The Pilot (33 page)

Griffith, without waiting for a second bidding, hastened to
Borroughcliffe with his intelligence.

"His side-arms!" repeated the soldier, when the other had done; "what
are they, I pray thee—a marlinespike! For if his equipments be no
better than thine own, my worthy prisoner, there is little need to
quarrel about their ownership."

"Had I but ten of my meanest men, armed with such half-pikes, and
Captain Borroughcliffe and his party were put at deadly strife with us,"
retorted Griffith, "he might find occasion to value our weapons more
highly."

"Four such fiery gentlemen as yourself would have routed my command,"
returned Borroughcliffe, with undisturbed composure. "I trembled for my
ranks when I saw you coming out of the smoke like a blazing comet from
behind a cloud! and I shall never think of somersets without returning
inward thanks to their inventor. But our treaty is made; let your
comrades come forth and pile their arms."

Griffith communicated the result to the captain of marines, when the
latter led the remnant of his party out of his sunken fortress into the
open air.

The men, who had manifested throughout the whole business that cool
subordination and unyielding front, mixed with the dauntless spirit that
to this day distinguishes the corps of which they were members, followed
their commander in sullen silence, and stacked their arms with as much
regularity and precision as if they had been ordered to relieve
themselves after a march. When this necessary preliminary had been
observed, Borroughcliffe unmasked his forces, and our adventurers found
themselves once more in the power of the enemy, and under circumstances
which rendered the prospect of a speedy release from their captivity
nearly hopeless.

If your father will do me any honor, so;
If not, let him kill the next Percy himself:
I look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.
Falstaff.

Manual cast sundry discontented and sullen looks from his captors to
the remnant of his own command, while the process of pinioning the
latter was conducted, with much discretion, under the directions of
Sergeant Drill, when meeting, in one of his dissatisfied glances, with
the pale and disturbed features of Griffith, he gave vent to his ill-
humor, by saying:

"This results from neglecting the precautions of military discipline.
Had the command been with men, who, I may say, without boasting, have
been accustomed to the duties of the field, proper pickets would have
been posted, and instead of being caught like so many rabbits in a
burrow, to be smoked out with brimstone, we should have had an open
field for the struggle; or we might have possessed ourselves of these
walls, which I could have made good for two hours at least, against the
best regiment that ever wore King George's facings."

"Defend the outworks before retreating to the citadel!" cried
Borroughcliffe; "'tis the game of war, and shows science: but had you
kept closer to your burrow, the rabbits might now have all been frisking
about in that pleasant abode. The eyes of a timid hind were greeted this
morning, while journeying near this wood, with a passing sight of armed
men in strange attire; and as he fled, with an intent of casting himself
into the sea, as fear will sometimes urge one of his kind to do, he
luckily encountered me on the cliffs, who humanely saved his life, by
compelling him to conduct us hither. There is often wisdom in science,
my worthy contemporary in arms; but there is sometimes safety in
ignorance."

"You have succeeded, sir, and have a right to be pleasant," said Manual,
seating himself gloomily on a fragment of the ruin, and fastening his
looks on the melancholy spectacle of the lifeless bodies, as they were
successively brought from the vault and placed at his feet; "but these
men have been my own children, and you will excuse me if I cannot retort
your pleasantries. Ah! Captain Borroughcliffe, you are a soldier, and
know how to value merit. I took those very fellows, who sleep on these
stones so quietly, from the hands of nature, and made them the pride of
our art. They were no longer men, but brave lads, who ate and drank,
wheeled and marched, loaded and fired, laughed or were sorrowful, spoke
or were silent, only at my will. As for soul, there was but one among
them all, and that was in my keeping! Groan, my children, groan freely
now; there is no longer a reason to be silent. I have known a single
musket-bullet cut the buttons from the coats of five of them in a row,
without raising the skin of a man! I could ever calculate, with
certainty, how many it would be necessary to expend in all regular
service; but this accursed banditti business has robbed me of the
choicest of my treasures. You stand at ease now, my children; groan, it
will soften your anguish."

Borroughcliffe appeared to participate, in some degree, in the feelings
of his captive, and he made a few appropriate remarks in the way of
condolence, while he watched the preparations that were making by his
own men to move. At length his orderly announced that substitutes for
barrows were provided to sustain the wounded, and inquired if it were
his pleasure to return to their quarters.

"Who has seen the horse?" demanded the captain; "which way did they
march? Have they gained any tidings of the discovery of this party of
the enemy?"

"Not from us, your honor," returned the sergeant; "they had ridden along
the coast before we left the cliffs, and it was said their officer
intended to scour the shore for several miles, and spread the alarm."

"Let him; it is all such gay gallants are good for. Drill, honor is
almost as scarce an article with our arms just now as promotion. We seem
but the degenerate children of the heroes of Poictiers;—you understand
me, sergeant?"

"Some battle fou't by his majesty's troops against the French, your
honor," returned the orderly, a little at a loss to comprehend the
expression of his officer's eye.

"Fellow, you grow dull on victory," exclaimed Borroughcliffe: "come
hither, I would give you orders. Do you think, Mister Drill, there is
more honor, or likely to be more profit, in this little morning's
amusement than you and I can stand under?"

"I should not, your honor: we have both pretty broad shoulders—"

"That are not weakened by undue burdens of this nature," Interrupted his
captain, significantly: "if we let the news of this affair reach the
ears of those hungry dragoons, they would charge upon us open-mouthed,
like a pack of famished beagles, and claim at least half the credit, and
certainly all the profit."

"But, your honor, there was not a man of them even—"

"No matter, Drill; I've known troops that have been engaged, and have
suffered, cheated out of their share of victory by a well-worded
despatch. You know, fellow, that in the smoke and confusion of a battle,
a man can only see what passes near him, and common prudence requires
that he only mention in his official letters what he knows can't be
easily contradicted. Thus your Indians, and, indeed, all allies, are not
entitled to the right of a general order, any more than to the right of
a parade. Now, I dare say, you have heard of a certain battle of
Blenheim?"

"Lord! your honor, 'tis the pride of the British army, that and the
Culloden! 'Twas when the great Corporal John beat the French king, and
all his lords and nobility, with half his nation in arms to back him."

"Ay! there is a little of the barrack readings in the account, but it is
substantially true; know you how many French were in the field that day,
Mister Drill?"

"I have never seen the totals of their muster, sir, in print; but,
judging by the difference betwixt the nations, I should suppose some
hundreds of thousands."

"And yet, to oppose this vast army, the duke had only ten or twelve
thousand well-fed Englishmen! You look astounded, sergeant!"

"Why, your honor, that does seem rather an over-match for an old soldier
to swallow; the random shot would sweep away so small a force."

"And yet the battle was fought, and the victory won! but the Duke of
Marlborough had a certain Mr. Eugene, with some fifty or sixty thousand
High-Dutchers, to back him. You never heard of Mr. Eugene?"

"Not a syllable, your honor; I always thought that Corporal John—"

"Was a gallant and great general; you thought right, Mister Drill. So
would a certain nameless gentleman be also, if his majesty would sign a
commission to that effect. However, a majority is on the high road to a
regiment, and with even a regiment a man is comfortable! In plain
English, Mister Drill, we must get our prisoners into the abbey with as
little noise as possible, in order that the horse may continue their
gambols along the coast, without coming to devour our meal. All the fuss
must be made at the war-office: for that trifle you may trust me; I
think I know who holds a quill that is as good in its way as the sword
he wears. Drill is a short name, and can easily be written within the
folds of a letter."

"Lord, your honor!" said the gratified halberdier, "I'm sure such an
honor is more—but your honor can ever command me!"

"I do; and it is to be close, and to make your men keep close, until it
shall be time to speak, when I pledge myself there shall be noise
enough." Borroughcliffe shook his head, with a grave air, as he
continued: "It has been a devil of a bloody fight, sergeant! look at the
dead and wounded; a wood on each flank—supported by a ruin in the
centre. Oh! ink—ink can be spilt on the details with great effect. Go,
fellow, and prepare to march."

Thus enlightened on the subject of his commander's ulterior views, the
non-commissioned agent of the captain's wishes proceeded to give
suitable instructions to the rest of the party, and to make the more
immediate preparations for a march. The arrangements were soon
completed. The bodies of the slain were left unsheltered, the seclusion
of the ruin being deemed a sufficient security against the danger of any
discovery, until darkness should favor their removal, In conformity with
Borroughcliffe's plan to monopolize the glory. The wounded were placed
on rude litters composed of the muskets and blankets of the prisoners,
when the conquerors and vanquished moved together in a compact body from
the ruin, in such a manner as to make the former serve as a mask to
conceal the latter from the curious gaze of any casual passenger. There
was but little, indeed, to apprehend on this head, for the alarm and
terror, consequent on the exaggerated reports that flew through the
country, effectually prevented any intruders on the usually quiet and
retired domains of St. Ruth.

The party was emerging from the wood, when the cracking of branches, and
rustling of dried leaves, announced, however, that an interruption of
some sort was about to occur.

"If it should be one of their rascally patrols!" exclaimed
Borroughcliffe, with very obvious displeasure; "they trample like a
regiment of cavalry! but, gentlemen, you will acknowledge yourselves,
that we were retiring from the field of battle when we met the
reinforcement, if it should prove to be such."

"We are not disposed, sir, to deny you the glory of having achieved your
victory single-handed," said Griffith, glancing his eyes uneasily in the
direction of the approaching sounds, expecting to see the Pilot issue
from the thicket in which he seemed to be entangled, instead of any
detachment of his enemies.

"Clear the way, Caesar!" cried a voice at no great distance from them;
"break through the accursed vines on my right, Pompey!—press forward,
my fine fellows, or we may be too late to smell even the smoke of the
fight."

"Hum!" ejaculated the captain, with his philosophic indifference of
manner entirely re-established, "this must be a Roman legion just awoke
from a trance of some seventeen centuries, and that the voice of a
centurion. We will halt, Mister Drill, and view the manner of an ancient
march!"

While the captain was yet speaking, a violent effort disengaged the
advancing party from the thicket of brambles in which they had been
entangled, when two blacks, each bending under a load of firearms,
preceded Colonel Howard, into the clear space where Borroughcliffe had
halted his detachment. Some little time was necessary to enable the
veteran to arrange his disordered dress, and to remove the perspiring
effects of the unusual toil from his features, before he could observe
the addition to the captain's numbers.

"We heard you fire," cried the old soldier, making, at the same time,
the most diligent application of his bandana, "and I determined to aid
you with a sortie, which, when judiciously timed, has been the means of
raising many a siege; though, had Montcalm rested quietly within his
walls, the plains of Abr'am might never have drunk his blood."

"Oh! his decision was soldierly, and according to all rules of war,"
exclaimed Manual; "and had I followed his example, this day might have
produced a different tale!"

"Why, who have we here!" cried the colonel, in astonishment; "who is it
that pretends to criticise battles and sieges, dressed in such a garb?"

"Tis a dux incognitorum, my worthy host," said Borroughcliffe; "which
means, in our English language, a captain of marines in the service of
the American Congress."

"What! have you then met the enemy? ay! and by the fame of the immortal
Wolfe, you have captured them!" cried the delighted veteran. "I was
pressing on with a part of my garrison to your assistance, for I had
seen that you were marching in this direction, and even the report of a
few muskets was heard."

"A few!" interrupted the conqueror; "I know not what you call a few, my
gallant and ancient friend: you may possibly have shot at each other by
the week in the days of Wolfe, and Abercrombie, and Braddock; but I too
have seen smart firing, and can hazard an opinion in such matters There
was as pretty a roll made by firearms at the battles on the Hudson as
ever rattled from a drum; it is all over, and many live to talk of it,
but this has been the most desperate affair, for the numbers, I ever was
engaged in! I speak always with a reference to the numbers. The wood is
pretty well sprinkled with dead; and we have contrived to bring off a
few of the desperately wounded with us, as you may perceive."