give him an earlier notice of his danger; the gates were all locked and barricadoed; arms in abundance were speedily loaded and prepared; and the little household garrison, weakened by the absence of the whole hunting establishment, which was in attendance upon the baronet, was collected and very laconically harangued by Sergeant Whittaker, who asked them first whether there was a better man, or a better master, or a braver soldier in the whole county, than Sir John; to which they unanimously replied in the negative and secondly, whether they wouldn't all be hanged, drawn, and quartered, rather than surrender Brambletye House, which had stood a siege against a whole regiment of infantry, (as he now termed the three companies,) to a rabble of rascally Presbyterians. To a proposition thus stated, there could be no other answer than a clamorous affirmative, followed by three hearty cheers. : "Why then, that for the parson," cried Whittaker, snapping his fingers, "and while I have the command, ye may swear as many oaths and fire as many volleys at the Roundheads as ye like." "And now, my brave fellows," he continued, for he had very unceremoniously dubbed himself governor of the place pro tempore, "the first thing you have to do, till Sir John returns, to give his own orders, is to fetch the peat-stack from behind the postern gate in the yard, and pile it up as fast and as high as you can, against the great entrance to the vaults." "What is that for?" inquired several, who were ignorant that there was any thing to conceal within those extensive arches. "What the devil is that to you?" asked the sergeant with a fierce look: "You are to do it, because I order you, because Sir John orders you." "As to your ordering us," replied the same voices, "that's neither here nor there; but if it's Sir John's commands, we are all ready to set about it." "Off with ye, then!" cried Whittaker, "and take with ye the kitchen maids, and laundry maids, and buttery maids, and scullery maids, every hand ye can muster, while I go and fill the black jack to serve out rations, for dry work is slow work, and wet whistles make nimble hands; and besides we must drink double the quantity to make up for the lack of malt in the last brewing, a full boll too short, as I'm an honest man." With these appropriate stimulants to activity, and by pressing every hand male and female into the service, a goodly stack of peat was presently run up against the principal entrance to the vaults, while the secretary and the chaplain were not less actively employed in committing to the flames every letter or document which might compromise Sir John himself, or any of the loyal gentlemen with whom he was associated. About three quarters of an hour had elapsed from the time when the warrener had gallopped into the court-yard, and both the parties we have just enumerated, had pretty well completed their respective operations, when Sergeant Whittaker, who had taken his stationin the cupola-shaped roof of the western tower, for want of a better warder, cried out lustily-"There they are, the red-coat psalmsingers, and a white pennon at their head!" with which exclamation he hastily descended, distributed arms to his little garrison, exhorted them not to desert their posts, and to take aim at the men rather than the horses. 'The very mention, however of the words red-coats and horses had produced a marvellously antipugnacious effect pon his auditors, several of whom betook themselves to the great stone-shafted window over the principal gate of entrance, and no sooner caught the gleaming arms of a regular troop of horse, advancing in military array towards the house, than their courage began to ooze out of their bodies with an alarming rapidity. "Ods heartlikins! Sergeant Whittaker," cried one, "call ye this a rabble of rascally Presbyterians? why it's the Lord Protector's own troop of Ironsides!—his Invincibles! look at their armour how it glitters in the sun! surely you would not send our heads to join those of Gerrard and Vowel, and half a score more, which were cut off t'other day." "For my part," exclaimed a second, "I thought it was a mere mob of madheaded rustics, like those in Goring's insurrection, or some of the Kentish club-men; but if they are indeed his highness's cavalry, it becomes a case of flat rebellion and high treason, and I have no wish to ride upon a hurdle, and to have my head shaved by Gregory Bandon's razor, nor to dangle by the neck in Cheapside or Cornhill, like Ashton, Bettely, and Stacy." "They be a troop of his own regiment, sure enough," cried a third, "and loikely lads to look at; and if they draw a line round the walls, I don't zee what good can coome to we; for I take it we ha'n't no great show of ammunition." - "There you lie," growled Whittaker, “I will find you in gunpowder for six weeks, if you will but fight as long." "As you like for yourself, master Whittaker," cried the under steward, indignant at the imputations against the ale, which was of his brewing; "but as for me, I find not that slice upon your cheek so becoming, as that I wish to run the risk of matching it." This was indeed touching the sergeant in a sore place. He was ashamed of his scar, honourable as it was, because it had not been received in battle, but in saving the life of a squinting parliamentarian; and one of the very few occasions of his using any thing like a prayer was, when he expressed a hope (as he often did,) that Heaven would forgive him for having been such an egregious ass as to do so. The very cicatrice itself blushed with a more angry glow at the under steward's allusion, as Whittaker fiercely replied, -"None of your scurrel jests upon me, jackanapes, or I may chance to widen your mouth with a rapier, and spoil your sneering. - And now, my brave lads, are ye all ready? Put in plenty of bullets; for lobsters, you know, ought to be well peppered." "No fighting! no fighting! no fighting!" cried a dozen voices at once, as they noticed with dismay the steady advance and formidable appearance of the soldiers. 66 What, ye rascals!" roared the sergeant in a fury --"do ye mutiny? Curse ye for a cowardly crew! I should like to make myself a court-martial, try ye all round, and shoot ye every one with my own hand!" The secretary, chaplain, and steward, now making their appearance, announced to the assembled household, that upon a consultation among themselves, it had been determined not to offer any useless resistance to the government forces, if they came with a hostile intent, but to demand a parley, and keep the gates closed, until Sir John should return in person, or transmit orders for their conduct. "Not fight!" roared Serjeant Whittaker, "After I have given them all as pretty arms as ever popped, and served out double rations of ale from the black jack!-- Curse me if ye ar'n't all traitors together--not fight !"-From the utter amazement and indignation into which he was cast by this unexpected intelligence, he only recovered upon perceiving that the troops had entered the avenue of trees which led to the principal entrance, and were within a short distance of the outer gate, when he exclaimed -"By St. George, it's a troop of the cuirassiers, and Noll's favourite officer, Colonel Lilburne, the same that cut Lord Derby's forces to pieces at Wigan, in Lancashire, and took the Duke of Buckingham and the other lords after the battle of Worcester. I know the rascal by his black helmet and Spanish charger. How I should like to have a slap at him!" In uttering these words, his fingers instinctively touched the lock of the musket he was holding, as if they could hardly be repressed from cocking the trigger, and bringing the weapon up to his shoulder; but with an effort, which he considered a rare act of magnanimity, he continued-"Damn him! though he's an Anabaptist, and one of King Charles's murderers, which is next door to being a devil, he's a good soldier; and besides there's a trumpeter with him, who I see is raising the instrument to his mouth." The loud brazen summons that followed these words, and which, after echoing through the hall and vaulted passages of Brambletye, startled the cattle that were browsing in its shade, and then died sullenly away in the adjacent forest, effectually put to flight all the remaining valour of its little garrison, with the exception of that which was now swelling the veins and crimsoning the face of grim Sergeant Whittaker, who clutched his weapon with a convulsive energy at the sound. The chaplain, in the mean time, who was deemed the most appropriate messenger of peace, though many of the sacred profession had been active belligerants on both sides during the late troubles, was deputed to hold a parley with the colonel, and demand the object of this extraordinary summons, and a sight of his authority. The former was presently explained, and the warrant upon which it was grounded being handed by a sergeant-at-arms through the stone loophole of a niche in the porter's lodge, was carried into the hall for the inspection of the whole counsel. It was evidently official and regular, signed by the Lord Protector himself, and bearing appended to it the government seal, which displayed the arms of England and Ireland, a representation of the Parliament House, and the following inscription "The Council of Estates appointed by the Parliament of England.” - There was little room for deliberation where there was but one dissenting voice, and the sole condition proposed to the investing forces was, that they should wait four hours for the return of Sir John, or the receipt of his orders, when it was stipulated that the gates should be opened. "As to the return of Sir John Compton," said the colonel with a smile, "peradventure we might wait many a four hours for such a favour, seeing that our warrant goes to his apprehension, and that the pateraroes which we heard firing in this direction, and whose meaning we well understood, have doubtless warned him from the premises. The varlet, too, who sent us floundering down Massiter's Lane, has enabled him to get a good hour's start, of which I doubt not he will make good use. Brambletye House therefore must be surrendered instantly at discretion; and to let you see that we are not unprepared to force an entrance fall back, soldiers ! - Cornet Axtell, forward!" The troop filing round at this command, disclosed two pieces of light artillery advancing towards the great gates to which the colonel pointed, and declared that he would only grant ten minutes for deliberation, at the end of which time he would batter down whatever opposed the execution of his orders. The gates would have been instantly opened at this notification, but that Sergeant Whittaker declaring he had a proposition to make to the garrison, which would only occupy three minutes in the discussion, took the chaplain, secretary, and steward into a private room, and asked them whether they thought any body, besides themselves and Sir John, knew the garden entrance to the secret vault under the great hall, which was filled with gunpowder? "Not a soul," was the reply. "Well then," said Whittaker, "do you and all the garrison, men, women, and children, march out by the back postern, where nobody will see you, and at the expiration of the ten minutes, or when they have battered down the outer gates, I myself will open the others, and let the rogues take quiet possession of Brambletye." "But way should you do this?" inquired the chaplain, with a suspicious look. "Why, for this reason, Mr. Parson; because I know the way to the se cret vault, and when they are all fairly inside the great gates, or mustered in the hall, I might just fire my pistol into the powder, send the whole squad of Roundheads to the devil before their time, and prevent any discovery of the slashers, and poppers, and pellets, with which Sir John has been so plentifully stocking his cellars on the dark nights o' late." "And in that case, how could you make your own escape?" inquired the chaplain. "My escape!" exclaimed the sergeant, "who wants to escape, when Jack Whittaker can sell his old life for a whole troop of Noll's own regiment? Had I a dozen lives, I should be happy to swap them on the same terms; we will all be comfortably blown up together. It will be the first time I shall have travelled the same road with any of the crop-eared cattle, and I hope it will be the last; for, I take it, their final journey will be downwards instead of upwards." To the great surprise of its proposer, none of the party would listen for a moment to this desperate offer, which they observed would necessarily destroy a considerable portion, if not the whole of the building, and might be as displeasing to Sir John, as it would certainly be fatal to its projector, who had, moreover, no right to sacrifice either his own life or his master's property. Sergeant Whittaker was enforcing, with a profane oath, the certainty of his going to heaven if he lost his life in such a cause, and inveighing against the wickedness of the chaplain, who would prevent such a pious consummation, when the party was broken hastily up by the noise and clatter of the troops, to whom some of the intimidated servants had opened the gates at the expiration of the ten minutes, stipulating for nothing but the personal safety of all the inmates. Some of the cavalry, having dismounted, were striding across the great hall, whose floor echoed aloud to their massy boots and clanging sabres, while others were again shutting and barricading the gates to prevent a surprise. From the martial completeness of their armour and appointments, as well as the stern, grave deportment and war-worn countenances of the men, they were obviously a portion of those invincible veterans whom the Protector had trained under his own eye. These were the soldiers, who, when their enemies were occupied in drinking, swearing, and plundering, or revelling with drabs and dicers, were devoutly employed in reading the Bible, or in listening to some favourite expounder of the sacred writings. Many of them, indeed, were preachers and prophets in their own persons, and all considered themselves as the enlisted soldiers of the Lord. They marched with an enthusiastic valour to fight his battles, singing for their war-song the Psalms of David; a more sublime and inspiring poem than ever was chanted by the sacred battalion of the Greeks. If discomfited, they formed again and renewed the attack, determined either to achieve the victory, or to offer up their lives as a sacrifice for the good and holy cause. The colonel, who was of a cheerful and pleasant humour, pointing to a long table in the hall, which was ready prepared for the large dinner company, which was expected to bring home hunter's appetites with Sir John, exclaimed "Upon my word! this is a more courteous reception than we could have expected, and if the cook fail us not in the roast, he shall have the thanks of parliament for our good quarters and liberal rations. After a long march in such sandy roads, the sabre is gladly resigned for the carving knife, especially if the cellarage supply us good ale, and Sir John Barleycorn help us to despatch his brother knight, Sir-loin. Our worthy host is famous for his cellarage, if not for his ale, and thither, therefore, will we first address ourselves." He smiled at his brother soldiers as he made this remark, and invited them to accompany him to the vaults, a word which was no sooner uttered than a look of consternation fell upon the countenances of a part of the household, many of whom were seen whispering together in corners, and quietly sneaking out of the house to make their escape by the postern-gate which had been left unguarded. The steward had been strictly enjoined by the chaplain not to lose sight of Whittaker, from whose fierce character, they were not without apprehensions that he might be tempted to try the effect of an explosion, even while they themselves were upon the premises; and the secretary was deputed to the ticklish office of waiting upon the commanding officer in his visit to the vaults. "This, colonel, is our ale-cellar," he exclaimed, endeavouring to divert the attention of his unwelcome visitant; "and this is where Sir John keeps his claret; I have the keys of both, and no one, I believe, will quarrel with the liquor." "I doubt it not, Mr. Secretary," replied the colonel, "Sir John was liberally treated by the sequestrators, and he can afford to have of the best; but what strange fancy is this to build up a peat-stack in the vaults ?" "It got so damp in the garden-yard," said the secretary. "What, damp in the fine sunshiny weather, and get dry in the vaults! For shame, Mr. Secretary! my soldiers shall teach you better husbandry." So saying, he looked at a paper which doubtless contained the information upon which he was acting, and exclaiming "Ay, this is the very spot," directed his men to pull down the peat-stack, which was rapidly effected, and discovered the great entrance to the vaults. "Strange that you should forget the principal cellar," continued the colonel, still retaining his bantering and good-humoured tone. "There has been neither wine nor beer in it for many months," said the secretary. "But there may be something better," replied the colonel "so by your favour we will overhaul it. Zooks! Mr. Secretary, you should do this now and then for your own security, for who knows but that your vaults may be as well provided as those under the Parliament House were once found to be. The key, so please you!" His vehement protestations, that the key had been long missing, were met by the suggestion of Cornet Axtell, that one of the field-pieces should be brought down to drive open the door; but the colonel reminding him they had brought crows and hatchets, which would be equally effectual and much less dangerous, they proceeded to the attack with these implements, and had no sooner forced an entrance than they discovered a collection of pikes, swords, muskets, buff and plate armour, bandoleers, grenadoes, and cannon-balls, that did no less credit to the liberality of Sir John and his partisans, than to the skill of Sergeant Whittaker, for their admirable condition, and the perfect order of their arrangement. Considering this to be the great prize they were sent to seize, they made no farther researches ; so that the secret vault, filled with gunpowder, escaped detection. So irritated were the soldiers at the discovery already made, that had any of Sir John's retainers remained upon the premises, they would probably have been exposed to mal-treatment, notwithstanding the convention at the gates; but they had all slippped away, one by one, and the colonel, who was a humane man, had rather favoured than opposed their disappearance. All his exertions, however, could neither prevent the sacking and pillaging of the house, nor the defacement of such loyal and armorial emblems as had escaped the rage of former devastators. Even the sculptured acorns, whose -emains are still to be seen in the ruined porch, received many a splenetic blow, because the oak-tree had recently afforded shelter to the unfortunate Charles Stuart, after the battle of Worcester. The indignation of the soldiers being in some degree appeased by the active exercise of mischief and plunder, the whole party began to turn their attention to the gratification of their appetites, which were not a little |