Chapter 17: The Floating Batteries.
In spite of the unremitting work, of the daily cannonade, ofillness and hardship, life on the Rock had not been unpleasant tothe O'Hallorans. Although many of the officers' wives had, at onetime or another, taken advantage of ships sailing from the port toreturn home--or rather, to endeavour to do so, for a considerablenumber of the vessels that left were captured by the Spaniards,before getting through the Straits--there still remained sufficientfor agreeable society; and the O'Hallorans' was, more than anyother house, the general meeting place.
From its position in the hollow, it was sheltered from the fire ofall the shore batteries--whose long distance shots searched all thelower parts of the Rock--while the resources of the establishmentenabled the O'Hallorans to afford an open-handed hospitality thatwould have been wholly beyond the means of others. They had longsince given up selling any of their produce, distributing all theirsurplus eggs among families where there was illness, or sendingthem up to the hospitals; and doing the same with their chickens,and vegetables. The greatest care was bestowed upon the poultry,fresh broods being constantly raised, so that they could kill eightor ten couple a week, and still keep up their stock to its fullstrength. Thus, with gatherings two evenings a week at their ownhouse, and usually as many at the houses of their friends; whileCaptain O'Halloran and Bob frequently dined at the mess of theirown, or other regiments, the time passed pleasantly.
While Carrie was fully occupied with the care of the house, and ageneral superintendence of what they called their farm; Bob wasnever at a loss for amusement. There was always something to see,some fresh work being executed, some fresh development in thedefences; while he was on terms of friendship with almost everyofficer in the garrison. It was two years and a half since he hadcome out, and he was now eighteen. His constant intercourse withpeople older than himself, and with the officers of the garrison,together with the exceptional position in which he found himself,made him in some respects seem older than he was; but he stillretained his liveliness, and love of fun. His spirits neverflagged, and he was a general favourite with all who knew him.
On the 19th of August, a boat with a flag of truce brought in acomplimentary letter from the Duc de Crillon to the governor,informing him of the arrival of the Comte D'Artois and the Duc deBourbon in his camp, and sending him a present of ice, fruit,partridges, and other delicacies. The governor returned a letter insimilar complimentary terms, thanking the Duke for his letter andthe presents; but declining with thanks the supplies that had beenoffered, saying that he never received, for himself, anythingbeyond what was common to the garrison.
The sailors of the ships of war now pitched tents ashore, for theiruse when they should be ordered to land to take part in thedefence; and the heavy guns were, for the most part, moved downfrom the upper batteries to the sea lines. Day after day passed,the bombardment being constantly expected; but the damageinflicted, by fire, on the enemy's works by our carcasses delayedthe attack.
On the 8th of September a tremendous fire was suddenly opened, withred hot shot and carcasses, upon the enemy's works. The MahonBattery was burned, while the San Carlos and San Marten Batterieswere so damaged that they had almost to be rebuilt. The enemy, ason previous occasions, showed extreme bravery in their efforts toextinguish the fire and to repair damages; and it was afterwardsknown that the French troops, alone, had a hundred and forty killedand wounded. The damage done probably convinced the Duc de Crillonthat no advantage could be hoped for by trying further to increasehis works and, at half past five next morning, a volley of sixtyshells was fired by their mortar batteries, followed by thedischarge of one hundred and seventy pieces of heavy artillery.
This tremendous fire was kept up for some time, while nineline-of-battle ships, supported by fifteen gun and mortar boats,passed to and fro along the sea face, pouring in their fire uponus. At nightfall the enemy's guns ceased firing, but their mortarskept up their shell fire all night. The next day the ships of warrenewed their attack, as did the land batteries. In the course ofthe day the Brilliant and Porcupine frigates were scuttled by thenavy, alongside the New Mole, and their crews landed.
On the following day the enemy's fire was principally directedagainst the barrier and chevaux de frise in front of the land portand, in the afternoon, these barriers and palisades were all inflames; and the troops at that end of the Rock got under arms, incase an attack should be made.
On the morning of the 12th the combined fleets of France and Spain,consisting of thirty-eight men-of-war, three frigates, and a numberof smaller craft, sailed into the bay and anchored near Algeciras.Their fleet now consisted of forty-seven men-of-war, ten batteringships--considered invincible, and carrying two hundred and twelveguns--and innumerable frigates and small ships of war; while on theland side were batteries mounting two hundred heavy guns, and anarmy of forty thousand men. Tremendous odds, indeed, against afortress whose garrison consisted of seven thousand effective men,including the Marine Brigade.
For some days past Bob had been engaged, with their landlord andsome hired labourers, in bringing in earth and filling up the lowerrooms four feet deep, in order to render the cellars bomb proof.Some beds and furniture were taken below, so that Carrie, theservants, and the Spanish family could retire there, in case theenemy's shells fell thickly round the house.
It was noticed as a curious incident that, just as the combinedfleet entered the bay an eagle, after circling round it, perchedfor a few minutes upon the summit of the flag post, on the highestpoint of the Rock; an omen of victory which would have beenconsidered decisive, by the Romans, and which did, in fact, help toraise the spirits and confidence of the garrison.
On the morning of the 13th the enemy's battering ships got underway, with a gentle breeze from the northwest and, at a little pastnine o'clock anchored, in admirable order, in line of the sea face.The nearest was about nine hundred yards from the King's Bastion,the most distant being about eleven hundred yards. Not a shot wasfired before the enemy anchored, and then the whole of thebatteries that commanded them opened fire, to which the batteringships and the artillery in their lines at once replied.
Bob was standing on the roof of the house, with his sister.
"What a magnificent sight, Carrie!" he exclaimed. "It is well worthall the waiting, to be here to see it."
"It is terrible!" Carrie said. "It is like one great roar ofthunder. How awfully the men must be suffering, in the batteries!"
"I don't suppose it is as bad as it looks," Bob said. "At any rate,you needn't be uneasy about Gerald. All the troops except thoseworking the guns are in shelter, and won't be called out unless theenemy attempt to land.
"I wonder their fleet don't come across, to help their batteries. Isuppose they are afraid of the carcasses, and red hot shot.
"Well, there is one comfort, Carrie: none of their shot are comingthis way. Their floating batteries, evidently, are firing only atour batteries by the water. As to the others, we know that we aresafe enough from them though, certainly, the shot do make a mostunpleasant noise as they fly overhead.
"I wish there was a little more wind, to blow away the smoke, sothat we could see what effect our fire is having on those hulks. Ishouldn't think that we had begun with red hot shot, yet. It takesthree hours to get them hot enough. As far as I can see, wheneverthe wind blows the smoke away a little, our shot and shell roll offthe roofs and sides, without doing any damage to speak of."
About noon the enemy's mortar boats and ketches attempted to comeacross, and assist their battering ships; but the wind had changedand had worked round to the southwest, blowing a smart breeze andbringing in a heavy swell, so that they were prevented from takingpart in the action. Our own gunboats were hindered, by the samecause, from putting out and opening a flanking fire upon thebattering ships.
The northern batteries, by the water, suffered heavily from thefire of the Spanish lines; which took them in flank and, indeed,some of the batteries in reverse, causing many casualties
. TheArtillery, however, refused to let their attention be diverted fromthe battering ships.
By two o'clock the furnaces had heated the shot in all thebatteries and, although some of them had been firing these missilesfor upwards of an hour, it was not until two that their use becamegeneral. Soon afterwards--when the wind cleared away the smoke fromthe ships--men could be seen on their sloping roofs, directingstreams of water from the pumps upon small wreaths of smoke thatcurled up, here and there. Up to this time, the defenders had begunto fear that the craft were indeed as invulnerable as the Spaniardsbelieved them to be; but these evidences that the red hot shot weredoing their work greatly roused their spirits, and cheersfrequently rose, as the men toiled at their heavy guns.
As the afternoon went on, the smoke from the upper part of theSpanish admiral's flagship rose more and more thickly and, althoughnumbers of men continued to bring up and throw water over theroof--working with extraordinary bravery, in spite of the hail ofprojectiles poured upon them--it was clear that the fire was makingsteady progress.
Bob had, long before this, gone down to the works by the seaface--where considerable bodies of troops were lying, in thebombproof casemates, in readiness for action if called upon--andfrom time to time he went out with Captain O'Halloran, and otherofficers, to see how matters were going on.
In sheltered places behind the batteries, some of the surgeons wereat work; temporarily binding up the wounds of artillerymen struckwith shell, or splinters; after which they were carried, bystretcher parties of the infantry, up to the hospitals. Dr. Burkewas thus engaged, in the battery where his regiment was stationed.He had, since the first bombardment commenced, ceased to complainof the want of opportunities for exercising himself in hisprofessional work; and had been indefatigable in his attendance onthe wounded. Among them he was an immense favourite. He had a word,and a joke, for every man who came under his hands; while hisconfident manner and cheery talk kept up the spirits of the men. Hewas, too, a very skilful operator; and many of the poor fellows inhospital had urgently requested that, if they must lose a limb, itshould be under the hands of Dr. Burke.
"It is much better to make men laugh, than to make them cry," hewould say to Bob. "It is half the battle gained, when you can keepup a patient's spirit. It is wonderful how some of them stand pain.The hard work they have been doing is all in their favour."
Bob several times went out to him, and assisted him as far as hecould, by handing him bandages, sponges, etc.
"You ought to have been an assistant, from the beginning, Bob," hesaid. "By this time you would have been quite a decent surgeon--onlyyou have a silly way of turning pale. There, hand me that bandage.
"All right, my man! We will have you patched up in no time.
"No, I don't think you can go back to your gun again. You will haveto eat and drink a bit, and make fresh blood, before you will bemuch use at a thirty-two pounder again.
"What is this--a scalp wound? Splinter of a shell, eh? Well, it islucky for you, lad, that you have been hardening your skull a bit,before you enlisted. A few clips from a blackthorn are capitalpreparation. I don't think you will come to much harm. You are notmore hurt than you would be in a good, lively faction fight.
"There, you had better put down that sponge, Bob, and go into thecasemate, for a bit. You are getting white again.
"I think we are over the worst now; for if, as you tell me, thesmoke is beginning to come up from some of those floatingbatteries, their fire will soon slacken a bit. As long as they keepout the shot, those defences of theirs are first rate but, as soonas the shot begin to embed themselves in the roof, they are worsethan nothing--for they can neither dig out the shot, nor get atthem with the water. Once establish a fire, and it is pretty sureto spread."
Bob was glad to get back again into the bombproof casemates; forthere was comparative quiet while, outside, the constant roar ofthe guns, the howl of shot, the explosion of shell, and the crashof masonry created a din that was almost bewildering.
Presently a cheer was heard in the battery, and Bob went out to seewhat it was; and returned with the news that the ship next to theSpanish admiral's was also smoking, in several places. As theafternoon went on, confusion was apparent on board several of thebattering ships and, by the evening, their fire had slackenedconsiderably. Before eight o'clock it had almost entirely ceased,except from one or two ships to the northward of the line which,being somewhat farther from the shore, had suffered less than theothers.
At sunset the Artillery in our batteries were relieved--the NavalBrigade taking their place--and the fire was continued, withoutrelaxation. As soon as it became dark, rockets were fired byseveral of the battering ships. These were answered by the Spanishmen-of-war, and many boats rowed across to the floating batteries.By ten o'clock the flames began to burst out from the admiral'sbattering ship and, by midnight, she was completely in flames. Thelight assisted our gunners--who were able to lay their cannon withas much accuracy as during the daytime--and the whole Rock wasilluminated by the flames. These presently burst out, vigorously,from the next ship and, between three and four o'clock, points oflight appeared upon six of the other hulks.
At three o'clock Brigadier Curtis--who commanded the Naval Brigadeencamped at Europa Point--finding that the sea had gone down,manned the gunboats and, rowing out for some distance, opened aheavy flanking fire upon the battering ships; compelling the boatsthat were lying in shelter behind them to retire. As the day brokehe captured two of the enemy's launches and, finding from theprisoners that there were still numbers of men on board the hulks,rowed out to rescue them. While he was employed at this work, atfive o'clock, one of the battering ships to the northward blew up,with a tremendous explosion and, a quarter of an hour later,another in the centre of the line also blew up. The wreck wasscattered over a wide extent of water.
One of the gunboats was sunk, and another seriously injured; andthe Brigadier, fearing other explosions, ordered the boats to drawoff towards the town. On the way, however, he visited two of theother burning ships; and rescued some more of those leftbehind--landing, in all, nine officers, two priests, and threehundred and thirty-four soldiers and seamen. Besides these, oneofficer and eleven Frenchmen had floated ashore, the eveningbefore, on the shattered fragments of a launch.
While the boats in the navy were thus endeavouring to save theirfoes, the land batteries--which had ceased firing on the previousevening--again opened on the garrison; but as, from some of thecamps, the boats could be perceived at their humane work, orderswere despatched to the batteries to cease fire; and a dead silencesucceeded the din that had gone on for nearly twenty-four hours.
Of the six battering ships still in flames, three blew up beforeeleven o'clock. The other three burned to the water's edge--themagazines having been drowned, by the Spaniards, before they leftthe ships in their boats. The garrison hoped that the two remainingbattering ships might be saved, to be sent home as trophies of thevictory but, about noon, one of them suddenly burst into flames,and presently blew up. The other was examined by the men-of-warboats, and found to be so injured that she could not be saved. Shewas accordingly set fire to, and also destroyed. Thus, the whole ofthe ten vessels, that were considered by their constructors to beinvincible, were destroyed.
The loss of the enemy, in killed and prisoners, was estimated attwo thousand; while the casualties of the garrison wereastonishingly small, consisting only of one officer and fifteennon-commissioned officers and men killed, and five officers andsixty-three men wounded. Very little damage was done to the works.It is supposed that the smoke enveloping the vessels preventedaccurate aim. The chief object of the attack was to silence theKing's Bastion and, upon this, two of the largest shipsconcentrated their fire; while the rest endeavoured to effect abreach in the wall between that battery, and the battery next toit.
The enemy had three hundred heavy cannon engaged, while thegarrison had a hundred and six cannon and mortars. The distance atwhich the batteries were moored from the shore was grea
tly infavour of the efforts of our artillery; as the range was almostpoint blank, and the guns did not require to be elevated. Thus, thenecessity for using two wads between the powder and the red-hotballs was obviated, and the gunners were able to fire much morerapidly than they would otherwise have done. The number of theSpanish soldiers on board the battery ships was 5260, in additionto the sailors required to work the ships.
Great activity was manifested, by the Spaniards, on the dayfollowing the failure of their bombardment; and large numbers ofmen were employed in bringing up fresh ammunition to theirbatteries. Many of the men-of-war also got under way. MajorHarcourt, Doctor Burke, and two or three other officers stoodwatching the movements from the O'Hallorans' terrace.
"I should have thought that they had had enough of it," DoctorBurke said. "If those battering ships couldn't withstand our fire,what chance would their men-of-war have?
"See! They are just as busy on the land side, and the 71st has beenordered to send down extra guards to the land port. I should havethought they had given it up, as a bad job, this time."
"I have no doubt they have given it up, doctor," Major Harcourtsaid; "but they are not likely to say so, just yet. After all thepreparations that have been made; and the certainty expressed,about our capture, by the allied armies and navies of France andSpain; and having two or three royal princes down here, to gracethe victory; you don't suppose they are going to acknowledge to theworld that they are beaten. I should have thought you would haveknown human nature better than that, doctor.
"You will see De Crillon will send a pompous report of the affair;saying that the battering ships were found, owing to faults intheir construction, to be of far less utility than had beenexpected and that, therefore, they had been burned. They had,however, inflicted enormous loss upon the garrison and defences;and the siege would now be taken up by the army and fleet, andvigorously pushed to a successful termination.
"That will be the sort of thing, I would bet a month's pay. Thelast thing a Spanish commander will confess is that he is beaten;and I think it likely enough that they will carry on the siege formonths, yet, so as to keep up appearances. In fact, committed asthey are to it, I don't see how they can give it up, without makingthemselves the laughingstock of Europe. But, now that they findthey have no chance of getting the object for which they went towar, I fancy you will see, before very long, they will begin tonegotiate for peace."
The major's anticipations were verified. For some time the siegewas carried on with considerable vigour--from a thousand to twelvehundred shots being fired, daily, into the fortress. Their works onthe neutral ground were pushed forward; and an attempt was made, atnight, to blow out a portion of the face of the Rock, by placingpowder in a cave--but the attempt was detected.
The position of the garrison became more comfortable after aBritish fleet arrived, with two more regiments and a large convoyof merchantmen; but nothing of any importance took place till, onthe 2d of February, 1782, the Duc de Crillon sent in to say thatthe preliminaries of a general peace had been signed, by GreatBritain, France, and Spain and, three days later, the blockade atsea was discontinued, and the port of Gibraltar again open.
Bob Repton, however, was not present at the concluding scenes ofthe great drama. Satisfied, after the failure of the bombardment,that there would be no more serious fighting, and that the interestof the siege was at an end; he took advantage of the arrival of theAntelope in the bay, a few days after the engagement, to return inher to England. He had now been two years and eight months on theRock, and felt that he ought to go home, to take his place with hisuncle.
He had benefited greatly by his stay in Gibraltar. He had acquiredthe Spanish language thoroughly and, in other respects, had carriedon his studies under the direction of Doctor Burke; and hademployed much of his leisure time with instructive reading. Mixingso much with the officers of the garrison, he had acquired a goodmanner and address. He had been present at the most memorable siegeof the times, and had gained the credit of having--though but avolunteer--his name twice placed in general orders for goodservices. He had landed a school boy; he was now a well-built youngfellow, of medium height and powerful frame; but he had retainedhis boyish, frank good humour, and his love of fun.
"I trust that we shall be back in England, before long," his sistersaid to him. "Everyone expects that Spain will make peace, beforemany months are over, and it is likely that the regiments who havegone through the hardships of the siege will soon be relieved; so Ihope that, in a year or two, we may be ordered home again."
There was a great deal of regret expressed, when it was known thatBob Repton was going home; for he had always been ready to do anyacts of kindness in his power--especially to children, of whom hewas very fond--and it was not forgotten that his daring enterprise,in going out alone to fetch in fruit, had saved many of theirlives. Amy Harcourt's eyes were very red, when he went up to saygoodbye to her and her mother, an hour before he sailed; and thefarewells were spoken with quivering lips.
The Antelope evaded the enemy's cruisers near the Rock, and made aquick passage to England, without adventure. She had made two orthree good prizes, up the Spanish coast, before she put intoGibraltar on her way home. Captain Lockett, therefore, did not goout of his way to look for more.
On arriving at Portsmouth, Bob at once went up to London by coach.He had no lack of clothes, having purchased the effects of anofficer, of nearly his own build and stature, who had been killed ashort time before. On alighting from the coach he walked to PhilpotLane, and went straight into the counting house. His oldacquaintance, Jack Medlin, was sitting on the stool his father hadformerly occupied; and Bob was greatly amused at the air of gravityon his face.
"Do you wish to see Mr. Bale, or Mr. Medlin, sir?" he asked, "Orcan I take your orders?"
"You are a capital imitator of your father, Jack," Bob said, as hebrought his hand down heavily on the shoulder of the young clerk;who stared at him in astonishment.
"Why, it is Bob--I mean, Mr. Repton!" he exclaimed.
"It's Bob Repton, Jack, sure enough; and glad I am to see you. Why,it is nearly three years since we met; and we have both altered agood bit, since then.
"Well, is my uncle in?"
"No, he is out, at present; but my father is in the inner office."
Bob strode into the inner office, and greeted Mr. Medlin asheartily as he had done his son; and Mr. Medlin, for the first timesince he had entered Philpot Lane, as a boy, forgot that he waswithin the sacred precincts of the city and, for at least tenminutes, laughed and talked as freely and unrestrainedly as if hehad been out at Highgate.
"Your uncle will be delighted to see you back," he said. "He is forever talking about you; and there wasn't a prouder man in the cityof London than he was, when the despatches were published and yourname appeared, twice, as having rendered great service. He became alittle afraid, at one time, that you might take to soldiering,altogether. But I told him that I thought there was no fear ofthat. After you had once refused to take a midshipman's berth--withits prospect of getting away from school--I did not think it likelythat you would be tempted, now."
"No; the General told Captain O'Halloran that he would get me acommission, if I liked; but I had not the least ambition that way.I have had a fine opportunity of seeing war, and have had a jollytime of it; and now I am quite ready to settle down, here."
Mr. Bale was delighted, on his return, to find Bob. It was just thehour for closing, and he insisted upon Mr. Medlin stopping to takesupper with him. Bob had written, whenever there was an opportunityof sending letters; but many of these had never come to hand, andthere was much to tell, and talk about.
"Well, I am thoroughly satisfied with the success of ourexperiment, Mr. Medlin," Mr. Bale said, next day. "Bob has turnedout exactly what I hoped he would--a fine young fellow, and agentleman. He has excellent manners, and yet there is nothingfoppish, or affected about him."
"I had no fear of that, with Bob, Mr. Bale; and indeed, Gibraltarduring th
e siege must have been a bad school for anyone to learnthat sort of thing. Military men may amuse themselves with folliesof that kind, when they have nothing better to do; but it is thrownaside, and their best qualities come out, when they have such workto do as they have had there.
"Yes, I agree with you, sir. The experiment has turned outcapitally; and your nephew is, in every respect, a far better manthan he would have been, if he had been kept mewed up here thesethree years. He is a young fellow that anyone--I don't care who heis--might feel proud of."
So Bob took up his duties in the office, and his only complaintthere was that he could hardly find enough to do. Mr. Bale hadrelaxed his close attention to the business, since he had taken Mr.Medlin into the firm; but as that gentleman was perfectly capableof carrying it on, single handed, Bob's share of it was easyenough. It was not long before he complained to his uncle that hereally did not find enough to do.
"Well, Bob, you shall come down with me to a place I have bought,out by Chislehurst. It is a tidy little estate. I bought it a yearago. It is a nice distance from town--just a pleasant ride, ordrive, up. I am thinking of moving my establishment down there,altogether; and as you will have it some day, I should like youropinion of it. It isn't quite ready, yet. I have been having itthoroughly done up, but the men will be out in a week or two."
Bob was greatly pleased with the house, which was a fine one, andvery pleasantly situated, in large grounds.
"There are seventy or eighty acres of land," Mr. Bale said. "Theyare let to a farmer, at present. He only has them by the year; andI think it will be an amusement to you to take them in hand, andlook after them yourself. I know a good many people living abouthere, and I have no doubt we shall have quite as much society as wecare for."
Another month and they were established at Chislehurst, and Bobfound the life there very pleasant. He generally drove his uncle upto town in the morning; getting to the office at ten o'clock, andleaving it at five in the afternoon. On his return home there wasthe garden to see about, and the stables. Very often his unclebrought a city friend or two home with him, for the night; and theysoon had a large circle of acquaintances in the neighbourhood.
"I should like you to marry young, Bob," Mr. Bale said to him oneday. "I did not marry young; and so, you see, I have never marriedat all; and have wasted my life shockingly, in consequence. Whenyou are ready to marry, I am ready to give you the means. Don'tforget that."
"I won't forget it, sir," Bob said, smiling; "and I will try tomeet your wishes."
Mr. Bale looked at him sharply. Carrie's letters were long andchatty; and it may be that Mr. Bale had gleaned, from them, somenotion of an idea that Carrie and Mrs. Harcourt had in their heads.
Three years later Mr. Bale remarked, as they were driving home:
"By the way, Bob, I was glad to see, in the paper today, that the58th is ordered home."
"Is it, sir?" Bob asked, eagerly. "I have not looked at the papertoday. I am glad to hear that. I thought it wouldn't be long. Butthere is never any saying--they might have been sent somewhereelse, instead of being sent home."
"I hope they will be quartered somewhere within reach," Mr. Balesaid. "If they are stationed at Cork, or some outlandish place inIreland, they might almost as well be at Gibraltar, for anything weshall see of them."
"Oh, we can manage to run over to Cork, uncle."
"There will be no occasion to do that, Bob. Captain O'Halloran willbe getting leave, soon after he comes over, and then he can bringCarrie here."
And he smiled slily to himself.
"He mayn't be able to get leave for some time," Bob said. "I think,uncle, I shall run over, directly they arrive."
"Perhaps the firm won't be able to spare you," Mr. Bale remarked.
"It is my opinion the firm would get on just as well, without me,for an indefinite time, uncle."
"Not at all, Bob. Mr. Medlin was saying, only a few days ago, thatyou do quite your share of the work; and that he generally leavesit to you, now, to see country customers when I am out, and thinksthe change has been an advantage to the business. However, if theregiment does go to Ireland--as is likely enough--I suppose we mustmanage to spare you."
It was indeed soon known that the 58th were, in the first place, tobe disembarked at Cork and, one day, Mr. Bale came into the office.
"I have just seen your friend Lockett, Bob; I mean the younger one.He commands the Antelope now, you know. His uncle has retired, andbought a place near Southampton, and settled down there. YoungLockett came up from Portsmouth by the night coach. He put in atGibraltar on his way home, and the 58th were to embark three daysafter he left. So if you want to meet them when they arrive atCork, you had better lose no time; but start by the night coach forBristol, and cross in the packet from there."
It was a month before Bob returned. The evening that he did so, hesaid to his uncle:
"I think, uncle, you said that you were anxious that I should marryyoung."
"That is so, Bob," Mr. Bale said, gravely.
"Well, uncle, I have been doing my best to carry out your wishes."
"You don't mean to say, Bob," Mr. Bale said, in affected alarm,"that you are going to marry a soldier's daughter?"
"Well, yes, sir," Bob said, a little taken aback; "but I don't knowhow you guessed it. It is a young lady I knew in Gibraltar."
"What, Bob! Not that girl who went running about with you, dressedup as a boy?"
As this was a portion of his adventures upon which Bob had beenaltogether reticent, he sat for a moment, confounded.
"Don't be ashamed of it, Bob," Mr. Bale said, with a smile, layinghis hand kindly on his shoulder. "Your sister Carrie is anexcellent young woman, and it is not difficult to read her thoughtsin her letters. Of course, she told me about your adventure withMiss Harcourt, and she has mentioned her a good many times, since;and it did not need a great deal of discernment to see whatCarrie's opinion was regarding the young lady. Carrie has her weakpoints--as, for example, when she took up with that wildIrishman--but she has plenty of good sense; and I am sure, by theway she wrote about this Miss Harcourt, that she must be a verycharming girl; and I think, Bob, I have been looking forward almostas much, to the regiment coming home, as you have.
"Regarding you as I do, as my son, there is nothing I should likeso much as having a bright, pretty daughter-in-law; so you have myhearty consent and approval, even before you ask for it.
"And you found her very nice, Bob--eh?"
"Very nice, sir," Bob said, smiling.
"And very pretty, Bob?"
"Very pretty, sir. I never thought that she would have grown up sopretty."
"And her head has not been turned by the compliments that she has,of course, received?"
"I don't think so, sir. She said her mind has been made up, eversince I brought her back to Gibraltar; so you see, the complimentsdid not go for much."
"Well, Bob, I will write to Major Harcourt. I shall hand you overthis place, altogether, and settle down in my old quarters inPhilpot Lane."
"No, no, sir," Bob said.
"But I say yes, Bob. I shall keep a room here, and I dare say Ishall often use it. But I have been rather like a fish out ofwater, since I came here, and shall be well content to fall into myold ways again; knowing that, if I want any change, and brightsociety, I can come down here. If I find I am restless there--whichis not likely--I can buy a little place, and settle down besideyou. As I told you long ago, I am a rich man--I have been doingnothing but save money, all my life--and though, as I then said, Ishould like you to carry on the firm, after I am gone; there will,as far as money goes, be no occasion for you to do so."
Two months later the three members of the firm went over to Cork,and there a gay wedding was celebrated; and when, at thetermination of the honeymoon, Bob returned to Chislehurst, he foundCaptain O'Halloran and Carrie established there on a month's leaveand, a day or two later, the party was increased by the arrival ofDoctor Burke.
Mr. Bale lived for twenty years
after Bob's marriage; the last fifteenof which were passed in a little place he bought, adjoining that ofthe Reptons and, before he died, he saw four grandchildren--as hecalled them--fast growing up.
General and Mrs. Harcourt also settled down in the neighbourhood,to be near their only daughter, a few years before Mr. Bale'sdeath.
Doctor Burke remained with the regiment for some years, and thenbought a practice in Dublin but, to the end of his life, he paid avisit every three or four years to his former pupil.
Captain O'Halloran obtained the rank of colonel but, losing an armat the capture of Martinique, in 1794, he retired from the army andsettled at Woolwich--where Carrie was within easy reach ofChislehurst--having his pension, and a comfortable income which Mr.Bale settled upon Carrie. At Mr. Bale's death, it was found that hehad left his house at Chislehurst to Carrie; and she and herhusband accordingly established themselves there.
Bob, to the end of his life, declared that--although in all thingshe had been an exceptionally happy, and fortunate man--the mostfortunate occurrence that ever happened to him was that he shouldhave taken part in the famous Siege of Gibraltar.
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