Tom Tufton's Travels

  CHAPTER X. IN PERIL.

  "Halt! and declare yourselves!" cried a hoarse voice speaking inthe French tongue.

  "Now for it, Tom," said Lord Claud quietly, speaking between hisshut teeth. "Remember what I have told you. Be wary, be ready. Weshall get through all right. There are but two or three score, andnone of them mounted."

  The travellers were passing now through the narrow territory of theMargrave of Baden, with the Rhine upon their right, the onlyprotection from the frontier of France with all its hostile hosts.

  The slow and inactive policy of the Margrave of Baden naturallyencouraged the enemy to send small parties of soldiers across toharry his country; and already Tom and his master had had to dodgeand hide, or go out of their way, to avoid meeting with these bandsof inimical marauders. They were not the class of opponents whomLord Claud most dreaded, still they might well fall upon and makeprisoner the two English travellers; and if despatches were foundupon the person of either, they would almost certainly be shot asspies. Indeed, so bitter was the feeling on the part of the Frenchafter their defeat at Blenheim, that any travellers belonging tothe hated English nation went in danger of their lives.

  For some time now Tom had been wearing the garb of a serving man.His peruke had disappeared, and he wore a little dark wig thatlooked like his natural hair. It excited less comment for masterand servant to travel from town to town together than for twoEnglish gentlemen to be riding unattended through such a disturbedcountry; and as they pursued their way, Lord Claud would giveminute and precise directions to Tom how to act in the event oftheir falling in with one of these scouting or marauding parties,showing such a wonderful knowledge of the tactics of forest warfarethat Tom was often astonished at him, and would have liked to askwhere he had obtained his experience.

  And now, for the first time, Tom was face to face with a realfoe--no mere antagonist of the hour, with whom he had exchangedsome angry word, and was ready to follow it up with blows, but witharmed foes of a hostile race, whose blood was stirred by the hatredbred of long-continued warfare, and who would think as little oftaking the lives of two Englishmen as Tom would of shooting a fatbuck in his native woodlands.

  Again came the word of command in the hoarse voice.

  "Halt! and declare yourselves, or--"

  But the threat remained unspoken, for Lord Claud had drawn rein,and was looking at the speaker with eyes of mild inquiry.

  "What is your will, monsieur?" he asked, in his easy and excellentFrench.

  At this seeming show of submission the face of the officer relaxed,and the men in his company lowered their carbines and stood more atease pending the result of the dialogue.

  "Monsieur is not a Frenchman?" questioned the officer, with a lookfrom one face to the other.

  Tom sat gazing before him with a stolid expression of countenance,which greatly belied the tingling which he felt through every veinin his body. It seemed as though this tingling sensation was insome way communicated to the mare he rode, for she began fidgetingin a fashion which plainly told Tom that she was ready to do herpart when the tussle should come.

  "How know you that, sir?" asked Lord Claud with a smile. "If youcan tell me my nationality I shall be grateful, for I am ignorantupon the point myself."

  The man's face clouded a little; he felt a certain suspicion of thehandsome stranger, and yet he must not do despite to one of HisMajesty's subjects, and Lord Claud had the air of a man of no meanstatus.

  "Your servant is English," he said with a touch of sullenness, "andI take it your horses are, too. The army of His Majesty of Franceis badly in need of strong horses. If you are good subjects of hisyou will be willing to part with them. My horse was killed but alittle way back; that one of yours would suit me right well," andhe made a step forward as though to lay a hand on Lucifer's rein.

  "Now, Tom, my boy!" said Lord Claud in a clear, low tone.

  In a moment he had whipped out his pistols and fired straight atthe officer, who fell face downwards almost without a groan. Tomhad meanwhile marked his man--the foremost in the rank behind; andhe rolled over like a log.

  With a yell of rage and amaze the men were upon them; but Luciferand Nell Gwynne had already reared almost upright, and now werefighting so wildly with their iron-shod hoofs that in fear anddismay the assailants fell back, whilst a second report from eachpistol dropped another man dead upon the field.

  "Forward! before they can take aim!" cried Lord Claud in a voice ofthunder; and the horses obeyed the word without any touch of spurfrom their riders.

  They bounded forward with an impetus which must have unseated anybut an experienced horseman, and then laying themselves along theground, they fled onwards at a gallop which astonished even Tom byits wild velocity.

  A shower of bullets fell round them, but none touched either steedsor riders; the yells of the infuriated soldiers died away on theirears; the horses sped on and on as though they had wings to theirfeet, and only after some few miles had been traversed did theriders draw rein.

  "That is always the best plan of action," said Lord Claud, asthough such an occurrence as this was a matter of everydayexperience with him. "Always appear ready to pause and parley. Itinvariably disarms suspicion. At the first every pistol or musketis levelled at your head; but if you stop to talk, these arelowered. Then, when you have put the enemy a little off guard, makea dash for it; take them by surprise, drop a few, and confuse therest, and you almost invariably escape with a sound skin."

  Then Lord Claud coolly proceeded to wipe and recharge his pistols,as though the escape of half an hour back had been a mere detailhardly worth discussion.

  But Tom knew well that both his master and the horses they rodemust have been through many such perils before this, or they couldnever (at any rate the horses) have shown such aptitude in playingtheir parts. He had felt that the mare he rode was prepared tofight furiously with hoofs and teeth; and, as it was, she hadstruck down two men who had been preparing to spring at her.

  "Ah, my lady had always a temper of her own," replied Lord Claudwith a smile, as Tom said something of this. "Yes; I have takensome pains with my horses to teach them to help in a fight.Travelling even in one's own land is none too safe, as you found toyour cost, honest Tom. Nell Gwynne comes of a fighting stock, andshowed an early aptitude for the fray. Trust to her, Tom, if everyou are hard pressed; she will bring you safely through, if it canbe achieved at any price."

  And, indeed, as the travellers pursued their long ride through adisturbed and often half-hostile country, they had frequently todepend as much upon the fleetness, fidelity, and strength of theirhorses as upon the strength of their own right arms.

  Well did Tom now understand why Lord Claud had made such a point ofhaving their own horses with them. Had they been jogging along uponsome beast hired or purchased in the country, they would never havegot through the divers perils of the way.

  Once Tom was aroused from slumber in a little, ill-smelling inn bythe sound of kicking and stamping proceeding from the stable; andwhen he had aroused his companion, and they had hastily dressedthemselves and descended, it was to find that a desperate fight wasgoing on between the two horses and a handful of French soldiers,who had followed after the fine animals, and were seeking to stealthem whilst the travellers slept.

  They had paid dearly for their temerity, however, for Nell Gwynnewas stamping the life out of one wretched fellow; whilst Luciferhad broken the leg of a second, and had pinned his companion by thearm, so that he was yelling aloud in his agony.

  Lord Claud sprang in, and at the sound of his voice the horseloosened his grip, and the man reeled hack against the wall, whiteand bleeding, and cursing beneath his breath. Tom was too late tosave the life of the victim of the mare's anger, but he was in timeto strike up the pistol which another of the soldiers had pointedat her, in the trembling hope of saving his comrade.

  "If you fire you will drive her to madness, and she will kill everyman of you," said Lord Claud coolly. "She has a devil
in her, andis bullet proof; you had better leave meddling with both thebeasts."

  The men crossed themselves in pious horror, and were glad enough toback out of the place, carrying their dead and maimed companionswith them. Tom and Lord Claud did not linger longer than the timeneedful for saddling the horses. They knew that the people of theinn must be in collusion with the soldiers, and the sooner theyquitted the place the better.

  They had long since left behind them the level plains, and were nowin a country that became increasingly mountainous and difficult.After the long, flat plains of Holland, Tom had thought the Badenterritory sufficiently mountainous; but now he was to makeacquaintance with the snow-topped peaks and ranges of Switzerland,and his eyes dilated with awe and wonder when first he beheld thedazzling white peaks standing out clear against a sunny sky.

  He was not a youth of much imagination or poetry, but he did feel astrange thrilling of the pulses as he looked upon this wonderfulsight.

  But Lord Claud's face was cool and impassive as usual, and hisremark was:

  "Very fine to look at, good Tom, but ugly customers to tackle. Asnowstorm up amongst those mountain peaks may well be the death ofeither or both of us, and the snow will be our winding sheet."

  "Have we to cross those snows, my lord? to scale those loftypeaks?"

  "We shall have plenty of snow, Tom, without scaling the peaks. Atthis season the passes will be deep in snow. We shall have to trustto a guide to take us safely over; and the very guide may be a spyand a traitor himself."

  "But, my lord, I thought you knew the way? I thought you hadcrossed the pass once?"

  "So I have, Tom; but these snow fields are treacherous places, andthe track shifts and changes with every winter's snow. You willsee, when you get amongst them, what a savage scene they present.In summer it is none so bad; but we are yet in the grip of winter,and though the foothold is harder and better on the ice slopes, thecold is keen and cruel, and the snowfalls frequent and dangerous."

  "And the horses, my lord?"

  "Those we must needs leave behind us for a while, Tom. I do not saythat we could not get them over, for, methinks, Hannibal must needshave brought his horsemen across in days of yore, and where anyother horse has been, there could Lucifer and Nell Gwynne travel.But I fear the poor beasts would suffer sorely; and I misdoubt meif they would not be more care than use to us. They have done theirwork gallantly, so far; and they will take us back as gallantly, Idoubt not, when our task is done. Meantime, I know a pleasant andsheltered valley, where dwell some honest folk with whom I tarriedin bygone days, to heal me of a fever I had caught in the hotItalian plains. There we will leave them; and there, Tom, if welose sight of each other, will we meet when our appointed tasks bedone.

  "There are two places where we may find a safe asylum in this wildland. One is the valley to which we are now bending our steps,which nestles not far from the foot of the great mountain men callthe St. Bernard; the other is at the hospice upon the Great St.Bernard itself, where is a colony of devout and kindly monks, whogive their succour to travellers of every nationality and creed,and where a safe shelter may always be found. Moreover, the monkshave a certain intercourse with the inhabitants of the valleysround and about, and we could thus have news of each other were oneof us there and the other here below.

  "But we will not part company save for urgent need; yet 'tis wellalways to be prepared."

  Travelling was becoming increasingly difficult and trying as theymounted into higher regions, and the roads became mere bridlepaths, often encumbered with snow drifts, and difficult totraverse.

  Fortunately it was fine overhead, and the season was a favourableone. The sun had already attained some height in the sky, and couldshine with power at midday, for February was well advanced by thistime. But the cold at nights was intense, and the state of theroads often made travelling difficult for the horses. The mountaintorrents were swelled to brawling rivers, and the ordinary bridgesbroken down, so that the travellers had much ado to get acrossthem.

  It seemed a savage country to Tom, although the excitement andperil made travelling a delight. Moreover, the people were kind andfriendly, although they spoke such a barbarous patois that it wasdifficult to hold communication with them.

  At last they reached the sheltered little valley of which Tom hadheard, and here they found friends of a kind; for at the little innLord Claud was remembered and hailed with joy. He had plainly wonthe affections of the simple folks whilst lying there sick, andthey were ready and willing to give the travellers of their best,and furnish them with guides for the passage of the mountain range,which seemed now to tower above their heads into the clouds.

  Travellers and horses were alike pretty well worn out by this time,and the thought of spending a few days in this hospitable valleywas grateful even to Tom's stalwart frame. As for the horses, theytestified their satisfaction in many ways. They even made friendswith the goatherd who was told off to attend to them, and attemptednone of their tricks upon him; which was a source of considerablesatisfaction to Tom, who had been afraid the people might declineto be left alone with such charges.

  After seeing them safely stabled, bedded, and fed, Tom was gladenough of a good meal himself; after which he retired to bed, andslept for hard upon thirty-six hours, as he found to his amaze uponawakening. And, indeed, it was small wonder that he did so; for hehad not been used to such strenuous exercise so constantlycontinued, nor to the clear, bracing air of the mountains.

  He woke as hungry as a hunter; and it was only after he hadsatisfied the cravings of nature that he had time to observe thethoughtful shadow which had gathered upon the face of his comrade.

  "Is aught amiss?" he asked presently, leaning his elbows on thetable, and heaving a sigh of satisfaction.

  "Well, Tom, that is as you like to think it; but what I fearedmight be the case has come to pass. We shall not reach the plainsof Italy without being sore beset by danger."

  Tom's eyes flashed keenly under their dark brows.

  "What have you learned, my lord?"

  "That the pass is being closely watched, Tom, by spies, or whateveryou choose to call them, from the French army. The Duke of Savoyis, as I have told you before, completely hemmed in by the armiesof the great Vendome, one of the ablest generals France possesses.His capital is in danger, and it is of the first importance that heshould receive the despatches and messages with which I am chargedby Marlborough, and which will give him heart and courage toprolong the contest till the promised help, which is now on itsway, shall reach him. Doubtless it is equally the policy of theenemy to keep him in ignorance of what they themselves now know orfear, so that he may surrender to the French arms before he hearswhat is being done for his succour.

  "That, in brief, is the situation we have to grapple with. Isuspect that Sir James is one of those who are watching formessengers from England, and that we shall have to measure our witsagainst his. Tom, I must get through the pass. I must carry mydespatches into Turin. I am not one whit afraid of the Frenchlines. I can disguise myself, and pass through them if needs bewithout a qualm of fear. I can speak French against any Frenchmanliving, for I was cradled in that land. But the first problem wehave to face is this--how can we cross the pass unseen? How can weput the spies on a false scent?"

  Tom drew his brows together and scratched his head in the effort tothink matters out.

  "Do they know that strangers are here in this valley? Are wewatched?"

  "I suspect so," answered Lord Claud. "It is not easy to be certain,because the people here are friendly to us, and distrust theFrench, who have given them small cause to love them. But I amconvinced that so astute a man as Sir James Montacute would cause aclose watch to be kept upon this valley. Most likely our presencehere is known, and we are being watched for."

  "And is there no other way of crossing the mountains into Italy?"

  "Yes, there is one other route; for historians disagree as to theone taken by Hannibal, albeit most believe that it was this of th
eLittle St. Bernard. There is another way, which doubtless could befound; but if we were to strike aside after it, the spies would beupon our heels at once."

  "I was thinking," said Tom slowly, "that we might perchance partcompany, one take one route and the other the other, and so arrangematters that the spies should follow hot-foot upon the scent of thewrong man."

  A gleam came into Lord Claud's eyes. He spoke very quietly.

  "In truth, Tom, some such thought has come into mine own head; butit is not easy to make up one's mind to act upon it, for I fear itmeans certain death to the wrong man who must be followed."

  Tom's face set itself in grim lines. There was a vein of recklessbravery and hardihood about him which imparted to the situation aspecies of stern delight, and sent the blood tingling once morethrough his veins.

  "I will take the risk of that," he said; "I shall take somekilling, I think. And killing is a game that more than one can playat! If I have to sell my life, I will make it cost the French Kingdear."

  "Right, Tom; but that will not give back a gallant servant to HerMajesty of England!"

  "I am not dead yet," answered Tom, with a grim laugh. "Tell me theplan which you have worked out in your head, my lord; for your witsare seven-fold keener than mine."

  Then Lord Claud unfolded the plan which had been working in hisbusy brain during the day that Tom had been sleeping, after he hadheard news which made him sure that his mission was suspected, andthat he would be stopped and robbed if possible.

  Higher up the mountain side, just where the snow line lay, abovewhich there was everlasting ice and snow, was a little roughhostel, where travellers rested and slept before they tried thepass itself. An old half-witted man and his goitred wife kept theplace, and provided rough food and bedding for travellers, thoughinteresting themselves in no wise with their concerns. In that rudeplace several men were now stopping, and had been stopping for somedays.

  That fact in itself was almost sufficient for Lord Claud; butsomebody had found a scrap of torn paper with some French wordsupon it, and this had made assurance doubly sure. Moreover, LordClaud believed it to be the writing of the man he had duelled withbeneath Barns Elms.

  To this inn (if such it could be called) he and Tom must journey,with a peasant for a guide to take them across the pass. Uponreaching the place, his idea now was that he should appear sorelysmitten by the cold, as some travellers were; so ill and unfit forfurther journeying, that he should have perforce to send Tom onalone with the guide, whilst he returned to the valley. All thisthey should discuss in their room at night, assured that they wouldbe overlooked and overheard; and when quite certain that eyes werewatching them, Lord Claud was to unrip his doublet and take thencea packet of papers, sealed with the signet of the Duke ofMarlborough, and sew this same packet firmly into Tom's coat.

  In reality this tempting-looking packet with the Duke's sealcontained nothing but a sheet of blank parchment. The real missivefor the Duke Victor Amadeus was written on a thin paper, and wasconcealed between the soles of Lord Claud's boots--though even Tomdid not know that. The packet was arranged as a blind, if needshould be; and now it seemed as though the need had come.

  Then on the following morning Tom and the guide would start forthacross the pass; whilst Lord Claud should creep feebly down to thevalley, watched, perhaps, but probably unmolested. The majority ofthe men, at any rate, would most certainly follow Tom.

  "There are but four," said Lord Claud; "and if one be Montacutehimself, I doubt if he will stir from the inn. He will try to keepan eye upon both, being a man full of cunning himself. I reckonthat he will send two men after you, Tom, and one after me. Ishall, after a while, pause, lie in wait, and kill that man. Then Ishall flee to the valley, get a guide who can show me the otherpass, and make such way from the seat of peril that I shall bewell-nigh across the frontier before Sir James knows that one ofhis quarry has escaped him.

  "As for you, my boy, you may like enough escape with a sound skin,unless Montacute himself pursues, making three to one--for onecannot trust these peasants to show fight. But be the issue what itmay, that is the plan I have thought out which gives the bestchance of winning through. If you escape, flee either back here, orperhaps, better still, to the protection of the monks. For herethese unwarlike peasants could perhaps give you little aid if hardpressed; but the Church will afford you sanctuary, and not even thewrath of Sir James himself will avail to wrest you from the handsof the monks, if you claim their protection."

  "It seems to me," said Tom, throwing back his head, "that the perilis, after all, not so great--not so great, indeed, as what we havefaced many times before. Let us carry out the plan, and whethergood or evil follow, we shall have done our best--and no man can domore!"

  The two men gripped hands upon it, and the compact was sealed. Tomrather exulted in the post of peril that was accorded to himself.Perhaps in days to come the Duke would hear of it, and might rewardhim by some words of praise or thanks.

  That same afternoon Tom felt his veins tingling again as theyneared the lone little hut amid the whiteness of the low-lyingwinter snow. He was about to launch forth upon the first solitaryadventure of his life, and one which might be fraught with direperils; but his heart quailed not.

  Almost at once he was lost in admiration and amaze at the powerdisplayed by Lord Claud in acting a part. He began to draw hisbreath with apparent difficulty; his face looked drawn and ghastly;he clung to Tom's arm as if for support; and it was difficultindeed to believe that he was not feeling really terribly ill.

  They reached the hut and knocked. The door was instantly opened,and Tom was certain he saw a gleam of malicious satisfaction uponthe faces of the men, who welcomed them in with a show of rudecordiality.

  There were but two rooms that could be called sleeping apartments,they said, and one was already occupied; but they would give up theother to the use of the sick traveller. Lord Claud was speedilyassisted thither, and the fire in the stove replenished. He laydown upon the bed with a groan, and looked as if nigh to death. Thepeasant chattered with the old couple, and it was plain that thissort of seizure was not very uncommon in those altitudes.

  The men tried to make Tom understand that his companion should goback to the valley; but that could not be done till the morrow, andpresently the pair were left alone in their room.

  This room was only separated from the next by some rude split pinetrunks. Tom had seen upon entering that a light had been quicklyextinguished, otherwise he would have seen clearly through thechinks who the occupant was. He knew perfectly that every word theyspoke could be overheard, and every action they performed dulywatched; and he entered into the game of play acting with a zealthat gave him greater aptitude than he had thought to possess.

  He strove to get his master to take the broth that one of the menbrought up; he entreated him not to give way; and finally he agreedthat it would be impossible for the sick man to attempt furthertravel, and offered himself to bear the packet of letters intoItaly.

  Then came the projected piece of play acting--the ripping up of thedoublet, the sewing of the sealed packet into Tom's clothes,promises, directions, warnings, all given with apparent feebleenergy, and received with faithful eagerness.

  And all the while Tom was aware that close to them, just behind thethin partition, other eyes were watching, other ears listening toall that passed. He could even hear the short breathings ofrepressed excitement, and almost feel the keen gaze which he knewwas constantly bent upon him.

  When all was done to the satisfaction of the sick man, Tomextinguished the light, and lay down beside him on the rude bed.After his long sleep of the previous day, he cared little whetherhe slumbered or not--indeed, it seemed better that he should keepawake. His head was full of the adventure which lay before him, andhe was almost certain that he heard whispering voices either in thenext room or below; by which he guessed that their enemies, havingdiscovered all they wanted to know, were now laying their plans howbest they might carry out their own
designs.