The Master of Merripit Farm

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 58, 8 March 1913, Page 20

The Master of Merripit Farm

BY EDEN PHILPOTTS (Author of "The Three Brothers," "The American Prisoner," "The Beacon," etc.)

CHAPTER XI. EXIT CHAKLIE SPRING. Dicker mounted John Coole's horse; while the master rode Crabb Spring's. After the events of the past hour, John suffered varied emotions. His nature was a hard one. and any sentimental interest he might have felt on behalf of the Twins, had long vanished. From the moment that he heard their cold-blooded determination to blow his brains out and bury him in the hole he and Farmer Bayldon had dug for their treasure, no shadow of regret at their fate remained. He felt no concern for the captured highwayman; but was only sorry that his brother did not share the stony silence of Merripit cellar with him. As for Charlie, Coole believed that his choice of action would lie between two courses. Believing that he had dropped Coole, Spring might return to Merripit to rescue 'his brother; but it was little likely that he would run the risk. '"Hawk doesn't help hawk." he thought aloud, as he rode once more into the moor. "Charlie Spring has gone to Fur lor, and we shall find him digging up his treasures to hide 'em somewhere else. He dare not go back to Rattlebrook until he's seen Bayldon. Indeed, he'll never return there now." But Mr. Dicker was none the wiser for John's woTds. In his deaf soul- raged the passion of revenge, and every step that his horse took woke a pang in his shoulder and an answering pang in his heart. He only knew that John Coole was following Charlie Spring, and he trusted his master to bring them together as quickly as possible. Coole delayed a few moments to lengthen his stirrup leathers, then up the wild valley of East Dart he went with his companion; and so good w - as their pace that only a lucky accident prevented them from overtaking Spring. Unfamiliar with the way and awake to the fact that his life probably depended on his horse, Spring went slowly and nursed his beast with great care. It was Charlie's voice, lifted in speech to the creature, not two hundred yards ahead, that suddenly stayed the advance of his pursuers. John Coole arrested Dicker and they remained silent and motionless fof a quarter of an hour until the highwayman had climbed the ragged ridge of Cut Hill, and descended upon the western side of it in a direct line for Fur Tor. When fear of detection was passed, John struck a light and spoke on his hands to Drake. The first faint tremor of dawn already extended in an ashy line along the East, but the morning made no impression as yet upon the wildernesses of the peat. Only here and there, where' water ran, or a crystal of quartz lay on the track, did the light declare itself. Elsewhere its earliest faint challenge was swallowed in the darkness of e«irth. Coole refloated how beisit to capture Spring and decided to stalk him. He judged that he would hasten straight to the penthouse in ithe Tor and .-drawlrom it tools, with which to dhinter his treasure. One inanss would —ob carry all; bint John, ceasj&anng what he himself would do in Spring's hard case, decided i&ai ha would select from the boxes the best that they ■contained of pontable treasures,'take all that he could safely carry and ride northward into the lonely regions nigh Cranmere Pool. A hundred years ago this spot, so familiar to every Dartmoor wanderer to-day, was shunned as a, place of evil omen, and not a Moor man would willingly have braved the supernatural perils of the a.one. Spring knew this, for John Coole hai itold him so. It seemed probable, therefore, that he would carry off all that he could to the Pool, lie hidden there with his horse until amother night, and then push for North Devon and his gcal at Barnstaple. The story of his friends at Barnstaple might, of couse, have been a lie; but John reflected that since his own death was determined, before they departed, there was no nesd foo" the robbers to have hidden the truth from him in this particular. They dismounted at the foot of Cut HQI, made fast their horses behind a great rock, and then, while darkness still covered them, crept yard by yard up the great western slope of Fur Tor. John led the way and Dicker came after. It was not until ho had reached near enough to bear the sound of the highwayman's digging that Coole stopped and pulled Dxake down beside himHe was not prepared to pit himself against Chairles Spring singlehanded, for the robber had doubtless, reloaded hia pistols. Coole remembered siome musty lore that twins for ever think alike and do alike, though separated; it occurred to him, therefore, that Charlie, much weakened by the loss of his brother, might make no great struggle and perhaps even yield on finding himself at the mercy of two resolute foes. For Coole had not brought the long-duck gun and weighted Dicker with H for nobbing. It would enable him ito settle with Charlie, if need be, at a range beyond the highwayman's pistol. But to Drake must tl c marksmanship be entrusted—mot because Coole hesitated to destroy Spring, but because Drake was the better ehiu'c and would make no mistake if called on to stop a galloping horse. Now, as the false dawn woke rosy light along the heath and touched the precipices of Fur Tor until they shone like red gold, Coole directed Dicker to renew his priming and then rose from his hiding-place and walked out on to the hillside, not a hundred yards from where Charlie Spring was at work. The highwayman, during the hour they had allowed him, until light was strong and clear, toiled busily, for the four great ca3es lay already upon the sward, aud all were broken open. Now he wa3 sorting his spoils and conveying to one box and to his own deep pockets the ?ream of half a hundred thefts. Passion had shaken the highway robber, also on his return alone through the night, and the sure knowledge that his brother was gone from him for ever, awoke a savage ferocity. He had seen his enemy roll over: and hoped that the unknown man was dead; but he could not be sure of it. He swore, if bring, that the man who had brought his brother .to the gallows should not escape. But even in his distress and rage the ruffian could find leisure, as an artist, to admire the amazes Remus of this unknown, who had boodwmked him and whx>, playing with h.s own life as a pawn in the deTdlv Stake he had played for. He had actually invited Charlie to put a bullet through his bead on the occasion of their f TF7* Hiß brother would have done it, but he had prevailed with Crabb ♦d Usten to the mournful stranger. And this "was the result ■

I Now he rose from' hie labours and looked at the light in the east; then, led his horse to a point on the Mil top, and cast a glance down the river to see if there were signs of Bayldon. He remembered that the whole circumstances of the threatened incursion rested solely on the stranger'B word and might have contained no truth. He hesitated whetheT to prove it, and while he stood in doubt, a fammilar voice fell on hie ear, and he heard himself called. "The game's up, Charlie Spring!" (He -turned to see John Coole; but he did not know that in a furze, at John's left, Drake Dicker was lying upon his belly with the duck gun cocked and pointed." "Tis you, you claw of Satan!" shouted the highwayman. "Let him look after you!" now. Ten devils shouldn't save you again!'' The man leaped to hie horse, which he held by the bridle, and rode for Coole. Then John held up his hand. "Be warned —be warned. Pass that stone Charlie, and you're a dead man!" He pointed where a boulder thrust from the hill twenty yards before him and he made his meaning clear; but Spring pexjing Wis enemy appareoit'y unarmed and at hi 6 mercy, paid no heed to the warning and galloped forward to ride Coole down. John meantime had: explained to Dicker that if the highwayman came beyond the stone he was to fire at his horse and stop him. Then, when Spring fell, Coole himself intended .to run forward and make him a prisoner, or at least hold him until Dicker could join forces and complete the capture. But fate decreed a different termination to the encounter, Spring sped past the 6tone and no gun bellowed from the furze. On he came and he was within ten yards of John with his pistol drawn to shoot before the "King of Wallers" ; fired. He remembered the wound in his shoulder still, and not at the' steed did he aim but at the man upon it. Charlie Spring crashed forward headlong with half his face blown away by the terrific charge of diick shot at such close quarters. He was dead before he touched the ground, and hie- terrified horse nearly dashed into Coole, -where he stood right before it. He leapt to one side, then, swearing very heartily at Dicker, ran, forward to succour, if possible, the unfortunate wretch on the earth. But, a shattered corpse was all that he found and the familiar features of the famous rascal bad already vanished beyond recall. John gazed, not without regret, on the palpitating dust of the man he bad destroyed; and then he stopped Drake Dicker, who felt no sentiment, and was already probing in the dead man's pockets. "Bide you here." he signalled. "Take his pistols and keep guard over all this stuff. J'll empty his pockets. Everything must be put back in the boxes, and presently we'll fetch up the officers ot" the law and hand all over." . They restored certain jewels and ringrs from Charlie's pockets to the boxes. Then ©ooie aVlitter of red fern over the corpse, and turned bis attention to the treasure. He had time to note its extent, and while Dicker, set out to catch the runaway horse, John turned over the mac<s of booty collected in a month by the fallen Twins. He recognised but little, but certain things were familiar enough, for the wrestling cup and belt, together with Sheffield plate and various other articles of value had come from the "Fox and Hounds," and would return there, as he always intended they should. Mounted on Crabb Spring's horse, Drake had little difficulty in catching his brother's steeS; for the one recognised the other and the. riderless animal quickly turned and approached when his stable companion saw him and neighed i greeting. But it was on his own stout mare that Coole presently set out, after final directions to Dicker. "Don't stir a yard from the boxes," he said upon his hands, "and don't suffer any living creature —friend or foe; — to come within ten. yards of you. And mind,-before all things, that if Bayldon from Rattlebrook coiner? up, as he may do, to treat him as you'd treat an enemy. But don't lire if you can help it. You killed Spring, when you might very easy have shot his horse instead. But be as sure as you please next time, for Bayldon has earned the gallows, and he would make a better end here, with a bullet in his head, than at Heavitree Hill, dancing his last dance before ten thousand people!" The highwaymin's horses were tethered within six yards of Dicker, and Coole left him sufficiently impressed with the importance of his great trust. As for John, he set off due south, traversed some wild bog land, where the peat was torn and riven into gullies ten feet deep, and presently crossed this fcavage region, andf found (himself on land nigh Devil's Tor. His purpose was to reach Two Bridges and there intercept Saul Copleston's cavalry, on its return journey. He held on in morning sunshine over the Blair Down Tors, and presently, from the heights whence Blair Down Farm looked upon the valley beneath, descried a cluster of horses and men about the entrance of | "The Ring o' Bells"—a famous hostelry : standing by the western arm of Dart. Coole soon joined the throng, and : drank with them. Dennis Rowland was tlie first man that he met. "Give you good morning, farmer; but 1 needn't ax you if you've catched your : Mace o' birds, for I know you have not," he said. "'Tis in our faces, without a doubt," , admitted the father of Sarah. "No jJohn, a brave lot of trouble have we I took—for nought. We waked Farmer Bayldon and his Missis from their sleep, and was round the house two deep afore he could admit us. Then in we poured, with Saul Copleston at the door to count us go in and see that none was lost, but not a pinch o' powder burned and not a .whisker of they bag"erlng rascals did we see. As for'Bavldon —honest man—he'd never heard tell of em; nor yet did he know there was such a chap as Timothy White." "Did you take his word?" "I'm sure I should have done so. for he was heavy with sleep and far too drowsyheaded to lie to a lot of wide-awake keen chaps like us. But we only believed our own eyes and we turned his place inside out and hunted through every hole and corner before we were satisfied the men weren't there. But if they was, then down a rat hole they must have been, for there was no other place they could hide in. Tis a poor farm with a scarce cupboard, and we properly rummaged it through from floor to chimney. Bayldon was innocent as a babe and so, of course, waa his wife: and when Saul told him

what was believed against him, he used mighty strong language, as any honest man would. He was bitter angry that we should think that he could do such a dirty deed and dressed Copleston and mc down properly. Then David Selleck told him Drake Dicker's tale about horses and a man in the stables; but of course we'd surrounded farm and stables both and there wasn't men or horses there, or any sign that they'd been there." Saul Copleston emerged from the "Ring o' Bells" while Rowland told his tale, an< with him came Trueman Trinny, the famous host, and Neddy Worth, the coney catcher. "Cheero. John Coole!" cried Trinny. "And how came it you didn't join the hunt, master? We all thought that ; certain bowerley maid—Rowland's fine daughter—was to be the prize for liin who laid the rascals by the heels; and that John Coole was in the running." "That's right," declared Neddy. "Tilt whole world knows that." "Fetch mc a pint, Trinny, and I'll sur prise you," answered Coole; then, wher, the innkeeper had gone to serve him. he turned to Copleston. "You've failed, Saul —and I can tell you the reason." "So can any other fool," answered tin disappointed lover. "The blackguards were not there, and never were. '"Th all a lie of that deaf and dumb man." "Yes, they were; but they got wind of your little army and didn't want to murder any more brave men if it could he helped. So they cleared out and took their " He broke off, lifted the pint mug that Trinny brought him and drained it at n draught. I'm thirsty and have reason to be." sail' John. "And v when some of you brave chaps hear what I can tell you. you'll want ti pay Trueman for my beer, unless lie offen to stand the liquor for nothing." "I'll do it afore I hear your tale, farmer," said Neddy Worth, "for none hears false stories from you." "You seem to be bragging a lot, perhaps you'll tell us what you know," returned Copleston to Coole. "And don't waste words,, for we're sad-dle-weary. 1 reckon," added Dennis Rowland. "They cleared out of Rattlebrook —the Twins i mean—and took their stuff with them. Your father's cup and belt with the rest, Copleston. But don't you fret nor scowl. Belike if you tell out afore these men assembled that you are sorry for the way you've treated mc oncp and aoain in your own bar, I shall let you have 'em back presently." "Good Lord. Johnny, has niv beer got in your head?" asked the publican. "No, Trueman; but something else ha«. I daresay you'll forgive mc when you know what 'tis. ]n a word I've done for the Twins!" "Fool your grandmother," said Copleston. "Bring up my horse. David Selleck. We'll be getting home This man's gone weak in his wits." "'Tis you're weak-witted," answered John. "'Tis you're the fool. Saul Copleston, and a bigger never made other fools believe in Jiim. I tell the truth. Your noise and bounce and cowardice have taken you where such faults do take a man. There's only one thing in the world that you fear, Saul, and that's danger; and now every man knows it You've lost all along the lino. You've lost your goods, and you've iost you girl, and you've lost the respect of every brave chap in Dartymoor; aud you've lost your se}f-r*ftpcet and will find that hardest of allthings to get apiin. An 1 mark this: I'm the winner, and I'll have the fruits of victory. 'Tisn't much that I want, and if you hadn't been a curdog, I'd have had what I asked for on the day you rolled mc in your bar and broke 'my head. But until I have it, you'll go short, my friend. Humble pie you've got to eat or " " Never! Never so long as 1 can keep my teeth shut!" answered the other. " You think to- trick soft words out o! mc with a lie. John Coole; but you won't. Show mc ' Charlie Spring an i Crabb Spring and I'll believe, no. sooner." " You'd better try a pinch of faith and do as I order you." answered the other. "The terms are easy for the minule. They'll be a lot harder next time we meet." But Copleston, now in a fury, made no answer save a curse. Then he rode away with David Selleck after him. When he had-gone Coole told his story, and so extraordinary did it appear that not d few of his listeners, treating him as had done, declared that tic was playing the fool with a serious sub ject and declined to believe him. " lou really mean that one of them lies —on a place you won't tell vs —with half his head blown away?" asked the coney-catcher. " "Tis true, and I won't tell any man yet where Spring fell, because his boxes lie beside him with none but Drake Dicker to keep guard over them." " And t'other ebap you've tempted into Merripit with a piece of sugar and catched alive in your cellar?' asked Neddy. "Tis so, and Dennis Rowland here will be a bit interested to know that 'twas his own daughter that helped mc, slid play-acted so well as the cleverest woman that ever walked the public stage. She pretended that she was John Coole'.-* wife, and that he was away after the highwaymen." "Well done, Sarah!"' cried Dennis. " Who ever would have thought now that girl could have rose to such a pitch of cleverness! But there 'tis, the women always have a bit up their sleeve, in my opinion. Only their Maker -jan tell to the full what they be equal :o. So oft' as not they don't guess what's in 'em themselves. And 'tis as well they don't, for they be like hosses, if they "knowed their power, we'd never manage 'em." " 'Twasn't Sarah," answered John Coole, " 'twas Chicky helped n:e. Sarah bant built to do that sort of thing."' " Besides, Charlie Spring kissed Sarah,'' said Mr Worth, " and if I know your fine girl, Dennis Rowland, she'd have slapped his face when the chance came— play-acting or no play-acting." "Not Sarah!" cried Dennis. "Good Lord, Johnny! how things fall out in this masterpiece of a world! My Christina pretends to be your wife; and, if all this rigmarole be true, that you've slain one Twin and caught the other, then you've done what Sarah defied you to do, and she's got to marry you!" " That's how it stands, and you'll be my father-in-law afore Christinas," answered John. " Christina did it all for Sarah's sake." " Now them as want to see whether Coole speaks the truth must set out for Merripit." said Trueman Trinny. '• And let 'em go down into John's cellar and bid Crabb Spring 'good morning,' and tell him that his brother's dead. Whatever else betide, I'm coming. I wouldn't miss it for a dozen of old port." The cavalcade took to the road, and before they had reached Crokern Tor, Mr Trinny, on his famous white hunter, was after them. " And -when all is done," he declared, " well ride up to my brother bung at

the ' Fox and Hounds,' and not leave him till he's ate tbe leek, and axed Johnny to forgive him. and stood a brave bottle or two of the best that he can find." But Coole had another task to accomplish before returning home. Five of the youngest and best mounted farmer? were told off to Teturn to Rattlebrook seek Bayldon and his wife, and raak< them fast. (To be continued on Saturday next.)