‘I see your point.’ Roger smiled. ‘All the same I marvel that during all these years of strife you have not been driven out.’
‘I should have been on several occasions had I not taken precautions against being caught off my guard.’
‘Such as?’ prompted Roger.
‘In half a dozen places along a semi-circle, from coast to coast, running roughly five miles distant, I have negroes living who would give me warning of the approach of any hostile body. In this case it is no question of counting on their loyalty but on their greed. I pay each of them a monthly wage for doing nothing, which of course would cease if I were driven out, and any of them who brings me a timely warning knows that he will receive enough money to keep him in idleness for five years.’
‘That sounds an excellent system, but no warning could prevent an ill-intentioned rabble advancing on the house.’
‘On receiving one I let loose the dogs.’
Roger raised his eyebrows. ‘Your three dogs might drive off a few unarmed men, as was the case with Doctor Fergusson and my man Dan Izzard two nights ago; but they could do little against a mob bent on plunder.’
With a hearty laugh de Bouçicault replied: ‘You are right in that, but I was referring to my pack. It consists of well over a hundred wild dogs: fierce mastiffs each capable of savaging a man to death. Many of the revolted slaves have shown great courage in battle, but experience has proved that these bands of marauders have no stomach for a conflict with my four-legged troops.’
‘If they are wild I should have thought they would have bolted when released, instead of remaining to attack your enemies.’
‘They are wild by breed but tamed to the extent that I have trained them for their work. I keep them in a big courtyard beyond the stables and no one other than myself ever enters it.’
‘You have certainly evolved a most ingenious means of defence’ Roger commented. ‘But how did you manage to collect so many wild dogs in the first place?’
‘That was not difficult. The forests of the island are infested with them. During the first century after its discovery the Spaniards endeavoured to force the Indians they found here into slavery, but they proved a difficult people. Neither good treatment nor the infliction of the most cruel punishments would induce those they captured to work; while those who continued free waged a bitter unrelenting war against the white settlers.
“Tis said that when Columbus first arrived here there were at the very least a million of them; but even after they had been defeated many times in battle and countless thousands of them slain they would not give in. From forest lairs and caves in the mountains they sallied forth to harass the invaders, neither giving nor expecting quarter. In consequence the Spaniards decided to import negroes to do their menial tasks and totally exterminate the aborigines.
‘To assist in doing so they sent to Spain for large numbers of hunting dogs, and with them systematically searched the forests, putting every Indian the dogs routed out—man, woman or child—to the sword.
‘When this terrible business was over they found that they had many more dogs than they could conveniently feed; so they drove the majority of them away from their settlements. Left to fend for themselves the dogs soon became wild, and so fierce that even a small pack of them will not hesitate to attack a wild boar. Later many attempts were made to put them down, but they breed with great rapidity so there are still very large numbers of them. The actual securing of them was a somewhat dangerous business, but by digging pits in their runs it was easy for me to trap as many as I required.’
‘It was certainly an excellent idea,’ said Roger with a smile. ‘I only hope that you will have no cause to let them loose while I and my friends are here—or for that matter ever again before order is restored and you can drive them back to the forest. About the departure of the ladies, though—I doubt if Lady St. Ermins will be fit to leave her bed much before myself; her maid is far too devoted to her to leave without her, and I think we should find great difficulty in persuading my wife to leave without me. Moreover I am much opposed to giving them cause for alarm unless you consider the danger really pressing.’
De Bouçicault hesitated for a moment. ‘I would not say that. Toussaint’s army being reported as at no great distance along the coast is the only thing that causes me some uneasiness. I am confident that my dogs would drive off any band of casual marauders, but should this house chance to lie in the path of Toussaint’s advance, we could not possibly put up any serious resistance. ’Tis that I fear, although admittedly without any special grounds for doing so. However, from what you tell me there seems small hope of getting the ladies away until you are at least sufficiently recovered to stand a thirty-mile journey over rough roads in my coach; so there is little point in our discussing the matter further for the moment.’
During the week that followed the sadly battered party gradually recovered from the worst effects of its ordeals. Having once turned the corner Georgina made excellent progress. Amanda was still subject to a shooting pain inside her whenever she coughed, but Fergusson was now satisfied that it would wear off, and that she had not sustained any serious injury. The wounds of both Kilick and Roger were healing well, while of the burns, stings, and blisters that had afflicted the others few traces remained.
Tom alone continued to give them anxiety. He had weathered the crisis but it had left him so weak that Fergusson feared that he might yet be carried off by a relapse, and declared that in any case it would be out of the question to move him for another week at the very least. Owing to Georgina’s already having become convalescent and Roger’s good prospects of soon being able to get about again, de Bouçicault reopened with him the question of their leaving, suggesting that with the exception of Tom, whom he undertook to have well cared for, they should all set out for Mole St. Nicholas in a few days’ time. Roger put the matter to Amanda, who in turn spoke to Georgina, but she would not consider even temporarily abandoning her servant until he was definitely pronounced out of danger; so there the matter rested.
From Roger’s first long talk with de Bouçicault onward, except during the rest hours that Fergusson insisted that he should observe, he had an almost constant stream of visitors. Clarissa slipped into his room shortly after de Bouçicault had left him and laughingly pooh-poohed his no more than half serious reprimand that she was outraging convention by remaining there without a chaperon. Dan’s bronzed, black-bearded face peeped in at the door that evening and he was gladly bidden to enter. Roger’s host came to have a talk with him every morning, Jenny brought him news of Georgina every evening, and from the third day Amanda was well enough to sit with him for long periods. Monsieur Pirouet had invaded the kitchen to cook special dishes for the invalids and when Roger sent for him to thank him he learned that the French chef was greatly enjoying himself taking lessons in Creole cooking from de Bouçicault’s hugely fat and jolly old negress cook. The other three men in turn asked permission to come and pay their respects, and he learned that they had all voluntarily taken up some form of work about the place, finding it a pleasant change from their normal activities. So the days in the big comfortable house passed quickly and happily.
On the eighth day after their arrival, as Fergusson had predicted, Roger was able to try out a pair of crutches that had been knocked up for him, and on the ninth Georgina made her first appearance downstairs. The following day being a Sunday—the second in December—the whole party with the one exception of Tom, gathered in the chapel of the house to give thanks for their merciful deliverance. Tom’s appetite having been revived by the tempting delicacies Monsieur Pirouet thought up for him, he was now getting back a little of his strength, but no further news of Toussaint’s movements had been received, and it was clear that their coming had made such a pleasant break in de Bouçicault’s lonely life that he would now be most loath to see them go. Moreover, they could hardly have found better quarters in which to convalesce, as at the back of the house there was a terrace w
ith a splendid view over the rocks to the blue bay, and up there on the point they reaped the full benefit of the light sea breezes. So still no definite date had been fixed for their departure.
It was during the night of December the 13th-14th that de Bouçicault’s first fears were suddenly and alarmingly confirmed. Shortly before two o’clock a panting negro roused the house by beating frantically on its heavy front door. Eloi, the old grey-haired butler, aided by his two footmen, Zabeth and Thoédule, were reviving the man with neat rum when de Bouçicault came hurrying downstairs.
The negro proved to be one of de Bouçicault’s outposts, and directly he saw his paymaster he gasped out the news that a column of General Toussaint’s men with a number of wagons were advancing along the coast road. He would have known nothing of it had he not been roused owing to the still night, to which he was accustomed, being broken by the dull rumble of many wheels.
When questioned further he said that he did not think there were more than thirty marchers, but they must be a part of Toussaint’s army because the transport of brigand bands rarely consisted of more than a few donkeys, whereas these men were escorting something between twelve and twenty wagons. Having made it plain that although he had run all the way to get as far ahead of them as possible, they could not now be much more than three miles off, he begged urgently that he might be given his reward so that he could make himself scarce well before their arrival.
De Bouçicault paid him off and at once sent Dan up to fetch Roger; then, while Dan was assisting Roger to dress, he assembled all the male inmates of the house in the big salon. There, he put the situation to them.
He meant to remain in the house himself, but there was still time for any or all of them to leave it and hide in the woods. Anyone who elected to do that could be practically certain of evading Toussaint’s men, but they would have to take the risk of being attacked by his dogs, because they were the only means he had of protecting his property; so he could not afford to refrain from turning them loose. On the other hand the coast road ran over half a mile inland from the house, and it was quite possible that this transport column would pass by without even knowing of its existence. Lastly, in the worst event, it seemed unlikely that including drivers the column was much more than fifty strong, while they totalled sixteen who would be well armed behind stout defences; so if all of them remained, with the assistance of the dogs they should stand a very good chance of beating off an attack.
Led by old Eloi, the eight negro house slaves said that, as in previous emergencies, they were willing to stay with their master. The others all looked towards Roger for guidance, and he found himself in a very difficult position.
Had he had only to think of himself he would at once have declared his intention of staying, as he felt under an obligation to help de Bouçicault defend his property should the need arise; but he had also to think of the women, and their best interests must be placed before all other considerations. Although a night in the woods would be far from good for the still convalescent Georgina, and if they took Tom with them might cause him a serious setback, that was not a very high price to pay for an almost certain prospect of escaping Toussaint’s men. But there remained the very unpleasant thought that the hungry pack, once loose, might attack white humans as well as blacks; so the crux of the matter was—could they get far enough from the house to be out of danger from the dogs in the limited time before de Bouçicault would consider it imperative to release them? It was a very nasty decision to have to take and, after moistening his lips, he asked his host:
‘At what time do you intend to let out your wild dogs, Monsieur?’
De Bouçicault glanced at the Louis Seize clock on the mantelpiece, and replied: ‘It is twenty-five minutes past two. By now this column must have advanced to between one and two miles of us. I have good hopes that they are not making for the house, but should they be they may arrive here any time after a quarter to three. I dare not leave the freeing of the pack later than twenty to; so if it is your intention to leave us, Monsieur le Gouverneur, you must hurry.’
‘Nay,’ Roger shook his head. To get the women out and with himself only able to hobble, a quarter of an hour was too slender a margin. With a glance round the men of his own party, he added: ‘The ladies and myself will remain here, and I recommend you to do so also.’
‘Aye, aye, Cap’n,’ muttered Dan, and the others nodded in agreement.
Quickly now they set about preparing to defend the house. Fergusson went upstairs to warn the women what was afoot, while de Bouçicault unlocked a big cupboard under the main staircase and began to hand out weapons. There were more than enough muskets and pistols for all, with a plentiful supply of powder shot and side arms. Every window on the ground floor had stout shutters and they already had loopholes bored through them. Old Eioi and his companion took up the positions they had been allotted in similar emergencies, while de Bouçicault posted the others to the best advantage, and impressed upon them that they were not to fire until he gave the word.
As it was still bad for Roger to stand for any length of time without support, he had a small table, on which he could sit, placed for himself opposite one of the shuttered slit windows on either side of the front door. He had hardly done so when Tom, pale and shaky but resolute, came downstairs and insisted that he was strong enough to lend a hand. He was followed by the women, who declared their intention of acting as loaders for the men. The next ten minutes passed in giving them a demonstration of how to handle the weapons swiftly and safely. Then de Bouçicault went out to release the pack.
Five minutes later Roger was endeavouring to reassure the girls, when their host came running back and burst in upon them, his ruddy face a picture of consternation.
‘We are betrayed!’ he cried, striking his fist in furious anger against the jamb of the open doorway in which he stood panting. ‘Many of the dogs are dead; the rest are vomiting and useless. Earlier tonight someone must have thrown poisoned meat in to them over the courtyard wall.’
‘That settles it, then,’ said Roger grimly. ‘An attack is definitely intended. But how could this column while still several miles distant have known aught of your pack?’
‘Everyone in the district knows of it,’ came the prompt reply, ‘and Toussaint has spies everywhere. As I have told you he far surpasses in intelligence the other negro Generals. While planning his advance he would have learned about my dogs, and he must have sent some men ahead to ensure their destruction.’
It was too late to take to the woods, as they now had reason to suppose that the house was under observation, and the column might arrive on the scene within the next ten minutes; so to leave the house would have been to risk running right up against trouble in the open.
All they could do was to make a final check up on their defences and pray that after a first assault so small a force might decide that the house was too tough a nut to crack. After barring the big door and loading every available firearm, they put out most of the candles and masked others, so that the rooms should appear to be in darkness; then stood at their posts anxiously awaiting the appearance of the enemy.
The moon was up and brightly lit the wide sweep of the drive in front of the house, so they had a good field of fire on that side and there was an even better one at its back across a balustraded terrace to the garden; but they thought it unlikely that the attack would come from that direction as the depth of the garden was a bare hundred feet, ending in another balustrade, beyond which the ground dropped almost sheer to the sea. There remained the sides of the house, both of which were flanked by outbuildings; but Dan and Jake were up on the roof with two negroes named Chrysostome and Clovis, and from their greater height could shoot down on anyone who clambered up to the lower roofs on either side of them.
Three o’clock came without sound or sign disturbing the moonlit vistas that the inmates of the house were watching with ever-growing tension. But at five past they caught the rustle and snap of broken bushes, a
nd a moment later a body of men emerged from between the tall palms that fringed the long drive.
They halted about a hundred yards from the house, but one of them continued to walk forward. De Bouçicault, who had stationed himself near Roger behind the shuttered window on the other side of the front door, quickly passed the word that everyone should pick his man but refrain from firing until he did. The negro who was approaching was clad in a gaudy uniform with a tricolour sash draped across it, so was obviously an officer. Halting when he reached the foot of the steps, he cried in a high-pitched voice:
‘Open up! There are chinks of light showing from some of your windows, so I can see you must be expecting us, I have wagons with me full of wounded, and require this house to shelter them. Open up now, or it will be the worse for you!’
De Bouçicault’s only reply was to fire his musket. Shot at point blank range through the chest the officer fell dead at the foot of the steps. A second later a volley crashed out from the defenders of the house. Several of the negroes in the main body sank to the ground killed or wounded. Screams and curses suddenly made the night hideous. Those unhit replied with a ragged volley, then dashed for cover in the nearby bushes. The glass of broken windows crashed and tinkled, and bullets thudded into the shutters. There followed a brief silence while both sides reloaded and sought fresh targets.
During it Roger said to de Bouçicault: ‘Was not your act a rash one? As he wanted the house for a hospital he would certainly not have destroyed it; and we might have made a pact with him to surrender it peaceably if he allowed us to leave it with the honours of war.’
The Frenchman grunted. ‘You do not understand these people. Pact or no pact our lives would not be worth a moment’s purchase if we fell into their clutches. Besides, such a chance to kill their leader might not have occurred again. Now that he is dead they will all be at sixes and sevens and act without proper direction; so our chances of driving them off are increased tenfold.’
The Dark Secret of Josephine Page 24
