?You remarked just now, sir,? cried the squire, ?that you preferred to leave the business of lawyers to the lawyers. Please do so, and remember that while I
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am head of this jurisdiction on Romney Marsh I?ll brook no dictation from Admiralty men?no, sir, not from the First Lord downward.?
?Come, come, gentlemen,? said Doctor Syn, drumming his fingers on the table, ?I think that this is an ill-fitting time and place for wrangling. The captain has got a bee in his bonnet somehow, and the sooner we get it out for him the better. Let us please hear, sir, what he has to say.?
The squire nodded his head roughly and sat silent, while the rest of the company waited for the captain to continue, which he presently did, still pulling vigorously at his long clay pipe.
?The next thing I don?t like,? he went on, ?is Dymchurch itself. I don?t like the Marsh behind it, and I don?t like the flat, open coastline; it looks a deal too innocent for me on the surface, and, not being a strategist, I don?t like it.?
The squire was on edge with irritation.
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?I am sure, sir,? he said sarcastically, ?that had the Almighty been notified of your objections during the process of the creation he would have extended Dover Cliffs round Dungeness.? The captain didn?t seem to notice the interruption.
?Next, I don?t like the people here, leaving Doctor Syn out of it?for he?s a parson and I never could make head or tail of parsons. I say that, from the squire down, you?re none of you swimming the surface. Sir Antony Cobtree went to great pains to lavishly entertain me yesterday, in order that he might politely imprison me last night. I enjoy good entertainment and the conversation of witty, clever men, but not at the price of a locked door.?
?I don?t know what you are talking about!? said the squire, livid with rage.
?Don?t you, sir?? retorted Captain Collyer. ?Well, I do, as I had to risk breaking my neck when I climbed down the ivy from your top window.?
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?You had only to tell me of your eccentric habits,? said the squire, ?and I would have set a ladder against your window in case the door stuck.?
?The door was locked, and well you know it, sir,? cried the captain, suddenly turning on the squire, ?for half an hour after I had climbed back through the window?to be exact, at half-past four?I heard stealthy feet come along the passage and unlock it, by which I know that for a period of the night you wanted to make sure of me inside my room, and when on inquiring from your servants I discover that I am the first guest who has ever slept in that particular room, and that the furniture was put into it for the occasion from one of the spare rooms, I begin to see your wisdom, for that room contained no view of the highroad, no view of the Marsh or sea.?
?Gad! sir, you are the first man who has dared to question my hospitality. Perhaps you expected me to give up my room for your accommodation.?
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?Nothing of the king,? answered the captain, ?but I expected to be dealt straight with. And this brings me to the end of my complaints, and let me tell you this: I saw enough last night on the Marsh to keep Jack Ketch busy for an hour or so. Gentlemen, I am warning you. You?ll not be the first I?ve sent from the coast to the sessions, nor will you be the last. I warn you, one and all, that I?m going to strike soon. I?m not afraid of your tales of Marsh devils and demon riders. I?ll rout ?em out and see how they look by daylight. I?ve men behind me that I can trust, and they?re pretty hardy fighters. If your demon riders are not of this world, then they?ll do our good steel no harm; but if they are just men playing hanky-panky tricks to frighten fools from the Marsh, well, all I?ve got to say to them is, if they relish British cutlasses in their bowels, let them continue with such pranks as they played upon poor Pepper, and they?ll get Pepper back and be damned to them, for it?s Jack Ketch or the cold steel and
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nothing else.? And having hurled his challenge at the assembly the captain put his pipe upon the table and sat down.
You can imagine that a speech of so staggering a nature had a strange effect upon the company. So sudden was it, so ferocious, so uncalled for, that nearly a minute elapsed before any one moved. At last the squire rose, speaking quietly but in that clear voice that everybody in Dymchurch knew so well and respected.
?Gentlemen, Doctor Syn spoke very wisely, as it is ever his wont to do, when he rebuked us for wrangling, for, as he said, both time and place are ill fitting. This is the first time that I have been insulted during my long sojourn in Romney Marsh, and I am glad that it has been in the presence of my friends and tenants of Dymchurch, who know me well and will do me right in their own minds, never allowing themselves to be warped for a single instant by the scathing and unjust remarks of a stranger upon whom I have, to the best of my
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ability, bestowed hospitality and every mark of friendship. On the other hand, I must honestly affirm that Captain Howard Collyer has given me insult in a straightforward way. In his defence I must say that the Admiralty have chosen a bad man to do their spying for them; when I say bad, I mean, of course, the ?wrong? man. I know the captain to be a brave and a good sailor. The splendid though tactless drubbing that he gave to the French man-o?-war Golden Lion in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River describes exactly the sort of character that Collyer carries; and if the Admiralty had left him in command of the Resistance we should have been at war with the odious French long ago. I now give the Admiralty credit for being weatherwise seamen and diplomatists, and think them shrewd in depriving him of a ?command?. Having now, as it were, given the devil his due, I say to him, in the presence of you all, that his words here this morning have been foolish, ridiculous, and altogether preposterous. It is not in accordance with either my private or public dignity that I should answer the
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vague, hinted accusation of this captain. As I said before, I am judge here, and while I hold the most honourable position of ?Leveller of Marsh Scotts,? I decline to entertain any imputations, for should I ever consider myself to be in the position of being rationally accused of any crime of lawlessness, I should, for the honour of my office and the general welfare of Romney Marsh, regard myself compelled to resign. This I have no intention of doing, for it is clearly now my bounden duty to see my poor friend Sennacherib Pepper righted and avenged; and for that duty I sweep aside Captain Collyer?s statements as trivial and impertinent. You gentlemen in this Court House are all good Marshmen, and one and all know me better than I know myself. When you consider me unfit to be your judge I will retire, but not till then.?
A storm of applause greeted the squire as he sat down, but it was checked by Doctor Syn, who again reminded the assemblage of the sad event that had
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brought them to the Court House and begged them out of respect for the dead gentleman in the next room to abstain from any further acclamation.
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The End of the Inquiry
The lawyers now asserted themselves, and for some three hours questioned and cross-questioned everybody. The squire left things in their hands, seeming to take small interest in the proceedings, while the captain, with his chin resting on his great hand, obviously took none at all. Doctor Syn, however, was at great pains to follow through the whole business, making notes of anything he deemed characteristic upon a scrap of paper before him. But with all their cleverness the lawyers were greatly at sea, for they only ended up where they began?namely, that Sennacherib Pepper was dead, and
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by violent means; that a foreign sailor was missing, and that this same sailor had stolen at a short period before the murder a certain harpoon from the house of Doctor Syn, and that from the nature and size of the wound upon the body sudden death was most certainly caused by this same weapon. To this false though obvious conclusion Doctor Syn, to Jerk?s intense surprise, unhesitatingly agreed. Why had he been called to the trial if the vicar had not believed his story? for he found on being summoned to the witness box that all he was required to state was whether or no he had seen the mulatto enter the vicarage on the previous night and leave it a few minutes later with the harpoon in question in his hand. Having sworn to this, he was on the point of taking matters into his own hands and exposing the schoolmaster, when he was peremptorily ordered to ?stand down? and only answer what was required of him. Returning to his place, he plainly noted the relief on the face of the schoolmaster. A warmer time of it had Mr. Mipps. There was something about
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Mipps that would always be called in question. If a great crime had been committed within a fifty-mile radius of Mipps, he would most assuredly have been detained upon suspicion. His quizzical appearance of injured innocence was quite enough to label him a ?likely one.? On this occasion he acted upon the attorneys like a red rag to a bull.
?If I?m to be kept standing through this examination,? he remarked on his way to the witness box, ?I must beg of you to be more brisk and businesslike than you have shown yourselves already. Perhaps in your profession you are paid for wastin? your time, but in mine you ain?t, so please remember it. As our worthy vicar knows, I has a lot of work to get through; so the sooner you get on with this here dismal business the better temper you?ll keep me in, see??
?You keep your mouth shut, my man, till you?re questioned,? sang out one of the attorneys sharply.
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?I?ll keep my mouth shut for nobody but squire and Doctor Syn,? retorted the sexton, ?and in your future remarks don?t ?my man? me, please. I ain?t your man, and it?s mighty pleased I am I ain?t.?
When ordered to give an account of what had happened on the previous night, he obstinately refused to open his mouth until they had removed to the other side of the room the two sailors who were guarding the witness box. ?For,? said he, ?I can?t abide the look or the smell of ?em; they fair turns me up.?
This caused much laughter among the villagers, and indeed the little sexton was so ready with his scathing remarks at the expense of the lawyers that in order to preserve their dignity they were obliged to stand him down.
?Have I now your permission to go back to my measuring,? said Mipps, producing his footrule, ?or will any more advice from me be required??
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The lawyers tartly observed that he had been little or no use at all, and turned to the next witness.
After the schoolmaster had been called upon to bear out certain points of evidence, the three hours? useless palaver came to a conclusion, the attorneys agreeing with Doctor Syn that Sennacherib Pepper had been murdered by the mulatto, and that as soon as he was taken he would get swift trial and short shrift; meantime ?any one found sheltering, feeding, or in any way abetting the said mulatto would be prosecuted.?
As it was now approaching dinner-time, further matters were left over until such time as the mulatto should be caught.
This, Doctor Syn vehemently urged, was of grave import to the Marsh folk, for so long as that maniac starved upon the Marsh, with a good weapon in his hand, they were open to the same fate as that which had befallen the inoffensive Pepper.
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The captain rose first, left the Court House, and set off for the Ship Inn without a word to the squire, the latter, accompanied by the attorneys and medical men, repairing to the dining-hall below. Doctor Syn, however, went from group to group, impressing the necessity for posses of men to scour the Marsh for the missing seaman.
This gave Rash an opportunity of approaching Jerk, who, being due to dine at the vicarage, was awaiting the parson?s pleasure.
?Well! And what do you think of Court House inquiries, Mr. Jerk?? he said affably. ?Impressive, ain?t they??
?Not to me,? replied Jerry. ?I don?t think nothing at all of ?em. After all the messing of them lawyers, I shouldn?t be surprised if they hadn?t got hold of the wrong end of the stick, should you??
?What do you mean?the wrong end??
?What I say: the wrong end ain?t the right ?un, I believes.?
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?Then you don?t think the mulatto committed the murder??
?From what that there sea captain said, I should say you ain?t got no right to put thoughts into my head any more than words into my mouth.?
?Come, Jerk,? said the schoolmaster suavely, ?no offence.?
?Never said there was,? replied Jerry.
?Then come and have a bite with me at my house, as there?s no school today; I should be honoured, indeed I should,? and the schoolmaster beamed upon him.
?Would you, though? I wonders?? mused the boy. ?Sorry to disappoint you,? he added airily, ?but I?m a-dinin? at the vicarage.?
?Oh, with the vicar??
?No, with the Shah of Persia.? Then in a tone of supreme condescension he added: ?I believe vicars lives in vicarages!?
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?Ah?so?so! quite right!? returned the schoolmaster. ?Doctor Syn, then, has asked you to dine??
?Well, I don?t see anything so very remarkable in that, do you??
?Oh, not at all?all very right, proper, and pleasant.?
?Well, it?s right enough, you can lay to that, ?cos I tells you it is, and as to its being proper, well, I don?t see as how it?s improper, so I suppose it is; and as to its being pleasant, well, I?ll tell you when I knows what?s to eat there; and if you?ll excuse me I?ll be off now, ?cos I believe Doctor Syn is waiting for me.?
Indeed at that moment Doctor Syn approached and, putting his hand affectionately on Jerk?s should, with a friendly nod to the schoolmaster, he led the boy from the room of inquiry out of the Court House and so to the vicarage, where a cold dinner was already prepared.
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At the Vicarage
Now, although it was comparatively early in the afternoon, Doctor Syn did rather a curious thing, or so it seemed to Jerry, for he had the wooden shutters of the dining-room fastened, and they dined by the light of candles. This had quite an uncanny effect?to dine by candles in broad daylight?but Jerk thought perhaps this was always done when gentry entertained company. Doctor Syn was gloomy through the meal, and although he kept pressing Jerry to ?take more? and to ?help himself,? he made no effort at keeping up conversation; in fact, had not the food been good and plenteous, Jerry very