By Conduct and Courage Part 34

"I beg to report myself as having come on board, sir. I am, or rather was, a midshipman on board the _Tartar_. I have just escaped from Verdun."

"Do you really mean it?" the lieutenant said. "I thought only one or two English prisoners had ever made their escape from there."

"That is so, sir, and I am one of the fortunate ones."

"But how on earth have you managed to pa.s.s right through France?"

"I was detained three months at Toulon, sir, and there was allowed to buy some French books. I was then a month on the way to Verdun, and five months there. During that time I practised French incessantly, and picked up enough to pa.s.s muster. At last, thanks to a French girl, I succeeded in getting a disguise and climbing over the wall, and pa.s.sed through France as a pedlar with wares made by the prisoners."

"Come with me to the captain's cabin. He will, I am sure, be glad to hear your story. How were you captured?"

"In the attack the _Tartar_ made on a battery on one of the Isles d'Hyeres I was shot through the leg and left behind in the retreat."

"Yes, I heard of that affair, and a most unfortunate one it was. You caught it hot there, and no mistake!"

The captain listened to the story with great interest, and then said: "Well, Mr. Gilmore, I congratulate you very heartily on getting out of that terrible prison. I am rather short of officers, and will rate you as midshipman until I have an opportunity of sending you home. I have no doubt your brother officers will manage to rig you out."

The lieutenant went out with Will and introduced him to the officers of the ship, to whom he had again to tell the tale of his adventure. "Now come down below to our berth," the senior midshipman said, "and we will see what we can do to rig you out. We lost one of our number the other day, and I have no doubt the purser's clerk will let you take what you require out of his kit if you give him a bill on your paymaster."

Fortunately the clothes fitted Will, so he took over the whole of the effects, as there was sufficient standing to his account on the _Tartar_ to pay for them, in addition to the pay that would accrue during the time of his captivity.

He learned that they were on their way to the Texel, where they were to cruise backwards and forwards to watch the flotilla of boats that Napoleon was acc.u.mulating there for the invasion of England. It was arduous work, for the heavy fogs rendered it necessary to use the greatest caution, as there were many dangerous shoals and currents in the vicinity.

One dark night, when they thought that they were in deep water, the ship grounded suddenly. The tide was running out, and though they did everything in their power they could not get her off.

"If we have but another couple of hours," the first lieutenant said, "we shall float, as the tide will be turning very soon. But it is getting light already, and we are likely to have their gun-boats out in no time."

His antic.i.p.ation turned out correct, for six gun-boats were soon seen making their way out of the Texel. When within range they opened fire. The _Artemis_ replied with such guns as she could bring to bear on them. She suffered a good deal of damage, but the tide had turned and was flowing fast. Hawsers had been run out at the stern and fastened to the capstan, and the bars were now manned, and the sailors put their whole strength into the work. At last there was a movement; the ship quivered from stem to stern, and then slipped off into deep water. A joyous cheer burst from the crew. But they did not waste time. They ran at once to their guns, and opened a broadside fire on the gun-boats. One was disabled and taken in tow by two others; and the rest, finding themselves no match for the frigate, sheered off and re-entered the Texel.

The _Artemis_ continued to cruise to and fro for upwards of a month. One evening the first lieutenant said to Will: "The captain is worried because we were told to expect a messenger with news as to the state of affairs at Amsterdam and in Holland generally, and none has arrived. There is no doubt that they are adding to the number of gun-boats there, and also to the flat-bottomed boats for the conveyance of troops. The delay is most annoying, especially as we have orders to sail for England with the news as soon as we get it, and we are all heartily sick of this dull and dreary work."

"I will volunteer to land and communicate with some of the country-people near Amsterdam," Will said, "if the captain would like it. We know that their sympathies are all with us, and I have no doubt that I could get what information is required. If my offer is accepted I should greatly prefer to go in uniform, for, while I am quite ready to run the risk of being taken prisoner, I have certainly no desire to be captured out of uniform, as I should be liable to be hanged as a spy."

The first lieutenant mentioned the matter to the captain, who at once embraced the offer, for he, too, was sick of the work, in which no honour was to be obtained, and in which the risks were great, as the coast was a dangerous one. He sent for Will and said: "I hear, Mr. Gilmore, that you are willing to volunteer to land and gain information. Have you considered the risks?"

"I know that, of course, there is a certain amount of danger, sir, but do not consider it to be excessive. At any rate I am ready to try it."

"I am very much obliged to you," the captain said, "for we are all anxious to get away from this place; but mind, I cannot but consider that the risk is considerable. With our gla.s.ses we constantly see bodies of hors.e.m.e.n riding along the sands, and have sometimes noticed solitary men, no doubt sentinels; and it is probably because of them that the messenger we expected has not been able to put out. I will give you his address. He lives within half a mile of Amsterdam, in a house near the sh.o.r.e of the Texel. When are you prepared to start?"

"This evening if you wish it, sir."

"Well, I think the sooner you go the better. If you land to-night I will send the boat ash.o.r.e to the same spot to-morrow night. They will lie off two or three hundred yards, and come to your whistle."

"Very well, sir."

Will had no preparations to make for his journey. He received a letter from the captain authorizing the man to give every information in his power to the bearer, and with this in his pocket he took his place in the boat after dark and was rowed towards the sh.o.r.e. The _Artemis_ was four miles from the land when he embarked in the gig, the oars were m.u.f.fled, and the men were enjoined to row with the greatest care when they approached the land. An officer went in charge, and the _Artemis_ was to show a light an hour after they started, so that they could find their way back to her. Will chatted in a whisper to the officer till they were, he judged, within half a mile of the land. Then they rowed on in perfect silence till the keel grated on the sands. At that moment a musket shot was heard from a sand-hill a couple of hundred yards away. Will leapt out and ran at full speed for some little distance, and then threw himself down. The shots were repeated from point to point, and men ran down to the water's edge and fired after the retiring boat.

Presently the noise ceased. Whether he had been seen or not he could not say, but he hoped that, although the sentinel had made out the boat against the slight surf that broke on the beach, he had not been able to see him leave it. He got up cautiously, and, stooping low, moved off until he was quite certain that he was well beyond the line of sentries. Once or twice he heard the galloping of parties of men, evidently attracted by the sound of firing, but none of them came very near him, and he ran on without interruption. In two hours he saw lights before him, and knew that he was approaching Amsterdam. He turned to the right, and went on until he came to a wide sheet of water, which must, he knew, be the Texel. Then he lay down and slept for some hours. At the first gleam of dawn he was on his feet again, and made his way to a farmhouse which exactly agreed with the description that had been given him. He knocked at the door, and it was presently opened by a man in his shirt-sleeves.

"Are you Meinheer Johan Van Duyk?" he asked.

"I am," the man said. "Who are you?"

"I am the bearer of this letter from the captain of the _Artemis_, who had expected you to communicate with him."

"Come in," the man said. "We are early risers here, and it is advisable that no one should see you. Yes," he went on when the door was closed, "I have been trying to communicate, but the cordon of sentries along the sh.o.r.e has been so close, and the watch so vigilant, that it has been quite impossible for me to come out. I suppose you are an officer of that ship?"

"Yes."

"Do you speak Dutch?"

"No, I speak French."

The man read the letter.

"That is all right; I can furnish you with all these particulars when you leave to-night, but of course in that uniform you must lie dark until then. For some reason or other the French have suspicions of me, and they have paid me several visits. Were you seen to land last night?"

"I do not know. They fired on the boat, and I expect they have a shrewd idea that somebody was put on sh.o.r.e."

"In that case," the man said, "it is probable that they will search my house to-day. By this time they know every little corner of it, so I cannot see where I am to conceal you."

"I observed a stack behind your house," suggested Will.

"Yes, there is one."

"Well, if you would at once get a ladder, and take off some of the thatch and make a hole, I could get into it, and you could then replace the thatch long before the soldiers are likely to come out from Amsterdam."

"Yes, I could do that, and I could hand you in a bottle of schnapps and some water and bread and meat."

"That will do very well. I suppose you have men?"

"Yes, I have two, and both of them are true Dutchmen, and may be trusted.

I will give you at once the list of the gun-boats and flat-boats I have made ready to send on the first opportunity. I shall be glad to get it out of the house, for, though it is well hidden, they search so strictly that they might find it. They broke all my wainscots, pulled up the flooring, and almost wrecked the house the last time they came; and I don't suppose they will be less vigilant this time."

He went to the cupboard and brought out some food and drink.

"Now, sir," he said, "if you will eat this I will call up my two men and set to work at once to get your hiding-place made, so that you may be safely lodged in it before any people are about."

Will was by no means sorry to take breakfast. He ate the food leisurely, and just as he had finished Van Duyk came in to say that the place was ready for him.

It was not a large hole, but sufficient to let him lie down at full length under the thatch. He climbed up the ladder the men had used and got into his nest, and after Van Duyk had handed him in the provisions he had promised, the two men set to work with all speed to replace the thatch. It was made thin, so that he had no difficulty in raising it, and could even with his finger make a tiny opening through which he could look. The hay that had been removed to make room for him was carried away and thrown down in the mangers for the cows, so that there was nothing to show that the stack had recently been touched.

Two hours later Will heard the trampling of horses, and two officers, with a troop of cavalry, rode up.

"I bear a warrant to search your house, Van Duyk," Will heard one of them say.

"You have searched it three times already, meinheer, but you can, of course, search it again if you wish. You will certainly find no more now than you did then."