Produced by David Widger
TOM BURKE OF “OURS.”
By Charles Lever
With Illustrations By Phiz.
In Two Volumes, Vol. II.
Transcriber's Note: Two print editions have been used for this Project
Gutenberg Edition of “Tom Burke of 'Ours'”: The Little Brown edition
(Boston) of 1913 with illustrations by Phiz; and the Chapman and Hall
editon (London) of 1853 with illustrations by Browne. Illegible and
missing pages were found in both print editions.
DW
TOM BURKE OF “OURS”
CHAPTER I. THE SICK LEAVE.
“What is it, Minette?” said I, for the third time, as I saw her lean her
head from out the narrow casement, and look down into the valley beside
the river; “what do you see there?”
“I see a regiment of infantry coming along the road from Ulm,” said she,
after a pause; “and now I perceive the lancers are following them, and
the artillery too. Ah! and farther again, I see a great cloud of dust.
_Mère de Ciél!_ how tired and weary they all look! It surely cannot be a
march in retreat; and, now that I think of it, they have no baggage, nor
any wagons with them.”
“That was a bugle call, Minette! Did you not hear it?”
“Yes, it's a halt for a few minutes. Poor fellows! they are sadly
exhausted; they cannot even reach the side of the way, but are lying
down on the very road. I can bear it no longer. I must find out what
it all means.” So saying, she threw round her a mantle which, Spanish
fashion, she wore over her head, and hurried from the room.
For some time I waited patiently for her return; but when half an
hour elapsed, I arose and crept to the window. A succession of rocky
precipices descended from the terrace on which the house stood, down
to the very edge of the Danube, and from the point where I sat the view
extended for miles in every direction. What, then, was my astonishment
to see the wide plain, not marked by regular columns in marching array,
but covered with straggling detachments, hurrying onward as if without
order or discipline. Here was an infantry battalion mixed up with a
cavalry corps, the foot-soldiers endeavoring to keep up with the ambling
trot of the dragoons; there, the ammunition wagons were covered with
weary soldiers, too tired to march. Most of the men were without their
firelocks, which were piled in a confused heap on the limbers of the
guns. No merry chant, no burst of warlike music, cheered them on. They
seemed like the scattered fragments of a routed army hurrying onward in
search of some place of refuge,-sad and spiritless.
“Can he have been beaten?” was the fearful thought that flashed across
me as I gazed. “Have the bold legions that were never vanquished
succumbed at last? Oh, no, no! I'll not believe it.” And while a glow of
fever warmed my whole blood, I buckled on my sabre, and taking my shako,
prepared to issue forth. Scarcely had I reached the door, with tottering
limbs, when I saw Minette dashing up the steep street at the top speed
of her pony, while she flourished above her head a great placard, and
waved it to and fro.
“The news! the news!” cried I, bursting with anxiety. “Are they
advancing; or is it a retreat?”
“Read that!” said she, throwing me a large sheet of paper, headed with
the words, “Proclamation! la Grande Armée!” in huge letters,-“read that!
for I've no breath left to tell you.”
Soldiers!--The campaign so gloriously begun will soon be completed.
One victory, and the Austrian empire, so great but a week since, will be
humbled in the dust. Hasten on, then! Forced marches, by day and night,
will attest your eagerness to meet the enemy; and let the endeavor of
each regiment be to arrive soonest on the field of battle.
“Minette! dearest Minette!” said I, as I threw my arms around her
neck, “this is indeed good news.” “Gently, gently, Monsieur!” said she,
smiling, while she disengaged herself from my sudden embrace. “Very good
news, without doubt; but I don't think that there is any mention in the
bulletin about embracing the vivandières of the army.”
“At a moment like this, Minette--”
“The best thing to do is, to make up one's baggage and join the march,”
said she, very steadily, proceeding at the same time to put her plan
into execution.
While I gave her all assistance in my power, the doctor entered to
inform us that all the wounded who were then not sufficiently restored
to return to duty were to be conveyed to Munich, where general military
hospitals had been established; and that he himself had received
orders to repair thither with his sick detachment, in which my name was
enrolled.
“You'll keep your old friend, François, company, Lieutenant Burke; he is
able to move at last.”
“François!” said I, in ecstasy; “and will he indeed recover?”
“I have little doubt of it; though certainly he's not likely to
practise as maître d'armes again. You 've spoiled his tierce, though not
before it cost the army some of the prettiest fellows I ever saw. But as
to yourself--”
“As for me, I 'll march with the army. I feel perfectly recovered; my
arm--”
“Oh! as for monsieur's arms,” said mademoiselle, “I'll answer for it,
they are quite at his Majesty's service.”
“Indeed!” said the doctor, knowingly; “I thought it would come to that.
Well, well, Mademoiselle, don't look saucy; let us part good friends for
once in our lives.”
“I hate being reconciled to a surgeon,” said she, pettishly.
“Why so, I pray?”
“Oh, you know, when one quarrels with an officer, the poor fellow may be
killed before one sees him again; and it's always a sad thought, that.
But your doctor, nothing ever happens to him; you're sure to see him,
with his white apron and his horrid weapons, a hundred times after, and
one is always sorry for having forgiven such a cruel wretch.”
“Come, come, Mademoiselle, you bear us all an ill-will for the fault
of one, and that's not fair. It was the hospital aide of the Sixth,
Monsieur, (a handsome fellow, too), who did not fall in love with her
after her wound,--a slight scratch.”
“A slight scratch, do you call it?” said I, indignantly, as I perceived
the poor girl's eyes fill at the raillery of her tormentor.
“Ah! monsieur has seen it, then?” said he, maliciously. “A thousand
pardons. I have the honor to wish you both adieu.” And with that, and a
smile of the most impertinent meaning, he took his leave.
“How silly to be vexed for so little, Minette!” said I, approaching and
endeavoring to console her.
“Well, but to call my wound a scratch!” said she. “Was it not too bad?
and I the only vivandière of the army that ever felt a bullet.”
And with that she turned away her head; but I could see, as she wiped
her eyes, that she cared less for the sarcasm on her wounded shoulder
than the insult to her wounded heart. Poor girl! she looked sick and
pale the whole day after.
We learned in the course of the day that some cavalry detachments would
pass early on the morrow, thus allowing us sufficient time to provide
ourselves with horses, and make our other arrangements for the march.
These we succeeded in doing to our satisfaction; I being fortunate
enough to secure the charger of an Austrian prisoner, mademoiselle being
already admirably mounted with her palfrey. Occupied with these details,
the day passed rapidly over, and the hour for supper drew near without
my feeling how the time slipped past.
[Illustration: BrowneMuratAndMinettePage003]
At last the welcome meal made its appearance, and with it mademoiselle
herself. I could not help remarking that her toilette displayed a more
than common attention: her neat Parisian cap; her collar, with its deep
Valenciennes lace; and her _tablier_, so coquettishly embroidered,--were
all signs of an unusual degree of care; and though she was pale and in
low spirits, I never saw her look so pretty. All my efforts to make her
converse were, however, in vain. Some secret weight lay heavily on her
spirits, and not even the stirring topics of the coming campaign could
awaken one spark of her enthusiasm. She evaded, too, every allusion
to the following day's march, or answered my questions about it with
evident constraint. Tired at last with endeavoring to overcome her
silent mood, I affected an air of chagrin, thinking to pique her by it;
but she merely remarked that I appeared weary, and that, as I had a long
journey before me, it were as well I should retire early.
The marked coolness of her manner at this moment struck me so forcibly
that I began really to feel some portion of the ill-temper I affected,
and with the crossness of an over-petted child, I arose to withdraw at
once.
“Good-by, Monsieur; good-night, I mean,” said she, blushing slightly.
“Good-night, Mademoiselle,” said I, taking her hand coldly as I spoke.
“I trust I may find you in better spirits to-morrow.”
“Good-night,--adieu!” said she, hastily; and before I could add a word
she was gone.
“She is a strange girl,” thought I, as I found myself alone, and
tortured my mind to think whether anything I could have dropped had
offended her. But no: we had parted a few hours before the best friends
in the world; nothing had then occurred to which I could attribute
this sudden change. I had often remarked the variable character of her
disposition,--the flashes of gayety mingled with outbursts of sorrow;
the playful moods of fancy alternating with moments of deep melancholy;
and, after all, this might be one of them.
With these thoughts I threw myself on my bed, but could not sleep. At
one minute my brain went on puzzling about Minette and her sorrow; at
the next I reproached myself for my own harsh, unfeeling manner to the
poor girl, and was actually on the eve of arising to seek her and ask
her pardon. At last sleep came, and dreams too; but, strange enough,
they were of the distant land of my boyhood and the hours of my youth;
of the old house in which I was born, and its well-remembered rooms. I
thought I was standing before my father, while he scolded me for some
youthful transgression; I heard his words as though they were really
spoken, as he told me that I should be an outcast and a wanderer,
without a friend, a house, or home; that while others reaped wealth and
honors, I was destined to be a castaway: and in the torrent of my grief
I awoke.
It was night,--dark, silent night. A few stars were shining in the sky,
but the earth was wrapped in shadow; and as I opened my window to let
the fresh breeze calm my fevered forehead, the deep precipice beneath me
seemed a vast gulf of yawning blackness. At a great distance off I could
see the watchfires of some soldiers bivouacking in the plain; and even
that much comforted my saddened heart, as it aroused me to the thoughts
of the campaign before me. But again my thoughts recurred to my dream,
which I could not help feeling as a sort of prediction.
When our sleep leaves its strong track in our waking moments, we dread
to sleep again for fear the whole vision should come back; and thus I
sat down beside the window, and fell into a long train of thought. The
images of my dream were uppermost in my mind; and every little incident
of childhood, long lost to memory, came now fresh before me,--the
sorrows of my schoolboy years, unrelieved by the sense of love awaiting
me at home; the clinging to all who seemed to feel or care for me;
and the heart-sickening sorrow when I found that what I mistook for
affection was merely pity: all save one,--my mother! Her mild, sad
looks, so seldom cheered by a ray of pleasure,--I remember well how they
fell on me! with such a thrilling sensation at my heart, and such a gush
of thankfulness, as I felt then! Oh! if they who live with children knew
how needful it is to open their hearts to all the little sorrows and
woes of infant life; to teach confidence and to feed hope; to train up
the creeping tendrils of young desire, and not to suffer them to lie
straggling and tangled on the earth,--what a happier destiny would fall
to the lot of many whose misfortunes in late life date from the crushed
spirit of childhood!
My mother I--I thought of her as she would bend oyer me at night, her
last kiss pressed on my brow,--the healing balm of some sorrow for which
my sobs were still breaking,--her pale, worn cheek, her white dress, her
hand so bloodless and transparent, the very emblem of her malady. The
tears started to my eyes and rolled heavily along my cheek, my chest
heaved, and my heart beat till I could hear it. At this moment a slight
rustle stirred the leaves: I listened, for the night was calm and still;
not a breeze moved. Again I heard it close beside the window, on the
little terrace which ran along the building, and occupied the narrow
space beside the edge of the rock. Before I could imagine what it meant,
a figure in white glided from the shade of the trees and approached
the window. So excited was my mind, so wrought up my imagination by the
circumstances of my dream and the thoughts that followed, that I cried
out, in a voice of ecstasy, “My mother!” Suddenly the apparition stood
still, and then as rapidly retreated, and was lost to view in the dark
foliage. Maddened with intense excitement, I sprang from the window, and
leaped out on the terrace. I called aloud; I ran about wildly, unmindful
of the fearful precipice that yawned beside me. I searched every bush,
I crept beneath each tree, but nothing could I detect. The cold
perspiration poured down my face; my limbs trembled with a strange dread
of I knew not what. I felt as if madness was creeping over me, and I
struggled with the thought and tried to calm my troubled brain. Wearied
and faint, I gave up the pursuit at last, and, throwing myself on my
bed, I sank exhausted into the heavy slumber which only tired nature
knows.
“The Sous-Lieutenant Burke,” said a gruff voice, awakening me suddenly
from my sleep, while by the light of a lantern he held in his hand I
recognized the figure of an orderly sergeant in full equipment.
“Yes. What then?” said I, in some amazement at the summons.
“This is the order of march, sir, for the invalid detachment under your
command.”
“How so? I have no orders.”
“They are here, sir.”
So saying, he presented me with a letter from the assistant-adjutant
of the corps, with instructions for the conduct of forty men, invalided
from different regiments, and now on their way to Lintz. The paper was
perfectly regular, setting forth the names of the soldiers and
their several corps, together with the daily marches, the halts, and
distances. My only surprise was how this service so suddenly devolved on
me, whose recovery could only have been reported a few hours before.
“When shall I muster the detachment, sir?” said the sergeant,
interrupting me in the midst of my speculations.
“Now,--at once. It is past five o'clock. I see Langenau is mentioned as
the first halting-place; we can reach it by eight.”
The moment the sergeant withdrew, I arose and dressed for the road,
anxious to inform mademoiselle as early as possible of this sudden order
of march. When I entered the _salon_, I found to my surprise that the
breakfast table was all laid and everything ready. “What can this mean?”
said I; “has she heard it already?” At the same instant I caught sight
of the door of her chamber lying wide open. I approached, and looked in.
The room was empty; the various trunks and boxes, the little relics
of military glory I remembered to have seen with her, were all gone.
Minette had departed; when or whither, I knew not. I hurried through the
building, from room to room, without meeting any one. The door was open,
and I passed out into the dark street, where all was still and silent
as the grave. I hastened to the stable: my horse, ready equipped and
saddled, was feeding; but the stall beside him was empty,--the pony of
the vivandière was gone. While many a thought flashed on my brain as to
her fate, I tortured my mind to remember each circumstance of our last
meeting,--every word and every look; and as I called to my memory the
pettish anger of my manner towards her, I grew sick at heart, and hated
myself for my own cold ingratitude. All her little acts of kindness, her
tender care, her unwearying good-nature, were before me. I thought of
her as I had seen her often in the silence of the night, when, waking
from some sleep of pain, she sat beside my bed, her hand pressed on
my heated forehead; her low, clear voice was in my ear; her soft,
mild look, beaming with hope and tender pity. Poor Minette! had I then
offended you? was such the return I made for all your kindness?
“The men are ready, sir,” said the sergeant, entering at the moment.
“She is gone,” said I, following out my own sad train of thought, and
pointing to the vacant stall where her pony used to stand.
“Mademoiselle Minette--”
“Yes, what of her--where is she?”
“Marched with the cuirassier brigade that passed here last night at
twelve o'clock. She seemed very ill, sir, and the officer made her sit
on one of the wagons.”
“Which road did they take? »
“They crossed the river, and moved away towards the forest. I think I
heard the troop-sergeant say something about Salzburg and the Tyrol.”
I made no answer, but stood mute and stupefied; when I was again
recalled to thought by his asking if my baggage was ready for the
wagons.
With a sullen apathy I pointed out my trunks in silence, and throwing
one last look on the room, the scene of my former suffering, and of much
pleasure too, I mounted my horse, and gave the word to move forward.
As we passed from the gate, I stopped to question the sous-officier as
to the route of the cuirassier division. But he could only repeat
what the sergeant had already told me; adding, there were several men
slightly wounded in the squadrons, for they had been engaged twice
within the week. The gates closed! and we were on the highroad.