CHAPTER IV: In France.
The next day Malcolm went out alone, and on his return told Ronald thatthere were placards on the walls offering a reward of a hundred poundsfor his apprehension.
"You don't think the people below have any suspicion, Malcolm?"
"Not they," Malcolm replied. "I was telling them last night after you hadgone to bed all about the places you have been voyaging to, and howanxious your father, a snug farmer near Newcastle, was to have you backagain. I had spoken to them before so as to prepare them for your coming,and the old woman takes quite an interest in you, because her son at seais a lad just about your age. I have brought you in a suit of sailorclothes; we will go down and have a chat with them after the shop isclosed of a night. You will remember Newcastle and the farm, and can tellthem of your escape from Greek pirates, and how nearly you were taken bya French frigate near the straits."
The consternation of the watch at Ronald's escape was extreme. The shotwhich the man on guard had fired was their first intimation of the event,and seizing their muskets they had hastily discharged them in thedirection of the fugitive, and had then shouted for a boat to be lowered.But never was a boat longer getting into the water than was that of theGlasgow Lass upon this occasion. The captain gave his orders in aleisurely way, and the crew were even slower in executing them. Thensomehow the fall stuck and the boat wouldn't lower. When at last she wasin the water it was found that the thole pins were missing; these beingfound she was rowed across the river, the five constables undergoing arunning fire of jokes and hilarity from the sailors of the ships theypassed near. In answer to their inquiries where the fugitives landed,some of the sailors shouted that she had pulled up the river behind thetier of vessels, others insisted that she had sunk with all hands closeby.
Completely bewildered, the chief of the party told the sailors to putthem ashore at the first landing. When the party gained the streets theyinquired eagerly of all they met whether they had seen aught of thefugitives. Few of those they questioned understood the broad Scotch inwhich the question was asked, others laughed in their faces and asked howthey were to know the man and boy they wanted from any others; and aftervainly looking about for some time they returned to the stairs, only tofind that the boat had returned to the ship.
A waterman's boat was now hired, and the rower, who had heard what hadhappened, demanded a sum for putting them on board which horrified them;but at last, after much bargaining, they were conveyed back to the ship.An hour later the chief of the party went ashore, and repairing to theTower, where he had been ordered to conduct the prisoner, reported hisescape. He was at once taken into custody on the charge of permitting theescape of his prisoner, and it was not until three days later, upon theevidence of his men and of the captain and officers of the ship, that hewas released.
His four men were put on board a ship returning to Glasgow next day,while he himself was kept to identify the fugitive should he be caught.
A week later Malcolm told Ronald that he had made arrangements with thecaptain of a Dutch vessel to take them over to Holland.
"We are to go on board at Gravesend," he said, "for they are searchingall ships bound for foreign ports. It is not for you especially, butthere are supposed to be many Jacobites going to and fro, and they willlay hands on anyone who cannot give a satisfactory account of himself. Soit is just as well for us to avoid questioning."
Accordingly the next day they walked down to Gravesend, and taking boatthere boarded the Dutch vessel when she came along on the following day.The Dutch captain received them civilly; he had been told by Malcolm thatthey wished to leave the country privately, and guessed that they were insome way fugitives from the law, but as he was to be well paid this gavehim no concern. There were no other passengers, and a roomy cabin wasplaced at their disposal. They passed down the river without impediment,and anchored that night off Sheerness.
"These Dutch traders are but slow craft," Malcolm said as he walkedimpatiently up and down the deck next morning, watching the slow progresswhich they made past the shore. "I wish we could have got a passagedirect to France, but of course that is impossible now the two nationsare at war."
"What is the war about, Malcolm? I heard at home that they were fighting,but yet that somehow the two countries were not at war."
"No, I don't know how that comes about," Malcolm said. "England has aminister still at Paris; but for all that King George is at the head of anumber of British troops in Germany fighting against the French there."
"But what is it about, Malcolm?"
"Well, it is a matter which concerns Hanover more than England; in factEngland has no interest in the matter at all as far as I can see, exceptthat as France takes one side she takes the other, because she is afraidof France getting too strong. However, it is a German business, andEngland is mixed up in it only because her present king is a Hanoverianand not an Englishman. This is the matter as far as I can make it out.Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, died in October, 1740. It had beenarranged by a sort of general agreement called the Pragmatic Sanction--"
"What an extraordinary name, Malcolm! What does it mean?"
"I have not the least idea in the world, lad. However, that is what it iscalled. It was signed by a lot of powers, of whom England was one, and byit all parties agreed that Charles's daughter Maria Theresa was to becomeEmpress of Austria. However, when the emperor was dead the Elector ofBavaria claimed to be emperor, and he was supported by France, by Spain,and by Frederick of Prussia, and they marched to Vienna, enthroned theelector as Duke of Austria, and drove Maria Theresa to take refuge inHungary, where she was warmly supported.
"The English parliament voted a large sum to enable the empress to carryon the war, and last year sixteen thousand men under the Earl of Staircrossed the seas to cooperate with the Dutch, who were warm supporters ofthe empress, and were joined by six thousand Hessians and sixteenthousand Hanoverians in British pay; but after all nothing was done lastyear, for as in the last war the Dutch were not ready to begin, and theEnglish army were in consequence kept idle."
"Then it seems that everyone was against the empress except England andthese three little states."
"That is pretty nearly so," Malcolm said; "but at present the empress hasbought off the Prussians, whose king joined in the affair solely for hisown advantage, by giving him the province of Silesia, so that in fact atpresent it is England and Hanover, which is all the same thing, with theDutch and Hessians, against France and Bavaria, for I don't think that atpresent Spain has sent any troops."
"Well, it seems to me a downright shame," Ronald said indignantly; "andthough I have no great love for the English, and hate their HanoverianGeorge and his people, I shouldn't like to fight with one of the Scotchregiments in the French service in such a quarrel."
Malcolm laughed.
"My dear lad, if every soldier were to discuss the merits of the quarrelin which he is ordered to fight there would be an end of all discipline."
"Yes, I see that," Ronald agreed; "if one is once a soldier he has onlyto obey orders. But one need not become a soldier just at the time whenhe would be called upon to fight for a cause which he considers unjust."
"That is so, Ronald, and it's fortunate, if your feelings are in favourof Maria Theresa, that we are not thinking of enlisting just at present,for you would be puzzled which side to take. If you fought for her youwould have to fight under the Hanoverian; if you fight against theHanoverian you are fighting against Maria Theresa."
"Well, we don't want to fight at all," Ronald said. "What we want to dois to find out something about my father. I wish the voyage was at anend, and that we had our faces towards Paris."
"It will not be so easy to cross from Holland into France," Malcolm said."I wish our voyage was at an end for another reason, for unless I mistakethere is a storm brewing up."
Malcolm's prediction as to the weather was speedily verified. The windrose rapidly, ragged clouds hurried across the sky, and the waves got upfast, and
by nightfall the sea had become really heavy, dashing in sheetshigh in the air every time the bluff bowed craft plunged into it. Longbefore this Ronald had gone below prostrate with seasickness.
"It's just like the obstinacy of these Dutchmen," Malcolm muttered tohimself as he held on by a shroud and watched the labouring ship. "Itmust have been clear to anyone before we were well out of the river thatwe were going to have a gale, and as the wind then was nearly due south,we could have run back again and anchored in shelter till it was over.Now it has backed round nearly into our teeth, with every sign of itsgetting into the north, and then we shall have the French coast on ourlee. It's not very serious yet, but if the wind goes on rising as it hasdone for the last four or five hours we shall have a gale to rememberbefore the morning."
Before the daylight, indeed, a tremendous sea was running, and the windwas blowing with terrible force from the north. Although under but a ragof canvas the brig was pressed down gunwale deep, and each wave as itstruck her broadside seemed to heave her bodily to leeward. Malcolm oncoming on deck made his way aft and glanced at the compass, and then tooka long look over the foaming water towards where he knew the French coastmust lie. The wind was two or three points east of north, and as theclumsy craft would not sail within several points of the wind she washeading nearly east.
"She is making a foot to leeward for every one she forges ahead," he saidto himself. "If she has been at this work all night we cannot be far fromthe coast."
So the Dutch skipper appeared to think, for a few minutes afterwards hegave orders to bring her about on the other tack. Three times they triedand failed; each time the vessel slowly came up into the wind, but theheavy waves forced her head off again before the headsails filled. Thenthe skipper gave orders to wear her. Her head payed off to the wind untilshe was nearly before it. Two or three great seas struck her stern andburied her head deeply, but at last the boom swung over and her head cameup on the other tack. During the course of these manoeuvres she had madefully two miles leeway, and when she was fairly under sail with her headto the west Malcolm took another long look towards the south.
"Just as I thought," he said. "There is white water there and a dark linebehind it. That is the French coast, sure enough."
It would have been useless to speak, but he touched the arm of theskipper and pointed to leeward. The skipper looked in this direction fora minute and then gave the order for more sail to be put on the ship, toendeavour to beat out in the teeth of the gale. But even when pressed tothe utmost it was evident to Malcolm that the force of the waves wasdriving her faster towards the coast than she could make off it, and hewent below and told Ronald to come on deck.
"I would rather lie here," Ronald said.
"Nonsense, lad! The wind and spray will soon knock the sickness out ofyou; and you will want all your wits about you, for it won't be manyhours before we are bumping on the sands, and stoutly built as the craftis she won't hold together long in such a sea as this."
"Do you really mean it, Malcolm, or are you only trying to get me ondeck?"
"I mean it, lad. We are drifting fast upon the French coast, and there isno hope of her clawing off in the teeth of such a gale as this."
The news aroused Ronald effectually. He had not suffered at all on thevoyage down from Glasgow, and he was already beginning to feel betterwhen Malcolm went down to call him. He was soon on deck holding on by thebulwark.
"There it is, that long low black line; it looks a long way off becausethe air is full of spray and the coast is low, but it's not more thanthree or four miles; look at that broad belt of foam."
For some hours the Dutch skipper did his best to beat to windward, but invain, the vessel drove nearer and nearer towards the shore; the anchorswere got in readiness, and when within a quarter of a mile of the line ofbreakers the vessel's head was brought up into the wind, and the lashingsof the two anchors cut simultaneously.
"Will they hold her, do you think?" Ronald asked.
"Not a chance of it, Ronald. Of course the captain is right to try; butno cables were ever made would hold such a bluff bowed craft as this inthe teeth of such a wind and sea."
The cables ran out to the bitts. Just as they tightened a great searolled in on the bow. Two dull reports were heard, and then her headpayed off. The jib was run up instantly to help her round, and under thissail the brig was headed directly towards the shore. The sea was breakinground them now; but the brig was almost flat bottomed and drew but littlewater. All on board hung on to the shrouds and bulwarks, momentarilyexpecting a crash, but she drove on through the surf until within ahundred yards of the shore. Then as she went down in the trough of a wavethere was a mighty crash. The next wave swept her forward her own length.
Then there was another crash even more tremendous than the first, and hermasts simultaneously went over the side. The next wave moved her but afew feet; the one which followed, finding her immovable, piled itselfhigher over her, and swept in a cataract down her sloping deck. Her sternhad swung round after the first shot, and she now lay broadside to thewaves. The Dutch skipper and his crew behaved with the greatest calmness;the ship lay over at such an angle that it was impossible to stand on thedeck; but the captain managed to get on the upper rail, and althoughfrequently almost washed off by the seas, contrived to cut the shroudsand ropes that still attached the masts to the ship there. Then he joinedthe crew, who were standing breast high in the water on the lee side, thefloating masts were pulled in until within a few yards of the vessel, andsuch of the crew as could swim made towards them.
The skipper cut the last rope that bound them, and then plunged in andjoined his men. The distance was little over fifty yards to the shore,and the wreck formed a partial shelter. A crowd of people were assembledat the edge of the beach with ropes in readiness to give any assistancein their power. Malcolm and Ronald were among those who had swum to themasts, but when within a short distance of the shore the former shoutedin the latter's ear:
"Swim off, lad, the masts might crush us."
As soon as they neared the shore a number of ropes were thrown. Most ofthe sailors, seeing the danger of being crushed, followed the example ofMalcolm, and left the masts. Malcolm and Ronald swam just outside thepoint where the waves broke until a line fell in the water close to them.They grasped it at once.
"Give it a twist round your arm," Malcolm shouted, "or the backwash willtear you from it."
The sailors on shore watched their opportunity, and the instant a wavepassed beneath the two swimmers ran up the beach at full speed with therope. There was a crash. Ronald felt himself shot forward with greatrapidity, then as he touched the ground with his feet they were sweptfrom under him, and so great was the strain that he felt as if his armwas being pulled from the socket. A few seconds later he was lying atfull length upon the sands, and before the next wave reached him a dozenmen had rushed down and seized him and Malcolm, and carried them beyondits influence. For a minute or two Ronald felt too bruised and out ofbreath to move. Then he heard Malcolm's voice:
"Are you hurt, Ronald?"
"No; I think not, Malcolm," he replied, making an effort to sit up. "Areyou?"
"No, lad; bruised a bit, but no worse."
One by one the sailors were brought ashore, one with both legs brokenfrom the force with which he was dashed down by the surf, and one man whostuck to the mast was crushed to death as it was rolled over and over onto the beach. The captain and three sailors were, like Malcolm andRonald, unhurt. There still remained four men on the wreck. Fortunatelyshe had struck just at high tide, and so stoutly was she built that sheheld together in spite of the tremendous seas, and in an hour the foursailors were able to wade breast high to the shore.
They found that the spot where the vessel had struck was half a mile westof Gravelines. They were taken to the town, and were hospitablyentertained. A small body of soldiers were quartered there, and theofficer in command told the Dutch skipper, that as the two nations wereat war he and his crew must be detaine
d until he received ordersrespecting them. On learning from Malcolm that he and Ronald werepassengers, and were Scotsmen making their way from England to escapeimprisonment as friends of the Stuarts, and that he had for twelve yearsserved in one of the Scotch regiments of Louis, and was now bound forParis, the officer said that they were free to continue their journey atonce.
It was two or three days before they started, for they found the nextmorning that they were both too severely bruised to set out at once onthe journey. As Malcolm had taken care to keep the purse containingRonald's money securely fastened to a belt under his clothes they had nolack of funds; but as time was no object they started for Paris on foot.Ronald greatly enjoyed the journey. Bright weather had set in after thestorm. It was now the middle of May, all nature was bright and cheerful,the dresses of the peasantry, the style of architecture so different tothat to which he was accustomed in Scotland, and everything else were newand strange to him. Malcolm spoke French as fluently as his own language,and they had therefore no difficulty or trouble on the way.
They arrived at Paris without any adventure. Malcolm went to a cabaretwhich had at the time when he was in the French service been muchfrequented by Scotch soldiers, being kept by a countryman of their own,an ex-sergeant in one of the Scottish regiments.
"Ah! Sandy Macgregor," Malcolm exclaimed as the proprietor of the placeapproached to take their order. "So you are still in the flesh, man!Right glad am I to see you again.
"I know your face," Sandy replied; "but I canna just say what your namemight be."
"Malcolm Anderson, of Leslie's Scotch regiment. It's fourteen years sinceI left them now; but I was here again four years later, if you canremember, when I came over to try and find out if aught had been heard ofthe colonel."
"Ay, ay," Sandy said, grasping Malcolm's outstretched hand warmly. "Itall comes back to me now. Right glad am I to see you. And who is the ladye have brought with you? A Scot by his face and bearing, I will bebound, but young yet for the service if that be what he is thinking of."
"He is the colonel's son, Sandy. You will remember I told you I hadcarried him back to Scotland with me; but I need not tell ye that this isbetwixt ourselves, for those who have so badly treated his father mightwell have a grudge against the son, and all the more that he is therightful heir to many a broad acre here in France."
"I give you a hearty welcome, young sir," Sandy said. "Many a time I haveseen your brave father riding at the head of his regiment, and havespoken to him too, for he and his officers would drop in here and crack acup together in a room I keep upstairs for the quality. Well, well, andto think that you are his son! But what Malcolm said is true, and it werebest that none knew who ye are, for they have an unco quick way here ofputting inconvenient people out of the way."
"Have you ever heard aught of my father since?" Ronald asked eagerly.
"Not a word," Sandy replied. "I have heard it talked over scores of timesby men who were in the regiment that was once his, and none doubted thatif he were still alive he was lying in the Bastille, or Vincennes, or oneof the other cages where they keep those whose presence the king or hisfavourites find inconvenient. It's just a stroke of the pen, withoutquestion or trial, and they are gone, and even their best friends darenaask a question concerning them. In most cases none know why they havebeen put away; but there is no doubt why Leslie was seized. Three or fourof his fellow officers were in the secret of his marriage, and when hehad disappeared these talked loudly about it, and there was sair griefand anger among the Scottish regiment at Leslie's seizure. But what wasto be done? It was just the king's pleasure, and that is enough inFrance. Leslie had committed the grave offence of thwarting the wishes oftwo of the king's favourites, great nobles, too, with broad lands andgrand connections. What were the likings of a Scottish soldier of fortuneand a headstrong girl in comparison! In Scotland in the old times agallant who had carried off a daughter of a Douglas or one of ourpowerful nobles would have made his wife a widow ere many weeks wereover, and it is the same thing here now. It wouldna have been an easything for his enemies to kill Leslie with his regiment at his back, andso they got an order from the king, and as surely got rid of him as ifthey had taken his life."
"You have never heard whether my mother has married again?" Ronald asked.
"I have never heard her name mentioned. Her father is still at court, buthis daughter has never been seen since, or I should have heard of it; butmore than that I cannot say."
"That gives me hopes that my father is still alive," Ronald said. "Had hebeen dead they might have forced her into some other marriage."
"They might so; but she was plainly a lassie who had a will of her ownand may have held out."
"But why did they not kill him instead of putting him in prison if he wasin their way?"
"They might, as I said, have done it at once; but once in prison he wasbeyond their reach. The king may grant a lettre de cachet, as theseorders are called, to a favourite; but even in France men are not put todeath without some sort of trial, and even Chateaurouge and De Recambourscould not ask Louis to have a man murdered in prison to gratify theirprivate spite, especially when that man was a brave Scottish officerwhose fate had already excited much discontent among his compatriots inthe king's service. Then again much would depend upon who was thegovernor of the prison. These men differ like others. Some of them arehonourable gentlemen, to whom even Louis himself would not venture tohint that he wanted a prisoner put out of the way; but there are otherswho, to gratify a powerful nobleman, would think nothing of telling ajailer to forget a fortnight to give food to a prisoner. So you see wecannot judge from this. And now what are you thinking of doing, Malcolm,and why are you over here?"
"In the first place we are over here because young Leslie took after hisfather and aided a Jacobite, whom George's men were in search of, toescape, and drew his sword on a worshipful justice of Glasgow and thecity watch."
"He has begun early," Sandy said, laughing; "and how did he get away?"
"They brought him down a prisoner to London, to interrogate him as to theplot. I had a boat in the Thames and he jumped over and swam for it; sohere we are. There are rumours in Scotland that King Louis is helpingPrince Charlie, and that an army is soon going to sail for Scotland."
"It is talked of here, but so far nothing is settled; but as King Georgeis interfering in Louis's affairs, and is fighting him in Germany, Ithink it more than likely that King Louis is going to stir up a coil inScotland to give George something to do at home."
"Then if there's nothing to be done here I shall find out the oldregiment. There will be many officers in it still who have fought underLeslie, and some of them may know more about him than you do, and willsurely be able to tell me what has become of the lad's mither."
"That may well be so; but keep a quiet tongue, Malcolm, as to Leslie'sson, save to those on whose discretion you can rely. I tell you, if itwere known that he is alive and in France his life would not be worth aweek's purchase. They would not take the trouble to get a lettre decachet for him as they did for his father; it would be just a pistolbullet or a stab on a dark night or in a lonely place. There would be noquestion asked about the fate of an unknown Scotch laddie."
"I will be careful, Sandy, and silent. The first thing is to find outwhere the old regiment is lying."
"That I can tell you at once. It is on the frontier with the Duc deNoailles, and they say that there is like to be a great battle withEnglish George and his army."
"Well, as we have nothing else to do we will set out and find them,"Malcolm said; "but as time is not pressing we will stop a few days herein Paris and I will show the lad the sights. I suppose you can put usup."
"That can I. Times are dull at present. After '15 Paris swarmed withScotsmen who had fled to save their heads; but of late years but few havecome over, and the Scotch regiments have difficulty in keeping up theirnumbers. Since the last of them marched for the frontier I have beenlooking after empty benches, and it will be good
news for me when I hearthat the war is over and they are on their way back."
For some days Malcolm and Ronald wandered about the narrow streets ofParis. Ronald was somewhat disappointed in the city of which he had heardso much. The streets were ill paved and worse lighted, and were narrowand winding. In the neighbourhood of the Louvre there were signs ofwealth and opulence. The rich dresses of the nobles contrasted stronglyindeed with the sombre attire of the Glasgow citizens, and the appearanceand uniform of the royal guards filled him with admiration; but beyondthe fashionable quarter it did not appear to him that Paris possessedmany advantages over Glasgow, and the poorer class were squalid andpoverty stricken to a far greater degree than anything he had seen inScotland. But the chief points of attraction to him were the prisons. TheBastille, the Chatelet, and the Temple were points to which he wascontinually turning; the two former especially, since, if he were inParis, it was in one of these that his father was most probably lying.
The various plans he had so often thought over, by which, in some way orother, he might communicate with his father and aid his escape, wereroughly shattered at the sight of these buildings. He had reckoned ontheir resembling in some respect the prison in Glasgow, and at the sightof these formidable fortresses with their lofty walls and flankingtowers, their moats and vigilant sentries, his hopes fell to zero. Itwould, he saw at once, be absolutely impossible to open communicationwith a prisoner of whose whereabouts he was wholly ignorant and of whosevery existence he was doubtful. The narrow slits which lighted the cellin which he was confined might look into an inner court, or the cellitself might be below the surface of the soil. The legend of thetroubadour who discovered King Richard of England's place of captivity bysinging without the walls had always been present in his mind, but nosuch plan would be practicable here. He knew no song which his father,and his father only, would recognize; and even did he know such a song,the appearance of anyone loitering in the open space outside the moatround the Bastille singing at intervals at different points would haveinstantly attracted the attention of the sentries on the walls. Nor, evendid he discover that his father was lying a prisoner in one of the cellsfacing outwards in the fortress, did he see any possibility of compassinghis escape. The slits were wide enough only for the passage of a ray oflight or the flight of an arrow. No human being could squeeze himselfthrough them, and even if he could do so he would need a long rope todescend into the moat.
One day Ronald talked over his ideas with Malcolm, who declared at oncethat they were impossible of execution.
"There is scarcely a case on record," he said, "of an escape from eitherthe Bastille or the Chatelet, and yet there have been scores of prisonersconfined in them with friends of great influence and abundant means. Ifthese have been unable, by bribing jailers or by other strategy, to freetheir friends, how could a stranger, without either connection,influence, or wealth, hope to effect the escape of a captive were hecertain that he was within the walls. Do not waste your thought on suchfancies, Ronald. If your father is still in prison it is by influenceonly, and influence exerted upon the king and exceeding that of yourfather's enemies, that his release can be obtained.
"Such influence there is no possibility of our exerting. Your father'scomrades and countrymen, his position and services, availed nothing whenhe was first imprisoned; and in the time which has elapsed the number ofthose who know him and would venture to risk the king's displeasure bypleading his cause must have lessened considerably. The only possibility,mind I say possibility, of success lies in your mother.
"So far it is clear that she has been powerless; but we know not underwhat circumstances she has been placed. She may all this time have beenshut up a prisoner in a convent; she may be dead; but it is possiblethat, if she is free, she may have powerful connections on her mother'sside, who might be induced to take up her cause and to plead with theking for your father's liberty. She may have been told that your fatheris dead. She is, no doubt, in ignorance of what has become of you, orwhether you are still alive. If she believes you are both dead she wouldhave had no motive for exerting any family influence she may have, andmay be living a broken hearted woman, firm only in the resolution toaccept no other husband."
"Yes, that is possible," Ronald agreed. "At any rate, Malcolm, let uslose no further time, but set out tomorrow for the frontier and try tofind out from my father's old comrades what has become of my mother."