Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War Page 4

  CHAPTER IV.

  BREAKING PRISON.

  Harry's place of confinement was a cell leading off a guardroom of theTrain Bands. Occasionally the door was left open, as some five or sixmen were always there, and Harry could see through the open door thecitizens of London training at arms. Several preachers were in the habitof coming each day to discourse to those on guard, and so while away thetime, and upon these occasions the door was generally left open, inorder that the prisoner might be edified by the sermons. Upon oneoccasion the preacher, a small, sallow-visaged man, looked into the cellat the termination of his discourse, and seeing Harry asleep on histruckle bed, awoke him, and lectured him severely on the wickedness ofallowing such precious opportunities to pass. After this he made a pointof coming in each day when he had addressed the guard, and of offeringup a long and very tedious prayer on behalf of the young reprobate.These preachings and prayings nearly drove Harry out of his mind.Confinement was bad enough; but confinement tempered by a course ofcontinual sermons, delivered mostly through the nose, was a terribleinfliction. At last the thought presented itself to him that he mightmanage to effect his escape in the garb of the preacher. He thought thedetails over and over in his mind, and at last determined at any rate toattempt to carry them into execution.

  One day he noticed, when the door opened for the entry of the preacher,that a parade of unusual magnitude was being held in the drill yard,some officer of importance having come down to inspect the Train Band.There were but four men left in the guardroom and these were occupied ingazing out of the window. The preacher came direct into the cell, as hisaudience in the guardroom for once were not disposed to listen to him,and shutting the door behind him, he addressed a few words ofexhortation to Harry, and then, closing his eyes, began a long prayer.When he was fairly under way, Harry sprang upon him, grasping him by thethroat with both hands, and forced him back upon the bed. The littlepreacher was too much surprised to offer the smallest resistance, andHarry, who had drawn out the cords used in supporting the sacking of thebed, bound him hand and foot, keeping, while he did so, the pillowacross his face, and his weight on the top of the pillow, thereby nearlyputting a stop to the preacher's prayers and exhortations for all time.Having safely bound him, and finding that he did not struggle in theleast, Harry removed the pillow, and was horrified to see his prisonerblack in the face. He had, however, no time for regret or inquiry howfar the man had gone, and stuffing a handkerchief into his mouth, toprevent his giving any alarm should he recover breath enough to do so,Harry placed his high steeple hat upon his head, his Geneva bands roundhis throat, and his long black mantle over his shoulders. He then openedthe door and walked quietly forth. The guards were too much occupiedwith the proceedings in the parade ground to do more than glance round,as the apparent preacher departed. Harry strode with a long and verystiff step, and with his figure bolt upright, to the gate of the paradeground, and then passing through the crowd who were standing theregaping at the proceedings within, he issued forth a free man.

  For awhile he walked at a brisk pace, and then, feeling secure frompursuit, slackened his speed; keeping westward through the city, hepassed along the Strand and out into the country beyond. He wore hisbeaver well down over his eyes, and walked with his head down as ifmeditating deeply, in order to prevent any passers-by from observing theyouthfulness of his face. When he arrived at the village of Chelsea, hesaw, in front of a gentleman's house, a horse hitched up to a hookplaced there for that purpose. Conceiving that for a long journey fourlegs are much more useful than two, and that when he got beyond theconfines of London he should attract less suspicion upon a horse than ifstriding alone along the road, he took the liberty of mounting it andriding off. When he had gone a short distance he heard loud shouts; butthinking these in no way to concern him, he rode on the faster, and wassoon beyond the sound of the voices. He now took a northerly direction,traveled through Kensington, and then keeping east of Acton, where heknew that some Parliament troops were quartered, he rode for the villageof Harrow. He was aware that the Royalists had fallen back to Oxford,and that the Parliament troops were at Reading. He therefore made to thenorthwest, intending to circuit round and so reach Oxford. He did notventure to go to an inn, for although, as a rule, the keepers of theseplaces were, being jovial men, in no way affected toward the Commons,yet he feared meeting there persons who might question and detain him.He obtained some provision at a small village shop, in which he saw abuxom woman standing behind her counter. She appeared vastly surprisedwhen he entered and asked for a manchet of bread, for the contrastbetween his ruddy countenance and his Puritan hat and bands was sostriking that they could not fail to be noticed. The good woman lookedindeed too astonished to be able to attend to Harry's request, and hewas obliged to say, "Mother, time presses, and I care not to be caughtloitering here."

  Divining at once that he was acting a part, and probably endeavoring toescape the pursuit of the Commons, the good woman at once served himwith bread and some slices of ham, and putting these in the wallets ofthe saddle, he rode on.

  The next morning, in riding through the village of Wickham, his careerwas nearly arrested. Just as he passed a sergeant followed by three orfour Parliament soldiers came out from an inn, and seeing Harry ridingpast, addressed him:

  "Sir, will it please you to alight, and to offer up a few words ofexhortation and prayer?"

  Harry muttered something about pressing business. But in his suddensurprise he had not time to think of assuming either the nasal drone orthe scriptural words peculiar to these black-coated gentry. Struck byhis tone, the sergeant sprang forward and seized his bridle.

  "Whom have we here?" he said; "a lad masquerading in the dress of apreacher. This must be explained, young sir."

  "Sergeant," Harry said, "I doubt not that thou art a good fellow, andnot one to get a lad in a scrape. I am the son of a London citizen; buthe and my mother are at present greatly more occupied with the state oftheir souls than with the carrying on of their carnal business. Beingyoung, the constant offering up of prayers and exhortations has vexed mealmost to desperation, and yesterday, while the good preacher whoattends then was in the midst of the third hour of his discourse I stoledownstairs, and borrowing his hat and cloak, together with his horse,determined to set out to join my uncle, who is a farmer down inGloucestershire, and where in sooth the companionship of hisdaughters--girls of my own age--suits my disposition greatly better thanthat of the excellent men with whom my father consorts."

  The soldiers laughed, and the sergeant, who was not at heart a badfellow, said:

  "I fear, my young sir, that your disposition is a godless one, and thatit would have been far better for you to have remained under theministration of the good man whose hat you are wearing than to havesought the society of your pretty cousins. However, I do not know butthat in the unregenerate days of my own youth I might not have attemptedan escapade like yours. I trust," he continued, "you are not taintedwith the evil doctrines of the adherents of King Charles."

  "In truth," Harry said, "I worry not my head with politics. I hear somuch of them that I am fairly sick of the subject, and have not yetdecided whether the Commons is composed of an assembly of men directlyinspired with power for the regeneration of mankind, or whether KingCharles be a demon in human shape. Methinks that when I grow old enoughto bear arms it will be time enough for me to make up my mind againstwhom to use them. At present, a clothyard is the stick to which I ammost accustomed, and as plows and harrows are greatly more in accordwith my disposition, I hope that for a long time I shall not see theinterior of a shop again; and I trust that the quarrels which havebrought such trouble into this realm, and have well-nigh made my fatherand mother distraught, will at least favor my sojourn in the country,for I am sure that my father will not venture to traverse England forthe sake of bringing me back again."

  "I am not sure," the sergeant said, "that my duty would not be toarrest you and to send you back to London. But as, in truth, I have noinstructi
ons to hinder travelers, I must even let you go."

  With a merry farewell to the group, and a laugh far more in accordancewith his years than with the costume which he wore, Harry set spurs tohis horse and again rode forward.

  He met with no further adventure on the road. When he found by inquiriesthat he had passed the outposts of the Parliament forces, he joyfullythrew the hat, the bands, and cloak into a ditch, for experience hadtaught him that, however useful as a passport they might be while stillwithin the lines of the troops of the Commons, they would be likely toprocure him but scant welcome when he entered those of the Royalists.Round Oxford the royal army were encamped, and Harry speedily discoveredthat his father was with his troop at his own place. Turning his headagain eastward, he rode to Abingdon, and quickly afterward was at thehall.

  The shout of welcome which the servitor who opened the door uttered whenhe saw him speedily brought his father to the entrance, and Sir Henrywas overjoyed at seeing the son whom he believed to be in confinement inLondon. Harry's tale was soon told, and the colonel roared with laughterat the thought of his boy masquerading as a Puritan preacher.

  "King Charles himself," he said, "might smile over your story, Harry;and in faith it takes a great deal to call up a smile into his majesty'sface, which is, methinks a pity, for he would be more loved, and notless respected, did he, by his appearance and manner, do something toraise the spirits of those around him."

  When once seated in the hall Harry inquired of his father what progresshad been made since he was taken prisoner, for he had heard nothing fromhis guards.

  "Things are as they were," his father said. "After our unfortunateadvance we fell back hither, and for six weeks nothing was done. Afortnight since, on the 2d of January, a petition was brought bydeputies from the Common Council of London, asking the king to return tothe capital when all disturbance should be suppressed. King Charles,however, knew not that these gentlemen had the power to carry out theirpromises seeing that the seditious have the upper hand in the capital,and answered them to that effect. His answer was, however, methinks, farless conciliatory and prudent than it might have been, for it boots notto stir up men's minds unnecessarily, and with a few affectionate wordsthe king might have strengthened his party in London. The result,however, was to lead to a fierce debate, in which Pym and LordManchester addressed the multitude, and stirred them up to indignation,and I fear that prospects of peace are further away than ever. In otherrespects there is good and bad news. Yorkshire and Cheshire, Devon andCornwall, have all declared for the crown; but upon the other hand, inthe east the prospects are most gloomy. There, the seven counties,Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Herts, Lincoln, and Huntingdon, havejoined themselves into an association, and the king's followers dare notlift their heads. At Lichfield, Lord Brook, a fierce opponent of bishopsand cathedrals, while besieging a party of Cavaliers who had takenpossession of the close, was shot in the eye and killed. These are theonly incidents that have taken place."

  For some weeks no event of importance occurred. On the 22d of Februarythe queen, who had been absent on the Continent selling her jewels andendeavoring to raise a force, landed at Burlington, with four ships,having succeeded in evading the ships of war which the Commons haddispatched to cut her off, under the command of Admiral Batten. Thatnight, however, the Parliament fleet arrived off the place, and openedfire upon the ships and village. The queen was in a house near theshore, and the balls struck in all directions round. She was forced toget up, throw on a few clothes, and retire on foot to some distance fromthe village to the shelter of a ditch, where she sat for two hours, theballs sometimes striking dust over them, and singing round in alldirections. It was a question whether the small force which the queenbrought with her was not rather a hindrance than an assistance to theroyal cause, for the Earl of Newcastle, who had been sent to escort herto York, was authorized by the king to raise men for the service,without examining their consciences, that is to say, to receiveCatholics as well as Protestants. The Parliament took advantage of thisto style his army the Catholic Army, and this, and some tamperings withthe Papists in Ireland, increased the popular belief that the kingleaned toward Roman Catholicism, and thus heightened the feelingsagainst him, and embittered the religious as well as the politicalquarrel.

  Toward the end of March commissioners from the Parliament, under theEarl of Northumberland, came to Oxford with propositions to treat. It isquestionable whether the offers of the Commons were sincere. ButCharles, by his vacillation and hesitation, by yielding one day andretracting the next, gave them the opportunity of asserting, with someshow of reason, that he was wholly insincere, and could not be trusted;and so the commission was recalled, and the war went on again.

  On the 15th of April Parliament formally declared the negotiations to beat an end, and on that day Essex marched with his army to the siege ofReading. The place was fortified, and had a resolute garrison; but bysome gross oversight no provisions or stores had been collected, andafter an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the town, when the Royalistforces failed to carry the bridge at Caversham, they fell back uponWallingford, and Reading surrendered. Meanwhile skirmishes were going onall over the country. Sir William Waller was successful against theRoyalists in the south and west. In the north Lord Newcastle was opposedto Fairfax, and the result was doubtful; while in Cornwall the Royalistshad gained a battle over the Parliament men under Lord Stamford.

  Meanwhile, the king was endeavoring to create a party in the Parliament,and Lady Aubigny was intrusted with the negotiations. The plot was,however, discovered. Several members of Parliament were arrested, andtwo executed by orders of the Parliament.

  Early in June Colonel Furness and his troop were called into Oxford, asit was considered probable that some expeditions would be undertaken,and on the 17th of that month Prince Rupert formed up his horse andsallied out against the outlying pickets and small troops of theParliament. Several of these he surprised and cut up, and on the morningof the 19th reached Chalgrove Field, near Thame. Hampden was in commandof a detachment of Parliamentary troops in this neighborhood, andsending word to Essex, who lay near, to come up to his assistance,attacked Prince Rupert's force. His men, however, could not standagainst the charge of the Royalists. They were completely defeated, andHampden, one of the noblest characters of his age, was shot through theshoulder. He managed to keep his horse, and ride across country toThame, where he hoped to obtain medical assistance. After six days ofpain he died there, and thus England lost the only man who could, inthe days that were to come, have moderated, and perhaps defeated, theambition of Cromwell.

  Essex arrived upon the scene of battle a few minutes after the defeat ofHampden's force, and Prince Rupert fell back, and crossing the Thamesreturned to Oxford, having inflicted much damage upon the enemy.

  Shortly after this event, one of the serving men rushed in to Harry withthe news that a strong band of Parliament horse were within three orfour miles of the place, and were approaching. Harry at once sent forthe steward, and a dozen men were summoned in all haste. On theirarrival they set to work to strip the hall of its most valued furniture.The pictures were taken down from the walls, the silver and platetumbled into chests, the arms and armor worn by generations of theFurnesses removed from the armory, the choicest articles of furniture ofa portable character put into carts, together with some twenty casks ofthe choicest wine in the cellars, and in four hours only the heavierfurniture, the chairs and tables, buffets and heavy sideboards remainedin their places.

  Just as the carts were filled news came that the enemy had ridden intoAbingdon. Night was now coming on, and the carts at once started withtheir contents for distant farms, where the plate and wine were to beburied in holes dug in copses, and other places little likely to besearched by the Puritans. The pictures and furniture were stowed away inlofts and covered deeply with hay.

  Having seen the furniture sent off, Harry awaited the arrival of theParliament bands, which he doubted not would be dispatched by thePuritans
among the townspeople to the hall. The stables were alreadyempty except for Rollo, Harry's own horse. This he had at once, thealarm being given, sent off to a farm a mile distant from the hall, andwith it its saddle, bridle, and his arms, a brace of rare pistols,breast and back pieces, a steel cap with plumes, and his sword. It costhim an effort to part with the last, for he now carried it habitually.But he thought that it might be taken from him, and, moreover, he fearedthat he might be driven into drawing it, when the consequences might beserious, not only for himself, but for the mansion of which his fatherhad left him in charge.

  At nine a servitor came in to say that a party of men were riding up thedrive. Harry seated himself in the colonel's armchair, and repeated tohimself the determination at which he had arrived of being perfectlycalm and collected, and of bearing himself with patience and dignity.Presently he heard the clatter of horses' hoofs in the courtyard, andtwo minutes later, the tramp of feet in the passage. The door opened,and an officer entered, followed by five or six soldiers.

  This man was one of the worst types of Roundhead officers. He was aLondon draper, whose violent harangues had brought him into notice, andsecured for him a commission in the raw levies when they were firstraised. Harry rose as he entered.

  "You are the son of the man who is master of this house?" the officersaid roughly.

  "I am his son and representative," Harry said calmly.

  "I hear that he is a malignant fighting in the ranks of King Charles."

  "My father is a colonel in the army of his gracious majesty the king,"Harry said.

  "You are an insolent young dog!" the captain exclaimed. "We will teachyou manners," and rising from the seat into which he had thrown himselfon entering the hall, he struck Harry heavily in the face.

  The boy staggered back against the wall; then with a bound he snatcheda sword from the hand of one of the troopers, and before the officer hadtime to recoil or throw up his hands, he smote him with all his forceacross the face. With a terrible cry the officer fell back, and Harry,throwing down the sword, leaped through the open window into the gardenand dashed into the shrubberies, as half a dozen balls from the pistolsof the astonished troopers whizzed about his head.

  For a few minutes he ran at the top of his speed, as he heard shouts andpistol shots behind him. But he knew that in the darkness strangerswould have no chance whatever of overtaking him, and he slackened hispace into a trot. As he ran he took himself to task for not having actedup to his resolution. But the reflection that his father would notdisapprove of his having cut down the man who had struck him consoledhim, and he kept on his way to the farm where he had left his horse. Inother respects, he felt a wild delight at what had happened. There wasnothing for him now but to join the Royal army, and his father couldhardly object to his taking his place with the regiment.

  "I wish I had fifty of them here," he thought to himself; "we wouldsurround the hall, and pay these traitors dearly. As for their captain,I would hang him over the door with my own hands. The cowardly ruffian,to strike an unarmed boy! At any rate I have spoiled his beauty for him,for I pretty nearly cut his face in two, I shall know him by the scar ifI ever meet him in battle, and then we will finish the quarrel.

  "I shall not be able to see out of my right eye in the morning," hegrumbled; "and shall be a nice figure when I ride into Oxford."

  As he approached the farm he slackened his speed to a walk; and nearedthe house very carefully, for he thought it possible that one of theparties of the enemy might already have taken up his quarters there. Thesilence that reigned, broken by the loud barking of dogs as he cameclose, proved that no stranger had yet arrived, and he knocked loudly atthe door. Presently an upper window was opened, and a woman's voiceinquired who he was, and what he wanted.

  "I am Harry Furness, Dame Arden," he said. "The Roundheads are at thehall, and I have sliced their captain's face; so I must be away with allspeed. Please get the men up, and lose not a moment; I want my arms andhorse."

  The farmer's wife lost no time in arousing the house, and in a very fewminutes all was ready. One man saddled the horse, while another buckledon Harry's breast and back pieces; and with a hearty good-by, and amidmany prayers for his safety and speedy return with the king's troops,Harry rode off into the darkness. For awhile he rode cautiously,listening intently lest he might fall into the hands of some of theRoundhead bands. But all was quiet, and after placing another mile ortwo between himself and Abingdon, he concluded that he was safe, drewRollo's reins tighter, pressed him with his knees, and started at fullgallop for Oxford.