On arriving at Madrid in the first week in December, 1708,
Desmond, after putting up at an hotel, and changing the uniform in
which he travelled for his dress suit, proceeded to the
headquarters of the Duke of Orleans, and sent in his name,
together with Berwick's letter of introduction. In a few minutes
he was shown into his room. The duke looked at him in some
surprise.
"Are you Captain Kennedy?"
"I am, Your Royal Highness."
"The Duke of Berwick has very strongly recommended you to me,
saying that you had performed excellent service under him, and
that he parted with you, with regret, at the express wish of His
Majesty. He speaks of you as a young officer, but I was hardly
prepared to see one so youthful. He says that you are devoted to
your work, active and intelligent as well as brave; and as such
your arrival is very welcome to me, for although excellent in
battle, I own that my officers are less devoted to the hard work
and detail that are as necessary as bravery on a general's staff.
"By the way, I seem to have heard your name before. Let me see, it
was in connection, was it not, with that affair of the Marquis de
Tulle and Baron de Pointdexter's daughter?"
"I certainly had the good fortune to take part in that affair,
sir."
"The king himself was pleased to tell me the details of that
adventure, and to speak very highly of your courage and energy in
carrying it out. And so, you are really the hero of that affair?
He said that you were a young ensign in O'Brien's Irish regiment.
You have risen rapidly, sir, for it is but eighteen months since
it took place."
"His Majesty graciously promoted me to the rank of lieutenant when
I was appointed by the Duke of Berwick to his staff. I obtained my
next step after the battle of Oudenarde, for carrying a despatch
to the force cut off in the village of Diepenbeck, in which
service I received a wound which resulted in the loss of my left
hand. I was several weeks in hospital, and then obtained sick
leave and went down for two months to Baron de Pointdexter, which
visit resulted in my complete restoration to health. At the end of
that time the Duke of Berwick, who had also returned from the
army, was good enough to recommend me to His Majesty, and he
thereupon promoted me and appointed me to join your staff."
"If Marshal Berwick spoke approvingly of your conduct, Captain
Kennedy, it is in itself a sufficient recommendation, for the duke
is not easily satisfied. I am sure that I shall find you a
valuable acquisition to my staff."
The duke invited Desmond to dine with him that evening, and
presented him to several of his staff who were among the company.
These were, for the most part, personal friends and associates of
the duke; gallant gentlemen, but wholly ignorant of war, and
adverse to hard work, and it was not long before Desmond found
that his services were called into requisition whenever it was
necessary that a despatch should be carried to a distance. He was
by no means sorry that this should be the case, for he soon tired
of the stiffness and ceremony of the Spanish Court, and of the
conversation (chiefly relating to ladies in Paris, whose very
names were unknown to him) among the French officers, and it was a
relief to him, indeed, when he could get away from attendance at
headquarters, and enjoy an evening's talk with the officers of one
or other of the four Irish regiments there.
Many of these expeditions were attended by considerable danger,
for the wars that had for some years devastated the country had
resulted in general disorder. Armed bands, under the pretence of
acting in the interest of one claimant or other to the throne,
traversed the country, pillaging the villages, driving off flocks
and herds to the mountains, and ruthlessly slaying any who
ventured to offer the smallest opposition. Catalonia and Valencia
had been the scene of the greater portion of the conflicts between
the rival claimants. Throughout the rest of the country the
population looked on apathetically at the struggle for mastery,
caring but little which of the two foreign princes reigned over
them; but, in the out-of-the-way districts, the wilder spirits
left their homes in numbers, enticed by the prospects of plunder,
under the leading of one or other of the partisan chiefs.
Desmond had, from the moment of his arrival, spent the greater
portion of his spare time in the study of Spanish, and, aided much
by his knowledge of French, had made rapid progress, and in three
months was able to converse fairly in it. It was, indeed,
essential for his work, as without it he could not have made his
way about, and safely delivered the orders of which he was the
bearer.
In the beginning of March, the duke sent for him.
"I have been greatly pleased, Captain Kennedy, with the activity
that you have displayed, and am going to make a further call upon
you. This mission is of greater importance than any on which you
have hitherto been engaged, and is one which, ordinarily, would be
entrusted to an officer of higher rank; but I feel that I cannot
do better than place it in your hands. From what we learn, I
believe that it is the intention of the enemy to commence the
campaign by crossing the frontier, near Badajos. By so doing, they
can either follow the valley of the Guadiana to the sources of the
river, and then come down into Valencia; or they could cross the
sierras, come down into the valley of the Tagus, and march on
Madrid.
"In the first place, I wish a report as to the state of the
fortifications of Badajos, and the efficiency of its garrison. I
am, of course, acquainted with the official reports, sent by the
Spanish commander of the town to his Government, but I have come
to place no faith whatever in Spanish reports, which, for the most
part, are a tissue of falsehoods. Your first duty, then, will be
to give me as complete a report as possible of the state of things
there; of your impressions of the capacity of the governor, as
shown by his preparations; also of the morale of the troops. In
the next place, I shall be glad of any information you can gather
of the country beyond the frontier, and the state of the roads in
all that neighbourhood. Here, again, the native reports are
absolutely untrustworthy. The line of the enemy's advance would be
either direct from Lisbon through Vicosa, or up the Tagus, which
offers them great facilities for carriage, and down through
Portalegre and Alvas.
"During the past four years, there has been a good deal of
fighting near the frontier, but the reports of the officers
commanding the Spanish forces there are devoid of any practical
information as to the roads on our side of the boundary. As it has
been resolved to give the enemy battle, as soon as he crosses the
frontier, it is most important that I should know the best lines
by which troops can move, the state of the bridges, and the
positions in which a battle on a large scale can best be fought.
"You see, the mission is an important one, and I selected you for
it as a proof of the confidence I feel in your ability. While
carrying out this duty you shall have the temporary rank of major,
as it will less ruffle the susceptibility of the Spaniards, if an
officer of that rank be employed, than if a captain be sent to
institute such enquiries.
"You will, of course, be provided with a letter to the Governor of
Badajos, couched in such terms that he will not consider your
mission has any reference to himself, its object being to discover
whether the magazines at Badajos are sufficiently well supplied to
admit of their being, if necessary, drawn upon for the subsistence
of the army; also, whether the garrison needs strengthening, in
case the enemy should lay siege to the town before our army is at
hand to give battle. Thus you will ostensibly confine your
enquiries to the amount of provisions and ammunition, and consult
the governor as to whether he considers the force at his disposal
sufficient for the defence of the fortress against a vigorous
attack. Fortunately, the Spanish methods are so slow that, before
you get these particulars, you will have ample time to ascertain
the points as to which I am chiefly concerned.
"You will be furnished with a native guide, well acquainted with
the passes of the sierras between the Tagus and the Guadiana. This
part of your journey will not be unattended with danger, for the
mountains swarm with bands of partisans; that is to say, bandits.
I shall, however, give you an order, to the officer in command of
the garrison at Toledo, to furnish you with an escort of ten
troopers under an officer, to conduct you across the mountains.
Four of these will accompany you to Badajos, and remain with you
until you return to Toledo. Once in the valley of the Guadiana,
you should have little chance of falling in with any bands of
guerrillas, but an escort will add to your weight and importance
in the eyes of the Spaniards."
"I feel greatly honoured, Your Royal Highness, by your selecting
me for the mission, and will carry it out to the best of my
ability."
"In an hour the papers will be ready for you, and you can start at
daybreak tomorrow."
"We are going on a long trip this time, Mike."
"Back to France, your honour?"
"No; we are going to the western frontier, by Badajos."
"It makes no difference to me, sir, where we are going; but, in
truth, I shall be glad to go anywhere, for I am mightily sick of
this town, where the people have no great love for the French, and
the best part of them seem to look down upon us soldiers, as if we
were dirt under their feet. It is unsafe to go through the streets
alone at night. A score of men have, since we came here, been
found lying dead with a knife between their ribs."
"Yes; the population here is very much divided, Mike, and even those
who are favourable to Philip have no love for the foreign soldiers
whose bayonets keep him on the throne. The duke has, many times,
made formal complaints to the king and the city authorities. Philip
has given strict orders for the arrest of bad characters, but the
city civil authorities protest that they cannot lay hands upon them,
and I believe have never taken the slightest trouble to do so."
"How long shall we be away, your honour?"
"I should say, a month. I am to have temporary rank as major,
while engaged on this business. Anyone under that grade would
receive but little courtesy from the Spaniards."
"They are a mighty haughty lot," Mike grumbled. "I believe they
think that, when the flood came, the Spanish grandees had an ark
all to themselves, as they could not be expected to put up with a
conveyance full of animals."
Desmond laughed.
"They haven't yet taken in the fact that Spain is no longer the
great power she was when she was mistress of half of Europe. They
were fine fighters then, Mike. For my part, I own that I cannot
understand how it is they have fallen off in that respect; for
certainly, without our troops, they would make but a poor stand
against the Portuguese, backed up by the English and Dutch."
"I have not seen them fighting yet, sir, but to my mind people so
fond of using their knives are not likely to be of much account,
when it comes to manly, straightforward fighting.
"Well, your honour, if you are to go as a major, you will need
some slight alterations in your uniform--more gold lace, and such
like. So I had best see about it, at once."
"I did not think of that, Mike; but you are right. I don't know
whether, as I only hold temporary rank, I have a right to wear the
uniform of a field officer; but, as the duke wishes me to be able
to speak with some authority, there can be no harm in making the
change, and the additions can easily be taken off, upon my
return."
"The duke ought to have given you the full rank, instead of the
temporary one, sir. You have done more work, since you came here,
than all the colonels and majors on his staff."
"As far as work goes that may be so, Mike; but as the work
consisted in carrying despatches about on horseback, it certainly
affords no claim for promotion. And, indeed, I have no wish
whatever for it. I am already the youngest captain in the service,
except the young nobles who got their commissions as colonels,
without even serving a day in inferior rank. I feel uncomfortable
now when I go to our regiments, to see men who have been years in
the service, and gone through many a desperate action, still
lieutenants; while I, after two years' service, and still under
nineteen, am a captain."
"Yes, sir; but you know that you saved eight or ten thousand men
to France at Oudenarde, and you lost a hand in the service of the
country. That would count for a great deal."
"It counts for something, no doubt, Mike, but many of these
officers have risked their lives a score of times, and been
wounded frequently, though they may not have lost a limb."
"Ah well, sir!" Mike said, philosophically, "Luck is everything.
And who would go soldiering, if it was not so? When going into
battle, everyone knows that a lot of his comrades will be killed,
but he trusts to his luck to get through safely. One man gets
promoted and another doesn't, and he hopes that luck will come his
way next time. I don't say that your honour's promotion has been
luck, but you have had luck in being on the staff of the Duke of
Berwick, and everyone knows that it is the staff officers who get
the credit and promotion, while the men who do most of the
fighting get passed over. There would be nothing to say against
that if, as in your honour's case, a man was chosen for the staff
because he had done something that showed that he was fit for it.
But it isn't so here. If a man belongs to a good family, and has
interest, he gets a good appointment; and it is mighty seldom that
a man is taken from his regiment, and put on to the staff, because
he has done something which showed he was a good soldier."
"That is so, Mike. There is no denying it. And I believe it is one
reason why so many disasters have befallen the French army. The
generals are, as a rule, good, and the soldiers are excellent, but
the staff are generally altogether incompetent, and seem to
consider that the fact that they are nobles renders it unnecessary
for them to give attention to details, or to be more than
ornamental figures in the general's train. And when we see the
authority of Vendome overruled by a young prince, who is grandson
of the king, and nothing else, one must not be surprised that it
is the same all through the army."
That evening, Desmond received a packet containing his appointment
as major while on special service, details of instructions as to
the points to be attended to, and letters from the duke to the
commandant of the garrison at Toledo, and from Philip to the
Governor at Badajos.
The next morning he started at daybreak, accompanied by Mike, and
arrived that evening at Toledo. Here he presented his letter to
the commandant.
"Very well, sir," the officer said, when he had read it. "At what
hour do you wish the escort and guide to be ready in the morning?"
"I should like to start as early as possible, Colonel. I myself,
being well mounted, might cross the sierra in a day; but the
troopers' horses could not do that."
"You would not gain anything if they could, Major Kennedy, for
even if your horse could carry you over sixty or seventy miles of
mountain roads in a day, you would certainly need a couple of
days' rest before proceeding farther. If you get as far as
Enmedio, which is in the heart of the sierra, you will have done
well. You will then have another long day's ride down to Ciudad
Real, from which place the officer with six of the troopers will
return. The general says nothing about a noncommissioned officer,
but I shall take it upon myself to send one to accompany you, with
the four men. It will take a good deal of trouble off your hands."
"I am much obliged to you, Colonel."
"Now that we have finished business," the officer said, "we can
talk of other things. You will, of course, put up here. I have two
or three spare rooms, and the accommodation at the inns is
wretched. I am always very glad when an officer rides through,
because we hear little enough about what is passing, and as there
is no sort of sociability among the Spaniards, life is very dull
here, and one is very glad of the change."
"Thank you, Colonel. I will gladly accept your invitation."
The colonel rang a bell, and ordered a servitor, who answered, to
show Major Kennedy's servant where to put up his master's horses
and his own, to bring up the officer's valises, and to make the
soldier comfortable below.
"We shall sup in half an hour," he said to Desmond, when the man
had left. "Two of my majors are going to share the meal."
As soon as the valises were brought up, Desmond changed his
uniform, got rid of the dust of the road, and was just ready when
a servant knocked at the door and said that the supper was served.
The meal was a pleasant one. The three French officers were
anxious to hear the last news that had reached Madrid from France.
The conversation did not flag for a moment during the meal.
After this was over, and cigars were lighted--for the officers had
all adopted the custom of the country--the colonel said
courteously, "Would you mind telling us, Major Kennedy, how it is
that you, who by your name are Irish, although you speak excellent
French, have made your way so rapidly as to be already a major?"
"Not at all, Colonel. I am, myself, as much surprised at it as you
may be. But, really, my present rank is only temporary. I am going
down to Badajos, on a special mission for the Duke of Orleans, and
as he thought that I should be received better were I a field
officer, instead of captain, he has given me the temporary rank of
major while so employed.
"I will briefly tell you how I obtained the other steps. The first
was given me, by the king, on my appointment as aide-de-camp to
the Duke of Berwick; His Majesty being good enough to take an
interest in me, owing to a little adventure in which I had become
involved. It concerned, I may say, the almost accidental rescue of
a lady, who had been carried off by a nobleman of the court."
"I remember now," the colonel said. "The lady was Mademoiselle de
Pointdexter, and her abductor Vicomte de Tulle. It happened a
month or so before our regiment left Paris for Spain, and was the
chief topic of talk. I recall your name, now, in connection with
the affair, and how warmly everyone spoke of your gallantry. Well,
Major, how did you gain your next step?"
"I had the good fortune to be the only one who survived, of four
aides-de-camp who were sent off by the Duke of Berwick, at
Oudenarde, to make their way through the allied lines with orders,
to the division cut off from the rest of the army in the village
of Diepenbeck, to disperse and make off across the country, as
best they could. My comrades were all killed, but I was lucky
enough to succeed in reaching the village uninjured, with the
exception of a ball in the wrist, which caused the loss of my
hand, and, I may say, almost of my life. It was because of the
favourable report, which the duke was pleased to make of this
service, that I received my rank as captain."
"It was well earned, too, sir," the colonel said warmly. "I
confess, I thought when you arrived that, although Irish by name,
you must have had some very powerful influence at your back to
have risen so early. Unhappily, promotion often bears no relation
whatever to merit; and one sees young nobles, with no other
recommendation than that of their birth, placed over the heads of
officers of five-and-twenty years service. No one is jealous of a
man who owes his rise to brilliant deeds of courage, or signal
ability; but it is galling to see these young popinjays thrust
forward, simply by family influence."
In passing over the hills the next day, a large party of armed men
made their appearance, suddenly, on a height above; but, seeing
that an attack was likely to meet with a stout resistance, and as
little booty would be obtainable, they did not interfere with
their passage. Desmond congratulated himself on having an escort,
for it would have gone hard with him, had he been accompanied only
by Mike.
On the fifth day after leaving Madrid he arrived at Badajos, with the
sergeant, the four troopers, and Mike. After some formalities--for
the town, being close to the frontier, was liable at any moment to be
suddenly attacked--Desmond was conducted to the governor, a pompous
Spanish officer.
"Are you yourself Major Kennedy?" he asked, looking with some
surprise at his young visitor.
"My name is Kennedy, sir, and I have the honour of being major,
and to serve on the staff of his grace, the Duke of Orleans. I am
the bearer of a letter to you from His Majesty, King Philip."
The Spaniard took the letter and read it, and Desmond could see,
by the expression of his countenance, that he was by no means
pleased.
"I do not understand," he said coldly, "why an officer should have
been specially despatched to obtain information which I have
already duly furnished."
"I understood from the Duke of Orleans, sir, that as news has been
received that the enemy's plans were to cross the frontier near
this town, it became a matter of special importance to see that it
was sufficiently supplied with provisions, and munitions of war to
stand a siege. It has been found more than once that, owing to the
culpable neglect of subordinates, fortresses when besieged were by
no means so well supplied with provisions, powder and shot, as had
been supposed. Naturally, the governor of a fortress like this,
with a considerable garrison, is too much occupied to personally
superintend all these matters, and must leave them in the hands of
his subordinates, who on their part commit them to those of
sergeants and storekeepers; so that, while everything is reported
to be ready, there are really deficiencies. A waste often takes
place in the distribution of stores, and the matter was so
important that the king requested the duke to send one of his
staff to give you every assistance, and to receive your
suggestions, which will be complied with to their full extent. As
your last report was sent in some three months back, necessarily
considerable changes have taken place, in that time."
"Well, sir, I will obey His Majesty's orders, and give you every
facility. My officers shall be instructed to open such magazines
as you may select, and you will be then able personally to judge
as to the quantity and condition of the stores. It will, of
course, be impossible, unless with an immense expenditure of
labour, to go through the whole of the magazines and to reckon up
their contents; but as many as you wish shall be opened, and a
party of soldiers told off to count the bales and cases."
"A very few will suffice, sir. Of course, in the event of a battle
being fought and a reverse occurring, the enemy might sit down
before your town. You would be exposed to a long siege, for it
might be some time before the army was again in a position to
advance and fight another battle, or raise the siege. I have
little doubt that everything will be found in excellent order, but
should there be any deficiencies, the duke assured me that they
would be at once made good."
"If you will call tomorrow morning, sir," the governor said, "I
will have some of the officials, in whose charge these matters
are, placed at your disposal; but I am convinced that you will
find that my reports on the stores and ammunition in hand are
fully borne out."
"The governor is, as I expected, a good deal put out, Mike,"
Desmond said as he rejoined his follower, who was waiting outside
with the horses. "Now, let us find out the best hotel."
"Didn't he ask you to stay with him, your honour?" Mike asked in
surprise.
"No. He is much too grand a man for that, and besides, he may have
his wife and children with him; and however much a Spaniard may
place his house and all within it at your service, it is very
seldom that he invites a stranger to enter it. Moreover, glad as
they may be to have French help in fighting their battles, they
look with suspicion and dislike upon an individual Frenchman.
"Besides, I fancy I shall find that these stores and magazines by
no means tally with the report sent in by the governor. I heard
the Duke of Berwick one day speaking about it, and he said there
was corruption and dishonesty among their officials, from the
highest to the lowest. It is probable that both the king and the
Duke of Orleans have the same opinion, and that it was for this
reason that they sent me here, in order to assure them that the
fortress is as well supplied as has been stated. With the other
papers, I have received a copy of the governor's report, although
I did not think it necessary to tell him so."
The next morning, on going to the governor's, Desmond found a
number of officials assembled there.
"These are the officers in charge of the stores and magazines,"
the governor said. "Colonel Mendez will accompany you, and will
see that everything is done to facilitate your examination."
The governor bowed formally. Desmond returned his salute, and then
went down with the Spanish colonel, the other officials following.
He saw that there was an expression of malicious pleasure in the
colonel's face, and guessed that he was, by no means, sorry at the
investigation that was to take place.
"I think, sir," Desmond said, "that it will not be necessary for
us to have all these officials going round with us. It will be
impossible, in one day, to do more than examine one department. As
ammunition is the most important of all stores, I would suggest
that we take only those in charge of the war material."
"Very good;" and, turning to those behind, he said: "For today,
all those save the officers in charge of the magazines can be
relieved from this duty. Their turn will come tomorrow, or next
day."
With the exception of five or six, all moved away.
"We have three magazines in the town," the colonel went on, "so as
to lessen the chance of our resources being destroyed by a single
blow. There is the Central magazine, another that is known as the
San Juan magazine, and the Western magazine."
"We may as well visit the Central one first, as, no doubt, that is
the most important one."
As they went on, a party of twenty soldiers, who had been drawn up
there, fell in behind, while Mike and two troopers of his escort
also, at his orders, accompanied them. The magazine was formed in
what had formerly been an old castle, but which was now used for
another purpose, that of a store, its thick walls affording
protection against any but very heavy missiles. On entering what
had been the courtyard, Desmond saw that the greater portion of it
was occupied by storehouses, massively built, and covered by some
five or six feet of earth.
"The first of these on the right contains musketry ammunition,"
Colonel Mendez said, "the next two contain cannonballs; powder is
stored in the three houses at the farther end, and the three on
the left side contain hand grenades, fuses for mines, signal
rockets, and other miscellanies, such as brimstone."
"We will examine number one first," Desmond said. "Which is the
officer in charge?"
One of the officials stepped forward, with a key. Desmond saw that
his face was pale, and that he had a sullen look.
"I will ask you, before we enter," he said, "how often do you take
stock of your stores? I suppose when the governor sends in his
half-yearly report?"
"We do not do it that way at all," the man said. "I have a book.
It was given to me by the officer I succeeded. Here it is. You
will see that he handed over so many barrels of cartridges. On one
side of the page I put down the number of barrels issued, and on
the other the number I receive, and thus, at any time, without
disturbing the contents of the store, I can state the number of
barrels it contains."
"Then how long have you held this position, sir?"
"I have been in charge of this store, and of those used for powder
in the cellars underneath the castle, for ten years."
"The man whom you succeeded--how long had he been here?"
"I believe he had been here for twenty years, or more."
"And his system of keeping account was the same as yours?"
"Precisely. He handed his books to me, and I have kept mine in the
same way."
"Then it is a fact, if I understand you rightly, that there has
been no taking of stock for the past thirty years?"
"It was not necessary," the officer said, in a surly tone. "There
can be no mistake possible, considering the way in which we made
our entries."
They now entered the store. It was some sixty feet long and forty
feet wide, with pillars of masonry along the centre to support the
weight of the roof. It was lighted only by small loopholes in the
thick walls. Four of the soldiers carried lanterns, and they were
about to enter, when Desmond said:
"There is no loose powder lying about, I suppose?"
"None," the officer replied. "The barrels were all carefully
examined before being taken into the store. They are, as you can
see, strongly made. A leakage is out of the question, unless by
any accident one should fall off the pile and burst; but such a
thing has never happened, as far as I know."
"I see, by your book, that there should be three thousand four
hundred and eighty-two barrels, each containing five hundred
cartridges. Certainly an ample supply, even for a prolonged
siege."
The barrels were piled in four tiers, one above another, forming a
wall on each side of a central path, seven feet wide.
"Give me your hand, Mike," Desmond said to his follower, and,
standing upon it, he was able to scramble on to the top.
"Twelve barrels deep," he said, as he descended. "Now, let us
count the number in each line."
The wall of barrels extended only some two-thirds of the length of
the stores, and there were thirty barrels in each line. He made a
rapid calculation.
"That is three thousand two hundred, but I see that, in addition,
there is a small pile on each side, beyond the others, which would
about make up the correct total. Your record is strictly
accurate."
The official took up the lantern, as if the matter was now
finished, but Desmond said:
"No, sir. I have but begun; and my instructions were to see how
much musket ammunition there was here, at present. I only know how
many barrels there are.
"And now, Colonel, I will ask you to call your men in, and set
them to work. I wish two passages made through each of these piles
of barrels. Three feet wide will be sufficient."
"It would be very dangerous to move them," the official said
hastily.
"Not if it is carefully done. You tell me the barrels are strong,
and that there is no leakage. Even if this should not be the case,
there is little fear of the powder coming in contact with the
candles in these lanterns; and besides, as the powder is in
cartridges, it would not leak out even if one of the barrels were
to burst."
The soldiers had set to work at four points, chosen at hazard by
Desmond. The barrels, as they were taken down, were ranged along
on each side of the central path. When three lines had been
cleared out, one of the soldiers gave an exclamation.
"This is lighter than the one I carried out last!" he said.
"Carry it out into the courtyard," Desmond said. "I should like to
look at the contents."
It was taken out to the courtyard, and one end carefully taken
out.
"You see, Colonel," Desmond said, as he looked at its contents,
"you would have been reduced to great straits, long before you
expected it."
The colonel, who belonged to the artillery, looked into the
barrel, which was full of earth.
"Empty it out!" Desmond ordered.
They did so. There was not a single cartridge in it.
"This is scandalous!" the colonel exclaimed. "I did not expect
that everything would be found right, but I had no idea of such
villainy as this!"
He turned to the men.
"Arrest the commissary, at once," he said.
But that official was nowhere to be found. He had slipped away, as
soon as the men began to take down the barrels. Some soldiers were
at once sent off in search of him.
"We will continue the work," Desmond said, "and see how
extensively this fraud has been carried on."
The same result was met with in each of the openings. The first
three lines consisted of barrels filled with cartridges; the seven
lines behind contained nothing but earth.
"You see, Colonel, instead of having over three thousand two
hundred barrels of cartridges, you have less than a thousand. It
is almost beyond belief! It is clear that this fellow, and
probably the man who was in charge before him, have been in
collusion with the contractors for these cartridges, and allowed
them to send in seven barrels of earth for every three of
cartridges. No doubt, they calculated that there was little chance
of the fraud being detected--never, indeed, until there was a
prolonged siege--for they would naturally serve out the barrels
from the front row, as they were required, filling their places
with fresh ones as supplies came in."
The other storehouses were now examined. The number of cannonball
alone tallied with the account. There were large deficiencies in
the store of powder, and, indeed, among almost all the other
munitions.
"It is infinitely worse than I thought," the colonel said, "and I
fear that the storekeepers are not the only people concerned in
these frauds."
"Now, Colonel, if you do not mind, I should like to go to one of
the provision stores at once. Possibly, after what we have
discovered, some pretext to stop further examination may be
invented, if we wait till tomorrow."
Great as had been the fraud in the magazines, that in the supplies
of provisions was even greater. There was a deficiency of many
hundreds of sacks of flour and beans. The meat stores were
entirely empty, although they should have contained a large number
of tierces of salted beef. This was a matter of minor importance,
for in case of the approach of an enemy, the people of the country
round would drive their cattle into the town, and, indeed, the
allowance of meat to a Spanish soldier was so small that he could
do well without it, existing entirely upon bread and fried beans.
Of wine there was scarce half the amount indicated. A great number
of the barrels had been filled only with water.
It was late in the afternoon when the work ceased.
"I should require a fortnight," Desmond said, "to get accurate
figures. This, however, is comparatively unimportant. It is quite
sufficient to know that in no case is there half the amount,
either of ammunition or of provisions, given in the governor's
last report, and that fraud on a large scale has been carried on;
and I cannot but think that some men, at least, of higher rank
than these storekeepers must have been privy to the affair."
"There has certainly been something wrong in the supply of
clothes, Major Kennedy. My men have had no new ones served out to
them for the past year and a half, although I have made repeated
applications during the past two months."
"Yes; I noticed when I walked about in the town, yesterday, that
many of the troops were almost in rags, and I have no doubt there
has been fraud in the clothing department, as well as in all the
others."
"Well, sir, as a Spaniard I lament this terrible exposure. Blame,
however, must not be laid entirely upon the military. The supply
of provisions of all kinds, of cloth for clothing, and, indeed, of
everything but guns and ammunition, is in the hands of the junta
of the province, and of the civil authority here. Many of the
members must be concerned in the matter, and I have no doubt that
the officials here are heavily bribed to shut their eyes, and to
arrange matters so that the frauds may escape attention.
"I know that once, when I proposed to the governor to examine some
of the barrels of cartridges as they came in, he answered me very
sharply, and told me that my business was to work the guns, and
not to meddle with the duties of the storekeeper."
"Then do you think, Colonel?--"
"I think nothing," the officer replied. "The governor is the
governor, and it is not for me to discuss his conduct in any way,
nor even to admit the possibility of his knowing of this affair."
Only two or three of the storekeepers had been arrested. The rest
had slunk away, as soon as they saw how matters were going.