Wandering Heath | Page 5

to make a second journey
before the preventive men got wind of their doings and came to spoil
the fun. But as my father was passing back under the Dean, he
happened to take a look over his shoulder at the bodies there. 'Hullo,'
says he, and dropped his gear: 'I do believe there's a leg moving!' And,
running fore, he stooped over the small drummer-boy that I told you
about. The poor little chap was lying there, with his face a mass of
bruises and his eyes closed: but he had shifted one leg an inch or two,
and was still breathing. So my father pulled out a knife and cut him free
from his drum--that was lashed on to him with a double turn of Manilla
rope--and took him up and carried him along here, to this very room
that we're sitting in. He lost a good deal by this, for when he went back
to fetch his bundle the preventive men had got hold of it, and were
thick as thieves along the foreshore; so that 'twas only by paying one or
two to look the other way that he picked up anything worth carrying off:
which you'll allow to be hard, seeing that he was the first man to give
news of the wreck."
"Well, the inquiry was held, of course, and my father gave evidence;
and for the rest they had to trust to the sloop's papers: for not a soul was
saved besides the drummer-boy, and he was raving in a fever, brought
on by the cold and the fright. And the seamen and the five troopers
gave evidence about the loss of the Despatch. The tall trumpeter, too,
whose ribs were healing, came forward and kissed the Book; but
somehow his head had been hurt in coming ashore, and he talked
foolish-like, and 'twas easy seen he would never be a proper man again.
The others were taken up to Plymouth, and so went their ways; but the
trumpeter stayed on in Coverack; and King George, finding he was fit
for nothing, sent him down a trifle of a pension after a while--enough to
keep him in board and lodging, with a bit of tobacco over.
"Now the first time that this man--William Tallifer, he called
himself--met with the drummer-boy, was about a fortnight after the
little chap had bettered enough to be allowed a short walk out of doors,

which he took, if you please, in full regimentals. There never was a
soldier so proud of his dress. His own suit had shrunk a brave bit with
the salt water; but into ordinary frock an' corduroys he declared he
would not get--not if he had to go naked the rest of his life; so my
father, being a good-natured man and handy with the needle, turned to
and repaired damages with a piece or two of scarlet cloth cut from the
jacket of one of the drowned Marines. Well, the poor little chap
chanced to be standing, in this rig-out, down by the gate of Gunner's
Meadow, where they had buried two score and over of his comrades.
The morning was a fine one, early in March month; and along came the
cracked trumpeter, likewise taking a stroll.
"'Hullo!' says he; 'good mornin'! And what might you be doin' here?'
"'I was a-wishin',' says the boy, 'I had a pair o' drum-sticks. Our lads
were buried yonder without so much as a drum tapped or a musket fired;
and that's not Christian burial for British soldiers.'
"'Phut!' says the trumpeter, and spat on the ground; 'a parcel of
Marines!'
"The boy eyed him a second or so, and answered up: 'If I'd a tab of turf
handy, I'd bung it at your mouth, you greasy cavalryman, and learn you
to speak respectful of your betters. The Marines are the handiest body
of men in the service.'
"The trumpeter looked down on him from the height of six foot two,
and asked: 'Did they die well?'
"'They died very well. There was a lot of running to and fro at first, and
some of the men began to cry, and a few to strip off their clothes. But
when the ship fell off for the last time, Captain Mein turned and said
something to Major Griffiths, the commanding officer on board, and
the Major called out to me to beat to quarters. It might have been for a
wedding, he sang it out so cheerful. We'd had word already that 'twas to
be parade order, and the men fell in as trim and decent as if they were
going to church. One or two even tried to shave at the last moment. The
Major wore his medals. One of the seamen, seeing I had