Chapter 2: The Beginning Of Troubles.
"Things are getting more and more serious, Patsey," said Jean oneevening. "I don't know what will come of it. The excitement isspreading here, and there can be no doubt that there will be veryserious troubles, ere long. The greater portion of the people hereare with the Assembly, and approve of all these decrees against thepriests, and the persecution of the better classes. You know whathas taken place in Paris, and I fear that it will be repeated here.
"We are split up. My father, dear good man, thinks that he has onlyto attend to his business, and to express no opinion whatever aboutpublic affairs, and that the storm will pass quietly over his head.My brother has thrown himself heart and soul--that is to say, asfar as he has a heart to throw--into what he calls the cause of thepeople; and which I consider to be the cause of revolution, ofconfiscation, of irreligion, and abomination generally.
"I am told that my name has freely been mentioned, in his club, asthat of a dangerous man, with opinions contrary to the public good.I hear, too, that that brother of mine was there, at the time; andthat he got up and said that in a case like this his voice must besilent, that true patriots place their country before all things;and then affected to speak mildly in my favour, but at the sametime doing me as much harm as he could. I believe the fellow iscapable of denouncing his own father.
"From the Bocage I hear that the whole country is in confusion. Thepeople, of course, side with their priests. The nobles and landowners are naturally royalists, and are furious that the kingshould be held in what is practically subjection; by men of lowdegree, and who, although they may have some virtuous men amongthem, have also sanguinary scoundrels who gradually gain in power,and will soon be supreme.
"They, however, can do nothing at present. The peasants knownothing about the king, to them he is a mere name; but thispersecution of their priests angers them greatly; and if, as issaid, orders have been given to raise an army, and to drag men awayfrom their homes whether they like to go or not, you may be surethat, ere long, there will be trouble there.
"Now you see, dear, I am a sort of double character. At sea I amCaptain Jean Martin, a peaceful trader with, as you know, butlittle regard for the revenue laws of your country. On the otherhand, in La Vendee I am Monsieur Jean Martin, a landed proprietor,and on friendly terms with all the nobles and gentry in myneighbourhood. It is evident that I cannot continue to play thisdouble part. Already great numbers of arrests have been made here,and the prisons are half full. I hear that a commissioner from theAssembly is expected here shortly, to try these suspects, as theyare called; and from what we know already, we may be sure thatthere will be little mercy shown.
"They are almost all people of substance; and the people, as theycall themselves, are on principle opposed to men of substance. Now,if I remain here, I have no doubt that I shall be denounced in avery short time; and to be denounced is to be thrown into prison,and to be thrown into prison is equivalent to being murdered. Ihave no doubt, Patsey, that you would share my fate. The fact thatyou are an Englishwoman was among the accusations brought againstme, in the club; and although, so far as I can see, the majority ofthese scoundrels have no religion whatever, they venture to make ita matter of complaint that you are a Protestant.
"I have seen this coming on for some time, and must now make mychoice; either I must take you and the child over to England, andleave you there with your father until these troubles are over,while I must myself go down and look after my tenantry, and bear myshare in whatever comes; or you must go down there with me."
"Certainly I will go down with you, Jean. It is your home, andwhatever dangers may come I will share them with you. It would beagony to be in England, and to know nothing of what is passinghere, and what danger might be threatening you. We took each otherfor better or worse, Jean, and the greater danger you may be in,the more it will be my duty to be by your side.
"I should be very happy down at the chateau. More happy than I havebeen here with you, for some time past; for one cannot but be veryanxious, when one sees one's friends thrown into prison, and knowsthat you are opposed to all these things, and that it may be yourturn next. Nothing would persuade me to leave you."
"Very well, wife, so be it. I am sure that there, at least, weshall be safe. It is only in the towns that these rascals aredangerous, and in a country like ours there is little fear that theknaves will venture to interfere, when they see that they arestirring up a nest of hornets. They have plenty of work to satisfyeven their taste for confiscation and murder, in the large towns.There is an army gathering, on the frontier, and they will havetheir hands full, ere long.
"And now, about Leigh. My brother has always shown a dislike forhim and, as it is certain that he cannot remain here, he musteither return to England or go with us."
"I am sure that he would choose to go with us, Jean. You sayyourself that he talks French like a native now, and although hehas often told me that he would never settle in France--fornaturally he is as horrified as I am with the doings in Paris, andthe other great towns--still I am sure that he would choose toremain with us, now. You see, he is strong and active, and has madeso many trips with you, that he is almost a sailor. He is within afew months of sixteen, and of late he has several times said to methat he would like to go some long voyages, and have someadventures, before settling down in business, in England, as anagent of your house."
"I should like to have him with us," Jean said heartily. "In thefirst place, he is a lad after my own heart, full of life and go,and already strong enough to take his own part; in the next place,although I hope for the best, a man can never say exactly what willtake place. I may be away at times, and should be glad to know thatyou had a protector; and if he is willing to go, I shall be morethan willing to have him.
"Then, too, it would be useful to have someone whom one could trustto carry messages. My idea is that I shall not leave the luggerhere for, if I am denounced, it would certainly be seized. PierreLefaux, my mate, is a shrewd as well as a faithful fellow. I shallappoint him captain. I shall tell him to leave here, at once, andemploy the lugger in coasting voyages; making Bordeaux hisheadquarters, and taking what freights he can get between that townand Rochelle, Brest, or other ports on this coast. So long as hedoes not return here, he might even take wines across to England,or brandy from Charente. He knows his business well and, as long aswe are at peace with England, trade will still go on.
"The best thing would be for him to be at Bordeaux once everyfortnight, or three weeks, so that we shall know where to find him.I have a great friend at Bordeaux, and shall get him to have thelugger registered in his name, and give him a receipt for herpurchase money; so that in case the people here learn that she istrading at Bordeaux, he will be able to prove that she is his ownproperty. Then, if the very worst should come, which I cannot bringmyself to believe, there will be a means of escape for us all toEngland.
"She will be sailing there in two or three days. I have fiftythousand francs lying in my father's hands. I shall send that overby Lefaux, and instruct him to ask your father to go with him tothe bank, at Poole, and pay the money in to my account. Then, if weshould have to leave France, we shall have that to fall back upon,and the lugger. I should, of course, transfer her to the Englishflag, and have no doubt that we should be able to get on veryfairly. So you see, I am preparing for all contingencies, Patsey."
"It seems very dreadful that the country should be in such a state,Jean."
"It is dreadful, and I am afraid that things have by no means gotto the worst, yet.
"Ah, here comes Leigh! After supper I shall go in and have a talkwith my father. I have very little hope of having much success withhim; but at least, when he sees the steps that I am taking, itcannot but make him think seriously of his own position, and thatof my mother and sisters."
Leigh was delighted when he heard Jean's proposal. His own positionhad been unpleasant, of late. He had long since ceased to go toJacques Martin, for the dislike between
them was mutual and, dowhat he would, he failed to give satisfaction. And of late, even inMonsieur Martin's cellars and storehouses, he had met with a gooddeal of unpleasantness; and would have met with more, had it notbeen that he had, on one occasion, knocked down one of the chiefclerks, who had sworn at him for some trifling act of carelessness.As the clerk knew that the merchant would have been very angry atthe insult he had offered to Leigh, he had not ventured to make acomplaint; but in many ways he had been able to cause numberlesspetty annoyances. Many of the others were inclined to follow hislead, and would have done so more openly, were it not that theyheld in respect Leigh's strength, and readiness in the science theycalled le boxe.
The talk that there might be troubles in La Vendee heightened hissatisfaction at leaving Nantes, and going down to stay in thecountry. The thought of a life spent at Poole, or Weymouth, as awine merchant and agent of the house of Martin had, for some timepast, been unpleasant to him. The feeling of general unrest thatprevailed in France had communicated itself to him, and he thoughtpossibly that something might occur which would change the currentof his life, and lead to one more suited to his natural activityand energy.
"You had better pack up quietly, tomorrow," Jean said to his wife,after his return from his father's. "If there were any suspicionthat I was thinking of going away, it might bring matters to ahead. I will get the lugger's boat down to the wharf, and foursailors shall come up here and take the boxes down, in one of thehand carts, with a tarpaulin thrown over them. I will arrange for acart and a carriage to be waiting for us, on the other side of theriver.
"There is no moving my father. He cannot persuade himself that aman who takes no part in politics, and goes about his businessquietly, can be in any danger. He has, however, at my mother'sentreaty, agreed for the present to cease buying; and to diminishhis stock as far as possible, and send the money, as fast as herealizes it, across to England. He says, too, that he will, ifthings get worse, send her and my sister to England. I promised himthat your father would find them a house, and see that they weresettled comfortably there, for a time. He would not believe thatJacques could have been at the club when I was denounced, withoutdefending me; for although himself greatly opposed to the doings inParis, and annoyed at the line Jacques has taken up, he thoughtthat there was at least this advantage in it--that in case oftroubles coming here, he would have sufficient influence to preventour being in any way molested. However, there can be no questionthat I have, to some extent, alarmed him; and he agreed not only todraw, tomorrow, my fifty thousand francs from his caisse, but tosend over with it a hundred thousand francs of his own. Fortunatelyhe can do this without Jacques knowing anything about it, foralthough Jacques and I have both a share in the business, he hasalways kept the management of the money matters in his own hands.
"So that is settled, as far as it can be settled. Fortunately theclub does not meet this evening, so there is no fear of a demandbeing made, by it, for my arrest tomorrow. I have a friend whobelongs to it--not, I think, because he at all agrees with itsviews; but because, like many others, he deems it prudent to appearto do so. It was from him that I heard what had passed there, andhe promised to give me warning of anything that might be said, ordone, against me. I shall go down to the lugger early, and remainon board all day, seeing to the stowage of the cargo we are takingon board, so that no suspicion can arise that I am thinking ofleaving for the country."
The next evening the party started by unfrequented streets for thequay, the nurse carrying the child, now three months old. The boxeshad gone half an hour before. It was nearly ten o'clock, and thequays were deserted. Monsieur Martin had himself gone down, in theafternoon, with the money to the lugger, and handed it over toJean, and had a long talk with him and Pierre Lefaux, to whom Jeanhad also intrusted letters from himself and Patsey, to the squire.
As soon as the party had taken their seats in the boat, it wasrowed two miles up the river, to a point where there was a ferryacross to a road, leading into the heart of La Vendee. Here a lightwaggon and a carriage were waiting. The luggage was transferred tothe former and, after a hearty farewell to Pierre Lefaux, who hadhimself come in charge of the boat, they started on their journey;and arrived at the chateau at nine o'clock in the morning, to thesurprise of the man and woman in charge of it.
"Here we are safe," Jean said, as they alighted from the carriage."It would take nothing short of an army to fight its way throughthese woods and lanes and, if the Assembly try to interfere withus, they will find it a much easier thing to pull down the throneof France, than to subdue La Vendee."
The news that the master had come down, and that he was going for atime to live among them, spread rapidly; and in the course of theday some fifteen of the tenants came in to pay their respects, fewof them arriving without some little offering in the way of game,poultry, butter, or other produce.
"Our larder is full enough for us to stand a siege," Patsey said,laughing, "and I know that we have a good stock of wine in thecellar, Jean."
"Yes, and of cider, too. When the tenants are in any difficultyabout paying their rents, I am always willing to take it out inwine or cider; for my father deals in both, and therefore it is asgood as money. But I have not sent any to Nantes for the past twoor three years and, as you say, the cellars are as full as they canhold.
"Tomorrow, Leigh, we will ride over and call upon some of ourneighbours to hear the last news, for the Bocage is as far awayfrom Nantes as if it were on the other side of France, and we hearonly vague rumours of what is going on here."
The ride was a delightful one to Leigh. He had only once visitedthe chateau before, and then only for a day or two. The wildcountry, with its deep lanes, its thick high hedges, its woods andcopses, was all new to him; for the country round his English homewas, for the most part, bare and open. Some of the peasants carriedguns over their shoulders, and looked as if accustomed to use them.
"Very few of them possess guns," Jean Martin remarked, "and thatthey should carry them shows how disturbed a state of mind allthese people are in. They know that their priests may be arrestedand carried off, at any moment; and no doubt the report that anorder has been issued to raise thirty thousand men throughoutFrance, and that every town and village has to furnish its quota,has stirred them up even more effectually. I don't suppose thatmany of them think that the authorities will really try to drag menoff, against their will; but the possibility is quite enough toinflame their minds."
At the very first house they visited they received, from the owner,ample confirmation of Jean's views.
"There have been continual fracases between the peasants and themilitary," he said, "over the attempts of the latter to arrest thepriests. They can scarcely be called fights, for it has not come tothat; but as soon as the peasants hear that the gendarmes arecoming, they send the priest into the wood, and gather in suchforce that the gendarmes are glad enough to ride away, unharmed. Ofcourse, until we see that the peasants are really in earnest, andintend to fight to the last, it would be madness for any of us totake any part in the matter; for we should be risking not only lifebut the fortunes of our families, and maybe their lives, too. Youmust remember, moreover, that already a great number of the landedproprietors have either been murdered or imprisoned in Paris, orare fugitives beyond the frontier."
"If the peasants would fight," Jean Martin said, "it might not be abad thing that there are so few whom they could regard as theirnatural leaders. If there are only a few leaders they may acttogether harmoniously, or each operate in his own district; butwith a number of men of the same rank, or nearly of the same rank,each would have his own ideas as to what should be done, and therewould be jealousy and discord."
"That is true," the other replied. "Of course, if this were an opencountry it would be necessary, to give us a chance of success, thatsome sort of discipline should be established; and none couldpersuade the peasants to submit to discipline, except their ownlords. But in a country like this, discipline is of comparativelylittle impo
rtance; and it is well that it is so, for though Ibelieve that the peasants would fight to the death, rather thansubmit to be dragged away by force from their homes, they willnever keep together for any time."
"I am afraid that that will be the case. We must hope that it willnot come to fighting but, if it does, it will take a large force toconquer La Vendee."
"What has brought you down here, Monsieur Martin?"
"It was not safe for me to stay longer in Nantes. If I think athing I say it, and as I don't think well of what is being done inParis, I have not been in the habit of saying flattering thingsabout the men there. In fact I have been denounced and, as there isstill room for a few more in the prisons, I should have had a cellplaced at my disposal, if I had remained there many more hours; soI thought that I should be safer, down here, till there was somechange in the state of affairs."
"And you brought madame down with you?"
"Assuredly. I had only the choice open to me of sending her acrossto England, and of making my home there, or of coming here. Ifthere had been no prospect of trouble here, I might have joined thearmy of our countrymen who are in exile; but as, from all I heard,La Vendee was ready to take up arms, I determined to come here;partly because, had I left the country, my estates here would havebeen confiscated; partly because I should like to strike a blow,myself, at these tyrants of Paris, who seem bent on destroying thewhole of the aristocracy of France, of wiping out the middleclasses, and dividing the land and all else among the scum of thetowns."
Three or four months passed quietly. There were occasionalskirmishes between the peasants, and parties of troops in search ofpriests who refused to obey the orders of the Assembly. At Nantes,the work of carrying out mock trials, and executing those of thebetter classes who had been swept into the prisons, went onsteadily. From time to time a message came to Jean, from hisfather, saying that he had carried out his determination to lessenhis stocks, and that he had sent considerable sums of money acrossthe Channel. So far he had not been molested, but he saw that thepublic madness was increasing, and the passion for blood evergrowing.
Then came the news of the execution of the king, which sent athrill of horror through the loyal province. Shortly afterwards itwas known that the decree for the raising of men was to beenforced; and that commissioners had already arrived at Saumur witha considerable force, that would be employed, if necessary; butthat the process of drawing the names of those who were to go wasto be carried out by the local authorities, assisted by thenational guards of the towns.
During the winter things had gone on quietly, at the chateau. Therehad been but little visiting, for the terrible events passing inParis, and in all the large towns, and the uncertainty about thefuture, had cast so deep a gloom over the country that none thoughtof pleasure, or even of cheerful intercourse with their neighbours.Many of the gentry, too, had given up all hope; and had made theirway down to the coast, and succeeded in obtaining a passage insmuggling craft, or even in fishing boats, to England.
Jean Martin and Leigh had spent much of their time in shooting.Game was abundant and, as so many of the chateaux were shut up,they had a wide range of country open to them for sport. Once ortwice they succeeded in bringing home a wild boar. Wolves hadmultiplied in the forests for, during the last three years, theregular hunts in which all the gentry took part had been abandoned,and the animals had grown fearless.
One day, soon after the news of the king's death had been received,Jean, who had ridden over to Saumur on business, brought back thenews that war had been declared with England.
"It would have made a good deal of difference to me," he said, "ifI had still been on board the lugger; for of course there would bean end to all legitimate trade. However, no doubt I should havemanaged to run a cargo, sometimes; for they will want brandy andtobacco all the more, when regular trade is at an end; and prices,you may be sure, will go up. I have no doubt, too, that there willbe a brisk business in carrying emigrants over. Still, of coursethe danger would be very much greater. Hitherto we have only hadthe revenue cutters and the coast guards to be afraid of, now everyvessel of war would be an enemy."
As during their expeditions they were generally accompanied by halfa dozen peasants, who acted as beaters, Leigh had come tounderstand the patois, and to some extent to speak it; and he oftenpaid visits to the houses of the principal tenants of the estate,who not only welcomed him as the brother of their mistress, butsoon came to like him for himself, and were amused by his highspirits, his readiness to be pleased with everything, and his talkto them of the little known country across the water.
It was evident, from the manner in which the drawing for theconscription was spoken of, that it would not be carried outwithout a strong resistance. Sunday, the tenth of March, had beenfixed for the drawing and, as the day approached, the peasantsbecame more and more determined that they would not permitthemselves to be dragged away from their homes.
Three days before, a party of the tenants, together with some fromadjoining estates, had come up to the chateau. Jean Martin at oncecame out to them.
"We have come, monsieur, to ask if you will lead us. We aredetermined that we will not be carried off like sheep."
"There you are right," Jean said; "but although I shall be ready todo my share of fighting, I do not wish to be a leader. In the firstplace, there are many gentlemen of far larger possessions and ofhigher rank than myself, who would naturally be your leaders. Thereis the Marquis de Lescure at Clisson, and with him are severalother noble gentlemen, among them Henri de la Rochejaquelein--he isa cavalry officer. His family have emigrated, but he has remainedhere on his estates. Then, too, you have many other militaryofficers who have served. There is Monsieur de Bonchamp, Monsieurd'Elbee, and Monsieur Dommaigne, all of whom have served in thearmy. If the insurrection becomes general, I shall head my owntenants, and join the force under some chosen commander; but Ishall not appear as a leader. Not only am I altogether ignorant ofmilitary affairs but, were it known in Nantes that I was prominentin the rising, they would undoubtedly avenge themselves upon myrelations there."
It was known that artillery and gendarmes had been gathered in allthe towns of La Vendee. Two days before that appointed for thedrawing, Jean said to Leigh:
"I shall ride tomorrow to the castle of Clisson. I know Monsieur deLescure. He has wide influence, and is known to be a devotedroyalist, and to have several royalist refugees now at his house. Ishall be able to learn, from him, whether his intention is to takepart in the insurrection. It is a long ride, and I shall not returnuntil tomorrow.
"If you like, you can ride north to Saint Florent. If there shouldbe any tumult, I charge you not to take any part in it. You hadbetter leave your horse at some cabaret on this side of the town,and go in on foot. It is possible that there will be no troublethere, for they are sure to have made preparations against it; andit is more likely that there will be disturbances at smallerplaces. Still, it will be interesting to mark the attitude of thepeasants.
"You see, if there is to be a war, it is their war. The gentlemenhere would have fought for the king, had there been a shadow of aprospect of success, and had he given the smallest encouragement tohis friends to rally to his support. They might even have foughtagainst the disturbance of the clergy. But they would have had nofollowers. The peasants cared but little for the king and, thoughthey did care enough for the priests to aid them to escape, theydid not care enough to give battle for them. They are now going tofight for their own cause, and for their own liberty. They have toshow us that they are in earnest about it, before we join them. Ifthey are in earnest, we ought to be successful. We ought to be ableto put a hundred thousand men in arms and, in such a country asthis, we should be able to defy any force that the Convention cansend against us; and to maintain the right of La Vendee to holditself aloof from the doings of the rest of France.
"But, as I said, until we know that they are really in earnest, wecannot afford to throw in our lot with them; so if you go to SaintFlorent, keep
well away from the point where the drawing is to takeplace. Watch affairs from a distance. I have little doubt thatthose who go will go with the determination of defendingthemselves, but whether they will do so will depend upon whetherthere is one among them energetic enough to take the lead. That isalways the difficulty in such matters. If there is a fight we must,as I say, simply watch it. It is, at present, no affair of ours. Ifit begins, we shall all have our work before us, plenty of it, andplenty of danger and excitement, but for the present we have to actas spectators."
It was a ride of fifteen miles to Saint Florent and, although Leighhad twice during the winter ridden there with Jean, he had somedifficulty in finding his way through the winding roads andnumerous lanes along which he had to pass. During the early part ofthe ride he met with but few people on the way. The church bellswere ringing, as usual, and there was nothing to show that anytrouble was impending; but when he arrived within two or threemiles of the town, he overtook little groups of peasants walking inthat direction. Some of them, he saw, carried pitchforks. The resthad stout cudgels.
Saint Florent stood on the Loire and, in an open space in thecentre of the town, the authorities were gathered. Behind them wasa force of gendarmes, and in the middle of their line stood acannon.
Leigh had, as Jean had told him, left his horse outside the town;and now took up his place, with a number of townspeople, on oneside of the square. As the peasants arrived, they clusteredtogether at the end of the street, waiting for the hour to strikeat which the drawing was to begin. A few minutes before the clockstruck, some of the gendarmes left the group in the centre of thesquare, and advanced to the peasants. They were headed by anofficer who, as he came up, exclaimed:
"What do you mean by coming here with pitchforks? Lay them down, atonce!"
There was a low murmur among the peasants.
"Follow me!" he said to his men and, walking up to one of the mencarrying a pitchfork, he said:
"I arrest you, in the name of the Republic."
In an instant a young man standing next to the one he had seizedsprang forward, and struck the officer to the ground with hiscudgel.
'Follow Me!' he shouted. 'Make for the gun!']
"Follow me!" he shouted. "Make for the gun!"
With a cheer the peasants rushed forward, overthrowing thegendarmes as they went. The municipal authorities, after hesitatingfor a moment, took to their heels in the most undignified manner.The gun had not been loaded. The gendarmes round it, seeing thatthey were greatly outnumbered, followed their example; and thepeasants, with exultant shouts, seized the cannon and then,scattering, chased the gendarmes out of the town.
Never was a more speedy and bloodless victory. Headed by theirleader, whose name was Rene Foret, the peasants went to themunicipality, broke open the doors, took possession of the armsstored there, collected all the papers they could find, and made agreat bonfire with them in the centre of the square. Then withoutharming anyone, or doing the slightest mischief, they left the townand scattered to their homes in the Bocage.
Leigh waited until all was over, returned to the cabaret where hehad left his horse, and rode on. Passing through the little town ofPin a powerful-looking man, some thirty-five years old, with aquiet manner, broad forehead, and intelligent face, stepped up tohim.
"Pardon, monsieur," he said; "but you have come from SaintFlorent?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Has aught happened there?"
"Yes, the peasants attacked the gendarmes, who fled, leaving theircannon behind them. The peasants took what arms there were in themunicipality, and made a bonfire of the papers. They then, withoutdoing any damage, dispersed to their homes."
"They have done well," the man said. "They have made a beginning.My name, monsieur, is Cathelineau; my business, so far, has beenthat of a hawker. I am well known in this part of the country.Maybe, sir, you will hear my name again, for henceforth I am aninsurgent. We have borne this tyranny of the butchers in Paris toolong, and the time has come when we must either free ourselves ofit, or die. You belong to another class, but methinks that when yousee that we are in earnest, you will join."
"I doubt not that we shall," Leigh said. "I am but a lad yet; but Ihope that, when the time comes, I shall do my part."
The man lifted his hat and moved off, and Leigh rode forward again.He was struck with the earnest manner of the man. He had spokencalmly and without excitement, expressed himself well, and had theair of a man who, having determined upon a thing, would carry itthrough.
"I expect I shall hear of him again," he said to himself. "A manlike that, travelling round the country, no doubt has a deal ofinfluence. He is just the sort of man the peasants would follow;indeed, as it seems to me, that anyone might follow."
It was late in the afternoon when he arrived home, and told hissister what he had witnessed.
"I am not surprised, Leigh," she said. "If I were a man I wouldtake up arms, too. There must be an end to what is going on.Thousands have been murdered in Paris, men and women; and at leastas many more in the other great towns. If this goes on, not onlythe nobles and gentry, but the middle class of France will alldisappear; and these bloodstained monsters will, I suppose, set toto kill each other. I feel half French now, Leigh, and it is almosttoo awful to think of.
"It seems to me that the only hope is that the peasants, not onlyof the Bocage, but of all Poitou, Anjou, and Brittany, may rise, bejoined by those of other parts, and march upon the towns; destroythem altogether, and kill all who have been concerned in thesedoings."
"That would be pretty sweeping, Patsey," Leigh laughed. "But youknow I hate them as much as you do and, though I don't feel a bitFrench, I would certainly do all that I could against them, just asone would kill wild beasts who go about tearing people to pieces.It is no odds to me whether the men, women, and children they killare French, or English. One wants to put a stop to their killing."
"I wish, now, that I had not brought you out with me, Leigh."
"In the first place, Patsey, I deny altogether that you did bringme out--Jean brought me out; and in the next place, I don't see whyyou should be sorry. I would not miss all this excitement, foranything. Besides, I have learned to talk French well, andsomething of the business of a wine merchant. I can't be taken inby having common spirit, a year or two old, passed off on me as thefinest from Charente; or a common claret for a choice brand. Allthat is useful, even if I do not become a wine merchant. At anyrate, it is more useful than stopping at Netherstock, where Ishould have learned nothing except a little more Latin and Greek."
"Yes, but you may be killed, Leigh."
"Well, I suppose if I had stayed at home, and got a commission inthe army or a midshipman's berth in the navy, I might have beenkilled and, if I had my choice, I would much rather be killed infighting against people who murder women and children, who havecommitted no crime whatever, than in fighting soldiers or sailorsof another nation, who may be just as honest fellows as we are.''
"I cannot argue with you, Leigh; but if anything happens to you Ishall blame myself, all my life."
"That would be foolish," Leigh said. "It is funny what foolishideas women have. You could not have foreseen what was coming, whenyou came over here; and you thought that it would be a good thingfor me to accompany you, for a time. You did what you thought wasbest, and which I think was best. Well, if it doesn't turn out justwhat we expected, you cannot blame yourself for that. Why, if youwere to ask me to come for a walk, and a tree fell on me as we weregoing along and killed me, you would hardly blame yourself becauseyou asked me to come; and this is just the same.
"At any rate, if I do get killed, which I don't mean to be if I canhelp it, there is no one else who will take it very much to heart,except yourself. There are plenty of them at home and, now that Ihave been away nearly two years, they must almost have forgotten myexistence."
"I consider you a very foolish boy," Patsey said, gravely. "Youtalk a great deal too much nonsense."
"Very well,
Patsey; abuse is not argument, and almost every wordthat you have said applies equally well to your folly, in leaving acomfortable home in a quiet country to come to such a dangerousplace as this.
"Now, I hope that supper is ready, for I am as hungry as a hunter."