"You will see De Crillon will send a pompous report of the affair; saying that the battering ships were found, owing to faults in their construction, to be of far less utility than had been expected and that, therefore, they had been burned. They had, however, inflicted enormous loss upon the garrison and defences; and the siege would now be taken up by the army and fleet, and vigorously pushed to a successful termination.
"That will be the sort of thing, I would bet a month's pay. The last thing a Spanish commander will confess is that he is beaten; and I think it likely enough that they will carry on the siege for months, yet, so as to keep up appearances. In fact, committed as they are to it, I don't see how they can give it up, without making themselves the laughingstock of Europe. But, now that they find they have no chance of getting the object for which they went to war, I fancy you will see, before very long, they will begin to negotiate for peace."
The major's anticipations were verified. For some time the siege was carried on with considerable vigour--from a thousand to twelve hundred shots being fired, daily, into the fortress. Their works on the neutral ground were pushed forward; and an attempt was made, at night, to blow out a portion of the face of the Rock, by placing powder in a cave--but the attempt was detected.
The position of the garrison became more comfortable after a British fleet arrived, with two more regiments and a large convoy of merchantmen; but nothing of any importance took place till, on the 2d of February, 1782, the Duc de Crillon sent in to say that the preliminaries of a general peace had been signed, by Great Britain, France, and Spain and, three days later, the blockade at sea was discontinued, and the port of Gibraltar again open.
Bob Repton, however, was not present at the concluding scenes of the great drama. Satisfied, after the failure of the bombardment, that there would be no more serious fighting, and that the interest of the siege was at an end; he took advantage of the arrival of the Antelope in the bay, a few days after the engagement, to return in her to England. He had now been two years and eight months on the Rock, and felt that he ought to go home, to take his place with his uncle.
He had benefited greatly by his stay in Gibraltar. He had acquired the Spanish language thoroughly and, in other respects, had carried on his studies under the direction of Doctor Burke; and had employed much of his leisure time with instructive reading. Mixing so much with the officers of the garrison, he had acquired a good manner and address. He had been present at the most memorable siege of the times, and had gained the credit of having--though but a volunteer--his name twice placed in general orders for good services. He had landed a school boy; he was now a well-built young fellow, of medium height and powerful frame; but he had retained his boyish, frank good humour, and his love of fun.
"I trust that we shall be back in England, before long," his sister said to him. "Everyone expects that Spain will make peace, before many months are over, and it is likely that the regiments who have gone through the hardships of the siege will soon be relieved; so I hope that, in a year or two, we may be ordered home again."
There was a great deal of regret expressed, when it was known that Bob Repton was going home; for he had always been ready to do any acts of kindness in his power--especially to children, of whom he was very fond--and it was not forgotten that his daring enterprise, in going out alone to fetch in fruit, had saved many of their lives. Amy Harcourt's eyes were very red, when he went up to say goodbye to her and her mother, an hour before he sailed; and the farewells were spoken with quivering lips.
The Antelope evaded the enemy's cruisers near the Rock, and made a quick passage to England, without adventure. She had made two or three good prizes, up the Spanish coast, before she put into Gibraltar on her way home. Captain Lockett, therefore, did not go out of his way to look for more.
On arriving at Portsmouth, Bob at once went up to London by coach. He had no lack of clothes, having purchased the effects of an officer, of nearly his own build and stature, who had been killed a short time before. On alighting from the coach he walked to Philpot Lane, and went straight into the counting house. His old acquaintance, Jack Medlin, was sitting on the stool his father had formerly occupied; and Bob was greatly amused at the air of gravity on his face.