Ah! what are those lights there?" he suddenly exclaimed.
I looked towards the spot he pointed at, when I saw advancing along the road a number of men bearing torches.
"They are coming, as I expected, fully believing that they will destroy this chateau as they have the Chateau l"Estrange," said La Touche.
"Now, my friend, it is possible that they may succeed, notwithstanding all our preparations. I will therefore have a carriage prepared, and the horses put to, with two others for riding. I know, should I be unable to go, that you will protect my mother and sister, and endeavour to conduct them to a place of safety, either to the coast or to the house of a friend whom they will name to you."
"You may trust me indeed, although I hope for your sake that there will be no necessity for such a proceeding," I answered, my heart beating strangely at the thought of having Sophie and her mother committed to my charge. I resolved, of course, to protect them to the last, and I hoped that in my character as a foreigner I might be able to do this more effectually than La Touche himself. Madame should pa.s.s as my mother, and Sophie for my sister, and I hoped that we might thus pa.s.s through the fiercest mob, whose rage, being turned against the aristocrats, would not interfere with an Englishman, whom they would imagine was merely travelling through the country for the sake of seeing it, as many had been doing for some time past. We had very little longer time to wait, when some hundreds of persons appeared coming along the road directly for the chateau. We could see them from the tower, where we had remained. A large number were carrying torches. The entrance gate was locked and barred, and the chateau itself, all lights being concealed, must have appeared shrouded in darkness.
"Let them exhaust their strength in breaking down the gate," said La Touche.
Scarcely a moment after, the mob reached the gate, waving their torches, and shrieking and shouting out--
"Down with the aristocrats! Down with the tyrants! Down with those who pillage us, and live upon the product of our toil?"
"Let them shout themselves hoa.r.s.e," remarked La Touche. "They will not find it a very easy matter to break down that stout old gate, or to climb over the wall."
On discovering the impediment in their way, their shouts and threats increased in fury. A number of them, rushing against the bar of the gate, endeavoured to force it from its hinges.
Not a word all this time was uttered by any of our garrison. The insurgents, finding that the gate would not yield, shouted for some one in the chateau to open it. No one replied. Again and again they shook it. At last we heard the sound of loud blows, as if it were being struck by a sledge hammer, while several figures appeared on the top of the wall, ladders having been procured to a.s.sist them up.
"Why do you come here, my friends?" demanded La Touche abruptly. "The gate is locked as a sign that I wished to be in private."
"It is the residence of an aristocrat, and all such we have resolved to level to the ground," shouted one of the mob.
"I warn you that you will pay dearly if you make the attempt," cried La Touche. "We are well-armed, and are resolved to defend the place."
"We are not to be stopped by threats. On, comrades, on!" exclaimed another voice among those who were clambering over the wall. "If one of our number falls, remember that every one of those inside the house will be destroyed."
"You have been warned,--the consequence will be on your own heads if you attack us," said La Touche.
By this time a considerable number of persons had got into the yard by clambering over the wall, but the stout iron gate had hitherto resisted all attempts to force it open.
"We might kill or wound all the fellows in front of the house," said La Touche to me, "but I am unwilling to shed the blood of my countrymen if it can be avoided; I will give them another chance. You are in our power, friends," he shouted out; "if we fire, not one of you will escape. Go back to where you came from, and your lives will be spared."
Derisive shouts were the only answers given to what La Touche had said.
More people were all the time clambering over the wall, while continued blows on the gate showed that the mob had not given up the idea of forcing an entrance. Presently there was a loud crash, the gate was thrown open, and in rushed a number of savage-looking fellows, all armed with some weapon or other, many of them carrying torches, which they waved wildly above their heads, shouting all the time, "Down with the aristocrats! Revenge! revenge for the wrongs they have done us!"
"They are in earnest, of that there can be no doubt," said La Touche.
"We must drive them back before they become more daring. It is useless to hold further parley with them;" and he gave orders to our small garrison to open fire.
Loud shrieks and cries rent the air, several people were seen to fall, but this only increased the rage of the rest, who, running up to the front door with axes and other weapons, began hacking away at it, probably expecting quickly to force it open.
More and more people followed, until the whole yard was full of men surging here and there, some firing, others waving their torches, apparently to distract our attention, while the more determined a.s.sailed the doors and windows.
"Are there no troops likely to come to our a.s.sistance?" I asked, seeing that matters were growing serious.
"No; we must defend ourselves, and I fear that if these ruffians persevere, they will succeed at last," whispered La Touche to me. "We must endeavour to save my mother and sister, for the mob, if they once get in, will sacrifice them as well as the rest of us. I am resolved to stop and defend my house to the last, but I must provide for their safety by committing them to your charge. The carriage is in readiness, and there are two faithful servants to whom I have given orders how to act. Go, I beseech you, at once, and request my mother and Sophie to enter the carriage and set out without a moment"s delay. Two saddle-horses are in readiness for you and your servant. You will go as their escort. Tell them I will retreat in time to follow them. Take the road towards Paris, and wait for me. Should any one attempt to interfere with you, say that you are an English officer, and that the ladies are under your charge. I do not apprehend that you will be molested; go, therefore, lose no time."
He wrung my hand as if he would take no denial. I of course, although unwilling to leave him, was ready to carry out his wishes. I hastened to the room where I had left Madame La Touche and Sophie, and explained to them what La Touche wished them to do.
"But will he follow us?" asked Madame La Touche in an agitated tone.
"He has promised to do so, madame," I answered; "but let us not delay, lest the mob should get round to the other side of the house and cut off our retreat."
Madame La Touche hesitated no longer, but allowed me to lead her and her daughter down to the yard at the back of the house, where we found the horses already put to, and I handed the ladies into the carriage. The coachman mounted the box; another servant was holding the two riding horses; and I was preparing to mount, when Larry, sent by La Touche, came springing down the steps and was in his saddle in a moment. The French servant mounted behind the carriage; and the coach drove off down an avenue which led along the banks of a stream running through the pleasure-grounds. I was in hopes that La Touche would have followed at once, for I saw that there was very little probability of his being able successfully to defend the house against the savage mob who had resolved to destroy it. I could hear the wild shrieks and shouts and cries of the a.s.sailants, the rattle of musketry, and the loud thundering against the doors and windows; but, anxious as I felt about my friend, my duty was to push on with my charges, and with all possible speed to convey them out of danger. The coachman was equally desirous to preserve his mistress, and lashed on his horses at their utmost speed. Fortunately he knew the road, which was an unusually good one.
We were soon outside the grounds belonging to the chateau. Proceeding along a road which ran parallel with the river, we soon got beyond the sounds of the strife; but on looking round I saw a bright light suddenly appear in the direction of the chateau. It increased in size. Another and another appeared; and I could distinguish the flames bursting out from several windows. Could the mob so soon have broken into the chateau, and set it on fire? I feared the worst, and that my gallant friend and his servants had been overwhelmed, and too probably ma.s.sacred. I felt thankful, however, that Madame La Touche and Sophie had escaped in time. Had they remained a few minutes longer, they might have been too late. Had I been alone, I should have been unable to restrain myself from galloping back to ascertain what had occurred; but to protect them was now my great object. I kept as close as possible to the carriage, not knowing what might at any moment occur. I was afraid that they might look out of the window and see the flames; but they were too much overcome with grief and terror to do that, and sat back in the carriage, clasped in each other"s arms. When the road would allow, I rode up and spoke a few words to try and comfort them, although it was no easy matter to do that.
"When will Henri come?" exclaimed Madame La Touche. "He ought to have overtaken us by this time."
"You forget, madame, we have been travelling at a rapid rate," I observed. "He promised to retreat in time, should he find it necessary to abandon the chateau. He will probably overtake us when we stop for the night. There is no fear that the mob will follow him to any distance."
The coachman said he knew of an inn about six leagues on the Paris road, where madame and Sophie might rest securely, as the mob could not get so far that night. It was where Monsieur La Touche had ordered him to remain. I bade him therefore go on as his master told him, although he proceeded at a slower rate than at first, for fear of knocking up his horses.
I was very thankful when the little inn was reached. It was kept by a buxom dame, who received Madame La Touche and Sophie politely, and offered the best accommodation her house would afford. I handed the ladies from the carriage. Madame entered the house at once, but Sophie lingered for a moment.
"Oh, tell me, Monsieur Finnahan, has Henri come yet? I dread lest he should have done anything rash, and lost his life. It would break mamma"s heart if he were to be killed; and she will not rest, I am convinced, until she knows he is safe. I cannot ask you to go back to look for him, but will you send your servant to gain intelligence, and bring it to us?"
"I would go back myself, but my duty is to remain and guard you," I said. "What do you wish?--tell me."
"We shall be perfectly safe here, and I desire for my mother"s sake to know what has happened to Henri," she answered.
I thought that Sophie was right, and my own anxiety made me desire to ride back.
I accordingly mounted my horse, leading Larry"s. I left my faithful retainer with instructions that in the event of the mob approaching, he was to drive off with the ladies. I galloped on at full speed, anxious without loss of time to reach the chateau. If La Touche had escaped, he would probably require my a.s.sistance. I had no expectation of finding he had beaten back the insurgents; indeed, I was not free from the fearful apprehension that he and his people had been surprised by them, and ma.s.sacred before they could make good their retreat; still, as the insurgents, when I left the chateau, appeared to have no intention of making their way round to the back of the building, I hoped that he would have contrived to escape in time. That they would have murdered him if caught I had not the shadow of a doubt.
I had marked the road as I came along, and had no fear as to finding my way. The moon, too, had risen, which enabled me to do this with less difficulty. As I galloped on, I looked carefully about on either side, for I knew that the clatter of my horses" hoofs would attract the attention of any one coming along the road. But I met no one along the whole length of my ride. At last I could distinguish the tall towers with the flames bursting out from their summits, and I knew that the chateau was doomed to destruction. Suddenly both horses started, and I heard a voice say--
"Who goes there?"
It was La Touche. He was wounded badly, and unable to proceed farther.
Had I not gone to look for him, he would most probably have perished.
"The chateau will be burned to the ground," he observed. "But I care not for that, now that I know, thanks to you, Finnahan, that my mother and Sophie have escaped."
Having bound up his wounds, I a.s.sisted him to mount the spare horse, and we set out for the inn where I had left Madame La Touche and her daughter.
We met with many adventures and hair-breadth escapes before I ultimately succeeded in escorting them on board the _Saucy Bet_, and seeing them safely landed in England I shortly afterwards obtained my promotion.
And though I have much more to narrate which my readers may like to hear, I was now lieutenant, and my adventures as a midshipman therefore come to a conclusion at this period of my life.
THE END.