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

and yet, it seemed by far the best thing, at the time, for she would get an abundance of fresh meat, food and vegetables.

"Of course, you will see how she is situated, when you get there; and I am sure you will give her the best advice you can, as to what she is to do. Not knowing how they are placed there, we can do literally nothing; and you managed that fruit business so splendidly that I feel very great confidence in you."

"I am sure I shall be glad to do anything that I can, Mrs. Harcourt; and if it had been a boy, I daresay we could have managed something between us--but you see, girls are different."

"Oh, you won't find any difficulty with her. I often tell her she is as much of a boy, at present, as she is a girl. Amy has plenty of sense. I shall tell her, in my letter, about your going out to fetch in the fruit for the women and children. She is inclined to look up to you very much, already, owing to the share you had in the capture of those Spanish vessels; and I am sure she will listen to any advice you give her."

"Well, I will do my best, Mrs. Harcourt," Bob said, meekly; "but I have never had anything to do with girls, except my sister; and she gives the advice, always, and not me."

"By what she says, Bob, I don't think you always take it," Mrs. Harcourt said, smiling.

"Well, not quite always," Bob admitted. "Women are constantly afraid that you are going to hurt yourself, or something, just as if a boy had got no sense.

"Well, I will do what I can, Mrs. Harcourt. I am sure I hope that I shall find them all right, over there."

"I hope so, too," Mrs. Harcourt said. "I will see Captain Colomb. He will be sure to give you a letter for his wife. I shall talk it over with him and, if he thinks that she had better go straight home, if any opportunity offers, I shall tell Amy to go with her; and stay with my sister, at Gloucester, till the siege is over, and then she can come out again to us. I will bring you down the letters, myself, at seven o'clock."

From her, Bob went to Dr. Burke.

"I have just come from your house, Bob. I found your sister in a despondent state about you. I assured her you had as many lives as a cat; and could only be considered to have used up two or three of them, yet, and were safe for some years to come. I hinted that you had more to fear from a rope than either drowning or shooting. That made her angry, and did her good. However, it was better for me to be off; and I thought, most likely, that you would be coming round for a talk.

"So you are going officially, this time. Well, what disguise are you going to take?"

"That is what I have been thinking of. What would you recommend, doctor?"

"Well, the choice is not a very extensive one. You can hardly go as you are because, if the Moors have joined the Spaniards, you would be arrested as soon as you landed. Gerald tells me that, probably, two of the Jew traders will go away with you. If so, I should say you could not do better than dress in their style. There are many of them Rock scorpions, and talk Spanish and English equally well; but I should say that you had better take another disguise."

"That is what I was thinking," Bob said. "The boatman will know that I have something to do with the governor, and the two Jews will certainly know that I don't belong to the Rock. If they find that the Moors have joined the Spaniards, these Jews may try to get through, themselves, by denouncing me. I should say I had better get clothes with which I can pass as a Spanish sailor, or fisherman. There are almost sure to be Spanish ships, in there. There is a good deal of trade between Tangiers and Spain.

"Then again, I shall want my own clothes if I have to take passage in a neutral, to Lisbon. So I should say that I had better go down to the town, and get a sort of trader's suit, and a fisherman's, at one of the low slop shops. Then I will go as a trader, to start with; and carry the other two suits in a bag."

"That will be a very good plan, Bob. You are not likely to be noticed much, when you land. There are always ships anchored there, waiting for a wind to carry them out. They must be accustomed to sailors, of all sorts of nationalities, in the streets. However, I hope you will find no occasion for any clothes, after you land, but your own. The Moors have always been good friends of ours; and the emperor must know that the Spaniards are very much more dangerous neighbours than we are, and I can hardly believe he will be fool enough to throw us over.

"I will go down with you, to buy these things."

Bob had no difficulty in procuring the clothes he required at a secondhand shop, and then took the lot home with him. Carrie had, by this time, become more reconciled to what could not be avoided; and she laughed when Dr. Burke came in.

"You are like a bad penny, Teddy Burke. It is no use trying to get rid of you."

"Not the least bit in the world, Mrs. O'Halloran. Fortunately, I know that, however hard you are upon me, you don't mean what you say."

"I do mean it, very much; but after you are gone I say to myself, 'It is only Teddy Burke,' and think no more of it."

That evening, at nine o'clock, Bob embarked on board the fishing boat, at the New Mole. One of the governor's aides-de-camp accompanied him, to pass him through all the guards; and orders had been sent, to the officers in command of the various batteries, that the boat was not to be challenged. It was to show a light from a lantern, as it went along, in order that it might be known. The other two passengers and the boatmen had been sitting there since before gunfire, and they were glad enough when Bob came down and took his seat in the stern, taking the tiller ropes.

The oars had been muffled, and they put off noiselessly. When they got past Europa Point they found a light breeze blowing, and at once laid in their oars, and hoisted sail. A vigilant lookout was kept. Once or twice they thought they made out the hulls of anchored vessels, but they gave these a wide berth and, when the morning broke, were halfway across the Strait, heading directly for Tangiers. In another six hours they entered the port. There were half a dozen vessels lying in the harbour. Four of these were flying Spanish colours, one was a Dane, and the other a Dutchman.

From the time morning broke, Bob had been narrowly examining his fellow passengers, and the boatmen; and came to the conclusion that none of them were to be trusted. As soon as he stepped ashore, with his bag in his hand, he walked swiftly away and, passing through the principal streets, which were crowded with Moors, held steadily on, without speaking to anyone, until he reached the outskirts of the town; and then struck off among the hedges and gardens.

Chapter 15: Bob's Mission.

As soon as he found a secluded spot, he stripped off the clothes he wore and put on those of a Spanish sailor; and then, placing the others in the bag, buried it in the sandy soil--taking particular note of its position, in regard to trees and surrounding objects, so as to be able to find it again. Then he turned to the right, and skirted the town till he came down to the seashore again; and then strolled quietly back to the quays. In passing by the ships at anchor he had noticed the names of the four Spaniards and, after wandering about for a short time, he entered a wine shop and seated himself at a table, near one at which three Spanish sailors sat drinking.

From their talk, he learned that the British were shortly to be turned out of Tangiers; that the town was to be given up to the Spaniards; and that the British consul had, the day before, been taken to Sallee, where the emperor now was. The English in the town had not yet been made prisoners, but it was believed that they would be seized and handed over to the Spaniards, without delay.

Having obtained this information, Bob saw that--at any rate, for the present--he might, if he chose, appear in his own character; and regretted that he had buried his clothes, before knowing how matters stood. However, there was no help for it but to go back again, to the place where he had hidden them. This he did and, having put on his own clothes, he went straight to the consulate, which was a large house facing the port. A clerk was sitting in the office.

"I understand Mr. Logie is away," Bob said.

The clerk looked surprised, for he knew the whole of the small body of British residents well, and he could not understand how Bob could have arrived.

"I am the bearer of letters to him, from Governor Eliott," Bob said. "I came across by boat, and landed two hours ago; but I was in disguise, not knowing how matters stood here, and have but now ascertained that, so far, the English are not prisoners."

"Not at present," the clerk said. "But will you come into the house, sir? We may be disturbed here."

"In the first place," Bob asked, when they were seated in an inner room, "when do you expect Mr. Logie back, and what is the real situation? My orders are, if I cannot see Mr. Logie himself, that I am to obtain as accurate a statement as possible as to how matters are going on here; as it is important that the governor should be able to inform vessels sailing from Gibraltar, east, whether they can or can not put safely into the Moorish ports. Of course, we know that vessels have been several times taken by the Spaniards, while at anchor close to the towns; but they might risk that, if there were no danger from the Moors, themselves. But if the reports last sent by Mr. Logie are confirmed, the Moors would be openly at war with us; and would, themselves, seize and make prizes of vessels anchoring. The danger would, of course, be vastly greater than that of merely running the risk of capture, if a Spanish vessel of war happened to come into a port where they were at anchor. Of course, I am merely expressing the views of the governor."

"I am sorry to say," the clerk said, "that there is no doubt the Moors are about to join the Spaniards in formal alliance against us. Englishmen are liable to insult as they go through the street. This, however, would not go for much, by itself; but last week a number of soldiers rushed into the office, seized Mr. Logie, violently assaulted him, spat upon him, and otherwise insulted him--acting, as they said, by the express order of the emperor, himself. He is now practically a prisoner, having been taken under an escort to Sallee and, at any moment, the whole of the British colony here may be seized, and thrown into prison; and if you know what Moorish prisons are, you would know that that would mean death to most of them--certainly, I should say, to all the ladies."

"But can they not leave, in neutral vessels?"

"No. The strictest orders have been issued against any Englishman leaving; they are, in fact, so far prisoners, although nominally at liberty to move about the town.

"I believe that the greater part of the Moors regret, extremely, the course their emperor has taken. Many have come in here, after dark, to assure Mr. Logie how deeply averse they were to this course; for that the sympathies of the population, in general, were naturally with the English in their struggle against the Spaniards who had, for all time, been the deadly foe of the Moors. Unfortunately, the emperor has supreme power, and anyone who ventured to murmur against his will would have his head stuck up over a gate, in no time; so that the sympathy of the population does not count for much."

"How many English are there, altogether?"

"A hundred and four. We made up the list last week. Of course that includes men, women, and children. There are some