SECRET SERVICE.
It seemed not, however, as though this meeting were very likely to
take place yet, since by the time we were off Cape St. Vincent--which
was at early dawn of the second morning following the old man's
delirium--that person seemed to have become very much restored. 'Tis
true he was still very weak, and kept his berth; but otherwise seemed
well enough. Also all his fever and wanderings were gone, and as he
now lay in his bunk reading of many papers which the negro handed to
him from the open uppermost chest, he might, indeed, have passed for
that same reverend minister which the captain had, at the beginning,
imagined him to be.
Both of us--the captain because he was the captain, and I because I
was the only other passenger--had been in and out to see him now and
again and to ask him how he did. Yet, I fear, 'twas not charity nor
pity that induced either of us to these Christian tasks. For the
skipper was prompted by, I think, but one desire, namely, to get the
man ashore alive out of his ship, and, thereby, to have done with him.
He liked not pirates, he said, "neither when met on the high seas, nor
when retired from business"; while as for myself, well! the man
fascinated me. He seemed to be, indeed, so scheming an old villain,
and to have such a strange past behind him, that I could not help but
be attracted.
Now in these visits which I had paid him at intervals, he had told me
that he was on his way to Cadiz, where he had much business to attend
to; sometimes, he said, in purchasing goods that the galleons brought
in from the Indies, sometimes in sending out other goods, and so
forth. Also he said--which was true enough, as I knew very well--the
galleons were now due; it was for this reason he was on his way to the
south of Spain.
"So," said the captain, when I repeated this, "the devil can speak
truth sure enough when he needs. To wit, it is the truth that the
galleons are on their way home. What else has he said to you, Mr.
Crespin?"
"He has asked me what my business may be."
"And you have told him?"
"Nay. I tell no one that," I replied, "It is of some consequence, and
I talk not of it."
Yet here, and with a view to making clear this narrative which I am
setting down, 'tis necessary that I should state who and what I am,
and also the reason why I, Mervyn Crespin, am on my road to Cadiz on
board a coasting vessel, _La Mouche Noire_--once a French ship of
merchandise, now an English one. She was taken from that nation by
some of our own vessels of war, sold by public auction, and bought by
her present captain, who now is using her in his trade between England
and Holland, and Holland and Spain--a risky trade, too, seeing that
war has broken out again, that England and Austria are fighting the
French and Spanish, and that the sea swarms with privateers; yet,
because of the risk, a profitable trade, too, for those who can make
their journeys uncaught by the enemy.
However, to myself.
I am, let me say, therefore, an officer of the Cuirassiers, or Fourth
Horse, which, a short time before the late King William's death, has
been serving in the Netherlands under the partial command of Ginkell,
Earl of Athlone. The rank I hold is that of lieutenant--aspiring
naturally to far greater things--and already I have had the honor of
taking part in several sieges, amongst others Kaiserswerth, with which
the war commenced, as well as in many skirmishes. Now, 'twas at this
place, where my Lord the Earl of Athlone commanded, that I had the
extreme good fortune, as I shall ever deem it, of being wounded, and
thereby brought under his Lordship's notice. As for the wound, 'twas
nothing, one of M. Bouffler's lancers having run me through the fleshy
part of my arm, and it was soon healed; but the earl happened to see
the occurrence, as also the manner in which I cut the man down a
second later, and from that moment he took notice of me--sent for me
to his quarters when the siege was over, spoke with commendation of my
riding and my sword play, and asked me of my family, he being one who,
although a Dutchman who came only into England with his late master,
knew much of our gentry and noble homes.
"Of the Crespins of Kent, eh?" he said. "The Crespins--a fair, good
family. I knew Sir Nicholas, who fell at the Boyne. What was he to
you?"
"My uncle, sir. The late king gave me my guidon in the Cuirassiers
because of his service."
"Good! He could do no less. Your uncle was a solid man--trustworthy.
If he said he would do a thing, he did it--or died. 'Twas thus in
Ireland. You remember?"
"I remember, sir. He said he would take prisoner Tyrconnel with his
own hands, and would have done it had not a bullet found his brain."
"I do believe he would. Are you as trustworthy as he?"
"Try me," and I looked him straight in the face.
"Maybe I will. A little later," and even as he spoke fell a-musing,
while he drank some schnapps, which was his native drink, and on
which, they say, these Hollanders are weaned--from a little glass.
Then soon spake again:
"What languages have you? Any besides your own?"
"I have the French. Also some Spanish. My grandmother was of Spanish
descent, and dwelt with us in Kent. She taught me."
"Humph!" And again he mused, then again went on, though now--doubtless
to see if my French was any good, and to try me--he spoke in that
tongue.
"Could you pass for a Frenchman, think you, amongst those who are not
French, say in Spain itself?"
"Yes, amongst those who are not French, I am sure I could. Even
amongst those who are French, if I gave out that I was, say, a
Dutchman speaking with an accent," and I laughed, for I could not help
it. The earl had a bottle nose and eyes like a lobster's, and made a
queer grimace when I said this boldly. Then he, too, laughed.
"So I've an accent, eh, when I speak French? You mean that?"
"I mean, sir, that however well one speaks a language not their own,
there is some accent that betrays them to those whose native tongue
they are speaking. A Dutchman, a Swiss, most Englishmen and many
Germans can all speak French, and 'twould pass outside France for
French. But a native of Touraine, or a Parisian, or any subject of
King Louis could not be deceived."
"True. Yet you or I could pass, say in Spain, for Frenchmen."
"I am sure."
"Humph! Well, we will see. And, perhaps, I will, as you say,
try you. Only if I do, 'twill be a risky service for you. A
lieutenant-colonelcy or a gibbet. A regiment or a bullet. How would
you like that?"
"I risk the bullet every moment that the Cuirassiers are in action,
and there is no lieutenant-colonelcy in the other scale if I escape. I
prefer the 'risky service,' when there is one. As for the gibbet;
well, one death is the same as another, pretty much, and the gibbet
will do as well as any other, so long as 'tis not at Tyburn--which
would be discreditable."
"You are a man of metal!" the Dutchman exclaimed, "and I like you,
although you don't approve of my accent. You will do. I want a man of
action, not a courtier----"
"I meant no rudeness," I interposed.
"Nor offered any. Tush! man, we Dutch are not courtiers, either. But
we are staunch. And I will give you a chance of being so. Come here
again to-morrow night. You shall have a throw for that colonelcy--or
that gibbet."
"My Lord, I am most grateful to you."
"Good day. Come to-morrow night. Now I must sleep." And he began to
divest himself of his wig and clothes, upon which I bowed and
withdrew.
Be sure I was there the next night at the same time, exchanging my
guard with Bertram Saxby, who, alas! was killed shortly afterward at
Ruremonde. The day I had passed in sleeping much, for I had a
suspicion that it was like enough Ginkell would send me on the service
he had spoken of that very night; might, indeed, order me to take
horse within the next hour, and I was desirous of starting fresh--of
beginning well. He was a rough creature, this Dutch general--or
English, rather, now!--and would be as apt as not to give me my
instructions as I entered the room, and bid me be miles away ere
midnight struck. Therefore I went prepared. Also my horse was ready in
its stall.
He was not alone when I did enter his quarters. Instead, he was seated
at a table covered with papers and charts, on the other side of which
there sat another gentleman, a man of about fifty, of strikingly
handsome features; a man who, in his day, I guessed, must have played
havoc with women's hearts--might, indeed, I should think, have done so
now had he been inclined that way. Those soft, rounded features, and
those eyes, themselves soft and liquid--I saw them clearly when he
lifted them to scan my face!--would, I guessed, make him irresistible
to the fair sex.
He spoke first after I had saluted the Earl of Athlone--and I observed
that, intuitively, he also returned my salute by a bend of his head,
so that I felt sure he was used to receive such courtesies wherever he
might be and in whatever company--then he said to the Dutchman, in a
voice that, though somewhat high, was as musical as a chime of bells.
"This is the gentleman, Ginkell?"
"This is the gentleman. A lieutenant of the Fourth Horse."
"Sir," said the other, "be seated," and he pointed with a beautifully
white hand to a chair by the table. "I desire some little conversation
with you. I am the Earl of Marlborough." And as he mentioned his name
he put out that white hand again and offered it to me, I taking it
with all imaginable respect. He was at this time the most conspicuous
subject of any sovereign in the world; his name was known from one end
of Europe to the other. Also it was the most feared, although he had
not yet put the crowning point to his glory nor risen to the highest
rank for which he was destined. But he was very near his zenith
now--his greatness almost at its height--and, I have often thought
since, there was something within him at this time which told him it
was close at hand. For he had an imperturbable calmness, an unfailing
quiet graciousness, as I witnessed afterward on many occasions, which
alone could be possessed by one who felt sure of himself. In every
word he spoke, in his every action, he proclaimed that he was certain
of, and master of, his destiny!
"My Lord Athlone tells me," he continued, when I was seated, the soft
voice flowing musically, "that you have the fitting aspirations of a
soldier--desire a regiment, and are willing to earn one."
I bowed and muttered that to succeed in my career was my one desire,
and that if I could win success I would spare no effort. Then he went
on:
"You speak French. That is good. Also Spanish. That, too, is good.
Likewise, I hear, can disguise your identity as an Englishman if
necessary. That is well, also. Mr. ----" and he took up a piece of
paper lying before him, on which I supposed my name was written, "Mr.
Crespin, I--we--are going to employ you on secret service. Are you
willing to undertake it?"
"I am willing, my Lord, to do anything that may advance my career.
Anything that may become a soldier."
"That is as it should be. The light in which to regard
matters--anything that may become a soldier. That before all. Well, to
be short, we are going to send you to Cadiz."
"To Cadiz, my Lord!" I said, unable to repress some slight feeling of
astonishment.
"Yes. To Cadiz, where you will not find another English soldier. Still
that will, perhaps, not matter very much, since we do not desire you
when there to appear as a soldier yourself. You are granted leave from
your regiment indefinitely while on this mission, and, at the first at
least, you will be a private gentleman. Also, when at Cadiz, you will
please to be anything but an _English_ gentleman."
"Or a Dutch one," put in the other earl with a guttural laugh.
"Therefore, assume not the Dutch accent."
Evidently my Lord Marlborough did not know of the joke underlying this
remark, since he went on:
"As a Frenchman you will have the best chance. Or, perhaps, as a Swiss
merchant. But that we leave to you. What you have to do is to get to
Cadiz, and, when there, to pass as some one, neither English nor
Dutch, who is engaged in ordinary mercantile pursuits. Then when the
fleet comes in----"
"The fleet, my Lord!"
"Yes. The English fleet. I should tell you--I must make myself clear.
A large fleet under Admirals Rooke and Hopson, as well as some Dutch
admirals, are about to besiege Cadiz. They will shortly sail from
Portsmouth, as we have advices, and it is almost a certainty that they
will succeed in gaining possession of the island, which is Cadiz. That
will be of immense service to us, since, while we are fighting King
Louis in the north, the Duke of Ormond, who goes out in that fleet in
command of between thirteen and fourteen thousand men, will be able to
attack the Duke of Anjou, or, as he now calls himself, King Philip V
of Spain, in the south. But that is not all. We are not sending you
there to add one more strong right arm to His Grace's forces--we could
utilize that here, Mr. Crespin," and he bowed courteously, "but
because we wish you to convey a message to him and the admirals."
I, too, bowed again, and expressed by my manner that I was listening
most attentively, while the earl continued:
"The message is this: We have received information from a sure source
that the galleons now on their way back to Spain from the Indies have
altered their plan of arrival because they, in their turn, have been
informed in some way, by some spy or traitor, that this expedition
will sail from England. Therefore they will not go near Cadiz. But the
spot to which they will proceed is Vigo, in the north. Now," and he
rose as he spoke, and stood in front of the empty fireplace, "your
business will be to convey this intelligence to Sir George Rooke and
those under him, and I need not tell you that you are like enough to
encounter dangers in so conveying it. Are you prepared to undertake
them?"