La Vendee Part 10

"They will muster certainly not short of two hundred. Near seven hundred men will follow me into Coron on the evening of the 7th."

"They will find provisions there in plenty--meat, bread, and wine. They are not used to lie soft; they will not grumble at having clean straw to sleep on."

"They shall grumble at nothing, my friend; if your care can supply them with food, well; if not, we will find bread enough among the townsfolk.

There is not a housewife in Coron, who would refuse me the contents of her larder."

"The bullocks are ready for the butcher's axe in the stalls at Durbelliere, please your reverence," said Chapeau, who rode near enough to his master to take a part in the conversation as occasion offered.

"And the stone wine-jars are ready corked. Momont saw to the latter part himself. May the saints direct that the drinking have not the same effect upon our friends that the corking had on Momont, or there will be many sick head-aches in Coron on the next morning."

"There will be too many of us for that, Jacques. Five hundred throats will dispose of much good wine, so as to do but little injury."

"That would be true, your reverence, were not some throats so much wider than others. You will always see that one porker half empties the trough before others have moistened their snouts in the mess."

"We will see to that, Jacques. We will appoint some temperate fellow butler, or rather some strong-fisted fellow, whose thick head much wine will not hurt; though he may swill himself he will not let others do so."

"If it were not displeasing to yourself and to M. Henri, I would undertake all that myself. Each man of the five hundred should have his own share of meat and drink at Coron, and the same again at Doue."

"Will not Jacques be with you?" said the priest, turning round to Henri.

"What should bring him to Coron among my men?"

"He says he has friends here in Echanbroignes, and he has begged that he may be here with them on the evening of the 6th, so as to accompany them into Coron on the 7th. We shall all meet at Doue on the 8th."

"I was thinking, your reverence, if any here were loiterers, as there may be some, I fear; or if there should be any ill inclined to leave their homes, my example might encourage them. I have a liking for the village, and I should feel disgraced were a single able-bodied man to be found near it after the morning of the 7th."

"I trust they will not need any one to remind them of their promise, when they have once pledged themselves to the service of their King,"

said the priest. "However, you will be, doubtless, useful to me at Coron. But, Henri, what will you do without him?"

"Adolphe and I will be together, and will do well. We shall have an absolute barrack at Durbelliere. We shall have above one hundred men in the house. Agatha and the women are at work night and day."

"You have the worst part of the whole affair--the ammunition."

"It is all packed and ready for the carts; a few days since the cellars were half-full of the lead and iron, which we have been casting; they are now, I trust, half-way to Saumur, under Foret's care."

"How many men has he with him?" asked the priest.

"He has all the men from Clisson, from St. Paul's and St. Briulph's-- except a few of Charles' own tenants, who went on forward to join him at Doue, and who have our supply of flags with them, made in the chateau at Clisson. Madame de Lescure and poor Marie have worked their fingers to the bone."

"G.o.d bless them! G.o.d will bless them, for they are working in the spirit which he loves."

"Agatha and Annette, between them, have packed nearly every ounce of gunpowder," said Henri, who could not help boasting of his sister.

"Night and day they have been handling it without regarding for a moment the destruction which the slightest accident might bring upon them."

"It is that spirit, my son, which will enable us to beat twice our own strength in numbers, and ten times our own strength in arms and discipline How many men has Foret with him?"

"Above six hundred. I do not know his exact numbers," said Henri.

"And you, yourself?"

"I shall muster a thousand strong, that is for a certainty; I believe I shall be nearer twelve thousand."

"Let me see--that will be, say two thousand five hundred from the Bocage."

"Oh! more than that your reverence," said Chapeau, "you are not counting M. de Lescure's men, who have gone on with the flags--or the men from Beauprieu who will follow M. d'Elbee, or the men from St. Florent, who will come down with Cathelineau."

"I don't count Beauprieu, or Cholet or St. Florent; there will be two thousand five hundred from our own country, out of three thousand three hundred male adults, that is three men, Henry, out of every four--they cannot at any rate say that the spirit of the people is not with us."

As the priest spoke, they rode into the street of the little village of Echanbroignes, and having stopped at the door of the Mayor's house, Henri and the Cure dismounted, and giving their horses up to Jacques, warmly greeted that worthy civic authority, who came out to meet them.

The appointment of a mayor in every village in France, had been enjoined at an early time in the revolution, and after the death of the King, these functionaries were, generally speaking, strong republicans; but the Vendeans in opposition to the spirit of the revolution, had persisted in electing the Seigneurs, wherever they could get a Seigneur to act as mayor; and, where this was not the case, some person in the immediate employment of the landlord was chosen. This was the case at Echanbroignes, where the agent or intendant of the proprietor was mayor.

He expected the visit which was now paid to him, and having twenty times expressed his delight at the honour which was done him, he got his hat and accompanied his visitors to the door of the church, where with his own hands he commenced a violent a.s.sault on the bell-rope, which hung down in the middle of the porch.

He was ringing the tocsin, which was to call together the people of the village. They also very generally knew who was coming among them on that day, and the purpose for which they were corning; and at the first sound of the bell, all such as intended to shew themselves, came crowding on to the little s.p.a.ce before the church; it was but few who remained at home, and they were mostly those to whom home at the present moment was peculiarly sweet; one or two swains newly married, or just about to be married; one or two fathers, who could hardly bring themselves in these dangerous times to leave their little prattling children, and one or two who were averse to lose the profits of their trade.

In spite of the speedy appearance of his townspeople, the Mayor persisted in his operations on the bell-rope until the perspiration ran down his face. He was sounding the tocsin, and he felt the importance of what he was doing. Every one knew that a tocsin bell to be duly rung, should be rung long and loud--not with a little merry jingle, such as befitted the announcement of a wedding, but in a manner to strike astonishment, if not alarm, into its hearers; and on this occasion great justice was done to the tocsin.

"That will do, M. Mayor; that will do, I think!" said the Cure, "it looks to me as though our friends were all here."

The Mayor gave an awful pull, the bell leapt wildly up, gave one loud concluding flourish, and then was quiet.

"Now, M. Mayor," said the Cure, "you have by heart the few words I gave you, have you not?"

"Indeed, Father Jerome, I have," said the Mayor, "and am not likely to forget them. Let me see--let me see. Now, my friends, will you be quiet a moment while I speak to you. Ambrose Corvelin, will you hold your noisy tongue awhile--perhaps M. de Larochejaquelin, I had better get up on the wall, they will hear me better?"

"Do, M. Mayor, do," said Henri; and the Mayor was lifted on to the low wall which ran round the churchyard, and roared out the following words, at the top of his voice:

"In the holy name of G.o.d, and by command of the King, this parish of Echanbroignes is invited to send as many men as possible to Saumur, to be there, or at any other such place in the neighbourhood as may be appointed, at three o'clock on the afternoon of the 9th of June. And may G.o.d defend the right. Amen!" And having said this, the Mayor jumped off the wall, and the crowd commenced shouting and cheering.

"Wait one moment, and hear me say a few words, my friends," said Henri, springing to the place which the Mayor had just left. "Most of you, I believe, know who I am."

"We do, M Henri," said they. "We do, M. Larochejaquelin. We all know who you are. We know that you are our friend."

"I am very glad you think so," continued he; "for you will know, that if I am your friend, I shall not deceive you. I have come here to ask you to share with me the honour and the danger of restoring his father's kingdom and his father's throne to the son of your murdered King. I have come here to ask you also to a.s.sist me and others, who are your friends, in protecting yourselves, your pastors, your houses, your wives and daughters, from the tyranny and cruelty of the republicans."

"We will!" shouted the crowd. "We will go at once. We will be at Saumur on Wednesday. We will follow M. Larochejaquelin wherever he would lead us."

"You all know Cathelineau," continued Henri; "you all know the good postillion of St. Florent?"

"We do, G.o.d bless him! we do. We all know the Saint of Anjou."

"Come and meet him, my friends, under the walls of Saumur; or rather, I should say, come and meet him within the walls of Saumur. Come and greet the n.o.ble fellows of St. Florent, who have set us so loyal an example. Come and meet the brave men of Fontenay, who trampled on the dirty tricolour, and drove out General Coustard from his covert, like a hunted fox. He is now at Saumur; we will turn him out from thence."

"We will! we will! We will hang up Coustard by the heels."

"We will strip him rather of his spurs and his epaulettes, of his sword and blue coat, and send him back to the Convention, that they may see what will become of the heroes, whom they send to seek for glory in La Vendee. Thanks, my friends; thanks for your kindness. I will lead you to no dangers which I will not share with you. You shall suffer no hardship of which I will not partake. I will look for no glory in which you shall not be my partners."

During the time that the Mayor had been giving his invitation to the people, and Henri had been speaking to them, Father Jerome had been busily employed with Jacques Chapeau over six or seven little lists which he held in his hand. These were lists of the names of able-bodied men, which had been drawn out by the Cure of the parish, and Jacques had already marked those of one or two whom he had found to be absent, and among them the names of Michael Stems' two stalwart sons. Father Jerome again handed the lists to Jacques, and as Henri descended from the wall, amid the greeting of the populace, he ascended it, and gave them a little clerical admonition.

"My children," said he, "it delights my heart to find that so few of you are absent from us this morning--from the whole parish there are but five, I believe, who have not readily come forward to proclaim their zeal for their G.o.d, their King, and their Church: those five, I doubt not, will be here when we proceed to check the names. Let it not be said that there was one recreant in Echanbroignes--one man afraid to answer when called for by his country. Is there danger in the b.l.o.o.d.y battle we have before us?--let us all share it, and it will be lighter. Is it a grievous thing for you to leave your wives and your children?--let no man presume to think that he will be happier than his neighbours, for that man shall a.s.suredly be the most miserable. It is possible that some of you may leave your bodies beneath the walls of Saumur, be it so; will you complain because the Creator may require from some of you the life which he has given? Is it not enough for you to know, that he who falls fighting with this blessed symbol before his eyes, shall that night rest among the angels of Heaven?" and the Cure held up on high, above the people, a huge cross, which he had had brought to him out of the church.

"G.o.d has blessed you, my children, in giving you the sacred privilege of fighting in His cause. You would indeed be weak--senseless as the brutes--unfeeling as the rocks--aye, impious as the republicans, had you not replied to the summons as you have done; but you have shown that you know your duty. I see, my children, that you are true Vendeans. I bless you now, and on tomorrow week, I will be among you before the walls of Saumur."