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CHAPTER LXV
FALLING AMONG LAMBS
That faithful creature, whom I began to admire as if
she were my own (which is no little thing for a man to
say of another man's horse), stopped in front of a low
black shed, such as we call a 'linhay.' And here she
uttered a little greeting, in a subdued and softened
voice, hoping to obtain an answer, such as her master
was wont to give in a cheery manner. Receiving no
reply, she entered; and I (who could scarce keep up
with her, poor Kickums being weary) leaped from his
back, and followed. There I found her sniffing gently,
but with great emotion, at the body of Tom Faggus. A
corpse poor Tom appeared to be, if ever there was one
in this world; and I turned away, and felt unable to
keep altogether from weeping. But the mare either
could not understand, or else would not believe it.
She reached her long neck forth, and felt him with her
under lip, passing it over his skin as softly as a
mother would do to an infant; and then she looked up at
me again; as much as to say, 'he is all right.'
Upon this I took courage, and handled poor Tom, which
being young I had feared at first to do. He groaned
very feebly, as I raised him up; and there was the
wound, a great savage one (whether from pike-thrust or
musket-ball), gaping and welling in his right side,
from which a piece seemed to be torn away. I bound it
up with some of my linen, so far as I knew how; just to
stanch the flow of blood, until we could get a doctor.
Then I gave him a little weak brandy and water, which
he drank with the greatest eagerness, and made sign to
me for more of it. But not knowing how far it was
right to give cordial under the circumstances, I handed
him unmixed water that time; thinking that he was too
far gone to perceive the difference. But herein I
wrong Tom Faggus; for he shook his head and frowned at
me. Even at the door of death, he would not drink what
Adam drank, by whom came death into the world. So I
gave him a little more eau-de-vie, and he took it most
submissively.
After that he seemed better, and a little colour came
into his cheeks; and he looked at Winnie and knew her;
and would have her nose in his clammy hand, though I
thought it not good for either of them. With the stay
of my arm he sat upright, and faintly looked about him;
as if at the end of a violent dream, too much for his
power of mind. Then he managed to whisper, 'Is Winnie
hurt?'
'As sound as a roach,' I answered. 'Then so am I,'
said he: 'put me upon her back, John; she and I die
together.'
Surprised as I was at this fatalism (for so it appeared
to me), of which he had often shown symptoms before
(but I took them for mere levity), now I knew not what
to do; for it seemed to me a murderous thing to set
such a man on horseback; where he must surely bleed to
death, even if he could keep the saddle. But he told
me, with many breaks and pauses, that unless I obeyed
his orders, he would tear off all my bandages, and
accept no further aid from me.
While I was yet hesitating, a storm of horse at full
gallop went by, tearing, swearing, bearing away all the
country before them. Only a little pollard hedge kept
us from their blood-shot eyes. 'Now is the time,'
said my cousin Tom, so far as I could make out his
words; on their heels, I am safe, John, if I have only
Winnie under me. Winnie and I die together.'
Seeing this strong bent of his mind, stronger than any
pains of death, I even did what his feeble eyes
sometimes implored, and sometimes commanded. With a
strong sash, from his own hot neck, bound and twisted,
tight as wax, around his damaged waist, I set him upon
Winnie's back, and placed his trembling feet in
stirrups, with a band from one to another, under the
good mare's body; so that no swerve could throw him
out: and then I said, 'Lean forward, Tom; it will stop
your hurt from bleeding.' He leaned almost on the neck
of the mare, which, as I knew, must close the wound;
and the light of his eyes was quite different, and the
pain of his forehead unstrung itself, as if he felt the
undulous readiness of her volatile paces under him.
'God bless you, John; I am safe,' he whispered, fearing
to open his lungs much: 'who can come near my Winnie
mare? A mile of her gallop is ten years of life. Look
out for yourself, John Ridd.' He sucked his lips, and
the mare went off, as easy and swift as a swallow.
'Well,' thought I, as l looked at Kickums, ignobly
cropping up a bit of grass, 'I have done a very good
thing, no doubt, and ought to be thankful to God for
the chance. But as for getting away unharmed, with all
these scoundrels about me, and only a foundered horse
to trust in--good and spiteful as he is--upon the
whole, I begin to think that I have made a fool of
myself, according to my habit. No wonder Tom said,
"Look out for yourself!" I shall look out from a prison
window, or perhaps even out of a halter. And then,
what will Lorna think of me?'
Being in this wistful mood, I resolved to abide awhile,
even where fate had thrown me; for my horse required
good rest no doubt, and was taking it even while he
cropped, with his hind legs far away stretched out, and
his forelegs gathered under him, and his muzzle on the
mole-hills; so that he had five supportings from his
mother earth. Moreover, the linhay itself was full of
very ancient cow dung; than which there is no balmier
and more maiden soporific. Hence I resolved, upon the
whole, though grieving about breakfast, to light a
pipe, and go to sleep; or at least until the hot sun
should arouse the flies.
I may have slept three hours, or four, or it might be
even five--for I never counted time, while
sleeping--when a shaking more rude than the old
landlady's, brought me back to the world again. I
looked up, with a mighty yawn; and saw twenty, or so,
of foot-soldiers.
'This linhay is not yours,' I said, when they had quite
aroused me, with tongue, and hand, and even
sword-prick: 'what business have you here, good
fellows?'
'Business bad for you,' said one, 'and will lead you to
the gallows.'
'Do you wish to know the way out again?' I asked, very
quietly, as being no braggadocio.
'We will show thee the way out,' said one, 'and the way
out of the world,' said another: 'but not the way to
heaven,' said one chap, most unlikely to know it: and
thereupon they all fell wagging, like a bed of clover
leaves in the morning, at their own choice humour.
'Will you pile your arms outside,' I said, 'and try a
bit of fair play with me?'
For I disliked these men sincerely, and was fain to
teach them a lesson; they were so unchristian in
appearance, having faces of a coffee colour, and dirty
beards half over them. Moreover their dress was
outrageous, and their address still worse. However, I
had wiser let them alone, as will appear afterwards.
These savage-looking fellows laughed at the idea of my
having any chance against some twenty of them: but I
knew that the place was in my favour; for my part of it
had been fenced off (for weaning a calf most likely),
so that only two could come at me at once; and I must
be very much out of training, if I could not manage two
of them. Therefore I laid aside my carbine, and the
two horse-pistols; and they with many coarse jokes at
me went a little way outside, and set their weapons
against the wall, and turned up their coat sleeves
jauntily; and then began to hesitate.
'Go you first, Bob,' I heard them say: 'you are the
biggest man of us; and Dick the wrestler along of you.
Us will back you up, boy.'
'I'll warrant I'll draw the badger,' said Bob; 'and not
a tooth will I leave him. But mind, for the honour of
Kirke's lambs, every man stands me a glass of gin.'
Then he, and another man, made a rush, and the others
came double-quick-march on their heels. But as Bob ran
at me most stupidly, not even knowing how to place his
hands, I caught him with my knuckles at the back of his
neck, and with all the sway of my right arm sent him
over the heads of his comrades. Meanwhile Dick the
wrestler had grappled me, expecting to show off his
art, of which indeed he had some small knowledge; but
being quite of the light-weights, in a second he was
flying after his companion Bob.
Now these two men were hurt so badly, the light one
having knocked his head against the lintel of the outer
gate, that the rest had no desire to encounter the like
misfortune. So they hung back whispering; and before
they had made up their minds, I rushed into the midst
of them. The suddenness and the weight of my onset
took them wholly by surprise; and for once in their
lives, perhaps, Kirke's lambs were worthy of their
name. Like a flock of sheep at a dog's attack they
fell away, hustling one another, and my only difficulty
was not to tumble over them.
I had taken my carbine out with me, having a fondness
for it; but the two horse-pistols I left behind; and
therefore felt good title to take two from the magazine
of the lambs. And with these, and my carbine, I leaped
upon Kickums, who was now quite glad of a gallop again;
and I bade adieu to that mongrel lot; yet they had the
meanness to shoot at me. Thanking God for my
deliverance (inasmuch as those men would have strung me
up, from a pollard-ash without trial, as I heard them
tell one another, and saw the tree they had settled
upon), I ventured to go rather fast on my way, with
doubt and uneasiness urging me. And now my way was
home again. Nobody could say but what I had done my
duty, and rescued Tom (if he could be rescued) from the
mischief into which his own perverseness and love of
change (rather than deep religious convictions, to
which our Annie ascribed his outbreak) had led, or
seemed likely to lead him. And how proud would my
mother be; and--ah well, there was nobody else to be
proud of me now.
But while thinking these things, and desiring my
breakfast, beyond any power of describing, and even
beyond my remembrance, I fell into another fold of
lambs, from which there was no exit. These, like true
crusaders, met me, swaggering very heartily, and with
their barrels of cider set, like so many cannon, across
the road, over against a small hostel.
'We have won the victory, my lord King, and we mean to
enjoy it. Down from thy horse, and have a stoup of
cider, thou big rebel.'
'No rebel am I. My name is John Ridd. I belong to the
side of the King: and I want some breakfast.'
These fellows were truly hospitable; that much will I
say for them. Being accustomed to Arab ways, they
could toss a grill, or fritter, or the inner meaning of
an egg, into any form they pleased, comely and very
good to eat; and it led me to think of Annie. So I
made the rarest breakfast any man might hope for, after
all his troubles; and getting on with these brown
fellows better than could be expected, I craved
permission to light a pipe, if not disagreeable.
Hearing this, they roared at me, with a superior
laughter, and asked me, whether or not, I knew the
tobacco-leaf from the chick-weed; and when I was forced
to answer no, not having gone into the subject, but
being content with anything brown, they clapped me on
the back and swore they had never seen any one like me.
Upon the whole this pleased me much; for I do not wish
to be taken always as of the common pattern: and so we
smoked admirable tobacco--for they would not have any
of mine, though very courteous concerning it--and I was
beginning to understand a little of what they told me;
when up came those confounded lambs, who had shown more
tail than head to me, in the linhay, as I mentioned.
Now these men upset everything. Having been among
wrestlers so much as my duty compelled me to be, and
having learned the necessity of the rest which follows
the conflict, and the right of discussion which all
people have to pay their sixpence to enter; and how
they obtrude this right, and their wisdom, upon the man
who has laboured, until he forgets all the work he did,
and begins to think that they did it; having some
knowledge of this sort of thing, and the flux of minds
swimming in liquor, I foresaw a brawl, as plainly as if
it were Bear Street in Barnstaple.
And a brawl there was, without any error, except of the
men who hit their friends, and those who defended their
enemies. My partners in breakfast and beer-can swore
that I was no prisoner, but the best and most loyal
subject, and the finest-hearted fellow they had ever
the luck to meet with. Whereas the men from the linhay
swore that I was a rebel miscreant; and have me they
would, with a rope's-end ready, in spite of every
[violent language] who had got drunk at my expense, and
been misled by my [strong word] lies.
While this fight was going on (and its mere occurrence
shows, perhaps, that my conversation in those days was
not entirely despicable--else why should my new friends
fight for me, when I had paid for the ale, and
therefore won the wrong tense of gratitude?) it was in
my power at any moment to take horse and go. And this
would have been my wisest plan, and a very great saving
of money; but somehow I felt as if it would be a mean
thing to slip off so. Even while I was hesitating, and
the men were breaking each other's heads, a superior
officer rode up, with his sword drawn, and his face on
fire.
'What, my lambs, my lambs!' he cried, smiting with the
flat of his sword; 'is this how you waste my time and
my purse, when you ought to be catching a hundred
prisoners, worth ten pounds apiece to me? Who is this
young fellow we have here? Speak up, sirrah; what art
thou, and how much will thy good mother pay for thee?'
'My mother will pay naught for me,' I answered; while
the lambs fell back, and glowered at one another: 'so
please your worship, I am no rebel; but an honest
farmer, and well-proved of loyalty.'
'Ha, ha; a farmer art thou? Those fellows always pay
the best. Good farmer, come to yon barren tree; thou
shalt make it fruitful.'
Colonel Kirke made a sign to his men, and before I
could think of resistance, stout new ropes were flung
around me; and with three men on either side I was led
along very painfully. And now I saw, and repented
deeply of my careless folly, in stopping with those
boon-companions, instead of being far away. But the
newness of their manners to me, and their mode of
regarding the world (differing so much from mine own),
as well as the flavour of their tobacco, had made me
quite forget my duty to the farm and to myself. Yet
methought they would be tender to me, after all our
speeches: how then was I disappointed, when the men who
had drunk my beer, drew on those grievous ropes, twice
as hard as the men I had been at strife with! Yet this
may have been from no ill will; but simply that having
fallen under suspicion of laxity, they were compelled,
in self-defence, now to be over-zealous.
Nevertheless, however pure and godly might be their
motives, I beheld myself in a grievous case, and likely
to get the worst of it. For the face of the Colonel
was hard and stern as a block of bogwood oak; and
though the men might pity me and think me unjustly
executed, yet they must obey their orders, or
themselves be put to death. Therefore I addressed
myself to the Colonel, in a most ingratiating manner;
begging him not to sully the glory of his victory, and
dwelling upon my pure innocence, and even good service
to our lord the King. But Colonel Kirke only gave
command that I should be smitten in the mouth; which
office Bob, whom I had flung so hard out of the linhay,
performed with great zeal and efficiency. But being
aware of the coming smack, I thrust forth a pair of
teeth; upon which the knuckles of my good friend made a
melancholy shipwreck.
It is not in my power to tell half the thoughts that
moved me, when we came to the fatal tree, and saw two
men hanging there already, as innocent perhaps as I
was, and henceforth entirely harmless. Though ordered
by the Colonel to look steadfastly upon them, I could
not bear to do so; upon which he called me a paltry
coward, and promised my breeches to any man who would
spit upon my countenance. This vile thing Bob, being
angered perhaps by the smarting wound of his knuckles,
bravely stepped forward to do for me, trusting no doubt
to the rope I was led with. But, unluckily as it
proved for him, my right arm was free for a moment; and
therewith I dealt him such a blow, that he never spake
again. For this thing I have often grieved; but the
provocation was very sore to the pride of a young man;
and I trust that God has forgiven me. At the sound
and sight of that bitter stroke, the other men drew
back; and Colonel Kirke, now black in the face with
fury and vexation, gave orders for to shoot me, and
cast me into the ditch hard by. The men raised their
pieces, and pointed at me, waiting for the word to
fire; and I, being quite overcome by the hurry of these
events, and quite unprepared to die yet, could only
think all upside down about Lorna, and my mother, and
wonder what each would say to it. I spread my hands
before my eyes, not being so brave as some men; and
hoping, in some foolish way, to cover my heart with my
elbows. I heard the breath of all around, as if my
skull were a sounding-board; and knew even how the
different men were fingering their triggers. And a
cold sweat broke all over me, as the Colonel,
prolonging his enjoyment, began slowly to say, 'Fire.'
But while he was yet dwelling on the 'F,' the hoofs of
a horse dashed out on the road, and horse and horseman
flung themselves betwixt me and the gun muzzles. So
narrowly was I saved that one man could not check his
trigger: his musket went off, and the ball struck the
horse on the withers, and scared him exceedingly. He
began to lash out with his heels all around, and the
Colonel was glad to keep clear of him; and the men made
excuse to lower their guns, not really wishing to shoot
me.
'How now, Captain Stickles?' cried Kirke, the more
angry because he had shown his cowardice; 'dare you,
sir, to come betwixt me and my lawful prisoner?'
'Nay, hearken one moment, Colonel,' replied my old
friend Jeremy; and his damaged voice was the sweetest
sound I had heard for many a day; 'for your own sake,
hearken.' He looked so full of momentous tidings, that
Colonel Kirke made a sign to his men not to shoot me
till further orders; and then he went aside with
Stickles, so that in spite of all my anxiety I could
not catch what passed between them. But I fancied that
the name of the Lord Chief-Justice Jeffreys was spoken
more than once, and with emphasis and deference.
'Then I leave him in your hands, Captain Stickles,'
said Kirke at last, so that all might hear him; and
though the news was good for me, the smile of baffled
malice made his dark face look most hideous; 'and I
shall hold you answerable for the custody of this
prisoner.'
'Colonel Kirke, I will answer for him,' Master Stickles
replied, with a grave bow, and one hand on his breast:
'John Ridd, you are my prisoner. Follow me, John
Ridd.'
Upon that, those precious lambs flocked away, leaving
the rope still around me; and some were glad, and some
were sorry, not to see me swinging. Being free of my
arms again, I touched my hat to Colonel Kirke, as
became his rank and experience; but he did not
condescend to return my short salutation, having espied
in the distance a prisoner, out of whom he might make
money.
I wrung the hand of Jeremy Stickles, for his truth and
goodness; and he almost wept (for since his wound he
had been a weakened man) as he answered, 'Turn for
turn, John. You saved my life from the Doones; and by
the mercy of God, I have saved you from a far worse
company. Let your sister Annie know it.'
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