Held Fast For England: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) by G. A. Henty (reading a book .TXT) 📗

"Well then, you will have to wait a bit longer," the doctor said. "I have sent orderlies from the hospital to all the regiments--including, of course, the Artillery and Engineers--asking them to send me lists of the numbers of the women and children of the noncommissioned officers and privates, and also of officers' wives and families; and to send with the lists, here, two orderlies from each regiment, with baskets. I have been down to the town major, and got a list of the number of women and children in the town. When we get the returns from the regiments, we will reckon up the totals; and see how many there will be, for each. I think that each of the boxes holds about five hundred."

The work of counting out the oranges and lemons for the various regiments, and the townspeople, occupied some time; and it was not until the orderlies had started, with their supplies, that Bob sat down to tell his story.

"Nothing could have been easier," he said, when he finished.

"It was easy enough, as you say, Bob," the doctor said; "but it required a lot of coolness, and presence of mind. Events certainly turned out fortunately for you, but you took advantage of them. That is always the point. Nobody could have done it better, and most people would have done worse. I have been wondering myself a great deal, since you have been gone, what plan you could possibly hit on to get the oranges into a boat; and how, when you had got them in, you would manage to get them here. It seems all easy enough, now you have done it; but that is all the more creditable to you, for hitting on a plan that worked so well."

Similar praise was given to Bob when he had again to tell his story, at the governor's.

"So you managed, you say, to slip out with the reliefs?" the governor said.

"Yes, sir. I had got a military cloak, and hat."

"Still, it is curious that they did not notice an addition to their party. I fancy you must have had a friend there?"

"That, general, is a point that I would rather not say anything about. That is the way that I did go out and, when I took to the water, I let the coat and hat float away for, had they been found, it might have been supposed that somebody had deserted."

"I wish you could have brought in a shipload, instead of a boatload, of fruit, Mr. Repton. They will be of immense benefit to the sick but, unfortunately, there is scarcely a person on the Rock that is not more or less affected and, if your thirty boxes were multiplied by a hundred, it would be none too much for our needs."

The oranges and lemons did, however, for a time have a marked effect in checking the progress of the scurvy--especially among the children, who came in for a larger share than that which fell to the sick soldiers--but in another month the condition of those in hospital, and indeed of many who still managed to do duty, was again pitiable.

On the 11th of October, however, some of the boats of the fleet went out, during a fog, and boarded a Danish craft from Malaga--laden with oranges and lemons--and brought her in. The cargo was at once bought by the governor, and distributed.

The beneficial effects were immediate. Cases which had, but a few days before, appeared hopeless were cured, as if by magic; and the health of the whole garrison was reestablished. Heavy rains setting in at the same time, the gardens--upon which, for months, great attention had been bestowed--came rapidly into bearing and, henceforth, throughout the siege the supply of vegetables, if not ample for the needs of the garrison and inhabitants, was sufficient to prevent scurvy from getting any strong hold again.

A few days after the ship with oranges was brought in, an orderly came in to Captain O'Halloran with a message that the governor wished to speak to Mr. Repton. Bob was out at the time, but went up to the castle as soon as he returned, and was at once shown in to the governor.

"Mr. Repton," the latter began, "after the spirit you showed, the other day, I shall be glad to utilize your services still farther, if you are willing."

"I shall be very glad to be useful in any work upon which you may think fit to employ me, sir."

"I wish to communicate with Mr. Logie, at Tangiers," the governor said. "It is a month, now, since we have had any news from him. At the time he last wrote, he said that the Emperor of Morocco was manifesting an unfriendly spirit towards us; and that he was certainly in close communication with the Spaniards, and had allowed their ships to take more than one English vessel lying under the guns of the town. His own position was, he said, little better than that of a prisoner--for he was closely watched.

"He still hoped, however, to bring the emperor round again to our side; as he had, for years, exercised a considerable influence over him. If he would grant him an interview, Mr. Logie thought that he might still be able to clear up any doubts of us that the Spaniards might have infused in his mind. Since that letter we have heard nothing from him, and we are ignorant how matters stand, over there.

"The matter is important; for although, while the enemy's cruisers are as vigilant as at present, there is little hope of our getting fresh meat over from there, I am unable to give any directions to such privateers, or others, as may find their way in here. It makes all the difference to them whether the Morocco ports are open to them, or not. Until lately, when chased they could run in there, wait for a brisk east wind, and then start after dark, and be fairly through the Straits before morning.

"I am very desirous, therefore, of communicating with Mr. Logie. I am also anxious, not only about his safety, but of that of several English families there; among whom are those of some of the officers of the garrison who--thinking that they would be perfectly safe in Tangiers, and avoid the hardships and dangers of the siege--despatched them across the Straits by the native craft that came in, when first the port was closed.

"Thinking it over, it appeared to me that you would be far more fitted than most for this mission, if you would accept it. You have already shown yourself able to pass as a Spaniard and, should you find that things have gone badly in Tangiers, and that the Moors have openly joined the Spaniards; you might be able to get a passage to Lisbon, in a neutral ship, and to return thence in the first privateer, or ship of war, bound for this port. I would of course provide you with a document, requesting the officer in command of any such ship to give you a passage. Should no such neutral ship come along, I should trust to you to find your way across to Tarifa or Algeciras; and thence to manage in some way, which I must leave to your own ingenuity, to make your way in.

"I do not disguise from you that the commission is a very dangerous, as well as an honourable one; as were you, an Englishman, detected on Spanish soil, you would almost certainly be executed as a spy."

"I am ready to undertake the commission, sir, and I am much obliged to you for affording me the opportunity of being of service. It is irksome for me to remain here, in idleness, when there are many young officers of my own age doing duty in the batteries. As to the risk, I am quite prepared to run it. It will be exactly such an adventure as I should choose."

"Very well, Mr. Repton. Then I will send you the despatches, this evening; together with a letter recommending you to all British officers and authorities. Both will be written on the smallest pieces of paper possible, so that you may conceal them more easily.

"Now, as to the means. There are many of the fishermen here would be glad to leave. The firing in the bay has frightened the greater part of the fish away and, besides, the boats dare not go any distance from the Rock. I have caused inquiries to be made, and have given permits to three men to leave the Rock in a boat, after nightfall, and to take their chance of getting through the enemy's cruisers. It is likely to be a very dark night. I have arranged with them to take a passenger across to Tangiers, and have given them permission to take two others with them. We know that there are many Jews, and others, most anxious to leave the town before the enemy begin to bombard it; and the men will doubtless get a good price, from two of these, to carry them across the Straits.

"You will form an idea, for yourself, whether these boatmen are trustworthy. If you conclude that they are, you can make a bargain with them, or with any others, to bring you back direct. I authorize you to offer them a hundred pounds for doing so.

"Come up here at eight o'clock this evening. I will have the despatches ready for you then. You will understand that if you find the Moors have become absolutely hostile, and have a difficulty in getting at Mr. Logie, you are not to run any risk in trying to deliver the despatches; as the information you will be able to obtain will be sufficient for me, without any confirmation from him."

After further conversation, Bob took his leave of the governor. On his return home, Carrie was very vexed, when she heard the mission that Bob had undertaken and, at first, it needed all her husband's persuasions to prevent her going off to the governor's, to protest against it.

"Why, my dear, you would make both yourself and Bob ridiculous. Surely he is of an age, now, to go his own way without petticoat government. He has already gained great credit, both in his affair with the privateer, and in fetching in the oranges the other day. This is far less dangerous. Here he has only got to smuggle himself in, there he had to bring back something like a ton of oranges. It is a great honour for the governor to have chosen him. And as to you opposing it, the idea is absurd!"

"I shall go round to Major Harcourt," Bob said. "Mrs. Harcourt is terribly anxious about her daughter, and I am sure she will be glad to send a letter over to her."

"Carrie," Captain O'Halloran said gravely, "I have become a sudden convert to your opinion regarding this expedition. Suppose that Bob, instead of coming back, were to carry Amy Harcourt off to England? It would be terrible! I believe that Mr. Logie, as His Majesty's consul, could perform the necessary ceremony before they sailed."

Bob laughed.

"I should doubt whether Mr. Logie would have power to officiate, in the case of minors. Besides, there is an English church, where the banns could be duly published. No, I think we must put that off, Gerald."

Amy Harcourt was the daughter of one of the O'Hallorans' most intimate friends: and the girl, who was about fifteen years old, was often at their house with her mother. She had suffered much from the heat, early in June; and her parents had, at a time when the Spanish cruisers had somewhat relaxed their vigilance, sent her across to Tangiers in one of the traders. She was in the charge of Mrs. Colomb, the wife of an officer of the regiment, who was also going across for her health. They intended to stay at Tangiers only for a month, or six weeks; but Mrs. Colomb had become worse, and was, when the last news came across, too ill to be moved.

Major and Mrs. Harcourt had consequently become very anxious about Amy, the feeling being much heightened by the rumours of the hostile attitude of the emperor towards the English. Mrs. Harcourt gladly availed herself of the opportunity that Bob's mission offered.

"I shall be glad, indeed, if you will take a letter, Mr. Repton. I am in great trouble about her. If anything should happen to Mrs. Colomb, her position would be extremely awkward. I know that Mr. Logie will do the best he can for her but, for aught we know, he and all the English there may, at present, be prisoners among the Moors. I need not say how bitterly her father and I have regretted that we let her go;