by G. A. Henty
Chapter 5: Checking The Enemy.
"You see," Leigh said, when the patrol had ridden on, "the realsoldiers do not like the work they are called upon to do, and theyhave no belief in the National Guards, or in the new levies. Itwill make all the difference, in their own fighting, when they knowthat they cannot rely upon some of the troops working with them. Ihave no doubt that what they say of the National Guards is true.They have had to come out because they are summoned, but they canhave no interest in the war against us and, doubtless, many of themhate the government in Paris just as much as we do, and would givea great deal to be back again with their homes and families. It isjust as hard for them to be obliged to fight us, as it is for us tobe obliged to fight them."
It was late in the afternoon before Andre and Pierre returned. Bythe time they did so, the various cavalry patrols had all gone backto Thouars. From time to time, boys had come in from the otherroads. One or two patrols, only, had gone out by each of the laneson which they were posted. It was evident that the main road wasconsidered of the most importance, and it was probable that thegreater portion of the enemy's force would move by it.
"Well, what is your news?" Leigh asked, as his two lieutenants camedown from the wood behind. "I hope all has gone well with you."
"Yes, captain," Andre replied; "we have had no difficulty. Thetroops in the villages on the other side of the town did not evenglance at us, as we went through; supposing, no doubt, that webelonged to the place. Thouars was crowded with soldiers, and weheard that two thousand more are to arrive from Saumur, thisevening. We heard one of the officers say that orders were expectedfor a forward movement, tomorrow; and that all the other columnswere to move at the same time, and three of them were to meet atChemille."
"That is enough for the present, Andre. You have both done verywell, to pick up so much news as that. We will be off, at once."
Messengers were at once sent off, to order in the other partiesand, as soon as these joined, they returned to the village, wherethey passed the night. On arriving there, Leigh wrote a report ofthe news that he had gathered; and sent off one of the band, whohad remained all day in the village, to Cathelineau, and the otherto Monsieur d'Elbee at Chollet.
The next day's watch passed like the first. Two or three officers,however, trotted along the main road with a squadron of cavalry,and rode to within a few miles of Chemille, and then returned toThouars.
The next morning Leigh and his band were out before daybreak and,making their way to within a short distance of Thouars, heard drumsbeating and trumpets sounding. There was no doubt that the forcethere was getting into motion. The band at once dispersed, carryingthe news not only to every village along the road, warning thewomen and children to take to the woods, and the men to prepare forthe passage of the enemy, but to all the villages within two orthree miles of the road, ordering the church bells to be sounded tocall the peasants to arms; while two lads started to carry the newsto Cathelineau and d'Elbee. When once the bells of the churchesnear the road were set ringing, they were speedily echoed by thoseof the villages beyond; until the entire district knew that theenemy were advancing.
On the way from Chemille, Leigh had kept a sharp lookout for pointswhere an enemy might be checked; and had fixed upon one, abouthalfway between the two towns. A stream some four feet in depthpassed under a bridge, where the road dipped into a hollow; beyondthis the ground rose steeply, and was covered with a thick wood, ofvery considerable extent. As soon as he reached this point, he sethis band to work to destroy the bridge. As groups of peasants cameflocking along, and saw what was intended, they at once joined inthe work.
As soon at it was done, Leigh led them to the spot where the forestbegan, some thirty yards up the hill, and set them to fell trees.This was work to which all were accustomed and, as many of themcarried axes, the trees nearest to the road were felled to fallacross it; while on each side facing the stream, they were cut soas to fall down the slope, and so form an abattis.
Before the work was finished, to a distance of two or three hundredyards on each side of the road, several hundred peasants had comeup. Of these, about a third were armed with muskets. Seeing theadvantage of the position; and that, in case it was forced, theforest offered them a means of retreat, all prepared for adesperate resistance. The men with firearms were placed in thefront rank. Those with pitchforks, and other rural weapons, were tokeep at work till the last moment, cutting underwood, and fillingthe interstices between the boughs of the fallen trees, so as tomake it extremely difficult to force. They were ordered towithdraw, when the fight began, to a distance of two or threehundred yards; and then to lie down, in any inequalities of theground, so as to be safe from cannon shot Only when the defendersof the abattis were forced back, were they to prepare to charge.
A young fellow with a cow horn took his place by Leigh's side. Whenhe blew his horn, the front rank were to run back, and the reserveto come forward to meet them; and then they were to rush down againupon their assailants who had passed the abattis, and to hurl theminto the stream.
The peasants all recognized the advantages of these arrangements.Those who had come first had found Leigh in command and, by thereadiness with which he was obeyed by his own followers, saw atonce that he was in authority. As others came up, he showed themCathelineau's circular. These recognized its order, and informedthe later arrivals that the young officer, who was giving orders,was specially empowered by Cathelineau to take command; and Leighwas as promptly obeyed as if he had been their favourite leader,himself. They saw, too, that he knew exactly what he wanted done,and gave every order with firmness and decision; and theirconfidence in him became profound.
It was three hours after he arrived at the river when a party ofhorse came down the opposite slope. Leigh had ordered that not ashot was to be fired, until he gave the signal. He waited until theenemy came to the severed bridge, when they halted suddenly; and asthey did so he gave the word and, from the long line of greenery,fifty muskets flashed out. More than half the troop of horse fell;and the rest, turning tail, galloped up the hill again, while ashout of derision rose from the peasants.
A scattered fire broke out from the defenders.]
Half an hour passed, then the head of the column was seendescending the road. It opened out as it came, forming into a thickline of skirmishers, some two hundred yards wide. Moving along,Leigh spread the musketeers to a similar length of front. At first,the enemy were half hidden by the wood at the other side of theslope; but as they issued from this, some twenty yards from thestream, a scattered fire broke out from the defenders.
The Blues replied with a general discharge at their invisible foes,but these were crouching behind the stumps or trunks of the felledtrees, and the fire was ineffectual. Leigh's own band were lying ina little hollow, twenty yards behind the abattis; their pistolswould have been useless, until the enemy won their way up to thetrees, and until then they were to remain as a first reserve.
Exposed as they were to the steady fire of the peasants, theassailants suffered heavily and, at the edge of the stream, pausedirresolutely. It was some fifteen yards wide, but they wereignorant of the depth, and hesitated to enter it; urged, however,by the shouts of their officers, who set the example by at onceentering the stream, and by seeing that the water did not riseabove their shoulders, the men followed. But as they gained theopposite bank, they fell fast. At so short a distance, every shotof the peasants told; and it was some time before a sufficientnumber had crossed to make an assault against the wall of foliagein their front.
Fresh troops were constantly arriving from behind and, encouragedby this, they at last rushed forward. As they did so, Leigh calledup his own band; and these, crawling forward through the tangle asfar as they could, opened fire on the enemy, as they strove to pushtheir way through the obstacle.
For a quarter of an hour the fight went on. Then the assailants,having with great loss succeeded in passing over or pulling asidethe brushwood, began to pour through. The moment they
did so,Leigh's horn sounded; and at once the defenders rushed up the hill,pursued by the Blues, with exulting shouts. But few shots werefired, for the assailants had emptied their muskets before strivingto pass through the obstacle.
Leigh and his men had run but a hundred yards into the wood whenthey met the main body of the peasants, rushing down at full speed.Turning at once, his party joined them, and fell upon the advancingenemy. Taken wholly by surprise, when they believed that victorywas won, the two or three hundred men who had passed the abattiswere swept before the crowd of peasants like chaff. The latter,pressing close upon their heels, followed them through the gapsthat had been made.
The panic of the fugitives spread at once to those who had crossedthe river, and were clustered round the openings, jostling in theireagerness to get through and join, as they believed, in theslaughter of those who had caused them such heavy loss; and allfled together. The peasants were at their heels, making deadly useof their pitchforks, axes, and knives, and drove the survivorsheadlong into the river. The horn again sounded and, in accordancewith the strict orders that they had received, they ran back againto their shelter; a few dropping from the scattered fire that thetroops on the other side of the stream opened against them, as soonas the fugitives had cleared away from their front.
Scarcely had the peasants gained the shelter when six pieces ofcannon, that had been placed on the opposite slope while the fightwas going on, opened against them.
Leigh at once ordered the main body back to their former position,scattering his hundred men with guns along the whole line ofabattis, whence they again opened fire on the troops on theopposite side of the river. These replied with volleys of musketry;but the defenders, stationed as they were five or six yards apart,and sheltering behind the trees, suffered but little either fromthe artillery or musketry fire; while men dropped fast in the ranksof the Blues.
The cannon were principally directed against the trees blocking theroad. Gradually these were torn to pieces and, after an hour'sfiring, were so far destroyed that a passage through them wascomparatively easy. Then the enemy again began to cross the stream.
As soon as they commenced to do so, Leigh called up the men withmuskets from each flank, and sent word to the main body to descendthe hill again, as the cannonade would cease as soon as the attackbegan. Three times the assault was made and repulsed, the peasantsfighting with a fury that the Blues, already disheartened withtheir heavy losses, could not withstand. As they fell back for thethird time, Leigh thought that enough had been done, and orderedthe peasants at once to make through the woods, and to proceedby-lanes and byways to join Cathelineau; who, he doubted not, wouldby this time have gathered a considerable force at Chemille.
By the time that the Blues were ready to advance again, this timein overwhelming force, the peasants were well away. The wounded, asfast as they fell, had been carried off to distant villages; andwhen the enemy advanced they found, to their surprise, that theirfoes had disappeared, and that only some thirty dead bodiesremained on the scene of battle.
Their own loss had exceeded three hundred, a large proportion ofwhom were regular soldiers; and the National Guards, and the newlevies, were profoundly depressed at the result of the action.
"If," they said to themselves, "what must have been but acomparatively small number of peasants have caused this loss, whatwill it be when we meet Cathelineau's main body?"
There was no thought of pursuit. A regiment was thrown out inskirmishing order, and advanced through the wood, the restfollowing in column along the road. General Berruyer had joinedGeneral Menou the evening before, with the force from Saumur and,as they moved forward, the two generals rode together.
"This is a much more serious business than I had expected,"Berruyer said. "I certainly imagined that, with such forces as wehave gathered round La Vendee, the campaign would be little morethan a military promenade. I see, however, that I was entirelymistaken. These men have, today, shown themselves capable of takingadvantage of the wild character of their country; and as to theircourage, there can be no question, whatever. If this is a fairsample of the resistance that we have to expect, throughout thewhole country, we shall need at least fifty thousand men to subduethem."
"Fully that," Menou said, shortly. "There is no doubt that we blamethe National Guards, who were so easily routed by the peasants onthe tenth of March, more severely than they deserve. I rode forwardto encourage the men, at their last attack. I never saw soldiersfight with such fury as did these peasants. They threw themselveson the troops like tigers, in many cases wresting their arms fromthem and braining them with their own muskets. Even our bestsoldiers seemed cowed, by the fierceness with which they wereattacked; and as for the men of the new levies, they were worsethan useless, and their efforts to force their way to the rearblocked the way of the reinforcements; who were trying, though Imust own not very vigorously, to get to the front.
"The peasants were well led, too, and acting on an excellent planof defence. They must have been sheltered altogether from our fire,for among the dead I did not see one who had been killed by acannonball. The country must possess hundreds of points, equallywell adapted for defence; and if these are as well and obstinatelyheld as this has been, it will take even more than fifty thousandmen to suppress the insurrection."
"The Convention is going to work the wrong way," Berruyer said."The commissioners have orders to hang every peasant found in arms,and every suspect; that is to say, virtually every one in LaVendee. It would have been infinitely better for them to haveissued a general amnesty; to acknowledge that they themselves havemade a mistake; that the cures of Poitou and Brittany should beexcepted from the general law, and allowed to continue their workin their respective parishes without interruption; and that for ayear, at least, this part of France should be exempt fromconscription. Why, if this campaign goes on, a far larger forcewill be employed here than the number of troops which the districtwas called upon to contribute, to say nothing of the enormousexpense and loss of men.
"It is a hideous business altogether, to my mind. I would give allI possess to be recalled, and sent to fight on the frontier."
Two hours after the fight, Leigh with his band, of whom none hadbeen killed, although several had received wounds more or lessserious, arrived at Chemille. They had been preceded by many of thepeasants, who had already carried the news of the fight, and thatthe column from Thouars had been delayed for three hours, and hadsuffered very heavy losses.
"It was all owing, Monsieur Cathelineau," the head of one of thepeasant bands said, "to the officer you sent to command us. He wassplendid. It was to him that everything was due. He was cuttingdown the bridge when we came up, and it was by his orders that wefelled the trees, and blocked the road, and made a sort of hedgethat took them so long to get through. We should have been greatlydamaged by the fire of their guns and muskets; but he kept us alllying down, out of reach, till we were wanted, while the men withthe guns defended the line of fallen trees. When we were wanted, hecalled us up by blowing a cow horn, and then we drove the Bluesback into the stream, and returned to our shelter until we werewanted again.
"We did not lose more than thirty men, altogether; while more thanten times that number of the Blues have fallen. We thought at firstthat you had chosen rather a strange leader for us; but as alwaysyou were right, for if you had been there, yourself, things couldnot have gone better."
"But I sent no one as your commander," Cathelineau said insurprise.
"He had a paper that he read out, saying that he was acting on yourorders. As I cannot read, I cannot say that it was written down ashe read it; but if you did not send him, God must have done so."
"It is strange, Bonchamp," Cathelineau said to that officer, "for Icertainly did not send anyone. I never thought of defending thepassage of that stream. However, whoever it is who has commandedhas done us great service, for that three hours which have beengained will make all the difference. They cannot arrive, now, untilafter dark, and will not atta
ck before morning; and by that time,our force will have doubled."
"Here comes our officer, monsieur!" the peasant exclaimed; asLeigh, with his party, came down the street, loudly cheered by thepeasants who had fought under him.
"Why, it is Jean Martin's young brother-in-law!" Monsieur Bonchampexclaimed and, raising his voice, he called to Jean, who wastalking to a group of other officers near.
Jean ran up.
"Monsieur Martin, it is your young Englishman who has held Berruyerin check, for three hours; see how the peasants are cheering him!"
Cathelineau advanced to meet Leigh, who halted his band and salutedthe general. The latter stepped forward, and returned the salute bylifting his hat.
"Monsieur Stansfield," he said, "I salute you, as the saviour ofour position here. Had Berruyer arrived this afternoon, we musthave retired; for we are not yet in sufficient force to withstandhis attack. Tomorrow we shall, I hope, be strong enough to beathim. I have been wondering who this officer could be who, with butthree or four hundred men, held the principal force of our foes,led by their commander-in-chief, in check for three hours; and, asI hear, killed three hundred of his best troops, with a loss of butthirty of ours. I ought to have thought of you, when they said thatyou read them an order, saying that you were acting in my name."
"It was great presumption on my part, general," Leigh said, "and Iknow that I had no right to use it for such a purpose; but I felthow important it was that you should have time to prepare fordefence, and I thought it my duty, as there was no one else to takethe matter in hand, to do so myself."
"You have done magnificently, sir, and the thanks of all La Vendeeare due to you.
"I see that several of your lads are wounded," for five of themwore bandages, and a sixth was carried on a rough litter, by fourof his companions. "Lads," he said, "I salute you. You have donewell, indeed, and there is not a boy of your age in La Vendee butwill envy you, when he hears how you, under your brave youngcommander, have today played the chief part in checking the advanceof an army of five thousand men. I shall publish an order, today,saying that my scouts have rendered an inestimable service to theircountry."
"Well, Leigh," Jean Martin said, after the little band had fallenout, and one of the surgeons had taken charge of the wounded, "youhave indeed distinguished yourself. I certainly did not think, whenI persuaded your sister to let you go, that you were going to matchyourself against the French general, and to command a force whichshould inflict a heavy check upon him. Cathelineau has asked me tobring you round to his quarters, presently, so that you can givehim the full details of the affair; saying that a plan that hadsucceeded so well might be tried again, with equal effect. I cannotstay with you now, for I am going, with Bonchamp, to see to thework of loopholing and fortifying the church."
"I am going to look after my boys, Jean. They have had nothing toeat this morning, except a mouthful or two of bread each, and theyhave been up since two hours before daylight. Do you feel sure thatthe Blues will not attack tonight?"
"Yes, I think so. After the lesson you have given Berruyer of thefighting qualities of the peasants, it is pretty certain that hewill not venture to attack us after a hard day's march, and a fightthat must have sorely discouraged his men."
That evening, news came in from several quarters. Leigonyer hadmarched from Vihiers by three roads, directing his course towardsCoron. Two of the columns had been attacked by the peasants and,being largely composed of new levies, had at once lost heart andretreated; the central column, in which were the regular troops,being obliged in consequence also to fall back. Another column hadcrossed the Loire and taken Saint Florent, without any very heavyfighting; and Quetineau had advanced from Bressuire to Aubiers,without meeting with resistance.
The news was, on the whole, satisfactory. It had been feared thatthe force at Vihiers would march north, and join that of Berruyer;and that they would make a joint attack upon the town. The disasterthat had befallen them rendered this no longer possible. There wasdisappointment that Saint Florent had been recaptured, but nonethat Quetineau had advanced without opposition to Aubiers; for thewhole of the peasantry from that locality were with Cathelineau.
In point of fact, Berruyer had not ordered the force at Vihiers tomarch to join him. On the contrary, he had intended, aftercapturing Chemille, which he expected to do without serioustrouble, to march south and effect a junction with Leigonyer atCoron. He halted four miles from Chemille, harangued the newlevies, reproaching those who had shown cowardice during the day'sfighting, and exhorting them to behave with courage on thefollowing day. No inconsiderable portion of them belonged to theforce that had marched down from Paris, and these heroes of theslums, who had been foremost in the massacres in the prisons, andin their demand for the blood of all hostile to them, behavedthroughout with abject cowardice, whenever they met a foe with armsin their hands.
After having had an interview with Cathelineau, and relating to himfull particulars of the fight, Leigh, having nothing to do,strolled about the town. Presently he came upon a group of three orfour peasants, who had been drinking more than was good for them.One of them, whose bearing and appearance showed that he had servedin the army, was talking noisily to the others.
"You will see that I, Jacques Bruno, artilleryman, will be a greatman yet," he said. "I shall soon be rich. I have had enough povertysince I left the army, but I shall have plenty of gold yet. Youwill see what you will see."
"How can you be rich?" one of the others said, with an air ofdrunken wisdom. "You are lazy, Jacques Bruno. We all know you. Youare too fond of the wine cup It is seldom that you do a day'swork."
"Never mind how I shall get rich. I tell you that it will be so,and the word of Jacques Bruno is not to be doubted;" and he turnedaway, saying, "I shall go for a few hours' sleep, now, to be inreadiness for tomorrow."
"Who is that man?" Leigh asked sharply, going up to the others.
The scarf that he wore showed him to be an officer, and thepeasants removed their hats.
"It is Jacques Bruno, monsieur. He is in charge of our guns. He isan old artilleryman. Cathelineau has appointed him to the post, asit needs an artilleryman to load and point the guns."
Leigh moved away. This fellow was half drunk, but not too drunk toknow what he was saying. What did he mean by declaring that hewould soon be rich? The peasants had said that he was lazy, andfond of the wine cup He could hardly be likely to acquire wealth byhonest labour.
Perhaps he might be intending an act of treachery. Putting asideother considerations, he, as an old soldier, would scarcely care tomow down his former comrades, and his sympathies must be ratherwith the army than with the peasants. He had no personal interestin this revolt against conscription, nor was it likely that thecause of the cures concerned him greatly. He might, however,meditate some act of treachery, by which he would benefit hisformer comrades and gain a rich reward.
At any rate, it would be worth while watching. He returned to theroom where his band were quartered.
"Andre," he said, "I want you and two others to keep watch with meuntil midnight, then Pierre and two of his party will relieve you.At that hour you will send one of your party, to guide Pierre tothe place where I shall be. You will bring your pistols and kniveswith you, and if I come down and tell you to move forward, you willdo so as noiselessly as possible."
"Shall we come at once, captain?" Andre asked.
"No, you had better lie down, with the two who are to come withyou, and sleep till nine o'clock. I will come at that hour. We willsay one o'clock instead of twelve for the watch to be changed; thatwill make a more even division for the night."
Going out again, Leigh inquired where the cannon had been placed.They were on an eminence outside the town, and commanded the roadby which Berruyer's column would advance. Strolling up there, hesaw Bruno lying asleep between two of the guns, of which there werefive.
"It seems all right," he said to himself, "and as he cannot walkoff with them, I don't see what his plan ca
n be--that is, if he hasa plan. However, there is no harm in keeping watch. The guns areagainst the skyline and, lying down fifty yards away, we shall beable to see if he does anything with them. Of course he might spikethem, but I don't suppose that he would risk that, for the spikesmight be noticed the first thing in the morning. I don't think thatit would do for him to try that. It seemed a stupid thing even todoubt him but, half drunk as he was, he certainly was in earnest inwhat he said, and does believe that he is going to be a rich man;and I don't see how that can possibly come about, except by someact of treachery. At any rate, we will keep an eye upon the fellowtonight, and if we are not posted in any particular spot tomorrow,I will be up here with my band when the firing begins, and keep myeye on him."
He spent three or four hours with Jean Martin, and then went backto his quarters. Andre and two of the lads were in readiness. Theymoved out quietly, for the street was thick with sleeping peasants.There were no sentries to be seen.
"If the enemy did but know," he muttered to himself, "they mighttake the place without firing a shot."
Presently, however, he came upon an officer.
"Where are you going?" he asked sharply.
"I am Leigh Stansfield, and am going, with three of my party, tokeep watch near the guns."
"That is good," the officer said. "I am on duty here, and JeanMartin has just ridden out. He is going a couple of miles along theroad, and will give the alarm if he hears any movement of theenemy. When he gets within half a mile he is to fire off hispistols, and I shall have time to get the men up, long before theirinfantry can arrive. We have tried, in vain, to get some of thepeasants to do outpost duty. They all say that they will be readyto fight, when the enemy comes; but they want a good sleep first,and even Cathelineau could not move them. It is heartbreaking tohave to do with such men."
"I do not think that it is laziness. It is that they have a fixedobjection to doing what they consider any kind of soldier work.Their idea of war is to wait till the enemy comes, and then to makea rush upon them; and when they have done that, they think theirduty is ended. Some day, when the Blues have a sharp commander, andhave gained a little discipline, we shall suffer some terribledisaster from the obstinacy of the peasantry."
With a word of adieu Leigh turned off the road, and made his wayhalfway up the eminence. Here the guns could be plainly made out.Leaving Andre and his two followers, he went quietly up the slope,to assure himself that the artilleryman was still there. Had hemissed him, he was determined to go at once to Cathelineau, andstate his suspicions, and his belief that Bruno had gone off toinform Berruyer that, if he advanced, he would find the placewholly unguarded, and would have it at his mercy. He found,however, that the artilleryman was still asleep, and returned toAndre.
"Now," he said, "there is no occasion for us all to watch. I, withone of the others, will keep a lookout for the next two hours and,at the end of that time, will rouse you and the others."
Leigh's watch had passed off quietly. There was no movement amongthe guns and, from the position in which Bruno was lying, hisfigure would have been seen at once, had he risen to his feet.
"If the man up there stands up, you are to awaken me at once,Andre," he said.
Overcome by the excitement and the heat of the day, Leigh droppedoff to sleep almost immediately. An hour later, he was roused bybeing shaken by Andre.
"The man has got up, sir."
The artilleryman, after stretching himself two or three times, tookup something from the ground beside him, and then went somedistance down the side of the hill, but still in sight of thewatchers.
"He has got something on his shoulder, sir. I think it is a shovel,and he has either a cloak or a sack on his arm."
"He is evidently up to something," Leigh replied, "but what it canbe, I cannot imagine."
Presently the man stopped, and began to work.
"He is digging," Andre said, in surprise.
"It looks like it certainly, but what he can be digging for I haveno idea."
Presently the man was seen to raise a heavy weight on to hisshoulders.
"It was a sack he had with him," Andre said, "and he has filled itwith earth and stones."
Leigh did not reply. The mystery seemed to thicken, and he wasunable to form any supposition, whatever, that would account forthe man's proceedings. The latter carried his burden up to thecannon, then he laid it down, and took up some long tool and thrustit into the mouth of one of the cannon.
A light suddenly burst upon Leigh.
"The scoundrel is going to draw the charges," he said, "and fill upthe cannon with the earth that he has brought up."
Andre would have leapt to his feet, as he uttered an exclamation ofrage.
"Keep quiet!" Leigh said, authoritatively. "We have no evidenceagainst him, yet. We must watch him a bit longer, before weinterrupt him."
After two or three movements, the man was seen to draw somethingfrom the gun. This he laid on the ground, and then inserted thetool again.
"That is the powder," Leigh whispered, as something else waswithdrawn from the gun; "there, you see, he is taking handfuls ofearth from the sack, and shoving it into the mouth."
This was continued for some time, and then a rammer was inserted,and pushed home several times. Then he moved to the next cannon.
"Now follow very quietly, Andre. Busy as he is, we may get quiteclose up to him, before he notices us. Mind, you are not to useyour knife. We can master him easily enough, and must then take himdown to Cathelineau, for his fate to be decided on."
Leigh gave the word and, leaping up, they threwthemselves on the traitor.]
Noiselessly they crept up the hill. When within five or six pacesof the gun at which Bruno was at work, Leigh gave the word and,leaping up, they threw themselves on the traitor; who was taken socompletely by surprise that they were able to throw him, at once,to the ground. Snatching up a rope that had been used for drawingthe guns, Leigh bound his arms securely to his side; and then,putting a pistol to his head, ordered him to rise to his feet.
"Shoot me, if you like,"' the man growled. "I will not move."
"I will not shoot you," Leigh replied. "You must be tried andcondemned.
"Now, Andre, we must carry him."
The four boys had no difficulty in carrying the man down. As theypassed the officer on sentry, he said:
"Whom have you there, Monsieur Stansfield?"
"It is Bruno, the artilleryman. We have caught him drawing thecharges from the guns, and filling them with earth. We must takehim to the general."
"The villain!" the officer exclaimed. "Who would have thought of aVendean turning traitor?"
Cathelineau was still up, talking with some of his officers as tothe preparations for the battle. There was no sentry at his door.Leigh entered and, tapping at the door of the room in which he sawa light, went in. Cathelineau looked up in surprise, as the dooropened.
"I thought you were asleep hours ago, monsieur," he said.
"It is well that I have not been, sir."
And he related the conversation that he had overheard, and his ownsuspicions that the man Bruno meditated treachery; the steps theyhad taken to watch him, and the discovery they had made.Exclamations of indignation and fury broke from the officers.
"Gentlemen," Cathelineau said, "we will at once proceed to try thistraitor. He shall be judged by men of his own class.
"Monsieur Pourcet, do you go out and awaken the first twelvepeasants you come to."
In a minute or two the officer returned with the peasants, wholooked surprised at having been thus roused from their sleep.
"My friends, do you take your places along that side of the room.You are a jury, and are to decide upon the guilt or innocence of aman who is accused of being a traitor."
The word roused them at once, and all repeated indignantly the word"traitor!"
"Monsieur Stansfield," he said to Leigh, "will you order your mento bring in the prisoner?"
The man was brought in an
d placed at the head of the table,opposite to Cathelineau.
"Now, Monsieur Stansfield, will you tell the jury the story thatyou have just told me?"
Leigh repeated his tale, interrupted occasionally by exclamationsof fury from the peasants. Andre and the other lads steppedforward, one after the other, and confirmed Leigh's statement.
"Before you return a verdict, my friends," Cathelineau saidquietly, "it is but right that we should go up to the battery, andexamine the cannon ourselves; not, of course, that we doubt thestatement of Monsieur Stansfield and the other witnesses, butbecause it is well that each of you should be able to see forhimself, and report to others that you have been eyewitnesses ofthe traitor's plot."
Accordingly the whole party ascended to the battery. There lay thespade and the sack of earth. The tool with which the work had beendone was still in the mouth of the second cannon and, on pulling itout, the powder cartridge came with it. Then Leigh led them to thenext gun, and a man who had a bayonet thrust it in, and soonbrought some earth and stones to the mouth of the gun.
"We have now had the evidence of Monsieur Stansfield, and thosewith him, tested by ourselves examining the guns. What do you say,my friends--has this man been proved a traitor, or not?"
"He has!" the peasants exclaimed, in chorus.
"And what is your sentence?"
"Death!" was the unanimous reply.
"I approve of that sentence. March him down to the side of theriver, and shoot him."
Three minutes later, four musket shots rang out.
"Thus die all traitors!" Cathelineau said.
Bruno, however, was the sole Vendean who, during the course of thewar, turned traitor to his comrades and his country.