THE CASTLE ON THE HILL.
The certainty that Bruhl and his captives were not far off, and the
likelihood that we might be engaged within the hour, expelled from the
minds of even the most, timorous among us the vapourish fears which
had before haunted them. In the hurried scramble which presently
landed us on the bank of the stream, men who had ridden for hours in
sulky silence found their voices, and from cursing their horses'
blunders soon advanced to swearing and singing after the fashion of
their kind. This change, by relieving me of a great fear, left me at
leisure to consider our position, and estimate more clearly than I
might have done the advantages of hastening, or postponing, an attack.
We numbered eleven; the enemy, to the best of my belief, twelve. Of
this slight superiority I should have recked little in the daytime;
nor, perhaps, counting Maignan as two, have allowed that it existed.
But the result of a night attack is more difficult to forecast; and I
had also to take into account the perils to which the two ladies would
be exposed, between the darkness and tumult, in the event of the issue
remaining for a time in doubt.
These considerations, and particularly the last, weighed so
powerfully with me, that before I reached the bottom of the gorge I
had decided to postpone I the attack until morning. The answers to
some questions which I put to the inhabitant of the house by the ford
as soon as I reached level ground only confirmed me in this
resolution. The road Bruhl had taken ran for a distance by the
riverside, and along the bottom of the gorge; and, difficult by day,
was repotted to be impracticable for horses by night. The castle he
had mentioned lay full two leagues away, and on the farther edge of a
tract of rough woodland. Finally, I doubted whether, in the absence of
any other reason for delay, I could have marched my men, weary as they
were, to the place before day break.
When I came to announce this decision, however, and to inquire what
accommodation the peasant could afford us, I found myself in trouble.
Fauchette, mademoiselle's woman, suddenly confronted me, her face
scarlet with rage. Thrusting herself forward into the circle of light
cast by the lanthorn, she assailed me with a virulence and fierceness
which said more for her devotion to her mistress than her respect for
me. Her wild gesticulations, her threats, and the appeals which she
made now to me, and now to the men who stood in a circle round us,
their faces in shadow, discomfited as much as they surprised me.
'What!' she cried violently, 'you call yourself a gentleman, and lie
here and let my mistress be murdered, or worse, within a league of
you! Two leagues? A groat for your two leagues! I would walk them
barefoot, if that would shame you. And you, you call yourselves men,
and suffer it! It is God's truth you are a set of cravens and
sluggards. Give me as many women, and I would----'
'Peace, woman!' Maignan said in his deep voice. 'You had your way and
came with us, and you will obey orders as well as another! Be off, and
see to the victuals before worse happen to you!'
'Ay, see to the victuals!' she retorted. 'See to the victuals,
forsooth! That is all you think of--to lie warm and eat your fill! A
set of dastardly, drinking, droning guzzlers you are! You are!' she
retorted, her voice rising to a shriek. 'May the plague take you!'
'Silence!' Maignan growled fiercely, 'or have a care to yourself! For
a copper-piece I would send you to cool your heels in the water
below--for that last word! Begone, do you hear,' he continued, seizing
her by the shoulder and thrusting her towards the house, 'or worse may
happen to you. We are rough customers, as you will find if you do not
lock up your tongue!'
I heard her go wailing into the darkness; and Heaven knows it was not
without compunction I forced myself to remain inactive in the face of
a devotion which seemed so much greater than mine. The men fell away
one by one to look to their horses and choose sleeping-quarters for
the night; and presently M. d'Agen and I were left alone standing
beside the lanthorn, which the man had hung on a bush before his door.
The brawling of the water as it poured between the banks, a score of
paces from us, and the black darkness which hid everything beyond the
little ring of light in which we stood--so that for all we could see
we were in a pit--had the air of isolating us from all the world.
I looked at the young man, who had not once lisped that day; and I
plainly read in his attitude his disapproval of my caution. Though he
declined to meet my eye, he stood with his arms folded and his head
thrown back, making no attempt to disguise the scorn and ill-temper
which his face expressed. Hurt by the woman's taunts, and possibly
shaken in my opinion, I grew restive under his silence, and unwisely
gave way to my feelings.
'You do not appear to approve of my decision, M. d'Agen?' I said.
'It is yours to command, sir,' he answered proudly.
There are truisms which have more power to annoy than the veriest
reproaches. I should have borne in mind the suspense and anxiety he
was suffering, and which had so changed him that I scarcely knew him
for the gay young spark on whose toe I had trodden. I should have
remembered that he was young and I old, and that it behoved me to be
patient. But on my side also there was anxiety, and responsibility as
well; and, above all, a rankling soreness, to which I refrain from
giving the name of jealousy, though it came as near to that feeling as
the difference in our ages and personal advantages (whereof the
balance was all on his side) would permit. This, no doubt, it was
which impelled me to continue the argument.
'You would go on?' I said persistently.
'It is idle to say what I would do,' he answered with a flash of
anger.
'I asked for your opinion, sir,' I rejoined stiffly.
'To what purpose?' he retorted, stroking his small moustache
haughtily. 'We look at the thing from opposite points. You are going
about your business, which appears to be the rescuing of ladies who
are--may I venture to say it?--so unfortunate as to entrust themselves
to your charge. I, M. de Marsac, am more deeply interested. More
deeply interested,' he repeated lamely. 'I--in a word, I am prepared,
sir, to do what others only talk of--and if I cannot, follow
otherwise, would follow on my feet!'
'Whom?' I asked curtly, stung by this repetition of my own words.
He laughed harshly and bitterly. 'Why explain? or why quarrel?' he
replied cynically. 'God knows, if I could afford to quarrel with you,
I should; have done so fifty hours ago. But I need your help; and,
needing it, I am prepared I to do that which must seem to a person
of your calm passions and perfect judgment alike futile and
incredible--pay the full price for it.'
'The full price for it!' I muttered, understanding nothing, except
that I did not understand.
'Ay, the full price for it!' he repeated. And as he spoke he looked at
me with an expression of rage so fierce that I recoiled a step. That
seemed to restore him in some degree to himself, for without giving me
an opportunity of answering he turned hastily from me, and, striding
away, was in a moment lost in the darkness.
He left me amazed beyond measure. I stood repeating his phrase about
'the full price' a hundred times over, but still found it and his
passion inexplicable. To cut the matter short, I could come to no
other conclusion than that he desired to insult me, and aware of my
poverty and the equivocal position in which I stood towards
mademoiselle, chose his words accordingly. This seemed a thing
unworthy of one of whom I had before thought highly; but calmer
reflection enabling me to see something of youthful bombast in the
tirade he had delivered, I smiled a little sadly, and determined to
think no more of the matter for the present, but to persist firmly in
that which seemed to me to be the right course.
Having settled this, I was about to enter the house, when Maignan
stopped me, telling me that the plague had killed five people in it,
letting only the man we had seen; who had, indeed, been seized, but
recovered. This ghastly news had scared my company to such a degree
that they had gone as far from the house as the level ground
permitted, and there lighted a fire, round which they were going to
pass the night. Fanchette had taken up her quarters in the stable, and
the equerry announced that he had kept a shed full of sweet, hay for
M. d'Agen and myself. I assented to this arrangement, and after
supping off soup and black bread, which was all we could procure, bade
the peasant rouse us two hours before sunrise; and so, being too weary
and old in service to remain awake thinking, I fell asleep, and slept;
soundly till a little after four.
My first business on rising was to see that the men before mounting
made a meal, for it is ill work fighting empty. I went round also and
saw that all had their arms, and that such as carried pistols had them
loaded and primed. M. Francois did not put in an appearance until this
work was done, and then showed a very pale and gloomy countenance. I
took no heed of him, however, and with the first streak of daylight we
started in single file and at a snail's pace up the valley, the
peasant, whom I placed in Maignan's charge, going before to guide us,
and M. d'Agen and I riding in the rear. By the time the sun rose and
warmed our chilled and shivering frames we were over the worst of the
ground, and were able to advance at some speed along, a track cut
through a dense forest of oak-trees.
Though we had now risen out of the valley, the close-set trunks and
the undergrowth round them prevented our seeing in any direction. For
a mile or more we rode on blindly, and presently started on finding
ourselves on the brow of a hill, looking down into a valley, the
nearer end of which was clothed in woods, while the farther widened
into green sloping pastures. From the midst of these a hill or mount
rose sharply up, until it ended in walls of grey stone scarce to be
distinguished at that distance from the native rock on which they
stood.
'See!' cried our guide. 'There is the castle!'
Bidding the men dismount in haste, that the chance of our being seen
by the enemy--which was not great--might be farther lessened, I began
to inspect the position at leisure; my first feeling while doing so
being one of thankfulness that I had not attempted a night attack,
which must inevitably have miscarried, possibly with loss to
ourselves, and certainly with the result of informing the enemy of our
presence. The castle, of which we had a tolerable view, was long and
narrow in shape, consisting of two towers connected by walls. The
nearer tower, through which lay the entrance, was roofless, and in
every way seemed to be more ruinous than the inner one, which appeared
to be perfect in both its stories. This defect notwithstanding, the
place was so strong that my heart sank lower the longer I looked; and
a glance at Maignan's face assured me that his experience was also at
fault. For M. d'Agen, I clearly saw, when I turned to him, that he had
never until this moment realised what we had to expect, but, regarding
our pursuit in the light of a hunting-party, had looked to see it end
in like easy fashion. His blank, surprised face, as he stood eyeing
the stout grey walls, said as much as this.
'Arnidieu!' Maignan muttered, 'give me ten men, and I would hold it
against a hundred!'
'Tut, man, there is more than one way to Rome!' I answered oracularly,
though I was far from feeling as confident as I seemed. 'Come, let us
descend and view this nut a little nearer.'
We began to trail downwards in silence, and as the path led us for a
while out of sight of the castle, we were able to proceed with less
caution. We had nearly reached without adventure the farther skirts of
the wood, between which and the ruin lay an interval of open ground,
when we came suddenly, at the edge of a little clearing, on an old
hag; who was so intent upon tying up faggots that she did not see us
until Maignan's hand was on her shoulder. When she did, she screamed
out, and escaping from him with an activity wonderful in a woman of
her age, ran with great swiftness to the side of an old man who lay at
the foot of a tree half a bowshot off; and whom we had not before
seen. Snatching up an axe, she put herself in a posture of defence
before him with gestures and in a manner as touching in the eyes of
some among us as they were ludicrous in those of others; who cried to
Maignan that he had met his match at last, with other gibes of the
kind that pass current in camps.
I called to him to let her be, and went forward myself to the old man,
who lay on a rude bed of leaves, and seemed unable to rise. Appealing
to me with a face of agony not to hurt his wife, he bade her again and
again lay down her axe; but she would not do this until I had assured
her that we meant him no harm, and that my men should molest neither
the one nor the other.
'We only want to know this,' I said, speaking slowly, in fear lest my
language should be little more intelligible to them than their
_patois_ to me. 'There are a dozen horsemen in the old castle there,
are there not?'
The man stilled his wife, who continued to chatter and mow at us, and
answered eagerly that there were; adding, with a trembling oath, that
the robbers had beaten him, robbed him of his small store of meal, and
when he would have protested, thrown him out, breaking his leg.
'Then how came you here?' I said.
'She brought me on her back,' he answered feebly.
Doubtless there were men in my train who would have done all that
these others had done; but hearing the simple story told, they stamped
and swore great oaths of indignation; and one, the roughest of the
party, took out some black bread and gave it to the woman, whom under
other circumstances he would not have hesitated to rob. Maignan, who
knew all arts appertaining to war, examined the man's leg and made a
kind of cradle for it, while I questioned the woman.
'They are there still?' I said. 'I saw their horses tethered under the
walls.'
'Yes, God requite them!' she answered, trembling violently.
'Tell me about the castle, my good woman,' I said. 'How many roads
into it are there?'
'Only one.'
'Through the nearer tower?'
She said yes, and finding that she understood me, and was less dull of
intellect than her wretched appearance led me to expect, I put a
series of questions to her which it would be tedious to detail.
Suffice it that I learned that it was impossible to enter or leave the
ruin except through the nearer tower; that a rickety temporary, gate
barred the entrance, and that from this tower, which was a mere shell
of four walls, a narrow square-headed doorway without a door led into
the court, beyond, which rose the habitable tower of two stories.
'Do you know if they intend to stay there?' I asked.
'Oh, ay, they bade me bring them faggots for their fire this morning,
and I should have a handful of my own meal back,' she answered
bitterly; and fell thereon into a passion of impotent rage, shaking
both her clenched hands in the direction of the castle, and screaming
frenzied maledictions in her cracked and quavering voice.
I pondered awhile over what she had said; liking very little the
thought of that narrow square-headed doorway through which we must
pass before we could effect anything. And the gate, too, troubled me.
It might not be a strong one, but we had neither powder, nor guns, nor
any siege implements, and could not pull down stone walls with our
naked hands. By seizing the horses we could indeed cut off Bruhl's
retreat; but he might still escape in the night; and in any case our
pains would only increase the women's hardships while adding fuel to
his rage. We must have some other plan.
The sun was high by this time; the edge of the wood scarcely a hundred
paces from us. By advancing a few yards through the trees I could see
the horses feeding peacefully at the foot of the sunny slope, and even
follow with my eyes the faint track which zigzagged up the hill to
the closed gate. No one appeared--doubtless they were sleeping off
the fatigue of the journey--and I drew no inspiration thence; but as
I turned to consult Maignan my eye lit on the faggots, and I saw in a
flash that here was a chance of putting into practice a stratagem as
old as the hills, yet ever fresh, and not seldom successful.
It was no time for over-refinement. My knaves were beginning to stray
forward out of curiosity, and at any moment one of our horses,
scenting those of the enemy, might neigh and give the alarm. Hastily
calling M. d'Agen and Maignan to me, I laid my plan before them, and
satisfied myself that it had their approval; the fact that I had
reserved a special part for the former serving to thaw the reserve
which had succeeded to his outbreak, of the night before. After some
debate Maignan persuaded me that the old woman had not sufficient
nerve to play the part I proposed for her, and named Fanchette; who
being called into council, did not belie the opinion we had formed of
her courage. In a few moments our preparations were complete: I had
donned the old charcoal-burner's outer rags, Fanchette had assumed
those of the woman, while M. d'Agen, who was for a time at a loss, and
betrayed less taste for this part of the plan than for any other,
ended by putting on the jerkin and hose of the man who had served us
as guide.
When all was ready I commended the troop to Maignan's discretion,
charging him in the event of anything happening to us to continue the
most persistent efforts for mademoiselle's release, and on no account
to abandon her. Having received his promise to this effect, and being
satisfied that he would keep it, we took up each of us a great faggot,
which being borne on the head and shoulders served to hide the
features very effectually; and thus disguised we boldly left the
shelter of the trees. Fanchette and I went first, tottering in a most
natural fashion under the weight of our burdens, while M. d'Agen
followed a hundred yards behind. I had given Maignan orders to make a
dash for the gate the moment he saw the last named start to run.
The perfect stillness of the valley, the clearness of the air, and the
absence of any sign of life in the castle before us--which might have
been that of the Sleeping Princess, so fairy-like it looked against
the sky--with the suspense and excitement in our own breasts, which
these peculiarities seemed to increase a hundred-fold, made the time
that followed one of the strangest in my experience. It was nearly ten
o'clock, and the warm sunshine flooding everything about us rendered
the ascent, laden as we were, laborious in the extreme. The crisp,
short turf, which had scarcely got its spring growth, was slippery and
treacherous. We dared not hasten, for we knew not what eyes were upon
us, and we dared as little after we had gone half-way--lay our faggots
down, lest the action should disclose too much of our features.
When we had reached a point within a hundred paces of the gate, which
still remained obstinately closed, we stood to breathe ourselves, and
balancing my bundle on my head, I turned to make sure that all was
right behind us. I found that M. d'Agen, intent on keeping his
distance, had chosen the same moment for rest, and was sitting in a
very natural manner on his faggot, mopping his face with the sleeve of
his jerkin. I scanned the brown leafless wood, in which we had left
Maignan and our men; but I could detect no glitter among the trees nor
any appearance likely to betray us. Satisfied on these points, I
muttered a few words of encouragement to Fanchette, whose face was
streaming with perspiration; and together we turned and addressed
ourselves to our task, fatigue--for we had had no practice in carrying
burdens on the head--enabling us to counterfeit the decrepitude of age
almost to the life.
The same silence prevailing as we drew nearer inspired me with not a
few doubts and misgivings. Even the bleat of a sheep would have been
welcome in the midst of a stillness which seemed ominous. But no sheep
bleated, no voice hailed us. The gate, ill-hung and full of fissures,
remained closed. Step by step we staggered up to it, and at length
reached it. Afraid to speak lest my accent should betray me, I struck
the forepart of my faggot against it and waited: doubting whether our
whole stratagem had not been perceived from the beginning, and a
pistol-shot might not be the retort.
Nothing of the kind happened, however. The sound of the blow, which
echoed dully through the building, died away, and the old silence
resumed its sway. We knocked again, but fully two minutes elapsed
before a grumbling voice, as of a man aroused from sleep, was heard
drawing near, and footsteps came slowly and heavily to the gate.
Probably the fellow inspected us through a loophole, for he paused a
moment, and my heart sank; but the next, seeing nothing suspicious, he
unbarred the gate with a querulous oath, and, pushing it open, bade us
enter and be quick about it.
I stumbled forward into the cool, dark shadow, and the woman followed
me, while the man, stepping out with a yawn, stood in the entrance,
stretching himself in the sunshine. The roofless tower, which smelled
dank and unwholesome, was empty, or cumbered only with rubbish and
heaps of stones; but looking through the inner door I saw in the
courtyard a smouldering fire and half a dozen men in the act of
rousing themselves from sleep. I stood a second balancing my faggot,
as if in doubt where to lay it down; and then assuring myself by a
swift glance that the man who had let us in still had his back towards
us, I dropped it across the inner doorway. Fanchette, as she had been
instructed, plumped hers upon it, and at the same moment I sprang to
the door, and taking the man there by surprise, dealt him a violent
blow between the shoulders, which sent him headlong down the slope.
A cry behind me, followed by an oath of alarm, told me that the action
was observed and that now was the pinch. In a second I was back at the
faggots, and drawing a pistol from under my blouse was in time to meet
the rush of the nearest man, who, comprehending all, sprang up, and
made for me, with his sheathed sword. I shot him in the chest as he
cleared the faggots--which, standing nearly as high as a man's waist,
formed a tolerable obstacle--and he pitched forward at my feet.
This balked his companions, who drew back; but unfortunately it was
necessary for me to stoop to get my sword, which was hidden in the
faggot I had carried. The foremost of the rascals took advantage of
this. Rushing at me with a long knife, he failed to stab me--for I
caught his wrist--but he succeeded in bringing me to the ground. I
thought I was undone. I looked to have the others swarm over upon us;
and so it would doubtless have happened had not Fanchette, with rare
courage, dealt the first who followed a lusty blow on the body with a
great stick she snatched up. The man collapsed on the faggots, and
this hampered the rest. The check was enough. It enabled M. d'Agen to
come up, who, dashing in through the gate, shot down the first he saw
before him, and running at the doorway with his sword with incredible
fury and the courage which I had always known him to possess, cleared
it in a twinkling. The man with whom I was engaged on the ground,
seeing what had happened, wrested himself free with the strength of
despair, and dashing through the outer door, narrowly escaped being
ridden down by my followers as they swept up to the gate at a gallop,
and dismounted amid a whirlwind of cries.
In a moment they thronged in on us pell-mell, and as soon as I could
lay my hand on my sword I led them through the doorway with a cheer,
hoping to be able to enter the farther tower with the enemy. But the
latter had taken the alarm too early and too thoroughly. The court was
empty. We were barely in time to see the last man dart up a flight of
outside stairs, which led to the first story, and disappear, closing a
heavy door behind him. I rushed to the foot of the steps and would
have ascended also, hoping against hope to find the door unsecured;
but a shot which was fired through a loop hole and narrowly missed my
head, and another which brought down one of my men, made me pause.
Discerning all the advantage to be on Bruhl's side, since he could
shoot us down from his cover, I cried a retreat; the issue of the
matter leaving us masters of the entrance-tower, while they retained
the inner and stronger tower, the narrow court between the two being
neutral ground unsafe for either party.
Two of their men had fled outwards and were gone, and two lay dead;
while the loss on our side was confined to the man who was shot, and
Fanchette, who had received a blow on the head in the _melee_, and was
found, when we retreated, lying sick and dazed against the wall.
It surprised me much, when I came to think upon it, that I had seen
nothing of Bruhl, though the skirmish had lasted two or three minutes
from the first outcry, and been attended by an abundance of noise. Of
Fresnoy, too, I now remembered that I had caught a glimpse only. These
two facts seemed so strange that I was beginning to augur the worst,
though I scarcely know why, when my spirits were marvellously raised
and my fears relieved by a thing which Maignan, who was the first to
notice it, pointed out to me. This was the appearance at an upper
window of a white 'kerchief, which was waved several times towards us.
The window was little more than an arrow-slit, and so narrow and high
besides that it was impossible to see who gave the signal; but my
experience of mademoiselle's coolness and resource left me in no doubt
on the point. With high hopes and a lighter heart than I had worn for
some time I bestirred myself to take every precaution, and began by
bidding Maignan select two men and ride round the hill, to make sure
that the enemy had no way of retreat open to him.