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8, of a CAPtAlN LOWTHER'S RECRUITS.— Page 34.
 THE

BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE

OB,

WITH PETERBOROUGH IN SPAIN.

By G. a. HENTY,
^uthof of ^^ With Clive in India,'' ''The Lion of the Mrthf'
^^In Freedom's Cause," ''The Dragon and the Raven^"
^'Bonnie Prince Charlie," etc., etc.

EIGHT PAGE JLLUSTBATIONa BY B. M PAGER

NEW YORK
HURST & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS.
HENTY SERIES FOR BOY SJ
XJNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.

By G. a. HENTY.
Among' Malay Pirates. Jack Archer.
Bonnie Prince CkarUe. Lion of St. Mark» The.
Boy Knight, The. Lion of the North, The.
Bravest of the Brave, The. Lost Heir, The.
By England's Aid. Maori and Settler,
By Pike and Dyke. One of the 28th.
By Right of Conquest. Orange and Green.
By Sheer Pluck. Out on the Pampas.
Captain Bayley's Heir. St. George for England.
Cat of Bubastes, The, Sturdy and Strong.
Cornfet of Horse, The. Through the Fray.
Dragon and the Raveo. True to the Old Flag.
Frcing Death. Under Drake's Flag.
Fiaal Reckoning, A. With Clive in India.
For Name and Fame. With Lee in Virginia.
For the Temple. With Wolfe in Canada.
Friends, Though Divided. Young Buglers, The.
Golden Canon, The. Young Carthaginian, The.
In Freedom's Cause. Young Colonists, The.
In the ReigB of Terror. Young Frane-Tireurs, The.
In Times of Peril. Young Midshipman, The.
Price Post-Paid^ jjc, eachy or any tkres
books fer $i.oo.

HURST & COMPANY

Publishers, New York.
 PREFACE.

My Deab Lads:
There are few great leaders whose lives and actions
have so completely fallen into oblivion as those of the
Earl of Peterborough. His career as a general was a
brief one, extending only over little more than a year,
and yet in that time he showed a genius for warfare
which has never been surpassed, and performed feats
of daring worthy of taking their place among those of
the leaders of chivalry.
The fact that they have made so slight a mark upon
history due to several reasons. In the first place, they
is

were overshadowed by the glory and successes of Marl-

borough they were performed in a cause which could
;

scarcely be said to be that of England, and in which the

public had a comparatively feeble interest; the object,
too, for which he fought was frustrated, and the war was
an unsuccessful one, although from no fault on his part.
But most of all. Lord Peterborough failed to attain
ihat place in the list of British worthies to which his
genius and his bravery should have raised him, because
that genius was directed by no steady aim or purpose.
Lord Peterborough is, indeed, one of the most striking
instances in history of genius and talent wasted, and a
life thrown away by want of fixed principles and by an
Inability or unwillingness to work with other men. He
quarreled in turn with every party and with almost every
Individual with whom he came in contact ; and while he
j^
PBEFAGB:

himself was constantly changing his opinions, he waa

intolerant of all opinions differing from those which he
at the moment held, and was always ready to express in
the most open and offensive manner his contempt and
dislike for those who differed from him. His eccentrici-
ties were great ; he was haughty and arrogant, hasty and
passionate ; he denied his God, quarreled with his king,
and rendered himself utterly obnoxious to every party in
the state.
And yet there was a vast amount of good in this
strange man. He was generous and warm-hearted to a
fault, kind to those in station beneath him, thoughtful
and considerate for his troops, who adored him, cool in
danger, sagacious in difficulties, and capable at need of
evincing a patience and calmness wholly at variance with
his ordinary impetuous character. Although he did not
scruple to carry deception, in order to mislead an enemy,
to a point vastly beyond what is generally considered
admissible in war, he was true to his word and punctili-
ously honorable in the ordinary affairs of life.
For the historical events I have described, and for the
details of Peterborough's conduct and character, I have
relied chiefly upon the memoir of the earl written by
Mr. C. Warburton, and published some thirty years ago.
Yours sincerely,
a. A. HENTY.
 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. ,A®B
The War of the Succession , i

CHAPTER II.

Impressed ..•••••••.•••• 20

CHAPTER III.

A Domestic Storm. ••• ,. 36

CHAPTER IV.
The Sergeant's Yarn •«..• • 52

CHAPTER V.
The Pirate Hold 69

CHAPTER VI.
A Commission •..•.•••• 87

CHAPTER VII.
Barcelona 104

CHAPTER VIIL
A Tumult in the City ,. ,. 121

CHAPTER IX.
The Advance into Valencia •.••••.••••. 138

CHAPTER X
An Adventure in the Mountains 151
vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI. MOB

Valencia. •• •••••••. 168

CHAPTER XII.
Irregular Warfare .,•. ....•«••. 183

CHAPTER XIII.

Tlie French Convoy. *... ••...• ,••••••• 904

CHAPTER XIV.
APrisoner ^..c 235

CHAPTER XV.
The Relief of Barcelona .••••••i •••••••• 239

CHAPTER XVI.
Ingratitude •• •••»->>•••••• e 256

CHAPTER XVIL
Home •• •.••.•••••••. .^3»«. %7S
 —

THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE<

CHAPTEK I.

THE WAR OP THE SUCCESSION. ^

"He is an idle Yagabond

!
the mayor of tlie good
'
*

town of Southampton said, in high wrath "a, ne'er-do-

well, and an insolent puppy; and as to you. Mistress
Alice, if I catch you exchanging words with him agaii^
ay, or nodding to him, or looking as if in any way yom
were conscious of his presence, I will put you on bread
and water, and will send you away for six months to the
care of my sister Deborah, who will, I warrant me, bring
you to your senses/'
The Mayor of Southampton must have been very angry
indeed when he spoke in this way to his daughter Alice,
who in most matters had her own way. Especially did
it show that he was angry, since he so spoke in the pres-

ence of Mistress Anthony, his wife, who was accustomed

to have a by no means unimportant share in any decision
arrived at respecting family matters.
She was too wise a woman, however, to attempt t@
was a mat«
arrest the torrent in full flood, especially as it
ter on which her husband had already shown a very
unusual determination to have his own way. She there-
fore continued to work in silence, and paid no attention
to the appealing glance which her daughter, a girl of
fourteen, cast toward her. But although she said noth-
2 'tee bra vest of the bra ve,

ing, lim' Lusband understood in her silence an unuttered

protest.
*'It is no use your taking that scamp's Mary, in
part,
this matter. I am determined to have my own way, and
the townspeople know well that when Richard Anthony
makes up his mind, nothing will move him.'*
*'l have had no opportunity to take his part, Eichard,'*

liis wife said quietly; ''you have been storming .without

interruption since you came in five minutes ago, and I

have not uttered a single word."
—
''But you agree with me, Mary you cannot but agree
with me that— nothing short of a scandal for the
it is

daughter of the Mayor of Southampton to be talking to a

penniless young rogue like that at the garden gate."
"Alice should not have met him there," Mistress
Anthony said; "but seeing that she is only fourteen
years old, and the boy only sixteen, and he her second
cousin, I do not see that the matter is so very shocking."
"In four more years. Mistress Anthony, " the mayor
said profoundly, "he will be twenty, and she will be
eighteen."
"So I suppose, Eichard; I am no great head at figures,
but even I can reckon that. But as
at present they are
only fourteen and sixteen, I repeat that I do not see that
it matters —
at least not so very much. Alice, do you go

to your room, and remain there till I send for you."

The girl without a word rose and retired. In tho
reign of King William III. implicit obedience was ex-
pected of children.
"I Anthony went on when the
think, Eichard," Mrs.
door closed behind her daughter, "you are not acting
juite with your usual wisdom in treating this matter in
BO serious a light, and in putting ideas into the girl's
head which would probably never have entered there
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. a

otherwise. Of course Alice

fond of Jack, It is only
is

natural that she should be, seeing that he is her secorid

cousin, and that for two years they have lived together
under this roof."
*'I was a fool. Mistress Anthony," the mayor said
angrily, ''ever to yield to your persuasions in that mat-
ter. was unfortunate, of course, that the boy's fatheij,
It
the husband of your Cousin Margaret, should have heen
turned out of his living by the sectarians, as befell thou-
sands of other clergymen beside him. It was still more
unfortunate that when King Charles returned he did not
get reinstated; but, after all, that was Margaret's busi-
ness and not mine and if she was fool enough to marry
;

a pauper, and he well-nigh old enough to be her father

«
— well, as I say, it was no business of mine."
"He was not a pauper, Eichard, and you know it; and
he made enough by teaching to keep him and Margaret
comfortably till he broke down and died three years ago^
and poor Margaret followed him to the grave a year
later. —
He was a good man in every way a good man.**
*'Tut, tut! I am not saying he wasn't a good man.
I am only saying that, good or bad, it was no business
of mine ; and then nothing will do but I must send for
the boy and put him in my business. And a nice mess
—
he made of it an idler, more careless apprentice, no
cloth merchant, especially one who stood well with his
fellow-citizens,and who was on the highway to becom-
ing mayor of his native city, was ever crossed with.'*
**I think he was hardly as bad as that, Eichard. I
don't think you were ever quite fair to the boy."
**Not fair, Mary! I am surprised at you. In whsii
way was I not quite fair?"
"I don't think you meant to be unfair, Richard; but
—
you see you were a little ^just a little prejudiced —
4 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
against him from tlie first ; because, instead of jumping
at your offer to apprentice him to your trade, he said he
should like to be a sailor.*'
** Quite enough to prejudice me, too, madam.
Why,
there are scores of sons of respectable burgesses of this
town who would jump at such an offer; and here this
penniless boy turns up his nose at it."
**It was foolish, no doubt, Richard; but you see the

boy had been reading the lives of admirals and naviga-

—
tors he was full of life and spirit —
and I believe his
father had consented to his going to sea."
*'Full of life and spirit, madam!" the mayor repeated
more angrily than before; *'let me tell you it is these
fellows who are full of life and adventure who come to
the gallows. Naturally I was offended; but as I had
given you my word I kept to it. Every man in South-
ampton knows that the word of Richard Anthony is as
good as his bond. I bound him apprentice, and what
comes of it? My foreman, Andrew Carson, is knocked
flat on his back in the middle of the shop."

Mrs. Anthony bit her lips to prevent herself from

smiling.
**
We will not speak anymore about that, Richard,**
she said, ''because, if we did, we should begin to argue.
You know it is my opinion, and always has been, that
Carson deliberately set you against the boy that he was ;

always telling you tales to his disadvantage; and al-

though I admit that the lad was very wrong to knock
him down when he struck him, I think, my dear, I
should have done the same had I been in his place."
**Then, madam,** Mr. Anthony said solemnly, "you
would have deserved what happened to him that you —
should be turned neck and crop into the street.**
Mrs. Anthony gave a determinned nod of her head—
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 5

a nod which signified that she should have a voice on

that point. However, seeing that in her husband's pres-
ent mood it was better to say no more, she resumed her
work.
"While this conversation had been proceeding, Jack
Stilwell, who had fled hastily when surprised by the
mayor as he was talking to his daughter at the back
gate of the garden, had made his way down to the
wharves, and there, seating himself upon a pile of wood,
he had stared moodily at the tract of mud extending
from his feet to the strip of water far away. His posi-
tion was indeed an unenviable one. As Mrs. Anthony
had said, his father was a clergyman of the Church of
England, the vicar of a snug living in Lincolnshire, but
he had been cast out when the parliamentarians gained
the upper hand, and his living was handed over to a
sectarian preacher. When, after years of poverty, King
Charles came to the throne, the dispossessed minister
thought that as a matter of course he should be restored
to his living; but it was not so. As in hundreds of
other cases the new occupant conformed at once to the
new laws, and the Eev. Thomas Stilwell, having no
friends or interest, was, like many other clergyman, left
out in the cold.
But by he had settled at Oxford at which
this time —
—
university he had been educated and was gaining a not
uncomfortable livelihood by teaching the sons of citizens.
Late in life he married Margaret Ullathorpe, who, still a
young woman, had, during a visit to some friends at
Oxford, made In spite of the dispar-
his acquaintance.
ity of years the union was a happy one. One son was
born to them, and all had gone well until a sudden chill
had been the cause of Mr. Stilwell 's death, his wife sur-
viving him only one year. Her death took place at
g THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE.
Southampton, where she had moved after the loss of hex
husband, having no further tie at Oxford, and a week
later Jack Stilwell found himcelf domiciled at the house
of Mr. Anthony.
It was in vain that he represented to the cloth mer-
chant that his wishes lay toward a seafaring life, and
Ihat although his father had wished him to go into the
ministry, he had given way to his entreaties. Mr.
Anthony sharply pooh-poohed the idea, and insisted that
It was nothing short of madness to dream of such a thing

when so excellent an opportunity of learning a respecta-

ble business was open to him.
At any other time Jack would have resisted stoutly,
and would have run away and taken his chance rather
than agree to the proposition but he was broken down
;

by grief at his mother's death. Incapable of making a

struggle against the obstinacy of Mr. Anthony, and
scarce caring what became of himself, he signed the
deed of apprenticeship which made him for five years the
slave of the cloth merchant. Not that the latter intended
io be anything but kind, and he sincerely believed that
he was acting for the good of the boy in taking him as
his apprentice; but as Jack recovered his spirits and
snergy, he absolutely loathed the trade to which he was
bound. Had it not been for Mistress Anthony and
Alice he would have braved the heavy pains and penal-
Ues which in those days befell disobedient apprentices,
and would have run away to sea; but their constant
kindness, and the fact that his mother with her dying
breath had charged him to regard her cousin as standing
In her place, prevented him from carrying the idea
which he often formed into effect.
In the shop his life was wretched. He was not stupid,
ftB his master asserted ; for indeed in other matters he
 TEB BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. '
f

was bright and clever,and his father had been well pleased
•with the progress he made with his studies; but, in the
first place, he hated his work, and, in the second, every

shortcoming and mistake was magnified and made the

most of by the foreman, Andrew Carson. This man had
long looked to be taken into partnership, and finally to
succeed his master, seeing that the latter had no sonSj
i>;nd he conceived a violent jealousy of Jack Stilwell, ia

whose presence, as a prime favorite of Mistress Anthony

and of her daughter, he thought he foresaw an overthrow
of his plans.
He was not long in effecting a breach between the boy
—
and his master for Jack's carelessness and inattention
—
gave him plenty of opportunities and Mr. Anthony ere
long viewed the boy's errors as acts of willful disobedi-
ence. This state of things lasted for two years until the
climax came, when, as Mr. Anthony had said to his wife^
Jack, upon the foreman attempting to strike him, had
knocked the latter down in the shop.
Mr. Anthony's first impulse was to take his apprentice
before the justices and to demand condign punishment
for such an act of flagrant rebellion; but a moment's
reflection told him that Jack, at the end of his punish-
ment, would return to his house, where his wife would
take his part as usual, and the quarrels which had fre-
quently arisen on his account would be more bitter than
before.
It was far better to get rid of him at once, and he
accordingly ordered him from the shop, tore up his
indenture before his eyes, and bade him never let him
see his face again. For the first few hours Jack was de-
lighted at his freedom. He spent the day down on the
wharves talking to the fishermen and sailors. There
were no foreign-bound ships in the port, and he had no
g TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
wish to ship on board a coaster ; he therefore resolved to
-wait until a vessel sailing for foreign ports should leave.
He had no money but a few hours after he left the
;

shop Mrs. Anthony's maid found him on the wharf, and

gave him a letter from her mistress. In this was in-
closed a sum of money sufficient to last him for some
time, and an assurance that she did not share her hus-
band's anger against him.
^'1 have no doubt, my dear Jack," she said, "that in

time I could heal the breach and could arrange for you
to come back again, but I think perhaps it is better as it
is. You would never make a clothier and I don't think
you would ever become mayor of Southampton. I know
what your wishes are, and I think that you had better
follow them out. Alice is heartbroken over the affair,
but I assured her that it will all turn out for the best. I
eannot ask you to come up to the house ; but whenever you
have settled on anything leave a note with Dorothy for
me, and I will come down with Alice to see you and say
good-by to you. I will see that you do not go without
'*
a proper outfit.

was to deliver this letter that Jack had gone up to

It
the back gate and seeing Alice in the garden they had
;

naturally fallen into conversation at the gate, when the

mayor, looking out from the window of his warehouse,
happened to see them, and went out in the greatest
wrath to put a stop to the conversation.
Jack had indeed found a ship she had come in from
;

Holland with cloth and other merchandise, and was after

she was discharged to sail for the colonies with English
goods. She would not leave the port for some weeks;
but he had seen the captain, who had agreed to take him
as ship's boy. Had the mayor been aware that his late
apprentice was on the point of leaving he would not have
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 9

interfered with his intention ; but as he had peremptorily

ordered that his name was not to be mentioned before
him, and as Mrs. Anthony had no motive in approaching
the forbidden subject, the mayor remained in ignorance
that Jack was about to depart on a distant voyage.
One day, on going down to the town hall, he found an
waiting him
official letter ; it was an order from govern-
ment empowering justices of the peace to impress such
men as they thought with the only restriction that
fit,

men entitled to vote for members of parliament were

exempted. This tremendous power had just been legal-
ized by an act of parliament. A more iniquitous act
never disgraced our statutes, for it enabled justices of
the peace to spite any of their poorer neighbors against
whom they had a grudge, and to ship them off to share
in the hardships of Marlborough's campaign in Germany
and the Low Countries, or in the expedition now prepar-
ing for Spain.
And army was held in the greatest dis-
that time the
like by the English people. The nation had always
been opposed to a standing force, and it was only now
that the necessities of the country induced them to
tolerate it. It was, however, recruited almost entirely
from reckless and desperate men. Criminals were
allowed to commute sentences of imprisonment for serv-
ice in the arm?', and the gates of the prisons were also
opened to insolvent debtors consenting to enlist. But
all the efforts of the recruiting sergeants, aided by such

measures as these, proved insufficient to attract a suffi-

cient number of men to keep up the armies at the required
strength.
Pressing had always existed to a certain extent; but it
had been carried on secretly, and was regarded as illegal.
Therefore, as men must be had, the law giving justices
10 TEE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
the authority and power to impress any men they might
select, with the exception of those who possessed a vote
for members of parliament, was passed with the approval
of parties on "both sides of the House of Commons.
There was indeed great need for men. England had
allied herself with Austria and Holland in opposition to
Prance, the subject of dispute being the succession to
the crown of Spain, England's feelings in the matter
being further imbittered by the recognition by Ix)uis
XrV. of the Pretender as King of England. Therefore,
although her interests were not so deeply engaged in
the question as to the succession to the throne of Spain
as were those of the continental powers, she threw her-
self into the struggle with ardor.
The two claimants to the throne of Spain were the
Archduke Charles, second son of Leopold, Emperor of
Austria, and Philip, Duke of Anjou, a younger grandson
of Louis. On the marriage of the French king with
Maria Theresa, the sister of Charles IL of Spain, she
had formally renounced all claims to the succession, but
the French king had nevertheless continued from time to
time to bring them forward. Had these rights not been
renounced Philip would have had the best claim to the
Spanish throne, the next of kin after him being Charles
of Austria.
During the later days of the King of Spain all Europe
had looked on with the most intense interest at the
efforts which the respective parties made for their candi-
dates. Whichever might succeed to the throne the
balance of power would be destroyed for either Austria
;

ftnd Spain united, or France and Spain united, would be

sufficient to overawe the rest of the Continent. Louis
XrV. lulled the fears of the Austrian party by suggesting
a treaty of partition to the Dutch states and William IIL
of England.
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE, l\

By this treaty was agreed that the Archduke Charles

it

was to be acknowledged successor to the crowns of

Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands; while the
dauphin, as the eldest son of Maria Theresa, should re-
ceive the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, with the Spanish
province of Guipuscoa and the duchy of Milan, in com-
pensation of his abandonment of other claims. When
the conditions of this treaty became known they inspired
natural indignation in the minds of the people of the
country which had thus been arbitrarily allotted, and
the dying Charles of Spain was infuriated by this con-
spiracy to break up and divide his dominion. His
jealousy of France would have led him to select the
Austrian claimant; but the emperor's undisguised greed
for a portion of the Spanish empire, and the overbearing
and unpleasant manner of the Austrian ambassador in
the Spanish court, drove him to listen to the overtures of
Louis, who had a powerful ally in Cardinal Portocarrero,
Archbishop of Toledo, whose influence was all-powerful
with the king. The cardinal argued that the grandson
ot Maria Theresa could not be bound by her renuncia-
tion, and also that it had only been made with a view to
keep separate the French and Spanish monarchies, and
that if a descendant of hers, other than the heir to the
throne of France, were chosen, this condition would be
carried out.
Finally, he persuaded Charles, a month before his
death, to sign a will declaring Philip, Duke of Anjou,
grandson of his brother-in-law Louis XIV., sole heir of
the Spanish empire. The will was kept secret till the
death of the king, and was then publicly proclaimed.
Louis accepted the bequest in favor of his grandson, and
Philip was declared king in Spain and her dependencies.
Tke greatest indignation was caused in England, Hoi-
12 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.
land, and the empire atbreach by the King of
this
France of the treaty of partition, of which he himself
had been the author. England and Holland were unpre-
pared for war, and therefore bided their time, but
Austria at once commenced hostilities by directing large
bodies of troops, under Prince Eugene, into the duchy
of Milan, and by inciting the Neapolitans to revolt.
The young king was at first popular in Spain, but Car-
dinal Portocarrero, who exercised the real power of the
state, by his overbearing temper, his avarice, and his
shameless corruption, speedily alienated the people from
their monarch. Above all, the cardinal was supposed to
be the tool of the French king, and to represent the
policy which had for its object the dismemberment of the
Spanish monarchy and the aggrandizement of France.
That liouis had such designs was undoubted, and if
properly managed and bribed, Portocarrero would have
been a pliant instrument in his hands; but the cardinal
was soon estranged by the constant interference by the
French agents in his own measures of government, and
therefore turned against France that power of intrigue
which he had recently used in her favor. He pretended
to be devoted to France, and referred even the most
minute details of government to Paris for approbation,
with the double view of disgusting Louis with the gov-
ernment of Spain and of enraging the Spanish people at
the constant interference of Louis.
Philip, however, found a new and powerful ally in the
hearts of the people by his marriage with Maria Louisa^
—
daughter of the Duke of Savoy a beautiful girl of four-
teen years old, who rapidly developed into a graceful
and gifted woman, and became the darling of the Spanish
people, and whose intellect, firmness, and courage guided
and strengthened her weak but amiable husband. For a
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BUA VE. 13

time the power of Spain and France united overshadowed

Europe, the trading interests of England and Holland
were assailed, and a French army assembled close to the
Flemish frontier.
The indignation Dutch overcame their fears,
of the
and they yielded to the quiet efforts which King William
was making, and combined with England and Austria in
a grand alliance against France, the object of the combi-
aation being to exclude Louis from the Netherlands and
West Indies, and to prevent the union of the crowns of
France and Spain upon the same head. King William
might not have obtained from the English parliament a
ratification of the alliance had not Louis just at this
moment acknowledged the son of the ex-king James as
King of England. This insult roused the spirit of the
English people, the House of Commons approved the
triple alliance, and voted large supplies.
King William died just after seeing his favorite pro-
ject successful, and was succeeded by Queen Anne, who
continued his policy. The Austrian Archduke Charles
was recognized by the allies as King of Spain, and prepa-
rations made for war.
An English army was landed near Cadiz; but the
Spaniards showed no signs of rising in favor of Charles,
and, after bringing great discredit on themselves and
exacting the animosity of the Spaniards by gross miscon-
duct, the English army embarked again. Some treasure
ships were captured, and others sunk in the harbor of
Vigo, but the fleetwas no more effective than the army.
A.dmiral Sir John Munden was cashiered for treachery or
cowardice on the coast of Spain, and four captains of
vessels in the gallant Benbow's West India fleet were
either dismissed or shot for refusing to meet the enemy
and for abandoning their chief.
14 ' THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE,

In 1703 was done in the way of fighting, but the

little

allies received an important addition of strength by the

accession of Portugal to their ranks. In 1704 the allies
made an attempt upon the important city of Barcelona.
It was believed that the Catalans would have declared
for Charles but the plot by which the town was to be
;

given up to him was discovered on the eve of execution,

and the English force re-embarked on their ships. Their
success was still less on the side of Portugal, where the
Duke of Berwick, who was in command of the forces of
King Philip, defeated the English and Dutch under the
Duke of Schomberg and captured many towns.
The Portuguese rendered the allies but slight assist-
ance. These reverses were, however, balanced by the
capture of Gibraltar on the 21st of June by the fleet
under Sir George Eooke, and a small land force under
Prince George of Hesse. Schomberg was recalled and
Lord Gal way took the command; but he succeeded no
better than his predecessor, and affairs looked but badly
for the allies, when the Duke of Marlborough, with the
English and allied troops in Germany, inflicted the first
great check upon the power and ambition of Louis XIV.
by the splendid victory of Blenheim.
This defeat of the French had a disastrous effect upon
the fortunes of Philip. He could no longer hope for
help from his grandfather, for Louis was now called
upon to muster his whole strength on his eastern frontier
for the defense of his own dominion, and Philip was
forced to depend upon his partisans in Spain only. The
partisans of Charles at once took heart. The Catalans
had never been warm in the cause of Philip ; the crowns
of Castile, Arragon, and Catalonia had only recently
been united, and dangerous jealousy existed between
these provinces. The Castilians were devoted adherents
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.
'

15

of Philip, and this in itself was sufficient to set Catalonia

and Arragon against him.
The English government had been informed of this
growing discontent in the north of Spain, and sent out
an emissary to inquire into the truth of the statement.
As his report confirmed all that they had heard, it was
decided in the spring of 1705 to send out an expedition
which was to effect a landing in Catalonia, and would,
it was hoped, be joined by all the people of that prov-

ince and Aragon. By the efforts and patronage of the

Duchess of Marlborough, who was all-powerful with
Queen Anne, the Earl of Peterborough was named to
the command of the expedition.
The choice certainly appeared a singular one, for
hitherto the earl had done nothing which would entitle
him to so distinguished a position. Charles Mordaunt
was the eldest son of John Lord Mordaunt, Viscount
Avalon, a brave and daring cavalier, who had fought
heart and soul for Charles, and had been tried by Crom-
well for treason, and narrowly escaped execution. On
the restoration, as a reward for his risk of life and for-
tune, and for his loyalty and ability, he wa^ raised to
the peerage.
His son Charles inherited none of his father's stead-
fastness. Brought up in the profligate court A
Charlies
11. he became an atheist, a scoffer at morality, and a

republican. At the same time he had many redeeming

points. He was brilliant, witty, energetic, and brave.
He was generous and strictly honorable to his word. He
was filled with a burning desire for adventure, and, at
the close of 1674, when in his seventeenth year, he em-
barked in Admiral Torrington's ship, and proceeded to
join as a volunteer Sir John Narborough's fleet in the
Mediterranean, in order to take part in the expedition to
16 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
restrain and revenge the piratical depredations of tig-
barbarous states of Tripoli and Algiers.
He distinguished himself on the 14th of January, 1675,
in an attack by the boats of the fleet upon four corsair
men-of-war moored under the very guns of the castle and
fort of Tripoli. The exploit was a successful one, the
ships were all burned, and most of their crews slain.
Another encounter with the fleet of Tripoli took place in
February, when the pirates were again defeated, and the
dey forced to grant all the English demands.
In 1677 the fleet returned to England, and with it
Mordaunt, who had during his absence succeeded to his
father's title and estates, John Lord Mordaunt having died
on the 5th of June, 1675. Shortly after his return to
England, Lord Mordaunt, though still but twenty years
old, married a daughter of Sir Alexander Eraser. But
his spirit was altogether unsuited to the quiet enjoyment
of domestic life, and at the end of September, 1678, he
went out as a volunteer in his majesty's ship Bristol,
which was on the point of sailing for the Mediterranean
to take part in an expedition fitting out for the relief of
Tangier, then besieged by the Moors. Nothing, how-
ever, came of the expedition, and Mordaunt returned to
England in the autumn of 1679.
In June, 1680, he again sailed for Tangier with a small
expedition commanded by the Earl of Plymouth. The
expedition succeeded in throwing themselves into the
besieged town, and continued the defense with vigor,
and Mordaunt again distinguished himself; but he soon
wearied of the monotony of a long siege and before the
end of the year found opportunity to return to England,
where he plunged into politics and became one of the
leaders of the party formed to exclude the Duke of York
from the throne.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 17

Although a close friend of Lord Russell and Algernon

Sidney lie had fortunately for himself not been admitted
to the fatal privilege of their private councils, and there-
fore escaped the fate which befell them. He continued
his friendship with them to the last, and accompanied
Algernon Sidney to the scaffold. But even while throw-
ing himself heart and soul into politics he was continu-
ally indulging in wild freaks which rendered him the
talk of the town.
On the accession of King James he made his first

speech in the House of Peers against a standing army,

and distinguished himself alike by the eloquence and
violence of his language. He was now under the dis-
pleasure of the court, and his profuse generosity had
brought him into pecuniary trouble. In 1686, therefore,
he quitted England with the professed intention of
accepting a command in the Dutch fleet then about to sail
for the West Indies. When he arrived in Holland, how-
ever, he presented himself immediately to the Prince of
Orange, and first among the British nobility boldly pro-
posed to William an immediate invasion of England.
He pushed his arguments with fiery zeal, urged the dis-
affection of all classes, the hatred of the Commons, the
defection of the liords, the alarm of the Church, and the
wavering loyalty of the army.
William, however, was already informed of these facts,
and was not to be hurried. Mordaunt remained with
him till, on the 20th of October, 1688, he sailed for Eng-
land. The first commission that King William signed
in England was the appointment of Lord Mordaunt as
lieutenant-colonel of horse, and raising a regiment he
rendered good service at Exeter. As soon as the revolu-
tion was completed, and William and Mary ascended the
throne, Mordaunt was made a privy-councilor and one of
18 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
the lords of the bed-chamber, and in April, 1689, he was
made first commissioner of the treasury, and advanced to
the dignity of Earl of Monmouth. In addition to the
other offices to which he was appointed he was given the
colonelcy of the regiment of horse-guards.
His conduct in office showed in brilliant contrast to
that of the men with whom he was placed. He alone
was free from the slightest suspicion of corruption and
venality, and he speedily made enemies among his col-
leagues by the open contempt which he manifested for
their gross corruption.
Although he had taken so prominent a part in bring-
ing King William to England, Monmouth soon became
mixed up in all sorts of intrigues and plots. He was
already tired of the reign of the Dutch king, and longed
for a commonwealth. He was constantly quarreling with
his colleagues, and whenever there was a debate in the
House of Lords Monmouth took a prominent part on the
side of the minority. In 1692 he went out with his
regiment of horse-guards to Holland, and fought bravely
at the battle of Steenkirk. The campaign was a failure,
and in October he returned to England with the king.
For two years after this he lived quietly, devoting his
principal attention to his garden and the society of wits
and men of letters. Then he again appeared in parlia-
ment, and took a leading part in the movement in oppo-
sition to the crown, and inveighed in bitter terms against
the bribery of persoQS in power by the East India Com-
pany, and the venality of many members of parliament
and even the ministry. His relations with the king
were now of the coldest kind, and he became mixed up
in a Jacobite plot. How far he was guilty in the matter
was never proved. Public opinion certainly condemned
him, and by a vote of the peers he was deprived of all
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 1^

hie employments and sent to the Tower. The king,

however, stood his friend, and released him at the end
of the session.
In 1697, by the death of his uncle, Charles became
Earl of Peterborough, and passed the next four years in
private emerging only occasionally to go down to
life,

the House of Peers and make fiery onslaughts upon abuses

and corruption. In the course of these years, both in
parliament and at court, he had been sometimes the
friend, sometimes the opponent of Marlborough but he
;

had the good fortune to be a favorite of the duchess, and

when the time came that a leader was required for the
proposed expedition to Spain, she exerted herself so
effectually that she procured his nomination.
Hitherto his life had been a strange one. Indolent and
energetic by turns, restless and intriguing, quarreling
with all with whom he came in contact, burning with
righteous indignation against corruption and misdoing,
generous to a point which crippled his finances seriously,
he was a puzzle to all who knew him, and had he died at
this time he would only have left behind him the repuia*
tion of being one of the most brilliant, gifted, ai»#
honest, but at the same time one of the most unstable
eccentric, and ill-regulated spirits of his time.
20 THE BEA VEST OF TEE BRA VS.

CHAPTEE n.

IMPRESSED.

When mayor of Southampton opened the official

tlie

document empowering and requesting him to obtain

recruits for the queen's service he was not greatly
pleased. This sort of thing would give a good deal of
trouble, and would assuredly not add to his popularity.
He saw at once that he would be able to oblige many of
his friends by getting rid of people troublesome to them,
but with this exception where was he to find the recruits
the queen required ? There were of course, a few never-
do-wells in the town who could be packed off, to th@
general satisfaction of the inhabitants, but beyond this
every one taken would have friends and relations who
would cry out and protest.
It was likely to be a troublesome business, and the
mayor threw down the paper on the table before him.
Then suddenly his expression changed. He had been
thinking of obliging his friends by sending off persons
troublesome to them, but he had not thought of his own
case. Here was the very thing he would send off this
;

troublesome lad to fight for the queen; and whether he

went to the Low Countries under Marlborough, or to
Spain with this new expedition which was being pre-
pared, it was very unlikely that he would ever return to
trouble him.
He was
only sixteen, indeed, but he was strong and
well grown, and much fitter for service than many of
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VS. 2\

those who would be sent. If the young fellow stopped

here he would always be a trouble, and a bone of conten-
tion between himself and his wife. Besides, for Alice's
sake it was duty to get the fellow out of the
clearly his
way. Girls, Mr. Anthony considered, were always fall-
ing in love with the very last people in the world with
whom they should do so, and out of sheer contrariety it
was more than possible that Alice might take a fancy for
this penniless vagabond, and if she did Mrs. Anthony
was fool enough to support her in her folly.
Of course there would be trouble with his wife when
she found what had happened to the lad for the mayor —
did not deceive himself for a moment by the thought
that he would be able to conceal from his wife the cause
of Jack's absence he was too well aware of Mrs. An-
;

thony's power of investigation. Still, after it was done

it could not be undone, and it was better to have one

domestic storm than a continuation of foul weather.

Calling in his clerk themayor read over to him the
order he had received, and bade him turn to the court
book and make out a list of the names of forty young
men who had been charged before him with offenses of
drunkenness, assault, battery, and rioting.
''When you have made up the list, Johnson, yon will
go round to the aldermen and inform them of the order
that I have received from the government, and you can
tell them that if there are any persons they know, of
whom they consider that Southampton would be well
rid, if they will send the names to me I will add them
to the list. Bid them not to choose married men, if it
can be avoided, for the town would be burdened with
the support of their wives and families. Another ten
names will do. The letter which accompanies the order
says that from my well-known zeal and loyalty it is
22 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
Soubted not that Southampton will furnish a hundred
men, but if I begin with fifty that will be well enough,
' '
and we can pick out the others at our leisure.
By
the afternoon the list was filled up. One of the
aldermen had inserted the name of a troublesome
nephew, another that of a foreman with whom he had
had a dispute about wages, and who had threatened to
proceed against him in the court. Some of the names
were inserted from mere petty spite; but with scarce an
Bxception the aldermen responded to the invitation of
the mayor, and placed on the list the name of some one
whom they, or Southampton, would be the better with-
out.
When the was completed the mayor struck out one
list

of the first names inserted by his clerk and inserted that

of John Stilwell in its place. His instructions were that
he was to notify to an officer, who would arrive with a
company of soldiers on the following day, the names of
those whom he deemed suitable for the queen's service.
The officer, after taking them, was to embark them on
board one of the queen's cutters, which would come
round from Portsmouth for the purpose, and would con-
vey them to Dover, where a camp was being formed and
the troops assembling.
Upon company marched into the
the following day the
town, and the officer in command, having seen his men
billeted among the citizens, called upon the mayor.
"Well, Mr. Mayor," he said, **I hope you have a good
list of recruits for me. I don't want to be waiting here,
for I have to go on a similar errand to other towns. It
is not a job I like, I can tell you, but it is not for me to
question orders.**
"I have a list of fifty men all active and hearty fellows
who will make good soldiers/* the mayor said
 " ;

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE, 23

"And of whom, no doubt, Southampton will be well

with a laugh. "Truly, I pity the
rid,*' the officer said
Earl of Peterborough, for he will have as rough a body
of soldiers as ever marched to war. However, it is

usually the case that the sort of men who give trouble at
home are just those who, when the time comes, make the
best fighters. I would rather have half a dozen of your
reckless blades, when the pinch comes, than a score of
honest plow boys. How do you propose that I shall
take them?"
''That I will leave entirely to you, " the mayor said
"here is a list where they lodge. I will
of the houses
place the town watch at your disposal to show you the
way and to point out the men to you."
"That will be all I shall require," the officer said;
*'but you can give me a list of those who are most likely
to give trouble^ These I will pounce upon and get on
board ship first of all. "When they are secured I will tell
my men off in parties, each with one of your constables
to point out the men, and we will pick them up so many
every evening. It is better not to break into houses and
seize them; for, although we are acting legally and
under the authority of act of parliament it is always as
well to avoid giving cause of complaint, which might
tend to excite a feeling against the war and make the
government unpopular, and which, moreover, might do
i^ou harm with the good citizens, and do me harm with
pilose above me. I am sure you agree with me.
"Quite so, quite so," the mayor said hastily; "you
ftpeak very prudently and well, sir. I hope you will
honor me by taking up your abode in my house during
your stay here; but may I ask you not to allow my wife,
who is inquisitive by nature, to see the list with which
I furnish you? "Women are ever meddling in matters
wiuch concern them not.''
 :

24: TEE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE.

"I understand," the officer said with a wink, ''there
are names on the list of which your wife would not
approve. I have known the same thing happen before.
But never be kept safe and indeed, it
fear, the list shall ;

were better that nothing were said of my business in the

town, for if this gets abroad, some of those whose con-
science may tell them that they will be likely to be
chosen for service might very well slip off and be out of
the way until they hear that I and my men have left.
'*

Two days later, when, as the evening was falling. Jack

Stilwell was walking up from the wharf, where he had
been watching the unlading of the vessel in which he
was to sail, he came upon a group of four or five soldiers
standing at a corner. Then a voice, which he recognized
ps that of the foreman, Eichard Carson, said
''That is your man officer;" and the soldiers made a
Budden rush upon him.
Taken by surprise he nevertheless struggled 'desper-
ately, but a heavy blow with a staff fell on the back of
liis head, and for a time he knew nothing more. When
4e recovered his consciousness he was lying almost in
complete darkness, but by the faint gleam of the lantern
iie discovered that he was in the hold of a ship. Several
other men were sitting or laying near him. Some oi
them were cursing and swearing, others were stanching
the blood which flowed from various cuts and gashes.
*'"What does all this mean?" he asked as he somewhat
recovered himself.
"It means," said one, "that we are pressed to serve as
eJoldiers. I made a fight for it, and just as they had got
the handcuffs on some citizens came up and asked what
was doing, and the sergeant said, 'It is quite legal.
"We hold the mayor's warrant to impress this man for
Beryice in the army ; there is a constable here who will
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 26

tell you we are acting on authority, and if any interfere

'*
it willbe worse for them.*
Jack heard the news in silence. So he had been
pressed by a warrant of the mayor, he was the victim of
the spite of his late employer. But his thoughts soon
turned from this by the consciousness that his shirt and
clothes were soaked with blood, and putting his hand to
the back of his head he found a great lump from which
the blood was still Taking off his neck-
slowly flowing.
handkerchief he bound it round his head and then lay
down again. He tried to think, but his brain was weak
and confused, and he presently fell into a sound sleep,
from which he was not aroused by the arrival of another
batch of prisoners.
Itwas morning when he awoke, and he found that he
had now nearly twenty companions in captivity. Some
were walking up and down like caged animals, others
were loudly bewailing their fate, some sat moody and
silent, while some bawled out threats of vengeance
against those they considered responsible for their cap-
tivity. A sentry with a shouldered musket was standing
at the foot of the steps, and from time to time some
sailors passed up and down. Jack went up to one of
these.
*'Mate,** he "could you let us have a few buckets
said,
of water down here ? In the first place we are parched
with thirst, and in the second we may as well try to get
off some of the blood which, from a good many of us,
has been let out pretty freely.'*
*'Well, you seem a reasonable sort of chap," the sailor
said, "and to take things coolly. That's the way, my lad;
—
when the king, or the queen now it's all the same thing
— has once got his hand on you it's of no use kicking
against it. I have been pressed twice myself, so I kno"W
26 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
how you feel. Here, mates," he said to two of the other
sailors, "'lend a hand and get a bucket of fresh water and
a pannikin, and half a dozen buckets of salt water, and
let these lads have a drink and a wash.'*
It was soon done. The prisoners were all glad of a
drink, but few cared to trouble about washing. Jack,
however, took possession of a backet, stripped to the
waist, and had a good wash. The salt water made his
wound smart, but he continued for half an hour bathing
it, and at the end of that time felt vastly fresher and

better. Then he soaked his shirt in the water, and as

far as possible removed the broad stains of blood which
stiffened it. Then he wrung it out and hung it up to
dry, and, putting on his coat, sat down and thought
matters over.
He had
never had the idea of entering the army, for
the measures taken to fill the ranks rendered the mili-
tary service distasteful in the extreme to the English
people. Since the days of Agincourt the English army
had never gained any brilliant successes abroad, and
there was consequently none of that national pride which
now exists in its bravery and glorious history.
Still Jack reflected, it did not make much difference to

him whether he became a soldier or a sailor. He had

longed to see the world, to share in deeds of adventure,
and, above all, to escape from the dreary drudgery of
the clothier's shop. These objects would be attained as
well in the army as in the navy and, indeed, now that
;

he thought of it, he preferred the active service which

he would see under Marlborough or Peterborough to the
monotony of a long sea voyage. At any rate, it was
clear that remonstrance or resistance were in vain. He
as well as others were aware of the law which had just
been passed, giving magistrates the power ©f impressing
 ;

THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 2^^

soldiers for the service, and he felt, therefore, that al*

though his impressment had no doubt been dictated by
the private desire of the mayor to get him out of the
way, it was yet strictly legal, and that it would be use
less his making any protest against it. He resolvec^.
therefore, to make the best of things, and to endeavor t^
win the good-will of his officers by prompt and cheerf ^il
acquiescence in the inevitable.
Presently some sailors brought down a tray with a
number ofhunks of black bread, a large pot filled with
a sort of broth, and a score of earthenware mugs. Jack
at once dipped one of the mugs into the pot, and, taking
a hunk of bread, sat down to his breakfast. A few others
followed his example, but most of them were too angry
or too dispirited to care about eating and, indeed, it
;

seemed to them that their refusal to partake of the meal

was a sort of protest against their captivity.
Half an hour afterward the sailors removed the food
and many of those who had refused to touch it soon
regretted bitterly that they had not done so, for as the
time went on hunger began to make itself felt. It was
evening before the next meal, consisting of black bread
and a great piece of salt beef, was brought down. Thi»
time there were no abstentions. As the evening wore
on fresh batches of prisoners were brought in, until, hy
midnight, the number was raised to fifty. Many of them
had been seriously knocked about in their capture, and
Jack, who had persuaded his friend the sailor to bring
down three or four more buckets of salt water, did hia
best, by bathing and bandaging their wounds t» put them
at their ease.
In the morning he could see who were his companion©
in misfortune. Many of them he knew by sight as loaf-
ers on the wharves and as troubksome or riotous char-^
^28 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
acters. Three or four were men of different type.
There were two or three respectable mechanics men —
who had drawn upon them the
had, at various times,
dislikes of the great men of the town by insisting on
their rights; and there were two idle young fellows of a
higher class, who had vexed their friends beyond endur-
ance.
Presently the officer in charge of the recruiting party,
who had now come on board, came down into the hold.
He was at once assailed with a storm of curses and angry
remonstrances.
''Look here, my he said, raising his hand for
lads,'*

silence, *'it is of no use your going on like this, and I

warn you that the sooner you make up your minds that
you have got to serve her majesty the better for you,
because that you have got to do it is certain. You have
all been impressed according to act of parliament, and

there is no getting out of it. It's your own fault that

you got those hard knocks that I see the marks of, and
you will get more if you give any more trouble. Now,
those who choose to agree at once to serve her majesty
can come on deck."
Jack at once stepped forward.
''I am ready to serve, sir," he said.
"That's right," the officer replied heartily; "you are
a lad of spirit, I can see, and will make a good soldier.
You look young yet but that's all in your favor; you will
be a sergeant at an age when others are learning theii
recruit drill. Now, who's the next?"
Some half-dozen of the others followed Jack's example,
but the rest were still too sore and angry to be willing
to do anything voluntarily.
Jack leaped lightly up on deck and looked round the ;

cutter was already underweigh, and with a gentle breez©

 "

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. '

^%

was running along the smootli surface of Southampton

Water; the ivy-covered ruins of Netley Abbey were
abreast of them, and behind was the shipping of the
port.
**Well, young un/' an old sergeant said, "so I suppose
you have agreed to serve the queen?"
**As her majesty was so pressing," Jack replied with
a smile, *Vou see I had no choice in the matter."
**That*s right," the sergeant said kindly, ''always keep
up your spirits, lad. Care killed a cat, you know. You
are one of the right sort, I can see, but you are young ta
be pressed. How old are you?"
'''Sixteen," Jack replied.
"Then they had no right to take you," the sergeant
said; " seventeen 's the earliest age, and as a rule soldiers
ain't much good till they are past twenty. You would
have a right to get off if you could prove your age but ;

of course you could not do that without witnesses or

papers; and it's an old game for recruits who look young
to try to pass as under age."
"I shan't try," Jack answered; "I have made up my
mind to it now, and there's an end to it. But why ain't
soldiers any good till they are past twenty, sergeant?
As far as I can see, boys are just as brave as men."
"Just as brave, my lad, and when it comes to fighting
the young soldier is very often every bit as good as the.
old one; but they can't stand fatigue and hardship like
old soldiers. A boy will start out on as long a walk as a^
man can take but he can't keep it up day after day.
When it comes to long marches, to sleeping on the
ground in the wet, bad food, and fever from the marshes,^
the young soldier breaks down, the hospital gets full of
boys, and they just die off like flies, while the older mea
pull throuerh.
30 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
"You are a Job's comforter, I must say/* Jack said
with a laugh; "but I must hope that I shan't have long
inarches and bad food and damp weather and marsh
fever till I get a bit older."
*'l don't want to discourage you/* the sergeant re-
marked, ''and you know there are young soldiers and
young soldiers.There are the weedy, narrow-chested
chaps as seems to be made special for filling a grave;
and there is the sturdy, hardy young chap, whose good
health and good spirits carries him through. That's
your sort, I reckon. Good spirits is the best medicine
in the world; it's worth all the doctors and apothecaries
in the army. But how did you come to be pressed? it's
generally the ne'er-do-well and idle who get picked out
as food for powder. That doesn't look your sort, or I'm
mistaken."
"I hope not," Jack said. "I am here because I am a
sort of cousin of the Mayor of Southampton. He wanted
me to serve in his shop. I stood it for a time, but I
hated it, and had a row with his foreman and
at last I
knocked him down, so I was kicked out into the streets;
and I suppose he didn't like seeing me about, and so
took this means of getting rid of me. He needn't have
been in such a hurry, for if he had waited a few days I
should have gone, for I had shipped as a boy on board of a
ship about to sail for the colonies."
"In that case, my lad, you have no reason for ill-will
against this precious relation of yours, for he has done
you a good turn while meaning to do you a bad un.
The life of a boy on board a ship isn't one to be envied,
lean tell you; he is at everyone's beck and call, and
gets more knicks than half-pence. Beside, what comes
of it? You get to be a sailor, and, as far as I can see,
the life of a sailor is the life of a dog. Look at the place
 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA YE. 31

where he sleeps —why, it good as a decent

ain't as
kennel. —
Look at his food salt meat as hard as a stone,
and rotten biscuit that a decent dog would turn up his
—
nose at his time is never his own wet or dry, storm or
;

calm, he's got to work when he's told and what's he

got to look forward to? A spree on shore when his
voj'age is done, and then to work again. Why, my lad,
a soldier's life is a gentleman's life in comparison. Once
you have learned your drill and know your duty you
have an easy time of it. Most of your time's your own.
"When you are on a campaign, you eat, drink, and are
jolly at other folk's expense; and if you do get wet when
you are on duty, you can generally manage to turn in
dry when you are relieved. It's not a bad life, my boy,
I can tell you and if you do your duty well, and you
;

are steady and civil and smart, you are sure to get your
stripes, especially if you can read and write, as I suppose
you can."
Jack nodded with a half-smile.
*'In that case," the sergeant said, "you may even in
time get to be an officer. I can't read nor write not —
—
one in twenty can but those as can, of course, has a
better chance of promotion if they distinguish them-
Belves. I should have got it last year in the Low Coun-
try, and Marlborough himself said, ^Well done!' when I,
with ten rank and file, held a bridge across a canal for
half an hour against a company of French. He sent for
me after it was over, but when he found I couldn't read
or write he couldn't promote me; but he gave me a purse
of twenty guineas, and I don't know but what that suited
me better, for I am a deal more comfortable as a sergeant
than I should have been in as an officer but you see, if
;

you had been in my place up you would have gone."

The "wind fell in the afternoon, and the cutter dropped
32 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
her anchor as the tide was running against her. At
night Jack Stilwell and the others who had accepted their
fate slept with the troops on board instead of returning
to rejoin their companions in the hold. Jack was es:-
tremely glad of the change, as there was air and ventila-
tion, whereas in the hold the atmosphere had been close
and oppressive. He was the more glad next morning
when he found that the wind, which had sprung up soon
after midnight, was freshening fast, and was, as one of
the sailors said likely to blow hard before long. The
cutter was already beginning to feel the effect of the
rising sea, and toward the afternoon was pitching in a
lively way and taking the sea over her bows.
*'You seem to enjoy it, young un,*' the sergeant said
as Jack, holding on by a shroud, was facing the wind
regardless of the showers of spray which flew over him.
'^Half our company are down with seasickness, and as
for those chaps down in the forehold they must be hav-
ing a bad time of it, for I can hear them groaning and
cursing through the bulkhead. The hatchway has been
*'
battened down for the last three hours.
"'I enjoy it," Jack said, ''whenever I got a holiday at
Southampton I used to go out sailing. I knew most of
the fishermen there ; they were always ready to take me
with them as an extra hand. When do you think we
shall get to Dover?"
**She is walking along fast," the sergeant said ; **we
shall be there to-morrow morning. "We might be there
before, but the sailors say that the skipper is not likely
to run in before daylight, and before it gets dark he will
shorten sail so as not to get there before."
The wind increased until it was blowing a gale ; but
the cutter was a good sea boat, and being in light trim
made good weather of it. However, even Jack was
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 33

pleased when he felt a sudden change in the motion of

the vessel and knew that she was running into Dover
harbor.
Morning was just breaking, and the hatchways being
removed, the sergeant shouted down to the pressed men
that they could come on deck. It was a miserable body
of men who crawled up in answer to the summons,
utterly worn out and exhausted with the seasickness,
the closeness of the air, and the tossing and buffeting of
the last eighteen hours; many had scarce strength to
climb the ladder.
and indignation had been knocked out
All the spirit
—
of them they were too miserable and dejected to utter a
complaint. The sergeant ordered his men to draw up
some buckets of water, and told the recruits to wash
themselves and make themselves as decent as they could,
and the order was sharply enforced by the captain when
he came on deck.
"I would not march through the streets of Dover with
such a filthy, hang-dog crew," he said; ''why, the very
boys would throw mud at ypu. Come, do what you can
to make yourselves clean, or I will have buckets of water
thrown over you. I would rather take you on shore
drenched to the skin than in that state. You have
brought it entirely on yourselves by your obstinacy.
Had you enlisted at once without further trouble you
would not have suffered as you have."
The fresh air and cold water soon revived even the
most exhausted of the new recruits, and as soon as all
had been made as presentable as circumstances would
admit of, the order was given to land. The party were
formed on the quay, four abreast, the soldiers forming
the outside line, and so they marched through Dover,
•where but yet a few people were up and stirring, to thp
34 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
camp formed just outside the walls of tlie castle. The
colonel of the regiment met them as they marched in.
you have had a rough time
*'Well, Captain Lowther,
of it, I reckon. I thought the whole camp was going to
be blown away last night. These are the recruits from
Southampton, I suppose?'*
"Yes, colonel, what there is left of them; they cer^
tainly had a baddish twelve hours of it.''
**Form them in line," the colonel said, ''and let me
have a look at them. They are all ready and willing to
serve her majesty, I hope," he added with a grim smile.
"They are all ready, no doubt," Captain Lowther
replied; "as to their willingness I can't say so much.
Some half-dozen or so agreed at once to join without
giving any trouble, foremost among them that lad at the
end of the line, who. Sergeant Edwards tells me, is a fine
young fellow and likely to do credit to the regiment;
the rest chose to be sulky, and have suffered for it by
being kept below during the voyage. However, I think
all their nonsense is knocked out of them now."
The colonel walked along the line and examined the
men.
"A sturdy set of fellows, " he said to the captain,
"when they have got over their buffeting. Now, my
lads," he went on, addressing the men, "you have all
been pressed to serve her majesty in accordance with
act of parliament, and though some of you may not like
it just at present, you will soon get over that and take to

it kindly enough. I warn you that the discipline will

be strict. In a newly raised regiment like this it is
necessary to keep a tight hand, but if you behave your-
selves and do your duty you will not find the life a hard
one. Eemember, it's no use any of you thinking of
deserting; we have got your names and addresses, so
 "
TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 35

you couldn't go home you did, and you would soon be

if

brought back wherever you went, and you know pretty

well what's the punishment for desertion without my
*
telling you. That will do. '

No one raised a voice in reply —each man felt that his

position was hopeless, for, as the colonel said, they had

been legally impressed. They were first taken before
the adjutant, who rapidly swore them and they were
in,

then set to work, assisted by some more soldiers, in

pitching tents. Clothes were soon served out to them
and the work of drill commenced at once.
Each day brought fresh additions to the force, and in
a fortnight its strength was complete. Jack did not
object to the hard drill which they had to go through,
and which occupied ^them from morning till night, for
the colonel knew that on any day the regiment might
receive orders to embark, and he wanted to get it in
something like shape before setting sail. Jack did, how-
ever, shrink from the company in which he found him-
self. With a few exceptions the regiment was made up
Of wild and worthless fellows, of whom the various
magistrates had been only too glad to clear their towns,
and mingled with these were the sweepings of the jails,
rogues and ruffians of every description. The regiment
might eventually be welded into a body of good soldiers,
but at present discipline had not done its work, and it
was simply a collection of reckless men, thieves, and
vagabonds. ^
36 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK

CHAPTER in.

A DOMESTIO STOBM.

Geeat was the surprise of Dame Anthony when, on

sending down her servant with a letter to Jack Stilwell,
the woman returned, saying that he had left his lodgings
two days before and had not returned. All his things
had been left behind, and it was evident that when he
went out he had no intention of leaving. The woman of
the house said that Master Stilwell was a steady and
regular lodger, and that she could not but think some-
thing had happened to him. Of course she didn't know,
but all the town were talking of the men who had been
taken away by the pressgang, and she thought they
must have clapped hands on her lodger.
Dame Anthony atonce jumped at that conclusion.
The pressing of fifty men had indeed made a great stir
in the town during the last two days. The mayor's
office had been thronged by angry women complaining
of theirhusbands or sons being dragged away; and the
mayor had been the object of many threats and much in-
dignation, and had the evening before returned home
bespattered with mud, having been pelted on his way
from the town hall by the women, and having only been
saved from more serious assaults by the exertions of the
constables.
Dame Anthony had been surprised that her husband
had taken these things so quietly. Some of the women
had indeed been seized and set in the stocks, but the
 ' : "

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 37

mayor had made light of the affair, and had altogether

seemed in an unusually good state of temper. Dame
Anthonj' at once connected this with Jack's disappear-
ance. She knew that the list had been made out by the
mayor, and the idea that her husband had taken this
means of getting rid of Jack, and that he was exulting
over the success of his scheme, flashed across her. As
the mayor was away at the town hall she was forced to
wait till his return to dinner but no sooner had the
;

meal been concluded and Andrew Carson and the two

assistants had left the table than she began
"Kichard, I want to look at the list of the men who
'
were pressed.
The request scarcely came as a upon the
surprise
clothier. He had made up his mind that his wife would
be sure sooner or later to discover that Jack was miss-
ing, and would connect his disappearance with the
operations of the pressgang.
"What do you want to see that for?" he asked shortly.
"I want to see who have been taken," his wife said.
"There is no secret about it, I suppose?"
*
*'No, there is no secret, " the mayor replied. 'Accord-
ing to the act of parliament and the request of her
majesty's minister I drew up a list of fifty of the most
useless and disreputable of the inhabitants of this town,
and I rejoice to say that the place is rid of them all.
The respectable citizens are all grateful to me for the
manner in which I have fulfilled the task laid upon me,
and as to the clamor of a few angry women, it causes me
not a moment's annoyance."
**I don't know why you are telling me all this,

Bichard," his wife said calmly. **I did not cast any
reflections as to the manner in which you made your
cboioe. I only said I wished to see the list.
38 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,
"I do not see that the list concerns you/* the mayor
said. *'Why do you wish to see it?'*
wish to see it, Richard, because I suspect that the
''I
name of my Cousin Jack Stilwell is upon it."
**0h, mother!'* cried Alice, who had been listening ia
surprise to the conversation, suddenly starting to her
feet; ''you don't mean that they have pressed Jack to be
a soldier."
"Leave the room, Alice,** her father said angrily.
"This is no concern of a child like you." When the
door closed behind the girl he said to his wife.
"Naturally his name is in the list. I selected fifty of
the most worthless fellows in Southampton, and his name
was the first which occurred to me. "What then?"
"Then, I tell you, Richard,'* Dame Anthony said,
rising, "that you are a wretch — a mean, cowardly, cruel
wretch. You have vented your spite upon Jack, whom
I love as if he were my own son, because he would not
put up with the tyranny of your foreman and yourself.
You may be Mayor of Southampton, you may be a great
man in your own way, but I call you a mean, pitiful
fellow. I won't stay in the house with you an hour
longer. The wagon for Basingstoke comes past at three
o'clock, and I ^all go and stay with my father and
mother there, and take Alice with me."
"I forbid you to do anything of the sort,** the mayor
said pompously.
"You forbid!" Dame Anthony cried. "What do I
care for your forbidding ? you say a word I will go
If
down the town and join those who pelted you with mud
last night. A nice spectacle it would be for the worthy
Mayor of Southampton to be pelted in the street by a lot
of women led by his own wife. You know me, Richard.
You know when I say I will do a thing I will do it."
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA YE. '
39

*'I "will lock you up in your own room, woman.*'

"You won't,'* Dame Anthony said scornfully. "I
would scream out of the window till I brought the whole
town round. No, Mr. Mayor. You have had your own
"way, and I am going to have mine. Go and tell the
town if you like that your wife has left you because you
kidnapped her cousin, the boy she loved. You tell your
story and I will tell mine. Why, the women in the
town would hoot you, and you wouldn't dare show your
face in the streets. You insist, indeed! Why, you
miserable little man, my Say
fingers are tingling now.
another word to me and I will box your ears till you
won't know whether you are standing on your head or
your heels.'*
The mayor was a small man, while Dame Anthony,
although not above the usual height, was plump and
strong and her crestfallen spouse felt that she was capa-
;

ble of carrying her threat into execution. He therefore

thought it prudent to make no reply, and his angry wife
swept from the room.
It was some time before the mayor descended to his
shop. In the interval he had thought the matter over,
and had concluded that it would be best for him to
let his wife have her way. Indeed, he did not see how
he could do otherwise.
He had expected a storm, but not such a storm as this.
Never before in his fifteen j'ears of married life had he
seen his wife in such a passion, and there was no saying
whether she would not carry all her threats into execu-
tion if he interfered with her now. No. It would be
better to let her go. The storm would blow over in time.
It was natural enough for her to go over and stay a few
weeks with her people, and in time, of course, she would
c^me back again. After all, he had got rid of Jack and
40 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
this being so, he could afford for a while to put up with
the absence of his wife. was unpleasant, of course,
It
Tery unpleasant, to be called such names, but as no one
had heard them but himself it did not so much matter.
Perhaps, after all, it was the best thing that could hap-
pen that she should take it into her head to go away for
a time. In her present mood she would not make things
comfortable at home, and, of course, his daughter would
side with her mother.
Accordingly, wl^en the carrier's wagon stopped at the
door the mayor went out with a pleasant countenance,
and saw that the boxes were safely placed in it, and that
his wife was comfortably seated on some shawls spread
over a heap of straw. His attention, however, received
neither thanks nor recognition from Dame Anthony,
while Alice, whose face was swollen with crying, did not
speak a word. However, they were seated well under
the cover of the wagon, and could not be seen by the few
people standing near; and as the mayor continued till
the wagon started speaking cheerfully, and giving them
all sorts of injunctions as to taking care of themselves on

the way, he flattered himself that no one would have an

idea that the departure was anything but an amicable
one.
A week later a letter arrived for Dame Anthony and
the mayor at once recognized thehandwriting of Jack
Stilwell. He took it up to his room, and had a consid-
erable debate with himself as to whether he would open
it or not. The question was. What did the boy say ? If
he wrote full of bitter complaints as to his treatment,
the receipt of the letter by his wife would only make
matters worse, and in that case it would be better to
destroy the letter as well as any others which might
follow it, and so put an end to all communication, for it
was unlikely that the boy would ever return to England.
 —
THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 41

Accordingly he opened the letter, and after reading it

through, laid it down with a feeling of something like
relief. It was written in a cheerful spirit. Jack began
by saying that he feared Dame Anthony and Alice would
have been anxious when they heard that he was missing
from his lodgings.
*'I have no doubt, my dear cousin, you will have

guessed what has befallen me, seeing that so many have

been taken away in the same way. I don't think that
my late master acted handsomely in thus getting rid of
me ; for, as the list was made up by him, it was of course
his doing. But you will please tell him from me that
I feel no grudge against him. In the first place, he did
not know I was going away to sea, and it must naturally
have angered him to see one known to be connected with
him hanging about Southampton doing nothing. Be-
sides, I know that he always meant kindly by me. He
took me in when I had nowhere to go, he gave me my
apprenticeship without fee, and, had it not been that my
roving spirit rendered me disinclined for so quiet a life>
he would doubtless have done much for me hereafter.
Thus thinking it over, it seems to me but reasonable that
he should have been angered at my rejection of the
benefits he intended for me.
**In the next place, it may be that his action in ship-
ping me off as a soldier may in the end prove to be for
my welfare. Had I carried out my intention and gone
as a sailor, a sailor I might have remained all my life.
It seems to me that as a soldier my chances are larger.
Not only shall I see plenty of fighting and adventure,
which accords well with my spirit, but it seems to me
and a sergeant who has shown me much kindness says
—
that it is so that there are fair chances of advancement.
The soldiers are for the great part disorderly and igno*
4Sl THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
rant men ; and, as I mean and obedient so as
to be steady
to gain the good-will of the officers, and as I have re-
ceived a good education from my dear father, I hope in
time to come to be regarded as one somewhat different
from the common herd ; and if I get an opportunity of
distinguishing myself, and do not get killed by a Span-
ish bullet or pike-thrust, or by the fevers which they say
are not uncommon, then it is possible I may come back
at the end of the war with some honor and credit, and,
the sergeant said, may even obtain advancement to the
rank of an officer. Therefore, my late master, having
done me many good turns, may perhaps find that this
last one — —
even though he intended it not is the best of
all. "Will you make my respects to him, dear cousin,
and tell him that I feel no grudge or ill-will against him ?
"Will you give my love to my Cousin Alice ? Tell her
that I will bring her home some rare keepsakes from
Spain should they fall in my way; and you know I will
do the same for yourself, who have always been so good
and kind to me.'*
"The boy is not a bad boy,'* the mayor said, well
pleased as he laid down the letter. ''It may be that I

have judged him too harshly, seeing that he set himself

against what was best for his welfare. Still, one cannot

Bxpect men's heads on boys* shoulders, and he writes

dutifully and properly. I believe it is the fault of An-
drew Carson, who was forever edging me on by reports
of the boy*s laziness and carelessness. He certainly has
a grudge against him, and he assuredly exceeded his
place and authority when he lifted his hand against my
wife's cousin. It seems to me truly that I have acted
Bomewhat hastily and wrong-headedly in the matter. I
shall give Master Carson notice that at the end of a
—
month I shall require his services no longer the fellow
 :

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 43

puts himself too forward. That will please Mary ; she

never liked him, and women in these matters of likes
and dislikes are shrewder than we are. Perhaps when
she hears that he is going, and reads this letter, which I
will forward to her by the carrier, she maj^ come back to
me. I certainly miss her sorely, and the household
matters go all wrong now that she is away. She ought
not to have said things to me; but no wise man thinks
anything of what a woman says when she's angry; and
now that I think things over, it certainly seems to me
that she had some sort of warrant for her words. Yes, I
certainly don't know what can have come over me, unless
it was that fellow, Andrew Carson. Richard Anthony
has not been considered a bad fellow else he would never
have become the mayor of Southampton and for fifteen
;

years Mary and I have got on very well together save for
the little disputes which have arisen from her over-
masterful disposition. —
But she is a good wife none
—
could wish for better though she is given to flame out
at what she considers unrighteous dealings but every
;

woman has her faults, and every man too, as far as that
goes, and upon the whole few of them have less than
Mary. I will write to her at once.'*
The mayor was not the man to delay when his mind
was once made up and sitting down at a writing-desk he
wrote as follows

**Dear "Wife: I inclose a letter which has come for

^rou from your Cousin Jack. I opened it and you will
think poorly of me when I tell you that had it been filled
with complaints of me, as I expected it would not have
come to your hands; for your anger against me is fierce
enough without the adding of fresh fuel thereto. But
the lad, as you will see, writes in quite another strain,
$^d remembers former kindnesses rather than late m«
44 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VB,

Juries. His letter has put it into my head to think mat-

ters over, and in a different spiritfrom that in which 1
had previously regarded it, and I have come to the con-
clusion that I have acted wrongly ; first, that I did not
make allowances enough for the boy; second, that I
insisted on keeping him to a trade he disliked; third,
that I have given too willing an ear to what Andrew Car-
son has said against the boy lastly, that I took such
;

means of freeing myself from him. I to-day give An-

—
drew Carson notice to quit my service a matter in
which I have hitherto withstood you. I am willing to
forget the words which you spoke to me in anger, seeing
that there was some foundation for them, and that when
a woman is in a passion her tongue goes further than she
means. Now, as I am ready to put this on one side, I
trust that you also will put aside your anger at my hav-
.

ing obtained the pressing for a soldier of your cousin.

"You can see for yourself by his writing that he does not
desire that any enmity shall arise out of the manner of
his going. For fifteen years we have lived in amity^
and I see not why, after this cloud passes away, w©
should not do so again.
*'I miss you sorely. Things go badly with us since
you have gone. The food is badly cooked, and the serv-
ing indifferent. If you will write to tell me you are
willing to come back, and to be a loving and dutiful wife
again, I will make me a holiday and come over to Bas-
ingstoke to fetch you and Alice home again. I am writ-
ing to Jack and sending him five guineas, for which he
will no doubt find a use in getting things suitable for
the adventure upon which he is embarked, for the pay-
ment of her majesty to her soldiers does not permit of
the purchase of many luxuries. On second thoughts I
have resolved to pay Andrew Carson his month's wages,
and to let him go at once. So that if you return you will
not find one here against whom you have always been
set, and who is indeed in no small way the author of the
matters which have come between us, save only as touch-
ing the impressment, of which I own that I must take
the blame solely upon myself. Give mj'" love to Alice,
and sdy that she must keep up her spirits, and look to-
 :

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 45

ward to the time when her cousin Jack shall come back
to her after the killing of many Spaniards/'

Having signed and carefully sealed this letter, with

that from Jack inclosed within it, the mayor then pro-
ceeded to write the following to the young soldier

"My Dear Cousin Jack: I have read the letter which

you sent to my wife, and it is written in a very proper
and dutiful strain. Your departure has caused trouble
between my wife and me but this I hope will pass away
;

after she has read and considered your letter. She

carried matters so far that she is at present with your
Cousin Alice at the house of her parents at Basingstoke.
Having read your letter I write to tell you that I feel
that I am not without blame toward you. I did not see
it myself until the manner of your letter opened my eyes
to the fact. I have misunderstood you, and, being bent
on carrying out my own inclinations, made not enough
allowance for yours. Were you here now I doubt not
that in future w^e should get on better together; but as
that cannot be I can only say that I recognize the kind
spirit in which you wrote, and that I trust that in future
we shall be good friends. I inclose you an order for five
guineas on a tradesman in Dover with whom I have deal-
ings. There are many little things that you may want
to buy for your voyage to supplement the pay which you
receive. Andrew Carson is leaving my service. I think
that it is he greatly who came between us, and haa
brought tilings to the pass which I cannot but regret.'"

A week later the cloth merchant's shop in the High

Street was shut up, and the mayor, having appointed a
deputy for the week he purposed to be absent, took
his place in the stage for Basingstoke, when a complete
reconciliation was effected between him and his wife.
The starting of the expedition was delayed beyond the
intended time, for the government either could not or
would not furnish tlae required funds, and the Earl of.
46 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
Peterborough was obliged to borrow considerable sums
of money, and to involve himself in serious pecuniary em-
barrassments to remedy the defects, and to supplj' as far
as possible the munitions and stores necessary for the
efficiency of the little force he had been appointed to
command. It consisted of some three thousand English
troops, who were nearly all raw and undisciplined, and
a brigade, two thousand strong, of Dutch soldiers.
Early in May the regiment to which Jack Stilwell be-
longed marched for Portsmouth, where the rest of the
expedition were assembled, and embarked on board the
transports lying at Spithead, and on the 22d of the
month set sail for St. Helens, where they were joined on
the following day by their general, who embarked with
his suite on board the admiral's ship. On the 24th the
fleet sailed for Lisbon.
Fond as Jack was he did not find the change
of the sea
an agreeable one. On shore the constant drill and steady
work had fully occupied the men and had left them but
little time for grumbling. On board ship things were
different. In those days there was but little of the strict
discipline which is now maintained on board a troop-
ship. It was true that the vessels in which the expedi-
tion was being carried belonged to the royal navy but ;

even here the discipline was but lax. There were many
good sailors on board; but the bulk of the crew had
been pressed into the service as harshly and tyrannically
as were the soldiers themselves, and the grumblers of one
class found ready sympathizers among the others.
The captain was a young man of good family who had
©btained his appointment solely by interest, and who,
although he would have fought his ship bravely in an
action with the enemy, took but little interest in the
regular work, leaving such matters entirely in the hands
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE, 47

of his first lieutenant. The military officers were all new

to their work. On shore they had had the support
which the presence of a considerable number of veteran
troops in garrison in the castle gave them but they now
;

ceased to struggle against the difficulty of keeping up

discipline among a large number of raw and insubordi-
nate recruits, relying upon bringing them into order and
discipline when they got them ashore in a foreign coun-
try. Beyond, therefore, a daily parade, and half au
hour's drill in the handling of their firelocks, they inter-
fered but with the men.
little

Sergeant Edwards with twenty of his men had at the

last minute, to Jack's great satisfaction, been drafted
into the regiment,and accompanied them on their voyage.
*'Ay, they a rough lot," the sergeant said in
are
answer to an observation of Jack as to the grumbling of
the men after they had been at sea a few days; ''but
what can you expect when you take men from their
homes against their will, pick out the worst characters
in each town, make up their number with jail birds, and
then pack them off to sea before they have got into
shape? There's nothing tries men more than a sea
voyage. Here they are packed up as close as herrings,
with scarcely room to move about, with nothing to do,
and with food which a dog would turn up his nose to
eat. Naturally they get talking together, and grum-
bling over their wrongs till they work themselves up.
'^I wish the voyage was over. It wouldn't matter if
we had a good steady old crew, but more than half of
them have been pressed; many of them are landsmen
who have been carried off just as you were. No doubt
they would all fight toughly enough if a Frenchman hove
in view, but the captain couldn't rely on them in a row
on board. As long as the fleet keeps together it's all
48 TEE BBA VEST OF THE BBA VE.
right enougli. Here are nine vessels, and no one on
board one knows what's going on in the others, but if
the captain of any one of them were to hoist a signal that
a mutiny had broken out on board, the others would be
round her with their portholes opened ready to give her
a dose of round shot in no time."
*'Butyou don't think that it is really likely that we
shall have any trouble, sergeant?"
"There won't be any trouble if, as I am telling you,
the weather holds fine and the fieet keeps together but ;

if there's a gale and the ships get scattered, no one can

say what might come of it."

"I can't think how they could be so mad as to get up
a mutiny," Jack said; ''why, even supposing they did
take the ship, what would they do with it?"
''Them's questions as has been asked before, my lad,
and there's sense and reason in them, but you knows as
well as I that there's many a craft sailing the seas under
the black flag.There isn't a ship as puts to sea but what
has a half dozen hands on board who have been slavers,
and who are full of tales of islands where everything
grows without the trouble of putting a spade in the
ground, where all sorts of strange fruit can be had for
the picking, and where the natives are glad enough to
be servants or wives, as the case may be, to whites. It's
just such tales as these as leads men away, and I will
warrant there's a score at least among the crew of the
Caesar who are telling such tales to any who will listen
to them. "Well, you see, it's a tempting story enough to
one as knows no better. On the one side there is a hard
life, with bad food and the chance of being shot at, and

the sartinty of being ordered about and not being able

to call your life your own. On the other side is a life of
idleness and pleasure, of being your own master, and, if
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE 49

you want something which the islands can't afford you,

why, there's just a short cruise and then back you come
with your ship filled up with plunder. I don't say as it's
not tempting; but there's one thing agin it, and the
chaps as tells these yarns don't say much about that.'*
''What is it, sergeant?"
**It's just the certainty of a halter or a bloody grave
sooner or later. The thing goes on for some time, and
then, when merchant-ship after merchant-ship is miss-
home, and out comes a ship
ing, there are complaints at
or two with the queen's pennant at the head, and then
either the pirate ship gets caught at sea and sunk or
captured, or there's a visit to the little island, and a
short shrift for those found there.
"No, I don't think it can pay, my lad, even at its
best. It's jolly enough for awhile, maybe, for those
whose hearts are so hard that they think nothing of
scuttling a ship with all on board, or of making the crew
and passengers walk the plank in cold blood. Still even
they must know that it can't last, and that there's a gal-
lows somewhere waiting for them. Still, you see, they

don't think of all that when a chap is a-telling them of

these islands, and how pleasant the life is there and how
easy it would be to do for the officers, and take the com-
mand of the ship and sail away. Two or three chaps as
makes up their mind for it will poison a whole crew in no
time."
**You speak as if you knew all about it."
"1 know a good deal about it," the sergeant replied
gravely. "It's a tale as there ain't many as knows; but
you are a sort of lad as one can trust, and so I don't
mind if I tell it you. Though you wouldn't think it, I
have sailed under the black flag myself."
"You, sergeant!" Jack exclaimed incredulously; "do
you mean to say you have been a pirate?*'
aO TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.
'*Just that, iny boy. I don't look like it, do I?
There ain't nothing buccaneering about my cut. I
looks just what I am, a tough old sergeant in a queen's
regiment; but for all that I have been a pirate. The yarn
is a long one, and I can't tell it you now, because just at
present you see, I have got to go below to look after the
dinners of the company, but the first time as we can get an
opportunity for a quiet talk I will tell it you. But don't
you go away and think till then as I was a pirate from
choice. I shouldn't like you to think that of me; there
ain't never no saying at sea what may happen. I might
tumble overboard to-night and get drowned, or one of
the convoy might run foul of us and sink us, and to-
morrow you might be alive and I might be dead, and I
shouldn't like you to go on thinking all your life as that
Sergeant Edwards had been a bloody pirate of bis own
free will. So you just bear in mind, till I tells you the
whole story, as how it was forced upon me. Mind, I
don't say as how I hadn't the choice of death or that,
and maybe had you been in my place you would have
chosen death; but, you see, I had never been brought up
as you were. I had had no chances to speak of, and
being only just about your age, I didn't like the thought
of dying, so you see I took to it, making up my mind
.

secret at the same time that the first chance I had I

would slip away from them. I won't tell you more now,
I hain't time; but just you bear that in mind, in case
of anything happening, that if Sergeant Edwards once
sailed under the black flag, he didn't do it willing."
The sergeant now hurried below, leaving Jack wonder-
ing over what he had heard. Some days elapsed before
the story was told, for a few hours later the sky clouded
over and the wind rose, and before next morning the
Tessel was laboring heavily under double-reefed topsails.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 53

The soldiers were all kept below, and there was no possi-
bility of anything like a quiet talk. The weather had
hiterto been so fine and the wind so light that the vessels
had glided over the sea almost without motion, and very
few indeed of those on board had experienced anything
of the usual seasickness but now, in the stifling atmos-
;

phere between decks, with the vessel rolling and plung-

ing heavily, the greater part were soon prostrated with
seasickness, and even Jack, accustomed to the sea as
he was, succumbed to the unpleasantness of the sur-
roundings.
On the second day of the storm Sergeant Edwards,
who had been on deck to make a report to the captain of
the company, was eagerly questioned on his return below
on the condition of the weather.
''It's blowing about as hard as it can be,'* he said,

*'and she rolls fit to take the masts out of her. There
don't seem no chance of the gale breaking and none of
the other ships of the fleet are in sight. That's about
all I have to tell you, except that I told the captain that

if he didn't get the hatches lifted a little we should be

all stifled down here. He says if there's a bit of a lull

he will ask them to give us a little fresh air, and in the
meantime he says that any who are good sailors may go
upon deck, but it will be at their own risk, for some of
ihe seas go pretty nearly clean over her.*'
52 THE BBA TEST OF TEE BRA VB,^

OHAPTEE IV.

THE sergeant's TARN.

Jack Stilwell and a few of the other men availed

themselves of the permission to escape for a time from,
the stifling atmosphere below, and made their way on
deck. For a time the rush of the wind and the wild
confusion of the sea almost bewildered them. Masses of
water were rushing along the deck, and each time she
rolled the waves seemed as if they would topple over the
bulwarks. Several of the party turned and went below
again at once, but Jack, with a few others, waited their
opportunity and, making a rush across the deck, grasped
the shrouds and there hung on. Jack soon recovered
from his first confusion and was able to enjoy the gran-
deur of the scene.
Small as was the canvas she was showing, the vessel
was traveling fast through the waves, sometimes com-
pletely burying her head, under a sea; then as she rose
again the water rushed aft knee-deep, and Jack had as
much as he could do to prevent himself being carried oft
his feet. Fortunately all loose articles had long since
been swept overboard, otherwise the risk of a broken
limb from their contact would have been serious.
In a quarter of an hour even Jack had had enough of
it and went below, and, having changed his drenched

clothes, slung his hammock and turned in. The next

day the gale began to abate, and by evening the wind
had nearly died away, although t^ae vessel was rolling as
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 63

heavily as before among the great masses of water whicb

rolled in from the Atlantic.
Vhe hatchways, however, were now removed, and all
Oelow ordered on deck, and after awhile a party was
told off to sluice down their quarters below. The men
were all weakened by their confinement, but their spirits
soon rose, and there was ere long plenty of laughter at
the misfortunes which befell those who tried to cross the
deck, for the ship was rolling so heavily that it was im-
possible for a landsman to keep his feet without holding
on.
The next morning, although a heavy swell was still
rolling, the ship assumed her normal aspect. The sailors
had removed all trace of disorder above, clothes were
hung out to dry, and, as the ship was still far too un-
steady to allow of walking exercise, the soldiers sat in
groups on the deck, laughing and chatting and enjoying
the warm sun whose rays streamed down upon them.
Seeing Sergeant Edwards standing alone looking over the
bulwark. Jack made his way up to him.
"It has been a sharp blow,'' the sergeant said, "and
I am glad it's over; the last four days have been enough
to sicken one of the sea for life. I suppose you think
this is a good opportunity for my yarn."
"That is justwhat I was thinking, sergeant."
"Very well, then,^ my lad, here goes. I was born at
Poole. My people were all in the seafaring line, and it
was only natural that, as soon as I got old enough to
atand kicking, I was put on board a coaster plying be-
tween Poole and London. It was pretty rough, but the
skipper wasn't a bad kind of fellow when he was sober.
I stuck to that for three years, and then the old craft was
wrecked on Shoreham Beach. Fortunately she was
driven up so far that we were able to drop over the bow-
54 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
sprit pretty well beyond the reach of the waves, but
there was no getting the Eliza off. was no great
It
loss, for she would have had to be broken up as firewood

in another year or two. About six hours out of every

twenty-four I was taking my turn at spells at the pump.
"Now the Eliza was cast away, I had to look out for
another ship. I had had enough of coasters, so instead
of going home I tramped it up to London. Having got
a berth on board a foreign-bound vessel, I made two
voyages out to Brazil and back. A fine country is the
Brazils, but the Portuguese ain't the fellows ta make
much out of it. Little undersized chaps, they are all
chatter and jabber, and when they used to come along-
side to unload, it were jest for all the world like so many
boatfuls of monkeys.
**Well, I starts for my third voyage, being by this
time about sixteen or seventeen. "We got out to Rio
right enough; but we couldn't get a full cargo back, and
the captain determined to cruise among the West Indfy
Islands and fill up his ship. "We were pretty nigh full
when one morning the lookout hailed that there were
two vessels just coming out of an inlet in an island we
were passing some three miles on the weatherbow.
"The captain was soon on deck with his glass, and no
sooner did he make them out than he gave orders to clap
every sail on her. "We hadn't a very smart crew, but
fchere are not many British ships ever made sail faster

than we did then. The men just flew about, for it

needed no glass to show that the two vessels which came
creeping out from among trees weren't customers as one
wanted to talk to on the high seas. The one was a brig,
£he other a schooner. They carried lofty spars, ever so
much higher than an honest trader could want; and
quick as we had got up our sails, they had got their
canvas spread as soon as we had.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 55

"The ship was a fast sailer, but it didn't need half an

hour to show that they had the legs of us. So the skip-
per called the crew aft. 'Now, my lads,* he said, *you
see those two vessels astern. I don*t think it needs any
telling from me as to what they are. They might be
Spaniards or they might be French, or they might be
native traders, but we are pretty well sure they ain't
—
anything of the kind. They are pirates I guess the
same two vessels I heard them talking about down at
Eio. They have been doing no end of damage there.
There were pretty nigh a dozen ships missing, and they
put them all down to them. However, a couple of Eng-
lish frigates had come into Eio, and hearing what had
happened had gone out to chase them. Thej' hadn't
caught them, and the Brazilians thought that they had
shifted their quarters and gone for a cruise in other
latitudes.
" 'The description they gave of them answered to
—
these two a brig and a schooner, with low hulls and
tall spars. One of them carries ten guns, the other two
on each side, and a heavy piece mounted on a swivel
amidship. It was said that before they went to Brazil
they had been carrying on their games among the "West
India Islands, and had made it so hot for themselves
that they had been obliged to move off from there. It
was like enough that, now the hue and cry after them
had abated, they would return to their old quarters.
" 'Well, my lads, I needn't tell you what we have to
expect if they take us. Every man Jack will either get
his throat cut or be forced to walk the plank. So we
will fight her to the last for if the worst comes to the
;

worst, it's better to be killed fighting like men than to

be murdered in cold blood. However, I hope it don't
come to that. We carr:/ twelve guns, and they are
 '

56 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

heavier metal than most merchantmen have on board.
We more than a match for either of them alone ; and
are
if "we can manage to cripple one, we can beat the other
off.
'*
'At any rate we our best. Thank God we
will try
Lave no women on board, and only ourselves to think of!
Now, my guns loose and get the ammuni-
lads, cast the
tion on deck run two of the guns aft and train them
;

over the stern. As soon as they come within range we

will try and knock some spars out of them. Now, boys,
give three cheers for the old flag, and we will swear
together it shall never come down while there's one of
us to fight the ship.
''The men gave three cheers and then went off to their

quarters at the guns. They were quiet and grave, and

it was easy enough to see that they did not like the pros-
pect. An Englishman always goes into action, as far as
I have seen, with a light heart and a joke on his lips
when Frenchmen or Spaniards or
he's fighting against
any other foe, but it's a different thing when it's a pirate
he has to deal with. Every man knows then that it's
a case of life or death, and that he's got to win or die.
The enemy made no secret of what they were, for when
they got within a mile of us two black flags ran up to
their mastheads.
"The captain he trained one of the stern-chasers his-
self,and the first mate took the other. They fired at the
same moment, both aiming at the schooner, which was
getting the nearest to us. They were good shots both
of them. The mate's ball struck the water some twenty
yards in front of her forefoot, and smashed her bow
planking some three feet above the waterline; while the
captain's struck her bulwark, tore along her deck, and
went out astern, doing some damage by the way, I
ireckoa
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 57

**"We could see there was some confusion on board.

They hadn't reckoned that we carried such heavy
metal, and our luck in getting both shots on board must
have surprised them. Then her bow paid off, there was
a puff of smoke amidship, and a ball from the long swivel
gun buzzed overhead, passing through our mainsail with-
out touching mast or stay.
**So far we had the best of it, and the men looked
more cheerful than they had done from the first moment
when the pirates showed from among the trees. After
that we kept up a fire from the stern guns as fast as we
could load. I could not see myself what damage we
were doing, for I was kept hard at work carrying ammu-
nition. Presently the broadside guns began to fire too,
and taking the chance for a look round I saw that the
pirates had separated, and were coming up one on each
side of us.
'*So far they had not fired a shot after the first. I
suppose they didn't want to lose ground by yawing,
but as they came abreast of us they both opened fire. Our
chaps fought their guns well, and I expect the pirates
found they were not getting much the best of it for one
;

of them made a signal, and they both closed in to board.

"We hadn't had much luck after our first shot. "We had
hulled them over and over again and spotted their sails
with shot. Many of their ropes were hanging loose, but
we hadn't succeeded in crippling them, although almost
every shot had been aimed at the masts ; for every man
knew that our only chance was to bring them down.
"As they came up close to us they poured in a volley
of grape, and a minute later they grated alongside and a
crowd of men swarmed on board over the bulwarks.
Our fellows fought to the last, but the odds were five to
one against them. The skipper had been killed by a
58 THJE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
grapeshot, but the mate he led the men ; and if fighting
could have saved us the ship would not have been cap-
tured. Biat it was no In two minutes every man
use.
tad been cut down or disarmed. I had laid about me
with a cutlass till I got a lick over my head with a
boarding-pike which knocked my senses out of me.
''When I opened my eyes I was hauled up to my feet
and put alongside the mate and six others, all of whom
was bleeding more or less. The rest had all been
chucked overboard at once. In a minute or two the cap-
tain of one of the pirateu, a little dapper Frenchman,
came up to us. 'You have fought your ship well,' he
said to the mate, 'and have killed several of my officers
and men ; but I bear you no malice, and if you are ready
to ship with me I will spare your life.
* *I would rather

die a hundred times' the mate said. The pirate said

nothing, but just nodded, and four of his men seized the
mate and flung him over the bulwarks. The same ques-
tion was asked of each of the men ; but each in turn re-
fused, and an end was made of them. I was the last.
" 'Now, my boy,' the captain said, 'I hope you won't
be stupid like those pig-headed fellows. What do you
—
say good treatment and a free life on the sea, or the
sharks?*
"Well, lad, if my
turn hadn't been last I would have
said 'no' like the others. I wouldn't have shown the
white feather before any of my shipmates; but they
—
had gone there wasn't one to cast a reproachful look at
me or to taunt me with
cowardice. I just stood alone:
there weren't no one to back me up in choosing to die
rather than to serve, and so I says, 'I will join you, cap-
tain.' I don't say I was right, lad; I don't say I didn't
Act as acoward; but I think most young chaps with my
bringing up, and placed as I was, would have done the
 —
THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 69

same; there's many as would have said 'no' if they had

had comrades and friends looking on, but I don't think
there's many as would have said 'no' if they had stood
all alone as I did.
**I can't much about that busi-
say as I blame myself
ness, though I have thought it over many a score of
times but anyhow, from the first I made up my mind
;

ihat at the very first chance I would get away from them.
I knew the chance wasn't likely to come for some time
still there was and during all the black scenes I took
it ;

part in on board that ship I was always telling myself

that I was there against my will.
*'It was the brig as I was to go in. And as soon as
that little matter of the crew was settled all hands set to
work to shift the cargo from the ship aboard the pirates.
"Wonderful quick they did it too; and when I thought
how long that cargo had taken to get on board, it was
wonderful how soon they whipped it out of her. When
they had stripped her of all they thought worth taking,
they ran one of the cannon to the open hatch, loaded it
and crammed it full of balls to the muzzle then they ;

pointed it down the hold and fired it, and were soon on
board their own craft.
"The charge must have torn a great hole in the ship's
bottom, for I could see she was settling down in the
water before we had left her five minutes, and in a
quarter of an hour she gave a sudden lurch and sank.
As I was in for it now, I knew the best thing was to put
a good face on it, so I lent a hand at shifting the cargo
and did my best to seem contented. We sailed off in
company, and in the morning when I came on deck I
found the two craft riding side by side in a land-locked
barber.
"A few minutes later the boats were lowered and the
€0 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,
work of getting the cargo on shore began. It was clear
enough that this was the pirate's headquarters, for there
were lots of huts built on the sloping sides of the inlet,
and a number of men and women stood gathered on the
shore to receive us as we landed. The women were of
all countries, English, and French, Dutch, Spaniards,

and Portuguese, with a good sprinkling of dark-skinned

natives. All the white women had been taken prisoners
at some time or other from vessels which had fallen into
the pirates* hands, and though most of them must have
been miserable enough at heart, poor creatures, they all
made a show of being glad to see the men back again.
It was but a week, I learned, since the pirates had sailed,
and it was considered a great stroke of luck that they
should so soon have effected a capture.
*'No one attended to me, but I worked hard all day
with the others, rolling backward and forward between
the shore and the ship. "When it became dusk they
knocked off work, and the men went off to their huts, for it
seemed that each of them had a wife, brown-skinned or
white. Seeing that nobody paid any attention to me, I
went off to the little captain, who was making his way
up to a hut of a better class than the others.
*'
'What is to become of me, captain?' I asked. 'Ah!
I had not thought of you,' he said; 'well, you can go
up with me and get some supper, and you can have a
blanket and sleep on my veranda for to-night; we will
see where you can be lodged in the morning. ' I followed
him and was astonished as I entered at
into his house,
the luxury of the apartment, which far exceeded any-
thing I had ever seen before. The plank walls were con-
cealed by hangings of light green silk, a rich carpet
covered the floor, the furniture was most handsome and
massive, and had no doubt been intended for the palaco
 ' '

THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA YE. 61

of the Spanish governor of some of the islands. A pair

of candelabra of solid silver stood on the table and the
white candles in them, which had just been lighted,
threw a soft glow of light over the room and lighted up
the table, on which was a service, also of solid silver,
with vases and lovely flowers. A young woman rose
from a couch as he entered *I have been expecting you
:

for the last half-hour, Eugene. You have worked longer

than usual this evening if the fish are spoiled you must
;

not blame Zoe.

'*The speaker was a tall and very handsome woman,
and I now understood how it was that my captor spoke
Buch excellent English. There was a deep expression of
melancholy on her face, but she smiled when speaking to
the pirate, and her tone was one of affection.
" *I have brought home a countryman of yours, Ellen.
I forgot to allot him quarters was too late, so
until it
please give him over to the care of Zoe and ask her to
give him some supper and a blanket; he will sleep in the
veranda.
"The first look which the woman gave me as the cap-
tain spoke made me wish that instead of speaking to the
captain I had lain down fasting under a tree, there was
BO much contempt and horror in it ; then, as I suppose,
she saw I was but a boy, it changed, and it seemed to
me that she pitied me from her heart; however, she
clapped her hands and a negress entered. She said
Bomething to her in Spanish, and the old woman beck-
oned me to follow her, and I was soon sitting in front of
a better meal than I had tasted for many a month, per-
haps the best meal I had tasted in my life.
"As she couldn't speak English there was no talking
with the old woman. She gave me a tumbler of stiff
nun-and-water to drink with my supper, and after I had
62 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
don© handed me a blanket, took me out into the
slie

Teranda, pointed to the side where I should get the sea-

breeze, and left me. I smoked a pipe or two and then
went to sleep. I was awakened in the morning by some
one coming along the veranda, and, sitting up, saw the
lady I had seen the night before. *So you are English?'
she said. 'Yes, ma'am,* says I, touching my hat sailor
fashion. 'Are you lately from home?* she asked. 'Not
very late, ma*am,' says I; 'we went to Eio first, and not
filling up there were cruising about picking up a cargo
when — and I stopped, not knowing, you see, how I
*

should put it. 'Are there any more of you?* she asked
after awhile in a low sort of voice. 'No, ma'am,* says I;
*I am the only one.* did not ask,' she said almost in
'I

a whisper, and I could see her face was 'most as white as

a sheet, 'I never ask. And so you have joined them?*
*Yes,* says I, 'I couldn't help it, ma'am. I was the last
you see ; if there had been any one else to have encour-
aged me I should have said no, but being alone-—'
'Don't excuse yourself, poor boy,' she said; 'don't think
I blame you Who am I that I should blame any one?
It is little I can do for you, but if you should want any-
thing I will do my best to befriend you. ' I heard the
captain's voice calling. Suddenly she put her finger to
her lips, as a hint to me to hold my tongue, and off she
went.
"I don't know whether the captain's wife spoke to
him about me or not, but at any rate he didn't tell me
off to any of the huts, but kept me at the house. I used
to go down in the day to work with the other men un-
loading the ship and stowing away the stores, but they
only worked for a few hours morning and evening, lying
in hammocks slung under the trees during the heat of
the day. I made myself useful about the house, helped
^
THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 63

the old womanchop wood, drew water for her, at-

to
tended to the plants in the little garden round the house,
trained the creepers up the veranda, and lent a hand at
all sorts of odd jobs, just as a sailor will do.
"When ten days after we arrived, the ships got ready
for another cruise, I was afraid they would take me with
them, and I lay awake at nights sweating as I thought
over the fearful deeds I should have to take part in but ;

the captain gave me no orders, and to my delight the

men embarked and the ships sailed away without me.
I found there were some forty men left behind, whose
duty it was to keep a sharp lookout and man the
batteries they had got at the entrance to the cove in case
any of our cruisers came in sight.
**The man who was in command was a Spaniard, a
Bulky, cruel-looking scoundrel. However, he didn't
have much to do with me; I took my turn at the lookout
with the rest of them, and beside that there was noth-
ing to do. The men on shore had all been in one or
other of the ships when I was taken for I found there
;

were about a hundred and sixty of them, and a quarter

stayed at home by turns, changing after each cruise,
whether it was a long or short one.
*'The captain's wife often spoke to me now; she would
come out and sit in the veranda while I was at work.
She asked me what part I came from, and where I had
sailed, and what friends I had at home. But she nevei'
said a word to me about the capture of the ship. She
always looked sad now, while she had been cheerful and
bright while the captain was on shore. In time she got
quite friendly with me, and one day she said, 'Peter,
you will have to go to sea next time, what will you do?*
**
*I must do as the others do, God forgive me,* says
I; 'but don't think, ma'am, as ever I shall do it willing.
 ' '
;

64 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA YE.

It may beyears before I gets a chance, but if ever I does
I shall make a run for it, whatever the risk may be. I
speaks free to you, ma*am, for I feel sure as you won't
say a word to no man, for it would cots me my life if
they thought that I wasn't with them willing.
*^
'I will not tell any one, Peter, you may be sure,'
she said; 'but I do not think you will ever have a chance
—
of getting away no one ever does who once comes here.
**Well, in time, lad, she lets out bit by bit a little
about herself. She had been on her way out to join her
father, who was an officer of the East Indy Company,
when the ship was taken by the pirates. The men was
all killed, but she and some other women was taken on

board the pirate and at last brought there. The French

captain took a fancy to her from the first, and after she
had been there a year brought a Spanish priest they cap-
tured on board a ship and he married them. The pirates
seemed to think it was a joke, and lots of them followed
the captain's example and got married to the women
there. What they did with the priest afterward, whether
they cut his throat or landed him in some place thou-
sands of miles away, or entered him on board ship, is
more nor I know.
** There's no doubt the captain's wife was fond of her

husband ; pirate as he was, he had not behaved so bad

—
to her but except when he was with her she was always
sad.
had an awful horror of the life he led, and with
''She
this was a terror lest he should fall into the hands of a
cruiser, for she knew that if he hadn't the good luck to
be killed in the fight, he would be tried and hung at the
nearest port. It was a kind of mixed feeling, you see
she would have given everything to be free from the life
she was loading, and yet even had she had the chance
"^ TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VR 6S

ehe would not have left her husband. I believe he had

promised her to give it up, but she must have knowed
that he never would do it; besides, if he had slipped
away from the ship at any place where they touched he
could not have got her away, and her life would have
paid for his desertion. -

**But I don't think he would have gone if he could,

for, quiet and nice as he was when at home, he was a
demon at sea. and scoundrels as wer6 his tsrew,'
Euffians
the boldest of them were afraid of him. It was not a
word and a blow, but a word and a pistol-shot with hini;
and if it hadn't been that he was a first-rate seaman, that
he fought his ships splendidly, and that there was no
one who could have kept any show of order or discipline
had he not been there, I don't believe they would have
put up with him for a day.
''Well, lad, I sailed with them for three voyages. 1
won't tell you what I saw and heard, but it was years
before I could sleep well at night, but would start up Ib
a cold sweat with those scenes before my eyes and thos®
screams ringing in my ears. I can say that I never took
the life of a man or woman.
Of course I had to help to
load the cannon, and when the time for boarding cam©
would wave my cutlass and fire my pistols with the best
of them but I took good care never to be in the front
;

line, and the others were too busy with their bloody
doings to notice what share I took in them.
"We had been out about a fortnight on my third
Toyage, and the schooner and brig were lying in a little
bay when we saw what we took to be a large mear^liaat
ship coming along. She was all painted black, her rig-
ging was badly set up, her sails were dirty and some <rf
them patched, <she was steering east, and seemed as if
she was homeward bound after a long voyage Off w®
66 THE BRA VEST OF THE BKA VS.
•went in pursuit, thinking "we had got a prize. She
clapped on more sail, but we came up to her hand over
hand. She opened fire with two eight-pounders over her
stem. We didn't waste a shot in reply, but ranged
ap alongside, one on each beam. Then suddenly helj
sides seemed to open, fifteen ports on each side went up,
and her deck swarmed with men.
"A yell of dismay went up from the schooner which I
was on. In a moment a flash of fire ran along the
frigate's broadside; there was a crash of timber, and the
schooner shook as if she had struck on a rock.
There was a cry, *We are sinking!' Some made a wild
rush for the boats, others in their despair jumped over-
board, some cursed, and swore like madmen and shook
fcheir fists at the frigate. It seemed no time when an-
other broadside came.
"Down came the foremast, crushing half a dozen men
as she fell. Her deck was nearly level with the water
now. I climbed over the wreck of the foremast, and
run out along the bowsprit. I looked round just as I
leaped. The was standing at the wheel.
pirate captain |

He had a pistol to his head, and I saw the flash, and he

fell. Then I dived off and swam under water as hard as
I could to get away from the sinking ship. "When I
came up I looked round. I just saw the flutter of a
black flag above the water and she was gone. I was a.
good swimmer, and got rid of my shoes and jacket, and
made up my mind for a long swim, for the frigate was
too busy with the brig for any one to pay attention to
918, but it did not take long to finish it.

minutes it was over. The brig lay dismasted,

''In five
and scarce a dozen men out of the forty she carried were
alive to throw down their arms on deck and cry that they
jjurrendeied. Then the frigate's boats were lowered;
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BUA VE. ^
two rowed in our direction, while two put off to the brig.
There were only nine of us picked up, for from the first
broadside till we sank a heavy musketry fire had been
poured down upon the deck, and as we were not more
than fifty yards away from the frigate, the men had beeu
just mowed down. "We were all ironed as soon as we
were brought on board. After that we were brought up
one by one and questioned.
" You are young to be engaged in such work as this,*
*

ihe captain said when my turn came.

" *I was forced into it against my will, sir,' I said.
**'Yes,' the captain said, 'I suppose so; that's the
story each of the prisoners tell. How long have you
been with them?*
**
'Less than six months, sir.'
" *How old are you?*
" *I am not seventeen yet. I was boy on board the
Jane and "William. We were taken by the pirates on our
way back from Eio, and all except me killed or thrown
*
overboard.
*'
'And you bought your life by agreeing to sail with
them, I suppose?' the captain said contemptuously.
**
*I did, sir,' I said; 'but I was the
they asked; last
all the others had gone, and there warn't no one to back
me up.
*

'"Well, boy, you know what your fate will be,* the
captain said; 'there's no mercy for pirates.*
"The next day the captain sent for me and I
again,
took heart a little, for I thought if they had made up
their minds to hang me they wouldn't have questioned
me.
"'Look here, lad,' the captain said; 'you are the
youngest of the prisoners, and less steeped in crime than
«ny here, therefore I will at once make you an offer. If
fS TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE,
you will direct us to the lair of the pirates, I promise
*
your life shall be spared.
**
*Idon*t know the latitude and longitude, sir,* I said,
*and I doubt if any besides the captain and one or two
others do, but I know pretty well whereabout it is. "We
always set sail at night and came in at night, and none
was allowed on deck except the helmsman and two or
three old hands till but when I was ashore and
morning ;

on duty at the lookout I noticed three trees growing to-

gether just at the edge of the cliff at the point where it
was highest, two miles away from the entrance to the
cove. They were a big un and two little uns, and I feel
sure if I were to see them again I should know them.
*

*'
'Very well,* the captain said, 'I shall make for port
at once, and hand over the prisoners to the Spanish
authorities, then I will start on a cruise with you, and
'*
see if we can find your trees. *
''From the description I could give him of the islands
we passed after we had been at sea a few hours, and the
time it took us to sail from them to some known points,
the captain was able to form a sort of idea as to which
group of islands it belonged to, and when he had reached
port and got rid of his prisoners, all of whom were gar-
roted —that's a sort of strangling, you know —by the
Spaniards, a week afterward, we set out again on our
search for the island.
 ' '

TEE BRAVEST OF TEE BRAVS. 6$

CHAPTER Y.

THE PIBATE HOLD.

The frigate was again disguised as a merchantman, as,

if she had passed within sight of the island looking like
a ship-of-war, it would have put the pirates on theii
guard, and I had told the captain there were guns enough
at the mouth of the cove to blow the ship's boats out of
the water. As to the frigate getting in, I knew she
couldn't, for there was only just enough water at the
entrance for the pirate vessels to enter in. I was not in
irons now, but spent my time on deck ; and a wretched
time it was, I can tell you, for not a sailor on board
would speak to me.
"For three weeks we cruised about sailing round
island after island, but at last as we were approaching one
of them I saw the three trees.
*'
'That's the place,' I said to the boatswain, who was
standing near me, and he carried the news to the quarter-
deck, and brought back word I was to go to the captain*
" *You are sure those are the trees?'
**
'Quite sure, sir.
" *They answer to your description certainly,' the cap*
tain said. 'Keep her away, master, I don't want them ta
think we are steering for the island.
"The ship's course was altered, and she sailed along
parallel with the coast.
"'I beg your pardon, sir,* I said, touching my hat,
*but they have got some wonderful good glasses up at tli§
 ' —
f TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BEA VS,
lookout, and if make so bold I eiiould say that
I might
they will make out that we have got a lot more men on
deck than a merchant ship would carry.
**
*You are right, lad,* the captain said, and he at once
gave orders that all hands with the exception of half a
dozen should sit down under the bulwarks or go below.
The captain and first lieutenant kept a sharp lookout
through their glasses until we had passed the end of the
island. I pointed out to them the exact position of the
cove, but it was so shut in that even when I showed
where it was, it was as much as they could do to make it
out.
" 'Nowlad, do you know of any other landing-places
on the other side of the island?*
" *No, sir, and I don't believe there is any,* says I. I
know the captain said to me the first day I was on shore,
*It'sno use your thinking of making a bolt, for there
ain*t no other place but this where you could get to sea
not though you had twenty boats waiting to take you
off. I expect that's why they chose it.
' Anyhow, there
never was any watch kept up on shore, though I have no
doubt there was many a one who had been pressed into
pirating just as I was, to save their lives, would have
made off had they seen ever such a little chance of getting
away.
" *Just come into the cabin with me,* says he; 'I want
you to show me exactly where are these batteries, and
*
the position of the village on shore.
"The first lieutenant came too, and I drew them out a
chart as well as I could, showing them the position of
things, and told them that every evening a boom was
floated across the entrance.
**
'What sentries are there on at night?*
**
Tour, sir ; two close down to the water, one each
liMM. > I an
6. of B. The search for the Pirates' Cove.—Page 7a
 '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 7X

side of the cove, and two in the batteries at the top.

That's the watch, but beside there are six men sleep iu
each of the other batteries, and six in each of the batter-
ies inside.'
'*
*Tell me more
about the place and the life you led
there,' the captain said, 'and then I shall understand the
position of things better.
"So I spun him a regular yarn about the place and tho
people. I told him about the captain's wife, and she
being an English woman, and how she was taken, which
indeed was the way of most of the women there.
*'
suppose that a good many of the men were pressed
*I
too, the captain said.
*

"'I expect so, sir; but when we were together on

guard or on board a ship I noticed we never talked of
such things. It seemed to me as if everyone was trying
to forget the past, and I think that made them more
brutal and bloody-minded than they would have been.
Everyone was afraid of everyone else guessing as he
wasn't contented, and was wanting to get away, and so
*
each carried on as bad as he could.
**
'I dare say you are right, lad; it must be a terrible
position for a man to be in; but you see the law can
make no distinctions. If it wasn't thoroughly under-
stood that if a man took up the life of a pirate, whether
willingly or unwillingly, he would assuredly be executed
if he was caught, we should have the sea swarming with

pirates. Now, lad, you know how this boom was fas-
tened can you suggest any way that we could get over
;

it or loosen it without giving the alarm?'

*' *
There is no way, sir. One end is fastened by a big
chain which is fixed to a great shackle which is let into
a hole in the rock and fastened in there with lead ; that's
the fixed end of the boom. The other end, which is
 ' ' ' '

72 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

awung backward and forward when the ships go in port,
has got a big chain too. goes under an iron bar
It
which IS bent, and the two ends fastened in a rock.
When they want to fix the boom the end of the chain is

passed under this iron loop and then fastened to some

blocks and ropes worked from the battery above, and the
end of the chain is drawn up tight there, so that there
is no loosing the chain till that battery is taken.
" 'And you say the guns of the lower batteries at the
inner point sweep the entrance?'
**
*They do, sir. There are ten of them on each side,
fcwelve-pounder carronades, which are always charged,
and crammed up to the muzzle with bullets and nails and
bits of iron. The batteries on the top of the cliff at the
entrance are the heaviest metal. They have got twenty
guns in each of them. They are loaded with round shot
to keep a vessel from approaching, though of course they
*
could fire grape into any boats they saw coming in.
" 'This does not seem an easy business by any means,
Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said.
**
'It does not, sir,* the lieutenant agreed in a dubi-
Bome sort of way; 'but no doubt it can be done, sir no —
doubt it can be done.
" 'Yes, but ;how?' the captain asked. 'You will be ir
command of the boats, Mr. Earnshaw, and it ^ill nevei
do to attack such a place as that without sorje sort ol
plan.
"'What is the boom like my lad?' the lieutenant
asked; 'is it lashed together?*
" 'No, it ;is a solid spar,' I said. 'The entrance is nof
more than forty feet wide and the boom is pa^rt of the
mainmast of a big ship.
" 'It seems to me,' said the lieutenant, 'that the only
W&y to get at it, would be to go straight at the boom, the
 '

THE BHA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 73

fcwo lightest boats to go The men must get on the

first.

spar and pull the boats over and then make a dash foi
*
the batteries ; the heavy boats can follow them.
'*
would never do, Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said.
'It

'You forget there are twelve guns loaded to the muzzle

with grape and musket balls all trained upon a point onlj
forty feet across. Would it be possible to land just out-
side the boom, lad, on one or both sides, and to keep
along the edge, or wade in the water to the batteries?'
*'
'No, sir, the rock goes straight up from the watei
both sides.'
" 'Well, the two sentries, how do they get down to the
water's edge?'
" 'They are let down by rope from above, sir, and the
rope hauled up as soon as they are down.
is
" 'This is a deuce of a place, Mr. Earnshaw,' the cap-

tain said. 'We must do nothing hastily in this matter,

or we shall only be throwing away the lives of a lot of
men, and failing in our object. I was intending to sail
on and not return for a week, for no doubt they will be
specially vigilant for a time after seeing a large ship pass
them. As it is, I will return to-night to the back of the
island, and will there leave the cutter and my gig. You
will be in charge of the cutter, and Mr. Escombe will
take the gig. I shall then sail away again before day-
light for although from what the lad said, there is no
;

watch kept on that side of the island, it cannot be more

than three miles across, and any of the men or women
might stroll across or might from any high point in the
island obtain a view that way. You will make a thor*
ough survey of all that side. The cliffs certainly seem,
BO far as we could see them as we left the island, as
perpendicular as they are on the side we passed; but
thera qoiay be some place easier than another some Dlacd—
74 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB,
where, by setting our wits to work, we may raako a shift
to climb up. Get into the island I will, if I have to
*
blast a flight of steps up the cliff.
'*
'I will do my best to find a place, sir,' the lieutenant
said; 'and, if there isn't one, I will make one.'
*'The lieutenant told me accompany him
that I was to
in the cutter, and all was got ready for the trip. Water
and a week's rations of food were placed on board the
boats; for in that climate there was no saying when a
gale might spring up, or how long the vessel might be
before she got back to pick up the boats.
"When we were fairly out of sight of the island we
lay to till it got dusk, and then her head was pointed
back again. There was scarce a breath of wind stirring,
and the vessel went through the water so slowly that a
couple of hours later the captain ordered the boats to be
lowered, for he saw that if the wind didn't freshen the
ship could not get to the island, much less get away
again, before daylight. The oars were got out and off
we started, and after four hours' steady rowing the lieu-
tenant, who was steering by compass, made out the land
looming high above us. Another quarter of an hour's
row and we dropped our grapnels close to the foot of the
cliffs, and the men were told to get a sleep as well as

they could till morning.

'*As soon as it was daylight we were off again and
rowed to the end of the island; for, as Mr. Earnshaw
said to the third lieutenant, we had best begin at the end
and do the work thoroughly. When we got to the point
we turned and rowed back, keeping about two hundred
yards from the cliff so that we could see well up. They
—
were about a hundred feet high sometimes a little less,
sometimes a good bit more, and they went as straight up
from the water's edge as the cliffs at Dover, only there
 ' : ;

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 75

weren't no beacii. It was deep water right up to the

loot,
**We went along very slowly, the men only just dip-
ping their oars into th*^ water, and all of us watching

every foot of the cliffs. Sometimes we would stop alto-

gether while the officers talked over the possibility of
any one climbing up at some place where the water trick-
ling down from the top had eaten away the face a little
but not a goat in the world could have climbed up them,
not to say men. So we kept on till we got to the other
end of the island, which must have been five miles long.
Not a place could we see.
*'
Unless we are going to do as the captain said blast
*
—
—
steps up the face of that rock I don't believe it's to be
done,' Lieutenant Earnshaw said to Mr. Escombe.
*Well, there's nothing to do, lads, but too row in and
drop your grapnels again and wait till we see the ship's
lights to-night.
"Although we rowed in to within an oar's-length of
the cliff, there was eight fathoms of water when we
dropped the gapnels. We had been lying there an hour
when the third lieutenant said
*'
should think, Mr. Earnshaw that if we were to
*I
bring the pinnace with that four-pounder gun in the bow
and up-end it, and with a small charge fire a ball with a
rope fastened to it up clump of trees we saw
into that
just about the middle of the island, it might get caught.'
*'
*So it might, Escombe, and the idea is a good one;
but I doubt whether there's a man on board ship could
climb a rope swinging like that against the face of those
cliffs.'
" *He might if we used aC knotted rope,* Mr. Escombe
said.
tt ۥ
'I wouldn't mind making a try, yer honor,' one ol
76 THE BRA VEST OF TRB BRA Vff.
hhe sailors said, and half a dozen others volunteered theii
readiness to make the attempt.
**
'I will put it to the captain/ Mr. Earnshaw said; *il
he agrees, as you were the first to volunteer, Jones, you
shall have the chance.*
**The day was dead calm, so was the night that foI«

lowed and although we rowed back to the end of the

it ;

island from which we had come, no lights were to be

seen that night.
*'The next day passed slowly. The sun was hot; but
toward evening the lieutenant gave permission for the
men to bathe; but warned us that no man must go fai
from the boats, because there might be sharks about.
However, we didn't see none, and we enjoyed the dip.
and were in better humor still when we found that a
light breeze was springing up. It might have been
about midnight when the men on watch made out a light
to seaward, and we weren't long in getting up our grap-
nels and sitting to our oars. In half an hour we were on
board, and were soon sailing away from the island again.
"The next night in we came again, and I saw that the
third lieutenant's plan was going to be adopted; in fact,
I guessed so before; for the sail-makers had been at work
with two light ropes making a rope ladder, and the ship'8
smith had got some empty shells on deck, and had made
a shift to screw some iron eyes into them for fixing ropes
to. The gun was taken out of the pinnace and a little
mortar fired in her, and half a dozen ropes, each a hun-
dred fathoms long, had knots put in them every two feet.
**The launch and the two cutters were lowered as well
as the pinnace this time, and the crews were armed witfc
cutlass and pistol. I went with them as before, as I
should be wanted to guide them when they got near the
village. It was a bright starlight night without haze, sc
 ' '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 7^

that when we got we could make out the outline ol

close
the cliffs, and could see the thick wood growing on the
top. When we got within about a hundred yards of the
cliffs the boat's crew stopped rowing.
*'
'Don't use more powder than you can help, gunner,'
Mr. Earnshaw said. *In the first place, we don't wani
to do more than carry out the rope to its full length in ;

the next place, we don't want to make more noise than

we can help. What wind there is is fortunately blowing
seaward, and being so close under the cliff the sound
will be echoed back. At the same time the less noise the
better.
"
*I will begin with very little sir. If the ball don't
go to the top of the cliff I shall put a trifle more into the
gun next time it's better to make a mistake on the right
;

aide.
"A powder was put in the mortar,
small quantity of
which was only a four-inch one. Then a wad was put in,
and a shell with one of the knotted ropes fastened to ii
dropped in the top. The rope had been coiled in a tub
so as to run out easily. The gunner applied the match.
There was a dull report, and every man held his breath
to listen. There was a thud high up on the cliff and
then a splash.
*'
*A few feet short of the top, I should say, gunner.
You must put in more next time, for the shell must gc
well up over the trees and drop among them otherwise
;

*
itwon't catch.
"The gunner by the light of the lantern measured out
half as much powder again as he had used before, and
bhen fired. This time we heard no sound till there was
a faint splash in the water.
**
*The rope's gone, sir,* the gunner said, looking into
*
the tub. There was a little too much this time.
 '

78 THE BRA VE8T OF THE BRA VE.

'*
don't think so/ Mr. Escombe said.
*I 'I think that

splash was the end of the rope touching the water. In

that case it will be just right, a hundred feet up the
cliffs, and five hundred feet among the trees. No fear of
the rope coming back to us.
**It took us a quarter of an hour's search in the dark

to find the rope but at last we came upon it, and sure
;

enough there was only four or five fathoms in the water.

*'
*Now, Jones, Mr. Earnshaw said, *it's your turn.
'

Put that light line over your shoulders, and when 3'ou
get to the top haul on it till you get up the rope-ladder,
and fasten that to a stout trunk and give a low hail. We
will hold the rope as steady as we can below while you
*
paount.
*'
'Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who was an active young
chap; 'I will be up there in a jiffy.'

"We end round one of the thwarts

^fastened the lower
of the boat, and then he began to climb. It was neai*
five minutes before he got to the top, for there were
Bome nasty places where the cliff jutted out, and the rope
was hard against it; but presently the shaking ceased,
and a minute later the light line was hauled tight.
There was a low cheer in the boats, and then up went
the rope-ladder. A minute or two later there was a hail
from the top.
*''A11 taut, sir.'
"
*I will go first,' Mr. Earnshaw said. Accordingly
up he went, and one by one we followed, each waiting
for the signal that the one before him had got up, till all
bad gone except the two told off as boat watch. Then
the men of the launch and cutters followed, and in about
two hours they were all at the top, and a lantern was
shown to tell the ship we were there.
"We started at once across the island, Mr. Earnshaw
 ' :

THE BRA VE8T OF TEE BRA VE. 79

keeping the line by a pocket compass. It was rough

work, though, and at last the lieutenant said
" 'We make such a noise going through the bushes
that we had better wait till daylight, so just halt where
you are, lads.*
**As soon as the first ray of light showed we were off
again, and an hour later reached the edge of the slop©
down to the cove.
" *Now, remember,' the lieutenant said, 'that no
woman is to be hurt. All the men who resist are to be
shot or cut down but you are to take prisoners all who
;

throw down their arms. Some of them may be able to

prove themselves less guilty than the rest. At any rate,
there is no fear of the Spanish authorities being too
merciful. These pirates have been the scourge of these
seas for the last six years.
''Well, lad, there ain't much more to tell you. We
took them completely by surprise, and the men in the
village were all knocked down and bound, without firing
a shot. The men in the batteries tried to slew their
guns round, but we didn't give 'em time. They fought
desperately, for they knew what their doom was, and
there weren't any prisoners taken there. As soon as the
village was taken I went straight with Mr. Escombe to
the captain's house. His wife was standing at the door,
and she gave a little cry as she saw the British uniforms,
and ran a step or two to meet us, then she stopped, and
her arms dropped by her side.
" *What! you, Peter!* she said as we came up. 'Is it
you who led them here?'
" 'Yes, ma'am, it was me,' says I, 'and the best thing
I could do for you, for you could not wish to stay here
all your life with just the people that are here.'
" 'But what has happened?* she said. 'How is ifc
you are here? What has become of the schooner?'
 '

80 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE

" 'The schooner is sunk, ma'am, and the brig is cap-
*
iured.
''*And my
husband?'
'Well, ma'am, don't you take on, but your husband
*'

went down with the schooner.

"She tottered, and I thought she would have fallen,
but Mr, Escombe put his arm round her and led her to
the house and left her there, putting two sailors on
^uard to see as she wasn't disturbed. An hour or two
later the frigate was off the cove, and the captain landed.
We stopped a week there, and carried off all there was
worth taking; and I tell you there was enough to give
every man Jack on board a handsome share of prize-
money when the things came to be sold afterward.
**
Money, there was lots of it, all stored away in what
they called the treasure-house, for money was no good
there. Jewels and ornaments, watches, and the thing a
which they uses in them Catholic churches, and all kinds
of valuable things, and stores of silks and velvets and all
kinds of materials and as to wine and such like, there
;

was enough to have lasted them for years, for from first
to last it was shown afterward that those fellows must
have captured more nor fifty vessels. Why they
shouldn't have stopped ashore and enjoyed what they
got was a mystery to me.' But I suppose they couldn't do
without excitement, and though every man talked of the
time when the treasure would be divided and they were
to scatter, I don't suppose as one ever expected as tha
time would really come.
"Well, arter everything was on board, and the women
and children, the place was burned, and we sailed for
the nearest Spanish port. We had had a sort of court-
martial on board the frigate, and two or three young
chaps like myself « and two men as was proved to have
 THE BRA VSST OF TEE BRA VE. 81

been captured in the pirate's last cruise, and who hadn't

been to sea with them or taken part in any of their
bloody doings, was kept on board ship, and the rest
was handed over to the Spanish authorities. Most of t) em
was garroted, and a few was condemned to work on the
roads for life. I and the others was taken back to Eng-
land in the frigate, whose foreign time was up, and when
we got to Portsmouth we was drafted into a regiment
there, and lucky we thought ourselves to get off so easy.
The captain's wife and some of the other white women
came home to England on board the frigate. She was
verj^ low at first, but she brightened up a good deal
toward the end of the voyage, which lasted two months.
Ehe grieved over her husband, you see, but she couldn't
but have felt that it was all for the best. I heard after-
ward as how two years after she married Mr. Earnshaw,
who by that time had got to be a captain. So that you see,
my lad, is how I came to fight under the black flag first an<i
then to be a soldier of the queen. I didn't mean it to
h& sich a long yarn, but when I once began it all came
back to me, and you see, I haven't spoken of it for years.
You don't think altogether as I was very wrong, I hope."
"I thank you very much for your story, sergeant,*'
Jack replied. ''I only wish it had been longer; and

although very easy to say that a man ought to die

it's

rather than consent to be a pirate, I don't think there

are many lads who would choose death if they were
placed as you were."
"I am glad you think that, young un; always been
it's

a sore point with me. I have done my duty since, and

no one can say as he's ever seen Sergeant Edwards show
the white feather. But the thought that once I did not
wt as a brave man would have done has always troubled
83 THE BBA VEST OF THE BBA VE.
The next day, went down, and the recruits
as the sea
recovered from the effects of the confinement and sick-
ness, they again began to talk among themselves. The
fac that all the other vessels of the fleet were out of sight
naturally encouraged them. Jaek observed, however,
that the call to parade on deck was answered with more
quickness than before, and the exercises were gone
through with a painstaking steadiness greater than had
been shown since the embarkation. "When the men were
dismissed from parade Jack remarked this to the
sergeant.
''Ay, ay, lad, I noticed it too,*' the sergeant said,
shaking his head, "and in my opinion it*s a bad sign.
They want to throw the officers off their guard. It's a
pity you have been talking so much to me, because, of
course, they won't say anything when you are listening;
but one or two of the men who came into the regiment
with me have dropped a word as they [happened to pa5S
this morning that they wanted to have a word if they
could get one without being noticed, so I hope to hear a
little more to-night."
That evening, before going below. Jack had an hour's
talk with Sergeant Edwards.
''It's just as I thought," the latter said, "they've got

an idea of seizing the ship. The men I sp®ke of man-

aged to get a few words with me this evening. They
don't know anything about piracy. All they have heard
is that there is a proposal to seize the ship and to carry

her into one of the northern ports of Spain, where the

men will land and give up their arms to the Spanish
authorities, and then either disperse and make their way
home by twos and threes as best they can, or they will
take service with the King of Spain, who, they think,,
will pay them a deal better than the English government.
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 83
I

"A part of the crew are in the scheme. These, the

men tell me, do not intend to land, but only tell the
others that they shall sail away. That's about what I
thought would be. The greater part of these fellowa
only wants to get quickly home again, while the sailors,
who may want to go a-buccaneering, would not care
about having the soldiers with them. I shall give a hint
to the captain of my company to-night as to what is

going on, but I don't much expect he will pay any atten-
tion to it. Officers never believe these things till it is
too late, and you see I can't give them any names yet or
prove what I say besides, likely enough, any inquiry
;

set on foot would only bring the matter to a head. We

must wait till we know something sure.
**Tou keep your ears open, my boy, and your eyes too,
and I will do the same. If it comes, and you see a
chance of warning the captain of the ship or the first
lieutenant in time, you do it; but don't you do it if you
don't think there's time enough, or if you can't do it
without being seen. If it's too late, and you are found
out, they would just chuck you overboard or knock you
on the head, and you will have done no good after all,
and perhaps only cause bloodshed. Like enough, if
matters go quietly, there won't be no bloodshed, and the
ofScers and those who stick tothem will just be turned
adrift in the boats, or maybe handed over to the Spanish
at the port they go into as prisoners."
Jack promised to follow the sergeant's instructions,
and went below. He thought that the men were unusu-
ally quiet, and taking his blanket —
for although some of
the soldiers slept in hammocks, the majority lay on the
—
deck wrapped in their blankets he lay down by the side
of a gun whose port had been opened to admit air be-
tween decks. After thinking the matter over for som«
84 TEE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

time, and wondering "what would be the end of it, he

dropped off into a light sleep.
Presently he was aroused by a confused sound. Look'
ing round cautiously, he saw by the dim light of the
lantern that most of the men were on their feet. Some
of them were taking down their firearms from the arm-
racks; small groups were stooping over some of the
sleeping figures; and to the mast, close to which one of
the lanterns hung, two or three men were bound, and
two soldiers with pikes were standing by them. The
crisis, then, had come, and Jack at once proceeded to
carry out the plan he had thought out after he lay down.
Very quietly he crawled out through the porthole, and
then raised himself and stood on the muzzle of the gun.
There he could reach the foot of the shrouds of the
foremast, which happened to be immediately above the
port. He swung himself up, and, placing his hands on
the edge of the bulwarks, cautiously looked over.
At present all was quiet there; the signal from below
—
had not been given, and the troops on deck for, owing
to the numbers on board, one-fourth were always on
—
deck in fine weather were standing about or sitting in
groups. Keeping his feet on the ledge which ran round
level with the deck, and his fingers on the top of the
bulwark. Jack managed to edge his way aft until he
reached the line of the quarter-deck. Here the line oi
the bulwark ceased, the cabins of the officers rising, as
was usual in those days, in a double tier high about the
waist.
The nearest porthole, which was open, was but three
feet long, and Jack, reaching forward, put one hand in
it and continued his way. The porthole was but just
large enough for him to squeeze through. Looking in
before he attempted it he saw an officer asleep immedi-
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 85

ately below him. was the ensign of his own company.

It
Leaning in he touched him gently. After one or two
attempts, the young officer opened his eyes, saying,
"What is it? It's not morning yet."
"Hush, sir,'* Jack said earnestly; '*IamJack Stilwell
of your company. There is a mutiny, sir, forward.
Please help me in, I want to warn the captain of the
ship, and he will know what to do.*'
The young officer leaped from his bunk and assisted
Jack to enter.
**I will come with you,'* he said, hastily dragging on
his trousers and coat. **Are you sure of what you say?'*
'* Quite sure, sir; the non-commissioned officers are
bound; it may begin
any moment. " The ensign led
at
the way to the captain's cabin, which he opened and
entered without ceremony.
"What is it?** the captain exclaimed. The ensign
said who he v as, and Jack repeated his story.
"The dogs!** the captain said, "we will teach them a
lesson. Let me see, the second lieutenant is on duty;
rouse all the other officers;** and he himself assisted them
to do In a minute or two they were gathered, hastily
so.
attired, with sword and pistol in the captain's cabin.
"Do you, Mr. Hartwell,** the captain said, addressing
the first lieutenant, "go below and rouse the boatswain
and petty officers, and bid them get together all the men
they can depend upon, arm them quietly, and be ready to
rush on deck the instant a stir is heard forward among the
soldiers. Any man who disobeys orders, shoot him in-
stantly. Do you, sir,** he said to the second officer, "go
to the magazine with four of the midshipmen, open it
end bring up charges of grape for the guns on the
Quarter-deck. Be as quick as you can. Now gentlemen
the rest of ua will make our way up quietly, one by one
Se THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
to the quarter-deck. Go well aft, so that the men ixj

the waist will not notice you. Directly the cartridges

come up we will load the guns, and be in readiness to
Blew them across the deck ; and in the meantime, if they
Bhould attack before we are ready, we must hold the
"
ladders to the last.

One by one the officers stole out from the cabin with
bare feet, and made their way up to the quarter-deck, until
some thirty of them were gathered there, being all the
officers of the regiment, the naval officers, and midship-
men. The night was a dark one, and this was accom-
plished without the movement being noticed by any of
those in the waist of the ship.
 THE BRA VB8T OF TEE BRA VE, 87

CHAPTER VI.

A COMMISSION.

The moments passed slowly and anxiously, for if the

mutineers were to pour up from below before the car-
•

tridges arrived, and the lieutenant had got the petty

officers and men on whom they could rely ready for
action, it was improbable that the officers would be able
successfully to oppose the rush of the men, armed as
these would be with matchlock and pike.
The mutineers, however, believing that there was no
occasion to hurry, were quietly carrying out their inten-
tions. The non-commissioned officers had all been
seized, tied, and placed under sentries whose orders
were to pike them if they uttered a word. A strong
guard had been placed at the foot of the gangway to pre-
vent any of the soldiers who were not in the plan from
going on deck and giving the alarm. The muskets were
not loaded, as on embarkation all ball cartridges had, as
usual, been stowed away in the magazine; but they
reckoned upon obtaining possession of this at the
first rush. The ringleaders proceeded to form the men
in fours, so that they could pour on to the deck in mili-
tary order. The men of each company were told off to
separate work. Two companies were to clear the decks,
where, on their appearance, they would be joined by
their comrades there, and to overpower any sailors who
might offer resistance.
Another company was to run down and secure the
88 THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE,

magazine, and, breaking it open, to serve out cartridges

to all. Two other companies were to rusli aft and over-
power the ofi&cers ; the sixth and seventh were to form
round the head of the hatchway leading to the decks
where the sailors slept, and to allow only those to come
on deck who had entered into the plot. The other three
companies were already on deck. The arrangements
were excellent, but the care taken in preparing for them,
and the necessity for doing this in silence lest the stir
should be heard and an alarm be given on deck, occupied
time which the ofiScers were turning to advantage.
As soon as the captain and naval men had gained the
quarter-deck they threw off the lashings of the guns, and
had all in readiness for running them in and taking them
aft to the edge of the quarter-deck. There was a deep
sensation of relief as one after another the midshipmen
joined them, each carrying three cartridges of grape, and
followed by the gunner with four more. The lieutenant
"was to stay below to lead the sailors on to the deck.
The gunner brought a message saying that all was
well. Many of the sailors were found to have turned
into their hammocks without undressing, and to have
handpikes or cutlasses concealed beneath the clothes.
These, however, had been surprised and taken without
the slightest noise; as, on finding a lantern on one side
of their heads and a pistol on the other, each had sub-
mitted without the slightest resistance. All these had
been sent down to the hold below, and a guard placed
over them. The guns were loaded and the whole of the
officers divided among them in readiness to run them
forward. Four or five minutes passed, then a shout was
beard forward and a low rush of many feet.
In an inst2,nt the four guns on the quarter-deck were
run across. "While this was being done there was Ot
 — :

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 89

clashing of swords, shouts, and a noise of conflict heard

forward, and at the same time a loud cheer arose, while
from the after hatchway a dark body of men rushed up
on to the deck and formed across it. Some midshipmen,
who had been told off for the duty, ran up from the
officers' cabin with lighted lanterns, which were ranged
along at the edge of the quarter-deck.
There was a rush aft of the mutineers, but these re-
coiled astonished at the sight of the pikes which con-
fronted them, and the line of sailors four deep across the
deck, while at the same moment the light of the lanterns
showed them the officers on the quarter-deck, and the
four guns pointed threateningly toward them. For a
moment a silence of astonishment and dismay succeeded
the uproar which had preceded it, then the captain's
voice was heard
"Down with your arms, you mutinous dogs, or I will
blow you into the air. It is useless to resist. We are
prepared for you, and you are without ammunition.
Throw down the arms on the decks, every man of you,
before I count three, or I fire. One two — -"

There was a loud clattering of arms, mingled with

shouts of
"We surrender; don't fire, sir, don't fire."
"It's all over," the captain said grimly. "Mr. Hart-
well,march your men forward, shoot any scoundrel in-
stantlywhom you find with arms in his hands, collect ah
the weapons and bring them aft.
"Now, Colonel Clifford," he said, turning to the officer
in command of the regiment, "if you go below with the
officers, you can unloose the non-commissioned officers;
they will be able to point out to you the ringleaders in
this business. They had better be ironed at once and
put into the hold. You will have no more trouble uow«
I fancy."
90 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
In ten minutes the whole of ihe arms had been col*
iected and stored up, the non-commissioned officers had
pointed out some twentj' of the ringleaders, and these
were safely in irons below, while a strong guard of armed
sailorswas placed between decks to see that there was
no renewal of insubordinate conduct. There was, how-
ever, no fear of this; the men were thoroughly cowed
and humiliated by the failure of their plan, and each was
occupied only in hoping that he had not been sufficiently
conspicuous to be handed over in the morning to join
the prisoners below.
There was no more sleep that night on board the ship,
ifter breakfast two courts-martial were held, the one by
the naval, the other by the military officers. The
latter sentenced two men, who were convicted on the
testimony of the non-commissioned officers as having
been the leaders, to be hung, and the sentence was at
once carried oat. The regiment was formed in close
order on deck, unarmed, and witnessed the execution of
their comrades, who were hung up to the extremities of
the main-yard. The other prisoners were sentenced to
—
two hundred lashes apiece a punishment which was,
according to the ideas of the time, very lenient, such a
punishment being frequently administered for compara-
tively trifling offenses, and the prisoners considered
themselves fortunate in escaping hanging, for which,
indeed, they had prepared themselves.
Previous to the administration of their punishment the
colonel addressed the men, and told them that all the
ringleaders had been found guilty and sentenced to
death, but that the members of the court-martial had
agreed with him that, considering the youth and inex-
perience of the offenders and the whole circumstances ol
the case, it would be possible to remit the f*«ath sen*
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 9J

tence, confident that the prisoners and the whole of the

regiment would recognize the leniency with which they
had been treated, and would return to their duty with a
firm and hearty determination to do all in their power to
atone for their misconduct, and to show themselves true
and worthy soldiers of the queen. If this was the case,
no further notice would be taken of the error, but at the
s&me time he warned them that he had by him a long
list of men who had taken a prominent part in the affair,

and that the first time any of these misconducted them-

selves they might be well assured that no mercy would
be shown to them.
The naval court-martial showed no greater severity
than that administered by the military officers. The
vessel was short-handed, and moreover the officers did
not wish the stigma to attach to the ship of a serious
mutiny among the crew. Had any of these been hung,
the matter must have been reported but as none of the
;

crew had absolutely taken part in the rising, however

evident it was that they intended to do so, no sentences
of death were passed. But a number of the men were
sentenced to be flogged more or less severely, those who
had but lately been pressed getting off with compara-
tively light punishments, while the heaviest sentences
were passed on the older hands concerned in the affair.
The arms of the troops continued to be kept under a
strong guard until, ten days later, the rest of the fleet
were seen, just as the northern point of Portugal was
made out. A few hours later the fleet was united and ;

the next day, the wind dying entirely away, Colonel

Clifford proceeded in a boat to the flagship to report tc
the Earl of Peterborough the mutiny which had taken
place in his regiment, and its successful suppression.
Immediately the mutiny had been put dt wn Jack Stil«
92 THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
well had stolen away and rejoined the soldiers forward;
and although there was much wonder among the men as
to how the affair had been discovered, none suspected
him of having betrayed them, and believed that the
officers must have been warned by some word incautiously
let drop in their hearing. Only to Sergeant Edwards did
Jack reveal what had taken place.
'*Do you know, lad, I guessed as you had had a hand
in the business somehow. "When I was standing tied
up against the mast I had to keep my mouth shut but I ;

had the use of my eyes, and I could not make you out
among them. I might have missed you, of course; but
your company was formed up close to where I was stand-
ing, and I thought I should have seen you if you had
been there. I could not think what had become of you;
but when the men came pouring down again without
their arms, and I heard them cursing and swearing be-
cause the sailors and the officers and all were found in
readiness to receive them, it somehow came to my mind
as that you was at the bottom of it —
though how, I could
not for the life of me make out, for I knew you had gone
below when I did."
*'I wish, sergeant, that when you are examined, as you
will be about this affair, you wiii ask Captain Curtis to
ask the colonel not to let it be know publicly that it was

I who warned him, for my life would be unbearable

among the men if they knew it. And if it didn't happen
before, it would be certain that the first time we went
into action I should get a bullet in my back.'*
*'You are right there, my lad. I will tell the captain.
You may be sure your conduct won't be overlooked; but
at present, as you say, the less said about it the better."
An hour after Colonel Clifford had gone on board the
flagship the boat returned with orders that Private StU-
 '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 93

Well, of D Company, was to go back with them. The

order was given to Captain Curtis, who sent first for
Sergeant Edwards.
*'Go forward, sergeant, and tell Stilwell that he is to
go on board the flagship. No doubt the colonel has
spoken to the general. Tell the lad apart, and let him
make his way aft here to the gangway quietly, so that he
won't be noticed. If any of the men happen to see him
going off in the boat, they may suppose that the colonel
has only sent for some man who can write and naturally
;

if the captain had ordered me to choose a man, I should

have picked him out.

'

On reaching the deck of the flagship Jack was con-

ducted to the admiral's cabin. At the head of the table
was seated a man whom Jack recognized at once, from
the description he had heard of him, as the Earl of
Peterborough. He was small and very spare in person,
his features were pleasant, his nose somewhat prominent
his eye lively and penetrating. He had laid aside the
immense wig which, in accordance with the custom, h^j
wore when abroad or at court in England ; and Jack sa p/
his hair, which was light brown and somewhat scantj?
The admiral of the fleet sat next to him; for although
Peterborough had the command of the expedition both
at land and sea, an admiral was in command of the fleet
under him. Colonel Clifford was seated on the earl's
left, and several other naval and military officers were at

the table.
''Well, young man," Peterborough said, **Colonel
Clifford has been telling us that it is due to you that I

have not a regiment the less under my orders, and that

her majesty has not lost a ship from the list of her navy.
He says that the whole thing was so quickly done that
Le has not been able to learn the full particulars from
 : !

94 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,

you, and that he has abstained from questioning you be-
cause you did not wish any suspicion to be excited
among the men of the part you played in it. Now,
please to tell me the whole history of the affair.'*

Jack thereupon related how his suspicions had been

aroused by Sergeant Edwards, who was only waiting for
sufficient opportunity and a certainty of information to
divulge the plot to the officers. He then related his
awaking as the mutiny began, and the steps he had
taken to warn the officers. When he had done, the earl
said
'*You have acted smartly and well, young man; you
have shown promptness, courage, and fidelity. Yom
speak above your rank. What is your parentage?*'
''My father was a clergyman, sir," Jack said, *'bui
being dispossessed of his living in the troubles, could
not make known on the return of King Charles
his case
but he supported himself by teaching, and gave me suci
education as he could, in hope that I too should entei
the ministry. But my thoughts did not incline that
way and when he died, and also my mother, I thought
;

of going to sea, when it happened that I was pressed for

a soldier. And seeing that it was so, I made up my
mind make the best of things."
to
*'And you have done so, young man; and right gia(7
am I that your education and parentage are such that 1
can reward you as I should wish. I give you a discharge
now from your regiment and appoint you ensign. You
will at present form one of my staff and glad am I to
;

have so dashing and able a young officer ready to hand

forany perilous service I may require.**
On the 20th of June the fleet sailed up the Tagus.
Jack had not returned on board his ship.
"Better stop, here,** the earl said, '*If you went back.
 :

THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 95

and they heard you were promoted, likely enough some

of them might toss you overboard on a dark night. We
•will set the tailors at once to work to rig you up an un-
dress uniform. You can get a full dress made at Lisbon.
Not that you will be wanting to wear that much for we
have come out for rough work still, when we ride trium-
;

phantly into any town we have taken, it is as well to make

a good impression upon the Spanish donnas. And, say
what they will, fine feathers go a long way toward mak-
ing fine birds. Do you write a good hand?''
'*I think I write a pretty fair one, sir.**

*^That is good. I write a crabbed stick myself, and

there's nothing I hate more than writing; and as for
these young gentlemen, I don't think they will be of
much use for that sort of thing. However, I shan't have a
great deal of it. But yoa shall act as my secretary when
necessary."
The earl's orders to the tailors were peremptory to lose
no time in fitting Jack with an undress suit, and in
twenty-foT;r hours he was able to join the mess of the
young officers and volunteers who accompanied the gen-
eral. These were all young men of good family ; and
having heard how Jack had saved the ship from mutiny,
they received him among them with great heartiness,
which was increased when they found that he was well
educated and the son of a gentleman.
Itwas a great satisfaction to Jack, that owing to the
kindness and generosity of the earl, he was able to pay
his expenses at mess and to live on equal terms with
them for the general had dropped a purse with a hun-
;

dred guineas into his hand, saying

"This will be useful to you, lad, for you must live like
the other officers. I owe it to you many times over for
Ijaving saved m© that regiment, upon ^hose equipment
96 THE BBA VEST OF TEE BRA VK
and fitting out I had spent well-nigh a hundred times
that sum."
Some of the officers were but little older than Jack,
and by the time the ship dropped anchor in the Tagus
he was quite at home with them.
**What a lovely city!'* he said as he leaned over the
bulwark and looked at the town standing on the steep
hills sloping down to the river.
"Yes, indeed/* Graham, one of the young officers,
agreed. "But I fancy the Portuguese are but poor
creatures. The Earl of Galway writes in his dispatches
that they are great at promises, but he finds he can
expect little assistance from them.**
"Have you any idea whether we are going to land
here?"
"No; wherever we land, you may be sure it won't be
here. The Earl of Galway has been here two or three
months, and he has some good regiments with him. Our
chief would be losing his position did we land here,, as
he has a separate command, and would of course be
under Galway if the forces were joined. The Dutch
fleet is to be here in a day or two, and the Archduke

Charles sailed a fortnight before we did and as we have ;

made a very slow voyage of it, he ought to have been

here long ago. What a talk there will be ! What with
the archduke, and the Portuguese, and the Dutch, and
hhe Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the Earls of Galway
and Peterborough, and probably every one of them with
his own ideas and opinions, it will be hard to come to
any arrangement. Besides there will be dispatches from
the British court, and the court of the Netherlands, and
the Austrian emperor, all of whom will probably differ
as to what is the best thing to be done. There will be a
nice to-do altogether. There's on© thing to be said, our
 THE BEA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 97

chief can out-talk them all; and he can say such dis-
agreeable things when he likes that he will be likely to
get his own way, only to get rid of him. There
if it's

goes his boat into the water. "What an impatient fellow

he is, to be sure!"
No sooner had Peterborough landed than he turned
all his energies to obtain the supplies which had been
denied to him at home, and after much difficulty he suc-
ceeded in borrowing a hundred thousand pounds from a
Jew named Curtisos on treasury bills on Lord Godolphin,
"with the condition that the lender should be given the
contract for the supply of provisions and other requisites
for the army. The day that the had carried out this
earl
arrangement he returned on board radiant. Hitherto he
had been terribly out of temper, and Jack, who had be-
come his amanuensis, had written at his dictation many
Tery sharp notes to everyone with whom he had come iD?
contact. As soon as he came on board he sent for Jac^
to his cabin.
"Sit down, Mr. Stilwell. I have a dispatch for you to
write to the lord treasurer. I have got my money, so
that difficulty is at an end. It is glorious! I couldn't
get a penny out of them before I sailed, now I have got
as much as I want. I would give a thousand guineas
out of my own pocket to see Godolphin 's face when he
reads my dispatch, and finds that he's got to honor bills
for ahundred thousand pounds; it will be better than
any comedy that ever was acted. How the pompous old
owl will fret and fume But he will have to find the
!

money for all that. He can't begin the campaign by

dishonoring bills of her majesty's general, or no one will
trust us hereafter. You haven't seen my lord treasurers
Mr. Stilwell?"
"No, sir, I have not been at court at all."
98 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
''That's a pity/* the earl said; "for you lose the
cream of the joke. Now, I shall go on shore to-morrow
and get everything that is wanted, and then the sooner
we are off the better ; we have been here a fortnight, and
I am sick of the place."
Jack was by no means sick of Lisbon, for he enjoyed
himself vastly. The town was full of troops —English,
Dutch, and Portuguese. Of an evening there were fetes
and galas of all kinds, and as the earl always attended
these. Jack and the other young officers were permitted
to go ashore either in full uniform to take part in the
fetes, or to enjoy themselves according to their fancies.
As Graham had predicted, it was some time before any
conclusion was arrived at as to the destination of the
fleet. Several councils were held, but no decision was
come to. Peterborough's orders were so vague that he
could use his own discretion. He had, indeed, been
recommended to prevail upon the Archduke Charles to
accompany him and to proceed to Italy, where he was to
form a junction with Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy,
who was sorely pressed by the armies of France.
A messenger, however, arrived by sea with an order
from the queen that the fleet should proceed to the coast
of Catalonia, in consequence of information which had
been sent to the British court of the favorable disposi-
tion of the Catalans toward the Archduke Charles. This
was in accordance with the counsel which the Prince ol
Besse-Darmstadt had been strenuously urging, and his
recent success in the capture and subsequent defense of
Gibraltar gave weight to his words and effaced the recol-
lection of his failure before Barcelona in the previous
year.
The final decision rested in a great measure with the
Archduke Charles, who at last decided to proceed with
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 99

Lord Peterborough and land upon the coast of Spain and

test the dispos'tion of his Valencian and Catalan subjects.
The reasons for Peterborough's falling in with the de-
cision to move on Barcelona are explained in a dispatch
which he dictated to Sir George Eooke on the 20th of
July.
**Upon the letter of my LordGodolphin and the secre«
tary of state, the King of Spain, his ministers and my
Lord Galway and myself have concluded there was no
other attempt to be made but upon Catalonia, where all
advices agree that six thousand men and twelve hundred
horse are ready expecting our arrival with a genera}
good-will of all the people. The Portuguese have en-
tirely refused to join in any design against Cadiz, and
by a copy of my Lord Galway 's letter you will find he is
in an utter despair of their attempting anything this year,
and that by our instructions it will appear that there is
no other enterprise left for our choice.**
Peterborough's military force was, however, wholly
insufficient for such an enterprise. He prevailed upon
Lord Galway to give him a part of Lord Eaby's and
General Cunningham's regiments of English dragoons,
although the Portuguese strenuously opposed this being
done. Their conduct, indeed, at this time was very
similar to that which they adopted a hundred years later
toward the Duke of "Wellington, throwing every conceiva-
ble obstacle in the English commander's way, and oppos-
ing every plan of action which he suggested. Manj^ of
the dragoons were without horses, but Lord Peterbor»
ough mounted them on animals which he bought with
some of the money he had procured from Curtisos.
The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt went on ahead to Gib-
i=altar to arrange for a portion of the garrison to accom-

ipany the expedition. On the 28th of July the Archduke

^00 ^-^^ -^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^'

Charles embarked with Lord Peterborough on board the

Kanelagh, and an hour later the fleet i ut to sea. Off
Tangier they were joined by the squadron under Sir
Cloudesley Shovel, and a few days later they reached the
Bay of Gibraltar.
Here they found that the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt
had arranged that the battalion of the guards, with
three other veteran regiments that had borne part in the
gallant defense of the fortress, were to be embarked, and
two of the newly raised corps Lord Peterborough had
brought out from England were to take their place in
the garrison. The regiment to which Jack had belonged
was one of these. As soon as he heard the news he took
the first opportunity of speaking to the earl.

"I have a favor to ask, sir.**

''What is that, lad?'*

''It is, sir, that Sergeant Edwards who, if you remem-

ber, advised me
about warning the ofi&cers of the mutiny,
should be transferred to one of the regiments coming on
board.'*
''Certainly, my lad; I had not forgotten him. I only
wish that he had sufficient education to give him a com-
mission. I sent to inquire of his colonel, but finding
that he could not read or write, and that he would be
out of place among the officers, I could not do it ; but I
will gladly take him with us on active service. It would
be hard on a good soldier to be left behind with that
mutinous set of rascals."
Jack had already heard from Sergeant Edwards, whom
he had met several times on shore at Lisbon, and who
had rejoiced most heartily at his promotion, that Lord
Peterborough had sent him, through the colonel, a purse
of fifty guineas as a reward for his conduct.
Jack immediately proceeded in a boat to his old vessel*
&• of Bt Sergeant Bdwaao& again joins Jack —Page ioz>
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 101

mth-an order from tbe earl that the sergeant should at

once be transferred into one of the regiments coming on
board. The sergeant was delighted, for orders had
already been received for the regiment to disembark and
form part of the garrison.
An hour later the Archduke Charles landed, amid the
thunder of the guns of the fleet and fortress, for here for
fche first time he was acknowledged as and received the

tionor due to the King of Spain. There was but little

—
delay Lord Peterborough's energy hurried everyone
dlse forward, and on the 5th of August the fleet again
put to sea, the king and the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt
accompanying it.
The winds were contrary, and it was not till the 11th
that they anchored in Altea Bay, at the mouth of the
Guadalaviar, on the Valencian coast. On the other side
of the roadstead stood the castle and village of Denia.
The expedition was received with good will by the peo-
ple, who hated the ascendency of France at Madrid and
were bitterly jealous of Castile.
As soon as the fleet anchored Peterborough caused a
manifesto to be distributed among the people disclaim-
ing any idea of aggrandizement on the part of Great
Britain or her allies, or any intention of injuring the
persons or property of Spaniards who were the lawful
subjects of King Charles III. '*"We come," said he, "to
free you from the insupportable yoke of the government
of foreigners, and from the slavery to which you have
been reduced and sold to France by ill-designing
persons.'*
Several of the Spanish followers of the king landed to
encourage the people, among them General Basset y
Bamos, an active officer who was a Valencian by birth.
Ehe people rapidly assembled from the surrounding
102 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
country and lined the shore shouting *'Long live King
Charles III.!'* Abundant supplies of provisions were
Bent off to the fleet, for "which, however, Peterborough
insisted upon liberal payment being made.
A detachment of British infantry was landed to cover
the operation of watering the fleet. The insurrection
spread rapidly, and a thousand of the peasants seized the
town of Denia for the king. A frigate and two bomb-
vessels crossed the bay and threatened the castle. This,
although a magnificent pile of building, was but weakly
fortified, and after a few shots had been fired it surren-
dered, and General Eamos with four hundred regular
troops from the fleet landed and took possession, and
amid the enthusiasm of the population Charles III. was
for the first time on Spanish ground proclaimed King of
Spain and of the Indies.
The Earl of Peterborough now proposed a plan of the
most brilliant and daring kind, and had his advice been
taken the war would probably have terminated in a very
short time, by securely seating Charles III. upon the
Spanish throne. Madrid was distant but fifty leagues
from Altea Bay. Requena was the only town of strength
that lay in the way ; the rich country would have afforded
ample provision and means of transport, and these the
friendly portion of the people would have placed at the
disposal of the army.
In the whole of Central Spain there was no force which
could oppose him. All the troops of Philip were either
on the frontier of Portugal or occupying the disaffected
cities of the north. At Madrid there were but a few
troops of horse; in a week then, and possibly without
shedding a drop of blood, Charles might have been pro-
claimed king in the capital of Spain. The plan was, of
course, not without danger. Marshal Tesse. with an
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 103

overwhelming force, would threaten the left of the ad-

vancing army, and the garrisons of the northern cities,
V. united, could march with equal superiority of force

upon his right; but Tesse would be followed by Lord

Galway and the allied and Portuguese army, while Bar-
celona and the other strongholds of Catalonia would rise
if their garrisons were withdrawn.

Even in the case of failure Peterborough could have

retired safely through Valencia and have re-embarked on
board the fleet, or could have marched to Gibraltar.
The scheme was at once daring and judicious, but the
Archduke Charles was slow and timid, and was controlled
by the advice of his even slower and more cautious Ger-
man advisers, and neither argument nor entreaty, on
the part of Peterborough, could suffice to move him.
The earl was in despair at so brilliant an opportunity
being thrown away, and expressed himself with the
home as to the impossi-
greatest of bitterness in his letters
bility of carrying out movements when embarrassed by
the presence of the king and by the incapacity of the
king's advisers.
However, finding that nothing could be done he re-em-
barked his troops, and the fleet sailed for Barcelona. It
was not, however, thought probable that a successful
attempt could be made upon so strongly fortified a city,
and it was determined that if upon inspection the
chances of success should appear slight, the fleet and
army should at once proceed, as originally intended, to
the assistance of the Duke of Savoy.
i04 THE BRA VEBT OF THE BRA VK

CHAPTEKVn.
'

BARCELONA.

The city of Barcelona, one of the most populous and

important in Spain, is not naturally a place of great
strength. It is situated on a plain close to the sea, and
its defenses, although extensive, were not very formida-

ble against a strong army provided with a siege train.

To hold them fully required a much larger force than
was disposable for the defense. The garrison was, how-
ever, fully equal in strength to the force of Peterborough,
and should have been able to defend the city against an
army vastly exceeding their own numbers. Ten bastions
and some old towers protected the town toward, the
north and east between the city and the sea was a long
;

rampart with an unfinished ditch and covered way;

while to the west, standing on a lofty elevation, the
castle of Montjuich overlooked and guarded the walls
of the city.
From the center of the sea face a mole projected into
the water, guarding a small harbor. The country round
the town was fertile and beautiful, carefully cultivated
and watered by streams flowing from the neighboring
mountains. At the distance of about a league from the
Bhore the land rises into an amphitheater of hills thickly
dotted with small towns, villages, and country seats.
As soon as the allied fleet had anchored the garrison
commenced a cannonade from the mole and from a bat-
tery close to the sea upon some of the transports nearest
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 105

to the shore but their shot did not reach the vessels,
;

and the fire soon ceased. The east wind, however,

proved more troublesome than the enemy's fire, and the
ships rolled heavily from the sea which came in from the
east.
The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt with two frigates put
into the harbor of Mataro for the purpose of obtaining
intelligence. He found that in the neighboring town of
Vich the people had risen for King Charles, and putting
himself in communication with their leaders he advised
them to march upon the coast and co-operate with the
forces about to land. On his way to rejoin the fleet the
prince chased two Neapolitan galleys, which managed to
get safely into Barcelona.
They had on board the Duke and Duchess of Popoli,
M. d'Abary, a French officer of distinction, and forty
other young gentlemen, partisans of the Duke d'Anjou,
and destined for employment in different parts of Spain.
They were now, however, detained in the city by the
governor to assist in its defense.
The first glance into the state of affairs gave the Earl of
Peterborough such an unfavorable impression that he at
once objected to the proposed attack.
The governor, Don Francisco Velasco, was a brave and
distinguished officer, the garrison equaled his own force

in numbers, the town was well supplied with provisions

and stores, and, in order to add to the difficulties of the
besiegers, orders had been given to destroy all the forage
in the surrounding country which could not be conveyed
within the walls. Any Austrian sympathies the inhabit-
ants might possess were effectually suppressed by the
power and vigilance of the governor. The besieging
army was far too small to attempt a blockade, while the
chances of an assault upon an equal force behind well*
armed defenses seemed almost desperate.
106 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
The engineers declared that the difficulties of a regulai

siege were enormous, if not insurmountable, and that the

only vulnerable point was covered by a bog, where the
transport of cannon or the formation of works would be
impossible. Above all, the principal hope of the expedi-
tion had failed. The adherents of Charles had assured
him that the whole country would rise in his favor on
the arrival of the fleet, and that the town itself would
probably open its These promises
gates to receive him.
had, like all others he had received from
his Spanish
friends, proved delusive. Few of the peasantry appeared
to receive them on the coast, and these were unarmed
and without officers.
The earl's instructions, although generally quite in-
definite, were stringent upon one point. He was on no
account to make the slightest alteration in the plans of
the expedition, or to take any decisive step for their
accomplishment, without the advice of the council of
war. This would have been in any case embarrassing
for a general ; in the present instance it was calculated
altogether to cripple him. There was but little harmony
among the chief officers. The English military officers
were by no means on good terms with each other, while
the naval officers regarded almost as an insult Lord
Peterborough's being placed in command of them. The
English hated the German officers and despised the Dutch.
Lord Peterborough himself disliked almost all his
associates, and entertained a profound contempt for any
one whose opinion might differ from that which he at
the moment might happen to hold.
It was impossible that good could come from a council
of war composed of such jarring elements as these.
However, Lord Peterborough's instructions were posi-
tive, and on the 16th of August, 1705, he convened a
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE, 10?

council of war on board the Britannia, consisting of nine

generals and a brigadier, with two colonels on the staff.
The king and the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt were pres-
ent, but took no part in the deliberations. Singularly
enough the council proved unanimous in their opinion
that Barcelona should not be attacked. The reasons for
the decision were drawn up and put on record. The
council pointed out all the difficulties which existed, and
declared the strength of the allied army to be only nine-
teen battalions of foot and two cavalry regiments, of
whom no more than seven thousand men were fit for
action, and only one hundred and twenty dragoon horses
had survived the voyage in serviceable condition.
The decision of the council was most opposed to the
hopes and wishes of Charles and the Prince of Hesse-
Darmstadt, and they addressed letters of strong remon-
strance ^to Lord Peterborough, urging that to abandon
the expedition at this juncture would be alike fatal to
the common cause and discreditable to the British arms.
Meanwhile, however, the greater part of the troops,
had landed without opposition but the sea broke with
;

such force on the beach that much difficulty had been

experienced in getting ashore. The landing-place had
been well chosen by Lord Peterborough and Sir Cloudes-
ley Shovel. It was about two miles east of the city near
a place called Badalona, and close to the mouth of the
little river Basoz. The transports were moored in aa
close as possible, and the boats of the fleet carried three
thousand men ashore each trip.
Li five hours fifteen battalions were landed without the
loss of a man. A strong natural position about a mile
from the city was chosen for the encampment; its left
rested on the sea, it? "ight was covered by several abrupt
hills and defiles thresh which the river Basoz flowed.
X08 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.
The front was, however, much extended, but this mat-
tered the less, as the people from the neighboring vil-
lages began to assemble when the landing took place, and
welcomed the allies of King Charles with joy. A num-
ber of these were employed by Lord Peterborough in
guarding the advanced posts and covering the numerous
roads leading from the city toward the camp.
On the 22d another council of war was held at the
Dutch General Schratenbach's quarters in the camp to
consider two letters of the king, in which he again urged
the allied generals to attack the city. He proposed that
a,battery of fifty guns should be erected to breach the
wall between two of the bastions, and that the whole
strength of the army should be thrown upon an assaults
He acknowledged the force of the several objections to
the attack but urged that i.i such a case vigorous action
was the safest. He dwelt upon the ruin that must fall
upon such of his subjects as had declared for him if
abandoned to their fate, and concluded by declaring
that he at least would not desert them.
The appeal failed to move any of the council with the
exception of Peterborough himself, and he alone voted,
although in oposition to his own judgment, in compli-
ance with the king's plan. Notwithstanding the adverse
decision of the council, the horses and dragoons were
landed on the 24th.
On the 25th, the 26th, and the 28th the council again
assembled to deliberate upon an earnest request of the
king that they should attempt the siege for a period of
eighteen days. The first decision was adverse, two only
voting with Lord Peterborough for the siege. At the
second council, his influence succeeded in obtaining a
majority; but at the third, they agreed to abandon the
attempt, even the commander-in-^iiief concurring.
 THE BRA VS8T OF THE BRA VB, 10?

The cause sudden reversal of their opinion was

of this
ihat none of the workmen whom they had demanded
from the leaders of the Catalan peasantry had appeared,
and they felt it impossible to carry on the works and
erect the siege batteries without such assistance. Never-
theless the peasantry gave effectual aid in landing the
artillery, tents, ammunition, and stores. On the 28th
the king landed amid a great concourse of people, who
reoeived him with every demonstration of enthusiasm,
and he could with difficulty make his way through them
fco the camp prepared for him near San Martino.

The presence of the king on shore added to the diffi-

culties of the situation. He and his following of German
courtiers complained bitterly of the disinclination of the
allies to undertake the siege, while the allies were in-
censed against those who reproached them for not under-
taking impossibilities. Dissension spread between the
allies themselves, and the Dutch general declared that
he would disobey the orders of the commander-in-chiel
rather than vainly sacrifice his men.
Peterborough was driven nearly out of his mind bj
the reproaches and recrimination to which he was ex-
posed, and the quarrels which took place around him.
He was most anxious to carry out his instructions, and
as far as possible to defer to the opinion of Charles, bui
be was also bound by the decisions of the councils of
war, which were exactly opposite to the wishes of the
king.
The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt enraged him by insist-
ing that fifteen hundred disorderly peasants whom he
had raised were an army, and should be paid as regular
soldiers from the military chest, while they would sub-
mit to no discipline and refused to labor in the trenches,
and an open rupture took place, when the prince, in hia
 "

110 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.

vexation at the results of the councils of war, even went
so far as to accuse the earl of having used secret influence
fco thwart the enterprise.
To add to the difficulties of the commander-in-chief
the English troops were loud in their complaints against
him for havinglanded and committed them to this
appsirently hopeless enterprise; but they nevertheless
clamored to be led against the town, that they might not
be said to have ''come like fools and gone like cowards.
Lord Peterborough confided his trouble and vexation
freely to his young Jack was sincerely at-
secretary.
tached to his generous and eccentric chief, and the gen-
eral was gratified by the young officer's readiness at all
times and hours to come to him and write from his dicta-
tion the long letters and dispatches which he sent home.
He saw, too, that he was thoroughly trustworthy, and
could be relied upon to keep absolute silence as to the
confidences which he made him.
In the midst of all these quarrels and disputes the
siege was carried on in a languid manner. A battery of
fifty heavy guns, supplied by the ships and manned by
seamen, was placed upon a rising ground flanked by two
deep ravines, and on several of the adjacent hills bat-
teries of light fieldguns had been raised. Three weeks
were consumed in these comparatively unimportant
operations, and no real advance toward the capture of
the place had been effected. Something like a blockade,
however, had been established, for the Catalan peasants
guarded vigilantly every approach to the town.
The officers of the fleet were no less discontented than
their brethren on shore at the feeble conduct of the
siege, and had they been consulted they would have been
in favor of a direct attack upon the city with scaling-
ladders, fts if they had been about to board a hostile
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. H}
ship. But Peterborough and his officers were well aware
that such an attack against a city defended by a superior
force would be simple madness, and even an attack by
regular approaches, with the means and labor at their
disposal, would have had no chance of success.
But while all on shore and in the fleet were chafing at
the slowness and hopelessness of the siege. Jack Stil-
well was alone aware that the commander-in-chief did
not share in the general despair of any good arising from
the operations.
Lord Peterborough had communication with the
little

other generals; but, alone in his tent with Jack and an

interpreter, he occupied himself from morning till night
in examining peasants and spies as to every particular
of the fortifications of the city, of the ground near to the
walls, and of the habits and proceedings of the garrison.
At last he resolved upon an attempt which, in its daring
and enterprise, is almost without parallel. Indeed its
only hope of success lay in its boldness, for neither
friend nor foe could anticipate that it would be at-
tempted. It was no less than the surprise of the citadel
of Montjuich.
This formidable stronghold covered the weakest part
of the defenses, that toward the southwest, and far ex-
ceeded in strength any other part of the lines. It had
been most skillfully designed. The ditches were deep,
and the walls firm; the outworks skillfully planned; the
batteries well armed, and the inner defenses formidable
in themselves. It was, in fact, by far the strongest
point in the position of the besieged. Standing on a
commanding height, it was abundantly capable of de-
fense even against a regular siege, and its reduction was
always regarded as a most formidable enterprise, to be
UBdertaken at leisure after the capture of the town. Its
113 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
^nly weakness lay in the fact that surrounding it on
every side were numerous ravines and hollows, whict
would afford concealment to an assailant, and that trust-
ing to the extraordinary strength of their position the
garrison of Montjuich might neglect proper precautions.,
One morning before daybreak the earl, accompanied
only by Jack and a native guide, left the camp on foot,
having laid aside their uniforms and put on the attire oi
peasants, so that the glitter of their accouterments might
not attract the attention of the enemy's outposts. Mak-
ing a long detour they approached the castle, and ascend-
ing one of the ravines gained a point where, themselves
unseen, they could mark all particulars of the fortifica-
tions. Having carried out his purpose the earl returned
to camp with his companion without his absence having
been observed. The observations which Peterborough
had made confirmed the reports of the peasants, that the
garrison kept but a negligent watch, and he at once re-
solved upon making the attempt; but to none of his most
intimate friends did he give the slightest hint of his
intentions.
To disguise his views he called councils of war both in
the camp and fleet, wherein it was resolved, with his full
consent, that the siege of Barcelona should be abandoned,
and that the army should be immediately re-embarked
and conveyed to Italy. Accordingly the heavy artillery;
was conveyed on board ship, the warlike stores collectedj
and the troops warned to be ready for embarkation. A
storm of reproaches was poured upon the earl by Charles
and his courtiers. The officers of the fleet protested
openly, declaring that an assault ought to be attempted,
and that it was too late in the season to attempt opera*
tions elsewhere.
To Jack's surprise his commander, usually so hasty,
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 113

and passionate, bore with the greatest calm-

irritable,
ness and patience the reproaches and accusations to
which he was exposed. No one dreamed that behind
these preparations for embarkation any plan of attack
was hidden.
On the 13th of September the army received orders to
embark on the morrow, while within the town the garri-
son and the inhabitants, who were, or pretended to be,
well-affected to the Bourbons held high rejoicing at the
approaching departure.
On the afternoon of that day a detachment of English
and Dutch troops twelve hundred strong was ordered to
assemble in the allied camp for the purpose, as was sup-
posed, of covering the embarkation. Scaling-ladders
and everything necessary for an assault had already been
privately prepared by the Catalan peasants under Peter-
borough's instructions.
About hundred grena-
six o'clock in the evening four
diers of the party assembled under the command of
Hon. Colonel Southwell, and were ordered to march by
the Serria road, as if en route to Taragona to meet the
fieet and embark in that harbor. The remainder of the
detachment followed in support at some little distance.
At nightfall the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt was surprised
by Lord Peterborough's entrance into his quarters.
Since their rupture all intercourse had ceased betv/een
them.
*'I have determined," the earl said, **to make this
night an attack upon the enemy. You may now, if you
please, be a judge of our behavior, and see whether my
officers and soldiers really deserve the bad character
which you of late have so readily imputed to them.*'
He then explained that the troops were already on their
march to Monti uich.
J14 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
The prince immediately ordered his horse, and tiie
two gallant but impulsive and singular men rode off, fol-
lowed only by Jack Stilwell and the prince's aid-de-
camp. At ten o'clock they overtook the troops, and
Peterborough ordered a total change of route, he him-
self leading.
The roads were winding, narrow, and difficult. For a
great part of the way there was only room for the men to
march in single file. The night was very dark, and the
detachment many hours on the march, so that daylight
was just breaking when they reached the foot of the hill
on which the fort of Montjuich stood.
The troops under Peterborough's command now per-
ceived the object of their march, and imagined that they
would be led to the attack before the day had fairly
broke; but the general had well considered the subject,
and had determined to avoid the risk and confusion of a
night assault. He called his officers together and ex-
plained to them why he did not mean to attack till broad
daylight.
His examination of the place had shown him that the
ditches could be crossed, no palisades or barriers having
been erected. He had noticed, too, that the inner works
were not sufficiently high to enable their guns properly
to command the outer works should these be carried by
An enemy. He had therefore determined to carry the
outworks by assault judging that if he captured them
the inner works could not long resist. In case of a
reverse, or to enable him to take advantage of success,
he told them that he had ordered Brigadier-General
Stanhope to march during the night with a thousand
infantry and the handful of cavalry to a convent lying
halfway between the camp and the city, and there to
bold himself in reserve.
 TffB BRA VEST OF TEE BSA VE, 1 15

Peterborough now silently and coolly completed hia

arrangements for the assault. He divided the body of
troops into three parties ; the first of these, two hundred
and eighty strong were to attack the bastion facing the
town, which was the strongest part of the defense. He
himself and the Prince of Hesse accompanied this party.
A lieutenant and thirty men formed the advance, a cap-
tain and fifty more were the support, and the remaining
two hundred men were to form in the rear.'
The orders were that they should push forward in spite
of the enemy's fire, leap into the ditch, drive the garri-
son before them, and if possible enter the works with
them ; but, if not, to obtain at least a firm footing on the
outer defenses. The second party, similar in strength
and formation, under the command of the Hon. Colonel
Southwell, were to attack an unfinished demi-bastion on
the extreme western point of the fort and furthermost
from the town. The remainder of the little force, under
a Dutch colonel, were to be held in reserve, and to assist
wherever they might be most useful. They occupied a
position somewhat in rear of and halfway between the
two parties who were to make the assault. Soon after
daylight Peterborough gave the order to advance, and in
the highest spirits, and in excellent [order, the soldiers
pushed up the hill toward the fort. Some irregular
Spanish troops were the first to perceive them. These
fired a hasty volley at the British troops as they ascended
the crest and then retreated into the fort. Seizing their
arms the garrison rushed to the ramparts and manned
them in time to receive the assailants with a sharp fire.
The grenadiers who formed the leading party did not
hesitate for a moment, but leaped into the unfinished
ditch, clambered up the outer rampart, and with pike
and bayonet attacked the defenders.
116 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
The captain's detachment speedily joined them. The
defenders gave way, broke, and fled, and in wild confu-
sion both parties rushed into the bastion. Peterborough
and the prince with their two hundred men followed
them quickly and in perfect order, and were soon masters
of the bastion. The earl at once set his men to work to
throw up a breastwork to cover them from the guns of
the inner works and as there was plenty of materials
;

collected just at this spot for the carrying out of some

extensive repairs, they were able to put themselves under
cover before the enemy opened fire upon them.
The attention of the garrison was wholly occupied by
this sudden and unexpected attack, and the Prince della
Torrella, a Neapolitan officer in temporary command of
the fort, ordered all his force to oppose the assailants.
This was what Peterborough had expected. He at once
sent orders to Colonel Southwell to commence his attack
upon the now almost undefended west bastion. The
order was promptly obeyed. At the first rush the ditch
was passed, the rampart gained, the outer walls scaled,
and three guns taken without the loss of a man.
The defenders ^jastened at once to meet this new dan-
ger. They opened a heavy fire upon the British, and
sallying out, endeavored to retake the outer rampart
with the bayonet. A desperate contest ensued; but
though many of the English officers and soldiers fell, they
would not yield a foot of the position they had captured.
Colonel Southwell, a man of great personal strength and
daring, was in the struggle three times surrounded by
the enemy, but each time he cut his way out in safety.
The sally was at last repulsed, and the English in-

trenched their position and turned their captured guns

against the fort. While both the assaulting columns
were occupied iu intrenching themselves there was a lull
 TEE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE. j I7

in the battle. The besieged could not venture to advance

against either, as they would have been exposed to the
fire of the other, and to the risk of a flank attack.

Peterborough exerted himself to the utmost. He

ordered up the thousand men under General Stanhope
and made prodigious exertions to get some guns and
mortars into position upon the newly won ramparts.
Great was the consternation and astonishment in Bar-
celona when a loud roar of musketry broke out round the
citadel, and Veiasco, the governor, was thunderstruck to
find himself threatened in this vital point by an enemy
whose departure he had, the evening before, been cele-
brating. The assembly was sounded, and the church
bells pealed out the alarm.
The troops ran to their places of assembly, the fortifi-
cations round the town were manned, and a body of four
hundred mounted grenadiers under the Marquis de Eis-
bourg hurried off to the succor of Montjuich. The earl
had been sure that such a movement would be made.
He could not spare men from his own scanty force to
guard the roads between the city and the castle, but he
had posted a number of the armed Spanish peasants who
were in the pay of the army in a narrow gorge, where,
with hardly any risk to themselves, they might easily
have prevented the horsemen from passing. The peas-
ants, however, fired a hurried volley and then fled in all
directions.
Lord Peterborough learned a lesson here which be
never forgot, namely, that these Spanish irregulars, use-
ful as they might be in harassing an enemy or pursuing
a beaten foe, were utterly untrustworthy in any plan
of combined action. The succor, therefore, reached Mont-
juich in safety; two hundred of the men dismounted and
entered the fort; the remainder^ leading their horses,
returned to Barcelozia.
118 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
The Marquis de Eisbourg had no sooner entered the
fortand taken the command than he adopted a stratagem
which nearly proved fatal to the English hopes of success.
He ordered his men to shout "Long live Charles the
Third !" and threw open the gates of the fort as if to
surrender. The Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, who com-
manded at this point, was completely deceived, and he
ordered Colonel Allen to advance with two hundred and
fifty men, while he himself followed with a company in

reserve, believing that the Spanish garrison had declared

for King Charles.
The British advanced eagerly and in some disorder into
the ditch, when a terrible fire of musketry was suddenly
opened upon them from the front and flank. In vain
they tried to defend themselves; the brave prince was
struck down by a mortal wound while endeavoring to
encourage them, and was carried to the rear, and Allen
and two hundred men were taken prisoners. The prince
expired a few minutes later before there was time for a
doctor to examine his wound.
Peterborough, who had come up just at the end of the
struggle, remained with him till he died, and then hur-
ried off to retrieve the fortune of the day, which, during
these few minutes, had greatly changed. Velasco had
dispatched three thousand men, as fast as they could be
got together, to follow Eisbourg's dragoons to the suc-
cor of the fort, and these were already in sight. But
this was not all. One of the strange panics which occa-
sionally attack even the best troops had seized the
British in the bastion.
"Without any apparent cause, without a shot being fired
at them from the fort, they fell into confusion. Their
commander. Lord Charlemont, shared the panic, and
gave orders for a retreat. The march soon became a rout.
 :

THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VR 119

and the men fled in confusion from tlie position which

they had just before so bravely won.
Captain Carleton, a staff officer, disengaged himself
from the throng of fugitives and rode off to inform the
earl, who was reconnoitring the approaching Spaniards,
of what had taken place. Peterborough at once turned
his horse, and, followed by Carleton and Jack Stilwell,
galloped up the hill. He drew his sword and threw
away the scabbard aa he met the troops, already half-
way down the hill, and, dismounting, shouted to them
"I am sure all brave men will follow me. Will you
bear the infamy of having deserted your post and for-
saken your general?*'
The appeal was not in vain. Ashamed of their late
panic the fugitives halted, faced about, and pressed after
him up the hill, and, on reaching the top, found that^
strangely enough, the garrison had not discovered that
the bastion had been abandoned, for in their retreat the
English were hidden from the sight of those in the inner
"works.
The Marquis de Kisbourg instead of following up his
advantage, had at once left Montjuich at the side near
the city, taking Colonel Allen and the prisoners with
him, and pushed on toward Barcelona. Halfway down
he met the reinforcement of three thousand men. The
prisoners, on being questioned, informed the Spanish
commander that Lord Peterborough and the Prince of
Hesse led the attack in person.
Thereupon the officer commanding the reinforcements
concluded that the whole allied army was round the cas-
tle, and that he would be risking destruction if he pushed

on. He therefore turned and marched back to the city.

Had he continued his way Peterborough's force must
have been destroyed, as Stanhope had not yet come up.
120 THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
and he had with him only the little force with which ha
had marched out from camp, of whom more than a fourth
were already captured or slain. Such are the circum-
stances upon which the fate of battles and campaigua
depend.
 THE BRA VEBT OF THE BRA VE. ISgi

CHAPTER Vin.

A TUMULT IN THE CITY.

As the Spanish column retired to Barcelona under the

idea that the whole English army was on the hill, the
Miquelets, as the armed bands of peasants were called,
swarmed down from the hills. Incapable of withstand-
ing an attack by even a small force, they were in their
element in harassing a large one in retreat. Halfway
between Montjuich and the town was the small fort of
San Bertram. The garrison, seeing the column in re-
treat toward the town, pursued by the insurgent peasan-
try, feared that they themselves would be cut off, and so
abandoned their post and joined the retreat.
The peasants at once took possession of San Bertram,
where there were five light guns. As soon as the news
reached Peterborough he called together two hundred
men and led them down to the little fort. Eopes were
fastened to the guns, and with forty men to each gun
these were quickly run up the hill and placed in position
in the captured bastions. So quickly was this done that
in less than an hour from the abandonment of San Ber-
tram by the Spanish the guns had opened fire upon
Montjuich.
While the troops worked these five guns and the three
captured in Southwell's first attack, Jack Stilwell was
sent off on horseback at full speed with an order for the
landing of the heavy guns and mortars from the fleet.
The news of the attack on Montjuich and the retreat of
122 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
the Spanish column spread with rapidity through the
country, and swarms of armed peasants flocked in.
These the among the ravines and groves
earl dispersed
round the prevent any parties from coming
city, so as to
out to ascertain what was going on round Montjuich, and
to mask the movements of the besiegers.
Velasco appeared paralyzed by the energy and daring
of his opponent, and although he had in hand a force
equal if not superior to that which Peterborough could
dispose he allowed two days to pass without attempt-
of,

ing to relieve Montjuich. In those two days wonders

had been performed by the soldiers and sailors, who
toiled unweariedly in dragging the heavy guns from the
landing-place to the hill of Montjuich. The light can-
non of the besiegers had had but little effect upon the
massive walls of the fortress, and the Prince Caraccioli
held out for two days even against the heavier metal of
the mortars and siege guns that were quickly brought to
bear upon him.
On the 17th, however. Colonel Southwell, by a well-
aimed shot, brought the siege to a close. He noticed
that a small chapel within the fort appeared to be spe-
cially guarded by the besieged, and ordered a Dutch
sergeant of artillery, who was working a heavy mortar,
to try to drop a shell upon it. The artilleryman made
several attempts, but each time missed the mark. Colo-
nel Southwell undertook the management of the mortar
himself, and soon succeeded in dropping a shell upon
the roof of the building, which proved, as he had sus-
pected, to be in use as a magazine. There was a tremen-
dous explosion, the chapel was shattered into fragments,
Caraccioli and three other officers were killed, and a
gjreat breach was blown in the main rampart.
Aloud cheer broke from the besiegers, and Colonel
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 123

SoutHwell at once put himself at the bead of the men in

the trenches and advanced to storm the breach before
the enemy could recover from their confusion. The
disastrous effects of the explosion had, however, scared
all idea of further resistance out of the minds of the de-
fenders, who at once rushed out of the works and called
out that they surrendered, the senior surviving ofScer
and his companions delivering up their swords to Colo-
nel Southwell, and begging that protection might at
once be given to their soldiers from the Miquelets, whose
ferocity was as notorious then as it was a hundred rears
afterward.
Peterborough appointed Colonel Southwell governor of
Montjuich, and at once turned his attention to the city.
The brilliant result of the attack on the citadel had
silenced all murmurs and completely restored Lord
Peterborough's authority. Soldiers and sailors vied
with each other in their exertions to get the guns intfr>
position, and the Miquelets, largely increased in number,
became for once orderly and active, and labored steadily
in the trenches.
The main army conducted the attack from the side at
which it had been originally commenced, while General
Stanhope, his force considerably increased by troops
from the maia body, conducted the attack from the side
of Montjuich. Four batteries of heavy guns and two of
mortars soon opened fire upon the city, while the
smaller vessels of the fleet moved close in to the shore
and threw shot and shell into the town.
A breach was soon effected in the rampart, and Velasco
was summoned to surrender but he refused to do so,
;

although his position had become almost desperate. The

disaffection of the inhabitants was now openly shown.
The soldiers had lost confidence and heart, and the
124 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
loyalty of many of them was more than doubtful. The
governor arrested many mutinous soldiers and
of the
hostile citizens, and turned numbers of them out of the
city.
On the 3d of October the English engineers declared
the breach on the side of Montjuich to be practicable,
and Peterborough himself wrote to the governor offering
honorable terms of capitulation, but declaring that if
these were rejected he would not renew his offer.
Velasco again refused. He had erected a formidable
intrenchment within the breach, and had sunk two mines
beneath the ruins in readiness to blow the assailing
columns into the air.
The guns again opened fire, and in a very short time a
Dutch artillery officer threw two shells upon the in-
trenchment and almost destroyed it, while a third fell on
the breach itself, and crashing through the rubbish fired
Yelasco's two mines and greatly enlarged the breach.
The earl could now have carried the town by storm had
he chosen, but with his usual magnanimity to the van-
quished he again wrote to Yelasco and summoned him
to surrender.
The governor had now no hope of a successful resist-
ance, and he therefore agreed to surrender in four days
should no relief arrive. The terms agreed upon were
that the garrison should march out with all the honors
of war and should be transported by sea to San Felix,
and escorted hence to Gerona; but as a few hours later
the news arrived that Gerona had declared for King
Charles, Velasco requested to be convej^ed to Kosas in-
stead. The capitulation was signed on the 9th of Octo-
ber, and the garrison were preparing to march out on
the 14th, when, in the English camp, the sound of a
tumult in the city was heard.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 135

''Quick, Stilwell!'* the earl cried, running out of his

tent, ''to horse! The rascals inside are breaking
out
into a riot, and there will be a massacre unless I can put
a stop to it."
The on to his horse, called to a few orderly
earl leaped
dragoons who were at hand to accompany him, and
ordered that four companies of grenadiers should follow
as quickly as possible.
Galloping at speed Peterborough soon arrived al
full
the gate of San Angelo, and ordered the Spanish guard
to open it. This they did without hesitation, and fol-
lowed by his little party he rode into the city. All was
uproar and confusion. The repressive measures which
the governor had been obliged to take against the dis-
affected had added to the Catalan hatred of the French^
and the Austrian party determined to have vengeance
upon the governor. A report was circulated that he in-
tended to carry away with him a number of the principal
inhabitants in spite of the articles of capitulation. This
at once stirred up the people to fury, and they assailed
and plundered the houses of the French and of the
known partisans of the Duke d'Anjou.
They then turned upon the governor and garrison.
The latter dispersed through the city, and, unprepared
for attack, would speedily have been massacred had not
their late enemy been at hand to save them. Peterbor-
ough, with his little partj'- of dragoons, rode through th©
and commanding the rioters
streets exhorting, entreating,
to abstain. "When, as in some cases, the mob refused to
listen to him, and continued their work, the dragoons
belabored them heartily with the flats of their swords;
and the surprise caused by seeing the British uniforms
in their midst, and their ignorance of how many of the
British had entered, did more even than the efforts ol
126 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
the dragoons to allay the tumult. Many ladies of quality
had taken refuge in the convent, and Peterborough at
once placed a guard over this.
Dashing from street to street, unattended even by his
dragoons, Peterborough came upon a lady and gentleman
struggling with the mob who were about to ill-treat
them. He charged into the thick of the tumult.
^ His hat had been and the mob, not
lost in the fray,
recognizing the strange figure as the redoubted English
general, resisted, and one discharged a musket at him at
a distance of a few feet, but the ball passed through his
periwig without touching the head under it.
Fortunately two or three of his dragoons now rode up,
and he was able to carry the lady and gentleman to their
house hard by, when, to his satisfaction, he found that
the gentleman he had saved was the Duke of Popoli, and
the lady his wife, celebrated as one of the most beautiful
women in Europe.
Jack Stilwell had soon after they entered the town be-
come separated from his general. Seeing a mob gathered
before a house in a side street, and hearing screams he
turned off and rode into the middle of the crowd. Spur-
ring his horse and making him rear, he made his way
through them to the door, and then leaping off, drawing
as he did so a pistol from his holster, he ran upstairs.
It was a large and handsomely furnished house. On
the was a great corridor. A number of men
first floor

were gathered round the doorway. Within he heard the

clashing of steel and the shouts of men in conflict.
Bursting his way in through the doorway he entered the
room.
In a corner, at the furthest end, crouched a lady hold-
ing a little boy in her arms. Before her stood a Spanish
gsntleman, sword in hand, A servant, also armed, stood
 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA YE. 127

by him. They were hard pressed, for six or eight men

with swords and pikes were cutting and thrusting at
them. Three servants lay dead upon the ground, and
seven or eight of the townspeople were also lying dead
or wounded. Jack rushed forward, and with his pistol
shot the man who appeared to be the leader of the assail-
ants, and then, drawing his sword, placed himself before
the gentleman and shouted to the men to lay down their
arms. The latter, astounded at the appearance of an
English officer, drew back. Seeing he was alone, they
would, however, have renewed the attack, but Jack ran
to the window and opened it, and shouted as if to some
soldiers below.
The was instantaneous. The men dropped upon
effect
their knees, and throwing down their arms begged for
mercy. Jack signified that he granted it, and motioned
to them to carry off their dead and wounded comrades.
Some of the men in the corridor came in to aid them in
so doing. Jack, sword in hand accompanied them to
the door, and saw them out of the house. Then he told
a boy to hold his horse, and closing the door, returned
upstairs. He found the gentleman sitting on a chair ex-
hausted, while his wife, crying partly from relief, partly
from anxiety, was endeavoring to stanch the blood which
flowed from several wounds.
Jack at once aided her in the task, and signed to the
servant to bring something to drink. The man ran to a
buffet and produced some cordials. Jack filled a glass
and placed it to the lips of the wounded man who, after
drinking it, gradually recovered his strength.
"My name, sir," he Count Julian de Minas,
said, *'is
and I owe you my life and that of my wife and child.
To whom am I indebted so much?"
Jack did not, of course, understand his words, but the
 :

128 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.

titlecaught his ear, and he guessed that the Spanian
was introducing himself.
**My name is Stilwell/* Jack said: *'I am one of Gen-
eral Peterborough's aids-de-camp. I am very glad to be
and now, seeing you are so far recovered,
of assistance ;
I must leave you, for there is much to do in the town,
and the general has entered with only a few troops. I
think you need not fear any return on the part of these
ruffians. The English troops will enter the town in the
*'
course of a few hours.
So saying Jack immediately hurried away, and mount-
ing his horse rode off to find the general.
The news that Lord Peterborough and the English had
entered spread rapidly through the city, and the rioters,
fearing to excite the wrath of the man who in a few
hours would be master of the town, scattered to their
homes, and when all was quiet Peterborough again rode
off to the camp with his troops and there waited quietly
until the hour appointed for the capitulation. The
Spanish then marched out, and the earl entered with a
portion of his troops.
He at once issued a proclamation that if any person
had any lawful grievances against the late governor they
should go to the town house and lay them in proper
form, and that he would see that justice was done. An
hour later some of the principal inhabitants waited upon
him, and asked which churches he desired to have for
the exercise of his religion. He replied
**
Wherever I have my quarters I shall have conven-
iency enough to worship God, and as for the army they
will strictly follow the rules of war, and perform divine
service among themselves without giving any offense to
any one.**
This answer gave great satisfaction to the people, as
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 129

ihe French had spread a report among them that the

Protestants,if they captured the town, would take their

Bhurches from them.

In the evening the earl gave a great banquet, at which
he entertained all the people of distinction of both par«
ties, and his courtesy and affability at once won for him

Ihe confidence of all with whom he came in contact.

Ihe next day the shops were all opened, the markets
filled, and there were no signs that the tranquillity of

Barcelona, had ever been disturbed. Soon after break-

fast Jack, who was quartered in the governor's palace
tvith the general, was informed that a gentleman wished

to speak to him, and the Count de Minas was shown in.

He took Jack's hand and bowed profoundly. As conver-
sation was impossible Jack told his orderly to fetch one
of the interpreters attached to the general.
*'I tried come last night," the count said, "but I
to
lound that I was too weak to venture out. I could not
Understand what you said when you went away so sud-
denly, but I guessed that it was the call of duty. I did
not know your name, but inquiring this morning who
Were the officers that entered with the general yesterday,
I was told that his aid-de-ca,mp. Lieutenant Stilwell, was
alone with him. That is how I found you. And now,
let me again thank you for the immense service you have

rendered me and my wife and child. Eemember, hence-

forth the life of the Count de Minas and all that he
possesses is at your service."
When the interpreter had translated this, Jack said in
Bome confusion, **I am very glad count, to have been of
service to you. It was a piece of good fortune, indeed,
on my part that I happened so providentially to ride
along at the right moment. I was about this morning
to do myself the honor of calling to inquire how th@
 : "

130 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,

countess and yourself were after the terrible scene o£
yesterday."
"The countess prayed me to bring you round to her,"
the count said. *'Will you do me the honor of accom-
panying me now?"
Jack at once assented, and followed by the interpreter,
proceeded with the count to his house. The room into
which the count led him was not that in which the fray
iiad taken place the day before. The countess rose as
they entered, and Jack saw that, though still pale and
skaken by the events of the previous day, she was a
singularly beautiful woman.
**Ah, senor," she said, advancing to meet him, and
taking his hand and laying it against her heart, *'how
can I thank you for the lives of my husband and my boy!
One more minute and you would have arrived too late.
It seemed to me as if heaven had opened and an angel
had come to our aid when you entered."
Jack colored up hotly as the interpreter translated ^the
words. If he had expressed his thoughts he would have
said, '^ Please don't make any more fuss about it;" but
he found that Spanish courtesy required much more than
this, so he answered
'*
Countess, the moment was equally fortunate to me,
and I shall ever feel grateful that I have been permitted
to be of service to so beautiful a lady."
The countess smiled as Jack's words were translated.
*'I did not know that you English were flatterers,"
she said. '*They told us that you were uncouth islanders,
but I see that they have caluminated you."
"I hope some day," Jack said, *'that I shall be able to
talk to you without the aid of an interpreter. It is very
difficult to speak when every word has to be translated.
Fox a quarter ol an hour the conversation was con«
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE, 131

tinned, the count and countess asking questions about

England. At the end of that time Jack thoug:ht he
might venture to take his leave. The count accompanied
him to the door, and begged him to consider his house
as his own, and then with many bows on each side Jack
made his way into the street.
*' Confound Spanish politeness!'* he muttered
all this

to himself: *'it's very grand and stately, I have no

doubt, but it's a horrible nuisance; and as to talking
through an interpretpr, it's like repeating lessons, only
worse. I should like to see a man making a joke through
an interpreter, and waiting to see how it told. I must
get up a little Spanish as soon as possible. The earl
has picked up a lot already, and there will be no fun to
be had here in Spain unless one can make one's self
understood."
The next day there were rumors current that the popu-
lation were determined to take vengeance upon Velasco.
The earl marched eight hundred men into the town,
placed the governor in their center and escorted him to
the shore, and so took him safely on board a ship. He
was conveyed, by his own desire, to Alicante, as the
revolt had spread so rapidly through Catalonia that
Kosas was now the only town which favored the cause of
the Duke d'Anjou.
The capture of Barcelona takes its place as one of the
most brilliant feats in military history, and reflects ex-
traordinary credit upon its general who exhibited at
once profound prudence, faithful adherence to his sover-
eign's orders, patience and self-command under the ill-
concealed hatred of many of those with whom he had to
co-operate —the wrongheadedness of the king, the in-
solence of the German courtiers, the supineness of the
Dutch, the jealousy of his own officers, and the open dis-
133 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE,

—
content of the army and navy and a secrecy marvelously
kept up for many weary and apparently hopeless days.
On the 28th of October King Charles made his public
entry into Barcelona, and for some days the city was the
scene of continual /e^es.The whole province rose in his
favor,and the gentlemen of the district poured into the
town to offer their homage to the king. Only about one
thousand men of the Spanish garrison had to be con-
veyed to Rosas in accordance with the terms of capitula-
tion, the rest of the troops taking the oath of allegiance
to King Charles and being incorporated with the allied
army.
Jack Stilwell entered into the festivities with the en-
joyment of youth. The officers of the allied army were
made much of by the inhabitants, and Jack, as one of
the general's aids-de-camp, was invited to eYQxy fete and
festivity. The Count de Minas introduced him to many
of the leading nobles of the city as the preserver of his
life; but his inability to speak the language deprived
him of much of the pleasure which he would otherwise
have obtained, and like many of the other officers, he set
to work in earnest to acquire some knowledge of it. In
one of the convents were some Scottish monks, and for
three or four hours every morning Jack worked regularly
with one of them.
Although Lord Peterborough threw himself heart and
fioul into the festivities, he worked with equal ardor at

the military preparations. But here, as before, his plans

for energetic action were thwarted by the Germans and
Dutch. At last, however, his energy, aided by the
active spirit of the king, prevailed, and preparations
were made for the continuance of the campaign. The
season was so late that no further operations could be
undertaken by sea, and the allied fleet therefore sailed
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VK I33

for England and Holland, leaving four English and two

Dutch frigates in support of the land forces at Barcelona.
Garrisons of regular troops were dispatched to the
various towns which had either declared for the king or
had been captured by the Miquelets headed by the Mar«
quis of Cifuentes, engineer officers being also sent to
put them in a state of defense. Of these Tortosa was,
from its position, the most important, as it commanded
the bridge of boats on the Ebro, the main communica-
tion between Aragon and Valencia. To this town two
hundred dragoons and one thousand foot were sent under
Colonel Hans Hamilton. The ting turned his attention
to the organization of the Spanish army. He formed a
regiment of five hundred dragoons for his body guard,
mounting them upon the horses of the former garrison,
while from these troops, swelled by levies from the prov-
ince, he raised six powerful battalions of infantry. He
excited, however, a very unfavorable feeling among the
Spaniards by bestowing all the chief commands in these
corps upon his German followers.
But while the conquest had brought the
of Barcelona
whole of Catalonia to his side, the cause of King Charles
was in other parts of Spain less flourishing. Lord Gal-
way and General Fagel had been beaten by Marshal
Tesse before Badajos, and the allied army had retreated
into Portugal, leaving the French and Spanish adherents
of Philip free to turn their whole attention against the
allies in Catalonia.
Weary weeks passed on before Lord Peterborough
could overcome the apathy and obstinacy of the Ger-
mans and Dutch. At a council of war held on the 30th
of December Peterborough proposed to divide the army,
that he in person would lead half of it to aid the insur-
rection which had broken out in Valencia^ and that tho
134 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

other half should inarch into Aragon; but Brigadier-

General Conyngham and the Dutch General Schratenbach
strongly opposed this bold counsel, urging that the
troops required repose after their labors, and that their
numbers were hardly sufficient to guard the province
they had won. Such arguments drove Peterborough
almost to madness; the troops had, in fact, gone through
no hard work during the siege of Barcelona, and two
months and a half had elapsed since that city surrendered.
Moreover, far from being reinvigorated from rest, they
were suffering from illness caused by inactivity in an
unhealthy country.
Already all the benefits derivable from the gallant cap-
ture of Barcelona had been lost. The enemy had recov-
ered from the surprise and dismay excited by that event.
The friendly and wavering, who would at once have risen
had the king boldly advanced after his striking success,
had already lost heart and become dispirited by the want
of energy displayed in his after-proceeding, and from all
parts of Spain masses of troops were moving to crush the
allies and stamp out the insurrection.
In Valencia only had the partisans of Charles gained
considerable advantages. In the beginning of December
Colonel Nebot, commanding a regiment of Philip's
dragoons, declared for Charles, and, accompanied by
four hundred of his men, entered the town of Denia,
where the people and Basset, the governor, at once
declared for Charles.
On the 11th Nebot and Basset attacked the town
little

of Xabea, garrisoned by five hundred Biscayans, and car-

ried it, and the same night took Oliva and Gandia. The
next day they pushed on through Alzira, where they
were joined by many of the principal inhabitants, and a
detachment of the dragoons under Nebot's brother.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 135

Alexander, surprised and routed three troops of tha

enemy's horse, captured their convoy of ammunition,
and pursued them to the very gates of Valencia.
On the night of the 15th the main body marched from
Alzira, and appeared next morning before Valencia and
summoned the town to surrender. The Marquis de Villa
Garcia refused, but Alexander Nebot put himself at the
head of his dragoons and galloped up to the gates shout-
ing "Long live the king!" The inhabitants overpowered
the guard at the gate and threw it open, and Valencia
wa: taken. "When the news of these reverses reached
Madrid the Conde de las Torres, a veteran officer who
had seen much service in the wars of Italy, marched
from Madrid in all haste to prevent if possible the junc-
tion of the forces of Catalonia with the Valencians.
He at once marched upon San Matteo, which lay on
the main line of communication, and commenced a
vigorous siege of that city. The king received the news
on the 18th of January, 1706, and wrote at once to
Peterborough, urging him to go to the relief of San
Matteo, but giving him no troops whatever to assist him
in his enterprise; aiid Peterborough's difficulties were
increased by General Conynham, who commanded a
brigade at Fraga, hastily falling back upon Lerida upon
bearing exaggerated rumors of the strength of the enemy.
Peterborough, however, did not hesitate a moment,
but mounting his horse, and accompanied only by his
aids-de-camp. Jack Stilwell and Lieutenant Graham, rode
for Tortosa. Changing his horse at the various towns
through which he passed, and riding almost night and
day, he reached Tortosa on the 4th, and at once sum-
moned the magnates of the town to give information as
to the real state of things. He then found, to his aston--'

ishmeut, that the details which the king had sent him
 :

J36 TEE SUA VEST OF THE BRA YE.

respecting the force of the enemy were entirely incor-
rect. Charles had written that they were two thousand
strong, and that sixteen thousand peasants were in arms
against them, whereas Las Torres had with him seven
thousand good troops, and not a single peasant had taken
up arms.
General Killigrew, who now commanded the two hun-
dred dragoons and the thousand British infantry at Tor-
iosa, together with his officers, considered that under
euch circumstances it was absolutely hopeless to attempt
any movement for the relief of San Matteo ; but Pt ter-
borough did not hesitate a moment, and only said to his
officers
Unless I can raise that siege our affairs are desperate,
'*

and therefore capable only of desperate remedies Be

content; let me try my fortune, whether I cannotby
diligence and surprise effect that which by downright
force is apparently impracticable.'*
The officers had unbounded confidence in their general,
and although the enterprise appeared absolutely hope-
less,they at once agreed to undertake it. Accordingly
the three weak English regiments marched from Tortosa
under Killigrew, and the next day the earl followed with
the dragoons and a party of Miquelets, and overtook the
infantry that night. The next morning he broke up his
littlearmy into small detachments in order that they
might march more rapidly, and, dividing the Miquelets
among them as guides, ordered them to assemble at
Fraiguesa, two leagues from San Matteo.
The advance was admirably managed. Small parties
of dragoons and Miquelets went on ahead along each of
the roads to occupy the passes among the hills. When
arrived at these points they had strict orders to let no
one pass them until the troops appeared in sight, when
 THE BBA VEST OF THE BBA VE. 137

tha advance again pushed forward and sectored another

position for the same purpose.
Thus no indication of his coming preceded him, and
the troops arriving together with admirable punctuality
before Fraiguesa, the place was taken by surprise, and
guards were at once mounted on its gates, with orders to
prevent any one from leaving the town on any excuse
whatever. Thus while the English force were within
two leagues of San Matteo, Las Torres remained in
absolute ignorance that any hostile force was advancing
against him. Graham and Jack were nearly worn out by
the exertions which they had undergone with their inde-
fatigable general. They had ridden for three days and
nights almost without sleep, and on their arrival at Tor-
tosa were engaged unceasingly in carrying out their
chief's instructions, in making preparations for the ad-
vance, and in obtaining every possible information as to
the country to be traversed.
Both the young had now begun to speak Span-
officers
ish. A residence of four months in the country, con-
stant communication with the natives, and two months
and a half steady work with an instructor had enabled
them to make great progress and they were now able to
communicate without difficulty with the Spaniards with
whom they came in contact.
 :

J H8 THE BBA VEST OF THE BBA VE,

CHAPTEE IX.

THE ADVANCE INTO VALENCIA.

The Earl of Peterborough had not satisfied himself

with depriving the enemy of all information as to his
advance. He took steps to confuse and alarm them by
false news. By means of large bribes he prevailed upon
two peasants to carry each a copy of the same letter to
Colonel Jones, who commanded in San Matteo. He
took the further step of insuring their loyalty by arrest-
ing their families as hostages, and, moreover, took care
that they should know nothing as to the real state of
things that they could report if treacherously inclined.
He arranged that one of them should go in first and,
passing through the besiegers' lines, should arouse their
suspicions, and should then, when arrested, give up the
letter concealed upon him, and should also betray the
route by which his companion was endeavoring to reach
the city, so that the second messenger would also be
captured and his letter be taken. The letter^ were as
follows

*'To Colonel Jones: You will hardly believe yourself

what this letter informs you of, if it come safe to 3^ou;
and though I have taken the best precaution, it will do
little prejudice if it falls into the enemy's hands, since
they shall see and feel my troops almost as soon as they
can receive intelligence, should it be betrayed to them.
The end for which I venture it to you is that you may
prepare to open the furthest gate toward Valencia, and
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE. 139

have four thousand Miquelets ready, who will have the

—
employment they love and are fit for the pursuing and
pillaging a flying enemy. The country is as one can wish
for their entire destruction. Be sure, upon the first
appearance of our troops and the first discharge of our
artillery, you answer with an English halloo, and take to
the mountains on the heights with all your men. The
Conde de las Torres must take the plains, the hills on the
left being almost impassable, and secured by five or six
thousand of the country people. But what will gall him
most will be the whole regiment of Nebot, which revolted
to us near Valencia, is likewise among us.
*'I was eight days ago myself in Barcelona, and I be-
lieve the Conde de las Torres must have so good intelli-
gence from thence that he cannot be ignorant of it.
"What belongs to my own troops and my own resolutions
I can easily keep from them, though nothing else. You
know the force I have, and the multitudes that are gath-
ering from all parts against us, so I am forced to put
the whole into this action, which must be decided to give
any hopes to our desperate game. By nine or ten,
within an hour after you can receive this, you will discover
us on the tops of the hills, not two cannon-shot from
their camp.
**The advantages of the sea are inconceivable, and have
contributed to bring about what you could never expect
to see, a force almost equal to the enemy in number, and
you know that less would do our business. Besides,
never men were so transported as to be brought in such
secrecy so near an enemy. I have near six thousand
men locked up this night within the walls of Traguera.
I do not expect you will believe it till you see them.
"You know we had a thousand foot and two hundred
dragoons in Tortosa. "Wills and a thousand foot English
and Dutch came down the Ebro in boats, and I embarked
a thousand more at Tarragona when I landed at Vinaroz,
and the artillery from thence I brought in country carts.
It was easy to assemble the horse. Zinzendorf and
Moras are as good as our own, and with our English
dragoons make up in all near two thousand. But the
140 TEE BRA. VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
whole depends upon leaving them a retreat without
interruption.
''Dear Jones, prove a good dragoon, be diligent and
alert, and preach the welcome doctrine to your Miquelets,
plunder without danger.
"Your friend,
'*
'*Peteeborough.

The two hands of Las Torres, and

letters fell into the 1
80 artfully had the capture been contrived, that it never
occurred to him to doubt the truth of these mendacious
documents. Orders were instantly given to prepare for
a march, and almost at the same time two events occurred
in the siege works which caused confusion of the troops.
Several mines had been unskillfully sunk and charged one ;

of these prematurely exploded and destroyed forty of the

workmen. The remaining mines Colonel Jones contrived
to swamp by turning the course of a brook into them,
thus rendering them harmless. "While the troops were
confused with these disasters, the news of the contents
of the intercepted letters spread through the camp, caus-
ing a general panic and almost immediately afterward
;

the advance guard of Peterborough's force were seen,

according to the promise contained in the letters, on the
crests of the hills.
By management the twelve hundred men were
able
made to appear vastly more numerous than they were»
The dragoons showed in various parties at different
points of the hilltops, and, after pausing as if to recon-
noiter the camp, galloped back as if to carrj^ information
to a main body behind while the infantry availed them-
;

selves of the wooded and uneven ground to conceal their

weakness. It seemed, indeed, to the enemy that the tops
of all the hills and the avenues of approach were covered
by advancing columns. Las Torres, unsuspicious of
 >

THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 14X

stratagem, was now convinced that his position was one

of extreme danger, while confusion reigned in the camp.
The tents were hastily struck, the guns spiked, and in a
few minutes the Spanish army started along the Valencia
road in a retreat which might almost be called a flight.
Colonel Jones, seeing the confusion that reigned, in«
stantly sallied from the town with his whole force in pur-
suit, and followed Las Torres for nearly two leagues to
Penasol, inflicting a loss of nearly three hundred men
upon the Spaniards; while Peterborough on the other
side marched his force through the abandoned intrench-
ments and into the town.
Scarcely halting, however, he made a show of pursuit
as far as Albocazer, but always keeping to the hills with
such caution that in case the enemy should learn his
weakness, his retreat would still be secured. While on
the march a courier overtook him with two dispatches —
the one from King Charles, the other from the English
resident with the court at Barcelona.
The king told him that he would be obliged to coun«
termand the reinforcements he had promised him for
the relief of San Matteo, in consequence of the unfavora-
ble state of affairs elsewhere. It, however, conveyed to

Peterborough something which he valued more than

reinforcements, namely, full power to act in accordance
with his own discretion. The dispatch from the British
resident told him thatnews had come that the Duke of
Berwick, with the main army of France, freed by tha
retreat of Lord Galway from all trouble on the western
side of Spain was in full march for Catalonia.
The Prince of Serclaes, with four thousand men,
watched the small garrison at Lerida; the Duke of
Noailles, with eight thousand French troops from iloua-
flillon, threatened Catalonia on a third side;while Philip
142 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
and Marshal Tesse had collected ten thousand men at
Madrid. The letter concluded -with the words: ''There
*
is nothing here but distrust, discontent, and despair. '

The responsibility left by the king's letter upon Peter-

borough was great indeed. On the one hand, if he did
not return to the defense of Catalonia, the king might be
exposed to imminent danger; and, on the other, if he
repassed the Ebro he might be accused of having left
Valencia and its loyal inhabitants to their fate, and
would have forfeited all the advantages that his auda-
city and skill had already gained.
His difficulties in any case were enormous. His infantry
were marching almost barefooted; they were clothed in
rags. The season was inclement, the country mountain-
ous and rough, and the horses of the dragoons so ex-
hausted that they could scarcely carry their riders. In
obedience to his instructions, here, as at Tortosa, he
assembled his officers in a council of war and asked their
opinion. They were unanimous in saying that, with the
small and exhausted force under his orders, no further
operation could be undertaken for the conquest of Valen-
cia, but that the little army should post itself in such p.
position as might afford the greatest facility for protect-
ing the king,
Peterborough had thus on one side not only the difficul-

ty of the position, but the opinion of the council of war

against a further advance; but on the other hand he
knew the anxiety of the king that help should be given
to the Valencians. He therefore announced to his officers
a resolution as desperate as that ever formed by a sane
man. He had listened gravely and in silence while the
officers gave their opinion, and then ordered that
the foot-sore infantry, with a few of the horse, sbouM
march back to Vinaroz, a little town on the seaside a
 :

TEE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 143

day's journey from Tortosa, wHere in case of necessity

they might embark in boats and be taken off to the ships.
Then, to the stupefaction of his officers, he announced
his intention of himself proceeding with the remaining
dragoons, about a hundred and fifty in number, to con-
quer the province of Valencia!
In vain the officers remonstrated, the earl was firm.
The council then broke up, and the troops prepared for
their march in opposite directions. The parting of
Peterborough and his officers was very sad, for they
doubted not it was a final one.
**I will yet endeavor," he said, "however our circum-

stances seem desperate, to secure the kingdom of Valen-

cia and since the king has thought conquest possible in
;

this present case, he cannot complain of my motions,

however rash they might appear. I am resolved, there-
fore, never to repass the Ebro without positive orders
from him.'*
Before starting the earl wrote to Charles and explained
fully his intentions. It is evident from the tone of his
letter that Peterborough did not expect to survive this
extraordinary expedition. The language is grave and
firm, and, though respectful, full of stronger remon-
strance and more homely advice than often reaches kings.
It concluded
'*!
have had but little share in your councils. If our
advance had been approved, if your majesty had trusted
us. ... if your majesty had permitted me to march
into the kingdom of Valencia, when I so earnestly
desired it, without making me stay under pretense of
the march of imaginary troops; your majesty would
if

have believed me on that occasion, your majesty would

have had this time not only a viceroy of Valencia but
the kingdom* With what force I have I am going to
144 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VK
Jnarch straight to "Valencia. I can take no other
measures, leaving the rest to Providence. ... If the
time lost (so much against my inclination) exposes me to
a sacrifice, at least I will perish with honor, and as a
man deserving a better fate."
The earl now again sent orders to one thousand Span-
ish foot and three hundred horse, which had before been
nominally placed at his disposal, but had never moved
from the town in which they were garrisoned, to follow
him into Yalencia and at the same time he wrote to Colo-
;

nel Wills to march immediately with a like number of

English horse and foot to his assistance.
The king, on the receipt of Peterborough's letter,
issued positive and peremptory orders that the Spanish
troops were at once to be set in motion. Colonel Wills
wrote in reply that an important action had taken place
at San Esteban de Litera on the 26th and 27th of Janu-
ary, between General Conyngham with his brigade and
the Chevalier d'Asfeldt, in which, after a bloody contest,
the French were driven from the field with a heavy loss
of killed, wounded, and prisoners. The allies had also
suffered serious loss, and General Conyngham had re-
ceived a mortal wound. The command, therefore, had
devolved upon himself.
Having seen the infantry march off, Peterborough,
attended only by his two aids-de-camp, took his place at
the head of his handful of cavalry and proceeded on his
desperate enterprise — an enterprise the most extraordi-
nary that has ever taken place between enemies of an
equal degree of civilization. It was a war of a general
with a small escort, but literally without an army, against
able officers with thousands of disciplined troops and
numerous defensible towns and positions, against enor-
mous difficulties of country, against want and fatigue in
every shapoj and above all^ against hope itself.
 '

THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 145

And yet no one who had witnessed that little body

march off would have supposed that thej' were entering
—
upon what seemed an impossible expedition an expedi-
tion from which none could come back alive., Worn out
and sorry as was the appearance of the horses, ragged
and dirty that of their riders, the latter were in high
spirits. The contagion of the extraordinary energy and
audacity of their chief had spread among them; they
had an absolute confidence in his genius, and they
entered upon the romantic enterprise with the ardor of
schoolboys.
Not less was the spirit of the two young aids-de-camp.
Before starting the earl had offered them the option of
marching away with the infantry.
"It is not that I doubt your courage, lads, for I
marked you both under fireatMontjuich, but the fatigues
will be terrible. You have already supported, in a man-
ner which has surprised me, the work which you have
undergone. You have already borne far more than your
iuil share of the hardships of the campaign, and I have^
in my dispatches, expressed a very strong opinion to the
government as to the value of the services you have ren-
dered. You are both very young, and I should be sorry
to see your lives sacrificed in such an enterprise as that
I am undertaking, and shall think no less of you if you
elect now to have a period of rest.
'

The young men had, however, so firmly and emphati-

cally declined to leave him that the earl had accepted
their continued service.
The cavalry, instead of keeping in a compact body,
were broken up into parties of ten, all of whom followed
different roads, spreading, through every hamlet they
passed, the news that a great army, of which they were
the forerunners, was following hotly behind. So that
146 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
Bhould any peasants favorable to Philip's cause carry the
news to Las Torres, that general would be forced to be-
lieve that he was being pursued by a veritable army.
Many stragglers of the retreating force were picked up
and handed over to the peasantry to be sent as prisoners
into Catalonia.
For the most part the little parties of cavalry were
well received by the populace; the majority of Valen-
cians were in favor of King Charles, and that night,
when they halted, the weary horses obtained ample sup-
plies of grain and forage, and the troopers were made
welcome to the best the villages afforded.
A few extra horses were purchased by Peterborough
during the day, and it was well for his aids-de-camp that
it was BO, for scarcely had they finished their meal than

Peterborough ordered them again into the saddle. They

were to ride by crossroads right and left to the villages
where the different detachments had been ordered to
halt, and to tell them the routes marked out for them by
which they would again concentrate at midday, so as to
ride in comparatively strong force through a small town
on the main road, whence news might, not improbably,
be sent on to Las Torres. After that they were again to
disperse and pervade the country.
Jack and Graham carried out these orders, taking
guides from each village through which they passed to
the next, and it was near midnight before they had
finished their work. At four in the morning every de-
tachment was in motion, and at noon the troop was
jtgain concentrated. Here the earl learned that a detach-
/nent of the enemy had remained behind at Alcala, and,
instead of carrying out his previous plan, he rode
dtraight with the whole of his dragoons to that town.
When he approached it he divided his force into three
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE B UA YE. :^^'^

bodies,which entered the place simultaneously by differ-

ent gates, and the Spanish detachment, two kundred
strong, at once laid down their arms.
Evening was now approaching, and as the horses and
dragoons were utterly worn out, Peterborough halted
for the night. He at once called together the principal
inhabitants, and informed them that he required all the
horses in the town, with such saddlery as they could
obtain, to be collected and forwarded for his use to a
point he named.
The next morning the march was continued. Las Torres
had continued his flight, and this was hastened when he
heard of the capture of Alcala. He pushed through the
town of Borirol and hastened on to Yilla-Eeal, a town
strongly favorable to King Charles. It opened its gates,
however, on the solemn promise of Las Torres to respect
the life and property of the inhabitants ; but no sooner
had his troops entered than he gave the order for a gen-
eral massacre and the sack of the town. This ferocious
order was executed, and very few oi the inhabitants
escaped with their lives.
The following day, on the news coming in from various
points in his rear that the enemy were pressing after
him, he marched his dispirited army to Nules, where the
inhabitants were well affected. In answer to his appeal
a thousand of the citizens enrolled themselves and under-
took to defend the town till the last against the English.
Having assured himself of their earnestness Las Torres
inspected the muster, and having viewed all the disposi-
tions for defense, continued his flight. Nules was forti-
fied by strong walls flanked with towers, the fortifica-
tions were in an excellent state of defense, and the town
could have resisted a siege by a considerable army.
Oa arriving at Viila-Eeal the British were horrified at
148 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
the hideous massacre -which had taken place. They went
from house to house and found everywhere the bodies of
the slaughtered inhabitants,and the ardor of the
dragoons was, if possible,heightened by the sight.
They made but a short stay here and then galloped on to
Nules. As they neared the town a fire of musketry was
opened from the walls, but, wholly disregarding this,
the earl at the head of his men dashed up to the gates
and demanded, in an imperious tone, that the principal
inhabitants should assemble and hold parley with him.
The boldness of the earl's manner and the imperative
tone in which he spoke so astonished the citizens on the
walls that they ceased firing, and sent for their mag-
istrates and priests. "When these assembled on the wall
Peterborough told them in an angry tone that he gave
them only six minutes for deliberation, and that if they
offered the slightest resistance he would repeat at Nules
the massacre which Las Torres had carried out at Yilla-
Real. He added that, unless they instantly surrendered,
he would blow down their walls the moment his artillery
and engineers arrived.The terror-stricken magistrates
at once summoned the town council, and upon their re-
peating Peterborough's terrible threats, it was resolved
at once to surrender, and the six minutes had scarcely
elapsed when the gates fell back on their hinges, and
Peterborough and his dragoons entered the town in
triumph.
Here the wearied band enjoyed a rest for some days,
Peterborough spreading the alarm, which his presence ex-
cited, by giving orders that great quantities of provisions
and forage should be brought in from ail directions for
the supply of the large army which he stated to be fol-
lowing at his heels. As it never occurred to any one
that he could be pursuing an army of seven thousand
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 1 49

men through a hostile country with only a handful o|

dragoons, his statements were not doubted. The requisi-^
tions were complied with, and provisions and stores
poured into the town.
Las Torres at Almenara, where he had again per-
petrated a horrible massacre, heard the news of great
preparations that Peterborough was making for the
supply of his army, and considering his position to be
unsafe again retreated hastily.
At Nules two hundred horses were found and at once
appropriated for the use of the army. With a portion of
his force Peterborough rode out to Castillon de la Plana,
an open town of some size, where the people were well
affected to the Austrian cause. Here he secured four
hundred more horses, at the same time assuring both
friends and foes that his army was driving the enemy
out of the kingdom. On entering Nules, Peterborough
had sent orders for Lord Barry more 's regiment of British
infantry, at that time under the command of Colonel
Pierce, to march from Yinaroz, where they had been sent
with the rest of the infantry from San Matteo to Orepesa,
a town about nine miles from Castillon, where he had
collected all the horses he had obtained during hia
march. When the news reached Nules of the arrival of
this regiment at Oropesa, Lord Peterborough at once
rode over. The regiment was formed up for his inspec-
tion; it had marched with the greatest speed, and the
men were worn out and footsore with their long tramp
over the stony hills. After inspecting them the earl paid
them a high compliment upon their past achievements,
and concluded by expressing his wish that they had but
horses and accouterments to try whether a corps of so
high a character would maintain their reputation in the
novelty of mounted serrioe*
150 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
The joke of their eccentric general seemed but a poot
one to the footsore and almost shoeless men, but they
were astonished when Jack rode forward and presented
to each of the officers a commission, which he had drawn
out in the earl's name, as cavalry officers. Their aston-
ishment was changed to delight when Peterborough
marched them to the brow of the hill where they stood,
and they saw eight bodies of horses drawn up in order
ready for their eight companies. Among these were set
apart three good chargers for each captain, two for lieu-
tenants, and one for cornets. He ordered the regiment,
to mount, and, immensely amused at their sudden eleva-
tion to the cavalry service, the troops rode back to the
town.
From the moment when he started from San Matteo
Peterborough had, in spite of his incessant exertions
and multifarious cares, been quietly making preparations
for this event. He had sent to Barcelona for the neces-
sary accouterments for these men and for the dismounted
British dragoons. The accouterments had been sent
from Barcelona to the nearest port on the seacoast, and
by continually urging on the local carriers the earl had,
in nine days after leaving San Matteo, collected them in
readiness at his depot at Castillon, and thus raised his
little band of horse to nearly a thousand men. These he
dispersed at once among the well-affected towns of the
neighborhood, whose walls would render them safe from
the attack of an enemy unsupported by artillery, moving
them constantly from place to place, partly to accustom
them to their new duties, partly to confuse the enemy as
to their numbers.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. X51

CHAPTEK X.

AN ADVENTURE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

"Mr. Stilwell," the few days after his

earl said, a
arrival at Castillon, ''will you will take twenty dragoons
and ride out to the village of Estrella ? The district round
it is extremely hostile, and they prevent supplies being

brought in from that direction. Get hold of the princi-

pal men in the place, and tell them that if I hear any
more complaints of hostility in that neighborhood I will
send out a regiment of horse, burn their village, and
ravage all the country. I don't think you need appre-
hend any opposition but of course you will keep a good
;

lookout.'*
"Am I to return to-night, sir?*'
*'Let that depend upon your reception. If the in-
habitants show a fairly good disposition, or if you see
that at any rate there is a considerable section of the
population well disposed to the cause, stay there for the
night, and in the morning make a wide circuit through
the district before returning. If you perceive a strong
hostile feeling itwere best not to sleep there ; with so
small a force you would be liable to a night attack."
Twenty minutes later Jack rode off with his part3%
having first obtained directions from the natives as to
the best road to Estrella. The village was but some fif-
teen miles off, and lay in the center of a fertile district
on the other side of a range of lofty hills. The road
they were traversing ran through the hills by a narrow
and very steep valley.
21^ TEE BBA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.
''This would be a nasty place to be attacked/* Jack
said to the sergeant, who was riding just behind him.
**It would, indeed, sir; and if they were to set some

of those stones a-rolling they would soon knock our

horses off their legs."
A mile or two further on the road again descended and
the valley opened to a fertile country. Another half-
hour's sharp riding brought them into Estrella. Their
coming had probably been signaled, for the inhabitants
evinced no sudden alarm as the little troop rode along
the principal street. The women stood at the doors of
the houses to look at them, the men were gathered in
little knots at the corners; but all were unarmed, and
Jack saw at once that there was no intention of offering
resistance. He alighted at the door of the village inn,
and in a few minutes two or three of the chief men in
the village presented themselves.
'*The English general,'* Jack said, "has heard that the
people of your neighborhood are hostile, and that those
who would pass through with animals and stores for the
army are prevented from doing so.He bids me say that
he does not wish to war with the people of this country
so long as they are peaceful. Thos« who take up arms
he will meet with arms; but so long as they interfere not
with him he makes no inquiry as to whether their wishes
are for King Charles or Philip Anjou; but if they
of
evince an active ho£;tility he will be forced to punish
them. You know how Marshal Tesse has massacred un-
armed citizens whom he deemed hostile, and none could
blame the English general did he carry out reprisals;
but it will grieve him to have to do so. He has there-
fore sent me with this small troop to warn you that if
the people of this village and district interfere in any
way with his friends, or evince signs of active hostility.
 ;

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 153

he send a regiment of horse with orders to burn,

will
the village to the ground, and to lay all the district
bare."
"Your general has been misinformed/* the principal
man in the place said. *' There some in
are, it is true,
the district who hold for Philip of Anjou; but the popu-
lation are well disposed to King Charles, and this village
is ready to furnish any supplies that the English may
require. If your honor will give me a list of these I will
do my best to have them in readiness by to-morrow
morning, and I trust that you will honor us by stopping
here till then.*'
Jack hesitated; he did not much like the appearance
of the man or the tone of humility in which he spoke
still, as he offered to furnish supplies, he thought it well

to accept the same.

"What horses could you let us have?" he asked.
"We could supply ten horses,** the man said, "fit for
cavalry, four wagons of grain, and twenty barrels of
wine.**
"Very well,** Jack said: "if these are ready by to-
morrow morning I will accept them as an earnest of your
good-will, and now I require food for my men.'*
"That shall be ready for them in an hour," the man
replied.
Jack now gave orders to the sergeant that the girths
to the saddles should be loosened, and the horses fastened
in readiness for service in the street close to the inn.
Four men were then posted as pickets at the distance of
a quarter of a mile on each side of the village. Corn
was brought for the horses. The women and children
gathered round to gaze at the foreign soldiers, and Jack
"Was convinced that there was at any rate no intention to
effect a surprise while he remained in the village, In au
 ;

154 TffE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB,

houf th^ pinner was served, and tliere was no reason to
eomplain of the quantity or quality of the provisions.
An hoar after dinner the troop again mounted and
took a detour of some miles through the district, pass-
ing through several other villages, in none of which were
the slightest signs of hostility met with. "'Sergeant,'*
Jack s,«iid, after they had returned to Estrella, ''every-
thing looks very quiet and peaceful; but, considering
what we have heard of the feeling in this district, it
seems to me that it is almost too peaceful. I can't help
feeling somewhat uneasy. "When it gets dark divide the
troop into two parties ; keep one constantly under arms
place sentries in pairs at each end of the village, and
keep a most vigilant watch. Do not let the others scatter
to the quarters the mayor has provided ; but let all lie
down here in the inn ready to turn out at a moment's
notice. They are a treacherous lot, these SpaniardSj
and we cannot be too strictly on our guard."
The night passed, however, without an incident, and
in the morning, the five wagons with grain and wine,
and eight horses, were brought in.
Jack, rather ashamed of his suspicions on the previous
night, thanked the mayor warmly. Eight of the troop-
ers took each a led horse. The four countrymen in
charge of the wagons shouted to their oxen, and the
party moved out from Estrella.
"There are very few men about the village, Mr. Stil-
weli," the sergeant said, as Jack reined back his horse
to speak to him. *'Did you notice that, sir?"
*'Yes," Jack said; "I did notice it; for except a few
old men and boys, there were none but women and chil-
dren gathered round or standing at their door. There
were plenty of men about yesterday but perhaps they
;

have all gone up to work in the fields ; however, we will

 "

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 155

keep our eyes open. "You had best ride forward,

sergeant, to the two men in front and tell them to keep
a sharp lookout.
They were proceeding only at a slow walk in order to
keep pace with the wagons, and it was an hour and a
half after leaving Estrella before they entered the hills.
Jack noticed that although many women and girls
could be seen working in the fields, not a man was in
sight.
**It is curious, sergeant, that there are no men about,
and I can't help thinking that all is not right. Do you
take four men with you and ride straight on through
that nasty narrow valley we noticed as we came. Keep
a sharp lookout on both sides, for there are rocks enough
on those hills to hide an army."
Jack halted the detachment when the scouting partj'
went forward. In three-quarters of an hour the sergeant
returned with his men, saying that he had ridden right
through the valley and could see no signs of life what-
ever.
"Very well, sergeant, then we will proceed. But we
will do so in groups. If we are to be attacked in that
valley, we could make no fight of it were we ten times as
many as we are ; and if we must be caught, they shall
have as few of us as possible therefore, let a corporal
;

with four men go on a good quarter of a mile ahead, so

that he will be past the worst part before the next body
enter. Then do you take ten men and go next. I will
follow you at the same distance with the other five men
and the wagons. Order the corporal if attacked to ride
through if possible ; if not, to fall back to you. Do you
do the same. If you are nearly through the valley when
you are attacked, dash straight forward. I shall see
what is going on, and will turn and ride back with my
156 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
party, and making a sweep round through the flat coun-
try find my way back by some other road. In that case
hy no possibility can they get more than a few of us."
These orders, which were well calculated to puzzle a
concealed enemy, were carried out. The corporal's party
were just disappearing round a turn at the upper end of
the valley when the main body under the sergeant entered
it. Jack was not quite so far behind, and halted as he
entered the valley to allow those who preceded him to
get through before he proceeded. They were still some
two hundred yards from the further end when a shot was
heard, and in an instant men appeared from behind
every rock, and the hillside was obscured with smoke as
upward of two hundred guns were fired almost simul-
taneously. Then there was a deep rumbling noise, and
the rocks came bounding down from above.
The sergeant carried out Jack's orders. At the flash
of the first gun he set off with his men at a gallop and
;

BO quick and sudden was the movement that but few of

the bullets touched them, and the rocks or the most part
thundered down in their rear. Two or three horses and
men were, however, struck down and crushed by the
massive rocks but the rest of the party got through the
;

pass in safety and joined their comrades who had pre-

ceded them. They rode on for a short distance further,
and then there was a halt, and wounds were examined
and bandaged.
"It is well that we came as we did," the sergeant said
to his corporal; "if we had been all together, with the
wagons blocking up the road, not a man Jack of us would
have escaped alive. What an escape it has been! the
whole hillside seemed coming down on us.**
"What will Mr. Stilwell do, sergeant?'*
**He said he should ride back into the plain and take
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 15'?

Bome other way round," the sergeant replied; **but I

fear he won't find it so easy. Fellows who would lay
Buch an ambush as that are pretty sure to have takeii
steps to cut off the retreat of any who might escape and
ride back. I am sure I hope he will get out of it, for
he is a good ojQ&cer, and as pleasant a young fellow as

one can want to serve under; beside, there are five of

our chaps with him.*'
Jack had halted his men the instant the first shot was

fired. "Shall I shoot these fellows, sir?" one of the

troopers asked, drawing his pistol and pointing it at the
head of one of the peasants leading a yoke of oxen.
"No," Jack said; "they are unarmed; besides, they are
plucky fellows for risking their lives on such a venture.
There! the sergeant's troop have got through; but there
are two or three of them down. Come along, lads, we
must ride back, and there is no time to lose. Keep well
together, and in readiness to charge if I give the word.
It is likely enough our turn may come next. They rode
on without interruption at full gallop till they neared
the lower end of the valley. Then Jack drew up bis
horse. Across the road and the ground on each side
extended a dozen carts, the oxen being taken out, and
the carts placed end to end so as to form a barricade. A
number of men were standing behind them.
"I expected something of this sort, " muttered Jack.
He looked at the hills on either side, but they were too
steep to ride up on horseback; and as to abandoning the
animals and taking to the hills on foot, it was not to b&
thought of, for the active peasants would easily overtake
them.
"We must ride straight forward," he said; "there is:

no other way out of it.There is level ground enough

lor a horse to pass round the left of the wagons. Eide
158 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VR
for that point as hard as you can, and when you are
through keep straight forward for a quarter of a mile till
we are together again. Now!'*
Giving his horse the spur. Jack dashed off at full
speed, followed closely by the troopers. As they ap-
proached the line guns flashed out from the wagons, and
the bullets sang thickly round them; but they were
going too fast to be an easy mark, and the peasants, after
firing their guns, seeing the point for which they were
making, ran in a body to oppose them, armed with pitch-
forks, and ox-goads ; few of them had, however, reached
the spot when Jack and his troopers dashed up. There
was a short, sharp struggle, and then, leaving five or six
of the peasants dead on the ground, the troopers burst
through and rode forward. One man only had been lost
in the passage, shot through the head as he approached
the gap.
**So far we are safe,'* Jack said, *'and as I expect
every man in the country round was engaged in that
ambush, we need not hurry for the present. The ques-
tion is. Which way to go?"
This was indeed a difficult point to settle, for Jack was
wholly ignorant of the country. He had made inquiries
as to the way to Estrella, but knew nothing of any other
roads leading from that village, and indeed, for aught he
knew, the road by which he had come might be the only
one leading to the south through the range of hills.
**We turn west,*' he said, after a moment's
will
thought, "and keep along near the foot of the hills till
we come to another road crossing them.**
So saying, he set forward at an easy trot across the
fields ofmaize and wheat stubble, vineyards, and occa-
sionally orchards. For upward of two hours Jack led
the way, but they saw no signs of a road, and he observed
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 159

with uneasiness that the plain was narrowing fast and

the hills on the left trending to meet those on the right
and form an apparently unbroken line ahead.
The horses were showing signs of fatigue, and Jack
drew rein on somewhat rising ground and looked ans-
iously round. If, as it seemed, there was no break in

the hills ahead, it would be necessary to retrace their

steps, and long ere this the defenders of the ravine would
have returned to their homes, and learned from the men
at the carts that a small party had escaped. As the
women in the fields would be able to point out the way
fchey had taken, the whole population would be out in
pursuit of them. Looking round Jack saw among some
trees to his right what appeared to be a large mansion,
and resolved at once to go there.
'*The horses must have food and a rest," he said, ''be-
fore we set out again; and though it*s hardly probable,
as the peasants are so hostile, that the owner of this
place is friendly. I would even at the worst rather fall
into the hands of a gentleman than into those of these
peasants, who would certainly murder us in cold blood."
Thus saying, he rode toward the mansion, whose owner
must, he thought as he approached it, be a man of im-
portance, for it was one of the finest country residences
he had seen in Spain. He rode up to the front door and
dismounted and rang at the bell. A man opened the
door, and looked with surprise and alarm at the English
uniforms. He would have shut the door again, but Jack
put his shoulder to it and pushed it open.
'*What means this insolence?" he said sternly, draw-
ing his pistol. "Is your master in?"
"No, senor," the man stammered, "i^he count is frons
Lame."
"Is your mistress in?**
260 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,

The man hesitated.

*
'I will see," he said.
"Look here, sir," Jack said. "Your mistress is in,

and unlessyou lead me straight to her I will put a bullet

through your head."
Several other men-ser^^ants had now come up, but the
four troopers had also entered. The Spaniards looked
at each other irresolutely.
"Now, sirrah," Jack said, raising his pistol, "are you
going to obey me?"
The Spaniard, seeing Jack would execute his threat
unless obeyed, turned sullenly and led the way to a door.
He opened it and entered.
"Madam the countess," he said, "an English officer
insists on seeing you."
Jack followed him in. A lady had just risen from her
seat.
"I must apologize, madam," he began, and then
stopped in surprise, while at the same moment a cry of
astonishment broke from the lady.
"Senor Stilwell!" she cried. "Oh! how glad I am to
see you! but but — " And she stopped.
"But how do I come here, countess, you would ask?
I come here by accident, and had certainly no idea that
I should find you, or that this mansion belonged to your
husband. Tou told me when I saw you last, a fortnight
before I left Barcelona, that you were going away to
your seat in the country. You told me its name, too,
and were good enough to say that you hoped when this
war was over that I would come and visit you; but in
truth, as this is not a time for visiting, I had put the
matter out of my mind."
"And do you belong, then," the countess asked, "to
the party who we heard yesterday had arrived at Es-
trella? If so
—
" And she stopped again.
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 161

"If so, how have I escaped, you would ask? By good

fortune and the speed of my horse.**
""What count say?'* the countess exclaimed.
will the
•'How will he ever forgive himself? Had he known that
our preserver was with that party he would have cut oU
*
his right hand before he would have '

**Led his tenants to attack us. He could not tell,

countess, and now I hope that you will give your retain-
ers orders to treat my men
with hospitality. At present
my four troopers and your men are glowering at each
other in the hall like wolves and dogs ready to spring at
'*
each other's throats.
The countess at once went out into the hall. The
servants had now armed themselves, and, led by the
major-domo, were standing in readiness to attack the
dragoons on the termination of the colloquy between the
and their mistress.
officer
'*Lay aside your arms, men," the countess said im-
periously. ''These men are the count's guests. Enrico,
do you not recognize this gentleman?'*
The major-domo turned, and, at once dropping his
musket, ran across, and, falling on his knees, pressed
Jack's hand to his lips. The servants, who had at first
stood in irresolute astonishment at their mistress' order,
no longer hesitated, but placed their arms against the
wall.
''This,'* the major-domo said to them, rising to his
feet, who saved the lives of
"is the noble English lord
the count and countess and my young master from the
mob have often told you."
at Barcelona, as I
This explained the mystery. The servants saluted
Jack with profound respect, for all were deeply attached
to the count and countess, and had often thrilled with
fury and excitement over the major-domo's relation of
that terrible scene at Barcelona.
10^ THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
Jack in a few words explained to the troopers the
reason of the change in their position. The dragoons
put up their swords, and were soon on the best terms
with the retainers in the great kitchen, while Jack and
the countess chatted over the events which had happened
since they last parted.
**I shall always tremble when I think of to-day," the
countess said. ''What a feeling mine would have been
all my life had our preserver been killed by my servants!

I should never have recovered it. It is true it would

have been an accident, and yet the possibility should
have been foreseen. The count knew you were with the
Earl of Peterborough, and the whole English army
should have been sacred in his eyes for your sake ; but I
suppose he never thought of it any more than I did. Of
course everyone knows that we belong to Philip's party.
It was for that that the mob at Barcelona would have
killed us ; but my husband does not talk much, and when
he left Barcelona no objection was raised. He did not
intend to take part in the war, and he little thought at
that time that an enemy would ever come so far from
Barcelona; but yesterday, when a message came that a
small party of the enemy had entered the valley, and
that the peasants had prepared an ambuscade for them
on their return, and that they hoped that the count their
master would himself come and lead them to annihilate
the heretics, the simple man agreed, never thinking that
you might be among them. "What will his feelings be
when he learns it!'*

Late in the afternoon the count arrived. One of the

servants who had been on the lookout informed the coun-
tess of his approach.
"I willgo myself to meet him," she said. "Do you
Slay here, sefior, where you can hear."
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 163

The count rode up at full speed, and as tlie door

opened ran hastily in.
"What has happened, Nifia?" he exclaimed anxiously.
"I have had a great fright. We have been following a
small party of the enemy who escaped us from Estrella,
and just now a woman returning from work in the field
told us she had seen five strange soldiers ride up here
and enter."
**They are here," the countess answered complacently.
"They are at present our guests."
"Our guests!" the count exclaimed, astonished.
"What are you saying, Nina? The enemies of our coun-
try our guests! In what a position have you placed me!
I have two hundred armed men just behind. I left them
to ride on when I heard the news, being too anxious to go
at their pace, and now you me that these men of whom
tell

they are in search are our guests! What am I to say or

do? You amaze me altogether."
"What would you have me do?" the countess said.
"Could I refuse hospitality to wearied men who asked it,
Juan?" she continued, changing her tone. "You have
to thank Providence indeed that those men came to our
door instead of falling into the hands of your peasants."
"To thank Providence!" the count repeated, as-
tonished.
"Come with me and you will see why."
She led the way into the room, her husband following
her. The count gave a cry as his eye fell upon Jack,
and every vestige of color left his face.
"Mary, mother of heaven!" he said in a broken voice,
"I thank thee that I have been saved from a crime which
would have imbittered all my life. Oh, senor, is it thus
we meet thus, when I have been hunting blindly for the
blood of the man to whom I owe so much?**
 "

104 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VK

"Happily there no harm done, count," Jack said,
is

advancing with outstretched hand; *'you were doing

what you believed to be your duty, attacking the enemy
of your country. Had you killed me you would have
been no more to blame than I should, did a chance shot
of mine slay you when fighting in the ranks of the
Boldiers of Philip/'
The count was some time before he could respond
,
to
Jack*s greeting, so great was his emotion at the thought
of the escape he had had from slaying the preserver of
Lis wife and child. As soon as he recovered himself he
Lurried out to meet the peasants, whose shouts could be
heard as they approached the castle. He soon returned
and bade his servants take a cask of wine into the
courtyard behind the house, with what bread and meat
there might be in the larder.
"You had no trouble with them, I hope?" Jack asked.
"None whatever," the count said. "As soon as I told
them the circumstances under which you saved the life
of the countess, myboy, and myself, their only wish was
to see you and express their gratitude ; they are simple
fellows, these peasants, and if fairly treated greatly at-
tached to their lords.
"It's a pity their treatment of the prisoners is so
savage," Jack said dryly.
"They are savage," the count said, "but you must
remember that the history of Spain is one long story of
war and bloodshed. They draw knives on each other on
the slightest provocation, and in their amusements, as
you know, there is nothing that in their eyes can rival a
bull-fight; it is little wonder, then, that in war they are
savage and, as you would say, even bloodthirsty. This
is not so in regular warfare. Whatever may have been
the conduct of some of our irregulars, none have ever
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE 165

alleged that Spanish troops are less inclined to give

quarter to conquered foes than others ; but in this rough
irregular warfare each peasant fights on his own account
as against a personal enemy, and as he would expect and
would meet with mercy if
little he fell into the enemy's
hands, so he grants no mercy to those who fall into his.
Indeed, after the brutal treatment which Marshal Tesse
has I am ashamed to say, dealt out to those who opposed
him, you can scarcely blame peasants for acting as they
'*
see civilized soldiers do.
A short time afterward Jack went out with the count
into the courtyard, and was received with the most
hearty and cordial greeting by the men who were an
hour before thirsting for his blood. Among them was
the village mayor.
*'Ah, sir," he said, ''why did you not tell us that you
had saved the life of our lord and lady ? You should have
had all the horses in the district, and as many wagons of
wine and grain as we could collect. We are all in
despair that we should have attacked our lord's pre-
"
server.
'*I could not tell you,** Jack said, because I was in
ingorance that the Count de Minas was your lord ; had I
known it I should have assuredly gone straight to him."
**We shall never forgive ourselves," the man said, "for
having killed four of your honor's soldiers."
''I am sorry that it was so," Jack said, ''but I cannot
blame you and I am sorry that we on our part must
;

have killed as many of yours."

"Six," the mayor replied. "Yes, poor fellows, but
the count will see to their widows and orphans, he has
promised us as much. I drink to your health, senor,"
and all present joined in the shout. "Long live the pre-
server of the count and countess!"
166 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

Jack and the count now returned to the house, and the
next morning, after a cordial adieu to the host and
hostess, he rode back with his men to Castillon.
''Welcome back Mr. Stilwell," the general said as he
entered; **I have been very uneasy about you. Your
men returned at noon yesterday and told me of the am-
bush in which they had been beset. Tour arrangements
were excellent except for your own safety. How did
you manage to get out ? By the way, I was astonished
hy the arrival here an hour since of the horses and wag-
gons. The men who brought them could give me no
account of it, except that the mayor of Estrella returned
late yesterday evening and ordered them to set out be-
fore daybreak. seemed to me a perfect mystery. I
It
suspected at first that the wine was poisoned, and
ordered the men who brought it to drink some at once,
but as they did so without hesitation or sign of fear, 1
concluded that I was mistaken. However, I have kept
them captive pending news from you to enlighten me."
*'I am not surprisd you were astonished, sir, but the

matter was simple enough;" and then Jack related the

circumstances which had befallen them.
*' Bravo!" the earl said; ''for once, Mr. Stilwell, a
good action has had its reward, which, so far as my ex-
perience goes, an exception."
is

The earl at once called in a sergeant and ordered the

release of the men who had brought the horses and
wagons, and gave ten gold pieces to be distributed
among them. Jack also went out and begged them to
give his compliments and thanks to the mayor.
"I am heartily glad the adventure ended as it did,"
the earl said when he returned, "for, putting aside the
regret I should have felt at your loss, it would have been
a difficult business for me to undertake, with my present
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 167

force, to chastise the men who attacked you, who must

be bold and determined fellows, and capable of realizing
the advantages of this mountainous country. If all
Spaniards would do as much it would tax the power of
the greatest military nation to subue them and yet I
;

could hardly have suffered such a check without endeav-

oring to avenge it; so altogether, Mr. Stilwell, we must
congratulate ourselves that the affair ended as it did.
In any case you would have been in no way to blame,
for your dispositions throughout appear to have been
'*
excellent, and marked alike with prudence and boldness.
168 THE BBA VE8T QF THE BRA VE.

CHAPTER XI
VALENCIA.

While occupied in preparing for his advance, the gen*

eral sent letter after letter to Valencia, bidding the citi-
zens to keep up their courage, and promising to hasten
to the relief of that city.Ordering Jack to continue the
correspondence in his name, so as to delude both friends
and foes that he was still at Castillon, he took post
secretly and hurried away back to Tortosa to see after
reinforcements. He still doubted whether the Spanish
troops, which the king had promised should be at his
disposal for the campaign in Valencia, had got into
motion, and in case they had not done so he determined
to post to Colonel "Wills and bring up that officer with
his brigade.
At Vinaroz he found that the Spanish troops had
already entered Valencia, and that some of the militia of
that province and of Catalonia were also in motion to
join him. He therefore concentrated his little force at
Castillon, towhich place he returned as rapidly as he
bad left it. When it was assembled it consisted of a
thousand horse and two thousand infantry, being one
English and three Spanish battalions of regulars. Be-
side these were about three hundred armed peasants,
whom the earl thought it better not to join with his
army, and therefore quartered them at Almenara.
Although he had accomplished marvels, there was yet
fiducli to do. The Duke of Arcos bad succeeded the
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 169

Conde de las Torres in the chief command, the latter

having been superseded after his signal failures. The
duke had ten thousand men placed under his orders, of
whom some thirty-five hundred were in possession of the
strong town of Murviedro, which covered the approach
to Valencia, while with the main body he marched upon
Valencia and commenced the siege of that city. The
magistrates, knowing that they could expect but little
mercy should the town be taken, made vigorous prepara-
tions for defense, and dispatched some messengers to
Peterborough imploring him to come to their assistance.
He was now in readiness to do so, and on the 1st of
February marched from Castillon with his army.
Having unlimited powers, the earl, before starting,
presented to his two aids-de-camp commissions as cap-
tains, as a reward for the services they had rendered.
Although so inferior in numbers the little army ad-
vanced toward Valencia with an absolute confidence of
victory. The successes gained by their leader with a hand-
ful of cavalry over an army of seven thousand men had
been so astounding that his troops believed him capablo
of effecting anything that he undertook. They had seen
him ride off from San Matteo with his little body of
horse upon what seemed an impossible enterprise they ;

had met him again after having conquered half a prov-

ince; and if he had accomplished this with such scanty
means, what was not possible now when he had three
thousand men at his disposal ?
But the earl trusted fully as much to his talents in the
way of deceiving the enemy as to his power of defeating
them by open force in the field. His eccentric genius
appeared to revel in the mendacious statements by which
he deceived and puzzled both friend and foe; and al-
though the spreading of a certain amount of false news
170 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
for the purpose of deceiving an enemy lias always been
considered as a legitimate means of warfare, Peterbor-
ough altogether exceeded the usual limits, and appeared
to delight in inventing the most complicated falsehoods
from the mere love of mischief. At times Jack was com-
pletely bewildered by his general, so rapid were the
changes of plans, so changeable his purposes, so fantas-
tic and eccentric his bearing and utterances. That his
military genius was astonishing no one can for a moment
question, but it was the genius rather of a knight-errant
than of the commander of great armies.
As a partisan leader Peterborough is without a rival in
history. "Whether he would have succeeded equally well
as the commander of great armies he had never an oppor-
tunity of proving, but it is more than doubtful. Kapid
changes of plan, shifting and uncertain movements, may
lead to wonderful successes wheu but a small body of
troops have to be set in motion, but would cause endless
confusion and embarrassment with a large army, which
can only move in accordance with settled plans and
deliberate purpose.
It must be said, however, that this most eccentric of
generals proved upon may occasions, as at the siege of
Barcelona, that he was capable of adapting himself to
circumstances, and it is had he ever been
possible that
placed in command of a great army he would have laid
aside his flightiness and eccentricity, his love for theatri-
cal strokes and hair-breath adventures, and would have
exhibited a steadfast military genius which would have
placed his name in the annals of British history on a par
with those of Wellington and Marlborough. Never did
he exhibit his faculty for ingenious falsehood more re-
markably than at Murviedro, where, indeed, a great pro-
portion of his inventions appear to have been prompted
 tEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 171

rather by a spirit of malice than by any military

necessity
Murviedro was the Saguntum of the Romans, one oi
the strongest cities in Spain. The force there was com-
manded by Brigadier-General Mahony, an officer of Irish
descent. He had under him five hundred regular cavalry
and a battalion of eight hundred trained infantry the ;

rest of his force consisted of Spanish militia. The town

itself was fairly strong and contained a large population.
It was separated from a wide plain by a river, on the
banks of which redoubts mounted with artillery had been
thrown up.
Here the Valencian road wound through a pass, above
which, on the crest of a lofty overhanging hill, were the
ruins of ancient Saguntum. Peterborough had no artil-
lery save a few Spanish fieldguns; the enemj^'s position
was formidable both by formation and art, and his force
was altogether inadequate for an attack upon it. So
hopeless did the attempt appear to be that Peterborough's
officers were unanimous in the opinion that it would be
better to make a wide circuit and avoid the place, and to
march directly upon Valencia and give battle to the
Duke of Arcos under its walls. Peterborough, however,
simply told them to wait and see what would come of it,
and in the meantime he continued to bewilder his foes
by the most surprising romances.
His agents were for the most part a few sharp-witted
dragoons, and some peasants whose fidelity was secured
by their families being held as hostages. He had already
contrived to bewilder the division of Las Torres before
it reached the main body under the Duke of Arcos. A •

spy in his pay had informed the Spanish general that

the British were close upon him, and he had accordingly
Skt OQce broken up his camp and marched all night.
172 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB,

In the morning the spy again presented himself ant»

stated that the British were pushing on over the moun-
tains to his left to occupy an important point and to cut
off his retreat to the Valencian plains. As it seemed
absolutely impossible that they could have pressed for-
ward so quickly, Las Torres refused to credit the story.
The spy, as if indignant at his truth being doubted,
pledged himself at the hazard of his life to give proof of
the assertion to any officer who might be sent to ascer-
tain it.

Two officers in plain clothes were accordingly seuu

with him in the direction where he stated the English to
be; but when they stopped for refreshment at a village
on the way they were suddenly pounced upon by a
picket of English dragoons, who had been sent there for
the purpose. After a time the spy pretended to the two
officers thathe had made the guard drunk and that they
could now make their ecsape, and leading them stealthily
to the stable showed them two of the dragoons lying in
an apparently drunken sleep. Three horses were quietlj''
led out of the stable, and the three men rode off, some of
the dragoons making a show of pursuit.
This incident, of course, established the credit of the
Bpy. Las Torres was convinced that his retreat was
really threatened, and hurried on again with all speed,
while all this time the English army was really many
miles away near Murviedro. Other dragoons were in-
duced to feign desertion, while some permitted them-
selves to be taken prisoners, and as each vied with the
others in the extravagance of his false information, the
Spanish generals were utterly bewildered by the con-
tradictory nature of the lies that reached them.
While Las Torres was hastening away at full speed to
join the Duke of Arcos, Peterborough was occupied in
 : ;

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 173

fooling Mahony. That officer was a distant relation of

Lady Peterborough, and the earl sent to demand an in-
terview with him, naming a small hill near the town for
the purpose. "When the time for the interview ap-
proached, the earl disposed his army so as to magnify
their numbers as much as possible. Some were posted
as near the town as they could venture along the pass
others were kept marching on the lower slopes of the
hills, their numbers increased in appearance by masses
of the armed peasantry being mingled with them.
Mahony having received the earl's word for his safety
rode out to the appointed place to meet him, accom-
panied by several of the principal Spanish officers.
Peterborough first used every persuasion to induce
Mahony to enter the service of King Charles, but the
Irish officer refused to entertain the tempting offers
which he made. Peterborough then changed his tone,
and said, with an air of kindly frankness
*'The Spaniards have used such severities and cruelties
at Villa-Eeal as to oblige me to retaliate. I am willing
to spare a town if under your protection. I know that
you cannot pretend to defend it with the horse you have,
which will be so much more useful in another place if
joined with the troops of Arcos to obstruct my passing
the plains of Valencia. I am confident that you will
soon quit Murviedro, which I can as little prevent as you
can hinder me from taking the town. The inhabitants
there must be exposed to the most abject miseries, and I
can in no way preserveit but by being bound in a capit-
ulation, which I am willing to give you if I have the
assurance of the immediate surrender of the place this
very night. Some cases are so apparent that I need not
dissemble. I know you will immediately send to the
Duke of Arcos to march to the Carthusian convent and
174 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
meet him there with the body of horse under your
command.'*
The earl further offered, in the same apparent spirit of
frankness, to show Mahony all his troops and artillery,
as well as the large resources he had upon the sea, which
was only six miles off. Mahony was entirely deceive(?
by the manner of the man he regarded as a relative, and
laughingly acknowledged that he had, in case of neces-
sity, intended to fall back with his cavalry upon the
Duke of Arcos. The interview ended by Mahony retir-
ing to the town, agreeing to send back an answer in half
an hour. At the end of that time he sent out a capitula-
tion by a Spanish officer.
Had Peterborough's scheme ended here he would not
have exceeded the bounds of what is regarded as a fair
method of deceiving an enemy, but his subsequent pro-
ceedings were absolutely indefensible, and, are, indeed,
almost incredible on the part of the man who in some
respects carried the point of honor almost to an extreme.
His notion, no doubt, was to paralyze the action of the
enemy by exciting suspicions of treachery among their
leaders, but the means which he took to do so were base
and unworthy in the extreme.
He began with the Spanish officer who had brought
the capitulation, giving him a garbled account of his
interview with Mahony, and then endeavoring to bribe
him to desert to the Austrian cause, insinuating that he
had succeeded by this means with Mahony. As the earl
expected, he failed to induce the Spaniard to desert, but
he succeeded in his purpose of filling his mind with sus-
picions of treachery on the part of Mahony.
Mahony had conducted the negotiations in a manner
worthy of a loyal and skillful officer; he had stipulated
not to leave the town till one o'clock in the morning;.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 175

xnd that Peterborough should not pass the river until

that hour.
This he had arranged in order to allow the Duke of
Atcos time to reach the plains, where he was to be joined
by the horse from Murviedro. But Peterborough's
machinations had been effectual; the Spanish officer, on
his return, informed his countrymen that Mahony had
betrayed them, and the troops and populace became en-
raged against the unfortunate Irishman and threatened
his life. Peterborough, who, in spite of his perverted
notions of honor, would not on any account have passed
the river before the time stipulated, heard the neighing
of horses in the town and supposed that some of the
troops were leaving In order, therefore, to create
it.

suspicion and confusion among the enemy, he ordered a

body of men near the river to fire straggling shots as if
small parties were engaged at the outposts.
Mahony, hearing these sounds, sent word that whatever
collision might have occurred it was the result of no
breach of the terms of capitulation on his part, and that,
depending implicitly on the honor of an English general,
he could not believe that any foul play could take place.
Peterborough sent back his compliments by the officer
who brought the message, with expressions of gratifica-
tion at the good understanding which prevailed between
them, and at the same time he proposed that Mahony,
for the security of the inhabitants of Murviedro, and to
prevent his troops being molested as they retired from
the town, should permit a regiment of English dragoons
to cross the river and to form a guard at the gates, offer-
ing at the same time to deliver up a number of hia
officers as hostages to the Spanish for the loyal fulfillment
of the terms.
In an evil hour for himself Mahony consented to the
176 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA YE.
proposal. When the Spaniards saw Peterborough's
dragoons advancing without opposition through the diffi-
cult pass, and up to the very gates of the town, their
suspicions of the treachery of their leader became a cer-
tainty. The Spanish officers each got his company or
troop together as quickly as possible and hurried across
the plain to the camp of the duke, where they spread a
vague but general panic. The officers accused Mahony
of treachery to the Spanish general, and the national
jealousy of foreigners made their tale easily believed;
but Peterborough had taken another step to secure the
success of his diabolical plan against the honor of his
wife's relative.
He made choice of two Irish dragoons, and persuaded
them by bribes and promises of promotion to undertake
the dangerous part of false deserters, and to tell the tale
with which he furnished them. They accordingly set
out and rode straight to the camp of the Duke of Arcos
and gave themselves up to the outposts, by whom they
were led before the Spanish general. Questioned by
him, they repeated the storj'- they had been taught.
The statement was that they had been sitting drinking
wine together under some rocks on the hillside close to
where the conference was held, and that Peterborough
and Mahonj'^, walking apart from the others, came near
to where they were sitting, but did not notice them, and
that they saw the earl deliver five thousand pistoles to
Mahony, and heard him promise to make him major-
general in the English army, and to give him the com-
mand of ten thousand Irish Catholics which were being
raised for the service of King Charles. They said that
they were content to receive no reward, but to be
shot as spies if Mahony himself did not give proof of
treachery by carrying out his arrangements with the earl
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 177

fcy sending a messenger requesting the duke to march

that night across the plain toward Murviedro to the
Carthusian convent, where everything would be arranged
for their destruction by a strong ambush of British
troops.
Scarcely had the men finished their story when an aid-
de-camp galloped in from Mahony with the very proposi-
tion which they had reported that he would make.
Arcos had now no doubt whatever of Mahony 's treason,
and instead of complying with his request, which was
obviously the best course to have been pursued, as the
junction of the two armies would thereby have been
completed, the duke broke up his camp without delay
Bnd fell back in exactly the opposite direction.
This was exactly what Peterborough had been schem-
ing to bring about. Mahony, with his cavalry, having
delivered over the town, marched to the Carthusian con-
vent, and there, finding themselves unsupported, rode
on to the spot where the duke had been encamped, and
finding that his army was gone, followed it. On over-
taking it Mahony was instantly arrested and sent a pris-
oner to Madrid.
It is satisfactory to know that hs succeeded in clearing
himself from the charge of treachery, was promoted to
the rank of major-general, and was sent back with Las
Torres, who was ordered to supersede the Duke of Arcos.
The success of the earl's stratagem had been complete.
Without the loss of a single man he had obtained posses-
sion of Murviedro, and had spread such confusion and
doubt into the enemy's army that, although more than
three times his own force, it was marching away in all
haste, having abandoned the siege of Valencia, which
city he could now enter with his troops. The success
"Was a wonderful one ; but it is sad to think that it was
178 ^^^ ^-R^ ^^-^2' Oi'- THE BRA VB.
gained by such a treacherous and dastardly maneuver,
—
which might have cost a gallant officer who was, more-
over, a countryman and distant connection of the earl-—
his honor and his life.
The next day the earl entered the city of Valencia in
triumph. The whole population crowded into the
streets. The houses were decorated with flags and hang-
ings. The church bells pealed out their welcome, and
amid the shouts of the people below and the waving of
handkerchiefs from the ladies at the balconierf, he rode
through the streets to the town hall, where all the prin-
cipal personages were assembled, followed by the little

army with which he had performed what appeared to

have been an impossible undertaking.
After their incessant labors during the past two
months, the rest at Valencia was most grateful to the
troops. The city is celebrated as being one of the gay-
est and most delightful in all Spain. Its situation is
lovely, standing within a mile and a half of the sea, in a
rich plain covered with vines, olives, and other fruit
trees, while beyond the plains rise the mountains, range
after range, with the higher summits covered with snow.
The people, at all times pleasure-loving, gave themselves
up to fetes and rejoicings for some time after the en-
trance of the army that had saved them from such immi-
nent danger, and all vied in hospitality to the earl apd
his officers.
King Charles, astonished and delighted at Peterbor-
ough's success, appointed him captain-general of all his
forces, and gave him the power of appointing and remov-
ing all governors and other public servants, as he might
consider necessary for the good of the cause, while from
London the earl received a dispatch appointing him
plenipotentiary at the court of King Charles.
 TE^ SBA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 179

Here as at Barcelona the earl entered with almost boy-

ish animation into the gayety of which he was the center.
With the priests and ladies he was an especipl favorite,
having won the former by the outward respect which he
paid to their religion, and by the deference he exhibited
toward themselves.
Valencia prided itself on being one of the holiest cities
in Spain, and no other town could boast of the connec-
tion of so many saints or the possession of so many
relics. The priesthood were numerous and influential.
Keligious processions were constantly passing througii
the streets, and in the churches the services were con-
ducted with the greatest pomp and magnificence.
Peterborough, knowing the value of the alliance and
assistance of the priests, spared no pains to stand well
with the Church, revenging himself for the outward
deference he paid to it by the bitterest sarcasm and jeers
in his letters to his friends at home. Believing nothing
himself, the gross superstition which he saw prevailing
round him was an argument in favor of his own disbe-
lief in holy things, and he did not fail to turn it to
advantage.
With the ladies his romantic adventures, his extraordi-
nary bravery, his energy and endurance, his brilliant
wit, his polished manner, his courtesy and devotion,
rendered him an almost mythical hero; and the fair
Valencians were to a woman his devoted admirers and
adherents.
But, while apparently absorbed in pleasure, Peter-
borough's energy never slumbered for a moment. His
position was still one of extreme danger. The force of
Las Torres, seven thousand strong, recovering from their
panic, had, a day or two after he entered the town, re-
turned and taken post on some hills near it, preparatory
 :

280 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

to recommencing the siege. Four thousand Cflstilians
were marching to their support by the road leading
through Fuente de la Higuera, while at Madrid, within
an easy distance, lay the everwhelming forces of the
main army under Marshal Tesse. To cope, with these
forces he had but little army in the town, amounting to
but three thousand men, deficient in artillery, ammuni-
tion, and stores of all kinds.
Had Marshal Tesse marched at once to join Las Torres
Peterborough's little force must have been crushed; but
the court of King Philip decided to dispatch the marshal
against Barcelona. Fortunately Peterborough was well
informed by the country people of everything that was
passing, for in every town and village there were men or
women who sent him news of all that was going on in
their neighborhood.
was but a week after they entered Valencia that the
It
earl happening to pass close by Jack Stilwell at a brill-
iant ball, paused for a moment and said
**Get away from this in half an hour, find Graham,
and bring him with you to my quarters. Before you go
find Colonel Zinzendorf and tell him to have two hun-
dred men ready to mount at half-past one. He is here
somewhere. If you find he has left you must go round
to the barracks. Tell him the matter is to be kept an
'
absolute secret. I know, the earl said gallantly to the
'

lady on his arm and to Jack's partner, **we can trust

you two ladies to say nothing of what you have heard.
It is indeed grief and pain to myself and Captain Stil-
well to tear ourselves away from such society, and you
may be sure that none but the most pressing necessity
could induce me to do it.**

Jack at once led his partner to a seat and set out on

the search for Graham and the colonel of dragoons. Hd
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 181

Wa0 mtCi,n time finding them both, and it was already

past one when the three issued together from the palace
where ih^fete was held, and hurried off, the two young
officers to Peterborough's quarters, the colonel to his
barracks.
The earl was already in his chamber. He had slipped
away unobserved from the ball, and had climbed the wall
of the garden, to avoid being noticed passing out of the
entrance. His great wig and court uniform were thrown
aside, and he was putting on the plain uniform which he
used on service when his aidt-de-camp entered.
"Get rid of that finery and gold-lace," he said as they
entered. "You have to do a forty-mile ride before
morning. I have received glorious news. One of my
partners told me that she had, just as she was starting
for the ball, received a message from a cousin saying
that a vessel had come into port from Genoa with six-
teen brass twenty-four pounder guns, and a quantity of
ammunition and stores, to enable Las Torres to com-
mence the siege. The stores were landed yesterday, and
carts were collected from the country round in readiness
for a start at daybreak this morning. As these things
will be even more useful to us than to the Spaniards, I
mean to have them now. Be as quick as you can. I
have already ordered your horses to be brought round
with mine.**
In five minutes they were in the saddle and rode
quickly to the cavalry barracks. The streets were still
full of people but the earl in his simple uniform passed
;

unnoticed through them. The dragoons were [already

mounted when they reached the barracks.
"We go out at the back gate colonel,** the earl
will
said. "Take the most quiet streets by the way, and
make for the west gate. Break your troop up into four
182 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
parties, and let them go by different routes, so that any
they meet will suppose they are merely small bodies
going out to relieve the outposts. If it was suspected
that I was with you, and that an expedition was on foot,
the Spaniards would hear it in an hour. Loyal as the
population are here, there must be many adherents of
Philip among them, and Las Torres no doubt has his
spies as well as we have.'*
The earl's orders were carried out, and half an hour
later the four parties again assembled at a short distance
outside the city gates. Peterborough placed himself at
their head and rode directly for the sea.
"The Spaniards are sure to have outposts placed on all
the roads leading inland," he said to Colonel Zinzendorf,
*'and the Spanish irregulars will be scattered all over the
country but I do not suppose they will have any down
;

*
as far as the seashore. '

When they reached the coast they followed a small

road running along its margin. Two or three miles
further they turned off and rode inland till they struck a
main road, so as to avoid following all the windings of
the coast. They now pushed on at a sharp trot, and
just at four o'clock came down upon the little port.
Its streets were cumbered with country carts, and as
the dragoons dashed into the place a few shots were fired
by some Spanish soldiers belonging to a small detach-
ment which had been sent by Las Torres to act as a con-
voy for the guns and stores, and who were sleeping on
the pavement or scattered among the houses in readiness
for a start at daybreak. The resistance soon ceased.
Before entering the place Peterborough had placed a
cordon of dragoons in a semicircle round it to prevent
any one passing out.
No time was lost the carts were already loaded, and a
;
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 183

troop of cavalry horses stood picketed by the guns.

These were soon harnessed up, and the few other horses
in the place were seized to prevent any one riding off
with the news. The order was given to the peasants to
start their carts, and in ten minutes after their entering
the place the convoy was on its way with its long row of
carts laden with ammunition and its sixteen guns.
The cordon of dragoons was still left round the town,
the officer in command being ordered to allow no one to
pass for an hour and a half, after which time he was to
gallop on with his men to overtake the convoy, as by
that time it would be no longer possible for any one to
carry the news to Las Torres in time for him to put his
troops into motion to cut off the convoy from Valencia.
The journey back took much longer than the advance,
for the carts, drawn for the most part by bullocks, made
but slow progress. Three hours after the convoy started
the dragoons left behind overtook them. "When within
three miles of the town, they were met by a small party
of the enemy's Spanish militia; but these were at once
scattered by a charge of the dragoons, and the convoy
proceeded without further molestation until just at noon
it entered the gates of Valencia, where the astonishment

and delight of the inhabitants at its appearance were

unbounded.
In a few hours the cannon were all mounted in posi-
tion on the ramparts, adding very much to the defensive
power of the town, which was now safe for a time from
any attempt at a siege by Las Torres, whose plans would
be entirely frustrated by the capture of the artillery in-
tended for the siege.
But Peterborough was not yet contented. The junc-
tion of the four thousand Castilians, of whose approach
he had heard, with Las Torres would raise the force
184 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
under that general to a point which would enable him to
blockade the town pending the arrival of artillery for
siege works and no sooner had the earl returned to his
;

quarters, after seeing the cannon placed upon the walls,

than he began his preparations for another expedition.
He ordered Colonel Zinzendorf to march quietly out of
the city at eight o'clock with four hundred of his
dragoons, and four hundred British and as many Spanish
infantry were to join him outside the walls. The colo-
nels of these three bodies were ordered to say nothing
of their intended movement, and to issue no orders until
within half an hour of the time named. At the same
hour the rest of the troops were to march to the walla
and form a close cordon round them, so as to prevent
any one from letting himself down by a rope and taking
the news that an expedition was afoot to Las Torres.
At a few minutes past eight, eight hundred foot and
four hundred horse assembled outside the gates, and
Peterborough took the command. His object was to
crush the Castilians before they could effect a junction
with Las Torres. In order to do this it would be neces-
sary to pass close by the Spanish camp, which covered
the road by which the reinforcements were advancing to
join them.
In perfect silence the party moved forward and
marched to a ford across the river Xucar, a short distance
only below the Spanish camp. Peterborough rode at
their head, having by his side a Spanish gentleman
acquainted with every foot of the country. They forded
the river without being observed, and then, making aa
wide a circuit as possible round the camp, came down
upon the road without the alarm being given ; then they
pushed forward, and after three hours* march came upon
the Castilians at Fuente de la Higuera. The surprise
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 185

>,as- complete. The Spaniards, knowing that the Spanish

army lay between them and the town, had taken no pre-
cautions, and the British were in possession of the place
before they were aware of their danger.
There was no attempt at resistance beyond a few h&sl^"
shots. The Castilians were sleeping wrapped up in their
cloaks around the place, and on the alarm they leaped up
and fled wildly in all directions. In the darkness great
numbers got away, but six hundred were taken p>risoB*
ers. An hour was spent in collecting and breaking the
arms left behind by the fugitives, and the force, with
their prisoners in their midst, then started back on their
return march. The circuit of the Spanish camp was
made, and the ford passed as successfully as before, and
just as daylight was breaking the little army marched
jinto Valencia,
The news rapidly spread, and the inhabitants hurried
into the streets, unable at first to credit the news that

the Castilian army, whose approach menaced the safety

of the town was destroyed. The movement of the troops
on the previous night to the ramparts and the absence of
the greater part of the officers from the festivities had
occasioned some comment; but as none knew that an ex-
pedition had set out, it was supposed that the earl had
received news from his spies that Las Torres intended to
attempt a sudden night attack, and the people would
have doubted the astonishing news they now received
had it not been for the presence of the six hundred Cas-
tilian prisoners.
These two serious misadventures caused Las Torres td
despair of success against a town defended by so ener-
getic and enterprising a commander as Peterborough,
and he now turned, his thoughts toward the small towns
of Sueca and Alcira. Below these towns and commanded
186 THE BRA VEST OF THE BSA VR
by their guns was the important bridge of Cullera, by
which by far the greater portion of the supplies for the
town was brought in from the country. Las Torres
therefore determined to seize these places, which were
distant about fifteen miles from his camp, and so to
straiten the town for provisions.
As usual, Peterborough's spies brought him early in-
telligence of the intended movement, and the orders
issued by Las Torres were known to the earl a few hours
later. It needed all his activity to be in time. Five
hundred English and six hundred Spanish infantry, and
four hundred horse, were ordered to march with all
speed to the threatened towns, and, pushing on without
a halt, the troops reached them half an hour before the
Spanish force appeared on the spot. On finding the two
towns strongly occupied by the British, Las Torres
abandoned his intention and drew off his troops.
A portion of the Spanish army were cantoned in a
village only some two miles from Alcira, and a few days
later Peterborough determined to surprise it, and for
that purpose marched out at night from Valencia with an
English force of a thousand men, and reached the spot
intended at daybreak as he had arranged. The Spanish
garrison of Alcira, also about a thousand strong, had
orders to sally out and attack the village at the same
jBour- The Spaniards also arrived punctually, but just
fts they were preparing to burst upon the unconscious

enemy, who were four thousand strong, they happened

to come upon a picket of twenty horse. An unaccounta-
ibie panic seized them ; they broke their ranks and fled
in such utter confusion that many of the terror-stricken
soldiers killed each other. The picket aroused the
enemy, who quickly fell into their ranks, and Peterbor-
oughy seeing that it would be madness to attack them
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. \ 87

with bis wearied and unsupporied force, reluctantly

ordered a retareat, which he conducted in perfect order
and without the loss of a man.
This was Peterborough's only failure ; with this excep-
tion every one of his plans had proved successful, and he
only failed here from trusting for once to the co-operation
of his wholly unreliable Spanish allies. After this noth-
ing was done on either side for several weeks.
The campaign had been one of the most extraordinary
ever accomplished, and its success was due in no degree
to chance, but solely to the ability of Peterborough him-
self. Wild as many of his schemes appeared, they were
always planned with the greatest care. He calculated
upon almost every possible contingency, and prepared
for it. He never intrusted to others that which he could
do himself, and he personally commanded every expedi-
tion even of the most petty kind.
Eis extraordinary physical powers of endurance en-
abled him to support fatigue and to carry out adventure
which would have prostrated most other men. The
highest praise, too, is due to the troops, who proved
themselves worthy of such a leader. Their confidence in
their chief inspired them with a valor equal to his own.
They bore uncomplainingly the greatest hardships and
fatigues, and engaged unquestioningly in adventures and
exploits against odds which made success appear abso-
lutely hopeless. The hundred and fifty dragoons who
followed the Earl of Peterborough to the conquest of
Valencia deserve a place side by side with the greatest
heroes of antiquity
188 ^^^ ^^^ y^^^ 0^ ^^^ ^^^ y^*

CHAPTER Xn.
IBBEGULAB WARFARE.
From the moment that the news of the loss of Barce*
lona had reached Madrid, Philip of Anjou had labored
strenuously to collect a force sufficient to overwhelm his
enemies. He had, moreover, written urgently to Louis
XIV. and although France was at the mo-
for assistance,
ment obliged to make strenuous efforts to show a front
to Marlborough and his allies, who had already at Blen-
heim inflicted a disastrous defeat upon her, Louis re-
sponded to the appeal. Formidable French armies were
assembled at Saragossa and Eoussillon, while a fleet of
twelve ships of the line, under the command of the
Count of Toulouse, sailed to blockade Barcelona, and the
Duke of Berwick, one of the ablest generals of the day,
was sent to head the southern army.
In January the French army of Catalonia, under Mar-
shal Tesse, reached Saragossa, where the arrogance and
brutality of the marshal soon excited a storm of hatred
among the Aragonese. The towns resisted desperately
the entry of the French troops ; assassinations of officers
and men were matters of daily occurrence, and the
savage reprisals adopted by the marshal, instead of sub-
duing, excited the Spaniards to still fiercer resistance.
But savage and cruel as was the marshal, he was in no
haste to meet the enemy in the field, and Philip, who
was with him, had the greatest difficulty in getting him
to move forward.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. ISS

It was in the last week February that the news

of
reached the Earl of Peterborough that Marshal Tesse had
left Saragossa, and was marching toward Lerida. This
was two days after the unsuccessful attempt to surprise
the enemy's camp near Alcira; and menaced as Valencia
was by a force greatly superior to his own, he could not
leave the city, which in his absence would speedily have
succumbed to the attack of Las Torres. He walked
quickly up and down his room for some minutes and
then said.
"Captain Stilwell, I cannot leave here myself butlwiU,

send you to the Marquis of Cifuentes. You have shown

the greatest activity and energy with me, and I do not
doubt that you will do equally well when acting inde*
pendently. I will give you a letter to the marquis, say-
ing that you are one of my most trusted and valued
officers, and begging him to avail himself to the fullest
of your energy and skill. I shall him that at present
tell

I am tied here, but that when the enemy reach Barce-

lona, I shall at all hazards march hence and take post in
their rear and do what I can to prevent their carrying on
the siege. In the meantime I beg him to throw every
obstacle in the way of their advance, to hold every pass
to the last, to hang on their rear, attack baggage trains,
and cut off stragglers. He cannot hope to defeat Tesse,
bat he may wear out and dispirit his men by constant
attacks. You speak Spanish fluently enough now, and
will be able to advise and suggest. Eemember, every
day that Tesse is delayed gives so much time to the king
to put Barcelona in a state of defense. "With my little
force I cannot do much even when I come. The hope
sole
of Barcelona is to hold out until a fleet arrives from Eng-
land. If theking would take my advice I will guarantee
that he shall be crowned is Madrid in two months; bul
 '

190 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

those pig-headed Germans who surround him set him
against every proposition I make. You had better start
to-night as soon as it gets dark, and take a mounted
guide with you who knows the country thoroughly.
"It will be a change for you, from the pleasures of
Valencia to a guerrilla warfare in the mountains in this
inclement season, Stilwell,'* Graham said as they left the
general. "I don't think I should care about your mis-
sion. I own I have enjoyed myself in Valencia, and I
have lost my heart a dozen times since we arrived.**
*'I have not lost mine at all,'* Jack said, laughing,
"and I am sick of all these balls and festivities. I was
not brought up to it, you know, and rough as the work
may be I shall prefer it to a long stay here.**
"Yes,**Graham agreed, "I should not care for a long
stay, but you may be quite certain the earl will not re-
main inactive here many weeks. He is waiting tc see
how things go, and the moment the game is fairly opened
'
you may be sure he be on the move.
will
"Yes, I don*t suppose you will be very long after me,"
Jack said; "still I am not sorry to go.*'
At seven o'clock in the evening Jack set out, taking
with him two dragoons as orderlies, the earl having
suggested that he should do so.
"Always do a thing yourself if it is possible. Captain
Stilwell; but there are times when you must be doing
something else, and it is as well to have some one that
you can rely upon ; you
beside, the orderlies will give
additional importance in the eyes of the peasants. Most
of the men have picked up some Spanish, but you had
better pick out two of my orderlies who are best up in
it."
Jack had spent the afternoon in making a round of
houses where he had been entertained, and
calls at the
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 19X

after the exchange of adieus, ceremonial speeches, and

compliments, he was heartily glad when the gates closed
behind him and he set out on his journey. As the road
did not pass anywhere near the Spanish camp there was
little fear of interruption in the way. The guide led
them by little-frequented tracks across the hills, and by
morning they were far on their road.
They were frequently obliged to make detours to avoid
towns and villages favorable to King Philip. "Why on&
town or village should take one side, and the next the
other, was inexplicable to Jack, but it was so, and
throughout the country this singular anomly existed.
It could be accounted for by a variety of causes. A
popular mayor or a powerful landed proprietor, whose
sympathies were strong with one side or the other,
would probably be followed by the townspeople or peas-
ants. The influence of the priests, too, was great, and
this also was divided. However it was, the fact remained
that, as with Villa-Keal and Nules, neighboring towns
were frequently enthusiastically in favor of opposite
parties. As Jack had seen all the dispatches and letters
which poured in to the earl, he knew what were the cir-
cumstances which prevailed in every town and village.
He knew to what residences of large proprietors he could
ride up with an assurance of welcome, and those which
must be carefully avoided.
In some parts of the journey, where the general feel-
ing was hostile. Jack adopted the tactics of his general,
riding boldly into the village with his two dragoons
clattering behind him, summoning the head men before
him, and peremptorily ordering that provisions and
forage should be got together for the five hundred horse-
men who might be expected to come in half an hour.
The terror caused by Peterborough's raids was so greal
292 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

that the mere sight of the English uniform was sufficient

fco insure obedience and without any adventure of im«
portance Jack and his companions rode on, until, on the
third day after leaving Valencia, they approached Lerida^
Groups of armed peasants hurrying in the same direc-
tion were now overtaken. These saluted Jack with
shouts of welcome, and he learned that, on the previous
day. Marshal Tesse with his army had crossed from
Aragon into Catalonia, and that the alarm bells had
been rung throughout the district.
From the peasants Jack learned where the Count of
Cifuentes would be found. It was in a village among
the hills, to the left of the line by which the enemy were
advancing. It was toward this place that the peasants
were hastening. Jack had frequently met the count af
the siege of Barcelona, and had taken a strong liking for
the gallant and dashing Spanish nobleman. The village
was crowded with peasants armed with all sorts of
weapons—rough, hardy, resolute men, determined to
defend their country to the last against the invaders.
A shout of satisfaction arose as Jack and his two troop-
ers rode in, and at the sound the count himself appeared
at the door of the principal house in the village.
"Ah, Senor Stilwell,'* he said, "this is an unexpected
pleasure. I thought that you were with the earl at
Valencia.'*
"So I have been, count, but he has sent me hither
with a dispatch for you, and, as you will see by its con-
tents, placesme for awhile at your disposal.'*
"I am pleased indeed to hear it," the count saidj
'*
**but pray, senor
"Captain, count," Jack said with a smile, "for to such
rank the been pleased to promote me as a recog-
earl has
nition for such services as I was able to perform in his
campaign against Valencia."
 ;

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 1 93

•'Ah,*' the count said, "you earned it well. Every

Bsan in that wonderful force deserved promotion. It
was an almost miraculous adventure, and recalled the
feats of the Cid. Truly the days of chivalry are not
passed; your great earl has proved the contrary.'*
They had now entered the house, and, after pouring
out a cup of wine for Jack after the fatigue of his ride,
the count opened the dispatch of which Jack was the
bearer.
*'It is well,** he said when he had read it. "As you see
for yourself I am already preparing to carry out the first

have been ringing out from every

part, for the alarm bells
church tower in this part of Catalonia, and in another
twenty-four hours I expect six thousand peasants will be
out. But as the earl says, I have no hope with such
levies as these of offering any effectual opposition to the
advance of the enemy.
"The Miquelets cannot stand against disciplined
troops. They have no confidence in themselves, and a
thousand Frenchmen could rout six thousand of them
but as irregulars they can be trusted to fight. You shall
give me the advantage of your experience and wide
knowledge, and we will dispute every pass, cut off their
convoys, and harass them. I warrant that they will have
to move as a body, for it will go hard with any party
who may be detached from the rest.**
*
*I fear, count, you must not rely in any way upon my

knowledge,'* Jack said. **I am a very young officer,

though I have had the good fortune to be promoted to
**
the rank of captain.
"Age goes for nothing in this warfare," the count
said. "The man of seventy and the boy of fifteen who
can aim straight from behind a rock are equally welcome.
It is not a deep knowledge of military silence that will
194 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
be of any use to us here. "What is wanted is a quica
eye, a keen spirit, and courage. These I know that you
have, or you would never have won the approbation of
the Earl of Peterborough, who is, of all men, the best
judge on such matters. Now I will order supper to be
got ready soon, as it must, I am sure, be long since you
had food. "While it is being prepared I will, with youi
permission, go out and inspect the new arrivals. For-
tunately, ten days ago, foreseeing that Tesse would prob-
ably advance by this line, I sent several wagon-loads of
provisions to this village, and a store of ammunition."
Jack accompanied the count into the street of the vil-
lage. The latter went about among the peasants with a
kindly word of welcome to each, giving them the cheer-
ing news that though the great English general was
occupied in Valencia, he had promised that, when the
time came, he would come with all haste to the defense
of Barcelona, and in the meantime he had sent an officer
of his own staff to assist him to lead the noble Catalans
in the defense of their country. On the steps of the
church the priest, with half a dozen willing assistants,
was distributing food from the wagons to the peasants.
**Don*t open the ammunition wagon to-night," the
count said. **The men must not take as much as they
like, but the ammunition must be served out regularly^
for a Catalan will never believe that he has too much
powder, and if left alone the first comers would load
themselves with it, and the supply would run short be-
fore all are provided."
The count then entered the church, where a party of
men were occupied in putting down a thick layer of
straw. Here as many as could find room were to sleep,
the others sheltering in the houses and barns for the
nights were still very cold among the hills. Having
 THE BRA VEST OF TRE BRA YE 195

seen that was going on well, the count returned to

all

his quarters, where a room had been assigned to Jack's

two dragoons, and the sound of loud laughter from
within showed that they were making themselves at
home with the inmates.
A well-cooked repast was soon on the table, and to
this Jack and his host did full justice.
**This wine is excellent; surely it does not grow on
these hills?"
"No," the count said, laughing. "I am ready to run
the risk of being killed, but I do not want to be poisoned,
so I sent up a score or two of flasks from my own cellars.
The vineyards of Cifuentes are reckoned among the first
in this part of Spain. And now,** he said, when they
had finished and the table had been cleared, *'we will
take a look at the map and talk over our plans. The
enemy leave Lerida to-morrow. I have already ordered
that the whole country along their line of march shall
be wasted, that all and forage which
stores of corn, wine,
cannot be carried off shall be destroyed, and that every
horse and every head of cattle shall be driven away. I
have also ordered the wells to be poisoned.**
Jack looked grave. "I own that I don't like that,**
he said.
"I do not like it myself,** the count replied; ''but if
an enemy invades your country you must oppose him by
all means. Water is one of the necessaies of life, and as
one can't carry off the wells one must render them use-
less; but I don't wish to kill in this way, and have given
strict orders that in every case where poison is used a
placard with a notice that it has been done, shall be
affixed to the wells.**
**In that case,** Jack said, *'I quite approve of what
you have done, count; the wells then simply cease to
exist as sources of supply."
196 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
**I wish I could poison all the running streams too,'*
the count said; '*but unfortunately they are beyond us,
and there are so many little streams caused by the melt-
ing snow on the hills that I fear we shall not be able
greatly to straiten the enemy. At daybreak to-morrow
I will mount with you, and we will ride some twenty
miles along the road and select the spots where a sturdy
resistance can best be made. By the time we get back
here most of the peasants who are coming will have
assembled. These we will form into bands, some to hold
the passes and to dispute the advance, others to hang
upon the skirts and annoy them incessantly; some to
close in behind, cut off wagons that break down or lag
by the way, and to prevent, if possible, any convoys
from the rear from joining them.**
This programme was carried out. Several spots were
settled on where an irregular force could oppose a stout
resistance to trained troops, and points were fixed upon
where breastworks should be thrown up, walls utilized,
and houses loopholed and placed in a state of defense.
It was late in the afternoon before they rode again into
the village. The gathering of peasants was now very
largely increased, and extended over the fields for some
distance round the place. The count at once gave orders
that all should form up in regular order according to the
villages from which they came. When this was done he
divided them into four groups.
The firsttwo thousand strong, was intended to hold
the passes; two others, each one thousand strong, were
to operate upon the flanks of the enemy ; and a fourth, of
the same strength, to act in its rear.
"Now, Captain Stilwell,** he said, "will you take the
command of whichever of these bodies you choose?**
"I thank you, count, for the offer." Jack said, "but I
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 197

will take no command whatever. In the first place, your

Catalans would very strongly object to being led by a
foreigner, especially by one so young and unknown as
myself. In the second place, I would rather, with your
permission, remain by your side. Tou will naturally
command the force that opposes the direct attack, and,
as the bulk of the fighting will fall on them, I should
prefer being there. I will act as your lieutenant,"
**Well, since you choose it, perhaps it is best so," the
count eaid. ''These peasants fight best their own way.
They are given to sudden retreats, but they rally quickly
and return again to the fight, and they will probably
fight better under their own local leaders than under a
stranger. Tou will see they have no idea of fitting in
a body; the men of each village will fight together and
act independently of the rest. Many of them, you see,
are headed by priests, not a few of whom have brought
rifles with them. These will generally lead their own
,

and their authority is far greater than that

villagers,
which any layman could obtain over them. I must
appoint a leader to each body to direct their general
movements; the village chiefs will do the rest.**
While the count had been absent several other gentle-
men of good family had arrived in the village, some
marching in with the peasants on their estates. Three
of these were appointed to lead the three bands destined
for the flank and rear attacks. The next three houra
were devoted to the distribution of provisions and am-
munition, each man taking four days* supply of the
former and receiving sufficient powder and bullets for
forty rounds of the latter. All were ordered to be ia
readiness to march two hours before daybreak.
The count then retired to his quarters, and there
pointed out on the map to the three divisional leaders
198 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
the spots where he intended to make a stand, and gave
them instructions as to their respective shares of the
operations. Their orders were very general. They
were to post their men on the side hills, and as much
behind cover as possible, to keep up a galling fire at the
column, occasionally to show in threatening masses as if
about to charge down, so as to cause as much alarm and
confusion as possible and, should at any point the nature
of the ground favor it, they were to dash down upon the
baggage train and to hamstring the horses, smash the
wheels, and create as much damage as they could, and
to fall back upon the approach of a strong body of the
enemy. Those in the rear were to press closely up so as
to necessitate a strong force being kept there to oppose
them. But their principal duties were to hold the
passes, and to prevent any convoys, unless very strongly
guarded, from reaching the enemy from his base at
Saragossa.
After these instructions had been given supper was
spread, and some fifteen or twenty of the principal per-
sons who had joined were invited by the count, and a
pleasant evening was spent.
It was interesting to Jack to observe the difference be-
tween this gathering and that which had taken place in
the Earl of Peterborough's quarters on the evening be-
fore the attack on San Matteo. There, although many
considered that the prospects of success on the following
day were slight indeed, all was merriment and mirth.
The whole party were in the highest spirits, and the
brilliant wit of the earl, and his reckless spirit of fun,
had kept the party in continual laughter.
The tone on the contrary at the present gathering wa«
quiet and almost stiff. These grave Catalan nobles,
Iresh from their country estates, contrasted strongly
 ;

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 199

•will the more lively and joyous inhabitants of Valencia.

Each addressed the other with ceremony, and listened
tnth grave attention to the remarks of each speaker in
turn.
During the -whole evening nothing approaching to a
joke was made, there was scarcely a smile upon the coun-
tenance of any present and yet the tone of courtliness
;

and deference to the opinions of each other, the grave po-

liteness, the pride with which each spoke of his country^
their enthusiasm in the cause, and the hatred with which
they spoke of the enemy, impressed Jack very favorably
and though, as he said to himself when thinking it over,
the evening had certainly not been a lively one, it had
by no means been unpleasant.
Two hours before daybreak the bell of the church gave
the signal. As the men had only to rise to their feet,
shake themselves, take up their arms, and sling their
bags of provisions round their necks, it was but a few
minutes before they were formed up in order. The
count saw the three divisions file off silently in the dark-
ness, and then, placing himself at the head of the main
body led the way toward the spot which he and Jack had
selected for opposing the march of Tesse's invading
column.
Daylight was just breaking when they reached it, and
the count ordered the men to pile their arms and at once
to set to work. The road, which had been winding
along in a valley, here mounted a sharp rise, on the very
brow of which stood a hamlet of some twenty houses. It
had already been deserted by the inhabitants, and the
houses were taken possession of by the workers. Those
facing the brow of the hill were loopholed, as were the
Trails along the same line. Men were set to work to
build a great barricade across the road^ and to run
200 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,
fereastworks of stones right and left from tlie points
where the walls ended along the brow. Other parties
loopholed the houses and walls of the village, and formed
another barricade across the road at tfee other end. "With
two thousand men at work these tasks were soon carried
out; and the count then led the men down the hill, whose
face was covered with loose stones, and set them to work
piling these in lines one above another.
At ten o'clock in the morning the work was complete.
The count told the men oif by parties, each of which
were to hold one of the lines of stones each party was,
;

as the French charged, to retire up the hill and join that

at the line above, so that their resistance would become
more and more obstinate till the village itself was
reached. Here a stand was to be made as long as possi-
ble. If the column advanced only by the road, every
house was to be held; if they spread out in line so as to
overlap the village on both sides, a rapid retreat was to
be made when the bugler by the count's side gave the
signal.
The men sat down to breakfast in their allotted places,
quiet, grave,and stern and again the contrast with the
;

laughter and high spirits whch prevail amoEg English

soldiers, when fighting is expected, struck Jack very
forcibly.
**They would make grand soldiers if properly trained,
these grave, earnest-looking men," he said to himself.
**They look as if they could endure any amount of
fatigue and hardship; and although they don't take
things in the same cheerful light our men do, no one can
doubt their courage. I can quite understand now the
fe,ct that the Spanish infantry was once considered the

finest in Europe. If they only had leaders and discipline

Spain would not want any foreign aid ; her own people
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VS. 201

would be more than a match for any army the French

could send across the northern frontier."
The meal was scarcely finished when, at the end of the
valley, some three miles away, a cloud of dust was seen
to rise with the sparkle of the sun on arms and accouter-
ments.
"There are Tesse's cavalry!'* count exlaimed.
the
**Another half-hour will cause a transformation in this
quiet valley.'*
The head column came on but slowly, the cavalry
of the
regiment forming it accommodating their pace to that of
the infantry and baggage-wagons in the rear. Slowly
they moved on, until the bottom of the valley appeared
covered with a moving mass extending from the end,
three miles away, to within half a mile of the foot of the
hill on which the Spaniards were posted. Suddenly
from the hillsides on the left puffs of smoke darted out,
and instantly a similar fire was opened on the right.
**They are at work at last," Jack exclaimed as the
rattle of musketry sounded loud and continuous. *'I
wondered when they were going to begin."
*'I told them to let the column pass nearly to the head
of the valley before they opened fire," the count said.
**Had they begun soon after the enemy entered the val-
ley, they would have left all their baggage behind under
a guard, and the infantry would have been free to attack
the hills at once. Now they are all crowded up in the
valley — horse, foot, and baggage. The wounded horses
will become unmanageable, and there is sure to be con-
fusion, though perhaps not panic. See, they are answer-
ing our fire! They might as well save their powder, foi
they are only throwing away ammunition by firing away
at the hillside."
This indeed was the case ) for Jack, although in the
202 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VB,
course of the morning lie had frequently watched the
hillside for signs of the other parties, had not made out
the slightest movement, so completely were the men
hidden behind rocks and bushes.
Strong bodies of infantry were thrown out by Tesse oil
both flanks, and these began to climb the hills, keeping
lip a heavy fire at their concealed foe, while the main
column continued its way.
Not a shot was fired by the Spanish until the tms^f^
the column was within a hundred yards of the foot of
the rise, and then from the whole face of the hill a heavy
fire was opened. The enemy recoiled, and for a time
there was great confusion near the head of the column;
an high rank dashed up, and the troops formed
officer of
out into a line across the whole width of the valley and
then moved forward steadily ; so heavy were their losses,
however, that they presently came to a standstill. But
reinforcements coming up, they again pressed forward,
firing as they went.
Not until they were within twenty yards did the
Miquelets lining the lower wall of rocks leave their post,
and covered by the smoke, gain with little loss the line
next above them. Slowly the enemy won their way up-
hill, suffering heavily as they did so, and continually

being reinforced from the rear. At the last wall the

peasants, gathered now together, maintained a long re-
sistance ; and it was not until fully four thousand of the
enemy were brought up that the position was seriously
threatened. Then their leader, seeing that they would
sustain very heavy loss if the enemy carried the wall by
assault, ordered his trumpeter to sound the retreat. It

was at once obeyed, and by the time the French had

crossed the wall the peasants had already passed out at
the other end of the village.
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 203

As the French cavalry had not been able to pass the

lower walls there was no pursuit. The peasants rallied
after a rapid flight of a mile. Their loss had been small,
while that of the French had been very considerable;
and the marshal halted his troops round the village for
the day.
The added to the resolution of the
result of the fighting
peasants, and as soon as the French continued their
route the next morning the fighting began again. It
was a repetition of that of the preceding day. The
enemy had to contest every foot of the ground, and were
exposed to a galling fire along the whole line of their
march. Many times they made desperate efforts to drive

the peasants from the hillsides; sometimes they were

beaten back with heavy loss, and when they succeeded it
was only to find the positions they attacked deserted and
their active defenders already beyond masket-fire. At
night they had no respite the enemy swarmed round
;

their camp, shot down the sentries, and attacked with

such boldness that the marshal was obliged to keep a large
number of his men constantly under arms.
At last, worn out by fatigue and fighting, the weary
army emerged from the hills into the wide valleys, where
their cavalry were able to act, and the ground no longer
offered favorable positions of defense to the peasantry.
Seeing the uselessness of further attacks, the Count of
Cifuentes drew off his peasants and Tesse marched on
;

to Barcelona and effected a junction with the troops

from Roussillon under the Duke de Noailles, who had
come down by the way of Gerona. The town was at
ODce invested on the land side ; while the Count of Tou-
louse, with thirty French ships, blockaded it from the
sea.
204 ^-fi^ -SiU V£ST OF TEE BRA VE,

OHAPTEE Xm.
THE FRENCH CONVOY.
A REPORT having arrived at the camp of the Coimt of
Cifuentes that the peasants around Saragossa had risen
in insurrection. Jack thought that he should be doing
more good by discovering the truth of the rumor, and by
keeping the earl informed of the state of things in the
enemy's rear, than by remaining with the count. He
hesitated whether he should take his two orderlies with
him, but as they were well mounted he decided that they
should accompany him, as they would add to his author-
ity, and would, in case of need, enable him the better to
assume the position of an officer riding in advance of a
considerable force.
After a hearty adieu from the Count of Cifuentes, he
started soon after daybreak. After riding for some
hours, just as he reached the top of a rise, up which he
had walked his horse, one of the orderlies, who were riding
a few paces behind him, rode up.
**I think, Captain Stilwell,'*he said, ''I hear the sound

of firing. Brown thinks he hears it too."

Jack reigned in his horse.
**I hear nothing," he said, after a pause of a minute.

"I don't hear it now, sir," the man said. "I think
it came down on a puff of wind. If you wait a minute
t>r two I think you will hear it."

Jack waited another two minutes, and then was about

 '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 205

to resume his journey, when suddenly a faint sound

came upon the wind.
**You are right, Thompson,*' he exclaimed, "that's
enough. It must be a convoy attacked by the
firing, sure
'
peasants.
He touched his horse with the spur and galloped for-
ward. Two miles further on, crossing the brow, they
saw, half a mile ahead of them in the dip of the valley, a
number wagons huddled together. On either side of
of
the road men were lying, and the spurts of smoke that
rose from these, as well as from the wagons, proved that
they were still stoutly defending themselves. A light
smoke rose from every bush and rock on the hillsides
around, showing how numerous were the assailants.
Leaving the road. Jack galloped toward the hill. Pres-
ently several balls came singing round them.
''They think we are French, one of the troopers
sir,*'

Baid. *'I guess they don't know much about uniforms."

Jack drew out a white handkerchief and waved it as
he rode forward, shouting as he did, "English, English."
The fire ceased, and the little party soon reached the
spot where the peasants were lying thickly in their am-
bushes.
"I am an English Jack said as he leaped from
officer,"
his horse. "Where is your leader?"
"There is one of them," a peasant said, pointing to a
priest, who, with a long musket in his hand, rose from
behind a log.
"Reverend father," Jack said, "I have come from the
Earl of Peterborough with a mission to understand how
matters go in Aragon, and to ascertain what force would
be likely to join him in this province against the
invader."
**¥ou see for yourself how things go," the priest said.
 "

206 ^^^ -^-^^ VEST OF THE BRA VE.

*'I glad to see an officer of the great Earl of P»t^
am
borough, whose exploits have excited the admiration oi
all Spain. To whom have I the honor of speaking?**
"I am Captain Stilwell, one of the earl's aids-de-camp:
and you, father?**
*'I am Ignacio Bravos, the humble padre of the villag€>

of San Aldephonso. And now. Captain Stilwell, if you

will excuse me till we make an end of these accursed
Frenchmen, afterward I will be at your service."
For another two hours the conflict continued. JacV
saw that the fire of the defenders of the wagons was de-
creasing, and he was not surprised when a white hand-
kerchief was raised on the top of a bayonet and waved in
the air in token of a desire to parley. A shout of exulta-
aon rose from the Spaniards. The priest showed him-
sself on the hillside.
"Do you surrender?'* he shouted.
**We surrender the wagons,'* an officer called back,
•'on condition that we are allowed to march off with our
arms without molestation.*'
A
shout of refusal rose from the peasants, and the
firing was instantly renewed. Jack went and sat down
by the side of the priest.
"Father,'* he said, "it were best to give these men the
terms they ask. War is not massacre.
"Quite so, my son,** the priest replied coolly. "That
is what you should have told Marshal Tesse. It is he
who has chosen to make it massacre. "Why, man, he has
shot and hung hundreds in cold blood in and around
Saragossa, has burned numerous villages in the neigh-
borhood, and put man, woman, and child to the sword.*'
"Then, if this be so father, I should say, by all means
hang Marshal Tesse when you catch him, but do not
punish the innocent for the guilty. You must remember
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 207

Ihat these men have been taken away from their homea^
in France, and forced to fight in quarrels in which they
(lave no concern. Like yourself, they are Catholics.
Above all, remember how many scores of villages are at
present at the mercy of the French. If the news comes
to the marshal that you have refused quarter to his
soldiers, he will have a fair excuse for taking vengeance
on such of your countrymen as may be in his power.**
''There is something in that,** the priest said. "For
myself I have no pity, not a scrap of it, for these French-
men, nor would you have, had you seen as much of their
doings as I have, nor do I think that any retribution that
we might deal out to the men could increase Tesse*s
hatred and ferocity toward us."
** Still, it might serve as an excuse,** Jack urged.
*'Eemember the eyes of Europe are upon this struggle,
and that the report of wholesale slaughter of your
enemies will not influence public opinion in your favor.'*
"Public opinion goes for nothing,** the priest said
shortly.
"Pardon me, father,** Jack replied. "The English
and Dutch and the Dake of Savoy are all fighting in
your favor, and we may even boast that had it not been
for the Earl of Peterborough and the allies the chains of
France would be riveted firmly round your necks. You
will tell me, no doubt, that they are fighting for their
own political ends, and from no true love for the Spanish
people. That may be so, but you must remember that
although governments begin wars it is the people who
carry them on. Let the people of England and Holland
hear, as they will hear, of the brutal ferocity of the
French marshal on a defenseless people, and their sym-
pathies will be strongly with you. They will urge.
their governments to action, and vcte willingly the nee--
208 ^^^ ^^^ ^^'^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^*
essary sums for carrying on the war. Let them hear
that with you, too, war is massacre, that you take no
prisoners, and kill all that fall into your hands, and,
believe me, the public will soon grow sick of the war
carried on with such cruelty on both sides/*
"You are right, my son,'* the priest said frankly.
** Young as you are, you have seen more of the world
than who, since I left the University of Salamanca,
I,

have never been ten miles from my native village. I will

do what I can to put a stop to this matter. But I am
not solely in command here. I lead my own village, but
there are the men of a score of villages lying on these
hills. But I will summon all the chiefs to a council
now.**
The priest called half a dozen of the peasants to him,
and dispatched them with orders to bring all the other
leaders to take part in a council with an English officer
who had arrived from the great Earl of Peterborough.
In half an hour some twenty men were assembled in a
little hollow on the hillside, where they were sheltered

from the fire of the French. Four or five of these were

priests. There were two or three innkeepers. The
remainder were small landed proprietors. Father Igna-
cio first addressed them. He stated that the English
officer had come on a mission from the earl, and had
arrived accidentally while the fight was going on, and
that he was of opinion that the French offer of surrender
should be accepted. A murmur of dissent went round
the circle.
*'I was your opinion,** the priest said, ''but
at first of
the reasons which this English officer has given me in
support of his advice have brought me round to his way
of thinking. I will leave him to state them to you.*'
Jack now rose to his feet^ and repeated the arguments
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 209

t^hich he had used to the priest. He

gathered from the
faces of his hearers that, although some were convinced
that mercy would be the best policy, others were still
bent upon revenge. Father Ignacio then, in language
which he thought best suited to touch his hearers, re*
peated Jack's arguments, urging very strongly the ven-
geance which the French marshal would be sure to take
upon the Spanish population of the country through
which he was passing when he heard the news.
'^Besides,'* Jack said, when he had finished, "you
must remember you have not conquered the enemy yet.
I see the officer has withdrawn all his men among the
wagons, where their shelter will be nearly as good as
yours. They have, doubtless, abundant stores of ammu-
nition in those wagons, together with food and wine,
and if you force them to fight to the last man they can
hold out for a very long time and will inflict a heavy loss
upon your men before they are overcome."
'*But why should they take their weapons with them?"
one of the men said; "they will be useful to us. "Why
should we let them carry them away to kill more
Spaniards?"
"The reason why I them take their arms is
would let
this, " Jack said. "Unless they march away armed you
will not be able to restrain your followers, who will be
likely to break any convention you may make and to
massacre them without mercy. As to the arms being
used again against you, I will put the officers under their
parole that they and their men shall not take any further
part in the war until they are exchanged for an equal
number of prisoners taken by the French."
"Who would trust to a Frenchman's word?" a man
asked B<?offingly.

"I \srould trust W d French officer's word as much as

 ;

^10 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

to that of an English officer," Jack replied. "You
'would expect them to trust to your word that they should
ba safe if they laid down their arms ; and yet, as you
ik:now, you might not be able to keep it. Better a thou-
sand times that a handful of French officers and men
should be allowed to join the enemy's ranks than that
the national honor of Spain should be soiled by a mas-
sacre perpetrated just after a surrender."
'*The Englishman is right," Father Ignacio said posi*
tively. '*Let us waste no further words on it. Besides,
I have a reason of my own. I started before daybreak
without breakfast, and have got nothing but a piece of
dry bread with me. If we don't accept these fellows*
surrender we may be on the hillside all night, and I told
toif servant that I should have a larded capon and a flask

of my best wine for dinner. That is an argument, my

sons, which I am sure comes home to you all ; and re-
member, if we accept the surrender we shall soon quench
our thirst on the good wine which, I doubt not, is con-
tained in some of the barrels I see down yonder.'*
There was a hearty laugh and the question was settled
and it was arranged at once that Father Ignacio, one of
the other leaders, and Jack should treat with the enemy.
The other leaders hurried away to their respective sec-
tions to order them to cease firing when a white flag was
raised; and, having given them twenty minutes to get
to their several posts, a white handkerchief was waved in
the air. The Spanish fire ceased at once, and as soon as
the French perceived the flag they also stopped firing.
"We are coming down, three of us, to discuss matters
with you," Father Ignacio shouted out.
The three accordingly descended the hill, and when
within a short distance of the wagons were met by the
officer in command of the convoy and two others.
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 3 n
-"We have come to discuss the terms of your surren-
der,** Jack said. "I am Captain Stilwell, one of Lord
Peterborough's aids-de-camp. You see your position is
desperate.**
*'Not quite desperate," the French officer repliec?;
"we have plenty of ammunition and abundance of provi-
sions, and can hold out for a long time, till rescue
**
comes.
"There chance of rescue,'* Jack said. "Tour
is little

marshal has his hands full where he is; and even did
he hear of your situation and detach a force back to
your rescue, neither of which he is likely to do, that
force would have to fight every foot of its way, and
assuredly not arrive in time. Nor is there any more
chance of your receiving succor from the rear. Tou
have made a gallant defense, sir, and might perhaps hold
out for many hours yet; but of what use is it sacrificing
the lives of your men in a vain resistance?'*
""What is your proposal?" the officer asked.
"We propose," Jack said, "to allow you to march out
with your arms and five rounds of ammunition to each
man, on you and your officers giving me j^our parole to
consider yourselves and your men as prisoners of war,
and not to serve again until exchanged."
The terms were far better than the French officer had
looked for.
"I may tell you,** Father Ignacio said, "that for these
terms you are indebted solely to this English officer.
Had it depended upon us only, rest assured that no one
of you would have gone away alive.*'
"You will understand,** Jack said, "that you will be
allowed to take your arms solely as a protection against
the peasants, who have been justly enraged by the brutal
atrocities of your general. You know well that evea
 "

212 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VB,

could tlieir leaders here obtain from their followers a
respent for the terms of surrender, your men would be
massacred in the first village through which they passed
were they deprived of their arms. My friends here are
desirous that no stigma of massacre shall rest upon the
Spanish honor, and they have therefore agreed to allow
your men to keep their arms for purposes of defense ou
their returnmarch."
After a few words with his fellow-officers the com-
mander of the convoy agreed to the terms. "You will,
however," he said, ''permit me to take with me one or
more wagons, as may be required, to carry off my
wounded?"
This was at once agreed to, and in ten minutes the
two companies of French infantry were in readiness tc
march. There were forty wounded in the wagons, are*
twenty-seven dead were left behind them. The French
officer in command, before marching off, thanked Jacli
very heartily for his interference on their behalf.
"I tell you frankly. Captain Stilwell," he said^ "that
I had no hopes whatever that I or any of my men wouldj'
leave the ground alive, for these Spaniards invariably
massacre prisoners who fall into their hands. I coulcl
not have left my wounded behind me ; and even if I had
resolved to do so, the chances of our fighting our way
back in safety would have been small indeed. We owo
you our lives, sir and should it ever be in the power ox
;

Major Ferre to repay the debt, you may rely upon me."
*'I trust that the fortune of war may never place me in

a position when I may need to recall your promise,

Jack said, smiling; "but should it be so, I will not fi>il
to remind you if I get a chance."
All was now ready for the march. Two wagons which
had been hastily emptied were^ with the wounded mesit
 ' "

THE BRA VS8T OF THE BRA VE, 213

placed in the center, and the French, numbering now

lessthan a hundred, started on their march. The Span-
ish peasants remained in their places on the hillside till
they had departed, as the leaders had agreed that it was
better they should be kept away from the vicinity of the
French, as a quarrel would be certain to take place did
they come to close quarters. The peasants were indig-
nant at what they deemed the escape of their enemies;
but the desire of plunder soon overcome other considera-
tions, and as soon as the French had marched off they
poured down from the hills. Their leaders, however,
restrained them from indiscriminate plundering. There
were in all eighty-seven wagons loaded with wine, corn,
flour, and provisions for the use of the army.
An equal division was made of these among the various
bands of peasants in proportion to their strength. A
few casks of wine were broached. The peasants then
—
buried their own dead who were very few in number,
so securely had they been sheltered in their hiding-
—
places and then the force broke up, each party march-
ing with its proportion of wagons back to its village.
"Now, Signor Capitano," Father Ignacio said, **|
trust that you come home with me. My village is
will
six miles away, and I will do my best to make you com-
fortable. Hitherto you have seen me only as a man of
war. I can assure you that I am much more estimable
in my proper character as a man of peace. And let me
tell you, my cook is excellent ; the wine of the village is

famous in the province, and I have some in my cellars

'
ten years old.
cannot resist such a number of good arguments,
**I
Jack said, smiling, **and till to-morrow morning I am at
your service ; but I warn you that my appetite just at
present is ravenous^ and that my two dragoons are likely
 ;

gl4 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

to make a serious inroad upon the larders of your villag«i
hoTvever well supplied/*
"They be welcome/* the priest said, *'and I
will
guarantee the larders will prove sufficiently well stocked.
Fortunately, although nearly every village in the neigh-
borhood has been raided by the French, owing to our
good fortune and the interposition of the blessed San
Aldephonso our village has escaped a visit.**
The party under Father Ignacio soon turned off from
the main road, and, with the six wagons which fell to
their share, journeyed along a rough country road un^Al
they reached the village. Father Ignacio sat on the
-leading wagon, and Jack rode alongside chatting with
him. The priest was a stout-built man, with a good-
humored countenance and merry twinkle of the eye, and
'lack wondered what could have been the special wrong
that induced him to take up a musket and lead his flock
to the attack of a French convoy.
"Katherine!** he shouted as the wagon stopped in
front of his house, and a buxom serving woman appeared
at the door, "dinner as quickly as possible, for we are
starving; and let it be not only quick, but plentiful.
Lay a cover for this gentleman, who will dine with me
and prepare an ample supply of food in the kitchen for
these two English soldiers, who have come across the
sea to fight for the good cause. And now,** he said to
Jack, ''while dinner is preparing I must distribute the
'*
spoil.
The wagons were unloaded and their contents divided
among the men who had taken part in the expedition,
his flock insisting upon the padre taking a bountiful
share.
The mules and bullocks in the wagons were similarly
divided, in this case one being given to each family ; for
 : "

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 215

there were but thirty animals, -while the fighting con-

tingent from the village had numbered nearly eighty
men. There were five or six animals over when the divi-
sion had been made, and these were given, in addition
to their proper share, to the families of three men who
had been killed in the fight.
"Now, my sons,** the padre said when all was done,
**take your axes and fall upon the wagons. A wagon is
a thing to swear by. Every man knows his own goods;
and should the French ever visit our village again these
wagons might cost us dear. Therefore let them be made
into firewood as quickly as possible, and let them all be
consumed before other fuel is touched. And now, capi-
tano, I think that Katherine will be ready for us.
So saying he led the way back into his house. A
capital meal was provided, and Jack found that the
priest had by no means overpraised either his cook or
his cellar. After the meal was over and the two had
drawn their chairs up to the hearth, on which was blaz-
ing brightlj' some wood which Jack recognized as form-
ing part of one of the wagons, and the priest had placed
a small table close at hand a large flask which he had
himself gone into the cellar to fetch. Jack said
"How is it, father, that, as you told me, you have
seen such acts of brutality on the part of the French as
to cause you to wage a war without mercy against them,
when, as you say, they have never penetrated to your
village? Your reasons must be strong, for your profes-
sion is a peaceful one. You do not look like a man who
would rush into deeds of violence for their own sake,
and your cook and your cellar offer you strong induce-
**
ments to remain at home.
"That is so, my
son," the priest said with a laugh,
•*I am^ as you may see, an easy-going man, well coa*
 '

216 TSE BBA VEST OF THE BRA. VB.

tented with my lot, and envy not the Bishop of Toledo;
but you know it is said that even a worm and
will turn,
so you have seen the peaceful priest enacting the part of
the bloodthirsty captain. But, my son*' —and his face
grew grave now—"you can little imagine the deeds
which the ferocious Tesse has enacted here in Aragon.
When warring with you English the French behave like
a civilized nation; when warring with us Spanish peas-
ants, who have no means of making our wrongs known
to the world, they behave worse than a horde of brutal
savages. But I will tell you the circumstances which
lKp,ve driven me to place myself at the head of my parish-

ioners, to wage a war of extermination with the French,

and to deny mercy to everyone of that accursed nation
who may fall into my hands. I have a brother or —
—
rather I should say I had one a well-to-do farmer who
lived at a village some six miles from Saragossa. He
had an only daughter, who was to be married to the son
of a neighboring proprietor. A handsome, high-spirited
lad he was, and devoted to Nina. They were to have
been married some three months ago, and they wrote to
me to go over to perform the ceremony.
'*I went; the wedding-day arrived, and all was ready.

It was a holiday in the village, for both were favorites.

The bride was dressed ; the village maidens and men
were all in their best the procession was about to set out,
;

when a troop of dragoons rode suddenly in from Sara-

gossa. A shot or two had been fired at them as they rode
through a wood. When they arrived they dismounted,
and the commander ordered the principal men of the
village to be brought to him. My brother and the father
of the bridegroom were among them.
**
*My troops have been fired at,' the Frenchman said*
^$&iid I hold you responsible.
 ' '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 21?

" 'It was no one from this village, my brother

'
said ^
we have a wedding here, and not a soul is absent.
**
'we have been fired at,
*I care not,' the officer said;
and we shall give the people of this district a lesson.
*'So without another word he turned to his soldiers
and ordered them to fire the village from end to end.
*"It is outrageous,' my brother said, and the others
joined him in the cry. I, too, implored him to pause
before having such an order carried into execution. His
only reply was to give the order to his men.
"The six principal men were seized at once, were set
with their backs against the wall of a house, and shot.'*
"You cannot mean it!'* Jack exclaimed indignantly.
"Surely such an outrage could never be perpetrated by
civilized soldiers?*'
"I saw it done," the priest said bitterly. "I tried to
throw myself between the victims and their murderers,
but I was held back by force by the soldiers. Imagine
—
the scene if you can the screaming women, the outburst
of vain fury among the men. The bridegroom, in his
despair at seeing his father murdered, seized a stick and
rushed at the French officer ; but he, drawing a pistol,
shot him dead, and the soldiers poured a volley into his
companions, killing some eight or ten others. Eesist-
ance was hopeless. Those who were unwounded fled;
those who fell were bayoneted on the spot. I took my
niece's arm and led her quietly away. Even the French
soldiers drew back before us. You should have seen her
face. —
Madre de Dios! I see it now I see it always.
She died that night. Not one word passed her lips from
the moment when her father and her affianced husband
fell dead before her eyes. An hour later the troop rod©
off, and the people stole back to bury their dead among

the ashes of what bad been their homes. I went to

 ;

218 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS.

IB .ragossa after reading the funeral service over them. I
saw Tesse and told him of the scene I had witnessed,
and demanded vengeance. He laughed in my face.
Senor, I persisted, and he got angry and told me that,
were it not for my cloth, he would hang me from the
steeple. I called down Heaven's curse upon him, and
left him and came home. Do you wonder, senor, that I
found it hard to spare those Frenchmen for whom j'-ou
pleaded? Do you wonder that I, a man of peace, lead
out my villagers to slaughter our enemy?'*
"1 do not, indeed!" Jack exclaimed warmly. "Such
acts as these would stir the blood of the coldest into fire
and, priest or no priest, a man would be less than a man
who did not try to take vengeance for so foul a deed.
Have many massacres of this sort been perpetrated?"
"Many,** the priest replied, "and in no case has any
redress been obtained by the relatives of the victims."
"And throughout all Aragon, does the same hatred of
the French prevail?"
"Everywhere," the priest said.
"Then King Charles would meet with an enthusiastic
welcome here?"
"I do not say that," the priest answered. "He would
be well received, doubtless, simply because he is the
enemy of the French, but for himself, no. We Ara-
gonese cannot for the life of us see why we should be
ruled over by a foreigner and in some respects a Ger-
;

man king is even less to be desired than a French one.

The connection between the two Latin nations is natur-
ally closer than between us and the Germans, and a
French king would more readily adapt himself to our
ways than would a stiff and thick-headed German.
"Apart from the recent doings of the French army
Aragon would have preferred Philip to Charles. More-
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VE, 219

over, Charles is looked upon as the choice of the Catalans

and Valencians, and why should the men of Aragon
take the king others have chosen ? No, King [,Charles
will doubtless be received well because he appears as the
enemy but you will not find that the
of the French;
people of Aragon will make any great sacrifices in his
behalf. Let a French army enter our province again,
every man will rise in but there will be
arms against it ;

little disposition to raise troops to follow King Charles

beyond the limits of the province. Castile is strong for
Philip; the jealousy there of the Catalans even greater is

than here, and the fact that Aragon will go with Cata-
lonia and Valencia will only render the Castilians more
earnest in the cause of Philip, There have been several
skirmishes already between bands of our Miquelets and
those of Castile, and the whole country along the border
is greatly disturbed.*'
"It a pity that Spaniards cannot agree among them«
is
selves as to who shall be king.'*
**Ah, my son, but it will be very long yet before Span-
iards agree upon any point. It is a mistake to think of
us as one nation. "We are half a dozen nations under
one king. If you are asked your nationality, you reply
an Englishman. If -you ask a Spaniard, he will reply, I
am a Castilian or a Catalan, an Aragonese or Biscayan
— -never I am a Spaniard. "We hate each other as you
Scotchmen and Englishmen hated each other a hundred
years back, and even now regard yourselves as different
peoples. What connection is there between the hardy
mountaineer of the northern provinces and the easy-
going peasant of Valencia or Andalusia? None.
Consequently, if one part of Spain declares for one man
fks a king, you may be sure that the other will declare

ftgainst him.
220 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VK
"As long as we had great men, Spaniards, for ova
kings —and way from
the descent went in the regular
father to son —things
went smoothly, because no pre-
tender could have a shadow of claim. As between two
foreign princes, each man
has a right to choose for him-
self. Were there any Spaniard with a shadow of claim,
all would rally round him; but, unfortunately,
parties
this is not so and I foresee an epoch of war and trouble
;

before the matter is settled. For myself, I tell you I

would not ^give that flask of wine were I able to put the
crown upon the head of one or other of these foreign-
ers. Let whoever gets the crown govern well and
strongly, tax my villagers lightly, and interfere in no
way with our privileges, and I shall be well content, and
such you will find is the opinion of most men in Spain.
And now, tell me if there is aught that I can do for you.
You say you must be on your way by daybreak. Tell
jne in which direction you journey, and it will be hard
if I cannot find a friend there with whom my introduc-
tion will insure you a hearty welcome."
*'If you can tell me where are the largest gatherings
of Miquelets, I can tell you which way I shall ride,"
Jack replied. "My mission is to ascertain what aid the
king can rely upon in this province.**
"Three days ago there were many thousands of men
under arms," the priest replied; "by to-night there will
be less than as many hundreds. The day Tesse crossed
the frontier with his army the greater portion of the
bands went to their homes, and their arms will be laid
aside until the news comes that the French army is on
its return from Barcelona. I fancy there is but little
chance of our seeing King Charles among us. In another
day or two Tesse will be before Barcelona and joined, ;

%& he will be there, by the French army marching down

 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 221

from Roussillon, lie will make quick work of that town,

and King Charles will have the choice of going to Yalen-
cia to be hunted shortly thence, or of sailiner away again
from the country in your ships."
** It would seem like it/' Jack agreed; "but you are
reckoning without the Earl of Peterborough."
"Your English general must be a wonder," the priest
*
said, 'a marvel; but he cannot accomplish impossibili-
ties. What can he do with two or three thousand trained
troops against twenty thousand veteran French soldiers?"
**I cannot tell what he will do," Jack laughed; ''but
you may rely upon it that he will do something, and I
would take fair odds that he will somehow or other sav€
*
Barcelona and rid Catalonia of its invaders.'

"That I judge to be altogether impossible," the pried

replied. "Anything that man could do I am ready to*
admit that your general is capable of; but I do noi
judge this to be within the range of possibilities, li
you will take my advice, my son, you will not lingei
here, but will ride for Valencia and embark on board
your ships with him when the time comes."
"We shall see," Jack said laughing. "I have faitli
in the improbable. It may not be so very long before I
drop in again to drink another flask of your wine on my
way through Aragon with King Charles on his march
toward Madrid."
"If you do, my son, I will produce a bottle of wine in
which this is but pitch-water. I have three or four stored
away in my cellar which I preserve for great occasions.
They are the remains of the cellar of my predecessor, as
good a judge of wine as ever lived. It is forty years
since he laid them by, and they were, he said, the best
vintage he had ever come across. Had the good old
man died ten vears earlier, what a heritage would have
;^ THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
been mine! but in Lis later years lie was not so saving
as it behooves a good man to be, and indulged in them
on minor occasions; consequently, but two dozen re-
mained when I succeeded to the charge twenty years
ago. I, too, was not sufficiently chary of them to begin

with, and all but six bottles were drunk in the first ten
years. Since then I have been as stingy as a miser, and
but two bottles have been opened.*'
**I hope, father, that you have laid in a similar supply
for whomsoever may come after you.'*
"Surely I have, my son. Fifteen years ago I had a
hogshead of the primest vintage in the neighborhood
bricked up in my cellar. I had an inscription placed on
the wall by which, should I be taken suddenly, my suc-
cessor may know of the store that awaits him. At pres-
ent you would not find the inscription did you search for
it; for when those troubles began I filled up the letters

in the stone with mortar, and gave the wall two or three
coats of whitewash. I did not choose to run any risk of
my grand wine going down the throats of thirsty French
soldiers. It would be an act of sacrilege. "When mat-
ters are settled, and we are at peace again, I will pick
out the mortar from the letters but not till then. I
;

have often reflected since how short-sighted it was not to

have stowed away another hogshead for my own consump-
tion. It would have been something to have looked for-
ward to in my declining years.'*
*'Ah, father, who knows what may happen before that?
The wall may down, and then naturally you would
fall

wish to see whether the wine is in as good a condition as

it should be. Beside, you will say to yourself, why,
when my successor left me but a miserable two dozen of
that grand wine of his, should I bequeath a whole hogs-
head to him who may ccms after me, and wliO; moreoveXi
 ' '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 223

may be so bad a judge of wine that he will value

my treasure no more than an equal quantity of the rough
country vintage?'*
* ! *
' Avaunt, tempter the priest said laughing. But,
* * *
'

he added more seriously, you have frightened me. I

never thought of that. I have always pictured my suc-
cessor as a man who would appreciate good wine as I do
myself. Truly, it would be a terrible misfortune did he
not do so— a veritable throwing of pearls before swine.
Now that you have presented this dreadful idea it will
be ever in my mind. I shall no longer think of my hogs-
head with unmixed satisfaction.**
"The idea is a terrible one, truly," Jack said gravely,
and to prevent it I would advise you when the time of
peace arrives to open your cave, to bottle off your wine,
and to secure its being appreciated by indulging in it
yourself on special occasions and holidays, taking care
always to leave a store equal to, or even superior to, that
'
which you yourself inherited.
*'I will think it over, my son, and it may be that 1

shall take your advice. Such a misfortune as that which

you have suggested is too terrible to think of.**
*'It is so, father, terrible indeed; and I feel confident
that you will do the best in your power to prevent the
possibility of its occurrence. Besides, you know, wine
may be kept even too long. I judge you not to be more
than forty -five now; with so good a cook and so good a
cellar you may reasonably expect to live to the age of
eighty ; there is, therefore, plenty of time for you to lay
in another hogshead to mature for your successor.**
The priest burst into a roar of laughter, in which Jack
joined him.
"Tor reasoning powers are admirable, he said when he
recovered his gravity, "and you have completley con-
224 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS.
vinced me. An hour ago if it had been suggested to me
that I should open that cellar I should have viewed the
proposal with horror; seems to me that it is tbe
now it

very best thing that could be done for all parties, includ-
*'
ing the wine itself.
There was some further chat as to the course which
Jack would follow in the morning, and he decided finally
to ride to the borders of Castile in order that he might
learn as much as possible as to the feeling of people in
that province. Father Ignacio gave him a letter of in-
troduction to the priest in charge of a village a mile or
two within the border of Aragon, and the next morning
Jack started at daybreak, after a hearty adieu from his
iiost, who insisted on rising to see him oU.
 TEE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VK 325

CHAPTER XIV.

A PRISONER.

tfAOK, with his two troopers, rode away from the

hospitable cottage of the priest in high spirits. He
determined to avoid Saragossa, as he was not charged
with any direct mission from the earl, and wished, there-
fore, to avoid any official intercourse with the leaders of
the province. As soon as the marshal had marched, the
people there had risen, had driven out the small French
garrison left, and had resumed the management of their
own affairs. Jack learned, however, that the city had
not formally declared for King Charles. As the priest
had told him would be the case. Jack encountered no
bodies of armed men during the day; the country had a
peaceful aspect, the peasants were working in the fields,
and at the villages through which he passed the English
uniforms excited a feeling of curiosity rather than of
interest. He stopped at several of these and entered
into conversation with the inhabitants. He found every-
where an intense hatred of the French prevailing, while
but little interest was evinced in the respective claims of
Charles and Philip.
After a very long ride he arrived, at nightfall, near the
spot to which he was bound. In this neighborhood he
observed a greater amount of watchfulness and prepara-
tion than had prevailed elsewhere. The men, for the
most part, remained in their villages, and went about
ftrmed. Jack learned that an inroad by the Miquelets of
226 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.

Castile was deemed probable, and that it was thought

possible that another French force might follow Tesse
from Madrid to Barcelona.
It was late in the evening before Jack reached hia
destination, where, on his presenting his letter of intro-
duction, he was most heartily received by the priest.
**Father Ignacio tells me, he said when he had read it,
"that you are not only to be welcomed as an officer of
the great English general, but that you are in every way
deserving of friendship; he adds, too, that you are a
first-rate judge of wine, and that you can be trusted as
an adviser upon knotty and difficult matters."
Jack laughed. *'I only gave the good father my advice
upon two points," he said; *'the first was the admitting
to terms of surrender of a body of French troops with
whom he was engaged in battle when I arrived; the
second was upon the important question of broaching or
not broaching a hogshead of particularly good wine."
"If you advised that the hogshead should be
broached," the priest said smiling, ''I can warrant that
my good brother Ignacio follow your advice, and can
well understand the respect in which he seems to hold
your judgment. But do not let us stand talking here.
*'Your men will find a stable behind the house where
they can stand the horses. Alas! it is uninhabited at
present, for my mule, the gentlest and best in the prov-
ince, was requisitioned — which is another word for
—
stolen by the French as they passed through. My
faithful beastI I miss her every hour of the day, and I
doubt not that she misses me still more sorely. Tell me,
senor, my brother Ignacio writes me that he has captured
—
many animals from the French was Margaretta among
them? She was a large mule, and in good condition in- ;

deed, there was some fiesh on her bones. She was a

 THE BliA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 22?

dark chestnut with a white star on the forehead, a little

white on her fore feet, and white below the hocks on the
hind legs; she had a soft eye, and a peculiar twist in
jerking her tail.**

The manner of the priest was so earnest that Jack re-

pressed a smile with difficulty.
**I did notice among the mules one of the
in
wagons one marked somewhat similarly to your descrii>-
tion, and, if I mistake not, it, with another, fell to the
share of the good priest ; but I cannot say that it had
much flesh upon its bones ; indeed, it was in very poor
case. Nor did I notice that its eyes were particularly
8of t, or that there was any peculiarity in the twitching of
its tail.'*

"It may be Margaretta," the priest said with some

excitement; "the poor beast would naturally lose flesh
in the hands of the French, while as to the switch in the
tail, it was a sign of welcome which she gave me when I

took an apple or a piece of bread into her stable, and

she would not be likely so to greet strangers. I will lose
no time in writing to Ignacio to inquire further into the
matter. Yerily, it seems to me as if the saint had sent
you specially here as a bearer of this good news.'*
Jack spent a pleasant evening with the priest, and
learned much as to the state of things upon the frontier.
The priest represented the Castilians as bitterly opposed
to the claims of Charles ; they had no grievances against
the French, who had behaved with strict discipline in
that province, and had only commenced their excesses
upon crossing the frontier into Aragon. This they re-
garded, though wrongfully, as a hostile country; for,
previous to their arrival, the people there had taken no
part either way in the struggle, but the overbearing
manner of Tesse, and the las discipline of his troops.
238 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
had speedily caused an intense feeling of irritation.
Resistance had been offered to foraging parties of the
French army, and the terrible vengeance which had
been taken by Tesse for these acts had roused the whole
province in a flame of insurrection.
'*
There are several bodies of French cavalry across
the frontier/' the priest said; ** occasionally they make
flying raids into Aragon, but, as you see, the people
are armed, and prepared, and ready to give them a hot
reception. The Castilians are like ourselves if at any
;

time an army should mgirch in this direction against

Madrid, the Miquelets will oppose them just as we should
oppose the French, but they will not leave their homes
to interfere with us, for they know well enough that did
they do so we also should cross the line, and fire and
destruction would be carried through all the villages on
both sides of the border. So at present there is nothing
to fear from Castile, but if your English general were
to drive the French out of the country, he would have
hard work ere he overcame the resistance of that
*
province. '

Just as day was breaking the next morning Jack was

aroused by shouts in the streets, followed by the heavy
trampling of horse. He sprang from the bed and threw
on his cloak; as he was bmckling on his sword one of
the dragoons rushed into his room.
*'We are surrounded, sir! I have just looked out, and
there are French cavalry round the house.**
all

As he spoke there was a tremendous knocking at the

door. The priest ran into the room. *'We are be-
trayed,** he said; **some one must have carried away the
news last night of your arrival here, and it has come to
the ears of the French cavalry on the other side. 1
ordered some men out last night to watch the road across
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VIS. 229

the border, but the enemy must have ridden too fast for
*
them to get here first. '

"It cannot be helped/* Jack said; *'you had best

open the door, or they will break it in in another minute.
Make no resistance, lads,*' he said to the dragoons, for
the second orderly had now joined them; '"lay your
swords down on the bed we are caught this time, and
;

must make our escape when we can. It is better, any-

how, to have fallen into the hands of the French than of
the Spanish.**
The sound of the knocking had ceased now, and there
was a trampling and clamor of voices as the French
soldiers poured into the house. Steps were heard as-
cending the stairs, the door opened, and the priest,
accompanied by a Frencli officer and followed by a num-
ber of soldiers, entered the room.
''You are my prisoner, sir!'* the French officer said.
*'I am afraid there is no doubt of that,'* Jack said,

speaking in Spanish; ''here is my sword sir. These two

men are my orderlies, and of course, also surrender.
You will observe that we are all in uniform, that we are
taken on the soil of Aragon, and that I am here in pur-
suance of myduty as an officer of the English army.**
"You are alone?" the officer asked.
"Yes,** Jack said; "there are, so far as I know, no
other British but ourselves in Aragon."
"Then we were misinformed,** the officer said; "the
news was received last night that the Earl of Peterbor-
ough was himself here ; and although it was but in the
afternoon that we had heard that your general was at Va-
lencia, his movements are so swift and erratic that, if we
heard of him in Portugal one hour we should not be
surprised to find him here the next. He stopped as
* *

ihots were heard fired in the streets.

 ,

230 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.

"Tou must excuse ceremony, he said, "and sir,'*

mount at once with your men and accompany me. In

ten minutes we shall have the whole country buzzing
round us like wasps; and now that the object of my ride
is accomplished, I don't wish to throw away my men's
Jves.'*
The horses were saddled without loss of time, and in
two or three minutes Jack was trotting down the yillage
in the midst of the French cavalry amid a scathing fire
from behind the houses and walls.
The French officer rode at the heeid of his troop till
well beyond the village, then reining in his horse, joined
his prisoner
'VlJi:. 3GW.-""' 'lie ASise-u. wnon: iiave I uiii iu.oiic_ ^

capturing?'"
**I am CaptaiB Stilwell^"^ Jack rspiiscl '^zm.^ ai i^i
Earl of Peterborough's aids-de-campSo^'
"I am.Oaptain de Courcy/* the Frencli oSc3r saio..;

"happily, although the French and English have takeji,

opposite sides on this question, we can esteem and honor:
each other as brave and civilized adversaries. As f g.c
these Spanish scoundrels, they are no better tban bai
ditti I ihQj murder us in our beds, they poison our wino
they as often as not burn us alive if we fall into their.-
hands I they are savages,- neither more nor less and why- ;

Philip of Anjou, who could have had all the pleasures oi

life asa prince of the blood at Versailles, should covei
the kingship of this country, passes my lindsrstanding,
And now tell m© about that paladinj your genera;..
Peste,what a man! And you are one of his aids-de
camp? Why, if he drags you about everywhere witk
'^
him, yoTj. must lead the life of a clog
"WlieiQL I last heard of the generaj. 1".3 —a^i'fAv" :'
'ij.£B3;v.

Jack ^^md' ^^B^t that- was te:?. dar^- ^'.jc^g--^

 '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 5S3x

*'Ten days!" the Frenchman said; "then by now ho

*

may be in London, or in Rome, or at Paris.

''With the wind favoring him he might be at Eome,
but he could scarcely have arrived at either London or
Paris/'
"There is no saying/* the French officer laughed,
"Has he not three-leagued boots, and can he not step
from mountain to mountain ? Does he not fly through a
storm on a broomstick? Can he not put on a cap and
make himself invisible? For I can tell you that our
soldiers credit him with all these powers. Can he not,
by waving his hand multiply three hundred men into an
army, spread them over a wide extent of country, and
then cause them to sink into the ground and disappear?
Our soldiers are convinced that he is in league witL ik^
evil one, even if he be not the gentleman in black h.irn'^
self."
Jack joined in the laughs "'He is a wonderful man/'*
he said, "though he cannot do all you credit him with.
But he is absolutely tireless, and can do without sleep
for any time ; and yet to looked at him no one would
think that he was in any way a strong man. He is
small, thin, and worn-looking — in fact, almost insignifi-
cant in appearance, were it not for his keen eye and m
certain lofty expression of face. My post is no sinecure^
I can assure you, for the general expects all to be able to

do as well as himself. But with a chief who never spares

himself ail are willing to do their best. Extreme as has
been the labor of the troops, severe as have been their
hardships, you will never hear a grumble the men have
;

most implicit confidence in him, and are readj? t€ :^m

anywhere and do anything he orders them/'
"He Is u marvel *' the French officer said. "Tot r :.»>

h'? tec,!- B^'?h.»:;i^ ini ikd^. wHb u ha35-iiu> j:.

232 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^T ^^ T^^ ^^^ ^^'
hunted our armies out of Catalonia and Valencia, "was
wonderful; and though it was at our cost, and not a
little to our discredit, there is not an officer in the army
but admires your general. Fortunately I was hot in
Barcelona when you laid siege to it, but I was with Las
Torres afterward when you were driving us about like
sheep. I shall never forget that time. We never knew
when what force was opposed to us,
to expect an attack,
or from what direction you would come. I laugh now^
but it was no joke then.*'
Three hours riding took them into the little town from
which the French cavalry had started in the middle of
the night. On arriving there the French officer at once
sent off a trooper to Madrid, reporting the prisoners he
had taken, and forty-eight hours later he received orders
to himself conduct his prisoners to Madrid.
Upon arriving there Jack was at once taken before the
Duke of Berwick, who received him courteously, and
asked him many questions concerning the force under
the earl, the intentions of the general, and the force
which the king had at Barcelona to resist the two French
armies now hurrying before it. To these questions Jack
gave cautious answers. As to matters concerning which
he was sure that the French must have accurate informa-
tion, he replied frankly. Fortunately he was, as he
truly said, in entire ignorance as to the plans of the earl,
and as to Barcelona, he knew nothing whatever of what
had taken place there from the day when he suddenly
left with Peterborough.
would place you on your parole with pleasure,'*
''I

the duke said, *'but I tell you frankly that in the presewt
excited state of public feeling I do not think it will be
safe for you to move through the streets unprotected.
So many of our officers have been murdered in Sarago&ss
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 233

and other places that the lower Spaniards woiald

class of
think it a meritorious action to take vengeance on an
English officer. Of course I am well aware that the
English have nothing to do with these atrocities, but the
people in general are not able to draw nice distinctions.
I shall send you to France on the first opportunity, to
remain there till exchanged.'*
** Thank you, sir,*' Jack said;
should prefer not
''I

being put on my parole, for I shall certainly escape if I

have the opportunity. I should tell you, sir, that I have
ridden through Aragon, and though I do not wish to
excuse the murders perpetrated by the Spaniards, I must
tell you that I cannot blame them ; for, horrible as are
their deeds, they are simply acts of retaliation for the
abominable atrocities which Marshal Tesse allows and
encourages his troops to perpetrate upon the population.
I have the highest respect sir, for the French nation, but
if I were the Earl of Peterborough, and Marshal Tesse

fell into my hands, I would hand him over to the

Spaniards to be torn in pieces as he deserves.'*
"You speak boldly, sir," the duke said sternly.
"I feel what I say, sir," Jack replied. **I think it
well that you, a general high in command under the
French king, should know the atrocities perpetrated in
his name by this man upon defenseless people. I could
tell you, sir, a score of stories which I heard in Aragon,
although I was but two days there, of massacre and
murder which would make your blood run cold. I con-
fess that personally I have no greater interest in King
Charles than in King Philip. I have seen so much of
the Austrian and his advisers that I believe that if the
Earl of Peterborough were to seat him on his throne
here to-morrow, he would be driven from the country a
fugitive before many weeks were over ; but in the same
234 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS.
Vfdky I am
convinced tliat Philip of Anjou will never be
accepted by the Spanish as their king if his cause be
stained by such atrocities as those carried out by Mar-
shal Tesse in his name."
The duke then asked Jack he had any objections to
if

state the particular object for w^hich he was sent into

Aragon by his general ; and Jack was glad to be able tc
say truthfully that the earl knew nothing of his being
there, he having sent him simply to assist the Count of
Cifuentes in barring the advance of the French army
into Catalonia, and that when he had carried out that
order he had ridden into Aragon on his own account.
In order that he might, on his return to the earl, be able
to give him an accurate description of the state of affairs
in that province.
**Then so far as you know. Captain Stilwell, the Earl
of Peterborough is still at Valencia, and has no intention
of leaving that province at present.'*
**I can say truly, sir, that so far as I know the general
had no intention of leaving Valencia; but as his decisions
are generally taken instantaneously, and are a surprise
to all about him, I should be sorry to assert that the earl
remained in Valencia a quarter of an hour after I quitted
the city.*'
"It matters little,*' the duke said, "the affair is rapidly
approaching an end. Barcelona must surrender as soon
as Tesse and the Duke de Noailles appear before it; the
breaches are open, and there are not a thousand men in
garrison. Barcelona once fallen the cause of the Aus-
trian is lost. Your general is already watched by an
army four times as strong as his own, and the twenty
thousand men under the marshal will compel him to take
to his ships, and will stamp out the last embers of the
insurrection. You agree with me, do you not?** be
aeked, as Jack remained silent.
 ;

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 235

"Well, sir, it seems that it must be as yoa say, and I

have only to reply that you have not reckoned upon the
Earl of Peterborough. "What he will do I do not pretend
to say, but knowing him as I do, I can say that he will
give you trouble. I don't think that anything can be
considered as a certainty in which you have the Earl of
Peterborough to reckon with."
—
*'He is a great man," the duke said '^'a great man,
and has performed marvels; but there is a limit to the
possibilities which one man can perform, and here that
limit is passed. I shall give orders. Captain Stilwell,
that your imprisonment is made as little disagreeable as
possible, and that you have everything you require."
Jack expressed his thanks and retired. On leaving
the room he was again taken charge of by Captain de
Courcy and four of his troopers, and was conducted by
him to the citadel.
The quarters assigned to Jack were by no means un-
©omfortable, A good meal was placed before him, and
after he had finished it the governor of the citadel called
upon him and told him that he was at liberty to go where
he would within the walls, and that any wishes he might
express he would do his best to comply with. Jack at
once availed himself of his liberty by going out into the
courtyard and thence on to the walls of the citadel. It
was a strongly fortified and gloomy building, which has
now ceased to exist. It covered a considerable portion
of ground, and had at one time been a royal residence
the walls were strong and high, and sentries were placed
on them at short intervals.
Jack saw at once there was little possibility of escape
thence, and decided that he might as well abandon any
idea of evasion for the present, and would trust to luck
in escaping from lais escort on the road to the frontier^.
236 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
or, if no opportunity then presented itself, from his
prison in France. A week after his arrival he was sur-
prised by being told that an officer wished to see him,
and a minute later Major Ferre entered the apartment.
*'I only arrived an hour ago, " he said, ''and learned
that you were prisoner here. "Who would have thought
when we parted last, and you gave me my liberty, that
on my arrival here I should find that you had already
been a week a prisoner ? Horses' legs move faster than
men's you see."
"It is the fortune of war," Jack said, smiling. *'I am
glad to see that you got out of Aragon safely."
**It was thanks to your seeing that we were provided

with ammunition," the major said. *'The peasants

swarmed round us hotly more than once, and it was the
fact that we had our arms and were ready to use them,
quite as much as my assurances that we were prisoners
on parole, and had promised not to serve in Spain until
exchanged, that kept them from making an attack upon
us as it was we nearly came to blows several times.
; I
marched that day till the men were ready to drop, and
camped at a distance from a road in a lonely place. I
dared not scatter my men in a village. The next day we
kept steadily on and crossed the frontier into Castile,
pretty well worn out, just at nightfall. I had to give
my men two days' halt before we could go further, and
we have since come by easy stages, which accounts for
your being here so long before us. And now, is there
anything that I can do for you ? if there is, command my
service to the utmost. I shall see the duke this after-
noon, and shall tell him that I and my party are indebted
to you for our lives. It is well for me that he is in com-
mand here instead of the marshal he is a gentleman,
;

and will respect the parole I gave for myself and my

 : "

TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 337

m6n ; had been Tesse I might have had trouble, for

if it

as likely as not he would have scoffed at my promise,

and ordered me and my men back to the front again,
and then I should have been placed in a nice fix.**
*'The best thing you could do for me," Jack said,
*/v70uldbe to suggest to the marshal that he should ex-
change me against you. If he will let me take my two
troopers I would throw in all your men. There will be
no occasion to arrange it with our general; you gave
your word to me, and I can give it you back again. As I
am of no use to him, and you are, I should think he would
consent.**
*'I should think so Major Ferre said, ''and
too,*'
should be delighted, on both our accounts, if it could be
managed.**
Three hours later the major returned in high spirits.
''I have arranged the matter,*' he said, *'and we are
both free men. You can't stir out of here at present
because it would not be safe for you to go about Madrid;
but I have orders to march to-morrow morning, in com-
mand Las Torres outside Valencia,
of a convoy, to join
flo you can ride with me till we get near the town; and

then join your people.

Jack was delighted, and the next morning set out with
the convoy. His appearance, as he rode by the side of
Major Ferre with his two orderlies behind him, excited
the greatest surprise and curiosity in the various towns
and villages through which they passed. The journey
was a pleasant one. Major Ferre exerting himself in
every way to make it as pleasant as possible. After four
days' journey the convoy arrived within sight of Yalen-
cia. "When they came to a place where the roads forked
the major said
"That is your way, my dear Stilwell. I hope that
 "

238 THE BBA VEST OF TEE BRA VE.

Borne day the fortunes of war will throw us together
again, in some pleasant position where we can renew our
friendship. Two miles on is a ford across the river,
where, as the peasants tell me, two of your vedettes are
posted; another hour's ride will take you to Valencia.'*
With a hearty good-by on both Jack and his two
sides.
dragoons rode off, and soon astonished the English
vedettes by their appearance on the opposite bank of the
river. A few words in English convinced the soldiers
that it was no trick that was being played with them,
and Jack rode across the ford and then galloped on to
Valencia.
''Well, Captain Stilwell," the earl said as Jack entered
his apartment, **what news do you bring me from Barce-
lona? I hear that Tesse has invested the town.'*
"My last news is from Madrid, general," Jack said;
"I have had to stay a week in that city." And he then
proceeded to relate the series of events which had hap-
pened from the time he joined the Count of Cifuentes.
"I know I exceeded my duty, general," he said when hd
finished, *'in going up into Aragon without orders; but
I felt that I was of little use with the count, who handles
the Miquelets well, and I thought that you would be
glad of trustworthy information of the state of feeling in
Aragon, and perhaps of Castile."
"You were quite right," the earl said, "and have done
exceedingly well. Yours has been an adventure after my
own heart, and you have just arrived here in time, for I
am on the point of starting to do what I can to harass
the besiegers of Barcelona.
 TEB BRA. VE8T OF THE BRA VE. UdB

CHAPTER XV.
THE BELIEF OF BAKCELONA.

Although for months it was evident that the French

were preparing to make a great effort to recapture Barce-
lona, Charles and his German advisers had done nothing
whatever to place the city in the position to resist a
siege. The fortifications remained just as they had been
when Peterborough had captured the city. The breaches
which had been made by the English cannon were still
open, and even that in the all-important citadel of Mont-
juich remained as it had been left by the explosion df
ihe magazine.
Not until Tesse was pressing down from Lerida and
De Noailles from Roussillon did the king awake to his
danger. Orders were sent out to recall all the troops
who were within reach, the country people were set to
work collecting provisions, and the king made an urgent
appeal to the citizens to aid in repairing the fortifica-
tions. The appeal was responded to; the whole male
population took up arms, even priests and friars enroll-
ing themselves in the ranks.
The women and children were formed into companies,
and Barcelona labored in carrying materials and in
all

repairing the breaches. The king had received a letter

from Peterborough proposing the plan of which he had
spoken to his aids-de-camp, and which, had it been
carried out, would have changed the fate of Spain. His
suggestion was that Charles should at once make his way
giO TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS,
by ses. to Portugal, "which, as the blockade had not then
commenced, he could have easily done, there to put him-
self at the head of the allied army, twenty-six thousand
strong, and march straight upon Madrid. This could
have been done with a certainty of success, for the west
of Spain and the capital had been denuded of troops for
the invasion of Catalonia and Valencia, and no more than
two thousand men could have been collected to oppose
the invaders.
"If your majesty will undertake to do this," wrote the
earl, *'I will [undertake to maintain the province here,
and perhaps to open a way to Madrid.'*
But now, as before, this bold but really safe counsel
was overruled by Charles' German courtiers, and he re-
solved to remain in Barcelona and wait a siege.
As soon as Peterborough received the answer, he left a
small garrison in Valencia, and marched away with all
the force he could collect, which, however, numbered
only two thousand foot and six hundred horse, while De
Noailles had no less than twenty thousand gathered
round Barcelona. Peterborough moved rapidly across
the country, pushing forward at the utmost speed of the
troops, till he arrived within two leagues of Barcelona,
and took up a strong position among the mountains,
where he was at once joined by the Count of Cifuentes
and his peasant army.
'"Ah, count," the earl said as he rode into his camp,
*'I am glad to see you again. You did not succeed in
stopping Tesse, but by all accounts you mauled him
handsomely. And now, what are our prospects?"
''Indeed, sir, they are not overbright, and I do not
see that we can effect much to aid the king. My men
will fight well enough, as Captain Stilwell has witnessed,
when they choose their position and shoot behind shel-
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 241

ter, but they would be of no use whatever in a regular

action ; and as to advancing into the plain to give battle
with you against twenty thousand regular troops, they
would not attempt it, even if you were to join your
orders to mine.'*
**We will not ask them, count," Peterborough said.
"I know the Miquelets by this time. They are admira-
ble for irregular war, but worse than useless for any-
thing else. All we will ask of them, count, is to scatter
in strong bodies over the hills, to guard every road, and
cut off any parties enemy who may venture to go
of the
out to gather provisions or forage. If they can manage
occasionally to threaten an attack upon the French camp,
BO much the better."
The next morning a strong body of the French took
post round Montjuich, and at nine o'clock a force of in-
fantrj^ supported by two squadrons of horse, attempted
to carry the western outworks by storm. This was the
weakest part of the citadel, and was manned by only a
hundred men of Colonel Hamilton's regiment, who had
arrived the night before, having in two days ridden
seventy miles on mules.
As the French advanced they received them with great
determination, and poured in so sharp a fire that the
assailants speedily retired with considerable loss. As
they fell back the English threw up their caps and raised
loud shouts, which so exasperated the enemy that they
reformed and returned several times to the assault, but
anly to be repulsed as on their first attempt. This was
a sharp check to the French, who had expected to find
the place guarded only by the usual garrison of forty
Spaniards.
When the sound of firing was heard in the town the
Vifhole garrison turned out and marched to support Mont*
2i2 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
juich, only twelve men being left behind for a guard ta
the king. This repulse of the first attempt of the enemy
raised the spirits of the townsmen, and bands of them
ventured btyond the walls, and, sheltering in the gardens
and groves, maintained a strong fire upon the French.
Finding that Barcelona was not to be taken as easily
as they had expected, the French generals extended their
camp so as to completely surround the town. On their
Bide the citizens were not inactive, and sallying out,
managed to cut off and drive in a flock of seven hundred
of the enemy's sheep and twelve of their mules.
The following night the besieged sustained a severe
loss by the treacherous surrender, by its commander, of
Fort Eedonda, which stood on the seashore and com-
manded the landing. The enemy at once profited by
this advantage and began landing their provisions, guns,
and ammunition. This misfortune was, however,
balanced by the enterprise of Brigadier-Generals Lord
Donegal and Sentiman, with two English and two newly-
raised Catalan battalions. They received the king's
orders to return to Barcelona too late to reach the town
before its investment, but now managed, under cover of
night, to elude the enemy and enter the city in safety.
When enemy received news of the success of this
the
attempt they closed in their left wing to the eastward, in
hopes of preventing further reinforcements from enter*
ing the town. But they had not reckoned upon the Earl
of Peterborough, who had received news that the garri-
son of Gerona, after evacuating that town on the ap-
proach of the army of the Duke de Noailles had embarked
in small boats and were about to attempt a landing near
Barcelona, on the north side. On the receipt of the
news he started as night fell with his whole force from
bis camp in the mountains, and having, after a march of
 TBE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB, 243

©early twenty miles, arrived at the spot named for the

debarkation just as the boats were nearing the shore,
and having escorted the Gerona men past the enemy's
outpost and into the town, without the loss of a man, ho
again retired to the mountains. These accessions of
strength raised the force of troops in the besieged town
to upward of three thousand.
The next day a case of treason was discovered among
the Spaniards in the garrison of Montjuich. A boy con-
fessed that he had been hired by one of these men to put
out all the gunmatches, and to throw the priming-powder
out of the matchlocks that night. He was told to da
this on the weakest side of the works, where the attack
would probably be made.
The discovery of this intended treason, following so
closely on that at Fort Eedonda, excited suspicions of
the loyalty of the Spanish governor of Montjuich, and he
was superseded and the Earl of Donegal appointed to the
command. For the nest six days the French continued
to raise battery after battery around Montjuich. Lord
Donegal made some gallant sallies and several times
drove the besiegers from their works, but in each case
they returned in such overwhelming force that he was
obliged to abandon the positions he had won and to fall
back into the citadel.
The Miquelets, of whom there were many in the town,
aided the besieged by harassing the French. Every
night they stole into their camp, murdered officers in
their tents, carried off horses, slew sentries, and kept the
enemy in a perpetual state of watchfulness.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 15th of April
the besiegers made a furious attack on the western out-
work of Montjuich, having ascertained that it was de«
fended only by a party of one of the newly raised Span-
244 T-H"^ ^^^ VEST OF THE BRA VS,
ish regiments. They captured the post without diffi«

culty, the Spaniards flying at the first assault, but ou

the inner ramparts they were met by Donegal and hia
grenadiers, and a desperate struggle took place wkich
lasted for two hours.
The English fought with the greatest obstinacy, and
frequently flung back among their assailants the
grenades which the latter showered among them before
they had time to explode. Lord Donegal himself setting
the men the example. But though able to prevent the
French from advancing further, the English could not
recover the outpost which the Spaniards had abandonei^
and the French formed intrenchments and mounted a,
battery upon it.

In spite of the continued fire which the besiegers

now poured in upon it from all sides. Lord Donegal held
out bravely. The little force under his command was
much reduced in numbers, and so worn out by constant
exertion and loss of sleep that men frequently fell asleep
while under arms under the heaviest fire. The besiegers
were not idle in other directions. Several mortar vessels
moved close in shore and threw shells into the town,
while the batteries poured in red-hot shot. This spread
great alarm throughout the town. The people could be
hardly induced to continue working on the defenseSg
and many took refuge in cellars or in the churches.
Ammunition began to fail, and despair was taking pos-
session of the defenders, when, at two o'clock in the
morning of the 21st, a galley ran safely into the harbor
bearing a supply of powder and encouraging messages
from Lord Peterborough.
Three days later he managed to throw a body of
Neapolitan troops into the town, embarking them in
boats, at Mater o, a small port a few miles to the north-
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 245

east of the town. He sent them close along the shore in

order to pass the enemy's fleet, if possible unobserved.
They found, however, that a line of boats had been
drawn across the harbor to blockade the entrance. They
attacked the boats, and after a sharp fight, which lasted
over an hour, four hundred men succeeded in forcing
their way through, and the rest returned to Matero in
safety.
Peterborough now determined to endeavor to relieve
the town by the desperate expedient of attacking the
enemy's camp with his little force. In order to do this
with any prospect of success it was necessary to warn
the king of his intentions, so that the garrison of the
town could issue out and attack the enemy at the same
moment from their side. He conimitted the dispatch to
Captain Graham, who succeeded in making his way
through the enemy's lines to the city. The king agreed
to join in a combined attack, and, having arranged all
his plans, gave the dispatch to Graham to carry back to
the earl.

On the way out he was less successful than he had

been in entering. He was seized upon by a body of
French before he could destroy the paper. Tesse was
accordingly warned of the earl's plans, and at the hour
appointed for the attack drew up his army in order of
battle. Peterborough was ready to advance, and the
besieged were all in arms on the ramparts, but seeing
that the enemy were fully prepared the project was
abandoned, and the troops returned to their quarters.
But the fall of Montjuich was at hand. The besiegers
secretly massed a large force in the trenches. At mid«
day on the 22d a salvo of four mortars gave the signal.
The French rushed in with loud shouts and effected a
complete surprise. Before the troops could get under
firms two bastions were captured.
846 THE BBA VEST OF TEE BRA VB.
So sudden was the affair that many of the English
oScers, hearing the firing, ran out from the keep, and
seeing some foreign troops drawn up works joined
in the
them, concluding that they were Dutch, and were only
undeceived by finding themselves taken prisoners. The
men were so confused by the loss of many of the officers
that, had the French pushed in at once, they would have
been able to carry the main body of the works with but
little resistance. They halted, however, in the bastions
they had won. The next morning the people of Barce-
lona, headed by their priests, sallied out to effect the
relief of Montjuich, but were easily driven back by the
besiegers. The little garrison of the castle sallied out to
meet their friends, but when these retreated to the town
they had to fight their way back to the castle, which
they regained with great difficulty, the gallant Earl of
Donegal and many of his officers being killed.
Finding that their position was now desperate, the
remnant of the British troops abandoned the castle they
had so stoutly defended, and succeeded in making their
way safely into the city. Tesse now pushed on the siege
of the town with vigor. Batteries of heavy guns were
raised opposite the newly mended breaches, and so close
did he plant his guns to the walls that the artillery of
the besieged could not be depressed sufficiently to play
upon them, while so heavy a fire of infantry was kept up
upon the walls that their defenders were unable to reply
effectivelj'- with their musketry.

The walls crumbled rapidly, and the defenders busied

themselves in raising inner defenses behind the breaches.
Had the French been commanded by an enterprising
general there is little doubt that they could have carried
the town by assault, but Tesse, in his overcaution,
V?aited until success was a certainty. The alarm in
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE, 247

Barcelona was great, and the king sent messenger after

messenger to Peterborough to urge him to come to his
relief; but daring as was the earl when he considered
success to be possible, he would not venture his little
force upon an enterprise which was, he felt, hopeless,
and he knew that the only possible relief for the city
was the arrival of the English fleet.
Early in March Admiral Sir John Leake and Baron
Wassenaer had sailed from Lisbon with the combined
fleet in accordance with Peterborough's orders; but the

wind was contrary, and it was fully six weeks after start-
ing that they reached the straits, where they were joined
by Captain Price with a small squadron, on board of
which were two English regiments. It was not until the
24th of April that they sailed from Gibraltar.
On reaching Altea they received news that another
squadron had 3ailed from Lisbon to join them, and ia
warm remonstrances of General Stanhope,
spite of the
who commanded the troops on board, the Dutch and
English admirals determined to await the arrival of the
reinforcements before sailing to give battle to the fleet
of the Count of Toulouse before Barcelona.
On the 3d of April Sir George Byng arrived at Altea
with some ships from Ireland, and the next day Commo-
dore Walker, with the squadron from Lisbon, also
arrived; but the wind was now contrary, and although
the fleet set sail, for three days they made no progress
whatever, and each hour so wasted rendered the position
of the besieged at Barcelona more and more desperate.
While lying at Altea General Stanhope had sent a mes-
sage to Lord Peterborough telling him that he would use
every means in his power to hasten Sir John Leake *a
movements, and that he would give him timely notice of
the approach of the fleei
248 "THE BMA VEST OF THE BRA YE.

He said that as was of the utmost importanoe that

it

the enemy should remain in ignorance of the approach-

ing succors, his messenger should carry only a half -sheet
of blank paper, so that if he were taken by the enemy
they would learn nothing from his dispatch. "When tho
fleet sailed he sent off a second messenger, who got safely
to the earl, and delivered his blank dispatch. With the
exception of his aid-de-camp, who was always in his con-
fidence, he told no one the meaning of this blank dis-
patch and his officers were surprised when orders were
issued for the little army at once to prepare for a night
march. and men had, however, most implicit
Officers
confidence in their general, and, doubting not that some
daring enterprise was at hand, they started in high
spirits.
All through the night they marched in a southwesterly
direction over the hills, and at daybreak reached tho
little seaport of Sitjes, some seven leagues from Barce-

lona. Ordering the wearied soldiers to encamp behind

some low hills, the indefatigable general rode with Jack
Stilwell into the little port, and at once, by offering
large rewards, set the sailors [and fishermen at work to
collect the boats, barges, and fishing smacks along the
neighboring coast, and to bring them to Sitjes.
In two days he had succeeded in collecting a sufficient
number to carry the whole force. The news of the work
upon which the general was engaged soon spread among
the force and caused the greatest astonishment. Jack
Stilwell was overwhelmed with questions as to the inten»
tions of the generaL
"What on earth are we going
do next, Stilwell?"
to
one of the colonels said to him. ''We are all ready,
you know, to do anything that ihe chief bids us, but for
the life of us no one can make this business out. The
 '

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK 249

only possible thing seems to be that the chief intends to

attack the French and desperate as many of his
fleet,

exploits have been, they would be as nothing to that.

Even the earl could surely not expect that fifteen hun-
dred men in fishing-boats and barges could attack a fleet
of some thirty men-of-war. The idea seems preposterous,
and yet one does not see what else he can have got in his
head.'"
*'0f course, Jack said, laughing, ''you do
colonel,''
not expect me to tell you what are the general's plans.
You may be quite sure that whatever they are, there is
nothing absolutely impossible about them, for you know
that although the general may undertake desperate
things, he never attempts anything that has not at least
a possibility of success in fact, as you know, he has
;

never yet failed in any enterprise that he has under-

'
taken.
**That is true enough," the colonel said, "and yet for
the life of me I cannot make out what else he can be
thinking of. Certainly to attack Toulouse would be
madness, and yet there is no one else to attack."
**Well, colonel, I can only say that time will show, and
I don't think you will have to wait verj^ long before you
know as much about it as I do."
Jack was right in this, for on the night of the second
day the earl called his officers together, and informd
them that he was waiting to join the English fleet, which
might at any moment come in sight. As hitherto noth-
ing had been known about the arrival of reinforcements,
the news excited the greatest joy. The earl had hoped
that at daybreak the fleet would be in sight, and as soon
as it was light he mounted a hill which gave him a wide
view over the sea, but to his deep disappointment not a
eaijl appeared above Jiq horizon. Knowing the desperate
250 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
state of the garrison at Barcelona, and that at any hour
ho might receive news that an assault had been delivered
and the city captured, his disappointment at the delay
in the appearance of the fleet was unbounded.
The roar of the distant guns around Barcelona came
distinctly to his ears, and he was almost wild with im- |
patience and anxiety. On reaching the shore again he
found that a fast-sailing felucca had just come in from
Barcelona. She had managed to evade the blockading
fleet, and bore an urgent letter from the king praying

Peterborough to come to his assistance. The earl did

not hesitate a moment, but determined to set sail at once
to find the fleet, and to bring it on to Barcelona with all
speed.
The astonishment and dismay of his officers at the
news that their general was about to leave them and em«
bark on such an enterprise were very great, but the earl
explained to the leaders the reasons for his anxiety to
gain the fleet. His commission appointed him to the
command at sea as well as on land, and on joining the
fleet he would be its admiral-in-chief. He feared that at
the sight of so powerful an armament the Count of
Toulouse would at once decline battle and make for
France. He determined, therefore, to advance only with
a force considerably inferior to that of the French, in
which case Toulouse, rather than abandon the siege of
Barcelona just when success seemed assured, would sail
out and give battle.
Should he do so the earl, however inferior his force,
had no doubts as to obtaining victory. Accompanied
only by Jack Stilwell and by Captain Humphrey, who
had taken the place of Graham, he embarked on board
the little felucca and put to sea. The weather was cold
and stormy, and the master of the boat did not like put-
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 251

ting out far from shore ; but the earl was peremptory,
and the felucca stood well out to sea. Night came on
without any signs of the fleet being discovered. The
hours of darkness passed slowly, for the boat was un«
decked and afforded no shelter, and the heavy seas
which broke over her kept all on board wetted to the
ekin.
At daybreak, to their great joy, they perceived a Brit-
ish man-of-war approaching. They at once made for
her, and found she was the Leopard, commanded by
Captain Price. The astonishment of that officer, and of
all on board, was unbounded at being boarded at break

of day almost out of sight of land from an open boat by

the admiral of all the fleets. The earl's stay on board
was but a short one. As soon as he had learned the
whereabouts of the rest of the fleet, and given instruc-
tions to Captain Price, he again embarked in the felucca,
and sailed for Sitjes.
The joy of the troops was great at the return of their
general, for the night had been so stormy that there
were great fears for his safety; but he was not to remain
with them long, for, having given orders that the whole
disposable force, about fourteen hundred men, should
embark in the boats before daybreak next morning, and
follow the fleet to Barcelona, he again with his aids-de-
camp took his place in the felucca and sailed for the fleet.
In the middle of the night he came across them, and
boarding the Prince George, hoisted his flag as admiral
of the fleet on the main top, and took the command. He
then sent a boat to Sir John Leake to acquaint him with
his orders and intentions, and another boat to advise
General Stanhope of his arrival; but the darkness delayed
the delivery of these messages till nearly morning, and
when day appeared the whole fleet was amazed at seeing
352 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
the flag of the admiral-in-chief flying on the Prince
George. The wind was strong and favorable, and the
fleet crowded on all sail; but when within about eighteen

miles of Barcelona one of the French lookout ships

sighted them, and made a signal to a consort further
along. She in turn passed on the news until it reached
the Count of Toulouse, who, without waiting to ascer-
tain the strength of the approaching squadron, at once
signaled to his fleet to weigh anchor, and, putting to sea.
Bailed for France.
The disappointment of the earl was great, as he had
fully calculated upon gaining a great naval battle in sight
of the city he had come to relieve. On the afternoon of
the 8th of May the leading vessels anchored off Barcelona,
and preparations were at once made for the landing of the
troops. The first on shore were the earl's
to set foot
veteran troops, who had according to his orders accom-
panied the fleet from Sitjes. The succor was welcome,
indeed the breaches were no longer defensible, and an
;

assault was hourly expected. The king himself came

down to receive the earl and his army the city went
;

wild with joy.

For a few days the French made a show of carrying on
the siege. They were still enormously superior in force;
but the energy and skill of Peterborough counterbalanced
the inequality. He worked day and night in superin-
tending the works of defense, and in placing the troopa
in readiness for the expected assault. Philip and many
of his officers were still in favor of an attack upon the
city; but Tesse as usual was opposed to anything like
vigorous measures, and his views were adopted by a
council of war.
At one o'clock on the morning of the 11th of May the
besiegers broke up their camp« and in great confusioa
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 253

made their way toward the French frontier, for Tesse

preferred even the ignominy of falling back into France
with his unsuccessful and dispirited army to retracing
his steps toward Saragossa, where his devastations and
cruelty had caused the whole population to rise in insur«
rection as soon as his army had passed into Catalonia.
Besides which, he had received news that Peterborough
had caused every pass and town on his way to the west
to be fortified and held by the Miquelets. Philip
accompanied the retreating army to Boussillon. Th<a
downfall of his hopes had been utter and complete. But
a few weeks before it had seemed that Spain was his,
and that the forces at his disposal were ample to crush
out the insurrection in Barcelona, and to sweep into the
sea the handful of the invaders. But all his plans had
been baffled, all his hopes brought to naught by the
genius and energy of one man, in spite of that man being
thwarted at every turn by the imbecile German coterie
who surrounded the king, and by the jealousy and ill-
will of his fellow generals.
Bad news met the fugitive at Boussillon. There he
heard that his countrymen had suffered a disastrous
defeat at Eamillies; that nearly all the Netherlands had
been wrested from France; that a heavy defeat had been
inflicted upon her at Turin, and that Italy was well-nigh
lost. It needed, indeed, but the smallest amount of
unanimity, enterprise, and confidence on the part of the
advisers and generals of King Charles to have placed him
securely and permanently upon the throne of Spain.
"When the flight of the besieging army was discovered
after daybreak by the besieged, they poured out from
Barcelona into the deserted camp. All the ordnance and
stores of the French had been abandoned. Two hun-
dred heavy brass guns, thirty mortars, and a vast quanti-
854 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE,
ity of shot, shells, and intrenching thousand
tools, three
barrels of powder, ten thousand sacks of corn, and a
Tast quantity of provisions and stores were found left
behind in the camp. Tesse had left, too, all his sick and
wounded, with a letter to the Earl of Peterborough beg-
ging him to see that they were well cared for.
The news of the hasty retreat of Marshal Tesse from
before Barcelona caused a shock of surprise throughout
Europe. In France it had never been doubted that Barce-
lona would fall, and as to the insurrection, it was be-
lieved that it could be trampled out without difficulty by
the twenty-five thousand French veterans whom the mar-
shal had at his disposal. As to the handful of British
troops whose exploits had occasioned such astonishment,
none had supposed for a moment that they would be able
to effect anything when opposed to so overwhelming a
force of the disciplined troops of France.
Peterborough himself had hardly hoped to save Barce-
lona, but, unlike his enemies, he had not considered that
the fall of that city would necessarily entail the final
defeat of the cause for which he fought. While busying
himself with the marches and achievements of the troops
under his command he had never ceased to take measures
to provide for the future. His marches and counter-
marches had made him thoroughly acquainted with the
country, and he had won the entire confidence of the
people.
He had, therefore, taken measures that even if Barce*
lona fell Philip should not march back again to his capi**

tal. From the day Tesse advanced he had had thousands

of the country people at work under the direction of a
few of his own officers, rendering each of the three roads
by which the French army could march from Barcelona
to Madrid impracticable. Gorges were blocked with
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 255

vast'masses of rock rolled down from the mountain side

at spots where the road wound along on the face of
precipices; and where it had only been made by blast-
ing, it was by similar means entirely destroyed. Bridges
were broken down, every castle and town on the lines of
retreat placed in a state of defense, and the cattle and
provisions driven ofl to places of safety.
Thus while the earl was himself engaged in the most
perilous adventures, he neglected nothing that the most
prudent and cautious general could have suggested to
insure the success of his plans. Even when affairs
looked most unpromising in Barcelona the earl wrote
cheerfully to the Buke of Savoy, saying that the circum-
stances were much better than were generally supposed;
and that the French officers, ignorant of the situation of
the country, would be astonished at the difficulties that
would be opposed to them on advancing even after suc-
cess and that if the siege were raised they would be
;

forced to abandon Spain, while all the western frontier

would be clear for the progress of Lord Galway and Das
Minas to Madrid.
A few days after the retreat of Marshal Tesse, to Jack's
great pleasure Graham came into Barcelona. He had, in
the confusion of the retreat, had little difficulty in slip-
ping away from his captors. His only danger had been
from the peasantry, at whose hands he had narrowly
escaped death, as they took him for a French officer;
but, upon being convinced by his assurances that he
was an Englishman and an aid-de-camp of the Earl of
Peterborough, they had provided him with a horse to
make his way back to Barcelona.
 —
;356 THE BRA VEBT OF TEE BBA VB,

ohapt;er xyi.
INGEATITUDE.

Barcelona rescued, Peterborough at once urged the

king to march upon Madrid and have himself proclaimed
king in his capital. There was no force which could
oppose his advance, and Lord Galway and the Portuguese
could move unresisted from the west and meet him there.
But it was a long time before Charles and his counselors
would listen to his advice; and although at last they
agreed to follow it, their resolution was short. In the
first place, they determined to leave so large a force

to garrison Catalonia that the army available for the

advance on Madrid would be very seriously weakened
fifteen hundred English and eleven hundred Spaniards
were to be left at Barcelona, sixteen hundred English
and Dutch and fifteen hundred Spanish at Gerona, eight
hundred and fifty Spanish and Dutch at Lerida, and five
hundred Spanish at Tortosa.
This but sixty-five hundred men available for serv-
left
and even this number was subsequently
ice in the field,
diminished by the vacillating Charles to forty-five hun-
dred. As Peterborough wrote to Lord Halifax: "'We
have saved kingdoms in spite of the king, who would
abandon them, and we have waged more dangerous war
with mininsters than with enemies. Lord Galway and
the Portuguese generals pass all understanding.**
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 257

No wonder the earl was astounded by the incom-

petence of Lord Galway and the Portuguese generals.
They had twenty thousand men, while to oppose them
there were but five thousand under the Duke of Berwick;
and yet after entering Spain they fell back, without
—
doing anything, into Portugal their retreat beginning
on the 11th of May, the day on which Philip retreated
from Barcelona. So that on the opposite side of Spain
two large armies simultaneously retired before others
vastly weaker than themselves. "When the news of
Tesse's retreat to France reached Portugal they again
advanced. Berwick was too weak to oppose them, and
on the 25th of June the advance guard of the allies occu-
pied Madrid, and there proclaimed Charles as king.
Had Galway and his colleagues now shown the slight-
est energy, and moved against Berwick's little force,
with which was Philip himself, they could have driven
them across the frontier without striking a blow, and the
French cause would have been lost in Spain, but, having
reached Madrid, they remained there doing absolutely
—
nothing leaving ample time to Philip to repair his
misfortunes, receive aid from France, and recommence
the campaign with vigor. As Peterborough wrote in-
dignantly to General Stanhope: *' Their halt is as fatal as
was Hannibars at Capua.**
As soon as the movement upon Madrid had been de-
cided upon, Peterborough sailed with the English and
Dutch infantry to "Valencia, where he was received with
enthusiasm by the inhabitants. He at once set to work
to raise a regiment of dragoons, and organized them in
three weeks. The very day they were mounted he
marched them upon Castile. During this time not only
had Lord Galway made no movement, but he had joined
in the German intrigue by which Charles was induced to
 "

358 THE BMA VEST OF THE BRA VS.

abandon the plan of marching to his capital tinder tha
escort of Peterborough.
The alliedgenerals at Madrid were indeed basely
jealous of the brilliant conqueror of Catalonia and Yalen-
cia. His deeds had thrown theirs entirely into the
shade. "With utterly insufficient means he had done
everything ; with ample means they had ajBfected nothing,
and had only been enabled to enter Madrid by the fact
that he had drawn off the army which had successfully
opposed them.
After incessant labor in organizing his force, the earl
sent two thousand men, under the command of Lieuten-
ant-General Wyndham, to besiege the towns of Kequena
and Cuenca —two places of some strength which blocked
the road between Valencia and Madrid.
Wyndham easily accomplished the task ; and the road
being thus secured, Peterborough wrote to Charles that
"nothing remained to hinder him from entering Madrid
with even a small escort of horse.'* The earl had every-
thing prepared along the road for the passage of the
king ; but although he wrote over and over again urging
him not to delay, Charles refused to stir, and told Gen-
eral Stanhope (who backed Peterborough's entreaties)
that he had ** no becoming equipment with which to enter
his capital."
*'Sire,'* the English general exclaimed in indignant
astonishment, "our William the Third entered London in
a hackney, with a cloak-bag behind it, and was made
king not many weeks after.

A month after the date originally settled Charles set

out and proceeded to Taragona, but then, to the aston*
ishment of the English general and envoy, they learned
he had altered his mind and taken the route to Sara-
goasa. Whea he heard the news Peterborough sent
 THB BRA VEST OF TBS BRA VR 259

couriers day after day with urgent letters to the king.

He preTailedupon a deputation of the Yalencian nobility

k) follow with the same purpose, and transmitted the
c^pinion of a council of war, which was unanimous in
entreating the king to stay his steps. The king again
hesitated, and was about to follow Peterborough's advice,
when a French officer in the Portuguese service arrived
from Galway and Das Minas, again urging him to move
by the route which they had suggested.
Charles again hesitated, the Count of Cifuentes (who
was with him) gave his advice in favor of the Saragossa
?oute, and the king decided on that line. On the 26th
Df July the earl summoned a council of war, including
the Governor of Valencia, two Spanish generals, and hia
own officers. They agreed unanimously that Peterbor-
ough should march his army to Madrid or join the army
in Portugal, as circumstances might require. Just before
they started letters came in from the king desiring that
Peterborough should send the forces under his command
Bither to relieve the Duke of Savoy or to capture the
Balearic Isles.
The earl declined to follow this imgratefal suggestion,
vhich was manifestly intended by Charles and his ad-
visers, English, Portuguese, and German, to send away
from his kingdom the man who had won it for him.
Being fortunately independent of orders, Peterborough
inarched for Castile, as he and the cooncii of war had
previously determined.
Charles was not long in regretting that he had not
followed Lord Peterborough's advice. Instead of the
triumphant procession from Saragossa to Madrid, which
lie had been promised, he was met with the most deter*
aoined opposition.
Evei;y town and village in the center and sooth cC
360 TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VK
Spain rose against him Salamanca and Toledo declared
;

for Philip, and Andalusia raised eighteen thousand men.

The troops of Las Torres from Valencia, and those who
had retreated under Tesse to Eoussillon, had joined Ber-
wick at Xadraque, and Philip had placed himself at the
head of this formidable army. Charles was obliged to
send in the utmost haste to ask the Earl of Peterborough
to extricate him from the position in which he had placed
himself by neglecting his advice.
The complied with the request, and
earl instantly
marching with all speed overtook the king on the 4:th of
August at Pastrina, and thence on the following day
escorted him in safety to the army of Portugal at
Guadalaxara.
The total strength of the united allied army was eight-
—
een thousand men a force inferior, indeed, to that with
which Berwick confronted them; and that portion
brought by Lord Galway and the Portuguese General
Das Minas was not to be relied upon, having fallen into
a state of great indiscipline owing to the tedious delays,
the frequent retreats, and the long inactivity to which it
had been subjected by the incompetence of its leaders.
That this was so was evident by the fact that the day
after the king's arrival the French made a partial attack,
and many of the allied battalions at once fell into com-
plete confusion. But this was not the greatest drawback
to the efficiency of the allied army ; they were paralyzed
—
by the dissensions of their commanders Galwaj', Das
Minas, and the Dutch Count de Noyelles. Each and ail
declined to acknowledge Peterborough as commander-in-
chief. The earl then offered to waive his own rights
entirely and to fight as a simple volunteer, and that Das
Minas, Lord Galway, and the Dutch general should each
command their own forces, receiving their orders from
the king.
 ;

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 261

This offer was, however, refused by the three generals.

The partisans of the various leaders shared their animos-
ity. The English troops of Peterborough claiming, and
justly, that Catalonia and Valencia had been gained and
won by him, and that to him alone the king owed
his crown, were furious that those who had shown
naught but incapacity from the commencement of the
campaign should now refuse to recognize his authority.
"While the disputes continued Berwick had nearly suc-
ceeded in surprising Gal way, and a disastrous defeat had
only been prevented by the gallant defense made by
Lord Tyrawley of an outpost which he commanded, and
which he held for two hours against all the efforts of the
French, and so gave time for the army to make a hasty
retreat.
The army was, moreover, straitened by want of provi-
sions; Lord Galway and his colleagues had made no
arrangements whatever for its supply. Day and night
the German favorites of the king, who had ruined their
master's cause by dissuading him from following the
advice of Lord Peterborough, now labored with the king
still further to destroy his confidence in Peterborough
and finding himself treated coldly by the ungrateful
monarch, who owed everything to him, opposed at every
turn by the other generals, and seeing that his presence
was worse than useless, Peterborough announced his in-
tention of obeying the orders from Queen Anne, dated
the 12th of June, and repeated on the 17th, to proceed
to the assistance of the Duke of Savoy.
On the same evening a council of war was held. The
king formally laid Peterborough's announcement before
the generals, who, delighted to get rid of their rival,
unanimously recommended that he should depart.
On the 11th of August, full of mortification and dis-
262 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
gust at the treatment that he had experienced and the
base ingratitude of the king, Peterborough rode from
the camp at Guadalaxara. As if to humiliate him as far
as possible, he was given only an escort of eighty
dragoons, although there were seriouss difficulties to be
encountered on the road to Valencia. His two favorite
aids-de-camp, Stilwell and Graham, were the only officers
who accompanied him. It is satisfactory to know that
from the moment of the earl's departure misfortune and
disaster fell upon the fortunes of King Charles, and that
the crown which he had received from the English eari
was wrested from his unworthy grasp.
Peterborough had gone but a short distance when he
heard that all his baggage, consisting of eight wagon-
loads, and of the value of eight thousand pounds sterling,
had fallen into the hands of the enemy. When he left
Valencia to extricate the king from his difficulties he had
ordered it to be sent after him to Guadalaxara. When
it arrived at Cuenca, General Wyndham, who commanded
there, forwarded it with a small escort; but it was
attacked while passing through the town of Huete by a
party of the Duke of Berwick's troopers.
The earl was furious at the news. Not only were all
his personal effects, jewels, and uniforms lost, but his
spare horses, carriages, and mules. Upon making in-
quiry he found that the troopers of Berwick had been
aided by the inhabitants of Huete, who had given infor-
mation to the troopers and shared in the plunder. His
first impulse was to burn the town to the ground, and as

when he arrived there he was joined by Wyndham 's

force, he had ample power to do so.
He immediately summoned the magistrates and clergy
to meet him, and told them in decided terms that they
must find his baggage and the rogues that had stolen it.
 :

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE 263

After making a search in the town they were able to find

but a small portion of it. They then offered to pay him
ten thousand pistoles for his loss, or any other sum which
he might choose to name ; but the earl, with that singu-
lar generosity which formed so marked a part of his
character, declined the offer, and said
"I see you are honest gentlemen; for my part I will
sit content with my loss if you wiU bring all the corn of
the district to the army.**
The townspeople were delighted at this clemency, as
corn was much more easy to procure than money, and it
was accordingly sent to Lord Galway's camp, where it
sufficed to supply the whole army for six weeks.
This was an act of almost unparalleled magnanimity
and generosity to the generals whose jealousy and
machinations had driven him from the army but the earl;

was so satisfied at thus heaping coals of fire upon the

heads of his rivals that he continued his journey in the
highest state of good-humor in spite of the loss which he
had suffered, and which, as he was by no means rich,
was a very considerable one. He took with him Killi-
grew's dragoons and sent on "Wyndham's brigade to join
Lord Galway. On the way he encountered several
adventures.
One night when he arrived at the town of Cam-
little

pillo he heard of a barbarous massacre that had that day

been perpetrated in a neighboring village upon a small
detachment of English soldiers, who had just been dis-
charged from the hospital at Cuenca, and were proceed-
ing under the command of an officer to join Wyndham's
battalion of the guards, to which they belonged. They
had slept at the village, and were marching out uncon-
scious of danger, when a shot in the back killed their
of&cer^ and the peasants at once rushed in upon the men
264 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.

and killed several of them, together with their wives

who had accompanied them. The were dragged np
rest
a hill near the village,and then one by one thrown down
a deep pit.
No sooner did the earl hear of the outrage than he
ordered the trumpets to sound to horse. The dragoons,
who, weary with their long march, had just unsaddled,
turned out wondering at the order but when they heard
;

what had happened they mounted with an impatience

for vengeance equal to that of their general. Arriving
at the village they found to their great disappointment,
that the murderers had fled, and that hardly any of the
inhabitants remained. They found, however, hidden in
the church the clothes of some of the murdered guards-
men. The sacristan of the church was alleged by the
inhabitants, who were narrowly examined, to have taken
an active part in the slaughter, and the earl ordered him
to be hung up at once to the knocker of his own door.
The troops then rode up to the top of the hill, and the
earl and his aids-de-camp dismounted at the edge of the
pit. Thej^ had procured a rope at the village, although
the inhabitants insisted that no one could be found alive,
as the pit which was a disused one, was of vast depth.
'*Is any one alive down there?" the earl shouted.
"Yes, yes,*' a voice cried a short distance below them.
*'Thank God friends have come; but help me quickiy^
for I cannot hold on much longer."
Jack seized the rope and twisted one end round his
body. Several of the soldiers lowered him down, and
some twenty feet below the edge he came upon the man
who had spoken. As he fell he had caught some bushes
which grew in the side of the old pit, and having man-
aged to find a ledge on which to place his feet, had main-
tained his grasp in this perilous position the whole day.
6. of B. Jack rescues his Friend the SERGEANT.—Page 26s.
 THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VK 265

As the rope was amply strong enough to hold two. Jack

clasped his arms around the man's body and called to
those above to haul up. They were soon at the STirface.
The soldier, who had fainted when he found himself
in safety, was laid down and brandy poured down his
throat,and Jack, to his astonishment and satisfaction,
recognized in him his old friend Sergeant Edwards. He
did not wait, however, for him to recover sensibility,
but at once told the troopers to lower him again to the
end of the rope. This they did, and Jack then shouted
several times, but received no answer. He then dropped a
small stone he had brought down with him, but no sound
came back in return, and, satisfied that none of the
soldiers could have survived the fall, for he was already
more than sixty feet below the surface, he shouted to
those above to draw him up. He found that Edwards
had now recovered his senses, and was giving to the earl
a detailed account of the massacre, which so exasperated
him that he gave orders that the village should be burned
to the ground, a command which was willingly carried
out by the troopers. Edward was delighted at recogniz-
ing Jack, and when, after the destruction of the village,
the party rode back to Campillo for the night, the two
old friends had a long chat as to the events which had
happened since they last parted at Barcelona.
"Is it true sir, that the general has resigned his com*
mand?'*
"Quite true, Edwards.**
**And is he going home, sir?**
"No ; he will sail to aid the Duke of Savoy ; at least
that is the present intention ; but I should not be sur-
prised if he is in England ere many months are over.'*
"Well, sir, I should like to get my discharge and go
home too; being chucked down that pit has given me a
 "

;j66 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BBA VB,

regular sickness of campaigning among these savages.

Talk about pirates, Captain Stilwell, why, I had rather
fail among pirates any day than among these bloodthirsty
wretches. Calls themselves Christians, too ! The pirates
wasn't hypocrites, in that way, anyhow; they didn't bob
down on their knees before everj^ little trumpery doll
stuck up by the wayside, and then go and cut a man's
—
throat afterward it was all fair and square with them.
Anyways, it don't matter to me, as I see, whether they
has King Charles or King Philip to rule over them ; I
wishes him joy of the job, whichever it may be ; but I
don't see no call to be risking my life in being shot, or
chucked down pits, or stabbed in my bed, for such a lot
of varmint any longer. I have served my full time, and
tan take my pension ; beside, I have got something like
a thousand pounds stowed away in a snug hiding-place
near Barcelona.
"You have, Edwards? I am glad to hear it; I had no
Idea you were such a rich man.**
"It's prize-money, sir, lawful earned prize-money,
though I don't know between ourselves as the colonel
would have approved of it; so I stowed it away and says
nothing till I gets a chance to lift it before I set sail.
It's been rather worrying me in case we should be
ordered to take ship at some other port.**
"Well, but how did you get it, Edwards?**
"Well, sir, I know that I can tell you, *cause I am
Bure it won't go no further. Just before the French
came down to besiege Barcelona I was up with the
"brigade at Lerida. The people were pretty much divided
up there, but the news as the French was coming to drive
us into the sea made the folks as was against us very
bold. The had to be doubled at night, for lots
sentries
of our men were found stabbed, ftnd it wa» dangerous to
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 26?

go about outside the town except in parties. Well, sir.

Sergeant Adams of ours, as smart a soldier as ever wore

pigtail, had fallen in love with the daughter of an inn-
keeper at a place four miles from Lerida.
'*It wasn't much but there was a big
of a village,
convent close by, one of the richest in Spain, they said.
The girl was fond of Adams, and had agreed, bo he told
me, to cut and run when the regiment marched away,
and to be spliced to him. I rather tried to dissuade him
from the affair, for, as I pointed out, how would a Span-
ish woman get on in barracks with the other sergeant's
wives, specially if she was as pretty as the whole lot put
together? However, of course, he wouldn't listen to
—
that no chap ever does when he*s downright in love; so
he asked me one afternoon if I would go out with him
and Sergeant Saunders to the village, so that while we
were having our glass he could manage to get a few
words with the girl to arrange about her joining him,
for the French were only two or three marches away,
and we might have to fall back any day.
''I didn't much like the job, for it was a risky busi-
ness three of us going so far ; but he pointed out that
we needn't start till it got dark, so nobody would see us
till we got and we needn't stay there above
to the village,
a quarter of an hour, and could be off before any obo
who meant mischief could find out that we were alone;
besides, hitherto the people there had always been
friendly, for, being just the right distance for a walk,
and the wine there being good, our fellows went over
there a good deal so the long and short of it was we
:

went.
"We got there alland walked into the wineshop
right,
as usual and sat down and called for wine. There were
aalf a dozen fellows sitting there drinking. They were
 —
268 TBE BRA VE8T OF THE BRA VB.
talking aloud when we entered, but stopped at once aa
we came and looked as men do when you come across
in,
them just as they are saying something as is no good
about you. "We passed the word as usual, and were soon
chatting with them. They didn't seem very free and
friendly, and asked several questions about the French
army, and whether we had any troops coming up to help
us hold Lerida. I said we expected five or six thousand
in a day or two, which seemed rather to take them by
surprise.
"Well, presentlj^ Adams got up quietly and went out
of the door, and I knew he was going round to the back
to meet his girl. I had seen a look pass atween them
when she brought in our wine. We went on talking
quiet for some time ; four or five other men dropped in,
and some of them got talking together in low tones, and
I began to wish we were well out of it, and to wonder
how much longer Adams was going to be before he came
back. Suddenly we heard a loud scream, and Manola
—
that was the girl's name came rushing in from behind.
'He's killed him,* she screamed, and she fell down as if
she had been killed too. As I heard afterward, her old
rascal of a father had for some time suspected something
was up between her and Adams, and when he missed him
had stolen out behind and came upon them just as he
was kissing her and saying good-by. Then he whipped
his knife out, and before Adams had time to turn round,
stabbed him in the back, and the sergeant fell dead with*
out a word.
"Close behind the girl rushed in the innkeeper, swear-
ing and cutsing and calling us heretics and dogs and
robbers and every other bad kind of name. The men
got up and began to stamp and shout, and seeing that it
was no time for argument I said to Saunders. *We had
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VS. 269

best make a bolt of it. Bill. ' So we out swords and

made a dash for the inner door, for they had closed in at
the other with their knives out. "VVe got safely through
the house. Just outside the back door we came upon
the body of Adams. "We stopped a moment and turned
him over to see if he was dead, but it was all up with
him.
"It didn't take a moment to look; but, before it was
done, they were upon us, both from behind and running
round from the front of the house. "We cut and slashed
for a moment and then bolted with them at our heels.
We got separated in a minute. I turned in among some
bushes and lost Saunders. I heard afterward he was
killed before he had run fifty yards. Luckily they
missed me for the moment, and I lay down among the
bushes and thought it over. The whole village was up
by this time, as I could hear by the shouts; and after
thinking it over I concluded that there was no chance of
my making my way back to Lerida, and that my best
plan would be to go up to the convent and ask for shelter
there. I knew well enough that once inside I should be
safe from the peasants.
"Well, I crawled along for some distance. Half a
dozen times they was nigh stumbling over me as they
searched about in the gardens and vineyards ; but at last
I made my way safe up to the convent and rang at the bell.
Presently the little window in the door opened, and a
monk said, *Who is there?* I kept out of his sight and
said in Spanish: *A fugitive who seeks sanctuary.*
Thinking I was only somebody who had stabbed three or
four men in a row, the monk opened the door. He gave
an exclamation when he saw my uniform when I entered,
and would have slammed the door in my face; but I
pushed in. Then he gave a shout, and five or six other
270 THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA VE,
monks came running up and set up a jabbering, and
stood staring at me as if I had been a wild beast. Then
they wanted to turn me out; but I wouldn't budge, and
as I had my sword still in my hand^they didn't know
what to do.
*'At last some chap in authority came down.
[ He
talked |^to me and tried to [persuade me
but I to leave ;

said, 'No, I claim sanctuary;' and as they were ready to

give sanctuary to the worst of murderers, I didn't see as
they could deny it to me who had committed no crime
whatever. He went away and came back again after
some time, and then told me to sheath my sword and
follow him. This I did, and he led the way to a sort of
cell where there were some ^rushes laid on a stone bed,
and told me that I could remain there. ,

*' Thinking it was all right I lay down ^and went to

sleep, but was presently woke by half \sk dozen monks,
who were tying my hands and feet with cords. It was
no use struggling, so I lay quiet; and when they had
done, they carried me away; took me some distance, and
went down a flight of stairs; a door was unlocked, and
then I was pitched down on the ground as if I had been
a log of wood. I didn't move much that night.
"In the morning there was just enough light came
through a little slit high up in the wall to show me that
I was in a place about six feet square. It was perfectly
bare, without as much as a bit of straw to lie on. Pres-
ently two monks came
One of them untied the cords
in.
which fastened my hands. They placed some black
bread and a jug of water by me, and then went out
again. There they kept Bae for
six days. At the end of
that time they told me
come along with them. I had,
to
of course, taken the cords off my legs when I had got my
hands free, and I followed them, wondering what was to
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 271

come next. I was taken to the door of the convent, and

there I saw a party of French troopers, to whom the
xnonks handed me over. Imounted behind one of them,
and was taken to Marshal Tesse's camp near Lerida, and
a couple of days afterward sent back to Saragossa.
**I didn't stop long in the prison there, for the next

day the people rose, turned the French from the citadel,
and opened the prison doors and let out all the prisoners.
They made a good deal of me, as I was the only English-
man there, supplied me with money and clean clothes,
and provided me with a guide and a mule to take me by
roundabout by-roads so that I should avoid the French
army. I put my regimentals in a bag, which I carried
behind me, and at last got down to Barcelona the very
day before the French arrived there.
'"I found my
regiment already there. I got a rare blow-
ing up from the colonel for having gone out from Lerida
without leave; but as he said he thought I had been
punished enough already, and bore a good character, he
overlooked it, of which I was glad enough, I can tell
you, for I expected nothing less than reduction to the
ranks.'*
''Well after Lord Peterborough arrived with the fleet,

and the French bolted as hard as they could to France,

"Wyndham's brigade went up again to Lerida. I got
chatting the affair over with Jack Thompson, who was
General Wyndham*s servant, and we agreed between us
that we would give those monks a fright, and perhaps
get some compensation out of them. So we got hold of
four of Killigrew's dragoons, who, when they heard what
was wanted, was ready enough for the spree. So one
day when General "Wyndham bad gone off with a party
for the day, Thompson borrowed his hat and plumes and
Lis cloak, and hiding them up, went out of camp with
273 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
me to a place a quarter of a mile away, where tlie four
troopers with two spare horses were waiting for us.
Thompson put on the general's hat and cloak and
mounted one horse, while I got on the other, and away
we rode out to the village.
*' First of all we went to the inn and seized the inn*
keeper. Manola wasn't there, and I never heard whai
—
became of her whether her father had sent her to a con-
vent or killed her, I don't know. However, we held a
court regular. Thompson he was the judge, and I gav(
evidence as to the innkeeper having murdered pooj
Adams, and Thompson sentenced him to death, and w<\
hung him up over his door. "When we had set that joX
right we went to the convent and rang the bell. Thej
opened quick enough this time.
"'Tell the prior,* Thompson said, 'that the Earl o.^
Peterborough is here, and desires to see him instantly.'
''Mighty frightened the monk looked, I can tell you^
as he went off to give the message, and came back in ^
minute asking Thompson to follow him. We all dis-
mounted. Two of the troopers stopped to look after the
horses, and the others with drawn swords followed
Thompson and me, "We were shown into the prior's
room, which was fit for a prince. The prior looked
mighty pale, and so did two or three other chaps who
were with him.
"'Look here,' Thompson said in an angry tone of
voice, 'I am the Earl of Peterborough, and I hear from
this man, Sergeant Edwards, of the king's regiment of
grenadiers, that he was basely and treacherously made a
prisoner by you that he was confined in an underground
;

cell and fed with bread and water for a week, and then
branded over to the French. Now, sir, I give you an
hour to clear out with all your gang from this convent^
 : :

THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 273

which I intend to destroy. You will remain in the

courtyard as prisoners. You will then be tried for this
treacherous act against one of the King of England's
guards, and all found to have had a hand in the proceed-
ing will be hung.'
"Well, you may guess the fright they were in.
sir,

They knew that the earl was just the sort of man to carry
his threat into execution, and they thought their last day
was come. You never saw such a set of cowardly
Wretches in your life. I am blessed if they didn't go
down on their knees and howl. At last Thompson began
to think he had worked them up enough, and he said
Bternly
**
'Well, I am
disposed to have mercy, and if in half
an hour you pay down the sum of five thousand pounds
as a ransom for the convent and your wretched lives I
*
will be merciful.
"Then there was a fresh howling. They swore by all
the saints that such a sum as five thousand pounds was
Dever heard of. Thompson gradually dropped his de-
mands to three thousand; still they swore they hadn't
got it, and he said sternly to one of the troopers
" 'Eide back and fetch up the regiment which is a
*
mile outside the village.
"Then more howling, land at last they
there was
offered to give seven hundeed pounds, which was all the
money they had in the treasury, and to make it
up in precious stones. After a deal of haggling Thomp-
Bon consented, and I believe if he had stood out for three
times as much he would have got it, for the convent was
rich in relics, and no end of precious offerings were
stored away in their chests. However, he didn't wish
to push matters too far, and in half an hour they brought
the money, and a handful of diamonds and rubies, and
274 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VK
things they had picked out of their settings in the vasea
and crucifixes and vestments, and what-not.
*'We didn't know if they were real or not; but Thomp-
son told them he should give them to a jeweler to value,
and if he found they had cheated him by giving him
false stones he would come back and hang the lot of
them. So off we rode again.
"When we got back to Lerida we took two or three of
the stones to a jeweler and found that they were all
right. Then we divided the swag into three parts as we
had agreed. Thompson took one, I took another, and
the other was divided among the four troopers, who were
not running such a risk as we were. I never heard any-
thing more about the matter, as far as I was concerned,
though there was a row. The prior heard that Peterbor^
ough had never been near Lerida, and came over and
saw General "Wyndham.
'^Killigrew's dragoons were paraded, but the prior
couldn't spot any of them. We had chosen four fair
fellows, and they had all darkened themselves a bit be-
fore they went. Luckily the prior did not say anything
about me. I expect he was afraid that when Wjmham
heard how I had been treated there he might have in-
flicted a fresh fine on the convent however, I was not
;

there at the time, for I had a touch of fever the day after
the affair, and made myself out a bit worse than I was,
and so got sent down to Barcelona, where I buried my
share of the plunder four or five inches deep in a corner
of the hospital yard. As to Thompson, there wasn't
any reason why suspicion should fall upon him. Soon
after I got back to my regiment I got ill again and was
left in a hospital at Cuenca, and had a narrow escape of
it this morning.**
"It was a risky business,** Jack said* "and it would
 "

TEE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 275

tave gone very hard with you and Thompson if you had
been found out."
"So it would, sir. I knew that; but you see, it was
only right and just those fellows should pay for their
treatment of me. If I had laid the case before General
"Wyndham, no doubt he would have punished them just
as severely as I did, only the fine would have gone into
'*
the army treasury, instead of going to the right person.
'*I am afraid, Edwards, that you have not got rid of

those loose notions of morality you picked up among the

pirates,'* Jack said, smiling.
"Perhaps not. Captain Stilwell. You see, bad habits
stick to a man but I have done with them now.
; When
I get back to England I shall buy a snug public house
at Dover, and with that and my pension I shall be in
clover for the rest of my life.

It was not until the voyage home that Jack, after

obtaining a promise of secrecy, related to the earl the
liberty which had been taken with his name. It was
just a freak after Peterborough's heart, and he was im-
mensely amused.
"The rascals!" he said, "they deserved hanging, every
one of them ; but the story is a capital one, and I should
like to have been there myself to have seen the fright of
the prior and his assistants. They richly deserve what
befell them and more for betraying sanctuary. If it had
been a scoundrel who had cut his wife's throat, and
stabbed half a dozen men, they would have refused to
give him up to the civil power, and would have stood on
the rights of sanctuary of the Church. I think they,
were let off very easily. Let me see, is not that the
same fellow that I exchanged into the grenadiers at
Gibraltar at your request, for his conduct in that busi-
eesg of the mutiny on board your ship?"
 "

276 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

"The same man, sir. He has led a queer life. He
was a sailor originally, and "was taken by pirates and
forced to join them, and had a narrow escape of being
hung when the vessel he sailed in was captured by an
English cruiser; but his life was spared, and he was
drafted into the army, and he is a willing and faithful
soldier of the queen, and really a worthy fellow."
"He is evidently an arrant old scamp, Stilwell. Still,
as long as we recruit our army as we do, we cannot look
lor morality as well as bravery,and I dare say your fel-
low no worse than the sest. If you ever run against
is

him in London you must bring him to me, and I will

hear his story from his own lip».
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BMA YE. ^71

CHAPTEE XVn.
HOME.

Upon the Peterborough at Valen=

arrival of the Earl of
cia he was received with the profoundest sympathy and
respect by the people, who were filled with indignation
at the treatment which the man whose daring and genius
had freed Catalonia and Valencia of the French had re-
ceived at the hands of their ungrateful monarch. Find-
ing that a portion of the fleet had been ordered to the
"West Indies, the earl was obliged to abandon his project
of capturing Minorca and then carrying substantial aid
to the Duke of Savoy. He, however, went to Genoa,
and there borrowed a hundred thousand pounds, which
he brought back to Valencia and sent to the king for the
use of the army.
The cause was already well-nigh desperate,
of Charles
Castile was and the enemj' were pressing forward to
lost,
recover Catalonia and Valencia. Affairs were in the
utmost state of confusion. Peterborough's rivals having
got rid of him now, quarreled among themselves, for
their only bond of union was their mutual hatred of the
©arl.
The king himself, while he pretended to flatter him,
wrote letters behind his back to England bringing all
sorts of accusations against him, and succeeded in
obtaining an order for his return. Before leaving he
implored the king and his generals to avoid a battle,
which would probably be disastrous^ and to content
278 ^^^ ^^^ y^^'^ ^^ THE BRA Vff.
themselves with a defensive war until Eugene of Savoy
and the Duke of Marlborough broke the power of France
elsewhere. His opinion was overruled, and the result
was the disastrous battle of Almanza, in which the hopes
of Charles of Austria of obtaining the crown of Spain
were finally crushed. Peterborough embarked on the
14th of May on board the Kesolution man-of-war, com*
manded by his second son Henry.
The Eesolution was accompanied by two frigates, the
Enterprise and the Milford Haven. The King of Spain's
envoy to the court of Savoy also sailed in the Kesolution.
The earl took with him his two aids-de-camp, who were
both too indignant at the treatment which their chief
had received to desire to remain with the army in Spain.
The little squadron sailed first for Barcelona, where it
only remained a few hours, and then set sail for Italy.
On the fifth day at sea they fell in with a French fleet
of six men-of-war. Two carried eighty guns, two
seventy, one sixty-eight, and the other fifty-eight. The
Kesolution was a slow sailer, and the French, who at
once gave chase, gained rapidly upon her. As resistance
against such overwhelming odds seemed hopeless, Peter-
borough determined to go with the Spanish envoy and
the state papers on board the Enterprise. There was
little time for reflection. A small boat was lowered, and
the earl, with a hasty adieu to his son. Jack, and
Graham, descended the ship's side with the Spanish
envoy and rowed away to the Enterprise.
**We are fated to see the inside of a French prison,
after all," Jack said to Graham.
*'I don't know, Stilwell. We have both been in their
bands once, and did not stay there long. I can hardly
believe that our luck's going to desert us at last.'*
''I don't see much ehance of our escape this timOf
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 279

G-raHam. Six ships against one are too great odds even
for English sailo 5. The smaLvist of them carries as
many guns as we uo, and once a prisoner on board a ship
there no slipping away.**
is

'*~Ve are not prisoners yet, Jack, and I don't think

that Mordaunt will strike his flag without a struggle,
though they are six to one. He is just his father over
again as far as courage goes.**
'*Well, I hope, anyhow, the earl will get away," Jack
said. "If it hadn't been for all those state papers he is
burdened with I am sure he would have stuck to the
Kesolution and fought it out. It would be just the kind
of desperate adventure to suit him. See, he has reached
the Enterprise, and she and the Milford Haven are
spreading every sail ; but although they will leave us be-

hind I question whether they will outsail the French.

They are coming up fast.'*
''It will soon be dark," Graham said, ''and they may
be able to slip away. You may be sure the French will
attend to us first, most valuable prize."
as being the
"Well, gentlemen," Captain Mordaunt said, coming
up to them, "you arc going to have a piece of new ex-
perience. I know you have been through some appar-
ently hopeless conflicts on land with my father, but I
don't think you have ever seen a sea fight."
"Are you going to fight them all, sir?" Jack asked.
"I am going to try," the captain said. "My orders
were to go to Leghorn, and to Leghorn I mean to go if
the ship floats but I tell you honestly I do not think
;

there is much chance of our getting there. Still, as long

as the ship floats, the British flag will float over her."
"Is there anything we can do, sir?" Jack asked,
••"We shall be happy to serve as volunteers in any capac*
ity in which you think we may be useful."
280 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.
€f
'Until it comes to boarding I fear that you cannot
help/* the captain said, ''except by walking about be-
tween decks and cheering and inspiriting the men. The
presence of officers looking cool and confident among
them always does good. If the enemy try to bo j:d us
you shall fight by my side."
The two fast-sailing French vessels were so close when
night fell that it was hopeless to try to evade them either
by changing the ship's course or by lowering the sails.
At ten o'clock they were less than a mile astern, one on
either quarter. The ship had long since been ready for
action, and the men were now called to the guns ; but
the enemy did not open fire, but could, by the night-
glasses, be seen somewhat to shorten sail so as to keep
about the same distance behind the Eesolution.
"Cowardly dogs," the young captain said, "they do
not mean to fight until the whole of their consorts come
up. However, we ought not to grumble, as every hour
takes us so much nearer port.'*
He then ordered the men to lie down by the guns and
get what sleep they could until the enemy opened fire-
Jack and Graham, finding that there was nothing to be
done, threw themselves into their hammocks, and slept
till five o'clock in the morning. They were then aroused
and went on deck. The six French ships had now all
come up, and were coming on in a body.
"Good-morning, gentlemen," the young captain said
gayly. "We have a fine morning for our amusement.
I wish the wind would freshen a little more so as to take
this lubberly old ship faster through the water."
At six o'clock the leading vessel of the French squad-
ron opened fire, and at the signal her consorts all fol-
lowed her example. Some of them were now almost
ftbreast of the Eesolution, and the iron shower tore
 TffB BBA VEST OF THE BRA VB, t^\

through her sails and cut her rigging. She answered

with a broadside from both sides, and the battle com-
menced in earnest.
In ail the annals of British seamanship there is no more
heroic story than that of the fight between the Eesolu-
tion and the six French men-of-war. From six in the
morning until half-past three in the afternoon she main-
tained the unequal contest, still keeping on under full
Bail toward her port, only yawing occasionally to pour a
broadside into one or other of her foes. They were now
running along the coast, and the peasants on the distant
hills must have watched with astonishment the unequal
fight as the vessels pressed on past them. By half*
past three the Eesolution was little more than a wreck,
Her sails were riddled with holes, many of her spars shd;
away, her sides ragged and torn, and many of her crew
killed, but the remainder of the crew still fought thei*
guns unflinchingly.
"We can do no more," Captain Mordaunt said to Jack
**The carpenter has just reported that the mainmast ijji

so seriously injured that at any moment it may go ove?

the side. It is impossible to hope any longer to reach
Leghorn, but my ship I am determined they shall noV\
have."
So saying, he gave orders to the first lieutenant, and
the vessel's head was suddenly turned straight toward
the shore. The French, astonished at so desperate a
course, did not venture to follow her, and the Eesolution
threaded her way through the dangerous reefs till at last
she brought up with a sudden crash which sent her tot-
tering mainmast over the side.
The French advanced cautiously until nearrng the
reefs, and then opened a distant fire, which the Eesolu-
tion did not return. The captain ordered the exhausted
282 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE.

crew from their guns, a strong allowance of grog was

served out, and after a meal the men felt again ready for
work. Jack and his companion were at dinner with the
captain, when the officer in charge of the deck reported
that the French ships were lowering their boats.
*'Let the men rest as long as possible, Mr. Darwin,
but when you see the boats fairly on their way toward
us beat to quarters." A few minutes later the roll of
the drums was heard. "Now, gentlemen, we will go on
deck," the captain said, "since they will not let us
alone. But if their ships could not take us I do not think
that their boats will have much chance."
Dusk was closing in when they went on deck and saw
all the boats of the six French men-of-war crowded with

men, rowing in a line toward them. The captain gave

the order for the men to load with grape. As soon as
the French flotilla came well within range the word was
given, and a storm of balls swept their line.
Several of the boats were sunk at once, the others
paused to pick up their comrades from the water, and
then again dashed forward but by this time the guns
;

were again loaded, and the hail of iron again crashed

into them. With splendid bravery the French still
advanced until close to the ship. Then Captain Mor-
daunt ordered all the lower-deck guns to be run in and
the ports closed, and the crew to come on deck. While
some worked the upper guns others kept up a heavy fire

of musketry upon the boats, which swarmed round the

ship.
Again and again the French made determined efforts
to board, but they were unable to climb the lofty sides
of the ship. At length, after suffering terrible loss, the
French sailors gave up the attempt and rowed sullenly
off to their ships, covered by the darkness from the £ng-
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE. 283

iisii Captain Mordaunt took off his cap and gave

fire.

the signal, and a hearty cheer arose from the crew. The
night passed quietly, the terribly diminished crew lay
down as they stood by the guns, in readiness to repel
another attack should it be attempted. The next morn-
ing one of the French eighty-gun ships got under way,
and, with merely a rag of canvas shown, and her boats
rowing ahead and sounding to find a channel through
the reefs, gradually made her way toward the Kesolution.
"Well, gentlemen," the captain said, ''I think you
will agree with me that nothing further can be done.
The ship is already half-full of water, the magazine is
flooded, and the whole of the powder wetted. The ship
is a wreck, and I should be only throwing away the men's
'*
lives uselessly by attempting further resistance.
The thoroughly agreed, and with the greatest
officers
coolness the captain gave his orders for the abandonment
of the vessel. Although the French man-of-war had now
opened fire, all the wounded, the whole of the crew, the
flags, papers, and everything of value were placed in the
boats, and the vessel was then set on fire in a dozen
places.
After superintending everything personally, and mak-
ing sure that the fire had obtained such a hold that it
could not be extinguished. Captain Mordaunt ordered
the officers to descend into the boats. Just as he was
about to leave the deck himself, the last man on board
the ship, a cannon-shot from the French man-of-war
struck him in the leg. The officers ran back and raised
him from the deck.
''It might have been worse,'* he said cheerfully.

*'Now gentlemen, will you carry me down and place me

in my gig, and then take your boats as arranged ? Be
careful, as you row toward shore, to keep the Eesolution
between you and the Frenchman's guns.
284 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE.
Everything was done steadily and in order, and the
survivors of the crew of the Kesolution reached the shore
without further loss. The Kesolution was now in a blaze
from end to end, and by eleven o'clock she was burned
to the water's edge. Mordaunt and his crew were kindly
received by the people of the country. As [the captain
himself would not be able to move for some time. Jack
and Graham said adieu to him and posted to Turin^
where the earl had told ^them that he should go direct
from Leghorn.
They arrived before him, but twenty-four hours after
they had reached the capital of Savoy the earl arrived.
He had already heard rumors of the desperate fight be-
tween the Eesolution and the enemy and that his son
had been wounded. His aids-de-camp were now able to
assure him that, although serious, Captain Mordaunt's
wounds were not likely to be fatal, and Peterborough
was delighted with the narrative of the gallant achieve-
ment of his son. Shortly afterward, an imperative order
for his return reaching the earl, he set out for England
through Germany with his two aids-de-camp. Peter-
borough was suffering from illness caused by the immense
exertions he had made through the campaign, and
traveled but slowly. He visited many of the German
courts, and went for a few days to the camp of Charles of
Sweden in Saxony.
After this, by special invitation, he journeyed to the
camp of the Duke of Marlborough at Genappes, where he
was received with much honor by the great commander.
He presented to him his two aids-de-camp.
"They have, my lord duke," he said, **been my faith-
ful friends throughout the whole campaign in Spain,
they have shared all my dangers, and any credit I may
fciiy^ gained is due in no small degree to their zeal and
 THE BRA VEST OF TEE BRA VE. 285

activity. It is unlikely that I shall again command aa

army in the field, and therefore I would recommend them
to you. They will accompany me to England, for they,
too, need a rest, after their exertions ; after that I trust
that they may be sent out to fight under your orders,
and I trust that you keep them in your eye, and will
will
give them the advantage of your protection and favor."
The duke promised to do so, and, after a few days"
stay in the camp, the with and his two fcllowers started
for England, where he arrived on the 20th of August,
1707, nearly two years to a day from the date when he
had appeared, with a force under his command, before
Barcelona. But the campaign itself, so far as he waa
concerned, had lasted less than a year, as it was ia
August, 1706, that he rode into Valencia, after having
been deprived of his command.
In that year he exhibited military qualities which have
never been surpassed. Daring to the point of extreme
rashness where there was a possibility of success, he was
prudent and cautious in the extreme when prudence was
more necessary than daring. "With absurdly insufficient
means he all but conquered Spain for Charles of Austria,
and would have succeeded in doing so altogether had he
not, from first to last, been thwarted and hampered by
jealousy, malignity, stupidity, and irresolution on the
part of the king, his courtiers, and the generals who
should have been the earl's assistants, but who were his
rivals, detractors, and enemies.
It must be owned that Peterborough owed this oppo-
sition in some degree to himself. He was impatient of
fools, and took no pains to conceal his contempt and dis-
like for those whose intellects were inferior to his own.
His independence of spirit and eccentricity of manneg
set the formal German and Spanish advisers of the king
2S6 THE BBA VEST OF THE BRA YE,
against him, and althougli adored by the officers and
men who served under him, he made almost every man of
rank approaching his own who came in contact with him
his personal enemy. Among the bulk of the Spanish
people of the provinces in which he warred he was be-
loved as well as admired, and even to this day legends of
the brilliant and indefatigable English general are stiil
current among the people of Catalonia and Valencia. No
man ever served the cause to which he devoted himself
with greater zeal and sincerity. He was lavish of his
own private means in its interest, and even when his
advice and opinion were most slighted, he was ready to
sacrifice himself, his rank and dignity to the good of
the cause. Had he had the good fortune to command an
army of his own countrymen, unfettered by others, it is
probable that he would have gained a renown equal to
that of the greatest commanders the world has known.
The great services which he had rendered were warmly
felt and acknowledged by the people of England on his
return, and the attempts of his enemies to undermine his
reputation were confuted by the papers which he brought
back with him. For a time Peterborough took a con-
siderable part in politics, and his acrimony in debate so
enraged his enemies that his conduct during the war in
Spain was called into question. A debate on the subject
took place. In this he successfully defended himself
from the attacks made against him, and a formal vote of
thanks to him was passed.
Some years afterward he retired altogether from pub-
lic life, and privately married Miss Anastasia Robinson,

his first wife having died many years before. Miss Eob-
inson was a singer of the highest repute, of the most
amiable character and kindest disposition. There was
BO reason why the match should not have been publicly
 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA YE. 387

acknowledged, as the lady was held in universal esteem;

but, with his usual eccentricity, the earl insisted on the
marriage being kept a secret, and did not announce it
until on his death-bed in the year 1735. Lady Peter-
borough lived in profound retirement, universally be-
loved and honored, to the age of eighty-eight.
Upon arriving in London Jack stayed for a few days
with his friend Graham, whose family lived there. The
earl had told the young officer that he would introduce
them to the queen, but, on their calling by appointment
on him at his hotel on the third day after their arrival in
town., Peterborough said :

*'You had best go about your own business for a time;

the queen is out of temper. The ears of ministers have
been poisoned by lying letters from my enemies in
Spain, but it will all come right in time. As you know,
I have papers which will clear me of every charge that
their malignity may invent. When I am in favor again
I will letyou know, and will present you to the queen
and minister of war at any rate, you will like a rest at
;

home before you set out for the Netherlands, so there

will be plenty of time."
The next day Jack took his place on the coach for
Southampton. He arrived there after fourteen hours'
journey, and put up at a hotel for the night. The next
morning he dressed himself with greater care than usual,
and started for the well-remembered shop in the High
Street. He knocked at the private door, and inquired if
Mistress Anthony were in.
*'Will you say that a gentleman whom she knows
wishes to speak to her?"
Jack was shown into the parlor, and in a minute or
two Mrs. Anthony appeared, looking a little flustered at
288 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VE,

hearing that a grand-looking officer wished to see her.

Jack advanced toward her with a smile.
**Why, Jack!" she exclaimed with a scream of delight,
**is it you?'* and the good woman threw her arms round

his neck and kissed him as if he had been her own son.
"Of course we got your letters/* she said, telling us
how you had been made an officer and then a captain.
The last letter we had from you was from Italj^, telling
us about that great sea fight, and that you were coming
home, but that's eight months ago. "We knew you were
with my Lord Peterborough, and we eaw in the Intelli-
gencer about his being in Germany, and last week they
said he had come home. "We were talking about you
only yesterday, and wondering whether you would come
down to see us, and whether you would know us now
you had grown such a fine gentleman, and being written
about in Lord Peterborough's dispatches, and accus-
tomed to all sorts of grand society."
''You knew I would," Jack said; ''why, where should
I go if not here? And Alice is quite well, I hope, and
grown quite a woman?'*
*'Not quite a woman yet. Jack, but getting on.** She
opened the door and called Alice, and in a minute the
girl ran down. Her mother saw that she had guessed
who the caller was, for she had smoothed her hair and
put on a bright ribbon which her mother had not seen
for three years, and which Jack himself had given her.
She paused a moment shyly at the door, for this young
officer, in all the glories of the staff uniform, was a very

grand figure in her eyes.

*'How do you do. Cousin Jack," she said, coming for-
ward, with a bright color and outstretched hand.
''How are you, Cousin Alice?" Jack said, mimicking
her tone; "why, you little goose," he exclaimed, catcii-
 THE BitA VEST OF THE BRA VE, 289

lug her in his arms and kissing her, '"you don't suppose
I am going to be satisfied with shaking your hand after
being nearly three years away.'* •

''Oh, but you are so big. Jack, and so grand, it seems

different altogether.**
"You are bigger than you were, Alice, but it does not
seem in the least different to me.**
"Well, I thought you would be quite changed. Jack,
and quite different, now you are a captain, and famous,
and all that, and you have seen so many grand ladies iu
all the countries you have traveled that that
'*
— —
And she hesitated.
"Well, go on,** Jack said gravely.
**Well, then, that you would have forgotten all about
me.
"Then you are a very bad little girl, Alice, and not
half so good as I thought you were, for you must have a
very bad opinion of me, indeed, if you thought all that
ofme."
"I don't think I quite thought so. Jack. Well, I told
myself it was only natural it should be so.'*
"We will argue that out presently," Jack said; "and
now, where Mr. Anthony?'*
is

"I will call him. Jack,** Mrs. Anthony said. "You

have no ill-feeling, I hope, toward him^ for you know he
really has been very sorry about the part he took in get-
ting you away, and has blamed himself over and ovei
again.**
"I never have had," Jack said; "it has been the best
thing that ever happened to me. If I had had my own
way I should still be working before the mast instead of
being a captain in the army.**
Mr. Anthony was soon called in from the store. At
290 THE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB.
firsthe was a little awkward and shy, but Jack's hearti-
ness soon put him at his ease.
Jack stayed a fortnight at Southampton, and then on
the receipt of a letter from the Earl of Peterborough,
went up to town, where he was presented to the queen
and afterward to the minister of war hy the earl.
A week later he and Graham sailed for the Netherlands
and joined the army of the Duke of Marlborough, and
served under that great commander until, three years
later, the war was brought to a conclusion. They were
attached to the staff of one of the generals of division.
The duke kept his promise to the Earl of Peterbor-
ough, and kept his eye on the young officers. Both dis-
tinguished themselves in the hard-fought battles in Bel-
gium, and the end of the war found them both colonels-
There being no prospect of further wars the army was
greatly reduced, and Jack was retired on half-pay, and
as soon as matters were arranged in London he again
made his way down to Southampton, and at once asked
Mr. Anthony*s permission to pay his addresses to big
daughter.
The ex-mayor consented with delight, and as Alice
herself offered no objection, matters were speedily
arranged. Jack's half-pay was sufficient for them to live
on comfortably, and Mr. Anthony, in his gratification at
a marriage which he considered did him great honor,
presented her with a handsome sum at her wedding, and
the young couple settled down in a pretty house a short
distance out of Southampton.
Jack was never called out again for active service, and
lived in the neighborhood of Southampton until the end
of his long life, buying a small estate there, when, at
the death of Mr. Anthony, the handsome fortune which
the cloth merchant had made came to his daughter, sub-
 TEE BRA VEST OF THE BRA VB. gc j

*ect' to an annuity to Mrs. Anthony, who took up her

jibode for the rest of her life with her son-in-law, her
daughter, and their children.
For many years Colonel Stilwell sat in parliament as
member for Southampton, and maintained a warm friend*
ship with his ancient comnkan^eis: uaial the death ot ths
Idtter, i£L 17d&
1
The Famous Alger Books
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A SERIES of books knowa to all boys; beoks

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of boys' books. We publish the titles nasied below:

Adrift in New York. Making His Way.

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i Mark Mason.
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Bob Burton. Phil, the Fiddler.
Bound to Rise. Ralph Raymond's Heir.
Brave and Bold. Risen from the Raaks.
Cash Boy. Sara's Chance,
Chester Rand. Shifting for Himself.
Do and Dare. Sink or Swiaa..
Driven from Home. Slow and Sure.
Erie Train Boy. Store Boy.
Facing the World. Strive aiad Succeed.
Five Hundred Dollars. Strong and Steady.
Frank's Campaign. Struggling Upward.
Grit. Tin Box.
Hector's Inheritance. Tom, the BootMaek.
Helping Himself. Tony, tk© Tramp.
Herbert Carter's Legacy. Try and Trust.
In a New W orId. Wait and Hope.
Walter Sherwood's Pro-
Jack's Ward,
batiea.
Jed, the Poor House Boy. Young Aerebat.
Joe's Luck. Y®UQg Adventurer.
Julius, the Street Boy. YouBg Outlaw.
Luke Walton. Young Salesman.

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 :

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Durably bound in half leather, size 7x5^, fully illus-
trated, we offer the following

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 :

Dictionaries of

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Lan^ua^e

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th©usand words of our language. The publishers,
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the reach of have issued several editions ©f Dic-
all,

tidnaries in various styles and sizes, as follows

Peabody's Webster Dictionary, - - 2#c.

Hurst^s Webster Diction ary, - - - • 25c.
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Hurst's New Nuttall, 75e. With Index, $1.©0.
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 J' Elcgfant Gift Books J'

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Price, postpaid, $i.oo per volume.

Alice in Wonderland and Through Mother Goose, Complete.

the L^oking-Glass. Palmer Cox's Fairy Book.
Andersen's Fairy Tales. Peck's Uncle Ike and the Red*
Arabian Nights. Headed Boy.
Bla ck Beauty. Pilgrim's Progress.
Chf Id's History of England, Robinson Crusoe.
Gri Barn's Fairy Tales. Swiss Family Robinson.
Gulliver's Travels. Tales from Scott for Young People.
Helen's Babies. Tom Brown's School Days.
Lao lb 's Tales from Shakespeare. Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Books sure to be a delight to every boy and girl who

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 «
Mirthful Books TVorth Beading!

ffeek'B 2ockif

No author has achieved

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**

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HENTY SERIES
AN of
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new edition of these faraons Books for Boys,
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the
This author has reached the hearts
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Among Malay Pirates. A Story of Lion of St. Mark, The. A Story of

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Boy Enignt, The. A Tale of the Religion.
Cmsades.
Bravest of Brave, The. With
ttie Lost Heir, The.
Peterborough in Spain. Maori and Settler. A Story of the
By England's Aid or, The Freeing
; New Zealand War.
of the Netherlands (1585-160=^. One of the 28th. A Tale of Water.-
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