As soon as the first gleam of daylight showed itself Hector and his
companion were on their feet again.
The operation of dressing was by no means a comfortable one, for the
frost had set in in earnest during the night, and their clothes, with
the exception of the shirts, were as stiff as boards. The snow had
ceased and the sky was clear.
“It is going to be a fine day, master,” Paolo said as they left the hut.
“That is better than battling with a snowstorm such as that of yesterday
evening. Come on, Paolo, let us trot for a bit. The snow is four inches
deep, and we shall soon get warm running through it.”
In a quarter of an hour they broke into a walk again, panting from their
exertions.
“I am as warm as a toast now, Paolo. There is a village half a mile
ahead. I expect that lies on the road. The sun will be up before we get
there, and no doubt we shall be able to get some hot spiced wine and
some bread at a wineshop.”
This turned out to be the case. They had settled what story to tell;
and when the landlord asked what brought them there so early, Paolo said
that they had been on the road a couple of hours, as they were going to
see an aunt who was ill at Chivasso, and their father wanted them back
again that night. The explanation satisfied the host and he asked no
further questions, and in ten minutes they were on their way again,
greatly warmed and comforted by their meal, and after walking for
another hour and a half they arrived at the bridge of Chivasso. There
was a strong guard at the bridge head, for at any moment the garrison
of Turin, aided by a force from Leganez's army, might endeavour to carry
the town by a sudden assault. The lads passed the bridge unquestioned,
entered the gate of the town, and made their way to the commandant's
house.
“What do you want?” the sentry at the door asked as they came up.
The regiment was French, and Hector answered at once:
“We want to see the governor, we have important news for him.”
The soldier was greatly surprised, for he had not expected his question
to be understood by these peasant boys.
“Sergeant,” he called out, “here are two peasant boys who speak French.
They want to see the governor, and say that they have news of importance
to give him.”
A sergeant came out.
“Sergeant,” Hector went on quietly, “you will please tell the governor
that the two persons he sent out under an escort the evening before
last, wish to see him.”
By the tone of assurance in which the lad spoke, rather than by his
words, the sergeant saw that there was something more than appeared
on the surface, and at once took up the message. He returned almost
immediately. “Please to follow me,” he said, and led the way up to the
governor's room.
“Welcome back again, Monsieur Campbell! You have returned sooner than I
expected. You found, of course, that the difficulties were insuperable?”
“On the contrary, sir, we have been successful, and have communicated
with the garrison of the citadel.”
“You have!” the governor exclaimed in astonishment. “How on earth
did you manage it? I heard that the watch was so strict that it was
absolutely impossible for a message to be sent through.”
“It was not very difficult after all, and we were greatly favoured by
the snowstorm.” He then gave an account of how they had managed it.
“Pardieu!” he exclaimed, “that was admirably done; but I am keeping you
talking while you are sitting in your wet clothes.”
“I think they are quite dry now, sir; and we have walked so fast that
we are both thoroughly warm. Still, I own that I shall not be sorry to
change them for my own.”
The governor rose and opened the door. “Your clothes are all hanging up
in that closet. I will have some hot water sent up at once. I shall
be breakfasting in half an hour, so you will have time to change
comfortably.”
Hector was even more glad of a thorough wash than of a change of
clothes, and went down to join the governor at breakfast, feeling
greatly refreshed.
“Shall I wait on you, master?”
“No, it is not necessary, Paolo; you had better go into the kitchen at
once. I have no doubt the governor has ordered them to attend to your
wants as he did before.”
Four other officers had just arrived on the invitation of the governor
to breakfast; one of these was the captain who had commanded the escort.
“Gentlemen,” the commandant said, “let me introduce to you Monsieur
Campbell, a lieutenant on the staff of Viscount Turenne. He has just
returned after having successfully carried out a most dangerous and
difficult mission, namely, that of communicating with the garrison of
Turin.”
The officers gave an exclamation of surprise, while Captain Simon
stepped forward and shook hands warmly with Hector.
“You did not tell me exactly what you were going to do,” he said. “I
thought that it was to see some of the duchess's adherents in Turin, but
I never dreamt that you were going to attempt to communicate with the
citadel. Had I known that, I certainly should not have expected to see
you again, for from what we have heard it is next to impossible to get
through the enemy's lines.”
“We will not trouble Monsieur Campbell until he has finished his
breakfast,” the commandant said. “He has already told me briefly how he
managed, but I shall be as glad as you will to have the details.”
Accordingly, after breakfast Hector related at much greater length the
story that he had told the governor of the manner in which the mission
had been carried out.
“Ma foi!” the colonel said, “I would rather have faced a battery than
swum those moats in such weather. Well, gentlemen, I think that you will
agree with me that Monsieur de Turenne is fortunate in having so brave
and enterprising an officer on his staff.”
The officers cordially assented.
“I wonder that you did not enter the citadel and stay there till the
convoy arrived.”
“In the first place, colonel, I had received no orders to do so, and the
general might require me for other service. And in the second place, had
I not returned he would not have known whether his message had reached
the garrison, and so might have hurried on his preparations more hastily
than he otherwise would have done, and might, in his fear that the
garrison would surrender, have made the attempt before he had collected
sufficient food to last them until he was in a position to raise the
siege.”
“Your reasons are good ones; but certainly, with shelter and warmth
close at hand--for the sentry would speedily have passed the word along,
and as soon as it was ascertained that you were indeed a French officer,
and alone, the gates would have been opened for you--it must have
required no small effort to turn away and to face the danger of passing
the sentries and scaling the walls, of possibly having to swim the Po,
and of certainly having no chance of getting a change of clothes until
you arrived here, for you could not have calculated upon finding the
shed, much less those sacks, with the snow falling heavily.”
“That was a piece of good fortune, indeed. If we had not found it, we
should have gone on walking until we got here. Still, we had had little
sleep the night before, and were heartily glad that we had no farther to
go. And now, sir, with your permission we will start for Susa at once.”
“Your escort returned yesterday, but I will send a troop of cavalry with
you.”
“Thank you, sir, but I do not think that there is any necessity for it.
We are very well mounted, and should we see any party of the enemy's
cavalry I think that we ought to be able to outdistance them. I shall
be glad, colonel, if you and your officers will say nothing about the
manner in which I communicated with the garrison, as doubtless the enemy
have spies here; and if the story comes out and reaches the ears of the
authorities at Turin, I should have no chance whatever of making my
way in, in the same manner, should the general entrust me with another
mission to communicate with the citadel.”
A quarter of an hour later Hector and Paolo mounted and rode out of the
town. They kept a vigilant lookout, and traveled by byroads, but they
saw none of the enemy's parties, and reached Susa late that afternoon.
On sending in his name to Turenne, Hector was at once shown into his
room.
“I did not expect you back for another three or four days, Campbell,”
the general said, “and I am heartily glad to see you again safe and
sound. I blamed myself for letting you go. Of course, as I expected, you
found the task an altogether impossible one. Had it been otherwise you
would not have been back so soon.”
“On the contrary, general, for I should have tried many plans before I
gave it up. As it is, I have only to report that I have carried out your
instructions, and that your despatches are in the hands of the garrison
of the citadel.”
“You do not say so!” Turenne said, rising from the table at which he had
been sitting writing when Hector entered, and shaking him warmly by the
hand. “I congratulate both you and myself on your having performed a
mission that seemed well nigh hopeless. But by what miracle did you
succeed in passing through the enemy's lines? All who have tried it
before have either died in the attempt or have returned to tell me that
it was an absolutely impossible one.”
“It would have been very difficult, general, had not the weather
favoured us. The snowstorm drove the sentries into shelter, and even
had they remained at their posts they could not have seen us five yards
away.”
“No, I can understand that once beyond the wall you might in such a
storm make your way unnoticed up to the fortress; but I understood that
not only were there guards on the walls and down near the great moat,
but that there were also sentries in all the streets leading to the
walls, and that none were allowed to pass along those leading to the
walls facing the citadel. Tell me how you managed it.”
“The story is a long one, sir.”
“Never mind how long it is; give me all details. I am not particularly
busy at present, and I would fain know exactly how this feat has been
accomplished.”
Hector told his story at length. Beyond asking a question now and then,
Turenne remained silent until he had brought it to a conclusion.
“I have never heard a story that interested me more,” he said, “and I do
not know which to admire more, your ingenuity in planning this affair or
the hardihood and courage with which you carried it out. Even had there
been no enemy to get through, the adventure of letting yourself down by
a rope from the housetop and then from the battlements, swimming three
moats, crossing the river in such terrible weather, and finally making
your way to Chivasso in your frozen clothes, is no slight feat of
endurance. The service that you have rendered is a great one, the manner
in which you have carried it out is worthy of the highest praise, and I
shall at once make out your commission as captain. You are still a year
behind me,” he added with a smile, “but if you go on in this way, you
bid fair to obtain a regiment as soon as I did. You have nearly four
years to do it in. Tomorrow you will dictate your story in full to
my secretary. I shall be sending a messenger with despatches on the
following day. I shall mention that I have promoted you to the rank of
captain, and that the story of the action that you have performed, which
I shall inclose, will fully explain my reason for so speedily advancing
you. No, I require no thanks; you have to thank yourself only. I may
consider that you have not only done me but the state a service. Your
servant deserves a reward also. Here are twenty pistoles; tell him
not to throw them away, but to lay them by where some day they will be
useful to him.”
Paolo was astonished indeed when Hector handed him the general's
present. He could at first hardly believe that it was meant for him.
“Why, master,” he said, “it would buy me a farm up in the hills!”
“Not a very large one, Paolo, but I daresay that you will add to it;
still, this is a good beginning, and some more opportunities may come in
your way.”
“What shall I do with them, master?”
“That I cannot say. Certainly you cannot carry them about with you. Do
you know anyone to whom you could entrust them?”
Paolo shook his head. “There is never any knowing who is an honest man
and who is not,” he said. “I will bury them, master.”
“But somebody might find them.”
“No fear of that, sir. I will go a bit up the valley and bury them under
a big rock well above the river, so that it will not be reached in the
highest floods. They might lie there a hundred years without anyone
finding them, even if every soul in Susa knew that they were hidden
somewhere and went out to search for them.”
“Very well; but be sure you take notice of the exact position of the
stone, or you may not be able to find it again yourself. One big stone
is a good deal like another. Choose a stone with a tree growing near it,
and make a cross with your knife on the bark. That will serve as a guide
to you, and you would recognize the stone by it even if you could not
find it in any other way.”
“Thank you, master. I will go out tomorrow morning and choose my stone,
and then when it begins to get dark I will go out and bury my money
there. It would not do to hide it in the daytime, for even were there no
one on the road someone upon the hills might catch sight of me and come
down afterwards to see what I was disposing of.”
“Well, I think that that is the best thing that you can do, Paolo. There
is certainly a danger in leaving it in anyone's hands, for when you
return to claim it, perhaps some years hence, you might find that he was
dead, or the place might be captured and burned down. Yes, I think
that hiding it is the safest way. You will be pleased to hear that the
general has given me a commission as captain.”
“That is good news, indeed,” the boy said. “I was just going to ask,
master, what he had done for you, because, though I went with you, it
was you who planned the business, and I only did as you told me.”
“You had something to do with the planning, too, Paolo. However, I
think that we may both feel well content with the rewards that we have
obtained for two days' work.”
As Hector went out he met de Lisle and Chavigny.
“Well met!” the former exclaimed. “We have just left the general, and
he has told us what you have done, and that he has made you a captain
in consequence. We were just coming to look for you to carry you off to
supper in honour of your promotion.”
“You deserve it, if anyone ever did, there is no doubt of that,”
Chavigny said heartily. “We are quite proud of our comrade.”
“It seems absurd that I should be a captain.”
“Not absurd at all,” Chavigny said. “Turenne was a captain when he was a
year younger than you are, and there is many a noble who has been made a
colonel before he ever drew sword in battle.”
Hector was much pleased at the evidently genuine congratulations of
his companions. He had indeed rather feared that they would take his
promotion ill; being nearly five years his senior, and having served in
two previous campaigns, they might well feel hurt at his being promoted
while they still remained only lieutenants. The young nobles indeed felt
no shade of jealousy. It was but of late that there had been a regular
army, for the nobles still brought their tenants and retainers to the
field and supported them at their own expense.
To de Lisle and Chavigny these grades of military rank were of no
account whatever. The rank of colonel would add in no way to their
position as members of noble families. They fought for honour, and
against the enemies of France. They were always addressed by their
family name, and would both have resented being called lieutenant.
They were proud of being Turenne's aides-de-camp, but had no thought of
remaining in the army after the war was over, as they would then resume
their place at court. They had both taken a strong liking to their young
comrade, whose manner of thought differed so widely from their own. They
appreciated the merits of the action of which their general had spoken
in such warm terms, and the fact that in point of military rank he was
now above them concerned them in no way. It was a merry supper at the
best hotel in Susa.
“You see now, de Lisle,” Chavigny said, “the advantage of taking a
morning dip in snow water. Neither you nor I would have swum across
those moats, and remained all night long in our wet clothes, for a
thousand crowns.”
“No, no, nor for five thousand,” the other laughed. “Pass me the wine;
it makes me shiver to think of it. I fancy we may as well admit at once
that if the mission had been entrusted to us, we should have made a mess
of it. We should have been shot by the guards in the first street we
entered. As to climbing along the roofs of houses till we had passed the
first line of sentinels, the idea would never have entered our heads.
Of course we might have disguised ourselves, and might have got into
the town by harnessing ourselves to a load of faggots, but once there we
should have had no more chance of getting into the fortress than if we
had at once proclaimed ourselves French officers, and had requested a
pass into the citadel.”
For the next ten days every effort was made to obtain carts and pack
horses from the villages round Susa, and a number of wagons filled with
provisions were brought from Carignano, where the principal supplies for
the army had been collected. On the fourteenth day all was ready, and
late in the afternoon the convoy, with fifteen hundred men from Susa,
and four pieces of artillery, marched out. At the same hour the force
at Carignano, six thousand strong, leaving only a small body to garrison
the city, started for Turin along the farther bank of the Po, and just
as day broke a heavy cannonade was opened by them against one of the
city gates.
Astonished and alarmed, the troops in the city flew to arms, and hurried
to repulse the attack. A quarter of an hour later the dim light of
the morning showed the astonished sentries at the end of the town
surrounding the citadel a considerable force advancing to the attack of
the gate there, opposite which, at a distance of two hundred yards, four
cannon were placed, and scarcely had they made out the enemy when
these opened fire. A few rounds and the gate was in splinters, and the
infantry rushed forward. The sentries on the walls took to flight, and
the assailants pushed forward to the inner gate. Access was obtained
from that side to the citadel, and then, under the direction of their
officers, the assailants occupied all the side streets. At once the
procession of carts was allowed to pass along. Some of the garrison
ran down and lowered the drawbridge across the moat, and amid exultant
shouts a store sufficient for many months was conveyed into the citadel.
The carts as quickly as they were unloaded returned through the gates
and passed out into the country beyond. By this time a fierce fight
had begun. As soon as the firing was heard opposite the citadel, Prince
Thomas and his military advisers guessed at once that the attack had
been but a feint, made with the object of effecting the relief of the
citadel, and calling several regiments to follow them they hastened in
that direction. On their way they met the fugitives, and hurried on with
all speed. As they approached the street through which the wagons were
passing out, they were checked by a heavy fire. The four guns had been
placed in pairs at the end of the streets, and the houses near them
filled with troops who kept up a murderous fire from the windows, on the
head of the columns, and held them completely in check until the last
wagon had been taken out. Then the cannon were removed, and when these
too were fairly outside the city, a bugle call summoned the defenders of
the houses, and the infuriated Italians and Spaniards, when they rushed
down into the street between the gates, found that the last of their
foes had escaped them. The artillerymen ran up to the walls, only to
find that the guns had been spiked, and they were powerless to inflict
any serious damage upon the retiring force.
Prince Thomas ordered a sally, but at this moment a regiment of cavalry
from Chivasso was seen dashing across the plain, and being without
artillery or cavalry the order was countermanded. Indeed, the prolonged
roll of artillery at the other end of the city seemed to show that the
French were converting their feigned attack into a real one. Turenne
had himself accompanied the column from Carignano, for he knew that the
sound of firing might bring up Leganez from Asti, and that he might
find his retreat to Carignano intercepted. The moment, however, that the
sound of four guns at equal intervals showed that the other column
had achieved its object, he at once fell back, his fire ceasing a few
minutes before Prince Thomas and his horse arrived at the walls. He had
not been accompanied by Hector, who was with the force from Susa.
“You carried my message to the garrison,” he said, “and it is but right
that you should have the honour of leading the party to its relief.”
On arriving near the city Hector had dismounted, and, giving his horse
in charge of Paolo, had placed himself at the head of the company that
was first to enter the town, its captain being transferred to another
company.
“Now, men,” he said, as they stood waiting for the dawn to break, “the
moment we enter the gates half the company will mount the wall to the
right, the other half to the left, and each will push along to the next
angle of the wall. Lieutenants, one of you will go with each wing of the
company, and you will oppose to the last any force that may march along
the rampart to attack you. I want one soldier to keep by me.”
As day began to break, each man grasped his firelock and awaited the
signal with impatience. A cheer broke from them as the four cannon
roared out at the same moment, and at so short a distance that every
shot told on the gate. Another salvo and both halves of the gate were
splintered.
“Aim at the centre where the lock is,” an officer shouted.
“Get ready, men,” Hector said. “Another round and the gate will fall.”
As the cannon rung out there was a shout of triumph. One of the gates
fell to the ground and Hector dashed forward, followed closely by his
company. Not a single shot was fired from the walls, and the men burst
through the gates cheering. The leading wing of the company turned to
the right, and, led by Hector, ran up the steps close to the gateway on
to the rampart.
“Take them on to that bastion at the angle of the wall, lieutenant. I do
not think that you are likely to be attacked at present. The enemy must
all have been drawn off to the other end of the city. Now, my man, open
that bag.”
In it were a couple of dozen large nails and a hammer. “Drive one of
those right down the vent of this gun. That is right. One more blow.
That will do. They won't get that nail out soon.”
He went along the wall spiking each gun until they reached the half
company drawn up in the bastion. “No enemy in sight, lieutenant?”
“None, sir, at least not on the wall. We heard them running away in the
streets below.”
“Remember, lieutenant, whatever force may come along you must withstand
them. It will not be for long. You will be at once supported if we hear
firing.”
Then he retraced his steps along the ramparts, passed over the gateway,
and saw to the spiking of each gun as far as the next angle of the wall.
Here he repeated his instructions to the lieutenant there.
“I do not think,” he said, “that there is much chance of your being
attacked. The enemy would have to make a detour right round the citadel
to come here, and certainly they will return by the shortest way, as
soon as they discover that the other attack is but a feint.”
Then he returned to the first party.
“Get the two guns,” he said, “out of their embrasures and wheel them
here. It is likely enough that we may be hotly attacked presently.”
They waited half an hour, by which time the wagons were beginning to
pour out of the town.
“We have done our business, lieutenant; the citadel is revictualled. Ah!
here come the enemy, just too late.”
A strong body of troops were seen marching rapidly towards them, and
almost at the same moment a heavy fire broke out in the street. The
guns had been loaded from a small magazine in the bastion, and had been
trained to fire along the rampart. When within a hundred yards the enemy
opened fire. Hector ordered the men to lie down and not to reply until
he gave the order. They lay in two lines, the first were to fire and the
second to reserve their fire until ordered. He took his post at one gun
and the lieutenant at the other. A messenger had been sent along the
wall to bring up the twenty-five men of the other wing. When the enemy
were within fifty yards he asked quietly, “Does your gun bear well on
the centre of the column?”
“Yes, captain.”
“Then fire!”
The ball cut a way through the dense column.
“Load again!”
The four men, told off to the duty, leapt to their feet. There was a
halt for a moment, and then the Spaniards came on again. When they were
within twenty paces Hector fired, and at the same time shouted, “First
line give fire!” and twenty-five muskets flashed out, every ball taking
effect on the head of the column. The Spaniards recoiled, the leading
ranks being swept away and many of those behind wounded, for three balls
had been rammed down the mouth of the cannon fired by Hector, and these
and the musketry volley had done terrible execution. At this moment the
twenty-five men sent for ran up.
“Second line give fire!” Hector shouted; and the discharge added to the
confusion in the column, and many ran down some steps into the lane by
the side of the wall.
“Have you loaded again, lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir, with three balls.”
“Then form up, men, and deliver your fire,” Hector said to the
newcomers. “Now, lieutenant, touch it off.”
As the discharge rang out, mingled with the roar of the guns, Hector
shouted, “Fix bayonets, and charge!” The wooden shafts of the bayonets
were thrust down the barrels of the firelocks, and with a cheer the
seventy-five men rushed upon the shattered head of the column. The
charge was irresistible, and the enemy at once fled at full speed along
the rampart or leapt from the wall into the lane below.
“Well done, men, well done!” Hector shouted. “Do not pursue. Reload your
cannon, though I do not think there is much fear of their returning.”
A few minutes later the soldier who had carried the spikes, and who had
been left on the wall, ran up to say that the last cart had passed out.
“Go and tell the other party to fall back to the gate,” Hector said;
“but first give me two spikes and the hammer. They might run these
cannons into the places of those disabled.” So saying, he spiked the
two guns that had done such good service, and then retired to the gate,
where he was joined by the remainder of the company. As the bugle rung
out after the last wagon had passed, and he saw the troops issuing from
the houses at the corners of the cross streets, he marched his company
across the drawbridge, out into the country, and followed the guns. When
he reached the spot where Paolo was holding the horses, he resigned the
command of the company and mounted.
“Men,” he said, “you have played your part well, and I am proud to have
commanded soldiers so steady and courageous.”
At this moment the general, who was in command of the force, and who had
been the last to leave the town, rode up, the men coming along at a run.
“You had better hurry your men on,” he said to the colonel with whom
Hector had acted; “the enemy will be on the ramparts in a minute, and
you may be sure that they won't let us off without trouble from their
guns.”
“I beg your pardon, general,” Hector said saluting, “but the guns all
along this side of the wall are useless; I have spiked them.”
“You have, sir! That was well done indeed. Who gave you the orders, and
how did you come by spikes?”
“I had no orders, general; but I was appointed to command the first
company that entered, and was told that we were to turn right and left
along the ramparts. It struck me that as, when we had left, the enemy
would be sure to turn their guns upon us, it would be as well to silence
them, so I brought the nails and a hammer with me for the purpose.”
“It would be well, sir, if we had a good many officers as thoughtful
as you are. You have saved us from heavy loss, for, as the country is
perfectly level for a mile round, they would have swept our ranks as we
marched off. Were you attacked, sir?”
“Yes, general, by a force of about four hundred men, but I turned two of
the guns against them. My men fought well, and we repulsed them with a
loss of fully a hundred men.”
“Bravo, sir, bravo! I shall not fail to mention the service that you
have rendered in my report of the affair. Have you lost any men?”
“No, sir; they lay down until the enemy were within twenty paces of us,
and their volleys and the two cannon created such a confusion among the
Spaniards that when we went at them with the bayonet they fled at once,
and I have not a single man killed, and only two or three slightly
wounded.”
“We have only lost twenty,” the general said, “and most of those were
killed while serving the guns. That was a small price indeed to pay for
our magnificent success.”