By Conduct and Courage: A Story of the Days of Nelson by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XIII
WITH NELSON
One day during the siege Nelson said to Will: "I'll be glad, Mr. Gilmore,if you will accompany me on an excursion along the shore. I have my eye ona spot from which, if we could get guns up to it, we should be able tocommand the town. From what I have seen of you I believe you know moreabout mounting guns than anyone here, so I'll be glad to have your opinionof the position."
Will of course expressed his willingness to go, and they at once startedin the gig. They rowed on for some time, keeping a sharp look-out forsuitable landing-places. At last Nelson bade the men lie on their oars,and pointed to the ridge of which he had spoken.
"Well, what do you say?" he asked, after Will had made a carefulexamination of it from the boat.
"I am afraid it would not be possible, sir, to carry out your plan. Thelabour of getting the guns up from the shore would be enormous, andconsidering the rugged state of the country I question if they could betaken across to the ridge when they were up."
"No; I agree with you. I did not examine it so closely before; and at anyrate, underhanded as we are, we could not spare enough men for thebusiness. We may as well, however, row a bit along the shore. I amconvinced that if we could land three or four hundred men within five orsix miles of the town, and attack it simultaneously on both sides, weshould carry it without much trouble. The French have been fighting well,but they must have been losing heart for some time. A Frenchman hates tobe cornered, and as they see our batteries rising they cannot but feelthat sooner or later they must give in. I fancy by this time they areasking each other what use it is to keep on being killed when they mustsurrender in the end."
They had rowed on for a couple of hours without fixing on a suitableplace, when Nelson exclaimed: "We are going to be caught in a fog. That isdistinctly unpleasant. Have we a compass in the boat?" he said, turning tothe coxswain.
"No, sir. I thought you were only going to row out to the ship, and didnot think of bringing one with me."
"Never forget a compass, my man," Nelson said, "for though the sky may beblue when you start, a sudden storm may overtake you and blow you far fromyour ship. However, it can't be helped now."
In less than ten minutes the boat was enveloped in a dense fog. Theposition was decidedly awkward. Had there been any wind they could havesteered by the sound of the surf breaking at the foot of the cliffs, butthe sea was absolutely calm, and they could hear nothing. They rowed onfor some time, and then Nelson said: "Lay in your oars, men, we may bepulling in the wrong direction for all we know. We'll have to remain heretill this fog lifts, even if it takes a week to clear. This is a northerlyfog," he said to Will. "Cold wind comes down from the Alps and condenseswhen it reaches the sea. These fogs are not very common, but theysometimes last for a considerable time."
The afternoon passed, and presently night fell. There was no food of anykind in the boat. The men chewed their quids, but the two officers couldnot indulge in that relief. At night Nelson and Will wrapped themselves intheir boat-cloaks and made themselves as comfortable as they could,getting uneasy snatches of sleep. Morning broke and there was no change; awhite wall of fog rose all round the boat.
"This is awkward," Nelson said. "I wish one of the batteries would fire afew guns; that might give us some indication as to our position, though Iam by no means sure that in this thick atmosphere the sound would reach sofar. I think we were about eleven miles away when the fog caught us."
In the afternoon a breeze sprang up.
"God grant that it may continue!" Nelson said. "Slight as it is, two orthree hours of it might raise a swell, and we might then hear the wash ofthe waves on the rocks."
Hour after hour passed, but at last the coxswain said: "I think I hear afaint sound over on the right."
"I have thought so some little time," Will said, "but I would not speakuntil I was sure."
"Out oars," Nelson ordered, "and row in that direction." The sound becamemore and more distinct as they proceeded, and soon they were satisfiedthat they were heading for the land. In a quarter of an hour the boat ranup on a sandy beach.
"I have not seen this spot before, it must therefore be farther away fromthe town than the point we had reached, and as we have been nearlytwenty-four hours in the fog the current may have taken us a good manymiles. However, we will land. I am parched with thirst, and you must bethe same, lads. Leave two men in the boat; the rest of us will go insearch of water and bring some down to those left behind when we find it.I think we had better scatter and look for some way up the cliff. If wecan find a path we must follow it until we come to some house or other.Where there is a house there must be water. Mr. Gilmore and I will go tothe right. If any of you find water, shout; we will do the same. Butwhether you find water or not, come down to the boat in three hours' time.Thirsty or not thirsty we must row back to the town this evening. Now, Mr.Gilmore, we will walk along the beach until we come to a path, or at anyrate some place where we can climb. I hope, as we get higher, the fog willbecome less dense."
For an hour they groped their way along the foot of the cliff, and then,finding a place where it seemed not so steep as elsewhere, began to climb.When they had reached a height of some three or four hundred feet theyemerged from the fog into bright sunshine. Below them stretched a whitemisty lake. On all sides rose hill above hill, for the most part coveredto the top by foliage.
"I see some smoke rising from among the trees over there to the right,sir, a mile or a mile and a half away."
"I will take your word for it, Mr. Gilmore. As you know, my sight is notat all in good condition. Let us be off at once, for the very thought ofwater makes me thirstier than ever."
Half an hour's walking brought them to the hut of a peasant. The ownercame to the door as they approached. He was a rough-looking man in a longjacket made of goat-skin, coarse trousers reaching down to the knee, andhis legs bound with long strips of wadding. "Who are you," he asked in hisown language, "and how come you here?" As neither of the officersunderstood one word of the patois of the country they could only makesigns that they wanted something to eat and drink. The peasant understood,and beckoned to them to come into the hut. As they entered he gave someinstructions to a boy, who went out and presently returned with a jug ofwater. While the officers were quenching their thirst the boy went outagain, and the man brought from a cupboard some black bread andgoats'-milk cheese, which he set before them.
"I don't altogether like that man's movements, sir. He crawls about as ifhe were trying to put away as much time as possible. The boy, too, hasdisappeared."
"Perhaps he has gone to get some more water," Nelson suggested.
"He could have gone a dozen times by now, sir. It is possible that hetakes us for French officers. A peasant living in such a spot as this,sixteen or twenty miles from a town, might not even know that there areEnglish troops in the country."
Having satisfied their hunger and thirst, they tried to make the manunderstand that they were willing to buy all the bread and cheese he had,together with a large jar for carrying water.
The man showed a prodigious amount of stupidity, and although his eyesglistened when Nelson produced gold, he still seemed unable to understandthat, having had as much as they could eat, they wanted to buy more. Atlast Nelson, in a passion, said: "Look here, my man, there is a sovereign,which is worth at least twenty times your miserable store of bread andcheese. If you don't choose to accept the money you needn't, but we willtake the food whether or no," and he pointed to his store. As he spokethere was a sound of footsteps outside, and a moment later the door wasdarkened by the entry of a dozen wild figures, who flung themselves uponthe two officers before they had time to make any effort to defendthemselves.
In vain Nelson attempted in French and Italian to make himself understood.The men would not listen, but poured out objurgations upon them wheneverthey attempted to speak. The word Francais frequently occurred in theirspeeches, mixe
"This is awkward, Mr. Gilmore," Nelson said quietly as they lay boundtogether in a corner of the hut. "A more unpleasant situation I was neverin."
"I was in one as bad once before. I was captured by a band of negroes inCuba, and they were preparing to burn me alive when I managed to escape."
"I should not be at all surprised if that is what these gentlemen arepreparing to do now, Gilmore. I am sorry I have brought you into this."
"It cannot be helped, sir," Will said cheerfully; "and if they do kill us,my loss to the nation will be as nothing compared with yours. There is nodoubt they take us for French officers who have lost their way in themountains, and they are preparing to punish us for the misdeeds of oursupposed countrymen. There are only two things that could help us out ofthis plight so far as I can see. One is the arrival of a priest; I supposethey have priests hereabouts with a knowledge of French or Italian. Theother is the appearance on the scene of our boat's crew."
"Both are very unlikely, I am afraid. The crew, you know, all went theother way."
"Yes, sir; but it is just possible that they may have seen the smoke ofthis hut also, and be making their way here. Though I looked carefully onall sides I could see no other signs of life."
"It is possible," Nelson said; "but for my part I think the priest themore likely solution, if there is to be a solution. Well, it is a comfortto know that we have eaten a hearty meal and shall not die hungry orthirsty. It was foolish of us to come up here alone, knowing what wildsavages these people in the mountains are. It would have been better tohave gone on suffering ten or twelve hours longer, and to have made ourway to the fleet by following close in by the foot of the rocks."
"I don't think we could have done it in that time, sir. We should have hadto keep within an oar's-length of the rocks, and so must have progressedvery slowly. Besides, we might have staved in the boat at any moment."
"That is so. Still, we were only drifting for about twenty-four hours, andwe shouldn't have taken so long to go back. Even twenty-four hours ofhunger and thirst would have been better than this. It is useless,however, to think of that now."
In the meantime the men were engaged in a noisy talk, each one apparentlyurging his own view. At last they seemed to come to an agreement, and fourof them, going to the corner, dragged the two officers to their feet, andhauled them out of the cottage. Then they bound them to trees seven oreight feet apart, and piled faggots round them. When this was done theyamused themselves by dancing wildly round their prisoners, taunting themand heaping execrations upon them.
"The sooner this comes to an end the better," Nelson said quietly. "Well,Mr. Gilmore, we have both the satisfaction of knowing that we have doneour duty to our country. After all, it makes no great difference to a manwhether he dies in battle or is burnt, except that the burning methodlasts a little longer. But it won't last long in our case, I fancy. Do younotice that these faggots are all lately cut? We'll probably be suffocatedbefore the flames touch us."
"I see that, sir, and am very grateful for it."
The dance was finished, and two men brought brands from the cottage.
"Listen, Mr. Gilmore," said Nelson at this moment. "I think I can hearfootsteps; I am sure I heard a branch crack."
Brands were applied to the faggots, but these were so green that at firstthey would not catch. At this, several of the peasants rushed into thecottage, and were returning with larger brands, when some figures suddenlyappeared at the edge of the little clearing in the direction from whichNelson had heard sounds. They stood silent for a minute, looking at thescene, and then with a loud shout they rushed forward with drawn cutlassesand attacked the natives. Four or five of the peasants were cut down, andthe remainder fled in terror.
"Thank God, your honour, we have arrived in time!" the coxswain said as hecut Nelson's bonds, while another sailor liberated Will.
"Thank God indeed! Now, my lads, we have not a moment to lose. Thosefellows are sure to gather a number of their comrades at the nearestvillage, and I have no wish to see any more of them. Go into that hut; youwill find enough bread and cheese there to give you each a meal, and thereis a spring of water close by."
The sailors scattered at once, and were not long in discovering thespring. There they knelt down and drank long and deeply. Then they wentinto the cottage and devoured the bread and cheese, which, although farfrom being sufficient to satisfy them, at least appeased their hunger fora time. After they had finished they all went back to the spring foranother drink. Then, taking some bread and cheese and a large jug of waterfor the boat keepers, they followed Nelson and Will from the place whichhad so nearly proved fatal to their officers. They went down the hill at abrisk pace until they reached the top of the fog. After this theyproceeded more cautiously. They had no longer any fear of pursuit, for,once in the fog, it would require an army to find them. At last theyreached the strand and found the boat. When the two men who had been leftin charge had finished their share of the food and water, Nelson said:
"Now, my lads, we must row on. If we keep close to the foot of the rocks,that is, within fifty yards of them, the noise of the waves breaking willbe a sufficient guide to prevent our getting too far out to sea."
"May I be so bold as to ask how far we'll have to row?" the coxswain said.
"That is more than I can tell you. It may be a little over eleven miles,it may be twice or even three times that distance. Now, however, that youhave had something to eat and drink you can certainly row on until wereach the ships."
"That we can, sir. We feel like new men again, though we did feel mightybad before."
"So did we, lads. Now it is of no use your trying to row racing pace; takea long, quiet stroke, and every hour or two rest for a few minutes."
"It will be dark before very long," Nelson remarked quietly to Will whenthe men began to row; "but fortunately that will make no difference to us,as we are guided not by our eyes but by our ears. There is more wind thanthere was, and on a still night like this we can hear the waves againstthe rocks half a mile out, so there is no fear of our losing our way, andit will be hard indeed if we don't reach the ships before daylight. Theboat is travelling about four knots an hour. If the current has notcarried us a good deal farther than we imagine, five or six hours ought totake us there."
The hours passed slowly. Sometimes the men had to row some distanceseaward to avoid projecting headlands. At last, however, about twelveo'clock, Will exclaimed:
"I hear a ripple, sir, like the water against the bow of a ship."
"Easy all!" Nelson said at once.
The order was obeyed, and all listened intently. Presently there was ageneral exclamation as the sound of footsteps was heard ahead.
"That is a marine pacing up and down on sentry. Give way, lads."
In a few minutes a black mass rose up close in front of them. The coxswainput the helm down, and the boat glided along the side of the ship. As shedid so there came the sharp challenge of a sentry:
"Who goes there? Answer, or I fire."
"It is all right, my man; it is Captain Nelson."
"Wait till I call the watch, Captain Nelson," the sentry replied in themonotonous voice of his kind.
"Very well, sentry, you are quite right to do your duty."
In half a minute an officer's voice was heard above, and a lantern wasshown over the side.
"Is it you, sir?" he asked.
"Yes; what ship is this?"
"The _Romulus_."
"Can you lend me a compass?"
"Yes, sir, I will fetch one in a moment."
"Thank you!" Nelson said when the officer returned with the instrument. "Ihave lost my bearings in the fog, and I want to get to my tent on shore. Iknow its exact bearings, however, from this ship."
Twenty minutes' row brought them to the landing-place. Nelson's firstthought was for the crew, and, going to the storehouse close at hand, heknocked some of the people up, and saw that they were sup
"Do you know what has been said about us in our absence, Chamfrey?" Nelsonasked his servant.
"No, sir; everything has been upset by this fog. They sent down from thebatteries to enquire where you and Mr. Gilmore were, and we could only saythat we supposed you were on board the ship. They sent from the ships toask, and we could only say that we didn't know, but supposed that you weresomewhere up in the batteries. Some thought, when you did not return thisafternoon, that you had lost your way in the fog; but no one seemed tothink that anything serious could have happened to you."
Nelson got up and went to where the boat's crew were sitting after havingfinished their meal.
"Coxswain, here are two guineas for yourself and a guinea for each of themen. Now I want every man of you to keep his mouth tightly shut about whathas happened. I promise you that if any man blabs he will be turned out ofmy gig. You understand?"
"Yes, sir," they replied together. "You can trust us to keep our mouthsshut. We will never say a word about it."
"That is a good thing," Nelson remarked when he returned to Will. "If whathas happened came to be known, I should get abused by Lord Hood for havinggone so far away and run so great a risk. Of course, as you and I areaware, there would have been no risk at all if that fog had not set in andwe had not forgotten to bring a compass. But, you know, a naval man issupposed to foresee everything, and I should have been blamed just as muchas if I had rowed into the fog on purpose. I should have had all thecaptains in the fleet remonstrating with me, and they would be saying: 'Iknew, Nelson, the way you are always running about, that you would getinto some scrape or other one of these days.' A report, indeed, might besent to England, enormously magnified, of course, with the headings:'Captain Nelson lost in a fog!' 'Captain Nelson roasted alive by Corsicanbrigands!' I would not have the news get about for five hundred guineas. Idon't suppose my absence was noticed the first day. It was known, ofcourse, that I went off in my gig; but as I sometimes sleep here andsometimes on board my ship, the fact that I was not in either place wouldnot cause surprise. As for to-day, if any questions are asked, I'll simplysay that I lost my way in the fog and did not return here until late atnight, a tale which will have the advantage of being true."
"You may be sure, sir, that no word shall pass my lips on the matter."
"I am quite sure of that, Mr. Gilmore. I shall never forget this danger wehave shared together, nor how well you bore the terrible trial. I shallalways regard you as one of my closest comrades and friends, and when thetime comes will do my best to further your interests. I have not muchpower at present, as one of Lord Hood's captains, but the time may comewhen I shall be able to do something for you, and I can assure you thatwhen that opportunity arrives I shall need no reminder of my promise."
By the 11th of April, 1794, the three batteries were completed, and theyat once opened fire on the town. The garrison vigorously replied with hotshot, which set fire to a ship that had been converted into a battery.Still D'Aubant remained inactive. The sailors, fired with indignation,worked even harder than before. Nelson now felt confident of success. Hepredicted that the place would fall between the 11th and 17th of May, andhis prediction was fulfilled almost to the letter, for at four o'clock onthe afternoon of the 11th a boat came out from the town to the _Victory_offering to surrender. That afternoon, General D'Aubant, having receivedsome reinforcements from Gibraltar, arrived from San Fiorenzo only to findthat the work he had pronounced impracticable had been done without hisassistance.
Will had spent the whole of his time during the siege on shore. He hadlaboured incessantly in getting the guns up to their positions, and hadbeen placed in command of one of the batteries. Nelson speciallyrecommended him for his services, and Lord Hood mentioned him in hisdespatches to the Admiralty at home.
No sooner had Bastia fallen than the admiral determined to besiege Calvi,the one French stronghold left in the island. The news came, however, thata part of the French fleet had broken out of Toulon, and Lord Hood at oncestarted in pursuit, leaving Nelson to conduct the operations.
Taking the troops, which were now commanded by General Stuart, a man ofvery different stamp from D'Aubant, Nelson landed them on the 19th Junewithout opposition at a narrow inlet three miles and a half from the town.A body of seamen were also landed under Will. These instantly began, as atBastia, to get the guns up the hills to form a battery.
The enemy were strongly protected with four outlying forts. There werealso in the harbour two French frigates, the _Melpomene_ and the_Mignonne_. The proceedings resembled those at Bastia. The workaccomplished was tremendous, and batteries sprang up as if by magic.
At the end of June Lord Hood returned from watching the French, and thework proceeded even more vigorously than before. As at Bastia, Nelsonanimated his men by his energy and example. He himself was wounded by somestones which were driven up by a shot striking the ground close to him,and lost the sight of his right eye for ever. But although his sufferingwas very severe he would not interrupt his labours for a single day.Presently the batteries opened fire, and one by one the outlying fortswere stormed, and the town itself attacked. At last, on the 1st of August,the enemy proposed a capitulation. This was granted to them on the termsthat if the Toulon fleet did not arrive in seven days they would lay downtheir arms, and surrender the two frigates. The Toulon fleet was, however,in no position to risk a battle with Lord Hood's powerful squadron, andaccordingly on the 10th the garrison surrendered and marched out of thegreat gate of the town with the honours of war. Nelson was exultant at thethought that the capture of this town, as well as Bastia, was theachievement of his sailors, that the batteries had been constructed bythem, the guns dragged up by them, and with the exception only of a singleartillery-man all the guns also fought by them.
Will gained very great credit by his work. He had a natural gift forhandling heavy weights, and he had thoroughly learnt the lesson that thepower and endurance of English sailors could surmount obstacles thatappeared insuperable.