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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13817 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 13817-h.htm or 13817-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/1/13817/13817-h/13817-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/1/13817/13817-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+Herbert Strang's Historical Series
+
+WITH MARLBOROUGH TO MALPLAQUET
+
+A Story of the Reign of Queen Anne
+
+by
+
+HERBERT STRANG
+
+and
+
+RICHARD STEAD
+Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
+
+With Four Illustrations in Colour and a Map
+
+LONDON
+
+1908
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NOW READY IN THIS SERIES.
+
+WITH THE BLACK PRINCE: a Story of the Reign
+of Edward III. By HERBERT STRANG and RICHARD STEAD.
+
+A MARINER OF ENGLAND: a Story of the Reign of
+Queen Elizabeth. By the same authors.
+
+WITH MARLBOROUGH TO MALPLAQUET: a Story of
+the Reign of Queen Anne. By the same authors.
+
+Other volumes to follow.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A mounted officer came galloping up. See Chapter X.]
+
+
+
+
+
+With Marlborough
+to Malplaquet
+
+
+
+
+
+NOTE
+
+
+The object of this series is to encourage a taste for history among
+boys and girls up to thirteen or fourteen years of age. An attempt has
+been made to bring home to the young reader the principal events and
+movements of the periods covered by the several volumes.
+
+If in these little stories historical fact treads somewhat closely
+upon the heels of fiction, the authors would plead the excellence of
+their intentions and the limitations of their space.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+     A BOUT AT SINGLESTICK
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+     THE ATTACK ON THE COLLIERY
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     THE FIRE AT BINFIELD TOWERS
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+     THE RESCUE
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+     GEORGE RECONNOITRES
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+     THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+     BLENHEIM
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+     COMRADES IN ARMS
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+     ANNUS MIRABILIS
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+     "OUR OWN MEN, SIR!"
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+     THE HARDEST FIGHT OF THEM ALL
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+     CONCLUSION
+
+HISTORICAL SUMMARY
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+A MOUNTED OFFICER CAME GALLOPING UP
+
+"NOW!" CAME THE ORDER
+
+GEORGE FOUND HIMSELF ENGAGED IN A HAND TO HAND ENCOUNTER
+
+THE RESCUE OF MARLBOROUGH
+
+MAP OF WESTERN EUROPE IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ANNE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BOUT AT SINGLESTICK
+
+
+"Get thee down, laddie, I tell thee."
+
+This injunction, given for the third time, and in a broad
+north-country dialect, came from the guard of the York and Newcastle
+coach, a strange new thing in England. A wonderful vehicle the York
+and Newcastle coach, covering the eighty-six long miles between the
+two towns in the space of two-and-thirty hours, and as yet an object
+of delight, and almost of awe, to the rustics of the villages and
+small towns on that portion of the Great North Road.
+
+It was the darkening of a stinging day in the latter part of December,
+in the year 1701--it wanted but forty-eight hours to Christmas
+Eve--when the coach pulled up at the principal inn of the then quiet
+little country town of Darlington, a place which roused itself from
+its general sleepiness only on market and fair days, or now, since the
+mail-coach had begun to run, on the arrival or departure of the
+marvellous conveyance, whose rattle over the cobble-stones drew every
+inhabitant of the main street to the door.
+
+No reply coming from the boy on the roof, the guard went on, "Eh, but
+the lad must be frozen stark," and swinging himself up to the top of
+the coach, he seized the dilatory passenger by the arm, saying, "Now,
+my hearty, come your ways down; we gang na further to-day. Ye are as
+stiff as a frozen poker."
+
+"And no wonder," came a voice from below; "'tis not a day fit for man
+or dog to be out a minute longer than necessary. Bring the bairn in,
+Charley." The invitation came from a kindly and portly dame, the
+hostess, who had come to the door to welcome such passengers as might
+be disposed to put up for the night at the inn.
+
+"I don't think I can stir," the boy replied; "I'm about frozen."
+
+He spoke in low tones and as if but half awake. He was, in fact, just
+dropping into a doze.
+
+"Here, mates, catch hold," the guard cried, and without more ado the
+lad was lowered down to the little group of loafers who had come to
+see the sight and to pick up any stray penny that might be available.
+A minute later George Fairburn was rapidly thawing before the rousing
+fire in the inn's best parlour, and was gulping down the cup of hot
+mulled ale the good-natured landlady had put into his trembling hands.
+
+"I'm all right, ma'am, now, and I'll go. Thank you and good night,
+ma'am."
+
+"Go, Fairburn?" cried another boy of about his own age, who sat
+comfortably in the arm-chair by the cosy chimney corner. "Surely you
+are not going to turn out again this bitter night?"
+
+"Indeed I am," was the somewhat ungracious reply; "my father is not a
+rich man, and I'm not going to put him to needless expense."
+
+The other boy blushed, but the next moment his face resumed its usual
+pallor. He was tall for his fourteen years, but evidently not
+particularly strong. He had, in truth, somewhat of a bookish look, and
+his rounded shoulders already told of much poring over a student's
+tasks. Fairburn, on the other hand, though less tall, carried in his
+face and form all the evidence of robust good health.
+
+"I've relatives somewhere in Darlington, Blackett," George explained,
+in a rather pleasanter tone, as if ashamed of his former surly speech,
+"and I'm going to hunt them up."
+
+"Look here, Fairburn," said the other, springing from his seat and
+placing a patronizing hand on his companion's shoulder, "just make
+yourself comfortable here with me for the night, and I'll settle the
+bill for both of us in the morning." He spoke rather grandly, jingling
+the coins in his pocket the while.
+
+"I can settle my own bills, thank you," answered Fairburn, a proud hot
+flush overspreading his face. And, seizing his little bag, the lad
+strode from the room and out of the inn, shivering as the chill
+northeasterly breeze caught him in the now dark and almost deserted
+street.
+
+"Confound the fellow with his purse-proud patronage!" he muttered as
+he hurried along.
+
+"Bless me, why is he so touchy?" Blackett was asking himself at the
+same moment. "We seem fated to quarrel, Fairburn's family and ours.
+Whose is the pride now, I wonder! Fairburn thinks a deal of his
+independence, as he calls it; I should call it simply pride, myself.
+But I might have known that he wouldn't accept my offer after his
+refusal of an inside place with me this morning, and after riding all
+those miles from York to-day in the bitter cold. Heigh-ho, the quarrel
+won't be of my seeking anyhow."
+
+These two lads were both sons of colliery owners, and both pupils of
+the ancient school of St. Peter of York, the most notable foundation
+north of the Humber. But there the likeness ended. Matthew Blackett's
+father was a rich man and descended from generations of rich men. He
+owned a large colliery and employed many men and not a few ships. He
+was, moreover, a county magnate, and held his head high on Tyneside.
+In politics he was a strong supporter of the Tory party, and had never
+been easy under the rule of Dutch William. He was proud and somewhat
+arrogant, yet not wanting his good points. George Fairburn, on the
+other hand, was the son of a much smaller man, of one, in truth, who
+had by his energy and thrift become the proprietor of a small pit, of
+which he himself acted as manager. The elder Fairburn was of a sturdy
+independent character, his independence, however, sometimes asserting
+itself at the expense of his manners; that at least was the way Mr.
+Blackett put it. Fairburn had been thrown much in his boyhood among
+the Quakers, of which new sect there were several little groups in the
+northern counties. He was a firm Whig, and as firm a hater of the
+exiled James II. He had made some sacrifice to send his boy to a good
+school, being a great believer in education, at a time when men of his
+class were little disposed to set much store by book learning.
+
+After breakfast by candlelight next morning the passengers for the
+coach assembled at the door of the inn. Blackett was already
+comfortably seated among his many and ample rugs and wraps when George
+Fairburn appeared, accompanied by a woman who made an odd figure in an
+ancient cloak many sizes too big for her, covering her from head to
+foot. It had, in fact, originally been a soldier's cloak, and had seen
+much hard service in the continental campaigns under William III. The
+good dame was very demonstrative in her affection, and kissed George
+again and again on both cheeks, with good sounding smacks, ere she
+would let him mount to the roof of the coach. Then she stood by the
+window and talked volubly in a rich northern brogue till the vehicle
+started, and even after, for George could see her gesticulations when
+he was far out of earshot.
+
+"It is bitter cold, bairn," she had said for the third or fourth time,
+"and I doubt thou wilt be more dead than alive when thy father sees
+thee at Newcastle. But don't forget that pasty; 'tis good, for I made
+it myself. And there's the sup of summat comforting in the little
+bottle; don't forget that."
+
+"Good-bye, aunt, and thank you over and over again," George called
+from the top of the coach. "Don't stay any longer in the freezing
+cold. I'm all right."
+
+But the talkative and kindly old dame would not budge, and Blackett
+could not help smiling quietly in his corner. "What a curious old
+rustic!" he said to himself, "and she's the aunt, it appears." As for
+George himself, he was thinking much the same thing. "A good soul," he
+murmured to himself, "but, oh, so countrified!"
+
+Fairburn's limbs were pretty stiff by the time the grand old cathedral
+and the castle of Durham standing proudly on their cliff above the
+river came in sight. There was an unwonted stir in the streets of the
+picturesque little city. My lord the bishop with a very great train
+was coming for the Christmas high services.
+
+"Our bishop is a prince," explained the guard, who had had not a
+little talk with George on the way. "There are squires and baronets
+and lords in his train, and as for his servants and horses, why--" the
+good fellow spread out his hands in his sheer inability to describe
+the magnificence of the bishops of Durham.
+
+"Yes," Fairburn made answer, "and I've heard or read that when a new
+bishop first comes to the see he is met at Croft bridge by all the big
+men of the county, who do homage to him as if he were a king."
+
+The guard stared at a youngster, an outside and therefore a poor
+passenger too, who appeared so well informed, and then applied himself
+vigorously to his horn.
+
+The afternoon was fast waning when the coach brought to its passengers
+the first glimpse of the blackened old fortress of Newcastle and the
+lantern tower of St. Nicholas. Fairburn, almost as helpless as on the
+previous afternoon, was speedily lifted down from his lofty perch by
+the strong arms of his father.
+
+"Ah, my dear lad," the elder cried as he hugged George to his breast,
+"the mother has a store of good things ready for her bairn and for
+Christmas. And here is old Dapper ready to jog back with us and to his
+own Christmas Eve supper. How do you do, sir?"
+
+These last words were addressed to a gentleman who had just driven up
+in a well-appointed family equipage.
+
+"I hope I see young Mr. Blackett well," Fairburn continued.
+
+"Ah! 'tis you, Mr. Fairburn," said the great man condescendingly.
+"This is your boy? Looks a trifle cold, don't you think? 'Tis bitter
+weather for travelling outside."
+
+And with the curtest possible nod to the father, and no recognition
+whatever of the son, Mr. Blackett linked his arm in Matthew's and
+strode away to his carriage.
+
+George flushed, his father looked annoyed; then his face cleared.
+
+"Come, lad," he said, "let us get along home."
+
+Thursday, Christmas Day, and the Friday following passed quietly but
+happily in the little Fairburn family. The father was in excellent
+spirits, and he had much to tell his son of the prosperity that was at
+last coming. Orders were being booked faster than the modest staff of
+the colliery could execute them. Best of all, Fairburn had secured
+several important contracts with London merchants; this, too, against
+the competition of the great Blackett pit.
+
+"The truth is," the elder explained, "Mr. Blackett is too big a man,
+and too easy-going to attend to his business as he should. But I
+suppose he's rich enough and can afford to be a trifle slack."
+
+"Whereas my dad has energy and to spare," George put in with a smile,
+"and by that energy is taking the business out of the hands of the
+bigger man. The Blacketts won't be exactly pleased with us, eh?"
+
+"They are not. And, more, I hear the Blackett pit is working only
+short time; it is more than likely that several of the men will have
+to be discharged soon, and then will come more soreness."
+
+"We can't help that, dad," the boy commented, "it's a sort of war,
+this business competition, it seems to me, and all is fair in love and
+war, as the saying goes."
+
+"True, my lad; yet I'm a peaceable man, and would fain enter into no
+quarrels."
+
+On the Saturday afternoon a neighbour brought word up to the house
+that there was some sort of a squabble going on down at the river
+side.
+
+"Better run along and see what is the matter, George," said the
+mother. "Father's gone to the town and won't be back till supper
+time."
+
+So the boy pulled on his cap, twisted a big scarf about his neck, and
+made off to the Tyne, nearly a mile away.
+
+He found a tremendous hubbub on the wharf, men pulling and struggling
+and cursing and fighting in vigorous fashion. What might be the right
+or the wrong of the quarrel, George did not know, and he had not time
+to inquire before he too was mixed up in the fray. The first thing
+that met his eye, in truth, was one of the crew of the Fairburn
+collier brig lying helpless on his back and at the mercy of a fellow
+who was showing him no favour, but was pounding away at the upturned
+face with one of his fists, whilst with the other hand he held a firm
+grip of his prostrate foeman.
+
+"Let him get up, coward!" the lad shouted as he rushed to the spot.
+"Let him get up, I tell you, and fight it out fair and square."
+
+The fellow was by no means disposed to give up the advantage he had
+obtained, however, and redoubled the vigour of his blows.
+
+He was a strong thickset collier, not an easy man to tackle; but
+without more ado George flung himself at the bully, and toppled him
+over, the side of his head coming into violent collision with the
+rough planks of the landing-stage.
+
+"Up with you, Jack!" George cried, and, seizing the hand of the
+prostrate sailor, he jerked him to his feet. Jack, however, was of
+little more use when he had been helped up, and staggered about in a
+dazed and aimless sort of way. He was, in truth, almost blind, his
+eyes scarce visible at all, so severe had been his punishment, while
+his face streamed with blood.
+
+Meanwhile his antagonist had jumped to his feet, his face black with
+coaldust and distorted with fury.
+
+"Two on ye!" he yelled with an oath, "then I must fend for myself,"
+and he seized a broken broom handle that was lying near.
+
+"A game of singlestick is it?" George replied gleefully, as he made a
+successful grab at another stick a couple of yards away. It was the
+handle of a shovel; there were several broken tools lying about the
+quay.
+
+"Come on," said the boy, brandishing his short but heavy weapon, "this
+is quite in my line, I can tell you!"
+
+It was a curious sight as the two rushed upon each other, so unequal
+did the antagonists seem. Bill, the collier, was tall as well as
+strongly built, and in the very prime of life; while George, though a
+sturdy lad for his age, was many inches shorter, and appeared at first
+sight an absurdly inadequate foeman.
+
+In a moment the sticks were clattering merrily together, the lad
+hesitating not a whit, for he felt sure that he was at least a match
+for the other. George Fairburn had ever been an adept at all school
+games, and had spent many a leisure hour at singlestick. In vain did
+Bill endeavour to bring down his stick with furious whack upon the
+youngster's scalp; his blow was unfailingly parried. It was soon
+evident to the man that the boy was playing with him, and when twice
+or thrice he received a rap on his shoulder, his arm, his knuckles
+even, his fury got quite beyond his control, and he struck out blindly
+and viciously, forcing the lad backwards towards the edge of the
+wharf.
+
+But Fairburn was not to be taken in that style. Slipping agilely out
+of the way, he planted another blow, this time on his opponent's head.
+In a trice Bill threw down his cudgel and, raising his heavy boot,
+endeavoured to administer a vicious kick. It was time to take to more
+effective tactics, and while the man's leg was poised in the air,
+George put in a thwack that made his skull resound, and threw him
+quite off his already unstable balance. Bill fell to the ground and
+lay there stunned, a roar of laughter hailing the exploit, with shouts
+of, "Thrashed by a lad; that's a grand come off for Bill Hutchinson!"
+
+George now had time to look about him. He found that the enemy,
+whoever they might be, had been beaten off, and the crew of the
+Fairburn brig was in possession of the landing-stage.
+
+"What is it all about, Jack?" he inquired of the man to whose rescue
+he had come.
+
+"Why," returned Jack, "they are some of Blackett's men. They tried to
+shove us from our berth here, after we had made fast, and bring in
+their big schooner over there. Some of 'em are vexed, 'cos 'tis said
+there'll be no work for 'em soon. Your father's taking a lot of
+Blackett's trade, you see."
+
+"Did they begin, Jack, or did you?"
+
+"Begin? Why, it was a kind of mixed-up job, I reckon. We'd both had a
+drop of Christmas ale, you see--a drop extra, I mean--and--why, there
+it was."
+
+"Well, you'll be sailing for London in a day or two," said George.
+"See that you keep out of the way of Blackett's men, or you'll find
+yourself in the lock-up and lose your place."
+
+Then he walked away.
+
+Mr. Fairburn was annoyed when he heard of the incident.
+
+"I don't like it, George," he said. "There's no reason why there
+should be bad blood between Blackett's men and mine; but if they are
+going to make disturbances like this I shall have to take serious
+steps, and the coolness between Blackett and me will become an open
+enmity. 'As much as lieth in _you_,' says the Apostle, 'live peaceably
+with all men;' but there's a limit, and if Mr. Blackett can't keep his
+men in order, it will come to a fight between us."
+
+The brig started in a couple of days for London, in fulfilment of an
+important contract that had for years fallen to Mr. Blackett, but now
+had been placed in the hands of his humbler but more energetic rival.
+Its departure was hailed by the shouts and threats of a gang of pitmen
+from the Blackett colliery, but nothing like another fight occurred,
+thanks to the vigilance of Fairburn the elder.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE ATTACK ON THE COLLIERY
+
+
+Not often has Europe been in a greater state of unrest than it was at
+the time this story opens. James II, the exiled King of England, had
+lately died in his French home, and his son, afterwards famous as the
+Old Pretender, had been acknowledged as the new English king by Louis
+XIV of France, to the joy of the many Jacobites England still
+contained, but to the dismay of the majority of Englishmen. There was
+likely to be dire trouble also respecting the vacant throne of Spain.
+There had been originally three candidates for the throne of the
+weakling Charles, not long dead--Philip of Anjou, whose claims had the
+powerful support of his grandfather, the ambitious Louis; Charles, the
+second son of the Emperor Leopold of Austria; and Joseph, the
+Electoral Prince of Bavaria. But the last mentioned had died, leaving
+the contest to Philip and Charles, the French and Austrian claimants.
+The rest of Europe was naturally in alarm when the already
+too-powerful Louis actually placed his grandson on the Spanish throne.
+Practically the step amounted on the part of France to an annexation
+of the once predominant kingdom of Spain with all its appanages. And
+when the Grand Monarque, as his flatterers called him, proceeded
+further to garrison the strongholds of the Netherlands, then a Spanish
+province, with his own troops, it was clear that Louis considered
+himself King both of France and Spain. As for the Protestants of
+Europe, their very existence seemed to be threatened by the designs of
+the French sovereign.
+
+Who was there, then, to withstand the ambitious and arrogant Louis?
+There was but one great and effective opponent, William of Orange,
+King of England. He had spent his life in thwarting the ambitious
+policy of the French monarch, and so long as William lived Louis was
+sure of a vigorous and powerful antagonist. And William was preparing,
+in both his English and his Dutch dominions, for yet another conflict.
+War was indeed imminent; the sole question being when it would
+actually break out, and who would be ruler over England when it did.
+For William III was in feeble health; his death might occur any day,
+and his crown pass to his sister-in-law Anne. Such was the condition
+of affairs at the time George Fairburn left St. Peter's School at
+York.
+
+January brought many new orders for the Fairburn pit, and the owner
+had work for more men. So greatly was his business increasing, that
+the proprietor of the little colliery came to a decision that seemed
+likely to affect his son's whole future life.
+
+"What would you like to be, my lad?" he one day inquired abruptly.
+
+"A soldier, dad," was the prompt reply, the boy regarding his father
+in some wonderment, nevertheless.
+
+"A soldier, says the lad!" Fairburn exclaimed, no less surprised by
+the answer than George had been by the question. "It is the most
+detestable of all trades, that of soldiering, and about the most
+empty-stomached. Don't talk of such a thing, my good lad."
+
+In vain George entered into a defence of the military profession,
+referring to the many great soldiers with whom his school readings in
+the histories of Greece and Rome and England had made him more or less
+acquainted. Fairburn was not to be charmed, and with a deep sigh the
+boy gave up the contest. He was still more upset when his father
+proceeded to tell him that he would not return to St. Peter's, but
+would remain at home to assist in the business till a place could be
+secured for him in some great London house.
+
+It was not a task he cared about; anybody could have done it, he
+thought, as he entered the weights on little tickets. But George had a
+large fund of common sense and a deep respect for his father. He did
+not grumble or sulk, but resolved that as he had to do the work he
+would do it thoroughly.
+
+Half an hour later he started and flushed to see Mr. Blackett and
+Matthew, both well mounted, and followed by a groom in livery, come
+riding by. He trusted they would not notice him at his dusty and
+disagreeable task. Alas! the field path they were pursuing led close
+past the spot, and George observed the look of surprise on their faces
+when they saw him. The father gave no sign of recognition; Matthew
+looked uncomfortable and nodded in a shamefaced kind of way. George
+flushed, and for a moment felt a bitter anger surge within him; then
+he called himself a dolt for caring a straw what they thought of him.
+It was a little hard, however, to think that Matthew Blackett would be
+going back to his beloved school and studies, while he, also a
+Peterite, was engaged in such a humdrum task as weighing coal at the
+pit mouth.
+
+His father's energy at this time was prodigious. Fairburn was afoot
+early and late. In spite of the cold and stormy weather of winter he
+made two or three trips to London in his collier brig, always to
+report on his return a notable addition to his trade. Once, too, on
+his homeward voyage, he had had himself put ashore a little north of
+Spurn, and had trudged the five and twenty miles to Hull, the rising
+port on the east coast. Then, after appointing an agent and starting
+what seemed likely to grow into a big business, he had tramped the
+hundred and twenty miles or more that separated him from Newcastle and
+his home, cutting a quaint figure on the road, with his old-fashioned
+hat and cloak, and his much-twisted and knotty oak stick. The result
+of all this energy was that when he was in a joking mood he would say,
+"We shall have to see about buying another pit, mother--Blackett's,
+perhaps, as I hear they have little going on there at present."
+
+And indeed the Blackett colliery did at that time seem to be under a
+cloud. Trade fell off, and almost every week hands were discharged.
+Fairburn was secretly a little afraid of mischief from these
+out-of-works, especially when he himself was absent from home.
+
+Towards the end of February England was startled by the news that King
+William had been thrown from his favourite steed Sorrel, at Hampton
+Court, and was lying in a precarious state, his collar-bone broken. A
+week or two later came the tidings of William's death, and of the
+proclamation of the Princess Anne as Queen.
+
+The news had an extraordinary effect on Mr. Blackett. Ordering his
+coach, he drove in haste to his colliery, hoisted a big flag there,
+proclaimed a holiday on full pay, and sent for a copious supply of
+ale. His son Matthew, who had not gone back to school at York, amused
+himself and the men by firing unnumbered salvoes from a couple of
+small cannon he possessed.
+
+"Now that Billy the Dutchman is out of the way," Squire Blackett cried
+exultingly, "Whiggery will soon be dead, and England will be ruled by
+its rightful sovereign, who will be assisted by lords and gentlemen of
+sound policy."
+
+A huge banner was hoisted, and the Squire and his son headed a
+procession to the neighbouring villages. The jubilant colliery owner
+and his merry men took care to pass the Fairburn pit, with frantic
+cheerings and hallooings.
+
+"What does it all mean?" George, who was in charge in the absence of
+his father, inquired of the old overlooker of the colliery.
+
+"It means beer, George," the ancient replied, "beer and froth, and
+nothing else."
+
+"Nothing else! I hope that is a true word, Saunders, that's all. I
+mislike the looks of some of those fellows."
+
+"Why, to judge from all the whispers we hear," the overlooker
+commented, "we are like enough to get our backs well hazelled before
+long."
+
+George gave a word of caution to the pitmen when they left work that
+afternoon.
+
+"There are sure to be insults," he said, "but take no notice, and keep
+out of harm's way."
+
+But the fates were against George and his pit that day. Hardly had the
+little gang of Fairburn colliers turned the corner of the lane when
+they were met by an excited mob carrying a huge sheet on which was
+rudely printed in big characters, "Down with all Whigs!"
+
+"An insult to the gaffer, that's as plain as the nose on a man's
+face," cried one of the Fairburn fellows, and without more ado, he
+dashed forward and made a grab at the offending canvas. He was
+forestalled, however, a man of the opposing party deftly tripping him
+up and sending him sprawling into the mud. Before the unlucky pitman
+could rise the whole mob had surged over him, amidst shrieks of
+laughter.
+
+On this the Fairburn men threw all George's cautions to the winds, and
+charged the mob. Instantly a hot fight was going on around the big
+banner. Even old Saunders, the overlooker, caught one of the
+opposition gang by the collar, crying, "Ye loons, what for are ye
+coming our way again? Ye ha' been once to-day, wi' your jibes and
+jeers; isn't that enough?"
+
+"Jibes and jeers, old lad! Eh, there'll happen be mair than that afore
+bedtime."
+
+Meanwhile there was rough work around the banner. In spite of the
+efforts of the bearers and their friends to protect the canvas, one of
+the Fairburn men had got a grip of it, and in a second the thing had
+been torn from its supporting poles, amid mingled cheers and
+execrations. The canvas itself was pulled hither and thither by the
+opposing gangs, each striving to retain possession of it. Bit by bit
+the banner was torn to pieces, the men fighting savagely for even the
+smallest shred of it, each man pocketing his piece as a trophy, till
+at length there was nothing of the thing left visible.
+
+Cries of, "On to the pit wi' ye, lads!" were by this time plentiful,
+and with a dash the now much augmented mob surged in that direction.
+Under old Saunders the Fairburn men disputed every yard of the way,
+but they were entirely outnumbered, and were slowly but surely forced
+back upon the works they had so recently left. All had happened in the
+course of a very few minutes.
+
+George, on his way to his home, some half mile away, had made scarce
+half the distance when his ears were assailed by the noise of conflict
+somewhere behind him. He stopped and listened, the yells growing
+louder and fiercer every instant. Then he darted back towards the pit,
+reaching the spot just in time to see his men make a dash for the
+shelter of the sheds around the mouth, followed by a howling,
+threatening mob.
+
+In a moment the youngster sprang through the entrance of the largest
+of the sheds, and closed the door, shooting home the two thick rough
+bars of wood that did duty for bolts, amid shouts from his men of "The
+young gaffer! We'll all stick to him!" And in spite of his youth,
+George was at once installed as captain of the little Fairburn band.
+He had always been highly popular with the men of the colliery; they
+liked his entire freedom from vain show and swagger, and his
+pleasant-spoken manner.
+
+"What have we in the way of weapons, lads?" he asked, taking a hasty
+glance round the dimly-lit shed. Darkness was coming on apace even
+outside; within the shed the men had to grope their way about.
+
+There was very little that would serve, except a number of pickaxes, a
+few shovels, and two or three hayforks belonging to the stables. These
+were served out, and then one man found the master's gun, with a
+powder-flask and a handful of sparrow shot.
+
+"Better let me have that," said George, quietly relieving the man of
+the weapon, the old overlooker approving with a "Aye, that's right;
+you'll keep a cooler head than Tom there."
+
+The mob outside surged down on the door in force, and with loud yells.
+The door stood the shock, and the major part of the attackers in a
+trice turned their attention to the smaller buildings dotted here and
+there about the pit's mouth. One by one these sheds were pulled to
+pieces, to the ever-increasing delight of the mob. George and his men
+were powerless to stop the destruction.
+
+"We must not venture out," the boy said, "unless the scoundrels turn
+their attention to the windlasses and the gear."
+
+So his men had to grind their teeth in rage and look on helplessly.
+
+As was expected, the rioters presently came back to the big shed, one
+of them, evidently the leader, advancing with a felling-axe.
+
+"Keep back, rascal!" shouted George. "Keep from the door, or I'll put
+a few peppercorns into your hide."
+
+From a chink in the door George recognized him as the very man he had
+so unceremoniously knocked from his perch and so merrily battered in
+the bout of singlestick that day on the landing-stage.
+
+The fellow answered with a curse and lifted his axe to stave in the
+door. Before the weapon could descend a report rang out in the
+twilight, and with a scream the attacker sprang from the ground, and
+then fell to rubbing his legs vigorously.
+
+"One on 'em peppered," remarked old Saunders grimly.
+
+The crowd outside fell back in haste, and a burly fellow at that
+instant appearing on the scene with a small cask of ale on his
+shoulder, a diversion was caused. The fight was transferred to the
+circle round the ale barrel, the already half-crazy fellows struggling
+desperately to get at the liquor.
+
+"By Jupiter!" cried George, seeing his opportunity in a moment, "now
+is our chance! Let them get fully occupied and we have them. Let them
+once return and they will be madder and more reckless than ever."
+
+And seizing every man his weapon, the little party in the shed
+prepared to sally forth, old Saunders whispering to his next
+neighbour, "The lad is a game 'un, if ever I saw one."
+
+Just as George was preparing to draw the bolts he caught sight of
+young Blackett. His old schoolfellow was haranguing the men,
+gesticulating violently, and pointing excitedly towards the large
+shed. Matthew had in reality just heard of the fray, and had at once
+run up to do what he could to stop it. But George Fairburn did not
+know this. "The knave!" he exclaimed, beside himself with anger, "he's
+the very ringleader of the party! He's kept himself till now in the
+background. But he shall pay for his pains!"
+
+Flinging back the bars, George dashed forth upon the ale-drinking
+group his little band following at his heels. With a shout they
+swooped down upon the foe, and in an instant a score of heads were
+broken, the luckless owners flung in all directions around the cask.
+One of the prostrate ones held the spigot in his hand, and the
+remainder of the liquor bubbled itself merrily to the ground.
+
+So utterly unprepared were the fellows for the onset, and so mauled
+were they in the very first rush, that a general alarm was raised. In
+the darkening they imagined themselves surrounded by a strong
+reinforcement of the Fairburn party, and at once there was a wild
+stampede from the premises. Men and hobbledehoys stumbled off in hot
+haste, pursued by the victorious handful under George.
+
+Not that George himself gave any heed to all this. At the very first
+he had dashed to the spot where Matthew Blackett was excitedly
+shouting to the rioters.
+
+"Coward!" cried Fairburn, "to set on your scoundrelly fellows--"
+
+"Set on the fellows!" Matthew began in amazement, but he got no
+farther.
+
+"Up with your fists!" cried George, "and we will see which is the
+better man!"
+
+There was no time for explanations, though young Blackett opened his
+mouth to speak. He had in truth but time to throw up his hands to ward
+off George's vigorous blow, and the next moment the fight was in full
+swing. Matthew was no coward, and once in for warm work, he played his
+part manfully. At it the two boys went, each hitting hard, and both
+coming in for a considerable share of pummelling. For a time none
+heeded them, every man having enough to do in other quarters. But at
+length they were surrounded by a small group of the Fairburn men who
+had now driven off the enemy and remained masters of the field.
+
+Once or twice, when the two stopped a moment to recover breath,
+Matthew opened his mouth again to make an explanation, but as often
+his pride held him back, and he said nothing. So the fight went on.
+
+How long this fierce duel might have lasted it is hard to say. But
+just as the boys were almost at the end of their strength there was an
+effective interruption. It was time, for both combatants were heavily
+punished. They had not been so ill-matched as one might at first sight
+have suspected. George was the stronger and harder fellow, but Matthew
+had the advantage in the matter of height, and more particularly in
+length of arm, which enabled him to get in a blow when his opponent's
+fell short; though the less robust of the two he had as much pluck as
+pride, and would have fought on to the last gasp.
+
+The sound of clattering hoofs was heard, and, from opposite quarters,
+two horsemen dashed up. They were Mr. Blackett and the elder Fairburn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE FIRE AT BINFIELD TOWERS
+
+
+The fight stopped even more suddenly than it had begun, and the two
+combatants stood away from each other, with hanging heads but with
+fists still clenched.
+
+Fairburn took a glance around on the destruction, a thing he was able
+to do by the glare from some burning wreckage which had now got well
+into a blaze. Then his eyes wandered down to the two boys with their
+bruised and bleeding countenances, and finally up into Mr. Blackett's
+face.
+
+"So this is the kind of thing your Tory and your Jacobite is capable
+of!" he remarked with stinging scorn to his richer rival.
+
+"Don't you think, Mr. Fairburn," answered the Squire with dignified
+calmness, restraining himself marvellously well, "don't you think that
+instead of vilifying a cause as far above your comprehension as the
+majority of its advocates are above you in breeding, in education, in
+station, it would be more sensible to give me your help in attending
+to these poor misguided fellows lying wounded on all sides?"
+
+Fairburn winced; his rival had certainly the advantage in the
+controversy, and none knew it better than the two boys. George did not
+fail to observe the little flush of satisfaction that for an instant
+lit up his antagonist's countenance, and, like his father, he too
+winced.
+
+However, not another needless word was said, while the two men and
+their sons, with the help of some of the Fairburn colliers who were
+still on the spot, gave attention to the wounded and extinguished the
+burning rubbish. Then the Blacketts, father and son, raising their
+hats to the Fairburns, took their departure.
+
+It may well be supposed that this series of unhappy incidents did not
+tend to narrow the breach between the two colliery owners and their
+people. Fairburn, unlike his old self, was greatly incensed, and
+talked much of prosecutions and so forth. But nothing came of it, the
+man's sound native sense presently leading him to adopt George's
+opinion. Said the boy, "Where would be the good, father? Their side
+got most of the broken heads anyhow, and that's enough for us." It was
+a youngster's view of the case, but it had its merits.
+
+So Fairburn grumbled and rebuilt his few wrecked sheds, his grumblings
+dying out as the work proceeded. George's own thoughts were bitter
+enough, however, so far as Matthew Blackett was concerned. He could
+not get it out of his head that the young squire, as the folks around
+styled Matthew, was at the bottom of the riot and indeed secretly its
+ringleader.
+
+A month or two passed away, and spring came. One day the elder
+Fairburn, on his return from London in his collier, made a great
+announcement.
+
+"I've got you a grand place, my lad," he said. "It is in the office of
+Mr. Allan, one of the finest shipping-merchants in London. 'Tis a very
+great favour, and will be the making of you, if you prove to be the
+lad I take you to be. You are now fifteen, and it is time you went
+from home to try your fortune; in fact, you'll be all the better away
+from here--for certain reasons I need not go into. You are a lucky
+lad, George,--I wish I had had half your chance when I was in my
+teens."
+
+The son knew very well from his father's tone and manner that it was
+useless to argue the matter with him. To London he would have to go,
+and he prepared to face the unwelcome prospect like a man.
+
+Yet, to add to his chagrin and disappointment, there came to him just
+at that time the news that young Blackett was proposing to enter the
+army as soon as he was old enough. The Squire was anxious that his son
+should have a commission, and as he was wealthy, and his party was now
+decidedly winning in the political race, there would not only be no
+difficulties in Matthew's way, but a fine prospect of advancement for
+the youth.
+
+"Who would have thought that that lanky weakling would choose a
+soldier's trade!" George Fairburn said to himself. "I had quite
+expected him to go to Oxford and become either a barrister or a
+bishop. He's a lucky fellow! And I--I am--well, never mind; it's silly
+to go on in this way. I don't like Blackett, but I am bound to confess
+he's got good fighting stuff in him."
+
+When William III was on his deathbed he is reported to have said, "I
+see another scene, and could wish to live a little longer." His keen
+political foresight was soon confirmed. It was in March, 1702, he
+died; in the May of the same year war was proclaimed, the combination
+of powers known as the Grand Alliance on the one side, Louis XIV, the
+Grand Monarque, on the other. The nations belonging to the Grand
+Alliance were at first England, Holland, and the Empire; at later
+dates Sweden, Denmark, and most of the States of Germany came in, a
+strong league. But it was needed. Louis was the most powerful
+sovereign in Europe, and France the richest nation. To its resources
+were added those of Spain and her dependencies; for the most part, at
+any rate, for there were portions even of Spain which would have
+preferred the Archduke Charles to Philip of France, and it was the
+cause of Charles that England and the other members of the Alliance
+were espousing. Thus began the war known in history as the War of the
+Spanish Succession, which for several years gave work to some of the
+most remarkable generals in European story.
+
+Of these great soldiers, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, or
+rather, as he was at the outbreak of the war, the Earl of Marlborough,
+was at once the most gifted with military genius and the most
+successful. He was now fifty-two years of age, and one of the leading
+men at the Court of Queen Anne. He had seen a fair amount of military
+service, and had earned the praise of William III, a judge of the
+first order in such matters. But the England of that day could not be
+blamed if it failed to foresee the brilliancy of fame with which its
+general would ere long surround himself.
+
+[Illustration: Map Of Western Europe In The Time Of Queen Anne. The
+shading represents the dominions of Louis XIV.]
+
+He was known as a brave and an able officer, not much more, except
+that he was known also to be a great miser. His wife, Sarah Jennings,
+now the Countess of Marlborough, was in high favour with the new
+Queen; indeed, she was at that time the most influential subject in
+the kingdom.
+
+To Marlborough, then, was given the command of the combined English
+and Dutch forces.
+
+It needs no telling that the declaration of war, a war in which the
+greater part of Europe would most likely be involved, caused no small
+consternation among those whose business was with the sea and with
+shipping. Fairburn's business necessitated that his single brig should
+be constantly running to and from London, and it was early rumoured
+that French cruisers and privateers were prowling about the North Sea
+and the Channel. A schooner of considerable size, belonging to Squire
+Blackett, had, indeed, been chased, off the Norfolk coast, and had
+escaped only by the fact that it was lightly laden--it was returning
+in ballast to the Tyne--and by its superior sailing qualities. Such
+things brought home to every collier the realities of the situation.
+George's mother grew alarmed.
+
+"Who knows," said the good woman, "whether the same Frenchman may not
+still be on the watch, and seize the _Ouseburn Lassie_ and her cargo;
+and, worse than all, my dear boy on board of her?"
+
+Her husband was not without his fears either, but George laughed at
+the notion of capture by a French vessel.
+
+"I'll go and have a talk with old Abbott, the skipper," he said, "and
+see what he thinks about it."
+
+"Well, George, my lad," the old salt said when the boy questioned him
+on the point, "it's like this. It's not impossible we may get a
+Frenchy down on us. But we shan't strike our colours if there's the
+least chance of doing anything by a bit of fighting. The master's a
+man of peace, but between you and me"--the old fellow sank his voice
+to a whisper--"I've got stowed away, unbeknown to him, four tidy
+little guns; real beauties they are, if small. You shall help me to
+use 'em on the Mounseers, if they won't leave us alone."
+
+To a lad of George Fairburn's stamp such a prospect was glorious.
+"I'm quite ready to go, mother," he announced, "on the brig's very next
+trip." Mother and father made no reply, but the former turned away to
+hide her tears. The lad must go and begin his new life. For a few days
+all was bustle and preparation, George in the seventh heaven of
+delight. The long voyage in a grimy and uncomfortable collier had no
+terrors for him; he was too much accustomed to coal dust for that. And
+was there not a chance that before the Thames was reached he might see
+a brush with a Frenchman?
+
+The last evening at home for him came, and he took a stroll to get a
+final look at the familiar surroundings. It was now the very heart of
+summer, the weather glorious: could any boy be sad at such a time,
+even though there was before him the parting from home, from an
+indulgent and much-loved mother, from a just and honourable as well as
+affectionate father? George whistled and sang as he wandered across
+the fields, careless whither his footsteps led him.
+
+As fate would have it, he was proceeding generally in the direction of
+Mr. Blackett's great house, Binfield Towers, a mansion almost entirely
+hidden by thick woods from the public gaze. George knew these woods
+well, with their acres of bluebells and their breadths of primroses in
+the Spring, and their wealth of dogroses in June. He turned into the
+footpath that crossed the plantations, and presently found himself
+gazing at the mansion a hundred yards away. The place was almost new,
+the style that was known in later days as Queen Anne's. But George
+knew nothing of architectural styles, and was idly counting the
+multitude of windows when he was startled by a cracked old voice
+calling to him from the other side of the fence that separated the
+wood from the grassplots in front of the house.
+
+"For God's sake, come along and help, my good lad," cried an old man
+in livery, beckoning him frantically.
+
+"What's the matter?" George asked quickly.
+
+"The house is on fire," was the reply, "and there's nobody at home but
+the women folk, except old Reuben, and he's just about as much use as
+me, and that's none at all, I reckon."
+
+"Where's Mr. Blackett?" the lad asked as he cleared the fence at a
+bound, and stood by the old man's side on the lawn.
+
+"Gone off to a party, and young Master Matthew with him. Run and do
+what you can, for Heaven's sake, and I'll follow."
+
+George bounded across the grass like a hare, and bolted into the house
+without ceremony, for he now perceived smoke issuing from several of
+the front windows. In the hall he found old Reuben, the aged butler,
+whom Mr. Blackett still provided with a home, doing what he could to
+stay the progress of the flames, by throwing upon the burning
+staircase little pailfuls of water brought by the maid servants. But,
+in truth most of the women were screaming, and those who were not were
+fainting.
+
+"I'm almost moidered with it all," the old fellow cried helplessly, to
+which the superannuated gardener, who now came wheezing in, added,
+"Aye, we're both on us moidered."
+
+George glanced at the futile old couple, then cast his eye upwards, to
+the various stretches of the grand staircase which could be seen from
+the well below. Almost every length of the banisters was blazing, and
+the cracked and broken skylight above caused a fierce upward draught.
+
+"It's at the top the water should be poured down," George cried,
+taking in the situation in an instant. "I'll see if I can get up." And
+in spite of the shouts of the old fellows, and the redoubled shrieks
+of the maids, the lad skipped up two or three of the flights that
+zigzagged up the staircase well.
+
+At the second floor, however, he was almost overwhelmed by a great
+mass of smoke mingled with flame that shot suddenly out of the long
+corridor running right and left. Blinded, choked, scorched, George
+staggered back, tripped, and with a clatter fell down the six or eight
+steps he had mounted of that flight, and lay for a moment on the broad
+carpeted landing half-dazed. But speedily recovering himself, he
+perceived that the portion of the stairs from which he had just fallen
+was now blazing fiercely.
+
+"It is useless!" he cried to himself, as he turned to descend to the
+servants below.
+
+Then, before he had made two steps agonizing shrieks rang out from
+somewhere above, and he stopped dead, almost appalled.
+
+"Miss Mary and Mrs. Maynard!" he heard the old men shout from below,
+and the cries of the women servants grew frantic, as the little band
+gazed terror-stricken upwards. George, too, cast his eyes aloft, and
+there, to his utter dismay, were dimly seen through the smoke a couple
+of female forms peeping from the topmost corridor.
+
+He knew well enough by sight Mr. Blackett's little daughter of eleven
+and her governess, a stately old lady, said to be an impoverished
+relative of the Squire himself. The little pony chaise in which the
+two were wont to drive about the neighbourhood was, indeed, familiar
+to every soul in the district.
+
+"We had forgotten them, we had forgotten them!" came a voice just
+below him, and there stood old Reuben, who had pulled himself up the
+steps a little way. "They are lost!" the aged servant moaned. "Oh
+dear, oh dear!" And the poor old fellow blundered down the steps
+again, weeping like a child.
+
+"Is there any other staircase up to the top of the house?" the boy
+called after him.
+
+"Only that in the servants' wing," was the reply, "and that is gone
+already. God help us all!"
+
+"Any long ladders about? And the stablemen, where are they all?"
+
+"Coachman with the Squire, the grooms gone off to the town for an hour
+or two." Reuben shook his head sorrowfully.
+
+George waited no longer. With a bound he darted up the stairs again,
+and in a moment had reached the spot where the fire was fiercest.
+Without hesitation he dashed on, watching his chance after a big gust
+of smoke and flame had surged across the well. Through the fire he
+rushed, protecting his face with his arms, and stumbling blindly on.
+The worst was soon passed, and the next instant he had gained the top
+of the staircase.
+
+"Save her--_her_!" Mrs. Maynard cried piteously, "leave _me_, and see
+to _her_, for mercy's sake!"
+
+George caught the girl in his arms and prepared to make a dash down
+the staircase. But he drew back in dismay. A big piece of the burning
+banister below them fell with a crash and a shower of sparks to the
+bottom of the well.
+
+"It is impossible!" he cried. "Let us see what can be done from one of
+the windows." And the three ran to the end of the corridor farthest
+away from the fire. Into a room George dashed, and threw up the
+window. It was Mary's playroom, and it was in this place that she and
+her governess had been till now too much frightened by the flames and
+smoke to make a dash for safety.
+
+Alas! there was no way of escape. The height from the ground was too
+great; to leap meant certain death. George gazed frantically down and
+around, to see if any help was arriving. Not a soul was to be seen.
+Smoke was pouring from almost every window. The ladies were speechless
+with alarm when they saw the look of despair on the boy's face.
+
+"Don't leave us!" Mary pleaded piteously.
+
+"No, no!" cried George. "We'll find a way yet." But cheerfully as he
+spoke, in his heart he almost despaired.
+
+It was but a few seconds the three had been in the playroom, but when
+they looked out into the corridor again, to their horror they found it
+blazing, the flames leaping towards them with astonishing bounds,
+carried along by the evening breeze that had sprung up. The sight
+seemed to drive Mrs. Maynard demented. With a shriek she darted away,
+sped along the burning passage, and before the boy and girl could
+realize the situation, she had dashed down the blazing staircase. The
+sound of a crash and a fearful scream reached their ears, telling
+their own tale. The girl clung to George, her head sank, and she
+fainted.
+
+Desperate now, the lad placed her on the floor, and, thrusting his
+head from the window, perceived that he could clamber up the two or
+three feet of rain spout that ran close by, and gain a position on the
+roof just overhead. If he could gain that, he thought he might run to
+a further wing of the building that seemed at present untouched by the
+fire. But the girl, what of her? He cast his eyes about and descried
+two or three skipping ropes in a corner. Hastily he tied them end to
+end, fastened a portion round Mary's waist, his movements hastened by
+the burst of flame that just then shot into the room. Then clambering
+desperately to the roof, the rope in his teeth, he got a footing on
+the parapet, and began to haul up the fainting girl.
+
+Hand over hand he hauled up the cord and its burden. The child was
+dangling between earth and sky when suddenly a great shout came from
+below. George glanced down, and there, running with up-turned
+horror-stricken face, was Matthew Blackett. Help at last! But had it
+come too late?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE RESCUE
+
+
+Matthew stopped short, unable to move a yard further, his eyes fixed
+upon the slight form hanging so dangerously high above him. It was
+truly an awful moment for both the lads, a moment never afterwards to
+be forgotten by either of them. The time of suspense was but seconds;
+it seemed years. But George, his knees firmly pressed against the low
+parapet wall that ran along the top in front of the house, had no
+difficulty in supporting the weight, and not too much in actually
+hauling up his living burden. Another moment and he had seized one arm
+with a strong grip; the next he had pulled the child to him on the
+roof.
+
+"Safe! thank God!" he murmured, almost breathless with his exertions
+and still more with his agitation.
+
+Safe! As if to mock him a great tongue of flame shot from the window
+from which rescuer and rescued had but now emerged, and a cry of
+despair rose from Matthew below.
+
+"Run for the library!" Blackett shouted, a thought suddenly striking
+him. "Run, run!" And the boy pointed to a sort of wing, an addition to
+the mansion recently made by the Squire, and devoted to his books and
+the extensive and valuable collection of antiquities and curiosities
+of which he was very proud. This building was connected with the body
+of the house by only one small arched door, on the ground-floor.
+
+George understood, and cautiously but rapidly edging his way along the
+broad leaden gutter behind the parapet, he drew the girl, by this time
+conscious once more, but dazed with fright, to the outlying portion of
+the roof, which was as yet untouched by the flames. He peered over for
+Matthew, but could see nothing of him.
+
+For the moment the two were in no danger. But the flames were already
+licking the portion of the library immediately adjoining the house
+proper; soon the whole wing must be ablaze. The boy gazed wildly
+around, to see if there was any means, however risky or even
+desperate, by which escape might be made. He saw nothing but the
+slender branches of a magnificent yew that grew in the retired garden
+behind and close to the library. These boughs overtopped even the tall
+building, and some of them overhung the roof a little. But the nearest
+of them was ten feet above the heads of the two, and hopelessly out of
+reach. Would that some great gust of wind would drive those branches
+within clutching distance!
+
+This tantalizing thought had hardly taken possession of George's mind
+when his attention was attracted by shouts from below. Peering down he
+was astonished to see Matthew rapidly climbing the yew. The same
+thought had struck him also! Up the climber swarmed, higher and
+higher. Then he began without hesitation to crawl along some of the
+topmost branches that overhung the library roof. Outwards he crept,
+embracing tightly half a dozen of the long thin boughs; they seemed
+but little more than twigs.
+
+"You'll be dashed to pieces!" Mary cried; "go back, go back!"
+
+"Haven't you a rope anywhere?" George asked eagerly.
+
+"Every rope and ladder locked up in the stable yard," was the
+breathless reply, "and the men away. This is our only chance. Catch
+hold."
+
+As Matthew spoke, the end of the long swaying branches, swinging ever
+lower, came down to the roof, and a good yard or more of the greenery
+was within George's grasp. Matthew lay at full length on his
+collection of boughs in order that his weight might keep the ends
+down. It was a precarious position truly, but Matthew was very light,
+and had absolutely no fear for himself.
+
+"Lash her well to three or four of the strongest of the boughs," he
+said hurriedly; "give the rope half a dozen good turns about her waist
+and the boughs. They are yew and very tough. Quick!"
+
+Hardly knowing what he was doing, George obeyed. He was a bit of a
+sailor, and in a couple of minutes he had bound the child to the
+branches in a way to satisfy even Matthew, who still lay amongst the
+foliage, some three yards away.
+
+"Now cling for your life to the rest of the branches you've got,
+Fairburn, till I go down to the long thick arm there below. Can you
+hold?"
+
+"Yes!" cried the other cheerfully, light beginning to dawn upon him.
+"I can hold on; you go down."
+
+Matthew moved down, and the branches, relieved of their burden, began
+to exert a considerable upward pull. But the weight of the boy and the
+girl held down the ends, and they awaited Matthew's call. It soon
+came, though the interval of waiting seemed an age.
+
+"Now then!" came the shout, and George could see his quondam enemy
+firmly seated on a stout branch that had been cut shorter, its foliage
+having interfered with the light of one of the windows of the library.
+Matthew was sitting astride, his legs firmly gripping the branch. "Now
+drop yourselves over," he went on. "You'll fall right on the top of
+me, and I'll grab you. Throw one arm round Mary's waist, and then
+seize the branches with both hands and stick tight."
+
+"I'll stick like a leech," George replied, "but it's a fearful drop."
+
+"There's no other way, none! See! the blaze has caught the library
+roof behind you! It will be upon you in another minute. Drop over, for
+pity's sake!"
+
+George set his teeth, placed one arm round the child's slender form,
+gripped hard a handful of the pliant boughs, and dropped over the
+parapet, Mary closing her eyes in her mortal fright. With a huge swing
+the branches bent, and in an instant the two were swaying a good
+fifteen feet below, George almost jerked from his hold. The boughs
+creaked but did not snap.
+
+"Thank heaven!" cried Matthew, "I have you!" And reaching up, he got a
+grip of George's foot and dragged down the swinging pair.
+
+"Grab the branch with your legs, Fairburn! and I'll cut Mary clear."
+
+No sooner said than done. By the aid of a good clasp-knife Matthew
+severed the cords and secured his little sister, her weight, however,
+as it came upon him, almost knocking him from his perch. But he held
+desperately, and in another moment had Mary on the branch beside him.
+Then George, throwing his legs apart, suddenly loosed his hold of the
+branches and dropped also astride of the bough, which he grasped tight
+with both hands. He swung round and hung from the branch head
+downwards. But the next minute he had righted himself, and was ready
+to help with Mary.
+
+The rescue was complete. To guide the child along the branch, towards
+the middle of the tree, and then to lower her from limb to limb of the
+old yew was mere play to the two boys. The three dropped the last four
+or five feet to earth just as a man rushed forward with a great cry,
+to clasp in his arms the fainting girl.
+
+"God is merciful!" he ejaculated. It was Squire Blackett, who had
+arrived just in time to see his beloved child saved from an awful
+fate.
+
+For a few moments father and children clung to each other. When at
+length they looked round to express their gratitude to the plucky
+rescuer, he was nowhere to be seen. Seeing a great crowd of the
+Blackett pitmen arrive with a run, George had felt that he could be of
+no more use, and slipping into the wood had made for home. He wanted
+no thanks, and moreover the brig was to sail at four in the morning,
+at which time the tide would serve.
+
+"He's gone--George has gone!" cried Matthew.
+
+"We can never repay him," murmured Mr. Blackett. "We must go on to see
+him at the earliest moment in the morning."
+
+When Mr. Blackett, with Matthew and the rescued Mary, drove early next
+day to the Fairburns' house, it was only to learn that George had
+sailed for London some hours before. There was no help for it, and all
+they could do was to overwhelm the father and mother with words of
+gratitude and praise. They informed the Fairburns that by the
+exertions of the men the library and its contents had been saved; the
+rest of the mansion was left a wreck. Mrs. Maynard had been drawn from
+the mass of burning rubbish at the foot of the staircase, and was now
+lying between life and death.
+
+George had had a bad quarter of an hour at the parting from his
+parents, but by the time the vessel felt the swell of the open sea he
+was full of spirits again. The sea voyage, even in a dirty collier,
+was a delight. Then there was London the wonderful at the end of it,
+and he had long desired to see the great capital of which he had heard
+and read so much.
+
+The London of Queen Anne's reign was not the huge overgrown London of
+our own day. But it was a notable city, and to George Fairburn and his
+contemporaries the grandest city in the world. The Great Fire had
+taken place but twenty years before George was born, yet already the
+city had risen from its ashes, with wider and nobler streets, and with
+a multitude of handsome churches which Wren had built. The new and
+magnificent St. Paul's, the great architect's proudest work, was
+rapidly approaching completion. George's father had witnessed the
+opening for worship of a portion of the cathedral five years before,
+and soon the stupendous dome, which was beginning to tower high above
+the city, would be finished. Sir Thomas Gresham's Exchange, the centre
+of the business life of the city, had been replaced by another and not
+less noble edifice. The great capital contained a population of well
+over half a million souls, a number that seemed incredible to those
+who knew only Bristol, and York, and Norwich, the English cities next
+in size. The houses stretched continuously from the city boundary to
+Westminster, and soon the two would be but one vast town. George had
+heard much of London Bridge, with its shops and its incessant stream
+of passengers and vehicles, and he hoped to visit the pleasant
+villages of Kensington and Islington, and many another that lay within
+a walk of great London. He hoped one day, too, to get a glimpse of
+some of the clever wits, Mat Prior, Wycherley, Dick Steele, and
+others, who haunted the coffee-houses of the capital, and of the
+rising young writer, Mr. Addison, not to mention a greater than them
+all, the incomparable Sir Isaac Newton. For George had ever been a
+great reader, even while he loved a good game as well as any boy in
+the land.
+
+It was many a long year, however, ere George Fairburn was destined to
+see the mighty capital. Once fairly at sea, the skipper brought out
+and mounted his four little guns, to the lad's huge joy.
+
+"You mean business, captain," he remarked with a merry laugh.
+
+"I do, if there comes along a Frenchy who won't leave us alone," the
+old fellow replied, "leastways if she isn't too big a craft for us
+altogether."
+
+The evening was coming in, the town of Yarmouth faintly visible
+through the haze, when suddenly the crew of the _Ouseburn Lassie_
+became aware of a big vessel in the offing.
+
+"She's giving chase, by thunder!" cried the skipper, after he had
+taken a long look through the glass; and all was excitement on board
+the brig. Anxiously all hands watched the stranger, and at last the
+shout went up, "She's a Frenchy!"
+
+"Aye, and a big 'un at that," somebody added.
+
+Hastily the preparations were made to receive her, though the captain
+shook his head even as he gave his orders.
+
+"It's no go," he whispered to George. "We've got these four small
+guns, but what's the good? We've nobody to man 'em; only a couple on
+'em, leastways. And the Frenchman's a monster."
+
+"We'll show them a bit of fight all the same," George put in eagerly.
+The old salt shook his head again.
+
+Quickly the big vessel overhauled the collier brig, and signals were
+made to pull down her flag, whereupon the Englishman grunted.
+
+Within a minute a puff was seen, and a round shot whizzed close past
+the _Ouseburn Lassie's_ bows.
+
+"Give them a reply!" George urged in great excitement.
+
+"Wait a bit, my lad," and the skipper bided his time.
+
+"Now!" came the order at length, and a couple of eight-pound balls
+flew straight to the Frenchman.
+
+"Well hit!" shouted the Englishmen, as a shower of splinters was seen
+to fly upwards from the enemy's deck.
+
+"It's enough to show 'em we've got mettle in us," growled the old
+captain, "and that's all we can say."
+
+His words were justified, for the next moment there came another
+flash, and with a crash the brig's mast went by the board.
+
+"Done for!" groaned the skipper. "We shall see the inside of a French
+prison, I reckon."
+
+The enemy's long boat put out with a crew four times that of the brig.
+Within a quarter of an hour the Englishmen had all been transferred to
+the _Louis Treize_, and an officer and half a dozen men left in charge
+of the prize. The Frenchman at once set a course for Dunkirk, and,
+with a spanking breeze behind her, she made the port in fifteen hours.
+The noon of the next day saw George Fairburn and his companions
+clapped into a French prison.
+
+"A bonny come off," the old skipper grumbled, "but we shall ha' to
+make the best on it."
+
+It will not be forgotten that the war just begun was, to put it
+bluntly, a war to determine which of two indifferent princes, Philip
+of France and Charles of Austria, should have the Spanish crown. Lord
+Peterborough declared that it was not worth his country's while to
+fight for such "a pair of louts."
+
+[Illustration: "Now!" came the order.]
+
+Into the war, however, England had thrown herself, under the direction
+of Harley, the famous Tory minister now in power, at home, and with
+Marlborough as commander-in-chief of both the English and the Dutch
+forces abroad. The General's first aim was to take back from Louis XIV
+all those fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands which had been seized
+and garrisoned by the French troops as if the country were a French
+possession.
+
+He started from Kaiserwörth, a town on the Rhine, which his troops had
+captured from one of Louis's chief allies, the Elector of Cologne,
+before Marlborough arrived to take command. Venloo was taken in
+gallant style, and then the important city of Liége, on the Meuse. The
+result of the campaign was that the French had been chased from the
+Lower Rhine, and Holland, much to its relief, made far more safe from
+attack. Returning to England, the victorious commander was given a
+grand reception. And no wonder, for it was the first time for many a
+year that the French had received a real check.
+
+While these things were going on in the Netherlands, another leader
+under the Grand Alliance, Prince Louis of Baden, took Landau, on the
+Rhine, from the French. In Italy, too, the allies triumphed, the
+gallant Prince Eugene, presently to be the warm and life-long friend
+of Marlborough, defeating the French brilliantly at Cremona, a
+fortunate thing for the Empire, which was thus secured from a French
+invasion through the Tyrol.
+
+To crown the successes of the Grand Alliance during the campaign of
+1702, the first of the war, the brave sailor Sir George Rooke,
+following the Spanish galleons and the French war vessels into the
+harbour of Vigo, destroyed the greater number of them. It was a
+repetition of Drake's famous expedition to "singe the King of Spain's
+beard."
+
+All these things happened while George Fairburn and other English
+prisoners ate their hearts out in captivity at Dunkirk. The lad chafed
+under the surveillance to which he was subjected, and never passed a
+day without turning over in his mind some scheme of escape. How it was
+to be done, he did not see. But he waited for his chance, and
+meanwhile, partly to avoid being suspected, and partly to while away
+the hours he made friends with the soldiers on guard. He already knew
+a little French, and with his natural quickness he soon made rapid
+progress. At the end of a month he could get along capitally in the
+language; at the end of three months he could speak the tongue
+fluently; at the end of nine months--for thus did his term of
+captivity drag itself out--he was, so far as the language was
+concerned, almost a Frenchman. Thus the winter passed, and the spring
+of 1703 came round, George Fairburn still an inmate of a French
+prison, hopeless of escape, so far as he could see.
+
+But his chance came at last suddenly and unexpectedly. One morning he
+was escorted to the Hôtel de Ville, to interpret for an officer
+examining a batch of English prisoners who had been brought in from
+the Netherlands border. The way to the town lay at no great distance
+from the shore, and he observed how a boat lay close in on the low
+sandy beach, no owner in sight. His heart leapt into his mouth, and he
+had much ado to keep himself from betraying his thoughts by the flush
+that mantled hotly on his cheek.
+
+One, two, three hundred paces the boat was left behind. Now or never!
+Instantly the lad started off back to the spot, his feet flying across
+the sand.
+
+A shout broke from the throats of his astonished guards, and a half
+score of bullets whistled after the runaway. George ducked his head
+and sped on unhurt. A second volley did little more harm than the
+first, merely grazing the lobe of his right ear. The race was furious,
+but the lusty English lad was far and away the superior of the heavy
+Frenchmen. He gained the boat, the enemy still a hundred paces behind.
+The painter was loosely wound round a large stone, and in a trice
+George had leapt with it into the little craft. He had just time to
+give a vigorous shove off before the pursuers came up, the foremost
+dashing into the sea after him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+GEORGE RECONNOITRES
+
+
+Splash through the water rushed the French soldiers in full chase.
+Already they were beginning to cheer, for the leading man had all but
+grabbed the boat, and the prisoner was as good as retaken. George
+looked down for something with which to strike, for he did not intend
+to submit without a struggle, but there was no oar on board. There had
+been a small boat-hook, but that he had left sticking in the sand when
+he gave his lusty shove off. The pursuer, up to his neck in water,
+seized the boat, and for a moment his chin rested on the side. But the
+next instant the lad had kicked out with the clumsy wooden shoes he
+wore, and the soldier fell back half stunned into the sea. The rest of
+the fellows instantly raised their guns, but George did not wince; he
+perceived what they in their wild scamper after him had not noticed,
+that they had dragged their muskets through the water, and for the
+time had rendered the weapons useless. The boy laughed in spite of his
+predicament, as he hastily ran up the little sail.
+
+The breeze at once caught the canvas, and the bark moved briskly away.
+But two of the soldiers, who had not entered the sea, hastily
+reloading--they had not done so hitherto, after the recent
+discharges--levelled their pieces at the retreating prisoner. George
+flung himself to the bottom of the boat as he saw the move, and the
+bullets whistled harmlessly overhead. Springing up again, he perceived
+that he was now beyond range, and with a shout of joy he waved his cap
+triumphantly. The whole escape had been planned and successfully
+carried out in the space of five minutes. He was free!
+
+But his joy was presently tempered by the thought of what might
+follow. That the men would endeavour to give chase he well knew;
+indeed he could make out their forms running in search of another
+boat. However, he had gained a start; that was something. As to
+whither he was destined to be driven, or how he was to get food and
+water, these things were for the present of less consequence than the
+fact that he was free.
+
+Fortune favoured him, for within ten minutes a thickness came on, and
+soon the boat was enveloped in fog. The chase was now rendered
+impossible to the enemy. Hour after hour George kept his sail hoisted,
+driving briskly he knew not whither.
+
+"I am bound," said he to himself, "to stumble upon either the English
+or the Dutch coast, and in either case I shall be among friends." Thus
+the lad comforted himself.
+
+The day wore on, and he was becoming ravenously hungry. He would have
+given much for a basin of even the prison _soupe maigre_. The sky was
+darkening and he began to feel drowsy; he resigned himself to a night
+of hunger. All at once he heard shouts, and the hull of a big vessel
+loomed up within a few yards of him. He was instantly wide awake. Was
+the stranger French? Thank Heaven, no! She was Dutch built, and as her
+flag showed, Dutch owned. Hurrah!
+
+His cheer attracted the attention of the crew, and much wondering the
+sailors drew him up on deck. "A Frenchman," was the verdict in gruff
+Dutch. George did not understand Dutch, but he instantly guessed their
+meaning.
+
+"Not I," he cried, in English, and was delighted to be answered in the
+same tongue by the skipper.
+
+George's account of his escape, translated by the captain, set the fat
+Dutchmen a-rolling. And, after the lad had had the good square meal
+the skipper ordered for him, he spent the evening in going over his
+adventures again. The jolly-hearted English lad became an immediate
+favourite with the sailors and the soldiers, for, as he soon learnt,
+the ship was a Dutch transport carrying troops and stores for the war
+in Spain.
+
+"Where are we, sir?" George inquired of the skipper next morning when
+he came on deck, to find a clear sky, and land faintly seen on the
+starboard bow.
+
+"Off the Isle of Wight, my lad," replied the Dutchman.
+
+"Can't you put me ashore, captain?" he pleaded.
+
+The master smiled and shook his head.
+
+"Impossible, boy; you must go with us to Spain. And here comes a
+gentleman to speak with you."
+
+An officer in military uniform approached, and the boy touched his
+cap. With the skipper as interpreter the major made George an offer of
+service under him.
+
+"We want fellows of your sort," he said. "And there will be brave
+doings in Spain, and plenty of good pay, and glory to be won. Besides,
+you will be fighting under one of your own countrymen, most likely Sir
+George Rooke himself. Say the word, my good lad."
+
+George's face flushed.
+
+"I have always wanted to be a soldier, sir," he stammered.
+
+"Of course you have, my lad. Then we may take it that the matter is
+settled. Good luck go with you, my boy."
+
+Here then was George Fairburn, who ought to have been driving a quill
+in the office of Mr. Allan, shipping merchant, of London, sailing to
+join the allied forces in Spain, and to fight against the French. His
+head swam with the thought of it.
+
+But what of George's friends at home all this long while? When
+Fairburn learnt that his brig had not arrived in port, though she had
+been spoken in Boston Deeps by another collier which was returning to
+the Tyne, his heart misgave him. There had been a bad storm on the
+coast; it seemed only too likely that the _Ouseburn Lassie_ had gone
+down in it! When week after week passed without news it seemed more
+and more likely that the vessel had foundered in the gale. News of
+captures by French privateers usually filtered through sooner or
+later; but for long there were no tidings of the _Ouseburn Lassie_.
+The Blacketts did what they could to console the bereaved parents, but
+father and mother would not be comforted. At length, months
+afterwards, they learnt in a casual way that a collier had been
+captured off Yarmouth by a French privateer, about the time the
+_Ouseburn Lassie_ was making her trip; at least that was the
+construction the Yarmouth salts who saw the affair from the shore put
+upon the movements of the two vessels. So a ray of hope came to
+Fairburn and his wife.
+
+"The lad will be somewhere in a French prison," the father said, "and
+some day he will be set free and come home to us again."
+
+The spring of 1703 brought Matthew Blackett's seventeenth birthday,
+and with it an ensign's commission in a well-reputed regiment of foot.
+He already stood six feet one in his stockings, and mighty proud he
+felt when his lanky figure was clothed in his gay uniform.
+
+"Perhaps I shall come across George in my wanderings," he said, when
+he went to bid a very friendly adieu to the Fairburns. "Won't it be
+jolly if we do meet!" And the parents were constrained to smile in
+spite of their sadness.
+
+One of the commonest subjects of conversation in our days is the state
+of "political parties," and every child of school age can tell you
+which is "the party in power." Three hundred years ago such
+expressions would not have been understood at all, in their modern
+sense, and "government by party" was a thing as yet undreamed of.
+Usually the strongest man of his time, whether sovereign or subject,
+was the real ruler in England. Elizabeth, for instance, was the sole
+mistress in her own realm, though even she was greatly helped by the
+famous minister Burleigh. In later times a Strafford, a Laud, an
+Oliver Cromwell, a Clarendon presided over the destinies of England.
+
+But in the second half of the seventeenth century there began that
+division of politicians into two sides or parties which has continued
+ever since. This division sprang, no doubt, from the civil wars
+between King and Parliament, between Cavalier and Roundhead. By the
+times of Queen Anne the terms Whig and Tory, replaced in our days for
+the most part by Liberal and Conservative, had come into common use,
+and no one who desires to understand the history of her reign can
+wholly neglect the movements of these two opposing parties in
+politics. For Marlborough--with his wife--may be said to be the last
+powerful statesman who ruled England without the formal and
+acknowledged help of party. Since then the "party in power" has
+always, through its chief member, the Prime Minister, and his Cabinet,
+been the actual ruler in the State.
+
+At the beginning of Anne's reign the Whigs were leading in matters of
+state, but presently Rochester and Nottingham, the former a very
+strong Tory, came into power. Later on, in 1703, the former was
+replaced by a more moderate Tory, Harley, and in the following year
+St. John succeeded Nottingham. The truth was, Marlborough, beginning
+to see that he was more likely to receive support in his great wars
+from the Whig side, was working gradually towards the placing of their
+party in office, though he himself had all along been a Tory. Thus it
+was that he tried to rule with a coalition, or a mixture of Whigs and
+Tories. This was in the year 1705, a little after the time to which
+this story has as yet been carried. But Marlborough and his Duchess
+were still the real power in the land.
+
+We may rejoin George Fairburn, some three weeks after the day when he
+had been picked up by the Dutch transport. With others he had been
+landed in the Tagus, and at once drafted into one of the regiments
+under the Earl of Galway, a Frenchman by birth, but now, having been
+driven out of France by the persecutions he and the rest of the
+Protestants had had to endure, a general in the English army. George
+learned that Portugal had joined the Grand Alliance, in consequence of
+the Methuen Treaty between her and England, by which Portuguese wines
+were to be admitted into English ports at a lower customs duty than
+those of other countries. This step on the part of Portugal had
+greatly enraged the French King, and he had poured his troops into
+Spain. The Allies, therefore, were preparing to attack Spain from the
+eastern and the western sides of the Peninsula at the same time. So
+George and his comrades began their march eastward, while the gallant
+admiral Sir George Rooke was attacking Barcelona on the opposite
+coast.
+
+It was a new life for the English lad, and the heavy marches in a hot
+climate tried him. But he was growing into a stout youth, and was not
+afraid of a bit of hard work.
+
+"Besides," he would say to himself, when disposed to grumble, "am I
+not a soldier? And isn't that what I've always wanted to be? And I
+might have been chained up in a French prison still! A thousand times
+better be here, even in this scorching place."
+
+If it seemed odd to the lad that the English soldiers were commanded
+by a Frenchman, it was still stranger that the French forces they were
+marching to meet were under an Englishman. Yet so it was; the
+commander of Louis's army in Spain being the Duke of Berwick, a son of
+James II and Arabella Churchill, Marlborough's sister. The two
+generals were well matched, according to the opinion that prevailed
+among the troops.
+
+Weeks passed, and as yet George Fairburn had seen no actual fighting.
+He was all eager to get into action, and was not much comforted by the
+declaration of the old sergeant under whom he marched.
+
+"Bide your time, my lad," the veteran would say, "you will get your
+full share of fighting; enough to satisfy even a fire-eater such as I
+can see you're going to be."
+
+One evening, to his intense delight, the lad was sent forward with a
+skirmishing party, a report having come in that the enemy was
+concealed somewhere in one of the wooded valleys of the neighbourhood.
+After a cautious march of three or four miles, the little company,
+commanded by a lieutenant of foot, dropped down into a dingle, at the
+bottom of which ran a stream almost everywhere hidden by the thick
+growth of trees. The men were startled, on turning a corner in the
+break-neck path, to see below them the French flag flying from what
+appeared to be an old mill. Scattered about were the roofs of a dozen
+cottages, and at the doors could be perceived a number of soldiers
+lolling at their ease.
+
+"The enemy, by Jove!" whispered George, who was leading in his usual
+eager fashion, pointing out the flag and the hamlet to the lieutenant.
+"Wouldn't it be a good joke to whip off their flag from that old mill,
+sir!"
+
+The officer laughed at the notion; he was not much more than a boy
+himself.
+
+"My lad," said he, "we must know how many the enemy are first."
+
+"I'll climb to the roof there, and from it I can see right down into
+the village and command a view of everything in it."
+
+"Do you mean to say, youngster, that you would risk it?" the officer
+asked in surprise.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't I, sir," the lad replied with flushed face. "Say the
+word, sir, please."
+
+The lieutenant nodded, saying, "It's worth it. But be cautious."
+
+The soldiers looked on while the boy carried out his freak, for such
+they judged his bit of reconnoitring to be. Cautiously George crept
+towards the mill, the sloping roof of which came almost down to the
+very hill side. Tying a wisp of long grass and weeds round each boot,
+he crawled noiselessly up till within a foot or two of the ridge. He
+paused a moment to gaze down the dingle. There, well seen from his
+vantage point, a couple of miles away, ran a far larger valley, which
+was filled with tents. "The enemy's main body!" he thought. He waved
+his arm in the direction of the camp, but his comrades did not
+understand the action, as they stood peering down upon the lad from
+among the trees higher up the slope.
+
+Now flat on his face the boy ventured to peep over the roof ridge down
+into the village street at no great distance below. Not an eye was
+directed upwards, so far as he could see, the men laughing and
+chattering gaily as they drank. Then the temptation seized him, and in
+a moment he had lifted the flag from the old chimney in which the
+staff was loosely set. "I'm in for it now!" he cried to himself, as he
+slid like an avalanche down the roof, leapt to the ground, and made
+off up the steep slope towards his comrades, the flag triumphantly in
+his hand.
+
+He had reached a spot half way up when suddenly wild shouts were heard
+from below, and at the same instant a bullet whistled close past his
+ear. A little turn in the path had discovered his head to the enemy.
+
+"In for a penny, in for a pound," shouted the lieutenant, and the
+Englishmen prepared to receive the French soldiers dashing up to the
+attack. George stumbled on unhurt, but fell at his officer's feet,
+utterly breathless. There he lay, unable to rise, while shots were
+rapidly exchanged. For a minute's space it was hot work, but then the
+French began to fall back, and with a shout the English handful
+followed. Fairburn pulled himself together and stood on the edge of
+the rock-shelf where he had fallen breathless. To his horror, he saw a
+Frenchman on the shelf below, taking deliberate aim at the lieutenant.
+
+With a loud cry, the lad sprang down upon the enemy, regardless of the
+steepness of the place, and in an instant the man was locked in his
+arms, just as the musket report came. Down the two fell, bounding over
+two or three shelves of rock, and then pitching headlong some twenty
+or thirty feet into the thick brushwood below.
+
+"You have saved my life, my lad; you are an Englishman worth knowing,"
+were the next words the boy heard.
+
+They came buzzing into George's ears some ten minutes later, when, the
+brush with the French over, the Englishmen were hastening back to
+report to the General.
+
+"What happened when I fell, sir?" George asked with curiosity, as the
+officer walked by the side of the litter. He was astounded to learn
+that the Frenchman had been found still held in tight grip, his neck
+broken. The enemy had been put to the rout and had fled, leaving their
+flag behind them. Moreover, the French camp a couple of miles away had
+been spied.
+
+"You have three ribs broken, Fairburn," the officer went on, "and
+you've got about as many bruises as there are days in a year. But what
+of that. By Jerusalem! I wish the honour had fallen to me!"
+
+"I don't mind the wounds a bit, sir," George answered, cheerfully, "so
+long as I've been of some use."
+
+The next day no less a person than the great Earl of Galway himself
+came to speak to the wounded lad.
+
+"I have heard from your lieutenant here the tale of your doings
+yesterday," he said, with a smile. "You are a boy of pluck. You are
+done for so far as the present campaign is concerned, and must be sent
+back to hospital. But there's work cut out yet for a lad of your
+mettle."
+
+George heard all this praise as if in a dream. He was never sure in
+after years whether the Earl had really said so much. But Lieutenant
+Fieldsend, who was destined to become his comrade on many a
+hard-fought field, and his warm friend for life, was always prepared
+to tell the full and correct story.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR
+
+
+"This is better than lying on one's back in hospital, sir, and better
+than dodging about in a close-packed transport."
+
+The words came from George Fairburn, as with his officer, Lieutenant
+Fieldsend, he stood surveying, from its northern vicinity, the
+far-famed Rock of Gibraltar. It was the summer of 1704. His doings
+since the day of his injuries in the dingle are soon recorded. After
+months of sickness and a winter of inaction, his service under Lord
+Galway had come to an end, much to his disgust at first. With others,
+he had been sent on board a vessel and carried round the coast of
+Spain to the neighbourhood of Barcelona, where Sir George Rooke was
+operating. The new troops had arrived too late. The Admiral,
+despairing of making any impression on the strongly-fortified
+Barcelona, was about to sail for home. On the way the idea had come to
+Sir George that the commanding fortress of Gibraltar would be worth
+trying for. He had accordingly landed a number of troops on the narrow
+isthmus of flat land that joins the rock and town of Gibraltar to the
+mainland.
+
+"Yes, Fairburn," the lieutenant replied, with a laugh, "my Lord Galway
+foretold that you had work cut out for you. Here it is, I fancy, and
+plenty of it."
+
+It was a striking sight on which the two friends looked--for though
+the one was but a private and the other a commissioned officer, yet by
+this time Fieldsend and Fairburn had begun their life-long friendship.
+Away in front of them towered the huge irregular mass called the Rock
+of Gibraltar, or, more commonly, simply "the Rock," with the little
+town clustered at its base and on its gentler slopes. To their right
+was the indentation in the coast known as the Bay of Gibraltar, which
+was protected by a long stone-built jetty, the Old Mole. From this
+protection ran a stout sea defence called the Line Wall, with two or
+three strong bastions. This wall ended at another projection, the New
+Mole. But neither the Line Wall nor the New Mole was visible from the
+spot where George and his superior stood. Filling all the narrow neck
+of connecting ground were the allied forces just landed, five thousand
+of them. Immediately in front stood the only outlet from the city on
+its north side, the Land Point gate.
+
+"I wish they would settle the thing, and either let us get to work or
+else re-embark for home," George said, as he sat in what shade he
+could find to defend himself against the fierce blaze of the sun.
+
+"I am with you there, Fairburn," the lieutenant agreed, with a yawn.
+
+The speakers were alluding to the answer that was expected at any
+moment from the garrison within. A formal demand had been made to the
+Governor for the surrender of the fortress to the Archduke Charles,
+"the rightful King of Spain." This was on the twenty-first of July,
+1704. The demand had been made on the part of the Allies by the Prince
+of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was present with three Dutch admirals and
+several Dutch ships. The English admirals concerned in the siege were,
+besides Sir George Rooke, the chief of them, Byng, Sir Cloudesley
+Shovel, and Leake. Many famous ships were in the Bay or rode off the
+Rock, including Rooke's own vessel, the _Royal Catherine_, and
+Shovel's still more famous _Barfleur_.
+
+The day wore to its close, the guards were posted, and the men
+prepared for rest. Then there came the long-expected answer from the
+Marquis de Salinas, the Governor of the fortress. It was a stout and
+dignified refusal. He and his men had sworn allegiance to King Philip,
+the old fellow said, and in Philip's name he held the town and Rock of
+Gibraltar, and would continue to hold them as long as he could.
+
+"That looks like business," cried George, gleefully, to a little group
+of his comrades around, and the men smiled at the eager enthusiasm of
+the lad. The orders were passed round that the attack should begin
+with daybreak on the following morning, and the soldiers went to roost
+at once, with easy minds. It was believed that the attack would be but
+a harmless bit of child's-play, as it was more than suspected that the
+defending force within the town was very small, though how
+ridiculously small it really was none of the besiegers at the time
+even guessed.
+
+"Turn out, mate," cried one of the soldiers, shaking George vigorously
+by the shoulder, and the boy sprang up to find everybody astir.
+
+"How I do sleep in this hot country!" he yawned, to which the sergeant
+replied with a laugh, "It'll be hotter still before long, my lad,
+never fear."
+
+It was a long time before the first shot was fired, however, the
+disposition of the troops and the guns not being complete. At length a
+movement was made. The _Dorsetshire_, with Captain Whitaker in
+command, was sent to capture a French privateer with twelve guns,
+which lay at the Old Mole, and the boom of cannon rose in the air.
+
+Presently, from near the spot where Lieutenant Fieldsend and his
+little company were posted, a shot was fired into the fortifications;
+then another, and afterwards a third. Work had begun at last.
+
+A puff, a boom in the distance, and there came screaming through the
+air a big round shot, striking the ground, ploughing it up, and
+covering those near with dust and dirt.
+
+"Quite near enough, eh, sir?" George observed to his lieutenant, as
+they shook the earth from their clothing. "And, by Jove, there's
+another of them!" A second shot flew just overhead, to do its deadly
+work on the unfortunate men who stood immediately behind. George
+Fairburn's first task in the siege was to help to carry to the rear
+two or three badly wounded men. On the ground lay a couple who needed
+no surgeon.
+
+As yet only a few preliminary shots had been fired into the fortress,
+but the defenders were evidently quite ready with their reply, and the
+order for a general attack rang out. Within a few minutes the fight
+was raging in terrible fashion. From land and sea alike the shot
+poured into the town; sailor and soldier joining, and often standing
+side by side. As George afterwards expressed it, "any man set his hand
+to any job there was to do." Sailors were to be seen on land in many
+places, while not a few soldiers helped with the firing on board the
+ships.
+
+All that long morning, however, George Fairburn worked at the gun to
+which he had been assigned. Black with smoke, powder, dust,
+perspiration, the lad toiled among his companions. For an hour or two
+none of the enemy's shots fell very near the spot. But at length, and
+almost suddenly, the balls began to fly in too close proximity to be
+pleasant. Shot after shot fell within a yard or two of the gun, and
+not a few gallant fellows dropped to earth dead or wounded.
+
+"By Jupiter!" cried the lieutenant, who was assisting, "they have got
+our measure at last! I wonder what it is that makes us so
+conspicuous."
+
+Then, looking round, he beheld behind them, and not five yards
+distant, a small clump of elder on which some man had tossed the
+flaming red shirt he had thrown off in the broiling heat.
+
+"Ah!" Fieldsend ejaculated, "there's the offender."
+
+He sprang away and whipped the tell-tale garment from its bush. Just
+as he seized it another shot came, striking the gun in front, entirely
+disabling the weapon, and then bounding off. When the men, hastily
+scattered by the mishap, looked for the lieutenant, he was observed
+lying in front of the bush.
+
+"Dead!" one of the fellows cried.
+
+"No," answered George, whose keen eyes detected a movement of the
+officer's arm, "but he soon will be, if he is left lying there!"
+Another shot struck the bush, only just missing the body of the
+prostrate man. In a moment George darted forward towards the place, in
+spite of the loud warning shouts of his mates.
+
+He reached the spot, seized Fieldsend by the shoulders, and by main
+force dragged him quickly a dozen yards to the right. It was a heavy
+task, but the lad was as sturdy a fellow of his years as one might
+have found in a week's march, and his efforts were rewarded with a
+cheer from his comrades.
+
+While the shouts were still ringing, yet one more shot came, this time
+striking the exact spot where the lieutenant had a moment before been
+lying, and ploughing up the little elder bush by its roots.
+
+"As plucky a job as ever I see!" cried the sergeant, running up with
+three or four others, and he slapped George on the back with a
+heartiness that made the lad wince.
+
+The wounded man was hastily carried off the field.
+
+"More stunned than hurt," reported the surgeon, "a nasty tap on the
+left shoulder; but he'll be all right in a day or so."
+
+Within half an hour George Fairburn found himself on board the
+_Dorsetshire_, to assist in the operations against the New Mole. The
+signal had come to Captain Whitaker to proceed against that place, and
+the ship was headed for the spot. To the surprise of those on board,
+they perceived two other ships in advance of them; they were the
+_Yarmouth_, Captain Hicks, and the _Lennox_, Captain Jumper, a gallant
+pair. Boats from the two vessels were perceived hastening to the
+shore. The crews landed, and almost immediately their feet touched
+ground a dense cloud was seen to fly up into the air, followed by a
+deafening explosion.
+
+"A mine!" rose from a hundred throats, as the _Dorsetshire_ men
+watched with straining eyes. It was true; two score gallant fellows
+were afterwards found lying on the fatal ground.
+
+With a determined rush the _Dorsetshire_ men fell upon the defenders,
+and George found himself engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. It was
+all over in a few minutes; the handful of Spaniards could not stand
+against so powerful a force, and the New Mole was taken. Hot and
+exited, the men were carried against Jumper's Bastion, a strong work a
+little to the north of the New Mole, and that place, too, was rushed
+in an incredibly short space of time, and with scarcely any loss worth
+the naming. From this time George Fairburn kept no count of the long
+series of exciting incidents that followed each other, the assault
+having been carried to the Line Wall that stretched away northwards to
+the Old Mole.
+
+The attack when at its height was a terrible affair. Sixteen English
+ships under the immediate command of Byng, and six Dutch men-of-war
+under Admiral Vanderdusen, faced the Line Wall, while three more
+English vessels were off the New Mole.
+
+[Illustration: George found himself engaged in a hand-to-hand
+encounter.]
+
+No place so meagrely manned with defenders as was Gibraltar could long
+stand such an attack, and at length the two Moles, and the long Line
+Wall between them, were in the hands of the Allies. Of all the
+attacking party none showed more vigorous and fearless dash than a
+certain lad of sturdy build, and Hicks himself perceived the fact.
+
+"Who is that boy in your company?" he enquired of the sergeant.
+
+"Name Fairburn, sir," was the reply; "all along he's been a hot
+member," to which the captain said with a smile, as he turned away,
+"He most certainly is."
+
+The next day was a saints' day, and it was strongly suspected, and at
+length clearly perceived, that the Spanish sentinels had left their
+posts and gone off to mass. It would have been easy to carry the place
+at once, but the necessary storming had been done, and the allied
+commanders were only waiting for the besieged to give the signal of
+capitulation. The besiegers, soldiers and sailors, had nothing to do
+but chat.
+
+Presently some of the sailors declared that it would be a prime joke
+to climb the heights and plant their flag there. The notion was taken
+up, and presently the temptation grew irresistible to certain of them,
+and with merry chuckles the fellows prepared for the task, an
+enterprise that was risky in the extreme.
+
+"I'm one of you!" cried George Fairburn, as he followed the handful of
+sailors to the foot of the steep rock.
+
+"And I!" chimed in yet another voice, and, to George's astonishment,
+Lieutenant Fieldsend ran up, his arm in a sling.
+
+"Better go back, sir," exclaimed the lad, gazing up at the towering
+cliff in front of them.
+
+"Better both on ye go back, I reckon," growled one of the sailors;
+"this ain't no job for a landsman."
+
+Nothing heeding this rebuff, the two soldiers followed up the steep
+rock, George giving a hand at the worst spots to his friend and
+superior. Up, up, the scaling party mounted, the business becoming
+every moment more difficult and more full of danger. More than once
+the gallant fellows-in front paused and declared that further progress
+was impossible.
+
+"Oh, go on!" called out George, impatiently, on one of these
+occasions, from below, where he was helping up the lieutenant, "or
+else let me come," he added, grumblingly.
+
+The sailor lads needed no spur, however, and amid growing excitement
+the summit of their bit of cliff was perceived not far away. In the
+dash for the top the active lad passed his fellows in the race,
+catching up the foremost man, who held the flag. Seizing the staff,
+George Fairburn assisted in the actual planting of the colours. There,
+fluttering at the very summit of the Rock, was the English flag, its
+unfolding hailed with bursts of cheering, again and again repeated,
+from the throngs far below.
+
+The deed was done, and from that day, the twenty-third of July, 1704,
+according to the old reckoning, the third of August by the new style,
+the British flag has floated from the Rock of Gibraltar.
+
+Desperate efforts were made by the garrison to haul down the flag, but
+they all failed, and the Governor capitulated. The Prince of
+Hesse-Darmstadt was for claiming the fortress, but this Rooke would
+not have, and he promptly declared the Rock to be the possession of
+his august mistress, Queen Anne. Those of the defenders who were
+prepared to take the oath of allegiance to Charles III were permitted
+to remain, the rest for the most part retired to St. Roque.
+
+The handful of harum-scarum fellows who had scaled the heights and
+planted the flag before long found themselves facing the great Admiral
+Sir George Rooke himself, on his quarter-deck, Lieutenant Fieldsend
+and George Fairburn being of the party. The admiral said a few words
+of commendation; few as they were, they were a full reward for all the
+efforts the little band had made. Rooke kept the lieutenant behind for
+a moment.
+
+"What do you propose to do now, Mr. Lieutenant?" he inquired, with
+much kindly condescension; "our work is about finished, and we are
+proceeding home."
+
+"By you leave, Sir George," the young man replied, with flushed face,
+"I should like to join his Grace the Duke in the Netherlands, and so
+would the lad Fairburn."
+
+"Good," said the Admiral, approvingly, "we will see what can be done
+when we reach Portsmouth. I have heard something of the boy's doings.
+He will go far, if he is fortunate."
+
+Accordingly, when, after a great fight with the French fleet under the
+formidable Count of Toulouse, off Malaga, a doubtful affair, the
+English ships reached home, the lieutenant and George at once offered
+for service under the Duke, and were accepted. They sailed away again,
+for the Netherlands, Fieldsend carrying in his pocket a few words of
+recommendation from Sir George to the commander-in-chief himself.
+
+The year 1703 had been a sorry year for Marlborough. In the winter he
+had lost his son, the Marquis of Blandford, a promising youth, a
+Cambridge student. When the spring operations began, he had found
+himself hampered at every turn by the jealousies and oppositions of
+the Dutch rulers and their commanders. In despair, Marlborough had
+marched up the Rhine and taken Bonn. Meanwhile the French were
+striving to reach Vienna, there to attack the Emperor. Returning, the
+Duke was all eager to attack the great port and stronghold of Antwerp,
+the capture of which would be a heavy blow to Louis. He had, however,
+to content himself with seizing Huy, Limburg, and Guilders, a success
+more than counterbalanced by the defeat of the Emperor at Hochstädt,
+by the French and Bavarians. Disheartened and disgusted, Marlborough
+went home at the end of the summer, and it was only by the strong
+persuasion of Lord Godolphin, now at the helm of state, that he
+retained his command at all. As a set-off against all these
+disappointments, there were two matters for rejoicing. The alliance
+with Portugal has already been mentioned; now there came the accession
+to the Allies of Savoy, for the Duke of Savoy had quarrelled with
+Louis.
+
+With intense interest, Lieutenant Fieldsend and George Fairburn heard,
+on landing in the Netherlands, of the great victory of Blenheim that
+had just been gained by the Allies under Marlborough, against the
+combined French and Bavarian forces, commanded by the famous generals
+Tallard and Marsin, and the two young soldiers hoped to learn more of
+the great fight when they reached the front.
+
+"What a bit of ill-luck not to have been there in time, sir!" George
+exclaimed.
+
+The boy had, during his stay in hospital at Lisbon, communicated with
+his parents at home, and, to his delight, had received their consent
+to his following the profession of a soldier. "It is useless to stand
+in the boy's way," the elder Fairburn had said, "though I could have
+wished he had taken up almost any other trade." So the lad had no
+hesitation in thus taking service in the army once more.
+
+When the two, in company with others, reached head quarters,
+Lieutenant Fieldsend presented the letter he held from Sir George
+Rooke, and was received with the utmost pleasantness by the great
+Duke.
+
+"Humph, Mr. Fieldsend," Marlborough began, when he had glanced over
+the contents of the short epistle. "You are a lucky young fellow to
+have got Sir George's good word. But where is the lad he speaks
+of--Fairburn, I see?"
+
+"Just outside, your Grace," was the reply, and at a nod the lieutenant
+fetched George in.
+
+The Duke scanned the boy's ruddy face and took note of his sturdy
+figure.
+
+"My lad," he began, "you have begun early. Do you know what request
+Sir George makes in this note?"
+
+"No, sir--my Lord Duke," George stammered in reply, his knees almost
+shaking under him.
+
+"He recommends you for a commission as ensign," the Duke said quietly,
+the boy standing almost open-mouthed. "We will give you a short trial
+first, for as yet we don't know you. No doubt we soon shall." And the
+great man smiled.
+
+He rapped smartly on the table and an aide-de-camp entered the tent,
+saluting.
+
+"Here, Mr. Blackett," Marlborough gave the order, "take this lad to
+your captain, who will see that he is enrolled in your company."
+
+The next moment George Fairburn was shaking the other hard by the
+hand, the astonishment on both sides too great to admit of a word
+between them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+BLENHEIM
+
+
+"Now I can thank you, my dear Fairburn! We shall never forget it!"
+were the first words Blackett uttered, and he pressed George's hand
+once more in his warm grip.
+
+"Forget what, Blackett?" the other asked in surprise, "and for what do
+you thank me?"
+
+"Surely you have not forgotten it all, my dear fellow--Mary--the
+fire--your splendid rescue!"
+
+"Ah!" cried George, "and you have been keeping that in mind all this
+time?"
+
+"Not a doubt of that. As I have just said, and repeat, we can never
+forget it. From that day you became the dearest friend of our family,
+if you will let us call you so."
+
+"Let you! Heaven knows I am more than delighted to be so. We are no
+longer silly schoolboys to fight for the merest trifle."
+
+The reconciliation between the old rivals was complete, and the two
+boys chatted long together.
+
+"But you are in a cavalry regiment, I see," remarked George presently,
+"and a lieutenant. I understood from my father's letter that you had
+joined a line regiment with an ensign's commission."
+
+"So I did, my boy; but there are queer turns of fortune in war, and
+one of them came to me--only a week or two since, it was." And the
+lieutenant laughed pleasantly.
+
+"Tell me how it was," said George, eagerly.
+
+"It is like singing my own praises, Fairburn," the young officer went
+on, "but here goes. I'll put it in a score of words. All last year I
+went as Ensign Blackett, seeing bits of service here, there, and
+everywhere--at Bonn, on the Rhine, then at Huy, and again at
+Guelders--but there was no chance for me. But this summer, as we were
+marching here, not a man of us except the Duke himself, with a notion
+why we were coming this way at all, we stopped to storm the
+Schellenberg, a hill overlooking the Danube near Donauwörth. We were
+all dog tired--dead beat, in fact, for we had marched till we were
+almost blind. However, as it was the Duke's, day, he set us at it."
+
+"Duke's day?" interrupted George, in surprise; "isn't every day the
+Duke's day?"
+
+"It's a funny thing," went on Blackett, laughing, "but as a matter of
+fact at that time the Duke was taking alternate days of command with
+the Prince of Baden."
+
+"A queer go!" the listener interjected.
+
+"Well, to cut my tale short, we made two attacks on that hill, and
+both times were driven back. Things began to look like a drawn game,
+when up comes Louis, the Prince, you know, with a lot of his Germans,
+and at it we went again. In the thick of it, my colonel suddenly
+called out, 'Can you ride, Blackett?' 'Try me, sir,' I says. And he
+gave me a note for the Duke, telling me that he had not another
+officer left who could ride, all our fellows had been laid low or
+dispersed. I galloped off like the wind, on a big hard-mouthed brute.
+Just as I was nearing the spot where the Duke stood, a dozen Bavarians
+suddenly blocked my path and levelled their muskets. I was on a bit of
+a slope and above their heads, in a manner, so I kicked up my nag and
+in an instant I flew over them, guns and all. It was a clean jump, and
+not a shot hit me, by good luck. My horse managed to carry me on to
+the Duke, and then fell dead. The poor beggar had caught what had been
+intended for me. Well, now I've done. The Duke, who had seen it all,
+had me transferred to a cavalry regiment, with the rank of lieutenant,
+and here I am."
+
+"Yes, and here am I, a private, talking in this off-hand sort of way
+to a commissioned officer."
+
+"That's all right, Fairburn," laughed Blackett, "we haven't entered
+you yet. It'll be quite time enough to bother about that sort of thing
+then. Officially we shall have to be master and man; actually we shall
+be brothers."
+
+Thus the ancient rivals became comrades in arms, and members of the
+same regiment, for George from that time was a cavalry man. His other
+friend, Fieldsend, was attached to a line regiment again.
+
+Bit by bit Lieutenant Blackett, during the next days, contrived to
+give his friend a full and vivid account of the great battle of
+Blenheim, just won by the Allies. He was not a great hand at a tale,
+whatever he might be on the field, and we may piece together his story
+for him. His adventures and his doings in that memorable fight may
+well delay our tale for a little space.
+
+That year Louis of France had determined to make a vigorous effort, or
+rather a series of efforts, and sent various armies to oppose the
+different members of the Grand Alliance. But his main plan was to
+attack the Empire, making Bavaria, the Elector of which was his only
+supporter in that part of the world, his advance post. For some time
+Louis had been secretly encouraging Hungary in the rebellion she was
+contemplating. He trusted, therefore, that the Emperor would find
+himself attacked by his Hungarian subjects to rearward, while he was
+engaged with the combined French and Bavarian forces in front. It was
+a very fine scheme.
+
+But there was one man, and only one, who saw through it--Marlborough.
+At once the Duke set off southwards, carrying with him also a force of
+Dutchmen, deceiving their rulers by a ruse. He sent for the valiant
+Prince Eugene to meet him, and the two famous generals saw each other
+for the first time. Mutual admiration and friendship sprang up between
+them, to last through the rest of their lives. Prince Louis of Baden
+had given some trouble by wishing to share the command with
+Marlborough. Him they at last got rid of by sending him to take the
+important fortress of Ingolstadt, commanding the Danube. Marlborough's
+magnificent march from the Netherlands to the upper Danube is one of
+the finest things in military story.
+
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene met with the French and Bavarian forces
+near the village of Blenheim, on the same river, and close to
+Hochstädt, the scene of the defeat of the allied troops the year
+before, and joyfully the leaders prepared to join battle. The
+commanders on the side of the enemy were Marshal Marsin, the Prince of
+Bavaria, and Marshal Tallard. The last of these had managed to slip
+past Eugene some time before and join his colleagues.
+
+The order of battle on the side of the Allies was this. The right was
+commanded by Eugene, the left by Lord Cutts, a gallant officer, the
+centre, a vast body of cavalry mainly, by Marlborough himself. Opposed
+to Eugene were the Elector and Marsin, while Tallard faced the Duke,
+but on the farther bank of the little brook Nebel, which empties
+itself into the Danube just below. Tallard's centre was weak, as he
+had crowded no fewer than seventeen battalions into the village of
+Blenheim, on his extreme right and close to the bank of the great
+river.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, to your posts." These words, quietly and pleasantly
+spoken by Marlborough, began the great battle of Blenheim. It was
+about midday, August 13, 1704. The Duke had been waiting till he heard
+that Prince Eugene was ready, and he had occupied the interval in
+breakfast and prayers. Every man of his division was provided with a
+good meal. He himself had attended divine service and had received the
+sacrament the evening before.
+
+Lieutenant Blackett found himself one of a body of 8,000 cavalry,
+which were ordered to cross the Nebel so as to be within striking
+distance of Tallard's troops drawn up beyond the brook. This work of
+crossing was likely to be a long and tedious, not to say a difficult
+bit of business, the intervening ground being very boggy. Matthew was
+far towards the rear of this large body of horse, and it was evident
+that it would be hours before his turn came to cross. In company with
+hundreds of his comrades, he began to long for something more
+exciting.
+
+The first division to get into serious action was that under the brave
+Lord Cutts, to the left of the allied forces. Cutts went by the
+nickname of Salamander, so indifferent was he to danger when under
+fire. This gallant leader led his men to attack the village of
+Blenheim. Twice the assault was made with the utmost vigour and
+determination; twice Cutts was driven back. The village was not only
+filled with an immense force of French, but was protected by a strong
+palisade.
+
+A horseman was presently seen galloping towards the spot where the
+Duke was posted, and his movements were watched with interest by
+Blackett and others of the cavalry waiting their orders to cross.
+
+"Seems to me he is wounded," the lieutenant observed to a man near
+him; to which the other replied, "Yes, he does seem wobbly, doesn't
+he?"
+
+Hardly had the words been spoken when the advancing rider suddenly
+fell from his horse, which kept on, however, dragging his master along
+by the stirrup. Without a second's delay, Blackett threw his own beast
+across the track of the runaway steed, caught his head, and pulled him
+up. Then in a moment the youngster was down on the ground to the
+assistance of the poor fellow who had fallen.
+
+"To the Duke!" the man cried, glancing at a note he held tightly
+clutched in his hand. "Quick!" he moaned; "I'm shot through the back,
+and done for!"
+
+"Poor fellow!" murmured the lieutenant, and he seized the letter,
+sprang with a bound into his saddle, and was off like the wind, before
+his companions had quite realized what it all meant. Thus for the
+second time within a few days Matthew Blackett presented himself
+before his commander in the part of unofficial aide-de-camp. The Duke
+nodded as he recognized the lad, and, pencilling a few words of reply,
+said, "To Lord Cutts; then back to your post." And as Blackett rode
+off like the wind in a bee-line for Cutts's division, Marlborough
+murmured, "A fearless fox-hunter, I'll be bound." The order, it was
+afterwards found, was for Cutts to make no more attempts on Blenheim,
+but to hold himself in readiness when his services should again be
+requisitioned.
+
+Meanwhile, Prince Eugene was having a lively time of it on the right
+wing. He began by leading a cavalry charge against the French and
+Bavarians, who were under the command of Marsin and the Elector
+respectively. In a few minutes he had forced back the front line and
+had captured a battery of six guns. On he sped to confront the second
+line, and the opposing forces met with a tremendous shock. For a
+moment all was doubtful, but the enemy stood their ground stoutly.
+Eugene could make no impression and had to fall back. By this time the
+scattered front line of the French had rallied, and, in spite of the
+Prince's desperate efforts, the battery was retaken. The danger to
+that division of the allied forces soon became extreme. To save the
+day, Eugene immediately galloped away in person, and returned
+presently, bringing a body of Prussian infantry he had in reserve. The
+help of these alone saved him from defeat.
+
+At last! Blackett and his comrades were ordered to advance, and moved
+towards the Nebel. The ground was in a shockingly bad state. At its
+best marshy and water-logged, it was now a sea of mire. The worst
+spots had been bridged over, as it were, by the help of fascines, with
+here and there pontoons. By this time, however, many of these had been
+shifted from their places by the passage of so many thousands of
+horse, and the road became worse and worse as the burn was neared. In
+one place the men were compelled to come to a full stop, the ground
+being simply impassable.
+
+"We cannot advance, gentlemen," cried the colonel commanding the
+regiment, "till we have done some repairs. Now for willing hands!"
+
+Some of the officers glanced dubiously at the mud in which the horses
+were standing knee-deep, and they did not budge. Not so Matthew
+Blackett; with a bound he sprang to the ground, and waded through the
+mire, half of his long legs submerged, his brethren endeavouring to
+keep their countenances.
+
+"That's the right way!" sang out the colonel in high commendation, and
+a little crowd of the men following the example of the young
+lieutenant, the work of repairing the road was soon in rapid progress,
+the colonel standing by to direct the operations. Other officers
+speedily came to help, rather ashamed to think that they had allowed
+the youngster to set them a lead.
+
+"It's nothing," cried Matthew, cheerfully, as he toiled with a will.
+"Many's the time I've stood up to my waist in deadly-cold water
+digging out an old dog otter."
+
+The lad's good-humour and willingness were infectious, and in a
+remarkably short space of time the track had been repaired. Then, with
+many a joke at each other's expense, the men remounted and pursued
+their journey, covered from head to foot with mire, but cheered by the
+colonel's approving, "It will serve for all the rest of the horse, my
+lads."
+
+All this time the cavalry were wondering why Tallard took no steps to
+stop their passage, and none was more surprised than Marlborough
+himself. He did not at the time know that Tallard had left his centre
+weak, by sending so many men into the village on the right. Still
+less, of course, could the Duke know that Tallard was expecting a very
+easy victory. Be that as it may, the Marshal made no move till
+Marlborough had got a large part of his men across the stream and had
+formed his first line.
+
+When Blackett arrived on the scene with his regiment he found that a
+force of Eugene's cavalry had taken the village of Oberglau, near the
+spot. A minute later, almost before the colonel had drawn up his men,
+there was a fierce shout, and there came thundering down upon the
+village, with almost irresistible shock, a body of the enemy.
+
+"Irishmen, by Jove!" cried a man by Matthew's side. "They'll fight
+like demons!"
+
+The attack, in truth, came from the Irish Brigade, a doughty body of
+Irishmen, exiles from their country, in the service of Louis. Before
+the Englishmen realized the situation the Irishmen had dashed clean
+through the force occupying Oberglau, and had taken up a position
+between the men and Eugene.
+
+The confusion was extreme, and the allied troops could scarce be got
+to face the resistless Irishmen at all. Things looked desperate. The
+colonel of Blackett's regiment, seeing the state of things at
+Oberglau, as he toured it, shouted, "Go and tell the Duke, Mr.
+Blackett!" and away dashed Matthew once more to the General. He was a
+pretty spectacle, but he did not give the matter a thought, and his
+news prevented the Duke from paying much heed to the condition of the
+messenger.
+
+"Lead the way," came the sharp order, and Blackett thundered on in
+front, the great commander with a body of men hard after him, to find
+the energetic and plucky colonel fallen badly wounded, and the
+regiment in difficulties. With a swoop, the reinforcements fell upon
+the Irishmen, and, almost for the first time, Matthew found himself
+engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. He did not know how long the
+conflict lasted, but presently he found the enemy in full flight, his
+comrades cheering lustily around him. Marlborough's promptitude had
+saved the situation.
+
+"You fought like a very fiend, Blackett," remarked the major,
+laughingly, a little later on, when for the moment operations had
+ceased, to which Matthew replied simply, "Did I, sir? I don't remember
+anything about it," whereat the major laughed again.
+
+It was five in the afternoon, and there was a lull on the field. Up to
+the present neither side could be said to have gained any real
+advantage over the other. All the allied cavalry had crossed the
+stream, and the men wondered what would come next.
+
+They were not left long in doubt. The order came to mass the horse in
+preparation for a grand charge. For a time the field was a scene of
+rapid and puzzling movement, but order was quickly evolved out of the
+seeming confusion.
+
+Then the trumpet rang out, and there bore down upon Tallard a
+magnificent body of eight thousand cavalry. Bore _down_, we have
+written; the course was slightly upwards, as a matter of fact, from
+the stream. There was one check, and the Allies were stopped for a
+moment. Then like a whirlwind the horse dashed forward, at a
+tremendous speed.
+
+It was too much. The French fired one volley, then turned and fled. On
+the Englishmen galloped, and in a few moments the enemy's line was cut
+in two. In two different directions the French cavalry ran, and
+Marlborough followed after that section which was making for Blenheim.
+It was a wild stampede, and Matthew Blackett, as he dashed after the
+retreating enemy, always considered it the most exciting episode in
+his life.
+
+It did not last long. By great good fortune the lieutenant found
+himself one of those surrounding Marshal Tallard. Amidst a wild burst
+of applause the gallant Frenchman surrendered, and before he knew well
+what he was doing, Blackett was leading Tallard's horse by the bridle.
+The lad saw the Duke glance towards him as he dismounted to receive
+the gallant leader and invite him into his carriage.
+
+The victory was practically won. There remained only the seventeen
+battalions in the village of Blenheim, and these, hemmed in on the one
+side, and bounded by the river on the other, gave little trouble. The
+poor fellows, in fact, were unable to stir, and many a man of them
+sprang into the river in his desperation, only to be hopelessly
+carried away by the swift current, and drowned.
+
+It was a terrible scene of bloodshed, and it was an untold relief to
+the Englishmen when their gallant foes in the village gave in. One
+French regiment had actually burnt its colours to save them from being
+taken.
+
+Thus ended the great fight of Blenheim, a fight in which the enemy had
+lost no fewer than forty out of their sixty thousand men. The Allies
+had had fifty thousand troops and had lost eleven thousand of them.
+The wonderful renown of the French army had received a mighty blow. No
+longer could Louis boast that his troops were invincible.
+
+To Marlborough the victory brought the royal manor of Woodstock and
+the palace of Blenheim. To the humble Matthew Blackett it gave a place
+near the great Duke's own person, as we have seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+COMRADES IN ARMS
+
+
+It was always a puzzle to George Fairburn that the Duke had so
+unexpectedly assigned him to a cavalry regiment, and his friend
+Lieutenant Blackett could not help with the solution.
+
+"I suppose it was just an accident," Matthew said with a laugh; "he
+saw a horse-soldier before him in the person of your servant here, and
+so turned you over to me. I'm mighty delighted, anyhow, that we are
+thrown together. We shall have a good time of it, I feel sure."
+
+"We shall, if there's plenty to do," George assented with a smile.
+
+There was plenty to do. At the very moment when the boy and Lieutenant
+Fieldsend arrived, the Duke had given orders to prepare for another
+long march, and within a couple of days George found himself one of a
+large body of troops heading for the Rhine valley. A halt was called
+before Landau, and the siege of this stronghold began. The affair
+proved to be a slow business, the attacking force being very short of
+military material. Days passed; the fortress stood firm, no apparent
+impression being made at all.
+
+"I dare wager the Duke won't stand cooling at this job," remarked
+Matthew to George and Fieldsend one evening. The latter with his
+regiment was assisting in the siege, and he had already taken a great
+liking for Matthew Blackett, a liking Matthew was not slow to
+reciprocate.
+
+The prophecy was not far wrong. Almost before dawn the very next
+morning Marlborough was marching, with twelve thousand men, largely
+cavalry, towards the Queich valley, across a bit of country that for
+badness could hardly be matched even in the wilds of Connemara. On man
+and horse tramped, till the ancient city of Trèves was reached. The
+Duke prepared for a siege, but he was saved the trouble. The garrison
+was far too weak to hold the place, and the place fell into his hands
+almost without a blow. George Fairburn grumbled at his luck, but was
+cheered by Matthew's laughing reply, "Don't seek to rush things too
+quickly, my dear lad; your time is coming."
+
+It was. After ordering the siege of Traerbach, Marlborough flew back
+with a portion of his men to Landau, in his own breathless fashion,
+and before many hours were over Fairburn was as keenly interested in
+the siege as if he had never scampered all the way to Trèves and back
+again. A week or two passed by, and still the place held out, though
+it was plain the end was near.
+
+One day a sudden assault was planned on a weak spot in the defences, a
+spot where some earlier damages had been ineffectively repaired.
+George, with a troop of cavalry on foot, under the orders of
+Lieutenant Blackett, suddenly started off at the double, spurred by
+their officer's "Come along, lads! through or over!" With a roar of
+delight the men, mostly young fellows, dashed toward the spot,
+regardless of the whistling bullets that flew around. In a breach of
+the defences, a place not more than four or five feet wide, stood a
+huge Frenchman, whirling his sword over his head. The attackers pulled
+up for a moment, all except George, who kept right on, till he was
+close upon the big fellow with the sword. The Frenchman lunged out
+fiercely at the lad, but the Englishman skipped out of the way like a
+cat. Then before the man could use his weapon again George had charged
+him head first, like a bull, his body bent double. With a shock his
+head came into contact with the fellow's knees, and in a moment the
+Frenchman had tumbled helplessly on his face. The rest of Blackett's
+little band dashed over the prostrate enemy and into the fortress. The
+stronghold was taken.
+
+"Send Cornet Fairburn to me, Mr. Blackett," said the colonel that same
+evening, and much wondering the lieutenant obeyed.
+
+"Cornet Fairburn sounds well," he remarked to George. "Wonder if the
+old colonel has made a mistake about it."
+
+There was no mistake at all. When George Fairburn returned from his
+interview with his commanding officer, it was as Cornet, not as
+Trooper Fairburn. It was by the Duke's own order, it appeared. That
+night the three friends, all with commissions in their pockets now,
+made merry in company. Sir George Rooke's desire had been speedily
+realized, and George had taken his first step upwards.
+
+Marlborough marched to meet the King of Prussia, whom he persuaded to
+send some eight thousand troops to the help of the Duke of Savoy, in
+Italy. Then he went home to receive his honours, and the memorable
+campaign of 1704 came to an end.
+
+Marlborough was a statesman as well as a brilliant commander, and he
+had his work at home as well as abroad, a work the winters enabled him
+to deal with. He was now quite aware that his best friends, that is to
+say, the chief supporters of his war schemes, were the Whigs, and he
+was working more and more energetically to put their party in power.
+Harley and St. John took the place of more violent Tories, and in 1705
+a coalition of Whigs and Tories, called the Junto, managed public
+affairs, more or less under Marlborough's direction. The Duchess still
+held her sway over the Queen, and the two ladies addressed each other
+as Mrs. Morley (the Queen) and Mrs. Freeman respectively. Already
+there were influences at work to undermine the power of the
+Marlboroughs, but their political downfall was not yet.
+
+Scottish matters were giving a good deal of trouble to the English
+government. Two years before, in 1703, the Scotch Parliament had
+passed an Act of Security, the object of which was to proclaim a
+different sovereign from that of England, unless Scotland should be
+guaranteed her own religious establishment and her laws. Now this
+year, 1705, the Parliament in London placed severe restrictions on the
+Scotch trade with England, and ordered the Border towns to be
+fortified. The irritation between the two countries grew and grew, and
+war seemed within sight. A commission was accordingly appointed to
+consider the terms of an Act of Union, the greater portion of
+Scotland, however, being strongly opposed to any such union at all.
+
+The spring of 1705 found the Allies active once more. The main
+interest centres in the Netherlands and in Spain. The Earl of
+Peterborough, who took the command in Spain, was one of the most
+extraordinary men of his time. His energy and activity were amazing,
+and he would dash about the Continent in a fashion that often
+astounded his friends and confounded his enemies. No man knew where
+Peterborough would next turn up. "In journeys he outrides the post,"
+Dean Swift wrote of him, and the Dean goes on to say,
+
+  So wonderful his expedition,
+  When you have not the least suspicion,
+  He's with you like an apparition.
+
+Add to this that the Earl was a charming man, full of courage and
+enthusiasm, and able to command the unbounded affection of his troops,
+and you have the born leader of men. Of Peterborough's brilliant
+exploits in the Peninsula in 1705 a whole book might be written. His
+chief attention was first given to the important town of Barcelona, a
+place which had successfully withstood Rooke, and in the most
+remarkable fashion he captured the strong fort of Monjuich, the
+citadel of the town, with a force of only 1,200 foot and 200 horse.
+Barcelona itself fell for a time into the hands of Peterborough and
+the Archduke Charles, now calling himself Charles III of Spain.
+Success followed upon success, and whole provinces, Catalonia and
+Valencia, were won over. So marvellous was the story of his doings,
+indeed, that when, in the course of time, George Fairburn heard it, in
+the distant Netherlands, he was disposed to wish he had remained in
+Spain. Yet he had done very well, in that same year 1705, as we shall
+see.
+
+Almost from his resumption of the command in the early spring of that
+year, Marlborough met with vexations and disappointments. He had
+formed the great plan of invading France by way of the Moselle valley,
+and our two heroes, who had heard whispers as to the work being cut
+out for the Allies, were ready to dance with delight. They were still
+frisky boys out of school, one may say. But the plan was opposed in
+two quarters. First, the Dutch, statesmen and generals alike, threw
+every obstacle in the way. They would not hear of the project. Then
+Louis of Baden was in one of his worst sulky fits, and for a time
+refused his help. When he did consent to go, he demanded a delay,
+pleading that a wound he had received at the Schellenberg, in the
+previous year, was not yet fully healed. The troops the Duke expected
+did not come in; instead of the 90,000 he wanted, but 30,000 mustered.
+
+"It is no go," Blackett said to his friend with a groan.
+
+At this juncture the Emperor Leopold died, and the Archduke's elder
+brother Joseph succeeded him.
+
+"Spain is bound in the long run to drop into the hands of either
+France or Austria," the two young officers agreed. Already the lads
+were beginning to take an interest in great matters of state, as was
+natural in the case of well-educated and intelligent youngsters. And
+they felt that when either event should happen it would be a bad day
+for the rest of Europe.
+
+Baffled in his great scheme, Marlborough set his hand to another
+important work. Across the province of Brabant in Flanders the French
+held a wonderful belt of strongholds, stretching from Namur to
+Antwerp. No invasion of France could possibly be made from the
+Netherlands so long as Louis held this formidable line of defences.
+Moreover, the near presence of these fortresses to Holland was a
+standing threat to the Dutch, and, when Marlborough made known his
+plans to them, they for once fell in with them.
+
+Thus it happened that Lieutenant Blackett and his friend Cornet
+Fairburn found themselves once more in the thick of war. They had had
+a preliminary skirmish or two not long before--the retaking of Huy,
+the frightening of Villeroy from Liége, and what not--but now
+something more serious was afoot. That the task the Duke had set
+himself was a difficult one, every man in his service knew, but they
+knew also that he was not a commander likely to be dismayed by mere
+difficulties. Villeroy, the leader of the French, had 70,000 troops
+with him, a larger force than the Allies could get together.
+
+It was near Tirlemont that Marlborough began his operations. The march
+to the place went on till it was stopped by a small but awkward brook,
+the Little Gheet, on the farther side of which the French were very
+strongly posted in great numbers. So formidable an affair did the
+crossing appear that the Dutch generals objected to the attempt being
+made. Marlborough, usually the best-tempered of men, was in a rage,
+and determined to push the attack in spite of them. It was the morning
+of July 17, 1705.
+
+"We are in for hard knocks to-day, if appearances go for anything,"
+Blackett said quietly to George, as their regiment prepared, with the
+other cavalry, to open the proceedings.
+
+"So much the better," was George's laughing answer; "without hard
+knocks there is no promotion, eh?"
+
+All was ready; the bugle rang out the signal for the attack. The long
+line of Marlborough's horse fronted the Gheet at no great distance
+away, the field-pieces were in position, the infantry and reserves
+somewhat to the rear. Beyond the stream, with the advantage of rising
+ground, were planted the French guns, supported by a powerful host.
+
+Away! The cavalry dashed onwards at a terrific pace. A sharp rattle of
+musketry rang out, and in a moment a sprinkling of the advancing
+troopers fell from their saddles. George Fairburn was already warming
+to the work, and he sat his steed firmly. Then a ball struck the
+gallant animal, and in an instant the rider was flung over its head.
+The young cornet narrowly escaped being trampled to pieces by his
+comrades as they swept by in full career. Up he sprang, however, a
+trifle stunned for the moment, but otherwise no worse. Quickly
+recovering his sword, which had flown from his grasp, he darted after
+his more fortunate companions, and arrived breathless on the scene.
+
+A fierce struggle for the passage of the river was going on, and
+desperate fighting was taking place in the very bed of the stream, a
+trifle lower down its course. For a time George endeavoured in vain to
+find a way through the struggling mass of men and horses to the brink
+of the Gheet; the press and the confusion were too great. Accordingly
+he ran on behind the lines of horse, to find a place where he might
+thrust himself in. Where his own comrades were he could not tell.
+Bullets were flying thick around him as he ran, but he did not give
+the matter a thought. It was characteristic of him all through his
+life, indeed, that when his attention and interest were strongly
+engaged on one matter he was all but oblivious to every other
+consideration.
+
+At length his chance appeared, and an opening presented itself.
+Springing over the prostrate bodies of men and horses, he reached the
+bank. To his surprise the stream seemed to be very deep. As a matter
+of fact the waters were dammed lower down by the mass of fallen men
+and animals lying across their bed. Without hesitation he dashed into
+the flood, his sole thought being to get himself across and so into
+the enemy's lines. With his sword held tightly between his teeth, the
+boy officer swam, as many another lusty Peterite would have been able
+to do. He reached mid stream.
+
+Suddenly he became aware of a sharp pain in his left shoulder. A
+moment later he grew faint. In vain he struggled to keep afloat; the
+world grew dark to him, and he sank beneath the surface.
+
+A tall fellow, fully six foot three in his stockings, if he was an
+inch, had just managed to wade through the stream, his nose above the
+surface, a comical sight, if anybody had had the time to notice it.
+Looking back, this man saw George disappear, and without hesitation he
+dashed into the water again. Reaching the spot, he groped about, and
+then, with both hands clutching an inanimate form, he dragged his
+burden to the bank.
+
+"George, by Heaven!" he cried, as soon as he could get a glimpse of
+the features. It was true; Matthew Blackett had saved his friend's
+life at the risk of his own. And it had been a risk, for a dozen
+bullets had splashed around him as he had hauled his heavy load along.
+
+"Blackett!" exclaimed Fairburn, a moment or two later, when,
+recovering, he opened his eyes. "Where's your horse?"
+
+"Done for, poor wretch! And yours?"
+
+"Shot under me, at the very first volley. And it was you who dragged
+me out! I shall remember it! But here we are on the right side; come
+on!"
+
+The lads gripped each other warmly by the hand, and side by side
+dashed on into the thick of the _mêlée_. A large number of the allied
+cavalry had by this time made good their passage across, in spite of
+the fiercest opposition on the part of the enemy. In vain Blackett
+urged his companion to withdraw and get himself away with his wounded
+arm. George would not budge an inch. It was only a flesh wound, it
+afterwards appeared. So the two North-country lads stood by each
+other. For an hour or more they were hotly engaged, the enemy falling
+back inch by inch.
+
+Then came ringing cheers. The French had abandoned the position; the
+famous and hitherto impregnable line of defences had been broken. Our
+heroes breathed more freely when a short respite came. But the
+interval of rest was short. Colonel Rhodes, their commanding officer,
+catching sight of the pair, as he was collecting his men again,
+joyfully hailed them, and a minute later George and Matthew, provided
+once more with mounts, were cantering with the rest to the renewed
+attack. The enemy had made another stand some distance farther back.
+
+Another struggle, and this second position was like wise carried, with
+a grand sweep. Victory was at hand.
+
+Suddenly a startling report ran through the English lines. The Duke
+was missing! Where was the mighty General? was the question on every
+lip. Somebody ran up and said a word to Colonel Rhodes. Instantly the
+gallant officer and his men were galloping off to a distant part of
+the field, the troopers wondering what was afoot. The explanation soon
+appeared. Marlborough had become separated from the main body of his
+army, and now, with but a very few men around him, was in imminent
+danger of capture by the French troops, who were pouring thick upon
+the spot.
+
+Colonel Rhodes charged at the head of his regiment straight upon the
+French, and a lane was cut through. It was a matter of a few minutes.
+The Duke was saved, and the enemy retired in woeful disappointment.
+The first to reach the Duke were Blackett and Fairburn, and the lads
+were flushed with joy and pride when their distinguished leader,
+looking at them with a smile, said, with all his old pleasantness of
+manner, "Gentlemen, I thank you."
+
+The Brabant line of strongholds was broken. Villeroy fell back, and
+Marlborough had his will on the defences. No inconsiderable section of
+the belt was rendered useless. No longer did an impassable barrier
+stretch between the Netherlands and France. The importance of the
+victory could hardly be overstated. As one writer has well pointed
+out, "All Marlborough's operations had hitherto been carried on to the
+outside of these lines; thenceforward they were all carried on within
+them."
+
+A day or two later the Duke came to inspect the regiment to which our
+boys belonged, just as he was inspecting others. The men with their
+officers were drawn up, and the General's eyes ran along the line.
+Presently he spoke a word to the colonel in command of the regiment,
+and, to their no small confusion, Lieutenant Blackett and Cornet
+Fairburn were called out to the front.
+
+"How old are you?" the Duke inquired, as the youths saluted.
+
+"Nearly twenty, may it please your Grace." "Just turned nineteen, by
+your Grace's leave." Such were the replies.
+
+"Hum!" said the Duke thoughtfully, "you shall have your promotion in
+due course. You are young, and can afford to wait for it." This to
+Matthew. "As for you"--turning to George--"you have fairly earned your
+lieutenancy." And he turned away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ANNUS MIRABILIS
+
+
+"Don't imagine, my dear lad, that they are going to make captains of
+mere boys like ourselves." This was the reply, given with a hearty
+laugh, when George Fairburn, after receiving his friend's warm
+congratulations at the close of the inspection, was condoling with
+Matthew on his failure to get his step. "A captain at twenty is
+somewhat unlikely," Blackett went on. "I suppose so," replied George.
+"After all we are only glorified schoolboys, some of our fellows tell
+us. Yet you look three-and-twenty, if a day. However, all will come in
+time, let us hope."
+
+The brilliant operations on the defence line proved to be but the
+prelude to Marlborough's second great life disappointment. He saw his
+chance. He had but to follow up his success by a decisive victory over
+Villeroy's forces, and the way lay open to Paris. His hopes ran high.
+
+Alas! the Dutch had to be reckoned with. Eager to follow up his
+advantage, Marlborough called for assistance, immediate and effective,
+from them; in vain; the assistance did not come, or came too late.
+With what help he could get from the Dutch, nevertheless, he went
+forward to the Dyle. Here again the Dutch balked him, raising
+objections to the crossing of that river. In despair the Duke gathered
+his troops, as it happened, strangely enough, on the very spot where,
+a hundred years later, another great Duke gained his most famous
+victory over the French. Could Marlborough have but had his chance
+with Villeroy in that spot, there is little doubt that Europe would
+have seen an earlier Waterloo.
+
+But it was not to be. Just as the Margrave of Baden had stopped his
+advance along the Moselle into France the previous year, so now the
+supineness and factious opposition of the Dutch prevented Marlborough
+from dealing the French power a crushing blow. Deeply disgusted, he
+threatened once more to resign his command. "Had I had the same power
+I had last year," he wrote, "I could have won a greater victory than
+that of Blenheim." It was a bitter trial for him.
+
+The campaign of 1705 soon after came to a close, and the Duke set off
+on what we may call a diplomatic tour among the allied states, his
+travels and negotiations producing good results. It was not till the
+beginning of 1706 that he went back to England, and thus it was late
+in the spring of that year when the campaign was reopened.
+
+Rejoining his army in the Netherlands, he proposed to make another of
+his great marches, namely into Italy, there to join his friend Prince
+Eugene in an invasion of France from the south-east. This plan was
+made impossible by the crookedness of the kings of Prussia and
+Denmark, and some others of the Allies. Swallowing this disappointment
+also, as best he might, Marlborough started from the Dyle and advanced
+on the great and important stronghold of Namur, at the junction of the
+Sambre with the Meuse. Namur had always been greatly esteemed by the
+French, and, in dread alarm, Louis ordered Villeroy to take immediate
+action. The result was that the two hostile armies, each numbering
+about sixty thousand men, met face to face near the village of
+Ramillies, half way between Tirlemont and Namur, and near the head
+waters of the Great and Little Gheet and the Mehaigne.
+
+Lieutenants Fairburn and Blackett from their position on a bit of
+rising ground could take in the general dispositions of the respective
+forces, and the same thought passed through both their minds. The
+French and Bavarian troops were drawn up in the form of an arc, whose
+ends rested on the villages of Anderkirk, to the north, and Tavières,
+on the Mehaigne, to the south. The villages of Ramillies and Offuz,
+with a mound known as the Tomb of Ottomond at the back of the former,
+were held by a strong centre. Marlborough, on his part, had disposed
+his men along a chord of that arc. If it came to a question of moving
+men and guns from one wing to the other, it was plain that the Duke
+had the advantage, the distance along an arc being necessarily greater
+than that along its chord, and it was that thought which came into the
+heads of the two lieutenants.
+
+Marlborough directed his right to attack the enemy around the village
+of Anderkirk, backing up the assault with a contingent from his
+centre. Blackett and his friend were soon taking part in the gallop
+over the swampy ground in the neighbourhood of the village. A sharp
+encounter followed, the Frenchmen beginning to waver. Hereupon
+Villeroy in alarm promptly sent from his centre a large number of men
+to support his staggering left at Anderkirk, thereby leaving his
+centre weak.
+
+All at once Marlborough withdrew his troops to the high ground
+opposite the hamlet of Offuz, as if for a fresh attack. Then sending
+back a part to keep up the pretence of continuing the combat in the
+marsh, he took advantage of the concealment afforded by the higher
+ground, and, cleverly detaching a large body, ordered them to slip
+away round to seize Tavières, on the Mehaigne. George and his friend
+were thus separated, the latter being of those who remained in the
+swamp to keep up appearances. It was a clever bit of strategy, and,
+before Villeroy realized the truth, Tavières had been rushed with a
+splendid charge. The fact that the attack on Anderkirk had been only a
+feint came to the French commander's understanding too late. His
+centre, with the village of Ramillies and the Tomb of Ottomond
+commanding it, the really important positions of the day, was weakened
+by the loss of troops sent on a wild-goose chase.
+
+Ere Villeroy could repair the mischief and summon his men from
+Anderkirk, Marlborough had sent down upon the French centre a great
+body of cavalry under the command of Auerkerke, the Dutch general.
+English and Dutch horse combined in this assault, and George Fairburn
+found himself one of a host dashing upon the village of Ramillies.
+There was a terrific shock, a few moments of fierce onslaught, and the
+first line of the enemy gave way. Through the broken and disorganized
+line the cavalry swept, to charge the second.
+
+Another shock, even greater than the first. The Frenchmen of the
+second line stood firm, for were they not the famous Household
+Regiment--the Maison du Roi--of Louis, and probably the finest troops
+in Europe. The advance of the Allies was instantly checked. In vain
+Auerkerke urged on his men; in vain those men renewed the attack. The
+enemy stood steadfast; they began to drive back their antagonists; the
+position of the Allies was becoming critical.
+
+"Go and inform the Duke! Quick, quick!" the Dutchman called out to a
+young officer whom he had observed fighting with the utmost
+determination near by, but who had stopped for a moment to recover his
+breath.
+
+It happened to be Lieutenant Fairburn, and George once more found
+himself face to face with the Duke, for the first time since he had
+met him after the rush of the French defence line near Tirlemont last
+year. Marlborough, the youth could see by his quick glance, knew him
+again. In a word or two George delivered his startling message.
+
+"By Jove, sir," declared the subaltern, when telling his story to his
+colonel afterwards, "never did I see so spry a bit of work as I did
+when I had said my little say. The Duke was ten men rolled into one,
+sir. Orders here, there, and everywhere; fellows sent darting about like
+hares. In a few minutes--minutes! I was going to say seconds--every
+sabre had been got together, and we were all tumbling over each other
+in our hurry to get along to the fight. It was a fine thing, sir."
+
+The commander, sword in hand, led his reinforcement to the fatal spot
+with the speed of the whirlwind. He had almost reached it when he was
+suddenly set upon by a company of young bloods belonging to the Maison
+du Roi. They were nobles for the most part, and utterly reckless of
+their lives. Recognizing the Duke, they made a desperate attempt to
+secure him, closing round him with a dash.
+
+"Great Heaven!" ejaculated George Fairburn, as his eye suddenly fell
+upon the Duke fighting his way out of the group, and in company with
+fifty more he flew to the spot. At that moment Marlborough, now almost
+clear, put his horse to a ditch across his track. How it happened no
+one could tell exactly, but the rider fell, and dropped into the
+little trench. Marlborough's career appeared at an end. His steed was
+cantering madly over the field.
+
+But friends were at hand, and before the Frenchmen could complete
+their work the little company had beaten them off. George leapt to the
+ground, and drew his horse towards the General, who had sprung to his
+feet in a trice, nothing the worse.
+
+"Here, sir," said the lieutenant, handing the bridle to an officer in
+a colonel's uniform, who stood at hand, and the colonel held the
+animal while the Duke mounted.
+
+[Illustration: The Rescue of Marlborough.]
+
+Before the Duke had fairly gained his seat in the saddle, a ball with
+a rustling hum carried off the head of the unfortunate colonel. It was
+an appalling sight, and George Fairburn was forced to turn away his
+eyes.
+
+The crisis was too serious, however, to waste time in vain regrets.
+Without the loss of a moment Marlborough led the charge upon the
+enemy. The famous Household Brigade fell back, and the village of
+Ramillies was taken. Then another fierce struggle, but a brief one,
+and the Tomb of Ottomond was secured, the position which commanded the
+whole field. The battle was almost at an end.
+
+There remained only the village of Anderkirk in its marshy hollow, and
+Marlborough called together his forces from the various parts of the
+confused field. Another charge was sounded, the last. The enemy turned
+and fled. Ramillies was won.
+
+The victory, quite as important in its way as Blenheim, had been
+gained in a little over three hours. The loss on the side of the
+Allies was hardly four thousand; that of the French and Bavarians, in
+killed, wounded, and prisoners, was four times as great. All the
+enemy's guns, six only excepted, fell into the hands of the victors.
+
+There was one heavy drawback to the pride which the young Lieutenant
+Fairburn naturally felt at having had a humble share in the great
+victory. At the muster of the survivors of his regiment Blackett was
+missing. Half the night did George search for him, and was at last
+rewarded by finding the young fellow lying wounded and helpless on the
+boggy ground. It was an intense relief when the surgeon gave good
+hopes of Matthew's ultimate recovery.
+
+"I'm done for this campaign, old friend," Blackett said with a feeble
+smile to George, "and must be sent home for a while. But I hope to
+turn up among you another year."
+
+If to follow up a great victory promptly, vigorously, and fully, be
+one of the distinguishing marks of a great commander, then the Duke of
+Marlborough was certainly one of the greatest generals of whom history
+tells. Hardly anything more striking than his long and rapid series of
+successes in the weeks after Ramillies can be credited to a military
+leader, not even excepting Wellington and Napoleon. Louvain, Brussels,
+Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, all fell into his hands. Menin, Ostend,
+Dendermonde, and a few other strongholds gave pore trouble, and the
+brave Marshal Vendôme was sent to their assistance. It was useless;
+Vendôme turned tail and fled, his men refusing to face the terrible
+English Duke. "Every one here is ready to doff his hat, if one even
+mentions the name of Marlborough," Vendôme wrote to his master Louis.
+The remaining towns capitulated, and the Netherlands were lost to the
+Spanish. Of the more important fortresses only Mons remained.
+
+But Marlborough's were by no means the only successes that fell to the
+Allies that wonderful year. Prince Eugene and the Duke of Savoy, the
+former after a rapid march, appeared before Turin, and on the 7th of
+September that notable place fell into the hands of the Prince, after
+brilliant efforts on both sides. The result was of the utmost
+importance; the French were demoralized; Savoy was permanently gained
+for the Grand Alliance; while Piedmont was lost to the French, who
+were thus cut off from the kingdom of Naples.
+
+George had often wondered what had become of his old friend Fieldsend,
+whom he had not seen since the capture of Landau. But in the autumn of
+this year, 1706, while Fairburn was quartered at Antwerp, he received
+a letter from the lieutenant. It appeared that at his own request
+Fieldsend had been allowed to return to Spain, and he had served ever
+since under Lord Peterborough. The writer's account of the victories
+gained by Peterborough and the Earl of Galway in Spain that year read
+more like a fairy tale than real sober history. The sum and substance
+of it was that Peterborough had compelled the forces of Louis to raise
+the siege of Barcelona, and that Galway had actually entered Madrid in
+triumph. Had the Archduke Charles had the wit and the courage to enter
+his capital too, his cause might have had a very different issue from
+that which it was now fated to have.
+
+Just before Christmastide George received permission to return to
+England on leave for a few weeks. He had never visited his old home
+all those years, and it was with delight he took his passage in a
+schooner bound for Hull. Hardly had he landed at that port when he ran
+across the old skipper of the _Ouseburn Lassie_. The worthy fellow did
+not at first recognize the schoolboy he had known in the sturdy
+handsome young fellow wearing a cavalry lieutenant's uniform, and he
+was taken aback when George accosted him with a hearty "How goes it,
+old friend? How goes it with you?" The skipper saluted in some
+trepidation, and it was not till George had given him a handshake that
+gripped like a vice that he knew his man again. Soon the two were deep
+in the work of exchanging histories. The crew of the captured collier
+brig, it appeared, had been kept at Dunkirk till the autumn of 1704,
+when they had been exchanged for certain French prisoners in ward at
+Dover. The Fairburn colliery had prospered wonderfully, and the owner
+now employed no fewer than four vessels of his own, one of which ran
+to Hull regularly. In fact, the skipper was just going on board to
+return to the Tyne.
+
+Within an hour, therefore, Lieutenant Fairburn was afloat once more,
+to his great joy. On the voyage he learnt many things from the old
+captain. Squire Blackett was in very bad odour with the men of the
+district. For years his business had been falling off, and he had been
+dismissing hands. Now his health was failing; he was unable or
+unwilling to give vigorous attention to his trade, and he talked of
+closing his pit altogether. The colliers of the neighbourhood were
+desperately irritated, and to a man declared that, with anything like
+energy in the management, the Blackett pit had a fortune in it for any
+owner.
+
+The well-known wharf was reached, a wharf vastly enlarged and
+improved, however, and George sprang ashore impatiently. Leaving all
+his belongings for the moment, he strode off at a great rate for home,
+rather wondering how it was that he did not see a single soul either
+about the river or on the road. He rubbed his eyes as he caught a
+sight of his boyhood's home. Like the wharf, the house had been added
+to and improved until he scarcely recognized the spot at all. "Father
+must be a prosperous man," was his thought. Opening the door without
+ceremony, he entered. A figure in the hall turned, and in a moment the
+boy had his mother in his arms, while he capered about the hall with
+her in pure delight.
+
+The good woman gave a cry, but she was not of the fainting kind, and
+soon she was weeping and laughing by turns, kissing her handsome lad
+again and again. Presently, as if forgetting herself, she cried, "Ah,
+my boy, there's a parlous deed going on up at the Towers! You should
+be going to help." And George learned to his astonishment that the
+Squire's house was being at that moment attacked by a formidable and
+desperate gang. Fairburn had gone off to render what assistance he
+could. It was reported that the few defenders were holding the house
+against the besiegers, but that they could hold out little longer. The
+Fairburn pitmen had declined to be mixed up in the quarrel, as they
+called it.
+
+"Good Heavens!" exclaimed George, "what a state of things!"
+
+Bolting out of the house, he ran back at full speed to the wharf, his
+plan already clear in his head. Within ten minutes he was leading to
+Binfield Towers every man jack of the little crew, the old skipper
+included. The pace was not half quick enough, and when, at a turn in
+the road, an empty coal cart was met, George seized the head of the
+nag, and slewed him round, crying "All aboard, mates!" The crew
+tumbled in, and in an instant the lieutenant was whipping up the
+animal, to the utter astonishment of the carter.
+
+Nearer to the mansion the party drew, but, hidden by the trees, it was
+not yet in sight. The old horse was spent, and, when a point opposite
+the house had been gained, George sprang out, vaulted over the fence
+into the wood, dashed through the growth of trees, and with another
+spring leapt down upon the lawn, almost on the selfsame spot where he
+had jumped over on the evening of the fire. For the last hundred yards
+he had been aware of the roar of angry voices. The sight that met his
+eyes, now that he was in full view of the scene, was an extraordinary
+one.
+
+Scattered about the trampled grassplots was a crowd of pitmen, surging
+hither and thither, some armed with pickaxes, some with hedge-stakes,
+some with nothing but nature's weapons. One fellow was in the act of
+loading an old blunderbuss. Reared against the wall of the house were
+two or three ladders, one smashed in the middle. The lower windows had
+been barricaded with boards, but the mob had wrenched away the
+protection at one point, and men were climbing in with great shouts of
+triumph.
+
+From the bedroom windows men were holding muskets, ready to fire, but
+evidently unwilling to do so except as a last resource. George spied
+his old friend Matthew at one window; at another, astonishing sight!
+stood no other than Fieldsend! His own father was at a third.
+
+At that moment the fellow below raised his blunderbuss and took
+deliberate aim at the old Squire, who, all unconscious of his danger,
+was endeavouring to address the mob from an upper window. The sight
+seemed to grip George by the throat.
+
+George carried a handspike, a weapon he had brought along from the
+collier vessel. A dozen rapid and noiseless strides over the grass
+brought him within striking distance, and instantly, with a downward
+stroke like a lightning flash, he had felled to earth man and
+blunderbuss. The report came as the man dropped, and with a yell one
+of the rioters climbing through a lower window dropped back to the
+ground, shot through the thigh by one of his own party.
+
+"Saved!" the lieutenant shouted, a glance showing him that the old
+Squire was still unhurt. All eyes, those of the defenders no less than
+those of the attacking party, were immediately attracted to the
+new-comer, who was just in the act of seizing the blunderbuss from the
+grasp of the prostrate and senseless pitman.
+
+"George!" "Fairburn!" "My boy!" came the cries from the upper windows,
+and the defenders cheered for pure joy.
+
+The mob, startled for a moment, prepared to retaliate, a hasty
+whispering taking place between two or three of the leaders. "Look out
+for the rush!" cried Matthew, warningly. George, with a bound, gained
+the wall, where, back against the stonework, he stood ready with the
+handspike and the clubbed musket. So formidable an antagonist did he
+seem to the men that they held back, till one of them, with a fierce
+imprecation, dashed forward. In a trice he was felled to the ground, a
+loud roar of rage escaping the man's comrades. An instant later and
+the young lieutenant was fighting in the midst of a howling mob.
+
+"Ah! Drat you!" came a bellow, and there rushed upon the rear of the
+attackers the old skipper, cutlass in hand, followed close by the rest
+of his little crew. This apparition, sudden and unexpected, upset the
+nerves of the pitmen, and in a moment they began to run, falling away
+from George and tumbling over each other in their haste.
+
+"No you don't!" hissed the youngster between his firm-set teeth, and
+making a grab at a couple he had seen prominent in the fight, he held
+them with a grip they could not escape.
+
+The attackers were routed; Binfield Towers was saved. Within a minute
+George was being greeted, congratulated, thanked, till he was almost
+fain to run for it, as the bulk of the mob had done. His father,
+Matthew, Fieldsend, even old Reuben--all crowded around with delight.
+In no long time Mrs. Maynard and Mary Blackett appeared, smiling
+through their tears of joy at their great deliverance. The latter had
+so grown that George hardly recognized her. All came up except the old
+Squire, and he was presently found in an alarming condition, one of
+his old heart attacks having come on. It was the only drawback to the
+joy of the meeting and the ending of the danger that had threatened
+the household.
+
+Early next morning word was carried to the Fairburns that Squire
+Blackett was dead; he had never recovered from the shock and the
+seizure consequent thereon.
+
+"Poor old neighbour!" Fairburn said, with a mournful shake of the
+head, "I am afraid he has left things in a sorry state."
+
+Fairburn's fears were only too well founded. Mr. Blackett had left
+little or nothing, and Matthew and his sister would be but
+indifferently provided for. Then it was that Fairburn came out like a
+man. He proposed to run the colliery for their benefit. To the world
+it was to appear that the collieries had been amalgamated or rather
+that the Blackett pit had been bought up by his rival. The advantage
+to Matthew and Mary was too obvious to be rejected, and the required
+arrangements were made. Before the time came for the three young
+officers to go back to their duties they had the satisfaction of
+seeing Mrs. Maynard and Mary settled in a pretty cottage near, and the
+colliery in full work and prospering, the district employed and
+contented. Mary had been pressed by the Fairburn family to take up her
+abode with them, but had preferred to go into the cottage with her old
+governess and friend. Yet she was overwhelmed with gratitude towards
+the kindly couple.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"OUR OWN MEN, SIR!"
+
+
+Marlborough was late in taking the field that year. Important matters
+engaged his attention at home. He saw more clearly than ever that the
+Whigs alone were the real supporters of him and his war plans. The
+party even passed a resolution to the effect that they would not hear
+of peace so long as a Bourbon ruled over Spain. Then there were the
+intrigues at work that were undermining the influence of the Duchess
+of Marlborough, and consequently of the Duke himself, at Court. Harley
+was known to be working for the overthrow of Marlborough. He was
+preparing to introduce a formidable rival to the Duchess in Anne's
+regards.
+
+The young men were nothing loth to go back to their respective
+regiments, to say truth, when the time came. Inaction did not seem to
+agree with their young blood. Matthew, his wound now quite healed, was
+eager to get his next step. Fieldsend was already captain, and hoped
+ere the close of the 1707 campaign to get his majority. As for George
+Fairburn, he was quite content to be a soldier for soldiering's sake,
+yet would thankfully take promotion if it came his way. Blackett had
+paid a visit to the west-country home of the Fieldsends, and it was
+whispered that he had there found a mighty attraction. But more of
+this may come later.
+
+The year, to the bitter disappointment of our young officers, proved
+an unlucky one. In all directions things went wrong. As for
+Marlborough, from the very opening he experienced the old Dutch
+thwartings and oppositions, and, after a short and vexatious summer,
+he closed the campaign almost abruptly, and much earlier than in
+former years. There was to be no promotion for anybody yet awhile.
+
+In Spain there was an overwhelming disaster. The French and Spanish
+forces, commanded by the redoubtable Berwick, completely defeated the
+combined English, Dutch, and Portuguese troops under Galway, at
+Almanza. So great a misfortune was this that Galway declared that
+Spain would have to be evacuated by the Allies. The cause of the
+Archduke Charles was to all intents and purposes lost, and the
+Bourbons were henceforth firmly seated on the throne of Spain.
+
+Misfortune trod on the heels of misfortune. Prince Eugene attempted to
+take Toulon, the chief naval station in the Mediterranean, but failed
+to accomplish the task he had set himself. On the Rhine the Prince of
+Baden was badly defeated by Villars, at Stollhofen, the disaster
+laying Germany open to invasion by Louis. The gallant Sir Cloudesley
+Shovel, who had risen from the position of cabin-boy, was drowned in a
+great storm off the Scilly Islands, England thereby losing one of her
+ablest admirals.
+
+Glad were George and Matthew when, after a dull winter, the Duke
+opened his campaign of 1708. The young men were now greater friends
+than ever, and not unnaturally so, after all that had happened and was
+happening. The reports they had occasionally from the elder Fairburn
+were in the highest degree cheering. The two ladies were well; the
+pits were prospering marvellously.
+
+The feeling at home, rumour said, was setting strongly in favour of
+ending the war and coming to terms with France. This discontent at
+home was supplemented by murmurings among the troops quartered at
+Antwerp, and still more by the uneasiness of the Dutch, who were
+disposed to make a separate treaty with France and drop out of the
+conflict. Marlborough felt that he must achieve some brilliant success
+before that campaign was ended.
+
+"There is going to be hot work for us, that is plain," the two
+lieutenants said to each other, "and, if we have luck, we shall get
+the promotion we have been waiting so long for."
+
+Bruges and Ghent had gone back to the French allegiance, and Louis
+determined to make an attempt to secure Oudenarde also, an important
+fortress lying between the French borders and Brabant. The French army
+boasted two generals, the royal Duke of Burgundy, an incapable leader,
+and the Duke of Vendôme, a most capable one. A more unfortunate
+partnership could not well be imagined; Burgundy and Vendôme were in
+everything the opposite of each other, and the quarrels between them
+were as numerous as they were bitter, so that the army of Louis XIV
+was handicapped at the very outset.
+
+It was three in the afternoon of July 11. The Allies were fagged out
+with the marchings and the heat of the day when they came in sight of
+the enemy's forces near Oudenarde.
+
+"Precious glad of a rest!" Matthew Blackett remarked when the signal
+to halt came. To his surprise and dismay the order to form immediately
+followed.
+
+"Just like the Duke," commented his friend Fairburn.
+
+Quickly the cavalry were got together for a charge.
+
+"The old fellow doesn't intend the Frenchmen to slip away without
+fighting," the men remarked to one another.
+
+Suddenly, almost before the whole body of horse was ready, Marlborough
+directed a charge to be made. For the first time our lieutenants found
+themselves not in the Duke's own division. The commander of the right
+wing, a very strong force, was Prince Eugene, who, having now nothing
+to do in Italy, had hurried northwards to join his friend. In such hot
+haste had the Prince travelled, indeed, that he had out-stripped his
+own army. Here was Prince Eugene, but not Prince Eugene's men. His
+wing at Oudenarde consisted entirely of English troops, while
+Marlborough's own wing was composed of men of various other
+nationalities.
+
+Almost all writers on military tactics agree that the battle of
+Oudenarde was one of the most involved and intricate on record, and
+that it is well nigh impossible to give any detailed account of the
+puzzling movements. The leading points were these.
+
+Marlborough's force crossed the Scheldt; then the opposing wing of the
+French left the high ground they occupied and swooped down upon him,
+endeavouring to force the Allies back into the river. A terrible
+hand-to-hand encounter followed, bayonet and sword alone being used
+for the most part in such cramped quarters. In the thick of it the
+Duke sent the Dutch general with a strong detachment to seize the
+vantage ground on the rise which the enemy had lately left. The move
+was successful, and the French found themselves between two fires.
+
+It was growing dusk. Eugene and his men had forced back their
+opponents and were now following hard after them. Suddenly shots came
+flying in, and in the dimness of the departing day an advancing column
+was observed to be moving towards them. What could it mean? Apparently
+that the enemy had rallied and were once more facing them. It was an
+entirely unexpected change of front, but Eugene prepared to meet the
+shock once more. George Fairburn took a long look, shading his eyes
+with his hands.
+
+"By Heaven, sir!" he said, addressing Colonel Rhodes, "they are our
+own men!"
+
+"Impossible, Fairburn!" the colonel answered. But Blackett and others
+backed up George's opinion. The word ran quickly along the line that
+the shots came from friends, not from the foe, and some consternation
+prevailed.
+
+The next moment, at a nod of assent from the colonel in answer to
+their eager request, Lieutenants Blackett and Fairburn were galloping
+madly across the intervening space, each with his handkerchief
+fastened to the point of his sword, and both shouting and
+gesticulating. Bullets began to patter around them, but heedless they
+dashed on. It seemed impossible they could reach the advancing column
+alive.
+
+Half the distance had been covered, when the two horsemen saw on their
+left a great body of troops tearing along towards them in furious
+haste. "The French!" George exclaimed; "there's no mistake about
+them!" On the two flew towards their friends, for the men towards whom
+they were speeding had by this time discovered their mistake and had
+ceased firing. It was a neck and neck race, and a very near thing. As
+the horsemen cleared the open space and dashed safe into the arms of
+their friends, a huge rabble of demoralized French swept across the
+path they had just been following. No narrower escape had the two
+young fellows yet had.
+
+The truth was at once evident. The Dutchman's division, having driven
+the enemy from the high ground, had wheeled, and was thus meeting the
+Prince's wing, which in its turn had advanced along a curving line.
+Each body in the growing darkness had mistaken the other for the
+enemy. The plucky dash made by the two young fellows, though happily
+not in the end needed, nevertheless received high praise from their
+brother officers, and especially from the colonel himself.
+
+For the next half-hour the fleeing French poured headlong through the
+gap across which the lieutenants had galloped, between the Dutchman's
+division and the Prince's. Darkness alone prevented the slaughter from
+being greater than it was. The numbers of those who fell on the field
+of Oudenarde, important as the battle was, were in fact far short of
+those killed at Blenheim or Ramillies.
+
+What was there now to prevent Marlborough from marching straight on
+Paris itself? He was actually on the borders of France, victorious,
+the French army behind him. He was eager; the home Government would
+almost certainly have approved of the step. The heart of many a young
+fellow under the great leader beat high, when he thought of the mighty
+possibilities before him. But it was not to be. The Prince raised the
+strongest objections to the Duke's bold plan, and the Dutch were
+terrified at the bare thought of it. So Marlborough turned him to
+another task, the siege of the great stronghold of Lille. It may be
+observed in passing that Vendôme wanted to fight again the next day
+after Oudenarde, but Burgundy refused. Vendôme in a rage declared that
+they must then retreat, adding, "and I know that you have long wished
+to do so," a bitter morsel for a royal duke to swallow.
+
+Lille had been fortified by no less a person than the great master of
+the art, Vauban himself. In charge of its garrison was Marshal
+Boufflers, a splendid officer. Louis was as resolute to defend and
+keep the place as the Allies were to take it. The actual investment of
+the town was placed in the hands of Eugene, whose men had by this time
+arrived, while Marlborough covered him. The siege train brought up by
+the Duke and his generals stretched to a distance of thirteen miles.
+Berwick and Vendôme were at no great distance away.
+
+The siege of Lille lasted a full two months, and few military
+operations have produced more splendid examples of individual dash and
+courage.
+
+Blackett and his friend found themselves one day taking part in a
+risky bit of business. Throughout the siege there had been some
+difficulty in procuring provisions for the Allies, and supplies were
+drawn from Ostend. On this occasion an expected convoy had not arrived
+to time, and a reconnoitring party had accordingly been sent out to
+glean tidings of it. From a wooded knoll a glimpse of the missing
+train was caught, and at the same moment a large body of French was
+perceived approaching from the opposite direction. The Frenchmen had
+not yet seen the convoy, being distant from it some miles, the
+intervening country thickly studded with plantations. But in half an
+hour the two bodies would have met, and the provisions sorely needed
+would have fallen into the enemy's hands. It was a disconcerting pass,
+and George Fairburn set his wits to work.
+
+"I have a plan!" he cried a moment later, and he hastily told it to
+the officer in command, Major Wilson. That gentleman gave an emphatic
+approval.
+
+Behold then, a quarter of an hour later, a couple of young peasants at
+work in a hayfield down below. Stolidly they tossed the hay as they
+slowly crossed the field, giving no heed to the tramp of horses near.
+A voice, authoritative and impatient, caused them to look round in
+wonderment, as a mounted officer came galloping up. He inquired of the
+peasants whether they had seen anything of the convoy, describing its
+probable appearance. The listeners grinned in response, and the face
+of one of them lit up with intelligence, as he made answer in voluble
+but countrified French.
+
+"Where have you picked up such vile French?" inquired the officer.
+
+"I'm from Dunkirk, please your honour," the man replied with another
+grin, to which the other muttered, "Ah! I suppose the French of
+Dunkirk is pretty bad!"
+
+In another minute the yokels were leading the way through a
+plantation, along which ran a little stream. At one spot the water was
+very muddy, and the marks of hoofs were plentiful. "We are evidently
+close upon them," remarked the officer jubilantly, and at a brisk trot
+he and his men rode on, a gold louis jingling down at the feet of the
+peasants as the party dashed away.
+
+"Now for it!" whispered George, for he and Matthew were the two
+rustics, "we can save the convoy. Our men, after trampling over the
+burn here, will have turned as we agreed. We shall find them in the
+next plantation."
+
+He was right in his conjecture. The two regained their friends just as
+the head of the convoy hove in sight. To lead the train in a different
+direction, and to safety, was now easy. The supplies reached their
+destination.
+
+"Ton my honour, young sirs," the Colonel exclaimed, when he learnt the
+story, "it was a smart trick, but a risky one--confoundedly risky,
+gentlemen!"
+
+The fall of Lille reduced France to desperation. Louis was at his
+wits' end. To his credit, he sought earnestly to negotiate a peace for
+his unhappy and exhausted country. The terms offered by the Allies,
+however, were too exacting, and not a Frenchman but rose to the
+occasion; this, however, was in the following year. So the campaign
+ended, the enemy beaten and exhausted, but not in utter despair.
+
+Captains Blackett and Fairburn were once more granted a term of leave
+when late autumn came round. From London, which George saw now for the
+first time, the two travelled all the way to Newcastle in the
+wonderful stage-coach which ran from the English to the Scotch
+capital.
+
+In high spirits they hurried towards their native village. At the
+entrance to it they came all at once upon a gentleman walking in the
+company of three ladies.
+
+"Fieldsend!" declared Matthew.
+
+"Yes, by Jove!" cried George, "And with three ladies all to himself.
+It's too much!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE HARDEST FIGHT OF THEM ALL
+
+
+There had been an attempted descent on the shores of Scotland in 1708,
+the Old Pretender, under the auspices of Louis XIV, seeking to land
+4,000 men in the Firth of Forth. Admiral Byng with sixteen vessels was
+ready for the French expedition, and their fear of the redoubtable
+sailor kept the enemy from doing anything, so that this attempt came
+to less even than that which followed seven years later.
+
+Politics about this time demanded much of Marlborough's care and
+thought. The power of the Whigs was still growing, Harley, St. John,
+and others of the moderate Tories giving way to such strong and active
+Whigs as Somers, Walpole, and Orford. It was in 1709 that a violent
+quarrel took place between "Mrs. Morley" and "Mrs. Freeman." The Queen
+was becoming more than ever dissatisfied with Marlborough's policy.
+The overthrow of the Churchills was coming nearer.
+
+Abroad matters did not improve. It was true that Stanhope, the English
+general, took Minorca. But the cause of Philip of Spain was now
+strong. When, therefore, the Whigs demanded that as a condition of
+peace Louis should turn his grandson out of Spain, Europe was
+astounded. The proposal was impossible, ludicrous. Philip prepared to
+go on with the conflict, saying, with fine spirit, "If I must continue
+the war, I will contend against my enemies rather than against my own
+family." Such was the state of things in the summer of 1709.
+
+We have left a group of ladies and gentlemen standing in the lane all
+this time. Matthew had his sister in his arms in a moment, for one of
+the ladies was Mary Blackett.
+
+"My sister," Fieldsend said, "and Miss Allan," by way of response to
+the inquiring looks of the newcomers. Then George and Matthew learnt
+many things that surprised them. They had had no news from home all
+the summer, the one letter that had been sent having miscarried.
+Binfield Towers was once more occupied, Mr. Fairburn having found an
+excellent tenant for the place in Mr. Allan, the eminent
+shipping-merchant of London, the very man into whose office George was
+to have gone. The little group laughed merrily at the thought of the
+gallant Captain Fairburn wielding a long quill in a dingy office. Mr.
+Allan, a widower, who had taken up his abode in the mansion, bringing
+with him his only daughter, Janet, had not been two months in the
+village before he had made an offer of marriage to the devoted Mrs.
+Maynard, and the old lady was now mistress of Binfield Towers. Mary
+Blackett had thereupon taken at their word the affectionate offer of
+the Fairburns, and was now to them as a daughter. Nor was this all.
+Fieldsend's old father had lately died, and the Major himself had
+succeeded to the baronetcy and had left the army. Brother and sister
+had accepted with pleasure the invitation that had come to them to
+spend a few weeks with the kindly Mr. and Mrs. Fairburn. Matthew was
+to make the same hospitable roof his abode.
+
+"The good old dad will find it a bit of a squeeze," George ruminated,
+as he walked with the rest towards the family cottage. Cottage! He
+gave a jump when the home came into full view. It was a veritable
+mansion. The original nucleus was there, but so deftly added to and
+surrounded by a regular series of new wings, and so framed and
+embellished by wide lawn and flower-bed that George did not know this
+fine place. He remarked on the change when his mother came to his room
+at bedtime, to give him his good-night kiss as she had been wont to do
+in the days of old.
+
+"Father wanted to make the place a bit more presentable now we have an
+officer son," the good dame explained, with simple and pardonable
+pride. "And we can afford it," she added, blushing like a shy
+schoolgirl as she made this whispered confession; "besides we had Mary
+to consider, too." It was all very charming, George thought.
+
+The winter passed all too quickly. Mr. Allan proved to be a capital
+neighbour, and had a great liking for young people about him. So there
+were pleasant times, at the Towers--dinners, balls, shooting and
+hunting parties, and the like. All the eligible society of the
+country-side found its way to Binfield Towers. Yet somehow George
+Fairburn did not fall into a fit of the blues when Sir Mark Fieldsend
+took his sister back to their west-country home; in fact, strange to
+say, George rather rejoiced to see the back of the retired major, his
+old comrade-in-arms. Why this was so he would have found it hard to
+explain, for a more unassuming and agreeable fellow than the baronet
+it would not have been easy to find.
+
+It was a real delight to everybody to hear how the Blackett pit was
+now prospering. Under Fairburn's management the colliery had made a
+clear profit of five thousand odd pounds in the course of a single
+year's working. It was astounding. "Mary and you will be rich folks
+again, my dears," the good Mrs. Fairburn remarked, in her own homely
+but kindly way, to the brother and sister, and Matthew felt a lump in
+his throat.
+
+The wrench to George, when the time came for him and Matthew to return
+to the Continent, seemed somehow vastly greater than it had been on
+the two former occasions. However, once across the sea, he cast all
+else than his profession to the winds. He did not know it, of course,
+but the campaign that was coming was to prove to the Allies the most
+costly they had yet experienced. The negotiations for a peace had
+ended in nothing, and here was Marshal Villars, the only great French
+leader as yet unbeaten by Marlborough, ready with a force of no fewer
+than 110,000 men. True, many of his soldiers were raw recruits while
+those of his opponent were mostly seasoned veterans. True also, France
+was so crippled for money and munitions of war that it was rarely
+possible to give every man of the army a full breakfast. Yet Villars
+was a general that would have to be reckoned with, and this
+Marlborough well knew when he used every effort to swell the numbers
+of his troops in the Netherlands.
+
+Marlborough's aim was that of the previous year, to force his way into
+France and to its capital. In order that such a step might be made
+possible, it was necessary that no stronghold should be left behind.
+Accordingly the Allies set about reducing the three that still
+remained,--Mons, Valenciennes, and Tournai, not forgetting that they
+had also Villars to deal with. A beginning was made with Tournai, an
+enormously strong place, and reckoned to be of the best of all
+Vauban's works.
+
+Marlborough employed stratagem, and it succeeded as usual. He made a
+pretence of advancing, and Villars, to strengthen his force, withdrew
+a number of troops from Tournai. Then the Duke, with a swift night
+movement, invested the town. The garrison made a stout defence, and
+our two captains had their work cut out for them. Never in all his
+career had George Fairburn been so careless of his own safety, his
+brother officers declared. It was not that he despised danger, or was
+ignorant of its existence; he simply did not think of it, his mind
+being occupied solely with the problem of reducing this impregnable
+fortress.
+
+"Be not rash, gentlemen," Colonel Rhodes thought it advisable to say
+to the younger men among his officers. "There are mines in all
+directions, if rumour is to be believed. Do not expose yourselves to
+needless risk. We are already losing heavily, and men are not to be
+had for the whistling." And privately the kindly old fellow--the
+youngsters called him old, though he was still short of fifty--added
+an extra word of caution to George. "You are a born soldier, Fairburn,
+but you never seem to be able to remember when you are in danger; you
+forget it like a thoughtless schoolboy. Well, now, for our sakes, if
+not for your own, take care of yourself, so far as it is possible,
+there's a good fellow." And with a kindly smile and a fatherly shake
+of the hand, the colonel turned away. He had said the last word he was
+ever to say to George.
+
+An hour later a terrific explosion was heard; a cloud of dust flew
+into the air. A mine had been exploded, and the report came in that
+more than a hundred poor fellows of Marlborough's forces had perished.
+George Fairburn was more than ever determined to do what he could to
+discover hidden mines.
+
+That very afternoon a company of men, who had prosecuted their search
+in spite of the deadly hail of bullets that came from a neighbouring
+battery, found another mine, a particularly formidable affair. Eagerly
+George Fairburn pressed forward, his friend Matthew close behind.
+Suddenly Colonel Rhodes dashed up, crying, "Fall back, for Heaven's
+sake! There's another mine below this, I have just learnt. For your
+lives!" And the brave man galloped off, his retreat followed by a
+startled rush for safety on the part of the men.
+
+"Come along, George! What are you after?" cried Matthew, observing
+that his friend did not budge.
+
+"I'm not going till I've settled this mine," Fairburn answered.
+
+Even as they spoke the ground heaved with a mighty convulsion beneath
+their feet, and an appalling roar rent the air, the echo resounding
+far and near.
+
+"Ah! You're feeling better? That's right."
+
+George Fairburn opened his eyes and beheld the face of none other than
+the Duke himself gazing kindly down upon him! It was the evening after
+the fearful explosion, and Marlborough was making a tour of the
+hospital wards, where lay long rows of wounded men. George had been
+unconscious, and the Duke's words were caused by the fact that the
+young man happened to open his eyes for the first time as the General
+passed him. Before the sick man could answer a word, Marlborough had
+passed on, with a quiet remark to Major Wilson, "I know the lad's face
+well."
+
+"Where's Blackett?" George now inquired. The Major shook his head.
+"And the Colonel?" Another mournful shake. George closed his eyes
+dazed, stupefied.
+
+Three hundred poor fellows had perished in that double explosion.
+Colonel Rhodes's battered body had been picked up; Blackett's could
+not be distinguished, but doubtless the gallant lad was one of the
+mass of victims whose remains were mangled beyond recognition.
+
+Captain Fairburn took no further part in the siege of Tournai. After a
+month of terrible fighting, all but the citadel was captured by the
+Allies, and five weeks saw that also in their possession.
+
+There was a long glade or clearing between two extensive plantations.
+At the southern end of this glade, behind strong entrenchments, the
+great army of Villars was drawn up, every man eager to fight, for
+every Frenchman believed in the Marshal's luck, and that his presence
+would certainly bring them victory. Away to the north was Marlborough,
+equally eager to begin the combat, Eugene and the Dutch generals with
+him. In deference to the wishes of the Prince the Duke had made the
+fatal mistake of waiting two days, and all that time the enemy had
+been throwing up their formidable trenches. It was the famous field of
+Malplaquet, the last on which Marlborough was fated to fight a pitched
+battle. The object of Villars was to prevent the Allies from taking
+Mons, not far away, to northwards, the siege of which was in progress.
+Marlborough had lost heavily at Tournai; Villars, behind his defences,
+had suffered comparatively little. But on the other hand the Prince of
+Hesse had broken through the strong line of defence works which the
+French had rapidly and skilfully thrown up. Now, here, at Malplaquet,
+the Allies had a hard task before them. Villars held not only the
+glade but the woods on either side, and, moreover, sat in safety
+behind his extensive entrenchments.
+
+For some reason not well understood the Duke for the first time began
+the battle, though it would have seemed clearly his best policy to
+endeavour to draw Villars from the strong position he held. There was
+little in the way of fine tactics displayed, or even possible, on
+either side; it was a question simply of sheer pluck and dogged
+determination. The Highlanders, for the first time, had joined the
+army of the Allies, and they and the famous Irish Brigade under
+Villars specially distinguished themselves, if any detachment can be
+said to have gained special distinction in a fight where all showed
+such conspicuous gallantry.
+
+Eugene was wounded behind the ear, but refused to withdraw and have
+his wound dressed. "No," said he, "it will be time enough for that
+when the fight is over." Villars was also badly hurt, yet he had a
+chair brought, in which he sat to direct his men till he fainted.
+Boufflers, the hero of Lille, took his place.
+
+Charge after charge was made by the Allies into the woods, and
+desperate fighting took place. Once and again Marlborough's troops
+were repulsed with awful loss; as often they returned to the attack.
+After four hours of heavy fighting the French fell back, and the
+victory remained with the Allies.
+
+Just before Villars sounded his retreat George Fairburn, who had
+charged and fought all the while with his usual forgetfulness of
+himself and of danger, found himself just outside the eastern edge of
+the wood Taisnière, in company with the others of his troop. He was
+almost exhausted with his efforts, and, besides, was hardly himself
+again yet, after his terrible experience at Tournai, and he sat for a
+moment half listlessly in his saddle. A cry near him drew his
+attention, and, turning his head, he beheld Major Wilson in the act of
+falling from his charger. He had received a bullet in the leg. Before
+George could get to this side, Wilson was on the ground, his horse
+galloping away.
+
+At the same instant a fierce shout was heard, and George saw dashing
+to the spot one of the redoubtable Irish Brigade. Like lightning the
+young captain leapt from his horse, lifted Wilson from the ground, and
+by main strength threw him across the animal, crying, "Off with you!"
+giving the horse a thump with his fist on the quarters to start him
+into a gallop. Then, looking round, he found the Irishman bearing down
+upon him at desperate speed, and but a yard or two away.
+
+In a trice Fairburn darted behind the trunk of a fine tree at his
+elbow. It was an oak, from which ran out some magnificent limbs
+parallel with and at a distance of six or eight feet from the ground.
+Nothing heeding, the Irishman kept on, his sword ready for a mighty
+stroke. Then instantly he was swept violently from his horse, and
+backwards over the tail, his chest having come into contact with one
+of the great boughs. All this had passed like a flash.
+
+George made a grab at the bridle, but, missing it, fell sprawling to
+the ground. Springing up, he found his fallen antagonist risen and
+upon him. "English dog!" roared the Irishman, and the next moment the
+two men were at it, both excited, both reckless.
+
+How long they fought they never knew. Apparently the spot was deserted
+save for themselves and sundry wounded who lay around. It was a
+desperate encounter. The Irishman had the advantage in height and
+strength, Fairburn in youth and activity. In the matter of
+swordsmanship there was little to choose between the two; in respect
+of courage nothing. It was to be a duel to the death.
+
+The moments flew by, each man had received injuries, and the blood was
+flowing freely. Still the swords flashed in the air. Then suddenly the
+Irishman's weapon snapped at the hilt, and the gallant fellow dropped
+at the same moment to the ground. Instantly George set his foot on the
+prostrate man's chest, and cried, "Now your life is at my mercy! What
+say you?"
+
+"If I must die, I must," the Irishman answered doggedly, "but," he
+added quickly, a sudden thought striking him, "take this first, and
+see it put into the hands of the person mentioned on it, sir." The
+trooper pulled from his breast a piece of paper soiled and crumpled,
+and George, wondering much, took it at the man's hands. His foot still
+on his fallen foe, Fairburn unfolded the dirty and tattered paper. It
+was the cover of a letter, and he read with staring eyes the address
+on it, "To Captain M. Blackett,--Dragoons." The handwriting he well
+knew; it was that of Mary Blackett.
+
+"Great Heaven!" the reader cried, "where did you get this?"
+
+"It was given me by a poor fellow, an officer, who escaped from the
+big explosion at Tournai. He blundered by mistake into our lines, and
+our fellows were about to finish him--leastways one chap was, but I
+landed him one between his two eyes, and that stopped his game."
+
+"And you saved the Englishman's life?"
+
+"I did, sir; I thought it hard luck when the young fellow had just
+escaped that terrific blow up as he had, to put an end to him the
+minute after."
+
+"Get up, for God's sake, man; you have saved the life of my dearest
+friend!" And seizing the Irishman's arm, George pulled him to his
+feet, and wrung the hand hard in his own. "You are a fine fellow, a
+right fine fellow. What is your name? I shall never forget you."
+
+"Sergeant Oborne, sir, at your service. But you have not read the
+paper yet."
+
+"True," and George deciphered the line or two written in pencil on the
+back of the paper. "I am alive and well, but a prisoner with the
+French. Be easy about me; I am well treated. M.B."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+Almost before Captain Fairburn had read the last word of Matthew's
+communication, so cheering and so strangely brought into his hands,
+the French signal to retreat sounded loud all over the field, a
+mournful sound to one of the two listeners, a delight to the other,
+George and Oborne glanced into each other's face. "What will you do?"
+the former asked.
+
+"I am your prisoner and defenceless; it is not for me to say," the
+Irishman answered simply.
+
+"Nay, not so, good fellow. You shall do exactly as you prefer, so far
+as I am concerned. I can do no less for you."
+
+The prisoner shrugged his shoulders and muttered something about
+catching it hot, if he ran, to which the captor replied, "So you
+would, I am afraid, if any of our men got near you. We have lost
+heavily, and our temper's a bit ruffled for the moment. If you care to
+come with me as my prisoner I'll see you through safe. What's more,
+I'll do my best to get you exchanged for the man you saved."
+
+"Thank you, captain; that's my best card to play, as things are going.
+But I'd have given something to have it the other way about."
+
+"Of course you would, my good fellow. It's the fortune of war; I'm up
+to-day, you're up to-morrow. And you've no cause to be anything but
+mighty proud of yourselves--you of the Irish Brigade. I never saw
+better stuff than you've turned out this day."
+
+"And many's the thanks, son. A bit o' praise comes sweet even from an
+enemy."
+
+"Enemies only professionally, Oborne; in private life we're from
+to-day the best of friends."
+
+At a later hour Sergeant Oborne informed Fairburn that he had carried
+Captain Blackett's paper about with him for some little time, having
+had no opportunity of passing it on to any likely Englishman, or
+having forgotten it when he had the opportunity.
+
+The slaughter at Malplaquet was terrible on the side of the Allies,
+amounting to 20,000, or one-fifth of the whole number engaged. The
+French, who had fought under shelter, lost only about one half of that
+total. Mons surrendered shortly afterwards, and the victory was
+complete, the road to Paris open. Yet what a victory! Villars declared
+to his royal master that if the French were vouchsafed such another
+defeat, there would be left to them no enemies at all.
+
+This proved to be the Duke of Marlborough's last great battle and his
+last great victory. "A deluge of blood" it had been. And, what was
+worse, rarely has a great victory produced so little fruit.
+Marlborough had quite expected to see his success at Malplaquet put an
+end to the war. It did nothing of the kind; for two more years the war
+continued. The rest of its story, however, may be told in a very few
+words.
+
+Louis XIV once more asked for peace, and made certain offers to the
+Allies, but these would be contented with nothing less than the
+expulsion of Philip from Spain. The conference, at Gertruydenberg,
+therefore came to nothing. This was in the early part of 1710. The
+work of capturing the fortresses in French Flanders and the province
+of Artois was proceeded with, and in 1711 Marlborough took Bouchain,
+in France. But the Duke had apparently lost heart to some extent, and
+there was no very vigorous action. At home the war had become hateful
+to a very large proportion of the people; its cost in men and money
+frightened them.
+
+The year 1710 was a busy and a decisive time in Spain. At first
+success seemed to lean to the side of the Allies, General Stanhope,
+the English leader, defeating the French and Spanish at Almanza, and
+the Dutch General Staremberg doing the like at Saragossa. Charles the
+Archduke, styling himself Charles III, now for the first time entered
+Madrid. It was also the last time. Presently Stanhope was badly
+defeated at the important battle of Brihuega, and Staremberg shortly
+afterwards lost at Villa Viciosa. This decided matters in Spain.
+Charles was compelled to flee the country, and Philip's throne was
+finally secured to him.
+
+The end of the war came in an altogether unexpected and strange
+fashion. This was the sudden downfall of the Marlboroughs and of the
+Whig interest. For some time the Queen had been tired of the Duchess
+of Marlborough, and had been inclining more and more to Mrs. Masham,
+formerly Abigail Hill, a cousin of Harley, through whom the minister
+was intriguing for the overthrow of the Churchills. Then Dr.
+Sacheverell, a London clergyman, afterwards so notorious, had preached
+violently against the Whigs, who were foolish enough to impeach him.
+Sacheverell was suspended for three years, and in consequence became
+exceedingly popular among the Tories, and their party gained greatly
+in the country. Moreover the writings of certain pamphleteers tended
+much to damage the cause of the Whigs. Dean Swift was at once the
+ablest and the bitterest of these. Harley managed to get Godolphin
+dismissed from office. And one day, early in 1711, Anne suddenly took
+from the Duchess her various offices at Court, while later in the same
+year the Duke himself was deprived of his command of the army, and was
+succeeded by the Irish peer Ormonde. He, however, was ordered to take
+no active steps in the war which was still in theory going on. A
+general election came soon after, and the Tories had a large majority
+over the Whigs. The Tories came into office, and all Whig members of
+the Whig ministry were dismissed. From that time to the present the
+principle has obtained of having the King's Ministers, or the Cabinet,
+with the other chief administrators, drawn from the same side in
+politics.
+
+The Tories now sought to bring to a close a war that had become so
+unpopular. Louis XIV was also suing for peace. Then in 1711 the
+Emperor Joseph died, and his brother the Archduke succeeded him as
+Charles VI. It was now useless to trouble further to support or oppose
+the claims of either candidate for the Spanish throne. Spain might as
+well be in the hands of a Frenchman as be assigned to the powerful
+Emperor. It would have been absurd, in short, for England to go on
+fighting for Charles.
+
+The famous treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, brought the war to an end. By
+this treaty several important matters were settled. Philip retained
+Spain, but gave up for ever his claim to the throne of France. Louis
+acknowledged the Hanoverian succession, and gave back to the Dutch the
+line of "barrier fortresses" about which so much blood had been shed.
+France gave up to Britain Newfoundland and some other possessions in
+North America, and Spain resigned Gibraltar and Minorca. The Emperor
+received Milan, Sardinia, and Naples. The rest of the Allies received
+little or nothing, and loud was the outcry they raised.
+
+George Fairburn did not remain abroad till the conclusion of peace.
+During the year 1710, at a time when things were at a standstill in
+the Netherlands, he received word that his father had been killed in
+an accident at the pit. With a heavy heart he sought permission to
+return home for a period, and in pursuing his application he found
+himself in the presence of the great commander-in-chief himself. To
+his delight Marlborough recognized him at once. The Duke was full of
+sympathy, and not only readily granted the young captain any
+reasonable leave of absence he might desire, but held out his hand
+with a smile, as he dismissed him: "Major Fairburn, you go with my
+sympathy and my regard. I have few young fellows under me of whom I
+think more highly." And in spite of his terrible bereavement the
+newly-promoted officer left his master's presence with a swelling
+heart.
+
+With him travelled home Matthew Blackett, whose release George, to his
+delight, had managed, though with difficulty. The gallant Sergeant
+Oborne had also been exchanged for an English prisoner in French
+hands. An additional pleasure to both George and Matthew was an
+intimation that Matthew, too, had been raised to the rank of major in
+recognition of his excellent service throughout the war. As it proved,
+neither officer ever served under Marlborough again.
+
+The months flew by. Mr. Fairburn was found to have left a far larger
+fortune than the world had dreamt of, the sum amounting to fully fifty
+thousand pounds. George and his ageing mother were rich. Matthew
+Blackett had taken to the management of the joint collieries, strange
+to say, and was preparing to leave the army as soon as he could do so
+conveniently. Major Fairburn, on the other hand, was first and last a
+soldier, and he hoped some day to have further opportunities of rising
+in his profession.
+
+The Queen was in a very bad state of health; she might die any day.
+But the Electress Sophia died first, and her son, Prince George of
+Hanover, became the next heir to the throne, a prospect not much to
+the liking of many in England. Some of the leading Tories were making
+preparations for a revolution in favour of the Pretender, but the
+death of Anne came before their preparations were complete, and George
+of Hanover was quietly proclaimed as George I.
+
+Before Marlborough died George Fairburn was a lieutenant-colonel, and,
+as he happened to be stationed for a time at Windsor, he and his wife,
+the Mary Blackett of old, had more than once the honour of an
+invitation to Windsor Park, the Duke's favourite abode, his great
+palace of Blenheim being not yet ready for him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We hear of our hero, many long years after all this, a stout old
+soldier, General Sir George Fairburn, taking part in the memorable
+chase after the Young Pretender in 1745, and the subsequent great
+fight at Culloden.
+
+"And I tell you, sir," said Mr. Matthew Blackett, member for Langkirk,
+as he told the story to a crony in the smoking-room of his club,
+White's, "I tell you, sir, he trod Culloden Moor with all the vigour
+and fire he had when we marched with Marlborough to Malplaquet."
+
+
+
+
+REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE
+
+IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
+
+
+1. THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN
+
+This question, especially after the death of all Anne's children,
+became a most important one. The Whigs and the country in general were
+bent upon securing a Protestant succession, but there were some,
+especially amongst the Tories, who were secret supporters of the
+Pretender, James Stuart, son of James II. The Act of Settlement had
+provided for the accession of Sophia as the nearest Protestant
+descendant of James I, on the failure of Anne's issue. At one time the
+Scotch Parliament threatened to elect as king a different sovereign
+from that of England, unless Scotland should be given the same
+commercial privileges as England possessed. The Act of Security,
+passed in 1704, declared as much. Both Bolingbroke and Harley were in
+correspondence with the Pretender, and it was only through the death
+of the Queen earlier than had been expected that a revolution in
+favour of the exiled Stuarts was averted.
+
+
+2. GOVERNMENT BY PARTY
+
+Until the reign of Anne what we now call Party Government was unknown.
+We may see the beginnings of the division of politicians into Whig and
+Tory in the Roundhead and Cavalier factions in the reign of Charles I.
+Government by the one strong man of the time--a Burleigh, a Cromwell,
+a Marlborough--was the usual thing. Marlborough was the last who tried
+to govern without party. During the reign of Anne the Whigs and Tories
+were combined in varying proportions, till the final return of a Tory
+House of Commons and the formation of a purely Tory ministry, in 1711.
+From that time Party Government, as we now understand it, has
+generally prevailed.
+
+
+3. POWER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE MINISTERS
+
+Anne was good-natured, and not disposed to give herself too much
+trouble, which made it possible for her ministers to wield more power
+over the country and its destinies. Nevertheless, the Queen had a will
+of her own, and made her influence felt, especially in Church matters.
+On the whole, however, Parliament and the Ministers gained in
+importance and influence during the reign. Marlborough, Harley, St.
+John, Rochester, Nottingham, were some of the leading ministers, and
+towards the end of the reign Sir Robert Walpole is first heard of as a
+politician.
+
+
+4. THE QUESTION OF THE SUCCESSION TO THE SPANISH THRONE
+
+When Philip of Bourbon, the grandson of Louis XIV, was proclaimed as
+Philip V of Spain, England, Holland, and some other nations felt that
+the peace of Europe, or rather the freedom of the rest of it, were
+threatened by the union of two such mighty powers. Accordingly the
+Allies set up in opposition the Archduke Charles of Austria, and it
+was in support of the claims of Charles to the throne of Spain that
+all the wars of Anne's reign were waged. When at length Charles became
+Emperor, the Allies had no farther reason for fighting, as it would
+have been equally adverse to the interests of the rest of the
+Continent to combine Spain and the Empire. Philip thus remained King
+of Spain, though he had to renounce his claims to France.
+
+
+5. THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
+
+The project for the union of the two countries had been talked of for
+some time, but there were difficulties concerning religious matters,
+trade, and the refusal of Scotland to pay any of the English debt, in
+the way. By the Act of Security Sophia was declared to be ineligible
+for the Scottish throne, and England was in alarm. A commission was
+appointed to consider the question of the union, and the Act of Union
+was passed in 1707. Many Scotchmen were greatly opposed to the step,
+yet it cannot be denied that Scotland herself has been a great gainer
+by the Union.
+
+
+6. THE NATIONAL DEBT
+
+The borrowing of money to pay for wars did not originate in the reign
+of Anne, but the War of the Spanish Succession added no less a sum
+than twenty-two millions to the indebtedness of the country, and from
+that time the National Debt began to assume large proportions. Many
+people were greatly alarmed at the state of things in this respect,
+and there were many who prophesied the speedy bankruptcy of the
+nation.
+
+
+7. PEACE AT HOME
+
+This reign is remarkable for the entire absence of internal risings
+and disaffections. Only one person was executed for treason.
+
+
+8. LITERATURE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON POLITICS
+
+This has been called the Augustan age of English Literature. Pope,
+Addison, Steele, Swift, Defoe, Sir Isaac Newton, Vanbrugh, Congreve,
+Farquhar, Prior, Parnell, Colley Cibber, Gilbert Burnet, and others
+flourished. The first daily newspaper, the _Daily Courant_, was
+published in 1709. Pamphleteers, chief among them Swift, Addison, and
+Defoe, by their writings played a great part in politics, there being
+no newspaper press to mould people's opinions. No other period in
+English history, except, perhaps, the times of Shakespeare, has
+produced so many notable writers.
+
+
+9. THE PEOPLE
+
+The population of England in this reign is supposed to have been about
+five millions. London itself contained half a million, but even the
+best of the provincial towns were small, as we reckon populations
+nowadays. Bristol, the second town in size, possessed not more than
+some thirty thousand souls, while York, Norwich, and Exeter, which
+came next, had considerably fewer people than that. The bulk of the
+people lived in the country, either in the villages, or in the petty
+market-towns which were not much superior. The country squire class
+was the most important in the community. Below this, but likewise
+occupying a very important position in the country, were the clergy
+and yeomen. Probably at no time was the yeoman class more numerous,
+more prosperous, and more influential. The squire was in point of
+education often inferior to the well-to-do farmer of our own day, but
+very proud of his family.
+
+
+10. THE CLERGY
+
+The clergymen of the period were, as a rule, especially in the remoter
+districts, men of inferior standing, often of low origin and of little
+learning. They were badly paid, generally speaking, and often had to
+eke out a slender income by taking to farming pursuits. It was not at
+all unusual for the clergyman to marry the lady's maid or other of the
+upper servants in the great family of his neighbourhood. Queen Anne,
+to relieve the poverty of the poorer livings, founded the fund known
+as Queen Anne's Bounty, giving up for the purpose the _first-fruits_
+and the _tenths_. It is worth noting that the terms Low and High
+Churchmen were political rather than religious terms, the former being
+applied to the Whigs, and the latter to the Tories.
+
+
+11. DWELLINGS
+
+The style of architecture known as that of Queen Anne prevailed at
+this time, and many a country mansion of this date, red-bricked and
+many-windowed, is still to be seen in England. But the houses of the
+poor were for the most part still wretched, of mud or plaster, and
+badly thatched. The windows were small and few in number; the
+furniture was scanty and mean; sanitary matters were scarcely attended
+to at all. But the growing prosperity of the country was beginning to
+show itself in the better equipment and furnishing of the household,
+particularly among the yeomen and the rising town tradesmen. Advantage
+was taken of the Great Fire to improve the streets and dwellings of
+the capital.
+
+
+12. DRESS
+
+Among the gentry the influence of the magnificent court of Louis XIV
+began to make itself felt in the matter of dress, and both gentlemen
+and ladies affected gay attire. The hoop-petticoat came into fashion,
+and the dress was looped up at intervals to show the richly-coloured
+skirt below. The gentlemen wore knee-breeches and silk stockings, the
+former ornamented with knots of ribbon; the scarf was very full and
+rich, and often fell in folds over the front of the waistcoat; the
+coat was usually gaily coloured. Swords were worn by the gallants, and
+the periwig was seen everywhere in high society. The dress of the
+lower ranks was of sober colour, and of stout but coarse texture. The
+women wore homespun, and sometimes home-woven linsey-woolsies. The use
+of linen and silk was coming in among those in better circumstances.
+
+
+13. FOOD AND DRINK
+
+Tea was only just beginning to be known, and was a luxury for the
+rich. In London the coffee-houses were everywhere, playing a great
+part in the life of the capital, at least among those whom we should
+now call clubmen. The common drink was still beer, and, among the farm
+hands, milk. Port, till the Methuen treaty, was almost unknown in
+England. Even the gentry, as a rule, did not drink wine at ordinary
+times. The poorer classes rarely tasted flesh meat, except bacon,
+which latter cottagers in the country were generally able to command,
+every cottage having its pig. The best white wheaten bread was used by
+the richer folk only, the poorer eating coarse and dark bread, of
+whole-meal, of rye, or even of barley. Pewter was the ware in common
+use, except among the labourer class, who had wooden trenchers, or a
+coarse unglazed delft.
+
+
+14. INDUSTRIES
+
+The main occupation of the country was still farming, with fishing,
+shipbuilding, and seafaring on the coast. The manufacture of silk,
+woollen, and linen goods, now occupying so many millions of folk in
+the North and the Midlands, was then carried on mainly in the small
+towns and villages, or even in the lonely wayside or moorland cottage.
+The great manufacturing towns, such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham,
+and Sheffield are now, were nowhere to be found in the England of
+Queen Anne; but their day was coming. London was the great centre of
+the silk trade, and after it came Norwich, Coventry, Derby, and
+Nottingham. The cotton industry of Manchester and the surrounding
+towns in South Lancashire was making a start, while Leeds, Bradford,
+and Halifax, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, were just beginning to
+give their attention to the cloth trade on a larger scale. The trade
+with other countries was growing rapidly, Bristol being, next to
+London, the chief port. Hull, Liverpool, Southampton, and Newcastle
+were still small places. It is to be noted that the earliest notions
+of what we now call _free trade_ are to be traced back to the days of
+the later Stuart sovereigns. Bolingbroke made certain proposals in
+that direction, but his plans were rejected by the Whigs.
+Stage-coaches began to run, the earliest being those between London
+and York, and between London and Exeter. A vast improvement in the
+high-roads soon came in consequence. The first General Post Office for
+the whole kingdom dates back to the reign of Queen Anne.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS
+
+
+1702  (February 20). Queen's Accession, on the death of
+      William III.
+
+      War of the Spanish Succession begun (May). England,
+      Holland, and the Empire against France and Spain:
+      to determine the succession to the Crown of Spain.
+      Two claimants, Philip, grandson of Louis XIV, and
+      Archduke Charles of Austria, the latter supported by
+      England and her allies.
+
+      Duke of Marlborough, in command of allied forces, took
+      the strongholds of Venloo, Ruremonde, and Liége;
+      France cut off from Holland and Lower Rhine.
+      Marlborough made a duke.
+
+      Spanish fleet at Vigo captured by Sir George Rooke.
+
+      Godolphin appointed Lord Treasurer, and Nottingham
+      a Secretary of State.
+
+      Louis of Baden defeated by French at Friedlingen.
+
+      Battle of Cremona: French stopped by Eugene of Savoy
+      from entering the Tyrol.
+
+
+1703  Second Grand Alliance. (First Grand Alliance in 1689.)
+      Nearly all Germany, and Savoy join the coalition
+      against the French.
+
+      French marching in the direction of Vienna.
+
+      Methuen Treaty; Portugal joined the Alliance.
+
+      Marlborough hampered by the Dutch Government and
+      unable to follow the French.
+
+      Marlborough took Bonn; giving command of Upper
+      Rhine.
+
+
+1704  Battle of Donauwörth. Eugene joined Marlborough.
+
+      (August 4). Gibraltar taken by Sir George Rooke,
+      Sir George Byng, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel.
+
+      (August 13). Blenheim. Marlborough and Eugene
+      defeated French and Bavarians under Marshals
+      Tallard and Marsin. Vienna saved: Marlborough
+      received Woodstock Manor as a reward.
+
+      Act of Security passed by Scotch Parliament.
+
+
+1705  Marlborough opposed by Allies, and prevented from
+      marching into France.
+
+      Barcelona taken by Lord Peterborough; the Catalan
+      district of Spain won for the Archduke Charles.
+
+      Coalition between the more moderate Tories and the
+      Whigs.
+
+
+1706  Ramillies (May 12), won by Marlborough against Villeroy:
+
+      Allies occupied Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges,
+      Ostend, a line of fortresses cutting off French from
+      Holland.
+
+      Turin besieged by French: siege raised by Prince
+      Eugene.
+
+
+1707  Capitulation of Milan signed by Louis: Milan and
+      Naples secured to Archduke Charles.
+
+      Minorca captured by General Stanhope.
+
+      Battle of Almanza (Spain): English under Lord
+      Galway surrendered.
+
+      Ghent and Bruges retaken by French.
+
+      Whig resolution not to make peace so long as a Bourbon
+      ruled in Spain.
+
+      Union with Scotland (October 23): Scotland to send
+      sixteen peers and forty-five Commoners to United
+      Houses of Parliament: Law and Church of Scotland
+      left untouched: privileges of trade and coinage to
+      be the same for both countries.
+
+
+1708  Harley and St. John dismissed: Whigs came into power
+      (July 11). Oudenarde: Marlborough and Eugene
+      defeated Vendôme: Lille secured. Bruges and
+      Ghent retaken by Allies.
+
+      Attempted landing in Scotland by the Pretender
+      prevented.
+
+
+1709  Peace Conference at the Hague. Louis declined to
+      remove his grandson from the throne of Spain.
+
+      (September 11). Malplaquet: Marlborough and Eugene
+      defeated Villars.
+
+      Mons taken by the Allies.
+
+      Quarrel between the Queen and the Duchess of Marlborough.
+
+      Dr. Sacheverell's sermons.
+
+
+1710  Peace proposals by Louis at Gertruydenberg rejected.
+
+      Dr. Sacheverell sentenced: Tory party greatly helped
+      thereby.
+
+      Battle of Almenara (Spain): French and Spanish
+      defeated by Stanhope.
+
+      Battle of Saragossa: French and Spanish defeated by
+      Stanhope.
+
+      Battle of Brihuega: Stanhope beaten by Vendôme.
+
+      Battle of Villa Viciosa: General Staremberg defeated
+      by Vendôme: Spain secured for Philip V.
+
+      Bouchain taken by Marlborough.
+
+      Fall of the Whigs.
+
+      General Post Office established.
+
+      St. Paul's Cathedral finished.
+
+
+1711  All Whigs dismissed from office, and Tories alone to
+      form the Ministry, thus establishing the principle
+      that the members of the Cabinet should all be of
+      the same political party.
+
+      Duchess of Marlborough supplanted by Mrs. Masham.
+
+      Death of the Emperor Joseph, and accession of Archduke
+      Charles: no farther need now to continue
+      the war.
+
+      Tories determined to put an end to the war.
+
+
+1712  Twelve new Tory peers created to destroy the Whig
+      majority which was in favour of continuing the war.
+
+      Marlborough deprived of his command: Ormonde to
+      succeed him.
+
+      Peace Conference at Utrecht.
+
+      Act against Occasional Conformity.
+
+
+1713  (March 3). Treaty of Utrecht: Spain to Philip:
+      Minorca and Gibraltar to England: Spanish lands
+      in Italy and Netherlands to Emperor Charles: Sicily
+      to Savoy. Prussia made a kingdom.
+
+
+1714  Quarrel between Harley and Bolingbroke: Harley
+      dismissed.
+
+      Schism Act: schoolmasters to belong to the Church of
+      England.
+
+      Bolingbroke's free trade proposals defeated by the Whigs.
+
+      Death of Electress Sophia: George of Hanover now heir
+      to the British throne.
+
+      (July 30). Death of Anne: Accession of George I.
+
+
+
+
+Oxford: HORACE HART, Printer to the University
+
+
+
+
+Herbert Strang's Stories for Boys
+
+_SOME PRESS OPINIONS_
+
+
+ATHENAEUM:--'Herbert Strang is second to none in graphic power and
+veracity.'
+
+SPECTATOR:--'Mr. Strang's name will suffice to assure us that the
+subject is seriously treated,'
+
+SATURDAY REVIEW:--'Excellent as many of the best stories by the best
+writers for boys are, we feel that he is first of them all.'
+
+SPEAKER:--'Not only the best living writer of books for boys, but a
+born teacher of history.'
+
+GUARDIAN:--'Mr. Strang's care and accuracy in detail are far beyond
+those of the late Mr. Henty, while he tells a story infinitely
+better.'
+
+CHURCH TIMES:--'If the place of the late G.A. Henty can be filled
+it will be by Mr. Herbert Strang, whose finely-written and
+historically accurate books are winning him fame.'
+
+SCHOOLMASTER:--'Mr. Strang is entitled to premier place amongst
+writers of stories that equally interest boys and adults.'
+
+STANDARD:--'It has become a commonplace of criticism to describe Mr.
+Strang as the wearer of the mantle of the late G.A. Henty.... We will
+go further, and say that the disciple is greater than the master.'
+
+DAILY TELEGRAPH:--'Boys who read Mr. Strang's works have not merely
+the advantage of perusing enthralling and wholesome tales, but they
+are also absorbing sound and trustworthy information of the men and
+times about which they are reading.'
+
+TRIBUNE:--'Mr. Herbert Strang's former books "caught on" with our
+boys as no other books of adventure since Henty's industrious pen fell
+from his hand.'
+
+MANCHESTER GUARDIAN:--'Mr. Henty was the ancient master in this
+kind; the present master, Mr. Herbert Strang, has ten times his
+historical knowledge and fully twenty times more narrative skill.'
+
+GENTLEWOMAN:--'This is the literature we want for young England.'
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13817 ***