A COMMISSION
About a week after the coroner's inquest, the servant one evening
brought in a letter that had been left at the door by a man who looked
like a fisherman. Frank gave a shout of joy as he glanced at the
address.
"It is Julian's handwriting, Aunt," he shouted, and then exclaimed, as
Mrs. Troutbeck, who was on the sofa, gave a low cry and fell back
fainting, "What an ass I am to blurt it out like that!" Then he rang the
bell with a vigour that brought down the rope. "Here, Mary," he
exclaimed, as the servant re-appeared at the door with a scared face,
"Aunt has fainted; do what you can for her. I will run round for the
doctor directly; but I must look at this letter first. It is from Mr.
Julian."
"Lor', sir, that is good news!" the girl exclaimed, as she hurried
across to her mistress. After the custom of her class, she had hitherto
looked upon the matter in the darkest possible light, and had joined in
the general conviction that Julian had been killed.
Julian's letter was written on board the smuggler.
"My dear Frank, I am afraid you must all have been in a horrible fright
about me, and no wonder. I am a most unfortunate fellow, and seem to be
always putting my foot in it, and yet really I don't think I was to
blame about this. In the first place, I may tell you that I am on board
a French smuggler, that we have just entered the Loire, and that in a
few hours shall be at Nantes. The smugglers will bring this letter back
to England, and as they say they shall probably sail again a few days
after they get in, I hope it will not be very long before it comes to
hand. And now as to how I got here."
Julian then related the story of the quarrel with Mr. Faulkner, of
hearing the gun fired, of running in and finding the body, and of his
pursuit of the murderer.
"After a long tramp on the hills he took to a place of hiding. I am
bound by oath to afford no clue as to where that place is, and can only
say that upon my following him in, I was pounced upon by some French
smugglers who were there with him, and trussed up like a fowl. Then
there was a discussion what to do with me, in which the man I had been
following joined. Of course I did not understand the language, but I
could see that the smugglers were in favour of cutting my throat for
having discovered their hiding-place, and that the man himself was,
contrary to what I should have expected, arguing in my favour. He had
been a smuggler as well as a poacher, but although he had murdered Mr.
Faulkner, and knew that I had pursued him for that crime, he undoubtedly
saved my life. They first made me take an oath not to reveal their
hiding-place, and then said that they should carry me over to France,
and would take steps so that I should not return to England for some
years.
"What those steps will be I cannot say, but I feel sure that they will
in some way prevent my coming back for a long time. They can't keep me
themselves, but may hand me over as a prisoner to the French
authorities. Before we sailed the man told me he had learnt that a
warrant was out against me for the murder of Faulkner, and that Faulkner
had declared it was I who shot him. If I could possibly have escaped I
would have come back to stand my trial, though I can see plainly enough
that it might go very hard with me, for there would be only my word,
which would go for nothing against Faulkner's accusation, and the fact
of our quarrel. However, I would have come rather than disappear with
this awful charge against me. The man has given me permission, not only
to write and tell you this story, but even to give you his name, which
is Joseph Markham. He had only been a short time out of prison, where he
had been sent for poaching, and he killed Faulkner simply for revenge.
He told me that he did not mind my getting his name as, in the first
place, he had no idea of returning to Weymouth, and intended making
France his home; and, in the second place, because, although you might
believe my story, no one else would, and even if he showed himself in
Weymouth, this letter, written by a man accused of the murder, would not
be accepted for a moment against him. However, there is no doubt that
the fellow has behaved extremely well to me, and I should be sorry to
get him into trouble over this business with Faulkner, which is no
affair of mine.
"You can, of course, show this letter to whom you like, but I don't
expect anyone except you and Aunt to believe it. I have hopes of being
cleared some day, for Markham has promised me to write out a full
confession of his shooting Faulkner, and to swear to it before a French
magistrate. He is going to write it in duplicate, and carry one copy
about with him, directed to Colonel Chambers, or the senior magistrate
at Weymouth, and to send the other copy to someone at home, who will
produce it in case of his death in France, or by drowning at sea. I do
not think that, if I get away, I shall return to England until I hear of
his death. I am awfully sorry for you, old fellow, and for Aunt. But
with this frightful accusation hanging over me, I don't think your
position would be better if I were to come back and be hung for murder;
and I see myself that the case is so strong against me that it would
almost certainly come to that if they laid hands on me. I am specially
sorry that this trouble should come upon you now, just as you were going
to try to get a commission, for of course they could hardly give one to
a fellow whose brother is accused of murder, and if they did, your
position in the army would be intolerable. Now, good-bye, dear old
Frank; give my fond love to Aunt, who has always been too good to me. If
I get an opportunity I will write again, but I hardly fancy that I shall
get a chance to do so, as, even if I were free to write I don't see how
letters can be sent from France except through smugglers. God bless you,
old fellow.
"Your unfortunate brother,
"JULIAN."
Happily, by the time he had finished reading the letter, the servant had
succeeded in restoring Mrs. Troutbeck.
"It is exactly what we thought, Aunt. Julian was seized by smugglers,
and has been taken over to France, and I am afraid it will be some time
before he gets back again, especially as he believes that this charge is
hanging over him. I won't read you the letter now, but to-morrow when
you are strong enough you shall read it yourself. I must take it the
first thing in the morning to Colonel Chambers, who will, I am sure, be
very glad to hear that Julian is safe, for I know that he thinks he was
shot by the man he pursued. He will be interested, too, and so will Mr.
Henderson, at seeing how exactly we were right in the conclusions we
arrived at."
Mrs. Troutbeck was quite satisfied with the explanation, and was at once
taken up to bed by the servant, while Frank, seeing that it was as yet
but eight o'clock, put on his cap and ran to Mr. Henderson's. The latter
was at home, and received with great pleasure the news that Julian was
alive. He read the letter through attentively.
"If we had seen the whole thing happen, we could not have been closer
than we were in our conclusion as to how it all came about. Well, the
news that it is Markham who shot Mr. Faulkner does not surprise me, for,
as you know, I have already a warrant out against him on the charge. I
fear that there is little chance that we shall lay hands on him now, for
he will doubtless learn from some of his associates here of the evidence
given at the coroner's inquest, and that your brother has been proved
altogether innocent of the crime. I can understand that, believing, as
he did, the evidence against Mr. Wyatt to be overwhelming, he had no
great objection to his giving his name; for, as the matter then stood,
your brother's story would only have been regarded as the attempt of a
guilty man to fix the blame of his crime on another. As it has turned
out, the letter is a piece of important evidence that might be produced
against Markham, for all the statements in it tally with the facts we
have discovered for ourselves. Still I congratulate you most heartily. I
certainly thought that your brother had been murdered, though our
efforts to find any traces of the crime have failed altogether. I am
afraid, as he says, it will be a long time before he manages to get
away; still, that is a comparatively unimportant matter, and all that I
can hope is that this fellow Markham will come to a speedy end. Of
course you will show this letter to everyone, for now that nobody
believes for a moment that your brother was Mr. Faulkner's murderer,
everyone will be glad to hear that the mystery is cleared up, and that
he is simply in France instead of being, as all supposed, buried in some
hole where his body would never be discovered.
"All that can possibly be said against him now is that he behaved
rashly in following a desperate man instead of coming back to us for
assistance; but I quite see that, under the circumstance of his
relations with the magistrate, he was doubly anxious to bring the
latter's murderer to justice, and, as we now know, the latter would
certainly have got away unsuspected had your brother not acted as he
did."
Colonel Chambers was equally pleased when Frank called upon him the next
morning, and begged him, after showing the letter to his friends, to
hand it over to him for safe keeping, as, in the event of Markham ever
being arrested, it would be valuable, if not as evidence, as affording
assistance to the prosecution.
"Do you think, Colonel Chambers, that they will be able to keep Julian
away for a long time?"
"If his supposition is a correct one, and they intend to hand him over
to the French authorities as a prisoner of war, it may be a long time
before you hear of him. There are many towns all over France where
English prisoners are confined, and it would be practically impossible
to find out where he is, or to obtain his release if you did find out,
while the two nations are at war. There are very few exchanges made, and
the chances of his being among them would be very small. However, lad,
things might have been a great deal worse. This tremendous war cannot go
on for ever. Your brother is strong and healthy; he seems to be, from
all I hear, just the sort of fellow who would take things easily, and
although the lot of prisoners of war, whether in England or France,
cannot be called a pleasant one, he has a fairer chance than most, of
going through it unharmed.
"The experience may be of benefit to him. Of course, when this matter
first began, I made close enquiries in several quarters as to his
character and habits. I need not say that I heard nothing whatever
against him; but there was a sort of consensus of opinion that it was a
pity that he had not some pursuit or occupation. As you know, he mixed
himself up to some extent with smugglers, he spent his evenings
frequently in billiard-rooms, and altogether, though there was nothing
absolutely against him, it was clear that he was doing himself no good."
"He had given up the billiard-table," Frank said. "He promised me that
he would not go there any more, and I am sure he wouldn't."
"I am glad to hear it, lad; still I think that this experience will do
him good rather than harm. He was a kindly, good-tempered, easy-going
young fellow, a little deficient, perhaps, in strength of will, but very
generally liked, and with the making of a fine man about him; and yet he
was likely, from sheer easiness of temper and disinclination to settle
down to anything, to drift with the stream till he ruined his life. That
is how I read his character from what I have heard of him, and that
being so, I think this complete break in his life may ultimately be of
considerable benefit to him."
"Perhaps it will, sir. A better brother never lived, but he may have
been too ready to fall in with other people's views. I think that it was
a very great pity that he did not apply for a commission in the army."
"A great pity," Colonel Chambers agreed. "A young fellow who will start
in pursuit of a desperate man who is armed with a gun, would be the sort
of fellow to lead a forlorn hope. And what are you going to do, Frank?"
"I am going to try and get a commission, sir, now that Julian is
completely cleared. I shall set about it at once. I am sixteen now.
Colonel Wilson, with whom my father served in Spain, wrote at his death,
and said that if either of us wished for a commission, he would, when
the time came, use his influence to get him one, and that after father's
services he was sure there would be no difficulty about it."
"None whatever. Colonel Wyatt's sons have almost a right to a
commission. If you will write to Sir Robert Wilson at once, and let me
know when you get his reply, I will write to a friend at the
Horse-guards and get him to back up the request as soon as it is sent
in."
Three weeks later Frank received an official document, informing him
that he had been gazetted to the 15th Light Dragoons, and was to join
the depot of his regiment at Canterbury immediately. Mrs. Troutbeck had
been consulted by Frank before he wrote to Colonel Sir R. Wilson. As it
had, since Julian decided not to enter the army, been a settled thing
that Frank should apply for a commission, she had offered no objection.
"It is only right, my dear," she said, with tears in her eyes and a
little break in her voice, "that one of my dear brother's sons should
follow in his footsteps. I know that he always wished you both to join
the army, and as Julian had no fancy for it, I am glad that you should
go. Of course it will be a trial, a great trial to me; but a young man
must go on his own path, and it would be wrong indeed for an old woman
like me to stand in his way."
"I don't know, Aunt, that it is so. That is my only doubt about applying
for the commission. I can't help thinking that it is my duty to stay
with you until Julian comes back."
"Not at all, Frank. It would make me much more unhappy seeing you
wasting your life here, than in knowing you were following the course
you had marked for yourself. I shall do very well. Mary is a very good
and attentive girl, and I shall get another in to do most of her work,
so that she can sit with me and be a sort of companion. Then, you know,
there are very few afternoons that one or other of my friends do not
come in for an hour for a gossip or I go in to them. I take a good deal
of blame to myself for all this trouble that has come to Julian. I think
that if, three years ago, I had pressed it upon him that he ought to go
into the army, he would have done so; but certainly anything that I did
say was rather the other way, and since he has gone I see how wrong I
was, and I certainly won't repeat the mistake with you. Even now Julian
may come back long before you go. I don't mean before you go away from
here, but before you go out to join your regiment, wherever that may be.
You are sure to be a few months at the depôt, and you know we have
agreed to write letters to Julian, telling him that the matter is all
cleared up, and that everyone knows he had nothing to do with the
murder, so of course he will try to escape as soon as he gets one of
them."
"Yes, when he gets one, Aunt. I will give the letters to men who are, I
know, connected with the smugglers, and possibly they may be taken over,
but that is a very different thing from his getting them. We may be sure
that the smugglers who have taken Julian over will not trouble
themselves about detaining him. They would never go to all the bother of
keeping and watching him for years. If they keep him at all it will be
on board their craft, but that would be a constant trouble, and they
would know that sooner or later he would be able to make his escape. If
they have handed him over to the French authorities he may have been
taken to a prison hundreds of miles from Nantes, and the smugglers would
not know where he was and would be unable to send a letter to him. No,
Aunt, I feel confident that Julian will come home, but I am afraid that
it will be a long time first, for as to his escaping from prison, there
is no chance whatever of it. There are numbers of English officers
there; many of them must be able to speak French well, and the naval
officers are able to climb ropes and things of that sort that Julian
could not do. It is very rare indeed that any of them, even with these
advantages, make their escape, and therefore I cannot hope that Julian
will be able to do so."
"Well, then, my dear, I must wait patiently until he does. I only hope
that I may be spared to see him back again."
"I am sure I hope so, Aunt. Why should you always call yourself an old
woman? when you know that you are not old in years. Why, you said last
birthday that you were fifty-nine, and it is only because you are such a
hand at staying indoors, and live such a quiet life, that it makes you
think yourself old. I should think this war won't last very much longer.
If it does all the men in Europe will be used up. Of course, as soon as
peace is made Julian will be sent home again."
The same day that the post brought Frank the news of his commission, it
brought a letter from Colonel Wilson saying that he was at present in
town, and giving him a warm invitation to come up and stay with him for
a week, while he procured his necessary outfit. A fortnight later Frank
arrived in town and drove to Buckingham Street, where Colonel Wilson was
lodging. He received Frank very kindly, and when the lad would have
renewed the thanks he had expressed in the letter he had written on
receiving the news of his having obtained his commission, the Colonel
said:
"It was a duty as well as a pleasure. Your father saved my life at
Aboukir. I had been unhorsed and was guarding myself as well as I could
against four French cuirassiers, who were slashing away at me, when your
father rode into the middle of them, cut one down and wounded a second,
which gave me time to snatch a pistol from the holster of my fallen
horse and to dispose of a third, when the other rode off. Your father
got a severe sabre wound on the arm and a slash across the face. Of
course, you remember the scar. So you see the least I could do, was to
render his son any service in my power. I managed to get you gazetted to
my old regiment, that is to say, my first regiment, for I have served in
several. I thought, in the first place, my introduction would to some
extent put you at home there. In the second, a cavalry man has the
advantage over one in a marching regiment that he learns to ride well,
and is more eligible for staff appointments. As you know, I myself have
done a great deal of what we call detached service, and it is probable
that I may in the future have similar appointments, and, if so, I may
have an opportunity of taking you with me as an aide. Those sort of
appointments are very useful. They not only take one out of the routine
of garrison life and enable one to see the world, but they bring a young
officer's name prominently forward, and give him chances of
distinguishing himself. Therefore I, as an old cavalry man, should much
prefer taking an assistant from the same branch, and indeed would almost
be expected to do so. From what I hear, I think that, apart from my
friendship for your father, you are the kind of young fellow I should
like with me."
Frank looked rather surprised.
"I had a letter," Colonel Wilson went on, "from Colonel Chambers, who
was a captain in the 15th when I joined. He spoke in very high terms of
you, and sent a copy of the proceedings and reports connected with the
murder of that magistrate, and said that it was almost entirely due to
your sharpness that your brother was cleared of the suspicion that had
not unreasonably fallen upon him, and the saddle put upon the right
horse. There is a sort of idea that any dashing young fellow will do for
the cavalry, and no doubt dash is one of the prime requisites for
cavalry officers, but if he is really to distinguish himself and be
something more than a brave swordsman, more especially if he is likely
to have the opportunity of obtaining a staff appointment, he needs other
qualities, for on a reconnaissance a man who has a quick eye, good
powers of observation and thoughtfulness, may send in a report of a most
valuable kind, while that of the average young officer might be
absolutely useless.
"Having said this much, I would advise you strongly to devote a couple
of hours a day regularly to the study of French and German. You may find
them invaluable, especially if you are engaged on any diplomatic
mission, and much more useful at first than the study of writers on
military tactics and strategy. There will be plenty of time for that
afterwards. At Canterbury you will have no difficulty in finding a
master among the many French _émigrés_, and as there are at present two
or three troops of one of our German Hussar regiments there, and some of
these men belong to families who preferred exile and service in the
ranks to living under French domination, you may find a soldier who will
be glad enough to add to his pay by a little teaching. A draft went out
only a fortnight or so since to your regiment, and you are therefore
likely to be some time at Canterbury before you are ordered out, and as
the time in a garrison town hangs heavily on hand, a little steady work
will help to make it pass not unpleasantly."
"I will certainly do so, sir. We had a French master at school. It was
not compulsory to learn the language, but I thought it might be useful
if I went into the army, and so took it up. I don't say that I can speak
well at all, but I know enough to help me a good deal."
"That is right, lad. Ah, here is supper. I am sure you must want it
after being eighteen hours on the outside of a coach in such weather as
this, though I daresay as far as food went you did not do badly."
"No, sir; there was plenty of time at the stopping-places for meals, and
as I was well wrapped up the cold was nothing."
Frank, however, could not deny that he felt very stiff after his
journey, and was not sorry to retire to bed as soon as he had eaten his
supper. There were few men in the army who had seen so much and such
varied service as Colonel Sir Robert Wilson. Joining the army in 1793,
he served through the campaigns of Flanders and Holland. In 1797, having
attained the rank of captain, he was detached from his regiment and
served on Major-general St. John's staff during the rebellion in
Ireland. Two years later he rejoined his regiment and proceeded to the
Helder, and was engaged in all the battles that took place during that
campaign. On the Convention being signed he purchased a majority in one
of the regiments of German Hussars in our service. He was then sent on a
mission to Vienna, and having fulfilled this, went down through Italy to
Malta, where he expected to find his regiment, which formed part of
General Abercrombie's command. He joined it before it landed in Egypt,
and served through the campaign there. He then purchased his
lieutenant-colonelcy, and exchanged into the 20th Light Dragoons. He was
with that portion of his regiment which formed part of Sir David Baird's
division, and sailed first to the Brazils and then to the Cape of Good
Hope, which possession it wrested from the Dutch.
On his return to England he was directed to proceed on the staff of Lord
Hutchinson to Berlin, but on his arrival at Memel was despatched to the
Russian headquarters as British commissioner. He continued with the
Russian army during the next two campaigns, and on the signature of the
treaty of Tilsit returned to England, and made several journeys to St.
Petersburg with confidential despatches, and brought to England the
first news that the Czar had concluded an alliance with Napoleon and was
about to declare war against England. In 1808 Sir Robert Wilson was sent
to Portugal to raise the Portuguese legion, and, acting independently as
a Brigadier-general, rendered very valuable services, until in 1809 the
legion was absorbed in the Portuguese army. He was now waiting for other
employment.
The colonel went out with Frank after breakfast next morning and
ordered his uniform and equipments. Frank was well supplied with money,
for by the terms of his father's will either of his sons who entered the
army was entitled to draw two hundred pounds a year to pay for outfit,
horse, and as allowance until he came of age, when he would receive his
share of the capital. Mrs. Troutbeck had, when he said good-bye to her,
slipped a pocket-book with bank-notes for a hundred pounds into his
hands.
"Money is always useful, Frank," she said, when he protested that he was
amply supplied, "and if you should ever find that your allowance is
insufficient write to me. I know that you are not in the least likely to
be extravagant or foolish, but you see what a scrape your brother has
got into, without any fault of your own, and you may also find yourself
in a position where you may want money. If you do, write to me at once."
After the orders had been given, Sir Robert Wilson took Frank about
London to see some of the sights. At dinner he asked him many questions
as to his studies and amusements, and the way in which his day was
generally spent. After dining at Sir Robert's club they returned to his
lodgings.
"I am very pleased, Frank," he said as he lighted a cigar, "both with
what I have heard of you and with what I see for myself. Now I will
speak to you more freely than I did before, but mind, what I say is
strictly confidential. Government have obtained secret information which
points surely to the fact that Napoleon is meditating an offensive war
against Russia. He is accumulating troops in Germany and Poland out of
all proportion to the operations he has been carrying on against
Austria. When that war will break out is more than I or anyone can say,
but when it does take place I have Lord Wellesley's promise that I shall
go out there in the same position I held during their last war, that is,
as British commissioner with the Russian army. Now, lad, in that
position I shall be entitled to take a young officer with me as my
assistant, or what, if engaged on other service, would be called
aide-de-camp. One cannot be everywhere at once, and I should often have
to depend upon him for information as to what was taking place at points
where I could not be present.
"He would, too, act as my secretary. It may possibly be a year before
Napoleon's preparations are completed; but even in a year I should
hardly be justified in choosing so young an officer from my old
regiment, unless he had some special qualifications for the post. Now,
for your father's sake, Frank, and because I like you and feel sure that
you are just the man I require, I should like to take you, but could not
do so unless you had some special knowledge that I could urge as a
reason for applying for you. There is only one such qualification that I
know of, namely, that you should be able to speak the Russian language.
When I spoke to you about learning French and German I did so on general
principles, and not with a view to this, for it did not seem to me that
I could possibly select you to go with me on this service; but I have
since thought it over, and have come to the conclusion that I could do
so, if you did but understand Russian. It is a most difficult language,
and although I can now get on with it fairly after my stay out there, I
thought at first I should never make any headway in it. It would,
therefore, be of no use whatever for you to attempt it unless you are
ready to work very hard at it, and to give up, I should say, at least
four hours a day to study."
"I should be quite ready to do that, sir," Frank said earnestly, "and I
thank you indeed for your kindness. But who should I get to teach me?"
"That we must see about. There are, I have no doubt, many Russian Poles
in London who speak the language well, and who have picked up enough
English for your purpose. The Poles are marvellous linguists. We will go
to-morrow to the headquarters of the Bow Street runners. They are the
detectives, you know, and if they cannot at once put their hands upon
such a man as we want, they will be able to ferret out half a dozen in
twenty-four hours. One of these fellows you must engage to go down to
Canterbury and take lodgings there. They are almost always in destitute
circumstances, and would be content with very moderate pay, which would
not draw very heavily on your resources. Thirty shillings a week would
be a fortune to one of them. Even if this war should not come off--but I
have myself no doubt about it--the language might in the future be of
great value to you. I don't suppose there is a single officer in the
English army, with the exception of myself, who knows a word of Russian,
and in the future it might secure you the position of military attaché
to our embassy there. At any rate it will render it easy for me to
secure you an appointment on my mission when it comes off, and in that
case you will be a witness of one of the most stupendous struggles that
has ever taken place. You think you can really stick to it, Frank? You
will have, no doubt, to put up with a good deal of chaff from your
comrades on your studious tastes."
"I sha'n't mind that, sir. I have often been chaffed at school, because
I used to insist on getting up my work before I would join anything that
was going on, and used to find that if I took it good temperedly, it
soon ceased."
The next day they went to Bow Street. Sir Robert's card was sufficient
to ensure them attention, and several of the detectives were questioned.
One of them replied, "I think that I know just the man. He occupies an
attic in the house next to mine. He is a young fellow of
four-and-twenty, and I know he has been trying to support himself by
giving lessons in German, but I don't think that he has ever had a
pupil, and I believe he is nearly starving. His landlady told me that he
has parted with all his clothes except those that he stands upright in.
Of late he has been picking up a few pence by carrying luggage for
people who land at the wharves. I have not spoken to him myself, but she
tells me that he is a perfect gentleman, and though sometimes, as she
believes, he has not so much as a crust of bread between his lips all
day, he regularly pays his rent of a Saturday."
"I should think that he would be just the man for us. Would you see him
when you go home this afternoon, and ask him to come to No. 44
Buckingham Street, either this evening at nine, or at the same hour
to-morrow morning? I have written my address on this card."
At nine o'clock that evening the landlady came upstairs and said, rather
doubtfully, that a young man had called to see Sir Robert, and that he
had one of Sir Robert's cards.
"That is right, Mrs. Richards. I was expecting him."
The Pole was brought up. He was a pale young man, dressed in a thin suit
of clothes that accorded but ill with the sharp frost outside. He bowed
respectfully, and said in very fair English, "I am told, sir, that you
wish to speak to me."
"Take a seat, sir. By the way, I do not know your name."
"Strelinski," the man said.
"I am told that you are desirous of giving lessons in languages."
"I am, sir, most desirous."
"Mr. Wyatt, this gentleman here, is anxious to learn Russian."
The man looked with some surprise at Frank. "I should be glad to teach
it, sir," he said doubtfully, "but Russian is not like French or
English. It is a very difficult language to learn, and one that would
require a good deal of study. I should not like to take money without
doing something in return, and I fear that this gentleman would be
disappointed at the small progress he would make."
"Mr. Wyatt has just obtained a commission, and he thinks that as there
are few, if any, officers in the army who speak it fluently, it might be
of great advantage to him. He is, therefore, prepared to work hard at
it. I myself," he went on in Russian, "speak it a little, as you see; I
have already warned him of the difficulty of the language, and he is not
dismayed. He is going down to Canterbury to join the depôt of his
regiment in the course of a few days, and he proposes that you should
accompany him and take a lodging there."
The young man's face had a look of surprise when he was addressed in the
Russian language, and Frank saw a faint flush come across his face and
tears flow to his eyes as he heard the offer.
"What terms would you ask? He might require your services for a year."
"Any terms that would keep me from starving," the man said.
"May I ask what you were in your own country, Mr. Strelinski?"
"I was educated for the law," the Pole said. "I took my degree at the
University of Warsaw, but I was suspected of having a leaning towards
the French--as who had not, when Napoleon had promised to deliver us
from our slavery--and had to fly. I had intended at first to enter one
of the Polish regiments in the French service, but I could not get
across the frontier, and had to make north, getting here in an English
ship. The war between you and France prevented my crossing the sea
again, and then I resolved to earn my living here, but--" and he
stopped.
"You have found it hard work. I can quite understand that, Mr.
Strelinski. It is terribly hard for any foreigner, even with good
introductions, to earn a living here, and to one unprovided with such
recommendations well-nigh impossible. Please to sit here for a moment.
Frank, come into the next room with me."
"Well, what do you think?" he asked when they were alone.
"I should think that he will do splendidly, sir, and his being a
gentleman will make it very pleasant for me. But I should not like to
offer him as little as thirty shillings a week."
"I have no doubt that he would be delighted with it, Frank, but as he
will have to pay his lodgings out of it and furnish his wardrobe, we
might say two pounds, if you can afford it."
"I can afford it very well, sir. My aunt gave me a hundred pounds when I
came away from home, and that will pay for it for one year. I am sure I
shall like him."
"He impresses me very favourably too," Sir Robert said, "and perhaps I
may find a post for him here if we go out, though we need not think of
that at present. Well, let us go in to him again. I have no doubt that
the poor fellow is on thorns."
"I have talked it over with Mr. Wyatt," he went on when they had
returned to the sitting-room; "he will probably require your services
for a year, though possibly he may have to join his regiment sooner than
that. He is willing to pay two pounds a week for your services as his
instructor. Will that suit you?"
"It is more than sufficient," the Pole said in a broken voice. "For half
of that I could keep myself."
"Yes, but there will be your lodgings to pay, and other matters; and if
you are willing to accept two pounds, which appears to us a fair rate of
remuneration, we will consider that as settled. It is a cold night, Mr.
Strelinski. You had better take a glass of wine and a biscuit before you
venture out."
He fetched a decanter of port and a tin of biscuits from the sideboard,
and placed them in front of him; then he made a sign to Frank to leave
the room. In a few minutes he called him back again. Frank found the
Pole standing with his hat in his hand ready to leave. There was a look
of brightness and hope in his face, which was a strong contrast to his
expression on entering. He bowed deeply to Sir Robert, and took the hand
that Frank held out to him.
"You have saved me," he said, and then, without another word, turned and
left the room.
"I have insisted upon his taking ten pounds on account of his salary, as
I told him that he must have warm clothes and make a decent figure in
Canterbury. You are to deduct ten shillings a week from his pay till it
is made up. The poor fellow fairly broke down when I offered it to him.
There is no doubt that he is almost starved, and is as weak as a rat. He
is to come to-morrow at twelve o'clock. I have business that will take
me out all day, so you can have a quiet chat with him and break the
ice."