Robert Tournay Part 26

Tournay broke the large red seal of the letter and read:--

CITIZEN COLONEL ROBERT TOURNAY; with the Army of the Moselle, Citizen General Lazare Hoche commanding:--

The Citizen Colonel Tournay is hereby summoned to appear before the Committee of Public Safety to answer charges affecting his patriotism and loyalty to the Republic. He will resign his command at once, and return to Paris in the company of the four commissioners who bring him this doc.u.ment.

Signed: For the Committee of Public Safety,

COUTHON, ST. JUST.

This 5th Pluviose, the year II. of the French Republic one and indivisible.

When he had finished reading the doc.u.ment Tournay folded it carefully and placed it in his pocket.

"Well?" demanded Gardin impatiently.

"I cannot at present leave the army," was the reply.

The four commissioners exchanged looks.

"We are on the eve of a decisive engagement with the enemy. When that is over--in a few days, if I am alive, I will answer the committee's summons."

"We were instructed to bring you back with us at once," said one of the commissioners.

"And we'll do it, too," muttered another under his breath.

The fourth pulled Gardin by the sleeve and whispered something in his ear.

"I regret, citizen commissioners," repeated Tournay, "that I cannot at present leave the army."

Then rising suddenly and confronting Gardin he said pa.s.sionately:--

"Tell your masters that it is not necessary to drag Robert Tournay to Paris like a felon, that he will appear before the committee of his own free will; that he regards the welfare of France as paramount to everything else, and that his duty to her will take him to the field to-morrow."

"Your answer is not satisfactory to us," persisted Gardin, "nor will it be to the committee. Once more, and for the last time, citizen colonel, will you obey this summons as it is written?"

"No!" thundered Tournay.

"Then in the name of the Republic I suspend you from your command, and arrest you as a traitor. Lay hands upon him!"

Gardin himself, remembering his previous encounter with Tournay in which he had come off so poorly, merely gave the command, leaving the others to execute it. Two of them stepped forward with alacrity, one upon each side of Tournay, and grasped him by the arms.

He offered no resistance, but raising his voice a little called out:--

"Officers of the guard!"

Half a dozen of his Hussars who were in the adjoining tent hastened in at his call.

"Arrest these four men!" commanded Tournay quietly.

"Stop!" cried Gardin; "arrest us at your peril. We are the authorized emissaries of the Committee of Public Safety," and he flourished his commission in the soldiers' faces. "We are but carrying out our strict orders. To lay hands upon us will be to bring down upon your heads the vengeance of Robespierre."

The Hussars stood still. The name of the man who governed France under the cloak of the Republic made them hesitate.

"Conduct the prisoner away with as much dispatch as possible," said Gardin in a quick, low tone to his companions.

"Lieutenant Dessarts, arrest these four men instantly," repeated Tournay. There was a ring in his voice which his subordinates well understood, and without further hesitation they laid hands upon the Paris commissioners and proceeded to drag them from the tent by force.

"He has been relieved of his command and therefore has no right to give you orders. Are you slaves that you obey him thus?" yelled Gardin, struggling with the big corporal who held him.

"See that no harm is done them, Lieutenant Dessarts," Tournay called out as the men were led away. "Conduct them outside our lines and give orders that they shall not be permitted to return."

Following them to the door of his tent, Tournay coolly watched the unhappy commissioners as they were led away, protesting vehemently against the indignity of their arrest and vowing vengeance for it.

It was a cold winter night, and the wind blew down through the mountain pa.s.ses of the Vosges with biting keenness. Throwing his cloak over his shoulder he strolled out through the camp. In spite of the chilling wind the soldiers showed the greatest enthusiasm. As he went down the long line of camp-fires, he was recognized and cheered roundly. Cries of "We'll beat them at Wissembourg to-morrow, colonel!" "Landau or death!"

greeted him on all sides.

The next day showed that they had not uttered vain boasts.

Tournay's command, sweeping through a narrow defile in the face of a destructive fire, tore through the enemy's centre, and combining with Dessaix on the left, and Pichegru on the right, sent Wurmser's troops backward before his Prussian allies could come to his a.s.sistance.

With the cry of "Landau or death!" the victorious French dashed on toward the beleaguered city and raised the siege just as the brave garrison was in the last extremity for want of food and ammunition.

The day after the relief of Landau, Colonel Tournay entered the tent of the commander-in-chief. Hoche rose to meet him, and taking him by the hand said warmly:--

"Colonel Tournay, in the name of France I thank you for the efficiency and bravery displayed yesterday. The victory of Wissembourg will live in the annals of history, and a full share of the glory belongs to you. In my dispatches to the convention I have not omitted to mention your n.o.ble conduct."

The generous Hoche pressed the hand of his colonel in fraternal feeling.

He was two years younger than Tournay, although care and fatigue gave him the looks of an older man. At twenty-four this remarkable man had risen to be preeminently the greatest general in France, and but for his premature death might in later years have contested with Napoleon for his laurels.

"I have come, general, to ask your permission to return to Paris," said Tournay, much gratified by the words of praise from the lips of one whom he regarded as the greatest military hero of the age.

"Again?" said Hoche, in a tone of surprise.

"The Committee of Public Safety have seen fit to summon me to appear before them," Tournay continued. "Some one has been found to impeach my loyalty, and I must answer the charge."

A shade pa.s.sed over the face of Hoche.

"But I can ill spare you, Colonel Tournay. What does this committee mean by suspecting the integrity of an officer in whom I have implicit faith?

By Heaven, I will not permit it! If they arrest you, I'll throw my commission back in their faces before I will allow you to answer their charges."

"That, my general, would but work injury to France, who depends upon such a man as you to save her. You surely will not desert her because a few overheated brains at Paris have seen fit to listen to some of my traducers. I will go back to Paris and confront my enemies. My conduct at Wissembourg will be an answer to their charge of treason." And the colonel drew himself up with a flash of pardonable pride in his dark eyes.

"You may be right," replied Hoche, "but I would not trust them. The reputation which your conduct at Wissembourg will create for you will make them jealous, and they will whisper it about that your popularity renders you dangerous. I know them. They become jealous of any man's reputation. They will have me before the bar of their tribunal as soon as they feel that they can spare me."

And Hoche laughed scornfully as he uttered the prophecy which was so soon to be fulfilled.

"I have no fear but that I shall be able to satisfy them as to loyalty,"

replied Tournay, smiling at the absurdity of the great and popular Hoche pleading before the tribunal.