We pursued the route with all possible speed, running, climbing, crawling, and scrambling, as the nature of the ground admitted or required, until at length we stopped, out of breath, in the middle of the wood, and, to our great joy, heard not the sound of a human voice or footstep in pursuit.
We took breath, and again proceeded. It was impossible to clamber the immense mountain, for its sides were perfectly inaccessible, and often to a great height perpendicular; and yet we cast a longing, lingering look upon its rugged steeps, and thought that if we could only gain one of its caves or fastnesses, our security would be perfect.
We kept the path through the wood, and in a short time we got a sight of the high-road; and, to the joy of exhausted lungs and palpitating hearts, we found that we were full a mile in the rear of the Austrian barrier. This was indeed happiness: happiness so great, so unexpected, and so much in contrast with all the circumstances of our previous position, that we distrusted even our senses that so plainly assured us of the fact.
We now set firm foot upon the spacious high-road, and were about to proceed with the elated feelings that made us think we could defy the world, and laugh at the book of fate or the tricks of the treacherous and fickle goddess, when, at our first step, a hoarse voice called on us to surrender, and up sprung four German soldiers from their hiding-place, behind a rock on the verge of the wood, and each presented a rifle at our heads. We concluded they were bandits, and had little to apprehend from them, as we had no property to lose, and knew that such gentry were not desirous of taking life, when there was no advantage to be derived from shedding blood. But we were soon undeceived, for whilst three of the fellows kept the muzzles of their pieces at our heads, the foremost of them very politely took off his hat to us. This was very like the scene in Gil Blas, when the beggar piteously implored the traveller, in the name of the Holy Virgin, to drop a marvadie in his cap, whilst he kept his carbine aimed at his head, as a broad hint of what he was to suffer if he was uncharitable. But the cases were not in point, and these turned out to be Austrian soldiers, and the leader civilly asked us for our passports. I showed him an old pocket-book, and pretended to look for mine, and which of course I could not find; but I showed him some envelopes in the German character, which I had provided for such an emergency. The phlegmatic German sergeant defeated all my excuses, by simply declaring that he was not a judge in such difficult cases, not a scholar (in fact, he could not read), and that his duty was to take us before his officer, pointing to the direction in which we knew the Austrian barrier lay. “Will you surrender?” said he; and what option of an answer was left to us in any case, when each had a rifle presented to his head? “Most willingly,” I replied, “but are we not in the Emperor’s dominions in Kaisersland?” How my heart beat with joy when he answered the “Yes, Sir,”—Ya Mynheer. Never did the sun behold more willing prisoners. We accompanied our captors to the officer. He was a young man, and spoke no other language than the German. However, we comprehended perfectly that he was displeased at our attempting to elude him and the guard. He examined us, and we made him understand as well as we could, “That we were Americans, who had escaped from the Danes at Altona, and were making the best of our way to Trieste, where we expected to procure a passage to our native country.” He desired one of his soldiers to go and inform the Bavarian at the next barrier that he wanted him. This circumstance occasioned me much uneasiness. I endeavoured to learn from him if he intended to send us to Salzburg. He said we should be conveyed to that city immediately. We were much pleased at this intelligence, as we dreaded being given up to the Bavarian, who now had arrived, and was astonished when the officer told him that he had let us pass without examining or interrogating us. Our friend from the barrier was excessively nettled at the information, and, had we been handed over to his tender mercies, he would have amply revenged himself for the manner in which our success had exposed him to the taunts of the officer of the rival nation.
CHAPTER XVI
Our arrival at Salzburg—The Director of Police—Perseverance in our tale of being Americans—Suspected of being spies—Austrian feelings favourable towards England and Englishmen—Confession of the truth—Treated well as English officers—An excellent inn—A kind governor—Great civility—Despatches from Vienna—Passports ordered for us—A remittance of money from Vienna—Passports for Trieste—Our journey—German students and dog Latin—Clagenfurt—Laibach—Banditti—A mountain scene—An Irish watch-fire—Arrival at Trieste—Ecstasies at beholding the Gulf and the English frigate in the offing—Our embarkation—Picked up by the Amphion’s boat—An old friend and shipmate—Discovering an enemy—A desperate and unsuccessful fight—The killed and wounded—Shot through the right arm—Valour of Lieut. G. M. Jones—His wound—Excessive kindness of the Amphion’s captain and officers—The Spider brig—Corfu—Malta—Sir Alex. Ball—Unexpected meeting with old friends escaped from Bitche—Promoted to a lieutenancy in the Warrior (a seventy-four)—The glories of the naval service opened to me.
We had now reached about the noon of the 17th of October 1808, when an escort or guard was appointed for our custody, and we were put upon our march for Salzburg. Our fate depended on what might be the momentary disposition of the Austrian Government towards England and America. We resolved to persevere in our American fiction, if nothing arose to induce us to the contrary. At about two we arrived at Salzburg. This is a fine fortified city, the capital of the duchy of Salzburg, with a strong castle on the mountain. It has a university, and two noble palaces. The town lies on both sides of the river Salza, and is situated between three mountains. The buildings of the town were very remarkable, but we were not in a humour, or under circumstances, to attend to such subjects, or to indulge in the taste of amateurs.
We were conducted to one building, the town house, where we were put under strict interrogatories by the Director of the Police. Our inquisitor, however, was a well-bred, gentlemanly officer, and he spoke four languages with great fluency.
He first asked us in French, what countrymen we were. We would not understand him. He then put to us the same question both in Italian and German: we were equally ignorant. He next asked us our country in English. Now we understood him, and promptly answered that we were Americans.
“How have you contrived,” he demanded, “to enter the Emperor of Austria’s dominions without regular passports? You will be considered as spies.”