I FIND A SHIP.
"You see," the Earl of Marlborough continued, while Ginkell and I
stood on either side of him, "that neither your risks nor your
difficulties will be light. To begin with, you must pass as a
Frenchman, or, at least, not an Englishman, for Cadiz, like all
Spanish ports and towns, will not permit of any being there.
Therefore, your only way to get into it is to be no Englishman. Now,
how, Mr. Crespin, would you suggest reaching the place and obtaining
entry? It is far away."
I thought a moment on this; then I said:
"But Portugal, my lord, is not closed to us. That country has not yet
thrown in its lot with either France or Austria."
"That is true. And the southern frontier of Portugal is very near to
Spain--to Cadiz. You mean that?"
"Yes. I could proceed to the frontier of Portugal, could perhaps get
by sea to Tavira--then, as a Frenchman, cross into Spain, and so to
Cadiz."
He pondered a little on this, then said: "Yes, the idea is feasible.
Only, how to go to Tavira?" and he bent over a chart lying on the
table, and regarded it fixedly as he spoke. "How to do that?" running
his finger down the coast line of Portugal as he spoke, and then up
again as far north as the Netherlands, stopping at Rotterdam.
"All traffic is closed," he muttered, "between Spain and Holland now,
otherwise there would be countless vessels passing between Rotterdam
and Cadiz which would doubtless put you ashore on the Portuguese
coast. But now--now--there will scarce be any."
Ginkell had been called away by one of his aides-de-camp as his
lordship bent over the chart and mused upon it, or, doubtless, his
astute Dutch mind might have suggested some way out of the difficulty
that stared us in the face; but even as we pondered over the sheet an
idea occurred to me.
"My Lord," I said, "may I suggest this: That I should make my way to
Rotterdam to begin with--by some chance there may be a ship going
south--through some part of the bay at least. But even if it is not
so--if all traffic is stopped--why then I could at least get to
England, might arrive there before the fleet sails for Cadiz."
"Nay," his Lordship interrupted; "you would be too late. They may have
sailed by now."
"I know not what further to propose, my Lord."
"We must risk it," he said, promptly. "Chance your finding some vessel
by which you can proceed, even if only part of the way. The hope is a
poor one, yet 'tis worth catching at. King Louis wants the money those
galleons are bringing; his coffers are empty; he hardly knows where to
turn for the wherewithal to pay his and his grandson's men; we want
it, too, if we can get it. Above all, we want to prevent the wealth
falling into the hands of Spain, which now means France. Mr. Crespin,
on an almost forlorn chance you must start for Rotterdam."
"When shall I go, my Lord? To-night? At once?"
"You are ready?"
"I am ready."
"Good! You have the successful soldier's qualities. Yes, you must go
at once--at once."
* * * * * * * * *
That night I was on the road for Rotterdam, which is fifty leagues
and more to the northeast of Kaiserswerth, so that I had a fair good
ride before me ere I reached what might prove to be the true outset of
my journey.
I did not go alone, however, since at this time I rode in the company
of my Lord Marlborough, who was returning to the Hague, to which he
had come in March as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
the States General, as well as Captain General of all Her Majesty's
forces, both at home and abroad. Also, his Lordship had been chosen to
command the whole of the allied forces combined against the King of
France and his grandson, the King of Spain, whom we regarded only as
the Duke of Anjou; and he was now making all preparations for that
great campaign, which was already opened, and was soon to be pushed on
with extreme vigour and with such success that at last the power and
might of Louis were quite crushed and broken. This concerns not me,
however, at present.
Nor did my long ride in company with his Lordship and a brilliant
staff offer any great incident. Suffice it, therefore, if I say that
on the evening of the second day from my setting out, and fifty hours
after I had quitted Kaiserswerth, I rode into Rotterdam, and, finding
a bed for the night at the "Indian Coffee House," put up there.
This I did not do, however, without some difficulty, since, at this
time, Rotterdam was full of all kinds of people from almost every part
of Europe, excepting always France and Spain, against the natives of
which countries very strict laws for their expulsion had been passed
since the declaration of war which was made conjointly by the Queen,
the Emperor and the States General, against those two countries on the
4th of May of this year, 1702.
But of other peoples the town was, as I say, full. In the river there
lay coasting vessels, deep sea vessels, merchant ships, indeed every
kind of craft almost that goes out to sea, and belonging to England,
to Holland, to Denmark and other lands. Also there were to be seen
innumerable French vessels; but these were prizes which had been
dragged in after being taken prisoners at sea, and would be disposed
of shortly, as well as their goods and merchandise, by the Dyke-Grauf,
or high bailiff. And of several of these ships, the captains and the
seamen, as well as in many cases the passengers who were belated on
their journeys, were all ashore helping to fill up the inns and
taverns. Also troops were quartered about everywhere, these being not
only the Dutch, or natives, who were preparing to go forward to the
Hague and thence to wheresoever my Lord Marlborough should direct, but
also many of our own, brought over by our great ships of war to
Helvetsluys, and, themselves, on their way to serve under his command.
The room, therefore, which I got at the Indian Coffee House, was none
of the best, yet, since I was a soldier, I made shift with it very
well, and in other ways the place was convenient enough for my
purpose. It may be, indeed, that I could scarce have selected a better
house at which to stop, seeing that the "ordinary" below was the one
most patronized by the merchant captains who flocked in daily for
their dinner, and for the conversation and smoking and drinking which
succeeded that meal.
And now, so that I shall arrive as soon as may be at the description
of all that befell me, and was the outcome of the mission which the
Earl of Marlborough confided to me, let me set down at once that it
was not long before I, by great good chance, stumbled on that very
opportunity which I desired, and which was so necessary to the
accomplishment of what his Lordship wanted.
This is how it happened:
After the ordinary, at which I myself took a seat every day at one
o'clock, the drinking and the smoking and the conversation began, as I
have said, and none, however strange they might be at first to the
customers of the place, could be there long without the making of
acquaintances; for all the talk ran on the one subject in which all
were interested and absorbed, namely, the now declared war and the
fighting which had been done, and was also to do; on the stoppage to
trade and ruin to business that must occur, and such like. And I can
tell you that many an honest sea captain and many a burly Rotterdam
burgher drank down his schnapps or his potato brandy or seidel of
brown beer, as his taste might be, while heaving also of sighs, or
muttering pious exclamations or terrible curses--also as his taste
might direct--at the threatened ruin, and also at the fear which
gripped his heart, that soon he would not have the wherewithal left
for even these gratifications, humble as they were.
"Curse the war!" said one, to whom I had spoken more than once. He
was, indeed, my captain of _La Mouche Noire_, in whose ship you have
already found me; "it means desolation for me and mine if it lasts,
hunger and shoelessness for my wife and little ones at home in
Shadwell. Above all I curse the ambition of the French king, who has
plunged all Europe into it; placed all honest men 'twixt hawk and
buzzard, as to fortune. Curse him, I say."
"Ay, gurse him!" chimed in a fat Friesslander captain, who sat at his
elbow. "Gurse him, I say, too. I was now choost maging for Chava;
should have peen out of the riffer mit meine vreight if his vleet had
not gorne along mit that von gursed Chean Part in it, ven I had to put
pack. And here I am mit all mein goots----"
"And here am I, mit all mein!" broke in my captain, a-laughing in
spite of himself, "yet--yet I know not if I will not make a push for
it. I think ever of the home at Shadwell and the little ones. I could
not abide to think also of their calling for bread, and of their
mother having none to give them. Yet 'twill come to that ere long. And
the war may last for years."
"Where were you for?" I asked him, using indeed what had become a set
phrase in my mouth since I had consorted with all these sailors. For
by enquiring of each one with whom I conversed what his destination
had been, or would be if he had courage to risk the high seas outside,
I thought that at last I might strike upon one whose way was mine. For
all were not afraid to go forth; indeed there was scarcely a dark
night in which one or two did not get down the river and sneak out
into the open, thinking that, when there, there was a chance of
escaping the French ships of war and privateers and of reaching their
destination, while by remaining here there was no chance of earning a
brass farthing. And I had known of several ships going out since I had
been in Rotterdam, only they were of no use to me. One was bound for
Archangel, another one for the Indies, a third for our colony of
Massachusetts.
"I," said my captain, whose name I knew afterward to be Tandy. "I? Oh,
I was freighted for Cadiz. But of course, that can never be now. Yet
if I could but get away I might do much with my goods. At Lisbon they
would sell well, or even farther south. Though, 'tis true, there's not
much money below that till one comes to Spain."
Though I had thought the time must come when I should hear one of
these sailors say that Cadiz was, or had been, his road (I knew that
if it did not come soon 'twould be no good for me, and I might as well
make my way back to my regiment), yet now, when I did so hear it, I
almost started with joyful surprise. Yet even in so hearing, what had
I gained? The captain had but said that at one time, before the
declaration of hostilities, he had been ready to sail for Cadiz. He
did not say that at this moment--almost three months later--he was
still likely to go. Instead, had said it could never be now.
But--for it meant much to me!--my heart beat a little faster as I
asked, leaning across the beer and spirit-slopped table to him:
"Do you ever on your cruises carry passengers?"
He gave me a quick glance. I read it to mean that he would be glad to
know what my object could be in such a question, put seriously and in
a somewhat low tone, as though not intended for other people's ears.
Then he said:
"Oh! ay! I carry 'em, when I can get 'em, if they will pay fairly. But
who do you think would trust themselves aboard a coaster now, in such
times as these, unless she was under convoy of one of the queen's
ships in company with others?"
"I would," I replied, leaning even a little more forward than before,
and speaking in a still lower tone. "I would, to get as near to Cadiz
as might be. And pay well, too."
He did not speak for a moment; instead, he glanced his eye over me as
though scanning my outward gear for proof of what I had said as to
paying handsomely. Yet I did not fear this scrutiny, for I was well
enough appareled at all points, having when I left Venloo put off my
uniform and donned a very fair riding suit of blue cloth, well faced
and passemented; also my plain sword and wig were of the best, such as
befitted a gentleman.
"Pay well," he said, when he had concluded this inspection, "pay well.
Humph! That might induce me, since I am like enough to lose my goods
ere I sight Cape Finisterre. Pay well. You mean it? Well, now see!
What would you pay? Come. A fancy price? To be put as near Cadiz as
can be compassed. And no questions asked," and he winked at me so that
I wondered what he took me for. Later on I found that he supposed me
to be one of the many spies in the pay of France, who, because they
had both the English and French tongue, were continually passing from
one part of the continent of Europe to another.
"As to the questions," I replied, "you might ask as many as you
desired. They would not be answered. As to the pay, what will you
take?"
He thought a moment, and again his eye ranged over my habiliments;
then he said, sharply:
"A hundred guineas. Fifty down, on the nail, the rest at the end of
the journey. You to take all risks. That is, I mean, even though we
get no further than the mouth of the Scheldt--which is like enough.
Say, will you give it?"
"'Tis, indeed, a fancy price, yet, on conditions, yes," I answered
promptly.
"Those conditions being----"
"That you weigh within twenty-four hours; that if we are chased you
run, or even fight, till there is no further hope, and that if we
escape capture you approach to the nearest point to Cadiz possible.
Tavira to be that point."
He got up and went out of the door into the street, and I saw him
looking up into the heavens at the clouds passing beneath the sun.
Then he came back and resumed his seat, after which he said:
"If the wind keeps as 'tis now I will weigh ere twenty-four hours are
past. The conditions to be as you say. And the fifty guineas to be in
my hands ere we up anchor. They," he added, half to himself, "will be
something for the home even though I lose my ship."
And this being settled and all arrangements concluded, we went off in
his boat, which was lying at the steps of the Boömjes, to see the
ship. Then, I having selected my cabin out of two which he had
unoccupied, returned to the coffee house to write my Lord Marlborough
word of what I had done, to dispose of my horse--which I was sorry
enough to do, since it was a good, faithful beast that had carried me
well; yet there was no use in keeping it, I not knowing if I should
ever see Rotterdam again--to make one or two other preparations, and
to write to my mother at home.
As to the hundred guineas--great as the demand was, I felt justified
in paying it, since, if I succeeded in my task, the result might be
splendid for England. Also I had a sufficiency of money with me, the
earl having ordered two hundred guineas to be given me out of the
regimental chest (which was pretty full, seeing that at Venloo eight
great chests of French gold were taken possession of by us on gaining
the town), and had also given me bills for three hundred more guineas,
signed by his own hand, which the money changers would be only too
glad to pay anywhere. And, besides this, I had some money of my own,
and should have more from the sale of the horse.
There remains one thing, however, to mention, which I have almost
forgot to set down, namely, that at the Indian Coffee House I had
given my name accurately, his Lordship, who was perfectly acquainted
with France--indeed, he had once served her under Turenne, in his
capacity of colonel of the "English Regiment" sent out by King Charles
the Second--having said that Crespin was as much a French as an
English name. And although no questions had as yet been asked as to
what my business was, there being, indeed, none who had any right or
title to so ask, I had resolved that, if necessary, I would do this:
namely, here in Holland I would be English, since, at the time, and we
being allies, it was almost one and the same thing; and that in Spain
I would be French, which was also at the period one and the same
thing. And if we were to be captured by any of Louis' privateers or
ships of war also I should be French, in that case possibly a
Canadian, to account for any strangeness in my accent.
And with this all fixed in my mind I made my preparations for going to
sea in _La Mouche Noire_.