Redgauntlet [239]
servant with whom he was offended; 'see he does his duty.'
Ewart left the house sullenly, followed by Nixon. The sailor was just in that species of drunken humour which made him jealous, passionate, and troublesome, without showing any other disorder than that of irritability. As he walked towards the beach he kept muttering to himself, but in such a tone that his companion lost not a word, 'Smuggling fellow--Aye, smuggler--and, start your cargo into the sea--and be ready to start for the Hebrides, or Sweden--or the devil, I suppose. Well, and what if I said in answer--Rebel, Jacobite--traitor--I'll make you and your d--d confederates walk the plank--I have seen better men do it--half a score of a morning--when I was across the Line.'
'D--d unhandsome terms those Redgauntlet used to you, brother.' said Nixon.
'Which do you mean?' said Ewart, starting, and recollecting himself. 'I have been at my old trade of thinking aloud, have I?'
'No matter,' answered Nixon, 'none but a friend heard you. You cannot have forgotten how Redgauntlet disarmed you this morning.'
'Why, I would bear no malice about that--only he is so cursedly high and saucy,' said Ewart.
'And then,' said Nixon,'I know you for a true-hearted Protestant.'
'That I am, by G--,' said Ewart. 'No, the Spaniards could never get my religion from me.'
'And a friend to King George, and the Hanover line of succession,' said Nixon, still walking and speaking very slow.
'You may swear I am, excepting in the way of business, as Turnpenny says. I like King George, but I can't afford to pay duties.'
'You are outlawed, I believe,' said Nixon.
'Am I?--faith, I believe I am,' said Ewart. 'I wish I were INLAWED again with all my heart. But come along, we must get all ready for our peremptory gentleman, I suppose.'
'I will teach you a better trick,' said Nixon. 'There is a bloody pack of rebels yonder.'
'Aye, we all know that,' said the smuggler; 'but the snowball's melting, I think.'
'There is some one yonder, whose head is worth--thirty thousand-- pounds--of sterling money,' said Nixon, pausing between each word, as if to enforce the magnificence of the sum.
'And what of that?' said Ewart, quickly.
'Only that, instead of lying by the pier with your men on their oars, if you will just carry your boat on board just now, and take no notice of any signal from the shore, by G--d, Nanty Ewart. I will make a man of you for life!'
'Oh ho! then the Jacobite gentry are not so safe as they think themselves?' said Nanty.
'In an hour or two,' replied Nixon, 'they will be made safer in Carlisle Castle.'
'The devil they will!' said Ewart; 'and you have been the informer, I suppose?'
'Yes; I have been ill paid for my service among the Redgauntlets --have scarce got dog's wages--and been treated worse than ever dog was used. I have the old fox and his cubs in the same trap now, Nanty; and we'll see how a certain young lady will look then. You see I am frank with you, Nanty.'
'And I will be as frank with you,' said the smuggler. 'You are a d--d old scoundrel--traitor to the man whose bread you eat! Me help to betray poor devils, that have been so often betrayed myself! Not if they were a hundred Popes, Devils, and Pretenders. I will back and tell them their danger--they are part of cargo--regularly invoiced--put under my charge by the owners-- I'll back'--
'You are not stark mad?' said Nixon, who now saw he had miscalculated in supposing Nanty's wild ideas of honour and fidelity could be shaken even by resentment, or by his Protestant partialities. 'You shall not go back--it is all a joke.'
'I'll back to Redgauntlet, and see whether it is a joke he will laugh at.'
'My life is lost if you do,' said Nixon--'hear reason.'
They were in a clump or cluster of tall furze at the moment they were speaking, about half-way between the pier and the house, but not in a direct line, from which Nixon, whose object it was to gain time, had induced Ewart to diverge insensibly.
He now saw the necessity of taking a
Ewart left the house sullenly, followed by Nixon. The sailor was just in that species of drunken humour which made him jealous, passionate, and troublesome, without showing any other disorder than that of irritability. As he walked towards the beach he kept muttering to himself, but in such a tone that his companion lost not a word, 'Smuggling fellow--Aye, smuggler--and, start your cargo into the sea--and be ready to start for the Hebrides, or Sweden--or the devil, I suppose. Well, and what if I said in answer--Rebel, Jacobite--traitor--I'll make you and your d--d confederates walk the plank--I have seen better men do it--half a score of a morning--when I was across the Line.'
'D--d unhandsome terms those Redgauntlet used to you, brother.' said Nixon.
'Which do you mean?' said Ewart, starting, and recollecting himself. 'I have been at my old trade of thinking aloud, have I?'
'No matter,' answered Nixon, 'none but a friend heard you. You cannot have forgotten how Redgauntlet disarmed you this morning.'
'Why, I would bear no malice about that--only he is so cursedly high and saucy,' said Ewart.
'And then,' said Nixon,'I know you for a true-hearted Protestant.'
'That I am, by G--,' said Ewart. 'No, the Spaniards could never get my religion from me.'
'And a friend to King George, and the Hanover line of succession,' said Nixon, still walking and speaking very slow.
'You may swear I am, excepting in the way of business, as Turnpenny says. I like King George, but I can't afford to pay duties.'
'You are outlawed, I believe,' said Nixon.
'Am I?--faith, I believe I am,' said Ewart. 'I wish I were INLAWED again with all my heart. But come along, we must get all ready for our peremptory gentleman, I suppose.'
'I will teach you a better trick,' said Nixon. 'There is a bloody pack of rebels yonder.'
'Aye, we all know that,' said the smuggler; 'but the snowball's melting, I think.'
'There is some one yonder, whose head is worth--thirty thousand-- pounds--of sterling money,' said Nixon, pausing between each word, as if to enforce the magnificence of the sum.
'And what of that?' said Ewart, quickly.
'Only that, instead of lying by the pier with your men on their oars, if you will just carry your boat on board just now, and take no notice of any signal from the shore, by G--d, Nanty Ewart. I will make a man of you for life!'
'Oh ho! then the Jacobite gentry are not so safe as they think themselves?' said Nanty.
'In an hour or two,' replied Nixon, 'they will be made safer in Carlisle Castle.'
'The devil they will!' said Ewart; 'and you have been the informer, I suppose?'
'Yes; I have been ill paid for my service among the Redgauntlets --have scarce got dog's wages--and been treated worse than ever dog was used. I have the old fox and his cubs in the same trap now, Nanty; and we'll see how a certain young lady will look then. You see I am frank with you, Nanty.'
'And I will be as frank with you,' said the smuggler. 'You are a d--d old scoundrel--traitor to the man whose bread you eat! Me help to betray poor devils, that have been so often betrayed myself! Not if they were a hundred Popes, Devils, and Pretenders. I will back and tell them their danger--they are part of cargo--regularly invoiced--put under my charge by the owners-- I'll back'--
'You are not stark mad?' said Nixon, who now saw he had miscalculated in supposing Nanty's wild ideas of honour and fidelity could be shaken even by resentment, or by his Protestant partialities. 'You shall not go back--it is all a joke.'
'I'll back to Redgauntlet, and see whether it is a joke he will laugh at.'
'My life is lost if you do,' said Nixon--'hear reason.'
They were in a clump or cluster of tall furze at the moment they were speaking, about half-way between the pier and the house, but not in a direct line, from which Nixon, whose object it was to gain time, had induced Ewart to diverge insensibly.
He now saw the necessity of taking a