CHAPTER XV.
"_Sir And._. I have no exquisite reason for't, but I've reason good enough." _Twelfth Night._
The countenance of Captain Borroughcliffe, when the sentinel admittedhim to the apartment he had selected, was in that state of doubtfulillumination, when looks of peculiar cunning blend so nicely with thestare of vacancy, that the human face is rendered not unlike an Aprilday, now smiling and inviting, and at the next moment clouded anddreary. It was quite apparent that the soldier had an object for hisunexpected visit, by the importance of his air and the solemnity of themanner with which he entered on the business. He waved his hand forthe sentinel to retire, with lofty dignity, and continued balancinghis body, during the closing of the door, and while a sound continuedaudible to his confused faculties, with his eyes fixed in the directionof the noise, with that certain sort of wise look that in many mensupplies the place of something better. When the captain felt himselfsecure from interruption, he moved round with quick military precision,in order to face the man of whom he was in quest. Griffith had beensleeping, though uneasily and with watchfulness; and the Pilot had beencalmly awaiting the visit which it seemed he had anticipated; but theirassociate, who was no other than Captain Manual, of the marines, wasdiscovered in a very different condition from either. Though the weatherwas cool and the night tempestuous, he had thrown aside his pea-jacket,with most of his disguise, and was sitting ruefully on his blanket,wiping, with one hand, the large drops of sweat from his forehead,and occasionally grasping his throat with the other, with a kind ofconvulsed mechanical movement. He stared wildly at his visitor, thoughhis entrance produced no other alteration in these pursuits than a morediligent application of his handkerchief and a more frequent graspingof his naked neck, as if he were willing to ascertain, by actualexperiment, what degree of pressure the part was able to sustain,without exceeding a given quantity of inconvenience.
"Comrade, I greet ye!" said Borroughcliffe, staggering to the sideof his prisoner, where he seated himself with an entire absence ofceremony: "Comrade, I greet ye! Is the kingdom in danger, that gentlementraverse the island in the uniform of the regiment of incognitus,incognitii, 'torum--damme, how I forget my Latin! Say, my fine fellow,are you one of these 'torums?"
Manual breathed a little hard, which, considering the manner he hadbeen using his throat, was a thing to be expected; but, swallowing hisapprehensions, he answered with more spirit than his situation renderedprudent or the occasion demanded.
"Say what you will of me, and treat me as you please, I defy any man tocall me Tory with truth."
"You are no 'torum! Well, then, the war-office has got up a new dress!Your regiment must have earned their facings in storming some waterbattery, or perhaps it has done duty as marines. Am I right?"
"I'll not deny it," said Manual, more stoutly; "I have served as amarine for two years, though taken from the line of----"
"The army," said Borroughcliffe, interrupting a most damning confessionof which "state line" the other had belonged to. "I kept a dog-watch,myself, once, on board the fleet of my Lord Howe; but it is a servicethat I do not envy any man. Our afternoon parades were dreadfullyunsteady, for it's a time, you know, when a man wants solid ground tostand on. However, I purchased my company with some prize-money thatfell in my way, and I always remember the marine service with gratitude.But this is dry work. I have put a bottle of sparkling Madeira in mypocket, with a couple of glasses, which we will discuss while we talkover more important matters. Thrust your hand into my right pocket;I have been used to dress to the front so long, that it comes mightyawkward to me to make this backward motion, as if it were into acartridge-box."
Manual, who had been at a loss how to construe the manner of the other,perceived at once a good deal of plain English in this request, and hedislodged one of Colonel Howard's dusty bottles, with a dexteritythat denoted the earnestness of his purpose. Borroughcliffe had madea suitable provision of glasses; and extracting the cork in a certainscientific manner, he tendered to his companion a bumper of the liquor,before another syllable was uttered by either of the expectants. Thegentlemen concluded their draughts with a couple of smacks, that soundednot unlike the pistols of two practised duellists, though certainly amuch less alarming noise, when the entertainer renewed the discourse.
"I like one of your musty-looking bottles, that is covered with dust andcobwebs, with a good southern tan on it," he said. "Such liquor does notabide in the stomach, but it gets into the heart at once, and becomesblood in the beating of a pulse. But how soon I knew you! That sort ofknowledge is the freemasonry of our craft. I knew you to be the man youare, the moment I laid eyes on you in what we call our guard-room; butI thought I would humor the old soldier who lives here, by letting himhave the formula of an examination, as a sort of deference to his ageand former rank. But I knew you the instant I saw you. I have seen youbefore!"
The theory of Borroughcliffe, in relation to the incorporation of winewith the blood, might have been true in the case of the marine,whose whole frame appeared to undergo a kind of magical change bythe experiment of drinking, which, the reader will understand, wasdiligently persevered in while a drop remained in the bottle. Theperspiration no longer rolled from his brow, neither did his throatmanifest that uneasiness which had rendered such constant externalapplications necessary; but he settled down into an air of cool butcurious interest, which, in some measure, was the necessary concomitantof his situation.
"We may have met before, as I have been much in service, and yet Iknow not where you could have seen me," said Manual. "Were you ever aprisoner of war?"
"Hum! not exactly such an unfortunate devil; but a sort of conventionalnon-combatant. I shared the hardships, the glory, the equivocalvictories (where we killed and drove countless numbers of rebels--whowere not), and, woe is me! the capitulation of Burgoyne. But let thatpass-which was more than the Yankees would allow us to do. You know notwhere I could have seen you? I have seen you on parade, in the field, inbattle and out of battle, in camp, in barracks; in short, everywhere butin a drawing-room. No, no; I have never seen you before this night in adrawing-room!"
Manual stared in a good deal of wonder and some uneasiness at theseconfident assertions, which promised to put his life in no littlejeopardy; and it is to be supposed that the peculiar sensation about thethroat was revived, as he made a heavy draught, before he said:
"You will swear to this--Can you call me by name?"
"I will swear to it in any court in Christendom," said the dogmaticalsoldier; "and your name is--is--Fugleman!"
"If it is, I'll be damn'd!" exclaimed the other, with exultingprecipitation.
"Swear not!" said Borroughcliffe, with a solemn air; "for what matterethan empty name! Call thyself by what appellation thou wilt, I know thee.Soldier is written on thy martial front; thy knee bendeth not; nay, Ieven doubt if the rebellious member bow in prayer----"
"Come, sir," interrupted Manual, a little sternly; "no more of thistrifling, but declare your will at once. Rebellious member, indeed!These fellows will call the skies of America rebellious heavensshortly!"
"I like thy spirit, lad," returned the undisturbed Borroughcliffe; "itsits as gracefully on a soldier as his sash and gorget; but it is loston an old campaigner. I marvel, however, that thou takest such umbrageat my slight attack on thy orthodoxy. I fear the fortress must beweak, where the outworks are defended with such a waste of unnecessarycourage!"
"I know not why or wherefore you have paid me this visit, CaptainBorroughcliffe," said Manual, with a laudable discretion, which promptedhim to reconnoitre the other's views a little, before he laid himselfmore open; "if captain be your rank, and Borroughcliffe be yourname. But this I do know, that if it be only to mock me in my presentsituation, it is neither soldier like nor manly; and it is what, inother circumstances, might be attended by some hazard."
"Hum!" said the other, with his immovable coolness; "I see you set thewine down as nothing, though the king drinks not as good; for the pl
ainreason that the sun of England cannot find its way through the wallsof Windsor Castle as easily as the sun of Carolina can warm a garretcovered with cedar shingles. But I like your spirit more and more. Sodraw yourself up in battle array, and let us have another charge at thisblack bottle, when I shall lay before your military eyes a plan of thewhole campaign."
Manual first bestowed an inquiring glance on his companion; when,discovering no other expression than foolish cunning, which was fastyielding before the encroaching footsteps of stupid inebriety, hequietly placed himself in the desired position. The wine was drunk, whenBorroughcliffe proceeded to open his communications more unreservedly.
"You are a soldier, and I am a soldier. That you are a soldier, myorderly could tell; for the dog has both seen a campaign, and smeltvillanous saltpetre, when compounded according to a wicked invention;but it required the officer to detect the officer. Privates do not wearsuch linen as this, which seemeth to me an unreasonably cool attire forthe season; nor velvet stocks, with silver buckles; nor is there oftenthe odorous flavor of sweet-scented pomatum to be discovered aroundtheir greasy locks. In short, thou art both soldier and officer."
"I confess it," said Manual; "I hold the rank of captain, and shallexpect the treatment of one."
"I think I have furnished you with wine fit for a general," returnedBorroughcliffe; "but have your own way. Now, it would be apparent tomen, whose faculties had not been rendered clear by such cordials asthis dwelling aboundeth with, that when you officers journey through theisland, clad in the uniform incognitorum, which in your case means themarine corps, that something is in the wind of more than usual moment.Soldiers owe their allegiance to their prince, and next to him to war,women, and wine. Of war, there is none in the realm; of women, plenty;but wine, I regret to say, that is, good wine, grows both scarce anddear. Do I speak to the purpose, comrade?"
"Proceed," said Manual, whose eyes were not less attentive than hisears, in a hope to discover whether his true character were understood.
"En avant! in plain English, forward march! Well, then, the difficultylies between women and wine; which, when the former are pretty, and thelatter rich, is a very agreeable sort of an alternative. That it is notwine of which you are in quest, I must believe, my comrade captain, oryou would not go on the adventure in such shabby attire. You will excuseme, but who would think of putting anything better than theirPort before a man in a pair of tarred trousers? No! no! Hollands,green-and-yellow Hollands, is a potation good enough to set before oneof the present bearing."
"And yet I have met with him who has treated me to the choicest of thesouth-side Madeira!"
"Know you the very side from which the precious fluid comes! That looksmore in favor of the wine. But, after all, woman, dear capricious woman,who one moment fancies she sees a hero in regimentals, and the next asaint in a cassock; and who always sees something admirable in a suitor,whether he be clad in tow or velvet--woman is at the bottom of thismysterious masquerading. Am I right, comrade!"
By this time Manual had discovered that he was safe, and he returned tothe conversation with a revival of all his ready wits, which had beenstrangely paralyzed by his previous disorder in the region of thethroat. First bestowing a wicked wink on his companion, and a look thatwould have outdone the wisest aspect of Solomon, he replied;
"Ah! woman has much to answer for!"
"I knew it," exclaimed Borroughcliffe; "and this confession onlyconfirms me in the good opinion I have always entertained of myself. Ifhis majesty has any particular wish to close this American business, lethim have a certain convention burnt, and a nameless person promoted, andwe shall see! But, answer as you love truth; is it a business of holymatrimony, or a mere dalliance with the sweets of Cupid?"
"Of honest wedlock," said Manual, with an air as serious as if Hymenalready held him in his fetters.
"'Tis honest! Is there money?"
"Is there money?" repeated Manual, with a sort of contemptuous echo."Would a soldier part with his liberty, but with his life, unless thechains were made of gold?"
"That's the true military doctrine!" cried the other; "faith, you havesome discretion in your amphibious corps, I find! But why this disguise?are the 'seniors grave,' as well as 'potent and reverend?' Why thisdisguise, I again ask?"
"Why this disguise!" repeated Manual, coolly: "Is there any such thingas love in your regiment without disguise? With us, it is a regularsymptom of the disease."
"A most just and discreet description of the passion, my amphibiouscomrade!" said the English officer; "and yet the symptoms in your caseare attended by some very malignant tokens. Does your mistress lovetar?"
"No; but she loveth me; and, of course, whatever attire I choose toappear in."
"Still discreet and sagacious! and yet only a most palpable feint toavoid my direct attack. You have heard of such a place as Gretna Green,a little to the north of this, I dare say, my aquatic comrade. Am Iright?"
"Gretna Green!" said Manual, a little embarrassed by his ignorance;"some parade-ground, I suppose?"
"Ay, for those who suffer under the fire of Master Cupid. Aparade-ground! well, there is some artful simplicity in that! But allwill not do with an old campaigner. It is a difficult thing to impose onan old soldier, my water-battery. Now listen and answer; and you shallsee what it is to possess a discernment--therefore deny nothing. You arein love?"
"I deny nothing," said Manual, comprehending at once that this was hissafest course.
"Your mistress is willing, and the money is ready, but the old peoplesay, halt!"
"I am still mute!"
"Tis prudent. You say march--Gretna Green is the object; and your flightis to be by water!"
"Unless I can make my escape by water, I shall never make it," saidManual, with another sympathetic movement with his hand to his throat.
"Keep mute; you need tell me nothing. I can see into a mystery that isas deep as a well, to-night. Your companions are hirelings; perhaps yourshipmates; or men to pilot you on this expedition!"
"One is my shipmate, and the other is our pilot," said Manual, with moretruth than usual.
"You are well provided. One thing more, and I shall become mute in myturn. Does she whom you seek lie in this house?"
"She does not; she lies but a short distance from this place; and Ishould be a happy fellow could I but once more put foot----"
"Eyes on her. Now listen, and you shall have your wish. You possess theability to march yet, which, considering the lateness of the hour, isno trifling privilege; open that window--is it possible to descend fromit?"
Manual eagerly complied, but he turned from the place in disappointment.
"It would be certain death to attempt the leap. The devil only couldescape from it."
"So I should think," returned Borroughcliffe, dryly. "You must becontent to pass for that respectable gentleman for the rest of yourdays, in St. Ruth's Abbey. For through that identical hole must you wingyour flight on the pinions of love."
"But how! The thing is impossible."
"In imagination only. There is some stir, a good deal of foolishapprehension, and a great excess of idle curiosity, among certain of thetenants of this house, on your account. They fear the rebels, who, weall know, have not soldiers enough to do their work neatly at home, andwho, of course, would never think of sending any here. You wish to besnug--I wish to serve a brother in distress. Through that window youmust be supposed to fly--no matter how; while by following me you canpass the sentinel, and retire peaceably, like any other mortal, on yourown two stout legs."
This was a result that exceeded all that Manual had anticipated fromtheir amicable but droll dialogue; and the hint was hardly given,before he threw on the garments that agitation had before rendered suchencumbrances; and in less time than we have taken to relate it, themarine was completely equipped for his departure. In the mean time,Captain Borroughcliffe raised himself to an extremely erect posture,which he maintained with the inflexibility of a rigid martinet. Whenhe fou
nd himself established on his feet, the soldier intimated to hisprisoner that he was ready to proceed. The door was instantly opened byManual, and together they entered the gallery.
"Who comes there?" cried the sentinel, with a vigilance and vigor thathe intended should compensate for his previous neglect of duty.
"Walk straight, that he may see you," said Borroughcliffe, with muchphilosophy.
"Who goes there?" repeated the sentinel, throwing his musket to a poise,with a rattling sound that echoed along the naked walls.
"Walk crooked," added Borroughcliffe, "that if he fire he may miss."
"We shall be shot at, with this folly," muttered Manual.
"We are friends, and your officer is one of us."
"Stand, friends--advance, officer, and give the counter-sign," cried thesentinel.
"That is much easier said than done," returned his captain; "forward,Mr. Amphibious, you can walk like a postman--move to the front, andproclaim the magical word, 'loyalty;' 'tis a standing countersign, readyfurnished to my hands by mine hosts the colonel; your road is then clearbefore you--but hark----"
Manual made an eager step forward, when, recollecting himself, heturned, and added: "My assistants, the seamen! I can do nothing withoutthem."
"Lo! the keys are in the doors, ready for my admission," said theEnglishman; "turn them, and bring out your forces."
Quick as thought, Manual was in the room of Griffith, to whom he brieflycommunicated the situation of things, when he reappeared in the passage,and then proceeded on a similar errand to the room of the Pilot.
"Follow, and behave as usual," he whispered; "say not a word, but trustall to me."
The Pilot arose, and obeyed these instructions without asking aquestion, with the most admirable coolness.
"I am now ready to proceed," said Manual, when they had joinedBorroughcliffe.
During the short time occupied in these arrangements, the sentineland his captain had stood looking at each other with great militaryexactitude, the former ambitious of manifesting his watchfulness, thelatter awaiting the return of the marine. The captain now beckoned toManual to advance and give the countersign.
"Loyalty," whispered Manual, when he approached the sentinel. But thesoldier had been allowed time to reflect; and as he well understood thesituation of his officer, he hesitated to allow the prisoner to pass,After a moment's pause, he said:
"Advance, friends." At this summons the whole party moved to thepoint of his bayonet; when the man continued: "The prisoners have thecountersign, Captain Borroughcliffe, but I dare not let them pass."
"Why not?" asked the captain; "am I not here, sirrah? do you not knowme?"
"Yes, sir, I know your honor, and respect your honor; but I was postedhere by my sergeant, and ordered not to let these men pass out on anyaccount."
"That's what I call good discipline," said Borroughcliffe, with anexulting laugh; "I knew the lad would not mind me any more than that hewould obey the orders of that lamp. Here are no slaves of the lamp, myamphibious comrade; drill ye your marines in this consummate style toniceties?"
"What means this trifling?" said the Pilot, sternly.
"Ah! I thought I should turn the laugh on you," cried Manual, affectingto join in the mirth; "we know all these things well, and we practisethem in our corps; but though the sentinel cannot know you, the sergeantwill; so let him be called and orders be given through him to the man onpost, that we may pass out."
"Your throat grows uneasy, I see," said Borroughcliffe; "you crave,another bottle of the generous fluid. Well, it shall be done. Sentinel,you can throw up yon window, and give a call to the sergeant."
"The outcry will ruin us," said the Pilot, in a whisper to Griffith.
"Follow me," said the young sailor. The sentinel was turning to executethe orders of his captain as Griffith spoke, when springing forward, inan instant he wrenched the musket from his hands; a heavy blow withits butt felled the astonished soldier to the floor; then, poising hisweapon, Griffith exclaimed:
"Forward! we can clear our own way now!"
"On!" said the Pilot, leaping lightly over the prostrate soldier, adagger gleaming in one hand and a pistol presented in the other.
Manual was by his side in an instant, armed in a similar manner; andthe three rushed together from the building, without meeting any one tooppose their flight.
Borroughcliffe was utterly unable to follow; and so astounded was he bythis sudden violence, that several minutes passed before he was restoredto the use of his speech, a faculty which seldom deserted him. The manhad recovered his senses and his feet, however; and the two stood gazingat each other in mute condolence. At length the sentinel broke thesilence:
"Shall I give the alarm, your honor?"
"I rather think not, Peters. I wonder if there be any such thing asgratitude or good-breeding in the marine corps!"
"I hope your honor will remember that I did my duty, and that I wasdisarmed while executing your orders."
"I can remember nothing about it, Peters, except that it is rascallytreatment, and such as I shall yet make this amphibious aquaticgentleman answer for. But lock the door-look as if nothing had happened,and----"
"Ah! your honor, that is not so easily done as your honor may please tothink. I have not any doubt but there is the print of the breech of amusket stamped on my back and shoulders, as plainly to be seen as thatlight."
"Then look as you please; but hold your peace, sirrah. Here is acrown to buy a plaster. I heard the dog throw away your musket on thestairs--go seek it, and return to your post; and when you are relieved,act as if nothing had happened. I take the responsibility on myself."
The man obeyed; and when he was once more armed, Borroughcliffe, agood deal sobered by the surprise, made the best of his way to hisown apartment, muttering threats and execrations against the "corps ofmarines and the whole race," as he called them, "of aquatic amphibii."