The chamber in which we were now placed was not an unpleasant one, nor
was it ill furnished, It had probably been heretofore occupied by some
of the inferior officers on duty at the arsenal; and there were still
to be seen hanging up above the bed, a head-piece and pair of
gauntlets of steel, and an unloaded musketoon. The walls, which were
entirely destitute of hangings, were, however, ornamented with sundry
curious carvings, the occupation, possibly, of many an idle hour,
representing battles, and tournaments, and bull-fights, wherein
neither perspective nor anatomy had been very much consulted; and
mingled with these rare designs, appeared various ciphers and
initials, together with Christian names, both male and female, in
great profusion.
The windows of the apartment were little better than loopholes, with a
strong iron bar down the centre. They possessed, however, a view over
the whole of the lower part of the city; and being situated in the
south-western side of the principal _corps de logis_ of the arsenal,
faced the inner gate communicating with the town, and commanded both
the inner and outer walls, with a part of the counterscarp and glacis.
On approaching one of these scanty apertures, to reconnoitre the
objects which surrounded the place of our detention, I heard a party
of soldiers conversing under the windows, and stopping the babbling of
little Achilles by a motion of my hand, I listened to gain any
information that I could, considering my present situation as one of
the very few in which eaves-dropping was not only justifiable but
necessary.
They were merely speaking, however, of some military movements which
had just taken place, by order of the Viceroy, for quelling the
insurrection at Lerida; and they did not at all scruple to censure
their commander in their discourse, for detaching so great a force
from Barcelona, at a moment it might be required to overawe the city.
This conversation soon ceased, and after some coarse vituperation of
the Catalonians, they separated, and I heard no more. Notwithstanding
their departure, I continued to stand at the window, as if I were
still listening, in order to collect and arrange my own thoughts,
uninterrupted by the merciless tongue of my attendant, who now having
recovered his speech, of which fright had deprived him for a time,
seemed resolved to make up by redoubled loquacity for the time he had
been obliged to waste in silence. I had, in truth, much to think of.
The whole circumstances which had lately happened to me, as well as my
present situation, would have afforded sufficient matter for
reflection; but, nevertheless, the news which I had heard from the
viceroy concerning the Chevalier de Montenero engaged my thoughts
perhaps more than all the rest, and made me look upon the chance which
brought me to Barcelona, rather than to any other Spanish town, and
even my detention there, as rather fortunate than otherwise,
notwithstanding all the unpleasant circumstances by which it had been
accompanied.
I doubted not for an instant, that, however the Chevalier might be
prepossessed against me in some respects, he would instantly do me
justice in the matter of the present charge, and show the viceroy that
it was impossible I could be guilty; which none could know better than
himself. At the same time, the knowledge that I had now obtained of
his not being Spanish by birth, freed me at once from the difficulty
under which I had before laboured, and left me at liberty to exculpate
myself from every circumstance which had before appeared suspicious in
his eyes, without violating my promise to the unfortunate corregidor
of Saragossa. After considering these points for a minute or two, I
applied myself to calculate how long it would take him to arrive at
Barcelona, supposing that he travelled with all speed from the place
where I last saw him; and I judged that, passing by Bagneres and
Venasque, he might have already arrived, as I doubted not that when he
left Lourdes he had directed his course immediately towards Spain.
Nothing did I long for more ardently than his coming; not alone from
the desire of obtaining my liberation, but because I longed to
re-establish myself in his good opinion--I longed to be near one that
I esteemed and loved--to confide in him all my thoughts, my feelings,
my sorrows, my regrets--to tell him my own tale--to ask for
consolation, and to seek for advice; and, certainly, never, never did
I feel so much as at that moment the desolate solitariness of man,
when, with none to aid him, he stands in the midst of sorrow and
misfortune by himself.
With all his follies and his weaknesses, I will own, I had even clung
to the society of the little player, merely because it was something
human that seemed to attach itself to me; and while he was near, I did
not appear so totally abandoned to myself and my evil fate; but when I
thought of the coming of the Chevalier, of clearing myself from all
suspicions, regaining his regard, and walking by his counsel, my heart
was lightened of half its load, and I felt as if I had again entered
within the magic circle of hope, that had long been shut against me.
While I was thus reflecting, the door of the chamber opened, and the
Viceroy's favourite negro slave entered, followed by a servant, loaded
with various kinds of viands, and a flask of wine. The servant put his
burden down on the table, and withdrew; but the negro remained, and
shutting the door, invited me in a civil tone to partake of the
provisions which his Excellence had ordered to be brought me. "My lord
the Viceroy," said he, "has given me in charge to see that you be
hospitably treated, and I have pleasure in the task, young sir; for I
hope, through your means, to rouse my master to a just sense of the
oppression which these poor Catalonians suffer from the unruly and
insolent soldiers."
There was something in this speech so different from what might be
expected in a negro slave and a favourite, that I did him the wrong of
suspecting that he wished to entrap me into some avowal of opinions
contrary to the Viceroy's government; and I therefore replied, "You
must know more of the subject than I do; I have been but three days in
Catalonia, and therefore have had but little opportunity of judging
whether the people be oppressed or not, even if I had any interest in
the matter."
"Interest! Spoke like a white man!" muttered the black to himself.
"Ah, young sir, young sir! If you had known oppression as I have, you
would find an _interest_ in every one you saw oppressed."
"I should have imagined," replied I, still doubting him, though I own
most unworthily, "that your situation was as happy a one as well might
be; and that your service on his Excellence the Viceroy was not very
oppressive?"
He laid his jet black finger upon the rich golden bracelet that
surrounded his arm. "Think you," asked he, "that that chain, because
it happens to be gold, does not weigh as heavily as if it were of
iron? It does--I tell you, Frenchman, it does. True, I am slave to the
best of masters, the noblest of lords--true, if I were free this
moment, I would dedicate my life to serve him. But still I am a
slave--still I have been torn from my home and my native land--still I
have been injured--wronged--oppressed; and every one I see injured,
every one I see wronged, becomes my fellow and my brother. But you
understand not that!"
"I do, my good friend, more than you think," replied I, convinced by
the earnestness of his manner that what he said was genuine.
"Whether you do or not," said he, "there is one principle on which you
_will_ understand me. You can fancy that I love my benefactor. I love
him; but I also know his faults. He is of a soft and idle humour, so
that his virtues, like jewels cast upon a quicksand, are lost,
unknown, and swallowed up. His idleness is a disease of the body, not
a defect of the mind--though the mind suffers for the fault of the
body--and so much does he value repose, that nothing seems to him of
sufficient importance to embitter its sweetness. Fearless as a lion of
death or of danger, he is a very coward when opposed to trouble and
fatigue; he is just, honourable, and wise, but this invincible apathy
of nature has brought him to the brink of a precipice, over which he
would sooner fall than make one strong effort to save himself. For two
years he has governed Catalonia, and during those two all the reports
of the brute soldiery have been believed--few of the complaints of the
injured peasants have reached him. Those few have been through me, for
his guards and his officers, who all join in the pillage of the
people, take care to cut off from him every other source of
information. Thus the soldiers have heaped wrong upon wrong, till the
people will bear no more; till at Lerida, at Taragona--over half the
country, in short, they are already in revolt. Barcelona still remains
quiet; and, by the exertion of proper authority--by showing the
Catalonians that the viceroy will do equal justice between them and
the soldiery, that in future he will be the defender of their rights
and liberties--the province--his government--perhaps even his life,
may be saved. For this object, when the news reached him last night of
the insurrection at Lerida, and, at the same time, the charge against
you, I persuaded him to examine you himself, without the presence of
his officers or his council. You answered wisely, and saved yourself.
When next he shall examine you, do more--answer nobly, and save him,
and perhaps a whole people! Tell him the oppression you have seen,
tell him the murmurs you have heard; aid me to stir him up to
exertion, and you may, if it be not too late, avert the evils that are
gathering round so thickly!"
"I will willingly do what you wish," replied I; "but I fear, unless he
can send one obnoxious regiment after another out of Catalonia, and
supply their place with troops whose discipline is more strict, and
who have not yet made themselves abhorred by the populace, that your
viceroy will do but little to allay this fermentation among the
people."
The negro shook his head. "They will never be changed," said he,
"while Olivarez, the Count-duke, governs both Spain and the king. Why
did he send them here at first? He knew them to be the worst
disciplined, the most cruel, turbulent, rapacious troops that all
Spain contained; but he wished to punish the Catalonians for holding a
junta on one of his demands, and he sent them these locusts as a
scourge. However, I have your promise. Before night the Count will
send for you again; he will ask you what rumours you heard--how the
Castilian troops were looked upon by the people--and other questions
to the same effect. Conceal nothing! Let him hear the truth from
_your_ lips at least. Will you do so?"
"I will!" replied I, decidedly.
"Then fare you well!" said the negro, "and fall to your meat with the
consciousness of doing what is noble and right." And thus saying he
left the chamber.
"Good faith! monseigneur," said little Achilles, who had already
settled upon the basket of provisions, and was making considerable
progress through the contents, "I could not resist this charming sight
had you been the king, and my master into the bargain. I must have
fallen to. Hunger, like love, levels all conditions."
"You did right, my good Achilles," replied I; "but hold a moment, I
must join the party;" and sitting down with my little attendant, I
aided him to conclude what he had so happily begun. The wine-flask
succeeded, and we neither of us spared it, proceeding to the bottom
with very equal steps, for though, as his lord, Achilles always
conceded to me two draughts for his one, he found means to compensate
for this forbearance, by making his draught twice as long as mine.
Indeed, when the bottle reached his mouth (for the negro had supplied
us with no cup), the matter became hopeless, so long did he point it
at the sky.
During one of these deep draughts, which occupied him so entirely,
that he neither heard nor saw anything else, a distant shout reached
my ear, and then all was silent. There was something ominous in the
sound, for it contained a very different tone from that which bursts
from a crowd on any occasion of mirth or rejoicing. It was a cry
somewhat mingled of horror and hate; at least my fancy lent it such a
character. At the same time, I heard the soldiers in the court below
running out to the gates, as if they had been disturbed by the same
sound, and went to inquire into its cause. Little Achilles had not
heard it, so deeply was he engaged in the worship of the purple god,
and the moment he dismissed the bottle, he recommenced his attack upon
a fine piece of mountain mutton which still remained in the basket;
but in a moment or two his attention was called by a renewal of the
shouts, and by the various exclamations of the soldiers in the court,
from which we gathered that, most unhappily, some new outrage had been
offered to the people, who, encouraged probably by the news of a
revolt at Lerida, had resisted, and were even then engaged with the
soldiery.
"Let them fight it out," cried my companion, encouraged by the good
viands, and still better wine of the Viceroy--"Let them fight it out!
By my great namesake's immortal deeds, methinks I could push a pike
against one of those base soldados myself. Pray Heaven the peasants
cut them up into mincemeat! But while you look out of the window,
monseigneur, I will lie down, and, in imitation of that most wise
animal, an ox, will ruminate for some short while after my dinner."
As he said, I had placed myself at the window, and while he cast
himself on the bed, and I believe fell asleep, I continued to watch
the various streets within the range of my sight, to discover, if I
could, the event of the tumult, the shouts and cries of which were
still to be heard, varying in distance and direction, as if the crowds
from which they proceeded were rapidly changing their place. After a
moment or two, some musket-shots were heard mingling with the outcry,
and then a whole platoon. A louder shout than ever succeeded, and then
again a deep silence. In the meanwhile, several officers came running
at all speed to the arsenal; and in a few minutes, two or three small
bodies of troops marched out, proceeding up a long street, of which I
had a view almost in its whole length. About half way up, the soldiers
defiled down another street to the right, and I lost sight of them.
The shouts, however, still continued, rising and falling, with
occasional discharges of musketry; but in general, the noise seemed to
me farther off than it had been at first. Shortly it began to come
rapidly near, growing louder and louder; and straining my eyes in the
direction in which the tumult seemed to lie, I beheld a party of the
populace driven across the long street I have mentioned by a body of
pikemen.
The Catalonians were evidently fighting desperately; but the superior
skill of the troops prevailed, and the undisciplined mob was borne
back at the point of the pike, notwithstanding an effort to make a
stand at the crossing of the streets.
This first success of the military, however, did not absolutely infer
that their ascendency would be permanent. The tumult was but begun;
and far from being a momentary effervescence of popular feeling,
which, commencing with a few, is only increased by the accession of
idlers and vagabonds, this was the pouring forth of long-suppressed
indignation--the uprising of a whole people to work retribution on the
heads of their oppressors, and every moment might be expected to bring
fresh combatants, excited by the thirst of vengeance, and animated by
the hope of liberty.
All was now bustle and activity in the arsenal. The gates were shut,
the soldiers underarms, the officers called together, the walls
manned; and, from the court below, the stirring sounds of military
preparation rose up to the windows at which I stood, telling that the
pressing danger of the circumstances had at length roused the viceroy
from his idle mood, and that he was now taking all the means which a
good officer might, to put down the insurrection that his negligence
had suffered to break out. From time to time, I caught the calm full
tones of his voice, giving a number of orders and directions--now
ordering parties of soldiers to issue forth and support their
comrades--commanding at the same time that they should advance up the
several streets, which bore upon the arsenal, taking especial care
that their retreat was not cut off, and that a continual communication
should be kept up--pointing out to the inferior officers where to
establish posts, so as to best guard their flanks and avoid the
dangers of advancing through the streets of the city, where every
house might be considered as an enemy's fort; and finally directing
that in such and such conjunctures, certain flags should be raised on
the steeples of the various churches, thus establishing a particular
code of signals for the occasion.
In the meanwhile the tumult in the city increased, the firing became
more continuous, the bells of the churches mingled their clang with
the rest, and the struggle was evidently growing more and more fierce,
as fresh combatants poured in on either party. At length I saw an
officer riding down the opposite street at full speed, and dashing
into the arsenal, the gates of which opened to give him admission, he
seemed to approach the viceroy, whose voice I instantly heard,
demanding, "Well, Don Ferdinand, where are the cavalry? Why have you
not brought up the men-at-arms?"
"Because it was impossible," replied the officer: "the rebels, your
Excellence, have set fire to the stables--not a horse would move, even
after Don Antonio Molina had dispersed the traitors that did it. Not
ten horses have been saved. What is to be done, my lord?"
"Return instantly," answered the Viceroy, promptly, "collect your
men-at-arms,--bid them fight on foot for the honour of Castile--for
the safety of the province--for their own lives. Marshal them in two
bodies. Let one march, by the Plaza Nueva down to the port, and the
other by the Calle de la Cruz to the Lerida gate."
"I am sorry to say, the Lerida gate is in the possession of the
rebels," replied the officer. "A large body of peasants,[6] well armed
and mounted, attacked it and drove in the soldiers half an hour ago.
They come from Lerida itself, as we learn by the shouts of the
others."
"The more need to march on it instantly," replied the Viceroy. "See!
The flag is up on the church of the Assumption! Don Francisco is
there, with part of the second _tercia_. Divide as I have said--send
your brother down with one body to the port--with the other, join Don
Francisco, at the church of the Assumption; take the two brass cannon
from the Barrio Nuevo, and march upon the gate of Lerida. Drive back
the rebels, or die!"
The Viceroy's orders were given like lightning, and turning his horse,
the officer rode away with equal speed to execute them. I marked him
as he dashed through the gates of the arsenal, and a more soldier-like
man I never saw. He galloped fast over the drawbridge, and through the
second gate, crossed the open space between the arsenal and the houses
of the town, and darted up the street by which he had come, when
suddenly a flash and some smoke broke from the window of a house as he
passed; I saw him reel in the saddle, catch at his horse's mane, and
fall headlong to the ground; while the charger, freed from his load,
ran wildly up the street, till he was out of sight.
The sentinel on the counterscarp had seen the officer's fall, and
instantly passed the news to the Viceroy. "Pedro Marona!" cried the
Count, promptly:--"Quick! mount, and bear the same orders to Don
Antonio Molina. Take the Calle de la Paz. Quick! One way or another,
we lose our most precious moments. Don Ferdinando should have seen his
corslet was better tempered. However, let half a dozen men be sent out
to bring him in, perhaps he may not yet be dead."
The gates of the arsenal were thrown open accordingly, and a small
party carrying a board to bring home the body issued out; but they had
scarcely proceeded half way to the spot where the officer had fallen,
when the sound of the tumult, the firing, the cheers, the cries, the
screams, mingled in one terrific roar, rolled nearer and nearer. A
single soldier then appeared in full flight in the long street on
which my eyes were fixed; another followed, and another. A shout
louder than all the rest rang up to the sky; and rolling, and rushing,
like the billows of a troubled ocean, came pouring down the street a
large body of the Castilian soldiery, urged on by an immense mass of
armed peasantry, with whom the first rank of the Castilians was
mingled.
Though some of the soldiers were still fighting man to man with the
Catalonians, the mass were evidently flying as fast as the nature of
the circumstances would permit, crushing and pressing over each other;
and many more must have been trampled to death by the feet of their
comrades than fell by the swords of their enemies. In the meanwhile,
the pursuers, the greater part of whom were on horseback, continued
spurring their horses into the disorderly mass of the fugitives,
hewing them down on every side with the most remorseless vengeance;
while from the houses on each hand a still more dreadful and less
noble sort of warfare was carried on against the flying soldiery.
Scarce a house, but one or two of its windows began to flash with
musketry, raining a tremendous shower of balls upon the heads of the
unfortunate Castilians, who, jammed up in the small space of a narrow
street, had no room either to avoid their own fate or avenge their
fellows.
Just then, however, the pursuers received a momentary check from the
cannon of the arsenal, some of which being placed sufficiently high
for the balls to fall amidst the mass of peasantry, without taking
effect upon the nearer body of the flying soldiers, began to operate
as a diversion in favour of the fugitives. The very sound caused
several of the horsemen to halt. At that moment, my eye fell upon the
figure of Garcias the smuggler, at the head of the peasantry, cheering
them on; and by his gestures, appearing to tell them that those who
would escape the cannon-balls must close upon those for whose safety
they were fired; that now was the moment to make themselves masters of
the arsenal; and that if they would but follow close, they would force
their way in with the flying soldiers.
So animated, so vehement was his gesticulation, that there hardly
needed words to render his wishes comprehensible. The panic, however,
though but momentary, allowed sufficient time for greater part of the
soldiers to throw themselves into the arsenal. Some, indeed, being
again mingled with the peasantry, were shut out, and slaughtered to a
man; the rest prepared to make good the very defensible post they now
possessed, knowing well that _mercy_ was a word they had themselves
blotted out from the language of their enemies.
In the meanwhile, my little companion Achilles had evinced much more
courage than I had anticipated; whether it was that he found, or
rather fancied, greater security in the walls of the arsenal; or
whether it was that necessity produced the same change in his nature,
that being in a corner is said to effect upon a cat; or whether the
quantity of wine which he had drunk had conveyed with itself an equal
portion of valour, I do not know; but certain it is, that he lay quite
quiet for the greater part of the time, without attempting to creep
under the bed, and only took the precaution of wrapping the bolster
round his head to deaden the sound of the cannon. Once he even rose,
and approaching the other window, stood upon tiptoes to take a
momentary glance at what was proceeding without. The scene he beheld,
however, was no way encouraging, and he instantly retreated to the
bed, and settled himself once more comfortably amongst the clothes,
after having drained the few last drops of wine that remained in the
flask.
It may easily be supposed, that the viceroy was not particularly
anxious to spare the houses of a town which had shown itself so
generally inimical, and, consequently, every cannon which could be
brought to bear upon the point where the insurgents were principally
collected, was kept in constant activity, and the dreadful havoc which
they made began to be evident both amongst the insurgents and upon the
houses round about.
Garcias, however, who was now evidently acting as commander-in-chief
of the populace, was prompt to remedy all the difficulties of his
situation; and animating and encouraging the peasantry by his voice,
his gestures, and his example, he kept alive the spirit which had
hitherto carried them on to such great deeds.
It is not to be imagined that any regular fascines should have been
prepared by the peasantry for the assault of the arsenal, but they had
with them six small pieces of cannon which they had taken, and which
they hastily brought against the gate.
The murderous fire, however, both of cannon and musketry, kept up upon
the only point where they could have any effect, would have prevented
the possibility of working them, had not the fire of the arsenal
itself, by demolishing the wall of one of the houses opposite,
discovered the inside of a wool warehouse. Fascines were no longer
wanting; the immense woolpacks were instantly brought forward and
arranged, by the orders of Garcias, into as complete a traverse as
could have been desired, supported from behind by the stones of the
streets, which the insurgents threw up with pickaxes and spades. Their
position being now much more secure, a movement took place amongst the
people; and, while Garcias with a considerable body continued to ply
the principal gate with his battery, two large masses of the
insurgents moved off on either hand, and presently after, re-appeared
at the entrance of the various streets which surrounded the arsenal,
rolling before them their woolpacks, which put them in comparative
security.
It was evident that a general attack was soon to be expected; and,
exerting himself with an activity of which I had not thought him
capable, the viceroy put himself forward in every situation of danger.
From time to time I caught a glimpse of his figure, toiling,
commanding, assisting, and slackening not in his activity, though the
marks of excessive fatigue were sufficiently evident in his
countenance.
Of course, the gate could not long resist the continued fire of the
insurgents' battery; and as soon as it gave way, upon some signal
which I did not perceive, the whole mass of the peasantry poured forth
from every street, and advancing steadily under a most tremendous fire
from the guns of the arsenal, ran up the glacis, and easily effected a
lodgment on the counterscarp with the woolpacks.
The moment was one of excessive interest, and I was gazing from the
window, marking with anxiety every turn of a scene that possessed all
the sublime of horror, and danger, and excited passion, when I heard a
step behind me, and a cry from my little friend Achilles, which
instantly made me turn my head.
I had but time to see the Spanish soldier who had accused me to the
viceroy, with his broadsword raised over my head, and to spring aside,
when the blow fell with such force, as to dash a piece out of the
solid masonry of the window-frame.
"By the eyes of St. Jeronimo!" cried the man, "thou shalt not escape
me--though I die this day, thou shalt go half an hour before me!"--and
darting forward he raised his weapon to aim another blow at my head.
Unarmed as I was, my only chance was to rush in upon him, and getting
within his guard, render the struggle one of mere personal strength;
and making a feint, as if I would leap aside again, I took advantage
of a movement of his hand, and cast myself into his chest with my full
force.
He gave way sooner than I had expected, and we both went down; but
somehow, though in general a good wrestler, certainly infinitely
stronger than my adversary, and though at first also I was uppermost,
I soon lost my advantage. I believe it was that in attempting to place
my knee on his breast, it slipped from off his corslet, flinging me
forward, so that my balance being lost, he easily cast me off and set
his own knee upon me. His sword he had let fall, but he drew his long
poniard, and threw back his arm to plunge it into my bosom: when
suddenly he received a tremendous blow on the side of the head, which
dashed him prostrate on the floor; and to my surprise and
astonishment, I saw little Achilles in the person of my deliverer.
My pressing danger had communicated to his bosom a spark of generous
courage which he had never before felt, and, seizing the unloaded
musketoon, he had come behind my adversary and dealt him the blow
which had proved my salvation. Nor did he stop here; for what with joy
and excitement at his success, and fear that our enemy should recover
from the stupefaction which the blow had caused, he continued to
belabour his head and face with strokes of the musketoon, with a
silent vehemence and rapidity which not all my remonstrances could
stop. Even after the man was evidently dead, he continued to reiterate
blow upon blow; sometimes pausing and looking at him with eyes in
which horror, and fear, and excitement, were all visible; and then
adding another and another stroke, as I have often seen a dog after he
has killed a rat, or any other noisome animal, every now and then
start back and look at him, and then give it another bite, and
another, till he has left it scarce a vestige of its original form.
Seizing his arm, however, during one of these pauses, I begged him to
cease; and would have fain called his attention by thanking him for
his timely aid; but the little man could not yet overcome the idea
that his enemy might still get up and take vengeance on him for the
unheard of daring which he had exercised.
"Let me kill him! monseigneur! Let me kill him!" cried he. "Don't you
see he moves? look, look!"
And, with straining eyes, he struggled forward to make quite sure that
his victory wanted nothing of completion, by adding another blow to
those he had already given.
"He will never move again, Achilles," replied I; "spare your blows,
for you bestow them on a dead man, and well has he merited his
fate----"
"Had we not better tie his hands, at least?" cried the little player.
"He lies still enough too. Only think of my having killed a man--I
shall be a brave man for all the rest of my life. But if I had not
killed him, you would have been lying there as still as he is."
I expressed my gratitude as fully as I could, but objected to the
proposal of tying a dead man's hands. No doubt, indeed, could remain
of his being no longer in a state to endanger any one; for having no
helmet on at the time he entered, the very first blow of the musketoon
must have nearly stunned him, and several of the after ones had driven
in his skull in various places. It is probable, that, having been kept
in confinement by the order of the viceroy, he had been liberated at
the moment the danger became pressing, and that, instead of presenting
himself where he might do his duty, his first care had been to seek
the means of gratifying his revenge, no doubt attributing to me the
punishment he had received. Such an event as my death, in the
confusion and danger of the circumstances, he most probably imagined,
would pass unnoticed; and no one, at all events, could prove that it
had been committed by his hands. Whether his comrade, who had been
placed as sentinel at the door where we were confined, had been
removed for the more active defence of the place, or whether he had
connived at the entrance of the assassin, I know not; but at all
events, if he was there, he must have been an accomplice, and
consequently would not have betrayed his fellow.
Such, however, was a strange fate for a daring and ferocious man--to
fall by the hands of one of the meekest cowards that ever crept
quietly through existence! and yet I have often remarked that bad
actions, the most boldly undertaken, and the best designed,
often--nay, most frequently--fall back upon the head of their
projectors, repelled from their intended course by something petty,
unexpected, or despised.