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VOLUME U.—NUMBER 12.
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pally 7
il Ge
. —"gT te
Dra2i. Sud engraved expressly for The Weekly Novelette.]
{Entered according to Act of Congress in the Clerk’s Office of the
District Court of Massachusetts.]
IRD Tet AND 8
Cruiser of the English Channel,
A STORY OP THE OLDEN TIME.
BY F. CLINTON BARRINGTON. »
{conciupEp.]
« CHAPTER XVIII.
AN EXCITING SCENE.
- Tue earl continued to read on for afew lines further,
but in aless audible manner, and then immediately
returning the letter to the secretary, he said :
“It is correctly copied and fairly writ. Scal.”
«You have forgotten to sign it, my lord.”
46" ' «
The Earl Villiers then took a pen in his left hand and
made a capital V, after which he placed a seal that he
took from his sword hilt upon some wax that Edward
had previously placed for the reception of it. It was a
shield, on which was a three-masted ship, and for a
crest was a hand severed at the wrist.
“J wear. this seal and badge till Cromwell loses his
usurped throne, and then I resume my arms. I will
et make him wince the more, as men'say he does at
hearing of Red Hand, his deadly foe! Now I would
have thee pen a letter to my fair daughter, at the con-
yent St. Lo. It was four weeks since she wrote me the
sweet missive which pleased me so, and Ihave deigned
it no reply, Come, sir, thou art my right hand, and I
would have thee write to a lady as I would have done
in my younger days.. Let. the script be smaller than
. that in which thou hast writ to the French king, and
by no means so large as that wherewith thou writest to
LORD RUDOLPH’S TREACHERY FRUSTRATED BY GUILFORD.
our English barons. A handwriting for a lady’s eye,
let me teach thee, young cavalier, should be graceful in
shape, neat in all its parts, of a cunning and pleasing
fashion, and without mar or blot. ‘I like well the Ital-
ian script for this business. Dost thou know it ?”
“ Yes, my lord ; I have cultivated all st¥les of Spain,
of France, of Italy, and of Germany.”
“ Let us have that of Italy.” "
“Tam ready.”
“Then say these words with thy own finish; for,
by the rood ! I am better skilled in ropes and ships than
in the art of penmanship. Now to thy task:
“Farm DAUGHTER JENNY :—Thy sweet billet came
duly into my hand, and was read with pride and satis-
faction. It pleases me that thou art so happily content
with thy present abode, and that the abbess doth her
best to give thee such: entertainment as becometh thy,
goodness and my daughter. Thou wilt pardon this
long delay between my answer and thy letter ; but this
is a busy season since the mishap to the prince’s army,
and Iam compelled to keep astir, and mostly on the
sea, for I am hoping to give the prince the opportunity
of getting off from the coast in my ship, which would
be ‘the proudest event of thy father’s Vie to aid his
prince in being successful in escaping from his enemics.
Thou hast heard ere this how he has been hunted in
Scotland; but getting into England, he is now wan-
dering near the coast, and must soon either fall into
the hands of his enemies or get safely over to Trance.
If he reach Paris, I shall not fail to go there to give
him my homage, in which case I will pass St. Lo and
take thee with me; for thy education is by this time
well on to its close—and what thou lackest in thy head,
thy face’s beauty will make up. Edward Percy telleth
me that thou hast grown wonderfully fair. He will be
the bearer of this, and 1 would fain commend hin
(here there lurked a smiling expression in the corner of
the earl’s eye) to thy courtesy and attention, for he hath
my confidence and love. Heaven bless thee, fair daugh-
ter Jenny, and soon place thee in the arms of thy loving
father, ARTHUR, EARL oF VILLIERS.”
This letter having been duly penned by the youthful
secretary, Red Hand settled himself upon his couch
and gave himself up to the proposed sleep which he so
PRICE FOUR CENTS.
(See page 182.]
much needed, while Edward continued at the escritoire
writing and scaling pacquets addressed to various ex- ©
iled noblemen in France.
At length the ‘day broke, and the carl, rising, went
to the deck. His keen eye surveyed the horizon. Three
or four vessels were in sight, one of which, far to the
castward, was made out to be a brig-of-war; but as she
showed no colors, her nature could not be made out—
though as she was near the French coast, she was sup-
sed to be a vessel of that nation. Some dozen fish-
ing vessels were also seen running xbout. _ Upon all
three Red Hand directed the long, heavy telescope of
that day, and then, haying swept the French coast near
which he was sailing, he suddenly gave orders to put
about ; for up to that time, since Guilford had left her
in the yacht during the preceding night, she had been
steering. nearly-west. The island of “Alderney lay
about two leagues distant abeam, when they tacked
ship. ©
"Lay her course E. N. East,”’ said Red Hand. “We
will run up the channel and keep cruising between
Normandy and Sussex, for we may be so fortunate as
to fall in with some of the fugitives crossing who will
give us news of the prince.’ Keep a close watch on all.
the fishing boats, and run close to each of them, so that
if any of the prince’s party be in them, we may take
them on board.” .o¢
The ship now stretched eastward under all her can-
yass, for the breeze was light from the south and south
by west, and every” sail had to be set to get six knots
an hour out of her. The men, afier they had break-
fasted, were called to quarters and trained to the guns,
to keep them in constant practice ; for they were sur-
rounded by hostile vessels, and might at any hour find
themselves engaged in mortal conflict with some of.
Cromwell’s ships, In this manner, closely examining -
every craft, the royal cruiser of the channel kept on
her course, the sight of her causing many an English
trading vessel to up helm and fly for shelter towards
tho nearest land on the British side,
"It was about three o’clock in the afternoon, when the
ship commanded by Red Hand came nearly opposite
Cape La Hogue, the land lying about five miles from
her to the south, on the starboard beam. , The wind
