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Transport Economics, 3rd Edition
viii TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

12.4 Sequential travel demand forecasting 405

12.5 Disaggregate modeling 412
12.6 Interactive and stated preference modeling 415
Further reading 418

13 Transport and Development 419

13.1 Transport and economic development 419
13.2 Economic growth theory and transport 420
13.3 Transport infrastructure investment and economic productivity 426
13.4 The multiplier impacts of a transport investment 429
13.5 Transport economics in less developed countries 434
13.6 The transport policy of the European Union 441
13.7 Transport and regional and urban development 452
Further reading 459

14 The Economic Regulation of Transport 461

14.1 The broad issues 461
14.2 Theories of regulation 463
14.3 The regulation of monopoly power 469
14.4 Priorities in transport policy 473
14.5 Alternative paths for regulatory reform 483
14.6 Studying regulatory reform 488
14.7 Coordination via the market, or by direction? 493
Further reading 497

Index 499
Preface

Publishers are always pressing for new editions of books, and particularly text-
books. This is logical, after all they are commercial enterprises, and new editions
of a book make the old ones redundant and the used books, collectors’ items. The
more editions they publish, the larger the sales checks. Authors get paid royalties
and are often enthusiastic collaborators. In practice, however, one should never
rush into writing a new edition; there should be motivation besides money.
A new textbook becomes important when the old one becomes outdated.
In subject areas such as economics, much of the basic theory is well established,
although not always liked or accepted, by policy makers; perhaps this unpopu-
larity is not surprising, after all Thomas Carlyle did call economics ‘The dismal
science’ some two centuries ago. There are, however, movements forward in
our basic understanding of the economics, including that which is particularly
germane to transport matters. There are also developments in the techniques
available for estimating the effects of transport on society, and conversely on the
way social change impacts on transport. This, combined with a continual accu-
mulation of data over time, and the ability to mine previous studies to look at
time trend affects or, in exceptional cases, adds to our knowledge.
There are also continual shifts in the way that policy makers treat transport;
the political economy of the subject. Just consulting daily newspapers clearly
shows the importance of transport in public perception. Transport issues of all
kinds fill the column inches of these publications, as does the time spent on trans-
port and travel in television news programs and documentaries. This public inter-
est inevitably draws the attention of policy makers sensitive to the perceptions of
their constituents.
Since the last edition of the book, some 14 years ago, quite a lot has changed.
Our understanding of the factors influencing demand for transport services has
moved forward, and our approaches to modeling and estimating the ways in
which a variety of factors influence the use of transport has evolved. Challenges
that were pertinent in the early 1990s remain but many, such as global warming
emissions and concerns over terrorism, have grown in importance. International
transport is now more important, as globalization has grown, driven in part
by institutional changes, but also facilitated by developments in such things
as information technology. The role of logistics, which has a major economics
component, has grown as trade has expanded.
Of course, not all things have changed. The basic economic principles of
supply and demand remain as valid as ever; it is the context and focus that has
changed. Nevertheless, more up-to-date examples make their understanding
easier; context helps the assimilation of ideas. Equally the scale and details of
x TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

the transport system have inevitably responded to internal and external factors
over nearly a decade and a half, and it is time to update the factual background
against which transport economics is set, even if it does not materially affect the
underlying theories.
So this new edition takes on board these important changes. But it also has a
different physical form. It is longer. This is because the original edition was aimed
mainly, although far from completely, at the UK market where universities nor-
mally had a 10-week term. There was basically a chapter per class. Changes have
taken place in the educational world, and the earlier edition seems to have found
a wider market than expected. This edition is thus longer, some 14 chapters and
more suited to a semester system. This is not just padding added to fill in students’
time; there is serious restructuring, redrafting of material seen in editions one and
two, and new material.
Additionally, the referencing is slightly different. The Harvard Manual, with
its author–date format, which forms the basis of most economics journal and
monograph referencing has been set aside for a simple Chicago approach. There
are no extensive lists of references but rather a few important citations are offered
together with a brief section of further reading at the conclusion of each chapter.
This is in response to comments from users of the earlier editions who found the
Harvard system distracting in what is essentially a textbook.
As before, the book is a mixture of prose, tables, figures and equations. The
aim is to help understanding rather than to overpower, or impress, the reader with
technique.
I hope that teachers, students and other readers find the new edition useful.

Kenneth Button
1 Transport and Economics

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists

— John Kenneth Galbraith

1.1 Transport* Economics

Over a quarter of a century ago I opened the first edition of Transport

Economics with a quote from an address to the UK’s Chartered Institute of
Transport by K.J.W. Alexander1 which made the rather sober point that despite
the importance of transport in the economy, ‘the number of academic econo-
mists who specialize exclusively in transport could probably be counted on two
hands. If one adds to these economists the applied economists employed in the
transport business and the specialist consultants working exclusively in that
field I would be surprised if the total number exceeded sixty or seventy’. This is
actually rather strange given the fascination that transport has held more gener-
ally for very eminent economists; indeed John Maynard Keynes once confessed
when young, ‘I find economics increasingly satisfactory, and I think I am rather
good at it. I want to manage a railway, or organize a trust or at least swindle the
investing public’.
Unfortunately, the situation as seen by a knowledgeable expert in the mid-
1970s, continued to largely pertain in the 1990s when the second edition of
Transport Economics was published. One may now have to bring one’s feet and
toes into Alexander’s calculations, but even in 2009 there are still relatively few
academics that specialize in the subject. There still remains, however, quite a lot
of, often not very helpful, dabbling by those whose interest lay more in lobbying
for a favorite mode of transport than social welfare, and who try to use economics
to justify their own personal prejudices.
Alexander’s statement also highlighted the fact that many transport eco-
nomic issues have traditionally been under-researched and often poorly under-
stood, particularly by non-economists. The situation has changed somewhat
since that time, as witnessed by the introduction of a number of serious academic
journals over the years that regularly publish papers on transport economics.

* The word ‘transport’ is used throughout this book rather than the US ‘transportation’
despite the use of American vocabulary elsewhere. This is to avoid confusion for British
readers, and it avoids obvious problems for Australians for whom the term ‘transporta-
tion’ has peculiar connotations.
1 K.J.W. Alexander, ‘Some economic problems of the transport industry’, Chartered
Institute of Transport Journal, 36, 306–8, 1975.
2 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

Most notable of these are the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, which
first appeared in 1967, and the International Journal of Transport Economics.
Both of these date back to that general era, but so do journals such as the Journal
of Urban Economics and Regional Science and Urban Economics which also often
carry transport material. In addition, mode-specific journals have emerged, such
as Maritime Economics and Logistics, which focus on particular transport indus-
tries. But, nevertheless, compared to many areas of economic study, transport still
remains remarkably neglected.
This does not mean that there have not been periodic surges of interest in
some particular aspects of transport economics. Indeed, in the mid-1980s Clifford
Winston,2 when examining developments in transport economics, was able to
comment on ‘a current intensity [of interest in the field] not witnessed for more
than fifty years’. This surge was mainly related to the analysis of the impacts of
more liberal, or to use the American term, ‘deregulated’, transport markets that
were emerging. More recently, the role of transport as a facilitator of economic
growth has attracted attention both at the micro and at the macroeconomic levels.
Matters of transport security and the financing of transport networks have been
themes attracting attention in the early part of the twenty-first century, as has the
role of transport in international trade.
This relative lack of contemporary academic interest in transport economics
is surprising because transport problems have in the more distant past stimulated
major developments in economic theory (including the development of the notion
of consumer surplus by French economists/engineers, such as Jules Dupuit, in the
1840s; the refinement of cost allocation models by such famed US economists
such as John Bates Clark and Frank Taussig in the early part of the last century;
and the examination of the marginal cost pricing principle to improve the charg-
ing of rail service and work on congestion and the environment by Arthur Pigou
in the 1920s).
More recently, the advent of computers has encouraged work on applied
econometrics (for example, the development of discrete choice models in con-
sumer theory by Dan McFadden, and refinements to flexible form cost functions)
and on mathematical programming (for example, the use of data envelopment
analysis to assess the relative efficiency of different suppliers) using transport case
studies as a basis for analysis. Nonetheless, transport economists in universities
are thin on the ground, and their numbers in businesses and government are not
much larger.
In part, the relatively small number of clearly identifiable specialist transport
economists may be attributed to the diverse nature of the industries involved in
their work which range from taxi-cabs to oil transportation, with their various
institutional and technical peculiarities. Non-economists – lawyers and engineers
– often have specialist knowledge of the industry and a limited background in
economics. At the applied level, numerous, small firms do not have the resources

2 C. Winston, ‘Conceptual developments in the economics of transportation: an interpre-

tive survey’, Journal of Economic Literature, 23, 57–94, 1985.
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 3

to employ full-time specialists that characterize a ‘transport economist’ although

that does not mean they do not have individuals that fulfill some economics role
in the organization.
It may also be explained by the tendency, which to some extent still remains,
for physical planners and transport engineers to dominate substantive investment
and policy decision making within the sector. The emphasis in this case is, on
the personal transport side, more to do with the physical manifestation of travel,
namely trips and journey numbers, rather than the demand for movement and
the ability of the system to meet these aspirations. Where economics is used, it is
often within the engineering framework and carried through by engineers – the
so-called ‘engineering economics’. This situation has only gradually been chang-
ing with innovations in management and planning, and in the way that political
institutions have evolved. So what is ‘modern transport economics’, how did it
evolve and what are the intellectual and practical driving forces behind it?

1.2 The Emergence of Modern Transport Economics

Economics is not easy to define.3 Famously the Chicago economist Jacob Viner is
meant to have said, ‘economics is what economists do’; not exactly helpful to the
outside. But it is generally agreed that it is about human behavior and resource
allocation, and in particular about the allocation of scarce resources. It focuses a
lot on the role of markets in doing this, but not exclusively so. Various aspects of
it border on a variety of other disciplines such as law, sociology and engineering,
often making boundaries vague. It also may be essentially descriptive in the sense
of it approaching a value-neutral science – it tells us that in most conditions the
quantity demanded of something will fall if its price rises – but it can also contain
elements of prescription: it is a ‘good’ thing for social welfare for prices to be low.
The latter is often called ‘political economy’. All these elements, and some others,
become important when studying the economics of transport.
What has been called ‘Modern Transport Economics’ by Michael Thomson4
in his book of the same name, began slowly to take shape about 45 years ago. Up
until that time, as Rakowski5 points out, ‘the field had essentially been in a state
of semi-dormancy since the 1920s’, and while considerable institutional studies
had been conducted, very little analytical work as we would understand it today
had been attempted. Indeed, the two standard American textbooks on transport
economics into the late 1960s were D.F. Pregrum’s Transportation: Economics and
Public Policy, and Philip Locklin’s Economics of Transportation, which had only
five or so line drawings between them and no equations.

3 R.E. Backhouse and S.G. Medema, ‘On the definition of economics’, Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 23, 221–33, 2009.
4 J.M. Thomson, Modern Transport Economics, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975
5 J.P. Rakowski, Transport Economics: A Guide to Information Sources, Detroit: Gale
Research Co., 1976.
4 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

If one looks for a watershed in the history of modern transport economics it

would probably be the publication of John Meyer, Meston Peck, Walter Stenason
and Charles Zwick’s Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industries in
1959, which provided a state-of-the-art review of resource allocation problems in
the sector coupled with rigorous statistical analysis. There had been a number of
seminal economic papers relating to transport that appeared prior to this, includ-
ing James Buchanan’s re-examination of congestion and Martin Beckmann and
co-workers’ set of studies, but Meyer et al.’s book really set the tone for the way in
which transport issues are analyzed.
Interest in transport issues expanded throughout the 1960s with, for example,
William Vickery’s analysis of road charging and the role of public transit subsidies,
Ian Little and James Mirrlees’s development of work on investment appraisal,
and in particular on cost–benefit analysis, Richard Quandt and William Baumol’s
improvements in methods of transport demand modeling based on Daniel
McFadden’s work and the ideas of Kelvin Lancaster, Leon Moses and Harold
Williamson’s development of innovative methods of travel time evaluation, and
so on. All these are topics that we shall return to later, albeit in their more modern
manifestations, and in many cases with some real-world examples of applications.
The changes were not all academic. This period also saw public policy
makers become more interested in the role of economics in improving actual
decision making. In many countries, specialist departments were established in
national or municipal governments to examine the economic implications of
various transport policy options.
The 1960s and early 1970s saw a slew of official reports appear, for
example, in the United Kingdom, including studies on Road Track Costs, the
Smeed Report on The Economics of Road Pricing, the Beeching Report on The
Reshaping of British Railways and the report of the Commission on the Third
London Airport, which set out the framework for ways in which economics helps
in mega-project investment appraisal. The European Union, then just established
as the European Economic Community, produced reports and plans in the early
1960s for integrating and coordinating economic approaches to transport pro-
vision across much of Europe. In the United States this was the period of the
large land-use transport studies that included the Chicago Area Transportation
Study from the late 1950s, the Puget Sound Regional Transportation Study, and
the Detroit Regional Transportation and Land-use Study. These were essentially
engineering studies seeking to deal with mounting congestion problems, but eco-
nomic analysis was part of the assessment process.
While it is never easy to explain the timing of change, the renewed research
interest in transport in the 1960s, especially in the United States, Rakowski
attributes to ‘the problems of physical distribution and the development of a
new field which has come to be called business logistics’, ‘expanded interest in
all phases of urban transportation’ and ‘a great deal of research in the areas of
transportation in the developing countries’. Ken Gwilliam6 echoes these themes

6 K.M. Gwilliam, ‘Review of “Transport Economics”’, Economic Journal, 90, 677–8, 1980.
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 5

but places particular emphasis on the growing problems of urban transport in the
1960s and the recognition that land use and transport needed to be considered
together, and usually simultaneously, if the problems were to be tackled success-
fully. As a result of this, he argues, ‘the boundaries between transport economics
and urban and regional planning were obscured’.
While the broad underlying intellectual thrust of modern transport analysis
has not changed significantly since the 1970s and early 1970s, namely the use of
economic theory to enhance transport efficiency, in the broadest sense the topics
of focus have shifted to some extent and the economic tools used have been
improved and fine-tuned. The late 1970s saw particular concern in many parts
of the world with the macroeconomic problems associated with ‘Stagflation’: the
simultaneous occurrence of high levels of unemployment and poor economic
growth with inflation. The failure of a large part of the US railroad industry
may be seen as a catalyst for some of the particular changes in transport. The
adoption of Reaganomics in the United States, and Thatcherism in the United
Kingdom, involving similar approaches towards what became known as ‘supply-
side economics’, led to a honing-in on reducing costs in heavily regulated indus-
tries such as transport.
The empirical analysis of those such as Bill Jordan and Michael Levine pro-
vided evidence of excess costs associated with regulation, the theories of Baumol
and others on contestable market structures offered a new way of looking at
competitive forces, and Harold Demsetz’s work provided a basis for enhancing
the efficiency with which transport infrastructure is provided and maintained.
Work by a variety of Chicago economists, including George Stigler and Sam
Peltzman, began to focus on the motivations of those responsible for framing and
administrating economic regulatory regimes, arguing that they seldom served the
public interest. The outcome was what some have called the ‘Age of Regulatory
Reform’,7 which focused on removing distorting regulations and allowing greater
market flexibility.
More recently, public concern combined with academic curiosity has led to
economists switching more of their attention to matters pertaining to the envi-
ronmental implications of transport supply, the role that economics can play in
enhancing the transport logistics supply chain, and the financing of infrastruc-
ture. Transport, as we shall see later in the book, can impose considerable strains
on the environment and, although this has long been recognized, the scale and
nature of transport has changed, as has scientific knowledge on the implications
of these strains – and especially in the context of global impacts.
Equally, globalization, internationalization and domestic economic growth
within many countries have been, in part, the result of improved logistics, includ-
ing just-in-time supply chain management. Although often not appreciated, many
of these improvements in logistics are the result of the application of basic eco-
nomic principles. Finally, modern transport requires an extensive infrastructure

7 K.J. Button and D. Swann (eds), The Age of Regulatory Reform, Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1989.
6 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

of roads, rail tracks, ports, air traffic control systems, bridges and so on. The
construction and the maintenance of this infrastructure have to be paid for.
While in the past transport economics has focused primarily on deciding which
elements to build or repair, the taxpayer bearing much of the financial burden,
there is now concern about the methods of finance to use and the overall amount
of national resources that have to be devoted to this type of infrastructure. This
issue is increasingly important in many developed economies as old infrastruc-
ture becomes obsolete or needs maintenance, but is perhaps more critical in
lower-income nations that lack many key transport networks.
When considering this background, it is important to emphasize that trans-
port economics is not distinct from all other branches of economics. Indeed,
many of the seminal papers on the subject have appeared in the general econom-
ics literature and have often been produced by individuals with a broad interest
in economics rather than transport specialists. Nevertheless, in most areas of
study, as our knowledge has increased, it has become difficult, if not impossible,
for economists to follow developments in all branches of their discipline; the
Renaissance man or woman of economics is in the past. There has been an inevi-
table increase in specialization. Transport economics has, in general terms, a long
history but, as Rakowski and others suggest, it was only in the 1970s or so that it
become a major field of academic study within universities and only subsequently
did a substantial body of specialists emerge. So the modern transport economist
is a relatively new beast. But what is it that he/she studies?

1.3 The Scope of the Subject

The scope of each of the subdisciplines within economics (for example, agricul-
tural economics, development economics and public sector economics) is deter-
mined not by particular schools or philosophies but rather by the type of subject
matter examined and the problems tackled. Transport economists are interested
in the economic problems of moving goods and people – they are not normally
so concerned with either the industries producing the vehicles and infrastructure
(aircraft manufacturing, road construction companies, ship building and so on)
or with some of the very wide implications of transport policy (for example, on
the balance of payments), although matters to do with the environment certainly
attract increasing amounts of their attention. Of course, this does not mean that
transport issues are viewed in complete isolation from their wider context, but it
does mean that the main emphasis and thrust of analysis is directed towards the
more immediate transport implications.
While much of the economic analysis of transport issues is at the micro level
(for example, looking at the decisions of individuals or firms) or at the meso level
(focusing on transport industries or the importance of transport or a specific
region) there is also some interest in the macroeconomic impacts of transport, for
example, on its effects on national productivity, globalization of trade, or labor
force migration.
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 7

This book seeks to give adequate coverage to all levels of aggregation.

Initially, however, we step back a little and spend time considering the economic
institutions within which transport services are supplied and individuals and firms
seek its services. Much of the theoretical economics that we encounter is rather
abstract and largely assumes away the role of economic institutions, although this
is now changing gradually. But institutional structures are important. Elementary
economics, for example, talks about such things as perfect competition, but such
markets could not exist without laws giving property rights to their suppliers
and without contracts between sellers and buyers. As the Nobel Prize-winning
economist Ronald Coase8 said in the context of economic reforms in the former
USSR countries, ‘These ex-communist countries are advised to move to a market
economy, and their leaders wish to do so, but without the appropriate institutions
no market economy of any significance is possible’.
Traditionally, however, within economics, institutions have been treated as
endogenous and man-made – sometimes deliberately, sometimes not – rather
than something that is to be given. Few economists spent time studying them
and those that did, such as Thorstein Veblen and John Kenneth Galbraith, were
treated in their day as rather marginal to main-stream economics – some even
considering them to be ‘sociologists’! However, this view is changing, and as
Oliver Williamson9 observed: ‘We are still very ignorant about institutions. . . .
Chief among the causes of ignorance is that institutions are very complex. That
neoclassical economics was dismissive of institutions and that much of organiza-
tion theory lacked scientific ambitions have also been contributing factors’.
The so-called ‘New Institutional Economics’ has moved the economic study
of institutions away from being a largely descriptive, legalistic and traditional his-
torical way of viewing the world to one that offers microanalysis of such issues as
to why economic institutions have emerged the way they have. It has also moved
away from a largely negative way of looking at neoclassical economics, to one with
its own theoretical constructs and tools of analysis. This approach importantly
sets the neoclassical economics that underlies most of the work in transport eco-
nomics up until the 1990s, into a larger context. Figure 1.1 is a simplified diagram
that sets out four levels of social analysis. It is fairly self-explanatory except that
the thick arrows show constraints that come down from higher levels of analysis,
while the dotted arrows indicate the direction of feedbacks. The data offered in
the figure are the rough frequency in years over which change takes place.
Long-term issues tend to receive less attention in transport economics the
further one moves from narrow resource allocation matters. Their importance
cannot be neglected, however. There have been, perhaps, two major societal
changes that have impacted on culture in the broadest sense over the past century
or so, and have had important ramifications for transport.

8 R.H. Coase, ‘The institutional structure of production’, American Economic Review, 82,
713–9, 1992.
9 O.E. Williamson, ‘The new institutional economics: taking stock, looking ahead’,
Journal of Economics Literature, 38, 595–613, 2000.
8 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

Resource allocation and

Neoclassical economics/agency
employment:
theory
continuous

Governance, especially
contracts: Transaction cost economics
1 to 10 years

Institutional environment,
Economics of property
formal rules:
rights/political economy
10 to 100 years

Embeddedness, customs
and traditions: Social theory
100 years or more

Figure 1.1 Institutions and economics

First, there was the demise of the Soviet Union and the move away from cen-
tralized planning, together with the gradual uptake of capitalism in China. These,
and similar developments elsewhere, represent major shifts in the embedded atti-
tude of these countries and with this have come new ways of thinking about the
role of transport in society and the ways in which it should be provided. Second,
there have been changing attitudes towards free trade, and with these have come
‘globalization’. The resultant approach to tariffs and other barriers to interna-
tional economic policies have had profound effects on shipping, air transport, and
many forms of surface transport. Going back to the global conflict of 1914–18,
the subsequent establishment of the League of Nations paved the way for this
in modern times, and it has extended since the end of the Second World War.
It is not just that such global institutions as the World Bank, the International
Maritime Organization, and the International Civil Aviation Organization exist,
but rather that there is now a belief that they have a durable role to play in society.
This forms a basis for new economic systems and an embedded global view on
how business can be conducted.
The institutional environment involves formal laws, regulations and rules,
and at a higher level, ‘constitutions’. It is also concerned with the instruments
of law – legislatures and bureaucracies – and mechanisms of enforcement. For
example, it relates to legal reforms such as the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act
which liberalized domestic aviation in the United States, or the Single European
Market Act in Europe in 1986 that led to a phased deregulation of transport
and other markets within Europe. But it also importantly includes the issue of
property rights and their enforcement. So-called ‘Pigouvian externalities’, such as
pollution, and ‘club good’ problems of traffic congestion, are the most obvious
areas of interest for transport economists in this regard. From an economics of
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 9

transport perspective, the question becomes one of getting the rules right to meet
societal demands.
Governance, basically the way business is done, is important, and here the
economic emphasis is on notions of contracts. Strictly, it is about crafting order,
and thereby mitigates conflict and realizes mutual gains. There are many factors
– cultural, structural, cognitive and political – that influence the way in which
these formal and informal institutions develop. If we take shipping as a case
study, governance here may be seen as embodying such things as the evolving
structure of coordination of shipping activities that began with ‘conferences’ –
essentially cartels – in the 1970s and has developed through consortia into stra-
tegic alliances, whereby changes occur discretely rather than continuously. These,
like their brethren in the airline industry, can involve agreements on such things
as schedules and rates with flexibility about which vessels carry any particular
assignments.
There are also contractual issues within the larger integrated supply chains
that, for example, tie, to varying degrees, shipping with other elements in the
logistics system, most immediately ports but extending beyond this. Governance
is different from government in the sense that the former involves informal agree-
ments within a legal structure. As an example, the United States deregulated its
domestic airline industry by an Act of Congress, whereas the United Kingdom
essentially got the same result because the Civil Aviation Authority reinterpreted
the existing set of laws. Because of high transaction costs, the recent trend has
been for a considerable amount of contract management and dispute settlement
action to be dealt with directly by the parties involved – in other words, within
market frameworks rather than by legal actions.
Finally, there are the ongoing processes involving the day-to-day activities
that take place involving transport. This is essentially the traditional bread-and-
butter of micro- and mesoeconomic analysis taking into account the specific
nuances of transport. Resource allocation issues have since the days of Adam
Smith, and more particularly Alfred Marshall in the late 1890s, centered on
getting the marginal conditions right. To assess how this might be achieved in
theory, and how it materializes in practice, requires some notion of the nature of
the relevant cost and demand conditions – the guts of most introductory econom-
ics courses. The basic principles, although the nuances are still being refined, are
well understood, and much of the recent attention in transport economics has
therefore been on quantification and application in a network context.
Historically, however, this has not always been the case. Much of the analysis
of market structures in transport, for example, paid scant heed to the network
nature of the industry and ipso facto to network externalities. Much of the
interest until 50 years or so ago, as we have hinted at previously, had been on
traditional economic parameters such as market concentration ratios, the degree
of product differentiation and the level of vertical integration. While all these
can be important instruments in the economist’s tool bag, the network nature
of the transport, and the service nature of its outputs, received much less direct
attention in the analysis. Much of the early work on transport demand modeling
10 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

was also either devoid of any of these network features, or embraced them in a
mechanical fashion. But network features are important, although they often add
complexity to useful analysis.
All network service industries have essentially identical economic charac-
teristics. Their output is non-durable, although they normally require significant
amounts of infrastructure. There are also often very significant external benefits
which, tied with various forms of scale effects, produce network economies. From
the consumer’s perspective, these external economies are related to the fact that
the larger the number of links in a network the greater the degree of connectivity,
and with this the larger the choice set available to him/her – often called ‘econo-
mies of market presence’. On the cost savings side, the ability, where this is most
efficient, to channel traffic through hubs, rather than carry traffic directly between
origins and destinations, creates economies of scope (cost savings by combin-
ing traffic) and of density (the more intensive use of the mode). But complex
networks can also create costs, and most especially congestion can develop on
link roads or flight paths, or at hubs such as sea- and airports in the shipping and
aviation context.
So what does all this mean regarding the day-to-day work of transport
economists? In summary, an understanding of economic institutions is now gen-
erally seen as important for analyzing broad transport issues; nevertheless, the
main ‘tools’ of the transport economist are still taken directly from the kit-bag
of standard micro- and mesoeconomic theory, although one should add that
the actual instruments used have changed significantly over the years. The pre-
Second World War emphasis centered on the transport industries (that is, the
railways, road haulage, shipping and so on.) and, in particular, on ways in which
the transport supply could be improved within a largely regulated structure so
that maximum benefit would be derived from public and private transport opera-
tions. The situation was summarized by one geographer who felt that transport
economics at that time was concerned almost entirely with ‘matters of organiza-
tion, competition and charging, rather than with the effects of transport facilities
on economic activities’.10
To some extent – particularly in relation to international transport and,
to a lesser extent, inter-urban transport – this interest has remained. However,
more recently it has been supplemented by concern with the wider welfare and
spatial implications of transport. Greater emphasis is now placed on the envi-
ronmental and distributional effects of the transport system and, in some cases,
market efficiency is seen as an undesirably narrow criterion upon which to base
major decisions. As Alexander argued, in the speech cited at the beginning of
the chapter, one of the most important roles for economists is to make clear the
overall resource costs of transport rather than just the accounting costs. It is no
accident, perhaps, that much of the early work in cost–benefit analysis (CBA) was
in the transport field.

10 A.M. O’Connor, Railways and Development in Uganda, Oxford: Oxford University

Press for the East African Institute of Social Research, 1965.
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 11

Transport economics has, like virtually all other branches of economics,

become more quantitative in recent years. The dominant pre-war idea that eco-
nomics is concerned mainly with establishing broad principles (for example, that
the quantity demanded rises, ceteris paribus, as price falls) has given way, with the
advent of econometric techniques and the computer age, together with improved
data sources, to attempts at detailed measurement (that is, a rise of x tons in
the quantity demanded will, ceteris paribus, follow from a $y fall in unit price).
Transport economists are now heavily involved in trying to assess the precise
quantitative effect of different policy options and with forecasting likely changes
in transport demand.
At the public policy level, the increasing sophistication of transport opera-
tions, combined with both the long lead times that are required for full policy
implementation and the financial costs involved, place mounting strains upon
economists to produce useful, quantified predictions of future trends. The
increased appreciation of the commercial benefits of better forecasting and
costing as part of the supply-chain management process, has led to greater
employment of numerate economists in the private sector.
From the relatively small base of the 1960s, transport economists have now
become more established in most areas of transport policy making at all admin-
istrative levels. Their increased interest in the overall welfare consequences of
different transport strategies, together with a willingness to attempt some form of
quantitative assessment, has led to transport economists becoming more closely
involved in major transport planning exercises. They have an established role in
advising on appropriate actions at the national policy formulation level, but this
has also spread down to a more specific function at the local planning level. At
the strategic level, transport economists, for example, have made a significant
contribution to the urban transport planning in industrial countries since the late
1960s, and have been involved in many detailed appraisals of traffic investment
and management schemes in developed countries.
The particular advances made in transport investment appraisal – most
notably the development of CBA techniques as practical tools of analysis – led to
the adoption of economic criteria for the assessment of many large-scale invest-
ment projects in the 1960s and 1970s (for example, the Third London Airport
scheme and Victoria Underground Line in the United Kingdom). Recent refine-
ments have resulted in rather more standardization, and uniform CBA procedures
are employed as a standard method of small-scale transport project appraisal (for
example, the COBA package used in UK trunk road investment appraisal and
the procedures favored by the World Bank for appraising transport schemes in
low-income countries).
As argued earlier, the surge of regulatory reform and market liberalization
from the late 1970s, which will be discussed later in the book stems, at least partly,
from the empirical work of applied economists, and the regulatory regimes that
subsequently emerged are largely economics based.
The dichotomy between the wealth of the industrial nations and the poverty
of Third World countries has resulted in large-scale programs being initiated to
12 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

stimulate the economic development of the Third World. Much of this aid has
been in the form of monies and resources to improve transport provision. Over 20
percent of World Bank lending, for example, goes on transport projects, as does
about 15 percent of total Bank assistance – grants, expertise and so on. Although
it is not altogether agreed that aid actually stimulates growth11 nor that, if it does,
transport investments are the most suitable projects to finance, it is nevertheless
important that within the narrow confines of transport efficiency these monies
are spent wisely. Transport economists have become increasingly involved in the
Third World in transport project appraisal work.
Large private transport businesses often employ economists but more often
they, and smaller enterprises, make use of the many specialist consultancy com-
panies that offer expert advice. The growth in interest in supply-chain logistics,
which spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inven-
tory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption, and
within that just-in-time management, has led to a much more implicit incorpora-
tion of economics into transport activities.
One way of looking at this is through the notion of ‘value chain’ initiated
by Michael Porter.12 A value chain is a chain of activities. Products pass through
all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some
value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum
of added values of all activities. Capturing the value generated along the chain is
the new approach taken by many management strategists. For example, a manu-
facturer might require its parts suppliers to be located near its assembly plant to
minimize the cost of transport, or it may require regular delivery of components
to keep production going, while holding minimum stocks of the component. By
exploiting the upstream and downstream information flowing along the value
chain, the firms seek to bypass intermediaries creating new business models, or in
other ways create improvements in its value system.
Figure 1.2 provides a simplified generic value chain. The key point about it is
the extensive number of linkages required through a production process from the
initial extraction of raw materials to the final delivery of goods to a market and
their subsequent servicing. Transport is, at various levels of aggregation and in
different forms, important at all stages. Just-in-time management is, as we see in
Chapter 10 when we look at the links between transport economics and transport
logistics, important in ensuring that as few resources as possible are tied up in the
process at any one time so that inventory holdings are optimized.
The remainder of this introduction is concerned with setting the scene for the
body of the book. Initially, some of the main economic features of the transport
sector are discussed. The intention is, however, not to point to the uniqueness
of transport but rather to highlight the particular characteristics of the sector
that pose special problems for economists. Recent trends in transport are then

11 P. Baer, Dissent on Development, London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1971.

12 M.E. Porter, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance,
New York: Free Press, 1985.
 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 13

Primary activities

Inbound Outbound Marketing and

Operations Services
logistics logistics sales

Support activities
Procurement, human resource management,
infrastructure, technological development

Figure 1.2 The simple notion of the value chain

reviewed and commented upon. To keep the subject matter manageable, much of
the focus will be on the UK and US situations, although experiences elsewhere
will not be neglected. This is followed by a brief review of what appear to be some
of the longer-term factors that are going to attract the attention of transport
economists. Finally, a detailed contextual section explains the format of the book
and outlines briefly the rationale for the structure adopted.

1.4 The Economic Characteristics of Transport

Possibly the most important characteristic of transport is that it is not really

demanded in its own right. As Munby13 put it 40 years ago, ‘Only the psychologi-
cally disturbed or inadequate want transport for its own sake’. In other words the
demand for transport is a derived one, but its appropriate provision enables the
benefits of a myriad of other, final benefits to be enjoyed. It is a major facilitator
for enhancing personal welfare and for such things as economic development.
People wish, in general, to travel so that some benefit can be obtained at the
final destination. The trip itself is to be as short as possible. Of course, there are
‘joy riders’ and ‘tourists’ but they tend to be in the minority. Similarly, users of
freight transport perceive transport as a cost in their overall production function
and seek to minimize it wherever possible. The derived nature of the demand for
transport is often forgotten in everyday debate, but it underlies all economics of
transport.
While the demand for transport has particular, if not unique, features, certain
aspects of supply are entirely peculiar to transport. More specifically, part of the
plant is ‘mobile’ – almost by definition – and is entirely different in its characteristics
from the fixed plant (for example, rail track, airports and so on). The fixed compo-
nent is usually extremely long-lived and expensive to replace. While most factories
in the manufacturing sector may be thought to have a physical life expectancy of
a hundred years at most, we still use ports and roads constructed in Roman times.
Further, few pieces of transport infrastructure have alternative uses: some former
waterways have been turned into leisure areas but these tend to be exceptions.

13 D. Munby, Transport, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.

14 TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, 3RD EDITION

In contrast, most mobile plant is relatively short-lived and replacement

usually occurs with physical rather than technical obsolescence as with the fixed
components. It is also cheap, with the prospect of alternative employment if
demand declines in one market; for example, a bus can be transferred to another
route or another form of service – in technical terms, transport operators have
few ‘sunk costs’. Also, unlike fixed plant, the mobile components of transport are
generally subject only to minimal scale economies. (Ships and aircraft may be seen
as exceptions to this in some cases.)
The fixed component, on the other hand, is normally subject to quite sub-
stantial economies of scale. Once a rail track is laid, the marginal cost of using it
falls until some maximum capacity is reached. This means that generally there is
a minimum practical size below which the provision of transport infrastructure is
uneconomical. There are minimum traffic flows, for example, below which it is not
economically practical to build motorways.
As Michael Thomson14 has pointed out, it is these features of the fixed
and mobile components of transport that have influenced the present institu-
tional arrangements in the sector. The high cost of provision, longevity and
scale economies associated with the fixed components create tendencies towards
monopoly control, while the ease of entry, flexibility and lack of scale effects
tend to stimulate competition in the mobile sector. In common with many other
countries, official reaction in Britain to this situation has, in the past, tended to
be the nationalization and public ownership of transport infrastructure and the
regulation of competition in the mobile sector. Nations differ in the degree to
which fixed transport assets are publicly owned (there are entirely private railways
in some countries such as the United States while several European states have
privately operated motorways) and in the types of regulation imposed on mobile
factors, but the overall impression is consistent.
While the rationale of directly controlling the provision and sale of the fixed
components of transport can be linked to the containment of any monopoly
exploitation which may accompany private ownership (although British experi-
ence in the nineteenth century suggests that control might equally well be enforced
through price regulation), the need to regulate the mobile component stems from
another aspect of transport operations. Transport generates considerable external
effects (most obvious of which are congestion and pollution); as Thomson says,
it is an engineering industry carried on outside the factory. It is, therefore, felt to
be important at least to contain the harmful effects of transport and at best to
ameliorate them. Coupled with this is the imperfect knowledge enjoyed by opera-
tors and, in particular, their inability to foresee relatively short-term change in
demand.
Regulation is, therefore, often justified to ensure that excessive competition at
times of depressed demand does not reduce the capacity of the transport system
to an extent that it cannot meet higher demand during the upturn. Finally, there
are political-economy arguments that transport is a social service that should

14 J.M. Thomson, Modern Transport Economics, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974,

 TRANSPORT AND ECONOMICS 15

meet ‘need’ rather than demand and, hence, traditional market forces need to be
supplemented to ensure that this wider, social criterion of transport operations is
pursued rather than the simple profit motive.

1.5 The Framework of the Book

The remainder of the book is concerned with the application of economic theory
to the transport sector. These are many books that concentrate on particular
modes of transport, such as the railways or shipping, or specific sectors, such
as the nationalized transport industries, or have a geographical bent such as, the
transport policy of the European Union or urban transport problems. One of
the main aims of this book, however, is to show that most challenges in transport
are common to all modes (albeit with minor variations) and cover many different
circumstances. Consequently, the approach is to show how economic theory may
be applied to improve the overall efficiency of the transport sector; examples are,
therefore, drawn from all forms of transport and many contexts.
Also while it is unavoidable, not to say desirable, that official transport
policy must be implicitly incorporated in the analysis, this is not a book explicitly
about transport policy. Economic forces do not operate in a vacuum but within
the context of laws and governance structures. Indeed, economists of the public
choice persuasion such as James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock put particular
emphasis on this political economy dimension.15
It is felt useful, on occasions, to give brief details of institutional arrange-
ments since they inevitably influence the type of economic analysis to apply (for
example, a thumb-nail sketch of the historical and institutional framework of
urban transport planning is included for this purpose), but, again, this is prima-
rily for contextual reasons. The closing chapter is explicitly concerned with policy
and institutions, and in particular with the matter of the economic regulation of
transport markets.
At the theoretical level, the discussion is couched in terms of verbal and
diagrammatic analysis. Mathematical expressions are not shunned, but equations
are included rather as references, permitting readers to look up practical working
models should they subsequently wish to undertake their own empirical investiga-
tions. There are virtually no mathematical derivations, but important equations
are ‘talked around’ and the reader should find no difficulty in following the book
even if his/her mathematical education has been neglected or forgotten.
Indeed the philosophy of the approach adopted here is very much akin to
that espoused by the great economist, Alfred Marshall in a letter to a colleague,
A.L. Bowley, in 1906,

But I know I had a growing feeling in the later years of my work at the subject that a
good mathematical theorem dealing with economic hypotheses was very unlikely to

15 J.M. Buchanan and G. Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of

Constitutional Democracy, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1962.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
The Spaniards in the great vessel under which we lay had
endeavored to train their culverins upon us, but in vain, we were too
far below them. So they had given that up, and with a volley of
small arms had swept our deck. Many of our men had fallen under
the storm of lead, and we had replied with another broadside, and
then another.
The galleon was sorely hit; we could hear her as she reeled from the
shock of the shot, and the smoke clearing showed us the great rents
in the side of the ship where our balls had torn through her. At close
range the destruction was terrible; her decks were strewn with the
dead and dying. It looked like a slaughter pen as the blood ran in
great streams down the rough planks.
Then another great ship sailed alongside of us, and our deck
swarmed with Spaniards; at the same time the stricken galleon
poured what remained of her crew over into us and we were
boarded from both sides at the same time. We divided our ranks,
fore and aft, with a volley that dropped many a man; then sword in
hand we stood firm and steadfast.
Ah! that was a good fight that day. Though they outnumbered us
three to one, yet they had not the stern stuff in them of our men.
Drake seemed to bear a charmed life; he was here and there—now
in the midst of the foe, a dozen swords aimed at him, now back
among our men; one moment in front, now on the other side.
Wherever the Spaniards pressed our men the hardest, there might
be seen his yellow beard and bloody sword.
But I had short time to observe him, for a dozen Spaniards were at
me. With a shout, I brained a couple with my great ax, and the
others gave way before me; but in an instant they were back,
cutting at me with their swords. Oliver was by my side, and right
nobly did he play his part; I know not what I would have done
without him. Gay, debonair, smiling, he met them and with me drove
them back.
With a rush, a new reënforcement came over the rail and made for
us, led by a sturdy fellow with a long tawny beard. Then for the first
time our depleted ranks gave back, and I was left almost alone; only
Oliver and a dozen more stayed by me. I cut down the first fellow,
and dropping my ax, for I was too hard pressed for that, I caught up
his sword. "Come!" I shouted to their leader as he neared me.
"Cross swords with a man!" With an oath he cut viciously at my
head; I parried his thrust and lunged at him; and then with a rush a
score bore down upon me, and I stood alone among the foe.
It had gone hard with me, had not Drake come to the rescue; with a
shout he cut his way into their ranks, and to where I still fought
doggedly on. A thrust had grazed my forehead, I had another cut in
the back of my head, but they were scratches and I felt them not;
turning, twisting among them, I evaded the myriad blows aimed at
me.
With a yell the enemy gave way before us; a score of Englishmen
had followed Drake, and were now hacking at them. To add to their
confusion our men had driven off the boarders on the other side,
and now streamed down to the rescue with loud cries of "Drake!"
A moment of fierce hand-to-hand struggle, as we fought to and fro
upon the bloody deck; many slipped and fell in the pools of blood,
and they fought among themselves and hacked at the legs of the
men as they trampled over them. Some who went down were
trodden to death; others struggled to their feet and fought on.
The Spaniards wavered, hesitated, and then with a rush we swept
on and over them, as the great waves over the sinking ship. A few
little groups remained, struggling stubbornly until they were cut
down.
Drake stood wiping his red sword, and looking at the bloodstained
floor, all piled with gory bodies. Finally his eye fell upon me.
"Art hurt, Sir Thomas?" he asked, noticing my bloody face.
"No," I answered, "'tis but a scratch," and I wiped my face with my
sleeve.
"Thou hast borne thyself right gallantly in the fray," he said. "I
almost feared to look, when I saw thee alone in the midst of the foe.
But what has become of Oliver? I saw him but a moment ago."
I looked around; he was nowhere in sight.
"I hope no harm has befallen him," I replied anxiously. "But I lost
sight of him in the fray, and I know not where he could be."
"Oliver!" shouted Drake, raising his voice, "where art thou?"
"Here," answered a muffled voice, which sounded as though it came
from the bowels of the earth.
"Where?" I shouted. "I can see naught of thee."
"Up near the mast," he replied. "I am under a pile of bodies, which,
from the feeling of my back, must be at least a mile high."
Treading among the dead, with which the deck was covered, we at
last reached the place from which the voice proceeded. There, from
under one side of a huge pile of the slain, protruded the legs of the
lad. 'Twould have been laughable, had it not been for the gravity of
the surroundings. The lad's head was on the other side from us, his
body pinned down under the dead, who had fallen crosswise over
him, and had doubtless protected his life in the fight by concealing
him from view.
I smiled as I saw the spindling legs.
"Thou seemest comfortable and easy where thou liest—no doubt
resting from the fatigue of the day. We had perhaps best leave thee
where thou art; 'twill keep thee out of mischief."
"Comfortable!" he shouted. "My back is almost broken with the
weight upon it. I feel like Atlas bearing the world upon my
shoulders. Pull them off, I tell thee!"
Drake had roared when I had teased the boy. He now lent a hand,
and we pulled off the six or eight bodies that lay upon him, the last
one being that of the tawny-bearded Spaniard who had led the
attack upon me. His face was still hard and fierce, as when he had
fallen in the heat of the fray. We lifted the last one aside and helped
Oliver to his feet; he was sore and stiff, but unhurt, as he informed
us in answer to our anxious inquiry.
"Had it not been for yonder red-bearded fellow," he said, "it would
have gone hard with me. I tripped as they came down upon us, and
as I fell he rushed at me. One of our men cut him down, and he fell
upon my body. Before I could arise another had fallen, and so they
kept piling up until I was so weighed down that I could not get upon
my feet again."
"Half of my men have fallen," Drake said sorrowfully, as we walked
aft, and he stopped to survey a pile of the dead.
In truth 'twas a scanty crew that greeted us as we stood among
them. Of the three hundred men who had gone into the fight only
about seventy-five bloodstained survivors remained; but they were
undaunted and unconquerable, as waving their gory swords, they
gathered around us.
A crash—and a great ship, floating the yellow flag of Spain, her
decks crowded with men, emerged from the smoke, and spurting
fire and death, as though some Titan of the deep bent upon our
destruction, she bore down upon us. The men around me were
falling thick and fast; one by my side sprang into the air with a loud
cry, and then fell, struck down by a ball. A few of the crew were
endeavoring to answer them with some of our culverins, but it was
in vain; they were shot down where they stood, before they could
fire a single gun.
The biting scent of the powder was in my nostrils; the smoke stung
my eyes until they ran water; bloody and grimy, I waved my sword
and cheered on the men, as they fired their guns at the foe.
"Steady!" I shouted. "Stand firm! This cannot last!"
With a last volley, she swept up to our side, and a throng of armed
men sprang upon our decks. The smoke cleared for an instant—
there was not an English ship in sight, that I could see. Away to the
west, about a mile distant, the roars of the guns resounding showed
that the fight still raged, but as far as we were concerned, we must
work out our own salvation.
And now, sword in hand, the boarders charged down upon our little
band as they gathered around Drake, and there we made our last
stand. With a rush they were upon us, and then ensued a wild
mêlée. Borne back by the weight of numbers the English stood an
instant; and then, broken and scattered in little groups, they were
swallowed up in the dense mass of their foes. Only the rush and
swarm where they fought showed that they were still standing at
bay, undaunted and unafraid.
Cut off from the others, only a seaman or two with me, I fought like
a tiger for my very life. All around me there swept a fierce sea of
angry, hostile faces; every hand seemed to hold a weapon and to be
bent upon my destruction. I could see nothing of the English; I was
alone save only for the two sailors.
But the enemy were handicapped by their very numbers; many
slipped and went down on the bloody decks, and their companions
in blind fury cut and struggled over them in their endeavor to get at
me. Many of the wounded were trampled under foot and perished.
Cursing, shouting, and fighting among themselves, the Spaniards
tried to cut me down. But I had kept perfectly cool as they closed
with me; the two men, their backs to mine, guarded my rear, and we
held them at bay for many minutes.
I was silent, and made no answer to the cries of the Spaniards;
every now and then there would come to my ears the hoarse shouts
of Drake, as somewhere in the press he fought and struggled. But
save that, I could hear no sound from my friends.
Among the many heads around me, I could see a steel cap with a
white plume in it, which marked the chief who had led the enemy
when they boarded the ship. As my eye caught sight of him, he
made a last charge upon a little group nearby. Cutting down those
who resisted, he turned and caught sight of the steel as the
Spaniards rushed upon me, and I beat them back.
He made his way through the throng towards me, the men giving
way before him. There seemed something familiar in his bearing as
he came nearer to me, but I had no chance further to observe him,
for with a yell the men whom I had hurled back temporarily were
hammering at me as though determined to end the struggle.
One of the men at my back was dragged down and I saw him no
more; but turning and thrusting at them, I kept on my feet. My
breastplate stood me in good stead; if it had not been for its
protection I would have been cut to pieces long before; but my body
to the waist was hidden by the pile of dead that lay in front of me,
and I had only to guard my head and shoulders and I was safe. A
cry behind me, and I turned in time to see the last sailor fall. I was
alone now.
The wall of the cabin was only a few feet away; if I could only reach
that, with my back against it, I could hold them at bay for a few
minutes longer. Slowly and painfully, inch by inch, my face to the
foe, I made my way to it. My arm was weary with cutting; I was
almost exhausted; several flesh wounds were bleeding freely, and it
was only a few minutes until I would be overpowered by sheer force
of numbers. It was only a few feet away now—would I never reach
it? The seconds seemed like hours—days—as at a snail's pace I crept
nearer to its protecting shelter. I had almost reached it now, nearer,
nearer; at last, thank Heaven, my back was against it, and I faced
them for the last act of the scene.
A moment thus we faced each other—the Spaniards yelling and
shouting, I silent and still. They seemed to be in no hurry to meet
the sword that had cut down so many of their fellows, but jostling
and pushing they faced me, even as a pack of hounds, baying,
gather around some grim old monarch of the forest, who, with
antlers poised, stands ready to meet them.
A cry met my ears; a few feet from me the Spaniards were cutting
and hacking at someone. A voice called "Sir Thomas!" With a shout I
cut my way through them, as a she bear aroused by the cry of her
cubs rushes upon the hunter, and with claws bared and flashing
eyes, deals out destruction to those who dare to meet her. I knew
the voice—it was Oliver's.
Raising my sword, I whirled it about my head with both hands, and
cutting down the men who stood in my path, I made for the lad.
Cutting and slashing all in my way, I cleared a path through them,
the men giving back at the fury of my charge, until I stood above
Oliver.
He lay in a pool of blood, the clotted gore all over his bonny gold
curls. Stooping, I picked him up as though he had been a feather,
and tucking him under my left arm, protecting him as best I could
from the enemy's blows, my sword in my right hand, I began my
journey back to the friendly shelter of the wall.
How I reached it I never knew. I was crazed with fury as I saw their
angry faces, saw them cut at me, and slashed back right and left at
them, the lad under my arm lying quiet and limp. I knew not
whether he was alive or dead. Finally I stood once more against the
wall, and dropping the boy on the floor behind me, I faced them
again.
"Dogs!" I shouted, "do you fear to meet one man? Come on, and I
will show you how an Englishman can die."
A moment they waited, and then from out the ranks sprang the tall
Spaniard with the white plume, whom I had seen but a few
moments ago. Bowing, he faced me with a drawn sword.
"Ah, Sir Thomas!" he cried, "we meet again."
It was the Count DeNortier. For a moment I stood spellbound in
astonishment. DeNortier!—I had left him on the floor, on that last
night upon the island, and had thought him dead, or at least
stranded and alone on that far-away island, and now I saw him
here, leading the charge against me.
"DeNortier!" I cried. "What dost thou here?"
He laughed as he answered:
"As soon as I recovered from the buffet that thou didst deal me, I
rushed out into the open air, and hearing Drake's men outside, I
evaded them. Crossing over to the other side of the island, I
boarded a fleet schooner that I had concealed there, ready to sail at
a moment's notice, her crew in readiness. We sailed away, and met
a galleon going to join the Spanish fleet. They were glad enough to
promise me a pardon for my past misdeeds to secure my services.
So here I am. Gods! It is well that I recovered myself when I did on
that last night—a few moments later, and I would have been in
Paradise," and he laughed loudly.
"But if thou dost remember, twice have I promised to meet thee,
and settle all our differences—that time has come. On guard!"
We crossed swords; the others, clearing a space and leaning upon
their weapons, watched us; the senseless body of the lad behind
me. DeNortier cut at me furiously, but I met his blow, and returned
it with a vengeance. Gone was my fatigue of a moment ago; it was
as though the strength that I had felt in the old days had flowed
back into my veins. I was bleeding from a dozen wounds, but I felt it
not, for the glow of some wondrous wine seemed to warm me
through. I was master of myself; my wrist as strong and supple, my
eye as keen and cunning as it had ever been, for I was determined
to kill this man.
He had kept me confined for months. I could have forgiven him that,
but I could not forget that he had insulted, on that memorable night,
Lady Margaret Carroll, by coupling her name with his. What though
she was to be the bride of Lord Dunraven, I would avenge this insult
to her; she could not prevent me from doing this. Ah! it would be
sweet to fight once more for her. Her hand and love were hers to
bestow where she wished, but she could not say me nay in this
matter, and so with a right joyful heart I faced the Spaniard in the
gathering gloom.
Thrust after thrust he tried, but I met them all with a readiness that
surprised myself. I had not fought such a fight as this before; had
not crossed swords with a man so worthy of my steel. Trick after
trick he tried, some I had never seen before, but the gods fought
with me, and as though by intuition I met him and sent him
staggering back again. A look of black wrath was upon his face;
piqued at being met at every point, he was losing his head at my
swordsmanship.
"Ah!" he said, as we struggled upon the slippery deck, "the
gentleman fights well. Perhaps he thinks that beyond the water
there waits for him a lovely lady. Let him not fool himself. She is ere
now the bride of a noble lord, who holds her fast in bands which she
cannot break."
But I kept my temper. I had only to keep cool, and the victory was
mine, and so I only lunged at him with all my strength. The sharp
point of my blade touched his cheek, and with a turn of the wrist I
laid it open from ear to neck. With a scream of pain he came at me
like a wild cat, but I met him and cut him in the side, so that he
staggered back again; pressing forward, I lunged at him once more.
He recovered himself, the blood spouting from his cheek, and met
my blade with a cut, that, had I not sprang back quickly, would have
run me through and through.
Pressing upon me, he rained blow after blow with point and blade. I
had never seen such fury. It was as though he were a madman, and
it was only with the greatest difficulty that I protected myself. The
smile had passed from his face, and a look of awful anger had
replaced it. If he could only reach me, he would give his black soul.
"So Dunraven has outwitted thee," I taunted. "To the victor belongs
the spoil."
"The furies take thee!" he cried furiously. "If I have lost, so also hast
thou. I would rather that my lord should win than thou. Curse thee!"
and he struck with all his force at my head.
"He has used thee well, has done his work with thee, and then,
when thou art of no further use, has cast thee aside like a squeezed
lemon," and I laughed in his face.
"I will have her yet," he replied, beside himself with anger, his eyes
almost starting from his head. "I swear that to thee, though I have
to cut Dunraven's throat, and fight my way through all England with
her in my arms. Then ho! for my ship, and away to some far-off
clime, where I shall reign a king, and she shall be my queen." His
face lighted up with a savage smile.
"Fool," I answered, "thou babblest. Thinkest thou that Dunraven
would let thee have the lady? He would slit thy throat at first sight,
and then what?"
"He would if he dared," he answered, "but he fears to attempt it.
With what I know I could send him to the gallows. No, believe me,
he thinks too much of his own hide to try such a scheme as that."
His eyes wandered for an instant.
"Look!" he shouted in alarm to his men. "An English ship to the
rescue! Meet them while I finish this fellow."
I heard the shout as the Englishmen clambered over the rail behind
me; and the sound of many feet as they rushed at the Spaniards. I
raised my sword and lunged forward at DeNortier's breast. It would
have finished him for good and all, but the Englishmen were upon
me, and the sword was knocked from my hand in the mad rush.
The Spaniards dashed forward to meet their assailants. I was in the
midst of a mad vortex of men, arms, swords, weapons, cries, oaths,
as with a crash the two parties came together. Like a feather I was
thrown from my feet, and lay upon the deck unable to rise as they
fought and struggled above me; tramping and stepping on my limbs
until I felt as though I were verily beaten into a jelly.
How long they fought there I do not know. It seemed long to me, as
I lay under the feet of the struggling men, and heard the crash of
arms as they still fought fiercely on. The noise was receding from
me, evidently one side was fleeing, but which was it? Then a good
old English cheer broke forth, and never had I heard a more
welcome sound in my life than that hoarse cry, "Hurrah! Hurrah!"
Then the hubbub ceased and the only sound was the splash of the
water as the Spaniards sprang overboard.
I slowly and painfully crawled out from among some of the bodies,
which lay pell-mell about me, and got on my feet. A round-faced,
jovial-looking man who stood near me turned around at the sound,
his red sword in his hand. I had never seen him before; around him
stood a group of seamen.
"'Tis the brave fellow that we saw holding them at bay when we
boarded the ship!" he cried. "Pray, sir, what is thy name?"
"Sir Thomas Winchester, of London," I answered.
A frown was on his face as he looked at me.
"'Tis a pity that so fine a fellow should hang like a dog, but it cannot
be helped," he murmured. "Sir, I shall report thy gallant conduct to
the Queen. I am sorry I can do no more. Sir Francis Drake related
thy story to me last night. It is a passing strange one, incredible and
unbelievable, and I would I could believe it. I am Howard."
I had never seen him, but I recognized the family favor. I had known
his father when I was but a lad, and had loved the bluff old
gentleman.
"Let me congratulate thee upon thy great victory," I said, bowing
low. "It is one with which the world will ring, and in which her
majesty will rejoice. Truly, 'twas a splendid fight, but I believe it is
over now, as I see several of the ships around us." And I looked out
to where there lay a dozen shot-riddled vessels.
"I thank thee," he answered. "The credit is to my men, and not to
me. The fight is, as thou sayest, won. The Armada has turned tail
and flown; our ships are after her as hard as they can go."
"What has become of Sir Francis?" I asked, looking about me. "I fear
that he is slain."
"No," he answered, "we found him, with about a dozen of his men,
holding the Spaniards at bay upon the other side of the vessel. He
has even now made his way out to one of yonder ships to pursue
the foe. He left his report concerning his voyage and thyself with me
last night, and but just now charged me to send thee, and the boy,
Oliver Gates, by the first ship to London, together with the report."
"Oliver!" I cried, my thoughts instantly upon him. "Where is he—hast
thou seen aught of him?" and I turned to look behind me where I
had left him.
Yes, there he lay, still limp and quiet, his eyes closed, breathing
heavily, a pool of blood around him, which flowed from a great cut in
his breast.
I knelt beside the boy.
"I would ask that thou let the leech attend him," I said to Lord
Howard, as he stood looking down at the body of the lad, "for I fear
that he has received his death-blow."
"I trust not," he answered gravely. He turned to several of his men:
"Take him down to the cabin, and let Dr. Robbins attend him," he
said.
Carefully they picked him up and bore him through the piles of the
dead and wounded, that lay upon the deck, down into the cabin.
Lord Howard spoke to me as I passed him, behind the boy.
"Thou shalt leave for London on this ship to-night," he said. "I will
send the news of our victory to her Majesty by Sir William Stone,
who will command the vessel. Our wounded also go with thee, and I
will get aboard another vessel and join Drake in harrying these dogs,
so that this will be their last invasion of England."
Bowing my head, I passed down the ladder and into the room where
Oliver lay. A fat chubby-faced little man was bending over him. He
turned his face as I entered.
"A bad wound," he said, shaking his head and screwing up his eyes.
"It is not fatal?" I said anxiously, as I approached the bed.
"I know not," he replied. "It depends upon the care and attention he
receives. With nursing he may recover. I have seen as bad cuts
before, and yet the men recovered."
"Doctor——?" I said.
"Robbins," he answered. "Doctor Robbins, of London, at thy
service," and he bowed.
"Doctor Robbins," I continued, "I know no one in London that I
would trust him to at a time like this."
"Ah! sad," he replied, "sad," and he shook his little round head like a
monkey, a look of sorrow upon his face. "I heard thy story last night,
when Sir Francis Drake related it to the gentlemen in the cabin. It is
incredible—wonderful!"
"Thou must take the boy to thy house," I said, thoughtfully. "There
is no one else, and I will repay thee well."
He started.
"My dear sir—my dear sir, I cannot take the boy. Thou art dreaming.
I have no time—no place——"
"Thou must," I interrupted, "there is no one else. Either thou wilt
take him, or his death be upon thy hands. I can do nothing for him
confined in prison, probably to die."
"I pity thee," he answered sadly; "from the bottom of my heart I pity
thee. But I have nowhere to put him; no one to look after him. What
would I do with the lad on my hands?"
"Art married?" I asked.
"No," he answered, a faint smile upon his face. "I live with one
sister, a maiden. What would she do with a boy sick unto death?"
"Dost thou believe in a God?" I asked. "Art thou a Christian?"
"Surely," he replied indignantly. "Dost thou take me for a heathen,
that thou shouldst ask me such a question?"
"Well," I answered, "dost thou remember the tale of the good
Samaritan, how the poor man, stricken by his wound, fell by the
wayside, and how the priest with holy look passed by on the other
side, then the Samaritan, seeing him, took pity upon him, and
binding up his wounds, put him upon his own beast, and carrying
him to the inn, paid for his lodging and left him there? Thou hast thy
choice. Wilt thou be the priest or the good Samaritan?"
The tears were in his eyes as he answered:
"I will take the lad and keep him until he is restored to health and
strength."
"I thank thee," I answered. "I know not whether I will see thee
again, but I shall not forget thy kindness. May thy God reward thee
if I cannot, and as thou dealest with the lad, so may he deal with
thee," and I put into his hands my purse. It had some money left in
it.
"Tell the boy that my thoughts shall be of him, and that I shall ever
treasure in sweetest remembrance his friendship and love. It will
brighten the pathway, and if I do not see him again, may God be
with him." And turning, I passed to the door.
The little Doctor followed me, and stretched out his hand.
"Thou art a man," he said, "whatever thy faults. I will hold ever
sacred the trust thou hast given me, and will deal with the boy as I
would with my own."
I wrung his hand, and crossing the room, I bent for a moment and
pressed a kiss upon the cold forehead of the boy; then I passed
from the room.
The ship had turned, and was moving up the Thames at a rapid rate
of speed towards London. I had gone upon deck, and wrapped in
my cloak, stood watching the twinkling lights on the banks of the
river, that marked where some pleasure house or dwelling lay.
Someone touched me upon my arm, and looking up I saw the war-
worn face of Sir William Stone.
"Nobly didst thou bear thyself," he said. "Thou hast fought as
becoming a gentleman of thy house. Would that it might save thee."
"I have done my duty," I answered. "I leave the rest; I can do no
more."
He looked at me in admiration.
"Sir Francis Drake left me thy gold-hilted sword, he said, "and bade
me give it to thee, for he knew not when he would see thee again.
What wouldst thou have me do with it?"
"Take it to Sir Robert Vane," I replied, "and give it to him with my
compliments. It has never been drawn in a cause that would stain it
since I have worn it."
"I will do it," he replied, and he looked out again at the lights. Then
he touched me. "Look!" he said, pointing to where far before us
there twinkled and sparkled many tiny lights—"It is London."
London—and so twenty-two months after I left it I was to enter my
native land a captive, my life forfeited, old, broken, gray-headed, my
heart bowed down with grief, alone and friendless, the only friend
that I had on earth lying below at death's door. So I set foot again
upon my native heath.
Nearer we came, for the wind had risen to a gale, and we rushed
through the water as though propelled by the hand of a giant.
Turning a curve, the lights burst full upon us. Before us a few ships
lay at anchor; only a few, however, for most of the vessels had gone
out to meet the Spaniards.
Upon the wharves was gathered a great crowd of people; as far as
the eye could see, there stretched a great black sea of heads,
awaiting, no doubt, to hear news of the day's fight. As we came into
sight they raised a great shout which reached to where we stood;
our men sprang to their culverins, and with a blinding crash they
roared back a greeting. So with ringing bells and roaring guns,
amidst the shouts and cheers of the people, we came into the
harbor and dropped anchor.
The cries of the people rang across. "How went the fight? Did the
Spaniards run? How many of the ships were sunk?" A perfect babel
of shouts and questions arose.
Several boats had put off from the shore, and were making for us at
full speed. Springing upon the rail, Sir William, his head bowed, held
up his hand. Instantly a great silence fell upon them—a silence deep
and oppressive.
"The Armada is defeated!" he shouted. "Many of their ships are
sunk, and they are now in full flight, our men after them. Three
cheers for England!"
Then there arose a shout, deep, full, deafening—it fell upon the
night air like the roar of a thousand guns; once, twice, thrice, it rose
and fell. Then, "Three cheers for Drake and Sir William Stone!"
someone cried, recognizing the old soldier, and the mob gave them
with a will.
"The boat is ready, Sir Thomas," the old warrior said, his face
lighting up with a proud smile of joy.
Stepping into the boat, we were rowed ashore. Silence fell upon
them as we neared the great throng, but as we touched the wharf,
they rushed forward, and would have borne old Sir William aloft in
triumph.
He waved them back impatiently.
"Back!" he cried. "Would you hinder me? I am on my way to the
Queen with tidings of the victory. If you value your heads, you will
not delay me."
At this they gave way, for they cared not to arouse the imperious
Elizabeth, and we passed through the mob, a little band of soldiers
following. Many were the curious glances that were cast at me, but
no one recognized my face. It would have been strange if they had.
I had left London a care-free, gay, and laughing gallant; I returned
gray, haggard, and old.
I could hear the murmur of the crowd as they looked at me.
"It is a Spanish nobleman!" one fat old woman cried to her neighbor.
"Nonsense!" said a butcher in his greasy apron, who stood near her.
"It is Sir Henry Cobden, who commanded one of our ships. I know
his face."
"Thou art mad!" another shouted. "It is the commander of the
Spanish fleet; he goes even now to the Queen to implore mercy and
save his neck."
"It is the Earl of Essex," said a tradesman, as I passed him. "Look at
his bloody sword."
"Fool, it is the Bishop of Dunham," said a burly baker. "Do not I
know his gray beard and pious face? Right bravely has he borne
himself, look at his dented breastplate." And he bared his head as I
passed.
At the next corner Sir William halted and spoke to me in a low tone.
"I will send some of my men with thee to the Tower," he whispered.
"I grieve that I should have to do this, but those are my orders, and
I durst not disobey them. I trust it is only for a short time, and when
the Queen hears how thou hast borne thyself in the fight, she will
pardon thee."
"It is thy duty," I answered. "Worry not about it. Let but two men
accompany me, and I will go on quietly to the Tower."
He turned to the sailors.
"Do ye, Giles and Henry, go with Sir Thomas," he commanded.
"Ay, Sir," they replied.
With them in the lead I passed on to the grim old fortress of
London, in which had been confined the bravest and noblest of
England. How many, as the heavy doors shut behind them, had
breathed for the last time the breath of freedom? It had almost
become an adage, "That he who goes to the Tower leaves hope
behind him." It loomed dark and gray before me now. Crossing a
narrow court-yard, one of the men beat upon the great door studded
with nails.
"Who is it?" a voice asked from the inside.
"Friends," he answered. "A gentleman to see Sir Henry DeGray."
At this the heavy bolts rattled and the door opened. A man, a candle
in his hand, peered out at us.
"Why canst thou not come in the daylight?" he grumbled. "Thou hast
all day, and yet thou must worry us at night."
"We have just arrived in England to-night, my friend," I answered,
"and could not have come sooner."
At this the fellow looked at us closely and saw the blood upon our
clothes, our disheveled and disordered appearance.
"What news of the great Spanish fleet?" he inquired eagerly. "I
heard only a moment ago a great shouting, and wondered if it could
be news of the fight."
"The Spanish are defeated," I answered, "and even now are in full
flight, our men after them."
"God be praised!" exclaimed the rough old fellow, as he lifted up his
hands in joy. "Many a one of them will see the bottom ere morning,
or I am mistaken, for there is such a storm brewing to-night as
London has not seen for many a year."
"But go into yonder room, Sir," he said, pointing to the door in front
of me. "Sir Henry is in there."
"Come, comrades!" he cried to the two sailors who stood behind me.
"Come with me, and we will celebrate this victory in a flagon of good
wine, and you shall tell me of the battle," and he hobbled off with
them.
I turned the knob and entered the low room. There, seated at a
table, was Sir Henry, whom I knew well, for I had served with him
during my brief campaign in Ireland, and with him, a glass in his
hand, his dull, watery eyes fixed upon me, sat my brother Richard.
 CHAPTER XII
MY LADY

I knew him the moment that I put my eyes upon his face, though I
had not seen him in years. He was still the same as when I had seen
him last—dull, watery, pale blue eyes, little and stupid like those of a
pig; his lean face mottled by hard drinking; his peaked beard shot
with gray. Ah! he was the same; a little older, that was all.
He knew me, too, despite the change in me, for even as I looked at
him, a gleam of recognition came into his eyes, and he arose to his
feet.
"So thou hast met thy deserts? Years ago when we were boys
together, I prophesied that the gallows would be thy end. Thou didst
laugh at me then, but it has come to pass even as I said," and he
stood grinning at me.
"Peace, fool!" I answered, "or I will crack that empty pate of thine
with a chair," and I made as though to seize one.
He dropped back into his seat in an instant, his face pale, for he was
ever a coward.
"Sir Henry," he stammered, "I am thy guest, wouldst thou see me
murdered before thine eyes?" and he cowered away from me.
"Tut, Sir Richard," rejoined the bluff old warrior. "What dost thou
fear? Thou art as safe as though thou wert at Richmond Castle. But
this cannot be Sir Thomas Winchester?" And he turned to me in
astonishment.
"The same, Sir Henry," I answered. "Hadst thou been through but
half what I have, thy hair would be as gray as mine."
"Sit thee down, and tell us about it," the good knight said, as he
pushed a chair toward me.
"Another time, Sir Henry," I answered. "I am faint and weak from
my wounds, and weary from the long voyage; some other time I will
tell thee with pleasure. But one of the men had a note for thee, if I
mistake not. He has been in such a hurry to swig down thy good
wine, that he even forgot his errand."
"The rogue," he mumbled, and turning he strode to the wall and
touched a great brass gong that hung there. "Thou didst speak of
thy wounds," he said. "How camest thou by them; wert in the fleet
that met the Spanish Armada?"
"Yes," I answered, "I was, then——"
"How did the fight go?" he eagerly interrupted me. "Do the
Spaniards even now sail up the Thames to sack the city?"
"Hardly," I answered. "They are beaten and scattered, with Drake
and Hawkins in hot pursuit."
"Good!" he shouted joyously. "But thou—why, we thought thee dead
long ere this."
"'Tis a long tale," I replied, "and I will tell it to thee to-morrow."
"I forgot," he said hastily, with red cheeks, "and I beg thy pardon;
for once curiosity got the better of my manners."
"Where is the note that the seaman had for me, Sam?" he asked, as
the old man who had opened the door for us appeared.
"Here, thy honor," he said, as he handed a paper to Sir Henry. "The
man begs thy pardon for not delivering it at once, but I dragged him
away to drink a glass with me, to celebrate the defeat of the
Spaniards, and I am sure that thou wilt forgive his remissness," and
he smiled with the ease of an old favorite.
"Begone!" said Sir Henry. "I pardon thee at such a time as this, but
let it not occur again."
"No, Sir," mumbled the old man, and he shambled quickly out of the
door.
Sir Henry was reading the note, a frown upon his face, and as he
finished he looked up.
"Right sorry I am to hear this, Sir Thomas," he said. "Thou shalt
have such comforts as the place affords while thou art here, which I
trust will not be long. I have a leech in the house who shall dress thy
wounds. But come, I will show thee to thy cell," and rising, he took
from his belt a large bunch of keys, and motioned me to follow him.
I did so, leaving Richard, his head bowed as though in thought, in
his chair by the table.
Corridor after corridor we crossed; stair after stair we ascended and
descended, winding in and out the long, silent halls as though we
would never reach our destination. DeGray trod them with the ease
of one who knows every nook and cranny by heart. We met only a
few people, seemingly guards, and just as I had almost given up in
despair, my guide halted in front of one of the innumerable doors,
and fitting the key in the lock, opened it, motioning me to enter.
The windows were secured by a heavy grating, and there was only
the simplest kind of furniture in the room, only a bed, a rough table,
and a chair or two, that was all. The room was fairly large and clean
though, but that was about all that could be said of it.
Old Sir Henry entered with me, and locking the door, seated himself
on one of the chairs. He was a blunt, rough old fellow, but with a
heart of gold, and he had thought much of me in the old days in
Ireland. I had saved his life there once, when his horse had been cut
down, and he had been left on the ground in the midst of the wild
Irish. Seeing him thus, I had turned my horse and had ridden back,
and catching him up across my saddle, had dashed forward to join
our men, the savage kerns at my heels. He had not forgotten this,
his first words told me that.
"It was fourteen years ago to-day that thou didst save my life at the
risk of thine own, when the rest of the men had left me to the mercy
of the Irish," he said thoughtfully, his eyes absently fixed upon me.
"I have the scar with me yet, and will bear it to the grave," and he
laid his finger upon a great seamed place on his neck, where a
rough scar ran half-way around it.
"It was a close shave," I answered, as I threw myself upon the bed,
"but yet thou didst pull through."
"Yes," he replied, "thanks to thee. But, lad, I hope that thou wilt
pardon the curiosity of an old friend, and tell me why thou art here.
It is not all curiosity, believe me, for perhaps I can be of assistance
to thee," and he lowered his voice to a whisper, and glanced around
cautiously at the door.
"Listen," I answered, "perhaps I will tell thee many things that thou
wilt not believe. Thou hast asked for the truth, and thou shalt have
it." And beginning from my abduction, I related the whole story of
my captivity and adventures, omitting nothing, save only the part
concerning my lady.
When I finished he gave a low whistle of astonishment.
"It is almost incredible," he exclaimed. "Had it not been thee, I
would not have believed it. But why does this Dunraven wish to keep
thee out of England?"
"The same reason that has inspired hatred since the beginning of
time," I replied—"a fair lady."
"Ah!" he said, his shrewd old eyes upon my face. "And now I
remember to have heard some talk of the rivalry for the favor of one
of England's loveliest ladies. If she is as beautiful as they say, it is no
wonder.
"It is a strange thing," he mused, his rough hand upon his head
—"this love of a man for a maid. For her he will do all things; will
shed innocent blood; will stoop to any low and ugly deed; would
walk through hell bare-footed, as I once heard a gallant say. Many
have I seen turn their back upon wealth, honor and fame, upon
home, kindred and friends, and leave all to win a woman—'tis
strange. It has grown to be an adage that, 'all's fair in love and war,'
and the little god has missed but few victims.
"It is ten years since my wife died," he continued, in a low voice, his
worn old face softening, "and yet I have not recovered from her
death. I think each day that I miss her more and more, and there is
an aching void in my heart that naught can fill. It was only a few
days ago that I came upon a little piece of needlework that she had
sewed upon and left unfinished, and though thou wouldst not
believe it, I fell upon my knees in front of that bit of cloth, and burst
into tears. Dear, patient Jane! It is only when we have lost the gem
that we prize it most. A noble woman, my boy, is God's best gift to
man, a bad one his worse curse. A woman, true and sweet, can
raise a man's life towards heaven; can be a benediction to him that
will last as long as life; and an unfaithful and nagging woman is as
near a hell on earth as man ever gets.
"How stand thy chances with the maid?" he asked, raising his head
with a smile upon his rugged face.
"She weds Lord Dunraven," I answered quickly, for he had touched a
wound yet fresh and bleeding.
"Pardon me," he replied. "I would not have asked, had I known. But
never give up, my lad, fight on until the last shot in the locker. 'None
but the brave deserve the fair,' I have often heard, and if that be
true thou wilt win her. If rumor can be believed, the lady is the
fairest of Eve's daughters, and as for thyself, I know that thou art
'the bravest of the brave.'"
"Thou dost overrate me," I answered, with a gloomy laugh, which I
endeavored to make cheerful.
"And what of the Spaniard?" he said. "Does he love the maid, too?"
"Yes," I answered. "He, too, is in the same boat."
He laughed as he arose and made ready to leave.
"I pity the maid," he said. "Between you she is in a pretty fix;
whichever way she turns she must run into one of you—a pirate, a
rascal, and a gentleman. Were I in her shoes, it would not take me
long to make my choice," and he chuckled as he looked at me.
I smiled back at him.
"Would that thou couldst make up her mind for her," I said. "If that
were the case, I would lose no sleep over the situation."
"Lose no sleep as it is," he answered; "'twill all come out right in the
end. 'Truth is mighty and will prevail,' I once heard a wise man say,
and he spoke truly—but I must go. Is there aught that thou dost
wish?"
"Naught," I answered, "save if any of my friends should call to see
me, I would wish to see them. Not that any of them will come," I
said somewhat bitterly, for the lash will sting sometimes. "Thou
knowest how the rats desert the sinking ship."
"Aye, my lad," he rejoined, "none know better than I. Have I not had
my ups and downs, and been almost at the end of my tether? I
know the traitor smile when the wind is fair, and the terrible frown
when the gale blows hard. It's up with thee, when the sun shines
brightly, and all stand ready to put their shoulder to the wheel and
help thee up still higher, and it's down and a kick to help the cause,
when the clouds hang heavy above. Ah! well I know them—a curse
on their heads!" and with a growl he strode from the room.
Only a few moments elapsed, when the key grated and the door
opened again to admit the prison leech. A pleasant-faced young
fellow, who chatted like a monkey as he dressed the dozen flesh
wounds that I had received.
"That was a rough cut, sir," he said, as he pointed to my shoulder,
where I had a clip of a cutlass as I bore Oliver back to the cabin
wall. "It must have pained considerably."
"Not much," I said rather gruffly, for I was weary, and his chatter
grated upon me.
This silenced him somewhat, and I had an opportunity to think in
peace. What was Richard doing below? No good, I knew. It might be
that his friend Dunraven had told him that I would be here to-night,
or it might be that it was only a trick of Dame Fortune that she had
played me, though it seemed improbable. No, he had some scheme
in being here to-night, I was sure; perhaps he would show his hand.
The leech had finished, and with a cheery good-night he opened the
door and stepped outside. As he turned to lock the door, I heard the
voice of Sir William Stone, and in a moment the old knight entered.
His face was hot and angry, and flinging himself in a chair, he looked
at me in silence.
"What news?" I asked.
"Bad," he answered. "I saw the Queen and told her of the defeat of
the Armada, at which she was of course greatly pleased. Seeing
that, I thought it a good opportunity to broach the subject of thyself,
and putting into her hands the report Drake had made in thy favor, I
begged that she would read that, and afterwards hear me. She did
so, and then looking up at me, her eyes flashing, asked what I had
to say. I knew not what to make of her face, and was going on to
relate thy gallant conduct in the fight with the Spaniards, and to beg
that she would free so valiant a gentleman, when she interrupted
me.
"'Sir William!' she cried, 'had it not been for this noble fight for
England, and that thou hast grown old in our service, and even now
bring news of great joy, I would hang thee with him. What does
Drake mean to send me such stuff as this? He shall answer for it
when he returns;' and she tore the paper in pieces.
"'After this ruffian DeNortier has murdered my people and sacked my
ships for five long years, then thou dost ask me to spare the life of
his stanchest captain, who personally murdered one of my bravest
gentlemen, Sir Samuel Morton, and who led these expeditions of
blood and crime? Shame upon thee! He shall hang, though he were
of royal blood! Get ye back to him, and say that on the day after to-
morrow, he shall hang by the neck until he is dead. To-morrow is his
to make his peace with God. Get thee out of my presence,' and I
hurried away as fast I could, for in truth she is too much like her
royal father, for it to be pleasant to be around when she is angry,"
and he groaned.
"It is but what I expected," I answered. "But I thank thee for the
effort that thou hast made for me—from the bottom of my heart I
thank thee." And I arose and gave him my hand.
He caught it and wrung it with both of his own.
"I would that I could have saved thee," he said hoarsely, "and I wish
thee to know that I now believe that thy tale is true. It seems
strange, incredible, but thou art a gentleman, and I believe thee.
'The truth is often stranger than fiction.'"
I was pleased at this sign of his trust in me.
"I thank thee, Sir William," I said, "and say again that I spoke only
the truth. Should we not meet each other again upon this earth, I
hope we shall meet in another sphere."
"God grant it, Sir Thomas!" he cried. "It is but a few more short
years for me now, and the time is still shorter with thee. Somewhere
beyond this world we will meet again, that I feel sure of—until then,
farewell!" and the old soldier opened the door and passed out,
locking it behind him.
Throwing myself upon the bed, I closed my eyes, and only awoke
when the gray light of the morning was streaming into the rough
cell. A man brought my breakfast, coarse though bountiful, and after
eating, I walked to the window and looked out. Only the narrow
court-yard met my view. I could see nothing beyond it. To-morrow
morning at this time I would be standing upon the scaffold,
preparing to make the last long journey into the beyond. A little
more and the journey would be over.
The door opened again.
"A gentleman to see thee, sir," said the man who waited upon me.
I turned eagerly, perhaps it was Bobby Vane, or—no, only the crafty
features of my brother Richard met my view as he limped into the
cell.
"Get out!" I cried angrily. "Quick! Or I will dash thee against the wall.
Art deaf?" and I moved toward him.
The jailer had already locked the door and left us.
"Listen, Thomas," he answered. "I have come to save thee, if thou
wilt but listen to me a moment."
"Dost thou expect me to believe that?" I said. "Out with thee!
Wouldst thou come in to annoy a dying man, and to distract his
thoughts from his devotions? This is my last day—wouldst thou spoil
it for me?"
"I would save thee," he replied, "if thou wilt but listen to me."
"Be quick then," I answered, "my time is short." And I seated myself
opposite him, and leaning my elbow on the table, waited to hear
what he would say.
"Our father is dead," he said, clearing his throat and speaking in a
low voice.
"Is that so? Well, thou couldst not expect me to shed many tears
over him, the way he has treated me. Thy news, while interesting, is
not of sufficient moment to disturb me at this late hour."
"Wait a moment!" he cried. "He left me the estates and title, but
thou art my brother, I cannot forget that, and I would deal
generously by thee. Though thou hast no legal claim to the estate, if
thou wilt but sign this paper, renouncing all right which thou mayst
have to the estate, and also another trifling matter here, thou shalt
have the Devonshire lands with the house, and I will see that thou
dost go free," and his watery eyes glistened as he looked at me.
"Thou art promising too much," I replied. "Art promising what thou
canst not perform, and——"
"Not so," he broke in eagerly. "I swear to thee that if I but say the
word thou shalt go scot free."
"And what is the other trifling condition in the paper that thou
speakest of?" I asked.
"That thou dost renounce all right and pretension that thou mayest
have to the hand of the Lady Margaret Carroll," he said.
I laughed scornfully.
"Thou hadst best save thy breath," I said.
"Thou hast no claim—no hope," he rejoined, rising to his feet. "The
lady is about to become the bride of the Lord Dunraven. What
difference can it make to thee if thou signest away the right to
something that thou hast not, if by doing so, thou canst save thy
life?"
"Why dost thou wish me to sign the paper, then?" I asked. "If the
estates and title are already thine, and the lady Dunraven's?"
He hesitated a moment.
"There are reasons," he finally said. "Reasons that I cannot explain
to thee, but sufficiently weighty for us to give thee thy life, if thou
wilt sign this document. More than this I durst not say."
"Us," I repeated. "Why not say Dunraven and thyself? It would
sound better thus."
"Well," he replied defiantly, "if thou dost wish it thus, have it thine
own way. This much is certain: sign this paper and thou art free, a
competency in thy hands sufficient to support thee in comfort—
refuse, and thy head will pay the penalty," and he stood, his back to
the door, leering at me.
"Get out of my sight!" I replied. "Or I will forget myself and do thee
an injury," and I advanced on him.
With a yell, he turned and beat fiercely on the door with the hilt of
his sword.
"Open!" he cried, "quick!"
The door opened so suddenly that he fell out into the hall at full
length and sprawled upon the floor. The door was shut and fastened,
and I heard his voice as he shrilly cursed the jailer for his
carelessness. The voice died away, and I knew that he was gone.
The dull day dragged away. It was noon, the last I would spend on
earth, and I lay upon the bed and wished for the morn. I was weary,
and the slow hours wore upon me until finally I arose and began to
walk the floor. They had all deserted me, left me like a rat in a trap
to die. Of the many who had fawned upon me, there was not one to
approach me with a kind word.
London was doubtless amusing herself with talk of me at this
moment. The wine was going around the table, and the small talk,
as light and frothy as their empty pates, was beginning to be heard;
they would doubtless discuss me from the beginning to the end.
"Poor Winchester! he used to be a right amusing fellow before he
ran away to join the pirates. I wonder how he looks now?"
The little world of fashion—how I had grown to despise it! What
cared I for its painted smile or frown; whether the fashion was silver
buckles or bronze; whether they talked of me or not? I cared as little
for it as I did for the chatter of the sparrows that hopped about the
court-yard below.
Did the Lady Margaret Carroll think of one who had known and loved
her? Did one sigh of pity come from her heart and darken those
azure eyes; or had she serenely forgotten my very existence? And
Bobby—this was the most unkind cut of all. Bobby, whom I loved as
I did a brother, and whose heart I thought was as true as steel; he,
too, had turned his back and left me to my fate. Such was the way
of the world.
Nine o'clock, and the dusk was beginning to fall, the long July day
was ending. As I lay there I heard someone pause at my door, and
then it swung open. I still lay there, my eyes fixed on the dingy
ceiling. It was the jailer probably bringing my supper, for it was
about time for him.
"Well, my friend," I said, "this is the last supper that thou wilt bring
for me. To-morrow I will be where they do not eat, or at least not
such stuff as this that thou dost bring."
"Sir Thomas!" a voice cried. "Is it thou?"
And springing to a sitting posture, whom should I see but Steele,
whom I had last left on board the ship with the Spanish maid.
"Steele!" I cried, "Steele!" And leaping to my feet, I almost hugged
him in my delight. "Then there is still one friend left to me."
He was as glad to see me as I was to see him; the great tears of joy
rolled down his face as he answered:
"Yes, one friend who will stay with thee to the last. I have been out
of London to my country place in Hampshire, and only returned to-
day. As soon as I arrived I heard the news and came immediately,
without stopping to change my clothes," and he pointed to the mud
upon his boots.
"Sit down," I said, "and tell me about thyself. But first, what has
become of the Spanish maid?"
He colored deeply beneath his ruddy skin. With a smile he
answered:
"She is now Mistress Steele."
"Is it possible!" I cried in surprise. "Let me congratulate thee. She is
a lovely girl, and I have no doubt is as amiable as she is beautiful.
Dame Fortune has indeed smiled upon thee," and I shook his hand
heartily.
"Thank thee," he replied. "We were thrown together a great deal
during the voyage, and I grew to know and love her for her courage
and beauty. We came a short distance in the pirate ship, and then
they transferred us to a Spanish merchant vessel in which we went
to Cadiz. I found there that I had lost something of value—my heart
—and that a Spanish maiden was the finder. What could I do but ask
her to give me back hers in exchange? She consented, and we were
married there, and then we came on to England. She had a good
deal of property, and with it we have bought a splendid home in the
country, where we live most of the time, and I am as happy as a
king.
"Often have we talked of thee, and have wondered whether thou
wert still alive or not. Twice have I set sail to find thy whereabouts,
and each time have been driven back. Once by shipwreck, in which I
narrowly escaped with my life; the second time we sailed out into
the west for two months, but finally we had to give up the search
and come back, as I had no idea where thou wert."
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