seated on a rock watching a regiment that had just fallen out preparing
to bivouac. It was a newly-arrived corps, and had come up from the
coast by forced marches to join the army which, having won the battle
of Vittoria, was now engaged at various points among the Pyrenees with
the enemy, who were trying to bar their passage.
Tommy Pearson was the youngest member of the regiment, being but eleven
years old. His father had been the drum-major of the corps, and Tommy
was a general favourite, and at his father's death, three weeks before
the regiment left England, the colonel was asked by a deputation from
the men to allow Tommy to accompany them, promising that he should be
no trouble on the march. Young though he was, the boy could handle the
drumsticks as well as many of those years older than himself, and the
colonel, after some hesitation, granted the request, saying to the
major: "One can always find a place on one of the baggage-wagons for
him; his weight will make no difference one way or the other to the
team; he is a bright little chap, and we may consider him a legacy to
the regiment from his father, whom we all liked and respected."
So Tommy, to his great elation, was permitted to go. For the last three
years he had, although not on the strength of the regiment, marched in
uniform like the other drummers, and many an exclamation of amusement
or admiration had been uttered as the little chap walked stiff and
upright in the front rank.
The promise the men had given had been carried out on the long march
from the sea-coast. Tommy had each morning for some miles marched
with the band, and when he had to give up, which he never did until
absolutely unable to go farther, he was hoisted on to the top of a
baggage-wagon, or, if these happened to be far in the rear, his drum
would be taken by one of the buglers, and the boy himself would be
carried by the soldiers in turn. During the latter part of the journey
he had seldom been obliged to give in, but had manfully struggled on
till the regiment reached the end.
"I am a bit tired," he said; "but that doesn't matter. It has been a
long march and very much up hill, but it has been cooler than it was,
and I could go a mile or two farther, though I don't say I wasn't glad
to stop."
The regiment, which now formed part of a column consisting of a brigade
of infantry, cavalry regiments, and a battery of artillery, had
bivouacked on a plateau a quarter of a mile from the road, which here
passed through a defile.
As soon as the men had fallen out, they scattered in search of dried
bushes that would afford firewood. The baggage-wagons had not come
up, and it would be an hour or two before the bullocks which followed
them would arrive; but the men had the day before had three days'
rations of cooked meat and bread served out to them, and were therefore
independent of the train. Tommy, after a rest of half an hour; joined
the other drummer boys, and, after eating his ration, wandered about
among the soldiers, most of whom had some cheery remark to make to him.
"I expect, Tommy," one said, "it won't be long before we catch sight of
the French, and then we shall have bullets whistling about our ears.
You will have a better chance than the rest of us, seeing that you
offer such a small mark."
"Tommy will be safe enough," said another; "I expect he will be told
off to wait for the baggage and to help to give the wounded water."
"I shall be where the others are," the boy said sturdily; "now that I
can do a day's march all right, I can go into a fight with the other
fellows."
"The other fellows won't go into the fight, Tommy; in the first place
they would be in the way, and in the second place all who are big
enough will be stretcher-carriers; those who are too small for that
will be stowed somewhere out of harm's way. What would you do if a
French grenadier came at you?"
"I don't suppose I could do much," the boy said; "but if he was a brave
man, he would not try to hit me."
"Right you are, Tommy: no soldier would care to massacre an innocent:
it is only a chance shot you need be afraid of. There is one thing: if
by accident you did get near the enemy, you would only have to stand
behind a good-sized man to be perfectly safe."
The boy laughed. "Well, we shall see, Jones. I don't know what a fight
is like yet or how I shall feel; but I don't suppose that I shall be
more frightened than anyone else."
After their long march and the prospect of another the next day, the
troops were glad to wrap themselves in their cloaks and lie down as
soon as darkness came on, especially as but little brushwood had been
found and the fires were already burning low. After the heat of the
plains they felt the cool mountain air, and grumbled that the baggage
with the tents had not come up. Tommy, although he had chosen a place
in the shelter of the rock, found the cold bitter, and as soon as it
was dawn got up and stamped his feet to set the blood in circulation.
"Very likely we may not have a long march to-day," he said; "and
anyhow, I would rather be tired than be as cold as I am at present." In
about half an hour the camp was beginning to stir.
"I will go for a little walk," he said; "they will be an hour or two
before they fall in. I may as well take my drum with me: then I shall
be ready when the bugle sounds."
It was broad daylight now, and, putting the strap of the drum behind
his shoulder, he started. Other soldiers were already moving about
outside the ground they occupied in search of firewood, and the
sentries paid no to him. The plateau extended for some little distance,
and then terminated at the foot of a sharp ascent of rocky ground.
The boy climbed up to a small ledge and then sat down to look around.
From the point where he seated himself he was only five or six hundred
yards from the camp, and, although he could not see it, he knew that he
should hear the first sound of the bugle. Looking down into the defile
he saw that it ran steeply up, and noticed that it forked a little in
advance of him, and that another road joined the one in the defile.
[Illustration]
In a few minutes he saw a general officer closely followed by two light
dragoon officers and accompanied by a peasant ride along a plateau
similar to that occupied by the regiment, and facing him on the other
side of the defile. Some fifty yards in their rear were two mounted
orderlies. The general stopped when nearly opposite Tommy, and the
peasant was evidently explaining to him the nature of the road, the
difficulties to be met with, and the direction in which it bore after
crossing the crest of the hills. The boy instinctively slipped off
the ledge on which he was sitting and seated himself behind a rock,
and thence watched the proceedings of the party, who were some three
hundred yards from him. The wall of the defile was there very steep
indeed, almost perpendicular, and from the spot where the general
had halted, a few yards from its edge, he could not see the road
immediately beneath him.
Suddenly the boy saw a troop of cavalry emerge from the other road.
Thinking that the cavalry had sent out scouting parties, he paid but
little attention to them. Behind them came a battery of artillery,
with infantry marching in single file on either side of them. Suddenly
an idea occurred to him and he leapt to his feet. Surely these were
not English soldiers! they might be the Spaniards! He watched them
until the cavalry were nearly abreast of him; then, as a battalion
of infantry followed the guns, he saw a flag that he recognised:
it was the enemy. His own regiment had led the way, and the other
three regiments of the brigade were encamped some three miles away.
He started to run back; then an idea struck him and he seized his
drumsticks and beat the alarm. As he hurried along, glancing across the
ravine, he saw one of the officers with the general leap from his horse
and, going to the edge, look down into the ravine. Then the general
galloped forward until he came to the edge of the gorge through which
the French were marching. He and his companions dismounted and went
forward a few steps, evidently to obtain some idea of the strength of
the enemy.
Tommy could now see the camp: bugles were sounding the assembly, and
the men hastily ran in. The alarm had been given, and, slinging his
drum behind him, he ran forward. As he did so, he saw the colonel ride
out to the edge of the plateau, which was three hundred yards from the
spot where the troops were falling in. A single glance sufficed, and
he galloped back, shouting as he did so, and, without waiting for the
men to form up, led them back. Those who arrived first at the edge of
the descent had at once opened fire upon the troop of French cavalry;
the rest as they arrived were hastily formed up, and the two flank
companies dashed down the steep descent and flung themselves upon the
battery, while the rest, lining the whole edge of the ravine, opened a
murderous fire upon the French infantry.
These replied, but in some confusion, for they had no idea that the
British had already ascended the pass, and had anticipated taking up
a position near its mouth to prevent them doing so. The attack on the
guns was completely successful, and the cavalry, of whom many had been
killed from the first fire, had turned their horses and galloped back,
carrying the thin line of infantry before them and spreading confusion
among the artillery. These knowing that the infantry brigade would bar
their retreat and would speedily come up to their assistance, fought
stoutly, but were unable to withstand the impetuous assault of the
British infantry. The struggling horses and the guns completely blocked
the ravine, and the infantry, falling fast under the fire from above,
were unable to make their way through them. They were wholly unaware of
the strength of their enemy, and, although their officers succeeded in
restoring something like order and leading parties up the steep ascent,
they were unable to withstand the fire to which they were exposed, and
in a short time the trumpets sounded the retreat. Just as they did so,
the general, who had ridden back to point where he could gain the road
and ascend the other side, rode up.
[Illustration]
"I congratulate you, colonel," he said; "you have given them a smart
check. As far as I can judge, there must be close on five thousand men,
and if they had taken that strong position lower down, where a bridge
crosses a torrent, we should have had hard work to dislodge them, and
should certainly have suffered heavily in doing so. They can have had
no idea that we had pushed up the pass; if they had persevered, they
would have put you off altogether. I was in ignorance that the side
road came in here: these Spanish maps are altogether untrustworthy,
and the guide that I have with me answered my questions about the road
ahead, but said nothing of the one coming down into it. It was well
indeed that you posted that drummer in advance, though of course a
sentry would have done as well. I see your men have taken all the guns
of that battery."
"Yes, sir, it has been a very fortunate affair; but I certainly can
take no credit to myself for the drummer being up that hill. Of course
I had sentries round the camp and one placed so as to command a view of
the road ahead and to warn us of any troops coming down the crest; but
from its position he could not see down into the defile below. I knew
nothing of that side road, or of course I should have placed a sentry
to watch that also. During the night I had an outpost out on the road,
but they marched in at daylight and either did not observe the other
road or, at any rate, they made no report of its existence when they
came in. How the drummer came to be out there is a mystery to me, and
I was astonished at hearing the alarm beaten; there is no doubt that
it saved the regiment, for, as you say, had the enemy passed the spot
where we turned off to march up here we should have been completely cut
off, though they would not have captured us without a sharp fight, for
I should have known that the rest of the brigade would have come up to
our assistance as soon as they heard the sound of firing." He turned to
one of his officers: "Ask Sergeant Wilkins to come here."
The sergeant who was in charge of the drummers came up in two or three
minutes.
"Sergeant, did you send a drummer out this morning?"
"No, sir; I should not have thought of doing such a thing without an
order."
"Then who was it that beat the alarm?"
"That I cannot say, sir; they had not paraded this morning, so I do not
know who was missing and I was amazed when I heard the alarm. I thought
at first that it must be one of the lads who had taken his drum and had
gone out to practise, though I could hardly imagine how any one of them
could have ventured to do so and to risk causing an alarm."
[Illustration]
"Weil, parade them here."
In a few minutes they paraded before the colonel.
"Which of you was it that gave the alarm?" the latter asked.
Tommy stepped forward and saluted. "Please, sir, I did."
The colonel and the general both smiled. "But how came you to be out
there?" the former asked.
"I was so cold, sir, that I could not sleep, so I got up and walked
about till the soldiers began to go out to look for firewood, and I
thought that I would go out too."
"But, in that case, why did you take your drum?"
"I took it, sir, so that if I heard the bugle sound I could run
straight back and take my place with the others. I was sitting down
when I saw the French come running into the road. I did not know that
they were French at first; I saw that they were not our men, but I
thought they might be Spaniards till I saw a French flag among the
infantry, and then I thought the quickest way was to beat the alarm."
"You did very well," the general said kindly; "if it hadn't been for
you a whole regiment would have been captured, to say nothing of
myself. Why, colonel, how is it that such a brat as this should be in
the regiment?"
The colonel gave him the reasons for which he had brought the boy.
"The men are all fond of him," he said, "and he has certainly kept
his promise that he should be no trouble. At first he could not keep
up with the marches, and was either perched on a baggage-wagon when
he could go no farther, or if the baggage was all in the rear of the
brigade they would take him on their backs; but for the last week he
has managed to keep up well."
"He must be a sharp little beggar," the general said; "it is not every
boy of his age that would have thought of beating the alarm, and every
minute was of importance. Well, lad, you have begun well," he said,
"and should turn out a smart soldier some day. Of course I shall report
the matter to Lord Wellington. He is a man who does not forget things,
and I have no doubt that if your colonel is able when you are old
enough to recommend you for a commission, what you have done to-day
will go a long way towards your obtaining it."
It may well be imagined that after this Tommy's popularity in the
regiment greatly increased, and there was much grief when he was
wounded at the battle of Toulouse. He recovered, however, and drummed
his hardest when the regiment advanced for a final attack upon the
Old Guard on the field of Waterloo. Six years later he obtained a
commission, and commanded the regiment in which he had once been a
drummer boy at the hard-fought battles of the campaign which terminated
with the conquest of the Punjaub in 1845-6.
[Illustration]
Never Trust a Stream
THE thunder had roared up in the hills where the old engine-houses
stood ruined and bare against the sky, and the lightning twice over
flickered out of the black clouds and seemed to play round the grey
granite stones, before down came the rain like a thick mist and blotted
everything out.
And all the time down in the lowland toward the sea it was a brilliant
summer's day—"perfect weather," Sydney Lee's father said, "for July."
Linny, Syd's sister, brightened up, for she had looked solemn and
disappointed. Syd was at home for the midsummer holidays, and brother
and sister were making the best of them. In fact, there was a project
on that day, planned by Syd. It had something to do with the little
punt lying in the stream which turned the waterwheel which in turning
worked the stamps used for crushing the tin ore brought up out of the
deep mine by the men working under Syd's father, who was the manager
to the mining company, and lived in one of the prettiest houses that a
Cornish valley could show.
But that project had something to do as well with little trout which
hid under the stones in the clear water, and under wildflowers on the
bank, and possibly with a late nest of a certain dipper which Syd had
seen flitting about, like a great black-and-white cock-tailed wren
gifted with the power of walking about and swimming under water to
catch beetles and other insects, and looking all the time as if its
black jacket was dotted with pearls, which rolled off and proved to be
air-bubbles, as soon as it came to land.
But there were endless things to see in the swift little stream that
ran by Huel Vro, and Linny saw them so much better when she had Syd
with her to pole the punt along, and catch jack, or wade for the
various treasures they found.
So they were off on the expedition when the storm came on, made a
tremendous fuss in the hills miles distant, and then began to die away.
"What a glum face!" cried the manager. "I believe there are tears ready
to come."
"No, no, Papa, I won't cry," said Linny; "but it is so disappointing,
and Syd's holidays are so short."
"All the sweeter while they last, Lin," said the manager. "There, cheer
up; the storm is passing along the hills. Be off with you. Not a drop
of rain will fall this side."
"Oh!" cried Linny joyously, and she made a spring at her father to
reward him for his good news, while he helped her by jumping her up
breast-high.
"Going to take the little punt, Syd?"
"Yes, father."
"Very well, but keep out of the dam."
"Oh, yes, father; of course."
"That's right. Then you cannot get into mischief."
The young folks dashed off past where the waterwheel was going and the
stamps turning, while where the ore was being washed below the stream
ran red and thick, but upward beyond the house it was clear as crystal.
The punt, which was like a washing-tub grown out of knowledge, lay in
a shallow tied to a post, and Syd ran into the carpenter's shop, where
the man who did the repairs to the mine machines good-humouredly took
out his saw from the tool-basket, cut a short board in two, and gave
it to the boy for seats. These two were carried down to the punt and
placed across fore and aft, after Syd had waded in to draw the punt
ashore. Linny jumped in and took her place forward, Syd lifted the
short pole which lay in the bottom, and then began to thrust the boat
along through the shallow water, in and out among the pieces of granite
which half filled the bed of the stream, and, after getting aground at
least a dozen times, Syd managed to get up to the most beautiful part
of the tiny river, where the fishing and flower-gathering began.
Syd had the former all to himself, for, as he said, it was not girl's
work to wade about, sometimes knee-deep, and get your arms wet feeling
under ledges and among stones for tiny trout.
"You get your flowers," he said, and to help his sister he thrust the
boat head in here and there close under the rocky banks which ran
straight up and often hung over in the shady places where the most
beautiful flowers grew.
And so an hour of real delight passed away, with the clear water
sparkling in the sunshine here, and turning dark there, where the ferns
hung over the great stones which looked as if they had been built up
like walls by giant hands.
"Oh, I am glad the storm did not come our way," said Linny, standing up
to balance herself on her seat so as to reach up and pick at a cluster
of purple loosestrife. "Oh!" she cried, springing down to crouch
directly, for she nearly went overboard. Then, seeing her brother's
mocking face where he stood with the water just gliding by the knees of
his knickerbockers, "what a shame, Syd! you joggled the boat."
[Illustration]
"I didn't," he said.
"You did, sir!"
"I didn't—only poked this end down a little."
"Well, it was a shame. You might have made me tumble in—splash."
"Never mind; I'd have spread you out on the hot stones there in the sun
to dry. There, hold tight; I'm going to push the punt up higher. There
isn't a trout here."
Linny gave her long yellow hair a shake, sending her straw hat into the
bottom of the boat and her curls hanging loose all over her shoulders,
as she took her place carefully so as to trim the boat, while Syd
stepped in, took the pole once more, and sent the punt upstream a
couple of hundred yards, before he laid down the little pole and began
to look round for a likely place for a trout, while his sister's eyes
wandered amongst the floral riches of the lofty fern-hung bank for the
choicest flowers.
"I say, Lin," said Syd: "what's that?"
"That?"
"Yes: that grumbling noise."
"Thunder dying away in the hills," said the girl. "Push the boat to the
other side. I want some of those orchids—out there in the sun."
But the boy did not speak; he sat down and began to look up toward the
hills.
"I don't see any clouds over there," he said thoughtfully, "and yet
that noise goes on. Here, Lin," he cried suddenly, and in an excited
tone, "I'm going to push the boat in here. You jump out and climb up
the bank."
"No," said the girl, "not yet. I want some of those orchids. Push the
boat over there first."
"You do as I tell you," cried the boy firmly, and his brown face began
to turn white. He stopped down to seize the pole, but he was too late,
and dropped upon the seat in the stern again.
[Illustration]
For all at once with a roar and a rush, a wave of foam-crested water
swept round the curve above them, and in an instant it was upon them,
leaping into the boat, which was directly after a quarter filled, and
turning the limpid trickling stream into a furious rushing torrent,
which tossed the boat from side to side, nearly overturning it before
sending it downward at a furious pace.
"Oh, Syd!" shrieked the girl, "what is it?"
"Sit still, and hold tight," he shouted. "Water—come down from the
hills."
The boat steadied directly after, but glided down at a furious rate,
promising to be capsized against one or other of the huge stones which
lay in the stream, as the boy seized the pole and stood up to try and
fend off the boat from the rocks or from being overturned against some
projecting block at the side.
But it was impossible to keep standing, for in thrusting with the pole
it slipped into a chink between two blocks of granite, stuck, and the
next moment was snatched out of his hand. There was nothing for it but
to sit down again, and to do that which he shouted to his sister.
"Hold on," he cried, "tight!"
And then away they went, sometimes head first, sometimes stern, and
not only broadside but turning round and round as one end or the other
of the punt crashed against some rock with a blow that threatened to
shiver the boat to pieces.
"Oh," groaned the boy to himself, "if we had only had time to jump
out!" But this was to himself, for he fought hard and bravely not to do
or say anything likely to frighten the poor girl seated holding on with
both hands in the front of the punt.
But Syd thought a great deal.
"We shall be upset directly," he thought, "or broken to pieces on the
stones."
But just then as he was gliding down backwards at an increasing
speed, so much water had come down that it grew less furious as it
became deeper, and in a few minutes they passed with a rush through
the narrowed part where the sides had been built in by the miners and
masons so as to shape buttresses to bear the ends of the wooden bridge
which carried the mine road.
Under it they passed, being almost shot under towards some blocks of
granite, at which the girl glanced in horror, for the water foamed
among them; but they escaped Syd's notice, for he was going backwards.
"Can you see anyone down by the water-gates?" said Syd suddenly.
"No, no," cried the girl. "Oh, Syd, Syd, Syd, are we going to be
drowned?"
"No," he shouted back. "Don't be frightened. The boat will be upset
soon, and then I shall swim ashore with you and climb up the bank."
"Thank you, Syd," sobbed the poor child. "Do, please. It would be
dreadful for poor Papa if we were drowned."
"Poor Papa" was standing below, gazing upstream with starting eyes, for
the roar of the torrent had awakened him and those above ground to the
danger, and the men had followed the manager to the water's edge.
"I see 'em, sir!" shouted the carpenter.
"Yes, here they come," cried Mr. Lee. "Hands, my lads—hands!"