The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall / The Works of G. P. R. James, Vol. XV.

by G. P. R. James

To myself, he always showed himself polite, though distant; and I was glad to find, as his acquaintance with Monsieur de Villardin advanced, that he was not inclined to assume a degree of superiority in his manners towards me, which I might not have been disposed to tolerate. He was, as I have said, somewhat haughty in his manners to every one, but certainly not more so towards myself than towards others.

Soon after the coronation, we again quitted the court, and joined the army, which began its operations by the siege of Stenay. The Prince de Condé and the Spanish troops having attempted to draw us away, by the attack of Arras, Monsieur de Turenne marched to its relief, leaving Monsieur de Faber to carry on the works against Stenay. I remained with the army of the latter till the capitulation of the place, after which we rejoined Turenne. No sooner was the junction of the two armies effected, than it was determined to attack the lines before Arras, which was accordingly done; and, notwithstanding the cabals of several of our own officers, and the gallantry and skill of Condé, the Spanish entrenchments were forced at several points, and the enemy obliged to retire precipitately to Cambray. The campaign then proceeded with uninterrupted success, several frontier towns were taken, and at length, after a year of glory, Turenne dispersed his troops in winter-quarters, and Monsieur de Villardin returned to Brittany.

For my own part, I was rewarded for any little services that I might have performed, by receiving the government of the small town of Binches, and took possession of my new command with no small pride and pleasure. The duties, however, thus imposed upon me, of course prevented my usual journey into Brittany; and although, in the midst of the winter, I obtained leave to visit Paris, and spent several pleasant days with my friend and benefactor, Lord Masterton, yet, when I came to resume my command, it began to seem tiresome and irksome, and I soon found that I would a great deal rather have been in Brittany than at Binches. I longed to see Laura and Father Ferdinand, and my little page, and all the old familiar faces of the château; to spend the days of winter and spring in the sports of the field and the busy idleness of country occupations, and the evenings in reading or in conversation with those whose thoughts and feelings flowed habitually in the same current with my own. Instead of all this, I had nothing but the petty state and dull routine which follows the governor of a small town; and all I could do to amuse myself was comprised in keeping a continual watch upon the enemy's frontier, and making such little expeditions as the nature of my command permitted.

In these enterprises I occasionally met with some adventures that afforded me entertainment; but the only event worth relating, perhaps, was the capture of two persons whom I have had occasion to mention more than once. A truce of a few weeks had been concluded in the early part of spring, and I did all that I could to secure to the inhabitants of the frontier lands even a short space of tranquillity; but I soon found that the inactivity of both armies was seized by the hordes of marauders, which a long war had called into being, as an opportunity for pillage and exaction. I was instructed, if possible, to punish some of these bands of plunderers; and having heard of some movements on the part of the enemy, although the truce was not yet at an end, I sent out a party to reconnoitre, who fell in with a body of Spaniards and Germans, and in a charge took about half-a-dozen officers and soldiers, amongst whom were the two leaders of the adverse troop. The prisoners were immediately brought into Binches, followed by a crowd of the peasantry of the neighbouring villages, who charged them loudly with being mere plunderers and assassins, and accused them of a number of acts, certainly not very honourable to the military character.

All this was reported to me by the officer who took them, and who, at the same time, laid before me a number of articles of a very miscellaneous description, which had been found upon their persons, or amongst their baggage, and which tended strongly to confirm the charges made by the peasantry. Learning upon inquiry that the two leaders were Frenchmen, and knowing, as I have mentioned, that, under the pretext of the war, a most disgraceful system of rapine and robbery was carried on upon the frontier, which system I had been commanded to put down by the most severe measures, I determined sternly to hang one of these gentlemen before the gate of the town,--an act which I was authorised to perform by my own instructions, and which had more than once been executed by the Spanish officers under similar circumstances.

Resolving to make them draw lots for the fate to which I destined one of them, I ordered them to be brought before me; but my purpose was suddenly changed when I beheld in the two culprits my old acquaintances, Gaspard de Belleville, and his good brother-in-law, Captain Hubert, who seemed to have thoroughly initiated his sister's husband into the mystery of appropriating the property of other people. What were the peculiar bonds that united them so strongly together I never inquired; although, as I knew that their connexion by means of Suzette was not likely to be a very inseparable link, I judged that a similarity of tastes and pursuits, as well as interests and necessities, made them cooperate with the friendly zeal which seemed to actuate them.

Of course, from what I knew of the characters of both, I was the more inclined to give implicit credence to the charges brought against the prisoners; but, at the same time, I saw that if I proceeded as I had at first intended, the many causes of enmity that existed between myself and Gaspard de Belleville might give the act of justice, which I had proposed to perform, the aspect of a base and cowardly piece of revenge. I had by this time learned that it is not sufficient for any man only to do right, but that where the two are compatible, he must seem to do right also, injustice to his own character, and in deference to the opinion of that great earthly judge, mankind; and I consequently resolved to wave my right of punishing the plunderers myself, lest the example should lose half its effect by being attributed to wrong motives. I caused, however, the whole evidence to be recapitulated in their presence; and, turning to Gaspard de Belleville, I said, "You hear, sir, the charge against you, and before seeing you, I had determined that you should expiate the crimes you have committed by the sacrifice of your life. As, however, there are various circumstances which have occurred at different times between you and me which might give such an act the colouring of revenge, I shall send you and your companion there, back in chains to the Prince de Condé, with a full statement of the case, and will then trust to his Highness's sense of justice to punish you as you deserve."

Gaspard de Belleville turned deadly pale at the first part of my speech, and he attempted to curl his lip into a sneer as I concluded; but the effort was not successful, and only ended in a grimace, wherein the expression of apprehension was still greatly predominant over that of contempt. As to his worthy brother-in-law, his bold bearing remained unquelled; and, remembering me perfectly, though many years had now passed since our first meeting in the forest, he boldly claimed acquaintance with me--evidently more from a spirit of daring than from any other feeling--and replied, "that he was sure I would never have the heart to hang an old friend in his situation."

He spoke with a sort of impudent smile: but, holding the command that I did in the town, I did not choose to bandy jests with him in presence of all toy officers; and ordering him and his companion to be removed, I caused the testimony of the peasants to be put down and properly attested; and sent the culprits in irons, accompanied by a flag of truce, to the Prince de Condé, who was at that time in the neighbourhood of Mons. At the same time, I informed his Highness by letter, not only of the facts which accompanied the capture of the prisoners, but of the motives which induced me to act as I did, stating simply and sincerely, without fear or reservation, the determination I had originally formed, and my reasons for not putting it in execution.

I felt sure that such conduct would be appreciated by the Prince, nor was I deceived; for though, in a letter which I received from his Highness in reply, he said, in a gay tone, that he had too few friends to hang any of them himself, yet he assured me that he would immediately dismiss from his service two men that had so disgraced the cause to which they had attached themselves. This the officer, who had carried them to his quarters, informed me he had executed in presence of all his staff, and had at the same time expressed the highest approbation of my conduct throughout the affair.