I was brought before Master Hugh Pyper on the evening of the day after my imprisonment, and at a glance I saw that he corresponded with the picture I had drawn of him from Lethbridge's description. That he fed well and drank much wine no one could fail to see. He was a big, burly man, too, and I thought not of a very cautious nature. The papers which had been signed by Viscount Falmouth lay before him as I entered the room where he sat, and which he had been evidently reading.
"Roger Trevanion," he cried, "I am sorry to see you here. Why, man alive, can't you see how foolish it is to oppose the King! God is always on the side of the kings, man, always. That's what my grandfather, Sir Hugh, always said, and that's what I always say. Stick to the reigning monarch! I knew your father, too. A man with a proud temper, but a good fellow withal. He could drink well, could your father—drink all night—and then be as merry as a lark in the morning. I can't; I must have six good hours of sleep after as many with the bottle, and woe betide the man who disturbs me! but after that I am as gay as your father was. Now then, what have you been doing?"
"Nothing wrong," I replied quietly.
"But Boscawen shows a clear case against you. If all this is proved at the assizes, by Gad, your neck will stretch."
Upon this I spoke freely. I told Pyper that I was guilty of no treason, that circumstances seemed against me, but that King George had no truer subject than I. I made him believe me, too, for his manner became quite sympathetic.
"The Killigrews of Endellion!" he cried, when I had finished my history. "Ah, lad, they are as deep as Dozmary Pool and as full of evil. No one knows what they are. Some say they are no better than a gang of robbers, others that they are angels of light. One report hath it that they are plotting treason against the King, another that they spend their time in finding out traitors and bringing them to book. Sir John Dingle believes that they intend sailing with the wind. If the Pretender's cause fails, as doubtless it will, for England will have no high monarchy and no popery, these Killigrews will put in a strong plea for reward; but if this young Charles ousts King George, which God forbid, then they will prove that they have raised an army for him. But you can't catch 'em, Roger Trevanion. Did you ever catch eels? I have; but it's slippery work, slippery work. You must sand your hands well, and then they are so slimy that they will slide through your fingers."
"I believe all that, and I know there is a prima facie case against me. But I dare not tell all." This I said hesitatingly, for I hardly knew my man.
"Daren't tell all; what do you mean?"
"Well, it is true I went to Endellion; true that I said many of the things laid to my charge, but my visit there had nothing to do with political matters."