CHAPTER VIII.
AT the door of the hovel I found Moric, with one of the men who had been wounded in the arm, and an old woman, who was bandaging up the injured limb. The first exclamation of my worthy lieutenant was, "You will find them both in there, sir; and a good ransom ought you to have for that fair youth. He is the Seigneur de Blays. The old gentleman is with the lad, who is badly hurt, and a surgeon too; but little good will they do him, I fear. He is drilled like a keyhole, and if there was any wind it would whistle through him."
Without questioning him farther, though not comprehending one half of what he meant, I entered the hut; when, to my utter astonishment, I found young Martin Vern stretched upon the straw which had served me during the previous night for a bed, and his uncle standing behind him, with a most anxious and sorrowful countenance, while a surgeon, with a large pair of forceps, was drawing something, which proved to be a bullet, from the wound in his side. The young man bore the operation, which must have been extremely painful, with the utmost fortitude and resolution, shutting his teeth hard, so as to prevent even a groan from escaping.
Martin Vern looked at me as I entered somewhat reproachfully; but at that moment the surgeon, holding up the bullet in his forceps, exclaimed, "Here it is, here it is!" And on my asking some questions concerning the poor youth, he proceeded to pour forth upon me a quantity of barbarous terms, to explain the precise course the ball had taken, and the parts external and internal which had been wounded.
I cut him short as soon as possible, thinking I perceived through all these technicalities that the surgeon had hopes the youth would get better, and wished to give importance to the cure.
"Some better bed," he said, "must be provided for him immediately." And he added that, if we would see for one, he would wait and superintend the movement of the wounded man himself. I immediately turned to see what could be done, and was followed by the merchant himself; who, as soon as we were out of the door, shook his head ruefully at me, saying, "Ah! Monsieur de Cerons, this was not kind of you, when you knew how much I wished to keep that boy from this warlike folly of his."
"My good friend," I replied, "You are entirely mistaken in supposing that I had any share in this matter. On my honour, I was not aware who it was that fought so gallantly beside me till I entered the hut this moment. He gave me no intimation of it; and I did not even know that I had an additional man in the field."
"I never knew anything of it," cried Moric Endem, who had heard our conversation. "I never knew anything of it till we were just going to march, and then he came up to me, and besought me, for pity's sake, to let him go with us. He had bought himself a casque and a cuirass; and I pushed him in anywhere into the ranks, thinking it a devil of a pity that a fine, high-spirited boy should be balked, and made a mere merchant of; to sit stupifying himself over a tall book, or selling silks and satins by the yard, when he is as proper a youth as ever was seen to take a lance in his hand and meet the enemy."
Martin Vern shook his head with a melancholy "What has come of it?" and added, "Well, Monsieur de Cerons, I am glad at least you had no share in it; for I owe you so much gratitude for different things, that I would rather repay you in any other way than think you had done me an unkindness to make the balance even. What I am to do now I cannot tell. Business of infinite importance, not only to myself, but to the prince and the admiral, calls me immediately to Bordeaux; and yet I cannot bear to leave this boy, whom his dying father placed under my charge not two months ago, without any one to take care of him or attend him."
"Leave him to me, my good friend; leave him to me," I said. "I will treat him, depend upon it, as a brother. To move him far now is out of the question; several days must elapse before Angoulême falls, as they have determined upon making another breach, and we have but five cannon in the army, two of which are but bastards. By the time the place is taken, he will be better able to bear moving; and no care shall be wanting on my part, I can assure you. You yourself will be back ere long, and, I trust, will find him better in all respects."
Martin Vern pressed my hand in his; and, thanking me with the deep, low-spoken words of true gratitude, he suffered it to be as I wished. At my suggestion, we sought for and were fortunate enough to find one of those beds which are fitted to horse-litters, which the merchant immediately bought in case that it should be necessary to move the wounded man to any distance. In it he was carried almost immediately to the house where Martin Vern had taken up his own abode, and which his wealth had ensured should be of a far superior description. There he placed in my hands the large sum of five hundred crowns for his nephew's expenses, and the fifty which he had promised for my escort. He besought me earnestly to spare nothing which could tend to the youth's recovery, to buy horses immediately to carry the litter in case of need; to ensure the constant attendance of the surgeon; and to see him myself as frequently as I could.
I said and did all that I could to comfort the worthy merchant; and a few words spoken to him in a low tone by his nephew ere he departed, telling him that, though I did not know who he was, I had saved his life by bearing him away from the breach, seemed to console good Martin Vern greatly, and give him greater confidence to leave the youth in my charge.
When all this was settled he bade him adieu, and mounted his horse to depart. He paused a moment to grasp my hand in his, and then, just as he was setting out, said, "The time will come, Monsieur de Cerons--the time will come, I am quite sure and confident, when I shall have an opportunity of showing my gratitude for all that you have done for me and mine."
As soon as he was gone I bethought me of my prisoner, whose situation for the time had quite passed from my mind; and, hastening back where I had left Moric Endem, I found my worthy lieutenant busily engaged in making preparations for rendering the hovel a somewhat more comfortable dwelling. As, however, it had been now arranged that I was to take up my abode in the house which had been hired for the young merchant, the adorning of what he termed my lodging was no longer necessary; and, on inquiring after the prisoner, I found that they had put him in a sort of back shed, where the old woman I had before seen was even then in the act of dressing the wound on his head.
On entering, I found a sentry at the door, and the prisoner with his hands tied, and very indignant at the treatment he had received. I was informed, however, that he had twice endeavoured to make his escape, and I therefore thought that few apologies were necessary. In justification of his conduct, he said that he had never surrendered, rescue or no rescue; and in consequence, before I would suffer his hands to be untied, I made him pronounce these words, something against his will. Although he was undoubtedly brave and high-spirited, I never yet saw man more full of loud-tongued bravado: and I thought that, before he had vented his indignation, he would literally have tried to cut my throat in the shed. I listened to all he had to say with much more coolness than he seemed to think respectful, and merely replied while I uncovered my arm, that the old woman might exercise her skill upon me also, "Sir, you are a prisoner, and therefore privileged to rail."
Before his hands had been untied for five minutes, however, he approached, looked at my arm, and said, "That's an awkward wound. How did you come by that, sir!"
"It is your handiwork, my good friend," I replied. "It was well it didn't go through my body."
"Indeed, indeed!" he cried, rubbing his hands; and I must say I never saw a person more heartily rejoiced at anything in my life than he was that he had given me the wound under which I was then suffering. "Well," he added at length, "I suppose I must forgive you for tying my hands, after such a wound as that; and now tell me, at what ransom do you intend to put me?"
"I know who you are," I replied, "and all about you; and I must say you have shown yourself a gallant soldier, though somewhat rash withal. You know of what consequence you are as well as I do, or better, and therefore I shall leave you to name your own ransom; so now let us see what you value yourself at."
I was not wrong in my calculation. To say the truth, I had been very much puzzled at what rate to fix his ransom myself; but, in trusting to his vanity to do it, I knew I could not be very far wrong. He hesitated, however, and said, "If you know who I am and all about me, you had better fix it."
"I know so far about you," I replied, "That you are the Seigneur de Blaye; and the old and ordinary custom is, that a lord's ransom is one year's revenue, besides what his captor may think fit to exact on account of the prisoner's reputation in arms. You know your revenues better than I do, and your reputation in arms better than I do, and I therefore leave it to you to fix it yourself, being sure that so brave a man must be a man of honour."
"I see, sir," he said, "that I have fallen into the hands of a gentleman, and therefore will deal frankly with you. My revenues are four thousand crowns a year; but since my uncle's death I have somewhat hurt my means. I trust you will, therefore, take the four thousand without exacting anything more."
So surprised, so astounded, I may say, I was at the very name and idea of receiving such a sum, in consequence of my first day's actual service in arms, that I could not reply for some minutes. I had heard such things occasionally recounted, and I knew that the famous Montluc had gained, or was likely to have gained, some few years before, no less than eighty thousand crowns as the ransom of a young Italian nobleman; but when it came home to myself, I could hardly believe it, with difficulty concealing my astonishment.
He mistook my silence, it would seem, for discontent, and was going to add something in regard to his condition and inability to pay a larger sum, when I stopped him, saying, "It is enough, Monsieur de Blaye; it is enough. As an honourable man, I do not doubt your word; and I have heard that it is a common saying of one of the bravest captains on your own side, I mean Monsieur Montluc, that it is not the custom to skin one's prisoners in the present day. I have your word of honour as a gentleman; and you will accordingly remain in the camp and be my guest until such time as your ransom can arrive."
"Oh! as soon as the city falls," he replied, "I will pay it you; and, in the mean time, thank you for your hospitality."
"Then you calculate upon the city falling very soon," I said, with a laugh.
He smiled in return, replying, "It ought to see all you Reformers rot before it surrenders, if the people in it knew what they were about; but there's Argence, and Grignaud, and Meziere, brave enough men when they are in the field, but without the slightest idea of holding a walled place. The old woman who has just dressed your arm would make a better governor of Angoulême. But, however, as soon as you get into Angoulême you shall have the money. The Jews will give it me on my bond. It is crammed full of Jews to the very doors, and that is another reason it will fall. But, however, I hope this is not the house, the hospitality of which you invite me to partake;" and he looked round the shed in which we were still standing with some dismay.
"Oh, no!" replied. "This and the hovel near was my only lodging last night; but I have got better quarters to-day, and, if you will come up with me, I will show you where they are."
The old lady who fulfilled the office of surgeon to the soldiery and inferior officers had managed to bind up my arm very skilfully, pouring in some peculiar compound of her own devising, which healed the wound so rapidly that I can scarcely say I received any farther inconvenience from it. After she had done and received her reward, we walked up to my new dwelling, and I assigned to the young lord a room immediately beneath that which I had chosen for myself.
Having done this, and given some little regularity to my affairs, I went out to visit the different quarters of the camp, and to see more with my own eyes than I had hitherto been able to see. The day passed over without any farther effort on our side than the erection and opening of the new battery; but, as I went round every part of the encampment, I twice met the Prince de Condé and D'Andelot, and once the Admiral de Coligny. They noticed me, I saw, though neither of them spoke; and while their conduct showed me there was no want of activity or vigilance on the part of our leaders, my appearance at different points of the camp was construed by them, I afterward found, into proofs of my zeal and industry. I mentioned that each of these generals had praised my conduct highly in the morning; but the most satisfactory proof to myself of having really acted well was afforded to me that night. On my return, towards supper-time, I found, besides one of my men on guard at the door, good Moric Endem standing talking to him while waiting my arrival.
"No want of men now, sir," he said. "This morning's work has got your name up famously. You have nothing to do but to whistle, and you'll have all the stray men of the camp. I have had a hundred talking to me about it already, at least; but, of course, I could do but little till I spoke to you. There were five or six rare old hands, however, that I could not let go away; so that we now muster seventeen. How many more would you like engaged?"
"At present." I replied, "not more than five-and-twenty or thirty in all, Moric. We can do a good deal with that number; more may be difficult to manage; and, though we are well provided for at present, they might, in the end, be difficult to feed."
"You are quite right, sir, you are quite right," replied my good lieutenant. "A small band, every one a good man, depend upon it, is better than an army, with every other man an ass or a sheep; and sure I am that I can fill up your troop till there shall not be thirty more desperate, fearless, skilful ragamuffins in the whole place."
"Well, do so," I replied, "as speedily as possible. And now, where is this Monsieur de Blaye?"
"Oh! you will find him down there, at the house by the river," replied Moric, with a grin, applying to the house at the same time an epithet which I had never heard before, but which instantly designated it as a place where no man of any refinement of mind or feeling could be found. "There he has been ever since you went away almost; and I hear from a soldier who served with him two years ago, that he is never satisfied except he is there, or with a dice-box in his hand. If you don't send Andriot after him, he'll not be up to supper."
"Andriot is a mere youth," I replied. "I wish you would go yourself, Moric."
"That I will, that I will," he said. "I am no prude about such things; though I cannot but think that a gentleman with his head broke might do better, or, at least, wait till the campaign is over."
Thus saying, he sped away, and soon returned, bringing the Seigneur de Blaye along with him. As I had not the keeping of my prisoner's morality, it gave me but little concern at the time; but it became afterward, I grieve to say, a matter of sad and great importance; and I must add here, that, during the three or four days he remained with me, though brave and good-humoured, as well as vain and light, his life was one continued course of the lowest intemperance and debauchery.
On the following day I went early to see the battery and the effect it had produced; but there was, as yet, no appearance of its being practicable; and the Prince de Condé, whom I met near the spot, stopped his horse to speak with me upon the subject, saying, "Probably tomorrow we may be able to do something. Will you be of the storming-party again, Monsieur de Cerons?"
"Willingly, my lord," I answered; "and hope to be permitted to take the same post."
"No," replied the prince, "I will not suffer you to expose yourself too far. Besides, D'Andelot is jealous of you, and will lead the party this time himself. But you shall be one of the number, if you desire it. You can take four men with you, if you please, but not more; for, after yesterday's exploits, every gentleman in the camp wants to have a share in the business."
I thanked him for the permission, and retired; and about eleven on the following morning the attack was determined upon. The army was drawn up in battle array; the storming party was formed, and led by D'Andelot himself; the batteries were redoubling their fire; and we were even beginning to march, when a white flag was suddenly displayed upon the breach, and some horsemen came forth from the city with an offer of capitulation. The terms were soon agreed upon; the garrison was permitted to march out with their swords, the leaders with their baggage, and the town was surrendered immediately.
A little incident occurred in the marching in of the troops which struck me greatly, and showed that the good old spirit of our ancient armies was not entirely extinct. There was some dispute at first as to what regiment should take possession of the town; but the admiral settled the matter by declaring that the storming party, having been disappointed, should march in first through the breach, with his brother D'Andelot at the head, while he led another party round by the gates. This was accordingly effected; and, as was natural enough under such circumstances, on taking possession of the city, we found almost all the houses shut up and barricaded. As we came into the long street, however, which runs down the hill, we saw the troops of the admiral advancing, and a good deal of confusion taking place. We had ourselves preserved the strictest order; but, as there were many officers and leaders among us, D'Andelot permitted us to separate, in order to remedy any evil that might be going on.
Taking my way down the street towards the spot where I had seen some confusion, I found that, in spite of all commands and efforts, some excesses had been committed. A jeweller's shop had been broken open; and the admiral, having been informed thereof, had turned back and ordered the house to be surrounded and the men to be marched out one by one. The regiment commanded to perform this service was that of an old soldier, famous for his courage, named the Seigneur de Puyviault; and, as I came up on foot, I heard more of the facts than the admiral himself was aware of. The soldiers in the house, it seems, were Puyviault's own men; and it was very evident, from the dispositions he made, that the worthy commander was inclined to screen them from the punishment which was justly their due, and which the admiral would certainly have inflicted had he discovered them. The moment they were driven forth, they were swallowed up in the mass of Puyviault's men surrounding the door; and Coligny, seeing what nobody could help seeing, rode up in fury, and pushed Puyviault vehemently with his leading staff. The colour came into that commander's cheek, and one or two of his followers behind exclaimed, "He has struck you! he has struck you!" One moment of forgetfulness on the part of Puyviault would have given another striking instance of how frail are the bonds which unite volunteer armies together; but, turning to those behind him, he said, "I endure everything from my leader, nothing from my enemies: and I this day show you what I expect from you."
There was a murmur of applause ran through those around; and, after that little incident, the town was quietly occupied by the Protestant troops.