by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XXI.
BACK AT THE FRONT
Aroused by the sound of the sentry's musket, the Russian soldiersrushed to their windows and doors and opened a scattering fire, whichwas heavily responded to by the Poles. The midshipmen with their partyran hastily down the village. There were two sentries over the boats,but these, alarmed by the din in the village and the sight of theapproaching figures, fired their muskets and fled. Dick uttered a lowexclamation.
"What is the matter, Dick? are you hit?"
"Yes," Dick said. "My arm is broken. Never mind, let us push on."
They leaped into a boat. Jack seized the sculls, the rope whichfastened them to the shore was cut, and with a last shout of farewellto the count, they pulled off into the stream. For a few minutes thesound of battle continued, and then suddenly died away, as CountStanislas, his object accomplished, drew off his men.
A few minutes' rowing brought the boat to the opposite bank. Here theyfound Austrian sentries, who accosted them in German. As, however, theAustrian Government offered no obstacle to Polish fugitives enteringthe frontier, the lads were conducted to the officer of the troops atthe little village which faced that on the Russian bank. Here theywere questioned, first in Polish and then in German, but upon the boysrepeating the word "English," the officer, who spoke a little French,addressed them in that language, and Dick explained that they wereEnglish naval officers taken prisoners at Sebastopol, and making theirescape through Poland. He then asked if there was a surgeon who coulddress his wound, but was told that none was procurable nearer than atown fifteen miles away. A country cart was speedily procured andfilled with straw, and upon this Dick lay down, while Jack took hisseat by the peasant who was to drive the cart.
It was eleven o'clock in the day when they entered the town, and thepeasant drew up, in accordance with the instructions he had received,at the best hotel, the landlord of which was in no slight degreesurprised at such an arrival, and was disposed to refuse themadmittance. Jack, however, produced a bundle of Russian notes, atwhich sight the landlord's hesitation vanished at once, and in half anhour a surgeon stood by Dick's bedside dressing his wound. It was asevere one, the bone being broken between the elbow and shoulder.
The next day Dick was in a state of high fever, due more to thehardship and exposure through which he bad passed than to the wound,and for a week lay between life and death. Then he began to mend, butthe doctor said that it would be long before he could use his armagain, and that rest and quiet were absolutely necessary to restorehim.
A week later, therefore, the midshipmen left the town, Dick havingdetermined that he would travel home by easy stages, while Jack, ofcourse, would journey direct to join his ship.
He had written immediately upon his arrival to acquaint his family,and that of Dick, that both were alive and had escaped from Russia.The tailors had been set to work, and the midshipmen presented arespectable appearance. Dick was still so weak that he could scarcelystand, and Jack tried hard to persuade him to stay for another week.But Dick was pining to be home, and would not hear of delay. A day'stravel in a diligence brought them to a railway station, and twelvehours later they arrived at Vienna.
Here they stopped for a day in luxurious quarters, and then Jack,after seeing his friend into the train on his way home, started totravel over the Semmering pass down to Trieste, where he knew heshould find no difficulty in obtaining a steamer to Constantinople.
After forty-eight hours' diligence travelling, Jack reached the prettyseaport on the northern shore of the Adriatic. He found to hissatisfaction that one of the Austrian Lloyd's steamers would sail forConstantinople on the following morning. He spent the evening inbuying a great stock of such articles as he had most found the want ofin camp, and had accumulated quite a respectable stock of baggage bythe time he went on board ship. After six days' steaming, during whichthey were never out of sight of land, they cast anchor oppositeConstantinople.
Jack did not report himself to the naval authorities here, as hethought it quite possible that the "Falcon" had been recalled or senton other service, and he hoped that in that case he would, uponreaching the front, be appointed to some other ship.
There was no difficulty in obtaining a passage to Balaklava, for twoor three transports, or merchantmen laden with stores, were going upevery day. He paused, however, for three days, as it was absolutelynecessary for him to obtain a fit-out of fresh uniforms beforerejoining, and at Galata he found European tailors perfectly capableof turning out such articles.
Jack felt uncommonly pleased as he surveyed himself in a glass in hisnew equipment; for it was now eight months since he had landed in theCrimea, and the dilapidation of his garments had from that time beenrapid. The difficulties of toilet had, too, been great, and whiteshirts were things absolutely unknown; so that Jack had never feltreally presentable from the time when he landed.
The day he had obtained his outfit he took a passage in a ship ladenwith stores, and sailed for the Crimea. He had already learned thatthe "Falcon" was still there, and when the vessel entered the harborhe was delighted at seeing her lying as one of the guard-ships there.An hour later, one of the ship's boats conveyed him and his baggage tothe side of the "Falcon." The first person he saw on reaching the deckwas Mr. Hethcote. The officer stared when Jack saluted and reportedhimself in the usual words, "Come aboard, sir," and fell back a pacein astonishment.
"What, Jack! Jack Archer!" he exclaimed. "My dear boy, is it reallyyou?"
"It's me, sure enough, sir," Jack said, and the next moment Mr.Hethcote was shaking his hand as if he would have wrung it off.
"Why, my dear Jack," he exclaimed, "the men all reported that both youand poor Hawtry were killed. They said they saw him shot, and, lookingback, saw you killed over his body. It was never doubted a moment, andyour names appeared in the list of the killed."
"Well, sir, we are alive nevertheless, and Dick is by this time athome with his people. He would have come on and joined with me atonce, sir, only he got his arm broken, and was laid up with feverafter some fighting we had among the Polish insurgents."
"Among what!" Mr. Hethcote exclaimed, astonished. "But never mind thatnow; I am glad indeed to hear that Hawtry also is alive, but you musttell me all about it presently. There are your other friends waitingto speak to you."
By this time the news of Jack's return had spread through the ship.The midshipmen had all run on deck, and the men crowded the waist, or,regardless of discipline, stood on the bulwarks. Jack had been ageneral favorite. The gallantry which he and his comrade had displayedon the night of the storm had greatly endeared them to the crew, andthe men had bitterly regretted that they had not stood with him overHawtry's body; but, indeed, it was not until they had passed on, andit was too late to return, that they had noticed his absence.
As Jack turned from Mr. Hethcote, his messmates crowded round him, andthe men broke into a hearty cheer, again and again repeated. Jack,gratified and touched by this hearty welcome, could scarce reply tothe questions which his comrades poured upon him, and was speedilydragged below to the midshipmen's berth, where he gave a very briefoutline of what had happened since he saw them, a story which filledthem with astonishment and some little envy.
"I will tell you all about it fully, later on," Jack said, "but itwould take me till night to give you the full yarn now. But first youmust tell me what has happened here. You know I have heard nothing,and only know that Sebastopol is not yet taken."
The recital was a long one, and Jack was fain to admit that thehardships which he had gone through were as nothing to those which hadbeen borne by our soldiers in the Crimea during the six months he hadbeen away from them. The trials and discomforts of the great storm hadbeen but a sample of what was to be undergone. After Inkerman, it hadbeen plain to the generals in command that all idea of takingSebastopol must be abandoned until the spring, and that at the utmostthey could do no more than hold their position before it. This hadbeen rendered still more difficult by the storm, in whi
ch enormousquantities of stores, warm clothing, and other necessaries had beenlost.
It was now too late to think of making a road from Balaklava to thefront, a work which, had the authorities in the first place dreamtthat the army would have to pass the winter on the plateau, was of allothers the most necessary. The consequence of this omission was thatthe sufferings of the troops were terrible.
While Balaklava harbor was crowded with ships full of huts, clothing,and fuel, the men at the front were dying in hundreds from wet, cold,and insufficient food. Between them and abundance extended an almostimpassable quagmire, in which horses and bullocks sank and died inthousands, although laden only with weights which a donkey in ordinarytimes could carry. Had the strength of the regiments in front beensufficient, the soldiers might have been marched down, when off duty,to Balaklava, to carry up the necessaries they required. But soreduced were they by over-work and fatigue, that those fit for dutyhad often to spend five nights out of seven in the trenches, and werephysically too exhausted and worn-out to go down to Balaklava fornecessaries, even of the most urgent kind. Many of the regiments werealmost annihilated. Large numbers of fresh troops had come out, anddrafts for those already there, but the new-comers, mostly raw lads,broke down under the strain almost as fast as they arrived, and inspite of the number sent out, the total available strength did notincrease. One regiment could only muster nine men fit for duty. Manywere reduced to the strength of a company. The few survivors of oneregiment were sent down to Scutari until fresh drafts should arriveand the regiment could be reorganized, and yet this regiment had notbeen engaged in any of the battles. Scarce a general of those who hadcommanded divisions and brigades at the Alma now remained, and theregimental officers had suffered proportionally. The regiments whichhad won the Alma still remained before Sebastopol, but theirconstituents had almost entirely changed, and the proportion of thosewho had first landed in the Crimea that still remained there when Jackreturned was small indeed.
The sufferings of the French, although great, had not been nearly sosevere as our own. Their camps were much nearer to their port, theorganization of their services was far better and more complete, andas in the first place the siege work had been equally divided betweenthem, the numbers at that time being nearly the same, the work of ourmen had become increasingly hard as their numbers diminished, whilethat of the French grew lighter, for their strength had been trebledby reinforcements from home. Thus, while our men were often fivenights out of the seven on duty in the cold and wet, the French hadfive nights out of seven in bed. This gave them far greater time toforage for fuel, which was principally obtained by digging up theroots of the vines and brushwood--every twig above the surface havinglong since been cleared away--to dig deep holes under their tents, todry their clothes and to make life comfortable.
At last the strength of the English diminished to such a point thatthey were at length incapable of holding the long line of trenches,and they were obliged to ask the French to relieve them, which theydid by taking over the right of our attack, a measure which placedthem opposite to the two Russian positions of the Mamelon and Malakoffbatteries, which proved to be the keys of Sebastopol.
As spring came on matters brightened fast. English contractors sentout large bodies of navvies, and began to lay down a railway fromBalaklava to the front, reinforcements poured in, and the health ofthe troops began to improve. Troops of transport animals from everycountry on the Mediterranean were landed. A village of shops, set upby enterprising settlers, was started two miles out of Balaklava. Hutssprang up in all directions, and all sorts of comforts purchased bythe subscriptions of the English people when they heard of thesufferings of their soldiers, were landed and distributed.
The work of getting up siege guns and storing ammunition for are-opening of the bombardment in earnest, went on merrily, and thearrival of 15,000 Turkish troops, and of nearly 20,000 Sardinians, whopitched their camps on the plain, rendered the allies secure from anattack in that direction, and enabled them to concentrate all theirefforts on the siege.
So far the success had lain wholly with the Russians. For everyearthwork and battery raised and armed by the allies, the Russiansthrew up two, and whereas when our armies arrived before it on 25thSeptember, Sebastopol was little more than an open town, which couldhave been carried by the first assault, it was now a fortified place,bristling with batteries in every direction, of immense strength, andconstructed upon the most scientific principles. Many of their works,especially the Mamelon, Malakoff, and Tower batteries, were fortressesin themselves, with refuges dug deeply in the earth, where thegarrison slept, secure from the heaviest fire of our guns, andsurrounded by works on every side.
In the trenches it was the Russians who were always the aggressors.Sortie after sortie was made throughout the winter, and in these theRussians often obtained possession for a time of portions of ourtrenches or those of the French. Along in front of their works theground was studded with rifle-pits, sometimes so close to our worksthat it was impossible for a man to show his head above them, and theartillerymen were frequently unable to work their guns, owing to thestorm of bullets which the Russians sent through the embrasureswhenever a sign of movement was discerned. In the desperate fights indarkness in the trenches we lost more men than in either of thepitched battles of the campaign; and it was only the dogged courage ofour soldiers and the devotion of the officers which enabled us tomaintain our footing in the trenches before the city which we weresupposed to be besieging.
Throughout the winter the fleet had lain inactive, although why theyshould have done so none knew, when they had it in their power, byattacking the Russian forts in the Sea of Azof, to destroy thegranaries upon which the besieged depended for their supplies.
The midshipmen, however, were able to tell Jack that they had not beenaltogether idle, as the fleet had at last, on the 22d of May, been setin motion, and they had but two days before returned from theirexpedition. All the light vessels of the English and French fleets hadtaken part in it. The fort of Yenikale which commanded the entrance ofthe Bay of Kertch had been captured, the batteries silenced, and thetown occupied, and in four days after the squadron had entered thestraits of Kertch they had destroyed 245 Russian vessels employed incarrying provisions to the Russian army in the Crimea. Besides this,enormous magazines of corn and flour were destroyed at Berdiansk,Genitchi and Kertch, and at the latter place immense quantities ofmilitary and naval stores also fell into our hands. Had thisexpedition taken place in October instead of May, it is probable thatthe Russians would have been unable to maintain their hold ofSebastopol.
A portion of the fleet had remained in possession of the Sea of Azof,and thenceforth the Russians had to depend upon land carriage. This,however, mattered comparatively little, as the country was now firmand dry, and all the roads from Russia to the Crimea were available.
All their comrades had taken share in the work in the batteries andJack learned to his surprise that Captain Stuart had been transferredto a larger ship, and that Mr. Hethcote had got his promotion, and nowcommanded the "Falcon," Jack, in the first excitement of meeting him,not having noticed the changes in uniform which marked his advance.
After two hours' conversation with his friends, Jack received amessage that Captain Hethcote invited him to dine in his cabin, andhere a quarter of an hour later he found not only the captain, but thefirst and second lieutenants.
After dinner was over, Jack was requested to give a full narrative ofhis adventures, which greatly astonished his auditors, and was notconcluded until late in the evening. The lieutenants then retired, andJack was left alone with the captain, who signified that he wished tospeak further with him.
"Well, Jack," he said, when they were alone, "I did not think when Ioffered my uncle to get you a midshipman's berth, that I was going toput you in the way of passing through such a wonderful series ofadventures. They have been sadly cut up at home at the news of yourdeath. I hope that you wrote to them as soon as you had a chance."
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"I wrote on the very day I crossed the frontier, sir," Jack said."Besides I wrote twice from Russia, but I don't suppose they ever gotthe letters."
"And so you speak Russian fluently now, Jack?"
"I speak it quite well enough to get on with, sir," Jack said. "Yousee, I was speaking nothing else for five months. I expect my grammaris very shaky, as I picked it all up entirely by ear, and no doubt Imake awful mistakes, but I can get on fast enough."
"I shall report your return to-morrow to the Admiral," CaptainHethcote said. "It is not improbable that he will at once attach youto the battery in front again. The bombardment is to re-open nextweek, and the generals expect to carry the town by assault; though,between ourselves, I have no belief that our batteries will be able tosilence the enemy's guns sufficiently to make an assault upon such atremendous position possible. However, as they expect to do it, it isprobable that they will like having an officer who can speak Russianat the front, as interpreters would, of course, be useful. I supposeyou would rather stay on board for a bit."
"Yes, sir; I have had such a lot of knocking about since I leftBreslau, that I should certainly have liked a month's quiet; but ofcourse, I am ready to do as ordered, and, indeed, as the fun seemsabout to begin at last, I should like to be in it."
The next morning the captain sent his report to the Admiral, andreceived in reply a message that the Admiral would be glad if CaptainHethcote would dine with him that day, and would bring Mr. Archer withhim.
Admiral Lyons was very kind to the young midshipman, and insisted uponhis giving him an account in full of all his adventures. He confirmedCaptain Hethcote's opinion as to Jack's movements, by saying, as hebade him good-bye, that in the morning he would receive a writtenorder to go up to the front and to report himself to the officer incommand of the naval brigade there.
The next morning, being that of the 5th June, Jack received his order,and an hour later he started for the front, with two sailors to carryhis baggage. He was astonished at the change which had been wrought atBalaklava. A perfect town of wooden huts had sprung up. The principalportion of these was devoted to the general hospital, the others werecrammed with stores. The greater part of the old Tartar village hadbeen completely cleared away, the streets and roads were levelled, andin good order.
Such troops as were about had received new uniforms, and looked cleanand tidy. Everywhere gangs of laborers were at work, and the wholeplace wore a bright and cheerful aspect. Just outside the town anengine with a number of laden wagons was upon the point of starting.The sun was blazing fiercely down, and at the suggestion of one of thesailors, who, though ready enough for a spree on shore, were viewingwith some apprehension the prospect of the long trudge along the dustyroad to Sebastopol, Jack asked the officer in charge of the train forpermission to ride up. This was at once granted, and Jack, his trunkand the sailors, were soon perched on the top of a truck-load ofbarrels of salt pork.
Jack could scarcely believe that the place was the same which he hadlast seen, just when winter was setting in. A large village had grownup near the mouth of the valley, wooden huts for the numerous gangs ofnavvies and laborers stood by the side of the railway. Officerstrotted past on ponies, numbers of soldiers, English, French, Turkish,and Sardinian, trudged along the road on their way to or fromBalaklava. The wide plain across which our cavalry had charged wasbright with flowers, and dotted with the tents of the Turks andSardinians. Nature wore a holiday aspect. Every one seemed cheerfuland in high spirits, and it needed the dull boom of the guns aroundSebastopol to recall the fact that the work upon which they wereengaged was one of grim earnest.
Upon arriving at the camp, Jack found that its aspect was not lesschanged than that of the surrounding country. Many of the regimentswere already in huts. The roads and the streets between the tents werescrupulously clean and neat, and before many of the officers' tents,clumps of flowers brought up from the plain had been planted. Therailway was not yet completed quite to the front, and the last twomiles had to be traversed on foot.
Upon presenting his written orders to the officer in command of thenaval brigade, Jack was at once told off to a tent with two othermidshipmen, and was told that he would not, for the present, be placedupon regular duty, but that he would be employed as aide-de-camp tothe commander, and as interpreter, should his services in that way berequired.
