by Robert Reed
When we arrived at Kishan, we learnt, that on hearing of the
advance of Lord Raymond and his detachment, the Turkish army
had retreated from Rodosto; but meeting with a reinforcement, they
had re-trod their steps . In the meantime, Argyropylo, the Greek
commander-in-chief, had advanced, so as to be between the Turks
and Rodosto; a battle, it was said, was inevitable . Perdita and her
child were to remain at Kishan . Raymond asked me, if I would not
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continue with them . “Now by the fells of Cumberland,” I cried, “by
all of the vagabond and poacher that appertains to me, I will stand
at your side, draw my sword in the Greek cause, and be hailed as a
victor along with you!”
All the plain, from Kishan to Rodosto, a distance of sixteen
leagues, was alive with troops, or with the camp-followers, all in
motion at the approach of a battle . The small garrisons were drawn
from the various towns and fortresses, and went to swell the main
army . We met baggage waggons, and many females of high and
low rank returning to Fairy or Kishan, there to wait the issue of
the expected day . When we arrived at Rodosto, we found that the
field had been taken, and the scheme of the battle arranged. The
sound of firing, early on the following morning, informed us that
advanced posts of the armies were engaged . Regiment after regi-
ment advanced, their colours flying and bands playing. They planted
the cannon on the tumuli, sole elevations in this level country, and
formed themselves into column and hollow square; while the pio-
neers threw up small mounds for their protection .
These then were the preparations for a battle, nay, the battle itself;
far different from any thing the imagination had pictured . We read of
centre and wing in Greek and Roman history; we fancy a spot, plain
as a table, and soldiers small as chessmen; and drawn forth, so that
the most ignorant of the game can discover science and order in the
disposition of the forces . When I came to the reality, and saw regi-
ments file off to the left far out of sight, fields intervening between
the battalions, but a few troops sufficiently near me to observe their
motions, I gave up all idea of understanding, even of seeing a battle,
but attaching myself to Raymond attended with intense interest to
his actions . He shewed himself collected, gallant and imperial; his
commands were prompt, his intuition of the events of the day to me
miraculous . In the mean time the cannon roared; the music lifted
up its enlivening voice at intervals; and we on the highest of the
mounds I mentioned, too far off to observe the fallen sheaves which
death gathered into his storehouse, beheld the regiments, now lost
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in smoke, now banners and staves peering above the cloud, while
shout and clamour drowned every sound .
Early in the day, Argyropylo was wounded dangerously, and
Raymond assumed the command of the whole army . He made few
remarks, till, on observing through his glass the sequel of an order
he had given, his face, clouded for awhile with doubt, became radi-
ant. “The day is ours,” he cried, “the Turks fly from the bayonet.”
And then swiftly he dispatched his aides-de-camp to command the
horse to fall on the routed enemy . The defeat became total; the can-
non ceased to roar; the infantry rallied, and horse pursued the flying
Turks along the dreary plain; the staff of Raymond was dispersed in
various directions, to make observations, and bear commands . Even
I was dispatched to a distant part of the field.
The ground on which the battle was fought, was a level plain—so
level, that from the tumuli you saw the waving line of mountains on
the wide-stretched horizon; yet the intervening space was unvar-
ied by the least irregularity, save such undulations as resembled the
waves of the sea . The whole of this part of Thrace had been so long
a scene of contest, that it had remained uncultivated, and presented
a dreary, barren appearance . The order I had received, was to make
an observation of the direction which a detachment of the enemy
might have taken, from a northern tumulus; the whole Turkish army,
followed by the Greek, had poured eastward; none but the dead re-
mained in the direction of my side . From the top of the mound, I
looked far round—all was silent and deserted .
The last beams of the nearly sunken sun shot up from behind
the far summit of Mount Athos; the sea of Marmora still glittered
beneath its rays, while the Asiatic coast beyond was half hid in a
haze of low cloud . Many a casque, and bayonet, and sword, fallen
from unnerved arms, reflected the departing ray; they lay scattered
far and near . From the east, a band of ravens, old inhabitants of
the Turkish cemeteries, came sailing along towards their harvest;
the sun disappeared . This hour, melancholy yet sweet, has always
seemed to me the time when we are most naturally led to com-
mune with higher powers; our mortal sternness departs, and gentle
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complacency invests the soul . But now, in the midst of the dying and
the dead, how could a thought of heaven or a sensation of tranquil-
lity possess one of the murderers? During the busy day, my mind
had yielded itself a willing slave to the state of things presented
to it by its fellow-beings; historical association, hatred of the foe,
and military enthusiasm had held dominion over me . Now, I looked
on the evening star, as softly and calmly it hung pendulous in the
orange hues of sunset . I turned to the corse-strewn earth; and felt
ashamed of my species . So perhaps were the placid skies; for they
quickly veiled themselves in mist, and in this change assisted the
swift disappearance of twilight usual in the south; heavy masses of
cloud floated up from the south east, and red and turbid lightning
shot from their dark edges; the rushing wind disturbed the garments
of the dead, and was chilled as it passed over their icy forms . Dark-
ness gathered round; the objects about me became indistinct, I de-
scended from my station, and with difficulty guided my horse, so as
to avoid the slain .
Suddenly I heard a piercing shriek; a form seemed to rise from
the earth; it flew swiftly towards me, sinking to the ground again as
it drew near. All this passed so suddenly, that I with difficulty reined
in my horse, so that it should not trample on the prostrate being .
The dress of this person was that of a soldier, but the bared neck and
arms, and the continued shrieks discovered a female thus disguised .
I dismounted to her aid, while she, with heavy groans, and her hand
placed on her side, resisted my attempt to lead her on . In the hurry
of the moment I forgot that I was in Greece, and in my native ac-
cents endeavoured to soothe the sufferer. With wild and terrific ex-
clamations did the lost, dying Evadne (for it was she) recognize the
language of her lover;
pain and fever from her wound had deranged
her intellects, while her piteous cries and feeble efforts to escape,
penetrated me with compassion . In wild delirium she called upon
the name of Raymond; she exclaimed that I was keeping him from
her, while the Turks with fearful instruments of torture were about
to take his life . Then again she sadly lamented her hard fate; that a
woman, with a woman’s heart and sensibility, should be driven by
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hopeless love and vacant hopes to take up the trade of arms, and
suffer beyond the endurance of man privation, labour, and pain—the
while her dry, hot hand pressed mine, and her brow and lips burned
with consuming fire.
As her strength grew less, I lifted her from the ground; her emaci-
ated form hung over my arm, her sunken cheek rested on my breast;
in a sepulchral voice she murmured:—“This is the end of love!—Yet
not the end!”— and frenzy lent her strength as she cast her arm up to
heaven: “there is the end! there we meet again . Many living deaths
have I borne for thee, O Raymond, and now I expire, thy victim!—
By my death I purchase thee— lo! the instruments of war, fire, the
plague are my servitors . I dared, I conquered them all, till now! I
have sold myself to death, with the sole condition that thou shouldst
follow me—Fire, and war, and plague, unite for thy destruction—O
my Raymond, there is no safety for thee!”
With an heavy heart I listened to the changes of her delirium;
I made her a bed of cloaks; her violence decreased and a clammy
dew stood on her brow as the paleness of death succeeded to the
crimson of fever, I placed her on the cloaks . She continued to rave
of her speedy meeting with her beloved in the grave, of his death
nigh at hand; sometimes she solemnly declared that he was sum-
moned; sometimes she bewailed his hard destiny . Her voice grew
feebler, her speech interrupted; a few convulsive movements, and
her muscles relaxed, the limbs fell, no more to be sustained, one
deep sigh, and life was gone .
I bore her from the near neighbourhood of the dead; wrapt in
cloaks, I placed her beneath a tree . Once more I looked on her al-
tered face; the last time I saw her she was eighteen; beautiful as
poet’s vision, splendid as a Sultana of the East—Twelve years had
past; twelve years of change, sorrow and hardship; her brilliant com-
plexion had become worn and dark, her limbs had lost the roundness
of youth and womanhood; her eyes had sunk deep,
Crushed and o’erworn,
The hours had drained her blood, and filled her brow
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With lines and wrinkles.2
With shuddering horror I veiled this monument of human pas-
sion and human misery; I heaped over her all of flags and heavy
accoutrements I could find, to guard her from birds and beasts of
prey, until I could bestow on her a fitting grave. Sadly and slowly I
stemmed my course from among the heaps of slain, and, guided by
the twinkling lights of the town, at length reached Rodosto .
CHAPTER II.
ON my arrival, I found that an order had already gone forth for
the army to proceed immediately towards Constantinople; and the
troops which had suffered least in the battle were already on their
way . The town was full of tumult . The wound, and consequent in-
ability of Argyropylo, caused Raymond to be the first in command.
He rode through the town, visiting the wounded, and giving such
orders as were necessary for the siege he meditated . Early in the
morning the whole army was in motion . In the hurry I could hardly
find an opportunity to bestow the last offices on Evadne. Attended
only by my servant, I dug a deep grave for her at the foot of the tree,
and without disturbing her warrior shroud, I placed her in it, heap-
ing stones upon the grave . The dazzling sun and glare of daylight,
deprived the scene of solemnity; from Evadne’s low tomb, I joined
Raymond and his staff, now on their way to the Golden City .
Constantinople was invested, trenches dug, and advances made .
The whole Greek fleet blockaded it by sea; on land from the river
Kyat Kbanah, near the Sweet Waters, to the Tower of Marmora,
on the shores of the Propontis, along the whole line of the ancient
walls, the trenches of the siege were drawn . We already possessed
Pera; the Golden Horn itself, the city, bastioned by the sea, and the
ivy-mantled walls of the Greek emperors was all of Europe that the
Mahometans could call theirs . Our army looked on her as certain
prey . They counted the garrison; it was impossible that it should be
relieved; each sally was a victory; for, even when the Turks were
2
Shakspeare’s Sonnets .
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triumphant, the loss of men they sustained was an irreparable in-
jury . I rode one morning with Raymond to the lofty mound, not far
from the Top Kapou, (Cannon-gate), on which Mahmoud planted
his standard, and first saw the city. Still the same lofty domes and
minarets towered above the verdurous walls, where Constantine
had died, and the Turk had entered the city . The plain around was
interspersed with cemeteries, Turk, Greek, and Armenian, with their
growth of cypress trees; and other woods of more cheerful aspect,
diversified the scene. Among them the Greek army was encamped,
and their squadrons moved to and fro—now in regular march, now
in swift career .
Raymond’s eyes were fixed on the city. “I have counted the hours
of her life,” said he; “one month, and she falls . Remain with me till
then; wait till you see the cross on St . Sophia; and then return to your
peaceful glades .”
“You then,” I asked, “still remain in Greece?”
“Assuredly,” replied Raymond . “Yet Lionel, when I say this, be-
lieve me I look back with regret to our tranquil life at Windsor . I am
but half a soldier; I love the renown, but not the trade of war . Before
the battle of Rodosto I was full of hope and spirit; to conquer there,
and afterwards to take Constantinople, was the hope, the bourne, the
fulfilment of my ambition. This enthusiasm is now spent, I know not
why; I seem to myself to be entering a darksome gulph; the ardent
spirit of the army is irksome to me, the rapture of triumph null .”
He paused, and was lost in thought . His serious mien recalled,
by some association, the half-forgotten Evadne to my mind, and I
seized this opportunity to make enquiries from him concerning her
strange lot . I asked him, if he had ever seen among the troops any
one resembling her; if since he had returned to Greece he had heard
of her?
He started at her name,—he looked uneasily on me . “Even so,”
he cried, “I knew you would speak of her . Long, long I had for-
gotten her . Since our encampment here, she daily, hourly visits my
thoughts . When I am addressed, her name is the sound I expect: in
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every communication, I imagine that she will form a part . At length
you have broken the spell; tell me what you know of her .”
I related my meeting with her; the story of her death was told
and re-told . With painful earnestness he questioned me concerning
her prophecies with regard to him . I treated them as the ravings of
a maniac . “No, no,” he said, “do not deceive yourself,—me you
cannot . She has said nothing but what I knew before—though this is
confirmation. Fire, the sword, and plague! They may all be found in
yonder city; on my head alone may they fall!”
From this day Raymond’s melancholy increased . He secluded
himself as much as the duties of his station permitted . When in
company, sadness would in spite of every effort steal over his
features, and he sat absent and mute among the busy crowd that
thronged about him . Perdita rejoined him, and before her he forced
himself to appear cheerful, for she, even as a mirror, changed as he
changed, and if he were silent and anxious, she solicitously inquired
concerning, and endeavoured to remove the cause of his serious-
ness . She resided at the palace of Sweet Waters, a summer seraglio
of the Sultan; the beauty of the surrounding scenery, undefiled by
war, and the freshness of the river, made this spot doubly delight-
ful . Raymond felt no relief, received no pleasure from any show
of heaven or earth . He often left Perdita, to wander in the grounds
alone; or in a light shallop he floated idly on the pure waters, musing
deeply . Sometimes I joined him; at such times his countenance was
invariably solemn, his air dejected . He seemed relieved on seeing
me, and would talk with some degree of interest on the affairs of
the day . There was evidently something behind all this; yet, when
he appeared about to speak of that which was nearest his heart, he
would abruptly turn away, and with a sigh endeavour to deliver the
painful idea to the winds .
It had often occurred, that, when, as I said, Raymond quitted
Perdita’s drawing-room, Clara came up to me, and gently drawing
me aside, said, “Papa is gone; shall we go to him? I dare say he will
be glad to see you .” And, as accident permitted, I complied with or
refused her request . One evening a numerous assembly of Greek
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