"Well, if she would not do it, I would, and ask pardon afterwards, as Raleigh did about the rascals at Smerwick, whom Amyas knows of.
Mrs.Leigh, these are times in which mercy is cruelty.Not England alone, but the world, the Bible, the Gospel itself, is at stake;and we must do terrible things, lest we suffer more terrible ones.""God will take care of world and Bible better than any cruelty of ours, dear Sir Richard.""Nay, but, Mrs.Leigh, we must help Him to take care of them! If those Smerwick Spaniards had not been--""The Spaniard would not have been exasperated into invading us.""And we should not have had this chance of crushing him once and for all; but the quarrel is of older standing, madam, eh, Amyas?
Amyas, has Raleigh written to you of late?""Not a word, and I wonder why."
"Well; no wonder at that, if you knew how he has been laboring.
The wonder is, whence he got the knowledge wherewith to labor; for he never saw sea-work to my remembrance.""Never saw a shot fired by sea, except ours at Smerwick, and that brush with the Spaniards in 1579, when he sailed for Virginia with Sir Humphrey; and he was a mere crack then.""So you consider him as your pupil, eh? But he learnt enough in the Netherland wars, and in Ireland too, if not of the strength of ships, yet still of the weakness of land forces; and would you believe it, the man has twisted the whole council round his finger, and made them give up the land defences to the naval ones.""Quite right he, and wooden walls against stone ones for ever! But as for twisting, he would persuade Satan, if he got him alone for half an hour.""I wish he would sail for Spain then, just now, and try the powers of his tongue," said Mrs.Leigh.
"But are we to have the honor, really?"
"We are, lad.There were many in the council who were for disputing the landing on shore, and said--which I do not deny--that the 'prentice boys of London could face the bluest blood in Spain.
But Raleigh argued (following my Lord Burleigh in that) that we differed from the Low Countries, and all other lands, in that we had not a castle or town throughout, which would stand a ten days'
siege, and that our ramparts, as he well said, were, after all, only a body of men.So, he argued, as long as the enemy has power to land where he will, prevention, rather than cure, is our only hope; and that belongs to the office, not of an army, but of a fleet.So the fleet was agreed on, and a fleet we shall have.""Then here is his health, the health of a true friend to all bold mariners, and myself in particular! But where is he now?""Coming here to-morrow, as I hope--for he left London with me, and so down by us into Cornwall, to drill the train-bands, as he is bound to do, being Seneschal of the Duchies and Lieutenant-General of the county.""Besides Lord Warden of the Stanneries! How the man thrives!" said Mrs.Leigh.
"How the man deserves to thrive!" said Amyas; "but what are we to do?""That is the rub.I would fain stay and fight the Spaniards.""So would I; and will."
"But he has other plans in his head for us.""We can make our own plans without his help.""Heyday, Amyas! How long? When did he ask you to do a thing yet and you refuse him?""Not often, certainly; but Spaniards I must fight.""Well, so must I, boy: but I have given a sort of promise to him, nevertheless.""Not for me too, I hope?"
"No: he will extract that himself when he comes; you must come and sup to-morrow, and talk it over.""Be talked over, rather.What chestnut does the cat want us monkeys to pull out of the fire for him now, I wonder?""Sir Richard Grenville is hardly accustomed to be called a monkey,"said Mrs.Leigh.
"I meant no harm; and his worship knows it, none better: but where is Raleigh going to send us, with a murrain?""To Virginia.The settlers must have help: and, as I trust in God, we shall be back again long before this armament can bestir itself."So Raleigh came, saw, and conquered.Mrs.Leigh consented to Amyas's going (for his twelve-month would be over ere the fleet could start) upon so peaceful and useful an errand; and the next five months were spent in continual labor on the part of Amyas and Grenville, till seven ships were all but ready in Bideford river, the admiral whereof was Amyas Leigh.
But that fleet was not destined ever to see the shores of the New World: it had nobler work to do (if Americans will forgive the speech) than even settling the United States.
It was in the long June evenings, in the year 1588; Mrs.Leigh sat in the open window, busy at her needle-work; Ayacanora sat opposite to her, on the seat of the bay, trying diligently to read "The History of the Nine Worthies," and stealing a glance every now and then towards the garden, where Amyas stalked up and down as he had used to do in happier days gone by.But his brow was contracted now, his eyes fixed on the ground, as he plodded backwards and forwards, his hands behind his back, and a huge cigar in his mouth, the wonder of the little boys of Northam, who peeped in stealthily as they passed the iron-work gates, to see the back of the famous fire-breathing captain who had sailed round the world and been in the country of headless men and flying dragons, and then popped back their heads suddenly, as he turned toward them in his walk.
And Ayacanora looked, and looked, with no less admiration than the urchins at the gate: but she got no more of an answering look from Amyas than they did; for his head was full of calculations of tonnage and stowage, of salt pork and ale-barrels, and the packing of tools and seeds; for he had promised Raleigh to do his best for the new colony, and he was doing it with all his might; so Ayacanora looked back again to her book, and heaved a deep sigh.
It was answered by one from Mrs.Leigh.
"We are a melancholy pair, sweet chuck," said the fair widow.
"What is my maid sighing about, there?"
"Because I cannot make out the long words," said Ayacanora, telling a very white fib.
"Is that all? Come to me, and I will tell you."Ayacanora moved over to her, and sat down at her feet.