After Sedgemoor, being the history and adventures of Clement Noel in the days of King James the Second, etc

Front matter

AFTER SEDGEMOOR Listing one side of the ladder, we gave it a sharp twist. Frontispiece. Page After Sedgemoor BEING THE HISTORY AND ADVENTURES OF CLEMENT NOEL IN THE DA YS OF KING JAMES THE SECOND BY T EDGAR/ PICKERING AUTHOR OF "In Press-gang Days." "An Old Time Yarn" etc. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY S. H. VEDDER LONDON HUTCHINSON & CO. 34 PATERNOSTER ROW PRINTED AT N1MGOUEN (HOLLAND) BY II. C. A. TH1E11E OF NIMEGUEN (HOLLANB) AND TA1.DOT HOUSE, ARUNDEL STREET, LONDON, W.C. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. TROUBLOUS TIMES I II. WHAT WE SAW IN TAUNTON 1 7 III. THE PRIEST'S HOLE 28 IV. AN ADVENTURE 44 V. A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER 54 VI. MR. BABBISCOMBE 66 VII. JUDGE JEFFREYS 79 VIII. ON BOARD THE "MARY" 87 IX. THE SPANISH TRADER IOI X. THE ISLAND' OF SILVER KEYS II4 XI. MR. SMALL IS FOILED 124 Xn. WE MEET AN OLD FRIEND 132 XIII.

SLAVERY I42 XIV. WE ESCAPE 150 XV. A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM . 1 59 XVI. MR. ELISHA SMALL AGAIN CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVH. PLOTTING l8l XVIII. THE PLOT FAILS J94 XIX. THE EARTHQUAKE 203 XX. IN THE OPEN BOAT 2Ij XXI. IN LONDON 23 1 XXII. THE RIOT 244 XXHI. RETRIBUTION 253 XXIV. FAREWELL

Chapter I. Troublous Times

Although Monksbridge Hall is but an hour's ride from Taunton, and Japhet Kiffen was one of the most methodical and reliable men in the county of Somersetshire, yet the long summer day was closing in, without a sign of his return upon the winding white road which came over the brow of the hill down into the woody hollow, in the midst of which Monksbridge Hall had stood for centuries, over shadowed and hemmed in by the sombre, thick growing trees that surrounded it. Monksbridge Hall had been my home ever since I could remember, for Japhet, who was Mr. Wade's steward, took me there a dozen years ago — at least so he had told me — from Bristol when the news reached Mr. Wade of my father having been drowned at sea, leaving me an orphan. Mr. Wade was my guardian under whose care my boyhood I had been passed until the time when it was decided that I should go to Exeter to be taught the business of a lawyer, having left Bishop Fox's grammar school at Taunton, where I had received my education.

I was just seventeen years of age at thc time of which I am writing and the prospect of leaving home was looked forward to with a secret joy, for all that no father could have been kinder to me than Mr. Wade had been, nor any home a happier one than the red Hall which, as I have said, was a very old house, and had belonged to Mr. Wade's family from Henry the Eighth's days, when Sir Jasper Wade built it, since which time many additions had been made until it had become a rambling place, very quaint and beautiful both inside and out, with more staircases, and out-of-the-way rooms, than one could count almost, and a house that seemed to need a great many more inmates to dispel the silence, than Mr. Wade, Japhet Kiffen and myself, who with some half dozen or so of servants occupied it. The trees grew quite close up to the house too, so that they came tapping at the windows when the breeze rocked them on wintry nights, and through them went a narrow avenue down to the lodge, and a still narrower one which led to a wicket gate, out on to the high road, that ran up the hill and over the brow away into Taunton, and it was by this gate that I was standing that still summer evening, awaiting Japhet's return from the town where he had gone early in the day.

I stood leaning against the white gate post, listening to the solemn rooks, as they came slowly homeward with tired wings for the night, when Japhet's broad figure suddenly shot up at the hill brow, clear out against the yellow sky behind him, the sound of his horse's hoofs ringing upon the dead air, and I roused myself from the reverie into which I had fallen to walk out to meet him half way. For Japhet was the bearer of news, that he and I had been anxiously waiting for many a day since Mr. Wade rode from Monksbridge Hall for the port of Lyme, along with two other gentlemen, to join the Duke of Monmouth, from which time we had heard nothing of him. What we had heard of the rebellion, however, was sufficient to fill both Japhet and myself with terrible forebodings of evil, for a great battle had been fought on Sedgemoor, and the Duke's army had been utterly defeated.

This we had learnt from a wounded soldier who had escaped from the field after the battle, and was making his way to the coast hoping to evade the hot pursuit which was being made after Monmouth's men. It was on the eighth of July, that the fellow came to Monksbridge Hall, well nigh dead with his wounds and fatigue, and for a week we nursed him until, having regained his strength a little, the soldier left us on his way to the sea. Whether he ever reached safety I know not, nor was there much time to think of him, for all my thoughts were upon Mr. Wade, and how he had fared under the terrible disaster which had wrecked the Duke's cause. It had been hard work for my guardian to hinder Japhet, who was an old soldier, having fought on the Parliament side when a young man and whose gorget along with his old buff coat were hanging in the hall, it had been hard work, I say, for Mr. Wade to prevent Japhet from going to Lyme with him, which without doubt would have been the case, except for the necessity of somebody remaining to keep watch and guard over Monksbridge during its master's absence.

More than this, Japhet was getting an oldish man now (though that was of little consequence in his estimation) and the hardships and dangers likely to be met with in the rebellion were not to be lightly thought of; so for these two reasons, one of which only would Japhet listen to patiently, however, Mr. Wade rode off alone, leaving me, and the defence of Monksbridge, in charge of Japhet Kiffen. Then had come the news of the battle, and Japhet, after the soldier left us, decided to ride into Taunton to learn the rights of it, and gather some intelligence of Mr. Wade, if haply he might do so. And thus was I waiting with an anxiety hardly to be described, for his return on that still summer evening in July, hastening up the white road towards him so soon as his stalwart figure was in sight. "Have you heard any news, Japhet?"

I cried as he came at a half gallop in a cloud of dust down the hill, until, looking up at the sound of my voice with a troubled frown on his face, he checked the horse. "Nay, I've heard none," he answered gloomily, " at least of the kind you and I have been hoping for, Master Clement, although there is no lack of news in Taunton this day that's bad enough. Ay, and sights to be seen there, too, worse than the news that's in everybody's mouth. But come home to the house, and I will tell you what I've heard and seen, for who knows what spies may be about us here, and there is danger in being abroad even," with which Japhet trotted towards the Hall, with his head bent again, leaving me to follow him. He had sent his horse round to the stables by the time I reached the house, and was pacing to and fro before the porchway, still with that thought ful frown on his good-tempered face (for Japhet was at ordinary times a merry-hearted man and a talkative one), and for a moment or two we walked backward and forward without speaking, but at last he broke the silence with an angry exclamation.

"The good cause has been lost," he said, "at least for a time, and woe betide those who have had a part in it. The Duke has been carried off to London, so they told me in Taunton, though men seem more than half afraid to open their lips to speak of the subject, for Colonel Kirke has been let loose. I've seen some of his handiwork to-day." ■ But have you any tidings of Mr. Wade ? " I asked eagerly. " Was he at the battle, think you, Japhet?" " In the thick of it — you may make sure of that, " replied Japhet, " and where most danger was. Egad, the very mention of fighting seems to bring the old flavour back to my tongue of Cromwell's days, and how I helped him win at Newbury, though 'tis more than thirty years ago since I wore an iron cap." And as he said this Japhet's face lighted up. " No, not a word could I gather about the Master, " he added, as though suddenly remembering my question. ■ What did you learn then ?

" I asked impatiently. Whereat Japhet stopped in his walk, and placing his hands on my shoulders looked me steadily in the face. " I learnt that there are crueller men in England than one could find in a savage country," he answered, " that no man's life is safe or his goods either, and that it will be a better fortune for my old master if he is lying stark and stiff in a ditch on Sedgemoor than to be hiding with King James's soldiers at his heels." My heart gave a great leap as Japhet spoke thus, for there was a deep meaning in his words, and for a moment I tried in vain to reply. The thought of Mr. Wade lying dead filled me with a nameless horror, and the memory of a thousand kind deeds my guardian had shown me, and the honest love which was between us came surging into my heart. " Japhet, " I cried passionately, " we must do what we can to find out whether Mr. Wade is still alive!"

" We'll do the best we can, Master Clement," replied Japhet, " you may depend on that, and I'm going into Taunton again to that end — come to-morrow. " * We'll go together, Japhet, " I exclaimed, " for I cannot remain here alone, doing nothing all day, when there is so much to be done ! " " My heart misgives me sorely, " answered Japhet, "but that some evil has happened to Mr. Wade. He should have let me go with him as I had purposed to do, but 'tis too late for regretting when the evil is done. Yes, we'll go together in the town to-morrow, Master Clement, and till then there's nothing for us but patience, I suppose." We went into the house after this, and over supper Japhet told me that Taunton was crowded with wounded prisoners, and that Colonel Kirke, with his Pascal Lambs as his men were called, was expected to arrive there at any moment; moreover, that the soldiers were scouring the countryside far and near searching for rebels, and that no man's neck was safe who was even suspected of having helped the Duke of Monmouth.

He spoke, too, upon matters which I neither cared about nor understood, although my heart was with the cause which Mr. Wade had risked his life in supporting. I only knew him to be the dearest friend I had in the world, and one to whom I owed far more than gratitude for his careful guardianship since my father's untimely death. I sat later than my usual hour for retiring, whilst Japhet Kiffen told me many things of which I had no knowledge before, concerning Mr. Wade. How that, if by some mischance he were to die, the property of Monksbridge Hall, and the two farms which my guardian owned, would be inherited by a distant relation. How that there had been ill-blood between him and this relative, raised years ago by a lawsuit which Mr. Wade had succeeded in winning. And more than this, Japhet told me of my own affairs, which interested me very little at that moment, for my thoughts were busy upon other matters.

Perhaps there was a connection between the subjects which formed my companion's conversation, but I paid little heed to that which concerned myself, and presently went off to bed, having arranged to start betimes to ride into Taunton to-morrow. Gregory Rennet, our stableman, brought the horses round to the door next morning, whilst Japhet and I were at breakfast in the little room that Mr. Wade used as an office, where from the deep-bowed window, one could look on the front and west side of the Hall, and a few moments afterwards we were in the saddle. I shall never forget how brightly the sun shone, or how merrily the birds sang that day on which we cantered down through the crooked avenue, and past the lodge, nor how Japhet kept a moody silence until we had gained the hill top, where he pulled up to breathe his horse a little, for Japhet was a heavy rider and the ascent steep.

" Maybe we shall catch a sight of Kirke's soldiers, " he said in a grim tone. " They are over-running the country like beasts of prey, and it will be well to avoid a meeting with any of them." " They will not meddle with us, Japhet," I answered, " seeing that you and I have had no hand in the rebellion." " I am not so certain of that, " retorted Japhet, " for rebels as they choose to call the Duke's men, or no rebels, two well mounted people would be tempting prizes for the Pascal Lambs, " and he gave a hard laugh. " Better men than you and I, Master Clement, have felt their clutches, " and with this he started off again at a canter until we came to Boscambe Copse where we walked the horses through the bridle path, and then away at a good pace again, coming presently to the four cross roads where we halted, and looking down the highway which comes from Bridgewater I saw a little procession approaching, formed of seven or eight lumbering carts, the creaking of the wheels as they rose and fell amongst the ruts being the only sound which disturbed the silence.

At the head of the procession was a posse of horse soldiers, and Japhet turned to me. " More miserable wretches being carried into Taunton, " he said, " as if there were not enough brought there yesterday! Well, well, 'tis no use waiting for some rascally soldier to ask us our business, and hinder it may be, so clap a spur in, Master Clement, for the sooner we reach town the better," and the next moment we were galloping over the last mile which lay before us, nor did we draw rein until Taunton's long street was reached where we pulled up at the White Hart Inn. I very much doubt whether there is a duller, quieter town in England than Taunton, and never during the six years which I spent at the grammar school, had its quietude been disturbed; but, on the morning when Japhet and I rode into it, a stir and bustle was abroad which betokened an unusual excitement.

There was a group of officers at an upper window of the White Hart, who were talking noisily, and several rough soldiers lounged round the door. Down the street the townspeople were moving or standing in groups of three or four talking in subdued tones, and other signs there were that something unusual was afoot. Japhet cast a look in at the door of the White Hart, disregarding a jeering remark made to him by one of the soldiers, and he touched my arm. " This is no place for us this morning, " he whispered, " so let us put the horses up and get quietly away, though my fingers are itching to be at that insolent fellow yonder with his yellow face. But it will never do to risk the consequences of a quarrel to-day." I glanced up seeing his eyes red with anger at that moment, and we went round to the stables without another word, where our horses were put up, after which Japhet and I walked to Steve Arm strong's, who kept a shop which supplied Monksbridge Hall, and here we found half-a-dozen men talking eagerly over the stirring events which Taunton had seen lately and was likely to see again.

The talk was of nothing but the dreadful state of affairs, and the cruelty of the soldiery which had marched into the town a day or two ago, bringing with them carts filled with wounded rebels, picked up on the country roads round about Sedgemoor and other places. Japhet took Steve Armstrong aside so soon as we came into the shop, and I stood listening eagerly to the earnest talking of the other men when I was aroused by hearing a familiar voice and, looking round, met the well-remembered face of Tom Alford whom I had not seen since he and I left the grammar school at the same time six months ago. We had been close and steadfast friends all our schooldays, and I gave a little cry of pleasure at meeting him, for although only a few miles separated us, yet we had seen nothing of each other since saying good bye at Christmas time.

Tom was a handsome fellow, about my own age, and was Doctor Alford's only son. He had a dark, ruddy face, was the finest fighter in the school, fearing nothing, and caring not a jot for the floggings which fell to his share oftener than to any other boy in the school I remember. Yet withal he was so good-natured, so ready-witted and brave, that even Doctor Prideaux, our head-master, though he beat Tom more vigorously than ordinary culprits, made a great favourite of him, and amongst his companions he was considered the finest fellow in Taunton. He was a modest spoken lad, loath to get into a quarrel, though once engaged in one he never quitted it till the matter was ended, and, as I said just now, he and I were the dearest friends and had been ever since he saved me from the clutches of a big bully, who lorded it over the boys at the grammar-school until Tom thrashed him in the Half-acre one afternoon in a style never to be forgotten, for Dick Newling, as the fellow was named, had to keep his bed a whole week afterwards, whilst Tom had only a few cuts and bruises and made less talk of the affair than anybody !

Now, although I have stated that Tom Alford was a light-hearted, reckless fellow, yet, when he grasped my hand, he looked, and spoke seriously enough for Doctor Prideaux himself, giving a glance round over his shoulder, as he leant in at the open window of Steve's shop. " Tom ! " I cried, forgetting the reason of my coming to Taunton for a moment, so glad was I to see him. " Why, 'tis half a year since I heard the sound of your voice," and then I was going on to ask a thousand questions about himself, and the boys whom I had left at school, when he stopped me abruptly. " I'll tell you all about myself presently," he said, " but what has brought you into Taunton, Clement, at this time of all others ? " Whereupon I stepped outside, going arm in arm with Tom a little way down the street, and hearing the creaking of cart wheels coming nearer and nearer as I told him in a few words how matters stood respecting my guardian; and Tom's lips grew tight together as he listened.

Suddenly he drew aside a little, grasping me by the arm the while. " Look at that man yonder," he whispered, pointing to an officer who was crossing the roadway, reeling as he went, and in company of three or four others. " Did you ever see a more hangdog face, Clement ? " I gave a quick glance at the officer who had a red blotchy face, and bloated figure. He was speaking in a loud voice to a companion as they went along towards the White Hart, the soldiers saluting them at the door-way, into which they disappeared. " Who is that fierce-looking fellow ? " I asked, and Tom twisted round en his heel to answer me. " Colonel Percy Kirke, " he said, " and we are likely to know more of him, Clement, than a passing sight of his face. At least some in and about Taunton will, unless rumour lies ; and see, here come more unfortunate victims."

As Tom said this, there came down towards us the procession of country carts, headed by soldiers. Whereupon we ran, as, indeed, did most of the townsfolk, to catch a glimpse of the newcomers, and looking down into the carts I saw a number of miserable men, stained with blood and mire, whose gaping wounds were festering undressed beneath the burning sun, packed, as I have seen rats in a cage, the dead and living together in the most mournful condition conceivable, who had formed part of the Duke's army and were being brought into Taunton. Some of the wretched captives were bound hand and foot, whilst others there were chained one to another as though they had been wild beasts; and I drew back with a cry of indignation that attracted the attention of one of the soldiers, who uttered a round oath as he thrust his pike straight at my breast.

Tom knocked the weapon up, and ran in between us, but nothing more came of the matter, for the carts rolled by the next moment leaving us alone. " It is safer to hold one's peace, now-a-days, Clement," said Tom, as I was on the point of uttering an angry exclamation, " and as for a few prisoners, 'tis nothing to what has been seen before and will be again hereabouts, for Kirke is to be the judge of them, and he will have no more mercy than a dog. See there he is at the White Hart window, with his officers. This will be a sad day for a good many, I am afraid." As Tom said this, the thought flashed into my mind that perhaps Mr. Wade might be amongst the prisoners who had just passed us, and thinking this I hastened with Tom back to Steve Armstrong's shop to take counsel with Japhet. "We must find out whether or no he is here," he ejaculated, " and though I had rather be a mile away from Taunton at this minute, yet we must needs wait.

Some of the carts have stopped at the inn, pray Heaven my master may not be one of those that Colonel Kirke will have the settling of accounts with." And in company with Armstrong and more of the townspeople, Japhet, Tom Alford and I mingled in the crowd which had gathered before the door of the White Hart Inn.

Chapter II. What We Saw In Taunton

Upstairs, in the room overlooking the street, sat Colonel Kirke by the window, with a little throng of officers, and upon the open space before the inn door were the wretched prisoners who had been thrust out of the carts, the sick and wounded receiving no tenderer handling than the few who were uninjured. The crowd which had gathered to the spot was being kept back by the soldiers, who used their pikes in such rough fashion that more than one of the curious townspeople received a blow, which caused a great deal of merriment amongst the men up at the window when an unfortunate on-looker stumbled or fell with a bloody wound. There was a good deal of loud talking and excitement, but this was stilled in a moment as the harsh command was given for silence, amid which J7 the despairing prisoners, who seemed the least concerned of us all, lay or crouched upon the gritty roadway, beside the tall sign-post of the White Hart.

And for some moments Colonel Kirke, leaning out of the window, eyed the captives as though pondering some matter in his mind, until he beckoned to a yellow-faced sergeant below, who went into the house, and up to the room. The officers drew together whilst Kirke spoke to them in an undertone that reached us only as a discordant mumbling sound, changing into a note of satisfaction and approval as the consultation ended, and then the sergeant came out of the inn ordering the soldiers to form a smaller circle round the prisoners, the men at the window with Colonel Kirke in their midst, the most prominent figure, having wine brought them, drinking it to the toast of King James with a hurrah. Then I saw a soldier coming hurriedly from the stables carrying a stout rope, followed by a country fellow who had a cauldron and iron brazier which he placed on the ground, whilst another soldier brought some live coals from the inn with which he soon had a keen fire blazing in the brazier.

These preparations may have taken some ten minutes or less, and during this time the officers had continued drinking and chatting merrily, whilst we in the road below watched for what was to follow with an eagerness and dread that needed no command for silence. The rope had been flung over the top of the sign-post, and in the soft summer breeze swung to and fro with a noose at the end of it. Presently there was a little stir at the window, and Colonel Kirke rose unsteadily to his feet, with a face inflamed by the wine that had thickened his voice also so that it sounded scarcely a human one but rather of some fierce animal, and calling to the sergeant, he ordered him to bring one of the prisoners forward a little so that he might speak the more easily to him. In response to this a miserable looking man from the group was dragged, in spite of the gaping wounds that made him helpless to move unaided, from his companions and was flung down on the bouldered road close beneath the window, where Colonel Kirke eyed him sourly for a few moments ere he spoke again, whilst the silence amongst the crowd was deeper than before.

" Gentlemen, " he began, turning to the officers who stood beside him, " I carry His Majesty's orders to punish his enemies, and to do my duty best is to do it quickly. There is no need of trial or questioning of these arrant rascals, that carry their villainy in their faces, and waiting ill becomes my liking in the matter of their punishment. Red handed rebels, they have been caught, and red-handed they shall suffer for their misdoings, and may all His Majesty's enemies perish after the same fashion — Gentlemen, I give you the toast of the 'King' " — and a drunken hurrah went up as the officers drained their glasses, whilst a sort of groan ran through the listeners beneath the window, and a woman uttered a whimper from amongst us, which attracted Colonel Kirke's attention, for an -evil smile crept Into his pimply face.

"Ay, there shall be enough of crying anon," he said, giving a crackling laugh, " and good cause for it. There may be those amongst ye below there, who have a son or brother, husband or sweetheart that has joined with the traitor Monmouth and been brought to Taunton this day. Weep for them as much as you will, but there is httle need to lament their wounds, for I am a more skilful curer of a sword-cut, and mender of broken limbs, than any learned doctor ever was. Ay, they shall be eased of their pain, I warrant them, with a physic of rope that never failed yet " — whereat the laugh went up again from the officers, and three or four women burst out of the throng, distraught with grief and despair, calling the names of some of the dazed vic tims, but they were thrust back with blows and curses.

"We'll have no leave-taking," went on Colonel Kirke, as the momentary disturbance was quelled, "and show of regrets. Those that are on King James's side will rejoice the rather at the downfall of his foes, and those who have a mind to question the punishment of the rascals shall be closely observed, I promise them. Methinks some of you standing there are as good food for the gallows as the rebels themselves, so see to it, Sergeant, and arrest the first among 'em that shows a tear in his eyes. " The smoke from the brazier was rolling in a thick cloud, in which the stink of pitch mingled, and there was a little pause as Colonel Kirke finished speaking. Japhet Kiffen was grinding his teeth close beside me, and clenching his brawny hands, so I whispered to him, fearing some harm might happen to us from his show of anger, but I doubt whether he heard me, and then I saw one of the soldiers, at a nod from the sergeant, seize the captive and remain a moment holding the poor bleeding prisoner as though waiting for a further command, Colonel Kirke looking down upon them.