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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797,
+by M. E. James, et al
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797
+
+
+Author: M. E. James
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 22, 2012  [eBook #41144]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHGUARD INVASION BY THE
+FRENCH IN 1797***
+
+
+This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
+
+                        [Picture: Disembarkation]
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE FISHGUARD INVASION
+                                  BY THE
+                              FRENCH IN 1797
+
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+              SOME PASSAGES TAKEN FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATE
+                    REVEREND DANIEL ROWLANDS, SOMETIME
+                       VICAR OF LLANFIANGELPENYBONT
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                  London
+                             T. FISHER UNWIN
+                            PATERNOSTER SQUARE
+                                MDCCCXCII
+
+                                Dedicated
+                              BY PERMISSION
+                                    TO
+                           THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+                                   THE
+                              EARL OF CAWDOR
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                                            PAGE
+INTRODUCTION                                   9
+                   WEDNESDAY.
+                _THE FIRST DAY_.
+CHAP.
+        I.  THREE FRIGATES                    43
+       II.  THE LANDING                       54
+      III.  THE FATE OF THE CLOCK             75
+       IV.  THE PRIEST’S PEEP-HOLE            88
+                   THURSDAY.
+               _THE SECOND DAY_.
+        V.  DAVY JONES’ LOCKER               109
+       VI.  WELSH WIVES                      125
+      VII.  GENERAL TATE’S LETTER            139
+                    FRIDAY.
+                _THE THIRD DAY_.
+     VIII.  THE GATHERING AT GOODWICH        159
+       IX.  THE CAPITULATION                 171
+        X.  TREHOWEL ONCE MORE               180
+                    SEQUEL.
+        _THE GOLDEN PRISON AT PEMBROKE_.
+       XI.  THE GENERAL THANKSGIVING         193
+      XII.  INSIDE THE GOLDEN PRISON         204
+     XIII.  AWAY!  AWAY!!                    222
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+THE DISEMBARKATION (_From an old print_)       _Frontispiece_
+STAND OF ARMS IN TENBY MUSEUM                              20
+THE FRENCH FRIGATES (_From an old print_)                  43
+CARREGWASTAD                                               54
+COTTAGE AT CASTELL                                         75
+A RANSACKED FARMHOUSE                                     109
+THE “ROYAL OAK” AT FISHGUARD                              139
+TREHOWEL: GENERAL TATE’S HEADQUARTERS                     184
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The very curious incident related in the following narrative took place
+nearly a hundred years ago, and, as men’s memories are short, and the
+whole affair reads like fiction—and very improbable and imaginative
+fiction—it may be as well to write a few lines of introduction, and to
+give my authorities for the facts mentioned in the story.
+
+In the first place, the evidence of persons who had witnessed the
+landing, and who recollected it perfectly, and who have told the story to
+me—I have met many such in the course of my life, as my home was within
+sight of Fishguard Head.  Probably the last of these eye-witnesses was
+the old woman who died a short time ago—on February 8, 1891.  Her demise
+was announced by the Pembrokeshire papers as “The Death of a
+Pembrokeshire Centenarian.”
+
+The death occurred on Sunday morning at the Dyffryn Cottages, near
+Fishguard, of Eleanor (Nelly) Phillips at the age of 103.  Her age is
+pretty accurately fixed by a statement she was wont to make, that she was
+nine years old when the French landed at Fishguard.  She was a spinster,
+and had been bedridden for eight years.  When a mere girl she was in
+service at Kilshawe, near Fishguard, and was driving cows from a field
+when the French frigates appeared off the coast in 1797.
+
+In the second place, the following books and pamphlets:—
+
+Fenton’s “Pembrokeshire,” pp. 10, 11, and 12.
+
+“The Book of South Wales,” by C. F. Cliffe, p. 251.
+
+A curious and scarce pamphlet, written by Williams of Crachenllwyd, a
+place near St. David’s; he was the farmer who sent his servant to give
+the alarm.  The pamphlet was called “The Landing of the French,” and was,
+I believe, printed at Haverfordwest.
+
+“The Red Dragon,” 1885.  _Western Mail_ Office, Cardiff.
+
+“An Authentic Account of the Invasion of the French Troops (under the
+command of General Tate) on Carrig Gwasted Point, near Fishguard,
+Wednesday, the 22nd day of February, 1797, and their Surrender to the
+Forces of His Britannic Majesty on Goodwick Sands, on Friday, the 24th of
+February; likewise some occurrences connected therewith: never before
+published.  Haverfordwest: Joseph Potter, printer, High Street, 1842.”
+This pamphlet was written by H. L. ap Gwilym—and was signed as correct by
+two eye-witnesses, Fishguard Fencible men, Peter Davies and Owen
+Griffith.
+
+Laws, “Little England beyond Wales,” p. 367.
+
+I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Leach, the editor of the _Tenby
+Observer_, for many particulars, and especially for information as to how
+the news was conveyed to England.  He found the following entry in the
+overseer’s accounts for the borough of Tenby:—
+
+    “_Thursday_, _Feb._ 23, 1797.  Cash paid by Mr. Mayor’s order to John
+    Upcoat, for going out to the Road for a skiff to go over to the
+    English side to give information concerning the landing of about
+    1,400 French Troops at Fishguard in the County, who on the next day
+    surrendered themselves up to the Welsh etc., that went to oppose them
+    as _prisoners of war_, and were marched accordingly by Saturday 25th
+    to Haverfordwest. . . 1s.”
+
+This entry could not have been entirely made on Feb. 23rd, unless the
+worthy overseer had the gift of prophecy.
+
+The messenger probably came on to Tenby from Stackpole, where he aroused
+Lord Cawdor with the tidings in the middle of Wednesday night.  The news
+conveyed by John Upcoat must have been taken across the Channel to
+Somersetshire and thence to London; the manner of proceeding at the _fin
+de siècle_ of the eighteenth century contrasts amusingly with the
+rapidity of the nineteenth, but possibly our time will be scoffed at and
+considered slow by the twentieth.
+
+The _European Magazine_ of the period gives the names of the vessels: _La
+Résistance_, commanded by Monsieur Montague, 40 guns, eighteen pounders
+on her main deck, 345 men.  The other frigate _La Constance_, commanded
+by Monsieur Desauny, mounted 24 nine-pounders on her main deck, with 189
+men. {14}
+
+One of the frigates and the corvette were eventually captured off Brest
+by the _St. Fiorenzo_ frigate (Captain Sir H. B. Neale, Bart.) and the
+_La Nymphe_ (Captain J. Cooke), who took them both into Portsmouth, where
+the frigate was repaired and rechristened the _Fisgard_, presumably the
+French pronunciation of Fishguard, and was until quite lately the
+receiving ship at Sheerness.  The other frigate and the lugger managed to
+get safely into Brest.
+
+The officers present at the council of war held at the “Royal Oak,”
+Fishguard, were the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, Lord Milford (who from
+age and infirmity had given up the command of the troops to Lord Cawdor),
+Lord Cawdor, Colonel Knox, Colonel Colby, Major Ackland, Colonel Dan.
+Vaughan, Colonel James, Colonel George Vaughan, the governor of Fishguard
+Fort, and other gentlemen.  The troops consisted of the Castle Martin
+Yeomanry Cavalry, the Cardiganshire Militia, the Cardiff Militia (which
+was then stationed in Pembrokeshire), some Fencible infantry, and a few
+sailors under Lieutenants Mears and Perkins, in all 750 men.
+
+The letters that passed between General Tate and Lord Cawdor are given in
+the narrative, but the following letters from Lord Milford and Lord
+Cawdor to the Duke of Portland, Secretary of State for the Home
+Department, may be found interesting:—
+
+                             _From Lord Milford_.
+
+                               “HAVERFORDWEST,
+
+                                    “_February_ 26, 1797, Six o’clock A.M.
+
+    “Since I had the honour of writing last to your Grace by express I
+    received information of the French ships having sailed and left 300
+    men behind, who have surrendered themselves prisoners.  The great
+    spirit and loyalty that the gentlemen and peasantry has shown on this
+    occasion exceeds description.  Many thousands of the latter
+    assembled, armed with pikes and scythes, and attacked the enemy
+    previous to the arrival of troops that were sent against them.”
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “HAVERFORDWEST,
+
+                                         “_February_ 24, Nine o’clock P.M.
+
+    “I have the honour and pleasure to inform your Grace that the whole
+    of the French troops, amounting to near fourteen hundred men, have
+    surrendered, and are now on their march to Haverfordwest.  I have
+    taken the first opportunity of announcing the good news to your
+    Grace, and shall have the honour of writing again to your Grace by
+    tomorrow’s post.”
+
+The following letter was written by Lord Cawdor to the Duke of Portland:—
+
+    “FISHGUARD,
+
+                                           “_Friday_, _February_ 24, 1797.
+
+    “MY LORD,—In consequence of having received information on Wednesday
+    night, at eleven o’clock, that three large ships of war and a lugger
+    had anchored in a small roadstead upon the coast, in the
+    neighbourhood of this town, I proceeded immediately with a detachment
+    of the Cardiganshire Militia and all the provincial force I could
+    collect to the place.  I soon gained positive intelligence they had
+    disembarked about 1,200 men, but no cannon.  Upon the night setting
+    in a French officer, whom I found to be second in command, came in
+    with a letter (a copy of which I sent your Grace, together with my
+    answer), {18} in consequence of which they determined to surrender
+    themselves prisoners of war, and, accordingly, laid down their arms
+    this day at two o’clock.  I cannot, at this moment, inform your Grace
+    the exact number of prisoners, but I believe it to be their whole
+    force.  It is my intention to march them this night to Haverfordwest,
+    where I shall make the best distribution in my power.  The frigates,
+    corvette, and lugger got under weigh yesterday evening, and were this
+    morning entirely out of sight.  The fatigue we experienced will, I
+    trust, excuse me to your Grace for not giving a more particular
+    detail; but my anxiety to do justice to the officers and men I had
+    the honour to command, will induce me to attend your Grace with as
+    little delay as possible, to state their merits and, at the same
+    time, to give you every information in my power on this subject.  The
+    spirit and loyalty which has pervaded all ranks throughout the
+    country is infinitely beyond what I can express.
+
+                                                               “I am, &c.,
+                                                                 “CAWDOR.”
+
+                 [Picture: Stand of Arms in Tenby Museum]
+
+Lord Cawdor’s “distribution” took the form of placing 700 men in the
+beautiful old church of St. Mary’s (which they greatly injured), 500 in
+the Town Hall, and the remainder in the store-houses of Haverfordwest.
+The officers were allowed out on parole, and one of them showed scant
+respect for his word of honour, for he was discovered at a silversmith’s
+trying to barter an old silver cup for coin of the realm, with which
+doubtless to escape to France.  There were some letters on the cup which
+he chose to decipher as “La Vendée”; they turned out on inspection to be
+“Llanwnda,” from which church the chalice had been stolen, and where it
+was at once returned, while the officer was transferred from the “Castle
+Hotel” to the Castle jail—a very different place.
+
+A number of the prisoners were shortly after sent on to Carmarthen and to
+Pembroke, where the romantic episode of the escape from the Golden Prison
+occurred exactly as given in the narrative.  The arms and ammunition
+taken from the French filled fifty-five carts; their muskets were the
+ordinary weapon of the period, with flint locks, barrels 3ft. 7in., whole
+length 4ft. 10in., weight 9¾lbs.  Lord Cawdor presented two of these
+muskets to the Tenby Museum, and Mr. Mathias gave a short sword and
+scabbard.  On each side of the sword are represented sun, moon, and
+stars, with the inscription _Cassaguard_, _Fourbisseur du Roy_, _Nantes_.
+There are half-a-dozen cannonballs—nine pounders—at the house of Eleanor
+Rees, of Goodwick, which were given to her father by the French—a curious
+toy for a small boy of two or three years of age.  The invaders seem to
+have been very kind to this young Taffy, nursed him on their knees, and
+made much of him, and finally presented him with this strange _gage
+d’amour_.  He was probably a plucky little fellow, for he grew into a
+brave man, and was awarded a medal for having at various times saved many
+lives, going out in his own boat to shipwrecked vessels and rescuing the
+crews—when the _Lady Kenmare_ foundered he saved, among others, two
+ladies and some children, bringing them through a tremendous sea, “in
+their night-dresses, as wet as sops,” the narrator added.
+
+Most of the prisoners were finally sent back to France, when it was
+discovered what manner of men they were.  Lord Cawdor took General Tate
+and some of the other officers to London, whence they were consigned to
+Dartmoor.  This personally-conducted journey through England was not
+without peril.  The people were greatly incensed against the French, and
+were quite ready to carry out Lynch law on these unhappy men, and in the
+excitement of the moment a mob does not always discriminate between its
+friends and its foes.  It was fortunate for Tate and his fellows, and
+still more fortunate for Pembrokeshire, that the conduct of the whole
+affair from first to last was in such able and determined hands as those
+of Lord Cawdor.  A letter from him to Lady Cawdor (hitherto unpublished,
+and for which I am indebted to Mr. Laws), gives a very vivid account of
+this journey.
+
+    “OXFORD STREET,
+
+                      “_Monday morn_, _March_ 13, 1797.
+
+    “I have at length the satisfaction of an hour’s time free from
+    interruption to give you a short account of our employment, etc.,
+    since I quitted you, but shall reserve much of the detail for your
+    amusement when we meet, a moment I ardently long for.  Near Tavern
+    Spite I met a messenger, with the D. of Portland’s despatches to me
+    signifying the King’s approbation of my conduct, which probably
+    General Rooke has shown you, accompanied also by a handsome and
+    flattering private letter from the Duke.  Upon my arrival at
+    Carmarthen I immediately sent off the messenger with my letters, and
+    finding the impossibility of procuring horses until the following
+    morn was in the expectation of getting a quiet night, having procured
+    a bed at a private house; but an alarm of a fire in the town joined
+    to confusion created by the report of a landing in great force in
+    Glamorganshire, which I knew must have no foundation, prevented my
+    obtaining sleep for one moment.  Early in the morn we left
+    Carmarthen, with three chaises; in the first, Joe Adams had charge of
+    Tate and Captain Tyrell, the first alarmed and confused, the second a
+    stupid Paddy.  I had Le Brun with me, as dirty as a pig, but more
+    intelligent and better manners; in the last, Lord E. Somerset had the
+    care of Captain Norris and Lieutenant St. Leger, both greatly
+    frightened, they had but little conversation.  The whole road we
+    passed through great crowds of people at all the places were (_sic_)
+    we changed horses, and thro’ Wales tho’ the indignation of the people
+    was great, I found my influence would protect them without
+    difficulty.  The women were more clamorous than the men, making signs
+    to cut their throats, and desiring I would not take the trouble of
+    carrying them further.  All the military assistance I could get at
+    Oxford as a guard for the night was a sergeant of your friend and
+    landlord, and two recruits, but I had no apprehension of their escape
+    as their remain (_sic_) with us was the only thing that ensured their
+    safety.  At Uxbridge the rage of the mob was chiefly directed against
+    Tate, who was supposed to be Wall, and he trembled almost to
+    convulsions, by a little arrangement I contrived to bring them quiet
+    through the parks, and lodged them in the Duke of Portland’s before
+    any crowd was assembled.  My time since that moment has been taken up
+    with attendance at the different offices, etc., and ministers are so
+    bewildered by the difficulties at the Bank, etc., that it is more
+    than usually difficult to get access to them for any time, but I have
+    seen them all and stated to them plainly and decidedly, the situation
+    of Pembroke, etc., giving every testimony in my power.  The weather
+    is extremely cold, the town I hear dull and unpleasant, everybody I
+    have seen much interested about you, Mrs. Wodehouse . . . and desires
+    her love.  Joe his respects.”
+
+                               [No signature.]
+
+Having disposed of the rank and file of the expedition, there comes the
+natural question, what was its _raison d’étre_?  Some persons think it
+was merely a fine stroke of political economy on the part of the French
+Government, for a considerable number of the men were convicts, and to
+have them killed or imprisoned at the expense of the English would
+undoubtedly have been a good financial arrangement; but the biography of
+Lazare Hoche {26} proves that a much larger idea than this was in the
+mind of the originator of the invasion.  He was a successful general and
+an ambitious man, and his imagination was fired by the prowess of
+Napoleon:—“La France couvrait alors ses frontières de jeunes républiques,
+et Bonaparte saisissait les imaginations par ses merveilleux exploits en
+Italie.  Hoche, retenu par les pénibles soins de la pacification de
+l’Ouest, avait suivi de son ardente pensée le vainqueur d’Arcole à
+travers, tous ses champs de victoire: ‘Glorieux jeune homme, s’écriait-il
+en se frappant le front,’ que je te porte envie!  Il brûlait de faire
+d’aussi grandes choses, et de trouver un champ de gloire digne de son
+génie; il projetait donc de révolutionner l’Irlande, de la transformer en
+république; puis de passer en Angleterre et de la frapper au cœur.  Il
+fit adopter son projet par le gouvernement qui, aprês s’être concerté
+avec les chefs des révolutionnaires irlandais, prépara à Brest une grande
+expédition dont Hoche eut le commandement. . . Hoche y joignit deux
+légions, qu’il nomma légions des Francs: il composa la première des
+officiers et des soldats les plus résolus, audacieux jusqu’ à la
+témérité; il forma la seconde, il faut le dire, d’éléments indignes, et
+c’est un reproche pour sa mémoire.  Détestant l’Angleterre, partageant de
+tristes prejujés et regardant, en haine du gouvernement britannique, le
+peuple anglais comme le suppôt de ministres perfides et d’une odieuse
+aristocratie, tous les moyens lui semblaient permis pour abaisser et pour
+désoler cette fière nation: il agit en conséquence et fit entrer dans
+cette seconde légion tout ce qu’il put ramasser de gens perdus, de
+bandits et de massacreurs, et il la mit sous le commandement d’un chef
+étranger connu par sa sauvage énergie.  Cette légion devait aborder en
+Angleterre pour abuser l’ennemi sur la véritable destination de l’escadre
+portant le corps expeditionnaire: elle eut l’ordre de débarquer à
+l’embouchure de la Saverne, de se porter de nuit sur Bristol, d’incendier
+cette ville et de semer la devastation dans les campagnes environnantes;
+puis de se rembarquer pour jeter plusieurs détachements sur différents
+points du littoral en portant partout la mort, le ravage et l’incendie,
+attirant ainsi sur elle et retenant en Angleterre une partie considérable
+des forces britanniques, tandis que l’expédition cinglerait viers la côte
+irlandaise.”
+
+In the appendix of the same work we find the source from which Hoche
+compiled his instructions.
+
+                                   “NOTE D.
+
+    “Extrait du projet de Carnot pour l’organisation d’une chouaunnerie
+    en Angleterre, et dans lequel Hoche puisa les instructions données
+    par lui à la seconde légion des Francs.
+
+    “Les hommes employés à cette expédition devront être, autant que
+    faire se pourra, jeunes, robustes, audacieux, d’une âme accessible à
+    l’appât du butin.
+
+    “Il faut qu’à l’exemple de ce que faisaient les filibustiers dans les
+    Antilles, ils sachent porter, au milieu de leurs ennemis, l’épouvante
+    et la mort.
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “On pourrait incorporer dans ces troupes les condamnés par jugement
+    aux fers ou à la chaine en qui l’on reconnaîtrait les dispositions
+    physiques et morales requises pour les individus employés à cette
+    expédition.  On assurerait à ces individus la possession du butin
+    qu’ils feraient.  On leur en promettrait la jouissance tranquille
+    dans quelques-unes de nos colonies.  Il faudrait en outre faire
+    espérer aux condamnés la rémission de leurs peines, en récompense des
+    services qu’ils auraient rendus à la patrie.
+
+    “Le premier noyau de ces hommes, au nombre d’environ deux mille,
+    serait organisé en compagnies d’environ cinquante hommes chacune, qui
+    auraient leurs officiers et seraient subordonnés à un chef unique
+    chargé de l’ensemble des opérations.  Ce chef serait investi d’une
+    très-grande autorité.
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “Il ne faut pas perdre de vue qu’une expédition tentée d’abord avec
+    aussi peu de monde ne peut réussir que par des moyens
+    extraordinaires.
+
+    “Il ne faut point de grands approvisionnements en effets
+    d’habillement: les ressources de la troupe seront dans son courage et
+    dans ses armes.
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “Il faut que le débarquement se fasse sur plusieurs points de la
+    côte, soit parce que la désolation et la terreur portées dans une
+    grande étendue de terrain multiplieront aux yeux de nos ennemis la
+    quantité de nos forces, soit parce que les moyens de subsistance en
+    seront plus faciles.
+
+    “En arrivant, les chefs s’annonceront, eux et leurs soldats, comme
+    _vengeurs de la liberté et ennemis des tyrans_.
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “Il faut que la troupe jure _querre aux châteaux_ et _paix aux
+    chaumières_, et que sa conduite, surtout au début, soit conforme à
+    cette déclaration.
+
+    “A mesure qu’ils avanceront, ils ouvriront les prisons, recruteront
+    les détenus, les incorporeront: ils appelleront les ouvriers, les
+    indigents, les mécontents, à faire cause commune avec eux, leur
+    présenteront des armes, des subsistances; leur offriront l’appât du
+    butin.  Ils briseront toutes les voitures.
+
+                                  * * * * *
+
+    “Il faut poursuivre l’ennemi à outrance quand il est battu, et ne
+    point faire quartier aux prisonniers.
+
+    “Il faut rompre les ponts, couper les communications, arrêter et
+    piller les voitures publiques, brûler tout ce qui appartient à la
+    marine . . . sommer les communes de rendre leurs armes; exécuter
+    militairement celles qui resisteraient.”
+
+Mr. Laws has kindly shown me an “Authentic Copy of the Instructions given
+by General Hoche to the American officer, Colonel Tate, who commanded the
+men employed in the French Invasion of South Wales in 1797.”  It
+commences thus:—
+
+    “There will be placed under the command of Colonel Tate a body of
+    troops completely organised to the number of one thousand and fifty,
+    all resolute, determined men, with whom he may undertake anything.
+    They are to be called ‘La Seconde Légion des Francs.’
+
+    “The legion is completely armed; he will be likewise furnished with
+    fast-going vessels with which he is to proceed before, with, or after
+    the squadron; the vessels will be victualled for the passage, but the
+    legion will bring on shore nothing but their ammunition, which is to
+    be musquet cartridges.
+
+    “Colonel Tate is to have command in chief of the legion; the Admiral
+    will give the necessary orders to the officer commanding the naval
+    force, which will proceed up St. George’s Channel, and the landing is
+    to be effected, if possible, in or near Cardigan Bay.”
+
+The instructions then give directions that the expedition should make a
+feint of landing in Somersetshire, as was afterwards done; and the most
+minute and careful suggestions are made on the primary object of securing
+the co-operation of the Welsh people—General Hoche remarks that the poor
+are the most easy to rouse, as hunger makes people discontented.  His
+followers, however, hardly carried out this truism in the way he
+intended; they devoured everything they could lay their hands on, and
+certainly succeeded in rousing the peasantry, but not exactly to
+co-operation.  The loyalty of the people must have been an unpleasant
+surprise to the framers of the expedition.
+
+It appears from the directions that two other legions were to have
+simultaneously invaded the counties of Northumberland, Durham, and York;
+these latter, however, never put in an appearance.  The primary object to
+be attained by the Second Legion was the destruction of Bristol and
+Liverpool.  On reaching Severn Sea should the former prove impracticable,
+then the legion was to land in Cardigan Bay, and march through Wales to
+Chester and Liverpool.
+
+These instructions are taken from a pamphlet printed for J. Wright, 169,
+Piccadilly (1798), the text of which is copied from attested transcripts
+of the original documents.  The instructions continue:—
+
+    “The expedition under the command of Colonel Tate has in view three
+    principal objects.  The first is, if possible, to raise an
+    insurrection in the country.  The second is to interrupt and
+    embarrass the commerce of the enemy.  The third is to prepare and
+    facilitate the way for a descent by distracting the attention of the
+    English Government.” {36}
+
+There is no doubt that the frigates did go up the Channel as far as
+Ilfracombe, causing consternation among the small craft, and great
+excitement on shore.  They proceeded as far as Ilfracombe, where they
+scuttled some merchantmen.  A letter is extant written by the town
+authorities to the Home Secretary.  The volunteer regiments were on the
+alert, and a considerable force was quickly mustered, which was possibly
+the reason that the French did not land in Somersetshire, but returning
+down the Channel made without any delay for the north coast of
+Pembrokeshire.
+
+As has been seen, the local regiments here were no less brisk than their
+Somersetshire fellows.  The Castle Martin Yeomanry Cavalry now carry
+“Fishguard” on their standard as well as upon the sabretaches of the
+officers, and upon the pouches of the troopers, a distinction granted to
+them in 1853, when the following letter was written by Lord Palmerston to
+Sir John Owen.
+
+                         “WHITEHALL, _May_ 18, 1853.
+
+    “SIR,—I have had the honour to lay before the Queen the memorial of
+    the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Castle
+    Martin Yeomanry Cavalry (which you transmitted to me), and I have the
+    satisfaction to inform you that Her Majesty is graciously pleased to
+    approve of the corps bearing the word ‘Fishguard’ on their standard
+    and appointments.
+
+                                            “I have the honour to be, sir,
+                                                   “Your obedient servant,
+                                                              “PALMERSTON.
+
+    “Sir John Owen, Bart., M.P.”
+
+It is satisfactory to state that the Castle Martin Yeomanry Cavalry still
+maintains its reputation for efficiency and smartness, its team of ten
+men having won the inter-regimental challenge cup, and proved themselves
+the best shots among the forty competing yeomanry regiments in 1890,
+Corporal Williams, of St. Florence, having made the highest score of any
+yeoman in the kingdom.  Thus giving us—the inhabitants of
+Pembrokeshire—the satisfactory assurance that, should invaders land on
+our coast now, they would meet with at least as warm a reception as they
+did a hundred years ago.  And this suggests the idea that, in this age of
+centenaries, this strange occurrence should not be forgotten, but that in
+1897 the landing of the French at Fishguard should be duly celebrated.
+
+
+
+
+WEDNESDAY.
+_THE FIRST DAY_.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+THREE FRIGATES.
+
+
+In the year of our Lord, 1797, there was a right fair day in February.
+The day was a Wednesday, the twenty-second of the month, and it was
+indeed the most pleasant day for that harsh season of the year that I can
+call to mind on looking back through the course of a long life.  But it
+was not only the unusual beauty of it that made that Wednesday in
+February a day of mark, or I might scarcely have kept it stored in a
+corner of my mind for seventy years well-nigh—remarkable as fine days are
+in this climate that is chiefly renowned for fine rain; but for the
+reason that this particular Wednesday was a day of utmost astonishment to
+all the dwellers on this North Pembrokeshire coast, and (I may venture to
+add) a day of much consternation to most of them.
+
+                      [Picture: The French Frigates]
+
+A day still remembered by old Welsh fishwives, and still used by them as
+a means of terror wherewith to hush to sleep unquiet grandbabes, or to
+stir to patriotism stout but supine grandsons.
+
+I was, at the time of which I speak, but a youth of fifteen, as
+thoughtless and careless as most lads of that age; not very sensible to
+danger, save when it presented itself face to face with me at no more
+than arm’s length, under which circumstances candour compels me to own I
+did not always enjoy it.  I trust that I may say without undue boasting
+that I did not fear anything greatly as long as it was out of sight, for
+which reason I have often thought that had I been born a generation or
+two later, and had I selected a soldier’s career instead of that of a
+divine I might have fought excellently at a distance of a few miles from
+the enemy: though at close quarters I will admit that any unexpected
+danger might perchance produce a sense of amazement which the
+uncharitable might set down to faint-heartedness.
+
+But that my nephews, nieces, and neighbours generally may know the truth
+concerning this matter—the landing of the French at Fishguard in 1797, I,
+Daniel Rowlands, clerk, being aged, but still of sound mind, have written
+this narrative—which when duly set forth will, I hope, convince the most
+sceptical as to the sort of spirit which animated my countrymen (if not
+myself), and still more my countrywomen.
+
+On this fair morning then, at about ten o’clock, when I ought to have
+been pursuing my studies under the fostering care of one of the clergy at
+St. David’s, I was in reality strolling along the headland of that name,
+led astray by the beauty of the day, which seemed too fair for book-lore;
+I was strolling along, doing nothing, thinking of nothing, wishing for
+nothing, yet, having found for the nonce the secret of true happiness,
+when I perceived a man on horseback approaching me at a furious rate.  In
+spite of the pace at which he was advancing I recognised him as a servant
+of Trelethin.
+
+“Whither so fast, John?” I shouted, in our own tongue.  He was past me as
+I spoke.
+
+“The French, the French!” came back to me on the breeze mingled with the
+sound of his horses’ rushing hoofs.  His voice or my ears failed, for I
+heard no more save—when the thunder of the hoofs had ceased, the duller
+but more continuous thunder of the waves rolling in freshly at the foot
+of the rocks.
+
+John’s words had left me much astonished.  I knew—from my studies under
+the divine above referred to—that the French lived in France, where some
+of them had lately been engaged in beheading the rest with the help of a
+newly discovered machine.  So much I knew, but why John Trelethin should
+yell “French” at me as he passed, riding apparently for his life, I knew
+not.  What were the French to him or to me?  As I advanced pondering the
+matter—but in a purely impersonal manner, and without any keen
+interest—at a little distance further along the cliff I espied the owner
+of Trelethin, John’s master, standing very firm on his legs against a
+background of bright sea, his head inclining somewhat backward, while
+with both his raised-up hands he clutched a long spy glass, the small end
+whereof was applied to his eye.  Following the direction of his
+spy-glass, I perceived a yet more astounding sight—astounding to us used
+to the world of lonely waters that lay stretched out in front of our
+homes.  Three ships of war were passing slowly along our coast not far
+from land, they were accompanied by a smaller craft, which Mr. Williams
+informed me was a lugger.  As he had been a sailor I took his word for
+it—but it did not make things clearer.  What did it all mean?  What did
+those vessels—or their inhabitants want here?  They carried the English
+colours, I saw that for myself when Mr. Williams obligingly lent me the
+instrument.
+
+“Take a look for yourself, my boy,” he said—he was a man singularly free
+from pride—“Take a look at the blessed Frenchmen.”  (He did not say
+exactly blessed, but out of respect to my cloth I subdue his expressions
+slightly.)
+
+“Frenchmen!” I cried.  Then those were the French in those three vessels.
+I did not count the lugger, not being sure of her.  Strange to say the
+first thought that flitted through my brain was one of pure joy; here was
+an excuse, real, tangible, and startling, for having shirked my studies.
+With a little help from imagination (his and mine, which might act on
+each other as flint on steel, for he was an excitable man), I trusted I
+might so alarm my clerical guide and master as to make him quite forget
+the fact that I had given to St. David’s Head the time I should have
+given to my own.  The excuse might be made effective even should they
+prove to be not quite really French.
+
+“They’ve English colours, sir,” I said to Mr. Williams.
+
+“Foreigners are deceitful,” says he, “up to any tricks.  I can see the
+scoundrels swarming on the decks.”  (For by this time he again had
+applied the spy-glass.)  “Ah!” he continued, handing the glass to his
+wife who had joined us, “If it was but night now and a bit stormy, we
+might put out a false light or two and bring them on the rocks in no
+time.”
+
+This was the moment afterwards immortalised by a local bard in these
+words—
+
+    “Mrs. Williams Trelethin was know every tide
+    From England to Greenland without guide.
+    Mrs. Williams Trelethin was take the spy-glass,
+    And then she cry out—There they Wass!”
+
+The three tall ships sailed on calmly, with the clear shining of the sea
+around them, dark objects in all that flood of light.  They went
+northward—along our Pembrokeshire coast, where (had Providence so willed
+it) they might have made shipwreck on the sharp rocks anywhere.  However
+the day was too fair to admit of any such hope.
+
+The alarm spread quickly; men and boys came bounding over the gorse in
+every direction; even the women, with the curiosity of their sex, came
+forth from their homesteads, leaving the cawl {51} and the children to
+mind themselves, while their natural caretakers gaped open-mouthed at the
+tall ships filled with untold dangers.
+
+The crowd on the cliffs followed in the direction of the ships, keeping
+them ever in sight.  Helter-skelter we ran along, crossing deep gullies,
+then along bare headlands covered only with gorse and large grey stones,
+then passing under a great mass of rock, like to some gaunt castle or
+fort (but alas, lacking cannon), then, at rare intervals, where a stream
+ran into the sea, we would dip suddenly into a smiling little valley
+filled with trees and bushes.  But the stones and crags prevailed greatly
+over the softer scenes.  I had now entered so fully into the spirit of
+this race that all thought of my studies passed away; the fear of the
+dominee was merged in the far greater fear of the French.  And yet it was
+not wholly fear that possessed me, but a sort of tremor of excitement,
+and curiosity as to what might happen next.  Noon passed, but none
+stopped for food—nor even (till we came to a village) for a Welshman’s
+comfort in perplexity—a glass of cwrw da. {52}
+
+At two o’clock, for no apparent reason, the Frenchmen came to anchor.
+This was opposite to a rocky headland called Carn Gwastad, which forms a
+portion of Fishguard Bay, some distance to the west of the town of that
+name, and, by reason of an intervening headland, quite invisible from it,
+and in truth from most other places.  We had now come from St. David’s
+Head, a distance of full ten miles, and I, for one, was glad to sit down
+on a gorse-bush and meditate a little as to what all these things might
+mean and where they were like to end, which I hardly dared to hope might
+somehow take the form of a bit of dinner for myself.  To stay hunger I
+composed my mind for a nap while I reflected dreamily that my elders were
+taking more definite steps for the defence of their country; and the
+knowledge of this was gratifying to me.
+
+                         [Picture: Carregwastad]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+THE LANDING.
+
+
+Besides Mr. Williams’ John, who had been despatched at full speed to St.
+David’s to rouse the inhabitants, another man was sent to give the news
+to the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, while others wended their way to
+various points on the range of mountains which divides Pembrokeshire into
+two parts; the result of their mission being apparent when night fell and
+beacons flared along the line of heights from Vrenny Vawr to Carn
+Englyn—the mountain of the angels, so named from the angel-visits
+received by a pious hermit who dwelt thereon, and who probably lacked
+more ordinary society.
+
+Many other messengers were sent in various directions, but though in this
+way persons at a distance were warned of danger, many of those who dwelt
+close by were as yet insensible of it.  Chiefest of these was the owner
+of the old manor house, Trehowel, situated just above the bay where the
+ships were lying-to—of which house we shall hear more anon.  Mr. Mortimer
+was of a generous and confiding disposition—and, as a bishop should be,
+he was in truth—much given to hospitality.  He was, moreover, about to
+celebrate the marriage of his son, and he had made ample provision of
+cakes and ale, not to mention meats and spirits for this purpose.  The
+wedding was to be on the following day (Thursday, the 23rd of February,
+to be exact); the new daughter-in-law was much to his mind, and therefore
+heart and hand were even more lavish than usual, when, looking out
+seaward from amidst the bridal greenery, his spirit was stirred within
+him by the sight of the British flag.
+
+Nothing would serve this hospitable gentleman but that the English
+officers should partake of his good cheer; so his orders flew forth in
+every direction—compliments and invitations to the officers, and
+directions to the servants as to the setting forth of a sumptuous repast.
+
+In the meantime one of the great ships, heaving anchor, had quietly
+slipped round the corner—by which I would say, rounded the next headland,
+Pen Anglas, in an undemonstrative manner.  Thus coming in sight of the
+men occupying the fort near Fishguard; these fired as in duty and fair
+observance bound—a salute to the flag that had braved a thousand years,
+and had never in all that considerable period of time been put to a viler
+use than the present, when—hey presto! down came the British colours with
+a run, and up flew the tricolour in its stead—the red, white, and blue
+colours of the Republic of the French.
+
+The astonishment of those men in the fort at this unexpected
+transformation-scene must have been akin to an electric shock such as may
+be produced on the unwary by the careless placing of a hand on a magnetic
+eel.  They had been completely deceived by the mock flag, and were more
+unprepared for the change than those men who had already scrutinised the
+three frigates with very doubtful eyes as they made their way along the
+coast of Pembrokeshire.
+
+All disguise was now over; the enemy showed under their true colours at
+last, and convinced even the most liberal-minded (including Mr. Mortimer)
+that they were not English.  Though truly if they had desired to appear
+under their most appropriate colour they should have sailed under the
+black flag of piracy, for the men on board these frigates were little
+better than freebooters.  Many of the older persons present were minded
+to take them for a new and enlarged edition of the _Black Prince_—a
+pirate ship which had eighteen years previously brought his broadside to
+bear on the town of Fishguard, and kept up an animated fire all day with
+his six-pounders.  However, he caught a Tartar—the master of a smuggling
+craft, who returned the fire with such goodwill, aided by clever hands
+and a cannon at the edge of the cliffs, that the _Black Prince_ sheered
+off.  “Set a thief to catch a thief;” but it were ungrateful to think on
+that proverb.
+
+It was this circumstance which caused the fort at Fishguard to be
+erected, one of whose nine-pounders had just, in courtesy, saluted the
+frigate, who, not caring to face the other seven guns of the fort in
+anger, turned round speedily, and rejoined her companions at Carn Gwastad
+Point without loss of time.
+
+On her way she intercepted a sloop which had—perhaps out of curiosity,
+perhaps from some nobler motive—ventured too near; probably the master of
+the sloop had not expected this sudden rearward movement—anyway he found
+himself a prisoner, and his boat a prize.  I had jumped up from my
+reclining position, and stood watching his fate with anxiety and awe,
+knowing him to be a friend (for I was a Fishguard boy, and intimate with
+all the varieties of seamen to be found there), but being, at that
+distance, unable to tell which friend.
+
+All the other boats in the bay stood out to sea with all speed, scudding
+away with white sails stretched, reminding even a matter-of-fact boy who
+abhorred poetry, similes, and all such inventions of schoolmasters,
+suggesting even to me the sudden, outspread, white wings of a flock of
+ducks frightened by the unwelcome appearance, from round the corner, of a
+fox.  They got away safe, but the captive sloop was towed in triumph by
+the frigate back to Carn Gwastad, where she found her sister ships were
+already disgorging their freight of soldiers.
+
+The sun was setting as the first boats set down their load on British
+soil.  There were not many spectators of this act (the only one of a like
+nature since 1066, as far as my knowledge—not very profound—of history
+went), the inhabitants of the district, when they perceived that the
+landing was to be on their own coast, having dispersed as quickly as a
+swarm of ants amongst whom a foreign body is introduced—each one making
+with the utmost speed for his own home in order to retreat with his
+valuables (including his family) further into the interior.  I, however,
+was but young, and concluded that my family, who lived in Fishguard,
+could very well take care of themselves; while it was possible that my
+father, who was a somewhat stern parent, might not even accept the (to
+me) absolute necessity of keeping an eye on the French as a valid excuse
+for departing from my studies at St. David’s without leave from my
+master.  I had a certain amount of fear of the French, I do not deny it;
+but it was as yet in the abstract, and was a very different thing from
+the absolute fear I had of my father when I caught him (and he caught me)
+in a bad mood.  Besides, though I considered curiosity a childish and
+feminine quality, and as such infinitely beneath my dignity, still I must
+own I did feel a sort of craving desire to know what those people were
+going to do next.  So, hidden in a gorse bush on a headland which
+commanded the creek, I watched the sun go down like a red ball into the
+sea, throwing a light as of blood on the muskets in the boats beneath me,
+making the dark figures that swarmed over the sides of the ships look
+darker and more grimy, lighting up the three-coloured flags that unfurled
+themselves to the night breeze.  Then there came a long path of crimson
+right across the grey sea, which, dying out as the sun set, showed that
+this fair day was gone—a day too fair and sweet to be the setting for
+foul deeds.
+
+Suddenly there rose a shriek, or, rather, a succession of shrieks
+breaking through the twilight quiet, and a young woman shot out like an
+arrow from the back door of Trehowel, darted past me without pausing to
+answer a question, and, shrieking all the time, fled away into the
+interior, clutching tightly in her hand a foaming jug of beer.  I heard
+afterwards that she ran on for miles, still clutching that jug of beer,
+which she had been drawing for the (supposed) English officers; when at
+last her master had awakened to the fact that the French were actually at
+his doors.  She ran thus for miles, not even stopping to drink the beer.
+
+She was shortly after followed by Mr. Mortimer himself, who came across
+the courtyard laughing in spite of the seriousness of the occasion, for
+he must needs smile at a joke.  He spied me, for indeed I had jumped up
+to question Sally, and he came towards me.
+
+“The poor maid has had a scare,” said he, with a twinkle still in his
+eye.  “But, in truth, Dan, my boy, I suppose it is time to be off.”
+
+“Oh, there’s a pity,” said I; “about Master Mortimer’s wedding—and all
+the meats and drinks!”
+
+“Well, yes, I never meant them for the parley-vous,” said he, mounting
+his horse which one of his farm-boys had brought out; “but I dare say
+they’ll enjoy them all the same—they won’t be wasted.”
+
+He turned in the saddle to give a last look at his old house, standing
+dark against a yellow-green twilight sky, pranked out with all the
+mockery of boughs and flowery arches.  The trees in the courtyard had not
+yet put forth their leaves, but branches of myrtles and ever-blooming
+gorse and great bunches of primroses had made the place gay.  Mr.
+Mortimer’s face changed as he looked; he made no movement with the reins;
+he was very loath to leave his home.  In his mind’s eye he was viewing
+the heap of smoking ruins he might see when next he came, and he seemed
+to be resolving to meet fate and the French on his own threshold, when a
+woman’s quick step came out of the now-deserted house.
+
+“Oh, master,” she cried, running up to us, “ar’n’t you off yet!  Quick,
+there isn’t a minute; they are coming up the hill.  For the young
+master’s sake,” she whispered.  “Remember, you have got the money and the
+papers.  Quick!”
+
+He nodded, then shaking his rein, rode off without a word.
+
+“And what are you going to do, Nancy?” said I.  “Isn’t it time for you to
+be off too?”
+
+“Oh, no odds about me.  I’ll slip off somehow, but I must get the silver
+spoons first.”
+
+Then she turned from me, and her voice broke suddenly.
+
+“Wherever is Davy—oh, wherever is he?” she sobbed.
+
+“Cheer up, Nancy, my maid,” said I, being well acquainted with her, and
+only ten years younger—an inequality made up for by my superior station
+and parts.  “Wherever Davy is he’s in mischief—that you may take your
+davy of; but he always comes out of it somehow.”
+
+I hope the reader will pardon this expression, but I was not at this time
+even a curate—being but fifteen—and the chance of my ever attaining that
+station seemed but remote.
+
+At this moment the clang of arms and the sound of high-pitched voices
+broke on our ears.
+
+“I’ll have those spoons if I die for it!” exclaimed Ann, who was not much
+given to the melting mood.  “Run, Dan, make for Fishguard as fast as you
+can.”  And without another word or a sign of personal fear, Ann George
+disappeared into the house.
+
+I will not deny now, after the lapse of so many years, that my heart at
+this moment beat unpleasantly fast.  I had already watched the landing of
+some of the French troops, but from a considerable distance, and there
+had been something unreal about the scene, something like to play-acting,
+or a dream; but now that I actually heard their voices, the effect was
+very different.  They were really here, close by; there was no mistake
+about it.  I had an almost overwhelming desire to take to my heels and
+run for it, but in spite of a very real fear, two feelings restrained
+me—one was a hesitation on account of Nancy, whom it seemed mean to
+desert; the other was that curiosity to which I have already alluded, and
+which powerfully possesses most of the inhabitants of these regions, but
+more especially the females.  The twilight was rapidly sinking into
+darkness as I crouched lower among the bushes and peered out with eyes
+which doubtless resembled those of a frightened bird.  Never hare in its
+form felt more of a flutter at the heart than I experienced as those
+screeching, and yet savage, voices drew nearer and nearer.  I did not
+understand French, but if I had I trust I should not have understood the
+nature of the expressions those men were using.  It must be remembered
+that at that time we were accustomed to think of a Frenchman as of a
+two-legged tiger—which we spelt with a y—and then perhaps the horror that
+thrilled me may be understood.  Suddenly the vague terror was turned into
+reality, as between me and the dusky sky loomed forth a wild figure, then
+another and another, then a confused crowd.
+
+I could stand no more.  With one bound I passed from behind my bushes in
+through the back door of the house—
+
+“Nancy, hang those spoons!” I spoke in Welsh, and I fear my expression
+was still more forcible.  “Come this minute, I’ll wait no longer.”
+
+“Why, who asked you to wait?” said Ann George, ungratefully.  “I thought
+you’d be half-way to Goodwick ere this.”
+
+At this moment her speech was interrupted by a sound as of thunder at the
+front door, while the parlour window came flying into the room before the
+butt-ends of French muskets.  Even Ann George thought it now high time to
+take her leave.
+
+So we departed as quickly and as silently as possible through the back
+door, while the front door was being shivered to atoms, and the enemy was
+pouring into the house over its remains.  Quickly, indeed, we went now
+and the falling night favoured us; the enemy’s own noise too rendered the
+slight addition of our footfalls totally unobservable.  All the space
+between Trehowel and the cliffs swarmed with Frenchmen, and the uproar
+was bewildering.
+
+“They’ll make short work with your master’s ale, Nan,” I gasped, as we
+ran along under the cover of the earthen banks topped with gorse.
+
+“Aye, and of the wine and the spirits, and of all the poor young master’s
+wedding feast.  Oh, indeed, I wish I had known they were coming when I
+was baking those pies and brewing that ale!”
+
+I did not waste my breath by inquiring the reason of this aspiration, for
+the hill was rather heavy on my lungs, and her meaning was obvious.  In a
+very short time we had reached Brestgarn, the abode of a worthy divine,
+the Rev. David Bowen, whom we found about to depart hurriedly, he having
+been no quicker to hear the alarming tidings than his neighbour at
+Trehowel; but, having heard it, he and his family were off for the
+interior as fast as horses and fright could take them.  Only one of his
+servants, a man named Llewelyn, volunteered to stay behind, to keep, as
+far as in him lay, an eye upon his master’s place and goods.
+
+“Let us go to the top of Carnunda,” suggested this man.  “We can see
+everything from there.”
+
+Carnunda is a rock situated just above most things in this region; more
+especially just under it lies the tiny village and church of
+Llanunda—Unda being manifestly a saint, though I cannot truthfully say I
+ever heard anything about him—or her.
+
+We got up to the top of this carn then, and there snugly ensconced
+between huge boulders of stone—the place is large enough to hold six or
+seven hundred men, well protected by natural rock-work—we gazed on the
+scenes all around us.
+
+First at the creek beneath us.  It was now pitch dark—for the night was
+as black as the day had been bright—but the three tall ships of war were
+lighted up with cressets of fire; the lugger was there and the captured
+sloop, and the sea around them was alive with boats, still conveying
+troops to the land.  The torches that they carried were reflected on the
+waves, elsewhere inky black—but here bearing long broken lines of light.
+Dark figures swarmed at the landing place, if so one could call, what was
+merely some flat slabs of rock; and all up the cliffs we saw ant-like
+beings crawling, and even (by the aid of a little imagination) we could
+fancy we heard their strong exclamations at the steepness of the
+path—made even steeper to them by the nature of their occupation, for
+they were rolling casks (evidently heavy) of gunpowder from where the
+boats landed them up to the top of the cliff.  Some of these dark figures
+carried torches which shed a fierce glow for a small space through the
+black night.  As we looked, one of the casks which had been by much
+effort shoved up to well-nigh the top of the cliffs, suddenly slipped
+from the Frenchmen’s hands and rolled rapidly down the declivity—the roll
+speedily becoming a succession of jumps and plunges, till with a wild
+leap the cask fled over a final precipice and disappeared in the sea.
+
+“Thank the Lord for that,” said Llewelyn.
+
+Nancy and I laughed aloud.  It is impossible to give any idea of the
+exultation that we felt.
+
+“What words they are using over that!” said Nancy.
+
+“Oh, don’t I wish we were near enough to hear them!” said I, totally
+unmindful of my future profession.
+
+But shortly after we had even greater cause of rejoicing.  The enemy (as
+we had already learnt to call them) were disembarking their cannon, and
+lowering these unwieldly articles of war into a long boat, but zeal
+outstripping discretion, they so over-weighted the boat, that lurching
+forward heavily she upset, and the whole of her cumbrous cargo was
+shortly at the bottom of the sea.  It was a satisfaction even to think of
+it.  Aye, and we may think of it still, for to this very day those
+foreign cannon are rolling about and rusting in the unquiet waters of
+Carrig Gwastad creek—a proof, should one ever be needed, of the truth of
+this strange story.
+
+“Thank the Lord again,” said Llewelyn.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+THE FATE OF THE CLOCK.
+
+
+Great bonfires now lit up the side of the hill beneath Trehowel—in the
+place still called the French camp—and scores of dark figures rushed
+about with torches flaring wildly in their hands; the whole scene
+reminding one forcibly of Pandemonium, that is, if one is capable of
+being reminded of a place one has never seen and that one has no desire
+to see.
+
+Even the thought of it at the moment was unpleasant to me as bringing my
+neglected studies to my mind, so I hastily turned my attention once more
+to the French.
+
+The boats and the sailors had now returned to their ships, having landed
+the invading hordes (which was the term we usually applied to the Gallic
+soldiers), who now seemed more bent on cooking than on conquering, on
+supping than on surprising.
+
+                      [Picture: Cottage at Castell]
+
+We watched the erection of beams and bars over the huge fires; and the
+slinging on to the bars of great pots and pans of all sorts—mostly
+intimate friends of poor Nancy who watched all these proceedings with
+many a groan and warm ejaculation as she thought of all her wasted
+scrubbings in the back kitchen of Trehowel.  The precise number of the
+men who landed that night on a bit (though remote) of Great Britain was
+fourteen hundred; of whom six hundred were regular troops, and eight
+hundred were convicts of the basest sort, described, indeed, in the
+pamphlets of the time as the sweepings of the gaols.  Besides these,
+there were two women; and had the fourteen hundred been animated by the
+spirit which possessed these two of the weaker sex, the result might have
+been much more unpleasant to the Principality than it actually was.
+
+The Welsh woman beside me was not by any means deficient in spirit
+either, it even sometimes took the form of temper, yet to my astonishment
+I heard the sound of sobs which could only proceed from her, as Llewelyn
+was hardly likely to relieve his feelings in this way.
+
+“Oh, Master Dan, wherever is Davy?” she again asked.  She called me
+“master” when she remembered what I was going to be, otherwise my father
+being only a small tradesman in Fishguard, I was more frequently called
+Dan.  I do not think I have given any description of Ann George, boys do
+not, as a rule, think much of personal appearance; nor did I.  My idea of
+Nancy had been chiefly connected with the peppermints she had been in the
+habit of giving me as a child; I thought her a person of a free and
+generous disposition.  She was a tall, fine young woman of five and
+twenty, with dark hair and eyes (these last being dark grey not brown),
+decided but pretty eyebrows, a well-shaped nose, and rather large mouth
+which disclosed when she laughed or talked (which was frequently)
+handsome white teeth.  In short, she was the type of a good-looking Welsh
+woman.  She had also a healthy colour, a warm heart, and a splendid
+appetite.  It was not very surprising that she had (or had had) two
+admirers.
+
+I at once referred to this fact with a boy’s utter want of delicacy in
+matters of sentiment.
+
+“What are you bothering about Davy for?  I thought it was Jim you liked.”
+
+“Don’t you ever say that fellow’s name to me again, Dan’el,” said Nancy
+with animation, her tears dried up and her eyes sparkling.  “I hope never
+to hear of James Bowen again so long as I live.”
+
+I whistled.  “Was that because he got into trouble for horse-stealing?
+Why, as to that, Davy’s none too particular.”
+
+“Dear anwyl, Dan, talk of what you understand, or hold your tongue!  What
+do I care for their customs and laws?  ’Deed to goodness, nothing at all.
+As to James Bowen if it had been only that—but there, a child like you
+can’t understand things.”
+
+“Can’t I!” I shouted, thoroughly incensed—of course we spoke in Welsh,
+and used a good many more exclamations than I have set down here.  “Can’t
+I, indeed.  I only know smuggling is—”
+
+“Don’t quarrel, children,” said Llewelyn, who was of a quiet disposition.
+“And don’t shout or you’ll bring the French upon us.  Silence holds it
+here. {80}  Just look there!”
+
+He pointed towards the opposite direction to that in which we had been
+looking, and where the French were still clambering about the cliffs
+dragging up the last of their barrels of ammunition and brandy.  He
+pointed towards the steep road which leads from Goodwick to Fishguard.
+This road was thronged with people, horses, carts, furniture, cattle all
+mixed together, and all (the animate ones at least) making their way with
+such speed as their legs and the hill permitted away from the immediate
+neighbourhood of the invaders.  The lights which some of them carried,
+and the glare from some gorse which had been set on fire, lit up the
+straggling, toiling multitude.
+
+Further off the semi-circle of hills blazed with warning beacons.  It was
+a sight never to be forgotten; a sight that had not been seen in this
+island for centuries.  From our high nest in the rocks we had but to turn
+our heads to see all.  In front of us to the north stretched the sea; a
+little to the north-west was the creek where the French had landed, where
+we could dimly discern the tall masts of the war-ships lighted up
+fitfully by cressets of fire.  At the top of the cliff was Trehowel, and
+close by was the French camp surmounted by the tricolor flag.  A little
+nearer us was Brestgarn, where Llewelyn lived, and just at our feet was
+the village and church of Llanunda.  Goodwick lay to the east of us;
+there was a steep hill down to it, a magnificent flat of sands, with sea
+on one side and marsh on the other, and then a steep hill up from it
+leading ere long to Fishguard.  The sea came round the corner from the
+north in order to form that deep and beautiful Goodwick Bay, where trees
+and rocks, gardens and wild waves, luxuriant vegetation and marshy
+barrenness are so strangely mixed.  Behind all, to the south and
+southeast came the mountains; and towards the fastnesses therein most of
+these fugitives were wending their way.
+
+“Deuks!” said Llewelyn, “they are coming out to see what they can get,
+the scoundrels; I must run back to Brestgarn.”
+
+“Let me come,” said I, on the impulse of the moment—though my knees shook
+as I saw small dark clumps of men leaving the main mass and coming
+towards us; but Llewelyn inspired confidence, and curiosity has a courage
+of its own; then I suddenly bethought me of Ann George.
+
+“But what will you do, Nancy?” I asked.
+
+“I will go to my Aunt Jemima, I’ll be safe enough with her; don’t trouble
+about me, my dear,” said Nancy, our short-lived quarrel being happily
+over.
+
+“That is in Fishguard, you can’t go there alone, wait a bit for me,” said
+I, with youthful assurance.
+
+“I can hide you at Brestgarn if you want to come, but better go on to
+Fishguard,” said Llewelyn.
+
+By this time, however, we were almost at the farm, for we had run down
+the steep side of Carnunda without any delay.
+
+As we drew near to the house we found from the uproar therein that it was
+already full of Frenchmen.  Very cautiously we approached a window and
+peeped in.  We saw a strange sight.  The kitchen was filled with ragged
+ruffianly fellows, all gesticulating with all their limbs, and screeching
+with all their lungs.  Of course we did not understand a word they said,
+which, perhaps, was no loss under the circumstances.  They were dressed
+in all sorts of uniforms—some of them in a dusky red (our soldiers’ coats
+dyed, as I afterwards heard), others wore the regular dark blue of the
+French army.  An enormous fire blazed on the hearth, on which they had
+placed a large brass pan, geese and fowls only half-feathered had been
+hastily thrown into it, and now they were literally cramming it with
+butter, which they dug out of a cask they had dragged in from the dairy.
+Suddenly a shout arose, apparently from the ground beneath us.
+
+“Deuks!” said Llewelyn, again.  “They’ve found the port.”
+
+Llewelyn did not allude to any of the harbours in the neighbourhood, but
+rather, it may be, to the lack of one, which had perhaps occasioned the
+wrecking of a vessel from Oporto laden with the wine of the district.
+
+“No odds, don’t fret for the wine,” whispered Nancy.  “We’ll get plenty
+again.  I only hope there’s a good store of brandy in the houses, too.”
+
+We got our brandy in a different way, but also inexpensively, and there
+was at times a considerable stock of it, and tobacco, too, in the
+farmhouse cellars.
+
+Llewelyn, however, was much perturbed: he had volunteered to stay to look
+after the household goods, and he didn’t seem to be able to do much.  The
+delight of the Frenchmen at such an unexpected treasure-trove was indeed
+exasperating.  Down flowed the generous liquid through throats the
+outsides of which were much in want of shaving, elbows were raised, and
+voices also in the intervals of quaffing.  Suddenly one man paused in his
+potations, the brass face of the old clock that stood in the corner had
+caught his eye, and the loud ticking of it had caught his ear.
+Screeching something that sounded like “enemy,” he levelled his musket
+and fired straight at the clock.  The bullet went through the wood-work
+with a loud sound of splitting.
+
+“Brenhin mawr!” yelled Llewelyn, forgetting all caution in his
+exasperation.  “The scoundrels have shot our eight day clock!”
+
+Unfortunately his remark was overheard; and indeed his yell shot into the
+midst of those rioting ruffians like a pebble into a wasp’s nest.  Out
+they flew, evidently infuriated; but we waited for no explanations,
+taking to our heels on the instant, with the promptitude of extreme fear.
+Nan and I were light of heel, and favoured by the darkness—yet more black
+to those who came from that blaze of light—we got clear away; but turning
+ere long to look, we perceived that Llewelyn had not been so fortunate,
+he was older and a good deal heavier than we were; and then his righteous
+anger had rendered him rather breathless before he began to run.  He was
+now surrounded by a crowd of foreigners, all jabbering and gesticulating
+as hard as possible.  Our hearts were sore at having to leave our
+companion in this plight, but there was no help for it, to attempt a
+rescue would have been, under the circumstances, worse than folly.  So we
+ran along across country, avoiding all roads, and making straight for
+Goodwick.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+THE PRIEST’S PEEP-HOLE.
+
+
+As Nancy and I puffed and panted in as noiseless a manner as possible up
+the steep hill from Brestgarn, we saw, or, more strictly speaking, we
+heard all around us, foraging parties of the enemy, who were making off
+with everything they could lay their hands upon.  The screeching of
+poultry, the quacking of ducks, the cackling of geese, the grunting and
+squealing of pigs (I might go on as long as some foreign Delectus, but
+that I fear to weary the reader) together with the oaths and laughter of
+the Frenchmen, formed a medley of sound that might have been pleasing to
+the ears of a musician composing a symphony on rural sounds, but that to
+a more ordinary listener formed a hubbub of noise that was bewildering
+and extremely distasteful; while poor Nancy’s vexation at the fate of the
+dwellers in the farm-yard equalled her indignation at the use made of her
+well-scrubbed pans.
+
+Not a single inhabitant of this district seemed to be left, every cottage
+was deserted; all had fled for the present, in order to turn again with
+greater force and rend the intruder—as one may draw back for a space so
+as to gain the necessary impetus for a spring.
+
+We had reached the village of Llanunda, when we heard a considerable body
+of the enemy marching along the road near us, on their way to take
+possession of our rocky nest on the top of Carnunda.  This very strong
+position formed the enemy’s outpost, and it ought to have been a matter
+of no small difficulty to oust them therefrom, had they but planted
+themselves firmly in it.
+
+To our great dismay we now heard voices approaching us from the other
+side; these proved to be some of the foraging parties making themselves
+acquainted with the larders and cellars of all the neighbouring houses.
+We crouched down lower among the gorse bushes, and I at least knew
+precisely the sensations experienced by a hunted and hiding hare.  When
+this danger, too, was happily overpast, at all events for the moment,
+Nancy whispered to me—
+
+“Dan, they are a deal too near us here, and there’s more coming.  I know
+a better hiding-place than this.  Let’s make for the church.”
+
+I assented willingly; and we made as fast as we could for the church.  It
+was a small but ancient building, full of queer holes and corners, with
+the which Nancy was better acquainted than I was, it being her parish
+church.  The door was happily unfastened, but no Frenchmen had as yet
+invaded the sacred building, for we took the precaution of looking
+through the “leper’s hole” as soon as we had entered the porch.  The
+leper’s hole is a little square window, the sides of which are so sloped
+as to command a view of the interior of the church, more especially of
+the chancel; so that in the old times even these miserable wretches—set
+apart in the porch—might still behold the high altar.
+
+We then looked with eagerness through this orifice, and perceived gladly
+that the building was dark and empty.  So pushing open the door, we
+entered our sanctuary as though it had been a veritable city of refuge.
+Our first care was to secure the door as well as we could on the inside;
+then Nancy sat down in order to fetch her breath, while I reviewed the
+place and the situation.  Neither were to my mind when I came to think of
+it.
+
+“What have you come here for, Nan?” I inquired.  “I don’t like it—we’ll
+be caught here like rats in a trap.  We can’t hide in the pulpit.  I’d
+rather a gorse-bush in the open, now.”
+
+“Wait a bit, Dan, till I fetch my breath—and don’t talk; they may hear
+you,” said Nancy, not considering that she was talking herself.
+
+“Oh do make haste with your breath,” said I, “and tell me where it is.”
+I was full of curiosity to know where her hiding-place could be: the
+church was pitch dark, a few minutes of silence there seemed an age.
+“It’s not in a vault, is it?” I continued.
+
+“A vault—bless the boy—no!  I’m not going into a vault before I can help
+it.  Well, if you won’t be quiet, I suppose I’d better show you the
+place.  It is at the other side of the church.  Come across quietly,
+now.”
+
+We did go across as quietly as we could, considering the pitch darkness
+of the place, all blocked up with high pews according to the fashion of
+the time.  In my after-career I had often occasion to reprove the
+occupiers of like boxes, who, trusting to their wooden walls to screen
+them, slumbered happily within a few yards of me, utterly forgetful of
+the treachery of their own noses.
+
+After having injured her shins several times over unexpected obstacles,
+Nancy sighed forth, “Oh for a light!”
+
+“Oh for something to eat!” I responded.  “I’ve got a flint and steel in
+my pocket; but I can’t eat that.  You can have it if you like.”
+
+“I daren’t strike a light,” said Nancy; “but I’ve got a bit of cheese in
+my pocket along with the silver spoons.  Here, stretch out your hand.”
+
+“Don’t you want it?”  I felt impelled by manners to say this, though I
+felt wolfish.
+
+“Not I.  I had my dinner as usual.  I put it in my pocket in case of
+meeting—a friend.”
+
+“Do your—friends like cheese?” I asked with my mouth full.
+
+“You seem to, any way,” retorted Nancy.  “I hear them coming.”
+
+I bolted the cheese in a panic.  I felt much more afraid of the French
+since I had seen them so near in Brestgarn kitchen, and since they had
+nabbed Llewelyn.
+
+“Here’s the hole—you go first.  I’ll close it up after us with a pew
+door.”
+
+Nancy dexterously lifted one off its hinges, while I, mounted on the back
+of a pew, groped my way into a pitch dark cavity in the wall, the
+entrance to which was situated at the height of some three or four feet
+above the floor-level.
+
+“Take care, there are steps,” said Nan, just as I had discovered the fact
+by the aid of my shin-bone.  She was still wrestling with the pew door,
+and I smothered my agony chiefly, I must own, from fear of the French.
+
+“Get on a bit higher up, Dan,” whispered Ann, as she followed me,
+dragging the door after her as quietly as she could.  Nancy was certainly
+a wonderful woman, with a head on her shoulders.
+
+At this moment I felt that it was so, for I was propelled somewhat
+violently upward by the member in question.  I can also add my testimony
+that she was a hard-headed woman.  She was also perhaps a little
+hard-hearted, for in answer to my remonstrance, “Hold hard, Nancy, that
+hurts!” she merely said,
+
+“Oh, do get on, Dan; I expect them here every minute.”
+
+I did get on, and found after mounting half-a-dozen steps of a twirling
+stair, that my head was opposite an opening just at the place where the
+roof of the church sprung; one of the oaken beams was, in fact, a little
+scooped out to make room for this slit, which being under the heavy
+shadow of the woodwork was almost completely screened from the glances of
+those below; while to the person placed behind this coign of ’vantage the
+whole of the interior of the church was visible—chancel as well as nave.
+
+“What a queer place—what’s it for, Nancy?” I asked.
+
+“That is called the Priest’s Peep-hole; I suppose in old times he got a
+friend to go up there and keep an eye on the congregation—see who went to
+sleep, and what they were at altogether,” explained Nan; but at this
+moment her eloquence came to a sudden end.  Our voices and our hearts
+died within us, for there came to our ears the dreaded but expected
+sound—the clamorous jabber of many tongues.
+
+The sounds came from the churchyard, but I doubt if even a company of
+good Welsh ghosts would have frightened us as much as these earthly
+foreigners.  Very, very earthly and carnal-minded did they seem to us at
+this moment.
+
+“They won’t come into a church—they won’t rob a church!” I whispered to
+Ann, leaning my head down close to her’s—a difficult feat, but I was as
+thin as a lath then.
+
+“Won’t they?” said Ann, scornfully.  “You wait a minute—Hst!”
+
+Nan’s appreciation of character and computation of time proved equally
+correct.  She had fixed the pew-door by this time, and she held it firmly
+in its place by the handle, which she had taken care to put on the inward
+side when she lifted up the barrier across the entrance to the stair.
+
+“I hope they won’t fire through that like they did through the clock at
+Brestgarn, on the chance of finding some one behind it,” I whispered to
+my companion as this comfortable idea flashed through my mind, even the
+terror of the French failing to curb my natural love of suggesting a
+terror.
+
+“Hst!” retorted Nan; “hold your tongue, can’t you, and keep your head
+down; don’t let them see you peeping, Dan!”
+
+Nancy’s caution to me came not a moment too soon, for crash! a rush of
+men and muskets at the door, whose rickety bolts we had drawn when we
+entered, chiefly in the hope that they might not be tried.  But if we
+drew them as a sort of charm, the spell was not strong enough, nor were
+the locks.
+
+C-r-a-ck—_crack_! the feeble bolts gave a groan, and open flew the door
+with a sharp, splitting sound.  In rushed ten or a dozen Frenchmen,
+tumbling over one another in their haste.  The church was lighted up with
+a sudden blaze from their torches; this was all I saw, for on the
+entrance of the enemy I had ducked my head speedily.  Ann could see still
+less, as she was crouched on the bottom step, and was keeping the door in
+its place with her knees.
+
+The noise in the church was terrific, but yet to my ears the beating of
+my heart was still louder.  The more I tried to silence it, the more it
+ticked.
+
+“Perhaps they’ll think it’s a clock,” I reflected.
+
+“Oh, dear! oh, dear!”
+
+Yet after a while, as I grew more accustomed to the clamour, I became
+possessed by a desire to know what these men were doing.  Very cautiously
+I raised my head.  I feared my hair must be standing on end, which would
+make it more perceptible by an inch or two.  Instinct had made me take
+off my hat as we entered the building; in crossing the dark aisle I had
+dropped it, and I hoped sincerely no one would find it, as it might lead
+to unpleasant investigations.  Planted finally on my hands and knees, I
+raised myself till my eyes were on a level with the lowest part of the
+priest’s peep-hole, and then, even veiling my eyes with half-closed lids
+as a precaution, I glanced furtively forth at the foreign marauders
+beneath me.  They had not gone through the ceremony of removing their
+hats, and their object in entering the sacred edifice was evidently
+simply the hope of plunder.  With the butt ends of their muskets they
+knocked and thrust at everything, as if to ascertain of what it was made,
+and whether anything of value might not be concealed within it.  One
+half-drunken fellow came and gave a mighty bang to the cushion belonging
+to the pulpit, which he snatched from its proper position and dashed
+against the wall, immediately under my spy-hole.  I imagine that the
+worthy incumbent must have been less given to pulpit thumping than most
+of his fellows, for out flew a cloud of dust, reaching even to my
+nostrils.  A smothered sneeze was the result.  Instantly I felt myself
+violently pulled by the leg from below; indeed, so provoked was Nancy
+that she could not resist giving me a shake, though I am sure the candid
+reader will allow I was not to blame in the matter.
+
+Unluckily the Frenchman had heard the sneeze, and some animated
+conversation went on between him and his companions, who, however, seemed
+inclined to ridicule his assertions.  Judging from the tone of their
+remarks (for Nancy held too tight a grip of me to allow of my seeing
+anything), I should say that their language to each other was not so
+polite as one might have expected from men of their nation.  However, my
+particular enemy did not seem inclined to allow himself to be set down
+after this fashion; for, dropping his cushion, he proceeded to make an
+investigation with his clubbed musket.  Walls, pews, and benches, he
+thumped them all indiscriminately, giving a sounding whack to the door
+which closed our retreat.  But Nancy’s knees did not flinch, though they
+must have received a most unpleasant jar.  Luckily the entrance to the
+hidden stair was in a very dark and out-of-the way corner, and also at a
+very unusual height from the ground.  Mercifully at this moment our
+tormentor’s attention was distracted by a shout from his comrades, who
+had entered the little vestry, and had forced open the cupboard
+containing the sacramental vessels.  These were very ancient, and were of
+silver, and the glee of the finders was easily understood even by those
+in our retired situation.
+
+Others of the invaders broke open the chest containing the parish
+records, but, much disappointed by the nature of the contents, they tore
+forth the documents and tossed them on the floor of the church.  Human
+nature was no longer to be restrained, neither by fear nor by Ann, so I
+once more popped my head up and beheld a strange sight.  One of the men
+had thrown a torch in among the parchments and papers, a bright flame
+lighted up the dark interior of the church, and shone on the fierce faces
+of the men around the fire, two of whom were struggling for the
+possession of the communion cup.
+
+“Great Heaven, we shall be burnt like rats, Nan!” I whispered to my
+companion, but she answered by her favourite expression, “Hst!”
+
+One soldier, I imagine by way of a joke, now threw the pulpit cushion on
+the flames, whereupon such dense clouds of smoke arose as speedily
+cleared the church of the invaders, but alas, nearly stifled us, the
+lawful inhabitants.  Luckily the floor of the church was of slate, and
+the fire was not very near any woodwork.
+
+Nancy insisted that we must bear our suffocation in silence and
+motionless, and though my eyes watered and my heart rebelled, not a cough
+nor a wheeze, nor even a word, did I suffer to escape me, but to my
+thoughts at least I gave free rein.  After a while these too played the
+truant, wandering away from my enemies and dreamily fixing themselves on
+my master at St. David’s, my school friends, my books, the moving waters
+that framed in every picture of my life, till, becoming more and more
+indistinct, I imagine that I must have fallen fast asleep, though this is
+a matter that none can speak of with any certainty till it comes to the
+sharp act of awakening, which act assures us, in the most matter-of-fact
+manner, that we have been asleep.
+
+In this way, by a sharp fact, indeed, no other than Nancy’s elbow, I made
+the discovery that, in spite of my uncomfortable position, I must have
+fallen sound asleep, tired out by my long walk and many subsequent runs,
+and fatigued also by the number of new ideas forced on my mind by the
+action of the extraordinary events of the day and the many bewildering
+things I had seen and heard since breakfast time that morning.
+
+It seemed to me to have been but a few minutes from the time the French
+left us choking in the smoke till I felt that elbow of Nancy’s, of which
+I took no notice.  Indifferent to this silent scorn, she now pulled me
+vigorously by the leg.
+
+“Wake up, Dan!  Wake up, boy; we must get away from here at once; we
+ought to have gone long ago, but I fell asleep, worse luck.  Come now, at
+once, it’s just daylight.”
+
+We had, indeed, quite suddenly, as it seemed to me, reached the morning
+of Thursday.
+
+
+
+
+THURSDAY.
+_THE SECOND DAY_.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+DAVY JONES’ LOCKER.
+
+
+The fear of the French returning suddenly shook the drowsiness out of my
+eyes.  I gave them a final rub, then stumbled down the crooked steps
+after Nancy.  How she could have guessed that it was now near dawn—as in
+our corner it was still pitch-dark—was a mystery to me; but probably the
+habit of waking up daily at an extremely early hour, as was the wont of
+milk-maids in those days, had accustomed her to know the time to a
+nicety.
+
+We crept as quietly as we could down from our uncomfortable hiding-place,
+so stiff and cramped that we could only move with difficulty, and every
+bone made its particular position known with great accuracy, even to us
+who were totally unacquainted with anatomy.  Then we carefully
+reconnoitred our situation.
+
+                      [Picture: Ransacked Farmhouse]
+
+As far as we could see, looking through the church windows on every side,
+we gazed only into the dim dusk of early morning into a lifeless world.
+No little bird as yet sent up his morning song; there were no sheep or
+cattle to be seen, their lawful owners or the invaders having driven them
+off to securer quarters or to sudden death, as the case might be.  The
+church itself, after the late uproar, seemed very silent now; the fire
+had quickly died down, smothered by the pillow; only the heavy smell of
+smoke remained to prove that the wild doings of the night had not been a
+terrifying dream.
+
+We crept along to the leper’s hole, using the other end of it now; for
+the unfortunate outcasts of former days had gazed through the tube into
+the church, while we unhappy fugitives looked warily from the interior
+into the porch, to see if haply some blue-coated soldier might have been
+left there on guard.  But if this had been the case he had certainly
+declined to stay, which was not unlikely considering the lax discipline,
+or, rather, total want of discipline, which prevailed in the French
+force.  At all events, the porch was empty.
+
+So after a little getting behind each other and a slight backwardness in
+going forward, owing more to uncertainty of light than natural timidity,
+at last we ventured out boldly into the porch, and took a good look, our
+necks stretched out over the churchyard and round the country.  The
+former seemed silent and deserted, the tombstones looming darkly into dim
+twilight, which still lay heavy on the land; nor could we even discern
+any sound of snoring.  Carnunda was crowned with fires and thronged with
+soldiers, but it was not very near, and we thought we might slip away
+unnoticed.  So, cautiously we closed the door behind us, and fared forth.
+The porch lay to the south of the church; we were stealing round the
+building to the north, or seaward side, as being further removed from
+Carnunda, when we were stopped by a sudden shout, proceeding apparently
+from the air above us.  Our hearts stood still and our blood froze with
+terror—at least, I know mine did, and Nancy turned an ashy white in the
+grey dawn.  In an instant we looked up to the place from which our enemy
+had spied us—the roof of the church, where he had been stationed as a
+sentinel.  He sat astride on the ridge, which could be easily gained by
+means of a flight of steps, made on the outside of the roof, as a
+look-out place from which to signal to those at sea; but never designed
+for such a purpose as the present.  The discipline had not been so lax as
+we hoped.  For a moment we were stupefied, wishing only that one of the
+graves would open and take us in.  Then we took to our heels.  Down came
+the Frenchman clattering over the roof of the church, from the edge of
+which he dropped to the ground, only a distance of eight or nine feet;
+then he came full cry after us.  His shouts had attracted the attention
+of a couple of his fellows, who were strolling along the cliffs in search
+of what they could devour, or, still better, drink.  They joined the
+chase instantly, and all three came full tear after Nancy and myself, who
+had headed straight for the cliffs, as one of our own foxes would have
+done, though what we were to do when we gained them save plunge into the
+sea we knew not.  However, we were not fated to gain them just at
+present, for one of the Frenchmen had outrun Nancy, whose limbs were
+still cramped, and who was weary from want of rest and sleep.  I was
+stiff and tired too, but fear of the French made me fly, and would have
+done so I think had I been doubled up by rheumatism.  However, though Nan
+was caught, and warned me of her disaster by a shrill scream, I am glad
+to say she preserved her usual Welsh spirit, as she plainly showed by
+fetching the Frenchman a sounding box on the ear.  I hesitated what to
+do, divided between fear of the French and the desire of standing by my
+friend.  I am glad to say I had advanced a few steps towards an attempt
+at rescue, when some dark body rushed past me in the dawning light, and
+ere I could even exclaim, the Frenchman lay flat on the ground.  The
+other two, half drunk, and wholly stupefied, perceiving that things were
+going somewhat crookedly, departed as quickly as they could, making for
+the camp at Carnunda.  Our rescuer had a mind to follow them, but Ann
+laid a restraining hand upon his arm.
+
+“Oh, Dio bach,” {115} she said, “I am glad to see you this time, if I
+never was before.”
+
+And she really looked as if she could have kissed him.
+
+“Nancy, how came you here; why didn’t you go away with the rest?” asked
+Davy Jones, abruptly, his voice rough and angry.  He had had too great a
+scare to be tender or even civil.
+
+“Why, I had to stop and see to everything—and the silver spoons,” said
+Nancy, quite meekly.
+
+“Hang the silver spoons,” said Davy.  “Now what’s to be done with this
+carcase?”  And he pointed to the unconscious Frenchman.  “Get out of the
+way, Nancy, and I’ll shove him over the cliff.”
+
+“No, no, don’t waste time,” exclaimed Nancy; “we’ll have the whole lot
+after us in a minute; they’re as thick as ants on Carnunda.  How can we
+get away?”
+
+“Down the cliff as fast as you can.  I’ve got a boat down below; if we
+can get to the caves we’ll do; but I had some of them after me a little
+while ago, and I landed here to get rid of them, and to find out what had
+become of you, for Llewelyn of Brestgarn told me you were somewhere
+near.”
+
+“Llewelyn is a prisoner; did you see him?  Is he safe?” asked Nancy, as
+we hurried along.
+
+“Hush, quick and quiet; I’ll tell you in the boat,” whispered Davy.
+
+We plunged down through dry bracken, gorse bushes, and large boulders of
+stone, interspersed with steep pieces of cliff.  We jumped, slid, and
+tumbled down, clutching hold of grasses and ferns to stay our speed, and
+in a few moments we had reached the level of the sea.
+
+The boat had been so cunningly hidden—with the dexterity of constant
+practice—that Nan and I quite failed to discover it.  Davy, however, had
+it out in a trice.
+
+“Jump in, boy, and give a hand to Nancy.”
+
+Nancy did not require a hand, she jumped in very steadily, and took the
+rudder.  Davy threw me one oar, took the other himself, and we were off,
+stealing noiselessly along under the great cliffs, where darkness still
+dwelt.  But the sky over our heads grew lighter every moment, and we
+ruefully perceived that ere long it would be broad day.  Yet it seemed
+safer to be on the water than on the land, where we could even now
+discern dim figures looking for us.
+
+“Ah, what is that?” in a horror-struck whisper from Ann.
+
+_That_ was a dark blue object, very unpleasing to behold, sodden with
+water, and wedged in a crevice of the cliffs.
+
+“That is one of them,” said Davy, grimly, “cleft to the chin by a scythe
+in a Welshman’s hands.  The ruffians had burnt his cottage, with his old
+mother in it; he caught this one, that’s all.  I wish I had served that
+fellow up there the same, Nancy.”
+
+“Where have you been, Davy?” I asked, to divert his remorseful thoughts,
+and unable to restrain my curiosity.
+
+“Among these blacks of parlez-vous.  They nabbed me last night as neat as
+could be—we had a bit of a scrimmage though.  I was coming back from a
+little bit of business.”
+
+“Oh, Davy, you shouldn’t!” from Ann.
+
+“And I got in too near, never expecting ships here; who would?  We were
+round the corner and on them almost, before we knew it; we made off then,
+but they saw us and gave chase.  We made as fast as we could for a place
+I know, a good out-of-the-way cave—we’ve got a few about here, Nan—and
+they came after us.  They’d some man who knew the coast among them, that
+I’ll swear; any stranger must have found out the sharpness of our rocks;
+but not a bit of it.  On they came quite comfortable, and close behind us
+they were as we got to the mouth of the cave.  Levi Mathias stood up in
+the bow of the boat ready to jump ashore when one of the French marines
+shot him.  I hope to have something to say before that’s done with yet.
+Out tumbled our men anyhow, running through the surf and up the cliffs,
+into the darkness anywhere, for the Frenchmen carried torches as well as
+muskets.  Well, they nabbed me.”
+
+“You didn’t like to leave Levi,” said Nancy, softly.
+
+“I didn’t like to leave the brandy,” said Davy.  “They got it, though,
+and me, tight enough.  It put them into a good temper, however, and they
+didn’t shoot me through the head, like they did a farmer that they made
+help to roll up their casks of ammunition, when he tried to escape.  They
+made me carry up one of my own kegs which went against the grain; then
+they took me to their chief.”
+
+“Did you see the chief?” I asked, eagerly.
+
+“’Deed to goodness, yes—General Tate—no more a Frenchman than I am;
+Irish, I’m thinking.  He seemed very uneasy, and none of his men minded
+him.  I had company—John Owen, of the sloop _Britannia_, laden with culm
+for Llanstinan—they didn’t care for culm, and were cross to him, and a
+mortal fright he was in, but had sense enough left to tell them a lot of
+lies.  Then I saw Llewelyn, and had a word on the sly with him; he told
+me you were hereabouts; I watched my chance, and an hour or two ago I
+slipped down over the cliffs, seized this boat, and made off; but they
+saw me from one of the ships, and gave chase, and—”
+
+A cry interrupted him, succeeded by a loud splashing of oars.
+
+“And, hang them, there they are again.  Why-ever couldn’t you hold your
+tongue, Dan?”
+
+This was unjust, as Davy had done all the talking himself; but the
+present was no moment for arguing.  We bent to the oars with a will and
+in silence, till my hands were blistered, my heart panting, and my back
+breaking, and still the enemy were gaining on us.
+
+Nancy leant forward.
+
+“Change with me for a spell, Dan.  I can row.”
+
+On we went again, fast, faster, and still the other boat came on after us
+yet more rapidly—it was like a nightmare.  We came in very close to the
+cliffs now, and Davy took both oars.  In between two reefs of rocks we
+went—a deep channel, yet full of treacherous windings and turnings.
+
+“I think we’ll do now,” said Davy.  “Please Providence, they may easily
+be smashed to atoms here.”
+
+And he looked gratefully at the sharp rocks.
+
+But I turned after a little, and beheld that phantom-like pursuer still
+following us closely through the windings of the passage.  The reefs had
+now become high cliffs, and seemed to close us in on every side; but as
+we came round another corner we saw before us a low archway.  Through
+this we shot, and we found ourselves as it were at the bottom of a
+tea-cup, with precipitous walls on every side; just in front of us a
+little sandy beach.  Davy pushed the boat towards a narrow slit in the
+rocks.
+
+“Jump in there, my girl,” he said.  “Don’t be afraid; if you slip, I’ll
+catch you.”
+
+Nancy jumped at once, I followed her, landing half in and half out of the
+water, but quickly drawing myself up to be out of Davy’s way, who came
+with a mighty rush—at the same time spinning the boat to the other side
+of the creek—only just in time, the Frenchmen were in the archway.
+
+“Go on as far as you can,” whispered Davy.  “If they see this slit, they
+can only come one at a time, and—”
+
+He didn’t finish, but it wasn’t necessary.  Nan and I stumbled on in the
+interior, and found ourselves ere long in quite a large cave, where even
+in the dusky light we could discern objects extremely like kegs, also
+bales and packages of all sorts.  Outside we heard the cries and screams
+of the Frenchmen, baulked of their prey; for (probably fortunately for
+themselves) they did not discover the narrow and hidden entrance to our
+cave.  We were soon joined by Davy, who remarked that if they had a guide
+with them, there were a few things he didn’t know yet.
+
+“There’s plenty of food here—and spirits—if we want to stay,” he
+continued; “but perhaps we may as well get to the top and see what is
+going on.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+WELSH WIVES.
+
+
+We did prefer (as soon as we had got our breath again) knowing what was
+going on in our usual world overhead to remaining in ignoble security in
+Davy’s locker, for so we named his cave.  Accordingly we scrambled and
+crawled and pushed our way up the far-end of the cavern, till at last the
+aperture resembled a chimney lined with ferns instead of soot more than
+aught else.  We emerged at last into the open air full of morning
+sunshine, and perceived that we were now quite beyond the enemy’s lines
+and once more among our own people.
+
+The first thing to be done in this situation was naturally—to talk; as
+good and true Celts we all agreed to that; and when we got into the
+high-road we found no dearth of people to talk to.  They were gathering
+like ants from every quarter, and the one topic which each man liked to
+discourse on was simply this: how he was going to fight the French.  The
+bonfires last night had aroused the country, and some of the men we met
+had come from distant parts of the county.
+
+Among other items of news they told us that the men of St. David’s had
+rushed in a body to their cathedral, from the roof of which they had
+insisted on tearing off the lead; six blacksmiths had come forward, and
+had at once cast the said lead into bullets.  Old and young, master and
+man, all had turned out.  A dissenting minister was there (the Reverend
+Mr. Jones was his name), and after him marched all the men of his
+congregation.  The news had come as he was preaching to them, and the
+worthy man had at once changed rhetoric for action.  “Let us fight a good
+fight,” said he, and proceeded to put his words to the proof and himself
+at the head of his men.
+
+A choleric major rode about the lanes near St. Dogmael’s collecting
+recruits.  He met a Mr. Jones (another one): “Come along to fight the
+French,” was Major James’ greeting.  But Mr. Jones had business which
+called him elsewhere.
+
+“By the Lord Harry,” said the Major, drawing his sword, “if you don’t
+come this minute I’ll slice your head off like a turnip.”
+
+The fear of the French was an unknown quantity, but the fear of the Major
+was very well known indeed, and Mr. Jones went.
+
+We mingled exultantly with the throng of our people, and presently our
+eyes were gladdened by the sight of a gallant body of men—all well
+equipped and well mounted—the Castle Martin Yeomanry.  These were joined
+by the Cardiganshire Militia, the Fencible Infantry of Colonel Knox, and
+some seamen and artillery, the whole under the command of Lord Cawdor.
+
+We had got into Fishguard by this time, and we hung about the door of the
+“Royal Oak,” where a council of war was being held by our
+officers—namely, Lord Milford, Lord Cawdor, Colonel Knox, Colonel Colby,
+Colonel Ackland, Colonel Dan Vaughan, Major James, and the Governor of
+Fishguard Fort, Colonel George Vaughan.  The troops formed in the
+turnpike road just outside the town, and here we three had to separate,
+for Davy wished to accompany the troops, Ann to join her Aunt Jemima, and
+I to get something to eat at my father’s house, for I had only had hasty
+snatches hitherto, and I had a growing boy’s appetite.  My parent was so
+much astonished at the course of events that he was not even surprised to
+see me when I walked, as bold as brass, into his shop; and never even
+asked if I had taken French leave of my master.  But before satisfying my
+natural filial affection I (together with Davy) escorted Nancy to the
+abode of her relative, who, however, was not at home.  As we turned to
+go, Nancy having taken leave of Davy in an affectionate manner, because,
+as she said, he had appeared just in the nick of time, we espied that
+stalwart female, Jemima Nicholas, coming along the road from Goodwick
+surrounded by twelve Frenchmen, {129} whom she had had the courage and
+address to bring—probably allured by false promises—all the way from
+Llanunda; assisted by the military, she now conducted them into the
+guard-house at Fishguard.
+
+Leaving Nancy under the efficient protection of her aunt with light
+hearts, Davy and I went our several ways; but ere long, after recounting
+my adventures and receiving a large amount of hero-worship from my
+mother, I once more found myself on the road leading to the scene of
+action.  It seemed impossible to keep away.  On the top of a high rock I
+saw a crowd of people in a state of great and evident excitement.  I
+hastened to join them, and perceived at once the reason of their
+gesticulations.  There were the three tall men-of-war and the lugger,
+with all sail set, standing out from the land, and apparently sailing
+away with all speed to the place from whence they came.  We could hardly
+believe our eyes.  We looked at Carnunda; there floated the French flag,
+and the rocks were dark with men.
+
+“The Lord hath delivered them into our hand,” said the Reverend Mr.
+Jones, who stood near.
+
+This sight increased the confidence of our people amazingly, as much as
+(we afterwards heard) it struck dismay into the hearts of General Tate
+and his men, they not being animated by the spirit which moved the
+classic heroes to burn their boats so as to destroy the means of retreat
+and to force themselves to action.  The base desertion of their comrades,
+the large supply of brandy in the farm-house cellars, and a providential
+but comic mistake, seem to have been the three principal causes of the
+failure of the French—one may say of the utter and singular collapse of
+their undertaking.
+
+The mistake occurred in this manner.  Large numbers of the country-women
+(among whom were Jemima and Nancy) had assembled on a hill commanding an
+extensive prospect, including the French outpost at Carnunda, desiring,
+with the curiosity of their sex, to see as much as possible of what was
+going forward.  It was, by the way, the same hill on which I had also
+stationed myself.  Most of the women wore their distinctive shawl, a
+scarlet whittle, this being the colour appropriated by the daughters of
+Pembrokeshire; while their Cardiganshire neighbours have adopted the
+white whittle.  All of them at that time wore high black hats.  Lord
+Cawdor, as he was riding about inspecting things in general, was struck
+by the resemblance of a mass of these women to a body of regulars, and he
+called upon the daughters of Cambria to give a proof of their patriotism
+by marching towards the enemy in regular order.  The females responded by
+a considerable cackle, which, however, signified assent.  I saw Jemima
+and her niece in the front of the regiment which moved forward boldly
+towards the enemy.  Ere long a sudden dip in the ground rendered them
+invisible to the French, at which place, turning into a side lane, they
+came again to the back of the hill whence they had started, and renewed
+their former course; it was done almost in the way in which, I am told,
+these effects are managed in a theatre.  This manœuvre caused much
+laughter among the spectators, and no little puffing and panting to the
+fair sex who accomplished it, many of whom were somewhat stout and not
+very young.  However, it had the desired effect.  General Tate
+acknowledged afterwards that they had been taken for a regiment of
+regulars, and the French troops (greatly composed of convicts) utterly
+lost heart.  If they had but realised that it took a matter of seven days
+for the news to travel to London, they need not have distressed
+themselves on the score of quick aid from England.
+
+In the meantime parties of marauders in a half-drunken state continued to
+prowl about the neighbourhood.  A considerable number of militia and
+peasantry encountered five of these men, who were dragging with them a
+young calf.  They dropped the calf and advanced to the combat, while our
+men, thinking the odds unfair, singled out five of our sailors (of whom
+Davy Jones was one), and Mr. Whitesides, a Liverpool gentleman who
+assisted, as a stranger, at the selection, dismissed them to their work
+with this benediction:—
+
+“Take time, my boys, and do it well!”
+
+The French soldiers fired, and one of our men fell, wounded in the foot;
+then it was the tars’ turn, and they fired with such judgment that three
+of the enemy lay flat on the ground, and the remaining two departed
+rapidly.  One of the three proved to be dead, the other two badly
+wounded.  This encounter of a few, with a multitude looking on, took one
+back to the old days of Arthur’s knights, or to the still older days of
+Goliath of Gath.
+
+Considerable numbers of Frenchmen were by this time in a very unpleasing
+state of body and mind in consequence of rash indulgence in port wine and
+poultry boiled in butter.  They were captured in small groups by the
+peasantry, who laid in wait for them behind the gorse bushes which abound
+in this region, and who jumped out on them with scant ceremony whenever
+they had a chance.  A man belonging to Llanunda village, taking a
+cautious peep through his own little window from the outside, perceived
+one of the enemy making free with his food and wine; the Frenchman was
+enjoying himself thoroughly, he had made an excellent fire from most of
+the furniture, and he was toasting his legs thereat as he sipped the
+generous wine with the air of a connoisseur.  This was more than the
+Taffy could stand.  He had not saved that wine from a wreck at
+considerable personal risk to see it sending a glow through the veins of
+a foreigner; he flung himself into the room with a strong expression
+behind his teeth and a hay-fork clenched tightly in his hand.  The
+Frenchman jumped up and thrust with his bayonet at the master of the
+house, who turned aside the blow, then, taking the foe on his pitchfork,
+tossed him into the fire, as he might have pitched a truss of hay on to
+the rick.
+
+A party of marauders set forth with the view of plundering Manorowen, a
+gentleman’s seat in the vicinity; but being followed by a detachment of
+the Yeomanry, they returned in a very different manner from what they had
+anticipated.
+
+And now we, on our knoll—and there were some thousands of us, including
+peasantry, fishermen, shopkeepers, and the resident gentry of three
+counties—raised a shout of pride and triumph as Lord Cawdor at the head
+of his small troop of Yeomanry Cavalry rode off to inspect the enemy at
+close quarters.  The sinking sun shone on their glittering accoutrements
+and splendid uniforms, and a glow of satisfaction filled our hearts as we
+noted the fine chargers they bestrode, for a Pembrokeshire man loves
+horseflesh as truly as a Yorkshire man; and not even my cloth has ever
+restrained me from being a genuine Philhippos.  The Castle Martin
+Yeomanry have always been celebrated for their horses; and indeed it was
+no matter of surprise to any one to hear, as we did hear afterwards, that
+General Tate mistook these men for the staff surrounding some English
+general, the main body of whose troops were defiling around the side of
+the mountain; in truth, as the courteous reader knows, none other than
+the old women.  Lord Cawdor, at the head of his forty yeoman, trotted
+close under Carnunda, the stronghold of the enemy, who could, if they had
+possessed guns, have swept them all off the face of the earth.  As it was
+they narrowly escaped falling into an ambush.  A force of French soldiers
+were lying in wait for them a little further up the road, and had Lord
+Cawdor taken this route, as was his lordship’s first design, his men
+might have been surprised, though even in that case we may well believe
+they would have given as good as they got.
+
+However, darkness falling suddenly, caused a change of plans; Lord Cawdor
+and the reconnoitring party rejoined the main body, and the British
+troops took up their quarters for the night in Fishguard.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+GENERAL TATE’S LETTER.
+
+
+I also retired to Fishguard in order to calm my mother’s mind about my
+safety—and also to get my supper.
+
+My mother was, as mothers are, overjoyed to see me, and gave me an ample
+and excellent supper, liberally seasoned with more hero-worship.  I
+really believe she thought me capable of facing and fighting the whole
+French force single-handed, and she considered that I had guided Ann
+George through untold dangers into safety.  The other way would have been
+much nearer the truth, but she did not see it so.  Ah well! after-life
+has nothing half so sweet in it as that first truest love; and a little
+knocking about against the harsh angles of the world soon takes off the
+undue self-esteem it may have fostered.  All I know is, I would be glad
+to have somebody who believed in me utterly now.
+
+                 [Picture: The “Royal Oak” at Fishguard]
+
+The times were too exciting for a lad of my age to sit with his toes
+under the table; my mother, too, was busily engaged in making
+preparations to receive the strangers who were quartered in our house, so
+as soon as supper was ended I fared forth into the street again to pick
+up scraps of intelligence, and try to find out the latest news.
+
+I was too full of excitement to care to go to bed, and I found most of my
+fellow-townsmen were of my mind in this matter.  I turned in first at
+Jemima Nicholas’s house to see how she and her niece were getting on
+after their novel experience of warlike tactics on a large scale.
+Jemima, an immensely powerful woman, seemed only sorry that they had not
+come to close quarters with the enemy: she was truly a Celtic Amazon who
+took a pleasure in fighting for fighting’s sake.
+
+Nancy, to my surprise, seemed to have been indulging in the luxury of
+tears.
+
+“What on earth is the matter with you, Nan?” I asked, with unfeeling
+openness.  “Your eyes are quite red.”
+
+Nancy shot a glance of anger at me from the orbs in question, but
+vouchsafed no answer.
+
+“Why, don’t you know,” interposed Jemima, “that her young man was wounded
+in the fight up there just now?”
+
+“D’you mean Davy Jones?” I asked.  “Oh, I knew one of the sailors got
+shot; but I didn’t know which it was; I never thought of inquiring.”
+
+“You unfeeling young heathen!” burst out Nancy.  “But there, it’s no good
+talking; boys have no more heart than cabbages.”
+
+“A cabbage _has_ a heart, Nancy,” I retorted.
+
+“Well, so’ve you—much the same sort,” cried Ann, too cross for similes or
+logic.
+
+Very much offended, I got up, but delivered this shaft before I departed:
+“_All_ those sailors were my friends equally, so it made no odds to me
+which of them was wounded.  And how was I to know Davy Jones was your
+young man, when it’s my belief you didn’t know it yourself yesterday.”
+
+But the door slammed abruptly just behind my more backward leg, and the
+rest of my remark was cut off.
+
+I wended my way into the main street, and soon found the centre of
+attraction to be the old hostelry, the “Royal Oak.”  Men and boys, and
+many of the gentler sex also, swarmed round its window and its quaint old
+porch.  The interior was filled with officers discussing the position of
+affairs.  With a good deal of trouble and squeezing, and being in those
+days of an eel-like figure, I slipped and shoved myself close to one of
+the windows, where, balancing on my hands and with my nose glued to the
+pane, I inspected all those men of mark, and tried to find out what their
+intentions might be.
+
+This position might, affording as it did ample opportunity for the
+horse-play of the rude, seem _infra dig._ to those who have only known me
+in my later years; but it must be remembered I was then but a boy not
+given to stand on my dignity and strongly moved by curiosity, or perhaps
+I might call it by the higher title—desire of knowledge.
+
+For a good space there was not much to observe, save the various uniforms
+of the gentlemen and their manner of taking snuff and of laying their
+hands on their swords.  Of a sudden I felt rather than heard a thrill of
+excitement in the crowd behind me: this soon resolved itself into a most
+unmistakable pushing and making-way on the part of some, and of craning
+forward and tiptoeing on the part of others around me.
+
+With difficulty I turned my head, and I beheld a most unexpected sight.
+Two French officers were striving to make their way through the
+hindering, turbulent crowd, the nearer members of which shrank from them
+as though they bore with them the plague, while the more distant ones
+pressed forward to catch a sight of these foreigners in the same way that
+people like to gaze on the more savage members of a menagerie.  This
+caused the strange lurch, the ebb and flow in the crowd.  But still the
+men kept on making for the door of the inn, and no one actually opposed
+their passage.
+
+One of them carried in his hand a white flag, and almost before I could
+believe the evidence of my eyes—for the ears had no work to do, every one
+being too much astonished to speak—the two envoys from the French camp
+were disappearing through the entrance and being ushered into the
+presence of Lord Cawdor and his officers.
+
+Now I had reason to be proud of my ’vantage-place.  Once more my face was
+pressed, with considerable outside pressure indeed, against the pane, and
+I saw with my own eyes that French aide-de-camp, Monsieur Leonard,
+present, with many a bow and flourish, the written communication from his
+general to Lord Cawdor.  At the sight of those grimaces the crowd around
+me awoke from their trance of astonished silence—from the absolute
+stupefaction which had possessed them as it had possessed me.
+Consciousness and speech returned to them, and took the outward form of
+maledictions.
+
+I, however, was more interested in watching the demeanour of the
+gentlemen within than of my fellow-townsmen without the house.  His
+lordship, though his back was not so supple as the Frenchman’s, still
+received the letter with every mark of good breeding; and after a few
+formalities opened the communication.
+
+“Mark all they do!” I whispered to one of my rib-bending neighbours, who,
+being of a higher class and better parts than the rest, I imagined would
+understand me.  “Mark it well, Mr. Evans, for this is how History is
+made!”
+
+“History!” repeated Mr. Evans, blankly.  “History happened long ago; this
+is only to-day.”
+
+“Hst!” said the crowd.
+
+In fact, Lord Cawdor had now commenced to read the letter aloud to his
+officers.  It was, happily for us outsiders, and perhaps even for some of
+the gentlemen within, in English; for the leader of the invaders, being
+an Irishman, probably understood English at least as well as French,
+while most of us understood it a good deal better.  The letter was short:
+it was briefly a proposal for the surrender of the entire French force,
+on conditions.  As I had subsequently the privilege of seeing it, I give
+here the actual words of the letter:—
+
+    “CARDIGAN BAY,
+             “5_th_ _Ventose_,
+                      “5_th_ _Year of the Republic_.
+
+    “SIR,—The circumstances under which the body of troops under my
+    command were landed at this place render it unnecessary to attempt
+    any military operations, as they would tend only to bloodshed and
+    pillage.  The officers of the whole corps have, therefore, intimated
+    their desire of entering into a negotiation, upon principles of
+    humanity, for a surrender.  If you are influenced by similar
+    considerations, you may signify the same to the bearer, and in the
+    meantime hostilities shall cease.
+
+                                                      “Health and respect,
+                                                “TATE, _Chef de Brigade_.”
+
+Lord Cawdor, however, did not signify the same to the bearer, but a
+slight smile lit up his features, while the French officers went on to
+explain that they were ready to capitulate on condition that they should
+be sent back to Brest at the expense of the English Government.  A low
+murmur broke out among the onlookers.  The Frenchmen’s ships had deserted
+them and they wanted us to give them a free passage home.  But Colonel
+Knox had something to say to that.  The uncertain light of lanterns and
+candles (mostly dips, for the resources of the “Royal Oak” and, indeed,
+of Fishguard, were limited) fell on his white hair and handsome uniform,
+flickering on the gold of the embroideries, and no one but those who knew
+would have believed that his fancy was as brilliant as that glittering
+braid.
+
+“We have ten thousand men now in Fishguard,” said he, “ten thousand more
+are on the road.  Unconditional surrender are our only terms.”
+
+The messengers looked very blank when they understood the tenour of these
+words, but they appeared still more impressed when Lord Cawdor in a stern
+voice, but with his usual courtesy of manner, gave them an answer.  He
+informed them that he should at once write an answer to General Tate,
+which he should send to him in the morning, but that they might tell him
+in the meantime that his troops would be expected to parade for surrender
+on the following day.
+
+His lordship, who had hitherto been standing, sat down and consulted for
+a few moments in an undertone with some of his suite.  Then taking up a
+pen, he quickly wrote an answer, dusted sand over it to dry the ink, and
+standing up once more he read it aloud in clear and ringing tones.  It
+commanded the admiration and approbation of all present on both sides of
+the window, except perhaps of the aide-de-camp and his fellow, who
+probably did not understand the English tongue, and if they had would not
+perchance have admired the style of the composition.  We did,
+however—that is, those of the crowd who heard it—and the rest taking it
+on trust, we signified our approval by three cheers, delivered with
+excellent intention, but in the usual disjointed Welsh fashion.
+
+Lord Cawdor merely remarked in his letter that with his superior force
+(save the mark!—and the old women!) he would accept of no terms except
+the unconditional surrender of the whole French force as prisoners of
+war.  And that he expected an answer with all speed, this being his
+ultimatum: Major Ackland would present himself at the camp at Trehowel
+early on the following morning to receive this answer, for which Lord
+Cawdor would not wait later than ten o’clock.
+
+These were the actual words of the letter which was delivered on the
+following morning at Trehowel to General Tate and six hundred Frenchmen,
+drawn up in line, by his lordship’s aide-de-camp, the Hon. Captain
+Edwardes, his white flag of truce being carried by Mr. Millingchamp.
+
+                                                “FISHGUARD, _Feb._ 23_rd._
+
+    “SIR,—The superiority of the force under my command, which is hourly
+    increasing, must prevent my treating upon any other terms short of
+    your surrendering your whole force prisoners of war.  I enter fully
+    into your wish of preventing an unnecessary effusion of blood, which
+    your speedy surrender can alone prevent, and which will entitle you
+    to that consideration it is ever the wish of British troops to show
+    an enemy whose numbers are inferior.  My major will deliver you this
+    letter, and I shall expect your determination by 10 o’clock, by your
+    officer, whom I have furnished with an escort who will conduct him to
+    me without molestation.
+
+                                                               “I am, &c.,
+                                                                 “CAWDOR.”
+
+The major referred to was Major Ackland who accompanied Captain Edwardes
+to Trehowel.
+
+We thought it very fine—and so it was; and the words we didn’t understand
+we thought the finest.  After this the French envoys were dismissed, with
+their white flag still grasped firmly.  They were also provided with a
+strong escort to take them back safely to their own lines, and indeed
+they required it, for by this time we had quite wakened up; and as the
+two men were led forth from the inn blindfolded with thick shawls lest
+they should spy the poverty of the force, we greeted them with a yell
+which must have made their hearts shake.  My countrymen are beyond all
+comparison better at yelling than at cheering; it was cowardly no doubt
+of it, considering the difference of our numbers; but when was a mob
+anything but cowardly?
+
+Of course to a boy it was pure delight, and my enjoyment that evening
+made up for the cramp of the night before.  The escort kept us at more
+than arm’s length, but no friendly force could have kept us from running
+after these representatives of the enemy, or from shouting at them, or
+even from throwing a few stones and sticks at them.  The men remembered
+the wine and brandy, the women the slaughtered ducks and geese, and they
+hurled stones and curses mixed at the two devourers we could get at.  The
+escort certainly received the brunt of the battle and most of the stones,
+and sent back many objurations at us in return; but we were too hurried
+to discriminate friend from foe.
+
+We ran as far as a place called Windy Hall, {154} from whence there is a
+wide-stretching view of Goodwick Sands and the most perfectly-exposed
+down-hill slope that could possibly be desired for the final volley of
+stones with which we wished them goodnight.
+
+I was pretty well tired out by this time, so returned home to see how my
+parents fared in these strange days, and to have a second supper, and
+then to bed in my own particular little den, which usually I had only the
+felicity of occupying in the holidays: and so the Thursday came to an
+end.
+
+
+
+
+FRIDAY.
+_THE THIRD DAY_.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+THE GATHERING AT GOODWICK.
+
+
+Nor many hours did the little den hold me after all, for in the early
+morning I woke with the feeling that something strange was astir.  Then
+came a vague terror—the memory of my yester-morn’s awakening, and then a
+sense of jubilant triumph as I recalled the Frenchmen’s offer and the
+stout answer of our chief.  Surely they would capitulate now without more
+talking or more fighting.  I should have liked to have witnessed a little
+fighting well enough—from a distance.  But then a fight is a very
+uncertain thing, it twirls about so, you never know where it will get to
+next, or where you are sure to be in it, or still more, safe to be out of
+it.
+
+The men quartered in our house were astir early, and perhaps their heavy
+footfalls had more to do with rousing me than my own excitability.  Still
+quick-silver seemed to be running about all over me as I hastily
+swallowed my breakfast—which, however, I did full justice to—and then
+rushed out of the house to join everybody else on the road to Goodwick.
+What a throng there was!  Every man, woman, and child in Fishguard and
+all the country round seemed to have turned out, and to be making for the
+great sands at Goodwick.  The people gathered from every direction, east,
+west, and south, until the semi-circle of hills was dark with them.
+Chiefly, however, the throng came from the east and south, for Trehowel
+lay to the west, and there were but few of the natives left in that
+direction; besides which the steep white road that mounts the hill on
+that side of the sands was left clear for the descent of the enemy.  No
+one wished to interfere with them needlessly; quite the contrary: at all
+events, till they had got within reach of our trained men.  In the
+meantime we would give them a wide berth lest they should turn and rend
+us.
+
+Suddenly a wild voice and a wild figure smote our senses—both eyes and
+ears.
+
+“The dream, the dream!” it yelled.  “The dream is coming true!”
+
+“What dream?  What is it?” asked every one, but there were more askers
+than answerers.
+
+“Use your ears and listen!” continued the wild voice.  “Use your eyes and
+see!”
+
+“Whoever is he, Jemima?” I asked, finding myself near a reliable woman.
+Nancy stood some little way off leaning against a cart.
+
+“Why, it’s old Enoch Lale,” said Jemima.  “I know him well enough, he
+lives over there under Trehowel, by Carreg Gwastad, just where these
+blacks landed.”
+
+Why Jemima always persisted in calling the French “blacks,” I know not;
+possibly because they were foreigners, possibly she meant blackguards.
+
+“My dream!  I told it to ye, unbelieving race, aye, thirty years ago!”
+yelled the old man.
+
+“’Deed, that’s true for him,” remarked Jemima.  “I heard him tell it many
+a time, years and years ago.  Well, I always thought he was soft, but now
+he seems real raving.”
+
+“Thirty years ago I had the vision, and you know it, men and neighbours.”
+
+“Yes, yes, true for you, Enoch Lale,” answered many a voice in the crowd;
+chiefly this response came from elderly persons who had doubtless heard
+the tale many a time.
+
+“But I haven’t heard it.  I wasn’t born then,” I remarked.
+
+Whether Enoch Lale heard this gentle protest, or whether he was resolved
+not to be baulked of his story, I cannot say.  “I only know,” he
+continued, “I had a vision of the night, and the future was revealed to
+me in a dream; yea, and more than a dream, for I rose up out of my bed
+and went down on to the rocks and there—on Carreg Gwastad—the French
+troops landed, and I saw them—aye, as plain as ever any of you saw them
+two days ago.  And that was thirty years ago, yet it has come true!  But
+wait, and listen! and ye shall hear the brass drums sounding, as I heard
+them sound that night!  Listen!  Listen!”
+
+“Come down off that cart and be quiet, Enoch Lale, or you’ll be having a
+fit.  We all know, you’ve told your dream often enough; why you woke me
+up that very night to tell it.”
+
+And the prophet was taken possession of by a quiet elderly woman, his
+better half.
+
+“Well, we got rid of old I-told-you-so rather suddenly,” I observed to
+Jemima.  “But it is very queer about his dream.”
+
+“There’s a many things,” replied Jemima, “as we don’t know nothing
+about—and dreams is one of them.”
+
+It was marvellous to watch the gathering of troops and people.  The hills
+to the south of the bay were covered with peasant men, and the
+red-whittled women who had done such good service to their country, and
+whose conduct has never been rewarded by any faintest token of gratitude
+or even of recognition by that country.
+
+At the foot of these hills came a marsh, bounded by a road on the other
+side of which were the famous sands—where were stationed in a compact
+body the Castle Martin Yeomanry Cavalry.  Ere long these men were drawn
+out of their trim ranks for a difficult and dangerous duty; but of that
+anon.
+
+The infantry was drawn up in a field on the east side of the bay, just
+under Windy Hill, to which farm the field belonged.  The force consisted
+of the Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire Volunteers—about three hundred
+strong: together with the Fishguard Fencibles.  Numerically weak we were
+indeed, but on our own ground and with right on our side.  Added to which
+we had had the pleasing news of the enemy’s faint-heartedness: so that
+altogether we felt ourselves animated by the courage of lions.
+
+Major Ackland had had his promised interview with General Tate in the
+early morning at the French headquarters in the old house of Trehowel.
+The interview had been a short one, and much to the point; he declined
+altogether to parley, or parlez-vous.  He insisted on instant and
+unconditional surrender; then sticking spurs in his horse he galloped
+away without any compliments.
+
+Lord Cawdor and his staff were riding up and down the sands when the
+gallant Major appeared bringing the glorious news that the French were
+coming, and at once, and that they were prepared to surrender at
+discretion.  But the Colonel still continued his work of inspecting the
+whole of the British troops.  He still thought, perhaps hoped, that there
+might be a passage of arms.
+
+Then came a time of deep silence when each individual among us
+concentrated his senses in his ears.  I, being but a boy, allowed my eyes
+a little freedom; most other eyes were concentrated on the road where the
+French would first appear, but I permitted mine to gaze around me, when I
+at once made a discovery.  The cart against which Nancy had leant
+contained a man, the outline of the back of whose head seemed strangely
+familiar to me.  I could only see the back of his head for he was leaning
+out of the cart with his face turned away from me, but towards another
+person who was standing on the other side of the cart.  Some bushes,
+behind which the cart had been drawn up, prevented a clear view, so I
+shifted my position a little—in fact, went straight up to the group, who
+seemed to be placing rather a blind confidence in their retired
+situation, and in the magnetic attraction of the enemy.  I rounded the
+cart; the young man was, as I had imagined, Davy Jones, wounded foot and
+all; the young woman was, as I had guessed, Nancy George.  Their heads
+were very near together, perhaps they were talking about splints.
+
+“Why, Nancy!” I exclaimed, “is that you?”
+
+“Yes, of course it is, Master Dan—and why shouldn’t it be?” cried Nancy,
+as red as a turkey-cock, and as inclined to show fight.
+
+“Oh, all right.  I only thought you must be somebody else,” I returned,
+politely.
+
+Davy broke into a roar of laughter, and Ann, in spite of her indignation,
+showed her row of white teeth.
+
+“Go away, you tiresome boy, and look out for the French,” was her
+recommendation.
+
+“And not for the—” but my sentence was cut short by a shove from Nan’s
+vigorous arm which sent me flying for some paces.
+
+“Take care of the spoons, Ann!” was my parting shot, as I made my way a
+little further down the hill.
+
+We all sat down on the ferny slopes and waited and listened.  As a
+general rule nobody talked, which showed how grave was the occasion.  In
+front of us was the sea dark grey to-day as was the sky; the sands
+sometimes almost golden, were, on this dull February day, only another
+shade of grey; and the great boulders of rock which cropped up everywhere
+were of the same colour.  And this greyness seemed to suit this scene
+better than the brightness of Wednesday would have done; for though it
+was a day of triumph to us we could not forget that it was a day of
+humiliation and bitterness to these hundreds of men who were approaching
+us on the other side of the hill.  The tide was coming in, but without
+any sparkle and dash, sullenly; and the south-west wind blew in gusts the
+strength of which told plainly of power in reserve: one could feel that
+it was capable of violence.
+
+So were the people who sat waiting—apparently quietly—for their enemies,
+on the hill-slope, which rose into a natural amphitheatre on all sides
+(save one) of the scene: whereof the flat sands formed the arena or
+floor.  What a place this would have been for one of the old Roman shows;
+for a moment I seemed to see the gladiators struggling for life or death,
+to hear the cruel roar of the lions, to watch the fighting, tearing, and
+rending in the arena, and to witness what struck me most with awe—the
+fierce lust for blood which filled the spectators, one and all, as they
+shouted and craved for more—more blood.  I woke up suddenly with a start
+to find I had been dozing on the hillside, where the people were sitting
+quietly enough, Britons not Romans, perhaps some of them descendants of
+these very gladiators who had been
+
+    “Butchered to make a Roman holiday.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+THE CAPITULATION.
+
+
+Suddenly the listening people caught a far-off sound; it came nearer and
+nearer rapidly, one’s ears seem to go out to meet it.
+
+“Here they come!” came in a hoarse growl from hundreds of guttural
+throats—speaking of course in Welsh.
+
+“Hst,” came the return growl from the other portion of the crowd.
+
+The sound became louder and louder; it was plainly the beating of brass
+drums.  A sort of thrill—sometimes called goose-skin passed over me, and
+I doubt not over most of my neighbours.  Enoch Lale’s dream was the
+thought that stirred us; there was something of second-sight about it
+that awed one even in the morning air and among that crowd of living
+beings.  For a minute I saw again the spectral army of Enoch’s vision.
+Then, being a boy, the practical aspect of the matter struck me.
+
+“I hope the wife hasn’t taken the poor old fellow out of ear-shot,” I
+observed to Mr. Mortimer, near whom I had placed myself.  “He heard those
+drums thirty years ago, sir—and he’d like to know he was right.”
+
+“No doubt, most of us do,” assented Mr. Mortimer.  “Oh, Enoch’s somewhere
+about, never fear.  Hush, my boy, look there!”
+
+All our senses were focussed in our eyes, something shining and moving we
+saw, and what could that be save the bayonets of the enemy?  Still the
+shrill clanging of the brass drums went on, broken only by the thud of
+the sea breaking upon the sand.  Every head was turned towards the west
+(even Nancy’s and Davy’s for I looked to see) towards the rocky
+stronghold of Carnunda, past the houses and trees of Goodwick, all along
+the white road which runs like a riband placed aslant on the hill-side.
+
+The glittering points turned the corner and came into full view; it was
+at exactly two o’clock that the first of the Frenchmen appeared in sight.
+On they came, a moving mass of dark blue, carrying no colours, neither
+gay tricolor nor white flag of peace, but beating their drums so as to
+put a good face on the matter.  A moment later this was changed.
+
+As the column rounded the corner of the road, our hills suddenly started
+into life and their silence was broken by a prolonged yell so fierce and
+threatening that the French recoiled and then halted.  I could not, even
+at the moment, blame them; there seemed every probability that they would
+be massacred.  The Welsh had jumped to their feet as with one bound, and
+they were making up for their long silence now, the men all brandishing
+every conceivable kind of weapon, the women shaking their fists at the
+invaders and screeching at them at the top of their voices.  I had only a
+pocket-knife about me and concluded to keep that for my bread and cheese,
+of which I was badly in want at this moment.
+
+Jemima Nicholas dashed past me, rushing down the hill at full speed with
+a pitchfork in her hands, followed by some other war-like women of her
+stamp—some of them armed with straightened scythes.  I got out of their
+way quickly.  “Come on, my daughters!” yelled the fierce cobbler—for that
+was her trade—“come on and cut them down into the sea!”
+
+There is no doubt that she certainly wished to do it, indeed, there was a
+manifest disposition on the part of the peasantry, male and female, to
+come at once to close quarters with the enemy.  Then rushed a sudden
+thunder of hoofs along the shore, as Lord Cawdor and his yeomanry
+galloped in front of the angry people, ordering them back and impressing
+their commands with the flat of their drawn swords.
+
+Strong guards were also posted in every path that led from the hills to
+the sands, while the road on which the French were now meditating a hasty
+retreat was especially strongly guarded by detachments of the
+Cardiganshire Militia and the Fishguard Fencibles.  At last, seeing these
+precautions against popular fury and that no sudden violence was now
+likely to occur, the French once more took heart and resumed their
+downward march and drums.  They were accompanied by Lord Cawdor’s
+aide-de-camp, the Hon. Captain Edwardes, and by Mr. Millingchamp, who
+bore a large white flag of truce; these had already given the order to
+“open pans and shed priming” and to march on peaceably: and they were
+obeyed.
+
+Colonel Colby marched his men down from Windy Hill, and as he passed the
+spot where I was, I heard him say, “Let us all be ready, my boys, perhaps
+they may disappoint us still.”
+
+But the gallant colonel’s hopes of a fight were doomed to be
+unfulfilled—and so were Jemima’s—the French troops were thoroughly
+demoralised and had no fight in them.  They marched on to the sands in
+columns, halted before Lord Cawdor and his staff backed by a handful of
+men (for most of our troops were employed in keeping back the excited
+populace), and then quietly laid down their arms and marched on.
+
+When they had thus deposited their old flint guns some of them looked
+around them.  It is impossible to describe the chagrin depicted on their
+features when they realised how trifling (numerically speaking) was the
+force to which they had succumbed.  Still greater was the annoyance they
+experienced when they discovered that the scarlet flash which had so
+scared them was produced—not by the red coats of a body of regulars—but
+by the whittles worn by a parcel of women!  These individuals now allowed
+the fallen foe to have a near view of their tall hats and scarlet
+mantles, for dashing down the hills on to the sands in spite of the
+guards (who were indeed too much occupied in looking after the piles of
+muskets to heed minor matters) these bellicose dames and damsels gathered
+closely around the Frenchmen, addressing manifold observations to them in
+their Welsh tongue, in the use of which most of them possess
+extraordinary fluency.
+
+But their Gallican sisters also can talk and scold.  I had by this time
+got very near to the unlucky commander of the expedition, General Tate;
+and I was close by when Madame Tate who had accompanied the troops flew
+at him like a fury.  She, too, had discovered the paucity of our numbers,
+and that Lord Cawdor’s “ten thousand men” were—in Spain perhaps—and that
+the English regulars were—well, very irregular forces attired in scarlet
+whittles.  Her remarks as to the conduct of the campaign were evidently
+of a most uncomplimentary nature; though I cannot say I understood
+French, I understood that.  In my heart I felt sorry for General Tate.
+
+“Look here, mum,” I ventured to remark, “if you want to have it out with
+somebody, here’s a lady of your own weight and age.  Tackle Jemima.”
+
+Madame Tate, though understanding never a word, turned furiously on
+Jemima, who returned the shower of epithets.  The General, giving me a
+look of pure gratitude, hastened away, and I followed his example.
+
+The troops were marched away in columns by fours, and, guarded by our
+men, set off at once for their various destinations—chiefly gaols; our
+bands now taking up the strain and making the welkin ring with joyous
+airs, to which we added all our lungs’ strength of voice in songs and
+cheers.
+
+So ended the famous capitulation of the French on Goodwick Sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+TREHOWEL ONCE MORE.
+
+
+We could still hear the festive strains of “The Girl I Left Behind
+Me,”—every road was full of soldiers—guards and guarded, some on their
+way to Haverfordwest, some to Milford, some to Carmarthen, some, for the
+present, only as far as Fishguard.  Their number (sixteen hundred,
+without stragglers who dropped in later) taxed the resources of this
+thinly inhabited country to the uttermost, both as regarded the food and
+the housing of their prisoners.  Vast relief was felt when the greater
+number of them were shipped off to the place from whence they came.
+
+“Where are you going, master?” asked Ann George, coming up to Mr.
+Mortimer as he was moving away, having now beheld the end of this strange
+scene of the bloodless surrender of sixteen hundred men to a very
+insignificant force; surely one of the strangest sights ever witnessed on
+the shores of this happy island.
+
+Nancy had taken no part in the action of her aunt Jemima; she was not the
+woman to jeer a fallen foe, so she had remained quietly by the cart till
+all was over, then had turned to her master.
+
+“Where are you going, master?” asked the faithful servant.
+
+“Back to my own house; for I suppose it is mine again now,” said he, with
+a sort of groan as he thought of the manner in which the old home had
+been desecrated.
+
+“I’ll come too,” said Nancy, “the place is bound to be topsy-turvy, sir,
+and a gentleman can’t do aught to straighten it.  I’ll come too.”
+
+“Better not, Nancy, there are a lot of drunken vagabonds about still—too
+drunk to know they’ve capitulated.  And some of the officers who were
+afraid to trust to the white flag and our word are at Trehowel still.”
+
+However, Nancy was not to be put off so; she would go.  She had been in
+service for some years at Trehowel and she considered that the kitchen
+belonged to her, and it went to her heart to think of the damage done.
+She could have no peace till she could begin to repair it, and to set
+things once more in order to receive home the bride, as now the strangely
+postponed wedding would surely take place.
+
+Davy Jones went too—I suppose because Nancy did; they seemed great
+friends now, though previously the young woman had been in the habit of
+giving him the cold shoulder, I imagine because of his habit of
+smuggling; but I did not take much interest in the matter as a boy, not
+understanding the fair sex; indeed, even in after years I doubt if I ever
+quite succeeded in fathoming their method of reasoning.  However, it is
+quite certain that as Nancy permitted it Davy was quite content to go
+wherever she did, and he gave her and me also a seat in his cart.  I went
+too, for I thought that if there was anything to be seen I might as well
+see it; and I had heard that General Tate had gone back there after the
+surrender—on parole.  I had some curiosity to see him again, and I
+thought it due to myself to witness the end of this affair, of which I
+had chanced to see the very beginning.
+
+As we went up the steep hill from Goodwick, we were joined by a party of
+the Fishguard Fencibles, sent to look after the scattered inebriates, and
+to take the swords and words of the retiring French officers.  When we
+got to Brestgarn we encountered the grinning face of Llewellyn, about
+whom Nancy and I had had many an uneasy thought.  He told us that his
+captors had not ill-treated him beyond making him work for them, that
+they had kept a sharp eye on him for a day and two nights and then he had
+managed to escape.  He had hidden for a while, but as soon as possible
+had returned to look after his master’s goods.  Llewellyn was a very
+ordinary looking man with unpolished—even uncouth manners, but it struck
+me that he had a stronger sense of duty than is usual.
+
+             [Picture: Trehowel: General Tate’s Headquarters]
+
+A few steps further brought us to Trehowel.  Out rushed all the dogs,
+barking, jumping, tail-wagging—absolutely wild with delight at the
+recovery of their own master.  A grey-haired gentleman came forward and
+addressed Mr. Mortimer with much courtesy—
+
+“Sir, the dogs know you.  I presume you are the master here?”
+
+“I was so once.  Down, Gelert!  Quiet, Corgé!”
+
+The officer then introduced himself to Mr. Mortimer as General Tate.  He
+went on to say that he had understood that the Welsh people were ripe for
+revolt and that they might march throughout Wales and even a good deal
+further with wooden swords.  That it had been a great disappointment to
+him to find this was not the case, that it had also been a source of
+annoyance to him to be deserted by his ships, but that the most
+unpleasant sensation he had ever experienced had been the failing of
+heart he had felt as his foot touched Welsh soil.
+
+I listened with all my ears to this interesting discourse, which happily
+I was able to understand, for General Tate being an Irishman spoke
+English perfectly.
+
+Our attention was diverted by a cry—a cry of surprise which broke from
+Nancy with a suddenness which startled all of us.  We all turned hastily
+round and beheld the girl standing as if petrified, with her arm
+stretched out and her hand pointing towards a man who stood a few yards
+from her—apparently one of the stragglers among the French soldiers, for
+he was clothed in the same way as the majority of them—a British
+soldier’s uniform which had been dyed a rusty brown.  The man looked
+dumb-foundered but Nancy found her tongue.
+
+“So it is you, James Bowen, who have betrayed your own people to
+strangers.  Uch a fi, traitor; I could strike you where you stand!”
+
+“Shall I do it for you, Nancy?” suggested Davy, ready to hobble out of
+the cart.
+
+“No, he is not worth it.  Let him go to gaol with his friends,” said
+Nancy, scornfully.
+
+James Bowen looked utterly bewildered; he had evidently been drinking
+heavily and had not even heard of the surrender; had he done so he would
+hardly have come back to Trehowel, but would have made off into the
+interior.  But Nancy’s contempt roused him somewhat.
+
+“It was your own fault,” he said, sullenly, “you drove me away from here,
+you drove me to the bad.”
+
+“And I suppose I drove you to steal a horse and then to break out of
+gaol, and to run off to France, and to fetch back foreigners here—showing
+them the entrance to Carreg Gwastad Creek!  I helped in that too,
+perhaps?”
+
+“You needn’t pretend to be so particular, you’ve taken up with a smuggler
+yourself,” growled James.
+
+Nancy’s face flamed, but she took a step nearer to Davy and placed her
+hand in his defiantly.
+
+“It is truth indeed, and I’m going to marry him too, for if he is a
+smuggler, he is an honest boy and isn’t a traitor.  I’d have thought
+nothing of the horse or the gaol—but to betray your own people to
+strangers—let me get out of the sight of you.  ‘Cursed for ever and
+throughout all ages be the traitor.’”
+
+And with this vigorous denunciation of a crime so utterly hateful to the
+Welsh people, that they even abhor giving evidence in a court of justice,
+Nancy turned her back on the traitor at once and for ever, and hastily
+entering her domain at Trehowel, proceeded to restore the silver spoons
+to their own place.
+
+The kindly dusk hid much of the damage that had been done; and after
+three days’ absence, at the same hour as when she had quitted it, Nancy
+George was restored to the sovereignty of the kitchen at Trehowel.
+
+And so ended in gladness of heart and rejoicing, Friday the 24th day of
+February, 1797; and so ended in pain and tribulation to themselves the
+three days’ invasion of the French at Fishguard.
+
+
+
+
+SEQUEL.
+_THE GOLDEN PRISON AT PEMBROKE_.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+THE GENERAL THANKSGIVING.
+
+
+As I have already mentioned, some of the prisoners were sent to
+Haverfordwest Gaol—which, being situated in the old castle, was a
+commodious and roomy resort; others were placed, temporarily, in the
+churches of St. Mary, St. Thomas, and St. Martin: others again were sent
+to Carmarthen, under the escort of the Romney Fencible Cavalry, the
+officers being conveyed on horseback and allowed their parole; but the
+greater part of the French force finally found themselves confined in the
+Golden Prison at Pembroke.  They were taken there and also to Milford by
+water; and not a few died on board the vessels, being closely shut up
+under deck.  Finally, five hundred of them were safely landed and
+incarcerated in the Golden Prison, the state of which, with all this
+overcrowding, could hardly have been so delightful as its name might lead
+the imaginative to suppose.
+
+Here we will leave them for awhile, returning once more to myself and my
+own belongings.  My kind mother would not let me return at once to my
+master at St. David’s, she looked upon me as “her miraculously preserved
+boy,” and must keep me for a bit to gloat her eyes upon.  My father,
+being a man who loved a quiet life, consented.  And so I was still in
+Fishguard when the Royal Proclamation came down, which commanded us to
+set aside a day of general thanksgiving for our preservation from the
+dangers which threatened our beloved country.  This command reached us
+about a fortnight after the danger had passed, posts being rather slow in
+those days.  Indeed, had we had to wait so long for more substantial
+help, we had been in parlous straights long since.  However, “All’s well
+that ends well”—and we had fared through, by the aid of Providence, our
+own exertions, and the brandy-laden wrecks.
+
+So we all repaired to our several parish churches; my mother hanging
+proudly on my arm, and regarding me as one to be specially thanked for.
+Indeed, I was not ill-pleased myself to perceive some nods of heads and
+pointings of fingers among the old crones and young maids as we passed
+along.  This feeling seemed also to actuate Davy Jones, who limped along
+arm in arm with Nancy; she, even then not assuming the dependent
+position, but giving him her arm, as it were, in order to help him along.
+She even explained to us that, it being her “Sunday out” she had come all
+the way from Trehowel for this purpose.  I may own that I distrusted that
+limp of Davy’s; it struck me he liked to play the maimed hero.
+
+“Why, Davy,” I remarked, very audibly.  “I saw you at market on Friday,
+and you weren’t limping a bit.  Do you want to have the old women to look
+at you or Nancy—.”
+
+“To arm me?” said Davy, with a wink.  “That’s it, my boy.  What’s the old
+women to me?  But Nancy—.”
+
+Here Nancy stopped the dialogue by dragging her admirer forward in a most
+hasty manner, with but slight regard for his wounded limb.  The service
+proceeded as usual.  The hymns occasionally tailed off into one voice
+which quivered and sank, dying out into silence; for as it was well known
+that the parson’s daughter received a shilling from her sire for pitching
+up the tune again every time it died a natural death, no one liked to be
+so crooked as not to assist nature when the melody became weak and low.
+Then the clear young voice came forth and we started afresh.  I need
+hardly say there was no instrumental music.
+
+We proceeded, then, in spite of the special occasion in much our usual
+manner, leaving most of the thanksgiving to parson and clerk, and lolling
+about at our ease thinking of nothing, when attention! we heard galloping
+hoofs along the street, which ran outside the church.  At the gate, the
+horse was suddenly reined up on his haunches—a man flung himself off
+heavily, and quick feet came tearing up the path to the porch.  In an
+instant every man, woman, and child in the church stood upright, ready
+for fight or flight.
+
+The door burst open, and the express messenger rushed in, booted,
+spurred, and breathless.
+
+“The French! the French!” was all that he could gasp.  He was surrounded
+in an instant by eager questioners, his voice was drowned in a very Babel
+of noise.
+
+Our worthy divine then assumed command of his congregation.  He
+despatched the clerk to the vestry for a drop of brandy, and then
+standing square and upright in the pulpit he commanded the people to be
+quiet, and to allow the man to come unhindered into the pulpit, from
+where he would himself announce the news.  These orders were obeyed, and
+John Jones having returned with the spirit, the parson administered it,
+and then desired the man to deliver his message.
+
+It was briefly this; sundry large ships of war, filled with French
+troops, were making their way up St. George’s Channel straight for the
+port of Fishguard.
+
+In an instant the cry rang through the church—“To arms! to arms!”
+
+Then what a scene of confusion arose, fury, dismay, oaths and shrieks all
+mingled together, some women fainting, some in tears, the men roused and
+excited to the uttermost.
+
+“Don’t go, don’t go, my son,” sobbed my mother; but curiosity overcame
+prudence.
+
+“I’m not going to fight, mother, never fear, but I must go and look on,”
+was my answer.
+
+“Oh Dio, not again, not again!” urged Nancy, thinking of the single
+combats.
+
+“I’m not going to walk across the sea to tackle a frigate, I promise
+you,” said Davy, with a laugh.  But Nancy was not to be put off so.
+
+“All right, come.  I’m coming too,” she said, and in another instant they
+were without the church door, where, indeed, we all found ourselves
+shortly.  We tore down to the cliffs as the possessed swine might have
+raced; many of us ran to man the fort, but I remained on the higher
+ground where I could have a better view and see further out to sea.
+
+And soon there was indeed a fair sight to see.  Coming round the headland
+to the west of us, their sails filled with the brisk March breeze,
+appeared a stately squadron moving proudly under British colours; but
+having seen something like this before, some of us still doubted.  The
+fort saluted, and this compliment was returned by the men-of-war without
+any changing of colours.  We began to feel reassured, and soon our hopes
+were verified.  A boat put off from the nearest ship and was rowed to
+shore in a style that swore to “British tar.”  The officer landed and
+explained that the squadron was part of the Channel Fleet, sent to our
+assistance, and that it was under the command of the brave Sir Edward
+Pellew.  We were very proud of the help rendered us by England, even
+though it had come a little late, but that was the fault of our roads not
+their goodwill; and though it had occasioned a worse scare than the real
+thing, but that was only our disordered nerves which acted up to the old
+proverb—“A burnt child dreads fire.”
+
+The officer inquired very particularly as to the probable whereabouts of
+the French ships—the three frigates and the lugger.  About this we could
+give him no information whatever.  All we could say was, that the French
+left their anchorage at Carreg Gwastad on Thursday, the 23rd of February,
+at noon, and took a course directly across the channel towards the coast
+of Ireland.  Our little sloops did not care to venture too near since one
+of them, the _Britannia_, had been taken by the enemy, the cargo
+appropriated, and the sloop scuttled and sunk.  They were, on the whole,
+persons to whom it was pleasanter to give a wide berth.
+
+We heard afterwards that one of the ships struck on the Arklow Banks, she
+was much injured and lost her rudder; one of her companions took her in
+tow and made for France.  They got as far as just off Brest, and then, in
+sight of home, cruel fate overtook them in the shape of two English
+ships, respectively under the commands of Sir H. B. Neale and of Captain
+Cooke.  These two made short work of the Frenchmen, both ships were taken
+and brought over to Portsmouth, where they were repaired, commissioned in
+the British service, and sent to fight our battles, one of them—oh glory
+for our little town—bearing henceforth the name of “_The Fishguard_.”
+
+The remaining frigate, accompanied by the lugger, got safely into Brest,
+where no doubt they were exceedingly relieved to find themselves after
+their disastrous expedition.
+
+The scare that our squadron had caused extended from St. David’s to
+Fishguard, all along the coast, in fact, from which the big vessels could
+be seen approaching the land.  There were one or two other scares besides
+this, for our nerves had been shaken, and our imaginations set going; and
+truly for many a long year after the little phrase “Look out for the
+French!” was enough to set women and children off at speed, and perhaps
+even to give an uncomfortable qualm in the hearts of the nobler sex.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+INSIDE THE GOLDEN PRISON.
+
+
+I went at Easter to pay a short visit to two maiden aunts who lived at
+Pembroke, where they kept a little millinery—shop I had almost said, but
+that would have vexed their gentle hearts—establishment.  They were
+sisters of my mother, who came from this district, often called “Little
+England beyond Wales,” the people who live there being in fact Flemings,
+not Cymri, and the language they speak, being a Saxon dialect, is worth
+studying, not from its beauty, but from its quaintness and originality.
+Welsh is utterly unknown “down below,” as the North Pembrokeshire folks
+call the southern half of the county.  My mother had great difficulty in
+acquiring even a superficial knowledge of Welsh, and she was always
+regarded as a stranger in Fishguard, though she lived there nigh upon
+fifty years.  It was probably my early acquaintance with English (of a
+sort) that made my father decide to bring me up for the ministry.
+
+However, to resume my story—which was strangely mixed up with that of the
+French prisoners—one of my chief pastimes during my visit to the worthy
+spinsters consisted in hanging about the entrance to the Golden Prison.
+The foreigners were allowed to employ their clever fingers in the
+manufacture of knick-knacks, made of straw, bones, beads, and other
+trifles, which they sold in order to provide themselves with anything
+they might require beyond the bare necessaries of life.  My good aunts,
+Rebecca and Jane Johnson, permitted these articles to be exhibited on a
+little table in their show-room, where ladies while idling away their
+time in choosing and trying on finery, might perchance take a fancy to
+some little object, and bestow some of their spare cash in helping the
+poor prisoners.  What made my aunts first think of doing this kindly act
+was the representations of their assistant, a pretty young girl named
+Eleanor Martin, a daughter of the gaoler of the Golden Prison, who had
+had such a sudden accession to his numbers and his responsibilities.
+
+One day Nellie had occasion to go to the prison with the money produced
+by these trifles, and she asked me if I would like to accompany her and
+see the Frenchmen at work.  My answer may be readily imagined.  So we set
+forth, and the first person whom we saw when we reached the limbo of
+incarcerated bodies, if not of despairing souls, was not by any means a
+repulsive object, being a remarkably pretty young woman, as like Nellie
+as two peas are like each other.
+
+“Is’t thee, Fan?” asked Nellie.  “Where be feyther?”  Then, remembering
+her manners, she added, “My sister Frances, Master Dan’l.”
+
+Frances and I were speedily friends, in fact, the young woman saw too
+many strangers to be troubled by shyness.
+
+“Feyther’s main busy, and mustn’t be spoke to,” she observed, with rather
+a knowing look at her sister.  “But the turnkey’ll let us in.  It’s a
+mort easier to get in nor to get out of this old coop, Mas’r Dan’l.”
+
+I quite assented to this proposition, but remarked that I hoped the
+turnkey would not make any mistake about us.
+
+“No fear,” said Frances, “I was born here and knows the ways on it.”
+
+“What’s that straw for, Frances?” I asked, for I loved to acquire
+information.
+
+“For the Frenchers to make hats of.  I brings them this much most days,”
+she answered, looking down on her big bundle.
+
+I must really have been growing up lately, for (for the first time in my
+life) an instinct of gallantry seized me, and I offered to carry it for
+her.  She declined in rather a hurried manner.
+
+“I’d liefer car’ it myself, thanking you the same.  It’s no heft at all,
+and maybe ye’d shed it about.”
+
+“Not I,” said I, indignantly, my gallantry gone.  “Do you think I’ve
+never carried a truss of straw before?  That’s just like a girl.  But
+what’s that in the middle of the bundle?” I continued, eyeing it
+curiously.  “Why, it’s a bone, I believe!”
+
+Frances threw the corner of her apron over the bundle in a very pettish
+manner, and to my great surprise grew as red as a poppy.  What was there
+to blush about in a bone?  Nell struck in hurriedly—
+
+“Yes, of course it’s a bone, Dan.  And what could they make their buttons
+and ivory boxes out of but bone?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know,” I said, not liking to suggest “ivory” for fear,
+as tempers were ruffled, they might leave me outside.
+
+“Then don’t go for to ax silly questions,” retorted Nell.  “Can us go in,
+Roche?”
+
+“Ay, my honies,” returned Roche, the turnkey, whom we had now reached.
+“Leastwise you and Fan can, in the coorse of natur; but who be this young
+crut?” {209}
+
+“Oh, missus’ nevvy he be, as wants to see the Frenchers at work.  ’Tis
+only a young boy, but we’d just as lief let him stay if you’d liefer not
+let him in.”
+
+I did not feel grateful to my young friend for this suggestion, which,
+however, was probably dictated by the wiliness of woman.
+
+“Oh, take him in there, and leave him if you’ve a mind, my beauty.  I
+reckon one more won’t make no odds in there.”
+
+This he seemed to consider a first-class joke, for he guffawed till we
+were out of hearing.
+
+After passing through a guard-room, in which there were several soldiers
+smoking and lounging about, who offered no opposition to our passing, Fan
+and Nell being of course well known in the prison, we found ourselves in
+a large and very dreary hall, paved with flag-stones and almost devoid of
+furniture.  The inmates, however, seemed pretty cheery on the whole;
+there were apparently about a couple of hundred of them, of whom some
+were working, some singing, some playing cards or dominoes—_all_ talking.
+Yes, even the singing ones talked between the verses.  The spring
+sunshine came through the iron-barred, skied-up windows, and, in spite of
+other discouraging circumstances, these children of the South were (what
+we never are) gay as larks.
+
+They clustered around my companions with every mark of respect and
+admiration.  I naturally didn’t understand their jabber, but one remark
+which was, I rather think, meant for English, caught my ear.  “Zay
+are—some angels out of—ciel!”
+
+“They say you’re angels out of the ceiling.  What on earth do they mean?”
+I inquired.
+
+“We knows what they mean well enough, don’t you trouble, my honey,”
+answered Nell, who was more friendly to me than her sister was.
+
+I don’t think Fan had got over her annoyance about the bone; she still
+carried the bundle of straw with her apron thrown over it.
+
+We now went to the part of the room where the men were busy with their
+manufactures, and here I had really cause for astonishment.  With no
+tools except some wretched little penknives, these skilful-fingered
+fellows were turning out most lovely work in bone, wood, and slate.  Some
+of them executed beautiful mosaic work by letting-in pieces of various
+coloured stones on a bed of slate; they afterwards ground and polished
+the whole till it resembled the far-famed Florentine mosaic.  I perceived
+a grindstone in the corner of the room, which the leniency of the
+authorities permitted them to have and to use.
+
+Others of the prisoners were deftly plaiting the straw in many fanciful
+devices, these plaits again being rapidly transformed into hats for men,
+women, and even dolls.  A great many toys were to be seen in various
+stages of their formation, wooden whistles, ships, dolls, windmills, and
+many other objects of delight to childhood.
+
+I scanned eagerly the faces of all I saw to discover the countenances of
+any of my more particular assailants; but I did not succeed in
+recognising one of them.  There was such a remarkable similarity among
+them, each man was as like his neighbour as could be; all haggard, all
+unwashed, all unshaven.  They excited pity, even in a boy’s unsentimental
+heart; and withal, now that they were not drunk with greed and brandy,
+they were so lively and merry.  I was quite sorry I could not understand
+their jokes.
+
+Fan did not make over her straw to any of these men, as I fully expected
+that she would; nor did they seem to expect it.  I heard a great deal of
+talk about Monsieur le Commissaire, and there was a good deal of pointing
+of fingers and something about “chambre voisine.”
+
+As Fanny sheered off I followed.
+
+“Can’t I come into the voisin chamber?” I asked, not knowing the meaning
+of the word, “and see Mounseer the Commissary?”
+
+Fan looked at me in a startled way, but Nell interposed hastily—
+
+“Let him come, he’s main quick and might help; he’s not a cursed boy.”
+
+I must explain that in this dialect cursed means malicious or
+ill-natured; it has the meaning, in fact, which Shakespeare followed when
+he spoke of “Kate the curst” in his “Taming of the Shrew.”
+
+Frances looked doubtful, but went on, Nellie and I following.  As we
+entered the little adjoining room a young man jumped up, and, running to
+Nellie, took her hand and kissed it with much fervour.
+
+“Hallo!” I cried, “what d’you let that common fellow kiss your hand for?”
+
+“He isn’t a common fellow—he’s an engineer!” cried Nell, angrily, “and
+you’re nothing but a dull young boy not to know a gentleman when you sees
+one!
+
+“Beg pardon, mounseer,” said I, for Frenchy was bowing to me, and I
+wished to show we Welsh knew manners.  But though he might be a
+gentleman, I still hold to it, he was grimy.
+
+“I’ve brought you the money for the things sold in missus’ shop,”
+continued Nell; then turning to me, “This gentleman, as is an engineer,
+is main clever, and manages all the accounts.”
+
+The engineer seemed to me to have been clever enough to have managed more
+than accounts; however for once discretion prevailed and I held my
+tongue.  Then Nellie and this mounseer fell to their accounts, and seemed
+to have a great deal to say to each other in a mixture of French and
+English, which, not understanding very well, I found stupid, and turned
+to look for Fanny and her friend, another grimy individual, who proved to
+be the commissary himself.
+
+They also seemed much taken up with each other, and were conversing in
+the same lingo.  I noticed that Fan had made over her bundle of straw to
+this man, and she seemed very busy talking over some arrangements.  I
+approached, being willing to know what it was all about.
+
+“Who ze plague is zis garçon?” asked the commissary.
+
+“Oh, a young boy from down town—veal, savez-vous?  Nong mauvais—a smart
+young chap obligant.  Can portey kelke chose, vous savez.”
+
+“Bon!” said the Frenchman, letting the word fly out like a shot, “we af
+some drifles to make car out of zis.”
+
+I perceived at once that he had acquired his knowledge of English from
+Frances, as “car” for “carry” is pure Pembrokeshire.
+
+“I shall be very glad to be of use,” I remarked.  “What sort of things,
+Frances—gimcracks, I suppose?”
+
+“Vat says he, là?” inquired the commissary.
+
+“Yes, gimcracks of a sort—rather heavy, though, we find them,” said Fan,
+not stopping to translate.  “If you’ll lend a hand, we’d get along
+better.”
+
+“All right,” said I.
+
+“Zey is kep’ in ze bockat,” remarked Mounseer, luckily indicating some
+pails in the corner by a gesture of his hand.
+
+“Adoo, Pierre, I think we’d better alley,” remarked Fan.  This, I must
+say, was the sort of French I liked.
+
+“To nex’ time, my cabbage!” said Pierre.
+
+Then while they were busy over the buckets I turned suddenly and beheld
+the engineer bestowing on Nellie an unmistakable kiss.
+
+“Hallo!” I said.
+
+“It’s only their foreign ways; like as if we was to shake hands,” cried
+Nellie, running forward and looking very rosy.  “Come, catch a hoult on
+these pails, Dan’l; they’re main weighty for we maids.”
+
+I did catch hold of a couple of pails, one in each hand, and found that
+the last part of Nell’s remark was true.
+
+“Just feel the heft of un!” remarked Fanny.
+
+I did feel it a good deal before I had done with it.  Nellie also carried
+a pail, and Frances a large bundle, done up in some old sacking.
+
+“What’s all that?” I inquired, as we made our way out of the prison.
+
+“Dirty clothes,” said Frances, sharply.  “They must have some clean
+linen, I suppose, though they are Frenchmen!”
+
+It seemed to me that they managed to exist without it, but as the point
+was not material, and Frances appeared touchy, I held my tongue.
+
+“This young boy has giv’ a hand with the sweepings, Roche,” said Frances,
+as we passed that functionary.
+
+“Ay?  Well, you and Nell be pretty well weighted too, surely,” drawled
+Roche.
+
+“Oh, gimcracks, and clothes for the wash-’us (house),” answered the girl
+lightly, and in another moment we were in freedom—in the open air.
+
+“Oh, poor chaps; how good it is!” said Nellie, drawing a long breath.
+
+We went round to a piece of untidy waste land behind the prison.
+
+“I’ll be bound your arms aches,” said Frances.  “Drop the buckats, Dan’l,
+and thank ye.”
+
+“Here!” said I, “drop your gimcracks on this dirty place—what for?”
+
+“Oh, never mind what for; don’t argufy, my boy, them’s prison sweepings;
+the gimcracks is in Nellie’s pail.”
+
+“Oh, I thought these were mighty heavy gimcracks.  Well, let me carry
+Nell’s pail to the shop.”
+
+“No, no!” cried Nell, stepping back, “I’d liefer car my own, don’t you
+trouble.”
+
+“Then I’ll take your dirty linen,” said I, making a sudden grab at
+Frances’ bundle.
+
+To my great surprise some bits of stone and a cloud of mortar flew out.
+
+“Hallo!” I said.
+
+“Look here, Dan’l,” said Fan, firmly, “we are greatly beholden for your
+help, but we don’t want no more at present.  You go on with Dan’l, Nell,
+and leave me here to empt the buckats.”
+
+Nell put down her pail, took my arm, and marched me off.  I was inclined
+to be offended, but she soothed me down as any woman can when she
+chooses.  She assured me that both the engineer (whom she called
+Jack—probably Jacques was his name) and the commissary had taken a great
+fancy to me, and would undertake to teach me French if I would only go
+often enough.
+
+I had not the least objection to going, as I found prison experiences
+amusing, but I could not quite understand the bucket-carrying part of it.
+
+However, neither flattery nor a curiosity stimulus were unpleasing to me,
+so I went frequently.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+AWAY!  AWAY!
+
+
+A couple of weeks passed away thus, when one morning we were awakened
+early by a clamour in the street.  All Pembroke was in an uproar.  All
+that I could distinguish of the cries was one exclamation, “The French!”
+
+Had they broken out, and were they going to sack the place?  The panic
+reminded me of our feelings at Fishguard in the spring, but seemed more
+strange to me now, for in the interim I had become comparatively intimate
+with the foreigners, and had lost my fear of them.  I jumped out of bed,
+dragged on a garment or two, and flung open my little lattice window.
+
+“Where are the French?” I yelled.
+
+“Away, away!” came the answer.  “Clean gone.”
+
+The idea occurred to me that if they had gone away clean they must have
+been in a very different state to their usual condition; however, my
+reflections were disturbed by the sudden appearance of my Aunt Jane; she
+burst in head foremost.
+
+“Where’s Eleanor?” she gasped.
+
+“Where are the French?” I answered lightly, “Away, away!”
+
+“Are ye cursëd, boy, or only dull?” {223} queried my angry relative.
+“What d’ye mean?”
+
+“Nothing,” I answered; “only I know no more about Nell than I do about
+the French.  Isn’t she in the shop?”
+
+“In the shop!  My patience—she isn’t in the house, nor hasn’t been for
+hours.  Her bed is cold; I doubt she never got into un, only
+topsy-turvied un a bit.”
+
+“Nellie really gone!” I was beginning to grasp the situation.  “Oh, Aunt
+Jane; she must have gone with Jack.”
+
+“Who’s Jack, name o’ fortune?  I heard tell of a Billy and a Tommy, but
+norra Jack.”
+
+“Oh, this wasn’t a Pembroke Jack, but Mounseer Jacques Roux, Esq., an
+engineer.”
+
+“A Mounseer!”  Words failed my venerable relative; she sat down and went
+off into hysterics, which brought Aunt Rebecca to the rescue, and in the
+confusion I sidled down the stairs and escaped.
+
+I made my way through the crowd to the Golden Prison, and here a light
+dawned, and many things became clear to me.  A crowd of people were
+standing at what appeared to me to be a hole in the ground, about sixty
+yards from the wall of the prison.  I edged myself through the lookers-on
+till I had reached the hole; it was one end of a subterranean passage,
+the other end of which doubtless emerged—but a sick qualm came over me,
+and to make matters worse at this moment I espied—and was seen by—Roche
+the turnkey.  He was looking very small, but assumed an air of bluster
+when he perceived me.
+
+“Arrest that young chap there,” he ordered his assistants.  “He was a
+helping o’ they sneaking scoundrels; I see un.”
+
+In another moment the two men had me in tow, and being also propelled by
+the crowd in a few minutes, I found myself inside the Golden Prison.  I
+did not find the place at all entertaining this time.  However, there
+were some magistrates there, and one of them, a Dr. Mansell, ordered the
+men to loose their hold while he questioned me.
+
+I told all I knew, and at the end was relieved, but mortified to hear him
+say, “There is no occasion to detain him, the boy evidently knew nothing
+about it.  He was a young ass, but he is not the first of us who has been
+befooled by a woman.”
+
+At this there was a general guffaw in which I tried to join, but I felt
+as small as Roche the turnkey.  It appeared that all those pails and
+bundles had been full of earth, stones, and mortar, which the men had
+scraped out in making the tunnel.  I went into the little inner room, and
+there in the floor, just behind where Pierre Lebrun used to sit,
+surrounded with bundles of straw, blocks of wood, etc., was the other end
+of the subterranean passage.  They had absolutely scratched through the
+thick wall of the prison, and then grubbed like moles through sixty yards
+of earth, with no other implement than the bones of horses’ legs.
+
+I did not care for the remarks of the bystanders, and I got out of that
+gaol as quickly as I could, but not before Dr. Mansell had asked me
+another question or two.
+
+“I hear Frances Martin has absconded,” he said.  “Can you tell me
+anything about Eleanor?  She lives with your aunts, I think.”
+
+“She is not to be found, sir,” I answered.  “She is off with Jack, no
+doubt.”
+
+“Jack?”
+
+“Mounseer Jacques Roux, the engineer.”
+
+“Ah, the fellow who managed the tunnelling.  Why do you pitch upon him?”
+
+“I didn’t—she did, because he used to kiss her.”
+
+“Kiss!  By George, didn’t that rouse your suspicions?” cried the doctor.
+
+“No, sir, they said it was the French way of shaking hands.”
+
+“Go along, softy!” cried the crowd, and I went.  But as I went I heard
+the stentorian voice of Dr. Mansell proclaim—
+
+“Five hundred guineas reward for the recovery of those two young women,
+dead or alive!”
+
+In a few hours handbills to this effect were posted all over the place,
+and, as soon as practicable, in every town in the kingdom; by which the
+names of Frances Martin and Eleanor Martin must have become well known.
+Whenever I saw one of these placards it seemed to me as if I had had
+something to do with a great crime, and that part of the five hundred
+guineas would perhaps be given for my body some day—dead or alive.
+
+I walked down to the shore to a little port on the outside of the town,
+the very place to which I had been on the previous Sunday with Nell.  I
+remembered, with another qualm, the interest which she had taken in the
+shipping, and how she had even begged me to ask some questions of the
+sailors, who, as usual, lounged about where they could smell tar.  She
+said it was awkward for a girl to talk to these rough fellows, but that
+it was a pleasant variety for a young man.  So, of course, I asked all
+the questions she desired about incoming sloops.  I, thinking these
+questions referred to some sailor sweetheart, took no account of the
+matter at all.  As we looked and talked we perceived a sloop in the
+offing coming in.  The men said she would be in shortly, and that she was
+bringing culm for the use of Lord Cawdor’s household.
+
+Nellie seemed very pleased and happy as she watched the sloop coming
+rapidly nearer, a brisk breeze from the south filling her sails and
+urging her onwards.  The only boat actually in the harbour was Lord
+Cawdor’s yacht.
+
+His lordship’s yacht was now nowhere to be seen; the sloop was still
+there, for owing to the breeze and the sailors’ hurry to get ashore on
+Sunday, they had run her aground, and there she was hard and fast, but
+not in the same state as on Sunday.  A hundred Frenchmen had made their
+escape, creeping through their tunnel and jumping out at the other end
+like so many jack-in-the-boxes.  Some of the fugitives made at once for
+the yacht, some for the sloop, which, to their great disappointment, they
+found aground.  They boarded it, lashed the sailors’ hands and feet
+(these men now recounted the story, each man to a listening crowd, which
+we must hope was a slight solace for their sufferings)—they took compass,
+water casks, and every scrap of food and clothing they could find; then
+conveyed them aboard the yacht which they launched, and off they were.
+The tied-up sailors had seen nothing of any women, but between darkness
+and surprise it was a wonder they had noted as much as they had.
+
+This was all that we could gather at the time; it was only enough to make
+us very uncomfortable about the fate of the two rash girls.  My position
+was not made more comfortable by the constant reproaches of my two old
+aunts, who seemed to think me in some way responsible for Nell’s
+escapade.  Altogether I was not sorry that it was decided to send me back
+at once to St. David’s; school was better than scorn.  But the very night
+before I left Pembroke, my uncomfortable feelings were doomed to be
+deepened.  The stern of the yacht was washed ashore with other timbers,
+on one of which his lordship’s name was inscribed.  There could be little
+doubt of the fate of those on board.  The weather had been rough and
+foggy, and these French soldiers were probably little skilled in
+navigation.  So I departed to St. David’s with a heavy heart.
+
+Some weeks passed in the usual course of classics and mathematics rammed
+in by main force, when one day there came a letter to me in Aunt Jane’s
+handwriting.  I was surprised, for my aunts were not given to
+composition; but on opening the envelope I found Aunt Jane had
+written—nothing.  She had merely enclosed, oh, greater surprise, a
+foreign letter.  I had never had, and never expected to have, a foreign
+correspondent.  What language would he write in—a quick hope flashed
+through me that it might not be Latin, any other I would give up quietly.
+
+I opened the letter and perceived it was in English.  It ran as follows:—
+
+    “DEAR MASTR DANL,—I hope as this finds you well as it leaves me at
+    present.  You was main good to we, so I pens this line to say as I am
+    no longer Eleanor Martin but Madam Roux.  [Oh joy!  I didn’t care
+    what her name was as long as she wasn’t drowned.] Yes, me and Jack
+    have married, only he likes it writ Jacques which is a mort of
+    trouble.  Howsomever we gets along lovely so likewise do Frances and
+    her young man Peter which were a commisser and she is now Madam
+    Lebrun.  We did a main lot for they lads—which they was grateful.
+    Praps you’d like to hear that after we got safe away in his ludship’s
+    yat, after you’d kindly helpd we to burrow out o jail, we come in for
+    three days fog.  Short commons there was till we overtook a brig,
+    gave out as we was shiprackt and was took aboord, Fan and me dressed
+    as lads.  That night we was too many for the crew of the brig, as
+    nocked under and us made them steer for France, so here we be.  The
+    brig had corn aboord, so we wasnt clemmed.  We let the yat go.
+    Hoping to see you soon, I remains,
+
+                                          “Your humbel servant to command,
+                                                                 “NELLIE.”
+
+Her ending wish was granted some years after, when peace was settled
+between England and France.  Nellie and her husband, the engineer, came
+back to Wales and settled for a time in Merthyr, where they opened a
+large inn, he following his profession in the mines, both he and his wife
+roasting me unmercifully when I went to stay with them (a full-fledged
+curate), on the assistance I had once rendered to the French prisoners in
+a mining operation; but I hope all will understand that this assistance
+was unintentional on my part, and that I greatly condemn the unpatriotic
+conduct of the sisters.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                            The Gresham Press.
+
+                             UNWIN BROTHERS,
+                          CHILWORTH AND LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+{14}  Laws, “Little England beyond Wales.”
+
+{18}  These letters are given in the narrative.
+
+{26}  “Biographie de Lazare Hoche,” par Emile de Bonnechose.  Hachette,
+Paris.
+
+{36}  Laws, “Little England beyond Wales.”  Mason, Tenby.
+
+{51}  Cawl—leek broth.
+
+{52}  Cwrw da—good ale.
+
+{80}  “Taws pia hi,” a Welsh proverb.
+
+{115}  Dear Davy.
+
+{129}  A fact.
+
+{154}  Now in the possession of Mr. Brett, the well-known
+artist.—EDITOR’S NOTE.
+
+{209}  _Crut_, probably a contraction of _creature_.
+
+{223}  _Dull_, stupid.
+
+
+
+
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+<title>The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797, by M. E. James</title>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797,
+by M. E. James, et al
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797
+
+
+Author: M. E. James
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 22, 2012  [eBook #41144]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHGUARD INVASION BY THE
+FRENCH IN 1797***
+</pre>
+<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/fp.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Disembarkation"
+title=
+"Disembarkation"
+src="images/fp.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<h1>THE FISHGUARD INVASION<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">BY THE</span><br />
+FRENCH IN 1797</h1>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">SOME
+PASSAGES TAKEN FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATE</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">REVEREND DANIEL ROWLANDS,
+SOMETIME</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">VICAR OF LLANFIANGELPENYBONT</span></p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">London<br />
+T. FISHER UNWIN<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">PATERNOSTER SQUARE</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">MDCCCXCII</span></p>
+<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page3"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 3</span>Dedicated<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">BY PERMISSION</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">TO</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE RIGHT HONOURABLE</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE</span><br />
+EARL OF CAWDOR</p>
+<h2><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+5</span>CONTENTS</h2>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: right"><span
+class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p>INTRODUCTION</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page9">9</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: center">WEDNESDAY.<br />
+<i>THE FIRST DAY</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="GutSmall">CHAP.</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">I.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THREE FRIGATES</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page43">43</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">II.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE LANDING</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page54">54</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">III.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE FATE OF THE CLOCK</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page75">75</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">IV.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE PRIEST&rsquo;S PEEP-HOLE</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page88">88</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: center">THURSDAY.<br />
+<i>THE SECOND DAY</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">V.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>DAVY JONES&rsquo; LOCKER</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page109">109</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">VI.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>WELSH WIVES</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page125">125</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">VII.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>GENERAL TATE&rsquo;S LETTER</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page139">139</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: center"><a
+name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>FRIDAY.<br />
+<i>THE THIRD DAY</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">VIII.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE GATHERING AT GOODWICH</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page159">159</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">IX.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE CAPITULATION</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page171">171</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">X.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>TREHOWEL ONCE MORE</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page180">180</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: center">SEQUEL.<br />
+<i>THE GOLDEN PRISON AT PEMBROKE</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">XI.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>THE GENERAL THANKSGIVING</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page193">193</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">XII.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>INSIDE THE GOLDEN PRISON</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page204">204</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">XIII.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>AWAY!&nbsp; AWAY!!</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page222">222</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h2><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>LIST OF
+ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td><p>THE DISEMBARKATION (<i>From an old print</i>)</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>Frontispiece</i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>STAND OF ARMS IN TENBY MUSEUM</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page20">20</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>THE FRENCH FRIGATES (<i>From an old print</i>)</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page43">43</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>CARREGWASTAD</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page54">54</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>COTTAGE AT CASTELL</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page75">75</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>A RANSACKED FARMHOUSE</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page109">109</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>THE &ldquo;ROYAL OAK&rdquo; AT FISHGUARD</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page139">139</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>TREHOWEL: GENERAL TATE&rsquo;S HEADQUARTERS</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page184">184</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h2><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+9</span>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+<p>The very curious incident related in the following narrative
+took place nearly a hundred years ago, and, as men&rsquo;s
+memories are short, and the whole affair reads like
+fiction&mdash;and very improbable and imaginative
+fiction&mdash;it may be as well to write a few lines of
+introduction, and to give my authorities for the facts mentioned
+in the story.</p>
+<p>In the first place, the evidence of persons who had witnessed
+the landing, and who recollected it perfectly, and who have told
+the story to me&mdash;I have met many such <a
+name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>in the course
+of my life, as my home was within sight of Fishguard Head.&nbsp;
+Probably the last of these eye-witnesses was the old woman who
+died a short time ago&mdash;on February 8, 1891.&nbsp; Her demise
+was announced by the Pembrokeshire papers as &ldquo;The Death of
+a Pembrokeshire Centenarian.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The death occurred on Sunday morning at the Dyffryn Cottages,
+near Fishguard, of Eleanor (Nelly) Phillips at the age of
+103.&nbsp; Her age is pretty accurately fixed by a statement she
+was wont to make, that she was nine years old when the French
+landed at Fishguard.&nbsp; She was a spinster, and had been
+bedridden for eight years.&nbsp; When a mere girl she was in
+service at Kilshawe, near Fishguard, and was driving cows from a
+field when the French frigates appeared off the coast in
+1797.</p>
+<p>In the second place, the following books and
+pamphlets:&mdash;</p>
+<p><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+11</span>Fenton&rsquo;s &ldquo;Pembrokeshire,&rdquo; pp. 10, 11,
+and 12.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Book of South Wales,&rdquo; by C. F. Cliffe, p.
+251.</p>
+<p>A curious and scarce pamphlet, written by Williams of
+Crachenllwyd, a place near St. David&rsquo;s; he was the farmer
+who sent his servant to give the alarm.&nbsp; The pamphlet was
+called &ldquo;The Landing of the French,&rdquo; and was, I
+believe, printed at Haverfordwest.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Red Dragon,&rdquo; 1885.&nbsp; <i>Western Mail</i>
+Office, Cardiff.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;An Authentic Account of the Invasion of the French
+Troops (under the command of General Tate) on Carrig Gwasted
+Point, near Fishguard, Wednesday, the 22nd day of February, 1797,
+and their Surrender to the Forces of His Britannic Majesty on
+Goodwick Sands, on Friday, the 24th of February; likewise some
+occurrences <a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+12</span>connected therewith: never before published.&nbsp;
+Haverfordwest: Joseph Potter, printer, High Street,
+1842.&rdquo;&nbsp; This pamphlet was written by H. L. ap
+Gwilym&mdash;and was signed as correct by two eye-witnesses,
+Fishguard Fencible men, Peter Davies and Owen Griffith.</p>
+<p>Laws, &ldquo;Little England beyond Wales,&rdquo; p. 367.</p>
+<p>I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Leach, the editor of the
+<i>Tenby Observer</i>, for many particulars, and especially for
+information as to how the news was conveyed to England.&nbsp; He
+found the following entry in the overseer&rsquo;s accounts for
+the borough of Tenby:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;<i>Thursday</i>, <i>Feb.</i> 23,
+1797.&nbsp; Cash paid by Mr. Mayor&rsquo;s order to John Upcoat,
+for going out to the Road for a skiff to go over to the English
+side to give information concerning the landing of about 1,400
+French Troops at <a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+13</span>Fishguard in the County, who on the next day surrendered
+themselves up to the Welsh etc., that went to oppose them as
+<i>prisoners of war</i>, and were marched accordingly by Saturday
+25th to Haverfordwest. . . 1s.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>This entry could not have been entirely made on Feb. 23rd,
+unless the worthy overseer had the gift of prophecy.</p>
+<p>The messenger probably came on to Tenby from Stackpole, where
+he aroused Lord Cawdor with the tidings in the middle of
+Wednesday night.&nbsp; The news conveyed by John Upcoat must have
+been taken across the Channel to Somersetshire and thence to
+London; the manner of proceeding at the <i>fin de
+si&egrave;cle</i> of the eighteenth century contrasts amusingly
+with the rapidity of the nineteenth, but possibly our time will
+be scoffed at and considered slow by the twentieth.</p>
+<p>The <i>European Magazine</i> of the period <a
+name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>gives the
+names of the vessels: <i>La R&eacute;sistance</i>, commanded by
+Monsieur Montague, 40 guns, eighteen pounders on her main deck,
+345 men.&nbsp; The other frigate <i>La Constance</i>, commanded
+by Monsieur Desauny, mounted 24 nine-pounders on her main deck,
+with 189 men. <a name="citation14"></a><a href="#footnote14"
+class="citation">[14]</a></p>
+<p>One of the frigates and the corvette were eventually captured
+off Brest by the <i>St. Fiorenzo</i> frigate (Captain Sir H. B.
+Neale, Bart.) and the <i>La Nymphe</i> (Captain J. Cooke), who
+took them both into Portsmouth, where the frigate was repaired
+and rechristened the <i>Fisgard</i>, presumably the French
+pronunciation of Fishguard, and was until quite lately the
+receiving ship at Sheerness.&nbsp; The other frigate and the
+lugger managed to get safely into Brest.</p>
+<p>The officers present at the council of war held at the
+&ldquo;Royal Oak,&rdquo; Fishguard, were <a
+name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>the
+Lord-Lieutenant of the county, Lord Milford (who from age and
+infirmity had given up the command of the troops to Lord Cawdor),
+Lord Cawdor, Colonel Knox, Colonel Colby, Major Ackland, Colonel
+Dan. Vaughan, Colonel James, Colonel George Vaughan, the governor
+of Fishguard Fort, and other gentlemen.&nbsp; The troops
+consisted of the Castle Martin Yeomanry Cavalry, the
+Cardiganshire Militia, the Cardiff Militia (which was then
+stationed in Pembrokeshire), some Fencible infantry, and a few
+sailors under Lieutenants Mears and Perkins, in all 750 men.</p>
+<p>The letters that passed between General Tate and Lord Cawdor
+are given in the narrative, but the following letters from Lord
+Milford and Lord Cawdor to the Duke of Portland, Secretary of
+State for the Home Department, may be found
+interesting:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><a
+name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span><i>From Lord
+Milford</i>.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">&ldquo;<span
+class="smcap">Haverfordwest</span>,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;<i>February</i> 26, 1797, Six
+o&rsquo;clock <span class="GutSmall">A.M.</span></p>
+<p>&ldquo;Since I had the honour of writing last to your Grace by
+express I received information of the French ships having sailed
+and left 300 men behind, who have surrendered themselves
+prisoners.&nbsp; The great spirit and loyalty that the gentlemen
+and peasantry has shown on this occasion exceeds
+description.&nbsp; Many thousands of the latter assembled, armed
+with pikes and scythes, and attacked the enemy previous to the
+arrival of troops that were sent against them.&rdquo;</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Haverfordwest</span>,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;<i>February</i> 24, Nine
+o&rsquo;clock <span class="GutSmall">P.M.</span></p>
+<p>&ldquo;I have the honour and pleasure to inform your Grace
+that the whole of the French troops, amounting to near fourteen
+hundred men, have surrendered, and are now <a
+name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>on their
+march to Haverfordwest.&nbsp; I have taken the first opportunity
+of announcing the good news to your Grace, and shall have the
+honour of writing again to your Grace by tomorrow&rsquo;s
+post.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The following letter was written by Lord Cawdor to the Duke of
+Portland:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Fishguard</span>,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;<i>Friday</i>,
+<i>February</i> 24, 1797.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,&mdash;In
+consequence of having received information on Wednesday night, at
+eleven o&rsquo;clock, that three large ships of war and a lugger
+had anchored in a small roadstead upon the coast, in the
+neighbourhood of this town, I proceeded immediately with a
+detachment of the Cardiganshire Militia and all the provincial
+force I could collect to the place.&nbsp; I soon gained positive
+intelligence they had disembarked about 1,200 men, but no
+cannon.&nbsp; Upon the night setting in <a
+name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>a French
+officer, whom I found to be second in command, came in with a
+letter (a copy of which I sent your Grace, together with my
+answer), <a name="citation18"></a><a href="#footnote18"
+class="citation">[18]</a> in consequence of which they determined
+to surrender themselves prisoners of war, and, accordingly, laid
+down their arms this day at two o&rsquo;clock.&nbsp; I cannot, at
+this moment, inform your Grace the exact number of prisoners, but
+I believe it to be their whole force.&nbsp; It is my intention to
+march them this night to Haverfordwest, where I shall make the
+best distribution in my power.&nbsp; The frigates, corvette, and
+lugger got under weigh yesterday evening, and were this morning
+entirely out of sight.&nbsp; The fatigue we experienced will, I
+trust, excuse me to your Grace for not giving a more particular
+detail; but my anxiety to do justice to the officers and men I
+had the honour to command, will induce me to <a
+name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>attend your
+Grace with as little delay as possible, to state their merits
+and, at the same time, to give you every information in my power
+on this subject.&nbsp; The spirit and loyalty which has pervaded
+all ranks throughout the country is infinitely beyond what I can
+express.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;I am, &amp;c.,<br />
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Cawdor</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p20.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Stand of Arms in Tenby Museum"
+title=
+"Stand of Arms in Tenby Museum"
+src="images/p20.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>Lord Cawdor&rsquo;s &ldquo;distribution&rdquo; took the form
+of placing 700 men in the beautiful old church of St.
+Mary&rsquo;s (which they greatly injured), 500 in the Town Hall,
+and the remainder in the store-houses of Haverfordwest.&nbsp; The
+officers were allowed out on parole, and one of them showed scant
+respect for his word of honour, for he was discovered at a
+silversmith&rsquo;s trying to barter an old silver cup for coin
+of the realm, with which doubtless to escape to France.&nbsp;
+There <a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>were
+some letters on the cup which he chose to decipher as &ldquo;La
+Vend&eacute;e&rdquo;; they turned out on inspection to be
+&ldquo;Llanwnda,&rdquo; from which church the chalice had been
+stolen, and where it was at once returned, while the officer was
+transferred from the &ldquo;Castle Hotel&rdquo; to the Castle
+jail&mdash;a very different place.</p>
+<p>A number of the prisoners were shortly after sent on to
+Carmarthen and to Pembroke, where the romantic episode of the
+escape from the Golden Prison occurred exactly as given in the
+narrative.&nbsp; The arms and ammunition taken from the French
+filled fifty-five carts; their muskets were the ordinary weapon
+of the period, with flint locks, barrels 3ft. 7in., whole length
+4ft. 10in., weight 9&frac34;lbs.&nbsp; Lord Cawdor presented two
+of these muskets to the Tenby Museum, and Mr. Mathias gave a
+short sword and scabbard.&nbsp; On each side of the sword are <a
+name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 21</span>represented
+sun, moon, and stars, with the inscription <i>Cassaguard</i>,
+<i>Fourbisseur du Roy</i>, <i>Nantes</i>.&nbsp; There are
+half-a-dozen cannonballs&mdash;nine pounders&mdash;at the house
+of Eleanor Rees, of Goodwick, which were given to her father by
+the French&mdash;a curious toy for a small boy of two or three
+years of age.&nbsp; The invaders seem to have been very kind to
+this young Taffy, nursed him on their knees, and made much of
+him, and finally presented him with this strange <i>gage
+d&rsquo;amour</i>.&nbsp; He was probably a plucky little fellow,
+for he grew into a brave man, and was awarded a medal for having
+at various times saved many lives, going out in his own boat to
+shipwrecked vessels and rescuing the crews&mdash;when the <i>Lady
+Kenmare</i> foundered he saved, among others, two ladies and some
+children, bringing them through a tremendous sea, &ldquo;in their
+night-dresses, as wet as sops,&rdquo; the narrator added.</p>
+<p><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>Most of
+the prisoners were finally sent back to France, when it was
+discovered what manner of men they were.&nbsp; Lord Cawdor took
+General Tate and some of the other officers to London, whence
+they were consigned to Dartmoor.&nbsp; This personally-conducted
+journey through England was not without peril.&nbsp; The people
+were greatly incensed against the French, and were quite ready to
+carry out Lynch law on these unhappy men, and in the excitement
+of the moment a mob does not always discriminate between its
+friends and its foes.&nbsp; It was fortunate for Tate and his
+fellows, and still more fortunate for Pembrokeshire, that the
+conduct of the whole affair from first to last was in such able
+and determined hands as those of Lord Cawdor.&nbsp; A letter from
+him to Lady Cawdor (hitherto unpublished, and for which I am
+indebted to Mr. Laws), gives a very vivid account of this
+journey.</p>
+<blockquote><p><a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+23</span>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Oxford Street</span>,</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">&ldquo;<i>Monday morn</i>,
+<i>March</i> 13, 1797.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I have at length the satisfaction of an hour&rsquo;s
+time free from interruption to give you a short account of our
+employment, etc., since I quitted you, but shall reserve much of
+the detail for your amusement when we meet, a moment I ardently
+long for.&nbsp; Near Tavern Spite I met a messenger, with the D.
+of Portland&rsquo;s despatches to me signifying the King&rsquo;s
+approbation of my conduct, which probably General Rooke has shown
+you, accompanied also by a handsome and flattering private letter
+from the Duke.&nbsp; Upon my arrival at Carmarthen I immediately
+sent off the messenger with my letters, and finding the
+impossibility of procuring horses until the following morn was in
+the expectation of getting a quiet night, having procured a bed
+at a private house; but an alarm of a fire in the town joined to
+confusion created <a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+24</span>by the report of a landing in great force in
+Glamorganshire, which I knew must have no foundation, prevented
+my obtaining sleep for one moment.&nbsp; Early in the morn we
+left Carmarthen, with three chaises; in the first, Joe Adams had
+charge of Tate and Captain Tyrell, the first alarmed and
+confused, the second a stupid Paddy.&nbsp; I had Le Brun with me,
+as dirty as a pig, but more intelligent and better manners; in
+the last, Lord E. Somerset had the care of Captain Norris and
+Lieutenant St. Leger, both greatly frightened, they had but
+little conversation.&nbsp; The whole road we passed through great
+crowds of people at all the places were (<i>sic</i>) we changed
+horses, and thro&rsquo; Wales tho&rsquo; the indignation of the
+people was great, I found my influence would protect them without
+difficulty.&nbsp; The women were more clamorous than the men,
+making signs to cut their throats, and desiring I would not take
+<a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>the
+trouble of carrying them further.&nbsp; All the military
+assistance I could get at Oxford as a guard for the night was a
+sergeant of your friend and landlord, and two recruits, but I had
+no apprehension of their escape as their remain (<i>sic</i>) with
+us was the only thing that ensured their safety.&nbsp; At
+Uxbridge the rage of the mob was chiefly directed against Tate,
+who was supposed to be Wall, and he trembled almost to
+convulsions, by a little arrangement I contrived to bring them
+quiet through the parks, and lodged them in the Duke of
+Portland&rsquo;s before any crowd was assembled.&nbsp; My time
+since that moment has been taken up with attendance at the
+different offices, etc., and ministers are so bewildered by the
+difficulties at the Bank, etc., that it is more than usually
+difficult to get access to them for any time, but I have seen
+them all and stated to them plainly and decidedly, the situation
+of Pembroke, etc., <a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+26</span>giving every testimony in my power.&nbsp; The weather is
+extremely cold, the town I hear dull and unpleasant, everybody I
+have seen much interested about you, Mrs. Wodehouse . . . and
+desires her love.&nbsp; Joe his respects.&rdquo;</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">[No signature.]</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Having disposed of the rank and file of the expedition, there
+comes the natural question, what was its <i>raison
+d&rsquo;&eacute;tre</i>?&nbsp; Some persons think it was merely a
+fine stroke of political economy on the part of the French
+Government, for a considerable number of the men were convicts,
+and to have them killed or imprisoned at the expense of the
+English would undoubtedly have been a good financial arrangement;
+but the biography of Lazare Hoche <a name="citation26"></a><a
+href="#footnote26" class="citation">[26]</a> proves that a much
+larger idea than this was in the mind <a name="page27"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 27</span>of the originator of the
+invasion.&nbsp; He was a successful general and an ambitious man,
+and his imagination was fired by the prowess of
+Napoleon:&mdash;&ldquo;La France couvrait alors ses
+fronti&egrave;res de jeunes r&eacute;publiques, et Bonaparte
+saisissait les imaginations par ses merveilleux exploits en
+Italie.&nbsp; Hoche, retenu par les p&eacute;nibles soins de la
+pacification de l&rsquo;Ouest, avait suivi de son ardente
+pens&eacute;e le vainqueur d&rsquo;Arcole &agrave; travers, tous
+ses champs de victoire: &lsquo;Glorieux jeune homme,
+s&rsquo;&eacute;criait-il en se frappant le front,&rsquo; que je
+te porte envie!&nbsp; Il br&ucirc;lait de faire d&rsquo;aussi
+grandes choses, et de trouver un champ de gloire digne de son
+g&eacute;nie; il projetait donc de r&eacute;volutionner
+l&rsquo;Irlande, de la transformer en r&eacute;publique; puis de
+passer en Angleterre et de la frapper au c&oelig;ur.&nbsp; Il fit
+adopter son projet par le gouvernement qui, apr&ecirc;s
+s&rsquo;&ecirc;tre concert&eacute; avec les chefs des
+r&eacute;volutionnaires irlandais, pr&eacute;para &agrave; Brest
+une grande exp&eacute;dition dont <a name="page28"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 28</span>Hoche eut le commandement. . . Hoche
+y joignit deux l&eacute;gions, qu&rsquo;il nomma l&eacute;gions
+des Francs: il composa la premi&egrave;re des officiers et des
+soldats les plus r&eacute;solus, audacieux jusqu&rsquo; &agrave;
+la t&eacute;m&eacute;rit&eacute;; il forma la seconde, il faut le
+dire, d&rsquo;&eacute;l&eacute;ments indignes, et c&rsquo;est un
+reproche pour sa m&eacute;moire.&nbsp; D&eacute;testant
+l&rsquo;Angleterre, partageant de tristes prejuj&eacute;s et
+regardant, en haine du gouvernement britannique, le peuple
+anglais comme le supp&ocirc;t de ministres perfides et
+d&rsquo;une odieuse aristocratie, tous les moyens lui semblaient
+permis pour abaisser et pour d&eacute;soler cette fi&egrave;re
+nation: il agit en cons&eacute;quence et fit entrer dans cette
+seconde l&eacute;gion tout ce qu&rsquo;il put ramasser de gens
+perdus, de bandits et de massacreurs, et il la mit sous le
+commandement d&rsquo;un chef &eacute;tranger connu par sa sauvage
+&eacute;nergie.&nbsp; Cette l&eacute;gion devait aborder en
+Angleterre pour abuser l&rsquo;ennemi sur la v&eacute;ritable
+destination de l&rsquo;escadre portant le corps <a
+name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+29</span>expeditionnaire: elle eut l&rsquo;ordre de
+d&eacute;barquer &agrave; l&rsquo;embouchure de la Saverne, de se
+porter de nuit sur Bristol, d&rsquo;incendier cette ville et de
+semer la devastation dans les campagnes environnantes; puis de se
+rembarquer pour jeter plusieurs d&eacute;tachements sur
+diff&eacute;rents points du littoral en portant partout la mort,
+le ravage et l&rsquo;incendie, attirant ainsi sur elle et
+retenant en Angleterre une partie consid&eacute;rable des forces
+britanniques, tandis que l&rsquo;exp&eacute;dition cinglerait
+viers la c&ocirc;te irlandaise.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In the appendix of the same work we find the source from which
+Hoche compiled his instructions.</p>
+<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">&ldquo;<span
+class="smcap">Note</span> D.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Extrait du projet de Carnot pour l&rsquo;organisation
+d&rsquo;une chouaunnerie en Angleterre, et dans lequel Hoche
+puisa les instructions donn&eacute;es par lui &agrave; la seconde
+l&eacute;gion des Francs.</p>
+<p><a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+30</span>&ldquo;Les hommes employ&eacute;s &agrave; cette
+exp&eacute;dition devront &ecirc;tre, autant que faire se pourra,
+jeunes, robustes, audacieux, d&rsquo;une &acirc;me accessible
+&agrave; l&rsquo;app&acirc;t du butin.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il faut qu&rsquo;&agrave; l&rsquo;exemple de ce que
+faisaient les filibustiers dans les Antilles, ils sachent porter,
+au milieu de leurs ennemis, l&rsquo;&eacute;pouvante et la
+mort.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p>
+<p>&ldquo;On pourrait incorporer dans ces troupes les
+condamn&eacute;s par jugement aux fers ou &agrave; la chaine en
+qui l&rsquo;on reconna&icirc;trait les dispositions physiques et
+morales requises pour les individus employ&eacute;s &agrave;
+cette exp&eacute;dition.&nbsp; On assurerait &agrave; ces
+individus la possession du butin qu&rsquo;ils feraient.&nbsp; On
+leur en promettrait la jouissance tranquille dans quelques-unes
+de nos colonies.&nbsp; Il faudrait en outre faire esp&eacute;rer
+aux condamn&eacute;s la r&eacute;mission de leurs peines, en
+r&eacute;compense des services qu&rsquo;ils auraient rendus
+&agrave; la patrie.</p>
+<p><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+31</span>&ldquo;Le premier noyau de ces hommes, au nombre
+d&rsquo;environ deux mille, serait organis&eacute; en compagnies
+d&rsquo;environ cinquante hommes chacune, qui auraient leurs
+officiers et seraient subordonn&eacute;s &agrave; un chef unique
+charg&eacute; de l&rsquo;ensemble des op&eacute;rations.&nbsp; Ce
+chef serait investi d&rsquo;une tr&egrave;s-grande
+autorit&eacute;.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il ne faut pas perdre de vue qu&rsquo;une
+exp&eacute;dition tent&eacute;e d&rsquo;abord avec aussi peu de
+monde ne peut r&eacute;ussir que par des moyens
+extraordinaires.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il ne faut point de grands approvisionnements en effets
+d&rsquo;habillement: les ressources de la troupe seront dans son
+courage et dans ses armes.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il faut que le d&eacute;barquement se fasse sur
+plusieurs points de la c&ocirc;te, soit parce que la
+d&eacute;solation et la terreur port&eacute;es dans une grande
+&eacute;tendue de terrain multiplieront aux <a
+name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>yeux de nos
+ennemis la quantit&eacute; de nos forces, soit parce que les
+moyens de subsistance en seront plus faciles.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;En arrivant, les chefs s&rsquo;annonceront, eux et
+leurs soldats, comme <i>vengeurs de la libert&eacute; et ennemis
+des tyrans</i>.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il faut que la troupe jure <i>querre aux
+ch&acirc;teaux</i> et <i>paix aux chaumi&egrave;res</i>, et que
+sa conduite, surtout au d&eacute;but, soit conforme &agrave;
+cette d&eacute;claration.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A mesure qu&rsquo;ils avanceront, ils ouvriront les
+prisons, recruteront les d&eacute;tenus, les incorporeront: ils
+appelleront les ouvriers, les indigents, les m&eacute;contents,
+&agrave; faire cause commune avec eux, leur pr&eacute;senteront
+des armes, des subsistances; leur offriront l&rsquo;app&acirc;t
+du butin.&nbsp; Ils briseront toutes les voitures.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Il faut poursuivre l&rsquo;ennemi &agrave; outrance
+quand il est battu, et ne point faire quartier aux
+prisonniers.</p>
+<p><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+33</span>&ldquo;Il faut rompre les ponts, couper les
+communications, arr&ecirc;ter et piller les voitures publiques,
+br&ucirc;ler tout ce qui appartient &agrave; la marine . . .
+sommer les communes de rendre leurs armes; ex&eacute;cuter
+militairement celles qui resisteraient.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Mr. Laws has kindly shown me an &ldquo;Authentic Copy of the
+Instructions given by General Hoche to the American officer,
+Colonel Tate, who commanded the men employed in the French
+Invasion of South Wales in 1797.&rdquo;&nbsp; It commences
+thus:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;There will be placed under the command of
+Colonel Tate a body of troops completely organised to the number
+of one thousand and fifty, all resolute, determined men, with
+whom he may undertake anything.&nbsp; They are to be called
+&lsquo;La Seconde L&eacute;gion des Francs.&rsquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The legion is completely armed; he will <a
+name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>be likewise
+furnished with fast-going vessels with which he is to proceed
+before, with, or after the squadron; the vessels will be
+victualled for the passage, but the legion will bring on shore
+nothing but their ammunition, which is to be musquet
+cartridges.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Colonel Tate is to have command in chief of the legion;
+the Admiral will give the necessary orders to the officer
+commanding the naval force, which will proceed up St.
+George&rsquo;s Channel, and the landing is to be effected, if
+possible, in or near Cardigan Bay.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The instructions then give directions that the expedition
+should make a feint of landing in Somersetshire, as was
+afterwards done; and the most minute and careful suggestions are
+made on the primary object of securing the co-operation of the
+Welsh people&mdash;General Hoche remarks that the poor are the
+most easy to rouse, as hunger makes <a name="page35"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 35</span>people discontented.&nbsp; His
+followers, however, hardly carried out this truism in the way he
+intended; they devoured everything they could lay their hands on,
+and certainly succeeded in rousing the peasantry, but not exactly
+to co-operation.&nbsp; The loyalty of the people must have been
+an unpleasant surprise to the framers of the expedition.</p>
+<p>It appears from the directions that two other legions were to
+have simultaneously invaded the counties of Northumberland,
+Durham, and York; these latter, however, never put in an
+appearance.&nbsp; The primary object to be attained by the Second
+Legion was the destruction of Bristol and Liverpool.&nbsp; On
+reaching Severn Sea should the former prove impracticable, then
+the legion was to land in Cardigan Bay, and march through Wales
+to Chester and Liverpool.</p>
+<p>These instructions are taken from a pamphlet printed for <a
+name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>J. Wright,
+169, Piccadilly (1798), the text of which is copied from attested
+transcripts of the original documents.&nbsp; The instructions
+continue:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The expedition under the command of Colonel
+Tate has in view three principal objects.&nbsp; The first is, if
+possible, to raise an insurrection in the country.&nbsp; The
+second is to interrupt and embarrass the commerce of the
+enemy.&nbsp; The third is to prepare and facilitate the way for a
+descent by distracting the attention of the English
+Government.&rdquo; <a name="citation36"></a><a href="#footnote36"
+class="citation">[36]</a></p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>There is no doubt that the frigates did go up the Channel as
+far as Ilfracombe, causing consternation among the small craft,
+and great excitement on shore.&nbsp; They proceeded as far as
+Ilfracombe, where they scuttled some merchantmen.&nbsp; A letter
+is extant written by the town authorities to the Home
+Secretary.&nbsp; The volunteer regiments were <a
+name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>on the alert,
+and a considerable force was quickly mustered, which was possibly
+the reason that the French did not land in Somersetshire, but
+returning down the Channel made without any delay for the north
+coast of Pembrokeshire.</p>
+<p>As has been seen, the local regiments here were no less brisk
+than their Somersetshire fellows.&nbsp; The Castle Martin
+Yeomanry Cavalry now carry &ldquo;Fishguard&rdquo; on their
+standard as well as upon the sabretaches of the officers, and
+upon the pouches of the troopers, a distinction granted to them
+in 1853, when the following letter was written by Lord Palmerston
+to Sir John Owen.</p>
+<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">&ldquo;<span
+class="smcap">Whitehall</span>, <i>May</i> 18, 1853.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;I have had the
+honour to lay before the Queen the memorial of the officers,
+non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Castle Martin
+Yeomanry Cavalry (which you <a name="page38"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 38</span>transmitted to me), and I have the
+satisfaction to inform you that Her Majesty is graciously pleased
+to approve of the corps bearing the word &lsquo;Fishguard&rsquo;
+on their standard and appointments.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;I have the honour to be,
+sir,<br />
+&ldquo;Your obedient servant,<br />
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Palmerston</span>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Sir John Owen, Bart., M.P.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>It is satisfactory to state that the Castle Martin Yeomanry
+Cavalry still maintains its reputation for efficiency and
+smartness, its team of ten men having won the inter-regimental
+challenge cup, and proved themselves the best shots among the
+forty competing yeomanry regiments in 1890, Corporal Williams, of
+St. Florence, having made the highest score of any yeoman in the
+kingdom.&nbsp; Thus giving us&mdash;the inhabitants of
+Pembrokeshire&mdash;the satisfactory assurance <a
+name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 39</span>that, should
+invaders land on our coast now, they would meet with at least as
+warm a reception as they did a hundred years ago.&nbsp; And this
+suggests the idea that, in this age of centenaries, this strange
+occurrence should not be forgotten, but that in 1897 the landing
+of the French at Fishguard should be duly celebrated.</p>
+<h2><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+41</span>WEDNESDAY.<br />
+<i>THE FIRST DAY</i>.</h2>
+<h3><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+43</span>CHAPTER I.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THREE FRIGATES.</span></h3>
+<p>In the year of our Lord, 1797, there was a right fair day in
+February.&nbsp; The day was a Wednesday, the twenty-second of the
+month, and it was indeed the most pleasant day for that harsh
+season of the year that I can call to mind on looking back
+through the course of a long life.&nbsp; But it was not only the
+unusual beauty of it that made that Wednesday in February a day
+of mark, or I might scarcely have kept it stored in a corner of
+my mind for seventy years <a name="page44"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 44</span>well-nigh&mdash;remarkable as fine
+days are in this climate that is chiefly renowned for fine rain;
+but for the reason that this particular Wednesday was a day of
+utmost astonishment to all the dwellers on this North
+Pembrokeshire coast, and (I may venture to add) a day of much
+consternation to most of them.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p43.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"The French Frigates"
+title=
+"The French Frigates"
+src="images/p43.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>A day still remembered by old Welsh fishwives, and still used
+by them as a means of terror wherewith to hush to sleep unquiet
+grandbabes, or to stir to patriotism stout but supine
+grandsons.</p>
+<p>I was, at the time of which I speak, but a youth of fifteen,
+as thoughtless and careless as most lads of that age; not very
+sensible to danger, save when it presented itself face to face
+with me at no more than arm&rsquo;s length, under which
+circumstances candour compels me to own I did not always enjoy
+it.&nbsp; I trust that I may say without undue boasting that <a
+name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>I did not
+fear anything greatly as long as it was out of sight, for which
+reason I have often thought that had I been born a generation or
+two later, and had I selected a soldier&rsquo;s career instead of
+that of a divine I might have fought excellently at a distance of
+a few miles from the enemy: though at close quarters I will admit
+that any unexpected danger might perchance produce a sense of
+amazement which the uncharitable might set down to
+faint-heartedness.</p>
+<p>But that my nephews, nieces, and neighbours generally may know
+the truth concerning this matter&mdash;the landing of the French
+at Fishguard in 1797, I, Daniel Rowlands, clerk, being aged, but
+still of sound mind, have written this narrative&mdash;which when
+duly set forth will, I hope, convince the most sceptical as to
+the sort of spirit which animated my countrymen (if not myself),
+and still more my countrywomen.</p>
+<p><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 46</span>On this
+fair morning then, at about ten o&rsquo;clock, when I ought to
+have been pursuing my studies under the fostering care of one of
+the clergy at St. David&rsquo;s, I was in reality strolling along
+the headland of that name, led astray by the beauty of the day,
+which seemed too fair for book-lore; I was strolling along, doing
+nothing, thinking of nothing, wishing for nothing, yet, having
+found for the nonce the secret of true happiness, when I
+perceived a man on horseback approaching me at a furious
+rate.&nbsp; In spite of the pace at which he was advancing I
+recognised him as a servant of Trelethin.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Whither so fast, John?&rdquo; I shouted, in our own
+tongue.&nbsp; He was past me as I spoke.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The French, the French!&rdquo; came back to me on the
+breeze mingled with the sound of his horses&rsquo; rushing
+hoofs.&nbsp; His voice or my ears failed, for I heard no more
+save&mdash;when <a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+47</span>the thunder of the hoofs had ceased, the duller but more
+continuous thunder of the waves rolling in freshly at the foot of
+the rocks.</p>
+<p>John&rsquo;s words had left me much astonished.&nbsp; I
+knew&mdash;from my studies under the divine above referred
+to&mdash;that the French lived in France, where some of them had
+lately been engaged in beheading the rest with the help of a
+newly discovered machine.&nbsp; So much I knew, but why John
+Trelethin should yell &ldquo;French&rdquo; at me as he passed,
+riding apparently for his life, I knew not.&nbsp; What were the
+French to him or to me?&nbsp; As I advanced pondering the
+matter&mdash;but in a purely impersonal manner, and without any
+keen interest&mdash;at a little distance further along the cliff
+I espied the owner of Trelethin, John&rsquo;s master, standing
+very firm on his legs against a background of bright sea, his
+head inclining somewhat backward, while with <a
+name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>both his
+raised-up hands he clutched a long spy glass, the small end
+whereof was applied to his eye.&nbsp; Following the direction of
+his spy-glass, I perceived a yet more astounding
+sight&mdash;astounding to us used to the world of lonely waters
+that lay stretched out in front of our homes.&nbsp; Three ships
+of war were passing slowly along our coast not far from land,
+they were accompanied by a smaller craft, which Mr. Williams
+informed me was a lugger.&nbsp; As he had been a sailor I took
+his word for it&mdash;but it did not make things clearer.&nbsp;
+What did it all mean?&nbsp; What did those vessels&mdash;or their
+inhabitants want here?&nbsp; They carried the English colours, I
+saw that for myself when Mr. Williams obligingly lent me the
+instrument.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Take a look for yourself, my boy,&rdquo; he
+said&mdash;he was a man singularly free from
+pride&mdash;&ldquo;Take a look at the blessed
+Frenchmen.&rdquo;&nbsp; (He did not say exactly blessed, but <a
+name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>out of
+respect to my cloth I subdue his expressions slightly.)</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Frenchmen!&rdquo; I cried.&nbsp; Then those were the
+French in those three vessels.&nbsp; I did not count the lugger,
+not being sure of her.&nbsp; Strange to say the first thought
+that flitted through my brain was one of pure joy; here was an
+excuse, real, tangible, and startling, for having shirked my
+studies.&nbsp; With a little help from imagination (his and mine,
+which might act on each other as flint on steel, for he was an
+excitable man), I trusted I might so alarm my clerical guide and
+master as to make him quite forget the fact that I had given to
+St. David&rsquo;s Head the time I should have given to my
+own.&nbsp; The excuse might be made effective even should they
+prove to be not quite really French.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve English colours, sir,&rdquo; I said to
+Mr. Williams.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Foreigners are deceitful,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;up <a
+name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>to any
+tricks.&nbsp; I can see the scoundrels swarming on the
+decks.&rdquo;&nbsp; (For by this time he again had applied the
+spy-glass.)&nbsp; &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; he continued, handing the
+glass to his wife who had joined us, &ldquo;If it was but night
+now and a bit stormy, we might put out a false light or two and
+bring them on the rocks in no time.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This was the moment afterwards immortalised by a local bard in
+these words&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Mrs. Williams Trelethin was know every
+tide<br />
+From England to Greenland without guide.<br />
+Mrs. Williams Trelethin was take the spy-glass,<br />
+And then she cry out&mdash;There they Wass!&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The three tall ships sailed on calmly, with the clear shining
+of the sea around them, dark objects in all that flood of
+light.&nbsp; They went northward&mdash;along our Pembrokeshire
+coast, where (had Providence so willed it) they might have made
+shipwreck on the <a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+51</span>sharp rocks anywhere.&nbsp; However the day was too fair
+to admit of any such hope.</p>
+<p>The alarm spread quickly; men and boys came bounding over the
+gorse in every direction; even the women, with the curiosity of
+their sex, came forth from their homesteads, leaving the cawl <a
+name="citation51"></a><a href="#footnote51"
+class="citation">[51]</a> and the children to mind themselves,
+while their natural caretakers gaped open-mouthed at the tall
+ships filled with untold dangers.</p>
+<p>The crowd on the cliffs followed in the direction of the
+ships, keeping them ever in sight.&nbsp; Helter-skelter we ran
+along, crossing deep gullies, then along bare headlands covered
+only with gorse and large grey stones, then passing under a great
+mass of rock, like to some gaunt castle or fort (but alas,
+lacking cannon), then, at rare intervals, where a stream ran into
+the sea, we would dip suddenly into a smiling little valley
+filled <a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+52</span>with trees and bushes.&nbsp; But the stones and crags
+prevailed greatly over the softer scenes.&nbsp; I had now entered
+so fully into the spirit of this race that all thought of my
+studies passed away; the fear of the dominee was merged in the
+far greater fear of the French.&nbsp; And yet it was not wholly
+fear that possessed me, but a sort of tremor of excitement, and
+curiosity as to what might happen next.&nbsp; Noon passed, but
+none stopped for food&mdash;nor even (till we came to a village)
+for a Welshman&rsquo;s comfort in perplexity&mdash;a glass of
+cwrw da. <a name="citation52"></a><a href="#footnote52"
+class="citation">[52]</a></p>
+<p>At two o&rsquo;clock, for no apparent reason, the Frenchmen
+came to anchor.&nbsp; This was opposite to a rocky headland
+called Carn Gwastad, which forms a portion of Fishguard Bay, some
+distance to the west of the town of that name, and, by reason of
+an intervening headland, quite invisible from it, and <a
+name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>in truth from
+most other places.&nbsp; We had now come from St. David&rsquo;s
+Head, a distance of full ten miles, and I, for one, was glad to
+sit down on a gorse-bush and meditate a little as to what all
+these things might mean and where they were like to end, which I
+hardly dared to hope might somehow take the form of a bit of
+dinner for myself.&nbsp; To stay hunger I composed my mind for a
+nap while I reflected dreamily that my elders were taking more
+definite steps for the defence of their country; and the
+knowledge of this was gratifying to me.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p54.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Carregwastad"
+title=
+"Carregwastad"
+src="images/p54.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<h3><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+54</span>CHAPTER II.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE LANDING.</span></h3>
+<p>Besides Mr. Williams&rsquo; John, who had been despatched at
+full speed to St. David&rsquo;s to rouse the inhabitants, another
+man was sent to give the news to the Lord-Lieutenant of the
+county, while others wended their way to various points on the
+range of mountains which divides Pembrokeshire into two parts;
+the result of their mission being apparent when night fell and
+beacons flared along the line of heights from Vrenny Vawr to Carn
+Englyn&mdash;the mountain of the angels, so named from the
+angel-visits received by a pious hermit who dwelt <a
+name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>thereon, and
+who probably lacked more ordinary society.</p>
+<p>Many other messengers were sent in various directions, but
+though in this way persons at a distance were warned of danger,
+many of those who dwelt close by were as yet insensible of
+it.&nbsp; Chiefest of these was the owner of the old manor house,
+Trehowel, situated just above the bay where the ships were
+lying-to&mdash;of which house we shall hear more anon.&nbsp; Mr.
+Mortimer was of a generous and confiding disposition&mdash;and,
+as a bishop should be, he was in truth&mdash;much given to
+hospitality.&nbsp; He was, moreover, about to celebrate the
+marriage of his son, and he had made ample provision of cakes and
+ale, not to mention meats and spirits for this purpose.&nbsp; The
+wedding was to be on the following day (Thursday, the 23rd of
+February, to be exact); the new daughter-in-law was much <a
+name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>to his mind,
+and therefore heart and hand were even more lavish than usual,
+when, looking out seaward from amidst the bridal greenery, his
+spirit was stirred within him by the sight of the British
+flag.</p>
+<p>Nothing would serve this hospitable gentleman but that the
+English officers should partake of his good cheer; so his orders
+flew forth in every direction&mdash;compliments and invitations
+to the officers, and directions to the servants as to the setting
+forth of a sumptuous repast.</p>
+<p>In the meantime one of the great ships, heaving anchor, had
+quietly slipped round the corner&mdash;by which I would say,
+rounded the next headland, Pen Anglas, in an undemonstrative
+manner.&nbsp; Thus coming in sight of the men occupying the fort
+near Fishguard; these fired as in duty and fair observance
+bound&mdash;a salute to the flag that had braved a thousand
+years, and <a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+57</span>had never in all that considerable period of time been
+put to a viler use than the present, when&mdash;hey presto! down
+came the British colours with a run, and up flew the tricolour in
+its stead&mdash;the red, white, and blue colours of the Republic
+of the French.</p>
+<p>The astonishment of those men in the fort at this unexpected
+transformation-scene must have been akin to an electric shock
+such as may be produced on the unwary by the careless placing of
+a hand on a magnetic eel.&nbsp; They had been completely deceived
+by the mock flag, and were more unprepared for the change than
+those men who had already scrutinised the three frigates with
+very doubtful eyes as they made their way along the coast of
+Pembrokeshire.</p>
+<p>All disguise was now over; the enemy showed under their true
+colours at last, and <a name="page58"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 58</span>convinced even the most
+liberal-minded (including Mr. Mortimer) that they were not
+English.&nbsp; Though truly if they had desired to appear under
+their most appropriate colour they should have sailed under the
+black flag of piracy, for the men on board these frigates were
+little better than freebooters.&nbsp; Many of the older persons
+present were minded to take them for a new and enlarged edition
+of the <i>Black Prince</i>&mdash;a pirate ship which had eighteen
+years previously brought his broadside to bear on the town of
+Fishguard, and kept up an animated fire all day with his
+six-pounders.&nbsp; However, he caught a Tartar&mdash;the master
+of a smuggling craft, who returned the fire with such goodwill,
+aided by clever hands and a cannon at the edge of the cliffs,
+that the <i>Black Prince</i> sheered off.&nbsp; &ldquo;Set a
+thief to catch a thief;&rdquo; but it were ungrateful to think on
+that proverb.</p>
+<p><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>It was
+this circumstance which caused the fort at Fishguard to be
+erected, one of whose nine-pounders had just, in courtesy,
+saluted the frigate, who, not caring to face the other seven guns
+of the fort in anger, turned round speedily, and rejoined her
+companions at Carn Gwastad Point without loss of time.</p>
+<p>On her way she intercepted a sloop which had&mdash;perhaps out
+of curiosity, perhaps from some nobler motive&mdash;ventured too
+near; probably the master of the sloop had not expected this
+sudden rearward movement&mdash;anyway he found himself a
+prisoner, and his boat a prize.&nbsp; I had jumped up from my
+reclining position, and stood watching his fate with anxiety and
+awe, knowing him to be a friend (for I was a Fishguard boy, and
+intimate with all the varieties of seamen to be found there), but
+being, at that distance, unable to tell which friend.</p>
+<p><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>All the
+other boats in the bay stood out to sea with all speed, scudding
+away with white sails stretched, reminding even a matter-of-fact
+boy who abhorred poetry, similes, and all such inventions of
+schoolmasters, suggesting even to me the sudden, outspread, white
+wings of a flock of ducks frightened by the unwelcome appearance,
+from round the corner, of a fox.&nbsp; They got away safe, but
+the captive sloop was towed in triumph by the frigate back to
+Carn Gwastad, where she found her sister ships were already
+disgorging their freight of soldiers.</p>
+<p>The sun was setting as the first boats set down their load on
+British soil.&nbsp; There were not many spectators of this act
+(the only one of a like nature since 1066, as far as my
+knowledge&mdash;not very profound&mdash;of history went), the
+inhabitants of the district, when they perceived that the landing
+was <a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 61</span>to be
+on their own coast, having dispersed as quickly as a swarm of
+ants amongst whom a foreign body is introduced&mdash;each one
+making with the utmost speed for his own home in order to retreat
+with his valuables (including his family) further into the
+interior.&nbsp; I, however, was but young, and concluded that my
+family, who lived in Fishguard, could very well take care of
+themselves; while it was possible that my father, who was a
+somewhat stern parent, might not even accept the (to me) absolute
+necessity of keeping an eye on the French as a valid excuse for
+departing from my studies at St. David&rsquo;s without leave from
+my master.&nbsp; I had a certain amount of fear of the French, I
+do not deny it; but it was as yet in the abstract, and was a very
+different thing from the absolute fear I had of my father when I
+caught him (and he caught me) in a bad mood.&nbsp; Besides, <a
+name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>though I
+considered curiosity a childish and feminine quality, and as such
+infinitely beneath my dignity, still I must own I did feel a sort
+of craving desire to know what those people were going to do
+next.&nbsp; So, hidden in a gorse bush on a headland which
+commanded the creek, I watched the sun go down like a red ball
+into the sea, throwing a light as of blood on the muskets in the
+boats beneath me, making the dark figures that swarmed over the
+sides of the ships look darker and more grimy, lighting up the
+three-coloured flags that unfurled themselves to the night
+breeze.&nbsp; Then there came a long path of crimson right across
+the grey sea, which, dying out as the sun set, showed that this
+fair day was gone&mdash;a day too fair and sweet to be the
+setting for foul deeds.</p>
+<p>Suddenly there rose a shriek, or, rather, a succession of
+shrieks breaking through <a name="page63"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 63</span>the twilight quiet, and a young woman
+shot out like an arrow from the back door of Trehowel, darted
+past me without pausing to answer a question, and, shrieking all
+the time, fled away into the interior, clutching tightly in her
+hand a foaming jug of beer.&nbsp; I heard afterwards that she ran
+on for miles, still clutching that jug of beer, which she had
+been drawing for the (supposed) English officers; when at last
+her master had awakened to the fact that the French were actually
+at his doors.&nbsp; She ran thus for miles, not even stopping to
+drink the beer.</p>
+<p>She was shortly after followed by Mr. Mortimer himself, who
+came across the courtyard laughing in spite of the seriousness of
+the occasion, for he must needs smile at a joke.&nbsp; He spied
+me, for indeed I had jumped up to question Sally, and he came
+towards me.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The poor maid has had a scare,&rdquo; said <a
+name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>he, with a
+twinkle still in his eye.&nbsp; &ldquo;But, in truth, Dan, my
+boy, I suppose it is time to be off.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, there&rsquo;s a pity,&rdquo; said I; &ldquo;about
+Master Mortimer&rsquo;s wedding&mdash;and all the meats and
+drinks!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, yes, I never meant them for the
+parley-vous,&rdquo; said he, mounting his horse which one of his
+farm-boys had brought out; &ldquo;but I dare say they&rsquo;ll
+enjoy them all the same&mdash;they won&rsquo;t be
+wasted.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He turned in the saddle to give a last look at his old house,
+standing dark against a yellow-green twilight sky, pranked out
+with all the mockery of boughs and flowery arches.&nbsp; The
+trees in the courtyard had not yet put forth their leaves, but
+branches of myrtles and ever-blooming gorse and great bunches of
+primroses had made the place gay.&nbsp; Mr. Mortimer&rsquo;s face
+changed as he looked; he made no movement with <a
+name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>the reins; he
+was very loath to leave his home.&nbsp; In his mind&rsquo;s eye
+he was viewing the heap of smoking ruins he might see when next
+he came, and he seemed to be resolving to meet fate and the
+French on his own threshold, when a woman&rsquo;s quick step came
+out of the now-deserted house.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, master,&rdquo; she cried, running up to us,
+&ldquo;ar&rsquo;n&rsquo;t you off yet!&nbsp; Quick, there
+isn&rsquo;t a minute; they are coming up the hill.&nbsp; For the
+young master&rsquo;s sake,&rdquo; she whispered.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Remember, you have got the money and the papers.&nbsp;
+Quick!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He nodded, then shaking his rein, rode off without a word.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And what are you going to do, Nancy?&rdquo; said
+I.&nbsp; &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it time for you to be off
+too?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, no odds about me.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll slip off
+somehow, but I must get the silver spoons first.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>Then
+she turned from me, and her voice broke suddenly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wherever is Davy&mdash;oh, wherever is he?&rdquo; she
+sobbed.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Cheer up, Nancy, my maid,&rdquo; said I, being well
+acquainted with her, and only ten years younger&mdash;an
+inequality made up for by my superior station and parts.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Wherever Davy is he&rsquo;s in mischief&mdash;that you may
+take your davy of; but he always comes out of it
+somehow.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I hope the reader will pardon this expression, but I was not
+at this time even a curate&mdash;being but fifteen&mdash;and the
+chance of my ever attaining that station seemed but remote.</p>
+<p>At this moment the clang of arms and the sound of high-pitched
+voices broke on our ears.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have those spoons if I die for it!&rdquo;
+exclaimed Ann, who was not much given <a name="page67"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 67</span>to the melting mood.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Run, Dan, make for Fishguard as fast as you
+can.&rdquo;&nbsp; And without another word or a sign of personal
+fear, Ann George disappeared into the house.</p>
+<p>I will not deny now, after the lapse of so many years, that my
+heart at this moment beat unpleasantly fast.&nbsp; I had already
+watched the landing of some of the French troops, but from a
+considerable distance, and there had been something unreal about
+the scene, something like to play-acting, or a dream; but now
+that I actually heard their voices, the effect was very
+different.&nbsp; They were really here, close by; there was no
+mistake about it.&nbsp; I had an almost overwhelming desire to
+take to my heels and run for it, but in spite of a very real
+fear, two feelings restrained me&mdash;one was a hesitation on
+account of Nancy, whom it seemed mean to desert; <a
+name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>the other was
+that curiosity to which I have already alluded, and which
+powerfully possesses most of the inhabitants of these regions,
+but more especially the females.&nbsp; The twilight was rapidly
+sinking into darkness as I crouched lower among the bushes and
+peered out with eyes which doubtless resembled those of a
+frightened bird.&nbsp; Never hare in its form felt more of a
+flutter at the heart than I experienced as those screeching, and
+yet savage, voices drew nearer and nearer.&nbsp; I did not
+understand French, but if I had I trust I should not have
+understood the nature of the expressions those men were
+using.&nbsp; It must be remembered that at that time we were
+accustomed to think of a Frenchman as of a two-legged
+tiger&mdash;which we spelt with a y&mdash;and then perhaps the
+horror that thrilled me may be understood.&nbsp; Suddenly the
+vague terror was turned into reality, as between me and the <a
+name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>dusky sky
+loomed forth a wild figure, then another and another, then a
+confused crowd.</p>
+<p>I could stand no more.&nbsp; With one bound I passed from
+behind my bushes in through the back door of the house&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nancy, hang those spoons!&rdquo; I spoke in Welsh, and
+I fear my expression was still more forcible.&nbsp; &ldquo;Come
+this minute, I&rsquo;ll wait no longer.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, who asked you to wait?&rdquo; said Ann George,
+ungratefully.&nbsp; &ldquo;I thought you&rsquo;d be half-way to
+Goodwick ere this.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>At this moment her speech was interrupted by a sound as of
+thunder at the front door, while the parlour window came flying
+into the room before the butt-ends of French muskets.&nbsp; Even
+Ann George thought it now high time to take her leave.</p>
+<p>So we departed as quickly and as silently as possible through
+the back door, while the front door was being shivered to atoms,
+and <a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>the
+enemy was pouring into the house over its remains.&nbsp; Quickly,
+indeed, we went now and the falling night favoured us; the
+enemy&rsquo;s own noise too rendered the slight addition of our
+footfalls totally unobservable.&nbsp; All the space between
+Trehowel and the cliffs swarmed with Frenchmen, and the uproar
+was bewildering.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll make short work with your master&rsquo;s
+ale, Nan,&rdquo; I gasped, as we ran along under the cover of the
+earthen banks topped with gorse.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, and of the wine and the spirits, and of all the
+poor young master&rsquo;s wedding feast.&nbsp; Oh, indeed, I wish
+I had known they were coming when I was baking those pies and
+brewing that ale!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I did not waste my breath by inquiring the reason of this
+aspiration, for the hill was rather heavy on my lungs, and her
+meaning was obvious.&nbsp; In a very short time we <a
+name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>had reached
+Brestgarn, the abode of a worthy divine, the Rev. David Bowen,
+whom we found about to depart hurriedly, he having been no
+quicker to hear the alarming tidings than his neighbour at
+Trehowel; but, having heard it, he and his family were off for
+the interior as fast as horses and fright could take them.&nbsp;
+Only one of his servants, a man named Llewelyn, volunteered to
+stay behind, to keep, as far as in him lay, an eye upon his
+master&rsquo;s place and goods.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let us go to the top of Carnunda,&rdquo; suggested this
+man.&nbsp; &ldquo;We can see everything from there.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Carnunda is a rock situated just above most things in this
+region; more especially just under it lies the tiny village and
+church of Llanunda&mdash;Unda being manifestly a saint, though I
+cannot truthfully say I ever heard anything about him&mdash;or
+her.</p>
+<p><a name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>We got
+up to the top of this carn then, and there snugly ensconced
+between huge boulders of stone&mdash;the place is large enough to
+hold six or seven hundred men, well protected by natural
+rock-work&mdash;we gazed on the scenes all around us.</p>
+<p>First at the creek beneath us.&nbsp; It was now pitch
+dark&mdash;for the night was as black as the day had been
+bright&mdash;but the three tall ships of war were lighted up with
+cressets of fire; the lugger was there and the captured sloop,
+and the sea around them was alive with boats, still conveying
+troops to the land.&nbsp; The torches that they carried were
+reflected on the waves, elsewhere inky black&mdash;but here
+bearing long broken lines of light.&nbsp; Dark figures swarmed at
+the landing place, if so one could call, what was merely some
+flat slabs of rock; and all up the cliffs we saw ant-like beings
+crawling, and even (by the aid of a little imagination) <a
+name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>we could
+fancy we heard their strong exclamations at the steepness of the
+path&mdash;made even steeper to them by the nature of their
+occupation, for they were rolling casks (evidently heavy) of
+gunpowder from where the boats landed them up to the top of the
+cliff.&nbsp; Some of these dark figures carried torches which
+shed a fierce glow for a small space through the black
+night.&nbsp; As we looked, one of the casks which had been by
+much effort shoved up to well-nigh the top of the cliffs,
+suddenly slipped from the Frenchmen&rsquo;s hands and rolled
+rapidly down the declivity&mdash;the roll speedily becoming a
+succession of jumps and plunges, till with a wild leap the cask
+fled over a final precipice and disappeared in the sea.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank the Lord for that,&rdquo; said Llewelyn.</p>
+<p>Nancy and I laughed aloud.&nbsp; It is impossible to give any
+idea of the exultation that we felt.</p>
+<p><a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+74</span>&ldquo;What words they are using over that!&rdquo; said
+Nancy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t I wish we were near enough to hear
+them!&rdquo; said I, totally unmindful of my future
+profession.</p>
+<p>But shortly after we had even greater cause of
+rejoicing.&nbsp; The enemy (as we had already learnt to call
+them) were disembarking their cannon, and lowering these
+unwieldly articles of war into a long boat, but zeal outstripping
+discretion, they so over-weighted the boat, that lurching forward
+heavily she upset, and the whole of her cumbrous cargo was
+shortly at the bottom of the sea.&nbsp; It was a satisfaction
+even to think of it.&nbsp; Aye, and we may think of it still, for
+to this very day those foreign cannon are rolling about and
+rusting in the unquiet waters of Carrig Gwastad creek&mdash;a
+proof, should one ever be needed, of the truth of this strange
+story.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank the Lord again,&rdquo; said Llewelyn.</p>
+<h3><a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+75</span>CHAPTER III.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE FATE OF THE CLOCK.</span></h3>
+<p>Great bonfires now lit up the side of the hill beneath
+Trehowel&mdash;in the place still called the French
+camp&mdash;and scores of dark figures rushed about with torches
+flaring wildly in their hands; the whole scene reminding one
+forcibly of Pandemonium, that is, if one is capable of being
+reminded of a place one has never seen and that one has no desire
+to see.</p>
+<p>Even the thought of it at the moment was unpleasant to me as
+bringing my neglected studies to my mind, so I hastily turned my
+attention once more to the French.</p>
+<p><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>The
+boats and the sailors had now returned to their ships, having
+landed the invading hordes (which was the term we usually applied
+to the Gallic soldiers), who now seemed more bent on cooking than
+on conquering, on supping than on surprising.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p75.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Cottage at Castell"
+title=
+"Cottage at Castell"
+src="images/p75.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>We watched the erection of beams and bars over the huge fires;
+and the slinging on to the bars of great pots and pans of all
+sorts&mdash;mostly intimate friends of poor Nancy who watched all
+these proceedings with many a groan and warm ejaculation as she
+thought of all her wasted scrubbings in the back kitchen of
+Trehowel.&nbsp; The precise number of the men who landed that
+night on a bit (though remote) of Great Britain was fourteen
+hundred; of whom six hundred were regular troops, and eight
+hundred were convicts of the basest sort, described, indeed, in
+the pamphlets of the time as the sweepings of the gaols.&nbsp;
+Besides these, there were two <a name="page77"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 77</span>women; and had the fourteen hundred
+been animated by the spirit which possessed these two of the
+weaker sex, the result might have been much more unpleasant to
+the Principality than it actually was.</p>
+<p>The Welsh woman beside me was not by any means deficient in
+spirit either, it even sometimes took the form of temper, yet to
+my astonishment I heard the sound of sobs which could only
+proceed from her, as Llewelyn was hardly likely to relieve his
+feelings in this way.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Master Dan, wherever is Davy?&rdquo; she again
+asked.&nbsp; She called me &ldquo;master&rdquo; when she
+remembered what I was going to be, otherwise my father being only
+a small tradesman in Fishguard, I was more frequently called
+Dan.&nbsp; I do not think I have given any description of Ann
+George, boys do not, as a rule, think much of personal
+appearance; nor did I.&nbsp; My idea of Nancy <a
+name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>had been
+chiefly connected with the peppermints she had been in the habit
+of giving me as a child; I thought her a person of a free and
+generous disposition.&nbsp; She was a tall, fine young woman of
+five and twenty, with dark hair and eyes (these last being dark
+grey not brown), decided but pretty eyebrows, a well-shaped nose,
+and rather large mouth which disclosed when she laughed or talked
+(which was frequently) handsome white teeth.&nbsp; In short, she
+was the type of a good-looking Welsh woman.&nbsp; She had also a
+healthy colour, a warm heart, and a splendid appetite.&nbsp; It
+was not very surprising that she had (or had had) two
+admirers.</p>
+<p>I at once referred to this fact with a boy&rsquo;s utter want
+of delicacy in matters of sentiment.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What are you bothering about Davy for?&nbsp; I thought
+it was Jim you liked.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+79</span>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you ever say that fellow&rsquo;s name
+to me again, Dan&rsquo;el,&rdquo; said Nancy with animation, her
+tears dried up and her eyes sparkling.&nbsp; &ldquo;I hope never
+to hear of James Bowen again so long as I live.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I whistled.&nbsp; &ldquo;Was that because he got into trouble
+for horse-stealing?&nbsp; Why, as to that, Davy&rsquo;s none too
+particular.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear anwyl, Dan, talk of what you understand, or hold
+your tongue!&nbsp; What do I care for their customs and
+laws?&nbsp; &rsquo;Deed to goodness, nothing at all.&nbsp; As to
+James Bowen if it had been only that&mdash;but there, a child
+like you can&rsquo;t understand things.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t I!&rdquo; I shouted, thoroughly
+incensed&mdash;of course we spoke in Welsh, and used a good many
+more exclamations than I have set down here.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t I, indeed.&nbsp; I only know smuggling
+is&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t quarrel, children,&rdquo; said Llewelyn,
+who was of a quiet disposition.&nbsp; &ldquo;And don&rsquo;t <a
+name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>shout or
+you&rsquo;ll bring the French upon us.&nbsp; Silence holds it
+here. <a name="citation80"></a><a href="#footnote80"
+class="citation">[80]</a>&nbsp; Just look there!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He pointed towards the opposite direction to that in which we
+had been looking, and where the French were still clambering
+about the cliffs dragging up the last of their barrels of
+ammunition and brandy.&nbsp; He pointed towards the steep road
+which leads from Goodwick to Fishguard.&nbsp; This road was
+thronged with people, horses, carts, furniture, cattle all mixed
+together, and all (the animate ones at least) making their way
+with such speed as their legs and the hill permitted away from
+the immediate neighbourhood of the invaders.&nbsp; The lights
+which some of them carried, and the glare from some gorse which
+had been set on fire, lit up the straggling, toiling
+multitude.</p>
+<p>Further off the semi-circle of hills blazed with warning
+beacons.&nbsp; It was a sight <a name="page81"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 81</span>never to be forgotten; a sight that
+had not been seen in this island for centuries.&nbsp; From our
+high nest in the rocks we had but to turn our heads to see
+all.&nbsp; In front of us to the north stretched the sea; a
+little to the north-west was the creek where the French had
+landed, where we could dimly discern the tall masts of the
+war-ships lighted up fitfully by cressets of fire.&nbsp; At the
+top of the cliff was Trehowel, and close by was the French camp
+surmounted by the tricolor flag.&nbsp; A little nearer us was
+Brestgarn, where Llewelyn lived, and just at our feet was the
+village and church of Llanunda.&nbsp; Goodwick lay to the east of
+us; there was a steep hill down to it, a magnificent flat of
+sands, with sea on one side and marsh on the other, and then a
+steep hill up from it leading ere long to Fishguard.&nbsp; The
+sea came round the corner from the north in order to form that
+deep and beautiful <a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+82</span>Goodwick Bay, where trees and rocks, gardens and wild
+waves, luxuriant vegetation and marshy barrenness are so
+strangely mixed.&nbsp; Behind all, to the south and southeast
+came the mountains; and towards the fastnesses therein most of
+these fugitives were wending their way.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Deuks!&rdquo; said Llewelyn, &ldquo;they are coming out
+to see what they can get, the scoundrels; I must run back to
+Brestgarn.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let me come,&rdquo; said I, on the impulse of the
+moment&mdash;though my knees shook as I saw small dark clumps of
+men leaving the main mass and coming towards us; but Llewelyn
+inspired confidence, and curiosity has a courage of its own; then
+I suddenly bethought me of Ann George.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But what will you do, Nancy?&rdquo; I asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I will go to my Aunt Jemima, I&rsquo;ll be safe enough
+with her; don&rsquo;t trouble about <a name="page83"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 83</span>me, my dear,&rdquo; said Nancy, our
+short-lived quarrel being happily over.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is in Fishguard, you can&rsquo;t go there alone,
+wait a bit for me,&rdquo; said I, with youthful assurance.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can hide you at Brestgarn if you want to come, but
+better go on to Fishguard,&rdquo; said Llewelyn.</p>
+<p>By this time, however, we were almost at the farm, for we had
+run down the steep side of Carnunda without any delay.</p>
+<p>As we drew near to the house we found from the uproar therein
+that it was already full of Frenchmen.&nbsp; Very cautiously we
+approached a window and peeped in.&nbsp; We saw a strange
+sight.&nbsp; The kitchen was filled with ragged ruffianly
+fellows, all gesticulating with all their limbs, and screeching
+with all their lungs.&nbsp; Of course we did not understand a
+word they said, which, perhaps, was no loss under the
+circumstances.&nbsp; They were dressed <a name="page84"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 84</span>in all sorts of uniforms&mdash;some
+of them in a dusky red (our soldiers&rsquo; coats dyed, as I
+afterwards heard), others wore the regular dark blue of the
+French army.&nbsp; An enormous fire blazed on the hearth, on
+which they had placed a large brass pan, geese and fowls only
+half-feathered had been hastily thrown into it, and now they were
+literally cramming it with butter, which they dug out of a cask
+they had dragged in from the dairy.&nbsp; Suddenly a shout arose,
+apparently from the ground beneath us.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Deuks!&rdquo; said Llewelyn, again.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve found the port.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Llewelyn did not allude to any of the harbours in the
+neighbourhood, but rather, it may be, to the lack of one, which
+had perhaps occasioned the wrecking of a vessel from Oporto laden
+with the wine of the district.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No odds, don&rsquo;t fret for the wine,&rdquo; <a
+name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>whispered
+Nancy.&nbsp; &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get plenty again.&nbsp; I only
+hope there&rsquo;s a good store of brandy in the houses,
+too.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>We got our brandy in a different way, but also inexpensively,
+and there was at times a considerable stock of it, and tobacco,
+too, in the farmhouse cellars.</p>
+<p>Llewelyn, however, was much perturbed: he had volunteered to
+stay to look after the household goods, and he didn&rsquo;t seem
+to be able to do much.&nbsp; The delight of the Frenchmen at such
+an unexpected treasure-trove was indeed exasperating.&nbsp; Down
+flowed the generous liquid through throats the outsides of which
+were much in want of shaving, elbows were raised, and voices also
+in the intervals of quaffing.&nbsp; Suddenly one man paused in
+his potations, the brass face of the old clock that stood in the
+corner had caught his eye, and the loud ticking of it had caught
+his ear.&nbsp; Screeching something that sounded <a
+name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>like
+&ldquo;enemy,&rdquo; he levelled his musket and fired straight at
+the clock.&nbsp; The bullet went through the wood-work with a
+loud sound of splitting.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Brenhin mawr!&rdquo; yelled Llewelyn, forgetting all
+caution in his exasperation.&nbsp; &ldquo;The scoundrels have
+shot our eight day clock!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Unfortunately his remark was overheard; and indeed his yell
+shot into the midst of those rioting ruffians like a pebble into
+a wasp&rsquo;s nest.&nbsp; Out they flew, evidently infuriated;
+but we waited for no explanations, taking to our heels on the
+instant, with the promptitude of extreme fear.&nbsp; Nan and I
+were light of heel, and favoured by the darkness&mdash;yet more
+black to those who came from that blaze of light&mdash;we got
+clear away; but turning ere long to look, we perceived that
+Llewelyn had not been so fortunate, he was older and a good deal
+heavier than we <a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+87</span>were; and then his righteous anger had rendered him
+rather breathless before he began to run.&nbsp; He was now
+surrounded by a crowd of foreigners, all jabbering and
+gesticulating as hard as possible.&nbsp; Our hearts were sore at
+having to leave our companion in this plight, but there was no
+help for it, to attempt a rescue would have been, under the
+circumstances, worse than folly.&nbsp; So we ran along across
+country, avoiding all roads, and making straight for
+Goodwick.</p>
+<h3><a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+88</span>CHAPTER IV.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE PRIEST&rsquo;S PEEP-HOLE.</span></h3>
+<p>As Nancy and I puffed and panted in as noiseless a manner as
+possible up the steep hill from Brestgarn, we saw, or, more
+strictly speaking, we heard all around us, foraging parties of
+the enemy, who were making off with everything they could lay
+their hands upon.&nbsp; The screeching of poultry, the quacking
+of ducks, the cackling of geese, the grunting and squealing of
+pigs (I might go on as long as some foreign Delectus, but that I
+fear to weary the reader) together with the oaths and laughter of
+the Frenchmen, formed a medley of sound that might <a
+name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 89</span>have been
+pleasing to the ears of a musician composing a symphony on rural
+sounds, but that to a more ordinary listener formed a hubbub of
+noise that was bewildering and extremely distasteful; while poor
+Nancy&rsquo;s vexation at the fate of the dwellers in the
+farm-yard equalled her indignation at the use made of her
+well-scrubbed pans.</p>
+<p>Not a single inhabitant of this district seemed to be left,
+every cottage was deserted; all had fled for the present, in
+order to turn again with greater force and rend the
+intruder&mdash;as one may draw back for a space so as to gain the
+necessary impetus for a spring.</p>
+<p>We had reached the village of Llanunda, when we heard a
+considerable body of the enemy marching along the road near us,
+on their way to take possession of our rocky nest on the top of
+Carnunda.&nbsp; This very strong position formed the
+enemy&rsquo;s outpost, <a name="page90"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 90</span>and it ought to have been a matter of
+no small difficulty to oust them therefrom, had they but planted
+themselves firmly in it.</p>
+<p>To our great dismay we now heard voices approaching us from
+the other side; these proved to be some of the foraging parties
+making themselves acquainted with the larders and cellars of all
+the neighbouring houses.&nbsp; We crouched down lower among the
+gorse bushes, and I at least knew precisely the sensations
+experienced by a hunted and hiding hare.&nbsp; When this danger,
+too, was happily overpast, at all events for the moment, Nancy
+whispered to me&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dan, they are a deal too near us here, and
+there&rsquo;s more coming.&nbsp; I know a better hiding-place
+than this.&nbsp; Let&rsquo;s make for the church.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I assented willingly; and we made as fast as we could for the
+church.&nbsp; It was a small but ancient building, full of queer
+holes and <a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+91</span>corners, with the which Nancy was better acquainted than
+I was, it being her parish church.&nbsp; The door was happily
+unfastened, but no Frenchmen had as yet invaded the sacred
+building, for we took the precaution of looking through the
+&ldquo;leper&rsquo;s hole&rdquo; as soon as we had entered the
+porch.&nbsp; The leper&rsquo;s hole is a little square window,
+the sides of which are so sloped as to command a view of the
+interior of the church, more especially of the chancel; so that
+in the old times even these miserable wretches&mdash;set apart in
+the porch&mdash;might still behold the high altar.</p>
+<p>We then looked with eagerness through this orifice, and
+perceived gladly that the building was dark and empty.&nbsp; So
+pushing open the door, we entered our sanctuary as though it had
+been a veritable city of refuge.&nbsp; Our first care was to
+secure the door as well as we could on the inside; then Nancy sat
+<a name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>down in
+order to fetch her breath, while I reviewed the place and the
+situation.&nbsp; Neither were to my mind when I came to think of
+it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What have you come here for, Nan?&rdquo; I
+inquired.&nbsp; &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like it&mdash;we&rsquo;ll be
+caught here like rats in a trap.&nbsp; We can&rsquo;t hide in the
+pulpit.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d rather a gorse-bush in the open,
+now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wait a bit, Dan, till I fetch my breath&mdash;and
+don&rsquo;t talk; they may hear you,&rdquo; said Nancy, not
+considering that she was talking herself.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh do make haste with your breath,&rdquo; said I,
+&ldquo;and tell me where it is.&rdquo;&nbsp; I was full of
+curiosity to know where her hiding-place could be: the church was
+pitch dark, a few minutes of silence there seemed an age.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not in a vault, is it?&rdquo; I continued.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A vault&mdash;bless the boy&mdash;no!&nbsp; I&rsquo;m
+not going into a vault before I can help it.&nbsp; Well, if you
+won&rsquo;t be quiet, I suppose I&rsquo;d better <a
+name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>show you the
+place.&nbsp; It is at the other side of the church.&nbsp; Come
+across quietly, now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>We did go across as quietly as we could, considering the pitch
+darkness of the place, all blocked up with high pews according to
+the fashion of the time.&nbsp; In my after-career I had often
+occasion to reprove the occupiers of like boxes, who, trusting to
+their wooden walls to screen them, slumbered happily within a few
+yards of me, utterly forgetful of the treachery of their own
+noses.</p>
+<p>After having injured her shins several times over unexpected
+obstacles, Nancy sighed forth, &ldquo;Oh for a light!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh for something to eat!&rdquo; I responded.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a flint and steel in my pocket; but I
+can&rsquo;t eat that.&nbsp; You can have it if you
+like.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I daren&rsquo;t strike a light,&rdquo; said Nancy;
+&ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve got a bit of cheese in my pocket along with
+the silver spoons.&nbsp; Here, stretch out your hand.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+94</span>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you want it?&rdquo;&nbsp; I felt
+impelled by manners to say this, though I felt wolfish.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not I.&nbsp; I had my dinner as usual.&nbsp; I put it
+in my pocket in case of meeting&mdash;a friend.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do your&mdash;friends like cheese?&rdquo; I asked with
+my mouth full.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You seem to, any way,&rdquo; retorted Nancy.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;I hear them coming.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I bolted the cheese in a panic.&nbsp; I felt much more afraid
+of the French since I had seen them so near in Brestgarn kitchen,
+and since they had nabbed Llewelyn.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the hole&mdash;you go first.&nbsp;
+I&rsquo;ll close it up after us with a pew door.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nancy dexterously lifted one off its hinges, while I, mounted
+on the back of a pew, groped my way into a pitch dark cavity in
+the wall, the entrance to which was situated at the height of
+some three or four feet above the floor-level.</p>
+<p><a name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+95</span>&ldquo;Take care, there are steps,&rdquo; said Nan, just
+as I had discovered the fact by the aid of my shin-bone.&nbsp;
+She was still wrestling with the pew door, and I smothered my
+agony chiefly, I must own, from fear of the French.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Get on a bit higher up, Dan,&rdquo; whispered Ann, as
+she followed me, dragging the door after her as quietly as she
+could.&nbsp; Nancy was certainly a wonderful woman, with a head
+on her shoulders.</p>
+<p>At this moment I felt that it was so, for I was propelled
+somewhat violently upward by the member in question.&nbsp; I can
+also add my testimony that she was a hard-headed woman.&nbsp; She
+was also perhaps a little hard-hearted, for in answer to my
+remonstrance, &ldquo;Hold hard, Nancy, that hurts!&rdquo; she
+merely said,</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, do get on, Dan; I expect them here every
+minute.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I did get on, and found after mounting <a
+name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 96</span>half-a-dozen
+steps of a twirling stair, that my head was opposite an opening
+just at the place where the roof of the church sprung; one of the
+oaken beams was, in fact, a little scooped out to make room for
+this slit, which being under the heavy shadow of the woodwork was
+almost completely screened from the glances of those below; while
+to the person placed behind this coign of &rsquo;vantage the
+whole of the interior of the church was visible&mdash;chancel as
+well as nave.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What a queer place&mdash;what&rsquo;s it for,
+Nancy?&rdquo; I asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is called the Priest&rsquo;s Peep-hole; I suppose
+in old times he got a friend to go up there and keep an eye on
+the congregation&mdash;see who went to sleep, and what they were
+at altogether,&rdquo; explained Nan; but at this moment her
+eloquence came to a sudden end.&nbsp; Our voices and our hearts
+died within us, for there came to our ears the dreaded <a
+name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 97</span>but expected
+sound&mdash;the clamorous jabber of many tongues.</p>
+<p>The sounds came from the churchyard, but I doubt if even a
+company of good Welsh ghosts would have frightened us as much as
+these earthly foreigners.&nbsp; Very, very earthly and
+carnal-minded did they seem to us at this moment.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They won&rsquo;t come into a church&mdash;they
+won&rsquo;t rob a church!&rdquo; I whispered to Ann, leaning my
+head down close to her&rsquo;s&mdash;a difficult feat, but I was
+as thin as a lath then.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t they?&rdquo; said Ann, scornfully.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;You wait a minute&mdash;Hst!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nan&rsquo;s appreciation of character and computation of time
+proved equally correct.&nbsp; She had fixed the pew-door by this
+time, and she held it firmly in its place by the handle, which
+she had taken care to put on the inward side when she lifted up
+the barrier across the entrance to the stair.</p>
+<p><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+98</span>&ldquo;I hope they won&rsquo;t fire through that like
+they did through the clock at Brestgarn, on the chance of finding
+some one behind it,&rdquo; I whispered to my companion as this
+comfortable idea flashed through my mind, even the terror of the
+French failing to curb my natural love of suggesting a
+terror.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hst!&rdquo; retorted Nan; &ldquo;hold your tongue,
+can&rsquo;t you, and keep your head down; don&rsquo;t let them
+see you peeping, Dan!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nancy&rsquo;s caution to me came not a moment too soon, for
+crash! a rush of men and muskets at the door, whose rickety bolts
+we had drawn when we entered, chiefly in the hope that they might
+not be tried.&nbsp; But if we drew them as a sort of charm, the
+spell was not strong enough, nor were the locks.</p>
+<p>C-r-a-ck&mdash;<i>crack</i>! the feeble bolts gave a groan,
+and open flew the door with a sharp, splitting sound.&nbsp; In
+rushed ten or a dozen Frenchmen, tumbling over one another in <a
+name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>their
+haste.&nbsp; The church was lighted up with a sudden blaze from
+their torches; this was all I saw, for on the entrance of the
+enemy I had ducked my head speedily.&nbsp; Ann could see still
+less, as she was crouched on the bottom step, and was keeping the
+door in its place with her knees.</p>
+<p>The noise in the church was terrific, but yet to my ears the
+beating of my heart was still louder.&nbsp; The more I tried to
+silence it, the more it ticked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps they&rsquo;ll think it&rsquo;s a clock,&rdquo;
+I reflected.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, dear! oh, dear!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yet after a while, as I grew more accustomed to the clamour, I
+became possessed by a desire to know what these men were
+doing.&nbsp; Very cautiously I raised my head.&nbsp; I feared my
+hair must be standing on end, which would make it more
+perceptible by an inch or two.&nbsp; Instinct had made me take
+off <a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 100</span>my
+hat as we entered the building; in crossing the dark aisle I had
+dropped it, and I hoped sincerely no one would find it, as it
+might lead to unpleasant investigations.&nbsp; Planted finally on
+my hands and knees, I raised myself till my eyes were on a level
+with the lowest part of the priest&rsquo;s peep-hole, and then,
+even veiling my eyes with half-closed lids as a precaution, I
+glanced furtively forth at the foreign marauders beneath
+me.&nbsp; They had not gone through the ceremony of removing
+their hats, and their object in entering the sacred edifice was
+evidently simply the hope of plunder.&nbsp; With the butt ends of
+their muskets they knocked and thrust at everything, as if to
+ascertain of what it was made, and whether anything of value
+might not be concealed within it.&nbsp; One half-drunken fellow
+came and gave a mighty bang to the cushion belonging to the
+pulpit, which he snatched from its proper position <a
+name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 101</span>and dashed
+against the wall, immediately under my spy-hole.&nbsp; I imagine
+that the worthy incumbent must have been less given to pulpit
+thumping than most of his fellows, for out flew a cloud of dust,
+reaching even to my nostrils.&nbsp; A smothered sneeze was the
+result.&nbsp; Instantly I felt myself violently pulled by the leg
+from below; indeed, so provoked was Nancy that she could not
+resist giving me a shake, though I am sure the candid reader will
+allow I was not to blame in the matter.</p>
+<p>Unluckily the Frenchman had heard the sneeze, and some
+animated conversation went on between him and his companions,
+who, however, seemed inclined to ridicule his assertions.&nbsp;
+Judging from the tone of their remarks (for Nancy held too tight
+a grip of me to allow of my seeing anything), I should say that
+their language to each other was not so polite as one might have
+expected <a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+102</span>from men of their nation.&nbsp; However, my particular
+enemy did not seem inclined to allow himself to be set down after
+this fashion; for, dropping his cushion, he proceeded to make an
+investigation with his clubbed musket.&nbsp; Walls, pews, and
+benches, he thumped them all indiscriminately, giving a sounding
+whack to the door which closed our retreat.&nbsp; But
+Nancy&rsquo;s knees did not flinch, though they must have
+received a most unpleasant jar.&nbsp; Luckily the entrance to the
+hidden stair was in a very dark and out-of-the way corner, and
+also at a very unusual height from the ground.&nbsp; Mercifully
+at this moment our tormentor&rsquo;s attention was distracted by
+a shout from his comrades, who had entered the little vestry, and
+had forced open the cupboard containing the sacramental
+vessels.&nbsp; These were very ancient, and were of silver, and
+the glee of the finders was easily understood even by those in
+our retired situation.</p>
+<p><a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+103</span>Others of the invaders broke open the chest containing
+the parish records, but, much disappointed by the nature of the
+contents, they tore forth the documents and tossed them on the
+floor of the church.&nbsp; Human nature was no longer to be
+restrained, neither by fear nor by Ann, so I once more popped my
+head up and beheld a strange sight.&nbsp; One of the men had
+thrown a torch in among the parchments and papers, a bright flame
+lighted up the dark interior of the church, and shone on the
+fierce faces of the men around the fire, two of whom were
+struggling for the possession of the communion cup.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Great Heaven, we shall be burnt like rats, Nan!&rdquo;
+I whispered to my companion, but she answered by her favourite
+expression, &ldquo;Hst!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>One soldier, I imagine by way of a joke, now threw the pulpit
+cushion on the flames, <a name="page104"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 104</span>whereupon such dense clouds of smoke
+arose as speedily cleared the church of the invaders, but alas,
+nearly stifled us, the lawful inhabitants.&nbsp; Luckily the
+floor of the church was of slate, and the fire was not very near
+any woodwork.</p>
+<p>Nancy insisted that we must bear our suffocation in silence
+and motionless, and though my eyes watered and my heart rebelled,
+not a cough nor a wheeze, nor even a word, did I suffer to escape
+me, but to my thoughts at least I gave free rein.&nbsp; After a
+while these too played the truant, wandering away from my enemies
+and dreamily fixing themselves on my master at St. David&rsquo;s,
+my school friends, my books, the moving waters that framed in
+every picture of my life, till, becoming more and more
+indistinct, I imagine that I must have fallen fast asleep, though
+this is a matter that none can speak of with any certainty till
+it comes to the <a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+105</span>sharp act of awakening, which act assures us, in the
+most matter-of-fact manner, that we have been asleep.</p>
+<p>In this way, by a sharp fact, indeed, no other than
+Nancy&rsquo;s elbow, I made the discovery that, in spite of my
+uncomfortable position, I must have fallen sound asleep, tired
+out by my long walk and many subsequent runs, and fatigued also
+by the number of new ideas forced on my mind by the action of the
+extraordinary events of the day and the many bewildering things I
+had seen and heard since breakfast time that morning.</p>
+<p>It seemed to me to have been but a few minutes from the time
+the French left us choking in the smoke till I felt that elbow of
+Nancy&rsquo;s, of which I took no notice.&nbsp; Indifferent to
+this silent scorn, she now pulled me vigorously by the leg.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wake up, Dan!&nbsp; Wake up, boy; we must <a
+name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>get away
+from here at once; we ought to have gone long ago, but I fell
+asleep, worse luck.&nbsp; Come now, at once, it&rsquo;s just
+daylight.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>We had, indeed, quite suddenly, as it seemed to me, reached
+the morning of Thursday.</p>
+<h2><a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+107</span>THURSDAY.<br />
+<i>THE SECOND DAY</i>.</h2>
+<h3><a name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+109</span>CHAPTER V.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">DAVY JONES&rsquo; LOCKER.</span></h3>
+<p>The fear of the French returning suddenly shook the drowsiness
+out of my eyes.&nbsp; I gave them a final rub, then stumbled down
+the crooked steps after Nancy.&nbsp; How she could have guessed
+that it was now near dawn&mdash;as in our corner it was still
+pitch-dark&mdash;was a mystery to me; but probably the habit of
+waking up daily at an extremely early hour, as was the wont of
+milk-maids in those days, had accustomed her to know the time to
+a nicety.</p>
+<p>We crept as quietly as we could down from our uncomfortable
+hiding-place, so stiff <a name="page110"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 110</span>and cramped that we could only move
+with difficulty, and every bone made its particular position
+known with great accuracy, even to us who were totally
+unacquainted with anatomy.&nbsp; Then we carefully reconnoitred
+our situation.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p109.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Ransacked Farmhouse"
+title=
+"Ransacked Farmhouse"
+src="images/p109.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>As far as we could see, looking through the church windows on
+every side, we gazed only into the dim dusk of early morning into
+a lifeless world.&nbsp; No little bird as yet sent up his morning
+song; there were no sheep or cattle to be seen, their lawful
+owners or the invaders having driven them off to securer quarters
+or to sudden death, as the case might be.&nbsp; The church
+itself, after the late uproar, seemed very silent now; the fire
+had quickly died down, smothered by the pillow; only the heavy
+smell of smoke remained to prove that the wild doings of the
+night had not been a terrifying dream.</p>
+<p>We crept along to the leper&rsquo;s hole, using <a
+name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 111</span>the other
+end of it now; for the unfortunate outcasts of former days had
+gazed through the tube into the church, while we unhappy
+fugitives looked warily from the interior into the porch, to see
+if haply some blue-coated soldier might have been left there on
+guard.&nbsp; But if this had been the case he had certainly
+declined to stay, which was not unlikely considering the lax
+discipline, or, rather, total want of discipline, which prevailed
+in the French force.&nbsp; At all events, the porch was
+empty.</p>
+<p>So after a little getting behind each other and a slight
+backwardness in going forward, owing more to uncertainty of light
+than natural timidity, at last we ventured out boldly into the
+porch, and took a good look, our necks stretched out over the
+churchyard and round the country.&nbsp; The former seemed silent
+and deserted, the tombstones looming darkly into dim twilight,
+which still lay heavy <a name="page112"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 112</span>on the land; nor could we even
+discern any sound of snoring.&nbsp; Carnunda was crowned with
+fires and thronged with soldiers, but it was not very near, and
+we thought we might slip away unnoticed.&nbsp; So, cautiously we
+closed the door behind us, and fared forth.&nbsp; The porch lay
+to the south of the church; we were stealing round the building
+to the north, or seaward side, as being further removed from
+Carnunda, when we were stopped by a sudden shout, proceeding
+apparently from the air above us.&nbsp; Our hearts stood still
+and our blood froze with terror&mdash;at least, I know mine did,
+and Nancy turned an ashy white in the grey dawn.&nbsp; In an
+instant we looked up to the place from which our enemy had spied
+us&mdash;the roof of the church, where he had been stationed as a
+sentinel.&nbsp; He sat astride on the ridge, which could be
+easily gained by means of a flight of steps, made on the outside
+of the roof, as <a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+113</span>a look-out place from which to signal to those at sea;
+but never designed for such a purpose as the present.&nbsp; The
+discipline had not been so lax as we hoped.&nbsp; For a moment we
+were stupefied, wishing only that one of the graves would open
+and take us in.&nbsp; Then we took to our heels.&nbsp; Down came
+the Frenchman clattering over the roof of the church, from the
+edge of which he dropped to the ground, only a distance of eight
+or nine feet; then he came full cry after us.&nbsp; His shouts
+had attracted the attention of a couple of his fellows, who were
+strolling along the cliffs in search of what they could devour,
+or, still better, drink.&nbsp; They joined the chase instantly,
+and all three came full tear after Nancy and myself, who had
+headed straight for the cliffs, as one of our own foxes would
+have done, though what we were to do when we gained them save
+plunge into the sea we knew not.&nbsp; However, we were not fated
+to <a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>gain
+them just at present, for one of the Frenchmen had outrun Nancy,
+whose limbs were still cramped, and who was weary from want of
+rest and sleep.&nbsp; I was stiff and tired too, but fear of the
+French made me fly, and would have done so I think had I been
+doubled up by rheumatism.&nbsp; However, though Nan was caught,
+and warned me of her disaster by a shrill scream, I am glad to
+say she preserved her usual Welsh spirit, as she plainly showed
+by fetching the Frenchman a sounding box on the ear.&nbsp; I
+hesitated what to do, divided between fear of the French and the
+desire of standing by my friend.&nbsp; I am glad to say I had
+advanced a few steps towards an attempt at rescue, when some dark
+body rushed past me in the dawning light, and ere I could even
+exclaim, the Frenchman lay flat on the ground.&nbsp; The other
+two, half drunk, and wholly stupefied, perceiving that things
+were going somewhat <a name="page115"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 115</span>crookedly, departed as quickly as
+they could, making for the camp at Carnunda.&nbsp; Our rescuer
+had a mind to follow them, but Ann laid a restraining hand upon
+his arm.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Dio bach,&rdquo; <a name="citation115"></a><a
+href="#footnote115" class="citation">[115]</a> she said, &ldquo;I
+am glad to see you this time, if I never was before.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And she really looked as if she could have kissed him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nancy, how came you here; why didn&rsquo;t you go away
+with the rest?&rdquo; asked Davy Jones, abruptly, his voice rough
+and angry.&nbsp; He had had too great a scare to be tender or
+even civil.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I had to stop and see to everything&mdash;and the
+silver spoons,&rdquo; said Nancy, quite meekly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hang the silver spoons,&rdquo; said Davy.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Now what&rsquo;s to be done with this
+carcase?&rdquo;&nbsp; And he pointed to the unconscious
+Frenchman.&nbsp; &ldquo;Get out of the way, Nancy, and I&rsquo;ll
+shove him over the cliff.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+116</span>&ldquo;No, no, don&rsquo;t waste time,&rdquo; exclaimed
+Nancy; &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll have the whole lot after us in a
+minute; they&rsquo;re as thick as ants on Carnunda.&nbsp; How can
+we get away?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Down the cliff as fast as you can.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve got
+a boat down below; if we can get to the caves we&rsquo;ll do; but
+I had some of them after me a little while ago, and I landed here
+to get rid of them, and to find out what had become of you, for
+Llewelyn of Brestgarn told me you were somewhere near.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Llewelyn is a prisoner; did you see him?&nbsp; Is he
+safe?&rdquo; asked Nancy, as we hurried along.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hush, quick and quiet; I&rsquo;ll tell you in the
+boat,&rdquo; whispered Davy.</p>
+<p>We plunged down through dry bracken, gorse bushes, and large
+boulders of stone, interspersed with steep pieces of cliff.&nbsp;
+We jumped, slid, and tumbled down, clutching hold of grasses and
+ferns to stay our speed, <a name="page117"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 117</span>and in a few moments we had reached
+the level of the sea.</p>
+<p>The boat had been so cunningly hidden&mdash;with the dexterity
+of constant practice&mdash;that Nan and I quite failed to
+discover it.&nbsp; Davy, however, had it out in a trice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Jump in, boy, and give a hand to Nancy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nancy did not require a hand, she jumped in very steadily, and
+took the rudder.&nbsp; Davy threw me one oar, took the other
+himself, and we were off, stealing noiselessly along under the
+great cliffs, where darkness still dwelt.&nbsp; But the sky over
+our heads grew lighter every moment, and we ruefully perceived
+that ere long it would be broad day.&nbsp; Yet it seemed safer to
+be on the water than on the land, where we could even now discern
+dim figures looking for us.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, what is that?&rdquo; in a horror-struck whisper
+from Ann.</p>
+<p><a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+118</span><i>That</i> was a dark blue object, very unpleasing to
+behold, sodden with water, and wedged in a crevice of the
+cliffs.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is one of them,&rdquo; said Davy, grimly,
+&ldquo;cleft to the chin by a scythe in a Welshman&rsquo;s
+hands.&nbsp; The ruffians had burnt his cottage, with his old
+mother in it; he caught this one, that&rsquo;s all.&nbsp; I wish
+I had served that fellow up there the same, Nancy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where have you been, Davy?&rdquo; I asked, to divert
+his remorseful thoughts, and unable to restrain my curiosity.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Among these blacks of parlez-vous.&nbsp; They nabbed me
+last night as neat as could be&mdash;we had a bit of a scrimmage
+though.&nbsp; I was coming back from a little bit of
+business.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Davy, you shouldn&rsquo;t!&rdquo; from Ann.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And I got in too near, never expecting ships here; who
+would?&nbsp; We were round the corner and on them almost, before
+we <a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>knew
+it; we made off then, but they saw us and gave chase.&nbsp; We
+made as fast as we could for a place I know, a good
+out-of-the-way cave&mdash;we&rsquo;ve got a few about here,
+Nan&mdash;and they came after us.&nbsp; They&rsquo;d some man who
+knew the coast among them, that I&rsquo;ll swear; any stranger
+must have found out the sharpness of our rocks; but not a bit of
+it.&nbsp; On they came quite comfortable, and close behind us
+they were as we got to the mouth of the cave.&nbsp; Levi Mathias
+stood up in the bow of the boat ready to jump ashore when one of
+the French marines shot him.&nbsp; I hope to have something to
+say before that&rsquo;s done with yet.&nbsp; Out tumbled our men
+anyhow, running through the surf and up the cliffs, into the
+darkness anywhere, for the Frenchmen carried torches as well as
+muskets.&nbsp; Well, they nabbed me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t like to leave Levi,&rdquo; said Nancy,
+softly.</p>
+<p><a name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+120</span>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like to leave the brandy,&rdquo;
+said Davy.&nbsp; &ldquo;They got it, though, and me, tight
+enough.&nbsp; It put them into a good temper, however, and they
+didn&rsquo;t shoot me through the head, like they did a farmer
+that they made help to roll up their casks of ammunition, when he
+tried to escape.&nbsp; They made me carry up one of my own kegs
+which went against the grain; then they took me to their
+chief.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Did you see the chief?&rdquo; I asked, eagerly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;&rsquo;Deed to goodness, yes&mdash;General
+Tate&mdash;no more a Frenchman than I am; Irish, I&rsquo;m
+thinking.&nbsp; He seemed very uneasy, and none of his men minded
+him.&nbsp; I had company&mdash;John Owen, of the sloop
+<i>Britannia</i>, laden with culm for Llanstinan&mdash;they
+didn&rsquo;t care for culm, and were cross to him, and a mortal
+fright he was in, but had sense enough left to tell them a lot of
+lies.&nbsp; <a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+121</span>Then I saw Llewelyn, and had a word on the sly with
+him; he told me you were hereabouts; I watched my chance, and an
+hour or two ago I slipped down over the cliffs, seized this boat,
+and made off; but they saw me from one of the ships, and gave
+chase, and&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>A cry interrupted him, succeeded by a loud splashing of
+oars.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And, hang them, there they are again.&nbsp; Why-ever
+couldn&rsquo;t you hold your tongue, Dan?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This was unjust, as Davy had done all the talking himself; but
+the present was no moment for arguing.&nbsp; We bent to the oars
+with a will and in silence, till my hands were blistered, my
+heart panting, and my back breaking, and still the enemy were
+gaining on us.</p>
+<p>Nancy leant forward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Change with me for a spell, Dan.&nbsp; I can
+row.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 122</span>On we
+went again, fast, faster, and still the other boat came on after
+us yet more rapidly&mdash;it was like a nightmare.&nbsp; We came
+in very close to the cliffs now, and Davy took both oars.&nbsp;
+In between two reefs of rocks we went&mdash;a deep channel, yet
+full of treacherous windings and turnings.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll do now,&rdquo; said Davy.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Please Providence, they may easily be smashed to atoms
+here.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And he looked gratefully at the sharp rocks.</p>
+<p>But I turned after a little, and beheld that phantom-like
+pursuer still following us closely through the windings of the
+passage.&nbsp; The reefs had now become high cliffs, and seemed
+to close us in on every side; but as we came round another corner
+we saw before us a low archway.&nbsp; Through this we shot, and
+we found ourselves as it were at the bottom of a tea-cup, with
+precipitous walls on every <a name="page123"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 123</span>side; just in front of us a little
+sandy beach.&nbsp; Davy pushed the boat towards a narrow slit in
+the rocks.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Jump in there, my girl,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be afraid; if you slip, I&rsquo;ll catch
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nancy jumped at once, I followed her, landing half in and half
+out of the water, but quickly drawing myself up to be out of
+Davy&rsquo;s way, who came with a mighty rush&mdash;at the same
+time spinning the boat to the other side of the creek&mdash;only
+just in time, the Frenchmen were in the archway.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Go on as far as you can,&rdquo; whispered Davy.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;If they see this slit, they can only come one at a time,
+and&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He didn&rsquo;t finish, but it wasn&rsquo;t necessary.&nbsp;
+Nan and I stumbled on in the interior, and found ourselves ere
+long in quite a large cave, where even in the dusky light we
+could discern objects extremely like kegs, also bales and
+packages of all sorts.&nbsp; Outside we heard <a
+name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>the cries
+and screams of the Frenchmen, baulked of their prey; for
+(probably fortunately for themselves) they did not discover the
+narrow and hidden entrance to our cave.&nbsp; We were soon joined
+by Davy, who remarked that if they had a guide with them, there
+were a few things he didn&rsquo;t know yet.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s plenty of food here&mdash;and
+spirits&mdash;if we want to stay,&rdquo; he continued; &ldquo;but
+perhaps we may as well get to the top and see what is going
+on.&rdquo;</p>
+<h3><a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+125</span>CHAPTER VI.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">WELSH WIVES.</span></h3>
+<p>We did prefer (as soon as we had got our breath again) knowing
+what was going on in our usual world overhead to remaining in
+ignoble security in Davy&rsquo;s locker, for so we named his
+cave.&nbsp; Accordingly we scrambled and crawled and pushed our
+way up the far-end of the cavern, till at last the aperture
+resembled a chimney lined with ferns instead of soot more than
+aught else.&nbsp; We emerged at last into the open air full of
+morning sunshine, and perceived that we were now quite beyond the
+enemy&rsquo;s lines and once more among our own people.</p>
+<p>The first thing to be done in this situation <a
+name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>was
+naturally&mdash;to talk; as good and true Celts we all agreed to
+that; and when we got into the high-road we found no dearth of
+people to talk to.&nbsp; They were gathering like ants from every
+quarter, and the one topic which each man liked to discourse on
+was simply this: how he was going to fight the French.&nbsp; The
+bonfires last night had aroused the country, and some of the men
+we met had come from distant parts of the county.</p>
+<p>Among other items of news they told us that the men of St.
+David&rsquo;s had rushed in a body to their cathedral, from the
+roof of which they had insisted on tearing off the lead; six
+blacksmiths had come forward, and had at once cast the said lead
+into bullets.&nbsp; Old and young, master and man, all had turned
+out.&nbsp; A dissenting minister was there (the Reverend Mr.
+Jones was his name), and after him marched all the men of <a
+name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 127</span>his
+congregation.&nbsp; The news had come as he was preaching to
+them, and the worthy man had at once changed rhetoric for
+action.&nbsp; &ldquo;Let us fight a good fight,&rdquo; said he,
+and proceeded to put his words to the proof and himself at the
+head of his men.</p>
+<p>A choleric major rode about the lanes near St. Dogmael&rsquo;s
+collecting recruits.&nbsp; He met a Mr. Jones (another one):
+&ldquo;Come along to fight the French,&rdquo; was Major
+James&rsquo; greeting.&nbsp; But Mr. Jones had business which
+called him elsewhere.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;By the Lord Harry,&rdquo; said the Major, drawing his
+sword, &ldquo;if you don&rsquo;t come this minute I&rsquo;ll
+slice your head off like a turnip.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The fear of the French was an unknown quantity, but the fear
+of the Major was very well known indeed, and Mr. Jones went.</p>
+<p>We mingled exultantly with the throng of our people, and
+presently our eyes were gladdened by the sight of a gallant body
+of <a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+128</span>men&mdash;all well equipped and well mounted&mdash;the
+Castle Martin Yeomanry.&nbsp; These were joined by the
+Cardiganshire Militia, the Fencible Infantry of Colonel Knox, and
+some seamen and artillery, the whole under the command of Lord
+Cawdor.</p>
+<p>We had got into Fishguard by this time, and we hung about the
+door of the &ldquo;Royal Oak,&rdquo; where a council of war was
+being held by our officers&mdash;namely, Lord Milford, Lord
+Cawdor, Colonel Knox, Colonel Colby, Colonel Ackland, Colonel Dan
+Vaughan, Major James, and the Governor of Fishguard Fort, Colonel
+George Vaughan.&nbsp; The troops formed in the turnpike road just
+outside the town, and here we three had to separate, for Davy
+wished to accompany the troops, Ann to join her Aunt Jemima, and
+I to get something to eat at my father&rsquo;s house, for I had
+only had hasty snatches hitherto, and I had a growing boy&rsquo;s
+appetite.&nbsp; My <a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+129</span>parent was so much astonished at the course of events
+that he was not even surprised to see me when I walked, as bold
+as brass, into his shop; and never even asked if I had taken
+French leave of my master.&nbsp; But before satisfying my natural
+filial affection I (together with Davy) escorted Nancy to the
+abode of her relative, who, however, was not at home.&nbsp; As we
+turned to go, Nancy having taken leave of Davy in an affectionate
+manner, because, as she said, he had appeared just in the nick of
+time, we espied that stalwart female, Jemima Nicholas, coming
+along the road from Goodwick surrounded by twelve Frenchmen, <a
+name="citation129"></a><a href="#footnote129"
+class="citation">[129]</a> whom she had had the courage and
+address to bring&mdash;probably allured by false
+promises&mdash;all the way from Llanunda; assisted by the
+military, she now conducted them into the guard-house at
+Fishguard.</p>
+<p><a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+130</span>Leaving Nancy under the efficient protection of her
+aunt with light hearts, Davy and I went our several ways; but ere
+long, after recounting my adventures and receiving a large amount
+of hero-worship from my mother, I once more found myself on the
+road leading to the scene of action.&nbsp; It seemed impossible
+to keep away.&nbsp; On the top of a high rock I saw a crowd of
+people in a state of great and evident excitement.&nbsp; I
+hastened to join them, and perceived at once the reason of their
+gesticulations.&nbsp; There were the three tall men-of-war and
+the lugger, with all sail set, standing out from the land, and
+apparently sailing away with all speed to the place from whence
+they came.&nbsp; We could hardly believe our eyes.&nbsp; We
+looked at Carnunda; there floated the French flag, and the rocks
+were dark with men.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Lord hath delivered them into our <a
+name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+131</span>hand,&rdquo; said the Reverend Mr. Jones, who stood
+near.</p>
+<p>This sight increased the confidence of our people amazingly,
+as much as (we afterwards heard) it struck dismay into the hearts
+of General Tate and his men, they not being animated by the
+spirit which moved the classic heroes to burn their boats so as
+to destroy the means of retreat and to force themselves to
+action.&nbsp; The base desertion of their comrades, the large
+supply of brandy in the farm-house cellars, and a providential
+but comic mistake, seem to have been the three principal causes
+of the failure of the French&mdash;one may say of the utter and
+singular collapse of their undertaking.</p>
+<p>The mistake occurred in this manner.&nbsp; Large numbers of
+the country-women (among whom were Jemima and Nancy) had
+assembled on a hill commanding an extensive prospect, including
+the French <a name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+132</span>outpost at Carnunda, desiring, with the curiosity of
+their sex, to see as much as possible of what was going
+forward.&nbsp; It was, by the way, the same hill on which I had
+also stationed myself.&nbsp; Most of the women wore their
+distinctive shawl, a scarlet whittle, this being the colour
+appropriated by the daughters of Pembrokeshire; while their
+Cardiganshire neighbours have adopted the white whittle.&nbsp;
+All of them at that time wore high black hats.&nbsp; Lord Cawdor,
+as he was riding about inspecting things in general, was struck
+by the resemblance of a mass of these women to a body of
+regulars, and he called upon the daughters of Cambria to give a
+proof of their patriotism by marching towards the enemy in
+regular order.&nbsp; The females responded by a considerable
+cackle, which, however, signified assent.&nbsp; I saw Jemima and
+her niece in the front of the regiment which moved forward boldly
+towards <a name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+133</span>the enemy.&nbsp; Ere long a sudden dip in the ground
+rendered them invisible to the French, at which place, turning
+into a side lane, they came again to the back of the hill whence
+they had started, and renewed their former course; it was done
+almost in the way in which, I am told, these effects are managed
+in a theatre.&nbsp; This man&oelig;uvre caused much laughter
+among the spectators, and no little puffing and panting to the
+fair sex who accomplished it, many of whom were somewhat stout
+and not very young.&nbsp; However, it had the desired
+effect.&nbsp; General Tate acknowledged afterwards that they had
+been taken for a regiment of regulars, and the French troops
+(greatly composed of convicts) utterly lost heart.&nbsp; If they
+had but realised that it took a matter of seven days for the news
+to travel to London, they need not have distressed themselves on
+the score of quick aid from England.</p>
+<p><a name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>In
+the meantime parties of marauders in a half-drunken state
+continued to prowl about the neighbourhood.&nbsp; A considerable
+number of militia and peasantry encountered five of these men,
+who were dragging with them a young calf.&nbsp; They dropped the
+calf and advanced to the combat, while our men, thinking the odds
+unfair, singled out five of our sailors (of whom Davy Jones was
+one), and Mr. Whitesides, a Liverpool gentleman who assisted, as
+a stranger, at the selection, dismissed them to their work with
+this benediction:&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Take time, my boys, and do it well!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The French soldiers fired, and one of our men fell, wounded in
+the foot; then it was the tars&rsquo; turn, and they fired with
+such judgment that three of the enemy lay flat on the ground, and
+the remaining two departed rapidly.&nbsp; One of the three proved
+to be dead, the other two badly wounded.&nbsp; This <a
+name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 135</span>encounter
+of a few, with a multitude looking on, took one back to the old
+days of Arthur&rsquo;s knights, or to the still older days of
+Goliath of Gath.</p>
+<p>Considerable numbers of Frenchmen were by this time in a very
+unpleasing state of body and mind in consequence of rash
+indulgence in port wine and poultry boiled in butter.&nbsp; They
+were captured in small groups by the peasantry, who laid in wait
+for them behind the gorse bushes which abound in this region, and
+who jumped out on them with scant ceremony whenever they had a
+chance.&nbsp; A man belonging to Llanunda village, taking a
+cautious peep through his own little window from the outside,
+perceived one of the enemy making free with his food and wine;
+the Frenchman was enjoying himself thoroughly, he had made an
+excellent fire from most of the furniture, and he was toasting
+his legs <a name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+136</span>thereat as he sipped the generous wine with the air of
+a connoisseur.&nbsp; This was more than the Taffy could
+stand.&nbsp; He had not saved that wine from a wreck at
+considerable personal risk to see it sending a glow through the
+veins of a foreigner; he flung himself into the room with a
+strong expression behind his teeth and a hay-fork clenched
+tightly in his hand.&nbsp; The Frenchman jumped up and thrust
+with his bayonet at the master of the house, who turned aside the
+blow, then, taking the foe on his pitchfork, tossed him into the
+fire, as he might have pitched a truss of hay on to the rick.</p>
+<p>A party of marauders set forth with the view of plundering
+Manorowen, a gentleman&rsquo;s seat in the vicinity; but being
+followed by a detachment of the Yeomanry, they returned in a very
+different manner from what they had anticipated.</p>
+<p>And now we, on our knoll&mdash;and there <a
+name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>were some
+thousands of us, including peasantry, fishermen, shopkeepers, and
+the resident gentry of three counties&mdash;raised a shout of
+pride and triumph as Lord Cawdor at the head of his small troop
+of Yeomanry Cavalry rode off to inspect the enemy at close
+quarters.&nbsp; The sinking sun shone on their glittering
+accoutrements and splendid uniforms, and a glow of satisfaction
+filled our hearts as we noted the fine chargers they bestrode,
+for a Pembrokeshire man loves horseflesh as truly as a Yorkshire
+man; and not even my cloth has ever restrained me from being a
+genuine Philhippos.&nbsp; The Castle Martin Yeomanry have always
+been celebrated for their horses; and indeed it was no matter of
+surprise to any one to hear, as we did hear afterwards, that
+General Tate mistook these men for the staff surrounding some
+English general, the main body of whose troops were defiling
+around <a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+138</span>the side of the mountain; in truth, as the courteous
+reader knows, none other than the old women.&nbsp; Lord Cawdor,
+at the head of his forty yeoman, trotted close under Carnunda,
+the stronghold of the enemy, who could, if they had possessed
+guns, have swept them all off the face of the earth.&nbsp; As it
+was they narrowly escaped falling into an ambush.&nbsp; A force
+of French soldiers were lying in wait for them a little further
+up the road, and had Lord Cawdor taken this route, as was his
+lordship&rsquo;s first design, his men might have been surprised,
+though even in that case we may well believe they would have
+given as good as they got.</p>
+<p>However, darkness falling suddenly, caused a change of plans;
+Lord Cawdor and the reconnoitring party rejoined the main body,
+and the British troops took up their quarters for the night in
+Fishguard.</p>
+<h3><a name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+139</span>CHAPTER VII.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">GENERAL TATE&rsquo;S LETTER.</span></h3>
+<p>I also retired to Fishguard in order to calm my mother&rsquo;s
+mind about my safety&mdash;and also to get my supper.</p>
+<p>My mother was, as mothers are, overjoyed to see me, and gave
+me an ample and excellent supper, liberally seasoned with more
+hero-worship.&nbsp; I really believe she thought me capable of
+facing and fighting the whole French force single-handed, and she
+considered that I had guided Ann George through untold dangers
+into safety.&nbsp; The other way would have been much nearer the
+truth, but she did not see it so.&nbsp; <a
+name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>Ah well!
+after-life has nothing half so sweet in it as that first truest
+love; and a little knocking about against the harsh angles of the
+world soon takes off the undue self-esteem it may have
+fostered.&nbsp; All I know is, I would be glad to have somebody
+who believed in me utterly now.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p139.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"The &ldquo;Royal Oak&rdquo; at Fishguard"
+title=
+"The &ldquo;Royal Oak&rdquo; at Fishguard"
+src="images/p139.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>The times were too exciting for a lad of my age to sit with
+his toes under the table; my mother, too, was busily engaged in
+making preparations to receive the strangers who were quartered
+in our house, so as soon as supper was ended I fared forth into
+the street again to pick up scraps of intelligence, and try to
+find out the latest news.</p>
+<p>I was too full of excitement to care to go to bed, and I found
+most of my fellow-townsmen were of my mind in this matter.&nbsp;
+I turned in first at Jemima Nicholas&rsquo;s house to see how she
+and her niece were getting on after their novel experience of
+warlike <a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+141</span>tactics on a large scale.&nbsp; Jemima, an immensely
+powerful woman, seemed only sorry that they had not come to close
+quarters with the enemy: she was truly a Celtic Amazon who took a
+pleasure in fighting for fighting&rsquo;s sake.</p>
+<p>Nancy, to my surprise, seemed to have been indulging in the
+luxury of tears.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What on earth is the matter with you, Nan?&rdquo; I
+asked, with unfeeling openness.&nbsp; &ldquo;Your eyes are quite
+red.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nancy shot a glance of anger at me from the orbs in question,
+but vouchsafed no answer.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, don&rsquo;t you know,&rdquo; interposed Jemima,
+&ldquo;that her young man was wounded in the fight up there just
+now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;D&rsquo;you mean Davy Jones?&rdquo; I asked.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Oh, I knew one of the sailors got shot; but I didn&rsquo;t
+know which it was; I never thought of inquiring.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+142</span>&ldquo;You unfeeling young heathen!&rdquo; burst out
+Nancy.&nbsp; &ldquo;But there, it&rsquo;s no good talking; boys
+have no more heart than cabbages.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A cabbage <i>has</i> a heart, Nancy,&rdquo; I
+retorted.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, so&rsquo;ve you&mdash;much the same sort,&rdquo;
+cried Ann, too cross for similes or logic.</p>
+<p>Very much offended, I got up, but delivered this shaft before
+I departed: &ldquo;<i>All</i> those sailors were my friends
+equally, so it made no odds to me which of them was
+wounded.&nbsp; And how was I to know Davy Jones was your young
+man, when it&rsquo;s my belief you didn&rsquo;t know it yourself
+yesterday.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the door slammed abruptly just behind my more backward
+leg, and the rest of my remark was cut off.</p>
+<p>I wended my way into the main street, and soon found the
+centre of attraction to be the old hostelry, the &ldquo;Royal
+Oak.&rdquo;&nbsp; Men and boys, and many of the gentler sex also,
+<a name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>swarmed
+round its window and its quaint old porch.&nbsp; The interior was
+filled with officers discussing the position of affairs.&nbsp;
+With a good deal of trouble and squeezing, and being in those
+days of an eel-like figure, I slipped and shoved myself close to
+one of the windows, where, balancing on my hands and with my nose
+glued to the pane, I inspected all those men of mark, and tried
+to find out what their intentions might be.</p>
+<p>This position might, affording as it did ample opportunity for
+the horse-play of the rude, seem <i>infra dig.</i> to those who
+have only known me in my later years; but it must be remembered I
+was then but a boy not given to stand on my dignity and strongly
+moved by curiosity, or perhaps I might call it by the higher
+title&mdash;desire of knowledge.</p>
+<p>For a good space there was not much <a
+name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 144</span>to observe,
+save the various uniforms of the gentlemen and their manner of
+taking snuff and of laying their hands on their swords.&nbsp; Of
+a sudden I felt rather than heard a thrill of excitement in the
+crowd behind me: this soon resolved itself into a most
+unmistakable pushing and making-way on the part of some, and of
+craning forward and tiptoeing on the part of others around
+me.</p>
+<p>With difficulty I turned my head, and I beheld a most
+unexpected sight.&nbsp; Two French officers were striving to make
+their way through the hindering, turbulent crowd, the nearer
+members of which shrank from them as though they bore with them
+the plague, while the more distant ones pressed forward to catch
+a sight of these foreigners in the same way that people like to
+gaze on the more savage members of a menagerie.&nbsp; This caused
+the strange lurch, the ebb and flow in the crowd.&nbsp; But still
+the men kept <a name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+145</span>on making for the door of the inn, and no one actually
+opposed their passage.</p>
+<p>One of them carried in his hand a white flag, and almost
+before I could believe the evidence of my eyes&mdash;for the ears
+had no work to do, every one being too much astonished to
+speak&mdash;the two envoys from the French camp were disappearing
+through the entrance and being ushered into the presence of Lord
+Cawdor and his officers.</p>
+<p>Now I had reason to be proud of my &rsquo;vantage-place.&nbsp;
+Once more my face was pressed, with considerable outside pressure
+indeed, against the pane, and I saw with my own eyes that French
+aide-de-camp, Monsieur Leonard, present, with many a bow and
+flourish, the written communication from his general to Lord
+Cawdor.&nbsp; At the sight of those grimaces the crowd around me
+awoke from their trance of astonished silence&mdash;from the
+absolute stupefaction which had <a name="page146"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 146</span>possessed them as it had possessed
+me.&nbsp; Consciousness and speech returned to them, and took the
+outward form of maledictions.</p>
+<p>I, however, was more interested in watching the demeanour of
+the gentlemen within than of my fellow-townsmen without the
+house.&nbsp; His lordship, though his back was not so supple as
+the Frenchman&rsquo;s, still received the letter with every mark
+of good breeding; and after a few formalities opened the
+communication.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Mark all they do!&rdquo; I whispered to one of my
+rib-bending neighbours, who, being of a higher class and better
+parts than the rest, I imagined would understand me.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Mark it well, Mr. Evans, for this is how History is
+made!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;History!&rdquo; repeated Mr. Evans, blankly.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;History happened long ago; this is only to-day.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hst!&rdquo; said the crowd.</p>
+<p><a name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>In
+fact, Lord Cawdor had now commenced to read the letter aloud to
+his officers.&nbsp; It was, happily for us outsiders, and perhaps
+even for some of the gentlemen within, in English; for the leader
+of the invaders, being an Irishman, probably understood English
+at least as well as French, while most of us understood it a good
+deal better.&nbsp; The letter was short: it was briefly a
+proposal for the surrender of the entire French force, on
+conditions.&nbsp; As I had subsequently the privilege of seeing
+it, I give here the actual words of the letter:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Cardigan Bay</span>,<br
+/>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+&ldquo;5<i>th</i> <i>Ventose</i>,<br />
+
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+&ldquo;5<i>th</i> <i>Year of the Republic</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;The circumstances
+under which the body of troops under my command were landed at
+this place render it unnecessary to attempt any military
+operations, as they <a name="page148"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 148</span>would tend only to bloodshed and
+pillage.&nbsp; The officers of the whole corps have, therefore,
+intimated their desire of entering into a negotiation, upon
+principles of humanity, for a surrender.&nbsp; If you are
+influenced by similar considerations, you may signify the same to
+the bearer, and in the meantime hostilities shall cease.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;Health and respect,<br />
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Tate</span>, <i>Chef de
+Brigade</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Lord Cawdor, however, did not signify the same to the bearer,
+but a slight smile lit up his features, while the French officers
+went on to explain that they were ready to capitulate on
+condition that they should be sent back to Brest at the expense
+of the English Government.&nbsp; A low murmur broke out among the
+onlookers.&nbsp; The Frenchmen&rsquo;s ships had deserted them
+and they wanted us to give them a free passage home.&nbsp; <a
+name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 149</span>But Colonel
+Knox had something to say to that.&nbsp; The uncertain light of
+lanterns and candles (mostly dips, for the resources of the
+&ldquo;Royal Oak&rdquo; and, indeed, of Fishguard, were limited)
+fell on his white hair and handsome uniform, flickering on the
+gold of the embroideries, and no one but those who knew would
+have believed that his fancy was as brilliant as that glittering
+braid.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We have ten thousand men now in Fishguard,&rdquo; said
+he, &ldquo;ten thousand more are on the road.&nbsp; Unconditional
+surrender are our only terms.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The messengers looked very blank when they understood the
+tenour of these words, but they appeared still more impressed
+when Lord Cawdor in a stern voice, but with his usual courtesy of
+manner, gave them an answer.&nbsp; He informed them that he
+should at once write an answer to General Tate, which he should
+send to him in the morning, <a name="page150"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 150</span>but that they might tell him in the
+meantime that his troops would be expected to parade for
+surrender on the following day.</p>
+<p>His lordship, who had hitherto been standing, sat down and
+consulted for a few moments in an undertone with some of his
+suite.&nbsp; Then taking up a pen, he quickly wrote an answer,
+dusted sand over it to dry the ink, and standing up once more he
+read it aloud in clear and ringing tones.&nbsp; It commanded the
+admiration and approbation of all present on both sides of the
+window, except perhaps of the aide-de-camp and his fellow, who
+probably did not understand the English tongue, and if they had
+would not perchance have admired the style of the
+composition.&nbsp; We did, however&mdash;that is, those of the
+crowd who heard it&mdash;and the rest taking it on trust, we
+signified our approval by three cheers, delivered with <a
+name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>excellent
+intention, but in the usual disjointed Welsh fashion.</p>
+<p>Lord Cawdor merely remarked in his letter that with his
+superior force (save the mark!&mdash;and the old women!) he would
+accept of no terms except the unconditional surrender of the
+whole French force as prisoners of war.&nbsp; And that he
+expected an answer with all speed, this being his ultimatum:
+Major Ackland would present himself at the camp at Trehowel early
+on the following morning to receive this answer, for which Lord
+Cawdor would not wait later than ten o&rsquo;clock.</p>
+<p>These were the actual words of the letter which was delivered
+on the following morning at Trehowel to General Tate and six
+hundred Frenchmen, drawn up in line, by his lordship&rsquo;s
+aide-de-camp, the Hon. Captain Edwardes, his white flag of truce
+being carried by Mr. Millingchamp.</p>
+<blockquote><p style="text-align: right"><a
+name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+152</span>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Fishguard</span>,
+<i>Feb.</i> 23<i>rd.</i></p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;The superiority
+of the force under my command, which is hourly increasing, must
+prevent my treating upon any other terms short of your
+surrendering your whole force prisoners of war.&nbsp; I enter
+fully into your wish of preventing an unnecessary effusion of
+blood, which your speedy surrender can alone prevent, and which
+will entitle you to that consideration it is ever the wish of
+British troops to show an enemy whose numbers are inferior.&nbsp;
+My major will deliver you this letter, and I shall expect your
+determination by 10 o&rsquo;clock, by your officer, whom I have
+furnished with an escort who will conduct him to me without
+molestation.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;I am, &amp;c.,<br />
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Cawdor</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The major referred to was Major Ackland <a
+name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>who
+accompanied Captain Edwardes to Trehowel.</p>
+<p>We thought it very fine&mdash;and so it was; and the words we
+didn&rsquo;t understand we thought the finest.&nbsp; After this
+the French envoys were dismissed, with their white flag still
+grasped firmly.&nbsp; They were also provided with a strong
+escort to take them back safely to their own lines, and indeed
+they required it, for by this time we had quite wakened up; and
+as the two men were led forth from the inn blindfolded with thick
+shawls lest they should spy the poverty of the force, we greeted
+them with a yell which must have made their hearts shake.&nbsp;
+My countrymen are beyond all comparison better at yelling than at
+cheering; it was cowardly no doubt of it, considering the
+difference of our numbers; but when was a mob anything but
+cowardly?</p>
+<p>Of course to a boy it was pure delight, and <a
+name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>my
+enjoyment that evening made up for the cramp of the night
+before.&nbsp; The escort kept us at more than arm&rsquo;s length,
+but no friendly force could have kept us from running after these
+representatives of the enemy, or from shouting at them, or even
+from throwing a few stones and sticks at them.&nbsp; The men
+remembered the wine and brandy, the women the slaughtered ducks
+and geese, and they hurled stones and curses mixed at the two
+devourers we could get at.&nbsp; The escort certainly received
+the brunt of the battle and most of the stones, and sent back
+many objurations at us in return; but we were too hurried to
+discriminate friend from foe.</p>
+<p>We ran as far as a place called Windy Hall, <a
+name="citation154"></a><a href="#footnote154"
+class="citation">[154]</a> from whence there is a wide-stretching
+view of Goodwick Sands and the most <a name="page155"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 155</span>perfectly-exposed down-hill slope
+that could possibly be desired for the final volley of stones
+with which we wished them goodnight.</p>
+<p>I was pretty well tired out by this time, so returned home to
+see how my parents fared in these strange days, and to have a
+second supper, and then to bed in my own particular little den,
+which usually I had only the felicity of occupying in the
+holidays: and so the Thursday came to an end.</p>
+<h2><a name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+157</span>FRIDAY.<br />
+<i>THE THIRD DAY</i>.</h2>
+<h3><a name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+159</span>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE GATHERING AT GOODWICK.</span></h3>
+<p>Nor many hours did the little den hold me after all, for in
+the early morning I woke with the feeling that something strange
+was astir.&nbsp; Then came a vague terror&mdash;the memory of my
+yester-morn&rsquo;s awakening, and then a sense of jubilant
+triumph as I recalled the Frenchmen&rsquo;s offer and the stout
+answer of our chief.&nbsp; Surely they would capitulate now
+without more talking or more fighting.&nbsp; I should have liked
+to have witnessed a little fighting well enough&mdash;from a
+distance.&nbsp; But then a fight is a very uncertain thing, it
+twirls about so, you never know where it <a
+name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 160</span>will get to
+next, or where you are sure to be in it, or still more, safe to
+be out of it.</p>
+<p>The men quartered in our house were astir early, and perhaps
+their heavy footfalls had more to do with rousing me than my own
+excitability.&nbsp; Still quick-silver seemed to be running about
+all over me as I hastily swallowed my breakfast&mdash;which,
+however, I did full justice to&mdash;and then rushed out of the
+house to join everybody else on the road to Goodwick.&nbsp; What
+a throng there was!&nbsp; Every man, woman, and child in
+Fishguard and all the country round seemed to have turned out,
+and to be making for the great sands at Goodwick.&nbsp; The
+people gathered from every direction, east, west, and south,
+until the semi-circle of hills was dark with them.&nbsp; Chiefly,
+however, the throng came from the east and south, for Trehowel
+lay to the west, and there were but few of the natives left in
+that direction; besides which the steep white <a
+name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 161</span>road that
+mounts the hill on that side of the sands was left clear for the
+descent of the enemy.&nbsp; No one wished to interfere with them
+needlessly; quite the contrary: at all events, till they had got
+within reach of our trained men.&nbsp; In the meantime we would
+give them a wide berth lest they should turn and rend us.</p>
+<p>Suddenly a wild voice and a wild figure smote our
+senses&mdash;both eyes and ears.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The dream, the dream!&rdquo; it yelled.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;The dream is coming true!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What dream?&nbsp; What is it?&rdquo; asked every one,
+but there were more askers than answerers.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Use your ears and listen!&rdquo; continued the wild
+voice.&nbsp; &ldquo;Use your eyes and see!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Whoever is he, Jemima?&rdquo; I asked, finding myself
+near a reliable woman.&nbsp; Nancy stood some little way off
+leaning against a cart.</p>
+<p><a name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+162</span>&ldquo;Why, it&rsquo;s old Enoch Lale,&rdquo; said
+Jemima.&nbsp; &ldquo;I know him well enough, he lives over there
+under Trehowel, by Carreg Gwastad, just where these blacks
+landed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Why Jemima always persisted in calling the French
+&ldquo;blacks,&rdquo; I know not; possibly because they were
+foreigners, possibly she meant blackguards.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My dream!&nbsp; I told it to ye, unbelieving race, aye,
+thirty years ago!&rdquo; yelled the old man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;&rsquo;Deed, that&rsquo;s true for him,&rdquo; remarked
+Jemima.&nbsp; &ldquo;I heard him tell it many a time, years and
+years ago.&nbsp; Well, I always thought he was soft, but now he
+seems real raving.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thirty years ago I had the vision, and you know it, men
+and neighbours.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, yes, true for you, Enoch Lale,&rdquo; answered
+many a voice in the crowd; chiefly this response came from
+elderly persons <a name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+163</span>who had doubtless heard the tale many a time.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But I haven&rsquo;t heard it.&nbsp; I wasn&rsquo;t born
+then,&rdquo; I remarked.</p>
+<p>Whether Enoch Lale heard this gentle protest, or whether he
+was resolved not to be baulked of his story, I cannot say.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;I only know,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;I had a vision of
+the night, and the future was revealed to me in a dream; yea, and
+more than a dream, for I rose up out of my bed and went down on
+to the rocks and there&mdash;on Carreg Gwastad&mdash;the French
+troops landed, and I saw them&mdash;aye, as plain as ever any of
+you saw them two days ago.&nbsp; And that was thirty years ago,
+yet it has come true!&nbsp; But wait, and listen! and ye shall
+hear the brass drums sounding, as I heard them sound that
+night!&nbsp; Listen!&nbsp; Listen!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Come down off that cart and be quiet, Enoch Lale, or
+you&rsquo;ll be having a fit.&nbsp; We <a
+name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 164</span>all know,
+you&rsquo;ve told your dream often enough; why you woke me up
+that very night to tell it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And the prophet was taken possession of by a quiet elderly
+woman, his better half.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, we got rid of old I-told-you-so rather
+suddenly,&rdquo; I observed to Jemima.&nbsp; &ldquo;But it is
+very queer about his dream.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a many things,&rdquo; replied Jemima,
+&ldquo;as we don&rsquo;t know nothing about&mdash;and dreams is
+one of them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>It was marvellous to watch the gathering of troops and
+people.&nbsp; The hills to the south of the bay were covered with
+peasant men, and the red-whittled women who had done such good
+service to their country, and whose conduct has never been
+rewarded by any faintest token of gratitude or even of
+recognition by that country.</p>
+<p>At the foot of these hills came a marsh, bounded by a road on
+the other side of which <a name="page165"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 165</span>were the famous sands&mdash;where
+were stationed in a compact body the Castle Martin Yeomanry
+Cavalry.&nbsp; Ere long these men were drawn out of their trim
+ranks for a difficult and dangerous duty; but of that anon.</p>
+<p>The infantry was drawn up in a field on the east side of the
+bay, just under Windy Hill, to which farm the field
+belonged.&nbsp; The force consisted of the Cardiganshire and
+Pembrokeshire Volunteers&mdash;about three hundred strong:
+together with the Fishguard Fencibles.&nbsp; Numerically weak we
+were indeed, but on our own ground and with right on our
+side.&nbsp; Added to which we had had the pleasing news of the
+enemy&rsquo;s faint-heartedness: so that altogether we felt
+ourselves animated by the courage of lions.</p>
+<p>Major Ackland had had his promised interview with General Tate
+in the early morning at the French headquarters in the old house
+of Trehowel.&nbsp; The interview had <a name="page166"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 166</span>been a short one, and much to the
+point; he declined altogether to parley, or parlez-vous.&nbsp; He
+insisted on instant and unconditional surrender; then sticking
+spurs in his horse he galloped away without any compliments.</p>
+<p>Lord Cawdor and his staff were riding up and down the sands
+when the gallant Major appeared bringing the glorious news that
+the French were coming, and at once, and that they were prepared
+to surrender at discretion.&nbsp; But the Colonel still continued
+his work of inspecting the whole of the British troops.&nbsp; He
+still thought, perhaps hoped, that there might be a passage of
+arms.</p>
+<p>Then came a time of deep silence when each individual among us
+concentrated his senses in his ears.&nbsp; I, being but a boy,
+allowed my eyes a little freedom; most other eyes were
+concentrated on the road where the French would first appear, but
+I <a name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+167</span>permitted mine to gaze around me, when I at once made a
+discovery.&nbsp; The cart against which Nancy had leant contained
+a man, the outline of the back of whose head seemed strangely
+familiar to me.&nbsp; I could only see the back of his head for
+he was leaning out of the cart with his face turned away from me,
+but towards another person who was standing on the other side of
+the cart.&nbsp; Some bushes, behind which the cart had been drawn
+up, prevented a clear view, so I shifted my position a
+little&mdash;in fact, went straight up to the group, who seemed
+to be placing rather a blind confidence in their retired
+situation, and in the magnetic attraction of the enemy.&nbsp; I
+rounded the cart; the young man was, as I had imagined, Davy
+Jones, wounded foot and all; the young woman was, as I had
+guessed, Nancy George.&nbsp; Their heads were very near together,
+perhaps they were talking about splints.</p>
+<p><a name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+168</span>&ldquo;Why, Nancy!&rdquo; I exclaimed, &ldquo;is that
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, of course it is, Master Dan&mdash;and why
+shouldn&rsquo;t it be?&rdquo; cried Nancy, as red as a
+turkey-cock, and as inclined to show fight.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, all right.&nbsp; I only thought you must be
+somebody else,&rdquo; I returned, politely.</p>
+<p>Davy broke into a roar of laughter, and Ann, in spite of her
+indignation, showed her row of white teeth.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Go away, you tiresome boy, and look out for the
+French,&rdquo; was her recommendation.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And not for the&mdash;&rdquo; but my sentence was cut
+short by a shove from Nan&rsquo;s vigorous arm which sent me
+flying for some paces.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Take care of the spoons, Ann!&rdquo; was my parting
+shot, as I made my way a little further down the hill.</p>
+<p>We all sat down on the ferny slopes and <a
+name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 169</span>waited and
+listened.&nbsp; As a general rule nobody talked, which showed how
+grave was the occasion.&nbsp; In front of us was the sea dark
+grey to-day as was the sky; the sands sometimes almost golden,
+were, on this dull February day, only another shade of grey; and
+the great boulders of rock which cropped up everywhere were of
+the same colour.&nbsp; And this greyness seemed to suit this
+scene better than the brightness of Wednesday would have done;
+for though it was a day of triumph to us we could not forget that
+it was a day of humiliation and bitterness to these hundreds of
+men who were approaching us on the other side of the hill.&nbsp;
+The tide was coming in, but without any sparkle and dash,
+sullenly; and the south-west wind blew in gusts the strength of
+which told plainly of power in reserve: one could feel that it
+was capable of violence.</p>
+<p>So were the people who sat <a name="page170"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 170</span>waiting&mdash;apparently
+quietly&mdash;for their enemies, on the hill-slope, which rose
+into a natural amphitheatre on all sides (save one) of the scene:
+whereof the flat sands formed the arena or floor.&nbsp; What a
+place this would have been for one of the old Roman shows; for a
+moment I seemed to see the gladiators struggling for life or
+death, to hear the cruel roar of the lions, to watch the
+fighting, tearing, and rending in the arena, and to witness what
+struck me most with awe&mdash;the fierce lust for blood which
+filled the spectators, one and all, as they shouted and craved
+for more&mdash;more blood.&nbsp; I woke up suddenly with a start
+to find I had been dozing on the hillside, where the people were
+sitting quietly enough, Britons not Romans, perhaps some of them
+descendants of these very gladiators who had been</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Butchered to make a Roman
+holiday.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<h3><a name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+171</span>CHAPTER IX.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE CAPITULATION.</span></h3>
+<p>Suddenly the listening people caught a far-off sound; it came
+nearer and nearer rapidly, one&rsquo;s ears seem to go out to
+meet it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here they come!&rdquo; came in a hoarse growl from
+hundreds of guttural throats&mdash;speaking of course in
+Welsh.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hst,&rdquo; came the return growl from the other
+portion of the crowd.</p>
+<p>The sound became louder and louder; it was plainly the beating
+of brass drums.&nbsp; A sort of thrill&mdash;sometimes called
+goose-skin passed over me, and I doubt not over most of my
+neighbours.&nbsp; Enoch Lale&rsquo;s dream was <a
+name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 172</span>the thought
+that stirred us; there was something of second-sight about it
+that awed one even in the morning air and among that crowd of
+living beings.&nbsp; For a minute I saw again the spectral army
+of Enoch&rsquo;s vision.&nbsp; Then, being a boy, the practical
+aspect of the matter struck me.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I hope the wife hasn&rsquo;t taken the poor old fellow
+out of ear-shot,&rdquo; I observed to Mr. Mortimer, near whom I
+had placed myself.&nbsp; &ldquo;He heard those drums thirty years
+ago, sir&mdash;and he&rsquo;d like to know he was
+right.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No doubt, most of us do,&rdquo; assented Mr.
+Mortimer.&nbsp; &ldquo;Oh, Enoch&rsquo;s somewhere about, never
+fear.&nbsp; Hush, my boy, look there!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>All our senses were focussed in our eyes, something shining
+and moving we saw, and what could that be save the bayonets of
+the enemy?&nbsp; Still the shrill clanging of the brass drums
+went on, broken only by the thud of the sea breaking upon the
+sand.&nbsp; Every head <a name="page173"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 173</span>was turned towards the west (even
+Nancy&rsquo;s and Davy&rsquo;s for I looked to see) towards the
+rocky stronghold of Carnunda, past the houses and trees of
+Goodwick, all along the white road which runs like a riband
+placed aslant on the hill-side.</p>
+<p>The glittering points turned the corner and came into full
+view; it was at exactly two o&rsquo;clock that the first of the
+Frenchmen appeared in sight.&nbsp; On they came, a moving mass of
+dark blue, carrying no colours, neither gay tricolor nor white
+flag of peace, but beating their drums so as to put a good face
+on the matter.&nbsp; A moment later this was changed.</p>
+<p>As the column rounded the corner of the road, our hills
+suddenly started into life and their silence was broken by a
+prolonged yell so fierce and threatening that the French recoiled
+and then halted.&nbsp; I could not, even at the moment, blame
+them; there seemed <a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+174</span>every probability that they would be massacred.&nbsp;
+The Welsh had jumped to their feet as with one bound, and they
+were making up for their long silence now, the men all
+brandishing every conceivable kind of weapon, the women shaking
+their fists at the invaders and screeching at them at the top of
+their voices.&nbsp; I had only a pocket-knife about me and
+concluded to keep that for my bread and cheese, of which I was
+badly in want at this moment.</p>
+<p>Jemima Nicholas dashed past me, rushing down the hill at full
+speed with a pitchfork in her hands, followed by some other
+war-like women of her stamp&mdash;some of them armed with
+straightened scythes.&nbsp; I got out of their way quickly.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Come on, my daughters!&rdquo; yelled the fierce
+cobbler&mdash;for that was her trade&mdash;&ldquo;come on and cut
+them down into the sea!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>There is no doubt that she certainly <a
+name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>wished to
+do it, indeed, there was a manifest disposition on the part of
+the peasantry, male and female, to come at once to close quarters
+with the enemy.&nbsp; Then rushed a sudden thunder of hoofs along
+the shore, as Lord Cawdor and his yeomanry galloped in front of
+the angry people, ordering them back and impressing their
+commands with the flat of their drawn swords.</p>
+<p>Strong guards were also posted in every path that led from the
+hills to the sands, while the road on which the French were now
+meditating a hasty retreat was especially strongly guarded by
+detachments of the Cardiganshire Militia and the Fishguard
+Fencibles.&nbsp; At last, seeing these precautions against
+popular fury and that no sudden violence was now likely to occur,
+the French once more took heart and resumed their downward march
+and drums.&nbsp; They were accompanied by Lord Cawdor&rsquo;s
+aide-de-camp, <a name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+176</span>the Hon. Captain Edwardes, and by Mr. Millingchamp, who
+bore a large white flag of truce; these had already given the
+order to &ldquo;open pans and shed priming&rdquo; and to march on
+peaceably: and they were obeyed.</p>
+<p>Colonel Colby marched his men down from Windy Hill, and as he
+passed the spot where I was, I heard him say, &ldquo;Let us all
+be ready, my boys, perhaps they may disappoint us
+still.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the gallant colonel&rsquo;s hopes of a fight were doomed
+to be unfulfilled&mdash;and so were Jemima&rsquo;s&mdash;the
+French troops were thoroughly demoralised and had no fight in
+them.&nbsp; They marched on to the sands in columns, halted
+before Lord Cawdor and his staff backed by a handful of men (for
+most of our troops were employed in keeping back the excited
+populace), and then quietly laid down their arms and marched
+on.</p>
+<p>When they had thus deposited their old <a
+name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>flint guns
+some of them looked around them.&nbsp; It is impossible to
+describe the chagrin depicted on their features when they
+realised how trifling (numerically speaking) was the force to
+which they had succumbed.&nbsp; Still greater was the annoyance
+they experienced when they discovered that the scarlet flash
+which had so scared them was produced&mdash;not by the red coats
+of a body of regulars&mdash;but by the whittles worn by a parcel
+of women!&nbsp; These individuals now allowed the fallen foe to
+have a near view of their tall hats and scarlet mantles, for
+dashing down the hills on to the sands in spite of the guards
+(who were indeed too much occupied in looking after the piles of
+muskets to heed minor matters) these bellicose dames and damsels
+gathered closely around the Frenchmen, addressing manifold
+observations to them in their Welsh tongue, in the use of which
+most of them possess extraordinary fluency.</p>
+<p><a name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>But
+their Gallican sisters also can talk and scold.&nbsp; I had by
+this time got very near to the unlucky commander of the
+expedition, General Tate; and I was close by when Madame Tate who
+had accompanied the troops flew at him like a fury.&nbsp; She,
+too, had discovered the paucity of our numbers, and that Lord
+Cawdor&rsquo;s &ldquo;ten thousand men&rdquo; were&mdash;in Spain
+perhaps&mdash;and that the English regulars were&mdash;well, very
+irregular forces attired in scarlet whittles.&nbsp; Her remarks
+as to the conduct of the campaign were evidently of a most
+uncomplimentary nature; though I cannot say I understood French,
+I understood that.&nbsp; In my heart I felt sorry for General
+Tate.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Look here, mum,&rdquo; I ventured to remark, &ldquo;if
+you want to have it out with somebody, here&rsquo;s a lady of
+your own weight and age.&nbsp; Tackle Jemima.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Madame Tate, though understanding <a name="page179"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 179</span>never a word, turned furiously on
+Jemima, who returned the shower of epithets.&nbsp; The General,
+giving me a look of pure gratitude, hastened away, and I followed
+his example.</p>
+<p>The troops were marched away in columns by fours, and, guarded
+by our men, set off at once for their various
+destinations&mdash;chiefly gaols; our bands now taking up the
+strain and making the welkin ring with joyous airs, to which we
+added all our lungs&rsquo; strength of voice in songs and
+cheers.</p>
+<p>So ended the famous capitulation of the French on Goodwick
+Sands.</p>
+<h3><a name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+180</span>CHAPTER X.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">TREHOWEL ONCE MORE.</span></h3>
+<p>We could still hear the festive strains of &ldquo;The Girl I
+Left Behind Me,&rdquo;&mdash;every road was full of
+soldiers&mdash;guards and guarded, some on their way to
+Haverfordwest, some to Milford, some to Carmarthen, some, for the
+present, only as far as Fishguard.&nbsp; Their number (sixteen
+hundred, without stragglers who dropped in later) taxed the
+resources of this thinly inhabited country to the uttermost, both
+as regarded the food and the housing of their prisoners.&nbsp;
+Vast relief was felt when the greater number of them were shipped
+off to the place from whence they came.</p>
+<p><a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+181</span>&ldquo;Where are you going, master?&rdquo; asked Ann
+George, coming up to Mr. Mortimer as he was moving away, having
+now beheld the end of this strange scene of the bloodless
+surrender of sixteen hundred men to a very insignificant force;
+surely one of the strangest sights ever witnessed on the shores
+of this happy island.</p>
+<p>Nancy had taken no part in the action of her aunt Jemima; she
+was not the woman to jeer a fallen foe, so she had remained
+quietly by the cart till all was over, then had turned to her
+master.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you going, master?&rdquo; asked the faithful
+servant.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Back to my own house; for I suppose it is mine again
+now,&rdquo; said he, with a sort of groan as he thought of the
+manner in which the old home had been desecrated.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll come too,&rdquo; said Nancy, &ldquo;the
+place is bound to be topsy-turvy, sir, and a <a
+name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>gentleman
+can&rsquo;t do aught to straighten it.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll come
+too.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Better not, Nancy, there are a lot of drunken vagabonds
+about still&mdash;too drunk to know they&rsquo;ve
+capitulated.&nbsp; And some of the officers who were afraid to
+trust to the white flag and our word are at Trehowel
+still.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>However, Nancy was not to be put off so; she would go.&nbsp;
+She had been in service for some years at Trehowel and she
+considered that the kitchen belonged to her, and it went to her
+heart to think of the damage done.&nbsp; She could have no peace
+till she could begin to repair it, and to set things once more in
+order to receive home the bride, as now the strangely postponed
+wedding would surely take place.</p>
+<p>Davy Jones went too&mdash;I suppose because Nancy did; they
+seemed great friends now, though previously the young woman had
+<a name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>been in
+the habit of giving him the cold shoulder, I imagine because of
+his habit of smuggling; but I did not take much interest in the
+matter as a boy, not understanding the fair sex; indeed, even in
+after years I doubt if I ever quite succeeded in fathoming their
+method of reasoning.&nbsp; However, it is quite certain that as
+Nancy permitted it Davy was quite content to go wherever she did,
+and he gave her and me also a seat in his cart.&nbsp; I went too,
+for I thought that if there was anything to be seen I might as
+well see it; and I had heard that General Tate had gone back
+there after the surrender&mdash;on parole.&nbsp; I had some
+curiosity to see him again, and I thought it due to myself to
+witness the end of this affair, of which I had chanced to see the
+very beginning.</p>
+<p>As we went up the steep hill from Goodwick, we were joined by
+a party of the Fishguard Fencibles, sent to look after the <a
+name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>scattered
+inebriates, and to take the swords and words of the retiring
+French officers.&nbsp; When we got to Brestgarn we encountered
+the grinning face of Llewellyn, about whom Nancy and I had had
+many an uneasy thought.&nbsp; He told us that his captors had not
+ill-treated him beyond making him work for them, that they had
+kept a sharp eye on him for a day and two nights and then he had
+managed to escape.&nbsp; He had hidden for a while, but as soon
+as possible had returned to look after his master&rsquo;s
+goods.&nbsp; Llewellyn was a very ordinary looking man with
+unpolished&mdash;even uncouth manners, but it struck me that he
+had a stronger sense of duty than is usual.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p184.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Trehowel: General Tate&rsquo;s Headquarters"
+title=
+"Trehowel: General Tate&rsquo;s Headquarters"
+src="images/p184.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>A few steps further brought us to Trehowel.&nbsp; Out rushed
+all the dogs, barking, jumping, tail-wagging&mdash;absolutely
+wild with delight at the recovery of their own master.&nbsp; A
+grey-haired gentleman came <a name="page185"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 185</span>forward and addressed Mr. Mortimer
+with much courtesy&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Sir, the dogs know you.&nbsp; I presume you are the
+master here?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I was so once.&nbsp; Down, Gelert!&nbsp; Quiet,
+Corg&eacute;!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The officer then introduced himself to Mr. Mortimer as General
+Tate.&nbsp; He went on to say that he had understood that the
+Welsh people were ripe for revolt and that they might march
+throughout Wales and even a good deal further with wooden
+swords.&nbsp; That it had been a great disappointment to him to
+find this was not the case, that it had also been a source of
+annoyance to him to be deserted by his ships, but that the most
+unpleasant sensation he had ever experienced had been the failing
+of heart he had felt as his foot touched Welsh soil.</p>
+<p>I listened with all my ears to this interesting discourse,
+which happily I was able to <a name="page186"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 186</span>understand, for General Tate being
+an Irishman spoke English perfectly.</p>
+<p>Our attention was diverted by a cry&mdash;a cry of surprise
+which broke from Nancy with a suddenness which startled all of
+us.&nbsp; We all turned hastily round and beheld the girl
+standing as if petrified, with her arm stretched out and her hand
+pointing towards a man who stood a few yards from
+her&mdash;apparently one of the stragglers among the French
+soldiers, for he was clothed in the same way as the majority of
+them&mdash;a British soldier&rsquo;s uniform which had been dyed
+a rusty brown.&nbsp; The man looked dumb-foundered but Nancy
+found her tongue.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So it is you, James Bowen, who have betrayed your own
+people to strangers.&nbsp; Uch a fi, traitor; I could strike you
+where you stand!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Shall I do it for you, Nancy?&rdquo; suggested Davy,
+ready to hobble out of the cart.</p>
+<p><a name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+187</span>&ldquo;No, he is not worth it.&nbsp; Let him go to gaol
+with his friends,&rdquo; said Nancy, scornfully.</p>
+<p>James Bowen looked utterly bewildered; he had evidently been
+drinking heavily and had not even heard of the surrender; had he
+done so he would hardly have come back to Trehowel, but would
+have made off into the interior.&nbsp; But Nancy&rsquo;s contempt
+roused him somewhat.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It was your own fault,&rdquo; he said, sullenly,
+&ldquo;you drove me away from here, you drove me to the
+bad.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And I suppose I drove you to steal a horse and then to
+break out of gaol, and to run off to France, and to fetch back
+foreigners here&mdash;showing them the entrance to Carreg Gwastad
+Creek!&nbsp; I helped in that too, perhaps?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You needn&rsquo;t pretend to be so particular,
+you&rsquo;ve taken up with a smuggler yourself,&rdquo; growled
+James.</p>
+<p><a name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+188</span>Nancy&rsquo;s face flamed, but she took a step nearer
+to Davy and placed her hand in his defiantly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is truth indeed, and I&rsquo;m going to marry him
+too, for if he is a smuggler, he is an honest boy and isn&rsquo;t
+a traitor.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d have thought nothing of the horse or
+the gaol&mdash;but to betray your own people to
+strangers&mdash;let me get out of the sight of you.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Cursed for ever and throughout all ages be the
+traitor.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And with this vigorous denunciation of a crime so utterly
+hateful to the Welsh people, that they even abhor giving evidence
+in a court of justice, Nancy turned her back on the traitor at
+once and for ever, and hastily entering her domain at Trehowel,
+proceeded to restore the silver spoons to their own place.</p>
+<p>The kindly dusk hid much of the damage that had been done; and
+after three days&rsquo; <a name="page189"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 189</span>absence, at the same hour as when
+she had quitted it, Nancy George was restored to the sovereignty
+of the kitchen at Trehowel.</p>
+<p>And so ended in gladness of heart and rejoicing, Friday the
+24th day of February, 1797; and so ended in pain and tribulation
+to themselves the three days&rsquo; invasion of the French at
+Fishguard.</p>
+<h2><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+191</span>SEQUEL.<br />
+<i>THE GOLDEN PRISON AT PEMBROKE</i>.</h2>
+<h3><a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+193</span>CHAPTER XI.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">THE GENERAL THANKSGIVING.</span></h3>
+<p>As I have already mentioned, some of the prisoners were sent
+to Haverfordwest Gaol&mdash;which, being situated in the old
+castle, was a commodious and roomy resort; others were placed,
+temporarily, in the churches of St. Mary, St. Thomas, and St.
+Martin: others again were sent to Carmarthen, under the escort of
+the Romney Fencible Cavalry, the officers being conveyed on
+horseback and allowed their parole; but the greater part of the
+French force finally found themselves confined in the Golden
+Prison at Pembroke.&nbsp; They were taken there and <a
+name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>also to
+Milford by water; and not a few died on board the vessels, being
+closely shut up under deck.&nbsp; Finally, five hundred of them
+were safely landed and incarcerated in the Golden Prison, the
+state of which, with all this overcrowding, could hardly have
+been so delightful as its name might lead the imaginative to
+suppose.</p>
+<p>Here we will leave them for awhile, returning once more to
+myself and my own belongings.&nbsp; My kind mother would not let
+me return at once to my master at St. David&rsquo;s, she looked
+upon me as &ldquo;her miraculously preserved boy,&rdquo; and must
+keep me for a bit to gloat her eyes upon.&nbsp; My father, being
+a man who loved a quiet life, consented.&nbsp; And so I was still
+in Fishguard when the Royal Proclamation came down, which
+commanded us to set aside a day of general thanksgiving for our
+preservation from the dangers which threatened our <a
+name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 195</span>beloved
+country.&nbsp; This command reached us about a fortnight after
+the danger had passed, posts being rather slow in those
+days.&nbsp; Indeed, had we had to wait so long for more
+substantial help, we had been in parlous straights long
+since.&nbsp; However, &ldquo;All&rsquo;s well that ends
+well&rdquo;&mdash;and we had fared through, by the aid of
+Providence, our own exertions, and the brandy-laden wrecks.</p>
+<p>So we all repaired to our several parish churches; my mother
+hanging proudly on my arm, and regarding me as one to be
+specially thanked for.&nbsp; Indeed, I was not ill-pleased myself
+to perceive some nods of heads and pointings of fingers among the
+old crones and young maids as we passed along.&nbsp; This feeling
+seemed also to actuate Davy Jones, who limped along arm in arm
+with Nancy; she, even then not assuming the dependent position,
+but giving him her arm, as it were, in order to help him
+along.&nbsp; <a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+196</span>She even explained to us that, it being her
+&ldquo;Sunday out&rdquo; she had come all the way from Trehowel
+for this purpose.&nbsp; I may own that I distrusted that limp of
+Davy&rsquo;s; it struck me he liked to play the maimed hero.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, Davy,&rdquo; I remarked, very audibly.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;I saw you at market on Friday, and you weren&rsquo;t
+limping a bit.&nbsp; Do you want to have the old women to look at
+you or Nancy&mdash;.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To arm me?&rdquo; said Davy, with a wink.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s it, my boy.&nbsp; What&rsquo;s the old women
+to me?&nbsp; But Nancy&mdash;.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Here Nancy stopped the dialogue by dragging her admirer
+forward in a most hasty manner, with but slight regard for his
+wounded limb.&nbsp; The service proceeded as usual.&nbsp; The
+hymns occasionally tailed off into one voice which quivered and
+sank, dying out into silence; for as it was well known that the
+parson&rsquo;s daughter received <a name="page197"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 197</span>a shilling from her sire for
+pitching up the tune again every time it died a natural death, no
+one liked to be so crooked as not to assist nature when the
+melody became weak and low.&nbsp; Then the clear young voice came
+forth and we started afresh.&nbsp; I need hardly say there was no
+instrumental music.</p>
+<p>We proceeded, then, in spite of the special occasion in much
+our usual manner, leaving most of the thanksgiving to parson and
+clerk, and lolling about at our ease thinking of nothing, when
+attention! we heard galloping hoofs along the street, which ran
+outside the church.&nbsp; At the gate, the horse was suddenly
+reined up on his haunches&mdash;a man flung himself off heavily,
+and quick feet came tearing up the path to the porch.&nbsp; In an
+instant every man, woman, and child in the church stood upright,
+ready for fight or flight.</p>
+<p>The door burst open, and the express <a
+name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 198</span>messenger
+rushed in, booted, spurred, and breathless.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The French! the French!&rdquo; was all that he could
+gasp.&nbsp; He was surrounded in an instant by eager questioners,
+his voice was drowned in a very Babel of noise.</p>
+<p>Our worthy divine then assumed command of his
+congregation.&nbsp; He despatched the clerk to the vestry for a
+drop of brandy, and then standing square and upright in the
+pulpit he commanded the people to be quiet, and to allow the man
+to come unhindered into the pulpit, from where he would himself
+announce the news.&nbsp; These orders were obeyed, and John Jones
+having returned with the spirit, the parson administered it, and
+then desired the man to deliver his message.</p>
+<p>It was briefly this; sundry large ships of war, filled with
+French troops, were making their way up St. George&rsquo;s
+Channel straight for the port of Fishguard.</p>
+<p><a name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 199</span>In an
+instant the cry rang through the church&mdash;&ldquo;To arms! to
+arms!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then what a scene of confusion arose, fury, dismay, oaths and
+shrieks all mingled together, some women fainting, some in tears,
+the men roused and excited to the uttermost.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go, don&rsquo;t go, my son,&rdquo; sobbed
+my mother; but curiosity overcame prudence.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to fight, mother, never fear, but I
+must go and look on,&rdquo; was my answer.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh Dio, not again, not again!&rdquo; urged Nancy,
+thinking of the single combats.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to walk across the sea to tackle a
+frigate, I promise you,&rdquo; said Davy, with a laugh.&nbsp; But
+Nancy was not to be put off so.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All right, come.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m coming too,&rdquo; she
+said, and in another instant they were without the church door,
+where, indeed, we all <a name="page200"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 200</span>found ourselves shortly.&nbsp; We
+tore down to the cliffs as the possessed swine might have raced;
+many of us ran to man the fort, but I remained on the higher
+ground where I could have a better view and see further out to
+sea.</p>
+<p>And soon there was indeed a fair sight to see.&nbsp; Coming
+round the headland to the west of us, their sails filled with the
+brisk March breeze, appeared a stately squadron moving proudly
+under British colours; but having seen something like this
+before, some of us still doubted.&nbsp; The fort saluted, and
+this compliment was returned by the men-of-war without any
+changing of colours.&nbsp; We began to feel reassured, and soon
+our hopes were verified.&nbsp; A boat put off from the nearest
+ship and was rowed to shore in a style that swore to
+&ldquo;British tar.&rdquo;&nbsp; The officer landed and explained
+that the squadron was part of the Channel Fleet, sent <a
+name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 201</span>to our
+assistance, and that it was under the command of the brave Sir
+Edward Pellew.&nbsp; We were very proud of the help rendered us
+by England, even though it had come a little late, but that was
+the fault of our roads not their goodwill; and though it had
+occasioned a worse scare than the real thing, but that was only
+our disordered nerves which acted up to the old
+proverb&mdash;&ldquo;A burnt child dreads fire.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The officer inquired very particularly as to the probable
+whereabouts of the French ships&mdash;the three frigates and the
+lugger.&nbsp; About this we could give him no information
+whatever.&nbsp; All we could say was, that the French left their
+anchorage at Carreg Gwastad on Thursday, the 23rd of February, at
+noon, and took a course directly across the channel towards the
+coast of Ireland.&nbsp; Our little sloops did not care to venture
+too near since one of them, the <i>Britannia</i>, had <a
+name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>been taken
+by the enemy, the cargo appropriated, and the sloop scuttled and
+sunk.&nbsp; They were, on the whole, persons to whom it was
+pleasanter to give a wide berth.</p>
+<p>We heard afterwards that one of the ships struck on the Arklow
+Banks, she was much injured and lost her rudder; one of her
+companions took her in tow and made for France.&nbsp; They got as
+far as just off Brest, and then, in sight of home, cruel fate
+overtook them in the shape of two English ships, respectively
+under the commands of Sir H. B. Neale and of Captain Cooke.&nbsp;
+These two made short work of the Frenchmen, both ships were taken
+and brought over to Portsmouth, where they were repaired,
+commissioned in the British service, and sent to fight our
+battles, one of them&mdash;oh glory for our little
+town&mdash;bearing henceforth the name of &ldquo;<i>The
+Fishguard</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The remaining frigate, accompanied by <a
+name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 203</span>the lugger,
+got safely into Brest, where no doubt they were exceedingly
+relieved to find themselves after their disastrous
+expedition.</p>
+<p>The scare that our squadron had caused extended from St.
+David&rsquo;s to Fishguard, all along the coast, in fact, from
+which the big vessels could be seen approaching the land.&nbsp;
+There were one or two other scares besides this, for our nerves
+had been shaken, and our imaginations set going; and truly for
+many a long year after the little phrase &ldquo;Look out for the
+French!&rdquo; was enough to set women and children off at speed,
+and perhaps even to give an uncomfortable qualm in the hearts of
+the nobler sex.</p>
+<h3><a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+204</span>CHAPTER XII.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">INSIDE THE GOLDEN PRISON.</span></h3>
+<p>I went at Easter to pay a short visit to two maiden aunts who
+lived at Pembroke, where they kept a little millinery&mdash;shop
+I had almost said, but that would have vexed their gentle
+hearts&mdash;establishment.&nbsp; They were sisters of my mother,
+who came from this district, often called &ldquo;Little England
+beyond Wales,&rdquo; the people who live there being in fact
+Flemings, not Cymri, and the language they speak, being a Saxon
+dialect, is worth studying, not from its beauty, but from its
+quaintness and originality.&nbsp; Welsh is utterly unknown
+&ldquo;down below,&rdquo; as the <a name="page205"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 205</span>North Pembrokeshire folks call the
+southern half of the county.&nbsp; My mother had great difficulty
+in acquiring even a superficial knowledge of Welsh, and she was
+always regarded as a stranger in Fishguard, though she lived
+there nigh upon fifty years.&nbsp; It was probably my early
+acquaintance with English (of a sort) that made my father decide
+to bring me up for the ministry.</p>
+<p>However, to resume my story&mdash;which was strangely mixed up
+with that of the French prisoners&mdash;one of my chief pastimes
+during my visit to the worthy spinsters consisted in hanging
+about the entrance to the Golden Prison.&nbsp; The foreigners
+were allowed to employ their clever fingers in the manufacture of
+knick-knacks, made of straw, bones, beads, and other trifles,
+which they sold in order to provide themselves with anything they
+might require beyond the bare necessaries of life.&nbsp; My good
+aunts, Rebecca and <a name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+206</span>Jane Johnson, permitted these articles to be exhibited
+on a little table in their show-room, where ladies while idling
+away their time in choosing and trying on finery, might perchance
+take a fancy to some little object, and bestow some of their
+spare cash in helping the poor prisoners.&nbsp; What made my
+aunts first think of doing this kindly act was the
+representations of their assistant, a pretty young girl named
+Eleanor Martin, a daughter of the gaoler of the Golden Prison,
+who had had such a sudden accession to his numbers and his
+responsibilities.</p>
+<p>One day Nellie had occasion to go to the prison with the money
+produced by these trifles, and she asked me if I would like to
+accompany her and see the Frenchmen at work.&nbsp; My answer may
+be readily imagined.&nbsp; So we set forth, and the first person
+whom we saw when we reached the limbo of incarcerated bodies, if
+not of despairing souls, was <a name="page207"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 207</span>not by any means a repulsive object,
+being a remarkably pretty young woman, as like Nellie as two peas
+are like each other.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Is&rsquo;t thee, Fan?&rdquo; asked Nellie.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Where be feyther?&rdquo;&nbsp; Then, remembering her
+manners, she added, &ldquo;My sister Frances, Master
+Dan&rsquo;l.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Frances and I were speedily friends, in fact, the young woman
+saw too many strangers to be troubled by shyness.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Feyther&rsquo;s main busy, and mustn&rsquo;t be spoke
+to,&rdquo; she observed, with rather a knowing look at her
+sister.&nbsp; &ldquo;But the turnkey&rsquo;ll let us in.&nbsp;
+It&rsquo;s a mort easier to get in nor to get out of this old
+coop, Mas&rsquo;r Dan&rsquo;l.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I quite assented to this proposition, but remarked that I
+hoped the turnkey would not make any mistake about us.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No fear,&rdquo; said Frances, &ldquo;I was born here
+and knows the ways on it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+208</span>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that straw for, Frances?&rdquo; I
+asked, for I loved to acquire information.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For the Frenchers to make hats of.&nbsp; I brings them
+this much most days,&rdquo; she answered, looking down on her big
+bundle.</p>
+<p>I must really have been growing up lately, for (for the first
+time in my life) an instinct of gallantry seized me, and I
+offered to carry it for her.&nbsp; She declined in rather a
+hurried manner.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d liefer car&rsquo; it myself, thanking you the
+same.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s no heft at all, and maybe ye&rsquo;d shed
+it about.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not I,&rdquo; said I, indignantly, my gallantry
+gone.&nbsp; &ldquo;Do you think I&rsquo;ve never carried a truss
+of straw before?&nbsp; That&rsquo;s just like a girl.&nbsp; But
+what&rsquo;s that in the middle of the bundle?&rdquo; I
+continued, eyeing it curiously.&nbsp; &ldquo;Why, it&rsquo;s a
+bone, I believe!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Frances threw the corner of her apron over the bundle in a
+very pettish manner, and to <a name="page209"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 209</span>my great surprise grew as red as a
+poppy.&nbsp; What was there to blush about in a bone?&nbsp; Nell
+struck in hurriedly&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, of course it&rsquo;s a bone, Dan.&nbsp; And what
+could they make their buttons and ivory boxes out of but
+bone?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; I said, not
+liking to suggest &ldquo;ivory&rdquo; for fear, as tempers were
+ruffled, they might leave me outside.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then don&rsquo;t go for to ax silly questions,&rdquo;
+retorted Nell.&nbsp; &ldquo;Can us go in, Roche?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ay, my honies,&rdquo; returned Roche, the turnkey, whom
+we had now reached.&nbsp; &ldquo;Leastwise you and Fan can, in
+the coorse of natur; but who be this young crut?&rdquo; <a
+name="citation209"></a><a href="#footnote209"
+class="citation">[209]</a></p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, missus&rsquo; nevvy he be, as wants to see the
+Frenchers at work.&nbsp; &rsquo;Tis only a young boy, but
+we&rsquo;d just as lief let him stay if you&rsquo;d liefer not
+let him in.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I did not feel grateful to my young friend <a
+name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>for this
+suggestion, which, however, was probably dictated by the wiliness
+of woman.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, take him in there, and leave him if you&rsquo;ve a
+mind, my beauty.&nbsp; I reckon one more won&rsquo;t make no odds
+in there.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This he seemed to consider a first-class joke, for he guffawed
+till we were out of hearing.</p>
+<p>After passing through a guard-room, in which there were
+several soldiers smoking and lounging about, who offered no
+opposition to our passing, Fan and Nell being of course well
+known in the prison, we found ourselves in a large and very
+dreary hall, paved with flag-stones and almost devoid of
+furniture.&nbsp; The inmates, however, seemed pretty cheery on
+the whole; there were apparently about a couple of hundred of
+them, of whom some were working, some singing, some playing cards
+or dominoes&mdash;<i>all</i> talking.&nbsp; Yes, even the singing
+ones <a name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+211</span>talked between the verses.&nbsp; The spring sunshine
+came through the iron-barred, skied-up windows, and, in spite of
+other discouraging circumstances, these children of the South
+were (what we never are) gay as larks.</p>
+<p>They clustered around my companions with every mark of respect
+and admiration.&nbsp; I naturally didn&rsquo;t understand their
+jabber, but one remark which was, I rather think, meant for
+English, caught my ear.&nbsp; &ldquo;Zay are&mdash;some angels
+out of&mdash;ciel!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They say you&rsquo;re angels out of the ceiling.&nbsp;
+What on earth do they mean?&rdquo; I inquired.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We knows what they mean well enough, don&rsquo;t you
+trouble, my honey,&rdquo; answered Nell, who was more friendly to
+me than her sister was.</p>
+<p>I don&rsquo;t think Fan had got over her annoyance about the
+bone; she still carried the bundle of straw with her apron thrown
+over it.</p>
+<p><a name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 212</span>We
+now went to the part of the room where the men were busy with
+their manufactures, and here I had really cause for
+astonishment.&nbsp; With no tools except some wretched little
+penknives, these skilful-fingered fellows were turning out most
+lovely work in bone, wood, and slate.&nbsp; Some of them executed
+beautiful mosaic work by letting-in pieces of various coloured
+stones on a bed of slate; they afterwards ground and polished the
+whole till it resembled the far-famed Florentine mosaic.&nbsp; I
+perceived a grindstone in the corner of the room, which the
+leniency of the authorities permitted them to have and to
+use.</p>
+<p>Others of the prisoners were deftly plaiting the straw in many
+fanciful devices, these plaits again being rapidly transformed
+into hats for men, women, and even dolls.&nbsp; A great many toys
+were to be seen in various stages of their formation, wooden
+whistles, <a name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+213</span>ships, dolls, windmills, and many other objects of
+delight to childhood.</p>
+<p>I scanned eagerly the faces of all I saw to discover the
+countenances of any of my more particular assailants; but I did
+not succeed in recognising one of them.&nbsp; There was such a
+remarkable similarity among them, each man was as like his
+neighbour as could be; all haggard, all unwashed, all
+unshaven.&nbsp; They excited pity, even in a boy&rsquo;s
+unsentimental heart; and withal, now that they were not drunk
+with greed and brandy, they were so lively and merry.&nbsp; I was
+quite sorry I could not understand their jokes.</p>
+<p>Fan did not make over her straw to any of these men, as I
+fully expected that she would; nor did they seem to expect
+it.&nbsp; I heard a great deal of talk about Monsieur le
+Commissaire, and there was a good deal of pointing of fingers and
+something about &ldquo;chambre voisine.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page214"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 214</span>As
+Fanny sheered off I followed.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t I come into the voisin chamber?&rdquo; I
+asked, not knowing the meaning of the word, &ldquo;and see
+Mounseer the Commissary?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Fan looked at me in a startled way, but Nell interposed
+hastily&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let him come, he&rsquo;s main quick and might help;
+he&rsquo;s not a cursed boy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I must explain that in this dialect cursed means malicious or
+ill-natured; it has the meaning, in fact, which Shakespeare
+followed when he spoke of &ldquo;Kate the curst&rdquo; in his
+&ldquo;Taming of the Shrew.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Frances looked doubtful, but went on, Nellie and I
+following.&nbsp; As we entered the little adjoining room a young
+man jumped up, and, running to Nellie, took her hand and kissed
+it with much fervour.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hallo!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;what d&rsquo;you let that
+common fellow kiss your hand for?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He isn&rsquo;t a common fellow&mdash;he&rsquo;s an <a
+name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+215</span>engineer!&rdquo; cried Nell, angrily, &ldquo;and
+you&rsquo;re nothing but a dull young boy not to know a gentleman
+when you sees one!</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Beg pardon, mounseer,&rdquo; said I, for Frenchy was
+bowing to me, and I wished to show we Welsh knew manners.&nbsp;
+But though he might be a gentleman, I still hold to it, he was
+grimy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve brought you the money for the things sold in
+missus&rsquo; shop,&rdquo; continued Nell; then turning to me,
+&ldquo;This gentleman, as is an engineer, is main clever, and
+manages all the accounts.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The engineer seemed to me to have been clever enough to have
+managed more than accounts; however for once discretion prevailed
+and I held my tongue.&nbsp; Then Nellie and this mounseer fell to
+their accounts, and seemed to have a great deal to say to each
+other in a mixture of French and English, which, not
+understanding very well, I found <a name="page216"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 216</span>stupid, and turned to look for Fanny
+and her friend, another grimy individual, who proved to be the
+commissary himself.</p>
+<p>They also seemed much taken up with each other, and were
+conversing in the same lingo.&nbsp; I noticed that Fan had made
+over her bundle of straw to this man, and she seemed very busy
+talking over some arrangements.&nbsp; I approached, being willing
+to know what it was all about.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who ze plague is zis gar&ccedil;on?&rdquo; asked the
+commissary.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, a young boy from down town&mdash;veal,
+savez-vous?&nbsp; Nong mauvais&mdash;a smart young chap
+obligant.&nbsp; Can portey kelke chose, vous savez.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Bon!&rdquo; said the Frenchman, letting the word fly
+out like a shot, &ldquo;we af some drifles to make car out of
+zis.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I perceived at once that he had acquired his knowledge of
+English from Frances, as &ldquo;car&rdquo; for
+&ldquo;carry&rdquo; is pure Pembrokeshire.</p>
+<p><a name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+217</span>&ldquo;I shall be very glad to be of use,&rdquo; I
+remarked.&nbsp; &ldquo;What sort of things,
+Frances&mdash;gimcracks, I suppose?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Vat says he, l&agrave;?&rdquo; inquired the
+commissary.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, gimcracks of a sort&mdash;rather heavy, though, we
+find them,&rdquo; said Fan, not stopping to translate.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ll lend a hand, we&rsquo;d get along
+better.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; said I.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Zey is kep&rsquo; in ze bockat,&rdquo; remarked
+Mounseer, luckily indicating some pails in the corner by a
+gesture of his hand.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Adoo, Pierre, I think we&rsquo;d better alley,&rdquo;
+remarked Fan.&nbsp; This, I must say, was the sort of French I
+liked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To nex&rsquo; time, my cabbage!&rdquo; said Pierre.</p>
+<p>Then while they were busy over the buckets I turned suddenly
+and beheld the engineer bestowing on Nellie an unmistakable
+kiss.</p>
+<p><a name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+218</span>&ldquo;Hallo!&rdquo; I said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s only their foreign ways; like as if we was
+to shake hands,&rdquo; cried Nellie, running forward and looking
+very rosy.&nbsp; &ldquo;Come, catch a hoult on these pails,
+Dan&rsquo;l; they&rsquo;re main weighty for we maids.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I did catch hold of a couple of pails, one in each hand, and
+found that the last part of Nell&rsquo;s remark was true.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Just feel the heft of un!&rdquo; remarked Fanny.</p>
+<p>I did feel it a good deal before I had done with it.&nbsp;
+Nellie also carried a pail, and Frances a large bundle, done up
+in some old sacking.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s all that?&rdquo; I inquired, as we made
+our way out of the prison.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dirty clothes,&rdquo; said Frances, sharply.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;They must have some clean linen, I suppose, though they
+are Frenchmen!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>It seemed to me that they managed to <a
+name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 219</span>exist
+without it, but as the point was not material, and Frances
+appeared touchy, I held my tongue.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This young boy has giv&rsquo; a hand with the
+sweepings, Roche,&rdquo; said Frances, as we passed that
+functionary.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ay?&nbsp; Well, you and Nell be pretty well weighted
+too, surely,&rdquo; drawled Roche.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, gimcracks, and clothes for the wash-&rsquo;us
+(house),&rdquo; answered the girl lightly, and in another moment
+we were in freedom&mdash;in the open air.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, poor chaps; how good it is!&rdquo; said Nellie,
+drawing a long breath.</p>
+<p>We went round to a piece of untidy waste land behind the
+prison.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be bound your arms aches,&rdquo; said
+Frances.&nbsp; &ldquo;Drop the buckats, Dan&rsquo;l, and thank
+ye.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here!&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;drop your gimcracks on this
+dirty place&mdash;what for?&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+220</span>&ldquo;Oh, never mind what for; don&rsquo;t argufy, my
+boy, them&rsquo;s prison sweepings; the gimcracks is in
+Nellie&rsquo;s pail.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I thought these were mighty heavy gimcracks.&nbsp;
+Well, let me carry Nell&rsquo;s pail to the shop.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; cried Nell, stepping back,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d liefer car my own, don&rsquo;t you
+trouble.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then I&rsquo;ll take your dirty linen,&rdquo; said I,
+making a sudden grab at Frances&rsquo; bundle.</p>
+<p>To my great surprise some bits of stone and a cloud of mortar
+flew out.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hallo!&rdquo; I said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Look here, Dan&rsquo;l,&rdquo; said Fan, firmly,
+&ldquo;we are greatly beholden for your help, but we don&rsquo;t
+want no more at present.&nbsp; You go on with Dan&rsquo;l, Nell,
+and leave me here to empt the buckats.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nell put down her pail, took my arm, and marched me off.&nbsp;
+I was inclined to be offended, but she soothed me down as any <a
+name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 221</span>woman can
+when she chooses.&nbsp; She assured me that both the engineer
+(whom she called Jack&mdash;probably Jacques was his name) and
+the commissary had taken a great fancy to me, and would undertake
+to teach me French if I would only go often enough.</p>
+<p>I had not the least objection to going, as I found prison
+experiences amusing, but I could not quite understand the
+bucket-carrying part of it.</p>
+<p>However, neither flattery nor a curiosity stimulus were
+unpleasing to me, so I went frequently.</p>
+<h3><a name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+222</span>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">AWAY!&nbsp; AWAY!</span></h3>
+<p>A couple of weeks passed away thus, when one morning we were
+awakened early by a clamour in the street.&nbsp; All Pembroke was
+in an uproar.&nbsp; All that I could distinguish of the cries was
+one exclamation, &ldquo;The French!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Had they broken out, and were they going to sack the
+place?&nbsp; The panic reminded me of our feelings at Fishguard
+in the spring, but seemed more strange to me now, for in the
+interim I had become comparatively intimate with the foreigners,
+and had lost my fear of them.&nbsp; I jumped out of bed, dragged
+<a name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 223</span>on a
+garment or two, and flung open my little lattice window.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are the French?&rdquo; I yelled.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Away, away!&rdquo; came the answer.&nbsp; &ldquo;Clean
+gone.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The idea occurred to me that if they had gone away clean they
+must have been in a very different state to their usual
+condition; however, my reflections were disturbed by the sudden
+appearance of my Aunt Jane; she burst in head foremost.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s Eleanor?&rdquo; she gasped.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are the French?&rdquo; I answered lightly,
+&ldquo;Away, away!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are ye curs&euml;d, boy, or only dull?&rdquo; <a
+name="citation223"></a><a href="#footnote223"
+class="citation">[223]</a> queried my angry relative.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;What d&rsquo;ye mean?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;only I know no more
+about Nell than I do about the French.&nbsp; Isn&rsquo;t she in
+the shop?&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+224</span>&ldquo;In the shop!&nbsp; My patience&mdash;she
+isn&rsquo;t in the house, nor hasn&rsquo;t been for hours.&nbsp;
+Her bed is cold; I doubt she never got into un, only
+topsy-turvied un a bit.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nellie really gone!&rdquo; I was beginning to grasp the
+situation.&nbsp; &ldquo;Oh, Aunt Jane; she must have gone with
+Jack.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s Jack, name o&rsquo; fortune?&nbsp; I heard
+tell of a Billy and a Tommy, but norra Jack.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, this wasn&rsquo;t a Pembroke Jack, but Mounseer
+Jacques Roux, Esq., an engineer.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A Mounseer!&rdquo;&nbsp; Words failed my venerable
+relative; she sat down and went off into hysterics, which brought
+Aunt Rebecca to the rescue, and in the confusion I sidled down
+the stairs and escaped.</p>
+<p>I made my way through the crowd to the Golden Prison, and here
+a light dawned, and many things became clear to me.&nbsp; A crowd
+of people were standing at what appeared to me to be a hole in
+the ground, about sixty <a name="page225"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 225</span>yards from the wall of the
+prison.&nbsp; I edged myself through the lookers-on till I had
+reached the hole; it was one end of a subterranean passage, the
+other end of which doubtless emerged&mdash;but a sick qualm came
+over me, and to make matters worse at this moment I
+espied&mdash;and was seen by&mdash;Roche the turnkey.&nbsp; He
+was looking very small, but assumed an air of bluster when he
+perceived me.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Arrest that young chap there,&rdquo; he ordered his
+assistants.&nbsp; &ldquo;He was a helping o&rsquo; they sneaking
+scoundrels; I see un.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In another moment the two men had me in tow, and being also
+propelled by the crowd in a few minutes, I found myself inside
+the Golden Prison.&nbsp; I did not find the place at all
+entertaining this time.&nbsp; However, there were some
+magistrates there, and one of them, a Dr. Mansell, ordered the
+men to loose their hold while he questioned me.</p>
+<p><a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 226</span>I
+told all I knew, and at the end was relieved, but mortified to
+hear him say, &ldquo;There is no occasion to detain him, the boy
+evidently knew nothing about it.&nbsp; He was a young ass, but he
+is not the first of us who has been befooled by a
+woman.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>At this there was a general guffaw in which I tried to join,
+but I felt as small as Roche the turnkey.&nbsp; It appeared that
+all those pails and bundles had been full of earth, stones, and
+mortar, which the men had scraped out in making the tunnel.&nbsp;
+I went into the little inner room, and there in the floor, just
+behind where Pierre Lebrun used to sit, surrounded with bundles
+of straw, blocks of wood, etc., was the other end of the
+subterranean passage.&nbsp; They had absolutely scratched through
+the thick wall of the prison, and then grubbed like moles through
+sixty yards of earth, with no other implement than the bones of
+horses&rsquo; legs.</p>
+<p><a name="page227"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 227</span>I did
+not care for the remarks of the bystanders, and I got out of that
+gaol as quickly as I could, but not before Dr. Mansell had asked
+me another question or two.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I hear Frances Martin has absconded,&rdquo; he
+said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Can you tell me anything about Eleanor?&nbsp;
+She lives with your aunts, I think.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She is not to be found, sir,&rdquo; I answered.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;She is off with Jack, no doubt.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Jack?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Mounseer Jacques Roux, the engineer.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, the fellow who managed the tunnelling.&nbsp; Why do
+you pitch upon him?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t&mdash;she did, because he used to kiss
+her.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Kiss!&nbsp; By George, didn&rsquo;t that rouse your
+suspicions?&rdquo; cried the doctor.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, sir, they said it was the French way of shaking
+hands.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Go along, softy!&rdquo; cried the crowd, and I <a
+name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 228</span>went.&nbsp;
+But as I went I heard the stentorian voice of Dr. Mansell
+proclaim&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Five hundred guineas reward for the recovery of those
+two young women, dead or alive!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In a few hours handbills to this effect were posted all over
+the place, and, as soon as practicable, in every town in the
+kingdom; by which the names of Frances Martin and Eleanor Martin
+must have become well known.&nbsp; Whenever I saw one of these
+placards it seemed to me as if I had had something to do with a
+great crime, and that part of the five hundred guineas would
+perhaps be given for my body some day&mdash;dead or alive.</p>
+<p>I walked down to the shore to a little port on the outside of
+the town, the very place to which I had been on the previous
+Sunday with Nell.&nbsp; I remembered, with another qualm, the
+interest which she had taken in <a name="page229"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 229</span>the shipping, and how she had even
+begged me to ask some questions of the sailors, who, as usual,
+lounged about where they could smell tar.&nbsp; She said it was
+awkward for a girl to talk to these rough fellows, but that it
+was a pleasant variety for a young man.&nbsp; So, of course, I
+asked all the questions she desired about incoming sloops.&nbsp;
+I, thinking these questions referred to some sailor sweetheart,
+took no account of the matter at all.&nbsp; As we looked and
+talked we perceived a sloop in the offing coming in.&nbsp; The
+men said she would be in shortly, and that she was bringing culm
+for the use of Lord Cawdor&rsquo;s household.</p>
+<p>Nellie seemed very pleased and happy as she watched the sloop
+coming rapidly nearer, a brisk breeze from the south filling her
+sails and urging her onwards.&nbsp; The only boat actually in the
+harbour was Lord Cawdor&rsquo;s yacht.</p>
+<p><a name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 230</span>His
+lordship&rsquo;s yacht was now nowhere to be seen; the sloop was
+still there, for owing to the breeze and the sailors&rsquo; hurry
+to get ashore on Sunday, they had run her aground, and there she
+was hard and fast, but not in the same state as on Sunday.&nbsp;
+A hundred Frenchmen had made their escape, creeping through their
+tunnel and jumping out at the other end like so many
+jack-in-the-boxes.&nbsp; Some of the fugitives made at once for
+the yacht, some for the sloop, which, to their great
+disappointment, they found aground.&nbsp; They boarded it, lashed
+the sailors&rsquo; hands and feet (these men now recounted the
+story, each man to a listening crowd, which we must hope was a
+slight solace for their sufferings)&mdash;they took compass,
+water casks, and every scrap of food and clothing they could
+find; then conveyed them aboard the yacht which they launched,
+and off they were.&nbsp; The tied-up sailors had seen nothing of
+any <a name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+231</span>women, but between darkness and surprise it was a
+wonder they had noted as much as they had.</p>
+<p>This was all that we could gather at the time; it was only
+enough to make us very uncomfortable about the fate of the two
+rash girls.&nbsp; My position was not made more comfortable by
+the constant reproaches of my two old aunts, who seemed to think
+me in some way responsible for Nell&rsquo;s escapade.&nbsp;
+Altogether I was not sorry that it was decided to send me back at
+once to St. David&rsquo;s; school was better than scorn.&nbsp;
+But the very night before I left Pembroke, my uncomfortable
+feelings were doomed to be deepened.&nbsp; The stern of the yacht
+was washed ashore with other timbers, on one of which his
+lordship&rsquo;s name was inscribed.&nbsp; There could be little
+doubt of the fate of those on board.&nbsp; The weather had been
+rough and foggy, and these French soldiers <a
+name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 232</span>were
+probably little skilled in navigation.&nbsp; So I departed to St.
+David&rsquo;s with a heavy heart.</p>
+<p>Some weeks passed in the usual course of classics and
+mathematics rammed in by main force, when one day there came a
+letter to me in Aunt Jane&rsquo;s handwriting.&nbsp; I was
+surprised, for my aunts were not given to composition; but on
+opening the envelope I found Aunt Jane had
+written&mdash;nothing.&nbsp; She had merely enclosed, oh, greater
+surprise, a foreign letter.&nbsp; I had never had, and never
+expected to have, a foreign correspondent.&nbsp; What language
+would he write in&mdash;a quick hope flashed through me that it
+might not be Latin, any other I would give up quietly.</p>
+<p>I opened the letter and perceived it was in English.&nbsp; It
+ran as follows:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Dear Mastr
+Danl</span>,&mdash;I hope as this finds you well as it leaves me
+at present.&nbsp; <a name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+233</span>You was main good to we, so I pens this line to say as
+I am no longer Eleanor Martin but Madam Roux.&nbsp; [Oh
+joy!&nbsp; I didn&rsquo;t care what her name was as long as she
+wasn&rsquo;t drowned.] Yes, me and Jack have married, only he
+likes it writ Jacques which is a mort of trouble.&nbsp;
+Howsomever we gets along lovely so likewise do Frances and her
+young man Peter which were a commisser and she is now Madam
+Lebrun.&nbsp; We did a main lot for they lads&mdash;which they
+was grateful.&nbsp; Praps you&rsquo;d like to hear that after we
+got safe away in his ludship&rsquo;s yat, after you&rsquo;d
+kindly helpd we to burrow out o jail, we come in for three days
+fog.&nbsp; Short commons there was till we overtook a brig, gave
+out as we was shiprackt and was took aboord, Fan and me dressed
+as lads.&nbsp; That night we was too many for the crew of the
+brig, as nocked under and us made them steer for France, so here
+we be.&nbsp; The brig had corn aboord, so <a
+name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 234</span>we wasnt
+clemmed.&nbsp; We let the yat go.&nbsp; Hoping to see you soon, I
+remains,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;Your humbel servant to
+command,<br />
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Nellie</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Her ending wish was granted some years after, when peace was
+settled between England and France.&nbsp; Nellie and her husband,
+the engineer, came back to Wales and settled for a time in
+Merthyr, where they opened a large inn, he following his
+profession in the mines, both he and his wife roasting me
+unmercifully when I went to stay with them (a full-fledged
+curate), on the assistance I had once rendered to the French
+prisoners in a mining operation; but I hope all will understand
+that this assistance was unintentional on my part, and that I
+greatly condemn the unpatriotic conduct of the sisters.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">The Gresham Press.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">UNWIN
+BROTHERS,</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">CHILWORTH AND LONDON.</span></p>
+<h2>NOTES.</h2>
+<p><a name="footnote14"></a><a href="#citation14"
+class="footnote">[14]</a>&nbsp; Laws, &ldquo;Little England
+beyond Wales.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="footnote18"></a><a href="#citation18"
+class="footnote">[18]</a>&nbsp; These letters are given in the
+narrative.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26"
+class="footnote">[26]</a>&nbsp; &ldquo;Biographie de Lazare
+Hoche,&rdquo; par Emile de Bonnechose.&nbsp; Hachette, Paris.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote36"></a><a href="#citation36"
+class="footnote">[36]</a>&nbsp; Laws, &ldquo;Little England
+beyond Wales.&rdquo;&nbsp; Mason, Tenby.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote51"></a><a href="#citation51"
+class="footnote">[51]</a>&nbsp; Cawl&mdash;leek broth.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote52"></a><a href="#citation52"
+class="footnote">[52]</a>&nbsp; Cwrw da&mdash;good ale.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote80"></a><a href="#citation80"
+class="footnote">[80]</a>&nbsp; &ldquo;Taws pia hi,&rdquo; a
+Welsh proverb.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote115"></a><a href="#citation115"
+class="footnote">[115]</a>&nbsp; Dear Davy.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote129"></a><a href="#citation129"
+class="footnote">[129]</a>&nbsp; A fact.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote154"></a><a href="#citation154"
+class="footnote">[154]</a>&nbsp; Now in the possession of Mr.
+Brett, the well-known artist.&mdash;<span
+class="smcap">Editor&rsquo;s Note</span>.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote209"></a><a href="#citation209"
+class="footnote">[209]</a>&nbsp; <i>Crut</i>, probably a
+contraction of <i>creature</i>.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote223"></a><a href="#citation223"
+class="footnote">[223]</a>&nbsp; <i>Dull</i>, stupid.</p>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHGUARD INVASION BY THE FRENCH
+IN 1797***</p>
+<pre>
+
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