Saint Bartholomew's Eve Part 35

"Yes, sir."

"How was it, then, they did not succeed in capturing the place? Ah, I see, you formed a barricade here."

Two or three of the carca.s.ses had been dragged aside, to permit the men carrying the wounded to enter.

"Why, what is it, Francois--skins of freshly slain oxen?"

"Yes, sir, and the barricade is formed of their bodies. We had neither time nor materials at hand, and my cousin suggested bringing the oxen up, and slaughtering them here. In that way we soon made a barricade. But we should have had hard work in holding it, against such numbers, had he not also suggested our skinning them, and letting the hides hang as you see, with the raw sides outwards. Then we smeared them thickly with blood and, though the Catholics strove their hardest, not one of them managed to get a footing on the top."

"A rare thought, indeed," the Admiral said warmly.

"De la Noue, these cousins of yours are truly apt scholars in war.

The oldest soldier could not have thought of a better device.

"And you say you killed seven hundred of them, Laville?"

"That is the number, sir, counting in a hundred and thirty wounded, who are now lying in a granary here."

"They must have fought stoutly. But what was your strength?"

"We had fifty men-at-arms, sir, five or six Huguenot gentlemen with their retainers, and a hundred and fifty men from our own estate; all of whom fought as doughtily as old soldiers could have done.

"The enemy thought to take us by surprise, yesterday evening; but we were ready for them, and our discharge killed over fifty. Then they drew off, and left us until this morning. They made two great attacks: the first by throwing planks across the moat, and placing ladders at three places; the second by trying, again, to storm with ladders, while other bands tried to force their way in at this gateway, and at the two posterns.

"Of course they have burned all the farina to the ground, but the cattle were all safely driven in here, before they arrived.

"Now if you will enter, sir, we will endeavour to provide for your wants. No one is yet in bed. We have been too busy carrying out the dead, and collecting the wounded, to think of sleep."

The countess was at the steps of the chateau, to receive the Admiral as he dismounted.

"Accept my heartiest thanks for the speed with which you have come to our aid, Admiral. We did not expect you before tomorrow morning, at the earliest."

"It has been a long ride, truly," the Admiral said. "Your messenger arrived at daybreak, having walked the last five miles, for his horse had foundered. I flew to horse, the moment I received the news; and with four hundred hors.e.m.e.n, for the most part Huguenot gentlemen, we started at once. We halted for three hours in the middle of the day to rest our horses, and again for an hour just after nightfall. We feared that we should find your chateau in flames for, although your messenger said that your son thought you could hold out against all attacks for two days, it seemed to us that so strong a force as was beleaguering you would carry the place by storm, in a few hours. I have to congratulate you on the gallant defence that you have made."

"I have had nothing to do with it," the countess replied; "but indeed, all have fought well.

"Now, if you will follow me in, I will do my best to entertain you and the brave gentlemen who have ridden so far to my rescue; but I fear the accommodation will be of the roughest."

The horses were ranged in rows, in the courtyard, haltered to ropes stretched across it; and an ample supply of food was given to each.

Some of the oxen that had done such good service were cut up, and were soon roasting over great fires; while the women spread straw thickly, in the largest apartments, for the newcomers to sleep on.

"Where are the Catholics?" the Admiral asked.

"They have halted at a village, some seven miles away," Francois said. "We sent two mounted men after them, to make sure that they had gone well away, and did not intend to try to take us by surprise in the night. They returned some hours since with the news."

"What do you say, De la Noue," the Admiral exclaimed; "shall we beat them up tonight? They will not be expecting us and, after their march here and their day's fighting, they will sleep soundly."

"I should like nothing better, Admiral; but in truth, I doubt whether our horses could carry us. They have already made a twenty-league journey."

"We have at least two hundred horses here, Admiral," Francois said.

"We have those of my own troop, and fully a hundred and fifty that were driven in by the tenants. My own troop will, of course, be ready to go; and you could s.h.i.+ft your saddles on to the other horses. There is not one of our men who would not gladly march with you, for although we have beaten the Catholics well, the tenants do not forget that they are homeless; and will, I am sure, gladly follow up the blow."

"Then so it shall be," the Admiral said. "A hundred and fifty of the gentlemen who came with me shall ride with your troop. The rest of us will march with your tenants.

"I think we are capable of doing that, even after our ride, gentlemen?"

There was a chorus of a.s.sent from those standing round, and De la Noue added:

"After supper, Admiral?"

"Certainly after supper," Coligny a.s.sented, with a smile. "Another hour will make no difference. You may be sure they will not be moving before daylight. If we start from here at three, we shall be in ample time."

Philip at once went out, and ordered the attendants and men-at-arms to lie down for two hours, as the Admiral was going to lead them to attack the Catholics at their halting place--news which was received with grim satisfaction. In the meantime, Francois gave a detailed account of the events of the siege; and the Admiral insisted upon going, at once, to inspect by torchlight the novel manner in which the two posterns had been blocked up.

"Nothing could have been better, De Laville," he said. "Your English cousin is, indeed, full of resources. Better material than this, for blocking up a narrow gateway, could hardly be contrived.

Fire, as it was proved, was of no avail against it, for it would be impossible to dislodge the carca.s.ses by main force; and even if they had cannon, the b.a.l.l.s would not have penetrated this thickness of flesh, which must have been torn to pieces before it yielded.

The idea of covering the carca.s.ses at the gates with their own raw hides was an equally happy one.

"Upon my word, De la Noue, I do not think that, if you or I had been in command here, we could have done better than these two young fellows."

At three o'clock all was ready for a start. De la Noue took the command of the two hundred hors.e.m.e.n. The Admiral declined to ride, and placed himself at the head of the column of infantry, which was three hundred strong; thirty of the original defenders having been either killed or disabled, and twenty being left as a guard at the chateau.

The surprise of the Catholics was complete. Three hundred were killed. Two hundred, including their commander, De Brissac, and thirty other gentlemen, were made prisoners. The remaining six hundred escaped in the darkness; their arms, armour, and the whole of the horses falling into the hands of the victors, who halted at the village until morning.

"Well, De Brissac," the Count de la Noue said, as they started on their return, "the times have changed since you and I fought under your father in Italy; and we little thought, then, that some day we should be fighting on opposite sides."

"Still less that I should be your prisoner, De la Noue," the other laughed. "Well, we have made a nice business of this. We thought to surprise De Laville's chateau, without having to strike a blow; and that we were going to return to Poitiers with at least a thousand head of cattle. We were horribly beaten at the chateau, have now been surprised ourselves, and you are carrying off our horses, to say nothing of ourselves. We marched out with eighteen hundred men, horse and foot; and I don't think more than five or six hundred, at the outside, have got away--and that in the scantiest apparel.

"Anjou will be furious, when he hears the news. When I am exchanged, I expect I shall be ordered to my estates. Had De Laville some older heads to a.s.sist him?"

"No, he and that young cousin of his, riding next to him, acted entirely by themselves; and the cousin, who is an English lad, is the one who invented that barricade of bullocks that stopped you."

"That was a rare device," De Brissac said. "I fought my way to it, once, but there was no possibility of climbing it. It is rather mortifying to my pride, to have been so completely beaten by the device of a lad like that. He ought to make a great soldier, some day, De la Noue."

Chapter 15: The Battle Of Jarnac.

While the two armies were lying inactive through the winter, the agents of both were endeavouring to interest other European powers in the struggle. The pope and Philip of Spain a.s.sisted the Guises; while the Duc de Deux-Ponts was preparing to lead an army to the a.s.sistance of the Huguenots, from the Protestant states of Germany.

The Cardinal Chatillon was in England, eloquently supporting the letters of the Queen of Navarre to Elizabeth, asking for aid and munitions of war, men, and money--the latter being required, especially, to fulfil the engagements made with the German mercenaries.

Elizabeth listened favourably to these requests while, with her usual duplicity, she gave the most solemn a.s.surances to the court of France that, so far from a.s.sisting the Huguenots, she held in horror those who raised the standard of rebellion against their sovereigns. She lent, however, 7000 pounds to the King of Navarre, taking ample security in the way of jewels for the sum; and ordered Admiral Winter to embark six cannons, three hundred barrels of powder, and four thousand b.a.l.l.s, and carry them to La Roch.e.l.le. The admiral, well aware of the crooked policy of the queen, and her readiness to sacrifice any of her subjects in order to justify herself, absolutely refused to sail until he received an order signed by the queen herself.

His caution was justified for, upon the French amba.s.sador remonstrating with her upon supplying the king's enemies, she declared that the a.s.sistance was wholly involuntary; for that Admiral Winter had entered the port of La Roch.e.l.le simply to purchase wine, and other merchandise, for some s.h.i.+ps that he was convoying. The governor, however, had urged him so strongly to sell to him some guns and ammunition that he, seeing that his s.h.i.+ps were commanded by the guns of the forts, felt himself obliged to comply with the request. The court of France professed to be satisfied with this statement, although perfectly aware of its absolute untruth; but they did not wish, while engaged in the struggle with the Huguenots, to be involved in open war with England.

As soon as spring commenced, both armies again prepared to take the field. The position of the Huguenots was by no means so strong as it had been, when winter set in. Considerable numbers had died from disease; while large bodies had returned to their homes, the n.o.bles and citizens being alike unable to continue any longer in the field, owing to the exhaustion of their resources. Upon the other hand, although the army of Anjou had suffered equally from disease, it had not been diminished by desertion, as the troops were paid out of the royal treasury. Two thousand two hundred German hors.e.m.e.n, a portion of the large force sent by the Catholic princes of Germany, had joined him; and the Count de Tende had brought 3000 soldiers from the south of France. Other n.o.bles came in, as the winter broke, with bodies of their retainers.