Chapter 3: A Strange Adventure.
When the party broke up, O'Neil and O'Sullivan, as usual, came infor a quiet chat to Desmond's room.
"As we may be possibly ordered to Spain," Kennedy said, "I shouldlike to know a little about what we are going to fight about; for,although I know a good deal about the war in Flanders, no newsabout that in Spain ever reached Kilkargan."
"Well, you know, of course," O'Neil said, "that Philip the Fifthis a grandson of Louis; and is naturally supported by Franceagainst the Archduke Charles of Austria, who is competitor for thethrone, and who is, of course, supported by England. Six thousandEnglish and Dutch troops were sent to aid the Archduke Charles inhis attempt to invade Spain and dethrone Philip. The King ofPortugal, who is a member of the allied confederacy, promised tohave everything ready to cooperate with them. They found, however,on their arrival, that no preparations had been made, and theywere accordingly distributed, for a time, among the garrisons onthe frontier.
"Philip, on his part, had not been so inactive, and twoarmies--the one commanded by the Duke of Berwick, and the other byGeneral Villadarias--invaded Portugal. Berwick surprised andcaptured two Dutch battalions, and then captured Portalagre, andcompelled the garrison, including an English regiment of infantry,to surrender.
"The allies, to make a diversion, sent General Das Minas intoSpain, with fifteen thousand men, who captured one or two townsand defeated a body of French and Spanish troops. The hot weathernow set in, and put a stop to hostilities, and the troops on bothsides went into quarters. The general--I forget his name--whocommanded the English and Dutch contingent, was so disgusted withthe proceedings of the Portuguese that he resigned his command,and the Earl of Galway was appointed in his place. The next yearhe crossed the frontier, captured several towns, without muchfighting, and invested Badajos. Here, however, a stern resistancewas met with. Galway's hand was carried off by a shot, and theFrench general (Tesse) coming up in force to the relief of thetown, and the Portuguese not arriving at all, the allies wereobliged to fall back upon Portugal. But Philip was threatened froma fresh quarter.
"In June, the Earl of Peterborough sailed from Portsmouth withfive thousand men, and at Lisbon took on board the ArchdukeCharles. At Gibraltar some more troops were embarked, andPeterborough set sail for the coast of Valencia. Peterboroughhimself, one of the most daring of men, and possessed ofextraordinary military talent, was in favour of a march uponMadrid; but, fortunately for us, he was overruled, and commencedthe siege of Barcelona--a strong town garrisoned by five thousandgood troops, while he himself had but a thousand more under hiscommand. Nevertheless, by a sudden and daring attack he capturedthe strong castle of Montjuich, which commanded the town, whichwas in consequence obliged to surrender four days later, and thewhole of Catalonia was then captured. Saint Matteo, ninety milesfrom Barcelona, which had declared for Charles and was besieged bya large force, was relieved; and so brilliant were the exploitsaccomplished by Peterborough, with most inadequate means, that theSpaniards came to the conclusion that he was possessed by an evilspirit.
"Large reinforcements were sent from France, and King Philipadvanced upon Barcelona, and invested it by land, while a Frenchfleet bombarded it by sea. Peterborough hurried, with a smallforce from Valencia, to aid the besieged, the matter being all themore important since Charles himself was in the city. Before hisarrival, however, an English fleet appeared, and our fleetretired.
"Philip at once raised the siege, and retired to Madrid. Hisposition was indeed serious. Lord Galway was advancing from thefrontier, and Peterborough had gathered a force to cooperate withhim. Upon the approach of Galway, Philip and the Duke of Berwickretreated to the frontier. There they received great reinforcements,and advanced against Madrid, which was evacuated by Galway, whomarched away to form a junction with Lord Peterborough.
"Owing to the dilatory habits and hesitation of the Austrianprince, the junction was not effected for some time, and then, inspite of the entreaties of the two English generals, he could notbe persuaded to make a movement towards Madrid. Peterborough,whose temper was extremely fiery, at last lost all patience,abused Charles openly, and then, mounting his horse, rode down tothe coast, embarked upon an English ship of war, and sailed awayto assist the Duke of Savoy. After his departure, the ill feelingbetween the English force, the Portuguese, and the leaders of theSpanish adherents of Charles increased, and they spent their timein quarrelling among themselves. They were without money,magazines, and almost without provisions. Berwick was near themwith a superior force, and they took the only step open, ofretreating towards Valencia, which they reached, after sufferinggreat hardships, before Berwick could overtake them.
"French troops were poured into Spain, while no reinforcementswere sent from England. Galway and the Portuguese advanced to meetthe Duke of Berwick, who was marching with a large army to occupyCatalonia.
"The two forces met, on the plain of Almanza, on the 24th ofApril. We and the Spaniards were superior in number to theEnglish, Dutch, and Portuguese. The battle was maintained for sixhours. The Portuguese infantry did little, but the English andDutch repulsed charge after charge, even after the Portuguese andSpanish allies on both wings were defeated. But, in the end,victory remained with us. Galway and Das Minas, the Portuguesegeneral, were both wounded, and five thousand of their men killed,and yet the Dutch and English infantry held together.
"But on the following day, being absolutely without supplies, someeffected their escape and succeeded in reaching Portugal, whilethe main body surrendered. Valencia, Saragossa, and other townsopened their gates to us, and, for a time, the cause of theArchduke Charles seemed lost.
"Our success was, however, balanced by the loss, in the same year,of the whole of the Spanish possessions in Italy. As yet, in spiteof the disasters that had befallen him, the cause of Charles wasnot altogether lost, for he received fresh promises of supportfrom England, whose interest it was to continue the war in Spain,and thus compel France to keep a considerable body of troopsthere, instead of employing them against Marlborough in Flanders.
"Galway and Das Minas were taken back to Portugal, in an Englishfleet, after their disaster, and General Stanhope, who, they say,is an officer of great military experience and talent, has beensent out to take the command; and as a portion of Catalonia isstill held for Charles, there may yet be a good deal of hardfighting, before the matter can be considered finally settled."
"Thank you, O'Neil. I feel that I know something about it, now.Are there any of our regiments there?"
"Yes, three of them. There is also an Irish regiment in theSpanish service, under Colonel Crofton;" and with this, the talkended for the night.
After three months' work Desmond was dismissed from drill, and hadobtained such a proficiency with the rapier that he felt that hecould now relax his work, and see something of the city, which hehad been hitherto too busy to explore. He had seen the principalstreets, in the company of his comrades, had admired the mansionsof the nobles, the richness of the goods exposed to view in thewindows, and the gaiety and magnificence of the dresses of theupper class. His friends had warned him that, if he intended to gofarther, he should never do so alone, but should take with him hissoldier servant, a trooper named Mike Callaghan.
Mike was some twenty-eight years old, strong and bony; his hairwas red, and the natural colour of his face was obscured by a hostof freckles; his eyes were blue, and his nose had an upward turn;his expression was merry and good humoured, but there was atwinkle about his eyes that seemed to show that he was by no meanswanting in shrewdness.
"Even in the daytime," O'Neil said, "it is not safe for a man, ifwell dressed and likely to carry money in his pocket, to go intosome quarters of the town. Paris has always been a turbulent city,and, while it is the abode of the richest and noblest ofFrenchmen, it is also the resort of the rascaldom of all France.Some streets are such that even the city guard would not ventureto search for an ill doer, unless in considerable force andprepared for battle. There are
, of course, many streets, both onthis and the other side of the river, where life and property areas safe as in the Rue Royal; which, by the way, is not sayingmuch, for it was only three days ago that a man was assassinatedthere in broad daylight. He was a captain in the Picardy regiment,and it was supposed that his murderer was a man who had beendismissed from the regiment with ignominy. But, whoever it was, hehas got clear away, for your Parisian citizen takes good care notto interfere in such matters, and no one thought of laying handson the villain, although it is said he walked quietly off.
"It is in the streets that I am speaking of that adventures maymost easily be met with. Here there are too many hotels of thenobles, with their numerous retainers, for it to be safe to commitcrime, and the city guard are generally on the alert, for, wereharm to come to one of the gentlemen attached to the great houses,the matter would be represented to the king, and the cityauthorities would come in for a sharp reproof for their failure tokeep order in the city; whereas, anything that happens among thebourgeois would pass wholly without notice. However, if you keepout of the wine shops, you are not likely to become involved introuble. Nine-tenths of the quarrels and tumults originate there.There is a dispute, perhaps, between a soldier and a citizen, orbetween soldiers of different regiments, and in a minute or twotwenty swords are drawn, and the disturbance grows, sometimes,until it is necessary to call out troops from the nearest barracksto suppress it. However, I know that you are not likely to getinto trouble that way, for you are a very model of moderation, tothe corps."
"I have seen enough of the consequences of drink in Ireland,"Desmond said, "to cure me of any desire for liquor, even had I alove for it. Faction fights, involving the people of the wholebarony, arising from some drunken brawl, are common enough; whileamong the better class duels are common and, for the most part,are the result of some foolish quarrel between two men heated bywine. Besides, even putting that aside, I should have given up thehabit. When I joined the regiment, I was anxious to become a goodswordsman, but if one's head is overheated at night, one's handwould be unsteady and one's nerves shaken in the morning.
"Possibly," he added, with a smile, "it is this, quite as much asthe hotness of their temper, that prevents the best teachers fromcaring to undertake the tuition of the officers of the Brigade."
"Possibly," Phelim laughed, "though I never thought of it before.There is no doubt that the French, who, whatever their faults be,are far less given to exceeding a fair allowance of wine than areour countrymen, would come to their morning lessons in the saloonin a better condition to profit by the advice of the master thanmany of our men."
"I don't think," Patrick O'Neil said, "that we Irishmen drink fromany particular love of liquor, but from good fellowship andjoviality. One can hardly imagine a party of French noblesinflaming themselves with wine, and singing, as our fellows do.Frenchmen are gay in what I may call a feeble way--there is no goin it. There is no spirit in their songs, there is no realheartiness in their joviality, and the idea of one man playing apractical joke upon another, the latter taking it in good part,could never enter their heads, for they are ready to take offenceat the merest trifle.
"As you know, there are certain cabarets told off for the use ofthe soldiers of the Brigade. They are allowed to use no others,and no French troops are allowed to enter these wine shops.Similarly, there are certain establishments which are almostexclusively patronized by officers of the Brigade. There is, ofcourse, no absolute rule here, and we can enter any cabaret wechoose; but it is understood that it is at our own risk, and that,if we get into trouble there, we are sure to be handled over thecoals pretty sharply, as it is considered that we must deliberatelyhave gone there with the intention of picking a quarrel. Thecabarets used by the men are all close to the barracks, so that,in case of a fracas, a guard is sent down to bring all concernedin it back to the barracks. Fortunately, there is no need for theplaces we frequent being so close to the barracks, for it isunderstood that anyone who takes too much liquor, outside his ownquarters, brings discredit on the regiment; and it is after weadjourn to the rooms of one or other of us that liquor begins toflow freely, and we make a night of it."
"Don't you ever have quarrels among yourselves?"
"Angry words pass, sometimes, but all present interfere at once.The honour of the regiment is the first point with us all. If menwant to quarrel, there are plenty of French officers who would bequite ready to oblige them, but a quarrel among ourselves would beregarded as discreditable to the corps. Consequently, a dispute isalways stopped before it reaches a dangerous point, and if it goesfurther than usual, the parties are sent for by the colonel in themorning, both get heavily wigged, and the colonel insists upon thematter being dropped, altogether. As the blood has had time tocool, both are always ready to obey his orders, especially as theyknow that he would report them at once to the general, if thematter were carried further."
"Well, I shall certainly not be likely to get into a quarrel overwine," Desmond said, "nor indeed, in any other way, unless I amabsolutely forced into it. As to adventures such as you speak of,I am still less likely to be concerned in them. I hope that, whenwe are ordered on service, I shall have a full share of adventuressuch as may become a soldier."
O'Neil smiled. "Time will show," he said. "Adventures come withoutbeing sought, and you may find yourself in the thick of one,before you have an idea of what you are doing. But mind, if you doget into any adventure and need assistance, you are bound to letus help you. That is the compact we made, two months ago. Weagreed to stand by each other, to be good comrades, to share ourlast sous, and naturally to give mutual aid under all and everycircumstance."
Desmond nodded.
"At any rate, O'Neil, adventures cannot be so common as yourepresent, since neither of you, so far, has called upon me foraid or assistance."
"Have you heard the last piece of court scandal, Kennedy?"O'Sullivan asked, as the three friends sat down to breakfasttogether, a few days later.
"No; what is it?"
"Well, it is said that a certain damsel--her name is, at present,a secret--has disappeared."
"There is nothing very strange about that," O'Neil laughed."Damsels do occasionally disappear. Sometimes they have takentheir fate into their own hands, and gone off with someone theylike better than the man their father has chosen for them;sometimes, again, they are popped into a convent for contumacy.Well, go on, O'Sullivan, that cannot be all."
"Well, it is all that seems to be certain. You know that I wentwith the colonel, last night, to a ball at the Hotel de Rohan, andnothing else was talked about. Several there returned fromVersailles in the afternoon, and came back full of it. All sortsof versions are current. That she is a rich heiress goes withoutsaying. If she had not been, her disappearance would have excitedno attention whatever. So we may take it that she is an heiress ofnoble family. Some say that her father had chosen, as her husband,a man she disliked exceedingly, and that she has probably takenrefuge in a convent. Some think that she has been carried offbodily, by someone smitten both by her charms and her fortune. Itis certain that the king has interested himself much in thematter, and expresses the greatest indignation. Though, as itwould not seem that she is a royal ward, it is not clear why heshould concern himself over it. Some whisper that the king's angeris but feigned, and that the girl has been carried off by one ofhis favourites."
"Why should such a thing as that be supposed?" Desmond asked,indignantly.
"Well, there is something in support of the idea. If anyone elsewere to steal away, with or without her consent, a young lady ofthe court with influential friends, he would be likely to pass thefirst two years of his married life in one of the royal prisons;and therefore none but a desperate man, or one so secure of theking's favour as to feel certain that no evil consequences wouldbefall him, would venture upon such a step. You must remember thatthere are not a few nobles of the court who have ruined themselves,to keep up the lavish expenditure incumbent upon those who bask inthe royal favour at
Versailles. It would be possible that HisMajesty may have endeavoured to obtain the hand of this young ladyfor one of his favourites, and that her father may be a noble ofsufficient consequence to hold his own, and to express to HisMajesty his regret that he was unable to adopt his recommendation,as he had other views for the disposal of her hand.
"The real singularity of the matter is, that no one can tell withcertainty who the missing lady is. Early in the day half a dozenwere named, but as I believe all of these put in an appearance atthe reception in the afternoon, it is evident that, so far as theywere concerned, there were no foundations for the rumour. It maybe taken for certain, however, that her friends are powerfulpeople, to have been able to impose silence upon those acquaintedwith the facts."
"Well, it is impossible to take very much interest in the story,"Desmond said carelessly, "when we are in ignorance of the veryname of the lady, and of the important point, whether she hasvoluntarily gone away either with a lover or to a convent, orwhether she has been carried off against her will. If the latter,you were talking of adventures, O'Neil, and this would be just thesort of adventure that I should like; for us three to discover themaiden, and rescue her from her abductor."
The others both laughed loudly.
"And this is the young officer who, the other day, declared thathe wished for no adventures save those that came in the course ofa campaign, and now he is declaring that he would like to become avery knight errant, and go about rescuing damsels in distress!"
"I have no idea of carrying it into execution," Desmond said. "Itwas merely an expression of a wish. Of course, if the lady inquestion went willingly and to avoid persecution, I would ratherhelp than hinder her; but if she has been carried off by someruined courtier, nothing would please me better than to rescue herfrom him."
Several days had passed, and at last it was confidently believedthat the missing lady was the daughter of Baron Pointdexter, amagnate of Languedoc, who had but recently come up to court, on anintimation from the king that it was a long time since he had beenseen there, and that His Majesty hoped that he would beaccompanied by his daughter, of whose beauty reports had reachedhim. It was certain that neither she nor her father had attendedany of the receptions or fetes at Versailles, since the rumourfirst spread, although the baron had had a private interview withthe king a few hours afterwards, and had left his chamber with afrowning brow, that showed that the interview had not been apleasant one. He had not again appeared at court, whether inconsequence of the royal command, or not, no one knew.
The baron was one of the richest proprietors in the south ofFrance. He was a specimen of the best type of the French nobles,preferring to spend his time among his own wide estates to comingup to the capital, where his visits had at all times been rare.
During the daytime, Desmond went out but little. When the hours ofdrill and exercise were over, he spent some time in visiting thequarters of the men of his company, making their personalacquaintance, and chatting freely with them. They were glad tohear from him about their native country; and, as some of themcame from his own neighbourhood, they took a lively interest inthe news--the first that had reached them for years--of familieswith whom they were acquainted. He spent two or three hours in theafternoons in the salle d'armes of the regiment, or at the schoolsof one or other of the maitres d'armes most in vogue, and thenpaid visits, with one or other of the officers of the regiment, togreat houses of which they had the entree.
Of an evening he went out, accompanied by Mike Callaghan, andwandered about the less fashionable part of the town, whichpleased him better than the more crowded and busy quarters.
One evening, he had gone farther than usual, had passed throughthe gates, and had followed the road by the banks of the river. Asan officer in uniform, he was able to re-enter the town after thegates were closed, the rules being by no means strict, as, duringthe reign of Louis the 14th, France, though engaged in frequentwars abroad, was free from domestic troubles.
Presently, he passed a lonely house of some size, standing backfrom the road and surrounded by a high wall. As he did so, heheard a scream in a female voice, followed by angry exclamationsfrom two male voices, while loudly rose a woman's cries for help.
"There is bad work of some sort going on in there," he said toMike. "We had better see what it is all about. Do you go round thewall by the right, and I will go round by the left, and see ifthere is any way by which we can climb over."
They met at the back of the house. The wall was unbroken, save bythe gates in front.
"The wall is too high for us to climb, Mike," Desmond said. "Evenif I stood on your head, I could not reach the top. Let us goround to the front again."
They returned, and closely scrutinized the gate. It was not sohigh as the wall itself, but was fully twelve feet.
"I have got a pistol with me, your honour," Mike said. "I haveseen doors blown in, by firing a gun through the keyhole."
"That would do, if we were sure that there were no bars, Mike; butthe chances are that it is barred, as well as locked. Besides, Iam sure that we should not be justified in blowing in the door ofa private house. It may be that they were the cries of a madwoman. I would rather get over as quietly as possible."
"Well, sir, I will stand against it, and if you will get on to myshoulders and put your foot on my head, you will reach the top.Then, if you lower one end of your sash to me, I can pull myselfup beside you."
"Yes, I think we can manage it that way, Mike. I am convinced thatthere is something wrong going on here, and I don't mind takingthe risk of getting into a scrape by interfering. Now do you stoopa bit, so that I can get on to your shoulder; then you can raiseyourself to your full height. Take off your hat, first. I shallcertainly have to put my foot on your head."
"All right, your honour. Don't you be afraid of hurting me. Myskull is thick enough to stand the weight of two of you."
In a minute, Desmond had his fingers on the top of the gates, drewhimself up, and, moving to the corner, where he could get his backagainst the end of the wall, lowered his sash to Mike.
"You are sure I shall not pull you down?"
"I am not sure, but we will try, anyhow."
This was said in a whisper, for there might, for anything he knew,be two or three men in the garden. Mike took off his boots, so asto avoid making a noise. Desmond was sitting astride of the gate,and had his end of the sash over the top of it, and under his leg,thereby greatly reducing the strain that would be thrown on it,and then leaning with all his weight on it, where it crossed thegate. Mike was an active as well as a strong man, and speedily wasby his side.
"Now we will drop down," Desmond said, and, setting the example,lowered himself till he hung by his hands, and then dropped. Mikewas soon beside him.
"What shall we do next?"
"We will go and knock boldly at the door; but before we do that,we will unbar the gate and shoot the bolt of the lock. We have noidea how many men there may be in the house. Maybe we shall haveto beat a retreat."
The lock was shot without difficulty, but the bolts were stillfast, and were not drawn without noise. They pushed back the lastof these, and then opened the gates, which creaked noisily as theydid so.
"They can hardly help hearing that," Desmond muttered; and indeed,as he spoke, the door of the house opened suddenly, and five mencame out, two of them holding torches. A man, who seemed to be theleader of the party, uttered an exclamation of fury as the lightfell upon the figures of the two men at the open gate.
"Cut the villains down!" he shouted.
"Stop!" Desmond cried, in a loud voice. "I am an officer ofO'Brien's regiment of foot. I heard a scream, and a woman's cryfor help, and, fearing that foul play was going on, I made myentry here."
The man, who had drawn his sword, paused.
"You have done wrong, sir. The cries you heard were those of a madwoman. You had better withdraw at once. I shall report you,tomorrow, for having forcibly made an entrance into privatepremises."
; "That you are perfectly at liberty to do," Desmond repliedquietly; "but certainly I shall not withdraw, until I see thislady, and ascertain from herself whether your story is a trueone."
"Then your blood be on your own head!" the man said.
"At them, men! you know your orders--to kill anyone who attemptedto interfere with us, no matter what his rank."
The five men rushed together upon the intruders.
"Hold the gate, Mike," Desmond said, "and they cannot get behindus."
They stepped back a pace or two, and drew their swords. Theposition was a favourable one, for the two halves of the gateopened inwards, and so protected them from any but an attack infront. The leader rushed at Desmond, but the latter guarded thesweeping blow he dealt at him, and at the first pass ran himthrough the body; but the other four men, enraged rather thandaunted by the fall of their leader, now rushed forward together,and one of them, drawing a pistol, fired at Desmond when withinthree paces.
The latter threw his head on one side, as he saw the pistollevelled. The action saved his life, for it was well aimed, andthe bullet would have struck him full between the eyes. As it was,he felt a sharp sudden pain, as it grazed his cheek deeply. Hesprang forward, and before the man could drop the pistol andchange his sword from the left hand to the right, Desmond's weaponpierced his throat. At the same moment, Mike cut down one of hisassailants with his sabre, receiving, however, a severe cut on theleft shoulder from the other.
Paralysed at the loss of three of their number, the remaining twoof the assailants paused, for a moment. It was fatal to one ofthem, for Mike snatched his pistol from his pocket, and shot theman who had wounded him, dead. The other threw down his sword, andfell upon his knees, crying for mercy.
"Shall I kill him, your honour?"
"No. Fasten his hands behind him, with his own belt; and bind hisankles tightly together, with that of one of his comrades."
He paused, while Mike adroitly carried out his instructions.
"Now we will see what this is all about," Desmond said. "I don'tsuppose that there are any more of them in the house. Still, wemay as well keep our swords in readiness."
Picking up one of the torches that had fallen from theirassailants' hands, and holding it above his head with his lefthand, while his right held his sword ready for action, Desmondentered the house. The sitting rooms on both sides of the hallwere empty, but, upon entering the kitchen, he found an old womancrouching in a corner, in the extremity of fear.
"Stand up. I am not going to hurt you," Desmond said. "Lead us, atonce, to the chamber of the lady we heard call out."
The old woman rose slowly, took down a key hanging from a peg,and, leading the way upstairs, opened a door.
"Keep a watch upon the crone," Desmond said, as he entered.
As he did so, his eye fell upon a girl of some seventeen yearsold. She was standing at the window, with her hands clasped. Sheturned round as he entered, and, as her eye fell upon his uniform,she gave a cry of delight.
"Ah, monsieur, you have rescued me! I heard the fight in thegarden, and knew that the good God had sent someone to my aid. Butyou are wounded, sir. Your face is streaming with blood."
"'Tis but the graze of a pistol ball," he said, "and needs but abowl of water, and a strip of plaster, to put it right. I hadwell-nigh forgotten it.
"I am glad, indeed, to have been able to render you this service,mademoiselle. It was most providential that I happened to comealong the road, and heard your screams and cries for aid; and Idetermined to see if any foul business was being carried on here.What made you call out?"
"I had let myself down from the window, by knotting the bedclothestogether. I was blindfolded, when they carried me in here, and didnot know that the walls were so high all round, but had hoped tofind some gate by which I might escape. There were only the greatgates, and these were locked; and I was trying to draw the boltswhen two of the men suddenly rushed out. I suppose the old womancame up here, and found the room empty. It was then that Iscreamed for help, but they dragged me in, in spite of mystruggles, and one said I might scream as much as I liked, forthere was not a house within hearing, and no one would be passinganywhere near.
"When he said that, I quite gave up hope. I had believed that Iwas in some lonely house, in the suburbs of the city, and I littlethought that my cries could not be heard.
"But where are the men who guarded me?"
"Four of them are dead, mademoiselle, and the other securelybound. Now, if you will tell me who you are, and where yourfriends live, I and my soldier servant will escort you to them."
"My name is Anne de Pointdexter."
Desmond was scarcely surprised, for the care which had been takenin choosing so lonely a spot for her concealment, and the factthat an officer and four men should be placed there to guard her,showed that she must have been regarded as a prisoner ofimportance.
"Then I am glad, indeed, to have been the means of rescuing you.All Paris has been talking of your disappearance, for the past tendays. The question is, what would you wish done? It is too far totake you to Versailles tonight, and too late to obtain means ofconveyance."
"There is a carriage in the stables behind the house, and thereare some horses. I cannot say how many, but at night I have heardthem stamping. I suppose the carriage was left here so that theycould remove me to some other place, in case suspicion should fallupon this house. How many are there of you, monsieur?"
"Only myself, and the trooper you see at the door."
"And did you two fight with five men, and kill four of them!" sheexclaimed, in surprise. "How brave of you, monsieur, and how goodto run such risk, for a person of whom you knew nothing!"
"I knew that it was a woman in distress," Desmond said, "and thatwas quite enough to induce two Irishmen to step in, and answer toher cry for aid. However, mademoiselle, if the carriage and horsesare there, this will get us out of our difficulty. The onlyquestion is, will you start at once, or wait until daylight? Wemay be stopped by the patrols, as we approach Versailles, but Ihave no doubt that my uniform will suffice to pass us into thetown, where probably your father is still lodging."
"I would much rather go at once," the girl said. "There are otherswho come, sometimes at all hours of the night."
"Very well, then, we will see about getting the carriage ready, atonce. If you will come downstairs, we will lock this old woman upin your room."
This was done at once, and the girl, who was so shaken by hercaptivity that she feared to remain for a moment by herself,accompanied her rescuers to the back of the house. Here, as shehad said, they found a carriage and four horses, two of whichstood ready saddled, while the others were evidently carriagehorses. These were speedily harnessed, and put into the carriage.
"Now, Mike, you had better drive. I will mount one of these saddlehorses and ride alongside. I think, mademoiselle, as the drivewill be a long one, it would be as well that we should put the oldwoman in the carriage with you. She will be a companion, thoughone that you would not take from choice. Still, your father maywish to question her, and, indeed, it would be better in manyrespects that you should have a female with you."
"Thank you, Monsieur Kennedy,"--for she had already learned hisname--she said gratefully, "it would certainly be much better."
The old woman was therefore brought down, and made to enter thecarriage, and seat herself facing Mademoiselle Pointdexter. Miketook his seat on the box, and Desmond mounted one of the saddlehorses, and led the other. They had already removed the bodiesthat lay in front of the gates.
They had to make a considerable detour round Paris, before theycame down upon the Versailles road. The roads were bad and thecarriage was heavy, and daylight was already breaking when theyentered the town. They had twice been stopped by patrols, butDesmond's uniform had sufficed to pass them.
Baron Pointdexter had taken up his abode in a large house,standing in a walled garden in the lower part of the town. Whenthey reached it, Desmond dismounted and rung the bell. Aft
er hehad done this several times, a step was heard in the garden, and avoice asked roughly, "Who is it that rings at this hour of themorning?"
Mademoiselle Pointdexter, who had alighted as soon as the carriagestopped, called out, "It is I, Eustace."
There was an exclamation of surprise and joy, bolts were at oncedrawn, and the gate thrown open, and an old servitor threw himselfon his knees as the girl entered, and, taking the hand she heldout to him, put it to his lips.
"Ah, mademoiselle," he said, while the tears streamed down hischeeks, "what a joyful morning it is! We have all suffered, andmonsieur le baron most of all. He has spoken but a few words,since you left, but walks up and down the garden as onedistraught, muttering to himself, and sometimes even drawing hissword and thrusting it at an invisible enemy. He is up,mademoiselle. He has never gone to his bed since you weremissing."
As he spoke, the door of the house opened, and the baron hurriedout, with the question, "What is it, Eustace?"
Then, as his eye fell on his daughter, he gave a hoarse cry, andfor a moment swayed, as if he would have fallen. His daughter ranup to him, and threw her arms round his neck.
"Do you return to me safe and well?" he asked, as, after a longembrace, he stepped back and gazed into her face.
"Quite safe and well, father."
"The Lord be praised!" the baron exclaimed, and, dropping into agarden seat by his side, he burst into a passion of sobbing.
As soon as he had appeared, Desmond had handed over the old womanto Eustace.
"She is a prisoner--keep a watch over her," he said. "She can tellmuch. We will take the carriage round to a stable, and must thenreturn at once to Paris, where I must be on duty at seven. Pleaseinform the baron that I shall do myself the honour of calling,tomorrow, to enquire whether Mademoiselle Pointdexter has sufferedfrom the effects of the fatigue and excitement. Express my regretthat I am obliged to leave at once, but I am sure he will have somuch to hear, from his daughter, that it is best they should bealone together, for a time."
He at once remounted his horse, Mike climbed up on to his seat,and they drove off, and, knocking up the people at some largestables, left the carriage and horses there, telling theproprietors to send to the Baron Pointdexter to know his wishesregarding it. Then Mike mounted the spare horse, and they startedat full speed for Paris, and arrived at the barracks in time forDesmond to take his place at the early parade.