by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XVII.
CAUGHT IN A TRAP.
So much had passed between the first visit of the Scudamores to Madridas Spanish peasant boys, and their second entry as captains upon LordWellington's staff, that they had scarcely given a thought to thedangers they had at that time run, or to the deadly hatred with whichthey had inspired the guerilla chief Nunez. When they first rodeinto the town, indeed, they had spoken of it one to the other, andhad agreed that it would be pleasant to be able to walk through thestreets without fear of assassination; for even, as Tom said, if thescoundrel had any of his band there, they would not be likely torecognize them in their uniforms.
One evening, however, when they had been in Madrid about a fortnight,an incident happened which caused them to doubt whether their securityfrom the hatred of the guerilla was as complete as they had fancied.They were sitting with a number of other officers in a large cafe inthe Puerta del Sol, the principal square in Madrid, when a girl cameround begging; instead of holding out her hand silently with a murmurfor charity in the name of the holy Virgin, she began a long story,poured out in rapid language.
Several of the officers present knew more or less Spanish, but theywere unable to follow her quick utterances, and one of them saidlaughingly, "Scudamore, this is a case for you, she is beyond usaltogether."
The girl followed the direction of the speaker's eye, and moved acrossto the brothers, who happened to be sitting next to each other, andbegan her story again. It was a complicated tale of French oppression,and the boys, interrupting her here and there to ask for details,talked with her for some minutes.
"I believe she is lying," Tom said, in English, "she tells her storyas if she had learned it by heart, and gets confused whenever wecross-question her; there, give her a few coppers, I am out ofchange."
As Peter put his hand into his pocket for the money, Tom glancedup sharply at the girl. She was not, as might have been expected,watching Peter's movements with interest, but was looking inquiringlyat some one in the crowd of promenaders. Tom followed her glance, andsaw a peasant, standing half-hidden behind a group of passers, nod toher, and motion her to come to him. She waited until Peter put thecoins into her hand; then, with a brief word of thanks, she moved awayinto the crowd.
"Peter, I believe those scoundrels are up to their old game, andthat we are watched. Once or twice since we have been sitting here Ihave noticed a heavy-looking fellow glance at us very closely as hepassed, and I just saw the same fellow, who was evidently hiding fromobservation, nod to that girl, and beckon her away."
"Her story was a lie from beginning to end," Peter said, "and it isquite possible that it was a got-up thing, on purpose to see whetherwe could talk Spanish well. I don't think any one could swear to uswho only saw us then; but the fact of our speaking Spanish so wellwould go a long way towards settling the point in the mind of any onewho suspected us!"
"We must be careful in future, Peter, and avoid quiet streets afterdark, and keep a sharp look-out at all times, or we shall get a knifebetween our ribs, as sure as fate."
Time, however, passed on without anything occurring to give anysupport to their suspicion, they could not discover that they werebeing watched, or their footsteps dogged. They, nevertheless,continued to be, to a certain extent, upon their guard after dark; inthe daytime the number of English soldiers about the streets was solarge that there was very little danger of any attack.
On the evening before the army marched for Burgos, Tom, whose turn itwas for duty at head-quarters, received a despatch, to carry to one ofthe generals of division encamped a mile or two out of the town. Hedid not need to go round to his quarters, as his horse was standingsaddled in readiness in the courtyard. He was but an hour away, and,as he knew that he would not be farther required, he rode round to thehouse where he was quartered. His orderly came forward at his shout,and took his horse, and he mounted the broad stairs of the house,which was a very handsome one, and rang at the door on the secondfloor; for in Spain, as indeed almost all over the Continent, eachfloor is a separate dwelling.
Sam opened it.
"Nothing new, Sam?"
"No, sar, nothing new."
Tom passed through the sitting-room, and entered Peter's bedroom. Itwas in darkness.
"Asleep, old man?" he asked.
There was no answer. He came back into the sitting room, where twolamps were burning, and looked at his watch. "Half-past eleven. He isoff to bed early. Sam, bring me some supper if you have got anything,I am hungry."
Sam came in, in a minute, with a small tray.
"How long has my brother been gone to bed?"
"Me did not know he gone to bed at all," Sam said, in surprise. "Methought Massa Peter been reading book."
Tom took up a light, and went into the bedroom, it was empty. "Sam,there's something wrong here!" Tom said sharply, for a suddensensation of alarm seized him. "Peter is not here."
Sam came into the bedroom, and looked round in astonishment. "Whatbecome of him?" he said. "Where de debil he got to?"
"That's what I want to know, Sam. Now, then, just give all yourattention. What time did he come in?"
"He came in at about nine o'clock, sar, with three other officers,Captain Farquharson, Major Heriot, and Captain Brown. Dey have bottlewine, and sit here and smoke. Well, Massa Tom, Sam sit in his room,and smoke him pipe, and he doze off a little; after a bit, may beten o'clock, Sam hear dem move, and go to door; they were sayinggood-night, when Massa Peter said, 'I will just go down to see thatthe horses are all right.' Den dey all go down togeder."
"Did they shut the door?" Tom asked.
"No, Massa Tom, dey did not shut de door, because, a little whileafter, Sam, he wake up wid little start; he hear de door bang, and'spose Massa Peter come back. Sam go off to sleep again till you ringbell."
Tom looked very grave. "What can Peter have gone off with Farquharsonat this time of night for?"
Then he looked round the room, and said, almost with a cry, "Sam,look there, there are his cap and sword. He has not gone out with theothers at all. What can have happened?"
Tom first glanced into his own room, and then ran downstairs in haste,followed by Sam, who was now also thoroughly alarmed. The orderly hadjust made the horse comfortable for the night, and was leaving thestable.
"Johnstone, when did you see my brother?"
"Well, it may be an hour, or an hour and a half back, sir. He camedown with some other officers; I did not see them, but I heard themtalking for a minute or two before he came in to look at the horses,and he asked if they were all right, and said they must be saddled byhalf-past five, and then he went up again--at least, I suppose he wentup, for he had not got his cap on. Is anything wrong, sir?"
"I don't know, I am afraid to think," Tom said, in a dazed way. "He isnot upstairs; he has not gone out; what can have become of him?"
He stood quiet for a minute or two, and then, with a great effort,brought his thoughts within control again. "The first thing is toassure ourselves whether he returned upstairs. Sam, fetch a lamp, thestairs are not lighted, and I want to examine them."
Sam soon returned with the lamp, and Tom, beginning at the streetdoor, examined every step carefully all the way up, Sam and thesoldier following him.
"There has been no scuffle on the stairs," he said; then he wentthrough the little hall into the sitting-room again. Nothing appearedto have been disturbed. Then he looked at the floor, which was ofpolished oak, and knelt down to examine it more closely. "There havebeen men with dirty shoes standing here," he cried. "Do you see themarks on each side of the door, and there, do you see that scratch andthat? There has been a scuffle. Good heavens! what has taken placehere?"
Sam's face was pale with apprehension that something had happened toPeter; but, he said, "How dat be, Massa Tom, with Sam in the next roomall the time?"
Tom made no reply; but was closely examining the floor--back acrossthe hall. "There is a mark; there is another," he said, "not made byboots, but by their native
sandals." Then he went out from the door,and up the next flight of stairs.
"There," he said, "just as I thought." Just round the angle of thestairs two steps were dirty and stained, as if dirty feet had beentrampling upon them for some time. "I suppose they knew I was out, andwatched here, for hours, perhaps. Then, when Peter went down, theyslipped in through the open door, and then"--without completing thesentence, Tom went back into the room, and threw himself into a chairin tearless despair.
Sam sobbed loudly. For some time there was silence. "There is noblood, sir, that I can see, not a speck," the orderly said. "Theycan't have killed Captain Scudamore, and, if they had, why should theyhave carried his body away?"
This was the question Tom had been asking himself. Assassinationswere, in Madrid, every-day occurrences, and that Peter and he wereespecially liable to be murdered, owing to the hatred of Nunez and hisgang, was clear; but, so far as he could see, not a drop of blood hadbeen shed here. Presently Sam began to sob more loudly. "Dis breakmy heart, Massa Tom, to tink dat Sam be next door all de time, and,instead of watching, he sleep so sound dat Massa Peter carriedstraight away."
"You are not to blame, Sam, there was, probably, no noise whatever.But, what can it all mean? Johnstone, you had better go to bed, youcan do no good now. Sam, give me my pistols; take that big stick ofyours, and come round with me to head-quarters, we will call in atCaptain Farquharson's on the way."
That officer, on being roused, and made to understand what was thematter, confirmed the account given by the orderly; he and hiscompanions had parted at the street door, and Peter had gone down theyard to the stable.
"It is clear that Peter has been carried off," Tom said, "and I havenot the least doubt that it has been done by some of the band ofNunez. As you have heard me say, they owe us a grudge, and have, nodoubt, been on the look-out ever since we came here. We have beenon guard, and never gave them a chance, and, I suppose, they gotdesperate when they found the army was moving again, and so carriedout this audacious plan."
"If your brother had been found murdered I should understand it,"Captain Farquharson said; "but, what on earth did they carry him offfor?"
Tom was silent for a minute.
"That fiend, Nunez, would have had us stabbed if he could do nothingelse; but he would, if I judge him rightly, be really contented withnothing short of putting us to death himself in some horrible manner.My own idea is, that Peter is hidden away somewhere near, will be keptin concealment until the road is clear, and will then be taken toNunez. I must go off and try and save him at all hazards."
Captain Farquharson was silent, while Tom walked up and down the roomthoughtfully.
"I don't suppose the chief would refuse me leave," Tom said. "If hedoes, I must throw up my commission."
"No, no; you are sure to get leave for such a thing as this, but thedifficulty of the affair will be to know how to proceed. The countrywill swarm with French, the guerillas are sure to keep a sharplook-out, and if you find him, how are you going to rescue him?"
"I don't know," Tom said, "but it's got to be done; that's clear. Ican't set out as a Spanish peasant," he went on after a pause. "Theyknow me as that now. At least, if I do I must get up as an old manand change my appearance. I might go as a woman, but I am too tall inthe first place, and then women don't go wandering over the countryin such times as this. But there, I have time to think it over beforemorning. I suppose the general will be moving about five o'clock;I will see him the first thing, and tell him the whole story.Good-night."
And so Tom went back to his quarters, and sat thinking deeply untilmorning, while Sam sat gloomily in his little room, sometimes withtears rolling down his cheeks, sometimes muttering terrible threatsagainst the guerillas, at other times cursing himself for having beenasleep instead of watching over his young master's safety. Tom hadbriefly told him that he intended to get leave in order to searchfor Peter. At daybreak, when he heard Tom moving, he went into thesitting-room.
"Look here, Massa Tom, Sam only one word to say. He going to look forMassa Peter. Sam know dat him color berry spicuous, dat people lookat him and tink he de debil. Sam don't spect he going wid you. Datwouldn't do. Dese fellows watch him, know dat black fellow here. OnlySam go somehow. He trabel night, hide up at day time. He join you delast ting when you go to mash up dem guerillas like squash. Anyhow,Sam must go. If can get leave, berry well, if not he desert. Anyhow hego, dat sartin. Sam kill himself if he stay behind."
Tom had already thought over this. He was sure that the faithful negrowould not remain behind, but he had seen that his companionship wouldbe fatal. He had, therefore, formed some plan in his head similar tothat which Sam proposed, and he knew that when the moment for actioncame his courage, strength, and devotion would be invaluable.
"You shall go, Sam," he said, holding out his hand to his attachedfollower. "As you say, you can't go with me, but you shall gosomehow."
"Thank you, Massa Tom," the negro said gratefully, "You berry sure ifMassa Peter die Sam die too."
Tom now went to head-quarters, and found that Lord Wellington wasjust up. Sending in to say that he wished to speak with him for a fewminutes on a matter of urgent personal importance, he was admitted,and related as concisely as he could Peter's disappearance, and toldthe story of the affair with the guerillas, which accounted for theintense desire for vengeance on the part of Nunez. He ended by askingfor leave of absence.
The general heard him to the end, asking a brief question here andthere.
"You can have the leave certainly, Captain Scudamore, I know that itis needless for me to point out the risks that you will run, both fromthe French and guerillas. I think that it might be an advantage if Igive you a note which you can, in case of absolute necessity, show toany French officer."
So saying, the general sat down and wrote as follows:--
"To the French officer commanding.--The Earl of Wellington,commander-in-chief of His Britannic Majesty's forces in Spain, giveshis assurance that the bearer of this, Captain Scudamore, although notin English uniform, is not engaged upon any mission connected with thearmy, or to obtain information respecting the strength and position ofthe French forces. His business is entirely private, and he is engagedin an attempt to discover and rescue a brother who has been carriedoff by the guerilla chief Nunez in order to gratify private vengeance.The Earl of Wellington, confiding in the natural courtesy of theFrench nation, trusts that officers of that service will, if appliedto, assist Captain Scudamore in any way in their power, and he willfeel personally obliged to them by their so doing."
Tom expressed his deep gratitude for this, which might, he foresaw, beof inestimable advantage to him.
"I am taking my servant with me, sir--the negro; he will not travelwith me by day, but will join me wherever I tell him; he is verystrong and brave, and is deeply attached to us."
"Yes, I remember," the general said; "that is the man whose life yousaved. Do you leave at once?"
"No, sir; I am thinking of riding with you to-morrow at any rate. Theroute lies on the way I have to go, and I am sure to be watched here."
"Very well," the general said; "I wish you good fortune; but you havea difficult, almost a desperate, service before you."
Upon leaving head-quarters, Tom again called on Captain Farquharson.
"Farquharson, I hear that it will be eleven before the chief leaves. Iwish you would go to that little shop opposite the opera-house; theyhave got wigs and all that sort of thing there. Please get me twoold men's wigs and beards, and one set of those mutton-chop shapedwhiskers, and a woman's wig. I haven't made up my mind yet what I amgoing to wear, but I want these things to choose from. I am sure to bewatched, and if I were to go there they would find out, five minutesafterwards, what I had bought. In the meantime I am going to the headof the police to give notice of Peter's disappearance, and to ask himto have the carts leaving the town for the next few days searched.I have no doubt the fellows will outwit the police, but it's no usethrowing away a chance."
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It was six days after this that an old man, with long white hairand gray beard, and with a box containing cheap trinkets, beads,necklaces, earrings, knives, scissors, and other like articles, wassitting at the junction of two roads near the lower slopes of thePyrenees, some twenty miles north of Vittoria. He had one of hissandals off, and appeared to have just risen from a bed of leaves inthe forest behind him. The dawn had broken, but it was still twilight.Presently he heard a footstep coming along the road, and at onceapplied himself to wrapping the bandages, which serve for stockingsto the Spanish peasant, round his leg, looking eagerly from under hiswide sombrero to see who was approaching. As the new-comer came insight, the pedlar at once ceased his employment and rose to meet him.He had recognized the figure, but the face was hidden, the Spanishcloak, worn as is usual by peasant and noble alike, with one endthrown over the shoulder, hiding the chin and lower part of the face,while the wide felt hat, pressed well down in front, allowed scarcelya glimpse even of the nose. That, however, would have been sufficientin the present case, for the man was a negro.
Upon seeing the pedlar rise, he ran forward to meet him.
"Ah, Massa Tom, tank de Lord me find you safe and sound. I alwayskeep on tinking you taken prisoner or killed eider by de French or derobbers--one as bad as de oder."
"I have thought the same of you, Sam, for your risk has been fargreater than mine. Well, thank God, it is all right thus far. But comeback into the wood, I have got some food there, and here any one mightcome along."
They were soon deep in the wood, where, by a pile of grass and leaveswhich had evidently been used as a bed, was an open wallet, with somebread, cheese, cold meat and a small skin of wine.
"Are you hungry, Sam?"
"Downright starving, sar; dis chile eat noting for two days."
"Why, how is that, Sam; you had six days' provision with you when youstarted?"
"Dat true enough, sar, but Sam's appetite bigger than usual, noting todo all day sitting in de woods, waiting for night to come so as to goon again; so had to eat, and de food all went before Sam thought datdere was two more days before he meet you."
"Well, sit down now, Sam, and eat away; we have plenty of time."
They had much to tell each other. They had traveled by the same road,one by night, the other by day--Sam passing the days sleeping in thewoods, his master traveling by day and at night sleeping in wretchedvillage posadas. He, too, would far rather have slept in the woods,for the insects and filth made sleep almost impossible in theseplaces, besides which he ran a good deal of risk as to the discoveryof his disguise. He had, however, chosen the inns in hopes of hearingsomething which might give him a clue as to the object of his search.The only information, which he had gained was to the effect that Nunezstill had his quarters at the old place. He had been driven out of it,and the village had been burned by the French, but the position wasa convenient one, and the houses had been cleared and roughly roofedwith boughs of trees and straw, and the band was still there. Thismuch was satisfactory, and he could hardly have expected to learnmore, unless he had happened to meet some of the members of the banditself. They had not traveled by the main road, as upon that largeforces of the French were collected; and even if Tom could havepassed through, boldly, Sam could not have made his way. Even by theroad they had chosen Tom had met several bodies of French, while atVittoria a very large force was assembling, destined for the relief ofBurgos.
Sam had but few incidents to relate. He had been carefully instructedby Tom before starting as to the road he should take, and the positionand distances apart of the towns and villages upon it. He had traveledonly at night, and had but once or twice exchanged a word with passersby. People did not travel much at night in so disturbed a country,and when Sam heard a foot-passenger approaching, or, as was morefrequently the case, a party of French cavalry, he left the road andlay down, until they had passed. The one or two foot-passengers he hadmet suddenly he had passed with the usual Spanish muttered salutation,and the darkness and the disguise prevented any recognition of hiscolor.
"Now, sar," Sam said, when they had finished breakfast, "what am to bedone next?"
"I do not think, Sam, that the party who have got Peter have arrivedyet. They could only have started on the day that we did; they have aslong a road to go, and most likely they have got a bullock-cart, whichwon't travel more than fifteen miles a day at the outside. They havegot Peter in a cart covered up with something, we may be sure. I don'tthink they will be here for another day or so at the earliest. If weknew what sort of cart it was, we could attack them on the way ifthere are not too many of them; but unfortunately we don't know that;and as there are three or four roads up to the village, and they aresure to make a detour, we don't know which they will come by. I hopeto learn at the village. We will stay where we are till dark, then wewill push on; it is only a couple of miles or so from here. I willsteal into the place after dark, and try and overhear what is goingon. You shall remain at a point where you can see down into thevillage and can hear a shout. I will give you this letter of LordWellington, and if you hear a pistol shot and hear me shout 'Sam!' youwill know I am caught, and must make off as hard as you can to thatsmall town in the plain, where there is a French garrison; ask for thecommanding-officer, show this letter, and offer to guide them so asto surprise Nunez and his band. That is our sole chance. But I don'tthink there is much risk of being caught. I shall be very careful, youmay rely upon it; and as I know the position of the house, I shall beable to make my way about. Once night has fallen they go off to bed;and even if I walked boldly about the place I should likely enoughmeet no one all night."
That evening Tom entered the village as soon as it was fairly dark. Heknew, from his former experience, that sentries were always placed atpoints whence they could get a view of the roads, and he made his wayso as to avoid any risk of observation by them; but when he reached aplace whence he could in turn view the posts of the watchers, he foundthat they were deserted, and concluded that the brigands had becomecareless, from the belief that, now the French had once destroyed thevillage, they would not be likely to come up to search for them therea second time; besides which, they might reckon that the French hadtheir hands much too full with the advance of the Allied Army to spareeither men or time in raids upon the guerillas. In this particular,indeed, they would have argued wrongly, for the French during thewhole war, however much they were pressed by Wellington, always keptsufficient forces in hand to scatter the guerillas as fast as theybecome formidable.
Tom had now taken off his beard and wig, and had put on the smallwhisker, which is the general fashion of wearing the hair throughoutSpain. Thus he trusted, if surprised in the dark, to pass as one ofthe band. So quiet was the village when he entered, that he at firstthought it was deserted; at last, however, he saw a light in one ofthe houses in the center of the village. Approaching carefully andnoiselessly he saw a group of five men sitting and drinking round afire made on the ground, in the center of one of the windowless rooms,the smoke finding its way out through the roof.
"I tell you," one said, "I am getting sick of this life; I am ready togo and kill the French, but to be left up here, where there is nothingto do, no one to talk to, not a roof to cover one; bah! I am sick ofit. But Nunez will be back in three days, and we shall be merry enoughthen."
"Not we," another said, "this was a pleasant village in the old days,what is it now? There are no women, not even old mother Morena, whoused to cook well, if she was free of her tongue. There is not even apriest now to shrive us if one is brought in to die."
"Nunez will come back in a good temper if it is true what Lope saidyesterday when he came through, that the lads at Madrid had got oneof those English boys who made a fool of him two years ago. That wasa go. Demonio! but it was a fine thing. If it is true that they havegot him and are bringing him here I would not be in his skin for allthe treasures of King Joseph. Yes, Nunez was always a devil, but he isworse now. Somehow we always have bad luck, and the band ge
ts smallerand smaller, I don't suppose there's above fifty with him now. Iexpect we shall have them pretty well all here this week."
"No fear of a visit from the French?"
"None; Reynier at Vittoria is busy now in sending every man he canspare forward to the army that's gathering near Burgos."
This was enough for Tom, who stole silently away to the spot where Samwas anxiously awaiting him.