Cedric, the Forester Read online

  CHAPTER II--THE TAPPING ON THE DUNGEON WALL

  As before, the siege went on, the sole variance being the absence of thegray-bearded horseman from the groups of knights and squires who madethe circuit of the sentry-posts. Days and weeks went by, and they madeno further assaults, but so closely were the siege lines drawn that,without wings no creature could enter or leave the castle. It wasevident that the Carleton men hoped to starve us into submission. Wesmiled at this when we thought of the loads of grain and salted meatswhich had been brought into the storerooms in the first week of myfather's absence, and which would be enough to feed all our littlegarrison for a year. A well of most sweet water in the courtyard hadnever been known to run dry; so we had little cause for fear of eitherhunger or thirst.

  What with Marvin's simples, my wound was fast healing, and I longed foranother fray where I could use my bow at close quarters. Scarce a daypassed without one of my bolts striking the steel harness of someCarleton knight; but none found their way to armor joints; and thepeasants and leather-coated men-at-arms kept well beyond a hurtfulrange.

  One dismal morning, when a month had passed, my heart sank, as did thoseof all the Mountjoys, as we made out the tall figure in black armor andthe long gray beard of the Lord of Carleton, again making his rounds atthe head of a group of knights and squires. Plain to see, he hadrecovered from his wound and was as bent as ever on Mountjoy's fall. Theold Gray Wolf was hungry not only for the house and lands of Mountjoybut also for the vengeance which to him would be sweeter than all thelands of England. Now might we expect new assaults, planned with theirtwo failures in mind, and bringing to bear new plans and schemes and alltheir beastly hate and greed. Some of our old serving men shivered asthey spoke of the devilish deeds of the Gray Wolf, and of the fate instore for them if the next assault should win its way.

  That night, at something after ten, the weather being raw and dismalwith a cold spring rain and the spirits of all the Mountjoy folksomewhat adroop, one of the archers had been sent to the cellars to drawa pitcher of ale. In a moment he came up the stairs on the run, andburst into the hall with the empty pitcher held in shaking hands andwith teeth chattering with fright.

  "Oh, my lady!" he said, catching for his breath, "the Evil One hath usnow, and all our doings are for naught."

  "What say'st thou, Gavin?" called his mistress, "who tells thee tales ofthe Evil One?"

  "'Tis--'Tis the truth," answered poor Gavin, "but now, in the cellars,he goes--_tap tap tap_ in the ground at one's feet. So has he come totake many a poor mortal. We be called for, and all our sins on ourheads, with no holy man at hand to say him nay with book and bell."

  "Go to. Thou'rt a coward when in the dark by thy lone," said my lady,scornfully, "though thou fight'st well and truly with comrades at thyelbow. Marvin, if our watchers are to have their sup of ale on this rawnight, thou must even draw it thyself."

  But our brave old archer, hero of a hundred battles, turned pale andanswered slowly:

  "Nay, my lady, it is not well for mortal men, with mayhap many a wordand deed unconfessed and unpenanced, to meddle with the Powers ofDarkness. For my sins I know them of old, and I dare not face them. Showme a mortal man, and I'll stand before him with whatever weapons, butnot the spirits that thump on the footstones by night or twist the neckof a sleeping man with a hand not seen."

  My mother turned pale, and I could see the fringe of her sleeve barelyaquiver in the candlelight. She opened her mouth to speak in reproof ofMarvin; but found no words, and sat gazing toward him with wide andglistening eyes. Truth to tell, it was a fearsome thing, and for myselfI had but the smallest wish to face the dungeon passages on that blacknight. 'Twas not so long since I would not have faced them by my lone onthe most quiet and peaceful of nights with no armed enemies within aday's journey; and a great round lump came up into my throat as Ithought of it. Yet, even as we sat eying one another in fear, a thoughtcame to my mind of the duty of a Mountjoy. 'Twas but natural that ourserving men should fear the evil sprites let loose by darkness andtroublous times; and e'en my mother, a fair and gracious lady, andwithal none too strong of body, was not made to face such things. But Iwas the Heir of Mountjoy; and my father had knelt before a King ofFrance and been made Knight of a holy order for his deeds on the Plainsof Jerusalem. I started up and cried:

  "Tush! good Marvin. Methought thee far too bold for frightening with oldwives' tales. Come! I'll go before thee bearing a candle to fright awaythy imaginings."

  "Spoken like a true Montmorency," said my mother with a strange littlelaugh, "truly, Dickon, thou'lt shame us all."

  Then she rose and reached to the shelf behind her for a candlestick.

  "Oh, now, my lady!" cried old Dame Franklin. "Go not to the dungeons onsuch a night. The men can better want their sup of ale. 'Tis an illnight for all uneasy sprites. Bide here by the fire, for soon we go tothe battlements again."

  But my lady already stood with her hand on the great latch of the doorat the head of the stairway which led to the donjon keep. I took mycross-bow.

  "If any of the Imps of Darkness challenge us," I said, "I'll see whetheror no they can stand before a good steel bolt."

  But even in the midst of my confident words, I had a thought anent thespectral tappings which chilled the blood in my veins. Ghostly visitantsI was ready then to challenge; but I had heard my father tell how theCrusaders took one Saracen stronghold by means of a mine or tunnel, dugwith weeks of toil under the walls and into the passages of the ancientkeep. Why should not the Old Wolf of Carleton have planned a likeattack? During the weeks when his men had seemed so quiet and had giventhe Mountjoys scarcely a chance for a long bowshot, might they not havebeen driving such a tunnel under their very feet? Suppose that tappingthat Gavin thought the work of the Evil One were the sound of the toolsof the servants of one scarcely less evil and with even more cause towish us ill!

  "Come then," said my mother, her face white but firm. Opening the greatoak door, she led the way toward the dungeons.

  Cross-bow in hand, I followed; and just behind me came Dame Franklin. Asshe moved toward the door, Old Marvin picked up his cross-bow, made sureof the poniard in his belt and followed also, mumbling the while, asbest he might, the words of a Latin prayer.

  We came to pause amid the stillness of the vault which was like untothat of the Mountjoy tomb at Kirkwald Abbey to which one day, with myhand tightly clasping my father's, I had paid a well remembered visit.The candle wavered and guttered in a faint draught, and the lightgleamed on the wide eyes of the old dame and the trembling hands of thearcher. I was standing full still with my eyes on my mother's face. Forlong we stood while I could hear no sound save the beating strokesbeneath my doublet. Then, suddenly, from the floor beneath or the solidwall beside us,--

  Tap, tap--tap--tap tap.

  No one spoke. The candle shook in my lady's hand till it threatened tofall and leave us in utter darkness. Dame Franklin and the old soldierwere frozen in their places. Then again:

  Tap tap--tap--tap tap.

  "Oh, Mother," I whispered, "the passage! The secret passage! Our enemieshave found it."

  There was another fearsome silence. Then again--Tap tap--tap--tap tap.

  Then the echoes of the great vault were roused by a loud, clear callfrom my lady mother:

  "Oh, my lord! My Lord Mountjoy, is it thou?"

  There came a muffled voice in reply, and again we heard the tapping.

  _DAME FRANKLIN AND THE OLD SOLDIER WERE FROZEN IN THEIRPLACES_]

  At once she leaped toward the wall with a glad cry:

  "Oh, my lord, my lord, have patience but a moment. I will undo thedoor."

  She brushed aside some old and mildewed hangings, all heavy with dustand grime, and brought to view a small iron door. Snatching from hergirdle the largest key, she fitted it into the lock. Still, try as shewould, she could not turn it till old Marvin came to her help. Thenindeed the rusty lock gave way, the door swung slowly open, and myfather, the Lord of Mountjoy, followed by ha
lf a score of knights andmen-at-arms, stepped forth into the candlelight.

  When Lady Mountjoy at last was free from my father's embrace, she stoodwith her hands on his shoulders and asked a dozen questions, demandingthat he answer all at once.

  "Whence comest thou, my lord? Are the Scots beaten? Had'st thou news ofthe treachery of the Old Wolf of Carleton? How many men hast thou? Oh! Ihad forgot this secret passage and the door to which thou gavest me thekey on our wedding day. My foolish men, and almost myself, believed thysignal was a ghostly tapping. But Dickon remembered the passage; andwhen I had thrice heard the signal I knew it for the knock that thoumakest at my door,--the signal that means thee and none else in theworld."

  Meanwhile old Marvin had made fast the secret door, and we all weremoving toward the stairway, my father's arm encased in link armor thrownaround the waist of the castle's mistress.

  "Welladay, my dearest Kate! Not quite so fast and I will tell thee. TheScots are beaten; and we of Mountjoy had an honorable share in it. Thecampaign goes on, but a loyal youth from Mountjoy village found me afterthe battle and told of the doings of the traitor, Carleton. StraightwayI took the boy before the King. And he being pleased with some work Ihad done that day, did bid me take ten of my best men, make my choice often horses from his train, and ride post haste to the relief of my houseand my lady. We reached the Tarn Rock, half a league from here, atnightfall, and reconnoitered Carleton's camp. He being in greater forcethan we could cope with at once, I bethought me of this old passage fromthe wood two furlongs off. And so I have been tap, tap tapping for anhour, hoping at last to get the news of my coming to thee. And art thouwell, my Kate? And have the rascals done aught to harm thee or Dickonhere?"

  "Not a whit, my lord. Save for an arrow stroke our Dickon hath come byin open fight, and which is already nearly healed. They have made somemighty threats, and would have carried them through with right good willcould they have reached us; but, thanks to Dickon, to old Marvin hereand the others, they got much worse than they gave. Many a Carletonknave will ne'er cut another throat, be it of man or pig; and the OldWolf himself was very near to his just reward in the shape of a goodsteel bolt from Marvin's bow."

  On the ramparts next morning swung my father's banner of purple andgold. Watching our enemies' camp, I could plainly see that the displayof this flag, which they knew should signify naught else than thepresence of the head of our house, early brought most of them, andfinally the Gray Wolf himself, to gaze at the flagstaff. They weretelling one another, as I could well imagine, that this was but a ruseon the part of the castle's mistress, intended to deceive them into thebelief that Lord Mountjoy had come through their lines in the night.What was their surprise therefore, when Lord Mountjoy appeared on thebattlements in full armor and wearing the purple plume he had broughtfrom Italy, and yet more when they saw him attended and followed as hewas. Armored knights, in numbers they could not tell, came into sightand passed from view on the battlements and at the casements. We couldfairly see the rumor flying through the Carleton camp that Lord Mountjoyhad returned with all his men and by stealth or by magic had passedtheir sentinels during the night.

  The Gray Wolf stared long and viciously at our battlements, and calledon those with younger eyes to make sure of what he saw. Then with oathsand curses that made his men quail before him, he gave orders to breakcamp and return to Teramore.

  By midday the last signs of the siege were gone, the ashes of thecircling camp fires were cold, and the great drawbridge was down oncemore. A messenger was sent to the Tarn Rock to bring in the horses andtheir guards. In the sunny spring afternoon, when we went forth toreconnoiter the deserted camps of our enemies, I rode at my father'sside, wearing for the first time the gold-hilted sword which had beenbrought from Damascus.

  Two months later, the King returning to London, confirmed my father inpossession of his estates, and sent messengers to old Lord Carletondemanding his instant attendance at court. Again the Old Wolf was ill,too much so to obey the command of his sovereign; but this time he wasnot to rise from his bed as soon as the messengers had turned theirbacks.

  The wound in his throat made by Marvin's bolt had never fully healed,and now this, coupled with his old distemper, had laid him low. Evenwhile the heralds waited, the priest in the great upper chamber wassaying the prayers for the dying. At sunset on that day, I could seefrom the Tarn Rock the blue and white banner of Carleton flying at halfmast over the battlements of Teramore.