The Red, White, and Green

by Herbert Hayens

  CHAPTER VII.

  _A FIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS._

  "George!"

  I had not been in bed an hour, and it was quite dark, when Rakoczy'svoice wakened me from a sound sleep.

  "Turn out and dress quickly," he continued. "We are ordered to Waitzen;the men are under arms."

  "All right," I replied sleepily, and tumbling out grazed my shinsagainst an iron box.

  "Drawn blood already?" Rakoczy queried with a laugh. "What a desperatefellow you are!" and as he went away I heard him still chuckling tohimself.

  After a vain attempt to dress in the dark, I procured a light, andhaving made a hasty toilet hastened to the officers' messroom.

  Several men were already there, scalding their throats with boilingcoffee, and eating the next two or three meals before starting--a verygood plan, too, as experience soon taught us.

  As Rakoczy rightly said, on a campaign there is nothing like being a dayin advance of your proper meals. Passing me a cup of steaming coffeeand pointing to the eatables, he exclaimed, "Fall to, Botskay. There'sno ceremony this morning."

  "Morning?" cried a youngster who, having burned his throat, was glad togive vent to his ill-humour. "You don't call this morning? Why, Ihadn't got to sleep before they woke me up again. Why didn't they tellus before, and save us the trouble of tumbling in?"

  "Don't know," replied Rakoczy innocently. "Ask some one else."

  We were laughing at Rakoczy's pretended simplicity, when another man,coming in, said,--

  "Jolly, this, isn't it? It's as black as pitch outside, and hailstonesthe size of walnuts are falling. Anybody know what it's all about?"

  "Which? The hailstones or the blackness?" asked Rakoczy.

  "This sudden turn-out. A pity we hadn't stayed at Szondi's a couple ofhours later."

  "I heard a rumour that Goergei had sent a messenger to say he wasretreating with the Austrians on his heels."

  "He should imitate the horses and kick out behind."

  "I expect he will show fight at Ofen."

  "With a crowd of peasants? Not likely. His best plan is to fall back."

  "What an oversight that the general didn't put us on his staff!" saidRakoczy. "We could have given him a lot of useful information."

  "There's the bugle, gentlemen! Ach!" as some one opened the door; "whata blast!"

  I wrapped my mantle round me closely, took another pull at the hotcoffee, and went into the barrack-yard.

  Two or three hundred men were drawn up in waiting. They were to convoy ahuge store of food and ammunition to Waitzen.

  Rather to my disgust, I found that Rakoczy and I were to look after thecarts, and a wretched time of it we had.

  For several hours we trudged along in the blackness of the night, whilethe hailstorm beat down upon us in fury.

  The roads were execrable, and frequently we were compelled to stop whilethe teamsters got their animals out of the holes into which theystumbled.

  This first spell of active service was hardly to my liking, and evenupon reaching Waitzen things were very little better.

  However, a merry heart is a golden cure for most ills, and it was noteasy to be miserable where Rakoczy was.

  He laughed at everything, found amusement in the storm, made light ofthe bitter cold, professed that half a dinner was better than a fullone, and that he preferred to sleep on the floor, because there was nochance of falling out of bed.

  After waiting two days at Waitzen we learned that Goergei, by a sharpmanoeuvre, had joined hands with Perczel, and that the Austrians weremarching into Pesth.

  Many of us had wondered at being sent with stores to Waitzen, but now webegan to understand something of our leader's foresight.

  Leaving the main army to retreat behind the Theiss, Goergei, making agreat show with his scanty numbers, turned north to join us, and thisdrew the bulk of the Austrians on his own track.

  Amongst the first of the advance-guard to arrive at Waitzen was mybrother Stephen; and though he had little leisure for conversation, themeeting did us both good.

  He was looking a trifle thinner, but in good health, and related withmuch glee his experiences with the general. According to his account, helived almost entirely in the saddle, slept at odd times where he could,ate what he could pick up, and had not once taken off his clothes sincewe left him.

  Of the general he spoke enthusiastically.

  "Goergei never gets tired," he said. "He is made of iron, and can dowithout sleep. As to riding, I never saw any one like him. After aday's hard work he'll jump into the saddle and ride to the outposts atfull gallop on a pitch-dark night and in the stormiest weather. At firstI used to ache in every muscle, but I'm getting used to it. Now I'm offto Kremnitz."

  For several days longer we remained at Waitzen picking up recruits fromthe north, and then moved on towards Kremnitz.

  Rakoczy and I had been regularly appointed as major and lieutenant inthe 9th Honved regiment, the men of which were well equipped and infairly good spirits.

  The recruits had brought our numbers up to about twenty thousand; and,leaving Kremnitz, we marched in a south-west direction to makeWindischgratz believe we were striking at Vienna. In this we succeeded,and thus prevented the Austrian general from crushing our main army,then in full retreat to Debreczin, behind the Theiss.

  Having accomplished his object, Goergei once more broke fresh ground,and led us into the mountains, in order to draw off a part of theAustrian force, and, by a round-about route, to rejoin the principalarmy.

  I was certainly serving a rough apprenticeship to the trade of war.

  The roads were covered with ice, the valleys were piled with snowthrough which we had to force a passage, sometimes being sunk in italmost to our arm-pits; and as we stumbled along, huge avalanchesthundered down the rocky cliffs that on either side overhung our path.

  The majority of the soldiers, having newly joined, lost their spirits,which made the officers' work much harder; but we kept them goingsomehow, and struggled up and through the narrow defiles with theAustrians in our rear, and, for aught we knew, in front as well.

  At the beginning of the last week in January, the frost broke up quitesuddenly, and the narrow valleys were flooded by water, which sweptthrough the gorges, carrying with it great pieces of floating ice.

  As our regiment led the way, we were the first to bear the brunt of thisnew danger.

  "Steady, men!" cried Rakoczy. "Plant your feet firmly on the ground andlock arms, or you'll be carried away."

  The men responded instantly, but for a long time they could make noheadway against the torrent.

  Again and again we led them forward, but each time it was only for a fewpaces.

  The noise of the rushing waters, the blows from detached pieces of ice,the difficulty of securing a foothold, told on the men's nerves, andkept them from fronting the danger.

  The colonel stormed, Rakoczy begged and prayed, taunted them withcowardice, mocked at their fears, and called them frightenedchildren--all in vain; forward they would not go.

  The general himself tried, and failed to put heart into them. Then hewhispered something to Stephen, who, with a smile, turned anddisappeared.

  Suddenly there came a shout from the rear, feeble at first, but rapidlyincreasing in volume.

  "Push on! Quick! Quick! The Austrians are on us! The enemy! Theenemy!"

  The greater danger swallowed up the less. The very dullest recruitcould understand what would happen if the Austrians attacked us in thathorrible defile, and in a short time we were boldly striding through thetorrent. Those who would have lagged behind were dragged on by theircompanions; and so, fighting, pushing, struggling, shouting, we won ourway bit by bit till we had safely passed the most dangerous places.

  However, the Austrians did not put in an appearance; and when I askedRakoczy what had become of them, he laughed gaily.

  "Gone back to where they came from, most likely!" he sai
d.

  "Where's that?"

  "Goergei's brain."

  "What? Was it simply a trick?"

  "Ask Stephen when you get a chance; he ought to know."

  "And I've been expecting every minute to see the blaze of their gunsfrom the heights!"

  "Wait till we get nearer the summit; that's where the real danger lies.The Austrian Schlick is coming down post-haste from Galicia, and he's atough fighter."

  Three days after this conversation the truth of these words was broughthome to us in a very striking manner.

  Goergei, who, as usual, was in advance, had sent forward his scouts. Afew light guns, which by incredible labour had been dragged up thedefiles, came next, and were followed by the 9th Honved regiment.

  Several other regiments followed at intervals, while the others wereascending by different routes, keeping in touch, however, with the mainbody, and all converging on one pass, which it was hoped the Austrianshad not seized.

  Unfortunately, Schlick had been too quick for us, and the scoutsreturned with the information that the mouth of the pass was blocked byhuge boulders, behind which a formidable body of troops with heavy gunswas stationed.

  The regiment halted; Goergei went to reconnoitre, and at once theartillery were ordered to advance, with the 9th in support. The menwere weary and footsore, half-starved, numbed with cold, depressed bythis everlasting retreat, and I doubted very much if they were equal tothe work in front of them.

  Suddenly the great guns thundered out, and our own replied; the unequalartillery duel had begun.

  We moved up steadily, and the sharpshooters, running forward and gettingwhatever cover they could, picked off the Austrian gunners.

  Our own artillerymen worked their pieces bravely, but were altogetherovermatched.

  The place must be taken by storm, and the assault fell to the share ofthe 9th.

  I thought of the barricade in the Prater, and remembered how I hadpitied the brave fellows who had thrown away their lives in the attemptto carry it.

  Now I was in a similar position, and my heart beat quickly as I stoodthere waiting for the word of command.

  The men, for the most part, looked downcast, as if they did not enjoythe prospect, and indeed it was a terrible trial for young troops.

  Rakoczy's handsome face lit up with his usual smile as he nodded to mepleasantly.

  At length the artillery fire on our side ceased, the word rang out, theregiment moved forward.

  The order was that no man should stop to fire; but our fellows were notveterans, and it was disregarded.

  Still, considering that hardly one of us had been under fire before, wedid not do so badly.

  Goergei gave us a cheer as we passed the staff; Stephen waved his handto me, and we were gone.

  Into the mouth of the pass we rushed, so close to the great bouldersthat we could distinctly see the muzzles of the black guns.

  "Forward!" cried the colonel, waving his sword.

  "Forward!" echoed Rakoczy, still smiling; and we ran with such speedthat the first discharge checked only those who fell.

  The second threw us into some disorder. The colonel was killed outrightby a cannon-ball, but Rakoczy took command and led us on gallantly.

  We had, however, lost many men; and when, for the third time, the ironballs tore through our ranks, the survivors would have no more of it.

  Back they went helter-skelter, tumbling over one another in theireagerness to seek shelter, Rakoczy's orders being unheeded in thestampede.

  The attack had hopelessly failed, and it was plain to all that thebravest troops would only be thrown back crushed and bleeding from thatlane of death.

  The check was a serious one. To turn the position by another pass wouldcause a delay of several days, which might ruin the whole cause, for wedid not know that Windischgratz was still in Pesth.

  The artillery duel began again, while we re-formed our ranks and lookedabout us gloomily.

  On our right and left huge precipices, covered with ice and snow,towered skyward.

  If only it were practicable to scale them, we might yet drive theAustrians out.

  I could not keep my eyes from the cliffs, nor dismiss the idea from myhead.

  Fifty good shots perched up there could pick off every artilleryman whostood by the enemy's guns.

  There were numerous mountaineers in the regiment, and I myself hadalways been reckoned a good climber.

  I had just escaped death; but unless some other plan was discovered,Goergei would fling us at that barrier until those who survived--ifthere were any--did get over. In fact, he could not help himself.

  And if death came while I was scaling the cliff, why, the result was noworse than if it met me in the narrow path.

  I went to Rakoczy and told him what was in my head.

  Just for an instant he turned pale, and the smile left his face, but hesoon recovered his composure.

  "There are a hundred chances of death in fifty yards," he said, "and athousand when the Austrians see the dodge."

  "There are five thousand in front of us," I answered. "Still, that isn'tthe point. Will you give me an axe and leave to go?"

  "I wouldn't order or even ask you to try; but if you're bent on it--"

  "It may save hundreds of lives."

  "Then I'll borrow you a hatchet, and call for volunteers."

  He turned to the regiment. "I want twenty men fond of mountain-climbingto go on a little excursion with Lieutenant Botskay."

  More than half the regiment stepped to the front, and, selecting ascore, I told them what we were going to do.

  The major sent for some hatchets, and then informed Goergei, whoinstantly dispatched a cloud of sharpshooters to distract the enemy'sattention.

  Unbuckling my sword, I gave it to Rakoczy, and, in case of accidents,wished him good-bye.

  Stephen had been sent on an errand by the general, and I was ratherpleased than otherwise by his absence; the knowledge that he was below,gazing up at me and trembling for my safety, might have preyed on mynerve.

  My twenty men--all muscular, wiry fellows--laid aside their rifles, and,axe in hand, stood ready to mount.

  Fifty of the finest marksmen waited beneath the cliff, ready to followin our track if we should find or cut a path, and to protect us from theenemy's fire.

  Meanwhile, the sharpshooters at the front, snugly sheltered behind rocksand boulders, discharged their rifles incessantly, and, without doingmuch damage, kept the Austrians well employed.

  Our starting-point was a ledge, to which we were hoisted on men'sshoulders, and which was so narrow that we could barely preserve afooting.

  A hum of sympathy rose from the ranks as I cut the first notch; but forthe fear of attracting attention it would have been a roar of cheering.

  Rakoczy had said truly there were a hundred chances of death in fiftyyards. The cold was so intense that several times the hatchet waswithin an ace of slipping from my fingers; and once, while attempting tohang on by a jutting ledge, I must have rolled over but for the manbehind me. The first part of the journey we did in single file, and ofcourse each climber made the way easier for the next one, so that itbecame possible for Rakoczy to send on the soldiers with rifles.

  Up in the pass our light guns had been partly silenced; but thesharpshooters were busy firing as fast as they could load, and so makingthe Austrians believe that another assault was to be delivered.

  To this end, also, the 9th Honveds had been drawn up and placed inposition, but out of the line of fire, as if they were only awaiting thesupport of the next regiment in order to charge.

  We had reached an immense wall of ice, perpendicular, smooth, and ofalmost unbroken surface, and I was regarding it with dismay, when theman behind me exclaimed, "To the right, lieutenant! There seems to be atiny path; we can creep round."

  There was a tiny path indeed, so narrow that we had to press against thewall like flies, and I doubted the wisdom of attempting to pass.

  "It will get wi
der, sir; and once round, the rest will be easy."

  I gave one last thought to my friends and put my foot on the ledge.

  In spite of the ice and snow and the bitter, freezing wind I was hotenough now--so hot that my body was bathed in perspiration.

  Placing the fingers of my left hand in a small crevice, I cut a littlenick farther on, and thus, step by step, made my perilous way.

  Half-way across I was seized by a fit of terror, and clung to the wallhelplessly like a frightened child, not daring to move, hardly, indeed,to breathe.

  Something had unnerved me; I scarcely knew what. There had been arasping of ice, a sound as of slipping feet, a groan of anguish promptlysuppressed, and I felt as if the angel of death had lightly brushed mewith his spreading wings.

  The sound of an unfamiliar voice brought me to my senses. A man wasspeaking, but it was not Szemere, the one who had up till now been myclose attendant.

  "Hold tight, sir. Szemere has gone over--missed his footing."

  I shuddered to think of the poor fellow's awful fate, but, strangelyenough, the knowledge of it restored my courage. I ceased to tremble,braced myself up, and cut another notch. Down below, the unequal fightwas being waged in the pass. We could hear the roar of the heavy guns,the sharp, crisp rattle of the musketry, the shouts of the combatants,while we hung like a line of flies to the face of the cliffs.

  At length, with every muscle strained, with aching limbs, with scratchedface, and bleeding fingers, I cut the last notch, and stood incomparative safety.

  The next man, a light, wiry fellow, he who had told me of Szemere'sdeath, cut the notch deeper, and as he did so the axe slipped from hisnerveless fingers and went clattering down the abyss.

  The brown of his face turned to a greyish-white colour; his legstottered; his teeth knocked together; his hold loosened; in anothersecond he would be gone!

  I never could clearly understand what happened then. I remember dimlythat my arms were locked round the fellow's waist, that our bodies wereswaying to and fro, that by force of instinct I used all my strength toswing backward.

  In this I must have succeeded, for presently I found myself lying on theflat of my back, still hugging the soldier. A pull at my flask ofsilovitz set me right, and then I forced some of the liquor into themouth of my companion. Directly the poor fellow recovered from hisstupor he knelt and kissed my hands, saying gratefully,--

  "My life is yours, sweet master. Mecsey Sandor is your servant for everand ever."

  We in Hungary adopt the plan of placing the surname first;English-speaking people would call the man Sandor or Alexander Mecsey.

  Several of the others now joined us; and, as the dead Szemere hadforetold, the most difficult part of the journey was past. We were nolonger compelled to march in single file, but could spread out, and thusallow the riflemen to follow closely.

  Now walking upright, now crawling on our hands and knees, we drew nearto the Austrian position, when a volley from the enemy showed they haddiscovered us.

  Bidding my men lie low, I drew a small flag from my pocket, and,standing proudly erect, waved the glorious red, white, and green coloursto the breeze.

  The men of the 9th greeted the flag with a tremendous shout, which wentechoing and re-echoing up the mountain sides. The Austrians fired fastand furiously, but in their excitement they aimed badly.

  We with the axes, of course, could do nothing more, but the riflemen,taking shelter, poured in a terrible fire, against which the enemy werepowerless.

  The men at the guns went down one after another; and every minute ourfire became more severe, as Rakoczy continued to feed us with freshvolunteers.

  The Austrian chief made a gallant effort to reach us, and we saw hiswhite-coated infantry helping each other to scale the smooth walls.

  The attempt proved vain, as it was bound to do. The men slipped andscrambled, fell, and rolled to the bottom--many to lie there for alltime.

  Those who climbed highest were greeted by the bullets of my hiddenmarksmen; and though the white-coats advanced with their wonted bravery,they struggled and died in vain.

  So plain was this that the leader, while still maintaining a brave showagainst Goergei, began to draw off his troops, and from ourvantage-place we watched them sullenly retire.

  Very slowly and steadily they went, while we, springing to our feet,cheered again and again.

  Down below, our comrades secured the abandoned post, leaving the nextregiment, which had suffered hardly at all, to pursue the enemy.

  It was a trying task to descend, especially as we had several woundedmen to carry, but the knowledge of victory cheered our spirits; and atlength, with the loss of only two or three men, we reached the pass.

  How our regiment cheered as we ranged ourselves to receive the general!He stood fronting us, his head bent forward, his hands behind his backas usual.

  "Gallant lads, one and all," he said; "yours is to-day's victory."

  We answered with an "Elijen Goergei!" and when he departed, the men ofthe regiment crowded round to congratulate their comrades.

  As for me, the "Well done!" of Rakoczy, who was now colonel, andStephen's warm embrace, were sufficient reward; but Goergei thoughtotherwise, and I, who had entered the pass as a simple lieutenant, leftit as a captain.