A Gallant Grenadier: A Tale of the Crimean War

by F. S. Brereton

  CHAPTER SIX.

  WAR WITH RUSSIA.

  The summer months flew by in the pleasant surroundings of beautifulWindsor. Guard duties alternating with drills, and odd hours spent inthe office of the regimental orderly-room, kept Phil pleasantlyoccupied, and when off duty he and Tony had always plenty of ways ofamusing themselves, so that the latter days of September found them lothto leave the garrison and march to London. But orders had come for thebattalion to go to Wellington Barracks, and in due course they foundthemselves once more installed in their old quarters, facing the parkacross the celebrated Bird-cage Walk.

  "We've had a real good time down there," remarked Tony, some two monthsafter their arrival, jerking his thumb in the direction of Windsor, "andit'll be long before we strike against such another.

  "What's to be done here? Nothing--simply nothing! It's drill and go onguard nigh every day, and when you're free, kick yer heels in thesquare, or go out walking. I'm getting tired of it already."

  "Oh, come, Tony, it isn't quite so bad as that!" laughed Phil. "We'reno harder worked here than we were during the summer, and in our freetime we can find heaps to do if we only set about it. They say thatthousands of Londoners know far less about their own surroundings thando occasional visitors. Now I propose we get some sort of a guide, andevery day we are able, go off to see some gallery or museum. It willcost us little or nothing, and will be good fun. In any case it wouldtake weeks to exhaust all the sights, and before that, if all one hearsis true, we are likely to be setting our faces south for some othercountry."

  "Oh, you mean we'll be off fighting, do you, Phil? Well, I ain't sojolly certain. Seems to me that England ain't keen on a row just now.It takes a scholar to know anything about it, but I hears that the Queenand her government want peace, and I suppose what England wants she'sbound to have. Leastways that's how I reckon it, for we'd whop theheads off any nation what tried to interfere."

  "Ha, ha! You've rather a big idea of England's power," laughed Phil;"but there's a good deal of truth in it, I expect. I must get to knowabout this row, and meanwhile we'll do as I said, if you're agreeable."

  "Yes, it'll suit me well, young un," answered Tony, who was fond ofaddressing his friend in that way. "I don't drink, and I ain't never introuble nowadays, thanks to you, but there's no saying what might happenif I hadn't anything to do. What's that kind of saying about idleness?"

  "Idleness is the root of all evil."

  "Yes, that's it, Phil. Give me plenty to do, and I'll be better able tokeep that promise I made yer."

  Accordingly Phil and Tony laid out a couple of shillings in a guide, andcommenced systematically to investigate the sights of London, commencingwith the Tower, where a regiment of Guards was quartered, and turningtheir attention next to the British Museum, which itself occupiedseveral days.

  "We must do the thing thoroughly," said Phil, as, book in hand, he andTony strolled through one of the larger rooms. "I'll tell you what willbe a good plan. We'll pay a visit to the map room, look up a certaincountry, and then investigate whatever curios there happen to be fromthat part."

  "I'm with yer, Phil," Tony answered cheerfully, wishing to please hiscompanion, and secretly imbued with a firm determination to make up asmuch as possible for his ignorance. "But you'll have to show meeverything. I don't suppose I'd be able to tell the difference betweena map of France and one of England. You'd better start with the lot,and point 'em out one by one."

  Anxious to improve his humble friend, Phil took up his education in thisway with zest, and spent hours in scanning a map of the world. Sodeeply interested did they become that on the second day they did notobserve that a little man, dressed in respectable black, and wearing alarge white stock, had stolen up behind them, and with smiling face, andeyes which peered through a pair of glasses, was peeping over theirshoulders and listening with interest to the harangue which Phil wasdelivering for the benefit of Tony.

  "There's the Black Sea, communicating with the Mediterranean by means ofthis narrow channel," Phil was remarking, as he placed his finger on theDardanelles, and ran it up and down to show the communication betweenthe two seas. "There's Turkey, and there's Russia; and it's betweenthose two countries that war is imminent."

  "Then Russia and the Czar, or whatever he's called, ought to be ashamedof theirselves, that's all I've got to say," answered Tony with disgust."See what a size the first one is. Why, the other's only a baby."

  "She'll fight for all that, Tony, so people say, but why or for what Idon't know. Russia wants something, and Turkey says `No'. Russia hasanswered that she will have it or war, and now I believe the Sultan ison the point of replying."

  "Yus, that's clear enough, young un, but what about Old England? Wheredoes she come in? Why should she fight Russia when the row's betweenthe Czar and the Sultan? It beats me altogether."

  "And me too, Tony. I'm in a regular fog."

  "Then allow me to help you," came in suave tones from the dapper littlestranger, with such suddenness, that both Tony and Phil started back insurprise.

  "Ah! did not know that I was there, I suppose," remarked the stranger,with a smile. "But I've been listening--listening with interest forsome time. You have had some education, I observe, young sir," hecontinued, addressing Phil, "and if you and your companion would reallycare, I will clear up this mystery for you."

  "Thank you! It would be very kind, sir," exclaimed Phil. "We havebothered about the matter many days."

  "And there is no one who ought to be informed more than you, myfriends," the stranger remarked earnestly. "As sure as my name isShelton, you of the Guards, and many another soldier boy, will be offtowards the Black Sea before many weeks have passed. For war ispractically certain."

  "Horroo! You don't say so, sir!" cried Tony, snapping his fingers withdelight and drawing himself up stiffly as though to show Mr Sheltonwhat a fight he would make of it.

  "But I do, my young friend," the latter replied, with a grave smile."War is undoubtedly imminent, and the Powers are about to grapple withan enemy as subtle and as courageous as exists in any part of the world.But come, glance at the map and I will try to tell you all about thetrouble, and when I have finished I feel sure that you two will go outwith all the more determination to do your duty for the sake of theoppressed and for England's honour, for if ever there was an act ofbullying the Czar is guilty of it.

  "You must know that Russia's teeming thousands are, as a mass, densely,hopelessly ignorant. Peasants for the most part, they live a life ofabject misery. They are little better than slaves, and, ruled over byvarious lords, they one and all look to the Czar as all-powerful,unconquerable, and as a tyrant whose word is law, and whose hand, liftedin anger, is worse than death itself. He is, in other words, anautocratic ruler, and he, like those who held the throne before him, hasdiligently followed out a policy of keeping his poor subjects in a stateof ignorance. What a work it would be to lift those poor people fromtheir lifelong condition of serfdom! A work fit for the best of rulers;but educate them, teach them to think for themselves, and at once yourautocratic government ceases, for the masses will unite and rise againsta galling system of tyranny and oppression. They will no longer bow tothe will of one man--to thousands in the far-off districts a ruler onlyin name,--but, goaded to rebellion, they will fight for that libertysweet to every man.

  "Thus, you will follow me, education is opposed to autocratic rule. Butsuch a rule, bringing in its train misery and poverty, breedsdiscontent, and even the most pitiable of wretches, if sufficientlyill-treated, will brood over their wrongs till the fury of hate seizesthem, and once more the reign of the absolute ruler is threatened. Sowell is the Czar Nicholas aware of this, that to distract the attentionof his subjects from their grievances he has filled their minds with thealluring spectacle of foreign conquests. Look at the map. See how bigthe Russian empire is, and remember how a great part is almostuninhabitable owing to excessive cold. Then look at her capital, SaintPeters
burg, and see how far from European ports it is. How much betterfor her if she possessed a town in the position of Constantinople.Then, with the narrow Dardanelles to guard, she could post a fleet ofwar-ships in the Black Sea, and at any moment swoop down into theMediterranean. She would become at once mistress of that sea, and assuch could intimidate her neighbours. And in peace times what an outletthe Turkish capital would prove for all Russia's surplus manufactures,and how easily a vast quantity of stores could be imported through it!It would be the making of Russia, my young friends, and she knows it,has known it, and has steadily worked for that end."

  Mr Shelton paused, and, drawing the map closer, pointed out the variouspoints of interest in Russia and Turkey, while Phil and Tony followedhim.

  "Ah, now I begin to see!" said the former; "Russia wants Turkey, orrather that part of it on the Dardanelles, and that I suppose is thereason for this trouble. But surely she would not deliberately attemptto deprive the Sultan of his capital?"

  "By no means, young sir; the Czar is far too clever for that. He wanteda pretext for war, and one which would appeal to his people; and whatmore powerful one could he have found than a religious one, that is, onein which those of the Greek Church were shown to be the martyrs, forRussia belongs to that persuasion.

  "There was one at hand. The Holy Land, which of course is under theSultan's sway, is the home of large numbers of priests and othersbelonging to the Latin and the Greek Churches, and the Czar promptlydemanded that the latter should have more religious privileges than theformer, while France, whose interests are with the Latin Church,demanded the very opposite. What was the unhappy Sultan to do? Himselfa Mahometan, he could not be expected to favour either of the twoinfidel sects practising their religion at Jerusalem.

  "It was an exceedingly difficult problem, and it is not to be wonderedat that he failed to please both parties. The Latins were moderatelycontent, while the Greek Church was roused into a fit of the warmestindignation, and with it the Czar, who at once despatched two army corpsover the Turkish frontier and occupied the country between it and theDanube, in the opinion of all right-thinking people an act of monstrousinjustice."

  "I should think so indeed!" Phil blurted out. "How could the poorSultan be expected to satisfy both parties? It was a regular trap."

  "Undoubtedly, undoubtedly, my friend! It was an example ofhigh-handedness never before surpassed," remarked Mr Shelton gravely."But still war might have been averted, for the Sultan now agreed to theCzar's demands, and in the eyes of Europe Russia could not but withdraw.

  "Such a course, however, was far from her intentions. With this pointgained, she now demanded a protectorate over all subjects of the GreekChurch, a suggestion which, if complied with, would have at once led14,000,000 people resident in Turkey to own the Czar as their ruler, andthus leave the unfortunate Sultan with merely a sprinkling of subjects.

  "Turkey might have declared war promptly, but now the Western powers,much to the Czar's chagrin and anger, intervened. Look at Austria. IfTurkey were occupied by Russia, the emperor's territory would bepartially enclosed, and a feeling of insecurity would naturally arise.Therefore he is opposed to the scheme. France has perhaps no verydefinite reason for opposition, save the upholding of the rights of theLatin Church. But we must remember that she has ever been a belligerentpower, and that success in arms would place Louis Napoleon more firmlyon a throne at present in a decidedly shaky condition. Also, if shetook Russia's part, she would have England and her fleet to cope with,an item that I can assure you, my young friends, is not to be lightlythought of.

  "And now for England. Ever the mainstay of justice and right, and theprotector of the oppressed, she has, considerably to the astonishment ofeveryone, and particularly of Russia, awakened from that long peaceenjoyed since Waterloo, and, shaking herself free for the moment fromher absorbing interest in trade, has thrown herself heart and soul intothe cause of Turkey. With the French, some of our ships sailed to theBosphorus; and as Russia refused to withdraw her troops from the Danube,the combined fleets entered the Dardanelles and anchored beforeConstantinople.

  "And now comes the crux of the whole thing," said Mr Shelton, withemphasis. "We are not at war, but our interests are aroused, and oursympathy with Turkey is deep. It wanted only a match to set us flaring,and cause us to engage in a war of what magnitude no one can say, andthat match has been applied. On the last day of November a small fleetof Turkish ships, which had anchored at Sinope, close aboveConstantinople, was destroyed, together with 4000 men, by a fleet ofRussian war-vessels. It was a cruel and unnecessary act. Capture wouldhave sufficed. But the fatal deed is done, and now I fancy both Englandand France are launched into the struggle, for their peoples areclamouring for the punishment of the Czar and his subjects. In any casea few days will determine the matter, and then, my lads, your countrywill have need of you, and thousands more like you."

  "Then I for one, sir, shall fight all the better and all the harder nowthat I know exactly what the trouble is!" exclaimed Phil; while Tonygave a grunt of marked approval, showing that if he had failed to graspexactly the real reason for war, he had at any rate a decided grudgeagainst the Czar and his people, which he would endeavour to satisfy atthe earliest opportunity.

  "And where do you think the fighting will take place?" continued Phil."Shall we invade Russia, or will our fleets go in chase of the Russianships? In that case we soldiers would have precious little to do, andthe sailors would come in for all the honour and glory."

  "Rest easy, my young friend," replied Mr Shelton, with a smile. "Bothservices will have their hands full, or I shall be much surprised. Atpresent matters point to a campaign on the Danube, while our fleet holdsthe Dardanelles and the Black Sea; but for all I know Russia may beinvaded. In that case Sebastopol is likely to be the port fixed uponfor attack. Situated in the Crimea, it is an immense naval and militaryarsenal, which in itself is a constant menace to Turkey. Look at themap once more and note the position of the Danube and of Sebastopol, youwill then more readily see the truth of my words."

  "Don't matter to me where it is, sir!" exclaimed Tony bluntly; "if it'swar we'll fight and lick the beggars, see if we don't; and if it comesto invasion, or whatever yer calls it, well, all the better, I say.'Tain't nearly such good fun sticking behind stone walls and keepingfellers out as it is rushing forts and such like things, and turning thegarrison out with the end of a bay'net. That's the boy for 'em. Giveme and all my mates a good half-yard of steel at the end of our guns,and see if we don't make it warm for the Russians. We'll do as well asthe Froggies at any rate."

  "That you will, I am sure," laughed Mr Shelton, patting him on theback. "Fancy how strange it is that we who have always been fightingwith France, who is, as I might say, our natural enemy, should now beside by side with her, and in all probability will soon be fighting forthe same object. It will lead to tremendous scenes of emulation, for noBritish soldier will care to allow a Frenchman to beat him at anything."

  "I should think not, indeed," Phil snorted. "There was a chap at theschool I first went to who was a regular Froggy. His people had come toEngland to save him from conscription; it would have been the making ofhim, for he was a regular donkey, conceited and all that; curled hishair and put scent on his handkerchief. Pah! How we disliked thatfellow!"

  "It sounds as though you had had something to do with him," said MrShelton, with a quizzical smile, "for we were saying that no Englishmanwould suffer a Frenchman to beat him."

  "Oh--er, yes, there was something like that!" Phil replied, withreddened cheeks. "You see the beggar got so uppish and disagreeablethere was no doing anything with him; then, when I called him Froggy, inpure jest, he threw a stump at me, and caught me a crack on the head. Ididn't like that, and--er--"

  "Yes, you did what?" asked Mr Shelton, with the same quizzical smile.

  "I licked him till he blubbered," Phil blurted out shamefacedly,conscious that he had been dragged into saying more than h
e had at firstintended.

  "Ha, ha, ha! you licked him till he blubbered," roared the oldgentleman, losing in a moment his appearance of gravity, and beaming allover his face. "You licked him, and a very proper thing too, my friend!But you must not be trying such games now. It would mean acourt-martial, or even something more serious. But I must be going now.Bear in mind what I have told you, and be sure of this--war--red war--is at hand. Now good-bye and good luck!--you are just the class of ladsthat England will want."

  "Thank you, sir! Good-bye!" cried Phil and Tony, saluting the oldgentleman. Then, tucking their canes under their arms, they strode outof the building and away to the barracks, discussing as they went thepossibility of war, and the share they were likely to take in it.

  "I'm going to get a book on Russian!" exclaimed Phil, the day followingtheir visit to the British Museum. "People tell me it is the mostdifficult of all languages to learn, but I may be able to pick up a fewuseful words. I remember now that the firm I acted as clerk to didbusiness with another trading with Russian ports, and they had a Russianclerk. I met him once or twice, and I'll just go along and see what hesays about the matter."

  "It's a good thing, right enough, Phil," Tony replied, with a shrug,"but it's far beyond me, as far as the clouds; but you have a try at it,old man, and I'll be bound you'll succeed. I never knew yer beat yet."

  Accordingly Phil went off at the first opportunity to see the clerk hehad mentioned, and after a chat with him bought a book, and was shownthe characters as a first lesson.

  "Take my advice," said the clerk, who was the son of a Russian motherand an English father, and almost entirely English in his ways andthoughts, "and buy a really good map of the country, and a reliablecompass. Supposing you get cut off from the troops, it might prove ofthe greatest service to you. As regards the language, come along to myrooms as often as you like. I am always in about six o'clock, and willbe glad to give you a lesson."

  Phil was not slow to take advantage of the offer. Every day he was freefrom guards and other duties, and had no engagement with Tony to see thesights of London, he repaired to the rooms of his Russian friend, andthere worked hard at the language.

  If Mr Western could have seen him and his earnestness, he would havebeen agape with amazement. This his idle adopted son? This the wilfullad who would never settle down to work, and never take a leading placein his class at school? Could this young soldier--this fine, stalwartyoung fellow (even he would have been obliged to admit it)--who slavedso many hours day and night at the dryest of dry and uninterestingsubjects, be really the lad who had always gone contrary to his wishes,the unmanageable boy full of daring and mischief, who had occasioned thevicar of Riddington so many anxious and bitter thoughts? To him itwould have been almost beyond belief. His dull and rigidly narrow mindcould not have grasped the change. But Joe Sweetman, what would he havesaid? How he would have chuckled, with just a suspicion of pride andelation, and blurted out: "Didn't I tell you so. Leave the lad alone.Wild and unmanageable? Pshaw! Look at him now. His heart's in theright place. He's got hold of a subject he's interested in, and he'sgot the backbone to stick to it, though it means a lot of hard work."

  And Phil had indeed the backbone and perseverance to continue to work atthe language. A month passed, and he had apparently made no progress,and the alphabet was still almost a troublesome maze to him. But whensome weeks more had flown by he could join a few words together in thesemblance of sense, though he was still far from being able to carry ona conversation. By the middle of February, 1854, the year in which theeventful Crimean war began, he could even acknowledge to himself that hewas getting on, and that a little more practice would find him fairlyproficient. Never for a moment did he forget this ambition of his, thisself-imposed task, to master the most difficult of languages. Who isthere who cannot imagine the labour it meant, the constant grinding, thelate hours when, beneath a flickering gas-jet or a smoking oil lantern,he opened his book and devoured its contents till his eyes were almostfalling from his head? Few, indeed, would saddle themselves willinglywith such a labour, but to Phil to take up a subject, however trivial,was to succeed, and that very success was the reward he received. Thealphabet and more difficult words having now been mastered, the work wasfar more pleasant, and invited him to persevere.

  "There's no doubt about it, it is a grind, an awful grind," he one dayadmitted in muttered tones to himself. "But I'll stick to it. It comeseasier to me every day, and who knows what the knowledge may do for me?Interpreters will certainly be required, though to imagine myself one isflying rather high."

  On parade, at musketry practice, everywhere he would repeat sentences inlow tones, and would attempt to put the orders for the soldiers intoRussian. Then, at the first opportunity, he and the clerk who had sobefriended him would retire to the latter's room and there carry on along conversation, in which no English was admitted on pain of a smallfine. Thus, as the days passed, his proficiency increased, till he wasalmost competent to find his way through the heart of Russia withoutmuch difficulty, so far as the language was concerned.

  But a far from unexpected interruption occurred. France and Englandwere on the eve of despatching an ultimatum to Russia, and the usuallyplacid life of the Guards was disturbed by orders to embark for activeservice.