The Heir of Kilfinnan: A Tale of the Shore and Ocean

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER TWELVE.

  Some hours passed quietly away at Mr Jefferson's country-house afterall the preparations had been made for the reception of their expectedassailants, and yet no enemy appeared.

  Higson and the other leaders had some difficulty in bringing up theirforces to the attack. They had discovered that the house had beenfortified, and they were well aware that a victory could not be obtainedwithout a considerable loss to themselves. Higson had been on shore forsome weeks before these preparations were made. Sometimes his mindmisgave him, especially when he saw that the British troops in thegarrison were thoroughly disciplined, and always on the alert, and thateven a regiment of black troops, whom it was hoped might be gained over,refused to desert their colours. The conspirators had then, not withoutconsiderable risk, to send to the French and other enemies of England toobtain their assistance. This was readily enough promised, but theywere told that they must themselves commence the rebellion, and thatthen ample assistance would be forthcoming. At length Higson and hisassociates gained courage, and they hoped by an attack on MrJefferson's house, and by the capture of so many persons of consequence,to obtain an influence over the rest of the people of the island, whichwould at once give them the upper hand.

  Several hours of the night had passed away; Lady Sophy and Lady Nora,with the rest of the ladies, were advised to lie down, it being hoped,that perhaps after all, an attack might not be made. Scouts were,however, sent out to watch for the approaching enemy. At length two ofthem came hurrying back, announcing that they heard the approach of feetup from the sea. This was the most assailable side of the house. Thestream, which has been spoken of with its precipitous banks, circledround two sides, while a high cliff, the summit of which wasinaccessible, formed another side of the grounds. In front also, theground sloped rapidly down, so that unless by steps, which had beenstrongly barricaded, no one could approach up from the sea, even on thatside, without considerable difficulty. The Earl and his friends atlength observed through certain look-out places, which had been formedon the roof of the upper story, that a large body of men were scalingthe hill in a somewhat irregular manner. At first they came on insilence, but on a warm fire being opened upon them, they gave vent toloud shouts and shrieks, and rushed as rapidly up the hill as the natureof the ground would allow them. At the same time a number of persons inthe rear lighted torches, which they bore in their hands, and shook themwildly about, as if to terrify those they came to attack. Perhaps also,they believed that by this means they would distract the attention ofthe besieged, and prevent them taking a steady aim at those in thefront. The sight of the torches raised in Mr Jefferson's mind anapprehension which he had not before entertained. He knew too well thecombustible nature of his dwelling, and that if it entered the minds ofthe rebels, they might without difficulty set the house on fire.

  "If they do," he thought, "we must retreat by the back of the house anddefend ourselves under the cliffs. We may still perhaps be able to holdour own against these fellows until assistance comes, but the poorladies, I tremble for them."

  He did not, however, express these apprehensions to the Earl, but, likea brave man, did his best to encourage those around him. As the enemyapproached, they opened a fire at the doors and windows of the house,but as these had been well barricaded, the bullets fell harmlesslyagainst them. A considerable number of the rebels were soon struckdown, either killed or wounded. Those in the house did not fire untilthe enemy approached near. The greater number of them were goodmarksmen. All knew, likewise, that they fought for their lives, and forthe lives of those most dear to them. At length Barry proposed sallyingout and endeavouring to put the enemy to flight.

  "The time may come for that by and by," said Mr Jefferson. "In themeantime let us be content to hold our own till assistance can arrivefrom the town, or till the rebels have discovered that they areincapable of overcoming us."

  The men who were waving the torches had hitherto not ventured near thehouse, but had contented themselves with springing here and there andattempting to dazzle the eyes of the besieged party. Higson, who hadhimself hitherto kept under shelter, now began to fear that his allieswould give way, and the attack would altogether fail. He knew thenature of buildings in the West Indies; and finding that the littlegarrison were not likely to be overcome by the present mode of attack,he determined to set fire to the house, and then to seize those who werelikely to prove most valuable to him, as they were escaping from theburning building. He immediately issued an order to the men withtorches to rush forward, at the same time directing others to collectall the dry brushwood they could find, and to pile it up in theverandah. Those, however, who first advanced were received with so hota fire that several were killed or wounded, and the rest sought safetyin flight. Again and again Higson urged them to renew the attempt, andfinding this did not avail, he ordered the main body to retreat, greatlyto the relief of the garrison. The whole body of their enemies wereseen descending the hill, and they began to congratulate themselves thatthey had gained an easy victory. No one had been killed within thehouse, although several had been struck by bullets which had found theirway through the loop-holes or the too thinly planked windows.

  The Earl and his friends were not left long in doubt about theintentions of the rebels. In a short time they were seen rushing up thehill again, numbers bearing bundles of reeds and other combustiblesubstances, and others flaming torches in their hands. In spite of thehot fire with which they were received, they dashed forward and threwthe bundles into the verandah. Several fell in the attempt, but thegreat mass persevered, and the men with the torches now advancing, castthem amidst the heaps of brushwood. In a few seconds the whole was in ablaze. The woodwork of the building soon caught fire, and it becameevident to the besieged that the house would not long be tenable.Still, as long as any could remain on the front side, they continued tofire at the rebels.

  Mr Jefferson now called a Council of War, and explained to his friendsthe plan he proposed for effecting their escape. The Earl agreed thatthe undertaking was feasible, though they might be exposed to fargreater peril than they had hitherto been; still it was the only one,since the house could no longer be held, for when once the flames hadgained entire possession of it, the negroes and Caribs would probablymake a dash forward through the fire and put all they could meet with todeath. Hitherto none of the rebels had ventured to go round to the rearof the house. Indeed, when any had tried to pass by either of thesides, they had met with so warm a fire that even the boldest had notdared to proceed, while many had been struck down in the attempt.

  "We must place the ladies in our centre and retreat to the cliff," saidMr Jefferson.

  Lord Fitz Barry and three or four of the men agreed suddenly to burstopen the door, and then lead the way in the direction Mr Jefferson hadindicated. The plan was adopted, while some of the men continued tofire down upon their assailants.

  The ladies were carried safely out, surrounded by an armed party, to therear of the house. Not until they had been placed in comparative safetydid the rest of the men withdraw from their now almost untenableposition. At length the whole front of the house was in flames. Thefire soon caught the rest of the building, and scarcely had the lastdefender left it, than the combustible roof fell in with a loud crash.The negroes shouted and shrieked with glee when they saw this, andrushed forward, as had been anticipated, in the hopes of gaining an easyvictory over their now defenceless opponents.

  Many of them were severely burnt, as they dashed forward into thebuilding, and were glad again quickly to retreat. Not till the wholeedifice was one blazing heap, did they discover that the inmates hadescaped them. By the light of the flames which continued burningbrightly, the negroes perceived the Lieutenant Governor and the planterswith their families posted at the side of the cliff.

  For some time, warned by the treatment they had received, they hesitatedto advance, but at length Higson, animated by the success which hadalready attended h
is efforts, rushed forward, calling to his men tofollow him, and made a dash towards the Earl. He thought that if hecould once get him into his power, the victory would be gained. Thenegroes were perfectly ready to follow when others led, and thus a bandof shouting, shrieking wretches, advanced close to where the Europeanparty had taken shelter. Already many had begun to climb the heights,and a stout, black ruffian had actually got so close, that he was ableto lay his hand upon the Earl's shoulder. Higson shouted to the man todrag forward the Governor, in order to make him prisoner. At thatmoment Fitz Barry, seeing the danger that his father was in, sprangforward to his rescue, and with a blow of his cutlass, compelled the manto let go his hold. In the meantime, however, Higson, with the runawayseamen, whom he had persuaded to follow him, made a dash at that part ofthe terrace where the ladies were collected. The dawn had now broken,so that they were soon found without the light from the burning house.Lady Nora, seeing the approach of the ruffians, cried to her brother forhelp. He, however, found himself surrounded by a number of blacks, whopressed him so hard that he was unable to reach her. In the meantimethe planters continued to fire down upon their assailants, the greatbody of whom were kept at bay. Higson at length turned, and orderedmore of his followers to come to his assistance. He had already seizedLady Nora, well satisfied that should he fail to capture the Earl, she,at all events, would prove a valuable prize. Two other ladies were alsocarried off, and in vain did their defenders attempt by a bold dash torescue them. Higson, elated at his success, and at the same timefearful lest the bullets which were flying about might strike any of hiscaptives, and probably glad himself to avoid them, made a wide circuitto gain the sea-shore.

  He was already separated from the main body of the insurgents, whensuddenly he was startled with a loud shout close to him, and before hecould turn round to defend himself, he was attacked by a body of seamen,led on by a lieutenant. The increasing light revealed to him several ofhis late shipmates, and the new lieutenant, Mr Denham. Surprised bythe attack, for the boat's crew had sprung upon them from behind athicket, Higson and his companions at once let go their captives. Ablow from the cutlass of one of the men brought him to the ground, whilethe rest of his party--more than one half were either killed orwounded--sought safety in flight. They were not far from the sea-shore."You must allow me, Lady Nora, to place you with the other ladies onboard the boat," said Denham. "You will there be in safety, and thecrew will row off to a short distance, while I, with the rest of my men,go to the rescue of your father, and the remainder of the party." Tothese plans Lady Nora willingly agreed, and in a few minutes she foundherself with her friends on board a man-of-war's boat, which, with fourmen, pulled off out of gun-shot from the shore. Anxiously she watchedwhat was taking place, as far as she could see. Still the firingcontinued, and Lieutenant Denham and his party hurrying again up thehill, she soon lost sight of them amongst the woods. Deep was heranxiety for her father and brother, and Lady Sophy, who remained withthe planters and their friends, while she could not help feeling anxiousfor the risk to which the young lieutenant and his small party of menwere exposed, in the presence of so large a body of rebels.

  The outhouses and other buildings on the estate had now caught fire, andtheir flames showed the insurgents still clustering round the side ofthe hill, though the continued discharge of musketry in the fardistance, made her hope that the Earl and his party were still defendingthemselves. Now the fire of the English party seemed to slacken; nowmore dark forms were seen climbing up the hill. Then again, thedefenders of the height increased their fire, and even at that distanceshe fancied she could hear the shouts of the combatants. At length herattention was drawn off the scene, by hearing one of the crew exclaim,"Here comes the frigate," and she saw rising above a woody point on oneside of the bay, the snow white sails of the _Cynthia_, as close-hauledshe stood along the land. The sound of the firing must have reachedher. She immediately hauled into the bay. The anchor was dropped, thesails furled, and several boats were seen to come off from her side. Ina short time the boats approached, and the men informed the officers inthem of the orders they had received from Lieutenant Denham, adding thatthey had three ladies in their boat. "Take the ladies to the frigate,"answered one of the officers; "give way, my lads, there is no time to belost." The boats dashed on. Nora thanked Heaven for their arrival,hoping by this means those she dearly loved might be saved, as well asthose friends, whose hospitality they had been enjoying. The boatsquickly reached the beach, and the men, all well armed, dashed forwardup the hill, led by their officers. Attacking the enemy fiercely in theflank, the latter, who had apparently not seen their approach, weretaken by surprise. Those who resisted were cut down, the rest taking toflight along the shore. No one stopped to look behind him or see whathad become of his neighbour. The seamen quickly scaled the heights, andreached the spot where the Earl and his party still held their position.Unhappily several had been badly wounded, among whom were two of theladies, and three or four planters, while others had been killed. Ofthe insurgents, a very considerable number had been struck down. Thewounded now began to utter loud shrieks and groans, to excite thecommiseration of their conquerors. At present, however, little could bedone for them. Those of the English who had been wounded were at onceconveyed on board the frigate, where they could receive medicaltreatment. Indeed so alarmed had the planters become, that theyrequested that they and their families might be taken on board with theEarl. The frigate lay at anchor in the bay. As soon as those who hadbeen wounded on the side of the planters had been cared for, theassistant-surgeon with a boat's crew was humanely sent on shore, toattend to the unhappy blacks and Caribs who had been hurt. A few had inthe meantime crawled off. Others had died, but still a considerablenumber remained and required attention. Among the dead was found theunhappy Higson. No one knew what could have induced him to join in somad a scheme, but those who had watched his conduct on board were notsurprised at his behaviour.

  On the return of the frigate to the chief town, it was found that thegarrison had been warned in time. A considerable number of troops hadmarched unmolested through the country, visiting the places which weresaid to be most disaffected, and in a few days the rebel forces hadcompletely melted away. A few men who were caught and accused ofleading the rebellion suffered the penalty of death, others had managedto make their escape from the island. It was found, however, that theyhad been instigated to the rebellion by foreign emissaries, and even thecaptive rebels themselves acknowledged they had few causes of complaintagainst the English government.