The Bravest of the Brave — or, with Peterborough in Spain

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER II: IMPRESSED

  When the Mayor of Southampton opened the official document empoweringand requesting him to obtain recruits for the queen's service he was notgreatly 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 hewould be able to oblige many of his friends by getting rid of peopletroublesome to them, but with this exception where was he to find therecruits the queen required? There were, of course, a few never do wellsin the town who could be packed off, to the general satisfaction ofthe inhabitants, but beyond this every one taken would have friends andrelations who would cry out and protest.

  It was likely to be a troublesome business, and the mayor threw down thepaper on the table before him. Then suddenly his expression changed.He had been thinking of obliging his friends by sending off personstroublesome to them, but he had not thought of his own case. Here wasthe very thing; he would send off this troublesome lad to fight for thequeen; and whether he went to the Low Countries under Marlborough, orto Spain with this new expedition which was being prepared, it was veryunlikely that he would ever return to trouble him.

  He was only sixteen, indeed, but he was strong and well grown, and muchfitter for service than many of those who would be sent. If theyoung fellow stopped here he would always be a trouble, and a bone ofcontention between himself and his wife. Besides, for Alice's sake,it was clearly his duty to get the fellow out of the way. Girls, Mr.Anthony considered, were always falling in love with the very lastpeople in the world with whom they should do so, and out of sheercontrariety it was more than possible that Alice might take a fancy forthis penniless vagabond, and if she did Mrs. Anthony was fool enough tosupport her in her folly.

  Of course there would be trouble with his wife when she found what hadhappened to the lad--for the mayor did not deceive himself for a momentby the thought that he would be able to conceal from his wife the causeof Jack's absence; he was too well aware of Mrs. Anthony's power ofinvestigation. Still, after it was done it could not be undone, andit was better to have one domestic storm than a continuation of foulweather.

  Calling in his clerk the mayor read over to him the order he hadreceived, and bade him turn to the court book and make out a list of thenames of forty young men who had been charged before him with offensesof drunkenness, assault, battery and rioting.

  "When you have made up the list, Johnson, you will go round to thealdermen and inform them of the order that I have received from thegovernment, and you can tell them that if there are any persons theyknow of whom they consider that Southampton would be well rid, if theywill send the names to me I will add them to the list. Bid them not tochoose married men, if it can be avoided, for the town would be burdenedwith the support of their wives and families. Another ten names will do.The letter which accompanies the order says that from my well known zealand loyalty it is doubted not that Southampton will furnish a hundredmen, but if I begin with fifty that will be well enough, and we can pickout the others at our leisure."

  By the afternoon the list was filled up. One of the aldermen hadinserted the name of a troublesome nephew, another that of a foremanwith whom he had had a dispute about wages, and who had threatened toproceed against him in the court. Some of the names were inserted frommere petty spite; but with scarce an exception the aldermen responded tothe invitation of the mayor, and placed on the list the name of some onewhom they, or Southampton, would be the better without.

  When the list was completed the mayor struck out one of the first namesinserted by his clerk and inserted that of John Stilwell in its place.His instructions were that he was to notify to an officer, who wouldarrive with a company of soldiers on the following day, the names ofthose whom he deemed suitable for the queen's service. The officer aftertaking them was to embark them on board one of the queen's cutters,which would come round from Portsmouth for the purpose, and would conveythem to Dover, where a camp was being formed and the troops assembling.

  Upon the following day the company marched into the town, and theofficer 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 recruitsfor me. I don't want to be waiting here, for I have to go on a similarerrand to other towns. It is not a job I like, I can tell you, but it isnot for me to question orders."

  "I have a list of fifty men, all active and hearty fellows, who willmake good soldiers," the mayor said.

  "And of whom, no doubt, Southampton will be well rid," the officer saidwith a laugh. "Truly, I pity the Earl of Peterborough, for he willhave as rough a body of soldiers as ever marched to war. However, it isusually the case that the sort of men who give trouble at home are justthose who, when the time comes, make the best fighters. I would ratherhave half a dozen of your reckless blades, when the pinch comes, than ascore of honest plowboys. How do you propose that I shall take them?"

  "That I will leave entirely to you," the mayor said; "here is a listof the houses where they lodge. I will place the town watch at yourdisposal 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 giveme a list of those who are most likely to give trouble. These I willpounce upon and get on board ship first of all. When they are securedI will tell my men off in parties, each with one of your constables topoint out the men, and we will pick them up so many every evening. Itis better not to break into houses and seize them; for, although weare acting legally and under the authority of act of parliament, it isalways as well to avoid giving cause of complaint, which might tend toexcite a feeling against the war and make the government unpopular, andwhich, moreover, might do you harm with the good citizens, and do meharm with those above me. I am sure you agree with me."

  "Quite so, quite so," the mayor said hastily; "you speak very prudentlyand well, sir. I hope you will honor me by taking up your abode in myhouse 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 which concern them not."

  "I understand," the officer said with a wink, "there are names on thelist of which your wife would not approve. I have known the same thinghappen before. But never fear, the list shall be kept safe; and, indeed,it were better that nothing were said of my business in the town, for ifthis get abroad, some of those whose conscience may tell them that theywill be likely to be chosen for service might very well slip off and beout of the way until they hear that I and my men have left."

  Two days later, when, as the evening was falling, Jack Stilwell waswalking up from the wharf, where he had been watching the unlading ofthe vessel in which he was to sail, he came upon a group of four or fivesoldiers standing at a corner. Then a voice, which he recognized as thatof the foreman, Richard Carson, said:

  "That is your man, officer;" and the soldiers made a sudden rush uponhim.

  Taken by surprise he nevertheless struggled desperately, but a heavyblow with a staff fell on the back of his head, and for a time he knewnothing more. When he recovered his consciousness he was lying almost incomplete darkness, but by the faint gleam of the lantern he discoveredthat he was in the hold of a ship. Several other men were sitting orlaying near him. Some of them were cursing and swearing, others werestanching 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 soldiers. I madea fight for it, and just as they had got the handcuffs on some citizenscame up and asked what was doing, and the sergeant said, 'It is quitelegal. We hold the mayor's warrant to impress this man for service inthe army; there is a constable here who will tell you we are acting onauthority, and if any interfere it will be worse for them.'"

  Jack heard the news in silence. So, he had been pressed by a warrant ofthe mayor, he was the victim of the spite of his late employer. But histh
oughts soon turned from this by the consciousness that his shirt andclothes were soaked with blood, and putting his hand to the back ofhis head he found a great lump from which the blood was still slowlyflowing. Taking off his neck handkerchief he bound it round his headand then lay down again. He tried to think, but his brain was weak andconfused, and he presently fell into a sound sleep, from which he wasnot aroused by the arrival of another batch of prisoners.

  It was morning when he awoke, and he found that he had now nearlytwenty companions in captivity. Some were walking up and down like cagedanimals, others were loudly bewailing their fate, some sat moody andsilent, while some bawled out threats of vengeance against those theyconsidered responsible for their captivity. A sentry with a shoulderedmusket was standing at the foot of the steps, and from time to time somesailors passed up and down. Jack went up to one of these.

  "Mate," he said, "could you let us have a few buckets of water downhere? In the first place we are parched with thirst, and in the secondwe may as well try to get off some of the blood which, from a good manyof us, has been let out pretty freely."

  "Well, you seem a reasonable sort of chap," the sailor said, "and totake things coolly. That's the way, my lad; when the king, or the queennow--it's all the same thing--has once got his hand on you it's of nouse kicking against it. I have been pressed twice myself, so I know howyou feel. Here, mates," he said to two of the other sailors, "lend ahand and get a bucket of fresh water and a pannikin, and half a dozenbuckets of salt water, and let these lads have a drink and a wash."

  It was soon done. The prisoners were all glad of the drink, but fewcared to trouble about washing. Jack, however, took possession of abucket, stripped to the waist, and had a good wash. The salt water madehis wound smart, but he continued for half an hour bathing it, and atthe end of that time felt vastly fresher and better. Then he soaked hisshirt in the water, and as far as possible removed the broad stains ofblood 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 takento fill the ranks rendered the military service distasteful in theextreme to the English people. Since the days of Agincourt the Englisharmy had never gained any brilliant successes abroad, and there wasconsequently none of that national pride which now exists in its braveryand glorious history.

  Still, Jack reflected, it did not make much difference to him whether hebecame a soldier or a sailor. He had longed to see the world, toshare in deeds of adventure, and, above all, to escape from the drearydrudgery of the clothier's shop. These objects would be attained as wellin the army as in the navy; and, indeed, now that he thought of it, hepreferred the active service which he would see under Marlborough orPeterborough to the monotony of a long sea voyage. At any rate, it wasclear that remonstrance or resistance were vain. He as well as otherswere aware of the law which had just been passed, giving magistrates thepower of impressing soldiers for the service, and he felt, therefore,that although his impressment had no doubt been dictated by the privatedesire of the mayor to get him out of the way, it was yet strictlylegal, and that it would be useless his making any protest against it.He resolved, therefore, to make the best of things, and to endeavor towin the goodwill of his officers by prompt and cheerful acquiescence inthe inevitable.

  Presently some sailors brought down a tray with a number of hunks ofblack bread, a large pot filled with a sort of broth, and a score ofearthenware 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 followedhis example, but most of them were too angry or too dispirited to careabout eating; and, indeed, it seemed to them that their refusal topartake of the meal was a sort of protest against their captivity.

  Half an hour afterward the sailors removed the food; and many of thosewho had refused to touch it soon regretted bitterly that they had notdone so, for as the time went on hunger began to make itself felt. Itwas evening before the next meal, consisting of black bread and agreat piece of salt beef, was brought down. This time there were noabstentions. As the evening wore on fresh batches of prisoners werebrought in, until, by midnight, the number was raised to fifty. Many ofthem had been seriously knocked about in their capture, and Jack, whohad persuaded his friend the sailor to bring down three or four morebuckets of salt water, did his best, by bathing and bandaging theirwounds, to put them at their ease.

  In the morning he could see who were his companions in misfortune. Manyof them he knew by sight as loafers on the wharves and as troublesome orriotous characters. Three or four were men of different type. There weretwo or three respectable mechanics--men who had had, at various times,drawn upon them the dislikes of the great men of the town by insistingon their rights; and there were two idle young fellows of a higherclass, who had vexed their friends beyond endurance.

  Presently the officer in charge of the recruiting party, who had nowcome on board, came down into the hold. He was at once assailed with astorm of curses and angry remonstrances.

  "Look here, my lads," he said, raising his hand for silence, "it is ofno use your going on like this, and I warn you that the sooner you makeup your minds that you have got to serve her majesty the better foryou, because that you have got to do it is certain. You have all beenimpressed according to act of parliament, and there is no getting outof it. It's your own fault that you got those hard knocks that I see themarks of, and you will get more if you give any more trouble. Now, thosewho 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'sall in your favor; you will be a sergeant at an age when others arelearning their recruit drill. Now, who's the next?"

  Some half dozen of the others followed Jack's example, but the rest werestill too sore and angry to be willing to do anything voluntarily.

  Jack leaped lightly up on deck and looked round; the cutter was alreadyunder weigh, and with a gentle breeze was running along the smoothsurface of Southampton waters; the ivy covered ruins of Netley Abbeywere abreast of them, and behind was the shipping of the port.

  "Well, young un," an old sergeant said, "so I suppose you have agreed toserve the queen?"

  "As her majesty was so pressing," Jack replied with a smile, "you see Ihad 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 cansee, but you are young to be pressed. How old are you?"

  "Sixteen," Jack replied.

  "Then they had no right to take you," the sergeant said; "seventeen'sthe earliest age, and as a rule soldiers ain't much good till they arepast twenty. You would have a right to get off if you could prove yourage; 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 underage."

  "I shan't try," Jack answered; "I have made up my mind to it now, andthere's an end to it. But why ain't soldiers any good till they are pasttwenty, 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 soldieris very often every bit as good as the old one; but they can't standfatigue and hardship like old soldiers. A boy will start out on as longa walk as a man can take, but he can't keep it up day after day. When itcomes to long marches, to sleeping on the ground in the wet, bad food,and fever from the marshes, the young soldier breaks down, the hospitalgets full of boys, and they just die off like flies, while the older menpull through."

  "You are a Job's comforter, I must say," Jack said with a laugh; "butI must hope that I shan't have long marches, and bad food, and dampweather, and marsh fever till I get a bit older."

  "I don't want to discourage you," the sergeant remarked,
"and you knowthere are young soldiers and young soldiers. There are the weedy, narrowchested chaps as seems to be made special for filling a grave; and thereis the sturdy, hardy young chap, whose good health and good spiritscarries him through. That's your sort, I reckon. Good spirits is thebest medicine in the world; it's worth all the doctors and apothecariesin the army. But how did you come to be pressed? it's generally thene'er do well and idle who get picked out as food for powder. Thatdoesn't look your sort, or I'm mistaken."

  "I hope not," Jack said. "I am here because I am a sort of cousin of theMayor of Southampton. He wanted me to serve in his shop. I stood it fora time, but I hated it, and at last I had a row with his foreman andknocked him down, so I was kicked out into the streets; and I supposehe didn't like seeing me about, and so took this means of getting ridof me. He needn't have been in such a hurry, for if he had waited a fewdays I should have gone, for I had shipped as a boy on board of a shipabout to sail for the colonies."

  "In that case, my lad, you have no reason for ill will against thisprecious relation of yours, for he has done you a good turn whilemeaning to do you a bad un. The life of a boy on board a ship isn't oneto be envied, I can tell you; he is at every one's beck and call, andgets more kicks than halfpence. Besides, what comes of it? You get to bea sailor, and, as far as I can see, the life of a sailor is the lifeof a dog. Look at the place where he sleeps--why, it ain't as good asa decent kennel. Look at his food--salt meat as hard as a stone, androtten biscuit that a decent dog would turn up his nose at; his timeis never his own--wet or dry, storm or calm, he's got to work when he'stold. And what's he got to look forward to? A spree on shore when hisvoyage is done, and then to work again. Why, my lad, a soldier's life isa gentleman's life in comparison. Once you have learned your drill andknow your duty you have an easy time of it. Most of your time's yourown. When you are on a campaign you eat, drink, and are jolly at otherfolks' expense; and if you do get wet when you are on duty, you cangenerally manage to turn in dry when you are relieved. It's not a badlife, my boy, I can tell you; and if you do your duty well, and youare 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 anofficer. I can't read nor write--not one in twenty can--but those ascan, of course, has a better chance of promotion if they distinguishthemselves. I should have got it last year in the Low Country, andMarlborough himself said, 'Well done!' when I, with ten rank and file,held a bridge across a canal for half an hour against a company ofFrench. He sent for me after it was over, but when he found I couldn'tread or write he couldn't promote me; but he gave me a purse of twentyguineas, and I don't know but what that suited me better, for I ama deal more comfortable as a sergeant than I should have been as anofficer; but you see, if you had been in my place up you would havegone."

  The wind fell in the afternoon, and the cutter dropped her anchor as thetide was running against her. At night Jack Stilwell and the otherswho had accepted their fate slept with the troops on board instead ofreturning to rejoin their companions in the hold. Jack was extremelyglad of the change, as there was air and ventilation, whereas in thehold the atmosphere had been close and oppressive. He was the more gladnext morning when he found that the wind, which had sprung up soon aftermidnight, was freshening fast, and was, as one of the sailors said,likely to blow hard before long. The cutter was already beginning tofeel the effect of the rising sea, and toward the afternoon was pitchingin a lively way and taking the sea over her bows.

  "You seem to enjoy it, young un," the sergeant said as Jack, holdingon by a shroud, was facing the wind regardless of the showers of spraywhich flew over him. "Half our company are down with seasickness, and asfor those chaps down in the fore hold they must be having a bad time ofit, for I can hear them groaning and cursing through the bulkhead. Thehatchway has been battened down for the last three hours."

  "I enjoy it," Jack said; "whenever I got a holiday at Southampton I usedto go out sailing. I knew most of the fishermen there; they were alwaysready to take me with them as an extra hand. When do you think we shallget to Dover?"

  "She is walking along fast," the sergeant said; "we shall be theretomorrow morning. We might be there before, but the sailors say that theskipper is not likely to run in before daylight, and before it gets darkhe will shorten sail so as not to get there before."

  The wind increased until it was blowing a gale; but the cutter was agood sea boat, and being in light trim made good weather of it. However,even Jack was pleased when he felt a sudden change in the motion of thevessel, and knew that she was running into Dover harbor.

  Morning was just breaking, and the hatchways being removed the sergeantshouted down to the pressed men that they could come on deck. It was amiserable body of men who crawled up in answer to the summons, utterlyworn out and exhausted with the seasickness, the closeness of the air,and the tossing and buffeting of the last eighteen hours; many hadscarce strength to climb the ladder.

  All the spirit and indignation had been knocked out of them--they weretoo miserable and dejected to utter a complaint. The sergeant orderedhis men to draw up some buckets of water, and told the recruits to washthemselves and make themselves as decent as they could, and the orderwas sharply enforced by the captain when he came on deck.

  "I would not march through the streets of Dover with such a filthy, hangdog crew," he said; "why, the very boys would throw mud at you. Come, dowhat you can to make yourselves clean, or I will have buckets of waterthrown over you. I would rather take you on shore drenched to the skinthan in that state. You have brought it entirely on yourselves by yourobstinacy. Had you enlisted at once without further trouble you wouldnot have suffered as you have."

  The fresh air and cold water soon revived even the most exhausted ofthe new recruits, and as soon as all had been made as presentable ascircumstances would admit of, the order was given to land. The partywere formed on the quay, four abreast, the soldiers forming the outsideline, and so they marched through Dover, where but yet a few peoplewere up and stirring, to the camp formed just outside the walls of thecastle. The colonel of the regiment met them as they marched in.

  "Well, Captain Lowther, you have had a rough time of it, I reckon. Ithought the whole camp was going to be blown away last night. These arethe recruits from Southampton, I suppose?"

  "Yes, colonel, what there is left of them; they certainly had a baddishtwelve 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 addedwith a grim smile.

  "They are all ready, no doubt," Captain Lowther replied; "as to theirwillingness I can't say so much. Some half dozen or so agreed at once tojoin without giving any trouble, foremost among them that lad at the endof the line, who, Sergeant Edwards tells me, is a fine young fellow andlikely to do credit to the regiment; the rest chose to be sulky, andhave suffered for it by being kept below during the voyage. However, Ithink 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 gotover their buffeting. Now, my lads," he went on, addressing the men,"you have all been pressed to serve her majesty in accordance with actof 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 youthat the discipline will be strict. In a newly raised regiment like thisit is necessary to keep a tight hand, but if you behave yourselves anddo your duty you will not find the life a hard one.

  "Remember, it's no use any of you thinking of deserting; we have gotyour names and addresses, so you couldn't go home if you did; and youwould soon be brought back wherever you went, and you know pretty wellwhat's the punishment for desertion without my telling you. That willdo."

  No one raised a voice in reply--
each man felt that his position washopeless, for, as the colonel said, they had been legally impressed.They were first taken before the adjutant, who rapidly swore them in,and they were then set to work, assisted by some more soldiers, inpitching tents. Clothes were soon served out to them and the work ofdrill commenced at once.

  Each day brought fresh additions to the force, and in a fortnight itsstrength was complete. Jack did not object to the hard drill which theyhad to go through, and which occupied them from morning till night, forthe colonel knew that on any day the regiment might receive orders toembark, and he wanted to get it in something like shape before settingsail. Jack did, however, shrink from the company in which he foundhimself. With a few exceptions the regiment was made up of wild andworthless fellows, of whom the various magistrates had been only tooglad to clear their towns, and mingled with these were the sweepings ofthe jails, rogues and ruffians of every description. The regimentmight eventually be welded into a body of good soldiers, but at presentdiscipline had not done its work, and it was simply a collection ofreckless men, thieves, and vagabonds.