BEL RUBIO. OR, THE CHILDREN of the EARTHQUAKE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 761, 1 October 1886, Page 7

BEL RUBIO. OR, THE CHILDREN of the EARTHQUAKE

A STORY OF THE NEVILLES OF GUY’S

TOWER,

BY CAPT. FREDERICK WHITTAKER.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE FLAG OF TRUCE. The Duke of Crillon had returned to his tent, dejected with the failure or the day’s assault and the certainty that had come upon him that the siege would have to be raised.

The famous floating batteries, of which so much had been expected, had proved a failure as far as invulnerability was concerned, and every one had been burned by the enemy. Two might have been saved by the garrison as trophies of the victory : but the enraged Spaniards, with the vindictive spirit which they showed at the end of the siege, determined that, if they could not get them back, the enemy should not have them, and had concentrated such a tremendons fire on them, after their abandonment by their crews, that the British sailors had allowed them to burn where they lay rather than expose lives uselessly to attempt an unavailing task. The Spaniards would not give it up yet; ; • but the French marshal, who was an old I soldier, saw that the end had come. The French princes who had come out to witness the capture of Gibraltar took their departure in the evening, and the sight filled the Spaniards with mortification and rage, for they knew what it meant. It only remained to have' the British re- • lieving fleet heave in sight to complete their savage mortification, not long to be spared them. A frigate had come in while the bombardment was in progress, with the news that Howe, with thirty-two sail-of-the-line, was off Cape Trafalgar and that the next day would bring him off Tarifa Point, in sight from the rock. Therefore the duke felt cast down, disheartened, and ready to snap anyone’s head off who interrupted his reveries. The bombardment had been begun before he was quite ready, in obedience to the urging of his Spanish allies, and he was consoling himself with this slender excuse. But the end of the matter was that he had failed, and nothing could disguise the fact. It was while he was in his gloomiest mood, when the sun had set, and the flames of the burning batteries still lighted the bay, that be was informed that a British officer, - with a flag, waited for admission. His sense of courtesy as a soldier revived, and reminded him that, if he had to yield, it must be done gracefully; for, after all, France was not interested in the taking of Gibraltar as was Spain. He ordered the admission of the officer, and the same Highlander who had come in about Martin Diaz entered the tent, and said, after the usual preliminaries : ‘ Governor Elliot is informed that a British brig, called the Sea Bird, while trying to enter the harbor, was taken by your gunboats yesterday, and that one of his staff-officers was on board. His Excellency bids me say that he has in his hands a number of your officers—one of them being an admiral of the Spanish navy—and that he is willing to exchange, as the officer in question is an old friend of his family. He is also anxious about the fate of the officer of my company who is to be tried on the ground of being a Spanish subject. His Excellency bids me say he is aware hostilities will soon close between our nations, and therefore is willing to make an exchange on terms that may be mutually agreeable, to save the needless exasperation that must ensue if Mr Diaz is unfairly executed.’ The duke listened silently. ‘lt is true that the English brig was taken, and she is a fair prize. The officer on board is a prisoner of war, and subject to exchange; but I presume that you are aware that there were other persons on board also ?’ Herbert shook his head. ‘We have no such information, Duke.’ * Then I will give it you. As you say, • the war will soon be over, and needless effusion of blood should be avoided. The persons on board when the brig was taken were Milord and Miladi Warrique. I think that is the way you pronounce the name.’

Herbert Seymour was astounded at the names.

‘ Lord and Lady Warwick!’ he exclaimed. ‘ls it possible ? Why, your highness, they are relatives of mine.’

The duke regarded him with more respect. ‘ Relatives of yours ? Then they will, doubtless, be glad to see you. Herbert colored. * I am not sure of that, your highness. There are questions of succession in the family that have estranged us for years. I beg pardon of your highness for troubling you with family affairs.

‘No necessity,’ was the dry reply. In France we are not as affectionate as we might be ourselves. Then you do not care to see your relatives, Monsieur ?’ Herbert colored still more deeply, * On the contrary, your highness, I should like it very much; but I fear Ford Warwick might not care to see me. There are reasons— ’ - ~ And Herbert hesitated and stammered in a way that made the polite veteran screw up his face into a curious expressiou, as he said :

* Never mind explaining. If you wish to see them, I will send for them at once. They are on parole, but, of course, anxious to hear from the garrison. There is nothing that need be concealed now, though my Spanish allies think otherwise, I believe. I, on the other hand, know that it is useless to sulk over the inevitable.’ He went to the door of the tent and said something to an officer ; then he returned, and observed, as if continuiug the converation :

‘ As I said, it is no use to sulk over the inevitable, You spoke of the young officer who gave himself up to me in the fight at the batteries. I have just received a notification from General Moreno that he is to be tried this evening, and that I am invited to attend. Would you like to go there ? It may be that you have some evidence that may be of use to the unfortunate young man. I confess that lam sorry for him, but there is no getting over the fact that he is a Spanish subject.’ ‘ But, your Excellency, I thought it was agreed that his trial should be put off till he could summon witnesses from the garrison.’

Herbert spoke hastily and anxiously. The duke screwed up his face. ‘My dear sir, what would you have ? These Spaniards are queer people ; not like ns. They have been maddened by the failure of to-day, and they have ordered on the trial at once. If the young man has any, witnesses I do not think they would refuse' to hear them, but they will not notify the garrison. They seem resolved to have some one for a victim, Your presence is lucky, as you can, no doubt, testify.’

Herbert bit his lips, ‘ How unfortunate. Of my own knowledge I know nothing. Oh ! if I could only have got hold of his father before I came ! He is the only witness who can testify thoroughly.’ ‘ His father ! An old man of the name of Diaz ?’

‘ The same, your highness.’ ‘Oh, he is a prisoner, too; and will be tried at the same time, for the same crime, I understand.’

Herbert could hardly believe his ears. ‘ Old Martin Diaz a prisoner ! Where was he taken, and when ?’ ‘ln this camp, I understand. He was informed against by a spy of the name of Gomez.’

* The dastardly villain !’ exclaimed Herbert indignantly- ‘lt is all on account of the old man’s daughter, Duke. This Gomez was about to murder her only a few nights ago, when I came up with the patrol in time to save her. If the lives of honest men are to be sworn away by such villains as that, who is safe V

The duke shrugged his shoulders and took snuff. ‘ltis an unfortunate affair. Ido not see what can be done. Is the girl here ?’ ‘ Alas, no, your highness. If she were she could testify.’ * Why not send for her?’ asked the duke good-naturedly. ‘We have plenty of boats, and they can go to the garrison, and perhaps give us a chance to checkmate these fellows. I, for one, should not be sorry, for 1 hate these bitter revengers.’ Herbert’s face lighted up at once. ‘A thousand thanks, your excellency,' he said ; ‘ and if ever I have a chance to repay the kindness you are showing— ’ ‘lt matters not, Monsieur. We know the rules of honorable warfare. The boat shall be sent at once, with a safe conduct. I will direct an aide to go with it and explain the matter, so that the lady shall feel no alarm.’

He went out, leaving Herbert alone in the tent, where he was saluted a few moments later by the voice of his cousin, Lord Neville, crying : ‘ Why, Herbert, old boy, how are you ? This is rather a different meeting from the last. But we gave ’em a tremendous beating. Eh, old boy ?’ He looked as well as ever and was in uniform, though without a sword. Herbert perceived behind him the tall form of a gentleman, on whose arm a lady was leaning, as they lagged behind, letting the impetuous Neville enter the tent ahead of them.

Herbert grasped his cousin’s hand with sincere pleasure. The young lord began to tell what he had seen of the battle from the shore, and to ask questions, all in a breath, when his father and mother came in, and he broke off to cry out : * Here he is, my lord. I told you he was not a bad fellow at all. Here is cousin Herbert Seymour ; and I hope that hereafter we shall be what relations ought to be to each other.’

He was so frank and manly, so anxious to see everybody else happy, that Herbert could resist him no more than the old earl, and the latter extended his hand.

‘ Cousin Herbert,’ he said, ‘ let bygones be bygones, and fair play for the future. George tells me you have been very kind to him, and I thank you for it.’ Then Lady Warwick, with all a woman’s tact, came forward and added sweetly : ‘ You must accept a mother's thanks for it also, Mr Seymour—or can I also call you Cousin Herbert ? Yes, I will, for we are of the same family, you know. I hope that this terrible fighting is nearly over. I am sincerely glad that George was taken prisoner when he was. If I had not been with him, he might have gone into the garrison and been killed. I suppose that there -was fearful slaughter in the town, from the way they were sending their cannon balls into the very midst of you,’ Herbert smiled rather proudly as he answered : ‘ On the contrary, Lady Warwick, the loss was verv small indeed. We had one officer killed* and five wounded, while our total loss in the whole garrison, including

all the wounded, is inside of a hundred men.’*

The Earl of Warwick uttered a sonorous ‘ bravo !’ which was interrupted by the entrance of the duke, who said gayly : ‘ Come, messieurs and madame, the fortune of war is not all one-sided, after all. We have the worst of this day, but you had the worst of the previous one.’ ‘ Then to Herbert he added :

‘ I have sent the officer to bring in the witness ; and, if you wish to see justice done, the sooner you come with me the better it will be, I think. The Spaniards ore apt to be quick at their work, if there is no opposition.’ The whole party was pretty well conversant with French, and Lord Warwick asked curiously : ‘ Why, what is this, duke ? What is it that my young cousin must attend to with a witness ? Is there a court-martial going on V

The duke’s face grew graver as he replied : ‘ There is, of an unfortunate young man, who is to be tried as a spy, though he wears the British uniform. If your lordship would like to see the way the Spanish army manages these things’ I will escort you there.’

‘ The very thing !’ cried Lord Warwick. ‘Come, my lady, you never saw a courtmartial yet.’

CHAPTER XXXIX. THE COURT MARTIAL.

In a large building at the rear of the Spanish lines, out of the reach of the fire from the garrison, they found the courtmartial assembled, in full Uniform, with all the severe dignity and gravity of deportment that distinguishes Spanish officers. At the head of the table sat Colonel Don Raphael Solano, president of the court, and round it were grouped the rest, stern and unbending, with a gleam in their eyes that told how hard the prisoners were likely to fare at their hands. The entrance of the commander-in-chief produced a little bustle, which was soon over ; but there were, in the faces of the Spaniards present, signs that they resented the presence of the English prisoners, who accompanied the duke and were given seats near him, in honor to his protection. Herbert Seymour, being armed, they knew had come with a flag; but Lord Neville and his father were greeted with several sidelong glances of malignity, that only the presence of the duke restrained from bursting out into open discontent. The duke’s rank smoothed over all this, and the fact of his being commander-in-chief—able to claim the privilege of review of the proceedings of the court, set the Spaniards on their mettle, to do things in a shape that could not be found fault with. The prisoners had not been brought in yet; and the preliminaries of swearing in the members and the officer who acted as judgeadvocate were just beginning, when the entrance of the duke interrupted them. He directed them to proceed, and Lord Warwick, who sat beside his son an interested spectator, remarked, as he listened to the prelude in rapid Spanish : ‘ They might talk a Christian language, George. How do they expect a man to understand all this jabbering ?’ The duke heard him, though he spoke in a low tone, and whispered to the president of the court, who bowed his head with a somewhat sullen acquiescence, and the duke turned to Lord Warwick and remarked quietly : ‘ The president admits that you have an interest in the proceedings, and has directed that they be interpreted to you as they go on. The official interpreter will be here in a moment.’

He made his appearance soon after in the person of a Jew of Gibraltar, who had deserted from the town early in the siege, and had acted as an interpreter ever since, when flags of truce came in, with officers who did not understand Spanish. Then the earl drew a long breath, and Herbert moved uneasily in his chair, as the president gave the order ? ‘ Bring in the prisoners.’

There was a clash of arms at the door and two men were led in, one of whom Herbert recognised old Diaz: in the other his son. The old earl scanned the face of the contrabandista with the interest of a man who sees, for the first time, another in danger of his life ; but when he turned to look at the younger Diaz, who had removed his high plumed bonnet, Lord Warwick uttered a low exclamamation that attracted all eyes to him ; and it was echoed by his wife, who oat up and stared at the youth as if she had seen a ghost.

The duke of Crillon saw that something had happened which had startled and alarmed his guests, for they both looked frightened and almost horrified, while their son was glancing at them,and back to the face of Martin, in a way that showed he had anticipated some such scene, and was puzzled what was to come of it. The officers of tke court turned their heads for a moment at the low cry of the earl ; but then, as if it did not concern them in the least, pursued their duties, which consisted in the reading of a long charge and specifications, to which the prisoners were asked to plead. They recited that both men, being subjects of his most Christian majesty, the king of Spain, had taken up arms against him and become rebels, besides entering the camp to spy out its secrets and report "them to the enemy.

The Jew interpreter translated as the reading proceeded ; and the earl listened to him with an abstracted air, as if he had heard nothing of what the man was saying. All the time he was leaning forward in his chair, straining his eyes on the face of the younger prisoner, who, on his part, was

* The loss of the garrison, under the tremendous fire of the allies, on the day the floating batteries were burned, was surprisingly small. Captain Reeves, of the Royal Artillery, was the only officer killed, with five artillerymen and ten enlisted men from the different infantry regiments. Three artillery officers and two from the infantry were wounded, with sixty-three enlisted men, of which twenty.one were artillerymen.

attracted by the gaze, and returned it with an air of puzzled astonishment, that showed he did not comprehend it in the least. When tbe reading was over the president of the court asked the formal question : * Are you guilty, or not guilty ?’

Old Martin remained silent, but young Martin threw up his head and answered proudly : ‘ I am no subject of the king of Spain, for I was born on British soil, in the fortress of Gibraltar.’

‘ Then you plead not guilty,’ said the president coldly. ‘ The trial can proceed.’ The judge-advocate whispered to him, and he added hastily : ‘ The older prisoner has not answered. Are you guilty or not ?’ Old Diaz answered in turn.

‘I was born a subject of the king of Spain; but I have committed no act of warfare against him. I came to this camp to save my son, and for nothing else. I am no spy and no traitor.’

Then the English lord who had astonished them by the emotion he had displayed, uttered a deep sigh and said to the duke : ‘ For God’s sake, monsieur, who is that young man who spoke first ?’ His voice was loud enough to interrupt the court. The president turned his head and favored him with a stare of unmistakable significance ; then glanced at the duke as much as to ask whether he tolerated such conduct, The duke colored, and whispered to Lord Warwick, with a warning touch : ‘We must not interrupt the court. The young man is named Martin Diaz, and the other is his father. The young man claims to have been born in the town yonder, and the old one says he had committed no act of war.’ Lord Warwick turned to his wife with an appealing look, and she, on her part, seemed to be almost as much affected as himself. But she drew a little closer and whispered : ‘ Don t interrupt them, my lord. The truth will come out if there is anything in that face, Ido not understand it at all. George, my dear boy, my darling George, could you not see it too ?’

She turned to her son, with tears in her eyes, and he bowed his head gravely, as he replied. ‘ I saw it the first moment I laid eyes on him, mother dear, but 1 knew nothing of it. What is the matter, mother, darling ?’ Her only answer was to draw closer to him, as if she was afraid to lose him, and stare at the young prisoner as if she could not see enough of the face that had produced such an effect.

Their conversation, being in English and whipers, did not disturb the court so much, and the president directed the calling of the first witness for the prosecution. Mr Jose Gomez, smooth and sly as ever, his dark face without a trace of the malignity that filled his heart, gave his evidence in a clear, straightforward way, telling how he had escaped from old Diaz’s boat, when the old man was spying out the construction of the floating batteries ; how he had been in a fight that night ; how he had overheard the younger prisoner in the room of the governor of Gibraltar, telling him all about the batteries, and planning the resort to redhot shot, which had produced such a fearful effect that very day. The earl, who had recovered his composure to all outward appearance, though he was constantly wiping his forehead with his handkerchief, as if the heat oppressed him, made no further interruptions, but listened to the testimony, as it was translated, with intense interest.

Gomez was the only, as he was the first, witness for the charges,; and when his testimony was over, the president asked Martin the younger : ‘ Well, what have yon to say to all this V

The elder Diaz interrupted his son as he was about to speak, by placing his hand on his shoulder and rising, while the earl watched him with dilated eyes.

‘ If the honorable senors will allow me to be a witness for my son,’ he said, ‘ I wish to be sworn. We do not wish to deny the truth, but I am the person who knows, best of all, whether this boy is a subject or his majesty the king of Spain, whose subject I am. I deny nothing for myself. This spy has testified to no crime on my part, save that I was in a boat when this boy, at the risk of his life, penetrated your fleet at anchor and burned a frigate. But I took no part in that, for it would have been a crime in me, though none in him. I ask the privilege of being sworn on the Holy Gospels to tell the truth, Senores,’

The calm and dignified way in which he made his address produced a favorable impression. Jose, who had not retired, stared at the old contrabandista uneasily as he heard the president say : ‘ You can be sworn. The court will believe as much of the. - testimony you give as it pleases. Swear him, Captain.’ The old man took the oath, and began his story in the same quiet way. l Of myself, Senores, I will say little. I have been a sailor all my life, and, of late years,[a contrabandista, as some of you know. The testimony given by the traitor, Gomez, is true in all but this—’

Here he stopped and drew a long breath, as if it cost him a great effort to continue.

‘ Senores,’ he proceeded in broken tones, ‘ I am getting old now. My wife has been dead many a year. I have loved this boy and his sister better than my own life. God gave them to me when I was all aloue in the world. I have fought for them, and would have died for them at auy time, if the death would have brought them a moment’s happinese. Senores, what I am about to say is a thing that rends my heart ; but there is no other way of saving my boy but telling the truth. I thought that it would perish with me, and that no one would ever know it; that my eyes might be closed by these two that I have loved so well, and that have been such dear children to me. But— Sfmores, do not be impatient—l will tell it in a moment. GNe me a little time, for God’s sake. Senores, this boy that stands by my side is not—is not my son.’ As he uttered the last words the giant frame of the old contrabandista shook and trembled as he met the gaze of Martin, who

stared at him as if he thought his father was going mad in his trouble. The president interrupted him sternly. * What is this you are telling us ? Not your son ? What has that to do with the case : He is a Spanish subject. Is he not ?’

Old Martin raised his head and looked the Spaniard in the eye. ‘ He is not a Spanish subject at all, Senor. He is, I have every reason to believe, English by birth. This is the picture of his father, which I took from his neck twentyfive years ago, when I saved him from the sea, at the time of the great Lisbon earthquake.’ He pulled from his breast one of the little miniatures that were the only form of portrait in those days, though their place has long since been taken by tbe modern daguerreotype and photograph. He handed it to the president, who looked at it with interest. Lord Warwick rose from his seat, went to the side of the officer without a pretence of courtesy, looked at the portrait over his shoulder, and burst out into a cry that produced an immediate change of interest in the court to his direction.

The white-headed old man was sobbing like a child, and pointing to the miniature, gasping ? ‘Can’t you see? Can’t you see? You fools, can t you see that he is the sou of an English gentleman ? Hester, Hester, it’s Guy’s boy ! It’s Guy’s boy !’ (To be concluded in our next.)