4. HOW THE KING HELD THE BRIGADIER
Murat was undoubtedly an excellent cavalry officer, but he had too muchswagger, which spoils many a good soldier. Lasalle, too, was a verydashing leader, but he ruined himself with wine and folly. Now I,Etienne Gerard, was always totally devoid of swagger, and at the sametime I was very abstemious, except, maybe, at the end of a campaign, orwhen I met an old comrade-in-arms. For these reasons I might, perhaps,had it not been for a certain diffidence, have claimed to be the mostvaluable officer in my own branch of the Service. It is true that Inever rose to be more than a chief of brigade, but then, as everyoneknows, no one had a chance of rising to the top unless he had the goodfortune to be with the Emperor in his early campaigns. Except Lasalle,and Labau, and Drouet, I can hardly remember any one of the generals whohad not already made his name before the Egyptian business. Even I, withall my brilliant qualities, could only attain the head of my brigade,and also the special medal of honour, which I received from the Emperorhimself, and which I keep at home in a leathern pouch.
But though I never rose higher than this, my qualities were very wellknown to those who had served with me, and also to the English. Afterthey had captured me in the way which I described to you the othernight, they kept a very good guard over me at Oporto, and I promise youthat they did not give such a formidable opponent a chance of slippingthrough their fingers. It was on the 10th of August that I was escortedon board the transport which was to take us to England, and behold mebefore the end of the month in the great prison which had been built forus at Dartmoor!
'L'hotel Francais, et Pension,' we used to call it, for you understandthat we were all brave men there, and that we did not lose our spiritsbecause we were in adversity.
It was only those officers who refused to give their parole who wereconfined at Dartmoor, and most of the prisoners were seamen, or from theranks. You ask me, perhaps, why it was that I did not give this parole,and so enjoy the same good treatment as most of my brother officers.Well, I had two reasons, and both of them were sufficiently strong.
In the first place, I had so much confidence in myself, that I was quiteconvinced that I could escape. In the second, my family, though of goodrepute, has never been wealthy, and I could not bring myself to takeanything from the small income of my mother. On the other hand, it wouldnever do for a man like me to be outshone by the bourgeois society of anEnglish country town, or to be without the means of showing courtesiesand attentions to those ladies whom I should attract. It was for thesereasons that I preferred to be buried in the dreadful prison ofDartmoor. I wish now to tell you of my adventures in England, and howfar Milor Wellington's words were true when he said that his King wouldhold me.
And first of all I may say that if it were not that I have set off totell you about what befell myself, I could keep you here until morningwith my stories about Dartmoor itself, and about the singular thingswhich occurred there. It was one of the very strangest places in thewhole world, for there, in the middle of that great desolate waste, wereherded together seven or eight thousand men--warriors, you understand,men of experience and courage. Around there were a double wall and aditch, and warders and soldiers; but, my faith! you could not coop menlike that up like rabbits in a hutch! They would escape by twos and tensand twenties, and then the cannon would boom, and the search partiesrun, and we, who were left behind, would laugh and dance and shout'Vive l'Empereur' until the warders would turn their muskets upon us intheir passion. And then we would have our little mutinies, too, and upwould come the infantry and the guns from Plymouth, and that would setus yelling 'Vive l'Empereur' once more, as though we wished them to hearus in Paris. We had lively moments at Dartmoor, and we contrived thatthose who were about us should be lively also.
You must know that the prisoners there had their own Courts of Justice,in which they tried their own cases, and inflicted their ownpunishments. Stealing and quarrelling were punished--but most of alltreachery. When I came there first there was a man, Meunier, fromRheims, who had given information of some plot to escape. Well, thatnight, owing to some form or other which had to be gone through, theydid not take him out from among the other prisoners, and though he weptand screamed, and grovelled upon the ground, they left him there amongstthe comrades whom he had betrayed. That night there was a trial with awhispered accusation and a whispered defence, a gagged prisoner, and ajudge whom none could see. In the morning, when they came for their manwith papers for his release, there was not as much of him left as youcould put upon your thumb-nail. They were ingenious people, theseprisoners, and they had their own way of managing.
We officers, however, lived in a separate wing, and a very singulargroup of people we were. They had left us our uniforms, so that therewas hardly a corps which had served under Victor, or Massena, or Ney,which was not represented there, and some had been there from the timewhen Junot was beaten at Vimiera. We had chasseurs in their greentunics, and hussars, like myself, and blue-coated dragoons, andwhite-fronted lancers, and voltigeurs, and grenadiers, and the men ofthe artillery and engineers. But the greater part were naval officers,for the English had had the better of us upon the seas. I could neverunderstand this until I journeyed myself from Oporto to Plymouth, whenI lay for seven days upon my back, and could not have stirred had I seenthe eagle of the regiment carried off before my eyes. It was inperfidious weather like this that Nelson took advantage of us.
I had no sooner got into Dartmoor than I began to plan to get out again,and you can readily believe that, with wits sharpened by twelve years ofwarfare, it was not very long before I saw my way.
You must know, in the first place, that I had a very great advantage inhaving some knowledge of the English language. I learned it during themonths that I spent before Danzig, from Adjutant Obriant, of theRegiment Irlandais, who was sprung from the ancient kings of thecountry. I was quickly able to speak it with some facility, for I do nottake long to master anything to which I set my mind. In three months Icould not only express my meaning, but I could use the idioms of thepeople. It was Obriant who taught me to say 'Be jabers,' just as wemight say 'Ma foi'; and also 'The curse of Crummle!' which means 'Ventrebleu!' Many a time I have seen the English smile with pleasure when theyhave heard me speak so much like one of themselves.
We officers were put two in a cell, which was very little to my taste,for my room-mate was a tall, silent man named Beaumont, of the FlyingArtillery, who had been taken by the English cavalry at Astorga.
It is seldom I meet a man of whom I cannot make a friend, for mydisposition and manners are--as you know them. But this fellow had nevera smile for my jests, nor an ear for my sorrows, but would sit lookingat me with his sullen eyes, until sometimes I thought that his two yearsof captivity had driven him crazy. Ah, how I longed that old Bouvet, orany of my comrades of the hussars, was there, instead of this mummy of aman. But such as he was I had to make the best of him, and it was veryevident that no escape could be made unless he were my partner in it,for what could I possibly do without him observing me? I hinted at it,therefore, and then by degrees I spoke more plainly, until it seemed tome that I had prevailed upon him to share my lot.
I tried the walls, and I tried the floor, and I tried the ceiling, butthough I tapped and probed, they all appeared to be very thick andsolid. The door was of iron, shutting with a spring lock, and providedwith a small grating, through which a warder looked twice in everynight. Within there were two beds, two stools, two washstands--nothingmore. It was enough for my wants, for when had I had as much duringthose twelve years spent in camps? But how was I to get out? Night afternight I thought of my five hundred hussars, and had dreadful nightmares,in which I fancied that the whole regiment needed shoeing, or that myhorses were all bloated with green fodder, or that they were founderedfrom bogland, or that six squadrons were clubbed in the presence of theEmperor. Then I would awake in a cold sweat, and set to work picking andtapping at the walls once more; for I knew very well that there is nodifficulty which cannot be ove
rcome by a ready brain and a pair ofcunning hands.
There was a single window in our cell, which was too small to admit achild. It was further defended by a thick iron bar in the centre. It wasnot a very promising point of escape, as you will allow, but I becamemore and more convinced that our efforts must be directed towards it. Tomake matters worse, it only led out into the exercise yard, which wassurrounded by two high walls. Still, as I said to my sullen comrade, itis time to talk of the Vistula when you are over the Rhine. I got asmall piece of iron, therefore, from the fittings of my bed, and I setto work to loosen the plaster at the top and the bottom of the bar.Three hours I would work, and then leap into my bed upon the sound ofthe warder's step. Then another three hours, and then very often anotheryet, for I found that Beaumont was so slow and clumsy at it that it wason myself only that I could rely.
I pictured to myself my Third of Hussars waiting just outside thatwindow, with kettle-drums and standards and leopard-skin schabraques allcomplete. Then I would work like a madman, until my iron was crustedwith blood, as if with rust. And so, night by night, I loosened thatstony plaster, and hid it away in the stuffing of my pillow, until thehour came when the iron shook; and then with one good wrench it came offin my hand, and my first step had been made towards freedom.
You will ask me what better off I was, since, as I have said, a childcould not have fitted through the opening. I will tell you. I had gainedtwo things--a tool and a weapon. With the one I might loosen the stonewhich flanked the window. With the other I might defend myself when Ihad scrambled through. So now I turned my attention to that stone, and Ipicked and picked with the sharpened end of my bar until I had workedout the mortar all round. You understand, of course, that during the dayI replaced everything in its position, and that the warder was neverpermitted to see a speck upon the floor. At the end of three weeks I hadseparated the stone, and had the rapture of drawing it through, andseeing a hole left with ten stars shining through it, where there hadbeen but four before. All was ready for us now, and I had replaced thestone, smearing the edges of it round with a little fat and soot, so asto hide the cracks where the mortar should have been. In three nightsthe moon would be gone, and that seemed the best time for our attempt.
I had now no doubt at all about getting into the yards, but I had veryconsiderable misgivings as to how I was to get out again. It would betoo humiliating, after trying here, and trying there, to have to go backto my hole again in despair, or to be arrested by the guards outside,and thrown into those damp underground cells which are reserved forprisoners who are caught in escaping. I set to work, therefore, to planwhat I should do. I have never, as you know, had the chance of showingwhat I could do as a general. Sometimes, after a glass or two of wine, Ihave found myself capable of thinking out surprising combinations, andhave felt that if Napoleon had intrusted me with an army corps, thingsmight have gone differently with him. But however that may be, there isno doubt that in the small stratagems of war, and in that quickness ofinvention which is so necessary for an officer of light cavalry, I couldhold my own against anyone. It was now that I had need of it, and I feltsure that it would not fail me.
The inner wall which I had to scale was built of bricks, 12ft. high,with a row of iron spikes, 3in. apart upon the top. The outer I had onlycaught a glimpse of once or twice, when the gate of the exercise yardwas open. It appeared to be about the same height, and was also spikedat the top. The space between the walls was over twenty feet, and I hadreason to believe that there were no sentries there, except at thegates. On the other hand, I knew that there was a line of soldiersoutside. Behold the little nut, my friends, which I had to open with nocrackers, save these two hands.
One thing upon which I relied was the height of my comrade Beaumont. Ihave already said that he was a very tall man, six feet at least, and itseemed to me that if I could mount upon his shoulders, and get my handsupon the spikes, I could easily scale the wall. Could I pull my bigcompanion up after me? That was the question, for when I set forth witha comrade, even though it be one for whom I bear no affection, nothingon earth would make me abandon him. If I climbed the wall and he couldnot follow me, I should be compelled to return to him. He did not seemto concern himself much about it, however, so I hoped that he hadconfidence in his own activity.
Then another very important matter was the choice of the sentry whoshould be on duty in front of my window at the time of our attempt.They were changed every two hours to insure their vigilance, but I, whowatched them closely each night out of my window, knew that there was agreat difference between them. There were some who were so keen that arat could not cross the yard unseen, while others thought only of theirown ease, and could sleep as soundly leaning upon a musket as if theywere at home upon a feather bed. There was one especially, a fat, heavyman, who would retire into the shadow of the wall and doze socomfortably during his two hours, that I have dropped pieces of plasterfrom my window at his very feet, without his observing it. By good luck,this fellow's watch was due from twelve to two upon the night which wehad fixed upon for our enterprise.
As the last day passed, I was so filled with nervous agitation that Icould not control myself, but ran ceaselessly about my cell, like amouse in a cage. Every moment I thought that the warder would detect thelooseness of the bar, or that the sentry would observe the unmortaredstone, which I could not conceal outside, as I did within. As for mycompanion, he sat brooding upon the end of his bed, looking at me in asidelong fashion from time to time, and biting his nails like one who isdeep in thought.
'Courage, my friend!' I cried, slapping him upon the shoulder. 'You willsee your guns before another month be past.'
'That is very well,' said he. 'But whither will you fly when you getfree?'
'To the coast,' I answered. 'All comes right for a brave man, and Ishall make straight for my regiment.'
'You are more likely to make straight for the underground cells, or forthe Portsmouth hulks,' said he.
'A soldier takes his chances,' I remarked. 'It is only the poltroon whoreckons always upon the worst.'
I raised a flush in each of his sallow cheeks at that, and I was gladof it, for it was the first sign of spirit which I had ever observed inhim. For a moment he put his hand out towards his water-jug, as thoughhe would have hurled it at me, but then he shrugged his shoulders andsat in silence once more, biting his nails, and scowling down at thefloor. I could not but think, as I looked at him, that perhaps I wasdoing the Flying Artillery a very bad service by bringing him back tothem.
I never in my life have known an evening pass as slowly as that one.Towards nightfall a wind sprang up, and as the darkness deepened it blewharder and harder, until a terrible gale was whistling over the moor. AsI looked out of my window I could not catch a glimpse of a star, and theblack clouds were flying low across the heavens. The rain was pouringdown, and what with its hissing and splashing, and the howling andscreaming of the wind, it was impossible for me to hear the steps of thesentinels. 'If I cannot hear them,' thought I, 'then it is unlikely thatthey can hear me'; and I waited with the utmost impatience until thetime when the inspector should have come round for his nightly peepthrough our grating. Then having peered through the darkness, and seennothing of the sentry, who was doubtless crouching in some corner out ofthe rain, I felt that the moment was come. I removed the bar, pulled outthe stone, and motioned to my companion to pass through.
'After you, Colonel,' said he.
'Will you not go first?' I asked.
'I had rather you showed me the way.'
'Come after me, then, but come silently, as you value your life.'
In the darkness I could hear the fellow's teeth chattering, and Iwondered whether a man ever had such a partner in a desperateenterprise. I seized the bar, however, and mounting upon my stool, Ithrust my head and shoulders into the hole. I had wriggled through asfar as my waist, when my companion seized me suddenly by the knees, andyelled at the top of his voice: 'Help! Help! A prisoner is escaping!'
Ah, my friends, what did I not feel at that moment! Of course, I saw inan instant the game of this vile creature. Why should he risk his skinin climbing walls when he might be sure of a free pardon from theEnglish for having prevented the escape of one so much moredistinguished than himself? I had recognized him as a poltroon and asneak, but I had not understood the depth of baseness to which he coulddescend. One who has spent his life among gentlemen and men of honourdoes not think of such things until they happen.
The blockhead did not seem to understand that he was lost more certainlythan I. I writhed back in the darkness, and seizing him by the throat, Istruck him twice with my iron bar. At the first blow he yelped as alittle cur does when you tread upon its paw. At the second, down he fellwith a groan upon the floor. Then I seated myself upon my bed, andwaited resignedly for whatever punishment my gaolers might inflict uponme.
But a minute passed and yet another, with no sound save the heavy,snoring breathing of the senseless wretch upon the floor. Was itpossible, then, that amid the fury of the storm his warning cries hadpassed unheeded? At first it was but a tiny hope, another minute and itwas probable, another and it was certain. There was no sound in thecorridor, none in the courtyard. I wiped the cold sweat from my brow,and asked myself what I should do next.
One thing seemed certain. The man on the floor must die. If I left him Icould not tell how short a time it might be before he gave the alarm. Idare not strike a light, so I felt about in the darkness until my handcame upon something wet, which I knew to be his head. I raised my ironbar, but there was something, my friends, which prevented me frombringing it down. In the heat of fight I have slain many men--men ofhonour, too, who had done me no injury. Yet here was this wretch, acreature too foul to live, who had tried to work me so great a mischief,and yet I could not bring myself to crush his skull in. Such deeds arevery well for a Spanish partida--or for that matter a sansculotte of theFaubourg St Antoine--but not for a soldier and a gentleman like me.
However, the heavy breathing of the fellow made me hope that it might bea very long time before he recovered his senses. I gagged him,therefore, and bound him with strips of blanket to the bed, so that inhis weakened condition there was good reason to think that, in any case,he might not get free before the next visit of the warder. But now againI was faced with new difficulties, for you will remember that I hadrelied upon his height to help me over the walls. I could have sat downand shed tears of despair had not the thought of my mother and of theEmperor come to sustain me. 'Courage!' said I. 'If it were anyone butEtienne Gerard he would be in a bad fix now; that is a young man who isnot so easily caught.'
I set to work therefore upon Beaumont's sheet as well as my own, and bytearing them into strips and then plaiting them together, I made a veryexcellent rope. This I tied securely to the centre of my iron bar, whichwas a little over a foot in length. Then I slipped out into the yard,where the rain was pouring and the wind screaming louder than ever. Ikept in the shadow of the prison wall, but it was as black as the ace ofspades, and I could not see my own hand in front of me. Unless I walkedinto the sentinel I felt that I had nothing to fear from him. When I hadcome under the wall I threw up my bar, and to my joy it stuck the veryfirst time between the spikes at the top. I climbed up my rope, pulledit after me, and dropped down on the other side. Then I scaled thesecond wall, and was sitting astride among the spikes upon the top, whenI saw something twinkle in the darkness beneath me. It was the bayonetof the sentinel below, and so close was it (the second wall being ratherlower than the first) that I could easily, by leaning over, haveunscrewed it from its socket. There he was, humming a tune to himself,and cuddling up against the wall to keep himself warm, little thinkingthat a desperate man within a few feet of him was within an ace ofstabbing him to the heart with his own weapon. I was already bracingmyself for the spring when the fellow, with an oath, shouldered hismusket, and I heard his steps squelching through the mud as he resumedhis beat. I slipped down my rope, and, leaving it hanging, I ran at thetop of my speed across the moor.
Heavens, how I ran! The wind buffeted my face and buzzed in my nostrils.The rain pringled upon my skin and hissed past my ears. I stumbled intoholes. I tripped over bushes. I fell among brambles. I was torn andbreathless and bleeding. My tongue was like leather, my feet like lead,and my heart beating like a kettle-drum. Still I ran, and I ran, and Iran.
But I had not lost my head, my friends. Everything was done with apurpose. Our fugitives always made for the coast. I was determined to goinland, and the more so as I had told Beaumont the opposite. I would flyto the north, and they would seek me in the south. Perhaps you will askme how I could tell which was which on such a night. I answer that itwas by the wind. I had observed in the prison that it came from thenorth, and so, as long as I kept my face to it, I was going in the rightdirection.
Well, I was rushing along in this fashion when, suddenly, I saw twoyellow lights shining out of the darkness in front of me. I paused for amoment, uncertain what I should do. I was still in my hussar uniform,you understand, and it seemed to me that the very first thing that Ishould aim at was to get some dress which should not betray me. If theselights came from a cottage, it was probable enough that I might findwhat I wanted there. I approached, therefore, feeling very sorry that Ihad left my iron bar behind; for I was determined to fight to the deathbefore I should be retaken.
But very soon I found that there was no cottage there. The lights weretwo lamps hung upon each side of a carriage, and by their glare I sawthat a broad road lay in front of me. Crouching among the bushes, Iobserved that there were two horses to the equipage, that a smallpost-boy was standing at their heads, and that one of the wheels waslying in the road beside him. I can see them now, my friends: thesteaming creatures, the stunted lad with his hands to their bits, andthe big, black coach, all shining with the rain, and balanced upon itsthree wheels. As I looked, the window was lowered, and a pretty littleface under a bonnet peeped out from it.
'What shall I do?' the lady cried to the post-boy, in a voice ofdespair. 'Sir Charles is certainly lost, and I shall have to spend thenight upon the moor.'
'Perhaps I can be of some assistance to madame,' said I, scrambling outfrom among the bushes into the glare of the lamps. A woman in distressis a sacred thing to me, and this one was beautiful. You must not forgetthat, although I was a colonel, I was only eight-and-twenty years ofage.
My word, how she screamed, and how the post-boy stared! You willunderstand that after that long race in the darkness, with my shakobroken in, my face smeared with dirt, and my uniform all stained andtorn with brambles, I was not entirely the sort of gentleman whom onewould choose to meet in the middle of a lonely moor. Still, after thefirst surprise, she soon understood that I was her very humble servant,and I could even read in her pretty eyes that my manner and bearing hadnot failed to produce an impression upon her.
'I am sorry to have startled you, madame,' said I. 'I chanced tooverhear your remark, and I could not refrain from offering you myassistance.' I bowed as I spoke. You know my bow, and can realize whatits effect was upon the lady.
'I am much indebted to you, sir,' said she. 'We have had a terriblejourney since we left Tavistock. Finally, one of our wheels came off,and here we are helpless in the middle of the moor. My husband, SirCharles, has gone on to get help, and I much fear that he must have losthis way.'
I was about to attempt some consolation, when I saw beside the lady ablack travelling coat, faced with astrakhan, which her companion musthave left behind him. It was exactly what I needed to conceal myuniform. It is true that I felt very much like a highway robber, butthen, what would you have? Necessity has no law, and I was in an enemy'scountry.
'I presume, madame, that this is your husband's coat,' I remarked. 'Youwill, I am sure, forgive me, if I am compelled to--' I pulled it throughthe window as I spoke.
I could not bear to see the look of surprise and fear and disgust whichcame over her face.
'Oh, I have been m
istaken in you!' she cried. 'You came to rob me, then,and not to help me. You have the bearing of a gentleman, and yet yousteal my husband's coat.'
'Madame,' said I, 'I beg that you will not condemn me until you knoweverything. It is quite necessary that I should take this coat, but ifyou will have the goodness to tell me who it is who is fortunate enoughto be your husband, I shall see that the coat is sent back to him.'
Her face softened a little, though she still tried to look severe. 'Myhusband,' she answered, 'is Sir Charles Meredith, and he is travellingto Dartmoor Prison, upon important Government business. I only ask you,sir, to go upon your way, and to take nothing which belongs to him.'
'There is only one thing which belongs to him that I covet,' said I.
'And you have taken it from the carriage,' she cried.
'No,' I answered. 'It still remains there.'
She laughed in her frank English way.
'If, instead of paying me compliments, you were to return my husband'scoat--' she began.
'Madame,' I answered, 'what you ask is quite impossible. If you willallow me to come into the carriage, I will explain to you how necessarythis coat is to me.'
Heaven knows into what foolishness I might have plunged myself had wenot, at this instant, heard a faint halloa in the distance, which wasanswered by a shout from the little post-boy. In the rain and thedarkness, I saw a lantern some distance from us, but approachingrapidly.
'I am sorry, madame, that I am forced to leave you,' said I. 'You canassure your husband that I shall take every care of his coat.' Hurriedas I was, I ventured to pause a moment to salute the lady's hand, whichshe snatched through the window with an admirable pretence of beingoffended at my presumption. Then, as the lantern was quite close to me,and the post-boy seemed inclined to interfere with my flight, I tuckedmy precious overcoat under my arm, and dashed off into the darkness.
And now I set myself to the task of putting as broad a stretch of moorbetween the prison and myself as the remaining hours of darkness wouldallow. Setting my face to the wind once more, I ran until I fell fromexhaustion. Then, after five minutes of panting among the heather, Imade another start, until again my knees gave way beneath me. I wasyoung and hard, with muscles of steel, and a frame which had beentoughened by twelve years of camp and field. Thus I was able to keep upthis wild flight for another three hours, during which I still guidedmyself, you understand, by keeping the wind in my face. At the end ofthat time I calculated that I had put nearly twenty miles between theprison and myself. Day was about to break, so I crouched down among theheather upon the top of one of those small hills which abound in thatcountry, with the intention of hiding myself until nightfall. It was nonew thing for me to sleep in the wind and the rain, so, wrapping myselfup in my thick warm cloak, I soon sank into a doze.
But it was not a refreshing slumber. I tossed and tumbled amid a seriesof vile dreams, in which everything seemed to go wrong with me. At last,I remember, I was charging an unshaken square of Hungarian Grenadiers,with a single squadron upon spent horses, just as I did at Elchingen. Istood in my stirrups to shout 'Vive l'Empereur!' and as I did so, therecame the answering roar from my hussars, 'Vive l'Empereur!' I sprangfrom my rough bed, with the words still ringing in my ears, and then, asI rubbed my eyes, and wondered if I were mad, the same cry came again,five thousand voices in one long-drawn yell. I looked out from my screenof brambles, and saw in the clear light of morning the very last thingthat I should either have expected or chosen.
It was Dartmoor Prison! There it stretched, grim and hideous, within afurlong of me. Had I run on for a few more minutes in the dark, I shouldhave butted my shako against the wall. I was so taken aback at thesight, that I could scarcely realize what had happened. Then it allbecame clear to me, and I struck my head with my hands in my despair.The wind had veered from north to south during the night, and I, keepingmy face always towards it, had run ten miles out and ten miles in,winding up where I had started. When I thought of my hurry, my falls, mymad rushing and jumping, all ending in this, it seemed so absurd, thatmy grief changed suddenly to amusement, and I fell among the brambles,and laughed, and laughed, until my sides were sore. Then I rolled myselfup in my cloak and considered seriously what I should do.
One lesson which I have learned in my roaming life, my friends, isnever to call anything a misfortune until you have seen the end of it.Is not every hour a fresh point of view? In this case I soon perceivedthat accident had done for me as much as the most profound cunning. Myguards naturally commenced their search from the place where I had takenSir Charles Meredith's coat, and from my hiding-place I could see themhurrying along the road to that point. Not one of them ever dreamed thatI could have doubled back from there, and I lay quite undisturbed in thelittle bush-covered cup at the summit of my knoll. The prisoners had, ofcourse, learned of my escape, and all day exultant yells, like thatwhich had aroused me in the morning, resounded over the moor, bearing awelcome message of sympathy and companionship to my ears. How little didthey dream that on the top of that very mound, which they could see fromtheir windows, was lying the comrade whose escape they were celebrating?As for me--I could look down upon this poor herd of idle warriors, asthey paced about the great exercise yard, or gathered in little groups,gesticulating joyfully over my success. Once I heard a howl ofexecration, and I saw Beaumont, his head all covered with bandages,being led across the yard by two of the warders. I cannot tell you thepleasure which this sight gave me, for it proved that I had not killedhim, and also that the others knew the true story of what had passed.They had all known me too well to think that I could have abandoned him.
All that long day I lay behind my screen of bushes, listening to thebells which struck the hours below.
My pockets were filled with bread which I had saved out of my allowance,and on searching my borrowed overcoat I came upon a silver flask, fullof excellent brandy and water, so that I was able to get through the daywithout hardship. The only other things in the pockets were a red silkhandkerchief, a tortoise-shell snuff-box, and a blue envelope, with ared seal, addressed to the Governor of Dartmoor Prison. As to the firsttwo, I determined to send them back when I should return the coatitself.
The letter caused me more perplexity, for the Governor had always shownme every courtesy, and it offended my sense of honour that I shouldinterfere with his correspondence. I had almost made up my mind to leaveit under a stone upon the roadway within musket-shot of the gate. Thiswould guide them in their search for me, however, and so, on the whole,I saw no better way than just to carry the letter with me in the hopethat I might find some means of sending it back to him. Meanwhile Ipacked it safely away in my inner-most pocket.
There was a warm sun to dry my clothes, and when night fell I was readyfor my journey. I promise you that there were no mistakes this time. Itook the stars for my guides, as every hussar should be taught to do,and I put eight good leagues between myself and the prison. My plan nowwas to obtain a complete suit of clothes from the first person whom Icould waylay, and I should then find my way to the north coast, wherethere were many smugglers and fishermen who would be ready to earn thereward which was paid by the Emperor to those who brought escapingprisoners across the Channel. I had taken the panache from my shako sothat it might escape notice, but even with my fine overcoat I fearedthat sooner or later my uniform would betray me. My first care must beto provide myself with a complete disguise.
When day broke, I saw a river upon my right and a small town upon myleft--the blue smoke reeking up above the moor. I should have liked wellto have entered it, because it would have interested me to see somethingof the customs of the English, which differ very much from those ofother nations. Much as I should have wished, however, to have seen themeat their raw meat and sell their wives, it would have been dangerousuntil I had got rid of my uniform. My cap, my moustache, and my speechwould all help to betray me. I continued to travel towards the norththerefore, looking about me continually, but never catching a glimpse ofmy pursue
rs.
About midday I came to where, in a secluded valley, there stood a singlesmall cottage without any other building in sight. It was a neat littlehouse, with a rustic porch and a small garden in front of it, with aswarm of cocks and hens. I lay down among the ferns and watched it, forit seemed to be exactly the kind of place where I might obtain what Iwanted. My bread was finished, and I was exceedingly hungry after mylong journey; I determined, therefore, to make a short reconnaissance,and then to march up to this cottage, summon it to surrender, and helpmyself to all that I needed. It could at least provide me with a chickenand with an omelette. My mouth watered at the thought.
As I lay there, wondering who could live in this lonely place, a brisklittle fellow came out through the porch, accompanied by another olderman, who carried two large clubs in his hands. These he handed to hisyoung companion, who swung them up and down, and round and round, withextraordinary swiftness. The other, standing beside him, appeared towatch him with great attention, and occasionally to advise him. Finallyhe took a rope, and began skipping like a girl, the other still gravelyobserving him. As you may think, I was utterly puzzled as to what thesepeople could be, and could only surmise that the one was a doctor, andthe other a patient who had submitted himself to some singular method oftreatment.
Well, as I lay watching and wondering, the older man brought out agreat-coat, and held it while the other put it on and buttoned it to hischin. The day was a warmish one, so that this proceeding amazed me evenmore than the other. 'At least,' thought I, 'it is evident that hisexercise is over'; but, far from this being so, the man began to run, inspite of his heavy coat, and as it chanced, he came right over the moorin my direction. His companion had re-entered the house, so that thisarrangement suited me admirably. I would take the small man's clothing,and hurry on to some village where I could buy provisions. The chickenswere certainly tempting, but still there were at least two men in thehouse, so perhaps it would be wiser for me, since I had no arms, to keepaway from it.
I lay quietly then among the ferns. Presently I heard the steps of therunner, and there he was quite close to me, with his huge coat, and theperspiration running down his face. He seemed to be a very solidman--but small--so small that I feared that his clothes might be oflittle use to me. When I jumped out upon him he stopped running, andlooked at me in the greatest astonishment.
'Blow my dickey,' said he, 'give it a name, guv'nor! Is it a circus, orwhat?'
That was how he talked, though I cannot pretend to tell you what hemeant by it.
'You will excuse me, sir,' said I, 'but I am under the necessity ofasking you to give me your clothes.'
'Give you what?' he cried.
'Your clothes.'
'Well, if this don't lick cock-fighting!' said he. 'What am I to giveyou my clothes for?'
'Because I need them.'
'And suppose I won't?'
'Be jabers,' said I, 'I shall have no choice but to take them.'
He stood with his hands in the pockets of his great-coat, and a mostamused smile upon his square-jawed, clean-shaven face.
'You'll take them, will you?' said he. 'You're a very leery cove, by thelook of you, but I can tell you that you've got the wrong sow by the earthis time. I know who you are. You're a runaway Frenchy, from the prisonyonder, as anyone could tell with half an eye. But you don't know who Iam, else you wouldn't try such a plant as that. Why, man, I'm theBristol Bustler, nine stone champion, and them's my training quartersdown yonder.'
He stared at me as if this announcement of his would have crushed me tothe earth, but I smiled at him in my turn, and looked him up and down,with a twirl of my moustache.
'You may be a very brave man, sir,' said I, 'but when I tell you thatyou are opposed to Colonel Etienne Gerard, of the Hussars of Conflans,you will see the necessity of giving up your clothes without furtherparley.'
'Look here, mounseer, drop it!' he cried; 'this'll end by your gettingpepper.'
'Your clothes, sir, this instant!' I shouted, advancing fiercely uponhim.
For answer he threw off his heavy great-coat, and stood in a singularattitude, with one arm out, and the other across his chest, looking atme with a curious smile. For myself, I knew nothing of the methods offighting which these people have, but on horse or on foot, with arms orwithout them, I am always ready to take my own part. You understand thata soldier cannot always choose his own methods, and that it is time tohowl when you are living among wolves. I rushed at him, therefore, witha warlike shout, and kicked him with both my feet. At the same moment myheels flew into the air, I saw as many flashes as at Austerlitz, and theback of my head came down with a crash upon a stone. After that I canremember nothing more.
When I came to myself I was lying upon a truckle-bed, in a bare,half-furnished room. My head was ringing like a bell, and when I put upmy hand, there was a lump like a walnut over one of my eyes. My nose wasfull of a pungent smell, and I soon found that a strip of paper soakedin vinegar was fastened across my brow. At the other end of the roomthis terrible little man was sitting with his knee bare, and hiselderly companion was rubbing it with some liniment. The latter seemedto be in the worst of tempers, and he kept up a continual scolding,which the other listened to with a gloomy face.
'Never heard tell of such a thing in my life,' he was saying. 'Intraining for a month with all the weight of it on my shoulders, and thenwhen I get you as fit as a trout, and within two days of fighting thelikeliest man on the list, you let yourself into a by-battle with aforeigner.'
'There, there! Stow your gab!' said the other, sulkily. 'You're a verygood trainer, Jim, but you'd be better with less jaw.'
'I should think it was time to jaw,' the elderly man answered. 'If thisknee don't get well before next Wednesday, they'll have it that youfought a cross, and a pretty job you'll have next time you look for abacker.'
'Fought a cross!' growled the other. 'I've won nineteen battles, and noman ever so much as dared to say the word "cross" in my hearin'. How thedeuce was I to get out of it when the cove wanted the very clothes offmy back?'
'Tut, man; you knew that the beak and the guards were within a mile ofyou. You could have set them on to him as well then as now. You'd havegot your clothes back again all right.'
'Well, strike me!' said the Bustler. 'I don't often break my trainin',but when it comes to givin' up my clothes to a Frenchy who couldn't hita dint in a pat o' butter, why, it's more than I can swaller.'
'Pooh, man, what are the clothes worth? D'you know that Lord Ruftonalone has five thousand pounds on you? When you jump the ropes onWednesday, you'll carry every penny of fifty thousand into the ring. Apretty thing to turn up with a swollen knee and a story about aFrenchman!'
'I never thought he'd ha' kicked,' said the Bustler.
'I suppose you expected he'd fight Broughton's rules, and strict P.R.?Why, you silly, they don't know what fighting is in France.'
'My friends,' said I, sitting up on my bed, 'I do not understand verymuch of what you say, but when you speak like that it is foolishness. Weknow so much about fighting in France, that we have paid our littlevisit to nearly every capital in Europe, and very soon we are coming toLondon. But we fight like soldiers, you understand, and not like gaminsin the gutter. You strike me on the head. I kick you on the knee. It ischild's play. But if you will give me a sword, and take another one, Iwill show you how we fight over the water.'
They both stared at me in their solid, English way.
'Well, I'm glad you're not dead, mounseer,' said the elder one at last.'There wasn't much sign of life in you when the Bustler and me carriedyou down. That head of yours ain't thick enough to stop the crook of thehardest hitter in Bristol.'
'He's a game cove, too, and he came for me like a bantam,' said theother, still rubbing his knee. 'I got my old left-right in, and he wentover as if he had been pole-axed. It wasn't my fault, mounseer. I toldyou you'd get pepper if you went on.'
'Well, it's something to say all your life, that you've been handled by
the finest light-weight in England,' said the older man, looking at mewith an expression of congratulation upon his face. 'You've had him athis best, too--in the pink of condition, and trained by Jim Hunter.'
'I am used to hard knocks,' said I, unbuttoning my tunic, and showing mytwo musket wounds. Then I bared my ankle also, and showed the place inmy eye where the guerilla had stabbed me.
'He can take his gruel,' said the Bustler.
'What a glutton he'd have made for the middle-weights,' remarked thetrainer; 'with six months' coaching he'd astonish the fancy. It's a pityhe's got to go back to prison.'
I did not like that last remark at all. I buttoned up my coat and rosefrom the bed.
'I must ask you to let me continue my journey,' said I.
'There's no help for it, mounseer,' the trainer answered. 'It's a hardthing to send such a man as you back to such a place, but business isbusiness, and there's a twenty pound reward. They were here thismorning, looking for you, and I expect they'll be round again.'
His words turned my heart to lead.
'Surely, you would not betray me!' I cried. 'I will send you twicetwenty pounds on the day that I set foot upon France. I swear it uponthe honour of a French gentleman.'
But I only got head-shakes for a reply. I pleaded, I argued, I spoke ofthe English hospitality and the fellowship of brave men, but I might aswell have been addressing the two great wooden clubs which stoodbalanced upon the floor in front of me. There was no sign of sympathyupon their bull-faces.
'Business is business, mounseer,' the old trainer repeated. 'Besides,how am I to put the Bustler into the ring on Wednesday if he's jugged bythe beak for aidin' and abettin' a prisoner of war? I've got to lookafter the Bustler, and I take no risks.'
This, then, was the end of all my struggles and strivings. I was to beled back again like a poor silly sheep who has broken through thehurdles. They little knew me who could fancy that I should submit tosuch a fate. I had heard enough to tell me where the weak point of thesetwo men was, and I showed, as I have often showed before, that EtienneGerard is never so terrible as when all hope seems to have deserted him.With a single spring I seized one of the clubs and swung it over thehead of the Bustler.
'Come what may,' I cried, '_you_ shall be spoiled for Wednesday.'
The fellow growled out an oath, and would have sprung at me, but theother flung his arms round him and pinned him to the chair.
'Not if I know it, Bustler,' he screamed. 'None of your games while I amby. Get away out of this, Frenchy. We only want to see your back. Runaway, run away, or he'll get loose!'
It was good advice, I thought, and I ran to the door, but as I came outinto the open air my head swam round and I had to lean against the porchto save myself from falling. Consider all that I had been through, theanxiety of my escape, the long, useless flight in the storm, the dayspent amid wet ferns, with only bread for food, the second journey bynight, and now the injuries which I had received in attempting todeprive the little man of his clothes. Was it wonderful that even Ishould reach the limits of my endurance?
I stood there in my heavy coat and my poor battered shako, my chin uponmy chest, and my eyelids over my eyes. I had done my best, and I coulddo no more. It was the sound of horses' hoofs which made me at lastraise my head, and there was the grey-moustached Governor of DartmoorPrison not ten paces in front of me, with six mounted warders behindhim!
'So, Colonel,' said he, with a bitter smile, 'we have found you oncemore.'
When a brave man has done his utmost, and has failed, he shows hisbreeding by the manner in which he accepts his defeat. For me, I tookthe letter which I had in my pocket, and stepping forward, I handed itwith such grace of manner as I could summon to the Governor.
'It has been my misfortune, sir, to detain one of your letters,' said I.
He looked at me in amazement, and beckoned to the warders to arrest me.Then he broke the seal of the letter. I saw a curious expression comeover his face as he read it.
'This must be the letter which Sir Charles Meredith lost,' said he.
'It was in the pocket of his coat.'
'You have carried it for two days?'
'Since the night before last.'
'And never looked at the contents?'
I showed him by my manner that he had committed an indiscretion inasking a question which one gentleman should not have put to another.
To my surprise he burst out into a roar of laughter.
'Colonel,' said he, wiping the tears from his eyes, 'you have reallygiven both yourself and us a great deal of unnecessary trouble. Allow meto read the letter which you carried with you in your flight.'
And this was what I heard:--
'On receipt of this you are directed to release Colonel Etienne Gerard,of the 3rd Hussars, who has been exchanged against Colonel Mason, of theHorse Artillery, now in Verdun.'
And as he read it, he laughed again, and the warders laughed, and thetwo men from the cottage laughed, and then, as I heard this universalmerriment, and thought of all my hopes and fears, and my struggles anddangers, what could a debonair soldier do but lean against the porchonce more, and laugh as heartily as any of them? And of them all was itnot I who had the best reason to laugh, since in front of me I could seemy dear France, and my mother, and the Emperor, and my horsemen; whilebehind lay the gloomy prison, and the heavy hand of the English King?
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard Page 4