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WHEN LONDON BURNED

BY G. A. HENTY

PREFACE

We are accustomed to regard the Reign of Charles II. as one of the

most inglorious periods of English History; but this was far from

being the case. It is true that the extravagance and profligacy of

the Court were carried to a point unknown before or since,

forming,--by the indignation they excited among the people at

large,--the main cause of the overthrow of the House of Stuart. But,

on the other hand, the nation made extraordinary advances in commerce

and wealth, while the valour of our sailors was as conspicuous under

the Dukes of York and Albemarle, Prince Rupert and the Earl of

Sandwich, as it had been under Blake himself, and their victories

resulted in transferring the commercial as well as the naval

supremacy of Holland to this country. In spite of the cruel blows

inflicted on the well-being of the country, alike by the extravagance

of the Court, the badness of the Government, the Great Plague, and

the destruction of London by fire, an extraordinary extension of our

trade occurred during the reign of Charles II. Such a period,

therefore, although its brilliancy was marred by dark shadows, cannot

be considered as an inglorious epoch. It was ennobled by the bravery

of our sailors, by the fearlessness with which the coalition of

France with Holland was faced, and by the spirit of enterprise with

which our merchants and traders seized the opportunity, and, in spite

of national misfortunes, raised England in the course of a few years

to the rank of the greatest commercial power in the world.

G. A. HENTY.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. FATHERLESS

II. A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

III. A THIEF SOMEWHERE

IV. CAPTURED

V. KIDNAPPED

VI. A NARROW ESCAPE

VII. SAVED FROM A VILLAIN

VIII. THE CAPTAIN'S YARN

IX. THE FIRE IN THE SAVOY

X. HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH

XI. PRINCE RUPERT

XII. NEW FRIENDS

XIII. THE BATTLE OF LOWESTOFT

XIV. HONOURABLE SCARS

XV. THE PLAGUE

XVI. FATHER AND SON

XVII. SMITTEN DOWN

XVIII. A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE

XIX. TAKING POSSESSION

XX. THE FIGHT OFF DUNKIRK

XXI. LONDON IN FLAMES

XXII. AFTER THE FIRE

ILLUSTRATIONS

"WITH GREAT RAPIDITY THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE"

"DON'T CRY, LAD; YOU WILL GET ON BETTER WITHOUT ME"

"THIS IS MY PRINCE OF SCRIVENERS, MARY"

"ROBERT ASHFORD, KNIFE IN HAND, ATTACKED JOHN WILKES WITH FURY"

"CYRIL SAT UP AND DRANK OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE PANNIKIN"

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SIR, DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE"

"TAKE HER DOWN QUICK, JOHN, THERE ARE THREE OTHERS"

"CYRIL RAISED THE KING'S HAND TO HIS LIPS"

"A DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR RAN ALONGSIDE AND FIRED A BROADSIDE"

"FOR THE LAST TIME: WILL YOU SIGN THE DEED?"

"WELCOME BACK TO YOUR OWN AGAIN, SIR CYRIL!"

"WHAT NEWS, JAMES?" THE KING ASKED EAGERLY

WHEN LONDON BURNED

CHAPTER I

FATHERLESS

Lad stood looking out of the dormer window in a scantily furnished

attic in the high-pitched roof of a house in Holborn, in September

1664. Numbers of persons were traversing the street below, many of

them going out through the bars, fifty yards away, into the fields

beyond, where some sports were being held that morning, while country

people were coming in with their baskets from the villages of

Highgate and Hampstead, Tyburn and Bayswater. But the lad noted

nothing that was going on; his eyes were filled with tears, and his

thoughts were in the little room behind him; for here, coffined in

readiness for burial, lay the body of his father.

Sir Aubrey Shenstone had not been a good father in any sense of the

word. He had not been harsh or cruel, but he had altogether neglected

his son. Beyond the virtues of loyalty and courage, he possessed few

others. He had fought, as a young man, for Charles, and even among

the Cavaliers who rode behind Prince Rupert was noted for reckless

bravery. When, on the fatal field of Worcester, the last hopes of the

Royalists were crushed, he had effected his escape to France and

taken up his abode at Dunkirk. His estates had been forfeited; and

after spending the proceeds of his wife's jewels and those he had

carried about with him in case fortune went against the cause for

which he fought, he sank lower and lower, and had for years lived on

the scanty pension allowed by Louis to the King and his adherents.

Sir Aubrey had been one of the wild, reckless spirits whose conduct

did much towards setting the people of England against the cause of

Charles. He gambled and drank, interlarded his conversation with

oaths, and despised as well as hated the Puritans against whom he

fought. Misfortune did not improve him; he still drank when he had

money to do so, gambled for small sums in low taverns with men of his

own kind, and quarrelled and fought on the smallest provocation. Had

it not been for his son he would have taken service in the army of

some foreign Power; but he could not take the child about with him,

nor could he leave it behind.

Sir Aubrey was not altogether without good points. He would divide

his last crown with a comrade poorer than himself. In the worst of

times he was as cheerful as when money was plentiful, making a joke

of his necessities and keeping a brave face to the world.

Wholly neglected by his father, who spent the greater portion of his

time abroad, Cyril would have fared badly indeed had it not been for

the kindness of Lady Parton, the wife of a Cavalier of very different

type to Sir Aubrey. He had been an intimate friend of Lord Falkland,

and, like that nobleman, had drawn his sword with the greatest

reluctance, and only when he saw that Parliament was bent upon

overthrowing the other two estates in the realm and constituting

itself the sole authority in England. After the execution of Charles

he had retired to France, and did not take part in the later risings,

but lived a secluded life with his wife and children. The eldest of

these was of the same age as Cyril; and as the latter's mother had

been a neighbour of hers before marriage, Lady Parton promised her,

on her death-bed, to look after the child, a promise that she

faithfully kept.

Sir John Parton had always been adverse to the association of his boy

with the son of Sir Aubrey Shenstone; but he had reluctantly yielded

to his wife's wishes, and Cyril passed the greater portion of his

time at their house, sharing the lessons Harry received from an

English clergyman who had been expelled from his living by the

fanatics of Parliament. He was a good and pious man, as well as an

excellent scholar, and under his teaching, aided by the gentle

precepts of Lady Parton, and the strict but kindly rule of her

husband, Cyril received a training of a far better kind than he would

ever have been likely to obtain had he been brought up in his

father's house near Norfolk. Sir Aubrey exclaimed sometimes that the

boy was growing up a little Puritan, and had he taken more interest

in his welfare would undoubtedly have withdrawn him from the healthy

influences that were benefiting him so greatly; but, with the usual

acuteness of children, Cyril soon learnt that any allusion to his

studies or his life at Sir John Parton's was disagreeable to his

father, and therefore seldom spoke of them.

Sir Aubrey was never, even when under the influence of his potations,

unkind to Cyril. The boy bore a strong likeness to his mother, whom

his father had, in his rough way, really loved passionately. He

seldom spoke even a harsh word to him, and although he occasionally

expressed his disapproval of the teaching he was receiving, was at

heart not sorry to see the boy growing up so different from himself;

and Cyril, in spite of his father's faults, loved him. When Sir

Aubrey came back with unsteady step, late at night, and threw himself

on his pallet, Cyril would say to himself, "Poor father! How

different he would have been had it not been for his misfortunes! He

is to be pitied rather than blamed!" And so, as years went on, in

spite of the difference between their natures, there had grown up a

sort of fellowship between the two; and of an evening sometimes, when

his father's purse was so low that he could not indulge in his usual

stoup of wine at the tavern, they would sit together while Sir Aubrey

talked of his fights and adventures.

"As to the estates, Cyril," he said one day, "I don't know that

Cromwell and his Roundheads have done you much harm. I should have

run through them, lad--I should have diced them away years ago--and I

am not sure but that their forfeiture has been a benefit to you. If

the King ever gets his own, you may come to the estates; while, if I

had had the handling of them, the usurers would have had such a grip

on them that you would never have had a penny of the income."

"It doesn't matter, father," the boy replied. "I mean to be a soldier

some day, as you have been, and I shall take service with some of the

Protestant Princes of Germany; or, if I can't do that, I shall be

able to work my way somehow."

"What can you work at, lad?" his father said, contemptuously.

"I don't know yet, father; but I shall find some work to do."

Sir Aubrey was about to burst into a tirade against work, but he

checked himself. If Cyril never came into the estates he would have

to earn his living somehow.

"All right, my boy. But do you stick to your idea of earning your

living by your sword; it is a gentleman's profession, and I would

rather see you eating dry bread as a soldier of fortune than

prospering in some vile trading business."

Cyril never argued with his father, and he simply nodded an assent

and then asked some question that turned Sir Aubrey's thoughts on

other matters.

The news that Monk had declared for the King, and that Charles would

speedily return to take his place on his father's throne, caused

great excitement among the Cavaliers scattered over the Continent;

and as soon as the matter was settled, all prepared to return to

England, in the full belief that their evil days were over, and that

they would speedily be restored to their former estates, with honours

and rewards for their many sacrifices.

"I must leave you behind for a short time, Cyril," his father said to

the boy, when he came in one afternoon. "I must be in London before

the King arrives there, to join in his welcome home, and for the

moment I cannot take you; I shall be busy from morning till night. Of

course, in the pressure of things at first it will be impossible for

the King to do everything at once, and it may be a few weeks before

all these Roundheads can be turned out of the snug nests they have

made for themselves, and the rightful owners come to their own again.

As I have no friends in London, I should have nowhere to bestow you,

until I can take you down with me to Norfolk to present you to our

tenants, and you would be grievously in my way; but as soon as things

are settled I will write to you or come over myself to fetch you. In

the meantime I must think over where I had best place you. It will

not matter for so short a time, but I would that you should be as

comfortable as possible. Think it over yourself, and let me know if

you have any wishes in the matter. Sir John Parton leaves at the end

of the week, and ere another fortnight there will be scarce another

Englishman left at Dunkirk."

"Don't you think you can take me with you, father?"

"Impossible," Sir Aubrey said shortly. "Lodgings will be at a great

price in London, for the city will be full of people from all parts

coming up to welcome the King home. I can bestow myself in a garret

anywhere, but I could not leave you there all day. Besides, I shall

have to get more fitting clothes, and shall have many expenses. You

are at home here, and will not feel it dull for the short time you

have to remain behind."

Cyril said no more, but went up, with a heavy heart, for his last

day's lessons at the Partons'. Young as he was, he was accustomed to

think for himself, for it was but little guidance he received from

his father; and after his studies were over he laid the case before

his master, Mr. Felton, and asked if he could advise him. Mr. Felton

was himself in high spirits, and was hoping to be speedily reinstated

in his living. He looked grave when Cyril told his story.

"I think it is a pity that your father, Sir Aubrey, does not take you

over with him, for it will assuredly take longer to bring all these

matters into order than he seems to think. However, that is his

affair. I should think he could not do better for you than place you

with the people where I lodge. You know them, and they are a worthy

couple; the husband is, as you know, a fisherman, and you and Harry

Parton have often been out with him in his boat, so it would not be

like going among strangers. Continue your studies. I should be sorry

to think that you were forgetting all that you have learnt. I will

take you this afternoon, if you like, to my friend, the Cure of St.

Ursula. Although we differ on religion we are good friends, and

should you need advice on any matters he will give it to you, and may

be of use in arranging for a passage for you to England, should your

father not be able himself to come and fetch you."

Sir Aubrey at once assented to the plan when Cyril mentioned it to

him, and a week later sailed for England; Cyril moving, with his few

belongings, to the house of Jean Baudoin, who was the owner and

master of one of the largest fishing-boats in Dunkirk. Sir Aubrey had

paid for his board and lodgings for two months.

"I expect to be over to fetch you long before that, Cyril," he had