England -- Fiction; Gothic fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
"Yes, 'twas the same I saw afterwards--Lord ha' mercy on us! I saw him
again, at his murderin' work. Oh, Master David! it makes my brain wild,
and my skin creep, to think o' that sight."
"I did wrong to interrupt you; tell it your own way, Martha, and I can
afterwards ask you the questions that lie near my heart," said Mr.
Arden.
"'Tis easy told, Sir; the candle was burnt down almost in the socket,
and I went to look out another--but before I could find one, it went
out. 'Twas but a stump I found and lighted, after I saw that fellow in
the light drab surtout go by. I wished to let them know, if they had any
ill design, there was folks awake in the lodge. But he was gone by
before I found the matches, and now that he was comin' again, the candle
went out--things goes so cross. It was to be, ye see. Well, while I was
rummagin' about, looking for a candle, I heard the sound of a horse
trotting hard, and wheels rollin' along; so says I, 'Thank God!' for
then I was sure it must be Harry, poor lad. So I claps on my bonnet, and
out wi' me, wi' t' key. I thought I heard voices, as the hoofs and
wheels came clinkin' up to the gate; but I could not be quite sure. I
was huffed wi' Master Harry for the long wait he gev me, and the fright,
and I took my time comin' round the corner of the gatehouse. And thinks
I to myself, he'll be offerin' me a seat in the gig up to the house, but
I won't take it. God forgi'e me for them angry thoughts to the poor
laddie that I was never to have a word wi' more! When I came to the gate
there was never a call, and nothing but voices talking and gaspin' like,
under their breath a'most, and a queer scufflin' sound, that I could not
make head nor tail on. So I unlocked the wicket, and out wi' me, and,
Lord ha' mercy on us, what a sight for me! The gig was there, with its
shafts on the ground, and its back cocked up, and the iron-grey flat on
his side, lashin' and scramblin', poor brute, and two villains in the
gig, both pullin' at poor Master Harry, one robbin', and t'other
murderin' him. I took one o' them--a short, thick fellow--by the skirt
o' his coat, to drag him out, and I screamed for Tom Clinton to come
out. The short fellow turned, and struck at me wi' somethin'; but, lucky
for me, 'appen, the lashin' horse that minute took me on the foot, and
brought me down. But up I scrambles wi' a stone in my hand, and I shied
it, the best I could, at the head o' the villain that was killin' Master
Harry. But what can a woman do? It did not go nigh him, I'm thinkin'. I
was, all the time, calling on Tom to come, and cryin' 'Murder!' that
you'd think my throat'd split. That bloody wretch in the gig had got
poor Master Harry's head back over the edge of it, and his knee to his
chest, a-strivin' to break his neck across the back-rails; and poor dear
lad, Master Harry, he just scritched, 'Yelland Mace! for God's sake!'
They were the last words I ever heard from him, and I'll never forget
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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