It was night, and the farm of old La Brousse was left in solitude, for
he had indignantly sent the unhappy girl, who had betrayed the secrets
of his dwelling, back to her family; and suspecting that his own life
and liberty had not been left to him, when much smaller offences were
daily visited with death, without some treacherous motive, he had
himself gone forth to seek, in the most obscure parts of the desolate
track amidst which his house was situated, the young stranger whom we
have seen under the name of Auguste. By some evil chance, however,
they had missed each other; and, after the place had remained for some
time without the presence of a single breathing thing, the door was
gently opened and the young stranger entered, habited as usual in the
dress of a peasant. He looked round the vacant kitchen in some
surprise at seeing it dark and untenanted, and then, approaching the
foot of the stairs, he pronounced the names of La Brousse and Ninette.
No answer was of course returned; but while he was anxiously striving
to obtain a light from the half extinct embers, the door was again
unclosed, and the old farmer stood beside him.
"Haste, haste, La Brousse!" cried the young man, "Get me a light, and
bring me my sabre and my bugle. I hear Carrier is roaming the country
with one of his infernal bands of murderers. He must be met with ere
he returns to Nantes; and I have named the rendezvous for daybreak
to-morrow at the Mill of Bohalard."
"It is in vain, Monseigneur!" replied the old man, "it is in vain! By
this time he is in Nantes; and he has dragged Mademoiselle de la Roche
along with him."
Had there been a light in the chamber, the countenance of Auguste
might have shown the old farmer that deeper and more powerful feelings
were excited in his bosom by those words, than either common
friendship or the peculiar interest of Clara's situation could
inspire; but there was no light, and while the young Vendean remained
in horror-struck silence, his companion proceeded rapidly to detail
all that had occurred during the morning.
Even when he had done, Auguste made no reply for several minutes; and
his first words were only, "My sabre and my bugle!"
Casting himself down in a chair, while the old man went to bring the
articles he demanded, from the place where they were concealed, the
other covered his eyes with his hands, and remained for several
moments in deep and painful thought, from which he only roused himself
for a moment to bolt the door by which he had entered. La Brousse at
length returned; and Auguste, while buckling on his sabre and slinging
the horn over his shoulder, grasped his arm and whispered, "Up to the
high window, La Brousse! I heard a noise but now in the court. Arm
yourself as best you can, and then bring me news of what you see
below--quick! the moon is shining!"
The old man speedily came back with a fowling-piece in his hand, and a
broadsword by his side; and he now replied in the same low tone, that
there were men evidently skulking under the shadow of the barn.
"You see why your life was spared, La Brousse," said his young
companion. "It is but that, by granting you a longer space, I might be
entrapped along with you. But they shall find that we can sell our
lives dearly. What say you? shall we go forth?"
"With all my heart, Monsieur le Comte," answered the stout old man. "I
have nothing to care for now, and nothing to regret but the fate of
that poor young lady; and perhaps I might not have been able to serve
her, even if they had let me live."
"We may both serve her yet!" answered his companion. "Now open the
door!" and drawing with one hand a pistol, which had lain concealed in
a thick silk handkerchief that was tied round his waist, he held his
bugle in the other, and prepared to go forth the moment the way was
clear. As soon as his foot was beyond the threshold, "Qui va là?" was
shouted from several different sides of the court-yard; and the next
moment five men with levelled muskets advanced into the moonlight,
exclaiming, "Rends-toi, brigand!"
He raised the bugle to his lips, and for all reply, blew one long loud
blast, waving back La Brousse who was following him, and then sprang
once more into the cottage. For a moment the soldiers seemed
uncertain; but, as he retreated, the word "Fire!" was given, and the
next instant the five muskets were at once discharged. Three of the
balls whistled through the doorway; but by that time the young Vendean
was himself masked by the wall, and had forcibly pulled the old farmer
back out of the line of fire.
"Now, La Brousse, now!" he exclaimed, again starting forward into the
court as soon as the muskets were discharged, and levelling his pistol
at the head of the foremost assailant. The old man was by his side in
an instant, taking a steady, fearless aim, by the light of the moon,
at the left-hand man of the attacking party. The soldiers rushed
forward, but ere they closed there were two distinct reports, and the
odds were reduced to three against two.
The struggle that followed, however, was a fierce one. It was the bold
heart and the strong hand doing the bidding of hatred and revenge. Old
La Brousse, notwithstanding the load of years, overpowered one of the
assailants that might have been his son, and cast him headlong to the
earth, while Auguste cut down another; but the third sprang upon the
old farmer, while struggling to terminate the contest with his first
opponent, and, seizing him behind, mastered his arms and tied them in
a moment with all the skill of a jailer. At that instant Auguste
turned upon him; but the man that La Brousse had overpowered now rose
up but little hurt, and the young Vendean found himself attacked at
once by two well-armed men, each equal to himself in personal
strength. The game they seemed resolved to play was a deadly one;
while one kept him engaged, the other loaded his musket, and the fate
of Auguste seemed decided; but scarcely had the cartridge been crushed
down into the gun, when a large stag-hound dashed down from the high
grounds into the court, and at once sprang to the throat of the second
soldier, at the very instant he was levelling his weapon at the head
of the young Vendean. Self-preservation--always the strong principle
of man's nature--made him turn the gun upon the faithful dog; but the
unwieldy length of the musket at that time used in the French service,
rendered it nearly impossible to bring the muzzle to bear upon the
body of the animal, as it still hung by the grasp it had taken of his
throat; and, in attempting to effect his purpose, the soldier fired
and missed entirely his four-footed assailant, while the recoil of the
gun, unsupported by his shoulder, shattered and disabled the hand by
which it was held.
The dog, however, was accompanied by still more serviceable allies;
and in a minute or two after, while Auguste still prolonged the combat
with his opponent, and the gallant hound still held his grasp of the
other, nine or ten men, in the wild costume of Vendean soldiers,
warned by the bugle of their leader, poured into the court and
overpowered all resistance.
The revolutionary soldiers were made prisoners in an instant; and as
there were many words of very doubtful augury in regard to their fate
passing amongst the Vendeans, they pleaded hard for life. For a moment
or two no one heeded their entreaties, and Auguste himself gazed upon
them with a look expressive of contempt rather than pity, while his
companions untied the hands of good old La Brousse. "Bring out a
light, La Brousse!" said the young man, "I would fain see the face of
at least one of those gentry. His voice does not seem unknown to me."
The light was brought, and held alternately to the countenances of the
two men who had prolonged the contest so fiercely, when the glare of
the burning resin lighted first upon the features of a young, and then
upon those of a middle-aged man, without displaying any extraordinary
brutality of expression, or any marks of those savage passions which
might be expected in the willing followers of the bloodthirsty
Carrier.
"'Tis as I thought," cried Auguste, as he gazed upon the face of the
elder. "How is it, fellow, that you, who were so long faithful to our
cause, are now amongst the foremost of its base adversaries, and are
especially chosen to capture the son of your ancient master and
benefactor?"
"I was faithful to your cause," replied the man, with an abruptness
which the revolutionists greatly affected, "as long as I had no
opportunity of abandoning it; and I was chosen to capture you, because
I knew your person. But I am pleading for my life--or rather for that
of one to whom life is more valuable--this young man here, my son; and
I know well that I must offer something more than words to purchase it
at your hands. Listen to me then--if you will spare us and set us at
liberty, I will set free her who was taken from this place this
morning."
"Ha!" cried Auguste; "free and unharmed?"
"Free and unharmed as she went," replied the other. "You had better
take my offer, for it is her only chance for life."
"But how can I trust you?" demanded the young Vendean "you who have
already proved yourself false and faithless?"
"Neither false nor faithless!" replied the soldier. "Your father
forced me to join a cause of which he had never asked my opinion, and
should not have wondered at my quitting it without asking his
permission. But I waste words; you require some better assurance of my
good faith than a mere promise, and I offer you here my son. Keep him
in your hands; and if I do not deliver over to you Clara de la Roche,
safe and well, at the time and place I shall appoint, shoot him on the
spot."
Some further conversation ensued, which it is unnecessary to detail.
The soldier named the time--the night following--and the place--a
sequestered spot upon the banks of the Loire, about two miles above
the city of Nantes. He spoke boldly in regard to his power of
performing what he promised. His son willingly undertook to be his
surety; and after some discussion amongst the Vendeans, in regard to
the propriety of liberating him, he was at length set free, and
departed.