattering wave
with boiling billow, and scattering wrath with fury.
It was certain death to attempt the passage: and the
little wooden footbridge had been carried away long
ago. And the men I was seeking must be, of course, on
the other side of this deluge, for on my side there was
not a single house.
I followed the bank of the flood to the beach, some two
or three hundred yards below; and there had the luck to
see Will Watcombe on the opposite side, caulking an old
boat. Though I could not make him hear a word, from
the deafening roar of the torrent, I got him to
understand at last that I wanted to cross over. Upon
this he fetched another man, and the two of them
launched a boat; and paddling well out to sea, fetched
round the mouth of the frantic river. The other man
proved to be Stickles's chief mate; and so he went back
and fetched his comrades, bringing their weapons, but
leaving their horses behind. As it happened there were
but four of them; however, to have even these was a
help; and I started again at full speed for my home;
for the men must follow afoot, and cross our river high
up on the moorland.
This took them a long way round, and the track was
rather bad to find, and the sky already darkening; so
that I arrived at Plover's Barrows more than two hours
before them. But they had done a sagacious thing,
which was well worth the delay; for by hoisting their
flag upon the hill, they fetched the two watchmen from
the Foreland, and added them to their number.
It was lucky that I came home so soon; for I found the
house in a great commotion, and all the women
trembling. When I asked what the matter was, Lorna,
who seemed the most self-possessed, answered that it
was all her fault, for she alone had frightened them.
And this in the following manner. She had stolen out
to the garden towards dusk, to watch some favourite
hyacinths just pushing up, like a baby's teeth, and
just attracting the fatal notice of a great house-snail
at night-time. Lorna at last had discovered the
glutton, and was bearing him off in triumph to the
tribunal of the ducks, when she descried two glittering
eyes glaring at her steadfastly, from the elder-bush
beyond the stream. The elder was smoothing its
wrinkled leaves, being at least two months behind time;
and among them this calm cruel face appeared; and she
knew it was the face of Carver Doone.
The maiden, although so used to terror (as she told me
once before), lost all presence of mind hereat, and
could neither shriek nor fly, but only gaze, as if
bewitched. Then Carver Doone, with his deadly smile,
gloating upon her horror, lifted his long gun, and
pointed full at Lorna's heart. In vain she strove to
turn away; fright had stricken her stiff as stone.
With the inborn love of life, she tried to cover the
vital part wherein the winged death must lodge--for she
knew Carver's certain aim--but her hands hung numbed,
and heavy; in nothing but her eyes was life.
With no sign of pity in his face, no quiver of
relenting, but a well-pleased grin at all the charming
palsy of his victim, Carver Doone lowered, inch by
inch, the muzzle of his gun. When it pointed to the
ground, between her delicate arched insteps, he pulled
the trigger, and the bullet flung the mould all over
her. It was a refinement of bullying, for which I
swore to God that night, upon my knees, in secret, that
I would smite down Carver Doone or else he should smite
me down. Base beast! what largest humanity, or what
dreams of divinity, could make a man put up with this?
My darling (the loveliest, and most harmless, in the
world of maidens), fell away on a bank of grass, and
wept at her own cowardice; and trembled, and wondered
where I was; and what I would think of this. Good God!
What could I think of it? She over-rated my slow
nature, to admit the question.
While she leaned there, quite unable yet to save
herself, Carver came to the brink of the flood, which
alone was between them; and then he stroked his
jet-black beard, and waited for Lorna to begin. Very
likely, be thought that she would thank him for his
kindness to her. But she was now recovering the power
of her nimble limbs; and ready to be off like hope, and
wonder at her own cowardice.
'I have spared you this time,' he said, in his deep
calm voice, 'only because it suits my plans; and I
never yield to temper. But unless you come back
to-morrow, pure, and with all you took away, and teach
me to destroy that fool, who has destroyed himself for
you, your death is here, your death is here, where it
has long been waiting.'
Although his gun was empty, he struck the breech of it
with his finger; and then he turned away, not deigning
even once to look back again; and Lorna saw his giant
figure striding across the meadow-land, as if the Ridds
were nobodies, and he the proper owner. Both mother
and I were greatly hurt at hearing of this insolence:
for we had owned that meadow, from the time of the
great Alfred; and even when that good king lay in the
Isle of Athelney, he had a Ridd along with him.
Now I spoke to Lorna gently, seeing how much she had
been tried; and I praised her for her courage, in not
having run away, when she was so unable; and my darling
was pleased with this, and smiled upon me for saying
it; though she knew right well that, in this matter, my
judgment was not impartial. But you may take this as a
general rule, that a woman likes praise from the man
whom she loves, and cannot stop always to balance it.
Now expecting a sharp attack that night--when Jeremy
Stickles the more expected, after the words of Carver,
which seemed to be meant to mislead us--we prepared a
great quantity of knuckles of pork, and a ham in full
cut, and a fillet of hung mutton. For we would almost
surrender rather than keep our garrison hungry. And
all our men were exceedingly brave; and counted their
rounds of the house in half-pints.
Before the maidens went to bed, Lorna made a remark
which seemed to me a very clever one, and then I
wondered how on earth it had never occurred to me
before. But first she had done a thing which I could
not in the least approve of: for she had gone up to my
mother, and thrown herself into her arms, and begged to
be allowed to return to Glen Doone.
'My child, are you unhappy here?' mother asked her,
very gently, for she had begun to regard her now as a
daughter of her own.
'Oh, no! Too happy, by far too happy, Mrs. Ridd. I
never knew rest or peace before, or met with real
kindness. But I cannot be so ungrateful, I cannot be
so wicked, as to bring you all into deadly peril, for
my sake alone. Let me go: you must not pay this great
price for my happiness.'
'Dear child, we are paying no price at all,' replied my
mother, embracing her; 'we are not threatened for your
sake only. Ask John, he will tell you. He knows every
bit about politics, and this is a political matter.'
Dear mother was rather proud in her heart, as well as
terribly frightened, at the importance now accruing to
Plover's Barrows farm; and she often declared that it
would be as famous in history as the Rye House, or the
Meal-tub, or even the great black box, in which she was
a firm believer: and even my knowledge of politics
could not move her upon that matter. 'Such things had
happened before,' she would say, shaking her head with
its wisdom, 'and why might they not happen again?
Women would be women, and men would be men, to the end
of the chapter; and if she had been in Lucy Water's
place, she would keep it quiet, as she had done'; and
then she would look round, for fear, lest either of her
daughters had heard her; 'but now, can you give me any
reason, why it may not have been so? You are so
fearfully positive, John: just as men always are.'
'No,' I used to say; 'I can give you no reason, why it
may not have been so, mother. But the question is, if
it was so, or not; rather than what it might have been.
And, I think, it is pretty good proof against it, that
what nine men of every ten in England would only too
gladly believe, if true, is nevertheless kept dark from
them.' 'There you are again, John,' mother would reply,
'all about men, and not a single word about women. If
you had any argument at all, you would own that
marriage is a question upon which women are the best
judges.' 'Oh!' I would groan in my spirit, and go;
leaving my dearest mother quite sure, that now at last
she must have convinced me. But if mother had known
that Jeremy Stickles was working against the black box,
and its issue, I doubt whether he would have fared so
well, even though he was a visitor. However, she knew
that something was doing and something of importance;
and she trusted in God for the rest of it. Only she
used te tell me, very seriously, of an evening, 'The
very least they can give you, dear John, is a coat of
arms. Be sure you take nothing less, dear; and the
farm can well support it.'
But lo! I have left Lorna ever so long, anxious to
consult me upon political matters. She came to me, and
her eyes alone asked a hundred questions, which I
rather had answered upon her lips than troubled her
pretty ears with them. Therefore I told her nothing at
all, save that the attack (if any should be) would not
be made on her account; and that if she should hear, by
any chance, a trifle of a noise in the night, she was
to wrap the clothes around her, and shut her beautiful
eyes again. On no account, whatever she did, was she
to go to the window. She liked my expression about her
eyes, and promised to do the very best she could and
then she crept so very close, that I needs must have
her closer; and with her head on my breast she asked,--
'Can't you keep out of this fight, John?'
'My own one,' I answered, gazing through the long black
lashes, at the depths of radiant love; 'I believe there
will be nothing: but what there is I must see out.'
'Shall I tell you what I think, John? It is only a
fancy of mine, and perhaps it is not worth telling.'
'Let us have it, dear, by all means. You know so much
about their ways.'
'What I believe is this, John. You know how high the
rivers are, higher than ever they were before, and
twice as high, you have told me. I believe that Glen
Doone is flooded, and all the houses under water.'
'You little witch,' I answered; 'what a fool I must be
not to think of it! Of course it is: it must be. The
torrent from all the Bagworthy forest, and all the
valleys above it, and the great drifts in the glen
itself, never could have outlet down my famous
waterslide. The valley must be under water twenty feet
at least. Well, if ever there was a fool, I am he,
for not having thought of it.'
'I remember once before,' said Lorna, reckoning on her
fingers, 'when there was heavy rain, all through the
autumn and winter, five or it may be six years ago, the
river came down with such a rush that the water was two
feet deep in our rooms, and we all had to camp by the
cliff-edge. But you think that the floods are higher
now, I believe I heard you say, John.'
'I don't think about it, my treasure,' I answered; 'you
may trust me for understanding floods, after our work
at Tiverton. And I know that the deluge in all our
valleys is such that no living man can remember,
neither will ever behold again. Consider three months
of snow, snow, snow, and a fortnight of rain on the top
of it, and all to be drained in a few days away! And
great barricades of ice still in the rivers blocking
them up, and ponding them. You may take my word for
it, Mistress Lorna, that your pretty bower is six feet
deep.'
'Well, my bower has served its time', said Lorna,
blushing as she remembered all that had happened there;
'and my bower now is here, John. But I am so sorry to
think of all the poor women flooded out of their houses
and sheltering in the snowdrifts. However, there is
one good of it: they cannot send many men against us,
with all this trouble upon them.'
'You are right,' I replied; 'how clever you are! and
that is why there were only three to cut off Master
Stickles. And now we shall beat them, I make no doubt,
even if they come at all. And I defy them to fire the
house: the thatch is too wet for burning.'
We sent all the women to bed quite early, except Gwenny
Carfax and our old Betty. These two we allowed to stay
up, because they might be useful to us, if they could
keep from quarreling. For my part, I had little fear,
after what Lorna had told me, as to the result of the
combat. It was not likely that the Doones could bring
more than eight or ten men against us, while their
homes were in such danger: and to meet these we had
eight good men, including Jeremy, and myself, all well
armed and resolute, besides our three farm-servants,
and the parish-clerk, and the shoemaker. These five
could not be trusted much for any valiant conduct,
although they spoke very confidently over their cans of
cider. Neither were their weapons fitted for much
execution, unless it were at close quarters, which they
would be likely to avoid. Bill Dadds had a sickle, Jem
Slocombe a flail, the cobbler had borrowed the
constable's staff (for the constable would not attend,
because there was no warrant), and the parish clerk had
brought his pitch-pipe, which was enough to break any
man's head. But John Fry, of course, had his
blunderbuss, loaded with tin-tacks and marbles, and
more likely to kill the man who discharged it than any
other person: but we knew that John had it only for
show, and to describe its qualities.
Now it was my great desire, and my chiefest hope, to
come across Carver Doone that night, and settle the
score between us; not by any shot in the dark, but by a
conflict man to man. As yet, since I came to
full-grown power, I had never met any one whom I could
not play teetotum with: but now at last I had found a
man whose strength was not to be laughed at. I could
guess it in his face, I could tell it in his arms, I
could see it in his stride and gait, which more than
all the rest betray the substance of a man. And being
so well used to wrestling, and to judge antagonists, I
felt that here (if anywhere) I had found my match.
Therefore I was not content to abide within the house,
or go the rounds with the troopers; but betook myself
to the rick yard, knowing that the Doones were likely
to begin their onset there. For they had a pleasant
custom, when they visited farm-houses, of lighting
themselves towards picking up anything they wanted, or
stabbing the inhabitants, by first creating a blaze in
the rick yard. And though our ricks were all now of
mere straw (except indeed two of prime clover-hay), and
although on the top they were so wet that no firebrands
might hurt them; I was both unwilling to have them
burned, and fearful that they might kindle, if well
roused up with fire upon the windward side.
By the bye, these Doones had got the worst of this
pleasant trick one time. For happening to fire the
ricks of a lonely farm called Yeanworthy, not far above
Glenthorne, they approached the house to get people's
goods, and to enjoy their terror. The master of the
farm was lately dead, and had left, inside the
clock-case, loaded, the great long gun, wherewith he
had used to sport at the ducks and the geese on the
shore. Now Widow Fisher took out this gun, and not
caring much what became of her (for she had loved her
husband dearly), she laid it upon the window-sill,
which looked upon the rick-yard; and she backed up the
butt with a chest of oak drawers, and she opened the
window a little back, and let the muzzle out on the
slope. Presently five or six fine young Doones came
dancing a reel (as their manner was) betwixt her and
the flaming rick. Upon which she pulled the trigger
with all the force of her thumb, and a quarter of a
pound of duck-shot went out with a blaze on the
dancers. You may suppose what their dancing was, and
their reeling how changed to staggering, and their
music none of the sweetest. One of them fell into the
rick, and was burned, and buried in a ditch next day;
but the others were set upon their horses, and carried
home on a path of blood. And strange to say, they
never avenged this very dreadful injury; but having
heard that a woman had fired this desperate shot among
them, they said that she ought to be a Doone, and
inquired how old she was.
Now I had not been so very long waiting in our
mow-yard, with my best gun ready, and a big club by me,
before a heaviness of sleep began to creep upon me.
The flow of water was in my ears, and in my eyes a hazy
spreading, and upon my brain a closure, as a cobbler
sews a vamp up. So I leaned back in the clover-rick,
and the dust of the seed and the smell came round me,
without any trouble; and I dozed about Lorna, just once
or twice, and what she had said about new-mown hay; and
then back went my head, and my chin went up; and if
ever a man was blest with slumber, down it came upon
me, and away went I into it.
Now this was very vile of me, and against all good
resolutions, even such as I would have sworn to an hour
ago or less. But if you had been in the water as I
had, ay, and had long fight with it, after a good day's
work, and then great anxiety afterwards, and brain-work
(which is not fair for me), and upon that a stout
supper, mayhap you would not be so hard on my sleep;
though you felt it your duty to wake me.
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