The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 14: The Riot at Dort.

  The Duke of Marlborough lost no time in utilizing the advantagesgained by the victory of Blenheim. He at once raised the siege ofIngoldstadt, which, when all the country was in his power, mustsooner or later surrender, and detached a portion of the forcewhich had been there engaged to besiege Ulm, an important fortresson the Danube. Then with the bulk of his army he marched to theRhine, crossed at Philipsburg on the 6th of September, and advancedtowards Landau.

  Marshal Villeroi had constructed an entrenched camp to cover thetown; but on the approach of the victor of Blenheim he fell back,leaving Landau to its fate. Marlborough followed him, and madeevery effort to bring the French to a battle; but Villeroi fellback behind the Lauter, and then behind the Motter, abandoningwithout a blow one of the strongest countries in Europe.

  On the 11th of September Ulm surrendered, with 250 pieces ofcannon; and upon the following day, Landau was invested. The Princeof Baden with 20,000 men conducted the siege, and Marlborough andEugene with 30,000 covered the operations. Marlborough, however,determined on ending the campaign, if possible, by driving theFrench beyond the Moselle, and leaving Prince Eugene with 18,000men, marched with 12,000 men on the 14th of October.

  After a tremendous march through a wild and desolate country, hearrived with his exhausted troops at Treves on the 29th, one daybefore the arrival of 10,000 French, who were advancing to occupyit. The garrison of 600 men in the citadel evacuated it at hisapproach. He immediately collected and set to work 6000 peasants torestore the fortifications. Leaving a garrison, he marched againstthe strong place of Traesbach. Here he was joined by twelve Dutchbattalions from the Meuse; and having invested the place, he leftthe Prince of Hesse to conduct the siege--which speedily ended inthe surrender of the place--and marched back with all haste torejoin Prince Eugene.

  Leaving Eugene to cover the siege of Landau, Marlborough nowhurried away to Hanover and Berlin, to stimulate the governments ofHanover and Prussia to renewed exertion; and by his address andconciliatory manner succeeded in making arrangements for 8000 freshPrussian troops to be sent to the imperial armies in Italy, as theDuke of Savoy had been reduced to the last extremity there by theFrench.

  The Electress of Bavaria, who had been regent of that country sinceher husband left to join the French, had now no resource butsubmission, and she accordingly agreed to disband her remainingtroops, and to make peace.

  The Hungarian insurrection was suppressed by Austria, now able todevote all its attention to that point: and Landau surrenderedtowards the end of November, when its garrison was reduced from7000 to 3500, who became prisoners of war.

  All these decisive results arose from the victory of Blenheim. Hadthe British Government during the winter acceded to Marlborough'srequest, and voted men and money, he would have been able to marchto Paris in the next campaign, and could have brought the war to anend; but the mistaken parsimony then, as often since, crippled theBritish general, allowed the French to recover from their disaster,prolonged the war for years, and cost the country very many timesthe money and the men that Marlborough had asked for to bring thewar to a decisive termination.

  But while the English and Dutch governments refused to vote moremoney or men, and the German governments, freed from their pressingdanger, became supine and lukewarm, the French, upon the contrary,set to in an admirable manner to retrieve the disasters they hadsuffered, and employed the winter in well-conceived efforts to takethe field with a new army, to the full as strong as that which theyhad lost; and the fruits of Blenheim were, with the exception ofthe acquisition of a few fortresses, entirely thrown away.

  At the battle of Blenheim, Rupert Holliday escaped untouched, butHugh was struck with a fragment of shell, and severely wounded. Hewas sent down the Rhine by water to the great military hospitalwhich had been established at Bonn; and Rupert, who was greatlygrieved at being separated from his faithful follower, had thesatisfaction of hearing ere long that he was doing well.

  Rupert had assigned him as orderly a strong, active young fellow,named Joe Sedley, who was delighted at his appointment, for the"little cornet" was, since his defeat of the German champion, thepride of the regiment. Joe was a Londoner, one of those fellows whocan turn their hand to anything, always full of fun, gettingsometimes into scrapes, but a general favourite with his comrades.

  The campaign over, Rupert, who was now a lieutenant, asked andobtained leave to go home for the winter; he had long since beenreconciled with his mother; and it was two years and a half sincehe had left home. Hugh and Joe Sedley had also obtained leave, uponRupert's application on their behalf.

  On his way down Rupert resolved to pay a visit for a few days tohis kind friends at Dort. They had written begging him to come andsee them; and a postscript which Maria had put in her last letterto him, to the effect that she had reason to believe that her oldpersecutor was in the neighbourhood, and that her father had takenrenewed precautions for her safety, added to his desire to visitDort.

  "That fellow's obstinacy is really admirable in its way," Rupertsaid, on reading this news. "He has made up his mind that there isa fortune to be obtained by carrying off Maria van Duyk, and hesticks to it with the same pertinacity which other men display inthe pursuit of commerce or of lawful trade, or that a wild beastshows in his tireless pursuit of his prey."

  Had it not been for the postscript, Rupert would have deferred hisvisit to Dort until after his return from England, but the newscaused him serious uneasiness. He knew but too well theunscrupulous nature of this desperate man, whom he had heard ofsince his last attempt upon his life as being a leader of one ofthe bands of freebooters who, formed of deserters and otherdesperate men, frequented the Black Forest, the Vosges mountains,the Ardennes, and other forests and hill districts. That he woulddare lead his band down into the plains of Holland, Rupert had nofear; still he could have no difficulty in finding men of ruinedfortunes even there to join in any wild attempt.

  Leaving the army when it went into winter quarters, Ruperttravelled by land to Bonn, and there picked up Hugh, who was nowcompletely restored to health, and then, taking boat, journeyeddown the Rhine. Then he took horse again, and rode to Dort.

  Mynheer van Duyk and Maria were delighted to see him; and Hugh andSedley were hospitably received by the servants, with whom Hughhad, on the occasion of his last visit, made himself a primefavourite.

  For the first day of their arrival Rupert had all the talking todo, and his adventures to relate from the time he set sail fromDort. He had of course written from time to time, but his letters,although fairly full, did not contain a tithe of the detail whichhis friends were anxious to learn. The next morning, afterbreakfast, he asked his host if he was unwell, for he looked wornand anxious.

  "I am well in body, but disturbed in mind," he said. "Six monthsago I stood well with my fellow citizens, and few were more popularin Dort than myself. Now, save among the better class, men lookaskance at me. Subtle whispers have gone abroad that I am incorrespondence with France; that I am a traitor to Holland; that Icorrespond with the Spanish at Antwerp. In vain have I tried toforce an open accusation, in order that I might disperse it. Themerchants, and others of my rank, scoff at these rumours, and havein full council denounced their authors as slanderers; but thelower class still hold to their belief. Men scowl as I walk along;the boys shout 'Traitor!' after me; and I have received threateningletters."

  "But this is abominable," Rupert said, hotly. "Is there no way ofdealing with these slanderers?"

  "No," the merchant said; "I see none, beyond living it down. Someenemy is at work, steadily and powerfully."

  "Have you any enemy you suspect?"

  "None, save indeed that rascal countryman of yours. He isdesperate, and, as you know, relentless. My house has always beenguarded by six stout fellows since we returned from the Hague; andany open attempt to carry off my daughter would be useless. It isdifficult to see what he proposes to himself by stirring up a partyagainst me; but he might have some
scheme which we cannot fathom.Our Dutchmen are slow but obstinate, and once they get an idea intheir head it is difficult to discharge."

  "You do not fear any public tumult, surely?" Rupert said.

  "I do not anticipate it, and yet I regard it as possible," Van Duyksaid. "The people in our town have been given to bursts of frenzy,in which some of our best men have been slain."

  "Why don't you go down to the Hague again till this madness haspassed by?"

  "I cannot do that. My enemies would take advantage of it, and mightsack my house and warehouses."

  "But there is the burgher guard; and all the respectable citizensare with you."

  "That is true enough," the merchant said; "but they are always slowto take action, and I might be killed, and my place burnt beforethey came on to the ground. I will send Maria with you down to theHague to her aunt's. If this be the work of the man we wot of, itmay be that he will then cease his efforts, and the bad feeling hehas raised will die away; but in truth, I shall never feel thatMaria is safe until I hear that his evil course has come to anend."

  "If I come across him, I will bring it to an end, and thatquickly," Rupert said, wrathfully. "At any rate, I think that theburgomaster ought to take steps to protect the house."

  "The council laugh at the idea of danger," Van Duyk said. "To themthe idea that I should be charged with dealing with the enemy is sosupremely ridiculous that they make light of it, and are inclinedto think that the state of things I describe is purely a matter ofmy own imagination. If I were attacked they would come as quicklyas they could to my aid; but they may be all too late.

  "There is one thing, Rupert. This enemy hates you, and desires yourdeath as much as he wishes to carry off my daughter, and throughher to become possessed of my money bags. If, then, this work ishis doing, assuredly he will bring it to a head while you are here,so as to gratify both his hate and his greed at once."

  "It is a pity that you cannot make some public statement, thatunless your daughter marries a man of whom you approve you willgive her no fortune whatever."

  "I might do that," Van Duyk said; "but he knows that if he forcedher to marry him, I should still give her my money. In the secondplace, she has a large fortune of her own, that came to her throughher mother. And lastly, I believe that it is not marriage he wishesnow, for he must be sure that Maria would die rather than accepthim, but to carry her off, and then place some enormous sum as aransom on condition of her being restored safe and unharmed to me.He knows that I would give all that I possess to save her from hishands."

  "The only way out of it that I see," Rupert said, "is for me tofind him, and put an end to him."

  "You will oblige me, Rupert, if, during the time you remain here,you would wear this fine mail shirt under your waistcoat. You donot wear your cuirass here; and your enemy might get a daggerplanted between your shoulders as you walk the streets. It islight, and very strong. It was worn by a Spanish general who fell,in the days of Alva, in an attack upon Dort. My great-grandfathershot him through the head, and kept his mail shirt as a trophy."

  "It is a useful thing against such a foe as this," Rupert said,putting it on at once. "I could not wear it in battle, for it wouldbe an unfair advantage; but against an assassin all arms are fair."

  During the day Rupert went out with his host, and the scowlinglooks which were turned upon the latter convinced him that themerchant had not exaggerated the extent to which the feeling of thelower class had been excited against him. So convinced was he ofthe danger of the position, that, to the immense surprise of Hughand Joe Sedley, he ordered them to lie down at night in theirclothes, with their swords and pistols ready by them. With eightarmed men in the house--for four of the porters engaged in themerchant's warehouse slept on truckle beds placed in thehall--Rupert thought that they ought to be able to repel anyassault which might be made.

  It was on the fourth night after Rupert's coming to Dort, that hewas aroused by a touch on his shoulder. He leapt to his feet, andhis hand, as he did so, grasped his sword, which lay ready besidehim.

  "What is it?" he exclaimed.

  "There is mischief afloat," Van Duyk said. "There is a sound as ofa crowd in front of the house. I have heard the tramp of manyfootsteps."

  Rupert went to the window and looked out. The night was dark, andthe oil lamps had all been extinguished; but it seemed to him thata confused mass filled the place in which the house stood.

  "Let me get the men under arms," he said, "and then we can open thewindow, and ask what they want."

  In two minutes he returned.

  "Now, sir, let us ask them at once. They are probably waiting for aleader or order."

  The merchant went to the window, and threw it open.

  "Who is there?" he asked. "And what means this gathering at thedoor of a peaceful citizen?"

  As if his voice had been the signal for which they waited, a roarwent up from the immense crowd. A thunder of axes at the door andshutters, and a great shout arose, "Death to the traitor! Death tothe Frenchmen!"

  Shots were fired at the windows, and at the same moment the alarmbell at the top of the house pealed loudly out, one of the servingmen having previously received order to sound the signal if needed.In answer to the alarm bell, the watchman on the tower, whose dutyit was to call the citizens from their beds in case of fire, struckthe great bell, and its deep sounds rang out over the town. Twominutes later the church bells joined in the clamour; and the bellon the town hall with quick, sharp strokes called the burgher guardto arms.

  Van Duyk, knowing now that all that could be done had beeneffected, ran to his daughter's room, bade her dress, and keep herdoor locked until she heard his voice, come what may. Then he randownstairs to join the defenders below.

  "The shutters are giving everywhere," Rupert cried. "We must holdthis broad staircase. How long will it be, think you, before theburgher guard are here?"

  "A quarter of an hour, maybe."

  "We should beat them back for that time," Rupert said. "Light asmany lights as you can, and place them so as to throw the light intheir faces, and keep us in the shade."

  In two or three minutes a smashing of timber and loud shouts oftriumph proclaimed that the mob were effecting an entrance.

  "For the present I will stand in front, with one of these goodfellows with their axes on each side of me. The other two shallstand behind us, a step or two higher. You, Hugh and Joe, take postwith our host in the gallery above with your pistols, and cover usby shooting any man who presses us hard. Fire slowly, pick off yourmen, and only leave your posts and join me here on the lastnecessity."

  They had just taken the posts assigned to them when the door fellin with a crash, and the mob poured in, just as a rush took placefrom the side passages by those who had made their way in throughthe lower windows.

  "A grim set of men," Rupert said to himself.

  They were indeed a grim set. Many bore torches, which, when onceneed for quiet and concealment was over, they had lighted.

  Dort did a large export trade in hides and in meat to the townslying below them, and it was clear that it was from the butchersand skinners that the mob was chiefly drawn. Huge figures, withpoleaxes and long knives, in leathern clothes spotted and stainedwith blood, showed wild and fierce in the red light of the torches,as they brandished their weapons, and prepared to assault thelittle band who held the broad stairs.

  Rupert advanced a step below the rest, and shouted:

  "What means this? I am an officer of the Duke of Marlborough'sarmy, and I warn you against lifting a hand against my host andgood friend Mynheer van Duyk."

  "It's a lie!" shouted one of the crowd. "We know you; you are aFrenchman masquerading in English uniform.

  "Down with him, my friends. Death to the traitors!"

  There was a rush up the stairs, and in an instant the terriblefight began.

  On open ground, Rupert, with his activity and his straight sword,would have made short work of one of the brawny giants who nowattacked him, f
or he could have leapt out of reach of thetremendous blow, and have run his opponent through ere he couldagain lift his ponderous axe. But there was no guarding suchswinging blows as these with a light sword; and even the advantageof the height of the stairs was here of little use.

  At first he felt that the combat was desperate. Soon, however, heregained confidence in his sword. With it held ever straight infront of him, the men mounting could not strike without laying opentheir breasts to the blade. There must, he felt, be no guarding onhis part; he must be ever on the offensive.

  All this was felt rather than thought in the whirl of action. Oneafter another the leaders of the assailants fell, pierced throughthe throat while their ponderous axes were in the act ofdescending. By his side the Dutchman's retainers fought sturdily,while the crack of the pistols of Hugh, Joe Sedley, and the masterof the house were generally followed by a cry and a fall from theassailants.

  As the difficulty of their task became more apparent, the yells offury of the crowd increased. Many of them were half drunk, andtheir wild gestures and shouts, the waving of their torches, andthe brandishing of knives and axes, made the scene a sort ofpandemonium.

  Ten minutes had passed since the first attack, and still the stairswere held. One of the defenders lay dead, with his head cloven tohis shoulders with a poleaxe, but another had taken his place.

  Suddenly, from behind, the figure of a man bounded down the stairsfrom the gallery, and with a cry of "Die, villain!" struck Rupertwith a dagger with all his strength, and then bounded back into thegallery. Rupert fell headlong amid his assailants below.

  Hugh and Joe Sedley, with a shout of rage and horror, dashed fromtheir places, sword in hand, and leaping headlong down the stairs,cutting and hewing with their heavy swords, swept all oppositionback, and stood at the foot, over the body of Rupert.

  The three Dutchmen and Van Duyk followed their example, and formeda group round the foot of the stairs. Then there was a wild stormof falling blows, the clash of sword and axe, furious shouts, louddeath cries, a very turmoil of strife; when there was a cry at thedoor of "The watch!" and then a loud command:

  "Cut the knaves down! Slay every man! Dort! Dort!"

  There was a rush now to escape. Down the passages fled the lateassailants, pursued by the burgher guard, who, jealous of thehonour of their town, injured by this foul attack upon a leadingcitizen, cut down all they came upon; while many who made theirescape through the windows by which they had entered, were cut downor captured by the guard outside. The defenders of the stairs madeno attempt at pursuit.

  The instant the burgher guard entered the hall, Hugh and Joe threwdown their bloodstained swords, and knelt beside Rupert.

  "Ough!" sighed the latter, in a long breath.

  "Thank God! He is not dead."

  "Dead!" Rupert gasped, "not a bit of it; only almost trodden todeath. One of my stout friends has been standing on me all thetime, though I roared for mercy so that you might have heard me amile off, had it not been for the din."

  "But are you not stabbed, Master Rupert?"

  "Stabbed! No; who should have stabbed me? One of you somehow hit meon the back, and down I went; but there is no stab."

  "He had a dagger. I saw it flash," Hugh said, lifting Rupert to hisfeet.

  "Had he?" Rupert said; "and who was he?

  "If it was an enemy, it is your coat of mail has saved me," hecontinued, turning to Van Duyk. "I have never taken it off since.But how did he get behind me I wonder?

  "Run," he continued energetically, "and see if the lady is safe.There must have been mischief behind."

  Mynheer van Duyk, closely followed by the others, ran upstairs tohis daughter's room. The door was open. He rushed into the room. Itwas empty. The window was open; and looking out, two ladders wereseen, side by side.

  It was clear that while the fray had been raging, Maria von Duykhad been carried off.