THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9323, 25 January 1896, Page 2

THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER

GERARD*

By A. Co nan Doyle,

HOW THE KIXCt held the

BRIGADIER,

CHAPTER VIII.

Heavens »<,w I ran ! The wind buffeted mv face rici buzzed in my nostrils. The ra'izi pringled upon my skin and hissed past mv cars. I stumbled into holes. I tripped over bushes. I fell among brambles. 1 was torn and breathless and bleeding. My tongue was like leather, my feet like lead, unii my heart beating like a kettledrum. Still 1 ran, and 1 ran, and I ran. _ "But 1 had not lost my head, my friends. Everything was done with a purpose. Our fugitives always made for the coast. I wa3 determined to go iuland, and the more so as I had told Beaumont the opposite. I would fly to the north, and they would seek mc m the south. Perhaps you will ask how I could tell which was which on such a night. I answer that it was by the wind. I Had observed in prison that it came from the north, and so, as long as I kept my face to it, I was going in the right direction. Well, 1 was rushing along in this fashion When, suddenly, I saw two yellow lights shining out of the darkness in front of mc. 1 paused for a moment, uncertain what I Bhould do. I was still in my hussar uniform, you understand, and it seemed to be that the very first thing that I should aim at waa to get some dress which should not betray mc. If these lights camo from a cottage, it was probable enough that I might find what I wanted there. I approached, therefore, feeling very aorry that I had left my iron bar behind; for I was determined to fight to the death before I Bhould be retaken.

But very soon I found that there was no cottage there. The lights were two lamps hung upon each side of a carriage, and by their glare I saw that a broad road lay in front of mc. Crouching among the bushes, I observed that there were two horses to the equipage, that a small postboy was standing at their heads, and that one of the wheels waa lying on the road beside him. I can see them now, my friends; the steaming creatures, the stunted lad with his hands to their bits, and the big black coach, all shining Avith the rain, and balanced upon its three Avheels. As I looked, the window was lowered, and a pretty little face under a bonnet peeped out from it. " What shall I do?" the lady cried to the postboy in a voice of despair. " Sir Charles is certainly lost and I shall have to spend the night upon the moor." " Perhaps I can be of some assistance to madame," said I, scrambline out from among tho bushes into the glare of the lamps. A woman in distress ia a sacred thing to mc, and this one was beautiful. You must not forget that, although I Avas a colonel, I was only eight-and-twenty years of age. My word, hew she screamed, and how the postboy stared ! You will understand that, after the long race in the darkness, with my bußby broken in, my face smeared with dirt, and my uniform all stained and torn with brambles, I Avas not entirely the sort of gentleman whom one would choose to meet in the middle of a lonely moor. Still, after the first surprise, she soon understood that I was her very humble servant, and I could even read in her pretty eyes that my manner and bearing had not failed to produce its impression upon her. "lam sorry to have startled you, madame," said I. "I chanced to overhear your remark, and I could not refrain from offering you my assistance." I bowed as I spoke. You know my bow, and can realise what its effect was upon the lady. "I am much indebted to you, sir," said she. '' We have had a terrible journey since we left Tavistock. Finally, one of our wheels came off, and here we are helpless in the middle of a moor. My husband, Sir Charles, has gono on to get help, but I much fear that he must have lost his way." I was about to attempt some consolation when I saw beside the lady a black travelling coat faced with astrakhan, which her companion must have left behind him. It was exactly what I needed to conceal my uniform. It is trao that I felt very much like a highway robber, but then, what Avould you have? Necessity has no law, and I waa in an enemy's camp. "I presume, madame, that this is your husband's coat," I remarked. " You will, I am sure, forgive mc, if I am compelled to —" I pullod it through the window as I spoke. I could not bear to see the look of surprise and fear and disgust which came over her face.

" Oh, I have been mistaken in you," she cried. "You came to rob mc, then, and not to help mc. You have the bearing of a gentleman, and yet you steal my husband's coat."

"Madame," said I, "I beg that you will not condemn mc until you know everything. [t is quite necessary that I should take this -oat, but if you will have the goodness to tell mc who it is who is fortunate enough to be your husband, I shall see that the coat is Bent back to him."

Her face softened a little, though she still tried to look severe. "My husband," she answered, "is Sir Charles Meredith, and he is travelling to Dartmoor prison upon important Government business. I only ask you, sir, to go upon your way, and to take nothing which belongs to him." " There ia only one thing which belongs to him which I covet," said I.

"And you have taken it from the carriage," fihe cried.

"No," I answered. "It stili remains there."

She laughed in her frank English way, " If, instead of paying mc compliments, you were to return my husband's coat—" she began. " Madame," I answered, " what you ask is quite impossible. If you will allow mc to come into tho carriage, I will explain to you how necessary this coat is to mc." Heaven knows into Avhat foolishness I might have plunged myself had we not, at this instant, heard a faint "hallo "in the distance, Avhich was answered by a shout from the little post-boy. In the rain and the darkness I saw a lantern some distance from us, but approaching rapidly.

"I am sorry, madame, that I am forced to leave you," said I. " You can assure your husband that I shall take every care of his coat." Hurried, as I was, I ventured to pause a moment to salute the lady's hand, •which she snatched through the windoAV with an admirable pretence of being offended at my presumption. Then as the lantern was quite close to mc, and the post-boy seemed inclined to interfere with my flight, I tucked my precious overcoat under my arm, and dashed off into the darkness.

And now I set myself to the task of putting as broad a stretch of moor between the Srison and myself as the remaining hours of arkness Avould allow. Setting my face to the wind once more, I ran until I fell from exhaustion. Then, after five minutes of panting among the heather, I made another Btart, until again my knees gave waj/ beneath mo. I was young and hard, ■with muscles of steel, and a frame which had been toughened by 12 years of camp and field. Thus I was able to keep up this wild flight for another three hours, during which I still guided myself, you understand, by keeping the wind in my face. At the end of that time I calculated that I had put nearly 20 miles between the prison and myself. Day atos about to break, so I crouched down among the heather upon the top of one of those small hills which abound in that country, with the intention of hiding myself until nightfall. It was nonew thing for mc to sleep in the wind and the rain, so wrapping myself in my thick, warm cloak, I soon sank into a doze.

But it was not a refreshing slumber. I tossed and tumbled amid a series of vile dreams, in Avhich everything seemed to go Avrong with mc. At last, I remember, I was charging an unshaken square of Hungarian Grenadiers, with a single squadron upon spent horses, just as I did at "Elchingen. I Btood in my stirrups to shout " Vive l'Empereur:'' and as I did so, there came the answering roar from my Hussars, " Vive l'Empereur!" I sprang from my rough bed, with tho words still ringing in n>3' ears, and then, as I rubbed my eyes, and Avondered if I Avere mad, the same cry came again, 5000 voices iv one long drawn yell. I looked out from my screen of brambles, and saw in the clear light of morning the Aery last thing that I should have either expected or chosen.

It was Dartmoor Prison! There it stretched, grim and hideous, within a furlong of mc. Had I run on for a few

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more minutes in the dark I should have butted my busby against the wall. I was so taken aback at the Right, that I could scarcely realise what had happened. Then it all became clear to mc, and I struck my head with my hands in my despair. The wind had A-eered from north to south during the night, and I, keeping my face always towards it, had run 10 miles out and 10 miles in, winding up where I had started. When I thought of my hurry, my falls, my mad rushing and jumping, all ending in this, it seemed so absurd, that my grief changed suddenly to amusement, and I fell among the brambles and laughed and laughed, until my sides were sore. Then I rolled myself up in my cloak and considered seriously what I should do.

One lesson which I have learned in my roaming life, my friends, is never to call anything a misfortune uutil you have seen the end of it. Is not every hour * fresh point of view ? In this case I soon perceived that accident had done for mc as much as the most profound cunning. My guards naturally commenced their search from the place where I had taken Sir Charles Meredith's coat, and from my hiding place I could see them hurrying along the road to that point. Not one of them ever dreamed thatl could have doubled back from there, and I lay quite undisturbed in the little bush covered cup at the summit of my knoll. The prisoners had of course learned of my escape, and all day exultant yells like that which had aroused mc in the morning resounded over the moor, bearing a welcome message of sympathy and companionship to my ears. How little did they dream that on the top of that very mound which they could see from their windows was lying the comrade whose escape they were celebrating. As for mc, I could look down upon this poor herd of idle warriors as they paced about the great exercise yard or gathered in little groups, gesticulating joyfully over my success. Once I heard a howl of execration, and I saw Beaumont, his head all covered with bandages, being led across the yard by two of the warders. I cannot tell you the pleasure which this sight gave mc, for it proved that I had not killed him, and also that the others knew the true story of what had passed. They had all knoAvn mc too well to think that I could have abandoned him.

All that long day I lay behind my screen of bushes, listening to the bells Avhich struck the hours below.

My pockets were filled with bread which I had saved out of my allowance, and on searching my borrowed OA'ercoat I came upon a silver flask full of excellent brandy and Avater, so that I was able to get through the day without hardship. The only other things in the pockets were a red silkhandkerchief, a tortoiseshell snuffbox and a blue envelope with a red seal, addressed to the governor of Dartmoor prison. As to the first two, I determined to send them back when I should return the coat itself. Tho letter caused mc more perplexity, for the governor had always shown mc every courtesy, and it offended my sense of honor that I should interfere with his correspondence. I had almost made up my mind to leave it under a stone upon the roadway wi thin musket shot of the gate. This would guide them in their search for mc, hoAvever, and so, on the whole, I saw no better Avay than just to carry the letter with mc, in the hope that I might find some means of sending it back to him. Meanwhile I packed it safely away in my innermost pocket.

There Avas a warm sun to dry my clothe 3, and when night fell I was ready for my journey. I promise you that there were no mistakes this time. I took the stars for my guides, as every hussar should be taught to do, and I put eight good leagues between myself and the prison. My plan now Avas to obtain a complete suit of clothes from the first person whom I could waylay, and I should then find my way to the north coast, Avhere there Avere many smugglers and fishermen who would be ready to earn the reAvard which was paid by the emperor to those who brought escaping prisoners across the channel. I had taken the panache from my busby and had crushed it in, so that it might pass as a fur cap, but e%-en Avith my fine overcoat I feared that sooner or later my uniform would betray mc. My first care must be to provide myself with a complete disguise. When day broke I saw a river upon my right and a small toAvn upon my left—the blue smoke reeking above the moor. I should have liked well to have entered it, because it would have interested mc to see something of the customs of the English, which differ very much from those of other nations. Much as I should have Avished, howe\-er, to have seen them eat their raAV meat and sell their Avives, it would have been dangerous until I had got rid of my uniform. My cap, my moustache and my speech Avould all help to betray mc. I continued to travel towards the north, therefore, looking about mc continually, but never catching a glimpse of my pursuers. About midday I came to where in a secluded valley, there stood a single small cottage, without any other building in sight. It was a neat little house, Avith a rustic porch and a small garden in front of it, with a swarm of cocks and hens. I lay down among the ferns and watched where I might obtain what I wanted. My bread Avas finished, and I was exceedingly hungry after my long journey. I determined, therefore, to make a short reconnaissance, and then to march up to this cottage, summon it to surrender, and help myself to all I needed. It could at least provide mc with a chicken and with an omelette. My mouth watered at the thought. As I lay there, wondering who' could live in this lonely place, a brisk little fellow came out through the porch, accompanied by another older man, who carried two large clubs in his hands. These he handed to his young companion, who swung them up and down, and round and round, with extraordinary swiftness. The other, standing beside him, appeared to watch him with great attention, and occasionally to advise him. Finally he took a rope and began skipping like a girl, the other still gravely observing him. As you may think, I was utterly puzzled as to what these people could be, and could only surmise that one was a doctor and the other a patient Avho had submitted himself to some singular method of treatment.

Well, as I lay watching and wondering, the older man brought out a great coat and held it while the other put it on and buttoned it to his chin. The day was a warmish one, so that this proceeding amazed mc even more than the other. "At least," thought I, "it is evident that his exercise is over;" but, far from this being so, the man began to run, in spite of his heavy coat, and as it chanced he came right over the moor in my direction. His companion had re-entered the house, so that this arrangement suited mc admirably. I would take the small man's clothing and hurry on to some village where I could buy provisions. The chickens were certainly tempting, but still there were at least two men in the house, so perhaps it would be wiser for mc, since I had no arms, to keep away from it. I lay quietly, then, among the ferns. Presently I heard the steps 6f the runner, and there he was quite close to mc, with his huge coat, and perspiration running down his face. He seemed to be a very solid man, but small—so small that I feared that his clothes might be of little use to mc. When I jumped out upon him he stopped running and looked at mc in the greatest astonishment.

"Blow my dickey," said he, "give it a name, guvnor! Is it a circus, or what ?" That was how he talked, though I cannot pretend to tell you what he meant by it. " You will excuse mc, sir," said I, but* I am under the necessity of asking you to give mc your clothes." " Give you what ? " he cried. "Your clothes." " Well, if this doesn't lick cockfighting !" said he. "What am I to give you my clothes for ? " " Because I need them." " And suppose I won't ? " "Be jabers," says I, "I shall have no choice but to take them." He stood with his hands in the pockets of his greatcoat, and a most amused smile upon his square-jawed, clean-shaven face. "You'll take them, Avill you?" said he. " You're a very leery cove, by the look of you ; but I can tell you that you've got the wrong sow by the ear this time. 1 know who you are. You're a runaway Frenchy from the prison 3*onder, as anyone could tell with half an eye. But you don't know who I am, else you wouldn't try such a plant as that. Why, man, I'm the Bristol Bustler, 9st champion, and them's my training quarters down yonder." He stared at mc as if this announcement of his would have crushed mc to the earth, but I smiled at him in my turn, and looked him up and down, Avith a twirl of my moustache. I'You may be a very brave man, sir,"

said I, " but when I tell you that you are opposed to Colonel Etierme Gerard, of the Hussars of Conflans, you will see the necessity of giving up your clothes without further parley." "Look here Mounseer, drop it," he cried; " this'll end by your getting pepper." "Your clothes, sir, this instant!"- I shouted, advancing ficrceh' upon him.

For answer he threw oil his heavy greatcoat, and stood in a singular attitude, one arm out and the other across the chest looking at mc with a curious smile. For myself, I knew nothing of the methods of fighting which these people have; but on horse or on foot, with arms or without them, I am always ready to take my own part. You understand that a soldier cannot always choose his own methods, and that it is time to howl when you are living among -wolves. I rushed at him, therefore, with a Avarlike shout, and kicked him with both my feet. At the same moment my feet flew into the air, I saw as many flashes as at Austerlitz, antl the back of my head came down with a crash upon a stone. After that I can remember nothing more

When I came to myself I was lying upon a truckle bed, in a bare, half furnished room. My head was ringing like a bell, and when I put up my hand there was a lump like a walnut over one of my eyes. My nose was full of a pungent smell, and I soon found that a strip of paper soaked in vinegar was fastened across my brow. At the other end of the room this terrible little man was sitting with his knee bare, and his elderly companion was nibbing it with some liniment. The latter seemed to be in the worst of tempers, and he kept up a continual scolding, which the other listened to with a gloomy face.

" Never heard tell of such a thing in my life," he was saying. "In training for a month, with all the weight of it on my shoulders, and then, when I get you as fit as a trout, and within two days of fighting the likeliest man on the list, you let yourself into a by battle with a foreigner." " There, there. Stow your gab," said the other, sulkily. '' You're a very good trainer, Jim, but you'd be better with less jaw." " I should think it was time to jaw," the elderly man'answered. " If this knee don't get well before Wednesday, they'll have it that you fought a cross, and a pretty job you'll have next time you look for a backer."

"Fought a cross," growled the other. "I've won nineteen battles, and no man ever so much as dared to say the word ' cross' in my hearin'. How the deuce Avas I to get out of it when the cove wanted the very clothes off my back ?" "Tut, man, you knew that the beak and the guards were within a mile of you. You could have set them on to him as well then as now. You'd have got your clothes back again all right ?" " Well, strike mc !" said the Bustler. "I don't often break my trainin', but when it comes to givin' up my clothes to a Frenchy who couldn't hit a dint in a pat o' butter, why, it's more than I can swaller." '' Pooh, man, what are the clothes worth ? D'you knoAv that Lord Rufton alone has five thousand pounds on you ? When you jump the ropes on Wednesday you'll carry every penny of fifty thousand into the ring. A pretty thing to turn up with a swollen knee and a story about a Frenchman 1" " I never thought he'd ha' kicked," said the Bustler.

" I suppose you expected he'd fight Broughton's rules, and strict P.R. ? Why, you silly, they don't know what fighting is in France."

"My friends," said I, sitting up on my bed, " I do not understand very much of what you say, but when you speak like that it is foolishness. We know so much about fighting in France that we have paid our little visit to nearly every capital in Europe, and very soon we are coming to London. But we fight like soldiers, you understand, and not like gamins in the gutter. You strike mc on the head, I kick you on the knee—it is child's play. But if you will give mc a sword and take another one, I will show you how avc fight over the water." They both stared at mc in their stolid, English way. "Well, I'm glad you're not dead. Mounseer," said the elder one at last. "There wasn't much sign of life in you when the Bustler and mc carried you down. That head of yours ain't thick enough to stop the crook of the hardest hitter in Bristol."

" He's a game cove, too, and he came for mc like a bantam," said the other, still rubbing his knee. " I got my old left right in and he went over, as if he had been poleaxed. It Avasn't my fault, Mounseer. I told you you'd get peppsr if you went on."

"Well, it's something to say all your life that you've been handled by the finest light weight in England," said the older man, looking at mc Avith an expression of congratulation upon his face. " You've had him at his best, too—in the pink of condition, and trained by Jim Hunter." " I am used to hard knocks," said I, unbuttoning my tunic and showing my two musket wounds. Then I bared my ankle also, and showed the place in my eye Avhere the guerilla had stabbed mc. "He can take his gruel," said the Bustler. " What a glutton he'd have made for the middle weights," remarked the trainer ; " with six months' coaching he'd astonish the fancy. It's a pity he's got to go back to prison." I did not like that last remark at all. I buttoned up my coat and rose from the bed. "I must ask you to let mc continue my journey," said I. " There' no help for it, Mounseer," the trainer answered. "It's a hard thing to send such a man as you back to such a place; but business is business, and there's a £20 reward. They were here this morning looking for you, and I expect they'll be round again." His words turned my heart to lead. " Surely you would not betray mc," I cried. "I will send you twice £20 on the day that I set foot upon France. I swear it upon the honour of a French gentleman."

But I only got head shakes for a reply. I pleaded, I argued, I spoke of the English hospitality and the fellowship of brave men, but I might as well have been addressing the two great wooden clubs which stood balanced upon the floor in front of mc. There was no sign of sympathy upon their bull faces.

"Business is business, Mounseer,' the old trainer repeated. '' Besides, how am Ito put the Bustler into the ring on Wednesday if he's held by the beak for aidin and abettin' a prisoner of war ? I've got to look after the Bustler, and I take no risks."

This, then, was the end of all my struggles and strivings. I was to be led back again like a poor, silly sheep which has broken through the hurdles. They little knew mc who could fancy that I should submit to such a fate. I had heard enough to tell mc where the weak point of these two men was, and I showed, as I have often showed before, that Etienne Gerard is never so terrible as when all hope seems to have deserted him. With a single spring I seized one of the clubs and swung it over the head of the Bustler.

" Come what may," I cried, " you shall be spoiled for Wednesday." The fellow growled out an oath, and would have sprung at mc, but the other flung his arms round him and pinned him to the chair.

" Not if I know it, Bustler," he screamed "None of your games while lam by. Get away out of this, Frenchy. We only want to see your back. Run away, run away, or he'll get loose!"

It was good advice, I thought, and I ran to the door, but as I came out into the open air my head swam round, and I had to lean against the porch to save myself from falling. Consider all that I had been through, the anxiety of my escape, the long, useless flight in the storm, the day spent amid wet ferns, with only bread for food, the second journey by night, and now the injuries I had received in attempting to deprive the little man of his clothes. Was it Avonderful that even I should reach the limits of my endurance ? I stood there in my heavy coat and poor, battered busby, my chin upon my chest, and my eyelids over my eyes. I had done my best, and I could do no more. It was the sound of horses' hoofs which made mc at last raise my head, and there was the grey moustached governor of Dartmoor Prison not ten paces in front of mc, with six mounted warders behind him.

" So, Colonel," said he, with a bitter smile, " we have found you once more." When a brave man has done his utmost, and has failed, he shews his breeding by the manner in which he accepts his defeat. For mc, I took the letter which I had in my pocket, and, stepping forward, I handed it with such grace of manner as I could summon to the gor«o.or. " It has o.en my misfortune, sir, to detain one of Tour iTjitsrs," said I>

He looked at mc in amazement, and beckoned to the warders to arrest mc. Then he broke the seal of the letter. I saw a curious expression come over his face as he read it.

"This must bo the letter which Sir Charles Meredith lost," said he. " It was in tho pocket of his coat." " You have carried it for two days ? " " Since the night before last." " And never looked at the contents ? "

I showed him by my manner that he had committed an indiscretion in asking a question which one gentleman should not have put to another. To my surprise he burst out into a roar of laughter. " Colonel," said he, wiping the tears from his eyes, "you haA*e really given both yourself and us a great deal of unnecessary trouble. Allow mc to read the letter Avhich you carried with you in your flight." And this is what I heard :

"On receipt of this you are directed to release Colonel.Etienne Gerard, of the Third Hussars, who has been exchanged against Colonel "Mason, of the Horse Artillery, noAV in Verdun."

And as he read it he laughed again, and the warders laughed, and the two. men from the cottage laughed, and then, as I heard this universal merriment and thought of all my hopes and fears, and my struggles and dangers, what could a debonnair soldier do but lean against the porch once more and laugh as heartily as any of them ? And of them all, was it not I who had the best reason to laugh, since in front of mc I could see my dear France, and my mother, and the emperor, and my horsemen; while behind mc lay the gloomy prison and the heavy hand of the English king?

(To be continued.)