However, he reported that Djezzar was doing his utmost to strengthen the defences and, as evidence of this, they saw many gangs of Arab men, women and children—hundreds strong— toiling at clearing twenty-foot-deep ditches and hacking down and burning scores of miserable huts.
Two days later a sloop came alongside Tigre, with the news that a French flotilla, composed of small craft, had passed Jaffa and, keeping close inshore, was coming up the coast. The Commodore at once ordered sail to be set and the Squadron headed south to meet it. Sir Sidney's luck was in. They surprised the flotilla that night as it rounded the promontory at the southern end of the long bay. There followed a sharp encounter and the French endeavoured to beach their ships, upon which every boat possessed by the British was sent in and a skirmish ensued on shore that ended in the capture by the British of every ship in the flotilla.
It proved to be a prize of incalculable value as it consisted of seven gunboats mounting thirty-four cannon, which could be used in defence of Acre, and the whole of Bonaparte's siege artillery, amounting to nearly forty heavy guns and a great quantity of ammunition. It would have required a labour force thousands strong to drag these heavy cannon all the way from Egypt by the camel-track that linked the coast towns; so Bonaparte had had no alternative but to send them up by water. Later it transpired that, on finding Sir Sidney Smith's Squadron in the Bay of Acre, he had sent a message back to Jaffa, ordering the flotilla to remain there; but by the time the message arrived the flotilla had already set sail.
It was a body blow to the French, for not only did the loss of their siege train deprive them of the swiftest means of reducing Acre but, as the material had been captured intact, it could now be used against them. Ph61ippeaux was overjoyed and at once set about landing the cannon at the Mole so that they could be installed, as he directed, to strengthen the weakest places in he fortress's defences, and Sir Sidney sent ashore to man them all the gunners he could spare.
Roger's future was also decided by this action. One of the boat parties had rashly chased the French too far from the shore, then found itself surrounded by superior numbers and forced to surrender. The party consisted of a Lieutenant, a Midshipman, a Petty Officer and seven seamen, and Sir Sidney thought it possible that the ten sailors might be released in exchange for one French Colonel. A flag of truce was sent ashore at the southern point of the long bay, on which lay the little port of Haifa, near which the flotilla had been captured. Two hours later the Lieutenant who had been sent ashore returned to report that a French officer there had agreed to the exchange.
During Roger's week in Tigre he had formed such a firm friendship with the adventurous Sir Sidney that he had, on several occasions, been tempted to tell him his real name and the whole truth about himself. But his natural caution caused him to refrain because, even under the seal of secrecy, the fewer people who knew that Roger Brook and Robert MacElfic were the same person, the better. But he now had to become Colonel Breuc again, and how he should account to Bonaparte for the five months he had spent as Robert MacElfic had given him considerable thought.
He decided finally to say that, according to plan, he had gone aboard a Greek ship in Alexandria, had posed as an Englishman and had passed safely through the British blockade. But a fortnight later the ship had been captured by Corsairs and taken to Tripoli where, for two and a half months, he had had a hideous time as a slave loading cargo in the harbour. He had then managed to escape by concealing himself in the hold of a merchant ship and, when she was well out at sea, he had given himself up as a stowaway. To his delight, he found that the merchantman was a French blockade-runner and bound for Marseilles; so he had no hesitation in declaring himself to be Colonel Breuc and her Captain had treated him with the greatest politeness. On board he also met the owner of the ship's cargo, a Monsieur Drapeau, whom it happened that he had known well in Paris some years earlier; so there could be no question of his identity. But when the ship was sneaking by night through the narrows south of Malta his luck turned. She ran straight into
Sir Sidney Smith's Squadron on its way to Egypt, and was captured. As he was known to Drapeau, it had been out of the question to pretend that he had lied to the Captain about being Colonel Breuc and that he was in fact an Englishman; so, since Sir Sidney was not calling at any port under British control, he had been carried on to Syria as a prisoner.
At that time ships were being captured almost daily throughout the Mediterranean, either by Barbary pirates or the ships of the warring nations; so there was nothing in the least improbable in such a story, which provided a complete explanation of his never having reached France.
By six o'clock he had first cut then shaved off the fine, brown, curly beard that he had grown as MacElfic, and was ready to go ashore. Compared with other missions he had undertaken, he did not expect this last hazard in the Near East to prove particularly difficult or dangerous. Now that the French Army was arriving outside Acre there was no longer anything to be feared from marauding Arabs and Sir Sidney's gunboats would be constantly patrolling within cannon shot of the coast. He would be escorted at once to Bonaparte's headquarters and a few days there should be sufficient to inform himself of the size and resources of the Army. The odds were that the headquarters would be no more than a few miles from the coast; so he should be able to slip away from them one night and, as a Colonel, no French picket would interfere with his making his way to the shore. Only then might he meet with difficulties. However, there were still plenty of native-owned fishing boats coming and going in the long bay and before dawn he should be able to find one whose master could be bribed to take him off to the nearest British ship.
Sir Sidney wished him the best of luck and a speedy return. Having taken a cordial farewell of the gallant Commodore, Roger went over the side into a waiting boat. Half an hour later he landed, with the Lieutenant who had carried the flag of truce, at a previously agreed point about halfway along the Gulf, some six miles south of Acre.
A small body of French troops, headed by an officer, was waiting there and with them were the British sailors who had been taken prisoner the previous night. The formalities were soon concluded. The sailors, hilarious with joy that their captivity should have been of such short duration, clambered into the boat and it pushed off. Meanwhile the French officer had saluted Roger and introduced himself as Captain Elbee of the Camel Corps.
Roger remarked on the smart, although now slightly faded, sky-blue uniform of these French troops as it was new to him. After congratulating him on having regained his freedom, the Captain explained, 'We are a new regiment, created by the General-in-Chief last autumn. My men sit back to back, two to each dromedary; but, even so, we can travel at a considerable speed and can range the desert for several days without having to provide water for our animals. The regiment was formed to suppress the many roving bands of these accursed Arabs, and has been most successful. Very soon we became an elite Corps and now it is regarded as an honour to be transferred to us.'
' Then I congratulate you,' Roger replied. ' But, since you have such a fine turn of speed, I wonder that you are not being made use of in the advance guard.'
' We are the advance guard,' the Captain replied. ' At least, as far as the coast is concerned. The bulk of the Army has now spread out and is enveloping the city. It was, I believe, expected that other advance units would reach the coast north of Acre today. If so, the siege will begin tomorrow. My troop will not now be moving on until I receive further orders.'
' Do you know the whereabouts of the General-in-Chief's present headquarters? ' Roger enquired.' If you do I should like to proceed there tonight, so that I can report myself without delay.'
The Captain shook his head. '1 regret, mon Colonel, but that is not possible. I am told that the General-in-Chief intends to establish himself somewhere on the slopes of Mount Carmel, so that he can overlook the city. But as you can see we are a considerable distance from the Mount. Parties of enemy skirmishers have been coming out of Acre al
l day and roving the plain. It is certain they will continue to be active at night. If you proceeded on your own, you would run a grave risk of capture and I have not enough men to spare an escort for you.'
While talking, they had crossed the half-mile inland to the spot where, just out of range of the guns of the British ships, Elbee had made his camp. It was in a wide depression between two rolling sand-dunes on the crests of which look-outs were posted. In the flat valley bottom the remainder of the troops were gathered round a fire at which some of them were cooking supper, and beyond it a score of seated dromedaries were picketed in a neat line.
In all there were about thirty men, but no other officer. Elbee told Roger that since leaving Jaffa he had lost six of his men and his Lieutenant in skirmishes, then he apologized for lacking the means to entertain his guest in the way he would have wished. The baggage camels could carry only water, food and a reserve of ammunition; so there were no tents and supper would be only boiled beans, a mouthful of one of the two rabbits that had been snared and cornmush pudding. He added that one of the reasons for which his Colonel had been only too pleased to exchange the ten British sailors for Roger was that they had little enough food for themselves, let alone prisoners.
As darkness fell they ate their meagre meal, a little apart from the troops. While he ate, Roger, who had been unable to produce identity papers, set about removing any suspicion which might lurk in the Captain's mind that he might be a French Royalist whom the British had planted as a spy. He naturally refrained from disclosing why Bonaparte had sent him back to France or that he had posed during part of his voyage as an Englishman; but in other respects he gave the fictitious account that he had thought out of his adventures in the past five months, calling lavishly on his imagination as he described his sufferings while a slave in Tripoli. He then began to enquire after his many friends in the Army, displaying a familiarity with them that no ordinary spy could have shown.
Elbee, now clearly convinced of Roger's bona fides, replied to his enquiries as well as he was able, and gave him an account of the Syrian campaign to date. The Army had had a terrible time while crossing the barren territory of Sinai, but the spirit of the men had revived again on seeing the wooded hills and fertile plains of Syria. Before El Arish had been taken there had been a fierce encounter with what remained of Ibrahim Bey's Mamelukes, in which Reynier's Division had suffered heavily, but that of Kleber had come to his rescue and had turned a possible defeat into victory. The taking of Jaffa had been a most bloody business. The dauntless Lannes led the final assault that had broken the resistance of the garrison; then, as the city had refused terms, it was put to the sack. Consumed by thirst and half starving, the troops looted, slew and raped without pause for twenty-four hours.
Roger broke in to say that he had been told about the massacre of the prisoners and had been greatly shocked by it, but Elbee sprang instantly to his General-in-Chief's defence.
'What other course was open to him? ' he demanded. 'I am told that he nearly took the heads off the two officers who accepted the surrender of the troops who had broken their parole, because it forced this awful decision on him. For two whole days he wrestled with this problem and twice called a conference of all his Generals to debate it with them. There was not enough food to fill the bellies of our own men, let alone these two thousand prisoners. They could not be sent back by ship to Egypt because of the British, and escorts to march them back overland could not possibly be spared. If they had been released they would have made their way up here to St. Jean d'Acre, and many of them would for the third time have taken French lives. The opinion of the conference of Generals was unanimous. The poor wretches had to be taken out and shot.'
With subtle intent Roger said, ' But, surely, the Army is not so reduced in numbers that a few hundred men could not have been spared to march the captives back to Egypt? '
Elbee shrugged and supplied the desired information. ' I can give you only rough figures, but I cannot be far out if I say that General Desaix has been left with at least ten thousand men to hold Egypt. With the casualties we have suffered in the past eight months that cannot leave many more than twelve thousand of the original expeditionary force, and we have not received a single reinforcement. In any case, only four Divisions entered Syria: those of Kleber, Reynier, Bon and Lannes, plus the cavalry under Murat. All of them are far below strength; and now, to the terror of us all, they are being further reduced by plague.'
'That,' said Roger, 'is by far the worst news you have given me. Has the infection become serious? '
The Captain sighed. ' I am told that a few cases occurred while General Kleber's troops were still in Alexandria, but there was no serious outbreak until his Division reached Jaffa. He then lost some two hundred men in the course of a few days, and it is said to be spreading in an alarming fashion. My own men, thank God, have remained free from infection. But, to be honest, we all now refrain from shaking hands with any man from another unit, for fear that we may contract the pestilence.'
It was now about ten o'clock. Except for the sentries, the troops had wrapped themselves in their cloaks and gone to sleep. Roger and his host decided to do likewise. Having dug holes for their hips in the soft sand, they settled down. As Roger spread his handkerchief on a mound of sand that he had scooped up to make a pillow, he was aglow with satisfaction. Without even going to Bonaparte's headquarters he had learned the basic facts of the situation. The French were approximately twelve thousand strong; he knew the names of the Generals who were commanding the Divisions, and had also learned that the Army was existing on a minimum of rations and that it was now being scourged by the plague.
That information was all Sir Sidney had asked him to supply. With a clear conscience he could give it and require in return that he should be given a passage home. All he had now to do was to set out next day, ostensibly for Bonaparte's headquarters, rid himself somehow of the guide he would be given and, the following night, bribe an Arab fisherman to take him off to a British warship. With this happy prospect in mind, he fell asleep.
Soon after one o'clock in the morning the sound of a single warning shot pierced his dormant brain. He started up, wide awake. Next minute he heard the thunder of horses' hooves. Elbee sprang up beside him and they drew their swords. There was no moon so it was almost dark but, above the ridge, against the night sky, they glimpsed a formidable mass of cavalry charging down the slope.
They had hardly time to draw breath before Djezzar's yelling horsemen were upon them. Roger never knew what happened to Elbee. He was assailed simultaneously by two mounted men, clad in flowing robes and wearing large turbans. He thrust upward with his sword at the one on his right. The point of the sword pierced the man's side and he gave a hideous howl. But at the same instant he had struck at Roger with his scimitar, and the side of the blade caught Roger on the head, knocking him half unconscious. As he staggered back, the man on his left grabbed him by the hair, dragged him off his feet and, exerting terrific strength, hauled him up across his saddle-bow.
His senses whirling, amidst a babel of shots, screams and curses, Roger was carried off into the darkness. After galloping for a mile or more his captor reined in. By then Roger had recovered sufficiently to struggle. Holding him down, the man who had taken him prisoner thrust a cord with a slip knot over his left wrist, then pulled it tight and thrust him off, so that he fell to the ground.
For a few moments he lay there, bruised and panting. A pull on the stout cord jerked him to his knees. The light was just sufficient for him to see that he was among a body of horsemen. To his right he glimpsed another prisoner in a similar situation to his own. A command rang out in Turkish. The body of cavalry began to move forward at a trot. The pull on his wrist yanked him to his feet. Still half dazed, he found himself running, jumping, staggering breathlessly over rough ground, in a desperate endeavour to keep himself from falling and being dragged face downward across it.
Bemused by pain and terror as he was, he was
still capable of realizing the awful thing that had happened to him. He could now no longer hope for a swift completion of his mission and a passage home. Instead, he was a captive and being taken to Acre. There the odds were that Djezzar Pasha, with his notorious lust for cruelty, would put him to death in some hideous fashion. At the very best he would become a slave. Only that evening he had amused himself by describing to Captain Elbee the imaginary miseries he had suffered as a slave in Tripoli. He had little thought then that they might actually be inflicted on him before another day had passed.
The Siege of Acre
Gasping for breath, his feet hardly touching the ground, Roger blundered on. His left wrist was already galled to bleeding point by the cord looped round it, he was blinded by the sand kicked up by the hooves of the horses and, from the pull his captor had extered on his hair, his head burned as though vitriol had been poured upon it. Unaided, he could never have run so far at such a pace. The cord drew him on, relieving him of any effort to force his body forward, but the strain of keeping upright was appalling. How long his ordeal lasted he had no idea, but it seemed to him that he had been running with bursting lungs for hours on end before the cord at last slackened. Streaming with sweat, coated with sand and with agony in every limb, he fell to the ground and fainted.
When he came to he was again lying face down across his captor's saddle-bow. After a few minutes the clatter of the horses' hooves on cobbles told him that they had entered the city. Ten minutes later they halted, he was thrust from the saddle and came down in a heap on stone paving. His body was so racked with pain that he hardly felt the thump on his backside and squirmed up into a sitting position. His view was partially obscured by a forest of horses' legs and those of their riders, who were now dismounting; but he could see enough to know that he was in a large courtyard lit by men holding smoking torches.
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