_Cape Francois._
The brigands have at length made the attack they so long threatened,
and we have been terribly alarmed.
On Thursday last, one party approached the fort before day break,
whilst another, passing behind the barrier, which is at the entrance
of the plain, unobserved by the guard, surprised fort Belleair, which
stands on an elevation adjoining the town, and killed the officer and
twelve soldiers. The wife of the officer, who commanded that post, had
gone, the day before to stay with her husband. Herself and her child
were pierced by the same bayonet. The body of the officer lay across
the bed, as if he had died in the act of defending them.
The negroes were advancing silently into the town, when they were
discovered by a centinel who gave the alarm.
The troops rushed to arms. The Brigands were repulsed: but those who
had taken possession of fort Belleair made a vigorous resistance.
St. Louis, who commands a company in the guarde nationale, was the
first on the field. It was discovered that the negroes in the town
intended to join those who attacked it from without and to kill the
women and children, who were shut up in their houses, without any one
to defend them; but the patroles of the guarde d'honneur prevented, by
their vigilance, the execution of this design.
At nine o'clock the general sent to tell Clara that the part of the
town she lived in being very much exposed, she had better come to his
house and he would send her on board the admiral's vessel.
She replied that it was impossible for her to go, her husband having
desired her on no account to leave the house; therefore she added,
"Here I must stay if I am sure to perish."
The action continued at the barrier and advanced posts during the day.
The negroes, depending on their numbers, seemed determined to decide at
once the fate of the town, and we passed the day in a situation which I
cannot describe.
In the evening the general sent an officer to tell Clara that he had
some news from her husband which he could communicate to none but
herself.
The first idea that presented itself was, that St. Louis had been
killed. She seized my arm and without waiting to take even a veil
hurried out of the house.
A gloomy silence reigned throughout the streets. She arrived breathless
at the government house. The general met her in the hall, took her
gravely by the hand and led her into a parlor.
What have you to tell me? she cried, where is St. Louis?
Calm your spirits said the general. Your agitation renders you unfit to
hear any thing! But seeing that his hesitation encreased her distress,
he said, laughing, your husband is well, has behaved gallantly, and
seems invulnerable; for though numbers have been killed and wounded at
his post, he has remained unhurt!
Then why, she asked, have you alarmed me so unnecessarily, and made me
come here, when you knew he had desired me not to leave the house? He
will never believe my motive for coming, and I shall be killed!
The general strove to soothe her, said that it would be highly improper
to pass the night in her house, that several ladies had embarked, and
that she must go on board, which she positively declined.
At that moment the officer who had accompanied us, entered, and
presenting some papers to the general, they both went into another room.
Directly after the general called Clara. She went, and I followed
her. He was alone, and looked as if he thought me an intruder, but I
continued at her side.
The papers he held in his hand were dispatches from the camp. He told
her that St. Louis would remain out all night, and again requested her
to think of her own safety. But she would not listen to his proposal of
sending her on board; and, attended by the officer who had accompanied
us, we returned home.
Whilst the general was talking with Clara, I examined the apartment,
which had been Madame Le Clerc's dressing-room.
The sofas and curtains were of blue sattin with silver fringe. A door,
which stood open, led into the bedchamber. The canopy of the bed was in
the form of a shell, from which little cupids descending held back with
one hand, curtains of white sattin trimmed with gold, and pointed with
the other to a large mirror which formed the tester. On a table, in the
form of an altar, which stood near the bed, was an alabaster figure
representing silence, with a finger on its lips, and bearing in its
hand a waxen taper.
The first thing we heard on our return was that a soldier, sent by
St. Louis, had enquired for Clara, and not finding her, had returned
immediately to the camp.
She was distressed beyond measure, and exclaimed, "I had better go
forever, for St. Louis will kill me!"
I endeavoured to console her, though I felt that her apprehensions were
not groundless. She passed the night in agony, and awaited the return
of her husband in the most painful agitation.
At ten the next morning he arrived, having left his post without
orders, and thus exposed himself to all the rigours of a court-martial.
He was trembling with rage, transported with fury, and had more the air
of a demon than a man.
I know your conduct madam, he cried, on entering, you left the house
contrary to my desire; but I shall find means of punishing you, and of
covering with shame the monster who has sought to destroy me!
He seized her by the arm, and dragging her into a little dressing-room
at the end of the gallery, locked her in, and, taking the key in his
pocket, went to the government house, and without waiting till the
officers in the antichamber announced him, entered the room where the
general was alone, reclining on a sofa, who arose, and approaching
him familiarly said, "St. Louis, I am glad to see you, and was just
thinking of you; but did not know that you had been relieved."
I have not been relieved, replied St. Louis, but have left a post
where I was most unjustly placed and kept all night, to give you an
opportunity of accomplishing your infernal designs. You expected, no
doubt, that I would have shared the fate of my brave companions, which
I have escaped, and am here to tell you what every body believes but
which no body dares utter, that you are a villain!--I know to what I am
exposed in consequence of leaving my post. You are my superior, it is
true; but if you are not a coward you will wave all distinction, and
give me the satisfaction due to a gentleman you have injured.
He then walked hastily away, before the general could recover from his
surprise.
The officer, who had accompanied us the night before, followed and
attempted to soothe him.
He said that he had been sent by the general to take Clara to his house
because the part of the town in which she lived was absolutely unsafe,
and that he had used a little stratagem to induce her to come, but that
she had absolutely refused staying;--that Mademoiselle, (meaning my
ladyship) had gone with her, and that he had not left her till he had
conducted her home.
This a little softened the rage of St. Louis! He has a good opinion of
this young man, who by the bye, is a charming creature. They entered
the house together. I was alone, and joined my assurances to those of
the officer, that we had not quitted Clara an instant.
He was now sorry for having treated her so harshly; but did not regret
the scene that had passed at the general's.
At this moment a soldier entered, who told him that they had been
relieved directly after he had left them, and that no notice had been
taken of his departure.
I now learned that St. Louis, with sixty men, had been placed in the
most advanced post, on the very summit of the mountain, where they
were crowded together on the point of a rock. In this disadvantageous
position, they had been attacked by the negroes; forty men were killed;
and the troops of the line, who were a little lower down, had offered
them no assistance. It being the first time that the guarde nationale
had been placed before the troops of the line the common opinion is,
that it was the general's intention to have St. Louis destroyed, as it
was by his order that he was so stationed, and kept there all night,
though the other posts had been relieved at midnight.
St. Louis forgot his rage and his sufferings in the assurance that
Clara had not been faithless. He went to the room in which he had
confined her, threw himself at her feet, and burst into tears.
Clara, affected by his pain, or ashamed of having so tormented him,--or
fatigued with their eternal broils, leaned over him, and mingled her
tears with his.
When the violence of her emotion subsided, she entreated him to forgive
the inconsiderateness of her conduct, and vowed that she would never
again offend him.--But you have destroyed yourself, she continued, the
general will never pardon you: let us leave this hated country, where
tranquillity is unknown.
After much debate, it was agreed that he should send us to
Philadelphia, and that he would follow himself as soon as he had
arranged his affairs.
Clara keeps her room and sees nobody, her husband is in despair at
parting with her, but proposes following her immediately.
We embark in ten days. What power shall I invoke to grant us favourable
winds? Whose protection solicit to conduct me speedily to my native
shores, and to the society of my friends?