It was imperative, however, to determine the question without loss of
time, and to determine it without revealing the fact to the garrison, to
whom, it was to be presumed, their weak point remained as yet a secret.
Under these circumstances, having first directed Francisco to ascertain
as far as possible, in the village, what Sam had been about the night
before, I promptly commenced a general reconnaissance of the enemy’s
position. The affair, which had hitherto been stupid enough, now became
a little exciting. I made the circuit of the beleaguered house without
interruption from the foe, but also without discovering an entrance.
My attention, however, was at length attracted by the wood-house, which
stood by the side of the premises, contiguous, but wholly detached from
them. At that end of the shed which was farthest removed from the main
building, I noticed, close to the gable-wall, what appeared to be a
small heap of rubbish. To this, without betraying my object, I could not
make a direct approach; yet it seemed to invite further investigation.
It soon became apparent, on more particularly noting the character of
the locality, that, by availing himself of the shelter afforded by one
or two neighbouring cottages, a person might approach obliquely, without
being noticed from the dwelling itself, right up to the end wall of the
wood-house, where the rubbish was lying on the ground. Immediately
availing myself of this important discovery, I made my approaches
accordingly, and reached the spot.
The heap of rubbish was at once accounted for. A hole had been broken in
the wall. The opening was sufficiently large, so I took the liberty of
entering, and now found myself in the wood-house, which was decidedly an
outwork of the enemy’s position.
Sam had been there before me, and had left his marks in the shape of
empty bottles. But, what was still more important to the progress of the
siege, I noticed, at the other end of the shed, which was furthest from
the perforated wall, and nearest to the house, an excavation in the
earthen floor. I looked down, but could not discover its depth. Nothing
could be discovered, save darkness visible.
Here then was the shaft by which Sam had walked into the Padre’s best
bin; and here too, in all probability, was a ready-made entrance into
the enemy’s stronghold. Determining to muster my forces and head an
assault without further loss of time, I quitted the outhouse, as I had
entered it, without being observed, and returned to the Alcalde’s. The
Padre, at my request, followed me into a private room.
“Señor Padre,” said I, “oblige me by describing in general terms the
topography of your cellar.”
“Ah, _hijo mio_,” said the Padre with deep emotion, “I trust you have no
idea of carrying on the war in that quarter. Believe me, except the
Lamego hams, the cellar contains nothing but wine.”
“Tell me,” I asked, “does your cellar extend under ground in a lateral
direction? Has it any subterranean recesses?”
“Nothing, believe me,” replied the Padre in a panic, “with the sole
exception of the wine and the hams, and a few trifling articles in
silver which I succeeded in rescuing from our plundered convent.”
“If you wish,” I replied, “to be reinstated forthwith in the possession
of your cellar, and of your house besides, only have the goodness to
explain to me——”
“Oh, spare the cellar!” cried the Padre, frightened out of his wits,
“even if a dozen houses—all the houses in the village—are assaulted,
sacked, gutted, levelled with the ground, blown up sky-high!”
“What’s the use of talking in that way?” I replied. “Come, Señor Padre,
just give me the information I want, and it shall go hard with us but
you and I will dine in the house this afternoon. We must take it
offhand, and I already discern the road to victory. Only tell me, does
the cellar extend, underground, outside the walls of the house? In
particular, does it extend in the direction of the adjoining shed?”
The Padre subsided into a brown study. “Why, now you ask the question,”
said he, “I think it does. The house is old, built after the fashion of
the Moors. There certainly is an underground recess or passage, of some
length, going off from the cellar; and, on consideration, I think it
must run in the direction of the wood-house—nay, perhaps extend under
it. Probably it served originally as a subterranean communication
between the outhouse and the house itself.”
The “enigma” was now well-nigh solved. I summoned Francisco, and
inquired whether he had succeeded in obtaining from the villagers any
intelligence of Sam’s proceedings. All that could be learnt amounted to
this, which, however, was quite decisive: that Sam, the night before,
when he stole away from Sergeant Pegden, went begging from cottage to
cottage, till he had procured the loan of an implement called a “pico,”
which, though not identical with an English pickaxe, in some measure
resembles it, and is available for the same purposes. Sam, having made
this acquisition, was seen no more, till he reappeared in the village
next morning, “mucho embriagado” (very drunk).
I also recollected that when, on our first occupation of the village,
some little plundering took place, Sam, though he had pleaded exemption
from duty as an invalid, and had been brought along on a bullock-car,
then also contrived to become considerably elevated; and I now felt
convinced that he had made his first acquaintance with the Padre’s
cellar on that occasion. The rest was easily explained. An old smuggler,
accustomed, in the locality of his former exploits, Kingsdown, Walmer,
Richborough, &c., to underground deposits of goods, he had, in his
previous visit to the Padre’s bins, at once made himself acquainted with
the peculiarities of the position; and now, on his return to the village
with the Sergeant, he had promptly embraced this first opportunity of
renewing his acquaintance with such an agreeable locality. Hence the
requisition for the pickaxe, the hole in the wall, the excavation in the
floor. Sam, it was clear, had tapped the Padre’s cellar before he tapped
his wine.
Taking a circuitous route in order that the enemy might not discover our
movements, I brought round the Sergeant and three of the men to the
perforated wall. We then passed through the opening, one by one, and got
into the wood-house unseen by the garrison. Hurra! we have effected a
lodgment in the enemy’s counterscarp—only don’t make a noise.