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From Powder Monkey to Admiral: A Story of Naval Adventure, a novel by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 34. Recaptured--An Unexpected Rescue |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. RECAPTURED--AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE "Whence do you come and where are you going, mes amis?" asked the sergeant of the guard, addressing Tom, who was nearest him. "What's that you say, old chap?" said Tom, forgetting the strict orders he had received to hold his tongue. "Ah, what language is that?" exclaimed the sergeant, holding up his lantern and examining the sailor's countenance. "You are not a Frenchman, I'll vow." He turned from one to the other, looking in the faces of each. "Why, I believe these are the very men we were ordered to search for. Seize them all. Take care that none escape. There are five of them, the very number we were told of, and one, the traitor, we have already got. Can any of you speak French? though I doubt it." "Should you be satisfied, monsieur sergeant, if we do speak French, and better French than many of the people about here?" asked Rayner. "If so, will you let us go on our journey? do we look like English sailors?" "I don't know how English sailors generally look," said the sergeant, gruffly, and rather taken aback at being suddenly addressed in his own language. "You certainly have the appearance of overseers, or people of that sort, but your countenances betray you. I am not to be deceived. Bring them along into the guard-room." In vain Rayner pleaded that he and his companions were in a hurry to proceed on their journey. They were dragged into the building, and a guard with fixed bayonets was placed over them. For the remainder of the night they had to sit on a hard bench, with their backs against the wall, sleeping as well as they could in so uncomfortable a position. At daybreak the next morning Sergeant Gabot, by whom they had been captured, entering the room, ordered the guard to bring them along into the presence of Captain Dupuis. The seamen, imitating their officers, quietly followed the sergeant, who led the way to a room in the same building. Here Captain Dupuis, a fierce-looking gentleman wearing a huge pair of moustaches, and a long sword by his side, was found seated at a table with two other officers. He cast his eye over the prisoners and inquired their names. Here was a puzzle, for neither Rayner nor Oliver had thought of assuming French ones. They, therefore, without hesitation, gave their own, as did Jack. "Please, sir, what does the chap say?" asked Brown, when the officer addressed him. "He wishes to know your name," said Oliver. Captain Dupuis, twirling his moustaches, took them down as well as he could. "These names do not sound like those of Frenchmen," he said. "And such we do not pretend to be," replied Rayner, stepping forward. "We found it necessary to assume these disguises for the sake of escaping from prison. We are not spies, and have no desire to injure France or Frenchmen except in open warfare." He then gave an account of their object in approaching the coast and the way in which they had been so unwillingly compelled to land. "I am inclined to believe you, monsieur," said Captain Dupuis, more politely than at first. "But my duty is to convey you to Port Louis, where my regiment is stationed, and the colonel will decide on your case. We will march directly." Captain Dupuis appeared not to be ill-disposed, for he ordered some breakfast to be brought to them in the hall. "Thank you for your kindness, monsieur," said Rayner. "With your permission we will put on our proper dresses, which are contained in these bundles." "Assuredly you have my leave. It will show the people that we have two English officers in captivity, as well as some of their men, and probably the report will be spread that an English frigate and her crew have been taken," observed the captain, laughing. "Well, I do feel more like myself now," exclaimed Brown, as he put on his shirt and jacket, and tied his black handkerchief in a lover's knot round his throat. Rayner and Oliver, though they did not say so, felt very much as their men did, thankful to throw off their disguises. As soon as they had finished breakfast, the soldiers fell in, the prisoners being placed in the centre, and with the captain at their head they commenced their march to the southward. It was not until late in the evening that they arrived at their destination. There were three old-fashioned forts, one intended to support the other, commanding the entrance of the bay. Rayner and Oliver, as they approached, took note of their position, and they remarked that the water appeared to be deep close up to the heights on which the forts were situated. In the largest were several buildings, the residence of the commandant, the barracks, and a small edifice with strongly-barred windows, which they soon discovered to be a prison. They were halted in front of these buildings, while the captain went in to make his report to the commandant. After waiting some time they were marched in between guards with fixed bayonets. Their examination was very similar to that which they had before gone through. Rayner and Oliver, however, hoped that their account of themselves would be believed, and that they would, even at the worst, only be detained as prisoners-of-war. Still, they did not quite like the looks of the commandant, who was evidently of a more savage disposition than his subordinate. He glared at the English, and declared they he believed they were capable of the most abominable acts of treachery and deceit. Rayner replied calmly, and pointed out how improbable it was that he and his companions should have landed for any sinister object. "If you come not as spies yourselves, you come to land French spies. Miscreant traitors to their country!" exclaimed the commandant. "One of them has been caught. Death will be the penalty of his crime. Bring forward the witnesses." As he spoke the soldiers stepped aside and two black seamen were led forward. Rayner recognised them as the most ruffianly of the schooner's crew. First one, and then the other, swore that the vessel had been sent to the coast for the purpose of landing some French spies, that the schooner was to wait for them, and then when they had gained information as to the strength of the forts and vessels in the harbours they were to return to the frigate. In vain Rayner explained the truth. The commandant scornfully answered that he could not believe an English officer upon his oath, that he should send a report of their capture to Leogane, and that for his part he hoped that he should have orders to shoot them all forthwith. The mock examination terminated, they were marched away to the prison on the other side of the fort. The door being opened, they were unceremoniously thrust in, one after the other, and it was closed behind them. As it was by this time growing dusk, and there were only small, narrow windows close under the roof, they were left in almost perfect obscurity, so that they could not venture to move from the spot where they stood. As, however, their eyes got accustomed to the gloom, they found that they were in a room about twelve or fourteen feet square, the floor and sides being of roughly hewn stone. Round it ran a stone bench, just above which they could see several massive iron rings fixed in the walls. "While we have light we had better pick out the cleanest spots we can find," said Oliver. "We shall be kept here to-night, at all events, and the surly commandant will not allow us any luxuries." As they moved a few paces forward, they saw three persons chained to the wall at the farther end of the room. "Who are you?" "Alas! alas!" exclaimed one of them, leaning eagerly forward; and they recognised Le Duc's voice. "Ah, messieurs, you will understand the less said the better as to the past." Rayner took the hint, guessing that Le Duc was unwilling to have anything said in the presence of the two other prisoners which might implicate Madame La Roche or Francois. "You have heard, messieurs, that they have condemned me to death," continued Le Duc, "and the wonder is that they have not shot me already, but I know that at any moment I may be led out. I should wish to live that I may play the fiddle and make others happy as well as myself." "I am very sorry to hear this. If the commandant would believe us, we can prove your innocence, and, surely, our word ought to be taken instead of that of the two blacks," said Rayner. "So it would, according to law, for the evidence of the blacks is worth nothing, and is not received in a court of justice. It proves that the commandant has resolved, at all costs, to wreak his hatred of the English on your heads." Rayner and Oliver seated themselves on the stone bench near him. The men had drawn together on the opposite corner. Le Duc narrated how he had been captured just as he was quitting the village. His great fear had been lest he should be compelled to betray them; and he declared to Rayner, who believed him, that he would have undergone any torture rather than have done so. Le Duc whispered that the two other prisoners had been condemned for murder. "Pleasant sort of companions," observed Oliver. "We may as well let them have their side of the prison to themselves." The men in the meantime had scraped the seat as clean as they could with their knives. Tom, as usual, began to grumble. "We must take the rough and the smooth together," observed Jack. "I am hungry enough myself, and I hope the mounseers don't intend to starve us, though maybe we shan't get roast beef and plum pudding." "Don't talk of it," cried Brown; "I could eat half an ox if I had the chance." While they were talking the door opened, and a man appeared, carrying a lantern and a pitcher in one hand, and a basket in the other, which he placed on the bench near them. The pitcher contained water, and the basket some very brown, heavy-looking bread, with a couple of tin mugs. Having allowed the other prisoners to drink, and given each of them a piece of bread, he handed the basket with its contents to the Englishmen. "You Anglais like ros' beef. Here you eat this. Good enough for you," he said, in a surly tone. They were all too hungry to refuse the bread or the water, which, in spite of its brackish taste, quenched the thirst from which they had long been suffering. Their gaoler left them the lantern, in order that they might see how to divide the bread. It assisted them also to select places on which to stretch themselves round the room, and, in spite of the hardness of their couches, in a short time were all asleep. Some more bread and water was brought them in the morning, and a similar unpalatable meal was provided in the afternoon. This was evidently to be their only food during their imprisonment. They had no one to complain to, no means of obtaining redress; so, like wise men, they made up their minds to bear it, though Tom grumbled and growled all day long at the way in which he was treated. Rayner supposed that the commandant was waiting for a reply to the report he had sent to Leogane. Until that could arrive, no change either for the better or worse was likely to be made in their treatment. Le Duc was still allowed to live; but, in spite of his high spirits, the feeling that he might at any moment be led out and shot was telling upon him. The two officers and Jack did their best to encourage him, and, under the circumstances, it was wonderful how he kept up. In the evening the gaoler appeared with their usual fare. "There will be one less of you to feed to-morrow," he growled out, looking at Le Duc, "and I can't say but that you five others mayn't have to join him company, for while the firing party are out it is as easy to shoot six as one." Le Duc made no answer, but bent his head down on his manacled hands. It was the first sign of deep emotion he had exhibited. "I hope the fellow is only trying to alarm you for the purpose of exercising his own bad feelings," said Rayner, after the surly gaoler had gone. Again left in darkness, they prepared to pass another disagreeable night. Rayner felt that their position was critical in the extreme. He and his companions, accused as they were of being spies, might be led out at any moment and shot. He therefore considered it his duty to prepare his companions as best he could for the worst. Oliver he knew was as ready to die as he was himself. He spoke earnestly and faithfully to the others, pointing out the unspeakable importance of being prepared to stand in the presence of the Judge of all men. He was thankful to hear Jack's reply, which expressed the simple hope of the Christian--faith in Christ as a Saviour; but the other two were silent. After Rayner and his companions had talked for some time they stretched themselves on the bench to try and obtain some sleep. That was more easily sought for than found, for no sooner were they quiet than countless creatures began to sting, and bite, and crawl over them. Tom was continually slapping himself, and moaning and groaning. But, in spite of their hard stone couches and the attacks of the insects, they did manage to drop off occasionally. Rayner's eyes had been closed some time when he was awakened by the dull roar of a gun fired from seaward. He started up, as did his companions. "Where did that come from?" exclaimed Oliver. Before Rayner could answer, the sound of eight or nine guns, a sloop's whole broadside, was heard, followed by the crash of the shot as they struck the fortification. In an instant the whole fort was in an uproar, the officers shouting their orders to the men, and the men calling to each other, as they rushed from their quarters to the ramparts. They had evidently been found napping, for before a single gun had been discharged from the fort, the shot from another broadside came plunging into it. The game, however, was not to be all on one side. The Frenchmen's guns were heard going off as fast as they could get their matches ready. They could easily be distinguished by the far louder noise they made. Those from the two other forts at the same time could be heard firing away. Cries and shrieks rose from wounded men, and a loud explosion, as if a gun had burst, rent the air. "The vessel attacking is a corvette," cried Rayner. "She must have run close in for her shot to strike in the way they are doing. It is a bold enterprise, and I pray she may be successful for her sake as well as ours." "Can she be the _Ariel_ or _Lily_?" asked Oliver. "Whichever she is, the attempt would not have been made without good hope of success," remarked Rayner. "I wish that we were out of this, and aboard her," exclaimed Jack. "So do I," cried Brown. "I don't like being boxed up here while such work is going on. Couldn't we manage to break out?" "We are safe here, and we'd better remain where we are," said Tom; "only I hope none of those round shot will find their way into this place." On the impulse of the moment Jack and Brown made a rush at the door, but it was far too strongly bolted to allow them to break it open. The other prisoners sat with their hands before them, hoping probably, as Tom did, that no shot would find its way among them. Rayner and Oliver looked up at the windows near the roof, but they were strongly-barred and too narrow to enable a grown man to squeeze through them. To sit down quietly seemed impossible. They stood therefore listening, and trying to make out by the sounds which reached their ears how the fight was going. Presently some more guns were heard coming from the sea. "There must be another vessel!" exclaimed Rayner. "Hark! she must be engaging the upper fort. I thought that one would scarcely venture singly to attack the three forts." The roar of the artillery continued. Suddenly there burst forth a loud thundering sound. The ground beneath their feet shook, the walls trembled, and the roof seemed about to fall on their heads, while the glare of a vivid flame penetrating through the windows lighted up the whole interior of the building, shrieks, groans, and cries echoing through the fort. The magazine had blown up. It was a wonder that the prison itself had not been hurled to the ground. "Thank Heaven, we have escaped!" exclaimed Oliver. The attacking vessels still continued firing, and after a short interval the fort once more replied, but evidently with fewer guns than before. A crash was heard over their heads, and down fell a mass of timber, plank, and tiles just above the door. Looking up, the clear sky could be seen, from out of which a crescent moon shone brightly. No one was injured, for the shot, having torn its way through the roof, had fallen outside. "Hurrah! thanks to that shot, we may make our escape out of this, for the Frenchmen are too much engaged at the guns to see us!" cried Jack. "Let us get down to the shore, and when we are once there we may manage to find our way aboard the ship. The chances are we shall find some fishing boat or other on the beach. May we try, sir, what we can do?" "What do you say, Oliver? Shall we make the attempt Jack proposes?" asked Rayner. "If we go we must take Le Duc with us, I wish that we could find something to knock off his chains, and we might set the other poor fellows at liberty." To climb out would be no difficult matter, as Brown found that by standing on Tom's and Jack's shoulders he could reach the lower part of the roof. But Rayner positively refused to go without first setting Le Duc at liberty. He told Brown to try and dislodge a piece of stone from the wall with which they might break the prisoners' chains. Suddenly Tom recollected that he had stowed away one of the files which Le Duc himself had brought in his pocket. "Hand it here," cried Rayner; and heat once began filing away. In the meantime Brown managed to get hold of one of the upper stones of the wall. It was hard, and had a sharp side. "Here it is, sir," he said, clambering down and bringing it to Rayner. A few blows on the bench served to sever the link already partly filed through. "Oh! set us free, monsieur?" cried the other prisoners. "What does he say?" asked Brown. "There won't be time to set you both free, but I'll see what I can do for one of you;" and he began filing away, and with the help of the stone he managed to liberate the arm of one of the men. "Here, take the file and see what you can do for your comrade," he said. The rest of the party had in the meantime begun to mount the wall. _ |
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