The carriage which had brought Elliot and Roger from Stockholm was still outside, so the three of them got into it, drove into the little market-town and pulled up at the entrance to the Guildhouse, which had been taken over as Army headquarters.
There the King turned his guests over to Count Ugglas; one of his intimates, who owed his rise from a simple clerk in the Chancellery to the fact that on the day of Gustavus's coup d'etat,forgetting the distance that separated them, his enthusiasm had led him to clasp the King in his arms and hail him as the saviour of Sweden. The Count himself put cold meat and wine before them, and, when they had eaten, took them to a room that he shared with another officer, where they lay down on the truckle beds. They had had a certain amount of sleep during the night, but they were none the less grateful for the rest and soon fell into a doze.
An hour passed, although it seemed to them that they had only just lain down, when Ugglas returned and roused them. He took them downstairs and out into a courtyard at the back of the building. Their carriage was waiting there with fresh horses and its blinds drawn down. As they got in they saw that Gustavus was already seated inside it, but he now wore no decorations and was dressed as a simple lieutenant of the Yemland Infantry. The moment they were seated the carriage moved off at a trot, and the King said:
"I regret, Mr. Elliot, that I should have to carry you some five miles out of your way, tut I have already despatched my Guards and the Yemland regiment on their march to Gothenborg, and this offered the most convenient means of passing through them undetected. I have arranged for horses to be awaiting Mr. Brook and myself just beyond the village of Skattkarr, and having seen us on our way you can then turn back."
As the carriage sped on they talked earnestly of the hazardous journey that the King was about to undertake, and the none too rosy prospects of the British Minister proving successful in his mission. Then the vehicle was brought to a halt, and they alighted on the outskirts of a pine wood, in the fringe of which two mounted men were holding six led horses.
" 'Tis my groom and body-servant," Gustavus explained to Roger. "They will accompany us part of the way, leading a pair apiece which we will take for remounts as required, and press on; leaving them to follow with the horses we have exhausted when they are somewhat rested."
The good-byes were brief but heartfelt on both sides and two minutes later the King's little cavalcade cantered away with Hugh Elliot waving them good luck from beside the carriage.
The first lap lay round the north-eastern corner of the lake to Christinehamn; a distance of some twenty-five miles from where the carriage had set them down. It was soon clear to Roger that Gustavus had no intention of sparing the horses, and after fifteen miles had been covered at a furious pace their first mounts were badly winded. Pulling up they changed to the two horses led by the groom, leaving him to rub down the whistling sweat-drenched creatures that they had ridden so hard.
They had left Carlstadt as the clocks were striking nine, and at a quarter past ten a bend in the road brought them in sight of Christinehamn. It was at that moment that the horse which had been ridden by the King's body-servant for the whole twenty-five miles, staggered, neighed loudly, and foundered.
Its rider was still clinging to the reins of his two led horses. Dismounting at once, Gustavus seized one of them and hoisted himself on to it. Roger swiftly followed suit, and, abandoning the horses they had ridden for the past ten miles, they sped on again through the township.
Roger realised then that Gustavus had had the foresight to save his two best mounts till last. Both were splendid animals of over sixteen hands and with powerful quarters. In spite of the distance they had already covered unmounted they still responded gamely to whip and spur, but another ten miles saw them flagging badly, and although the rough track along the lake-side still remained flat, their riders were compelled to walk them for a mile between each mile that they could cover at a trot.
Just before mid-day they espied a village in the distance which the King said was Otterbacken; adding that he counted on getting fresh horses there. With feverish impatience he lashed the poor brute he was riding into a canter and Roger, perforce, followed his example. When they drew rein in the village square both beasts stood head down and quivering, their forelegs apart, rasping pitifully and broken-winded.
Ignoring them, Gustavus, white-faced and trembling himself, staggered to the door of the post-house, beat with his crop upon the door and yelled for horses.
An ostler appeared in answer to the impatient summons and, not recognising the King, but scared by his cursing and galvanised into activity at the sight of some gold that Gustavus threw upon the cobbles, speedily furnished them with the two best mounts in the stable.
For another hour and a half they pressed on, now rocking in their saddles, so that when they reached the town of Mariestad at half-past one even Gustavus had to admit that the pace was proving too much for him, and that they must rest a while before proceeding further..
At the inn he curtly demanded refreshments, a bedroom to lie down in, and fresh horses to be ready for him at three o'clock. Again he was unrecognised, so after they had munched a piece of sausage and drunk a mug of beer apiece, they were shown up to a room with a big double bed. Flinging himself on it the King insisted that Roger should lie down beside him and for over an hour they relaxed their wearied limbs.
When they got up they found that it had begun to rain, but they put on their cloaks and a few minutes after three were on their way once more. The road now left the lake-side and ran up into the foothills of the mountains; so it was a quarter to five before they reached Skara and could change their mounts again at the post-house there.
From Skara the way descended sharply to the coastal plain, then ran through flatfish country; but in spite of their rest they were no longer capable of maintaining the pace that they had made during the earlier stages of their journey. It was past six and twilight had fallen by the time they trotted into Vara.
They still had a third of their journey before them and were now soaked to the skin, so Roger no longer believed it possible that they could finish it without further rest and a change of clothes. Even allowing for the fact that he had slept only fitfully and in considerable discomfort the previous night, he was many years younger than the King and felt that his youth qualified him to sustain a greater effort. Yet he was already appallingly tired and sore, and he now feared that they would both fall off their horses from sheer exhaustion before they reached Gothenborg.
At Vara a kindly postmaster, seeing their condition, pressed them to put up for the night at his house and, since they would not, insisted on producing a bottle of wine for them to drink. As wine was an expensive luxury rarely found in the Swedish countryside Gustavus was much touched, and without revealing his identity, vowed that if the business on which they were riding at such a pace proved successful he would secure a handsome promotion for their host in recompense for his generosity.
Much refreshed by the wine and a twenty-minute rest they set off again. Full darkness had now come, but the rain had ceased and the road ran flat and straight between dark forests with a ribbon of starlit sky overhead, so they were little incommoded by it. There was only Alingsas and one more wayside posting-house now between them and Gothenborg.
Gustavus crouched over his horse's neck and rode on with such relentless determination that it seemed as if he was possessed of a
demon. Roger was aching in every limb, but gritting liis teeth, he continued to spur his mount into keeping neck to neck with that of the still resolute King. At half-past eight they breasted a slight rise and pulled up in front of the chalet where they expected to make their last change of horses.
To their consternation the postmaster told them that his stable was empty, as a troop of Danish cavalry had seized all his horses that afternoon.
The news could hardly have been worse since, not only were their mounts flagging sadly from the twenty-five miles that they had
already covered, but it meant that the Danes had now infiltrated to the southeast of the great lake and at any moment the King and Roger might ride straight into a vedette of enemy skirmishers.
Nevertheless Gustavus would not be deterred from his purpose, so, flogging their tired mounts into a canter they clattered off down the far side of the slope.
The next twenty minutes were a nightmare. For alternate stretches they walked and trotted the poor beasts, alarmed at their ever increasing signs of exhaustion and rocking in their saddles from fatigue each time they managed to urge them into a trot. To the strain of keeping the horses moving was added a constant apprehension that they would encounter an enemy patrol.
Their only comfort was the rising of the moon, which now showed the track clearly for some way ahead, and twice they swiftly took cover in the woods on seeing little groups of horsemen in the distance.
At last, having walked their horses up a hill, they saw from its top their journey's end. Below them, no more than three miles distant, the spires and gables of Gothenborg glinted in the moonlight, and beyond them shimmered the sea.
With a cry of joy Gustavus spurred his horse forward and in a stumbling canter it lopped down the easy gradient. Roger too, urged his mount into a last effort and the spurt carried them for half a mile down on to the flat.
Suddenly, the King's horse halted with a jerk which nearly threw him over its head, stood quivering for a moment, then collapsed; rolled over and lay still in the middle of the road.
Gustavus had had time to jump clear and stood by the dead animal, cursing furiously. Roger had overshot him by several yards. Pulling up, he dismounted,-and now desperately anxious lest the King should yet be captured, cried:
"Take my mount, Sire! Your goal is but a few miles ahead. She'll carry you that far if you use her gently. Ride on, I beg, and I'll follow on foot."
With a word of thanks the King hurried to him, hauled himself into the saddle, and ambled off towards the city.
Heaving a sigh from weariness, Roger watched him cover the first quarter of a mile; then, although big clouds had just obscured the moon and a new downpour commenced, he sat down to rest on a bank by the roadside. Now that he could no longer help Gustavus his task was done, and there was no particular urgency about his reaching the city. Even if a Danish patrol came upon him it was highly unlikely that they would interfere with a solitary English traveller.
For half an hour he remained sitting there in the pouring rain. He was very tired physically, but his brain was still so excited from the hazards of his mad ride that he felt no desire to sleep. As eleven o'clock dtumed out from the bells of the city he judged that, unless the King had fallen foul of the enemy or his horse had foundered, he would now be at its gates.
He thought of the famous ride of Swift Nick, often wrongly attributed to Dick Turpin, in which the highwayman had ridden from Gad's Hill, via Gravesend ferry, Chelmsford, Cambridge and Huntingdon, to York; a distance of one hundred and ninety miles, in fifteen hours. King Gustavus and himself had covered a hundred and seventy miles ' in fourteen hours; but, whereas Swift Nick had used only one splendid bay mare, they had changed their mounts many times. Nevertheless Roger felt that their feat was one of which any King or subject might well be proud. Standing up he stretched his aching limbs, shook the raindrops from him, and began his trudge to Gothenborg.
He met no one on the way and when, nearly an hour later, he arrived looking and feeling like a drowned rat, at the Gamla Port of the city, he found it closed against him.
His shouts brought a ready response from a group of sentinels up on the wall, and one said to his companions in German with a laugh: '"Having had one fellow here to-night who claims to be the King, what will you wager me against this one telling us that he's the Crown Prince?"
On Roger giving his name and vowing that he had accompanied the King to within three miles of the city, their hilarity was suddenly stilled. It then transpired that Gustavus having arrived at the gate in a junior officer's uniform, and unattended by a single companion, they had refused to believe that he was their King, and had kept him outside as-a butt for their jests for nearly an hour. He had only just been admitted and was still being questioned in the guardroom.
Roger's story tallying so completely with that which Gustavus had already given, he was let in without more ado, and he rejoined the furiously angry monarch just as he was being led under escort to the Guild House.
The rumour that a man who claimed to be the King had arrived had now spread through the city, and lights were appearing everywhere as people hurried from their beds to ascertain the truth. The prisoners and their guards had not proceeded far when a man ran out of the crowd, and throwing himself at Gustavus's feet, proclaimed that he was indeed their King, for he knew him well, and that by his timely arrival he had saved them all from destruction.
The joy of the people was then wonderful to behqld. Cheering and shouting they crowded about Gustavus, striving to kiss his hands or
even touch his person; and, swiftly gaining the mastery over his outraged feelings, he smilingly adopted his favourite role of their father and paladin. It was only with the greatest difficulty that he persuaded the citizens to allow him to continue on his way; but, at length, hundreds of them waving torches formed into a great procession and led him in triumph to the Governor's house.
Old General Duretz was both surprised and confounded by the unexpected appearance of his sovereign; and, wringing his hands, told him that he had been most ill-advised to come, as nothing could save the city from capture.
"You mistake, General!" replied the King disdainfully. "I came on purpose to save it. Now I require beds for myself and the gallant gentleman who accompanied me. I will make my pleasure known to you in the morning."
It then transpired that neither beds, plate, tables nor chairs remained in the house, as the General had sent them all away the day before to prevent them being pillaged by the Danes. At this an English merchant who was standing among the crowd came forward and begged the King to accept the use of his house, which chanced to be next door; so Gustavus and Roger gratefully followed him to it and, flinging themselves down on two piles of rugs before the fire, fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
The King's famous ride had taken place on the 3rd of October; yet, in spite of that gruelling experience, he arose before dawn on the 4th and sent for the principal personages of the city, to whom he announced his intention of defending it to the last extremity.
General Duretz fell on his knees before him and begged him not to do so. In an effort to cover his own shame and partly, perhaps, from an honest conviction, the Governor urged that the place was in no state to resist. He said that by the previous evening it had been three-parts surrounded and within a few hours would be so entirely, and that he had received intelligence that by mid-day they would be sent a summons to surrender. Should it be rejected a bloody assault would follow and His Majesty's sacred person be exposed to grave danger.
Gustavus heard him out in silence, then said quietly: "Such being your opinion, General, you will, of course, feel much obliged to me for releasing you from the charge of this garrison. Retire, Sir, and follow your baggage."
He then appointed Count John Sparr to be the new Governor, and told the assembled magistrates and officers that if only they could hold the city for a few days his army of Dalecarlians would have time to come to their assistance; and of his hopes that if they could thus rob the enemy of a major triumph, Britain and Prussia would actively intervene before it was too late.
Charmed by his eloquence and animated by his courage, his listeners pledged themselves to give him their utmost support and broke up to set about the defence of the city in earnest.
The King then made a personal tour of the defences, and Roger, who accompanied him as one of his suite, soon saw that General Duretz had at least had some grounds for believing the place to be indefensible. Although the greatest fortress in Sweden it had been allowed to go to
rack and ruin, the timbered platforms of the batteries having become so rotten that they would not bear the weight of a cannon.
It was already abundantly clear that Gustavus's momentous decision to throw himself into Gothenborg had been fully justified, as, had he not done so, the city would certainly have been surrendered without firing a shot; but by the end of the tour of inspection Roger feared that the gallant gesture would have been made in vain if the Danes attacked the place with even moderate determination.
Nevertheless, as far as emergency measures could be taken they were now in full train, and the whole population was enthusiastically engaged in digging earthworks and dragging up great baulks of good timber to replace those that had rotted in the gun emplacements.
At mid-day, General Duretz's intelligence was proved correct by the arrival of a herald from Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel, bearing a letter for the Governor which peremptorily demanded the surrender of Gothenborg. To the herald's astonishment, he was taken, not to the Governor, but before the King, who promptly returned a defiant answer.
The die was now cast and an assault could be expected as soon as the Danish General had deployed his troops. In a private conversation with Roger that evening Gustavus admitted that in spite of the new heart he had put into the garrison he feared that the city could not possibly resist a serious attack, and that their one hope now lay in Mr. Elliot.
Nevertheless, they laboured oh all through the next day improving the defences and, late that night, just as they were about to retire, Hugh Elliot joined them. He was looking very tired and ill, and his news was of the blackest. He had reached Uddevalla, where the Danish headquarters were established, late on the night of the 4th, but found that both Prince Charles and the young Crown Prince were absent, directing the movements of their troops. During the day he had despatched two letters to the Danish Commander-in-Chief, requesting that a truce should be called so that negotiations might be opened to prevent a general European conflagration. To both Prince Charles had disdained to reply.
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