From Powder Monkey to Admiral Part 52

The order to march was given. The two officers went first, followed by Brown and Tom supporting Jack, and the gendarmes marched on either side of them with their bayonets fixed.

Rayner and Oliver took the bearings of the house and remarked the country as they went along. They found that they were proceeding inland, and on inquiring of the sergeant he said that they were going to a place called Le Trou, where other English prisoners were confined.

"Are there many of them?" inquired Rayner.

"Yes," answered the Frenchman, "some hundreds, I believe; for one of our frigates captured a ship of yours not long ago, and most of the officers and men who escaped death were sent there."

Rayner in vain endeavoured to ascertain what English ship was spoken of, for he had heard of none taken by the French of late years. The sergeant, however, was positive, though he did not know either the name of the ship or the exact time of the capture.

"I suspect he has heard some old story, and he repeats it for the sake of annoying us," observed Oliver.

"We must not let him suppose that we are cast down. We'll try to learn how far off this Le Trou is."

Rayner questioned the sergeant.

"He says it is three days' journey. We shall have to stop at different houses on the road. That he must first take us to the mayor, or some official, who may perhaps send us to the governor at Leogane, by whom we shall be examined, and if found to be spies, we shall be shot."

"Then Le Trou is not our first destination, and much will depend upon the character of the mayor before whom we are taken," observed Oliver.

As they still continued in a northerly direction, they knew that they were not going to Leogane, which lay to the westward, nor were they increasing their distance from the Spanish border.

Towards evening they reached a house of some size built, as are most of those in the country, on one storey, raised on a platform, with a broad veranda and wide projecting eaves. At one end, however, was a circular tower of considerable height.

"Here we shall stop, and there will be your lodging after you have been examined by Monsieur le Maire," said the sergeant, pointing to the tower.

They conducted them up the steps to a hall, at one end of which was a baize-covered table, with a large chair and several smaller chairs on either side.

After some time a little old gentleman in a red nightcap and flowered dressing-gown, with slippered feet, and spectacles on nose, entered the hall, followed by another in black, apparently his clerk. Two other persons also came in, and took their seats at the table, while the clerk began to nibble his pen and shuffle his papers.

The old gentleman, in a squeaky voice, inquired who were the prisoners now brought before him, and of what crime they were accused.

The sergeant at once stepped up to the table, and giving a military salute, informed Monsieur le Maire how he had heard of spies being in the country, and how he had captured them at the house of Madame La Roche.

"But if they are Englishmen, they cannot speak French, and we require an interpreter," said the mayor. "Do any of you, my friends, understand the language of those detestable islanders?"

No one replied. After the remark of the mayor, it might seem a disgrace even to speak English.

Rayner, anxious not to prolong the business, on hearing what was said, stepped up to the table, and observed that, as he spoke French, he should be happy to explain how he and his companions came into the country.

He then gave a brief account of the circ.u.mstances which led to the shipwreck, and what had since occurred. He was sorry anybody present should entertain ill-feelings towards the English, as for his part he liked France, and had a warm regard for many Frenchmen.

Even the mayor was impressed, and a pleased smile came over his weazened features.

"I am ready to believe the account you give me, and that you certainly are not spies," he said. "The body of your countryman found on the beach proves that you were shipwrecked. Still, as you are in the country, we must consider you as prisoners of war, and treat you as such. For this night you must remain here, and to-morrow I will consider whether I will send you to Leogane or Le Trou, where you will wait with others of your countrymen to be exchanged."

After some further remarks the examination terminated, and Rayner and Oliver, with the three seamen, were marched off under a guard to the tower.

It was nearly dark, and they were conducted by the light of a lantern up two flights of steps to a room in an upper storey. As far as they could judge, it was furnished with several pallet beds, a table, some chairs, and stools.

"You are to remain here until to-morrow morning, messieurs, when I shall know in what direction to proceed. Monsieur le Maire has ordered you some food, and you will, I hope, not complain of your treatment," said the sergeant, as he closed the door, which he locked and bolted. They heard him descending.

"We are better off than I should have expected," remarked Rayner, surveying the room by the light of the lantern which the sergeant had left.

"The point is, Are we able to escape?" said Oliver.

"You mind, sir, how we got out of the prison in France, and I don't see why we shouldn't get out of this place," observed Jack, going to one of the two narrow windows which the room contained, and looking forth.

They were strongly-barred. The night was dark, and he could only see the glimmer of a light here and there in the distance. It was impossible also to ascertain the height of the window from the ground.

"We will certainly try to get out," said Rayner, joining Jack at the window. "Though I fear that you with your bruises and battered ribs will be unable to make your way on foot across the country."

"Don't mind me, sir," answered Jack. "I have no pain to speak of. If the worst comes to the worst, I can but remain behind. I shall be content if you and Mr Crofton and Tom and Brown make your escape."

"No, no, my brave fellow," said Rayner, "we will not leave you behind.

But before we talk of what we will do, we must try what we can do.

These bars seem very strongly fixed into the stone, and may resist our attempts to get them out."

"There's nothing like trying, however," observed Oliver. "We must get away to-night, for if the mayor decides on sending us either to Leogane or Le Trou we shall have a very poor chance afterwards."

They tried the bars, but all of them were deeply imbedded in the stone.

"Where there's a will there's a way," observed Jack. "We may dig out the lead with our knives, and if we can get one bar loose we shall soon wrench off the ends of the others, or bend them back enough to let us creep through. Brown wouldn't make much of bending one of these iron bars, would you, Sam?"

"I'll try what I can do," said the seaman, "especially if it's to get us our liberty."

"Then, not to lose time, I'll make a beginning, if you'll let me, sir,"

said Jack; and he got out his knife, but just as he had commenced operations, steps were heard ascending the stairs. The door opened, and one of the gendarmes appeared, followed by a negro carrying a basket of provisions.

"Monsieur le Maire does not want to starve you, and so from his bountiful kindness has sent you some supper," said the former.

"We are much obliged to Monsieur the Mayor, but we should be still more so if he would set us at liberty," said Rayner.

Meanwhile the black boy was spreading the table with the contents of the basket.

The gendarme laughed. "No, no, we are not apt to let our caged birds fly," he answered. "I hope, messieurs, you will enjoy your suppers, and I would advise you then to take some sleep to be ready to start early in the morning, as soon as it is decided in what direction you are to go."

Rayner thanked the gendarme, who, followed by the black boy, went out of the room, bolting and barring the door behind him.

The men now drew their benches to the table, and Rayner and Oliver, taking their places, fell to with the rest, there being no necessity, under such circ.u.mstances, for keeping up official ceremony.

Supper was quickly got through, and each man stowed away the remainder of the provisions in his pockets. While they went to work with their knives at the bars, Rayner and Oliver examined the beds. They were thankful to find that the canvas at the bottom was lashed by pieces of tolerably stout rope. These, with the aid of the ticking cut into strips, would form a line of sufficient length and strength to enable them to descend, should they succeed in getting out the bars. This, however, was not easily to be accomplished. When the officers went to the window, they found that Jack and his companions had made little progress. The bars fitted so closely into the holes that there was but a small quant.i.ty of lead, and without a hammer and chisel it seemed impossible to make the hole sufficiently large to move the bars so as to allow Brown to exert his strength upon them. If the two centre perpendicular bars could be got out, the lowest horizontal bar might be sent up. This would afford ample room for the stoutest of the party to get through.

"We've got out of a French prison before, sir, and we'll get out now,"

said Jack, working away.

"Yes, but we were small boys then, and you, Jack, and I, would find it a hard matter to get through the same sized hole now that we could then,"

observed Rayner.

"That's just it, sir. If two small boys could get out of a French prison, I am thinking that five well-nigh grown men can manage the job.

We'll do it, sir, never fear. If this stone was granite it might puzzle us, but it's softer than that by a long way, and I have already cut out some of it with my knife, though, to be sure, it does blunt it considerably."