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PAGET. GLASGOW : BLACKTE .k SON, Limited. TORONTO : WILLIAM BRIGGS "q -i-} p Thk UOPJ., CLARK COAIPANY r,M ^uxUiAM, Limited, 9 Front St. Wbst. 'I7^i ENThRrn accordins to Act o( tlie Parliament of Canada, in the year one Ihousand eiglit Imndred and ninety-six, by Blackie & Son, Litnited. at th» Department of Agriculture. i I 890728 PREFACE. lar one at th« f .i My dear Lads, There are few great leai whose lives and actions have so completely fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. His career as a general was a brief one, extending only over little more than a year, and yet, in that time, he showed a genius for warfare which has never been surpassed, and performed feats of daring worthy of taking their place among those of the leaders of chivalry. _ The fact that they have made so slight a mark upon history is due to several reasons. In the first place they were overshadowed by the glory and successes of Marlborough; they were performed in a cause which could scarcely be said to be that of England, and in which the public had a comparatively feeble interest; the object, too, for which he fought waa frustrated,' and the war was an unsuccessful one, although from no fault on his part. But most of all, Lord Peterborough failed to attain that place in the list of British worthies to which his genius and his bravery shmxld have raised hiin, be- cause that genius was directed by no steady aim or purpose. Lord I'eterborough is. indeed, one of the most striking instances in history of genius and talent vyasted, and a life thrown .iway by want of fixed prin- —J.— »!..; .., ail Ji5hbim,y ur unwiningness to work with other men. Ho quarrelled in turn with every ▼i PREFACa !l party and with almost every individual with whom he came m contact; and while he himself was constantly changmg his opinions, he was intolerant of all opinions differing from those which he at the moment held, and was always ready to express in the most open and offensive manner his contempt and dislike for those who differed from hi.n. His eccent.icities were great- he was haughty and arrogant, hasty and passionate, he' denied his God. qtiarrell.d with his king, and rendered himself utterly obnoxious to every party in the state. And yet there was a vast amount of goo.l in this strange man. He was generous and warm-hearted to a fault kind to those in station beneath him. thou.dit- tul and considerate for his troops, who adored him cool in danger, sagacious in difficulties, and capable at need of evincing a patience and calmness wholly at variance with his ordinary impetuous character. Al- though he did not scruple to carry deception, in order to mislead an enemy, to a point vastly beyond what is generally considered admissible in war. he was true to ilfairof life ^""'^''^""'^^ honourable in the ordinary For the historical events I have described, and for the details of Peterborough's ccmduct and character. I have rehed chiefly upon the memoir of the oar wr .ten by Mr. C. Warburton. and published some thirty years ago. Yours sincerely, G. A. HENTY. I il CONTENTS. I ^^^- Page I. The War of Succession, II. IMPRES8KD, 22 III. A DoMEMirc Storm, 59 IV. The Serokant's Yarn 72 V. The Pirate Hold, (,3 VI. A Commission, •^■^r VII. BAB.710NA, j.,(5 VIII, A Tumult in the City j;^, IX. The Aiivanck into Valencia 177 X. An AnvENTURE in the Mountains ]i)3 XI. Valencia .,j.2 XII. Irregular Warfare .35 XII r. The French Convoy .254 XIV, A Prisoner. o-q XV, The Relief of Barcelona, 291 XVI. Inoratitude , gj.) XVir. HoMi, 333 i . ILLUSTRATIONS. Page 49 Captain LowTHER's Recruits, Pronikpicce. The Search for the Pirates' Cove, 94 Skrgwnt Edwards aoain joins Jack, . . . . , .132 Las Torres deceived by Peterborough's Letters, . . .179 Jack and his Troopers cArohr in an Ambcscade. ... 201 The Pretended Deskbterh deceive the Duke 0. Arcos. 222 Father Ionacio interrupted ,n his Fioht with thk Enkmv. 256 Jacs BKsuDKs HIS Friend THE Sergeant, 332 I THE BEAVEST OP THE BRAVE. 49 94 32 79 n 12 6 2 CHAPTER I. THE WAR OF SUCCESSION. IE is an idle vagabond!" the mayor of the good town of Southampton said in hioh wrath — "a ne'er-do-well, and an ins-olent puppy; and as to you, Mistress Alice, if I catch you exchanging words with him again, ay, or nodding to him, or looking as if in any way you were conscious of his presence, I will put you on bread and water, and will send you away for six months to the care of my sister Deborah, who will, I warrant me, bring you to your senses." The mayor of Southampton must have been very angry indeed when he spoke in this way to his daugh- ter Alice, who in most matters had her own way. Especially did it show that he was angry, since he so spoke in the presence of Mistress Anthony his wife, who was accustomed to have a by no means unimpor- 10 THE MAYOR OP SOUTHAMPTON. tot share in any decision arrived at respecting family arr!!r T/" ^ V'"-"^"' '»""-.•. to attempt to arrest the torrent m full flood, especially as it was a matter on which her husband had already shown a very unusual determination to have his own way. She tent 7 T""'"' '° ™* '" ^"^""'- "■' P-d ™ at! tent.on to the appealing gl„„ee which her daughter, a g.rl of fourteen, cast towards her. But althou..h .she »a.d nothmg, her husband understood in her silence an unuttered protest. "It is no use your taking that scamp's part, Marv - th. matter. I am determined to have'my own ^ and ti,e townspeople know well that when Richard Anthony makes up his mind, nothing will move him " Rinl! ^^''l ^""^ ""^ opportunity to take his part Richard, h.s wife said quietly; '' you have been storm ng wathou interruption since you ca.ne in five minutes ago, and I have not uttered a single word " "But you agree with me. Mary-you cannot but agree with me-that it is nothing short of a scandal fo the daughter ot the mayor of Southampton to be talkmg to a penniless young rogue like that at the garden-gate. "Alice should not have met him there," Mistress Anthony sa,d; "but seeing that she is only fourteen y.a„ old and the boy only shxteen, and he her second cousm, I do not see that the n.atter is .so very .shocking." In four more years, Mistrea. Anthony," the nmyor HUSBAND AND WIFE. 11 I said profoundly, "he will be twenty, and she will be eighteen." "So. I suppose, Richard; I am no great head at figures, but even I can reckon that. But as at present they are only fourteen and sixteen, I repeat that I do not see that it matters— at least not so very nmch. Alice, do you go to your room, and remain there (ill I send for you." The girl without a word rose and retired. In the reign of King William the Third implicit obedience was expected of children. "I think, Richard," Mrs. Anthony went on when the door closed behind her duughter, "you are not acting quite with your usual wisdom in treating this matter in so serious a light, and in putting ideas into the girl's head which would probably never have entered there otherwise. Of course Alice is fond of Jack. It Is only natural that she should be, seeing that he is her second cousin, and that for two years they have lived together under this roof." "I was a fool. Mistress Anthony," the mayor said angrily, "ever to yield to your persuasions in that matter. It was unfortunate, of course, that the boy's father, the husband of your cousin Margaret, should have been turned out of his living by the Sec- tarians, as befell thousands of other clergymen besides liiui. It was still more unfortunate that when King (Charles returned he did not get reinstated; but. after all. that was Margaret's business and not mine; and if Ill 12 AN IDLE APPRENTICE. slio was fool enough to marry a pauper, and he well- nigh old enough to be lier father-well, as I say, it waa no business of mine." "He was not a pauper, Richard, and you know it- and he made enough by toaAing to keep him and Margaret comfortably till he broke down and died three years ago, and poor Margaret followed him to the grave a year later. He was a good man-in every way ^crood nian." ^ "Tut, tut! I am not saying he wasn't a good man I am only saying that, good or bad, it was no business of mnie; and then nothing will do but I must send for the boy and put him in my business. And a nice mess lio made of it-an idler, more careless apprentice, no cloth mercliant, especially one who stood well with his follow -citizens, and who was on the highway to be- coming mayor of his native city, was ever crossed with." "1 think he was hardly as bad as that, Richard. I don't think you were ever quite fair to the boy." "Not fair, Mary! I am surprised at you. In what way was I not quite fair?" " I don't think you n)eant to be unfwr, Richard; but you see you were a little-just a little-prejudiced agunist him from the first; because, instead of jumpincr at your oiler to apprentice him to your trade, he said he should lik« to bo a sailor." "Quite enough to prejudice me, too, madam. Why, there are scores of sons of respectable burgesses of this' f -I M THE GREAT OFFENCE. 13 town who would jump at such an offer; and here this penniless boy turns up his nose at it." "It was foolish, no doubt, Richard; but you see the boy had been reading the lives of admirals and navi- gators—he was full of life and spirit— and I believe his father had consented to his going to sea." "Full of life and spirit, madam!" the mayor repeated more angrily than before; "let me tell you it is these fellows who are full of life and adventure who come to the gallows. Naturally I was offended; but as I had given you my word I kept to it. Every man in South- ampton knows that the word of Eichard Anthony is as good as his bond. I bound him apprentice, and what comes of it? My foreman, Andrew Carson, is knocked flat on his back in the middle of the shop." Mrs. Anthony bit her lips to prevent herself from smiling. " We will not speak any more about that, Richard," she said; "because, if we did, we should begin to argue. You know it is ray opinion, and always has been, that Carson deliberately set you against the boy; that he was always telling you tales to his disadvantage; and although I admit that the lad was very wrong to knock him down when he struck him, I think, my dear, I should have done the same had I been in his place." " Then, madam," Mr. Anthony said solemnly, " you would have deserved what happened to him— that you should be turned neck and crop into the street." Mrs. Anthony gave a determined nod of her head— I ! u JACK STILWKLL. tlmt point. However, seeing that in l,er husband'. While this conversation had been proceedin,. Jack St.,weHwho had fled hastily when surprised W the of the garden, had made his way down to the wharves •«d here, seafng himself upon a pile of wood hid tared „.„„di,y.t the tract of ,„„d extending om hi fce t the str.p of water far away. His porition wT !.« fat, cr wa. a clergyman of the Churchof England the v.car a snug living i„ Lmeolnshire. but he1,ad been lid a Ih'r P-'-nientarians gained the up hand a„d his hvng was handed over to a Sectar an preacher When, after years of poverty, IvL Cha les ama to the throne, the dispossessed mi ister°th „ ,t that as a matter of course he should be restored Zt vmg; but It was not so. As in hundreds of other ca" the new occupant conformed at onco to the new law! and the Eev. Thomas Stilwcll. having no frier s or uteres, was like many another clergyman left oul "n But by this time he had settled at Oxf„rd-at which un versity he had been educated-and was gainin. a ei L:rtr"";ft"°°'' "^ '="»''"» '"' -- who ll a '" ' '' '"'"'"^ Margaret Ullathorpe, who, atUl a young woman, had, during a visit to I 1 APPRENTICED. jg some friends at Oxford, made his acquaintance. In spite of the disparity of years the union was a happy one. One son was born to them, and all had gone well until a sudden chill had been the cause of Mr. Stilwell's death, his wife surviving him only one year. Her death took place at Southampton, where she had moved after the loss of her husband, having no further tie at Oxford, and a week later Jack Stilwell found himself domicHed at the house of Mr. Anthony. It wa,s in vain that he represented to the cloth mer- chant that his wishes lay towards a seafarino- life and that, although his father had wished him to go' into the ministry, he had given way to his entreaties. Mr Anthony sharply pooh-poohed the i.lea, and insisted that It was nothing short of madness to dream of such a thing when so excellent an opportunity of learning a respectable business was open to him. At any other time Jack would have resisted stoutly and would have run away and taken his chance rather than agree to the proposition; but he was broken down by grief at his mother's death. Incapable of makincr a struggle against the obstinacy of Mr. Anthony, and scarce caring what became of himself, he signed the deed of apprenticeship which made him for five years the slave of the cloth merchant. Not that the latter intended to be anything but kind, and he sincerely beheved that he was acting for the good of the boy in taking him as his apprentice; but as Jack recovered his spirits and energy, he absululely loathed the trade 16 A LIFE HE HATED. to Which he was bound. Had it not been for Mistress Anthony and Ahco he would have braved the heavy pains and penalties which in those days befell disobe- dient apprentices, and would have run away to sea- but their constant kindness, and the fact that his' mother with her dying breath had charged him to regard her cousin as standing in her place, prevented him from carrying the idea which he often formed into effect. In the shop his life was wretched. He was not stupid a? hia master asserted; for indeed in other matters he was bright and clever, and his father had been well pleased with the progress he made with his studies- but, m the first place, he hated his work, and in the' second, every shortcoming and mistake was ma^rnified and made the most of by the foreman, Andrew Carson This man had long looked to be taken into partnership and finally to succeed his master, seeing that the latter had no sons, and he conceived a violent jealousy of Jack Stilwell, in whose presence, as a prime favourite of Mistress Anthony, and of her daughter, he thought he foresaw an overthrow of his plans. He was not long in effecting a breach lef- > <;he boy and his master-for Jack's carelessueas and mat- tention gave him plenty of opportunities-and Mr Anthony ere long viewed the boy's errors as acts of wilful disobedience. This state of things lasted for v-:>. years until the climax came, when, as Mr. Anthony '%d p'^ti;. to hia wife. Jack, upon the foreman attempt- f335j ;j fj DISMISSED. jn ino: to strike him, had knocked the latter down in the Mr. Anthony's first impulse was to take his appren- tice boiore the justices and to demand condign punish- ment for such an act of flagrant rebellion ;'bu a moment s reflection told him that Jack, at the end of his punishment, would return to his house, where his vvjfe would take his part a. usual, and the qure which had frequently arisen on his account won d be more bitter than before. It was far better to get rid of him at once, and he accordingly ordered him from the shop, tor up hi indenture before his eyes, and bade h'im never 1 him see his face again. For the first few hours Jack was delighted at his freedom. He spent the day sZs'tI "'""^ *^^'^"" ^° *^^ ^«^--- and sailois. There were no foreign-bound ships in the port and he had no wish to ship on board a coaster he therefore resolved to wait until a vessel sailing for foreign ports should leave. ^ sho"^' T 7 T"'^' """' ' '"" ^°"" ^^^- ^^ J^f^ the s-iop Mrs. Anthony's maid found him on the wharf and gave him a letter from her mistress. In this was' inclosed a sum of money sufiicient to last him for some time and an assurance that she did not share her hus- band s anger against him. time iT M f "^^'' ''''" ^^^■" *" ■'"^. "that in .me I could heal the breach and could arran« for J«u to^cume back again, but I think p, -aps'it'i, B f I IB JACK FINDS A SHIP. better as it k Yoa would never ™alce a clothier, and I>a you had better follow the,„ out. Alice is hoart- Woken over the aftair. hut I assure her that it will all turn out for the best. I cannot ask you to come up to the house; hut whenever you hav. settled on any- t-.ng leave a note with Dorothy for me, and I will come down w,th Alice to see you and say good-bye to y„" I wdl see that you do not go without a proper outfit." I was deliver this letter that Jack had gone up to he hack gate; and seeing Alice in the garden they had naturally f.d,c„ i„to e„„versation at th:gato, when he mayor, looking „„t (ron, the window of his ware- hou,«,. happened to see then,, and went out in the gr«.tost wrath to put a stop to the conversation fro.n Holluud w,tl, cloth and other .nerchandise, and wa a Her s e wa.s .lisduuged to .sail for the col nies w.th hnghsh goods. «h„ would not leave tl,e port for agree,! to take h„„ a,, ships-hoy. ll„d the „,ayor boen aware ti,at hi, late apprentice was on the polt of eavn,g he w„„l,l not have interfered with hi, in- ten .on; but as he had peren.ptorily ordered that his Mm Anthony l,a,l no n.otive in a,,pro„cl,i„g the ior- -Iden subject, the n,ayor re„,„i„e,l i„ !„„„;„,„ .^^ Jack wa, about to ,lep„rt on a .listant .:y^T fi S a i SI SI rt it ill A CRUEL LAW. 19 One day on going down to the town -hall he onnd an ofBcial lottor waiting Mr.; it wa, an o'J from governn.ent en.powering justices of the peace to nnpres, such men as they thought fit, with the only I restncfon that n.en entiUcd to vote for members of parl.an,ent were exe„,pted. This tremendous power l.ad just been legalized by an act of parliament. A ^ more .n.qu.tous act never disgraced our statutes, for I .t enabled justices of the peace to spite any of their poorer ncghbours against whon, they ha.l a grudge and to sup tl,.„, off to share in the hardships o? Ma^l I boroughs can,pa,g„ in Germany and the Low Coun- I tnes or m the expedition now preparing for Spain. like b!' H 7 t,"'"^ *"' ''"''' '" *''^ 8-"'-' 'Ji- hke by the Knghsh people. The nation had always ben opposed to a standing force, and it was only now hat the necess,t,es of the country induced them to o erate ,t It was, however, recruited ahnost entirely on, reckless and desperate n.en. Cri„,i„ai, were allowed to connuute sentences „f in.prisonn.ent fo serv.ce m he anuy, a„d the gates of the prisons were ZiT «° "f r' •'"'"-—■""« t" enlist b a the eflort, ol the recruiting .sergeants, ai.led by .such measures as these, proved insullicient to attract a .ufl,e,e„t nund,er of n.en to keep up the aru.ies at U." required strength. Pressiii t;' h ud always existed to a certain extent; but It luv.l been curried on soen.flv and wa.- r • illn.roi Ti. I' .^- •^"" vvao rfg.iraea aa »'lt„al. llierelore, as men must be had, the law giving 20 THE THRONE OP SPAIN. justices the authority and power to impress any men they might select, with the exception of those who possessed a vote for members of parliament, was passed with the approval of parties on both sides of the House of Commons. There was indeed great need for men. England had allied herself with Austria and Holland in opposition to France, the subject of dispute being the succession to the crown of Spain, England's feelings in the matter being further embittered by the recognition by Louis XIV. of the Pretender as King of England. There- fore, although her interests were not so deeply engaged in the question as to the succession to the throne of Spain as were those of the continental powers, she throw herself into the struggle with ardour. The two claimants to the throne of Spain were the Archduke Charles, second son of Leopold Emperor of Austria, and Philip Duke of Anjou, a younger grandson of Louis. On the mairiage of the French king with Maria Theresa, the sister of Charles IL of Spain, she had formally renounced all claims to the succession, but tlio French king had nevertheless continued from time to time to bring them forward. Had these ricrhts not been renounced Philip would have had the best claim to the Spanish throne, the next of kin after him being Charles of Austria. During tiio later days of the King of Spain all Europe had looked on with the most intense interest at the etibrta which the respective parties made for their THE TREATY OF PARTITION. 21 candidates. Whichever might succeed to the throne the balance of power would be destroyed; for either Austria and Spain united, or France and Spain united, would be sufficient to overawe the rest of the Conti- nent. Louis XIV. lulled the fears of the Austrian party by suggesting a treaty of partition to the Dutch states and William the Third of England. By this treaty it was agreed that the Archduke Charles was to be acknowledged successor to the crowns of Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands; while the dauphin, as the eldest son of Maria Theresa, should re- ceive the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, with the Span- ish province of Guipuscoa and the duchy of Milan, in compensation of his abandonment of other claims! When the conditions of this treaty became known they inspired natural indignation in the minds of the people of the country which had thus been arbitrarily allotted, and the dying Charles of Spain was infuriated by this conspiracy to break up and divide his dominion. His jealousy of France would have led him to select the Austrian claimant; but the emperor's undisguised greed for a portion of the Spanish empire, an"d the overbeaiing and unpleasant manner of the Austrian a.ubassador in the Spanish court, drove him to listm to the overtures of Louis, who had a powerful ally in Cardinal Tortocarrero, Archbishop of Toledo, whose influence was all-powerful with the king. The canlinal argue united overshadowed Europe, the trading interests of Lngland and Holland were assailed, and a French army Hssembled close to the Flemish frontier. The indignation of the Dutch overcame their fears and they yielded to the quiet ellbrts which Kin- Wil- liam was making, and combined with England and Austria in a grand alliance against France, the object of the combination being to cxcludf, Ln,n« fv^j^ .i^g Netherlands and West Indies, and to prevent the union 24 THE ARCHDUKE CHARLE& not Louis iust «f fl.,- alliance, had supplies. ^^' ^"^^"^^' ^«d voted large . f ^^ ^^"^^"^ died just after seeing his favonn'f ject successful, and was succeeded b v O l T ^''"' continued his policv T) I / • ^ ^ ^"^ ^""^' ^'^^ "ispojicy. -TiieAustranArchdnl-aP) i wa. recognized by the allies as Kin., of Spll ^ " paratwn made for war '^ ' '' P'''^ Sp^iafSleTZr of f ' "T '""^^^ "•" *"^ and, after bri„.i„"° °? , ® '" '''™"' '^ Charle., e-i«ngthe:roitrofttrra'-°",r^"™'-'' tl.antl,ear„,; aI™ s"',T" "° ■"""'^ »«-»"ve iercd for treacher^! ° """''™ *-» «a«l'- lor treaciiery or cowardice on tlie co«t „f s • and four captains of vessels in .1 .^ ' °' ^l"""' West Indian fleet wele th " d ' T ^"'""'''' refusinE to meet tC d'^missed or shot for chief. ' ' *' '"™^ '"' f°r "•'"'xJomng their 'he'"air rl^iveir ?;:^^^^^ 2r' 'T"- ^"' ^.'•.0 accession of Port:^'rti:t':rtT^: -it 1: i .-.^*r ■--cKia.a.ss THE PrasT CAMPAIGNS. 25 the allie. „,ade an att.,„pt upon the important city of Barcelona It was believed that the Catalans wo^,ld have declared for Charles; but the plot by whicT he town was to be given up to bin. w /discovered n th eve of execution, and the English force re-embarked on ^hen. sh.ps. Their success was stil, less „„ th sW conf: „T i Tl "'^ """'^ °f Berwick, who wa. in En 111 f 'I-; f<""- of King Philip, defeated the cant , ^^^ ""''"'• *"" »"''•<' °f Schomberg and captured many towns. *= capture or rr" ""'' '°"'^^-^^' ''"'™-'' V the captuie of Gibraltar on the 21st of June by the Heet umler S. George Rooke, and a s„,all land fLe undo P nee George of Hesse. Schomberg wa. recalled an better ,^ ""' "°'"™"^' >>"' ^' — J^d no heter than l„s predecessor, and affairs looked bul nno, t, f ! "'° *'"'"='' '"''' " J'»-'™- effect upon tho fortunes of Philin M« « i i , v^. III- ^^ 'Ji ^ iiiiip. Me could no bno-er Iionp po to ;'" f' r""'""-^'' '" ^""^ >- ■'- i fvon ie , :" ?■' "''"'^ "'™Sth on his eastern Ph l,p was forced to depend upon his partisans in Spain only. he partisans of Charles at once took b art ^h, ^.utalans had never been warm in the cause of 26 THE EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. Philip; the crowns of Castille, Arragon, and Catalonia had only recently been united, and a dangerous jealousy existed between these provinces. The Castillians were devoted adherents of Philip, and this in itself was suffi cient to set Catalonia and Arragon against him. The English government had been informed of this growing discontent in the north of Spain, and sent out nn emissary to inquire into the truth of the statement. As his report confirmed all that they had heard, it was decided in the spring of 1705 to send out an ex- pedition which was to effect a landing in Catalonia, and would, it was hoped, be joined by all the people of that province and Arragon. By the efforts and patron- age of the Duchess of Marlborough, who was all-power- ful with Queen Anne, the Earl of Peterborough was named to the command of the expedition. The choice certainly appeared a singular one, for hitherto the earl had done nothing which would entitle him to so distinguished a position. Charles Mordaunt was the eldest son of John Lord Mordaunt, Vis- count Avalon, a brave and daring cavalier, who had I'ought heart and soul for Charles, and had been tried by Cromwell for treason, and narrowly escaped execu- tion. On the Restoration, as a reward for his risk of life and fortune, and for his loyalty and ability, lie was raised to the peerage. His son Charles inherited none of his father's stead- fastness. Brought up in the profligate court of Charles the Second he became an atheist, a scoffer at morality, Hr»>'iim:iW"lf ^''npiiiir'i AN ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT. 27 ■3 and a republican. At the same time he had many re- deeming points. He was brilliant, witty, energetic, and brave. He was generous and strictly honourable to his word. He was filled with a burning desire for ad- venture, and, at the close of 1C74, when in his seven- teenth year, he embarked in Admiral Torrington's ship, and proceeded to join as a volunteer Sir John Narbo- rough's Heet in the Mediterranean, in order to take part in the expedition to restrain and revenge the piratical depredations of the barbarous states of Tripoli and Algiers. He distinguished himself on the 14th of January, 1675, in an attack by the boats of the fleet upon four corsair men-o'-war moored under the very guns of the castle and fort of Tripoli. The exploit was a successful one, the ships were all burned, and most of their crews slain. Another encounter with the fleet of Tripoli took place in February, wlien the pirates were again de- feated, and the dey forced to grant all the English demands. In 1677 the fleet returned to England, and with it Mordaunt, who had during his absence succeeded to his father's title and estates, John Lord Mordaunt having died on the 5th of June, 1675. Shortly after his return to England Lord Mordaunt, though still but twenty years old, married a daughter of Sir Alex- ander Fraser. But his spirit was altogether unsuited to tho quiet enjoyment of domestic life, and at the end, of September, 1678, he went out as a volunteer in his 28 PLOTS AND POLITICS. I M ¥ 1 the Moors NnfK- , ^''"='^^' ^'^'^^ besieged by -.«..r;:-.rr:s-;:;tr;';: and Mo,.dau„t again distinguished l.itolf I'., ° "■■ to the fatal privilege of "f ""='""""=» "Emitted therefore ^4^^^ t^:^^^^^'"' t continued his friendship with them t . "' ^' accompanied Alo-ernon SiZ 1 '""■ ""'' evenwl,;i„n °, '"''"<=y *» the scaffold. But even wh.le throwing himself heart and soul into ooliH^ he was continually indul-in.. in wild f i i ■endered him the tllk of the Town """' "*'"'> .=ecM::tr;Hz:v^::fst:rrr''«'^' -Icnce „t h,s language. Ha was nowunder the displea- i I -if it of sail- xpedition ieged by pedition, ituinn of ' with a yiuouth. ves into 1 vigour, he soon before turn to became ide the 2^ernon mitted s, and . He t, and But clitics vhich first vmy, i and Qlea- I THE REVOLUTION. OQ Pnn e „f Orange, and first a™„„g the British noL'; .ZTvi ^T"^'-^ "' argun.ents with fievy ^eal rged the d^saflection of all classes, the hatred of he cCrin '■;f '"'" °' ^ ^-'^'' «- ="- »f *h W.lha™, however, was already i„for,„ed t these acte, and was not to be hurried. Mordaunt remaTned w.th him till, on the 20th of October 1B8S hTT, for England. The «rst co.inissio!: 'a't , Ll WUhl Jaunt as lieutenant-colonel of horse, and rai,i„., a .oginient he rendered good service at E..eter. IZol - the Eevolution was completed, and Willian 3 J.ary ascended the throne, Moidai.nt was n,„de a ri "" n April, 168D, he was made first commissioner of the "'outh. In addition to the other oHices to which he was appointed he wa« given the colonelcy of tl t i mint of horse guards. ^ His conduct in office showed in brilliant contrast to that of ,he men with whom he was placed. He alone lij 30 A TROUBLED CARERR. Tenafr 'T, "' '''°"""' ^'^P'"'™ "^ -""?'-■> and enahty and he speedily ,„ade ene.me., a,„ong his eol- kasues by the open conteu.pt which he manifested for their gross corruption. in.T°"''u-','r '""^ ""^■''" "" '"■°"™''"' " part in brin.- ■ng K.ng \ dl,a,u to England, Monn.outh soon bccan; n.xod up ,„ all sort,, of intrigues and plota He wa already fred of the reign of the D„\eh kin. an" nged for a eonunonwealth. He was constanti;,! fellmg w,th his colleagues, and whenever there wai a debate in the House of Lords Mo„u,outh took a p" "'".out part on the side of the minority. In 16^2 he went out it,, hisroginrentof horse guards to Holland and fought bravely at the battle of Stoenkirk, The «npa,gn was a failure, and in October he returned to England with the king. For two years after'this he lived quietly, devotin» ^3 pn„c.pal attention to his garden and thf societot w.t and ,„en of letters. Then he again appeared .n parha„,ent, and took a leading part Fn thelvruen n opposition to the crown, and inveighed in bit er ^enns against the bribery of persons in%ower by East ndia Company, and the venahty of many men, bers parfiament, and even the ministry. His rLtil with the king were now of the coldest kind, and he became m,..ed up i„ a Jacobite plot. How far he was guilty in the matter wa. never proved. Public opinion certainly condemned him, and by a vote of lie Peers he was deprived of all his employment, and s n I I § # PETERBOROUGH'S APPOINTMENT. 31 to the Tower. The king, however, stood his friend, and released him at the end of the session. In 1697, by the death of his uncle. Charles became Earl of Peterborough, and passed the next four years m private life, emerging only occasionallv to go down to the House of Peers and make fiery onslaughts upon abuses and corruption. In the course of these years both m parliament and at court, he had been sometimes the friend, sometimes the opponent of Marlborou..h- but he had the good fortune to be a favourite of the duchess, and when the time came that a leader was re- quired for the proposed expedition to Spain, she exerted herself so effectually that she procured his nomination. Hitherto his life had been a strange one. Indolent and energetic by turns, restless and intriguinrr quar- relling with all with whom he came in contact burning with righteous indignation against corruption and misdoing, generous to a point which crippled his finances seriously, he was a pu.zle to all who knew him and had he died at this time he would only have left behind him the reputation of being one of the most brilliant, gifted, and honest, but at the same time one of the most unstable, eccentric, and ill-regulated spirits 01 his tiiuQk CHAPTER II IMPRESSED. ^S^HEN tl,e mayor „t Southampton opened the ST II It.: I'. oHical document empowering and request- ing him to obtain recruits for the queens soit of thn,g would give a good deal of trouble and would assuredly not add to his popularity. He saw at once that he would be able to oWige many of ncnds by getting rid of people troublesome to them but with this exception where was he to find the re-' crmts the queen required ( There were, of course, a few n ver-do-wells ,n the town who could be packed ott' t" le general .satisfaction of the inhabitants, but beyond this everyone taken would have friends and relafio^ who wouhl cry out and protest. It was lik„|y to ,,„ ^ troublesome bu.sine.,.,, and the ...ayor t In-ew down the paper on the table bo ore h m lien su,ldonly his expression changed. He ha.l b2 '"nking 0, „,„^,„„ ,„^ ,„.^,„j^ I an caae. Here was the verv thin.r. he v—' 1 - - ' - v 1^ o» *-^ vtuuia svnu on (his A GOOD RIDDANCE. 33 troublesome lad to fight for the queen; and, whether he went to the Low Countries under Marlborough, or to Spain with this new expedition which was being pre- pared, it was very unlikely that he would ever return to trouble him. He was only sixteen, indeed, but he was strong and well grown, and much fitter for service than many of those who would be sent. If the young fellow stopped here he would always be a trouble, and a bone of con- tention between himself and his wife. Besides, for Alice's sake, it wa,s clearly his duty to get the fellow out of the way. Girls, Mr. Anthony considered, were always falling in love with the very last people in the world with whom they should do so, and out of sheer contrariety it was more than possible that Alice might take a fancy for this penniless vagabond, and if she did, Mrs. Anthony was fool enough to support her in her folly. Of course there would be trouble with his wife when she found what had happened to the lad-for the mayor did not deceive himself for a moment by the thought tliat he would be able to conceal from his wife the cause of .lack's absence; he was too well aware of Mrs. Anthony's power of investigation. Still, after it was done it could not be undone, and it was better to have one domestic storm than a continuation of foul weather. Calling in liis clerk the mayor read over fn him ^^.^ ordor^h^ had received, and bade him turn to the court Q 34 THE BLACK LIST. tl.r ll book and make out a list of the names of forty young men who had been charged before him with ollences of drunkenness, assault, battery, and riotinrr. " When you have made up the list, Johnson, you will go round to the aldermen and inform them o*^ the order that I have received from the government, and you can tell them that if there are any persons they know, of whom they consider that Southampton would be well nd, if they will send the names to me I will add them to the list. Bid them not to choose married men, if it can be avoided, for the town would be burdened with the support of their wives and families. Another ten names will do. The letter which accompanies the order says that from my well-known zeal and loyalty it is doubted not that Southampton will furnish a hundred men, but if I begin with lifty that will be well enough, and we can pick out the others at our leisure." By the afternoon the list was filled up. One of the aldermen had inserted the name of a troublesome nephew, another that of a foreman with whom he had had a dispute about wages, and who had threatened to proceed against him in the court. Some of the names were mserted from mere petty spite; but with scarce an exceptio,. the aldermen responded to the invitati..n ot the mayoi-, and placed on the list the name of some- one whom they, or Southampton, would be the better without. When the list was completed the mayor struck out one of the tirst na.ne. inserted by Jus clerk and inserted A iiiiTJiMi- THE RECRUITING OFFICER. 35 A that of John Stilwell in its place. His instructions were that he was to notify to an officer, who would arrive with a company of soldiers on the following day, the names of those whom he deemed suitable for tlie queen's service. The officer after taking them was to embark them on board one of the queen's cutters, which would come round from Portsmouth for the purpose, and would convey them to Dover, where a camp was being formed and the troops assemblinf. Upon the following day the company marched into the town, and the officer in command, having seen his men billeted among the citizens, called upon the mayor. " Well, Mr. Mayor," he said, " I hope you have a good list of recruits for me. I don't want to be waiting hero for I have to go on a similar errand to other towns. It is not a job I like, I can tell you, but it is not for me to question orders." " I have a list of fifty men, all active and hearty fellows, who will make good soldiers," the mayor said. "And of whom, no doubt, Southampton will be well rid," the officer said with a laugh. " Truly, I pity the Earl of Peterborough, for he will have as rough a body of soldiers as ever marched to war. However, it is usually the case that the sort of men who give trouble at home are just those who, when the time comes, make the best fighters. 1 would rather have half-a- dozen of your reckless blades, when the pinch coiue.s, than a score of hoiinst plouirh-boya. How do vou propose that 1 shall take them?" ^^ THE PLAN OF PROCEEDINGa " That I will leave entirely to vou » ih. "here is a list of thp ]in„. u ^ ' ^ ""^^^^ ^^^^J xi.Tu ui cne nouses wherp i-ha^r i^j t pJace the town watch «f vn ^ ^«^- ^ ^^" board ship fct ,f r wT I't ;r "'°" ""' «^' »" tell my men off in ,„ r ""™ *<=}' ""■« s«™red I will -bief.;oii:r::ratrwr;2r"°"- so many evorv evening t. • , ™' P"^!' ">em up l^S^llyand undo,. i<,:::J:^^"^r r "^'»« ■» always as wll to avni.i • Parliament, it and .aake the So...n,Z^,;^y^' '^e war over, might do you harm with tl . " '''' """'■ "lywifr who i, i„ """■'''"*''>■<"">»' 10 allow --auors Which e:;;irthir:'"'^"™' ''■"^^""»" -v..,.e .::::,:- -;-:-^ PRESSED. 37 i But never fear, tlie list shall be kept safe; and, indeed It were better that nothing were said of my busines'^' in the town, for if this get abroad, some of those whose conscience may tell them that they will be likely to be chosen for service, might very well slip off and be out of the way until they hear that I and my men have left." Two days later, when, as the evening was falling Jack Stilwell was walking up from the wharf where' he had been watching the unlading of the vessel in which he was to sail, he came upon a group of four or five soldiers standing at a corner. Then a voice which he recognized as that of the foreman, Richard Carson said: ' " That is your man, officer;" and the soldiers made a sudden rush upon him. Taken by surprise he nevertheless struggled desper. ately, but a heavy blow with a staff fell on the back of his head, and for a time he knew nothing more. V hen he recovered his consciousness he was lyi„.r a inost in complete darkness, but by the faint gleam of the lantern he discovered that he was in the hold ot a ship. Several other men were sitting or lyinave all been impressed according to act of par,iam!:t and there ,s no getting out of it. Ifs your own fault tl.at you got those hard knocks that I .,ee the maAn and you w.l, get more if you give any n.ore "lubL ^ow, those who chocse to agree at once to serve h r majesty can come on deck." Jack at once stepped forward. " I am ready to serve, sir," he said "That's right," the officer replied heartily; "you are a ad oj „, I can see. and will make a gtd soldit? will be a sergeant at an age when others are h^rnZ the.r recruit drill. N.w, who's the next^" ^ Some half dozen of the others followed Jack's example, but the rest were still too sore and an^ to be wilhng to do anything voluntarily "^ Jack leapt lightly up on deck and looked round- the cutter was already under weigh, and with a gent U i B0Yi3 AND MEN. 43 ^ breeze was running along the smooth surface of South- ampton Waters, the ivy-covered ruins of Netley Abbey were abreast of them, and behind was the shipping of the port. " Well, young un," an old sergeant said, "so I sup- pose you have agreed to serve the queen?" "As her majesty was so pressing," Jack replied with a smile, "you see I had no choice in the matter." "That's right," the sergeant said kindly; "always ke-p up your spirits, lad. Care killed a cat, you know. You are one of the right sort, I can see, but you are young to be pressed. How old are you?" " Sixteen," Jack replied. "Then they had no right to take you," the sergeant said; "seventeen's the earliest age, and as a rule soldiers ain't much good till they are past twenty. You would have a right to get off if you could prove your age; but of course you could not do that without witnesses or papers, and it's an old game for recruits who look young to try to pass as under age." "I sha'n't try," Jack answered; "I have made up my mind to it now, and there's an end to it. But why ain't soldiers any good till they are past twenty, sergeant? As far as I can see, boys are just as brave as men." "Just as brave, my lad, and when it comes to fight- ing the younger soldier is very often every bit as good as the old one; but they can't stand fatigue and hard- ship like old soldiers. A boy will start out on as loner a walk as a man can take, but he can't keep it up day m a A job's comforter. after day. Whe. it come, to long „,.„hes, to sleeping on the ground m tl« wet. bad food, and fever from h! wi;':,::,: 'z r::^^^ »-' -y^ ^-^ .aid must hope that I sha'n't have 1 fr>,^.] „„J 1 marl- d™.'* 7"' '° *"'""■''«' >■»■" ^e sergeant re- ■"arked, and you know there are young sol3ier, am) young sold ers. There are tho ,„„ ] '"'""i's and Cham n= . . ^'""'y' nafow-chested chaps as seems to be made special for lillinc a grave health and good spmts carries him through That's your sort, I reckon. Good spirits is the belt metoe m the world, rfs worth all the doctor, and anothecZs n the army. But how did you come ,„ be prZ'd ts genera ly the ne'er-do-well and idle who get ^kcd out a. food for powder. That doesn't look your rt or Im mistaken." -^ ^°"' a *ort of cousm of the n,ayor of Southampton He wanted me to serve in his shop. I stood it L a ti^ but I hated ,t, and at la,,t I had a row with hi, fo" the streets, and I suppose he didn't like seeing m. neednt have been m such a hurry, for if he had i. i "it's not a bad life." 45 waited a few days I should have gone, for I had shipped as a boy on board of a ship about to sail for the colonies." " In that case, my lad, you have no reason for ill- will against this precious relation of yours, for he has done you a good turn while meaning to do you a bad un. The life of a boy on board a ship isn't one to be envied, I can tell you; he is at everyone's beck and call, and gets more kicks than halfpence. Besides, what comes of it? You get to be a sailor, and, as far as I can see, the life of a sailor is the life of a dog. Look at the place where he sleeps-why, it ain't as good as a decent kennel. Look at his food— .salt meat as hard as a stone, and rotten biscuit that a decent dog would turn up his nose at; his time is never his own— wet or dry, storm or calm, he's got to work when he's told. A\J. what's he got to look forward to? A spree on shore when his voyage is done, and then to work again. Why, my lad, a soldier's life is a gentleman's life in comparison.' Once you have learned your drill and know your duty you have an easy time of it. Most of your time's your own. When you are on a campaign you eat, drink, and are jolly at other folks' expense; and if you do get wet when you are on duty, you can generally manage to turn in dry when you are relieve.!. It's not a bid life, my boy, I can tell you; and if you do your duty well, and you are steady, and civil, and smart, you are sure to get your stripes, especially if you can read and write, as I suppose you can," H" i 46 AN AGREEABLE CHANGE Jack nodded with a half smile when lC",L T"^^ ^'"""'^ «aid, . Well done.' - L 1 ;:„:f ^-^ .«'^- "-''^ ^ '-^Se across a He senrfo'e after ::r'' 7°'""^^ "' ''--''■ couldn't read o/wrie J ,:;:;''''' "? "^ '■°''»<' ' gave „e a p„,.e of tie ;; t rrr/d"^; '^^ '' but >vl,at that suited me brttlrfn r f ''™" a::r'h:;--r-- At «i«ht Jack S v! 1 , ! ™' '■"""'"S "g-in^t her. their "fate s ept ;i"r' f"^ ""■™ ""» ■»<' -epted returning tor! 01^1 ""''^ ™ '"""'^ '"''""d of was ext ; ,?r; ;r'7''"'°"-' ■" "-^ '"''■>■ Jack ventilation, »if ea, „ l r",?.r "'"" "" ""■ '""' — _, „.4t, aiiu towarua tiie • if J mmi t i 4 J A CHANGE OP \^'EATIrER. 47 afternoon was pitching in a lively way and taking the sea over her bows. "You seem to enjoy it, young un," the sergeant said as Jack, holding on by a shroud, was facing the wind regardless of the showers of spray which flew over him. " Half our company are down with sea-sickness and as for those chaps down in the fore-hold they must be having a bad time of it, for I can hear them groaning and cursing through the bulkhca.l. The hatchway has been battened down for the last three hours." "I enjoy it," Jack said; "whenever I got a holiday at Southampton I used to go out sailin.r. I knew most of the fishermen there, they were always ready to take me with them as an extra hand. When do you think we shall got to Dover/" "She is walking along fast," the sergeant said; "we shall be there to-morrow morning. We might be there before, but the sailors say that the skipper is not likely to run m before daylight, and before it gets dark he will shorten sail so as not to ^-et there before." The wind increased until it was blowing a gale- but the cutter was a good sea-boat, and beina in light trim made good weather of it However even Jack was pleased when he felt a sudden chancre in the motion of the vessc.1, and knew that she was'^runnina into Dover harbour. Morning was just breaking, and the hatclnvav^ KoJncr removed the sergeant shouted down to the pressed men 't, ■ i in tf 48 LANDING. that Hey could come on deck. It waa a miscral.le body of „en who crawled up in answer to the summons utter y worn out and exhausted with the sea-sieknes, the closeness of the air, and the tossing and buffet.- t ng of the la^t eighteen hours; many had scarce strength to climb the ladder. All the spirit and indignation had been knocked out o them-they were too miserable and dejected to utter a con,plai„t. The sergeant ordered his men to to wash hemselves and make themselves as decent as they could, and the order was sharply enforced by the captam when he came on deck. "I would not march through the streets of Dover w.th such a filthy, hang-dog crew," he said; .'why he very hoys would throw n.ud at you. Come, dothal you can to make yourselves clean, or I will have buckets of water thrown over you. I would ra'h take you on shore drenched to the skin than in that state You have brought it entirely on yourselves by your oUstmacy. Had you enlisted at once without further trouble you would not have suflered as y„u The fresh air and cold water soon revived even the most exhausted of the new recruits, and as soon as all hod been mode as presentable as circu.ustances would adnut ot, the order was given to land. The party were forn,ed on the „„ay four abreast, the soldiers feeing I , „R^ ^^ ^^l^^^. maI.e}Jy^ tiirough Dover, ?f THE INSPECTION. 49 where h\it yet a few people were up and stirrini^, to the camp formed just outside the walls of the castle. The colonel of the regiment met tliem as they marched in. "Well, Captain Lowthor,you have had a rough time of it, I reckon. I thought the whole camp was going to be blown away last night. These are the recruits from Southampton, I suppose?" "Yes, colonel, what there is left of them; they cer- tainly 'lad a baddish twelve hours of it." "1 >rm thoni in line," the colonel said, "and let me lavp a luok at them. They are all ready and willing to serve her majesty, I hope," he added with a grim smile. "Thty are all ready, no doubt," Captain Lowther replied; "as to their willingness I can't say so much. Some half dozen or so agreed at once to join without giving any trouble, foremost among them that lad at the end of the line, who, Sergeant Edwards tells me, is a line young fellow and likely to do credit to the regi- ment; the lest chose to be sulky, and have suliered for it by being kept below during the voyage. However, 1 think all their nonsense is knocked out of them now." The colonel walked along the line and examined the men. " A sturdy set (,f fellows," ho said to the captain, " when they have got over their butl'eting. Now, my Iftds/' he went on, addressiMg the men. ==yovi have all been pressed to servo her majesty in accordance with (838) ,, 50 SHAKING DOWN. act of parliament, and tl.ough some of yo„ may not line !°, \! ^™T' ' ™™ y°" «»' ">e diseip. ne w. 1 be atnct. In a newly-raked regiment like I. 8 .t .3 necessary to keep a tight hand, but if you behave yourselves and do your duty you wi„ L fl':; the hfe a bard one. Keme.nber, it's no use any of you h nk,ng of deserting; „e have got your namesand add esses, so you couldn't go home if you did- and vou would soon be brought bank „.l ^ o uijugnt back wljerever you went »nd you know pretty well wh„f« n, ■ , '"^'' ""<■ dese,(i„n „ ■.. / ""* Pui'shnient for deseu,„n w.tbout my telling you. That will do" No one raised a voiee in reply-each ,„an felt that h« pos,t.o„ was hopeless, for, as the colonel said, the! had been legally impressed. They were first akei «lore the adjutant, who rapidly swore them in anU « Y were then set to work, assisted by some more aoU.er,, ,„ pitching tents. Uothes were soon served out hem and the work of dril, conuncnced at onl ta I day brought fresh additions to the force, and ma ortu.ght .ts strength was con.plete. Jack did not object to the hard drill which they had W g' through, and which occupied then, fron, mo,"dn^m ...ght, ior the colonel knew that on any day h °rc! -ent nnght receive orde. to e„,bark, and be „2d o ge .„ s„n,ething like shape before setting si', •tfo, ■,i:::;r'';:;:i';™"''--''-^'''"hich p „. vi,„ and wortbiess fellows, of whom S •» -i t ^^^^w^^^^mvW^^^<^^w^^^''''^'^''^''^T^^. A ROUGH LOT. 51 the various ;,agistrates liad been only too glad to clear their towns, and mingled with these were the sweep- ings of the jails, rogues and rufiians of every descrip- tion. The regiment might eventually be welded into a body of good soldiers, but at present discipline had not d(ni8 its work, and it was simply a collection of reckless men, thieves, and vagabonds. CHAPTER III. 1 ;l J« ,i!! A DOMr:STIC STORIL I^REAT was the surprise of Dame Anthony when, on sending down Iior servant with a letter to Jack Stilwell, the woman re- turned, saying that he had left his lodo-. ing two days before and had not returned. All lilc^ things had been left behind, and it was evident that when he went out he had no intention of leavin.. The woman of the house said that Master Stilwell was a stead;, and regular lodger, and that she co.ild not but think something had happened to him. Of course she didn't know, but all the town were talking of the men who had been taken away by the press-gang, and she thought they must have clapped hands on her lodcrer Dame Anthony at oncejtmiped at that conclusion The pressing of fifty men had indeed made a great stir m the town during the last two day. The mayor's office had been thronged by angry wo, ,.n complaining of then- husbands or sons bei,)g dragged away; and the mayor had been the object of many threats and mucli nubgnation, and had the evening before returned #,^ I MRS. ANTHONY WANTS TO KNOW. 63 home bespattered with mud, having been pelted on his way from the town-hall by the women, and having only been saved from more serious assaults by the exertions of the constables. Dame Anthony had been surprised that her husband had taken these things so quietly. Some of the women had indeed been seized and set in the stocks, but the mayor had made light of the affiiir, and had altogether seemed in an unusually good state of temper. Dame Anthony at once connected this with Jack's dis- appearance. She knew that the list had been made out by the mayor, and the idea that her husband had taken tiiis means of getting rid of Jack, and that he was exulting over the success of his scheme, flashed across her. As the mayor was away at the town-hall she was forced to wait till his return to dinner; but no sooner had tlie meal been concluded and Andrew Carson and the two assistants had left the table than she began: " Richard, I want to look at the list of the men who were pressed." The request scarcely came as a surprise upon the clothier. He had made up his mind that his wife would be sure sooner or later to discover that Jack was missing, and would connect his disappearance with the operations of the press-oanf^. "What do you want to see that for?" he asked shortly. "I want to see win have been taken/' his wife said. " There is no secret about it, .1 suppose?" 64 "I WISH TO SEE THE LIST." "No, there is no secret," the mayor replied. "Ac- cording to the act of parliament and the request of her majesty's minister I drew out a list of fifty of the most useless and disreputable of the inhabitants of this town, and I rejoice to say that the place is rid of them all. The respectable citiLons are all grateful to me for the manner in which I have fulfilled the task laid upon me, and as to the clamour of a few angry women it causes me not a moment's annoyance." "I don't know why you are telling me all this, Kichard. his wife said calmly. "I di.l not cast any reflections as to the manner in which you made your choice. I only said I wished to see the list." "I do not see that the list concerns you," the mayor said. " Why do you wish to see it ? " " I wish to see it, Richard, because I suspect that the name of my cousin Jack Stilwell is upon it" _ "Oh, mother!" cried Alice, who had been listenin.. in surprise to the conversation, suddenly startin<. to her feet; "you don't mean that they have pressed Jack to be a soldier." "Leave the room, Alice." her father said angrily this IS no concern of a child like you." When tlie' door closed behind the girl he said to his wife- "Naturally his name is in the list. I selected fifty of the most worthless fellows in Southampton, and his name was the first which occurred to me. What then/ "Then I tell you. Richard." Dame Anthony said. I "YOU KNOW UE, RICHARD." 66 rising, "that you are a wretch, a mean, cowardly, cruel wretch. You have vented your spite upon Jack, whom I love as if he were my own son, because he would not put up with the tyranny of your foreman and yourself, you may be mayor of Southampton, you may be a great man in your own way, but I call you a mean, pitiful fellow. I won't stay in the house with you an hour longer. The waggon for Basingstoke comes past at three o clock, and I shall go and stay with my father and n^other there, and take Alice with me." " I forbid you to do anything of the sort," the mayor saiu pompously. "You forbid!" Dame Anthony cried. "What do I care for your forbidding? If you say a word I will go down the town and join those who pelted you with mud last night. A nice spectacle it would be for the worthy mayor of Southampton to be pelted in the street by a lot of women led by his own wife. You know me, Richard. You know when I say I will do a thing I will do it." " I will lock you up in your own room, woman." "You won't," Dame Anthony said scornfully. "I would scream out of the window till I brought the whole town round. No, Mr. :..ayor. You hrve had your own way, and I am going to have mine. Co and tell the town if you like that your wife has left you because you kidnapped her cousin, the boy she loved. You tell your story and I will tell mine. Why, the women in the town would hoot you, and you wouldn't 66 DAME Anthony's threat. Mm dare show your face in the streets. You insist, indeed! Why, you miserable little man, my fingers are tincdino- now. Say another word to me and I will box youi ears till you won't know whether you are standino- on your head or your heels." '^ The mayor was a snutll mm, while Dame .Vnthony although not above the usual height, was plump and strong; and her crestfallen spouse felt that she was capable of carrying her threat into execution. He therefore thought it prudent to make no reply and his angry wife swept from the room. It was son.e time before the mayor descended to his shop. In the interval he had thought the matter over and had concluded that it would be best for him to let his wife have her way. Indeed, he did not see how he could do otherwise. He had expectod a storm, but not such a storm as this. Never before in his fifteen years of married life had he seen his wife in such a passion, and there was no saying whether slie would not carry all her threats into execution if he interfered with her now No It would be better to let her go. The storm would blow over in time. It was natural enough for her to go over and stay a few weeks with her people, and in time, of course, she would come back again. After all he had got rid of Jack, and this being so, he could' afford for a while to put up with the absence of his wite. It was unpleasant, of course, very unpleasant, to be called such names, but as no one had heard them asg A LETTER FROM JACK. 57 { I W. but himself it did not so much matter. Perhaps, after all, it was the best thing that could happen that she should take it into her head to go away for a time. In lier present mood she would not make things comfort- able at home, and, of course, his daughter would side with her mother. Accordingly, when the carrier's waggon stopped at the door the mayor went out with a pleasant counten- ance an.l saw that the boxes were safely placed in it, and that his wife was comfortably seated on some shawls spread over a heap of straw. Uis attention, however, received neither thanks nor recognition from Dame Anthony, while Alice, whose face was swollen with crying, did not speak a word. However, they were seated well under the cover of the waggon, and could not be seen by the few people standing near; and as the mayor continued till the waggon started speaking cheerfully, and giving them all sorts of in- j'unctions as to taking care of themselves on the way, he flattered himself that no one would have an idea that the dei)arturc was anything but an amicable one. A week later a letter arrived for Dame Anthony and the mayor at once recognized the handwriting of Jack Stilwell. Ho took it up to his room, and had a considerable debate with himself as to whether he would open it or not. The question was. What did the boy say? If he wrote full of bitter complaints as to his treatment, the receipt of the letter by his wife would only make matters worse, and in that case it 68 A GENEROUS SPIRIT. J 'I ■ 1 would be better to destroy the letter as well as any others wh„.h „,ight follow it, and so put an end to Z com,uu„,eati„n, tor it was unlikely that the boy would ever return to England. Accordingly he opened the letter, and, after reading akereW. It was wnttcn in a cheerf, I spirit. Jack life? 'uT' f^' *^ '^^'^^ !'»»'> Anthony ::' Ahce would have been an..ious when they heard that he was m.ssing from his lodgings. "I have no doubt, my dear "cousin, you will have h™ :t t '^ '°'""^" "'°' "^'"« '"'"* - X tint ml k"" r^ '" "" ^™« ™y. I don't think that my late master acted handsomely in thus getting r d of me; for, as the list was made up by him, it wal me'^hir ' f T'- ^1 ""' '■"" P-- '=" W» f- 7 \ '^''' "° S'-udge against him. In the first r::: nai "ri '™" ' ^™ '^'"^ -™^ '° --■>' must naturally have angered him to see one known to be connected with him hanging about Southamln do,ng nothing. Besides, I know that he always meant kmdly by n,e. He took me in when I had nowher "„ Sd it n^T "™.T "''P'-™''^^^''V -!">out fee, and, mcimed or so qmet a life, he would doubtless have done much for me hereafter. Thus thinking it over for n '"'' "'''"°" "' "'^ ^'■'^fl'^ l"' "tended 1. ft ■ii A CAREER OPENED. 69 "In the next place, it may be that his action in ship- ping me off as a soldier may in the end prove to be for my welfare. Had I carried out my intention and gone as a sailor, a sailor I might have remained all my life. It seems to rrr thai ns a soldier my chances are larger. Not only shall I {, e plenty of fighting and adventure, which ic. >rds well with my spirit, but it seems x,o me — ans -i .>.igeant who has shown me niuch kindness says that it is so— that there are fair chances of advancement. The soldiers are for the great part disorderly and ignorant men; and, as I mean to be steady and obedient so as to gain the good-will of the officers, and as I have received a good education from my dear father, I hope in time to come to be regarded as one somewhat dif- ferent from the common herd; and if I get an oppor- tunity of distinguishing myself, and do not get killed by a Spanish bullet or pike-thrust, or by the fevers which they say are not uncommon, then it is possible 1 may come back at the end of the war with some honour and credit, and, the sergeant said, may even obtain advancement to the rank of an officer. There- fore my late master, having done me many good turns, may perhaps find that this last one — even though he intended it not — is the best of all. Will you make my respects to him, dear cousin, and tell him that I feel no grudge or ill-will against him? Will you give my love to my cousin Alice? Tell her that I will bring her home some rare keepsakes from opain should they 60 "THE BOY IS NOT A j:aI) COY.' fall in my way; and you know I will do the same for yomselt, who have alway. been so good and kind to "The hoy i, not a bad boy," tho n.ayor said, well ha e judged l„,„ too haKhly, toeing that he .set hi,,.. -li aga,n»t what wa, best for hi., welfa.-e. «tiil, one cannot e,M„t ,nen', heads on b,n.s' sho„lders, and he «nt s dut,h,lly and propc-ly. I believe it is the fault of Andrew ta.sou, who was for ever edging me on by reports of the b„y» laziness and careh^.^es:. He c^f .a.nly ha., a grudge again.st hi,,,, and he „.s.,uredlv exceeded Ins place and autho,ity when he lifted hi h nd aga,„st my wife's cousin. It see„,s to „,e truly t iat I have acted somewhat hastily and wron.- Loadedly n, the u,atter. I shall give Master Cteo^n not.ee that at the end of a .„o„th I shall re,,u re ■" se..™cs no l„nger-tl,e fellow puts hi..,self 'too f „ ! «a d ihat w.ll piea.se Mary; sl„; ..ever liked hin. and wo..,e.. >n these „,atte,-, of likes an,l dislikes are »ln-ewdertl,a„wea.e. I'chaps when .she hears th, he s go,ng and reads this letter, which J will forwa..d to her by the carrier, she ,„ay c„,.,e back to ,ne 1 cert,u„ly .„,„ h' . sorely, a.al the h,.„sehol.l „,atte« g,. all wro..g now that she is away, .she ought not to have sa,dth...gs to „,e; but no wiscuan thinks any! tin,," of what a wo„,a„ says when she's an.-.-y. and now 1.,., think tl,i,,gs over, it ee,tai,,lysee,:,s't„„ that she had .some .sort of w«>-,ant lor l„.r w-rd-- -^ t ■ nnaiBiB i ij THE MAYOR REPENTS. 61 t I certainly don't know what can have come over me, unless it was that fellow Andrew Carson. Richard An- thonyhas not been considered a bad fellow,e^ .e he would never have become the mayor of Southampton; and for fifteen years Mary and I have got on very well to- gether, save for the little disputes which have arisen from her over-masterful disposition. But she is a good wife— none could wish for better— thougli she is given to flame out at what she considers unrighteous deal- ings; but every woman has her faults, and every man too as far as that goes, and upon the whole few of them have less than :Mary. I will write to her at once." The mayor was not a man to delay when his mind was ouce made up, and sitting down at a writing-desk he wrote as follows: — "Dear Wife,— I inclose a letter which has come for you from your cousin Jack. I opened it, and you will think poorly of me when I tell you that had it been lilled with complaints of mo, as I expected, it would not have come to your hands; for your an o'er against me is fierce enough without the adding of fresh fuel thereto. But the lad, as you will see, writes in quite another strain, and remembers foiiner kind- nesses rather than late injuries. His letter has put it into my head to think nntters over, and in a dillerent spirit from that in which I had previously regarded it, and I have come to the conclusion thnt I have acted wrongly; first, that 1 did not make allowances enough 62 THE OLIVE BRANCH. for the boy; second, that I iasistcd on keeping him to a trade he disliked; third, that I have given too willi„. an ear to what Andrew Carson has said against th: ;oy; la.stly, that I took such n.eans of freeing myself irom hun. I to-day give Andrew (Larson notice to qui my serv,ce-a nuxtter in which J have hitherto w:thstood you. I am willing to forget the words which you spoke to me in anger, seeing that there was some foundation lor them, and that when a woman is in a passion lier tongue goes furtlier than she moans. Now a« I an. ready to put this on one side. I trust that you' also will put aside your anger at n.y having obtained he pressing tor a .soldier of your cousin. You can see tor yourself by his writing that he does not desire that any oimuty shall arise out of the manner of his goin.r I^or i, teen years we have iived in au.ity. and 1 se^e not why, after this cloud passes away, we should not do so again. "I miss you sorely. Things go ba.ily with us since you have gone The food is badly cooked, and the •serving inditK.rent. If you will write to tell me that you are willing to come back, and to be a loving and •luflul vvite again, 1 will make me a holiday and como over to Basingstoke to foteh you a.ui Alice home again anivn-it. .to Jack ami sending him live guinea^ for ^^l'K•h he will „o doubt lind u use in getting thin.« ^uitable lor the adventure upon which he is embarked for he payment of her majesty to her soldiers does not permit of the purchune of many luxuries. Oa ^^^f^W'Si^^i^mW^':' A FAIR AI'OLOGY, 63 second thoughts I have resolved to pay Andrew Carson his month's wages, and to let liim go at once. S-j that if you return you will not liud one here against whom you have always been set, and who is ii^deed in no small way the author of the; ma is which have come be- tween us, save only as tuiiciiiiig the imitressnient, of which I own that I must take the blame solely upon myself. Give my love to Alice, and say that she umst keep u}) her spirits, and look forward to the time when her cousin Jack sball come back to her after the kill- ing of many J?pa,nin,rds." Having signed and carefully sealed this letter, witli that from Jack inclosed within it, the mayor then pro- ceeded to write to the young soldier: — " My dear Cousin Jack,— I have road the letter which you sent to my wife, and it is written in a very proper and dutiful strain. Your departure has caused trouble between my wife and me; but this I hoi.e will pass awuy after she lias read and considered your letter. She carried matters so far tliat she is at present with your cousin Alice at the house of her parents at Basing- stoke. Having read your letter, { write to tell you that I feel that I am not without blame towards you. I did not see it myself until the nianner of your letter opened my eyes to the fact. I have misun.lerstood you, and, being bent on carrying out my own inclinations, made not enough allowance for yours. Were you here now I doubt not that in future we should gi't on Icttor together; but as that cannot be, I can only say that I 64 THE EXPEDITION DELAYED. m '* • recognize the kind spirit in which you wrote, and that 1 trust that ni future we shall be good friends I in- close you an order for hve guineas on a tradesman in I)over with whom 1 have dealings. There are n.any little thn.gs that yoa may want to buy for your voya-^e to supplement the pay which you receive. Andrtnv Carson is leaving n.y ..ervice. 1 think that it is he greatly who came between us, and has brought thincrs to the pass which 1 cannot but regret." A week later the cloth merchairt's shop in the Ili-di Street wa^ shut up, and the mayor, having appoiiited a deputy for the week he purposed to be absent, took his place in the stage for Basingstoke, when a com- plete reconciliation was effected between him and his wife. The starting of the expedition was d-^la; ad bevond the intended tin>e, for the govern.nent e I), r could not or would not furnish the reciuired funds, ; nd the Earl of Peterlorough was obliged to borrow considerable sums of mo2iey. and to involve hin.self in serious pecuniary embanassments to remedy the defects, and to supply as far as possible the munition and stores necessary for the elliciency of the little force he had been appointed to conmiand. It consisted of some 3000 English troops who were nearly all raw and uudi^oiplhied, and a brigade liOOO strong of Dutch soldiers. Early in May the regiment to which Jack Stilwell belonge ihey had had the support which the presence of a considerable nu.nber of veteran tmops in garrison in the cusUe gave them; but they now ceased to struggle against the B 66 "THEY ARE A ROUGH LOT." 31* d fficulty of keeping up di.eip,;„„ „„, ^, b r of ,a„ and insubordina,, roc,.uite:,eh.ng uprn b nng,ng thorn into order an,I discipline wheltLTo" tl .„ ashore ,n a tor,.ig„ eountvy. Beyond, t.,or fe a d ly parade, and l.alt an hour', drill in th- l,a„dlin;;; Se '"■"'°"'!' ">»>■ -'=*-d iva ,:tt,e „it,,. the m/n Sergeant Wward. with twenty of hi. n,en !,J at :t"r-''''^'"''-'^"^'^''''»f-'-".''«" " ^ea voyage. H re they are packed up as close as herrin,-s w h scarcely roo.n to ,novc about, with noth to do and w,th food which a dog would turn up 1 i, not^' to eat NHurally they get talking tog^th r ^ «.™,l,,.„g over their wrongs till th^ey ^erk tC:^ if Z r'f ' "'" 7^"'" ™' '""''■ " '^"I'ln't matter t wo had a go„.l steady old erow, but n.oro than la f of the,,, have been pressed, n,any of th„m are and men w „ have been ca,-r!cd off Just a,, you '.,; tt doubt they would all light toughly enough if Jh ■p;- . .;,;iT;5K=r:- SIGNS OF COMING TROUBLE. gy man hove in view, but the captain couldn't rely on hem m a row on board. As long as the fleet keeps together :ts all right enough. Here are nine vessels and no one on board one knows whafs going on in the' others, but It the captain of any one of them were to hoist a signal that a mutiny had broken out on board the others would be round her with their port-holes' opened ready to give her a dose of round shot in no time. "But you don't think that it is really likely that we shall have nny trouble, sergeant." "There wont be no trouble if. as I am telling you the weather holds fine and the fleet keep together; but If there s a gale and the ships get scattered no one can t say what might come of it." "I can't think how they could be so mad as to ^et up a mutiny," Jack said; "why, even supposing thV did take the ship, what would they do with it?" "Them's questions as has been asked before, my lad and there's sense and reason in them, but you knows as' wel as I that there's many a craft sailing the seas under he black flag. There isn't u ship as puts to sea but what h-as half a dozen hands on board who have been i„ slavers, and who are full of tales of islands where everything grows without the trouble of nuttinc. a spade in the ground, where all sorts of strange f^uit can be had for the picking, and where the natives are glad enough to be servants or wives, as the case may be. tu whites. It's just such tales as these as leads 68 tempters' TALEa men away, and I will warrant there's a score at least among the crew of the Cesar who are tellin! "h tales to any who will listen to them. Well, /ou it .t s a te,npt,„g story enough to one a, knows no bette ! the f ™' "t ""^ " " ''"' "'■^' -'* 1^-' food and th chance of bemg shot at, and the sartainty of bein,- ordered about and not being able to call your life '2 Zure of : •'""" '''' '' " "^^ of 'idleness Cd pleasure, of being your own master, and, if v„u want something which the islands can't affo.d yC why. there's just a short cruise and then back you come w.th your ship hlled up with plunder. I d n" 2 - 'ts not tempting; but there's one thing a.in it -d thechapsas tells those yarns don't say ,„u°ch Ibout "What is it, sergeant'" ■• It's just the certainty of a halter or a bloody orave :;;; °^ 'f- ^he thi„g goes on for so.o^t me and then, when merchant-ship after n,ercha„t-ship is "",,„„g, there are complaints at home, and out com a sh,p or two with the ,uee„'s pennant at the head sunk or captured, or there's a visit to the little island and a short shrift for those found there '■t»t. Its jolly enough for a while, maybe, for those w «e hearts are so hard that they thi'k nothing "cutthng a sh,p with all on board, or of makin., the oro. and passengers walk the plank in cold blood A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT. 69 Still even they must know that it can't last, and that there s a gallows somewhere waiting for them. Still you see they don't think of all that when a cl,ap is a- telhng them of these islands, and how pleasant the life IS there, and how easy it would be to do for the officers and take the command of the ship and sail away. Two or three chaps as makes up their mind for it will poison a whole crew in no time." " You speak as if you knew all about it." " I know a good deal about it," the sergeant replied gravely. "It's a tale as there ain't many as knows- but you are a sort of lad as one can trust, and so I don't mmd If I tell it you. Though you wouldn't think it I Imve sailed under the black flag myself." " You, sergeant ! " Jack exclaimed incredulously • " do you mean to say you have been a pirate ? " _ " Just that, my boy. I don't look like it, do I ? There am t nothing bucaneering about my cut. I looks just what I am, a tough old sergeant in a queen's regiment- but for all that I have been a pirate. The yarn is a long one, and I can't tell it you now. because just at present, you see, I have got to go below to look after tlie dinners of the company, but the first time as we can get an opportunity for a quiet talk I will tell it you. But don't you go away and think till then as I was a prate from choice. I shouldn't like you to think tl.ut ot me; there ain't never no saying at sea what may h..,p.en. I might tumble overboard to-ni.dit and get dr..-,. :ed, or one of the convoy might run foul of us 70 A STORM IN THE BAY. w in^ght be dead, and I shouldn't like you to go on think mg all your life as thnf, 8..,,.,.. ., t.^ . T f '"^' v>i J . o' ^^J^-- i'dwards had been r bloody pirate of his own free-will Sn ..n„ • ,, ''"".^ mind h-]l T fnii .u , ^ °" J"***^ ^ear in mind, till I tells you the whole story.as how it was forced ot death or that, and maybe had you been in my place CZu r^^--^-^^^ but,yousee,Ihad'nt to speak t "VI'°" """ ' '^' ^^^ - ^^— didT n V ' ^'^"^ °"^y J"'^<^ ^bout your a^e I t, mak ng up my mznd secret at the same time that L'that 1'" T" "°"' ' '"^^'^ ^™^^ ^"^ J-^t you hedHt^dl!;t;^;^r-^^^^^-^-thebi^^^ The sergeant now i)urried below. loavin<. Jack won denng over what he had heard ^n T , Wo. t',., .to,, .as :",,■;• f, wTour;::":' sky cloud., over and the wind rose, and": „t„oxI reeteJ tops,.,,,. The soldi...: were all kept bel„„ ,nd there was „o possibility of a„,-:l„„g i;;,;^ „„; Jl. n ^IZTH'' ''*''"• ^-nso°«„e a,:i'r : d so Jight that the vess.. ;ad -lided nve>- n, without motion, and V. y f e adell „7l "'' " "'°'' hflr^ ^^ • 1 * " '^ indeed of those on board but „„ ' r ""^''"^ °' "-^ "^-J sea ,iek„°^ but now, rn the stifling atmosphere between deek», 'a I i "!^&e^i^'' A WELCOME INTIMATION. 71 the vessel rolling and plunging heavily, the greater part were soon prostrate with sea-sickness, and even Jack, accustomed to the sea as he was, succumbed to the unpleasantness of the surroundino-s. On the second day of the storm Sergeant Edwards, who had been on deck to make a report to the captain of the company, was agerly questioned on his return below on the condition of the weather. "It's blowing about as hard as it can be," he said, "and she is rolling fit to take the masts out of hcrj but I expect j on know that for yourselves. There don't seem no chance of the gale breaking, and none of the other ships of the fleet are in sight. That's about all I have to tell you, except that I told the captain that if he didn't get the hatches lifted a little we should be all stifled down here. He says if there's a bit of * 'uU he will ask them to give us a little fresh air, and in the meantime he says that any who are good sailors may go up on deck, but it will be at their own risk, for some of the seas go pretty nearly clean over her." #r opportunity and. making a m,sh acrr,' the deck, grasped the shrouds and there hnn. en Zk soon recovered from his first confusion and ^-as abk to enjoy the grandeur of the scene Small as was the canvas she was showing the vessel w ravellmg fast through the waves, son.etimesel pletely burymg her head under a sea- then „, J "«ain the water nrshed aft k„. T' , ™' a. much as he could o prevent hZ'ifT- "' ""^ off his fppt V , X , ^^^^"^ nimsolf beino; carried ^'' ^''*- ^^rtunately all loose articles had Ion. \ I- t THE STORM ABATES. 73 Since been swept overboard, otherwise the risk of a broken Innb fron. their contact would have been serious In a quarter of an hour even Jack had had enough of It and went below, and, having changed his drenched clothes, slung his hammock and turned in. The lex day the gale began to abate, and by evening the wind had nearly died away, although the vessel ^^ rollin. as heavdy as before among the great masses of wate^r which rolled in from the Atlantic. The hatchways, however, were now removed, and all bc.W ordered on dock, and after a while a party wa told off <> -uice down their quarters below. The men were all weakened by their confinement, but thei^ pint soon rose, and there was ere long plenty of aug . te. at the misfortunes which befeirthose who tned to cross the deck, for the ship was rollin. so heavdy that .t was impossible for a landsman to keep his teet Without holding on. rolling the ship assume,! her normal aspect. The sailoi-s had removed all trace of disorder above, clothe were hung out to dry, and, as the ship was still far too -steady to allow of walking exercise, the soldiers n group,, on the deck, laughing and chatting and njoying the warm s„i, whose rays streamed down «pon them. Seeing Sergeant Edwards standing alone booking over the luh.ark. Jack made his way up to ••It has been a sharp blow," the sergeant said, "and 74 THE sergeant's STORY. enough „ , ""■■ "" '"' '"" '^"y^ have been enough to .,eke„ one of ti,e .ea for life. I .suppose jou t nnk tins .s a good opportunity for ,„y yan" Ihat ,s ju.,t what I «™ thinl..MTi|„i„„ t|„., j,„,„ „, ^, I - (>vo-„ l„.i. „„,, „ ,,,,„„„„ , « ' 'o to" -pars. („„. „f ,1„.„, c,„.n,.s to,, „,„„ «„' , crHl I,, ,r'™'''"'' ''''''■"'- '■-'■-•and CM, ;;i;j:" '"'''■''»'''■''• ''•'•^-•'•' -turn to t,,^^^^ ^ PREPARING FOR THR PrOHT. fj board We are more than a match for .>ither of them ahnie; au>I if we can manaoe to crijjpl,. one, we can beat the other off, '"At anyrate we will try our best. Thank God we have no women on h.,ar.l. and only ours..lve.s to think of! Now, my lads, cast the gun.s looso and .ret the amtnunition on deck; run two of the guns Ift and train them over the stern. A.s noon as ihey come withui rati-e we will ti-y and knock some si.-rs out of them. Now, boys, j^ive tlin. ch..eis for the oM flac and we will swar t..«ether it ,sh.ll never come down whUe there's one of us io %ht the ship.' "The nu-n gave three ch.dnnan alway.s go.s into action, a,-' farm 1 have «een, with a li,-ht heart and a joke on Iuh lip.-, when he's lijrhtin- against Frcnclmi.Hi or Sr.aniard.s or any other foe, but its a diff.T.nt thincr when it's a pn-ate he has U, d. .tl viH,, i,very nuin knows u-Ie the ca,tai„-., .truek h 71 CI Tr^-'f^ ::;;:i:r™'---'-»"-C:;:h: must have surprised tlieni TIip.. ] i After th : "r, ':;t7"-'/™-",''"-S the tree.,. ">"- Pig-'«a'J^'J fallows, Whit do y", ZZ! '""'"'"' ""' " '™ '"" °" «■'= --. -'he ^ii^no'l^: H '"'?."" '''"■' ''"" '"^' I ™"W have Thi f It : "■ ^ "™''''''' ''»^'= >^l'own the wh.te feather before any of ,„ v shipmates ; h„t they had «<^-there w,.„, one toeast a reproachful iook a't „ or to taunt n„, with eowar.lice I just stood alone there werent no one to back n,e up i^ ehoosi., wL' rather than to «,rve, and so I says, -l will i°„° ^ ,:f ■"■• ' """-^ -y I ™» ri,di, ,ad. I dors^ri ^.dn t act a, « coward; but J thi„k „,„„, J '7 "'? 'rr ■"'"■"■^ """>■ "■' -°"W h-- said no' 1 aon t thmk there s n«>ny a» would have s,iid 'no' if they had stood all alone as 1 did. ■■ t cant say as I blame myself „,.A about tkM busmess, though I have thought it over „,any a sZ o toe, but anyhow, from the .ir.t I made up my ,3 hat at the very «r„t chance I woaW «« away f« tl-«. I knew the chance wasn't ,i J, ^ J,,"^ --...ne still tWrc it was, and d»i„, .„ Zn^ ««" I took peH ,„ on Wd that ^ip I „« a|„„ telling ,ny«'f that 1 was there a,-ain,t my wUJ. ^ 'iJlJi PIKATES' HOLD. gj pirate. \\-o,Hlnrf„l „ • , T '""P ''''™''<' "'<= I "-.SU ho t ,:f e Z ". '! r^ ""' '"■'" board, it „„, wc„,krf ho !? T, '"" '° «=' °" batch, Joadel ^1,1 . " ''™"°" '" ""' "P"" ships b„Mi\:'r' t" •"'■" ^ «'-^-^' "* » 'be tho'.a,„rw; rj;: s t° r '^""■"-" '°"" '- « quarter of an L,,/!, "^ """""«''■ ""^ '" «..k. A., IwT, ,„ 7 " *'": " "'^''™ '»«>> -"d wa, to p ,t aToo > '"' ' ''"''''' ">« ''=^' 'hing lo put a good face on it so T lorn . i . shifting the cargo „„d did „,v Iw , """^ "' Wc saik-d off i^ . ^ ° *''"' ™ntented. *i"aia„d,oi.::;rrho'':'"°""'''"""^'*''^ « or ^.etting tlie cargo on shore bo<^an h «■» clear enonoli fi,„^ ii • , "^-oun. it was (888) ' """ Portuguese, wjtli a good 82 ON SHORE. sprinkling of dark-skinned natives. All the whit', women had been taken prisoners at some time or other from vessels which had fallen into the pirates" hands, and though most of them must have been miser- able enough at heart, poor creatures, they all made a show of being glad to see the men back agaia It was but a week, I learned, since the pirates had sailed, and it was considered a great stroke of luck that they should so soon have effected a capture. " No one attended to me, but I worked hard all day with the others rowing backwards and forwards be- tween the shore and the ship. When it became dusk they knocked off work, and the men went off to their huts, for it seemed that each of them had a wife, brown-skinned or white. Seeing that nobody paid any attention to me I went off to the little captain, who was making his way up to a hut of a better class than the others, " ' What is to become of me, captain?' I asked. 'Ah! I had not thought of you,' he said ; ' well, you can go up With me and get some supper, and you can have a blanket and sleep on my verandah for to-night, we will see where you can be lodged in the morning.' I fol- lowed him into his house, and was astonished as I entered at the luxury of the apartment, which far tf.xcecded anything 1 had ever seen before. The plank walls were concealed by hangings of light greea silk, u rich carpet covered the floor, the furniture wa.« most ^^ ^,,^ ..i»oaiycr, aHu uttu liu uuuuc 06611 inienaed THE captain's HOUSE. 83 for the palace of the Spanisli governor of some of th^- islands. A pair of candelabra of solid silver stood on the table, and the white candles in them, which hagHyli?' she said. 'Yes, ma'am,' says I touching my hai sailor fashion. 'Are you lately from home?' she aiskcd. 'Not very late, ma'am,' says I; 'we went to Rio first, and not filling up there were cruising about picking up a cargo when—' and I stopped, n(jt knowing, you see, how I should put it. ' Are there any more of you?' she asked after a while in a low sort of voice. ' No, ma'am,' says I; 'I am the only one.' 'I did not ask,' she said almost in a whisper, and I could see her face was most as white as a sheet, ' 1 never ask. And so you have joined them?' 'Yes,' says J, 'I couldn't help it, ma'am. I was the last, you see; if there had been anyone else to have encouraged me I should have said no, but being alone—' 'Don't excuse yourself, poor boy,' she said; 'don't think I blame you. Who am, I that I should blamft anyone? It is little I can do ON THE ISLAND. 85 for you, but if you should want anything I will do my best to befriend you.' I heard the captain's voice call- ing. Suddenly she put her finger to ■ lips, as a hint to me to hold my tongue, and off si nt. "I don't know whether the captains wife spoke to him about n.. or not, but at anyrate he didn't tell me off to any of the hu^s, but kept me at the house. I used to go down in the day to work with the other men unloading the ship and stowing away the stores, but they_ only worked for a few hours, morning and evening, lying in hammocks slung under the trees during the heat of the day. I made myself useful about the house, helped the old woman to chop wood drew water for her, attended to the plants in the httle garden round the house, trained the creepers up the verandah, and lent a hand at all sorts of odd jobs just as a sailor will do. "When, ten days after we arrived, the ships got ready for another cruise, I was afraid they would take me with them, and I lay awake at nights sweatinc. as I thought over the fearful deeds I should have to take part in; but the captain gave me no orders, and to my delight the men embarked and the ships sailed away w, thout me. I found there were some forty men left behind, whose duty it was to keep a sharp look- out and man the batteries they had got at the entrance to the cove in case any of cur cruisers came in sight " The man who was in command was a Spnniard a sulky, cruel-looking scoundrel. However, he didu't IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I |J0 '""^= ^ 1^ IL25 i 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 18 1.6 Pnotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WHSTIR.N.Y. MSaO (716) •73-4S03 86 'YOU WILL HAVE NO CHANCE." im have much to do with me; I took my turn at the look-out with the rest of them, and besides that tliere was nothing to do. The men on shore had all been in one or other of the ships when I was taken; for I found there were about a hundred and sixty of them, and a quarter stayed at home by turns, clianging after each cruise, whether it was a long or sliort one. "The captain's wife often spoke to me now; she would come out and sit in the verandah while I was at work. She asked me what part I came from, and where I harl sailed, and what friends I had at home. Btit she never said a word to me about the capture of the sliip. She always looked sad now, while she had been cheerful and briglit while the captain was on shore. In time she got quite friendly with me, and one day she said, • Peter, you will have to ,«jo to sea next time, what will you do?' "'I must do as the others do, God forgive me,' says I; 'but don't think, ma'am, as ever I shall do it willing. It may be years before I gets a chnncc, but if ever I does I shall make a run for it, what.;ver the risk may be. I speaks free to you, ma'am, for I feel sure as you won't say a word to no man, for it would cost me my life if they thought that I wasn't with them willing.' '"I will not tell anyone, Peter, you may be sure,' she said; 'but I do not think you will ever have a chance of getting away— no one ever does who once comes hera' A SAD LIFE. 87 "Well, in time, lad, she lots out bit by bit a little about herself. She had been on her way out to join her father, who was an officer of the East Indy Company, when the ship was taken by the pirates. The men was all killed, but she and some other women was taken on board the pirate and at last brought there. The French captain took a fancy to her from the first, and after she had been here a yoar b.-ought a Spanish priest they captured on board a ship and he married them. The pirates seemed to think it was a joke, and lots of them followed the captain's exan.i)le and got married to the women there. What they did with the priest afterwards, wliether they cut his throat or landed him in some place thou- sands of miles away, or entered him on board ship, is more nor I know. "There's no doubt the captain's wife was fond of her husband; pirate as he was; he had not behaved so bad to her— but except when he was with lier she was always sad. " She had an awful horror of the life ho led, and witli this was a terror lest he should fall into the hands of a cruiser, for she knew that if he hadn't the good luck to be killed in the light, lie woul.l be tri.>d and hung at the nearest port. It was a kind of mixed feeling, you see; she would have given everything to be free from the life she was leading, and yet even had she had the chance she would not have left her husband. I believe He had promised her to give it -s^^ysfc^v;^:,: ■:^xj „„,, „„„ ,^, ,„ „, ,^^^^^^ all „ ho,., wc.ro ga,.ottea-tI,af., a .ort of sLn.li , ' you c„„„._by t„„ s,,a„i„,,j,, , „,,,, ^, ; - out agnin on our s«„c)i for tl,o inland -M-e CHAPTER V. THE PIRATE HOLD. ( , ^^^HE frigate was again disguised as a mcr- km< hm: chantinan, as, if she had j)assed within sight of the island looking like a ship of war, it would have put the pirates on their guard, and I had told the captain there were guns enough at the mouth of the cove to blow the ship's boats out of the water. As to the frigate getting in, I knew she couldn't, for there was only just enough water at the entrance for the pirate vessels to er v in. I was not in irons now, but spent my time on di ck: and a wretched time it was, I can tell you, for not a sailor on board would speak to me. " For three weeks we cruised about, sailing round island after island, but at last as we were approaciiing one of them I saw the three trees. "'That's the place,' I said to the boatswain, who was standing near me, and he carried the news to the quarter-deck, and brought back word I waa to go to the captain. " ' Yon are sure those are the trees?' 94 THE THREE TREES FOUND. ft II ^ X ii "'Quite sure, sir.' "'They answer to your description certainly,' the captain said 'Keep her away, n^astor. I don't want tliem to think we are steering for the island.' "The ship's course was altered, and she sailed along parallel with the coast. ^ "'I beg your pardon, sir,' I said, touching my hat, bu they have got some wonderful good glasses up at the look-out, and if I might make so bold I should say that they will make out that we have got a lot more men on deck than a merchant ship would carry' "'You are right, lad,' the captain said, and he at once gave orders that all hands with the exception of half a dozen sliould sit down under the bulwarks or go be- ow. The captain and first lieutenant kept a sharp look-out through their glasses until we had passed the end of the island. I pointed out to then, the exact position of the cove, but it was so shut in that even when I showed where it was, it wa« as much as they could do to make it out. *^ "'Now, lad, do you know of any other landincr-places on the other side of the island?' °^ "'No, sir, and I don't believe there is any,' says I I know the captain said to me the first day I was on shore, 'It's no use your thinking of making a bolt for there ain't no other place but this where you could' get to sea-not though you had twenty boats waitin. ^) take ,^u oft:' I expects that's why they chose it Anyhow, there never was any watch kept up on shore, TlIK SEARCH FOR THE PIRATES' COVE. rF'-^' J THB captain's INQUIRIES. 95 1 though I have no doubt there was many a one wl)o had been pressed into pirating just as I was, to save their lives, would have made otf had they seen ever such a little chance of getting away. '"Just come into the cabin with me,' says he; 'I want you to show me exactly where are these batteries, and the position of the village -in shore.' " The first lieutenant came too, and I drew them out a chart &z well as I could, showing them the position of things, and told them that every evening a boom was floated across the entrance. "'What sentries are there on at nicht?' " ' Four, sir; two close down to the water, one each side of the cove, and two in the batteries at the top. That's the watch, but besides there are six men sleep in each of the other batteries, and six in each of tlie bat- teries inside.' " ' Tell me more about the place and the life you led there,' the captain .said, ' and then I shall understand the position of things better.' " So I spun him a regular yarn about the place and the people. I told him about the captnin's wife, and she being an English woman, and how she was taken, which indeed was the way of most of the women there. "'I suppose that a good many of the men were pressed too,' the captain ^aid. '"I expects so, sir; but when we were together on guard or on board a ship I noticed we never talked of 98 THE DEFENCES OF THE COVE. i". more bmtal and bloody, niindocl tl„m tl.ey ,v„„lj have been. Everyone was afraid of everyon ' ect awy, and »o each carried on as bad as he could „„„•,. r™'^ ^°" "'■" "«'"■ '"•'• ■' ■""»' l« a terrible =ot:i:r:^,--,n:;e.-a.c::: -odti,atifa„,a„t„ok„p:i::roS^^^^^ u ?t r '"'"''""^"^' '«= -"'■' -'-diy be : cuted ,( he was caught, we should have the s,a »..^veritor.o:^;s-:r;rr a hole m the .ock „„d fastened in there w th 1 l.atstheJi.edendofthehoo,„. Theot l"; -w„„s backwards and forwards wd.en the sliip !« n port, has got a hi,,, chain t„„. jj _, „,.„,'' ** ,^rT"'^"' '""-oondsir::,:; : r « he., they want to fix the boon, the end of the c i" i ,' :::„",''■ "' "•°" '""- "■•" '"- '-'»«' " DJocivs and ropes work^'l iVni.. the. i *. , the end of tl,,. choin is draNvn un ti-d.f fl, ''' "^' "r;""ioo.„, the Chain tii,rc:;:r: '*"<' y" -y (he gun, of tlK, lower batteries » U inner po.nt .sweep the entrance ?' ,. A DIFFICULT UNDERTAKING. 97 Q* " ' They do, sir. There are ten of them on each side, twelve-pounder carronades, which are always charged, and crammed up to the muzzle with bullets and nails and bits of iron. The batteries on the top of the cliff at the entrance arc the heaviest metal. They have got twenty guns in each of them. They are loaded with round .shot to keep a sel from approaching, though of course they could fire grape into any boats they saw conims: in. '"This does not seem an easy business by any means, Mr. Earnshaw,' the cai)t!iin said. " 'It does not, sir,' the lieutenant agreed in a dubisome sort of way; 'but no doubt it can be done, sir— no doubt it can be done.' "'Yes, but how?' the captain asked. 'You will be in command of the boats, Mr. Earnshaw, and it will never do to attack such a place as that without some sort of plan.' "'What is the boom like, my lad?' the lieutenant asked; 'is it hisliod together?' " 'No, it is a solid spar,' I said. ' The entrance is not more than forty feet wide, and the boom Is part of the main-mast of a big ship.' " 'It seems to me,' said the lieutenant, ' that the only way to get at it would bo to go straight at the boom, the two lightest boats to go first. The men must get on the spar and pull the boats over, and then make a dash for the batteries, the heavy boats can follow them.' (ass) m 98 THE captain's PLAN. 1 ! i, t i ■ i. " 'It would never do. Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said. 'You forget there are twelve guns loaded to the muzzle with grape and musket-balls all trained upon a point only forty feet across. Would it be possible to land just outside the boom. lad. on one or both sides, and to keep along the edge, or wade in the water to the batteries?' "'No. sir, the rock goes straight up from the water both sides.' •"Well, the two sentries, how do they get down to the water's edo-e?' " 'They are lot down by rope from above, sir, and the rope IS hauled up as soon as they are down.' " • This is a deuce of a place. Mr. Earnshaw.' the cap- tarn said. ' We must do nothing hastily in this matter or we shall only be th.-owing away the lives of a lot of men, and failing in our object. I was intending to sail on and not to return for a week, for no doubt tl.oy will be specially vigilant for a time after seeinrr a large ship pass them. As it is. I will return to-night to the back ot the island, and will there leave the cutter and my gig You will be in charge of the cutter, and Mr Lscombe will take the gig. I «l,all then sail away again before daylight; for. although from what the lad .said there is no watci. kept on that side of the island, It cannot be more than three miles across and any of the men or women might stroll across or n'nVht liom any high point in the island obtain a view that «ay. Yoa will make a thorough survey of all that I T li ass. EXPLORING IN BOAXa 99 side. The cliffs certainly seem, so far as we could see them as we left the island, as perpendicular as they are on the side we passed; but there may be some place easier than another — some place where, by set- ting our wits to work, we may make a shift to climb up. Get into the island I will, if I have to blast a flight of steps up the cliff'.' " 'I will do my best to find a place, sir,' the lieutenant said; 'and, if there isn't one, I will make one.' "The lieutenant told me that I was to accompany him in the cutter, and all was got ready for the trip. Water and a week's rations of food were placed on board the boats; for in that climate there was no saying when a gale might spring up, or how long the vessel might be before she got back to pick up the boats. " When we were fairly out of sight of the island we lay to till it got dusk, and then her head was pointed back again. There was scarce a breath of wind stir- ring, and the vessel went through the water so slowly that a couple of hours later the captain ordered the boats to be lowered, for he saw tiiat if the wind didn't freshen the ship could not get to the island, much less get away again, before daylight. The oars were got out and off' we started, and after four hours' steady rowing, the lieutenant, who was steering by compass, made out the land looming high above us. Another quarter of an hour's row and wo dropped our grapnels close to the foot of the clifla, and tlio men wore told t-o get a sleep as well as they could till morning. 100 A VAIN SEARCa. As soon a. it was daylight wo were off again and rowod to the end of the ish.nd; for, a. Mr. Earnshaw «aKl to the tlurd lieutonunt, we had best begin at the end and do the work thoroughly. When we got to the pon. we turned and rowed back, keeping about two hundred yards from tlie clitt; so that we could see well up. Ihey were about a hundred feet high-sonie- tnnes a little less, sonietiu.es a good bit more, and they wont as straight up from the water's e.hr, ^, ^ho clitL at Dover only there weren't no beach. It was deep water right up to the foot. ^ " We went along very «lowly. the men only just dip- ping their oars into the water, and all of us watchin. every toot of the clitls. Sometimes we would stop altot gether while the oflicers talked over the possibility of anyone climbing up at some place whore the water nckling down fron. the top had eaten away the face a iitt e; but not a goat in the world could have climbed "P them, not to say men. 80 we kept on till we got to tlie other end of the island, which must have bcc^i five nnles long. Not a place could we see. " -Unless we are going to do a.s the captain said- blast steps up the face of that rock-I don't believe it's to be done.' Lieutenant Earnshawsaid to Mr. Escombe. V^ ell. there s nothing to do, la.ls, but to row in and drop your grapnels again and wait till we see the ship'« iights to-night. ^ Althongh we rowed in to within an oar's-length of the clill, tliere wa. eight fathom, of water whlLi we *»Sikiii6SJS;^-5ri 1 A HOPEFUL PLAN. 101 dropped the grapnels. We had been lying there an hour when the third lieutenant said: " ' I should think, Mr. Earnshaw, that if we were to bring the pinnace with that four-pounder gun in the bow and up-end it, and with a small charge fire a liall with a rope f-istencd to it up into that clnnip of trees we saw just about the middle of the island, it might got caught.' "'So it might, Escombc, and the idea is a good one; but I doubt whether there's a man on board ship could (limb a rope swinging like that against the face of those clids.' " ' Ho might if we used a knotted rope,' Mr. Escombe said. " 'I wouldn't mind nuiking a try, yer honour,' one of the sailors said, and half a dozen others volunteered their readiness to inake the attempt. '"I will put it to the captain,' Mr. Earn.shaw said; 'if he agrees, as you were the first to volunteer, Jones, you shall have the chance.' " The day was dead calm, so was the night that fol- lowed it; and although we rowed back to the end of the island from which we had come, no lights were to be seen that night. "The next day passed slowly. The sun was hot; but towards evening the lieutenant gave permission for the men to bathe; but warned us that no man must go far from the boats, becau.se there might be .sharks '. tC!, Ac tutiut 5CU none, and we enjoyed 102 PREPARATIONS. the dip, and were in better humour still when we found that a light breeze was springing up. It might have been about midnight when the men on watch made out a light to seaward, and we weren't long in getting up our grapnels and sitting to our oars. In half an hour we were on board, and were soon sailing away from the island again. " The next night in we came again, and I saw that the third lieutenant's plan was going to be adopted; in fact, I guessed so before; for the sail-makers had been at work with two light ropes making a rope- ladder, and the ship's smith had got some empty shells on deck, and had made a shift to screw some iron eyes into them for fixing ropes to. The gun was taken out of the pinnace and a little mortar fixed in her, and half a dozen ropes, each a hundred fathoms long, had knots put in them every two feet. " The launch and the two cutters were lowered as well as the pinnace this time, and the crews were armed with cutlass and pistol. I went with them as before, as I should be wanted to guide them when they got near the village. It was a bright starlight night without haze, so that when we got close we could make out the outline of the cliffs, and could see the thick wood growing on the top. When we got within about a hundred yards of the cliffs the boat stopped rowing. Don't use more powder than you can help, gun- ner,' Mr. Earnshaw said. 'In the first place, we don't i A LITTLE SHORT. 103 want to do more than carry out tlie rope to its full length; in the next place, we don't want to make more noise than we can help. What wind there is is for- tunately blowing seaward, and being so close under the cliff the sound will be echoed back. At the same time the less noise the better.' " ' I will begin with very little, sir. If the ball don't go to the top of the clift', I shall put a trifle more into the gun next time; it's better to make a mistake on the right side.' "A small quantity of powder was put in the mortar, which was only a four-inch one. Then a wad was put in, and a shell with one of the knotted ropes fastened to it dropped in the top. The rope had been coiled in a tub so as to run out easily. The gunner applied the match. There was a dull report, and every man held his breath to listen. There was a thud high up on the cliff and then a splash. " ' A few feet short of the top, I should say, gunner. You must put in more next time, for the shell must go well up over the trees and drop among them, otherwise it won't catch.' "The gunner by the light of the lantern measured out half as much powder again as he had used before, and then fired. This time we heard no sound till there was a faint splash in the water. " ' The rope's gone, sir,' the gunner said looking into the tub. 'There was a little too much this time.' " ' I don't think so/ Mr. Escombe said, ' I think that i Srrrp^)f^n^:-JfTwir*^ 104 THE LADDER FIXED. 'li splash was the end of the rope touching the water. In that case it will be just right, a hundred feet up the cliffs, and five hundred feet among the trees. No fear of the rope coming back to us.' " It took us a quarter of an hour's search in the dark to find the rope; but at last we came upon it, and sure enough there was only four or five fathoms in the water. '"Now, Jones,' Mr. Earnshaw said, 'it's your turn. Put that light line over your shoulders, and when you get to the top haul on it till you get up the rope- ladder, and fasten that to a stout trunk and give a low hail. We will hold the rope as steady as we can below while you mount.' '"Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who was an active young chap; 'I will be up there in a jifFy.' " We fastened the lower end round one of the thwarts of the boat, and then he began to climb. It was near five minutes before he got to the top, for there were some nasty places where the cliff jutted out, and the rope was hard against it; but presently the shaking ceased, and a minute later the light line was hauled tight. There was a low cheer in thv'^ boats, and then up went the rope-ladder. A minute or two later there was a hail from the top. "'All taut, sir.' " ' I will go first,' Mr. Earnshaw said, "Accordingly up he went, and one by one we followed, each waiting for the signal that the one before him had .^..^a 'isemm warn THE SURPRISE OF THE VILLAGE. 105 gone up, till all had gone except the two told off as boat watch. Then the men of the launch and cutters followed, and in about two hours they were all at the top, and a lantern was shown to tell the ship we were there. "We started at once across the island, Mr. Earn- shaw keejiing the line by a pocket compass. It was rough work, though, and at last the lieutenant said: 'We make such a noise going through the bushes that we had better wait till daylight, so just halt where you are, lads.' " As soon as the first ray of light showed we were off again, and an hour later reached the edge of the slope down to the cove. "'Now, remember,' the lieutenant said, 'that no woman is to be hurt. All the men who resist are to be shot or cut down; but you are to take prisoners all who throw down their arms. Some of them may be able to prove themselves loss guilty than the rest. At anyrate, there is no fear of the Spanish authorities being too merciful. These pirates have been the scourge of these seas for the last six years.' " Well, lad, there ain't much more to tell you. We took them completely by surprise, and the men in the village were all knocked down and bound, without firing a shot. The men in the batteries tried to slew their guns round, but we didn't give 'em time. They fought desperately, for they knew what their doom was, and there weren't any prisoners taken there. As soon as 106 THE captain's WIFE. V' the village was taken I went straight with Mr. Es- combe to the captain's house. His wife was standing at the door, and she gave a little cry as she saw the British uniforms, and ran a step or two to meet us, then she stopped, and her arms dropped by her side. "'What! you, Peter!' she said as we came up. 'Is it you who led them here?' Yes, ma'am, it was me,' says I, ' and the best thing I could do for you, for you could not wish to stay here all your life with just the people that are here.' "'But what has happened?' she said. 'How is it you are here? What has become of the schooner?' The schooner is sunk, ma'am, and the brig is cap- tured.' "'And my husband?' "'Well, ma'am, don't you take on, but your hus- band went down with the schooner.' " She tottered, and I thought she would have fallen, but Mr. Escombe put his arm round her and led her to the house and left her there, putting two sailors on guard to see as she wasn't disturbed. An hour or two later the frigate was off the cove, and the captain hmded. We stopped a week there, and carried ofF all there was wc.-th taking; and I tell you there was enough to give every man-jack on board a handsomo share of prize-money when the things came to be sold afterwards. " Money, there was lots of it all stored away in what they called the treasure-house, for money was no good i \\l iSiiSfia A RICH CAPTURE. 107 Es- Is i there. Jewels and ornaments, watches, and the things which they uses in them Catholic churches, and all kinds of valuable things, and stores of silks and velvets and all kind of materials; and as to wine and such like, there was enough to have lasted them for years, for from first to last it was shown afterwards that those fellows must have captured more nor fiftj^ vessels. Why they shouldn't have stopped ashore and enjoyed what they got was a mystery to me. But I suppose they couldn't do without excitement, and though every man talked of the time when the treasure would be divided and they were to scatter, I don't suppose as one ever expected as the time would really come. "Well, arter everything was on board, and the women and children, the place was burnt, and we sailed for the nearest Spanish port. We had had a sort of court-martial on board the frigate, and two or three young chaps like myself, and two men as was proved to have been captured in the pirate's la.st cruise, and who hadn't been to sea with them or taken part in any of their bloody doings, was kept on board ship, and the rest was handed over to the Spanish authorities. Most of them was garotted, and a few was condemned to work on the roads for life. I and the others was taken back to England in the frigate, whose foreign time was up, and when we got to Portsmouth we was drafted into a regiment there, and lucky we thooght ourselves to get off so easy. The captain a wife and h< i! 108 THE END OF THE YARN. »me of the othor white „„,„en ca,„o home to E„.. land on board the fri-vif;. qi, , ^ hut .he hr.ghtened up a good deal towards the end o the voyage, which lasted two Months. She grieved over her husband, you see. but she eouldn't but have felt that rt was all for the best. I heard afterwards as w two years after she married Mr. Earnshaw, who by that ti„,e had got to be a captain. So that you see first and then to be a soldier of the queea I didn't -an .t to be sieh a long yarn, but wh'en X one g n .t all can,e back to nae. and, you see, I haven't spoken .t for yca«. You don't think altogether as iZ very wrong, I l,ope.» » ^ was "I thank you very much for your story, sergeant " Jack replied. "I only wish it had been bn.er " 'd although .fs very ea.,y to say that a man o„»M o Ue rather than consent to be a pirate, I don't °thnk ^«re are many lads who would choose death if they were placed as you were." ^ ■■ I an, glad to think that, young un, its dwr.y.. been a sore point with me, i have done my .',*,• .., I Z no one <.n say as he's ever seen Sergeant Kdwardsshow the wh,te feather. But the thought that that once I -c.-. . led fro,„ the effects of the confinement and sick- ■• 'H they agah . began to talk among themselves The OMINOUS SIGNS, 109 t fact that all the other vessels of the fleet were out of sight naturally encouraged them. Jack observed how- ever, that the call to parade on deck was answered with more quickness than before, and the exercises were gone through with a painstaking steadiness greater than had been shown since the embarkation. ' '.Vhen the men were dismissed from parade Jack remarked this to the sergeant. "Ay, ay. lad, I noticed it too," the sergeant said shaking his head, "and in my opinion it's a bad si.^n Ibey want to throw the officers off their guard. It's a pity you have been seen talking so much to me, because ot course, they won't say anything when you are listen- ing; but one or two of the men who came into the re<.i- ment with me have dropped a word as they happened to pass this morning that they wanted to have a word If they could get one without being noticed, so I hope to hear a little more to-night." That evening, before going below. Jack had an hour's talk with Sergeant Edwards. " It's just as I thought," the latter said. « they've -ot an Idea of seizing the ship. The men I spoke^f managed to get a few words with me this eveninc. Ihey don't know any about piracy. All they ha^e heard is that there is a proposal to seize the ship and to carry her into one of the northern ports of Spain where the men will land and give up their arms to the' bpanish authorities, and then either ^erse and mnko their way home by twos and threes a^ u.st they can or il< I' h \i no THE sergeant's ADVICE. they will take service with the King of Spain, who, they think, will pay them a deal better than the English government. "A part of the crew are in the scheme. These, the men tell me, do not intend to land, but only tell' the others that they shall sail away, ^"lat's about what I thought would be. The greater part of these fellows only wants to get quickly home again, while the sailors, who may want to go a-bucaneering, would not care about having the soldiers with them. I shall give a hint to the captain of my company to-night as to what is going on, but I don't much expect he will pay any attention to it. Oflicers never believe those things till it is too late, and you see I can't give them any names yet or prove wluit I say; besides, likely enough, any inquiry set on foot would only bring the matter to a head. We must wait till we know something sure. "You keep your ears open, my boy, and your eyes too, and I will do the saj.ie. If it comes, and you .see a chance of warning the captain of the ship or the first lieutenant in time, you do it; but don't you do it if you don't think there's time enough, or if yon can't do it without being seen. If its too late, and you are found out, they would just chuck you overboard or knock you on the head, and you will have done no good after all, and perhaps only caused bloodshed. Like enough, if matters go quietly, there won't be no bloodshed,' and the oflicers and those who stick to them will just be turned adrift in the boats, or maybe handed T -,. T , THE OUTBREAK OF THE MUTINY. Ill ■' T over to the Spanish at the port they go into as pri- soners." Jack promised to follow the sergeant's instructions, and went below. He thought that the men were un- usually quiet, and taking his blanket— for although some of the soldiers slept in hammocks, the majority lay on the deck wrapped in their blankets— he lay down by the side of a gun whose port had been opened to admit air between decks. After thinking the matter over for some time, and wondering what would be the end of it, he dropped off into a light sleep. Presently he was arouseil by a confused sound. Looking round cautiously, he saw by the dim light of (he lantern that most of the men were on their feet. Some of them were taking down their fire-arms from the arm-racks; small groups were stooping over some of the sleeping figures; and to the mast, close to which one of the lanterns hung, two or three men were bound, and two soldiers with i)ikes were standing by them. The crisis, then, had come, and Jack at once proceeded to carry out the plan he had thought out after he lay down. Very quietly he crawled out through the port-liole, and then raised himself and stood on the muzzle of the gun. There he could reach the foot of the shrouds of the foremast, which happened to be immediately above the port. He swung himself up, and, placing his hands on the edere of tlio Imlwnrl.- r>n„i',„„^\,, !..,.k„,j over. 112 THE FIRST STEP GAINED. At present all was qiiiet there, the signal from below had . ot been given, and the troops on deck— for, owing to the numbers on board, one-fourth were always on deck in fine weather— were standing about or sitting in groups. Keeping his feet on the ledge which ran round level with the deck, and his fingers on the top of the bulwark. Jack numaged to edge his way aft until he reached the line of the quarter-deck. Here the line of the bulwark ceased, the cabins of the officers rising, as was usual in those days, in a double tier high about the waist. The nearest port-hole, which was open, was but three feet along, and Jack, reaching forward, put one hand in it and continued his way. The port-hole was but just large enough for him to squeeze through. Look ing in before he attempted it he saw an officer asleep inmiediatoly below him. It was the ensign of his own company. Leaning in he touched him gently. After one or two attempts, the young officer opened his eyes, saying, " What is it? It's not morning yet." Hush, sir," Jack said earnestly, " I am Jack Stilwell of your company. There is a mutiny, sir, forward. Please help me in, I want to warn the captain of the ship, and ho will know what to do." The young officer leapt from his bunk and assisted Jack to enter. ^ "I will come with you," he said, hastily drnggirig on his tirousers and coat. "Are you sure of what you say V "(^uite sure, sir; the non-commis.sioned officers are t» r.1 '^^.*v™*s^.«tSi5;SSfife^iiSglM TIIK CAI'TAIN HOUSED. 113 uat bound; it may begin at any moment." The ensirrn led the way to tlie captain's cabin, which he opened and entered witliout ceremony. "What is it?" tlie captain exclaimed. The ensirrn said who lie was, and Jack repeated his story. "The dogs!" the captain said, "we will teach them a lesson. Let me see, the second lieutenant is on duty- rouse all the other oflicers;" and ho hin.self assisted them to do so. In a minute or two they were gathered hastily attired, with sword and pistol, in the captain's cabin. "13o you, Mr. Hartwell," the captain said, addressing the hrst lieutenant, 'go below and rouse the boatswain and petty ofllc.r.s, and bM them get together all the men they can depend upon, arm them quietly, and be ready to rush on deck the instant a stir is heard forward among the soldiers. Any man who disobeys orders, shoot him instantly. Do you, sir," he said to tlu, second oflicer. "go to the magazine with four of the midship.uen, open it and bring up charges of grape for the guns on the .luarter-deck. Be as quick as you can. Now, gentlemen, the rest of us will make our way up quietly, one by one, to the quarter-deck. Go well aft, so that the men in the waist will not notice you. iJirtctly the cartridges come up we will load the guns, and be in readiness to slew them across the deck; and in the meantime, if they shouM attack before we are ready, we must liold the ladders to the last/' One l.y one the olliccrs stolo out from the cabin (Xt8) v«wiM r 114 ON THE QUARTER-DECK. with bare feet, and made their way up to the quarter- deck, until some thirty of them were gathered there, being all the officers of the regiment, the naval officers', and midshipmen. The night was a dark one, and this was accomplished without the movement being noticed by any of those in the waist of the ship. ca If uarter- there, )fficer8, id this loticed CHAPTER VL A COMMISSION. |1HE moments passed slowly and anxiously, for, if the mutineers were to pour up from below before the cartridges arrived and the lieutenant had got the petty- officers and men on whom they could rely ready for action, it was improbable that the officers would be able successfully to oppose the rush of the men, armed as these would be with matchlock and pike. The mutineers, however, believing that there was no occasion to hurry, were quietly carrying out their intentions The non-commissioned officers had all been seized, tied, and placed under sentries, whose orders were to pike them if they uttered a word. A strong guard had been placed at the foot of the gangway to prevent any of the scalers who were not in the plan from going on deck and giving the alarm. The muskets were not loaded, as on embarkation all ball cartridcres had, as usual, been stowed away in the magazine; but thev reckoned nnnn nlifm'niM'- n— s i' • • • - r-" -..fim^ puaacssiuii oi tnis at tiie first rush. The ringleaders proceeded to form the men 116 THE AMMUNITION ARRIVES. in fours, so that they could pour on to the deck in military order. The men of each company were told off to separate work. Two companies were to clear the decks, where, on their appearance, they would be joined by their comrades there, and to overpower any sailors who might oiler resistance. Another company was to run down and secure the magazine, and, breaking it open, to serve out cartridges to all. Two other companies were to rush aft and overpower the officers, the sixth and seventh were to form round the head of the hatchway loading to the decks where the sailors slept, and to allow only those to come on deck who had entered into the plot. The other three companies were already on deck. The arrangements were excellent, but the care taken in preparing for them, and the necessity for doing this in silence lest the stir should be heard and anllarm be given on deck, occupied time which the officers were turning to advantage. As soon as the captain and naval men .lad gained the quarter-deck they threw off the lashings of the guns, and had all in readiness for running them in and taking them aft to the edge of the quarter-deck. There was a deep sensation of relief as one after another the midshipmen joined then), each carrying three cartridges of grape, and followed by the gunner with four more. The lieutenant was to stay"below to lead the sailors on to the deck, ^'he gunner brought a message saying that ail waa gM 'i^sa^'- I I TAKEN BY SURPRISE. J 17 well. Many of the sailors were found to have turned into their hamniocks without undressing, and to have hand-pikes or cutlasses concealed beneath the clothes. Ihese however, had been surprised and taken with^ out the slightest noise; as, on finding a lantern on one side of their heads and a pistol on the other, each had submitted without the slightest resistance. All these had been sent down to the hold below, and a guard p aced over them. The guns were loaded and the whole of the officers divided among them in readi- ness to run them forward. Four or five minutes passed, then a shout was heard forward and a low rush of many feet. In an instant the four guns on the quarter-deck were run across. While this was being done there wa^ a clashing of swords, shouts, and a noise of conflict heard forward, and at the same time a loud cheer arose, while trom the after hatchway a dark body of men rushed up on to the deck and formed across it. Some mid- shipmen, who had been told off for the duty, ran up trom the officers' cabin with lighted lanterns, which were ranged along at the edge of the quarter-deck. ihere was a rush aft of the mutineers, but these recoiled astonished at the sight of the pikes which con- fron ed them, and the line of sailors four-deep aciuss the deck, while at the same moment the li.rht of the lanterns showed them the officers on the quarter-deck and the four guns pointed threateningly towards them' tor a moment a silence of astonishment and dismay f 118 THE MUTINY SUPPRESSED. succeeded the uproar which had preceded it, then the captain's voice was heard: "Down with your arms, you mutinous dogs, or I will blow you into the air. It is uselep" to resist. We are prepared for you, and you are without ammunition. Throw down the arms on the decks, every man of you, before I count three, or I fire. One— two— " There was a loud clattering of arms, mingled with shouts of — " We surrender; don't fire, sir, don't fire." "It's all over," the captain said grimly. "Mr. Hart- well, "march your men forward, shoot any scoundrel instantly whom you find with arms in his hands, collect all the weapons and bring them aft "Now, Colonel Clifl^ord," he said, turning to the oflScer in command of the regiment, "if you go below with the officers, you can unloose the non-commissioned officers; they will be able to point out to you the ring- loaders in this business. They had better be ironed at once and put into the hold You will have no more trouble now, I fancy." In ten minutes the whole of the arms had been col- lected and stored up, the non-commissioned officers had pointed out some twenty of the ringleaders, and these were safely in irons below, while a strong guard of armed sailors was placed between decks to see that there was no renewal of insubordinate conduct. There waa, however, no fear of this; the men were thoroughly cowed and humiliated by the failure of their nlan. and \ i ;™t=sa«5aiss£ss-; I J i THE SENTENCES ON THE MUTINEERS. 119 each was occupied only in hoping that he had not been sufficiently conspicuous to be handed over in the morning to join the prisoners below. There was no more sleep that night on board the ship. After breakfast two courts-martial were held, the one by the naval the other by the military officers! The latter sentenced two men, who were convicted on the testimony of the non-commissioned officers as having been the leaders, to be hung, and the sentence was at once carried out. The regiment was formed in close order on deck unarmed and witnessed the exe- cution of their comrades, who were hung up to the extremities of the main-yard, The other prisoners were sentenced to two hundred lashes a-piece — a punishment which was, according to the ideas of the time, very lenient, such a punishment being frequently administered for comparatively trifling offences, and the prisoners considered themselves fortunate in escap- ing hanging, for which, indeed, they had prepared themselves. Previous to the administration of their punishment the colonel addressed the men, and told them that all the ringleaders had been found guilty and sentenced to death, but that the members of the court-martial had agreed with him that, considering the youth and inexperience of the offenders and the whole circum- stances of the case, it would be possible to remit the death sentence, confident that the prisoners and the „- ^..,, iv^iuicxiu wwuiQ iccogmze the iemeiicy 120 REJOINING THE FI^EET. with wliich they had been ; -eated, and would return to their duty with a firm and hearty determination to do all in their power to atone for their misconduct, and to show themselves true and worthy soldiers of the queen. If this was the case, no further notice would be taken of the error; but at the same time he warned them, that he had by him a long list of men who liaJ taken a prominent part in the affair, and that the first time any of these misconducted themselves they might be well assured that no mercy would be shown to them. The naval court-martial showed no gx-eater severity than that administered by the military ofhcers. The vessel was short-handed, and more >ver the officers did not wish the stigma to attach to the ship of a serious mutiny among the crew. Had any of these been hung, the matter must have been reported; but as none of the crew had absolutely taken part in the rising, how- ever evident it was that they intended to do so, no sentences of death were passed. But a number of the men were sentenced to be flogged more or less severely, those who had but lately been pressed getting off with comparatively light punishments, while the heaviest sentences were passed on the older hands concerned in the affair. The arms of the troops continued to be kept under a strong guard until, ten days later, the rest of the fleet were seen, just as the northern point of Portugal was made out. A few hours later the fleet was united; and the next day, the wind dying entiielv awav. t [I THE SERGEANT HAD GUESSED IT. 121 Colonol Clifford proceeded in a boat to the flag-ship to report to the Earl of Peterborough the luutiiry which had taken place in his regiment, and its successful suppression. Immediately the mutiny had been put down Jack StiiweU had str.len away and rejoined the soldiers forward; and although there was much wonder among the men as to how the affair had been dis- covered, none suspected him of having betrayed them, and believed that the officers must have been warned by some word incautiously let drop in their hearing. Only to Sergeant Edwards did Jack reveal what had taken place. "Do you know, lad, I guessed as you had had a hand in the business somehow. When I was standing tied up against the mast I had to keep my mouth shut; but I had the use of my eyes, and I could not make you out among them. I might have missed you, of course; but your company was formed up close to where I was standing, and I thought I should have seen you if you had been there. I could not think what had become of you; but when the men came pouring down again without their arms, and I heard then" cursing and swearing because the sailors and the officers, and all was found in readiness to receive them, it somehow came to my mind as that you was at the bottom of it— though how, I could not for the life of me make out, for I knew you had gone below when I did." "I wish, sergeant, that when you are examined, as you HBm 122 JACK IS SENT FOR will be about this affair, you will ask Captairx CurtTs to ask the colonel not to let it be known publicly that it was I who warned him, for my life would be unbear- able among the men if they knew it. And if it didn't happen before, it would be certain that the first time we went into action I should get a bullet in my back." "You are riglit there, my lad. I will tell the cap- taia You may be sure your conduct won't be over- looked ; but at present, as you say, the less said about it the better." An hour after Colonel Clifford had gone on board the flag-ship the boat returned with orders that Private Stilwell of D Company was to go back with them. The order was given to Captain Curtis, who sent first for Sergeant Edwards. "Go forward, sergeant, and tell Stilwell that he is to go on board the flag-ship. No doubt the colonel has spoken to the general. Tell the lad apart, and let him make his way aft here to the gangway quietly, so that he won't be noticed. If any of the men happen to see him going off in the boat, they may suppose that the f^olonel has only sent for some man who can write; and naturally if the captain had ordered me to choose a man, I should have picked him out." On reaching the deck of the flag-ship Jack was con- ducted to the admiral's cabia At the head of the table was seated a man whom Jack recognized at once, from the description he had heard of him, as the Earl of Peterborongk He was small and yerj spare in THE EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 123 m person, his features were pleasant, his nose somewhat prominent, his eye lively and penetrating. He had laid aside the immense wig which, in accordance with the custom, he wore when abroad or at court in Eng- land; and Jack saw his hair, which was light-brown and somewhat scanty. The admiral of the fleet sat next to him; for although Peterborough had the command of the expedition both at land and sea, an admiral was in command of the fleet under him. Colonel Clifford was seated on the earl's left, and several other naval and military oflicers were at the table. "Well, young man," Peterborough said, "Colonel Clifford has been telling us that it is due to you tliat I have not a regiment the less under my orders, and that her majesty has not lost a ship from the list of her navy He says that the whole thing was so quickly done that he has not been able to learn the full par- ticulars from you, and that he has abstained from questioning you because you did not wish any sus- picion to be excited among the men of the part you played in it. Now, please to tell me the whole history of the affair." Jack thereupon related how his suspi. ions had been aroused by Sergeant Edwards, who was only waiting for sufficient opportunity and a certainty of informa- tion to divulge the plot to the officers. He then related his awaking as the mutiny began, and the steps he had taken to warn the officera When he had doae, the earl said: 124 PROMOTED. . I "You have acted smartly and well, young man; you have sliown promptness, courai,'e, and fidelity. You speak above your rank, what is your parentage?" " My father was a clergyman, sir," Jack said, " but, being dispossessed of his living in the troubles, could not make his case known on the return of Kintr Charles; but he supported himself by teaching, and gave me such education as he could, in hope that I too should enter the ministry. But my thoughts did not incline that way; and when he died, and also n)y mother, I thought of going to sea, when it happened that I was pressed for a soldier. And seeing that it was so, I made up my mind to make the best of things." "And you have done so, young man; and right glad am I that your education and parentage are such that I can reward you as I should wish. 1 give you a discharge now from your regiment and appoint you ensign. You will at present form one of my staff; and glad am I to have so dashing and able a young ollicer ready to hand for any perilous service I may vo([u'nv." On the L'Oth of June the lleet sailed up the Taurus. Jack had not returned on board his ship. "Bettor stop here,' the earl said. "If you went back, and they heard you were promoted, likely enougii' some of them might toss you overboard on u dark night. We will set the tailors at once to work to rig you up an undfesr, uniform, You can get u full dress THE GENERAL'S SECRETAKY. 125 ilad made at Lisbon. Not that you will be wanting to wear that much, for we have come out for rough work; still, when we ride triumphantly into any town we have taken, it is as well to make a good impression upon the Spanish donnas. And, say what they will, fine feathei-s go a long way towards making fine birds. Do you write a good hand {" " I think I write a protty fair one, sir." "That is good. I write a crabbed stick myself, and there's nothing I hate more than writing; and as for these young gentlemen, I don't think they will be of much use for that sort of thing. However, I sha'n't have a great deal of it. But you shall act as my secre- tary when necessary." The earl's orders to the tailors were peremptory to lose no time in fitting Jack with an undress suit, and in twenty-four hours he was able to join the moss of the young officers and volunteers who accompanied the general. These were all young men of good family; and having heard how Jack had saved the ship from mutiny, they received him among them with gr.at heartiness, which was increased when they foun.l that he was well educated and the son of a gentleman. It was a great satisfaction to Jack that, owing to the kindness and generosity of the earl, ho was able to pay his e.xpenses at mess and to live on equal terms with them; for the general had dropped a purse with a hundred guineas into his hand, saying: "This will be useful to you, lad, for you must live J\ i 126 PETERBOROUGH'S GENEROSITY. like the other officers. I owe it to you many times over for having saved me that regiment, upon whose equipment and fitting out I had spent well-niah a hundred times that sum." '^ Some of the officers were but little older than Jack and by the time the ship dropped anchor in the Ta-ua' he was quite at home with them. * "What a lovely city!" he said as he leant over the bu wark and looked at the town standing on the steep hills sloping down to the river. "Yes, indeed," Graham, one of the young officers agreed. "But I fancy the Portuguese are but poor creatures. The Earl of Galway writes in his despatches that they are great at promises, but he finds he can expect little assistance from them." "Have you any idea whether we are going to land "No; wherever we land, you may be sure it won't be here. The Earl of Calway has been here two or three months, and he has some good regiments with Inra Our chief would bo losing his position did we and here, as he has a separate conunand. and would of course be under Galway if the forces were .loined. The Dutch fleet is to be here in a day or two, and the Archduke Charles sailed a fortnight bo- fore we did ; and as we have made a very slow voya<.e of It. ho ought to have been here long ago. What alalk there wilUe! What with the archduke, and the Portu- guese. aiid the Dutch, and the Trince of Hesse-Darm- frft RAISING A LOAN. 127 (t^» stadt. and the Earls of Galway and Peterborough and probably every one of them with his own idea^' and opmK)ns. it will be hard to come to any arrangement Besides there will be despatches from the British court, and the court of the Netherlands, and the Aus- trian emperor, all of whom will probably differ a^ to what 18 the best thing to be done. There will be a nice to-do altogether. There's one thing to be said our chief can out-talk them all; and he can say such disagreeable things when he likes that he will be likely to get his own way, if it's only to get rid of him. There goes his boat into the water. What an impatient fellow he is, to be sure!" No sooner had Peterborough landed than he turned all his energies to obtain the supplies which had been denied to him at home, and after much difficulty he succeeded in borrowing a hundred thousand pounds from a Jew named Curtisos on treasury bills on Lord Oodolphin. with the condition that the lender should be given the contract for the supply of provisions and other requisites for the army. The day that the earl had carried out this arrangement he returned on board radiant. Hitherto he had been terribly out of temper and Jack, who had become his amanuensis, had written at his dictation many very sharp notes to everyone with whom he had come in contact. As soon aa he came on board he nmi for Jack to his cabin. "Sit down, Mr. Stilwell. I have a d*«nnf,.l, fo. .-oa to write to the lord-trea.urer. I have got my money 128 A PLEASANT STAY. SO tliat difficulty is at an end. It is glorious! I couldn't get a penny out of them before I sailed, now I have got as much as I want. I would give a thousand gnineus out of my own pocket to see Godolphin's face wh.n he reads my despatch, and finds that he's got to honour bills for a hundred thousand pounds; it nill be better than any comedy that ever was acted. How the pompous old owl will fret and fume! But he will have to hnd the money for all that. He can't begin the campaign by dishonouring bills of her majesty's general or no one would trust us hereafter. You haven't seen my lord-trea.su rer, Mr. Stilwell?" " No, sir, I have not been at court at all." " That's a pity." the earl said; "for you lose the cream of the joke. Now, I shall go on shore to-morrow and get everything that is wanted, and then the sooner we are otf the better; we have been here a fortnight, and 1 am sick of the place." Jack was by no means sick of Li.sbon, for he enjoyed hnn.self vastly. The town w,i^ full of troops -En olish Dutch, and Portuguese. Of an evening there were°fetes ami galas of all kinds, and as the earl always attended these, Jack and the other young officers were permitted to go asliore either in full uniform to take part in the fetes, or to enjoy themselves accordijig to their fancies As Graham had predicted it was some time before any conclusion was arrived at as to the destination of the ik.t. «everal councils were held, but no decision was come to. Peterborough's ordm-.. we.e so v.aguo th^t A DECISION ARRIVED AT. 129 he could use his own discretion. He had, in.loed. Lcen recommended to prevail upon the Archduke Charles to accompany him and to proceed to Italy, where he was to form a junction with Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy who was sorely pressed by the armies of France A messenger, however, arrived by sea with an order trom the queen that the fleet should proceed to the coii^t of Catalonia, in consequence of information which Imd been sent to the British court of the favourable disposition of the Catalans towards the Archduke Charles. This was in accordance with the counsel which the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt had been strenu- ously urging, and h.is recent success in the capture and subsequent defence of Gibraltar gave weight to his words and efiaced the recollection of his failure before tiarcelona in the previous year. The final decision rested in a great measure with the Archduke Charles, who at last decided to proceed with Lord Peterborough and land upon the coast of hpain and test the disposition of his Valencian and Catalan subjects. The reasons for Peterborough's tailing in with the decision to move on Barcelona are explained in a despatch which ho dictated to Sir George Rocke on the 20th of July. " " Upon the letter of my Lord Godolphin and the secretary of state, the King of Spain, his ministers, and n'y Lord (Jalway and myself Imve concluded there was no ether attempt to be made but upon Catalonia where^l advice.3 agree that GOOO men and 1200 hoi-se I J? i ' tr 130 THE FLEET SAILS FOR BARCELON^ refnsprf t„ ? '^ Portuguese have entirely refused to j„,„ ,o any design agains. Cadiz, and by a copy ot n,y Lo,d Oahvay's letter you will Rni he is in ; ar :, ,:r h °' ''"^ "'^■"''""'" ^-^"^'S ^ year, and that by our insiruetions it will appear that there .3 no other enterprise left for our choice'" Peterborough's .n-litary force was, however wholly .nsufh^nt for such an enterpri . He prevailed „''„ lord Ga way to give hin, a part of Lord Eaby s a, d G nera C„n„i„gha„,-s regiments of English dra.oo" atW,gh„,ePortug„esestrenuous,y„p;osedt,:t;' m nla, to l.a wh.eh they adopted a hundred yea« ater towards the Duke of Wellington, throwin. eve"^ conee-vablo obstacle in the English commanders wl^ and oppos.ng every plan of action which he suggesT d' Many of the dragoons were without horses, but L„ -d Pete borough mounted then on anin.als which he bought w.th so,„e of the money he had procured from The Prince of Hesse-Darrastadt went on ahead to 0.bmltar to arrange for a portion of td,e garri on to ^^.npany the expedition. On the 2«th of J ^t,: ^a^^th?;; ";"?"'"' "■'"■ ^--^ Pe^erborLgh sea. Oft langiers they were joined by the souadron "'.."or S,r Cloudesley Shovel, and a few days 17 hi cached the Bay of Gibraltar. ^ !MKBWi!Wi!i»ii^>>t U Jral good" e entirely and by a d he is in ^ing this pear that f, wholly led upon by's and ragoons, lis beinsr '^as very d years g every f's way, rgested. t Lord ich he d from oad to son to ly the rough it put adron they ASKING A FAVOUR 131 Here they found that the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt had arranged that the battalion of the guards, with three other veteran regiments that had borne part in the gallant defence of the fortress, were to be em- barked, and two of the newly-raised corps Lord Peter- borough had brought out from England were to take their place in the garrison. The regiment to which Jack had belonged was one of these. As soon as he heard the news he took the first opportunity of speak- mg to the earl. " I have a favour to ask, sir." "Whatis that, lad?" "It is. sir, that Sergeant Edwards, who, if you re- member, advised me about warning the officers of the mutmy, should be transferred to one of the regiments coming on board." "Certainly, my lad; I had not forgotten him I only wish that he had sufficient education to aive him a con,mission. I sent to inquire of his colonel, but finding that he could not read or write, and that he would be out of place among the officers. I could not do It; but I will gladly take him with us on active .service it would bo hard on a good soldier to be left behind with that mutinous set of rascals." Jack had already heard from Sergeant Edwards, whom he had met several times on shore at Lisbon, and who had rejoiced most heartily at his pron.otion. that Lord letcrborough had sent him. through the colonel a pur..e ot fiity guineas a^ a reward for his conduct 1»2 THE LANDING. Jack immediately proceeded in a boat to hi,, old vessel witl, an order from the earl that the sergeant sho! d on boaT V™" '"'° ™° °' ^"^^ -S'™"*^ -i" already been received for the regiment to disembark and form part of the garrison. An hour later the Arehduke Charles landed amid «.3vld t,e b r '' ™ "^novvledged a., and was but httle delay-Lord Peterborough's energy w tirrr *^ '''™"'' ''"'^ ^ "'^ ^'i- of Pnnce of Hesse-Darmstadt aecompanying it nth that hey anchored in Altea Bay. at the mouth o stle o it"™";' r f ™'"'"'' '=°"^'- «" «>» »«> Denia v '*°°' "" ™^"^ -""J "%e of Dema ihe expedition was received with good-wil by he people, who hated the ascendency of Irani 1 Madnd and were bitterly jealous of CasUlle As soon as the Heet anchored Peterborough caused a ■ng any ,dea of aggrandizen,ent on the part of Great Bntam or her allies, or any intention of iniurin.^ the persons or property of Spaniards who were 'he la°wf„I objects of King Charles III. "We con.e.' a^^ "J ernm':: of "f " "" ■"^"PP"""''^ ^oke of the got' ernment of foreigners, and from the slavery to which L I.? SHuSS .'>i:iiUKA\T Ki.WAKDs AGAIN' Joins jack. 4 "LONG LIVE CHARLES III.!" 133 you have been reduced and sold to France by ill. designing persons." Several of the Spanish followers of the king landed to encourage the people, among them General Basset y Ramos, an active officer who was a Valencian by birth The people rapidly assembled from the surrounding coun ry and lined the shore shouting. "Long live King Charles III!" Abundant supplies of provisions werl sent off to the fleet, for which, however. Peterborough insisted upon liberal payment being made A detachment of British infantry was landed to cover the operation of watering the fleet. The insur rectzon spread rapidly, and a thousand of the peasants seized the town of Denia for the king. A frigate and two bomb-vessels crossed the bay and threatened the castle. This, although a magnificent pile of build- ing, was but weakly fortified, and after a few shots had been fired it surrendered, and General Ramos with 400 regular troops from the fleet landed and took possession and amid the enthusiasm of the population Charles III. was for the first time on Spanish ground proclaimed King of Spain and of the Indies The Earl of Peterborough now proposed a plan of the most brilliant and daring kind, and had his advice been taken the war would probably have terminated m a very short time, by securely seating Charles III upon the Spanish throne. Madrid was distant but fifty leagues from Altea Bay. Requena was the only town ox strength that lay in the way; the rich country li 134 A BOLD PLAN. would have afforded ample provision and „,eans of would have placed at the disposal of the army. In the whole of Central Spain there was „o force which could oppose him. All the troops of I>hilipw e either on the frontier of Pnr.f„ ^ ^'^ipwtre ^eenprociaimed\i„rr2Xita:rs:;e''T:: -" :r:rt;:; ::rthr" *™'™ '^^ XI ° **^"v> ana the s:arnson<^ of iha Z 7 K , ' "P"" "'' "Shti tat Tess^ would be followed by Lord Galway and the allied and Portu gu^e army, while Barcelona and the other stl^t ds" rett" If ',r °.""""" Peterborough could have on board h''«r° ^'''" " """ ''^^ '--"marked on board the fleet, or could have marched to Gibraltar Archduke Charles was slow and tinnd, and was con t oiled by the advice of his even slower and Zl ea„ tZl T "'"""■ """ "^'"■^ -=— t nor n- move mm. The earl was in despair at so brilliant an opportunity being thrown away, Ld expres!:^ hteK f t THl! FLEET SAILS ON. 135 With tho greatest of bitterness in his letters home as to the „„pos„,b,l,ty of carrying out movements when embarrassed by the presence of the king and by the incapacity of the king's advisers. ^ However finding that nothing could be done he re- embarked h.s troop, and the fleet sailed for Barcelona It was not, however, thought probable that a successful attempt could be made upon so strongly fortified a city, and u was determ.ncd that if upon inspection the chances of success should appear slight, the fleet and army should at once proceed, a, originally intended, to the assistance of the Duke of Savoy. •^5j» t CHAPTER VIL BARCELONA. ^^HE city of Barcelona, one of the most popu- #1 11 "' ''"'^ i'nportant in Spain, is not natu- rally a place of great strength. It is situated on a plain close to the sea. and its defences, although extensive, were not very formidable against a strong army provided with a siege train. To hold them fully required a much larger force than wa^ disposable for the defence. The garrison wn.s however, fully equal in strength to the force of Peter-' borough, and should have Uen able to defend the city against an army vastly exceeding their own numbers ien bastions and some old towers protected the town towards the north and east; between the city and the «ca was a long rampart with an unfinished ditch and covered way; while to the west, standing on a loftv elevation, the castle of Montjuich overlooked and guarded the walls of the city. ^ From the centre of the sea face a mole projected into the water, guarding a s.nall harbour. The country round the town was fertile and beautifu!, vcticiuiiV i THE FIRST CANNON-SHOT. 137 I cultivated and watered by streams Hewing from the neighbouring mountains. At the distance of about a league from the shore the land rises into an amphi- theatre of hills thickly dotted with small towns, villages, and country seats. As soon as the allied fleet had anchored the garrison commenced a cannonade from the mole and from a battery close to the sea upon some of the transports nearest to the shore; but their shot did not reach the vessels, and the tire soon ceased. The east wind, how- ever, proved more troublesome than the enemy's fire, and the ships rolled heavily from the sea which came in from the east. The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt with two frigates put into the harbour of Mataro for the purpose of ob- taining intelligence. He found that in the neighbouring town of Vich the people had risi?n for King Charles, and putting himself in communication with their leaders ho advised them to march upon the coast and co-operate with the forces about to land. On his way to rejoin the fleet the prince chased two Neapolitan galleys, which, however, managed to get safely into Barcelona. They had on board the Duke and Duchess of Popoli, M. d'Abary, a French ofticer of distinction, and forty other young gentlemen, partisans of the Duko d'Anjou, and destined for employment in diflerent parts of Spain! They were now, however, detained in the city by the governor to assist in its defence. IV 138 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. The first glance into the state of affairs gave the Earl of Peterborough such an unfavourable impression that ho at once objected to the proposed attack. The governor, Don Francisco Velasco, was a brave and distinguished ofiicer, the garrison equalled his own force in numbers, the town was well supplied with provisions and stores, and, in order to add to the diffi- culties of the besiegers, orders had been given to des- troy all the forage in the surrounding country which could not be conveyed within the walls. Any Austrian sympathies the inhabitants might possess were effec- tually suppressed by the power and vigilance of the governor. The besieging army was far too small to attempt a blockade, while the chances of an a,ssault upon an equal force behind well-armed defences seemed almost desperate. The engineers declared that the difTiculties of a regular siege were enormous if not insurmountable, and that the only vulnerable point was covered by a bog, where the transjxjrt of cannon or the formation of works would be impossible. Above all, the principal hope of the expedition had failed. The adherents of Charles had assured him that the whole country would rise in his favour on the arrival of the fleet, and that the town itself would probably open its gates to receive him. These promises had, like all others ho liad re- ceived from his Spanish friends, proved delusive. Few of the peasantry appeared to receive them on the coast, oud these were unuiiuud and without officers. t m A COUNCIL OF WAR. 139 The earl's instructions, although generally quite in- definite, were stringent upon one point. He was on no account to make the sliglitcst alteration in the plans of the expedition, or to take any decisive step for their accomplishment, without the advice of the council of war. This would have been in any case embarrassing for a general, in the present instance it was calculated altogether to cripple him. There was but little harmony among the chief officers. The English military officers N. ere by no means on good terms with each other, while the naval officers regarded almost as an insult Lord Peterborough's being placed in command of them. The English hated the (Jerman officers and despised the Dutch. Lord Peterborough himself disliked almost all his associates, and entertained a profound contempt for anyone whose opinion might differ from that which he at the moment might happen to hold. It was impossible that good could come from a council of war composed of such jarring elements as these. However, Lord Peterborough's instructions were positive, and on the IGth of August, 1705, he convened a council of war on boai-d the Britannia, confikim(r of nine generals and a brigadier, with two cobnels on the staff. The king and the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt were present, but took no part in the deliberations. Singularly enough the council proved unanimous in their opinion that Barcelona should not be attacked. The reasons for the decision were drawn up and nut on record. The council pointed out all tlie difficulties 140 THE TROOPS ARE LANDED. Which existed, and declared the strength of the allied army to be only nineteen battalions of foot and two cavalry regiments, of whom no more than 7000 men were fit for action, and only 120 dragoon horses had survived the voyage in serviceable condition The decision of the council was most opposed to the hopes and wishes of Charles and the Prince of Hesse- Darmstadt, and they addressed letters of stroncv re- monstrance to Lord Peterborough, urging that to a^an- don the expedition at this juncture would be alike fatal to the common cause and discreditable to the British arms. Meanwhile, however, the greater part of the troops had landed without opposition; but the sea broke with such force on the beach that nmch difficulty had been experienced in getting ashore. The landing-place had been well chosen by Lord Peterborough and Sir Cloudes- ley Shovel. It was about two miles east of the city near a place called Badalona, and close to the mouii; of the httle river Basoz. The transports were moored in as close as possible, and the boats of the fleet carried tluee thousand men ashore each trip. In five hours fifteen battalions were landed without tl.e loss of a man. A strong natural position about a mi e from the city woa chosen for the encampment; its left res ed on the sea, its right was covered by several abrup lulls and defiles through which the river Baso^ flowed. Ihe front was, however, much extended, but tnis matterfid fh" U-oo ae ♦K- ~ i s !.. .f,„^ac tftc people from the neigh- 1 i :.,Hv 'oM^eAtikt^&imiii^ NJiK' - MfMSfi'fr?- ■>»■■-. THE king's protest. 141 bouring villages began to assemble when the landing took place, and welcomed the allies of King Charles with joy. A number of these were employed by Lord Peterborough in guarding the advanced posts and cover- ing the numerous roads leading from the city towards the camp. On the 22d another council of war was held at the Dutch General Schratenbach's quarters in the camp to consider two letters of the king, in which he again urged the allied generals to attack the city. He proposed that a battery of fifty guns should be erected to breach the wall between two of the bastions, and that the whole strength of the army should be thrown upon an assault. He acknowledged the force of the several objections to the attack, but urged that iu such a case vigorous action was the safest. He dwelt upon the ruin tliat must fall upon such of his subjects as had declared for him if abandoned to their fate, t,nd concluded by declaring that he at least would not desert them. The appeal failed to move any of the council with the exception of Peterborough himself, and he alone voted, although in opposition to his own judguient, in compliance with the kings plan Notwitliistandinc the adverse decision of ti.e council the liorses and dragoons were landed on the 24th. On the 25th, the 2Gth, and the 28th the council a-^ain assembled to deliberate upon an earnest request of"tho k.ng that theyshonld ^ttempt the sioge for a period of eighteen days. The first decision was adverse, two li ■if 142 PETERBOROUGH'S TROUBLE& only voting with Lord Peterborough for the sie-e At the second council, his influence succeeded in obtuinino- a majority; but at the third, they agreed to abandon the attempt, even the commander-in-chief concurring The cause of this sudden reversal of their opinion was, that none of the workmen whom they had de- •nanded from the leaders of the Catalan peasantry had appeared, and they felt it impossible to carry on the works and erect the siege batteries without such assis- tance Nevertheless the peasantry gave effectual aid in landing the artillery, tents, annuunition, and stores On the 28th the king landed amid a great concourse of people, who received hina with every demonstration ot enthusiasm, and he could with difBculty make his way through them to the camp prepared for him near ban Martino. The presence of the king on shore added to the diffi- culties of the situation. He and his followinc. of Ger- n.an courtiers complained bitterly of the disindination ot the allies to undertake the siege, while the allies were incensed against those who reproached them for not undertaking impossibilities. Dissension spread between the allies themselves, and the Dutch general declared that he would disobey the orders of the com- mander-in-chief rather than vainly sacrifice his men Peterborough was driven near; out of his mind bj the reproaches and recrimination to which he was ex- posed, and the quarrels which took place around him. He was most anxious to carry out his instructions, and, 4 iifmmr ira,a>iartgaaia. 1 HARASSED ON ALL SIDES. I43 as far as possible, to defer to the opinion of Charles but he was also bound by the decisions of the councils of war, which were exactly opposite to the wishes of the kinof. O The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt enraged him by in- sisting that 1500 disorderly peasants whom he had raised were an army, and should be paid as regular soldiers from the military chest, while they would submit to no discipline, and refused to labour in the trenches, and an open rupture took place, when the prince, in his vexation at the results of the councils of war, even went so far as to accuse the earl of having used secret influence to thwart the enterprise. To add to the difficulties of the commander-in-chief the English troops were loud in their complaints against him for having landed and committed them to this apparently hopeless enterprise; but they nevertheless clamoured to be led against the town, that they micrht not be said to have " come like fools and gone IHce cowards." Lord Teterborough confided his trouble and vexation freely to his young secreta.y. Jack was sincerely attached to his generous and eccentric chief, and the general was gratified by the young officers reaself threatened in this vital point by an enemy whose departure he had. the evening before, been celebrating. The assen.bly was sounded^ and the church bells pealed out the alarm. The troops ran to their places of assembly, the forti- fications round the town were n.anned. and a body of four hundred mounted grenadiers under the JJarquis de Risbourg hurried off to the .succour of Montjuich The earl Imd been sure tliat such a moven.ent would be made. He could not spare men from his own scanty force to guard the roads between the city and the castle but he had posted a number of the anned l^panish peasants, who were in the pay of the army in a narrow gorge, where, with hardly any risk to them- selves, they might easily have prevented the horsen.en ti.an passing. The peasants, however, fired a hurrie