Marcus: the Young Centurion Part 28

Exciting days followed, during which Marcus began to learn lessons of what it meant to advance into an enemy's country, the necessity of being constantly on the alert, where everyone was unfriendly, and to loiter behind the main body meant being cut off, leaving the loiterer's place in the column empty.

It was all new to Marcus, as those days pa.s.sed on, and his captain followed exactly in the track of the army that had gone before, working his men hard, practising various evolutions, keeping them on the alert and ready for action at a moment's notice.

It was on one of these occasions, many days after their start, that towards evening a halt was called just after the column had moved out from a narrow mountain ravine, such a place as had presented plenty of opportunities for the enemy, had they been near, to descend from one of the side gorges and attack, to the cutting off of the column.

And all this had necessitated careful scouting and watchfulness on the part of the leader. But at last it seemed as if they had ridden out into safety, a wide, open plain stretching before them, suitable for forming camp for the night, where there was no risk of ambush or surprise.

A murmur of satisfaction ran through the column as posts were set, fires lit, and the men began settling down. Marcus' horses had given up a good deal of their wildness and begun to form a kind of friendship with Lupe, who had narrowly escaped execution, consequent upon the effect that he had had upon Marcus' chariot pair, who, whenever he came near, had exhibited a frantic determination to tear off at full speed, and this generally where the ground was of the very roughest character and the destruction of the chariot would have been certain.

It had been a difficulty, but, like other difficulties better or worse, it had been mastered, and, instead of meeting his death, the constant training, through which the chariots and hors.e.m.e.n had pa.s.sed, resulted in the above-named friendly feeling, and now, at an advance, the dog took his place just in front of the fiery little steeds and trotted before them, while when they halted, he took it as a matter of course that one or other of the beautiful little animals should stretch out its arched neck, nuzzle among his bristly hairs, and at times close its teeth upon the back of the dog's neck and attempt to raise him from the ground.

"I should never have thought he would have stood it, my lad," said Serge; "but he has found out it means friendly, or else he'd bark and let them have his teeth in turn."

This was said as the st.u.r.dy driver was freeing the pair from their place on each side of the chariot pole and twisting up their traces, for night was falling fast, and the men's fires were beginning to twinkle here and there.

"Tired, boy?" said the old soldier, who was carefully removing the dust from his armour.

"Horribly," replied Marcus. "I want to lie down and sleep. Oh, how I can sleep to-night!"

The words had hardly pa.s.sed his lips when there was the blare of a trumpet, followed by another and another, with the result that it seemed as if a nest of hornets had been disturbed, for a loud buzzing filled the darkening air, leaders' voices rose giving orders, and there was a murmur punctuated, so to speak, by the clinking of armour, the rattle of weapons against shields, and the whinnying and squealing of horses, accompanied by angry cries from those who were harnessing them again.

"And I was so tired, Serge," said Marcus, as he finished hurrying on his armour. "What does it mean?"

"An alarm or an advance; I can't say which, boy. But be smart. We may get our orders at any moment."

"I shall be ready directly. There, he has done harnessing the horses.

Down, Lupe! Quiet! Keep away from their heads."

The dog crouched in front, just beyond the reach of one of the horses, waiting patiently for what was next to come.

"Ah, you are the best off, after all," said Marcus, "You just get up on all four legs, give yourself a shake, and you are ready for anything."

The dog looked up, gave the speaker a friendly growl, and then let his head rest again upon his extended paws, while Marcus walked to the side of his chariot horses to pat and caress their arched necks, friendly advances which were now accepted by the savage little animals without any attempts to bite, while he could pa.s.s behind them now without having to beware of a lightning-like kick.

"All ready?" growled Serge, who had just loosened the throwing spears he had laid in the bottom of the chariot.

"Oh yes, I am ready; but can't I lie down and sleep till the order comes to advance?"

"No, you can't," growled Serge. "A soldier shouldn't want to sleep when he is waiting for the trumpet to sound."

"Oh, I don't know," said Marcus, peevishly. "I should have thought he ought to s.n.a.t.c.h a little sleep whenever he could."

"That's right," said the old soldier, grumpily. "But he can't now."

"Why?" said Marcus, with a yawn.

"Because the foot soldiers are starting now, and the horse went scouting on ten minutes ago. I wonder we haven't got our orders before this."

"Why, we shouldn't have been ready if they had come," said Marcus.

"No," growled Serge. "We with the chariots are horribly slow. It's all through having to depend upon these driver fellows and our horses having to drag a clumsy car at their heels. Now look here, I am beginning to think that the enemy's afoot coming down to surprise us, and, if so, we with the chariots shall have our turn."

"What makes you think that?" cried Marcus, shaking off his drowsiness at these words.

"I don't know, boy, only I do. In with you. Now we are off."

The driver was already in his place as Marcus sprang into the chariot, and seized one of the throwing spears, to be followed directly by Serge; for an order rang out, there was a peculiar sound as the horses started at the first shaking of their reins and the guttural cries of their drivers, and then, in a fairly well-kept line, some twenty of the war-like cars, drawn by their snorting horses, advanced in line over the moderately smooth plain in the direction already taken by the foot and horse. But as they nearly came within touch, the mounted figure of the captain was seen facing them in front, where he sat ready to give a fresh order, when the line of chariots broke, as it were, in two, half pa.s.sing him to left, the other half to right, to take up position on the flanks of the infantry, which was about a couple of hundred yards in advance.

The next minute from out of the darkness ahead there came faintly the sound of shouts, accompanied by the beating of hoofs, and a horseman tore up to the captain, to make some communication which caused him to set spurs to his horse and gallop forward, while Marcus, as his chariot rolled on, rested his hand on the front and peered forward over his horses' heads into the bank of gloom which now grew more and more alive with sound.

There was the heavy tramp, tramp of armed men, followed by the sudden rush and thunder of hoofs, while where he stood there was the rattle of the chariot wheels and the cries of the drivers as they urged their horses on.

"How are you, boy?" said Serge, hoa.r.s.ely, with his lips close to his young master's ear.

"Oh, I'm well enough," was the reply, "but I can't see. I want to know what we are going to do."

"Don't you want to lie down and have a sleep?" said Serge, grimly.

"Sleep? No! I want to understand what's going on."

"What for?" growled Serge. "What's it got to do with you?"

"What has it got to do with me?" cried Marcus, without turning his head.

"Yes; what's it got to do with you? That's the captain's business. We are advancing slowly, and by and by when the enemy has pa.s.sed through our cavalry, and delivered its attack upon our foot, and they are coming on--I can hear them hurrah, boy! This isn't a false alarm. Hear that shouting?"

"Hear it, yes!"

"That's the enemy, and they are very strong too."

"How do you know?"

"I can hear them, boy."

"Oh, then why don't we gallop forward and attack?" cried Marcus, excitedly.

"Because it arn't our time. There! Hear that?"

"Yes; what does it mean?" cried Marcus, as a dull, low, clattering sound was heard.

"Why, you ought to know by now. That's our foot-men joining shields together to receive the enemy's horse, which must have scattered ours.

They are driven back, and they will come round behind us if I am not mistaken."

"What, have they run away?" cried Marcus.

"Oh no, boy. Bent back to right and left. They were taken by surprise, I should say, and gave way. That's the art of war. And now! Hark at them! The enemy's coming down with a rush upon our infantry to cut them up and sweep us all away."

"What!" cried Marcus, wildly. "And we in the chariots are ambling on like this! Oh, if I could only see something besides that line in front!"