EARLY ADVENTURES.
From the bathing-place of Nyon château a slim, tall lad shot out into
the blue water, as much at home there, evidently, as he had been while
racing on the terrace. His long hair was bound by a strong ribbon,
which the active movements of the swimmer at length loosened. In some
unexplainable manner the ribbon caught and wound itself about the
boy's feet, tying his head to his heels, and rendering a full stroke
impossible. With all his might he struggled and tore, but the bond
only grew tighter. He was in deep water, no help within call, and the
awful thought came that there, in the budding of his bright young
life, he must be cut off and die a helpless prisoner. He stayed his
struggles, almost paralysed at the thought, and that instant the
ribbon gave way and he recovered himself.
Nor was that his only narrow escape from death in the same lake. Five
miles from the shore a rocky island reared its head.
"It would be a fine feat to swim there from land," said young Fletcher
to four of his companions. They agreed, and the five set forth.
Fletcher and one other lad succeeded in reaching the island, but found
its smooth cliffs sank so steeply into the water that there was no
possibility of climbing them. Despairingly they swam around the islet
again and again, finding at last a bare foothold to which they clung
until a boat fetched them off. The other three could swim but half the
distance to the island, and would have sunk exhausted had not a
passing boat picked them up.
A third time young Fletcher narrowly escaped drowning; on this
occasion it was in the Rhine, where the river is wide and very rapid.
The current swept him far from home, nor could he land for the sharp
rocks on either hand. At length he was flung violently against one of
the piles of a powder mill, lost consciousness, and disappeared,
rising again on the other side of the mill (according to an onlooker,
who took out his watch) _twenty minutes after_ his head had
vanished beneath the water. Surely a guardian angel accompanied Jean
De La Fléchère in all his earthly wanderings!
Although a good rider and practised swimmer, the life of this young
fellow was not by any means wasted in athletics and sport; he studied
hard to prepare himself for the University of Geneva, succeeding most
brilliantly. His extraordinary diligence, no less than his striking
ability, distinguished him among the other students, and he bore off
first prizes with ease, studying early and late that he might acquire
the knowledge he loved. After leaving the University he gave himself
to the acquirement of the German language, and studied Hebrew and
higher mathematics.
All this he did with the idea of becoming a minister of the Gospel,
but the more he thought about the burden which he would assume by so
doing, the less he felt able for his suggested task.
"Go into the army, Fletcher," pleaded some of his friends, and it was
not long before he turned the power of his clear brain to work upon
military engineering. He became very keen on his chosen profession,
and at the time when Portugal was despatching troops to Brazil,
Fletcher hied himself to Lisbon, gathered together a company of young
Englishmen, accepted a Captain's commission, and agreed to sail upon a
certain day in the Portuguese Service.
His father, Colonel De La Fléchère, refused to sanction the step, or
to supply him with the money he requested for the enterprise.
"I will go without it," he resolved, and counted the hours to the
sailing of the man-o'-war.
A day or two before the appointed date a maid, who was serving him
with breakfast, clumsily dropped the tea-kettle upon his leg, scalding
him so severely that he had to take to his bed. While there the ship
sailed, and in view of Fletcher's later life, it is a striking fact
that she was never heard of again.
Though desperately disappointed, Fletcher was as keen as ever on
becoming a soldier. He returned to Nyon, and, to his unbounded
delight, learned that his uncle had procured him a commission in the
Dutch Service, of which he was a Colonel.
Eagerly he made his way to Flanders, grudging the days of travel which
kept him out of his ambition. Bent though he was in rough-hewing his
way according to his desire, Providence was surely shaping for him an
end other than he planned. On his arrival Fletcher found that peace
was concluded; his soldiering capabilities were no longer required.
Almost immediately his uncle died, and the door into the military
profession seemed closed to him for ever.