THE ATTACK ON PORT-AU-PRINCE
It was just getting light on the following morning when the sound of a
cannon was heard, and it was followed by several other shots, mingled
with the rattle of distant musketry. The town woke up with a start.
Drums beat in the streets, and in a minute or two men armed with rifles
and muskets poured out from their houses, and hurried to the rendezvous
settled upon the night before. The firing came from the eastern side of
the town, and the three batteries in that direction were all engaged.
Mingled with the report of the guns came the sound of a more distant
cannonade, showing that the insurgents' artillery was also at work.
Among the shipping there was as great an excitement as in the town. On
board every ship men were running up the ratlines to see if a view of
the scene of action could be obtained from aloft. On the decks numbers
of women, who had hastily thrown on their upper clothing, or wrapped
themselves in shawls, listened anxiously to the sound of firing. Scarce
one but had a husband, brother, or son among the defenders of the place.
There were ten vessels lying outside the _Agile_, and from each of these
boats presently put off to the brigantine, some with three or four men,
others with as many as ten, all armed with muskets.
"You will soon see how matters go, Turnbull, and whether this is a real
or only a feigned attack."
The landing-party were in a few minutes ready to embark. Each man
carried fifty rounds of ammunition for his musket, and a dozen
additional cartridges for his pistols. Their water-bottles were slung
over their shoulders, and each had a hunch of bread and of cold meat
that had been boiled in the galley the night before in readiness. They
took their places in the cutter and gig, and were soon rowed ashore to
the point which Nat had fixed on the previous evening. The various boats
and lighters used in loading the ships had all been gathered at the quay
facing the _Agile_, and Nat was pleased to see that his advice in this
respect had been followed.
The orders to Sam and Pomp, who were to remain one in each boat, were
that they should push the boats out as far as the head-ropes--which had
been lengthened for the occasion--would allow them, drop a small grapnel
over the stern, and should then keep a sharp look-out. The moment the
party were seen returning they were to pull up the grapnels, and haul on
the head-ropes till the boats were alongside. Both were armed, and the
orders were that they were to shoot anyone who should try to force
himself into either boat before the sailors came up.
Nat led his party to an empty house close to the street commanded by
the _Agile's_ guns. Six of the sailors were placed as sentinels at the
ends of streets running into this, the rest piled arms.
"Now, Mr. Lippincott, I shall be obliged if you will go and ascertain
how the affair is proceeding, and whether the batteries are keeping the
insurgents well in check. I am about to start for the battery on this
side, where I shall get a fair view of the country round, and see how
matters stand.
"You will remain here, Mr. Thompson," he went on to the boatswain, "in
charge of the party. I shall take Newman with me in case I have any
orders to send to you. Will you come with me also, Doyle?"
The two officers, followed by an active young seaman, started. On
arriving near the end of the native town, Nat was glad to see a group of
the volunteers in front of him. They saluted as he came up.
"What force have you here, gentlemen?" he asked.
"Fifty men, captain."
"It would have been better if it had been a hundred and fifty. If they
come here in force you will not be able to keep them at bay long. Where
is your main body?"
"They are gathered in front of the municipal offices in readiness to
move wherever their services may be most required."
"That is quite satisfactory. I was afraid that most of them might be at
the batteries at the other side of the town, where the troops ought to
be quite able to hold their own against the blacks."
At this moment another gentleman, with a red sash over his shoulder,
came up. He was the commander of the company stationed there.
"I am afraid that we are rather out of it, monsieur," he said, after
exchanging salutes with Nat.
"I am still more afraid, sir, that you are by no means out of it. I
think that you will find that before many minutes are over you will be
hotly engaged. I have come forward to tell you that my men are placed
just on the other side of Royal Street, and to beg that if you are not
able to maintain yourselves here--and if you are attacked, I am
convinced that it will be in such force that you will be unable to do
so--you will not endanger your force by holding on here too long, but
will retreat to Royal Street, and there make a stand, occupying the
houses on the other side of the street. The guns of my vessel are loaded
and in readiness to sweep the street with grape as the negroes try to
cross it; and we shall have in addition some forty or fifty men from the
merchantmen outside her, who will aid in keeping them in check. If I
might advise you, I should say that it would be well for you to write a
note, now that you have time to do so, saying that you are attacked in
overwhelming force, and are about to fall back to Royal Street, which
you will, aided by my sailors and guns, hold to the last, and begging
your commander to send his whole force up to support you. This you will,
of course, keep until the attack comes, and will send off as soon as you
perceive that your position here is untenable."
"I think that is a very good suggestion," the officer said, "and shall
carry it out at once."
"I will go on to the battery," Nat said; "from there I shall get a
better idea of the situation."
They had scarcely gone beyond the line of houses when a French soldier
came running in.
"What is your news?" Nat asked him.
"A great crowd of the enemy are coming, sir. The captain has sent me to
beg the commander of the volunteers here to bring up his force to
support him."
"You will find him a hundred yards farther on. Now, doctor, you will go
forward and have a look."
Arriving at the battery, which was manned by twenty French soldiers
under a young lieutenant, Nat and the doctor mounted the parapet. The
enemy were still half a mile away. They were in no sort of order, but
were coming on in a confused mass.
"There must be three or four thousand of them, lieutenant," Nat said
quietly. "You may check them a little, but you will never keep them out
of the town if they come on with a rush. I suppose you are loaded with
grape?"
"Yes, monsieur," the young Frenchman said.
He felt relieved at the arrival of the commander of the British ship of
war, for he was feeling the responsibility of his position greatly.
"I should let them get within four or five hundred yards," Nat said
quietly, "then fire your guns singly, loading as rapidly as possible.
Here come the volunteers; place five-and-twenty of them on each side of
your battery. Let them lie down, and open fire when the enemy are within
two hundred and fifty yards. If they come on in spite of the fire, I
should say that you had best all retire at the double. It will be of no
use trying to hold the houses; they would only outflank you and cut you
off. I have already arranged with the volunteers that they shall make a
stand at Royal Street. I have a party of my sailors there in readiness
to help them, and as the guns of my ship will sweep the street we should
certainly be able to hold it until help arrives."
"Thank you, monsieur, I will do as you suggest."
At this moment the volunteers came up at a run.
"Where do you wish me to place my men?" the captain said to the French
lieutenant.
"I shall be obliged if you will put half of them on each side of the
battery. Let them lie down there, and open fire when the enemy are
within two hundred and fifty yards. If when they get within a hundred
yards, your fire and ours does not stop them, we will then retreat
together at the double. If we were once surrounded we should have no
chance whatever. Give your guns an elevation of five hundred yards," he
said to his men.
When this was done he looked inquiringly at Nat. The other nodded.
"Yes, I think it is about five hundred yards." Then he turned to the
seaman: "Go back as quickly as you can, Newman, and tell Mr. Thompson
that the blacks are coming, and that we shall probably be with him five
minutes after you arrive. Tell him also to send a man down as we had
arranged to the wharf, to signal to the ship to be in readiness."
As he spoke the first of the guns boomed out. A few seconds later the
second was fired, and this was followed by the third at a similar
interval. The cannon were old ship guns, and had been heavily charged
with grape, and the destruction wrought upon the crowded mass of negroes
was so great that they stopped suddenly. Several of their leaders were
seen to rush to the front waving and gesticulating, and with a wild yell
the negroes again advanced. They had gone but fifty yards when the gun
that was first fired spoke out again, followed quickly by the others.
This time there was no pause in the advance. Yelling furiously the
negroes, who were armed with guns, discharged them at random. Two more
rounds were fired, and then the crakle of the rifles and muskets of the
volunteers broke out. The centre of the negro line paused indecisively,
but the flanks continued on their way without a check.
"It is just as I thought," Nat said to the doctor, who was loading and
firing his piece rapidly. "Do you see how their flanks are extending?
One more round, lieutenant, and then we had best be going, or we shall
be cut off from the town."
Again the three guns were discharged. The execution was terrible in the
centre of the black line, but the flanks still kept on.
"Now, captain, get your men together," Nat said to the civilian officer
who was standing beside him; "if you go to the right I will go to the
left. They won't hear our voices in this din."
Another half-minute and the soldiers and volunteers were running at the
top of their speed, but keeping well together, towards the town. They
had a hundred and fifty yards' start, and also the advantage that the
blacks had been coming forward at a run for over half a mile. Therefore,
although the latter came on with yells of triumph and exultation, they
did not gain on the little party. Indeed, when they once entered the
native town the French considerably increased their distance, for the
negroes, fearing that they might fall into an ambush, came along more
carefully.
"Post your men at the windows of the houses opposite to you," Nat said
to the French lieutenant.
"Did you send your messenger on?" he asked, as he ran up to the
volunteer officer.
The latter gave an exclamation of horror.
"No, I forgot all about it."
"So did I, or I should have reminded you of it. Give it to one of the
men now, and tell him to take it as hard as he can run. Tell your men
off in threes and fours to the houses opposite. I have no doubt we can
keep them in check till help comes."
Thompson was waiting in the street as the party ran up.
"Where have you posted your men?" Nat asked him.
"I thought most likely that they would come down this street, so I put
four men in each of the two houses facing it, seven are in the two
houses facing the next street coming down, the rest are here."
Nat hurried up to the French officer.
"My men are in the two houses facing this and the next street, will you
occupy the houses next them, and tell the officer of the volunteers to
scatter his men in twos and threes in the other houses. Doctor, you had
better join the party in the house facing the next street; and do you,
Mr. Thompson, place yourself with five men in the house facing the
street beyond. We shall have the brunt of it, for they are more likely
to come by these streets than by those near the harbour, knowing, as
they do, that our ship is lying anchored off there."
It was three or four minutes before Nat, from the window at which he had
posted himself, saw a great body of negroes and mulattoes coming along
the street facing him.
"Open fire at once, lads," he said. "Take good aim; every shot ought to
tell in that crowd, and our fire will let them know on board that the
blacks are close at hand."
Yelling, shouting, and brandishing their weapons, the insurgents poured
down. The fire from the next two parties had showed that the negroes
were also advancing by the streets above.
A minute later three black columns poured into Royal Street, and as they
did so a fire broke out from every window facing them. Then came a deep
roar, and a storm of grape swept along the street; another and another
followed, and with yells of surprise and fear the rioters rushed back
into shelter, leaving the streets strewn with dead and dying. It was
some minutes before they could rally, and in the meantime three of the
guns of the _Agile_ sent ball after ball among the houses to the west of
the street. Three times did the negroes attempt to cross the fatal road,
but each time they fell back with heavy loss, which was specially severe
in their last attempt, as the main body of the volunteers had now come
up, entered by the backs of the houses and joined the defenders, and
the fire of two hundred and fifty muskets played terrible havoc among
the assailants. There was a pause in the fight now, and the ship's
broadside continued to sweep the native town with balls while an
occasional spurt of musketry fire broke out when the blacks showed
themselves in any of the streets. Suddenly from a score of houses in the
native town smoke, followed speedily by flames, mounted up.
"The scoundrels have fired the town," exclaimed Doyle, who had now
joined Nat. "They see they have no chance of crossing here, and as they
cannot plunder the place they have made up their mind to destroy it."
"Yes, and they are likely to succeed, doctor, the wind is blowing this
way. Half the native houses are roofed with palm leaves, and will burn
like tinder. Our only chance now is to drive the blacks out altogether
and then fight the fire."
He at once sent a sailor down with a flag to signal to the ship to stop
firing, then he went out into the street. As soon as he was seen he was
joined by the French lieutenant and the commander, with several officers
of the volunteers, together with Monsieur Pickard.
"I think, gentlemen," Nat said, "that unless we take the offensive and
drive the blacks out of the town there will be little hope of
extinguishing the fire. The wind is blowing strongly in this direction,
and there is not a moment to be lost if we are to save the town. The
negroes must be thoroughly demoralized, they must have lost over a
thousand men here and three or four hundred before they entered the
town. It is quite likely that they have retreated already, but in any
case I do not anticipate any serious resistance."
The others at once agreed. The drums were beaten, and the volunteers,
soldiers, and sailors poured out from the houses, and then, dividing
into three columns, advanced down the streets through which the blacks
had retired. They met with no resistance. A few negroes who had entered
houses to gather plunder were shot down as they issued out, but with
these exceptions none of the enemy were seen until the columns issued
from the town, when the negroes could be seen retreating at a run across
the plain. The French officer at once ran forward with his men to the
little battery, and sent shot after shot among them, for they were still
less than half a mile away. The sailors and volunteers slung their
muskets behind them, and, running back, endeavoured to check the course
of the flames. This, however, was impossible. The fire spread from house
to house with extraordinary rapidity. The wind hurled the burning flakes
on ahead, dropping many upon the inflammable roofs, and in twenty
minutes the whole quarter west of Royal Street was in flames. Nat was
now joined by Turnbull and all the crew, the two negroes, who had been
sent off to the ship with the boats, alone remaining in charge of the
vessel.
"We have beaten the negroes, Turnbull, but the fire will beat us. If
this wind continues it will sweep the whole town away. It is useless to
try and save any of these native houses. Look at the burning flakes
flying over our heads!"
After a short consultation with the French officers they agreed that the
only chance was to arrest the fire at the edge of the European quarter,
and that the whole force should at once set to work to pull down the
native houses adjoining them. The sound of cannon on the other side of
the town had continued until now, but it gradually ceased, as the news
reached the negroes there that the main attack, of whose success they
had felt sure, had hopelessly failed, and it was not long before the
troops from the batteries came up to assist the workers. Their labours,
however, were in vain. A shout of dismay called the attention of the men
who, half-blinded with the dust and smoke, were working their utmost.
Looking round, they saw that the flames were mounting up from several
of the houses behind them. The wood-work was everywhere as dry as
tinder, and the burning flakes, which were falling thickly upon them,
had set the houses on fire in a dozen places.
"We can do nothing more, sir," the officer in command of the troops
said. "The business part of the town is doomed. All that we could even
hope to save are the detached houses standing in gardens and
shrubberies."
So it turned out. The flames swept onward until the business quarter, as
well as the native town, was completely burnt out, and it needed all the
efforts of the soldiers and inhabitants to prevent the private
residences of the merchants and planters from being ignited by the
burning fragments scattered far and wide by the wind. It was noon when
the officers and crew of the _Agile_, accompanied by M. Pickard--who
was, like all the rest blackened by the dust and smoke--returned on
board.
"Well, that has been as hot a morning's work as I ever went through,"
Turnbull said. "It is hard to believe that a battle has been fought and
a town destroyed in the course of about five hours."
"Yes; I think on the whole we may be very well satisfied, Turnbull,
though I suppose the people who have lost their houses and stores will
hardly see it in the same light. Still, they saved their lives, and at
any rate, Monsieur Pickard, you can be congratulated on having got all
your goods on board just in time."
"I am thankful indeed that it is so," the planter said. "I hope, of
course, to get something for my estate. As to the house, after what we
have seen here I cannot set much value on it. What has happened this
morning may happen at Cape Francois to-morrow. They might not be able to
take it, but a dozen negroes choosing their time when a strong wind is
blowing, and starting the fires in as many places, might level the town
to the ground. At any rate, I shall direct the captain of the brig to
sail at once for Kingston, and to deliver the cargo to my agent there,
and shall proceed myself to Cape Francois. I wish to learn whether the
bank there has sent off its funds and securities to some safer place, or
is retaining them. In the latter case I shall withdraw them at once, and
shall put up my estates for sale."
"I will give you a passage, Monsieur Pickard. I have nothing more to
stay here for, and shall sail up the coast to-morrow morning."
"Thank you very much; I accept your offer with gladness. I am anxious to
close all my connection with this unfortunate island as soon as
possible."
In the afternoon the governor of the town, with the officer commanding
the troops, the maire, and a deputation of the leading citizens, came
off to thank Nat for the assistance that his crew and guns had rendered.
They brought with them an official document rehearsing these services,
and saying that had it not been for the assistance they had rendered,
the town would undoubtedly have been captured by the blacks, and
probably all the whites on shore massacred, together with their wives
and families, who had taken refuge on board the shipping. The commandant
stated that this document would be sent to the British admiral at
Kingston. Nat replied very modestly, saying that both the officers and
men on board had rejoiced at being able to render a service in the cause
of humanity, and that he was only acting in accordance with the orders
he had received from the admiral to afford every aid in his power to the
white population of the island.
After this official visit many of the merchants, planters, and military
officers came off individually to thank him for having saved their wives
and families by the protection that he had afforded to the shipping,
and by the aid given by his guns and the landing-party, which had alone
saved the town from capture. At daybreak next morning the _Agile_ got up
her anchor and started for the north. The brig containing Monsieur
Pickard's property had sailed the previous afternoon, and the rest of
the shipping were preparing to start at the time the _Agile_ got up
anchor. All of them were crowded with fugitives, the women and children
being now joined by many of their male relatives, who had lost almost
all they possessed by the destruction of their homes and warehouses.
The next morning the brigantine arrived at Cape Francois. The news she
brought of the destruction of Port-au-Prince caused great excitement, as
it was felt that the fate that had befallen one town might well happen
to another. Monsieur Pickard at once went to the bank, where he found
that the greater portion of the specie and all valuable documents had
already been sent for safety to Jamaica, and he received an order upon
the bank there for the payment to him of the money he had placed on
deposit in the bank, and of the various securities and documents that
had been held in safe-keeping for him. He then went to pay a visit to
Monsieur Duchesne, to whose house Nat, who had landed with him, had gone
direct. The family were delighted to see him.
"You may expect another visitor shortly," he said. "Monsieur Pickard has
come on shore with me; he has gone to the bank now, but said that he
would come on here later."
"Then he has escaped," Madame Duchesne exclaimed. "We had hardly even
hoped that he and his family had done so, for we knew that the blacks
had risen everywhere in that part of the island."
"Yes, I am happy to say that he, Madame Pickard, and his two daughters,
all got safely away; in fact, they all came off to my craft--not the
_Agile_, you know, but to the _Arrow_; and I had the pleasure of taking
them as passengers to Jamaica, where the ladies still are."
"That is good news indeed," Myra said. "Valerie is a great friend of
mine. Of course Louise is younger, but I was very fond of her too. The
year before last I spent a couple of months with them at their
plantation; and, as I daresay they told you, they are always here for
three or four months in the winter season."
Nat then told them what had taken place at Port-au-Prince, and how he
and his men had taken part in the fight.
"It is terrible news indeed," said M. Duchesne; "and one can scarcely
feel safe here. Port-au-Prince is the largest town in Hayti, with the
exception only of this, which is quite as open to the danger of fire. I
think this will decide us on leaving. Matters seem going from bad to
worse. I don't know whether you know that three commissioners have
arrived from France. So far from improving the state of things, they are
making them worse every day. As far as can be seen, they are occupied
solely in filling their own pockets; they have enormously increased the
taxation, and that at a time when everyone is on the verge of ruin. No
account is given of the sums they collect, and certainly the money has
not been spent in taking any measures either for the safety of the town
or for the suppression of the insurrection. I have wound up all my
affairs here, and have disposed of our plantations. There are many who
still believe that in time everything will come right again; I have
myself no hope. Even if we got peaceful possession of our estates, there
would be no hands to work them. The freedom of all the blacks has been
voted by that mad assembly in Paris; and if there is one thing more
certain than another, it is that the negroes will not work until they
are obliged to, so the estates will be practically worthless. Therefore
I have accepted an offer for a sum which is about a quarter of what the
estate was worth before, and consider that it is so much saved out of
the fire."
"Monsieur Pickard is of exactly the same opinion as you are," Nat said,
"and has come here principally for the purpose of disposing of his
estate on any terms that he can obtain."
"Well, I do not think he will find any difficulty in getting about the
same proportion of value as we have done. The rich mulattoes are buying
freely, and, as I say, some of the whites are doing the same. Ah, here
he is!
"Ah, my dear Pickard, we are glad indeed to see you, and to learn from
our friend here that your wife and daughters are safe in Jamaica."
"We have been very anxious about you," Madame Duchesne said; "and Myra
has been constantly talking of your family."
"It was the same with us, I can assure you, madame; and it is strange
that we should first have obtained tidings of your safety from Monsieur
Glover, and that you should also have obtained news of ours from him.
Still more so that while he has, as he said to us, been of some little
service to you--but which, we learnt from one of his officers, seems to
have been considerable--it is to him that we also owe our lives."
"Little service!" Madame Duchesne repeated indignantly. "However, we
know Monsieur Glover of old. First of all he saved Myra's life from that
dog, and certainly he saved both our lives from the negroes. And did he
save yours? He has just told us that you came on board with him, and
that he took you to Jamaica. Still, that is not like what he did for
us."
"That is one way of putting it, madame," Monsieur Pickard said with a
smile; "but as you say you know him of old, you will not be surprised at
the little story that I have to tell you."
"Not now, Monsieur Pickard," Nat said hastily, "or if you do I shall
say good-bye to Madame Duchesne at once, and go straight on board."
"You must not do that," Madame Duchesne said as he rose to his feet;
"you have only just arrived, and we are not going to let you off so
easily."
"We will compromise," her husband said. "Now, Monsieur Glover, you know
that my wife and daughter will be dying of curiosity until they hear
this story. Suppose you take a turn down the town with me. I will go and
enquire whether there is any ship likely to sail in the course of a few
days or so for Jamaica. Then Monsieur Pickard can tell his story, and my
wife can retail it to me later on. You see, Monsieur Pickard's wife and
daughters are great friends of ours, and madame and Myra naturally wish
to hear what has happened to them during this terrible time."
"Very well," Nat said with a laugh, "I don't mind accepting that
compromise; but really I do hate hearing things talked over which were
just ordinary affairs. But remember that Monsieur Pickard naturally will
make a great deal more of them than they are worth, since, no doubt, the
outcome of them was that he and his family did get out of the hands of
the blacks in consequence. Now, Monsieur Duchesne, I will start with you
at once, so that madame and Myra's curiosity may be satisfied as soon as
possible."
Monsieur Duchesne took Nat first to call upon the three commissioners,
who happened to be gathered in council. The commandant at Port-au-Prince
had asked him to convey the report he had hastily drawn up of the attack
on the town. This he had sent ashore as soon as he anchored; and the
commissioners were discussing the news when Nat and Monsieur Duchesne
were shown in.
"I thought, gentlemen," Nat said, "that you might perhaps like to ask me
questions upon any point that was not explained in the commandant's
report, which was, as he told me, drawn up in great haste; for with
four-fifths of the town laid in ashes, and the population homeless and
unprovided with food, his hands were full indeed."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Glover. The report does full justice to your
interposition in our favour, and indeed states that had it not been for
the assistance rendered by yourself and the ship of war you command, the
town would unquestionably have been carried by the insurgents, and that
the whole of the whites, including the troops, would probably have been
massacred. Had this been done, it would undoubtedly have so greatly
encouraged the rioters that we could hardly have hoped to maintain our
hold even of this city."
"I was only carrying out the orders that I received in landing to
protect the white inhabitants from massacre, gentlemen."
"In your opinion, is anyone to blame for the course events took?"
"Even had I that opinion," Nat said, "I should certainly not consider
myself justified in criticising the action of the officers and
authorities of a foreign power. However, the circle of the town was too
large to be defended by the force available, of whom half were
volunteers, ready to fight most gallantly, as I can testify, but not
possessing the discipline of trained troops. I do not think, however,
that even had batteries been erected all round the town, the insurgents
could have been prevented from effecting an entrance at some points, and
setting fire to the houses. They advanced with great determination, in
spite of the destructive grape fire maintained by the three guns of the
battery. Undoubtedly had the batteries been placed together on that
side, as on the one at which it was thought probable that the attack
would be made, the insurgents might have been repulsed, but it would
have needed a much larger force than that in the town to man all those
batteries. And I think it is by no means improbable that even in that
case the town might have been burnt; for there were still a large number
of negroes employed on the wharves and in the warehouses, and you may
take it as certain that some of these were in close communication with
the insurgents, and probably agreed to fire the town should their
friends fail to effect an entrance. I can only say, sir, that the
citizens enrolled for defence fought most gallantly, as did the small
party of soldiers manning the battery on that side, and that when the
fighting was over all laboured nobly to check the progress of the
flames."
Several questions were put to him concerning the details of the
fighting, and the measures that had been taken for the safety of the
women and children, the part his own men played, and the manner in which
the insurgents, after gaining a footing in the town, had been prevented
from obtaining entire possession of it. At the conclusion of the
interview, which had lasted for upwards of two hours, the commissioners
thanked Nat very cordially.
"You see," Monsieur Duchesne said, when they left the governor's house,
"they asked no single question as to whether you thought there was any
danger of a similar catastrophe taking place here."
"Yes, I noticed they did not. If they had, I could have told them very
plainly that, although the negroes suffered very heavily, yet the news
that the second town in Hayti had been almost destroyed would be sure to
raise their hopes, and that I consider it extremely probable that some
day or other this town will also be attacked, and no time should be lost
in putting it into a state of thorough defence. I can't say that they
impressed me at all favourably."
"Short as is the time that they have been here, they have managed to
excite all parties against them. They have issued an amnesty, pardoning
even those who have committed the most frightful atrocities upon us.
They have infuriated a portion of the mulattoes by announcing the repeal
of the decree in their favour. Without a shadow of legal authority they
have extorted large sums of money from those mulattoes who have remained
quiet and are resident here, and seem bent upon extracting all that
remains of their late fortune from the whites. One of them is frequently
drunk and leads a scandalous life; another appears bent solely upon
enriching himself; the third seems to be a well-meaning man, but he is
wholly under the control of his drunken companion. If this is the sort
of aid we are to receive from France, our future is hopeless indeed.
And, indeed, no small portion of my friends begin to see that unless
England takes possession of the island the future is altogether
hopeless. The general opinion here is that it is impossible that peace
can much longer be maintained between England and France, and they hope
that one of the first steps England will take after war is declared will
be to land an army here."
"If the English government were persuaded that the mulattoes and negroes
as well as the whites were favourable, I should think that the island
might be annexed without difficulty; but unless all parties are agreed I
cannot think that a force could be spared that could even hope for
success. It would have been an easy task before the mulattoes and the
slaves learned their own strength, but it is a very different thing now;
and I should say that it would need at least five-and-twenty thousand
men, and perhaps even twice that number, to reduce the island to
submission and to restore peace and order. I cannot think that, engaged
in a war with France, England would be able to spare anything like that
force for a difficult and almost certainly a long series of operations
here."
By this time they had arrived at Monsieur Duchesne's house.
"Our friend has only just finished his story," Madame Duchesne said, as
he entered. "What a story! what frightful sufferings! what horrors!
and," she added with a smile, though her eyes were full of tears--"what
'little' service rendered by you and your brave crew! He has told it
all, and of your fight afterwards with that terrible pirate, and how you
have added to the list of those you have saved from terrible deaths some
eighteen or twenty Spanish gentlemen and ladies, and twice as many
sailors."
"Yes, I have had wonderful luck," Nat said; "and you see I have been
well rewarded. I am only just out of my time as a midshipman, and I am
in command of a fine ship, which, in the ordinary course of things, I
could not have hoped for for another eight or ten years. I have gained a
considerable amount of prize-money, and best of all, the friendship of
yourselves and the family of Monsieur Pickard. And the real author of
all this is Mademoiselle Myra, who was good enough to have that little
quarrel with her aunt's dog just at the time that I happened to be
passing."
This raised a laugh, which in Myra's case became almost hysterical, and
her mother had to take her out of the room.
"Now, Monsieur Duchesne, I will take this opportunity of returning on
board. I promised you that I would come ashore and dine with you this
evening, but I must really make its fulfilment conditional upon your
assuring me that there shall be no allusion to any of my adventures."
[Illustration: A MESSAGE FROM TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.]
"At any rate, I will impress upon my wife and daughter that the subject
must be tabooed, and I have no doubt that they will do their best to
avoid it, if they can keep away from the topic that cannot but be
present in their minds. After hearing Monsieur Pickard's story--of
which, as you must remember, I am at present wholly ignorant--you see
that, intimate as the two families have been, it is not surprising
that they should have been greatly affected by it, especially as for the
last month they have been mourning for them as dead."