CHAPTER NINETEEN.
A FOOLHARDY ADVENTURE.
Short time after this, a melancholy event occurred, which cast a gloomover the entire fleet.
The siege was not progressing to the admiral's satisfaction; thegarrison showed no sign of yielding; and our chief became anxious tolearn something with regard to the condition of things within the wallsof Bastia.
The moment that this desire became known, a host of volunteers steppedforward, with offers to do their best to make their way inside and gainthe required information. Admiral Hood, however, felt very reluctant toallow any of these volunteers to expose themselves to so great a risk;particularly as it turned out, when questioned, that not one of them hadbeen able to devise a really practicable and promising scheme.
The least unpromising idea of them all, was that suggested by LieutenantCarre Tupper, of the flag-ship; which was, that he should endeavour to_effect_ a landing inside the chain of defences, and, penetrating intothe town, gain all the information he could; and trust to his goodfortune for the means of getting off to the ship again. This planseemed all the more feasible, from the fact that he spoke the Frenchlanguage with the ease and fluency of a Parisian.
After much consideration, therefore, the admiral accepted this gallantyoung officer's offer, and gave his consent to the experiment.
A disguise was accordingly prepared under Lieutenant Tupper's ownsupervision; and on the first favourable night the experiment was tried.
It was perfectly calm, with an overcast sky and no moon, when he stood,dressed in his disguise, in the gangway of the "Victory," receiving fromthe admiral his last instructions; and many a hearty hand-shake, andmany a fervent "Success attend you, my dear fellow," did he receivebefore passing down the lofty side of the 100-gun ship, into the pinnacewhich, with muffled oars and a crew armed to the teeth, awaited him atthe foot of the side-ladder.
At last the final parting was spoken, the final shake of the hand given,and with a gay laugh, in response to the half-serious, half-jocosewarnings to take care of himself which followed him, he sprang lightlydown the side, took his seat in the stern-sheets, and gave the order toshove off.
He had most carefully reconnoitred the place beforehand, both from thetopgallant-yard of the "Victory," and from the deck of the little"Mouette;" so that he knew exactly for what point to steer; and therewas no hesitation whatever upon that score.
All went well with the little expedition until the boat arrived withinhalf a mile of Bastia, when a little breeze sprang up; the canopy ofcloud which had overspread the heavens cleared away as if by magic, andthe stars shone out brilliantly, flooding earth and sea with a lightwhich, though subdued, was sufficient to reveal to the sharp-eyed Frenchsentinels the small dark object which was silently stealing toward theshore.
The alarm was immediately given; but instead of opening upon the boatwith their heavy guns, at the risk of missing their object, and drivingoff their prey, the French allowed the boat still to approach, and,marking carefully the spot for which she was making, silently placed astrong body of sharpshooters in ambush to await her coming.
Had the Frenchmen in ambush but observed the most ordinary caution,there is no doubt they would easily have captured the boat and the wholeof her crew, but instead of this they gave way to the excitement whichis one of their failings, and indulged in such loud and continuouschatter that the coxswain of the pinnace heard them when within abouttwenty yards of the landing-place, and the boat was at once pulled roundwith her head off shore, and the crew ordered to "give way with a will,"in order to escape the very obvious danger.
But it was too late. The moment that it was observed that theirdestined prey had taken the alarm, a terrific volley of musketry waspoured into the boat, and the gallant young officer who had undertakenthe chief risk of the expedition fell forward into the bottom of theboat, dead and riddled with bullets. The coxswain also and two of thecrew were more or less severely wounded. The boat was as speedily aspossible taken out of range, and though, when it was found that therewas a prospect of her escaping, some of the batteries opened upon her,and two or three boats started from the shore in chase, she reached the"Victory" without further mishap, about an hour and a half from the timewhen she started upon the disastrous expedition.
Much grief was felt throughout the fleet at the loss of this gallant andpromising young officer, whose distinguished services at the evacuationof Toulon, as well as his kindly and genial disposition, had made himuniversally liked and respected.
After this, there was no further talk of obtaining informationrespecting the condition of the enemy.
But the idea had taken hold of me, and I had thought about it until Ihad become completely fascinated.
It certainly seemed to me a preposterous piece of presumption that Ishould flatter myself I could succeed where an older and much moretalented officer had failed, but the idea had got into my head, and themore I thought of it, the more sanguine did I become of success.
I had, after much thought, evolved a scheme which appeared to me so verypromising that I determined to put it to the test without delay, takingcare, however, not to breathe a word of my purpose to any of theofficers, because I felt certain that after the late lamentable failure,no further attempts of a like kind would be permitted.
I needed assistance, however, to carry this notable scheme into effect,and I accordingly took little Bobby Summers into my confidence.
The "Mouette," I ought to mention, had been brought round with the restof the fleet, and was occasionally employed in communicating between theships and the forces on shore. Bobby and I retained our former posts inher, and as she was required at all hours of the day and night, we hadremoved our chests and hammocks to her little cabin, merely visiting theold "Juno" at odd times, to maintain our connexion with her, when we hadnothing else in particular to do.
This arrangement was most favourable to my scheme, inasmuch as itallowed of my embarking upon it unmolested, and it also rendered littleBobby's assistance available at whatever moment I might require it.
There seemed to be only one serious difficulty in my way, and that wasthe want of a really good and effective disguise; and this difficultywas quite unexpectedly removed by the merest accident.
I had taken Summers into my confidence, and had received from him aprompt promise of his heartiest co-operation; the first dark nighttherefore which followed upon the unfolding of my purpose to myenthusiastic shipmate, we took the first steps necessary to itsaccomplishment.
I am, as I think I have already mentioned, an excellent swimmer, and itwas upon the possession of this accomplishment that I chiefly based myhopes of success. My plan was simply to row in as near the shore aspossible, accompanied by Summers, in the cockleshell of a dinghybelonging to the "Mouette," and then quietly slip into the water andswim the remainder of the distance. The dinghy in question was so verydiminutive a craft that I felt sure we might under favourablecircumstances get quite close in without being discovered.
The first thing which I considered necessary, was to ascertain the setand rate of the tide, such as it was; and to do this, we started away inthe dinghy one very dark night, armed with a cutlass and a brace ofpistols each, and paddled leisurely in toward the shore.
We arrived in due time within about half a mile of the harbour's mouth,and then laid upon our oars to watch the drift of a small piece ofplank, painted white, which we launched overboard, keeping the boat justfar enough away to prevent her influencing its course, while at the sametime able to distinguish its position pretty clearly.
We had been occupied thus for nearly an hour, and had seen enough tovery nearly satisfy me upon the point in question, when, at no greatdistance away, we heard a sound as of some one laying in an oar upon aboat's thwart.
Curiosity at once urged us to ascertain, if possible, the source andmeaning of this sound, as we felt pretty confident it could proceed fromno boat belonging to the fleet, and we easily arrived at the logicalconclusion that it mus
t therefore proceed from some boat belonging tothe enemy. Abandoning, therefore, our float to its fate, we loosenedour cutlasses in their sheaths, and our pistols in the belts whichsupported them, and very cautiously paddled in the direction from whencethe sound appeared to proceed.
We had not gone very far when we heard the sound of voices speaking in alow tone, apparently just inshore of us, and we accordingly turned theboat's head in that direction.
As we proceeded, the sound of talking rapidly became more distinct, andat length we were near enough to distinguish that the speakers, whoeverthey were, ere conversing in French.
At this point we rested on our oars again, and peered eagerly into thedarkness in the endeavour to see something of our neighbours.
After perhaps a minute's intense gaze shoreward, Bobby leaned over, andwhispered,--
"There they are, right ahead, and close under our bows. It is a boat,with two men in her, and as nearly as I can make out, they are leaningover the side and hauling something into the boat."
I looked intently in the direction indicated, and at length succeeded inmaking out the craft. There were, as Bob had said, two men in her; theywere leaning over the side, and as I watched, one of them raised hisarm, and I detected, just for a moment, the faint glitter of some objectjust beneath it. At the same instant a voice said in French,--
"Here is another, and a fine fellow he is, too. He will make a splendiddinner for the general to-morrow."
"Fishermen, by all that is lucky!" I exclaimed, in an excited whisper."Now, Bob, let's dash alongside and board the craft; a selection fromthe rig of those two men will make exactly the rig I want."
"All right," returned Bob. "You're the skipper, give the word, andwe'll nab the Mossoos in a jiffy."
"Now!" said I.
We dashed our oars into the water, and in half a dozen strokes werealongside the astonished fishermen.
As the two boats touched, Bob laid in his oar, and with the dinghy'spainter in one hand and his drawn cutlass in the other, leaped on boardthe stranger, treading as he did so upon a mass of fish which laywrithing and flapping feebly in the bottom of the boat, and instantlyassuming, quite unintentionally on his part, you may be sure, a sittingposition amongst the thickest of the slimy, scaly cargo. As he boardedforward, I did so aft, and presenting a pistol in each hand, as sternlyas I could, while struggling to suppress my laughter at Bob's exploit,ordered the fishermen to surrender, and to keep perfect silence, uponpain of instant death as the penalty of disobedience.
The poor fellows were taken completely by surprise, and seemed to haveno idea of resistance. They meekly cast off that portion of their lineswhich still remained overboard, and taking to their oars, pulled quietlyaway in the direction which I ordered, or towards the "Mouette," thedinghy being in tow astern.
As we, or rather they, rowed off to the cutter I questioned the men asto their reason for running so great a risk for the sake of a few fish,and in reply gained the information that the garrison, though still inpossession of a moderate supply of food, foresaw that a time of scarcitywas rapidly approaching; and the general had, accordingly, a few dayspreviously taken the remaining provisions under his own control, issuingto each inhabitant a daily ration upon a very reduced scale. Underthese circumstances, the fishermen of the place thought they saw theirway to a good market for any fish they could contrive to capture, and afew of them had accordingly ventured out at night with their hooks andlines.
This was most valuable information, _if true_, but coming from the enemyI thought it scarcely reliable--though the men spoke with the utmostfreedom, and apparently in perfectly good faith. I thereforedetermined, while slightly modifying my original plan, still to carry itout.
On our arrival on board the "Mouette," I invited our two prisoners downinto the cabin, and pouring them out a stiff "nor'wester" each, to cheerthem up a little and loosen their tongues, I told them frankly that itwas necessary I should make my way into Bastia, and intimated to them,that as they would be retained as hostages until my safe return, andliberated immediately afterwards, it would obviously be to theirinterest to give me all the information and help in their power toenable me to provide for my safety. I also informed them that it wouldbe necessary for me to borrow certain portions of their habiliments, tobe used as a disguise.
"It is a dangerous game which you are about to play, monsieur," remarkedthe elder of the two, who gave his name as Jean Leferrier. "Thegreatest precautions are taken to prevent the access of spies into theplace. Most of the inhabitants are well known, and any stranger wouldcertainly be noticed and sharply questioned as to how he came there, andupon what business. I greatly fear you will be arrested before you havebeen three hours in the place. If monsieur will condescend to acceptthe advice of a poor, ignorant fisherman like myself, he will abandonhis idea, and not embark upon so hazardous an enterprise."
This, however, I would not listen to for a moment, in fact every wordspoken only made me the more determined to go on; and this I intimatedpretty plainly.
"Perhaps if monsieur were to adopt the _role_ of an escaped prisonerfrom the British fleet he might succeed in disarming suspicion,"remarked Pierre Cousin, the other prisoner. "Monsieur's accent iscertainly not quite perfect (if he will pardon my presuming to say so);still it may pass without attracting much notice, and if you, Jean, wereto give him a note to _la mere_, she could take him in and look afterhim,--that is, if monsieur could endure the poor accommodation to befound under her roof."
"Certainly," replied Jean, "that might be done. But monsieur would haveto report himself to Monsieur le Maire immediately on his arrival, andwould therefore have to be prepared with a good detailed plausiblestory."
I replied that I thought I could manufacture a story which would holdwater sufficiently to satisfy the functionary referred to, the thoughtflashing into my mind that I could personate the lad whom we had foundin charge of the "Mouette" on the eventful evening of her capture.
"Then if monsieur is still determined to pursue his adventure, I willwrite the letter," remarked Jean.
"Do so at once, by all means," said I. "Tell her that, venturing toofar out, you have been made prisoners by a boat's crew from the Britishfleet, and that you found, on board the ship to which you have beentaken, another prisoner, who had contrived to make preparations for hisescape, and that you had only time to write this note, informing yourmother of your whereabouts, and recommending the bearer to her goodoffices, before he proceeded to put his plans into execution, the nightbeing favourable for the attempt."
"There is no time like the present," I continued to Summers. "The nightis dark, and altogether favourable for the enterprise. I have thelocality fresh in mind, so I shall go at once."
"And when do you intend to return?" asked Bob.
"Ah!" I replied, "that is more than I can tell you. You may dependupon it, I shall not stay an hour longer than is absolutely necessaryfor obtaining the required information, but whether I shall be able toget out again when that is obtained, it is impossible to say. There isone thing you must do, Summers, and that is, keep a constant lookout,from the time I leave you until I turn up again, and if you observeanything unusual inshore, leading you to suppose I am attempting to getout, do the best you can to help me. I shall leave a note with you forthe skipper, explaining what I intend to do; and that note I want you totake on board, and deliver into his own hands, the first thing in themorning."
I then set about writing the note, and by the time that I had finished,Jean had also brought his communication to a close. He passed it overthe table for me to read, and I found that it was substantially to thesame effect as I had suggested, but written in his own homely and notvery precise style of composition. I looked it very carefully throughto see that there was no covert suggestion therein of a characterintended to betray me; but as far as I could see it was a perfectlystraightforward affair from beginning to end.
This matter settled, I borrowed a pair of breeches, and the long boots
belonging to one of them; and the dirty ragged canvas overalls of theother; topping off with a dilapidated blue worsted cap which I had beenwearing continually since joining the "Mouette," and my rig-out wascomplete.
I intended pulling boldly ashore in the boat belonging to the capturedfishermen, that being infinitely preferable to my mind to swimmingashore as I had originally proposed; so, as soon as I was ready I satdown once more, and questioned them very minutely respecting theposition of the landing-place, the locality of _la mere's_ domicile, andeverything else I could think of likely to be of service in myundertaking.
Jean, the elder of the two, replied freely to all my inquiries; addingsuch information as suggested itself to him at the moment, and windingup by saying,--
"Monsieur must not be surprised if he is challenged on entering theharbour, that is almost certain to occur; and if it does he has only togive the watch-word, and he will not be further interfered with."
"And what is the watch-word?" I asked.
"Simply `_Bateau-pecheur; Bastia_,'" he replied. "If you are challengedgive the pass-word, and lie upon your oars; that will show them that youare one of us, and you will at once receive permission to proceed."
"Very well, I think I am pretty well primed now, and may venture tostart. Good-bye, Bob, old fellow. Keep a sharp lookout, and bear ahand with your assistance if you see that I need any when returning.And don't forget my letter to the skipper."
"All right, never fear; I'll remember everything. I only wish I couldhave gone instead of you, Chester. If you succeed it will be no end ofa feather in your cap, but if you fail,"--he concluded the sentence witha pantomimic gesture expressive of strangulation. "But there," headded, "I've no fear of that; I never saw such a fellow as you forpulling through; good-bye, old boy; ta-ta; `be sure you write.'"
And he wrung my hand heartily; with a gay laugh upon his lips, butsomething very like a tear glittering in his eye, as the feeble rays ofthe cabin lamp struggled through the skylight and fell upon his face.
I stepped into the heavy, clumsy, and slimy boat belonging to thefishermen; and, shipping the oars, shoved off and gave way for theshore; a faint twinkling light here and there in the town serving toguide me upon my proper course.
It took me nearly two hours to reach the harbour; the boat being heavy,and the oars much more cumbersome than any I had ever handled before;but I passed in between the two piers at last; and as I did so a darkfigure appeared on the extremity of one of them, looming up indistinctlyagainst the dusky sky; and a voice exclaimed sharply, in French,--
"Who goes there?"
"_Bateau-pecheur; Bastia_," I replied composedly, resting on my oars atthe same time.
"You are late, comrade," remarked the sentry. "What luck?"
"Very poor," I replied. "I have only been able to find half my lines,the darkness is so great; and in searching for the others I have lost agood deal of time."
"Ah," returned he, "you are lucky to have found any of them. Pass on,_monsieur le pecheur_; and good-night."
"Good-night," I shouted back, stretching out at the oars once more, androwing laboriously up the harbour against a slight ebb-tide.
I had no difficulty in finding the landing-place. It was a sort ofslipway leading down from the top of the quay to the water's edge; andsome ten or a dozen other fishing-boats were either hauled up there, ormoored alongside. There was not a soul to be seen about the place whenI ranged up alongside the green and slimy piles of which the slipway wasconstructed; I was consequently able to moor the boat at leisure, and insuch a way that if I wanted her again in a hurry, I should have nodifficulty in quickly casting her adrift.
I then gathered up the fish and placed them in a basket which was stowedaway in the eyes of the boat; and throwing the rope strap over myshoulders, trudged with my load up the slipway until I stood upon thetop of the quay.
I had been very minute in my inquiries as to how I was to proceed onlanding, so as to be able to go direct to the abode of Dame Leferrier;and the fisherman Jean had been equally minute and careful in directingme; I had only to stand a few seconds, therefore, as though takingbreath after the steep ascent, and look carefully about, to recognisethe landmarks which he had given me to determine the direction I oughtto take.
A low and villainous-looking waterside tavern stood at the corner of astreet at no great distance, dimly visible in the light of a grimylantern which swung over the door; and making for this, and keeping iton my right, I found myself in a narrow, wretchedly-paved street; upwhich I passed for about a couple of hundred yards, when I found myselfopposite a rickety little hovel, having a light burning in its window.I was directed to look for such a light in the house to which I wasbound; and as this appeared to be the only place in the street sodistinguished, I walked boldly up to the door, raised the wooden latch,and entered.
I found myself in a small, low-ceiled room, stone-paved; with a heavywooden table in the centre, having a rough wooden bench on each side; acouple of three-legged stools against the wall; a pair of clumsy oarsand a boat-hook in one corner; a boat's mast and sails in another; afireplace, with a few smouldering logs, over which was suspended an ironpot, occupied nearly the whole of one side of the room; and, by the sideof the hearth, with her back toward me, sat an old dame, leaning forwardwith her elbows on her knees, gazing, half-asleep, at the almost extinctfire.
On my entrance, she rose wearily to her feet, and looked round in feeblesurprise, but without any sign of perturbation at seeing a strangerbefore her.
"Have I the honour to address Madame Leferrier?" I inquired, with aspolite a bow as the heavy fish-basket on my back permitted me to make.
"I am Dame Leferrier," she replied. "Who are you, young man? As far asmy dim eyes will allow me to judge, I have never seen you before."
"You are quite right, madame," said I. "I am a perfect stranger to you.This note, however, from your son Jean will tell you who I am."
"A note from Jean!" she exclaimed. "What is the meaning of it? Why ishe not here, himself?"
"I am sorry to inform you that a slight misfortune has befallen him," Ireplied. "He and his comrade Pierre are at present prisoners in thehands of the English; but they will no doubt soon find the means toescape, as I have just done."
"Prisoners!" she exclaimed. "_Mon Dieu_! what will become of them? Andwhat," she added, "will become of _me_, now that I have lost the supportwhich they only would give me?"
"Be not distressed, madame," I replied, "either on their account or yourown. They will be treated with the utmost kindness, prisoners thoughthey are; and, for yourself, I shall need a home until I can get out ofBastia and return to my own; and if you will give me shelter, I am bothable and willing to pay you well for it."
I still held the note in my hand, and as I ceased speaking I offered ither again.
"Read it out to me, monsieur, if you please," said she. "My sight isbut poor at the best of times; and is certainly not equal to readingpoor Jean's letter by this light."
I accordingly read the letter over to her, and when I had finished, sheremarked,--
"Poor boys! poor boys! Prisoners! Well, well, it cannot be helped. Wemust be patient, and trust to the mercy of _Le Bon Dieu_. And now,monsieur, as to yourself. You are doubtless hungry and tired. Here isthe supper which I had prepared for my two; alas! they are not here toeat it; but draw up, monsieur; put the basket in the corner there, anddraw up to the table. You are heartily welcome to such as a poor widowhas to give; and when you have satisfied your hunger I will show you toyour bed. It was my boy's--my poor Jean's--ah! will he ever sleep on itagain?"
I drew up to the table, in accordance with the poor old soul'sinvitation; and while partaking of what turned out to be a very savourymeal, did my best to cheer her up with the hope of speedily seeing herJean once more.
My meal concluded, she conducted me up a rickety, worm-eaten staircase,to a small room above that which we had just left; and indicating one ofthe two beds therein as the one b
elonging to her Jean, and the one,therefore, which I was to occupy, bade me good-night and retired.
I must admit that, now I had fairly embarked upon my adventure, I foundthere were certain physical discomforts incidental to it, which were byno means to my taste. Thus, the disguise upon which my safety to agreat extent depended, consisted of clothing the reverse of clean, andthough it was certainly odoriferous enough, the perfume was by no meansthat of "Araby the blest." Then there was my lodging. It wasmoderately clean, perhaps, compared with the condition of a few of theplaces in the immediate neighbourhood; but ideas of cleanliness, likeideas upon many other matters, vary, and this place, though doubtlessconsidered scrupulously clean by the rightful occupants, wassufficiently the reverse to make me really uncomfortable; and for ashort time I abandoned myself to reflections the reverse of self-complimentary with regard to the impulse which had led me into such asituation. But the fact remained that I was there; and common-sensesuggested the desirability of making the best of the situation; Iaccordingly arranged matters as comfortably as I could, and flingingmyself upon the coarse pallet was soon wrapped in a dreamless slumber.
My first business in the morning was to find out and report myself tothe _maire_. I had given a great deal of consideration to this matterwhile rowing ashore on the previous night, weighing carefully thearguments for and against such a course; and had finally arrived at theconclusion that, though such a proceeding would undoubtedly be fraughtwith great danger, yet it would in reality be the safest thing to do.The great thing to avoid was the exciting of suspicion; and the surestmeans of achieving this seemed to me to be, not the actual _courting_ ofobservation, certainly, but the careful avoidance of anything whichseemed like shunning it.
Accordingly, after an early breakfast, during the discussion of which Ieasily extracted from my unsuspicious hostess all the informationnecessary to enable me to find my way to the various points I deemed itmost important to visit, I shouldered my basket of fish, and set out onmy way to the residence of Monsieur le Maire.
As I slouched heavily and leisurely along the streets, affecting asnearly as I could the clumsy gait of a common seaman on _terra firma_, Iglanced carefully about me to note such signs as might make themselvesvisible of the state of things within the town. It was not howeveruntil I reached the more respectable business quarter of the town that Iwas able to detect much. Then I observed tickets in the windows and onthe stalls, announcing the various articles for sale--and especiallyprovisions--at _only_--such a price--and exorbitantly high these priceswere, too.
I soon had reason to see that my resolution to report myself was a wiseone; for I had not proceeded far on my way before I found myself thesubject of sundry suspicious glances, and shortly afterwards a corporalof infantry hurried up behind, and, laying his hand upon my shoulder,exclaimed,--
"Halt, friend, and give me your name and place of residence, if youplease. You are a fisherman, apparently, yet two of your own peoplehave just pointed you out to me as certainly a stranger."
"I _am_ a stranger, comrade," I replied composedly. "I only arrived inBastia late last night, after effecting my escape from the British fleettwo hours previously. Two of the fishermen belonging to this place--Jean Leferrier and Pierre Cousin by name--venturing too far off shorelast night, were pounced upon and made prisoners by a boat belonging tothe fleet. They were placed in irons, and confined between the same twoguns as myself, and learning that I intended trying to escape, theydirected me how to find my way on shore, and how to behave when here;giving me also a note to convey to Madame Leferrier. I am now on my wayto the house of Monsieur le Maire to report myself."
"Good!" exclaimed my unwelcome companion; "I will accompany you there,and show you the house, since you are a stranger."
I did not, of course, dare to manifest any objection to such a proposal,or I should instantly have been made a prisoner, if indeed I might notconsider myself in reality one already.
I accordingly acquiesced in the most cheerful manner I could assume; andwe trudged on together, I describing, in response to the corporal'squestioning, the details of my assumed escape.
Just as I had finished my recital, we arrived at the corner of a street,and my companion stopped.
"This," said he, "is the street in which Monsieur le Maire resides. Butbefore we go further, may I ask, comrade, what you are going to do withthose fish in your basket?" casting at the same time a hungry glanceover my shoulder.
"Well," said I, "they really belong to poor Jean Leferrier and his mate;and I intended asking Monsieur le Maire to accept one or two of thefinest of them, after which I should sell the remainder, and hand overthe proceeds to Jean's mother, who I find depended entirely upon her sonfor house, food, and clothing. But I suppose one or two more or lesswill not make much difference to the good dame, especially,"--a brightidea striking me--"as I intend going out to-night and trying my luck; soif you would like a bit of fish for dinner and will accept one or two,make your choice, comrade; you have been very kind in guiding me thusfar, and I am sure you are heartily welcome."
I was about to unsling the basket from my shoulders, as I spoke, but hehastily stopped me.
"You are a good fellow, _mon ami_," said he, "and I accept your offer.But not here--it would never do for me to be seen here in publicaccepting such a present; it would be sure to get to our general's ears,and I should be simply flogged for my presumption. Why, if you had nottold me yourself that you are a stranger, I should have known it atonce, from your ignorance of the value of the contents of your basket.Why, we are closely besieged, _mon cher_; provisions are growing scarce,and your fish are worth--well--almost their weight in silver. _Come_this way; never mind Monsieur le Maire, he would only send you on to thegeneral's quarters to report yourself there; so you may as well saveyour intended present to him--or, better still, hand it to the general'scook, and that will insure you from all further trouble in the future,especially if you happen to make a point of leaving a little bit of fishat the general's whenever you happen to be passing that way. Ah! herewe are at the barracks!"
We turned in, as he spoke, through a pair of large, high folding gatesof wood, thickly studded along the top with sharp iron spikes, and Ifound myself in the barrack square, a large open space, surrounded onthree sides by buildings, and on the fourth--that side which abutted onthe street--by a wall about twenty feet high.
The edifice, which occupied the whole of that side of the square facingthe street, was an extremely ancient structure, and had evidently beenat one time a castle of considerable strength. The walls wereconstructed entirely of masonry, apparently of great solidity; but theage of the building, and the ravages of time were plainly indicated bythe stained and weather-beaten appearance of the stone-work, as well asby the way in which the exterior surface of the masonry had crumbledaway, leaving the once smooth face rough and jagged, with frequentindentations, where stones had become loosened in their setting andfinally dislodged altogether. The chief entrance to the building wasthrough a high and wide semicircular archway, of considerable depth,adorned with crumbling pillars and half-obliterated mouldings, flankedon each side by solid and bold projecting buttresses. The lower storeyof the building was lighted by good-sized windows of modernconstruction, which had evidently been pierced in the walls at no verydistant date; but above this the original narrow slits in the masonrywhich did duty as windows still remained. A short flagstaff, fromwhich, the tricolour fluttered in the morning breeze, surmounted thecentral portion of the building, which, from its superior height andapparent strength, I judged must have originally been the keep.
The two adjacent sides of the square were occupied by plain brickbuildings, three storeys high, which evidently constituted the men'squarters.
My companion conducted me across the square to the great centre dooralready mentioned, and, on our safely reaching the shelter of its deeprecess, bade me place my basket on the ground. I did so; whereupon--first glancing round to see whether there were any curio
us eyes turnedin our direction, and apparently satisfied that there were not--hestooped down, and planting himself well in front of my basket, hastilyselected a couple of moderate-sized fish, which he thrust up inside histunic. This done, he seized a wooden handle which hung at the extremityof a rusty chain issuing from a small aperture in the wall, and tuggedsmartly at it. The result was a clanging from a large bell, imperfectlyheard in the remote distance of the interior.
A minute or so elapsed; and then a wicket, cut in the woodwork of thedoor, opened; and an individual in plain clothes, apparently anofficer's orderly, became visible inside.
"Can Monsieur Lemaitre be seen?" inquired my companion.
"Doubtless," replied the individual to whom the question was put. "Comein, Jacques. What do you want with him?"
"That I will tell him myself, comrade, when I see him," respondedJacques, passing through the wicket and beckoning me to follow; which ofcourse I did.
"As you please, _mon ami_," replied the other; and without furtherparley he departed to apprise that important personage, the general'scook, that he was wanted.
In the interval I employed myself in looking round me.
I found myself in a sort of entrance-hall of considerable size. Thewall opposite the door contained a huge fireplace, sunk in the thicknessof the masonry. The side walls were pierced, on my right and left, withsemicircular archways, deeply moulded, and closed with strong woodendoors; and on the left, a massive and elaborately carved stonestaircase, of much more modern date than the building itself, led upwardto a stone gallery which ran all round the wall, with doorscommunicating with the apartments above. The hall ceiling, two storeysabove the pavement, was of stone, groined; the ribs of the groins boldlymoulded, and massively keyed in the centre with a stone of considerablesize, boldly carved with the representation of a dragon or griffincoiled into a circle. Over the great fireplace hung a trophy of rustyand dinted armour, surmounted by another trophy of faded and dustysilken banners; and two other flag trophies adorned the side walls.
By the time that I had completed my survey, a sound of shufflingfootsteps was heard; and immediately afterwards there emerged from apassage underneath the staircase, a short, stout good-tempered-lookingpersonage, dressed in a blouse and military trousers, with a cook's capon his head, and a long white apron in front, reaching from his neckalmost to his feet. He held a huge meat-knife in one hand, and abasting-ladle in the other. As he approached, my friend Jacques hastilyinformed me in a whisper that this was Monsieur Lemaitre.
In answer to this individual's inquiries, the corporal related the storyof my pretended escape from the enemy, hinting also my desire to reportmyself to the general; and winding up with a description of my anxietyto procure Monsieur Lemaitre's acceptance, on behalf of the general, ofthe pick of my basket.
I began dimly to see that the general--whoever he was--was a much-dreaded individual; and that this present of fish, suggested by myfriend the corporal, was intended by him, in all kindness, as a bribe,whereby I might obtain as favourable an introduction as possible to thepresence of the great man.
Monsieur Lemaitre stooped down and, with much deliberation, turned overthe various fish which I had brought, finally selecting a quantity ofthe choicest, amounting to about half my stock, which he laid upon thestone pavement of the hall. This done, he, in a very gracious andpatronising manner, assured me I might count upon his best services toobtain for me an early interview with his master, and retired; promisingto send some one forthwith to remove the fish he had selected.
The moment he was out of sight, my friend the corporal turned to me, andcongratulated me warmly upon the favourable reception which had beenaccorded me by the great man's great man; congratulating himself, at thesame time, upon the opportunity which had been afforded him of renderinga service of some little importance to a stranger. As he spoke thus, hecast such an expressive glance into my fish-basket, that there was nopossibility of my misunderstanding him. Accordingly, when heimmediately added that, as he could now be of no further service to me,he would take his departure, I uttered a few words of thanks for hiskindness; and expressed a hope that he would oblige me by making afurther selection of fish, as a slight token of my gratitude.
"Well, comrade," said he, "since you are so anxious about the matter, Iwill; and I do it all the more readily since--between you and me--youwill find these fellows about here such sharks that you will have topart with every fish in your basket before you will get an opportunityof reporting yourself. For my part, I detest such greediness; nothingis more abhorrent to a sensitive soul like mine; I consider that itought to be baulked and discouraged in every way; and in order to aid inso good a work as far as possible I will just take this--and this--andthese three--under my own care. And now--good-bye, comrade--nay, nothanks; you are heartily welcome; and I wish you a pleasant interviewwith the general."
Saying which he hastily retired through the wicket; just as a sound offootsteps along the passage under the staircase announced the approachof Monsieur Lemaitre's assistants.