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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Won by the Sword, by G.A. Henty
+
+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: Won by the Sword
+       A Story of the Thirty Years' War
+
+Author: G.A. Henty
+
+Release Date: January, 2004  [EBook #4931]
+Posting Date: June 13, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WON BY THE SWORD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WON BY THE SWORD
+
+A STORY OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
+
+
+By G.A. Henty
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+MY DEAR LADS,
+
+In my preface to the Lion of the North I expressed a hope that I might
+some day be able to continue the history of the Thirty Years' War. The
+deaths of Gustavus and his great rival Wallenstein and the crushing
+defeat of the Swedes and their allies at the battle of Nordlingen
+brought the first period of that war to a close. Hostilities, indeed,
+never ceased, but the Swedes no longer played the leading part on the
+Protestant side that they had hitherto occupied. Oxenstiern, the great
+chancellor of Sweden, saw that the only hope of eventual success lay in
+engaging France in the struggle, and he and the Duke of Weimar went
+to Paris and pointed out to Richelieu that unless France intervened,
+Austria must become the master of all Germany, and as the ally of Spain
+would have it in her power to completely dominate France. Richelieu
+perceived the opportunity, made a treaty with the Swedes and Weimar, and
+engaged to grant large subsidies to the former, and to send an army to
+cooperate with the latter. Then began the second period of this long and
+terrible struggle, France now taking the place that Sweden had hitherto
+occupied, and bearing the brunt of the conflict. She emerged triumphant
+with her territories largely increased, while Austria was crushed and
+humiliated, and Spain was dethroned from her position as the dominating
+power of Europe. The success of France was greatly due to the fact that
+her armies were led by two of the greatest military geniuses of all
+times, viz., Conde and Turenne, men of very different types, but equally
+great as commanders, and equally at the time of which we are speaking
+devoted to the cause of France. Both were men of extraordinary personal
+courage, and although one was as prudent and careful of the lives of his
+troops as the other was impetuous and careless at what cost he won his
+victories, they worked together with a harmony that could have hardly
+been expected among men so differently constituted. Although, in
+the subsequent wars of the Fronde they took different sides, their
+friendship, except during a short period of alienation, was never
+shaken, and their admiration for each other's genius never abated.
+
+Yours sincerely,
+
+G.A. HENTY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I: A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE
+
+
+A mounted officer, followed by two orderlies, was proceeding at a brisk
+trot from Paris to St. Denis, in October, 1639, when he came upon a
+large party of boys, who, armed with sticks, were advancing in something
+like military order against a wall on the top of a low hill.
+
+"What are you doing?" he asked the lad who appeared to be the leader.
+
+"We are playing at war, sir. We are advancing against the fortress of La
+Motte. This is the regiment of Turenne."
+
+"And who are you at other times?" the officer asked with a smile.
+
+"My name is Hector Campbell, sir."
+
+"Then you are not French?"
+
+"No, sir; my father was an officer in the Scotch regiment. He was killed
+at the siege of La Rochelle."
+
+"And who is taking care of you?"
+
+"I live with Angus MacIntosh. He was a sergeant in my father's company.
+He was badly wounded at La Rochelle, and not being fit for further
+service, he took a cabaret near the barracks. The officers are very
+kind. They allow him a sum for taking care of me. Of course I am often
+in barracks, and have learned the drill, and I have heard and read about
+battles and sieges, so I am chosen to command."
+
+"And so you know something of the battles in which Turenne was engaged?"
+
+"I think I know about them all, sir, both in Holland and on the Rhine,
+and have seen plans of the battles. Of course this is not at all like
+La Motte, which was on the top of a high rock, so that when Turenne was
+ordered to attack with his regiment after the general's son had failed,
+he had to pass not only through a heavy fire, but through the huge
+stones that the enemy hurled down. It was grand; and he did well at
+all the other sieges. Then, again, there was Saverne. See how he
+fought there, and stormed the place when even the Swedes, who are good
+soldiers, had failed. I think he is going to be the greatest of our
+captains."
+
+"Turenne is only a learner in the art of war," the other said gravely.
+
+"I think he has learnt more than any of the rest," the boy said boldly;
+"and all the soldiers love him more than any of the other generals, for
+he takes such care of them, and does not treat them as if they were dirt
+under his feet, only meant to obey orders, and go and get killed when
+told."
+
+"You have heard him very much over praised," the officer said quietly.
+"I think that he does his best; but he is a young man yet, not older
+than I am. His advance has been due to fortune rather than to his own
+merits."
+
+"I don't think so," the boy said sturdily. "Do you think that he would
+be a lieutenant general at twenty-eight, and that all the soldiers would
+speak of him as they do, if it were only fortune? Look how he captured
+Landrecies and Solre, and drove the Austrians back from Maubeurge, and
+aided the Duke of Weimar to thrash them at Weilenweir, and stormed the
+main fort of Breisach! He has been successful in all his enterprises,
+and now it is said he is to command in Italy, where things have been
+going on badly. The cardinal would not have chosen him had he not
+considered that no one could do better than he."
+
+The officer laughed. "Well, young sir, I see that you are so well
+acquainted with the sieges and battles of our time that I cannot argue
+with you."
+
+"I did not mean that, sir," the boy said in some confusion. "I was only
+saying what our soldiers think, and it is natural that I, being only a
+boy, should make him my hero, for he went to the wars when he was a year
+younger than I am, and at fourteen carried a musket as a volunteer
+under Maurice of Nassau, and for five years he was in all the battles in
+Holland, and raised the first battery that opened on Bois-le-duc."
+
+"And do you receive no pension as the son of an officer killed in
+battle?"
+
+"No, sir. When the living soldiers often have to go months without their
+pay, the sons of dead ones can hardly expect to be thought of. But I
+don't care; in two years I shall be old enough to enlist, and I shall go
+to the frontier and join Hepburn's Scottish brigade, who are now, they
+say, in the French service."
+
+"They are fine soldiers--none better," the officer said. "But why does
+not the colonel of your father's regiment ask for a commission for you?"
+
+"The regiment is not in favour with the cardinal," the boy replied with
+a smile. "They are too Protestant for his eminence, and the colonel is
+not a man to ask favours if he is likely to be refused."
+
+"Well," the officer said, "it is clear to me that you are a lad of
+spirit, and that you have done your best to prepare yourself for your
+profession as a soldier by studying military history, and I think it
+hard that, as the son of an officer who died in battle for France,
+France should have done nothing for you. I have some little influence
+myself. What is the name of this cabaret that Sergeant MacIntosh keeps?"
+
+"The Scottish Soldier, sir. It is near the gate of the barracks of St.
+Denis."
+
+"Do not go out tomorrow afternoon. I will have a talk with him, and
+maybe I can be of some assistance to you."
+
+So saying, he touched his horse's flank with his heel and rode on, while
+the boys continued their play. The next afternoon the lad remained at
+home, to the surprise of the sergeant.
+
+"What keeps you in today, Hector? It is rare indeed that you are indoors
+in the afternoon."
+
+"An officer came along while we were playing," the lad said, "and
+asked me some questions. I told him who I was. He said that he had some
+influence, and might be able to assist me."
+
+"What sort of assistance?" the sergeant grumbled. "He must have
+influence indeed if he can get you a pension."
+
+"I don't think it was that," the boy said. "I said that I should like to
+enlist as a volunteer."
+
+The sergeant laughed. "Well, they do take volunteers as young as you
+are, Hector, but they must be cadets of a noble family. You will have to
+wait another couple of years before they will enlist you, much less take
+you as a volunteer."
+
+There were a good many Scottish soldiers sitting in the room, when an
+officer rode up to the door and dismounted.
+
+"It is a general officer," one of the men said, looking out of the
+window, and as the door opened and the officer entered, all stood up and
+saluted.
+
+"Sit down, men," he said. "I am not here to disturb you, but to have a
+talk with Sergeant MacIntosh. Have you a room, sergeant, where we can
+speak privately?"
+
+"Yes, general," the sergeant said, saluting again, and led the way into
+a little room generally devoted to the use of noncommissioned officers.
+The officer caught Hector's eye, and beckoned to him to follow.
+
+"Do you know me, sergeant?"
+
+"Yes, general, you are Viscount Turenne."
+
+Hector gave an involuntary exclamation of horror at the thought of the
+freedom with which he had the day before discoursed with this famous
+commander. Military officers at that time did not wear any set uniforms,
+and indeed there was very considerable latitude among the soldiers, and
+it was only because he was followed by two attendants that the boy had
+taken him to be an officer, probably a young captain. The quietness of
+his dress had not even led him to believe that he belonged to a noble
+family.
+
+"This lad tells me that he is the son of Captain Campbell of the
+Scottish regiment?"
+
+"That is so, general."
+
+"And also that you were a sergeant in his father's company, and have
+since taken care of him."
+
+"I have done the best I could for him, general; but indeed the officers
+of the regiment allow me quite as much as the lad's food costs."
+
+"He seems to be a careful student of military history, sergeant?"
+
+"That he is, sir. I don't think there has been a battle, or even a
+skirmish, in the past ten years which he cannot tell you the ins and
+outs of. He will sit here for hours as quiet as a mouse when some
+soldiers from the wars come in, and sometimes he gets books lent him
+with the plans of battles and sieges, and when he is not doing that he
+is in the barrack yard watching the men drill. I believe he knows all
+the words of command as well as any captain in the Scottish regiment. As
+to handling his musket, I have taught him that myself, and the use of
+a sword, too, since he was ten years old, and the men of his father's
+company have taken pleasure in teaching the lad all they knew in that
+way."
+
+"He reminds me of my own boyhood," the general said. "I like his looks,
+and it seems to me that he has the making of a good officer. All the
+officers of the regiment are men of good Scottish families, and as such
+can serve in any capacity. I have often need of a young officer who can
+carry my messages on a field of battle, and can be trusted to understand
+their import and deliver them faithfully. Now, Campbell," he said,
+turning to the lad, who was standing with flushed face and eyes beaming
+with delight and gratitude, "I will give you the choice. I will either
+appoint you a volunteer for a year, in which time, if your conduct is
+satisfactory, I will name you lieutenant, or I will take you directly
+into my own household. My object in either case would be to produce an
+officer likely to be useful to his Majesty.
+
+"I should certainly not have adopted that course had it not been that
+you appear already to have learned the duties of a soldier, and to
+be acquainted with the ordinary drill and with the necessities of a
+soldier's life. If you enter my household you will find it no child's
+play, certainly no life of ease and comfort. I do not spare myself, nor
+do I spare the officers immediately under me. In a regiment you would
+learn better, perhaps, the duties of a regimental officer, but with me
+you will have more opportunities of learning the art of war, and of some
+day becoming a distinguished officer, always supposing that you are
+not shot down in battle or die of fatigue and hardship. Which do you
+choose?"
+
+"Oh, sir, how can I thank you for your goodness? There is nothing in the
+world that I should like so much as to be in your service."
+
+"So be it," the general said. "I shall obtain an appointment for you as
+lieutenant attached to my household. At first, you will simply have to
+carry messages for me; but when I have learnt more of your character I
+shall employ you as one that I can trust.
+
+"Sergeant, here is a purse, use the contents in furnishing the lad with
+clothes suitable for his position, and let him call on me in three days
+at the hotel of the Duc de Bouillon, where I am staying.
+
+"Can you ride?" he asked suddenly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I will see to the matter of a horse for you. I shall be leaving at the
+end of a week to join the army in Italy. And remember always, lad," he
+added with a smile, "that I am still but a learner in the art of war."
+
+So saying he nodded kindly to him and the sergeant, went out, returned
+the salute of the soldiers, mounted his horse, which his orderly was
+holding for him, and rode off.
+
+"Well, well," said the sergeant, who with Hector had followed him out,
+"the like of this I never saw before: to think that the Viscount of
+Turenne should visit the cabaret of a soldier, and should have deigned
+to offer you a position in his household! I can scarce believe that I
+am not dreaming. How did it all come about, and how have you thus gained
+his favour?"
+
+"I am ashamed to say, sergeant, that I gained it by my presumption; now
+that I know who he was, I may say by my insolence. A party of us were
+having a mimic battle. We were acting as the regiment of Turenne at the
+storming of La Motte. I was in command, and so acting as Turenne, when
+a gentleman, who, by his appearance and age, and by the fact that two
+troopers rode behind him, I took to be a captain in the army, came up
+and questioned me as to what we were doing. I told him, then he talked
+about Turenne. I said I thought he was our greatest general. He, that
+Turenne was only a learner in the art of war. I upheld him, and spoke
+of the battles and sieges in which he had taken part. Then he asked me
+about myself, and I told him my birth and bringing up, and he said he
+might be of assistance to me, and would call here and see you."
+
+"Well, well, it almost passes belief, Hector, that a boy like you should
+have dared to enter into an argument with an officer, even if only, as
+you believed, a captain. And to think that this has come of it, instead
+of his having laid his whip across your back, as you deserved. Your
+fortune is made, lad, that is, if you behave yourself. Turenne is a
+great soldier; and more than that, from what I have heard he is loved by
+his men more than any other general, and they will do anything for
+him. His regiment here, though he was but nineteen when he obtained
+his command, was admitted to be one of the best drilled and the best
+disciplined of any in the service.
+
+"He saw to everything himself, spent his whole time in drilling them
+as if he had been only a lieutenant with nothing but his sword for his
+fortune, instead of a great noble. When he was with de la Valette
+and Weimar, and the army had to fall back and were well nigh starved,
+Turenne sold his plate and his carriages to buy food for the men. He had
+his own baggage thrown out of the wagons to make room for those who
+were too weak to march; and on one occasion gave up his own horse to a
+soldier who was sinking from fatigue and hunger, and himself marched on
+foot. He always leads his troops in battle, and wherever he goes they
+will follow. He was right in saying that he does not spare himself. The
+soldiers believe that he does without any sleep when on a campaign, for
+he is for ever going round seeing that everything is in order, that the
+outposts are properly placed and vigilant, and that the soldiers have
+food, and such comfort as can be obtained. Now let us go in and tell my
+comrades of your good fortune. There is not a man in the regiment who
+will not be glad to hear of it. I will go across with you myself to the
+colonel's lodging."
+
+"But please, sergeant, do not say a word about my folly; only say that
+the general, coming across a party of us playing at war, questioned me,
+and finding that I was the son of a Scottish officer who had been killed
+at La Rochelle, and that I had worked hard at getting up the history
+of the wars, and longed much to go into the army, had promised to come
+round the next day, and said that he might be able to aid me."
+
+"I understand, lad. Yes, it is better that your foolishness should not
+be known."
+
+The colonel was greatly pleased when he heard of what had happened.
+
+"I had intended myself to have asked for a commission for you when you
+were a couple of years older," he said to Hector, "but I was by no means
+sure of getting it, for the cardinal is not partial to the regiment.
+Turenne, however, stands high in his favour--in spite of the fact that
+his brother, the Duc de Bouillon, has left Richelieu's party, and is
+regarded by him as an enemy--so we may be sure that your commission will
+be at once signed. You must sup with me and the officers of the regiment
+tonight. There is not one who will not rejoice that your father's son
+has met with such good fortune, for assuredly you could not have entered
+the army under better auspices.
+
+"It is just like Turenne to have thus come forward to assist the son of
+a brave soldier killed in action. As a rule, I am sorry to say that the
+officers of our army concern themselves but little with the affairs
+of the soldiers under their command. Of course in our regiment it is
+different, as we have many gentlemen of well known Scottish families
+serving in the ranks, and most of the others are our own clansmen,
+or come from our dales. We all cling together as countrymen among
+strangers, though indeed we can hardly regard them as strangers, seeing
+that Scotland and France have ever been allies, and that our Queen Mary
+was a French princess. And now that Scotland has given kings to England,
+and English troops fought side by side with the French under Henry of
+Navarre against the Spaniards and Guises, and, although not in strict
+alliance, are alike enemies of the Spaniards, we can scarce feel
+ourselves as strangers here. Besides, is not a French princess wife of
+King Charles?
+
+"I do not say that either England or France has altogether forgotten the
+long wars between them, but that is a very old story now, and as long
+as Spain threatens to extend her power over all Europe, so long are we
+likely to remain good friends. If the power of Spain is once broken, old
+quarrels may break out again, but I trust that that will not be in my
+time, for assuredly the regiment, although willing to fight against all
+other enemies of France, would refuse to march against our countrymen.
+Now, Sergeant MacIntosh, I know that you must be anxious to get back to
+your inn. You will have a busy time this afternoon unless I am greatly
+mistaken. Leave Campbell with me.
+
+"In the first place, it will be as well that he should not be down
+there, for the fun is likely to get fast and furious. There is not a
+man in the regiment who knew his father but will be drinking the lad's
+health, and it were better that he should go tomorrow through the
+barracks and shake their hands, than that he should be among them there.
+You can tell them that I have taken the boy off, so that they may not
+think that he stayed away on his own account. We will see him fitted
+out. It is a matter that touches the honour of the regiment that the
+son of our old comrade should make a fair show in the household of the
+viscount."
+
+"The general has left me a purse for that purpose, colonel."
+
+"It was a kindly thought, but let the lad start with it in his pocket.
+It is our duty to see that he has everything befitting his father's
+son."
+
+As soon as the sergeant left, the colonel said, "Now, Campbell, do you
+go into the anteroom. I shall be ready to go out with you in half an
+hour."
+
+Orderlies were then despatched to the various officers' lodgings, and in
+a few minutes they assembled. The colonel told them what had happened,
+and said that in his opinion it concerned the honour of the regiment to
+see that their comrade's son was properly equipped.
+
+All those who had known Captain Campbell were greatly pleased with the
+news, and there was not a dissenting voice when the colonel proposed
+that there should be a general subscription of two days' pay. He
+himself, however, and Captain Campbell's friends, gave a much larger
+amount, and the total was amply sufficient for the equipment of a young
+man of good family joining the army. Hector was then called in and
+informed of what had taken place, and heartily congratulated by the
+officers. He was greatly affected by their kindness and the proof of the
+estimation in which his father had been held.
+
+"We had always intended to do this," the colonel said, "when the time
+came for your entering the army, for we felt that it would indeed be
+a discredit to the regiment were you to go into the world without the
+equipment that a Scottish gentleman should have. Now, Captain Mackenzie
+and Captain Home, I will ask you to act as furnishers. You know what
+is required for a young officer on the staff of a general like Viscount
+Turenne, who would be called upon to accompany him to court, and must
+do him no discredit; besides which, he must of course have clothes for
+a campaign. He will not need arms, for I have kept for him his father's
+sword and pistols. See that the tailors undertake to get his clothes
+ready quickly, for he is to accompany Turenne to Italy in four or five
+days. One suit at least must be finished in two days, for on the third
+he is to wait upon Turenne, who is staying at the hotel of the Duc de
+Bouillon, and he may possibly be presented to the cardinal."
+
+The dress of a French gentleman in the reign of Louis XIII differed but
+slightly from that worn at the same time by the cavaliers of Charles
+I. It consisted of a loose cloak of cloth, silk, satin, or velvet,
+according to the occasion and the wealth of the wearer. It generally
+hung loosely on the shoulders, but two or three of the top buttons were
+sometimes fastened; the sleeves were loose and open from the elbow.
+Sometimes the cloak was richly embroidered. Over it fell a collar of
+rich lace, with Vandyke border. Beneath it was worn a short tightly
+fitted doublet embroidered in front, with puffed sleeves, and with a
+belt or sash round the waist. The breeches were very full, reaching to
+the knee. For walking or riding, loose high boots turned down at the top
+and trimmed with lace or frillings joined the breeches; while in court
+dress, silk stockings and shoes with rosettes were worn. The swords hung
+from a richly embroidered baldrick going over the right shoulder.
+
+Officers of the different regiments were distinguished by the colour of
+their sashes, which was the only point of regimental uniformity. When on
+a campaign doublets were usually worn of thick buff leather; armour was
+still used, but was far less cumbrous than it had been, consisting
+for the most part solely of shoulder pieces and cuirass, with plates
+covering the upper part of the arm, thick buff leather gauntlets being
+considered sufficient protection below the elbow. Four suits were
+ordered for Hector: one for court, another for general use when in Paris
+or other large towns, the third for travelling and when in attendance
+with the general, the fourth for actual service in the field.
+
+Almost as expensive as the suits were the shirts, with their deep lace
+collars and ruffle; while for service in the field half a dozen plain
+shirts were purchased. The headdress on ordinary occasions was a broad
+beaver hat with plumes, and in the field a close fitting helmet with
+cheek pieces. Visors had been almost entirely given up. On the third day
+Hector presented himself at the appointed hour at the hotel of the Duc
+de Bouillon. He was dressed in the second best of his costumes, and
+wore for the first time his father's sword. In the hall were numbers of
+soldiers and lackeys. One of the latter came up to him.
+
+"I am here to see the Viscount Turenne by appointment," he said.
+
+The lackey led the way to a large chamber, where several officers and
+gentlemen were waiting. Here Hector gave his name to a chamberlain, who
+took it into another apartment. He waited for half an hour, and observed
+that while the officers, one by one, were taken into the room where the
+lackey had carried his name, the nobles and gentlemen, who were
+much more numerous, were shown into another, which was evidently the
+principal reception room. He guessed at once that it was here that the
+Duc de Bouillon was receiving visitors, while his brother was engaged in
+giving interviews to officers, who perhaps desired appointments in his
+army, or in arranging details of stores, arms, and ammunition required
+for its use. At last his turn came; and on his name being called, he
+followed the usher into a small apartment, where Turenne was sitting at
+a table covered with letters. The general looked at him critically.
+
+"You make a very good figure," he said, "and better, I can tell you,
+than I did at your age, for I was but weakly, while you are well grown
+and strong. Among your other exercises you have not neglected the use of
+your sword. I could tell that as soon as my eyes fell upon you."
+
+"No, general, I have practised for two or three hours a day since I was
+ten years old, and I think that almost every soldier in the regiment
+has been my instructor in turn, and the maitre-d'armes of the regiment
+himself gave me lessons twice a week."
+
+"I have managed your business for you," the viscount said. "I saw the
+cardinal yesterday and asked for a commission for you. He simply asked
+for what regiment, and I said that at present I intended to keep you
+about my own person, as I thought you would make a good officer and
+would some day do me credit. He was busy at the time, so he simply
+signed an appointment as a lieutenant and gave it to me to fill in your
+name. I asked if I should bring you to his levee tomorrow, but he said,
+'There is no occasion, viscount, we have both plenty on our hands;
+neither you nor I can waste time on young lieutenants. You can present
+him to me when you return from the war.' You know the cardinal by sight,
+I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, general, I have seen him many times."
+
+"He is a great man," Turenne said thoughtfully, rather as if speaking to
+himself than to Hector; "the greatest that France has ever known--he is
+the soul of France. It is well, indeed, that we have at present a king
+who recognizes how great a man he is, and is wise enough to know that
+although he himself is somewhat overshadowed, France is made greater and
+stronger and his own reign more glorious by his genius." Then he broke
+off with a smile. "I was talking to myself rather than to you. I shall
+ride to St. Denis at two o'clock today; be here at that time. I will
+order the horse, that I have purchased for you, to be brought round
+here."
+
+Hector was about to express his gratitude, but the general at once
+stopped him. "I need no thanks," he said. "I perceived in the ardour
+with which you have studied military matters that you would make a good
+officer, and you remind me of my own boyhood. I always like to help
+forward officers who I see ready, not only to do their actual business
+but to go beyond it, in order to acquire knowledge, and I doubt not that
+I shall find this in you. But you must remember, lad, that you are now
+no longer a civilian, but a soldier, that you must be not only obedient
+but respectful to those above you in rank, that discretion as well as
+courage is necessary for success, that you must be thoughtful for
+the comfort of the soldiers, ready to expose your life in battle
+to encourage them, and also to set them an example of endurance,
+cheerfulness, and good spirits in times of hardship and distress.
+Remember that, to the soldier, there is no such thing as party; he
+fights for France and for France only, and should hold himself aloof
+from even the smallest expression of opinion on political matters. Then,
+at two o'clock."
+
+Hector bowed deeply and left the room. When he returned to the hotel
+at two o'clock, six grooms were standing with the horses before the
+entrance; he waited outside until the viscount, followed by four
+officers, came out.
+
+"Oh, here you are, lieutenant!" he said, as his eye fell on Hector; "I
+was afraid that punctuality was not among your virtues. Gentlemen, this
+is Lieutenant Hector Campbell, son of a brave officer of the Scottish
+regiment who fell at La Rochelle; he is, for the present, attached to
+my household, and will ride with us for Italy the day after tomorrow.
+Campbell, this gentleman is Colonel d'Estampes, who is the head of
+my staff; this Major Mutton, who will have the control of all matters
+connected with the artillery; these are Messieurs de Lisle and Emile de
+Chavigny, who are my aides-de-camp. Now, gentlemen, let us mount."
+
+As the Scottish regiment was a mounted one, Hector had had ample
+opportunities to learn to ride well, and he now fell in with the two
+aides-de-camp, who were both young men of eighteen or nineteen years of
+age, members of good families, and together they followed the Viscount
+Turenne, who rode on ahead with the two staff officers. While they
+were making their way through the narrow streets of Paris they rode but
+slowly, but as soon as they passed through the gates they went on at a
+brisk pace.
+
+"You are fortunate," de Lisle said, "in having obtained a commission so
+young, although I do not say that there are not many of similar age in
+the army."
+
+"I am fortunate indeed," Hector replied, "fortunate beyond anything
+that I could have believed possible, thanks to the goodness of Viscount
+Turenne."
+
+"You could not enter the army under better patronage," de Chavigny said.
+"We have both served under him for two years on the Rhine, and had we
+been his brothers he could not have been more kind; but the work, ma
+foi, was tremendous. The soldiers may well say that the general is
+sleepless. Happily he does not expect us to go altogether without rest.
+Frequently he is away all night by himself in the saddle, sometimes
+he takes one or other of us with him, but at any rate we get a night's
+sleep by turns. Much as he has to worry him--what with the ignorance
+of some and the carelessness of others--I have never seen him out of
+temper; but then a reproof, however mildly spoken, by him, is more
+dreaded than a volley of abuse from any other general. He was telling us
+before he came out that you are already well up in drill, and in the use
+of arms."
+
+"Yes; I have been brought up, I may say, in the Scottish regiment, and
+after my father's death the officers and men were all very kind to me,
+and I learnt my drill both as a soldier and an officer, to fence, use
+my pistols, and ride. The officers lent me books on military history and
+tactics."
+
+"The viscount said you were wonderfully well read in such matters," de
+Lisle said. "I own that beyond the campaigns that I have taken part in I
+have a very vague idea of such things. My time before I joined was taken
+up with learning the use of arms, equitation, and certain dry studies
+under an abbe. I wish now that instead of Latin I had learned something
+of military history; it seems to me that when one is intended for the
+army it is a good deal more important than Latin or theology."
+
+"I fancy, de Lisle," his companion said laughing, "that from what I know
+of you your objection was not so much to the course of study as to study
+altogether. I know that that was my case."
+
+"Well, perhaps so; still, I might as well have been whipped into
+learning something useful, instead of something that, so far as I can
+see, will never be of any value whatever. Were you born over here,
+lieutenant?"
+
+"No, I was born in Scotland; but my father, who was a younger son, saw
+no chance of making his way by his sword at home. It was certain that
+James would never go to war, and as there was no regular army, there
+seemed no opening for a penniless cadet in England or Scotland, so he
+came over here and obtained a commission, and as soon as he did so sent
+for my mother and myself. She died two years later; he kept me with him.
+When he went on service I was left in the charge of a Huguenot family,
+and it was well that it was so, for otherwise I might have grown up
+unable to read or write. The last time that I saw him was before he rode
+to La Rochelle. After his death I was adopted by the regiment, for the
+good people I was with left Paris to join their friends in the south.
+Had it been otherwise I should have stayed with them. The good man would
+probably have brought me up to be, like himself, a minister, and I am
+afraid I should have made a very poor one."
+
+The two young men laughed. "Just at present," de Lisle said, "the two
+religions get on quietly together. The cardinal, churchman as he is,
+knows that if France is to be great religious enmities must cease, and
+that the wars of the last reign cost tens of thousands of lives, and
+drove great numbers of men to take refuge in Holland or England, to the
+benefit of those countries and our loss. Still, his successor, whoever
+he may be, may think more of party and less of France, and in that case
+you might have found your vocation of a Huguenot minister as full of
+danger as that of a soldier."
+
+"It would have been much worse," Hector said, "for it would not have
+been a question of fighting, but of being massacred. I know nothing of
+either religious disputes or of politics. In the regiment these things
+were never talked about, either among the men or the officers; all were
+for the king. But at the same time, as it seemed to them that it was the
+cardinal who had stopped the persecution of the Huguenots, and who had
+now gone to war with the Austrians to prevent the Protestant princes
+of Germany being altogether subjugated by the Imperialists, they felt
+grateful to him; for of course Scotchmen are all on the side of the
+princes, and nigh half the army of Gustavus Adolphus was composed of my
+countrymen."
+
+"I do not suppose," Chavigny laughed, "that the cardinal would have
+cared very much for the destruction of all the Protestant princes
+of Germany, had it not been that their ruin would make Austria more
+formidable than ever. As long as Gustavus lived and the Swedes were able
+to hold their own against the Imperialists, France troubled herself
+in no way in the matter; but when the Swedes were finally routed
+at Nordlingen, and it seemed that the Imperialists would triumph
+everywhere--for most of the Protestant princes were leaving the
+Confederacy and trying to make the best terms they could for
+themselves--Richelieu stepped in; and now we see France, which for the
+past hundred years has been trying to stamp out Protestantism, uniting
+with Protestant Holland and Sweden to uphold the Protestant princes of
+Germany, and this under the direction of a cardinal of the Church of
+Rome. And here are we riding behind a Huguenot general, who perhaps more
+than any other possesses the cardinal's confidence."
+
+"It seems strange," de Lisle said, "but it is assuredly good policy.
+While fighting Austria we are fighting Spain, for Austria and Spain are
+but two branches of one empire. Spain is our eternal enemy. True, she is
+not as formidable as she was. Henry of Navarre's triumph over the Guises
+half emancipated us from her influence. The English destroyed her
+naval power. Holland well nigh exhausted her treasury, and brought such
+discredit on her arms as she had never before suffered. Still, she and
+Austria combined dominate Europe, and it is on her account that we have
+taken the place of the Swedes and continued this war that has raged for
+so many years."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II: CHOOSING A LACKEY
+
+
+The policy of the great cardinal had for its objects the aggrandizement
+of France, as well as the weakening of the power of Austria. So long as
+the struggle between the Protestant princes and the Swedes against the
+Imperialists had been maintained with equal successes on both sides, he
+had been well content to see Germany watering its soil with the blood of
+its people. Nearly a third of the population had been swept away during
+the terrible war. Many hundreds of towns and villages had already
+disappeared, while large tracts of country lay uncultivated, and
+whichever party won a victory France gained by it. Her interest,
+however, lay with the Protestant confederation. So long as Germany was
+cut up into a number of small principalities, divided by religion and
+political animosity, she could count for little against a foreign enemy.
+
+France had for centuries suffered from the same cause. The families
+of Lorraine, Bouillon, Enghien, Burgundy, the Guises, Longueville, the
+Counts of Armagnac, and other powerful vassals of France, paid but a
+nominal allegiance to the crown, and were really independent princes.
+Louis XI had done much to break their power. Richelieu continued the
+work, and under him France for the first time became consolidated into
+a whole. Had he lived, the work would doubtless have been completed, but
+his death and that of the king postponed the work for years. The long
+regency, controlled by a minister possessing none of the courage and
+firmness of Richelieu, and personally obnoxious alike to the nobles and
+to the population of Paris, again threw the power into the hands of
+the great nobles, plunged France into civil strife, and the wars of the
+Fronde, like those of the Roses in England, so weakened the nobles that
+the crown under Louis XIV became absolutely dominant.
+
+Had Austria succeeded in crushing the Protestant princes, that empire,
+with all Germany under her control, would have become a power greatly
+superior in strength and population to France. It was principally to
+prevent this result that Richelieu after the battle of Nordlingen threw
+himself into the struggle, but his aim was also to carry the frontier of
+France up to the Rhine. Here the territories of the Dukes of Lorraine,
+and Bouillon Prince of Sedan, not only cut France off from the Rhine and
+the Moselle, but opened a door by which she could at any time be invaded
+from Germany. The Dukes of Lorraine had always borne themselves as
+independent princes, giving, indeed, a nominal allegiance to France, but
+as often allying themselves with German princes as with her. The Duc de
+Bouillon, on the north of Lorraine, and the Duke of Savoy, farther
+to the south, also regarded themselves as independent. The former, as
+Huguenots, had a strong leaning towards the Protestant Hollanders, and
+both were ready to furnish asylums to French nobles who had incurred the
+wrath of their kings or ministers.
+
+The Duc de Bouillon, father of Turenne, had fought bravely on the side
+of Henry of Navarre through the wars of the League. He died when the
+viscount was but ten years of age, and, his elder brother being but six
+years older, his mother became regent of the little state. After having
+greatly weakened the strength of the Huguenot nobles by the siege and
+capture of La Rochelle, which had long been the stronghold and bulwark
+of that religion, Richelieu obtained from the duchess a treaty by which
+she engaged to remain always attached to the interests of France, while
+the king undertook to protect the house of Bouillon. The Duke of Savoy
+was next compelled to hand over to France the town and province of
+Pignerol, and Richelieu then turned his attention to Lorraine. The
+reigning duke had entered into an alliance with Austria, and the
+invasion of his territory was therefore the first step by which France
+entered into the terrible struggle known as the Thirty Years' War.
+
+The duke had given Richelieu an excuse for hostilities. He had married
+his cousin, the nearest heir to the dukedom, but he treated her so badly
+that she fled to France and begged the protection of Louis XIII. This he
+gave her, a French army was at once set in motion against Lorraine, and
+it was in this struggle that Turenne had first fought under the French
+flag. He had always evinced the strongest predilection for the life of a
+soldier, and when he reached the age of fourteen, Richelieu being at the
+time engaged in breaking the power of the Huguenots and in the siege of
+La Rochelle, the boy's mother sent him to his uncle Maurice of Nassau,
+who at the death of his father had become the leader of the Dutch
+people. He was treated by his uncle in exactly the same way as other
+gentlemen volunteers, carried a musket, and performed all the duties of
+a private soldier.
+
+Six months later Prince Maurice died, and his brother, Henry Frederick,
+succeeded him in the government of the United Provinces. He at once
+promoted his nephew, and the latter speedily rose to the rank of captain
+of infantry. Here he was indefatigable in his duties, and unlike most
+young men of good family, who left the internal economy and discipline
+of their companies to subordinate officers, Turenne saw to everything
+himself. He drilled and instructed his soldiers, insisted not only upon
+strict military discipline, but on good manners and conduct in every
+particular. He won their respect and affection by his personal kindness,
+and denied himself almost the necessities of life in order to be able
+to add to their comforts. In the wars in the Netherlands there were few
+pitched battles, and the operations consisted almost entirely of the
+sieges of fortified towns or of measures for their relief.
+
+In all these Turenne took much more than his full share, paying
+attention not only to his own duties but to all that was being done,
+spending his whole time in the batteries and the trenches, and in
+learning all that was possible of war carried on under such conditions.
+In the winter, operations were always suspended, and Turenne spent his
+time in Paris, where his manner and conduct won for him the favour of
+all with who he came in contact. He had been severely brought up under
+a Calvinist tutor; his habits were simple, his tastes quiet and almost
+ascetic, and he cared little for the amusements of the brilliant and
+corrupt court. When the war with Lorraine broke out, Turenne at once
+sought for employment with the French army.
+
+He recognized that there was comparatively little to be done in the war
+of sieges in Holland, and longed to enter a wider field. His request was
+gladly granted, for the presence of the Duc de Bouillon's brother in the
+French army was in itself some guarantee of the duke's fidelity to
+his engagements with France, and Turenne was at once appointed to the
+colonelcy of a regiment. He devoted himself as assiduously to his work
+as he had done in Holland, and it was not long before his regiment
+gained the reputation of being the best disciplined in the king's
+service. He took part in a short expedition in 1630, but there was on
+that occasion no fighting, and he first saw real service under Marshal
+de la Force in 1634. After the siege of La Motte, the success of which
+was due to the storming of the breach by Turenne and his regiment, and
+for which exploit he was promoted to the rank of Marechal de Camp,
+a rank equivalent to that of major general, he took part in several
+sieges, until Lorraine was completely conquered and its duke driven to
+abdicate and retire to Austria.
+
+The battle of Nordlingen showed Richelieu that if France did not
+resolutely enter into the conflict the Austrians would become absolute
+masters of all Germany. He at once signed a treaty with the Swedes,
+agreeing to grant them large subsidies to carry on the war. By a similar
+treaty he promised subsidies and the province of Alsace to the Duke of
+Saxe-Weimar. He entered into an arrangement with the Dutch, who were to
+aid France to conquer Flanders, which was to be divided between the two
+powers; while the Dukes of Savoy, Parma, and Mantua agreed to undertake,
+in alliance with France, the invasion of Milan, and to receive in return
+a portion of the territory won from Spain. At the same time France
+declared war against Spain. It was to the army commanded by Cardinal
+de la Valette, which was to act with that of Saxe-Weimar against the
+Imperialists, that Turenne was attached.
+
+The campaign began unfavourably. The impetuosity of Saxe-Weimar, who
+hoped to recover his own principality, induced Valette to cross the
+Rhine; but he was forced to retire in all haste, and the army suffered
+terribly in the retreat. Turenne was in command of the advanced
+guard, and his courage and activity alone saved the army from complete
+destruction--seizing upon defiles, overthrowing the enemy who barred
+the passages, and enabling the army to recross the Rhine with numbers
+diminished only by sickness, fatigue, and hunger. At the siege of
+Saverne, Turenne led the French troops to the attack after three
+repulses, and succeeded in gaining a footing in the town, but received
+himself a very severe wound in the arm with a musket ball. During the
+following year several towns were captured but no decisive operations
+took place.
+
+In 1638, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar gained some great successes, defeated
+the Imperialists with heavy loss at Rheinfelden, and besieged Breisach,
+the key of southern Germany. The Imperialist army marched to relieve
+the place, but reinforcements were sent from France under the command
+of Turenne and Longueville. Three battles were fought and the Austrians
+driven off. After an assault by Turenne, Breisach capitulated, and
+all Alsace had now fallen into the hands of Saxe-Weimar. Having been
+promised Alsace he refused, as Richelieu desired, to hand over Breisach
+to France; but on the death of the duke in the following year, Richelieu
+bought over his lieutenants, the French flag waved over the towns of
+Alsace, and the Upper Rhine became the French frontier. Turenne returned
+to court, where he was received with enthusiasm, and was a short time
+afterwards ordered to Italy to assist De la Valette, who had been faring
+but badly there.
+
+Matters had not gone there as Richelieu had calculated. The Duke of
+Savoy remained true to his engagement with France, but he died in
+October, 1637. The Spaniards had captured Vercelli, and the emperor had
+bestowed the regency of the duchy on the Cardinal of Savoy and on Prince
+Thomas, brother-in-law of the duchess. These, supported by the Duke of
+Modena and the Governor of Milan, the Marquess of Leganez, declared that
+they were determined to protect the people against the French and to
+deliver the young duke from French domination. The duchess implored help
+from France, and la Valette advanced to her aid.
+
+While in Paris, Turenne had obtained from the cardinal permission to
+raise a regiment of dragoons and also that a company of dragoons should
+be attached to each regiment of cavalry. These troops were not intended
+to fight on horseback, but were, in fact, mounted infantry, an arm
+which, after being in disuse for many years, has lately been recognized
+as a very valuable one, possessing as it does the mobility of cavalry
+with the fighting power of infantry. It was at the head of this regiment
+that the general started for Italy. The position of affairs in Savoy was
+dark indeed, for the whole of Piedmont had risen against the duchess.
+Many considerable towns had been captured by the Spanish, others,
+including the city of Turin, had opened their gates to them, and with
+the exception of Susa, Carignano, Chivasso, Casale, and the citadel
+of Turin, the whole country was lost to her. The French forces were,
+however, too weak to take the offensive, and the ill health of La
+Valette deprived him of his former energy and rendered him unwilling
+to undertake any offensive movement. Nevertheless, Turenne's counsels
+infused a new spirit into the army, and indeed the news that the young
+general, whose name was already known throughout Europe, had arrived,
+and the belief that his coming would be followed by that of large
+reinforcements from France, at once reanimated the remaining supporters
+of the duchess and dispirited the Piedmontese, who began to fear that
+they had been too hasty in siding with Spain.
+
+But if, for the time, Turenne was not in a position to act in the field,
+he began at once to take steps to prepare to meet the coming storm.
+Early in October La Valette died. The general opinion was that Turenne
+would have succeeded to the command, but his brother the Duc de Bouillon
+had broken with Richelieu and joined the party opposed to him. When in
+Paris, the duke had been on terms of intimate friendship with the
+Count of Soissons and had invited him to stay with him at Sedan. The
+invitation had been declined, but the count, having been implicated in a
+plot against Richelieu, had been obliged to fly and had taken refuge at
+Sedan, where he had been most warmly received by the duke. Richelieu had
+at first invited, and then in the name of the king commanded, Bouillon
+to expel his guest. This the duke absolutely refused to do, and becoming
+deeply offended at the manner in which he was pressed, joined the party
+opposed to Richelieu.
+
+It was for this reason that the cardinal decided not to appoint Turenne
+to the command, knowing the warm affection that existed between the
+brothers, and fearing that Turenne might be influenced by Bouillon, and
+might, beloved as he was by the soldiers, lead many of the troops away
+from their allegiance were he to join the party opposed to him. He
+therefore appointed the Count d'Harcourt to the command. He had proved
+himself a brilliant officer on many occasions, and Turenne did not
+feel in any way aggrieved at his being placed over him. He made a rapid
+journey to Paris to arrange with the cardinal and d'Harcourt the general
+plan of the campaign, and was now setting out again to make preparations
+for it.
+
+Hector Campbell enjoyed the journey greatly. His duties were nominal;
+and the party always halted at towns, where the troops were billeted
+upon the inhabitants, and the viscount and his suite entertained by
+the authorities. After crossing the Alps, however, by the pass of Mount
+Cenis, and arriving at Susa, his work began in earnest. Turenne himself
+was almost entirely occupied in consultations with the duchess; his
+three aides-de-camp, however, were kept hard at work carrying messages
+to the governors of towns that still adhered to the duchess, with orders
+for the strengthening of the defences and for the collection of stores
+and provisions in case of siege. Each was provided with three horses,
+and almost lived in the saddle.
+
+"You seem to be tireless, Campbell," de Lisle said, when it one day
+happened that all three were together at headquarters. "I feel as if I
+had not a whole bone in my body; as I have not had a whole night in bed
+for the last six days, I can hardly keep my eyes open, while you, who
+have been doing as much as we have, are going about as actively as if
+you had had nothing to do for a week."
+
+"I have the advantage of riding so much lighter than you do," Hector
+said; "weight tells both on horse and rider, and when the horse is tired
+his pace soon adds to the weariness of his rider. If we had had to do
+this work when we first left Paris, I have no doubt that I should have
+felt it, but the journey here has been a fine preparation. Another thing
+is, that every morning I take a dip in the first mountain stream I come
+to, and that does one almost as much good as a night's sleep."
+
+De Lisle shivered. "It may do good, Campbell, but I would not jump into
+one of these icy streams for anything. It makes one shudder to think of
+it."
+
+"I always had a swim in the Seine every morning when it was not closed
+by ice," Hector said. "I was told that there was nothing braced one up
+and made one so hardy as that; and I certainly found that even in the
+coldest weather I never felt the need of a cloak."
+
+"Well, I don't deny that it may be a good custom, and if all Scotchmen
+do it, it may account for their hardiness; but I like comfort when I can
+get it."
+
+"But it is not comfort to be always in the saddle, and to feel so sleepy
+that you fancy that at any moment you may fall off. Even if a dip in
+snow water is, to those unaccustomed to it, somewhat sharp, it is better
+than having to struggle against sleep for hours."
+
+"Well, possibly I may try the experiment some day when I feel that I
+must either lie down by the roadside and sleep or take a dip, but until
+I feel like breaking down altogether I shall postpone the experiment."
+
+Turenne several times spoke approvingly to Hector. On one occasion,
+when the lad presented himself on being told that an aide-de-camp was
+required to carry a message, Turenne said to him: "But it is not your
+turn, Campbell; de Lisle and Chavigny both returned some hours ago,
+while it is not an hour since you came in."
+
+"They are both asleep, general," Campbell said; "they have been
+thirty-six hours in the saddle."
+
+"But you have been more than that, Campbell?"
+
+"But I do not feel it, sir," he said. "I am perfectly fresh and ready to
+go on. I was a little tired when I came in, but I have taken a swim in
+the river, and am now at your service."
+
+Turenne hesitated. "You see, sir," Hector went on, "being of light
+weight the horse does not feel it as he does that of a heavier man, his
+pace continues light and elastic, and his spirit good, and that makes
+all the difference to the fatigue of his rider. After two days' rest my
+horses are perfectly ready for another long day's work, while those of
+Chavigny and de Lisle start heavily, not having recovered from their
+fatigue."
+
+"Very well, you can go then, Campbell. I am pleased with your spirit,
+and also with your thoughtfulness for your companions, who, although
+strong young men, do not seem to have your power of endurance. I find,
+too, that you always carry out your instructions with intelligence, and
+that your reports on matters touching which I have sent you to inquire
+are always clear and full. It may be that ere long I may find employment
+for you in which courage as well as intelligence is required. There is
+but one drawback, namely, that you do not speak Italian. I know that
+there are few officers in our service who do so; but it would be so much
+the more valuable were you able to master it."
+
+"I had intended to study the language, general, as soon as I got here,
+but have had no time to begin it."
+
+"That you certainly have not," Turenne said with a smile.
+
+"Do you think that it would be of any use, sir, if I were to take a
+Savoyard servant? I find that many of them who come from places near the
+frontier speak French as well as their own language."
+
+"That would be useful, certainly; but you would have to be careful in
+your choice, and see that you get one whose sympathies are with the
+duchess; not only for your own safety, but because a chance word heard
+here, or an order given and conveyed to the Spaniards, might involve the
+loss of a battle."
+
+"I see that, general, and will be very careful."
+
+Hector had formed the acquaintance of several young officers attached to
+the household of the duchess, and on the day following his return from
+his mission he was supping with a party of four of them when he said:
+
+"Can one of you gentlemen recommend a servant to me? He must be able
+to talk French as well as Italian. He must be active and intelligent. I
+should like him to be handy and accustomed to camp service, though this
+is not so important, for I want him as an interpreter before anything
+else. I should like him to be a lightweight, so as to be able to ride
+with me. He must be accustomed to fatigue, and he must have courage, for
+some of the journeys on which I may be sent will not be without danger,
+and of course he must be of the duchess's party."
+
+"And I suppose," one of the young men said, "that this Admirable
+Crichton of whom you are in search must be sober, honest, and truthful.
+Are you particular whether he is Huguenot or Catholic?"
+
+"As to the last, not a bit. I should like him to be as sober as soldiers
+in general are, and if he confined himself to taking his wine when I did
+not require him, it would not be very important, provided that he is
+not talkative when in liquor. As to his honesty, he would have no great
+temptation so far as I am concerned, but I certainly should not wish
+to lose him by his being strung up by the provost marshal for robbing
+citizens. As to his truthfulness, providing he did not lie to me, it is
+a point on which I should not be particular."
+
+There was a general laugh.
+
+"And as to his age?" the officer asked.
+
+"If I could find all the qualifications that I require, I should not be
+particular about that; but I think that for choice I would take a lad of
+from sixteen to twenty."
+
+"In that case I fancy that I know a lad who might suit you," one of the
+other officers said. "He is a brother of my groom, and I may own that he
+has been of no little trouble to him. The boy is an orphan, and having
+no other friends so far as I know, he has attached himself to his
+brother, and for the past two years, wherever he has gone Paolo has gone
+too. He earns a little money by doing odd jobs--running messages, and so
+on, helps his brother to clean the horses; and with an occasional crown
+from me, and what he earns otherwise, it cannot be said that he costs
+his brother anything in money; but in other respects he is always
+getting him into trouble, for he is a very imp of mischief. Two or three
+times his brother has obtained places for him, but he always comes back
+at the end of a week, and sometimes sooner, with bitter complaints from
+his master that he has set the household in a turmoil with his tricks
+and ill conduct. Many a thrashing has he had, but they do him no good."
+
+The others laughed.
+
+"There is no doubt that Paolo is a perfect young imp," one of them said,
+"but he is as sharp as a needle. I have no doubt that if he could be
+tamed he would make a most useful lad. As it is, I certainly would not
+recommend anyone who cares for his peace of mind to have anything to do
+with him."
+
+"I will see him anyhow," Hector said. "I think that I would rather have
+a sharp boy than a man. Being but a boy myself, I could appreciate and
+put up with more in the way of mischief than a man could."
+
+"I will tell my groom to bring him round to your quarters in the
+morning," the officer said; "but mind, I in no way recommend your taking
+him. You won't keep him a week if you do."
+
+The next morning Hector's orderly told him that a man desired to speak
+to him.
+
+"Has he a boy with him?"
+
+"Yes, lieutenant."
+
+"Bring them in here, then."
+
+In a minute a man entered, followed by a boy. The former was a good
+looking young Savoyard of some four- or five-and-twenty years; the
+latter was a lad of about the same height as Hector but somewhat older.
+He had black hair which fell over his forehead down to his eyebrows. His
+face bore an expression of extreme humility, which, however, was marred
+by the merry twinkle of his dark eyes.
+
+"My master has bid me bring my brother with me, Lieutenant Campbell,"
+the man said, "and I have done so, but I fear greatly that he will
+hardly suit you as a servant. I have obtained a dozen places for him,
+but he is always sent back at the end of three or four days, and I told
+him last time that I would never say a word in his recommendation again,
+for that it only gets me into trouble with the gentlemen."
+
+"Well, that is honest," Hector said with a smile. "However, I will
+ask him a few questions. Now, Paolo, in the first place, could you be
+faithful?"
+
+"I could be faithful to a master I loved," he said.
+
+"In the second place, are you honest?"
+
+"He is honest," the man said, "I will say that for him."
+
+"Are you truthful?"
+
+"I am as truthful as other people," the boy said.
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I mean, sir, that if I were asked a straightforward question I would
+give a straightforward answer, unless it were wiser not to do so. I
+would tell the truth to my master, but I do not consider it necessary
+always to do so to others. For instance, sir, if you were my master, and
+questions were asked about you, there might be times when it would not
+be convenient for you that I should mention where you had gone, or what
+you were doing."
+
+"That is so," Hector said with a laugh. "The important thing for me to
+know is, would you always tell me the truth?"
+
+"I think that I could promise to do that, sir, or at least to be very
+near the truth."
+
+"You understand horses?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"And you can ride?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I can ride and run too. In a long day's journey I should get
+to the end on foot nearly as fast as you would on horseback."
+
+"He can make himself useful on a campaign," the brother said. "He has
+been with my master and myself in the field for the last three years,
+and knows his work well if he chooses to do it."
+
+"The principal point with me is that which I first asked him about,
+can he be faithful? I may have to ride on dangerous missions for the
+general. I may have to enter an enemy's town to obtain information.
+There is another thing, being of the general's staff, and sometimes
+quartered in the same house with him and chatting freely with his other
+aides-de-camp, secrets might be picked up by a sharp pair of ears that
+if repeated would do grievous harm to the cause of the duchess, as you
+can well understand. Now, the question, Paolo, is, can you be absolutely
+trusted; can you, as to all matters you may hear, be as one who is deaf
+and dumb?"
+
+"I could, sir," the boy said earnestly. "I am all for the duchess, and
+I hate the Spaniards. I once was found out in a bit of mischief in the
+palace, and should have been whipped for it and turned out of the town,
+but the duchess herself said that I was only a boy and forgave me, and I
+would do anything for her. I would indeed, sir, and I swear that I would
+be always honest and truthful with you. I should like you as a master.
+You don't speak to me as if I were dirt under your feet, and I am sure
+by your voice that you would be kind. Try me, sir; my brother will tell
+you that I have never said as much before to anyone to whom he has taken
+me, for indeed I never meant to stay with them, preferring my liberty,
+rough though my fare may sometimes be."
+
+"I will try you, Paolo. I believe that you are in earnest, and that
+I can trust you; but mind, there must be no monkey tricks here. The
+general must not be disturbed by the antics of a servant boy. You are
+likely, in my service, to have as much excitement and adventure as you
+can wish for, and you must behave yourself, for if you do not do so
+you will be lucky if you escape with a flogging and being turned out of
+camp. I am younger than you are, and am just as fond of a piece of fun,
+but I know when it is good to enjoy one's self and when one must put
+aside boyish pranks. I have my duties to perform, and do them to the
+best of my power, and shall expect you to do the same."
+
+"I will, sir," the boy said respectfully. "I will give you no cause to
+complain of me, at least no wilful cause."
+
+"Then that is settled. Here," he said to the boy's brother, "are five
+pistoles; see that he is decently clad so as to make a fair appearance
+by my side. When he is so, let him return here. It were best that he
+should come this evening, for it is likely that I shall be away on duty
+tomorrow."
+
+"He shall be here, sir," he said, "and I thank you heartily for engaging
+him; and I do think that he means this time to behave himself."
+
+"I do mean it," the boy said. "You shall have no reason to complain of
+me, sir."
+
+Shortly afterwards Hector met the officer who had spoken of the boy.
+
+"Well, have you thought anything more of young ne'er-do-well?"
+
+"I have engaged him."
+
+"You have, after the warning I gave you? Well, I hope you will not have
+reason to repent it."
+
+"I do not think that I shall. I can quite believe that he is a
+mischievous young varlet, he shows it in his face; but I am sure that he
+is shrewd, and I believe that he will be faithful. At any rate I think
+that we took to each other, and that he has made up his mind to try for
+once to stay in a place. He really seemed in earnest about it, and if
+he keeps to his promises I think that he will be just the sort of lad to
+suit me."
+
+"Well, we shall see," the officer said; "but if he turns out badly,
+please remember that I warned you against him."
+
+"And if he turns out well," Hector said with a laugh, "I shall not fail
+also to remind you of your prognostications."
+
+That evening when Hector returned to his room after he had finished his
+meal, he found Paolo waiting outside his door. His appearance had so
+changed that he would not have known him. His hair had been cut short
+in the front and left long behind, as was the custom of the day, hanging
+down on to his collar. He was neat and tidy. He wore a dark blue doublet
+reaching to the hips, with a buff leather belt, in which was stuck a
+dagger. His leggings, fitting tightly down to the ankles, were of dark
+maroon cloth, and he wore short boots of tanned leather. A plain white
+collar, some four inches deep, was worn turned down over the neck of the
+doublet, and a yellow cloth cap, with a dark cock's feather, was stuck
+on one side of his head. In his hand he held a bundle containing a
+leather jerkin and breeches of the same material, and a pair of buff
+leather riding boots that would reach to the knee.
+
+"Your brother has laid out the money well, Paolo," Hector said, as he
+opened the door and led the way into his room. "I do not think that I
+should have known you."
+
+"I am quite sure that I should not have known myself, master, if I had
+looked into a horse trough and seen my reflection. It will be a long
+time before I shall be able to persuade myself that these clothes are
+my own, and that I really am an officer's lackey. Now, master, you must
+teach me my duties, of which I know nought when in a house like this,
+though I know well enough what they are when you are in the field."
+
+"They are few enough at present, Paolo. Monsieur de Turenne's stablemen
+look after the horses of his staff. When I do not dine with him, I and
+my two friends, M. de Lisle and M. de Chavigny, dine and sup together
+at an inn. There is my room to keep tidy, my bed to make, my armour and
+arms to be polished, and my clothes to be brushed. Hitherto, my orderly
+has done these things, but it will now be your duty. As I do not eat in
+my rooms, it is clear that there is no food for you, and when we are in
+towns I shall give you money to pay for your meals at a cabaret."
+
+"I hope, master, that you will soon find something more useful for me
+to do, for, in truth, I fear that with so much time on my hands I shall
+find it sorely difficult to comport myself as is due to your lackey."
+
+"Do not fear, I have little doubt that you will soon find work enough
+and to spare, and indeed you will often ride with me."
+
+Some few days later, the other two aides-de-camp being away, the
+viscount requested Hector to accompany him on a tour of inspection that
+might last two or three days. He was accompanied by his orderly and
+three other troopers, behind who rode two of his own lackeys with
+baskets of provisions. With them rode Paolo, Hector having asked the
+general if he should take him with him.
+
+"You may as well do so, Campbell, it will accustom him to his work. What
+made you choose so young a servant?" he asked, as he rode off.
+
+"He is a year older than I am, though perhaps not so tall. He is the
+brother of a man in the employment of Monsieur de Vevey. He has been
+through the last two campaigns. I find him very intelligent. He obeys
+my orders promptly, and as he is heart and soul in the cause of the
+duchess, I feel sure of his fidelity, especially as he has had a hard
+time of it up to now, and is, I think, grateful to me for taking him.
+He speaks French very well, and might certainly be of great use to me
+in any enterprise that your lordship might be good enough to entrust
+me with. Being about the same age, I think that we might perhaps go
+together unquestioned where a man would be unable to pass."
+
+The viscount rode on for some minutes without speaking. "There is
+something in what you say, Campbell, and after this journey is over I
+may be able to employ you in that way when it is necessary to obtain
+information I can get in no other manner. Has he ridden with you
+before?"
+
+"Yes, sir, he has ridden behind me each time that I have been away since
+I engaged him. When I say behind me, he starts behind me, but when out
+of town I call him up beside me, and we talk, or rather try to talk,
+in Italian--or rather I should say in Piedmontese, for he tells me that
+each district of Italy has its own dialect, and that the natives of one
+can scarce understand the other. I have bought a book printed here and a
+dictionary, and of an evening when I have no duties to perform he comes
+into my room, and translates sentence by sentence as I read it to him. I
+learn it by heart, and hope that ere long I shall be able to make myself
+understood in it."
+
+"You do well--very well," the viscount said. "If all my young officers
+were to do the same, instead of spending the evening and half the night
+in drinking and gambling, things would go on much more smoothly, and
+there would not be so many blunders in carrying out my orders. You will
+greatly add to your usefulness by acquiring a knowledge of the language,
+and it would certainly enable you to carry out with far less danger such
+commissions as those you were just speaking of; for you might be asked a
+question, and if it were replied to by your lackey, suspicions would be
+at once aroused. You have ridden along this road before?"
+
+"Several times, sir."
+
+"Have you noted the features of the country--I mean from a military
+point of view?"
+
+"I have nothing else to do as I ride along, sir. As I go I notice where
+an ambuscade might be laid, either by ourselves or an enemy, where we
+might expect to be opposed on our march forward, or where a rear guard
+might check an enemy were we retiring before him."
+
+"Good! the fate of a battle depends in nine cases out of ten upon a
+knowledge of the ground, and in quickness in utilizing that knowledge.
+Our journey today is only taken for that purpose. I want to see for
+myself the country across which we shall at first operate, to inspect
+the various routes by which we might advance, or through which, if we
+find the enemy in too great a force to be encountered, we should be
+obliged to retire. As we go you shall point out to me the observations
+that you have made, and I shall be able to judge whether the spots are
+well chosen for the purpose."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III: THE FIRST BATTLE
+
+
+During the three days that were spent in reconnoitering the country
+Hector Campbell learnt more than he would have done in as many years
+under ordinary circumstances. Turenne took the greatest pains to point
+out to him how the nature of the ground could be taken advantage of, how
+flanks could be protected against attack by comparatively small bodies,
+occupying positions from which they could be with difficulty expelled;
+how important was the action of guns, especially when so placed as to
+be able to sweep the ground across which an enemy must advance in any
+endeavour to turn the position of an army. Turenne, on his part, took
+pleasure in instructing a pupil who was at once so eager to learn, and
+who showed himself so apt in profiting by his teaching.
+
+"You see," he said, "I am concerned rather in defensive positions at
+present than in seeing how we could best turn an enemy barring our
+advance. Although the greater portion of the dominions of the duchess
+has fallen into the hands of the enemy, she is fortunate in that the few
+places that remain are those that at once enable her to make a defence
+with comparatively small forces; and at the same time, it is possible
+for her to receive aid from France, or, if absolutely necessary, for her
+to fall back across the Alps. Susa, her headquarters, lying at the mouth
+of the valley up which the road over Mount Cenis finds its way, at once
+guards the pass and keeps open communication with France.
+
+"It is, as it were, the handle of a fan, and can be approached by three
+main roads only,--those to Turin, Carignano, and Chivasso. Unfortunately
+Turin is in the enemy's hands, but as the duchess's troops still hold
+the citadel, an advance could not very well be made until that has
+fallen. Chivasso and Carignano are safe from any sudden attack. There
+are other minor roads, but so long as these towns are in our hands
+and held by strong garrisons, an enemy advancing by any of these roads
+towards Susa would be liable to have their communications cut, and their
+convoys captured by parties from these fortresses. It has long been a
+fixed idea in military operations that an army cannot advance as long
+as a town near the line of route is held by the enemy. That idea is an
+erroneous one, and several times upon the Rhine we have gained successes
+by neglecting this rule and disregarding the towns, contenting ourselves
+with leaving a force sufficient to keep the garrison in check.
+
+"The Spaniards, however, are slow to change their tactics, good soldiers
+as they are. The consequence is that, although greatly superior in
+force, last year they made no offensive movement against us. We have had
+several regiments join us since we arrived here, and although I believe
+the enemy's force to be twice as strong as our own, I have no doubt that
+the Count d'Harcourt will as soon as he arrives decide upon taking the
+offensive. You see our position here, guarded as it is on both flanks by
+the line of mountains, is as favourable for offence as defence, for we
+can advance either through Carignano on our right or Chivasso on our
+left; and however the enemy may dispose themselves they are vulnerable
+on one side or the other."
+
+This anticipation was justified. D'Harcourt arrived three days later.
+A council of war was held, and it was decided that an advance should at
+once be made against the enemy. The main body of the Spanish troops were
+posted in a fortified camp at Villanova, halfway between Asti and Turin.
+Leaving only a small body of troops to guard the lower valley of
+Susa from an attack by the Spaniards at Turin, the army advanced
+to Carignano, and thence towards Villanova. The Spaniards, however,
+although nearly twice as strong as the French, were so much surprised
+at the boldness of this proceeding that instead of marching out to give
+battle they contented themselves with strengthening still further
+the defences of their camp, and in order to force them to come out
+d'Harcourt advanced to Chieri--called by the French Quiers--a town
+situated between Villanova and Turin, and about two leagues distant from
+each.
+
+Turenne was in command of the cavalry, and took post between Chieri and
+Villanova. The Spaniards, however, made no effort to relieve the town,
+which capitulated after a resistance of only two or three days. While
+the siege was proceeding, a large convoy of provisions succeeded,
+unmolested, in making its way to Casale, and thus placed the garrison
+there in a position to hold out for several weeks to come. But a very
+small store of provisions was found in Chieri, and the army was forced
+to fall back towards Carignano to obtain food from the stores collected
+there. The Marquis of Leganez, whose headquarters were at Asti, knowing
+that the French had sent all the stores they had brought with them to
+Casale, had foreseen that this would be the case, and advancing rapidly
+with the troops from Villanova seized Poirino, on the line by which the
+French would retire, while at the same time Prince Thomas, who commanded
+at Turin, advanced with the greater portion of his troops, and marched
+towards the little river Santina, intending to cross there. Thus the
+French army could not retire on Carignano without exposing both flanks
+to the attack of the enemy.
+
+During the short campaign Hector had ridden behind Turenne, and shared
+in the general disappointment of the army when the enemy refused to
+accept their offer of battle, and still more so when after the capture
+of Chieri it became necessary to retreat. His two fellow aides-de-camp
+loudly bewailed the bad fortune that thus obliged them to retire without
+having effected anything beyond the capture of an insignificant town,
+which, however, had the advantage of opening a way for them into the
+heart of the country then held by the enemy.
+
+"You seem to take it rather philosophically, Campbell," de Lisle said to
+Hector, as he remained silent while they were bemoaning their fate.
+
+"I do not see that it is of any use taking it otherwise. At least we
+have had the satisfaction of bearding the Spaniards, who indeed seem
+to me to behave wisely in remaining in their intrenchments and waiting
+until they can unite all their forces against us. However, we have shown
+them that we are not afraid of them, and that even in the middle of
+November we are so eager to meet them that we have hastened to take the
+field and to strike a blow before winter sets in in earnest; but I think
+it possible that we may have a fight yet before we get back. Leganez
+has the reputation of being a good general, and he may yet combine his
+troops at Asti with those of Villanova and Turin and try to cut us off
+from Carignano." At this moment Turenne suddenly entered the room.
+
+"To horse, gentlemen! News has come that Prince Thomas is marching at
+the head of three thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse to cut us off,
+and that Leganez is moving with all speed towards Poirino with the same
+object. Carry my orders for a thousand cavalry and as many infantry to
+be ready to march at once. We must be beforehand with Prince Thomas."
+
+In ten minutes the cavalry and infantry selected were in movement, and
+Turenne, placing himself at the head of the former, rode on at a gallop,
+and keeping on at full speed with his cavalry, occupied the bridge
+before Prince Thomas came up. On his arrival, the latter, having with
+him three thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse, prepared to attack,
+but before he did so Turenne's infantry arrived. The Spaniards attacked
+with fury, but Turenne's troops stood firm and repulsed them, and as
+soon as they fell back charged in turn, broke the enemy, and drove them
+in headlong rout towards Turin. Prince Thomas himself was twice unhorsed
+and thrown into a ditch, but it was now almost dark, his rank was
+unrecognized, and he succeeded in making his escape and rejoining his
+scattered troops.
+
+While this fight was going on, d'Harcourt had attacked the Marquis of
+Leganez and gained a considerable advantage, but not knowing how the
+fight was going on at Santina did not venture to advance towards the
+Po. As soon, however, as a messenger from Turenne brought him news
+that Prince Thomas had been defeated he continued his march towards
+Carignano. He was speedily joined by Turenne's horse, which took up the
+duty of rear guard and checked the Spaniards, who were pressing on in
+hopes of attacking the French as they crossed the river. He held them at
+bay until d'Harcourt had got all his guns and baggage wagons across the
+river, and then, following him, broke down the bridge and joined him at
+Carignano. Here the army went into winter quarters.
+
+D'Harcourt, whose health was bad, retired to pass the winter at
+Pinerolo, leaving the command in the hands of Turenne, who again
+established himself at Susa, and began to make preparations for throwing
+a convoy of provisions into the citadel of Turin.
+
+During the fight at Santina Hector remained behind Turenne, while the
+two young Frenchmen, carried away by their ardour, joined in the hot
+pursuit of the enemy. The prince, who had led the charge, had halted.
+
+"Are you alone here, Monsieur Campbell?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Where are de Lisle and Chavigny?"
+
+"They rode on with the cavalry, sir."
+
+Turenne frowned.
+
+"You have done well to remain. An aide-de-camp's place is to carry
+orders, not to fight. Now, sir, ride at once to the count. I hear his
+battle is still going on. Tell him that I have defeated and scattered
+the troops of the prince, and that as soon as I can gather my men I
+shall march to join him."
+
+Hector bowed, turned his horse and galloped off, while the general rode
+on, sending every officer he overtook in search of the cavalry with
+orders that they were to abandon the pursuit and return instantly. That
+evening after they had entered Carignano he called de Lisle and Chavigny
+into his room.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "you will have to choose whether you remain with
+me or join one of the cavalry regiments. If you remain with me, you must
+bear in mind in future that you are my aides-de-camp, and that your sole
+duty here is to carry my orders, and not to fight like troopers in a
+battle. It is through hotheadedness of this sort that battles are lost.
+A general, without officers to carry his orders, can do nothing towards
+controlling the movements of his troops in battle, of following up a
+victory or covering a defeat."
+
+The two young officers hung their heads and murmured their excuses.
+
+"Enough, gentlemen," Turenne said. "I am perfectly aware that it was
+your ardour that carried you away, but ardour is a bad leader. Over and
+over again the ardour of cavalry to pursue the troops they have defeated
+has brought about the loss of a battle. Courage is a virtue, and most
+soldiers possess it, but steadiness and coolness are rarer and more
+useful, and on the part of officers on a general's staff are absolutely
+indispensable. I doubt not that you will remember this in future, and
+that I shall not have reason to complain of you again."
+
+The next morning it was Hector's turn to be in attendance on the
+general.
+
+"You behaved as I expected you would do," Turenne said, when he entered
+his room on hearing the bell sound. "You fought close to me as long as
+there was fighting to be done, and I observed that you used your sword
+well. The moment I drew rein you did the same, and took up your post
+behind me, showing that although this was your first battle you retained
+your coolness. I will therefore tell you in confidence that Count
+d'Harcourt has enjoined me to throw provisions, if possible, into the
+citadel at Turin. It will take me some time to make arrangements, and my
+only fear is that the garrison, on hearing that we have retired across
+the Po--of which you may be sure the Spaniards will take care to inform
+them--may believe that we shall do no more this winter; and as we know
+that their provisions must be well nigh exhausted, they will abandon the
+citadel and march thither.
+
+"It is now well nigh eighteen months since they were first cut off. It
+is certain that their investment is a very close one, and that the most
+vigilant watch is used to prevent news of any kind from reaching them
+from the outside. We have made several efforts to communicate with them,
+but without success. Some of the messengers we sent never returned,
+and were, doubtless, detected and killed. Others came back and reported
+their failure, saying that every avenue to the citadel was so closely
+watched that it was impossible to get through."
+
+"Have you any objection, general, to my mentioning this matter to
+my boy? I am absolutely convinced that he is thoroughly faithful and
+trustworthy."
+
+"You may do so if you like, Campbell, though it is hardly likely that
+he will be able to suggest any method of communication with the garrison
+that has not already been tried."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+The general shortly afterwards went out to wait upon the duchess; in two
+hours he returned, and as soon as he did so Hector entered his room.
+
+"What is it?" Turenne asked.
+
+"I have been thinking about what you said about the garrison of Turin.
+I have been talking it over with Paolo, and have come to offer to do my
+best to deliver a letter from you to the garrison if you will do me the
+great honour to entrust the mission to me. We both think that two boys
+would be much more likely to succeed than men. No one would regard them
+with suspicion; and they could creep and crawl more easily. I do not say
+that we should succeed, but I think that we should have some chance of
+doing so. At any rate I am willing to try."
+
+"It would be a very dangerous expedition," Turenne said gravely.
+
+"Not more dangerous than going into a battle, viscount. Not a quarter as
+dangerous as storming a breach."
+
+Turenne smiled. "The idea has passed through my mind," he said, "but I
+should not have proposed it had you not first spoken. It is the sort of
+mission in which I thought you could be made useful, but it is a rough
+adventure to begin with, and you must not minimize the danger. It is the
+duty of a soldier to run the risk of being killed in battle, but it
+lies beyond his duty to go into the enemy's camp to obtain news. He
+may volunteer for it, but with a knowledge that if detected he would
+assuredly be hanged."
+
+"I do not think, general, that the risk of detection would be great,
+but the risk of failure would be so. If when we get there we can see no
+possible means of passing through the line of sentries, there would be
+nothing to do but to come back, and I own that in talking it over the
+thought that I might be obliged to return and to tell you that I had
+failed occupied a much larger portion of my thoughts than the risk of
+being detected."
+
+"But I shall not expect you to succeed, Campbell; the chances are
+a hundred to one against it. I should be glad, however, to have the
+experiment tried once again, so that if the garrison capitulates before
+we arrive to its succour, I shall not be able to blame myself for not
+having made one more effort to induce them to hold out for another few
+weeks. Have you thought of your plans?"
+
+"Only so far, sir, that we shall dress up as two country boys, cross the
+Po, and enter the city from the other side. After that we must be guided
+by circumstances and trust to good luck. May I ask, general, if you have
+a plan of the city and fortress?"
+
+"Yes; at least the duchess has one, which she has placed at my disposal.
+I can send an officer to the palace to request her to let me have it.
+No doubt it would be a great advantage to you to study the position
+beforehand."
+
+"Well, sir, we will see about getting our disguises at once."
+
+"I will give you an order on the paymaster for a hundred crowns for
+special service," Turenne said. "It is as well to be amply provided with
+money, as it may be necessary to buy fresh disguises or to bribe someone
+to conceal you;" and he drew an order on the treasury and handed it to
+Hector.
+
+"You will find the plan of the town in your room when you return."
+
+Paolo was waiting for him.
+
+"It is settled, Paolo; we are to go."
+
+"This is an adventure after my own heart," the boy said with delight.
+"It will be great fun to outwit the Spaniards."
+
+"Yes, but we must mind that they don't outwit us, Paolo, which is quite
+as likely. Now let us talk of our disguises again. I think you had
+better go and buy them. I would rather get old ones than new. I don't
+suppose that anyone is likely to take notice of me in the streets, but
+it would be well at any rate that we should not both have new clothes,
+and better that neither of us did so."
+
+"I can manage that, sir. There are shops here where one can buy old
+clothes as well as new ones. I noticed one the other day in a narrow
+street by the wall. I wondered then who would buy some of the garments
+hung up. They were so old and so often mended that it was difficult to
+say what was the original colour. The people are very poor up in the
+mountains; since the war began, doubtless they have grown poorer, and
+are glad to buy anything that will cover them."
+
+"Well, here are ten crowns."
+
+"They won't cost half that, master, but I will take them."
+
+"Mind and get something warm, Paolo; it is like enough that we shall
+have to sleep more than once in the open air, and the winds are bitterly
+cold."
+
+In half an hour the officer came with the plan, which Hector at once set
+to to study. The citadel stood on ground but little, if at all, higher
+than that upon which the town was situated. It was pentagonal in form,
+and was built in 1565, and was the earliest fortification in Europe in
+this style, and was considered a masterpiece. It was separated from the
+town by its glacis. A deep fosse ran along the foot of the wall. The
+town itself was walled, and extended to the foot of the citadel, and
+was capable of offering a sturdy resistance even after the citadel had
+fallen, just as the citadel could protect itself after the capture of
+the town by an enemy. Hector examined carefully that portion of the town
+facing the citadel, and took notes of the streets that ran through to
+the walls, specially noting those which extended farthest from the wall
+before being broken by cross lanes.
+
+It was evident from the width of the streets that this was the poorest
+quarter of the town, for the wealthy would not care to build their
+houses in a position where, if the town and citadel were hostile to each
+other, they would be exposed to the fire of the latter's guns.
+
+In another half hour Paolo returned with a large bundle. It contained
+two coarse cotton shirts, two warm garments resembling waistcoats, and
+fastened by strings closing up to the neck, two red sashes of coarse
+flannel, and two loose doublets reaching down to the hips. These were
+worn and patched, but had been newly lined with sheepskin. The breeches,
+which reached down to the knee, were of coarse brown cloth; to cover the
+leg below the knee were bands of gray flannel which were wrapped round
+and round the leg and foot, while over these were worn wooden shoes. The
+hats were of conical shape with wide brims, and both, like the clothes,
+bore signs of long wear.
+
+"It could not have been better, Paolo," Hector said as he examined them.
+"I have seen scores of boys so dressed, and we shall certainly attract
+no attention by our garb. They are warm, too, and we sha'n't come to any
+harm from sleeping out in them."
+
+"They cost more than I expected, master, owing to the doublets being
+freshly lined, but I thought it would be worth it."
+
+"Quite right! those sheepskins will be most useful. There is one thing
+more we shall want, a thin rope, that will bear our weight well, some
+twenty yards long. You had better go to a smith's and get him to make a
+strong iron hook, by which we can fix the rope on to the edge of a wall
+should it be needed. You had better have it made a good nine inches
+across the hook, and the shank fifteen inches long."
+
+After again studying the map he took it to the general.
+
+"We have our disguises, sir, and shall be ready to start tomorrow
+morning."
+
+"You have lost no time," the general said approvingly. "You will, of
+course, ride to Chivasso. I will give you an order to the governor
+there, to take charge of your horses and clothes, telling him that you
+are about to proceed on a mission in disguise, and requesting him to
+send an officer to pass you through the outposts beyond the bridge
+across the Po, that is if the other side is not guarded by the Spanish
+troops. I should advise you to make straight south so as to strike the
+road from Casale two miles west of Turin. I do not like letting you go,
+lad, and yet I feel it is of such importance that the garrison should
+know that aid will be at hand before long, that I feel I ought not to
+prevent you from carrying out your enterprise. When do you think of
+starting?"
+
+"At eight in the morning, sir. If we do so we shall easily reach
+Chivasso before dark, and may be near Turin by morning."
+
+"I will have my note for the commandant ready by the time your horses
+are at the door. I will make it as small as possible, and you had better
+before you start sew it up in the lining of your coat, so that if you
+are searched--which I own I do not think to be likely, unless in some
+other way you excite the suspicions of the Spaniards--it may not be
+found upon you."
+
+"I think, sir, that I would rather make it into a little pellet which
+I can swallow. I fancy that if they were suspicious enough to search me
+they would rip all the linings open."
+
+"That would be a better way certainly, Campbell; I see that you have
+thought the matter over thoroughly. Of course, you will take no arms
+with you."
+
+"Nothing but a long knife each. Every peasant carries one, and it may be
+possible that we shall be compelled to silence a sentinel. If you would
+not mind, sir, I should like to have six copies of your letter to the
+commandant. I could manage to swallow six as well as one, and as it is
+not likely that I shall be able to enter the citadel it would be as well
+to give them a better chance of finding the letter if I have to try to
+shoot or throw it in."
+
+"That shall be done; we will use the thinnest paper, so that if you have
+to swallow them you can do so without difficulty."
+
+"If I find that I cannot by any possibility get my message in through
+the town, sir, I shall try to cross the river and so make my way in on
+that side."
+
+"That would be even more dangerous than the other," Turenne said. "On
+that side an even stricter watch is likely to be kept than on that
+facing the town, for the Spaniards know that the garrison is not strong
+enough to attempt any enterprise against the city, while it might at any
+moment attempt to break out and march away on the other side.
+
+"I own that I do not see myself how you can possibly succeed in either
+case, but assuredly there must be more chance on the side of the town.
+I have been thinking it over, and will order a troop of cavalry to
+ride with you to Chivasso, for the Spanish horse from time to time make
+forays from Turin, carry off prisoners, and burn villages. Until we are
+in a position to make a general advance it is impossible to check these
+attacks without keeping the whole of our cavalry massed near Turin, and
+wearing out horses and men by the necessity for perpetual vigilance. And
+now, goodbye; may fortune attend you! Do not be too rash. The letters
+shall be sent you in an hour's time."
+
+As they issued out from Susa they found the troop of cavalry awaiting
+them. The officer in command was well known to Hector, and said:
+
+"So it is you that I am to escort to Chivasso, Monsieur Campbell?"
+
+"Yes; I am sorry to give you occasion for so much trouble."
+
+"No trouble at all; we have not been in the saddle for the past week,
+and a ride to Chivasso will make a pleasant change. Besides, I have
+a brother in the garrison there, so that altogether I shall be your
+debtor. You see, we are not allowed to ride beyond St. Ambrogio, or
+Rivoli at farthest, for once beyond that, we should be liable to be
+caught by the enemy's scouting parties. Of course we have a strong force
+at Rivoli, but except to drive off small parties of the enemy who
+may venture to come up too close, they are forbidden to engage in any
+affairs. It is annoying, but one can understand that the general is
+anxious to avoid encounters in which the enemy is sure to be superior
+in force, until his reinforcements come up and we are able to take the
+field in earnest."
+
+"I do not think we shall be otherwise than inferior in force even when
+our last regiment comes up," Hector said. "What with Holland and the
+Rhine and the frontier of Spain, it is clear that the cardinal must have
+as much as he can do to enable all our commanders to make head against
+the enemy, and it is no secret that beyond one more regiment of cavalry
+that will arrive with Count d'Harcourt, no other reinforcements are
+likely to reach us for some time to come. But then, you see, we have
+Turenne as well as d'Harcourt, and each of them ought to count for two
+or three thousand men."
+
+"Well, I would rather fight against long odds," the officer said, "than
+be kept here month after month doing nothing. Here is winter coming on,
+and I suppose that will put a stop to everything."
+
+"I should hardly think so," Hector replied. "I am sure that the viscount
+is as eager for action as we are, and winter here is not the same thing
+as in Holland or on the Rhine. From what I hear there is very little
+snow in the plains; and as the country is generally flat, an army could
+march almost as easily as in summer, and in some respects they would be
+better off."
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"I mean that in summer the barns would be all empty of food until filled
+again by the harvest, whereas in winter they would be all well stocked
+with forage for the cattle and horses."
+
+"You are right, Monsieur Campbell. Certainly there should be nothing to
+prevent our operating through the winter, and I shall look forward even
+more eagerly than I did before for d'Harcourt's return. Will you come
+back with us tomorrow from Chivasso?"
+
+"That will depend upon circumstances. I think it is more probable that I
+shall not return to Susa for a few days; my orders are to report myself
+to the governor."
+
+No bodies of the enemy's cavalry were met with on the way, and at four
+o'clock in the afternoon they rode into Chivasso. They alighted at the
+commandant's, and on stating that he was the bearer of a despatch from
+the general Hector was at once shown in. As he had more than once ridden
+there with despatches from Turenne, he was known to the officer.
+
+"We heard of the victory three days since," the latter said, as Hector
+handed him the despatch, "and fired a salvo of guns in honour of it. An
+Italian deserter from the other side brought the news. The two generals
+were unwounded, I hope?"
+
+"Yes, colonel, and our losses were altogether slight."
+
+The commandant opened the despatch. He looked a little surprised at
+its contents. "So you are going to endeavour to pass a message into
+the citadel. It is a difficult undertaking. The enemy's watch is a
+very vigilant one. Once or twice during the siege men have succeeded in
+swimming the Po and evading the enemy's guards, but of late these have
+been doubled, for it is thought that the garrison may attempt to break
+out. On the town side the firing has all but ceased; they know that the
+store of provisions is almost exhausted, and regard it as a waste of
+powder and shot to continue their cannonade, which only results in
+the citadel answering it, and that with very much more effect than the
+Spanish guns produce. May I ask if you have any plan of getting in?"
+
+"No, sir, we must decide upon that when we see how matters stand."
+
+"Who is the we?" the colonel asked.
+
+"Myself and my servant, who is a very sharp and intelligent lad whom I
+can thoroughly trust. Alone I could do nothing, for I have only picked
+up a few phrases in Italian yet, and should be detected at once; so
+anything that has to be said must be said by him. May I ask, sir, if the
+enemy are in force on the other side of the bridge? if so, we must cross
+by swimming, either above or below it."
+
+"No; there was a regiment there until three days ago, but they marched
+away, and no doubt formed a portion of Prince Thomas's force. They know
+well enough that although our garrison can hold the walls, we are not
+strong enough to undertake any enterprise."
+
+"Then, sir, we have only to ask for an escort for a mile or so beyond
+the other side of the bridge, in case a company should have been left
+to watch the road. Beyond that we will dismount and proceed on foot. We
+will, if you please, put on our disguises here, with the exception of
+our hats, and perhaps you will lend us a couple of long cloaks, so that
+our appearance may not be noticed. Although we shall not start until
+after dark, it is as well to be upon the safe side. Maybe the enemy have
+spies in the town, and were it noticed that two young peasants rode out
+under the escort of a troop of cavalry news might be sent to Turin. In
+that case we might be arrested as soon as we entered the city. I should
+be obliged if you would give orders to the officer in command that one
+of the troopers should bring the horses, cloaks, and hats back here with
+him."
+
+The governor rang a bell, and on an orderly entering said: "Tell Captain
+Sion to have his troop in readiness to start in an hour's time, in order
+to form an escort for one of Viscount Turenne's officers, and tell
+him that when he has the troop ready to start he is to come to me for
+detailed orders. I have said an hour, Monsieur Campbell," he went on,
+after the orderly had left the room, "because, in the first place, it
+is not yet dark, and in the second, it will take some twenty minutes to
+prepare a meal. You will have a long night's work before you, and I dare
+say you have had nothing since you halted for breakfast."
+
+"Thank you, colonel, I had not thought of it; but I should certainly
+have remembered it before tomorrow morning. We halted for breakfast at
+eleven, and if it had not been for your kind offer we should have had
+no chance of getting anything till we entered Turin, and even there the
+less we go into any cabarets the better."
+
+"That is true. I have sent a message to the cook that twenty minutes is
+the utmost we can give for the preparation of a meal."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV: SUCCESS
+
+
+Although the governor apologized to Hector for the poorness of the
+repast and the haste with which it had been prepared, it was really
+excellent, consisting of soup, some fish fresh from the river, a cutlet,
+and an omelette, with a bottle of good wine of Asti. Paolo's wants had
+been attended to in the kitchen. It was six o'clock when they started.
+The officer in command had already received his instructions, and the
+governor accompanied Hector to the door, where two horses were standing
+saddled.
+
+"They are not your own," he said, "but are two of mine. I thought that
+yours had made a sufficiently long journey today."
+
+Thanking him for his kindness, Hector mounted, and took his place by
+the side of Captain Simon, while Paolo fell in with the orderlies riding
+close behind.
+
+"I presume, monsieur, that you are going to obtain some information for
+Viscount Turenne. I don't want to ask any questions as to the nature of
+your mission, but as I have orders to bring back with the horses your
+cloaks and hats, I presume that in the first place you are going on
+foot, and in the second, you are going in disguise."
+
+"Your judgment is correct, captain. The viscount wishes to obtain
+certain information, and I am going to fetch it for him, if I can."
+
+"I hope that you will be successful, sir. It is a good night for
+travelling, the stars are bright and the moon down, so that you will
+have light enough to keep the road, and time enough to step aside should
+you meet any party who might be inclined to question all passersby."
+
+"Do you know the roads well about here?" Hector asked.
+
+"I was stationed in Turin before the enemy came with too great a force
+to be resisted."
+
+"I want to strike across the country, and to come into the road from
+Turin to Casale at a distance of three or four miles from the city."
+
+"A mile or so away a road branches off from this which keeps by the
+river. It is a mere country road, and except in two or three small
+villages that you will pass through, you are not likely to meet with
+anyone upon it. It is about eight miles to the main road from the point
+where you turn off, and you will then be five miles from Turin. It is
+just possible that you may meet patrols, but I should think it very
+unlikely; now that our army has gone into winter quarters at Carignano,
+they are not likely to be very vigilant."
+
+As they rode along Hector related some of the incidents of the late
+battle. No signs of the enemy were met with, and the officer presently
+said, "I am sorry to say that this is the point where you leave us,
+monsieur. I wish it had been a little farther, so that I could hear more
+of the fight."
+
+Hector and Paolo dismounted. Two troopers were called up and took charge
+of their horses, while the cloaks and hats were given to the officer's
+orderly, then the two lads put on the Savoyard hats they had carried
+under their cloaks. The officer took two packets from his holster.
+
+"The colonel bade me give this to you at starting," he said. "He thought
+that after a long walk on foot you would want some slight refreshment
+before the inns were open in the morning."
+
+"Will you please give him my hearty thanks for his thoughtfulness,"
+Hector said, "and accept the same yourself for your courtesy in
+escorting me."
+
+"Now we are fairly on our way, Paolo," he went on as he turned down the
+lane, for it was little more; "this package is a bottle of wine, and the
+one that I have handed to you contains the eatables."
+
+"That is good, master. We shall find it pretty cold before morning, and
+there is nothing like a good meal to warm one up again."
+
+"Did you get the bow and arrows at Chivasso?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I went out and bought them as soon as we got there. I wanted
+them, I told the man, for a boy of ten years old, but all he had were a
+good deal too long, which I was glad of, for a child's bow would hardly
+have been strong enough, so I made him cut one down until it was not
+more than three feet long. That way I shall be able, as we agreed, to
+carry it under my doublet. Of course it will make me walk stiffly, and
+there will be no possibility of sitting down, but that matters not at
+all. It is all the stronger, and will send an arrow a good distance. I
+have got six arrows as you ordered me. They are regular arrows, but I
+made the man shorten them so as to suit the bow, and then repoint them.
+I have got them inside my doublet. I tied them together, made a hole in
+the lining under the arm, and put them in."
+
+"You have not forgotten the cord, I hope, Paolo?"
+
+"Not I, master. I should have deserved having my ears cut off if I had
+done so."
+
+They were in no hurry, and walked only fast enough to keep themselves
+warm. In two hours and a half they arrived at the main road and turned
+to the right. "Now we will go another couple of miles, Paolo, and then
+look out for a sleeping place. An empty barn or stable or a stack of
+fodder is what we want. We may as well sleep warm as cold. We shall not
+want to be moving on till seven o'clock."
+
+After walking three miles they came upon a small village.
+
+"Do you stay here, master, I will go round and see if I can find a
+place. I am more accustomed to these villages than you are."
+
+In five minutes he returned. "I have found a capital place," he said.
+"It is a stable, but it is empty. No doubt the Spaniards have taken the
+horses, and are using them in their transport wagons."
+
+"It is enough for us that the place is empty, Paolo."
+
+The door stood ajar. They entered and closed it behind them, and they
+then felt about until they found a pile of rough fodder. They pulled
+some of this aside, lay down and covered themselves up with the stalks
+they had removed, and in three minutes were fast asleep, for they had
+had a long day's work. Hector slept until he was awakened by Paolo,
+who said, "The day is breaking, and the village will be astir in a few
+minutes." The weather had changed, and as they stepped out fine flakes
+of snow were drifting through the air, and the ground was already
+whitened. They regained the road and walked along until they came to a
+wood.
+
+"We may as well wait here and breakfast, Paolo." The parcel was opened
+and found to contain a cold capon and some bread, and on these and the
+wine they made a capital breakfast, each taking a long sip at the bottle
+to the health of the colonel. "The market people are beginning to come
+along, and we may as well buy something from them going in. If we
+have not something to sell it is not unlikely that we shall be asked
+questions." It was now broad daylight, and they saw several peasants
+pass along the road, some with baskets, others driving a pig or a goat.
+
+"Either of these would do," Hector said; "but we don't know where the
+market is, and it would never do to seem ignorant of that." The snow had
+stopped suddenly some minutes before, and the sun was now shining.
+
+"That is lucky," Hector said as they walked down towards the road, "we
+may hope that there will be no more snow and that the sun will soon melt
+what has fallen. It would be fatal to us if the ground were white, for
+the most careless sentry could not help seeing us upon it."
+
+They reached the road just as a peasant came along. He was an old man,
+and was dragging behind him a pile of faggots, which were placed upon
+two rough poles. He was walking between these, holding two ends in his
+hands, while the others trailed along on the ground behind.
+
+"Bargain with him, Paolo."
+
+"That is a heavy load, father," the latter said.
+
+"Ay, it is heavy."
+
+"How much do you expect to get for your faggots in the town?"
+
+"I shall get a crown," the man said. "I would not take under, and they
+ought to be worth more than that now the snow has begun to fall."
+
+"We are going into the town," Paolo said. "We are younger than you,
+and between us we could drag it along easily. I have got a crown in my
+pocket to buy some things with. I don't mind giving it to you for your
+load. If I can sell the faggots for a few soldi over that we shall be
+able to buy something for ourselves."
+
+"It is a bargain, lad," the old man said. "I am getting old and the
+rheumatism is in my bones, and I shall be very glad to be spared the
+journey; so give me your money and take the poles. I hope you will be
+successful, and sell them a little higher. You had better ask a crown
+and a half. The women are sure to beat you down, but you will make ten
+or twelve soldi for yourselves."
+
+Paolo handed the crown to the old man.
+
+"How had we better take this, Paolo?" Hector asked, as the old man,
+chuckling with satisfaction at having escaped a toilsome journey, turned
+to retrace his steps.
+
+"There is room for us both between the shafts," Paolo said, "one behind
+the other. It would be much easier to walk holding both poles than for
+us both to take one, as in that way the weight will be balanced on each
+side of us."
+
+There was indeed just room between the ends of the poles and the pile of
+brushwood for them to walk close behind each other, and as the greater
+portion of the weight rested on the other ends of the poles they did not
+find the burden a heavy one.
+
+"How are we going to sell these, Paolo?"
+
+"We shall have no difficulty in selling them, master. This frost will
+set every housewife on the lookout for wood, and you will find that we
+sha'n't have to go far before we are accosted."
+
+It was two miles from the spot where they had bought the faggots to the
+gates of Turin.
+
+"I sha'n't be sorry to get rid of this load," Hector said. "It is not
+the weight but the roughness of the poles. My hands are quite chafed by
+them."
+
+"Loose your hold for a bit, master. My hands have been accustomed to
+rough work, and many a load of faggots have I drawn in my time."
+
+"I will hold on, Paolo. It is not more than a quarter of a mile farther.
+My hands have done plenty of work, too, but it has been done with smooth
+handled weapons. It is well that they should become accustomed to harder
+work."
+
+They passed without a question through the gate, and following the
+example of other vendors of wood, of whom they saw several, Paolo began
+to shout, "Large faggots for sale!"
+
+It was not long before a door opened and a woman beckoned him.
+
+"How much do you want for the whole?"
+
+"A crown and a half," Paolo said.
+
+"I have been offered as many for a crown," the woman replied.
+
+"Then, signora, you did wrong to refuse. It took two days' work to cut
+them, and we have dragged them here for miles. Two crowns would not pay
+for the labour. Not one scudo would I take under the price that I have
+named. Why, if the town is besieged these faggots would be worth twenty
+crowns before the winter is over."
+
+"Well, I will give you the money," the woman said. "It is extortionate.
+Generally I can buy them at half that price."
+
+"I do not say no to that," Paolo laughed, "but with two armies wanting
+firewood and cutting down the copses without even taking trouble to ask
+leave of their owners, I think that you will see firewood very scarce in
+the city before long."
+
+"Well, carry it in and pile it in the yard."
+
+This was soon done, the poles were thrown on to the top of the heap, and
+the boys went off along the street again.
+
+"We have made half a crown for ourselves," Paolo laughed; "now we must
+decide how we shall spend it."
+
+"It would be a good plan to spend some money anyhow," Hector said.
+"What kind of things would you be likely to buy for your family in the
+country?"
+
+"Well, I should say a cooking pan to begin with, and a few yards of warm
+stuff for making my mother a skirt."
+
+"Well, buy the cooking pan first and sling it across your shoulder, and
+then as we wander about we can look in the shops and it will seem as if
+we were on the search for articles that we had been told to purchase; it
+would be better than sauntering about without any apparent object.
+But first let us walk briskly towards the side of the town facing the
+citadel. The Strada Vecchia is the one that I want to examine first."
+
+The knowledge that he had gained from the plan of the city enabled
+Hector to find the street without their having to ask any questions.
+
+"Now, buy your cooking pan at the next smith's shop you come to, and
+then we can go slowly along making our observations."
+
+They soon found that the street they had entered was, for the most part,
+deserted by its inhabitants. The shops were all closed, the road was
+strewn with fallen chimneys and balconies, and here and there were
+yawning holes showing how severely the street had suffered when the
+artillery duel was going on between the guns on the walls and those
+of the citadel. A short distance down the street a chain was stretched
+across it, and here a musketeer was pacing up and down on guard. Two
+others could be seen at the farther end of the street, where there was
+a gateway in the wall, now closed up with sandbags piled thickly against
+it.
+
+"We will see if the other streets are similarly guarded."
+
+This was found to be so, sentries being placed in every street running
+down to the wall in this quarter.
+
+"So far so good, Paolo. I do not think that matters could have been
+better for us. The next thing is to buy a tool with which we can wrench
+open a door or the shutter of a window; but a door will be best, because
+we could not work at a shutter without running the risk of being seen by
+a sentinel, while in a doorway we should be screened from observation.
+These houses in the Strada Vecchia are old, and the doors ought not to
+give us much trouble."
+
+"Some of these old locks are very strong, master. I should think that
+it would be easier to cut out one of the panels than to force the door
+open."
+
+"Possibly it would, but it is not an easy thing to get the saw to work.
+We should have to bore a hole large enough for the saw to go through
+before we could use it. However, we will buy both a saw and a crowbar;
+as they are both things that are useful to woodcutters, your buying them
+will not appear suspicious, nor will the purchase of an auger, but we
+had better get them at different shops."
+
+Leaving that part of the town they re-entered the streets where business
+was being carried on as usual.
+
+"We won't buy the things until late in the afternoon, Paolo. There would
+be no advantage in dragging them about all day."
+
+They sauntered about the streets for some hours, then Paolo went into a
+small baker's and bought two loaves of coarse bread. At another shop he
+purchased some cheese, and with these they sat down on a stone bench in
+the principal square and leisurely ate their food and looked on at the
+crowd, which consisted principally of soldiers, Spanish veterans, stiff
+in carriage and haughty in manner, together with others, horse and
+foot, belonging to the contingent of the Duke of Milan, an ally of the
+Spanish. Among these were townspeople, the younger ones chatting with
+each other or with ladies of their acquaintance; the middle aged and
+older men talking gravely together as they walked up and down.
+
+Among these there was an air of gloom and depression. The state of panic
+in which the troops of Prince Thomas, who had marched out confident
+that they were about to annihilate the French, had returned, and the
+knowledge that the Marquis of Leganez had also failed, had created a
+feeling of the deepest disquiet among that portion of the population who
+had taken a leading part in throwing off the authority of the duchess
+and in acknowledging that of Prince Thomas. They had regarded her cause
+as lost, but the vigorous steps that France was taking to assist her had
+caused uneasiness; and if, while as yet a comparatively small force had
+arrived, these had shown so bold a front, had captured Chieri in the
+face of a powerful army, had revictualled Casale, had defeated Prince
+Thomas and forced their way past the array of Leganez, it might well be
+that in the spring, when reinforcements reached them, they might even
+defeat the Spaniards and lay siege to Turin itself. The boys remained
+where they were until it began to grow dusk, when, after buying at
+three shops a saw, a crowbar, and an auger, they went and sat down on a
+doorway in a quiet street until eight o'clock. Then they took their way
+to the Strada Vecchia. It was entirely deserted. Lights showed in one
+or two of the windows, but, except that they could hear the tread of the
+nearest sentry, all was silent. Taking off their wooden shoes they moved
+cautiously along, keeping close to the houses. The fourth they came to
+had an unusually deep doorway, and they decided at once that this would
+suit their purpose. First they tried with the crowbar, but the lock held
+firmly.
+
+"We will try another way, Paolo. If the door yields, it will go with a
+crash, and the sentry might come down to see what had caused the noise.
+We had better take out this lower panel; we shall want four holes bored
+touching each other to make one large enough for the saw to enter."
+
+The wood was of oak, and it took Paolo fully five minutes to make the
+holes.
+
+"Now give me the auger," Hector said when it was found that the hole was
+large enough for the saw to pass through.
+
+"I will begin at the bottom of the panel while you saw away at the top."
+
+Paolo had done his share by the time the holes along the bottom were
+ready for the saw.
+
+"Now you take the auger again," Hector said. "We have not done half our
+work yet. The holes must be made on each side. There is no turning the
+saw."
+
+It took them an hour and a half of hard work before the last cut was
+completed and the panel fell forward.
+
+"You go in first, Paolo. I will follow you, and will wedge the panel
+into its place again with some of the chips that the auger has cut out.
+No one has passed since we began, and if anyone did come along before
+morning he would not be likely to notice that the panel was gone. Still
+it is as well to avoid all risk."
+
+As soon as the panel was replaced they mounted the stairs. Before
+beginning they had seen that there were no lights in any of the windows,
+and feeling sure that the house was deserted they groped their way
+upstairs without hesitation until they reached the attics in the sloping
+roof. They entered one of these facing the street, opened the casement,
+in which oiled paper took the place of glass, and stepped down on to
+the parapet. Their course was now easy. The divisions between the houses
+were marked by walls some six feet high extending from the edge of the
+parapet over the roof. They were able to climb these, however, without
+having to use their cord, one helping the other up and then being
+assisted by him. They had left the cooking pan and their tools, with
+the exception of the crowbar, behind them, and had fastened their wooden
+shoes round their necks. The sun during the day had melted the snow that
+had fallen in the morning, but light flakes were again beginning to come
+down fast.
+
+"I don't care how hard it snows as long as it keeps on," Hector said in
+a low voice in answer to an exclamation from Paolo when the first flake
+fell upon his face. "The harder the better, for in that case no sentry
+could see us half a dozen paces away. There is another advantage. The
+wind is from the north, and we have only to keep the driving snow on our
+right cheeks to make our way straight to the fortress, whereas with an
+overcast sky on such a dark night as this we should very soon lose all
+idea of the direction that we were going in."
+
+Being obliged to use great caution to avoid noise while getting over the
+walls, it took them half an hour to reach the end of the street. They
+had, while waiting before commencing their operations, twisted one of
+their sashes, and then wound it round the hook so thickly that this
+would fall almost noiselessly upon the ground. The snow prevented them
+from seeing six feet below them, but they felt sure that there must be
+a narrow lane between the house and the wall. They had during the day
+bought a length, equal to that of their rope, of strong string.
+
+"I have got it as you ordered it, master," Paolo said as they came out
+of the shop, "but it would never bear our weight."
+
+"I think it might do in case of necessity," Hector said. "In fact, I am
+sure it would. It does not require a great thickness of new cord to hold
+a man's weight; but I don't want it for that."
+
+Paolo walked silently along for some time, and then said: "If it is not
+wanted to carry our weight, master, I cannot think what it is wanted
+for."
+
+"It is wanted to get the hook down with. You see when we get down into
+the street there would be little chance of getting the hook off its
+hold. We shall most likely want it again, and certainly we shall want
+the rope. I have been puzzling over it, and I think I have found a way
+at last. My idea is to fasten this thin rope to the point of the hook,
+then, on pulling upon it the point will rise until it gets level with
+the top of the wall on which it is fixed, and we can then shake it down
+without difficulty. I don't know whether it will act, but I think that
+it ought to do so; an upward pull at the point must, I should think,
+lift it as far as the edge."
+
+
+"I should think that it must," Paolo agreed. "I should never have
+thought of that."
+
+"We will try it on this last division wall. I have no doubt about it
+myself, because even if it did not pull it quite to the top the thing
+would be so canted over that I think it would fall from its own weight."
+
+They now attached the string to the point, fixed the hook to the top
+of the wall, and then pulled upon the string. The hook at once fell to
+their feet.
+
+"That is capital," Hector said. "Now we can go to work. We need carry
+this crowbar no farther. In the first place we will cross this roof and
+other roofs as far as we can go; the sentry at the corner is probably
+standing up for shelter in a doorway, and we may as well get as far as
+we can from him, and at the same time not go far enough to get near the
+one at the next corner."
+
+After one or two attempts the hook became fixed on the ridge of the
+roof, and they at once climbed up, unfastened the hook, and slid down on
+the now snow covered tiles. Two more roofs were crossed in the same
+way, and then they prepared to descend. They had, when they put on their
+disguises, tied knots in the rope at a distance of a foot apart. They
+now adjusted the hook on the parapet.
+
+"Shall I go first, master, or will you?"
+
+"I will go first, though in fact it matters little which of us does it;
+but first I must warm my fingers. I don't think that I could trust to
+them at present."
+
+He gathered a handful of snow, made it into a ball, and held it in his
+hands until the cold pained him, then he dropped the snow and thrust his
+hands up the sleeves of his doublet. Paolo looked on in astonishment,
+but having great faith in his master imitated his example.
+
+"That is a curious way of warming the hands," he said.
+
+"I daresay you have made snowballs in your time, Paolo, and if you have
+you will remember that, although it made your hands bitterly cold at
+first, after you had done they soon became almost as hot as fire."
+
+"I do remember that, master, but I should never have thought of it as a
+way of warming our hands."
+
+For a minute or two there was a sharp pain as the blood began to rush
+into the fingers, and when this passed off their hands were in a glow.
+Hector took the rope, lowered himself over the parapet, and then began
+to descend. When halfway down the darkness became more intense than
+before, and he knew that he was now below the level of the outer wall.
+When he reached the ground he shook the rope as a signal, and then,
+stretching his arms before him, crossed the lane. It was but a step, for
+the house stood but five feet back from the wall. He waited until Paolo
+joined him, then he drew on the thin rope and, to his satisfaction, he
+felt it yield.
+
+"Stand aside," he said, "it is heavy enough to give one a nasty thump."
+
+Paolo withdrew a few paces, then Hector gave another pull. The rope gave
+way at once. He flattened himself against the house, and the hook fell
+with a dull thud a foot or two away.
+
+"Coil up the rope, Paolo, and then feel along the wall to the right;
+don't go too far. I will go to the left, there may be some steps up to
+the rampart."
+
+This proved to be the case, and together they made their way up quietly,
+but even had they had their shoes on, the snow was already sufficiently
+deep to deaden their footsteps. On reaching the top they stood silent
+for a minute or two. Presently they heard the sound of heavy stamping of
+feet. They turned at once to descend, if necessary, the steps they
+had mounted, then Hector put his hand upon the other's shoulder and
+whispered, "It is the sentry trying to warm his feet; no doubt he is
+standing up somewhere to shelter himself from the snow; let us go on at
+once."
+
+They crossed the rampart, fastened the hook on the top of the wall, and
+descended, and were again successful in bringing the rope down after
+them.
+
+"Go carefully, Paolo; no doubt there is a moat somewhere here." There
+was, however, no necessity for caution, for the white surface of the
+snow was soon broken by a black line.
+
+"It will be awfully cold," Paolo said, with teeth that chattered at the
+prospect.
+
+"Of course you can swim, Paolo?"
+
+"Not very well, master."
+
+"Then I will go first. You fasten the rope under your arms, and I will
+haul you across. Be sure you do not make a noise in getting into the
+water. But first of all take off your doublet, I will carry it and mine
+across on my head. It cannot be many yards across. The wind will soon
+dry the rest of our things, and once our work is done we can warm
+ourselves by running. I would say strip altogether, but we may have to
+do another swim; for, as we agreed, there is no chance of our being able
+to return by the way we came."
+
+Fastening the two doublets on his head, Hector lowered himself into the
+water, which was three feet below the level on which they stood. He
+had fastened the rope across his shoulder. As he expected, he found the
+water out of his depth, and at once struck out to the opposite side. It
+was about forty feet across. He found, on reaching the other side, that
+the wall was there nearly five feet above the water. He undid the rope
+and threw up the hook. At the second attempt it caught, and he climbed
+the side, and then in a low voice told Paolo to start. Presently he
+heard a slight splash, followed by a gasp. He hauled away rapidly on the
+rope, and in a couple of minutes Paolo stood beside him, shivering and
+gasping.
+
+"Put your doublet on. Now let us go forward as fast as we can." They
+climbed the steep slope to the top of the glacis, and then ran down
+until they were brought to a standstill by another moat.
+
+"This is the one marked in the plan as dividing the fortifications of
+the town from those of the citadel. Now we have another swim before
+us. It is wider than the last, but is really no distance. Give me your
+doublet again."
+
+"I don't mind this so much," Paolo said. "I cannot be colder than I am."
+
+"Don't try to swim, Paolo; lie on your back, with your mouth just out of
+water. I will have you over in no time."
+
+It was fully fifty yards across; but, accustomed to bathe in almost icy
+cold water, the swim was nothing to Hector, who was soon across, and
+who then towed Paolo over as before. They mounted another glacis, and
+presently reached the edge of a third moat.
+
+"We need go no farther. I know that this moat is but some fifteen yards
+from the foot of the fortifications. Now, get the arrows out. Cut off
+a foot or two of the thin cord, and unravel it. I must warm my fingers
+again first, I cannot use them at all."
+
+"Mine are pretty cold, too." And both lads warmed them as before. Paolo
+then set to work to string the bow, which required all his strength to
+accomplish. While he was doing so, Hector drew from his pouch the six
+little pellets, and taking the arrows, straightened out each pellet,
+wrapped it round an arrow, and secured it firmly with a small strand
+from the string. When he had done this, he took the bow from Paolo,
+fitted an arrow to the string, drew it with his full strength, and then,
+pointing the arrow high, loosed it. The six arrows were sent off. Just
+as the last was discharged there was a shout of "Who is there? Speak,
+or I fire!" It was a sentry on the wall, who had caught the sound of the
+twang of the bow.
+
+"I am a friend, a messenger from the French general," Hector replied.
+"I have just shot six arrows into the fortress; a message is attached to
+each for the governor. Report to the officer, and have a search made for
+them in the morning.
+
+"That is a piece of good luck," he went on as they turned away. "I
+thought of shouting, but we might have got a shot in reply, and I made
+sure that one or other of the arrows would be picked up. Still, this
+makes certain of it."
+
+"I think I would rather stop out here until morning," Paolo said, "then
+they will take me in. I am afraid I shall never get across the river."
+
+"Nonsense! The water is low, and we are not likely to have to swim
+farther than we did in crossing the last moat. Getting through the part
+of the town between us and the river is a more serious matter. However,
+it is not very far across, and they are not likely to be very vigilant."
+
+They turned to the right, and kept along at the edge of the moat, until
+Hector considered that they had made a fourth of the circuit of the
+walls, and were now facing the river. They had decided before that this
+would be the easiest side on which to leave the town. The sentinels
+would not expect that anyone attempting to enter or leave the citadel
+would try to do so here; as, in addition to passing the wall facing the
+fortress and that bordering the river, they would be obliged to swim
+the river itself. The snow was falling as quickly as ever, and the wind
+blowing fiercely.
+
+"There is no fear of their seeing us, unless we happen to run into the
+very arms of the sentry," Hector said encouragingly; "we shall only have
+the moat to swim; and as, according to the plan, it is nothing like so
+wide as that we passed before, we shall have no trouble with it."
+
+"Ah! here it is," Paolo groaned.
+
+"Nonsense!" Hector said. "One cold bath more or less makes no difference
+now. There, give me your coat again, and I will take it over."
+
+The moat was indeed but some twelve yards across, and in two or three
+minutes Paolo stood shivering on the other side.
+
+"The edge is not far from the wall, not much more than the breadth of
+the moat. Give me the cord."
+
+A few steps and they reached the wall. After two attempts the hook
+caught, and Hector climbed up. He was looking back to watch Paolo when
+he was suddenly seized from behind, and a deep voice in Italian said,
+"If you move I will kill you. Who are you?"
+
+With a sudden effort Hector twisted himself round and seized the
+disengaged wrist of his opponent, which he doubted not held a dagger.
+The man loosened his hold of his doublet and tried to grasp his neck,
+but Hector in a moment leapt forward and threw his arm round the man's
+waist. They wrestled backwards and forwards, but the soldier was a
+powerful man, and Hector found that he could not long retain a grasp of
+his wrist. Suddenly he felt his antagonist collapse; the dagger dropped
+from his hand, the other arm relaxed its hold, and he fell a lifeless
+mass.
+
+"Thank you, Paolo. You were but just in time. The fellow was too strong
+for me. Now let us slip down the inside of the wall as quickly as
+possible."
+
+A minute later they both stood at the foot of the wall, the hook was
+shaken off, and they proceeded along the wall until they came to a
+street.
+
+"It is not more than two or three hundred yards to the outer wall,"
+Hector whispered.
+
+Whether there were sentinels or not in the street they knew not. If so,
+they had withdrawn themselves into deep doorways to avoid the blinding
+snow, and the wind drowned the slight sound made by their feet on the
+soft snow.
+
+In a short time they reached the outer wall, crept along it until they
+found the steps leading up, crossed it in safety, fixed their hook, and
+rapidly descended. A run of fifty yards brought them to the edge of the
+river bank.
+
+"We will try to find a boat," Hector said. "There are sure to be some
+along here."
+
+They walked across the dry bed of the river till they reached the
+water's edge, and then followed this. In a few minutes, to their
+delight, they came upon a boat. The bow was hauled a few feet out of
+water, and a rope, doubtless attached to a heavy stone anchor, stretched
+from its bows. This they cut, put their shoulders to the gunwale,
+and soon had her afloat. Then they scrambled in, put the oars out
+cautiously, and began to row. Both had had some practice at the
+exercise, and it was not long before the boat grounded on the opposite
+shore.
+
+"Pull it up a bit," Hector said. "No doubt it belongs to some poor
+fisherman to whom its loss would be serious. Now we must keep along the
+bank for some distance, until quite sure that we are well beyond any
+patrols the enemy may have on the road. Let us get into a run, Paolo,
+and see if we can't get our blood in motion again, for I own that I feel
+half frozen."
+
+They set off at a brisk trot, which they kept up for half an hour, and
+then they struck off from the river and soon found the road. Following
+this, after an hour's walking they came upon a little shed by the
+roadside, and in one corner found a pile of old sacks.
+
+"We are in luck again!" Hector exclaimed joyfully. "Tired as I am, I
+don't think that I could have slept in these wet clothes, if one can
+call them wet--at present they are frozen stiff. These sacks are the
+very thing. We can strip now and wring out our clothes thoroughly. There
+are enough sacks here to lay under us and cover us too. After wringing
+out the shirts we will put them in under the sacks next to us. The heat
+of our bodies will dry them to some extent, and they will be warm to
+put on in the morning. The other things we can pile over us. There is no
+chance of their getting dry; but I am so pleased with our success that I
+am not disposed to grumble at trifles."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V: THE RELIEF OF THE CITADEL
+
+
+As soon as the first gleam of daylight showed itself Hector and his
+companion were on their feet again.
+
+The operation of dressing was by no means a comfortable one, for the
+frost had set in in earnest during the night, and their clothes, with
+the exception of the shirts, were as stiff as boards. The snow had
+ceased and the sky was clear.
+
+"It is going to be a fine day, master," Paolo said as they left the hut.
+
+"That is better than battling with a snowstorm such as that of yesterday
+evening. Come on, Paolo, let us trot for a bit. The snow is four inches
+deep, and we shall soon get warm running through it."
+
+In a quarter of an hour they broke into a walk again, panting from their
+exertions.
+
+"I am as warm as a toast now, Paolo. There is a village half a mile
+ahead. I expect that lies on the road. The sun will be up before we get
+there, and no doubt we shall be able to get some hot spiced wine and
+some bread at a wineshop."
+
+This turned out to be the case. They had settled what story to tell;
+and when the landlord asked what brought them there so early, Paolo said
+that they had been on the road a couple of hours, as they were going to
+see an aunt who was ill at Chivasso, and their father wanted them back
+again that night. The explanation satisfied the host and he asked no
+further questions, and in ten minutes they were on their way again,
+greatly warmed and comforted by their meal, and after walking for
+another hour and a half they arrived at the bridge of Chivasso. There
+was a strong guard at the bridge head, for at any moment the garrison
+of Turin, aided by a force from Leganez's army, might endeavour to carry
+the town by a sudden assault. The lads passed the bridge unquestioned,
+entered the gate of the town, and made their way to the commandant's
+house.
+
+"What do you want?" the sentry at the door asked as they came up.
+
+The regiment was French, and Hector answered at once:
+
+"We want to see the governor, we have important news for him."
+
+The soldier was greatly surprised, for he had not expected his question
+to be understood by these peasant boys.
+
+"Sergeant," he called out, "here are two peasant boys who speak French.
+They want to see the governor, and say that they have news of importance
+to give him."
+
+A sergeant came out.
+
+"Sergeant," Hector went on quietly, "you will please tell the governor
+that the two persons he sent out under an escort the evening before
+last, wish to see him."
+
+By the tone of assurance in which the lad spoke, rather than by his
+words, the sergeant saw that there was something more than appeared
+on the surface, and at once took up the message. He returned almost
+immediately. "Please to follow me," he said, and led the way up to the
+governor's room.
+
+"Welcome back again, Monsieur Campbell! You have returned sooner than I
+expected. You found, of course, that the difficulties were insuperable?"
+
+"On the contrary, sir, we have been successful, and have communicated
+with the garrison of the citadel."
+
+"You have!" the governor exclaimed in astonishment. "How on earth
+did you manage it? I heard that the watch was so strict that it was
+absolutely impossible for a message to be sent through."
+
+"It was not very difficult after all, and we were greatly favoured by
+the snowstorm." He then gave an account of how they had managed it.
+
+"Pardieu!" he exclaimed, "that was admirably done; but I am keeping you
+talking while you are sitting in your wet clothes."
+
+"I think they are quite dry now, sir; and we have walked so fast that
+we are both thoroughly warm. Still, I own that I shall not be sorry to
+change them for my own."
+
+The governor rose and opened the door. "Your clothes are all hanging up
+in that closet. I will have some hot water sent up at once. I shall
+be breakfasting in half an hour, so you will have time to change
+comfortably."
+
+Hector was even more glad of a thorough wash than of a change of
+clothes, and went down to join the governor at breakfast, feeling
+greatly refreshed.
+
+"Shall I wait on you, master?"
+
+"No, it is not necessary, Paolo; you had better go into the kitchen at
+once. I have no doubt the governor has ordered them to attend to your
+wants as he did before."
+
+Four other officers had just arrived on the invitation of the governor
+to breakfast; one of these was the captain who had commanded the escort.
+
+"Gentlemen," the commandant said, "let me introduce to you Monsieur
+Campbell, a lieutenant on the staff of Viscount Turenne. He has just
+returned after having successfully carried out a most dangerous and
+difficult mission, namely, that of communicating with the garrison of
+Turin."
+
+The officers gave an exclamation of surprise, while Captain Simon
+stepped forward and shook hands warmly with Hector.
+
+"You did not tell me exactly what you were going to do," he said. "I
+thought that it was to see some of the duchess's adherents in Turin, but
+I never dreamt that you were going to attempt to communicate with the
+citadel. Had I known that, I certainly should not have expected to see
+you again, for from what we have heard it is next to impossible to get
+through the enemy's lines."
+
+"We will not trouble Monsieur Campbell until he has finished his
+breakfast," the commandant said. "He has already told me briefly how he
+managed, but I shall be as glad as you will to have the details."
+
+Accordingly, after breakfast Hector related at much greater length the
+story that he had told the governor of the manner in which the mission
+had been carried out.
+
+"Ma foi!" the colonel said, "I would rather have faced a battery than
+swum those moats in such weather. Well, gentlemen, I think that you will
+agree with me that Monsieur de Turenne is fortunate in having so brave
+and enterprising an officer on his staff."
+
+The officers cordially assented.
+
+"I wonder that you did not enter the citadel and stay there till the
+convoy arrived."
+
+"In the first place, colonel, I had received no orders to do so, and the
+general might require me for other service. And in the second place, had
+I not returned he would not have known whether his message had reached
+the garrison, and so might have hurried on his preparations more hastily
+than he otherwise would have done, and might, in his fear that the
+garrison would surrender, have made the attempt before he had collected
+sufficient food to last them until he was in a position to raise the
+siege."
+
+"Your reasons are good ones; but certainly, with shelter and warmth
+close at hand--for the sentry would speedily have passed the word along,
+and as soon as it was ascertained that you were indeed a French officer,
+and alone, the gates would have been opened for you--it must have
+required no small effort to turn away and to face the danger of passing
+the sentries and scaling the walls, of possibly having to swim the Po,
+and of certainly having no chance of getting a change of clothes until
+you arrived here, for you could not have calculated upon finding the
+shed, much less those sacks, with the snow falling heavily."
+
+"That was a piece of good fortune, indeed. If we had not found it, we
+should have gone on walking until we got here. Still, we had had little
+sleep the night before, and were heartily glad that we had no farther to
+go. And now, sir, with your permission we will start for Susa at once."
+
+"Your escort returned yesterday, but I will send a troop of cavalry with
+you."
+
+"Thank you, sir, but I do not think that there is any necessity for it.
+We are very well mounted, and should we see any party of the enemy's
+cavalry I think that we ought to be able to outdistance them. I shall
+be glad, colonel, if you and your officers will say nothing about the
+manner in which I communicated with the garrison, as doubtless the enemy
+have spies here; and if the story comes out and reaches the ears of the
+authorities at Turin, I should have no chance whatever of making my
+way in, in the same manner, should the general entrust me with another
+mission to communicate with the citadel."
+
+A quarter of an hour later Hector and Paolo mounted and rode out of the
+town. They kept a vigilant lookout, and traveled by byroads, but they
+saw none of the enemy's parties, and reached Susa late that afternoon.
+On sending in his name to Turenne, Hector was at once shown into his
+room.
+
+"I did not expect you back for another three or four days, Campbell,"
+the general said, "and I am heartily glad to see you again safe and
+sound. I blamed myself for letting you go. Of course, as I expected, you
+found the task an altogether impossible one. Had it been otherwise you
+would not have been back so soon."
+
+"On the contrary, general, for I should have tried many plans before I
+gave it up. As it is, I have only to report that I have carried out your
+instructions, and that your despatches are in the hands of the garrison
+of the citadel."
+
+"You do not say so!" Turenne said, rising from the table at which he had
+been sitting writing when Hector entered, and shaking him warmly by the
+hand. "I congratulate both you and myself on your having performed a
+mission that seemed well nigh hopeless. But by what miracle did you
+succeed in passing through the enemy's lines? All who have tried it
+before have either died in the attempt or have returned to tell me that
+it was an absolutely impossible one."
+
+"It would have been very difficult, general, had not the weather
+favoured us. The snowstorm drove the sentries into shelter, and even
+had they remained at their posts they could not have seen us five yards
+away."
+
+"No, I can understand that once beyond the wall you might in such a
+storm make your way unnoticed up to the fortress; but I understood that
+not only were there guards on the walls and down near the great moat,
+but that there were also sentries in all the streets leading to the
+walls, and that none were allowed to pass along those leading to the
+walls facing the citadel. Tell me how you managed it."
+
+"The story is a long one, sir."
+
+"Never mind how long it is; give me all details. I am not particularly
+busy at present, and I would fain know exactly how this feat has been
+accomplished."
+
+Hector told his story at length. Beyond asking a question now and then,
+Turenne remained silent until he had brought it to a conclusion.
+
+"I have never heard a story that interested me more," he said, "and I do
+not know which to admire more, your ingenuity in planning this affair or
+the hardihood and courage with which you carried it out. Even had there
+been no enemy to get through, the adventure of letting yourself down by
+a rope from the housetop and then from the battlements, swimming three
+moats, crossing the river in such terrible weather, and finally making
+your way to Chivasso in your frozen clothes, is no slight feat of
+endurance. The service that you have rendered is a great one, the manner
+in which you have carried it out is worthy of the highest praise, and I
+shall at once make out your commission as captain. You are still a year
+behind me," he added with a smile, "but if you go on in this way, you
+bid fair to obtain a regiment as soon as I did. You have nearly four
+years to do it in. Tomorrow you will dictate your story in full to
+my secretary. I shall be sending a messenger with despatches on the
+following day. I shall mention that I have promoted you to the rank of
+captain, and that the story of the action that you have performed, which
+I shall inclose, will fully explain my reason for so speedily advancing
+you. No, I require no thanks; you have to thank yourself only. I may
+consider that you have not only done me but the state a service. Your
+servant deserves a reward also. Here are twenty pistoles; tell him
+not to throw them away, but to lay them by where some day they will be
+useful to him."
+
+Paolo was astonished indeed when Hector handed him the general's
+present. He could at first hardly believe that it was meant for him.
+
+"Why, master," he said, "it would buy me a farm up in the hills!"
+
+"Not a very large one, Paolo, but I daresay that you will add to it;
+still, this is a good beginning, and some more opportunities may come in
+your way."
+
+"What shall I do with them, master?"
+
+"That I cannot say. Certainly you cannot carry them about with you. Do
+you know anyone to whom you could entrust them?"
+
+Paolo shook his head. "There is never any knowing who is an honest man
+and who is not," he said. "I will bury them, master."
+
+"But somebody might find them."
+
+"No fear of that, sir. I will go a bit up the valley and bury them under
+a big rock well above the river, so that it will not be reached in the
+highest floods. They might lie there a hundred years without anyone
+finding them, even if every soul in Susa knew that they were hidden
+somewhere and went out to search for them."
+
+"Very well; but be sure you take notice of the exact position of the
+stone, or you may not be able to find it again yourself. One big stone
+is a good deal like another. Choose a stone with a tree growing near it,
+and make a cross with your knife on the bark. That will serve as a guide
+to you, and you would recognize the stone by it even if you could not
+find it in any other way."
+
+"Thank you, master. I will go out tomorrow morning and choose my stone,
+and then when it begins to get dark I will go out and bury my money
+there. It would not do to hide it in the daytime, for even were there no
+one on the road someone upon the hills might catch sight of me and come
+down afterwards to see what I was disposing of."
+
+"Well, I think that that is the best thing that you can do, Paolo. There
+is certainly a danger in leaving it in anyone's hands, for when you
+return to claim it, perhaps some years hence, you might find that he was
+dead, or the place might be captured and burned down. Yes, I think
+that hiding it is the safest way. You will be pleased to hear that the
+general has given me a commission as captain."
+
+"That is good news, indeed," the boy said. "I was just going to ask,
+master, what he had done for you, because, though I went with you, it
+was you who planned the business, and I only did as you told me."
+
+"You had something to do with the planning, too, Paolo. However, I
+think that we may both feel well content with the rewards that we have
+obtained for two days' work."
+
+As Hector went out he met de Lisle and Chavigny.
+
+"Well met!" the former exclaimed. "We have just left the general, and
+he has told us what you have done, and that he has made you a captain
+in consequence. We were just coming to look for you to carry you off to
+supper in honour of your promotion."
+
+"You deserve it, if anyone ever did, there is no doubt of that,"
+Chavigny said heartily. "We are quite proud of our comrade."
+
+"It seems absurd that I should be a captain."
+
+"Not absurd at all," Chavigny said. "Turenne was a captain when he was a
+year younger than you are, and there is many a noble who has been made a
+colonel before he ever drew sword in battle."
+
+Hector was much pleased at the evidently genuine congratulations of
+his companions. He had indeed rather feared that they would take his
+promotion ill; being nearly five years his senior, and having served in
+two previous campaigns, they might well feel hurt at his being promoted
+while they still remained only lieutenants. The young nobles indeed felt
+no shade of jealousy. It was but of late that there had been a regular
+army, for the nobles still brought their tenants and retainers to the
+field and supported them at their own expense.
+
+To de Lisle and Chavigny these grades of military rank were of no
+account whatever. The rank of colonel would add in no way to their
+position as members of noble families. They fought for honour, and
+against the enemies of France. They were always addressed by their
+family name, and would both have resented being called lieutenant.
+They were proud of being Turenne's aides-de-camp, but had no thought of
+remaining in the army after the war was over, as they would then resume
+their place at court. They had both taken a strong liking to their young
+comrade, whose manner of thought differed so widely from their own. They
+appreciated the merits of the action of which their general had spoken
+in such warm terms, and the fact that in point of military rank he was
+now above them concerned them in no way. It was a merry supper at the
+best hotel in Susa.
+
+"You see now, de Lisle," Chavigny said, "the advantage of taking a
+morning dip in snow water. Neither you nor I would have swum across
+those moats, and remained all night long in our wet clothes, for a
+thousand crowns."
+
+"No, no, nor for five thousand," the other laughed. "Pass me the wine;
+it makes me shiver to think of it. I fancy we may as well admit at once
+that if the mission had been entrusted to us, we should have made a mess
+of it. We should have been shot by the guards in the first street we
+entered. As to climbing along the roofs of houses till we had passed the
+first line of sentinels, the idea would never have entered our heads.
+Of course we might have disguised ourselves, and might have got into
+the town by harnessing ourselves to a load of faggots, but once there we
+should have had no more chance of getting into the fortress than if we
+had at once proclaimed ourselves French officers, and had requested a
+pass into the citadel."
+
+For the next ten days every effort was made to obtain carts and pack
+horses from the villages round Susa, and a number of wagons filled with
+provisions were brought from Carignano, where the principal supplies for
+the army had been collected. On the fourteenth day all was ready, and
+late in the afternoon the convoy, with fifteen hundred men from Susa,
+and four pieces of artillery, marched out. At the same hour the force
+at Carignano, six thousand strong, leaving only a small body to garrison
+the city, started for Turin along the farther bank of the Po, and just
+as day broke a heavy cannonade was opened by them against one of the
+city gates.
+
+Astonished and alarmed, the troops in the city flew to arms, and hurried
+to repulse the attack. A quarter of an hour later the dim light of
+the morning showed the astonished sentries at the end of the town
+surrounding the citadel a considerable force advancing to the attack of
+the gate there, opposite which, at a distance of two hundred yards, four
+cannon were placed, and scarcely had they made out the enemy when
+these opened fire. A few rounds and the gate was in splinters, and the
+infantry rushed forward. The sentries on the walls took to flight, and
+the assailants pushed forward to the inner gate. Access was obtained
+from that side to the citadel, and then, under the direction of their
+officers, the assailants occupied all the side streets. At once the
+procession of carts was allowed to pass along. Some of the garrison
+ran down and lowered the drawbridge across the moat, and amid exultant
+shouts a store sufficient for many months was conveyed into the citadel.
+The carts as quickly as they were unloaded returned through the gates
+and passed out into the country beyond. By this time a fierce fight
+had begun. As soon as the firing was heard opposite the citadel, Prince
+Thomas and his military advisers guessed at once that the attack had
+been but a feint, made with the object of effecting the relief of the
+citadel, and calling several regiments to follow them they hastened in
+that direction. On their way they met the fugitives, and hurried on with
+all speed. As they approached the street through which the wagons were
+passing out, they were checked by a heavy fire. The four guns had been
+placed in pairs at the end of the streets, and the houses near them
+filled with troops who kept up a murderous fire from the windows, on the
+head of the columns, and held them completely in check until the last
+wagon had been taken out. Then the cannon were removed, and when these
+too were fairly outside the city, a bugle call summoned the defenders of
+the houses, and the infuriated Italians and Spaniards, when they rushed
+down into the street between the gates, found that the last of their
+foes had escaped them. The artillerymen ran up to the walls, only to
+find that the guns had been spiked, and they were powerless to inflict
+any serious damage upon the retiring force.
+
+Prince Thomas ordered a sally, but at this moment a regiment of cavalry
+from Chivasso was seen dashing across the plain, and being without
+artillery or cavalry the order was countermanded. Indeed, the prolonged
+roll of artillery at the other end of the city seemed to show that the
+French were converting their feigned attack into a real one. Turenne
+had himself accompanied the column from Carignano, for he knew that the
+sound of firing might bring up Leganez from Asti, and that he might
+find his retreat to Carignano intercepted. The moment, however, that the
+sound of four guns at equal intervals showed that the other column
+had achieved its object, he at once fell back, his fire ceasing a few
+minutes before Prince Thomas and his horse arrived at the walls. He had
+not been accompanied by Hector, who was with the force from Susa.
+
+"You carried my message to the garrison," he said, "and it is but right
+that you should have the honour of leading the party to its relief."
+
+On arriving near the city Hector had dismounted, and, giving his horse
+in charge of Paolo, had placed himself at the head of the company that
+was first to enter the town, its captain being transferred to another
+company.
+
+"Now, men," he said, as they stood waiting for the dawn to break, "the
+moment we enter the gates half the company will mount the wall to the
+right, the other half to the left, and each will push along to the next
+angle of the wall. Lieutenants, one of you will go with each wing of the
+company, and you will oppose to the last any force that may march along
+the rampart to attack you. I want one soldier to keep by me."
+
+As day began to break, each man grasped his firelock and awaited the
+signal with impatience. A cheer broke from them as the four cannon
+roared out at the same moment, and at so short a distance that every
+shot told on the gate. Another salvo and both halves of the gate were
+splintered.
+
+"Aim at the centre where the lock is," an officer shouted.
+
+"Get ready, men," Hector said. "Another round and the gate will fall."
+
+As the cannon rung out there was a shout of triumph. One of the gates
+fell to the ground and Hector dashed forward, followed closely by his
+company. Not a single shot was fired from the walls, and the men burst
+through the gates cheering. The leading wing of the company turned to
+the right, and, led by Hector, ran up the steps close to the gateway on
+to the rampart.
+
+"Take them on to that bastion at the angle of the wall, lieutenant. I do
+not think that you are likely to be attacked at present. The enemy must
+all have been drawn off to the other end of the city. Now, my man, open
+that bag."
+
+In it were a couple of dozen large nails and a hammer. "Drive one of
+those right down the vent of this gun. That is right. One more blow.
+That will do. They won't get that nail out soon."
+
+He went along the wall spiking each gun until they reached the half
+company drawn up in the bastion. "No enemy in sight, lieutenant?"
+
+"None, sir, at least not on the wall. We heard them running away in the
+streets below."
+
+"Remember, lieutenant, whatever force may come along you must withstand
+them. It will not be for long. You will be at once supported if we hear
+firing."
+
+Then he retraced his steps along the ramparts, passed over the gateway,
+and saw to the spiking of each gun as far as the next angle of the wall.
+Here he repeated his instructions to the lieutenant there.
+
+"I do not think," he said, "that there is much chance of your being
+attacked. The enemy would have to make a detour right round the citadel
+to come here, and certainly they will return by the shortest way, as
+soon as they discover that the other attack is but a feint."
+
+Then he returned to the first party.
+
+"Get the two guns," he said, "out of their embrasures and wheel them
+here. It is likely enough that we may be hotly attacked presently."
+
+They waited half an hour, by which time the wagons were beginning to
+pour out of the town.
+
+"We have done our business, lieutenant; the citadel is revictualled. Ah!
+here come the enemy, just too late."
+
+A strong body of troops were seen marching rapidly towards them, and
+almost at the same moment a heavy fire broke out in the street. The
+guns had been loaded from a small magazine in the bastion, and had been
+trained to fire along the rampart. When within a hundred yards the enemy
+opened fire. Hector ordered the men to lie down and not to reply until
+he gave the order. They lay in two lines, the first were to fire and the
+second to reserve their fire until ordered. He took his post at one gun
+and the lieutenant at the other. A messenger had been sent along the
+wall to bring up the twenty-five men of the other wing. When the enemy
+were within fifty yards he asked quietly, "Does your gun bear well on
+the centre of the column?"
+
+"Yes, captain."
+
+"Then fire!"
+
+The ball cut a way through the dense column.
+
+"Load again!"
+
+The four men, told off to the duty, leapt to their feet. There was a
+halt for a moment, and then the Spaniards came on again. When they were
+within twenty paces Hector fired, and at the same time shouted, "First
+line give fire!" and twenty-five muskets flashed out, every ball taking
+effect on the head of the column. The Spaniards recoiled, the leading
+ranks being swept away and many of those behind wounded, for three balls
+had been rammed down the mouth of the cannon fired by Hector, and these
+and the musketry volley had done terrible execution. At this moment the
+twenty-five men sent for ran up.
+
+"Second line give fire!" Hector shouted; and the discharge added to the
+confusion in the column, and many ran down some steps into the lane by
+the side of the wall.
+
+"Have you loaded again, lieutenant?"
+
+"Yes, sir, with three balls."
+
+"Then form up, men, and deliver your fire," Hector said to the
+newcomers. "Now, lieutenant, touch it off."
+
+As the discharge rang out, mingled with the roar of the guns, Hector
+shouted, "Fix bayonets, and charge!" The wooden shafts of the bayonets
+were thrust down the barrels of the firelocks, and with a cheer the
+seventy-five men rushed upon the shattered head of the column. The
+charge was irresistible, and the enemy at once fled at full speed along
+the rampart or leapt from the wall into the lane below.
+
+"Well done, men, well done!" Hector shouted. "Do not pursue. Reload your
+cannon, though I do not think there is much fear of their returning."
+
+A few minutes later the soldier who had carried the spikes, and who had
+been left on the wall, ran up to say that the last cart had passed out.
+
+"Go and tell the other party to fall back to the gate," Hector said;
+"but first give me two spikes and the hammer. They might run these
+cannons into the places of those disabled." So saying, he spiked the
+two guns that had done such good service, and then retired to the gate,
+where he was joined by the remainder of the company. As the bugle rung
+out after the last wagon had passed, and he saw the troops issuing from
+the houses at the corners of the cross streets, he marched his company
+across the drawbridge, out into the country, and followed the guns. When
+he reached the spot where Paolo was holding the horses, he resigned the
+command of the company and mounted.
+
+"Men," he said, "you have played your part well, and I am proud to have
+commanded soldiers so steady and courageous."
+
+At this moment the general, who was in command of the force, and who had
+been the last to leave the town, rode up, the men coming along at a run.
+
+"You had better hurry your men on," he said to the colonel with whom
+Hector had acted; "the enemy will be on the ramparts in a minute, and
+you may be sure that they won't let us off without trouble from their
+guns."
+
+"I beg your pardon, general," Hector said saluting, "but the guns all
+along this side of the wall are useless; I have spiked them."
+
+"You have, sir! That was well done indeed. Who gave you the orders, and
+how did you come by spikes?"
+
+"I had no orders, general; but I was appointed to command the first
+company that entered, and was told that we were to turn right and left
+along the ramparts. It struck me that as, when we had left, the enemy
+would be sure to turn their guns upon us, it would be as well to silence
+them, so I brought the nails and a hammer with me for the purpose."
+
+"It would be well, sir, if we had a good many officers as thoughtful
+as you are. You have saved us from heavy loss, for, as the country is
+perfectly level for a mile round, they would have swept our ranks as we
+marched off. Were you attacked, sir?"
+
+"Yes, general, by a force of about four hundred men, but I turned two of
+the guns against them. My men fought well, and we repulsed them with a
+loss of fully a hundred men."
+
+"Bravo, sir, bravo! I shall not fail to mention the service that you
+have rendered in my report of the affair. Have you lost any men?"
+
+"No, sir; they lay down until the enemy were within twenty paces of us,
+and their volleys and the two cannon created such a confusion among the
+Spaniards that when we went at them with the bayonet they fled at once,
+and I have not a single man killed, and only two or three slightly
+wounded."
+
+"We have only lost twenty," the general said, "and most of those were
+killed while serving the guns. That was a small price indeed to pay for
+our magnificent success."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI: A CHANGE OF SCENE
+
+
+Hector gained great credit from the report of the manner in which the
+force had been enabled to draw off without loss from the enemy's guns,
+owing to his forethought in bringing with him the means of spiking them,
+and also for his success in checking the advance of the enemy along the
+ramparts.
+
+"You see, messieurs," Turenne said to the members of his staff, who,
+with the exception of Hector, were together on the day after his return
+to Susa, "how important it is for officers, before setting out on an
+expedition, to think seriously over every contingency that may happen.
+Now the vast proportion of officers consider that all the thinking has
+to be done by the general, and that they only have to obey orders. No
+doubt that is essential, but there may be numerous little matters in
+which an officer may render great service. This young captain of ours
+did not content himself with leading the company to which I appointed
+him through the gateway. Before leaving Susa he must have thought over
+every incident likely to occur. As the leading company he would know
+that it would be his business to clear the ramparts, to check any
+parties of the enemy coming along that way, and it would be only natural
+for him to determine to use the enemy's cannon to keep them at bay.
+
+"This would probably have occurred to most officers placed as he was.
+But he did not stop there--he must have thought over the events that
+would probably follow the entry. He knew, of course, that our feint
+at the other end of the town would draw off the greater portion of the
+garrison, but would be sure also that as soon as the attack began, and
+it became evident that our real object was to revictual the citadel,
+they would come pouring back again. He would have said to himself, 'We
+shall be able to keep them at bay until our work is done, then we shall
+have to fall back. What then? The enemy will mount the ramparts, and
+while their main force pours out in pursuit, their guns on the walls
+will play havoc with us. To prevent this I must silence them before my
+company retires.'
+
+"It is all very simple when we look at it after it is done, and yet
+probably it did not occur to a single officer of that force except to
+Captain Campbell. I admit that it did not occur to myself. Had it done
+so, I should have ordered that some of the artillerymen should carry
+spikes and hammers, and that upon entering the town they should
+immediately take steps, by rendering the guns harmless, to enable the
+force to draw off without heavy loss. In the same way he showed a cool
+and calculating brain when he carried out that most dangerous service of
+bearing the news that we should speedily bring aid to the citadel. It
+is difficult to imagine a better laid plan. He thought of everything--of
+his disguise, of the manner in which it would alone be possible to
+approach closely to the wall.
+
+"I think that few of us would have thought of making our way up through
+a house a hundred yards away, working along the roofs and descending
+into the lane by the wall itself. I asked him how he got the rope down
+which it was necessary for him to use four or five times afterwards,
+and he showed me the plan by which he contrived to free the hook; it
+was most ingenious. It did not seem to me that it would have acted as
+he told me, and I asked him to have another one made so that I might
+understand how it was worked, for such a contrivance would be extremely
+useful in escalades, when the troops, after descending into a deep
+fosse, need the rope for climbing a wall or bastion. There it is,
+gentlemen, and as you see, by pulling this thin cord the hook is lifted
+from its hold, and the slightest shake will bring it down.
+
+"The contrivance is an excellent one. The line he took was well chosen.
+He accomplished the most dangerous part first, and made his way out
+by the side where the watch was most likely to be careless, as anyone
+leaving or entering the town there would have to swim the river. The
+feat shows that he has not only abundance of courage of the very highest
+order, but that he has a head to plan and leaves nothing to chance. You
+will see, gentlemen, that if this young officer lives he is likely
+to gain the highest rank and position. Already I have every reason to
+congratulate myself upon having, almost as it were by chance, taken him
+under my protection."
+
+The winter passed quietly, but as soon as spring set in and the roads
+were sufficiently good for the passage of wagons, d'Harcourt prepared to
+attempt to raise the siege of Casale, before which Leganez with twenty
+thousand men had intrenched himself. The roads were still, however, far
+too heavy for cannon, and as the garrison were becoming hardly pressed
+he left his guns behind him and started at the end of April with seven
+thousand foot and three thousand horse. The position occupied by the
+Spaniards was a strong one, and their general did not for a moment
+think that the French, with a force half the strength of his own, would
+venture to attack him. D'Harcourt, however, resolved upon doing so. He
+divided his force into three parts; two of these were composed of French
+soldiers, the third comprised the forces of the Duchess of Savoy. The
+attack was successful on all sides--although d'Harcourt for a time could
+make no way, and Turenne was repulsed three times before he entered the
+intrenchments--the Spaniards were completely defeated, and lost their
+guns, ammunition, and baggage, three thousand killed, two thousand
+prisoners, and great numbers were drowned in endeavouring to cross the
+river.
+
+A council of war was held, and Turenne's advice that Turin should be
+besieged was after much debate accepted, although it seemed a desperate
+enterprise for an army of ten thousand men to besiege a town garrisoned
+by twelve thousand, while the Spaniards, after recovering from their
+defeat and drawing men from their various garrisons, could march
+to relieve the town with eighteen thousand men. No time was lost in
+carrying Turenne's advice into effect. The army marched upon Turin,
+seized the positions round the town, threw up lines facing the city to
+prevent sorties being made by the enemy, and surrounded themselves by
+similar lines to enable them to resist attack by the Spaniards, who
+were not long in approaching them. Thus there were now four bodies
+of combatants--the garrison of the citadel, which was surrounded and
+besieged by that of the town; the town was besieged by Turenne, and
+he himself was surrounded by the Spaniards. Each relied rather upon
+starving the others out than upon storming their positions, but Leganez
+managed to send a messenger into Turin telling Prince Thomas that he
+intended to attack the French and calling upon him to fall upon them
+with his troops at the same time.
+
+In pursuance of this design he retired some distance up the Po, and
+proceeded to cross the river at Moncalieri. D'Harcourt despatched
+Turenne to oppose the passage, but before he could arrive there some
+five thousand men had crossed the bridge. Without hesitating a moment,
+although his force was a much smaller one than that of the Spaniards,
+Turenne attacked them at once, carried the intrenchments they had begun
+to throw up, killed a large number, and drove the rest into the river,
+where hundreds were drowned. Then he set fire to the bridge, which was
+of wood, and intrenched himself on the banks of the river, occupied all
+the fords higher up, and completely checked any advance of the Spaniards
+in that direction. He was, however, wounded in the shoulder, and was
+obliged to leave the army and to be carried to Pinerolo. While he was
+away Leganez attacked the French line from without, and Prince Thomas
+from within, and the former succeeded in passing twelve hundred horse
+and one thousand foot into the town.
+
+The French were now closely beleaguered, and began to suffer severely
+from famine. In the meantime fresh troops had arrived from France, and
+although not yet recovered from his wounds, Turenne took the command,
+and escorted a great convoy of provisions into the camp in spite of the
+enemy's efforts to prevent him. The townspeople were suffering even more
+severely. Sorties were made in great force, but were always repulsed,
+as were the attacks made by Leganez, and on the 17th of September the
+garrison surrendered, being allowed to march out with their arms. The
+Count d'Harcourt returned to France, and Turenne again assumed the
+command of the army for the winter.
+
+Hector conducted himself to the satisfaction of his general throughout
+the campaign, but was severely wounded in the last sortie made by the
+besieged, having been thrown down in a charge of Prince Thomas's cavalry
+and trampled upon by the horses, and being taken up for dead when the
+enemy fell back.
+
+Directly he heard the news Turenne sent his surgeon to examine him. He
+reported that he still breathed, but that several of his ribs and his
+left arm were broken. He mended but slowly, and Turenne, a month after
+the surrender of the town, came in one day to see him, and said, "The
+surgeon tells me that it will be some months before you are fit for
+service again, and that you will need a period of perfect rest to
+recover your health. There is a convoy of invalids returning to France
+tomorrow, and I think it were best that you should accompany them. There
+is no rest to be obtained here, and I know that you will be fretting at
+being unable to ride, and at your forced inactivity. I shall give orders
+that you are conveyed in a horse litter to Sedan, where my brother, the
+Duc de Bouillon, will gladly entertain you for my sake, and you must
+remain there until entirely restored to strength.
+
+"I do not think that there will be much doing on this side of the Alps
+in the next campaign. Unhappily France has troubles of her own, and will
+find it difficult to spare more troops in this direction, and without
+reinforcements we can but act on the defensive. Though we may capture
+a few towns, there is small chance of any great operations. Indeed,
+methinks that it is by no means unlikely that Prince Thomas, seeing that
+his effort to rule Savoy in place of his sister-in-law, the duchess, is
+likely to end in discredit and loss to himself, will before long open
+negotiations with her. Therefore you will be losing nothing by going.
+It is to the duchess that I shall commend you rather than to my brother,
+who is unfortunately occupied by public matters, and is at present
+almost at war with Richelieu.
+
+"He is a man of noble impulses, generous in the extreme, and the soul of
+honour, but he knows not how to conceal his feelings; and in these days
+no man, even the most powerful, can venture to rail in public against
+one who has offended him, when that man happens to be the cardinal. I
+love my brother dearly, but I have mixed myself up in no way with his
+affairs. I am an officer of the king, and as such I stand aloof from all
+parties in the state. The cardinal is his minister; doubtless he has his
+faults, but he is the greatest man in France, and the wisest. He lives
+and works for the country. It may be true that he is ambitious for
+himself, but the glory of France is his chief care. It is for that
+purpose that we have entered upon this war, for he sees that if Germany
+becomes united under an emperor who is by blood a Spaniard, France
+must eventually be crushed, and Spain become absolutely predominant in
+Europe. If he is opposed, Richelieu strikes hard, because he deems those
+who oppose him as not only his own enemies but as enemies of France.
+
+"As a prince of the church it must have been bitter for him to have to
+ally himself with the Protestant princes of Germany, with Protestant
+Holland, and Protestant England, but he has done so. It is true that he
+has captured La Rochelle, and broken the power of the Huguenot lords of
+the south, but these new alliances show that he is ready to sacrifice
+his own prejudices for the good of France when France is endangered,
+and that it is on account of the danger of civil broils to the country,
+rather than from a hatred of the Huguenots, that he warred against them.
+Here am I, whom he deigns to honour with his patronage, a Huguenot; my
+brother, Bouillon, was also a Huguenot, and strangely enough the quarrel
+between him and the cardinal did not break out until my brother had
+changed his religion.
+
+"He was more rigorously brought up than I was, and was taught to look
+upon the Catholics with abhorrence; but he married, not from policy but
+from love, a Catholic lady, who is in all respects worthy of him, for
+she is as high spirited and as generous as he is, and at the same time
+is gentle, loving, and patient. Though deeply pious, she is free from
+bigotry, and it was because my brother came to see that the tales he
+had been taught of the bigotry and superstition of the Catholics
+were untrue, at least in many instances, that he revolted against the
+intolerance of the doctrines in which he had been brought up, renounced
+them, and became an adherent of his wife's religion.
+
+"Nigh four years ago the Duke of Soissons, a prince of the blood,
+incurred the enmity of Richelieu by refusing, with scorn, his proposal
+that he should marry the Countess of Cobalet, Richelieu's niece. The
+refusal, and still more the language in which he refused, excited the
+deep enmity of the cardinal. Soissons had joined the party against him,
+but as usual Richelieu had the king's ear. Soissons was ordered to
+leave the court, and went to Sedan, where he was heartily received by
+my brother, who had a warm affection for him. Bouillon wrote to the king
+hoping that he would not be displeased at his offering a retreat to a
+prince of the blood, and the king wrote permitting the count to stay
+at Sedan. After a time Richelieu again endeavoured to bring about the
+marriage upon which he had set his heart, but was again refused, and,
+being greatly exasperated, insisted on Bouillon obliging the count to
+leave Sedan. My brother naturally replied that the king having at first
+approved of his receiving Soissons, he could not violate the laws of
+hospitality to a prince of the blood.
+
+"Richelieu then persuaded the king to refuse further payments to the
+garrisons at Sedan, although the latter had confirmed the agreement
+entered into by his father, whereupon my brother openly declared against
+Richelieu, and still further excited the cardinal's anger by furnishing
+an asylum to the Archbishop of Rheims, second son of Charles of
+Lorraine, who had also quarrelled with Richelieu. So matters stand
+at present. What will come of it, I know not. I doubt not that the
+cardinal's hostility to Bouillon does not arise solely from the Soissons
+affair, which but serves him as a pretext. You see his object for the
+past four years has been to strengthen France by extending her frontiers
+to the east by the conquest of Lorraine. He has already carried them to
+the Upper Rhine, and by obtaining from the Duke of Savoy Pinerolo and
+its dependencies has brought them up to the foot of the Alps.
+
+"But my brother's dukedom stands in the way of his grand project, for
+it is a gate through which an enemy from beyond the Rhine might invade
+France; and, moreover, the close family relationship between us and the
+Prince of Holland would add to the danger should Holland, at present our
+ally, fall out with France. Thus the possession of Bouillon's dukedom,
+or at any rate its military occupation for a time, is a consideration of
+vital importance to the kingdom. Such, you see, is the situation. Were I
+not an officer in the French army doubtless my feelings would be on the
+side of my brother. As it is, I am a faithful servant of the king and
+his minister, and should deem it the height of dishonour were I to use
+my influence against what I perceive is the cause of France. I tell you
+this in order that you may understand the various matters which might
+surprise you at Sedan.
+
+"You go there as a patient to be nursed by the duchess, my
+sister-in-law, and having no influence, and at present not even the
+strength to use your sword, there is little fear that any will seek to
+involve you in these party turmoils. I shall write to my brother that
+you are a soldier of France and that you have done her good service,
+that you are a protege of mine, and being of Scottish blood belong to no
+party save my party, and that I entreat that he will not allow anyone to
+set you against the cardinal, or to try and attach you to any party, for
+that I want you back again with me as soon as you are thoroughly cured."
+
+Hector would much rather have remained to be cured in Italy, but he did
+not think of raising the slightest objection to Turenne's plans for him,
+and the next day he started for Sedan, taking, of course, Paolo with
+him. The convoy traveled by easy stages over the passes into France,
+and then, escorted by a sergeant and eight troopers, Hector was carried
+north to Sedan. Though still very weak, he was able to alight at the
+entrance of the duke's residence, and sent in Turenne's letters to him
+and the duchess. Three minutes later the duke himself came down.
+
+"Captain Campbell," he said heartily, "my brother has done well in
+sending you here to be taken care of and nursed. In his letters to me
+he has spoken of you more than once, especially with reference to the
+manner in which you carried a message for him to the citadel of Turin.
+I shall be glad to do anything that I can for so brave a young officer,
+but I fear that for the present you will have to be under the charge of
+the duchess rather than mine."
+
+The duke was a tall, handsome man with a frank and open face, a merry
+laugh, and a ready jest. He was extremely popular, not only in his own
+dominions, but among the Parisians. His fault was that he was led too
+easily. Himself the soul of honour, he believed others to be equally
+honourable, and so suffered himself to become mixed up in plots and
+conspiracies, and to be drawn on into an enterprise wholly foreign to
+his nature.
+
+"I will take you at once to the duchess, but I see that you are quite
+unfit to walk. Sit down, I beg you, until I get a chair for you."
+
+Three or four minutes later four lackeys came with a carrying chair, and
+Hector was taken upstairs to the duchess's apartments.
+
+"This is the gentleman of whom Turenne has written to me, and doubtless,
+as I see by that letter upon the table, to you also. He has been a good
+deal damaged, having been ridden over by a squadron of Prince Thomas's
+horsemen, and needs quiet and rest."
+
+"Turenne has told me all about it," the duchess said. "I welcome you
+very heartily, monsieur. My brother says that he has great affection for
+you, and believes you will some day become a master in the art of war.
+He says you have rendered him most valuable services, which is strange
+indeed, seeing that you are as yet very young."
+
+"I was sixteen the other day, madam."
+
+"Only sixteen, and already a captain!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I was made a captain nine months ago," he said, "for a little service
+that I performed to his satisfaction."
+
+"Turenne would not have promoted you unless it had been an important
+service, I am sure," she said with a smile. "He does great things
+himself, and expects great things from others."
+
+"It was the affair of carrying the message to the garrison of the
+citadel of Turin urging them to hold out, as he would come to their
+relief soon," the duke said. "Do you not remember that he wrote us an
+account of it?"
+
+"I remember it perfectly. Turenne said a young officer, but I did not
+imagine that it could have been but a lad. However, Captain Campbell, I
+will not detain you here talking, or you will begin by considering me to
+be a very bad nurse. Directly I received the letter I ordered a chamber
+to be prepared for you. By this time all will be in readiness, and a
+lackey ready to disrobe you and assist you to bed."
+
+"I do not need," he began, but she held up her finger.
+
+"Please to remember, sir, that I am head nurse here. You will go to
+bed at once, and will take a light repast and a glass of generous wine.
+After that our surgeon will examine you, and remove your bandages, which
+have been, I doubt not, somewhat disarranged on your journey; then he
+will say whether it will be advisable that you should keep your bed for
+a time, which will, I think, be far the best for you, for you will be
+much more comfortable so than on a couch, which, however good to be sat
+upon by those in health, affords but poor comfort to an invalid. Have
+you brought a servant with you?"
+
+"Yes, madam. He is a very faithful lad, and accompanied me on that
+enterprise that you have been speaking of. He is a merry fellow, and
+has proved himself a good and careful nurse. He sat up with me for many
+nights when I was first hurt, and has ever since slept on the floor in
+my room."
+
+"I will give him in charge of my majordomo, who will see that he is well
+taken care of, and we can have a pallet laid for him at night on the
+floor of your room."
+
+She herself led the way to a very comfortable apartment where a fire was
+burning on the hearth; a lackey was already in waiting, and after a few
+kind words she left him.
+
+"I have fallen into good hands indeed," Hector said to himself. "What
+would Sergeant MacIntosh say if he knew that I was lodged in a ducal
+palace, and that the duke and duchess had both spoken to me and seen
+after my comfort as if I had been a relation of their own?"
+
+In spite of the care and attention that he received, Hector's recovery
+was slow, and even when spring came the surgeon said that he was unfit
+for severe work. However, the letters that he received from time to time
+from de Lisle and Chavigny consoled him, for not only had the winter
+passed without any incident save the capture of three or four towns
+by Turenne, but it was not at all likely that any events of great
+importance would take place. All accounts represented the Spaniards as
+being engaged in adding to the strength of three or four towns in
+the duchy of Milan, so that evidently they intended to stand upon the
+defensive.
+
+The palace of Sedan was the centre of a formidable conspiracy against
+Richelieu. Messengers came and went, and Bouillon, Soissons, and the
+Archbishop of Rheims were constantly closeted together. They had various
+allies at court, and believed that they should be able to overthrow the
+minister who had so long ruled over France in the name of the king.
+
+As Hector was now able to move about, and was acquainted with all the
+members of the duke's household, he learned much of what was going on;
+and from a conversation that he accidentally overheard, he could see
+that the position was an extremely serious one, as a treaty had been
+signed with Ferdinand, son of the King of Spain, and the Archduke
+Leopold-William, son of the Emperor of Austria, by which each agreed to
+assist the duke and his friends with a large sum of money for raising
+soldiers, and with seven thousand men. In order to justify themselves,
+the heads of the movement issued a manifesto, in which they styled
+themselves Princes of Peace. In this they rehearsed the cardinal's
+various acts of tyranny and cruelty towards his rivals, the arbitrary
+manner in which he carried on the government, and declared that they
+were leagued solely to overthrow the power that overshadowed that of
+the king, plunged France into wars, and scourged the people with heavy
+taxation.
+
+As soon as this manifesto was published in Sedan, Hector went to the
+duke.
+
+"My lord duke," he said, "I cannot sufficiently thank you for the
+hospitality and kindness with which you and the duchess have treated me.
+Nevertheless, I must ask you to allow me to leave at once."
+
+"Why this sudden determination, Captain Campbell?"
+
+"If, sir, I were but a private person I should have no hesitation,
+after the kindness that you have shown me, in requesting you to give me
+employment in the force that you are raising; but I am an officer of the
+king, and what is of far greater importance at the present moment, an
+aide-de-camp of the Viscount Turenne, your brother. Were it reported
+that I was with your army, or even indeed that I was here, the cardinal
+would at once conclude that I was representing the viscount, and was
+perhaps the intermediary through whom communications between you
+and your brother were being carried on. Therefore I should not only
+compromise myself, which is of no importance, but I might excite
+suspicion in Richelieu's mind against your brother, which might result
+in his recall from the position in which he has so distinguished
+himself, and grievously injure his prospects. The viscount himself
+warned me against mixing myself with any party, saying that a soldier
+should hold himself free from all entanglement, bent only on serving, to
+the utmost of his power, the king and France."
+
+"You are right," the duke said heartily. "Turenne has no grievances
+against king or cardinal, and has acted wisely in holding himself aloof
+from any party; and badly as I am affected towards Richelieu, I will
+own that he has never allowed my brother's relationship towards me to
+prevent his employing him in posts of honour. I have never sought to
+influence him in the slightest, and am far too proud of the credit and
+honour he has gained to do aught that would in any way cause a breach
+between him and the cardinal. What you have said is very right and true.
+Doubtless Richelieu has spies in this town, as he has elsewhere, and may
+have learned that a young officer on my brother's staff was brought here
+last autumn grievously wounded. But it is certainly well that now, as
+the time for action is at hand, you should retire. You are not thinking,
+I hope, of returning at once, for it was but a day or two ago that the
+surgeon assured me that it would need another three or four months of
+quiet before you would be fit to resume your duties."
+
+"I feel that myself, my lord, and moreover I think that it would be as
+well that I should not join the viscount at present, for it might well
+be supposed that I was the bearer of some important news from you to
+him; therefore I propose to go to Geneva, and remain there until I have
+completely recruited my strength. In the Swiss republic I should pass
+unnoticed, even by the cardinal's agents. And the fact that, although
+being but a comparatively short distance from Piedmont, I abstained from
+joining the general, would, if they inquired, show that I could not have
+been entrusted with any private communication from you to him."
+
+"It could not be better," the duke said. "When you leave here you
+should no longer wear that military scarf. Of course, when you enter
+Switzerland there is no reason why you should disguise the fact that you
+are a French officer, and having been severely wounded, have come there
+to repair your health. Doubtless many others have done so; and, dressed
+as a private person, you would excite no attention. But the Swiss, who
+strive to hold themselves neutral and to avoid giving offence, might
+raise objections to a French officer wearing military attire staying
+among them."
+
+That evening Hector bade his adieu to the duchess and to the friends he
+had made during his stay, and the next morning, attended by Paolo, he
+started for Geneva.
+
+"I am glad indeed that we are off, master," the latter said. "In truth,
+had I stayed here much longer I should have become useless from fat and
+idleness, for I have had nothing whatever to do but to eat and sleep."
+
+"I am glad to be off, too, Paolo. I am convinced myself, in spite of
+what the surgeon says, that actual exercise will do more for me than the
+doctor's potions and rich food. I am stiff still, but it is from doing
+nothing, and were it not that coming from here my presence might be
+inconvenient for Turenne, I would journey straight to his camp. You saw
+the prince's manifesto?"
+
+Paolo nodded. "I did, master. Not being able to read or write, I could
+make nothing of it myself, but a burgher coming along read it aloud, and
+it made me shake in my shoes with fright. I made my way as quickly as I
+could from so dangerous a spot, for it seemed nothing short of treason
+to have heard such words read against the cardinal."
+
+"I fear that the duke has made a terrible mistake, Paolo. Hitherto all
+who have ventured to measure their strength with the cardinal have
+been worsted, and many have lost everything and are now fugitives from
+France. Some have lost their lives as well as honours and estates.
+Bouillon is an independent prince, and so was Lorraine, and although
+the latter could put ten men in the field to every one the duke could
+muster, he has been driven from his principality. Soissons could not
+help him except with his name, nor can the Archbishop of Rheims. Not a
+few of the great nobles would join the duke did they think that he had a
+prospect of success. None have so far done so, though possibly some have
+given him secret pledges, which will count for nothing unless it seems
+that he is likely to triumph.
+
+"It is rumoured, as you know, that he has made an alliance with Spain
+and Austria. Both will use him as an arm against France, but will throw
+him over and leave him to his fate whenever it suits them. Moreover,
+their alliance would assuredly deter any, who might otherwise range
+themselves with him, from taking up arms. No Huguenot would fight by
+the side of a Spaniard; and although the Guises and the Catholic nobles
+allied themselves with Spain against Henri of Navarre, it was in a
+matter in which they deemed their religion in danger, while this is but
+a quarrel between Bouillon and the cardinal; and with Spain fighting
+against France in the Netherlands, they would not risk their lands and
+titles. Bouillon had better have stood alone than have called in the
+Spaniards and Austrians. We know whose doing that is, the Archbishop of
+Rheims, who is a Guise, and, methinks, from what I have seen of him, a
+crafty one.
+
+"I am sure that neither the duke nor Soissons would, unless won over
+by the archbishop, have ever consented to such a plan, for both are
+honourable gentlemen, and Soissons at least is a Frenchman, which
+can hardly be said of Bouillon, whose ancestors have been independent
+princes here for centuries. However, I fear that he will rue the day
+he championed the cause of Soissons. It was no affair of his, and it is
+carrying hospitality too far to endanger life and kingdom rather than
+tell two guests that they must seek a refuge elsewhere. All Europe was
+open to them. As a Guise the archbishop would have been welcome wherever
+Spain had power. With Spain, Italy, and Austria open to him, why should
+he thus bring danger and misfortune upon the petty dukedom of Sedan?
+The same may be said of Soissons; however reluctant Bouillon might be to
+part with so dear a friend, Soissons himself should have insisted upon
+going and taking up his abode elsewhere. Could he still have brought a
+large force into the field, and have thus risked as much as Bouillon,
+the case would be different, but his estates are confiscated, or, at any
+rate, he has no longer power to summon his vassals to the field, and
+he therefore risks nothing in case of defeat, while Bouillon is risking
+everything."
+
+"I daresay that that is all true, master, though in faith I know nothing
+about the matter. For myself, it seems to me that when one is a noble,
+and has everything that a man can want, he must be a fool to mix himself
+up in troubles. I know that if the King of France were to give me a big
+estate, and anyone came to me and asked me to take part in a plot, I
+would, if I had the power of life and death, have him hung up over the
+gate of my castle."
+
+"That would be a short way, no doubt, Paolo, but it might not keep you
+out of trouble," Hector said, smiling. "If the person who came to you
+were also a noble, his family and friends would rise in arms to avenge
+his death, and instead of avoiding trouble you would bring it at once
+upon your head."
+
+"I suppose that would be so, master," Paolo said thoughtfully; "so I
+think that it would be best for me that the king should not take it into
+his head to give me that estate. And so we are going to Geneva, master?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That pleases me not," the other one said, "for I have heard of it as
+a terribly serious place, where a man dares not so much as smile, and
+where he has to listen to sermons and exhortations lasting half a day.
+My father was a Huguenot, and I suppose that I am, too, though I never
+inquired very closely into the matter; but as for exhortations of four
+hours in length, methinks I would rather swim those moats again, master,
+and to go all day without smiling would be a worse penance than the
+strictest father confessor could lay upon me."
+
+"I own that I am somewhat of your opinion, Paolo. My father brought me
+up a Protestant like yourself, and when I was quite young I had a very
+dreary time of it while he was away, living as I did in the house of a
+Huguenot pastor. After that I attended the Protestant services in the
+barracks, for all the officers and almost all the men are Protestants,
+and, of course, were allowed to have their own services; but the
+minister, who was a Scotchman, knew better than to make his discourses
+too lengthy; for if he did, there was a shuffling of jackboots on the
+stone floor and a clanking of sabres that warned him that the patience
+of the soldiers was exhausted. In our own glen my father has told me
+that the ministers are as long winded as those of Geneva; but, as he
+said, soldiers are a restless people, and it is one thing for men who
+regard their Sunday gathering as the chief event in the week to listen
+to lengthy discourses, but quite another for soldiers, either in the
+field or a city like Paris, to do so. However, if we do not find Geneva
+to our taste, there is no reason why we should tarry there, as Zurich
+lies on the other end of the lake, and Zurich is Catholic, or at any
+rate largely so, and Calvinist doctrines have never flourished there.
+But, on the other hand, the sympathies of Geneva have generally been
+with France, while those of Zurich are with Austria; therefore I think
+that if we like not Geneva we will go to Lyons, where, as an officer of
+Viscount Turenne's, I am sure to be well received."
+
+"Why not go there at once, master?"
+
+"Because I think that the fresh air of the lake will brace me up, and
+maybe if I find the people too sober minded for me we will go up into
+the mountains and lodge there in some quiet village. I think that would
+suit both of us."
+
+"It would suit me assuredly," Paolo said joyfully. "I love the
+mountains."
+
+Such was indeed the course eventually taken. The strict Calvinism of
+Geneva suited neither of them; and after a fortnight's stay there they
+went up among the hills, and in the clear brisk air Hector found his
+blood begin to run more rapidly through his veins, and his strength and
+energy fast returning. Sometimes he rode, but soon found more pleasure
+in climbing the hills around on foot, for the mountain paths were so
+rough that it was seldom indeed that his horse could break into a trot.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII: THE DUC D'ENGHIEN
+
+
+From time to time news came up of what was passing in the world. The
+Spaniards had afforded no assistance in men to the duke, for Richelieu
+had sent a powerful army into the heart of Flanders, and so kept them
+fully occupied. An Austrian force, however, joined that of the duke, and
+a battle was fought with the royal army which, under Marshal Chatillon,
+lay encamped a league from Sedan. The Austrian general commanded the
+main body, the Duc de Bouillon the cavalry, while the Count de Soissons
+was with the reserve. At first Chatillon's army had the advantage, but
+Bouillon charged with such vehemence that he drove the cavalry of the
+royalists down upon their infantry, which fell into confusion, most of
+the French officers being killed or made prisoners, and the rest put to
+rout. The duke, after the victory, rode to congratulate Soissons, whose
+force had not been engaged. He found the count dead, having accidentally
+shot himself while pushing up the visor of his helmet with the muzzle of
+his pistol.
+
+Bouillon soon learned the hollowness of the promises of his allies.
+The Spaniards sent neither money nor men, while the Austrians received
+orders to march away from Sedan and to join the Spaniards, who were
+marching to the relief of Arras.
+
+The duke, deserted by his allies, prepared to defend Sedan till the
+last. Fortunately for him, however, the position of the French at Arras
+was critical. The place was strong, two armies were marching to its
+relief, and it would therefore have been rash to have attempted at
+the same time the siege of Sedan. The king himself had joined the army
+advancing against Bouillon, while the cardinal remained in Paris. Many
+of those round the person of the king, foremost among whom was the
+Marquis of Cinq-Mars, his master of horse, spoke very strongly in favour
+of the duke, and represented that he had been driven to take up arms
+by the persecution of the cardinal. The king was moved by their
+representations, and gave a complete pardon to Bouillon, who was
+restored to the full possession of all his estates in France, while on
+his part he released the prisoners, baggage, and standards taken in the
+late battle.
+
+This was welcome news to Hector, who at once prepared to cross into
+Italy; but when they reached Chambery he heard that Turenne had been
+ordered to join the army that was collected near the Spanish frontier,
+in order to conquer Roussillon, which lay between Languedoc and
+Catalonia. The latter province had been for three years in a state of
+insurrection against Spain, and had besought aid from France. This,
+however, could not easily be afforded them so long as the fortress of
+Perpignan guarded the way, and with other strongholds prevented all
+communication between the south of France and Catalonia. As it was
+uncertain whether Turenne would follow the coast route or cross the
+passes, Hector and his companion rode forward at once, and arrived at
+Turin before he left.
+
+"I am glad to see you back again," the general said as Hector entered
+his room, "and trust that you are now strong again. Your letter, giving
+me your reasons for leaving Sedan, was forwarded to me by a messenger,
+with others from my brother and his wife. He speaks in high terms of
+you, and regretted your leaving them; but the reason you gave for so
+doing in your letter to me more than justified the course you took,
+and showed that you were thoughtful in other than military matters. You
+served me better by leaving Sedan than you could have done in any other
+way. In these unhappy disputes with my brother, the cardinal has never
+permitted my relationship to Bouillon to shake his confidence in me. But
+after being engaged for many years in combating plots against him, he
+cannot but be suspicious of all, and that an officer of my staff should
+be staying at Sedan when the dispute was going to end in open warfare
+might well have excited a doubt of me while, had you traveled direct
+here at that moment, it might, as you said, have been considered that
+you were the bearer of important communications between my brother and
+myself.
+
+"Now, I hope that you are completely restored to health; you are looking
+well, and have grown a good deal, the consequence, no doubt, of your
+being so long in bed. You have heard that I am ordered to Roussillon,
+of which I am glad, for the war languishes here. The king, I hear, will
+take up his headquarters at Narbonne, and Richelieu is coming down to
+look after matters as he did at Rochelle. So I expect that things will
+move quickly there. They say the king is not in good health, and that
+the cardinal himself is failing. Should he die it will be a grievous
+loss for France, for there is no one who could in any way fill his
+place. It has been evident for some time that the king has been in weak
+health. The dauphin is but a child. A regency with the queen as its
+nominal head, and Richelieu as its staff and ruler, would be possible;
+but without Richelieu the prospect would be a very dark one, and I
+cannot think of it without apprehension. However, I must continue to do
+as I have been doing ever since Bouillon fell out with the court; I
+must think only that I am a soldier, prepared to strike where ordered,
+whether against a foreign foe or a rebellious subject.
+
+"Happily my family troubles are over. I hear that there is a probability
+that, now Bouillon has been restored to favour, he will obtain the
+command of the army in Italy, which will just suit his active spirit."
+
+Three days later Turenne with his staff crossed the Alps, and journeying
+across the south of France reached Perpignan. The Marquis of Mielleraye
+was in supreme command, and Turenne was to act as his lieutenant; the
+latter at once took charge of the operations of the siege of Perpignan,
+which had already been beleaguered for some months by the French. The
+fortress was a very strong one, but as the efforts of the Spanish
+to reinforce the garrison by a landing effected on the coast failed
+altogether, and as the operations of Mielleraye in the field were
+successful, and there was no chance of any relief being afforded to
+the besieged town by a Spanish army advancing through Catalonia, it was
+certain that the fortress must in time surrender by hunger. As it could
+not be captured by assault unless with a very heavy loss indeed, Turenne
+contented himself with keeping up so vigilant a watch round it that its
+communications were altogether cut off, and the garrison knew nothing
+whatever of what was passing around them.
+
+The Duc de Bouillon had received the command of the army in Italy, and
+Turenne hoped that henceforth his mind would be free from the family
+trouble that had for the past four years caused him great pain and
+anxiety. Unfortunately, however, Cinq-Mars, the king's master of horse
+and personal favourite, had become embroiled with the cardinal. Rash,
+impetuous, and haughty, the young favourite at once began to intrigue.
+The Duke of Orleans, the king's only brother, one of the most
+treacherous and unstable of men, joined him heart and soul, and Bouillon
+was induced to ally himself with them, not from any political feeling,
+but because Cinq-Mars had been mainly instrumental in obtaining terms
+for him before, and appealed to his sense of gratitude to aid him now.
+He insisted, however, that this time there should be no negotiating with
+Spain and Austria, but that the movement should be entirely a French
+one.
+
+Unknown to him, however, the others entered into an alliance with Spain,
+who engaged to find money and an army. The conspirators had gained the
+ear of the king, Cinq-Mars representing to him that their hostility
+was directed solely against the cardinal, and the latter was in great
+disfavour until he obtained a copy of the treaty with Spain. The
+disclosure opened the king's eyes. The Duke of Orleans, Cinq-Mars,
+Monsieur de Thou, his intimate friend, and de Bouillon were at once
+arrested. Orleans immediately turned traitor to his fellow conspirators,
+revealed every incident of the plot, and was sentenced to exile.
+Cinq-Mars and de Thou were tried and executed. De Bouillon saved his
+life by relinquishing his principality to France, any hesitation there
+may have been in sparing him on those terms being removed by the receipt
+of a message from the duchess, that if her husband were put to death she
+would at once deliver Sedan into the hands of the Spaniards. De Bouillon
+was therefore pardoned, and in exchange for the surrender of his
+principality, his estates in France were to be enlarged, and a
+considerable pension granted to him.
+
+All this was a terrible trial to Turenne, who was deeply attached to his
+brother, and who mourned not only the danger he had incurred, but that
+he should have broken his engagements, and while commanding a royal army
+should have plotted against the royal authority.
+
+At the end of November the cardinal's illness, from which he had long
+suffered, took an unfavourable turn, and the king, who had returned to
+Paris, went to see him. Richelieu advised him to place his confidence
+in the two secretaries of state, Chavigny and de Noyers, recommended
+Cardinal Mazarin strongly as first minister of the crown, and handed
+the king a document he had prepared barring the Duke of Orleans from any
+share in the regency in case of the king's death, the preamble calling
+to mind that the king had five times pardoned his brother, who had yet
+recently engaged in a fresh plot against him. On the 2nd of December,
+1642, Richelieu died, and the king, on the following day, carried out
+his last advice, and appointed Mazarin to a place in his council.
+
+The year had passed quietly with Hector Campbell. His duties had been
+but slight during the siege, and as during his stay at Sedan and in
+Switzerland he had continued to work hard at Italian, at the former
+place under a teacher, who instructed him in more courtly dialect than
+that which he acquired from Paolo, so during the six months before
+Perpignan he had, after taking the advice of Turenne, set himself to
+acquire a knowledge of German. Working at this for eight hours a day
+under the tuition of a German gentleman, who had been compelled to leave
+the country when his native town was captured by the Imperialists, he
+was soon able to converse as fluently in it as in Italian.
+
+"It is in Germany that the next great campaign is likely to take place,"
+Turenne said to him, "and your knowledge of German will be of infinite
+utility to you. Fortunately for myself, Sedan standing on the border
+between the two countries, I acquired German as well as French without
+labour, and while in Holland spoke it rather than French; the knowledge
+of languages is of great importance to one who would rise high in the
+army or at the court, and I am very glad that you have acquired German,
+as it may be of great use to you if we are called upon to invade that
+country again, that is, if the new council of the king are as kindly
+disposed towards me as Richelieu always showed himself to be; but I fear
+that ere long there may be changes. The king's health is very poor.
+He may not live long, and then we have a regency before us, and the
+regencies of France have always been times of grievous trouble.
+
+"Even had Richelieu lived he might not have been able to avert such
+disasters. He and the queen have never been friends, and he would
+not have had the support from her that he has had from the king, who,
+although he no doubt fretted at times under Richelieu's dictation, yet
+recognized his splendid genius, and knew that he worked heart and soul
+for the good of France. However, his death is a sore misfortune. A
+regency needs a strong head, but where is it to come from? The Duke of
+Orleans is a schemer without principle, weak, easily led, ambitious,
+and unscrupulous. The Prince of Conde is equally ambitious, even more
+grasping, and much more talented. There is no one else, save men like
+Chavigny, the father of our friend here, de Noyers, and some others of
+good family, honest and capable business men, but who would speedily
+become mere ciphers; and Cardinal Mazarin, who has just been appointed
+to the council."
+
+"Do you know him, sir?" Hector asked.
+
+"I have seen him more than once. He is said to be very clever, and it
+is no secret that he is nominated to the council on Richelieu's
+recommendation, which speaks volumes in his favour, for Richelieu was
+a judge of men, and must have believed, when recommending him, that
+Mazarin would render good service to France. But however clever he is
+he cannot replace the great cardinal. On him was stamped by nature the
+making of a ruler of men. He was tall, handsome, and an accomplished
+cavalier. Seeing him dressed as a noble among noblemen, one would have
+picked him out as born to be the greatest of them. No doubt this noble
+appearance, aided by his haughty manner and by his ruthlessness in
+punishing those who conspired against him, had not a little to do with
+his mastery over men.
+
+"Mazarin is a man of very different appearance. He is dark in
+complexion, handsome in a way, supple, and, I should say, crafty; an
+Italian rather than a Frenchman. Such a man will meet with difficulties
+far greater than those which assailed Richelieu. The latter, personally
+fearless, went straight to his end, crushing his enemies if they
+stood in his way, possessed of an indomitable will and unflinching
+determination. Mazarin, if I mistake not, will try to gain his end by
+other means--by intrigues, by setting those who oppose him against each
+other, by yielding rather than by striking. He is said to stand high in
+the queen's favour, and this will be a great aid to him; for those who
+might rebel against the authority of a cardinal will hesitate to do
+so when he has at his back the protection and authority of a queen.
+However, we must hope for the best. It is probable that Richelieu
+acquainted him with all his plans and projects, and urged him to carry
+them into effect. I sincerely trust that he will do so; and in that
+case, if he comes to the head of affairs, I should assuredly serve him
+as willingly and faithfully as I served Richelieu, knowing that it will
+be for the good of France."
+
+It was, indeed, but a short time after the loss of his great adviser
+that the king followed him to the tomb. He had for long suffered from
+bad health, and now that the statesman who had borne the whole burden
+of public affairs had left him, he felt the weight overpowering. He had
+always been devoted to religious exercises, and saw his end approaching
+without regret, and died calmly and peacefully on May 14, 1643. By his
+will he left the queen regent. He had never been on good terms with her,
+and now endeavoured to prevent her from having any real power. The Duke
+of Orleans was appointed lieutenant general, but as the king had rightly
+no confidence in him, he nominated a council which, he intended, should
+override both. It was composed of the Prince of Conde, Cardinal
+Mazarin, the chancellor, Seguerin, the secretary of state, Chavigny,
+and superintendent Bouthillier. The king's will prohibited any change
+whatever being made in the council, but this proviso was not observed.
+The queen speedily made terms with the ministers; and when the little
+king was conducted in great state to the parliament of Paris, the Duke
+of Orleans addressed the queen, saying that he desired to take no other
+part in affairs than that which it might please her to give him. The
+Prince of Conde said the same; and that evening, to their astonishment,
+the queen having become by their resignation the sole head of the
+administration, announced that she should retain Cardinal Mazarin as her
+minister, and shortly afterwards nominated Turenne to the command of
+the army in Italy. Prince Thomas had now broken altogether with the
+Spaniards, finding that their protection was not available, for the King
+of Spain had been obliged to recall a considerable proportion of his
+troops from Italy to suppress an insurrection in Catalonia. Hector did
+not accompany Turenne to Italy, for early in April Turenne had said to
+him:
+
+"There seems no chance of employment here at present, Campbell, while
+there is likely to be some heavy fighting on the Rhine frontier.
+
+"The death of Richelieu has given fresh courage to the enemies of
+France, and I hear that de Malo, the governor of the Low Countries, has
+gathered a large army, and is about to invade France. Our army there is
+commanded by the young Duc d'Enghien, the Prince of Conde's son. He
+is but twenty-two, and of course owes his appointment to his father's
+influence. The king has, however, sent with him Marshal de l'Hopital,
+who will be his lieutenant and director. I know Enghien well, and esteem
+his talents highly. He is brave, impetuous, and fiery; but at the same
+time, if I mistake not, cautious and prudent. I will give you a letter
+to him. I shall tell him that you have greatly distinguished yourself
+while on my staff, and being anxious above all things to acquire
+military knowledge and to serve with honour, I have sent you to him,
+begging him to give you the same post on his staff as you have had on
+mine, asking it as a personal favour to myself. This, I have no doubt,
+he will grant. He has affected my company a good deal when I have been
+in Paris, and has evinced the greatest desire to learn as much as he can
+of military matters from me."
+
+"I am grateful indeed for your kindness, sir, of which I will most
+gladly avail myself, and shall indeed be pleased at the opportunity of
+seeing a great battle."
+
+"I wish to show my approbation of the manner in which you have, since
+you left me in Italy, endeavoured to do all in your power to acquire
+useful knowledge, instead of wasting your time in idleness or gambling,
+to which so many young officers in the army give themselves up."
+
+The next day Hector and Paolo joined the army of Enghien as it was
+on the march to Eperney. The former was now within a few months of
+seventeen, of middle height, strongly built, his hard exercise and
+training having broadened him greatly. He had a pleasant and good
+tempered face, his hair, which was brown with a tinge of gold, clustered
+closely round his head, for he had not adopted the French mode of
+wearing it in long ringlets, a fashion unsuited for the work of a
+campaign, and which de Lisle and Chavigny had in vain urged him to
+adopt. He was handsomely dressed, for he knew that Conde would be
+surrounded by many of the young nobles of France. He wore his broad hat
+with feather; his helmet and armour being carried, together with his
+valises, on a sumpter mule led by Paolo.
+
+Putting up at an hotel, he made his way to the house occupied by Enghien
+and the marshal. It was crowded by young officers, many of whom were
+waiting in an anteroom. On one of the duke's chamberlains approaching
+him Hector gave his name, and requested him to deliver Viscount
+Turenne's letter to the prince. In a few minutes his name was called,
+to the surprise of those who had been waiting for some time for an
+interview. Enghien was seated at a table, from which he rose as Hector
+entered.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Captain Campbell, both for your own sake and
+for that of Turenne, whom I greatly love and admire. As I was with
+Mielleraye during the campaign in the south, while you were with
+Turenne, we did not meet there, for though he once rode over and stayed
+for a few days you did not accompany him. But he has told me of your
+adventure at Turin, and has spoken of your diligent studies and your
+desire to learn all that is known of the art of war. I shall be glad
+indeed to have you riding with me, for I, too, am a diligent student in
+the art, though until last year I had no opportunity whatever of gaining
+practical knowledge. I envy Turenne his good fortune in having been sent
+to begin to learn his duty when he was but fourteen. He tells me that
+you were but a year older when you rode to Italy with him. It humiliates
+me to think that while I am sent to command an army simply because my
+father is a prince of the blood, Turenne gained every step by merit, and
+is a general in spite of the fact that his brother was an enemy of the
+cardinal and defied alike his power and that of the king. However, I
+hope to show that I am not altogether unworthy of my position; and at
+least, like Turenne, I can lead my troops into battle, and fight in
+their front, even if I cannot always come out victorious. Where have you
+put up your horses? With the best will in the world, I cannot put either
+room or stable at your disposal today, for I believe that every cupboard
+in the house is occupied; but at our halting place tomorrow we shall be
+under canvas, and a tent shall be assigned to you."
+
+"I thank you, sir. I have fortunately been able to find quarters at an
+inn."
+
+"At any rate, I hope that you will sup with me. I will then introduce
+you to some of my friends."
+
+Enghien was at the age of twenty-two of a striking rather than a
+handsome figure. His forehead was wide, his eyes sunken and piercing,
+his nose very prominent and hooked giving to his face something of the
+expression of an eagle's. He resembled Turenne in the eagerness with
+which in childhood he had devoted himself to his studies, and especially
+to military exercises; but except that both possessed a remarkable
+genius for war, and both were extremely courageous, there was but
+slight resemblance between their characters. While Turenne was prudent,
+patient, and thoughtful, weighing duly every step taken, bestowing
+the greatest pains upon the comfort and well being of his troops,
+and careful as to every detail that could bring about success in his
+operations, Conde was passionate and impetuous, acting upon impulse
+rather than reflection. Personally ambitious, impatient of opposition,
+bitter in his enmities, his action and policy were influenced chiefly
+by his own ambitions and his own susceptibilities, rather than by the
+thought of what effect his action might have on the destinies of France.
+He was a born general, and yet but a poor leader of men, one of the
+greatest military geniuses that the world has ever seen, and yet so full
+of faults, foibles, and weaknesses that, except from a military point
+of view, the term "the Great Conde" that posterity has given him is but
+little merited. He had much brain and little heart. Forced by his father
+into a marriage with a niece of Richelieu's, he treated her badly and
+cruelly, although she was devoted to him, and was in all respects an
+estimable woman and a true wife, and that in a court where virtue was
+rare indeed.
+
+At supper that evening Enghien introduced Hector first to the Marshal de
+l'Hopital and then to the young nobles of his company.
+
+"Monsieur Campbell," he said, "is the youngest of our party, and yet
+he is, as the Viscount of Turenne writes to me, one in whom he has the
+greatest confidence, and who has so carefully studied the art of war,
+and so much profited by his opportunities, that he would not hesitate
+to commit to him any command requiring at once courage, discretion, and
+military knowledge. No one, gentlemen, could wish for a higher eulogium
+from a greater authority. Turenne has lent him to me for the campaign,
+and indeed I feel grateful to him for so doing. When I say, gentlemen,
+that it was he who saved the citadel of Turin to our arms, by
+undertaking and carrying out the perilous work of passing through the
+city and the Spanish lines to carry word to the half starved garrison
+that succour would arrive in a fortnight's time, and so prevented their
+surrendering, you will admit that Turenne has not spoken too highly of
+his courage and ability. I have heard the full details of the affair
+from Turenne's own lips, when he paid a short visit to Paris after that
+campaign closed; and I should feel proud indeed had I accomplished such
+an enterprise. Captain Campbell is a member of an old Scottish family,
+and his father died fighting for France at the siege of La Rochelle, a
+captain in the Scottish regiment. And now, gentlemen, to supper."
+
+It was a joyous meal, and of a character quite new to Hector. Grave
+himself, Turenne's entertainments were marked by a certain earnestness
+and seriousness. He set, indeed, all his guests at ease by his courtesy
+and the interest he took in each; and yet all felt that in his presence
+loud laughter would be out of place and loose jesting impossible.
+Enghien, on the other hand, being a wild and reckless young noble, one
+who chose not his words, but was wont to give vent in terms of unbridled
+hatred to his contempt for those whom he deemed his enemies, imposed no
+such restraint upon his guests, and all talked, laughed, and jested as
+they chose, checked only by the presence of the gallant old marshal,
+who was nominally Enghien's guide and adviser. Next to Hector was
+seated General Gassion, one of the finest soldiers of the time. He, like
+Hector, had no family influence, but had gained his position solely by
+his own merits. He was enterprising and energetic, and eager to still
+further distinguish himself, and Hector was not long in perceiving that
+Enghien had his cordial support in combating the prudent and cautious
+counsels of the marshal. He spoke very cordially to the young captain.
+He saw in him one who, like himself, was likely to make his way by merit
+and force of character, and he asked him many questions as to his past
+history and the various services in which he had been engaged.
+
+"I hope some day to win my marshal's baton, and methinks that if you
+have as good fortune as I have had, and escape being cut off by bullet
+or sabre, you, too, may look forward to gaining such a distinction. You
+see all these young men around us have joined rather in the spirit of
+knight errants than that of soldiers. Each hopes to distinguish himself,
+not for the sake of advancing his military career, but simply that he
+may stand well in the eyes of some court beauty. The campaign once over,
+they will return to Paris, and think no more of military service until
+another campaign led by a prince of the blood like Enghien takes place,
+when they will again take up arms and fight in his company.
+
+"Such campaigns as those under Turenne in Italy would be distasteful
+in the extreme to them. They would doubtless bear the hardships as
+unflinchingly as we professional soldiers, but as soon as they could
+with honour retire you may be sure they would do so. It is well for us
+that they should. Were it otherwise our chances of advancement would
+be rare indeed, while as it is there are plenty of openings for men of
+determination and perseverance who will carry out precisely any order
+given to them, and who are always, whether in the field or in winter
+quarters, under the eyes of a commander like Turenne, who remains with
+his army instead of rushing off like d'Harcourt to spend his winter in
+the gaieties of the court, and to receive their smiles and praises as a
+reward for his successes."
+
+"I suppose, general, there is no doubt that we shall give battle to the
+Spaniards?"
+
+"No doubt whatever. It depends upon Enghien, though no doubt the marshal
+will throw every obstacle in the way. In the first place, there can be
+no denying that the Spanish infantry are superb, and that Fuentes, who
+commands them, is a fine old soldier, while our infantry are largely
+composed of new levies. Thus, though the armies are not unequal in
+strength, l'Hopital may well consider the chances of victory to be
+against us. In the second place, in a battle Enghien will be in command,
+and though all of us recognize that he possesses extraordinary ability,
+his impetuosity might well lead to a disaster. Then the marshal must
+feel that while the glory of a victory would fall to Enghien, the
+discredit of a defeat would be given to him, while if aught happened to
+Enghien himself the wrath of Conde and his faction would bring about his
+disgrace.
+
+"I doubt not that he has received instructions not to hazard a battle
+except under extraordinary circumstances, while Enghien would, if
+possible, bring one about under any circumstances whatever. Lastly, the
+king is desperately ill, ill unto death, some say, and none can foretell
+what would take place were we to suffer a heavy defeat while France is
+without some great head to rally the nation and again show face to the
+Spaniards. At the same time, I may tell you at once, that in this matter
+I am heart and soul with Enghien. I consider that did we shrink from
+battle now, it would so encourage Spain and Austria that they would put
+such a force in the field as we could scarcely hope to oppose, while a
+victory would alter the whole position and show our enemies that French
+soldiers are equal to those of Spain, which at present no one believes.
+And lastly, if we win, Enghien, when his father dies, will be the
+foremost man in France, the leading spirit of the princes of the blood,
+and having behind him the vast possessions and wealth accumulated by
+Conde, will be a power that even the greatest minister might dread,
+and I need hardly say that my marshal's baton would be very appreciably
+nearer than it is at present."
+
+"Then I may take it," Hector said with a smile, "that the chances are in
+favour of a pitched battle."
+
+"That is certainly so; l'Hopital's instructions are to force the
+Spaniards, who have advanced against Rocroi, to raise the siege, but to
+do so if possible by manoeuvering, and to avoid anything like a pitched
+battle. But I fancy that he is likely to find circumstances too strong
+for him, and that one of these mornings we shall stand face to face with
+the enemy.
+
+"The Spaniards are doubtless grand soldiers, and the army we shall meet
+is largely composed of veteran troops; but we must remember that for
+years and years the Dutchmen, by nature peaceable and for the most part
+without training in arms, and although terribly deficient in cavalry,
+have boldly withstood the power of Spain."
+
+"They seldom have met them in the open field," Hector said doubtfully.
+
+"Not very often, I grant, though when allied with your countrymen they
+fairly beat them on the sands near Ostend, and that over and over again
+they fought them in their breaches on even terms, and, burghers though
+they were, beat back Alva's choicest troops."
+
+The next morning the army marched forward. Hector rode with the group
+of young nobles who followed Enghien. Rocroi was a town of considerable
+strength lying in the forest of Ardennes. It was the key to the province
+of Champagne, and its capture would open the road to the Spaniards. The
+siege was being pressed forward by de Malo, who had with him an army of
+twenty-seven thousand veteran troops, being five thousand more than
+the force under Enghien. Gassion, who as Enghien's lieutenant had the
+control of the movements, so arranged the marches that, while steadily
+approaching Rocroi, the marshal believed that he intended to force the
+Spaniards to fall back, rather by menacing their line of communications
+than by advancing directly against them.
+
+After the first day Gassion invited Hector to ride with him, an
+invitation which he gladly accepted, for the conversation of his younger
+companions turned chiefly upon court intrigues and love affairs in
+Paris, and on people of whose very names he was wholly ignorant. Riding
+with Gassion across from one road to another along which the army was
+advancing, he was able to see much of the movements of bodies of troops
+through a country wholly different from that with which he was familiar.
+He saw how careful the general was to maintain communication between the
+heads of the different columns, especially as he approached the enemy.
+
+"De Malo ought," he said, "to have utilized such a country as this for
+checking our advance. In these woods he might have so placed his men as
+to annihilate one column before another could come to its assistance. I
+can only suppose that he relies so absolutely upon his numbers, and
+the valour and discipline of his soldiers, that he prefers to fight a
+pitched battle, where a complete success would open the road to Paris,
+and thus lay France at his feet and bring the war to a conclusion at one
+stroke."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII: ROCROI
+
+
+Gassion conducted the movements of the army so adroitly that he had
+brought it to within almost striking distance of the Spanish divisions
+before Marshal l'Hopital perceived the fact that it was so placed that
+a battle was almost inevitable. He besought Enghien to fall back while
+there was yet time, pointing out the orders that had been given that a
+battle was not to be hazarded, and the terrible misfortunes that would
+fall upon France in case of defeat. Enghien, however, was deaf to his
+advice, and refused to acknowledge his authority.
+
+Turenne, under similar circumstances, would have drawn off and
+forced the enemy to raise the siege by threatening their line of
+communications; but Turenne thought nothing of personal glory, and
+fought only for France. Enghien, on the other hand, throughout his
+career was animated by personal motives, and cared nothing for the
+general welfare of France. Turenne was wholly unselfish; Enghien was
+ready to sacrifice anything or everything for his own glory or interest.
+At present, surrounded as he was by young nobles as eager to fight as
+he was himself, and backed by Gassion, one of the most able and
+enterprising soldiers of the day, he declared that he had come to
+fight and would do so. Even had l'Hopital known the news that had been
+received by Enghien, he would have been powerless to check or control
+him. A courier had indeed the day before brought the young duke a
+despatch containing the news of the king's death and peremptory orders
+not to fight. Enghien simply put the letter in his pocket, and the
+contents were known only to Gassion and a few of his most intimate
+friends.
+
+De Malo was as anxious to bring on a general engagement as was his fiery
+opponent. He was kept well informed of what was going on in Paris,
+and knew that the king's death was imminent. His position on a plain,
+surrounded on all sides by woods and marshes with but one approach,
+and that through a narrow defile, was practically impregnable; and by
+occupying the defile he could have kept the French at bay without
+the slightest difficulty until Rocroi surrendered. He knew, too, that
+General Beck with a considerable force was hastening to join him; but
+he feared that prudent counsels might at the last moment prevail in the
+French camp, or that the news of the king's death might reach them, and
+he therefore left the defile open and allowed the French army to gain
+the plain and form up in order of battle facing him, without offering
+the slightest opposition or firing a single gun.
+
+It was late in the afternoon by the time the French were in position,
+and as both commanders were anxious that the battle should be a
+decisive one neither took any step to bring on the fight, but contented
+themselves with preparing for the encounter next morning. The night was
+cold and somewhat thick, and the positions of the two armies were marked
+by lines of fire. The march had been a long and fatiguing one, and
+silence soon fell upon the scene. Enghien wrapped himself in his cloak,
+and, lying down by a watch fire, was speedily asleep, wholly unoppressed
+by the tremendous responsibilities that he had assumed, or the fact
+that he had risked the destinies of France for the sake of his personal
+ambition, and that in any case the slaughter that must ensue in the
+morning would be terrible. Gassion, however, with a few of the older
+officers, sat for hours discussing the probabilities of the battle.
+Hector, remembering the manner in which Turenne exercised the
+most ceaseless vigilance, and nightly inspected all the outposts,
+endeavouring to ascertain the plans and positions of the enemy, had, as
+night closed in, requested Gassion's permission to go the rounds.
+
+"Certainly, if it so pleases you, Captain Campbell. The watchword
+tonight is 'Conde', but I will in addition give you a pass enjoining all
+officers to allow you to go where you please, you being on the staff of
+the prince. I shall go round myself later on, for de Malo may intend a
+night attack, by which he would certainly gain advantages. His troops
+are fresh, while ours are weary. He has had every opportunity of
+studying the ground, while it is all new to us. Still, I hardly think
+that he will move till morning. Enterprise is not the strong point of
+the Spaniards, they love to fight in solid bodies, and hitherto their
+infantry have never been broken by cavalry. At night they would lose
+the advantage of their steadiness of formation. It is clear, by his
+willingness to allow us to pass the defile and take up this position,
+that de Malo is absolutely certain of victory and will wait, for
+daylight would permit him to make his expected victory a complete one,
+while at night great numbers of our army would be able to make their
+escape through the woods."
+
+Hector returned to the spot where his horses were picketed with those
+of Enghien's staff. He found Paolo lying down under a tree where he
+had been ordered to take up his post, so that Hector could find him if
+required.
+
+"Are you asleep, Paolo?"
+
+"No, master; I have been thinking about the battle tomorrow, and where I
+had best bestow myself."
+
+"As to that, Paolo, I should say that you had better keep with the
+prince's servants here. You will, of course, have your horse saddled and
+be ready to ride on the instant. If we are victorious there will be no
+occasion for you to move, but if you see that we are beaten, my orders
+are that you are not to think of waiting for me. I must keep with the
+others. Doubtless the cavalry would cover the retreat, and it would be
+a serious inconvenience for me to have to come here to look after you,
+therefore as soon as you see that the day has gone against us mount and
+ride. You can wait at our halting place of last night until you see the
+prince's party come along. If I am alive I shall be with them; if not,
+my advice to you is to ride south and to report yourself to Turenne.
+He will, I doubt not, either take you into his own service, or give
+you such strong recommendations that you will have no difficulty in
+obtaining a post with some officer of distinction should you wish to
+continue with the army. Now, I am going along our line of outposts, and
+I intend to reconnoitre the ground between us and the enemy. That is
+what Turenne would be doing were he in command here."
+
+"I will go with you, master; when it comes to reconnoitering, methinks
+that I am as good as another. I can run like a hare, and though a
+bullet would go faster, I am quite sure that none of these heavily armed
+Spaniards would have a chance of catching me."
+
+"I intended to take you with me, Paolo. We shall need as much care and
+caution here as we did in getting into the citadel of Turin."
+
+"I think, master, that it would be well for you to leave your armour
+behind you. It will be of small avail if you fall into the midst of a
+band of Spanish spearmen, while it would be a sore hindrance in passing
+through these woods, and the lighter you are accoutred the better."
+
+"That is so, and I will take your advice. I will give it into the charge
+of the horse guard. I will, of course, take my sword and pistols, and
+you may as well take yours."
+
+"I like a knife better than a sword, master, but I will take the both. I
+think it would be as well for you to lay aside your helmet also, for the
+light from one of these watchfires might glint upon it and catch the eye
+of a Spaniard."
+
+"You are right, Paolo; have you got the hat?"
+
+"Yes, sir, it is here with your valises."
+
+"That is certainly more comfortable," Hector said as he put it on. "Now,
+you had better carry the things across to that fire where the prince's
+staff are sitting. There is no fear of anyone interfering with them
+there."
+
+As soon as this had been done they started, picking their way carefully
+through numbers of sleeping men, and stopping once or twice to exchange
+a word with the groups still gathered round the fires. First they passed
+along the whole line of outposts, answering the challenges by the words,
+"Officer of the prince's staff on duty." They found the sentries fairly
+vigilant, for with so powerful an enemy within striking distance every
+soldier felt that the occasion was one for unusual watchfulness. At
+each post Hector questioned the sentinels closely as to whether they
+had heard any sounds indicating the movement of troops in the interval
+between the two armies, and in only one case was there an affirmative
+answer.
+
+"I heard a sound such as might be made by the clash of armour against a
+tree or by an armed man falling. I have listened attentively since, but
+have heard nothing more."
+
+"From which direction did the noise seem to come?"
+
+"From across there, sir. It seemed to me to come from that copse in the
+hollow."
+
+"That is just what I thought might be likely, Paolo," Hector said as he
+walked on. "That hollow ground between the armies, with its wood and
+low brushwood, is just the place where an ambush might be posted with
+advantage. Turenne would have taken possession of it as soon as darkness
+closed in, for it would not only prevent the possibility of the army
+being taken by surprise during the night, but it might be invaluable
+during the fight tomorrow, for a force ambushed there might take an
+advancing enemy in the rear. We will go farther on till we get to a
+point where the brushwood extends nearly up to our line. We will enter
+it there, and make our way along until we see whether de Malo has taken
+advantage of our failure to utilize the wood."
+
+As soon as they reached the point he indicated they moved forward,
+crouching low until they reached the bushes; then they crawled along,
+keeping outside but close to them. In this way they would be invisible
+to any sentries posted near the edge of the wood, and would also avoid
+the risk of drawing the enemy's attention by accidentally breaking a
+dried branch or even snapping a twig. In ten minutes they entered the
+wood that extended along the greater portion of the hollow.
+
+"Keep on your hands and knees," Hector whispered, "and feel the ground
+as you go to make sure that there are no broken branches that would
+crack if you placed your knee upon them. We may come upon the Spaniards
+at any moment. Keep close to me. Touch me if you hear the slightest
+sound, and I will do the same to you. The touch will mean stop. Move
+your sword along the belt till the handle is round at your back; in
+that way there will be no risk of it striking a tree or catching in a
+projecting root."
+
+"I will do that, master, and will keep my knife between my teeth. It may
+be that we shall come upon a Spanish sentinel who may need silencing."
+
+"No, Paolo; only in the last extremity and to save our lives must we
+resort to arms. Were a sentry found killed in the morning they would
+know that their position in the wood had been discovered. It is most
+important that they should believe that their ambush is unsuspected."
+
+Their progress was very slow. When they were nearly opposite the
+centre of their position Paolo was suddenly touched by his master. They
+listened intently, and could hear at no great distance ahead low sounds
+at regular intervals.
+
+"Men snoring," Paolo whispered in his ear.
+
+They moved forward again even more cautiously than before. Presently
+they stopped, for at the edge of the wood facing the camp they heard a
+slight movement and a low clash of arms, as if a sentinel on the lookout
+had changed his position. Feeling sure that the guards would all be
+placed along the edge of the wood, they moved forward again, stopping
+every few yards to listen. There was no doubt now that they were close
+to a large body of sleepers. Occasional snores, broken murmurs, and a
+sound as one turned from side to side rose from in front of them.
+
+"You go round on one side, I will go round on the other, Paolo. We will
+meet again when we have passed beyond them. It is important that we
+should form some estimate as to their numbers."
+
+In half an hour they met again, and crawled along for some distance side
+by side in silence.
+
+"How many should you say, Paolo?"
+
+"They were lying four deep as far as I could make out, master. I kept
+very close to the outside line. I could not count them accurately
+because of the trees, but I should say that there were about two hundred
+and fifty in a line."
+
+"That was very close to what I reckoned them at. At any rate, it is a
+regiment about a thousand strong. They are musketeers, for several times
+I went close enough to feel their arms. In every case it was a musket
+and not a pike that my hand fell on. Now we will go on till we are
+opposite our last watchfire, and then crawl up the hill."
+
+They were challenged as they approached the lines.
+
+"A friend," Hector replied. "An officer of the prince's staff."
+
+"Give the countersign," the soldier said.
+
+"Conde."
+
+"That is right, but wait until I call an officer."
+
+"Good! but make no noise; that is important."
+
+The sentinel went to the watchfire, and an officer sitting there at once
+rose and came forward.
+
+"Advance, officer of the staff!" he said in low tones. "That is right,
+monsieur," he went on as Hector advanced close enough to be seen by the
+light of the fire.
+
+"I have a special pass signed by General Gassion," he said.
+
+The officer took it, and looked at it by the light of the fire.
+
+"That is all in order," he said as he returned it; "but the sentry had
+the strictest orders that no one coming from the side of the enemy
+was to be allowed to enter our lines, even if he gave the countersign
+correctly, until he had been examined by an officer."
+
+"He did his duty, sir. One cannot be too careful on the eve of battle. A
+straggler might stray away and be captured, and be forced under pain of
+death to give up the countersign, and once in our lines much information
+might be obtained as to our position. However, I hardly think that any
+such attempts will be made. The Spaniards saw us march in and take up
+our position, and must have marked where our cavalry and artillery were
+posted. Good night!"
+
+The greater part of the night had already gone, for in May the days
+are already lengthening out. After the troops had fallen out from their
+ranks wood had to be collected and rations cooked, and it was past ten
+o'clock before any of them lay down, and an hour later, before Hector
+left on his expedition. The examination of the outposts had taken more
+than an hour; it was now three o'clock in the morning, and the orders
+were that the troops should all be under arms before daybreak. Hector
+returned to the spot where he had left General Gassion. All was quiet
+there now, and he lay down until, somewhat before five, a bugle sounded.
+The signal was repeated all along the line, and almost at the same
+moment the Spanish trumpets told that the enemy, too, were making
+preparations for the day's work. General Gassion was one of the first to
+spring to his feet. Hector at once went up to him.
+
+"I have come to report, general," he said, "that I have reconnoitred
+along the whole line of wood in the hollow in front, and have found that
+a regiment of musketeers about a thousand strong have been placed in
+ambush there."
+
+"Then, by heavens, you have done us good service indeed, Captain
+Campbell! They might have done us an ill turn had we advanced knowing
+nothing of their presence there. Nothing shakes troops more than a
+sudden attack in the rear. Please come across with me and repeat the
+news that you have given me to the prince himself."
+
+There was bustle all along the line. The troops were falling into their
+ranks, stamping their feet to set the blood in motion, swinging their
+arms, and growling at the sharp morning air. At the headquarters bivouac
+the young nobles were laughing and jesting as they prepared to mount.
+
+"Where is the prince?" Gassion asked.
+
+"There he lies under his cloak, general. He is still fast asleep. It
+is evident that the thought of the coming battle does not weigh heavily
+upon him. I acknowledge that I have not closed an eye; I do not think
+that any of us have done so."
+
+So sound, indeed, was the prince's sleep that Gassion had to shake him
+almost roughly to rouse him.
+
+As soon, however, as his eyes opened he leapt to his feet. "I have had a
+wonderful night," he laughed; "never have I slept more soundly on a down
+bed than on this hard ground, which, however, as I find, makes my bones
+ache wonderfully. Well, it is a fine day for a battle. What is your
+news, Gassion?"
+
+"It is important, monseigneur. Captain Campbell has spent the night in
+reconnoitering on his own account, and has discovered that a thousand
+Spanish musketeers are lying in ambush in the copse in the hollow."
+
+"Is that so?" the duke said shortly. "Well, Captain Campbell, you have
+rendered us a vital service indeed, and one that I shall not forget.
+However, now we are forewarned, we shall know how to deal with them.
+If I should fall, Gassion, and you should survive, see that Captain
+Campbell's service is duly represented. Now, to horse, gentlemen!"
+
+The morning sun rose on the 20th of May on a brilliant scene. The two
+armies were disposed along slightly elevated ridges, between which lay
+the hollow with its brushwood and copses. Enghien commanded the cavalry
+on the right wing, with Gassion as second in command. In place of his
+helmet the prince wore a hat with large white plumes, remembering,
+perhaps, how Henri of Navarre's white plumes had served as a rallying
+point. Marshal l'Hopital commanded the cavalry on the French left, Baron
+d'Espenan commanded the infantry in the centre, and Baron Sirot the
+reserves. The right of the Spanish army was composed of the German
+horse led by de Malo, the Walloons on the left were under the Duke of
+Albuquerque, while in the centre were the veteran Spanish infantry under
+the command of General Fuentes, who had often led them to victory. He
+was too old and infirm to mount a horse, but lay in a litter in the
+midst of his hitherto unconquerable infantry.
+
+All being ready on both sides, the trumpet sounded, and simultaneously
+the cavalry of both armies moved forward. Enghien moved farther to
+the right, and then dashing down the slopes led his cavalry along the
+bottom, fell suddenly upon the musketeers in ambush and cut them to
+pieces. Then galloping forward he fell upon the Spanish left in front
+and flank. The impetuous charge was irresistible; the Walloons broke and
+fled before it, and were speedily scattered over the plain, pursued
+by the victorious French. But upon the other wing de Malo's charge had
+proved equally irresistible. L'Hopital's horse was broken and scattered,
+and, wheeling his cavalry round, de Malo fell upon the flank and rear of
+d'Espenan's infantry, shattered them at once, captured the whole of
+the French artillery, and then fell upon the reserves. Baron Sirot, an
+officer of great courage and ability, held them together and for a time
+repelled the attack of the German cavalry; but these, inspirited by
+their previous success, continued their attacks with such fury that the
+reserves began to waver and fall back. Enghien was still in pursuit of
+the Walloons when an officer rode up with news of the disaster that had
+befallen the rest of the army. Enghien grasped the situation instantly,
+and his military genius pointed out how the battle might yet be
+retrieved. His trumpets instantly recalled his scattered squadrons, and
+galloping round the Spanish centre he fell like a thunderbolt upon the
+rear of de Malo's cavalry, already exulting in what appeared certain
+victory.
+
+Astounded at this unlooked for attack, they in vain bore up and tried
+to resist it; but the weight and impetus of the French assault bore all
+before it, and they clove their way through the confused mass of cavalry
+without a pause. Then wheeling right and left they charged into the
+disorganized crowd of German horsemen, who, unable to withstand this
+terrible onslaught, broke and fled, de Malo himself galloping off the
+field with his disorganized troopers. Never was a more sudden change
+in the fate of a great battle. The French cause had appeared absolutely
+lost; one wing and their centre were routed; their reserves had suffered
+heavily, and were on the point of giving way. Humanly speaking, the
+battle seemed hopelessly lost, and yet in ten minutes victory had been
+converted into defeat, and the right and left wings of the Spanish army
+had ceased to exist as collected bodies. There remained the Spanish
+infantry, and Enghien, recklessly courageous as he was, hesitated to
+attack the solid formation that had hitherto proved invincible.
+
+While still doubting whether, having defeated the rest of the army,
+it might not be best to allow this formidable body to march away
+unmolested, news reached him that General Beck, with his reinforcements,
+would be on the ground in an hour. This decided him, and he ordered the
+whole of the guns that had been rescued from their late captors to be
+turned on the Spanish square, and then, collecting his cavalry into a
+mass, dashed at it. The Spaniards remained motionless till the French
+line was within twenty yards of them, then men stepped aside, a number
+of guns poured their contents into the cavalry, while a tremendous
+volley swept away their front line. So terrible was the effect, so great
+the confusion caused by the carnage, that had the Walloon cavalry been
+rallied and returned to the field, the tide of the battle might again
+have been changed; but they were miles away, and Enghien rallied his men
+without a moment's delay, while the French artillery again opened fire
+upon the Spanish square. Again the French cavalry charged and strove
+to make their way into the gaps made by the artillery, but before they
+reached the face of the square these were closed up, and the guns and
+musketry carried havoc among the French squadrons, which again recoiled
+in confusion. Once more Enghien rallied them, and, when the French
+artillery had done their work, led them forward again with a bravery as
+impetuous and unshaken as that with which he had ridden in front of them
+in their first charge; nevertheless for the third time they fell back,
+shattered by the storm of iron and lead. Enghien now brought up his
+artillery to close quarters, Baron de Sirot led up the infantry of the
+reserve, and the attack was renewed.
+
+The aged Spanish general, though streaming with blood from several
+wounds, still from his litter encouraged his soldiers, who, stern and
+unmoved, filled up the gaps that had been made, and undauntedly faced
+their foes. But the struggle could not be long continued. The square was
+gradually wasting away, and occupied but half the ground which it had
+stood upon when the battle began. And Fuentes, seeing that further
+resistance could only lead to the annihilation of his little band, felt
+that no more could be done. There were no signs of Beck coming to
+his assistance. Indeed the troops of that general had been met by the
+cavalry in their flight; these communicated their own panic to them, and
+such was the alarm that the division abandoned its baggage and guns and
+fled from the field, where their arrival might still have turned the
+tide of battle.
+
+Fuentes at last ordered his officers to signal their surrender. Enghien
+rode forward, but, the Spanish soldiers believing that, as before, he
+was but leading his cavalry against them, poured in a terrible volley.
+He escaped by almost a miracle, but his soldiers, maddened by what they
+believed to be an act of treachery, hurled themselves upon the enemy.
+The square was broken, and a terrible slaughter ensued before the
+exertions of the officers put a stop to it. Then the remaining Spaniards
+surrendered. The battle of Rocroi was to the land forces of Spain a blow
+as terrible and fatal as the destruction of the Armada had been to their
+naval supremacy. It was indeed a death blow to the power that Spain had
+so long exercised over Europe. It showed the world that her infantry
+were no longer irresistible, and while it lowered her prestige it
+infinitely increased that of France, which was now regarded as the first
+military power in Europe.
+
+The losses in the battle were extremely heavy. The German and Walloon
+cavalry both suffered very severely, while of the Spanish infantry not
+one man left the battlefield save as a prisoner, and fully two-thirds
+of their number lay dead on the ground. Upon the French side the losses
+were numerically much smaller. The German cavalry, after routing those
+of l'Hopital, instead of following up the pursuit hurled themselves upon
+the infantry, who broke almost without resistance. These also escaped
+with comparatively little loss, de Malo leading the cavalry at once
+against the French reserves. Among the cavalry commanded by Enghien the
+loss was very heavy, and included many gentlemen of the best blood of
+France. There was no pursuit; half the French cavalry were far away
+from the field, the rest had lost well nigh half their number, and were
+exhausted by the fury of the fight; indeed, the fugitive cavalry were
+miles away before the conflict ended. The gallant old general, Fuentes,
+expired from his wounds soon after the termination of the battle.
+
+Hector was with the body of young nobles who followed close behind
+Enghien in the three first desperate charges. In the third his horse was
+shot under him just as the cavalry recoiled from the deadly fire of the
+square. He partly extracted his foot from the stirrup as he fell, but
+not sufficiently to free him, and he was pinned to the ground by the
+weight of the horse. It was well for him that it was so, for had he
+been free he would assuredly have been shot down as he followed the
+retreating cavalry. This thought occurred to his mind after the first
+involuntary effort to extricate his leg, and he lay there stiff and
+immovable as if dead. It was a trying time. The balls from the French
+cannon whistled over his head, the musket shots flew thickly round him,
+and he knew that ere long the attack would be renewed.
+
+Fortunately the fourth advance of the French did not come directly
+over him, the commanders purposely leading their troops so as to avoid
+passing over the ground where so many of the young nobles had fallen.
+Not until the last musket had been discharged and the cessation of the
+din told that all was over, did he endeavour to rise. Then he sat up and
+called to two dismounted soldiers, who were passing near, to aid him.
+They at once came up, and soon lifted the horse so far that he was able
+to withdraw his leg. His thick jackboot had protected it from injury,
+although it had been partly the cause of his misfortune, for the sole
+had caught against the side of the horse and so prevented him from
+withdrawing it. Nevertheless, his leg was so numbed that it was some
+time before he could limp away. He retraced his steps towards the spot
+where he had mounted at starting. He had not gone far when he saw
+Paolo galloping towards him. The young fellow gave a shout of joy as he
+recognized him, and a minute later drew rein by his side and leapt off
+his horse.
+
+"Thank God I see you alive again, master! Are you wounded?"
+
+"No; my horse was killed and fell upon my foot, and has no doubt bruised
+it a bit, otherwise I am unhurt."
+
+"It has been terrible, master. I climbed up into that tree beneath which
+we halted yesterday and watched the battle. I shouted with joy when I
+saw Enghien clear out the ambuscade, and again when he drove the Walloon
+horse away; then everything seemed to go wrong. I saw the marshal's
+cavalry on the left driven off the field like chaff before the wind.
+Then the centre broke up directly they were charged; and as the enemy
+fell upon the reserve it seemed to me that all was lost. Then I saw
+Enghien and his horsemen coming along like a whirlwind, bursting their
+way through the enemy's horse, and in turn driving them off the field.
+I hoped then that the battle was all over, and that the Spanish infantry
+would be allowed to march away; but no, my heart fell again when, time
+after time, our cavalry dashed up against them, and each time fell back
+again, leaving the slope behind them covered with dead men and horses;
+and I shouted aloud when I saw the artillery move up and the reserves
+advancing. As soon as I saw that the square was broken and a terrible
+melee was going on, I knew that all was over, and could restrain my
+impatience no longer, so I mounted my horse with, I may say, small hope
+of finding you alive, seeing that you rode behind Enghien, whose white
+plumes I could see ever in front of the line."
+
+"It has been a marvellous victory, Paolo, and there can be no doubt that
+Enghien has covered himself with glory. It was his quick eye that saw
+what there was to be done, his brain that instantly directed the blow
+where alone it could be effectual, and his extraordinary bravery that
+roused the enthusiasm of those around him to a point at which no man
+thought of his life. But for him it was a lost battle."
+
+"Well, master, I am glad that we have won the battle, but that is as
+nothing to me in comparison that you have come out of it safely, and I
+think, master, that we have a right to say that we helped in some degree
+to bring about the victory by discovering that ambuscade down in the
+hollow."
+
+"That had not occurred to me, Paolo," Hector laughed. "No doubt it was
+a fortunate discovery, for had the musketeers lain hidden there until we
+were beaten back after our first charge, and then poured their fire into
+us, it would doubtless have thrown us into some confusion, and might
+even have caused a panic for a while."
+
+"Now, master, if you will mount this horse I will be off and catch
+another; there are scores of them running about riderless, some of them
+belonging to the marshal's men, but many more to the Germans, and a few
+that galloped off riderless each time Enghien fell back."
+
+"Don't take one of those, Paolo; it might be claimed by its master's
+lackeys; get one of the best German horses that you can find. You might
+as well get two if you can, for I want a second horse while I am here
+with the prince."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX: HONOURS
+
+
+In half an hour Paolo returned leading two horses. By their trappings
+and appearance both had evidently belonged to officers.
+
+"Take off the trappings," Hector said, "then put a saddle on one for
+me; shift your own saddle on to the other, and picket your own with the
+spare horses of the staff, then we will ride over and get my saddle,
+bridle, holsters, and trappings. The horse has carried me well ever
+since I left Paris, and I am grieved indeed to lose it."
+
+"So am I, master; it was a good beast, but I think that either of these
+is as good, though it will be long before I get to like them as I did
+Scotty. We shall want housings for this second horse, master."
+
+"Yes; there will be no difficulty about that. There are scores of dead
+horses on the field; choose one without any embroidery or insignia. You
+may as well take another pair of holsters with pistols."
+
+Riding across to the spot where Enghien and his officers were forming up
+the prisoners, talking courteously to the Spanish officers and seeing
+to the wounded, Hector, leaving Paolo to find his fallen horse and shift
+his trappings to the one that he rode, cantered up to the spot where
+Enghien's white plume could be seen in the midst of a group of officers,
+among whom was General Gassion. He saluted as he came up.
+
+"I am glad indeed to see you, Captain Campbell," Enghien said warmly,
+holding out his hand; "I feared that you were killed. Some of my friends
+told me that you were struck down in the third charge, and that they had
+not seen you since and feared that you were slain."
+
+"My horse was killed, prince, and in falling pinned me to the ground,
+and being within thirty yards of the Spanish square, I lay without
+movement until you came back again and broke them. Then some soldiers so
+far lifted my horse that I could get my foot from under it, my servant
+found and caught a riderless German horse, and here I am unharmed."
+
+"Well, sir, at the time that you came up General Gassion was just
+telling these gentlemen that had it not been for you things might have
+gone very differently. Had you not discovered that ambush their fire
+would have been fatal to us, for we fell back, as you know, farther than
+the copse, and a volley from a thousand muskets would have played havoc
+among us, and after so terrible a repulse might well have decided the
+day against us. For this great service, rendered by you voluntarily and
+without orders, I as commander-in-chief of this army, with the full and
+warm approval of General Gassion, appoint you to the rank of colonel,
+a rank which I am sure will be confirmed by the queen's minister when I
+report to him my reasons for the promotion. General Gassion reports
+that the man who accompanied you on this reconnaissance was the same who
+followed you in the expedition to Turin. As he is not a soldier I cannot
+promote him, but I will order my chamberlain to hand him a purse of a
+hundred pistoles. When you return to Turenne, tell him that I owe him
+my best thanks for having sent you to me, and that, thanks to the aid of
+his teaching, you have been the means of preventing a great disaster to
+our forces."
+
+"I thank you, indeed, monsieur, for your kindness, and for promoting
+me so far beyond my merits, but I hope in the future I shall be able to
+still further prove my gratitude."
+
+"That is proved already," Gassion said, "for although every man today
+has fought like a hero, you were the only one in camp that suspected
+that the Spanish might be lying in an ambush, and who not only thought
+it, but took means to find out whether it was so."
+
+The next morning Enghien informed Hector that he was elected as one
+of the three officers who were to have the honour of carrying his
+despatches to Paris, and that he was to start in half an hour. Paolo,
+who was in the highest state of delight at the purse that had been
+presented to him the evening before, was greatly pleased with the
+prospect.
+
+"Heaven be praised, master, that you are not going into another battle!
+It was well nigh a miracle that you escaped last time, and such good
+luck does not befall a man twice. I have never seen Paris, and greatly
+do I long to do so. How they will shout when they hear the news we
+bring!"
+
+"It will not be altogether news to them, Paolo. La Moussaie, Enghien's
+intimate friend, who acted as his aide-de-camp during the battle, was
+sent off ten minutes after the fight ended with a paper, on which the
+prince had pencilled that he had utterly defeated the enemy. He will
+change horses at every post, and will be in Paris by this evening. We
+bear the official despatches, giving a full account of the battle, and
+of the total destruction of the Spanish infantry, with no doubt a list
+of the nobles and gentlemen who have fallen. Well, I should think now,
+Paolo, that when we have seen enough of Paris and we have journeyed down
+to Perpignan again, you will leave my service and buy a farm; you can
+afford a substantial one now."
+
+"What, master! I leave your service, where gold comes in in showers, and
+where one serves a master whom one loves? No, sir, I am not such a fool
+as that. I do not say that when the war is over I may not settle down in
+a snug home among the mountains of Savoy, but not until then; besides, I
+am but eighteen, and a nice hand I should make at managing a farm."
+
+"Well, get the horses ready at once and the valises packed. You can put
+them on my spare horse. The mule will scarce keep up with us, for we
+shall certainly travel fast, so you had best hand it over to someone who
+you think will treat it kindly."
+
+Twenty minutes later Hector, and two officers who had distinguished
+themselves especially in the battle, sat mounted before the tent that
+had now been raised for d'Enghien. The young prince himself came out.
+"Gentlemen," he said, handing the three sealed packets, "you will
+present these to the queen, who is now Regent of France, for Louis XIII
+died a week ago. They contain the despatches and reports of myself and
+General Gassion. Your packet, colonel," he added to Hector, "is General
+Gassion's report; it goes more fully into military details than mine.
+You, Monsieur de Penthiere, carry my despatches in reference to the
+battle of yesterday. You, Monsieur de Caussac, are the bearer of my
+plans for our future operations. I think that you will all agree with me
+that, after the battle we have won, we shall be able to make ourselves
+masters of Flanders with but slight resistance."
+
+The three officers bowed their agreement with the words.
+
+"I know not who is in power or on whom the queen chiefly relies for
+counsel, but should any questions be put to you, you will, I hope, be
+able to express the urgency of prompt action in this matter before the
+Spaniards have time to rally from the terrible blow that this defeat has
+inflicted upon them. And now, gentlemen, a rapid and pleasant journey.
+Orders were sent on last night that four sets of fresh horses should
+be in readiness along the road. They are my own horses, and good ones.
+Twelve troopers will accompany you; three of these will remain behind at
+each stage where you change, and the horses that you have used will be
+brought on at a more leisurely pace after you. They will readily find
+out in Paris where you are lodged, and I beg that you will retain the
+horses as a slight proof of my goodwill."
+
+Then he waved his hand and went into his tent again. The three lackeys,
+each holding a spare horse, were sitting in readiness for a start some
+fifty yards away. After a moment's conversation the officers rode up to
+them.
+
+"You must follow us quietly," one of them said. "For today you can keep
+up with us to the end of the first stage. Three fresh horses have been
+provided for us, for we ride without a stop to Paris. Three soldiers
+will there take charge of the horses we ride. When we go on you will
+follow quietly with the horses that you are now leading. It will be
+impossible for you to keep up with us."
+
+Then they placed themselves at the head of their escort of dragoons, the
+lackeys fell in behind them, and they started at a fast pace.
+
+"Do you know where the first relays are?" one of the officers asked the
+sergeant in charge of the escort, after they had ridden three or four
+miles.
+
+"The first is at Rethel, monsieur, the second at Rheims, the third at
+Chateau-Thierry, the fourth at Meaux."
+
+"Then we will ride on at once. You have your orders?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Whereupon the three officers quickened their pace. The distance to be
+traversed was about a hundred and thirty miles, and as they had five
+horses, including those they rode, each stage would average about
+twenty-six miles.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," de Penthiere said, "it seems to me that it would be
+a pity to founder fifteen good horses in order to gain an hour on this
+journey. The queen has already received news of the victory, or at least
+she will receive it some time today, therefore the details we bring are
+not of particular importance. It is now eight o'clock. If we were to
+gallop all the way we might do it in twelve hours. The roads in many
+places will be bad, and we must stop for meals at least three times;
+with the utmost speed we could hardly be in Paris in less than fifteen
+hours. Her majesty will scarce want to read long despatches at that
+time, and may take it that we ourselves will need a bath and a change of
+garments, and the services of a barber, before we could show ourselves
+in court. Had we been bearers of the original despatch, we might have
+gone in splashed from head to foot. As it is, it seems to me that if we
+present ourselves with our papers at seven in the morning we shall have
+done that which is necessary. What do you both say?"
+
+"I agree with you, de Penthiere. It would be a sore pity to injure good
+horses by galloping them at the top of their speed, to say nothing of
+knocking ourselves up. Had we been sent off from the field of battle I
+should have said, spare neither the horses nor ourselves. But indeed it
+seems to me that tomorrow morning will be quite early enough for us
+to present ourselves and our despatches. To tell you the truth, I have
+never ridden a hundred and thirty miles or so at the pace of a courier.
+I should say let us go at a reasonable pace, and get into Paris soon
+after midnight, which will give us time for some little sleep, and
+afterwards to make ourselves presentable. What say you, Colonel
+Campbell?"
+
+"I have no opinion, messieurs. I know nothing of the manners of the
+court, and if you think that tomorrow morning will be quite soon enough
+for us to deliver the despatches I am quite willing to fall in with your
+view. It is certainly a long ride, and as we marched hither we found
+that the roads were very bad, and certainly where the army has passed
+they are so cut up by the artillery and wagons that they are sure to
+be quite unfit for going at racing speed. Therefore I think that if we
+present ourselves at the palace early in the morning, we shall have done
+all that can be expected of us."
+
+It was indeed two o'clock in the morning when they arrived at the gates
+of Paris. Accustomed though they all were to horse exercise, the journey
+had been a very fatiguing one. Until night fell they had ridden briskly,
+talking as they went on the probable state of affairs in France and of
+the military operations that were likely to be undertaken as the result
+of the victory, but progress became slow after darkness set in. The
+roads were in many places detestably bad. In passing through forests it
+was not possible to travel much beyond a walk, as it was necessary not
+only to avoid overhanging arms of trees, but to keep the track, for the
+road in many places was nothing more.
+
+Once or twice they lost it altogether, and it was only when they hit
+upon the house of a peasant or a little village, and obtained a guide,
+that they were able to recover their road. Consequently all were
+thoroughly exhausted when they reached Paris. The gates were opened to
+them when it was understood that they bore despatches from the army.
+They made their way to the Hotel Conde. It was illuminated, for the
+prince had given a great banquet in honour of the victory won by his
+son; and although most of the guests had left long before, a party
+of the closest friends and connections of the prince were holding an
+informal council, when the word came to them that three officers had
+arrived with despatches from the Duc d'Enghien. The prince came down.
+Hector had dismounted without assistance, but the other two officers had
+to be lifted from their saddles.
+
+"Are you bearers of any special news, de Penthiere?" the prince asked;
+for the two young nobles were well known to him.
+
+"No, monseigneur, save that our despatches give full details of the
+battle."
+
+"What is our loss?"
+
+"It is very heavy," de Penthiere said. "Fully a hundred men of good
+blood have fallen. The loss principally fell upon the cavalry commanded
+by the duke, who three times charged the Spanish infantry, and only
+succeeded at the fourth attempt in breaking their square."
+
+"And the Spanish infantry?"
+
+"Every man was either killed or taken."
+
+"Glorious!" the prince said. "Well, I will not detain you now, for I see
+that you can scarce stand, and it would be cruel to keep you up, much as
+we desire to hear the particulars."
+
+"I think, monseigneur, that this gentleman, Colonel Campbell, is more in
+a condition to talk to you than de Caussac or myself."
+
+"I shall be happy to answer any questions," Hector said, bowing to the
+prince. "I have been campaigning for the last four years under Monsieur
+de Turenne, and am accustomed to long journeys and sleepless nights."
+
+"Thank you, colonel. We will not keep you up long."
+
+Some lackeys were ordered to assist the two young nobles to couches,
+and then Conde and his companions left the courtyard and entered a small
+saloon where they had supped two hours before. Some fresh bottles of
+wine and cold viands were at once placed upon the table. Hector drank
+off a goblet of wine.
+
+"Now, Monsieur le Prince, I will tell you all I know about the fight."
+And he gave Conde and his companions a brief sketch of the various
+movements and changes of the battle.
+
+"It was a hard fought field indeed," Conde said, "and the result is
+a glorious one for France. Now we will keep you no longer from your
+couch."
+
+"May I ask, sir, at what time we ought to present ourselves with the
+despatches at the palace?"
+
+"It will not be necessary for you to present yourselves before ten
+o'clock, for it was late last night before her majesty retired. Paris
+was wild at the news of the victory, and the reception at the palace was
+crowded. Still, I should say that at ten it would be well that you and
+your companions should attend there, though you may have to wait for an
+hour or more for an audience."
+
+At ten o'clock Hector and his companions presented themselves at the
+palace. Seven hours' sleep, a warm bath, and the services of the barber,
+who curled the hair of the two young nobles and sprinkled them all with
+perfume, did much to restore them, though they were all somewhat stiff,
+and every bone seemed to ache. They were kept waiting for half an hour,
+at the end of which time the door of the antechamber was opened and
+their names were called. The queen, who was still a beautiful woman,
+was standing talking to a gentleman, in whose attire there were but few
+symbols that would betray to a stranger that he was an ecclesiastic of
+high rank.
+
+"You are the bearers of despatches from the army, messieurs?"
+
+"We have that honour, your majesty," de Penthiere, who was the senior of
+the party, said. "We arrived from Paris at two o'clock this morning, but
+did not venture to disturb your majesty at that hour."
+
+"You did rightly," the queen said graciously. "We already knew that
+a great victory had been gained, and could afford to wait for the
+particulars. Do you each bear a despatch?"
+
+"We do, your majesty," de Penthiere said, producing that which he bore.
+"This, your majesty, is the general report of the Duc d'Enghien of
+the events of the battle. Colonel Campbell is intrusted with the more
+detailed description of General Gassion. Monsieur de Caussac's despatch
+contains the duke's views as to the carrying on of the campaign; these
+he submits to the judgment of your majesty and the council."
+
+Cardinal Mazarin stepped forward and took the three documents.
+
+"These we will peruse and consider at our leisure," the queen said, "and
+I shall, I hope, see you at my levee this evening. In the meantime I
+thank you for your service in having brought the despatches so speedily
+here, and am well aware that the fact that you have been chosen as the
+messengers of the commander-in-chief is in itself a proof that your
+share in the battle was in the highest degree honourable."
+
+She graciously held out her hand, which de Penthiere and his companions,
+dropping upon one knee, raised to their lips, one after the other.
+
+"You are aware of the contents of the despatches, cardinal," the queen
+said when they were alone.
+
+"Of their general scope, madam. The Prince of Conde did me the honour to
+call upon me at eight this morning. He had gathered a general account
+of the battle from the lips of that young Scottish colonel, who was the
+only one of the party who was capable of relating it, the others being
+almost speechless with fatigue, for the road from Rocroi hither is long
+and rough."
+
+"You may well say the young Scottish colonel, cardinal. He is but a
+youth, and it is strange indeed that he should already have attained
+that rank."
+
+"He has served for four years under the Viscount Turenne," Mazarin
+said, "and must therefore have had good opportunities of distinguishing
+himself. Still, it is seldom indeed that any save one of royal blood or
+of the very highest families obtains such a rank so quickly. Turenne,
+however, was himself a colonel after less than four years service."
+
+"Yes, cardinal, but he had the advantage of belonging to the family of
+an almost independent sovereign."
+
+"Conde said that he had himself asked the young man how it was that he
+had won it, and he replied that it was solely due to the kindness of the
+Duc d'Enghien, who had been pleased to consider a small service he had
+rendered as worthy of recognition. It is like enough, your majesty, that
+we shall see his name mentioned in one of these documents. It is certain
+that he would not have been chosen to carry the despatches--a duty which
+is regarded as a reward of the most distinguished service--unless he had
+done something of marked importance."
+
+The two French officers on leaving the palace at once went off to pay
+their respects in the first place to the heads of their families, and
+afterwards to visit the various circles and coteries with which they
+were connected, and where they would be sure of a flattering welcome and
+attentive listeners. Hector, for his part, rode direct to the quarters
+of the colonel of the Scottish regiment. A soldier came out and took the
+bridle of his horse as he saluted, while a sergeant asked what name he
+should announce.
+
+"Then you do not remember me, Sergeant Macfarlane?"
+
+The soldier looked at him earnestly. "Why," he exclaimed suddenly, "it's
+Hector Campbell!"
+
+"Right enough, sergeant."
+
+"You have changed mightily, sir; you were but a laddie when you went
+away nigh four years ago. The news came to the regiment that you had
+been made a captain, and proud we all were. The colonel will be right
+glad to see you," and he led the way into the house.
+
+"Then the regiment has not been on service just lately?"
+
+"We had two years on the Rhine; but we came back here last autumn.
+The Red Cardinal was not fond of us, but he knew that he could trust
+us--which is more than he could have done some of the regiments--so
+he had us back again; and we were not sorry, for it was but dull work
+there--sieges and nought else."
+
+He was just going to open the door of the inner room when Hector said,
+"You can announce me, Macfarlane, as Colonel Campbell."
+
+"Gude Lord," the sergeant ejaculated, "ye dinna say that ye are a
+colonel?" Then reassuming with a great effort his military stiffness, he
+opened the door and announced in a loud tone, "Colonel Hector Campbell."
+
+There was an exclamation of astonishment from the colonel and two or
+three officers who were sitting with him.
+
+"Why, Campbell," the former said, coming forward and warmly shaking his
+hand, "you are changed indeed, and you have come back to us almost the
+living image of your father when he first joined."
+
+The officers all shook hands with him warmly, and the colonel went on,
+"Macfarlane announced you as colonel, Hector, but surely you cannot have
+gained that rank?"
+
+"I only obtained it two days ago. You see it is a good thing to be a
+prince's aide-de-camp. Turenne, wishing to give me every opportunity of
+seeing service, sent me to Enghien with a message asking him to employ
+me on his staff."
+
+"And you were at Rocroi?" the colonel exclaimed. "What is the real news
+of the battle? It was given out officially last night that we had won
+a victory, and there are all sorts of rumours this morning in the
+town--they say that three officers arrived last night with full
+details."
+
+"I was one of the three, colonel; and I have just now come from the
+palace after handing my despatches to the queen."
+
+"Then it was Enghien who made you colonel?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, you must have done something marked, or you could never
+have got the rank. Why, he has half the young nobles of France in his
+train--he has not made them all colonels, I suppose?"
+
+"No, I suppose not; but we started early the next morning, and therefore
+cannot say what promotions were made."
+
+"Still they made yours, Campbell. When did they do that?"
+
+"Just after the fight was over."
+
+"Umph! and what for?"
+
+"Well, I luckily discovered that the Spaniards had set an ambush."
+
+"Come, come, let us hear all about it. Tell us the whole story of the
+fight."
+
+Hector gave all the details.
+
+"Well, it certainly seems to have been an extraordinary battle. Everyone
+appears to have been beaten in turn."
+
+"Not Enghien's command, sir."
+
+"Well, no; but when cavalry are repulsed three times with a loss, as
+you say, of nearly half their numbers, it is pretty well equivalent to a
+beating; and if Enghien had not been able to bring up the artillery and
+reserves, I take it that the third charge would have been the last.
+The ambush that you discovered was, I suppose, that of the thousand
+musketeers Enghien charged at the beginning of the fight."
+
+Hector nodded his assent.
+
+"Well, it is as well they were found out and surprised before the other
+part of the business began, or there is no saying how the battle would
+have ended. We heard you had got your company. Turenne himself was good
+enough, when he came here to confer with Richelieu that summer, to
+call at the barracks and to give me an account of the service you had
+rendered. We all agreed that the rank was well earned, and I have no
+doubt that this new step has been just as honourably gained. And how do
+you think matters are going?"
+
+"I know nothing about it, sir, beyond the fact that it was not a secret
+that Enghien and Gassion were both in favour of advancing at once into
+Flanders, and capturing the Spanish strong places before they could
+gather another army together."
+
+"No doubt that would be the best way, but I should doubt very much if
+Enghien will be allowed to carry out his plans. You see, the king's
+will, appointing a council to act in concert with Conde, Orleans, and
+the queen, has been set at nought. The queen is absolute regent, and
+Mazarin is her minister--just as Richelieu was minister of Louis. Of
+course this victory will put everyone in the best of temper, and make
+the way easy for Mazarin just at first, but a defeat would set all the
+cliques at work against him.
+
+"It is quite true that the defeat would not be his fault, but for some
+mysterious reason or other the French always hold the ministers, for
+the time being, responsible for military disasters. So long as Mazarin
+checks Enghien, and prevents his running any risks of disaster, things
+are likely to go on smoothly here, and you may be sure that he will
+give the prince no chance of either suffering a defeat or achieving a
+victory. You see, the prince and his father together might be a great
+deal too powerful for the cardinal. Everyone knows that Conde himself
+has never cared much for anything but his own interests. Enghien has
+the character of being the most impetuous and violent young noble of the
+day, and the fact that he forced this fight when, as is generally known,
+l'Hopital had the strictest orders not to risk a battle, makes it clear
+that Enghien has but little regard for authority.
+
+"You will see that Mazarin will not give him further opportunities of
+becoming the idol of France until he has assured himself that he can
+count upon his friendship. Mazarin is not Richelieu. The red cardinal
+won his way to the leadership of France by proving himself able to
+defeat all intrigues against him, and crush every enemy, even those of
+the most exalted position. Mazarin has no such antecedents. He is not
+even a Frenchman; he does not even look like a noble. That he is clever
+we may be sure, or Richelieu would not have recommended him as his
+successor. But I fancy that it is the cleverness of an adventurer, and
+however adroit, an adventurer, and especially a foreign adventurer, will
+not hold power in France very long without exciting the hatred of the
+community and the hostility of the nobles. However, I suppose you are
+remaining here for a time."
+
+"That I do not know. I would rather return at once to the camp. But I
+suppose I must wait for some intimation that I may do so. You see, I am
+altogether out of my element in Paris, and I should feel particularly
+uncomfortable at the court."
+
+"Who would you rather go to, Enghien or Turenne?"
+
+"Just at present there is more doing with Enghien than Turenne, and more
+to learn, otherwise I would far rather be with Turenne. Enghien's camp
+is too full of young nobles; and I should say that he would take but
+little trouble in keeping order and repressing license. Turenne is by no
+means unduly strict, but he enforces order, and sets us such an example
+of earnestness and attention to work, himself, that he has a right to
+expect the same, to some degree, of everyone under him."
+
+"Where are you staying?"
+
+"At the Hotel Conde. The prince was good enough this morning to ask me
+to establish myself there while I remained in Paris, and I could not
+very well decline his invitation."
+
+"I should think not," one of the other officers laughed. "In these days
+a powerful friend is of the greatest use. Without that one has not
+much chance of advancement. Not that I want advancement; I would rather
+remain as I am, a captain in the Scottish regiment, surrounded by good
+and loyal friends and comrades, than be made a general. Still, one likes
+to have a grumble sometimes at any rate."
+
+"Well, Home," the colonel said, "Hector Campbell is a proof that even in
+France merit will make its way. That Turenne should have taken a fancy
+to him in the first place was fortunate. But Turenne would surely not
+have promoted him to be a captain within three or four months of his
+joining except for the marked bravery and diligence that he told us
+he displayed at Turin; and I have no doubt that when we hear the
+particulars we shall find that this promotion now has been equally well
+deserved, for certainly Enghien is not likely to have gone out of his
+way to promote one altogether a stranger to him when he had so many
+young nobles round him, personal friends of his own, belonging to
+families whom he would wish to oblige. Of course you will, as one of the
+bearers of despatches, attend at the court this evening, Campbell?"
+
+"Yes, the queen said that she would expect to see us."
+
+"Of course; and you will be envied by every young courtier there. At the
+present moment Paris is half wild over the victory of Rocroi, and as you
+three will be the representatives of the army, specially selected
+for the share you had in the battle, you may be sure that you will be
+regarded with eyes of favour by every lady of the court."
+
+"Well, I should think it would be a great nuisance," Hector said
+gruffly. "Hitherto I have had nothing to do with ladies. There were very
+few with the Duchess of Savoy, and whenever there were receptions or
+state ceremonies of any kind, I was always ready to exchange with de
+Lisle or Chavigny, my fellow aides-de-camp. So that during the whole
+time I was there, I never but once or twice accompanied the general on
+such occasions."
+
+"Ah, you were younger then," Home laughed. "You have passed eighteen
+now, and, as you must know yourself, are by no means bad looking, with
+a certain air of freshness and simplicity that is so rare here in
+Paris that it will be regarded as refreshing and delightful after the
+flippancies of the court gallants."
+
+Hector laughed uncomfortably. "I could not take up flippancies, I am
+afraid. But what you say is true, Home; and if I had to remain at
+court, I suppose I should have to set to work at once to cultivate some
+affectation or other to counteract this simplicity of which you speak.
+However, thank goodness, I do not suppose that I shall stay here long.
+At any rate, it is lucky that I purchased a new court suit before I
+started to join the Duke of Enghien. Coming from Viscount Turenne I
+thought that I was bound to make a good figure among the crowd of young
+nobles round Enghien, but it made a large hole in my savings."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you had savings?" one of the other officers
+exclaimed. "Who ever heard of such a thing? I never have a pistole left
+in my pocket a week after I get my month's pay."
+
+"It is a very different thing living in Susa to living in Paris," Hector
+laughed. "I can assure you that I never spent more than half my pay;
+but living was dearer down in Roussillon. Things have been in such a
+disturbed state there for years that the country was well nigh a desert;
+and though my two comrades and I messed together, the living cost twice
+as much as it did at Susa. Shall I see any of you this evening at the
+palace?"
+
+"I shall be there," the colonel said, "and so will Home and Lesley.
+It is always expected that three officers from each of the regiments
+stationed in Paris, and five from the one that happens to be on guard
+for the evening, should attend the royal receptions. It will be a
+specially brilliant affair tonight, for the queen has held but few
+receptions of late. It was only announced yesterday afternoon, after the
+news of the battle arrived. Had it not been for that, the salons would
+not have been opened for another month."
+
+"I am very glad that there will be somebody there I shall know."
+
+"Don't flatter yourself that you are going to consort with us," the
+colonel laughed. "You will have to be presented to at least a score of
+court dames. However, fortunately, they will not expect the usual amount
+of compliments. They will be really wanting to hear of the battle, and
+most of them will be interested in some special friend with the army,
+and will want to inquire about him."
+
+"It will not be so bad, then," Hector said. "If I only have to talk of
+military matters I shall not mind, but it will be painful indeed if I
+have to give news of the death of anyone dear to the lady I am speaking
+to."
+
+"I don't think that you need fear very much about that. Enghien is
+pretty sure to have sent a list containing the names of any court
+gallants that have fallen, and their relatives will at once have been
+notified of it, and will not be present at the court. As to the others,
+who have merely lost lovers, they will not break their hearts over it.
+It is the fashion to change them so rapidly that probably not a few
+of the ladies will have consoled themselves for their absence already.
+However, to begin with, I daresay I shall be able to act as your mentor
+and guide, and point out to you who is who, so that you can avoid
+falling into serious errors. You see, there are half a dozen parties
+at court already. There are Mazarin's friends, who, by the way, are
+not numerous; there are the Duke of Beaufort's clique; there is Conde's
+party.
+
+"Madame Chevreuse's party consists largely of herself. She is a power,
+but at present no one can say with whom she will ally herself. Hitherto
+she has been simply anti-Richelieu, and was his most troublesome and
+bitter enemy; and I should say that not improbably she will at once
+begin to conspire against Mazarin as she did against him. She has been
+the queen's greatest ally; but then the queen was always a bitter enemy
+of Richelieu, whereas at present it is supposed that she is strongly
+in favour of Mazarin. In a few months the situation will clear itself,
+parties will become defined. No doubt Enghien's victory will add to the
+power and importance of Conde, who is already dangerously strong; then
+matters will become interesting. At present the situation is somewhat
+chaotic, and politics will not be openly and generally discussed, simply
+because no one knows what anyone else's opinion may be."
+
+"Well, then, till the evening I will say goodbye, colonel. I am going
+to have a chat with Sergeant MacIntosh, and shall then return to Conde's
+hotel. I suppose I shall be expected to take my midday meal there."
+
+"It would be as well to do so certainly, even though it is like enough
+that he himself will not be there. He is the prince of schemers, and
+doubtless at present his thoughts are concentrated on the manner in
+which he and Enghien can best gain advantages from the victory."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X: AN ESTATE AND TITLE
+
+
+On entering the Scottish Soldier, Hector found that, as he hoped, the
+cabaret was deserted, for it was the hour at which the regiment was
+assembled for drill. It would have been a little embarrassing for him
+as a colonel to come upon a number of private soldiers at the cabaret.
+Separately he might have chatted with each, but a general greeting when
+a number of them were there together would have been embarrassing.
+
+The old sergeant as he entered ran up to him. "Well done, my lad, well
+done! 'Tis a delight to me indeed to know that you have so grandly made
+your way, and already won the rank of colonel."
+
+"Why, how did you know, MacIntosh?"
+
+"The guard at the colonel's was changed just after you went into his
+quarters, and you may be sure that they lost no time in spreading the
+news that you had returned, and returned a colonel. In ten minutes this
+place was as full as it would hold, and there was such a crowd outside
+the door that a sergeant-de-ville came in to inquire what was the
+matter, thinking, perhaps, that the regiment was in mutiny. I was right
+glad when I heard the trumpet sound the assembly a few minutes ago, and
+they had to rush off in a hurry, for I felt that it would be awkward for
+you were you to come in when they were all so excited."
+
+"Yes, I was glad myself when I found that they were gone. I regard every
+soldier in the regiment as my friend, and would shake hands with them
+now as heartily as I did when I went away near four years back, but I
+myself felt that it would be somewhat embarrassing were I greeted by
+them wine cup in hand. Here are twenty pistoles; say that I left them
+here for them to drink my health on my promotion, but that I shall be
+so busy during the day or two that I remain in Paris that I shall not be
+able to pay another visit here. Now let us have a quiet talk together,
+and give me all the news of the regiment."
+
+"Perhaps, colonel--"
+
+"Oh, you need not call me colonel, MacIntosh, when you and I are
+together alone. I am what I was--Hector Campbell, the lad to whom you
+showed so much kindness for his father's sake. Yes, I will tell you one
+or two of my adventures, and you shall come round to me tomorrow morning
+at seven o'clock at the Hotel Conde, and we will stroll out together,
+and sit down in the gardens of the Palais Cardinal, and you shall then
+tell me about the regiment, who have gone, and what changes there are."
+
+"That will be best," the sergeant said. "We did hear something of how
+you were made captain. Turenne was good enough to tell the colonel, and
+so some of it came down to us, but of course it was very little. The
+men would like to hear all about it and about this battle at Rocroi, at
+which, of course, you must have in some way distinguished yourself to be
+appointed colonel at your age."
+
+Hector gave him a full account of the battle. "The special thing for
+which I was promoted," he said, at the finish, "was that, the night
+before, it struck me that there might be an ambush set in the copses
+in the hollow between the two armies. So far as I could see, no efforts
+whatever had been made either to occupy the woods or to find out if the
+enemy had done so; so I went with my servant, who is a capital fellow,
+and we made our way into them, and discovered a regiment of musketeers
+hidden there. Of course I reported the fact to General Gassion, and
+he told the prince. So, before attacking the enemy's lines, the prince
+charged right along the wood and destroyed the musketeers there. If he
+had not done so, they would have taken him in rear when he was hotly
+engaged with the Spaniards, and might have changed the fate of the
+battle."
+
+"Certainly they might," the sergeant said. "A volley from a thousand
+muskets from the rear would well shake even the best cavalry. It was a
+happy thought of yours indeed."
+
+"Any merit there is in it was due to Turenne, who had carefully
+instructed me in everything that could be of importance when two hostile
+armies faced each other; and as he would never have dreamt of retiring
+to rest before having every place where an enemy could conceal himself
+carefully searched, it seemed to me a matter of course that it should be
+done. However, General Gassion and the prince were both good enough to
+consider that the service was a vital one, and as soon as the battle was
+over the prince gave me my promotion."
+
+"And it was well earned, lad, well earned. And now about that affair at
+Turin."
+
+"It could not have been better done, Hector," the old soldier said in
+high delight when the story was told. "I used to think that you spent
+more time than was necessary in reading over accounts of battles and
+sieges, but I see that the time was well spent. You may be sure that I
+will be with you at seven tomorrow morning," he added as Hector rose to
+leave, "though I expect I shall have a heavy night of it here, for there
+will scarcely be a man in the regiment who won't come round and stay to
+hear the news. I warrant that by this evening there will not be a sou
+remaining out of the money you have left for them."
+
+Hector arrived at the hotel just in time for the midday meal, and was
+pleased to find that Conde himself was not present. He and his two
+companions were placed at different points at the great table, so that
+as many as possible could hear the story of the battle. After the meal
+was over, Hector was glad to leave the salon, and in company with a
+gentleman of the household, who had volunteered to be his guide, spent
+the afternoon in visiting the principal sights of Paris, of which he had
+seen but little when a boy in barracks. The hotels of the nobles, each a
+fortress rather than a private building, interested him greatly, as
+also the streets in which the principal traders lived; but he was
+unfavourably impressed with the appearance of the population in all
+other parts, and could well understand what his guide told him, that it
+was dangerous in the extreme for a gentleman unattended to pass through
+these quarters.
+
+At six o'clock he sat down to the evening meal at Conde's, after which,
+having attired himself in his new suit, he repaired with de Penthiere
+and de Caussac to the Louvre. It was eight o'clock when they entered,
+the reception rooms were already full, and the brilliancy of the
+attire, both of the courtiers and ladies, seen by the light of great
+chandeliers, was impressive in the extreme to one who had never seen any
+gathering of the kind before. There was a little pause in the buzz of
+conversation as the three officers entered, and Hector's two companions
+were at once surrounded by friends, while he himself was joined by
+Colonel Maclvor and the other two officers.
+
+"You are the heroes of the evening, Campbell," the former said with a
+laugh. "A dozen ladies have already asked me to present you to them."
+
+"Well, please don't do so just now, colonel; let me look round first."
+
+"That is but fair, Campbell. First, though, I will tell you a piece of
+news that I have just heard. The queen sent off a messenger two days
+ago to Turenne, and it is believed that he is to have the command of the
+army on the Rhine."
+
+"That is good news indeed," Hector exclaimed. "It is high time that he
+should be given a command, instead of being always put under men less
+capable than himself. Still, it is unexpected at the present moment."
+
+"I know that the queen always had the greatest liking for Turenne," the
+colonel said, "but of course until now she has had no power. Moreover,
+I fancy that the appointment is to some extent dictated by policy. Conde
+is already dangerously powerful; Enghien's victory will, of course,
+largely add to his influence. No doubt some large estates will be given
+to the latter, such a service cannot be ungenerously rewarded, but
+it will be thought unadvisable to give him at present further
+opportunities. Conde is old, and his son, who is certainly ambitious and
+hotheaded now, will be even more powerful than his father has been. Were
+he to win more victories, and to become a popular idol, his power might
+well overshadow that of the throne. Therefore it is likely enough that
+my news is true. Turenne has proved that military duty is with him
+supreme, for he held aloof from all the troubles in which his brother
+the duke has involved himself, and he may act as a counterpoise to
+Enghien. I fancy that the latter's plan, which, as you have told me,
+would lead to a conquest of Flanders, will not be adopted. It would not
+have been so in Richelieu's time. The red cardinal would not have lost a
+moment in ordering him to march into Flanders, thinking only of the good
+of France, and disregarding the fact that continued successes might lead
+to his own power being shaken."
+
+"And you do not think that Mazarin will act in the same way?"
+
+"I think not. Of course at present not much is known about him. He
+affects the greatest humility, is almost obsequious to the great nobles,
+and even professes to be anxious to return to Italy as soon as his
+services here can be dispensed with. But I expect that he will in time
+occupy as great a position as that of Richelieu, but that he will hold
+it by craft rather than strength is, from the look of the man, likely
+enough. For myself I should say that it is infinitely better for France
+that an ecclesiastic like Richelieu or Mazarin should be at the head of
+affairs, than that the great nobles should all struggle and intrigue for
+power, ready as they have shown themselves over and over again to plunge
+France into civil war for the attainment of their aims. Ah, here comes
+the queen!"
+
+The door at the end of the salon opened and Anne entered. By her side
+walked the young king, a little behind were Orleans and Conde, Beaufort
+and Bouillon, while, following them, with an air that was almost humble,
+came Mazarin. The queen and the young king were dressed in violet, the
+mourning colour of the court, and the ladies present all wore shades of
+that colour relieved by white. All present formed themselves into
+two lines, through which the queen walked. She acknowledged the deep
+reverences, and the little king bowed repeatedly. Anne of Austria was
+one of the most beautiful women of her time, and although the charm of
+youth had disappeared, her stateliness of bearing made up for this loss,
+and Hector thought that he had never seen so lovely a woman.
+
+As soon as they had passed into an inner apartment known as the audience
+chamber the lines broke up, and a buzz of conversation and light
+laughter followed the silence that had reigned as the procession passed.
+The court, indeed, felt a general feeling of relief at the death of
+Louis. Although well meaning and desirous of doing good, the life of the
+monarch had not been a happy one. His health had never been good, and
+although he had the wisdom to see that in supporting Richelieu, and in
+every way adding to his authority, he was acting for the good of France,
+the knowledge that he himself was little more than a cipher galled
+and irritated him. His disposition was a jealous one, and as the great
+minister knew that Anne of Austria was ever his opponent politically, he
+worked upon this feeling, and embittered the lives of both the king and
+queen, and the latter was the constant victim of the king's jealousy and
+caprices.
+
+These things, combined with the ascetic temperament of the king, had
+rendered the court of France a dismal one, and the royal salons formed
+a strong contrast to the brilliancy of those of Richelieu. Now the king
+was gone, and there was a general feeling of relief among the nobles
+and ladies of the court. It might be that stormy times were ahead, and
+indeed it was no secret that Conde, Beaufort, and many other nobles were
+already united against Mazarin. They called themselves "The Importants,"
+a term well suited to their own idea of their power, and of the position
+they aspired to as the natural leaders of France.
+
+"Madame de Chevreuse wishes you to be presented to her," Colonel Maclvor
+said to Hector. "Everyone knows her reputation; she is the cleverest
+woman in France, and one of the most intriguing. She is the queen's
+greatest friend, and has been her mainstay in her struggle with
+Richelieu. Of one thing we may be sure, that she will not tamely see
+Mazarin step into his place, and she has, it is whispered, already
+thrown herself into the arms of 'The Importants,' and if anyone can
+persuade the queen to throw over the cardinal it is she."
+
+With a slight shrug of his shoulders Hector followed the colonel to a
+group of three or four ladies seated upon some fauteuils.
+
+The colonel stopped before one of these, and bowing deeply said,
+"Duchess, I have the honour to present to you my compatriot, Colonel
+Campbell, who arrived here this morning with despatches from the Duc
+d'Enghien."
+
+Madame Chevreuse, like the queen, was still a beautiful woman. She was
+petite, and possessed a face whose fascination few could withstand.
+She was the most restless of intriguers, and was never so happy as when
+engaged in conspiracies which might cost her her estates and liberty.
+
+"Why, Monsieur Campbell," she said with a smile, "I had looked to see
+a fierce warrior, and, lo and behold I find one who, by his appearance,
+will be far more in his element at court than in the field."
+
+"Then appearances must greatly belie me, madame," Hector said; "for
+while I may say that I am at home in a military camp, I feel sorely ill
+at ease here, and I feel I would rather face an enemy's battery than so
+many beautiful faces."
+
+"That is not bad for a beginner," the lady said with a smile, "but
+methinks you will soon get over that fear, for there is nothing very
+dangerous in any of us. The Duchesse de Longueville," and she motioned
+to the lady next to her, "is as desirous as myself that you should be
+presented to her, and that she should hear from your lips somewhat more
+of the doings of her brother than she has yet learned."
+
+Hector again bowed deeply. The sister of Enghien was as ambitious for
+her brother's sake as he was for his own self, and she was his potent
+ally in the troubles of the times.
+
+"Enghien was wounded," she said. "Monsieur la Moussaie left the field
+directly the battle was won, and could tell me little about my brother's
+injuries."
+
+"He received three wounds, duchess, but happily none of them were
+severe, and he was on horseback on the following morning. It seemed
+miraculous to us all that he should so escape, for he rode ever ahead of
+us in the charges against the Spanish square."
+
+"You were acting as one of his aides-de-camp? I do not remember having
+seen your face before."
+
+"No, madame. I have been for the past four years on the staff of the
+Viscount de Turenne, and have not left the army during that time. The
+general had the goodness, seeing that there was little doing in the
+south, to send me to learn what I could from the operations of the
+duke against the Spanish. He sent me a letter of recommendation to your
+brother, who kindly appointed me to the same position under him that I
+had occupied under Turenne."
+
+"Did you find the ladies of Italy very lovely?" Madame de Chevreuse
+asked suddenly.
+
+"In truth, madame, I had but small opportunities of judging, seeing
+that, unless when sent with some message from the general to the Duchess
+of Savoy, I do not think that I exchanged a single word with a woman
+during the whole of my stay there."
+
+Madame de Chevreuse, and the Duchesse de Longueville, and all the ladies
+sitting round, smiled.
+
+"Then you have very much to learn, Colonel Campbell," Madame de
+Chevreuse said. "You will find plenty of ladies in the court here who
+will not object to give you lessons."
+
+"I trust, madame," Hector said bluntly, "that there will be little
+opportunity for me to take lessons as to the manners of the court, for I
+hope that my stay here will be short indeed."
+
+"That is a most ungallant speech," the younger duchess said, laughing,
+"and shows indeed the truth of what you have said as to your ignorance
+of women. Do you not know, sir; that it is an unwritten law at court
+that every gentleman here must be at the feet of one fair lady?"
+
+"I suppose that, had I been brought up at court," Hector said, "I should
+not be more insensible than others; but when one passes three-quarters
+of one's time on horseback, and that under a commander like Turenne, who
+sets us all an example in the matter of endurance and watchfulness, one
+has small leisure indeed for aught else, and indeed is glad enough to
+seek one's bed as soon as the day's work is done."
+
+"If you are another Turenne," Madame de Chevreuse laughed, "I give you
+up. He is the most insensible of men. His head contains but one idea,
+and that is duty; and as to us poor creatures, he is as insensible as
+was St. Anthony."
+
+At this moment the door that separated the salon from that of the queen
+opened, and the names of Monsieur de Penthiere and Monsieur de Caussac
+were called. The two officers at once passed into the inner room.
+
+"You are either left out in the cold, monsieur le colonel, or you will
+have the honour of a separate audience," Madame de Chevreuse said.
+
+"As I have been rewarded far above my merits for any service that I
+have rendered," Hector said quietly, "it is probable that the queen has
+nothing to say to me. She was pleased to receive me very graciously this
+morning, and gave me her hand to kiss, and I assuredly have no right to
+expect any further favours."
+
+In a few minutes the two officers came out, both looking radiant, the
+queen having graciously presented them with the titles to two estates. A
+minute later Hector's name was called, and he went off, with a deep bow
+to the ladies and a murmured apology for leaving them.
+
+"A loyal spirit, surely," Madame de Chevreuse said; "bizarre, of course,
+and at present simple as a child. Moreover, I should say that the
+atmosphere of the court will not infect him as it has the others. It
+is refreshing to meet with one who, although he must have distinguished
+himself vastly, is still modest and simple, without a shadow of conceit
+or of self consciousness. He spoke as frankly to us as if we were two
+waiting maids at a cabaret. However, men of that stamp may always be
+made useful, and I would rather have the devotion of a young officer
+like that, who is, I should say, likely to rise to high rank, than that
+of half a dozen men ready to lay their hearts at the feet of the first
+comer, and who are as ready to change mistresses as sides."
+
+By this time the door had closed behind Hector. The queen was sitting
+on a sofa, with the little king by her side. Mazarin stood a pace behind
+her. Conde and Orleans had a short time before gone out, and had mingled
+with the crowd in the antechamber, and the courtiers present, who were
+all members of her council, stood some distance in the rear.
+
+"We have had time, Colonel Campbell, to read our despatches, and can now
+estimate the service that you rendered the Duc d'Enghien and our army.
+General Gassion, or I should say Marshal Gassion, for he has today been
+raised to that rank, speaks of the value of that service in terms of the
+highest eulogy, and indeed says frankly, that had it not been for your
+voluntary expedition and the discovery by you of the Spanish ambuscade,
+it is probable that we should have suffered a defeat instead of a
+victory. The duke speaks no less strongly in your favour. I can remember
+that when the Viscount Turenne was here three years ago, he told us how
+a young Scottish officer on his staff had saved Turin to us by a most
+daring enterprise, by which he informed the garrison of the citadel that
+help would soon reach them, and mentioned that for that service he had
+appointed Monsieur Campbell a captain. You are Scottish by birth, are
+you not?"
+
+"I am, your majesty, by birth and descent. My father was a captain in
+the Scottish regiment, and fell at the siege of La Rochelle. I was, I
+may say, adopted by the regiment, and had the good fortune to be trained
+in arms from a child, and the still greater fortune to attract the
+attention of the Viscount de Turenne, who, young as I was, obtained a
+commission for me and appointed me to his staff."
+
+"Well, young sir, the viscount rewarded you for the great service that
+you rendered him at Turin; the Duc d'Enghien has similarly rewarded you
+for your service to him at Rocroi; but it is ours to reward you for
+your services to France; and Cardinal Mazarin will, in my name, hand you
+tomorrow the estate of de la Villar, in Poitou, which carries with it
+the title of Baron de la Villar. A soldier who has rendered such service
+to us cannot be allowed to remain a soldier dependent on his pay, and
+I am sure that should need arise you will do me as good service as you
+have rendered to Turenne and Enghien."
+
+"Your majesty is too good and gracious," Hector stammered, overcome
+by this sudden and unexpected reward; "but be assured, madame"--and he
+recovered himself, and his voice was steady--"should there be need, I
+will willingly lay down my life in your majesty's service, and in that
+of the king, your son."
+
+"Which means also," the queen said gently, "in that of my minister, who
+may need faithful friends even more than we do, and under whose advice
+we have now acted."
+
+"Assuredly, madame. Cardinal Mazarin is your minister, and as long as
+he possesses your confidence he represents France in my eyes, and I will
+render as faithful service to him as to yourself."
+
+"Well spoken, baron," the queen said graciously. "Henceforth I shall
+count you as among my friends." She held out her hand for him to
+kiss, as did the little king, and after a deep bow to them and to the
+cardinal, Hector left the audience chamber still almost bewildered by
+the honours bestowed upon him.
+
+Hector made his way through the crowd to the side of Colonel Maclvor,
+the general verdict of those who watched him being that he had not met
+with the same good fortune as those who preceded him, but that for some
+reason or other he had been reprimanded.
+
+"Well, lad," the colonel said, "what fortune have you met with? Judging
+by your face, either the queen or the cardinal have failed to recognize
+the service that you have rendered."
+
+"Upon the contrary, colonel, they have so heaped favours upon me that
+at present I can scarcely realize my good fortune, and feel almost
+humiliated that so much should have been given for what was a mere
+matter of duty and attended by no great peril."
+
+"What have they done, then, Campbell?"
+
+"Well, colonel, absurd as it seems even to myself, the queen has
+graciously bestowed upon me the estate of la Villar, by which gift she
+says I become as its owner the Baron de la Villar."
+
+"That is fortunate indeed, my dear Campbell," the colonel said, heartily
+shaking him by the hand. "It shows that the duke and Gassion were of
+the same opinion that we expressed, namely, that your discovery of that
+ambush was the chief factor in bringing about the victory of Rocroi."
+
+"But it was such a simple thing," Hector said. "It was merely a
+reconnaissance, such as I have made scores of times in Italy."
+
+"No doubt, Campbell; but you see the other reconnaissances did not lead
+to any results, while this did. My dear lad, it is by results that
+men are judged. That you, a young officer on Enghien's staff, should
+unbidden, and, as you say, as a matter of duty, have undertaken such a
+business, shows how thoroughly you have profited by your teaching under
+Turenne; and as such you deserve what you have gained, though I do
+not say that you would have obtained your desserts had not your
+reconnaissance saved Enghien from defeat. Now I will take you to Madame
+de Chevreuse again. She beckoned to me after you entered the audience
+chamber, and told me to bring you up again when you came out, as she and
+the Duchesse de Longueville had taken a great fancy to you. Now, my
+dear boy, your position is changed. You have become a French noble, and,
+however unwilling, may find yourself mixed up on one side or the other
+with the doings of your court. Both these ladies have power, and it is
+well to keep in with them, for either of them might prove a valuable
+friend and protector, and the first rule here is make as many friends as
+possible, for no one can say when you may require them."
+
+Hector again followed the colonel to the group of ladies.
+
+"Madame," Maclvor said, "I have the honour to present you--"
+
+"Why, have you not presented him to us already?" Madame de Chevreuse
+said with a laugh. "Your memory must be singularly short, colonel."
+
+"My memory is not short, madame, but it is a somewhat different
+personage that I have now to present to you. Madame, I have the honour
+to present Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar."
+
+Both ladies uttered an exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Why, what has he done, colonel?" the duchess exclaimed. "It must have
+been some remarkable action, surely, for him to be made colonel by my
+brother and Baron de la Villar by the queen."
+
+"In the opinion of the Duc d'Enghien and General Gassion, duchess, he
+performed a service that to a large extent brought about the victory of
+Rocroi. My young friend is at present not beyond the age of modesty,
+and therefore if you will allow me I will state the circumstances. Under
+General de Turenne he was in the habit of constantly visiting the posts
+at night with the viscount or alone, and endeavouring to discover the
+position and intentions of the enemy. The night before the battle he
+started voluntarily to perform the same duties, and, accompanied only
+by his servant, he crept into a wood that lay between the two armies
+and there discovered a thousand musketeers who were lying in ambush. He
+reported the discovery to General Gassion, who on his part informed the
+duke of this most important intelligence, for it was evident that, had
+the ambuscade been unsuspected, they would have taken the cavalry in
+the rear at the critical moment of the battle, and would have opened so
+heavy a fire that even the bravest of cavalry, thus surprised and
+shot down by an unsuspected foe in their rear, might have fallen into
+confusion. Being forewarned, the duke directed his first charge upon
+the wood, took the musketeers by surprise, and annihilated them, before
+charging and routing the enemy's horse. Thus you see, ladies, that we
+have another illustration of the mouse saving the lion, and the lion was
+generous and noble minded enough to give the mouse full credit for the
+service that he had rendered him."
+
+"Then we have good reason to be grateful to you, monsieur le baron,"
+Madame Chevreuse said, laying aside the bantering tone in which she
+had before addressed the young Scot, "and her majesty has done well
+to reward your loyalty, for the estate is a fine one, and has remained
+without a master since Richelieu brought its last owner to the block
+for having, as he affirmed, conspired against the king--that is to
+say, against himself. You have begun well indeed, sir. Henceforth the
+Duchesse de Longueville and myself may be counted upon as your friends.
+And now," she said, changing the subject abruptly, "as you say that you
+are anxious to be off, with whom will you serve, with Turenne or with
+Enghien? For I hear that Turenne has been sent for to take the command
+of the army of the Rhine."
+
+"I belong to Viscount Turenne," Hector said. "It is to him that I owe
+everything. He picked me up a rough boy, with no recommendation save
+that my father died fighting for France, and that I was more addicted to
+military study than most lads of my age, and that, as he was good enough
+to say, I reminded him of his own boyhood. It was owing to his kindness
+and his tuition that I have now made my way, and it was still further to
+increase my military knowledge that he sent me for a time to serve under
+the Duc d'Enghien. Therefore, much as I admire the glory that the duke
+has gained, and recognize his extraordinary genius, I feel that duty and
+gratitude alike bind me to my great master."
+
+"Quite right," the Duchesse de Longueville said warmly. "I am sure that
+my brother will approve of your decision. He admires Turenne as much as
+you do, and regards him as his master in military science, and it may be
+perhaps that one of these days you will take part in a battle in which
+my brother and Turenne will both have command."
+
+"If it be so, madame," Hector said, "there can be little doubt of
+victory, for with the two greatest military geniuses France has produced
+during the last hundred years it would be hard indeed if victory did not
+attend their united banners."
+
+The news of the honour that had been bestowed upon this young colonel
+circulated rapidly through the salon, and many gentlemen came up and
+begged Colonel Maclvor to introduce him to them. One who had received
+so marked a proof of the queen's favour, and who had won the praise and
+goodwill of both Turenne and Enghien, might well become in time a man of
+mark, and so many compliments were showered upon Hector that he was glad
+indeed when the queen again passed through the room on her way to her
+apartments and he was at liberty to retire. He walked slowly back to
+Conde's palace, went up to his room, changed his court suit for that
+which he had worn during the day, and then went out again, feeling
+that it would be hopeless to attempt to sleep. He paced backwards and
+forwards for some hours on the quay, thinking of the changes that three
+days had brought about.
+
+He could scarcely realize even now, that he who a week ago was but a
+captain with nought but his pay, was now not only a colonel but a noble
+of France, with an estate of whose value he was ignorant, but as it
+carried with it a patent of nobility it was evident that it must be one
+of dimensions sufficient to support the title. The change excited no
+feeling of exultation. His whole thoughts so far had been directed
+solely to his career as a soldier. He had hoped that some day he might
+win a colonelcy; more than that he had never thought of. High commands
+in France were matters of birth, interest, and connection. Gassion, who
+had just earned his marshal's baton, was the sole exception to the
+rule. Hitherto generals, and still more marshals, had always been men
+belonging to the first families of France. It had been a matter of
+course that when an army went to the field it was under the command of
+a prince of the blood, and the utmost an outsider could look for was the
+command of a regiment. The promotion had delighted him, not for the sake
+of the pay or position, but because, if he obtained the command of one
+of the regiments that were rapidly being formed to meet the dangers that
+threatened France, he would have opportunities of doing good service
+and of earning the esteem of such men as Turenne. His civil dignity,
+however, oppressed rather than gratified him. He would have heavy
+responsibilities. When not on active service he would be expected to
+show himself at court, and would have a difficulty in holding himself
+aloof from its intrigues and conspiracies. His thoughts turned to
+Scotland. He had relations there, it was true, both on his father's and
+mother's side, but they were strangers to him. Moreover, Scotland at
+present was torn by a civil and religious war. In England a civil war
+was raging, and the extreme party in Scotland, having got the upper
+hand, had allied themselves with the English parliamentarians, and the
+cause of the king was well nigh lost.
+
+The Scottish officers and men in the French service had for the most
+part left their homes owing to the bitter religious differences of the
+times, and, under the easier conditions of the life in France, had come
+to look with disgust at the narrow bigotry of the Scottish sects, a
+feeling heightened perhaps by the deep resentment that still prevailed
+in France at the insolence with which Knox and the Scottish reformers
+had treated their princess, Queen Mary. Among the French officers the
+feeling was wholly in favour of the royal cause in England. The queen
+was French, and had France herself not been engaged in warfare numbers
+of the young nobles would have gone over and drawn their swords in her
+cause, and Hector would gladly have done the same.
+
+For the time, at any rate, he had no idea whatever of returning to
+Scotland. If better times came he had often thought that, if successful
+in winning a competency, he would return to his native land, for his
+close connection with the Scottish regiment kept alive in him his
+feeling of nationality, and he always regarded himself as a stranger in
+France. The estates and title now bestowed upon him seemed to put this
+hope further away than ever, and to fix him permanently in France, a
+contingency more disagreeable to him the more he saw how completely
+France was dominated by faction, and how unstable were the conditions of
+life there. His musings, therefore, as he walked up and down for hours,
+were very different from those which most young men would have felt at
+so great and sudden a change in their fortunes.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI: THE CASTLE OF LA VILLAR
+
+The next morning he called at eleven o'clock, at which hour the
+cardinal's secretary had informed him that Mazarin would expect him.
+He went to the abode of the minister. Mazarin received him with marked
+courtesy.
+
+"Here are the deeds appointing to you the estate of la Villar and your
+patent of nobility," he said, pointing to a box upon his table. "You
+have been singularly fortunate, sir, and from all inquiries that I have
+made from officers who have served with Monsieur de Turenne, and, I may
+say, from Colonel Maclvor, I hear nothing but good of you, as a soldier
+devoted to duty, as a young man free from the vices and dissipations too
+common among those of your age, and as possessing intelligence as well
+as courage. Such men, sir, even royalty does well to attach to itself,
+and for them a splendid career is open. I, high as is the office in
+which Providence has placed me, may well envy you. You fight against the
+enemies of France; I am surrounded by enemies open and secret, and the
+war is no less earnest than that which Turenne and Enghien are waging.
+
+"The great nobles of France are jealous that I, a foreigner, should
+have the ear of the queen, and be first minister of the country. Gladly
+indeed would I resign my position and return to my bishopric in Italy,
+were it not that I promised the great man to whose place I have so
+unworthily succeeded, that I would do my best for the country on whose
+behalf he spent every hour of his life, and that I would, unless driven
+from it by force, hold the seals of office until the young king should
+be old enough to rule France unaided. You, baron, are like myself a
+foreigner, and ready to risk your life in the service of France, and
+you will understand how I am situated and how I feel. You, happily
+for yourself, are not so highly placed as to excite enmity, although
+doubtless not a few of those who flocked round you yesterday evening to
+congratulate you on your good fortune felt a sensation of envy that a
+young soldier of fortune should be so honoured.
+
+"In my case envy is accompanied by the deepest animosity. The great
+nobles find me an obstacle in the way of their grasping power, and they
+would hesitate at nothing to rid themselves of me. Were it not for the
+support of the queen, my position would be untenable even for an hour.
+Without me the queen herself would speedily become as much a cipher as
+she was so long as the weak king reigned. We have need, both of us,
+of men of heart and devotion such as I take you to be. I ask for no
+engagements, sir, but I felt that there was a genuine ring in your voice
+yesterday evening when you promised faithful service to her majesty, and
+I feel that if such service is needed you will be ready to render it."
+
+"I shall indeed, your eminence. I cannot conceive that any circumstances
+can occur that would render such aid as I could offer of service to you,
+but be assured that should such an occasion arise, the queen may count
+upon me to render it to the extent of my life; and when I say the
+queen I, of course, include your eminence as her trusted adviser and
+supporter."
+
+"Well spoken, sir. I believe your words, and it may be that the occasion
+is not so far distant as you may imagine. Here is the box, sir. By the
+way, it will, I am sure, be a pleasure for you to know that her majesty
+has the intention of creating the Viscount de Turenne field marshal as
+soon as he arrives in Paris."
+
+"It is indeed, monseigneur; never did a soldier better earn such honour.
+There, indeed sir, is a true and noble heart, loyal to his duty beyond
+all things, adored by his soldiers, ready to serve under officers
+altogether inferior to himself, incapable of jealousy, and devoted to
+his sovereign and his country."
+
+"You do not speak too warmly of him," the cardinal said; "and among all
+the difficulties of the situation there seems to be but one fixed
+point, and that point is that upon Monsieur de Turenne we can at least
+confidently rely."
+
+Hector felt that his audience was at an end, and taking the box from the
+table, and again thanking the cardinal for the honour bestowed upon him,
+he retired. The cardinal's chamberlain met him at the door. "Will you
+step in here, monsieur le baron?" he said, and led the way into a small
+apartment. "As a stranger to the court, monsieur, you are probably
+unaware of the value of the gift that has been granted to you, or of its
+duties and obligations."
+
+"Altogether, sir; beyond the fact that it is in Poitou, which her
+majesty mentioned yesterday, I know absolutely nothing about it."
+
+"Without being an estate of the first class," the chamberlain said, "it
+is one which is of importance in its province. The revenue is punctually
+paid and is amply sufficient to enable its lord to make a good figure at
+court, and to rank among the notables in the province. It is a fief held
+directly from the crown; its owner is bound to furnish feudal service
+of twenty-five mounted men and twenty-five arquebusiers, or, should he
+prefer it, fifty horsemen in all. Some of its owners have in times of
+peril raised a force of thrice that strength. So you will see that the
+Lord of la Villar is not an unimportant personage. The estate is held at
+present by a royal intendant. You will find in that box an order for him
+to place you in possession of the castle and estate whensoever you may
+present yourself, and as at the present moment your services can be
+spared from the army, it might be as well to visit it at once, if only
+for a few days. Possibly the cardinal did not inform you that he has
+ordered that the regiment that has been just recruited shall bear the
+name of the regiment of Poitou, and has appointed you to its command."
+
+This news gave much greater pleasure to Hector than did the gift of the
+fief, or the rank that accompanied it.
+
+"Will you please give my earnest thanks to his excellency," he said,
+"and assure him that he can depend upon my devotion."
+
+When Hector returned to the Hotel Conde he found that the soldiers who
+had started with him from Rocroi had all arrived, bringing with them the
+twelve horses that had been left on the road; four of these were to be
+handed over to each of the officers. The division was just being made as
+he entered the courtyard, each officer taking the four he had ridden by
+the way.
+
+Paolo at once came up to him. "What are we to do with these horses,
+master?" he asked, with an air of bewilderment.
+
+"We have now seven of them, counting mine, the one I led, and that you
+rode when you set out."
+
+"I must see where I can bestow them for the present until we think the
+matter over;" and going up to one of Conde's officers, he asked him if
+he could recommend a place where he might leave safely four horses for a
+time.
+
+"The auberge of the Pome d'Or is but a street from here, monsieur; it
+has good stables, and the host is an honest man, which is not often the
+case with men of his class. When the stables here are full the prince
+often engages extra stalls there for the use of his guests. I will send
+four men with the horses at once, if such is your pleasure."
+
+"You will greatly oblige me by doing so," Hector replied. Having seen
+the horses safely and comfortably lodged at the inn, Hector returned to
+the hotel with Paolo.
+
+"You are not tired, I hope, Paolo?" he asked as they walked back.
+
+"No, master; we have taken three days to do what you did in one, and
+have fatigued neither ourselves nor our beasts."
+
+"That is well, for I am going to start on a journey this afternoon, that
+is to say, if I can manage to make my arrangements."
+
+"May I ask where you are going, master?"
+
+"You will be surprised to hear that I am going to visit my estates in
+Poitou."
+
+Paolo looked sharply up to see whether Hector was joking. Seeing that he
+looked serious, he said hesitatingly, "But I did not know, master, that
+you had estates in Poitou. I never heard you speak of them."
+
+"Because I had them not, Paolo. That box that you are carrying holds the
+titles. The fief was granted to me last night by the queen herself, the
+Duc d'Enghien and General Gassion having been good enough to make a good
+deal more of that night adventure of ours than it deserved. The estates
+carry a title with them, and I am now the Baron de la Villar."
+
+Paolo gave an exclamation of delight. "Well, master, I am glad indeed;
+but," he went on in a changed tone, "now that you, monsieur, have become
+a noble, you will no longer require the services of a lad from Savoy."
+
+"Indeed I shall, Paolo, as long as you choose to remain with me. Why,
+have you not shared with me in the adventures, one of which made me a
+captain, and the other a colonel and a noble? Of course I shall have
+other servants, but you will always be my bodyservant and companion."
+
+"And are you going to leave the army, monsieur?" Paolo asked, after
+pouring out his thanks.
+
+"No, I shall still remain in the army. Turenne will be in Paris soon,
+and will then go to the Rhine to take the command there, and I hope to
+go with my regiment."
+
+"Then you have a regiment, master?"
+
+"Yes; one of the newly formed regiments has been named the regiment of
+Poitou, and I am to have the command. Of course, it may be sent either
+to him or to Enghien, but I hope that it will be to Turenne; and I
+should think so, because from what I hear there is scarcely any army
+left on the Rhine, and therefore it is probable that the new regiments
+will all be sent there, as Enghien's force is quite sufficient to cope
+with any enemy he is likely to meet with in Flanders. Now, I am going
+down to the barracks, and for the next two or three hours you can amuse
+yourself by taking a look at Paris."
+
+It was not to the barracks that Hector made his way, but to The Scottish
+Soldier.
+
+"I did not expect to see you so soon again, colonel. Your man brought me
+word that I was not to come this morning, as you would be engaged," the
+sergeant said when he entered.
+
+"Yes, but our talk was only postponed, sergeant; now I want you to aid
+me in a matter that I have on hand."
+
+"What sort of matter is it?"
+
+"I want to find four good men to take into my service. The queen has
+granted me an estate, as if a colonelcy was not an ample and more than
+ample reward for discovering that ambuscade. It is the fief of la Villar
+in Poitou, and the most absurd point of the thing is that with it is a
+title, and I am now Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar."
+
+"Well, well," the sergeant exclaimed; "you will be coming and telling me
+next that you are going to marry a princess of the blood. Did one ever
+hear of such things! However, Hector, lad, I congratulate you with all
+my heart, and I am as glad as if it had been a bairn of my own that had
+had your good fortune. Now, in what can I help you about the four men?
+What sort of men do you want?"
+
+"I want four good men and true, sergeant, men that I can rely upon. I
+shall want them to ride with me in the field as orderlies, for I have
+been appointed to the command of an infantry regiment. Of course, I
+should like young and active men, but that they should be steady and
+accustomed to arms is still more important."
+
+"I know but few men outside the regiment," the sergeant said. "The
+laddies like to have the place to themselves, and I don't encourage
+others about; but if you can do with good men who have somewhat passed
+their prime, but are still capable of service and handy with their arms,
+I know just the men that will suit you. We had a little bit of trouble
+in the regiment a week since; four of the men--Allan Macpherson, Jock
+Hunter, Donald Nicholl, and Sandy Grahame--came in after tattoo, and all
+a bit fu'. It was not here they got it, though; I know better than
+to supply men with liquor when it is time for them to be off to the
+barracks. Captain Muir, who is the only dour carl in the regiment,
+happened to be on duty, and he spoke a good deal more hardly to them
+than to my mind there was any occasion, seeing that they are good
+soldiers and not in the guardroom more often than others. They answered
+him more freely, no doubt, than they would have done had they not been
+in their cups.
+
+"They were had up before the colonel the next morning. They had all
+served their time, and having been greatly angered at their treatment,
+they at once up and told the colonel that they would take their
+discharges. The colonel would have pacified them, but Captain Muir stood
+out strongly, and said that if such insolence as theirs was allowed to
+go unpunished it would be a bad example indeed for the regiment; so
+the colonel paid them up to the day and gave them their papers. It has
+caused a lot of feeling in the regiment, as you may guess, and the men
+all groaned and booed when Muir came on parade the next day, and it was
+as much as the colonel himself--whom they all love as a father--could
+do to silence them. It is said that he spoke very sharply to Muir
+afterwards, and that it is likely the captain will get transferred to
+another regiment. However, that is too late for the men who have left.
+Their comrades are going to get up a subscription to send them back to
+Scotland, for you may be sure the hotheaded fools have not a bawbee of
+their pay laid by."
+
+"I know them all, sergeant, and I should say they would be the very men
+to suit me; they are all strong and hearty fellows, and might have
+been good for another ten years campaigning if it had not been for this
+business. Can you send for them?"
+
+"They will all be here in half an hour for their meal," the sergeant
+said. "They are lodged upstairs, for you may be sure that they would
+come to me; and even if I kept them for six months, I should not have
+lost much when I reckon what they have spent here during their service.
+I have no doubt they will jump at the offer; for they were mere lads
+when they came over--it was your father who sent for them--and I know
+that they reckon they will find none of the old folk when they return
+home. And now what are your estates like, lad?"
+
+"I know very little about them at present, beyond the fact that I am
+bound by my feudal obligations to put fifty men in the field when called
+upon to do so."
+
+"Then it must be a place of good size," the sergeant said. "And you hold
+it direct from the crown?"
+
+Hector nodded.
+
+"That is good. When you hold from one of the great lords, you never know
+whom you may be called upon to fight against--it may be the king, it may
+be his minister, it may be some other noble--while holding direct, you
+have only the king's enemies to fight against."
+
+"Or rather, MacIntosh, the chief minister's enemies; for, after all,
+when a king signs a proclamation, it is usually a minister's signature
+that ought to be attached to it."
+
+"Well, well, Master Hector, it makes little difference to us Scots who
+it is that we fight for, it is no quarrel of ours. We have taken service
+under the King of France; but when there are two parties, and each
+claims to be in favour of the king, we have simply to fight for whoever
+happens to have the king's signature. If they both have it, then it
+is the general who commands our division who gives us orders, and it
+matters nought to us whom he takes his orders from."
+
+"At any rate, MacIntosh, it is not for soldiers to inquire too deeply
+into these matters; if we did, we should have one half of the regiment
+firing into the other."
+
+"So we should, lad, so we should; therefore we soldiers do wisely in
+leaving the matter to our officers. If the colonel says 'Charge!' we
+charge; if he says 'Dismount and take to your musketoons!' we do so,
+without troubling our heads as to whether it is Germans or Spaniards or
+Frenchmen whom we have to aim at. Ah, here come your four men!"
+
+As the four troopers entered the cabaret and saw who was speaking to
+MacIntosh they hesitated, and would have turned, but the sergeant called
+out, "Attention! salute!" and they stood as motionless as statues till
+Hector ordered them to stand easy.
+
+"I have been talking about you men to Sergeant MacIntosh, who tells me
+that you have taken your discharge and the reason for your so doing. I
+think that you acted hastily; however, that is your affair. The matter
+that concerns me is this:--I am appointed colonel of an infantry
+regiment and I want four good men as orderlies. They will be mounted,
+and I shall see that they draw rations when there are any rations to be
+had; but they will be my troopers and not soldiers of the regiment. I
+want good men, who can be relied upon in any emergency; they will ride
+behind me in battle, act as scouts if necessary, and they will receive
+double the pay of ordinary troopers. In peacetime, or when the regiment
+is in winter quarters, I shall pass my time either in Paris or on my
+estate in Poitou, and they will of course accompany me. I may tell
+you that I am now Baron de la Villar, but I should wish to be always
+addressed as Colonel Campbell. I know you all of old, and that your only
+failing is somewhat too great a love for the wine flask; that must only
+be indulged in at times when you are not only off duty, but when there
+is no possibility of your services being required. Now, what do you
+think, men; will my service suit you?"
+
+"That it would, sir," burst from them simultaneously.
+
+"Of course, there will be some other advantages beyond that of pay. When
+the time comes that you get beyond active service in the field, I shall
+be able to provide you with easier posts at la Villar, and there you
+will find a comfortable home in your old age, if you prefer to stay with
+me rather than to return to Scotland."
+
+"No further word need be spoken, colonel," Allan Macpherson said; "we
+are your men, and shall be proud to follow you, were there no question
+of pay at all, but just our rations and a home to look forward to when
+our arms get weak and eyes dim."
+
+"Then, men, if so say you all, the service begins from the present time.
+You have your armour and headpieces, your doublets and jackboots,
+so there is not much to buy. I have horses ready for you. You have
+pistols."
+
+"Yes, we have all pistols and swords, colonel, but the musketoons
+belonged to the regiment."
+
+"There will be no occasion for you to carry them. Get for yourselves
+four long cloaks well lined and serviceable--'tis best that they should
+be all of a colour, dark blue or gray--and broad hats to match the
+cloaks; have in each a small red feather. I would that you should make a
+decent show, for we shall start in two hours for Poitou. Here are twenty
+crowns. See that you have ammunition for your pistols. Be at the Hotel
+Conde in two hours from the present time. Your dinner here is ready for
+you, eat heartily, but do not drink too deeply in honour of your new
+service.
+
+"Now, MacIntosh, I have a word or two further to speak to you."
+
+They went into an inner room.
+
+"Now, old friend, are you tired of this life of keeper of a cabaret?
+because I shall want you down in Poitou. Your house was mine when
+I sorely needed it, and mine shall be yours now. You are as yet but
+fifty-five, and I take it that you can do a man's work still, for you
+no longer suffer from that wound that disabled you ten years ago. Now,
+I shall require someone to drill the fifty men who will form my
+contingent, if all vassals of the king are called upon to take the
+field. Of course they will not always be under arms; most of them will
+be the sons of tenants, or substitutes provided by them, and will only
+give two or three days' service a month. It is probable, however, that
+half will be regular retainers at the castle. I know nothing about the
+castle at present, or how large it is, or whether it is defensible or
+not; still, it was spoken of as a castle, and 'tis, I suppose, one to a
+certain degree.
+
+"At any rate, I desire that if I do put a troop in the field they shall
+be as well drilled and as well equipped as are the Scottish regiment of
+musketeers. I suppose that there must be an official to act as my agent
+when I am away, and to act as castellan, but in any case the captain of
+my troop will be in charge of all matters connected with its defence.
+Now, old friend, the post is yours if you like to take it. As a soldier,
+none can be better fitted for the post than a sergeant of the Scottish
+regiment; as a man, there is no one I could rely on better than you.
+Your duties would not be heavy, your position an honourable one. The
+castle would be your home as well as mine, and when I am there you would
+have the four troopers to crack with."
+
+"Your offer is a most kind one," the sergeant said, "but I must think
+it over in all lights before I answer. I should miss the company of the
+lads, but already many of my old comrades are gone; most are still in
+Paris earning with difficulty their bread, some are under the sod, some
+have returned home. Every year the number who rode with me lessens. They
+will be countrymen, but no longer comrades. Certainly I have no thought
+of returning to Scotland, the people are ower gude for me; besides,
+the country is all in a stir and the folks are flying at each other's
+throats. I wudna go back, not if they offered me a barony. Then, on the
+other hand, I misdoubt me how I should feel among strangers--I don't say
+foreigners, for I have been so long here that as far as tongue goes I
+am as much French as I am Scottish. Still, I would rather be forming
+troopers in your service than drawing stoups of wine, and the young
+soldiers do not regard me as the old ones did, and grumble if I will
+draw them no more. Most of all, I should like to be with you and in your
+service, and to know that I had a home in my old age."
+
+"That you will have whenever you come to claim it, MacIntosh, whether
+you accept my offer or not. However, I think that what you say is best,
+and that it would be well for you to think the matter well over and give
+me no answer until I return. I should be sorry indeed if, after giving
+up your place here and going down to Poitou, you should regret the
+exchange. Therefore, we will leave it so. And now I must be going; we
+must postpone our chat over old times and the regiment until I return."
+
+On returning to Conde's hotel Hector found Paolo awaiting him.
+
+"Paolo, you must go out and buy six horse cloths and five housings; let
+them be fairly handsome. I have taken four old soldiers into my service,
+and should wish their horse appointments to be fit for troopers in one
+of the royal regiments, but without any insignia or cognizance, say
+maroon with yellow braiding. I shall also want four valises for the men,
+and bags for carrying forage. You can wrap up the housings that came
+with the horses; they all bear Enghien's cognizance, and this must be
+removed before we can use them. The men can strap them behind their
+valises. Were there pistols in the holsters?"
+
+"Yes, master, they were just as when you rode them."
+
+"It was a princely gift," Hector said, "for the horses are all splendid
+animals. Have you packed up my things?"
+
+"Yes, master, they are all ready for placing on the sumpter horse. I
+bought a dozen of good wine, thinking that you might need it on the way,
+for some of these country auberges keep but poor stuff."
+
+"We are getting luxurious all at once," Hector laughed. "How about my
+armour?"
+
+"That is also packed up. I thought that you would not care to ride
+heavily accoutred."
+
+"Certainly not. Which of the horses do you take to be the best?"
+
+"Certainly the one you rode in upon is the best, master, but all four
+are grand animals. The two I picked up on the battlefield are fine
+animals also."
+
+"It does not make much matter which I ride now, Paolo; we shall have the
+opportunity of seeing which has the most fire and endurance as we ride
+along; and at any rate I shall keep Enghien's four horses for my own
+riding, keeping two with me and leaving two behind at the castle. I
+shall buy four strong and serviceable horses for the troopers when I get
+my first rents, for in sooth my purse is beginning to run very low."
+
+"Possibly, master, when you look in the armoire in your room you may
+find something to replenish it. One of the cardinal's servants brought a
+packet for you. I stowed it away and locked the door of your room."
+
+"Well, there is no time to lose, Paolo, so see at once about the matters
+that I have told you. Here is sufficient money to buy the other goods."
+
+"Here is the key of the room, sir."
+
+Having seen Paolo hurry away, Hector went up to his room. In the armoire
+he found the packet, which was a heavy one. Opening it, he found a
+letter and a bag sealed with wax. The letter was from the intendant
+general. It was directed, "A Monsieur le Baron de la Villar."
+
+"It does not look as if it could be for me," Hector said, with a merry
+laugh. Breaking the seal he found:
+
+By the order of Monseigneur Cardinal Mazarin, first minister of the
+crown, I enclose the last half year's rents of the estates of la Villar
+received by me from the royal intendant in charge of the said estates
+three weeks since, to defray the necessary expenses that must be
+incurred by you between the period of your taking possession and, of
+receiving the next half yearly payment of rents.
+
+Enclosed with this was a formal permit, giving a month's leave of
+absence to visit his estates, "To Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar,
+commanding the Poitou regiment."
+
+"Very nice and thoughtful on the part of the cardinal," Hector said,
+"and, moreover, very seasonable, for I was wondering how I should pay
+the retainers at the castle and my four troopers until the rents began
+to come in. By the time I had paid the usual fees to the servants here,
+and the expenses of the journey to Poitou and back, I should have been
+almost penniless, and should have been obliged to borrow from someone
+on the strength of my coming rents, which would have been a very bad
+beginning."
+
+After bidding farewell to Conde, and thanking him for his hospitality,
+Hector started immediately the midday meal was concluded. His cavalcade
+made a good show as he rode through the streets of Paris, with the four
+orderlies behind him, splendidly mounted, followed by Paolo leading
+another fine horse carrying baggage. The journey was an uneventful one,
+and on arriving at the castle of Villar, Hector was received by the
+royal intendant. It was still a place of considerable strength, standing
+on the crest of a hill. It had been kept in a good state of repair by
+the intendant, and could offer a stout resistance to anything short of
+an army provided with a powerful battering train. On making a tour of
+the estate Hector found that here, as throughout France, an immense
+amount of distress existed, owing to the crushing taxation rendered
+necessary by the war; he made minute inquiries of the intendant of the
+circumstances of the various tenants of the estate.
+
+The officer was about to return to Paris now that his commission was
+ended, but as he had a son who had acted as his assistant, Hector
+appointed him in his stead, charging him to press no one unduly. He
+placed under his care the domestic arrangements of the castle, retaining
+the servants who had been there under the royal officer. There was
+only a permanent garrison of twelve men, but this could be raised to a
+hundred were the tenants of the estates driven to take refuge within the
+walls. The expenses of keeping up the castle were not large. The rivers
+afforded an abundance of fish, and the forests on the mountainsides
+sheltered an ample supply of game. Considerable numbers of half wild
+sheep and two or three herds of cattle grazed on the domain round the
+castle, and there were eight good horses in the stables, besides a score
+of others on the hills. Most of the holdings had vineyards, and were
+bound to furnish a certain amount of wine to the castle, and as the
+consumption had been small since the estate was confiscated, the cellars
+were full. Hector told the steward that the command of the castle itself
+would be taken by an officer whom he would send down from Paris, who
+would have control in all matters save in the management of the estate.
+
+Before leaving, he called all the tenants together and told them that,
+seeing how heavily the royal taxes pressed upon them, he should remit
+half their annual payments until better times came, and also the fine of
+a year's rent which they would in the ordinary course of things pay
+on the appointment of a new lord. The news filled the poor people with
+delight.
+
+"I shall, however," he went on, "expect that you will render fully and
+willingly the military service you are bound to give according to the
+tenure of your holdings. In a short time my castellan will arrive here;
+he will have instructions from me to make the service as little onerous
+as possible, and that you shall each furnish your quota of men at times
+when it may be most convenient for you. I shall, however, expect fifteen
+men added to the strength of the garrison. These can be changed every
+eight weeks. All the men capable of bearing arms will come up for
+training one or two days in each month. I trust that you will never be
+called upon to defend the castle, but I would have it always kept in
+such a state that were troubles to arise you could all, with your wives
+and families, find refuge here and be able to defend yourselves against
+all attacks.
+
+"Next winter I shall have the fortifications strengthened. I know that
+you are bound to furnish horses and carts for so many days in the year.
+I shall want this work performed, but you will be paid both for your own
+work in building, and for your carts and horses; and as it will be done
+at a time when there is little farm work on hand, this will be a benefit
+to you, and the wages will be deducted from the payments that you have
+to make."
+
+Loud cheers rose from the men, who were overjoyed on learning that their
+new lord was inclined to deal so generously with them, and especially
+that the fine, which many of them would have found it impossible to pay,
+was to be altogether remitted. Having completed all his arrangements
+Hector returned to Paris, mounting his men on four of the horses he
+found in the stables, and leaving at the castle two of those which
+Enghien had given him, and the two Paolo had caught on the field of
+battle. He arrived on the evening of the day before his leave expired,
+put up at the auberge of the Pome d'Or, and early the next morning took
+his way to The Scottish Soldier.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII: THE POITOU REGIMENT
+
+
+"Well, MacIntosh," Hector said as he entered the cabaret, "have you
+made up your mind? The castle is a strong one, and I mean to make it
+stronger. The air is good and so is the wine, and I am sure that you
+will find the duties pleasant.
+
+"If you go I think it would be as well that you should take a couple of
+your old comrades--you said there were many of them in Paris--with you,
+to act as your sergeants, drill the tenants, and see that all goes on in
+order. It will be pleasant for you to have two of your old friends with
+whom you can talk over past times."
+
+"I had decided to accept your offer, Hector; but certainly this would
+have decided me had I not already made up my mind. That was the one
+drawback, that I should be among strangers, but with two of my old
+friends I should not feel lonely. There is Sholto Macfarlane, he was in
+my troop. He lost a hand from his musket bursting three years ago, and
+now makes his living by helping the boatmen unload at the quays. Then
+there is Kenneth Munroe. He was invalided after a bad attack of fever in
+Flanders, and now teaches the broadsword exercise at a fencing master's
+place at St. Denis. They would both jump at the offer if they only got
+free lodgings and keep."
+
+"Then that is settled, MacIntosh. I am heartily glad of it. Now the
+sooner you get down there the better."
+
+"Well, I can go at once. Sergeant Morrison is taking his discharge at
+the end of the week. He is a married man with a helpful little wife. I
+was telling him of the offer that you had made me, and he asked me what
+I would take for the cabaret. It is a good business, and having a wife
+he could manage it better than I can. I said that if he had a fancy for
+it I would rather that he took it than another; and he would do better
+than a Frenchman would, for the lads would not care for the place unless
+it was kept by one of the regiment. He asked me what were the profits. I
+told him.
+
+"'Then I am afraid that you would want a bigger sum than I could pay,
+MacIntosh,' he said. 'I have been a saving man, especially since I first
+thought of marrying, and I have laid by half my pay for the last eight
+years; but that would not go far towards the purchase of the place, for
+your profits in a year are as much as my savings of eight years.' So I
+said to him, 'Well, we will get the place valued. You will want half the
+money that you have saved to stock it well, the other half you shall pay
+me down; and I will give you five years to pay the rest, you paying me a
+tenth part every half year.'
+
+"Well, sir, we struck a bargain on that. The place has been valued, and
+on Saturday evening Morrison will come straight in and take it over. He
+is a popular man in the regiment; and as he is only just leaving it he
+is known to them all, while there are not above a quarter of the men who
+knew me as a comrade in the old days."
+
+They then had a long talk over the sergeant's new duties, and Hector
+gave him a plan of the new fortifications that he had drawn out,
+together with full instructions how they were to be carried out.
+
+"The steward will arrange all about the tenants coming to work, and the
+proportion of labour that each will have to give. As I have told you, he
+will manage all details of that kind, look after the indoor retainers,
+and see to the food. You will have entire control of the garrison,
+of the tenants who will come to drill, and of the works on the
+fortifications. You will find the steward a very pleasant and agreeable
+young man. He will take his meals with you. I have chosen a room for
+you, and you can have another near it for your two sergeants. You can
+pay them at the same rate as sergeants of the regiment receive, and
+I need hardly say that the position will be a good deal better. As
+commander of the garrison and castellan of the castle you will be called
+Captain MacIntosh, and as such you will be named in my letter appointing
+you to the post, and I propose that you shall receive the pay of
+captain."
+
+"The pay is immaterial, lad, I have been nigh twelve years here, and
+have laid by enough to keep me comfortably all my life, and as, so far
+as I can see, there will be nothing to spend down there, I don't know
+what I should do with pay."
+
+"That is nonsense, MacIntosh. You must draw the pay, and spend it as
+you like, or save it. You must remember that I may be killed in the next
+battle I go into, and as I have no heirs the king will give the fief
+to someone else. The newcomer might like myself have some friend who he
+might appoint castellan."
+
+"It would make no difference," the other said. "In addition to what I
+have saved I shall have the price of the cabaret."
+
+"That is not to the point, MacIntosh. The steward has instructions to
+hand you your money monthly, while the garrison will be paid weekly. If
+you choose to throw the money into the fosse, that is your own business,
+mine is to see that my castellan is paid. I am going over at noon
+today to St. Denis, where my regiment is quartered, but will ride in on
+Saturday. You must buy three horses for yourself and your sergeants; get
+good serviceable animals.. I have told the steward to repay you their
+cost when you arrive there; he has monies of mine in hand for all
+purposes."
+
+Hector then went round and had a chat with Colonel Maclvor, and returned
+to the auberge, where the troopers and Paolo had the horses already
+saddled. He mounted and rode with them to St. Denis, putting up at an
+hotel. He found where the regiment of Poitou were stationed and at once
+proceeded there on foot. Two or three officers were chatting together in
+the barrack square, while some sergeants were drilling the companies.
+
+He at once went up to them. "Gentlemen," he said, "I must introduce
+myself to you. I am Colonel Campbell; I have the honour to command the
+regiment. I shall be glad if you will order the officer's call to be
+sounded and send orderlies off at once to the lodgings of the officers
+and ask them to assemble. To whom have I the pleasure of speaking?"
+
+The senior officer introduced himself and the others. Report had told
+them that their new colonel was still a young man, and that he had
+served with distinction under both Turenne and Enghien, but they were
+not prepared for so young a commander as this. The French regiments had,
+as a rule, two colonels, the one a veteran soldier, who had won his
+way to the rank by long service and long fighting, the other a young
+nobleman who had gained the post solely by family influence, but
+possessed no knowledge whatever of military matters, and who was never
+with the regiment except when it went upon a campaign, and even then
+generally preferred the pleasures of Paris to the hardships of war. Had
+Hector been appointed to what was called the second no surprise would
+have been felt at his youth, but that anyone should have gained the
+position of first colonel at his age by sheer merit was astonishing
+indeed to them. In twenty minutes the officers were all assembled and
+introduced by the senior captain to Hector.
+
+"We will not begin business now," the latter said. "My leave of absence
+does not terminate until tomorrow morning, and I think that it is much
+more pleasant to talk over matters comfortably round a table than it is
+to do so in a set manner. Therefore, gentlemen, if you will all sup with
+me this evening at the Fleur de Lis, after we have finished our meal
+we will talk over our wine. My opinion is that officers of a regiment
+should be good comrades. The regiment benefits by it, and everything
+goes on more smoothly and comfortably. This is specially so in a
+newly raised regiment, where the officers either are altogether new to
+military matters, or join from other regiments, and have no previous
+knowledge of each other. In the same way the men are all new to each
+other, and to their officers. Unless there is perfect harmony among the
+officers, there cannot be perfect harmony in the regiment.
+
+"If one officer looks after the comfort of his company, and treats them
+as he should do, while another company is neglected and left solely
+to the care of the sergeants, there will necessarily be envy and ill
+feeling. The regiment will cease to be a unit. I may say, gentlemen,
+that this is the dictum not of myself, but of Marshal Turenne, who was
+my instructor in the art of war, and who followed out the better system
+from the time that he was a boy of fourteen until now. The result is
+that his regiment is the finest in the service. It will be my aim and
+ambition to raise the Poitou regiment as nearly as possible to the same
+condition, and I shall rely upon your assistance and cooperation to
+bring this about.
+
+"Supper will be served at six. I have only just returned from the
+country, and have heard no news. I suppose that no intimation has been
+received as to what is our destination and whither we shall march?"
+
+"None whatever, colonel," de Thiou, the senior captain, said.
+
+"All the better. I hope that they will give us a couple of months to get
+into shape. There is but little time for drill and discipline when we
+are once in the field."
+
+So saying he saluted the officers and returned to the hotel.
+
+"Who would have thought of seeing a mere lad placed at the head of the
+regiment as colonel," one of the captains said. "I cannot imagine how
+such a thing can have come about, for certainly he can have no family
+influence. A newly raised regiment like ours wants a bright man, one
+that all can look up to and respect."
+
+"I fancy that you will find that this young gentleman will be
+respected," de Thiou said. "He is young and pleasant looking, and
+whatever he is I should say that he is levelheaded, and that he has
+an infinite fund of firmness and resolution. I should certainly advise
+nobody to take advantage of his youth. I have seen more service than
+any of you, and had my family possessed any influence at court, I should
+have been a colonel by this time. Unless I am greatly mistaken we shall
+find that we have a man, a good man, and a strong one. Do you think
+that he could have won his way to a regiment at the age of twenty unless
+there had been something quite unusual? I was talking the other day with
+one of Gassion's staff, who has come back until the wound that he got
+at Rocroi is healed. He told me that Gassion--and France has no better
+soldier--said publicly after the battle that the victory was largely due
+to this young friend of ours, and that had it not been for him things
+might have gone altogether differently; and he said that Enghien, proud
+and ambitious as he is, frankly admitted the same thing. Of course I
+can only go upon what I have seen of him, but from what he said, and
+the manner in which he said it, I am convinced that we could not get a
+better chief than this young colonel. I believe that he will make it a
+comfortable regiment to be in, but I also believe that those who oppose
+him will find that they make a grievous mistake."
+
+The next day Hector took up in earnest the work of organizing the
+regiment. In the first place he insisted that the officers should learn
+their drill; then, that instead of handing over the practical command of
+their companies to their sergeants, they should themselves command them
+on the drill ground, look after the discipline and comfort of the men in
+barracks, and become personally acquainted with the character of every
+man under their command. Many of the sergeants were inefficient; these
+were speedily deprived of their rank, and men of good conduct and
+zeal appointed to their places. The regard of the men was won by his
+insisting that the contractors for their food should send in meat and
+bread and wine of the quality that they had guaranteed to supply.
+
+Three officers were told off every day to examine the quality of all
+food sent in; any reported as being bad was examined by Hector, and if
+the complaint was well founded, was at once condemned. Great attention
+was paid to the cooking, to the cleanliness of the barrack rooms, and
+to many other details that had until then been entirely neglected. There
+were at first some grumblers, not only among the men, but among the
+officers as well; but the extraordinary and rapid improvement in the
+efficiency of the regiment, its appearance and condition, was such that
+these were not long in recognizing that although the work was hard, no
+unnecessary labour was imposed upon them, while, as their knowledge of
+drill increased the work became easier and less irksome. All recognized
+that by far the hardest worker in the regiment was the colonel himself.
+Every morning for the first month he himself drilled the officers in a
+courtyard that was not overlooked, and when they all knew their work,
+sent them to take charge of their companies. Until he considered the
+officers competent, he drilled the companies by turn, and when drill was
+over, made a tour of every room in the barracks, visited the kitchen,
+and conversed freely with the men, listening to any complaints.
+
+At first the number of men brought up for drunkenness was large. The
+first offence he always condoned, giving the offender a lecture on
+the folly of his conduct and of the discredit that it brought upon the
+regiment. For the second offence a man was confined to barracks, and
+forced to wear his coat inside out even at drill. The ridicule that the
+men had to suffer was worse than any punishment inflicted upon them, and
+no case occurred of a third offence. By turns the three officers of each
+company dined with him, and, chatting with them as a friend, he not only
+gained their liking but made himself acquainted with their individual
+characters. Turenne came to Paris a short time after Hector assumed the
+command of his regiment, and as soon as he heard of his arrival, the
+latter called upon him.
+
+"I heard from the cardinal of your good fortune," the viscount said,
+"and congratulate you heartily upon it. Mazarin was good enough to
+say that the discovery of the Spaniards' ambush was the result of my
+teaching, and indeed I feel somewhat proud of my pupil. I am going to
+the Rhine, as perhaps you may have heard."
+
+"I hope to have the honour of serving under you with my regiment, sir."
+
+"I shall be glad to have you, but I fear there is little chance of it.
+I am to take the command of the Weimar troops. The death of the duke
+has been a heavy blow to us, and it is thought that unless I go down
+there--I say it because I have served there and am known by the Weimar
+troops--that force will break up altogether. From what I hear, I hardly
+think there is much chance of having any French regiments with me, and
+those now being raised are likely to be sent to fight under Enghien in
+Flanders. My position is, as you know, a painful one, owing to Bouillon
+having gone to Italy to take the command of the Pope's troops. I believe
+that is the reason why Mazarin has withdrawn me from the command of our
+army in Savoy. However, as a soldier I accept the work he has given me,
+not allowing family matters to interfere in any way with it, though it
+is my opinion that Bouillon has been very hardly treated by the breaking
+of the engagements that were given him when he surrendered Sedan to
+France."
+
+A week later Hector presented himself at the levee of Cardinal Mazarin.
+
+"I was expecting to see you, baron. I received your note saying that you
+had taken the command of your regiment, and would do yourself the honour
+of presenting yourself as soon as you had put matters in trim. Are you
+satisfied with your men and your officers?"
+
+"With both, your eminence, and trust that in two or three months' time
+you will do us the honour of inspecting us."
+
+"And how did you find your barony?"
+
+"I was delighted with it. The castle is a strong one, and I am taking
+steps to add to its strength; and I believe when it is finished that it
+will be almost impregnable save by an army, and that well commanded."
+
+"Then you think," the cardinal said with a smile, but with a certain air
+of seriousness, "that you could offer me a safe asylum if I needed one."
+
+"I trust that such an event may never occur, your eminence, but if it
+should, my castle is at your disposal, and I will guarantee that it will
+resist for three months, whoever might attack it."
+
+"One can never say," the cardinal said mournfully. "Oh, these nobles!
+They are, as they have ever been, the curse of France. Each man thinks
+only of himself and of increasing his domains. What France may suffer
+matters nothing to them so that they are enriched. Were one of them
+capable of ruling France I would gladly retire; but who is there?
+Orleans, vain, empty headed, treacherous to his friends, a man whose
+word is not to be relied upon. Conde, who thinks only of enriching
+himself and adding to his possessions. Beaufort, a roistering trooper.
+None of these men could maintain his position for a moment. The whole
+country seethes with discontent at the heavy taxation necessitated by
+the war; Paris, as is always the case when there is trouble in the
+air, is restless and turbulent. I have good friends, but they are
+insufficient to sustain me against the intrigues of my enemies. The
+queen alone upholds me. Truly, the burden is too great for one man to
+bear.
+
+"You will wonder why I am speaking thus to you, Colonel Campbell, but it
+is of the greatest necessity that her majesty should know upon whom
+she can rely absolutely in case of trouble. You, sir, being altogether
+unconnected with any of the great families of France, stand in a
+different position from that of the great majority of officers of your
+rank. Look where I will, I see our regiments officered by men connected
+by birth and family with one or other of the men who are at present
+intriguing against us, and were they ordered to take steps to arrest,
+for example, one of those persons connected with them, they might,
+without openly refusing, give such warning to them that they would be
+able to escape. Now, sir, I ask you to tell me frankly whether, under
+all contingencies, the queen can rely upon your services? I give you my
+word that whatever your reply is, it shall in no way count against you.
+There are cases in which it would doubtless be painful to you to carry
+out such an order. You are a protege of Monsieur de Turenne. Monsieur de
+Turenne is brother of the Duc de Bouillon, and, as I know, you yourself
+were staying for some months in the castle of Sedan, where you went to
+be cured of your wounds. Now, monsieur, frankly, were you ordered to
+arrest the Duc de Bouillon, would you carry it out without fear or
+favour?"
+
+"Certainly I would, your excellency; and should you give such an order
+to Marshal Turenne he would do so himself. He is a soldier of the
+queen before all things, and has taught me that my duty is towards
+the sovereign who represents France, regardless of all other
+considerations."
+
+The cardinal while speaking had watched the young soldier's face
+scrutinizingly. Faithful as Turenne had always been to the crown, even
+when his brother was in arms against it, Mazarin had still in his heart
+some doubts as to his fidelity under all circumstances. He could not but
+be conscious that faith had been absolutely broken with Bouillon, and,
+accustomed to tortuous ways, he could scarce imagine that Turenne would
+hold himself altogether above family interest. He saw by the manner
+more than the words of Hector that he was speaking from a profound
+conviction. In asking him the question, he had been thinking more of
+Turenne's loyalty than of the young colonel's. Having been four years in
+the closest connection with the marshal, he could not but know his real
+sentiments, and he felt sure that had Turenne expressed any anger at the
+treatment his brother had received, he would have seen it in the young
+man's face. The answer was a reassuring one.
+
+"Thank you, monsieur le baron; the musketeers and the Swiss guards we
+know we can absolutely rely upon, and I shall be glad to be able to
+inform the queen that she can place implicit faith in your regiment.
+I need not impress upon you the necessity for our conversation being
+regarded by you as absolutely confidential."
+
+Hector, thinking the matter over, had no great difficulty in the end in
+arriving at the truth, namely, that his own loyalty was a very secondary
+object of interest to the minister, and that his real motive in thus
+apparently opening his mind to him had been, not to gather his own
+sentiments, but to endeavour to ascertain those of Turenne. From the
+talk among his officers he had already learned that the general opinion
+was, that although the queen had always entertained a most favourable
+opinion of Turenne, and had herself nominated him as marshal and
+commander of the forces on the Rhine, Mazarin had assented to the
+arrangement because he feared that the army of Italy would probably
+follow its commander should the latter take up the quarrel of his
+brother, while, on the Rhine with but a few regiments, to all of whom
+he was a stranger, under his command, he would be practically powerless,
+whatever his sentiments might be with regard to Bouillon.
+
+In the middle of August Hector received an order from Mazarin to take
+part with his regiment in a review which the queen intended to hold
+at Versailles two days later. At this review the musketeers, the Swiss
+guards, the Scottish regiment, and two regiments of the line besides his
+own, the queen, the young king, Mazarin, and most of the members of the
+court were present. The Poitou regiment acquitted itself admirably,
+and its marching, and the steadiness with which it went through its
+manoeuvres, were in such strong contrast to that of the other two
+infantry regiments, which had both been formed for some years, as to
+excite the surprise and admiration of the spectators. After it was over
+a mounted officer rode up to Hector and told him that the queen wished
+to speak to him. Riding up, he dismounted, and advanced to the queen's
+pavilion.
+
+"Monsieur Campbell," the queen said graciously, "I wish to express to
+you how well satisfied we are with the efficiency of your regiment, and
+the admirable way in which it has gone through its manoeuvres. Never
+have I seen these better performed; and this is the more surprising
+as it has been but four months raised, and but three months under your
+personal command. The cardinal has informed me that he learns that this
+is due entirely to your personal exertions, and the care that you have
+bestowed upon it. I wish that all my officers showed the same zeal
+and diligence. In order to mark my gratification at the conduct of
+the regiment, I have requested monsieur le cardinal to order that
+two companies of your regiment shall be quartered at the barracks now
+occupied by the Scottish regiment, which is to march east tomorrow."
+
+Hector bowed deeply; and, immensely gratified at the praise that his
+regiment had received, returned to his place at its head, and marched
+back to St. Denis. On their arrival there he informed his men of the
+gracious words the queen had been pleased to say about the regiment, and
+the great honour bestowed upon them by the quartering of two companies
+in Paris. The men broke into loud cheering as he concluded.
+
+Hector then called the officers together. "Gentlemen," he said, "I
+have to thank you for the admirable way in which you have seconded my
+efforts, and by the aid of which the regiment has just gained the high
+commendation of Her Majesty, within so very short a time after it has
+been raised. I have been thinking the matter over as I rode back, and I
+have decided that where all did so well, it would be invidious to give
+to any the sole honour of being thus quartered near the Louvre and
+furnishing guards, and to yourselves the pleasure of being in Paris.
+Therefore, gentlemen, I shall send, in the first place, the first and
+tenth companies. At the end of two weeks the ninth company will take the
+place of the tenth; a fortnight later, the second will take the place of
+the first, and so in order, so that each company will in turn have its
+share in this honourable service."
+
+There was a general murmur of satisfaction. The next morning a formal
+order was received that two companies of the Poitou regiment should
+march into Paris, and occupy a portion of the barracks which the Scotch
+regiment had just vacated.
+
+Hector called up the two companies he had selected.
+
+"Now, men," he said, "you see the advantage that you have gained by
+discipline and good conduct. I have no doubt that before granting us the
+honour of forming a part of the garrison of Paris, the minister has made
+inquiries respecting the conduct of the regiment here, and has doubtless
+heard that it has been eminently satisfactory, and that the authorities
+and inhabitants have no complaint, of drunkenness or misconduct, against
+us. Of misconduct there have been no cases, of drunkenness very few,
+and, indeed, for the past month there has not been a single case among
+you. I trust that you will remember that while in Paris the credit of
+the regiment is in your hands, and that no single case of drunkenness or
+brawling in the streets will take place. I feel confident that this
+will be so, and I need hardly say that should there be an exception, the
+punishment will be vastly more severe than any that has previously been
+awarded, and I am sure that any offender will find, in the contempt
+with which he will be regarded by his comrades, a still more severe
+punishment than any that I can inflict."
+
+That evening Captain de Thiou and the other officers of the two
+companies that were to march into Paris the next day dined with Hector;
+and after dinner de Thiou rose and said: "Colonel, I have been requested
+to express to you, on behalf of the whole of the officers of the
+regiment, our deep gratitude for the honours that our regiment has
+obtained. These you were good enough yesterday to ascribe partly to us;
+but we feel that they are wholly due to yourself. Although some of us
+were at first a little inclined to think that the changes made by you
+in our work were unnecessary, all now recognize fully how great has been
+the benefit, not only to the regiment, but to ourselves. Duties which
+were at first considered irksome are now regarded as pleasant. We feel
+that, as you said would be the case, we have acquired the respect of
+the men, and that it is upon us that they rely, and not upon their
+sergeants.
+
+"Our own time passes more pleasantly from being fully occupied, and from
+consciousness that we are doing our duty. As to the regiment in general,
+the benefit has been enormous. The men seem pleased with the interest
+shown in them, as much as with the comfort that they now enjoy, and they
+in turn endeavour to satisfy us, both by their attention to drill, by
+their bearing and manner, and by their avoidance of giving any cause for
+complaint. All this, monsieur, has been your work, and I am sure that we
+are all conscious of the difference of the display we made in the park,
+and that which we should have shown had it not been for the reforms
+which have been introduced by you. We all trust that the day may not be
+far distant when we shall be able to prove on the field of battle the
+same efficiency that has won us credit upon the parade ground."
+
+"I thank you heartily, Captain de Thiou, for what you have been good
+enough to say on your own behalf and that of the officers of the
+regiment. I can only say that I have endeavoured to act up to the
+teaching of Monsieur de Turenne, and I felt sure that although my
+methods might at first seem irksome to some of you, their value would
+gradually become appreciated. I am scarcely less pleased at the decrease
+in drunkenness, and at the general improvement in the men, than by the
+increase of discipline and efficiency."
+
+"Do you mean to come to Paris, colonel?" De Thiou asked presently.
+
+"No; I shall remain here. I shall ride in every day, but my presence
+will be more necessary with the regiment than with only two companies.
+You as senior officer will be responsible for the general order of the
+detachment."
+
+Hector rode in the next day with his men, and after seeing them
+comfortably lodged in barracks, returned to St. Denis. A week later
+reports reached St. Denis of a strange scene at the court. The haughty
+and insolent Duchess of Monthazon, who belonged to the party of the
+Importants, had the impertinence to insult the queen grossly in the
+gardens of the Tuileries. She had at once been disgraced and ordered
+to retire to Rochfield, and the Duke of Beaufort and his friends were
+furious at this exercise of Mazarin's authority. The next day Hector
+received a message asking him to call at the Hotel de Cleves, the
+cardinal's residence. On his presenting himself, he was at once shown
+into Mazarin's private apartments.
+
+"Monsieur de Villar," Mazarin said, "I am sorely in need of friends.
+You have heard of what has happened, and from the threats that he
+has publicly uttered against myself I am convinced that Beaufort will
+hesitate at nothing to bring about my ruin. I hear that you are still
+with your regiment at St. Denis. I shall be glad if for a time you will
+take up your abode at Paris, and will hold yourself in readiness to be
+of service to me if there should be occasion. Beaufort is capable of
+even attempting my life; he is very unscrupulous, and will hesitate at
+nothing. I shall be glad if you will take up your lodging within a short
+distance of this, so that I can communicate with you instantly."
+
+"Certainly, your excellency; I will keep half a company always under
+arms, so that at the shortest notice they will be in readiness to act
+as you may direct. But surely, your excellency, you have the queen's
+musketeers close at hand?"
+
+"The queen's musketeers are a body of gallant soldiers, but they
+will take their orders only from the queen. They were strongly
+anti-cardinalist in the late reign, and I do not suppose that they are
+better affected towards myself than they were towards Richelieu. If they
+heard that my hotel was attacked they would not move a foot until they
+received orders from the queen to do so."
+
+"At any rate, you shall have no reason to complain of delay on our part,
+your excellency, and I can assure you of my devotion."
+
+Hector at once went to an auberge but a few hundred yards from the
+cardinal's residence. He thought it better to put up there than to take
+lodgings, as he could then have his four mounted men with him; and,
+riding to St. Denis, he returned the same night with them.
+
+"A horse is always to be saddled," he said to them when they had
+dismounted and his orderlies had come up to his room, "and one of you
+by turns will always remain here armed and ready to mount without an
+instant's delay. The others will put aside their scarves; and one of
+you will always be at the cabaret nearest to the Hotel de Vendome, the
+residence of the Duke of Beaufort, who is a son of the Duc de Vendome.
+At times two of you can be there so as to drink and play cards together,
+as the appearance of one sitting too long might attract attention. Your
+object is to find out from the conversation of the duke's guards and
+servants whether they have any idea that anything unusual is going to
+take place. I have reason to believe that there is a plot against the
+cardinal, and I am much concerned in defeating it."
+
+When the four Scotch soldiers had retired, Hector said to Paolo:
+
+"Now, Paolo, I place more reliance upon your finding out anything
+that is afloat than upon the soldiers. It is not likely that any plans
+Beaufort may form will be communicated to his people until the moment
+for action, and indeed it is probable that he will rely solely upon his
+personal friends. Now I want you to disguise yourself in any way you may
+think best, and watch Beaufort's hotel; see who comes in and out, and if
+a messenger goes out follow him, see the houses he calls at, and mark
+if those who dwell there repair at once to the Hotel de Vendome. If you
+perceive that this is the case let me know at once. See if you can get
+hold of half a dozen street gamins, and employ them to watch the houses
+of all these gentlemen, and especially that of Monsieur Id, captain of
+Beaufort's guards, and of the two Messieurs de Campion and the Count de
+Beaupuis, who are, I know, among the duke's most intimate friends. There
+are scores of these street boys who for a few sous a day would gladly
+undertake the work."
+
+"I will do that, master. You can take my word that by tomorrow at noon
+the lodging of these four gentlemen will be strictly watched. This is a
+business after my own heart."
+
+"In the first place, Paolo, take a note from me to the Hotel de Cleves
+and wait for an answer."
+
+The note was a short one. It merely gave the name of the auberge at
+which he had taken up his quarters, and added:
+
+If your eminence will be good enough to send me every morning a list of
+any visits that you may intend to pay, or any journey that you may make
+during the day, it would enable me to regulate my movements accordingly
+in order to be always here and ready to carry out any orders that you
+may send me from your hotel.
+
+The cardinal's reply was even more brief:
+
+It is well thought of. I shall go nowhere but to the Louvre tomorrow,
+and shall probably be there the greater part of the day. Unless you hear
+from me to the contrary, you need only remain in between twelve and one.
+
+The next morning Paolo appeared dressed in ragged clothes.
+
+"What is that bundle of papers that you have got?"
+
+"They are lampoons on the cardinal. Nothing so natural as that I should
+try and sell them in front of the Hotel de Vendome."
+
+"Nothing could be better, Paolo."
+
+"I have already picked up a dozen gamins, master, sharp little beggars,
+who jumped at the idea of being set to watch people. Between them
+everyone who goes in or comes out from the hotel will be followed, and
+they will, in the first place, find out his name and bring it to me,
+after that they will follow him wherever he goes, and from time to time
+let me know what he is doing."
+
+Several days passed. The four gentlemen specially named, together
+with several others, were frequently at the hotel. There was in this,
+however, nothing suspicious, as Hector easily learned that they were
+all vassals or close friends of the house of Vendome. On the third day,
+however, he heard that at least a dozen of these gentlemen met in twos
+or threes at various cabarets near the Duke of Beaufort's, and spent
+the greater portion of their time there. Hector at once procured dresses
+suitable for gentlemen of the middle class for the troopers, and gave
+them instructions to spend the greater portion of their time at the
+cabarets at which these gentlemen stopped. Their reports were that they
+talked of indifferent subjects, but that they were evidently waiting for
+someone, as they invariably turned a glance at the door whenever a fresh
+comer entered.
+
+The next day Hector received a note from the cardinal:
+
+I am just starting with the Duke of Orleans for Maisons, where I shall
+dine with him.
+
+Two hours later the three troopers who had been out returned almost at
+the same minute with the news that the persons they were watching had
+all got up suddenly and gone out after a messenger wearing the Beaufort
+cognizance had come in and spoken to them. And a few minutes later Paolo
+arrived and said that the Duke of Beaufort had gone with the Count of
+Beaupuis to the convent of the Capuchins, and that several horses had
+been taken there.
+
+Hector thought the matter over. "Certainly," he said to himself, "as the
+cardinal's note is dated at nine o'clock, he is now some distance on his
+way. As soon as the duke received notice of his having gone, he notified
+his friends. It can only be on his way home that they will venture to
+attack him; but even if they have that intention they will scarcely do
+so if the Duke of Orleans returns with him, unless, indeed, the duke is
+himself in the plot, and as none of Paolo's scouts have brought news
+of any communications between Beaufort and Orleans, it is hardly likely
+that it is so.
+
+"Paolo, do you go down and watch the convent of the Capuchins. If the
+Duke of Beaufort remains there with his friend--and he may doubtless be
+joined by others--let me know if he rides away. If he does so the attack
+may take place anywhere along the road; if he remains, he will doubtless
+attack the cardinal as his carriage passes. Should there be more than
+one entrance to the convent, put boys to watch them, and bring you news
+should the party sally out. I shall be at the barracks. It is there that
+you must bring or send me word."
+
+The troopers were ordered to put on their military clothes and saddle
+their horses, and a quarter of an hour later Hector rode to the
+barracks, followed by them.
+
+"De Thiou," he said, "I want you and the other five officers to have
+your horses ready at a moment's notice. I have some sort of idea that
+there is a plot on foot against the cardinal, and I want to take a hand
+in the matter. I fancy that with you and my five troopers we shall be
+strong enough to disconcert the plotters."
+
+Two hours later he received a message from Paolo, saying that the Duke
+of Beaufort and three other gentlemen were still at the convent, but
+that most of the others had gone to the residence of Henri de Campion in
+the Rue St. Honore.
+
+"They mean to attack him just at the end of the journey," Hector said
+to himself, "and close to the Hotel de Vendome. Now it only depends
+upon whether the Duke of Orleans stays at Maisons or returns with the
+cardinal."
+
+He ordered the officers and troopers to mount, and with them took his
+post on the road by which the cardinal would return. In half an hour
+they saw his carriage approaching. They then moved forward. As the
+carriage passed them Hector saluted, and saw to his satisfaction that
+the Duke of Orleans was with the cardinal. After the carriage had gone
+fifty yards Hector turned, and with his party followed the carriage at
+that distance. When within a quarter of a mile of the Rue St. Honore a
+horseman came along. He met the carriage, and immediately it passed him
+turned and galloped back along the road. Hector felt no doubt that he
+was placed there to warn the conspirators to be in readiness if the
+Duke of Orleans was not in the carriage, and that there would now be no
+attempt. However, he closed up to within thirty yards. As they entered
+the Rue St. Honore all was quiet there, and nothing happened until the
+cardinal alighted at the Hotel de Cleves. As he did so he looked round,
+and beckoned to Hector to follow him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII: THE BATTLES OF FREIBURG
+
+
+The cardinal did not address Hector until he had entered his private
+room, when he turned and said sharply, "What means this, colonel? When
+I saw you and your officers on the road I felt sure that you were not
+there for nothing, and still more sure when on alighting I found you so
+closely following me."
+
+"I was convinced, cardinal, that there was a plot against your life, and
+I believe that it was only because the Duke of Orleans returned with you
+that it was not carried into effect."
+
+"And possibly because they saw your troop behind the carriage. Now tell
+me your reason for supposing that I was in danger."
+
+Hector related the various steps that he had taken.
+
+"Your spies worked better for you than mine did for me," the cardinal
+said. "That a dozen or so of Beaufort's friends were for some reason
+or other spending their time at the Angel Inn and other cabarets I was
+aware, but I have had no word of their proceedings today. You have been
+better served, doubtless, because your plans were better laid. I hardly
+think that they would have attacked me when Orleans was with me, but
+there is no saying; for if Beaufort has daring and insolence enough to
+attempt to slay the queen's minister within a quarter of a mile of the
+Louvre, he would not trouble greatly whether princes of the blood were
+in the carriage or not, especially if he had some reason for believing
+that Orleans would not regard the deed with very great disapproval.
+
+"However, whatever his intentions might be, it is clear that the
+appearance of your party of twelve armed men decided the question. We
+may regard it as certain that the news that I had such an escort was
+carried to them by the man who galloped on ahead. I thank you, sir, I
+thank you very heartily, not only for my sake, but for that of France. I
+will ask you to go across to the Louvre; I will take half a dozen armed
+servants with me, but there is little fear that the attempt will be
+renewed today. They must be too much disconcerted by the failure of
+their plot to make fresh arrangements so speedily. I shall go first
+to the Louvre and inform her majesty of what has taken place. You will
+remain here for half an hour, and will then leave by the gate at the
+back of the house and make a circuit, and enter the palace by the river
+gate. The musketeers on guard will stop you, but I will give you a
+pass." And he wrote a few lines on paper. "The queen's confidential
+servant, Laporte, will be at the door to meet you, and will have
+instructions to escort you by corridors where you will be unobserved,
+and so to her majesty's private closet. Were you to accompany me,
+Beaufort would soon hear of it, and would be shrewd enough to perceive
+that your meeting with me was by no means a matter of chance."
+
+Hector followed out his instructions, and on presenting himself at the
+palace was at once taken up to the queen's closet. Laporte went in, and
+returning immediately requested him to enter. The queen was walking up
+and down the room, her face flushed with indignation.
+
+"Her majesty would fain hear from your own lips, monsieur le baron, the
+statement that you have made to me."
+
+The queen sat down and listened intently while Hector repeated the
+story.
+
+"There can be no doubt about it, cardinal; this keeping of a number of
+armed men within call for days, the summons to them to gather in the Rue
+St. Honore, while he himself with others took up his post at the convent
+of the Capuchins hard by, the moment his spies had discovered that you
+had left for Maisons, could but have been for one purpose. But they
+shall learn that although a woman, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, is
+not to be deprived of her minister and faithful friend without striking
+back in return. Monsieur de Villar, you have rendered me a great
+service. Is there any boon that you would ask of me? it is granted
+beforehand."
+
+"I thank your majesty most humbly," Hector said. "Already I have
+received honours far beyond anything I deserve. I had the honour when
+thanking your majesty, to hope some day to be able to give proof that
+they were not unworthily bestowed, and still hope to do so."
+
+"You have already shown yourself worthy," the queen said, "by the manner
+in which you have in so short a time rendered the regiment to which we
+appointed you so efficient. However, if there is at present no boon that
+we can bestow, then remember that the Queen of France holds herself
+your debtor, and that you have my royal word that any boon that you may
+hereafter ask for, that is in my power to grant, will be given you.
+Take this as a pledge of my promise." And she took off a gold chain
+exquisitely worked, and gave it him. He received it kneeling. "Now, sir,
+we will keep you here no longer. I have much to say to his excellency. I
+trust that you will present yourself at the levee this evening."
+
+"One thing more, colonel," Mazarin added; "I doubt not that some of
+Beaufort's people will endeavour to find out how it was that you came to
+be behind my carriage. If they do so you might carelessly mention that
+you and your officers had ridden out in a party at St. Germain, and that
+on your way back you chanced to fall in with my carriage."
+
+At the barracks Hector called the officers together. "Gentlemen," he
+said, "I have no doubt that your little ride today has somewhat puzzled
+you. I am not at liberty to tell you the reason why I requested you
+to ride with me; but it is very probable that you may be asked the
+question, and I beg you all to remember that we have been on a little
+party of pleasure to St. Germain, and having dined there were on our way
+back when we overtook the carriage of the cardinal; and seeing that
+he had the Duke of Orleans with him, we reined back and followed him,
+deeming that it would not appear respectful were we to gallop past the
+carriage. Please bear this story in mind. Recall also that we dined at
+the Lion d'Or there, that our dinner was a good one and that it was a
+sort of celebration on my part of our two companies having the honour to
+be chosen for duty in Paris. This is a matter upon which much depends;
+it is, in fact, a matter of state; and you may well imagine that I
+should not be recalling these events to your mind were it not that a
+good deal depends upon it, and that I have received strict orders
+that this little comedy shall be carried out. I know that I can rely
+implicitly upon your discretion, and I have indeed answered for you all.
+The story will be true in every respect. Instead of the excursion having
+come off today it shall come off on the first day I can arrange that we
+can be all off duty."
+
+That evening at the palace Hector was, as the cardinal predicted,
+accosted by one of Beaufort's officers, to whom he had been previously
+introduced. After talking on other subjects for a few minutes, he said:
+
+"I saw you today, monsieur, riding with a party of your officers along
+the Rue St. Honore. You did not notice me?"
+
+"I assure you that I did not, sir, or I should not have been so rude
+as to pass without saluting you." Then he added with a laugh, "We were
+riding slowly, too, for the cardinal's coach was in front of us, and it
+would not have been good manners to have galloped past him, especially
+as he had the Duke of Orleans with him."
+
+"Had you been far?" the other asked carelessly.
+
+"No great distance; a little party of pleasure with my officers to eat
+a dinner together, to celebrate the honour we had received in being
+brought into Paris. My officers have worked very hard, and the matter
+served as a good excuse for giving them a little dinner."
+
+For the next day or two everything passed off quietly, but four of the
+officers reported that when dining at a cabaret two or three of the
+duke's officers had come in and entered into conversation with them, and
+had brought up the subject of their riding in after the cardinal.
+
+"You almost looked as if you were serving as a bodyguard to him," one of
+them laughed.
+
+"I daresay we did," was the answer. "It was rather a nuisance; but it
+would not have been courteous to have ridden past the carriage." And he
+then repeated the story as had been arranged.
+
+Although the Duke of Beaufort had been told by some of his friends that
+there were rumours abroad of a plot against Mazarin's life, and that it
+would be best for him to leave Paris for a time, he refused to do so,
+saying that even if it was discovered the cardinal would not dare to lay
+hands on him. Moreover, the replies which had been obtained from Hector
+and his officers convinced him that their riding behind Mazarin's
+carriage was an accident.
+
+On the 2nd of September the duke presented himself at the Louvre as
+usual. After speaking with him for a few minutes, the queen left the
+room with Mazarin, and Guibaut, captain of the Guards, at once came
+forward and arrested him. He was kept at the Louvre that night, and next
+day was taken to the castle of Vincennes. Two companies of Swiss guards
+marched first, followed by a royal carriage containing the duke and
+Guibaut. The carriage was surrounded by the royal musketeers. A body
+of light cavalry followed, and the two companies of the Poitou regiment
+brought up the rear. Thus the people of Paris were shown that the queen
+had both the will and the power to punish, and the fickle population,
+who would the day before have shouted in honour of Beaufort, were
+delighted at seeing that the royal authority was once again paramount in
+Paris. The other members of the party of Importants either fled or were
+arrested. The Campions, Beaupuis, and others, succeeded in making their
+escape from France. The Marquis of Chateauneuf, governor of Touraine,
+was ordered back to his province. La Chatres, colonel general, was
+dismissed from his post; the Duc de Vendome was forced to leave France;
+and the ambitious Bishop of Beauvais and several other prelates were
+commanded to return to their dioceses. All the members of the Vendome
+family were exiled to the chateau of Annette. Madame de Chevreuse, de
+Hautefort, and a large number of other members of the party were ordered
+to leave Paris. Thus the party of the Importants ceased to exist.
+
+The people of Paris seemed greatly pleased at what appeared to them the
+end of the troubles, and they exclaimed that Richelieu was not dead, but
+that he had simply changed his appearance, and had become twenty
+years younger. Mazarin chose a number of soldiers belonging to his own
+regiment, and several officers who belonged to Richelieu's own guard.
+These were at all times to follow him wherever he went. He selected
+a number of noblemen, all of distinguished merit and influence, and
+created five of them dukes, and thus secured to himself a party that
+would to some extent balance the power of his adversaries.
+
+He also made an effort to bring about a union between the Duke of
+Orleans and the Condes, but failed, owing to the enormous demands
+that each put forward. Conde demanded the government of Languedoc
+for himself, of Burgundy for Enghien, and Normandy for the Duc de
+Longueville, and the entire domains of his late brother-in-law, Henry of
+Montmorency. Orleans on his part demanded the province of Champagne, the
+three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the town and castle
+of Sedan. As these demands, if granted, would have rendered the two
+families all powerful, Mazarin gave up the attempt, and decided that
+the best plan to prevent troubles was to let these dangerous families
+continue to be hostile to each other.
+
+As soon as he had finished his work of crushing the Importants, Mazarin
+sent for Hector.
+
+"Now, Monsieur Campbell," he said, "I have breathing time. The
+conspiracy among the nobles is for the time crushed, and now that they
+see that the queen is determined to protect me, and that I am not afraid
+of using the power committed to me, I hope that it will be some time
+before they venture to conspire again. I have further strengthened my
+position by granting honours to many distinguished gentlemen who were
+well inclined towards me, and on whose support in the future I shall
+be able to rely. Now it is time that I should turn to the man who has
+probably saved my life, and to whose evidence given before the queen I
+in no small degree owe it that she resolved to suppress these insolent
+nobles. I have not hurried in this matter, since, by your answer to the
+queen, it was evident that you desired no change in your position, and
+that the matter could wait.
+
+"Still, monsieur, her offer was to grant honours for services rendered
+to the state. The matter of the service that you have rendered to
+Cardinal Mazarin is still untouched. It is something so new to me that
+anyone in France should be so perfectly contented with his lot as to
+refuse such an offer as that made to you by the queen, that I feel
+somewhat at a loss what to do. I can understand that, young and ardent,
+increased rank would have no charm for you. Were it otherwise I could
+bestow the highest rank upon you. I am aware that your habits are
+simple, for I have made inquiries, and that money in itself goes for
+little in your eyes; still, sir, one who has the honour of being first
+minister of France, and who is also a very rich man, cannot remain with
+a debt of gratitude wholly uncancelled. I hear from my agent in Poitou
+that you have voluntarily remitted the fine that your vassals would pay
+on the occasion of a new lord taking possession, on account of the heavy
+taxation that presses so sorely upon them.
+
+"I honour you, sir, for such a step, and have even mentioned it to the
+queen as a proof of the goodness of your disposition, and I feel sure
+that there is nothing that would please you better than that I should
+grant the tenants of your estate an immunity from all taxation; but this
+I cannot do. All private interests must give way to the necessities
+of the state. I deplore the sufferings of the cultivators of France,
+sufferings that have of late driven many to take up arms. It is my duty
+to repress such risings; but I have ordered the utmost leniency to be
+shown to these unfortunate men, that the troops should not be quartered
+upon their inhabitants, and that the officers shall see that there is
+no destruction of houses and no damage to property; that would increase
+still further their difficulty in paying the imposts, which I regret to
+say press so sorely and unduly upon them. Tell me frankly what is the
+greatest object of your ambition?"
+
+"I thank your excellency most heartily for your kind intentions towards
+me, but any ambition that I may have had is already much more than
+gratified. I have never for a moment thought of, or even wished that I
+might some day become lord of a fair estate and a noble of France. I
+had not ventured to hope that I might become colonel of a regiment
+for another fifteen years. Both these things have, thanks to the kind
+appreciation of her majesty and yourself for a very simple act of duty,
+fallen to me. If I might ask a boon, it would be that my regiment may be
+sent to join the force of Marshal Turenne. So long as there was danger
+here I should not have wished to be removed from a position where I
+might be of some assistance, however slight, to the queen and yourself,
+but now that all danger is at an end I should be glad to return to
+active duty. I have endeavoured humbly to make Marshal Turenne my model.
+He has but one thought and one desire--namely, to do his duty and to
+make the soldiers under his command contented and happy, but I have no
+hope of ever emulating his great merits as a commander."
+
+"That request is easily granted," Mazarin said, and drawing a sheet of
+paper towards him, he wrote:
+
+The regiment of Poitou will at once proceed to the Rhine, where it will
+place itself under the orders of Marshal Turenne.
+
+He added his signature, and handed the paper to Hector.
+
+"That counts for nothing," he said. "You must remember that life is
+short and, especially in the case of a minister of France, uncertain.
+In your own case you might be disabled in the field and unable to serve
+further. The advent of a party hostile to me in power would doubtless be
+signalized by acts of vengeance against those who have been friends, and
+estates change hands so frequently in France that la Villar might well
+be confiscated. No man is above the chances of fortune. I have agents in
+England, and have this morning given an order to my intendant to place
+in the hands of Monsieur Wilson, a well known citizen of London, a
+goldsmith, the sum of fifty thousand crowns to stand in your name, and
+to be payable to your order. Here is his address. It is but a small sum
+for the saving of my life, but it will place you above the risk of the
+contingencies of fortune in this country. I wish for no thanks," he
+said, with a wave of his hand as Hector was about to speak. "I have
+given more for the most trifling favours. I now bid you adieu, and
+doubt not that I shall hear that you and your regiment have greatly
+distinguished yourselves in the east, where hostilities will in all
+probability shortly be commenced. You had better present yourself at the
+levee this evening to make your adieus to the queen."
+
+This Hector did, and early the next morning rode with his two companies
+to St. Denis, where the news that the regiment was to march towards the
+Rhine was received with great satisfaction. It was now the middle of
+October, and when, after ten days' march, the regiment reached Epernay,
+they heard that Turenne had withdrawn his troops from the Rhine,
+where the Imperialists had already gone into winter quarters, and had
+stationed them in the various towns of Lorraine. His headquarters were
+at Nancy. Turenne greeted him warmly upon his arrival.
+
+"Matters have been going on slowly since I saw you in Paris. I have been
+too weak to fight the Bavarians, who fortunately were too undecided to
+attack me. Could they but have made up their minds to throw in their
+fortune with Austria, they might have overrun all Lorraine, for aught I
+could have done to withstand them. The troopers were without horses, the
+infantry almost without clothes, and as the court was unable to send me
+any remittances I have been forced to borrow money upon my own estates
+for the public service, and have mounted five thousand horse and
+enrolled three thousand foot and am still sustaining them. However,
+I hear from Mazarin that he will in a week send off a large convoy of
+treasure, which will be welcome indeed, for I am nearly at the end of
+my resources. Some of my troops are quartered in the town, but the most
+part are among the mountains, where they trouble the inhabitants less
+and have small temptations towards rioting and excesses. Which would you
+rather?"
+
+"I would much rather go into the country, marshal; my regiment is
+in good condition now, but to stay in quarters in a town is bad for
+discipline."
+
+"So be it. You might make your headquarters at the village of Saline;
+there are no other troops within thirty miles of it. On arriving there
+you will make inquiries as to the supplies to be obtained within a
+circle of fifteen miles round. Fortunately I have a good supply of
+tents, and any men for whom you cannot find quarters in the villages
+can be placed under canvas. You can draw as much wine as you require for
+three months' rations from the stores here, and two months' rations of
+flour. I will direct the intendants to take up carts for the transport
+of the supplies you take from here. You will doubtless be able to buy
+meat up there, and I hope that you will be able to obtain sufficient
+flour and wine to last you till the end of the winter, for transport
+will be very difficult when the snow is on the ground. Firewood your
+soldiers will, of course, cut for themselves in the forests."
+
+The winter passed quietly. Hector managed to obtain quarters for all his
+troops--a village being allotted to each company. Before they marched
+off to their various quarters, Hector urged the officers to impress upon
+their men the advantage of behaving well to the villagers.
+
+"Of course the presence of so many men will be of serious inconvenience
+to them, but they will doubtless make the best of it if they find that
+they are treated civilly and that their lodgers endeavour to give as
+little trouble as possible. See that everything down to the smallest
+article is paid for, and investigate every complaint, and I will punish
+any offenders severely. I have inquired into the average prices that
+sheep, fowls, pigs, goats, and other articles fetch, and have made out a
+list for each company; the peasants will be gainers by it, for they
+will be saved the journey down to the towns. Let this be stuck up in a
+conspicuous place in each village.
+
+"The intendant will go round and make contracts for the supply of meat,
+and will see whether it will be more advantageous to erect ovens for
+the baking of bread in each village or to arrange to buy it ready baked
+there, we supplying the flour; for the troops, after being accustomed to
+good bread at St. Denis, will not be content with the black bread upon
+which these poor people exist. I shall pay a visit to each company
+in regular order, see that all is going on well, try men who have
+misbehaved themselves, and listen gladly to any suggestions that the
+respective captains may make to me."
+
+The first company was quartered at Saline, and although the cold was
+severe and the life rough the troops were well contented, and Hector was
+glad to find that his instructions were carried out and that excellent
+relations were maintained between the troops and their hosts.
+
+Early in the spring Turenne collected a force of three regiments of
+cavalry and two of infantry, and, passing the Rhine at Breisach, fell
+suddenly upon a force of Imperialists in the Black Forest, defeated
+them, and took three or four hundred prisoners, among whom were many
+officers, the rest of them escaping to the army commanded by Count
+Merci. In May the Bavarian army, numbering eight thousand foot and seven
+thousand horse, marched to besiege Freiburg, five leagues from Breisach,
+and Turenne followed with all his force, which now numbered ten thousand
+men. He found, however, that the Imperialists had occupied all the
+strong positions in the neighbourhood of the town, and not caring to run
+the risk either of defeat or great loss, and receiving information that
+the town had already opened negotiations for surrender, he fell back
+some five miles from the town, sending news to the court that his force
+was insufficient to attack the Imperialists. Mazarin thereupon sent
+orders to Enghien to set out at once for Germany. As soon as he
+reached the Rhine and his army prepared to cross, Enghien, who had been
+appointed generalissimo, rode forward with Marshal de Gramont, who was
+in command of the army under him, to the camp of Turenne. The meeting
+between Enghien and Turenne was most cordial. Enghien had always felt
+the warmest admiration for the talents of the older marshal, had been
+most intimate with him whenever he was at court, and regarded him as his
+master in the art of war. Turenne was free from the vice of jealousy;
+and as the armies of France were almost always placed under the supreme
+if sometimes nominal command of princes of the blood, it seemed nothing
+but natural to him that Enghien should receive supreme authority.
+
+The characters of the two men were in complete contrast with each
+other--the one was ardent, passionate, prompt in action and swift in
+execution; the other, though equally brave, was prudent and careful,
+anxious above all things to accomplish his object with the smallest
+possible loss of men, while Enghien risked the lives of his soldiers as
+recklessly as his own. They always acted together in the most perfect
+harmony, and their friendship remained unimpaired even when in
+subsequent days they stood in arms against each other. At the council
+Turenne was in favour of making a circuit and taking up their post in
+the valley of St. Pierre, by which they would intercept the Bavarians'
+communications and force them by famine to issue out from their strong
+lines and fight in the open, and urged that to attack a position so
+strongly fortified would entail terrible loss, even if successful.
+
+Marshal de Gramont, and d'Erlac, governor of Breisach, were of the same
+opinion. The Duc d'Enghien, however, was for attacking the enemy in
+their intrenchments; the idea of starving out an enemy was altogether
+repugnant to one of his impetuous disposition, and as generalissimo
+he overruled the opinions of the others. He himself, led by Turenne,
+reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and decided that the one army,
+which was called the army of France, consisting of six thousand foot and
+four thousand horse, commanded by Marshal de Gramont, should attack
+the enemy's position in front and on their right flank, and the other,
+called the army of Weimar, of five thousand foot and as many horse,
+under Turenne, should move round by a narrow pass and attack the enemy
+on the left flank. Merci's army occupied an almost inaccessible hill
+whose summit was strongly fortified, and it was against this that de
+Gramont's army was to hurl itself. The entrance to the valley by which
+Turenne was to fall upon their left flank was closed at its mouth by
+very strong intrenchments, and it was behind this that the main body of
+horse was posted.
+
+To gain his point of attack Turenne had to make a very wide circuit,
+and started at break of day on the 3rd of August. It was arranged that
+Enghien, who remained with de Gramont, should not attack until three
+hours before sunset, in order to give Turenne time to attack at the same
+hour. At the time agreed upon, Enghien sent forward two battalions to
+begin the attack. The regiments of Conde and Mazarin were to follow,
+while the duke held two others in reserve. In order to get at the enemy
+the assailants were forced to climb a very steep ascent, and cross a
+vineyard intersected by many walls four feet high facing the terrace
+on which the vines grew. These were occupied by the Bavarians, but the
+French attacked with such vigour that the enemy were driven back. When,
+however, the latter reached the great cheval-de-frise, formed by
+felled trees, in front of the intrenchments, they could make no further
+progress, so heavy was the fire maintained by the enemy.
+
+Enghien, seeing this, dismounted, placed himself at the head of the
+regiment of Conde, and led them forward, while Marshal Gramont and
+the officers did the same. Encouraged by this example, the troops were
+filled with enthusiasm, and, following their leaders unfalteringly, made
+their way through the cheval-de-frise, and, pressing forward without a
+pause, obtained possession of the intrenchments, driving the Bavarians
+into the woods behind. The battle had lasted three hours, and had cost
+the Bavarians three thousand men, while the French suffered at least
+equally.
+
+Turenne's force had been as hotly engaged. Merci, the best general in
+the Austrian army, had foreseen that an attempt might be made through
+the defile, and had posted strong bodies of infantry among the trees on
+either side.
+
+As soon as Turenne entered the defile he was encountered by a heavy
+fire from his unseen foes, who, falling back through the trees as he
+advanced, continued to gain strength. Turenne had to fight every foot of
+his way in order to dislodge the enemy, and it was not until Enghien
+had brought the battle to a conclusion on his side, that Turenne arrived
+and, forcing the intrenchments guarding the mouth of the defile, found
+himself in contact with Merci, who was now able to concentrate his whole
+force against him. The combat was a furious one. The troops were engaged
+at but forty paces apart, and sometimes had hand-to-hand encounters.
+Merci brought the whole of his cavalry into play, but Turenne was unable
+to use his, as they were behind his infantry and could not make their
+way out through the mouth of the defile.
+
+For seven hours the battle raged in the darkness. After losing three
+thousand men here, General Merci decided that his army would be totally
+destroyed if Enghien should bring his troops down from the hill at
+daybreak. Accordingly, leaving a body of musketeers to hide the movement
+by their fire, he withdrew the rest of his army and took up another
+strong position, partly on a height known as the Black Mountain,
+covering the entrance of the valley of St. Pierre and partly in the
+valley itself, thus covering his line of retreat. Had the French been
+able to attack early the next morning before the Bavarians had time to
+intrench themselves they might have won an easy victory; but for the
+past twenty-four hours the rain had been falling incessantly, Turenne's
+army had been marching on the previous day, and had been fighting for
+seven hours, and was incapable of further exertions, while that of
+Enghien was in little better plight, having passed the night in the rain
+on the ground it had won.
+
+After such hard fighting both commanders agreed that a twenty-four
+hours' halt was absolutely necessary. The day could not be termed one of
+rest, for there were thousands of wounded to be collected and cared for,
+arms to be cleaned, for they had been rendered useless by the rain, and
+provisions to be brought up from the rear. Merci made the most of the
+time thus given him. The bottom of the mountain towards the plain was
+fortified by several rows of felled trees, and a portion of his infantry
+was posted between this point and the town of Freiburg, which was but
+half a mile away. The intrenchments that had been formed during the
+siege of the town were occupied by them; and as their front was covered
+by the fire of the guns from the fortress, as well as by that of the
+infantry on the hill, he considered the position to be impregnable, and
+therefore placed the main body of his army at the edge of the flat top
+of the hill, a strong body behind a wood about halfway up the slope, and
+his cavalry extended from that point to the walls of the city.
+
+After reconnoitering the position, Enghien determined to make two
+attacks, one on the trenches between the foot of the hill and the town,
+and the other on the rows of felled trees at the foot of the mountain.
+A false attack was to be made between the two points. Turenne's force
+advanced nearly to the foot of the hill, the prince's army followed him,
+and also took up its position. But just as the attack was about to be
+made a great tumult was heard on the hill, and Enghien and Turenne
+rode to a neighbouring height in order to ascertain what was going
+on, leaving strict orders that no movement was to be made until their
+return. Count d'Espenan, who commanded the two advanced regiments of
+Enghien's army, however, ordered a detachment to attack a redoubt
+which stood within the line of attack, and Merci sent supports to its
+defenders.
+
+D'Espenan sent more troops on his side and the engagement became
+serious. Suddenly the Imperialist artillery opened fire along the whole
+of their line, and Enghien's troops, apparently taking this for the
+signal of the beginning of the battle, moved forward for the
+assault without order or leader. As they were broken and confused by
+endeavouring to pass through the abattis of felled trees, the Bavarians
+rushed out and drove them back with great slaughter. Enghien and
+Turenne, galloping up in all haste, in vain attempted to rally them.
+Officers and men alike were panic stricken. The two generals then rode
+to Turenne's army and advanced against the defence of trees. For a long
+time the battle raged without any marked success on either side. Several
+times the French made their way in to the intrenchments and were as
+often repulsed. Merci ordered his cavalry to dismount, and led them
+into the fray, but, darkness falling suddenly, the assailants ceased to
+attack, and occupied for the night the ground on which the struggle had
+taken place. The fight that day had cost them two thousand troops, and
+the Bavarians twelve hundred, but as the latter had lost half their
+infantry in the first day's fighting the French were still superior
+in numbers. During the night Turenne had all the wounded of both
+nationalities carried to Breisach. After giving the army four days'
+rest, Enghien determined to resort to the tactics that Turenne had
+from the first recommended, and, marching along the plain, ascended the
+valley of Bloterthal and made for St. Pierre, where he would cut the
+Bavarian line of retreat. As soon as Merci saw the movement he gave
+orders for his army to fall back with all haste, and although Turenne
+pressed hard on his rear he succeeded in drawing his troops off, though,
+in order to do so, he was obliged to abandon his baggage and cannon.
+Altogether he lost between eight and nine thousand men, with their
+artillery and most of their horses. The French loss was equally great,
+and though the battle was claimed as a victory by them owing to the
+Bavarians having finally fallen back, it was really a drawn one.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV: JUST IN TIME
+
+
+The regiment of Poitou had suffered heavily in the battles of Freiburg.
+In the first advance Turenne had placed it in the rear of his infantry.
+
+"I must have, Hector," he said, "a reserve upon which I can implicitly
+rely; brought up at the right moment it might decide the fate of a
+battle, if we are beaten it can allow the disorganized regiments
+to pass, check the pursuit of the enemy, and retire in good order,
+contesting every foot of the ground until the rest of the force have
+emerged from the mouth of the defile and been enabled to form up in
+sufficient order to withstand the effect of the enemy's cavalry."
+
+The regiment, therefore, took no part in the work of clearing the defile
+of the enemy's infantry, and for the first four hours of the battle
+remained in the rear. Then Turenne ordered it to the front, to take the
+place of the regiments which had already lost half their strength,
+and were no longer capable of resisting the continued assaults of
+the Imperialists. Turenne himself rode with Hector at the head of the
+regiment. They pushed their way through the hardly pressed troops in
+front, and when they faced the enemy deployed and poured a terrible
+volley into their assailants, and for the remaining three hours bore the
+whole brunt of the battle. Standing four deep, their flanks resting upon
+the rising ground on either side of the mouth of the pass, the two front
+lines alone maintained their fire so long as infantry only pressed them,
+the two lines behind being ordered by Hector not to fire a shot. When,
+however, the Bavarian infantry drew aside and the cavalry thundered
+down, the front lines fell back through those behind them, and the
+latter received the cavalry with such terrible volleys of musketry that
+they each time broke and fled.
+
+Turenne, after seeing the Poitou regiment take up its post, occupied
+himself in reforming the remains of the other regiments, and raising
+their spirits by warm words of commendation at the manner in which they
+had fought, until assured that they in turn could, if necessary, join
+the first line if it were forced to give way. When he had done this he
+rejoined Hector, who had dismounted and moved backwards and forwards
+among the men, seeing that the gaps caused by the enemy's fire were
+constantly filled up, and encouraging the soldiers with praise and
+exhortations. Turenne sat upon his horse some paces behind the rear
+line. When he saw the Bavarian infantry draw aside, and heard the roar
+of the cavalry charge, his lips tightened, and he half turned his horse
+as if to call up the regiments behind. When, however, he saw the lines
+that had hitherto been in rear take up their place in front and stand
+there quiet and immovable, the look of irresolution passed from his
+face, and, after the Bavarian horse had fallen back, shattered by their
+volleys, he pressed a pace or two forward and shouted, "Regiment of
+Poitou, I thank you in the name of France; never saw I a regiment fight
+more bravely or steadily!"
+
+The men responded with a loud cheer to this praise from one whom all
+respected and loved. Turenne then rode up to Hector.
+
+"Splendidly done, Colonel Campbell! I had rather wondered why you kept
+half your men idle in such a fight; I now understand why you did so. Had
+all been firing, three-quarters of their muskets would have been empty,
+and you would possibly have been overthrown. It was a stroke of genius.
+I may have taught you many lessons in war, but tonight you have given me
+one."
+
+Turenne remained with the regiment till the end of the fight, and marked
+with approval the way in which each line fought by turns, while the
+other remained behind them ready to receive the charges of the cavalry.
+As soon as the Bavarians drew off he saw that all the wounded were
+carried to the rear, where the surgeons rendered what aid was possible,
+while the rest of the troops threw themselves down to snatch a few
+hours' sleep. When, three hours later, Enghien's troops came down from
+the hill they had won, Turenne's force marched out from the defile.
+Turenne mounted his horse, and, calling upon Hector to follow him, rode
+forward with his principal officers to meet Enghien.
+
+"It has been a terrible battle, prince, and if your loss equals mine the
+victory has indeed been won at a terrible cost."
+
+"Mine has been heavy, too," Enghien said, "but we have gained our
+object."
+
+"Not wholly," Turenne replied, "for Merci has taken up a position as
+strong as that from which we have driven him."
+
+"I wish that I could have lent you a hand in the fight," Enghien said,
+"but the Bavarians had fallen back into the woods, and we knew not
+whether they still held their ground there. In the rain and darkness
+it would have been dangerous to have crossed the broken ground with
+its woods and ravines, and the troops, after their exertions and heavy
+marches, were incapable of such an effort. Indeed, I had lost fully half
+my infantry, and the cavalry would be useless for such work. You must
+indeed have been sorely pressed, having Merci's whole force to contend
+with. Still, I had no doubt even if you could not issue from the
+defile you would be able to check the enemy." Then the generals in turn
+repeated the details of the battles in which they had been engaged and
+the losses they had suffered.
+
+Turenne then introduced his principal officers to Enghien, and when he
+had done so called up Hector.
+
+"I need not introduce this officer to you, prince," he said.
+
+"No, indeed," Enghien replied, holding out his hand; "I have good reason
+to recollect you, Colonel Campbell. You have heard, marshal, what a good
+service he rendered me at Rocroi?"
+
+"He has rendered me one no less this night," Turenne said. "I never saw
+a regiment stand more steadily than the one which he commands, and which
+he has trained to what seems to me perfection. For the last three hours
+that regiment alone bore the brunt of the battle, although assailed
+alternately by infantry and cavalry, and thus afforded time to reform
+the regiments that fought earlier in the afternoon and to give me hope
+that even were the enemy to overcome the resistance of his men, I could
+still be able to check their further advance."
+
+He then told Enghien the manner in which Hector had arranged and fought
+his troops.
+
+"A good device indeed," Enghien said warmly, "and methinks it worthy of
+adoption whenever infantry have to meet other infantry and cavalry, for
+the muskets take so long to reload that there might not be half a dozen
+men ready to give fire when the cavalry charge. Is that one of the many
+lessons that he tells me you have given him?"
+
+"No, indeed; it has not, so far as I am aware, ever been tried before.
+Parts of regiments are often held in reserve to reinforce their comrades
+if necessary, but this method, whereby half the regiment are able at a
+moment's notice to meet cavalry with their muskets loaded, is methinks,
+entirely new, and in such cases as the present very valuable."
+
+In the second day's fighting Turenne's army had taken but small share,
+for during the retreat of the Bavarians the cavalry alone had come into
+play.
+
+The Bavarians having retreated into Wurtemberg, a council of war was
+held to decide in what manner the greatest advantage could be gained
+during their absence. Most of the chief officers were in favour of
+retaking Freiburg. Turenne was of a different opinion. He represented
+that the siege would occupy a considerable time, and that if successful
+they would, at the end of a campaign, have simply retaken a town that
+was theirs when it began. They could therefore point to no advantage
+gained by their efforts or by the loss of so many men. He advised,
+therefore, that as the Bavarian army was now sixty miles away, and
+could not very well return, as it would need large reinforcements, fresh
+cannon, and baggage wagons, they should take the opportunity of making
+themselves masters of the whole course of the Rhine and even of the
+Palatinate.
+
+The Duc d'Enghien declared for this plan. Turenne went at once to
+Breisach, and arranged for the transport, by boat down the Rhine, of all
+the necessaries for the siege of Philippsburg. The army started on the
+16th of August, a part of Turenne's army being detached to capture small
+towns and castles. On the 23rd of August Philippsburg was invested by
+Turenne, Enghien's force arriving on the following day. Philippsburg
+stood on the Rhine, which at this point formed a sharp elbow, and the
+land being low, many morasses surrounded the town, and the approach
+therefore was exceedingly difficult. Eight hundred paces from the town
+stood a square fort, which commanded the river, and was connected with
+the town by a causeway. The town itself had seven bastions, round these
+ran a very thick hedge, and the moat was wide and full of water. The
+garrison was a weak one, not exceeding a thousand men, but they had a
+hundred pieces of cannon and a large store of ammunition.
+
+Feeling that he could not hold a fort so far from the town, the
+commander withdrew the garrison from it, and Turenne seized it, and
+placed a strong force there. Enghien then threw up strong lines in a
+semicircle round the town to protect the army in case any large force of
+the enemy should endeavour to relieve it. This occupied four days,
+and in the meantime the boats had arrived with cannon, ammunition, and
+provisions. A bridge was thrown across the river in twenty-four hours,
+and a force was sent over; this attacked and captured Germersheim, and
+then marched to Spires, which at once opened its gates on the 29th of
+August. In the meantime the siege of Philippsburg was begun in earnest.
+The approaches could only be carried on in one place, where the ground
+was sandy, and continued so up to two of the bastions of the town.
+
+Turenne commanded the attack against the right bastion, de Gramont that
+on the left. They first diverted a brook running through the plain, and
+were enabled to use its channel as an approach, thus advancing fifteen
+hundred paces nearer to the town. They then formed an intrenchment that
+could be used by both columns, and from this on the 1st of September
+they began to open their trenches against their respective bastions. De
+Gramont's works were attacked on the following day by a sortie; this,
+however, was driven back. On the fifth night both columns made a
+lodgment on the counterscarp, and their batteries opened fire. After
+some days' work they filled up the ditch, and seeing that his force was
+too weak to oppose so strong an attack, the commander surrendered on the
+12th of September.
+
+Although Merci was advancing with an army, Enghien continued the project
+that had been formed, and, remaining with his own troops to protect
+Philippsburg, sent Turenne with all his horse and five hundred foot
+to Worms, which threw open its gates. Oppenheim surrendered without
+resistance, and he arrived in front of Mayence. The garrison was very
+small, and upon the threat of Turenne that he would attack it on all
+sides the citizens sent a deputation offering to capitulate. Turenne
+sent word of this to Enghien, who rode there at once, and received the
+surrender of the town. Bingen capitulated; Landor, Mannheim, Neustadt,
+and several other places were taken; and thus from Strasburg to a point
+near Coblenz, the whole course of the Rhine, the Palatine, and all the
+country between the Rhine and the Moselle fell into the hands of the
+French. Enghien returned to pass the winter in Paris. The greater part
+of the army was recalled, and Turenne was left with but a few regiments
+to hold the newly acquired territory.
+
+"Do you wish for leave, Campbell?" Turenne asked Hector. "You had but
+a few days in your new lordship, and have a right to spend at least a
+portion of the winter there."
+
+"I thank you, marshal, but I have no idea of leaving you. You have been
+good enough to say that you will fill up the gaps in my regiment by
+embodying in it the remains of the regiment of Ardennes, which will
+bring it up to nearly its former strength. I certainly should not like
+to be away while the work of fusion is being carried out. The new
+men must be divided equally among the companies, and the officers so
+arranged that one of those now appointed shall be attached to each
+company with two of my own. Then I must see that all so work together as
+to arrive at the same standard as before. I should have wished that if
+possible the captains of the Ardennes regiment should be appointed to
+the new regiment that you are about to form, and that the places of
+those who fell in action should be filled from my list of lieutenants."
+
+"Certainly. You lost five captains, did you not?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"If you send me the names of the five senior lieutenants, I will promote
+them at once."
+
+"Thank you, marshal; that will make all my lieutenants captains. I lost
+five of them and three second lieutenants."
+
+"Then you will require thirteen more officers." He looked at a list.
+"There are eight belonging to the Ardennes, the rest I will draw
+from other regiments. There is little fear of their objecting to the
+exchange, for your corps won such a reputation that all will be glad to
+join it; I will send you back to Nancy. There are barracks there, and no
+other troops; and as we are not likely to be disturbed until the spring,
+you will have plenty of time to bring the regiment up to its former
+mark."
+
+The winter, indeed, passed quietly. The officers were all greatly
+pleased when they heard the arrangements Hector had made, by which most
+of them obtained a step in rank instead of being, as they had feared,
+passed over by officers belonging to the Ardennes regiment. The battle
+of Freiburg had shown them the great advantage that had been gained by
+the steadiness and discipline of their men. They took up the work of
+drilling again with even more zeal than before, and it was not long
+before the regiment was restored to its former state of efficiency. The
+reason why he had sent the regiment back from the Rhine was explained by
+Turenne to Hector before he started.
+
+"The orders from court were," he said, "that I was to retain only the
+Weimar regiments, and I should have been obliged to send you back with
+those of Enghien had I not represented to him that it might be of the
+greatest importance to me to have even one good French regiment within
+call. We talked it over at some length, and he finally agreed to take
+upon himself the responsibility of ordering that your regiment should
+not go beyond Nancy, upon the ground that there were very few troops in
+Lorraine; and that peasant risings had taken place there, as in other
+departments, owing to the terrible distress caused by heavy taxation. He
+has handed to me a paper authorizing you to take such steps as you may
+think fit, as soon as you receive news of such risings, to aid the civil
+authorities, if they should take place at any point within reasonable
+reach. The regiments stationed at Metz will naturally maintain order
+north of Pont-a-Mousson, while you will send detachments to points south
+and east of Nancy. You will understand that you are not to move troops
+on the strength of mere rumours, but only when requests for aid are sent
+by local authorities."
+
+Indeed, during the winter of 1644-45, as in that preceding it, troubles
+broke out in many parts of France, and in some the risings of
+"the barefooted ones," as they were called, became for a time very
+formidable. The rage of the unhappy peasantry was principally directed,
+as during the Jacquerie, against the nobles, and any chateaux were
+sacked and burned, all within killed, and terrible excesses committed.
+
+In February serious outbreaks took place. A messenger arrived at Nancy
+with an urgent appeal for help, and Hector took four companies and
+marched with all speed to the disturbed district. As soon as he reached
+it he broke up his force, despatching each company in a different
+direction, his instructions being that any body of armed peasants
+they might meet were to be dispersed, but, once beaten, were not to
+be pursued and cut up, and that life was not to be unnecessarily
+sacrificed. He himself, with one company, marched towards Poissons. He
+was within a mile of the town when a mounted man, bleeding from several
+wounds, rode up.
+
+"The chateau of Blenfoix has been attacked by two hundred peasants,"
+he said. "My lady and a dozen retainers are holding a tower, but they
+cannot long resist; even now the place may have been captured. I broke
+my way through, and, hearing that there were troops in this direction, I
+have galloped at full speed to implore your aid."
+
+"How far is it?"
+
+"About ten miles."
+
+"You hear, de Mieville; bring the men on with all speed. I will gallop
+forward with my troopers and do what I can. Do I go straight along the
+road?"
+
+"Yes, sir, nine miles hence you will see the chateau on an eminence a
+mile away to the right."
+
+Followed by his troopers and Paolo, Hector dashed off at full speed. In
+three quarters of an hour, at a turn of the road, they caught sight of
+the chateau. Flames were pouring through most of the windows.
+
+"Now, lads," he said to the men, "we have got long odds to face, but
+there is a lady to be rescued, and if any men can accomplish it we
+will."
+
+The chateau was partly castellated, the new portion having been built
+against what had formerly been a small castle. On its summit a flag was
+still flying. Riding on at the top of their speed they soon saw a number
+of men swarming round a gate which opened into the older portion of the
+building.
+
+"Put your pistols in your belts, lads. Don't use them if you can help
+it, but trust to your swords. Cut your way through that crowd. Ride in
+at the gate, and dismount at the door leading up to the turret. Then do
+you, Macpherson and Hunter, cover our rear while we fight our way up the
+steps. Follow us as we go, and if you want aid, shout and we will come
+down to you."
+
+On hearing the sound of the galloping hoofs the peasants for a moment
+made a movement of retreat, but when they saw that the six horsemen were
+alone, they began to gather courage, and again waved their arms, which
+were mostly axes, or poles to which scythes or billhooks were attached.
+Riding three abreast, the horsemen burst in among them, hewing and
+hacking with their swords; and the crowd, unable to resist the impetus
+of the charge, opened a way for them, and in a moment they had passed
+through the gate. A group of men round an open door that marked the
+position of the turret stairs, scattered with cries of alarm as they
+galloped up. In a moment they sprang from their horses and entered the
+doorway. The stairs were narrow, and but one man could mount and use his
+weapons at a time. They were, however, densely packed with men.
+
+Hector sprang up, closely followed by the others. The resistance was
+feeble, for the height above the winding steps was but six feet, and
+insufficient for the use of either axes or longer weapons. Many of the
+peasants, astounded at seeing the armed men mounting from below them,
+and wholly ignorant of their numbers, threw down their weapons and cried
+for mercy. Hector contented himself with pushing past them, and running
+his sword through any who showed signs of resistance. One or two men
+armed with rough pikes made a stand; these he shot, and pressed upwards
+until within some twenty feet of the top, when the peasants, half
+maddened at finding themselves caught, rushed down in a body. "Close
+up!" he shouted to his followers. These pressed close up to him, but the
+weight was too much for them, and they were borne by the rush backwards
+down the stairs, when the peasants darted out through the door. Hector
+had received several knife cuts on the shoulder and arms, and would have
+suffered still more severely had not Paolo and Nicholl, who were next
+to him, thrust their pistols over his shoulder and shot his assailants,
+whose bodies, borne along by the pressure from behind, protected him
+from the blows of those above them.
+
+"Are you hurt badly, master?" Paolo exclaimed as they stood breathless
+for a moment at the bottom of the stairs.
+
+"No, I think not; my gorget saved my neck; I have four or five cuts
+on the shoulders, but they are mere flesh wounds. Now let us mount the
+stairs; the men must have made a stout defence indeed to have held out
+so long."
+
+The upper part of the stairs was indeed almost blocked with dead bodies.
+At the top of the stairs stood two men with axes, which they lowered as
+soon as they saw Hector.
+
+"You have made a brave stand," he said, "in defence of your mistress."
+
+"You have arrived but just in time, monsieur, for we are the last two
+left, and though we might have accounted for a few more, another five
+minutes would have finished it."
+
+Stepping out on the platform at the top of the tower, Hector saw a lady
+leaning against the battlements; she was deadly pale, but her face
+still bore a look of calm determination. In her hands she held a dagger;
+clinging to her was a girl of some fifteen years of age.
+
+"Thank God, madam, that we have arrived in time!" Hector exclaimed.
+
+"Just in time, monsieur; we had given up all hope, when, as if sent
+by God, we saw your little band appear riding towards us. Even then I
+hardly ventured to hope; it seemed well nigh impossible that six men
+should be able to clear a way through so many. Only two of my faithful
+retainers still held the stairs, and it was but too evident that these
+could not resist much longer; when one more had fallen I had resolved to
+plunge this dagger into my daughter's heart and then into my own. Death
+would have been a thousand times preferable to falling into the hands of
+these wretches."
+
+"How long have you been beleaguered, madam?"
+
+"My men have been fighting for four hours. For upwards of three hours
+they did well, for the peasants, being unable to use their weapons,
+frequently drew back. Then they hit upon the device of fastening a hook
+to the end of a pole, and, catching this round the leg of one of the
+defenders, dragged him down, and then despatched him with their knives.
+One by one four of my men were killed. For the last half hour the two
+who remained stood back, one at each side of the doorway, so that they
+could not be so entrapped, and slew those who, mounting the stairs,
+tried to rush past them. Both were sorely spent, and the end must have
+come soon had you not appeared. Whom have I to thank for this unlooked
+for deliverance?"
+
+"I am Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar," Hector replied, "and have
+the honour to command his majesty's regiment of Poitou."
+
+"Your name is not French," the lady said.
+
+"No, madam, I am a Scotchman."
+
+"Then," the lady said, speaking in English, "I must claim you as a
+countryman, for I am Irish. My husband was an officer in the army of the
+Duke of Lorraine; he was killed in a skirmish four years ago, and a
+year later I married the Baron of Blenfoix, and was again widowed at the
+battle of Freiburg, where my husband, who had followed the fortunes
+of the Duke of Lorraine, his feudal lord, fell fighting by the side
+of General Merci. This is my daughter Norah. But I see that you are
+wounded," she went on as Hector bowed to the young lady.
+
+"Not seriously, madam; but I feel somewhat faint from loss of blood, and
+will remove my helmet. As it turned out," he went on somewhat faintly,
+"it was unfortunate that I did not put on my body armour; but I had not
+anticipated hard fighting, and preferred to ride without it. Thanks for
+your offer, lady, but my men will see to me, they are all of them pretty
+well accustomed to the bandaging of wounds."
+
+He was now, indeed, almost too faint to stand, and Paolo and Nicholl
+seated him against a battlement, and then proceeded to take off his
+upper garments and examine his wounds. They were all at the back of the
+shoulder, as his assailants, pressed closely against him, were unable
+to strike him in front. The lady tore some strips off her garment and
+assisted in bandaging the wound, being, as she said, well accustomed to
+such matters.
+
+"Is all quiet on the stairs?" Hector inquired of the two men whom he had
+placed on guard there.
+
+"Save for the sound of some groans all is still, colonel," Hunter
+replied. "Methinks that after being withstood for four hours by six
+retainers they are not likely to make a fresh attempt against six well
+armed men.
+
+"What are they doing, Macpherson?"
+
+"They are gathered in front of the chateau, sir. A large number of
+things were dragged out before the flames reached them, and at present
+they seem to be quarrelling over the division of them. They have got
+some barrels of wine out of the cellars and are making free with them."
+
+"So much the better," Hector said. "The company will be up in half an
+hour at latest, and will give them a lesson unless they move away before
+that; and now that they have taken to drinking they are not likely to do
+so."
+
+The bandaging of his wounds being now completed, Hector was assisted to
+his feet.
+
+"I grieve, madam," he said, "that I did not arrive in time to prevent
+the chateau being burned."
+
+"The loss is not mine; my husband's estates were confiscated when he
+crossed into Germany with the duke, and were some ten months ago granted
+to a Monsieur de Thours, a relative of the Prince of Conde; but he
+sent me a courteous letter to say that as he was serving with the Duc
+d'Enghien, I was welcome to continue to occupy the chateau until the war
+was over, receiving the rents as his chatelaine, paying the retainers,
+and keeping up the establishment, and sending the surplus to his agents
+at Nancy. This I was glad to do, for, indeed, had it not been for his
+kind offer my daughter and I would scarcely have known whither to go, as
+my husband expended his last crown in equipping a force for the service
+of the duke."
+
+At this moment Macpherson exclaimed:
+
+"I see the head of a company mounting the slope, colonel."
+
+"Yes, and there is Captain Mieville. Ah! he has halted the men, and is
+riding forward alone to take in the situation. I hope that the peasants
+won't catch sight of him." When Mieville reached a point where he could
+obtain a view of the front of the chateau he checked his horse, and
+after surveying the scene for a minute rode back to the company. A
+movement was at once visible.
+
+"He is extending them on each side," Hector said. "That is good. He is
+going to inclose the peasants, and as from the slope in the ground they
+cannot see the troops until they are within a hundred yards, he will
+catch them in a trap."
+
+The company moved round, in fact, until they had formed almost a
+semicircle, then they advanced, closing in as they neared the house.
+When they reached the spot where they could be seen by the peasants a
+trumpet sounded and they ran in. The peasants, bewildered at seeing the
+line of soldiers closing in around them, hesitated. Some were already
+too drunk to rise from the ground on which they had thrown themselves,
+the others caught up their arms and ran together. Retreat was
+impossible, for behind them was the burning house. Suddenly a stream of
+fire burst from the semicircle of troops. Some thirty of the insurgents
+fell, the others threw down their arms and fell upon their knees crying
+for mercy. The troops were rushing forward to finish their work, when
+Hector shouted "Halt!"
+
+"De Mieville," he said, as the officer rode up towards the tower, "do
+not shed more blood. Thirty at least have fallen in their attack on this
+turret, besides those who have been killed by your fire. Take the rest,
+disarm them all, let the men cut some stout switches and give every man
+twenty blows well laid on the back, and then let them go. Before you do
+so, send a dozen of them to clear the staircase and to draw some buckets
+of water from the well and sluice the steps down. Paolo, do you run down
+and find a vessel of some sort and a goblet or horn, and bring up some
+wine from one of those barrels. The ladies sorely need something after
+what they have gone through, and I myself shall be all the better for
+it, for the loss of blood has given me a raging thirst."
+
+Paolo had no difficulty in carrying out the order. The rioters had
+brought out several pails for holding the wine, a score of silver cups
+and other vessels lay where they had been dropped when the soldiers
+appeared, and the officer had placed two men on guard over them. Paolo
+thoughtfully brought up a pail of water as well as of wine. The ladies
+drank a little wine and water, while Hector took a long draught, and
+made the two retainers who had fought so stoutly, and his own men, do
+the same. In half an hour the staircase was cleared and washed down,
+and the party then descended. The baroness had told Hector that for the
+present at any rate she would go to Nancy, and would report to the new
+lord's agents there what had happened, and doubtless he would send a man
+to take charge of the place.
+
+"These cups," she said, "were all the personal property of my husband,
+and I am therefore free to take them. Many of them have been in his
+family for a very long time. Their sale will enable me to live until I
+can form some plans for the future."
+
+The several silver vessels were collected and wrapped up ready for
+transport in some of the hangings that the rioters had torn down. An
+outhouse adjoining the keep was cleared out and thickly spread with
+rushes for the accommodation of the baroness and her daughter. The
+troops had already had a very long march, and it was out of the question
+that they could return to Nancy that night. Fires were lighted in front
+of the house, and the soldiers prepared to bivouac there. Three of the
+troopers were sent off with orders to the captains of the other three
+companies to concentrate the next morning at a village on the line that
+would be taken on their return march. Some men were sent down to the
+little town of Blenfoix to purchase bread and meat, together with
+torches and other necessaries. At nightfall Hector posted sentinels,
+as he considered it quite possible that the peasants would raise the
+country for some distance round and try to take vengeance for the loss
+they had suffered. When Paolo took some supper round to the two ladies,
+he returned with a message that they hoped Colonel Campbell would join
+them in their meal.
+
+"See that the sentries are on the alert, Mieville," he said as he got up
+from the fire round which he and the three officers were sitting; "you
+must remember that these poor fellows are desperate. Of course you and
+I know that they can do themselves no good by attacking castles and
+burning chateaux, but were we in their place--famished, despairing, and
+ignorant--we should doubtless do the same. And although, with men as
+well disciplined as ours, there would be little chance of the peasants
+overpowering us, they may trust in their numbers, and would believe that
+if they could destroy us, the whole country might well rise and join
+them. Should there be any sign of trouble, call me instantly."
+
+Two sentries had been placed at the door of the outhouse, and as he
+entered Hector said, "Keep good watch, men, and if you hear any noise
+that might betoken the approach of a body of men, warn me at once."
+
+"I heard what you said to the sentries, Colonel Campbell; do you think
+that there is any danger?"
+
+"No danger, I trust, madam, for I am convinced that we could beat off
+any number. Still, I do think that there is a possibility of our being
+attacked. The peasants know that we are but a company. They may send to
+all the villages round and call on them to come and revenge those
+who have been slain. The people of the hills are strong fellows--wood
+cutters, charcoal burners, and shepherds--and there can be no doubt that
+they suffer terribly from the enormous taxation. I have seen it on my
+own estate in Poitou, and can make every allowance for them. In many
+cases the amounts they are adjudged to pay are absolutely greater than
+their whole income. They are forced to live upon bread made of bran and
+sawdust, to eat acorns and beechnuts; they are gaunt with hunger; they
+see their children dying before their eyes. They know not how their
+sufferings arise, they only know that they suffer, and in their despair
+they turn like hungry wolves against all who are better off than
+themselves."
+
+"And your people, are they suffering as much as these, monsieur?"
+
+"Not quite so much, perhaps, but they are suffering. I have spent but a
+fortnight on my estates, of which I have only been master for a year."
+
+"And could you do nothing for them, monsieur?" the girl asked.
+
+"I did what I could, mademoiselle. I remitted half their rents, which
+was in fact but a small thing, seeing that I knew positively they could
+not have paid them. Still it was no doubt some alleviation to know that
+the arrears were not being piled up against them. As to the other half,
+I told my intendant not to press any whom he thought could not pay,
+and that if he drew enough to pay his own salary and the wages of the
+retainers I should be content--for my pay as colonel is ample for my own
+wants."
+
+"You are very young to be a colonel, Monsieur Campbell," the baroness
+said.
+
+"Very young; but I have had singularly good fortune, and have been happy
+enough to please both Marshal Turenne and the Duc d'Enghien."
+
+"And you have served under them both?" she said in surprise.
+
+"I have had that good fortune. I was with Turenne for nearly four years
+in Italy, and fought under Enghien at Rocroi, and I may say under both
+of them at Freiburg."
+
+"What is the name of your regiment, monsieur?"
+
+"The Poitou regiment."
+
+"Indeed!" she exclaimed. "Of course, we have heard all the particulars
+of the battle; and it was said that General Merci would have beaten
+Monsieur Turenne back had it not been for the Poitou regiment, commanded
+by a Scottish colonel, and said to be the finest under the command
+of the French generals. They say it stood for three hours against the
+attacks of the whole Bavarian army."
+
+"We were in a strong position," Hector said quietly, "at the mouth of
+a defile, so that no more than our own numbers could attack us at once.
+However, I am proud of the conduct of my men; none could have fought
+more steadily than they did."
+
+"My husband was killed in the battle against Enghien's army on the hill.
+I am glad that it was not by your regiment, monsieur."
+
+"I am glad too, madam."
+
+"These wars are terrible, and we of Lorraine--lying between France and
+Germany--suffer whichever wins. Fortunately we lie at a distance
+from the roads that the armies follow, and therefore have escaped the
+devastation caused all along the line of march. Nevertheless we have
+the sadness of knowing that in the field neighbours must fight against
+neighbours, and kinsmen against kinsmen, for since the duke fled many of
+our nobles, seeing that the country has now become part of France,
+have joined her, while others, like my husband, followed the duke into
+Germany. However, as an Irishwoman it matters little to me now which is
+the victor."
+
+"Do you think of returning home, madam?"
+
+"As to that, I have not yet made up my mind. The land there is as
+distracted as is France by civil war. It is sixteen years since I left
+Ireland with my husband, a few months after our marriage. I was an
+orphan, and have no near relations to whom I can go, therefore it
+matters little to me whether I live in France or Ireland, so that I
+can see some way of earning my own living and that of my daughter. With
+economy, the sale of the silver would suffice to keep us for three or
+four years, and long before that I hope that I shall be able in some way
+to earn my living."
+
+Hector sat silent for two or three minutes. "It seems to me, madam,"
+he said at last, "that it would be better that you should not spend the
+proceeds of your silver before looking for a post. I can offer you one
+at once, if you will accept it."
+
+"You, monsieur!" she exclaimed in surprise.
+
+"Yes, madam. It is bad for the vassals and tenants of a noble--even
+though a newly made one, and on an estate of moderate dimensions--when
+their lord is absent, and there is none to look after them save an
+intendant, whose duty it is to collect as much rent as he is able. Such
+is the position of my tenants. I am a soldier, and must perforce be
+absent. What I need greatly is someone who will fill my place in this
+respect. I have an old friend who is captain of the garrison, and sees
+to all things in the household; I have an intendant, I believe a worthy
+young man, who collects my rents and looks to the feeding and needs of
+the servants and garrison; but I need someone who would interest herself
+actively in the condition of my tenants, who would be a friend to them
+in sickness, would give aid from my purse to those who really need it,
+would send food to the starving, and aid my intendant by advising him
+as to who are worthy of relief and who are suffering from their own
+idleness or thriftlessness--who will, in short, act as I would have my
+wife act had I one.
+
+"Now, madame la baronne if you will honour me by making my home yours
+so long as I am away at the wars, which may last, for aught I know, for
+years yet, you will be conferring a great favour upon me. You will have
+your own suite of apartments, where your meals will be served to you.
+You will have horses to ride. You will relieve my intendant of the
+necessity of seeing that the servants perform their duties, and give him
+more time to devote himself to the business of the estate, and will in
+fact act as chatelaine, save only in matters connected with the garrison
+in the defence of the castle."
+
+"Your offer is kind in the extreme, Colonel Campbell, but I could not
+accept it," she said. "You are only inventing such an office in order to
+give a home to me and Norah."
+
+"I can assure you, madam, that the thought is not a new one to me--I
+have often wished that there was a lady in the castle. One who would see
+after the wives and families of the vassals; and I should feel myself
+under a real obligation to you if you would fill the place. You
+see, madam, it would cost me nothing, for food and drink there is in
+abundance. I have two splendid horses, given me by the Duc d'Enghien,
+standing idle in their stalls. I shall be happy in knowing that my
+tenants would be well looked after, and shall be glad indeed that you
+and your daughter, my countrywomen, should, for the present at any rate,
+have a home."
+
+The tears were streaming down the lady's face.
+
+"Accept, mother," the girl said, putting her hand on her shoulder.
+"Surely God sent this gentleman to our rescue when we were very near
+death. Why should we not accept this fresh kindness at his hands?"
+
+Her mother looked up. "My daughter has chosen for me, Colonel Campbell.
+I accept your offer with the deepest thankfulness. Were I to refuse now,
+the time might come when I should be reduced to such straits that for
+my daughter's sake I should bitterly regret that I had refused your
+generous offer; therefore I accept it, and thank you from the bottom of
+my heart."
+
+"I do not wish you to see it in that light," he said with a smile. "At
+best it is but an arrangement for our mutual advantage, and I, on my
+part, thank you and mademoiselle most heartily for falling in with my
+wishes."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV: THE BATTLE OF MARIENTHAL
+
+
+The decision had scarcely been made when one of the lieutenants ran in.
+"Captain Mieville requests me to state that sounds have been heard
+in the forest, and that he believes there is a large body of men
+approaching."
+
+"Then, ladies, I must beg you to mount the stairs to the turret at once.
+I will place six men on guard there. The main body I must keep in front
+of the chateau, as that affords a protection to our rear. Do not be
+alarmed. I do not think the place is likely to be attacked; but should
+it be, the six men could hold it for any time. As soon as I have beaten
+the main body I will at once attack those who may be assailing the
+turret, though I hardly think that they will do so, for they know that
+there is nothing to be obtained that would in any way repay them for the
+loss that they would suffer. They are marching here for the purpose of
+attacking us."
+
+He called to the two sentries.
+
+"See the ladies up the stairs to the turret, and take up your post on
+the lower stairs. Four more men shall join you at once."
+
+He found that Mieville had already got all the men under arms, and had
+ranged them between the bivouac fires and the still glowing chateau.
+
+"Move your men along farther, Mieville. Let your left flank rest on the
+angle of the old castle, then we shall not be made anxious by another
+attack on the turret. Let the right flank rest upon the chateau where
+the old castle joins it. We shall then be in darkness, while the
+assailants, if they come from that side, will have to cross the ground
+lit up by the glow from the ruins. Let the centre of the line be some
+ten yards in front of the building; let the line be two deep."
+
+As soon as this disposition was made he called down the six men, as they
+were no longer required to defend the staircase.
+
+"Now, men," he said when all were formed up, "I need not admonish
+soldiers who were so firm under the attack of the whole of the Bavarian
+army of the necessity for steadiness. I have no doubt that if we are
+attacked it will be in considerable force; but it will be by half armed
+peasants, and there probably will not be a gun among them. But even
+peasants, when worked up into a state of excitement are not to be
+despised. My orders are: The front rank shall continue firing until they
+are close at hand, and shall then fix bayonets. Until this is done the
+second line are not to fire a shot; but as soon as the front rank are
+ready to repel the enemy with fixed bayonets, you will begin. Don't
+throw a shot away, but continue loading and firing, as quickly as you
+can; and unless very closely pressed, let no man empty his musket until
+his comrade on the right has reloaded, so that there will always be some
+shots in reserve. Should they rush on in spite of the fire, I shall
+give the order, 'Empty your muskets and fix bayonets,' and we will then
+charge them. Hunter, you and your three comrades and Paolo will keep
+close to me, and if we find the men wavering at any point we will go to
+their assistance. If, however, we charge, remember that you six men I
+told off to guard the turret are at once to pass through the gates and
+take up your post on the steps, for some of them may slip in behind us
+and endeavour to rush up."
+
+The horses, that had been turned loose when Hector and the troopers
+mounted the steps, had been seized by the peasants, and tied up to some
+trees close by when the latter began to feast. They had been recovered
+when the insurgents were scattered by Mieville's company and had then
+been placed in the courtyard of the castle. As soon as the alarm was
+given, Hector, the four troopers, and Paolo had mounted. The three
+officers were also on horseback.
+
+"In case the company charges, Mieville," he said, "we nine mounted men
+can cover the rear and charge any of the insurgents who try to rush in
+and take them in the rear. I hope that we shall keep them off with our
+musketry fire; but I don't disguise from myself that if they fall upon
+us at close quarters we shall have to fight hard. Ah, here they come!"
+
+Suddenly in the darkness from the other side of the chateau a great
+crowd of men poured out, shouting and yelling furiously, and brandishing
+their rough weapons, which shone blood red in the glow of the fire in
+the ruins. Someone had evidently been placed on the watch, and had told
+them where the troops had taken up their post, for they came on without
+hesitation, bearing outwards until they faced the centre of the line, at
+a distance of fifty yards; then one of the men, who appeared to be the
+leader, shouted an order, and they rushed impetuously forward. The front
+line at once opened fire. Many of the peasants dropped, while the others
+hesitated a little, and so gave the men who had first fired time to
+reload; but, urged on by the shouts of their leaders, the peasants again
+rushed forward.
+
+"Fire a volley, and then fix bayonets!" Hector shouted. The fifty
+muskets flashed out, and as the peasants were but fifteen yards away
+every shot told, and their front rank was completely swept away.
+
+"Every other man in the second line fire!" Hector ordered, and
+twenty-five shots added to the confusion among the peasants. The
+slaughter, however, only had the effect of maddening the great crowd,
+who numbered upwards of two thousand, and with a howl of fury they
+rushed forward again. Hector waited until they almost touched the row of
+bayonets, and then gave the order for the remaining men to fire and all
+to fix bayonets. The instant this was done he shouted "Charge!" for he
+saw that while standing quiet his men were no match for the peasants,
+whose long poles with the scythes at the end gave them great advantage
+over the shorter weapons of the soldiers. With a cheer the latter threw
+themselves upon their opponents, their close formation and more handy
+weapons depriving their enemies of this advantage. Thrusting and
+overthrowing all in front of them, the line burst its way through
+the mob, the little party of cavalry charging furiously whenever the
+peasants endeavoured to fall upon their rear, and the latter, boldly as
+they fought against the infantry, shrank back before the flashing swords
+and the weight of horses and riders.
+
+As soon as they had passed through the crowd Hector gave the order for
+his troops to face about, and they again burst their way through the mob
+that had closed in behind them. Four times was the manoeuvre repeated,
+the resistance growing fainter each time, as the peasants found
+themselves unable to withstand the charge of the disciplined troops.
+When for the fifth time they reached the gate of the castle the crowd no
+longer pressed upon their rear, but stood hesitatingly some fifty yards
+away. Hector took advantage of the pause, and ordered his men, who were
+panting from their exertions, to load again. He formed them in single
+line now.
+
+"Don't fire a shot until I give the word," he said; "then pour in your
+volley, fix bayonets instantly, and charge."
+
+Standing in the shade as they did, the movement of loading was
+unobserved by the peasants, who, as they saw the line again advancing,
+prepared to meet them, but gave a yell of surprise when a terrible
+volley was poured into them at a distance of twenty yards. Then, before
+they had recovered from their surprise, the long line was upon them with
+levelled bayonets. Only a few stood their ground. These were instantly
+overthrown. The rest, throwing away their weapons, fled in all
+directions.
+
+"Thank God that is over!" Hector said, as he told the troops to halt and
+reload. "If they had all been as courageous as their leader they
+would have annihilated us, but each time we charged I observed that
+a considerable number fell away on either flank, so that it was not
+a solid mass through which we had to make our way. What is our loss,
+Mieville?"
+
+"I rode along the line and counted the numbers. There are but
+seventy-five on foot," he said, "and most of these have got more or less
+severe wounds with their ugly weapons."
+
+"Let the ground over which we have passed be carefully searched," he
+said, "and any of our men who show signs of life be carried in front of
+the chateau."
+
+Twelve men were found to be living; their wounds were at once attended
+to and bandaged.
+
+"I think most of them will do," Captain Mieville said. "They are ugly
+looking gashes, but it is not like a bullet in the body."
+
+The men who had been killed were found in most cases to have been
+slain outright from the blows of hatchets, which had in several cases
+completely severed their heads. While the wounds of the soldiers were
+being attended to, Hector went to the gate at which the baroness and her
+daughter were now standing.
+
+"You are unhurt, I hope," the lady said as Hector approached.
+
+"I have two or three more wounds," he said, "but, like those I had
+before, they are of little account."
+
+"It was a terrible fight," she said. "We watched it from the top of the
+turret, and it seemed to us that you were lost each time you plunged
+into the crowd, you were so few among such numbers. Have you lost any
+men?"
+
+"We have only had thirteen killed outright," he said. "Twelve more are
+very seriously wounded, but I think most of them will recover. As to
+the rest of the company, I fancy that most of them will require some
+bandaging. And now I shall recommend you and your daughter to return to
+your shelter. I have no fear whatever of their coming back again."
+
+"That we cannot do," she said firmly. "It is our duty to do what we can
+to aid those who have fought so bravely."
+
+"The men are now attending to each other's wounds," Hector said. "Every
+man in my regiment carries, by my orders, a couple of bandages. We found
+them most useful at Freiburg, and many a life was saved that would have
+been lost but for their use; but if you insist upon doing anything, I
+would ask you to carry wine and water round. The troopers will draw the
+water for you from the well in the courtyard here."
+
+"That we will do willingly," she said.
+
+For the next two hours the ladies were busy at work, moving among the
+men and supplying them with refreshments. Not until all their wants were
+amply supplied did they retire.
+
+In the morning Hector said: "Now, Madame de Blenfoix, I have been
+thinking the matter over, and consider that it would be a wholly
+unnecessary journey and a loss of four days were you to travel to Nancy
+with us. You are only ten days' journey from Poitou, and I should
+advise you to start at once. My man, Paolo, and two of the troopers will
+accompany you as an escort. Your road will lead through Orleans, which
+will be almost halfway, and you will also pass through Tours. At both
+these towns you can, if you will, stay for a day to rest. I will ride
+down with you into Blenfoix, where I shall be able to get paper and
+pens, and will write letters to Captain MacIntosh and to my intendant
+explaining exactly the position that you will occupy. One of the
+troopers will ride forward with these from your last halting place
+before you arrive there, in order that you may find everything prepared
+and be received properly on your arrival. Do you both ride, or would you
+rather have a pillion's place behind the troopers?"
+
+"We both ride," she said; "but I should prefer, on a journey like this,
+that my daughter should ride behind me on a pillion. You are altogether
+too good, Colonel Campbell. You are heaping kindnesses upon us."
+
+"Not at all, madam. And now you will doubtless be glad to hear that in
+searching round the place this morning, we have discovered that two of
+your horses that had doubtless been turned loose by the peasants have
+found their way back. No difficulty will therefore arise on that score.
+The saddles are hanging from the beams in the stable, so that everything
+is in readiness for your departure."
+
+A quarter of an hour later the whole party left the ruined chateau, the
+troops taking their way to the point at which they had left the road,
+while Hector with his four troopers and Paolo rode down into Blenfoix
+with the ladies. Here the baroness purchased a few necessaries for the
+journey while Hector was writing his letters. Hunter and Macpherson were
+to form their escort, and were by turns to lead the spare horse, which
+on alternate days was to carry the double burden. Paolo carried the
+purse, which contained a sum ample for the expenses of the journey.
+When all was ready the adieus were said, and the baroness repeated the
+heartfelt thanks of her daughter and herself for the kindness shown
+them. Paolo took his place beside the ladies, the two troopers fell in
+behind, and they started west, while Hector with the other two troopers
+galloped off to overtake his company.
+
+At Joinville they found that de Thiou's company had just marched in, but
+it was not until the next day that the other two returned. All had met
+with scattered bodies of peasants, but these had dispersed as soon as
+the troops were seen, and there had been no actual fighting except with
+the parties Hector had met. The bodies of the soldiers that had fallen
+were buried near the chateau. Those of the peasants were left where they
+lay, and would doubtless be carried off by their friends as soon as the
+latter knew that the troops had left. The lesson had been a severe
+one indeed, upwards of two hundred and eighty being killed in the two
+encounters. The insurgents were completely disheartened by their loss,
+and during the rest of the winter the aid of the troops was not again
+called for.
+
+As soon as spring set in, the Poitou regiment marched to join the
+marshal. The Bavarian army had been weakened by the withdrawal of four
+thousand men to aid the Imperialists, who had been defeated by the
+Swedes in Bohemia. Turenne, on hearing the news, at once prepared to
+take advantage of it, crossed the Rhine on a bridge of boats at Spires,
+and passed the Neckar, General Merci retiring before him. Stuttgart
+opened its gates, and Turenne established himself at Marienthal on the
+river Tauber. Merci, as he fell back, had caused a rumour to be spread
+that he was making for the Danube.
+
+There was a great scarcity of forage in the country round Marienthal,
+and the officers of the cavalry strongly urged upon Turenne that they
+should divide and take up stations at various points where they could
+obtain food for their animals, which were much exhausted by their long
+and heavy marches. Turenne for some time resisted their entreaties, but
+at last, seeing that the cavalry would speedily be ruined unless they
+could obtain food, permitted this course to be taken. Before allowing
+them to leave, however, he sent parties of horse forward in various
+directions to discover what the enemy were doing. These returned with
+the news that the Bavarian army had broken up, and was fortifying itself
+in the towns among which it had been divided. Turenne, however, was
+still apprehensive. He kept his cannon and the greater part of the
+infantry with him, and also General Rosen with a portion of his horse,
+and refused to let the rest of the cavalry go farther than three leagues
+from the army. He himself rode out with a regiment of cavalry some ten
+miles beyond Marienthal, along the road by which the Imperialists would
+advance were they to assemble to attack him.
+
+At two o'clock the next morning a party he had sent to watch the
+Bavarians brought in the news that Merci was advancing with all his
+force. Rosen was ordered to hurry forward to the spot where the advanced
+division was lying. Messengers were sent off in all directions to recall
+the scattered cavalry, and having seen that everything had been done to
+place affairs in a better position, Turenne rode off with what troops
+he could gather to aid Rosen. The latter had made a serious blunder. In
+front of the position held by the advanced division was a large wood,
+through which the Bavarians must pass. Instead of taking possession of
+this and holding it until reinforcements came up, he fell back, drew up
+his troops on the plain, and allowed the Bavarians to occupy the wood
+without resistance. With the troops which arrived with him, the marshal
+had now under him some three thousand infantry and seven regiments of
+horse. He placed his infantry on his right with two squadrons to support
+them; with the rest of his cavalry, he formed his left wing.
+
+He himself took the command here. Rosen commanded on the right. Merci,
+after passing through the wood, drew up his army in order of battle and
+opened fire on the French. The artillery, however, in no way shook their
+firmness, and seeing more troops in the distance advancing to reinforce
+them, Merci began the battle by an attack on a little wood on which the
+French right rested; while at the same time Turenne charged the Bavarian
+right wing with his cavalry, broke it up, and captured the cannon and
+twelve standards. But while on this side the victory was almost won,
+on the other side disaster had befallen the French. Their infantry,
+perceiving that the Bavarians, who were advancing to attack them, were
+much superior in force, were seized with a panic and scattered in
+all directions. The left wing of the Bavarians advanced rapidly, and,
+throwing themselves behind Turenne's wing, prepared to fall upon him in
+the rear.
+
+Turenne ordered his cavalry to retire, and passing through the wood
+found beyond it three regiments that had just arrived. These with the
+fifteen hundred horse that had been with him in the battle placed him in
+a position to make a vigorous defence, but the Bavarians did not venture
+to attack him. He now sent an officer to rally the scattered infantry,
+and gave orders that they should at once retreat without a stop to
+Philippsburg, a distance of seventy miles. He himself with his cavalry
+started for Hesse, whose landgravine was in alliance with France. With
+two regiments he covered the retreat, and so enabled the rest of the
+cavalry as they came up from their distant quarters to cross the Tauber.
+This was a bold and successful movement, for had he fallen back with his
+infantry to Philippsburg the enemy would have possessed themselves
+of all the towns he had captured, whereas they could not now advance
+without exposing their line of communication to his attack.
+
+The Poitou regiment had, when Turenne advanced to Marienthal, been
+left at a town some four leagues away. A messenger reached Hector from
+Turenne with a note scribbled in pencil:--
+
+We have been beaten. The infantry behaved shamefully, and are hastening,
+a crowd of stragglers, towards Philippsburg. I shall retire along the
+Tauber with the cavalry and make for Hesse, do you march with all speed
+for that river. If as you approach the river you hear that we have
+already passed, do you direct your march to Hesse. I leave the choice of
+route to you, and you must be guided by circumstances. At any rate you
+are unlikely to be attacked except by cavalry, and these, if not in too
+great numbers, you may be trusted to beat off.
+
+Ten minutes after the receipt of this order the regiment was on the
+march. They arrived on the Tauber just in time, for a quarter of an hour
+after they had piled arms, after a tremendous march, the cavalry came
+along. They were in scattered parties, for the roads were terribly bad,
+and they were obliged to break up and make their way as best they could
+by mere tracks across the rocky and hilly country. Turenne himself, when
+he arrived, had but twenty horsemen with him.
+
+"I hardly expected you to be up in time, Campbell," he said, as he
+dismounted. "Your men must have marched well indeed. As you see, though
+unbeaten, for we on our side defeated the enemy's horse, we are as much
+dispersed as if we had suffered a disaster. I am trying to cover the
+retreat with two regiments of cavalry that were not engaged in the
+battle. Half an hour since we charged and drove back in confusion a
+party of Bavarian horse, but they formed up again. The main body is
+ahead, but is as scattered as we are, for besides the difficulty of
+keeping together on these horrible roads, it is necessary that we should
+occupy every track by which the enemy's horse could move, or they might
+get in front of us and play havoc with us.
+
+"You will have to march all night, and I should advise you to break
+up your command into half companies, with orders to each to attach
+themselves as far as possible to such parties of my two regiments of
+cavalry as they may come across. We shall not proceed at any great pace,
+as we must give time for the troops ahead of us to get clear. The horses
+are utterly worn out, being half starved and fatigued with their march.
+So far we know not whether the whole of the Bavarian cavalry is behind
+us, but it is probable that one of their two divisions is pursuing the
+infantry. I wish you had been there with them. In the first place your
+example would have prevented their breaking, and in the second you could
+have covered their retreat. As it is, I fear that but few of the three
+thousand who were with me will reach Philippsburg. I shall be glad if
+you yourself will remain near me. If your regiment were going to keep
+together I would not take you from them, but being broken up into
+fragments, you could exercise no supervision over them in the darkness."
+
+Hector at once called the officers together, and gave them the necessary
+orders. "You understand," he said, "that your main object is not so much
+to save yourselves, though that is most important, but to enable the
+cavalry to beat back the Bavarian horse."
+
+It was a terrible march; both horse and foot made their way along with
+difficulty through the darkness. Men and horses were alike fatigued, and
+the cavalry for the most part dismounted and led their animals along.
+There were several sharp fights with bodies of the enemy, who, ignorant
+of the line by which the French were retreating, feared to press
+the rearguard too close, lest they should find them in very superior
+numbers. Once, when they passed a lane running down to the river,
+Turenne--who had taken every opportunity of making his way across the
+line of retreat and seeing how all was going on--said to Hector, "Will
+you ride up here, Campbell, and cheer up any parties you may come
+across. Tell them that all is going on well, and that by morning we
+shall find that the enemy have given up the pursuit, and shall be able
+to halt and take a few hours' rest, and give battle should the enemy
+come up in force. Their horses must be as fatigued as ours, for they
+must have been marching for eight or ten hours since the morning."
+
+Hector had only Paolo now with him, having appointed the four troopers
+to go with different parties of the infantry, and to act as orderlies
+to their captains. He rode rapidly up the lane, and presently heard the
+cavalry passing across it.
+
+"There is one party, Paolo," he said, urging his horse into a gallop. In
+two or three minutes he came up with the column of horse.
+
+"Where is your officer?" he asked, drawing rein as he reached them.
+
+"Seize him!" a voice cried in German, and before he and Paolo could turn
+their horses half a dozen troopers were upon them.
+
+"I surrender," he cried in German, seeing that resistance was
+impossible.
+
+"Who are you, monsieur?" an officer demanded.
+
+"I am colonel of the Poitou regiment of infantry," he said. "This man is
+my lackey."
+
+"Where are your cavalry, sir?"
+
+"That I cannot tell you exactly, seeing that no one knows. I thought
+that you formed part of our rearguard."
+
+"How comes it that you, an infantry officer, were there? We heard that
+there were no infantry with them."
+
+"We joined them just before nightfall, and were at once divided up among
+the various regiments of horse."
+
+"I must inform our colonel of that. Come along with me," and they pushed
+past the troopers until they arrived at the head of the column, when the
+officer reported to the colonel.
+
+"Donner Blitzen!" the latter exclaimed, "it is well that we learned this
+news, for we should have fared very ill if we had come upon horse and
+foot together. The Poitou regiment! That is the one that we heard beat
+back our charges so often at Freiburg, and they say the best regiment in
+the French service. It is no use our going farther; we might well fall
+into an ambush, and in these lanes they could shoot us down helplessly.
+We will move on quietly until we get to a place where there is space
+enough for us to dismount and bivouac. We could not have gone many more
+miles, for if we did we should be a regiment without horses tomorrow
+morning."
+
+They proceeded very slowly and cautiously until, when they came upon an
+open tract of ground, the colonel ordered them to dismount and sound the
+trumpets. His regiment, like those of Turenne, had been broken up, and
+he had but half a squadron with him. In an hour the whole regiment
+was assembled; a few fires were lighted, but most of the men threw
+themselves down by their horses and at once went off to sleep. The
+colonel and his officers sat down at one of the fires, where Hector was
+requested to join them.
+
+"I suppose that your regiment took no part in the battle?"
+
+"No, sir; we were some way from Marienthal, and I received orders only
+after the day was lost, to join Marshal Turenne and his cavalry on
+the Tauber. We arrived on the river just at sunset, having marched ten
+leagues in eight hours. I regret bitterly that my regiment was not on
+the field, for assuredly they would not have given way. Had they stood,
+the rest of the infantry would have stood."
+
+"And in that case you would now be the pursuers," the colonel broke in,
+"for Turenne completely shattered our right wing. Well, sir, it is the
+fortune of war, and we at least have the honour of having given your
+marshal a defeat. He is a grand general, but we caught him napping
+today."
+
+"It was not his fault, sir. General Rosen and his officers insisted so
+strongly that unless they were allowed to move off in search of forage,
+the whole army would be disabled by the loss of their horses by hunger,
+that he was almost forced to comply with their request."
+
+"But, even so, he made a mistake," the colonel said. "If instead of
+marching to meet us in front of Marienthal he had fallen back directly
+he had the news of our coming, he could have been joined by all his
+detached troops before we came up with him."
+
+"He said as much to me tonight," Hector replied; "but even the greatest
+generals are liable to make a mistake sometimes. And, indeed, had
+General Rosen with the advanced division held the wood in front of them,
+instead of retiring on to the plain, they should have been able to keep
+you at bay until all our troops came up."
+
+"Undoubtedly that was a terrible blunder on his part," the colonel
+said, "and he rather than Turenne is to blame. And now, sir, may I
+ask how is it that you, who cannot be more than twenty, come to be a
+colonel, and in command of a regiment?"
+
+"I have been five years an officer, and was fortunate on two occasions
+to obtain the approval, once of Monsieur de Turenne, and once of the Duc
+d'Enghien."
+
+"I congratulate you, sir. It is seldom indeed that so young an officer
+has opportunities of distinguishing himself. I myself had seen well nigh
+thirty years service before I came to command a regiment. And now, sir,
+will you give me your parole not to attempt to escape?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," Hector replied promptly. He knew that should he refuse
+four or five troopers would be set to watch him, and even if he evaded
+these, which was well nigh impossible, he might be recaptured on the
+following morning, as detachments of the Bavarian horse would be sure to
+be pressing hard upon Turenne's troops. The pursuit was indeed taken up
+again during the night, but Turenne succeeded in keeping his pursuers
+at bay, and reaching the frontiers of Hesse. There he found the infantry
+and cavalry who had not been engaged already assembled, for they had
+received orders to march instantly to that spot. He had now with him
+some four thousand horse and two thousand foot, and was joined by six
+thousand troops from Hesse and four thousand Swedes. He was thus soon
+in a position to advance with a much stronger force than that which he
+commanded before the battle of Marienthal.
+
+The Bavarian cavalry that had followed him rejoined General Merci at
+Kirchheim. Hector was with Paolo taken to that place, and upon his
+refusal to continue his parole, was confined in a prison there, Paolo
+being allowed at his request to remain with him. He had had an interview
+with General Merci, who had treated him with much courtesy; for there
+were Scotch and Irish officers serving in the Imperial army as well as
+in that of France, and they were held in high esteem for their courage
+and daring.
+
+The battle of Marienthal was fought on the 2nd of May, and it was late
+in July before any fresh movements took place. Turenne would willingly
+have advanced with his army, but his movements were arrested by a
+peremptory order from Paris, sent on receipt of the news of the defeat,
+that he was not to take the offensive until joined by Enghien, who had
+with him a force of eight thousand men. He therefore marched to join the
+reinforcements, and the two armies met at Spires on the 2nd of July.
+As before, Enghien was in supreme command, with de Gramont as his
+lieutenant general. Long conferences took place between these generals:
+Turenne, General Geis, who commanded the Hessians, and Konigsmark,
+who commanded the Swedes. The Bavarians were known to be very strongly
+posted, and to have been reinforced by four thousand Imperialists under
+the command of General Geis.
+
+There was much difference of opinion between them as to the best course
+to be pursued, but Enghien, who was always in favour of great battles,
+finally determined so to place the army that the enemy would be forced
+to come out and fight. He therefore marched to Venecher, captured
+Wimpfen, and threw a bridge across the river, whereupon General Merci
+fell back twenty leagues into Franconia. As soon as they had passed
+the river an occurrence took place that threatened to overthrow all the
+plans of the campaign. Some hasty words spoken by Enghien so angered the
+Generals Geis and Konigsmark that they determined to retire at once with
+the Swedes and Hessians. Turenne was requested by Enghien to endeavour
+to arrange matters, and by his kind and gentle manner succeeded
+in conciliating Geis, who consented to remain with the Hessians.
+Konigsmark, however, as hot tempered as Enghien himself, refused to do
+so, and with his whole force retired to Bremen, in Lower Saxony.
+
+The French and Hessians marched towards the Tauber, captured Rothenburg
+and other towns, and thereby obtained a large quantity of provisions
+and stores; and hearing that the Bavarians were advancing to Nordlingen,
+marched in all haste to give them battle there.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI: AN ESCAPE
+
+
+After being confined for a week in the prison at Kirchheim Hector
+was sent with a number of other prisoners to Ingolstadt. Here he
+was confined in the castle, a separate room being allotted to him in
+recognition of his rank, and Paolo was, at his request, allowed to
+remain with him.
+
+"I cannot but think, master, that we should have done better if you had
+given your parole not to try to escape. In that case we might have had
+comfortable quarters in the town instead of this somewhat bare chamber.
+If there had been a chance of escape it would have been different,
+but seeing the strength of the castle, methinks there is no prospect
+whatever of our being able to get out."
+
+"That remains to be seen, Paolo. I fancy there is always a chance
+of escape if one does but hit upon the right way. At present we know
+nothing of the castle or the vigilance of the guard, and no doubt it
+will take us some little time to find these matters out. The first
+thing we require is patience. No doubt they will allow me out to take
+exercise, and like enough, if I give my word that you will return every
+day at a certain hour, they will allow you to go in to the town, seeing
+that you can scarcely be called a prisoner, having no military rank or
+position, but being in their eyes only a lackey. If they will do that it
+will be a great step gained, for you will be able to bring in anything
+that we may require. However, I will not ask that you should be
+permitted to go in and out for some little time.
+
+"Lose no opportunity of making yourself friendly with some of the
+soldiers, and if the chance should occur, be useful to any of the
+officers. The commandant is evidently disposed to be civil, and says
+that he will grant me any indulgence in his power short of passing the
+gates of the castle. I have no doubt that when the campaign is over and
+the army has gone into winter quarters Turenne will offer to exchange
+some prisoners of the same rank for me. But I have no wish to be cooped
+up here when perhaps a great battle may be fought. As far as I can see,
+the difficulty will not be so much in getting out of the castle, but
+out of the town itself, for this is one of the most strongly fortified
+places in the empire. One reason why I want you to go into the town is
+that you may be able to obtain shelter there for us should we find, as I
+expect we shall, that it is impossible for us to escape from the citadel
+and town at the same attempt."
+
+The place was indeed so strong that but a careless watch was kept
+over the prisoners in the castle. The soldiers were confined to their
+quarters save that they were allowed for an hour a day to take exercise
+in the courtyard, a company of troops being kept under arms while they
+were out; but the officers were free at all times to wander about.
+Hector was soon on friendly terms with many of the officers of the
+garrison, as in his case there was none of the hostile feeling with
+which the French officers were regarded. His youth, and the singularity
+of his having so soon attained the rank of colonel, also predisposed
+them in his favour. It was evident that this young soldier of fortune,
+unsupported by powerful family interest, must have distinguished himself
+in an altogether exceptional manner to have obtained the command of one
+of the best regiments of France.
+
+Paolo was as popular among the sergeants and men as his master was with
+the officers. As an Italian, and as Hector's lackey, he was not regarded
+as a prisoner of war; and by his unfailing good humour, his readiness to
+enter into any fun that might be going on, or to lend a hand in cleaning
+accoutrements or completing a job that a soldier had left unfinished
+when his turn came for duty, he became quite a popular character. The
+colonel who commanded frequently walked with Hector in the courtyard,
+sent him dishes from his own table, and more than once invited him to
+dine with him. As he was very curious to learn how his young prisoner
+had so early attained his rank, Hector one evening gave him a sketch of
+his career, from the time when Turenne gave him his commission to
+that at which he was taken prisoner, omitting only the incident of the
+attempt to assassinate Mazarin.
+
+"You have certainly been fortunate," he said, "but it is equally certain
+that you have deserved it. The fact that, in addition to your military
+duties, you have learned Italian and German, besides transforming a
+newly raised regiment into one of the best in the French service, shows
+how assiduous you have been in your work. I trust that when the campaign
+is over you may be exchanged, and I think it is foolish of you not to
+give me your parole, for you must know well that you have no chance of
+escape from here."
+
+"They say everything comes to those who wait, colonel," Hector laughed,
+"and if I see a chance I shall certainly avail myself of it. Even if no
+such chance comes I shall still be a gainer by not giving my parole. I
+am exceedingly comfortable as it is, and can wish for nothing better.
+The one drawback is that I have nothing to do, except perhaps to improve
+my German, and it would be just the same if I were living in the town.
+But if I were on my parole I should lose the amusement of planning
+methods for escape, which I do unceasingly; but up till now, I may tell
+you in confidence, I am as far from having hit upon a plan as I was when
+I entered. By the way, colonel, although it is clear that I cannot be
+allowed to go outside the castle gate, I should be glad if my lackey
+could be given leave to do so. He is not a soldier, neither is he a
+Frenchman, and can scarce be counted as a prisoner of war. He is a
+willing and cheerful fellow, and would enjoy a run in the city much more
+than I should. Besides, occasionally I may want a book or some other
+little thing which I cannot get here."
+
+"Such as a file, a rope, or a disguise, Colonel Campbell," the
+commandant laughed.
+
+"I am not thinking of that at present," Hector said smiling. "Besides,
+you can give orders that he can always be strictly searched when he
+comes in."
+
+The colonel shook his head. "I will tell you what I will do," he said;
+"I will let him have a pass to go in and out at will, if you will give
+me a promise, on your honour as a soldier, that he shall not bring in
+anything that can be used by you for facilitating your escape. I would
+much rather trust to your word than to any search the soldiers might
+make as your man comes in."
+
+"Thank you, colonel," Hector said cheerfully, though at heart he felt
+considerably disappointed. "I give you my word of honour that he shall
+bring in nothing that may aid me in making my escape, and I am much
+obliged to you for letting him have the run of the town."
+
+The colonel at once wrote a pass authorizing Paolo Monti, lackey to
+Colonel Campbell, to enter and leave the castle at all times when the
+gates were open.
+
+Paolo laughed when Hector told him the conditions on which the pass was
+granted.
+
+"The commandant is a shrewd fellow, master, but he is not quite shrewd
+enough; he forgot that though I may bring in nothing myself I may be
+able to arrange with someone else to bring something in."
+
+"That flashed through my mind at once, Paolo; but at present neither
+file, rope, nor disguise would be of any use. However, they may be so
+later. The first thing for you to do when you get this pass will be to
+make yourself master of the plan of the town and the fortifications,
+and see if there is any place where you think an escape is possible. But
+even when you find one, and you think that it might be managed, you must
+afterwards find a place where I can be hidden for a time, at any rate
+for a few hours. You see, were I to go out in disguise I must do so in
+broad daylight, for my supper is served almost directly after the gates
+are closed; and were I missing there would be a search for me at once,
+the sentries on the wall would all be warned, and it would be impossible
+to get past them. If I could get out two or three hours before the gates
+are closed at nine o'clock I might, as soon as it became dark, attempt
+to get over the walls before the alarm was given, or I might possibly go
+out in the same disguise that I left here in, through the city gate and
+across the bridge."
+
+"I see that, sir, and it seems to me that this would be easier than
+trying to find a hiding place for you in the town. However, I will set
+my wits to work. I have been able to think of nothing in here; but
+one's eyes always help one's wits, and if I were in the town I might see
+something that would give me an idea how the matter might be set about."
+
+Day after day Paolo went into the town, always returning discouraged.
+
+"I must be growing a downright numbskull," he said one evening in
+disgust; "I have been three weeks at it and no single idea has come to
+me."
+
+"You need not be discouraged at that, Paolo; it's not such a simple
+thing to plan an escape from a fortress like this as it was to get into
+the citadel at Turin, where we also had the advantage of starting with
+disguises. I can no more think of a disguise in which I can pass the
+gates than you can. I am a good deal too tall to pass as a woman. My
+face is perfectly well known to every soldier in the castle, and even if
+we hit upon a disguise it would be very difficult to get it brought in.
+It struck me today that if I am to get out it must be in some vehicle
+that has come in with supplies."
+
+"That is a great idea, master; if I had not been a thick headed fool I
+should have thought of that before. But at the same time it will not be
+easy to manage."
+
+"I quite see that, Paolo; even if the driver were bought over it would
+be difficult indeed to manage to get into the cart with so many soldiers
+standing about."
+
+Paolo shook his head.
+
+"Yes, I don't see that that could be managed at all, master."
+
+He stood thinking a minute.
+
+"I have it!" he exclaimed joyfully. "You know, sir, sometimes a train
+of waggons containing faggots, or flour, or other things, comes in late.
+Those that are unloaded before the gate is closed go out at once; the
+others are unloaded that evening, but the empty carts have to remain
+in the castle till morning, as the great gates are never opened between
+sunset and sunrise, though officers come in by the postern. Now, if you
+could manage during the night to slip into one of the waggons, say one
+that has brought in flour, you might be so covered over by the empty
+sacks they take out, that no one would dream anyone was hidden there."
+
+"Capital, Paolo! It is evident that your head is not so thick as you
+thought it was just now. Yes, I have noticed that as a rule if eight
+or ten waggons came in together, the full sacks are carried in, and the
+same number of empty ones are placed in one of the carts, being counted
+as they are put in. Certainly I could hide myself easily enough if you
+were there to assist in arranging the sacks as regularly as before over
+me. As I do not generally get up until eight o'clock, and my first meal
+is not brought to me till nine, I might be on my way two hours before it
+was discovered that I was missing. How would you manage?"
+
+"I would get a countryman's suit, master, would go out soon after the
+gates were open, find some quiet spot where I should have hidden the
+clothes the day before, and slip them on over my own. Then I would join
+the carts as they came along. They don't generally begin to harness the
+horses up till the gates are open, so that I should get a quarter of an
+hour's start of them, and I should go out with them without question, as
+it would be thought that I belonged to the party. I should pay for some
+beer at the first cabaret we come to, and make signs that I wanted a
+lift in a waggon. I must, of course, pretend to be deaf and dumb, as,
+although I have picked up a little German since we came into these
+parts, I could not possibly pass as a countryman."
+
+"It would be better still, Paolo, for you to put a blister on to your
+cheek, then before you join them put a great lump of tow into your
+mouth, so as to swell your cheek out almost to bursting point, and then
+tie a bandage round your face; you could then by pointing to it make out
+that you had so terrible a swelling that you were unable to talk."
+
+"That would be better certainly, master, indeed, it would be a capital
+plan. Of course I should get into the waggon in which you were, and
+gradually shift the sacks so that you could crawl out. When we smuggled
+you in we would try and put in with you a couple of brace of pistols,
+and if we were armed with them the carters would not venture to
+interfere with us. Of course, master, I should have to get a disguise
+for you. We could never be tramping across the country with you dressed
+as a French officer."
+
+"Get something that I could put over the clothes I wear. A long frock,
+some loose breeches, and rough cloth to wrap round the legs below them,
+and of course a pair of countryman's shoes. The best plan would be for
+you to stand treat again at a cabaret a few miles out of the town, get
+them all in there, then I could slip out of the waggon and throw the
+sacks back into their place. Of course you would choose some spot where
+the cabaret either stands alone or is at the end of a village, so that
+there may be no one standing by, and I could, when I got down, walk
+quietly back along the road. You can make signs to them that you
+live hard by, and would leave them there; then if there should be any
+suspicion that I had escaped in the waggons, and a troop of cavalry were
+sent in pursuit, the men would be all able to declare that they had seen
+nothing of me, and so could give no clue whatever that would set them on
+our track.
+
+"Well, it is quite settled that we will try that way, but it may be some
+time before the opportunity occurs. However, you may as well get the
+two disguises and the two brace of pistols, and stow them away somewhere
+where they are not likely to be found."
+
+"There are plenty of places where one can do that, master; there is
+a row of old trees inside the fortifications, and I warrant that if I
+cannot find one with a hollow large enough to stow them away in, I can
+hide them in the branches with small chance of their ever being seen."
+
+Another month passed. Paolo made a point of occasionally going out soon
+after the gates were open, saying casually that his master had a fancy
+for a bottle of better wine with his breakfast, or that he was going to
+get some eggs to make an omelette for him. Hector was in no particular
+hurry, for the news had come that Turenne with his own troops and
+those of Hesse had, with the Swedes, marched away for the Rhine. It was
+rumoured that they would be joined by another army, for in no other way
+could the Imperialists account for Turenne having retired when he had
+a force at least equal to any that Merci could set in the field against
+him. Hector saw that at any rate there was no chance of a great battle
+being fought just then, and felt, therefore, no impatience to be off.
+Two or three times carts with faggots had been unloaded after the gates
+were closed, but as they took nothing out, it was impossible for him to
+conceal himself in them.
+
+At last, to his satisfaction, a number of waggons of flour came in late
+one afternoon, and he determined to carry his plan into execution that
+night. The storehouses were not in the great court, but in a smaller one
+off it. Beyond two soldiers at the gate and a sentry at the commandant's
+door, no guards were kept in the courtyards, though a few sentries were
+placed upon the walls. Hector had his supper as usual, and Paolo brought
+in the news that eight of the waggons had not been unloaded in time to
+go out. A fatigue party of soldiers were now completing the work, which
+would be finished about nine o'clock. Taking off their boots a little
+after that hour they went quietly downstairs, then put them on again and
+boldly crossed the courtyard, for the night was so dark that there was
+no fear of their figures being perceived.
+
+As they entered the inner yard they again took off their boots and
+walked up to the carts. In two of these the carters were fast asleep.
+They passed on quietly, feeling in each cart for the sacks, and were
+delighted to find that they were all placed in the one farthest up the
+yard, which would therefore be the last to go out. They were tidily
+piled in lines side by side at the forward end of the waggon. They
+cautiously removed the sacks of the middle lines; Hector lay down feet
+foremost, and Paolo laid the sacks regularly over him till they reached
+the level of the others. Half a dozen were doubled and packed neatly in
+at the end, so as to conceal his head and prevent its being noticed that
+any had been taken out. The rest were distributed evenly, so that the
+sacks were all as level as before, and no one would have suspected that
+they had been disturbed.
+
+Paolo then returned to Hector's room. As the double sacks closing the
+orifice at his head had not been packed very tightly, enough air entered
+for Hector to breathe. He increased the opening somewhat by pressing one
+of the sacks a little aside, but left it so that he could readily pull
+it into its position in the morning. As soon as Paolo reached the room
+he applied a blistering plaster to his cheek and kept it on till he
+could no longer bear the pain, then he threw himself down on his pallet.
+But neither he nor his master slept much, Hector being kept awake by the
+heat and discomfort of his position, and Paolo by the smarting of his
+cheek. As soon as it was light the latter rose, and sat impatiently
+waiting for the time when the gates would open. Looking into the
+courtyard, he could see the troops coming out from their quarters and
+moving about, then the gates opened, and, tying a bandage over his
+cheek, he went down and crossed the yard.
+
+"You are out early," the sergeant of the guard remarked.
+
+He nodded. "I am nigh mad with pain," he said, pointing to his cheek,
+"and I am going to get some salve from an apothecary."
+
+"You seem to be bad indeed," the sergeant said commiseratingly, "'tis a
+terrible inflammation."
+
+Paolo went down to the spot where he had hidden the bundles in the
+hollow of a tree. It was an unfrequented place, and slipping his
+disguise over his clothes, after putting the pistols in his belt, he
+took the second bundle and returned to a street through which waggons
+leaving the castle must pass. A few minutes later he saw them coming
+along. He had already stuffed his cheek full of tow, and several
+people, struck with the raw and swollen appearance of his face, had
+compassionately asked him what was the matter. He had simply shaken his
+head, opened his lips, and pointed to his clenched teeth, signifying
+that he could not speak. He fell in with the waggons as they came along
+and passed through the gate without question. When a short distance away
+from the town he made signs to the driver of the last waggon, that if
+he would give him a lift in the cart he would pay for some drink. The
+carter nodded and told him to climb up. After they had gone four miles
+from the town, they came to a wayside inn.
+
+"Now is the time, master, they are all going in to get some drink. There
+is no one about."
+
+The waggons all stopped there, for there had been no opportunity for
+the drivers to obtain refreshments as they passed through the town. All
+therefore sauntered into the inn, their salutations to the host showing
+that they were accustomed to stop there. Paolo followed them in, and
+putting down the money for a large jug of beer, handed it to the
+carter, and, shaking him by the hand, made a motion that he was going no
+farther. Then he went back to the end waggon. Hector had already pushed
+out the bags in front of him and had with great difficulty crawled out.
+
+"It is all right, master, we have a good ten minutes; there is no one
+about, but you had better keep below the waggon rails until you have got
+your disguise on."
+
+A couple of minutes sufficed for this, then Hector leapt to the ground,
+while Paolo replaced the sacks in their position; and then together they
+hurried across some twenty yards of broken ground and entered a wood.
+
+"That was a capitally managed business, Paolo. Now we have to find our
+way across country. We cannot keep by the river, for it turns away to
+the south, and would take us far from the point we want to reach. At any
+rate, for a day or two we must travel at night, after that I think we
+can venture boldly along--for it is not likely that the news that a
+prisoner has escaped will travel very far--although no doubt a strict
+search will be kept up for a day or two. I think that for today we had
+better make our way north, keeping in the woods as much as possible;
+they are less likely to search for us in that direction than to the
+west."
+
+They found that the forest was fully two leagues across, and agreed that
+it was unlikely in the extreme that any attempt would be made to search
+so extensive an area, where two men could anywhere conceal themselves.
+Paolo had on the previous afternoon placed a couple of loaves and some
+cold meat in the bundles, and they now sat down by a little stream and
+ate a hearty meal, then, crawling into a thick growth of underwood, they
+lay down to sleep and did not awaken until the sun was setting.
+
+"There must be some country tracks through this forest, Paolo. We cannot
+do better than keep along the edge of the stream until we come to one
+and then follow it. It is sure, sooner or later, to take us to some
+small hamlet, and I can go into a cabaret and get a couple of flasks
+of wine and buy enough bread to last us until tomorrow, and perhaps a
+sausage, they are not likely to have any other meat in a place of that
+sort. My German is good enough to pass muster, and even if it sounds
+strange to their ears, they will merely suppose that I have come from a
+different part of the country, for the dialects differ greatly from each
+other."
+
+As soon as it became quite dark they found it impossible to follow the
+rough ground, and after one or two falls had to stop. Hector said, "This
+won't do, we shall twist an ankle or break a bone if we go on."
+
+"Shall we light a fire, master? I have brought flint and steel with me,
+for I knew that we should want it."
+
+"No, it is better to run no risks; there may be a road near for aught we
+know, and if anyone passing saw a fire among the trees, he might come to
+see who had made it."
+
+"Not he, master; there are too many robbers about, deserters from their
+army, or men who have been ruined by the war. You may be sure that if
+any belated villager had the courage to go through this forest by night
+he would, on seeing a fire, hurry on as fast as his legs would carry
+him."
+
+"Well, no doubt you are right, Paolo; and though the night is warm
+enough the air is damp under this thick covering of leaves, and it will
+certainly be more cheerful. We will go a short distance among the trees
+before we light it."
+
+Feeling their way--for it was pitch dark in the forest--they went on
+until Hector stumbled over a fallen trunk.
+
+"This is the best place for a halt," he said, "for here is wood ready
+to hand. This tree has been lying here for years, I can feel that it is
+quite rotten."
+
+Paolo set to work--took a handful or two of the crumbling wood, broke
+it up into dust, then struck a spark on to the tinder, touched it with
+a slow match and inserted this into the little pile of wood; a minute's
+blowing and the flames sprang up. He drew out the slow match and putting
+his foot upon it placed it in his wallet, then he broke off some more
+wood and soon had a blazing fire.
+
+"We have enough food left for supper, master, and if I spit some of this
+cold meat on the ramrod of one of my pistols and hold it over the fire
+it will be all the more tasty. I wish we had those flasks of wine that
+you were speaking of. It seems to me that after sleeping for some ten
+hours we shall find it hard to go off again for some time, even though
+neither of us got any sleep last night. How furious the governor will be
+when he finds that you have escaped!"
+
+"He is a good fellow," Hector said, "and save that he will be
+annoyed--because he will be blamed for my escape--I do not think he will
+be sorry that I have got off. I left a note for him on the table saying
+that I was about to make my escape, but that on my honour I had not
+obtained anything that would aid me, by your assistance, and that you
+had never brought anything into the castle save what you showed on
+entering to the guards. I should not like him to think for a moment that
+I had broken my promise and taken advantage of his kindness. How does
+your face feel?"
+
+"It is mightily sore, but it does not smart as it did at first. I can
+tell you that I was very glad when I was able to slip that great lump of
+tow out of my mouth as soon as I entered the forest."
+
+"I don't think in future that you need use so large a wad, Paolo; half
+that size will be ample; and of course you need only slip it into your
+mouth when we are going through a village, or meet a party likely to
+question us. As to your cheek, it will be days before that fiery mark
+disappears."
+
+They talked until nearly midnight, and then lay down and slept till
+four, by which time day had broken, for it was now the first week in
+July. After walking for half an hour along the edge of the wood, they
+came to a track issuing out of it. This they followed, and in about two
+hours saw a village in front of them.
+
+"I will go in and buy the things that we want, Paolo, and do you make a
+circuit round it. If the news has reached them of our escape they will
+have been told to look for two men; and the entry of a single countryman
+will excite no suspicion, for of course no one will know what disguise
+we have chosen.
+
+"Do not be anxious if I do not come along for half an hour. It will be
+more natural that I should call for bread and cheese and beer and eat
+them there; then I can say carelessly that I may as well take some with
+me to eat later on."
+
+"You are early!" the owner of the cabaret said as Hector entered.
+
+"I ought to have been earlier," he replied in a grumbling voice; "but it
+was so late before I reached the other side of the forest, that instead
+of passing through it I thought it best to wait till daybreak, for
+it would be desperately dark under the trees, and sometimes there are
+pretty rough fellows to be met with there; so I slept in a shed until
+an hour before daybreak and then started, and I lost no time in getting
+through it, I can tell you. What can you give me now?"
+
+"The usual thing," the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "Bread and
+beer and black sausage."
+
+"It might be worse," Hector said as he seated himself. The food was soon
+placed before him. He ate a hearty meal.
+
+"I have a long way to go," he said when he had finished, "and as I am
+blessed with a good appetite it will not be long before I am hungry
+again. I suppose there is no one in the village that sells bread and
+sausage, so if you will let me I will buy a whole one from you and a
+couple of loaves."
+
+"I will sell them to you willingly enough; but you will come to another
+village three miles on."
+
+"I sha'n't be hungry enough by that time," Hector laughed. "Besides, I
+like to choose my own place and time and sit down by the wayside and eat
+my meal. One need never go very far without coming upon a stream; and
+though I like beer better than water, I can put up with it when there is
+nothing stronger to be had."
+
+"Nothing but bread and sausage again, Paolo," Hector said as he joined
+his comrade a quarter of a mile beyond the village.
+
+"And good enough too for a hungry man. I have often longed for such a
+meal in the days before you took me, in spite of all warning."
+
+"And we have often done no better since, Paolo, when we have been on the
+march. Will you start on it now, or wait until we get to a stream?"
+
+"I will hold on for a bit, master. This black bread is so hard that it
+needs a lot of washing down."
+
+Making several detours to avoid villages, they walked all day, and
+towards evening came upon a main road running west.
+
+"Unless I am mistaken in the line that I have taken, this must be the
+road through Eichstadt. I can see some towers ahead, and I have no doubt
+that they are those of the town. There is a bridge there across the
+Altmuhl. The river makes a loop at this point, and the road cuts across
+it to the northwest to Gunzenhausen, where there is another bridge. From
+there the road runs to Hall. Thence we can cross the Neckar, either at
+Heilbronn or Neckarsulm, and we are then in our own country, and but
+a short distance from either Spires or Philippsburg, where we shall
+be likely enough to meet Turenne advancing again, or shall at any rate
+learn where he is. We will lie up now and not cross the bridge until it
+gets dusk."
+
+"I wish we had swords, master."
+
+"Yes, but they would not suit our disguises. But when we get into the
+town I will buy two woodmen's axes and a couple of the long knives that
+all the peasants here carry. I fancy from what I heard when we were at
+Hall with Turenne that the country between Eichstadt and there is for
+the most part a great forest, and there are rough hills to pass before
+we get to Hall. It will be just as well to have some weapons that we can
+use with effect if we should come upon any bands of robbers."
+
+"Quite so, master. A good axe is as good as a sword in a rough sort of
+fight; but is there not some way we can travel so as to avoid this great
+forest that you speak of?"
+
+"Not without making a great detour, and that through a country where
+there will be bodies of Merci's troops quartered everywhere."
+
+"Very well, master. Then I think that the risk will be less with the
+robbers, especially as we have not apparently much worth stealing upon
+us."
+
+"Not only apparently, but really, Paolo. Fortunately my purse was pretty
+well filled when we were taken prisoners; but we spent a good deal at
+Ingoldstadt, principally in buying articles we could have done without,
+but which we got in order to give an excuse for your going into the
+town, and in these disguises and pistols. However, we shall not, I hope,
+require much more outlay; and after getting axes and knives we shall
+have enough to pay for our food, such as it is, for some time. However,
+there is certainly nothing in our pockets to tempt robbers."
+
+"No, master; but if they searched you they would notice your clothes.
+They would show at once that you are a person of quality; and although,
+as you left your scarf behind you, they might not know that you are an
+officer, they would see that there was a mystery about you."
+
+"That is true, and I think that perhaps it would be as well if both of
+us were to take off our own clothes when we get beyond the town tonight,
+and go on only in those you got for us. When we rejoin our friends we
+can get money and replace them."
+
+"I have money with me, master," Paolo said. "I have had no occasion to
+spend aught for a long time, and have changed my wages as you paid
+them into gold, and have forty pistoles sewn up in the waistbelt of my
+breeches. I heard you say that it was always a good thing to carry a
+certain amount about with one in case of being taken prisoner or laid up
+wounded."
+
+"It was a wise precaution, Paolo; but just at the present moment I would
+rather that you did not have it about you. However, I do not suppose we
+shall be interfered with. You may as well continue to wear your breeches
+under those you have outside, but leave your doublet when I change.
+After all, if you were to be searched the pistoles would show that we
+are not what we seem, unless we could make up some plausible tale as to
+how we came possessed of them."
+
+"Oh, we could manage that easily enough, master! There are other ways of
+getting pistoles than by earning them."
+
+Thus chatting they had crossed the bridge and were now entering
+Eichstadt. Going to a quiet cabaret they ate a hearty meal, and Hector
+afterwards bought the axes and knives, and they left the town just
+before the gates were closed. They had walked some miles when a
+thunderstorm, which had for some time been threatening, broke over them.
+
+"We must get some shelter if we can," Hector said. "I see a light on
+ahead. Let us push on and take refuge before we are wet to the skin."
+
+On reaching the house they saw that it was a wayside inn.
+
+"We are in luck, Paolo," Hector said as he lifted the latch.
+
+The door, however, was fastened, and on his knocking a voice asked, "Who
+is there at this time of night?"
+
+"Travellers," Hector replied. "Come, open the door quickly or we shall
+be wet to the skin!" and he emphasized his words by kicking at the door.
+It was, however, a minute or two before it was opened, and Hector, who
+was becoming furious at this delay, had just taken his axe from his
+belt and was about to break the door in when it opened, and a man with a
+torch in one hand and a sword in the other stood on the threshold.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII: A ROBBER'S DEN
+
+
+
+"What mean you by knocking thus furiously?" the landlord of the little
+inn asked angrily.
+
+"What mean you by keeping your door shut in the face of travellers on
+such a night as this?" Hector replied, even more loudly. "Are honest men
+to be kept waiting in the rain while you are taking no steps to let them
+in?"
+
+"How could I tell that you are honest men?" the landlord retorted.
+
+"Because if we had not been honest men we should long before this have
+battered your door down, as indeed I was just going to do when you
+opened it."
+
+"Well, come in," the landlord said with an evil smile. "Maybe you would
+have done better to have passed on."
+
+He showed them into the taproom, where two or three rough men were
+sitting.
+
+"What did these fellows mean by knocking so loudly?" one of them asked
+angrily.
+
+"It means," Hector replied, "that travellers have a right to claim
+shelter of an inn; and indeed, inn or no inn, no one would refuse
+shelter to travellers on such a night as this is going to be." And his
+words were emphasized by a crash of thunder overhead.
+
+"You crow pretty loud, young fellow," the man growled.
+
+"I speak loud because I have right on my side. I desire to quarrel with
+no man; but one need indeed be a saint to keep one's temper when one is
+kept standing outside a door with the rain coming down in great drops,
+and threatening in another minute to come in bucketfuls. It is all the
+worse when, as you see, one has a sick comrade with one."
+
+The man spoke in a low voice to the three others seated at the table
+with him. "May I ask whither you were journeying when thus caught in the
+storm?" he asked in a more civil tone than he had hitherto used.
+
+"Certainly you may. We were in haste to get on to Gunzenhausen by
+morning, as a friend of ours has work ready for us there. We did not
+expect this storm when we left Eichstadt just before the gates closed,
+and as the nights are short we thought we would push straight through."
+
+"You are woodmen, I see."
+
+"Ay, woodmen and charcoal burners."
+
+"You are not from this part, at least, judging from your tongue."
+
+"Nor, I fancy, are you," Hector replied.
+
+"No," the other said. "In times like these every one is liable to be
+driven from home either because the troops of one army or another have
+plundered and destroyed everything, or perhaps because he has been
+forced into the ranks."
+
+"That is just our case, and you will understand that in times like
+these, as you say, no one cares to answer questions on the part of
+strangers. But we have no particular cause of concealment. We have both
+been in the army, and, as you see, have left it, and have our reasons
+for wishing to travel at night, when there is no chance of falling in
+with troops whose officers might ask inconvenient questions. As, thanks
+to our host and you, we are nearly wet through, we will thank him to get
+ready as quick as may be two flagons of hot beer, and if he has got a
+couple of eggs to beat up in each of them, so much the better."
+
+The landlord left the room, and a minute or two later the man who had
+spoken to Hector got up and went out.
+
+"These men are up to no good," Hector whispered to Paolo as they sat
+down on a bench at a table some little distance from that at which the
+other men were seated. "I am sorry now that I asked for the liquor, it
+was necessary to order something. I should not be surprised if they drug
+it. Do you put yours to your lips, and then groan as if it hurt you too
+much to try to swallow, and leave it standing in front of you. I will
+pretend to drink mine, and will manage to pour it away on the floor.
+Presently do you lean forward on to the table and appear to fall asleep.
+As I am in the corner, I will lean back and seem to go off also. Unless
+I am greatly mistaken this is a regular thieves' den. Keep one hand on
+the butt of a pistol. We will both keep awake for a time, and if nothing
+comes of it we will then watch by turns. It is clear that they suspect
+that we are not what we seem."
+
+The men at the other table were talking together in low voices, and,
+listening intently, Hector could hear a murmur of voices in the room
+behind him.
+
+"There were more than two voices there," he whispered presently to
+Paolo. The latter nodded, for he too had been listening. Presently the
+landlord returned with the two flagons of hot beer, which were set down
+on the table before them. The room was lighted only by a torch stuck in
+a cresset on the wall, and Hector had purposely seated himself as far
+from this as possible. Paolo took up his mug, raised it to his lips, and
+then set it down again with a sudden cry.
+
+"I am afraid that you will not be able to take it," Hector said aloud.
+
+"What is the matter with your comrade?" the landlord asked.
+
+"He has a terrible abscess in his jaw, and is unable to speak or to
+swallow."
+
+The landlord took the torch from its place and walked over and looked at
+Paolo's cheek. "There is no mistake about that," he said. "It is indeed
+a terrible swelling, and the cheek looks almost raw."
+
+"He has put liniments on it," Hector said, "but they seem to have done
+him harm rather than good. However, he is not so bad as he was, and I
+hope that the abscess will break ere long."
+
+The landlord fastened the torch up again, and said in a low tone to the
+other men: "There is no doubt about his face being bad." As he turned
+away from the table he stood between Hector and the other men, and the
+former seized the opportunity of pouring the contents of his mug against
+the wall by his knee, knowing that as the floor was of earth it would
+soak it up at once. From time to time he lifted the mug to his lips,
+until he apparently drained it. Then half closing his eyes he leant up
+against the corner. Paolo had already laid his head down on the table,
+and after a time both breathed heavily and regularly. Half an hour later
+one of the men rose noiselessly and left the room. Two or three minutes
+afterwards he returned with the host, the man who had gone out before,
+and two others.
+
+"Seven against two," Hector thought to himself. "However, we shall have
+the advantage of a surprise." He touched Paolo with his foot to assure
+himself that he had not really gone off to sleep, but the responsive
+movement showed that he also was on his guard. The man who had first
+left the room and one of the others drew their long knives and stepped
+quietly forward, while the others, also with bared weapons, prepared
+to support them if necessary. Hector waited until the two leaders were
+close, then he exclaimed sharply, "Now!" at the same moment throwing
+forward his hand with the pistol. Two reports rang out at the same
+moment, and the men pitched heavily forward. A yell of surprise and
+fury broke from the others, but ere they could step over their fallen
+comrades, Hector and his companion stood erect with their second pistols
+in their right hands and their axes ready for action in their left.
+
+Hector's second shot took effect on the landlord, Paolo's apparently
+missed, for the other four rushed forward. Hector dashed the table
+aside, and he and Paolo, poising their heavy axes, rushed forward to
+meet their assailants.
+
+"Mind the beams," Hector shouted, as with a sweeping side blow he clove
+in the head of one opponent. But the warning came too late. Paolo struck
+a downward blow, the axe caught the low beams of the ceiling, and it
+flew from his hand. His opponent sprang upon him. Paolo caught the man's
+right wrist as he struck at him with his knife, and drew his own from
+his girdle. His assailant threw his other arm round him, and, grappling,
+they fell on to the ground. Hector could do nothing to assist him, for
+the other two men were trying to circle round him, keeping beyond the
+swing of his axe but watching for an opportunity to spring upon him.
+Keeping his back against the wall he made feints against them. Presently
+one of the men passed between him and the two antagonists struggling on
+the ground. Suddenly they rolled over and over, coming in contact with
+him from behind and almost throwing him over. Before he could recover
+from the shock Hector's axe struck him below the ear.
+
+The other man would have turned and made for the door, but Hector knew
+that it was important that he should not escape and carry the news to
+others of his party, who might be in the forest. He therefore sprang
+after him, and before the wretch could open the door struck him between
+the shoulders with his long knife. As he did so Paolo sprung up with a
+shout.
+
+"Thank God that you are alive, Paolo! I was afraid that he might have
+killed you."
+
+"No, no, master. I had him by the wrist too firmly for that, and my
+knife did its work almost directly. But with those two fellows hovering
+round I should have been at their mercy had I tried to get on my feet.
+So I kept on struggling until I saw my opportunity, and then as that
+fellow's back was turned I rolled over against him, and so gave you
+the chance that you were waiting for. Well, master, it has been a sharp
+business."
+
+"It has indeed. Now the first thing is to see if there is anyone else
+in the house, and the next to look about for some clothes for you to put
+on, for those you wear are covered with blood. Then we must be off, and
+put as many miles between us and this place before morning as we can."
+
+A brief search showed that the place was empty, save for the dead in the
+taproom. An old doublet belonging to the landlord was found hanging up
+in the loft where he slept. Taking off his outer garments, Paolo put
+this on.
+
+"It is lucky I kept my breeches on under the others," he said, "for I
+certainly could not have gone into a town with these stained things on.
+I suppose there is some money hidden somewhere, but we have not time to
+look. You may be sure that many a traveller has been murdered here."
+
+"I quite agree with you, but we have certainly no time to spare to hunt
+for it. Let us be off at once."
+
+Reloading their pistols and carefully wiping their axes they went out by
+a door at the back of the house, for neither cared to re-enter the scene
+of the slaughter. Before doing so, however, they took a long draught
+from the landlord's beer barrel, to make up for the drink of which
+they had deprived themselves. The storm had passed, and the stars were
+shining brightly. They met nobody on their way until within two or three
+miles of Gunzenhausen; it was found that the haft of Paolo's axe was
+deeply stained with blood; and he threw it away on issuing from the
+wood, as it did not accord well with his present attire, which was
+rather that of a discharged soldier or a worker in cities than of a
+countryman. Soon after eight o'clock they approached the town. They were
+now greatly fatigued, for they had done two long days' marches without
+any sleep between them, and turning off from the road they made their
+way to a little clump of trees, and there threw themselves down in the
+shade and slept until late in the afternoon.
+
+"I think that after our experience of last night, Paolo," Hector said,
+as they walked towards the town, "we had better wait until we can join
+some party going to Hall before we leave this place. From what I hear,
+the road is a great deal more infested with bands of lawless men than
+that along which we have come."
+
+"Then, master, I think we had certainly better wait, for I don't want
+anything worse than we had yesterday."
+
+They went to a small inn, had supper, and then lay down on some straw in
+an outhouse and slept soundly until morning. Then they breakfasted,
+and as there was no one else in the room Paolo was able to eat freely.
+Presently the landlord came in, and Hector entered into conversation
+with him.
+
+"We want to go on to Hall," he said. "We have friends there, and we are
+obliged to leave home because we should be taken for the army."
+
+"Well, I don't think that you will find yourself better off at Hall than
+here. They are catching up every ablebodied young fellow and putting him
+into the ranks, and as you both look strong and active, except for your
+comrade's face, you are both likely to be seized as soon as you enter
+Hall, especially if you have no papers to show."
+
+"We are not thinking of entering Hall, landlord. Our friends live a few
+miles away, and they will hide us till the army moves away from these
+parts."
+
+"That will be before long, thank the saints! There is news that a great
+French army marched from Spires three days ago, and there is like to be
+a great fight before long; and if the French are beaten Merci will chase
+them back to the Rhine, recapture all the towns that they have taken,
+and perhaps enter Alsace."
+
+"Which way do they say that the French are marching?"
+
+"They took the road to Weisloch. Some think that they will come through
+Wimpfen, and then by Weinsberg here, unless Merci bars the way. Others
+again think that they will make their way down through Stuttgart. Five
+hundred men march from here tomorrow to Hall, whence they go on to
+Heilbronn to strengthen the garrison there. All the waggons in the town
+and country round have been fetched in to carry their stores and baggage
+and a convoy of ammunition. I should say that you could not do better
+than go on with the waggons. No one is likely to ask you any questions,
+for it will be thought that you are drivers."
+
+"Thank you very much," Hector said; "that would certainly be a capital
+plan. We were afraid of going through the forests alone."
+
+"Yes, and you were right. They are full of marauders. A party of
+troopers arrived here from Eichstadt yesterday evening. They stopped to
+get a drink at a cabaret in the forest, and on entering found seven men
+lying dead, and no one living to say how they got there. That some,
+if not all, were robbers was evident from the fact that, on the bodies
+being searched, articles evidently plundered from travellers were found
+upon all of them. An examination was made of the house, and considerable
+quantities of plunder found hidden. Searching in the forest behind,
+several mounds of earth, evidently graves, were discovered. The landlord
+himself was among the killed, for one of the troopers, who had before
+stopped at the house, recognized him. It was supposed that the brigands
+were killed by some other party with whom they had quarrelled. Three of
+them were shot and two killed by tremendous blows from an axe, and as
+neither pistols nor axes were found in the room it is clear that those
+within had been killed by some other band."
+
+The next morning, when the column started, Hector and Paolo fell in
+among the carts, and rendered good service on the road by helping to
+move them when the wheels of the waggons stuck fast at spots where the
+road crossed marshy valleys. So bad was the journey that it occupied two
+days. Then the waggons were parked outside the walls of Hall, a guard
+being placed round them to prevent desertion. The troops slept inside
+the town. At daybreak the next morning their march was arrested by an
+officer riding out from the town, saying that news had arrived on the
+previous evening that the French were marching upon Heilbronn, that
+General Merci was concentrating his army there to oppose the passage of
+the river, and that the troops were to push on with all speed, leaving
+their baggage train at Hall. Hector at once decided that, with the
+Bavarian army gathering in front, it would be madness to endeavour to
+push on, and that indeed it would be far better to fall back until the
+direction of the French march was fully determined, when they could make
+a detour and come down upon their flank without having to pass through
+the Bavarian army. He did not, however, care about remaining in Hall,
+which might be occupied by the Bavarians if they fell back, and they
+therefore, after entering the town with the waggons, purchased a store
+of provisions, and, going out again, established themselves in a small
+farmhouse, whose occupants had deserted it and fled into the town upon
+hearing that the French were but some thirty miles distant.
+
+Every day Hector went into the place to gather news, and learned that
+Wimpfen had been captured by the French by a sudden assault, and that
+they had crossed the Neckar. On returning he at once started with Paolo,
+but on approaching the Neckar learned that the French had marched on to
+Rothenburg. They fell in, however, with a detachment which had been left
+on the Neckar. Hector found among them several officers to whom he was
+known, and, borrowing Paolo's money, fitted himself and follower
+out again, bought a couple of horses that had been captured from the
+Bavarians, who had, he learned, retired to Franconia, and set out
+to join the army. Rothenburg had been, he found out on his arrival,
+captured in a few hours, and the main body of the French had marched
+to Dinkelsbuhl, and there he came up with them. He had learned from the
+party on the Neckar of the defection of Konigsmark and the Swedes, and
+that Conde and Turenne's united army did not exceed twenty thousand men,
+and, as he knew, that of Merci was at least equal to it in strength. His
+first question on entering the camp was as to the quarters of his own
+regiment, and he at once rode there. As soon as he was recognized
+the men ran to him, cheering wildly, and so great was the tumult that
+Turenne himself, whose headquarters were but a short distance away,
+rode to the spot to enquire the cause of the tumult. When he saw Hector
+surrounded by his cheering soldiers he passed through the crowd, and,
+reaching him, shook him warmly by the hand.
+
+"I had hoped that we might have made an exchange for you during the
+winter, colonel, but I had not thought it possible that I should see you
+again before that time; for in the first place, we captured no prisoners
+in this campaign, but, on the contrary, have had many of our own
+officers taken; and in the second place, we have been too busy ever
+since Marienthal to enter into negotiations. You have, I suppose, given
+them the slip, you and that varlet of yours, for I see him over there."
+
+"Yes, marshal; we had no very great difficulty in getting away. I have
+been very well treated, and until I heard that you were again taking the
+offensive, I had no reason to fret over my imprisonment."
+
+"Well, you have joined us just in time, for at any moment we may fight a
+great battle. When you have leisure this evening come over to my tent.
+I shall be glad to hear how you managed to escape, and any news you have
+gained as to Merci's force and intentions."
+
+As soon as the marshal had ridden off, his officers pressed round him,
+but before speaking to them individually Hector said a few words to the
+men, thanking them for the greeting they had given him, and saying that
+he was glad indeed to be back among them. Then he talked for a time to
+the officers, two or three of whom, after saying a few words apart to
+Captain de Thiou, had hurried away. Half an hour later de Thiou said:
+
+"I have no doubt that you will be glad of supper, colonel. Ours is just
+prepared, and we hope that you will join us."
+
+"I am hungry, de Thiou, now I come to think of it, for except a crust of
+bread this morning I have not touched anything today."
+
+"It is fortunate that we are better off than usual," de Thiou said. "We
+had the luck to buy a pig from one of Weimar's troopers. The cavalry get
+the best of it, for though there are orders against pillaging, there is
+no doubt that a good deal of it goes on; and, marching as we have been,
+there is no one to see that orders are strictly carried out. However, we
+have benefited by it this afternoon."
+
+Accompanying de Thiou, Hector was surprised to find that at a short
+distance in front of the spot where the regiment was bivouacked a large
+arbour had been erected.
+
+"I did not notice this as I rode in," he said.
+
+"It was not even thought of then, colonel; it was begun a few minutes
+after you rode up, and the men have worked right willingly, and
+fortunately there was a copse hard by. I may say that it was the
+men's own idea. I had given orders that a table should be made of any
+materials that came to hand, and one of the men started the idea of
+building an arbour over it, and as many hands make quick work it has, as
+you see, been constructed in little over half an hour."
+
+As the evening was warm the front of the arbour had been left open.
+Inside, a rough table had been constructed of empty casks, planks taken
+from the bottom of the waggons, and a couple of doors from cottages
+near, while powder barrels served as seats.
+
+"Now, colonel, will you take the head of the table?" de Thiou said.
+
+"Certainly not, de Thiou. I am your guest upon this occasion, so do you
+take that place, and I will sit upon your right hand."
+
+"I only wish that we could have given you a dinner like those you so
+often gave us at St. Denis."
+
+"I shall enjoy it as much as if it were a royal feast," Hector said,
+seating himself; "for indeed since I escaped from Ingoldstadt some ten
+days ago I have been living on black bread, sausage, and cheese."
+
+The meal was a joyous one, for at the assault of Rothenburg on the
+previous day several barrels of wine had been captured by the soldiers
+of the regiment. These had been bought from them by the officers, who
+had feared that some of the men might drink to excess, and so damage the
+reputation which the regiment had obtained for sobriety and discipline.
+One of these had been broached, and this and the pork afforded an
+excellent supper even though the bread was of the worst possible
+quality. When the meal was over, de Thiou stood up and proposed the
+health of the colonel, and congratulated him most warmly upon his escape
+from the enemy, expressing the extreme satisfaction of all the men as
+well as officers at his return. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm,
+and Hector briefly returned thanks. Then, in accordance with the general
+request, he related the particulars of his escape from Ingoldstadt and
+of his journey. Paolo, who had been waiting behind his master's chair,
+came in for warm praise for the share he had taken in the matter.
+
+"I certainly did not think when I first, against the advice of everyone,
+took Paolo as my lackey five years ago, that he would turn out so
+valuable a servant as he has done," Hector said as de Thiou handed a
+goblet of wine to the man. "He has been more than a servant, he has
+taken part in all my adventures, and truly I regard him as my friend.
+Indeed, gentlemen, had it not been for him I certainly should not be
+here tonight, for my own money gave out altogether at Hall, and I had to
+borrow from his store the means of buying clothes and horses."
+
+"By the way, colonel," de Thiou said, "from the day that you were
+captured I have drawn your pay for you, knowing that if it fell into
+arrear you would have had hard work in getting it, so that I have now
+three months of your money in the regimental chest."
+
+"Thank you, de Thiou, it will be very welcome; though Paolo would not
+have been a very hard creditor."
+
+At eight o'clock the party broke up, and Hector walked across to
+Turenne's quarters. The latter had just returned from a consultation
+with the other generals.
+
+"We shall open our trenches here tonight; the place is of some
+importance, as it is on the direct road to Nordlingen, and it is as well
+not to leave it behind us. This, however, we shall do, if news comes
+that Merci is marching to give us battle before that city, which we
+expect he will do. The Imperialists will like to fight there, for it
+was the scene of their great victory over the Duke of Weimar and the
+Swedes."
+
+"We must hope that we shall reverse matters this time, marshal."
+
+"We must hope so," the latter said gravely; "if we fight on a fair
+field I have no misgivings whatever. But Merci always takes up strong
+positions and entrenches himself, and Enghien is so anxious to fight
+that he will do so at a disadvantage rather than wait until we can meet
+them on even terms. You know what happened at Freiburg, where we lost
+some nine thousand men and gained no great advantage; while if we had
+moved round and threatened their line of retreat the enemy must have
+fallen back at once, we should have obtained our object without the loss
+of a man, and might possibly have fallen upon Merci in his retreat, and
+well nigh annihilated his army. Do not think, Campbell, that I am for a
+moment underestimating Enghien's genius. It is extraordinary, and in the
+hour of battle he is superb, not only from his extreme personal bravery,
+but from the quickness with which he grasps every point, seizes upon
+the spot where a blow can be best delivered, and snatches victory, where
+another would see only defeat before him. But he is reckless of life so
+long as he carries his point, and rather than lose a day in turning the
+enemy's position and so forcing him to relinquish it, will sacrifice
+whole regiments by marching straight against the most formidable
+entrenchments. Had he but patience in addition to his own splendid
+qualities, I think he would be the greatest military genius the world
+has ever seen. And now let me hear what happened to you after you left
+my side that night after Marienthal."
+
+Hector again related his adventures. Turenne laughed at the account of
+his escape, hidden under the flour bags.
+
+"It was a good scheme," he said; "and it was well that you had that
+lackey of yours with you, for I do not think that you could ever have
+managed it unaided."
+
+"I am sure I could not, marshal; it was entirely his suggestion, and he
+arranged all the details splendidly. He was equally valuable in another
+way afterwards;" and he described the fight in the cabaret.
+
+"That was more dangerous than taking part in a pitched battle; seven
+against two are heavy odds indeed, though you had the advantage of
+weapons. The fellow has a ready wit to think of rolling against the man
+who was waiting for a chance of running in and stabbing you; he would
+have made his fortune somehow even if he had not had the good luck to
+fall in with you. In some respects you resemble each other; you both
+have enterprise, quickness, and daring, but he lacks your studious
+habits, your determination to master everything connected with your
+profession, and your ability to turn your knowledge to account. He would
+have made a good soldier, an excellent leader of an irregular corps, but
+he would never have gained distinction. Well, I am very glad to have had
+a quiet talk with you; it takes one out of one's worries and anxieties.
+By the way, I had a letter from Mazarin; it reached me while I was at
+Spires. He said he was sorry to hear that you had been taken prisoner,
+and requested me to make an exchange for you as soon as possible, even
+if I had to give a general officer for you, for he was very deeply your
+debtor, and had the highest esteem for you. What have you been doing to
+make him your debtor? You never mentioned anything of the sort to me."
+
+"The matter was to some degree a state one, marshal, or I should
+have told you of it; but as it took place nearly a year ago, and the
+circumstances are altogether changed, I can mention them to you in
+confidence--for even now, were it known, it might make me some powerful
+enemies." He then related how it was that he had thwarted the attempt on
+Mazarin's life.
+
+"That was a piece of singular good fortune," Turenne said. "Mazarin is
+a staunch friend and a bitter enemy. I owe him no goodwill, for he has
+behaved shamefully to de Bouillon, refusing to hand to him the estates
+for which he exchanged his principality of Sedan; but I do not permit
+myself to allow family interests to weigh with me against my duties to
+France. Truly, as you say, it were well to hide your share in a business
+that sent De Beaufort and a score of others to prison, and a dozen
+members of powerful families into exile; it might well cause you serious
+trouble were it known. You did well to keep the matter to yourself, and
+you did specially well to refuse to accept any personal honour, for had
+you done so Mazarin's enemies would at once have connected that fact
+with the discovery of the plot."
+
+On returning to his regiment, Hector found that an order had come just
+after he left, for four companies to march down under the guidance of an
+engineer officer to begin work on the trenches. De Thiou, knowing
+that he had gone to the marshal's, had gone down with the four
+leading companies. The other infantry regiments had furnished similar
+contingents, showing that the siege was to be pushed forward with all
+haste.
+
+"Enghien does not allow the grass to grow under his feet," Captain
+Mieville said. "We stormed Wimpfen a few hours after our arrival before
+it; we carried Rothenburg in a single night, and I expect that by
+tomorrow evening we shall be masters of this place."
+
+In the morning four more companies went down to relieve those who had
+been at work all night, and these had made great progress when, in the
+afternoon, the news came that Merci was marching with all his strength
+towards Nordlingen. Trumpets at once sounded to recall the troops from
+the trenches, a meal was hastily cooked, and at sunset the army marched
+for Nordlingen. All night they pushed on through the forest, and just
+as the leading squadrons emerged from it on to the plain, Merci's forces
+were seen issuing out from the forest facing them. Both armies at once
+formed in order of battle.
+
+Enghien, anxious to attack, rode forward with Turenne, de Gramont, and
+Geis to reconnoitre the ground. It was found that between the armies
+there was a small river, with great pools and swamps on either side,
+and that the only approaches were by narrow and winding paths where two
+horsemen could scarcely ride abreast. Even Enghien felt that it would
+be madness to venture upon an attack. His artillery opened fire, that of
+the Bavarians replied, and the cannonade was continued till nightfall,
+inflicting a certain amount of loss on either side but in no way
+altering the position. Seeing that a battle could not be brought on
+here, Enghien marched two hours before daybreak for Nordlingen. At nine
+the army came down on to the great plain in front of that town, but he
+found that Merci had been beforehand with him, and had already taken up
+a strong position two leagues away, and between him and the city, and
+that his troops were already at work throwing up intrenchments. The
+prince ordered all the baggage to be left behind, and at once marched
+against the enemy. At four o'clock they were facing each other. Merci
+had, as usual, chosen his position with great judgment. In the middle
+of the plain rose two little hills about a thousand yards apart. On the
+hill on his left stood the castle of Allersheim, and here Merci's left
+wing, under General John de Werth, was posted; while at Weinberg his
+right, commanded by General Gleen, took up its station. The main body of
+the army, under Merci himself, lay behind a village a couple of hundred
+yards beyond the hills, and at the head of the passage between them. He
+had his cavalry on his two wings, his infantry in the centre, and had
+thrown forward some regiments to hold the village. On the two hills he
+had planted his cannon, sheltered by intrenchments, and in a position to
+sweep the entrance to the valley.
+
+His army consisted of between fourteen and fifteen thousand men, that of
+Enghien of seventeen thousand. After examining the position a council
+of war was held. Turenne was strongly against attacking the enemy in a
+position of such strength, but Enghien as usual overruled his opinion.
+Turenne then urged that the cavalry on the wings should not charge up
+the hills and attack the positions held there until the enemy's centre
+had been defeated, and his advice in this respect was taken. The
+generals then separated and rode to their respective commands. De
+Gramont commanded the right wing, consisting of all the French cavalry,
+and having as a second line a reserve consisting of four battalions of
+infantry and six squadrons of horse commanded by Chevalier de Chabot.
+Turenne commanded the left, which consisted of his own army, with twelve
+squadrons of Weimar's cavalry, with the Hessian army--six battalions
+and six squadrons--as a second line. The centre, consisting of ten
+battalions and five squadrons of horse, was commanded by Count de
+Marsin. Enghien took no special command, preferring to remain free to go
+where his presence was most needed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII: NORDLINGEN
+
+
+It was five o'clock in the afternoon when all the arrangements for the
+attack were completed. But as on the 3rd of August the evening is long,
+it was judged that there would be sufficient daylight to carry out the
+battle. The French began with a cannonade against the village, and this
+was replied to by the guns on the two hills. Not only did the position
+of the latter give them great superiority, but much time was lost by the
+French in being obliged to move forward their guns as the army advanced,
+a slow and tedious process in days when cannon were very heavy and
+cumbrous. Seeing that they were losing time and suffering more loss than
+they inflicted, Enghien gave the order to the infantry of the centre to
+advance.
+
+They went forward with great speed and eagerness, for they were burning
+to retrieve their cowardly conduct at Marienthal. They carried the
+intrenchments Merci had thrown up at the mouth of the pass, and,
+heedless of the firing of the guns, rushed at the village. Here,
+however, they were received by so heavy a fire of musketry from the
+infantry posted there, who had loopholed all the walls and houses, that
+they came to a stop, and, being shot down in great numbers, turned
+and fled. The Count de Marsin was himself dangerously wounded. The Duc
+d'Enghien sent the Marquis de la Moussaie forward with a reinforcement
+of several regiments, but these, too, fell back before the Imperialists'
+fire. The Duc d'Enghien then rallied the infantry, added to them all
+those not yet engaged, and himself led them to the charge. Merci on his
+part brought forward his main body to the village.
+
+The battle was now a desperate one. Enghien seemed to lead a charmed
+life. He was ever where the fight was hottest, encouraging the soldiers
+and setting them an example. His clothes were shot through in many
+places. Two horses were killed under him, and he received a contusion in
+the thigh. Merci on his part showed equal valour and intrepidity; but
+he was less fortunate, for he was struck by a musketball and killed. The
+news of his fall excited his soldiers to fury, and, hurling themselves
+on their assailants they cut the greater part of the infantry to pieces.
+
+The French on the right had done no better, for the Bavarian cavalry
+charged them with such impetuosity that although they fought sturdily
+they were broken and routed. De Gramont did all that a leader could do
+to check their flight and lead them back to the battle; and when he
+saw that he was powerless to do this he put himself at the head of two
+regiments that had not yet been engaged, received the Bavarian horse
+with a heavy volley, and leading his troopers to the charge, broke into
+them, but advancing too far was surrounded and taken prisoner. John
+de Werth then fell on the reserve, broke them, penetrated the baggage,
+which was plundered, and then pursued the fugitives far away from the
+field of battle. Had he, instead of allowing his troops and himself to
+be carried away by their ardour, brought them round and attacked
+the French left in the rear, the Imperialist victory would have been
+complete.
+
+Here for a time the conflict was doubtful. Turenne, in spite of the fire
+of the Imperialist artillery, led his troops in good order up the hill
+of Weinberg. His horse was shot under him and his cuirass was struck,
+but not pierced, by a musketball. On gaining the top of the hill a
+terrible fight took place between the Weimar and Hessian troops on one
+side, and the Austrians and Bavarians on the other. The former showed
+valour in strong contrast with the conduct of their French allies; and
+after repeated volleys had been exchanged infantry and cavalry rushed
+upon each other and fought with bayonet and sword. At last the first
+line of Imperialists gave way, but General Gleen brought up the second
+line and threw Turenne's first line into disorder, although they still
+maintained their ground. At this moment Conde, seeing that his centre
+was destroyed and his right utterly dispersed, came up and joined
+Turenne, and placing himself at the head of the Hessians, who formed the
+second line, brought them forward. The enemy's squadrons were
+broken, and the infantry defeated. The guns were then turned upon the
+Imperialists on the slope of the hill leading down to the village, and
+when they were shaken by the fire Turenne's squadron charged down upon
+them and completed their defeat. General Gleen was taken prisoner, and
+Turenne's troops, descending the hill, took the village in flank.
+
+Had the defenders here fought with the same courage that they had
+previously evinced, they would have given time to John de Werth to
+return, and the fate of the battle would have been doubtful, but they
+were seized with unreasoning panic, and at once surrendered. The night
+had long since closed in, and so far as the fighting had gone the
+battle might be considered a drawn one. The French right and centre
+were utterly routed, but their left had captured one of the keys of the
+position and the village behind it. Had John de Werth, when he
+returned from the pursuit, shown himself an able general, rallied
+the Imperialists and sent them to recapture the village, and with
+his victorious cavalry made a circuit of the Weinberg and fallen upon
+Turenne's rear, the Imperialist success would have been as complete and
+striking as that which they had won on nearly the same ground over the
+Swedes; but although an impetuous leader of cavalry, he had no military
+genius, and on returning after dark, and hearing that the Weinberg was
+lost and the village captured, he drew off from the field.
+
+He was joined by the Imperialist infantry, and when the morning broke
+Turenne's division stood victors on the field. A number of officers,
+many standards, and all the cannon of the enemy fell into their hands.
+Of the French infantry not more than fifteen hundred were rallied after
+the battle, and of the allied army Turenne's German troops, although
+they had suffered severely, alone remained intact. John de Werth
+retreated with the remains of the Imperialist force to Donauworth, and
+crossed to the other side of the Danube, although his force was still
+superior to that of Turenne, for the loss suffered by the French
+and Turenne's German troops was very much greater than that of
+the Imperialists. Enghien, in his despatch announcing the victory,
+acknowledged in his letter to the queen that it was due to the valour
+and honour of Turenne.
+
+Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl opened their gates to the victors. Enghien
+fell ill and was forced to return to France, leaving Turenne in command.
+De Gramont was exchanged for Gleen, and he and Turenne took counsel
+as to the course that had best be pursued. John de Werth had already
+recrossed the Danube, and the French generals fell back to Hall, where
+they remained for twelve days to refresh the troops, provisions being
+plentiful in the neighbourhood.
+
+But their position was daily becoming more untenable. The Duke of
+Bavaria, greatly alarmed by the result of the battle of Nordlingen,
+wrote to the emperor that unless Austria largely increased her force in
+the field he should retire from the contest, of which he had hitherto
+borne the brunt, and make terms with the French. The emperor, who had
+just brought a war with Hungary to a close, despatched the Archduke
+Leopold, his son, with a great body of horse, and he soon effected a
+junction with Gleen and John de Werth, and together they pushed forward
+at the utmost speed to surprise the French. As soon as Turenne received
+news of the movement he and de Gramont agreed that an instant retreat
+must be made, seeing that their force was less than half that which was
+advancing to attack them. The baggage was abandoned, and as there was
+no bridge available the army crossed the Neckar by swimming, each
+cavalryman taking one of the infantry behind him. They continued their
+retreat until they arrived at Philippsburg. Here Turenne with the whole
+of his army took up his position, covered by the guns of the fortress,
+while Gramont passed the river with the remains of Enghien's army and
+all the cavalry.
+
+The Imperialists, after examining Turenne's position, came to the
+conclusion that it could not be attacked, and, marching away, besieged
+and captured all the towns taken by the French in their advance. Thus
+beyond the empty honour of a nominal victory at Nordlingen, the campaign
+under Enghien and Turenne ended, without any solid advantage whatever
+being gained by the French.
+
+The Poitou regiment, which was the only French battalion in the army of
+Turenne, had been placed with the Hessians in the second line. It had
+fought with distinguished bravery on the crest of the Weinberg, and
+had publicly been thanked by Enghien, who had on the day of the battle
+ridden by the side of Hector at their head when they fell upon the
+Imperialists. They had suffered but a small number of casualties,
+for the enemy were already shaken before they charged, and had, after
+receiving a shattering volley, broken and fled as the regiment charged
+with fixed bayonets. Turenne was always anxious to impress upon Hector
+the lessons that were to be learned from each action, and while they
+were encamped round Hall he went over the events of the campaign with
+him on a map.
+
+"You see," he said, "that what I said to you on the evening before
+we marched from Dinkelsbuhl has been completely justified. Instead of
+manoeuvring so as to fight in the open, we dashed ourselves against this
+strong position, with the inevitable consequences, two-thirds of our
+army were routed, and the infantry of the centre and right all but
+annihilated; and although by hard fighting we on the left gained an
+advantage, it was only the impetuous folly of John de Werth that saved
+us from destruction. Now, you see, we are in no position to fight
+another battle. A victory won in one's own country is decisive for
+a considerable time, but a victory in an enemy's country, unless it
+involves his disastrous defeat and the utter breakup of his army, is
+practically without value. We can receive no reinforcements, for none
+can reach us from France in less than a couple of months; the enemy, on
+the other hand, have rapidly filled up their ranks, and have received,
+or are about to receive, large reinforcements, and as soon as they
+advance we must retreat in all haste, sacrifice all the advantages we
+have gained, and shall be lucky if we can maintain a footing on this
+side of the Rhine.
+
+"Five or six thousand lives have been thrown away and nothing whatever
+gained. Now, you see, had we instead of knocking our heads against the
+enemy's position, manoeuvred to place ourselves between him and the
+Danube, he must have retreated without fighting a battle, for he was
+inferior to us in numbers, and we should have been able to go into
+winter quarters in Nordlingen and possibly lay siege to Eichstadt.
+A genius may win a battle, Campbell, but genius, if accompanied by
+impetuosity and a thirst for great victories, will very seldom win
+a campaign. I love as well as admire Enghien; he is chivalrous
+and generous, he has great military genius; possibly with age his
+impetuosity may be tempered with discretion, but at present, although
+a brilliant leader, he is not the general that I would choose to serve
+under in a long campaign."
+
+When Weimar's cavalry crossed the Rhine with de Gramont they broke into
+mutiny, declaring that they were raised to fight in Germany and would
+not fight in France. Turenne crossed and endeavoured to get them to
+return to their duty, recalling to them how nobly they had fought under
+him, and appealing to them in the strongest way not to desert him now.
+A portion of them gave in to his entreaties, but the rest rode away to
+effect a junction with the Swedish army, and he was therefore deprived
+of a considerable portion of the force that had been the mainstay of his
+little army. Upon the other hand, the Archduke Leopold marched away to
+Bohemia to oppose the Swedes, who had gained several successes in that
+direction. Turenne, however, determined to carry out one more enterprise
+before the winter set in, and to reinstate the Elector of Treves, who
+had been deprived of his dominions for twelve years, in consequence of
+his having entered into an alliance with France. In order to effect this
+he marched in the first week in November with a small force of infantry
+and his cavalry to the Moselle, a distance of forty leagues.
+
+He was joined by some of Enghien's troops from Metz, and on the 14th of
+November he invested Treves. The Imperialists were unable to gather a
+force of sufficient strength to relieve the town, which was, therefore,
+after a short resistance, forced to capitulate. The small garrisons from
+other towns in the elector's dominions were speedily driven out and the
+elector restored to his possessions, a result doubly gratifying, since
+his restoration produced a widespread effect among the German princes
+who had thrown in their lot with France, while the material advantage
+was no less, as it closed a door through which the Imperialists, when in
+sufficient force, could at any time pour their troops into France. This
+brought the campaign of 1645 to a close. Turenne was called to Paris,
+where he received the honours that were due to him for the skill and
+bravery by which, with altogether insufficient forces--raised, equipped
+and paid to a large extent from his private purse--he had for two years
+guarded the Rhine frontier from invasion by the united forces of Bavaria
+and Austria. Hector's regiment had been left at Philippsburg when
+Turenne marched away; but the marshal told him that there was no
+occasion whatever for him to remain with it during the winter. He
+thought indeed that it would be advantageous that he should pay a short
+visit to Paris, present himself to Mazarin, and then go down and see how
+matters fared with the estate, to which he had paid but a flying visit.
+He therefore set out without delay, Turenne entrusting him with some
+despatches to the cardinal.
+
+"They are of no great importance," he said, "but it is always well for
+an officer returning to Paris to carry despatches with him. It shows
+that he has the hearty approval of his commander in leaving his post for
+a while, and that he has distinguished himself in a special degree to
+be thus selected. I have several times in my despatches had occasion to
+speak of the excellent service rendered by your regiment, and it will
+ensure you a good reception at court. Besides, Mazarin is evidently
+disposed to regard you with special favour, and an occasional visit
+keeps that feeling alive, whereas it naturally cools down after a
+prolonged absence. Therefore in every respect it is as well that you
+should show yourself in Paris for a short time before going down to
+Poitou, where I hear there have been some troublesome risings of the
+peasantry. The province, being broken and hilly for the most
+part, offers considerable advantages to irregular forces, who move
+unencumbered with baggage, and against whom cavalry cannot well act.
+I do not know that any of these troubles have occurred in the
+neighbourhood of your estate, but you would naturally wish to see for
+yourself how matters are going on."
+
+"It seems more than two years since we left here, master," Paolo said,
+as they rode into Paris.
+
+"It does indeed. It is more than six years now since I first rode away
+with Turenne, and a month later you entered my service. We have gone
+through a good deal together since those days, Paolo."
+
+"Yes, indeed, sir. It was a fortunate day for me when my brother took me
+to your quarters."
+
+"It has been quite as fortunate for me, Paolo. I doubt whether I should
+ever have proposed undertaking to carry Turenne's message into the
+citadel of Turin had I not felt that I could rely upon you as my
+companion in the business, and it was that which gave me my first step.
+Since then you have always been by my side, and have more than once
+saved my life."
+
+On reaching Mazarin's hotel Hector found that he was at the Louvre, and
+immediately went there, and as bearer of despatches from the army was at
+once introduced to the minister's apartment.
+
+"Come with me at once to the queen's closet," the cardinal said as he
+entered. "She has just sent for me, and her majesty, being at once a
+woman and a queen, does not like being kept waiting. She always wishes
+to receive the first news from the army, therefore I can venture to take
+you with me without asking her permission.
+
+"I have brought Monsieur de Villar to your majesty," he said as
+he entered the queen's apartment. "He has just reached Paris with
+despatches from the Viscount Turenne. He has only this instant arrived,
+and I thought I might venture to bring him at once to you."
+
+"'Tis a long time since we have seen you, monsieur," the queen said
+graciously, "but we have heard of you from the marshal's despatches, and
+were glad to see that your regiment bore itself as well in the field of
+battle as in the park of Versailles. What news do you bring? Nothing of
+importance, I hope, for there can hardly be good news when the marshal
+has so scanty a force with which to guard the frontier."
+
+"The Viscount de Turenne is too zealous in your service, madam, to
+remain idle, however small his force. He started suddenly the day I left
+with his cavalry and a small body of infantry to march to Treves, with
+two or three regiments he has persuaded the Duc d'Enghien to send him
+from Metz with some guns, and he hoped to capture the city and clear the
+electorate of the enemy before they can receive strong reinforcements,
+seeing that they are all scattered in their winter quarters."
+
+"A bold stroke indeed, cardinal," the queen said, much gratified. "It
+has touched our honour that the elector should so long have suffered for
+his fidelity to France; and, moreover, its possession in his hands will
+relieve us of much anxiety and give us the Moselle as a barrier against
+the incursions of the enemy in that corner of our dominions. He is
+indefatigable, this good viscount, cardinal; and he is not one of those
+who look for great rewards for every service. He has indeed carried
+on the war largely on his own resources, which has been of no slight
+advantage to us, seeing that our exchequer is but too often strained to
+meet demands from other quarters. If he succeeds in this enterprise, you
+must write in our name and bid him come hither to receive our thanks in
+person, and to rest for a while from his labours in our service.
+
+"You have changed somewhat, Monsieur de Villar, since we last saw you.
+The ladies of the court called you then the little colonel--not because
+of your size, for you already overtopped the greater portion of our
+courtiers, but from your age. Now you look all over a soldier, and a
+weatherbeaten one."
+
+Hector had indeed aged during the past two years. He was now nearly
+two-and-twenty, his moustache had grown, and, as was the custom of the
+time, he wore a small imperial. The habit of command had given to his
+face an expression of decision and resolution unusual at his age, and
+a life spent in the open air, and for the most part sleeping without
+cover, had bronzed his skin, and had counteracted the youthful
+appearance caused by his fair complexion.
+
+"'Tis but some three months since we heard of you as a prisoner, having
+been captured while with your regiment covering the retreat after the
+unfortunate battle of Marienthal. The cardinal told me that he had
+written to the field marshal to try and arrange an exchange for you if
+possible. We had not heard that he had done so when the Duc d'Enghien's
+report of the battle of Nordlingen spoke of you as doing good service
+with your regiment there. I suppose Turenne, in the press of business,
+omitted to say that you had been exchanged."
+
+"I was not exchanged, madam. I succeeded in effecting my escape from the
+fortress of Ingoldstadt."
+
+"You seem born to have adventures, monsieur," the queen said. "We heard
+before of your regiment performing prodigies of valour at Freiburg, and
+of withstanding Merci's whole army, foot and horse, for three hours.
+Last winter the governor of Lorraine reported that you and a company
+of your regiment from Nancy had defeated a great body of insurgent
+peasants, and had rescued Madame de Blenfoix and her daughter from
+massacre at their hands. There is no officer under the rank of general
+whose name has been so frequently brought under our notice. You intend
+to make some stay in Paris, I hope?"
+
+"I shall do myself the honour later on, your majesty; but I hear that
+there are peasant troubles down in Poitou, and as I only paid a visit of
+a few days there, when your majesty had the goodness to present the fief
+to me, I am anxious to know how matters are going on, and to see that my
+castle is secure from attack by the insurgents."
+
+"Your excuse is a good one. It would be well if more possessors
+of estates would spend their time in endeavouring to alleviate the
+condition of their people, instead of wasting their time and money in
+Paris."
+
+"Monsieur de Villar took steps in that direction, your majesty, before
+leaving for the war; for my agents, who keep me informed of most things
+that take place, acquainted me with the fact that Monsieur de Villar
+entirely remitted the usual fines on taking possession, and reduced the
+annual payment of his tenants by one half until times should mend."
+
+"A noble example!" the queen said warmly. "I would that we could afford
+to do the same through all the royal domains. It is a pleasure to us to
+know that one at least of our fiefs has been so worthily bestowed. Well,
+sir, I shall see you at the court this evening."
+
+Hector bowed and withdrew. His first step was to go to the clothing
+establishment most frequented by men of good family. "I have to attend
+at the court this evening. I have just returned from the army, and have
+but the clothes that I stand up in. Have you any garments that will fit
+me suitable for such an occasion?"
+
+"Of shoulder cloaks I have great store in silks, satins, and velvets of
+all shades and colours. There is no difficulty about doublets, for of
+these I always keep a large stock in hand; and although you are a bigger
+man than the majority of my customers, I think that I can suit you.
+Tight pantaloons are chiefly worn by those who affect the latest
+fashion, but it would be impossible for me to make these at such short
+notice. As you are a military man this matters little, for these chiefly
+affect loose breeches trimmed at the bottom with rich lace, stockings
+of silk, and shoes with rosettes. Such breeches I could promise you in
+three hours, for they require but little making. The stockings of all
+shades I have in stock, also shoes. These would need but rosettes of the
+colour to suit the dress, to be added to them."
+
+"I put myself in your hands," Hector said. "I wish for a handsome dress,
+and yet one which shall in no way be foppish, but shall be suitable to
+my station. I am Baron de la Villar, colonel of the Poitou regiment of
+infantry."
+
+"Do you incline to silk, velvet, or satin? I should say a velvet cloak
+and satin tunic and breeches would suit you best with your fair hair. I
+should choose for the cloak a crimson or violet, and for the doublet and
+breeches a yellow. If you would prefer a blue cloak I should say a white
+satin doublet and breeches would become you."
+
+Hector shook his head. "No, I should prefer the first mixture. I care
+not whether the cloak is crimson or violet."
+
+"I think violet, monsieur, and rosettes of the same colour on your
+shoes. It were best, I think, that the stockings should match the
+doublet. You will, of course, have a pointed lace collar for your cloak,
+and at the bottom of your breeches and at your wrists to match. I think,
+sir, that a large collar and gold embroidery would go best with the
+costume."
+
+Hector nodded. "I leave it entirely to you, Master Poitrou, so
+that everything is ready in time for me to wear them. I also want
+a travelling suit of good fashion--I leave the matter of colour to
+you--and also a suit for wearing here in Paris."
+
+The cloak and doublets were speedily chosen, as M. Poitrou had several
+of the colour and material in stock. Hector was then measured for the
+breeches, which were of the fashion now known as knickerbockers, but
+somewhat looser. He then chose a violet cap with a yellow feather to
+match the court dress, a court sword, high riding boots, and loose
+turned-over boots used for walking, but left all other matters to the
+tailor.
+
+"When your man brings the things to me at the auberge Pome d'Or I will
+pay him at once," he said. He was indeed well supplied with funds, for
+as he passed through Nancy he had drawn the sums standing to his credit
+from an agent there, to whom he had, as occasion offered, transmitted
+the greater portion of his pay, and also the balance of the sum that had
+been paid him when he first took possession of his estate, after paying
+for the various expenses he had incurred in St. Denis and in Paris.
+Monsieur Poitrou was faithful to his promise, and although free from
+vanity, Hector could not but perceive, after he had donned his court
+suit, that he made a good figure. Such, indeed, was the opinion of not a
+few of the ladies of the court as he entered the great reception room.
+
+He had now adopted the general fashion, and wore his hair in ringlets
+hanging down on to the collar. His fair complexion contrasted strongly
+with the much darker one of the majority of the courtiers, and this,
+as well as his height and erect soldierly bearing, rendered him a
+conspicuous object among them. The queen and cardinal both honoured him
+with marked attention; but what pleased him most during the evening was
+the hearty greeting that he received from Colonel Maclvor, of whom he
+had seen but little during the campaign, as the Scottish regiment
+formed part of Enghien's command, and was not present at the battle of
+Nordlingen, being left in garrison at Metz when the duke marched to
+join Turenne. Mazarin himself presented him to many of the ladies of the
+court, thereby showing that he wished him to be regarded as a particular
+friend of his; and Hector, having gained much in self possession since
+he had last appeared there, was able to make himself more agreeable to
+them than before, to bandy compliments, and adapt himself to the general
+atmosphere of the court. The cardinal sent for him again the next
+morning.
+
+"The news is bad from Poitou, Colonel Campbell, and I think that it
+would be well that you should proceed there at once. So we will release
+you from further attendance, and you can make up for it by giving us a
+longer time on your return."
+
+Hector, however, tarried two days longer in Paris, by which time he had
+received all the clothes that he had ordered. Early on the morning
+of the third day he mounted and rode away with Paolo and three of his
+troopers. Hunter had been left behind at Philippsburg for the cure of a
+wound that he had received at Nordlingen. Hector was mounted on one of
+the horses that Enghien had given him; the other was in the hands of the
+Imperialists. They traveled fast, and met with no adventure until they
+arrived at Poitou, where Hector learned that in the western part of
+the province the peasants had almost everywhere risen, had defeated the
+royal troops who had marched against them from La Rochelle and Nantes,
+and had captured and burnt any chateaux, slaying all persons of the
+better class who fell into their hands.
+
+As he neared his own estate, learning that the tenants there had so far
+not joined the rising, but that several bodies of insurgents were in the
+neighbourhood, he rode still more rapidly forward. Signs of the trouble
+were everywhere apparent. In the villages only women were to be seen;
+there was no sign of life or movement in the fields; and he passed two
+chateaux which were now but empty shells. As soon as he had crossed into
+his own estates he found the houses entirely deserted; no man, woman,
+nor child was to be seen; no animals grazed in the fields, and the
+little stacks of hay and straw had been carried away.
+
+"It is evident," he said to Paolo, "that MacIntosh has called all the
+tenantry into the chateau; had they joined the insurgents the women and
+children would still be here."
+
+As they ascended the steep hill on whose brow the chateau stood, he
+could make out that there were a number of men posted upon the walls.
+
+"He is evidently determined that he will not be caught napping, Paolo,
+and all the peasants of Poitou could not take the place unless they were
+well provided with cannon."
+
+The chateau, indeed, still retained the characteristics of a castle. The
+site had evidently been selected with a sole eye to defence; the hill
+on which it stood fell abruptly away on three sides, and could hardly
+be attacked except in front. Here a plateau extended some three or four
+hundred yards long and upwards of a hundred yards across. A wall with
+flanking turrets had been a sufficient defence on the other three sides,
+but here there was a strong tower on each flank, and also on each side
+of the central gate. The walls inclosed a space of some two acres,
+in the centre of which stood the castle. This had been to some extent
+modernized--windows having taken the place of loopholes in the upper
+floors, while those looking into the inner courtyard extended to the
+ground. The point where the road reached the plateau was some three
+hundred yards from the gateway, and as Hector galloped towards the walls
+it was evident that he was recognized, for shouts were raised by the men
+on guard and the drawbridge over the fosse--cut in the solid rock along
+the foot of the wall--was lowered.
+
+As he rode across it the gate swung open and MacIntosh ran out to meet
+him.
+
+"Is all well, old friend?" Hector asked as he sprang from his horse and
+clasped the sergeant's hand.
+
+"All is well so far, colonel; still, I am glad indeed that you have
+returned, for at any moment trouble may begin. We hear that the peasants
+mean to attack us. I hardly think they will venture to do so, but I
+have no doubt they will play havoc on the estate and burn every house,
+because the tenants, instead of joining them, have come up here to aid
+in the defence. It was a good day indeed when madam and her daughter
+came here, they have made themselves so loved by the tenants that they
+would do anything for them. Ah, if all the ladies of France had been
+as good to their people as they have been, we should not have these
+troubles on hand! Here they come to welcome you."
+
+Hector hurried across the outer court, where two lines of palings had
+been erected, forming a passage from one gate to the other, and keeping
+back the animals that crowded the enclosure.
+
+"Welcome back, welcome back, Colonel Campbell!" the baroness said as
+she came up with both hands extended, and her words were echoed by her
+daughter. In the year that had elapsed since they started under the
+charge of Paolo both had changed. The look of care and anxiety, which
+had been heightened by the terrible events of the two previous days,
+had passed from the elder lady's face, and had been succeeded by one of
+contentment and happiness.
+
+Norah showed an even greater change; she had now attained her full
+height, her figure had filled out, and she stood on the threshold of
+womanhood and bid fair to attain a high degree of beauty of the type
+characteristic of her nationality. Her hair was dark, her eyes gray,
+her expression changing rapidly from grave to gay, the latter movement
+generally predominating.
+
+"I need hardly ask, madam," Hector said as they entered the chateau,
+"whether you have been comfortable here, for your face shows that you
+have at least been contented with your lot as chatelaine."
+
+"I have been more than contented, I have been very happy, Monsieur
+Campbell. It has been a pleasant task indeed to be your almoner, and to
+be able to carry comfort to those in distress, sympathy and aid to those
+in suffering. Within the castle, nothing could be more pleasant than our
+position. Captain MacIntosh has been unwearied in his efforts to make
+us comfortable, and your steward has in all cases been willing to aid
+me with money and counsel when I asked for them. The proof that your
+goodness has been appreciated by the tenants is that every one of them
+without exception has refused to join the insurgents, and has forsaken
+his home in order to come up and aid in the defence of the castle."
+
+"That is indeed gratifying, madam; but methinks their action is due
+rather to the kindness of yourself and Mademoiselle Norah, than to the
+gifts they receive."
+
+"I do not choose to be called Mademoiselle Norah," the girl said,
+tossing her head. "I am Irish on both sides, and have not a drop of
+French blood in my veins. To strangers I am Miss Norah O'More; to you,
+and to any I may love, I am plain Norah."
+
+"I don't think that you can be that to anyone, Norah."
+
+"Now I don't like that, Colonel Campbell. That may do at the court of
+Louis XIV, but not at the chateau of la Villar, and if you are going to
+pay compliments I shall be stiff and unpleasant, and shall insist upon
+being addressed as Miss Norah O'More."
+
+"As I did not mean to compliment you, for I spoke but the truth, I shall
+not accept the penalty. Now," he went on, "unromantic as it may sound, I
+own that I am hungry, and I am sure that my four followers are also,
+for we have ridden far and fast, and have not stopped, save to bait our
+horses and snatch a mouthful while they ate, since daybreak. In truth
+the news we received made me sorely anxious, though I felt sure that
+MacIntosh could hold the chateau against any attack that was likely to
+be made on it."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX: THE PEASANTS' REVOLT
+
+
+After eating a meal Hector had a talk aside with MacIntosh.
+
+"Do you really think that these varlets will venture to attack us?"
+
+"I do indeed," the old sergeant said. "They have taken several places
+as strong as this by sudden assault. They are desperate, and, as I hear,
+fight like demons, regardless as to how many fall. As far as stout arms
+go we are well supplied, for there are at least a hundred men capable
+of bearing arms, and all have had more or less drill since I have been
+here. Unfortunately, however, our wall pieces are old and scarce fit
+for service, several of them will, I feel sure, burst at the first
+discharge."
+
+"But they have no artillery at all, MacIntosh?"
+
+"I am sorry to say that they have, sir, and a good amount of it. They
+captured ten field pieces when they defeated the troops, and have
+obtained a score of others from the chateaux that they have taken. They
+have only to plant them three or four hundred yards away at the end of
+the plateau, and they would easily batter down the gates, and might even
+in time effect a breach in the walls."
+
+"That is serious indeed, MacIntosh. Is there any other way in which they
+can attack us save in front?"
+
+"I think not. I was careful to examine the face of the precipice when I
+first took command here, and wherever it seemed to me that an active man
+could climb up I had portions of the rock blown up, and have so scarped
+the face that I do not think it is scalable by human foot. But there
+is nothing to prevent their crossing the fosse on a dark night, and so
+stealing along and making an attack on all sides of the house."
+
+"Then our first care must be to prevent this, MacIntosh, by building
+walls along by the fosse from the corner towers to the edge of the
+plateau. The distance is very short, not more than eight or ten yards at
+the outside. We have, I see, any number of horses and not a few carts.
+Let the tenants be set to work at once, and, going down the road into
+the ravine below, fill their carts with blocks of stone and haul them up
+here. Let active boys be sent out in all directions as scouts to bring
+in word when the insurgents are approaching; and at the same time let
+twenty well armed men of the garrison go down with the carts, so as to
+give confidence to the tenants and cover their retreat up the road if
+the insurgents should suddenly make their appearance. Let some of the
+men take billhooks and axes down with them, and cut poles. These must be
+sharpened, and as the walls are built, fixed among the stones so as to
+make a cheval-de-frise. At the same time let half a dozen stout ladders
+be constructed, so that the defenders of these walls may, if unable to
+hold them, make their retreat up to the battlements. I wish now that
+I had ordered a strong bastion to be thrown up so as to cover the gate
+from an attack by artillery, but it did not seem likely that we should
+be besieged by any force having guns, and I let the matter remain until
+the tenants should be better off and we could spend our money on such
+work. However, it is too late now to think of that. I suppose there is a
+portcullis to the gate?"
+
+"Yes, and I got it in good working order when I first came here; but the
+cannon would speedily shatter that, as well as the bridge drawn up in
+front of it and the gate behind it."
+
+"Then as I have no doubt that there are plenty of flour sacks, we
+must fill these with earth and pack them between the bridge and the
+portcullis, and fasten the bridge in its place with any chains that may
+be available, so that it will keep erect. The earth packing, however
+much it may be battered, will protect the portcullis of the gate for
+some time against their fire."
+
+"It is a good idea if we have time to carry it out, colonel. We have
+still four or five hours' daylight, and as I think that this is of even
+greater importance than the side walls, we will set the tenants to work
+at once, and it will save time if they take down the sacks, of which, as
+you say, we have an abundance."
+
+A few minutes later a dozen active boys left the castle, and scattered
+to various points on the hills around, so as to command a view over a
+considerable extent of country. Soon after, some thirty carts went down
+the road accompanied by a number of men with shovels, and twenty of the
+garrison commanded by one of the old soldiers. All returned loaded with
+sacks of earth; these were taken into the castle, when the portcullis
+was lowered and the drawbridge across the fosse raised. An opening was
+left on the top to allow the sacks to be lowered into the space between
+the bridge and the portcullis. A score of men with ropes went on to the
+wall above and lowered them behind the drawbridge, where five or six men
+stowed them away. As soon as it became dark torches were lighted, and by
+ten o'clock a solid mass of sacks filled with earth were packed in the
+space between the portcullis and the drawbridge.
+
+The night passed off quietly, the horses and carts remaining beyond the
+fosse. Planks had been placed across one end of this, and the horses and
+carts taken over. The horses were picketed round the castle, a supply
+of forage being placed there for their use, while the carts were packed
+closely by the fosse, so as to form an obstacle to any of the assailants
+who might try to pass. At daybreak they were again run across the
+planks, the horses brought round and harnessed, the scouts being sent
+out as on the day before. All day the work went on, and by nightfall
+two walls twenty feet long and eight feet high, bristling with pointed
+staves, were erected. They stood some twenty feet back from the edge of
+the fosse, and extended from the wall to the verge of the precipice. The
+carts and horses had, before the walls were built, been taken round
+to the back of the castle, where the plateau extended some fifty yards
+beyond the defences. Evening was just coming on when the boys came in,
+two of them bringing a report that a great crowd of men could be seen
+approaching from the west.
+
+MacIntosh, with thirty men, were at once lowered down from the
+battlements, and took up their places in an intrenchment which had been
+during the day thrown up at the point where the road came up to the
+plateau, while a score of the tenants assembled at the edge of the
+cliff, where great piles of blocks of stone had been collected in
+readiness to throw down. Lighted torches were placed at intervals along
+the road, and three or four great cressets, holding balls of tow soaked
+in turpentine and oil, were set up on the edge of the plateau; these
+were to be lighted when the peasants attempted to mount the hill.
+
+An hour passed, and then a flame sprang up from a house and outbuildings
+in the valley, lighting up the ground around and showing that a great
+crowd was gathered on the road there.
+
+"How many should you say there were, MacIntosh?"
+
+"I should put them at four or five thousand."
+
+"Yes, they are certainly not short of four thousand. What wild looking
+figures! They are just the same in appearance as those who attacked
+Madame de Blenfoix's chateau. See, they are lighting torches, and I
+expect they mean to make an attack at once. Their guns are with that
+group in the rear of the others; at any rate they will not be of any
+use in assisting them to make their way up this road. They are evidently
+working themselves up to a state of madness. There are half a dozen
+fellows addressing them from various points."
+
+The men who had been brought down to guard the intrenchments at the head
+of the road were all armed with muskets, and carried in addition long
+pikes. Presently a roar of shouts and yells was heard, and then there
+was a rush on the part of the crowd towards the foot of the long ascent.
+
+Hector moved to the place where the tenants were posted.
+
+"Do not hurl a single stone down until I give you the word, nor light
+the cressets; the torches they carry will be quite sufficient for us
+to make them out, and the attack will be all the more successful if it
+comes as a surprise."
+
+Then he returned to the breastwork. The men here had been posted by
+MacIntosh eight abreast. When the head of the column of insurgents
+were halfway up the hill they opened a scattered fire; they had armed
+themselves with the muskets they had taken from the troops.
+
+"Their guns will be of little use to them, for few of them can ever have
+had firearms in their hands before; do not fire a shot, MacIntosh, until
+I give the order. It is clear that someone must have told them that we
+have thrown up this intrenchment today, or they would not have wasted
+their ammunition."
+
+Not a shot was fired until the leaders of the peasants were within forty
+yards. Up to this time no torches had been shown in the intrenchments,
+but now these were suddenly brought forward, and Hector, in his helmet
+and body armour, mounted on to the breastwork. The head of the column
+paused on seeing a row of levelled muskets and three rows of pikes
+forming a hedge of steel.
+
+"My men," Hector shouted in a loud clear voice, "halt, I beseech you,
+before harm comes to you! I know that you have sore grievances, I know
+that you and your wives and families are well nigh famishing, but how do
+you think that you will better your condition by assaulting castles and
+burning down chateaux? You are but preparing labour for yourselves and
+heaping up fresh imposts on your own heads, for it is you who will have
+to rebuild them, it is you who will have to pay for the damage that
+you have done. At any rate, none can say that you have cause for enmity
+against me and mine, for I have done all in my power to mitigate the
+sufferings of my people, and the proof is that not one of them has
+joined you. The taxes that press so heavily upon you are not the work of
+your feudal lords, they are caused by the necessity for defending France
+against the assaults of foreign enemies, and were every noble in the
+land slain it would still be necessary that these taxes should
+be collected, unless France is to be overrun by the Spaniards and
+Austrians. I would fain abstain from spilling one drop of your blood,
+but I must defend myself if you attack me, and I warn you that, numerous
+as you are, you will not succeed in capturing my castle. I am a soldier
+of France, and as I have shed my blood in defending her against her
+enemies, so if you persist I shall not hesitate in shedding yours in my
+own defence. I implore you to disperse to your homes; even if you gain
+successes for a time, it would but draw down vengeance upon you."
+
+The assailants had paused when he commenced to speak, and those in front
+had listened to his words, but those behind, not knowing what was going
+on, continued to shout and to press up the hill. As he finished speaking
+there was a yell of defiance, and the column rushed forward.
+
+"Aim low," Hector shouted as he leapt down among his men, "fire!" Eight
+muskets flashed out. "Second line, fire! Now handle your pikes, the rear
+lines will reserve their fire."
+
+Although ten or twelve of the leading rank of the insurgents had fallen,
+there was no pause among the others, and they rushed forward to the
+hedge of pikes.
+
+"Take charge here, MacIntosh; I will run and get the stones at work." In
+half a minute he stood by the side of the tenants.
+
+"Heave then down!" he said. He had chosen a spot where the rock rose
+perpendicularly above the road. "Drop them over," he said, "so that they
+may fall straight. The biggest you must roll over with your levers, but
+work them to the edge and let them topple over; don't thrust them out or
+they will bound over the road. Now!"
+
+Twenty rocks were dropped down together. Even above the din of shouting
+the crash as they fell below was heard, followed instantly by yells and
+cries.
+
+"Move farther on and give them another shower," Hector said; and again
+the rocks fell on the crowded causeway. The first volley had caused a
+pause--numbers had been crushed, many of the stones as they rolled
+down the road had carried confusion to those below; the second volley
+completed their discomfiture. Appalled by a discharge against which
+they had no shelter and which was wholly unexpected, those near whom the
+stones had fallen turned, and in their panic swept those below them on
+the road down into the valley, many being overthrown and trampled to
+death. Ignorant of what was going on behind them, the crowd above the
+spot where the stones had fallen were still pressing upward, those in
+front hewing with their scythes and axes at the pikeheads.
+
+Hector ran back there. "The two rear ranks will now fire!" he said.
+
+The men dropped their pikes, and two volleys of musketry were poured
+into the insurgents. Those of the front line were swept away by the
+fire, and for a moment the whole recoiled.
+
+"Now, men," Hector shouted, "cross the breastwork and sweep them away
+with your pikes!"
+
+With a cheer the men leapt over the embankment. There was room for ten
+abreast, and in a treble line with levelled spears they bore down upon
+the rebels. The charge was irresistible. A few of the leaders of the
+peasants threw themselves on to the spears and died there, the others
+strove, but in vain, to fly. Their comrades behind, ignorant of what was
+going on, still pressed up, and it was not until the screams and shouts
+of those in front, and the pressure downwards, brought the column to a
+stand and then bore it backward, that they learned that the defenders
+had taken the offensive, and were sweeping all before them. Then a panic
+arose, and the peasants rushed down the road, the tenants above saluting
+them as they passed with another volley of rocks. Halfway down the hill
+Hector halted his men, and led them up to the intrenchment again over a
+road encumbered with dead bodies.
+
+"I think that will do," he said. "After the tale those who have got
+down safely will have to tell, we may be sure they will do nothing until
+morning, and it may well be that they may think it advisable to be off
+to attack some other place not so strongly defended. However, we will
+presently beat them up, and if possible capture their cannon, and
+without them they could not hope to take any fortified house well
+defended."
+
+For a time there was a prodigious din in the valley, sounds of men
+shouting and quarrelling, of others trying in vain to make their voices
+heard, and to address the excited peasants. In an hour it quieted
+down, and by midnight all was still. Hector had been busy with his
+preparations.
+
+"How many horses have we?" he asked.
+
+"Well nigh a hundred, colonel."
+
+"That is more than enough. Now, MacIntosh, do you and the men here go
+down the road and pitch the bodies over; we should never get the horses
+over them."
+
+Then he went to where the tenants were still waiting. "Now, my lads," he
+said, "I want a big gap made in one of these walls we built today, wide
+enough for a horse to pass through it, and strong planks laid across the
+fosse." Then he ascended the ladder up to the battlements. He found the
+baroness and her daughter standing over the gateway.
+
+"Is all over?" they asked, as he came up to them.
+
+"Yes, for the present. We have beaten them handsomely, and without the
+loss of a single man."
+
+"Will they attack again in the morning, do you think?"
+
+"I feel sure that they will not do so. You see, they relied upon their
+cannon for taking the chateau, and they find they are useless. I am
+going to make a sortie before daybreak, for I want to capture those
+cannon. So long as they hold them they will continue their work, and
+they may not always meet with so stout a resistance. The loss of their
+cannon will dishearten them, as well as lessen their power for evil. I
+shall take every man who can carry arms, and leave ten at the breastwork
+to defend it; but there is no chance whatever of their attempting to
+come up here while we are attacking them, so you need have no fear."
+
+"We shall not be afraid, Colonel Campbell, our confidence in you is
+absolute; but do you not think that you are running a great risk in
+attacking a force some forty times as large as your own?"
+
+"One cannot call it a force, it is simply a mob, and a mob that has
+suffered a terrible repulse, and the loss of three or four hundred men
+tonight. We shall take them by surprise. I am going to mount all the
+tenants. MacIntosh tells me that they have all been drilled as cavalry
+as well as infantry. He, with the twenty men of the regular garrison on
+foot and ten of the tenants, will make straight for the guns. I shall
+be with the horsemen, and as soon as we have scattered the mob, we will
+harness the horses to the guns and bring them up here, so that I shall
+strengthen the castle as well as weaken the peasants."
+
+The tenants were all informed of what was going to be done.
+
+"It will be to your benefit as well as ours," he said, "for you may be
+sure that in the morning, if they give up the idea of again attacking
+us, they will scatter all over the estates and sack and burn every
+house, whereas if we succeed in dispersing them, no small portion of
+them will at once scatter to their homes, and the rest will take care
+not to come near this neighbourhood again."
+
+At twelve o'clock MacIntosh sent a man to say that the road down was
+clear, and that three hundred and twenty dead bodies had been thrown
+over. At three o'clock in the morning the horses, round whose hoofs
+pieces of sacking had been tied, were led across the fosse. One of
+MacIntosh's sergeants was put in charge of the ten men who were to
+remain at the intrenchment, the castle being left entirely in the hands
+of the women and boys. The mounted tenants were eighty in number, all
+carrying long spears and swords. The torches had long since burnt out,
+and each man leading his horse went noiselessly down the road, MacIntosh
+with the footmen leading the way. They halted at the bottom of the
+road. There was no sound from the spot where the insurgents were lying
+a couple of hundred yards down the valley, fatigued by a very long march
+on the previous day, and the exertion of dragging the cannon, for only
+a few of these were horsed. Presently the day began to break, but not
+until it became light enough to see perfectly, did Hector give the order
+to mount, and leaping into the saddle prepared to lead them.
+
+The mounted men had been divided into four bands of twenty each. Paolo
+and the three troopers each took the command of a party. Hector's
+orders were: "Keep together until the peasants are in full flight, then
+separate in pursuit. The movement must be put down or the whole province
+will be ruined, therefore give no quarter, and pursue until your horses
+are tired, then return here. Now, MacIntosh, do you advance straight
+upon the guns; it is probable that they are all loaded, therefore carry
+them with a rush. The moment we see you engaged we will charge."
+
+The horsemen were in single line, extending from side to side of the
+valley. Hector kept his eye upon MacIntosh's party. They were close
+to the guns before any of the sleepers awoke. Then there was a sudden
+shout, and numbers of the men rushed to the cannon. MacIntosh was there
+as soon as they were, and pouring in a volley rushed upon the guns. At
+the same moment Hector gave the word to charge, and with levelled spears
+the horsemen rode down into the midst of the crowd. Appalled by this
+sudden attack, which was wholly unexpected, the resistance was but
+slight. Many of the peasants at once threw away their arms and fled.
+Those who resisted were speared or overthrown by the horses. As the
+valley widened the four troops separated a little, each cutting a way
+for itself through the peasants. It was no longer a fight; and a wild
+panic seized upon the whole of the insurgents. Some rushed straight down
+the valley, others ran up the opposite hillside; but the slope here was
+gradual, and the horsemen were able to pursue.
+
+"Paolo, take your troop up the hill. Let the others keep straight
+down the valley." And, heading these, Hector galloped on, shouting to
+MacIntosh to harness what teams there were to some of the guns and take
+them up to the top of the road, and then bring the horses back for some
+more.
+
+For two hours the pursuit continued. Occasionally a group of peasants
+gathered together and tried to stem the tide, but these were speedily
+overcome, the long spears bearing them down without their being able to
+strike a blow at the riders, and at the end of that time the insurgents
+were scattered over a wide extent of country, all flying for their
+lives. Hector now ordered trumpets to sound; he was soon joined by the
+other troops, and at a leisurely pace they rode back to their starting
+point. Not more than half the guns had as yet been taken up, for
+MacIntosh had found it necessary to put double teams to them in order to
+drag them up the steep road. The mounted men had all brought ropes with
+them, and, dismounting, eight yoked their horses to each gun, and in
+an hour the whole were brought up to the plateau, the drawbridge was
+lowered, the sacks of earth cleared away, and the portcullis raised, the
+gates thrown open, and the garrison filed into the courtyard, greeted by
+cries of welcome from the women.
+
+"I think that we have crushed the insurrection in this part of Poitou,"
+Hector said to Madame de Blenfoix. "We have certainly killed six or
+seven hundred of them, and I am sure that the remainder will never
+rally. We will rest today, and tomorrow morning we will set to work
+to complete the defences of the chateau, so that it may be held by a
+comparatively small number of men."
+
+The joy of the women was extreme when they found that not a single man
+had fallen, though a few had received gashes more or less severe. The
+next morning the whole of the men and boys set to work under Hector's
+directions. The intrenchment at the top of the road was greatly
+strengthened, an opening through which a cart could pass being left in
+the middle.
+
+A gun was placed on each side of this, and twenty sacks of earth laid
+down by the side of the opening, so that this in the course of a few
+minutes could be closed, and a gun placed close by run into position
+between the other two. The greater part of the men, however, were
+employed in raising a mound of stones and earth in front of the gateway,
+so as to cover this from the fire of any guns which, after the outward
+intrenchment had been stormed, might be brought up on to the plateau.
+The women, and even the children, assisted in the work by carrying
+earth, while men, with the horses and carts, brought stones up from the
+valley.
+
+It took a fortnight's hard work before the outwork was completed. It was
+twenty feet high, triangular in form, and solid in construction. Many
+of the tenants were accustomed to stonework; and while the rest of the
+bastion was constructed of rough stones mixed with earth, a parapet four
+feet thick, of roughly dressed stones, was carried along on the crest
+of the two outward sides. Four guns were mounted here; the rest of the
+cannon were placed on the outer wall instead of the honeycombed guns
+before in position, and the castle was thus prepared to stand a regular
+siege.
+
+Hector remained for a week after the work was completed, paid the
+tenants liberally for the services they had rendered, and dismissed them
+to their homes, for the terrible blow that had been inflicted upon them
+had so cowed the peasants that order had been completely restored in
+that part of Poitou. Then, after taking an affectionate adieu of Madame
+de Blenfoix and her daughter, he rode back to Paris, where he remained
+for two months.
+
+At the end of that time, being heartily tired of the frivolity and
+intrigues, and disgusted at the immorality of the court, he obtained
+leave from Mazarin to rejoin his regiment, as the campaign might be
+expected to open shortly again. The cardinal had warmly congratulated
+him upon the suppression of the insurrection in Poitou, of which he had
+received full details from his agents long before Hector reached Paris.
+
+"I have always exhorted the officers and the troops engaged in putting
+down these risings to spill no more blood than is absolutely necessary.
+But it needed a great lesson, such as you have given them. Otherwise, as
+soon as the troops were withdrawn the peasants would rise again."
+
+Turenne had also been in Paris, and had strongly represented to Mazarin
+the necessity for the armies of France and Sweden in Germany acting
+together, since while they were acting separately, and at great
+distances apart, the Austrians and Bavarians could unite and crush the
+one, while the other could offer it no assistance. It was owing to
+this that the conquests made by the troop of France and Weimar had been
+repeatedly wrested from them. The cardinal listened to his advice,
+and determined to bring about a union between the two armies of the
+confederation. In the meantime a conference was going on at Munster
+between the representatives of the various conflicting powers, but each
+put forward such exorbitant demands that no progress was made.
+
+The Duke of Bavaria, indignant at the small support that Austria had
+given him, was playing off France against the latter power. Mazarin
+was persuaded that he was only waiting for an opportunity to desert the
+Imperialist cause, and therefore ordered Turenne not to cross the Rhine,
+as the duke had promised that he would remain neutral unless the French
+advanced into Germany, when the feelings of his subjects might force him
+to take the field again on the side of Austria.
+
+Turenne was therefore ordered to besiege Luxembourg. The marshal,
+however, had no belief in the Bavarian promises, and on arriving on the
+Rhine early in April, and seeing that were he to march with his army
+away to Luxembourg the cause of France and Germany would be lost, he
+continued to make various excuses for not moving, until the Duke of
+Bavaria, having obtained many concessions from Austria, threw off
+the mask, and marching with his army joined that of the emperor in
+Franconia. Thus the whole Imperial forces were posted between the French
+and the Swedes.
+
+Turenne saw that his only hope of success would be to effect a juncture
+with the Swedes, and wrote to the cardinal to that effect; then, without
+waiting for an answer, he set his army in motion. A tremendous circuit
+had to be made. He forded the Moselle six leagues above Coblenz, the
+bridges over the Rhine being all in possession of the enemy, marched up
+into Holland, and obtained permission from the king to cross at Wesel,
+which he reached after fourteen days' march. Crossing the Rhine on the
+15th of July he marched through the country of La Mark, and through
+Westphalia, and on the 10th of August joined the Swedes under General
+Wrangel, who had received news of his coming, and had intrenched himself
+so strongly that the enemy, who had arrived before him, did not venture
+to attack him. The enemy now fell back at once and encamped near
+Freiburg. Their army was superior in force to that of the allies, they
+having fourteen thousand horse and ten thousand foot, while the allies
+had but ten thousand horse and seven thousand foot. The allies had,
+however, sixty pieces of cannon against fifty of the Imperialists.
+The allies advanced to Freiburg and offered battle, but the Archduke
+Leopold, who commanded the Imperialists, declined to come out of the
+great intrenchments he had thrown up round his camp.
+
+Turenne then marched towards the Maine, and, halting ten leagues from
+Mayence, sent for the infantry, of which he had left a portion there,
+to join him. The whole force of the allies was now united, and took
+many towns. As, however, they were still inferior in force to the
+Imperialists, Turenne refused to weaken himself by placing garrisons in
+these places, contenting himself with blowing up the fortifications of
+some and carrying off the principal inhabitants of others as hostages.
+The Imperialist army still remained inactive, and Turenne was able
+therefore to turn his attention to Bavaria. Crossing the Rhine at
+Donauwurth he besieged Augsburg and Rain. The latter place was captured,
+but the former, being reinforced by fifteen hundred men, held out
+stoutly, and it was necessary to open trenches and proceed in regular
+form against it. The Duke of Bavaria, greatly alarmed at this invasion
+of his dominions, sent off message after message to the emperor,
+complaining of the manner in which the Imperial army remained inactive,
+leaving the allies to employ their whole force against him. He
+threatened that unless the army advanced at once to his assistance he
+would make terms with France. Imperative orders were thereupon sent to
+the archduke to move against the French. The allies fell back, as his
+force was greatly superior to theirs, and the archduke took up a strong
+position, intending to force the allies to retire into Franconia as soon
+as the country round them was exhausted.
+
+Turenne and Wrangel divined his purpose, and although it was now the
+beginning of November and snow was on the ground, they marched
+against him. On arriving near his camp they found that it was strongly
+fortified, and could be attacked only by passing behind great marshes
+and defiles. Changing their intentions, they left two thousand horse in
+front of his camp, making believe that they intended to attack him, then
+marched with all haste to the Lech and advanced against Landsberg, which
+they took by assault. In the city were the principal magazines of the
+Imperialist army, and the allies, finding sufficient provisions there to
+last for six months, encamped round the city and decided to winter there
+unless attacked, in the meantime sending out bodies of cavalry, which
+levied contributions up to the very gates of Munich. Leopold, thus
+deprived of his magazines, retired with the Austrian contingent, and the
+Bavarians returned home.
+
+The Duke of Bavaria, finding that his whole dominions would be captured
+unless he made terms, therefore opened negotiations, and on the 14th of
+March, 1646, peace was signed, the terms being that he should separate
+himself entirely from the empire and deliver five of his fortresses to
+the allies, who would thus, should he again break his word, have means
+of access into his dominions. The allied forces were now in a condition
+to march upon Vienna. They had during the winter plundered a large
+portion of Bavaria; they and their horses had recovered from their
+fatigue, and their force now amounted to fourteen thousand foot and
+twenty thousand horse. At this moment, when the Imperialists believed
+that all was lost, for without the assistance of Bavaria they could put
+no army in the field that could hope to make head against the allies,
+Mazarin interposed and saved Austria from destruction.
+
+The Catholic powers had long been privately urging upon him the danger
+that would arise should Austria be crushed. The Swedes would acquire
+very large accessions of territory, the Protestant German princes, their
+allies, would similarly benefit, and Protestantism would become the
+dominant religion in Germany. Such would, indeed, have undoubtedly been
+the case had the allies marched to Vienna and dictated terms of peace
+there. An order was therefore sent to Turenne to march with his army to
+Flanders, where the Spaniards were gaining great advantages, as Enghien,
+now become Prince of Conde by the death of his father, had been sent
+into Catalonia with the greater portion of his army. Turenne, foreseeing
+that his German regiments would refuse to march to Flanders, leaving
+their own country open to invasion and plunder by the Imperialists,
+warmly opposed the plan, and sent messenger after messenger to the
+cardinal urging him to countermand the order. The friends of Bavaria and
+the Catholic princes urged strongly upon the queen that the continuance
+of the war would utterly destroy the Catholic religion in Germany, and
+that the Swedes alone would reap advantage from the fall of the house
+of Austria. Moved by their arguments and those of Mazarin to the same
+effect, she supported the latter, and peremptory orders were sent to
+Turenne to march to Flanders, where matters were going from bad to
+worse. Turenne obeyed them, captured on his march towards the Rhine
+several towns and fortresses, destroying their fortifications so that
+they would not be able to oppose him if he returned to Germany. But
+on arriving on the Rhine his anticipations of trouble were fulfilled.
+General Rosen, whose blunder had been the cause of the disaster at
+Marienthal, and who had since his return from captivity persistently
+worked in opposition to Turenne, fomented discontent among the troops of
+Weimar, and directly they crossed the Rhine they absolutely refused
+to advance. They had just cause for complaint; they had fought with
+distinguished valour, and they alone had saved the French army from
+suffering crushing defeat at Nordlingen; their pay was six months in
+arrear, and the proposal now that they should leave their own country
+and fight in Flanders was naturally most repugnant to them. They at
+once marched away towards Strasburg. Turenne followed them with three
+thousand infantry, four French regiments of horse, and the only one of
+the Weimar cavalry that had remained faithful to him, and came up just
+as they were about to recross the Rhine.
+
+Partly by entreaties, partly by showing his confidence in them, by
+putting himself wholly in their power, the marshal induced a portion of
+the Weimar cavalry to return to their duty. General Rosen, who was to a
+large extent responsible for the mutiny, was arrested and imprisoned
+at Philippsburg, the rest of the mutineers rode away with the loss of a
+portion of their number, and joined the Swedes. After this the order for
+Turenne to march to Flanders was countermanded.
+
+The war languished for a few months, the Imperialists were defeated
+after a hard fought cavalry battle by Turenne and the Swedes, and the
+country was overrun by the latter, whose horsemen raided almost up to
+Innsbruck. But all parties were growing weary of the conflict, which had
+now lasted thirty years. It had inflicted incredible suffering upon
+all who were concerned in it, and had produced no important results
+whatever, except that it had prevented the entire crushing out of
+Protestantism in Germany, and the peace conference for the first time
+began to work in earnest.
+
+At last, after Bavaria had been wasted from end to end, and the duke
+driven into exile, peace was concluded, the emperor yielding every
+point demanded by France, as he saw plainly enough that unless he did
+so Turenne's army would be at the gates of Vienna at the commencement
+of the next campaign, and in October, 1648, hostilities ceased. Turenne
+went to Munster and acted as the French negotiator in arranging the
+peace, to which his genius, steadfast determination, and the expenditure
+of his own means, by which he had kept the army on foot, had so largely
+contributed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX: AN OLD SCORE
+
+
+Hector was not present with the army during the last three campaigns of
+the war. He had joined Turenne in April, 1646, and shared in the general
+disappointment when the order was received that the army was not to
+cross the Rhine, because Bavaria had promised to remain neutral if it
+did not do so.
+
+"I cannot think," the marshal said to him a day or two after he received
+the order--for he had always maintained the same pleasant relations with
+Hector that had subsisted between them in Italy, and placed the most
+entire confidence in the discretion of the young colonel--"how Mazarin
+can allow Bavaria to hoodwink him. Indeed, I cannot believe that he is
+really deceived; he must know that that crafty old fox the duke is not
+to be relied upon in any way, and that he is merely trying to save time.
+'Tis hard indeed to see us powerless to move, now that the season for
+campaigning is just opening, and when by advancing we could cut the
+Bavarians off from Austria. As to besieging Luxembourg, it would be but
+a waste of time, for before we could open a trench we should hear that
+the duke has again declared against us, and we should have to hurry back
+with all speed."
+
+It was, indeed, but a fortnight later that the news came that the
+Bavarians were on the move to join the Imperialists, and a fortnight
+later it was known that the two armies had effected their junction.
+Turenne at once collected his troops from the towns and villages where
+they were placed, and marched to Mayence.
+
+"I am going to send you to Paris, Campbell," he said on the evening
+of their arrival there. "All is lost if the enemy, now united, throw
+themselves upon the Swedes, and I have resolved to take upon myself the
+responsibility of marching round through Holland and joining Wrangel.
+There is, of course, risk in such an expedition, and the cardinal may
+object very strongly to my undertaking such a movement, especially as
+it will leave the frontier of France virtually unguarded, but I have no
+fear that evil consequences will arise. The enemy will not hear of
+my march until ten days after I have started, and even then they will
+probably suppose that we have gone to Flanders. By the time they
+find out what my intentions are, it will be too late for them to take
+advantage of my absence.
+
+"Even then they would have to storm Philippsburg or some other strong
+place before they could cross the Rhine, and before they could do that
+Wrangel and I would be at their heels. Moreover, as they would know
+that, instead of pursuing them, we might, after effecting a junction,
+make straight for Vienna, and that no army could be got together to
+oppose us, I consider that the movement is a perfectly safe one. Now,
+I am going to send you to Mazarin with my despatch telling him of my
+intention. I am choosing you for the purpose, because you will be able
+to explain and enforce the reasons that I have given him. He has a high
+opinion of you, and will listen to you when perhaps he would not pay
+any regard to Rosen or any other of these Weimar officers I might send.
+Remember that there is no occasion for extreme hurry," and he smiled.
+"Of course it is necessary that you should travel with a certain amount
+of speed, but do not founder your horse. Every day is of value to me,
+and if I am once well on my way north Mazarin could hardly recall me.
+
+"Say that you take five days to get to Paris, by that time I should
+be north of Cologne, and a courier from Mazarin can hardly overtake me
+until I am in Holland, I should then feel justified in disregarding the
+order, seeing that I should by pushing on effect a junction with the
+Swedes quite as quickly as I could return here. Of course it would be
+too late for you to overtake me, and I shall give you a written order
+to remain in Paris until I am again so near the Rhine that you can join
+your regiment. I consider that it will be an advantage to have you near
+the cardinal, as, knowing my intentions and methods as you do, you would
+be able to so explain matters to him that he will understand the reasons
+for my various movements."
+
+"Very well marshal, I am ready to start as soon as you hand me the
+despatch."
+
+"I will do that tomorrow morning, and you will then be able to tell
+Mazarin that we were just setting out when you left us."
+
+"As it will be some time before I shall rejoin my regiment, may I ask
+you to appoint Captain de Thiou as second colonel? He has now served as
+senior captain of the regiment for three years. He aided me heartily and
+cordially in organizing it. He has seconded me throughout in a manner
+of which I cannot speak too highly, and distinguished himself greatly
+at Freiburg, and on every occasion in which we have been in contact with
+the enemy. I think it very desirable that there should be an officer of
+rank superior to the others while I am away; and both for the sake of
+the regiment, and as a reward for the merit and conduct of Captain de
+Thiou himself, I should be very glad were he promoted and should feel
+that the regiment would in no way deteriorate during my absence."
+
+"Certainly, Campbell, I will carry out your recommendation. He has
+fairly earned his promotion, and as you say, it is better in your
+absence that the regiment should be led by an officer of rank above the
+others, and not by a captain having but a very slight seniority to some
+of them. Doubtless you will be saying goodbye to the officers tonight.
+I authorize you to inform de Thiou that he will be placed in orders
+tomorrow morning as second colonel of the regiment."
+
+"I did not think that we were likely to be back in Paris before next
+winter, master," Paolo said rather discontentedly when Hector told him
+that they were to start early next morning.
+
+"Nor did I, Paolo, and I should very much rather have remained with the
+regiment; but as the marshal is good enough to consider that my presence
+there may be of advantage to him, I have of course nothing to say
+against it."
+
+There was great regret among the officers when they heard that their
+colonel was not going to lead them, but all were pleased that de Thiou,
+who was a general favourite, had obtained promotion. That officer was at
+once surprised and gratified at the news, for it was not often that men
+without strong family interest rose to the rank of colonel.
+
+"I know that this is your doing," he said gratefully. "I never expected
+to get above my present rank, and I am sure that I should never have
+done so had it not been for you."
+
+"You thoroughly deserve it, de Thiou, for it was by your support that
+I was enabled, when I first joined, to introduce reforms, and get the
+officers to take upon themselves more work and responsibilities, and
+thus make the regiment what it is. I hope I shall rejoin before the end
+of the campaign. This may be the last, for now that they have begun the
+peace conference at Munster, something must surely come of it sooner or
+later, for all parties must be thoroughly sick of this long and terrible
+war, which has ruined Germany and impoverished France, and from which
+neither party, after nigh thirty years of fighting, has gained any
+material advantage. At any rate it will be a great satisfaction to me
+to know that the regiment is in your hands. I know that during the time
+that I have been away this winter things have gone on satisfactorily;
+but it is clearly impossible for an officer to keep a regiment well
+in hand when, as in your case, your appointment was only a day or two
+earlier than that of some of the others. You are likely to have some
+stiff marching now, for only one other infantry regiment besides ours
+will accompany the cavalry, the rest will remain here until they get
+an opportunity of rejoining. Of course I shall take Paolo and my four
+mounted troopers back with me to Paris. I may probably send them on to
+la Villar, as it is not likely that I shall need them at court."
+
+On the evening of the fifth day after leaving Mayence Hector arrived in
+Paris, and alighted at the cardinal's hotel.
+
+"So you are again a bearer of despatches, Monsieur Campbell," the
+cardinal said, as Hector entered his apartment. "They need be important,
+or the marshal would hardly have sent you with them."
+
+"They are, as you will see, important, your eminence, but I am sent
+rather to explain further than the marshal could do in a letter his
+reasons for the step that he has taken. As you have learned long before
+this, the Duke of Bavaria has proved false to his promises. He has
+effected a junction with the Imperialist army, and the marshal has news
+that both are marching against the Swedes, who are in no strength to
+show fight against so great a force."
+
+The cardinal opened the despatch, and read it in silence.
+
+"'Tis a grave step for the marshal to have taken without orders," he
+said, frowning; "and do you mean to say that he has already started on
+this expedition?"
+
+"The troops had fallen into their ranks when I started, and by this time
+they must be well on their way towards Holland. There was no time, sir,
+for the marshal to await a reply to the despatch. The matter was most
+urgent, every day was of importance, for if the Swedes fell back, as
+they might do, before the archduke, the latter would be able to overrun
+all northern Germany, to capture the towns of the Protestant princes,
+break up their confederation, and compel them to give in their
+submission; for Turenne with his small force would be powerless to
+interfere with their operations, even if by pressing after them with all
+speed he arrived within striking distance."
+
+"And think you that he will reach Wrangel in time?"
+
+"He hopes so, sir. He sent off a messenger before starting, with orders
+to buy fresh horses at all cost at each halting place, to carry the news
+as quickly as possible to Wrangel that he was on his way to join him,
+and imploring him to intrench himself in some strong position until he
+should come up.
+
+"How long hence will that be?"
+
+"The march will be pressed forward with all speed, your eminence, with
+such delays only as may be needed to keep the horses in such a state
+that they may be ready for fighting as soon as they join the Swedes. He
+hopes to be there in a month from the day of starting."
+
+"And in the meantime," Mazarin said, "France is open to invasion.
+He says, indeed, that the Imperialists would hardly venture to march
+hitherward, as thereby they in turn would leave it open to him and the
+Swedes to march into the heart of Austria."
+
+"Assuredly that is so, sir. The archduke will hardly get news that
+Marshal Turenne has moved until he has been some ten or twelve days on
+his march, and even when he hears it he will not know in what direction
+he has gone, but may think it likely that he either intends to seize
+Luxembourg or to reinforce your army in Flanders. By the time they
+discover his true object he will be within a week's march of the Swedes,
+possibly less than that. It will be too late for them then to think
+of marching to the Rhine. If they consider themselves strong enough to
+fight the marshal and the Swedes together, they will do so at once; if
+they fear to give battle, still more would they fear to be attacked by
+him when entering a country where they would have him in their rear,
+and be hemmed in between him and the Rhine, not to speak of the risk of
+leaving Austria open to invasion, should he, instead of pursuing them,
+direct his march thither. If I might presume to judge, I should say that
+the expedition that the marshal has undertaken is at once worthy of his
+military genius, and will at the same time do far more to ensure the
+safety of the Rhine provinces than he could do were he to remain there
+with his small army until the Imperialists, having chased the Swedes out
+of the country and reduced northern Germany, turned their whole forces
+against him."
+
+"I see, Monsieur Campbell," the cardinal said, turning the subject,
+"that you have been five days coming here from Mayence. It is a very
+different rate of speed to that at which you traveled from Rocroi."
+
+"It is so, your eminence; but on that occasion the Duc d'Enghien had
+placed relays of his best horses all along the road, so that we were
+enabled to travel without making a halt."
+
+"And moreover, my dear colonel," Mazarin said, "Turenne, far from urging
+you to haste, was desirous of getting so far before he received my
+answer as to render it impossible for me to recall him."
+
+"I cannot think that your eminence would do that. It is a grand
+enterprise, and almost without precedent in point both of daring and in
+the great advantages to be gained from it."
+
+"And Turenne thought that by sending you, you would be able to assist
+him in persuading me to regard it favourably. Well, well, it is
+certainly too late to recall him now. He has taken the responsibility
+upon himself, and must stand or fall by the result. And now in the
+first place are you going to hurry back again or are you going to remain
+here?"
+
+"My regiment is one of those that he has taken with him, sir, and as I
+could not hope to overtake him he has requested me to remain here until
+I receive orders from him."
+
+"We shall be gainers so far," the cardinal said cordially, "and I am
+sure that from your knowledge of the country and of Turenne's methods
+your advice upon military matters will be of great service to us. I must
+now go and report to the queen this sudden change in the situation, and
+if she disapproves of it I shall tell her that if she will but listen
+to you, you will convert her to the view that this escapade of the
+marshal's is all for the best, and seems likely indeed to retrieve the
+position that has been caused by the treachery of Bavaria."
+
+During his stay in Paris Hector soon found that intrigue was more
+rampant than ever. The Duke of Beaufort and others who had been
+implicated in the plot on Mazarin's life had been pardoned and had
+returned to Paris, and as the lesson that had been given them had taught
+them prudence, they were now openly on good terms with the court. They
+were secretly, however, intriguing with the parliament of Paris, which
+was now bitterly opposed to Mazarin, had refused to register some of
+his decrees, and had even forced him to dismiss his superintendent of
+finance, an Italian named Emeri. The latter had imposed taxes at his
+will to satisfy his extravagance and avarice, had raised the octroi
+duty, made the sale of firewood a monopoly, and in various ways had
+incurred the indignation and hatred of the Parisians.
+
+Mazarin's own greed had been in no slight degree the cause of his
+unpopularity; he who had come to France a penniless priest was now the
+owner of great estates. It was even said that much of the money that
+should have been devoted to the needs of the army had been privately
+sent into Italy by him, and throughout the country it was felt to be
+scandalous that while the deepest distress was universal on account of
+the weight of taxation, these two Italians should be piling up wealth
+for themselves. But, avaricious as he was, the cardinal was lavish
+in his expenditure among his friends and adherents; honours, titles,
+dignities, and estates were freely bestowed upon them, and he did not
+hesitate to pay any sum that would gain him the support of those whose
+aid he deemed to be essential. Madame de Chevreuse was again at court,
+and was, as she had always been, the centre of the intrigues that were
+going on. One evening she made a sign for Hector to take a place by her
+side. She had taken a fancy to the young Scottish colonel on the evening
+when he had been first introduced to her, and was always gracious to him
+now.
+
+"Monsieur le baron," she said in a low tone, "do you think that the air
+of Paris agrees with you as well as that of the army?"
+
+He felt from the manner in which she spoke, that she meant more than she
+said.
+
+"So far, madam, it has not disagreed with me," he said; "and even did
+it do so I should not be able to leave it, as I have orders to remain
+here."
+
+"By the way, monsieur," she said, changing the subject of conversation,
+"it is whispered that that party of pleasure to which you took the
+officers of your regiment at St. Germain did not come off, at least none
+of the landlords of the hotels there can recall any such gathering, and
+it is even said that your falling in with the carriage of the Duke of
+Orleans was not altogether an accident. I only mention the reports; of
+course, it was a matter of no moment whether your party dined at St.
+Germain or at Sevres. But sometimes misapprehensions of this kind
+lead to trouble, especially when they happen a few days before serious
+events. I like you, Colonel Campbell, and that is why I have mentioned
+this; you understand me, I have no doubt;" and, turning to a gentleman
+who had at that moment approached her, she entered into a lively
+conversation with him, and Hector rose, and with the words, "Thank you,
+madam," bowed, and moved away.
+
+It was easy to understand her meaning. Beaufort and the conspirators
+whose plan he had thwarted, and who had suffered imprisonment and exile
+thereby, had in some way discovered that it was to him that they owed
+their failure and disgrace. At the moment his explanation and that of
+his officers had deceived them, but doubtless someone whose connection
+with the plot was unsuspected had instituted inquiries, found that the
+party he had spoken of had not taken place, and had at once come to
+the conclusion that he had in some way discovered their intentions, had
+really ridden out with his officers to furnish a guard to Mazarin, and
+had afterwards acquainted him with what he had discovered. Doubtless,
+as Madame de Chevreuse had warned him, the air of Paris was at present
+dangerously unwholesome for him. He had been the means of bringing
+disgrace and punishment upon the Duc de Vendome and the Duke of
+Beaufort, two of the most powerful nobles in France, and a host of their
+friends.
+
+It was probable that they only recently assured themselves that it was
+he who had thwarted their plans; had it been otherwise he would scarcely
+have escaped their vengeance the last time that he was in Paris. Now,
+from what Madame de Chevreuse had said, he had no doubt whatever that
+some plot would be made against his life. He might thwart one such
+attempt, but others would follow. He resolved to lay the matter before
+the cardinal and take his advice. Accordingly he waited until he was
+leaving; several gentlemen of his suite accompanied him, and at the
+entrance to the Louvre the men of the cardinal's guard fell in on either
+side. When they reached Mazarin's hotel Hector moved up to him.
+
+"Can I have a few words with you, your eminence?"
+
+"Certainly, Colonel Campbell; I never retire to bed till long past
+midnight. It is something serious, I see," he said quickly as they
+entered his apartment, where a number of candles were burning, and he
+obtained a full view of Hector's face. "Another plot?"
+
+"Not against your eminence; it is a matter which concerns myself only.
+I have been warned tonight that my share in the last affair has been
+discovered, that inquiries have been made at St. Germain, and that the
+various innkeepers have declared that no party of officers dined there
+that morning, and that it was therefore concluded that our presence
+behind your carriage was not accidental. They no doubt guessed that
+it was I who discovered the plot, in consequence of which so many were
+arrested and exiled. I have been distinctly warned that the air of Paris
+is unwholesome for me."
+
+"Who warned you?" the cardinal said abruptly.
+
+"It would not be fair of me to mention the name, but it is at any rate
+one who is of Beaufort's party."
+
+"Ah!" the cardinal said sharply, "I noticed you sitting for a few
+minutes by Madame de Chevreuse. Never mind, I will respect your
+confidence. I can well understand, after what you have said, that there
+is great danger here, and it is a danger from which it is well nigh
+impossible to protect you, unless you take up your residence here and
+never stir abroad. Nor do I know that you would be safer with the army;
+an assassin's knife can reach a man as easily in a camp as in a city,
+and with perhaps less risk of detection. Neither Beaufort nor Vendome
+are men to forget or forgive an injury, and they have scores of
+fellows who would for a few crowns murder anyone they indicated, and of
+gentlemen of higher rank who, although not assassins, would willingly
+engage you in a duel, especially those who suffered in the plot that you
+discovered. Frankly, what do you think yourself?"
+
+"I might retire to la Villar, cardinal. I should be safe there in my own
+castle."
+
+"So long as you did not leave it; but a man with a musket in ambush
+behind a hedge might cut your career short. It is probable enough that
+you are watched, and in that case I should doubt whether you would ever
+get to la Villar, nor do I think that if you left for the Rhine you
+would get halfway. Now you see, Monsieur Campbell, that your cause is
+mine, and that your safety touches me as if it were my own, for it was
+in my service that you incurred the danger. I must think the matter
+over. In the meantime I beg of you to sleep here tonight. I will send
+word to your servant that you will not return. I could of course send
+a guard with you to your hotel, but some of the servants there may
+have been bribed to murder you as you slept. I can look after myself; I
+seldom leave the house except to go to the Louvre, and I never go even
+that short distance without a guard, but it is much more difficult to
+protect you."
+
+"I have my own bodyguard, your excellency--four stout Scotch soldiers
+and my lackey, Paolo, who is a good swordsman also; and as it does not
+seem to me that I should be safer elsewhere than here, I shall at any
+rate stay for a time. I should imagine that the warning was a general
+one. They have just found out that I had a hand in thwarting their plot
+against you, and I dare say used threats; but the threats of angry men
+come very often to nothing; and at any rate, I do not choose that they
+should obtain the satisfaction of driving me from Paris against my
+will."
+
+The cardinal shook his head. "You see, monsieur, that Beaufort is a man
+who hesitates at nothing. A scrupulous person would hardly endeavour to
+slay a cardinal, who is also the minister of France, in the streets of
+Paris in broad daylight. He is capable of burning down the Pome d'Or,
+and all within it, in order to obtain revenge on you. I feel very uneasy
+about you. However, sleep may bring counsel, and we will talk it over
+again in the morning."
+
+"Have you thought of anything, Monsieur Campbell?" Mazarin asked when
+they met in the morning.
+
+"I have not, sir, save to go on trusting to my own sword and my
+followers."
+
+"I can think of nothing," the cardinal said, "save to send an order to
+Turenne for two companies of your regiment to march hither, where, on
+their arrival, you will receive orders to proceed with them to your
+castle of la Villar, and to use them in the king's service in repressing
+all troubles that may occur in Poitou. What say you to that?"
+
+"I would not deprive her majesty of two hundred of her best soldiers
+to guard me from what may not be after all a very real danger. My own
+conclusions, after thinking it over this morning, are that I will remain
+here for a time, trusting to my friends and my own sword. If a serious
+attempt is made on my life I could then consider whether it would be
+best to withdraw myself, and if so, whither to go; but I will not run
+away merely on a vague hint that my life is in danger. I have faced
+death in battle many times, and this danger can hardly be considered
+as more serious. I imagine that in the first case some of the
+duke's followers will force me into a duel, before proceeding to try
+assassination, and although doubtless he has some good blades among his
+friends, I do not think that I need to feel uneasy on that score. I was
+always practising with my sword as a boy. Since I have been in the army
+I have spent a good deal of my time, when in winter quarters, in such
+practice with my own officers, and with any maitres d'armes in the towns
+where I have been, and while in Italy had the opportunity of learning
+much, for there are fine fencers there."
+
+"So be it, then," Mazarin said. "But if matters go to extremes, remember
+that I consider myself responsible for you. I believe that you saved my
+life, and although there are many things that men say against me, none
+have ever charged me with ingratitude. If I can protect you in no other
+way I shall have you arrested, sent to the frontier, that is to say, to
+the sea frontier, and put on board ship and sent to England or Scotland,
+as you choose, with a chest containing a sum that will suffice to
+purchase any estate you may choose there.
+
+"I am in earnest," he went on as Hector was about to answer. "It is
+for my own sake as much as yours; when my friends are attacked I am
+attacked, and I am doubly bound in your case. It needs but a stroke of
+my pen to make you a duke and lord of half a province; and if I cannot
+do that here, because you would still be within reach of your enemies, I
+can, as far as the estates go, do it for you abroad. Do not fail to let
+me know each day if anything new takes place."
+
+Hector felt that there was no more to say, and bowing, left the
+cardinal's presence and went out. Paolo and Macpherson were waiting
+outside.
+
+"The cardinal's messenger, who brought the news last night that you
+would not return, master," the former said when he saw by Hector's look
+of surprise that he had not expected to see him there, "said also that
+I and one of your men had best be here at eight this morning and wait
+until you came out."
+
+"I did not know that he had sent such a message, Paolo, but I will when
+we get to the hotel tell you why he sent it."
+
+The street was somewhat crowded, and Hector had gone but a short
+distance when he saw three gentlemen, who he knew to be intimates of
+the Duke of Beaufort, coming in the other direction. One of them was
+Monsieur de Beauvais, who said in a loud tone to his companions just as
+Hector was passing:
+
+"That is the Scotchman whom the cardinal employs to do his dirty
+business."
+
+Hector faced round at once. "At any rate, Monsieur de Beauvais, the
+Scotchman in question is not employed by the cardinal as an assassin,
+which is an even more dishonourable post."
+
+De Beauvais turned white with anger. "Behind the Luxembourg in an hour's
+time, Monsieur de Villar."
+
+"I shall be there," Hector said coldly. He paused a minute, after the
+three gentlemen, with the customary salute, walked on. He did not like
+to go to the Hotel Mazarin lest the cardinal should obtain news of what
+was going to take place, so he waited in the neighbourhood, knowing that
+some of Mazarin's personal friends would be sure to arrive about this
+hour. Presently he saw a colonel who, like himself, was spending the
+winter in Paris, and who frequently attended the cardinal's levees.
+
+"Colonel de Serres, as a fellow soldier I have a service to ask of you."
+
+"I am entirely at your disposal, Monsieur Campbell."
+
+"I have just had a quarrel forced upon me by Monsieur de Beauvais, and
+I have to meet him in fifty minutes' time at the back of the Luxembourg.
+As he was in company with two gentlemen, the Comte de Marplat and
+Monsieur de Vipont, I shall be glad if you would kindly act as my
+second, and if you can find another officer who would do so, I shall be
+glad of his services also."
+
+"I shall be glad to support you, Monsieur Campbell, and can lay my hand
+on another second at once, for here comes my friend and yours, Monsieur
+Emile de Chavigny, who will, like myself, be charmed to be concerned in
+any affair against the duke's friends."
+
+De Chavigny, whom Hector had seen at the court on the previous day
+for the first time since they had parted in Italy, agreed at once to
+Hector's request.
+
+"De Beauvais has the reputation of being a good swordsman, Campbell,"
+he said as they walked together towards the Luxembourg, Paolo and his
+companion having now returned to the inn at his master's order; "but I
+should say that he will want all his skill now. You were by far the best
+swordsman among us when you left us suddenly in the south, and doubtless
+since then your skill will not have fallen off."
+
+"No, I know a good deal more than I knew then, Chavigny. There were few
+days when we were in winter quarters that I had not an hour's work in
+the fencing school with the officers of my regiment, and whenever I
+heard that there was a professor of the art I have never failed to
+frequent his salon and to learn his favourite strokes."
+
+"That is all right, then. We need have no fear whatever as to the
+result."
+
+They reached the point fixed upon a minute or two before the clock
+struck, and just as it chimed de Beauvais and his friends made their
+appearance. The seconds exchanged a few words and selected a piece of
+ground for the encounter, the principals at once removed their doublets
+and faced each other.
+
+"This is a duel a la mort," de Beauvais said in a loud voice.
+
+"For that I am quite prepared," Hector said quietly; "but you are likely
+to find, Monsieur de Beauvais, that it is not so easy a thing to
+kill the colonel of one of her majesty's regiments as it is to stab a
+churchman in his carriage."
+
+De Beauvais at once took up his position, and, without the parade of
+courtesy that usually preceded an encounter, fell furiously upon Hector.
+The latter did not give way a step. With a wrist of iron he put aside
+half a dozen thrusts, and then lunging, ran de Beauvais through the
+body, his sword hilt striking against his adversary's chest.
+
+De Beauvais' two seconds ran forward as their principal fell. "He is
+dead," one said as they knelt over him. Then rising he addressed Hector:
+"Monsieur le Colonel Campbell," he said, "I claim satisfaction at your
+hands, for I take it that your words applied to me as well as to de
+Beauvais, though addressed only to him."
+
+"You may take it so," Hector replied coldly, "for you were also at that
+house in the Rue St. Honore on that occasion you know of."
+
+Hector's two seconds endeavoured to interpose, but he said: "Gentlemen,
+I must ask you to let the matter go on. This is no ordinary duel. These
+gentlemen, with whom I have no personal animosity, have picked a quarrel
+with me at the request of one higher in rank than themselves, and are
+simply his agents. I had no hesitation in killing the first of them, but
+as Monsieur de Vipont wishes an encounter with me in spite of what he
+has seen I will give him one, but will content myself with a less severe
+lesson than that I have given Monsieur de Beauvais. Now, sir, I am at
+your service."
+
+De Vipont, knowing now how dangerous an opponent he was meeting, fought
+cautiously. Hector, however, was anxious to finish the matter before
+they were interrupted, and therefore took the offensive, and after two
+passes ran his antagonist through the shoulder.
+
+"Now, Monsieur le Comte, do you desire a turn?" he said carelessly.
+
+The count was pale, but he answered steadily, "I claim it by the same
+right as Monsieur de Vipont."
+
+"Agreed," Hector said; and as soon as the count had removed his upper
+garments they engaged.
+
+The swords had scarcely clashed when the count's weapon was wrenched
+from his hand and sent flying for a distance of twenty paces.
+
+"That is enough," Colonel de Serres said, stepping forward; "you have
+done what you thought to be your duty, Monsieur le Comte, but it needs
+very different blades from those of yourself and your companions to
+stand before Colonel Campbell. He had you at his mercy, and had a right
+to take your life if he chose; but as he refrained from doing that
+when you had your sword in your hand, he certainly will not do so now.
+Messieurs, we wish you good morning."
+
+"And you may mention," Hector added, "to this person of high rank,
+that I shall be happy to accommodate as many of the gentlemen of his
+following as choose to take the matter up."
+
+"He will send no more to you, Campbell," Chavigny said as they moved
+off, leaving the count, whose valet now ran up, to obtain a vehicle and
+carry his dead and wounded comrades away.
+
+"No, I fancy not; he will try other means now. The war has only begun.
+Men like Lei, Brillet, and the Campions are not the sort of men who
+would act as bravos, even for the Duke of Beaufort, and I do not think
+that he would even venture to propose it to them. It will be meaner
+instruments that he will employ next time. However, I shall of course
+go straight to the cardinal and acquaint him with what has happened.
+I doubt not but that he will lay the matter before the queen, and then
+that Beaufort will hear of it; but, passionate and revengeful as he is,
+I think that he will not be turned from his purpose, even if he knows
+that he may be forced to retire to his estates, or even leave the
+country till the matter blows over."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI: THE DUKE'S REVENGE
+
+The cardinal listened gravely to Hector's account of the duel, and of
+the circumstances that gave rise to it.
+
+"I will go at once to the Louvre and appeal to her majesty," he said;
+"you know how warmly she spoke to you on the day when you saved my life.
+Still, I fear that the sternest reproof, or even an order to retire to
+his estates, would not turn him from his purpose."
+
+"I am sure of it, your eminence; still, as I have proved victor in the
+first battle in the campaign I will bide a second."
+
+"Mind that you do not get stabbed in the back, colonel."
+
+"I will beware of that, sir; whenever I walk the streets in future Paolo
+shall keep a pace behind me, and I warrant that he will protect me from
+any attempt of that sort."
+
+"At any rate remain here until I return from the Louvre."
+
+In an hour Mazarin returned. "The duke has been beforehand with us," he
+said. "When I told the queen of what had happened, and why this quarrel
+had been fastened upon you, she sent at once for the duke, and drew out
+an order, which I signed, for him to retire at once to his estates;
+but the royal messenger returned with the news that he had half an hour
+before ridden away to visit his father at Vendome. A courier will start
+at once with the order, but I doubt whether he will be found there. It
+is probable that he has gone to one of his own estates, and it may be
+some time before we find out where he is. However, it is something that
+he has gone."
+
+On his return to the inn Hector told Paolo what had taken place.
+
+"It is a pity that you did not kill them all, master."
+
+"Not at all, Paolo; had I done so every one of their friends would
+have been set against me. Both these men are of good families, and will
+doubtless report that I had their lives at my mercy and spared them, and
+after that no gentleman of reputation would take the matter up. I shall
+have to be very careful in future, but now that the duke has gone there
+is not likely to be any further trouble just at present."
+
+Paolo shook his head. "Nay, master, I think the danger all the greater.
+In the first place, we do not know that he has gone. I think it far
+more likely that he is hiding in the house of one of his friends. He
+has pretended to leave because he was sure the cardinal would take the
+matter up, and in order that, if he is absent from Paris when any harm
+befell you, it could not be brought home to him. I do not suppose that
+next time he will employ any of his own people. He is most popular among
+the mob of Paris, who call him the King of the Markets, and he will have
+no difficulty in getting as many daggers as he wishes from the scum of
+the faubourgs. It would be difficult in the extreme to prove that he had
+aught to do with it, for you may be sure that he would really go down
+into the country with all speed the moment the deed was done.
+
+"In future, master, you must not go out without having me close behind
+you; as for the others, I would put them in ordinary citizen garb, and
+let them follow some twenty yards behind, so as to be in readiness to
+run up at once. They could carry swords openly, and have their pistols
+hidden under their doublets."
+
+"It might be as well, at any rate for the present. If, as you think,
+Beaufort is hidden in Paris, it is certain he will lose no time."
+
+Paolo nodded. "I will get the men disguises at once. They had better be
+different; Macpherson can be dressed as a soldier, Nicholl as a burgher,
+and Sandy Grahame and Hunter as rough mechanics. They, of course, could
+not carry swords, but might take heavy cudgels. They would not walk
+together, or seem to have any knowledge of each other. Sandy might be
+ten paces behind you, Nicholl twenty, and the others thirty, or where
+the street is wide they could keep abreast of you on the other side. Are
+you going to the Louvre this evening?"
+
+"Yes, the cardinal said that the queen wished that I should appear
+there. I would much rather have stayed away, as doubtless the affair
+behind the Luxembourg will be generally known by this evening, and I
+shall feel my position a very unpleasant one, though I imagine that the
+queen intends, by her countenance of me, to show that I have not fallen
+into disgrace for duelling."
+
+Such was indeed the case. All eyes were turned upon Hector when he
+entered the royal saloon. Many of Mazarin's friends came up and shook
+hands with him warmly, while the adherents of Beaufort and Vendome stood
+aloof from him with angry faces. Presently the door opened, and the
+queen, closely followed by Mazarin and a train of ladies and gentlemen,
+entered.
+
+As she passed Hector she stopped. "Monsieur le Baron de la Villar," she
+said in clear tones, which were heard all over the apartment, "much as I
+object to duelling, and determined as I am to enforce the edicts against
+it, I feel that in the encounter this morning you were in no way to
+blame, and that it was forced upon you. It is scandalous that one who
+has so bravely shed his blood and risked his life in defence of France
+should be assailed in the capital, and for what reason? Because he
+proved faithful to the queen and her minister. You have punished the
+chief of the aggressors, and I shall know how to punish those who stood
+behind him;" and with a gracious bow in response to his deep reverence
+she moved on.
+
+The little speech created a deep sensation among the courtiers. That
+the queen herself should so publicly give her countenance to this
+young Scottish gentleman, and should--for no one doubted to whom she
+alluded--even threaten one of the most powerful nobles in the land,
+showed how strongly she felt. No one, with the exception of half a dozen
+persons, understood her allusion to the service that he had rendered to
+her and the cardinal, but all felt that it must be something altogether
+exceptional. Many of the nobles who belonged neither to the party of
+Beaufort nor the cardinal came up and congratulated him.
+
+He received these signs of the impression that the queens' words had
+conferred upon him quietly.
+
+"I am very sorry for what has occurred," he said. "I have killed many
+in battle, but this is the first time that I have killed anyone in a
+private quarrel. It was not one of my seeking, but I am none the less
+sorry."
+
+As he passed near Madame de Chevreuse, she made a gesture to him to come
+to her. "You did not accept my warning," she said sadly. "Remember, a
+storm is not past because the first flash of lightning does not strike."
+
+"I am well aware of that, madam; I thank you for your warning, but I am
+bound here by my duties as a tree is bound to the earth by its roots,
+and neither can move at will to escape a storm passing overhead."
+
+"Should I hear of any fresh danger, Monsieur Campbell," she said in a
+low voice, "I will have you informed of it, but it is more probable that
+I shall not know. Were it a state secret I should surely hear of it, but
+in a matter like this none save those concerned would be likely to know
+of it until it was over. Be always on your guard night and day, you
+cannot tell when the bolt may fall;" and she motioned to him to pass on
+again. As before, Hector accompanied the cardinal as far as his hotel,
+then he went towards his own lodgings, Paolo, with his hand on his
+dagger, keeping a pace behind him, while the four troopers followed one
+by one at a distance. The streets were almost deserted until, just as
+they approached the inn, a number of rough men rushed out from side
+alleys and doorways. Hector had just time to throw himself with his back
+to a house and draw his sword. Paolo's knife had levelled the first man
+who approached, and then drawing his sword he took his place by the side
+of his master. The ruffians stood round, each anxious to be the first
+to strike, and yet fearful of meeting the sword that had, as they had
+heard, mastered three gentlemen.
+
+"Run in at him, fools!" a man in a cloak, with his hat pulled down over
+his eyes, and keeping in the rear of the others, shouted.
+
+Before his orders could be carried out there was a sudden movement, and
+four men burst through them and joined Hector. The assailants hesitated.
+
+But again the man behind shouted: "Cowards, there are but six of them,
+and you are five-and-twenty, are you such curs that you are afraid to
+attack when you are nigh five to one?"
+
+Then, with a hoarse yell the crowd rushed forward. One was struck down
+by a heavy cudgel, three fell on the pavement, and another one tottered
+back disabled, but others took their places, and for a time the little
+band were hardly pressed. The four Scotchmen fought stoutly, but
+although fair swordsmen they gained no great advantage over their
+opponents until they betook them to their pistols, when several of their
+assailants fell, but not without inflicting wounds. Paolo also fought
+well, and brought three to the ground. Hector, however, took the
+offensive, and before his swift blade, with its deadly thrust, those
+opposed to him fell back as one after another dropped dead.
+
+"Down with him! down with him!" the voice shouted; "are ye men thus to
+give way before a single blade?"
+
+"And are you a man," Hector shouted back, "to set on others to fight
+when you dare not fight yourself? Whoever you are, you are a coward!"
+
+With a fierce oath the man pushed his way through those in front of him
+and drew his sword. He threw back his cloak to obtain the full use of
+his sword arm, and the rich gold braiding of his doublet confirmed the
+opinion Hector had already formed as to his identity.
+
+"That is better, my lord duke; it is at least more honourable to fight
+in your own quarrels than to employ a band of assassins to do your
+work."
+
+With a roar of fury Beaufort rushed upon him. He was a good swordsman,
+and personally brave, but his rage neutralized his skill, and after
+parrying two or three of his lunges Hector repeated the thrust with
+which he had that morning disabled de Vipont, and ran his assailant
+through the shoulder. He fell back with a curse.
+
+"Kill him! kill him!" he shouted. But at that moment there was a cry,
+"The watch! the watch!" Four of the fellows caught up the wounded man
+and carried him off, some of the others skirmishing with the watch to
+hinder their advance.
+
+"To the inn!" Hector cried to his men, "leave the matter to the watch."
+
+And sheathing their weapons they ran on to the door of the hotel and
+obtained entry there before the watch came up. As soon as they had
+passed Hector said, "Come with me, Paolo, and see the cardinal; there is
+no fear of any renewal of the attack now.
+
+"Do you know who it was I wounded, Paolo?" he asked as they hurried
+along.
+
+"No, master, I was too busy myself to look round."
+
+"It was Beaufort himself; I ran him through, low down in the shoulder."
+
+Paolo uttered an exclamation of dismay.
+
+"It cannot be helped now," Hector went on, "but there will be no living
+in Paris or even in France after this!"
+
+Mazarin had not retired to bed when they reached his hotel.
+
+"What now, monsieur?" he asked.
+
+"We have had our second battle, your eminence, and it has been a serious
+one. We were attacked by five-and-twenty ruffians; we slew some ten of
+them. Then their leader, who had been keeping in the rear shouting to
+them, seeing that his men were not likely to get the best of us, pushed
+through them and himself attacked me. I wounded him somewhat seriously,
+at least the thrust was just below the shoulder; and when I tell you
+that it was Beaufort himself you will see that the matter is serious
+indeed."
+
+"It could not be worse," the cardinal said gravely; "you will have the
+whole of the adherents of the house of Vendome banded against you, and
+even your bravery could not long triumph over such odds. France is no
+longer a place for you. Neither the queen's protection nor mine would
+avail you aught."
+
+He took two or three turns up the room.
+
+"In the first place, Monsieur Campbell, I will buy your fief back from
+you; there are plenty who would gladly purchase it, or I can bestow it,
+as it was bestowed upon you, upon someone who has served the crown well.
+I will send the price to the banker who already holds money of yours
+in his keeping. I should advise you to mount tonight and ride for the
+seacoast. Tomorrow would be too late."
+
+He opened a cabinet.
+
+"Here are a thousand crowns for your present expenses. Which road will
+you take? I should advise you not to go to Calais; that is the line on
+which, as soon as it is known that you have gone, they will pursue you,
+and even did they not overtake you on the way they might reach Calais
+before you could obtain a ship for England, for at present there is but
+little trade between the countries, and that not openly."
+
+"I will make for Nantes, your eminence; there I can be joined by friends
+from my chateau."
+
+A slight smile passed over the cardinal's face.
+
+"'Tis no time for jesting," he said; "but in truth I had intended to
+find a rich heiress for you. But when I heard that two ladies were
+staying at the castle I laid the project aside; and 'tis as well that I
+did so, for, were you married to a princess, your life would not be safe
+in France. Farewell, Monsieur Campbell, I have not so many friends that
+I can afford to lose so true and stout a one, especially one upon whom
+misfortunes have come through his good services to myself. I will send
+a messenger to the governor of Nantes with orders that he shall in every
+way forward your wishes as to your departure, as it is with my consent
+and approval that you are sailing for England. Your devotion has brought
+you into the gravest peril, and now it forces you to relinquish your
+profession, in which you have so greatly distinguished yourself. Truly,
+my friendship for you is genuine, and it cuts me to the heart that,
+although I could uphold you against the most powerful nobles in open
+enmity, I can do naught to save you from assassination. I trust some
+day that I may see you again, but, should it not be so, remember that
+I shall always feel myself your debtor; and should you have friends for
+whom you may ask my protection be sure that I will for your sake do all
+in my power for them."
+
+There was no doubting the real emotion with which Mazarin spoke.
+
+"There is one thing that I forgot," the latter said; "here is a pass for
+you to leave the gates at once. You had better go out by the north, so
+that they may think that you have ridden to Calais, and then take a wide
+detour and ride for Nantes."
+
+Hector returned to the hotel.
+
+"We must mount at once," he said to the troopers; "my enemies have
+failed twice, but they might not fail the third time, and by tomorrow
+morning it is certain that the hotel will be watched. I have a pass to
+issue out through the gate at once."
+
+While he had been away the troopers had bandaged each other's wounds,
+and had packed their valises, for they thought it probable after what
+had happened that their master would be obliged to fly.
+
+As the horses were being saddled and brought out Hector saw the
+innkeeper and paid him his bill.
+
+"Monsieur," he said, "I am going away on business of the cardinal's, and
+he desires that none shall know that I have left; therefore I pray you
+keep the matter secret as long as you can. It may be reasonably supposed
+that after the fray in which we have just been engaged, we might well
+keep our beds for a day or two."
+
+Going out in the courtyard, he gave a couple of crowns to the hostler.
+
+"You are like to be asked tomorrow if we are still here," he said. "Give
+such answers as to lead them to believe that our horses are still in the
+stalls."
+
+They mounted and rode rapidly through the streets to the northern gate,
+which was immediately, upon Hector's handing the guard the cardinal's
+pass, opened to them. To the surprise of the men, he turned off after
+riding a few miles.
+
+"Are you not going to make for Calais, master?"
+
+"No, I am bound for Poitou. We will cross the Seine by the bridge of
+boats at Nantes, ride down through Dreux and Le Mans. There we will
+separate. I shall follow the Sarthe, strike the Loire at Angers, and
+then go on to Nantes. You will cross the Loire at Tours, and then make
+for la Villar. I shall take you, Macpherson and Hunter, with me. Paolo
+will ride with the other two, and will be the bearer of letters from
+me."
+
+Daylight was breaking when they crossed the bridge of boats. Hector
+halted a mile from the river, keeping Paolo with him, and telling the
+others to pass at intervals of a quarter of an hour apart.
+
+"You will go first, Macpherson. You will ride south for an hour, and
+then wait till the rest of us join you. It is like enough that as
+soon as they find out that we have left they will send men off in all
+directions to find out which way we followed, though doubtless the chief
+pursuit will be directed towards Calais. I am afraid that it will not
+be very long before they find we have left the hotel, for the landlord,
+however well he may wish us, will not dare mislead any person of
+consequence that Beaufort may send."
+
+They had, however, a much longer start than Hector expected, for early
+the next morning ten of the cardinal's guards appeared at the hotel. The
+officer in command of them told the innkeeper that, in consequence
+of the tumult before his doors, in which, as he heard, some of those
+lodging there had been concerned, he had orders to post his men round
+the house, and to allow no one to enter or leave under any pretence
+whatever until the cardinal himself had examined into the affair. These
+orders were delivered in a loud voice before the servants of the inn,
+but the officer privately assured the innkeeper afterwards that he would
+be well paid for his loss of custom, and that it was probable that the
+guard would be removed in a day or two. Thus Beaufort's emissaries were
+not able to obtain news of what was passing within, and did nothing
+until past noon, when it occurred to them that the cardinal had taken
+this strange step of closing the inn in order to prevent its being known
+that Hector and his followers had left Paris.
+
+Men were at once sent off to the different gates of the city, and one of
+these returning with the news that the north gate had been opened at one
+o'clock in the morning and that six men bearing a pass from the cardinal
+had ridden out, a party of twenty horsemen started out in pursuit, while
+others were ordered to ride by all the different routes to Poitou,
+in case, as was likely enough, Hector had ridden to his castle. The
+fugitive, however, and his followers were all well mounted, and had
+fourteen hours' start. They separated at Le Mans. Hector here wrote a
+long letter to the Baronne de Blenfoix, and a shorter one to MacIntosh.
+The latter he told only that his fief had again reverted to the crown,
+and gave instructions that the steward should be ordered to return, from
+the moneys he had in hand, three months' rent to every tenant, to hand
+the balance to MacIntosh himself, and to hold possession of the chateau
+and estate until he received orders from the cardinal himself.
+
+MacIntosh was then, with Paolo, two troopers, and his own two sergeants,
+to escort the baroness and her daughter to Nantes, if she decided to
+go there. All arrangements were to be completed within twelve hours
+of Paolo's arrival there. To the baroness he related briefly what had
+passed.
+
+"Therefore, as you see," he said, "there is no course open for me but
+to fly for England or Ireland, where I intend to settle. I trust, madam,
+that you and your daughter will accompany me. Putting aside my respect
+and, I may say, my affection for yourself, you will have understood from
+what I said to you when last at la Villar, that I hope some day to make
+your daughter Norah my wife, if I should be so fortunate as to obtain
+her affections. How this may be I cannot say, but at any rate I trust
+that you will return to England, and as I have ample funds you may be
+assured that my first care will be to provide for your future."
+
+On arriving at Nantes Hector at once rode to the governor, and presented
+the cardinal's letter to him.
+
+"You may be assured, Colonel Campbell, that I shall carry out his
+eminence's instructions," he said, after perusing the cardinal's
+letter. "I will send an officer down to the port with you to aid you
+in obtaining passage, should there be a ship leaving for England, or to
+take up a ship for your service."
+
+"I would rather the latter," Hector said. "I may have ladies with me,
+and so should wish to have plenty of accommodation."
+
+"I am also instructed," the governor said, "to close the gate, in case
+any party, followers of the Dukes of Vendome or Beaufort, or of any
+families connected with them, arrive before you leave, and to grant them
+no admittance until a messenger from the mouth of the river informs me
+that you are fairly out at sea."
+
+"I am indeed obliged to his eminence for that order, sir; he did not
+mention to me that he was giving it, but it will certainly save me from
+much anxiety."
+
+As Hector was not disposed to haggle about terms, he had no difficulty
+in hiring a vessel to carry them across the Channel. Twenty-four hours
+after his arrival the party from the chateau rode in, and but half an
+hour later fifty horsemen wearing the cognizance of Vendome galloped
+up to the gate. They were headed by four or five gentlemen, one of whom
+demanded angrily why the gates were shut.
+
+"They are closed by order of the governor," the officer in charge
+replied.
+
+"Tell the governor that the Count d'Erlon, with a party of gentlemen,
+retainers of the Duke of Vendome, are here, and demand instant
+admittance."
+
+Twenty minutes later the governor himself arrived at the gate. "I am
+sorry, gentlemen," he said, "that I am compelled to keep the gates
+closed. I have an order from Cardinal Mazarin to that effect, and that,
+coming from the first minister of France, I dare not disregard even if
+the duke himself were with you. It would cost me my place, and
+possibly gain me a cell in the Bastille; and, grieved as I am to refuse
+admittance to such honourable gentlemen, still I must do so."
+
+"And for how long is this monstrous edict to remain in force?" the
+leader of the party asked.
+
+"That I am unable to say precisely, but I believe that I can open them
+tomorrow morning."
+
+"You see, we were right, count," another of the horsemen said. "The
+description of the man who rode along here with two attendants tallies
+with that of this Scot, and doubtless this order was brought by him
+from Mazarin to enable him to get either by water away abroad or to his
+chateau of la Villar."
+
+"Well, gentlemen, at any rate we have done our best, and though we must
+have slain the fellow if we had overtaken him, I cannot say that I
+am altogether grieved that he has escaped. His name is well known to
+everyone. He did brave service to France under Turenne and Conde. We
+learned from the messenger who brought the letter from Beaufort that he
+killed de Beauvais in fair fight, wounded de Vipont, and disarmed the
+Comte de Marplat, that at night he and five of his followers, though
+attacked by some thirty ruffians from the faubourgs under Beaufort
+himself, killed twelve of them outright, and that he himself seriously
+wounded the duke. Well, there is nothing for us but to ride back to the
+village we last passed through and wait there until tomorrow."
+
+So saying, he mounted his horse and galloped off with his party.
+
+"Who could have thought when we parted last, Colonel Campbell, that we
+should meet again under such greatly changed circumstances!" Madame de
+Blenfoix exclaimed as Hector met the party as they alighted before the
+principal inn of Nantes.
+
+"It is a change, indeed," he replied; "so great that I myself can hardly
+realize it, and am not sure whether I am sorry or the reverse at what
+has taken place."
+
+"I am very glad to hear you say so, as I feared that it would be a
+terrible blow to you to give up the army."
+
+"I have hardly had time to think of it," he said, "I have had so much
+else to occupy my thoughts. Now, I pray you, enter the inn for a few
+minutes; I have warned them to get a meal ready to be served at the
+shortest notice, for I am anxious that no time shall be lost; everything
+is ready for our embarkation."
+
+"Had we not best go aboard at once?" she said. "Your enemies might
+arrive at any moment by what Paolo tells us."
+
+"The matter is not so pressing as I thought, madam, for the cardinal
+sent orders to the governor that he is not to open the gates to any
+armed party of friends of Beaufort or Vendome until I am fairly at sea."
+
+He went with the ladies to a private room he had secured.
+
+"I must leave you for a few minutes," he said, "while I have a talk with
+MacIntosh and the others."
+
+"Well, old friend," he said as he went out to where the little party
+of Scotchmen were standing in a group, "what are your plans and wishes?
+'Tis a pity now that I persuaded you to leave Paris and go down to
+la Villar, but I did it for the best. I thought of you much as I rode
+hither."
+
+"Do not trouble about me, colonel, I am by no means sorry at the change.
+I was getting tired of the cabaret, and should soon have given it up
+even had you not come to offer me the wardenship of your chateau. I have
+chatted matters over with my two friends, and we have not yet agreed
+whether to return to Scotland or to remain in France. At any rate we
+shall go to Paris first; my money is there all in good keeping, together
+with the two years' payment for the cabaret. Are you thinking of going
+to Scotland yourself, colonel?"
+
+"Certainly not to Scotland, I have no friends there, and from all that
+I have heard the people are so hard and bigoted, so full of their
+religious differences, that I should feel sorely out of place with them.
+
+"Well, MacIntosh, as soon as I am settled in England I will have a
+letter conveyed to you in some way at the address of The Scottish
+Soldier. Wherever I am, there will be a home always open to you, and
+glad indeed I shall be to have you near me. My four troopers are going
+to accompany me. I have talked the matter over with them, and have
+promised that I will find a house with a small farm for them on any
+estate I may purchase, where they can do such an amount of work as
+pleases them, or that they can remain in my service on the present
+conditions. You can make the same offer in my name to your two comrades.
+After all, things are not so settled across the water that I can
+dispense with old friends on whom I can rely. Paolo, of course, goes
+with me, and will be my right hand."
+
+"I will think it all over, Hector, and maybe one of these days I and
+the other two may knock at your door. It is hard if seven old fellow
+soldiers could not end their days happily and quietly together."
+
+As soon as the meal had been eaten Hector went to say goodbye to the
+governor, and heard how Vendome's men had been refused entrance. After
+thanking him for the courtesy that he had shown him, he returned to the
+inn. As the party would require horses on landing, and there was plenty
+of room on board the vessel that he had engaged, Hector shipped the
+three horses that Conde had given him, and four others for the use of
+his men, and after a hearty farewell to MacIntosh on his part and that
+of the ladies, they went on board, and a few minutes later the sails
+were set and the vessel started down the river. The wind was favourable,
+and they made a fast voyage down to the sea. Before they reached the
+mouth of the river, however, Hector had ascertained to his satisfaction
+that Norah O'More returned the feeling that he felt for her.
+
+"I have loved you," she said, "from the moment when you came to us as
+our saviour from death on the summit of the turret; and though as time
+went on I did not venture to think that you, who had so fair a future
+before you, would ever think of the girl who with her mother you had so
+nobly entertained and treated, I should never have loved any other man
+to the end of my life."
+
+The voyage was without incident, and five days after leaving Nantes they
+arrived at Plymouth. Here Hector hired a house, and when the ladies were
+comfortably settled he left them in charge of Paolo and two of the men,
+and rode to London accompanied by the others. Here he called upon the
+banker whose address Mazarin had given him, and on sending in his name
+was shown into the room in which private business was transacted.
+
+"You have certain moneys of mine in your hands, Mr. Wilson?"
+
+"I have had fifty thousand crowns for the past three years and have put
+them out on good security, so that the sum stands at present in my books
+at sixty-four thousand crowns. Three days ago I received from Cardinal
+Mazarin bills to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns,
+being, he said, due to you for the surrender of the fief of la
+Villar, and for other services rendered to him. The cardinal is a good
+paymaster," he added with a slight smile at seeing Hector's surprise
+at the news, "but it was plain from his letter to me that he considered
+that the value of your services was greatly in excess of the sum, large
+as it is, that he sent, especially as they had brought great misfortunes
+upon you, and had forced you to abandon France, and give up your
+profession, in which, he said, your prospects of gaining the highest
+rank were of the brightest. Now, sir, if there are any services that I
+can render you I am at your disposal. You will naturally wish to invest
+your money in some way, and, though I say it myself, I know of no one
+who could lay it out to better advantage."
+
+"You may help me assuredly," Hector said, "for I am an entire stranger
+in England. I wish to purchase an estate, but have no idea how to set
+about it, while, doubtless, you are acquainted with many such domains at
+present for sale. I may say that I will on no account purchase an estate
+which has been confiscated by parliament on account of its owner being
+loyal to the crown. Charles II may, and I believe will, return and mount
+the throne, and these estates will then beyond doubt be restored to
+their former owners, therefore I will have nought to do with such
+property."
+
+"You could not choose a better time for laying out your money in land,"
+the banker said. "Great numbers of the nobles and gentlemen of England
+have been killed or are in exile; many, again, who still hold their land
+are well nigh ruined by the moneys they spent in the king's service, and
+would gladly sell now could they obtain anything like a fair value for
+their estates. I know of a score at least of such properties which are
+so deeply mortgaged that the owners can scarce afford to live in their
+own homes, and would gladly take a sum that would suffice to pay off the
+mortgage and give them the wherewithal to live upon, either abroad or
+in Virginia, to which colony many loyal gentlemen have already gone
+to settle. If you will call tomorrow I will give you a list of such
+estates, with their size, the amount of their revenues, and the price at
+which their owners would, I know, be glad to sell, for I and some of my
+friends have been approached by them with that view."
+
+Hector spent the next three weeks in visiting eight of the estates that
+seemed suitable and were all situated in counties near London. Finally
+he settled upon one in Berkshire, which was of considerable size and
+with a stately house in a fair position. This he purchased, and then,
+returning to Plymouth, his marriage with Norah was celebrated there, and
+he, with his wife and Madame de Blenfoix and his five followers, rode
+down into Berkshire and took possession of the estate, with which all
+were delighted. The troopers, instead of accepting the house he offered
+them, preferred to remain in his service, and Paolo was installed as
+majordomo of the household. Six months later MacIntosh and his two
+comrades came over.
+
+The former declined Hector's offer to take up his abode at the house.
+
+"No, colonel, I have an abundance for myself and my two comrades, and
+would rather be near you, where we can live in our own fashion, and give
+trouble to no one."
+
+"Well, if you will not come here, MacIntosh, there is a house a quarter
+of a mile away which will, I think, suit you well. It is not a large
+place, but is a comfortable one, and has been used as the house of the
+steward of the estate. As I shall be my own steward it is vacant, and
+will, I think, suit you well. It is furnished, so that you and your
+comrades can move in when you like, though the longer you stay with us
+the better we shall be pleased."
+
+A fortnight later MacIntosh and his comrades moved in, and there,
+when not occupied with their duties, one or other of the troopers was
+generally to be found. Hector often dropped in, and one day laughingly
+said that the house ought to be renamed The Scottish Soldier.
+
+Until the Restoration Hector kept aloof from London, but when Charles II
+mounted the throne of his fathers he went up, and was presented at court
+by one of the many English gentlemen whom he had known in France, where
+they had sought refuge with the queen when the royal cause was lost
+in England. He did not, however, repeat the visit very often. He was
+perfectly happy in his country life, and never once regretted the chain
+of events that had forced him to give up his life of adventure and
+excitement and to settle down peacefully in England.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Won by the Sword, by G.A. Henty
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