The Young Buglers

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER VI.

  PORTUGAL.

  The boys were delighted with the appearance of the Tagus, covered asit now was with a fleet of transports and merchantmen. As they werelooking at it, the officer commanding the marines on board, who hadtalked a good deal to them upon the preceding day, came up to them. "Ithought that you would be in a fix about clothes, my lads," he said."You could not very well join in these midshipman's uniforms, so I setthe tailor yesterday to cut down a couple of spare suits of my corps.The buttons will not be right, but you can easily alter that when youjoin. You had better go below at once and see if the things fit prettywell. I have told the tailor to take them to the cock-pit and if theydo not fit they can alter them at once."

  Thanking the officer very much for his thoughtful kindness, and muchrelieved in mind--for they had already been wondering what they shoulddo--the boys ran below, and found that the tailor had guessed theirsizes pretty correctly, aided as he had been by the trousers theyhad worn when they came on board. A few alterations were necessary,and these he promised to get finished in a couple of hours. They hadscarcely gone on deck again when the anchor was let fall, and a boatwas lowered, in order that the captain might proceed to shore with thedespatches of which he was the bearer.

  Just as he was upon the point of leaving the deck, his eye fell uponthe boys. "I shall be back again in an hour or two," he said; "do notleave until I return. I will find out where your regiment is, and ifit has marched I will give you a certificate of how I picked you up,otherwise you may be stopped on the way, and get into a scrape as twoboys who have strayed away from their regiment."

  So saying, the captain got into his boat and rowed to shore. It wasone o'clock before he returned. The boys had dinner with the gunroomofficers, then changed their dress, and had now the appearance ofbuglers in the marines.

  The captain at once sent for them. "Your regiment went on yesterdaywith the rest of the division. It halts to-day ten miles out of thetown. There is the certificate I spoke of. Mr. Armstrong is just goingoff with two boats' crew to assist in unloading stores; I have askedhim to hand you over to the charge of some officer going up with aconvoy. And now good-bye, lads. I wish you every luck, and hope thatsome day or other you may win your epaulets."

  With renewed thanks for his kindness, the boys went up on deck. Therethey shook hands and said good-bye to all the officers and midshipmen.As they were waiting while the boats were being lowered, two of thesailors went aft to the captain, who had come up from below and waswalking alone on the quarter-deck, and, with a touch of the hat, thespokesman said, "Your honor, we're come to ax as how, if your honorhas no objection, we might just give a parting cheer to those 'ereyoungsters."

  "Well, Jones," the captain said, smiling, "it's rather an unusualthing for the crew of one of His Majesty's ships to cheer two youngsoldiers."

  "It is unusual, your honor, mighty unusual, because soldiers ain't ingeneral of much account at sea; but you see, your honor, this ain't ausual circumstance, nohow. These here boys, which ain't much more thanbabbies, have done what there ain't many men, not even of those whoare born and bred to the sea, would have done; and we should just liketo give them a bit of a cheer for good luck."

  "Very well, Jones, tell the men they can do as they like."

  Accordingly, as the boys took their seats in the boat they weresurprised at seeing the crew clustering to the side of the ship, whilesome of the men ran up the rigging.

  "What can the men be up to?" Tom asked Mr. Armstrong in surprise.

  The lieutenant smiled, for he knew what was coming.

  "Sheer off, men," he said, and as he did so the boatswain of the shipgave the word, "Now, lads, three cheers for them boys; may they havethe luck they deserve."

  Three thundering cheers burst from the whole crew, the men in theboats tossing their oars in the naval fashion of acknowledgment ofthe salute. Tom and Peter, astonished and affected, stood up, tookoff their caps, and waved their hands in thanks to the crowd of faceslooking down upon them, and then sat down again and wiped their eyes.

  "Row on," the lieutenant said, and the oars fell in the water witha splash; one more cheer arose, and then the boats rowed for thelanding-place. The boys were too much affected to look up or speak,until they reached the shore, nor did they notice a boat which rowedpast them upon its way to the vessel they had left, just after theyhad started. It contained an officer in a general's uniform. The boatsteered to the ship's side, and the officer ascended the ladder. Thecaptain was on deck. "Ah, Craufurd," he said, "this is an unexpectedpleasure."

  "I have just come back from my division for a few hours, Merivale;there are a lot of stores which are essential, and some of myartillery is not landed, so I thought I could hurry things up a bit.My spare charger, and most of the chargers of my staff, are beinglanded, too; the ship they came in was a day or two late; and as I hadto confer with the Portuguese Minister of War, I am killing a goodmany birds with one stone. I heard you had just come in, and as I wason board the "Clio" about my charger, I thought it would not be muchout of my way to run round and shake hands with you."

  "I am very glad you did. Come into my cabin; you can spare time totake some lunch, I hope."

  While they were at lunch General Craufurd remarked, "So you have justlost one of your officers, I see; promoted to another ship, eh?"

  "Lost an officer!" Captain Merivale said in surprise. "No, not that Ihave heard of. What makes you think so?"

  "I thought so by the cheering the ship's crew gave that boat that leftthe ship just before I came up. There was only a naval lieutenant inher, and I supposed that he had just got his ship, and I thought bythe heartiness of the cheering what a good fellow he must be."

  "But it was not the lieutenant the men were cheering," CaptainMerivale said with a smile.

  "No!" General Craufurd said, surprised. "Why, there was no one elsein the boat. I looked attentively as I passed. There was only alieutenant, a midshipman who was steering, the men rowing, and twolittle marine buglers, who had their handkerchiefs up to their faces.So you see I took a very minute survey."

  "You did indeed," Captain Merivale said, laughing. "Well, it was justthese little buglers that the crew of the ship were cheering."

  General Craufurd looked up incredulously. "You're joking, Merivale.The crew of His Majesty's frigate 'Latona' cheer two buglers ofmarines! No, no, that won't do."

  "It is a fact, though, Craufurd, unlikely as it seems, except that thebuglers belong to the Norfolk Rangers, and not to the Marines."

  "The Rangers! They are in Hill's division. What is it all about? Theremust be something very strange about it."

  "There is indeed," Captain Merivale said, "very strange." And he thenrelated the whole story to his visitor.

  "They are trumps indeed," the general said when the narrative wasended, "and I am very glad that I happened to hear it. I will speak toHill about it, and will keep my eye upon them. Be assured they shallhave their epaulets as soon as possible--that is, if their conduct isat all equal to their pluck. It is the least we can do when, as yousay, they have refused midshipmen's berths to stick to us. And now Imust be off."

  The boat landed General Craufurd at the same landing-place at whichTom and Peter had disembarked half an hour before. LieutenantArmstrong had spoken a few words to the officer who was superintendingthe landing of stores and horses, and he, being far too busy to stopto talk, briefly said that the boys could go up to join their regimentwith a convoy of stores which would start that night.

  After saying good-bye to their friend the lieutenant, the boys satdown upon some bales, and were watching with much amusement andinterest the busy scene before them. As General Craufurd passed theyrose and saluted.

  "You are the boys from the 'Latona,' are you not?"

  "Yes, sir," the boys answered in surprise.

  "Can you ride?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Follow me, then."

  Much surprised, the boys followed the general until he made hi
s waythrough the confusion to a group of newly landed horses. Near themwere a couple of mounted Hussars, who, at the sight of the general,rode forward with his charger. He made a sign to them to wait amoment, and walked up to the men who were holding the newly landedhorses.

  "Which of you have got charge of two horses?"

  Several of the men answered at once.

  "Which of you are servants of officers on my staff?"

  Three of those who had answered before replied now.

  "Very well; just put saddles on to two of them. These lads will ridethem; they are going out with me at once; they will hand them over toyour masters."

  In another five minutes Tom and Peter, to their surprise anddelight, were clattering along through the streets of Lisbon upontwo first-rate horses in company with the two Hussars, while, twentylengths ahead, trotted General Craufurd with two officers who had beendown to Lisbon upon duty similar to his own. Once outside the town,the general put his horse into a gallop, and his followers of coursedid the same. Once or twice General Craufurd glanced back to see howthe boys rode, for a doubt had crossed his mind as to whether he hadbeen wise in putting them upon such valuable horses, but when he sawthat they were evidently accustomed to the work, he paid no furtherattention to them.

  The officers riding beside him, however, looked back several times.

  "What luck we have, to be sure, Tom," Peter said, "and I can'tunderstand this a bit. How could the general know that we came fromthe 'Latona'; as he evidently did, and by the way these officers havelooked back twice, I can't help thinking that he is talking about us."

  Tom was as puzzled as Peter, but they soon forgot the subject, andengaged in an animated conversation with the Hussars as to thesituation and position of the army, and the supposed strength andlocality of the French, concerning which they were, of course, incomplete ignorance. An hour and a half's sharp riding took them toTorres Vedras, a small town which afterwards became celebrated forthe tremendous lines which Wellington erected there. The troops wereencamped in its vicinity, the general having his quarters at the houseof the Alcalde, or Mayor.

  "Your regiment is a mile and a half distant, lads," General Craufurdsaid as they drew up at his quarters; "you will have difficulty infinding it this evening. Sergeant, take these lads round to the housewhere my orderlies are quartered, and give them some supper. They canjoin their regiment in the morning. I have heard of you, lads, fromCaptain Merivale, and shall mention your conduct to General Hill, andbe assured I will keep my eye upon you."

  The boys were soon asleep upon a heap of straw, and at six nextmorning were upon the road, having already had some coffee and breadfor breakfast. They had no difficulty in finding their way, fororderlies were already galloping about, and the bugle calls came sharpupon their ears. The division was to march at seven. The Rangershappened to be the first in advance, so that they passed through theother regiments to arrive at theirs.

  The tents were down when they arrived, and packed in readiness for thebullock carts which stood by. The boys paused a little distance off,and looked on with delight at the busy scene. At a note on the buglethe tents and other baggage were stowed in the carts, and then the menhitched on their knapsacks, unpiled arms, and began to fall into rank.

  No one noticed the boys as they passed between the groups andapproached the band, who were mustering by the colors, which were asusual placed in front of the guard tent.

  "There's Sambo," Tom said; "I am glad they got him safe on board."

  The negro was the first to perceive the boys as they came close upto him. As he saw them he gave a sudden start, his eyes opened widerand wider until the whites showed all round, his teeth chattered, theshiny black of his face turned to a sort of dirty gray, and he threwup his hands with a loud cry, "oh, golly, here's dose boys' spirits!"

  He stepped back, heedless that the big drum was behind him, and thenext moment went back with a crash into it, and remained there withhis knees doubled up and his face looking out between them, toofrightened and horror-struck to make the least movement to extricatehimself.

  For a moment no one noticed him, for at his cry they had all turned tothe boys, and stood as if petrified at seeing those whom they believedhad been drowned before their eyes a week before. The silence didnot last long, the boys bursting into a shout of laughter at Sam'sappearance.

  "Spirits! Sam," Tom said; "not by a long way yet, man. How are youall? Come, get out of that, Sam and shake hands." And as the band witha shout crowded round them, the boys helped Sam, who was trembling allover from the shock and fright, from the drum.

  For a moment the boys were quite confused and bewildered, for as theyhauled Sam to his feet their comrades of the band pressed round themcheering, every one trying to shake them by the hand.

  The news spread like wildfire among the troops, and there was at oncea general rush to the spot. The boys were seized in an instant, andeach raised on the shoulders of two of the grenadiers, and as theymade their appearance above the heads of the crowd a tremendous cheerbroke from the whole regiment.

  "What can be the matter?" was the general exclamation of the coloneland officers, who were just finishing their breakfasts in a cottagewhich stood close behind the spot where their tents had been pitchedin the rear of the regiment. "What can be the matter?"--and as thecheering continued there was a general rush to the door. There theystood astonished at seeing the whole of the men clustered in one spot,shouting and waving their caps.

  "What can be the matter?" the colonel said again; "the whole regimentseems to have gone mad."

  "We shall know in a minute," Captain Manley said; "they are coming inthis direction."

  "Look at that fellow Sambo," exclaimed Carruthers; "he looks madderthan all the rest."

  In spite of the intense surprise which all were feeling, there was ageneral laugh, for the black was performing antics like one possessed;his cap was gone, he jumped, he yelled, he waved his arms, with adrumstick in each hand, wildly over his head, he twisted round andround; he seemed really out of his mind. Suddenly he left the crowd,and rushed on ahead at full speed towards the group of officers, stillleaping and yelling and waving his drumsticks.

  The officers instinctively drew together as he approached, for theythought that the gigantic negro was really out of his mind. He stoppedsuddenly as he came up to them, and tried to fall into his usualattitude of attention.

  "Oh, Massa Colonel," he said in hoarse, sobbing tones, "only tothink, only to think. Scuse Sam, sar, but Sam feel he's going to bustright up wid joy, massa. Dat no matter, but only to think. Bress deAlmighty, sar! only to think!"

  None of the officers spoke for a minute in answer to these disjointedexclamations. They were affected at the man's great emotion. His blackskin was still strangely pale, his eyes were distended, his lipsquivered, tears were rolling down his cheeks, and his huge frame wasshaken with sobs.

  "Calm yourself, Sam--be calm, my man," the colonel said kindly. "Tryand tell us what has happened. What are the men so excited about? Whatis the matter with them?"

  "Oh, Massa Colonel," Sam said, "me try tell you all 'boat it. Only tothink, sar, dose boys cum back again; dose boys, sar, bress dem, datjumped into de water and got drowned just to save dis poor niggar,sar. Dey cum back again; only tink ob dat!"

  The officers looked at one another in surprise.

  "I do believe he means the Scudamores! colonel," Captain Manleyexclaimed; "but no, it is impossible, no one could have lived fiveminutes in that sea, and we know that they could not have been pickedup, for we were the last ship in the fleet."

  "Yes, yes, sar, dat's dem, dey cum back sure enuff," Sam said.

  Then Carruthers exclaimed, "I do believe it is so; there are a coupleof boys on the shoulders of the men in the middle of the crowd. Yes,and, by Jove, it is the Scudamores. Hurrah! I am glad."

  There was a general exclamation of pleasure from the whole group, forthe regret for the boys, who had, as was believed, perished in theperformance of such a gallant action
, had been general and sincere,and Captain Manley lifted his cap and said reverently, "Thank God,these gallant lads are saved;" and those around, although some of themwere but little addicted to prayer, repeated the words and imitatedthe action.

  Carruthers would have stepped forward in his eagerness to greet hisformer school-fellows, but Captain Manley laid his hand quietly on hisshoulder and said in a low tone, "Wait, Carruthers, let the colonelwelcome them."

  And now the crowd came up to the cottage, those in front falling backas they approached, so as to let the grenadiers come forward withtheir burden. The boys were lowered to the ground, and stood at onceat attention; their faces were both flushed with excitement, and theireyes swollen with tears, so much were they both moved by the welcomewhich had greeted them.

  There was a dead silence for a moment, and then Colonel Tritton saidin a loud, clear voice, which was heard all over the throng of men, "Iam glad, lads, to see you back again. I never expected to have seenyou again after we caught a glimpse of you as the sea washed you away.You have seen how the men have welcomed you, and I can assure youthat the pleasure of the officers that two such gallant young fellowsshould have been saved is no less than that of your comrades. A braveract than that which you performed was never done. I shake hands withyou, and congratulate you in the name of the whole regiment." And,suiting the action to the words, Colonel Tritton stepped forward andshook the boys warmly by the hand, amidst a great cheer upon the partof the whole regiment. Then he held up his hand for silence again."Bugler, sound the assembly; fall in, my lads, or we shall be late.Come in here, boys; you can get something to eat, and tell us in a fewwords how you were saved, for, even now that I see you it seems almostimpossible."