“Shot, or drowned; I know not which. Thank
God it was only a trooper. But they shall pay
for it, as dearly as if it had been a captain.”
“And how was it you were struck by a bullet,
and only shaken in your saddle? Had you a coat
of mail on, or of Milanese chain-armour? Now,
Master Stickles, had you?”
“No, Mistress Lizzie; we do not wear things
of that kind nowadays. You are apt, I perceive,
at romances. But I happened to have a little flat
bottle of the best stoneware slung beneath my saddle-cloak,
and filled with the very best eau de vie, from
the George Hotel, at Southmolton. The brand of
it now is upon my back. Oh, the murderous scoundrels,
what a brave spirit they have spilled!”
“You had better set to and thank God,”
said I, “that they have not spilled a braver
one.”
[Illustration: 421.jpg Tailpiece]
EVERY MAN MUST DEFEND HIMSELF
[Illustration: 422.jpg The Bagworthy Water]
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 be 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.
