At this moment an officer came down, and said that the governor
wished to see Colonel Mendez and Major Kennedy, at once. As they
entered the room, they saw the governor walking up and down in a
state of great agitation.
"I hear, Colonel Mendez," he said, stopping before that officer,
"that you have, on your own authority, placed several of the
commissariat storekeepers under arrest. What does this mean, sir?"
"It means, sir, that Major Kennedy has discovered enormous
deficiencies in the stores, and there can be little doubt that a
number of persons must have been concerned in the matter, besides
those in charge of the storehouses. Wholesale bribery must have
been practised, by those who supplied the goods to those whose
duty it was to receive them."
"I shall order a commission of enquiry to sit at once, and beg
that you, Colonel Mendez, will send me in a detailed report of the
matter, which is, I need hardly say, one of extreme gravity."
"I was right," Colonel Mendez said, as they left the governor's
house. "I suspected that something was wrong, ever since he
refused to allow me access to the magazines. I have no doubt that
he has been acting in collusion with the contractors, though he
may not have been aware of the extent of their rascality, for his
subordinates may not only have accepted bribes from the
contractors to carry out the frauds to which the governor may have
consented, but may also have taken money from these to allow of
still greater ones to be perpetrated."
"What will he do, do you think, Colonel?"
"He will endeavour, by every means in his power, to prevent any
word of your discovery from leaking out. And, if I may advise you,
I should say it would be well that you should take every
precaution for your own safety. His position is a desperate one,
for one cannot doubt that your report will be followed by his
removal from his post, his dismissal from the army, and the
confiscation of everything of which he is possessed. Therefore, it
is almost a matter of life and death to him to prevent your report
from being sent to headquarters, and to have you removed
altogether. This done, the facts might not leak out. It would be
supposed, at Madrid, that you had been stabbed by some street
ruffian. And, although another officer might be sent down to
report, it is by no means likely that he would go so rigorously
into matters as you did, but would be contented merely to count
barrels and bales, without troubling to investigate their
contents."
"But your evidence would be as strong against him as mine."
"Yes; but that evidence is not yet given. He can, in the first
place, and I have no doubt will, suppress my report to him. In the
second place, he would consider it unlikely that I should venture
to make the matter public, for he has powerful friends at court.
He is connected with many of the leading families in the province,
and might rely upon being able to hush the matter up, so long as
it was known only to the heads of our army, who are not unaware
that, although the pay of a commander of a fortress is not more
than sufficient to maintain his position, they, like most other of
our officials, generally retire with considerable fortunes.
Therefore, any interference on my part would be more disastrous to
my prospects than to his.
"It is humiliating to say so, Major Kennedy, but both our civil
and military systems are rotten to the core. There are, of course,
honest men in both services, but as a rule corruption is almost
universal. Still, although he cannot fear me as he must fear you,
it is possible he may endeavour to make himself safe by removing
me also from his path; and for a time I shall take good care to
remain in my own barracks, as much as possible."
"I will be careful also," Desmond said, "and I thank you much for
the warning, which was needed, for it would never have struck me
that he would even attempt to suppress the information that I have
gained; but I see that it will be necessary to be very careful,
especially in the manner of sending off my reports."
"If I were in your place, I should mount my horse at once, and
with the troopers of the escort ride straight for Madrid."
"I cannot do that, Colonel, for the examination into the state of
the stores here was only a part of my instructions, and I must, if
possible, carry these out to the letter before leaving for Madrid.
I might, however, send off my despatch by two of the troopers with
me."
"I think you may take my word for it, Major, that they would never
reach their destination. Even while we are speaking, a messenger
may be sent off either to one of these bands in the mountains, or
to two or three of the contractors--who are, of course, as deeply
involved as the governor, for there is no doubt of their guilt,
while no proof can be given to his being a party to it--telling
them that it is a matter of life and death to them to prevent you
or your messengers from reaching Madrid."
"The lookout is certainly far from comfortable," Desmond admitted,
"and I must, tonight, think it over in every way, and decide upon
what course I had best pursue."
When he reached the hotel, he told Mike what Colonel Mendez had
said.
"By the powers, your honour, it is a nasty scrape that we seem to
be in, almost as bad as when you were shut up in that prison in
London."
"Worse, Mike; for then we knew that we should be tried, but hoped
that Louis would interfere in our favour, and by threatening
reprisals obtain our liberty; whereas here we have only ourselves
to depend upon, and the blow may come at any moment."
"Well, at any rate, your honour, we will see that none get at you
unbeknown. I will lie down in your room against the door, and if
the sergeant places a man on guard outside, it is hard if anyone
gets at you."
"I hardly think the precaution necessary; but there is no saying
what this man might not do in so desperate a situation, so I will
tell the sergeant to place a sentry at the door, and to relieve
him every two hours. I shall think the matter over, and by
tomorrow morning shall decide whether I had best remain here and
complete my work, or ride at once to Madrid."
At about two o'clock in the morning Desmond, who had but just
dropped off to sleep, was aroused by hearing the sentry outside
his door challenge. There was no answer. All remained quiet. Mike
leapt to his feet and opened the door.
"What is it?" he asked the sentry.
"I saw two or three men at the end of the corridor. It was too
dark to make them out clearly. They were coming this way. I
levelled my carbine and cried, 'Who comes there?' and at once they
stole away. They could have been after no good, for their steps
were noiseless, and they must have come up without boots."
"Keep a sharp lookout, sentry," Desmond said, "and see that they
don't steal up to you, for if they do, you may be stabbed before
you have time to turn round.
"It is lucky that I carried out your suggestion, Mike, and posted
a sentry at the door. Of course, these men the sentry saw may not
have been coming here, but at any rate their conduct was
suspicious."
In a few minutes Desmond was again asleep. He had had a long day's
work, and believing that the affair was over, at least for the
night, he did not even try to keep awake.
As soon as Mike heard, by his breathing, that he was asleep, he
got up noiselessly and seated himself near the open window, with a
loaded pistol. An hour passed, and then he heard a slight stir in
the street. He did not look out, but grasped his pistol tightly.
Their room was on the first floor. Presently, he heard a grating
sound against the window. It was very dark, and he knelt down so
that he would be able to make out any figure that showed above the
windowsill. He thought first of rousing his master, but as he had
another pistol in his belt, and his sword leaned against the wall,
ready to his hand, he thought it better to let matters take their
course.
He had heard no further sound, but presently a round object
appeared in sight. Stretching out his arm, he fired without a
moment's hesitation. There was a sound of a heavy fall below,
followed by some muttered exclamations. In a moment, Desmond was
on his feet, a pistol which he had laid by his pillow in his
grasp.
"What is it, Mike?"
"It is only a gentleman who had a fancy for looking in at the
window, your honour, and I have no doubt would have come in,
without saying by your leave, if I had not cut the matter short by
putting a bullet into his forehead. He had some friends down
below. He came up on a ladder."
He looked out of the window.
"They are taking it down now, your honour. Shall I give them
another shot?"
"No, Mike; let them go. The lesson has been good enough."
The sentry had also run into the room, on hearing the shot.
"It is all over," Desmond said. "Seeing that you prevented them
from getting in at the door, they tried the window. Mike has shot
one of them."
There was a sound of feet and loud talking in the passage, and as
Desmond went out, the landlord, two of the serving men, and
several of those staying at the hotel ran up.
"What is it, senor? We heard a shot."
"Yes; a fellow tried to enter my window, by means of a ladder; but
fortunately my man heard him, and shot him before he came in. No
doubt it was some prowling marauder, who, seeing my window open,
thought that there was a chance of plunder."
"Carrambo!" the landlord exclaimed, "then we shall have enquiries,
and all sorts of trouble."
"I don't think you will," Desmond said quietly. "I fancy he had
some friends down below, and they will probably carry his body and
the ladder away, and, if you hold your tongues, nothing more will
be heard of it.
"Mike, do you and the sentry take a lantern and go down and see."
The landlord looked out of the window.
"As far as I can see, everything is quiet there," he said. "Are
you sure that your servant was not dreaming?"
"That you will soon ascertain, if you go down with him," Desmond
said. "I fancy that you will find some traces of the affair
there."
The landlord, followed by his two servants, went down with the
soldiers, and then, lighting a lantern and handing it to them,
went out, keeping carefully behind them.
"There," Mike said, when he stopped under Desmond's window; "does
that look like a dream?" and he pointed to a patch of blood on the
pavement.
"It is true enough," the landlord said.
"Pedro and Lopez, fetch pails of water and brooms, and get rid of
this blood, otherwise we shall be having enquiries made in the
morning."
Mike returned to his master, at whose door the sergeant and the
other troopers were standing.
"There is no occasion, sergeant," Desmond had just said, "to keep
a sentry at the door any longer. We can be quite sure that we
shall not be disturbed again before morning, and indeed, I am not
likely to sleep after this."
"Very well, sir; but if you don't mind, I will keep a sentry on
watch."
"Just as you like, sergeant, but I feel sure there is no occasion
for it. Still, after what has happened, it may perhaps be wise to
do so."
"Well, Mike," Desmond said, when they were again alone, "the
campaign has opened with spirit. This is something like that
journey with the Baron de Pointdexter, when we expected to be
attacked every minute."
"Well, we got through that all right, your honour, and it is hard
if we don't get through this."
At six o'clock, a volley of musketry was fired.
"They are practising early, sir," Mike said.
"It can't be that, Mike. It is too close. They would go beyond the
outer works to practise, and, by the sound, it is certainly much
nearer than that, though possibly just outside the walls."
"I will go out and enquire, your honour. When one is at war, it is
as well to know exactly what the enemy are doing."
"Take one of the troopers with you, Mike. Pierre speaks Spanish
well."
Mike returned in an hour.
"They have shot all the prisoners we took yesterday," he said. "I
hear they held a sort of court martial in the evening, at the
governor's. It did not sit more than ten minutes. They were all
found guilty of fraud and treachery, and were shot this morning."
"Worse and worse, Mike! Evidently, the governor is determined to
get rid of all whose evidence might throw any light on this
matter. After what has happened here, and these summary
executions, I feel very uncomfortable as to Colonel Mendez. Will
you go to the artillery barracks with a message from me that, as I
have my first report to write out, I shall not continue the
investigations today? Take Pierre with you again."
When Mike returned, Desmond saw that his news was bad.
"The colonel had not been seen when I got there, and his servant
went up to his room and found him lying dead, stabbed to the
heart."
"Another witness gone," Desmond said. "An honourable gentleman,
and a pleasant one. Well, Mike, the matter becomes more and more
serious. After this there is but one thing open to me, and that is
to return to Madrid at once. When I relate the circumstances to
the duke, he will see that, had I endeavoured to carry out the
rest of his instructions, the chance of my report ever coming to
hand would have been slight indeed, and it is all important that
he should get it.
"The question is, shall we mount and ride at once, or shall I go
and take leave of the governor?"
"Of course, your honour, you can do as you like, but I should say
that the sooner we are out of this, the better. The longer we stay
here, the more time he will have to take care we don't get back
alive.
"There was another thing I did not tell you, sir. As we went to
the barracks, we passed some cavalry men talking. They were
arguing that the enemy must be marching this way, for at two
o'clock last night ten troopers were suddenly called up and sent
off, the gates being opened for them by order of the governor."
"Just what I expected, Mike. He has written to warn the various
contractors that the frauds have been discovered, and, no doubt,
telling them that all messengers from here must be stopped and
searched, and all reports and documents taken from them; that if I
come myself, I am to be put out of the way; and that if this can
be done the matter can be hushed up, as he has taken measures to
silence all those who know anything about the affair.
"Well, I think you are right. We need not mind saying goodbye to
this scoundrel, as it would only give him time to perfect his
arrangements. I have no doubt that he would pretend to be ill, or
to be engaged in some business that would detain him, and manage
to keep me waiting some hours before he saw me. Order the sergeant
to saddle up at once. Let the men eat a meal as quickly as
possible, and let each put a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread
into his valise, so that we shall be able to ride without stopping
anywhere. Say that we shall mount in twenty minutes, and they must
not wait to polish up their accoutrements. Tell them to put plenty
of forage before the horses, and not to put the bridles in their
mouths until the last thing. Let each pour four or five feeds of
corn into his forage bag.
"When you have given the orders, have your own breakfast. I will
go downstairs and get something there. I packed my valises while
you were away."
Exactly twenty minutes later the little troop started. The men
had, at Desmond's orders, loaded their pistols and short guns.
Avoiding the principal streets, they rode by narrow lanes until
they emerged close to the eastern gate. Through this he and his
followers rode, without question, at a quiet pace until beyond the
exterior fortifications, across the bridge over the Guadiana, and
then broke into a canter.
The sergeant and men were not a little surprised at the sudden
departure, for they had supposed that they would remain for some
time at Badajos. Desmond called the sergeant up to his side.
"I dare say you are surprised at this sudden move, but you know
that two attempts were made upon my life last night, and I have no
doubt that these would be repeated, and perhaps with greater
success, had I stayed there. You were present yesterday, with two
of your men, when we discovered that large portions of the stores
were mere dummies filled with earth. Whether or not the governor
was a party to the fraud I cannot say, but this morning he had all
the storekeepers who were arrested shot, and Colonel Mendez, who
was present at the investigation, was murdered during the night.
It is evident, therefore, that many people are interested in
preventing the discovery we made from getting known. Of course,
the soldiers who assisted would be aware of it, but they would not
venture to speak, and it is only I and your men and my servant who
have still to be silenced.
"I tell you this, in order that you may impress upon the men the
necessity for the greatest vigilance, such as they would use if
travelling through an enemy's country. Messengers were, I hear,
sent off yesterday evening in various directions, and I have no
doubt that these were to the various contractors concerned in the
plot, urging upon them the necessity of preventing the news from
reaching Madrid; and perhaps to some of the robber bands in the
sierra. Therefore, instead of keeping the main road up the valley,
we will ride by country tracks and avoid all large towns. We will
not put up anywhere, but will bivouac in the open. In this way I
hope that we shall yet avoid any parties of men who may be lying
in wait for us.
"The most dangerous part of the journey will, of course, be the
passage of the mountains. We must there travel by one or other of
the roads through the defiles, and it is possible all these may be
watched. If we are attacked, we must endeavour to ride through
them. If this is impossible, we will sell our lives as dearly as
we can."
"You may trust us for that, Major," the sergeant said. "I have no
love for these Spaniards, and we are all discontented at being
kept down here to fight the King of Spain's battles, instead of
being up in the north, where every man is wanted to prevent the
enemy marching to Paris."
They struck off from the road when nearing Merida, and followed a
country track until they came upon the road between that town and
Torre Mocha. Avoiding the latter place, they took the road to
Truxillo, and, late in the afternoon, approached that town and
halted in a wood two miles distant from it.
Here Desmond consulted his map. There were two roads from
Truxillo. Crossing the sierra, the main and shorter road came down
upon the Tagus at Almarez. The other passed through Deleytoza, and
came down upon the bridge at Condo. Beyond Deleytoza it appeared
to be a mere mule track.
"If there are any parties watching," he said to Mike, "they will
expect that my messenger, or I myself, will travel by the main
road to Almarez, for not only is it better, but it is shorter. But
again, they might think that, if I suspected we might be attacked,
I should take the road through Deleytoza, and would, at any rate,
make matters safe by watching both roads. It is a difficult
question which to choose."
"Well, your honour, if you have got to fight, it would be best to
do so on a good road. Our horses would be of no use to us, if we
were going single file along a bad road; while on a good road we
could charge the spalpeens, and cut our way through."
"You are quite right, Mike, and we will take the main road. They
will not be mounted, and I don't think they would stand before a
charge of seven men; but they may shoot some of us as we come down
upon them.
"See here, Mike, this is my report that I wrote out yesterday
evening;" and he took a packet from the inside of his coat. "When
we start tomorrow morning I shall put it in my left holster. If I
am shot, you will not wait for a moment, but will snatch it out
and ride on to Madrid, and deliver it to the duke there. I have,
this morning, added a few lines relating the murder of Colonel
Mendez, the hurried trial and execution of the storekeepers, and
the attempts upon my life, and said I have not the least doubt
that the governor is at the bottom of it all."
"If your honour is killed, I will carry out your orders, but if it
is only wounded you are, I will try to take you off with me."
"You must do as I order you."
"I obey your honour's orders when they are reasonable," Mike said
doggedly; "but leave you behind, to have your throat cut by those
villains! I would not do such a thing, so there is an end of it."
Desmond smiled at the earnestness of his faithful follower.
"Well, Mike, you must be guided by circumstances; but remember, it
is of extreme importance that this report should reach the Duke of
Orleans. Unless he has it we may lose Badajos, and the cause
suffer irreparable injury."
"To the devil wid the cause," Mike said. "The cause doesn't
trouble me one way or the other. I don't care a brass farthing
whether Philip or Charles reigns over the Spaniards. It is not a
nice job they will be taking on, any way, and not worth a drop of
Irish blood. Well, if your honour should have the bad fortune to
be hit, I shall either carry you off, though there's not a breath
in your body, or else go down with you."
As there was no doubt that Mike meant what he said, Desmond did
not press the matter further.
The next day they set out at daybreak, and, in two hours, were
mounting the slope of the sierra. There were no signs of any men
being about, until they reached a point where the road ran between
steep hills.
"There they are," Desmond exclaimed, reining in his horse. "There
are some thirty or forty of them on the road.
"Now, my men, we will ride forward to those boulders you see, a
hundred yards this side of them, and then we will dismount and
give them a volley. If you keep that up, it will soon be too hot
for them to remain on the road; while we, sheltered behind the
rocks, will be safe from their shot. It is certain that your guns
will carry farther and shoot straighter than theirs, as the
Spanish powder is so much inferior to the French."
Accordingly, they rode forward at a canter to the heap of
boulders, then suddenly left the road, dismounted, and took cover
among the rocks.
"Take steady aim, men," Desmond said, "then you can hardly miss
hitting some of them, standing close together as they do."
The bandits had waited, undecided, at the sudden disappearance of
those whom they had regarded as a certain prey; and before they
could form any plans, five muskets flashed out, and four of their
number fell. A cry of rage burst from them, and there was a
general discharge of their guns, the balls pattering thickly
against the stones.
The soldiers now fired as quickly as they could load, doing
considerable execution. Their foes left the road, and imitated
them by taking shelter behind stones. For ten minutes the combat
continued, and then a party of men were seen, mounting the hill on
either side.
"That is just what I hoped for," Desmond said. "Fire at them, so
as to force them to climb a little higher up the hill. As soon as
they are pretty well out of gunshot, we will mount and charge down
the road. There cannot be many men left there."
His orders were followed. Some of the men on the hillside dropped,
and the others continued to mount the slopes. When, as they
believed, out of fire, they moved forward so as to take the
defenders of the rocks in flank.
"Now, fire a volley among the men in front of us," Desmond said.
"We are not likely to hit any of them, but it is sure to draw
their fire, and there will not be many unemptied guns as we pass
them."
As he expected, the volley was answered by a general fire from
their hidden foes. Then the party leapt into their saddles, and,
pistol in hand, galloped up the road. Several hurried shots were
fired from the front, and then, at a shout from their leader, some
twenty men leapt from their hiding places and ran down into the
road.
Desmond was supported on one side by Mike, and on the other by the
sergeant. He dropped his reins--the horse had learned to obey the
motions of his knees--and, drawing his sword, rode straight at the
bandits. Only a few muskets were discharged, and these so
hurriedly that the balls missed their aim, and, with a shout, the
party fell upon the brigands. The pistols of the troopers and Mike
cracked out, but they had no need to draw their swords, for the
rush of the horses struck such a panic into the Spaniards that
they sprang from the road, leaving the path clear, and the party
thundered past them without a check.
"Is anyone wounded?" Desmond asked, when they had passed beyond
gunshot of their assailants.
"I have a ball in my shoulder, Major," one of the troopers said.
The rest were silent.
"Well, we have been fortunate," Desmond said. "I will see to your
wound, my man, when we get a little farther. If those fellows had
not been so scared with our sudden charge that they fired almost
at random, we might have lost half our number."
They stopped half a mile farther, and Desmond examined the
trooper's arm.
"The ball has gone through the flesh," he said, "without touching
the bone, so you will soon have the use of it again."
He bound the wound tightly up with the soldier's sash; and then
made, with his own, a sling.
"You may as well put the other arm in your jacket," he said, "and
I will tie it round your neck. The air is cold upon the hills."
"We did that well, sir," the sergeant said, as they rode on again.
"If you had not thought of taking shelter, and shaking them up, we
should all have been shot down before we reached them.
"Is there any chance of another attack, sir?"
"None at all. I should think a messenger was sent to them,
yesterday, telling them our strength; and no doubt they thought
that, with sixty men, they would be certain to overpower us. That
is probably the whole of the band, and in any case, as they would
not imagine that we could pass them, they are not likely to have
set another ambush."
They slept that night at Almarez, made a short journey to Oropesa,
and a long one on the following day to Toledo, where Desmond
dismissed his escort, with a handsome reward for their services,
and upon the next afternoon rode with Mike into Madrid. The Duke
of Orleans looked astonished when he entered the room.
"What! Back already, Major Kennedy? Surely you cannot have carried
out all the work that I entrusted to you?"
"By no means, Your Royal Highness; but what I did carry out was so
important that I deemed it my duty to ride back at once, to
acquaint you with what I have discovered. There is the report,
sir."
The duke took it.
"It is a bulky one," he said. "Tell me its purport in as few words
as possible."
"I have discovered, sir, that the report sent by the governor of
the supply of provisions and stores in Badajos is altogether
inaccurate, that frauds to an enormous extent have been
perpetrated, that the supply of powder and cartridges is less by
two-thirds than was represented, and that similar deficiencies
exist in every department."
"This is indeed serious," the duke said. "The possession of
Badajos is essential to us. It blocks the way to an enemy's
advance, and indeed, they can scarce move forward until it is
captured. Now, tell me more about it; or no, I will read your
report, and then question you concerning it."
A heavy frown settled on the duke's brow, as he perused the
document.
"Infamous!" he exclaimed, when he had finished. "And you say that
two attempts were made to murder you that night, and that the
Spanish colonel who gave you so much assistance was assassinated,
and the commissaries shot the next morning? It shows how anxious
the governor was to remove from his path all those who could
inculpate him.
"And how did you manage to get out of the toils? For it was
clearly of no use killing the minor witnesses, and allowing you to
ride here to report the facts."
"I saw that, sir; and as I learned that eight or ten troopers had
been sent off, late the night before, I concluded that the road
would be sure to be beset, for doubtless some of the contractors
would feel it as essential as the governor did, that my mouth
should be silenced and my report suppressed. I therefore started
early. Keeping by byroads, we were not molested until we had
nearly reached the summit of the sierra, when we found a party of
some sixty men barring the road. We had a fight with them, and
succeeded in getting through with no further damage than a ball
through the arm of one of my escort, and that, fortunately, was
only a flesh wound."
"But tell me how it was that so small a party escaped so easily?"
Desmond then recounted the incidents of the fight.
"Admirably contrived, sir!" the duke said warmly. "Excellent
generalship! You first attack their centre and drive them off the
road, then you compel them to weaken themselves by throwing out
flanking parties. You keep these out of musket shot, and then
charge on their weakened centre after drawing their fire. I am not
surprised that, with such generalship, you got off almost
scatheless.
"And now, sir, I must ask you to come with me to the king. The
matter is too serious for a moment's delay. I must lay the whole
case before His Majesty."
Leaving Desmond in the antechamber, he went in to the king, read
the full report to him, and added the details he had heard from
Desmond.
"I have met with many bad cases of Spanish corruption and
peculation," the king said, when he had finished, "but this is by
far the worst. Steps must be taken instantly to secure the
governor, arrest the contractors, and fill up the magazines. What
do you propose?"
"I think, sir, that if we send forward, at once, a regiment of
French soldiers from Toledo, accompanied by Colonel Crofton's
regiment of dragoons, there is no likelihood that any resistance
will be offered--indeed, I should imagine that the governor will
have taken to flight, as soon as he learns that his plans for the
assassination of Major Kennedy have failed."
"So I should think," the king said; "and certainly he will have
warned his accomplices, the contractors; and probably, by this
time, they are all on their way either into Andalusia or to the
north. Any that are found shall certainly be hanged.
"This young officer of yours must be a wonderfully shrewd fellow.
I should like to question him as to how he discovered these
frauds."
Desmond was called in.
"This is Major Kennedy, Your Majesty," the duke said. "That is his
temporary rank, which I bestowed upon him in order to add weight
to his mission."
"I have noticed him before, cousin," Philip said, "when I had gone
to your quarters, and wondered to see so young a man in the
uniform of a captain.
"Now, sir, will you give me an account of how you discovered these
frauds?"
Desmond then related how he had caused the piles of barrels to be
opened out, so that he could examine those next to the wall as
well as those in front; and how he had similarly examined the
other stores.
"Very good, indeed, sir," the king said. "Most officers would have
contented themselves with, at most, counting the number of barrels
and sacks; and that you should have so thoroughly investigated the
matter shows both zeal and shrewdness."
"He has shown that on various occasions," the duke said, "as you
may judge from the promotion that he has received. As you see, by
the loss of his hand, he has suffered as well as fought on behalf
of France. When Your Majesty is at leisure I will, some evening,
relate to you a story which I heard from the king himself, of the
manner in which he, twice, rescued a fair damsel from an
evil-minded noble who carried her off."
"I shall hear it with pleasure, cousin. You say he holds only
temporary rank. I think that, after the signal service he has
rendered, it should be made substantial."
"I certainly intend to make it so," the duke said.
"Pardon, sir," Desmond said, "but, while thanking you for your
kindness, I would beg to be allowed to remain a captain. Already I
have obtained more promotion than others have done, after many
years of good service, and I should regret very much passing over
the heads of so many of my old companions."
"It is the first time that I have had promotion declined," the
duke said, smiling. "However, for the present, at least, I will
let the matter remain so."
With an expression of warm thanks, Desmond retired.
"We must lose no time over this matter," the king said. "For aught
we know, this scoundrel may be in communication with the enemy,
and may be prepared to open the gates of the fortress at the first
summons."
"I will act at once," the duke replied. "I will, this evening,
send orders to Toledo for a regiment to march at nine o'clock
tomorrow morning, and, if you will send a similar order to Colonel
Crofton, he will overtake the infantry before they get to
Almarez."
"I will do so, and will also send with them three field officers,
with full power to arrest, try, and execute all those who have
taken part in this treacherous fraud."
On the duke leaving the king, Desmond joined him in the
antechamber, and as they walked towards the French headquarters,
said:
"I hope, sir, that you will permit me to start tomorrow with any
force you may be sending, as I wish to carry out the rest of the
mission with which you entrusted me."
"By all means, do so if you wish it," the duke said. "Colonel
Crofton's regiment will start at nine o'clock tomorrow morning,
and you may accompany it. On the road it will overtake one of our
regiments from Toledo."