By Conduct and Courage Part 30

Where there is a house there must be water. Mr. Gilmore and I will go to the right. If any of you find water, shout; we will do the same. But whether you find water or not, come down to the boat in three hours' time.

Thirsty or not thirsty we must row back to the town this evening. Now, Mr.

Gilmore, we will walk along the beach until we come to a path, or at any rate some place where we can climb. I hope, as we get higher, the fog will become less dense."

For an hour they groped their way along the foot of the cliff, and then, finding a place where it seemed not so steep as elsewhere, began to climb.

When they had reached a height of some three or four hundred feet they emerged from the fog into bright sunshine. Below them stretched a white misty lake. On all sides rose hill above hill, for the most part covered to the top by foliage.

"I see some smoke rising from among the trees over there to the right, sir, a mile or a mile and a half away."

"I will take your word for it, Mr. Gilmore. As you know, my sight is not at all in good condition. Let us be off at once, for the very thought of water makes me thirstier than ever."

Half an hour's walking brought them to the hut of a peasant. The owner came to the door as they approached. He was a rough-looking man in a long jacket made of goat-skin, coa.r.s.e trousers reaching down to the knee, and his legs bound with long strips of wadding. "Who are you," he asked in his own language, "and how come you here?" As neither of the officers understood one word of the patois of the country they could only make signs that they wanted something to eat and drink. The peasant understood, and beckoned to them to come into the hut. As they entered he gave some instructions to a boy, who went out and presently returned with a jug of water. While the officers were quenching their thirst the boy went out again, and the man brought from a cupboard some black bread and goats'-milk cheese, which he set before them.

"I don't altogether like that man's movements, sir. He crawls about as if he were trying to put away as much time as possible. The boy, too, has disappeared."

"Perhaps he has gone to get some more water," Nelson suggested.

"He could have gone a dozen times by now, sir. It is possible that he takes us for French officers. A peasant living in such a spot as this, sixteen or twenty miles from a town, might not even know that there are English troops in the country."

Having satisfied their hunger and thirst, they tried to make the man understand that they were willing to buy all the bread and cheese he had, together with a large jar for carrying water.

The man showed a prodigious amount of stupidity, and although his eyes glistened when Nelson produced gold, he still seemed unable to understand that, having had as much as they could eat, they wanted to buy more. At last Nelson, in a pa.s.sion, said: "Look here, my man, there is a sovereign, which is worth at least twenty times your miserable store of bread and cheese. If you don't choose to accept the money you needn't, but we will take the food whether or no," and he pointed to his store. As he spoke there was a sound of footsteps outside, and a moment later the door was darkened by the entry of a dozen wild figures, who flung themselves upon the two officers before they had time to make any effort to defend themselves.

In vain Nelson attempted in French and Italian to make himself understood.

The men would not listen, but poured out objurgations upon them whenever they attempted to speak. The word Francais frequently occurred in their speeches, mixed up with what were evidently expressions of hatred.

"This is awkward, Mr. Gilmore," Nelson said quietly as they lay bound together in a corner of the hut. "A more unpleasant situation I was never in."

"I was in one as bad once before. I was captured by a band of negroes in Cuba, and they were preparing to burn me alive when I managed to escape."

"I should not be at all surprised if that is what these gentlemen are preparing to do now, Gilmore. I am sorry I have brought you into this."

"It cannot be helped, sir," Will said cheerfully; "and if they do kill us, my loss to the nation will be as nothing compared with yours. There is no doubt they take us for French officers who have lost their way in the mountains, and they are preparing to punish us for the misdeeds of our supposed countrymen. There are only two things that could help us out of this plight so far as I can see. One is the arrival of a priest; I suppose they have priests hereabouts with a knowledge of French or Italian. The other is the appearance on the scene of our boat's crew."

"Both are very unlikely, I am afraid. The crew, you know, all went the other way."

"Yes, sir; but it is just possible that they may have seen the smoke of this hut also, and be making their way here. Though I looked carefully on all sides I could see no other signs of life."

"It is possible," Nelson said; "but for my part I think the priest the more likely solution, if there is to be a solution. Well, it is a comfort to know that we have eaten a hearty meal and shall not die hungry or thirsty. It was foolish of us to come up here alone, knowing what wild savages these people in the mountains are. It would have been better to have gone on suffering ten or twelve hours longer, and to have made our way to the fleet by following close in by the foot of the rocks."

"I don't think we could have done it in that time, sir. We should have had to keep within an oar's-length of the rocks, and so must have progressed very slowly. Besides, we might have staved in the boat at any moment."

"That is so. Still, we were only drifting for about twenty-four hours, and we shouldn't have taken so long to go back. Even twenty-four hours of hunger and thirst would have been better than this. It is useless, however, to think of that now."

In the meantime the men were engaged in a noisy talk, each one apparently urging his own view. At last they seemed to come to an agreement, and four of them, going to the corner, dragged the two officers to their feet, and hauled them out of the cottage. Then they bound them to trees seven or eight feet apart, and piled f.a.ggots round them. When this was done they amused themselves by dancing wildly round their prisoners, taunting them and heaping execrations upon them.

"The sooner this comes to an end the better," Nelson said quietly. "Well, Mr. Gilmore, we have both the satisfaction of knowing that we have done our duty to our country. After all, it makes no great difference to a man whether he dies in battle or is burnt, except that the burning method lasts a little longer. But it won't last long in our case, I fancy. Do you notice that these f.a.ggots are all lately cut? We'll probably be suffocated before the flames touch us."

"I see that, sir, and am very grateful for it."

The dance was finished, and two men brought brands from the cottage.

"Listen, Mr. Gilmore," said Nelson at this moment. "I think I can hear footsteps; I am sure I heard a branch crack."

Brands were applied to the f.a.ggots, but these were so green that at first they would not catch. At this, several of the peasants rushed into the cottage, and were returning with larger brands, when some figures suddenly appeared at the edge of the little clearing in the direction from which Nelson had heard sounds. They stood silent for a minute, looking at the scene, and then with a loud shout they rushed forward with drawn cutla.s.ses and attacked the natives. Four or five of the peasants were cut down, and the remainder fled in terror.

"Thank G.o.d, your honour, we have arrived in time!" the c.o.xswain said as he cut Nelson's bonds, while another sailor liberated Will.

"Thank G.o.d indeed! Now, my lads, we have not a moment to lose. Those fellows are sure to gather a number of their comrades at the nearest village, and I have no wish to see any more of them. Go into that hut; you will find enough bread and cheese there to give you each a meal, and there is a spring of water close by."

The sailors scattered at once, and were not long in discovering the spring. There they knelt down and drank long and deeply. Then they went into the cottage and devoured the bread and cheese, which, although far from being sufficient to satisfy them, at least appeased their hunger for a time. After they had finished they all went back to the spring for another drink. Then, taking some bread and cheese and a large jug of water for the boat keepers, they followed Nelson and Will from the place which had so nearly proved fatal to their officers. They went down the hill at a brisk pace until they reached the top of the fog. After this they proceeded more cautiously. They had no longer any fear of pursuit, for, once in the fog, it would require an army to find them. At last they reached the strand and found the boat. When the two men who had been left in charge had finished their share of the food and water, Nelson said:

"Now, my lads, we must row on. If we keep close to the foot of the rocks, that is, within fifty yards of them, the noise of the waves breaking will be a sufficient guide to prevent our getting too far out to sea."

"May I be so bold as to ask how far we'll have to row?" the c.o.xswain said.

"That is more than I can tell you. It may be a little over eleven miles, it may be twice or even three times that distance. Now, however, that you have had something to eat and drink you can certainly row on until we reach the ships."

"That we can, sir. We feel like new men again, though we did feel mighty bad before."

"So did we, lads. Now it is of no use your trying to row racing pace; take a long, quiet stroke, and every hour or two rest for a few minutes."

"It will be dark before very long," Nelson remarked quietly to Will when the men began to row; "but fortunately that will make no difference to us, as we are guided not by our eyes but by our ears. There is more wind than there was, and on a still night like this we can hear the waves against the rocks half a mile out, so there is no fear of our losing our way, and it will be hard indeed if we don't reach the ships before daylight. The boat is travelling about four knots an hour. If the current has not carried us a good deal farther than we imagine, five or six hours ought to take us there."

The hours pa.s.sed slowly. Sometimes the men had to row some distance seaward to avoid projecting headlands. At last, however, about twelve o'clock, Will exclaimed:

"I hear a ripple, sir, like the water against the bow of a ship."

"Easy all!" Nelson said at once.

The order was obeyed, and all listened intently. Presently there was a general exclamation as the sound of footsteps was heard ahead.

"That is a marine pacing up and down on sentry. Give way, lads."

In a few minutes a black ma.s.s rose up close in front of them. The c.o.xswain put the helm down, and the boat glided along the side of the ship. As she did so there came the sharp challenge of a sentry:

"Who goes there? Answer, or I fire."

"It is all right, my man; it is Captain Nelson."

"Wait till I call the watch, Captain Nelson," the sentry replied in the monotonous voice of his kind.

"Very well, sentry, you are quite right to do your duty."

In half a minute an officer's voice was heard above, and a lantern was shown over the side.

"Is it you, sir?" he asked.

"Yes; what ship is this?"