The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XI.

  I was up and watchful early the next morning; for although I had nowobtained as much information in regard to my worthy guide's purposesas was necessary to enable me to shape my own plans thereby, I thoughtit better to prevent him, as far as possible, from organizing hisscheme more completely with the landlord, and providing againstcontingencies. By seeing a bespattered horse standing in the yard, andthe complacent countenances both of the groom and the landlord, Idivined that their messenger had returned from Rennes, or fromwhatever other town they had sent to in search of officers toapprehend me, and that all their arrangements had hitherto beensuccessful. Trusting, however, that they would find that suchcalculations, formed without the consent of so principal a party asmyself, would be more difficult to execute than they anticipated, Itook my breakfast in great tranquillity, and as soon as the horseswere ready, paid my score and set out.

  The groom was in great glee, which continued uninterrupted for fourgood miles of our morning's ride; but at length I began to see beforeus the division of the roads, with the finger-post that directed wearytravellers towards their destination, and I now prepared myself forthe execution of my design. Not knowing whether I might not have asevere struggle to effect it, I felt that my pistols were free in theholsters, and as we came to the carrefour, drew in my rein, and gazedup at the finger-post. There, written in large characters, certainlyappeared RENNES! PARIS! pointing either way to the road towards whichour horses' heads were turned, or to that which we had just travelled.On the right-hand board, however, was written ST. MALO, and as thegroom was quietly riding on in the direction of Rennes, I shouted,"Holla! where are you going, good Pierre?"

  He came back with a sweet complacent countenance, and told me that hehad been going on the road to Rennes, which was the only one we couldfollow; but I took the liberty of differing with him in opinion,stating, that I thought the road to St. Malo would do just as well. Heassured me that I was mistaken; that it would lead me at least tenmiles to the right of the spot towards which my steps ought to bedirected; that it was so bad our horses could not travel it; that itwas infested by robbers of the worst description; and, in short, thatevery sort of evil under the sun awaited the unfortunate travellerswho obstinately pursued that road.

  I listened to the whole detail as calmly and attentively as possible;and then, much to his surprise, I informed him, that I loved robbers,delighted in bad roads, enjoyed a roundabout more than astraightforward track, and was contented to undergo all the evils thathe threatened, for the sake of following the path to which I had afancy. As the matter had now become serious, and the success orfailure of his scheme depended upon the next ten steps, the worthygroom took it up _en cavalier_, put on a blustering aspect, stood upin the stirrups with the frown of a Sylla, and told me that he wouldsubmit to such whims no longer, but that go I must on the way which hethought right.

  In reply to this I reminded him of one or two things which hadoccurred to me since I had become attached to Monsieur de Villardin,and in which my opponents had generally been worsted, when ourcontention came to manual operations. I believe, indeed, that I hadestablished a very tolerable reputation for never suffering anythingof the kind that I undertook to remain unfinished or imperfect; and,as I was both better armed and mounted than himself, my companion waseasily convinced that it would be wiser to abandon every thing likecompulsory measures towards me. He declared, however, that although heshould certainly not attempt to force me to do what he thought right,he would take very good care not to follow me on such a road as thatwhich I was determined to pursue.

  Under some circumstances I might not have been very profoundly grievedat the idea of losing his company; for in general I had fullysufficient reliance on myself to be perfectly at my ease when I wasquite alone. In the present case, however, as I strongly suspectedthat his design was not to deprive me of his society for long, butrather to restore it, augmented by the company of the officers fromRennes, I determined to entreat his stay with me; and, as thestrongest inducement that I could hold out to him, I took one of thepistols from my saddle-bow, and levelling it at his head, with thedistance of about ten yards between us, I ordered him to turn hishorse up the St. Malo road without more ado, or I would shoot him onthe spot. Though I saw him turn very pale at this intimation, heaffected to laugh, declaring that I must be in jest; and I thought Iperceived that he hesitated, whether to obey or to take his chance,and set spurs to his horse. The clicking of the lock of the pistol,judiciously timed, brought his doubts to a conclusion, and gave thepreponderance to obedience. He said that he would obey, of course, ifI positively directed him, for that the Duke had given him strictorders to follow my commands implicitly.

  "Extremely well you have obeyed!" cried I; "but, without fartherwords, turn your horse up the road, for I am not to be trifled withany longer."

  "Well, well," he replied, as he slowly drew his bridle in thedirection that I pointed out, "it was only for your own good I spoke;and if you will take a bad and dangerous road, the consequence be uponyour own head."

  As I thought that there was no use in driving him to desperation, Idid not choose to let him know how intimately acquainted I was withthe good designs he entertained in my favour; but pausing, pistol inhand, till I saw him fully launched upon the St. Malo road, I thenwheeled my horse and followed, determined to keep all my discoveriesto my own breast till such time as I could confide them to Monsieur deVillardin. As soon as I became sure that retreat was impossible, andthat my companion must go forward on the road which I pointed out, Idropped my hostile attitude, replaced my pistol in the holster, andjoining him again, endeavoured to enter into conversation as ifnothing had happened to disturb our equanimity; but, I believe, inthis I expected more from human nature than human nature could afford;the man was disappointed of a good thousand crowns, besides what hehad called the pickings of my saddle-bags; and he likewise labouredunder the mortification of having been outwitted and bullied by a mereboy; so that he well might be, what he really was, savage and sullenfor many miles of the road. In addition to his other causes of wrath,I soon perceived that he was not without some apprehension that I haddiscovered his designs; and I doubted not, that if he could have madehimself perfectly sure that such was the case, he would have soonbrought the matter between us to a struggle for life. I was accustomedto such things, however, and I did not make myself at all uneasy onthat account; but keeping constantly on my guard,--for there is neverany telling what may happen next in such affairs, I rode on, takingcare that an interval of two or three yards should always existbetween his hand and my bridle-rein; and where the road was notsufficiently wide enough for that purpose, I made him go on before,and followed a few steps behind.

  That road, however, deserves a fuller description, for it was aspleasant a road as ever I travelled in my life, excepting a few spots,of each a mile or a mile and a half in length, where a sandy soilrendered it heavy and fatiguing. A little beyond the place where wefirst entered upon it, a low stone wall marked the ancient boundary ofa forest. Even at that time, however, the large trees had retreatedmore than a mile from the extreme limit of the wood; and the spacethat intervened between the wall and the real forest, was coveredentirely with the sort of brushwood, or, as the French call it,_taillis_, which rises on the cutting down of larger timber. This gaveus a fair view of the kind of ground over which the forest extended,which was of so broken and irregular a nature--full of pits, dells,banks, and ravines, that it would have required infinite labour torender it productive of aught but that which then covered it. Afterthe road began to wind in amongst the higher trees, some of whichappeared of great antiquity, we lost all sight of the surroundingcountry, except where, every now and then, the ground had been clearedby some accidental circumstance, or where the track that we werepursuing ascended to some commanding height. On these occasions,indeed, we sometimes obtained a very splendid view beyond the forest,over tracks of rich and cultivated land; and as I was beginning a
boutthat time to find out that the face of nature was a very beautifulthing, and to enjoy the aspect of a fine country with a sort ofromantic delight, I often paused to gaze for a moment on any prospectthat thus caught my eye. While thus engaged, my companion generallyrode on in sulky silence; but I never suffered him to go far withoutmy society, lest any of the roads which intersected the forest, andwhich I could not, of course, be expected to know, should afford himan opportunity of deviating from the prescribed track before I thoughtfit to permit him to do so.

  I had just made one of these pauses, and my companion had just riddenon, in the manner which I have described, when, on looking after himto see how far he had proceeded, I thought I perceived a brightergleam of sunshine than usually enlivened the gloom of the wood,streaming across the road a little beyond the point at which he hadarrived. Suspecting that it might be shining down a cross road, I setspurs to my horse, and was nearly up with him before he reached thelittle brake. I had just time, however, to gain a more accurateknowledge of the spot, and to perceive that it was a gap, but not aroad, down which the light was streaming, when there came a quick,bright flash from the wood, and at the same moment the groom fellheadlong to the ground, while his horse dashed on, masterless, alongthe track before us, and my charger, after rearing violently, rolledover, dyeing the sand with its blood.

  These sort of surprises are generally followed by a speedyexplanation; and the appearance of four stout, well-dressed,good-looking gentlemen, with firelocks in their hands, pistols intheir girdles, and swords by their sides, at once gave me a clearinsight into the whole affair. As my poor horse, panting in theagonies of death, lay heavy upon my foot and ankle, which he hadcrushed beneath him in his fall, I was in no condition to offer anyresistance, even had it been wise to do so against such superiornumbers. The groom, indeed, was still less capable of opposing anymeasures that our friends with the firelocks might judge expedient, asthe ball, which was probably intended for his horse, had deviated alittle from its course, and gone right through his head. I lay quitestill also, for in all the many conflicts of one kind or another thatI had witnessed, I had always remarked, that men, in workingthemselves up to such an action as that which our assailants had justcommitted, engender in their own bosoms a great deal more fury than isat all necessary to the accomplishment of their exact purpose. Thissuperabundant energy breaks upon the first object opposed to it; butit soon evaporates, and those who would stab you the moment after theyhave fired the gun, or rushed to the charge, will be a great dealhumanised within five minutes after the struggle is over.

  The robbers rushed immediately upon the groom like hungry wolves; andturning him over, for he had fallen upon his face, took a hurriedglance at his countenance. "Diable!" cried one of our assailants, asthey did so, "we have made a mistake, Messieurs. This is not thecourier, after all. Peste! you have killed him, too, Serjeant. Why thedevil did you fire so high?"

  "You have done the same for the other, Hubert," replied the one headdressed.

  "I hope not," said the first; "I had his horse fair enough; but let ussee."

  On the assurance of these charitable expressions, I ventured a lowgroan, which, indeed, had long wanted utterance; for the pain Isuffered by the horse lying on my leg was most intense, especially ashe more than once made a dying effort to start up, and then fell backagain upon me.

  "It is a boy," said the leader of the robbers, as they came near. "Artthou dead or alive, _mon garcon?_"

  "Not quite dead," I replied, "but I cannot get up, for the horse isupon my leg."

  "Ah! so I see, poor boy," said the other. "Help us here, Serjeant, andlet us get him out." This was easily accomplished; and finding that Icould not stand with very great ease to myself, I sat down on thebank, rubbing my leg with both my hands, to recal it to somesensation, making up my mind, at the same time, to undergo theinterrogatory which I saw was preparing for me.

  The leader of the robbers gazed upon me for a moment or two with asort of cynical grin, and then, turning to his companions, heremarked, "He takes it coolly enough, in all conscience. Come, tellus, who are you, _mon beau page_? and whither you were going?"

  "I am the page of Monsieur de Villardin," replied I, "and was going tohis castle of Pr?s Vall?e."

  The captain struck the butt of his firelock against the ground with amovement of impatient vexation. "This is unlucky enough," he said,"for I certainly did not want to quarrel with Monsieur deVillardin,--especially as I am such a near neighbour of his," headded, with a smile; "and pray who is that?" he asked, the nextmoment, pointing to the body of the groom.

  "That is one of his grooms," replied I, "sent to guide me on the way."

  "Worse and worse," cried the captain. "Why the devil, Serjeant, didyou fire so high?"

  "It is no great matter," answered I; "he has only shot a great rogue,who would have lived to be hanged, and whom I had nearly shot myselfon the high road not an hour ago."

  "Pardi! thou art a droll youth," rejoined the captain, "and, if thytongue do not belie thee, no true Frenchman."

  "No, but what is better," replied I, "a true Englishman."

  "The better I deny," answered the captain; "but I blame not your boldlove for your country. However, I must see more of you, my gay lad,before I determine on letting you go; so you will come along with me.You, Serjeant, bring those saddle-bags; there may be something worthhaving within; and you, Fran?ois and Martin, try if you cannot burythe man down in the sand-pit yonder; and heave over the horse too, ifyou can get it done; but bring up the saddle and bridle, for they aretoo good to be lost. Keep a good watch for the courier the while: hemay pass by yet, though it is late. Now, come along, my man," hecontinued, turning towards me again; "what, cannot you walk? then,good faith, you must limp!"

  Of course I did as I was directed, and, limping on as well as I wasable, followed my conductor through the wood for nearly a mile; at theend of which I found myself in the deepest part of the forest, and bythe side of a rapid stream. A little farther up the river, I perceivedthe ruins of an antique mill crowning a high bank, with the remains ofthe wheel, long broken to pieces, now serving alone to render thewaterfall by which it was formerly turned more picturesque to the eye.

  Thither I was led by the robber, and on entering the old building,found that it was more dilapidated in appearance than in reality; or,at least, that its present tenants had contrived to render it veryhabitable. Three or four more personages, of the same cast as those Ihad already encountered, were found within the mill; but still it wasapparent that the man who had conducted me hitherto was captain of thegang, and he was immediately assailed by a thousand questionsconcerning some courier, for whom it was evident these gentlemen hadlong been waiting.

  My appearance in company with their leader, at first, made themconclude that the encounter they had been expecting had taken place;but they were soon undeceived, and my unhappy saddle-bags beingbrought in and laid down in the midst, I had the mortification ofseeing more than one rapacious hand thrust into their bowels, whilepiece by piece all my wardrobe was drawn forth, and at length mylittle store of golden crowns appeared, causing a reflected sparklingto shine in the robbers' eyes.

  "A better day's work than I thought," cried Hubert, their leader;"now, young gentleman, we are men of honour and humanity, andtherefore we shall let you keep your wardrobe--"

  "Except that lace-collar," cried one of his comrades, "which I claimfor myself."--"And that embroidered band," said another, "for which Ihave a fancy."--"The pouch for me!" exclaimed a third; and itcertainly seemed that my apparel, as well as my purse, was in a fairway to change hands. The captain, however, interfered to moderate therapacity of his gang, and it was at length determined that not only mydress, but twenty crowns, which happened to be in my purse, should beleft me. My saddle, bridle, and horse equipments, together with mysilver-mounted pistols, became the property of the captain; and theonly remaining question between us was, in regard to the packet ofletters and orders with which Monsieur de Villardin had cha
rged me forhis farmers and agents in Brittany. These were wrapped up in a skin ofleather to keep them from injury; but as soon as Master Hubert hadsatisfied himself that nothing but written papers were to be foundwithin, he returned the bundle to me, saying, that he would notinterfere with the discharge of my duty.

  I was in hopes that this was but a prelude to my being set at liberty;but the captain did not suffer me to remain long in suspense,informing me candidly enough that I must stay with them a day or two;for that they had yet a coup-de-main to perform, which they trustedwould enrich them sufficiently to render it both wise and expedient tochange their lodging. "As soon as that is accomplished," he added, "wewill despatch you upon your journey, but in the meantime we do notchoose to trust to that quick tongue of yours."

  As there was no help for it, I of course offered no resistance, verywell understanding that the coup-de-main to which the captain alluded,was the contemplated attack upon the unfortunate courier from Paris toSt. Malo, whose appearance, I had heard at the last inn, was dailyexpected. He did not show himself, however, so soon as had beenanticipated, and I remained several days at the old mill, very wellcontented with the treatment I received from my new companions, whocertainly lived upon the fat of the land, and seemed not to suffer anyremembrance of the means by which it was acquired, at all to troubleits digestion. I acknowledge, too, that if I could have escaped thehonour and reputation of the thing, I would very willingly have sharedin some of their adventures; and I began to think that the professionof a robber, if properly conducted, might afford a very attractivesort of life.

  Hubert, the captain of my new friends, was a man of a very intelligentand inquiring mind; and from the information I could give him inregard to the state of affairs in Paris, took great pleasure in myconversation. Nor did his questions alone refer to his own country,but one night he so besieged me with inquiries concerning England, itsmanners, customs, produce, trade, and situation, that I ended byasking him in return, if he thought of taking a trip to exercise hisabilities in that country.

  "Not, at least, in the manner which you suppose," replied he; andthen, looking over his shoulder to see that all his companions wereabsent, he added, "you do not think, my boy, that my state of life hasnever been different from that which you now witness, or that thistrade is to continue always?"

  "No," replied I, quietly, "for it usually ends very speedily--at thegallows."

  "It will not end so with me," answered the captain, somewhat fiercely;but the next moment his face again took on a smile, and he added,"this adventure, with what we have amassed already, will make myfortune sufficient to embark in a different speculation. The fellowswho are with me may carry on their old trade if they like, but, for mypart, I have had enough of it."

  "I think you are very right," I replied; "it is always as well toleave off while the play is good."

  "True," answered he; "but I have one warning to give you, my goodyouth. If, in the course of your life hereafter, you should ever meetme in a different station from that in which you now see me--such athing may happen you know--and if ever you do, take good care thatyour memory be not too retentive, for if, by either word or look, youpretend to recognise me, I shall certainly remember my old professionlikewise, and take care to keep you silent by sending a ball throughyour head."

  Though he looked very fierce as he spoke, I only laughed at hismenace, asking him what benefit would accrue to me by betraying him.

  "I do not know--I do not know," he replied; "but you are warned; andso beware."

  As we were engaged in such familiar conversation, I would fain haveasked him what sort of connexion could exist between him and Monsieurde Villardin; but, reflecting that he might think the questionsomewhat impertinent, and thence argue no great discretion on my partfor the future, I thought it most prudent to be silent, lest he shouldtake means to put it out of my power either to ask more questions atthe time, or make any observations at an after period.

  Four days more passed without the appearance of the courier; and therobbers beginning to be apprehensive of his having taken another road,sent out to obtain intelligence, as their stock of wine and provisionsgave signs of waxing low. Their messengers soon returned, but whattidings they brought I know not. Most probably their report went toshow that the courier had arrived at the next town, and would beaccompanied through the forest by an escort; for, almost immediatelyafter their return, the whole band, in all nine men, set off, armed upto the teeth, taking care, in the first place, to lock me into a roomwhich had no chimney, and was ventilated merely by a narrow windowthrough which I certainly could not thrust my head.

  They were absent about an hour; and as the wind set from the side ofthe high road, in less than twenty minutes after their departure Iheard two smart vollies of musketry, followed by a few dropping shots.

  I looked out eagerly as far as my confined casement would allow me,and at length beheld Hubert with only four of his companions on theirlegs, bearing along in their arms a sixth person, who seemed to bevery dangerously wounded. He died, however, before he reached themill; and the others, laying him down on the grass, came onward with asmall leathern valise, which, by the manner in which they carried it,I judged to be very weighty. Their arrival was followed by long andeager conversations, and a great deal of hurry and noise, but to whatall this bustle referred I do not know, as they did not think fit tolet me out of durance for nearly three hours. During that time, I sawfrom the window nine of the horses which they possessed brought out,of which six were instantly saddled, and loaded with a portion oftheir moveables.

  As soon as this was complete, to my surprise I beheld the captain comeout, and, after shooting upon the spot the three horses that remainedunsaddled, mount, together with his four men, apparently in order todepart. My first thought was that they were about to leave me shut upwhere I was, and I looked round for the means of forcing open the doorwhen they were gone; but the moment after, as I turned towards thecasement, in order to observe their further proceedings, Hubert calledto me to draw back from the window; and, as I obeyed, he threw in,through the aperture, the key of the room in which I was confined. AsI stooped to pick it up, I heard the sound of their horses' feetgalloping away; and before I had opened the door, and arrived at thebank of the stream, the last horseman of the five was out of sight,though, with greater consideration than I had any reason to expect,they had left a horse saddled at the door for my use.