Athelstane Ford Part 19

They responded with an answering shout, we charged on the Indians at the double and drove them off. The artillerymen came up, turned the guns on the village, and began to sh.e.l.l out the enemy. A minute afterwards a loud cheer announced a general advance of our whole force, and Monichund, turning his elephant, fled, followed by all his men.

While this was taking place the thunder of guns from the direction of the river told us that the fleet had come up, and was already at work silencing the artillery of the fort. Colonel Clive called back his men from the pursuit, and then, finding them utterly exhausted, he deferred the a.s.sault on the fort till the next day, and we again betook ourselves to repose.

The result of this affair was greatly to encourage us, while we afterwards learned that it had as much disheartened the Moors. That presumption which they had felt ever since the fall of Calcutta was now exchanged for a different feeling, so much so that it may not be too much to say that the fate of Bengal was decided by that morning's work. The admiration which I felt for Mr. Clive's conduct on this occasion emboldened me to offer him my congratulations on his victory, but he rebuked me for doing do.

"I will tell you what it is, young gentleman," he said to me, "I deserved to have been defeated for my carelessness in letting the beggars surprise me. It is true we beat them off, but that is no defence. A general should not allow himself to be caught napping in that fas.h.i.+on, and you may depend on it I shall say as little as possible about this day's work in my despatches to the Directors."

In this confidential way he was pleased to talk with me, a freedom which it was his habit to indulge in with all those of his subordinates whom he really liked. For this hero, as I must have leave to call him, was not one of those little great men who find it necessary to keep up their authority by a show of reserve and pompousness, but feeling that confidence in himself which would enable him to rely upon his actions as the proofs of his greatness, he despised the arts of inferior minds.

And now there happened an event, not only singular in itself, but interesting to me as bringing me back the company of an old friend whom I had never looked to see again. In the evening of this same day, while the soldiers were at supper, a party of sailors were landed from the s.h.i.+ps, being the force I have already mentioned, to be ready to take part in the a.s.sault the next day. Thinking it possible that some of my old comrades from the _Talisman_ might be among them, about eight o'clock I strolled down to their quarters, where I found them all drinking together, without much appearance of discipline.

I walked past several groups without recognising any face that I knew, and was about to give up the quest, when I noticed a group of half a dozen who were straying in the direction of the silent fort. This seemed to me a very dangerous proceeding, and as I could see none of their officers near, I determined to follow and remonstrate with them.

Accordingly I hastened after them as fast as I could go. By the way in which they walked, or rather staggered along, I saw they had been drinking pretty freely. Presently they set off at a run, paying no heed to my shouts, and I was obliged to follow till they stopped on the very edge of the ditch which went round the fort. Here I caught up with them, greatly surprised that the garrison had shown no signs of life. But before I could speak, or even distinctly see their faces, the tallest of the party, a man of great frame, began rolling down into the ditch, which was nearly dry.

I dared not call out for fear of drawing the attention of those in the fort, and watched him breathlessly as he plunged through the mud at the bottom of the ditch and scrambled up the opposite side.

"What is he doing?" I demanded in a whisper of the man who appeared to be the most sober of the group.

"It's a bet," he answered; "we bet him a quart of rum he wouldn't get to the top of the wall."

I stared at the fellow, hardly able to believe in such recklessness.

Then I turned my eyes to the huge seaman on the opposite side of the ditch. He had just made good his footing on the top of the bank, and now he began climbing up the masonry like a cat, till at last his herculean figure stood out clear on the summit.

The next moment we saw him draw his cutla.s.s and brandish it over his head, and a loud shout came across to us in a voice I knew full well.

"Come on, you beggars, I've taken the ---- fort!"

It was old Muzzy, the boatswain of the _Fair Maid_.

Not for long did we hesitate, but rus.h.i.+ng down into the ditch after him we were speedily in the fort. There our shouts roused first a company of Sepoys, and finally the whole force, who came trooping in, to find the place deserted, and the garrison fled secretly under cover of the darkness to Calcutta.

While this was going on I had approached my old friend, for so I cannot but call him. Indeed, in spite of his evil character and manifold breaches of the laws of G.o.d and man, the old fellow had shown me much kindness, for which I was not ungrateful, and this perhaps inclined me to look with an unduly lenient eye on his misdeeds. Going up to him, I clapped him on the back, and cried out--

"How goes it, old Muzzy? and what of the _Fair Maid_ and the rest of her crew?"

The boatswain gave a great start, and turned round to me with a look of astonishment which quickly pa.s.sed into one of delight.

"Why, drown me, if it ain't that young c.o.c.kerel again!" he exclaimed.

And before I knew what he would be at, he cast his arms around me, and gave me a most evil-smelling kiss, fragrant of rum and tobacco. Then, still holding me firmly with his great hairy hands, as though he feared I should vanish into air, he put me back far enough for him to gaze at my face.

"Stab my vitals if I didn't think as you was suffocated in that there Black Hole!" He garnished his speech with many other expressions which I am ashamed to remember, far less to write here. "So we all heard aboard the s.h.i.+p. But you're alive, ain't ye now?" he added. "It's not the rum as makes me think I sees you?"

"I am Athelstane Ford," I answered, trying to shake myself free from his grasp, "and not a little glad to meet you again. But how did you come to be on a King's s.h.i.+p? Is the _Fair Maid_----"

"Hist!" He interrupted me with a warning frown, and cast an apprehensive glance behind him. "Not a word about her! It might be a hanging matter if it was known I had been in the boat that escaped from Gheriah. I'll tell you all about it by our two selves."

I took advantage of this offer to lead the way out of the fort. We walked back to the British lines together, old Muzzy still clutching me with one hand, and as soon as we had reached a quiet spot out of earshot we sat down and he commenced his tale.

"You see, it's this way. Arter what happened when we was coming out of the river, where we lost you overboard, I come to the conclusion that that cousin o' yours warn't what I calls a honest man. n.o.body can't say as how I'm one of your squeamish sort, 'cause I ain't. As fur as a bit o' smuggling goes, or a bit of privateering, or even a bit o'

piracy, in a general way, I don't say nothin', but when it comes to taking and firing a culverin at your own s.h.i.+p, with your own mates aboard of her, why, d'ye see, I don't call that honest. And when I find out as a man ain't what I calls honest, I don't sail in his company. Mind you, I'm not the man to deny that Captain Gurney has his good points; he ain't no lawyer, that I'll admit, and he's as free with his rum-cask as any man I ever wish to sail under. But arter that business what I've mentioned, me and my mates swore we wouldn't have nothing more to do with him.

"Well, when we got outside the river, we pointed her head for the nor'ard, and by keeping pretty close along the sh.o.r.e, though we hadn't a soul on board that could navigate, we managed to bring the old _Fair Maid_ safe into port--that's Bombay. You may strike me blind as I set here, when I tells you that no sooner did we bring up in the harbour than who should we see carmly settin' on the quay a-waiting for us but that eternal cousin of yourn! How on earth he got there's a mystery, but there he was; and as soon as he sights the _Fair Maid_ he comes off in a boat as cool as you please and takes the command again."

"Why did you let him?" I asked, with a touch of my old resentment against Rupert. "Why didn't you refuse to take him on board?"

Old Muzzy gave me a reproachful look and shook his head gravely.

"No, no, boy, we couldn't go for to do that. That would ha' been flat mutiny; and remember his name was on the s.h.i.+p's books as first officer, and he might have pistolled us every one and had the law on his side. We didn't dare leave him neither, 'cause that would ha' been desertion, d'ye see, and he might have got out a warrant and had us brought on board again in irons."

"What did you do, then?" I demanded as he paused, and a smile of deep cunning slowly overspread his face.

"I'll tell you what we did, Athelstane, my hearty. We got ourselves pressed!"

"Pressed?"

"Took by the crimps, you understand, and pressed to serve King George.

Oh, but it was a rare spree to see them crimps a-laying in wait for us, and enticing us into their dens, and filling us up with rum till we nearly bust where we sat, so that they could go and bring the pressgang down upon us. And us all the time asking nothing better, and ready to serve of our own accord, only it might ha' looked suspicious, d'ye see, it being agin natur for a honest seaman to want to go on board a man-o'-war."

The boatswain began to quiver and roll to and fro with spasms of inward laughter at the recollection of his strategy.

"And you should ha' seen your cousin's face when he stood all alone on the deck of the _Fair Maid_, and saw a boatload of us being rowed past him to the _Tyger_, every man jack of us in irons, and laughing in his face as we went by! And so that's how it is as I'm in King George's uniform, and right glad I am to find you in company again. For if ever I took a fancy to a young feller, I took one to you from the moment I first clapped eyes on you, and says I to myself, 'I'll make that lad a tight sailor yet,' I says, and I'd ha' done it, my boy, but for that scrub of a cousin of yours. And I've taken a blessed fort to-night for King George; and I'll tell 'em you was with me, and in command of the party, and they'll put your name in the despatches, and make you an admiral yet, or my name ain't Muzzy!"

CHAPTER XVI

_A BATTLE IN THE DARK_

With some difficulty I persuaded my zealous friend to change his intention of ascribing to me the capture of Budge-Budge. It was well I did so, for Mr. Clive, when he heard the particulars of the affair, chose to resent the breach of discipline on the part of the sailors more than he approved of their reckless enterprise. So that old Muzzy, to his surprise, instead of being rewarded for his achievement, found himself lucky to get off with nothing worse than a reprimand for his drunkenness and disobedience to orders.

The next day we marched upon Calcutta.

The s.h.i.+ps went before us to clear the way, but they met with no resistance, all the Indian forces retiring before our advance. In the affair before Budge-Budge it seems that one of the shots from the guns had pa.s.sed close to the turban of Monichund, and this had so terrified him that he never halted in his retreat till he came to Moorshedabad, all the way communicating his own fears to the garrisons he pa.s.sed.

When we entered the town of Calcutta, therefore, we saw the English colours already flying again from the fort, Admiral Watson having sent a party ash.o.r.e to take possession.

I am sorry to say that some bad blood arose between the gallant Admiral and Mr. Clive over this incident. In fact there had been already several jealousies between the two services, the Admiral and his officers affecting to regard the Company's forces as on an inferior footing to themselves. This feeling was heightened by the fact that Mr. Watson's rank in the navy was higher than that of Colonel Clive in the army, which gave him the precedence, though everybody knew that the real leader and director of the campaign was the Colonel.

I was with Mr. Clive when he came up to the entrance to the fort, and can still see the stern look on his face when the sentinel stationed there by Captain Coote refused him admission.

"Do you know who I am, fellow?" he cried. "I bid you let me pa.s.s this instant, or I will have you court-martialled as sure as my name is Robert Clive!"

The sentinel drew back, and we pa.s.sed in, but were immediately met in the courtyard by Mr. Coote himself.