CHAPTER XV.
UNDER FIRE
"Where am I?" exclaimed Ned, as his eyes came lazily open the nextmorning, and in a moment more they were open very widely.
He knew the room he was in, and his thoughts came swiftly back to him.There hung his sheathed machete at the head of the hammock, and hispistols lay at his side. There was as yet only just enough light to seethem by, but he sprang out and began to get ready for his first day in abesieged city. His satchel and pony, he remarked, would be safe enoughat headquarters, and he could go after them whenever he might need them.
"I'll go to Anita's for breakfast," he added. "I can pay her for it,too. Then I want to see the American fleet, if I can. Oh, but am I notglad that General Zuroaga gave me that old telescope? I've seen lots ofmountains with it, and now I'll make it show me the ships and the army.Oh, my soul and body! I'm part of the garrison of Vera Cruz."
That was stretching the facts of the case a little, but he certainly wasserving under the wrong flag that morning. He felt queer and lonely inthat empty, robber-haunted house, and he was glad to get out of itwithout being seen. Anita welcomed him enthusiastically, for he hadbrought to her and her neighbors the good news of the coming of SantaAnna's victorious army, and he was a young Mexican patriot for whom shewas glad to cook a good breakfast for a fair price. After that waseaten, however, Ned's perplexities began, for the first Mexican officerwhom he met, on leaving Anita's house, curtly demanded a look at hispapers. He was altogether too well dressed a fellow to be allowed topass by unnoticed. With almost a fainting heart, Ned produced the passgiven him by the major at headquarters, but the next moment the bravesoldier's arms were around him, and he was hugged as a true comrade whohad ridden hard and far to bring good tidings.
"I will show you the gates myself!" exclaimed the lieutenant, for suchhe was. "I shall be in command of a patrol that is going out towardSacrificios for a look at the gringos. Come on with me."
This was precisely what Ned was wishing for, and, as they hurried along,he was pumped for all the news he had and a good deal more. In fact, hefound it a task of some difficulty to obey the stern commands of GeneralMorales and still keep within the truth.
A gate was reached and passed, the officer at the gate receiving a kindof pay in news, and then Ned drew a long breath, for he suddenlyremembered that he had left the city, contrary to orders.
"Never mind," he said to himself, "I'm inside the Mexican army lines."
In a moment more, he had forgotten everything but his spy-glass, apretty good one, for he and the squad of patrollers were at the summitof a low sand-hill, and there before them, only two miles away, theboats of the ships of war and the transport ships were coming and goingthrough the surf with loads of American soldiers. With them, and on allthe vessels in the offing, Ned saw something which had never beforeseemed to shine so splendidly, and it brought the hot blood fiercelyfrom his heart to his cheeks, because he could not just then break outinto a hurrah for the Stars and Stripes. The hurrah did get up into histhroat, but there it had to stop, and it almost choked him. His prudencegot the better of it, somehow, and his next thought was:
"Oh, but won't they have a tough time getting their cannon ashore!"
He was not so far wrong, for that was a problem which was troublingGeneral Scott and his engineers, but there was one thing more which Neddid not so much as dream of. In one of those boats a tall man, who wasnot in uniform, was leaning forward and gazing earnestly at the shore.
"Mexico!" he muttered. "Ned is in there somewhere. I must have a huntfor him as soon as I can. I wonder if I did right to ever let him go.Even after we take Vera Cruz, there will be a long campaign and anyamount of hard fighting. O Ned, my son, where are you?"
Ned was there, indeed, very near and yet very far, and he was wondering,as were many American officers and soldiers, why the Mexicans did notcannonade the invading army while it was coming ashore. They might havedone so effectively, and in a day or two they did put a few guns inposition to send an occasional shot, but all the harm they did was tokill one man.
The patrol party had now performed its duty, and it marched back again,but in that morning adventure Ned had discovered that he was really freeto come and go. Perhaps the Mexican commander had forgotten him in thepressure of his other affairs. Even when Ned went to the headquartersfor his pony and baggage, he was treated by everybody as a young fellowof no importance whatever, and at dinnertime he was able to tell Anitaall about the terrible ships and the swarms of invading gringos on theshore.
That night the lonely room in the Tassara house was almost too lonely.Ned lay awake in his hammock through long hours, and was glad that hehad two armies to think of, so that he might keep from listening forpossible footsteps outside of his little chamber, or for an attempt bysome marauder to force open his door. He had barred that, and he hadfastened his window firmly, but he could not feel entirely secure, andhe got up twice to go to the door and listen.
Day after day went by from that time in very much the same manner, andNed believed that he was learning a great deal about war, whether or notit would ever do him any good in business affairs after the war hadcome to an end. The entire American army, guns and all, reached theshore in safety, and all the while Santa Anna and his army were reportedas coming, coming, but they did not come, and the hearts of the besiegedgarrison and the terror-stricken people began to die within them.
"They will be too late now," thought Ned, but he did not dare to say asmuch to any of his Mexican friends.
From time to time he had been out to ply his telescope upon the fleetand upon the army. He knew that all the American camps had beenestablished beyond the reach of any guns in the city fortifications, andhe had watched with intense interest the slow, sure processes of aregular siege, conducted by a rarely capable general. He had seen theerection of battery after battery, of which General Scott's artillerymenwere as yet making hardly any apparent use. He did not quite understandthat, in merely being there, more and more of them, those batteries werealready capturing the city. They were sending so few shots at the walls,or even at the grim Castle of San Juan de Ulua, because the Americangeneral wished to take Vera Cruz without bloodshed, if he could, and hecame very near to the accomplishment of his humane purpose.Undoubtedly, he would have succeeded in starving out the city, if he,too, had not received daily notice of the nearer approach of Santa Annaand all the forces which he could gather. Nobody but that generalhimself and his confidential officers knew how really few they were, orhow unfit to assail the Americans in their fortified camps on the shoreof the sea. So, a final day came when the surrender of Vera Cruz wasformally demanded, under the awful penalty of a general bombardment bythe American fleet and army in case of a refusal. Resistance, it wasdeclared, was now hopeless, and there was no military necessity forkilling anybody. General Morales sent back a positive rejection, for hestill entertained a faint hope of the timely arrival of assistance, andhe did not inform General Scott how sadly he had failed in all hisattempts to obtain supplies for the inhabitants and his army. Famine wasalready beginning to threaten all of the poorer classes who hadneglected their opportunities to leave the city, or who had been unableto do so. As for Ned Crawford's provisions, he had continued to boardwith Anita, or with any mess of military men among whom he might happento be. He had made many acquaintances, and he had found the ragged,unpaid, illiterate Mexican soldiers a genuinely hospitable lot ofpatriotic fellows. He came to his supper somewhat late on the evening ofMarch 21st, and that night, after going to care for his pony, he cameback and slept on a blanket on the floor of Anita's kitchen. On themorning of the 22d, he had but just walked out into the street whensuddenly all the air around him seemed to be full of thunder. Roarfollowed roar, and peal followed peal, and then he heard affrightedshrieks in all directions. The bombardment had begun!
"O Madre de Dios!" moaned the voice of poor Anita behind him. "O SenorCarfora! We shall all be killed! What shall we do? Oh, the wickedgringos! What did they come
here for? I never did them any harm."
That was a terrible war question which was troubling Ned himself.Whatever might have been the evil doings of either of the twogovernments, or of all the scheming, ambitious politicians, the helplesspeople of Mexico were in no manner to blame. Why, then, he askedhimself, should any of them, like Anita, for instance, be killed bycannon-shot or torn in pieces by bursting shells? He could not settlethe matter in his mind just then, but he said to her, encouragingly:
"Don't be so badly scared. Up here in this northern part of the town, weare as far away from the shooting as we could be. I'll go over to thesouthern side of the city and see what is going on. As soon as I findout, I'll come back and tell you."
"Oh, do!" she said, "but do not get killed. Come back and get somedinner. I will cook you a real good one, if you will."
That was something of a promise, for he knew that she was one of theprudent folk who had looked out for their supplies in time, but hewalked away toward the southerly wall and the forts with a strongfeeling that he must be in the middle of a kind of dreadful dream. Hereached the line of antiquated and defective defences, which had beengood enough long ago, but which were not constructed to resist modernartillery. Old as it might be, the wall was in the way of his intendedsightseeing, but he saw a ladder leaning against the masonry, and up hewent without asking permission of anybody. He was now standing upon thebroad parapet, with his glass at his eye, and he was obtaining afirst-rate view of the bombardment. On the land, stretching away to thewest and south, were the long lines of the American batteries, within anot very long range of him, and from each of them at intervals the redsheets of fire burst forth, while over them the black clouds of powdersmoke arose to be carried away by the brisk March wind that was blowing.Far away to his right, or seaward, all at anchor in the positionsassigned them, lay the United States ships of war, of all kinds andsizes, and these, too, were getting at work, although they were as yetby no means putting forth their whole destructive power. It was as ifthey were but studying this siege business, getting the rangescorrectly, and were preparing to do worse things than this in the dayswhich were to come. Ned was gazing intently at a great 44-gun ship,which appeared to be sending her missiles at the castle, when a heavyshot from one of the batteries struck the wall within a few yards ofhim. It seemed to go deeply in, and the entire top of the parapet wastorn away for a width of several feet. Ned hurried at once to get a goodlook down into the chasm, for it was the first time that he had seenanything of the kind.
"I wonder if our shot are doing this kind of thing for their batteriesyonder," he said aloud, in the Spanish which was now habitual with him,but at that moment a not unfriendly hand was laid upon his shoulder, anda quiet, firm voice said to him:
"What are you doing here, Senor Carfora? You seem to have no fear."
"General Morales!" exclaimed Ned, in astonishment. "No, your Excellency.I was not thinking of that, but of this big hole. I was wondering if thewalls of the castle are not stronger than these. If they are not--"
"They are much stronger, my brave fellow," interrupted the general. "Iam going over now to see how they are standing it. The Americans arevery accurate gunners. Now, sir, you must not expose yourself in thismanner. You are not a soldier. Go back into the city!"
"General," said Ned, pointing in the direction of the cathedral, "do,please, look! Some of their shot go over the wall and strike awayinside. I am safer here than I would be in yonder. What I am afraid ofis that a great many of the women and children may be killed. I think,sir, that you ought not to be here, either. You are the general."
"My boy," said Morales, sadly, "I was thinking of the non-combatantsmyself. This firing of the Yankees at the city is hideous. But it iswar, and it cannot be helped. Ah, me! Feeling as I do this morning, Iwould ask nothing better than that one of these accursed shot or shellshould come for me. I would a hundred times rather die than be compelledto surrender Vera Cruz."
He again motioned Ned toward the ladder, and no disobedience waspossible. He himself followed, for his solitary reconnoissance wasended, and he had been practically assured that his walls were of smallvalue against heavy siege-guns. When he reached the ground, severalsubordinate officers came to join him, and Ned heard him say to them:
"That reckless young scamp, Carfora, has the nerves of an old soldier.He will make a good one by and by. We need more like him, for some ofour artillerymen left their guns under the American fire."
There was never any lack of courage among men of his kind, a Spaniarddescended from the old conquistadors, while some of the officers aroundhim were Indians fit to have led their tribes for Montezuma against themen of Hernando Cortes.
As Ned walked homeward, he halted several times to tell some of hisarmy acquaintances what he had seen from the wall, and how he had talkedabout it with General Morales. No doubt they esteemed him more highlythan ever for his patriotism and high social standing, but he spoke alsoof the danger to the people, and they were sure that his heart was withthem. Truth to tell, so it was, for the bombardment shortly became tohim more horrible than ever. Something he could not see passed over hishead, with a hiss that was almost like a human screech. Then followed aloud explosion, and there before him, on the bloody pavement, he saw themangled corpses of a Mexican mother and two small children, who had beenkilled while they were hurrying away to a place of safety.
"Oh, the poor things!" sobbed Ned, as he burst out into tears. "What hadthey to do with the war!"
He could not bear to take a second look at them, and he hurried on, butwhen he reached the house he did not say anything about them to Anita.He told her about the batteries and the ships, and about the bravegeneral on the parapet, and then she and her friends who were with herwent away back into the kitchen, to be as safe as possible from flyingshot and shell. It was not, they appeared to think, at all likely thatany wicked gringo gunner would take aim at that kitchen.
As for Ned, he had only come in to go out again, for keeping indoors,with all that cannonading going on, was altogether out of the question.