A Roving Commission; Or, Through the Black Insurrection at Hayti

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XV

  THE ATTACK ON PORT-AU-PRINCE

  It was just getting light on the following morning when the sound of acannon was heard, and it was followed by several other shots, mingledwith the rattle of distant musketry. The town woke up with a start.Drums beat in the streets, and in a minute or two men armed with riflesand muskets poured out from their houses, and hurried to the rendezvoussettled upon the night before. The firing came from the eastern side ofthe town, and the three batteries in that direction were all engaged.Mingled with the report of the guns came the sound of a more distantcannonade, showing that the insurgents' artillery was also at work.Among the shipping there was as great an excitement as in the town. Onboard every ship men were running up the ratlines to see if a view ofthe scene of action could be obtained from aloft. On the decks numbersof women, who had hastily thrown on their upper clothing, or wrappedthemselves in shawls, listened anxiously to the sound of firing. Scarceone but had a husband, brother, or son among the defenders of the place.

  There were ten vessels lying outside the _Agile_, and from each of theseboats presently put off to the brigantine, some with three or four men,others with as many as ten, all armed with muskets.

  "You will soon see how matters go, Turnbull, and whether this is a realor only a feigned attack."

  The landing-party were in a few minutes ready to embark. Each mancarried fifty rounds of ammunition for his musket, and a dozenadditional cartridges for his pistols. Their water-bottles were slungover their shoulders, and each had a hunch of bread and of cold meatthat had been boiled in the galley the night before in readiness. Theytook their places in the cutter and gig, and were soon rowed ashore tothe point which Nat had fixed on the previous evening. The various boatsand lighters used in loading the ships had all been gathered at the quayfacing the _Agile_, and Nat was pleased to see that his advice in thisrespect had been followed.

  The orders to Sam and Pomp, who were to remain one in each boat, werethat they should push the boats out as far as the head-ropes--which hadbeen lengthened for the occasion--would allow them, drop a small grapnelover the stern, and should then keep a sharp look-out. The moment theparty were seen returning they were to pull up the grapnels, and haul onthe head-ropes till the boats were alongside. Both were armed, and theorders were that they were to shoot anyone who should try to forcehimself into either boat before the sailors came up.

  Nat led his party to an empty house close to the street commanded bythe _Agile's_ guns. Six of the sailors were placed as sentinels at theends of streets running into this, the rest piled arms.

  "Now, Mr. Lippincott, I shall be obliged if you will go and ascertainhow the affair is proceeding, and whether the batteries are keeping theinsurgents well in check. I am about to start for the battery on thisside, where I shall get a fair view of the country round, and see howmatters stand.

  "You will remain here, Mr. Thompson," he went on to the boatswain, "incharge of the party. I shall take Newman with me in case I have anyorders to send to you. Will you come with me also, Doyle?"

  The two officers, followed by an active young seaman, started. Onarriving near the end of the native town, Nat was glad to see a group ofthe volunteers in front of him. They saluted as he came up.

  "What force have you here, gentlemen?" he asked.

  "Fifty men, captain."

  "It would have been better if it had been a hundred and fifty. If theycome here in force you will not be able to keep them at bay long. Whereis your main body?"

  "They are gathered in front of the municipal offices in readiness tomove wherever their services may be most required."

  "That is quite satisfactory. I was afraid that most of them might be atthe batteries at the other side of the town, where the troops ought tobe quite able to hold their own against the blacks."

  At this moment another gentleman, with a red sash over his shoulder,came up. He was the commander of the company stationed there.

  "I am afraid that we are rather out of it, monsieur," he said, afterexchanging salutes with Nat.

  "I am still more afraid, sir, that you are by no means out of it. Ithink that you will find that before many minutes are over you will behotly engaged. I have come forward to tell you that my men are placedjust on the other side of Royal Street, and to beg that if you are notable to maintain yourselves here--and if you are attacked, I amconvinced that it will be in such force that you will be unable to doso--you will not endanger your force by holding on here too long, butwill retreat to Royal Street, and there make a stand, occupying thehouses on the other side of the street. The guns of my vessel are loadedand in readiness to sweep the street with grape as the negroes try tocross it; and we shall have in addition some forty or fifty men from themerchantmen outside her, who will aid in keeping them in check. If Imight advise you, I should say that it would be well for you to write anote, now that you have time to do so, saying that you are attacked inoverwhelming force, and are about to fall back to Royal Street, whichyou will, aided by my sailors and guns, hold to the last, and beggingyour commander to send his whole force up to support you. This you will,of course, keep until the attack comes, and will send off as soon as youperceive that your position here is untenable."

  "I think that is a very good suggestion," the officer said, "and shallcarry it out at once."

  "I will go on to the battery," Nat said; "from there I shall get abetter idea of the situation."

  They had scarcely gone beyond the line of houses when a French soldiercame running in.

  "What is your news?" Nat asked him.

  "A great crowd of the enemy are coming, sir. The captain has sent me tobeg the commander of the volunteers here to bring up his force tosupport him."

  "You will find him a hundred yards farther on. Now, doctor, you will goforward and have a look."

  Arriving at the battery, which was manned by twenty French soldiersunder a young lieutenant, Nat and the doctor mounted the parapet. Theenemy were still half a mile away. They were in no sort of order, butwere coming on in a confused mass.

  "There must be three or four thousand of them, lieutenant," Nat saidquietly. "You may check them a little, but you will never keep them outof the town if they come on with a rush. I suppose you are loaded withgrape?"

  "Yes, monsieur," the young Frenchman said.

  He felt relieved at the arrival of the commander of the British ship ofwar, for he was feeling the responsibility of his position greatly.

  "I should let them get within four or five hundred yards," Nat saidquietly, "then fire your guns singly, loading as rapidly as possible.Here come the volunteers; place five-and-twenty of them on each side ofyour battery. Let them lie down, and open fire when the enemy are withintwo hundred and fifty yards. If they come on in spite of the fire, Ishould say that you had best all retire at the double. It will be of nouse trying to hold the houses; they would only outflank you and cut youoff. I have already arranged with the volunteers that they shall make astand at Royal Street. I have a party of my sailors there in readinessto help them, and as the guns of my ship will sweep the street we shouldcertainly be able to hold it until help arrives."

  "Thank you, monsieur, I will do as you suggest."

  At this moment the volunteers came up at a run.

  "Where do you wish me to place my men?" the captain said to the Frenchlieutenant.

  "I shall be obliged if you will put half of them on each side of thebattery. Let them lie down there, and open fire when the enemy arewithin two hundred and fifty yards. If when they get within a hundredyards, your fire and ours does not stop them, we will then retreattogether at the double. If we were once surrounded we should have nochance whatever. Give your guns an elevation of five hundred yards," hesaid to his men.

  When this was done he looked inquiringly at Nat. The other nodded.

  "Yes, I think it is about five hundred yards." Then he turned to theseaman: "Go back as quickly as you can, Newman, and tell Mr. Thompsonthat the blacks are coming, and that we sha
ll probably be with him fiveminutes after you arrive. Tell him also to send a man down as we hadarranged to the wharf, to signal to the ship to be in readiness."

  As he spoke the first of the guns boomed out. A few seconds later thesecond was fired, and this was followed by the third at a similarinterval. The cannon were old ship guns, and had been heavily chargedwith grape, and the destruction wrought upon the crowded mass of negroeswas so great that they stopped suddenly. Several of their leaders wereseen to rush to the front waving and gesticulating, and with a wild yellthe negroes again advanced. They had gone but fifty yards when the gunthat was first fired spoke out again, followed quickly by the others.This time there was no pause in the advance. Yelling furiously thenegroes, who were armed with guns, discharged them at random. Two morerounds were fired, and then the crakle of the rifles and muskets of thevolunteers broke out. The centre of the negro line paused indecisively,but the flanks continued on their way without a check.

  "It is just as I thought," Nat said to the doctor, who was loading andfiring his piece rapidly. "Do you see how their flanks are extending?One more round, lieutenant, and then we had best be going, or we shallbe cut off from the town."

  Again the three guns were discharged. The execution was terrible in thecentre of the black line, but the flanks still kept on.

  "Now, captain, get your men together," Nat said to the civilian officerwho was standing beside him; "if you go to the right I will go to theleft. They won't hear our voices in this din."

  Another half-minute and the soldiers and volunteers were running at thetop of their speed, but keeping well together, towards the town. Theyhad a hundred and fifty yards' start, and also the advantage that theblacks had been coming forward at a run for over half a mile. Therefore,although the latter came on with yells of triumph and exultation, theydid not gain on the little party. Indeed, when they once entered thenative town the French considerably increased their distance, for thenegroes, fearing that they might fall into an ambush, came along morecarefully.

  "Post your men at the windows of the houses opposite to you," Nat saidto the French lieutenant.

  "Did you send your messenger on?" he asked, as he ran up to thevolunteer officer.

  The latter gave an exclamation of horror.

  "No, I forgot all about it."

  "So did I, or I should have reminded you of it. Give it to one of themen now, and tell him to take it as hard as he can run. Tell your menoff in threes and fours to the houses opposite. I have no doubt we cankeep them in check till help comes."

  Thompson was waiting in the street as the party ran up.

  "Where have you posted your men?" Nat asked him.

  "I thought most likely that they would come down this street, so I putfour men in each of the two houses facing it, seven are in the twohouses facing the next street coming down, the rest are here."

  Nat hurried up to the French officer.

  "My men are in the two houses facing this and the next street, will youoccupy the houses next them, and tell the officer of the volunteers toscatter his men in twos and threes in the other houses. Doctor, you hadbetter join the party in the house facing the next street; and do you,Mr. Thompson, place yourself with five men in the house facing thestreet beyond. We shall have the brunt of it, for they are more likelyto come by these streets than by those near the harbour, knowing, asthey do, that our ship is lying anchored off there."

  It was three or four minutes before Nat, from the window at which he hadposted himself, saw a great body of negroes and mulattoes coming alongthe street facing him.

  "Open fire at once, lads," he said. "Take good aim; every shot ought totell in that crowd, and our fire will let them know on board that theblacks are close at hand."

  Yelling, shouting, and brandishing their weapons, the insurgents poureddown. The fire from the next two parties had showed that the negroeswere also advancing by the streets above.

  A minute later three black columns poured into Royal Street, and as theydid so a fire broke out from every window facing them. Then came a deeproar, and a storm of grape swept along the street; another and anotherfollowed, and with yells of surprise and fear the rioters rushed backinto shelter, leaving the streets strewn with dead and dying. It wassome minutes before they could rally, and in the meantime three of theguns of the _Agile_ sent ball after ball among the houses to the west ofthe street. Three times did the negroes attempt to cross the fatal road,but each time they fell back with heavy loss, which was specially severein their last attempt, as the main body of the volunteers had now comeup, entered by the backs of the houses and joined the defenders, andthe fire of two hundred and fifty muskets played terrible havoc amongthe assailants. There was a pause in the fight now, and the ship'sbroadside continued to sweep the native town with balls while anoccasional spurt of musketry fire broke out when the blacks showedthemselves in any of the streets. Suddenly from a score of houses in thenative town smoke, followed speedily by flames, mounted up.

  "The scoundrels have fired the town," exclaimed Doyle, who had nowjoined Nat. "They see they have no chance of crossing here, and as theycannot plunder the place they have made up their mind to destroy it."

  "Yes, and they are likely to succeed, doctor, the wind is blowing thisway. Half the native houses are roofed with palm leaves, and will burnlike tinder. Our only chance now is to drive the blacks out altogetherand then fight the fire."

  He at once sent a sailor down with a flag to signal to the ship to stopfiring, then he went out into the street. As soon as he was seen he wasjoined by the French lieutenant and the commander, with several officersof the volunteers, together with Monsieur Pickard.

  "I think, gentlemen," Nat said, "that unless we take the offensive anddrive the blacks out of the town there will be little hope ofextinguishing the fire. The wind is blowing strongly in this direction,and there is not a moment to be lost if we are to save the town. Thenegroes must be thoroughly demoralized, they must have lost over athousand men here and three or four hundred before they entered thetown. It is quite likely that they have retreated already, but in anycase I do not anticipate any serious resistance."

  The others at once agreed. The drums were beaten, and the volunteers,soldiers, and sailors poured out from the houses, and then, dividinginto three columns, advanced down the streets through which the blackshad retired. They met with no resistance. A few negroes who had enteredhouses to gather plunder were shot down as they issued out, but withthese exceptions none of the enemy were seen until the columns issuedfrom the town, when the negroes could be seen retreating at a run acrossthe plain. The French officer at once ran forward with his men to thelittle battery, and sent shot after shot among them, for they were stillless than half a mile away. The sailors and volunteers slung theirmuskets behind them, and, running back, endeavoured to check the courseof the flames. This, however, was impossible. The fire spread from houseto house with extraordinary rapidity. The wind hurled the burning flakeson ahead, dropping many upon the inflammable roofs, and in twentyminutes the whole quarter west of Royal Street was in flames. Nat wasnow joined by Turnbull and all the crew, the two negroes, who had beensent off to the ship with the boats, alone remaining in charge of thevessel.

  "We have beaten the negroes, Turnbull, but the fire will beat us. Ifthis wind continues it will sweep the whole town away. It is useless totry and save any of these native houses. Look at the burning flakesflying over our heads!"

  After a short consultation with the French officers they agreed that theonly chance was to arrest the fire at the edge of the European quarter,and that the whole force should at once set to work to pull down thenative houses adjoining them. The sound of cannon on the other side ofthe town had continued until now, but it gradually ceased, as the newsreached the negroes there that the main attack, of whose success theyhad felt sure, had hopelessly failed, and it was not long before thetroops from the batteries came up to assist the workers. Their labours,however, were in vain. A shout of dismay called the attention of the
menwho, half-blinded with the dust and smoke, were working their utmost.Looking round, they saw that the flames were mounting up from severalof the houses behind them. The wood-work was everywhere as dry astinder, and the burning flakes, which were falling thickly upon them,had set the houses on fire in a dozen places.

  "We can do nothing more, sir," the officer in command of the troopssaid. "The business part of the town is doomed. All that we could evenhope to save are the detached houses standing in gardens andshrubberies."

  So it turned out. The flames swept onward until the business quarter, aswell as the native town, was completely burnt out, and it needed all theefforts of the soldiers and inhabitants to prevent the privateresidences of the merchants and planters from being ignited by theburning fragments scattered far and wide by the wind. It was noon whenthe officers and crew of the _Agile_, accompanied by M. Pickard--whowas, like all the rest blackened by the dust and smoke--returned onboard.

  "Well, that has been as hot a morning's work as I ever went through,"Turnbull said. "It is hard to believe that a battle has been fought anda town destroyed in the course of about five hours."

  "Yes; I think on the whole we may be very well satisfied, Turnbull,though I suppose the people who have lost their houses and stores willhardly see it in the same light. Still, they saved their lives, and atany rate, Monsieur Pickard, you can be congratulated on having got allyour goods on board just in time."

  "I am thankful indeed that it is so," the planter said. "I hope, ofcourse, to get something for my estate. As to the house, after what wehave seen here I cannot set much value on it. What has happened thismorning may happen at Cape Francois to-morrow. They might not be able totake it, but a dozen negroes choosing their time when a strong wind isblowing, and starting the fires in as many places, might level the townto the ground. At any rate, I shall direct the captain of the brig tosail at once for Kingston, and to deliver the cargo to my agent there,and shall proceed myself to Cape Francois. I wish to learn whether thebank there has sent off its funds and securities to some safer place, oris retaining them. In the latter case I shall withdraw them at once, andshall put up my estates for sale."

  "I will give you a passage, Monsieur Pickard. I have nothing more tostay here for, and shall sail up the coast to-morrow morning."

  "Thank you very much; I accept your offer with gladness. I am anxious toclose all my connection with this unfortunate island as soon aspossible."

  In the afternoon the governor of the town, with the officer commandingthe troops, the maire, and a deputation of the leading citizens, cameoff to thank Nat for the assistance that his crew and guns had rendered.They brought with them an official document rehearsing these services,and saying that had it not been for the assistance they had rendered,the town would undoubtedly have been captured by the blacks, andprobably all the whites on shore massacred, together with their wivesand families, who had taken refuge on board the shipping. The commandantstated that this document would be sent to the British admiral atKingston. Nat replied very modestly, saying that both the officers andmen on board had rejoiced at being able to render a service in the causeof humanity, and that he was only acting in accordance with the ordershe had received from the admiral to afford every aid in his power to thewhite population of the island.

  After this official visit many of the merchants, planters, and militaryofficers came off individually to thank him for having saved their wivesand families by the protection that he had afforded to the shipping,and by the aid given by his guns and the landing-party, which had alonesaved the town from capture. At daybreak next morning the _Agile_ got upher anchor and started for the north. The brig containing MonsieurPickard's property had sailed the previous afternoon, and the rest ofthe shipping were preparing to start at the time the _Agile_ got upanchor. All of them were crowded with fugitives, the women and childrenbeing now joined by many of their male relatives, who had lost almostall they possessed by the destruction of their homes and warehouses.

  The next morning the brigantine arrived at Cape Francois. The news shebrought of the destruction of Port-au-Prince caused great excitement, asit was felt that the fate that had befallen one town might well happento another. Monsieur Pickard at once went to the bank, where he foundthat the greater portion of the specie and all valuable documents hadalready been sent for safety to Jamaica, and he received an order uponthe bank there for the payment to him of the money he had placed ondeposit in the bank, and of the various securities and documents thathad been held in safe-keeping for him. He then went to pay a visit toMonsieur Duchesne, to whose house Nat, who had landed with him, had gonedirect. The family were delighted to see him.

  "You may expect another visitor shortly," he said. "Monsieur Pickard hascome on shore with me; he has gone to the bank now, but said that hewould come on here later."

  "Then he has escaped," Madame Duchesne exclaimed. "We had hardly evenhoped that he and his family had done so, for we knew that the blackshad risen everywhere in that part of the island."

  "Yes, I am happy to say that he, Madame Pickard, and his two daughters,all got safely away; in fact, they all came off to my craft--not the_Agile_, you know, but to the _Arrow_; and I had the pleasure of takingthem as passengers to Jamaica, where the ladies still are."

  "That is good news indeed," Myra said. "Valerie is a great friend ofmine. Of course Louise is younger, but I was very fond of her too. Theyear before last I spent a couple of months with them at theirplantation; and, as I daresay they told you, they are always here forthree or four months in the winter season."

  Nat then told them what had taken place at Port-au-Prince, and how heand his men had taken part in the fight.

  "It is terrible news indeed," said M. Duchesne; "and one can scarcelyfeel safe here. Port-au-Prince is the largest town in Hayti, with theexception only of this, which is quite as open to the danger of fire. Ithink this will decide us on leaving. Matters seem going from bad toworse. I don't know whether you know that three commissioners havearrived from France. So far from improving the state of things, they aremaking them worse every day. As far as can be seen, they are occupiedsolely in filling their own pockets; they have enormously increased thetaxation, and that at a time when everyone is on the verge of ruin. Noaccount is given of the sums they collect, and certainly the money hasnot been spent in taking any measures either for the safety of the townor for the suppression of the insurrection. I have wound up all myaffairs here, and have disposed of our plantations. There are many whostill believe that in time everything will come right again; I havemyself no hope. Even if we got peaceful possession of our estates, therewould be no hands to work them. The freedom of all the blacks has beenvoted by that mad assembly in Paris; and if there is one thing morecertain than another, it is that the negroes will not work until theyare obliged to, so the estates will be practically worthless. ThereforeI have accepted an offer for a sum which is about a quarter of what theestate was worth before, and consider that it is so much saved out ofthe fire."

  "Monsieur Pickard is of exactly the same opinion as you are," Nat said,"and has come here principally for the purpose of disposing of hisestate on any terms that he can obtain."

  "Well, I do not think he will find any difficulty in getting about thesame proportion of value as we have done. The rich mulattoes are buyingfreely, and, as I say, some of the whites are doing the same. Ah, herehe is!

  "Ah, my dear Pickard, we are glad indeed to see you, and to learn fromour friend here that your wife and daughters are safe in Jamaica."

  "We have been very anxious about you," Madame Duchesne said; "and Myrahas been constantly talking of your family."

  "It was the same with us, I can assure you, madame; and it is strangethat we should first have obtained tidings of your safety from MonsieurGlover, and that you should also have obtained news of ours from him.Still more so that while he has, as he said to us, been of some littleservice to you--but which, we learnt from one of his officers, seems tohave been considerable--it is to him t
hat we also owe our lives."

  "Little service!" Madame Duchesne repeated indignantly. "However, weknow Monsieur Glover of old. First of all he saved Myra's life from thatdog, and certainly he saved both our lives from the negroes. And did hesave yours? He has just told us that you came on board with him, andthat he took you to Jamaica. Still, that is not like what he did forus."

  "That is one way of putting it, madame," Monsieur Pickard said with asmile; "but as you say you know him of old, you will not be surprised atthe little story that I have to tell you."

  "Not now, Monsieur Pickard," Nat said hastily, "or if you do I shallsay good-bye to Madame Duchesne at once, and go straight on board."

  "You must not do that," Madame Duchesne said as he rose to his feet;"you have only just arrived, and we are not going to let you off soeasily."

  "We will compromise," her husband said. "Now, Monsieur Glover, you knowthat my wife and daughter will be dying of curiosity until they hearthis story. Suppose you take a turn down the town with me. I will go andenquire whether there is any ship likely to sail in the course of a fewdays or so for Jamaica. Then Monsieur Pickard can tell his story, and mywife can retail it to me later on. You see, Monsieur Pickard's wife anddaughters are great friends of ours, and madame and Myra naturally wishto hear what has happened to them during this terrible time."

  "Very well," Nat said with a laugh, "I don't mind accepting thatcompromise; but really I do hate hearing things talked over which werejust ordinary affairs. But remember that Monsieur Pickard naturally willmake a great deal more of them than they are worth, since, no doubt, theoutcome of them was that he and his family did get out of the hands ofthe blacks in consequence. Now, Monsieur Duchesne, I will start with youat once, so that madame and Myra's curiosity may be satisfied as soon aspossible."

  Monsieur Duchesne took Nat first to call upon the three commissioners,who happened to be gathered in council. The commandant at Port-au-Princehad asked him to convey the report he had hastily drawn up of the attackon the town. This he had sent ashore as soon as he anchored; and thecommissioners were discussing the news when Nat and Monsieur Duchesnewere shown in.

  "I thought, gentlemen," Nat said, "that you might perhaps like to ask mequestions upon any point that was not explained in the commandant'sreport, which was, as he told me, drawn up in great haste; for withfour-fifths of the town laid in ashes, and the population homeless andunprovided with food, his hands were full indeed."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant Glover. The report does full justice to yourinterposition in our favour, and indeed states that had it not been forthe assistance rendered by yourself and the ship of war you command, thetown would unquestionably have been carried by the insurgents, and thatthe whole of the whites, including the troops, would probably have beenmassacred. Had this been done, it would undoubtedly have so greatlyencouraged the rioters that we could hardly have hoped to maintain ourhold even of this city."

  "I was only carrying out the orders that I received in landing toprotect the white inhabitants from massacre, gentlemen."

  "In your opinion, is anyone to blame for the course events took?"

  "Even had I that opinion," Nat said, "I should certainly not considermyself justified in criticising the action of the officers andauthorities of a foreign power. However, the circle of the town was toolarge to be defended by the force available, of whom half werevolunteers, ready to fight most gallantly, as I can testify, but notpossessing the discipline of trained troops. I do not think, however,that even had batteries been erected all round the town, the insurgentscould have been prevented from effecting an entrance at some points, andsetting fire to the houses. They advanced with great determination, inspite of the destructive grape fire maintained by the three guns of thebattery. Undoubtedly had the batteries been placed together on thatside, as on the one at which it was thought probable that the attackwould be made, the insurgents might have been repulsed, but it wouldhave needed a much larger force than that in the town to man all thosebatteries. And I think it is by no means improbable that even in thatcase the town might have been burnt; for there were still a large numberof negroes employed on the wharves and in the warehouses, and you maytake it as certain that some of these were in close communication withthe insurgents, and probably agreed to fire the town should theirfriends fail to effect an entrance. I can only say, sir, that thecitizens enrolled for defence fought most gallantly, as did the smallparty of soldiers manning the battery on that side, and that when thefighting was over all laboured nobly to check the progress of theflames."

  Several questions were put to him concerning the details of thefighting, and the measures that had been taken for the safety of thewomen and children, the part his own men played, and the manner in whichthe insurgents, after gaining a footing in the town, had been preventedfrom obtaining entire possession of it. At the conclusion of theinterview, which had lasted for upwards of two hours, the commissionersthanked Nat very cordially.

  "You see," Monsieur Duchesne said, when they left the governor's house,"they asked no single question as to whether you thought there was anydanger of a similar catastrophe taking place here."

  "Yes, I noticed they did not. If they had, I could have told them veryplainly that, although the negroes suffered very heavily, yet the newsthat the second town in Hayti had been almost destroyed would be sure toraise their hopes, and that I consider it extremely probable that someday or other this town will also be attacked, and no time should be lostin putting it into a state of thorough defence. I can't say that theyimpressed me at all favourably."

  "Short as is the time that they have been here, they have managed toexcite all parties against them. They have issued an amnesty, pardoningeven those who have committed the most frightful atrocities upon us.They have infuriated a portion of the mulattoes by announcing the repealof the decree in their favour. Without a shadow of legal authority theyhave extorted large sums of money from those mulattoes who have remainedquiet and are resident here, and seem bent upon extracting all thatremains of their late fortune from the whites. One of them is frequentlydrunk and leads a scandalous life; another appears bent solely uponenriching himself; the third seems to be a well-meaning man, but he iswholly under the control of his drunken companion. If this is the sortof aid we are to receive from France, our future is hopeless indeed.And, indeed, no small portion of my friends begin to see that unlessEngland takes possession of the island the future is altogetherhopeless. The general opinion here is that it is impossible that peacecan much longer be maintained between England and France, and they hopethat one of the first steps England will take after war is declared willbe to land an army here."

  "If the English government were persuaded that the mulattoes and negroesas well as the whites were favourable, I should think that the islandmight be annexed without difficulty; but unless all parties are agreed Icannot think that a force could be spared that could even hope forsuccess. It would have been an easy task before the mulattoes and theslaves learned their own strength, but it is a very different thing now;and I should say that it would need at least five-and-twenty thousandmen, and perhaps even twice that number, to reduce the island tosubmission and to restore peace and order. I cannot think that, engagedin a war with France, England would be able to spare anything like thatforce for a difficult and almost certainly a long series of operationshere."

  By this time they had arrived at Monsieur Duchesne's house.

  "Our friend has only just finished his story," Madame Duchesne said, ashe entered. "What a story! what frightful sufferings! what horrors!and," she added with a smile, though her eyes were full of tears--"what'little' service rendered by you and your brave crew! He has told itall, and of your fight afterwards with that terrible pirate, and how youhave added to the list of those you have saved from terrible deaths someeighteen or twenty Spanish gentlemen and ladies, and twice as manysailors."

  "Yes, I have had wonderful luck," Nat said; "and you see I have beenwell rewarded. I am only just out of my time as a m
idshipman, and I amin command of a fine ship, which, in the ordinary course of things, Icould not have hoped for for another eight or ten years. I have gained aconsiderable amount of prize-money, and best of all, the friendship ofyourselves and the family of Monsieur Pickard. And the real author ofall this is Mademoiselle Myra, who was good enough to have that littlequarrel with her aunt's dog just at the time that I happened to bepassing."

  This raised a laugh, which in Myra's case became almost hysterical, andher mother had to take her out of the room.

  "Now, Monsieur Duchesne, I will take this opportunity of returning onboard. I promised you that I would come ashore and dine with you thisevening, but I must really make its fulfilment conditional upon yourassuring me that there shall be no allusion to any of my adventures."

  A MESSAGE FROM TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.]

  "At any rate, I will impress upon my wife and daughter that the subjectmust be tabooed, and I have no doubt that they will do their best toavoid it, if they can keep away from the topic that cannot but bepresent in their minds. After hearing Monsieur Pickard's story--ofwhich, as you must remember, I am at present wholly ignorant--you seethat, intimate as the two families have been, it is not surprisingthat they should have been greatly affected by it, especially as for thelast month they have been mourning for them as dead."