Chapter xi.
The adventure of a company of soldiers.
The landlord having taken his seat directly opposite to the door ofthe parlour, determined to keep guard there the whole night. The guideand another fellow remained long on duty with him, though they neitherknew his suspicions, nor had any of their own. The true cause of theirwatching did, indeed, at length, put an end to it; for this was noother than the strength and goodness of the beer, of which havingtippled a very large quantity, they grew at first very noisy andvociferous, and afterwards fell both asleep.
But it was not in the power of liquor to compose the fears of Robin.He continued still waking in his chair, with his eyes fixed stedfastlyon the door which led into the apartment of Mr Jones, till a violentthundering at his outward gate called him from his seat, and obligedhim to open it; which he had no sooner done, than his kitchen wasimmediately full of gentlemen in red coats, who all rushed upon him inas tumultuous a manner as if they intended to take his little castleby storm.
The landlord was now forced from his post to furnish his numerousguests with beer, which they called for with great eagerness; and uponhis second or third return from the cellar, he saw Mr Jones standingbefore the fire in the midst of the soldiers; for it may easily bebelieved, that the arrival of so much good company should put an endto any sleep, unless that from which we are to be awakened only by thelast trumpet.
The company having now pretty well satisfied their thirst, nothingremained but to pay the reckoning, a circumstance often productive ofmuch mischief and discontent among the inferior rank of gentry, whoare apt to find great difficulty in assessing the sum, with exactregard to distributive justice, which directs that every man shall payaccording to the quantity which he drinks. This difficulty occurredupon the present occasion; and it was the greater, as some gentlemenhad, in their extreme hurry, marched off, after their first draught,and had entirely forgot to contribute anything towards the saidreckoning.
A violent dispute now arose, in which every word may be said to havebeen deposed upon oath; for the oaths were at least equal to all theother words spoken. In this controversy the whole company spoketogether, and every man seemed wholly bent to extenuate the sum whichfell to his share; so that the most probable conclusion which could beforeseen was, that a large portion of the reckoning would fall to thelandlord's share to pay, or (what is much the same thing) would remainunpaid.
All this while Mr Jones was engaged in conversation with the serjeant;for that officer was entirely unconcerned in the present dispute,being privileged by immemorial custom from all contribution.
The dispute now grew so very warm that it seemed to draw towards amilitary decision, when Jones, stepping forward, silenced all theirclamours at once, by declaring that he would pay the whole reckoning,which indeed amounted to no more than three shillings and fourpence.
This declaration procured Jones the thanks and applause of the wholecompany. The terms honourable, noble, and worthy gentleman, resoundedthrough the room; nay, my landlord himself began to have a betteropinion of him, and almost to disbelieve the account which the guidehad given.
The serjeant had informed Mr Jones that they were marching against therebels, and expected to be commanded by the glorious Duke ofCumberland. By which the reader may perceive (a circumstance which wehave not thought necessary to communicate before) that this was thevery time when the late rebellion was at the highest; and indeed thebanditti were now marched into England, intending, as it was thought,to fight the king's forces, and to attempt pushing forward to themetropolis.
Jones had some heroic ingredients in his composition, and was a heartywell-wisher to the glorious cause of liberty, and of the Protestantreligion. It is no wonder, therefore, that in circumstances whichwould have warranted a much more romantic and wild undertaking, itshould occur to him to serve as a volunteer in this expedition.
Our commanding officer had said all in his power to encourage andpromote this good disposition, from the first moment he had beenacquainted with it. He now proclaimed the noble resolution aloud,which was received with great pleasure by the whole company, who allcried out, "God bless King George and your honour;" and then added,with many oaths, "We will stand by you both to the last drops of ourblood."
The gentleman who had been all night tippling at the alehouse, wasprevailed on by some arguments which a corporal had put into hishands, to undertake the same expedition. And now the portmanteaubelonging to Mr Jones being put up in the baggage-cart, the forceswere about to move forwards; when the guide, stepping up to Jones,said, "Sir, I hope you will consider that the horses have been keptout all night, and we have travelled a great ways out of our way."Jones was surprized at the impudence of this demand, and acquaintedthe soldiers with the merits of his cause, who were all unanimous incondemning the guide for his endeavours to put upon a gentleman. Somesaid, he ought to be tied neck and heels; others that he deserved torun the gantlope; and the serjeant shook his cane at him, and wishedhe had him under his command, swearing heartily he would make anexample of him.
Jones contented himself however with a negative punishment, and walkedoff with his new comrades, leaving the guide to the poor revenge ofcursing and reviling him; in which latter the landlord joined, saying,"Ay, ay, he is a pure one, I warrant you. A pretty gentleman, indeed,to go for a soldier! He shall wear a laced wastecoat truly. It is anold proverb and a true one, all is not gold that glisters. I am gladmy house is well rid of him."
All that day the serjeant and the young soldier marched together; andthe former, who was an arch fellow, told the latter many entertainingstories of his campaigns, though in reality he had never made any; forhe was but lately come into the service, and had, by his owndexterity, so well ingratiated himself with his officers, that he hadpromoted himself to a halberd; chiefly indeed by his merit inrecruiting, in which he was most excellently well skilled.
Much mirth and festivity passed among the soldiers during their march.In which the many occurrences that had passed at their last quarterswere remembered, and every one, with great freedom, made what jokes hepleased on his officers, some of which were of the coarser kind, andvery near bordering on scandal. This brought to our heroe's mind thecustom which he had read of among the Greeks and Romans, of indulging,on certain festivals and solemn occasions, the liberty to slaves, ofusing an uncontrouled freedom of speech towards their masters.
Our little army, which consisted of two companies of foot, were nowarrived at the place where they were to halt that evening. Theserjeant then acquainted his lieutenant, who was the commandingofficer, that they had picked up two fellows in that day's march, oneof which, he said, was as fine a man as ever he saw (meaning thetippler), for that he was near six feet, well proportioned, andstrongly limbed; and the other (meaning Jones) would do well enoughfor the rear rank.
The new soldiers were now produced before the officer, who havingexamined the six-feet man, he being first produced, came next tosurvey Jones: at the first sight of whom, the lieutenant could nothelp showing some surprize; for besides that he was very well dressed,and was naturally genteel, he had a remarkable air of dignity in hislook, which is rarely seen among the vulgar, and is indeed notinseparably annexed to the features of their superiors.
"Sir," said the lieutenant, "my serjeant informed me that you aredesirous of enlisting in the company I have at present under mycommand; if so, sir, we shall very gladly receive a gentleman whopromises to do much honour to the company by bearing arms in it."
Jones answered: "That he had not mentioned anything of enlistinghimself; that he was most zealously attached to the glorious cause forwhich they were going to fight, and was very desirous of serving as avolunteer;" concluding with some compliments to the lieutenant, andexpressing the great satisfaction he should have in being under hiscommand.
The lieutenant returned his civility, commended his resolution, shookhim by the hand, and invited him to dine with himself and the rest ofthe officers.