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waters since he was an hour old, and one who hopes to die off soundings, and
to be buried in brine. I wish you no harm, friend, but you ll have to keep a
stopper on your conversation  till such time as some of your messmates call
this way, which I hope will be as soon after I get an offing as may be.
With these amicable wishes, the cockswain departed, leaving Borroughcliffe
the light, and the undisturbed possession of his apartment, though not in the
most easy or the most enviable situation imaginable. The captain heard the
bolt of his lock turn, and the key rattle as the cockswain withdrew it from
the door--two precautionary steps, that clearly indicated that the vanquisher
deemed it prudent to secure his retreat, by insuring the detention of the
vanquished, for at least a time.
CHAPTER V.
 Whilst Vengeance, in the lurid air,
Lifts her red arm, expos d and bare:--
Who, Fear, this ghastly train can see,
And look not madly wild, like thee?
Collins
Itis certain that Tom Coffin had devised no settled plan of operations, when
he issued from the apartment of Borroughcliffe, if we except a most resolute
determination to make the best of his way to the Ariel, and to share her fate,
let it be either to sink or swim. But this was a resolution much easier formed
by the honest seaman, than executed, in his present situation. He would have
found it less difficult to extricate a vessel from the dangerous shoals of the
 Devil s-Grip, than to thread the mazes of the labyrinth of passages,
galleries, and apartments, in which he found himself involved. He remembered,
as he expressed it to himself, in a low soliloquy,  to have run into a narrow
passage from the main channel, but whether he had sheered to the starboard or
larboard hand, was a material fact, that had entirely escaped his memory. Tom
was in that part of the building that Colonel Howard had designated as the
 cloisters, and in which, luckily for him, he was but little liable to
encounter any foe; the room occupied by Borroughcliffe being the only one in
the entire wing, that was not exclusively devoted to the service of the
ladies. The circumstance of the soldier s being permitted to invade this
sanctuary, was owing to the necessity, on the part of Colonel Howard, of
placing either Griffith, Manual, or the recruiting officer, in the vicinity of
his wards, or of subjecting his prisoners to a treatment that the veteran
would have thought unworthy of his name and character. This recent change in
the quarters of Borroughcliffe operated doubly to the advantage of Tom, by
lessening the chance of the speedy release of his uneasy captive, as well as
by diminishing his own danger. Of the former circumstance he was, however, not
aware, and the consideration of the latter was a sort of reflection to which
the cockswain was, in no degree, addicted.
Following, necessarily, the line of the wall, he soon emerged from the dark
and narrow passage in which he had first found himself, and entered the
principal gallery, that communicated with all the lower apartments of that
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wing, as well as with the main body of the edifice. An open door, through
which a strong light was glaring, at a distant end of this gallery, instantly
caught his eye, and the old seaman had not advanced many steps towards it,
before he discovered that he was approaching the very room which had so much
excited his curiosity, and by the identical passage through which he had
entered the Abbey. To turn, and retrace his steps, was the most obvious
course, for any man to take, who felt anxious to escape; but the sounds of
high conviviality, bursting from the cheerful apartment, among which the
cockswain thought he distinguished the name of Griffith, determined Tom to
advance and reconnoitre the scene more closely. The reader will anticipate
that when he paused in the shadow, the doubting old seaman stood once more
near that threshold which he had so lately crossed, when conducted to the room
of Borroughcliffe. The seat of that gentleman was now occupied by Dillon, and
Colonel Howard had resumed his wonted station at the foot of the table. The
noise was chiefly made by the latter, who had evidently been enjoying a more
minute relation of the means by which his kinsman had entrapped his unwary
enemy.
 A noble ruse! cried the veteran, as Tom assumed his post, in ambush;  a
most noble and ingenious ruse, and such a one as would have baffled Cæsar! he
must have been a cunning dog, that Cæsar; but I do think, Kit, you would have
been too much for him; hang me, if I don t think you would have puzzled Wolfe
himself, had you held Quebec, instead of Montcalm! Ah! boy, we want you in the
colonies, with the ermine over your shoulders; such men as you, cousin
Christopher, are sadly, sadly wanting there to defend his majesty s rights.
 Indeed, dear sir, your partiality gives me credit for qualities I do not
possess, said Dillon, dropping his eyes, perhaps with a feeling of conscious
unworthiness, but with an air of much humility;  the little justifiable
artifice--
 Ay! there lies the beauty of the transaction, interrupted the colonel,
shoving the bottle from him, with the free, open air of a man who never
harboured disguise;  you told no lie; no mean deception, that any dog, however
base and unworthy, might invent; but you practised a neat, a military,
a--a--yes, a classical deception on your enemy; a classical deception, that is
the very term for it! such a deception as Pompey, or Mark Antony, or--or--you
know those old fellows names better than I do, Kit; but name the cleverest
fellow that ever lived in Greece or Rome, and I shall say he is a dunce,
compared to you.  Twas a real Spartan trick, both simple and honest.
It was extremely fortunate for Dillon, that the animation of his aged kinsman
kept his head and body in such constant motion, during this apostrophe, as to
intercept the aim that the cockswain was deliberately taking at his head, with
one of Borroughcliffe s pistols; and perhaps the sense of shame, which induced
him to sink his face on his two hands, was another means of saving his life,
by giving the indignant old seaman time for reflection.
 But you have not spoken of the ladies, said Dillon, after a moment s pause;
 I should hope, they have borne the alarm of the day like kinswomen of the
family of Howard.
The colonel glanced his eyes around him, as if to assure himself they were
alone, and dropped his voice, as he answered--
 Ah! Kit, they have come to, since this rebel scoundrel, Griffith, has been
brought into the Abbey; we were favoured with the company of even Miss Howard,
in the dining-room, to-day. There was a good deal of  dear uncleing, and
 fears that my life might be exposed by the quarrels and skirmishes of these
desperadoes who have landed; as if an old fellow, who served through the
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whole war, from  56 to  63, was afraid to let his nose smell gunpowder, any
more than if it were snuff! But it will be a hard matter to wheedle an old
soldier out of his allegiance! This Griffith goes to the Tower, at least, Mr.
Dillon.
 It would be advisable to commit his person to the civil authority, without
delay.
 To the constable of the Tower, the Earl Cornwallis, a good and loyal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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