The Firebrand

by S. R. Crockett

  CHAPTER XXIII

  THE BURNING OF THE MILL-HOUSE

  Cabrera bit his lip for a moment, frowned still more darkly, and thenburst into a roar of laughter. For the moment the _gamin_ in him wasuppermost--the same curly-pated rascal who had climbed walls and stolenapples from the market-women's stalls of Tortosa thirty years ago.

  "You are a brave fellow," cried the general, "and I would to Heaven thatyour royal cousin had more of your spirit. Are all of your company ofthe same warlike kidney?"

  "I trust I am afraid of no man on the field of honour," answered theloyal little Frenchman, throwing out his chest. "Yet I speak but thetruth when I aver that there is not one of my companions who could notsay grace and eat me up afterwards!"

  Among the letters which had formed part of Rollo's credentials there wasone superscribed "_To be opened in the camp of General Cabrera_."

  Cabrera now dismissed the firing party with a wave of his hand, theofficer in command exchanging an encouraging nod with Rollo. Then hesummoned that young man to approach. Rollo threw away the last inch ofhis cigarette, and going up easily, saluted the general with his usualself-possession.

  "Well, colonel," said the latter, "I little thought to exchangecivilities with you again; but for that you have to thank this younglady. The fortune of war once more! But if young men will entrustprecious papers to pretty girls, they must have a fund of gratitude uponwhich to draw--that is, when the ladies arrive in time. On this occasionit was most exactly done. Yet you must have lived through some verycrowded moments while you faced the muzzles of yonder rifles!"

  And he pointed to the lane down which the firing party was defiling.

  Rollo bowed, but did not reply, awaiting the general's pleasure.Presently Cabrera, recollecting the sealed letter in his hand, gave itunopened to the youth.

  "There," he said, "that, I see, is to be opened in the camp of GeneralCabrera. Well--where Cabrera is, there is his camp. Open it, and let ussee what it contains."

  "I will, general," said the young Scot, "in so far, that is, as itconcerns your Excellency."

  The Carlist general sat watching Rollo keenly as he broke the seal anddiscovered a couple of enclosures. One was sealed and the other open.The first he presented to Cabrera, who, observing the handwriting of thesuperscription, changed colour. Meanwhile, without paying any attentionto him, Rollo read his own communication from beginning to end. It hadevidently been passed on to him from a higher authority than the Abbot,for only the address was in the handwriting of that learned ecclesiast.

  It ran as follows:

  "To the Man who shall be chosen by our trusted Councillor for the Mission Extraordinary in the service of Carlos Quinto--These:

  "You will receive from General Cabrera such succour and assistance as may seem to you needful in pursuance of the project you have in hand, namely the capturing of the young Princess Isabel together with her mother, the so-called Regent Cristina. Thereafter you will bring them with diligence within our lines, observing all the respect and courtesy due to their exalted rank and to the sex to which they belong.

  "At the same time you are held indemnified for all killings of such persons as may stand in your way in the execution of the duty laid upon you, and by order of the King himself you hereby take rank as a full Colonel in his service."

  Meanwhile Cabrera had been bending his brows over the note which hadbeen directed to him personally. He rose and paced the length of thegarden-wall with the letter in his hand, while Rollo stood his groundwith an unmoved countenance. Presently he stopped opposite the young manand stood regarding him intently.

  "I am, I understand, to furnish you with men for this venture," he said;"good--but I am at liberty to prove you first. That you are cool andbrave I know. We must find out whether you are loyal as well."

  "I am as loyal as any Spaniard who ever drew breath," retorted Rollo,hotly, "and in this matter I will answer for my companions as well."

  "And pray in what way, Sir Spitfire?" said Cabrera, smiling.

  "Why, as a man should," said Rollo, "with his sword or his pistol,or--as is our island custom--with his fists--it is all the same to me;yes, even with your abominable Spanish knife, which is no truegentleman's weapon!"

  "I am no unfriend to plainness, sir, either in speech or action," saidCabrera; "I see you are indeed a brave fellow, and will not lessen theking's chances of coming to his own by letting you loose on the menunder my command. Still for one day you will not object to ride withus!"

  Rollo coloured high.

  "General," he said, "I will not conceal it from you that I have wastedtoo much time already; but if you wish for our assistance in yourdesigns for twenty-four hours, I am not the man to deny you."

  "I thought not," cried Cabrera, much pleased. "And now have you anybusiness to despatch before we leave this place? If so, let it be seento at once!"

  "None, Excellency," said Rollo, "save that if you are satisfied of ourgood faith I should like to see Luis Fernandez the miller dealt withaccording to his deserts!"

  "I will have him shot instantly," cried Cabrera; "he hath given falsetidings to his Majesty's generals. He hath belied his honest servants.Guard, bring Luis Fernandez hither!"

  This was rather more than Rollo had bargained for. He was not yetaccustomed to the summary methods of Cabrera, even though the butcher'shand had hardly yet unclosed from himself. He was already meditating anappeal in favour of milder measures, when the guard returned with thenews that Luis Fernandez was nowhere to be found. Dwelling-house,strong-room, mill, garden, and gorge beneath--all had been searched. Invain--they were empty and void. The tumbled beds where the general andhis staff had slept, the granary with its trampled heaps of corn readyfor grinding, the mill-wheel with the pool beneath where the lights andshadows played at bo-peep, where the trout lurked and the water-boxesseemed to descend into an infinity of blackness--all were deserted andlonesome as if no man had been near them for a hundred years.

  "The rascal has escaped!" cried Cabrera, full of rage; "have I not toldyou a thousand times you keep no watch? I have a great mind to standhalf a dozen of you up against that wall. Escaped with my entire commandabout the rogue's home-nest! Well, set a torch to it and see if he islurking anywhere about the crevices like a centipede in a crack!"

  Cabrera felt that he had wasted a great deal of time on a fine morningwithout shooting somebody, and it would certainly have gone ill with DonLuis or his brother if either of them had been compelled by the flamesto issue forth from the burning mill-house of Sarria.

  But they were not there. The cur dogs of the village and a fewhalf-starved mongrels that followed the troops had great sport worryingthe rats which darted continually from the burning granaries. But of themore important human rats, no sign.

  All the inhabitants of the village were there likewise, held back fromplundering by the bayonets of the Carlist troops. They stood recountingto each other, wistfully, the stores of clothes, the silk curtains, theuncut pieces of broadcloth, the household linen, the great eight-dayclocks in their gilt ormolu cases. Every woman had something to add tothe catalogue. Every householder felt keenly the injustice ofpermitting so much wealth to be given to the crackling flames.

  "Yes, it was very well," they said; "doubtless the Fernandez family werevermin to be burned up--smoked out. But they possessed much good gear,the gathering of many years. These things have committed no treasonagainst either Don Carlos or the Regent Cristina. Why then are we notpermitted to enter and remove the valuables? It is monstrous. We willrepresent the matter to General Cabrera--to Don Carlos himself!"

  But one glance at the former, as he sat his horse, nervously twistingthe reins and watching the destruction from under his black brows, madetheir hearts as water within them. Their pet Valiant, old Gaspar Perico,too, had judiciously hidden himself. Esteban the supple had accompaniedhim, and the venta of Sarria was in the hands of the silent,swift-footed, but exceedingly capable maid-serv
ant who had played thetrick upon Etienne.

  The Sarrians therefore watched the mill-house blaze up, and thanked Godthat it stood some way from the other dwellings of the place.

  Suddenly Cabrera turned upon them.

  "Hearken ye, villagers of Sarria," he cried, "I have burned the home ofa traitor. If I hear of any shelter being granted to Luis Fernandez orhis brother within your bounds, I swear by the martyred honour of mymother that on my return I will burn every house within your walls andshoot every man of you capable of bearing arms. You have heard of RamonCabrera. Let that be enough."

  The villagers got apprehensively behind each other, and none answered,each waiting for the other, till with mighty bass thunder the voice rangout again:

  "Have you no answer?" he cried, "no promise? Must I set a dozen of youwith your backs against the wall, as I did at Espluga in Francoli, tostimulate those dull country wits of yours?"

  Then a young man gaily dressed was thrust to the front. Very unwillinghe was to show himself, and at his appearance, with his knees knockingtogether, a merry laugh rang out from behind Cabrera.

  That chieftain turned quickly with wrath in his eye. For it was a soundof a woman's mirth that was heard, and all such were strictly forbiddenwithin his lines.

  But at the sight of little Concha, her dark eyes full of light, herhands clapping together in innocent delight, her white teeth disclosedin gay and dainty laughter, a certain _maja_ note of daring unconventionin her costume, she was so exactly all that would have sent him intoraptures twenty years before when he was an apprentice in Tortosa, thatthe grim man only smiled and turned again to the unwilling spokesman ofthe municipality of Sarria.

  A voice from the press before the burning house announced the delegate'squality.

  "Don Raphael de Flores, son of our _alcalde_."

  "Speak on, Don Raphael," cried Cabrera; "I will not shoot you unless itshould be necessary."

  Thus encouraged the trembling youth began.

  "Your Excellency," he quavered, "we of Sarria have nothing to do withthe family of Fernandez. We would not give any one of them a handful ofmaize or a plate of lentil broth if he were starving. We are loyal menand women--well-wishers to the cause of the only true and absolute KingCarlos Quinto."

  "I am credibly informed that it is otherwise," said Cabrera, "and thatyou are a den of red-hot nationals. I therefore impose a fine of twothousand _duros_ on the municipality, and as you are the alcalde's son,we will keep you in durance till they be paid."

  Don Raphael fell on his knees. His pale face was reddened by the flamesfrom the mill-house, the fate of which must have afforded a strikingobject-lesson to a costive magistracy in trouble about a forced loan.

  "We are undone," he cried; "I am a married man, your Excellency, andhave not a _maravedi_ to call my own. You had better shoot me out ofhand, and be done with it. Indeed, we cannot possibly pay."

  "Go and find your father," cried Cabrera; "he pocketed half of the priceof Don Ramon Garcia's house. I cannot see my namesake suffer. Tell himthat two thousand _duros_ is the price up till noon. After that it willhave risen to four thousand, and by three of the afternoon, if the moneybe not paid into the treasury of the only absolute and Catholicsovereign (in the present instance my breeches pocket), I shall bereluctantly compelled to shoot one dozen of the leading citizens of thetownship of Sarria. Let a strong guard accompany this young man till hereturns from carrying his message."

  In this way did Cabrera replenish the treasury of his master Don Carlos,and with such pleasant argument did he induce reluctant _alcaldes_ todiscover the whereabouts of their strong boxes.

  For a remarkably shrewd man was General Ramon Cabrera, the butcher ofTortosa.