Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty
assembling such men as they found of their mind at the moment, straggled
off.
When he was satisfied that the great mass of the insurgents were
imitating this example, and that the ground was rapidly clearing, he
plunged into the thickest portion of the little wood; and, crashing the
branches as he went, made straight towards a distant light: guided by
that, and by the sullen glow of the fire behind him.
As he drew nearer and nearer to the twinkling beacon towards which he
bent his course, the red glare of a few torches began to reveal itself,
and the voices of men speaking together in a subdued tone broke the
silence which, save for a distant shouting now and then, already
prevailed. At length he cleared the wood, and, springing across a ditch,
stood in a dark lane, where a small body of ill-looking vagabonds, whom
he had left there some twenty minutes before, waited his coming with
impatience.
They were gathered round an old post-chaise or chariot, driven by one of
themselves, who sat postilion-wise upon the near horse. The blinds were
drawn up, and Mr Tappertit and Dennis kept guard at the two windows. The
former assumed the command of the party, for he challenged Hugh as he
advanced towards them; and when he did so, those who were resting on the
ground about the carriage rose to their feet and clustered round him.
‘Well!’ said Simon, in a low voice; ‘is all right?’
‘Right enough,’ replied Hugh, in the same tone. ‘They’re dispersing
now--had begun before I came away.’
‘And is the coast clear?’
‘Clear enough before our men, I take it,’ said Hugh. ‘There are not many
who, knowing of their work over yonder, will want to meddle with ‘em
to-night.--Who’s got some drink here?’
Everybody had some plunder from the cellar; half-a-dozen flasks and
bottles were offered directly. He selected the largest, and putting it
to his mouth, sent the wine gurgling down his throat. Having emptied
it, he threw it down, and stretched out his hand for another, which he
emptied likewise, at a draught. Another was given him, and this he half
emptied too. Reserving what remained to finish with, he asked:
‘Have you got anything to eat, any of you? I’m as ravenous as a hungry
wolf. Which of you was in the larder--come?’
‘I was, brother,’ said Dennis, pulling off his hat, and fumbling in
the crown. ‘There’s a matter of cold venison pasty somewhere or another
here, if that’ll do.’
‘Do!’ cried Hugh, seating himself on the pathway. ‘Bring it out! Quick!
Show a light here, and gather round! Let me sup in state, my lads! Ha ha
ha!’
Entering into his boisterous humour, for they all had drunk deeply, and
were as wild as he, they crowded about him, while two of their number
who had torches, held them up, one on either side of him, that his
banquet might not be despatched in the dark. Mr Dennis, having by this
time succeeded in extricating from his hat a great mass of pasty, which
had been wedged in so tightly that it was not easily got out, put it
before him; and Hugh, having borrowed a notched and jagged knife from
one of the company, fell to work upon it vigorously.
‘I should recommend you to swallow a little fire every day, about an
hour afore dinner, brother,’ said Dennis, after a pause. ‘It seems to
agree with you, and to stimulate your appetite.’
Hugh looked at him, and at the blackened faces by which he was
surrounded, and, stopping for a moment to flourish his knife above his
head, answered with a roar of laughter.
‘Keep order, there, will you?’ said Simon Tappertit.
‘Why, isn’t a man allowed to regale himself, noble captain,’ retorted
his lieutenant, parting the men who stood between them, with his knife,
that he might see him,--‘to regale himself a little bit after such work
as mine? What a hard captain! What a strict captain! What a tyrannical
captain! Ha ha ha!’
‘I wish one of you fellers would hold a bottle to his mouth to keep him
quiet,’ said Simon, ‘unless you want the military to be down upon us.’
‘And what if they are down upon us!’ retorted Hugh. ‘Who cares? Who’s
afraid? Let ‘em come, I say, let ‘em come. The more, the merrier. Give
me bold Barnaby at my side, and we two will settle the military, without
troubling any of you. Barnaby’s the man for the military. Barnaby’s
health!’
But as the majority of those present were by no means anxious for a
second engagement that night, being already weary and exhausted, they
sided with Mr Tappertit, and pressed him to make haste with his supper,
for they had already delayed too long. Knowing, even in the height of
his frenzy, that they incurred great danger by lingering so near the
scene of the late outrages, Hugh made an end of his meal without more
remonstrance, and rising, stepped up to Mr Tappertit, and smote him on
the back.
‘Now then,’ he cried, ‘I’m ready. There are brave birds inside this
cage, eh? Delicate birds,--tender, loving, little doves. I caged ‘em--I
caged ‘em--one more peep!’
He thrust the little man aside as he spoke, and mounting on the steps,
which were half let down, pulled down the blind by force, and stared
into the chaise like an ogre into his larder.
‘Ha ha ha! and did you scratch, and pinch, and struggle, pretty
mistress?’ he cried, as he grasped a little hand that sought in vain to
free itself from his grip: ‘you, so bright-eyed, and cherry-lipped, and
daintily made? But I love you better for it, mistress. Ay, I do. You
should stab me and welcome, so that it pleased you, and you had to
cure me afterwards. I love to see you proud and scornful. It makes you
handsomer than ever; and who so handsome as you at any time, my pretty
one!’
‘Come!’ said Mr Tappertit, who had waited during this speech with
considerable impatience. ‘There’s enough of that. Come down.’
The little hand seconded this admonition by thrusting Hugh’s great head
away with all its force, and drawing up the blind, amidst his noisy
laughter, and vows that he must have another look, for the last glimpse
of that sweet face had provoked him past all bearing. However, as the
suppressed impatience of the party now broke out into open murmurs,
he abandoned this design, and taking his seat upon the bar, contented
himself with tapping at the front windows of the carriage, and trying to
steal a glance inside; Mr Tappertit, mounting the steps and hanging on
by the door, issued his directions to the driver with a commanding
voice and attitude; the rest got up behind, or ran by the side of the
carriage, as they could; some, in imitation of Hugh, endeavoured to
see the face he had praised so highly, and were reminded of their
impertinence by hints from the cudgel of Mr Tappertit. Thus they pursued
their journey by circuitous and winding roads; preserving, except when
they halted to take breath, or to quarrel about the best way of reaching
London, pretty good order and tolerable silence.
In the mean time, Dolly--beautiful, bewitching, captivating little
Dolly--her hair dishevelled, her dress torn, her dark eyelashes wet with
tears, her bosom heaving--her face, now pale with fear, now crimsoned
with indignation--her whole self a hundred times more beautiful in
this heightened aspect than ever she had been before--vainly strove to
comfort Emma Haredale, and to impart to her the consolation of which she
stood in so much need herself. The soldiers were sure to come; they must
be rescued; it would be impossible to convey them through the streets
of London when they set the threats of their guards at defiance, and
shrieked to the passengers for help. If they did this when they
came into the more frequented ways, she was certain--she was quite
certain--they must be released. So poor Dolly said, and so poor Dolly
tried to think; but the invariable conclusion of all such arguments was,
that Dolly burst into tears; cried, as she wrung her hands, what would
they do or think, or who would comfort them, at home, at the Golden Key;
and sobbed most piteously.
Miss Haredale, whose feelings were usually of a quieter kind than
Dolly’s, and not so much upon the surface, was dreadfully alarmed, and
indeed had only just recovered from a swoon. She was very pale, and the
hand which Dolly held was quite cold; but she bade her, nevertheless,
remember that, under Providence, much must depend upon their own
discretion; that if they remained quiet and lulled the vigilance of the
ruffians into whose hands they had fallen, the chances of their being
able to procure assistance when they reached the town, were very much
increased; that unless society were quite unhinged, a hot pursuit must
be immediately commenced; and that her uncle, she might be sure, would
never rest until he had found them out and rescued them. But as she said
these latter words, the idea that he had fallen in a general massacre of
the Catholics that night--no very wild or improbable supposition after
what they had seen and undergone--struck her dumb; and, lost in the
horrors they had witnessed, and those they might be yet reserved for,
she sat incapable of thought, or speech, or outward show of grief: as
rigid, and almost as white and cold, as marble.
Oh, how many, many times, in that long ride, did Dolly think of her old
lover,--poor, fond, slighted Joe! How many, many times, did she recall
that night when she ran into his arms from the very man now projecting
his hateful gaze into the darkness where she sat, and leering through
the glass in monstrous admiration! And when she thought of Joe, and what
a brave fellow he was, and how he would have rode boldly up, and
dashed in among these villains now, yes, though they were double the
number--and here she clenched her little hand, and pressed her foot upon
the ground--the pride she felt for a moment in having won his heart,
faded in a burst of tears, and she sobbed more bitterly than ever.
As the night wore on, and they proceeded by ways which were quite
unknown to them--for they could recognise none of the objects of which
they sometimes caught a hurried glimpse--their fears increased; nor were
they without good foundation; it was not difficult for two beautiful
young women to find, in their being borne they knew not whither by a
band of daring villains who eyed them as some among these fellows did,
reasons for the worst alarm. When they at last entered London, by a
suburb with which they were wholly unacquainted, it was past midnight,
and the streets were dark and empty. Nor was this the worst, for the
carriage stopping in a lonely spot, Hugh suddenly opened the door,
jumped in, and took his seat between them.
It was in vain they cried for help. He put his arm about the neck of
each, and swore to stifle them with kisses if they were not as silent as
the grave.
‘I come here to keep you quiet,’ he said, ‘and that’s the means I shall
take. So don’t be quiet, pretty mistresses--make a noise--do--and I
shall like it all the better.’
They were proceeding at a rapid pace, and apparently with fewer
attendants than before, though it was so dark (the torches being
extinguished) that this was mere conjecture. They shrunk from his touch,
each into the farthest corner of the carriage; but shrink as Dolly
would, his arm encircled her waist, and held her fast. She neither cried
nor spoke, for terror and disgust deprived her of the power; but she
plucked at his hand as though she would die in the effort to disengage
herself; and crouching on the ground, with her head averted and held
down, repelled him with a strength she wondered at as much as he. The
carriage stopped again.
‘Lift this one out,’ said Hugh to the man who opened the door, as
he took Miss Haredale’s hand, and felt how heavily it fell. ‘She’s
fainted.’
‘So much the better,’ growled Dennis--it was that amiable gentleman.